Spotlight & Giveaway: Reining Her In by Katie Ashley

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Katie Ashley to HJ!

Hi Katie and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Reining Her In!

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

It’s about a woman who at twenty was hurt in the worst way by the man she loved. Time hasn’t healed all wounds, and for the last decade, it has kept her away from the small-town where she grew up and where her ex-fiance lives. After her grandfather’s death when she comes back for his funeral, she learns she has inherited his practice. Not only is she forging a new life away from the bi city, but the man she once loathed has grown and evolved in ways she never imagined.
 

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

Declan slowly shook his head. “Even after all these years, no one holds a candle to you, Peyton. No one ever has and no one ever will.”

“We both know I made a lot of mistakes in the past. This time I want to do everything right. I can’t help but think that taking it slow and honorable is the right way to do it.”

Any other woman would find his ideals endearing. It was like he was suggesting some old-fashioned courtship. But tonight I was a horndog who desperately needed the D. “I’m thirty years old, Declan. I’m way past caring about my purity.”

“It’s not just about being honorable.” He swept a strand of hair out of my face. “I want to romance you.”

What inspired this book?

When I was a little girl, I have great memories of my parents holing up on Sunday nights to watch All Creatures Great and Small on PBS. It was about the life of James Heriot–the British large animal veterinarian. I’ve been wanting to write a large-animal vet for a long time. I also wanted to explore a really, really bad break-up that could be turned around.

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

My characters always surprise me. Little vignettes come at me in the shower or driving down the road. Maybe a song comes on and it hits me how it relates to them and what they went through.

What was your favorite scene to write?

Gosh, it’s hard to pinpoint a favorite. I did love the first time Peyton sees Declan again, which happens to be when she has her arm up a cow’s vagina to try and deliver a breeched cow.

What was the most difficult scene to write?

The scenes where Peyton deals with the grief of losing her grandfather were especially hard to write. Like Peyton, I was very close with both of my grandfathers. It’s always hard to write emotional scenes, but they’re especially hard when you have a personal connection to them.

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

I think readers can expect the same things they are used to in a Katie Ashley novel.It combines humor with grief along with the love of family, and they’re are hot and sexy times mixed within.

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

That we evolve and change from the people we once were, and that true soul mates will find their way back to each other no matter what.

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

In November, I have a book coming out, which is written in Penelope Reid’s Smartypants Romance world. If you love a small-town romance with lots of humor, heart, and heat, then you’ll love Shelf Awareness.

In October, I have an older woman, younger man coming out and a sports romance in December. You can spend the holidays with Katie Ashley!

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: Win a signed paperback of Reining Her In

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Excerpt from Reining Her In:

Intensity burned in Declan’s eyes as he closed the distance between us. My heartbeat suddenly accelerated. I hadn’t been this close to him in a long time. While he’d had his hands on me in the pasture when he helped me up, we certainly weren’t close. His noble gesture hadn’t extended to getting covered in manure.

The smell of his cologne assaulted my senses. It was the same smell I always identified with him. I didn’t know how it was possible after all these years he hadn’t changed colognes. His stare was so intense I felt it go straight through me.

“Why didn’t you ever come back to Hayesville?” he questioned, his voice unusually husky.

“Is that a serious question?”

“Yes.”

“I would think it was obvious.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “I didn’t want to see you or even be within ten feet of you. I loathed you that much.”

“I understand you feeling that way at first. But after all these years, I don’t get it.”

“Last time I checked, you don’t get to validate or deny my feelings. It’s all on me.”

“So, you’ve hated me enough the last ten years that you refused to step foot in your hometown or go back to your childhood home?”

“Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner. That’s exactly why.”

“But why not come back and confront me? Give me a good slap or knee to the balls.”

There were many times I’d debated confronting him. I’d discussed it at length in therapy. My therapist had suggested me seeing him again just to bury the past. But instead, I’d opted for a more mature response: I’d just ignore his existence by going out of my way to never see him again.

“Your suggestions would have been beneath my character.”

Declan chuckled. “I seem to remember you punching the shit out of that man you saw abusing his dog.”

“That’s different,” I argued.

“Do you want to know what I think?” Declan asked.

“No. But I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”

As Declan loomed over me, I took a tiny step back. “I think you still have feelings for me.”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, I’m sure you heard me.”

“I didn’t think I could have considering how delusional you sounded.” When I jabbed my finger into his chest, I momentarily lost my train of thought. His pecs were rock-hard. Damn, he was even more built now than he was back when he was playing football in high school. Once I regained my senses, I spat, “Of course, I have feelings for you. Murderous, angry feelings.”

“I hate they’re all still so negative. I still consider you one of the smartest, best-looking, and kindest women of my acquaintance.”

“Wait…you what?”

“Why is it you haven’t come back home in ten years?”

“Don’t be pedantic.”

He grinned. “You always loved using those big words.”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I. Call me crazy, but I always found your intelligence sexy.”

“Sure you did.”

“I did.” He waggled his brows. “It kinda turned me on when you used that extensive vocabulary of yours.”

What the hell? Was this real life? “Are you drunk?”

Shrugging, he replied, “No. I’m just stating facts.”

“I would think you would have to be drunk or high to stand before the woman you humiliated and flirt with the finesse of a teenage boy. We’re at my grandfather’s funeral for God’s sake.”

That seemed to sober him up a little. I had no idea where this was coming from. Only a few minutes ago he was angry at me.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“Look, Declan, I need to get back inside. Thank you for apologizing. That helped. But if we need to rehash the past can it not be today?” I took a deep breath, hoping it would give me the courage and strength I needed to get my game face back on. I need this day to be over.

But then his eyes focused on my lips, and too many odd sensations ricocheted through me. I had to get the hell out of there. I took a step back and my foot came down on air instead of concrete. Flailing, I started to fall back when Declan grabbed my hand. As I tried to pull myself toward him, I ended up jacking him toward me. A high-pitched scream escaped my lips as I tumbled backwards off the porch and into the shrubs below.

Although it should have been a soft landing with all the brush, the branches scraped and scratched like agony, causing me to shriek with pain. Of course, it didn’t help when Declan’s body crushed onto mine.

For the second time in twenty-four hours, Declan asked, “Are you okay?”

“Can’t. Breathe,” I wheezed.

“Shit. I’m sorry.” When he started to get off of me, he bellowed in pain. “Fuck. I think there’s a branch up my ass,” Declan grunted.

A laugh burst from my lips at his statement and the absurdity of the situation. “Oh, you think me being victimized by a shrub is funny?” Declan demanded.

“It sure as hell is.”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

The last time I saw Declan St. James was at our rehearsal dinner. That was shortly before he jilted me at the altar. To avoid the swarm of whispers and finger pointing every time I dared to show my face in public, I fled two hours south to Atlanta and never looked back. Over the last decade, I’d planned hundreds of scenarios about how our next meeting would go down. The expletives I’d hurl at him. Which knee I might use to annihilate his balls. Which dimpled cheek on his ridiculously handsome face I would send a stinging slap across.

But being elbow deep in a cow’s ass was not one of them.

Normally, I didn’t get up close and personal to a bovine’s rectum. At least not since veterinarian school. But desperate times found me back home to attend my grandfather’s funeral, who happened to be the town’s large animal vet. Those two facts had left me wading through manure in Roy Wallace’s pasture to care for a distressed heifer.

While time and maturity seemed to have changed him from the boy I knew, I still wasn’t falling for his charm. Or his hard, chiseled body. Or ass you could eat dinner off of.

No, I wasn’t going back down that street again. Unfortunately, Declan didn’t seem to get the message. Instead, he seemed as stubborn as he ever was and ready for a fight. It’ll be the fight of his life for me to let him back in my heart.

Book Links: Amazon |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Katie Ashley is a New York Times, USA Today, and Amazon Top Five Best-Selling author of both Indie and Traditionally published books. She’s written rockers, bikers, manwhores with hearts of gold, New Adult, and Young Adult. She lives outside of Atlanta, Georgia with her daughter, Olivia, her Heeler-Mix, Belle, and her two cats, Harry Potter and Hermoine. She has a slight obsession with Pinterest, The Golden Girls, Shakespeare, Harry Potter, and Star Wars.

With a BA in English, a BS in Secondary English Education, and a Masters in Adolescent English Education, she spent eleven years teaching both middle and high school English, as well as a few adjunct college English classes. As of January 2013, she became a full-time writer.

Although she is a life-long Georgia peach, she loves traveling the country and world meeting readers. Most days, you can find her being a hermit, styling leggings, and binging on Netflix whenever her toddler daughter isn’t monopolizing the TV with Paw Patrol or Frozen.

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