Burra Burra Lane Birthday Blitz Giveaway. Meet guest #2

BREAKING NEWS!  Juanita Kees is a finalist in the Romance Writers of Australia RUBY Awards! Congrats Juanita and Under the Hood!

Romance, murder, mystery and suspense await you! Beneath the party bunting in Swallow’s Fall Town Hall today is romance author (and earth mother), Juanita Kees.

Under the Hood is up for grabs in the Burra Burra Lane Birthday Blitz Giveaway and I’m telling you now – this lady can spin a yarn, no matter the genre (and she loves motorbikes).

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First in her Contemporary Romantic Suspense Tag Raiders Series (although all books can be read alone) is Fly Away Peta, second comes Under the Hood which we’ll be talking about today. Third (due for release August 1st ) is Under Cover of Dark so there’s plenty to keep you reading and more on the way.

Let’s go, with six snappy questions.

Juanita, who are the main characters in Under the Hood?

Businessman Scott Devin and workshop foreperson, TJ Stevens

What is this story about?

When Scott Devin buys a struggling car dealership in a semi-rural area in Western Australia, the last person he expects to see in charge is a stilletto-wearing, mini-skirted foreperson. Exactly the distraction a struggling, male-dominated workshop doesn’t need! But there’s more to TJ Stevens than meets the eye. TJ Stevens has two major goals in life: to preserve her grandfather’s heritage and protect the teens in her rehabilitation program – and she’ll go to any lengths to do it. Scott Devin’s presence is a threat to everything she’s worked hard to achieve, so keeping him at arms-length shouldn’t be a problem…or will it?

What prompted you to write this story?

Born with a lead foot and oil in my blood, working in the motor industry all my life, hailing from a family of General Motors employees, and married to an Auto Electrician—did I have a choice? I’ve met many characters over the years and taken a pinch from each of their dynamic personalities to create the characters in Under the Hood.  (She hasn't mentioned the motorbike, but the lead foot is a dead giveaway, and I happen to know the Auto Electrician who loves his motorbikes and that she's happy to be his sidekick in the sidecar.)

Apprentices are a crucial part of any workshop as the ‘hand and minds of the future’. They often need a little mothering and guidance to keep them on the right track. They have a lot to learn at a time when they are experiencing the trials of young adulthood and finding their place in the world. Without that guidance, they can easily get lost along the way.

So when TJ’s character popped into my head, she was the perfect person for the job of coordinator for the Teenage Apprentice Rehabilitation Program that reforms young drug addicts and juvenile offenders. The idea was inspired by Australian businessman, politician and founder of the Young Australia League, J.J. Simons, and his holiday camp established in 1929.

Go on! Share a paragraph or two from Under the Hood.

The connecting door back into the reception didn’t budge as she shoved against it with her bottom and simultaneously tried to secure her wayward hair in a rubber band.

“Ouch,” she muttered just as it gave way and two firm hands grasped her shoulders. The hands spun her around firmly. She looked up. A long way up. The muscular frame of her impatient visitor blocked the doorway.

“Tiffany-Jane Stevens?” His voice reverberated through her, deep and rumbling. Not unlike thunder —which matched the expression on his face.

She shivered. “Yes?”

“Scott Devin. Tie your damn shoes, take off that ridiculous skirt and meet me in my office.” With that, he spun around and stalked off.

Shit, the skirt! TJ stared at his departing back with a sinking feeling in her stomach. Scott Devin. Her new boss. He was a week early. It was definitely going to be a bad day.

Juanita, what do you most like about the writer’s life?

I can create happiness and weave destinies with positive outcomes.

What are you like in ‘real’ life? (Be honest, we’re all friends here, and don’t forget – I know you!)

Depends on who you ask, J I’m a lousy cook, an average baker, a wine drinker and a dreamer. I like to believe that everyone has a little goodness in their heart somewhere and always try to find the positive before I see the negative.

Romance author Juanita Kees

Juanita Kees (or JK as we who know her fondly call her) is my vision of mother earth writing magic. Can’t you tell, though, given her responses to that last two question? Full of heart, full of goodness and all things romantic, yet smart enough to create suspenseful stories, heroines we want to be like and absolutely gorgeous heroes we want to meet.

I can tell you here and now that in future, JK might be publishing works with a sparkling, sassy, modern twist on the old – I’ve read some of these stories, and you know what they say: Tragedy and Comedy are intertwined. It’s all in the – timing. And the emotion.

JK has it. She can wind us through a romantic suspense or a romantic comedy and puncture our hearts with the emotion she's able to portray, whatever the genre.

Where to find Juanita Kees, Romance Author (mother earth, motorbike loving sidekick and self-confessed lousy cook who prefers to dream and write about those dreams - thank goodness!)

Author Site:      http://juanitakees.com/
Facebook:         https://www.facebook.com/pages/Juanita-Kees-Author-Page/119574648138202
Twitter:             @juanitakees

On the Web:

Fresh Fiction
Goodreads
Kees2Create Writing, Editing and Proofreading
Library Thing
Romance Book Paradise
Romance Wiki
Shelfari
The Other Side

Juanita Kees will be back on my blog in August when the third book in the Tag Raiders series, Under Cover of Dark, is released.

Thank you so much for coming to the Burra Burra Lane Birthday Blitz party, JK!

Jennie xx ♥

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