Ramblings From This Chick: Guest Post with Author Codi Gary and Giveaway

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Guest Post with Author Codi Gary and Giveaway

Meet Codi Gary author of One Lucky Hero.

An obsessive bookworm, CODI GARY likes to write sexy small-town contemporary romances with humor, grand gestures, and blush-worthy moments. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading her favorite authors, squealing over her must-watch shows, and playing with her children. She lives in Idaho with her family.

Friends to Lovers; My Favorite Trope.

The friends to lovers trope has been a favorite of mine since as far back as I can remember. Maybe because I was in love with my best friend in high school, and my favorite fantasy was him realizing he loved me too. Watching Dawson’s Creek, Dawson and Joey were end game in my mind, and I was actually surprised they didn’t get together. Or the movie Trojan War, where the guy realizes after this wacky adventure that he was in love with his beautiful best friend the whole time…sigh…

So it’s no wonder that I adore this trope when it comes to the books I read too. And here are just a couple of my all-time favorites.

Romancing Mr. Bridgerton by Julia Quinn was a definite need to read. Although this book leans more toward “little sister’s best friend”, Colin and Penelope have been so involved in each other’s lives that they grow close throughout the book, becoming friends and confidants until Colin can no longer deny that he has developed feeling for Penelope. I re-read this book sometimes more than once a year because it is such a personal favorite of mine.

Recently I read The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting, and it had a phenomenal friends to lovers story. The slow build Violet and Jay had was fantastic and I couldn’t stop reading until the very end.

Years ago, I read Courting Miss Hattie by Pamela Morsi, and I will never forget the “Peaches” and “Malava” scene on the porch between Hattie and Reed. Pamela is a master and friends to lovers and Courting Miss Hattie is her at her best.

I listened to Just One of the Guys by Kristan Higgins in audio book on a trip to take my kids to meet their grandparents. It was so obvious that Trevor and Chastity are made for each other and I was on pins and needles for ten hours waiting for those two to pull their heads out of their butts and admit it to themselves.

If this is your favorite trope too and you haven’t read these books, you should definitely add them to your TBR.

What is your favorite genre?

Codi Gary launches her new Men in Uniform series with a hero...and a heartbreaker.

Violet Douglas just wants one night where she can be normal. Where she can do something for herself and not be just her siblings guardian. But when she ends up spending her one night of freedom with a complete jerk, what does she do? She goes home with him.

Dean Sparks is used to keeping women at a distance but for some reason, he can’t resist Violet’s snapping wit or smile. So when he suggests a friends with benefits arrangement, it seems like the perfect solution to their undeniable attraction. No details about their lives, their childhoods. Just mind-blowing sex.

When their worlds collide outside the bedroom, Violet finds herself leaning on Dean in a way she never has, but what’s the point in falling for a guy who isn’t sticking around?

Purchase: | Amazon | Kindle | B&N | iTunes | Google |

Check out the Men in Uniform series:

Dean’s eyes narrowed and glittered. “You don’t know me well enough to screw with me. I might be dangerous.”

For a half a second, his words kick-started Violet’s heart rate. He was right about that, and he definitely had the guns to twist her head off with one jerk.

“Are you?” she asked.

He leaned over her slowly, and she stiffened, her body screaming to step back.

“No, I’m not.”

His soft words sank in, and she let out a huge breathless laugh. “That’s not something you should joke about.”

“Hey, you were messing with me first.”

And now the heat radiating off his body was screwing with her senses, drawing her closer to him. The light scent of cologne drifted up, and she had the craziest urge to press her nose against his chest and get a better sniff. Violet caught herself in the nick of time, knowing that there was no coming back from that.

“I wasn’t threatening and trying to intimidate you with my very presence. I don’t know who told you that you were a funny guy, but you aren’t. At all.”

“You’re right, it was a bad joke,” he said. “I’m not really used to being around civilized company. Most days, I just hang with this guy”—Dean pointed at Tyler—“and a bunch of other dudes who think I’m hysterical.”

“Are you the boss?” she asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“Then they really don’t think you’re funny, they are just lying because they don’t want to get fired.”

She said it all with a straight face and was secretly delighted when he chuckled. He was close enough still that the rise of his chest was only a few inches from her, and her gaze was drawn to the definition of his muscles through his T-shirt.

Geez, was she really so desperate that she was willing to hook up with a jerk with a weird sense of humor? She waited for her subconscious to give her a definite hell no, but apparently, the jury in her head was still deliberating.

“We don’t really get fired from the military, unless we are suddenly unable to do the job.”

“Well, regardless, if that’s a sample of your humor, you need to watch some comedy. And not dark comedy like The Cable Guy or The Ladykillers.” Violet glanced over at Tracy and Tyler, who were still nursing their beers. She was running out of witty things to say to Dean and wouldn’t mind another drink in her system, but waiting on Tyler to buy another round was slow going.

Besides, it wasn’t like she couldn’t buy her own alcohol. Especially if it was something other than hops.

“I’m going to grab another drink. You want one?”

“I’ll come with you and get one myself.” He drained the remainder of his plastic cup, and she sighed in exasperation.

“It’s a beer, not a proposal. You can grab the next round.” Violet tapped Tracy and Tyler on the shoulders. “Another?”

“Sure, thanks,” Tyler said.

Tracy nodded and mouthed, Isn’t he hot?

Violet answered with a large smile, although he wasn’t in her opinion. No, she preferred her men with dark eyes and no manners, apparently.

Except maybe the rudeness was an act. For a second there, she’d thought Dean might have a sense of humor. Granted, a dark and twisty sense of humor, but she liked that.

Liked him.

Maybe he wasn’t a total loss. He might be suffering the effects of a bad breakup, and saw all women as the enemy.

Or you’ve been watching too many Hallmark Channel movies.

She could take the pressure off, give him notice that she wasn’t looking for a boyfriend. Boyfriends were just one more thing to add to her ever-growing list of responsibilities; they were time consuming, needy, and the last thing she wanted was to put one more person’s needs before her own.

As she grabbed their empty cups, saving Dean’s for last, she looked up at him from beneath her lashes and went for broke.

“By the way . . . I wasn’t looking for a date.”