Author Guest Post with Patricia Leavy: Shooting Stars Above

For fans of Colleen Hoover comes an emotionally charged contemporary romance about a internationally best-selling novelist and a federal agent fighting to heal past wounds.

Welcome to the May 15th stop on the blog tour for Shooting Stars Above by Patricia Leavy with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, more guest posts, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

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Author Guest Post

Topic: Share something special about this book that you would like potential readers to know

I’ve loved writing more than anything else for as long as I can remember. My mother saved one of my earliest “books” in a plastic storage bag which is sitting in my desk drawer. I recited the story, and she typed it. I added illustrations and bound it with old wallpaper and glue. The back says I was six years old. When I was ten, I tried to write my first novel. It didn’t pan out. Hey, I was only ten. I do remember that it was a grand love story between two wounded souls. Eventually, I became an author. I started in nonfiction, turned to fiction, and eventually to romance which is my passion. I had published many books when one day I got an incredible bolt of inspiration for a love story between people who help each other heal. I could see the whole thing and wrote the first draft in only ten days. It was the most immersive experience of my life. That novel is Shooting Stars Above. I believe it is the novel I tried to write when I was a kid. Of course, I revised it countless times and the published version took years to polish. I loved the characters so much that I decided to write a series about them: The Celestial Bodies Romances. There are six so far. I genuinely love each book more than the last. They follow the same characters, each takes place a year after the last. Each novel in the series explores a different dimension of love. Overall, it’s about the power of unconditional love, the importance of kindness, the lifelong process of healing from past trauma, and learning to balance darkness and light in our lives. This book and the series it launches came from the deepest part of my soul. For years, these characters have wrapped me in the warmest hug. I hope they do the same for readers.

About the Book

Shooting Stars Above
The Celestial Bodies Romances
by Patricia Leavy

Published 18 March 2025
She Writes Press

Genre: Romance
Page Count:
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

For fans of Colleen Hoover comes an emotionally charged contemporary romance about a internationally best-selling novelist and a federal agent fighting to heal past wounds.

Tess Lee is a world-famous novelist. Her inspirational books explore people’s innermost struggles and the human need to believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel—but despite her extraordinary success, she’s been unable to find personal happiness. Jack Miller is a federal agent working in counterterrorism. After spending decades immersed in a violent world, a residue remains. He’s dedicated everything to his job, leaving nothing for himself.

The night Tess and Jack meet, their connection is palpable. She examines the scars on his body and says, “I’ve never seen anyone whose outsides match my insides.” The two embark on an epic love story, but old traumas soon rise to the surface as Jack struggles with the death of a loved one and Tess is forced to confront her childhood abuse. Can unconditional love help heal their invisible wounds? Together, will they be able to move from darkness to light?

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Excerpt

“Hello, Butterfly,” Omar said, kissing the top of her head.

“These are for you,” Clay added, handing her a large bouquet of pink flowers.

“They’re beautiful, thank you. This is Jack,” she said, touching his chest. “And this is Omar and his better half, Clay.”

Omar shot her the side-eye.

“Nice to meet you,” they all said, shaking hands.

“Let me take your jackets. Brunch is in the living room, please go sit,” Tess said.

Jack sat on the couch, and Omar and Clay took the chairs. “What can I get everyone to drink?” Tess asked.

“Well, it’s brunch, Butterfly. There bloody well had better be cocktails,” Omar joked.

“Of course. What would you like? A mimosa?”

Omar nodded.

“Make it two, please,” Clay said.

“When in Rome,” Jack added.

Tess went to retrieve the drinks while the men chatted.

“Tess has told me a lot about you guys,” Jack said.

“Likewise,” Omar replied. “In the twenty years I’ve known her, she’s hardly shown any interest in the many would-be suitors who have tried to catch her eye. Now I’m getting a dozen texts a day about you. I must say, I was dying to meet you.”

Jack blushed. “Tess is quite a woman.” He glanced over to the kitchen. “I’m still waiting to wake up from this dream, because she’s perfect.”

“Oh, well I’d be happy to tell you about her many flaws. Let the nightmare begin,” Omar jested.

“I heard that,” Tess called, carrying four champagne flutes on a tray, three with mimosas and one sparkling water, which she placed on the coffee table.

“I’m impressed, Butterfly. If this writing thing doesn’t work out, maybe we can get you a job at a saloon.”

“I do love a good peasant skirt,” she said, knuckling the top of his head and tussling his hair.

“Now I’m going to have bad hair all day,” he complained.

“Serves you right,” she said, plopping down beside Jack.

“We were just getting ready to tell Jack about your flaws,” Omar said. “Where shall we begin?”

“Clay, was I this terrible when I first met you?” Tess asked.

“No, you weren’t. You were the epitome of grace and kindness,” Clay replied.

“I’m just teasing,” Omar said, smiling at Tess. He turned his attention to Jack. “Truly, we’re so happy to meet you.”

“Tess said that you two have been friends since college, but she didn’t mention how you met,” Jack replied.

“Everyone, please take some food,” Tess interjected.

They all helped themselves to the artichoke and tomato frittata and green bean salad.

“Tess and I met on our first day of college. It was orientation day, where they put you in groups and try to force you to bond. Then there was a cookout. At the end of the compulsory festivities, a bunch of kids decided to go hang out on the football field. Tess and I both ended up there. Someone was blasting music and most of the kids were smoking pot, but since that wasn’t our scene, Tess and I wandered off together and lay down at the other end of the field, looking at the stars. We didn’t even know each other, but we just started talking and something clicked. She told me that she was writing a novel and that I was the only person she had told. And I swear to you, she was barely eighteen years old, but I knew she was serious, that she was the real deal. I remember telling her the novel was going to be extraordinary.”

 Tess leaned against Jack and he rubbed her arm.

Omar continued, “And then I revealed that I was gay and that she was the only person I had ever told. In my family and culture, it’s a crime. She said that life is so unfair and it’s especially hard with family because even when they disappoint us to the core, we still long for their love and approval. Then she said I was a beautiful person and deserved to live my life fully and authentically. So strange to think about it now, how much trust we had for each other in a matter of moments.” Omar watched Tess and Jack with a soft smile on his face. “Sometimes it happens quickly, I suppose. We just know who the good souls are.”

About the Author

Patricia Leavy, PhD, is an award-winning, best-selling author. She was formerly Associate Professor of Sociology, Chairperson of Sociology & Criminology, and Founding Director of Gender Studies at Stonehill College. She has published more than fifty books; her work has been translated into many languages, and she has received more than one hundred book honors. Recently, her novel The Location Shoot was featured in Ms. Career Girl’s “10 Perfect Books to Get Your Fall Reading List Started” and She Reads in “Novels to Read if You Love Classic Movies” and was the 2024 Best Book Awards First Place Winner in Women’s Fiction. Patricia has also received career awards from the New England Sociological Association, the American Creativity Association, the American Educational Research Association, the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, and the National Art Education Association. In 2018, she was honored by the National Women’s Hall of Fame and SUNY-New Paltz established the “Patricia Leavy Award for Art and Social Justice.” Patricia lives in Maine and serves on the board of the London Arts-Based Research Centre. In addition to writing, she enjoys movies, art, reading, and travel.

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Giveaway Alert!

Patricia Leavy will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.

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April 3: Sandra’s Book Club
April 10: The Avid Reader & It’s Raining Books
April 17: The Key of Love
April 24: Dawn’s Reading Nook
May 1: Gina Rae Mitchell
May 8: Fabulous and Brunette
May 15: Westveil Publishing
May 22: Read Your Writes Book Reviews
May 29: Straight From the Library
June 5: Lisa Haselton’s Reviews and Interviews
June 12: Author C.A.Milson
June 19: A Wonderful World of Words
June 26: Beyond Romance
July 10: Maggie Blackbird
July 17: Joanne Guidoccio
July 24: Sea’s Nod & The Book Connection
July 31: Always Reading
August 7: Wendi Zwaduk – Romance to Make Your Heart Race
August 14: Long and Short Reviews

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