Spotlight & Giveaway: Scandalized by Ivy Owens

Posted August 24th, 2022 by in Blog, Spotlight / 26 comments

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Ivy Owens to HJ!
Spotlight&Giveaway

Hi Ivy and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Scandalized!

 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Scandalized is a romance novel about LA Times journalist Gigi Ross, who is traveling back from London where she’d been chasing a lead on a story. Her connecting flight is cancelled and at the hotel she runs into the older brother of her childhood best friend, whose family moved away when Gigi was thirteen. This man, Alec Kim, was Gigi’s first crush, and after they get a drink at the hotel bar, things turn heated between them. But after an intense night together, Gigi realizes that Alec wasn’t totally up front about who he is now, and—more importantly—that his family might be entangled in the story she’s been working on. Unable to stay away from each other, Gigi and Alec risk potentially catastrophic fallout if their relationship goes public.
 

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

I have so many! But I think a favorite scene is when Alec is over at Gigi’s apartment playing cards with her and her roommate Eden, who is a huge fan of his (spoiler: Alec is a famous actor). Gigi is watching him and Eden have fun together. It isn’t just one line but this part, I love:

“I keep seeing the realization pass through Eden’s expression: Alec Kim. Right there. But the way he teasingly laughs at her from behind his cards, the way he sings badly with the music, the way the professional actor in our house drinks some beer and then has no actual poker face . . . there’s just something so perfectly ordinary about him, too.”

And I love it because although this book definitely has some insta-lust and insta-love vibes, one thing I tried very hard to do is show how Gigi and Alec see each other very clearly from the start.

 

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

I wrote this book on “vacation” in 2020 (no one was traveling still at this point so it was really a staycation) and it was inspired by so many things. It was inspired by the wonderfully indulgent focus on romance storylines in K Dramas, and my own desire to travel. The story came to me fully formed and I wrote it sort of in a fever over the next few weeks. It was so much fun.

 

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

Initially it’s a very physical, very mutual attraction, of course, but they have a really easy way together right off the bat. I think in part that’s because they knew each other when they were younger, so there’s a bit of shorthand and comfort built in. But have you ever had those people in your life you meet and you feel immediately easy with them? That’s true for Gigi and Alec. They just clicked.

 

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

None of these scenes made me blush because initially I wrote it entirely for me and two of my friends. I never planned to publish it, so I never expected anyone else to see it. I think had I imagined an unknown reader’s reaction to some of the scenes, I wouldn’t have been so free to write them falling in love the way they did. Here’s part of a scene I really love – it’s later in the evening after playing cards with Eden, when Gigi and Alec are alone in her room together:
But at some point, we transition from frenzied to slow. With him over me, holding me, his mouth open against my neck, I fall into a pleasure trance. This is making love without a goal, just moving together, lost in the same thing. I’ve never in my life felt so connected to someone before, like we’re sharing the same high. I wrap my arms all the way around him and try to focus on every tiny sensation: the smooth glide of his chest over mine, the quiet sounds carried on his breath against my neck, the warm, gentle friction of his hips against my thighs, and the thick drag of him in and out and in and deeper in.

Some of the scenes made me a little sad – the scene where Gigi is hurriedly packing up the hotel room was emotional to write, but I wasn’t too sad because I also knew how the book would end

 

Readers should read this book….

If they want a sexy, escapist romance that will leave them smiling so wide <3

 

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

I am plotting a possible book for Eden!
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

 

Giveaway: A print copy of SCANDALIZED by Ivy Owens

 

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What are some of your favorite spicy reads?
OR
What was the last book you read that made you blush??

 
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Book Info:

A one-night stand between two old childhood friends turns into something more, but when a scandal threatens to tear them apart, they must decide how hard to fight for love—a steamy romance debut perfect for fans of Tessa Bailey and Kennedy Ryan​.
Book Links: Amazon | B&N |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Ivy Owens has been writing for fun her entire life. Scandalized was a labor of love written in the wild paradox of boredom and inspiration during the pandemic. She lives in California with her husband, two kids, and two dogs, and is rarely seen without a book in hand. You can find her on Instagram at @HelloIvyOwens.
Website | Instagram |
 
 
 

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26 Responses to “Spotlight & Giveaway: Scandalized by Ivy Owens”

  1. Linda Herold

    I have been reading a lot of cozy mysteries lately and there is not much to blush about.

  17. Tiffany J

    Priest by Sierra Simone always stands out for spicy (and forbidden) for me.

  18. Amy R

    What are some of your favorite spicy reads? Penelope Douglas, Nalini Singh, Kristen Ashley and many more

  19. Tina R

    Congratulations on your debut novel! I’m looking forward to reading it.
    The fisrt spicy read to pop into my head was the entire Torpedo Ink series by Christine Feehan.

  20. Laurie Gommermann

    Books by Kate Pearce and Maya Banks
    Last one that made me blush Rush
    Madeline Hunter’s The Most Dangerous Duke In London I enjoyed Clara and Adam’s sexy story.

  22. Desiree Kessler

    I can’t think of anything recent. I’m currently reading a true crime, so definitely nothing there!