When I wrote DARE about three years ago, I had no plans to write about him and Olivia again. I am thrilled how much readers have enjoyed their story, and bought the copies and sent me emails expressing their love for these characters.

And the secondary characters too!!! I think over the years, I’ve received more emails about Candy Wilson than I have about Dare and Olivia, which has been pretty awesome! But she was one of those characters that I didn’t get along with very well. I found she gave Dare a bit too much of a hard time in his story. Yes she is one of Olivia’s best friends and ladies have to stick together and all that, but Candy was difficult when I wrote DARE.

However, over the years, as recently as around Christmas, I heard from readers wanting her to have a story of her own. Those emails are heartwarming and endearing to me. As a writer, we WANT readers to hound us for more, so those emails are thrilling and I’ve printed them all! It was all new to me and I hated to tell readers that I’d write her story when she spoke to me.

And about six months ago, the pain in the butt Candy finally started speaking to me. And I listened, and we grew patient with one another and became almost friends. Once I had a good picture in my head of what her story would be, I sat down to write. And I got a bit of a ‘for your own good’ spin for her to deal with … a man as cantankerous and stubborn as she is! One who will do whatever he has to do to protect his own. And he’s not impressed with her good looks, her charming smile or flirting ways either. Of course that drives Candy crazy, which to me is very entertaining!! *g* And to my surprise, it evolved into a trilogy!! I wasn’t expecting that but Candy’s hero, Eric, has a couple siblings who need their own stories told.

Candy’s story is STIRRING UP DIRTY releases Friday July 24^th. It’s already up at Goodreads, so be sure to add to your shelves!

Here’s the blurb & a small excerpt from Stirring Up Dirty.

 

Blurb:

Shaken and Stirred with a splash of dirty.

Candy Wilson arrives in St. Albert with one mission—to sign the next young, hot model to her modeling agency. She has no time for distractions and isn’t prepared for bartender Eric McKenna—the brother of her young client-to-be, Melissa. Eric challenges her on all counts, irritates her daily, and heats her body to boiling temperatures with just one touch. He’s hard to ignore and impossible to resist.

Eric McKenna will be damned if his baby sister signs any contracts with Candy Wilson. No way in hell will he allow anyone to whisk Melissa off to a foreign country and lead her on a path that’s not right for her. And yet Candy pushes him further than he’s ever been before and drives him crazy. Eric can’t control his need for her or the desire to engage with her … on so many levels.

 

Excerpt, © Kacey Hammell, 2015

She strode across the room to the side door Melissa had directed her to. The door was ajar, held open with a small wooden crate. She pushed the crate inside and entered, shutting the door behind her.

“Damn it. Who let the door close? Drew, fuck, you know better.” The masculine voice from somewhere in the back startled her. Thankfully she recognized the voice or she’d have been screaming bloody murder about being locked in a room with a stranger.

“Sorry, Eric. It’s Candy. I closed the door.” She moved further into the room and around one large utility shelving unit.

“Christ, what the hell are you doing in here?”

She found him near the back wall, piling boxes of what looked like the nuts she had to find on a small cart.

“I was giving Melissa a hand.” She pointed at the item in his hand. “I was going to take them out for her, for after closing, and give her a hand.”

He snorted, set down the case and reached for another one. “I don’t think a woman like you would be into this type of work. Don’t want you breaking a nail or anything like that.”

“Oh shut up, dickhead. You’re so pompous.”

He raised his head and glared at her.

“Don’t look at me like that, either. I’m no stranger to hard work.” She scanned the room. Jesus, wasn’t there air-conditioning in this little closet? She pulled at the neckline of her scoop neck top. “Anything else I can help with?”

Eric set aside the last case and leaned against the shelf. His arms crossed over his chest, and Candy tried to ignore the bulging biceps that stood out beneath the sleeves of his grey t-shirt.

Ah, hell.

Her heart skipped and her pussy throbbed. Just when she thought she’d shoved the need for him aside, he had to go and look all manly and tasty standing there.

“I thought you were here to whisk my sister off somewhere?” She hated that he could see right through her plans. “Or are you here for a job? No longer young enough for those crazy sharks in magazines these days?”

Oh the bastard knew how to cut her to the quick. She wasn’t a washed-up has-been, but her time in the fashion and modeling limelight had come and gone. “You really need to let go of that high-and-mighty attitude. You know nothing about me. Now,” she waved her arms, “anything here need to be taken out front?”

He smirked, and she wanted to slap him. But he shrugged and pointed to the shelf above her head. “I need that red box there brought down. The blue one beside it too. They aren’t heavy, just napkins.”

She nodded and lifted her arms. In her six-inch heels it was hard to reach so high, and she widened her stance for better balance. The tips of her fingers eased the red box closer to the edge for her to grab the sides. She lowered it and set it on the stack of cases he had on the cart.

“I’m glad I can help. Melissa looked a bit frazzled out there. She is a hard worker.”

He coughed. “We all grew up working hard.”

Candy reached for the blue box and nodded. “It seems like a great family unit that you all have.” Crap, this one was a bit farther back. She felt a breeze cross her skin as her top rose, baring her midriff. She wobbled on her heels. Shit. That’s all she needed was to fall on her ass while in a skirt and look like a fool.

Warm hands suddenly circled her waist. Gasping, she drew in a deep breath and grabbed on to the shelf with both hands as he touched her.

“Easy there, darlin’. Those heels aren’t exactly made for working.” His searing breath washed over her neck. Electric currents spread along her skin, igniting and firing to life. Goddamn, goddamn.

 

Be sure to grab your copy of STIRRING UP DIRTY on July 24^th! Until then, meet Candy in DARE – and enjoy Dare & Olivia’s story too!

DARE buy links:

Evernight Publishing
Amazon – US / Canada / UK
aRe
B&N (Nook)
Kobo Store
OmniLit
Bookstrand

 

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