Thursday, August 18, 2016

Guest Post & Giveaway ~ RANDOM ACTS OF MARRIAGE by Boone Brux


Random Acts of Marriage (Wedding Favors, #2)
by: Boone Brux
Series: Wedding Favors
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: August 8, 2016
Publisher: Entangled ~ Lovestruck

A wedding. A playboy. And a week he’ll make sure she never forgets.

Kinni Corbet is the perfect bridesmaid. She’s efficient and has a to-do list for every occasion. When the bride-to-be adds “relax and have some fun” to Kinni’s schedule, Price Lyons seems to tick all the right boxes. He’s guaranteed fun, and it’s only for one week—what can it hurt?

Playboy hotel owner Price Lyons has wanted to break down Kinni’s walls for years. Her plan to relax for a whole week is the perfect opportunity to get to the one person he’s never been able to charm. And this time, she seems…receptive to his advances. Unexpected, but he’ll take it.

There’s just one problem. Kinni’s allergic to spontaneity, and the only thing predictable about Price is his unpredictably. There’s no way they’ll last beyond the week, and Kinni’s going to make sure of it…

Topic: A behind the scenes look at the book.  What surprises happened?

Surprises always happen as a book begins to unfold. Things and characters never end up where I think they’re going to land. The biggest surprise for me with this book was that I ended up liking the Kinni, the heroine. She and I are so different and it was tough to make her likeable…at least for me to like her. As we progressed through edits and fleshed her out, more of her human traits appeared. I think it’s common to attempt to write a character who’s unfamiliar and only choose the most glaring traits. They end up like one of those character drawing you get at Six Flags, one feature overshadowing the rest, hogging the space.

So this was a learning moment for me. A character can have flaws, but the trick is to mold, push, and soften them into something related to the reader. They don’t have to like the trait, but hopefully they can appreciate it and not judge too harshly. If writers didn’t push themselves out of their comfort zone when building characters, every book would read like it’s happening to the same people, only the names were changed.

I was surprised by how much I like the cover. There wasn’t anything I didn’t like. That’s saying a lot because I am so not a pink person. It’s adorable.

“We should go out sometime,” Price said. The gulp of coffee she swallowed stuck. She coughed and attempted to clear her throat. “We went out yesterday.”

The words rasped from her, the liquid still making it difficult to talk and his suggestion destroying the calm she argued into place. “And we’re out now.” “I mean go out on a date.” He glanced at her. “Not to run errands for the wedding.” “A date?” Her voice pitched higher than usual. “Why?” A snort of laughter rumbled from him. “Why do most people go on dates?” “You mean a date-date?” She nodded, not because she was agreeing to his request, but because his single announcement had vaporized all the reasons she should ignore the spark between them. It had shot to hell the logical argument that the attraction was one-sided on her part. And he’d completely derailed any sort of well-thought out, intelligent-sounding response. “As in”—she hesitated— “romantically?” “Yeah, like dinner and a movie, or whatever you want.” From the periphery she could see him glancing at her and then back to the road. “No pressure, but…” It was his turn to pause. “Yes, a romantically oriented date.” Words failed her. For the first time that she could remember in her adult life, she had no argument for or against it. The several minutes she’s spent convincing herself to not get involved gave way to the desire to say yes. A tiny bud of excitement blossomed and spread in the pit of her stomach, but years of sensible decision-making weren’t so easily tucked away. “Do you think that would be wise?” Now she did look at him, which probably wasn’t a good idea. His smile made his green eyes sparkle. She’d dated good-looking men before, but nobody who could compare to Price. Not that they were dating. But they could be, if she’d only say yes. Another zing of exhilaration shot through her. All she had to do was say yes. “Wouldn’t it be weird?” His smile faltered. “Do you think it would be weird?” “I don’t know, I mean—” What did she mean? What the hell was she trying to say? She wasn’t thinking clearly. All she wanted was for him to smile at her again, like he was jazzed to be with her. His suggestion had sent her into a tailspin of possibilities, but she didn’t want to say or do anything that might ruin the friendship they’d developed, or other more romantically slanted prospects. “Is that a path we even want to go down?” “Why not?” He pulled into the hotel garage. “I don’t know about you, but I think we get along pretty well.” “Yeah, I guess.” Two days realistically wasn’t enough time to make an educated decision. She’d spent more time than that picking out a bathmat. “I’m just not sure if we should chance something more serious. We have the group to think about. If things got ugly between us it might affect our friendships with them.”

After parking in his private spot and shutting off the car, he shifted in the seat to face her. “Look, I’m not saying let’s get married or anything remotely that serious, but…” He reached across the center divider and brushed his finger along her jawbone before gently grasping her chin. “I like you. You make me laugh. You’re hot as hell, and I want to spend more time with you.” It was suddenly difficult to breathe—or think. The way he stared at her sent her heart racing. She wanted this despite all the reasons she shouldn’t. Roxy’s favor echoed through her mind. “Yes.” Relief flooded her, washing away all hesitation. “Yes,” she said more forcefully, in case any doubts lingered. “Let’s try it.”

Purchase Random Acts of Marriage from:

The Wedding Favors Series:
(Click on the book covers for more information or to purchase from Amazon.)

Boone's stories range from high fantasy to contemporary romance.

Having lived all over the world, and finally settling in the icy region of Alaska, she's always looking for the next adventure. It's not unusual to find Boone traversing the remotest parts of the Alaskan bush, gathering information for her stories. No person or escapade is off limits when it comes to weaving real life experiences into her books or blogs.

Places where you can find Boone Brux:

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9 comments:

  1. I love the cover and the blurb sounds really good too

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Janine.

      Thanks for stopping by. I haven't read Boone before, but I'm looking forward to reading her.

      Delete
  2. Book sounds like a fun read. Great cover. Looking forward to reading.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by Dianne. Good luck.

      Delete
  3. Book sounds like a fun read. Great cover. Looking forward to reading.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This sounds really cute. Weddings, romance... what more can you ask?

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    Replies
    1. I'm thinking there might be some sort of high jinx going on.

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  5. Love a wedding romance. Look forward to reading. Thank you for the giveaway.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This one seems fun. Thanks for stopping by.

      Delete

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