Spotlight & Giveaway: Mercy Me by Joss Wood

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Joss Wood to HJ!

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

 
Thanks for having me!
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Kai is fiercely independent and determined to rely on no one, ever. Flick is done with giving her all to men who give nothing back. And Rufus, Flick’s dog/small horse is out of control. Kai and flick’s plan for a quick fling falls to the floor (just like their torn off clothing) leaving them wondering iff they can keep their hands and their hearts to themselves.
 

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

“You are selfish and self-absorbed…. dammit, Rufus, why are we having this conversation again? This can’t go on, Ru. We cannot keep on running around after you, hauling you out of dives and meat markets. It’s not okay.”
Bad boyfriend, he immediately decided. Who was he and where could he find him? And was he stupid, screwing around on her? Didn’t he realize that woman who looked like she did, sounded like she did, were few and far between? She hadn’t spent hours in front of a mirror this morning putting on her make-up and she looked like she’d just pulled her long curls into a messy tail. Her outfit was eclectic too; cowboy boots and with denim shorts and a white gauzy top. Her foot tapped the floor and he could see her irritation in the clenched fist at her side.
“You are unfaithful and disloyal and a pain in the ass. I’m sorry to be harsh but maybe this is the reason why you were dumped before. “
Kai looked around the bakery and noticed that a number of customers were actively tuned into the conversation.
Was she really fine with airing her dirty laundry in such a public forum? He shuddered at the thought. Another problem with small towns, he thought—everybody knew your business. His left shoulder blade prickled.
“I can’t keep this up, Ru. You’re killing me. Behave yourself or I am going to have to call it quits and—hi, Pips. No, do not let him sleep on your bed!”
What the hell?
“He is gorgeous, I know it and he knows it. And half of the female population in Mercy knows it. He can charm the pants off anyone. Do not let him do it to you. I know it’s your day off but please keep an eye on him. He’s totally untrustworthy. Bye, babe.”
“Rufus acting out again?” Sawyer placed his hand on Flick’s shoulder and Kai ground his back teeth together, discombobulated by the swell of possessiveness that swamped him. He never felt possessive. But who was this Rufus, who was treating her like crap? In the three years he’d been dropping in and out of Mercy he’d never heard of a Rufus, but since he was more out of the country than in, that wasn’t a big surprise. But he could find out—yeah, that was easy enough to do.
Flick twisted her lips at Sawyer and sighed heavily. “He’s driving me nuts, Sawyer. I’m beginning to think he’s a lost cause.”
Kai watched as she placed her arms on the counter and stared out of the windows behind them at the busy street. She had a great ass, round and tight, shown off to perfection in her shorts. Her legs were brilliant too. In profile, she looked about sixteen, with her high cheekbones and upturned nose. He was not surprised that she looked vaguely sad; anyone who had such a douche bag for a boyfriend would be morose.
Sawyer shook his head in disagreement. “You can’t give up on him, honey. You’ve come so far.”
Kai’s mouth dropped open hearing that statement from his long-time friend. Yeah, Sawyer swapped women like he did shirts but he always treated them well. And he never encouraged woman to stay with bad men. Ever.
“What the hell?” he muttered to Sawyer.
Sawyer ignored him, running his hand down Flick’s arm, which really pissed Kai off. And the fact that it pissed him off pissed him off more.
God, he needed coffee. Maybe intravenously injected.
Or a drink.
Sawyer and Flick both ignored him and Flick pulled that luscious bottom lip between her teeth. Kai had to bite his own tongue to stop himself from telling her that he’d be happy to do that for her.
He was thirty-four years old and he was acting like a fourteen-year-old. Maybe three months in a sandy country with no booze and no women was about two and a half months too long.
“I don’t know what to do.” Flick half-wailed.
“Kick his partying, cheating, stupid ass over a cliff.” Kai stated in a low voice, thinking that this wasn’t rocket science. “I mean, God, why stay with someone who gives you grief?”
Those round mermaid eyes widened at his comment and Flick’s mouth dropped open.
“Um, Kai?” Sawyer interjected, green eyes laughing.
“And what the hell is up with you, Sawyer? Since when do you encourage woman to stay with morons? God, I need coffee. “
Flick slapped her hand against her mouth. Okay, seriously, what was the joke and why wasn’t he getting it? He stiffened his back and mentally retreated, his face hardening and his eyes narrowing. Were they laughing at him? Crap, yes they were.
It took every last iota of willpower he had to keep his discomfiture tightly under wraps. “What’s the joke?”he asked in his best don’t-fuck-with-me voice.
Sawyer sobered up but Flick giggled again. So…not easily intimidated. That voice usually had soldiers, from generals to grunts, looking for cover. He looked from her to Sawyer, raising one dark eyebrow.
Sawyer twisted his lips to keep his smile from blooming again. “Rufus is a rescue dog Flick is trying to rehabilitate. A very bad, very big, collie-Newfoundland cross.”

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• This is a three book series about three ex-military guys who can kick ass all over the world, but who find love the greatest test of all.
•  My favorite character in the book? Well, Kai is hot and Flick is lovely but Rufus, Flick’s oversize dog is an absolute reprobate and I adore him.
• I loved writing the scenes where Kai, Sawyer and Axl interact. I love exploring the dynamics of male friendship.

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

Kai’s over having brief encounters– he refused an offer by an air hostess to join the Mile High Club the night before he meets Flick–but he’s not interested in a relationship.

Kai whipped his head around to find the source of the melodious voice and saw a woman holding a tray of freshly baked red velvet cupcakes. Resisting the urge to stuff his face, he looked up and saw the sexiest mouth he’d ever laid eyes on. He had a vague impression of long, tawny hair pulled back into a no-nonsense ponytail, a trim body, and light eyes, but his own eyes were having trouble moving off her mouth. It was wide and unpainted with a natural pout that had the blood in his head rocketing south. Images of exactly where he’d like to see those lips started flashing through his head and Kai forced himself to do a few rapid multiplication tables to keep from embarrassing himself.
He stood and stared at her, knowing that his own mouth was half open and that his eyes were probably glazed. He wanted her. Under him, over him, any damn way he could get her. As soon as possible.

Flick is over giving all of her love and attention to men who give her nothing back and Kai is perfect for a quick fling…

She’d been concentrating on carrying the overloaded tray of red velvet cupcakes to the counter and she’d nearly tumbled when she looked up and clocked that sexy face and ripped body. Kai had muscles that made smart girls say stupid things; things like “let’s go to bed”, “do me” and, worst of all, “I love you”. Messy deep brown hair and a scruffy, week-old beard and those eyes—dear God, his eyes! Rich, hypnotic and a fantastic shade of gold, so unusual they couldn’t be anything but real. When those eyes connected with hers she swore they just sucked her right on into their own, private porno movie. There was a big, canopied bed with white linen, and she was getting up close and very personal with that muscular body, exploring that six pack with her tongue, biting into those big biceps, making sure that his butt was as hard as she suspected.
Not that there was anything boy-like about Kai Manning. Like Sawyer, he had a warrior’s body, but his eyes were deeply cynical and just a little sad.
Right, pull yourself together, Felicity. You’ve had your fun, and totally objectified him, and now it’s time to take your reality pill, honey.
She could dismiss the gorgeous angles and planes of his face, sort of, and the body (a bit more effort was required but she could do it), but those skeptical and distrustful eyes made her heart clench.
“Oh, crap.” Flick looked up at Sawyer’s statement and tipped her head when he scrambled to put the two takeout cups back on the counter, dropping the bag next to them. He repeated the phrase when he placed his big hands on her shoulders and peered into her face. “This won’t end well.”

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

My Rufus-behaving-badly scenes made me laugh, and the sex scenes are pretty hot. *Where’s my fan? * But I really enjoyed finding ways to get my hard-ass, tough Kai to open up to Flick and keeping him alpha, reticent and independent while showing his soft side. It was a delicate balancing act.

Kai looked at his watch and was surprised to see that he’d been sitting in the bakery for a half hour already. Time seemed to fly when he was with Flick, whether they were making love or just, it seemed, talking. She was easy to talk to. He didn’t find himself checking his sentences before they left his mouth.
But now she was asking about his past, which was a minefield he didn’t really want to revisit. But Tally’s arrival in Mercy had catapulted him back to that time, to the person he was before he was the Kai of today. Talking about it probably wouldn’t help but for the first time—ever—he wanted to share…something. He wanted Flick to know something of the person he still was, beneath the muscles and the good clothes and nice car. Because that person was a large part of who he really was. Part savage, part thug, all mean.
Maybe it would douse the warmth he saw in her eyes, the desire. Both could disappear when he explained who he really was, what he’d done. And it would be better that way; she would distance herself and he’d stop thinking about her, and that part of his life could go back to normal.
“Are you sure you want to know?” Kai demanded, steel in his voice.
Flick didn’t seem fazed by his hard tone. “I asked, didn’t I?”
“It’s not pretty.”
“The truth seldom is,” Flick countered.
Kai took a sip of his espresso and placed the cup back in its saucer. “I grew up rough. Very rough. No parents, very little adult supervision.”
Flick’s eyes remained steady on his face and she didn’t react to his blunt statement. Okay, then. “I’m not going to talk about my childhood,” he told her, pinning her to her seat with a fierce look. “I’m not going there.”
Flick’s expression didn’t change and her lack of reaction enabled him to go on. Oh, he still expected her to run, but she’d do it with grace and dignity and little fanfare. He hesitated, not wanting to jump, wanting to keep the status quo. Wanting to pretend, for just a second, that he could be a man who could be worthy of her, of something more than a hot, temporary affair.
But he wasn’t and he couldn’t be. He’d made his choices and they’d stained his soul. Being alone was the price he had to pay. It was just the way it was; he couldn’t start whining about it now.
Besides, what did he know of being a regular guy, someone who could be a lover and a friend, someone who could be part of something bigger than himself?
Fuck all.
It wasn’t like he’d had any decent role models to show him the ropes. At the time, survival had been more important.
The tips of Flick’s fingers on the inside of his wrist pulled him back to the present; to the rich smell of his coffee mingling with her light, floral perfume, to a curl that had fallen out of her ponytail, to the fine line of her jaw.
God, he’d much rather be kissing her than talking. But he had to do this—he had to put some distance between them, to smother the feelings she aroused in him. Because if he didn’t they would build and suffocate him.
It was all still a matter of survival, emotional rather than physical this time, but just as crucial.

Readers should read this book….

Ah, because it’s fun, hopefully, funny and warm. It’s a couple of hours of escapism and who doesn’t need to escape to a small town with hot guys?

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

Alongside Mercy Me, the third book in my Scandals of the Le Roux wedding has also been released in December. It’s Thadie’s story and she has to tell Angus that her twin boys are actually his!
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: I’m giving away two ebook (ARC) copies of MERCY ME.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Are you a fan of small town romance? What do you like about them? Or, if you don’t, what irritates you about them? Curious minds want to know.

 
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Excerpt from Mercy Me:

The sun was high in the sky and perspiration ran down Flick’s temples as she crested the first hill. She hadn’t even made it a mile and she was huffing and puffing and the muscles in her right arm were burning from trying to keep a hundred-and-thirty-pound dog from haring off after rabbits.
Trying to control Rufus was like trying to control a baby rhino on smack, Flick thought as she slowed down to a walk, pushing her fingers into the stitch in her side.
He was more than a handful. She had to do something about him, and soon. Getting rid of him wouldn’t ever be an option, and he didn’t respond to her training methods. Mostly because he knew that she was a soft touch. Yes, have a cookie, sleep on my bed, and chew on my new trainers.
She had one, just one, option, and it wasn’t an easy decision to make. But neutering Rufus would make her life so much easier.
Flick thought that she owed it to Rufus to discuss the procedure with him first, though. She needed to rest anyway, so decided that there was no time like the present. Pulling him over to a log, she sat down and placed her hands on either side of his face. “We need to talk about getting you fixed, sunshine.”
He cocked his head at her, waiting for her to explain. “That means chopping your balls off.” Flick winced when his eyes rolled back in his head in fear.
“Aaarrrrroooooooo!” Rufus howled and Flick winced.
“It doesn’t mean that you’ll be less of a man,” she hastened to assure him.
“Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrooooooooooooooooooooo.” Rufus plopped his butt down and dropped his head onto her knee.
“Aw, baby, you’ll be fine,” Flick rubbed his wobbly jowls and kissed his head. “It’ll make you less crazy and far more stable and you’ll settle down and be normal.”
“Nothing normal about getting your ‘nads removed, bud. Trust me on this.”
Flick whirled around so fast that she almost fell off the log. Then she wobbled again when she saw a sweaty Kai Manning standing on the path behind her, his fingers against the pulse point in his neck, his eyes flicking between her and Rufus and his wristwatch. And, dear Lord, he wasn’t wearing a shirt, it was tucked into the back of his shorts, and that broad, slightly hairy chest glistened with perspiration. Muscles rippled and gleamed, and his tattoos, stark and beautiful, made her mouth water.
She’d seen the geometric tattoo covering his forearm the other day but the one that made her breath catch was high up on his chest, an image of dog tags hanging from a nail. She squinted to make out the writing. Jo, June 1990. Mike, September 2009. She knew that Mike was an army buddy of his, and Sawyer’s, who’d been killed on a mission in… Flick frowned, trying to remember the country. Nope, gone. But who was Jo? She wanted to know who was so important to him that he’d keep her memory so close to his heart.
“Don’t let her do it, bud. Run like hell.”
It took Flick a couple of seconds to work out what he was on about but when she did, she quickly responded. “Maybe if I do remove his balls—”
“Aaaarrroooooooooooo.” Rufus howled and they both winced.
“—he’ll stop running.”
“Doubt it,” Kai replied, placing his fists on his hips. “He’s got a lot of border collie in him and they like to exercise. I heard you coming up the hill. You were puffing like a steam train before you ran half a mile.”
“He pulls my arm off!” Flick protested.
Kai stepped closer to her and she caught a whiff of his deodorant and musky sweat and felt her knees liquify. If she could bottle that scent, she’d make a fortune selling it as an aphrodisiac. Flick sucked in her breath when Kai picked up her hand and unwound Rufus’s leash from her hand, which had lost all feeling about fifteen minutes ago.
His fingers were warm on her hand and wrist and she sighed when they drifted over her pulse point. When she thought that she had a good chance of stringing a sentence together, she looked up at him. “What are you doing?”
“Up here or right now?”
“Both.”
“I had a difficult morning so I thought that I would take a break and get in a run.”
“Taking a break is having coffee and eating a cookie, not running a couple of miles.” Flick told him.
Kai ignored her mutter and pulled the leash out of her hand. “You need to get blood back into your hand.” Kai slipped his hand through the opening of the leash and wrapped it around his wrist. Rufus, seeing a bird in a tree, lunged upward but with a jerk, Kai had the massive dog sitting again. “You! Behave!”
Rufus just sat and looked up at Kai angelically, his tail going at two hundred beats per second. He had found someone new to charm and he was in doggy heaven. Rufus gave Kai his doggy grin and Kai responded by rubbing both of Rufus’s ears and her dog rolled his eyes, delighted. Flick couldn’t blame him, suspecting she’d have the same reaction if he rubbed anything of hers.
Behave, girl.
“Shake your fingers out,” Kai ordered and Flick groaned when the blood started rushing back to her battered palm and fingers.
“Ah, that hurts like hell.”
“He’s too strong for you,” Kai said, shaking his head. His biceps bulged as he easily kept Rufus from lunging away in pursuit of a phantom rabbit.
Now that she had some feeling back in her hands, Flick held out her hand for the leash. “I’m good now, thanks.”
“You can’t run him properly because you can’t control him,” Kai said and flicked a quick look at his watch. “I still have about five miles to do on this trail. I’ll take him with me and tire him out.”
“I’m not sure if he’ll cope,” Flick tasted panic in the back of her throat. “I only rescued him three months back and he was a wreck. Five miles might be a bit much for him.”
“Bullshit,” Kai stated his tone firm.
“I’m really not sure…” Flick bit the inside of her lip, feeling like a neurotic new mother.
“We’ll be fine,” Kai smiled and Flick felt her internal organs flip over. That was some smile, she thought; it made him look younger and even sexier, if that was at all possible. “And to keep you from worrying about your crazy dog, I’m going to give you something else to think about as you stroll home.”
Stroll? Now he was just being rude. “Uh, what?”
His hot eyes ran up and down her body and they warmed her from the inside out. “You have such an amazing body. Women spend hours in the gym to look like you do naturally.”
Hoo…hoo boy.
“Genetics,” Flick just managed to gasp the word.
Kai lifted his hand and cupped the back of her head, his fingers spearing up into her hair and causing an instant fireworks display in her brain. And between her legs.
“And, God, you have a spectacular mouth.”
She did? She’d always thought she looked like Daffy Duck.
He dropped his head and she watched, mesmerized, as he closed the space between them. They were so close now that they could taste each other’s breath. His eyelashes were dark and stubby and up close she noticed the faint scar bisecting his left eyebrow. He’d conquered and then shattered her personal space. She just needed to pull in a deep breath and her breasts push into his hard pecs, with a small tilt of her head their lips would collide. Yet he just kept one hand in her hair and his eyes on her mouth.
It seemed to take forever for his mouth to touch hers. She expected dominance and a show of masculine strength, but his lips moved graciously, sensuously against hers. Flick couldn’t help her eyes closing, couldn’t stop her hands from reaching out to touch his warm chest, her bare thigh from moving between his legs. He nibbled and played with her mouth, licking her bottom lip with his tongue before giving it a gentle nibble. It was a perfect kiss, sweet and sexy, and Flick sighed her appreciation.
That slight parting of her lips was all that was needed for all hell to break loose. Flick felt his free arm band around her and he enveloped her; mouth, hands, his amazingly hard body. She wasn’t sure where she started and he ended. Her breasts were flattened by his hard chest and through the fabric of her shirt, her puckered nipples pushed against his skin. His erection, strong, hard, and delicious, was perfectly placed against her, and she couldn’t stop her hips from tilting to get closer, needing to drag her aching core against him. From a place far away Flick felt his fist tighten in her hair as he held her head in place, his tongue sweeping into her mouth, tangling with hers. He tasted of mint and coffee and sun and sex.
Wishing he would use his hands to touch her breasts, to give her nipples the attention they desired, and cup her between her legs, she moaned into his mouth, rotating her hips in invitation. Instead, she felt the leather of the hand strap of Rufus’s leash against her chin as he lifted his other hand to cradle her cheek.
God, he’d made her damp from nothing more than some body contact and a hot kiss. Flick couldn’t wait to find out what else he could do with that mouth.
“Fan-fucking-tastic.”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Best friends Kai, Sawyer, and Axl worked hard to make Caswallawn Security the booming success that it is. As for love, marriage, and commitment, those are way down on their priority list…

Kai Manning is unhappy that Caswallawn is making Mercy, Virginia, its permanent headquarters—he doesn’t understand this quaint, crazy town, and he doesn’t want to settle down, period. A rough childhood made him fiercely independent, and he’s determined to rely on nothing and no one. So the moment he lays eyes on Flick, he knows he’s in trouble…

Local baker Felicity “Flick” Sturgiss is not looking for a man. She’s done giving her all to relationships that give nothing back. But Kai is undeniably hot. He may look like bad news, but he’s not going to be in town for long, and she’s dealing with a lot right now—she deserves to have some fun.

When a family emergency calls Sawyer away, Kai must remain in Mercy to hold down the fort. Now, Kai and Flick’s plan for a quick fling falls to the wayside (just like their torn-off clothing), leaving them wondering if they can keep their hands—and their hearts—to themselves…
Book Links: Amazon |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Joss loves books, coffee and traveling—especially to the wild places of Southern Africa and, well, anywhere. She’s a wife and a mom to two young adults. She’s also a slave to two cats and a dog the size of a small cow. After a career in local economic development and business, Joss writes full-time from her home in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
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