Blackjack & Moonlight by Magdalen Braden Excerpt, Giveaway & Interview

Blackjack & Moonlight by Magdalen Braden Series: The Blackjack Quartet, #3 Publication Date: May 25, 2014 Genre: Contemporary Romance

Sex v. Love—a battle in the courtroom and the bedroom! Hotshot litigator Elise Carroll doesn’t have time for romance—she wants to make partner at her Philadelphia law firm. Despite her mother’s urging, Elise avoids settling down by keeping her relationships short and sexy. Her idea of a perfect date? Beer and pretzels at a Phillies game. When Jack “Blackjack” McIntyre—Philly’s super-sexy new judge—falls for Elise in court, she’s horrified. He “claims” to be in love with her—but that can’t possibly be true. He doesn’t give up trying to wine and dine her, though, so she devises a new scheme. Like all men, surely he’ll leave after a short and sexy fling. Only problem—Blackjack refuses to sleep with her! They compromise—she’ll go on his romantic dates if he’ll alternate them with her “just sex” dates. Their contract works surprisingly well—until Elise can no longer find the line between love and sex. Can Elise get her life back where she wants it—in a partner’s office? Or will Jack McIntyre use his superpowers to win their contest of wits?

“Hey, it’s my favorite client.” Elise Carroll grinned and dropped her briefcase so she could scoop DeeDee, her secretary’s four-year-old, into her arms. Kim looked up from a file open on her desk, her cheeks striped by dried tears. “Can you play with her for a couple minutes?” Uh-oh. More domestic drama—the last thing Kim needed. “Okay, but I cannot be late for that man.” Elise walked into her office. With the door open, Kim would be able to watch her daughter from across the hall. “What man, Auntie Leese?” DeeDee asked, her corn-silk hair glinting under the office lights. Elise pointed at the magazine on her desk. “Him.” DeeDee reached for Philadelphia Magazine, the cover showing a handsome man in a black robe. The headline read, “Philadelphia’s Newest—and Sexiest—Judge” and beneath that, in smaller letters, “Blackjack McIntyre moves from the US Attorney’s office to his own district court.” “Who’s dat?” DeeDee inspected the photo. Elise laughed. “Just the latest guy to think a black robe makes him right all the time.” She set DeeDee down on the carpeted floor. “You want to color, sweetheart?” “Sure!” Elise pulled some paper out of the recycling bin, and after checking what was printed on it, spread it out on the floor, blank sides up. She found the crayons she kept in her desk for DeeDee’s visits. She checked her watch. “Oh, lord, look at the time. If I don’t leave immediately I’ll be late for him.” She pointed at Blackjack McIntyre, scowling at her from the cover of the magazine. Kim grinned. “I can’t wait to hear all about it. Details, I want all the details. Is he as good-looking as in his press conferences?” “Not you too.” Elise threw the magazine onto Kim’s desk. Jack McIntyre’s blue-black hair and chiseled jaw mocked her from the cover. Superman in a judicial robe. “I don’t plan to be there long enough to look at him. Five minutes, tops. He grants my motion, and I’m out of there.” “Oh, please. You know he’s seriously hunky. And the article says he’s not dating anyone at the moment.” “Well, based on the women he’s been seen with, I’m not his type. Good thing because I have no interest in dating him or anyone else right now. I want to focus on making partner. And you’d better focus on getting your daughter to day care.” Another check of the watch. Shit. There’d better be a cab downstairs or she’d be late. On her way back into her office, Elise looked at the papers on the floor. DeeDee had drawn a figure in black. Either it was the Honorable Jack McIntyre or a vampire bat. Hard to tell.

After pairing up lawyers romantically in her head for fifteen years, Magdalen Braden traded in her job as an attorney to set her inner matchmaker free. Today she draws on her past adventures in a Philadelphia law office to write her sexy contemporary romance series, The Blackjack Quartet. Blackjack & Moonlight, the third installment in the series, was a finalist in the prestigious Romance Writers of America® Golden Heart® contest in 2012. All four books contain love, romance, and a solid dose of legal humor. Magdalen connects with readers at her local satellite of the Lady Jane's Salon® reading series, and with fellow writers at her Romance Writers of America® chapter. When not writing, she enjoys spending time with her crossword-loving husband, their Rhody-mix dog, and two omnipresent cats in the Endless Mountains of Northeast Pennsylvania.

Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Goodreads

Interview:

Where are you from?

I grew up in Schenectady, NY—I actually remember having to memorize the correct spelling of my hometown! My parents lived in a series of houses in the Stockade section of Schenectady—a historic area a million miles away from the schools, and thus from almost all the other kids in my classes. But they were cool old houses. The oldest one, built in 1765, was even haunted.

Tell us your latest news?

As part of The Writer’s Hotel master class for authors, I’ll be reading from Blackjack & Moonlight at the Red Room of that famous New York literary institution, the KGB Bar, on June 15 from 7:30 – 9:30 p.m.

When and why did you begin writing?

If we ignore (as I fully intend to) my abortive efforts in my twenties, I (re)started writing romances in 2009. I was inspired, ironically, by a series of mystery novels by Julia Spencer-Fleming, which contain the best romantic subplot ever. (Start at the beginning, with In the Bleak Midwinter.)

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

NOT as a tiny child, I can tell you that! In fact, when I told my mother that I wanted to write romances (so much for ignoring my ill-fated writing efforts in my twenties!) she said, “Why do you think you’d be any good at that? I’ve read your philosophy papers.”

What inspired you to write your first book?

(Back to ignoring my twenties…) I had the plots for Blackjack & Moonlight and The Cost of Happiness in mind for years, but I decided to start with Love in Reality because I thought the twin-swap and reality show satire would make it more marketable to agents and/or editors. And yet, we indie published it…

Do you have a specific writing style?

Definitely. For me, romances depict two billiard balls smacking together in the middle of the table—they fly apart, changed from the encounter. By definition, they aren’t heading in the same direction they had been before they met. Thus, I write about the aftermath of that collision, and how the characters change. Including, how they fall in love!

How did you come up with the title?

I like titles that help you know immediately which book is which. “Blackjack” is Jack McIntyre’s nickname (he earned the money for law school at the blackjack tables in Atlantic City), and “Moonlight” refers to Jack’s impressions of the heroine, Elise Carroll.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

You know that hurdle race you feel like you’re running and it never ends? Look to see if maybe a couple of the hurdles came from your personal collection. Those are the hardest to jump over and the easiest to get rid of.

How much of the book is realistic?

Let’s take the key scene where Jack, a brand-new federal judge, recuses himself because he’s fallen for Elise. Any judge on the bench for any amount of time could have handled that situation better. The way I imagined it, though, Jack gets flustered and falls back on the strict rules of judicial conduct. So, not very realistic. In my defense, he’s 37, looks like Superman, and isn’t married, which isn’t your average federal district court judge, either.

On the other hand, I made Elise’s law firm very similar to ones I know. I’d say the most unrealistic thing in the book is the ease with which the characters order roses in custom colors on a Sunday!

a Rafflecopter giveaway