Virtual Book Tour & Giveaway for Small Change by Sheila Roberts

Join author Sheila Roberts on her Virtual Book Tour for Small Change, presented by Goddess Fish Promotions, from February 10 – February 21, 2014.  Please leave a comment or question for Sheila to let her know you stopped by.  Sheila will be awarding a copy of Small Change and a $25 Visa gift card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour (US ONLY), so please be sure to leave your email address with your comment.  You can follow the rest of Sheila’s tour here.  

Women’s Friendships by Sheila Roberts

       

I love writing about women’s friendships. Where would we women be without our girlfriends?

When a crisis hits, girlfirends will drop everything and come over to help. Giflfriends aren’t afraid to tell you where you’re going wrong. They much prefer to tell you where you’re going right. Girlfriends won’t let you buy that pair of jeans that makes you look lilke a hippo, thus sparing your husband from having to answer the question all men dread, “Does this make my butt look big?”

Girlfriends understand the importance of chocolate, chick flicks and cute shoes. A girlfriend will never say something so silly as, “You already have a whole closet full of shoes. Why do you want those?” Our girlfriends know we have faults but, unlike our mothers, they don’t try to fix them. Girlfriends help make the bad times bearable and the good times sweeter.

I can’t imagine life without my friends, without the shared experiences, laughter, and encouragement we enjoy. Maybe that’s why I so love writing about women’s friendships because, really those relationships are vital. Unlike men, we women are full-time team players, always there to help each other. (And sometimes this requires great sacrifice, like saving your friend’s diet by eating that last piece of chocolate on the plate.) We really get the fact that we’re all in this together.

That kind of friendship is what my novel SMALL CHANGE is all about, friends helping each other face the challenges in their ives, working together making small lifesytle changes that can add up to a big difference. Rachel, Tiffany, and Jessica are helping each other conquer their money challenges and face some unexpected life surprises, not an easy thing to do. But sometimes, all you need is a little lsupport, someone to cheer you on and say, “You can do it,” or “Go on. Take another change on love.”

No matter what’s going on in your life I hope your girlfriends are there for you, cheering you on. Oh, and saving your from that last piece of chocolate on the plate!

Small Change

By Sheila Roberts

Publisher:  St. Martin’s Press: Reprint Edition

Release Date: January 28, 2014

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Length: 352 Pages

ISBN: 978-1-250043-76-4

About the book:

Take a trip to the charming little town of Heart Lake, and meet three best friends you’ll never forget. . . .

Rachel, Jessica, and Tiffany have major money problems. Tiffany’s whipped out the plastic one too many times, and now a mountain of debt has come crashing down on her. Jessica’s husband has lost his job, thrusting this longtime stay-at-home mom out into the cold, cruel workforce. And Rachel’s divorce transformed her from an upper-middle-class mom to a strapped-for-cash divorcée. So the three women start a financial support group called the Small Change Club—vowing to bring balance back to their checkbooks…and, in turn, their lives. Along the way they learn some valuable lessons—that friendship is an investment that keeps on growing and that sometimes love, like a loose coin, can be found in the most unexpected places…  

Buy Links:  AMAZON    BARNES & NOBLE 

 “We’re a mess,” Rachel said. She went to the family room and returned a moment later with the near empty bottle of wine. She filled a quarter of a glass and handed it to Tiffany. “Sorry. This is all that’s left. And we ate all the chocolate, too. We’ve been consoling ourselves.”

Before Tiffany could protest, Jess filled her in on Rachel’s lost job and the crisis looming on the horizon for her and Michael.

       

“Rachel’s right,” Tiffany said miserably. “We are a mess.”

       

“Only temporarily,” said Jess. “Things could always be worse.”

       

“I guess you’re right,” said Rachel. “Why do we always see the glass as half full?”

       

“Cuz it is, cuz somebody drank all the wine,” said Tiffany, frowning at the glass in her hand.

       

“Seriously,” said Jess. “So we’re not rich. Most people aren’t. But we’ve got lots of good things in our lives.”

       

“Mine all went back to the store,” Tiffany grumbled.

       

“Yes, but you’ve still got your husband,” Jess reminded her, “and he loves you. That’s huge. Rachel has her kids, I have my family, and we have each other. How many people live on the same block as their best friends? I’ll admit, we have some challenges right now, but we’re not starving.”

       

“Yet,” said Tiffany. “They laid off two people in Brian’s department this week. If he gets laid off I don’t know how we’re going to make it,” she continued, refusing to be sidetracked. “Especially now that I’ve got credit cards to pay off.”

“I have to admit, I’m scared, too,” Rachel confessed in a small voice.

       

She had a right to be. Her parents weren’t swimming in money, and at the moment they had problems of their own. And Jess and Tiffany weren’t exactly in a position to help her, other than offering moral support.

But you had to think positive. That was something else Jess had learned in her forty-four years on the planet. “We can’t let a little thing like money problems defeat us,” she insisted.

       

“People jumped out of windows in the thirties over a little thing like money problems,” Rachel reminded her.

       

“Well, you wouldn’t have been one of them,” Jess told her sternly, “and neither would I, and neither would Tiff.”

       

“You’re right,” said Rachel. “I’d have pushed Aaron out a window instead and collected his life insurance.”

       

Tiffany giggled at that. But she sobered quickly. “So, what are we going to do?”

       

“Maybe we should take some kind of money management course,” Rachel suggested. “We could probably all stand some improvement in that area.”

       

“Except now that I don’t have my credit cards I don’t have any way to pay for one,” grumbled Tiffany.

       

Rachel frowned. “Good point. Without a job, I can’t afford some big, expensive course.”

       

“Me, either,” said Jess.

       

“There has to be something we can do,” said Rachel.

       

They all sat there, the only sound in the room Tiffany’s nails clicking against her wineglass as she thought.

“Wait a minute,” said Rachel suddenly. “Where’s the one place in town where learning is free?”

       

Jess’s face lit with understanding. “Of course! You’re a genius.”

       

Tiffany looked from one to the other, confused. “I don’t get it. What are you talking about?”

       

“The library,” Rachel explained. “It still doesn’t cost anything to check out a book. I’ll bet we can find dozens of books on managing money.”

       

“Why not? Let’s go tomorrow morning,” Jess suggested.

       

Tiffany looked pained. “I can’t go. I have three clients coming in to get their nails done tomorrow morning.”

       

“We’ll find something for you,” Rachel promised.

       

“It better be something on how to get through credit card withdrawals,” muttered Tiffany. 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Sheila Roberts lives in the Pacific Northwest. She's happily married and has three children. 

   

Writing since 1989, Sheila’s books have been printed in several different languages and have been chosen for book clubs such as Doubleday as well as for Readers Digest Condensed books. Her best-selling novel ON STRIKE FOR CHRISTMAS was made into a movie and appeared on the Lifetime Movie Network, and her novel THE NINE LIVES OF CHRISTMAS has just been optioned for film. Her novel ANGEL LANE was named one of Amazon’s Top Ten Romances for 2009.

    

When she's not making public appearances or playing with her friends, she can be found writing about those things near and dear to women's hearts: family, friends, and chocolate.

website: http://www.sheilasplace.com

find me on Facebook as Sheila Roberts, author

Twitter: https://twitter.com/_Sheila_Roberts

Don't forget to leave a comment or question for Sheila to let her know you stopped by.  Sheila will be awarding a copy of Small Change and a $25 Visa gift card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour (US ONLY), so please be sure to leave your email address with your comment.  You can follow the rest of Sheila’s tour here.