Today we are happy to introduce you to newcomer romance author Christy McKellen, whose debut novel Her New Worst Enemy just got released! So join me as I got to ask Christy a couple of questions about the book, its characters and the things (and locations! ;-)) that inspired it. And if you answer Christy’s question you could even win a copy of Her New Worst Enemy! 😉

Stella: Hi Christy, welcome to Book Lovers Inc! Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?

Christy: Hi Stella, thanks so much for having me here today.

My debut Her New Worst Enemy was released on 7th January this year by Crimson Romance, which makes me a brand spanking new author! I gave up my career as a Video and Radio Producer seven years ago to raise my children and I’ve been working towards writing for publication for the last few years. I live in Bristol in the South West of England, which I adore. It’s such a vibrant, cosmopolitan city. The people here really MAKE things happen and I love being surrounded by such positivity. Being published has been a dream of mine for a long time, so I’m delighted it’s finally happened.

Stella: Are you a planner or pantser? Can you tell us a bit about your writing process? How did your novel come to life?

Christy: I’m a plantster. I need to have a general framework for the story to begin with, but I let my imagination run wild once I’m writing it. I find I have my best ideas when I’m freestyling, but I need a strong initial concept to fire that spark to begin writing in the first place. I like to jot down as much as I can about my characters before I begin, but inevitably I find out much more about them as they deal with the situations I put them in. I don’t always write in sequence either. If a chapter isn’t working for me, or I have (what I think is) a brilliant idea about something happening later in the book, I skip ahead. It’s a chaotic way of writing, but it works for me!

Stella: What do you think is the difference between a reader and a real Book Lover?

Christy: My daughter is a real Book Lover – she’d have a book permanently in her hand if she could. I’ve seen her walking down a flight of stairs still reading (which I had to discourage for safety reasons) and she complains when she finishes all her books and doesn’t have something new to read. I think a reader is probably a person who enjoys reading, but a Book Lover is someone who feels like there’s something missing if they don’t have a book in their hand.

Stella: Your debut novel, Her New Worst Enemy was released on 7 January 2013, congratulations! Could you tell our readers what they can expect of this story?

Carey Mulligan as Ellie

Christy: It’s a fun, sexy read, with a serious undertone. The heroine, Ellie, has suffered emotional abuse in a previous relationship and she’s at a low ebb when we first meet her. Fortunately for her, Gideon is exactly what she needs to pull herself out of her slump and start living again. Here’s a bit of a teaser for you…

Gideon marched around to the other side of the table and grasped her hand, moving away quickly and pulling her with him. He practically dragged her out of the kitchen into the hallway and led her up the stairs.

“Where are we going?” Ellie managed to gasp as she hurried to keep up with him. His words had caused a chain-reaction through her system that sent her blood pounding through every artery and vein at double its normal speed. She felt alive with promise and unutterable excitement.

What was he going to do to her?

The mere question thrilled her.

Stella: Could you introduce the hero and heroine of Her New Worst Enemy to us?

Christy:

Gideon DeLancy

Aiden Turner as Gideon

6’ 3”
Athletic build
Green eyes
Black hair
Total sex-god playboy

Ellie Holdsworthy
5’ 8”
Voluptuous build
Blue eyes
Long, curly blond hair
Fun-loving ditz with a heart of gold

A quick glance at the two of them together:

“How many bedrooms did you say you have here?”
“Twelve.”
“Wow.” Ellie stood in the impressive entrance hall, her gaze following the grand sweep of the staircase to the magnificent stained glass windows above them. “What are you going to use them all for? Sleep in a different one every month of the year?” She ran her hands over the highly polished wooden banister; it felt beautifully sleek under her fingers.
“Trust you to think of something as loopy as that.” He grinned over at her. “You’d do that if you had the chance.”
“Of course.” She grinned back at him and looked away quickly as the idea of christening each of the rooms with him flitted through her mind.

Stella: If Her New Worst Enemy was made into a movie, who would be your dream cast?

Christy: If I could choose anyone, I’d love Carey Mulligan to play Ellie – I think she could pull off her kookiness and I’d have Aiden Turner (Kili in the Hobbit) playing Gideon. He’s all handsome angles and smouldering eyes 🙂

Stella: How did the idea for the story come to you? Any specific moment/event that sparked the inspiration for it that you could share with us?

Christy: A friend of mine went through a tough time a while ago after getting stuck in a relationship with a controlling, cruel boyfriend. I’m totally in awe of how she picked herself up, dusted herself off and started again. She was the inspiration for Ellie and her situation at the beginning of the book. The rest is the product of my rather vivid imagination 😉

Stella: Now can you tell us 3 reasons why people should read Her New Worst Enemy?

Christy:

1) It’s a sexy, racy read that will titillate your senses
2) It’ll keep you entertained and out of mischief for a good few hours
3) You’ll come away at the end with a sense that all is well with the world 🙂

Stella: Could you please summarize Her New Worst Enemy for us Twitter-style (in 140 characters or less)?

Christy: Down-on-her luck Ellie needs sexy playboy Gideon’s help to save her friend – but will their impromptu sex-fest have unexpected repercussions?

Stella: Can you tell us any behind the scenes secret about the novel (either related to the writing process or how a character/scene turned out way different than it was originally intended to, if any character was based on real life acquaintances, etc.)?

Christy: I wrote quite a bit of the story whilst I was holidaying in Tuscany, Italy. I can’t think of a more inspiring place for writing about sexy love. There’s something about writing in the sunshine that helps the words flow – maybe it’s the injection of vitamin D (or it could have something to do with the rather gorgeous Italian men.)

Vineyard in Tuscany – Source: Tango7174

Stella: What is next on your schedule? Any future plans you’d like to share with us?

Christy: I have three other stories on the go at the moment, but the next one to be finished is about a workaholic and a wanderer stuck together in the South of France – sparks will fly!

Stella: Oh I bet that’s another very inspiring and romantic location! 😉 Could you share with us something, a trivia that not many people know about you?

Christy: I was born with clicky hips so I was double jointed when I was young. I’ve stiffened up a lot now though, so I can’t contort quite as much as I used to sadly 🙂

Thanks so much for having me here today, it’s been fun!

For a chance to win an e-copy of Her New Worst Enemy, let me know your favourite way to reward yourself after a tough day.

Formerly a Video and Radio Producer, Christy now spends her time as either a slave to her children or her muse. When she’s not writing spicy romance, she can be found stomping around the South West of England, glomming her to-be-read pile or escaping from real life with her rather delicious husband.

Christy loves to hear from readers. You can contact her at

her website – Twitter – Facebook – Goodreads

Her New Worst Enemy by Christy McKellen

Six months ago Ellie Holdsworthy’s life was all planned out – kids, wedding, happy ever after – until her boyfriend dumped her for another woman. Now her best friend, Penny – an heiress to a small fortune – looks set to run off with a gold-digger, and Ellie is determined to save her from certain doom . Unfortunately, the only person who can help is the one person she’d rather not ask…

Little does Ellie know, persuading her brother’s best friend – commitment phobic, playboy businessman, Gideon DeLancy – to hold an intervention at his beautiful Georgian manor would be the easy part. Keeping her hands off him is a whole other matter.

Gideon doesn’t intend to fall for his friend’s snarky sister, and he sure as hell doesn’t expect their weekend to develop into a full-on sex-fest. When passion takes a strangle-hold, their differences don’t seem to matter. After all, a torrid weekend affair should be the easiest thing in the world to walk away from, so why are they finding it so difficult…?

Buy at Amazon US – Amazon UK – iTunes – B&N

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~*~*Giveaway*~*~

Christy has generously offered an ebook copy of Her New Worst Enemy to a lucky commenter !

All you have to do is tell us: what is your favourite way to reward yourself after a tough day?
(You can read our full giveaway policy here)

Please be sure to include a valid email address in the comment form (need not be in the actual body of the comment).

This giveaway is open to all!

Giveaway ends on Saturday, 26 January 2013; we will announce the winner on Sunday.

Good luck!

About Stella

Stella is a proud bookaholic and a self-taught multilinguist in training. Besides reading, her other great passions are travelling and baking. When she is not globetrotting she lives in sunny Budapest, where she loves to spend her free time preparing (and feasting on) delicious cookies or devouring equally yummy books. Her favourite genres are urban fantasy and romance and she couldn't live without her daily dose of sunshine. Besides being the Latin Lover on BLI Stella also blogs about books and a bookish life on Ex Libris.

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