Spotlight & Giveaway: The Forever Game by A.M. Williams

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author A.M. Williams to HJ!

Hi A.M. Williams and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Forever Game!

 
Thank you so much for having me! I’m excited to chat about my upcoming release.
 

To start off, can you please tell us a little bit about this book?:

This book is a part of the Meet Cute Book Club series, which has different authors writing in a shared world. My book is book 3 and it’s a sports romance, which is my main jam. My heroine lives in her hometown where she owns a popular tattoo shop while my hero is a star quarterback and is in town visiting his mentor during the off-season. Neither wants a relationship…but you know how these things go.
 

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

Sitting next to him while he was shirtless to tattoo his arm had been a test of my willpower. It had taken everything in me to not ogle him while I was working.
Somehow, I’d done it. Don’t ask me how. I couldn’t tell you.

“You okay?” she asked. “You’ve got a weird look on your face.”
I shook my head. “I’m fine. Just thinking.”
“Don’t think too hard. You might hurt yourself.”
I knocked my knee against hers as she started laughing.
She was also goofy as fuck.
And I loved it.

What inspired this book?

This is so hard! My inspiration varies and depends on a lot of things. For this book, once I knew the theme of the series and that I would be sports, I automatically knew I’d want my heroine to be a tattoo artist. It’s probably because I’d just gotten another tattoo done myself. For the hero, I’m not sure what really guided me to where I ended up, but I immediately had this idea of a hometown girl that met this amazing guy only to discover he was connected to her family in ways she didn’t know about. I wanted it to be this idea or relationship neither of them thought they wanted because of “reasons,” but that they ultimately gave into because they couldn’t ignore it.

How did you ‘get to know’ your main characters? Did they ever surprise you?

I think I’m lucky in that a lot of the time, at least one character comes “fully formed” in my head. It varies on if it’s the male or female, but I’ll get this initial idea and from there, he or she comes to life. With this story, that was Daphne, my heroine. I knew quickly her personality traits and other things about her. Jameson, my hero, was a little harder. I knew some of the surface stuff, but other things weren’t as clear. For example, I had no idea he was scared of needles until he was in the chair to get his tattoo!

What was your favorite scene to write?

Can I say all of them? Haha. For real though, I think I really liked the tattooing scene. Jameson used the tattoo as a way to get closer to Daphne–though he doesn’t want to think about why that is–and instead it became more than that. It was fun writing a scene in the parlor with Jameson almost passing out from the needle and Daphne not sure she could handle a shirtless Jameson. I mean, the abs!

What was the most difficult scene to write?

Toward the end, I have the black moment (I won’t give it away!) and that was really difficult. I went into the story knowing that something was going to happen to tear them apart, but not being 100% certain what it would be. When I got to that part and I’d decided how it would play out, it was really hard writing it simply because I had to make sure reactions were on point and I didn’t want to phone in what happened. I didn’t want the reader to feel like I was just throwing something in there to make it seem like that was what happened.

Would you say this book showcases your writing style or is it a departure for you?

I think it showcases it. Small town, sports romance is very on brand for me. I love it! And I love it when it’s just small town or just sports. But having the chance to write something that is both is right up my alley!

What do you want people to take away from reading this book?

I want people to feel like the characters were their friends and that they could see what they read actually happening. I love writing romances that have that fantasy aspect, but that also are rooted in the real world. I want them to see themselves in the characters and the settings, so I hope they feel that here.

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

I’ve got a few things I’m working on. I have another release in December (which more will come later on for this) and I have a series I want to start releasing next year. It’ll be a little different than more norm as it will have some romantic suspense elements, but it’s still small town and it will have a splash of sports. I’m excited about all of them!

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: This will be US only. I’ll give away reader’s choice of backlist title (except any boxsets).

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What’s your absolute favorite type of sports romance to read?

 
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Excerpt from The Forever Game:

apologize to Daphne face-to-face.
My phone rang in my hand, and I groaned.
I glanced down, Julius’s name flashing across the screen.
I groaned. I was not up for another dressing down from someone I respected, but I couldn’t avoid him forever.
“Hey.”
“Bout time you answered. We have shit to talk about. I’m at the town limits and will be at your place shortly. This is your warning to get your ass off the couch or out of bed and to take a fucking shower. I don’t want to smell your stank ass when I walk into your house.”
Before I could say anything else, he hung up.
I stared at my phone for a few moments, then I jumped up from the couch.
I rushed through a shower, feeling ten times better after I finished.
I was just going into the kitchen to tidy up and brew some coffee when I heard a car pull into the drive.
I looked out the window and saw Julius getting out of the car with two to-go cups in his hands.
Even better.
I unlocked the front door and threw it open.
Julius obviously looked me over, pulling his sunglasses down before looking at my face. “Good to see you took my advice.”
I shrugged and stepped back so he could come in. He handed me a cup as he passed, and I breathed deeply.
“We’ve had more offers for interviews,” he said as he walked into the living room.
I paused by the door, thinking about what he said.
I didn’t want to do interviews. I was straightforward about wanting to put this entire debacle behind me.
But there was something to be said about coming out to talk about what happened and clearing the air.
I closed the door and followed Julius into the living room.
He was already sprawled in one chair, looking as relaxed as I’d ever seen him in a suit and tie.
“Interviews?” I asked as I reclaimed my spot on the couch.
He nodded. “Yeah. Interviews. The people want to hear about what happened with your marriage and to know what’s next.”
I shifted in my seat. I didn’t enjoy talking about my personal life. I would do interviews about football with no problem but was close-lipped about my marriage and its dissolution.
“I know you don’t want to do the personal shit, but you’ve been closed up tighter than a bank vault about your personal life. People want to know you, the man, not just you, the football player.”
I sipped my coffee, considering what he was saying.
“This would also be a great time for you to maybe, I don’t know, do some sort of grand gesture to that woman you’re in love with.”
I froze at his words. “Sorry?”
“You heard me. I know you’re hung up on Carter’s daughter and that shit went down because you thought she leaked it.”
I stared at my agent. Julius shook his head. “You should know by now that I know everything. And Carter called to fill me in just in case something came across my desk. I already knew it was Dakota because of the PI I hired, but he doesn’t know that. You really fucked up, didn’t you?”
I continued to stare at my agent, trying to wrap my mind around him knowing everything.
“What do you mean, ‘grand gesture?’”
Julius shifted in his seat, relaxing into it further. “Well. You want her back, don’t you?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I do.”
“Then you have to prove to her that you’re serious. What better way than to give an interview and talk about the new love of your life? You don’t have to name names, but you could talk about how it strained your relationship, some shit like that.”
I stared at Julius. “You’re serious?”
He nodded. “As a heart attack. In fact, ESPN wants to do it. They’re ready to come here today. They’ll air the interview later this week and then they’ll run a print story as well.”
I continued to stare at him.
“You look like you’re thinking hard,” Julius finally said.
I shook my head and took a sip of my coffee. “I… I just don’t want to do the interview.”
Julius leaned forward, placing his cup on the coffee table, threading his fingers together between his knees while he leveled a look at me.
“I get you don’t want to do an interview, but sometimes you have to do shit you don’t want to. And this is one of those moments. If you think you can be happy without Daphne, then by all means, continue to wallow and have your career end because you’re too chickenshit to do something about it. But if you think you can’t live without her, then get off your ass, shave, and get ready for the vultures to descend.”
After that, there really wasn’t a question of whether I’d do the interview. It was just how soon.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Daphne

Being born as a creative with zero athletic ability into a family of athletes means only one thing – I’m the family outcast.

The one who no matter how successful I am, will never fit in.

That’s okay. I’m happy with my life. I’ve got my friends, good books to read, and my very own tattoo studio where I get to live my own dreams.

Things are going just fine for me.

Then he shows up. The definition of tall, dark, and handsome. I don’t think I’ve ever been this wildly attracted to someone at first glance.

There are a million reasons why things between the two of us would never work out.

But, the universe keeps throwing us together and Jameson seems hell-bent on proving me wrong.

Jameson

I’m in town for one reason and one reason only: recover in the off season so I can go back next year ready to dominate on the field.

After a brutal divorce and an even worse football season, I need to recoup and get my head in the game.

What I don’t need is distractions.

That’s exactly what she is. She’s gorgeous, funny, and has curves in all the right places.

There’s just two small problems. I’m on the rebound and she’s the daughter of my mentor. Who would even want to go there?

But, somehow we keep crossing paths and there’s something tempting about breaking through all those stereotypes she has about guys like me.

Can we find a way to give in to what our hearts want and finally win the forever game?

The Forever Game is a standalone, sports romance that is part of the multi-author series, Meet Cute Book Club series. Escape with this swoon-worthy collection of romances where meet-cutes don’t only happen between the pages of romance novels and members find their own happily ever afters.

Book Links: Amazon |
 
 

Meet the Author:

A.M. Williams is just a simple girl from the south that found herself living in Germany for six years, and now in Florida. When she’s not annoying her cat or reading, she’s spending time with her husband and planning trips to the beach, which is now only an hour away. She’s a total beach bum and would spend every day there if she could. She loves Cheerwine, sweet tea, and North Carolina (eastern style) BBQ as well as crisp, German white wine at any time of day.
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