Question:  Whispers of Blue Ridge follows a young woman tied to her family’s wealth and their North Georgia winery as she finds a connection with a charming rodeo rider. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

Nina’s Answer:  The inspiration for Whispers of Blue Ridge began during my time as an author-in-residence in Blue Ridge, Georgia. Spending two months there allowed me to fully absorb the rhythm of the area, the landscape, the community, and the feeling that something was always just beneath the surface, as if every place held a story.

Being surrounded by vineyards, local history, and the strong presence of the annual rodeo sparked the idea of bringing two very different worlds together. The vineyard represents legacy, tradition, and the weight of family expectations, while the rodeo embodies independence, discipline, and a life constantly in motion. That contrast became the foundation for the relationship at the heart of the novel.

From there, the story grew into an exploration of how the past shapes us, especially when it’s tied to secrets, and what happens when those truths can no longer stay hidden.

Question:  What drew you to Blue Ridge as the setting for this story?

Nina’s Answer:  What drew me to Blue Ridge as the setting was, in many ways, the idea of contrast. After writing five internationally set novels filled with diverse cultures and far-reaching landscapes, I felt a strong pull to bring the story home, to the United States, but in a place that still felt distinctly different from my own everyday life by the sea.

Blue Ridge offered that shift. The mountains carry a different rhythm, a different pace, and a sense of rooted history that contrasts beautifully with coastal living. It allowed me to explore a new kind of atmosphere while still grounding the story in something familiar.

That change in setting also signaled a new direction. While my previous books traveled across the world, Whispers of Blue Ridge begins a story that is more contained, more intimate, and deeply connected to place… where the landscape and the community become as integral to the story as the characters themselves.

Question:  Do you think love in this book is more about attraction or about healing?

Nina’s Answer:  I think the romantic love in Whispers of Blue Ridge begins with attraction, but it ultimately becomes something much deeper rooted in healing. There’s an element of opposites attracting… Jake lives a more transient, independent life, while Savannah is deeply tied to her home and her family’s legacy.

What draws them together at first is that contrast, that sense of curiosity about someone so different. But as they begin to peel back the layers, it becomes clear that their differences are exactly what allow them to connect. Because they’ve built such different ways of protecting themselves, they don’t trigger each other’s defenses in the usual ways. Instead, they’re able to see past them.

At its core, their relationship is shaped by shared loss and unspoken grief. What they begin to recognize in each other isn’t just attraction… it’s something familiar under the surface. That recognition allows them to truly see one another, and in doing so, they begin to find a sense of healing… not just through each other, but within themselves.

Question:  What do you hope romance readers take away from Whispers of Blue Ridge? 

 Nina’s Answer:  I hope romance readers are drawn to the connection between Jake and Savannah… the chemistry, the contrast, and the way their relationship unfolds. There is certainly a romantic thread at the heart of the story, and it plays an important role in bringing them together.

At the same time, Whispers of Blue Ridge is very much a work of women’s fiction, where the relationship is part of a larger emotional journey. Their connection is shaped not just by attraction, but by what they’ve each carried… loss, expectations, and the weight of the past.

What I hope readers take away is that love in this story isn’t simply about finding the right person. It’s about what happens when two people see each other clearly, and how that can open the door to healing, growth, and ultimately, truth

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