Hi everyone! Today I am super excited to welcome Cat Grant and Rachel Haimowitz to the blog. They are here today to talk about their new release, Power Play: Awakening (which I reviewed here earlier and totally loved!). And they have brought along Jonathan Watkins, the uber-rich dom from the story. They are also offering two great giveaways, so please join me in giving them all a big welcome!

Thank you for joining us on the Power Play: Awakening virtual release tour! *throws penis-shaped confetti borrowed from Anne Tenino* No party is complete without favors, so we’ll be giving away winner’s choice of one backlist book from Cat or Rachel to one lucky commenter from this blog at the end of the tour. We’ll also be giving away a lovely custom chainmail bracelet with a silver padlock clasp (handmade by Amara Devonte – check it out along with her other delicious offerings here in her Etsy shop) to one lucky commenter drawn from all the tour stops, so follow along and party with us at each–you can earn an entry at every stop!

To help celebrate the release of the kinktastic Power Play: Awakening, the authors wrangled their characters into an interrogation chair for your reading  pleasure.

Today we’re talking to Jonathan Watkins, a Silicon Valley genius who first came to public attention at the age of eighteen, when he invented the world’s first $100 computer. By the time he was twenty-five, his company SuperComputing was listed near the top of the Fortune 500. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board at SC and CEO of the Watkins Foundation, whose missions range from bringing computers to every classroom in the world, to saving the oceans from global warming.


Thank you for joining us today, Jonathan. When we last saw you and Brandon, the two of you had just agreed to pick up where you left off regarding Brandon’s broken six-month contract. Is it working out any better the second time around? If so, what’s changed?

It definitely is. Mostly, I think I’ve changed. Or rather, I stopped being such a bloody idiot with my approach to Brandon. We’re simply talking so much more. It’s done us both a world of good.


We hear you and Brandon spent the summer together at your beach house in Big Sur. How did all this time alone help you connect?

There is something quite special about those pristine stretches of coastline, that raw, empty nature, is there not? Something that opens you to connecting with the world around you and those with whom you share it. And sharing it with only one means you must rely on each other for many things, including company and stimulation of both the mental and physical sort.


We understand you sent Brandon out on a rather interesting errand not long after you arrived in Big Sur. How did it work out?

Rather remarkably well, quite frankly! He does often manage to surprise. That was just one time of many.


Trust was a crucial issue for you and Brandon in Power Play: Resistance. Can you tell us how that’s changed? Also, has Brandon learned to gain control over his anger?

Again, this comes back to the issue of communication. We worked quite hard at that, and it wasn’t always easy for either of us, but so very worth it in the end. As for Brandon’s anger? Indeed. For the first time in nearly twenty years, he’s broken the hold those emotions have over him, and is making decisions from a place of calm, reasoned rationality, rather than impulse or anger or shame.


You and Brandon appear to be quite content at the end of Awakening. How does it feel, enjoying such hard-won happiness?

Marvelous, of course. There were certainly times back at the beginning when I wish things had been easier, or gone differently, but to look at it now, I wouldn’t change a thing. What we have together—our closeness, our trust, our intimacy, our love—was all borne of those struggles, and we know we can go through the very worst and come out the other side still together, intact, and very much in love.

Blurb

Brandon McKinney is a man reborn. Newly awakened to the notion of consensual power exchange and the submissive urges inside him, he begs for a second chance from the man who opened his eyes to this world: Silicon Valley superstar Jonathan Watkins. But no birth is absent pain, and Brandon’s is no exception. He fears he’s not strong enough to see it through.

Jonathan knows better. He’s seen the iron core inside his new submissive, and the wounded heart inside him too. He means to teach Brandon to heal the one with the other. They have five months left on their contract, after all, and Jonathan has done more with less before.

It’s tough to stay objective, though, when you’re falling in love. Shame Brandon doesn’t feel the same. He’s only there for the three-million-dollar payout at contract’s end—a fact that Jonathan, nursing his own wounded heart, reminds himself of each day. For even as Brandon’s barriers break and his mind expands, even as he grows to love his place at Jonathan’s feet, he’ll never love life with a sadist—especially one who cannot escape the public eye.

About the Authors

Rachel Haimowitz is an M/M erotic romance author, a freelance writer and editor, and the Managing Editor of Riptide Publishing. She’s also a sadist with a pesky conscience, shamelessly silly, and quite proudly pervish. Fortunately, all those things make writing a lot more fun for her . . . if not so much for her characters.

When she’s not writing about hot guys getting it on (or just plain getting it; her characters rarely escape a story unscathed), she loves to read, hike, camp, sing, perform in community theater, and glue captions to cats. She also has a particular fondness for her very needy dog, her even needier cat, and shouting at kids to get off her lawn.

You can find Rachel at her website, Tweeting as RachelHaimowitz, chatting in the Goodreads forums, and blogging at Fantasy Unbound. She loves to hear from folks, so feel free to drop her a line anytime at metarachel (at) gmail (dot) com.

EPIC Award–winning author Cat Grant lives by the sea in beautiful Monterey, California, with one persnickety feline and entirely too many books and DVDs. When she’s not writing, she sings along (badly!) to whatever’s on her iPod shuffle, watches lots of movies, and fantasizes about kinky sex with Michael Fassbender.

Where to find Cat:


Giveaway

And don’t forget to leave a comment here to be entered for a chance to win a copy of a back list book from Cat or Rachel at the end of the tour.  You can also enter to win a gorgeous bracelet to be awarded to one commenter across all the blog stops.

  • By entering the contest, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • Winners will be selected by random number.
  • If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner will be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay and leave your email address if it is not in your profile.