Blitz Tour: Tamed by the Outlaw by Michelle Sharp (Guest Post, Excerpt, Review, Giveaway and Buy Links)
Tamed by the Outlaw
What Happens in Vegas Continuity
Book Six
114 Pages
Release Date: 08/17/2015
Publisher: Entangled Publishing | Imprint: Lovestruck
Genre: Romance | Contemporary Romance | Series Romance
Series: What Happens in Vegas
He’s taking on the bad girl of romance…
Author Jessie Jameson is the Bad Girl of romance, making a huge name for herself writing love stories with sizzling hot sex scenes. No one needs to know that her real-life inspiration is sexy publishing exec Grayson Reynolds. Or that after the hottest sex of her life, Grayson walked out on her.
Grayson’s finally taken the reins of his family’s publishing business, and he’s determined to sell off the romance division. But Jessie Jameson’s contract is complicating things. It’s like she’s been trying to ruin him ever since the mind-blowing night they shared-the night she walked out on him.
Now the sparks are flying. Heated, sexy sparks. It’s a Wild West showdown between Jessie and Grayson. But when Romance ends up in bed with Business, only one can walk away…
Keep reading to find out what Michelle Sharp’s favorite thing about reading and writing romance is and to read a brief excerpt from Tamed By The Outlaw, more about the author herself, as well my review and rating of the book, plus giveaway and buy links.
What is your favorite thing about reading and writing romance?
By Michelle Sharp
Hmm. I think my love of romance has been evolving since I was young. Even as a teenager, very few things in life would make me happier than being swept up into a great love story. So obviously before I started writing books, I was an avid romance reader. I suppose most writers probably start out as voracious readers. I’ve always been especially drawn to romantic suspense. When you add the element of danger, things heat up that much more.
So often I would read a novel and think, “Wow, wouldn’t it have been awesome if this had happened.” Or maybe, “I want to know how the hero would react if that had happened.” So I’d kind of rework favorite scenes in my head.
Soon the obsession evolved more. I had a ton of ideas for books of my own. I’d be driving down the road or in the shower and think, wouldn’t it cool if there was a book featuring this kind of character. And she’d meet this guy, and he’d be that kind of character. Eventually my vivid imagination and my journalism degree just sort of naturally evolved into a passion for writing.
Unfortunately, unless you’re very gifted or very lucky, most people don’t sit down at a key board and hack out a worthy novel the first time around. I don’t want to make it sound easy-breezy, like I had all these ideas, and voila, a novel appeared. It so did NOT happen that way. It took several years of writing classes, workshops, and contests before I had something I’d dare to release to the public. Even now, with two books published and two more releasing in the next couple months, I’m still taking classes, diving into workshops, and trying to hone the obsession into something that will bring an audience pleasure.
So to answer the original question, I didn’t think anything could get better than reading a great romance, but I was wrong. Writing romance is pretty freaking fun, too. Maybe because of the power an author has. What other line of work do you get to invent a world and control what everyone does, where they live, all their thoughts? I don’t know if I have a very favorite thing about writing romance. But I can say a new fantasy comes to life with every “the end” I write—and that just never gets old.
Award-winning author, Michelle Sharp, has been nominated for a 2014 National Readers Choice Award for Best Romantic Suspense and Best First Book. In addition, her debut novel Dream Huntress has been selected as a finalist in the 2015 Daphne Du Maurier award for Excellence in Mystery and Suspense. Although she has a degree in Journalism from Southern Illinois University, she finds weaving tales of danger, deception, and love much preferable to reporting the cold, hard facts.
As most authors probably are, she is an avid reader. Growing up in St. Louis has made her a die-hard Cardinals fan, and having a child with Down Syndrome has made her passionate about any issue regarding special needs kiddos. She’s also a fairly big sucker when it comes to anything with fur or feathers. Michelle is a proud member of Romance Writers of America and Missouri Romance Writers. You can learn more about her at michelleshapbooks.com.
From Tamed by the Outlaw by Michelle Sharp:
Slipping back into her jacket, she yanked her hair out from under her collar. As it fell back around her face, she looked up, straight into the eyes of Grayson Reynolds—CEO of Reynolds & Reynolds Publishing, sex god, and ass-hat extraordinaire.
Standing just a few tiny inches from Mr. Large-And-In-Charge made an uncomfortable heat radiate from her face again. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Ass-hat lifted an amused brow, but his gaze never faltered from her chest. “Interesting choice of shirts.”
She tugged her jacket closed.
Lila lunged between them like an Olympic long-jumper. “Mr. Reynolds. I—uh—I apologize. Jessie doesn’t visit the corporate offices much. She obviously has you confused with someone else.”
Nope.
Jessie knew exactly who the ivy-league prick was, despite the fact he’d given her a false name to get her into bed a year ago.
When she’d slept with him, she had no idea he was the Reynolds heir in line to be CEO of her publishing house. Absolutely no idea he’d be the one signing her paychecks. And she certainly hadn’t known he was a cold-blooded snake, cruel enough to make love to a woman and then sneak out as if he were a thief in the night.
But she sure as hell knew it now.
*Arc provided by Publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review *
First Impression: Well-written, with a modern-age heroine romance readers can empathize and root for.
Jessica Jameson, a.k.a. Jessie James, is the outlaw of the publishing world. She has a number one New York Times bestselling book out right now, but behind the scenes, she’s forced to spend time with her ex-one night stand, Grayson Reynolds, who also happens to be the new CEO of her current publishing house. But Grayson wants to sell the romance division to another publishing company and he needs Jessie to agree to sign with the new company, not an easy feat given the animosity she holds for him.
Tamed by the Outlaw was a really fun read. I enjoyed the characters and loved returning to the Vegas romance convention setting. It’s such a great series. Each story I’ve read in this continuity has been such an enjoyable read, and this one is no different. I loved the author’s writing style, and how quickly she pulled me into the story and into Jessie’s world. Into Jessie’s problems.
I especially loved the dynamic between Jessie and Grayson. It’s obvious from the second they are together on the page that they have some serious unfinished business between them, and lots of good old-fashioned, sparks-flying, chemistry. I loved that while they shared one night together, in which she had no idea who he really was, they’ve since switched to a sort of boss/employ, enemies to lovers dynamic. Which is one of my all time favorite themes to read.
Grayson Reynolds is a smart, crafty hero, but since he’s working with the wrong mindset, his craftiness gets him into trouble. As does Jessie’s. This was something I really loved about this book. Both characters were working with the wrong impression of each other, and sometimes the right impression with the wrong reasoning, and it made their decisions, based more in emotion than sound business sense, that much more troublesome for them. Which in turn made the book that much more fun and enjoyable for me as reader.
If you love a good enemies to lovers, boss/employee, forbidden love romance story, Tamed by the Outlaw by Michelle Sharp is a book I’d recommend reading. It’s a fast-paced, well-written romance novella and a great addition to Entangled’s What Happens in Vegas continuity series.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iTunes | Goodreads
Michelle is offering up a fabulous prize during the Tamed by the Outlaw Release Day Celebration event. One lucky winner will receive a $50 Gift Card for Amazon or B&N (winner’s choice)! To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter below:
Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway here!
Michelle Sharp is a romance author from the Midwest. Although she has a degree in journalism from Southern Illinois University, she finds weaving tales of danger, deception, and love much preferable to reporting the cold, hard facts. Her goal in life? To team resilient, kick-ass heroines with the sexy alpha’s who love them. As most writers probably are, she is an avid reader. Her first choice is usually a story with a thrilling combination of danger and love, but any book with a great voice and intriguing story will keep her turning pages well past any reasonable bed-time.
Connect with her on: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
This blitz tour was put together by the fabulous:
Special thank you to Michelle Sharp for writing us such a fantastic guest post for today, and thank you to Barclay Publicity for putting together another fantastic blitz tour.
Tamed by the Outlaw is part of the What Happens In Vegas continuity series by Entangled Publishing: Lovestruck
Book One: Tempting Her Best Friend by Gina L. Maxwell
Book Two: The Makeover Mistake by Kathy Lyons
Book Three: A Change of Plans by Robyn Thomas
Book Four: Masquerading With The CEO by Dawn Chartier (My Review here)
Book Five: Just One Reason by Brooklyn Skye
