Spotlight & Giveaway: Rough and Tumble by Shae Connor

Posted November 2nd, 2020 by in Blog, Spotlight / 37 comments

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Shae Connor to HJ!
Spotlight&Giveaway

Hi Shae and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Rough and Tumble!

 
Hi, happy to be here!
 

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

Rough and Tumble is the story of Grant and Darryn, college roommates and gymnastic teammates who are just figuring out their sexualities and how they feel about each other. It’s a journey through misunderstandings and difficulties back to friendship and eventually, love.
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

Hi, my name’s Grant Clark, and I have managed to screw up my entire life. In triplicate.
Number one: I fell in love with my best friend.
Number two: I thought he was straight.
Number three: Because of number one and number two, I didn’t make a move.
Until it was too late.

 

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

  • The idea for this book was sparked by a friend’s request for a story about a “ginger gymnast.” The red-haired, pale-skinned, freckle-covered Grant was born!
  • Most of the gymnastics information came out of what I already knew. I’ve been a gymnastics fan since I was 7 years old.
  • The University of Atlanta is fictional, but its location is based on an actual college in Atlanta. I used to live next door to the campus.

 

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

Grant and Darryn have been roommates and teammates close friends for a year when the story starts, and their attraction has developed gradually over that time in a hundred different little ways.
 

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

Friendship, admiration, recovery, compassion, support.
 

The First Kiss…

On New Year’s Eve, just as the countdown finishes!
 

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

The New Year’s Eve moment is a favorite:

The silence between us isn’t uncomfortable, but I’m trying to come up with something to break it when the partiers down the street start counting. “Ten! Nine! Eight!”

I don’t know how accurate their count is, but I turn my head toward Darryn anyway, only to find him much closer than he’d been minutes before. He’s smiling softly and his gaze captures me, drawing me in like a moth to a flame. My heart pounds, a hot flush runs over my skin, and all concepts of just a friend evaporate from my mind.

The revelers cheer as their countdown ends, and for that moment, everything in the world is right.

 

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

There’s a scene where Darryn is injured and Grant helps him. It’s a turning point in the story, but it also shows Grant’s level of care for Darryn:

He’s shivering and whimpering a little, and his right shoulder looks grotesque under his T-shirt. Dislocated, fuck. Anyone’s who’s been doing gymnastics as long as we have could tell that in a second. He’s got his left wrist cradled in his lap, too, and it’s more than a bruise this time. From the way it’s swelling, I’m hoping it’s not broken.

My brain snaps to attention finally, and I dig my phone out of my pocket as I crouch in front of Darryn. “It’s gonna be okay,” I murmur while dialing 911. “We’re gonna get you taken care of.”

 

Readers should read this book …

… if they like friends-to-lovers stories, sports-centered romance, family involvement, and circles of friends helping each other through rough times.

 

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

I’m currently finishing up the next book in the University of Atlanta series, which is centered around Grant’s twin sister, Annie. A third book will follow just as fast as I can write it!

 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

 

Giveaway: A $10 Amazon gift card + a copy of any book from my backlist!

 

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What are your favorite sports, either to play, to watch, or to read about?

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
 

Excerpt from Rough and Tumble:

In this excerpt, Grant, his sister Annie, and their friend Mo are at the Atlanta Pride Festival, the first time for Grant (and for Annie):

The view as we walk into the park confirms my thought. The sheer number of rainbows would be enough, but there are couples holding hands everywhere and bright colors in all directions, flags and banners and clothes and hair. Tattoos and piercings adorn more bodies than not, and nearly every face bears a wide smile.

It’s like we’ve stepped into an alternate reality where no one hides and everyone can happily be exactly who they are on the inside.

It’s hard to describe how incredibly freeing it is.

Suddenly I wish we’d brought Darryn along today. I know I needed some time away from everything, and the festival going on around me certainly fits that bill. But as much as I don’t know how he’d feel about being surrounded by so many bold expressions of queer life, I want to share this feeling with him. I want him to know that there’s a bright, big world out here, and it’s waiting for us to jump right in.

I pause long enough to take a picture of the colorful crowd and shoot it off to Darryn with a simple message: Wish you were here!

I hurry to catch up with Mo and Annie, who stopped at the nearest booth to wait for me. They don’t ask who I was texting—their knowing smiles tell me they already know.

“Okay.” I wave an arm. “You ready to show us the gayer side of life?”

Mo laughs and leads the way. The farther we wander into the park, the larger and more diverse the crowd around us grows. Mo keeps moving, only slowing down a few times to glance into a few of the vendor booths we pass. Annie keeps pace with Mo, and I follow a few steps behind, trying not to gawk too much at the many shirtless men we pass. Yeah, sue me. I like guys, and even though my heart belongs to one guy in particular right now, I’m going to look when I’m surrounded by so many hot ones. I try not to stare, but…

“See anything you like?”

Whoops. Guess I’m not as discreet as I thought. Mo had paused to grab something from a vendor’s table, and my eyes had landed on the body of a big, beefy, hairy guy wearing low-slung jeans and a leather harness. My face burns at his smirking scrutiny, but I give him a hesitant smile.

“Sorry, he’s a newbie.” Mo’s back, and she bumps her shoulder against mine as she shoots Big and Beefy a grin. She turns her head toward me and bursts into laughter. “Wow, your face almost matches your hair!”

Big and Beefy chuckles, and Mo grabs my hand again. “C’mon, studly. You need more than ten minutes at Pride before you run off for a hookup.”

She turns her smile back toward Big and Beefy as she leads me away to where Annie stands a couple of feet away, snickering behind her hand. I give the guy a shrug as I follow. She’s right. Even if I did decide to try to pick someone up today—and even if big, beefy, and leather-wearing were my type—I’m here for the full experience. Festival first, then other kinds of fun.

Excerpts. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

My name’s Grant Clark, and I have managed to screw up my entire life. In triplicate.
Number one: I fell in love with my best friend.
Number two: I thought he was straight.
Number three: Because of number two, I didn’t make a move on number one. Until it was too late.
Or is it?
When I accidentally interrupt him with another guy—and he turns out to be the worst—well, I think it’s time I finally make a move.
Don’t you?

Warning: This book contains two men who don’t mind a little humor and heartache as they struggle to find their happily ever after in the aftermath of a toxic relationship.
Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Goodreads |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Shae Connor lives just outside Atlanta, where she’s a lackadaisical government worker by day and writes sweet-hot romance under the cover of night. She’s been making things up for as long as she can remember, but it took her a while to figure out that maybe she should try writing them down.

Shae was first published in 2010 and has a lineup of short stories, novellas, and novels available and a host of anthology appearances. She’s won two Rainbow Awards for Best Anthology/Collection, one for the multi-author anthology Playing Ball, and one for a solo novella collection, Hands-On.

Shae is part Jersey, part Irish, and all Southern, which explains why she never shuts up. When she’s not chained to her laptop, she enjoys cooking, traveling, watching baseball, reading voraciously, giving and receiving hugs, and wearing tiaras. In her copious spare time, she volunteers as director and editor of the Dragon Con on-site publication, the Daily Dragon.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | | Instagram |

 
 
 

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37 Responses to “Spotlight & Giveaway: Rough and Tumble by Shae Connor”

  2. Mary Preston

    I’ve never been into sports in any way, but having said that, I love to watch the summer and winter Olympics.

  7. Tiffany Greene

    I don’t play any sports but I love watching basketball, baseball, gymnastics on the television! I am willing to read any books with sports in them! Thanks

  12. Jennifer Shiflett

    I enjoy reading about & watching college football. I also love to read about hockey.

  13. Pamela Conway

    I don’t play or watch sports but do love reading sports romance books!! Football, hockey, MMA.

  21. laurieg72

    I love to participate and watch sporting events.
    My favorite sports to watch are hockey and football and soccer. Golf and tennis and baseball can be a little slow for me. I love to watch the Olympics both summer and winter: ice skating, ice dancing , swimming, diving, gymnastics, track, skiing… The skill of the athletes and their dedication is inspiring.

    I love all sport’s athletes in books.

    I don”t know the rules for rugby or lacrosse or fencing or polo. I would read about them

  23. Amy R

    What are your favorite sports, either to play, to watch, or to read about? Favorite sport to watch is ice hockey.

  25. Nina Lewis

    I am a huge sports fan! I love watching European football, hockey, baseball, NFL football, tenis & Formula 1 races! 🙂

  29. Nicole (Nicky) Ortiz

    My favorite to watch is Hockey.
    I don’t have a favorite to read I love them all
    Thanks for the chance!

  30. Jeanna Massman

    I like to watch Basketball but I don’t really play any sports.