HARLEQUIN APRIL RELEASE SPOTLIGHT & Q&A ~ Maisey Yates : TAKE ME COWBOY ~

This sexy rancher is her best friend…but can he be more? Only from New York Timesbestselling author Maisey Yates! 

She's just one of the boys, but with a new business in Copper Ridge, Anna Brown needs to change that. Her brothers bet she can't land a date for a fancy charity event. So Anna turns to her best friend—the hottest bachelor in town—for advice.  

Rancher Chase McCormack wants in on that gala. If Anna takes him, he promises to turn her into a lady. But the makeover reveals what he's long suspected—Anna's irresistible! Is his best friend prepared to be taken—heart, body and soul—by her very own cowboy?

Q&A for Maisey Yates – Take Me, Cowboy

1.          How did you first get started writing romance? I had always fiddled around with writing, but didn't know what I wanted to write until I picked up my first Harlequin Presents. That was when it clicked for me. So really, I started writing romance almost as soon as I started reading it. I fell in love, and that was it.

2.          If you could be any villain from your favorite novel, who would you choose and why? I think I would have to be Narcissa Malfoy, from Harry Potter. Just because she has awesome hair and I have a thing for Lucius. (Well, as played by Jason Isaacs)

3.          Out of all the books you’ve read, which one would you turn into a book to film adaptation, (if it has not been done before)? That's a hard one. I'm going to have to go with Megan Crane's Edge of Obsession. I love the world that she's created in that series, and I would really enjoy a chance to see these dystopian Vikings on screen.

4.          List five adjectives to describe yourself.

Caffeinated. Busy. Creative. Hungry (typically). Bad dancer.  

7.      What’s your favorite place for inspiration? I get inspiration from everywhere. Music, the view, good weather, bad weather. That's the great thing about writing. If you really look around, and listen, inspiration is everywhere.

8.      Do you have one thing that can completely distract you while writing? My virtual social life. I have a few friends that I text way too often. And I can get involved in a conversation and forget that I'm supposed to be on task.

9.      What is your trick to getting over “Writers Block”? Writing through it. That's the only way I know to solve a problem with the book. If I leave it for too long, it becomes easier to stay away from it. I have to face it head on, or avoidance can become an issue.

10.   When it comes to book covers, what inspires you? Pinterest. I put together a board of visual inspiration when I plot my books, and then I usually send that board to the publisher.

11.   While you were writing, did you ever feel as if you were one of the characters? None of my characters are ever me exactly. But, I definitely borrow from real-life experiences and feelings. Particularly various issues and insecurities, though, I usually apply them to situations I've never been in, just to keep it removed.

12.   If you could ask any character in Take Me, Cowboy a question, what would it be? I would ask Anna where she got her great collection of old musicals on Blu-ray.

13.   What are you working on next? Right now I'm working on finishing up edits for Tough Luck Hero, and upcoming book in my Copper Ridge series.

I'm going to share one of my favorite nonalcoholic mixed drinks with you.

The Liliko’i Splash at Disney’s Aulani resort in Oahu is great, and even though I haven’t made it at home (yet) I have some drink making experience and the recipe I’m giving you is based on how I plan to make it when I scrounge up passion fruit syrup somewhere here in Oregon. J  

To start, you need passion fruit syrup, club soda, mint and lime.

Start with about 2 ounces (or more, depending on how sweet you like your drinks!) of the passion fruit syrup.

Add about six mint leaves

Fill the cup a little over halfway with ice

Add club soda, an ounce of lime juice and a wedge of fresh lime.

Now you’re good to go!

MOVIE STAR CAST:

I'm not a big movie star cast person, but I do have to confess that when I came up with the McCormack brothers I named them Chase and Sam for a reason. I have to give a nod to my two new country music crushes, Chase Rice and Sam Hunt.

So, of course Chase is inspired by… Chase.

 For Anna, I went with Mandy Moore, because she has that fresh faced look about her, and Anna is…kind of a fresh-faced female tractor mechanic. J