Spotlight & Giveaway: When Sparks Fly by Jo McNally

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Jo McNally to HJ!

Hi Jo and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, When Sparks Fly!

 
Hi, everyone! Thanks so much for welcoming me back to HJ. After writing sixteen Harlequins (sixteen!), I appreciate this website more than ever. It’s great to find readers who love Harlequin romances as much as I do.
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

This is a friends-to-lovers story on steroids! Mike and Zoey have been very best friends since third grade, along with Mike’s twin sister, Mary. Zoey helped Mike through his grief after losing his wife by sending him corny jokes to make him smile. When her marriage fell apart, he returned the favor. Their friendship is built on laughter and caring. Mike is beginning to see Zoey as more than a buddy, but he doesn’t want to destroy their friendship. Besides, Zoey has her hands full with her thirteen-year-old daughter, Hazel. Zoey has declared this as the Year of Hazel, meaning her daughter comes first. She’s determined to help Hazel feel secure and grounded after the divorce, her ex’s remarriage and an impending half-sibling for Hazel.

Zoey does not have room in her life for a relationship, especially one that could cost her the one person in her life she can laugh with. But when Mike is stranded at Zoey’s house one stormy night, they throw caution to the howling winds and put their friendship on the line for one night of love. The problem is…one night will never be enough. Determined to keep their relationship a secret, Zoey tries to have it all—love and friendship and a daughter who feels like the center of her world. But mistakes are made, secrets are discovered, and Zoey feels she has to choose between Hazel and Mike.

It wouldn’t be a Rendezvous Falls book without the rowdy senior book club, and once again they help love find a way through life’s challenges. In the process, one of the book club members finds her own happily-ever-after!
 

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

Mike rested his hands on her hips. “What are we doing?”
“I think…” Her voice was raspy. “Whether we should or not…I think we’re going to kiss each other.”
Kissing her would put thirty years of friendship on the line. He didn’t know if it was worth the risk. He only knew it was going to happen. Right now.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• Ironically, I wrote this book as a tribute to men and women being able to be friends without falling in love. I’ve had male friends through the years, and those friendships were just as real and important to me as my friendships with women. I wanted Mike and Zoey to be true-blue besties, with all the laughs and ways of caring that men share. But of course, it’s a romance novel, so they had to fall in love eventually!
• One song that inspired this story was “Best Friend” by Tim McGraw. It’s a lovely song of a man who not only loves the woman he’s with, but considers her his best friend—”life with you makes perfect sense…”

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

Well, as I’ve mentioned, they’re already wise-cracking best buddies. But Mike is feeling an attraction to Zoey as the strong, funny, caring woman that she is. Even when she thinks she has to end their relationship in order to be a “good mom”, Mike respects it. He knows that Hazel is Zoey’s whole world.

Zoey adores steady, loyal Mike as a friend—he’s been part of her life since they were ten. But she stays a little clueless (or in denial?) about the chemistry between them until the stormy night they spend together.

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

There were so many scenes that had me chuckling in this book! It may sound odd, but the moment that leads up to near disaster for them is one of the funniest in the book. Mike and Zoey are clowning around in the bedroom one morning when her teenage daughter and Mike’s sister arrive unexpectedly. The whole scene is a tragi-comedy, and I laughed out loud while writing it, even though I felt terrible for it!

Here’s a snippet:
“My daughter saw you naked. In my bedroom.”
“Technically, she only saw me from behind. For a split second. I’m sure she’s seen bare butts before, probably on a cartoon. Or some video game or TV show.”
Yes, this was bad. But it wasn’t the catastrophe she was making it out to be. Was it?
“Are you trying to make a joke out of this?” Zoey stopped next to him in disbelief. “Is this funny to you?”
His sister was behind Zoey, making frantic slicing moves with her hand at her throat in the universal hand signal to shut up.
“It’s not funny, babe. I’m just saying…” What was he saying? Mary was still slicing at her neck, but he had to finish the sentence. “I’m just saying it could have been worse, right?”
Mary covered her face with her hands behind Zoey, who was staring at him, color rising in her cheeks. “You were dancing. Naked. In front of me. While I was naked. The fact that she didn’t get a full frontal is not a comfort to me, Michael.”

Readers should read this book….

…if you enjoy mature characters (Mike and Zoey are both forty) who use laughter (and a little snark) to get through life’s challenges, you’ll love this book. Zoey is a hard-working single mom who’s just doing her best every day for her daughter. Oh, and if you like meddling book club matchmakers, this is the book for you! And if you like two books in one, you should definitely read this book, since it includes a bonus Rendezvous Falls novella, Lost in Love. Zayne and Andrea were friends in school, too…but they’re not friends anymore. Until they fall in love.

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

I’m back in Gallant Lake right now, writing the eighth book in my Harlequin Special Edition Gallant Lake Stories series. That book, still untitled, will be out next year. But there will be a holiday romance from Gallant Lake this December—Expecting His Holiday Surprise. It’s my first “surprise baby” trope, and writing attorney Trent and bakery owner Jade’s story was just as much fun as writing When Sparks Fly.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: 1 finished copy of Jo McNally’s WHEN SPARKS FLY . US only.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: So tell me, do you think men and women can be “just friends”? Have you a had a good friend of the opposite sex in your life (without any messy complications!)?

 
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Excerpt from When Sparks Fly:

When she and Mike walked out of the kitchen, the house fell instantly silent. Zoey’s heart sank.
“What happened?”
Mary was standing near Sam’s recliner. She folded her arms and arched one eyebrow high.
“I think it’s time for you two to tell us what’s happening.”
Zoey’s mouth opened, but she couldn’t construct words. Mike seemed to be suffering from the same problem. Vickie’s prim voice filled the silence.
“When I think of me asking you—more than once, I believe—if there was anything between you and Mike and you flat out lied to my face.” There was more amusement in her voice than offense. “My own goddaughter!”
“I’m thinking the same thing, Vickie.” Mary added. “I quizzed my brother and he denied it every time.”
Zoey tried to jump-start her words. “There’s nothing…” Oh, what was the point? “Okay, there is something, but…” She looked around the rooms, and Mary quickly reassured her.
“Hazel left a few minutes ago and busybody Katie is out on the swings. You can speak freely. And honestly, if you try real hard.”
“Okay, fine. Mike and I might be more than friends these days. We’ve added…benefits now. Satisfied?”
Mike straightened, finally regaining his voice. “No offense to my family and friends, but this is nobody’s business but ours. If we decide to sleep together, that’s our problem… I mean, that’s our decision.”
Did he think sleeping with her was a problem? She looked over at him, and he quickly mouthed sorry before continuing. “Look, it’s only been a few weeks, and…” He looked to her for help.
“And,” she added, “we didn’t lie, we just didn’t share because, like Mike said, it’s really new.” She gave Mary and Vickie a stern look. “And we do not want Hazel hearing about it from anyone. With Chris getting married and the new baby, I’m the only stability Hazel has right now.”
Mike slid his arm around her waist. They could finally relax a little in front of their friends. He gave a quick squeeze. “What gave us away?”
A roar of laughter filled the house. Yikes.
Mary wiped her eyes. “Let’s just say if you don’t want Hazel to know, you need to avoid being in the same room around her. If I hadn’t kept her so busy with the kids today, even she’d have no doubt what you two are up to.”
Zoey and Mike looked at each other in confusion. Where had they gone wrong?
“Yup,” Owen laughed. “From the moon eyes you kept making at each other to the little finger brushes you did every time you passed each other. It’s like you two were magnets.” He made a gesture with his hand toward his wife, Lucy, and she obliged by pretending to be pulled toward him against her will.
“Okay, okay.” Mike chuckled. “It wasn’t that bad.”
“Pal, you had your arm around her at the grill!”
Zoey and Mike stared at each other before she protested. “We did not!”
A chorus of voices answered. “Yes, you did!”
Bridget coughed, trying to hold in her laughter. “I almost tripped over my own feet when I walked outside and saw you two down at the grill, snuggled close together and giggling. And then Mike’s arm went around your waist for just a second, and your head hit his shoulder, and…well…it was pretty clear it wasn’t the first time it happened.”
“I don’t giggle,” Mike grumbled.
“Oh, brother of mine,” Mary piped up. “You were giggling. And cooing. And melting.”
Zoey and Mike had been laughing and reminiscing at the grill, and if he’d touched her waist, there’s no doubt she could have leaned into it, forgetting where they were.
The seniors at the dining table had been listening with a great deal of amusement. Mike’s grandmother, Maura, nodded toward him.
“And let’s not forget the way you marched into the kitchen and announced you needed to talk. What was that urgent conversation about, I wonder?” She turned to Mary. “You were guarding the door—what did you hear?”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Between her business, her recent divorce and her teenage daughter who needs her right now, Zoey Hartford has her hands full. Thank goodness she has her best friend, Mike McKinnon, to keep her laughing. Zoey and Mike have gone through everything together—from chemistry class to heartbreak. They would never risk their friendship…until one unexpected but sizzling night changes everything.

Mike is torn. Funny, down-to-earth Zoey in her flannel shirts and messy ponytail always seems so in control…until she melts into his arms. But he won’t come between Zoey and her daughter. They’ll just keep it casual. No drama. No feelings. No messiness. What could go wrong?

But the meddling, matchmaking book club won’t be denied. They may not have set them up, but they recognize a perfect match when they see one. And they’re determined to help Zoey see what’s been right in front of her for so long…
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Meet the Author:

Jo McNally lives in upstate New York with 100 pounds of dog and 200 pounds of husband – her slice of the bed is very small. When she’s not writing or reading romance novels (or clinging to the edge of the bed…), she can often be found on the back porch sipping wine with friends, listening to an eclectic playlist. If the weather is perfect, she might join her husband on the golf course, where she always feels far more competitive than her actual skill-level would suggest.
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