Spotlight & Giveaway: Chasing Shadows by Catherine Bybee

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Catherine Bybee to HJ!

Hi Catherine and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Chasing Shadows!

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Avery Grant used to be the life of the party, the one to start early and end late. In Half Empty, book two in the First Wives series, all that changes after a brutal attack strips Avery of the peace she once had. Time mended her physical scars and now she’s bulking up on self defense skills to never fall victim again…at least not without a fight. With every wall she builds as armor to her body, her heart buries deeper and deeper within her spirit. Enter Liam, a man who sees the warrior on the outside, and the shattered, vulnerable woman on the inside. All he needs to do is prove she can let her guard down around him so he can sneak into her heart…like she has done to his.
 

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

“She was a warrior. Which was a hell of a lot better than being a victim.”
“I applaud your tenacity but your execution is pathetic.”
“With every ounce of baggage and bundle of insecurities she had, he loved her.”

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

I actually took Krav lessons to help prepare for the book, and I learned that there is, in fact, a lot of boxing in it. While taking the classes, I had to tell my trainer that I couldn’t punch without boxing gloves because if I damage my hands I wouldn’t be able to write, and lastly, I never took a class, only private session, because I happen to be very competitive.

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

When Liam witnesses Avery burying the head of a man into a bar after an unwelcome advance, he has to find out who she is.

Avery might think her libido is dead inside, until Liam walks through the door.
 

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

Up next is Shannon’s story, FAKING FOREVER. This is book four in the First Wives series and my second most requested book. It’s due out March 2019. As far as what I’m currently working on? I’m writing Sasha’s story! This is the unplanned fifth book of the series.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: 3 ebook copies of CHASING SHADOWS (US only due to Amazon Kindle restrictions)

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Have you ever taken a self-defense class? If so, which type? If not, have you ever wanted to and which would you be the most interested in?

 
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Excerpt from Chasing Shadows:

Thankfully, Brenda didn’t harp when Avery showed up for her lesson. The woman was painfully quiet, and thirty minutes in, Avery figured out why.
The door to the studio opened and he walked in.
Big shoulders. Thick biceps. Liam.
“What are you doing here?”
“Right on time,” Brenda announced.
Avery shifted her gaze between the two of them. “What is this? An intervention?”
Brenda shook off her boxing gloves. “He agreed to spar with you.”
That was comical. “I don’t remember agreeing to spar with him.”
“You did last week, and I don’t look like your demons.” He dropped a bag on the floor and walked farther into the room.
When he was damn near nose to nose with her, she looked up and held her ground. He didn’t look anything like her demons. The fact that he knew she had them was a little unsettling.
Avery weighed her options.
Stay and spar with Handyman Hulk, who didn’t know krav from a bar fight, or find another instructor.
Brenda didn’t have a warm and fuzzy bone in her body. It was one of the reasons Avery liked working with her. She didn’t ask questions, didn’t offer a shoulder to sob on. She slapped Avery into place and pushed her out of her comfort zone.
That zone was just pushed a little further.
“Fine.”
Liam’s whole face changed when he smiled. Even now, with a smirk that resembled a cocky teen’s, he looked completely different.
“All right. Let’s get started.”
Most of their lessons before Liam showed up had consisted of practicing the moves Brenda taught Avery in the past and building on them. In the past few months there were times Brenda would attack Avery without any predetermined moves. She didn’t tell her she was going to attempt to choke her or grab her from behind. She just did it and Avery needed to respond.
They rewound the tape and now Avery was back at the beginning.
Brenda would do the move first, have Avery respond, and then have Liam be the aggressor. This time, he wore more than a jock. He barely fit in the padding needed to protect his head. The first time he wrapped his arms around her as if he were snagging her off a street corner, she barely felt his strength before she dropped her weight, pulled him off balance, and started elbowing his face from behind her.
He let go.
Once Brenda explained the moves Avery was doing, Liam attempted to adjust his attack to challenge her from escaping. Anytime she struck just shy of his junk, he hesitated. In reality, she knew he would do more than pause if someone boxed his goods. After a while, he learned to keep his hips far enough away, or too close, to avoid being a target.
There were times Avery got away . . . and there were times Brenda stopped their sparring when it was obvious that Avery wasn’t going to win.
As much as Avery hated to admit it, when they were done she felt stronger, even in light of the weakness she demonstrated in Liam’s shadow. The fact was she did manage to get away from him several times. Like when she’d taken the guy down at the bar, she felt empowered.
When they were done and Avery was wiping the sweat from her shoulders with a towel, Brenda approached her. “Liam agreed to come every Friday.”
Avery glanced at Mr. Hulk. He sat on a bench, water in hand. “Works for me,” he told her.
Avery nodded.
“Good. This was good. You’re better for it, Avery.” Brenda turned away. Avery knew surprise was written on her face.
“That was almost a compliment.”
“I take it those don’t come often from that one.”
Avery grinned. “Never.”
She had questions. Lots of them. “About that drink we didn’t have last week.”
That little boy smirk on that big boy face peeked out. “I don’t know . . . I have a lot to do.”
Was he turning her down? “Suit yourself.”
He stopped her halfway to the showers.
“Meet you outside in fifteen.”
She didn’t turn around. Smiling, she waved a hand in the air, felt the heat of his eyes on her ass, and disappeared into the locker room.
Pug’s was busy, it being Friday night and all. They found a small table tucked in the back, away from the majority of people.
Liam grabbed a couple of bottles of beer and sat across from her.
He barely sat his ass in the chair and she was asking the questions that had been swimming in her head for hours. “Why? Why are you doing this?”
He struggled with his answer for half a second. “I’m attracted.”
Avery should have been prepared for his answer.
She wasn’t.
“That’s the short answer.”
She took a drink from her beer. “And the long answer?”
“I need a challenge, a change in pace. Something tells me pursuing my attraction isn’t going to be easy. Not from a woman who has no problem kicking my ass . . . repeatedly.”
She forced her lips from smiling but knew her eyes lit up. “All this for a date.”
“That’s why it started.” He leaned on his elbows and stared. “Now I’m genuinely fascinated. Who is this beautiful, guarded woman, and what drove her to master a class in kicking someone’s butt?”
He blinked a few times as he spoke, and a voice told Avery that he was well practiced in throwing women off his scent of seduction. “Do women fall for that? The fascinated line followed by a compliment and a smile?”
He lifted his eyebrows, leaned back. “Yup. All the time.”
Avery laughed and grabbed her drink. “I think I might have written a book on lines that get me what I want from a man. So you’re going to have to do better than that.”
He lifted his beer in the air in a silent salute. “I’ll work on it.”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Avery Grant doesn’t date. Her first marriage was a mutually beneficial contract that gave her the financial freedom she needed to step away from her controlling parents. Wealthy and single, the last thing she’s looking for is love sneaking in to mess up her life plans. And after a brutal attack, she’s determined to never be vulnerable again, even if the new man in her life helps her feel safe.

Mesmerized from the moment he sets his eyes on Avery, Liam is driven to learn everything about this tough, sexy, challenging woman. Breaking down her defenses won’t be easy, but Liam refuses to be pushed away. All he needs is a tiny crack in Avery’s armor to wiggle his way into her heart.

But when a terrifying lie about her attacker’s fate comes to light, Avery’s past returns to haunt her. Now she’s willing to put herself in danger to get the answers she needs. That means jeopardizing the best thing that’s ever happened to her: Liam.
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Meet the Author:

Catherine Bybee is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of twenty-five books that have collectively sold more than five million copies and have been translated into twelve languages. Raised in Washington State, Bybee moved to Southern California in hopes of becoming a movie star. After growing bored with waiting tables, she returned to school and became a registered nurse, spending most of her career in urban emergency rooms. She now writes full-time and has penned the Not Quite series, the Weekday Brides series, and the Most Likely To series.
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