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<\/a>Welcome to this edition of the Substitute Book Reviewer. While Ali is recovering her equilibrium, I\u2019m driving this bus for a few\u00a0posts. Allow me to introduce myself, I\u2019m Melanie Ting. And I\u2019m a writer, not a reviewer. Therefore my reviews will lack the professional polish of Ali\u2019s work, but I hope to make up for it with goofy charm, humour, and Canadian spelling.<\/p>\nAli is my fairy godmother. She thinks I\u2019m not confident enough about promoting my books. She\u2019s always telling me to buck up and show some attitude. The truth is that I love my writing, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s for everyone. I write romances, but they\u2019re always about hockey. Oh, and cats. I didn\u2019t notice until I had finished about six stories, that there were cats in every one of them. That\u2019s why I asked Ali to review my book, and not because she\u2019s crazy about sports. In fact, given that she\u2019s a Cali girl, I\u2019m pretty darn sure she hasn\u2019t even seen a hockey game. But\u2014cats! I figured I\u2019d get at least one star for cats.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Then, Ali got sick before reading my book. So I don\u2019t even know what she will think of it. But in the interest of In keeping with Ali\u2019s book review balance, one of the writers is traditionally published and one is indie. And yes, the books are hockey romances. It\u2019s the play-offs, and trust me, the guys will be hot.<\/p>\n First up, today\u2019s author is Kate Willoughby. She is the author of ten traditionally-published books, but more importantly, she\u2019s just written her first hockey romance, On the Surface<\/em>. I met her on a blog hop that was like that first day of class when you looked around and everyone was dressed in preppy pink and plaid hairbands, except this one other girl with black eyeliner and an attitude. Your eyes met, you bonded, and that was that. That\u2019s me and Kate! We bonded over hockey and a love for romances that are about relationships and not just sex.<\/p>\n Kate Willoughby happily writes her hockey romances in Southern California. She is married and has two sons, a dog, and a betta fish. When she\u2019s not writing, she\u2019s watching hockey. When it\u2019s not hockey season, she whines a lot.<\/p>\n But you want to know more, right? The Substitute Reviewer has got you covered! I did a special, All The Things Inbetween exclusive interview for you. Here\u2019s my Q & A with Kate Willoughby.<\/p>\n ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/strong><\/p>\n Q: I know you\u2019re a huge Los Angeles Kings fan, Kate, but you\u2019ve admitted you\u2019re a recent convert. Was there one incident that made you fall in love with hockey? And why should readers find hockey players, er, attractive?<\/em><\/p>\n A: I fell in love with hockey because of Rachel Gibson\u2019s See Jane Score<\/em>. If you haven\u2019t read it, do. It\u2019s funny and sexy and gives a reader a backstage pass into the world of professional hockey. I read that book knowing very little about the sport, but that didn\u2019t matter. Gibson made it easy for non-hockey fans to enjoy the book. In writing my own hockey romances, I\u2019ve tried hard to follow her example.<\/strong><\/p>\n As for why readers should find hockey players \u201cattractive,\u201d I think it\u2019s not so much their looks, because most of the time they\u2019re covered in bulky gear. No, for me, it\u2019s the character. In general, hockey players are humble, hard-working men. They don\u2019t like the limelight. The hockey culture has groomed them to be this way. From day one, it\u2019s all about the team. When interviewed about a stellar performance, they deflect and talk about the team effort. When asked about a poor showing, they do the opposite\u2014they accept the blame and focus on where they can improve as an individual. It\u2019s this type of behavior that makes them ideal romance heroes.<\/strong><\/p>\n Q: Wow, falling in love with hockey because of a novel, that\u2019s my personal dream come true! Kate, I know that you\u2019re a proponent of more mature romances. I\u2019m not talking senior citizens, but characters in their thirties. Why do you think romance is sweeter when the main characters have had some life experience? Or perhaps, you\u2019d like to metaphorically kick YA\/NA in the goNAds?<\/em><\/p>\n A: I prefer to write about \u201colder\u201d protagonists because of fear. No, really! I\u2019m 51 years old. I haven\u2019t been considered young in a long time and the challenges that face young people these days are, in many ways, different than they were in my day. See? There\u2019s proof. I use phrases like \u201cin my day.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Q: All right, Kate, our final question is a game. The game is called Marry, Date, or Dump. (The game is not normally called this, but I\u2019m going politically correct here. I don\u2019t want to get Ali\u2019s blog banned while she\u2019s away.) I\u2019m going to use three members of the Los Angeles Kings. For those non-hockey fans, I will add a few descriptors. Here are your choices:<\/em><\/p>\n 1.The completely gorgeous Alec Martinez. He\u2019s a defenceman with a wicked shot and a modest demeanor. Kate sent me a shirtless photo of him with the Stanley Cup that has the Genius Bar guy still trying to clean the drool out of my iMac.<\/em><\/p>\n 2. The team captain, Dustin Brown. Kate will kill me if I insult him because she owns his jersey and is a huge fan. But Kate lives far away from me and doesn\u2019t even know my home address, so here goes. Dustin Brown shows leadership through hard work and community service. He\u2019s built like a fireplug with the face of a five-year old. He\u2019s also the dirtiest player on the team, making late hits with intent to injure.<\/em><\/p>\n 3. Drew Doughty. Yeah, Kate, you knew I was going there because he\u2019s my fav King. He\u2019s a good-natured slob, a boy-man, the butt of team jokes, who may not be the sharpest tool in the drawer. He\u2019s also the team superstar, a defenceman who plays huge in big games, and is supremely confident. He\u2019s sorta cute, if you squint.<\/em><\/p>\n Okay, go.<\/em><\/p>\n A: Because I could conceivably be these guys\u2019 mom, I\u2019ll pretend for the duration of this game that I\u2019m their age so no one gets squicked out. Including me.<\/strong><\/p>\n Drew Doughty. You were very accurate in your description of Drew. He\u2019s a superb player, but as you said, he\u2019s a bit of a boy-man. He giggles. He needs a haircut. He stood up his family for breakfast in Sochi and they were all, \u201cThat\u2019s Drew for you.\u201d So, to me he\u2019s more like that pesky younger brother than he is boyfriend or husband material. I feel like after sex, he\u2019d spring out of bed and say, \u201cHey, wanna play Xbox?\u201d So, sorry, Drew, you\u2019re off the island.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n First, let\u2019s me make something clear. Dustin Brown is not a dirty player! I would agree that he plays a very physical game. He goes out there and bangs people up, but his intention is not to injure. Hurt, yes, injure, no. I think that\u2019s an important difference. You want the opponent to feel the hit. It should be painful. It should make the opponent pass the puck more quickly than he usually would\u2014perhaps sloppily\u2014because he doesn\u2019t want to feel 210 Dustin Brown pounds slamming into him. That\u2019s the way the game is played. However, I would swear on a Bible that Dustin does not try to cause injuries that will take guys out of the game. And no, the Hertl knee-on-knee was not intentional no matter what the Sharks fans say. I could show you video proof. <\/strong>(Melanie\u2019s note: See, I told you insulting Dustin would get her all upset. My home address remains shrouded in mystery, just in case.)<\/em><\/p>\n Now, would I date him? Assuming he didn\u2019t have a wife and four adorable kids? Absolutely. Would I marry him? Sure would. Would I have to get used to the fact that he\u2019s missing several front teeth? Ah, that\u2019s a yes. But that\u2019d be a small price to pay.<\/strong><\/p>\n So, in summary. Doughty, no rose for you. Alec, go get the massage oil out of my nightstand. Dustin? Put your teeth in and let\u2019s pick a date.<\/strong><\/p>\n Thanks Kate, for being a good sport. And by the way, I think Mexinese kids would look adorable.<\/em><\/p>\n Come back for our next post where we review an actual book of Kate\u2019s! And if you like my goofy humour and Canadian charm, you can find me at my blog or on Twitter. See Ali, I\u2019m self-promoting!<\/p>\n ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/strong><\/p>\n Kate Willoughby Web Tracks:<\/strong><\/p>\n Website<\/a> | Blog<\/a> |\u00a0Twitter<\/a> | Goodreads<\/a> |\u00a0Pinterest<\/a> | Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/strong><\/p>\n Kate Willoughby on All The Things Inbetween:<\/strong><\/p>\n Sin Bin – On The Surface by Kate Willoughby<\/p>\n ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/strong><\/p>\n On The Surface Synopsis:<\/strong><\/p>\n NHL player Tim Hollander lost his temper one time and threw a water bottle at an abusive fan. After “Bottlegate,” he’s traded to the San Diego Barracudas, where he’ll need to keep the bad publicity to a minimum while proving he can still compete with the younger guys on the ice.<\/p>\n Erin Collier is a pediatric nurse who’s never seen a hockey game, but gets in line for Tim’s autograph at a PR event in hopes of impressing the doctor she has a crush on. When an obnoxious fan gets pushy toward Erin, Tim rushes to defend the pretty stranger, throwing a punch in the process.<\/p>\n Grateful for the rescue, Erin agrees to stand by Tim during the resulting press conference and host him at a hospital charity event. Their chemistry is palpable, and soon their lives are intertwined. But Erin doubts a hockey player is capable of anything resembling a real relationship. And if Tim can’t get her to see beyond what’s on the surface, they’ll never last longer than a single season\u2026<\/p>\n ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/strong><\/p>\n Purchase On The Surface:<\/strong><\/p>\n Amazon<\/a> | B&N<\/a> | iTunes<\/a> | Kobo<\/a> | Google Play<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Carina Press<\/a><\/p>\n ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/strong> “I\u2019m Mel, and I don\u2019t want you to read my book. Hmmm, maybe I should rephrase that a little: I don\u2019t want you to read my book unless you are sure it\u2019s exactly the kind of book you would like.”<\/em><\/p>\n Errrm… Yes well, that is the introduction Mel originally sent me and why I became her fairy godmother; her PR sucks. Mel doesn’t know that while being sick all I do is click through books like they are channels on book\u00a0TV and I’ve started Fresh Air. It’s really pretty damn great. She’s a great storyteller and from the reviews and interviews she’s contributed to All The Things Inbetween she’s once more underestimating her own talents.<\/p>\n Hailing from the Great White North, where people are nice, say ‘aboot’ and ‘eh’, have the fabulous luxury of Timmy Ho’s–Mel receives\u00a0free healthcare and returns the favors afforded to her by writing about the national sport of Canada: Hockey. She blends humor and sports with a good amount of practical romance to give her readers the romance you might have with an athlete rather than that\u00a0you would see in Hollywood (Toe Pick! Will anyone get that reference?).<\/p>\n Mel, this is how you sell yourself.<\/p>\n ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/strong><\/p>\n Melanie Ting’s Web Tracks:<\/strong><\/p>\n Website<\/a> | Twitter<\/a> |\u00a0Goodreads<\/a> | Amazon Author Page<\/a><\/p>\n ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/strong><\/p>\n If you are interested in becoming a book reviewer or helping me with All The Things Inbetween contact me at Ali is Amazekittens<\/a> and I will have my cats\u00a0talk to your\u00a0people. There are wicked, wondrous benefits to such arrangements as the ones we would have. I am awesome at not replying to mail timely, not getting to my to-do-list, and forgetting to eat. I pay in pics of kittens.<\/p>\n All The Things Ali Web Tracks:<\/strong> Google+<\/a> | Twitter<\/a> | Pinterest<\/a> | Instagram<\/a> | Shelfari<\/a> | Goodreads<\/a> | Last.fm<\/a> | Stumbleupon<\/a> | LinkedIn<\/a> | Camp NaNoWriMo 2014<\/a> …And I am always looking for new friends on Bingo Blitz, everyone but kittens need apply.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Welcome to this edition of the Substitute Book Reviewer. While Ali is recovering her equilibrium, I\u2019m driving this bus for a few\u00a0posts. Allow me to introduce myself, I\u2019m Melanie Ting. And I\u2019m a writer, not a reviewer. Therefore my reviews will lack the professional polish of Ali\u2019s work, but I hope to make up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[592,728,986,1215],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2955,"url":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/2014\/06\/03\/sin-bin-on-the-surface-by-kate-willoughby\/","url_meta":{"origin":2964,"position":0},"title":"Sin Bin - On The Surface by Kate Willoughby","date":"2014-06-03","format":false,"excerpt":"(Note from Ali: Melanie Ting has sweetly sent me a few \"guest reviews\" in the subject of her own books, HOCKEY! In view of her benevolence and predilictions... I have named her reviews \"SIN BIN\"--to those of you lost\u00a0to the world of hockey it's where you go when you've been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Kate Willoughby\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/matcover_freshair-3copy.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3098,"url":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/2014\/06\/09\/sin-bin-play-the-man-by-jaymee-jacobs\/","url_meta":{"origin":2964,"position":1},"title":"Sin Bin - Play The Man by Jaymee Jacobs","date":"2014-06-09","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s Day Three of the Substitute Book Reviewer, aka Melanie Ting, lover of all things hockey. Time for my indie author choice. Jaymee Jacobs has been a favourite writer of mine since the days we were both in an online writing group and giving it away for free. But we\u2019ve\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Jaymee-Jacobs-pink-and-black.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3103,"url":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/2014\/06\/10\/he-said-she-said-gabfest-and-gossip-jaymee-jacobs\/","url_meta":{"origin":2964,"position":2},"title":"He Said, She Said - Gabfest and Gossip: Jaymee Jacobs","date":"2014-06-10","format":false,"excerpt":"Okay, this is the last post of the Substitute Reviewer aka Melanie Ting. I feel that my hijacking of Ali\u2019s blog may be causing her get better faster. She\u2019s gasping, \u201cMust get out of bed before that crazy author alienates all my readers.\u201d And then dragging herself to the laptop\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Interviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Sidney-Crosby.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2142,"url":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/2014\/02\/28\/feeling-peckish-sudden-heat-by-denise-a-agnew\/","url_meta":{"origin":2964,"position":3},"title":"Feeling Peckish - Sudden Heat by Denise A. Agnew","date":"2014-02-28","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been reading a whole lot of Ellora's Cave books lately since I invited EC authors to do Making Love 101 with me. Denise A. Agnew was one of the authors who offered me a review copy of her book. She also stepped up to do an interview about her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Denise A. Agnew\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/suddenheat_msr.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7283,"url":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/2019\/09\/13\/book-review-wonderland-academy-year-one-by-melanie-karsak\/","url_meta":{"origin":2964,"position":4},"title":"Book Review: Wonderland Academy: Year One by Melanie Karsak","date":"2019-09-13","format":false,"excerpt":"Title: Wonderland Academy: Year One Author: Melanie Karsak Genre: New Adult & College Fantasy My rating: 5 of 5 stars Just putting this out there--I am a huge Alice and Wonderland freak. I lurve Alice and everything Wonderland. I have copies of the books in other languages. I collect figurines.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"Wonderland Academy by Melanie Karsak","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Wonderland-Academy-Banner.png?fit=851%2C315&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2762,"url":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/2014\/06\/06\/feeling-peckish-lucky-silver-by-clare-murray\/","url_meta":{"origin":2964,"position":5},"title":"Feeling Peckish - Lucky Silver by Clare Murray","date":"2014-06-06","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was growing up there were two TV shows that I had to watch or my life was completely--incomplete. They were both regional shows, because when I was growing up TVs were run by gerbils and you got receptions by bending wire coat hangers into bunny ears and attaching\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Lucky-Silver.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2964"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2964\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/havecoffeeneedbooks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}buttering up Ali for a good review<\/del> helping a sick friend, I volunteered to create some blog content. I\u2019m going to review the books of two great authors I know personally. Yeah, so chances are good that I\u2019m going to give the books good reviews, but you\u2019ll have to read on to find out for sure. And I interviewed the authors as well, so you can get a sense of what fun people they are.<\/p>\nThe 411 on Kate is fairly simple. Here\u2019s a quickie bio that she sent me:<\/p>\n<\/a>Alec Martinez. Hm. Very hot guy. Humble, like I said hockey players typically are. Not afraid to fight. I like that too. Although his name is Martinez, he doesn\u2019t speak a word of Spanish and doesn\u2019t celebrate Cinco de Mayo. I\u2019m Chinese, but fourth generation, so I\u2019m pretty far removed from the family\u2019s culture as well. Kate Martinez. Yeah, it has a nice ring to it and our kids would be Mexinese, but there is Dustin Brown to consider.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nMeet Your Interviewer: Melanie Ting<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n