Spotlight & Giveaway: Tempting The Prince by Christi Barth

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Christi Barth to HJ!

Hi Christi and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Tempting The Prince!

 
Hello to all you royal rom-com fans!
 

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

A run-of-the-mill American woman can’t date the heir to the throne. She absolutely can’t marry him! But…the crown prince WANTS her, no matter what the rest of his country says…
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

Mallory Wishner crossed her fingers as she sidestepped a suit of armor and turned the corner. It was the third time today she’d gotten lost in Alcarsa Palace. At least it’d been down three different hallways, so the same footmen weren’t snidely rolling their eyes at her.

Not that they would—openly. All the staff were unfailingly polite to her, as the sister of the princess who’d been missing for twenty-four years.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• I have a ball, a state dinner, and a (REDACTED FOR SPOILER REASONS) in this book, so I had to search couture ballgowns and tiaras and jewels for 3 women for 3 occasions. So. MUCH fun. You can check them out at https://www.pinterest.com/christibarth/tempting-the-prince/
• Moncriano is a wholly fictional country, so I had to figure out what their ‘traditional dress’ would be for their Harvest Festival. Lotta funny hats out there in European history!
• Technically, this is a spoiler – but – it should also be glaringly obvious to anyone who reads 3 chapters of this book, let alone both of the previous ones. I had to research the speech/vows a monarch makes during their coronation. Shockingly hard to find!
• The hero from book 1 (Elias) turns 30 in this book, and Christian has to throw him a party. Deciding what your best friend would do for your 30th if he was a wealthy prince – and you and your friends were not – was HARD, I don’t mind admitting. Eli would not have been okay with jetsetting to Monaco. Because he isn’t royal and won’t allow himself the trappings. But Christian wants to go all out for his bestie. I repeat, THIS WAS TRICKY. (Solution revealed in Chapter Nineteen)

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

Christian’s attracted to her in book 1. Of course, he doesn’t TELL her until this book, when he’s trying to convince her to date him. “You caught my attention when you curtsied to me getting off the plane that brought you here. I was meeting my missing sister for the first time in twenty-four years, and yet I noticed you.”

When Mallory’s back in America, recovering from being shot, the princess asks her to pick out something to give Christian luck at his polo match. She picks out a tie-dyed rabbit’s foot *no rabbits were harmed in the formation of this romance*
“When I stared at the display rack and I saw one that paired your eye color with mine—albeit in nuclear-waste versions of the colors—I had to get it. Silly, I know. Something a teen might do for her crush.” That’s when she realized she had the hots for a man that could never, ever be hers.
 

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

• Impossible
• Inevitable
• Smoldering
• Flirtatious
• Forbidden

The First Kiss…

Well…she accidentally impales him with a dart. There’s blood to be staunched. Apologies to be proferred.

“I’m not sorry at all. Not since it got us alone.”

That got her gaze to shift from his arm up to his eyes. “You don’t…we can’t…you’re hurt.”

“I’m fine. I’ll prove it.” More for her sake, to reassure her that he’d live from the nothing wound, Christian brushed a kiss over her lips.

Then it didn’t matter why. It only mattered that there’d be more.

Because her arms banded around him with a ferocity that shocked him. There was so much need vibrating through her tight body. Need that was obvious from the way her leg locked around his, her hips rocked back and forth, and she amped up the intensity on the kiss from one to where’s a condom.

A need that almost matched his own.

Eagerly, he nipped at her ripe, full lips. His hand tunneled through her hair to tilt her head back to the perfect angle. Christian was drowning in her scent, her taste. The breathy moans that vibrated out of her in through his own lips.

He could swallow those all night long.

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

They’re on a family road trip (yes, that is just as unusual for the Royal Family as it sounds). Everyone else goes to bed and Christian and Mallory share a very romantic scene on a balcony under the moonlight overlooking the Italian Dolomites. ROMANCE DRENCHED.

“Your family crest?” The craftsmanship—and the sparkles—had made Mallory suspect that it was not something he’d picked up in a souvenir shop. But now this sounded much more personal. She should’ve recognized that these same symbols were painted and stamped and embroidered all over the walls and furnishings of Alcarsa Palace. “You had this specially made for me? I love it, but you didn’t have to go to all that trouble.”
“No. I didn’t.”
“Oh. Good.” Whereas she actually had a sinking in her stomach of disappointment. Stupid. “You’re too busy for taking the time to that sort of detail.”
He set the box on the balustrade to clasp it around her wrist. Right next to the stack of motivational bangles she’d gotten on Amazon last year for $24.99. It was important to remind yourself by looking at a rose gold charm that life held an infinite number of twists, turns, and possibilities. “It was my mother’s. I had the housekeeper at Regali Palace dig it out of her closet and send it here.”
“What?” Mallory gasped. She tried to yank back her wrist, but it was already fastened. “This belonged to a queen? Your mother—and Genevieve’s and Kelsey’s? I can’t wear this. You can’t give it to me.”
Christian circled the bracelet and her wrist with his big, warm hand. “Mama would want you to have it. She’d want you to adore Moncriano as much as she did. She grew up here, in Italy. Made her first visit to Moncriano when she was sixteen and fell in love with it. As the story goes, she decided right then to do whatever it took to move there.”
“Marrying a king’s a little drastic, if you ask me,” she quipped.
“Don’t knock it ’til you try it.”
A charge filled the air as his words hung between them, heavy with…what? Meaning? Portent? An unspoken offer?
That was ridiculous.
They couldn’t marry.
They couldn’t even date. They were stealing kisses in secret.
Mallory was simply caught up in the romance of the moment. The moonlight, the scent of pines mixing with the flowers in the table centerpieces. The ancient palace, the intoxicating wine, the handsome prince, the stunning jewels…
Christian had simply been teasing her. It was what they did. They bantered. With an added level of flirtation, just…because.
So what if his thumb caressed the back of her hand? So what if his eyes freaking smoldered as he stared down at her? So what if she could feel his heart racing beneath the crisp pale pink shirt?
Wait.
When—how—why had her hand planted itself on his chest?
Well, since it was there, she might as well rub her palm back and forth across those tight pecs. No different than appreciating fine art in a museum. This man was fine, indeed.
“Christian, I do love it. But I don’t want to accidentally hurt anyone’s feelings. This is a precious heirloom.”
“Mallory, that’s why I gave it to you.” He curled his fingers around her hand, pressing it even tighter to his heart. “Because of the import, the history, the weight it carries as a symbol. Not because I was trying to save myself a trip to the mall.”
Cocking her head, she gave him her best You know nothing, Jon Snow glare. “Please. Have you ever been to a mall?”
“No.” Christian lodged his tongue firmly in his cheek. “But I’ve seen them in movies and they look like magical places, full of fun and wonder.”
“Yes. As well as screaming children, projectile bodily fluids from the aforementioned children, roving gangs of teens, and slow-walking seniors.” It had been five glorious months since she’d descended into a mall’s hellmouth.
“Wow. Don’t quit your day job to go into marketing. You’re a horrible saleswoman.”
“My expertise is in fundraising. If I’m passionate about something, I’ll convince you it’s wonderful, and make you decide to empty your wallet for it. Aka I’ll passionately sell you on internet shopping you can do at two a.m. in your pajamas. That’s the web’s greatest gift to mankind.”
Christian pointed toward the interior of the palace. “What about its power to connect long-lost relatives and friends?”
Talk about a weak sales pitch. The last thing Kelsey had wanted was to ditch her dreams and come live with the total strangers who were her long-lost relatives. It had all worked out, sure, but the odds it’d turn out this well every time were astronomically slim.
“When I want to connect with a new dress by Thursday, the internet is there for me. Instant gratification.”
“See, that I’m passionate about. The instant gratification.” Christian spread his legs wide to pull her right in between. “And I’m feeling very in need of it right now…”

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

There’s a royal ball (it is amazing I was able to wait until book 3 to describe a ball!). And they steal off through the garden to sneak kisses in private.

“I also think it’s important to state for the record that you’ve inherited a crappy deal. Being told who you’re allowed to marry. Like you’re handed a prix fixe dinner menu, and you simply don’t have a taste for the three choices.” Mallory slowly shook her head, mindful of the weight of the tiara. “It’s not fair. You’re giving your whole life to this country. You deserve happiness.”
“I haven’t done anything to deserve it. But I do want it.” Christian lifted her hand, pressed a kiss to the backs of her knuckles. Half bent, looking up at her from beneath heavy-lidded eyes, he could be a movie poster of Prince Charming. “I want you.”
It was a moment—another one—she’d remember for the rest of her life. The stars, the softness of an oversize tree fern against her arm, the sweet scent of a night-blooming something, and the handsome prince giving her the most knee-melting of looks.
Why did she have to be the party pooper? The adult in the room? Why couldn’t she turn off her responsibility-meter? “Oh, no. I mean, wow, but, we can’t.”
“I can’t not want you, Mallory.”
Well, she couldn’t lie to the man. Her good Midwestern ethics wouldn’t allow it. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you, either. I keep trying. I think that’s why I tried so hard tonight to find someone appropriate for you.”
“Appropriate? That sounds like a balanced diet with kale three times a week and no pasta. Like that menu you mentioned. Not at all what I want. So screw appropriate. I want you.” Christian surged forward. He locked an arm around her waist, splayed a palm across her nape, and kissed her.
His tongue immediately entwined with hers. Because there was no polite, warm-up peck. From the heat of his kiss, Christian had been as…affected…by their coupling at the bar as Mallory. And he’d been lusting for more, exactly as she had. A week’s worth of pent-up lust packed quite a punch.
It was grappling to see who could lick more, taste more. It was sloppy, wanton, wet proof of how much they wanted each other. It was a battle with no losers.
It was perfection.
Except for Christian’s formal armor. Mallory got her hand under his coat, but the vest had such a snug fit that she couldn’t get down another layer. She could only content herself by sliding her palm down to his high, tight ass and squeezing through the wool of his pants. Every squeeze flapped his tails against her hand, like a shower curtain that kept returning every time you batted it out of the way.
“Mallory.” He moved his mouth to her ear, where his breath fanned all the tiny hairs and raced goose bumps down her neck. “You are stunningly beautiful tonight.”
“Several thousand dollars of diamonds will turn any woman beautiful,” she joked.
Christian pivoted them more behind the base of the statue. He kept his face so close to hers that even in the moonlight, it was possible to see the long, thick lashes framing his sexy violet eyes. “Mallory. Every woman in there is dripping diamonds and wearing couture. And you outshine them all. By far. Because of who you are on the inside. Because I see you. Because you see me.”
She felt like it was true.
Like they were two normal people playing an extreme game of dress-up. Cosplay? A sexual fantasy scene with a great wardrobe?
It just didn’t compute that she was kissing the man who’d rule a kingdom.

Readers should read this book …

If they want to see the reality behind the lives of royals. If they want to giggle and swoon and sigh and be carried away on a modern (non-magical) fairytale romance between a commoner and the man who is about to inherit the throne. It is chock full of romance and sisterly bonds and family drama and lust and tiaras and bromance and sexy times.

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

I am finishing-this week!-book 2 of my Love Lottery series. It is SECRET friends-with-benefits fun! You’ll see it next summer. And book 1, The Accidental FIance will be here at the end of February. But coming up on October 15 is my holiday release, The Magic of Christmas (pre-order already available!). Rowan and Jeremy can’t stand each other – and are competing for the same promotion by coming up with an ad campaign to breathe new life into a Christmas themed adventure park.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: We’re all having to make our homes our palaces these days. So I’m giving away a set of beautiful candles with relaxing scents U.S. Only!

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Would you risk falling for a man that you KNEW you couldn’t end up marrying?

 
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Excerpt from Tempting The Prince:

In a quintessentially romantic move, he dropped to one knee in front of her. “Mallory, I would like you to be my girlfriend. To go steady. To be my main squeeze. I had to google that last one—did I get it right?”
“The idiom? Yes.”
Was this what real shock felt like?
The nurses said she’d gone into shock in the ambulance after the shooting. Not to make light of her near-death experience—although if she couldn’t, who could—but this felt exactly the same. The sensation of time slowing down. Of being very aware of every pump of her heart. Dry mouth, slightly queasy…
Yeah. Either she was somehow losing two pints of blood again, or Christian had thrown her into actual shock with his…request?
“That’s why you get increased protection, Mallory. It automatically kicks in for whomsoever’s involved with the heir to the throne. As a precaution.”
“Whomsoever? I’m sorry, I don’t speak in Canterbury Tales English.” And yes, she was quibbling over something ridiculous, but that was easier than facing the impossible thing he’d just asked of her.
“So I’ve asked you with no finesse and with the wrong words.” Christian’s head drooped forward. “I’ve totally cocked this up,” he muttered. When his head rose swiftly, his eyes burned like purple stars. “I’m going to kill Elias.”
Mallory patted his cheek. “Christian. Stop. Breathe. Then start over. What does Kelsey’s boyfriend have to do with this?”
“He told me that I should ask you. I wanted to just keep kissing you, but do it more publicly. Take you out. Stop sneaking around. I knew you’d figure it out, as would everybody else. But Eli insisted that we have a conversation, to make it official. Because apparently taking me on as a boyfriend might be a huge pain in the ass.”
Well. The words had come out machine-gun fast. The tone and volume had increased with every sentence. Her prince appeared…worked up? All signs pointed to this being for real.
Nonetheless, Mallory did not, could not, believe him. He might as well have asked if she wanted to cross Niagara Falls with him on a tightrope.
Naked. In winter.
Blindfolded.
Backward.
“This is nuts. You’re not serious? You’re just pulling some horribly mean prank? A hazing to go with the heirloom bracelet?”
“Of course I’m serious. Elias, too. Five minutes with him and he’ll have you convinced that I’m more trouble than I’m worth.”
She wasn’t sure about the pain in the ass part.
Mallory was sure, however, that the prospect of what he suggested was absolutely terrifying. Because yes, of course, she wanted to do a high kick and squeal at the prospect of dating Christian-the-man.
But after watching Kelsey adjust to being a princess—grudgingly, at best—Mallory was aware that taking this step would also mean dating the heir to the throne. The crown prince. The royal whom all his subjects adored.
The entire kingdom had been holding their breath for almost a decade over who would be good enough, perfect enough, potential-queen enough to marry their prince. An open sports book had been going on in both Monaco and Vegas for the last five years as to who would become his bride.
Dating Christian would not be a run of the mill, casual attempt at ongoing intimacy.
It would probably be a train wreck, and Mallory herself would be the flattened victim at the end of it. The whole time they dated, the betting would be about how soon they’d have to break up so that he could get engaged.
And yet…she couldn’t say no to this man.

Excerpts. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

What happens when you mix an average American woman with a decidedly not average future King?

I can tell you from experience—a whole lot of complications.

You see, four months ago, my all-American sister, Kelsey, found out that she’s not actually my sister—she’s a princess of a country we’d never heard of. She begged me to come along when she was whisked off to her new palace, so here I am. An outsider who doesn’t fit in anywhere.

Now that she’s settled, I should go back to my exciting new career in New York. I absolutely should not stay in a country where I got shot (long story), where I suck so badly at the national sport that I accidentally murdered the symbol of the monarchy in front of half the country, and—oh yeah—where I can’t stop ogling Kelsey’s actual brother.

The Crown Prince.
The man who has to marry a very important princess. (not me)
The man who must create the next heir to the throne. (without me)
The man I absolutely can never be with. (remember that long story?)
The man who just gave me the best sex of my life…

Did I mention that it’s complicated?
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Meet the Author:

USA TODAY bestselling author Christi Barth earned a Masters degree in vocal performance and embarked upon a career on the stage. A love of romance then drew her to wedding planning. Ultimately she succumbed to her lifelong love of books and now writes award-winning contemporary romance, including the Naked Men and Aisle Bound series.

Christi can always be found either whipping up gourmet meals (for fun, honest!) or with her nose in a book. She lives in Maryland with the best husband in the world.
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