A Good TIme by Shannyn Schroeder Tour and Giveaway

A Good Time

by Shannyn Schroeder

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BLURB:

A passionate free spirit and a sweet-talking playboy sound like a match made in heaven—until life gets in the way of all the fun and games…

Indy Adams values her freedom above all else. She works hard to support herself, moonlighting as a waitress while she fights for her first big sale in the Chicago real estate market. The last thing she needs is to be tied down, so she doesn’t think twice about declining her philandering boyfriend’s marriage proposal. Besides, she just landed a new client, a wealthy lothario—exactly the kind of guy who would understand her no-strings approach…

Handsome, rich, and charitable, most women jump at the chance to even talk to video game developer Griffin Walker, let alone date him. So he can’t understand why Indy wants nothing more than a few steamy nights together. Despite his romantic track record, Griffin longs for real love—complete with a home and family—and he wants it with Indy. But a blessing in disguise may lead them both to a life they never expected, and give Griffin a chance to show Indy that it’s okay to want more than a good time…

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Excerpt: Griffin and Indy have slept together, but Indy snuck out of his house. Now, he’s shown up at her apartment to confront her. (373 words)

“Why are you here?” she asked again.

           

“I rolled over in bed, expecting to find a warm naked body and found nothing. When you didn’t pop out of the bathroom, I went to look for you and found this.” He tossed her crumpled note on the kitchen table.

           

She shook her head to clear it. “You’re pissed because I borrowed a sweatshirt?” How petty was this guy? She stripped it off and threw it at him. He dropped it on the chair.

           

Indy moved to push past him, but he caught her arm.

“I’m pissed because you snuck out of my house. You just left.”

           

She yanked her arm back. “I didn’t see the point in waking you. What do you want, a big, fat thank you?”

           

He deserved at least that much. It had been some of the best damn sex she’d ever had. Not that she would admit it right now.

           

“I want to know why you left.”

           

She didn’t know how to answer. I don’t belong in your world? He wouldn’t buy it, even though it rang true. She took a deep breath, stared at the floor, and lied. “I can’t sleep in a strange place.”

           

She’d felt too comfortable in his bed and knew it was a bad thing. Sex was sex, but sleeping together changed things.

           

His voice softened. “You fell asleep before I did.”

           

She shrugged, hoping he wouldn’t try to bust her on her lie. He moved closer and ran a hand over her hair. She wanted nothing more than to snuggle her face into his hand, but held back.

           

“Fine. I thought you might want these back.” From his pocket he produced her panties.

           

She looked at her panties dangling from his finger. The tense moment passed and she smiled. “No bra?”

           

His eyes wandered to her chest and her hard nipples. “I didn’t know you left it.”

           

“I couldn’t find my panties or bra.”

           

“I’ll look for it.” He took a step closer and she backed into the wall. “Next time, I won’t let you off so easy.”

           

She tilted her chin up, her heart already racing. “Who says there will be a next time?”

           

“You,” he whispered against her lips and kissed her.

Review

Real estate agent, Indy Adams has a chance at finally making the big sale with billionaire Griffin as a client.  She understands that he is doing this as a favor, she also knows that his flirtatious manners are flattering, but she will deny it until the day she dies.  She has enough man trouble with an newly ex-boyfriend who proposed and the glaring fact that Indy isn’t looking for anything long term. 

Griffin  can’t seem to stop think about Indy, now that she is single again he seeks out to woo her.  He is not looking for a relationship, although he thinks the fireworks with Indy will be spectacular.  What starts off as one night quickly develops into a casual relationship that continues to cross the line into something more serious, but their rode is extremely rocky as Indy’s ex continues to want her back and a few other hurdles cross their path which will make their decision to be together a tough road.

Intense story, Indy is a free spirit who has some daddy issues.  Griffin is  a bit of a playboy, but he is currently trying to clean up his act.  Together they seem to be just what each other needs, except the rules continue to change.  I thought Griffin was charming, definitely has swagger but he is not perfect which I think made his character so likeable.  Excellent read.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Shannyn Schroeder is a former English teacher, who now works as a part-time editor while raising her three kids.

Even though she wrote from high school through college (mostly poetry), she’d never considered a career as an author. Writing fell by the wayside as she focused her energy on creating lesson plans and new and fabulous ways to torment her teen students. One group in particular dubbed her “The Torture Master,” a title she carried into motherhood.

After the birth of baby number two, Shannyn resigned from teaching and fell in love with reading romance novels. She read so many books so quickly that her husband teased, “If you’re going to read so many damn books, why don’t you just write one?”

So she did.

That first book is safely buried on her hard drive, but the process set Shannyn on the path to professional author. She came to reading romance later than many, but lives for the happy ending because real life can be depressing. She writes contemporary romance because she enjoys the adventure of new love.

In her spare time, she loves to bake cookies and watches far too much TV, especially cop shows. She is recovering from her Diet Coke addiction, fears putting her foot in her mouth on social media, and has a renewed appreciation for the bad girls of the world.

Web site: http://www.ShannynSchroeder.com

Twitter: @SSchroeder_

 Interview:

Thanks for having me today to talk about writing and my latest book, A Good Time.

1. Ideas for main characters? My stories always start with ideas for main characters. Because Indy and Griffin are characters who appeared in my first book, More Than This, I already had a sense of who they were, but I started writing without really taking the time to get to know them. After I finished the first draft and realized that it wasn’t working, I threw out about the first half and then created a collage for the characters.

I used Kate Hudson for Indy. Kate Hudson does the best romantic comedy heroines, and although A Good Time isn’t comedic, I know she can portray a flighty character, which is how Indy comes across. Plus, she has a great laugh (like Indy) and I was able to find pictures of her pregnant (which is how Indy looks for the last part of the book). For Griffin, I needed someone who could be all businesslike in a suit one minute and then be drinking a beer with his buddies the next. Bradley Cooper totally fits that image. Whether it’s a suit or jeans and a T-shirt, he’s yummy.

2. A favorite video game? In A Good Time, Griffin is a video game developer. I don’t know what I was thinking because I don’t play video games. When I wrote More Than This, that was the occupation I gave Griffin, but I didn’t really think about it. In the first draft of A Good Time, there was hardly a mention of his business, and I knew I couldn’t leave it like that because I guy who spends his time creating video games is going to love playing them.

I’ve watched my son play a lot and although he’s offered to teach me, I don’t have the hand-eye coordination to play and watching the first-then-third person stuff on a split screen makes me a little dizzy. I will say, though, that there’s a scene in my book where Indy is upset because Griffin taught her to play a game and then one of the main characters is killed off. That was inspired by hearing my son play Gears of War 3. It wasn’t until I learned about that game that I found out that the games have characters and ongoing storylines that people become invested in. Like Indy, I assumed it was just a way for guys to kill people and blow shit up.

I will say that my favorite arcade game growing up was Centipede and I do love a good pinball game.

3. Quirk when writing? I don’t think I have any quirks. Because I have 3 kids and I started writing when my youngest was just starting preschool, I learned to write almost anywhere at anytime. Now that I have to write under deadline, I do have a dedicated writing space at home that is separate from where I do all of my other jobs. I prefer to do my writing there (with a bowl of M&Ms nearby), but I still find myself typing at dentist appointments and during dance lessons.

I like to have music on while I write. If I have a soundtrack for a book (which I try to do before I start writing) I listen to that. But really, even just having the radio works. When I’m into editing and proofreading, though, I need quiet.

Shannyn will be awarding a $10 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the combined set of tours.  Leave a comment to enter.