Lovestruck Part 2: Katee Robert and Tawna Fenske Dish Meet Cutes & More About Their New Books

Authors Katee Robert and Tawna Fenske are here to discuss Entangled Publishing's new category romance imprint, Lovestruck. Their new releases, MEETING HIS MATCH and FIANCEE FOR HIRE, marked the launch yesterday! Lovestruck stories feature "original, often hilarious 'meet-cutes,' a strong romantic connection, sizzling sexual tension, and satisfying endings that leave readers smitten." Read part one of this interview here

KATEE: One of the things I'm so excited about with the new Lovestruck imprint is the focus on the meet-cute. It's a term I've been throwing around ever since I saw The Holiday (which everyone seemed to dislike, but I totally adored), because it's one of my favorite parts of romantic movies. To be able--and encouraged--to bring that into play with these books was like putting me in the middle of a book store and saying, "Go for it!" In MEETING HIS MATCH, that moment is when Addison walks into Caine's office and declares herself his matchmaker. How did you handle the meet-cute in FIANCEE FOR HIRE and can you give us any hints as to what future meet-cutes might entail?

TAWNA: Wow, that sounds like some really fun research! I'm so eager to read the book!

I'm generally known as a romantic comedy author, so meet-cutes have been my bread and butter for a long time. In FIANCEE FOR HIRE, Mac and Kelli have been acquainted since they were kids, but Mac only dimly noticed Kelli as the pigtailed pal of his baby sister. He's traveled so much as an adult – first as a Marine, later doing top-secret work for the government – that he's really never gotten to know Kelli as a grownup.

Kelli, on the other hand, has had the hots for Mac for eons, so she's thrilled to travel to Mexico to play his fiancée and run a spay/neuter clinic. She's fantasized for years about jumping his bones, but the possibility of falling in love has never crossed her mind. When Kelli first shows up to talk with Mac about filling in as his fake fiancée, Mac stammers that it's nice to meet her.

“Meet?” She raised an eyebrow at him as she tucked her small hand in his and gave a ladylike shake. “We’ve met at least a hundred times, Mac. You put a Band-Aid on my knee when I was ten and you were this big, cool high schooler whose kid sister’s friend tripped while chasing boys on the playground.”

“Of course,” he said, his brain offering up no recollection of the Band-Aid but doing an impressive job resisting the urge to let his eyes stray to her cleavage. “But we’ve never interacted under professional circumstances related to the negotiation of a covert business deal pertaining to international security.”

That sort of interplay continues through the first few scenes, with Mac being unnecessarily formal and professional, and Kelli disarming him with her flippant replies and sex-infused banter. As you might imagine, it doesn't take long for Mac to loosen up a bit and for Kelli to realize she's playing with fire.

So a lot of the buzz about the new Lovestruck line is how many of the books will be same vein as classic romantic comedy films. Movies starring Rachel McAdams, Reese Witherspoon, and Kate Hudson are exactly the sort of thing we'll see on the pages of Lovestruck stories. Are there any particular actors or actresses you could envision playing Caine and Addison?

KATEE: It's really funny, because most of my books up to this point have had some sort of connection or inspiration to various Reese Witherspoon movies, and now we get a whole imprint full of them! I'm so excited to read all the books.

As to inspiration for these characters--yep! Caine was actually the more difficult of the two to cast. As soon as Addison made an appearance in SEDUCING THE BRIDESMAID, I pictured her as Isla Fisher. She's always struck me as this wonderful blend of spunky and sweet. Plus, we all know the rumors about redheads' tempers. She was my Addison from the start.

With Caine, I was looking for the brother of a Beto Malfacini look-alike (Don't know who he is? Go Google him. I'll wait.). I actually put out a call with my street team for help because I was coming up with nothing. One of those amazing readers brought Rafael Lazzini to my attention. There's this one picture where he's got a close-cropped beard and is staring/glaring at the camera and I was just like I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE. Ahem. But, yes, he's my Caine.

So what's next for you? Will there be more in the A Front and Center series (please say yes!!!)?

TAWNA: Um, sorry. I'm still googling pictures of Beto Malfacini. What was the question again? *fans self*

Right, what's next. There are two more books scheduled in the Front and Center series. Grant and Anna's story, BEST MAN FOR HIRE, (which I'm writing now) is slated for publication in December 2014 or January 2015. Then in May 2015, we'll have the final book in the series with Schwartz (the black sheep brother of the Patton family) and Anna's sister (a character you'll meet in BEST MAN FOR HIRE).

How about you? What's coming up on your docket? And by that I mean can you please start cranking out books at a rate of two per week so I never run out of Katee Robert titles to enjoy?

KATEE: Yay! I'll be watching for both!

I wish I could write that fast! It would make the fact I apparently must find Happily Ever Afters for each and every side character less of an "OMG NOT AGAIN!" thing. At this point, I know that I'll be finishing the Out of Uniform series on the Lovestruck line, with the next release being Drew and Avery's book, FALLING FOR HIS BEST FRIEND, sometime in early 2015, followed by Avery's sister, Alexis and one of my favorite heroes to date, Jacks, in HIS LOVER TO PROTECT.

There's also something in the works on the Brazen line for this fall. So, all the things!

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We hope everyone had a great time getting to know more about Lovestruck and Katee Robert’s and Tawna Fenske’s new releases. Thanks, ladies, for being our guests! Readers, buy Lovestruck launch titles MEETING HIS MATCH and FIANCEE FOR HIRE today!