Katy Ames: Exclusive Interview & Excerpt
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Hi! I’m so excited to share Love by Design with you! This story has so many of my favorite things: a hunky carpenter, a heroine getting back on her feet, a heavy dose of sexual tension, and a second chance at love. Plus, magic pancakes. It’s steamy and sweet and I hope you fall for Grayson and Annika as hard as I did!
HEA Novel Thoughts: Are any characters based off of you, friends, family, or anybody in your life?
Katy Ames: No, not specifically, though I’ve definitely borrowed traits and preferences from people in my life and built them into my characters. Like, in Love by Design, I gave Annika my love of pancakes and palak chaat (a fried spinach dish from one of my favorite Indian restaurants).
HEA Novel Thoughts: Is there a certain place where you get more inspired to write than others?
Katy: I’m a creature of habit. I have to write at a desk, with a large latte and as few distractions as possible. I’m not someone who can write at a coffee shop or park or library. I get too absorbed in people watching.
HEA Novel Thoughts: What made you start writing?
Katy: I’ve done it ever since I could remember. When I was young, whenever anyone would ask what I wanted to do, my answer was always: be a writer. Some days I love it, some days it’s so hard I hate it, but it’s always the one thing my heart comes back to.
HEA Novel Thoughts: Have you ever cried while writing?
Katy: Yes, while writing two different books. Returning to Eden and After the Storm. The characters were each experiencing something heart breaking and I couldn’t help but cry as they were overwhelmed by the heavy emotions they’d bottled up for so long.
HEA Novel Thoughts: How do you balance writing with real life?
Katy: Hahaha, there is no balance, and not enough time in the day. If I’m lucky, I can work around my family’s schedule and my mom obligations to get a few good stretches of writing time each week. But, when it’s crunch time, I inevitably write late into the night in order to meet my deadlines.
HEA Novel Thoughts: Are your book settings based on a real place? Your favorite place?
Katy: Locations, yes. Exact places, not really. Obviously, the 425 Madison Avenue series is set in New York, but the apartment building is fictional. My mom is originally from NYC and I’ve spent a lot of time there, so I worked some of my favorite places in real life into my books in the series. But there are many made up spots as well. In Love by Design, Annika and Grayson spend some time in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. That’s a real place, and where I grew up. I wove some of the details about that area that I love into the story. I always enjoy sneaking bits of real life into my stories.
HEA Novel Thoughts: What makes a great romance novel?
Katy: Great characters, great chemistry, and a satisfying Happily Ever After. Oh, and seriously steamy sex scenes never hurt. ☺
HEA Novel Thoughts: If a reader discovers your books today, where would you recommend they start reading?
Katy: After the Island, the first book in my first series. It’s set in a fictional resort on the real island of Nevis and there’s just so much to love: a smart, badass heroine, a hero who’s been secretly in love with her for years, and an exotic setting in a swanky hotel (aka, the best place to indulge in a forbidden fling that becomes so much more). Happy reading!
Book Info
With her wicked past behind her, Annika is back to prove she’s still as brilliant as ever. Grayson has the makings for ultimate sucess, as long as his new co-star is everything they say she is. Annika stole his heart years ago and never looked back, but will the past be able to stay in the past? Readers are going to love this reunited love romance from Katy Ames. The 425 Madison series is back with season two and LOVE BY DESIGN is now live!
About the 425 Madison Series
Welcome to 425 Madison Ave the perfect place to fall in love. Nine delicious romances set in fast-paced & sexy NYC just waiting for you to read.
This season will feature some new authors as well as some of season one’s favs. Back for season two is Allie York, Leigh Lennon, MK Moore, Aubree Valentine, Lauren Helms, and Katy Ames. Plus a warm welcome to KC Enders, and Marcie Shumway! Not only do we have a sexy mix of new and returning authors, prepare for pages packed with new romances, characters, and tropes all from the same well-loved high-rise apartment building in NYC.
Not only do we have a sexy mix of new and returning authors, prepare for pages packed with new romances, characters, and tropes all from the same well-loved high-rise apartment building in NYC.
Make sure to follow the 425 Madison Avenue Facebook page for more on release dates, cover reveals and author spotlights. For exclusive excerpts, giveaways, and news subscribe to our 425 Madison newsletter!
Copyright @ 2020 Katy Ames
I think it’s fair to say I’m not making a great impression on the Hesse family.
First, it was Lottie’s picture.
Then, Michael scolding us out of the barn like two teenagers he caught copping a feel in the back of his car.
And, of course, how could I forget Amy’s opinion that I am, as her daughter informed me, “mean and sad”?
Everyone knows that people in the entertainment industry need to have thick skin and, believe me, I’ve bulked mine up plenty over the past few years. But navigating conversations with Grayson’s family members is starting to feel like an American Ninja Warrior obstacle course, and I’m losing.
Badly, if Jane’s expression is anything to go by. “You don’t like mashed potatoes?” Grayson’s mom asks for the second time, her tone moving quickly past surprise to suspicion. “You’re sure?”
Grayson, thank God, has stepped away from the table, so he’s not here to witness me trample all of his mother’s good intentions—and her home-cooked dinner.
“I love mashed potatoes, Mrs. Hesse. I just can’t eat them. There’s milk and butter in them, right?”
“Heavy cream, dear. But, yes. And a touch of sour cream, too. Gives ‘em a little bite.”
My mouth salivates at the thought, but I know the pain isn’t worth having even the smallest bite. “They sound delicious, really. I wish I could. But I can’t do dairy. Not even a little bit, not without paying a huge price for it later.”
Lottie, who’s been watching our exchange with rapt attention, giggles and turns to her mom. “Ms. Nika’s going to get diarrhea. Remember when I brought home that cold from school and gave it to everybody, and we all had diarrhea, too? Soooooooooo gross.”
Gross, but funny, apparently. The little girl can’t stop laughing. Despite the cause, it’s infectious, and giggles bubble up from my chest.
‘Love by Design’ by Katy Ames
“Charlotte, please,” comes from Amy, while Jason forces out, “Not at the dinner table, Green Bean,” between chuckles.
Volleying a perplexed look between her parents, Lottie counters with, “What? It’s true!”
The two-year-old, Sammy, not wanting to be left out, starts to warble. “If you have to go potty, stop and go right away.” And his grandfather, seemingly without intending to, helps the toddler finish by singing, “Flush and wash and be on your way.”
Only when the impromptu duet is over does Pop-Pop drop his fork and turn to his daughter. “Goddamnit, Amy! That’s the last time I let the kids watch TV in our bedroom. I’ve been humming that stupid song all week.”
“Tell me about it,” she and her husband say in unison, but not nearly loud enough to cover up Lottie’s protest that if Pop-Pop can say stupid, so can she.
When Grayson returns, he barely has a chance to drop into his seat before his niece scrambles onto his lap and gives him a circuitous but astonishingly precise account of everything he’s missed, diarrhea included.
With one large hand, he rubs her back, his chin propped on her head as he mouths “sorry” across the table to me.
I wave him off, oddly at ease. Pandemonium is playing out around me, but instead of feeling anxious or shell-shocked, a comforting warmth has settled across my limbs. It takes me a second to realize the reason, another several to come to terms with it.
No one here cares who I am. No one here cares that I’m Annika Hale, the short-lived HDTV darling who was humiliated by her co-star and then-husband on live TV and subsequently lost her mind while the cameras were still rolling.
