Interview with Cathy Yardley and #PNR Temping is Hell

Today, help me welcome author Cathy Yardley, who’s here to talk about her upcoming release with Entangled Publishing, Temping is Hell. It is urban fantasy with a chick-lit vibe, which means it’s funny and sexy all at the same time. After publishing more than a dozen novels, Cathy says Temping is her favorite, and I have to say it sounds like a really fun read. You can learn more about Cathy and her books at her website.

Read on for a chance to win... 

ABOUT TEMPING IS HELL: WORST. JOB. EVER. Kate O'Hara can't wait until this temp assignment is over. The woman who hired her is a psychotic pageant queen, her coworkers are convicts-turned-clerks, and it's so boringly corporate it makes her skin crawl. Even her sexy-as-sin boss, famed billionaire Thomas Kestrel, isn't enticement enough to keep her there. Once she makes enough to pay off her bills, she's out. Or so she thinks...WHAT THE HELL? Next thing she knows, she's accidentally signed over her soul. Literally. And she's discovered Thomas's real mission: to kill thirteen bad guys in one year, in order to get his—now his and Kate’s—souls back….IT'S NOT JUST A JOB. IT'S A MISADVENTURE. From learning to boost the morale of some paper-pushing demons to navigating her way through blood-red tape, Kate has to work closely with her super-hot supervisor and get her flaky act together, before somebody clocks her out—p permanently!

Give us the “elevator pitch” for your book.

TEMPING IS HELL is about a secretary who accidently sells her soul to her sexy boss – and has to help him kill 13 people to get it back.

Describe your favorite scene from the new book--and why is it your favorite?

I love this book, so it’s hard to pick just one scene! That said, I do love when Kate and Thomas meet… he’s just move to this new corporate headquarters, it’s one in the morning, and he’s lost. And that’s how he finds Kate, who is working late and singing “Baby Got Back” as she files. It’s very cute, and showcases both of their characters: he’s a Southern corporate billionaire, she’s a funky, anti-corporate temp from Berkeley. And there are yummy, fun sparks between them right from the jump.

What was the hardest scene to write?

There’s a scene where Kate faces her parents, who believe that she’s this colossal screw-up and that she’s ruining her life. She’s lost a lot, and she feels like she has no one to turn to, and they just twist the knife. It’s worse because they love her… they just don’t believe in her.

What’s on your nightstand or top of your TBR pile?

Ghost Story by Jim Butcher.  Hopefully, it’ll soon be the latest in the Dresden Files series, Cold Days!

Favorite book when you were a child.

Another tough one! I’d have to say The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  She was a classic.

Book you've faked reading (Moby Dick is leading the votes on this question!): 

The Grapes of Wrath.  (Shhhh.  I got an A on a paper in high school on that one.  Still not quite sure how.)

Book you're an evangelist for: 

The Dresden Files series, for one (see: nightstand question <g>) and Chloe Neill’s Chicagoland Vampires. Huge, huge fan! Oh! And Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire. I love that book! I love her Toby Daye series, too, but Armageddon is a lot funnier.  

Book you've bought for the cover:

Rosemary and Rue, by Seanan McGuire.

Book that changed your life:

The Lion’s Lady by Julie Garwood.  It was the first single title romance I ever read. Stayed up till 3 a.m. reading it. 

Favorite line from a book:

“You know, if Bonnie’s right, a leprechaun will be by any minute to kneecap you.”

(From Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie.)

Book you most want to read again for the first time:

The Harry Potter series.  J

Most horrifying moment while reading a book:

That moment with Rue, in the Hunger Games.  I figured it was coming, and I admire the hell out of Collins for not pulling her punch, but… yikes. I cried despite myself.

Favorite book about books or writing:

Story Engineering by Larry Brooks.  Total game-changer. 

Thanks, Cathy! Reading your answers…Dresden…Secret Garden…Harry Potter. I think we might have been separated at birth! LOL.

The giveaway: commenters on each review, Q&A, and guest post get an entry into a weekly Readers pool. At the end of the week, good old random.org will pick one to win his or her choice of the books in the pool of books reviewed or talked about for the week (or the first book in a series if a later series book is reviewed). Or one of the titles from the Book Horde (tab at the top of the page). What book would you want to read again for the first time? I also would go with the Harry Potter series…it was just so fresh and unique and engrossing. Now…go!