Blog Tour: Interview, Excerpt & Giveaway Jaime Reese – A Restored Man

A warm welcome today for author Jaime Reese who is visiting Love Bytes today on her Blog Tour for “A Restored Man”
She is talking about her new release and kindly answered some questions for us about this new release and the series that it comes from “The Man of Halfway House”. She also shares an excerpt and their is a giveaway to participate in!
Welcome Jaime!

Cole Renzo thinks his greatest challenge is to behave for the remainder of his term at Halfway House. Until he meets his new boss, Ty Calloway, a man who ticks off every box on Cole’s list of interests.

A sought-after restorer and customizer of exotic and collectible cars, Ty had enough confidence to command what he wanted in life, until one fateful night changed everything. Almost two years later, he’s slowly rebuilding his life with great control. He’s defied the odds and works tirelessly to be the man he once was—but he still feels broken.

Cole’s candor and unfiltered personality awaken Ty’s barely-remembered desire to greet each new day with a smile, while Ty’s unwavering acceptance of Cole’s quirks and brash humor makes Cole feel as if he fits in for the first time in far too long. When a nemesis threatens Ty’s personal restoration and the things he holds dear, Cole is determined to protect their relationship, even if that means sacrificing everything he’s worked so hard to achieve.

But Ty will have to let his guard down, surrender control, and admit he needs Cole first, even if that puts himself at risk of breaking beyond repair.

 

 

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Welcome Jaime 🙂

Thanks for taking the time to interview me!

A Restored Man is number three in The Men of Halfway House series and so far each book has a tone to it that is distinct from the others. Do you preplan to write the books this way or is it just the way they develop?

Let me start with a quick rundown of the series for those readers who aren’t familiar with it. The common element that ties the books together is the halfway house. The characters aren’t necessarily residents of the house, but they may have crossed the threshold or have interacted with a resident, and that encounter affects the direction of their lives from that point forward. Each story chronicles their second chance at life and/or love and how they fight like hell—together—for their happily ever after.

 Because of the nature of the series, it can be never-ending, so I try to write each book as a stand-alone. I’d love for readers to read all the books in the series, but the way I write them, it’s not required. A reader can easily pick up A Restored Man and have enough relevant back story to be able to follow the storyline without feeling lost.

So I do plan on them being stand-alones, but as far as the distinct tone of each, that plays out based on the story and the characters. A Better Man was a slow-burn, friends-to-lovers contemporary romance. A Hunted Man was a faster-paced, romantic suspense story. A Restored Man is purely character-driven with a little angst, maybe a few tears, and hopefully, plenty of smiles and laughter.

Did you need to spend a lot of time researching car information to write this book? Not that I’m at all knowledgeable, but you seemed pretty confident with what you were writing about.

I’m glad I came across as confident. 🙂 The hubby and I both love cars. We go to cruise-ins, car shows, and have participated in private car-related events. We usually stalk car model announcements and study the specs of new releases. It’s something we both love. So although I had to do research, the topic wasn’t completely foreign. Knowing the terminology for some things was helpful in finding what I needed. I wanted to include car-related content for story relevance, but tried not to overload the story and risk boring the reader.

Cole has a couple of memorable one-liners and he’s not one to shy away from the awesome quips and comebacks. Do you ever write a sentence and think – I just nailed it!

Thank you! Writing any kind of humor is tough. Kudos to authors who can write romantic comedies. It’s not easy. LOL I tend to tweak endlessly as I write and often go back and edit entire scenes. I have, however, written a few lines and scenes, read it back, and told myself – don’t you dare touch that! 🙂 It doesn’t happen often through a first run, but it feels damn good when it does.

Do you have a favourite character from the series because I just haven’t been able to settle on one?

Oh, that’s a tough question because I love my characters. They are each special in their own way. Julian will always hold a special place in my heart because he inspired the series. Matt has an incredible heart and an endless fountain of patience and understanding for Julian needs. Cameron has a fierce inner strength that can only be paired with Hunter’s iron will. Cole, I just want to hug him. He’s a bundle of energy and has a mouth on him that embarrassed me a few times while writing him, but he’s exactly the unrelenting fighter Ty needed to restore his spirit.

I know fans have been asking, and I know it seems impossible but, Cam and Hunter? Are they somehow going to make a reappearance in a future Halfway House book?

I never eliminated that option. 🙂

I realize that this series isn’t finished yet but what about other writing projects? Do you have any books planned beyond Halfway House?

I have a story I started some time ago. It’s a stand-alone book, outside of the Halfway House series. It started off as a short story but somehow, the story has transitioned into something more complex so I’ve set it aside. I wanted simplicity for that one, so I will revisit it again when I have more time to think it through and play with the story a bit. If it ends up being complex, then I’ll write it as such.  I do want to try to release a few shorter stories (well, short for me LOL) as stand-alone. But I just need to find a way to work more writing in to my schedule.

This is obviously your third release day. How do you plan to spend it?

Even though I have a stack of cover work to do and tons of prep work for GRL to get things ready for registration, I plan to spend most of my day with readers. I’ll be on my Facebook page and stopping by the tour stops to respond to comments. I know I don’t release often, but when I do, I love to spend those initial release days with readers. I love my characters, and I enjoy taking the time to chat about them. After the tour, I’ll probably crash and burn on the couch or hibernate with the hubby for a few days, but for now, I want to enjoy the release honeymoon with all the excitement and stress it brings.

“I thought those were the service bays,”
Cole said, thumbing over his shoulder.

“They’re for the traditional shop work my techs
do on a daily basis. These are my
service calls. Side project I’m doing and there’s no money in it for the guys
so I don’t really want to burden them. I figured we could work on them and, in
between, we could tinker with the Yenko if you want or wrap up the last few
details on the Drayton rig. I worked on most of it over the weekend but there
are still a few things to finish up.”

Cole stopped walking. “You’d let me work on the
Yenko with you?”

Ty nodded. “Sure, why not. I’ve seen how picky
you are with your work.”

“So it’s my reward for helping you with your
service calls?”

Ty chuckled. “Do you do tricks too?”

Cole raised an eyebrow and half smiled. “Oh, I’ve
got a lot of tricks I can show you.” He smiled at the rush of color to
Ty’s cheeks, loving the way Ty always reacted to his teasing.

“You do realize you’re an HR nightmare,” Ty
said, looking at Cole with that glimmer in his eye.

Cole’s pulse raced. “HR?”

“Human Resources. Sexual harassment, all
that,” Ty said, trying to look serious and indifferent, but failing
miserably.

Cole belly-laughed so loud it echoed in the shop. He
then stilled, straightened his shoulders, and mocked a serious tone. “I
could, of course, be completely professional and proper with you, Mr. Calloway,
if that is your preference,” he said, mimicking Matt’s formal tone.

Ty turned to face him, the mock seriousness
transitioning into something more genuine. “And I, of course,” he
said, reciprocating Cole’s tone, “would be deeply disappointed.”

He looked up into those brown eyes and smiled.
“My army of superheroes and I would be as well.” He bit back a smile
and bowed.

Ty’s low rumble-laugh shot straight to Cole’s dick.

Cole straightened. “Admit it, you like me.”

Ty raised his hand and put his thumb and index
fingertips together with only a sliver of a gap between them. “Maybe a
little bit.”

Cole
looked at Ty’s fingers then glanced back at him with a huge grin on his face.
“It’s a start,” he said before walking off to the two cars parked in
the bay.

 Read Donna’s Review: HERE

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Jaime Reese is the alter ego of an artist who loves the creative process of writing, just not about herself. Fiction is far more interesting. She has a weakness for broken, misunderstood heroes and feels everyone deserves a chance at love and life. An avid fan of a happy ending, she believes those endings acquired with a little difficulty are more cherished.

 

 

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