Spotlight & Giveaway: No Rescue Required by Maggie Kelley

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Maggie Kelley to HJ!

Hi Maggie and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, No Rescue Required!

 
Thrilled to be here!
 

Please summarize the book a la Twitter style for the readers here:

Celebrate the holidays with No Rescue Required by Maggie Kelley, a Jerry Maguire meets Planes, Trains, and Automobiles holiday road trip romance full of humor and heart. #romanticcomedy #christmaslovestory
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

Ryan Callahan, ex-ballplayer, current sports agent, and diehard single, needed a date, an Uber, and a Brooklyn ale. Not necessarily in that order.

To make matters worse, he was in a major time crunch. He had to be at an event in precisely thirty-six hours, and if he didn’t manage to come up with a plus-one on his own, he’d be forced to accept his sister’s offer to fix him up.

He hadn’t been worried this morning. Plenty of time to find a willing partner, he’d figured. But that was before he’d got stuck in Kentucky.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• A lovesick ghost plays a role in the romance. (I’m dying to write a full-on ghost story)
• A haunted room in The Dive, a motel steeped in Americana, is a stop along the character’s road to love. Motels feature prominently in my own childhood road trips.
• After writing No Rescue Required, I found myself in West Virginia driving along a road named after a man with the same first and last name as my son. Spooky?
• The end features a wedding I’ve been hoping to write since the start of the Smart Cupid series.
• This book weaves together seven tropes, the most in any of the series.

What first attracts your main characters to each other?

Desperation. LOL. While desperate circumstances may bring Sabrina and Ryan together, sending them on a road trip from small-town Kentucky to the Big Apple, the kindness and heart each sees in the other attracts them and allows trust to build between them. Of course, the fact, he looks like a Hemsworth…does…not…hurt.
 

Using just 5 words, how would you describe your main characters”love affair?

Love-averse opposites hit the road.
 

The First Kiss…

He reached out and caught the hem of her jacket and drew her toward him inch by inch, as if in slow motion. He leaned forward ever so slightly, his gaze locked onto hers.
“I want to kiss you.”
Sabrina looked up at him, her expression full of indefinable emotion. “Okay.”
One word. One word was all it took to shift the ground beneath his feet. He tightened his grip on her jacket as if he was afraid to let go. “So, you’re okay with a kiss?”
Her words came out in a quietly spoken rush. “I am so okay with a kiss.”
Exactly what he’d been hoping to hear.

Without revealing too much, what is your favorite scene in the book?

My favorite scene is the one featuring Sabrina’s cyber check of Ryan before she offers him a ride. I’ve always wanted to write a road trip romance but wanted to find a unique twist on the classic meet-cute at the rental car counter. I also felt it was important for Sabrina to be savvy and not hop into her van with a stranger without vetting him. Took my brain a while to decide upon the sweetest, funniest way to bring all the elements together, which is probably why I love the scene so much. Hope you love enjoy!

Sabrina drew in a breath, pretty sure her idea qualified as a Big Mistake, but if she didn’t take the chance now and lay it all out there, she never would. Was her idea bold? Totally. But she had to get to New York. And he had to get to New York. If he checked out, then, why not?
“Hand me your phone.”
“Sorry.” He looked around, taken aback. “Is that an example of southern charm?”
“Hand me your phone, please.”
“My phone? What do you need my—”
“Just do it.” She exhaled. “Pretty please with sugar on top. And a cherry.”
“Since you added the cherry.” His expression shifted into amused bewilderment, but to his credit, he rolled with the request and handed her the phone.
“Thank you.” She swiped past the initial screen of icons, noting the Uber app, a sophisticated sports statistics calculator, and a few financial resources. “This is your Instagram?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
She wasn’t on social media much but figured a fast-paced guy like him would have his entire world on social. Her instinct proved to be correct.
“Lots of athlete photos, sports influencers, game updates. Seems legit.” She flipped the phone around to show a photo of him with a pretty, young woman. “Is this your girlfriend?”
“My sister, Erin.”
“Oh. Erin Callahan, pretty name.” She swiped Instagram aside and scrolled through his contacts, thinking she had never been so bold in all her life, and also thinking the next step required an extra dose of charm. She offered up a sweet-as-pecan-pie smile. “May I call her? Your sister.”
He made a sound at the back of his throat. “You mean, call her on the phone?”
“Traditionally, that’s how it’s done.”

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would be absolutely crucial to include?

This is a toughie. There are a couple of scenes in Rosie, the floral van, that I love, but since every Christmas story needs at least one mistletoe scene, I chose this one as Sabrina and Ryan leave a small-town restaurant. I’d love to see this in a Hallmark movie—what a dreamy thought!

“Well, now, look at you two,” the owner said, walking out from behind the counter, smiling like it was Christmas morning. “Under the mistletoe.”
Her eyes widened. “Mistletoe?”
Please not mistletoe.
“Right above you, young lady.” He wiped his hands on a red dish towel and nodded toward Ryan. “Now, I can’t be sure, but I’m thinkin’ this guy here found his way under there on purpose, so don’t mind me.” He smiled over at Sabrina. “You just go on ahead and kiss him.”
She felt her skin heat to a full-on blush. Kiss. Ryan. Callahan. No, no—no. She pressed her hand to her cheeks. If only she was on one of those game shows where a chute opened so she could simply vanish from the face of the earth.
“Can’t break a tradition now,” the owner said, looking from one of them to the other, doubling down as if he’d invented the holidays. “What’s the season without mistletoe?”
“Well…” Ryan bent his head to catch her gaze. “It is Christmas.”
Her voice wavered. “Almost Christmas.”
She lifted her eyes to meet his, and the warmth in his smile made her heart skip a beat in her chest—exactly why she needed to leave. Now—right now.

Readers should read this book …

when they want a break from the stress of the holiday season. I hope readers will embrace No Rescue Required’s magical, wild ride to love and self-discovery and that this holiday story will bring smiles and laughter even as some of the deeper story elements tug at the heartstrings.
 

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

Thank you for asking! I’m currently working on an outline for the romance between Ryan’s sister, Erin, and his sure-to-be sexy assistant, Marcus. In addition, I have a pitch ready for a brand-new series called Modern Love. Set in Boston, I hope it will be a fun complement to the Smart Cupid series.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: Since Sabrina is a florist, I’d like to send a bouquet to one lucky winner. If the winner is unable to receive flowers, the winner will receive e-copies of No Rescue Required and Unexpectedly His, a best-selling Smart Cupid story.  

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: I love intertwining tropes. I started with seven in this story. Forced proximity, fish out of water, opposites attract? What are your favorite tropes? A bachelor auction? Wild wedding weekend? What kind of stories interest you?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Excerpt from No Rescue Required:

Under Fun facts, I mentioned a motel so I thought I’d share the moment when Sabrina and yan arrive at The Dive. Wait until she discovers it’s haunted.

Their arms loaded with wedding gear, Sabrina and Ryan stood outside the entrance of the vintage-style motel and watched the taillights of the Chevy disappear into the darkness. Behind them, an old-school LOBBY sign blinked on and off, casually marking time, and although the realization arrived late, when it came, Sabrina felt her stomach sink into her low-top sneaks.
She was officially alone.
In a motel.
With Ryan Callahan.
Technically, not in a motel, but, more accurately, they stood in the parking lot of a motel, his arms full of flowers and silver tulle and her brain full of thoughts about how they weren’t meant to be a couple, and how after tomorrow they’d never see each other again, and how even though she might want to dive in, she needed to hold back, because she felt…well, besides chilled to the bone…she didn’t know how she felt.
Tingly. Dizzy. Emotional.
She shifted her weight from one sneakered foot to the other and peeked over at Ryan. He’d taken off his coat and wrapped up the bouquet to keep it from freezing, which was so sweet that just the sight of him standing there had her heart running a Derby lap in her chest.
Foolish, that’s how she felt.
She gave her thoughts a serious shove and turned toward the low-lying motel with an eye to spending the night. More retro than rehabbed, the place was everything she’d imagined. A neon sign, steeped in classic Americana, blazed THE DIVE into the dark, local trucks spotted the parking lot, and country music spilled from the adjacent bar, despite being close to midnight. Every inch of the place was infused with a heavy dose of nostalgia, an off-the-beaten-path kind of romance that could make any woman feel dizzy and foolish. She squared her shoulders and turned to face the flickering LOBBY sign.
One night. She could handle a single night of a completely platonic road trip. No need to become confused with thoughts of relationships and fairy tales and diving in. No. Keep it simple. All she needed to do was go on inside, get a room, and sleep off the way he gave her butterflies in the middle of a winter road trip. Three steps, easy as baking up a pecan pie. She straightened the line of her messenger bag, reached for the handle of her suitcase, and started toward the door, hoping the office was warm enough to thaw her icy-cold feet.
Tomorrow morning, when she was no longer frozen, she’d call Pete’s Autobody, Pete would fix up Rosie, and she and Ryan Callahan would get back on the road to never seeing each other again, which, despite her churning emotions, was the right course of action. She sneaked a peek at him over her shoulder and bit down hard on her lower lip.
Inside the lobby, Sabrina parked her suitcase by the registration desk and tapped the bell perched at the edge of the speckled Formica counter. Ryan stood a few feet away, framed by two narrow silver trees, her red dress bag situated neatly over his shoulder. An expression of interest transformed his face as he studied a series of vintage photos of the motel, and the warmth rising in his cheeks only served to make him more attractive—sexier, even.
Sexy was not what she needed right now.
She turned away and focused on the bell, fighting back an urge to bang the darn thing repeatedly. Patience was a virtue, but if banging on the bell would get her out of this lobby and into her own room so she could stop thinking about how enticing Ryan Callahan looked and how good he smelled, even after riding in the back of the Chevy, then maybe she’d have to give up on virtue and bang it out.
As Sabrina debated the merits of her impulse, a petite woman who looked to be in her late fifties approached from the back office. She wore a smile and a gold name tag stamped with the name Mary.
“Can I help you?” she asked in an efficient tone.
Silver Christmas trees and a helpful woman named Mary. Two positive signs.
Sabrina set the bouquet box gently on the counter, adjusted the blanket still draped over her shoulders, and breathed a sigh of relief. Even though she’d be racking up another charge on her Visa and compounding it in the morning when she got Rosie out of hock, Sabrina finally felt as if everything was back on track. One night. She had this one on lockdown.

Excerpts. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Sports agent Ryan Callahan’s trip is a complete disaster. Not only did he fail to sign a promising young ballplayer, but now he’s stranded in a Kentucky town no bigger than a bourbon ball. His plane’s been canceled, there’s not a cab to be found, and getting back to New York City is gonna take a miracle. Like a quirky, strawberry-blonde florist with a big van and a craving for late-night, deep-fried hotdogs…

With her best friend’s wedding and her business on the line, Sabrina Hayes needs to be in New York like yesterday. But with her flight canceled and her bank account almost as empty as her gas tank, an extra passenger might just be the long-overdue lucky charm Sabrina needs…especially now that she knows he’s definitely not a serial killer disguised as a scrumptious Thor look-alike.

Somewhere between a roadside stand that serves food as fast as it serves weddings, a motel room haunted by a lovesick ghost, and a car race known as the Snowball 500, Sabrina and Ryan are about to discover that anything that can go wrong will go hilariously wrong. But even they are not prepared for what’s in store on the road ahead…
Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Goodreads |
 
 

Meet the Author:

After ten years of survival, aka working, in Hollywood, this former actress and current author of sexy contemporary romance is living happily-ever-after with her longtime sweetie, AKA Husband Number 1, and their two occasionally punky kids. When not carpooling to birthday parties or testing her gourmet cooking skills by throwing a frozen pizza into the oven, Maggie daydreams about sneaking off to Vegas or Napa, or even just the movies. A love of red wine, Italian food, and music round out her list of life’s greatest joys. Oh, and Tuesday night karaoke, totally underrated fun!
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