Happy Friday my lovely! And what better day then to have the author of Fiance by Friday join us? Please give a warm welcome back to Catherine Bybee!
Character Interview: Lady Gwen
A little note from the author… this interview took place before Gwen and Neil determined they were perfect for each other.
If you had a free day with no responsibilities and your only mission was to enjoy yourself, what would you do?
Gwen: There is no shame with a day filled with manicures, pedicures, wine and tea with friends. I do love my days with the girls…you know, Sam, Eliza and Karen. Now that Eliza is married and living in Sacramento, it’s not often we all have the opportunity to get away. My free day would be spent with the girls.
What's your idea of a good marriage? Do you think that'll happen in your life?
Gwen: I think a good marriage is one where both parties complete each other. I realize that sounds terribly cliché, but it’s how I feel. When I think of the happily married couples in my life, those marriages are balanced and so full of love you can practically feel the emotion bouncing off the couple. As for it happening in my life… I certainly hope so, but as the years keep rolling by, I can’t help but wonder if it ever will.
What are you most proud of about your life?
Gwen: Honestly, the last year in my life. I’ve finally began to live without the shadow of my father, or the blanket of my mother surrounding me. I’ve been quite sheltered and really hadn’t truly lived on my own until I moved to the States. In the last year, I’ve realized how much I was missing. So I’m most proud of my breaking away from my young life and how much I’ve grown accustomed to working with Alliance.
If you could spend the day with someone you admire (living or dead or imaginary), who would you pick?
Gwen: Oh, well…the dead isn’t very practical is it? Funny, you suggest someone who has passed and my first thought is Princess Diana. The woman had ties from everywhere in her life and when she broke free her life changed so dramatically. I suppose I’d like to talk with her, ask if she had any regrets.
Is there anything you've always wanted to do but haven't done? What would happen if you did it?
Gwen: I’ve always wanted to steal Neil MacBain away somewhere and keep him entirely to myself. Then maybe, finally, he’d realize we might be perfect for each other. *sigh*
As for what would happen if I did…well, Neil is simply too big to make do anything. He’d probably kick the door down and escape, putting to ruin my fantasy before I had an opportunity to act on it. *heavy-sigh* Perhaps one day I’ll get my wish. Then again, like Princess Diana, I might get my wish and end up with a short life. Wishes are seldom granted without some type of price to pay.
FIANCE BY FRIDAYThe Weekday Bride Series, Book Three
Montlake Romance, Contemporary
August 13, 2013, First Edition
Paperback & Kindle, B&N, Book Depository
GWEN HARRISON:The beautiful high-born daughter of an English duke came to America to take over her sister-in-law’s matchmaking business. But just because she’s the boss doesn’t mean she can’t fantasize about making her own perfect match with bodyguard Neil MacBain. Will the enigmatic man who haunts her dreams cost her more than she bargained for?
NEIL MACBAIN:The retired Marine can’t deny the effect blue-blooded Gwen has on his troubled soul or his battle-hardened bodY. Bus as a client, Gwen is off-limits—until a threat from Neil’s past returns… and Gwen is caught in the crossfire. Now to keep her safe he will risk it all: his career, his life… and his heart.
PRAISE FOR FIANCE BY FRIDAY
“The hero and heroine come to life with each flip of the page
and will linger long after readers cross the finish line."
–RT BOOK REVIEWS, TOP PICK, 4 ½ STARS
“Bybee takes an elegant titled lady, a dark emotionally guarded hero, a menacing stalker,
and a cast of distinctive characters mixing it all up into an unusual courtship tale
full of danger an sexual tension.”
–PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
“The hottest love on mainstream paper…
Ms. Bybee does not disappoint.”
—TJ MACKAY, IND’TALE MAGAZINE, 5 STARS
EXCERPT
Eliza flagged down a waitress and ordered a martini. “I see not a lot has changed,” she said after the waitress left.
“What do you mean?” Gwen asked.
“We’re sitting in a bar and your giant shadow is lurking in the back of the building.” Eliza tossed a peanut in her mouth.
“My shadow?”
Eliza looked o the right of the bar. “Yeah. The man who acts like you’re a job but can’t seem to leave you alone. If it was anyone other than Neil I’d be afraid he was a stalker.”
Gwen twisted around in her chair. Sure enough, perched at the edge of a seat on the far side of the bar, sat Neil.
“What’s he doing here?”
His eyes found hers for a brief moment before she looked away.
“I think that’s obvious.”
Her back teeth started to grind. “I don’t’ need a babysitter.”
“I don’t know, Gwen. The last time we sat in a bar I remember a certain someone getting drunk and a couple of other someones getting into a fight.”
She’d never live that down. Gwen and Eliza went to blow off steam in a Texas bar. The cowboys ewre full of “yes, ma’am” and “howdy, darlin’.” They danced and carried on…and yes, she drank a little too much. When one of the cowboys mistakenly took her smile as an invitation for intimacy, Neil erupted form the bar to teach the cowboy the meaning of the word no.
It was the first time Neil had defended her honor, and though she hated to admit it, she got a kick out of how ticked off he became when another man looked at her. “That was last year.”
“What’s changed since then?”
Nothing! It didn’t matter how much she flirted with the man, or how obvious she was about her attraction Neil didn’t bite.
“Everything.” Gwen stood, ready to put Neil I his place. “If you’ll both excuse me for a minute.”
She pushed her way through the crowd as if on a collision course with Neil. He kept his lips in a thin line as she approached and gripped the longneck bottle at his side. Slipping between the woman on the stool next to him and Neil’s massive frame, Gwen slapped a hand on her hip and growled. “What are you doing here?”
He blinked, once and picked up his beer. “Having a drink.”
She wanted to scream. “Having a drink,” she repeated.
He tilted the bottle back, took a swig.
“I know what you’re doing, Neil. And I don’t like it. I don’t want or need a bodyguard.”
“That’s debatable.”
If stomping her foot would knock some sense into him, she’d stomp better than a farm girl in a vineyard.
Poking a finger into his chest, she moved closer. “Do you have any idea how difficult it is to have a love life with a tow-hundred-thirty-pound bodybuilder standing in my way?”
A muscle in his jaw tightened. “Two hundred and fifty.”
“Ahhh!” She did scream now.
He lifted his beer again, but before he could take a swig, Gwen grabbed it from his fingers and tilted it back herself.
In a move that would make Eliza and Karen proud, she pushed the empty beer bottle back into his hand and slid between his thighs.
His jaw twitched again.
The strong musky scent that was pure Neil invaded her senses. She dropped one hand to his thigh and left it there. “This is how I see it, Neil. You have two choices. Either back off or step up.”
Gwen squeezed his thigh before vacating his personal space and marching back to the girls. A satisfied smile stretched over her face.
Eliza flagged down a waitress and ordered a martini. “I see not a lot has changed,” she said after the waitress left.
“What do you mean?” Gwen asked.
“We’re sitting in a bar and your giant shadow is lurking in the back of the building.” Eliza tossed a peanut in her mouth.
“My shadow?”
Eliza looked o the right of the bar. “Yeah. The man who acts like you’re a job but can’t seem to leave you alone. If it was anyone other than Neil I’d be afraid he was a stalker.”
Gwen twisted around in her chair. Sure enough, perched at the edge of a seat on the far side of the bar, sat Neil.
“What’s he doing here?”
His eyes found hers for a brief moment before she looked away.
“I think that’s obvious.”
Her back teeth started to grind. “I don’t’ need a babysitter.”
“I don’t know, Gwen. The last time we sat in a bar I remember a certain someone getting drunk and a couple of other someones getting into a fight.”
She’d never live that down. Gwen and Eliza went to blow off steam in a Texas bar. The cowboys ewre full of “yes, ma’am” and “howdy, darlin’.” They danced and carried on…and yes, she drank a little too much. When one of the cowboys mistakenly took her smile as an invitation for intimacy, Neil erupted form the bar to teach the cowboy the meaning of the word no.
It was the first time Neil had defended her honor, and though she hated to admit it, she got a kick out of how ticked off he became when another man looked at her. “That was last year.”
“What’s changed since then?”
Nothing! It didn’t matter how much she flirted with the man, or how obvious she was about her attraction Neil didn’t bite.
“Everything.” Gwen stood, ready to put Neil I his place. “If you’ll both excuse me for a minute.”
She pushed her way through the crowd as if on a collision course with Neil. He kept his lips in a thin line as she approached and gripped the longneck bottle at his side. Slipping between the woman on the stool next to him and Neil’s massive frame, Gwen slapped a hand on her hip and growled. “What are you doing here?”
He blinked, once and picked up his beer. “Having a drink.”
She wanted to scream. “Having a drink,” she repeated.
He tilted the bottle back, took a swig.
“I know what you’re doing, Neil. And I don’t like it. I don’t want or need a bodyguard.”
“That’s debatable.”
If stomping her foot would knock some sense into him, she’d stomp better than a farm girl in a vineyard.
Poking a finger into his chest, she moved closer. “Do you have any idea how difficult it is to have a love life with a tow-hundred-thirty-pound bodybuilder standing in my way?”
A muscle in his jaw tightened. “Two hundred and fifty.”
“Ahhh!” She did scream now.
He lifted his beer again, but before he could take a swig, Gwen grabbed it from his fingers and tilted it back herself.
In a move that would make Eliza and Karen proud, she pushed the empty beer bottle back into his hand and slid between his thighs.
His jaw twitched again.
The strong musky scent that was pure Neil invaded her senses. She dropped one hand to his thigh and left it there. “This is how I see it, Neil. You have two choices. Either back off or step up.”
Gwen squeezed his thigh before vacating his personal space and marching back to the girls. A satisfied smile stretched over her face.
BIO:
New York Times&USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bybee was raised in Washington State, but after graduating high school, she moved to Southern California in hopes of becoming a movie star. After growing bored with waiting tables, she returned to school and became a registered nurse, spending most of her career in urban emergency rooms. She now writes full-time and has penned novels Wife by Wednesday,Married by Monday, and Not Quite Dating. Bybee lives with her husband and two teenage sons in Southern California.
CONTACT LINKS:
www.catherinebybe.com
catherinebybee@yahoo.com
catherinebybee.blogspot.com
twitter.com/catherinebybee
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Looks great! Nice job. : )
ReplyDeleteThis was a fun interview with Gwen. Thanks for having me here today.
ReplyDeleteWe moved our family from Illinois to Arizona. Where we did not know anyone and had never been. It was huge. So I cant imagine moving countries. But it was a great move for us.
ReplyDeleteLove the excerpt, =) can´t wait for my chance to read!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway & Happy Friday!
//Linda
Oh boy, Catherine, the excerpt really got my heart pumping. :-) I really like the idea in this story of a high born "lady" from England making a go of it in America - and meeting her HEA here. Sounds like she's in for a romp with Neil. jdh2690@gmail.com
ReplyDelete