Spotlight & Giveaway: The Hidden Love by RJ Gray

Posted August 12th, 2022 by in Blog, Spotlight / 57 comments

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author RJ Gray to HJ!
Spotlight&Giveaway

Hi RJ Gray and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Hidden Love!

 
Thank you so much for having me!
 

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

This book is the fifth book in the Meet Cute Book Club series. There are eight books total in the series and each one has a beautiful HEA. The series focuses on eight women who are bound by their love of books and meet every month to talk about a romance novel they’ve read. Throughout the series, the women find their own love interests and share the adventure with their friends in the club. My book is a second chance military romance with a hidden baby. My heroine is a curvy bed & breakfast owner, and my hero is an active-duty Navy SEAL. It brought them together in a time of grief and betrayal. While the subject matter is angsty and emotional, I try to break it up with a lot of comedy.
 

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

“I thought you could only see me as a big brother, but hoped you would someday see me as more. I’ve missed you. In every girl I’ve dated, I’ve looked for you, for the feeling of right, of home. I couldn’t find it because no other girl was you. You’ve been my hidden love for two decades, Shannon.”

“Who are you trying to convince? Because it’s not me. It wasn’t a one-night stand, Shannon. I didn’t f*** you. I made love to you and if you need me to show you the difference, darlin’ girl, I’m up for that challenge. It meant something to me. You mean something to me.”

 

What inspired this book?

That is a hard one! I find my inspiration in everything around me. I am a military veteran, and my husband is a combat veteran. We’ve lived this life for over twenty years and that lifestyle inspires many of my books. It wouldn’t be completely unrealistic for a military member to have a baby they don’t know about. Grief is something most members of the military are intimately familiar with. Also, I am the mother of a nine-year-old boy. Writing Danny’s character came easily!

 

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

Oh goodness! My characters definitely speak to me! They love to talk to me when I am farthest away from the computer. Lying in bed at night, taking a shower, driving my children to events… that’s when they are the most vocal. I was surprised by my big bad Navy SEAL being as tender and sweet as he was. When he interacts gently with his son, it even brought tears to my eyes.

 

What was your favorite scene to write?

I really loved writing the comedic breaks between the hard stuff. When a bird flies overhead and poops on my Navy SEAL or when he and his best friend are bantering back and forth. Like this conversation at the baseball field.

“Kid has no patience,” Kade said, grinning at Danny’s antics.
“Reminds me of someone else when he was younger,” Blaze teased. The clearing of a throat caused both men to turn.
“We haven’t seen you around here in a hot minute,” Mr. Johanson, his high school gym teacher said, holding his hand out for Kade to shake.
“You have my prayers without asking,” Mrs. Johanson added. Their grandson stood on the ball field beside his son as shortstop.
His son.
The concept felt foreign to him… and no one other than Blaze and Shannon knew.
“I remember you and Annabelle sneaking kisses every chance you could get at church. I know this is hard on you,” she’d continued.
“Sneaking? They never snuck kisses. They made out for all to see,” Blaze interjected. They all laughed lightly, his memory of the way things were a more accurate portrayal of their relationship.

 

What was the most difficult scene to write?

There were two very hard scenes to write. The first one is when Kade, my Navy SEAL, is sitting with his nine-year-old son, who doesn’t know he’s his son, talking about death and grief after the child buries his mom and dad. I feel like it is one of the best scenes I’ve ever written. It is full of emotion, and I understand, having lost both of my parents, the feelings the child is going through. The second hardest was when Shannon was at the cemetery saying goodbye to her best friend (the nine-year-old’s mom) as she works through all of those feelings.

 

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

It absolutely showcases my writing style.  🙂

 

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

I would love people to take away a better understanding of grief. Kade gives Danny permission to feel all the things. There is no wrong or right way to grieve, and it’s important sometimes for us to just sit with people in their grief and not offer any advice. I also hope they take away the possibility that love can come at any time, in any place. Sometimes, love comes in the form of an old friend that you never considered in that way before.

“It’s confusing, isn’t it, the things people say? Most people don’t know what to say when someone they love dies.”
“They should say nothing at all!” Danny exclaimed, his eyes flashing with emotion.
“I don’t disagree, Danny. Sometimes, the best way to support another person is to sit silently with them in their grief.”

 

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

I have a long series I am absolutely in love with! It is called Veterans of Valhalla. Each book is a standalone with a new couple and their HEA. It takes place in the mountains of Colorado and features military veterans trying to figure out what is next for them now that they are no longer active duty. I’ve had a blast writing it!

 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

 

Giveaway: A $10 Amazon GC.

 

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: If you were to pick a setting for a book to take place in, where would you choose? A small town? Big City? Cabin in the mountains? Beautiful island oasis?

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Excerpt from The Hidden Love:

It wouldn’t be that easy. Headed back to the house, a swarm of birds flew overhead, making a flying v pattern.
“Look!” Danny said, pointing to the large group.
“The temperature is changing,” Kade said.
And that’s when it happened.
A warm, white, gooey puddle of bird shit landed right on his head and dripped down onto his face. Shannon stood there, gawking at him, while Danny laughed hysterically.
“You have bird poop on your face! Better wipe it before it gets to your mouth!” Danny advised him.
Using the back of his hand, he wiped the white disgusting substance from his face.
“It’s in your hair! It looks like Elmer’s Glue!” Danny said.
“You know, an old Russian superstition says that being pooped on is good luck,” Shannon said, covering her mouth with her hand. She looked adorable standing there, trying not to laugh at him. He imagined he made quite the sight standing in the middle of a rolling green yard in front of a glorious mansion with bird shit dripping from his head.
“How is being pooped on good luck?” Danny asked her.
“Because the odds of having a bird poop on you are so slim, it’s the only explanation. It’s the rare odds association, all about the numbers, making it good luck,” she said.
“Aunt Shannon, you make no sense!” Danny exclaimed, before running ahead into The Inn.
“Looks like a shower for you first and then we will have whatever talk you want to have,” Shannon said to him.
They’d only made it to the porch when Danny reappeared, a package of something in his hands. “I’m here to help. Bend down!” he commanded Kade.
Listening to the child, he knelt. Taking a baby wipe from the container, he swiped at the goo on Kade’s head. While the boy concentrated, Kade noticed that his tongue once again peeked out from the corner of his mouth in an adorable fashion. One that, if you looked hard enough, you’d see in photos of young Kade, when he’d been concentrating hard, too. Kade had made a mental running list of similarities over the past two days.
Danny couldn’t be a better kid. Empathetic to those around him, kind, and hilarious. He’d watched him since finding out the news, and pride welled in his chest. No matter who Danny played with, his tenderness showed through. Sure, having an athletic son made him beam, but kindness… kindness meant more. It was a testament to how his parents raised him.
“It’s not working!” Danny exclaimed, frowning. Taking another baby wipe, he continued to try.
“Bud, I think you’re smearing it into his hair more than getting it out,” Shannon said.
“I’ve got this, Aunt Shan!” Danny said, flinging the poop covered baby wipe out of his hand. At that very minute, the wind picked it up and blew it right back in the direction it flew from. The wet sheet covered in slimy excrement covered his face. Reaching up, Kade grabbed it and pulled it off, groaning.
“Aunt Shannon, does that count for double good luck?”
“I don’t think that’s lucky at all,” she said, biting her lip, holding back obvious laughter. Remembering how sweet her lips tasted the day before, he wanted to reach over, pull her lip from between her teeth, and capture it with his.
“It’s-not-working,” Danny said, vigorously rubbing his head so hard, it actually hurt.
“Okay! Okay!” Kade threw his hands up. “The only thing that’s going to get this off is a good shower.”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

“Oh, God! Did I just fall right into my dead best friend’s ex-boyfriend, secret baby daddy, incredibly sexy, Navy SEAL’s arms?” – Sounds like a line right out of one of my book club’s romance novels.

Except it’s not. It’s real life. My real life.

Grieving the loss of my best friend, and suddenly taking on raising her son, I’m faced with a whole new set of challenges. That includes breaking the news to my brother’s best friend, Kade, that Danny is his son.

As if that’s not enough for one woman to handle. Kade is even hotter than I remember, and navigating all the details of Annabelle’s death and Danny’s future brings us closer than ever, in more ways than one.

And my girls in from book club? They’re all for me finding my happily ever after with the sexy as sin man in uniform.

But Kade has even more on the line without worrying about a relationship. Will he choose a family and life outside of the military, or will he return to his unit and leave it all behind?

Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo | Google |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | GoodReads |

 
 
 

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57 Responses to “Spotlight & Giveaway: The Hidden Love by RJ Gray”

    • RJ Gray

      I love both of these! We lived in Hawaii and Colorado. Two of the prettiest locations!

    • RJ Gray

      We’ve always lived somewhere near a big city. A small town outside of a big one. Like, Denver. Although, my hometown is Chicago 🙂

  8. Nicole (Nicky) Ortiz

    Small Town or cabin in the mountains
    Thanks for the chance!

  9. Marcy Meyer

    I’d chose a small town. I am partial to small town romances, because I grew up in a small town.

    • Laurie Gommermann

      I prefer a small city or town. I like the camaraderie and intimacy, the shared links and ties of family and neighbors.
      Setting: I love being on or near water. A pretty lake with a scenic drive around it or a lake surrounded by mountains would be ideal!

  13. Glenda M

    Honestly I love all the settings. If I were writing it, I’d probably chose a small town though

  37. Kim

    If it was a Christmas romance, I would definitely say small town, cabin in the woods.

  41. Amy R

    If you were to pick a setting for a book to take place in, where would you choose? A small town or Cabin in the mountains

  43. Patricia B.

    It would really depend on the story to be told. Some plot lines lend themselves to a small town , some to a secluded cabin in the mountains, and some to the city. I am partial to small towns in the mountains with some characters living in cabins outside of town. This setting lends itself to several plot lines.