Spotlight & Giveaway: Never Blow a Kiss by Lindsay Lovise

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Lindsay Lovise to HJ!

Hi Lindsay and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Never Blow a Kiss!

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Emily is a thief posing as a governess when she’s approached by a mysterious woman known only as the Dove. The Dove runs a network of governesses who spy on the ton in order to hold the wealthy accountable for their crimes, and she thinks Emily will be the perfect asset.
The Dove places Emily with a prestigious family in London, where Emily runs into Zachariah Denholm, an independently wealthy detective hunting a serial killer. When Emily impulsively blows Zach a kiss across a ballroom, she knows she’s in trouble. Zach thrives on solving mysteries, and Emily is the biggest mystery of all. She’s not only a former thief and a current spy—she’s also hiding an explosive secret that could devastate them both.
 

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

He decreased the distance between them and dipped his head to say softly in her ear, “Fibber.”

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• I first had the idea for this book while taking a shower. I’m convinced this is where all the best ideas originate!
• Never Blow a Kiss was the ninth book I’d written and it’s the book that got me my wonderfully supportive agent.
• The working title of NEVER BLOW A KISS was The Governesses, and the Dove’s original name was the Orchestrator.
• I chose the name Emily because it was the name of the main character in my favorite children’s book.

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

• Zach first sees Emily in a ballroom when she is delivering a fan to her young charge. He’s suffering the attentions of a particularly vicious mama and her two vapid daughters, when Emily stops to watch his plight with amusement before blowing him a mocking kiss and disappearing into the crowd. He is instantly intrigued and determined to find the woman who found enjoyment in his torture.
• Emily is first attracted to Zach because he’s a puzzle. She can tell he is powerful by the way the nobility react to him in the ballroom, and yet he seems hardened and sharp in a way that is unusual for the upper classes. It doesn’t hurt that he’s also handsome, with icy blue eyes that see far too much.

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

I wouldn’t say I’m an emotionally reactive writer, but there’s a scene when Emily first meets Zach and she tries to play off blowing him a kiss as something else. I sat at my computer shaping different words with my lips until I found the right one. I probably looked pretty funny!

Emily scowled at Zach’s reasoning. “What do you want with me?”
“Your name.”
“You left that glamorous ball and followed me into the streets for my name? Why?”
“I thought we had established that you followed me? And yes, I left that stuffy, boring ball to discover the name of the woman who dared blow me a kiss.”
“You must be mistaken. I would never be so forward. Perhaps you saw me starting to say the word . . . ” she grappled for a moment, “noodles.”
His mouth quirked, revealing clean, even teeth. “You were saying the word noodles?”
Emily crossed her arms beneath her breasts and lifted her chin. “That’s right. Noodles. It is a German pasta.”
“I know what it is. Pray, tell me in what context you used the word when I saw no companion with you?”
“Well, see, I was saying it to myself.”
“You were talking to yourself.”
“Right.” Emily took a moment to reflect that if there were an earthquake at that very moment, she’d be relieved to sink into the ground. “I say noodles as an oath.” She edged away from him and pretended to stub her toe on a rock. “Oh, noodles!” she exclaimed.
He burst into laughter.

Readers should read this book….

if they like Erica Ridley and Manda Collins books, and if they enjoy their historical romance with a helping of mystery.
 

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

I have a new paranormal romance hitting bookstores in September 2024. (We haven’t settled on a title yet.) It’s about three “wicked” sisters hiding a magical secret on an apple farm in Maine, and a ghost hunter who’s determined to expose them.

The second book in the Secret Society of Governess Spies is NEVER GAMBLE YOUR HEART, and it’s coming out April 1, 2025! NEVER GAMBLE YOUR HEART is Frankie’s story (she’s the mathematical genius from book one) and it was so fun writing her love story and the accompanying mystery.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: A print copy of Never Blow a Kiss by Lindsay Lovise

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: If you had lived Emily’s past and were hiding the same big secret, would you make the same choices that she did to keep it quiet?

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
 

Excerpt from Never Blow a Kiss:

Zach forced a smile. It wasn’t the girl’s fault she was being thrown at his feet like an offering. “What do you enjoy reading?” he asked dutifully, silently vowing to sic the Hills on Wright as soon as he had the chance.
Miss Olivia Hill appeared horrified at being addressed. She was a voluptuous girl in a way that Zach appreciated, but had the sickly pallor of her mother and uncle. Furthermore, she seemed completely tongue-tied and incapable of answering. Zach wondered if she was stuck for trying to think of a single title.
“The bible!” Olivia blurted.
“Since when have you read the bible?” sneered her sister, Jane.
Lady Hill stomped on Jane’s foot, causing her to yip like a puppy.
Zach caught a glimpse of movement in his periphery: a woman, slipping like a shadow along the edge of the ballroom. She was dressed as a governess or perhaps a nursemaid, and therefore invisible to the patrons of the ball. She would have remained unseen by him as well if she had not stopped to view his predicament with visible glee.
He stared at her in direct challenge. Instead of blushing and turning away, she boldly met his eyes, her own dancing with amusement. Her hair was richly dark and so curly that even pins couldn’t keep the unwieldy locks from tumbling down her neck. Her cheekbones were high and slightly reddened; although he was sure it was due to the heat of the room and not a rouge palette. Her cheeks and nose were sprinkled with freckles from too much sun. A modest, unadorned navy dress concealed her from chin to wrist, but nipped in at slender waist, giving her a curvy, athletic figure. Somehow, in her simplicity, she made more of an impression on him than all of the bosoms and jewels displayed in the room.
Or, perhaps it was her completely inappropriate enjoyment of his discomfort that sparked his interest. Who was the woman? And what was she doing sneaking along the outskirts of the ball mocking poor, unsuspecting men?
“I also like poetry,” Olivia said shrilly in an attempt to reclaim his attention. “Shall I recite my favorite?”
“No, I think it best if—”
Olivia folded her hands together and closed her eyes as if she were about to sing in a choir. “Peonies are pink and love is true/My heart is blue when I do not have you/ Jasmine is white and will not take a fright/because it has a knight, just like you.”
The governess’ face blossomed into a grin, and Zach felt as if he’d taken a hit to the stomach.
“Lovely darling, just lovely.” Lady Hill sighed. “Was that Browning?”
“That was by one Miss Olivia Hill,” Olivia said proudly.
Lady Hill clapped white-gloved hands together. “Splendid! You are a true rare diamond, my dear. That was poetry for the ages, do you not think so, Mr. Denholm?”
“Hmm? Yes, that is a poem I shall never forget. If you will excuse me.”
Zach didn’t dare take his eyes off the woman lest she disappear before he had a chance to confront her. He started toward her, blocking out the squawks of dismay behind him and nearly mowing over a tiny dame dripping in jewels so heavy that a good gust of air would have toppled her anyway.
The laughing minx allowed him to almost reach her, and then she blew him a kiss and turned on her heel, scurrying along the perimeter and sliding through bodies as if she were a ghost walking through walls.
Like hell was she getting away. She may have had the advantage when it came to squeezing through small spaces, but Zach hadn’t become an army colonel by lacking strategy.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Emily Leverton has spent her life trying to remain invisible. As a young thief on the streets, it kept her safe. Now, as part of a network of governesses who spy on the ton, her job depends on her ability to fade into the background. Until one night when she recklessly lets her true nature show and blows a kiss across a ballroom. And just her luck, she aims at the one man who could never ignore her.

Straddling the worlds of the ton and the working class, railroad magnate Zach Denholm solves cases for the Metropolitan Police by day and dutifully attends balls at night. In neither world has he met anyone as intriguing as Emily—a smart, independent woman hiding more than her true name. The more time they spend together, the faster her falls for the streetwise woman who handles a dagger as skillfully as she kisses. But when their budding romance intertwines with Zach’s hunt for a killer, he discovers Emily is hiding an explosive secret—one that could destroy them both.
Book Links:  Amazon | B&N | iTunes | kobo | Google |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Lindsay writes historical and paranormal romances with quirky heroines and a dash of mystery. Although she earned degrees in English and teaching, she always knew she wanted to write stories about love. When she’s not writing, Lindsay is reading (probably romance), drinking coffee, and avoiding laundry. She currently lives in New York, but was born and raised in Maine where the winters make for perfect reading weather.
Website | Facebook | Threads | Instagram | GoodReads |