Saturday, June 16, 2007

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Stacy Dawn lives in a small town in Southern Ontario, Canada with her husband and two sons--all sports addicts. She writes to keep her sanity and her feminine side from being buried beneath all the testosterone.

Visit her website at www.stacydawn.com/
Blog: http://stacydawn.blogspot.com


ABOUT THE BOOK:

BLURB:

The Golden Rule of Friendship: Do not covet thy best friend’s fiancée.

An easy rule for Shane Gallagher to obey when he first meets Eden , as staid and business-minded as his friend she was about to marry. But when she starts blossoming before his eyes, can Shane stay away from the forbidden fruit?


EXCERPT:

“You don’t have to do this.”

“You’re starting to sound like a broken record there, Gallagher.”

Shane didn’t care. He held firm to Eden’s arm, balancing her as they made their way to the homemade ice rink in the backyard.

“I’ll be fine. Honest.”

Even though a grin sparkled in her eyes, Eden’s earlier trepidation when he mentioned skating at Rockefeller Center concerned him. Added to the fact she wore an old pair of men’s hockey skates instead of a better fitting lady’s skate, he planned to stick close—very close. How would he explain returning a bruised and battered fiancée back to Brad?

The bruised and battered part wasn’t pleasant—neither was the returning part. Not a thought he was willing to dwell on at the moment, especially when he had more important things to take care of.

Shane stepped onto the ice first. There wasn’t a winter day in his childhood memories and beyond that didn’t have half the neighborhood out here skating at the homemade ‘Gallagher rink’. All his siblings, sisters included, grew up in various hockey leagues.

Holding her securely, he stepped over the short rim. “Okay, watch your step here. Hold onto my arm and...whoa!”

He grabbed for Eden as one of her skates slid out from under her. Keeping his own balance was a chore as they danced a farcical pirouette. Her laughter bounced off the glass surface, crashing like a body check into his chest. He ended up on his back with Eden clasped atop his chest, her infectious giggles fanning his chin.

“Sorry. I caught my toe on the rim.”

Her gaze sparkled down at him. The tip of her tongue darted out to wet rose-colored lips as her breath warmed his face.

Cold seeping into his back brought him back to reality. The reality that she was a taken woman. Taken by his best friend.

For the only time he could remember, Shane was honestly jealous of Brad.

This was a bad idea.

Carefully, he disentangled himself and got them to their feet. “Look, we should go back inside.” Where he could put a table or, better yet, a whole room between them for safety. His or hers, he couldn’t be sure.

“No, please. I’ve got it now, see.”

She let go of his arm and stood alone. He kept his hands at the ready even though her balance seemed much better. In fact, she looked remarkably relaxed.

Eden’s gaze danced to the others practicing their slap shots. “Do you have a stick I could use?”

“Whoa there, Gretsky,” Shane chuckled. “Let’s get you skating first before you try your hand at a stick.”

“What? You mean like this?”

He grasped at empty air when she suddenly pushed away to slide smoothly backwards. A mischievous glitter twinkled up to him as she swayed her hips, propelling herself faster. Before he could say her name, Eden skidded to a stop and returned to him all in one fluid movement, ending with a small spray of ice shavings over his own skates.

Why that little...

Crossing his arms over his chest, he narrowed his gaze. “I thought you said you can’t skate?”

“Can’t skate? Can’t skate? Nope, I don’t recall actually saying those words,” she mimicked. Eden zipped around him in a circle, her laughter trailing after her like fairy dust. “I believe what I said was ‘it’d been a while’. Years in fact. Guess it is like riding a bike after all, huh?”

When she stopped, Shane took his turn, unable to stop himself from assessing the snug jeans under the ski-bunny attire as he slowly circled her. “What other tricks do you have up your sleeve, Ms. Rossi?”

“Wouldn’t be much fun if I told you all my secrets, now would it?”

He slid off to the far side and retrieved two hockey sticks. “All right, Red. Let’s see what you got.”


INTERVIEW:

1. Why did you become a writer? Was it a dream of yours since you were younger or did the desire to write happen later in your life?
Since I was young. I started making up stories to help me fall asleep at night and just continued from there by writing them down. I started pursuing a writing career about ten years ago, faithfully for the last four years.

2. What do you love about being an author? Is there anything you dislike?
Stationary LOL. I love paper, pens, notebooks, anything stationary LOL. I also love the creation process--the who is she/he and what will happen next parts.

I don't like blank pages staring at me, which unfortunately happens sometimes.

3. How do you balance your personal and writing time?
Balance, now there's an elusive word. Family comes first, always has, always will. I do my best to fit my writing around the family activities. Luckily, I started the kids getting used to my writing time since they were still in the crib. They are really good to give me an hour or two if I need it then we do something special for them.

4. How do you write? Do your characters come to you first or the plot or the world of the story?
Actually, more often than not, a title or single line comes first and everything expands around that. Usually characters then plot.

5. What genre(s) do you write? Why do you write the stories that you write?
I cross between contemporary and paranormal, from cowboys to business women...all depends on the story wanting to be told. I love to explore new situations, which is why I write the way I do--that and because I love to laugh so the majority of my stories are humorous.

6. Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?
Most main characters are from my imagination but I find the people they don't like whether the evil co-worker or villian are based on people who may have ticked me off in the past LOL

7. Out of all the characters that you've written, who is your favorite and why?
This is actually a hard question because there's a little ity bity part of me in every heroine and if I didn't fall in love with my heroes, how could I expect others too. Eden and Shane are a good example. He's the laid back, easy smile type with a great sense of humor and Eden's the one on the cynical side. I love Shane and Eden's insecurity with this new lifestyle is very relatable.

8. What would you want readers to take away from your books?
A smile. If they leave my books feeling good and maybe a chuckle added in then I'm extatic!

9. Do you have any advice for beginning writers in regards to writing a book?
Write. Plain and simple. If you don't write it then it can't be published. And while you're writing, learn--learn the craft, study the business. The more you know, the better chance you have--after you just write LOL

10. What are you reading right now?
I just finished a couple Jennifer Crusie Books: Don't Look Down and Bet Me...now she's funny!

I also find what I read affects what I write. For instance, if I'm reading a lot of romantic comedy then my stories will be humorous. If I'm reading a lot of paranormal then my new ideas will be paranormal based. I recently picked up from the library what looked to be a great paranormal but had to put it back because I need to finish this contemporary Christmas story and knew that if I read it, I'd want to start a new paranormal story LOL

11. If you could be anyone or anything that you wanted, who or what would you be?
To be honest, for the most part, I like who I am and what I'm doing. I wouldn't mind being thinner and having a few NY Best Sellers....but I'm working on both of those LOL!

REVIEWS

From The Road to Romance:
Shane Gallagher meets Eden Rossi when the latter visits the Big Apple to marry Shane’s best friend, Brad, over Valentine’s Day. Filled with myriad references to forbidden fruit “The Apple of His Eye” is a lighthearted romp across the city of New York.

Eden gets to know the City and Shane, who is as different from her fiancé, his best friend, as “apples from oranges” and realizes a different person waiting to get out and live life without fear of betrayal or hurt.

Stacy Dawn has dealt with a dicey subject of love blossoming between a guy and his best friend’s girl in perhaps the best way possible. This makes for a sweet romance in what is potentially a bitter situation. The Gallagher clan and Eden’s best friend’s (marriage witness) Leah all end up having to deal with the situation.

“The Apple of His Eye” is a fun read and its even more fun to pick out all the “apple” references throughout this short and sweet story. So people go ahead get your copy and enjoy!
Reviewed by Raakhee Suryaprakash for The Road to Romance

4 Lips from Two Lips Reviews!
Shane is shocked by his best friend Brad’s marriage plans. Brad plans to marry business woman Eden. Their marriage is for purely practical reasons. There is no love of passion between Brad and Eden.
Shane agrees to show Eden around before the wedding while Brad is called to work. Shane quickly sees through Eden’s business persona to the woman underneath and it isn’t long before he begins to yearn to make her his. But, best friends don’t steal their best friend’s girl. Even if she is the love of his life.
I truly enjoyed The Apple of His Eye by Stacy Dawn. Shane tries his best to show Eden how great marriage can be when entering into it for the right reasons. The book really flows well. Stacy Dawn shows true talent for constructing a fast paced passionate novel. Her characters feel like real people and I liked them all. Stacy Dawn is an author to watch!
Written by Tara Renee, Two Lips Reviews



The Apple of His Eye by Stacy Dawn
Genre: Holiday/Romance
Heat Index: Mainstream/Sweet
$3.99 from Forbidden Publications


Purchase The Apple of His Eye by Stacy Dawn HERE!!