Posted June 12th, 2024 by Sara @HarlequinJunkie in Blog, Spotlight / 20 comments
Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Elyssa Friedland to HJ!
Hi Elyssa Friedland and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, JACKPOT SUMMER!
Please summarize the book for the readers here:
Jackpot Summer is about a mega lottery win which changes everything for the four grown Jacobson siblings. The siblings gather to pack up their beloved Jersey Shore beach house over July Fourth weekend after their widowed father announces he’s moving to Florida. While reminiscing and packing up mementos, Noah, the youngest Jacobson sibling, runs out to buy a Powerball ticket. His sisters, Laura and Sophie, throw in a few bucks to join the fun while the eldest sibling, Matthew, abstains because he thinks the lottery is for fools. Lo and behold, the ticket is a winner, and the Jacobsons’ lives are turned upside down. From dodging unwanted fame, to seeking pleasure in shiny goods, to quitting jobs, to trying to fix a marriage with money, the lottery win brings to light the complexities and troubles the Jacobson siblings had simmering just below the surface. Each Jacobson learns who they really are and what they need to be happy, but only after a roller coaster ride.
Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:
I love the epigraph, which is a quote from Notorious B.I.G. It sums up the book perfectly: “It’s like the more money we come across/The more problems we see.”
Please share a few Fun facts about this book…
This book made me crave summer. It’s set at the Jersey Shore and after writing day in and day out about the gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, the stunning beaches, the incredible seafood and ice cream and the nonstop opportunities for old-fashioned fun, all I wanted was for summer to come. It wasn’t easy to write sentences oozing summer joy while it was ten degrees and snowing out of my window.
Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?
I cracked up writing the Thanksgiving dinner scene. One of the winning siblings, Laura, hosts the entire Jacobson clan at her new mansion. She hires a French chef and a million servers, the table looks like it’s out of Versailles and nobody can figure out which fork to use. It’s such a classic set-up where these regular folks are trying to be fancy but they have no idea what to do and won’t admit they’d rather be eating turkey in their laps while watching football.
Readers should read this book….
If they have ever thought about what they would do if they won the lottery – and who hasn’t? This book will make them rethink how a windfall would affect their personal wellbeing, satisfaction, and relationships.
What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?
I am about to start my seventh novel, another family dra-medy, set on a safari. I’m also hoping to write another children’s picture book this summer, but we’ll see! Time flies and it’s hard to find the time to work on all the projects percolating in my head.
Thanks for blogging at HJ!
Giveaway: A finished copy of JACKPOT SUMMER by Elyssa Friedland
To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What would be the first thing you would buy if you won the lottery? Who would be the first person you would tell?
Book Info:
After the Jacobson siblings win a life-changing fortune in the lottery, they assume their messy lives will transform into sleek, storybook perfection–but they couldn’t be more wrong.
The four Jacobson children were raised to respect the value of a dollar. Their mother reused tea bags and refused to pay retail; their father taught them to budget before he taught them to ride a bike. And yet, now that they’re adults, their financial lives are in disarray.
The siblings reunite when their newly widowed father puts their Jersey Shore beach house on the market. Packing up childhood memories isn’t easy, especially when there’s other drama brewing. Matthew is miserable at his corporate law job and wishes he had more time with his son; Laura’s marriage is imploding in spectacular fashion; Sophie’s art career is stalled while her boyfriend’s is on the rise; and Noah’s total failure to launch has him doing tech repair for pennies.
When Noah sees an ad for a Powerball drawing, he and his sisters go in on tickets while their brother Matthew passes. All hell breaks loose when one of the tickets is a winner and three of the four Jacobsons become overnight millionaires. Without their mother’s guidance, and with their father busy playing pickleball in a Florida retirement village, the once close-knit siblings search for comfort in shiny new toys instead of each other.
It’s not long before the Jacobsons start to realize that they’ll never feel rich unless they can pull their family back together.
