I sat down with my wonderful friend Kay Blake to learn more about her new release, Don’t Blame Me

dont blamebookTell us a little about Don’t Blame Me!

My new release is called Don’t Blame Me. It is a second chance, multicultural/interracial romance. My hero is an eligible bachelor who runs a bunch of hotels. He used to be a football player. Leah is a writer for a magazine. They are getting a second chance at a happily ever after.

Where did your inspiration for the book come from?

A few places actually. Originally, the idea was to write a story that ties in with a series about eligible bachelors. My eligible bachelor was going to own a bunch of hotels. As I started writing it though, Adrian (my hero) pretty much wanted a story about his college days as well, so I did both the past and present in this book. As for the title, I was with my two bffs last year at South Street Seaport. One of my friends had us there because Taylor Swift had a pop-up store. We heard her new album and the song”Don’t Blame Me” inspired the title of the story.

Did you outline the story, or dive right in?

It was a mix of both actually. Some parts were outlined and other parts I just went with the flow.

How did your characters come to life?

I saw Adrian as WWE wrestler Roman Reigns. I love him and I felt as he too was a former football player that it worked with my character Adrian. For Leah, I saw her as an opinionated, feisty woman and a writer. For her appearance, I kind of imagined her as actress Meagan Good

Did you do any cool or interesting research for this story? What did you learn?

I had to do research on football in college. Also, hotel info and photo shoot info for certain scenes. I also had to learn words of Hawaiian origin as my hero, Adrian was biracial. He was Irish and Polynesian. Researching Hawaiin words and Hawaiin culture was really fun.

What was your favorite part of working on this story? What was the most challenging?

I think one of my favorite parts was working on their relationship in college. I also really loved writing the photoshoot scene that they have in the present.

What’s next for this story – is it part of a series? When does it come out?

I think this is the end of Adrian and Leah’s story. I loved the way I tied it up at the end. But then again, I never rule out anything, so if something else comes from the two of them, I won’t be surprised.

Excerpt

Adrian laughed sitting up. “Well, maybe it’s weird that you haven’t let it go yet, but I have to admit I do admire that kind of dedication.”

I smiled and got off of his arm to playfully push him.

“Here you go teasing me again,” I said sticking out my tongue in a mock manner.

“No teasing. Just stating what I noticed. That is it. I promise. I don’t want a repeat of earlier.”

teaserblameMy stomach at that moment dropped and all the fluttering started again. It was as if there was a family of butterflies were fluttering around in my stomach and I was helpless to stop them. I didn’t know why, but I did like Adrian more than I had cared to admit. It was why he got under my skin so much because even though he was the kind of
guy I would normally stay away from.

I played with my fingers trying to think of a good excuse to have him leave. I need him to get out of my space so I could think clearly again. Him and I wouldn’t work. I knew that. I knew that better than he probably did. We were too different from each other and had different goals. It was all I needed to know and for that reason, we wouldn’t work out. I needed him to get out of my personal space, and I could go back to keeping my distance. That was the only way I would be able to do that. If he stayed away I could keep all these confusing feelings at bay.

“Leah?” Adrian said softly interrupting my thoughts and I turned towards him.

“Yes?”

“You are probably the most beautiful girl on this campus. No, you are the most beautiful girl on this campus and you don’t even know it,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re just you. I like you. The real you underneath that mask you wear.”

And with that, his fingers lightly touched my face to tilt it towards his. I could feel my heart thumping hard again against my chest and all of a sudden I felt lightheaded. He was making me feel crazy, but in a good way. He leaned towards me as my heart raced,
and his cologne invaded my nostrils. Leaning in his lips lightly touched mine. Almost grazed them, and I sighed. He took that as a go ahead, and his kiss hardened as he pried my mouth open with his tongue. I felt myself tremble as he pulled me into his arms, and my head started to spin. This wasn’t supposed to feel this way. I was sure of that. I wasn’t supposed to feel dizzy, almost drunk, but at the same time, it felt so good. It felt right.

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About Kay! 

Author Photo 1_Aug 27 2017Kay is an award-winning author who writes sassy, sexy and sweet contemporary and interracial romance. She is from arguably the greatest city in the world. (New York). She is a sarcastic sweetheart who prefers snuggling at home with a good book. Kay is a mom of 3 cubs and a wife. Kay indulges in strawberry cheesecake, horror movies, Harry Potter, The Walking Dead, wrestling and of course a happily ever after. She is also the
creator of Bookish Brown Girls, a platform dedicated to promoting books written
by women of color. 

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or at www.authorkayblake.wordpress.com