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, mark the launch today! Lovestruck stories feature "original, often
hilarious 'meet-cutes,' a strong romantic connection, sizzling sexual tension,
and satisfying endings that leave readers smitten."
KATEE: Hi Tawna! Let me start off by saying I totally fangirl squeed when I
found out we were launching Lovestruck together. I've been in love with your
stuff since MAKING WAVES
made me laugh so hard I cried, and MARINE FOR HIRE only
solidified my fangirl status. So what can we expect from FIANCEE FOR HIRE?
TAWNA: Awww, thanks so much for squeeing. That's not messy to clean up,
is it?
When our editor first told me about Lovestruck, I liked the sound of stories
with a lot of emphasis on "meet-cutes," smart dialogue, and powerful love
connections, but the second she told me you were one of the launch authors, I
was hooked. I even had my agent try to negotiate it into my contract that I'd
get to launch with you!
I've always loved crafting sexy romantic comedies, and FIANCEE FOR HIRE was one of
my favorites to write. Fans of MARINE FOR HIRE began
emailing me right away asking when I'd tell Mac and Kelli's story, so I was
thrilled to have the chance to write it. But readers who've never heard of me or
my books can still jump right in with this tale of a feisty, ball-busting
veterinarian who agrees to play the role of a sweet, demure fake fiancée to a
stoic ex-Marine turned covert government operative. The book has oodles of
action, humorous dialogue, steamy sexytimes, and of course, the pleasure of
watching this stoic alpha-male meet his match.
Now I get to ask you a question, right? Wait, that wasn't it.
I've always been in awe of your knack for writing characters with such fabulous
chemistry. Your interplay between Bri and Ryan in IN BED WITH MR. WRONG is
absolutely delicious. What can you tell me about Addison and Caine in MEETING HIS MATCH?
KATEE: Aww, thank you! Bri and Ryan were a complete blast to write! I
love the
interplay between two characters who have blatantly opposing goals, and that's
something that you see a TON of with Addison and Caine.
Addison is a NYC matchmaker who believes that each person gets only one soul
mate and that she's already had and lost hers. Helping people find their happily
ever afters is what fulfills her. And the fact Caine has no want or need of a
soul mate... Yeah, she finds it almost personally offensive. Addison and Caine
are very much the Unstoppable Force and the Immovable Object, and throwing them
together was the so much fun to write.
So, I have to admit, I've been intrigued by Mac since we first saw him in MARINE FOR HIRE. The
thought of having him paired with the irresistible Kelli is something that makes
me downright giddy. Which means I have to ask--since everyone will want to
know--exactly HOW hot do things get between them?
TAWNA: Oooh, I can't wait to read Caine and Addison's story. That sounds like
one I'll want to read straight through in one sitting, so I'm going to need you
to write a note to our editor letting her know why I'm missing my next deadline.
Things definitely get pretty steamy between Mac and Kelli. Mac learns pretty
fast Kelli isn't the sweet, demure fake fiancée his sister said she'd be, and
Kelli wastes no time showing control-freak Mac that he doesn't need to be in
charge all the time. Of course, Kelli also learns how sexy it can be to have
someone else calling the shots sexually. The result is a lot of back-and-forth
wrestling for power. Naked wrestling. Sweaty, naked wrestling with some public
indecency and maybe handcuffs. Is it hot in here?
I'm a junkie for research (evidenced by the thrill I got from learning about
prolapsed lizard penises and methods for de-fuzzing cat nards for the veterinary
scenes in FIANCEE FOR
HIRE) so I'm super intrigued by the idea of your matchmaker. What sort of
research did you do to learn about professional matchmaking, and do you have any
personal experience with things like blind dates or online dating that helped
you craft this story?
KATEE: You had me at sweaty, naked wrestling! I'm a hardcore research junkie,
too. My nonfiction library keeps growing exponentially with each new book.
Matchmaking is something I've been fascinated with for years now. I
spent...entirely too much time watching Millionaire Matchmaker. Having a
matchmaker is a very different experience than using an online matching service
(which I have WAY too much past experience with it--oh, the stories I could
tell). With a site like Match.com, the algorithm can point you in the direction
of the "right" matches, but the control is totally in the hands of the person
who's cruising the catalogue, so to speak. You can go with the people it
suggests, or you can go off searching on your own.
A matchmaker, though? That's a real, live person who is there to push and guide
you into a very personalized process. As Addison points out pretty early in MEETING HIS MATCH,
sometimes what people want isn't really what they need in order to be happy.
It's part of her job to see beyond the surface and give them that. And, with
someone like Caine, she's got to persuade him that he wants to be matched to
begin with!
Check in tomorrow for part two of this interview, and buy Lovestruck launch
titles MEETING HIS MATCH
and FIANCEE FOR HIRE
today!
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