Indie Reads Aloud: Jennifer Raines and "Quinn, By Design"
- Diana Kathryn
- Apr 23
- 3 min read
Indie Reads Aloud Radio
Episode # 208
Quinn, By Design
Choosing Family Book 2
Written by Jennifer Raines
Listener Advisory: Mature Situations
She’s antiques royalty, he’s relentlessly modern.
Master carpenter NIALL QUINN’s passion is creating bespoke furniture. Everything else comes second until his ex-fiancé ditches him when he gifts another creation to a friend, and he discovers his brother has been carrying his dead father debts. Niall’s self-respect demands he pay his share. He’s landed a prestigious exhibition of his work with a top gallery, possible in part because of the support of an antiques dealer who’s been mentor, patron, and generous landlord. Niall’s hoping the exhibition will establish his reputation and boost his bank balance.
LUCY McTAVISH’s grandfather, antiques supremo Cameron (Cam) McTavish raised her. His death leaves her totally alone. Lucy drained their personal accounts to provide twenty-four-seven in-home palliative care for Cam. The thought of poverty paralyses her, a crippling reminder of life before Cam found her. Laden with debt, she plans to sell Cam’s workshop to ensure his antiques emporium survives.
When the will is read, Niall Quinn holds the keys to Cam’s workshop. Lucy’s convinced he conned her grandpa in his last days and demands he restore antiques for her. Niall is blindsided by the bequest, but worries about yet another debt and agrees to the work.
Lucy and Niall circle each other. In sharing stories and drawing closer, Lucy figures out debt is her childhood bogeyman resurrected by Cam’s death. Niall has real debts and, unaware of his exhibition, she looks for clients who’ll pay him for the work she’d been demanding for free.
With the exhibition drawing closer, it’s crunch time. Will Niall choose his exhibition or Lucy? Does Lucy want a man who won’t share his dreams with her?
Award winning author Jennifer Raines’ stories combine a love of romance with contemporary conflicts. Her writing is both relevant and heart-warming. Each story is a journey across the world. Jennifer likes to think her readers get occasional hints of the deep passion of a Nora Roberts or the unshakeable loyalty of a Grace Burrowes where love conquers loneliness, distrust and fear.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Australian Jennifer Raines writes sensuous contemporary romances set mainly, but not exclusively, in Australia – think Malta, Finland, New Zealand or ? A dreamer and an optimist, her stories are a delicious cocktail of passion, mutual respect and loyalty because she still believes in happily-ever-afters.
Jennifer fell in love with romance as a teenager. Starting with historical romance. Everything in the school library and then a personal treasured collection of Georgette Heyer, hard copies, paperbacks and now a full e-book collection. Comfort food, she calls them, like vegemite toast, for those times when she feels low. Her library of comfort food has grown over the years but Georgette Heyer was an early star, under the blankets after lights out using a torch.
Jennifer is a member of Romance Writers of Australia. Three times a finalist in the Emerald competition, including in 2017 (Lela’s Choice under its working name Common Cause), 2018 (Taylor’s Law) and 2022 (Quinn, by design). She’s a member of Romance Writers of New Zealand, winning the Pacific Hearts competition twice, including in 2019 with Grace Under Fire, the sequel to Taylor’s Law. She’s also a member of Romance Writers of America and has been a finalist in chapter competitions in 2019, 2020 and 2021 (Taylor’s Law). Jennifer values competitions for the constructive, honest, not always comfortable feedback they provide.
In 2023 Taylor’s Law placed second in the Romance Writers of New Zealand Koru Awards for Best First Book.
Jennifer loves those days when words flow and the joy of writing makes the hard slog worthwhile. She’s always made up stories about strangers in the street, in a café or strolling through an airport terminal; finding inspiration in snippets of conversations, news items and the sheer puzzle of human interactions.
Jennifer lives in inner-city Sydney, Australia, with the requisite number of partners (1) and animals (2). Her desk overlooks a park which nourishes her soul when she raises her head from her keyboard. She gets some of her best ideas during long yin yoga poses or walking – anywhere. While Jennifer adores historical romance, she chose to write contemporary because she thought (wrongly) it needed less research while she was holding down a full-time job.
Find Jennifer Raines at her website:
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