The Key to Love Story (Part 1)

Betsy St. Amant

My new release, The Key To Love was a long-time brewing! I initially had the idea about five years ago, and in the original concept, the story took place at a fictional bakery in Paris. I wanted to center the story around the lovelock bridge over the Seine. Wouldn’t you know it—right after I started fleshing out the story, Paris shut down the lovelocks. They literally removed them all from the bridge and replaced the links with plates of glass.

At first, I was really annoyed. I thought “Geez, Paris, you couldn’t have waited a few more years?” Ha! Then, as I began to revamp my story, I realized how much better it would be if it were set in small town America, featuring a romance-obsessed heroine who brought a little bit of ol’ Paris to the Midwest. The story blossomed from there.

I also knew I wanted to have an “opposites attract” type trope—and that I wanted their roles to switch halfway through.

So, the heroine, Bri (Abrielle) is a local girl who has never traveled or truly been in love yet has lived vicariously through the grand love story of her parents, who fell for each other in Paris. Her American mother was a wonderful baker and went to Paris to train under a known pastry chef. She ended up falling for a Frenchman—the baker’s son. They moved back to America when they learned they were expecting Bri, and settled in her mother’s hometown of Story, Kansas, where her mother continued to bake at the Pastry Puff. They died in a car accident when Bri was as a young adult, and in their honor, she keeps their romance high on a pedestal where she believes it belonged—failing to recognize how doing so has tainted her own attempts at finding love. Now Bri is the head baker at the Puff and has created her own version of the lovelocks at the bakery, while the owners—two eccentric elderly sisters—matchmake for the town.

The hero, Gerard, is a permanent bachelor and is as gruff as Bri is sweet. He is the leather to her lace. After a Youtube video caused the matchmaking sisters and the bakery lovelocks to go viral, national travel magazine Trek sends Gerard to write a feature on the bakery—not realizing the entire establishment is at risk of being bought out by a local lawyer…Bri’s bitter ex-boyfriend. Gerard, who is only after a promotion to lead writer, is pulled reluctantly into helping Bri save . . .to be continued in Part 2 tomorrow, October 14)

Betsy St. Amant is the author of more than fifteen inspirational romances and a frequent contributor to iBelieve.com. She lives in north Louisiana with her husband, two daughters, a collection of Austen novels, and an impressive stash of pickle- flavored Pringles. When she’s not composing her next book or trying to prove unicorns are real, Betsy can usually be found somewhere in the vicinity of a white chocolate mocha—no whip.

 Learn more at www.betsystamant.com.