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:
- Website:Â http://www.catgrant.com
- Blog:Â http://catgrant.blogspot.com/
- Facebook:Â http://www.facebook.com/cat.grant
- Twitter:Â http://twitter.com/#!/CatGrant2009
- Goodreads:Â http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1912055.Cat_Grant
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. Â 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.
Hey guys!!! I’m super excited to read this one!! Please count me in!
morris.crissy@gmail.com
Ooh, our first commenter on the blog tour! 😀 Thank you so much!
Congrats on the new release! I’m reading it right now and really enjoying it. 🙂
lkbherring64(at)gmail(dot)com
Thanks kindly!
Loved, loved, loved this book so much more compared to the first one. Gah, the first one was painful to get through to get to this one, but worth it.
Congrats and count me in. =)
adara adaraohare com
LOL yeah, that’s pretty much the reaction we were expecting from everyone who isn’t as hardcore a sadist as I– erm, I mean Jonathan is 😉
Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for stopping by, hon!
I love these character interviews and the book sounds a great read.
Thanks so much, Suze! Hope you enjoy the story 🙂
Character interviews are such a great way to meet the MCs! Congrats on the new release! This is a great contest and the bracelet is a great prize, too!
OceanAkers @ aol.com
They’re fun to write, too–Cat wrote the questions and I wrote the answers, so she really made me think about aspects of the boys’ lives we didn’t always touch on in the story. Thank you for joining our party, and good luck in the contest! (Isn’t Amara brilliant? I might have to get a bracelet of my own soon…)
Just finished reading it and loved it – Jonathon & Brandon’s journey from Resistance to Awakening was very painful in places but well worth reading 🙂
Aw, I’m so glad to hear that, Sarah! Thank you so much for joining our celebration! 😀
Sounds very, very intriguing…please count me in! (Site looks great, by the way…)
Thank you, Trix!
Loved the character interview. Jonathan has such a fun personality. Count me in for the giveaway, please 🙂
kit_singer@hotmail.com
Thank you, Kit! Jonathan’s a fun one to write because he’s never really lived in what we’d consider the “normal” world–leftist commune to college at 14 to billionaire’s hideaway by 20–so his perceptions and paradigms are all just a little . . . off to us. Makes him a fascinating playground 😀
This series sounds amazing! I’m going to have to pick up the first one soon. Thanks for sharing with us!
Thanks for joining our celebration, Ashley, and I hope you enjoy Power Play!Â
Love these character interviews.Can’t wait to read this.
elaing8(at)netscape(dot)net
Thanks for dropping by, everyone! Hope you all enjoy the conclusion (?) of Jonathan & Brandon’s story. 🙂
Are you being cryptic that there might be more? Â Or is this the conclusion? Â
Well, it’s definitely the conclusion of this arc. We’ve been toying with the possibility of a story set a few years later, and also maybe Jonathan and Devon’s story, but you never know with these things if/when something will get written, especially with a co-write where you need to line up TWO people’s schedules and muses.
Thank you so much, darlin, for hosting us again–it’s always a pleasure to be here. Plus, new header/layout–wow, GORGEOUS! 😀 (Is there some way to subscribe to comments on a post?)
Also I’ve tried to respond like four times now to Elaing8 and it won’t let me for some reason, so to Elaing8, thank you so much for celebrating with us, and I hope you enjoy the book! 🙂
Thanks Rachel! Â I am so glad you like the new look! Â I am not sure if there is a way to subscribe to comments right now, but I will figure out how to add it if there is not. Jo Myles also asked about other sharing options so I am working on getting those added as well. Â Thanks for the suggestion!Â
I have read books by both of you separately and enjoyed them greatly.  Looking forward to this dual effort.  I love character interviews, they give more insight into what makes them tick.
Character interviews are one of my favorites, too 🙂 I hope you enjoy the book, and thank you for stopping by to celebrate with us!
Ah, I just love the covers of these books! I have yet to immerse myself in their world but I just know I’m going to enjoy it when I do.Â
Heh, going to tag along for the entire tour. thanks so much for the contest!! 😀
Judi
arella3173_loveless(at)yahoo(dot)com
We were indeed incredibly blessed by the Cover Art Gods with these two books; the artist, Imaliea, is simply stunning. (I may or may not have squeed uncontrollably for days when the artwork came back :-p) Thanks for celebrating with us–I hope you enjoy the rest of the tour, and the books of course!
I have to agree with Judi P. the cover art for both books are gorgeous, it’s very eye catching. I love reading character interviews, they help to give some more insight to the character and their thought process.
Everything that artist does is stunning. These are her first book covers ,but she has a fantastic gallery at imaliea.deviantart.com if you want to peruse some super-sexy fan paintings and original art. If you follow either me or Cat on Twitter, you’ll be able to guess right away how we found her 😉
I really enjoyed the first installment, and I’d love to read how it all turns out!
the_ebb_ster@yahoo.com
Thanks kindly! I hope the second book makes you smile 🙂
I have enjoyed both Cat Grant’s and Rachel Haimowitz’s works and really enjoyed them. I know I”ll enjoy Power Play: Awakening.
booklover0226 at gmail dot com
Rachel & I certainly hope you do! 🙂
I loved getting to hear Jonathan’s take on things. I all great relationships if you don’t have communication you don’t have anything. Nice to see Jonathan and Brandon found that out before it became too late.
It was touch and go there for a while, but our boys finally caught a clue. Hope you enjoy the conclusion of their story. 🙂
Character interviews are so great, they tend to let you know the characters a little better than only reading a blurb.Â
manning_j2004 at yahoo dot com
Glad you enjoyed our little convo with Jonathan. Hope you enjoy his & Brandon’s story too! 🙂
I have a weakness for m/m stories. I can’t wait to read about Brandon and Jonathan. It sounds so interesting. Congratulations on the new release!
geishasmom73 AT yahoo DOT com
Thank you! Hope you enjoy reading as much as we did writing it!
I am totally excited about these books. I am glad I heard about them and the awesome contest. The bracelet looks great but I am hoping for a book 🙂
juliebites at gmail dot com
Good luck! 🙂
Thanks for sharing Jonathan. It was nice hearing things from your point of view, and I can’t wait to see what happens between you two (particularly at Big Sur). Thanks for sharing and the giveaway!
tiger-chick-1(at)hotmail(dot)com
Oh, I think you’ll enjoy the Big Sur sequence. It’s my favorite part of the book! 🙂
Just……. d’awwww! ^^ I don’t know what is it about these guys that touches me so, but it does. They are such marvelous characters. 🙂 Thank you!
Aw, you’re so sweet, hon! 😀
Hi guys! Thanks so much to everyone for stopping by and saying hello during our release celebration!Â
The winner of the backlist book of choice is Ebbster (Ebbster, Cat will be contacting you, and you can ask her for any one backlist book from either of us), and the winner of the chainmaille bracelet was StacieD 🙂 Thanks again to everyone, and Cat and I hope you have fun with Bran and Jonathan! 😀