Gun For Hire
The Maui Heat Series
by J.J. Montgomery
BLURB:
The job should have been easy—patrol a swank beach that serves as a backyard for Maui’s rich, kick out the riffraff, and get a tan in the process. But rent-a-cop Samantha Winters didn’t anticipate a deliciously grumpy cop, Sergeant Grady Roark, who comes down to the beach to bust her chops and instead leaves her breathless…and wondering why the one man who could help her seems determined to thwart her at every turn.
Grady is keeping secrets from Sam that have him walking the line between attraction and duty. But when Sam becomes the target of a shadowy organization, Grady will have to choose between the law and the temptation of a woman who has him breaking every rule he’s ever known.
The job should have been easy, but when the bullets start flying, Sam learns nothing is as easy as it seems when you’re a Gun for Hire. Buy Links: Amazon | The Wild Rose Press
“The sunlight was intense after a half hour in that gloomy space, but I squinted hard and kept moving toward a narrow set of steps down to the parking lot. Grady walked a few paces behind me, and if he heard the crinkle of paper as I moved, he elected not to say anything.
Grady hit the remote to his truck and grabbed for the passenger side door, his hand light on my elbow as he helped me up. Paper crackled as my butt hit the seat and Grady’s eyes narrowed. Without a word, he slammed my door and went around to the driver’s side, climbing up into the cab and stabbing the keys into the ignition.
“So, I—” I hesitated as I shifted in my seat and my movement was accompanied by the distinct sound of cardboard bending.
“No,” Grady muttered, and clicked on the radio. “No talking.”
“But—”
“Shh.” Grady put a finger to his lips, his eyes still on the road. “Any minute you’re going to tell me about the felony crime you just committed. And then I’m going to have to deal with the fact that I was an accessory to a felony crime."
“Umm, yeah.” I reached around to the back of my pants and eased the file folder up from my waistband, working it out slowly so as to not lose anything as Grady headed up the hillside toward his house. As I brought it around to look at it, the red block letters damning me to years of incarceration should I get caught, a muscle ticked in Grady’s jaw.
“You stole classified documents.” He shook his head from side to side.
I looked up at Grady and then down at the mangled file with the red Top Secret heading. I took a corner of the front sheet and ripped across the width of the page, separating the words “Top Secret” from the rest of the paper.
“They’re declassified now.” I crumpled up the classification and shoved it in my pocket.
Grady sighed.
I shrugged and opened the file.”
Interview with the Author:
Is there anything you will never write about?
I can guarantee I’ll never write a Fifty Shades of Grey.
The first time I ever wrote a sex scene, I drank a whole lot of wine and erased
it almost immediately. I’ve gotten a lot better with that, and a lot more
comfortable, but my own tastes run toward more subtlety and less ‘insert part A
into slot B.’ The original version of Gun for Hire was much more ‘rated
R,’ because I was convinced that’s all the marketplace wanted. Ultimately, I
decided that wasn’t me, and thankfully I have a very supportive editor who was
on the same page. I don’t have a problem writing sexy, but I’m never going to
be explicit – and I’m okay with that.
Do you have a favorite quote from your book(s)?
This is probably my favorite exchange from the entire book,
because it says so much about who Sam and Grady are separately and together:
The sunlight was intense after a
half hour in that gloomy space, but I squinted hard and kept moving toward a
narrow set of steps down to the parking lot. Grady walked a few paces behind
me, and if he heard the crinkle of paper as I moved, he elected not to say
anything.
Grady hit the remote to his truck and grabbed for the
passenger side door, his hand light on my elbow as he helped me up. Paper
crackled as my butt hit the seat and Grady’s eyes narrowed. Without a word, he
slammed my door and went around to the driver’s side, climbing up into the cab
and stabbing the keys into the ignition.
“So, I—” I hesitated as I shifted
in my seat and my movement was accompanied by the distinct sound of cardboard
bending.
“No,” Grady muttered, and clicked
on the radio. “No talking.”
“But—”
“Shh.” Grady put a finger to his
lips, his eyes still on the road. “Any minute you’re going to tell me about the
felony crime you just committed. And then I’m going to have to deal with the
fact that I was an accessory to a felony crime. I just want a few more minutes
before you destroy my innocence, okay?”
“Umm, yeah.” I reached around to
the back of my pants and eased the file folder up from my waistband, working it
out slowly so as to not lose anything as Grady headed up the hillside toward
his house. As I brought it around to look at it, the red block letters damning
me to years of incarceration should I get caught, a muscle ticked in Grady’s
jaw.
“You stole classified documents.”
He shook his head from side to side.
I looked up at Grady and then down
at the mangled file with the red Top Secret heading. I took a corner of the
front sheet and ripped across the width of the page, separating the words “Top
Secret” from the rest of the paper.
“They’re declassified now.” I
crumpled up the classification and shoved it in my pocket.
Grady sighed.
I shrugged and opened the file.
Excerpt From: J.J. Montgomery. “Gun for Hire.” iBooks.
What was the hardest part of writing your book(s)?
The first draft is the most daunting part of writing for me.
Some writers say they love the sight of a blank page, but I think they’re
liars. Any writer looking at a blank page who doesn’t feel a moment of panic is
not a writer I can understand. I feel so much better when I have a whole first
draft under my belt and I’m working with a known quantity.
Do you keep a notebook near your for when new ideas pop
into your head?
I do! I keep one in my nightstand drawer and I keep a number
of pens. Sometimes it’s because I write in bed and need to jot something down
so I don’t forget…and sometimes it’s waking up from a dream with some intense
idea in my head for a plot or a character. Every once in while those dream
notes are pretty hilarious to read later. It turns out that when you’re pushing
from sleep into wake you’re not entirely coherent.
For
readers who haven't tried your books yet, how do you think your editor or loyal
readers would describe your books?
It’s
Stephanie Plum meets Hawaii 5-0. Gun for Hire is the book you want to bring to
the beach when all you want to do is escape.
Writer’s block—real or hype?
Writer’s block is the worst thing on earth and God help me,
it is real. After my daughter’s birth, I experienced a horrible case of writer’s
block. I could edit old pieces with the same ability and passion, but there was
something just missing in my head – I didn’t have anything new inside of me. It
was a really difficult moment, definitely at least partially brought on by
post-partum depression. It was challenging on so many levels and seeing that
part of me in the rearview mirror is like being able to finally breathe again.
It was like some essential part of me had died for a few months. When I finally
figured out what was happening to me and sought treatment, it turned everything
around and I got that piece of me back.
Has there been any characters that started off as
supporting characters, but then developed into a more prominent character?
Samantha’s sister, Josephine, was originally intended to be
nothing more than a bit character. When I finished the first draft, I realized
that I hadn’t written a romance novel, I’d written a sister novel. I just fell
in love with Josephine, and her struggles after the loss of her marriage –
starting a business and raising two high-spirited little girls. And, of course,
the battle she faces over her attraction for her ex-husband’s best friend, Kai.
I just started rooting for her and I can’t wait to give her the happily ever
after she deserves.
Who has been the biggest influence in your writing?
My Uncle Dave. He’s a screenwriter – it’s hard to turn on a
T.V. without bumping into something he’s written. And he used to come to when I
was no more than 10 years old and ask for my opinions on his scripts. I cringe
trying to imagine the advice I might have given him, but he must have liked it
because he kept coming back for more! We still talk about writing all the time,
and he’s still the person I turn to when I feel discouraged or when I feel like
I’ve had success.
What has been the defining moment in your career that
made you think “Yes, I am now a writer!”?
I think I haven’t yet had that moment. I’m waiting for it!
But this is a profession that is always teaching you something. And I think if
I ever hit the point where I got comfortable, I’d lose my drive to keep
improving.
How much of your own personality bleeds into your
characters?
So much. I
literally have this fear that I will one day run out of stories because I’ve
only lived so much life! I mean, not that I’ve ever been a cop. Or fought a
drug trafficking ring. But you get the idea.
I would say
most of the conversations that Sam has with her sister, Josie, I’ve had with my
own sister. Some of the best lines in my book are lines my friends or family
have given to me. There is a character in the book who is my Dad – I just find
it so much easier to get into a character’s head when I can base them on
someone I know.
J.J. MONTGOMERY writes romantic suspense novels with a sense of humor. Her heroines are as smart as they are smart mouthed and the men in their lives are just trying to keep up. Gun for Hire is the first book in J.J.’s Maui Heat Series. If you'd like to know more, including info on her newest book, where she gets her ideas, and how it’s possible she can’t use Facebook, please visit her:
Social Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram a
Rafflecopter giveaway
1 comment:
Thank you so much for the great interview with JJ Montgomery :)
Post a Comment