Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Miss Match by Laurelin McGee *~*~*~*~* Blog Tour, Author Interview & Review



Title: Miss Match
Author: Laurelin McGee
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
On Sale: June 30, 2015
Price: $7.99 USD / $9.99 CAD

ABOUT THE BOOK
Blackballed from her corporate career, Andréa Grayson's luck at finding suitable employment has run out. Until her sister secretly arranges an interview for Andy with  business mogul, Blake Donovan. The job? Find him a wife. It's a despicable position, but she can't turn down the opportunity. It's the only one she has.

Blake Donovan is rich, successful, and too damn busy to find a suitable wife. He knows Andréa Grayson possesses the skills necessary for the task of matchmaker, even though her sass, confidence, and ambition represent everything he doesn't want in a woman. Yet, as they work together the smoldering attraction he feels for her can't be denied.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Laurelin McGee is the pseudonym of Laurelin Paige and Kayti McGee.

Laurelin Paige is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Fixed Trilogy. She's a sucker for a good romance and gets giddy anytime there's kissing, much to the embarrassment of her three daughters.

Kayti McGee is a Kansas City native who now calls Colorado home. When she isn't writing, she's making up recipes to go with her favorite books.

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW
1.     Where do you get your story ideas?  Plot lines?  
For Miss Match, a friend showed us an actual craigslist ad with the premise we used for the book. It blew our minds that someone had the chutzpah to post it, and we wanted to figure out what kind of guy that was- and how to make him likeable. In general, we both like to say, “what if?” a lot, and go from there. We’re also not worried about being super-realistic, so we can take our characters to outlandish places. It gives us more freedom.

2.     Do you base your characters on real people?  If yes, who are your characters based on?  
Not exactly, but it occurred to us much later in writing Miss Match that Kayti and Andy have a lot in common, as do Laurelin and Blake. Sometimes putting your all into a story means literally putting yourself into a story, it turns out.

3.     Do you use your own experiences in the story? 
Not quite as much in this book as in other things we’ve written. But there’s always elements, for example, Laurelin is a big pinball fan in real life.

4.     What is your writing process?  Do you write from an outline or do you shoot from the hip?
There’s a bit of both. When we started writing Miss Match in earnest, we had already sold it on proposal. That means that our publisher had our first three chapters, and a couple-page summary of the rest of the story. So we were all on the same page about what was going to happen plot-wise, but we like to surprise each other too. So certain things that Andy gets up to (no spoilers!) were written off the cuff just to make the other one laugh.

5.     Do you plan to write in another genre other than romcom? 
Definitely! Laurelin’s previously published works like the Fixed series are much more angsty-romance. In December, her foray into romantic suspense comes out, First Touch. Kayti’s working on a solo romcom at current, but has a straight fiction novel outlined for next year. And when we met, we were both writing YA. So basically- we love to read all kinds of books, and write them as well!


I HEART BOOKS REVIEW


Miss Match by Laurelin McGee
Review by Wennie Conedy
Stars: 5

They say it only takes 3 seconds to make a lasting first impression. And if that were true, in 3 seconds. Andrea Dawson pegged Blake Donovan as an ass. That was her first impression. Her second impression? He is a hot looking ass. Ok, that doesn't help does it?
In Miss Match, Blake Donovan is in search of a wife. That's right. Mega-Millionaire and toast of the town, CEO and owner of a successful IT company, and hottie Blake Donovan is looking for a life partner. And in true fashion for an IT entrepreneur, he conducts his search in a most unusual manner. He places an ad on Craig's list for a Personal Concierge, aka Wife Finder.
Enter Andrea Dawson. Down on her luck, Andrea is unemployed, lives with her sister, and no job prospects in sight, she is forced to consider a position with Blake Donovan. She has very little marketable job skills. The only thing she is good at is reading people, or should I call her a profiler. With this skill, she probably is the right person to help Blake find a wife. Or is she?
Blake doesn't make the job easy for her though.
"It was true that he didn't like ambitious women, and those with degrees tended to be. Many educated women also tended to have opinions, and those simply would not stand when his spouse was entertaining business associates. "
When presented with a possible candidate who is an active member of PETA, he vehemently rejects her. Why?
"PETA is for vegans. Vegans, Andrea ... Do you think I plan on dating this woman at salad bars ...?"
See? Ass. Yes?
The interaction between these two just had me in stitches. Especially when Andrea gets serious about finding her boss a wife. There's just a touch of Lucy Ricardo in Andrea as she comes up with all these mad situations to turn her boss from "jerkweed to man" - her words, not mine.
Between diabetic cats, feminists, bobs not boobs (well, that too), PETA advocacy, exotic women, puppies, and shoes, Miss Match will find you either giggling or belting out a guffaw.
I enjoyed reading this cleverly crafted romp between two people whose preconceived notions and biases prevent them from seeing what is right in from of their eyes. They are the perfect match, and Miss Match is a must summer read for me.
** Thank you to St. Martin's Press Publicity for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review




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