Looking for contemporary romance? Entangled Indulgence has two out this week celebrated in their “Mixing Business with Pleasure” blog tour! Read all about Emma Shortt’s The Seduction Game below, then click here to learn about Carmen Falcone’s A Night of Misbehaving!
Welcome, Emma! I’m so glad you could be here today!
Thanks for having me along, Becky!
Tell us more about your book—take us beyond the official “book blurb”.
In one sentence… The Seduction Game is all about the geek and the millionaire and whether two such radically different people can fall in love.
Perfect 🙂
Give us more info about your main characters—who are they?
The geek is my heroine, Kate Kelly. She makes her living running a small computer store and spends her free time watching sci-fi shows and creating her own virtual life. She doesn’t have much experience of the world outside her computer. My hero, the millionaire, is Will Thornton and he is a regular, every day kinda guy. He knows nothing of the world of geek…Kate is going to show him exactly what he is missing.
I should also mention Meg Marlowe here. She’s Kate’s best friend and all round awesome person. She’s getting a book of her own!
Yay! I loved Meg!
What scene in your book was the most fun to write, and why?
There’s a scene about halfway through the book that takes place at a sci-fi convention. I attend a lot of conventions myself and I’ve been waiting forever to write a scene that takes place in one. This was especially interesting to write because my hero knows nothing about this world, and the entire scene is thought his point of view. I had to imagine how someone would feel being surrounded by all the geek!
I loved that scene! I totally felt for Will–I was once the not-really-sci-fi-person at the convention; I knew exactly how he felt there!
How long have you been writing, and what (or who) inspired you to start?
I’ve been writing since I was a teenager. I don’t know that anything inspired me to do so it just made sense that I should. I always feel a bit ‘off’ when I don’t write. It’s part of who I am.
It’s great that you knew so early! All that practice… 😉
What do you like best about being a writer?
I love when one of my readers emails me or writes me a review and they get, they just get, exactly what I was trying to do with a character or a scene. I remember in one book I felt particularly emotional writing a scene and I thought to myself, this is where the reader should well up, and then someone emailed me saying she did just that. It’s the most awesome feeling when that happens.
Fantastic!
What is the most challenging part of being a writer?
Time is an issue. There is so much I want to write, so many stories waiting to get out. I wish I could spend all day, every day bringing them to life, but it’s not possible right now.
Time turners for everyone! I’m sure they’re key to accomplishing all we want to get done.
What are you working on right now? What can readers look for from you in the next year?
I am working on the second book in my End of Days Love series. These are my very favorite books and after spending the last year writing pure romance it’s nice to get back to some horror.
In the next year? Readers can expect more, more, more! I generally have a book released every other month. If anyone would like to keep up with my releases they can sign up to my newsletter.
Awesome!
What authors and/or books have inspired you?
As a teenager I was in love with Anne Rice. In fact, the first book I ever wrote was an epic vampire love story. I also adore Philip Pullman (His Dark Materials, how I love Will and Lyra!), Bernard Cornwell, Susan Gregory, Hugh Howey, Paul Antony Jones and Stephen King.
As an author I read in every genre I possibly can but my true loves are post-apocalyptic, horror and sci-fi, they become something very special for me when a romance is thrown in.
I read Anne Rice while in high school and college too! Stephen King was also an early favorite…
What are you currently reading?
I just finished Extinction Point: Revelations by Paul Antony Jones. The next book in my TBR pile is a non-fiction title, SQL Server 2014…I know…my life rocks so bad!
LOL! 🙂
Please share a favorite scene from your book with our readers.
“Kate, wait!”
Will’s voice rang in her ears as Kate practically sprinted to the front door. Her heart was racing, her skin tingling all over, and on top of that she had never felt like more of a dork. Will Thornton had been about to kiss her. Kate was absolutely positive of it, and more than that she had been about to let him. If not for Daniel Craig…
She cringed as she yanked the front door open. She was a grown up, for crikes sake! She should be able to watch two people getting down and dirty on the flat screen without feeling like a complete freak. But, if she’d been on her own Kate would probably have given Daniel Craig a nod to his hotness and waited for the scene to finish. It wouldn’t have made her feel so painfully embarrassed.
It’s because of the Borg king! Because you wanted him to kiss you.
Kate almost groaned as the door swung open to its fullest arc. She needed to get home. To sit down with Meg in her little store and forget, for a few minutes at least, that Will Thornton was probably now thinking she was some sort of oddball. How many women ran away from him when he tried to kiss them? How many blushed like a teenager because of a sex scene on the God damn television?
Not many, Katie, not many.
Head down, shame burning through her, Kate dashed over to the truck. Once there, she looked around, and only then did it occur to her that Will was going to have to drive her home. She had no idea where she was.
“Kate, hold up.”
He shot into view, stopping abruptly right in front of her. His face was scrunched in a frown, but he wasn’t angry, if anything, he just seemed confused. Kate took an unsteady breath and realized right then that she had two options. She could come up with some sort of excuse to get home by herself—and it probably wouldn’t be a very believable one—or she could brazen the whole thing out. Pretend the “Skyfall situation,” as she was now mentally calling it, had never happened.
“Are you okay?” he asked. “You dashed out of there pretty quickly.”
Focus, focus, focus. “I’m fine,” Kate said, pasting the brightest smile on her face that she possibly could. “Thank you for today,” she added when he opened his mouth to speak. “It’s given me a lot to think about. I really do need to get going though, so yeah, erm, thanks.”
“It was my pleasure.”
Why did Will’s voice seem to deepen around the last word? Was she imagining it? Had she imagined the Skyfall situation? Had Will really been moving in for a kiss or was it a case of wishful thinking? Kate shifted on the spot, mind racing, and gestured to the truck. “Erm, well, I better get on and do some work. I’ve got loads to do.”
Will stepped forward, a smile playing around his lips. Kate could see it quite clearly because she was looking right at them, had thought perhaps it would be easier than making eye contact.
He was going to kiss me with those lips.
She stepped back automatically. Will’s smile widened. “It’s too hot to work,” he said softly. “Why don’t you let me take you to dinner instead? Neither of us ate lunch.”
Kate shook her head, still refusing to meet his eyes. “I’ve taken up enough of your time today. It’s fine, I’m going to take my laptop down to the park. Work outside for a bit. I do it all the time”
“How far away is the park?”
“To walk? Twenty minutes or so,” she said, and then on a note of inspiration, “In fact, if you give me the general direction of where we are I can probably walk from here.”
“But you don’t have your laptop.”
Heat crawled up Kate’s neck and this time she couldn’t help herself. She reached up to rub it and was unsurprised to find beads of moisture there. She was feeling the heat, not just metaphorically, but physically too.
“I can pick it up on my way.”
Will stepped forward. “Let me drive you.”
She took a step back. “I like to walk, Will. It’s refreshing.”
“But it’s getting late, and your area isn’t the safest to be walking around in.”
It was mid-afternoon. There were hours and hours of daylight yet. What was Will doing? Why was he pushing this? What was he thinking? Never before had Kate wished for mind reading superpowers. She would give anything to know what was running through Will’s mind, anything. “I’ve managed to survive so far down there without any issues,” she finally said. “And this is weird.”
“Weird how?”
She took another step back. “Well you’re acting all like…I don’t know, a big brother, maybe?”
Will’s laugh was unexpected and the soft notes were enough for Kate to finally meet his gaze. What she saw there made the butterflies in her stomach turn into full-fledged birds. They flapped and flew in that tight space and Kate pressed a hand against her belly to try and stop them.
“Brotherly is far from how I feel about you, Kate,” he said softly, and then to Kate’s absolute horror, and utter delight, he pulled her into his arms. “Brotherly is far from how I was going to behave just now,” he added. “I was going to kiss you. You know that, don’t you?”
Her mouth fell open. She couldn’t help it. Will’s arms were around her, her hands were pressed tight against his chest and those damn birds were still swooping around.
“Running away won’t make a difference,” he continued. “The kiss is coming, Kate. It’s just a question of when.”
She squirmed. “Will, you’re making me feel uncomfortable.”
“Yes, but in a good way, Kate.”
“No—”
“Yes.”
Silence held as they stared into one another’s eyes. Kate swore she could feel Will’s heart beating against her palms and wondered, randomly, if he could feel the birds beating around inside of her.
“Will,” she began but he didn’t give her the chance to say another word. Dropping his next statement like a bomb between them.
“I want you, Kate.”
She gasped. “You can’t say that.”
“Why not?”
“Well, because,” she spluttered. “Because.”
His arms tightened, they circled her waist entirely now and, because her tee was so small, Kate could feel his bare skin against the small of her back. Thoughts raced at light speed through her brain. Was her skin moist from the heat? What would Will think if it was? Could he feel her hip bones? Would he think they were gross? What about the fact that she was breathing so quickly? Would Will think that was weird? On and on the thoughts went and Kate’s fingers curled against Will’s chest.
“We’re both adults,” he said, his voice little more than a whisper. “Both free and single. Why shouldn’t I admit that I want you? That I’ve thought of nothing else these past few days.”
Oh my God… “You’re the enemy,” Kate said quickly.
He sighed. “No. I’m not, Kate. You know that. Maybe that’s why you’re running scared?”
“You’re the man who is trying to evict me,” she said, though she wasn’t sure who she was reminding, him or herself?
“I’m the man who wants to take you back inside, strip you naked, and kiss every single inch of your skin.”
Squee! I loved that scene…my review can be found here.
Thanks so much for joining us today, Emma!
Keep reading to learn more about Emma, her book, and–oh, and don’t forget the giveaway…
Author Bio:
As a kid Emma wanted to be an astronaut, or maybe Captain Janeway. Because she didn’t really think her career choices through very well she ended up in an everyday geek job, crunching numbers and sighing over syntax. It seemed a long way from the stars and in an effort to escape Emma decided to get serious about her other passion. Writing. Several years later and Emma has yet to walk on the moon or sit in the Captain’s chair, but she is still writing. She scribbles stories in all sorts of genres, contemporary, paranormal, post-apocalyptic, historical, sci-fi…if she hasn’t tried it yet she will before long. The only common theme is the romance. A hopeless romantic everything Emma writes has a love story in there somewhere.
Emma Shortt Blog Twitter Facebook
The Seduction Game
by Emma Shortt
Synopsis:
When millionaire bad boy Will Thornton tries to buy computer-geek Kate Kelly’s building out from under her, she refuses to sell. Will might be uber rich, and super successful but she won’t be bullied. Trouble is, she didn’t expect Will to look like one of her fantasy heroes, or to make her heart beat a little too fast. She’s prepared to wait him out, but it’ll take every ounce of her self-control to win this game.
With millions of dollars on the line, Will is positive he can make Kate sell. He’s played the game better than anybody and charming is his middle name. Problem is, the snarky, geeky, computer-wiz is nothing like he imagined—impossibly cute and a match for him in every way.
The game is on but can two such radically different people come out winners in the game of seduction?
Goodreads Amazon Barnes & Noble Entangled
Giveaway!
$50 Amazon GC from Carmen Falcone
A Geeky Prize From Emma Shortt
These sound HOT. Added to my TBR list.
Definitely recommend!