Spotlight & Giveaway: Code Name: Hacker by Sawyer Bennett

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Sawyer Bennett to HJ!

Hi Sawyer and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Code Name: Hacker!

 
Hey, Junkies!
 

Tell us about the book with this fun little challenge using the title of the book:

H – HOT
A – Action
C – Catch up with the Jameson crew
K – An adorable kid
E – Ends with a bang!
R – Reads like an action movie!

Please share the opening lines of this book:

Even though the moon is at its fullest and brightest, there’s enough cloud cover for me to stand at the edge of the woods behind the woman’s house without being noticed. She lives about twenty miles north of the city of Pittsburgh in a little town called Cranberry.
I’ve learned a bit about her because I’ve been watching her for a few days.

Please tell us a little about the characters in your book.

Bebe Grimshaw is a strong-willed, kickass heroine who doesn’t back down. She’s been through the hell of prison and missing out on her kid growing up, and now that she’s free, she’s determine to stay out of trouble and make up for lost time with her son, Aaron.
Griffin Moore has a gruff exterior, but pushes all of Bebe’s buttons in the best way possible. Too bad he’s also been hired to kill her.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• I always try to toss something personal about me in my books, so this time it’s a trip to see the Steelers play at Heinz Field!
• A lot of my characters tend to end up in bars playing pool. Why? I’m a bar baby! Okay, maybe not a baby, but my dad had a bar when I was younger, so I spent a good chunk of time hanging out.

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

Griffin tracks Bebe down and befriends her and her son, Aaron, because he was hired to kill her. Bebe, however, can’t help but notice Griff’s finer qualities…tattoos, muscles, beard, and a killer Harley.

The First Kiss…

After a night of heavy flirting and plenty of beer…

Griff’s mouth comes down on mine, effectively shutting me up, and I start to sink into oblivion. His kiss is so fantastically amazing, and I lose myself in it. After another few moments, I know if he told me to get naked and get on the pool table, I’d do it. It has to be a combination of alcohol and forced celibacy, but the deeper part of my psyche realizes Griff has the power to make me feel so much more if I ever gave him a shot.

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would you use for the audition of the main characters and why?

When they first meet, Bebe and her son, Aaron, are in the park playing football. Griff picks up a pass go wrong and makes his introductions…

“Shit,” I mutter. Watching in horror, I realize the man has been watching us when he easily bends to scoop the ball up with one hand before it bounces off his kick-ass, steel-toed boot.
As I reluctantly walk toward him to retrieve the ball, he puts his book down and stands. Up close, he’s way taller than I thought, towering more than a foot above me. His eyes—and wow, they’re green—are sparkling with amusement. He only spares me a glance before he turns to Aaron and gracefully launches the ball. It hits Aaron square in the chest in the most perfect of passes.
“Sorry about that,” I murmur, but my words fall on deaf ears. To my disgruntlement, Aaron is overjoyed at having someone who can actually get him the ball. Without even asking if it’s okay or worrying about infringing on the man’s time, Aaron lobs it right back to him.
Smiling as he makes the easy catch, the man calls. “Loosen your grip up slightly. It will help your spiral.”
“Okay,” Aaron replies eagerly, waiting for the man to throw the ball back.
I stand there, completely ignored, as this stranger intrudes upon my time with my son—while doing much better than I ever could.
I silently seethe, even though I try to be charmed that’s he’s helping my son. He’s even giving him good advice about technique, which is something I could never do.
“I’m Griffin, by the way,” the man says in a deep, rumbly voice, sounding as if he’s amused by me.
He peruses me with his lips curved upward.
“I can give you some lessons, too,” he suggests. And damn it… I ignore the tremor moving up my spine at that unintended, completely innocent, yet somehow suggestive offer.
“Um… no thank you,” I mutter.
Griffin shrugs, but he continues tossing the ball with my kid.
“Got a name?” he asks after a particularly spectacular pass.
I jolt at the request, the wariness I’d forgotten to have over the last ten minutes or so rushing over me. I don’t talk to strangers. I’m not interested in men or dating or anything that requires polishing off my trust-building skills.
Still, I find myself answering. “Bebe.”
“That’s an interesting name,” he remarks. “And what about your kid?”
“Aaron,” I reply, but he promptly ignores me to yell new instructions. “Now, Aaron, I want you to run deep a few paces, cut left, and really take off.”
“Got it,” my son calls enthusiastically. I watch in amazement as he sort of jukes an invisible opponent, cuts left, and takes off on those gangly legs of his. When he looks over his shoulder, he’s easily able to catch the ball. Aaron shouts with glee, spikes the ball into the ground, and does a dance resembling the funky chicken.
I bust out laughing, my head tipped back and my hands going to my belly.
Griffin shifts my way, and I shiver when he says, “That’s a beautiful laugh.”
I sober instantly. “Are you flirting with me?”
“Apparently very poorly if you have to ask,” he replies with a wink.

If your hero had a sexy-times play list, what song(s) would have to be on it?

Oooh, I don’t have a playlist for this one, but I imagine something hard rock and gritty. Maybe y’all can give me some ideas in the comments? I’d love to hear what you think a bad ass biker/hitman for hire might use for sexy times.

If you could have given your characters one piece of advice before the opening pages of the book, what – would it be and why?

Things aren’t always as they seem…

What are you currently working on? What are your up-coming releases?*

I am spending the rest of 2020 work on my three current series–Jameson Force Security, Arizona Vengeance, and Wicked Horse Vegas. So I hope y’all like suspense, hockey hunks, and a little high class kink! 😉
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: Signed paperback of Code Name: Hacker (US only)

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Excerpt from Code Name: Hacker:

“I think I’d like you to kiss me again,” she whispers, her eyes locked straight on to mine. Her voice is strong and sure. While she may not be willing to reveal her secrets, she’s clearly offering something else.
Her lips are soft and inviting. The short kiss we had in the bar was all too fucking good. I wasn’t brought to Cranberry to kiss this woman or play football with her son, but fuck if I can withstand the invitation she presents right now.
My hand goes to the back of her neck and she actually sags slightly, silently submitting to me. In this moment, she’s placed her trust in me. She has faith I will give her what she needs, and I won’t hurt her in the process.
She stares unblinkingly, her mouth slightly parted to give me the access I need.
If Anatoly were standing here right now, he’d remark how easy it would be to just tighten my hand around her neck. I could easily strangle her one-handed because she’s so fairy-like, but two would get the job done quicker. She’d never be able to withstand my size and strength. I could put her down quickly and quietly, giving Anatoly whatever peace he thinks only her death can bring.
From there, it would be easy enough to get her in the trunk of the rental in the black of the night. Drive eleven miles west to the Ohio River, attach a few cement blocks to her body, and toss her over a bridge.
It would be the best move. Giving Anatoly what he wants keeps me safe. If I fail to ultimately deliver her death to him, it will assuredly mean my death. He has no room for error, mistakes, or disloyalty. I could effectively end it all right now and stay on my boss’s good side, which means I continue to lead a healthy life.
Except that doesn’t seem to matter that much to me in this moment, with Bebe all soft and pliant before me.
I dip my head as I squeeze the nape of her neck, bringing my mouth to hers. Her breath flutters over my tongue, and she gives a tiny, almost imperceptible moan that almost drives me to my knees.

Excerpts. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Book Info:

I’m not the same Bebe Grimshaw I was years ago. The woman I was spent years behind the bars of the highest security women’s prison in the nation, my punishment for hacking nuclear codes as part of a crime syndicate I’d gotten in way too deep with. The woman I am today doesn’t regret what I did, or the fact that I got caught, but I am remorseful for the years I lost with my son, Aaron. Released from my sentence early thanks to Kynan McGrath, I joined his team at Jameson Force Security and now put my skills to use helping people.

I’m just trying to get back a piece of what I lost, focusing solely on raising Aaron and my work at Jameson. As long as I have my son and my career, I’m content. But life has a funny way of letting you know exactly what you need, and when a devastatingly handsome stranger named Griffin befriends Aaron at the park, I have to consider I might be missing something. A part of me that was locked away long ago reawakens, and I find myself looking at Griff in a way I’ve not looked at a man in more than a decade.

Just when I think things are starting to look up, my world is turned upside down. Turns out that meeting wasn’t an accident, and things aren’t going my way at all.

Griffin Moore is the man sent here to kill me.
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Meet the Author:

Since the release of her debut contemporary romance novel, Off Sides, in January 2013, Sawyer Bennett has released multiple books, many of which have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.

A reformed trial lawyer from North Carolina, Sawyer uses real life experience to create relatable, sexy stories that appeal to a wide array of readers. From new adult to erotic contemporary romance, Sawyer writes something for just about everyone.

Sawyer likes her Bloody Marys strong, her martinis dirty, and her heroes a combination of the two. When not bringing fictional romance to life, Sawyer is a chauffeur, stylist, chef, maid, and personal assistant to a very active daughter, as well as full-time servant to her adorably naughty dogs. She believes in the good of others, and that a bad day can be cured with a great work-out, cake, or even better, both.

Sawyer also writes general and women’s fiction under the pen name S. Bennett and sweet romance under the name Juliette Poe.
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