Guest Post: Samantha Chase, Author of The Bridal Squad

Hello, everyone! On this lovely Saturday, we bring to you a guest post. But not just any guest post -- a guest post by an author that we have really grown to love, and whose stories captivate us and punch us in the feels every single time. That author is none other than the amazing Samantha Chase*, and she's here with a guest post about her writing process/coming up with characters for her story. We also have a little bonus section about her new story, The Bridal Squad, which is also worth checking out!

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Hey, Girls!!  Or should I say, Hey, Bratz!! Thank you so much for having me back on the blog!!  You know, I think I can envision the girls of THE BRIDAL SQUAD being the kind of girls you probably know or are friends with – you know, a core group of girls who’ve been friends for ages and just know how to be there for one another.

What I decided to share with you today was a Q&A of questions I’ve been asked about THE BRIDAL SQUAD and about the girls of the Enchanted Bridal Series as a whole ☺

Q:  So these stories are all a little more women’s fiction than romance, although there are definitely romantic elements.  What made you decide to do that?

Romance is always going to be my number one choice of what to write, but I have found that I really enjoy writing about the friendships between my characters.  Especially the female characters.  I discovered that early on in my books that the scenes that I normally write between the heroine and her best friend are the ones that I love the most.  So writing an entire book based on that relationship just seemed like something that I wanted to try.  But at the end of the day, I love writing romances and that’s why each girl in the series will have some sort of romantic story line as well.

Q:  Are any of the girls based on people you know?

The character of Angie is definitely based on a friend of mine – it’s all her personality traits, but none of the life experiences.  Angie is definitely a character and I think I had the most fun writing her because I literally knew exactly what she’d do or say in any given situation!  But all of the rest of the girls are more of a combination of people that I know rather than any one individual person.

Q:  In THE BRIDAL SQUAD you talk a lot about fitness and taking classes at the gym.  How often do you work out?

LOLOLOLOL!!!  If we were to simply put a picture of me here rather than words, you’d still get the same answer – Not a lot.  I recently bought a bike desk (and yes, it is exactly what you think it is) but other than that, I do not go to the gym at all.  Back in college, I had a friend who taught aerobics and she used to drag me to classes with her so that she could see at least one face she knew in the room.  I always went begrudgingly but I used that memory to help the girls when they had to go to one of Julianne’s classes in the book.

Q:  The sneakers.  Oh, my gosh…the SNEAKERS!!  Where did you get them??

Funny story.  The cover of FRIDAY NIGHT BRIDES featured a pair of sparkly white shoes and everyone loved them.  For THE BRIDAL SQUAD I wanted a pair of sparkly sneakers.  Easy, right?  Um…no.  There are ZERO royalty free images of sparkly white sneakers to be found.  ZERO!  I had people take some pictures of sneakers they had but the lighting wasn’t right or the style wasn’t right and it was getting close to the deadline so I went on eBay and found a pair and bought them.  I didn’t care about what size they were, I just needed a pair of sparkly sneakers!  Then we had a photographer come and take the pictures right in my house and VOILA!    This cover is the first time EVER that I did a photoshoot specifically for it and it was a lot of fun!  And the good news at the end of it all: The sneakers fit!!  Well, they’re a little snug, but I’m stretching them and I plan on wearing them to the RT Booklovers Convention in Atlanta!

Q:  What’s next for the girls of Enchanted Bridal?

I am already planning a third full-length book for next year and just like what you saw here in THE BRIDAL SQUAD, you’ll get guest appearances by all of our girls.  However, there is going to be a novella coming out in the fall that will feature the new girl to the Enchanted Bridal shop team – Penny ☺  So be on the lookout!

Thank you for having me here today and I hope you all enjoy THE BRIDAL SQUAD!!!

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About Samantha Chase

Samantha Chase is a New York Times and USA Today bestseller of contemporary romance. She released her debut novel in 2011 and currently has more than forty titles under her belt! When she’s not working on a new story, she spends her time reading romances, playing way too many games of Scrabble or Solitaire on Facebook, wearing a tiara while playing with her sassy pug Maylene…oh, and spending time with her husband of 25 years and their two sons in North Carolina.

About The Bridal Squad



Title: The Bridal Squad
Author: Samantha Chase
Publication Date: May 10th, 2017
271 Pages
Add it on Goodreads!

Summary: The Friday Night Brides are back! And this time, it’s their first season running the business! It was one thing to just model in a weekly fashion show, it’s quite another to be the ones calling the shots and making future brides’ dreams come true. Their first client has them wondering if they’re really prepared for their new roles! The Bride: Julianne is big on fitness, small on patience. And planning her wedding is grating on her every last nerve. As a Zumba instructor, she loves the freedom to create and choreograph her routines and help others achieve their goals, but having to stand back and let others choreograph her big day has her wanting to hip-hop toward eloping! The Matron of Honor: As the only married member of the bridal party, Natalie considers herself the aficionado on all-things weddings. And even though her time in the spotlight is over, that doesn’t mean she isn’t full of ideas on how her best friend’s wedding should look and feel and be! And it doesn’t take long for her to realize that maybe it’s not so much that she’s wanting to help as it is that she’s afraid of her own honeymoon ending. The Bride’s Sister: Nothing screams unwanted relationship advice than when your younger sister gets married before you. It’s not that Harper doesn’t want to get married, after three failed engagements she really does! But finding the right man to walk down the aisle with is proving harder than she thought. And it gets even harder when constantly being compared to the perfect couple! The Reluctant Bridesmaid: There is nothing Kayla wants more than to see one of her best friend’s get married…if only the whole process wasn’t so exhausting! Travel and adventure and being on the go fuels her. Having to stay in one place for an extended period of time while wearing taffeta? Not so much. Her job tends to take her away on a moment’s notice and this is one time she may have to pass up the trip of a lifetime in the name of friendship. 

It was so great having Samantha here today to talk about her writing process and her new book -- it's always a pleasure! If you like what you read, add The Bridal Squad to your TBR!

*I'd just like to point out that in no way did Samantha or her publishers have any chance to read this post before it went live, and all of her praises that we were singing were not solicited in any way -- she is seriously one of the kindest, sweetest authors we've ever worked with and we absolutely love reading her books and having her visit!! <33