Spotlight & Giveaway: Temptation by Inara Scott

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Inara Scott to HJ!

Hi Inara and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Temptation (Bad Angels #2)!

 
Well howdy to you! 🙂
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Zoe Riva is a bad-ass patent attorney trying to break through the Old Boy’s Club to get to the next level in her career. Connor Ashton has been a friend and a client for years–he’s so off limits he might as well be her brother. But when she gets a look at him jogging with his shirt off in the park, she sees a different side of him and it sends her reeling.

No, it LITERALLY sends her flying off her electric scooter and into a street light.

(We’ve all been there, right? Completely humiliated in front of a hottie with no shirt?)

Zoe’s mishap with a lamp post puts her under concussion watch at Connor’s apartment. There, she hatches a plan to land her dream client: have Connor teach her how to speak the language of whiskey, motorcycles, and sports. It seems so harmless–but she has no idea how dangerous Connor can be.

When Connor enlists Zoe in his own game–which involves a highly competitive bridge game and four geriatric physicists–they end up in close quarters. Both are determined to put aside their growing desire and put life back the way it was. But once the genie is out of the bottle, even the smartest people in the room can make the biggest of mistakes…
 

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

Um, can I cheat and do two?

With a sound that was half groan, half growl, he lifted his head. “Zoe, you know we can’t do this.”
“I know.” She held tight to his neck, fighting for control as her body rebelled against her brain. “But I can’t seem to make myself care.”
***
She riffled through his clothes, finding impeccably folded T-shirts, boxers, and socks. “You fold your socks?”
“You don’t?”

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• Zoe is the first heroine I’ve written who is very vocal–and unashamed to be that way–in bed.
• Connor was modeled after the first love of my life: Maxwell Caufield, the leading guy from Grease 2.
• I tried to learn bridge as part of my research for this book but it was a total fail because I can’t count cards to save my life.
• Mark (his real name, I swear), the bartender from the Top of the Mark in San Francisco, introduced me to the sazerac, the greatest of all whiskey cocktails.
• I have never driven a motorcycle but I have ridden on an e-scooter and managed to not kill myself, which felt like a huge victory.

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

Connor falls head over heels for Zoe’s sass, smarts, and curves. Zoe loses it when she gets a look at Connor’s six pack.

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

I laugh every time the GPGs come on stage. Here’s where Zoe meets them for the first time.

“But Zoe, tell me, are you really prepared to spend all your free time with a bunch of geriatric physicists?”
“Geriatric physicists grannies,” Shirley corrected. “Except for Leticia, of course. She’s our hold out.”
“Don’t look at me,” Leticia said. “It’s his fault.” She indicated over her shoulder in Connor’s direction, and the other three women all turned to look at him.
“Poor thing really needs to get out more,” Clara said in a stage whisper.
Shirley sighed. “We tried to set him up with my niece Becca. Unfortunately, he forgot their date and left her waiting for an hour. Never answers his phone, you know.”
Connor made a strangled sound.
“And you remember that young woman from my old lab at Stanford?” Minnie asked.
“Oh, she had it bad,” Clara said. All four of them nodded sympathetically. “Scared him off, I think. He gets nervous when they start expecting things from him.”
“I’m standing right here,” Connor said. “Honestly, ladies.”
His disgruntled look made Zoe laugh out loud, which drew the attention of the group. “Do you have a nice young man?” Shirley asked her.
Clara gave her hips a waggle. “Let’s hope not. Last time I checked, Shirl, the nice ones aren’t much fun.”
“How would you know?” Minnie asked. “You haven’t dated a nice one for years.”
“Try decades,” Leticia put in.

Readers should read this book….

Oh man, read to laugh and get that warm, squishy feeling you can only get from sexy times and a happily ever after.

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

Next up, Bad Angels #3: Redemption (Nate and Cece’s story).
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: I’m giving away two e-books and a Bad Angels T-shirt!

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Have you ever done anything embarrassing? Spilled your drink on your blouse right before a meeting? Walked into the boy’s bathroom at work (guilty!)? Tripped in front of your crush? Make Zoe feel better and tell all!

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Excerpt from Temptation (Bad Angels #2):

Connor was waiting next to the ferry ticket shop when he saw her walk in. She wore a long black coat belted tightly around the waist and had traded the strappy shoes she’d been wearing at their meeting for a pair of absurdly sexy high-heeled leather boots. A soft-looking hat tumbled to one side, covering her head and ears. Her lips—full and glossy, in some shade of lipstick that made him think of late-summer cherries—hit him from across the room, just like they had when she’d walked into the conference room earlier that day.
He wanted to kiss her.
No, he needed to kiss her.
But he was absolutely, positively not going to kiss her.
He watched her walk toward him, fighting to conceal the desire in his gaze. He could tell the moment she recognized him. She straightened and nodded in greeting, neutral and friendly. But as the weight of his stare reached her across the room, her entire gait changed. Her lips softened. Her eyes filled with anticipation.
And then he knew. She wanted this. She wanted him. No matter what they had said, whatever was happening between them hadn’t ended that night at Temptation.
It had only just begun.
She stopped in front of him. Her eyes were hungry as they flicked across his face and body. Her tongue darted out and slid across her bottom lip. “Connor.”
“Zoe.” He didn’t reach out. Didn’t touch her. No matter that his entire body had gone rigid the moment he saw her.
“I have one question to ask you,” she said.
“A question?” His brows drew together in surprise. “Okay, go ahead.”
She leaned slightly forward and took a hold of his lapel. “Were you looking at my lips today?”
“Fuck, Zoe,” he muttered. “You know I was.”
Helplessly, he circled her waist with his hands. Her heels brought her height closer to his, and he drew her into his arms. She held on tight, tugging his coat until their bodies were touching.
His nerves went into overdrive at the feeling of her snugged against him. He’d never experienced this kind of need before. It was primitive.
Primal.
“Were you thinking about this?” she asked. “Were you thinking about kissing me?”
“I haven’t stopped.” He took control then, accepting the invitation she had extended to drag his lips across hers. Her flesh was sweet spice, hot and needy. He explored her lips, caressed them, then sought entry, tracing the seam with his tongue before plunging inside.
Heat pulsed through every inch of his body. There were people all around them. It was rush hour, and the chance that they’d be recognized was too high to contemplate. Yet that knowledge did little to dampen the need that had been unleashed. They consumed each other, breathtaking desire slamming into him like a runaway train. His world was her lips. His universe, her body.
He didn’t know which of them pulled away, but when their lips parted, reluctantly, he traced a hand down the side of her jaw. Need still gripped him, and he had to fight to loosen his hold. Her eyes were liquid, pupils dilated. She clung to him like she might topple over.
“Zoe, I…”
She stopped whatever he might have started to say, slapping her open palm lightly on his chest. “We aren’t talking about this,” she said fiercely. “Don’t you dare talk about it.”
“But…”
“I mean it. Talk to me about bridge. Tell me about whiskey and motorcycles. But don’t you dare talk about this.” She gestured back and forth between them. “Whatever this is.”
He lowered his mouth to cover hers and nipped lightly at her lower lip. “Can I tell you what I want to do right now?” he whispered. “Can I tell you something that has nothing to do with bridge or whiskey, but could involve my bike?”
Her eyelids fluttered, and she gripped the lapel of his coat. “Not if you want me to stay upright,” she said.
He chuckled softly, the desire in her eyes headier than any drug could be. “What makes you think that’s what I want?”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

As close friends and coworkers, attorney Zoe Riva and tech genius Connor Ashton know they can never get involved.

Never.

Ever.

Until a scooter accident lands Zoe in Connor’s arms—and his overnight custody—and she starts to see a man she’s never seen before. With her career and her heart on the line, Zoe can’t afford to take any chances. But when combustible chemistry takes over, even the smartest people in the room can make the biggest of mistakes…
Book Links: Amazon | B&N | kobo |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Best-selling author and RITA® finalist Inara Scott spent most of her childhood reading about pirates, dragons, and true love. Despite having grown up (mostly), little has changed. Inara splits her time between writing, reading, teaching law, taking care of her family, and hiking around the Oregon forests with her husband and little white dogs. Inara firmly believes that true love does exist, and everyone deserves a happily ever after. You can find her on Instagram or Twitter (@inarascott), on Facebook (@inarawrites), and at her website: www.inarascott.com.
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