Spotlight & Giveaway: I Hate You More by Lucy Gilmore

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Lucy Gilmore to HJ!

Hi Lucy and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, I Hate You More!

 
Thanks for stopping by Harlequin Junkie to chat all things rom-com and dogs!
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

I Hate You More is a contemporary rom-com that sees an uptight, slightly stuffy dog show judge pitted against a former beauty pageant queen who swore she’d never set foot on stage again. Ruby only returns to showmanship when one of the elderly residents at the nursing home where she works begs her to enter Wheezy, the laziest, hungriest, most useless golden retriever known to mankind, in Spencer’s dog show.

Is this where I get to say, “shenanigans ensue”? Because that’s pretty much the gist of it. Wheezy really is the worst show dog on the face of the planet, but Ruby is determined to see him win…and Spencer is just as determined not to let him ruin his show. Wheezy is mostly just determined to eat cheeseburgers and take as many naps as possible. (As are we all.)
 

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

The day Ruby had stood in front of her mother and announced that she would never again set foot on a pageant stage had been the best—and the worst—of her life. It had been like stepping out of prison after a decade behind bars, crawling out from a hole in the ground and feeling the sunlight on her skin for the first time. She’d been free—to make her own choices, to carve her own path, to go through life without a panel of judges commenting on everything she ate and wore and said.

She’d also quickly realized that without the pressure of competition to sustain her—without the drive to win, to succeed—she was about as useful a creature as Wheezy.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• The heroine of the book, Ruby, works as a CNA at a residential nursing home full of eccentric, hilarious women who have an erotica book club. This is (loosely) based on my own experiences working in a nursing home in my early twenties. There was a sense of community and friendship inside those walls that I’ve never found replicated anywhere else.
• Most of my research for this book entailed watching Toddlers & Tiaras and old Westminster Dog Show footage. (It’s a tough life, but someone has to do it.)
• In the book, Wheezy is the name of a golden retriever, but I borrowed it from the nickname I gave one of my cats. She’s very chubby and very lazy, and she doesn’t do anything unless she wants to.
• This book was called many different titles before we landed on I Hate You More, including Beauty and the Leashed and A Golden Opportunity.

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

Well, since the title is I Hate You More, what first attracts them is how very much NOT attracted they are to one another. Spencer looks at Ruby and sees a beautiful, confident woman who’s used to leveraging her looks to get her way (hint: she doesn’t). Ruby looks at Spencer and feels every single one of her competitive urges, which she buried a long time ago, sparking back to life.

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

So. Yes. Excellent question.

When I turned this book in to my editor, I wrote (and this is a direct quotation): “It came in at just over 91k words and contains, among other things, my most favorite sex scene to date.”

I wasn’t kidding! The first sex scene in this book is…something else. In it, our hero and heroine embark on a challenge to see who can last the longest if they stand on opposite sides of the room and touch themselves. It’s basically an enemies-to-lovers mutual masturbation showdown!

Here’s a taste:

“You want me to do push-ups right now? While you stand there without a shirt on?” Spencer glanced down at himself, where the clean lines of his slacks were starting to show serious signs of strain. “Do you have any idea how impossible that is?”

Ruby released a shaky laugh. Physical exertion would be equally difficult for her, even if the evidence wasn’t on display. Her insides were rapidly turning liquid. “I’m not that cruel. I was thinking more along the line of strokes.”

His breath hitched. “Strokes?”

The way he said the word—with just as much interest as incredulity—brought a smile to her lips. Whatever else she might say about this man, his competitive instincts matched her own.

“Unless you don’t think you can?” she said. “It’s asking a lot, I know. You can always forfeit.”

He took two steps backward, refusing to speak until he was safely ensconced on his half of the living room. “You did that on purpose. You wanted me to cross to the other side. You wanted to punish me.”

“It doesn’t have to be a punishment, Spencer. In fact, if we do things right, it can be the exact opposite.”

Readers should read this book….

…if they like romantic comedies with family drama, a great cast of secondary characters, and, of course, dogs. Wheezy is the undeniable star of the show.

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

I’m currently working on a non-romance project (I know, I know), but it’s still a lot of fun. It’s uplit fiction about a librarian who loses her job when she breaks the rules to check on a difficult patron who doesn’t show up for a few days. They start a book club that brings together all kinds of lost, lonely souls like them.

I also have several cozy mysteries coming out in the next year under my penname Tamara Berry. You can visit http://www.tamaraberry.com for more information.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: A Print copy of I Hate You More by Lucy Gilmore

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Excerpt from I Hate You More:

“The password is ‘mayonnaise.’”

Spencer blinked at this sudden change of subject. Unable to help himself, he cast a questioning look at Ruby. She stood with her arms crossed, one brow arched as she watched the conversation unfold.

“You’re the one who wanted to talk to her,” she said in a voice too low for the woman to overhear. “By all means, continue.”

“I’m not sure I understand,” he said. “What password?”

“It’s Wheezy’s green light,” the woman said.

“His green light to what?”

“To continue. You know—like a danger word.”

That didn’t clarify things in the slightest. “A danger word?”

Ruby choked on a sudden laugh.

“I’m afraid I’m not familiar with that term,” Spencer said carefully, mistrusting that laugh. He liked it, obviously, but that was the problem. He liked a lot more about Ruby than he wanted to.

“You’re not? What a pity. The good men never are.” The woman on the other end of the phone released a short sigh. “I don’t see what more I can possibly do to help out. He’s only a dog. How hard can it be to walk him out a door?”

She hung up without saying anything more. Spencer stared at the phone for a second, sure he’d missed a step somewhere.

“I could have told you how that would go,” Ruby said as she took her phone back. “Mrs. Orson is a lot like her dog. She doesn’t make anything easy.”

“Neither do you,” he pointed out. “You should have brought a second cheeseburger to lure him out again.”

“I’ll remember that for next time,” she said. “What was that about, by the way? Why did you want to talk to her?”

Rampant curiosity and a desire to know Ruby better seemed like the wrong answers, so he countered with “What’s a danger word? And why do only bad men know what it is?”

The half-choked gurgle of laughter escaped her again. “Oh dear. How to explain this delicately? You see, when mommies and daddies love each other very much—”

Every part of his being balked—reared up, pulled the brakes, and refused to go one step further. “Never mind. I think I just figured it out.”

“—and when those mommies and daddies are feeling a little bored in the bedroom—”

“You can stop now. I get it.” He might not be the most sexually savvy man in the world, but he could put the pieces together. Danger word/safe word. Green light/red light. They were talking full-on sexcapades here—a topic fraught with danger and red lights on all sides. He wouldn’t allow himself to discuss mommies, daddies, or any of the things they got up to with Ruby.

Mostly because he wouldn’t mind discussing them with her at all.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Ruby Taylor gave up pageant life the day she turned eighteen and figured she’d never look back. But when an old friend begs her to show her beloved Golden Retriever at the upcoming Canine Classic, Ruby reluctantly straps on her heels and gets to work.

If only she knew exactly what the adorably lazy lump of a dog was getting her into.

If there’s one thing veterinarian Spencer Wilson knows in this world, it’s dogs. Human beings are an entirely different animal. Especially stubborn, gorgeous women clearly in way over their heads. As judge for the local dog show, Spencer advises Ruby to quit while she still can, but her old fervor for winning has returned―and she wants to show the stern, broody-eyed judge that she’s more than just a pretty face. In the end, she’ll show him who’s best in show.
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Meet the Author:

Lucy Gilmore is a celebrated novelist in a wide range of genres, including literary fiction, contemporary romance, and cozy mystery. She began her reading (and writing) career as an English literature major and ended as a book lover without all those pesky academic papers attached.

She lives in Spokane, WA with her family and far more pets than any of them need. When she’s not rolling around with her two Akitas, she can be found hiking, biking, or with her nose buried in a book.
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