Spotlight & Giveaway: Embrace Me by J. Kenner

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author J. Kenner to HJ!

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

 
Hi! Thanks so much for having me!
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Nikki & Damien Stark are happily anticipating the birth of their third child, and they are celebrating the family they have built around them. But when Nikki’s mom shows up (who’s been a total b***** in previous books, all of that is challenged.
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

I stand on the bedroom balcony, the doors open behind me as I look out at the morning light glinting on the Pacific. I’m barefoot and fresh from the shower, now wrapped in the extra-large spa-style robe that Damien bought for me when I was pregnant with Anne.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

•  In prep for writing this book (and Enchant Me, a full-length novel coming in October), I went back and read every Nikki and Damien book and novella, and even though I wrote them all, I got so wonderfully sucked into the story!
• This book was originally going to be a long prologue (or a Part I) of Enchant Me, but I realized that it was better on its own!

Please tell us a little about the characters in your book. As you wrote your protagonist was there anything about them that surprised you?

Nikki is a cutter, though she’s (mostly) successfully fought that urge for many years. In this book, a young woman that Nikki has been mentoring showed up on the page and totally surprised me. I love the interaction between her and Nikki!

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

“Mother.” I have to clear my throat. I can barely speak. “What—what are you doing here?”

She takes a single step into my office, and I tense. “I wanted to see my daughter, of course.” She looks around the room, a trademark Elizabeth Fairchild smile plastered across her face. “There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?”

“But how did you get in here?” I want to scream that of course there’s something wrong with that. That of course I don’t want her here, and just by being in this building, she’s tainted the whole damn day.

Instead I manage to pull myself together and say, “You just strolled into my office because you wanted to? Who does that?”

“I heard your voice,” she says, “so how could I resist? And I assumed you wouldn’t mind. I’m your mother, after all, and I—”

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

The theme of the book is that you make your own families, so I guess I want readers to know that they are an important part of Nikki and Damien’s family, too!

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

Right now, I’m finalizing Day of the Demon, the seventh book in my Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom series of paranormal women’s fiction. (It is SO much fun! Book one is Carpe Demon — for anyone who hasn’t read it, I urge you to check it out!)

After that, I’m working on Enchant Me, the next Nikki & Damien novel in which their ceremony to renew their wedding vows is interrupted by a young man who swears he’s Damien’s son…

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: I’m giving away a copy of Carpe Demon to anyone who wants it!

JUST GO HERE TO CLAIM YOUR COPY: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/b8pc4jm1yw

“This book, as crammed with events as any suburban mom’s calendar, shows you what would happen if Buffy got married and kept her past a secret. It’s a hoot.”Charlaine Harris, New York Times bestselling author

Kate Connor is your average, everyday mom with two kids, a husband, and one very big secret … she used to be a Demon Hunter for a secret arm of the Vatican. Now retired, she’s more interested in the domestic than the demonic. So when she catches sight of a demon in Wal-Mart, she tells herself it’s some other Hunter’s problem. But when that demon attacks her in her kitchen, retirement is no longer an option.

Now Kate has to kick a little demon butt, figure out why the creatures are trying to take her out and take over her home town, and at the same time take care of her 2 year old, deal with a hormonal 14 year old, get the family to Catholic mass on time, and try to keep her past a secret from her daughter and her husband.

She’s a little out of practice, but hey … if she can juggle two kids and an impromptu dinner party, ridding the town of demons should be a piece of cake. Like the saying goes, Carpe Demon … and Kate intends to do just that.

Leave a comment to this Q: Do you prefer books with a small or a large cast? If you like family books, do “found families” work as well for you?

Excerpt from Embrace Me:

Damien crossed the tile floor to the table where the three women sat, then stood behind his wife.
“This is what I like to see,” he said as Nikki turned in her seat and smiled up at him. “Three of my favorite women enjoying lunch together.”

“What on earth are you doing here?” Nikki asked, her pleasure at seeing him coming through in her voice.

He lifted his phone, as if that were answer enough. Apparently it was, because she laughed.

“Edward told on me,” she said.

“He said you were tired and going home for the day. I told him I’d pick you up. I spent my morning at the Domino, so I was conveniently located to act as chauffeur for my wife.”

“Well, I can’t say I’m sad to see you,” Evelyn said. “You’re just lucky you came when we were already done with your wife.” She reached over and patted Nikki’s hand. “Or, perhaps, she was done with us.”

“This has been wonderful, but I can definitely use a nap,” Nikki said.

Jamie shook her head. “With all this talk about exhaustion and the other aches and pains that go along with pregnancy, you guys are definitely not talking me into having a kiddo anytime soon.” She aimed a bright smile up at Damien. “Fortunately, between you two and Jackson and Sylvia, I’m swimming in nieces and nephews.”

He laughed. “Which means, of course, that we can call on you to babysit anytime.”

“Absolutely. And so long as I’m not naked and in bed with your best friend, we’ll rush right over.”
Nikki made a show of holding her hands over her stomach. “Careful. He might hear you.”

Jamie waved away the words. “Well, he has to get to know his Aunt Jamie soon, doesn’t he?”

“Can’t argue with that,” Nikki said, reaching out for Damien. He took her hand, wondering what he’d ever done to get so lucky.

“Ladies, I’ve already taken care of the check. Now I’m going to take care of my wife.” He pointed between Evelyn and Jamie’s drinks. “You two go ahead and finish up, but if you don’t mind I’m going to take her now. I think it’s time someone rested.”

“Normally I would get on him for handling me,” Nikki said, pushing her chair back. “But I really am exhausted. And,” she added looking up at Damien with a smile. “I’m very happy with my designated driver.”

He watched as she gave both women a hug, then he brushed a kiss over both their cheeks. For a man whose childhood should be listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as worst ever, he’d ended up winning the Friends and Family Lottery.

He kept a hand at Nikki’s lower back, not only because he enjoyed feeling the way she moved against him, but also because he wanted to be close in case she slipped. His normally graceful wife was definitely lacking in grace these days.

She smiled up at him. “Waddling,” she said, then rolled her eyes.

“Yes. But you do it with such pizzazz.”

As he’d hoped, she giggled. “So home?” She looked up and down the street then frowned, obviously not seeing his car. “Why didn’t you have the valet leave it here if you knew we were coming straight out?”

“To be honest, I lied. I’m happy to take you home if you’re too tired, but I thought it might be nice to take a walk on the beach.” He was carrying a soft-sided leather briefcase, and he tapped it now. “I brought your Leica,” he said. “I’d like to get a shot of you by the water.”

She looked between him and the beach. The restaurant was a short walk from the Pier, and they could easily cross the parking lot, then walk through the sand to the water. But walking on the loose sand wasn’t easy, and if she was already tired…

For a moment her face was almost unreadable, which was unusual, as Damien had developed the knack of reading Nikki’s expressions over the years. Then he saw the answer in her eyes. The bright joy that spread to her mouth, ending in a stunning, brilliant smile. “That sounds wonderful,” she said, squeezing his hand. “Thank you for thinking of it.”

“It’s for both of us,” he said, but he was touched by her words. Nikki had been an amateur photographer for years, taking her camera on every trip and even taking lessons from their friend Wyatt Royce, a highly sought-after professional photographer.

But she’d never taken any pictures of herself during her pregnancy with Anne, though they did have some studio shots of him, Lara, and a very pregnant Nikki. They’d taken tons of pictures in China when they got Lara, but the only candid pictures of her pregnancy with Anne were the snaps he’d taken using the camera on his phone.

This time, he wanted to be more deliberate.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Growing up, I never expected to have so much love in my life. My childhood had been a nightmare, but despite our challenges, my life now with Damien and our daughters is nothing short of miraculous. Even better, we have a baby boy on the way, and I’m walking on clouds as I await the big day.

These final weeks should be magical, but when my mother appears on our doorstep with a promise that she has changed and a plea for us to welcome her back into our life, I’m suddenly adrift in a sea of uncertainty. Now, I’m floundering once again, tossed back into the nightmare of my past. And as the whirlpool of memories and fear once again tries to suck me under, I can only hope that Damien’s strength is enough to pull me back again.

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Meet the Author:

J. Kenner (aka Julie Kenner) is the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal and #1 International bestselling author of over one hundred novels, novellas and short stories in a variety of genres.
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