No More Mr. Nice Guy by Amy Andrews – Review and Interview with the Author

 

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / BAM

Description: Release Date September 29, 2014
He’s done playing the nice guy…

Newly single school counselor Josie Butler just made herself a Sexy To-Do list (featuring Bad Boys only). To her mortification, her best friend’s gorgeous older brother Mack finds it…and laughs. But when Josie goes looking for some sexy fun, Mack’s nice guy side turns all hot bad-assery, and suddenly she’s pinned against an alley wall. Hottest. Sex. Ever.

Veterinarian Mack Kennedy can’t believe Josie wants to ditch her sweet, girl-next-door lifestyle. Even worse, that she’d consider doing it with anyone but him. When she leaves for London they’ll go back to being ‘just friends’ but until then, he’s going to show her just how bad nice guys can be.

And it’s the perfect plan, as long as no one finds out… and no one falls in love.

Review:

We might have read similar storylines as NO MORE MR. NICE GUY by Amy Andrews. It’s the boy who  is attracted to his little sister’s best friend. It’s a tried and true formula for a simple reason: the characters have a history and know each other very well. In this case, it was fun reading their bantering when they see each other again. They both quote lines from “Anne of Green Gables”!

Josie has just ended a 5 year relationship that consisted of “beige sex”. She is visiting her best friend and after a night of drinking she writes a Sex “To Do” list! It’s a list of some activities and positions that she wants to try, never expecting anyone else would read it. Mack is the best friend’s big brother and finds the list and teases Josie about it. She gets a little sensitive, goes to a seedy side of town and nearly gets herself raped! That’s when Mack decides that he can be her bad boy and pins her against an alley wall for her best sex ever! Yes, public fornication is on Josie’s list! In that instance, he says, no more Mr. Nice Guy!

This novel is basically Josie and Mack on the sly deciding they will be each other’s “rebound” partner and they work at checking off the “to do” acts on her list. Yes, this novel is mostly the couple connecting through sex and discovering that there is something more to their relationship. Josie must decide if a fling is all she wants or if she should take a chance on love.

If you enjoy a lot of steam in your novels, you will enjoy NO MORE MR. NICE GUY! I connected more to the characters as they fell in love, not just their checking off the list scenes. Yes, I prefer the relationship building, but she had some fun activities on her list! All in all, it was a fun read! I hope you enjoy the good guy being bad!

Reviewed by Jules

Copy provided by Publisher

TRC: Hi Amy and welcome to The Reading Café. Congratulations on the recent release of NO MORE MR. NICE GUY.

Amy: Thanks for having me – I’m very excited about my sexy new book!

TRC: We would like to start with some background information. Would you please tell us something about yourself?

Follow Amy: Goodreads / Website / Twitter / Facebook

Amy: I’m an Aussie author who’s written over 40 contemporary romances. I married the guy I met when I was 16 and we have two teenagers. I’m also a part-time PICU nurse. I love books that make me laugh, cry and sigh as well as great food, good wine, old friends and traveling to far flung places.
And HEA’s. And cowboys. In tool belts.

TRC: Who or what influenced your career in writing?

Amy: I wouldn’t be published today without RWAustralia. The things I learned through them are invaluable. Also, Jennifer Crusie. Getting Rid Of Bradley was the first book of hers I ever read (through a recommendation) and it opened my eyes to a different type of romance and I knew that it was the kind of stuff that I wanted to write!

TRC: When not writing, what do you do to relax?

Amy: Read. Of course ☺ Although drinking wine is another favourite past time. When I get to do the two together – bliss!

TRC: As a writer, have any of your experiences as a PICU nurse found their way into your storylines?

Amy: Hell yes! I’ve written 30 medical romances so a lot of my experiences end up in my books. They’re not often directly word-for-word representations but the way I give my characters and the setting an authentic feel is definitely drawn from being a nurse for 27 years.

TRC: Most, if not all, of your storylines are contemporary, romance love stories. Have you considered writing another genre? If so, what genre interests you the most?

Amy: You know, I’m such a contemporary gal and have so many more contemporary stories in my head I have to say I’m never really tempted to write anything else. Having said that the contemp I’m working on at the moment does have a slight paranormal bent…. And I would love to have a go at writing a script.

TRC: NO MORE MR. NICE GUY is your September 2014 release from Entangled Brazen. Would you please tell us something about the premise?

Amy: NMMNG is a best-friends older brother story, a friends-to-lovers story. It revolves around Sal and Josie having a little too many fruity cocktails and Josie writing a sex list. But then Mack, Sal’s older brother finds it and starts to think he could help her out with that. And man – does he ever!

TRC: Is this a stand alone storyline or do you have plans for a series?

Amy: Sal, Mack’s sister, is getting her own story too!

TRC: What challenges or difficulties (research, logistics, background) did you encounter writing this particular story?

Amy: Both Mack and Sal are vets so I had do some research on rabbits and talking Cockatoos and also on Hendra virus which is carried by bats and affects horses and can also be transmitted to humans. It has a very high mortality rate. See what I did there? Snuck in some of my research :- )

TRC: When writing a storyline, do the characters direct the writing or do you direct the characters?

Amy: I’d say probably a little bit of both. I can write them in the direction I want them to go. Usually… but when they want to take off a good writer knows just to strap themselves in and let those characters fly!

TRC: The mark of a good writer is to pull the reader into the storyline so that they experience the emotions along with the characters. What do you believe a writer must do to make this happen? Where do you believe writer’s fail in this endeavor?

Amy: I think writers have to bleed over the page too if they have any hope of getting their readers to feel that same emotional wrench. There’s a scene in NMMNG that I cried buckets writing and I cry every time I read it. Writers need to find that well of emotion and, more importantly, not be afraid to find it. Don’t shy away from it. I think that’s where writers fail – when they shy from it.

TRC: Writer’s Block is a very real phenomenon for many authors. How do you handle the pressures and anxiety of writer’s block?

Amy: To be honest – I’ve never had writers block (yes, I have probably just cursed myself with the world’s most severe case!) Sure, there are days when the words are more difficult than others. There are times in your life when shit happens and the writing just goes on the backburner. My Mum died a few years ago and I didn’t write properly for a couple of months afterwards (and that’s perfectly okay too). But I’m a firm believer in putting my butt in the chair and just writing one word. Because I know if I can write just one word, another will follow. And that’s what I do on the days when the muse is being recalcitrant – I put my faith in one word.

TRC: Many authors bounce ideas and information with other authors or friends and family. With whom do you bounce ideas?

Amy: It’s really important to have a tribe around you understand what it’s like to write. I would never, for example, chat with my husband about my WIP because it’s just not his thing. But my sister is a writer so I bounce ideas off her a lot. I also have a close bunch of writer friends who I can email and chat with about ideas or issues or just have a rant about something that is frustrating and it’s sooo very valuable.

TRC: What three things would you like to accomplish in the next five years?

Amy:

I’d like to get to 60 books.
I’d like to be able to truly support myself on my writing alone.
I’d freaking love to win a RITA :- )

TRC: What is something that few, if any people, know about you?

Amy: My office chair is a fit ball. Sitting for hours can be hard on the back and I’ve found the cushiony support of a fit ball is just right.

TRC: On what are you currently working?

Amy: Sal’s book of course :- )

TRC: Would you like to add anything else?

Amy: For gossip, giveaways and new releases, sign up for Amy’s Newsletter

LIGHTNING ROUND

Favorite Food – Mac and cheese.

Favorite Dessert – treacle steamed pudding/sticky date pudding (I am a pudding girl!)

Favorite TV Show – ack! Too many…. Favourite TV show ever – West Wing. Fav current TV show – The Good Wife

Last Movie You Saw – The 100 foot Journey – freaking awesome!

Favorite Musical Group – lordy! I can’t decide. At the moment I’m loving Play It Again by Luke Bryan

Dark or Milk Chocolate – milk. But I usually eat dark because it’s lower in carbs.

Secret Celebrity Crush – Mark Ruffalo

Last Vacation Destination – Paris :- )

Pet Peeve – never having enough time to read!

TRC: Thank you Amy for taking the time to answer our questions. Congratulations on all of your success.