How does that old adage go? Opposites attract? I don't think
that's ever been more true than when Blake Callahan and Vicki Templeton first
encountered each other at the beach house—a house each claimed as their own.
That definitely sounds like an awkward situation and who
better to explain it to us than the two people involved.
My guests today are Blake Callahan and Vicki Templeton from SUMMER SIZZLE, an erotic romance novel
by Samantha Gentry, released on Friday, September 25, 2015, in both ebook and
print from The Wilder Roses (the Scarlet Rose line of erotic romance at The
Wild Rose Press). Also available from other online vendors.
Thank you, Blake and
Vicki, for being with us today.
Vicki: Thank you for inviting us.
Blake: It's our pleasure. You said you'd like to ask
us about how we met and the difficulties we had in developing a relationship?
Vicki: Difficulties? (spontaneous laugh) That's
definitely an understatement.
Blake: (shoots her a teasing grin) Well, it wouldn't
have been so difficult if it weren't for Vicki's near obsessive need to plan
for the future without giving any consideration to taking a little time to
smell the roses along the way. Every moment of her day planned out in advance—
Vicki: (returns his grin) And you…carrying on as if
tomorrow didn't exist.
I understand this all
started with the mix-up about which of you had the legal right to be living in
the beach house.
Vicki: Late Friday afternoon, I had all my
belongings in boxes ready to move into the fully furnished beach house I had
rented for the summer. I had sold all my furniture and even my car to secure
the necessary funds to return to the university and get my master's degree
without needing to work while attending classes. That would allow me to take a
heavier schedule and finish sooner. I had lined up several of the summer
seasonal businesses at the beach as clients, quit my job, and paid five months
rent for what I thought was the perfect location. A fully furnished beach house
within easy walking distance of all my clients.
That sounds like a
very ambitious plan.
Vicki: I had carefully worked out everything and
this was the most economically feasible plan for the future.
So what went wrong?
Blake: There was this one little thing that her
carefully worked out plan for the future hadn't taken into consideration. The
rental agent was a crook. He took her cashier's check to the bank within an
hour of the time she gave it to him and disappeared, leaving her to twist in
the wind.
Vicki: I unlocked the front door and found this man
inside my house. We…uh…exchanged a few confrontational words.
Blake: We exchanged lots of confrontational words. And not just words…her Siamese cat
attacked me, dug its claws into my ankle then my arm and drew blood.
Vicki: I did feel bad about that—guilty and
embarrassed. I immediately put her back into her carrier and told her she could
not go around attacking him.
Blake: It must have worked. The furry little beast
basically behaved herself after that. My wounds healed and the cat and I did
become friends.
Vicki: It quickly became obvious to me that he was
nothing more than an unemployed kite flying beach bum who had somehow managed
to gain access to my house. Then he tells me he has a signed one year lease. I
suddenly felt at a total loss about what to do. I could see all my plans for
the summer and returning to the university in the fall for my master's degree
moving out of my grasp…out of my control.
Blake: When I realized what a tough spot she was in,
I offered what I thought was a more than fair temporary compromise to get her
through the weekend until the owner of the house would be back in town.
Vicki: His idea of a compromise was suggesting I stay
there for the weekend, for me to share the house with this total stranger. I
definitely found his offer very troubling.
Blake: (laughs) She told me she knew karate and had
a gun. Friday evening progressed cautiously. But by the time Sunday arrived (reaches
over and gives her hand an affectionate squeeze while trying to hide a sexy
grin), we had discovered one area of total compatibility.
Vicki: During the ensuing week he did his best to
turn my carefully planned life—
Blake: She means tightly regimented life with
absolutely no room for simple things like enjoying a beautiful sunset—
Vicki: Let's just say we had vastly differing
lifestyles. (furrows forehead in a moment of thought) But underneath that
carefree live-for-today outward manner of his, I sensed a level of intense
emotional pain that he carried with him. Something he obviously didn't want to
acknowledge and certainly didn't want to share. He became more and more of an
enigma with each passing day. He seemed to be so busy trying to change my
lifestyle while keeping his own inner turmoil hidden away.
Blake: I have to plead guilty to that. For two years
I had been living only for today. Living…actually I was only existing. But my
attempts to loosen up her regimented today
doesn't matter, only tomorrow counts way of looking at things gradually
began to backfire on me. I found myself starting to think about what tomorrow
held, what the future could be.
Ah…the art of
compromise?
Blake: Not really compromise. Something more akin to
acknowledging that the greatest tragedy of my life had imprisoned my outlook
for the future.
Vicki: Then that day of reckoning, the day I
discovered who he had been before he decided to hide behind the façade of a
kite flying beach bum and how it nearly destroyed the relationship building
between us.
That's quite a
statement. What does it mean?
Blake: (laughs) It means you'll need to read the
book.
Vicki: I second that!
Thank you, Blake and Vicki, for being with us today and
sharing a little bit of your story.
SUMMER SIZZLE by Samantha Gentry is available in
ebook and print from The Wilder Roses, the Scarlet Rose line of erotic romance
at The Wild Rose Press.
And other online vendors
BLURB:
He lives only for today…she has eyes on tomorrow.
Growing up, Victoria Templeton watched her mother scrape for
every penny and vowed that would never be her. She's become a woman so busy
worrying about tomorrow, she doesn't allow time for today. And she has plans
for the summer that don't include sharing a house with a carefree beach bum
with no ambition, even one with a signed lease and a smokin' hot bronzed body.
The tragic loss of his six year old son caused Blake
Callahan to learn the hard way no one is guaranteed a tomorrow. He now lives
only for today—wine, women, and flying kites on the beach. Until an uptight
female with soulful eyes and mouth-watering curves invades his beach house,
claiming it's hers for the summer.
Forced to share the place until the mix-up is straightened
out, Blake and Vicki find they have nothing in common…except a sizzling heat
that has nothing to do with summer.
PG-EXCERPT #1 (first kiss—publisher's excerpt)
"You know what I think, Victoria Templeton?" His
soft voice sounded so very sexy as he moved to stand directly behind her, his
nearness sending waves of heated desire coursing through her veins. "I
think you've never done a spontaneous thing in your life."
"How dare you make such an assumption!" She
whirled around to face him and found herself looking up into his mesmerizing
blue eyes. She tried to force a confident tone into her voice, something she
definitely didn't feel. "You don't know a thing about me or my
situation."
"I'll even go so far as to guess that you don't know
how to be spontaneous." He stared at her as if trying to reach inside her
head and drag out her thoughts. "You're so busy worrying about tomorrow
that you won't allow yourself any time for today."
"You think I don't know how to be spontaneous?"
Her words were spoken half in anger and half in disbelief. He had challenged
her, something she couldn't allow to go unanswered. She stepped close to him,
wrapped her arms around his neck, and plastered her mouth against his.
2 comments:
Great post Samantha. Summer Sizzle sounds like a winner. Good luck and great sales!
Thanks, Sandra. Glad you enjoyed it. 'Great sales' sounds great to me. :)
Thanks for your comment.
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