☆ ☆ ☆ Author Spotlight: @SarinaBowen and @ElleKennedy ☆ ☆ ☆
The Shorties (and the NOT so short one Rachel, lol) are extremely excited to have Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy here with us today. If you are on Facebook, you may know they are two of the many coaches of The Locker Room. Grace, Ivy and myself have read most of their sports romance books, especially their collaborative book “Him” which came out on July 28, 2015. “Shorties Approved”. If you haven’t one-clicked “Him” yet, we all suggest you do so, HOT!
What inspired your collaboration?
Sarina: I’m going to let Elle answer this one. It was really her idea!
Elle: I’ve wanted to write a m/m for a while, but it never seemed to be a good fit for any of my current series. So one day Sarina and I were joking around and somehow the idea of writing a m/m together came up. I didn’t think we were being serious, but the next thing I know, she’s emailing me with ideas. I took about two seconds to think about it, and then was like, “I’m in!”
How did your love of hockey begin?
Sarina: I grew up in Michigan, where hockey was everywhere. In fact, all the high schools had teams, yet I’d never seen a soccer game or a lacrosse stick. Loving hockey was just inevitable
Elle: I’m Canadian.
LOL, Elle.
Besides hockey, what other sports do you enjoy watching?
Sarina: Snow sports are really big in Vermont, and watching ski races and snowboard events is really fun. In fact, my son gave me the first line of one of my Gravity books when he was eight years old. He told me that the scariest moment in ski racing isn’t while you’re skiing–it’s when the person in line just before you is racing. Because all that adrenaline has nowhere to go.
Elle: NFL football! I’m a football nut (confession: I love it more than hockey…)
We all loved how you both managed to give Jamie such a cool family and showing some of the difficulties when coming out in professional sports. Any personal inspiration from your family?
Sarina: I come from a tiny family, but I always wanted one like Jamie’s.
Elle: I don’t have a big family, and I’ve always been jealous of those who do. I can’t remember who came up with the idea of Jamie having a million brothers and sisters (I think it might have been Sarina), but I loved the idea from the start, and developing the Canning clan was one of my favorite things about writing this book.
What’s their favorite hockey teams?
Sarina: I follow college hockey, and Yale is my team. One of the fun things about hockey is that small schools can compete at a high level. It’s not a money sport like football.
Elle: Boston Bruins.
What has been most challenging about writing?
Sarina: Finishing things. Just like anything in life.
Elle: Deadlines. Having to force myself to write when I don’t feel inspired is really difficult sometimes, especially when a deadline is looming over my head.
Do you listen to music while writing and if so, what type of music do you listen to?
Sarina: I need silence. Even instrumental music distracts me.
Elle: I write in silence!
Would you consider writing another book together?
Sarina: Heck yeah!
Elle: Abso-frickin-lutely.
I (Michelle) know the answer to this question, but for your readers, when writing “Him” did either of you write Jaime and Ryan’s POV or did you both pick off where the other left off?
Sarina: We both wrote both perspectives, trading after approximately 2000 words. Elle has co-written before, so she knew what to do.
Elle: We wrote both POVS. I think the first scene I wrote was the opening chapter in Wes’s POV, and Sarina did the next chapter with Jamie. Then we switched off so we’d both get a sense of the other character’s thoughts. After that, we would write whoever and stop whenever, and the other one would pick up the torch.
Rapid Fire Questions
Favorite author?
Sarina: I won’t pick. You can’t make me. 🙂
Elle: I can’t pick just one.
Favorite romance book?
Sarina: See above
Elle: Wanderlust by Danielle Steel.
Current read?
Sarina: Jen Frederick’s SACKED.
Elle: Captive by Brighton Walsh
Biggest vice?
Sarina: Caffeine
Elle: Smoking
Favorite musician?
Sarina: Eh, Hozier?
Elle: Too many to name!
Coke or Pepsi?
Sarina: tonic with gin in it.
Elle: Coke
Favorite Actor to play Batman?
Sarina: Um…?
Elle: Keaton, hands down.
Favorite Star Wars character?
Sarina: Chewbacca
Elle: I’m not a Star Wars fan! I guess I’d pick Han Solo because that’s one of the only character names I know.
Thanks ladies!
Sarina Bowen is a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance. She lives in Vermont’s Green Mountains with her family, six chickens and too much ski gear and hockey equipment.
Facebook – Twitter – Goodreads – Website
A New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, Elle Kennedy grew up in the suburbs of Toronto, Ontario, and holds a B.A. in English from York University. From an early age, she knew she wanted to be a writer, and actively began pursuing that dream when she was a teenager.
Elle writes romantic suspense and erotic contemporary romance for various publishers. She loves strong heroines and sexy alpha heroes, and just enough heat and danger to keep things interesting!
Facebook – Twitter – Goodreads – Website
If you haven’t read them already, check out Sarina and Elle’s books:
Book Title: Him
Genre: Sports Romance, M/M
Length: 276 pages
They don’t play for the same team. Or do they?
Jamie Canning has never been able to figure out how he lost his closest friend. Four years ago, his tattooed, wise-cracking, rule-breaking roommate cut him off without an explanation. So what if things got a little weird on the last night of hockey camp the summer they were eighteen? It was just a little drunken foolishness. Nobody died.
Ryan Wesley’s biggest regret is coaxing his very straight friend into a bet that pushed the boundaries of their relationship. Now, with their college teams set to face off at the national championship, he’ll finally get a chance to apologize. But all it takes is one look at his longtime crush, and the ache is stronger than ever.
Jamie has waited a long time for answers, but walks away with only more questions—can one night of sex ruin a friendship? If not, how about six more weeks of it? When Wesley turns up to coach alongside Jamie for one more hot summer at camp, Jamie has a few things to discover about his old friend…and a big one to learn about himself.
Warning: contains sexual situations, skinnydipping, shenanigans in an SUV and proof that coming out to your family on social media is a dicey proposition.
Book Title: The Year We Fell Down (The Ivy Years #1)
Genre: Sports Romance
Length: 268 pages
The sport she loves is out of reach. The boy she loves has someone else.
What now?
She expected to start Harkness College as a varsity ice hockey player. But a serious accident means that Corey Callahan will start school in a wheelchair instead.
Across the hall, in the other handicapped-accessible dorm room, lives the too-delicious-to-be real Adam Hartley, another would-be hockey star with his leg broken in two places. He’s way out of Corey’s league.
Also, he’s taken.
Nevertheless, an unlikely alliance blooms between Corey and Hartley in the “gimp ghetto” of McHerrin Hall. Over tequila, perilously balanced dining hall trays, and video games, the two cope with disappointments that nobody else understands.
They’re just friends, of course, until one night when things fall apart. Or fall together. All Corey knows is that she’s falling. Hard.
But will Hartley set aside his trophy girl to love someone as broken as Corey? If he won’t, she will need to find the courage to make a life for herself at Harkness — one which does not revolve around the sport she can no longer play, or the brown-eyed boy who’s afraid to love her back.
Book Title: The Year We Hid Away (The Ivy Years #2)
Genre: Sports Romance
Length: 274 pages
She’s hiding something big. He’s hiding someone small.
Scarlet Crowley’s life was torn apart the day father was arrested for unspeakable crimes. Now the shock has worn off, but not the horror.
It’s a safe bet that Scarlet is the only first year at Harkness College who had to sneak past TV news trucks parked on her front lawn just to leave town. But college will be Scarlet’s fresh start. Clutching a shiny new student ID — with a newly minted name on it — she leaves it all behind. Even if it means lying to the boy she’s falling for.
Bridger McCaulley is a varsity hockey star known for being a player both on and off the ice. But a sobering family crisis takes that all away. Protecting his sister means a precarious living arrangement and constant deception. The only bright spot in his week is the few stolen hours he spends with Scarlet.
The two form a tentative relationship based on the understanding that some things must always be held back. But when grim developments threaten them both, going it alone just won’t work anymore. And if they can’t learn to trust one another now, the families who let them down will take everything they’ve struggled to keep.
Book Title: Blonde Date (The Ivy Years #2.5)
Genre: Sports Romance
Length: 96 pages
A blind date. A nervous sorority girl. A mean-spirited fraternity prank. What could possibly go wrong?
As a sorority pledge, there are commandments that Katie Vickery must live by. One: thou shalt not show up for the party without a date. Two: the guy shall be an athlete, preferably an upperclassman.
Unfortunately, Katie just broke up with her jerkface football player boyfriend. Even worse, her last encounter with him resulted in utter humiliation. She’d rather hide under the bed than attend a party where he’ll be.
Yet staying home would mean letting him win.
Enjoying herself tonight was out of the question. She could only hope to get through the evening without her blind date noticing that he was spending the evening with a crazy person.
Andrew Baschnagel is living proof that nice guys don’t finish first. He’s had his eye on Katie since the moment her long legs waltzed into his art history class. So when her roommate sets Andy up to be Katie’s date, he’d be crazy to say no. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a lot of practice with either girls or parties. Yet.
BLONDE DATE is a 23,000 word novella covering a four hour span of Katie & Andy’s night. ALSO INCLUDED: a sneak preview of the third novel in the Ivy Years series, THE UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR.
Book Title: The Understatement of the Year (The Ivy Years #3)
Genre: Sports Romance
Length: 300 pages
What happened in high school stayed in high school. Until now.
Five years ago, Michael Graham betrayed the only person who ever really knew him. Since then, he’s made an art of hiding his sexuality from everyone. Including himself.
So it’s a shock when his past strolls right into the Harkness College locker room, sporting a bag of hockey gear and the same slow smile that had always rendered Graham defenseless. For Graham, there is only one possible reaction: total, debilitating panic. With one loose word, the team’s new left wing could destroy Graham’s life as he knows it.
John Rikker is stuck being the new guy. Again. And it’s worse than usual, because the media has latched onto the story of the only “out” player in Division One hockey. As the satellite trucks line the sidewalk outside the rink, his new teammates are not amused.
And one player in particular looks sick every time he enters the room.
Rikker didn’t exactly expect a warm welcome from Graham. But the guy won’t even meet his eyes. From the looks of it, his former… best friend / boyfriend / whatever isn’t doing so well. He drinks too much and can’t focus during practice.
Either the two loneliest guys on the team will self destruct from all the new pressures in their lives, or they can navigate the pain to find a way back to one another. To say that it won’t be easy is the Understatement of the Year.
THIS BOOK IS A STANDALONE. NO CLIFFHANGERS. NO PRIOR EXPERIENCE NECESSARY.
Warning: unlike the other books in this series, this heartbreaking love story is about two guys. Contains sexual situations, dance music, snarky t-shirts and a poker-playing grandmother.
Book Title: The Shameless Hour (The Ivy Years #4)
Genre: Sports Romance
Length: 334 pages
The girl who’s had everyone meets the boy who has no one.
For Bella, the sweet-talking, free-loving, hip-checking student manager of the Harkness men’s hockey team, sex is a second language. She’s used to being fluent where others stutter, and the things people say behind her back don’t (often) bother her. So she can’t understand why her smoking hot downstairs neighbor has so much trouble staying friends after their spontaneous night together. She knows better than to worry about it, but there’s something in those espresso eyes that makes her second guess herself.
Rafe is appalled with himself for losing his virginity in a drunken hookup. His strict Catholic upbringing always emphasized loving thy neighbor—but not with a bottle of wine and a box of condoms. The result is an Ivy League bout of awkwardness. But when Bella is leveled by a little bad luck and a downright sinister fraternity stunt, it’s Rafe who is there to pick up the pieces.
Bella doesn’t want Rafe’s help, and she’s through with men. Too bad the undeniable spark that crackles between the two of them just can’t be extinguished.
Book Title: Coming in from the Cold (Gravity #1)
Genre: Sports Romance
Length: 208 pages
He can’t have her. And he can’t tell anyone why.
Ski racer Dane “Danger” Hollister does not do relationships, though he keeps his reason a secret. The real-life curse he’s inherited from his mother will eventually cost him everything: his place on the Olympic ski team, his endorsement income, and his ability to fly downhill at top speed.
Reluctant country girl Willow Reade meets Dane by accident. Literally. Her skidding truck forces him off the road during a blizzard. Stranded together in his Jeep as night falls, the two loneliest people in Vermont find themselves sharing more than they’d planned. And not just conversation.
Yet neither can guess how their unlikely tryst will threaten Dane’s frightening secret and Willow’s tentative peace with her own choices. Only mutual trust and understanding can end their pain and give them a hard won shot at love.
Book Title: Falling from the Sky (Gravity #2)
Genre: Sports Romance
Length: 266 pages
She’s the woman he doesn’t remember. He’s the man she can’t forget.
Bad boy Hank “Hazardous” Lazarus used to have everything: a gorgeous girlfriend, a career as a freestyle snowboarder and a spot on the US Olympic team. Nine months ago, after a bad crash in the half pipe, he woke up in the hospital, unable to move his legs. Now he’s landed there again, but gravity is not the culprit. With his family pressuring him to try a groundbreaking treatment, Hank self-medicates with too much tequila instead.
Doctor Callie Anders has the courage to restart a patient’s heart with a thousand volts of electricity, yet she’s afraid to risk her own. So she doesn’t confess to her newest patient they they met just before the accident, an encounter that he doesn’t remember. Even as their friendship develops, she won’t admit that she regrets turning down his dinner invitation, or that her heart stutters every time those inked shoulders roll through the door of the therapy department.
With another Vermont winter coming again, Hank needs a hand out from under the avalanche of his disappointments. If only Callie were brave enough to take the job.
This book is a standalone novel, no cliffhangers, no prior experience necessary.
Book Title: Shooting for the Stars (Gravity #3)
Genre: Sports Romance
Length: 258 pages
For one night she had everything.
Pro snowboarder Stella Lazarus has always loved her brother’s best friend. But the one time she tried to show him, she was shot down faster than you can say “competitor disqualified.”
Until one blissful night in Tahoe, when Stella finally gets her man.
Or does she? In the morning, Stella and Bear wake up to horrible news. The sort that sends them racing back to Vermont, and straight into the arms of guilt and family obligations.
For all of Bryan “Bear” Barry’s life, three natural laws held true: his best friend Hank was destined for greatness, Hank’s sister Stella was off-limits, and Bear would always manage to negotiate the rocky paths that life threw his way. In the space of two days, that’s all shattered.
Bear can’t believe he slipped up so badly with Stella. Even if his best friend wasn’t lying broken in a hospital bed, it would still be unforgivable. Determined to do better, he devotes himself to his friend’s recovery, denying himself the very person he loves. And the very thing he needs.
Book Title: The Deal
Genre: Sports Romance
Length: 358 pages
She’s about to make a deal with the college bad boy…
Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns her on. But while she might be confident in every other area of her life, she’s carting around a full set of baggage when it comes to sex and seduction. If she wants to get her crush’s attention, she’ll have to step out of her comfort zone and make him take notice… even if it means tutoring the annoying, childish, cocky captain of the hockey team in exchange for a pretend date.
…and it’s going to be oh so good.
All Garrett Graham has ever wanted is to play professional hockey after graduation, but his plummeting GPA is threatening everything he’s worked so hard for. If helping a sarcastic brunette make another guy jealous will help him secure his position on the team, he’s all for it. But when one unexpected kiss leads to the wildest sex of both their lives, it doesn’t take long for Garrett to realize that pretend isn’t going to cut it. Now he just has to convince Hannah that the man she wants looks a lot like him.
Book Title: The Mistake
Genre: Sports Romance, New Adult
Length: 297 pages
He’s a player in more ways than one…
College junior John Logan can get any girl he wants. For this hockey star, life is a parade of parties and hook-ups, but behind his killer grins and easygoing charm, he hides growing despair about the dead-end road he’ll be forced to walk after graduation. A sexy encounter with freshman Grace Ivers is just the distraction he needs, but when a thoughtless mistake pushes her away, Logan plans to spend his final year proving to her that he’s worth a second chance.
Now he’s going to need to up his game…
After a less than stellar freshman year, Grace is back at Briar University, older, wiser, and so over the arrogant hockey player she nearly handed her V-card to. She’s not a charity case, and she’s not the quiet butterfly she was when they first hooked up. If Logan expects her to roll over and beg like all his other puck bunnies, he can think again. He wants her back? He’ll have to work for it. This time around, she’ll be the one in the driver’s seat…and she plans on driving him wild.
Book Title: Game On Box Set – Body Check
Genre: Sports Romance
Length: 675 pages
Dedication, skill and muscle – there’s nothing sexier than an athlete! Enjoy this hockey-themed romance bundle from Harlequin Blaze, featuring irresistible hockey players who are hot enough to melt the ice! The GAME ON Box Set from Harlequin includes Time Out by New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis, Face Off by USA TODAY bestselling author Nancy Warren, Her Man Advantage by Joanne Rock and Body Check by Elle Kennedy.
Book Title: One Night of Sin (After Hours #1)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 162 pages
A sexy category romance novella from Entangled’s Brazen imprint…
Sometimes it’s good to be bad…
When it comes to sex, good girl Skyler Thompson always plays it safe, choosing stable and sedate over wild and thrilling. She doesn’t do one-night-stands, but one look at sinfully sexy Gage Holt and she’s willing to reconsider. He makes her want to be bad for once in her life, and she’s prepared to take what she wants.
Danger follows former MMA fighter Gage Holt like a shadow. Despite his successes as part owner of Sin, an exclusive nightclub in Boston, Gage can’t risk getting involved with a woman, especially one as sweet as Skyler. Still, he can’t resist a taste—and it’s so damn good he has to see her again.
As addicted as he is to her, Gage knows there’s no future for him and Skyler—not with his past lurking in the dark corners of an MMA cage. But Skylar’s tougher than she looks, and she’s ready to fight for her man.
Book Title: One Night of Scandal (After Hours #2)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 230 pages
A sexy category romance from Entangled’s Brazen imprint…
The wrong man never felt so right…
Ex-fighter Reed Miller has been secretly lusting over his best friend’s girl for months, but he refuses to jeopardize a friendship over a woman—especially one who doesn’t like him all that much. Now that Darcy’s on the market again, it’s even more imperative to stick to his strict hands-off policy. But the sizzling attraction between them is too powerful to ignore, and once he’s had a taste of her…all bets are off.
Darcy Grant is tired of walking the straight and narrow path. She’s on the hunt for passion, and there’s no denying Reed is just the man to give it to her. Although she has no interest in dating a bad boy, and certainly not her ex’s best friend, it’s impossible not to melt beneath Reed’s skillful touch. Now it’s just a matter of setting a few ground rules—and hoping her rule-breaking, sweet-talking bad boy agrees to follow them. But if she lets Reed into her bed, does she stand a chance of keeping him out of her heart?
Book Title: One Night of Trouble (After Hours #3)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 237 pages
A sexy category romance from Entangled’s Brazen imprint…
No More Mr. Nice Guy…
The moment AJ Walsh sees the sexy, tattooed pixie walk up to his bar, it’s lust at first sight. He’s always been labeled the “nice” guy―opening doors, buying flowers, and never, ever having one-night stands. But with this wicked little angel with red lips and unfathomably dark eyes? Oh, yeah. Tonight, “nice” has nothing to do with it…
Brett Conlon is trying to convince her family that she’s put away her reckless wild girl side for good. Nothing―and no one―could be better for her reputation than golden boy AJ Walsh. So they make a deal: if he plays The Good Boyfriend for her family, he can be a very, very bad boy with her. Now their one naughty night is about to turn into a whole lot of trouble.
And there’s A LOT more book from Elle. We suggest you check them out here => http://www.ellekennedy.com/books/
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