*~*Throwback Thursday! Trophy Husband by Lauren Blakely – Character Interview & Giveaway*~*

 

 

I’m resurrecting my Trophy Husband Blog Tour post from three months ago!  Chris and McKenna’s Interview is just too good to let disappear and considering I’m going to be sitting down with Jill, Chris’s sister, on Saturday – I think now is the perfect opportunity to bring back this little gemstone.  Enjoy!

 

Sometimes you can’t help falling in love, even when you try to do the opposite…

Successful fashion blogger McKenna Bell has spent far too long protecting herself after the way her ex-fiancé left her at the altar for a college chick he met the night of his bachelor party. Loving again, trusting again, well, that’s just not in the cards. Especially now that her ex is back in town with his new woman, demanding custody of McKenna’s favorite creature in the whole world–her dog.

No effing way. McKenna’s had enough of him, and she decides to even the score by finding her own hot young thing — a Trophy Husband. Sure, she’s only twenty-seven, but doesn’t that make it even more fun — and infuriating to her ex — to pursue a younger man?

When she declares her intentions on her daily blog, her quest quickly skyrockets in popularity, and that’s when Chris enters the picture, and he’s got all the assets. He’s handsome, successful, and turns her inside out with a kiss to end all kisses, the kind that makes you feel like a shooting star.

But loving again could mean losing again, and it’s so much easier to focus on getting even, isn’t it? Unless, you just can’t help falling in love. Which means McKenna will have to come face to face with what she really wants in life — protecting her heart from hurt, or letting go of her fears of a new beginning.

One click away! You will not regret it! 😉

 And now…without further ado…I give you Chris and McKenna 🙂

I’m giddy to get to my next interview. I literally cannot stop myself from bouncing up and down in my rental car as I drive thru San Francisco headed towards the Marina District. Of course I’m excited to meet Chris…he’s my book boyfriend kryptonite, but seriously. I *heart* McKenna SO much I can hardly stand it. I just want to steal her and take her back to Texas with me – Chris wouldn’t miss her, right?

I walk up to the front door, shaking off my nerves, and ring the doorbell. Mere seconds later the door swings open and there…in all her glory and wearing a super cute jean skirt and ‘the’ black vee-neck “Macbeth” shirt (SO need to get me one of those – I kinda love it too much). She sweeps me into her lovely home, we hug as if we’ve known each other for ages and I fall in love with her even more. As we are making small talk, I hear footsteps coming down the stairs and my knees begin to go weak. I know who that is. Chris magically appears wearing some delicious cargo shorts that hang off his hips just so, leaving my eyes to wander up his fabulous abdomen and chest, covered so graciously by that black Nor-Cal tee-shirt that my imagination remembers so fondly. I grip onto the back of the couch we are standing next to – I will not pass out in front of these two!

Somehow I manage to shake Chris’s hand and we all sit down in the living room. I can’t help but smile because sitting on the coffee table is a Monopoly board game box. Why do I see a challenge being thrown down in our future? 🙂

Lisa: “So shall we start with ladies first?”

McKenna nods in agreement with a bright smile on her face. She has her legs tucked under her body, tightly snuggled against Chris’s side while his strong arm is draped around her holding her close. I heart them!

Lisa: “Okay McKenna, I would never question your taste…but seriously, Dave Dybdahl and Steely Dan Duran? That wasn’t your first clue that these guys might not work out?” 😛

McKenna: “Well, of course I thought Dave’s name was amusing, but ladies — Those eyes, those arms! What was a girl to do? Fine, fine. Let me show you a picture of him so you know that I’m not totally crazy for wanting to take him up on his date offer.”

 

Lisa: “I never said you didn’t have good taste when it comes to what looks good! Lol That name has to go though. Do you wish you had told the girls about Chris sooner?”

McKenna: “I kinda do, yeah. I wanted to say something to Hayden that night when we were hanging out on her couch, and I definitely was tempted to say something to Julia outside the Tiki Bar. They’re awesome and I think they would have understood because Chris is awesome! But then, I guess I had to go through all that crap to figure out what I really wanted.”

Lisa: “True, it was all part of the process, but I felt bad that you didn’t have a girlfriend to talk with about Chris. Alright…you’re about to hate me….*Scenario* – your house is on fire and you have to grab your favorite three outfits…what do you pick? Yes, I am mean and twisted and this is a horrible thing to do to a fashionista…sorry!” 🙂

McKenna: “Why don’t you just rip my heart from my body right now? Stick your hand into my chest like a twisted medicine man and rip it out and make me watch.”

She dramatically flings hand over eyes – I can’t help but giggle…I’ve found my inner drama queen soul mate.

McKenna: “Okay, now that I’ve recovered a tad from your cruel hypothetical scenario, I would definitely grab my hot pink petticoat and my rockabilly black dog-print dress that goes with it, my white cherry pattern dress, and my emerald green satin dress with the black shrug. Now, stop all the fire talk!”

 

Lisa: “I promise, that was my only mean question! Okay, three things you would like to say to Todd (a.k.a the king of douche canoes)….and if you can’t think of anything to say, acts of violence are encouraged lol” 🙂

McKenna: “As you might have noticed, Todd “Douche Canoe” Frank is a horrible listener. I’m pretty sure it’s because of the brain transplant he received in Las Vegas the night of his bachelor party that turned all his gray matter into frog mucus. That’s why I would probably not say anything at all, but would instead enlist Chaucer the cat to help me out. Just picture me as a ninja, crouched down in his yard, the Siamese strapped to my back. I’d jimmy open a window, drop in the cat, and he’d pee on their mattress, then their stove, then in the heating ducts! Then, I’d use my special cat whistle and call Chaucer back out, take him home, and give him that can of tuna.”

 

Lisa: “I love cats and while Chaucer has a distinctive personality…he’s kinda my hero, so I’m down with giving him all kinds of treats! Speaking of…did you ever buy that can of tuna for Chaucer?” 😉

McKenna: “But of course! See douche canoe answer” 🙂

Aaaaaand it’s official, I love McKenna more. If that were possible. Talking with McKenna is like talking to one of my close friends and has helped eased my nerves, because without those calming minutes, I would be a babbling buffoon in front of my ‘nerd addonis.’ Yes…I just called Chris my ‘nerd addonis’, don’t judge me!

Lisa: “So your ‘Mr. Fix It’ skills have come in very handy, especially in regards to McKenna (the camera, the arcade games, etc.) – if you hadn’t been able to volunteer your services to fix her afflicted camera, how else would you have found a way to get her number?’

Chris: “I was considering everything from offering her Halo lessons, to suggesting we go check out this cool shop down the street that has a vintage board game section with the original Candyland. And if neither of those had worked, I would have just asked. I wasn’t going to let her get away.”

He leans forward to whisper in my ear and it takes all the concentration I have in my body not to melt or fall out of my chair as I lean in to hear whatever juicy secret he is willing to tell me.

Chris: “But I did pick up Candyland for her for her birthday. Don’t tell!”

He leans back and winks at me, gracefully avoiding McKenna’s raised eyebrow and questioning stare. Her eyes dart from his face to my equally stunned one. Shit, I don’t know who I love more now! He might be one of the best boyfriends ever – gah! Can I have him?? PLEASE!!! I close my gaping mouth, that has probably been open for about 5 minutes, after his ‘oh so freakin cute revelation,’ shake my head and get back in the game.

Lisa: “First thing you thought of when you saw McKenna – besides she’s hot!”

Chris: “Definitely was hoping she wasn’t buying Modern Warfare for a boyfriend. Then once we were talking, I was thinking about how easily we’d hit it off. And yeah, I couldn’t stop thinking how hot she looked in that waterskiing squirrel tee-shirt she was wearing.”

Lisa: “OMG I love that shirt! Well and honestly, McKenna has great taste, I’m pretty sure every piece of clothing she owns is freaking awesome! So, when McKenna proposed her plan to include you in the ‘Trophy Husband’ contest, what were your first thoughts?”

Chris: “That I was going to win. No question about it. Because I was going to do everything to make sure no one else even stood a chance.”

Lisa: “Well, obviously you knew she was going on dates with other guys, did you ever watch any of the footage? Check to see what subscribers were saying? Or did you pretty much try to avoid it?”

Chris: “Nah. I don’t need to watch that stuff. Sometimes when it comes to games, you need to study the competition, and sometimes you don’t. Besides, I didn’t need to see how other dudes were acting to know the key to this girl was being myself, and most of all, finding a way to let her be herself. I had to knock down her walls, and I wasn’t going to learn to do that from a bunch of other guys fawning all over her and her money since it was never about that with me.”

Lisa: “Do you wish you had taken up McKenna’s offer to give you a ride home from the Tiki Hut?” 😉

Chris: “Yeah. But she wasn’t ready for that, and I wouldn’t have been able to resist, so I had to let her drive away.”

*sigh*

Lisa: “Alright, now I get to have some fun with both of you.”

I say as I rub my hands together. They both have beaming smiles on their faces, I love them even more for continuing to indulge in my silliness.

Lisa: “Five favorite things about the other – can be physical or non-physical” 😉

McKenna: “Hair, eyes, body, his use of proper punctuation in text messages, the fact that I beat him at Monopoly the other night–”

Chris: “That’s only because you stole Boardwalk from me and hid the houses in your bra.”

McKenna: “You didn’t seem to mind taking them out.”

Chris: “True. Wait, you only like me for my hair, eyes, body, grammar and because you play dirty in Monopoly? Then I only like you because you’re beautiful, and I feel like I could talk to you about anything, and because you’re the perfect mix of sweet and sarcastic, and for your totally awesome sense of humor, and your dog.”

McKenna: “Oh. Now there you go. Melting my heart by talking about my dog.”

I am in heaven right now – this back and forth banter is like a drug to my romantic soul and I never want this high to stop!

Lisa: “OMG you two are so cute! Clearly you both have…awesome imaginations – please tell me they’ve been put to good use?” 😉

I have to wink after that one and their smiles are even bigger than they were before – score! Chris turns to McKenna and begins….

Chris: “Well, there was that one time you left me that long note about everything you wanted to do on the trolley, and then I took you up on it the other night and we went for a ride when no one else was around.”

McKenna: “Don’t tell everyone about that, or I’ll have to tell them about all those things you told me you wanted to do to me on that staircase on the curvy section of Lombard Street.”

Chris: “I think everyone on Lombard Street might know about the time we did that. ”

This might be the closest thing ever to Nirvana – I don’t have to leave right? I can sleep on the couch, I’ll figure something out, just don’t make me ever leave them.

Lisa: “Wow, McKenna we might need to talk more afterwards! 😉 If you could go back and change anything…would you? And why?”

McKenna: “No. Because you just have to go through all the stuff to figure out what you really want.”

Chris: “Yeah. I would have kissed her that day she came to the the beach for the camera since I’d been thinking about it ever since I met her.”

Lisa: “Very good point. So, where do you see yourselves in 5 years?”

Together: “Kauai!”

Lisa: “Nice! I’m jealous! Do you have a favorite memory together?”

Chris: “Karaoke, when I wrapped my arms around her as her favorite song was playing, and she knew I was feeling the same way.”

*sigh…again* He’s just so stinkin’ perfect!

Lisa: “Alright, last questions – my favorite part…either/or…Qbert or Guitar Hero?”

McKenna: “Qbert!!”

She and I are both have huge smiles on our faces after that one…while Chris has a smug smirk – little shit, I guess he’s allowed to though!

Lisa: “Good answer – I have to say I agree! Gotta go for the…classics! 😉 Alright, this one is for Chris…for concerts – do you prefer large venues or small and intimate?”

Chris: “Definitely small and intimate. You want to feel like you’re seeing a live show, not watching a Jumbotron.”

Lisa: “Ya’ll both have excellent taste. Ok McKenna, skirts or pants?”

McKenna: “Skirts! I rarely wear pants.”

Chris’s smug smirk comes back…there is a story there, but I’ll let my imagination run off with that one!

Lisa: “Old and Classic or New and Modern?”

McKenna: “Classic for clothes, purses and songs. Modern for appliances!”

Lisa: “Last one…Boyfriend or Husband?”

McKenna: “How about the kind of husband who feels like a boyfriend and all the yumminess of that?”

With that response, Chris leans over and plants a kiss on McKenna’s cheek and she in turn wraps her arms around his neck to give him a proper kiss. Aaaaand I’m back in Nirvana. I’m shaken from my lovey dovey stupor by the door opening as a huge blond fluffy dog comes lumbering thru the house only to come and flop down in front of the couch where Chris and McKenna are seated. I know exactly who this is…Ms. Pac-Man! I reach over and scratch her ears as she looks up at me with big eyes. She really is a GOOD dog! Ms. Pac-Man’s escort walks in right behind her and it’s a good thing I’m seated because it’s the glorious….Lauren Blakely! OMG! Day = Made!

It’s at this point that I realize McKenna has been talking to me for I’m not sure how long, I heard something about dinner in, drinks and Monopoly (Sweet! I was right! We are going to play!), all three of them are looking at me with bright smiles and I just nod my head up and down like a good girl – as long as they want me to stay, my butt is glued to this chair! Chris and McKenna get up and go into the kitchen and I’m a very lucky girl (again!) because while I can capitalize on my alone time with Ms. Blakely…I plan on taking full advantage!

Lisa: “I’m so glad I got to meet you Lauren, I’ve been dying to talk to you about how much I loved Trophy Husband!”

Lauren: “You’re too sweet! I’m so glad you liked it, did you have any questions?”

Lisa: “But of course! First of all – genius concept/idea, I love it – where did you come up with it?”

Lauren: “Thank you! This novel was a case of the title appearing in thin air and demanding a story to go along with it. I love the humor and the turn-the-tables idea of a trophy husband, and since they really are quite rare, the story line naturally had to be about the pursuit of one.”

Lisa: “You make it sound so easy! So, I have to know…how in the world did you write those ‘dream’ scenes, I loved them but they were like TORTURE!!! They were so real, I wanted them to be real, but I knew they weren’t, it was like a mind-fuck!”

Lauren: “Why thank you! The phone sex scenes in Caught Up In Us were good training for the “imagined” scenes in Trophy Husband. From a writer’s perspective, they’re not that different to write – “real” sex scenes versus “dream” ones. At the end of the day, they’re all imagined, so they key is just to capture the characters’ emotions and then in turn make the reader feel.”

Lisa: “Mission accomplished…there were feelings on my part…clearly! Lol I loved each and every character in this book – did you have any inspiration? Especially for McKenna and Chris.”

Lauren: “Thank you! The characters closest to real life are likely the pets. Ms. Pac-Man is based on my first dog, and Chaucer is based on a Siamese cat I had who – you guessed it – liked to pee on electronics! The original inspiration for Chris was drawn from a gaming expert I once interviewed, who had such a natural ease and charm and laid-back coolness to him, and that was the start of Chris. McKenna comes from a lot of strong but vulnerable women I have known in my life, but her love of clothes and her girl-girly nature is pretty close to me.” 🙂

Lisa: “Awesome…so I have to ask, will Julia get a story?”

Lauren: “Perhaps! If enough readers want to know her story I’ll tell it. I’m currently writing Playing With My Heart (hoping for a late summer release for that), and Chris’ sister is the main character.”

I internally squee so loud, I almost wonder if Lauren heard me, but I’m sure she can tell from the goofy ass grin on my face that I am SUPER excited with what she just told me.

Lisa: “Do you have a favorite scene that you wrote in this book? Or a scene that almost kicked your ass?”

Lauren: “The first scene almost kicked my ass! I kid you not – the day I was supposed to send it to Kristen Proby (who included the first chapter in her book Rock With Me), I received a note from a critique partner saying the opening scene needed work. So I stopped everything and rewrote that diner scene for the tenth time!

My favorite scene is a toss-up between her date with Dave Dybdahl and the scene where she meets up with Chris at the beach and says “thanks for being a surfer,” and then he says “Or maybe the cat will pee on your iPod. If I’m lucky.””

Lisa: “Wow…”

I really have nothing else left to say, I’m in a book girl stupor – I feel like I’ve been given a glimpse into something awesome – cause let’s face it, books that we love and the authors that write the books that we love are BEYOND awesome. It’s a good thing I’m saved by Chris and McKenna coming back in with a tray of drinks. They ordered pizza and we bust out the Monopoly board game and proceed to spend way too many hours acting way younger than we are. But the real guns don’t come out until McKenna busts out ‘Halo.’ Needless to say with as much alcohol as we put away combined with Chris getting his butt kicked by a bunch of girls…I did get to sleep on the couch. I made my way back home…eventually, with the promise of another game night in the future. 🙂

 

Trophy Husband by Lauren Blakely

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

4.5 “Diet Coke” “Qbert” “Trying to Prove a Point” “I can’t help falling in love with you” Kisses

I love loving books…I love it so much when I can’t put a book down, or when I have to put a book down, it’s the worst, most painful, complete and utter torture. I love it when I smack myself in the face with my kindle because I literally can’t keep my eyes open any more but I can’t fathom the thought of putting down the book that I’m reading. That’s what Trophy Husband did to me. And once again…my little quest for the perfect words to sum up my kisses left my stumped and stuck again…so I refuse to choose and that’s just how it is. What can I say, I’m a rebel who breaks her own rules.

McKenna Bell…where do I begin. First of all, I loved her. To bits and pieces and back again. Couldn’t get enough of her. She’s spunky, she’s beautiful, she’s got a mind of her own, she has great taste (in many ways!), she’s a little firecracker…and I kinda wanna be her best friend. I know I say that a lot, but McKenna is definitely a girl crush for me. I can’t lie – there were moments I wanted to strangle her a little bit…a teeny tiny bit…but we all have those moments with even our best of friends…so she pulls it off nicely.

‘…but yet as The King sings about falling in love, I can’t deny that there’s a part of me that a wouldn’t mind falling in love again.
The kind where you can’t help it.
The kind that takes your breath away.
The kind that’s meant to be.
I know, I know. It’s like asking for the moon, so I’ll stop my silly daydreaming.
But, hey, at least right now I have a coveted parking spot.’

McKenna was a doll and even when she had been through something as horrible as loosing her fiancé right before her wedding to a younger, more attractive woman, she still found a way to brush herself off and move on with her life. Until she runs into them again. And the ‘newer model’ has the dream life McKenna should have had. *Cue Violins* My heart really broke for this girl – nothing about that entire situation doesn’t suck. 🙁

‘Elvis, and dreams of these foolish things. Things like love, and trust, and hope. Things like faith in another person. My heart winces for a moment, and a rebel tear forms.’

So what does McKenna do? Come up with an ingenious plan! Seriously though, the ‘Trophy Husband’ idea…who doesn’t think that’s not the most brilliant thing ever? Exactly! Cause it is…and not only is it brilliant…It’s simple. Three golden rules:
1.) Must be younger
2.) Needs to be hot
3.) Perfect body – not an ounce of fat
So what happens when the perfect candidate fits all but three of those criteria? Hmmm…that’s where the fun starts.

‘Is that so much to ask for? Love, and a talented mouth?’

Chris McCormick is my kryptonite. I can have tall, dark and handsome all day every day in my book boyfriends but guys like Chris melt me to my core. He gorgeous (of course)…he’s a sweetheart (of course!)…and the icing on the already delicious cake…he’s a nerd. DONE! I’m done…callin it quits. Give me a hot computer geek any day of the week…call me crazy but They. Do. It. For. Me. Oh yeah, he’s got other amazingly hot and wonderful traits too…like he surfs, fixes stuff and builds shit, so he’s manly on top of nerdy which makes him like a quadruple threat. I swooned into a big steamy puddle over Chris. He’s just fab-u-liciousness and I want him…now!

‘We make contact, and I’m not going to lie – there’s something about the feel of his strong hand in mine that just seems… right. Maybe it’s the firm grip, or his soft skin, or the way his eyes light up as he smiles while shaking my hand. I don’t want to let go. I want to go all black-and-white movie and have a simmering moment where his eyes smolder and, like magnets, we can’t resist. He pulls me in, dips me, and plants a devastating kiss on my lips. The kind of kiss that can ruin a girl for any other kisses for the rest of her life.’

So as much as I loved McKenna and Chris, I gotta be honest – I swooned over McKenna and Chris together more. The two of them together were…special. Like butterflies in my tummy, warm lovey feelings, mixed with holy shit they’re freakin smoking hot together. They had a great balance, I loved their banter and you just really felt their connection. Lauren is very very talented in that she knows how to write a scene that really makes my dirty book whore soul happy….but sweet lord and heaven above – I’ve never been so turned on over a few paragraphs about a dance. I mean CLEARLY I am not dancing correctly…

‘The slightest bit of contact with him turns me inside out. I’m not used to this feeling. I don’t know what to do with this feeling. It doesn’t fit in my life. It fits in a song, and I don’t know how to make it fit for me.’

There was a moment during reading that I though… ‘If she has one more imaginary anything and doesn’t make it a reality, I WILL crawl thru this book and smack her around’ – it was a little close to torture, but that’s also part of the reason why I read romance novels, to be tortured. Plus…I did enjoy them, so I can’t be mad. The secondary characters were pretty amazing too. Julia (McKenna’s sister), Hayden (best friend and next door neighbor) and Erin (other best friend) were a blast to read. All very likeable characters and once again, balanced McKenna very well. Even Dave Dybdahl, Steely Dan Duran and the other trophy husband candidates, while minor, were very…entertaining 🙂

‘It feels like he could turn me around, place his hands on my cheeks, and pull me in for a kiss. The kind that makes the world fall away. That leaves you powerless to resist, helpless to do anything but be consumed with an endless kiss. Nothing else matters, and the kiss is all there is, all there was, all there will ever be.’

I could gush about this book all day long, it kept a smile on my face and all sorts of happiness flowing thru me from beginning to end. Plus, she used the word verboten – don’t ask me why I love this word so much, but I do. I’m officially hooked on Miss. Blakely and all of her greatness, especially if this is what I can come to expect. And I’m super excited for Chris’s sisters story and hopefully for Julia’s story in the future! 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 
View all my reviews

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Lauren Blakely is an unabashed fan of clever jokes, toast, and good guys in novels. Like the heroine in CAUGHT UP IN US, she thinks life should be filled with movie kisses and coffee drinks. Lauren lives in California with her husband and children, and spends her days writing both true stories and make-believe ones.