Spotlight & Giveaway: Perfect Distraction by Allison Ashley

Posted April 3rd, 2020 by in Blog, Spotlight / 64 comments

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Allison Ashley to HJ!
Spotlight&Giveaway

Hi Allison and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Perfect Distraction!

 

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

Funny story—I landed my agent (and subsequent book deal) based on a Twitter pitch of this book. Might as well use that one, since it served me well:

Oncology pharmacist Lauren and her patient Andrew had no intention of falling for each other. Against all odds they embark on a journey that could risk her career and possibly his life, or give them both everything they’ve ever wanted.
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

It all started with boobs in the coffee line.

Lauren Taylor stared at the image populating the screen on her phone, and her eyebrows shot
up to her hairline. With the image came a question.

Emma: Is this OK to wear to work?

Lauren typed her response. No.

 

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

  • Puns GALORE.
  • Netflix pants.
  • Meddling sisters.
  • Fake cussing.
  • Flirting x 1000

 

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

Andrew is standing in line at a coffee shop the morning of his first appointment with an oncologist. Understandably, he’s nervous, stressed, and scared out of his mind. When he finds himself unexpectedly smiling in that moment after a run-in with a gorgeous redhead, his interest is peaked. It only grows when, hours later, she walks in to his exam room at the cancer center as the oncology pharmacist who will tell him about chemo.

Lauren’s attraction was undeniably physical at first, when she laid eyes on the impossibly handsome man at the coffee shop. After finding out he’s a patient at the cancer center where she works, she tries to keep it professional. But the more she learns about him and the more time she spends with him—she can’t help but begin to lose her heart.
 

Using just 5 words, how would you describe Hero and Heroine’s love affair?

Ardent, romantic, and surprisingly playful.
 

The First Kiss…

So. Very. Satisfying. (see next question)
 

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

He towered over her, his eyes locked on hers, and it might have been uncomfortable if it wasn’t so intense. She couldn’t form a coherent thought to save her life.

“Andrew…” she whispered. She wasn’t telling him to stop, that was for sure. Her fingers gripped his arms tighter, her action completing the thought she couldn’t seem to say.

He closed his eyes.

“I have to.” His breath caressed her cheek as he spoke, and a shiver ran through her, down her spine and to the tips of her toes. He touched his forehead to hers. “I have to.” His lower lip pressed upward against her top one. It wasn’t a kiss, exactly…his mouth was open slightly and so was hers, and they weren’t properly aligned. But the feeling of him against her, his nose brushing hers as he shifted to slide both of his lips fully across hers, was earth-shattering. It seared her soul, burning her inhibitions to ash.

She leaned in to him, molding her mouth to his, their lips becoming the single most important connection between them, despite his arms crushing her body close. A kiss could say so many things, and these words had been denied far too long.

I think about you always.
I care about you.
I’ve been wanting you.
I adore you.

 

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

The scene where they get caught kissing at her workplace, the cancer center where he’s being treated:

She needed to stop this. Move away from him, away from his hands and his scent and his intense eyes. But it was hard to breathe now that his thumbs were sliding up and down along her hips. “Andrew…” she whispered. Her heart rate sped up and her breath joined the race. “I can’t…we can’t. I’m at work. If someone saw us like this…”

Speaking the words aloud restored some of her willpower, and she gently slid his hands away from her body. The loss of the warmth of his fingers almost made her want to cry.

Andrew dropped his hands to his sides, then lifted one closed fist to his mouth. He shook his head slowly. “But… the scrubs…”

Lauren laughed a little. “What’s the deal? You have a fetish or something?”

Andrew swallowed. “I had it bad for Isabel Stephens.”

“From Grey’s Anatomy?”

“I binge-watched it a few summers ago. Couldn’t get over how hot she looked in those blue scrubs…with that drawstring that’s so easy to tug loose…and I don’t know how it’s possible, but you look ten times sexier than she ever did.” Andrew’s eyelids lowered slightly, and his free hand inched toward her waist.

“Andrew, you’re not taking my pants off!”

He jerked his hand away, and his eyes widened. “Shit, I’m sorry. You’d better go.” He moved back a step. “And don’t wear those around me again, unless we’re not here.”

A tingle shot down her spine, and the temperature in the room seemed to increase by ten degrees. Andrew’s gaze was hot on hers, and his nostrils flared slightly with his heavy breathing. Suddenly he was right in front of her again. He softly touched her face, sliding his fingers across her cheek.

“Just a quick kiss,” he said. “Then you can get back to work.”

“That’s not a good idea.” Still, she leaned closer.

“I know. But I can’t…”

Lauren’s protest died on her lips, because suddenly his were pressed against them, causing the most wonderful friction and sending her stomach into a free fall.

The door opened.

 

Readers should read this book …

To escape the trials of this world and enter a world of flirting and love, even just for a little while. It’s the *ahem* perfect distraction.

 

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

I’ve written a follow-up novel to Perfect Distraction, which is about to be sent to the publisher. I’m also working on an enemies-to-lovers romance about a drug rep and a physician assistant and it’s positively delicious.

 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

 

Giveaway: A $25 Amazon Giftcard (not required, but recommended to be used on books:)

 

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Have you ever wanted someone who was off-limits?

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
 

Excerpt from Perfect Distraction:

“What was going on this morning? With that guy?” Andrew asked.

Confusion clouded Lauren’s thoughts for a moment before she realized he must be asking about Zeke. She scrunched her nose in apology. “I can’t talk about it. Patient privacy rules are pretty strict.”

“Oh.” Andrew took a drink of his steaming coffee. “I guess that’s good to know. That you haven’t been going around telling everyone how my mom asked about sex.”

Lauren grinned at him even as her stomach flipped at the word coming out of his mouth. Goodness, what was she, twelve? “Never.”

His eyes dropped to the tabletop, and the sudden silence seemed intensified despite the low hum of nearby conversation surrounding them.

“Are you doing okay? Really?” she asked. “Like I said before…I have a hard time believing men if they have no complaints.”

He met her gaze. “Honestly? I’m tired. My appetite is weird, and certain smells bother me.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Can I be honest and say I’m dreading going bald? I know I’m a guy and I shouldn’t care, but I don’t think it’s gonna be a good look for me.”

He lowered his hand and looked away, and in that second he seemed so vulnerable and unsure, Lauren would have done just about anything to make it better. “I don’t think you need to worry,” she said quietly.

“What?” His eyes were back on her.

“I said I don’t think you need to worry.”

He grinned. “What do you mean?” He lifted an eyebrow, teasing her.

She narrowed her eyes. “You know exactly what I’m saying.”

“You think I’m hot?”

“I think you know how attractive you are.”

Andrew’s face turned serious. “Do you know how attractive you are?”

She felt her face warm. “I…”

“Because you are,” he interrupted. “You’re beautiful.”

Her limbs suddenly felt weak, and she wrapped her fingers around the edge of her seat for balance.

He continued, either not noticing or not concerned that he’d unnerved her. “I’ve thought about you a lot since we first met. And I don’t mean at the cancer center.” They both glanced in the direction of the self-serve coffee area.

“Me, too,” she admitted against her better judgment. It was nice to know she wasn’t the only one who had replayed that morning in her head.

“Would you go out with me? For coffee, or a drink? Dinner, even?”

“We’re having coffee right now.”

“We’re studying. This doesn’t count.”

“I haven’t looked at my books once since you showed up.”

“It wasn’t agreed upon that this was a date prior to the event,” he argued. “Therefore, it doesn’t count.”

“Not mediocre anymore,” she said under her breath.

He draped one arm across the chair to his left and grinned, a triumphant glint in his eyes. “Is that a yes?”

“No.”

He frowned. “You’re saying no?”

“No.”

His head cocked sideways. “What, then?”

Lauren wrapped her fingers around her coffee mug and looked down at her hands for a moment. What did he want from her? What could his end goal possibly be? She raised her eyes back to his incredibly handsome face.

“Why?”

Excerpts. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Lauren Taylor isn’t thinking about love, especially not with the impossibly attractive man she accidentally spilled coffee all over. He’s out of her league and she’s focused on finishing her oncology pharmacy residency. She’s sworn off men who are too handsome for their own good, anyway.

Andrew Bishop can’t stop thinking about the gorgeous redhead who crashed into him and then disappeared, even though he should have way more on his mind – like dealing with his Hodgkin Lymphoma diagnosis and finishing out his last year in law school. When Andrew and Lauren run into each other at the cancer center where she’s working and he’s being treated, they try to keep it professional. They can be friends, and nothing more.

But sometimes life has other plans…
Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Goodreads |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Allison Ashley is a music-loving, coffee-drinking mom of two who loves love stories. She’s an oncology pharmacist and spends her days focused on helping patients through one of the hardest things life can throw at them. Her escape has always been books–specifically books about happiness, love, and laughter–and it was inevitable that she’d eventually write her own. She promises to always write stories with deep romance, intense connection, and humor…but most of all, that coveted happy ever after.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | | Instagram |

 
 
 

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64 Responses to “Spotlight & Giveaway: Perfect Distraction by Allison Ashley”

  8. laurieg72

    The summer before my Sophomore year of HS, my friend and classmate asked me and another girl to help serve cake at her older sister’s wedding reception. One of the guys standing up was the older brother of another of my classmates. Anyway, he starting coming over and talking to me. He was handsome and smart ,going to MIT. He was 6 years older than me. He gave me a ride home. We kissed good night. He said he would call. Summer ended. My parents were very conservative. They would have freaked out.

  16. Karina Angeles

    Yes! My best friend’s boyfriend. I leave when he comes around, because I don’t want to mess up our friendship.

  20. dbranigan

    Oh, yeah,that happened and it stayed that way! As the Stones once said, “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try some time, you’ll just might find, you’ll get what you need.”

  38. Kelly Anne Blount

    Yup! LOL! Didn’t work out, but that’s a very good thing!

  39. Nancy Payette

    I thought of or fantasized about them but that didn’t mean I actually wanted them. 😉

  51. Ina

    I had a crush on a friend’s older sibling when I was younger, if that counts as off-limits!

  55. joab4424

    No, I haven’t but somebody wanted me who shouldn’t have. I went to lunch with my older brother and his girlfriend. When I got there, my brother’s friend was there. The rat set me up!

  60. hendeis

    Lots of time when I was younger! They were crushes that you didn’t act on.

  62. Patricia B.

    Not really. My husband is the first one I was ever interested in and that has never changed.