All In by Autumn Stark ♥ Behind-the-Scenes, Blog Tour & GIVEAWAY ♥ (Contemporary Erotic Romance)

Jay Markham, a wildly popular actor and a chronic womanizer, has become bored with his life. Jay decides to take a break and goes to visit his life-long best friend and famous romance novelist, Anthony Tate. But just because Jay decides to take a break doesn’t mean his fans will let him. The fans and the paparazzi follow him to the small Washington town and, in an effort to escape a particularly dogged fan, Jay ducks into the first open door he can find.

Parker Hardisson is a fairly normal, if self-contained, woman in her, ahem, early thirties. Relatively happy with her life as a freelance translator, she gets to work out of her own home and enjoy her life as quiet and drama-free as possible. So what if she’s a teensy bit lonely? So what if there’s some part of her that wants to explore the world? Things are working out just fine. So, when a mega-movie star comes slamming into her house, she wonders if she’s finally cracked.

Parker seizes the opportunity to make the deal of a lifetime. No strings, no questions. The problem is, Jay is playing this game by his own rules.

Anytime I write a novel, I expect there to be some amount of difference between what I plan to write and what actually ends up on the page. All In is no exception of course.

When I first began to write this series, Jay was actually supposed to have a bit of a thing for Abby (whose name was Rose at the time, by the way). In the original version of the first book, Break Me, and All In, Tony and Abby had just had a baby together when Jay comes to visit. None of this actually comes to pass. By the time I finally got to writing this book, Jay became fond of Abby like a sister, though envious of Tony’s relationship. Then there’s that whole baby thing. When this story starts, Abby and Tony are blissfully in the honeymoon period.

That aside, one of the biggest changes from my original plans was that Jay would be the one to beg Parker to hide him. As I was writing this, Jay openly mocked me in my thoughts. “I don’t beg,” he seemed to snort with laughter. More than that, Jay originally spent a lot of time denying his real attraction to Parker. Ironically, this totally switches in this novel.

I won’t give too much away, but one of the biggest changes from plan to paper was the resolution of this novel. Originally, I had planned that Jay would have to woo Parker into his arms after being rather stupid and vulnerable about a relationship with her. Parker had her own fears, but she was willing to try. Their relationship was challenged by their own fears and rampantly different lifestyles--normal small-town girl and hollywood hottie. I even wrote it that way.

But then I finished it...and Jay openly mocked me again. So...back to the drawing board I went. I won’t give it away, but I will share that, originally, the last chapter was Jay demonstrating rather openly that he wasn’t afraid of being publicly seen in a “relationship” with Parker as they steamed up a window in her bedroom. Jay helpfully pointed out to me that he had never actually cared about that in the first place.

Damned Jay. He had all kinds of opinions. Jay became one of my more opinionated heroes and really influenced everything I wrote. Most people have heard of muses, but Jay was the driving force of this particular novel. I’m sure most people won’t be upset. From the start of this series, Jay has captured the attention of readers. I really think it’s because he’s so captivating and charismatic--enough so that he hijacked my novel!

It seemed like a million years, the fall. It went in slow motion. Parker saw the glint of the sun on the kitchen window panes. She heard Jay Mason yelling behind her. She could hear the sound of a siren somewhere. In the mix, she would swear she heard a bird and even some wind chimes.

Parker didn’t remember the actual moment she hit the ground. One minute she was streaking through the air, the song of chaos and the bright morning sun guiding her down, and the next she was laying in the grass, curled in a ball. The damp grass clung to the side of her face and Parker’s eyes didn’t seem to want to open. She thought she heard her name being called.

She tried harder to open her eyes and realized that the wet grass wasn’t what wet her face. It was blood. She saw a flash of light through the red and could swear she heard Gabe’s voice calling to her, but then it all went black again.

The next thing she remembered was the repeated flashes of light and the sound of too many people talking at once. Someone rudely shoved a light into her eyes. Parker groaned and tried to move her arm to shove the light away.

“Parker? Parker Hardisson? Can you hear me? Can you open your eyes to tell me you hear me?” Parker fought through the haze in her head. She wasn’t sure why the voice wanted her to open her eyes, but she knew it was somehow important. She fought to open her eyes, squinting against the light until her eyelids briefly rolled up. Then she remembered what was so important.

  

♥ Click on the cover for more info ♥

♥ Click on the cover for more info ♥

Autumn Stark writes Romance with a sense of humor and a whole lotta steamy fun. Doesn’t mean there aren’t a few whips every now and then, but she’s a sucker for a happy ending. Autumn has been writing in one capacity or another her entire life, but Break Me is her debut novel.

Autumn Stark is the pen name for author and publisher, April Oglesbee. (http://apriloglesbee.com/)

All In is the second book in the All In series. Book 1 is already available on Amazon, B&N, and iBooks. Book 3 will be released in June 2014.

    

Autumn will be awarding at each stop a signed copy of All In to a randomly drawn commenter (US ONLY), and a Grand Prize of a $25 Amazon/BN GC plus a signed copy of All In will be awarded to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour (US ONLY)