Spotlight & Giveaway: Coen by Sawyer Bennett

Posted October 4th, 2022 by Sara @HarlequinJunkie in Blog, Spotlight / 32 comments

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, Coen: A Pittsburgh Titans Novel!

*wave* Hi, friends!

To start off, can you please tell us a little bit about this book?:

Coen Highsmith is spiraling out of control, suffering from grief and guilt following the team plane crash that killed his teammates. After being suspended for attacking a ref, Coen walked away from the team in search of peace and quiet. What he found was a neighbor who drives him crazy…in more ways than one. And she might be exactly what Coen needs to heal.

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

“Look, lady. I—”
“Tilden,” she says.
My eyebrows pull inward and irritation flushes through me. “What?”
“My name is Tilden. Tillie to my friends, but you don’t qualify. So, it’s Tilden or Ms. Marshall, but it’s not lady. That’s rude.”

What inspired this book?

I wanted a grumpy/sunshine kind of book, and Coen and Tillie absolutely delivered. I mean, how can you have a hero like Coen Highsmith and not give him someone who is his complete opposite?

I wanted something to soften Coen’s poor behavior, and what better way to do that than with an adorable woodland creature? Animals make everything better, right?

How did you ‘get to know’ your main characters? Did they ever surprise you?

Coen and I have been getting to know one another for a while now, throughout the first three books in the Pittsburgh Titans series. His asshole behavior has been increasing as time goes on, so I was looking forward to his breaking point. It surprised me how once he broke and that weight was lifted, he was like a new person.

As for Tillie? She was exactly the person I expected her to be. She didn’t take Coen’s crap. She’s funny and caring. She was the perfect match for Coen.

What was your favorite scene to write?

Coen makes friends with a chipmunk, which provides some delightful comic relief. There is a scene where Gage comes to visit and Chip stops by to see Coen…

“Holy fuck,” Gage exclaims as Chip scurries up my jean-clad leg and onto my thigh where he pulls a peanut from my hand. “You’ve got a chipmunk on you.”
Laughing, I glance over at him. “This is Chip. We’re buddies.”
Gage doesn’t respond but grabs his phone and takes a picture of us. “I’m texting this to the team right now.”

What was the most difficult scene to write?

I don’t want to include an excerpt of this one in order to avoid spoilers, but the scene where Coen opens up and spills his guts to Tillie. His grief is just gut-wrenching, and you can feel how his survivor’s guilt has driven all of his decisions since the crash. But it’s also his first major step towards healing, so it was heartbreaking but cathartic at the same time.

Would you say this book showcases your writing style or is it a departure for you?

Very much on brand for me. I love writing in the hockey world and it was nice to be back with the Titans for a while.

What do you want people to take away from reading this book?

I just want people to sit back and enjoy Coen and Tillie’s story. A few hours of escapism.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have planned?

I just finished writing Drake, which is book five in the Pittsburgh Titans series, and I LOVE Drake and Brienne’s story! I’m also currently working on The Midnight Realm, which is a standalone fantasy romance set within the Chronicles of the Stone Veil world.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: (1) Signed paperback of Coen by Sawyer Bennett (US only)

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Excerpt from Coen: A Pittsburgh Titans Novel:

Oh, and I hear Ann Marie singing Lizzo’s “About Damn Time,” which makes me laugh. She’s a favorite of ours, especially because she’s all about self-love, no matter your size or shape.
I toss the Ziploc on the ground, position myself with my butt angled away from the slant of the hill so I don’t pee on myself, and unzip my shorts.
I’m usually not an overly shy person, but after I squat, it takes a minute for my brain and bladder to connect. When I’m finally able to start, I sigh with relief because it would’ve been embarrassing to have to admit that I needed to go back to my house just for a potty break.
A twig snaps in the distance, and my head whips that way. It almost throws me off-balance, but I steady myself. More branches crack, and it sounds like something much larger than a squirrel, but I can’t see well through the thick laurels I’m squatted behind.
Quickly, I grab the baggie, nab the tissues, and wipe. Still squatting, I tuck them back in the bag so I can throw them away at home. Whatever is moving through the woods is coming closer, and fast.
Like, way fast.
Except now the intruder seems to be coming from behind me, and I’m disoriented. Maybe the forest’s peaks and valleys are bouncing the sound around, but I’m convinced it’s a bear.
A fucking bear out of hibernation and hungry for a curvy, wine-soaked woman.
“Shit,” I mutter as I stand, dragging my panties up first. I grab for my shorts and start to haul them up, too, but the sound is so close, I can’t wait any longer. I start running while trying to jerk my clothes back into place. I come around the thicket of mountain laurels and slam into something so hard, I bounce backward and onto my ass that’s only half covered by my shorts.
I scream in terror, waiting for the bear to pounce, when I take in the fact it’s not a hairy beast after all.
It’s a man.
A decidedly unhairy man, as he’s not wearing a shirt and has a smooth chest drenched in sweat that trickles over ripped abs and down into low-slung running shorts.
My gaze runs back up and skids to a screeching halt as I take in two things at once.
The man is undeniably gorgeous with dark, shaggy hair and even darker eyes, even though he’s sweaty and panting from what I’m thinking was a strenuous run. He does have a short beard, but that doesn’t put him in bear territory.
And… he’s staring at me, lying on the ground with my shorts barely over my white panties.
I frantically pull them up, somehow managing to button them on the first try, and scramble to my feet without closing the zipper.
As I whirl to face him, Ann Marie skids around the bushes, gripping the wine bottle by the neck, poised to attack.
“You get away from her,” she snarls, brandishing her makeshift weapon.
The man doesn’t flinch but pulls music buds from his ears. “Not nice to threaten a man on his own land. You’re trespassing, by the way.”
“We’re not trespassing,” I exclaim, tugging at my zipper. “This is my land. These are my trails.”
“Wrong,” he says blandly.
“No, you’re wrong,” I retort.
“Where do you live?” Ann Marie demands, still holding the wine bottle slightly raised.
“Honeycutt Road.” The man points in the direction he ran from.
Honeycutt Road?
“Your property must sit adjacent to mine,” I murmur, trying to understand if I’m indeed a trespasser. But then I decide it’s ridiculous to get worked up about it. “Listen… my name is Tilden Marshall. My friends call me Tillie. It appears we’re neighbors.”
I step forward and hold out my hand, then realize he probably doesn’t want to shake it because I just finished peeing. I drop it and wipe my palm on the back of my shorts.
The man stares at me in annoyance.
“And you are?” I prompt. Ann Marie merely watches, ready to bludgeon him.
“Coen,” he says curtly, slipping the buds back into his ears. “And you’re trespassing. Stay off my land.”
And with that, he takes off running right past us. We both turn and watch him easily navigate the trail, avoiding large roots and uneven areas.
Jesus… I can barely walk these trails without twisting an ankle. That’s some skill.
“Did you see those abs?” Ann Marie whispers.
“Holy eight-pack, Batman,” I whisper back. Not that he can hear us. He’s long gone.
“But rude.”
“So rude.”
“But hot, right?” she asks for clarification.
“Very hot.”
We bust out laughing, and she sadly offers the empty wine bottle. “I dumped it to use as a weapon.”
“You bitch,” I exclaim. “And I could use some now. The man caught me peeing, and I couldn’t get my pants up, and then I fell over, and shit, Ann Marie… I’m wearing granny panties.”
My best friend in the world… my closet ally… snickers. “I would have paid money to see that.”

Book Info:

Coen Highsmith was a league star, but he lost more than his team the day the Pittsburgh Titans’ plane crashed. Can he be saved from his downward spiral of guilt and regret to become the man he once was?

I had it all—a successful hockey career, the respect and adoration of the fans, a rotation of beautiful women warming my bed, and a feeling of self-worth and contentment with the direction of my life. But that all changed the day the team plane went down, taking my only chance of redemption with it. Now I’m left with the daily reminder of all my failures and my inability to correct them.

My new teammates are tired of my attitude and following my suspension, I hole up in a mountain cabin to get away from all of it. The isolation is exactly what I need to get out of my own head, and I’m beginning to think I could be content in this quiet forever.

Tillie Marshall isn’t the type of woman who would usually catch my attention, yet she manages to do so for all the wrong reasons. I’m here for the peace and seclusion but the quirky artist is hell-bent on destroying that by cutting down the trees that separate our properties so she can open a pottery studio. If it’s a fight she wants, it’s a fight she’ll get. I have the money and the time and no issues bringing her down through the court system. While I see flashes of steely determination within her, I’ve found that being a jerk comes naturally these days and she won’t be hard to intimidate.

Unfortunately, that gorgeous and somewhat odd neighbor who has been causing me grief is creating another type of feeling within me. And once that spark is lit, Tillie displays a faith in me that for the first time since the crash I desperately want to believe. Now it’s time for me to step up and become the man—no, a better man than I once was.

Meet the Author:

New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author Sawyer Bennett uses real life experience to create relatable stories that appeal to a wide array of readers. From contemporary romance, fantasy romance, and both women’s and general fiction, Sawyer writes something for just about everyone.

A former trial lawyer from North Carolina, when she is not bringing fiction to life, Sawyer is a chauffeur, stylist, chef, maid, and personal assistant to her very adorable daughter, as well as full-time servant to her wonderfully naughty dogs.