Interview, Excerpt & Giveaway ~ PARTNER PURSUIT by Kathy Strobos

Partner Pursuit (New York Friendship, #1)
by: Kathy Strobos
Series: New York Friendship
Genre: Women’s Fiction with Romance/RomCom/ChickLit
Release Date: October 18, 2021
Publisher: Strawbundle Publishing
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When a workaholic lawyer meets a fun-loving music marketing executive for opposites attract, friends-to-lovers adventures, which partnership will she choose?

Workaholic lawyer Audrey Willems is not going to take any chances with her bid to become a partner at her New York law firm—especially with only six months until the decision.

Until she bumps into Jake—her new neighbor. Jake is a fun-loving music marketing executive who might just be The One.

He’s funny, caring, supportive—and able to kill water bugs in the bathroom.

But Jake will never date a woman married to her job. His father was a workaholic lawyer who never had time for family.

And she’s just got the case of a lifetime—the one she needs to win to make partner. Working 24/7 at the office may not even be enough hours to pull off a victory.

If only she had not met him now.

Audrey is determined to prove that she can juggle work and romance—even if managing court cases, candlelit dinners, and bike rides around Manhattan is a lot harder than it looks. She keeps canceling dates for yet another case crisis.

But when making partner is like a game of musical chairs and the last seat is a business-class alone, which partnership will she choose?

Hi Kathy. Welcome to Read Your Writes Book Reviews. How are you?
Great. How are you?

I’m good. Thank you for asking. Congratulations on the release of your first book, Partner Pursuit.
Thank you.

Tell me about your characters, Audrey and Jake.
Audrey and Jake are both 33. Audrey is a corporate lawyer working in a NYC law firm, and Jake is a music marketing executive. Audrey is a workaholic, very driven, and a little lacking in self-confidence. Jake is fun-loving and very confident; he loves his job.

Can you tell me about the first time Audrey and Jake meet each other?
Audrey and Jake first meet when Audrey is trying to check her phone, not looking up, and she bumps into Jake. Audrey is immediately attracted to Jake, but I think Jake is not immediately attracted to her, especially when she says that being on call is so essential. She likes being able to leave the office, but still be available wherever she is.

What is it that attracts them to each other?
Audrey is attracted by Jake’s confidence and magnetism. He seems to really enjoy life. Jake is attracted to Audrey’s mischievousness. Audrey thinks Jake’s a little too sure of himself, so she plays a practical joke on him.

What was your favorite part of Partner Pursuit to write?
It’s hard to choose. I loved writing the getting to know each other scenes between Audrey and Jake, and I also loved writing Audrey’s scenes with her friends. The getting to know each other scenes are so much fun to write because there’s all that tension and uncertainty and you’re trying to figure out if this person is someone you could really like.

I also love writing the scenes with her friends, like the brunch scene with Eve and Max, because I love bantering with my friends. Her friends were a lot of fun to write.

Can you please tell me about one of your favorite scenes and why it’s counted as a favorite?
One of my favorite scenes is their bicycle riding date when they bike along the Hudson River and end up at a jazz club in Harlem. I liked showing their getting to know each other, the budding sexual tension, and also weaving in my love for New York. I was trying to capture that fizzing electricity and that fun that is a perfect first date.

What do you hope readers take away from this story?
There are a bunch of messages I hope readers take away from this story:

• The importance of work/life balance
• The importance of following your dreams;
• how you can be a woman supporting other women in a corporate environment;
• the importance of friendship;
• and the importance of finding a guy who supports your dreams

Kathy, what’s next for you?
I’m hoping to publish my next novel, Is This For Real? in January. Here’s its blurb:

An opposites attract, friends-to-lovers, slow burn, fake dating romantic comedy

Love is all fun and games until somebody gets hurt. Usually me. I admit it, I’m a relationship-recluse. Ironic, given that I write romantic comedies. So, I’m on a sabbatical from dating.

Which is why fake dating my best friend Rory is foolproof. Rory suggested it because he needed a date for work functions. And I can use our experiences as fodder for my romcom novel. Plus, my sister doesn’t know it’s not real and she is thrilled that I’m not walling myself off emotionally. Her words, not mine. But I do wish she would stop saying that she always suspected there was something more between me and Rory. She should realize that we’ve been friends forever so I’m immune to his appeal.

We would never work. Rory is such a romantic; he still believes in that perfect love similar to his parents’ marriage. My parents fought bitterly. So, we are better off as friends. I can’t risk losing our friendship, even if this might be my chance—before his ex-girlfriend wins him back.

Those flickers of attraction? Easily extinguished by cold water reality—like a two-mile hike in drenching rain over sand with wheelie luggage.

But our relationship is not sticking to the plot—or is it?

And to keep writing more novels that I hope readers enjoy.

Thank you for hosting me on your blog.

You’re welcome.

Jacket on the back of the chair. Check.

Desk light on. Check.

Now, Ms. Willems, your mission, should you choose to accept it: Get out of the office on the sly. Audrey snorted silently at her own badly-played movie line. She stuffed the Save the Children t-shirt she’d gotten from a Central Park Zoo benefit in her Tory Burch brown leather satchel, added as many legal pads as could fit, and plumped the bag to look like it held at least four case files. She casually leaned the bag against the side of her desk, in view of her open office door.

The excited chatter of the exiting assistants filled the hallway. She typed up the Popflicks engagement letter and then entered Popflicks as a new client into the law firm database. Yes. Her pulse quickened.

The office was now quiet. She put an uncapped red pen in the middle of a legal pad on her desk. It looked like she’d be right back. The scene called for something more. If only she had a permanently steaming cup of tea. She poured a bottle of water into a glass.

She should depart boldly, but leaving early was frowned upon by the partnership powers-that-be. They might even think she needed another assignment. She definitely did not. She had just landed Popflicks. She had stayed until 11 p.m. every night this week. Okay, so I’m not always very good at saying no. But now was not the time to say no to a partner—not when she’d been working so hard for seven years, her life on hold. Now that she was in the homestretch, she could practically see “Audrey Willemson, Partner,” embossed on her law firm’s business card.

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Kathy Strobos is a writer living in New York City with her husband and two children, amid a growing collection of books, toys and dollhouses. She grew up in New York City and graduated from Stuyvesant High School and Harvard-Radcliffe University magna cum laude. She previously worked as a lawyer. She left law to pursue her dream of writing fiction full-time and getting in shape. She is still working on getting in shape.

Places to find Kathy Strobos:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page

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