Spotlight & Giveaway: The Tycoon’s Dimaond Demand by Joss Wood

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Joss Wood to HJ!

Hi Joss and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Tycoon’s Dimaond Demand!

Hello! Thanks for having me.
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Jens Nilson, a billionaire shipping magnate, who rose from humble beginnings, has spent the last ten years planning his revenge against the woman who left him at the altar. He’s also vowed to destroy Maja’s father, who made it his life’s quest to ruin him. His plan? He intends to convince Maja Hagen to marry him, but this time, she’ll be the one standing at the altar.

After leaving Jens and Norway, Maja created a new life as an up-and-coming photographer. It’s shocking timing that her estranged father dies as she’s about to open an important exhibition in Bergen, but what can she do? MJ Slater, the artist is reclusive, but Maja attends the exhibition in the guise of a waitress, because nobody notices the serving staff. But someone does… Jens, her father’s rival and her ex-fiancé.
And when her corners her, he has a proposal she can’t refuse…
 

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

‘But it’s what I think that matters, Maja,’ Jens softly informed her, his voice both seductive and sinister. ‘It’s what I want that’s important.’
She threw up her hands and turned to face him, frustration and fury bubbling up from her stomach into her throat. ‘Then tell me! Stop toying with me.’
Jens stood up and came to stand in front of her, his expression implacable and his eyes unreadable. ‘Years ago, you promised to marry me, Maja, and that’s exactly what you are going to do.’

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• This is my fourth book set in the Norden countries of Denmark, Norway, Iceland and Finland.
• It was such a wonderful experience learning about new countries and cultures. They are definitely countries I NEED to visit. Also, they rank high on the list of the world’s happiest countries, so they must be doing something right!
• I’ve written many books set in South Africa, and I love writing about my own country– so pretty!– but I wanted to do a little armchair traveling this time around. Where better to go than the other side of the world, beautiful Norway?
• My son is into photography and has quite an artistic eye, and sees the world a little differently, so he inspired Maja’s career choice.

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

Maja and Jens met before he was rich and when she was young. When they meet again at her exhibition– she’s in her waitress disguise– their attraction is instantaneous and inconvenient. He’s the last person she wants to have feelings for, and he doesn’t want to be attracted to the woman he’s going to humiliate…revenge for the way he was treated.

There were a few remnants of the young man she’d known and loved in the face of the man standing across the room. His face, ridiculously handsome with rugged features, olive skin and navy blue, almost black eyes, looked a little leaner. His hair, the deep brown of a sable’s coat, was as thick as before, cut shorter to keep the waves under control. He’d been big before, always muscled—working on a fishing boat was not for the weak or puny—but he seemed taller, more powerful.
But the biggest change was in his attitude, in his posture, in the sardonic tilt of his chin.
Her eyes flew across his face, and she could find nothing of the young man who loved to make her laugh, whose eyes lightened with affection, whose mobile mouth twitched with amusement. This was a harder, tougher, icier version of the Jens she’d known…
As devastatingly attractive, a thousand times more dangerous.

Jens has a plan, one he thinks is fool proof. Until he meets Maya again…

She was older now, and ten shades bolder than the girl with whom he’d spent that long-ago summer, a woman in every sense of the word. Powerful, compelling, and twice as dangerous.
Loving her had caused him untold grief and Jens knew, because he was a man who paid attention, she’d acquired polish and confidence, a smidgeon of power, in the years they’d spent apart. He was about to step into a field planted with landmines and he needed to watch his step.
Possibly every twitch, maybe even every breath he took.
After years of dealing with Håkon, he’d assumed Maja would be an easier proposition. How wrong he’d been.

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

I loved showing this scene showing that Jens is not completely irredeemable. Maya has asked Jens to keep their relationship a secret until after the reviews for her exhibition are in. She doesn’t want her art to be tainted by her association with her father or swamped by the news of her engagement to his rival. She is celebrating her success alone because no one, but Jens and her agent, knows MJ Slater is Maja Hagen. Her show was brilliant but she has no one to share her joy with…
Then Jens surprises her…

He was now wealthy enough, powerful enough, to ignore the players, to make up his own rules, but Maja had been raised to be polite, to be a credit to her father and the Hagen name. Between her pretending they were a couple in love, fending off questions about their relationship, and accepting condolences on her father’s death, he knew she felt overwhelmed, and was hiding it well.
She wasn’t happy, and he wanted her, just for a moment or two, to feel happy, triumphant, proud, because she was an amazing artist who deserved to be lauded and praised. He was an art connoisseur, someone who greatly appreciated how much work it took to reach her level of success…and he’d want any artist to have their moment. To roll around in their success, to lap it up. Few artists got the kudos they deserved and when they did, they had the right to celebrate their achievements.
That was his story, and he was sticking to it.
Jens ignored someone wanting his attention and walked towards Maja. His fiancée…
He was engaged to Maja. Again.
He forced himself to remember that she was his fiancée in name only, and their relationship—if they could call their snappy interactions a relationship—was very fake and very temporary. He was here to accomplish a goal, to close the circle, to get what he needed from her. Revenge. Retribution.
Payback.
Maja’s head shot up and their eyes collided. Jens stepped up to her and placed his hand on the smooth skin of her lower back and lowered his head to kiss her bare shoulder. Silky skin, head-swimming scent. Tiny sparks erupted on his spine and danced over his skin. He hadn’t had such a physical reaction to a woman since…since Maja.
Jens straightened, noticed the shock in her eyes and looked at the couple in front of them. ‘I’m sorry to interrupt but can I steal Maja from you for a minute?’ Jens asked his guests. Not giving them a chance to answer, he steered her away and onto the terrace. Taking her hand, he led her past the band and around the corner, slipping into his study through the door he’d unlocked earlier. Leaving the light off, he took the empty champagne glass from her hand and filled it with champagne from the bottle of Dom Perignon he held. He lifted the bottle in a toast.
‘Here’s to your fabulous, incredible, amazing art, M J Slater,’ he softly stated.
Maja stared at him, not knowing how to take his statement. ‘Uh…’
He ran his hand over her shoulder, down her arm and linked his fingers in hers. Great art deserved to be celebrated and that was all he was doing. Celebrating her success, her talent. ‘Close your eyes, Maja.’
‘Why?’ she whispered.
‘Just do it.’
Jens waited until her eyes closed, and her lashes lay on her cheeks. Pulling his phone from his inner jacket pocket, he pulled up the arts section of a reputable newspaper and started to read the best parts from her many reviews. His eyes bounced between the screen and her face, and a smile lifted the corner of her mouth.
‘A force to be reckoned with,’ Jens ended, slipping his phone back into his pocket, his eyes on her lovely face. ‘Congratulations, Maja. That’s a hell of an achievement.’
She sighed and kept her eyes closed as she sipped her champagne. ‘Yeah, it is. I rock. I kicked art butt today.’
A laugh rolled up and out of him and Jens felt as surprised by it as Maja looked. She’d always had the ability to keep him off balance, to knock him off course. Back then, he could be mad as hell at something, and a quip from Maja would have him laughing. He would be knee-deep in accounts, feel her hand on his back and twenty seconds later he’d have her up against a wall, kissing her.
Her eyes opened, slammed into his and lust flared in her eyes. The pulse point in her neck fluttered, her heart rate was up. So was his, and his heart was trying to punch its way out of his chest.
Neither looked away for what felt like hours, possibly years, and Jens wondered if she was remembering the nights they spent in each other’s arms, laughing, loving, burning up the sheets. The chemistry between them had always been instantaneous, a connection resulting in massive sparks and fireworks.
The urge to kiss her, to lay her across his desk and strip that gorgeous gown off her body, was irresistible. As he took a step to close the gap between them, she held up her left hand and flashed her ring.
‘You said that you’d make the announcement at midnight. It has to be past that,’ Maja informed her, her voice shaky.
Right. He straightened his tie and hauled in some much-needed air. To buy himself some time, he glanced at his watch and raked his hand through his hair. He reached for the doorknob and opened the door.
‘Jens?’
He turned to look at her and lifted his eyebrows. She lifted her empty glass. ‘Thanks for…that. For celebrating with me, just a little.’
He clocked the gratitude in her eyes and wished he could’ve done more. Flown her to Paris and arranged to have supper in the Louvre. Taken her on a private tour through the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Money, lots of money, could get you pretty much anything you wanted.
‘Ready?’ he asked.
Maja shook her head, tension sliding into her. ‘No. But that doesn’t matter, does it?’ she said, her voice low but resigned. They were back to being adversaries. The moment had passed, and they were who they were before.
That was how it should be. Besides, revenge was so much easier to navigate than a relationship.

Readers should read this book….

Ah, because it is a whisk-you-away-to-another-world book where a hero seems impenetrable but falls hard, and a heroine finds the love she lost and has needed to feel complete. I love this book, it’s one of my favourites.

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

I am currently working on a romantic comedy for One More Chapter called ‘One Bed’ set in Santorini Greece. Reclusive author Bea Trent’s beloved -but nutty– godmother Golly has been given a limited time to live and has instructed Bea to organise her pre-funeral, wake and after-party on the island– ‘I intend to go out with a bloody bang, so I want you to organise my pre-death funeral and wake, Bea-darling…’–
In between trying to keep the weekend from disintegrating into complete chaos, Bea is forced to share a cottage– and a bed– with wealthy CEO Gib Caddell. Bea doesn’t have time for an affair, love or flirtation, she has to figure out how to navigate what will be her very complicated life after Golly goes. One Bed will be released in August, 2024.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: I’m giving away 3 ARC eBook copies of The Tycoon’s Diamond Demand.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: There are so many wonderful and incredible places to use as settings for a book. Love can be found wherever you look for it. If you had the choice, where would you set a book? In the Alps? In Rio? In Nairobi? Brisbane? Bangkok? Let me know!

 
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Excerpt from The Tycoon’s Dimaond Demand:

Cool and competent, Jens steered the SUV, a courtesy car loaned to him by the hotel’s manager, towards Ålesund’s harbour. Maja was quite certain he could ask for the moon, and it would be hauled down from the heavens. When you were a wildly rich man prepared to drop many millions on a wedding at the resort, what you asked for, you got.
She wished she could’ve refused his offer of a dinner cruise up the Geirangerfjord. She’d only agreed because her other option was to join him for dinner at the wonderfully romantic, stunningly intimate restaurant at Hotel Daniel-Jean. The cruise was the lesser of two romantic evils.
She was looking forward to the hustle of being on a busy, touristy boat. There was nothing romantic about being surrounded by camera-clicking people and it was exactly what she needed.
Maja sighed. The hotel was a dream destination for any bride, elegant and romantic. The exquisite ballroom could accommodate many guests, the extensive gardens were luxurious and incredible, and the wine list and food choices top drawer. The honeymoon suite was…spectacular.
How could she spend the night there with Jens? It was sublime, with an outside bath overlooking the fjord, a private deck, a massive bed to roll around in, Dom Perignon in ice buckets and expensive chocolates on pillows. Massive arrangements of white roses in silver vases scented the air. The suite screamed romance and great sex…
And she had to keep away from it for as long as possible because, in that romantic room, she might give into temptation and ask Jens to take her to bed.
If she did that, she’d be taking stupidity to new heights. He was blackmailing her, manipulating her into doing what he wanted. He intended to marry her, but she still didn’t know why. Oh, he said he wanted revenge, but how would their marrying satisfy his need for payback? No, he had something else up his sleeve and until she knew what that was, she couldn’t let her guard down.
And that meant no intimate dinners and only going back to the room when they had to…
Jens turned the SUV into a parking space and walked around the bonnet to open Maja’s door. She sucked in crisp, clear, glacier-fresh air. The harbour was as busy as she expected it to be in the height of summer, with two sightseeing boats docked at the pier. Maja watched as people hurried up the gangplank, chattering excitedly.
Excellent. There were lots and lots, and lots, of people to dilute any wisps of romance.
Jens lifted her precious camera bag from the passenger-seat floor. ‘Are you happy for me to carry it?’
She held out her hand to take it and Jens handed it over. The weight of the bag felt familiar and reassuring. When she met Jens’s eyes she shrugged. ‘My camera bag is like my security blanket,’ she told him. ‘When I’m not carrying it, I feel naked.’
‘I get it,’ Jens replied. He placed a hand on her back and guided her to the harbour. ‘What do you want to do first? Go cruising or take a walk through Ålesund?’
Maja looked at the sightseeing boats. Judging by the excited tourists standing at the railings, and the almost empty gangway, the boats looked ready to leave. They would be the last on board, there was no time for a walk. But Jens didn’t pick up his pace and didn’t seem to be in any hurry to embark. Her dad had been the same…people, planes, trains, cars and ships departed on his schedule. Was it a billionaire thing?
The gangplanks on both ships started to rise, and Maja darted an anxious look at Jens. ‘Jens, we’d better hurry up.’
‘Why?’ he asked, puzzled. ‘And you didn’t answer my question—do you want to take a look around Ålesund, or do you want to get on the water?’
Maja pointed to the sightseeing boats. ‘I want to get on the water, but our boat is about to leave.’
Jens looked confused. ‘That’s not our transport. I couldn’t think of anything worse than being cooped up with hundreds of people on a packed tourist ship, even for a few hours.’
It wouldn’t be her first choice either, but she needed to be on a big boat to put some space and distance between her and Jens. Maja noticed a smaller boat in the inner harbour; it looked as if it would take about fifty guests. Not as many people, but it would do. Maybe that was their boat.
Jens placed a hand on her shoulder and steered her in that direction. They passed a few catamarans, a restored trawler and Jens slowed down when they approached an exquisite superyacht moored next to the smaller cruise vessel. Maja’s heart kicked up at its sleek lines. It looked brand new. If it wasn’t, then it hadn’t been in operation for long.
‘Forty-three metres long, five staterooms, hot tub, jet skis and a crew of seven,’ Jens told her. ‘Shall I tell you about the engine capacity and specifications?’
Back then, he’d enjoyed her love of the sea but had been confounded by her uninterest in the mechanics of the vessels that sailed it.
‘I’m good,’ Maja told him. Sure, the yacht was lovely, but they needed to get onto the boat moored next door. Like the others, it was ready to depart, and they needed to hurry up. The guests already on board stood at the railing or were claiming seats on the deck, settling in.
Maja started to walk towards the small ship. Jens’s hand tugging her shirt stopped her fast walk to the boat. ‘Where are you going?’ he asked, lifting his eyebrows.
She gestured to the ship. ‘I thought we were going on a fjord cruise, but if you don’t hurry up, we’re going to miss it.’
Jens jerked his thumb at the superyacht. ‘We are, but on the Daydreamer. We’ll be the only guests on board, so we’ll get to decide where we are going, and for how long.’
A yacht? All to themselves? She sent a longing look to the vessel next door as her heart dropped to her toes. ‘Oh.’
If they were lovers, and happy about being together, it would be wonderful to walk onto the sleek yacht hand in hand, looking forward to each other’s company and to being alone as they took in the stunning scenery all around them.
But they weren’t. Jens held her career in his hands, and she couldn’t, mustn’t forget that they were sliding into a marriage neither of them wanted all because Jens couldn’t forgive and forget.
You could stop it, right now. If you just admitted that Maja Hagen is M J Slater, this would all go away. The reviews are in, you’ve established your credentials, and you have a major exhibition under your belt. Nobody could accuse you of trading on your father’s famous name.
Maja bit the inside of her lip. She couldn’t. Not yet. Maybe not ever. It was the one thing untainted or touched by a past that haunted her. She wasn’t ready to give that up.
Maja held the strap of her camera bag, her fingers itching to capture the sleek lines of the boat, the white paintwork a dazzling contrast to the cerulean-blue sea.
‘It looks amazing, Jens,’ she reluctantly admitted.
‘You haven’t been on board yet,’ he replied, sounding amused.
‘No, but I did a photo shoot on a similar yacht a few years back and I know what to expect. Thank you for hiring her—’
A strange look crossed his face and Maja frowned. Wait…
‘You did hire her, right?’
Jens tried to guide her to the yacht, but she planted her feet and waited for him to turn his attention back to her. ‘Jens…what did you do?’ she asked, lifting her eyebrows. She thought she knew but she wanted him to say it.
He scratched the side of his neck. ‘My assistant couldn’t find a private charter at such late notice and I’m not in the mood to be pleasant to strangers, so…’ His words trailed off.
‘You bought it?’
His powerful shoulders rose and fell. ‘It’s berthed here but the owner rarely used it. But she doesn’t like to hire it out. I asked, she said no. So I offered to buy it and she said yes.’
Maja lifted her boot and ran it down the back of her calf as she took in his words. He made it sound so simple, but this yacht had to be worth more than ten million pounds, and he’d started negotiations no more than an hour ago. The man didn’t let the grass grow under his feet…
Or whatever the seafaring equivalent of that saying was.
He sent a quizzical look at the boat. ‘So, I now own a yacht.’ He looked a bit puzzled at the thought and Maja’s heart tumbled around her chest.
He placed a hand on her arm and squeezed. ‘And she’s a beauty. Shall we go and see what I bought, Maja?’

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

His revenge will only be complete…when she’s wearing his diamond!

Self-made CEO Jens Nilson has spent the past decade trying to even the score against the woman who jilted him and her father, who almost destroyed him. The best way to do that? Demand Maja Hagen marry him—and leave her at the altar.

After Maja fled their elopement, she built herself a new life away from her father’s tyranny. She won’t let Jens jeopardize that, even if it means accepting his proposal! But their rekindled desire is already threatening to incinerate her every defense against him…
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Meet the Author:

Joss loves books, coffee and traveling—especially to the wild places of Southern Africa and, well, anywhere. She’s a wife and a mom to two young adults. She occasionally attempts to grow things, with very mixed results. She’s bossed around by two cats and a dog the size of a small cow. After a career in local economic development and business, Joss writes full-time from her home in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
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