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Kelly Cain, author

~ Witty, bold, and sexy romance

Kelly Cain, author

Tag Archives: Sweet romance

Start Your Engines Release Week

11 Friday Aug 2017

Posted by Kelly Cain in Author Showcase

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Tags

#ReleaseBlitz, bookblitz, Romance, sports, Sweet romance, sweet sports romance

I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but my good friend, Jim Cangany, has a new book out this week. You don’t want to miss it (check out my review here). Scroll down to the bottom for a giveaway opportunity.



Start Your Engines
Jim Cangany
Published by: Crimson Romance
Publication date: August 7th 2017
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Buckle up for a race for the championship and the prize of a lifetime in this heartfelt reunion romance.

When racing team director Brad Thomas needs a new driver, his boss insists there’s only one answer: Gabrielle Marquez. The Indycar ace has newly returned to the United States after becoming one of the European circuit’s top drivers. But ten years ago, Gabrielle caused a crash that ended Brad’s racing career and killed their mutual best friend, along with the burgeoning crush they were exploring.

Gabby’s ready to put the past behind her, even though she knows making amends and regaining Brad’s trust won’t be easy. Rebuilding their professional relationship paves the way for healing, and old feelings soon rekindle, but a rival’s dangerous game of sabotage may threaten their team’s chance at the title.

Then an irresistible offers lands on Gabby’s windshield, forcing her to choose between her heart and her hard-fought career. Will achieving her professional dreams mean personal sacrifice?

Sensuality Level: Behind Closed Doors

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

—

EXCERPT:

The AES machine flashed across the finish line as the starter waved the green flag, the prismatic paint job displaying every color of the spectrum.

“God, she’s beautiful.” The moment Brad had uttered the words, he realized he wasn’t sure if he was referring to the car or its driver. He was happy he didn’t have his microphone on, though.

A video feed of Gabrielle’s progress was in a corner of his computer screen. As she barreled down the long backstretch, which was five-eighths of a mile in length all by itself, he checked her speed. She was zooming at over two hundred miles per hour.

At Gabrielle’s request, the team had disconnected her speedometer. Brad was to report her speed when she finished the first lap and again when she completed the attempt. He was to say nothing else.

Brad held his breath as she flew down the front straight, the song of the turbocharged engine sweeter than an opera singer, and completed lap one. Her speed flashed on the screen. It was all Brad could do to keep from shouting.

“Two hundred point thirteen. Everything looks great.”

The first lap was pole-winning speed.

Down the backstretch and into turn three, the line Gabrielle took was as smooth as soft-serve ice cream. Exiting turn four, she drifted up so close to the white concrete retaining wall, Brad flinched and closed one eye for a moment.

The close call didn’t slow her down, though. She took the checkered flag, completing the run with a two-lap average of 200.2 miles per hour.

“Congrats, Gabrielle, you just set a Continental Series track record.”

“Yes!” Her shout almost burst Brad’s eardrums.

Scott gave Brad a thumbs-up but pointed at the scoring pylon. There were two cars left to make their qualifying attempts. One of them was Chas.

By the time Gabrielle was out of the car and had her helmet off, the number seventy-seven had the first lap in the books at just under 199 miles per hour. He was no threat. The team gathered around her to wait for Chas to make his attempt.

Brad gave Gabrielle a fist bump, but nothing more. He didn’t want to jinx anything.

The Thornton Industries machine looked fast as it took the green flag. Brad reached out and took Gabrielle’s hand. A pleasant tingling sensation went up his arm when they touched. She didn’t pull away. Rather, she held on. It was a perfect fit.

Nobody said anything as Chas came into view coming out of turn four. Brad kept his focus on the scoring pylon as their rival completed lap one.

199.96.

Gabrielle loosened her grip a touch as the group let out a collective sigh of relief. Chas wasn’t far off Gabrielle’s time, but catching her could be a tall order. It was an order he couldn’t deliver. His second lap was a tick over two hundred miles per hour.

Gabrielle was on the pole.

For the most important race of the season.

At the most historic racing venue on Earth.

Amid a cacophony of whoops and shouts of elation, Brad took Gabrielle by the shoulders.

“You did it.” At that moment, someone bumped him into Gabrielle, which brought his lips to hers. The moment they made contact, fireworks went off. Brad wasn’t sure if they were real or imagined, but he didn’t care. Kissing the woman in his arms was electrifying.

Her lips were soft, with a hint of blueberry from her lip balm. His thumb stroked her cheek and wiped away a tear. All too soon, she pulled back. He opened his eyes to find her red-cheeked but smiling from ear to ear. He recovered his senses enough to take her wrist and raise her arm.

“Presenting your pole winner for the Memorial One Hundred, Gabrielle Marquez.”

 

Author Bio:

A lifelong resident of the State of Indiana, Jim Cangany is proud to call himself a Hoosier. The youngest of eight children, he grew up in a household full of books and people. Thanks to the influence of his older siblings, Jim gravitated toward fantasy and sci-fi when looking for something to read. He wrote his first story at age fourteen. A school project, The Magic Coin was a fantasy that involved a king, some bad guys, and, not surprisingly, a magical token.

These days, Jim writes romance on the sweet end. If you ask him what is a guy like him is doing writing romance, he’ll reply, “Those are the stories in my head.” A believer that the world has enough doom and gloom, he likes stories with a happy ending, regardless of genre.

He lives in Indianapolis with his wonderful wife Nancy, sons, Seamus and Aidan, and kitty-cat Maria.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

 

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Goodreads Review – Start Your Engines

01 Tuesday Aug 2017

Posted by Kelly Cain in Blog

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Novel, Romance, sports, sports romance, Sweet romance, sweet sports romance

Start Your Engines

Start Your Engines

by Jim Cangany (Goodreads Author)
4 stars

 

 

 

I’ve read this author before and he writes great sports romances. More than that, he actually makes obscure sports interesting and a wonderful backdrop to the romance happening between the main characters. Not to say that open-wheel racing (yup I learned a new term) is obscure. I know it isn’t however it is obscure to me having never watched a race in my entire life… and I’m a mega sports fan. After reading this story though, I actually watched racing that happened to be on when I flipped the television on Saturday. That’s the thing with this author – he doesn’t hit you over the head with the sport, but he does effortlessly weaves the action into the story where by the end, you’ve learned enough to be dangerous.

Cangany writes sweet romance so I’ll lodge my long-standing complaint there wasn’t enough heat for my liking, but there was passion between the main characters, and love. Their backstory was unique enough to pique my interest and although this was certainly guaranteed to be a HEA, I was a little concerned with our lovers’ fate.

Highly recommend for anyone who likes any romance, sweet, sports, or otherwise.

Oh, a warning. Do NOT finish this book the night before you have a 3-hour road trip. You may or may not break some speeding laws.

Full disclosure – I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Review > Time Out (Book 3 of the Irving University series) by Jim Cangany

28 Tuesday Jun 2016

Posted by Kelly Cain in Blog

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Tags

IRromance, multicultural, Review, Romance, sports romance, Sweet romance, sweet sports romance, WeNeedDiverseBooks

 Time Out by Jim Cangany
Time Out
by Jim Cangany (Goodreads Author)

4-stars

Read from June 01 to 06, 2016 — I own a copy


Time Out is the third book in the Irving University series and although I have read the previous two (see my reviews here and here), I believe this could be read as a standalone. There are characters from the other books, but the author does a great job giving enough background to catch you up to speed quickly.

The main character, Karen, is a middle-grade teacher and basketball coach, not unlike her older brother, Greg, who coaches women’s basketball at fictional Irving University. She was once a promising player until her ulcerative colitis got in her way. She isn’t bitter about it, but chooses to use her gifts however she can. She is laid off from her teaching job at the end of the term, so Greg is able to get her a temporary job at Irving running the girls basketball camp over the summer. He also secures her temporary housing. Enter her landlord and neighbor, Terry, and his energetic daughter, Hanna. Hanna, a middle-grade student who wants to play basketball, makes instant friends with Karen who becomes a big help for Terry, a single father who’s struggling to make ends meet.

I’ve mentioned before (probably in my other Irving reviews) that I’m not big on sweet romance. However when reading this series, I never feel like I’m missing out on something. The author does a great job of giving us the satisfying romance. He also shows us a different slice of life we may not be familiar with. Terry’s mom is Native American and we learn some new things in that area. He’s in building construction and a single dad – again we can feel what that likes from his perspective. Karen has a condition I’d not heard much about before, and now I know so much more. The author does not shy aware from racial issues and prejudice, however I do believe he lets Marie off the hook a little easily (you’ll have to read to know what I’m referring to).

Overall, another very solid offering from Jim Cangany which I enjoyed very much. It was a little lighter on the sports this time, but of course it was still running in the background. I would recommend to anyone who likes romance, especially on the sweet side.

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Kelly Cain’s Reviews > Take Two

01 Sunday May 2016

Posted by Kelly Cain in Blog

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Review, Romance, sports, sports romance, Sweet romance, sweet sports romance

 Take Two by Jim Cangany
Take Two (Irving University, #2)
by Jim Cangany (Goodreads Author)

4-stars

Read from April 07 to 24, 2016


I read the first book in this series, and mistakenly thought the second book would be about the male main character’s sister (that’s book three which I’m looking forward to). When I found out it was about the female main character’s best friend, I internally groaned. I barely tolerated Ciara, and mostly disliked her because she was always listening to her mean best friend. I couldn’t imagine sitting through a whole book about this woman.

Whelp, I think I may like this one more than the first. There’s a little backstory, of course, which has shaped Marie into the woman she is and how she presents herself to the world. I think what makes her more likeable is how Cangany brilliantly gives us a nemesis we really dislike. Helen is reprehensible and sadly, believable, because I’ve personally experienced people like her.

The love interest is quite likable, attentive, hot, and everything a love interest should be. He has an interesting job and reason for being on campus which was fun to follow. Sports is truly my life, but I don’t usually follow triathlons (nor triathletes), but that angle was never boring.

And to really knock it out of the park for me… not one, but TWO Jason Mraz song references. Enough said.

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Release Day for On The Rebound by Jim Cangany

26 Tuesday Jan 2016

Posted by Kelly Cain in Author Showcase

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

blitz, bookblitz, Romance, sports, sports romance, Sweet romance, sweet sports romance

otrrelease.jpg

ON THE REBOUND IS NOW AVAILABLE!

Author: Jim Cangany
Release Day: January 26, 2016
Genre: Sports Romance
Publisher: Penner Publishing


 

SYNOPSIS

FINAL_AMAZON-APPLE-EBOOK-300x464On The Rebound is a sweet, sports romance set on the campus of fictional Irving University. It’s a story about second chances and features a women’s college basketball team. Here’s a teaser for you.

After he’s caught in a grade fixing scandal, men’s college basketball coach Greg Miller is thrown a lifeline when an old friend offers him a job with the small-school Irving University women’s team.

Academic Advisor Ciara Monaghan knows first-hand the heartbreak and havoc a cheating man can wreak. She wants nothing more than to protect the University’s reputation by seeing to it that Greg’s stay at Irving is short.

The last thing either of them wants is the attraction they can’t deny. Can a struggling member of the basketball team bring them together to see how wonderful a second chance at life, and love, can be?


 

ABOUT JIM CANGANY

JimPhotoJim Cangany was forty pages into his first manuscript when he realized it was a romance. He went with it and has great joy writing sweet, contemporary love stories. A lover of things that go fast, when Jim’s not writing, you can probably find him checking into the latest from IndyCar or pro bike racing. He lives in Indianapolis with his saint of a wife Nancy, his sons Seamus and Aidan, and the princess of the house, kitty cat Maria.

Visit him: Website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads or Tumbler


BUY NOW AT YOUR FAVORITE RETAILER!

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Interview with author Jim Cangany

25 Monday Jan 2016

Posted by Kelly Cain in Author Interviews

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Contemporary romance, Interview, Romance, sports, sports romance, Sweet romance, sweet sports romance

I’m not sure where to even begin with Jim. Whenever I’m on some sort of self-deprecating or woe is me roll, he “puts his dad hat on” and straightens me out. Mind you, we’re pretty much the same age, but it works every time. He’s the nicest person in the world and a great writer to boot. I’ve read a couple of his books (see my review) – you should do yourself a favor and pick one up. His newest, On The Rebound, will be out tomorrow.

Background Info

Author name: Jim Cangany

Book title: On The Rebound

FINAL_AMAZON-APPLE-EBOOK

Tell us a little about yourself and your background: My wife, Nancy, and I will be celebrating our 25th anniversary this May. We have two teen aged sons, Seamus and Aidan, and cat, Maria, who is the princess of the house. After years of dabbling in writing, I got serious in 2011 and had my first book published in 2013.

Tell us a little about your novel: On The Rebound is a sweet, sports romance set on the campus of fictional Irving University. It’s a story about second chances and features a women’s college basketball team. Here’s a teaser for you:

After he’s caught in a grade fixing scandal, men’s college basketball coach Greg Miller is thrown a lifeline when an old friend offers him a job with the small-school Irving University women’s team.

Academic Advisor Ciara Monaghan knows first-hand the heartbreak and havoc a cheating man can wreak. She wants nothing more than to protect the University’s reputation by seeing to it that Greg’s stay at Irving is short.

The last thing either of them wants is the attraction they can’t deny. Can a struggling member of the basketball team bring them together to see how wonderful a second chance at life, and love, can be?

Have you written anything else (including novels, short stories, novellas, etc.): I’m the author of The North Star Series (Fallen Star, Lucky Star, and Wish Upon a Star), a sweet contemporary trilogy that follows the adventures of Annie Wilson and E.J. McCarty.

On The Rebound is the first installment in the three-book Irving University Series. Take Two and Time Out are the next two books in the series.

I’ve also written a holiday-themed short story called The Christmas Angel.

Q & A

What romance books would you recommend to readers who will love your book: As a sweet, contemporary romance, I think fans of Kristan Higgins and Karen Rock, especially Karen’s A League of Her Own, would love On The Rebound.

How did you decide on the setting for your book: I’m a fan of women’s college basketball and don’t think it gets the publicity it deserves, so I wanted to write a story that gave women’s college hoops it’s due.

Do you have any writing rituals: I have a full-time day job, so I try to write at least 500 words per day. It kind of slow, but the progress is steady.

If you were writing a book about yourself, what would the title be: Well, given that my wife’s a breast cancer survivor, my older son attempted to take his life and was diagnosed with depression and anxiety in 2013, and I’ve battled depression for years, probably something like Hold on Tight because life is never boring in the Cangany household.

What character was the most difficult to write and why: Ciara was probably the toughest to write. I wanted her to be no-nonsense, but she initially she came across as quite bitchy, so I had to “soften her up.”

What’s next for you: Take Two and Time Out will be out later this year. I’m just starting a sci-fi novel, which is a major departure from my contemporary romance. I grew up a sci-fi fan, so it should be fun.

Do you have any pointers or advice for aspiring writers: Be yourself. Don’t be afraid to write the stories in your head, those stories you want to write. As I was told once, the stories you love are the ones that sparkle.

Favorite song: “One” by U2. An incredible song that becomes more relevant every day.

Favorite movie/tv show: Movie- Field of Dreams; TV show – Star Trek, The Next Generation

Chosen superpower: Superspeed

Toilet paper: over or under: Over

Real book or tablet: Both

Star Trek or Star Wars: Trek

Excerpt

Greg turned to Ciara. She was practically glowing with pride and exhilaration. It was only fair since these were her girls, too.

Which gave him an idea.

“Thanks. Do you have a minute? I need to ask you something about tomorrow’s game.”

Marie looked at her watch. “Iron Man and I will give you five minutes. If you’re not back by then, the party train leaves the station without you.”

Ciara gave a quick nod and followed him into the basketball office. Rather than settling into one of the chairs, she leaned against a desk.

“I know Marie’s not kidding about five minutes, so I’ll cut to the chase. Would you say a few words to the team before the game tomorrow night?”

“Me? I’m just an academic advisor.” Her brow had creased. “What could I possibly have to say?”

He didn’t have much more time. Every word needed to count. “You’re in a unique position. After what happened to you ten years ago, you understand better than anybody on this campus that this moment won’t last. The players have to seize it and embrace it, but most of all, enjoy it. Because it could all be taken away in the blink of an eye.

“This is a huge game for this school. A win tomorrow night will make history. But there’s more to life than wins and losses. What matters most is taking the time to treasure those special moments and the special people who make them happen, because if we’re not careful, both the moments and the people are gone before we know it.”

Ciara ran a hand through her hair. It was all Greg could do to keep himself from reaching out to run his fingers through it too. Her lips curved downward as she glanced around the room in what seemed to be a concerted effort to avoid making eye contact.

She finally looked at him. “What do you mean by what happened to me ten years ago?”

“I know what happened during the conference championship game your senior year.” He shrugged. “When Sharon told me I’d be working with you, I researched you. The recruiter in me, I guess. To have that happen to you must have been one bitter-as-vinegar pill to swallow. Since you never brought it up, I never did. Didn’t think it was my place. But now—”

“Is this speech thing your idea?”

“Yes.” That part was true. “Coach Leonard’s totally on board with it.” That part was a big fat lie, but he’d figure out a way to talk Sharon into it.

There was a knock on the door.

“I know you need to go. Think it over and let me know tomorrow. Please?”

“Fine. But let me ask this, why should I do this for you?”

“I’m not asking you to do this for me. I’m asking you to do this for them. And for yourself.”

Author Bio

2014 author pic compressed

Jim Cangany was forty pages into his first manuscript when he realized it was a romance. He went with it and has great joy writing sweet, contemporary love stories. A lover of things that go fast, when Jim’s not writing, you can probably find him checking into the latest from IndyCar or pro bike racing. He lives in Indianapolis with his saint of a wife Nancy, his sons Seamus and Aidan, and the princess of the house, kitty cat Maria.

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Lauren sat with her long legs tucked underneath her. Her hair was still in the bun she’d put it in for her bath. The remote was pointed at the television but only the guide rolled along. “I really don’t have a clue. There’s too much. What do you normally watch?”
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