Taken With You by Shannon Stacey

I'm very excited to host Shannon Stacey's latest contemporary romance release! Follow the tour here.

Taken with You by Shannon Stacey
(Kowalski Family #8) 
Published by: Carina Press
Publication date: March 25th 2014
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Synopsis:

Hailey Genest has seen most of her friends marry and have babies, and she’s happy for them, but it was a lot easier before she hit forty. She’s spent her entire life in Whitford, Maine, and if she hasn’t found her Prince Charming by now, she has to accept she’s probably not going to. When a new friend suggests they go on an adventure and embrace being single, Hailey agrees.

Surviving in the woods is game warden Matt Barnett’s idea of a relaxing vacation. But when he meets two women in need of help, he leads them back to safety – a task that proves more fun than expected, thanks to a certain hot blonde. He can’t resist pushing her buttons, even though she’s made it clear that the rugged, outdoorsy type just isn’t for her.

Hailey is glad to see the back of her tempting-tour-guide-slash-pain-in-the-ass. When he shows up in her life again, she’s determined to avoid him, no matter how good he looks in his uniform. But that’s easier said than done in Whitford, especially when he’s renting the house right next door…

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Inspiration for Taken With You

I’d known for a long time that Taken With You would be Hailey Genest’s story. She was a secondary character I really enjoyed writing, and I’d had a lot of readers request a book for her. The problem was finding her a hero.  It was different for me to start with a heroine, because the guys usually come to me first. There weren’t really any men in Whitford, Maine, who were right for Hailey (and if there had been, she would have found them by now).

One day last year I was watching an episode of North Woods Law, an Animal Planet reality show that follows the Maine Warden Service, and I realized with the increased ATV traffic in my fictional town, the police department would have a hard time keeping up. As Whitford became known as a four-wheeling destination, they’d need a game warden assigned to the area. 

I knew right away I’d found Hailey’s hero. She was looking for a sophisticated man with style and a romantic soul, who’d take her out on the town so she could dress up and wear her fancy shoes. Matt Barnett loves being outside, has a lucky fishing hat Hailey would like to set on fire, and doesn’t have a sophisticated bone in his body. And the man has a little baggage, having not been good enough for a former flame who wanted a man with more polish, so Hailey’s the last woman on the planet he wants to get involved with. Though the sexual tension sizzled between them, I knew I was in trouble. Opposites might attract, but these two were such opposites, they’d probably avoid each other at all cost. Having them cross paths often would be tough, and even harder would the quality time necessary to start a relationship. So I decided Matt would move in next door to Hailey. Since he’d be working primarily in the Whitford area, it made sense for him to move to town, and the house next door to Hailey just happened to be empty.

Suddenly, I had a story. Matt was everything Hailey shouldn’t want in a man and Hailey was definitely not Matt’s type. Now I could get to work, getting these two characters from an awkward first meeting to happily ever after.

Thank you for inviting me to talk about Taken With You, and happy reading!

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shannon Stacey lives with her husband and two sons in New England, where her two favorite activities are writing stories of happily ever after and riding her four-wheeler. From May to November, the Stacey family spends their weekends on their ATVs, making loads of muddy laundry to keep Shannon busy when she’s not at her computer. She prefers writing to laundry, however, and considers herself lucky she got to be an author when she grew up.

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Giveaway:

Tour wide giveaway

Open to US and Canada:

--Print copy of Taken with You
--Bookmark (Taken With You)
--Moose print  on a vintage dictionary

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I hope you add Shannon's book to your Goodreads list or To Be Read pile. I'd love to hear from you: what's your favorite opposites attract story?