Pour Attitude
by P.J. DeVere
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
BLURB:
Madeline
Everly wants to climb her muscular bartender like a mountain, but he
seems opposed to the idea. After she starts working alongside him
behind the bar, will he finally give into her?
When
Madeline’s misogynistic boss, overbearing mother, and grudge
holding sister become too much to bear, it’s time to let off a
little steam. Mads has a wild streak, and she doesn’t apologize for
it. She likes men, and she has her sights set on one in
particular—Exel Kinley. If she can check him off her to-do list,
maybe he won’t take up so much room in her head. As nothing in her
life has ever been permanent, Mads has no problems going through men
like she goes through gin and tonics at happy hour. Can she have the
adventure she wants and the pleasure she craves, all from the same
man?
Excerpt:
“Got a new boyfriend to add to your collection?” Exel asks as he pours a drink for one of his customers. That’s the first voluntary thing he’s said to me tonight.
“That quota’s not going to fill itself. Why do you ask? Are you jealous?” I ask with a hand on my hip.
“At not being another notch in your bedpost? Nah.”
I don’t dignify that with a response. Instead, I turn and take more customers orders as they flood in. One of the women across the bar is specific as to what brand of vodka she wants in her Cosmo, so I scan our array of bottles on the wall behind me until I find it.
They don’t call it top shelf liquor for nothing, and it looks like I’m about to scale a wall. I get a good foothold on one of the lower shelves so I can swing a knee onto the slender countertop to climb up. I grab the bottle of Grey Goose which is now at eye level, and I’m contemplating my descent when strong hands grab my hips.
“Whoa!” I yell as Exel pulls me backwards off the counter and into his arms. I clutch the bottle of vodka to my chest as I fall into him, worrying about breaking the bottle and myself, but I don’t have to worry. He is in control of my fall as he brings his arms all the way around my waist to catch me. He puts my feet on the ground but holds me to him a moment or two longer than necessary.
“I would leave a pretty deep notch,” he whispers before releasing me from his hold and walking away like nothing ever happened.
Interview with P.J. DeVere:
What made you want to become a writer?
I have always enjoyed writing, and I equally enjoy my warped sense of humor. My professors in college would often comment on my writing style, and I guess that’s where I first was inspired. One in particular told me how she would take my assignments home and reads them to her husband, and they would both crack up laughing over them. (I was most proud of that). However, my law degree took priority, and writing went on the back burner for many years.
I think the cumulation of life inspired me to start writing the Starkford Series. First off, I read romance. I love romance. I inhale book after book like a junkie looking for her next fix. Secondly, I’ve packed lots of experience into my years walking this planet. I’m a mom and a wife, I have a master’s degree in teaching, and I was a fifth-grade teacher before my law career. Presently, I’m a prosecutor, but I’ve also practiced in many other areas of law such as in family and civil cases. This potent mix of experiences thrown on top of a love for all things romance, in Frankenstein-fashion, created my writing career.
What inspired you to write Pour Attitude?
Of course, the thrill of romance inspired me. I love first kisses (and first-everything-else), and the lure of repeating those experiences vicariously through my characters is too much to stay away from. However, there is more to Pour Attitude than romance. All of my books are empowering for women, and that is on purpose. As a female working in a predominantly male field, I understand how it isn’t enough to be as good as your male counterparts to succeed, you have to be better. Outperforming everyone else is the minimum requirement for success, which is an unfair double standard. It’s time to shed light in the darkness, and help women fortify their already strong backbones. My hope is my readers finish my books with a bold smile in place, ready to conquer the world.
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Pour Attitude?
Madeline, the female protagonist, is who I want to be when I grow up. She’s wild and fun, but she is also no-nonsense. You won’t find a more direct person than Mads. She doesn’t have time for games, and she goes after what (and who) she wants without taking no for an answer.
Exel is the stuff of dirty, dirty daydreams. He is a mountain of muscles that hides a broody old soul inside. He has ghosts from his past that haunt him and impact his choices. He keeps his own company and trusts no one. One fun fact is that Exel was named after my late maternal grandfather. I was very young when he passed, and I only have a couple of blurry memories of him. I have never heard the name Exel before or since, but I love it. Even though my grandfather was a short, small man, I made his namesake into a large and in-charge demigod because, why not? I’m sure he’d be proud.
The other characters are ones who you’ll see weaving in and out of the other books in the series. Each book features two (or more) of the main cast of characters.
You know I think we all have a favorite author. Who is your favorite author and why?
My favorite author may surprise you because it is in the paranormal romance genre. I have been in love with Richelle Mead’s writing since the first book I picked up years ago. My favorite of her series is Georgina Kincaid, the succubus series. However, I am a huge fan of Vampire Academy. I hate what they did to the movie. I don’t think the director had the same serious love for it that I did.
I have thought many times about what makes her my favorite, and I have trouble putting it into words because it’s a feeling. It’s like trying to describe the color red to a person who has never had sight. I feel her books. What I can quantify is I like her themes of forbidden love, and I am thrilled every time she can surprise me. It’s something I’ve tried to take into my own books; I love to surprise my readers with things they don’t expect.
Can you tell us a little bit about your next books or what you have planned for the future?
Pour Baby will be next, and I hope to release it later in 2021. Each of the books in the Starkford Series can be read as a standalone, and I hope to have several more in the series. Although, I will be branching off into a new series soon. I have a free novella that I give away through my website, pjdevere.com, and it introduces a new character, Levi Shelly. Shelly will have his own spin-off series that takes place in New Orleans, Louisiana. Shelly is a hot, rich, and super successful author who is steadily looking to expand and build his massive empire.
I don’t mean to be a tease, but I can’t tell you much more about this yet. What I can tell you is that I plan to do something with this series that I’ve never seen anyone else do. With some careful planning, faith, hope, trust, and pixie dust, I might be able to pull it off.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
Writing is a high for me. It makes this little introvert excited and animated because I am very passionate about it. I was, however, more anxious to write this book than I have been the others because I love these characters so much. Mads was one of the first people I introduced in the series, back in the first book, and I fell in love with her immediately. Her mind is a fun place to be. I know mothers shouldn’t have favorite children, but she and Exel are mine (don’t tell the others). Also, when I write, I tend to fly by the seat of my pants rather than plot or outline every scene in advance, so I was as excited as everybody else at how the characters developed through the arc of the story. Pour Attitude has suspense, mayhem, comedy, and sizzle, and I’m very proud of how it turned out.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
P.J. DeVere is the author of The Starkford Series. She was born and raised in Mississippi, where she is still a practicing attorney. A life-long lover of books, P.J. finds it hard to tear herself away from a steamy romance novel. She’s had multiple careers in her life, but writing is by far her favorite. Before earning her law degree from Ole Miss, she was a fifth-grade teacher. She has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Mississippi State.
She is a wonderful wife, a terrible housekeeper, and a devoted mother. Her sons are all grown with lives of their own, and she is making use of this newfound time and freedom to get to know the imaginary friends in her head. She is giving readers a distinctly different view of life in the South as not everyone down here spits tobacco through a missing tooth hole or says “I declare” while lazily fanning herself under a magnolia tree. P.J. has found joy in creating a series of novels that reflects the Mississippi she knows and loves, and she hopes her readers will find the lure of returning to Starkford as irresistible as she does.
To learn more about P.J. please visit:
Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram
Buy Link:
6 comments:
Thanks for hosting me on your blog today!
Sounds like a good book.
The book sounds very intriguing. Great cover!
Looks like a very good book.
Congratulations on your release and thanks for sharing your great book.
Thanks! It was a fun book to write!
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