Spotlight & Giveaway: Bet Me to Stay by Candace Havens

Posted July 19th, 2019 by in Blog, Spotlight / 80 comments

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Candace Havens to HJ!
Spotlight&Giveaway

Hi Candace and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Bet Me to Stay!

 
Hi everybody! Thanks so much for letting me hangout.
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Cassie is on the hunt for inspiration for her new erotic romance novel. She’s been writing sweet but her agent wants her to heat things up a bit. After her agent isn’t so happy with her latest pages, she’s worried she may have to go back to working in her parent’s pub. BUT then she walks into the one across the way and runs into Liam, one of the owners. Inspiration found. There’s just one problem, if he finds out who she really is, the sexy new game they’re playing. will end faster than it started.
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

“I have some more exploring to do,” he said. Then he hauled her over his shoulder and kissed the side of her hip. “If you’re just going to use me for sex, I should give you the full experience.”

Like, you say those things and the lower half of my body just does flip flops. It’s a big cheerleading squad down there going, oh, hellzzz yes.”

“God. Woman. Let’s get something straight. I don’t ever do or say a…thing I don’t want to. Everything we’ve done, is because I want you more than I have anyone for a very long time…”

 

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

  • Y’all, my parents proof every book before I turn it in. BUT this one was just too hot. I couldn’t do it. It is the sexiest thing I’ve ever written.
  • I love that these two have so much humor. They are folks I’d totally hang with if I could. Though, I’d need a napkin for the drool when it comes to Liam.
  • Liam is my favorite book boyfriend I’ve ever written. I think, because he likes his girls round. 🙂

 

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

That’s a funny question because when she first walks in, his first impression is that she’s a bag lady with a lot of cats. But he’s attracted to her wit and intelligence, which is EVERYTHING to me.
His handsome brother tries to flirt with her first, but she wants nothing to do with him once she sees the rough-looking Liam. His voice, his broad shoulders, she’s into it all.

 

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

I cried while writing the end, which I’m not going to share. But it all comes full circle. And there’s another scene that involves a desk, which I can’t share that is oh so sexy. It’s why I couldn’t let me parents read the book before I sent it to my editor, which I normally do.

 

Readers should read this book….

Liam is Irish. I feel like that’s all I need to say. He’s also handsome, supportive and even though she’s keeping secrets from him, one big one that could shatter everything, he believes in her. This book is about an accidental meeting that turns out to be sexy fun, and a whole lot of growth happens. Which doesn’t sound sexy, but the heroine really gains confidence in a big way. I love that.

 

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

I’m working on Finn’s book. That’s Liam’s brother. I have more of sweet series coming from the Holiday Peak gang. And I have a fun new cozy mystery coming in January. I think there may be a holiday Marine book in there somewhere. LOL
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

 

Giveaway: Two – Amazon $20 Gift Certificates 

 

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What are some of your favorite accents for book boyfriends? I’m partial to Irish and Scottish.

 
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Excerpt from Bet Me to Stay:

Cassie couldn’t believe she’d just given this gorgeous man her pen name as though it were her real name. She could say she did it to keep the fantasy in her head alive, to protect her story, but honestly, she just didn’t want him to figure out she was associated with The Rustic Pig, and their night would end.
While the two pubs didn’t really share a lot of clientele, they were still two Irish pubs across the street from each other. Of course, there was a healthy rivalry. Once, she remembered her mom ranting that the Boar had added breaded pickles to their menu and her staff had said they were amazing. Two weeks later, the Pig had breaded pickles soaked in buttermilk with a garlic aioli dipping sauce.
It probably wasn’t a big deal, but Cassie didn’t want to risk it. Every word he said with his soft-spoken Irish lilt was like music to her ears. She was already mentally revising the hero in her novel to be of Irish descent with a penchant for calling the heroine “his lass,” a hint of gravel in his voice
that slid across her skin like velvet.
If this evening lasted much longer, maybe she wouldn’t
even need to sit in the back of the bar and write. She’d have plenty of memories to build on.
“Well, Ms. Writer, what is it that you write?” It was an innocent question that Cassie had zero inclination to answer. It would be a cold day in hell before she got up the nerve to say “erotic romance” to this man.
“I really don’t want to say right now, if you don’t mind,” she rushed to answer. “I’m still in the developmental process of something new and don’t want to, well, jinx myself.” Sure, sure. That sounded plausible.
His gaze drifted off for a second as though he were remembering something from his past. “Right. That makes sense.” He tossed back his Jameson, and she watched the muscles in his neck move as he swallowed the amber liquid. Yup. Even his Adam’s apple was sexy.
He set the tumbler down and their gazes met.
The earth moved. Or the liquor finally hit her. Something happened, because her breath caught in her chest and her mind whirled like a tornado slammed into it.
Was there such a thing as too sexy? Because Liam might be it.
She reached out to grab the edge of the bar to steady herself, but she was a tiny spaceship trying to escape the intense gravity of a black hole without hope. She looked back up at him, a little shocked to discover his gaze hadn’t wavered.
Cassie was many things, but used to keeping the attention of a man this raw and masculine was not one of them.

Could he be messing with me? Maybe he does recognize me and wants to get info on the family business.
She wanted to smack her own head. Only she would think someone was so low as to flirt with her for information on their next appetizer.
Wait. He’s talking to you. Pay attention.
“Hey, I know this sounds crazy, but what do you say we go grab a bite to eat at The Diner?” he asked, mentioning a local breakfast haunt a few blocks away. “There’s nothing better than pecan waffles at midnight on a Tuesday.” He winked.
Okay, he was definitely flirting with her. She hadn’t really considered he might be interested in her. She was wearing baggy sweats (only thing clean, no lie) and combat boots. And a sweater with a butterfly on the front that her Gran had knitted for her last Christmas.
Oh God. She groaned as the realization of what she was wearing sunk in. “I don’t know any recipes,” she blurted out.
Wait. What did I just say?
Could someone actually die from embarrassment? It was about to happen right here on this barstool.
Liam chuckled. “It’s okay. They cook them for you. No recipe required.”
“Why are you asking me out?” She wasn’t making any sense. But he wasn’t making any sense, either, dammit. She looked like her Great Aunt Helda in this getup (or like she hadn’t been laid in ten years).
No way she attracted the hottest man she’d ever met by wearing this and telling his brother to shoo.
“Because”—he took his time to lean in close like his

brother had earlier, only this time, the move totally worked, and her ovaries were high-fiving each other—“I find you interesting. You don’t say what I expect, and I’m tired of predictable.”
She nodded. This was true. Her parents always complained they didn’t understand her and that she lived in a fantasy land. “And the sweats?”
“Oh, we’re burning them.” He didn’t miss a beat, and she respected that. “And those awful shoes. Best to get rid of that bulky sweater, too. Does you no justice.” He shook his head. “I’m trying to imagine you without those things.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re imagining me naked!” she squeaked.
His sexy grin seemed turned up to a hundred degrees and melting her clothes from her body. “I am now,” he said softly.
Heat scorched through her blood, her skin sensitive to the cool air blowing from the air duct above her. Even she was convinced she was naked, her bare ass stuck to the leather of the barstool.
Liam wasn’t just the sexiest man she’d ever met. He was a wizard.
She was so hot, and possibly embarrassed by her clothing choices, she didn’t even hesitate before reaching up and yanking the oversized sweater off. She’d worn a tight- fitting tank top beneath, and the way his gaze zeroed in on her fairly slim waist (thank you, gym membership) and full breasts (who were standing up as if to catch his attention, and thank goodness for sexy bras), she almost believed he was interested.
“Not feeling the sweater, luv?” he asked, amused.

Someone tossed a ten on the bar, and Liam made quick work of handing him a frothy mug of beer and two dollars change.
The patron grabbed his beer and a single and headed back to somewhere behind her. Didn’t matter where.
“It was itchy. Had to go.” She was breathy.
Liam raised an eyebrow then wiped down the surface of the bar with a rag he’d grabbed from the sink.
Shit. Had she seemed too bold stripping before their first date? She totally sucked at this stuff. Thankfully, he tossed the rag in the sink and put her out of her misery. “All right, I think I’m done here. You ready?”
“For what?” He’d asked her to do something, but she couldn’t remember what now. Gah, he must think she was a ditz.
“For waffles, of course.”
Yup. That was it. Liam had asked her out on a midnight date.
If this man, this sexy Irish man, wanted to actually date her… Maybe she wouldn’t have to rely on only her imagination to fix her novel. Her agent’s advice rang in her head. Liam could pump her hard. Real, real hard. Over and over probably.
“You’re not the kind of guy who expects sex on the first date, are you?” she blurted out before her brain could catch up with her mouth. Her heart pounded in her ears. She’d never been this bold in her entire life. Desperation was a funny thing.
He leaned backward, probably startled by her question. “I never expect anything after a date, first or last,” he answered somberly but then broke the effect when one

corner of his mouth lifted up in a half smile fraught with boyish charm. “But I do always hope.”
Cassie could easily see how these two very different men were brothers. Liam may be the serious one, but he had a bit of the Devil in him as well. She liked it. A lot. But they needed to set ground rules. She had a career on the rocks right now, and she had priorities.
Placing her folded arms on the bar, she leaned forward, her weight pressing her flesh into the worn surface. “But what if I were to say I’m not in the mood to shop for a relationship?”
Liam mimicked her stand by placing his elbows on the bar and leaning forward as well. Their lips were barely ten inches apart, the warmth from his wide shoulders wrapping her in a sexy cocoon. “I’d say that’s great because I’m not a relationship kind of guy.”
Not surprising. “And what if I were to say I’d already decided the next guy I have sex with needs to have the dirtiest mouth since my weird college porn phase?”
He chuckled. “I’d say give me a sec to process a woman admitting to liking porn.” His emerald eyes turned molten. “Yes. Yes, I can definitely work with this. But don’t expect me to put on cheesy porn music as I fuck you so hard you forget what zip code you’re in.”
The floor of her sex bottomed out so her ovaries could use the space to practice their hip-hop routine, not to cheesy porn music but to the gravelly notes in Liam’s voice. “I was never very good with geography,” she admitted. “What about occasionally smacking my ass?” Why should her ovaries have all the fun?
She wanted to see how far she could push him.

“Definitely.”
“Any weird kinks I should know about?”
“Nothing that would require a safe word.”
“Anything you want to ask me?” she offered. They’d
moved from possibly dating to now negotiating some sort of sex contract. Surely he had his own questions.
“Just one thing,” he murmured as his brother started to head their way. Oh God, she didn’t think she’d survive if Romeo brought them both to their senses. Liam must have had the same thought, because he turned his head and leveled a stare at his brother that had him raising both hands and backing away.
“Yes?” she asked.
She drowned in pools of his liquid green eyes. “You’re not really wanting waffles now, are you?”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

After a bet with his brother, Liam O’Connor has to date the next woman who walks into the pub. And he’s all in, because his pub is on the line. What he didn’t expect was Cassie Meadows, who at first glance with her big glasses and bulky sweater looks like a woman who has many, many cats––but her wit and smile make him wonder what’s underneath her bulky armor.

Cassie Meadows aka sweet romance author Cassie O’Brian is about to lose everything. As in, her writing career is going down the drain because she can’t write the sexy stuff that’s selling these days. She needs inspiration in the worst way. That’s when she walks into the wrong pub at the right time. Sexy owner Liam is just what the writing doctor ordered. Her whole body is feeling inspired–-and when he makes a proposal she can’t refuse––she’s all in. Oh, hell yes. Best. Sex. Of. Her. Life. Thanks to Liam, she’s about to write a best-seller.

But having an erotic romance alter ego is nothing compared to the real secret Cassie is hiding—and that one could destroy everything.
Book Links: Amazon |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Bestselling author Candace Havens has published more than 35 books. Her novels have received nominations for the RITA’s, Holt Medallion, Write Touch Reader Awards and National Reader’s Choice Awards. She is a Barbara Wilson Award winner. She is the author of the biography “Joss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy” and a contributor to several anthologies. She is also one of the nation’s leading entertainment journalists and has interviewed countless celebrities from George Clooney to Chris Pratt. Candace runs a free online writing workshop for more than 2000 writers and teaches comprehensive writing classes. She does film reviews with Hawkeye in the Morning on 96.3 KSCS, and is a former President of the Television Critics Association.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | GoodReads |
 
 
 

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80 Responses to “Spotlight & Giveaway: Bet Me to Stay by Candace Havens”

  2. Jeanna Massman

    I like a Southern drawl, especially when it’s connected to a cowboy!

  9. laurieg72

    The French accent is my favorite. It is beautiful, soothing and romantic.
    I also like Australian and Scottish accents in books.

  14. Marcy Meyer

    I love Irish and Scottish accents too. I think those are my favorites.

  17. John Smith

    “What are some of your favorite accents for book boyfriends?” Italian is good!

  30. Kathleen Bylsma

    Pretty much love them all! Except maybe for Bronx….doesn’t sound too romantic 😉

  34. Amy R

    What are some of your favorite accents for book boyfriends? Scottish and British

  37. Janie McGaugh

    Scottish is my favorite, though I enjoy a nice English or Irish accent, too.

  42. Audrey Stewart

    I love the British accent, but they are all different. My favorite is the London accent.

  66. Jen B

    I like Irish and Scottish too, but I always forget what accent a character is supposed to have.

  69. DaWhiteWolffie

    Scots accent, definitely! Guess if I ever want to get married I gotta go to Scotland. xD