(I’m sorry that I forgot to bring Jen Knox’s excellent memoir with me when I did the video. But she is giving away two copies, hosted on this blog.)

Don’t forget to check out the full giveaway listing at www.JTimothyKing.com (with more books coming, continuing into February).

Determined to turn her life around, Gaby Flores moves to a beachfront loft, takes on a new motto–Be gullible no more–and begins to rebuild her flower store while searching for Mr. So Right. But when a lawsuit, an eviction notice, a near-empty bank account, and quirky neighbors invade her beachy world, not even chocolate can solve her worries as her fledgling faith is put to the test.

I’m giving away a new, autographed copy of this Christian beach read, Truffles by the Sea, Julie Carobini’s debut novel, which arrived a couple weeks ago, direct from Julie’s online beach shop. This is the sequel to Julie’s debut novel Chocolate Beach, which I’m also giving away, in another post.

I started Truffles by the Sea a couple months ago. Then life got in the way. Being an author and blogger is always a balancing act between reading and writing, and sometimes I fall off the high-wire. I’m about a quarter of the way through this Christian chick-lit— er, that is, beach-lit novel by Julie Carobini, and I’m liking it better than its predecessor, Chocolate Beach, which I did enjoy.

Determined to turn her life around, Gaby Flores moves to a beachfront loft, takes on a new motto–Be gullible no more–and begins to rebuild her flower store while searching for Mr. So Right. But when a lawsuit, an eviction notice, a near-empty bank account, and quirky neighbors invade her beachy world, not even chocolate can solve her worries as her fledgling faith is put to the test. (From the back cover.)

I’m chatting here in my virtual living room today with Julie Carobini, author of what she calls “beach-lit” novels: Chocolate Beach, Truffles by the Sea, and—her latest—Sweet Waters. As always, what I say is in italic type, like this, and what Julie says will be in a plain font.

Hi, Julie. Thanks for doing this interview for BeTheStory.com.

You’re welcome! Thanks for inviting me, Tim!

You’ve said that the sea is a demonstration of God’s creativity. I imagine this is what inspired you to write “beach-lit”? (I almost feel like you chose that tag to correct people like me, who was calling Chocolate Beach “Christian chick-lit.” :-))