Spotlight & Giveaway: The Dating Dilemma by Mariah Ankenman

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Mariah Ankenman to HJ!

Hi Mariah and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Dating Dilemma!

 
Hello readers! Welcome to HJ!
 

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

What’s in The Dating Dilemma:
Mistaken Identity meet cute
Fake Dating
Sexy Firefighter
Awkward Heroine
Opposing bets
Only one bed!
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

“Hey, Lexi, there’s a super-hot firefighter out in the hallway who says he needs to see you.”
Lexi Martin looked up from her mountainous to-do pile. The paperwork never ended for the assistant director of the Denver Youth Center—or DYC for short, as all the kids called it…pronouncing it so it sounded like a part of the male anatomy because, well, teenagers.
But in addition to the red tape, grant applications, and a host of other annoying bureaucratic headaches she had to deal with, Lexi also got to work with kids, offer them a safe space for a few hours of the day, provide homework assistance, recreation fun, and overall, show them that somebody out there cared about them.
It was the very best part of her job.
“A hot firefighter?” she asked Zoe as the woman closed her office door.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• Dyson’s fear of heights is based on my own.
• Estes Park is one of my favorite places in Colorado so I had to include it in this book.
• Ward and Díaz’s bet wasn’t in the first draft, it got added later.
• Dyson had three sisters in the first draft, but they crowded too much of the scenes so one was cut before the editing stage.
• Dyson’s habit of being far too early also comes from me (I always carry a book on me for this reason, lol).

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

Lexi is, of course, first attracted to Dyson’s looks (because she think’s he’s a hot strip-o-gram sent for her birthday) but his sweet demeanor really seals the deal.
Dyson finds Lexi’s quirk of talking out loud without realizing it absolutely adorable!
 

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

A sweet, awkward, steamy, rollercoaster!
 

The First Kiss…

“Good. I agree.” She twisted her fingers in her lap. “So do you think we ought to try it before then, a kiss, I mean. Just so it looks convincing and all.”
And because she’d been dying to kiss him all night.
Dyson nodded. He shifted in the driver’s seat, turning so his body faced hers. His hand came up to cup her cheek, thumb stroking along her jaw. Her eyelids drooped, closing until she saw only a small slit of the world beyond them. Her breath shallowed, all the nerves in her body focused on the point where Dyson’s skin touched her own.
“If you’re okay with it?”
She was so much more than okay with it, but all she managed to get out was, “Yes.”
There was a moment, or maybe a millennia, she couldn’t tell, when Dyson simply held her. Cradled her face in his strong grasp. Then his warm breath whispered across her cheek, followed by the soft press of his lips against hers. It was sweet and simple and over far too soon for her liking, but when he pulled away and she blinked her eyes open, she swore she could still feel him there.

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

The awkward meet-cute for sure!

“I’m going to owe Jordan an entire month’s rent for this present.”
The man’s right eyebrow quirked. “Excuse me?”
“Nothing.” Lexi shook her head. “Go ahead and do your thing. Do you have music you need to play or something?”
The man looked even more confused as the words poured from her lips.
“Why would I need to play music?”
“For…you know, for the stripping?” She practically whispered the last word, feeling her cheeks heat. Did he do it silently? That sounded weird and a little creepy. The music was half the fun.
Now both eyebrows climbed high. “Stripping?”
“I’m sorry.” She winced. “Do you have a script you’re supposed to follow or something? I’ve never gotten one of these before. Am I supposed to pretend you’re a real firefighter, get all concerned I might have a fire code violation?” She winked.
He stared at her like she’d grown another head. “Ma’am. I’m here to check you for fire issues,” he repeated.
“Oh, there’s gonna be a fire issue, all right,” she said, getting into it, “as soon as you strip off those pants and get to the show, my panties might just burst into flames.” A giggle left her. She felt so naughty, so unlike herself, flirting with the man in front of her.
She had to hand it to her roomie, he sure knew how to break her out of her shell. Jordan would be so proud if he could see her now.
The man’s jaw dropped wide. He held up a hand. “I think there’s been a terrible mistake here. Who do you think I am?”
“A-Aren’t you a strip-o-gram? It’s my birthday tomorrow, and my roommate…” Lexi trailed off as the man’s expression remained confused and slightly horrified. Heat burned her cheeks, flaming down her body. “You’re… um, you’re not a strip-o-gram, are you?”
Mr. 100-Percent-Not-A-Strip-O-Gram dipped his head, but not before she caught the smile curling his lips. Well, at least someone thought it was funny.
She was currently wishing the ground would open up and swallow her whole.

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

The scene where they agree to fake date:

“I’m really sorry, Lexi, but I need a favor.”
A favor? From her? Unless he needed help organizing a fundraiser benefit or learning the latest slang the kids were using these days, she probably wouldn’t be much help.
“A favor?”
“I kind of, maybe, accidentally told my sisters I couldn’t do any more blind dates or sign up for any dating apps because I was already seeing someone.” His face turned bright red, gaze glancing everywhere but directly at her. “Um, you… I told them I started dating you.”
“Me?” She blinked, shock causing a small bubble of laughter to escape her lips.
Finally, his eyes came to focus on her. “Yes. Your name just kind of popped out of my mouth. I guess I panicked and… I’m really sorry, Lexi. I’m a total ass and feel free to say no, but I was wondering if you could help me out and…”
While her brain tried to wrap itself around what Dyson was saying, he let out a frustrated groan. He looked so uncomfortable and awkward. Her heart pinched with empathy. She knew that feeling, she lived it daily every time her brain to mouth synapses stopped working. Poor guy.
He glanced back at his phone. “They’re already texting me about meeting you…”
“They want to meet me?” His sisters, who thought they were dating. She blinked, brain still clouded with confusion at the strange situation she suddenly found herself in.
“I don’t even know how to say this without sounding like a total ass, but, Lexi, would you please help me out here and pretend to be my fake girlfriend? It’ll be for only a little while, a month tops. You’ll probably have to meet them only once anyway. One dinner. Then I can just talk about you and stuff.”
“A favor for a favor?” He was helping out the center, after all, so playing his fake girlfriend wouldn’t be doing something without getting anything back. It’d be repaying someone who was helping her first.
“Shit, that does sound bad.” Dyson shook his head. “I’m sorry, forget it. I am a total ass. I’ll figure something else out.”
“No!” She cleared her throat as the word left her a bit too loudly. “I mean, actually it would make me feel a lot better about using up all your free time. I’d be happy to return the favor by playing your fake girlfriend.”

Readers should read this book …

If you like your romcoms laugh-out-loud funny with lovable character and a heavy helping of spicy scenes then The Dating Dilemma is the book for you!

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

Right now I’m working on book three in The Mile High Firefighters series…Ward and Díaz’s story!

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: $20 e-gift card to The Ripped Bodice

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Excerpt from The Dating Dilemma:

The bartender came back with their drinks, and Dyson tore his gaze away from Lexi to pay, leaving a generous tip. His heart raced with each passing second. They could do this. They had to do this. How hard could it be to convince his friends he finally started dating again?
“So, One-Night O’Neil is finally hanging up the towel, huh?” Kincaid said with a smile.
Ward snickered, changing it into a cough when Dyson glared at him.
Shit, this might be harder than he thought if his buddies kept bringing up that ridiculous nickname.
“Hey, Dyson.”
He turned to see Lexi standing before him, her friends huddled close behind her. The shorter guy gave him a friendly smile, but the tall guy’s gaze raked over Dyson with a hearty dose of suspicion.
“Hey…babe. Thanks for meeting me here.”
She arched an eyebrow at his endearment. Okay, yeah. That had come out a little weird. He was rusty. And he’d never been good with pet names anyway.
“Sure, honey,” she rolled her lips to keep from laughing. “Thanks for inviting me. I hope you don’t mind that I brought some friends. They wanted to meet you. This is my roommate, Jordan, and his boyfriend, Angel.”
The roommate. That’s why the taller guy was glaring daggers at him. The no-dating bet. Lexi mentioned at dinner the other night that Jordan knew about their deal. Why was the guy here? To make sure their fake date was really fake?
How the hell was he supposed to convince his friends they were real dating and her roommate they were fake dating at the same time?
This night was going downhill fast.
“Hey, guys.” He reached out to shake Angel’s hand first. “Nice to meet you.”
Jordan reached out a hand, giving Dyson a firm warning squeeze. One that clearly said hurt my friend and there’ll be hell to pay.
“I hear my roomie here mistook you for a birthday present she thought I sent.” He glanced at Lexi. “Absolutely ridiculous, Lex, you know I’d never send a strip-o-gram to your work.”
“Whoa, she thought you were a strip-o-gram?” Ward piped in from behind him. “Dude, you didn’t tell me that.”
Yeah, and for good reason. Now it would be all over the firehouse in a matter of days and Dyson would have to suffer endless torment about it. Giving one another shit was a favorite pastime at Station 42. He didn’t mind giving it, but he hated to be on the receiving end. Hypocritical? Maybe, but it was what it was.
“Oh my, that’s worse than our first meeting,” Tamsen giggled to Kincaid. “And here I thought being rescued by a sexy fireman who turned out to be my new stepbrother was going to be a weird one to tell the grandkids. Lexi and Dyson might have us beat.”
“Hold on,” Jordan held up a hand. “I’m gonna need that story by the end of this night.”
Tamsen smiled at Jordan while Lexi leaned in close and whispered to him, “I’d like to hear that story later, too. Might make me feel better about my first impression on you.”
Dyson chuckled softly, gesturing to his friends. “This is Eli Ward and Parker Kincaid. They work with me at the firehouse. And you remember Tamsen Hayes—”
“Soon to be Kincaid.” She stuck her hand out, wiggling her finger with the engagement ring his buddy had put on it a few months ago.
“Oh wow!” Lexi leaned closer, examining Tamsen’s right hand. “That’s beautiful, congratulations.”
Kincaid pulled Tamsen close, kissing her with a sappy smile on his face.
“Break it up, you two,” Ward slapped a hand down on Kincaid’s shoulder. “We’ve got a game to win, so the fraternizing ends now.”
Lexi glanced over at Dyson with confusion. He leaned closer to her to explain.
“Tamsen is on the opposing team.”
She frowned, opening her mouth to ask something more, but whatever she was about to say got drowned out by the emcee announcing the start of trivia in two minutes.
“Oops, I better get to my table.” Tamsen smiled, giving everyone a small wave. “Lexi, Jordan, Angel it was nice to meet you, and I’m sorry we’ll be crushing your team tonight.”
“Don’t count on it, sweetheart,” Kincaid said.
She blew him a kiss and hurried over to her table across the room. “Here, Lex.”
Dyson glanced over to see Jordan hand Lexi a beer. He hadn’t even noticed the guy get drinks from the bartender.
“Dude, you didn’t even get your girl a drink?” Ward blew out a breath, shaking his head. “Not very boyfriendish if you ask me.”
He glared at his friend, noting the small smirk on Jordan’s face. Great. Now he had two people working against him. This night was going fan-fucking-tastic.
“Thanks, man.” He nodded to Jordan. “I’ve got next round.”
Lexi patted his chest. “You are so sweet…honey bunny.”
He bit back a groan at the weird endearment. Staring into her wide eyes, reading the clear regret that filled them. “Let’s pub quiz!” Ward announced, heading toward their table.
Dyson nodded to Jordan and Angel, who followed his buddy.
“Honey bunny?” he said softly with a small chuckle.
“I panicked, okay?” she hissed back. “Besides, you’re the one who started it by calling me babe.”
“What’s wrong with babe?”
“I don’t know, it’s just…weird.”
This whole situation was weird.
“How about we stick to the classics? Sweetheart or sweetie?”
She nodded. “Works for me.”
“You two coming?” Ward shouted from across the room.
“Shall we?” Lexi asked, a nervous smile playing on her lips.
“Yeah, let’s go.” He held out his hand, realizing it was his left, since his beer was in his right. “Oh shit, sorry.”
Quickly transferring his beer, he wiped his palm on his jeans to get off the condensation from the glass and held it out. Lexi laughed softly, slipping her hand into his. His heart rate kicked up at the contact, but he brushed it off as nerves. The pounding he felt, the heat burning in his gut, the tightening of his muscles. It was all due to his anxiety over lying. It had nothing to do with the softness of Lexi’s skin. The warm feel of her touch. How her soft scent seemed to surround him, sweet yet subtle. Intoxicating.

Excerpts. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Lexi’s Reminders

* Work.

* Don’t think about your birthday tomorrow. Or debt, your crappy apartment, and nonexistent social life.

* Re-stock wine and ice cream because that’s coming.

* Die in a raging blaze of humiliation when the super-hot and very delicious fireman waiting in your office is not in fact the strip-o-gram birthday present you suspected.

* Reschedule the fire safety inspection you 100 percent failed because of said humiliation.

* Figure out how you, in fact, agreed to fake dating Mr. Not a Strip-O-Gram Fireman to help him with a bet.

* Oh yeah, and do not fall for this guy. Seriously, they call him One Night O’Neil. Red flags all over the place.

* Remember, this is fake dating, even though his very talented, very real lips are doing some sexy things you definitely like.

* Realize bending one tiny rule can’t be that bad, can it?

* Except bend too far, and something breaks. Something you can’t get back.
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Meet the Author:

Bestselling author Mariah Ankenman lives in the beautiful Rocky Mountains with her two rambunctious daughters and loving spouse who provides ample inspiration for her heart-stopping heroes.
Mariah loves to lose herself in a world of words. Her favorite thing about writing is when she can make someone’s day a little brighter with one of her books. To learn more about Mariah and her books, follow her on social media or sign up for her newsletter.
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