Underneath It All by Cassandra Carr: Interview & Review

Underneath It All 

(Storm series #2)

Cassandra Carr

Title: Underneath It All (Storm series 2)

Genre: Contemporary sports romance

Length: 363 pages (approx 86,000 words)

Publisher: Twenty or Less Press

Publication date: October 22, 2013

Buy links: TBD

Blurb:

Professional hockey player Rob D'Amico is confused when he's chosen to take part in a reading program for inner-city students. While athletes are role models, he tends toward the gregarious and playful side, rather than a studious bent.

Despite the lack of funding plaguing her inner-city district, every day kindergarten teacher Alaina Rossa ensures her students learn something to prepare them for life. At first she's unsure how a hockey player will help her achieve that goal.

When Rob visits Alaina's class for the first time, they welcome him with open arms, despite the lack of even the basic supplies for their education. He takes it upon himself to get the students what they need, sweeping Alaina up in the excitement.

As time goes by and she learns more about Rob, Alaina finds her heart opening to him. Is it possible her soul mate could be found in a world so different from her own? And for Rob, the last person he thought he'd find forever love with was an elementary school teacher wearing clothes permanently stained with finger paint. But when you're playing for keeps, sometimes you have to get a little dirty.

Amazon

Amazon UK

Smashwords

Click HERE for my Review

Author bio

Cassandra Carr is a multi-award winning erotic romance writer with Ellora's Cave, Sybarite Seductions/Twenty or Less Press, Decadent Publishing, Siren Publishing, and Loose Id. She lives in Western New York with her husband, Inspiration, and her daughter, Too Cute for Words. When not writing she enjoys watching hockey and hanging out online. Cassandra is the co-founder of two successful group blogs, Romancing the Jock and Dirty Birdies, and participates in several others as a contributor. Currrently Cassandra also serves as president of Western New York Romance Writers.

For more information about Cassandra, check out her website at http://www. booksbycassandracarr.com, "like" her Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/ AuthorCassandraCarr or follow her on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ Cassandra_Carr.

Links:

Website: http://www.booksbycassandracarr.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorCassandraCarr
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/cassandra_carr
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/booksbycasscarr/

Interview:

Being a hockey fan I'm really excited to welcome author Cassandra Carr today. 

What is your favorite part of the story, Underneath It All?

Honestly I love the hero, Rob. When I conceived him in Should’ve Known Better, book one of this series, I gave him some little quirks that carried over into this book. As an example, Rob is this stocky professional hockey player who just happens to have a Christmas fetish. The hero of Should’ve Known Better describes their house being decorated “like Martha Stewart threw up”. Things like that made Rob a lot of fun to write – and hard, too, since he’s so funny!

How long did it take you to write Underneath It All?

From beginning to when I turned it in to my editor, roughly three months. I was doing edits on other projects etc during the same time or I might’ve been able to write quicker.

If you were stranded on a desert island which of your characters do you want by your side?

Sebastian from Should’ve Known Better. He’s my favorite hero (that I’ve ever written) and I’m sure he could keep me quite warm.

What inspired you to write your first book?

My first book was, strangely enough, Should’ve Known Better. I started it in 2008. After a while of it getting rejected for one reason or another, I asked my friend, who is also one of my publishers, if it was even worth it to try to fix it and perhaps self-publish it. She came back to me and said “I can work with this!” and the Storm series was born. Should’ve Known Better started out as Buffalo Sabres fanfiction, but the current book doesn’t really resemble that story much.

Who or what inspired you to be a writer?

My mom, Cynthia Racette, is also a writer. She’s currently sitting about three feet away typing on her own laptop. She read Should’ve Known Better in the early stages and said I should try to get a publisher for it.

What is your typical day like?

My daughter is in full-day preschool, so luckily my days are more typical than they used to be. I get up with her, get her fed and dressed and out the door, and then spend the next hour or two going through email, setting up Tweets, and doing other promotional/administrative tasks. Then I write. While I’m writing I often get up and change or fold laundry, do some dishes, and other household tasks to give myself a break, and also because if I don’t do them nobody does!

This kind of mindless house cleaning is also good for breaking yourself out of a tough spot. Oftentimes I’ll get frustrated, so I get up to do something, and in the middle of it I get an epiphany about how to solve my problem.

      

How do you overcome writer’s block?

I write through it. I fully subscribe to the idea of “you can’t fix a blank page”. Even if it’s crap, keep writing. Inevitably it won’t keep being crap.

Can you share a little of your current work with us?

I’m currently writing book 3 in this series. It’s titled Man Behind the Mask and features the back-up goaltender, Jordan, who, if anything, is even funnier and goofier than Rob is. It’s not easy to write characters who are this funny!

Right now I’ve only written about 10,000 words, and I’m a pantser, so I can’t tell you much about the storyline except that the heroine is a florist.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Just that I sooooooo appreciate them wanting to take the time to read my books. I love what I do and it wouldn’t be possible without great readers like I have!