By Laia Feliu.
We are very happy to welcome Amanda Chaperon to The Reading Corner to discuss her upcoming release On the Line, out December 9th!
Two years ago, professional hockey player Mitch Frambough and headhunter Lexie Monroe met on a late-October night and sparks flew. They fell hard for each other, and everyone thought they were endgame.
But now they’re not together.
In fact, they don’t even live in the same state.
When Mitch was traded from the Warriors to the Los Angeles Knights, his entire life changed with one phone call. His relationship with Lexie was in ruins, and the only way he could prevent further heartbreak was to leave Michigan without a backwards glance. Except, when his life is once again upended in a split second, he finds himself back in the Mitten. Surprisingly, everyone welcomes him home with open arms. Everyone except the one person he desperately wants: Lexie.
Lexie has never believed in love, and for good reason. The one time she gave it a shot—her relationship with Mitch—it ended in disaster. Now she’s washed her hands of the whole thing: love, relationships, him. Having him clear across the country helped. But when he returns to Detroit, everyone in her life is begging her to give him another chance. The only problem is Mitch doesn’t seem interested. Plus, she’d be stupid to let him close enough to break her again.
Call it karma or the gods or fate, but something has drawn these two back together. And now it’s time for them to choose: either they put their hearts on the line again, or they walk away for good this time.
After all, how often does love get a second chance?
Hi Amanda! Thank you so much for your time and for writing such an amazing book. Mitch and Lexie’s story is full of turns and twists and so much love, it truly was a pleasure to read. I loved watching them fall in love twice, although it ripped my heart out to see them suffer as well.
Mitch and Lexie are brought back together after a horrible event uproots Mitch’s life and has him moving back home. Did you always know it would be an injury that would bring them back together, or did the story unfold as you were writing it?
So I actually decided it would be an injury that brought Mitch back to Michigan while I was drafting my first book, For the Boys. The way I saw it, it couldn’t be something as simple as him being traded back that forced him to return to Michigan and sort of confront his demons so to speak. I wanted his entire life to change in the blink of an eye, and while I hated doing it to him, an injury seemed the best route.
Romance is my favourite genre to read, and I am very picky with the tropes I read, second chance love being one of my favourite ones. If you could only read one trope for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Have you been listening to my podcast?! (HEAs & Heartbreaks on Apple, Spotify, Anchor, and Amazon music). If you have, you’ll know this is one of my least favorite questions. I’m such a mood reader that shackling myself to one trope is honestly my worst nightmare. That said, it’s a tie between fake dating (contemporary) and enemies to lovers (fantasy). Since they’re different genres, I think you can give me a little leeway here.
Lex and Mitch hurt each other very much the first time they were together. Their tense interactions the second time around, the “will-they-won’t-they” moments had me on the edge of my seat. Although it was stressful to see them hurting and fighting, it also made the story interesting and exciting. Did you set out to achieve this experience for the reader, or is there another reason you decided to do this?
I mean I didn’t want to make it easy on them. They had both made some pretty major, heartbreaking, gut-wrenching mistakes where the other was concerned. Lexie by pushing him away when he stood up for her with her parents, and him not fighting to make long distance work or to stay in touch after the trade. And when he came back…he knew he messed up. And Lexie is so damn stubborn that in that deep, dark corner of her mind, she knew she messed up, too, but it took her a lot longer to come to terms with it. I really loved getting to include Brent and Berkley in these moments of self-reflection for Mitch and Lexie, too, because they were so instrumental in getting B & B back together after their own breakup.
At The Reading Corner, we champion diversity and inclusivity in the book world, giving the spotlight to female, LGBTQ+ and BIPOC authors. What has your experience been, as a female author, in the publishing industry?
I’ve been really lucky! I’ve found that a vast majority of indie authors are women–at least the ones I’ve been blessed enough to connect with–and it’s a really inclusive group. It’s been incredible to see the indie world take on a life of its own over the last year, and watch those of us who chose this route sort of shed the stigma that indie authors only went indie because we couldn’t hack it in the traditional publishing world. So with that said, my experience has been incredible! I have met so many amazing people. One thing I’ve found is that we all genuinely want the best for each other. There’s room at the table for everyone!
How did you come up with such interesting characters? And how is your process of getting to know them well enough to write such a delightful story about them?
Okay first of all, this is extremely flattering, so thank you! You always hear about authors writing what they know, and I’ve poured a lot of myself into all of my characters, Lexie in particular. I have been blessed with incredible parents, so I can’t exactly identify with her in that regard. But her stubbornness, and her take-no-shit attitude, and…maybe her disbelief in love; those are all things she carries for me. For Mitch, I wanted to write someone who was Lexie’s opposite in every way. Someone who was soft and sweet, who also had some issues with his family but became such an incredible man in spite of that. Lexie let her poor upbringing harden her, while Mitch remained open to love and happiness despite the fact that he’d been hurt so badly by his father.
As far as getting to know them, I’m a discovery writer so I really just get to know them as I go! The beauty in writing characters I’ve already introduced in previous stories, too, is that I already have a solid grasp of their personalities as far as how they relate to the other characters as a side character. It makes the transition to them as a main character much easier. We saw in FTB, for example, that Lexie is super confident and kind of a maneater but also fiercely loyal to her friends. For Mitch, well…he had to earn that Uncle Mitch nickname somehow. I really just tried to lean into the characteristics for both of them, and then flesh them out from there.
On the Line is an incredibly heart-warming book, with characters that care for each other and have been through very tough moments in their lives. What do you think life has in store for Mitch and Lexie?
I think I’ve put them through enough, don’t you? They’re happy. Living together. They both travel a lot for work, sometimes together, sometimes apart. But they love each other and remind one another of that fact every day. I’ve also had quite a few readers ask if they’ll ever get married and honestly…it’s not really their style, to do the whole grand display of love. They’re all about their privacy, and quiet ways of showing they care. But…never say never 😉
What do you hope your readers will take away from this book?
The dedication was really my main purpose for this story. “To those who don’t believe in love. I promise you it exists. I hope you find it.”
I went through a pretty bad breakup a few years ago. Writing this story was a sort of catharsis for me, and being able to give Lexie and Mitch that happy ending I never got was my way of letting go of the pain I experienced. So I guess my hope is that readers realize there’s a love out there for everyone, and that they should never stop searching for it.
Are there any books within the genre or with similar messages to On the Line you could recommend?
Man I could go on and on and on about second chance romances. It’s truly one of my favorite tropes. The mutual pining. The angst. The drama. The flashbacks. I love it all. With that said, one of my all-time favorites is THE ROUGHEST DRAFT by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka. It’s a story of two co-writers who have a falling out, are forced back together to fulfill a contract, and end up falling back in love. It’s a beautiful story. I also absolutely adore LOVE AND OTHER WORDS by Christina Lauren, EVERY SUMMER AFTER by Carley Fortune, 28 SUMMERS by Elin Hilderbrand, and EVER AFTER ALWAYS by Chloe Liese.
And last but not least, where can everyone get their hands on this amazing story?
Several places! It’s available online at Barnes and Noble and Amazon, and most other online retailers. It’s also available through Kindle Unlimited!
Amanda Chaperon realized her passion for books at a young age. Growing up, she was rarely found without a book in her hands, a hobby she carried into adulthood. The summer after graduating from Michigan State University with a degree in sports journalism, FOR THE BOYS was born. After joining bookstagram in 2020, she felt inspired to self-publish.
Amanda currently lives in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula with her two-year-old Golden Retriever, and is a legal secretary by day. She is a lover of young adult, romantasy, and thrillers that keep her up at night. You can follow her on Instagram at @written.word.nerd.
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