Thursday, May 7, 2015

Blog Tour & Author Interview: Center Mass By Lani Lynn Vale


Luke Roberts came to the small lazy town of Kilgore, Texas with one thing on his mind: Forgetting. He wanted to forget why he left. Forget those emerald green eyes that haunted his dreams. And forget how it felt to have his heart ripped out of his chest by a woman who didn’t like the fact that he had a child. It was something he’d been doing a damn fine job of doing, too. Until Reese smashed through every one of his defenses, and made him feel again.

Reese Doherty was just trying to do the best for her little girl. So she moved to the little boomtown nearly an hour from where she grew up to be the school nurse for Kilgore’s littlest people. That’s where she met him. The SWAT officer and the man that would change her life forever. The sexy man who liked to drive fast, and live life like it should be lived. He drove her crazy, and became something she could barely live without.

But Luke was a hero. A man used to risking his life to make the world a safer place. Something Reese had to decide whether she could handle or not. Preferably before her and her daughter became too attached.

Just when she’s ready to give him her whole heart, her world takes a huge hit, and everything she thought she knew wasn’t as it seemed.

Luke wasn’t a quitter, though. Damn far from it, and he’d prove to her that he’d be there when the dust settled. Whether she wanted him to be or not.
When you read as much as I do, it at times can be hard to find an author who is consistently one that hasn’t let you down with their books.  Sometimes an author can lose that special touch that has made their previous books ones that you re read and remember, sometimes you just don’t click with a character or sometimes your love for that particular author has run it’s course.  Luckily for me, none of those scenarios have happened yet when it comes to reading Lani Lynn Vale’s books.  Have I read all of her books?  No I have not read her Boomtown series yet but that is something I plan on correcting very soon.  I was super excited when I found out she was starting a new series that also ties into her other ones but this time it is about a S.W.A.T. team with ties to her previous characters.  Center Mass is the first book in her Code 11 KPD SWAT series and I am already wanting more of these sexy alpha cops.  Let us take a moment to appreciate the sexiness that is a member of a S.W.A.T. team in their full gear and guns, sigh I need to wipe the drool from my mouth.

Luke and Reese balance each other out.  Luke being the alpha male tough guy that is soft inside when it comes a certain little girl in his life.  Reese is sassy, stubborn as a mule at times and also a little, let’s say crazy yeah crazy works but she is crazy in a good way.  I was crying from laughing at times because they would crack me the hell up, add in the secondary characters and you have yourself a real life comedy act going on, especially when you are chasing naked old men around the streets.  See now you are wondering about that little tid bit aren’t you?  Let’s just say I had the giggles for a while after reading about that.

I love how the author finds the perfect mix of humor, suspense and sexiness for each of her characters.  Each book in my opinion has gotten funnier and draws you into quicker and quicker, to the point that once you begin reading you don’t want to stop until you reach the last word.  If you are a fan of Lani Lynn Vale’s previous books then you will love Center Mass, and if you haven’t read any of her books yet please go grab them and dive right in, you won’t regret it.


Welcome to My Secret Romance, I am honored that you agreed to a short interview with me today.  I loved the entire Heroes of the Dixie Wardens MC series, and I just finished Center Mass and loved it as well.  I am having a bit of a fan girl moment so don’t mind me. 

1.        Can you tell us a little about yourself and your books?  What are you currently working on?
My books are about the ultimate alpha men and the women that tame them….well as much as they can be tamed.  ;)  I started writing early in 2013, and published my first book in June of 2013. I’m a married mother of three, and I live in Texas.  I started going to school for nursing, but found that I much rather liked not having a time constraint on my writing, so I started doing that full time in February of this year.  :)

2.       How can your readers get in contact with you?
My Facebook page would likely be the easiest. 

3.       What inspires you to write?
Anything and everything, really.  Someone cuts me off in traffic.  I see a hot guy in line at the gas station in front of me.  I walk into the mall and a couple of young kids are acting like fools.  So everyday life is what inspires me.

4.       What are some of your favorite authors and/or book series?
Kristen Ashley, of course!  But I fell in love with books by reading Saving Grace by Julie Garwood.  I loved Twilight.  Patricia Briggs.  Jim Butcher.  I’m a little bit of everything type of woman.

5.       Which character or characters have been the easiest for you to write and which ones have been the hardest?
Sam (From Boomtown) was by far my easiest to write.  He’d been in my head for years before I started writing about him.  Hardest….that would be Loki with Keys to My Cuffs.  Why?  I don’t know.  He just was. 

6.       What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?  When I released my first book ever, I was so very new and unused to the indie game.  So I of course published my book thinking it was edited PERFECTLY only to learn it wasn’t.  And it was formatted horribly.  So I went back and fixed it, but I still had horrible reviews.  And from one of those reviews I got my first beta reader, Tori.  She was brutally honest, and I’ve never been so happy to have her accept my request.  I recently got a 4 star review from her, and it really nearly tipped me over in my chair!The best compliment would be when I had a woman write me and tell me that my books helped her get through her chemo appointments.  Talk about a good feeling!!

7.       What do you feel about all of the author hater drama that is almost a daily occurrence on social media?  I try to stay out of it.  I’m a very shy person, so I try not to stick my nose into other people’s business in fear that someone will see me and single me out.  So I’m all in my own little world and happy about it.  :)  Although I do venture out to say hi to fans.

8.       What advice would you offer someone who was trying to write their first book and has become discouraged?  Keep at it.  You’ll get bad reviews, but you’ll have to just read them and take note of what they’re saying because most of them will always have something that you can improve on.

9.       What does your friends and family think of you being an author?
My mother tells anyone and everyone she can.  It’s truly humbling to see how proud she is of me. My sister loves it, too, as does my mother in law.  We’re all avid readers, so it’s been no hardship for them to read my books. 

10.   What is one secret obsession that you have?  Ummmmmm…….hmmmm.  I love watching bikers, firefighters, or military men.  I try not to be conspicuous, but it fascinates me to watch them and get ideas for my books.  It drives my husband crazy!


She sat back in her chair, a smile on her face.  “So you used her for sex?”
I shook my head.  “No.  That’s not what I said.”
“Oh?” She asked.  “Then what did you mean?”
“It means that I was having fun.  She was an amusement, one that might have turned into something more in time, but wore out her welcome when she told me she didn’t like my child,” I said coldly.
I wouldn’t have said it as coldly if I hadn’t seen Lydia stand up in the mirror above Reese’s head.  Just having her anywhere near me set my skin to crawling.  Just as it’d done when I’d left her.
I saw her flinch and turn around, as did Reese, who gave me a sympathetic look.
“You’ve got this twitch…right above your eye,” she said, a grin playing at the corner of her lip.  “I think I really like you.  I didn’t think anyone could be as mean as I could.”
“Are you done yet, or are you just going to play with that straw with your talented tongue some more?”  I asked, exasperated.
She winked.
“What,” she asked, licking the straw completely before sucking it into her mouth.  “Does this bother you?”
She was playing with fire.
“You know,” I said, standing slowly.  “I’ve had one hell of a week.  I’m running on fumes, and you’re getting really close to pushing my last button.”
She stood too, taking the half eaten milkshake with her.
“And what button’s that?” She asked over her shoulder.
I took in the view of her backside.  The tight black pants that molded to her ass perfectly.  Her long hair that just brushed the top of her butt… just begging for me to sink my fingers into it.  A handhold I could pull while I fucked her hard from behind.
“I’m not an easy man.” I said softly behind her.  “I’m rough.  I have a kid. My job’s demanding and I won’t be able to devote a lot of time to you.”
She snorted.  “I’m not an easy woman.  I’m emotional.  I have baggage.  I’m loud.  My kid requires a lot of my attention.  And I PMS once a month.”
In one swift move, I pinned her up against the side of my cruiser.
Her body went limp, and her fingers went to my shirt, clutching it in her fists.
My mouth slammed down on hers.  Weeks of sexual frustration coming out into the kiss.
She tasted like vanilla ice cream.
Soft and smooth, and oh, so sweet.
“You’re so fucking sexy,” I said against her lips.  “When I get you into my bed, I won’t let you up for air for weeks.”
She grinned, pulling in the air I’d just exhaled before saying, “We have kids.  You’ve got until ten A.M.  Tops.”
I leaned forward.  “That’s enough time…for now.”







I’m a married mother of three. My kids are all under 5, so I can assure you that they are a handful. I’ve been with my paramedic husband now for ten years, and we’ve produced three offspring that are nothing like us. I live in the greatest state in the world, Texas.








HOSTED BY:


No comments:

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...