Spotlight & Giveaway: Made in Manhattan by Lauren Layne

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Lauren Layne to HJ!

Hi Lauren and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Made in Manhattan!

Hi—thanks so much for having me! I’ve been a huge fan of HJ since the earliest days of my career, and it’s always a joy to share my books with HJ readers.
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Made in Manhattan is totally a Pygmalion story, or as it’s sometimes better known: a My Fair Lady/Pretty Woman/She’s All That makeover story! Typically it involves a guy “making over” a woman, but this one switches it up. A pampered, polished New York socialite is tasked with making over a denim-wearing, gruff guy from Louisiana into someone who can pass in the suit-wearing Manhattan boardroom.
 

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

“Sure there was a question.” Cain moved closer, his thumb pressing at the very center of her chin, lifting her face upward. “Are you his girl? Or are you not.”

Violet let out a breathless laugh. “Am I his girl? What is this, 1912?”

“That’s not an answer.” He studied her closely. “Then again, maybe it is.”

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• It’s been one that I’ve wanted to write for years! Sometimes story ideas come to me out of nowhere and demand to be written RIGHT THIS SECOND. Others develop slowly, and nag the muse slowly, until finally I “crack” the story and feel ready to write it 🙂
• I’m not sure when pearls became such a vital part of the heroine’s character, but they really are, and I love that my publisher incorporated her necklace into the cover design!
• This book feels very much a return to classic romance—I didn’t try to force myself to add any “twists” or hooks or take on any issues. It’s a story about a man and woman falling in love—period! Those are my favorites to read.

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

This is 100% an opposites attract story, not only in terms of their personality/style/background, but in that they are each the complete opposite of what the other finds attractive! It was really fun to have them almost immediately repelled by each other, and yet just as equally drawn together. It made for some delicious tension!
 

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

I confess that I LOVE writing “jealousy” scenes, and there are a few of them in this book! Here’s one in which they’re discussing the heroine’s longtime, platonic companion early in the story:

“Fine, I love Keith, and no, I don’t think love is stupid,” she said a little stubbornly. “Happy now?”

They began walking again, their footsteps muffled by the snow.

“No,” Cain said curtly.

She glanced up, puzzled. “No, what?”

“No to your question.” He didn’t look her way, his tone deceptively bored. “No. I wouldn’t say I’m happy now.”

Readers should read this book….

If you’re in the mood for something light-hearted and sweet, with a LOT of sexual tension.
 

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

I’m putting finishing touches on You Again, a standalone romantic comedy for release in Summer 2022!
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway:  A print copy of Made in Manhattan by Lauren Layne

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What’s your favorite “makeover” story? I’m a sucker for Pretty Woman, although I also LOVED “She’s All That” when I was in high school!

 
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Excerpt from Made in Manhattan:

Violet opened the cupboard to the right of the sink. As she’d hoped, Adam’s French press was still there, and there was even a bag of unopened coffee beans. The coffee a bit past its prime, certainly, but at least it was caffeine; Violet was feeling increasingly weary and they’d barely gotten started.
She set about making the coffee, sensing Cain’s gaze tracking her every movement.
“Come here often, do ya?” Cain asked sarcastically as Violet dumped beans into the grinder she found in one of the lower cabinets.
She shrugged. “I knew your father well.”
“How well?”
She gave him a wary look out of the corner of her eye as she put the kettle on to heat the water. “He was a family friend.”
“Friend, as in . . .” He waggled his eyebrows, deliberately crude.
Violet didn’t bother dignifying that with a response. “How do you take your coffee?”
“Black.” He nodded at the French press. “What the hell is that?”
“It’s a French press. A type of coffee pot.”
“Looks like a pain in the ass,” he said, straightening and lifting his arms over his head to stretch.
“Sorry it’s not instant,” she said just a little snidely.
He surprised her by laughing, a low rumble. “Damn, you really are a snob.”
“I’m not,” she said automatically.
His snort said it all.
“So,” she said as she set a timer for four minutes and turned to face him. “Since we’re stuck with each other, we might as well get to know the basics. Tell me about Cain Stone.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said, one eye on her purse as Coco hopped out of the bag and began sniffing the hardwood floor in earnest. Cain’s attention came back to Violet. “You barge into my house at the crack of dawn, and you think we’re going to make small talk?”
Violet blinked. “The crack of dawn? It’s ten thirty in the morning.”
He shook his head. “Clearly, you’ve never been to N’awlins. This is very much morning.”
“You lived there your whole life?” she asked, jumping at the opening to know him better. To understand him. For Edith’s sake, of course.
“No.”
Before she could press him to elaborate, the unmistakable sound of bare feet on wood steps caught her attention.
She looked at Cain, startled to learn they weren’t alone in the house. He didn’t look the least bit surprised when a short, curvy blonde padded into the kitchen wearing nothing but bedhead and a large T-shirt. Cain’s shirt, Violet was guessing, judging by the way it hit at her upper thigh. Violet was only five five, but that T-shirt would leave her butt hanging out, and not in a sexy way.
Not that she had much opportunity to give it a try. Her and Keith’s relationship hadn’t been physical in ages, and even the couple of times they had slept together, almost out of obligation, she’d never thought to borrow one of his shirts.
Not that he’d offered.
“Hey, darlin’,” Cain said, turning and giving the woman a slow, sleepy grin.
Violet blinked at the blatantly sexual charm. Where had he been hiding that?
The blonde wound her arms around his waist, resting her chin on his arm and gazing up at him, pointedly ignoring Violet, though she did glance at Coco. “Cute dog.”
“Mmm,” Cain said noncommittally before letting himself to be drawn into a passionate, rather wet-sounding kiss.
Since they were too wrapped up in each other to pay attention to even remember she was there, Violet wrinkled her nose in distaste at the smacking noises.
The timer went off, and the woman unpeeled her mouth from Cain’s, finally looking over at Violet. Her expression wasn’t quite antagonistic, but the vibe was unmistakable: this one’s mine.
Violet smiled pleasantly. By all means.
“Coffee?” Violet asked the two of them, turning to retrieve mugs from the counter.
“Yup,” the woman said.
Yup, please, Violet mentally amended, the way she had been corrected in childhood until good manners had become as natural to her as breathing.
Violet went to the fridge. As expected, it was empty, save a six-pack of beer and a takeout container. She closed it again. “Black okay?”
The woman made a face. “Gross. Guess it’ll have to be.”
Violet’s eyes caught Cain’s just for a moment. Really? This one?
He merely gazed back at her, betraying nothing.
Violet pulled three mugs out of the cupboard, as she realized that the small pot of the coffee wasn’t quite enough to fill up three mugs.
Because her ingrained hostess instincts wouldn’t think of serving a measly half cup of coffee to guests in an effort to stretch it to three servings, she poured two full cups for Cain and his female companion, leaving none for herself.
She slid them both across the counter. Neither said thank you.
Violet bit back a sarcastic you’re welcome and began rinsing out the grounds to make a second pot.
Cain startled Violet, coming up beside her, picking up her empty mug, and pouring half of his own coffee into it.
He unceremoniously set it on counter in front of her.
Violet hid her surprise, not only that he’d shared his coffee, but that he’d even noticed she hadn’t poured any for herself.
“Thank you,” she told him.
He acted as though she hadn’t spoken and leaned against the counter, mug in hand, one ankle crossed over the other, jeans still defiantly unbuttoned, with just a strip of . . .

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Central Park Pact comes a reverse My Fair Lady for the modern era about a pampered and privileged Manhattan socialite who must teach an unpolished and denim-loving nobody from the Louisiana Bayou how to fit in with the upper crust of New York City.

Violet Townsend has always been a people pleaser. Raised in the privileged world of Upper East Side Manhattan, she always says the right things, wears the right clothes, and never rocks the boat. Violet would do anything for the people closest to her, especially her beloved grandmother. So when she asks Violet to teach the newly-discovered grandson of her friend how to fit in with New York City’s elite, Violet immediately agrees. Her goal? To get Cain Stone ready to take his place as heir to his family company…but to say he’s not exactly an eager student is an understatement.

Born and raised in rural Louisiana and now making his own way in New Orleans, Cain Stone is only playing along for the paycheck at the end. He has no use for the grandmother he didn’t know existed and no patience for the uppity Violet’s attempts to turn him into a suit-wearing, museum-attending gentleman.

But somewhere amidst antagonistic dinner parties and tortured tux fittings, Cain and Violet come to a begrudging understanding—and the uptight Violet realizes she’s not the only one doing the teaching. As she and Cain begin to find mutual respect for one another (and maybe even something more), Violet learns that blindly following society’s rules doesn’t lead to happiness…and that sometimes the best things in life come from the most unexpected places.
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Meet the Author:

Lauren Layne is the New York Times bestselling author of romantic fiction. With millions of books sold worldwide, Lauren has been featured on Inside Edition, The Wall Street Journal, BuzzFeed, TheSkimm, Oprah Magazine, PopSugar, and Cosmopolitan magazine. She lives in New York City with her high school sweetheart.
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