Spotlight & Giveaway: Nine Months to Save Their Marriage by Annie West

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Annie West to HJ!

Hi Annie and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Nine Months to Save Their Marriage!

 
Thank you so much. It’s wonderful to be here again!
 

To start off, can you please tell us a little bit about this book?:

Nine Months to Save Their Marriage is a steamy reunion story about a couple who had a marriage of convenience and since separated. One married for love and the other for convenience, and now, finally, they get the chance to sort out the issues that pushed them apart, while also dealing a surprise pregancy. It’s a deeply emotional story, with wounds to be healed, and a couple who gradually learn to trust their true feelings.
 

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

It would have to be the line that inspired the story. The book opens with Bess reassessing her marriage and she has a moment of revelation that sets the whole story in motion:
You’re a trophy wife, no more than a mistress with a wedding ring.

What inspired this book?

Dreaming of a tropical island escape was definitely one! What better place for a passionate reunion?
I’d recently picked up ‘Rebel’s Bargain’ (an older title of mine) to send to a reader and in the process flicked through the first few pages and found myself hooked. ‘Rebel’s Bargain’ is one of the first reunion stories I wrote and it’s also one of the most intense. I’m sure it led to a hankering to write a second-chance story.
Bess and Jack end up escaping the paparazzi by staying at a beautiful private estate, complete with a moated manor house. That house is based on some I visited in southern England last year, including the delightful Ightham Mote which, while imposing, is very much a home, and one where I could happily imagine my characters.
Oh, and Marriage of Conveniences are one of my favourite tropes, so MOC combined with a reunion…How could I resist?

How did you ‘get to know’ your main characters? Did they ever surprise you?

They do frequently surprise me. I have a fair idea of my characters before I begin but they become real to me as I write the first few chapters, with all sorts of details emerging that I hadn’t consciously planned. In this story, I knew Bess well, but as it progressed I realised she still had some hangups to face that I discovered organically towards the end of the novel. She’s a much stronger, happier woman at the end for dealing with those! I loved the fact that they dovetailed completely with her and Jack’s story. I suspect my subconscious knew about them all along but I was slow to realise…!

What was your favorite scene to write?

Hm, that’s a tough one – there are genuinely so many. But here’s a little of the moment they’re reunited. I enjoyed how he wanted to be furious but got sidetracked:

JACK STARED DOWN at the woman he hadn’t seen in almost a year, stunned at the impact of her. He’d been prepared for this meeting. He left nothing to chance. Yet still she caught him by surprise.
It took only one raking glance to discover she was more alluring than he’d let himself remember.
She wasn’t the most conventionally beautiful woman he’d known but something about Elisabeth set her apart. Her newly acquired tan complemented her dark hair and emphasised the brightness of her unforgettable cognac-coloured eyes. Eyes wide with shock.
That gave him a buzz of satisfaction. After the shock she’d dealt him in Paris it was good to return the favour.
Anger and outrage at her desertion had been constant companions. They were there still, but now they were eclipsed by something more primal.
He felt it as a low pulse deep in his body, his heartbeat slowing to a ponderous beat. At the same time there was an effervescence in his blood, a tingling awareness that made him feel more alive, more vital, than during any recent business triumph.
Her slender limbs glowed golden and her deep red dress skimmed her delectable body. The way the silk fitted across her bust and the fact it was held up merely by two thin straps tied at the neck, was pure provocation.
Once she’d have dressed like to tantalise him. She knew he enjoyed unwrapping her body before sharing the phenomenal sexual pleasure that had been the hallmark of their marriage.
But now… She hadn’t known he’d be here. Had she worn that piece of silken temptation for another man?
His jaw clenched as he swiftly scanned the group. But Michael and the two other men were here with their partners, all currently engaged in conversation.
‘Hello, Jack.’ Elisabeth’s voice was husky, trailing fire from his chest down his abdomen to his stirring groin.

Would you say this book showcases your writing style or is it a departure for you?

A bit of both. I don’t tend to write a lot of reunion stories. It’s not that I don’t enjoy them, but it’s a big ask, creating characters you believe in whose problems were real enough and significant enough to tear them apart, and then show them finding the happy ending they couldn’t achieve before. But every time I write a reunion book I adore it. There’s something so intense about a couple who already have a past (good as well as bad) so that I feel like I’m diving right into the action. I think that’s partly why this story is so vivid and passionate.

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

As ever, I’d like readers to finish with a warm sense of satisfaction and a glow of happiness. I think Nine Months is a particularly emotionally satisfying read as well as having a lot of sizzle and passion. I’m hoping there will be lots of smiling faces when people finally close the last pages.

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

Look out in January for ‘His Last-Minute Desert Queen’ about a woman who takes action to save her meek cousin from an arranged marriage by kidnapping the bridegroom long enough to stop the wedding. But he turns the tables, demanding she marry him instead, and that very day, because otherwise he’ll lose the kingdom he’s inherited! After that, in April it’s ‘A Pregnancy Bombshell to Bind Them’. I’m currently finalising marriage of convenience story set on the French Riviera – love that setting, not to mention the story.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: I’ll give two readers (open internationally no matter where you live) a signed Annie West paperback and I’ll make it a reunion story too!

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: The end of September is a time of seasonal change. We’re in spring in Australia and already looking down the barrel of a summer scorcher. I know many of you are heading into cooler months. What’s the most attractive thing about this time of year for you?

 
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Excerpt from Nine Months to Save Their Marriage:

Bess drew a shaky breath and looked up into the face of the man she’d once believed made her whole.
He was arresting in that broad-shouldered, athletic way that seemed archetypally Australian. The low lights accentuated the planes and angles of his handsome face, revealing the strength of will that had made him a billionaire success story. His eyes glittered and her heart drummed, her feminine core softening.
Her body’s response terrified her. After all this time and all that distance, all the things that had gone wrong between them, she should be immune to Jack Reilly.
Instead it felt like they were the only two people on the planet.
Bess swallowed, trying to focus on the shushing of tiny waves on the shore rather than her rampaging pulse.
‘You’re not afraid of me, are you?’
She heard something like shock in his tone and knew it was real. ‘Of course not.’
It was herself she feared.
But he was right. They needed to talk. Her lawyers had written to his about the divorce and there’d been no response. She’d be foolish not to take this opportunity to sort that out.
‘We need to clear the air, Elisabeth. You saw Freya tonight, picking up on the tension between us. You don’t want her fretting about that during the ceremony, do you? Tomorrow should be about her and Michael, not us.’
Surprise made her blink up at him. He sounded so reasonable.
Had she spent their separation demonising him? Exaggerating the negatives and forgetting the positives?
Now she thought about it, Jack had always been reasonable. He didn’t shout, bluster or demand. He thought carefully about what he wanted and how to get it. He negotiated. He was a phenomenal dealmaker.
That was how they’d come to marry. He’d offered her a deal. Money to pull her dad out of his financial hole so he didn’t have to sell the estate that had been in the family for generations and in return Jack got her. Not because he was in love but because she’d be an asset as he conquered European markets.
‘Elisabeth?’
Still she hesitated. But she wanted tomorrow perfect for Freya. If they could sort everything out and be on easier terms that would make all the difference to her cousin.
Besides, knowing Jack he’d be booked on the first flight out after the wedding. He never took holidays and his work schedule was brutal. He’d work on the plane as soon as he left tomorrow. This would be their only chance to talk.
‘Okay. Let’s talk.’
‘Excellent.’
Did she imagine his eyes gleamed more brightly? His expression didn’t change yet she had the impression she’d just played into his hands.
You’re being paranoid.
They walked towards her bungalow but when they reached it Bess stopped, caution—or fear—feathering her spine. She didn’t want Jack in her suite. She knew he’d take up all the space, not to mention his presence lingering later when she tried to sleep.
On impulse Bess turned aside, taking an unlit path towards the water. Jack followed the few metres until they reached the edge of the beach. It was breathtakingly beautiful, the stars bright in the velvety sky and the shimmer of the moon reflected on dark water.
It seemed sacrilege to mar the peace of this place with the ruin of their marriage but it had to be done. ‘You haven’t responded to my lawyer. Why?’
Under the trees his face was too shadowed to read but she felt the graze of his scrutiny. ‘You can’t really expect me to agree to a divorce without any discussion.’
Bess took a half step back, coming up against a palm tree. She anchored her hand against it.
‘Discussion won’t get us anywhere. We’ve already talked about what we want from marriage and I can’t go on the way we were.’
‘So you just walked out.’
Indignation warred with an undercurrent of guilt. ‘It wasn’t like that.’
She’d been tempted to leave Jack sooner except the night of their argument, their first and only real argument, he’d collapsed, running a high temperature as he succumbed to a virulent flu.
Yet she’d left as soon as he was well enough to care for himself. Because she was worried he might persuade her to stay if she lingered?
‘It felt like that. One minute you were feeding me paracetamol and hot drinks and fussing about whether I was comfortable. The next you announced you’d had enough and left. I didn’t even have the energy to follow.’
Her throat caught. ‘You’d have followed me?’
She hadn’t allowed herself to imagine that. It was the sort of thing a man would do if he really cared. Jack wasn’t cruel but she’d increasingly come to realise, and he’d actually spelled it out to her, that theirs was no more than a transactional relationship. She would always be a commodity to him, an asset.
‘Of course I’d have followed. You’re my wife.’
The timbre of his voice was warm chocolate, lush and tempting.
He moved towards her, a creature of silver and shadow, a man so elementally attractive she felt a twist of arousal deep in her pelvis. Her nipples budded against silk as her breasts seemed to swell.
Excitement merged with despair at her instinctive reaction.
‘I missed you, Elisabeth.’
He’d missed her? Bess’s eyes widened.
It wasn’t something she’d imagined hearing from him.
He stood so close the balmy night grew warmer from his body heat. Or perhaps from the arousal flooding her body. She swallowed hard and leaned back, palms against the trunk of the tree behind her, trying to ground herself.
‘You don’t believe me?’
She shook her head, not because she doubted his word but because he’d astonished her. ‘I didn’t think you would.’
She’d expected him to be angry. Apart from anything else, he planned everything and for her to disrupt his life would be infuriating. But she’d convinced herself that while she’d been valuable to him she was hardly indispensable. He didn’t really need anyone to help him. People thronged to him, eager to be part of whatever he was involved in, and it seemed his new ventures were highly successful.
Jack’s eyes locked on hers. ‘Then you don’t know me as well as you thought. I had investigators combing Europe, looking for you.’
Bess saw he was serious. Of course he was, he’d never lied to her. On the contrary he’d always been honest, brutally so sometimes.
‘I wasn’t in Europe.’
She was so stunned at the idea of him searching for her she couldn’t think of anything else to say. She’d assumed he’d wash his hands of her. Especially once her lawyer contacted his about a divorce.
‘So I found out, much later.’
Bess frowned. There was something in his tone she couldn’t identify. Something that sounded like strong emotion. Yet for Jack their relationship wasn’t about emotion. Pragmatism yes, convenience and even sex, but not emotion.
Her head whirled as she struggled to absorb what he’d said. He’d missed her, he’d actually admitted it. He’d sent people searching for her.
Excitement bubbled but she forced it down. It wasn’t her, Bess, he missed. It was his well-groomed, well-connected partner, adept at softening business with hospitality and charm.
She stood taller though he still towered over her. ‘Actually, Jack, I’m very tired. Let’s not do this now. We can meet for breakfast.’
When it would be broad daylight and she wouldn’t be so hyperaware of his physicality. Of how very much she wanted to lean against his hard, enticing frame.
For she’d missed him too. So much. And now he was so close it threatened to overwhelm her.
She couldn’t handle this, couldn’t trust herself. Despite knowing he could never be the man she wanted, he was the man her body craved.
Fear propelled her. Without waiting for his response, she straightened, pushing away from the tree behind her. But she miscalculated for instead of obligingly stepping backwards, Jack stayed where he was.
Her momentum made her breasts graze his torso and as she stepped forward her leg slid between his.
Bess froze, stunned. The reality of his iron-hard chest and thighs, burning with that familiar male heat, tore free something she’d tried to keep bound tight inside. She gasped, shocked at the too-familiar sensations rocketing through her, undermining every good intention.
‘I have a better idea.’ He inclined his head, his voice dropping to a note that turned her willpower to water. ‘We sort this out now.’
‘This? The divorce?’
Jack shook his head. ‘No, my darling wife. This.’ He wrapped one arm around her back, his other hand supporting her head as he leaned in and kissed her.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

An accidental pregnancy…
for his business-deal wife!

For self-made billionaire Jack, their marriage was convenient. For heiress Bess, it was for love. So months later, when he’d shown her the world but not his guarded heart, Bess knew it was time to leave…

Determined to get their on-paper union back on track, Jack plans their reconciliation down to the last detail. He never imagined their Caribbean reunion would be scorching! Or for Bess to want more than Jack can give. Will the news that Bess is expecting his baby give them a reason to fight for their chance at happiness?

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Meet the Author:

USA Today Bestselling author Annie West loves writing passionate, intense love stories. She has devoted her life to an in depth study of tall, dark, charismatic heroes who cause the best kind of trouble in the lives of their heroines. Creating heroines who are a perfect match for those strong, stubborn men is one of her all time favorite things. As a sideline she’s also researched dreamy locations for romance, from vibrant cities to desert encampments and fairytale castles. She lives on the east coast of Australia and her favorite things are books, good company, good food and travel. For behind the scenes news, early release information and free giveaways, sign up for Annie’s newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/ya56pe7c
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