Never Been Kissed Blog Tour Stop! Guest Post + Giveaway

NEVER BEEN KISSED by Molly O’Keefe

July 2014
Boys of Bishop, book #2



BOOK SUMMARY:


            Perfect for readers of Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Rachel Gibson, Molly O’Keefe’s second novel in her exciting new series—The Boys of Bishop—features an irresistible romance and unforgettable characters in a page-turning story that delivers equal parts emotion and humor . . . with a little edge to boot.

As the daughter of a wealthy politician, Ashley Montgomery has had enough of her parents’ expectations for her future and is going her own way, volunteering to work at a refugee camp in Africa. But her act of charity turns dangerous when she takes a boat trip and is abducted by Somali pirates. Enter Brody Baxter, who was a bodyguard for the Montgomery family ten years ago and doesn’t think twice about coming to Ashley’s rescue. Handsome and tough, Brody has always done what needed to be done. So he swoops in, saves Ashley, and brings her to a place where she can rest and recuperate without the glare of the press and her demanding family: Brody’s small hometown of Bishop, Arkansas. But Ashley soon realizes that she’s not the only one in need of healing.


Holed up with Ashley in a tiny apartment over his brother’s bar in Bishop, Brody is tempted and torn in ways he never anticipated. Beautiful Ashley, vibrant despite her ordeal, fearless enough to love him beyond his wall of self-punishment, is now determined to save him. But with a little faith and a lot of love, they just may find happiness in each others’ arms.


Guest Post: Top Ten Inspirations for Never Been Kissed


1.       Jerome Kaino – from the New Zealand All Blacks inspired my hero Brody. Not only is he just so beautiful, the way he plays rugby is pretty inspiring, too. Kaino is not a flashy player, he’s a guy who hands out big hits, and takes big hits so someone else can get the try. He’s solid, he’s strong. He’s the guy you want at your side. All that quiet integrity is something I really tried to infuse into Brody.


2.       Hostage -- I was nursing my daughter, stuck on my couch and glued to the story of Paul and Rachel Chandler and their ordeal at the hands of Somali Pirates. This book is a really interesting account of their year as hostages.  This book informed Ashley’s experience with the pirates.


3.       My cousins – my cousins actually inspired a lot of aspects of this book.  My uncle started a hospital in Kijabe, Kenya and my cousins grew up there.  Three of my cousins have gone on to build schools and hospitals and dig wells in other countries in Africa. They are amazing people, doing amazing work. Their stories have inspired a lot of Ashley’s experience.


4.       The ribs that Cora and Sean make in the book are this recipe.

5.       My neighborhood and friends – I live in a culturally diverse neighborhood in Toronto and I realized that my community and life, actually, wasn’t reflected in the books I write. So, I tried to change that in Never Been Kissed.

6.       Sweet Wind, Wild Wind by Elizabeth Lowell and Remember Me by Laura Moore – I am a total sucker for the books where the heroine, usually young and naive tells the hero that she loves him, only to have him ruthlessly reject her (ruthlessly reject is always on the back cover copy) and then, years later the heroine and the hero are thrown together again. The heroine is vulnerable but angry. The hero is regretful and in love.  I love those books. Lowell’s was one of the first ones I’ve ever read and Laura’s was the last one – I read it in an airport and thought, I want to write one of these.

7.       This is the brisket that Sean and Cora make: Recipe

8.       This is the chili Sean and Cora make with that brisket: Recipe

9.       The Pour House – Sean’s bar is inspired by a bar in the town where I grew up. It shut down before I could ever enjoy it, but from what everyone said – it was about as dive bar as a dive bar could be. And I liked the idea of a young guy trying to fix it up, working hard against the bar’s reputation to bring in new clientele. And, truth be told, I have ALWAYS wanted to have an apartment above a bar. No idea why…


10.   The West Wing – I was rewatching the entire series while writing Never Been Kissed, Indecent Proposal (Harrison’s story) and a short story that I wrote for the Summer Rain Anthology.  High paid escorts, Somali pirates, dirty politics and back alley negotiations and international weapons deals are not usually a part of my books – but somehow watching West Wing – they all managed to slip in!

    BUY THE BOOK!





WILD CHILD, the first installment in the Boys of Bishop series, is available now.






ABOUT MOLLY O’KEEFE:

Molly O'Keefe is the RITA Award winning author of over 25 books and novellas. She lives in Toronto, Canada with her husband, two kids and the largest heap of dirty laundry in North America.


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