Author Interview & Book Review: Catherine Bybee - Fiance By Friday

Today I'm welcoming the lovely Catherine Bybee to my blog. She's one of my favorite authors, and one I've just discovered over the past year!

Let's give her a warm welcome!

Tell us something that most readers won't know about you.

CB:  I’m an open book! But let me see if I can dig up something for you…

Okay, I believe there are ghosts among us…lost souls that haven’t figured out their dead… or maybe even spirits who don’t wanna leave this world.

What is the first romance you can remember reading?

CB:  Do you have any idea how long ago that was? The first romances I read were from the early Kathleen Woodwiss era of Historical Romance. Shirlee Busbee, who still puts out great novels, and Rebecca Brandywine with the long flowing hair on the back of all her covers. Those would be the authors I picked up first and began my obsession.

How many books are on your to be read pile?

CB:  Sorry, I’m not good with math, and I don’t think I can count that high!

Who is your favorite author?

CB:  Not a fair question. I have many go-to authors, it just depends on the mood I’m in when I pick up a book. Not to mention I have plenty of new authors I wanna try out as well.

Who is your favorite character from one of your books?

CB:  Since we are talking about Fiancé by Friday, I’ll go with this series. I’d love to hang with Eliza, but one of my favorite characters isn’t a main one. I like Dean, the cop. He was a ton of fun to write about.

Tell us a bit about Fiancé By Friday

CB:  One of my reviews said something about the book being similar to The Bodyguard only better. Yeah, it’s kinda like that. Gwen’s a sheltered daughter of a duke who has the hot for her brother’s bodyguard, Neil. Neil is a slightly damaged retired marine who doesn’t think he’s good enough for Gwen…well of course he has it all wrong! Toss in some romantic suspense, hot action…in bed and out… and yeah, that’s Fiancé by Friday.

What is next for you?

CB: In October, I have the third book in my Not Quite Series coming out. Not Quite Enough is dear to me because Monica, the heroine, is an ER nurse…which happens to be my previous occupation. Then there is a forth book in the Bride Series coming in January. I have a lot going on.

Thanks for having me today!

CATHERINE BYBEE

BIO:

New York Times & USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bybee was raised in Washington State, but after graduating high school, she moved to Southern California in hopes of becoming a movie star. After growing bored with waiting tables, she returned to school and became a registered nurse, spending most of her career in urban emergency rooms. She now writes full-time and has penned novels Wife by Wednesday, Married by Monday, and Not Quite Dating. Bybee lives with her husband and two teenage sons in Southern California.  

CONTACT LINKS:

www.catherinebybe.com

catherinebybee@yahoo.com

catherinebybee.blogspot.com

twitter.com/catherinebybee

FIANCE BY FRIDAY

The Weekday Bride Series, Book Three

Montlake Romance, Contemporary

August 13, 2013, First Edition

Paperback & Kindle

GWEN HARRISON:

The beautiful high-born daughter of an English duke came to America to take over her sister-in-law’s matchmaking business. But just because she’s the boss doesn’t mean she can’t fantasize about making her own perfect match with bodyguard Neil MacBain. Will the enigmatic man who haunts her dreams cost her more than she bargained for?

NEIL MACBAIN:

The retired Marine can’t deny the effect blue-blooded Gwen has on his troubled soul or his battle-hardened bodY. Bus as a client, Gwen is off-limits—until a threat from Neil’s past returns… and Gwen is caught in the crossfire. Now to keep her safe he will risk it all: his career, his life… and his heart.

PRAISE FOR FIANCE BY FRIDAY

“The hero and heroine come to life with each flip of the page

 and will linger  long after readers cross the finish line.

 –RT BOOK REVIEWS, TOP PICK, 4 ½ STARS

“Bybee takes an elegant titled lady, a dark emotionally guarded hero, a menacing stalker,

and a cast of distinctive characters mixing it all up into an unusual courtship tale

full of danger an sexual tension.”

–PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“The hottest love on mainstream paper…

Ms. Bybee does not disappoint.”

—TJ MACKAY, IND’TALE MAGAZINE, 5 STARS

BUY LINKS:

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Fiance-Friday-Weekday-Brides-Series/dp/1611099528/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1358488597&sr=1-1

B&N:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fiance-by-friday-catherine-bybee/1114069556?ean=9781611099522&itm=1&usri=fiance+by+friday

BAM:  http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Fiance-Friday/Catherine-Bybee/9781611099522?id=5446257643332

BOOK DEPOSITORY:  http://www.bookdepository.com/Fiance-by-Friday-Catherine-Bybee/9781611099522

EXCERPT

Eliza flagged down a waitress and ordered a martini. “I see not a lot has changed,” she said after the waitress left.

“What do you mean?” Gwen asked.

“We’re sitting in a bar and your giant shadow is lurking in the back of the building.” Eliza tossed a peanut in her mouth.

“My shadow?”

Eliza looked o the right of the bar. “Yeah. The man who acts like you’re a job but can’t seem to leave you alone. If it was anyone other than Neil I’d be afraid he was a stalker.”

Gwen twisted around in her chair. Sure enough, perched at the edge of a seat on the far side of the bar, sat Neil.

“What’s he doing here?”

His eyes found hers for a brief moment before she looked away.

“I think that’s obvious.”

Her back teeth started to grind. “I don’t’ need a babysitter.”

“I don’t know, Gwen. The last time we sat in a bar I remember a certain someone getting drunk and a couple of other someones getting into a fight.”

She’d never live that down. Gwen and Eliza went to blow off steam in a Texas bar. The cowboys ewre full of “yes, ma’am” and “howdy, darlin’.” They danced and carried on…and yes, she drank a little too much. When one of the cowboys mistakenly took her smile as an invitation for intimacy, Neil erupted form the bar to teach the cowboy the meaning of the word no.

It was the first time Neil had defended her honor, and though she hated to admit it, she got a kick out of how ticked off he became when another man looked at her. “That was last year.”

“What’s changed since then?”

Nothing! It didn’t matter how much she flirted with the man, or how obvious she was about her attraction Neil didn’t bite.

“Everything.” Gwen stood, ready to put Neil I his place. “If you’ll both excuse me for a minute.”

She pushed her way through the crowd as if on a collision course with Neil. He kept his lips in a thin line as she approached and gripped the longneck bottle at his side. Slipping between the woman on the stool next to him and Neil’s massive frame, Gwen slapped a hand on her hip and growled. “What are you doing here?”

He blinked, once and picked up his beer. “Having a drink.”

She wanted to scream. “Having a drink,” she repeated.

He tilted the bottle back, took a swig.

“I know what you’re doing, Neil. And I don’t like it. I don’t want or need a bodyguard.”

“That’s debatable.”

If stomping her foot would knock some sense into him, she’d stomp better than a farm girl in a vineyard.

Poking a finger into his chest, she moved closer. “Do you have any idea how difficult it is to have a love life with a tow-hundred-thirty-pound bodybuilder standing in my way?”

A muscle in his jaw tightened. “Two hundred and fifty.”

“Ahhh!” She did scream now.

He lifted his beer again, but before he could take a swig, Gwen grabbed it from his fingers and tilted it back herself.

In a move that would make Eliza and Karen proud, she pushed the empty beer bottle back into his hand and slid between his thighs.

His jaw twitched again.

The strong musky scent that was pure Neil invaded her senses. She dropped one hand to his thigh and left it there. “This is how I see it, Neil. You have two choices. Either back off or step up.”

Gwen squeezed his thigh before vacating his personal space and marching back to the girls. A satisfied smile stretched over her face.

Review: Catherine Bybee is one of my favorite authors. I have to say I really wasn't expecting a book that was more romantic suspense than the usual light airy stories from her Not Quite series.

I'm not usually a fan of that particular genre, but Catherine Bybee really knows how to tell a good story.  Not only do you instantly love the heroine, Gwen and her alpha male hero, Neil, you also love all the supporting characters in the book as well. 

Karen is one character you have to love. I liked her selflessness and her spunk. Even more so, I like the man she marries, even though it isn't one that either party plans to have last. I almost want a story about those two because I just loved them and want to know more about their lives.

But back to the mystery, there's someone out to get Neil and all the guys in his band of Elite Marines.

There were some really tense moments as the story progressed. Everyone should have a guy that wants to protect you that much. Neil was really an alpha male, but not one that was so arrogant that you couldn't imagine a woman falling for him. Neil was really quite lovable.

Gwen was a great combination of English Lady with a touch of American spunk. She doesn't take any BS but she also doesn't do anything that will make the readers question her intelligence.

Catherine writes good suspense that will keep you turning the pages. I was really shocked at who was after the two of them.

As always I look forward to Catherine's next book.

Rating: 5 flowers

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