Today we're shining the spotlight on contemporary romance author Kate Meader. Originally from Ireland, Kate cut her romance reader teeth on Maeve Binchy and Jilly Cooper novels, with some Mills & Boon thrown in for variety. Give her tales about brooding mill owners, oversexed equestrians, and men who can rock an apron or a fire hose, and she's there. Now based in Chicago, she writes sexy contemporary romance with alpha heroes and strong heroines who can match their men quip for quip. Visit her at KateMeader.com.
In Kate Meader's first trilogy her characters were heating things up in the kitchen. This time around, she's bringing us the Dempsey's, a family of firefighting foster siblings in her Hot in Chicago series. Check out the excerpt from the first book in the series, FLIRTING WITH FIRE, below. But first, Kate chats about her favorite book boyfriends. So who makes your list, Kate?
My Favorite Book
Boyfriends
So many fictional boyfriends, so little time. Here are a few
of my favorites, in no particular order (okay, I’d cut you to get with Hardy
Cates):
1. Rowdy Yates from Getting Rowdy by Lori Foster.
With his sketchy past, and his penchant for hitting first and asking questions later, Rowdy is a great protective alpha. And the cover for this book is perfection.
2. Flynn from Willing Victim by Cara McKenna.
Construction worker-boxer with a taste for rough role-playing, and while we never get inside his head, McKenna lays it all out there. A Boston bruiser I wouldn’t mind meeting in a dark alley.
3. Hardy Cates from Blue Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas.
Rich, Texan, from the wrong side of the tracks, and so
caring of the heroine. LK writes the caretaker alpha so well, and Hardy is my
favorite of her heroes.
4. Joey Miller from Collision Course by K.A. Mitchell.
This is an M/M romance and while some people probably prefer
the brooding Aaron of this pairing, I love, love, love the manipulative,
puppy-eyed, totally grounded Joey. A surfing social worker, he’s the perfect
match for a guy who’s been screwed over by the social services system.
5. Lord Vere from His at Night by Sherry Thomas.
He’s a secret agent posing as a society idiot! What’s not to
love?
FLIRTING WITH FIRE (Pocket Books; On-sale: March 24, 2015) is the first book in Kate Meader's new contemporary romance series, Hot in Chicago. The series features a group of firefighting foster siblings and their blazing hot love interests. Here's the back cover blurb:
Savvy PR guru Kinsey Taylor has always defined herself by her career, not her gender. That is, until she moved from San Francisco to Chicago to be with her fiancé who thought she wasn’t taking her “job” of supporting him in his high-powered career seriously enough—and promptly dumped her for a more supportive and “feminine” nurse. Now, as the new assistant press secretary to Chicago’s dynamic mayor, she’s determined to keep her eye on the prize: no time to feel inferior because she’s a strong, kick-ass woman, and certainly no time for men.
But that all changes when she meets Luke Almeida, a firefighter as searingly sexy as he is quick-tempered. He’s also the second oldest of the Firefightin’ Dempseys, a family of foster siblings who have committed their lives to the service—if Luke’s antics don’t get him fired first. When Luke goes one step too far and gets into a bar brawl with the Chicago Police Department, Kinsey marches into Luke’s firehouse and lays down the law on orders from the mayor. But at Engine Co. 6, Luke Almeida is the law. And he’s not about to let Kinsey make the rules.
AMAZON | B&N | GOODREADS
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FLIRTING WITH FIRE (Pocket Books; On-sale: March 24, 2015) is the first book in Kate Meader's new contemporary romance series, Hot in Chicago. The series features a group of firefighting foster siblings and their blazing hot love interests. Here's the back cover blurb:

But that all changes when she meets Luke Almeida, a firefighter as searingly sexy as he is quick-tempered. He’s also the second oldest of the Firefightin’ Dempseys, a family of foster siblings who have committed their lives to the service—if Luke’s antics don’t get him fired first. When Luke goes one step too far and gets into a bar brawl with the Chicago Police Department, Kinsey marches into Luke’s firehouse and lays down the law on orders from the mayor. But at Engine Co. 6, Luke Almeida is the law. And he’s not about to let Kinsey make the rules.
AMAZON | B&N | GOODREADS
Excerpt #3
Stunned senseless, she plowed aimlessly
over the hot sand, its burn on her feet a match to the scorch marks over her
heart. She flexed the hand she had used to strike her gutless ex. It hurt—all
of it. Her head, her chest, her knuckles, which looked as raw as she felt. Her
throat was thick with unshed tears, which she desperately staved off by making
each step more deliberately forceful than the last. Walk it off, Taylor.
Walk. It. Off.
“Hey, watch it,” an aggrieved
voice called out. She might have trod on the voice’s towel. Or his sand castle.
Or his stupid face.
Fury fueled her off-kilter
pivot. She refused to let one more man walk all over her today. “Watch what,
asshole?”
Any forthcoming answer was lost
on the lake breeze as a strong arm circled her waist and gathered her to a
solid chest.
Luke.
The comfort she took in his
body was more shocking than the events that had led to this moment. For too
long, she had been starved of a man’s affectionate touch. For too long, she had
relied on her own resources. It felt so good to rely on someone else for a
little while.
Stiffness in every part of her
gradually gave way to Luke’s strength, a muscularity that was as much mental as
it was physical. It must have taken sincere mental strength not to want to
comment on the scene he had just witnessed. Make her feel better with murmured
platitudes. Fill the gnawing silence. Instead, he was just there for her, his
hold tight and sure and a touch rougher than she was used to.
It was perfect.
Peeking up from where her head
was burrowed into his left pec, she found those lake-blue eyes holding her
prisoner. While the competitor in her was tempted to see how long this stare
down could last, the woman in her needed something else. Something only this
man could give.
“I’ve got you,” he whispered.
With strong hands on her butt,
he raised her body, her lips to his, and the resulting union streaked through
her like fire. Their mouths might be made for sniping, but mostly they were
made for this. Better they should be used for this. A perfect melding of lips
and tongues, the tangle so sweet, the chemistry so right.
I’ve got you. For the first time in what seemed like forever,
someone had her.
Readers, who are your favorite book boyfriends? Do you love firefighter heroes as much as I do? Have you read Kate's books yet?
We have a copy of FLIRTING WITH FIRE for one randomly chosen person who leaves a comment on today's post. (U.S. only)
Readers, who are your favorite book boyfriends? Do you love firefighter heroes as much as I do? Have you read Kate's books yet?
We have a copy of FLIRTING WITH FIRE for one randomly chosen person who leaves a comment on today's post. (U.S. only)
Thank you for the post. What a beautiful cover. Mine are all over the place. :)
ReplyDeleteFirst , there's there is Jamie Fraser from Outlander. Roarke (sigh) from The In Death series. Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird. Z from BDB. Marcus from Bella Andre's Sullivan family series. And bear with me :) All of Karen Marie Moning's Highlanders in her Highlander series. lol. I love Highlanders and aside from Jamie I can't pick one. :)
Carol L
Lucky4750 (at) aol (dot) com
I hear you on the highlanders, Carol. It would just be too cruel to make us choose, right?
DeleteI love firefighters so this new series has me nearly hyperventilating with excitement to read! My book boyfriends include Steele from Maya Banks' Forged in Steele, Doyle from Laurell K. Hamilton's Merry Gentry series, and Gregori from Christine Feehan's Carpathian series.
ReplyDeleteLOL! I know what you mean, Sammi. I'm hyperventilating right along with you!
DeleteI loved the Hot in the kitchen series and I'm sure the Hot in Chicago series is going to be even hotter with covers like that. I loved Kate's choices for book boyfriends especially Rowdy Yates and Hardy Cates.
ReplyDeleteHardy Cates is one of my favorites too. Not sure how I managed to miss Rowdy. I'll have to add that book to my wish list.
DeleteAny of Shannon Stacy's Kowalski men.
ReplyDeletepatoct
And yes I do love firefighter books.
Gotta love those Kowalskis!
DeleteAnd yes, I have read and enjoyed her foodie books.
ReplyDeletepatoct@yahoo.com
Firefighters are awesome so I would love to read about them. Thanks for this giveaway!
ReplyDeleteI agree, Lynn. They are awesome! :)
DeleteI loved Hot and Bothered. I have the other two waiting on my TBR pile.
ReplyDeleteGood reading ahead, jcp!
DeleteJust what i didn't need--another series to add to my gargantuan TBR mountain. :)
ReplyDeleteMost of my top contemporary book boyfriends have a little age on them--fittingly so--and not an alpha in the bunch:
Quinn Hunter, Till the Stars Fall, Kathleen Gilles Seidel—a modern Renaissance man who is a doctor, a musician, and a writer; Murphy Muldoon, Born in Shame, Nora Roberts—an Irish farmer with a poet’s soul; Blue Reynard, In the Midnight Rain, Ruth Wind--an intelligent, good-looking, wealthy Southerner who loves the blues and raises orchids; Randy Navarro, Home to Stay, Terri Osburn—a gentle giant with a New Age spirit and a heart bigger than the NC island he calls home; and Cam Early, Red’s Hot Honky-Tonk Bar, Pamela Morsi—a fiddle-playing nurturer who is strong enough to love a stubborn, independent, older woman.
I think it's only fair that we add to your tbr mountain, Janga since you're the one who is usually adding to mine! lol
DeleteMy favorite heroes are the ones I am currently reading about. Lol!
ReplyDeleteI tend to be the same way, Cathy except for a few special favorites like Gabriel MacBain from Julie Garwood's Saving Grace.
DeleteCongratulations to Kate on her new book! I like all different types of heroes so I can't really say that I have a favorite.
ReplyDeleteVariety is the spice of life, eh? :)
DeleteI have not read Kate ' book yet but the day it comes out I will either by winning the copy here (which I hope I do) or having to purchase it myself. I am a big fan of great heros who get the woman and they both have fun alone the way.
ReplyDeleteGood luck, Pauline and thanks for stopping by!
DeleteI haven't read any of her books yet but I really love firefighters
ReplyDeleteOwen Lawry from Season for Love by Marie Force, Dare McIntosh from When You Dare by Lori Foster, Zeke Decker from Running Wild by Linda Howard and Linda Winstead Jones, and Nick Capuano from The Fatal series by Marie Force.
ReplyDeleteI have so many book boyfriends!!! Landon from The Millionaire Affair by Jessica Lemmon, Dare from When you Dare by Lori Foster, Will from Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Claire, Dragonstar from Crusader by Sara Douglass, Kaspar from Bound by Tears by Tracey Jane Jackson, The Brothers from Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R.Ward (don't make me choose a brother! I'd die from choosing!) :D Booker (Austin) from Road to Desire by Piper Davenport! and SO SO SO many more! Lawson from Lawman by Kristen Ashley
ReplyDelete...and I can't WAIT to read about this yummy Irish firefighter!!!
Love firemen stories, especially since I married one of them. Can't wait to read this book
ReplyDeleteFirefighters are great heroes and this one looks great!
ReplyDeleteJust finished reading all the In Death series, so Roarke is top of my list.
ReplyDeleteAnne Marsh wrote some good stories about firefighters - they certainly got heated on and off the job.
I heard about this book a while ago and preordered it on amazon I love firefighters in stories I love the series by Barbara Freethy about them think its called the Callahans (blonde moment) Good luck with this new series and how many do you plan to write in it?
ReplyDeleteYay, thanks for pre-ordering! The plan now is 2 novellas and 3 full length books.
ReplyDeleteJamie Fraser from OUTLANDER!!!! Mickey in Bohemia
ReplyDeleteI do love a good romance with a fireman as the hero! As for my favorite book boyfriend, I'm afraid I'm fickle - he's almost always the hero in the book I'm reading.
ReplyDeleteI do love a good romance with a fireman as the hero! As for my favorite book boyfriend, I'm afraid I'm fickle - he's almost always the hero in the book I'm reading.
ReplyDeleteRoarke. And have not read Kate's books yet. Sounds good and will have to try her food books.
ReplyDeleteKaren T.
I love firefighter heroes, but I haven't had a chance to read Kate Meader's books yet.
ReplyDeleteWhoo so hot love fireman, cops
ReplyDeleteThanks
Kimh
I don't believe I have read any of Kate's books. I will be looking for them now.
ReplyDeleteDon't really know if I have favorite book boyfriends. It is usually a case of 'Love the one you're with,' liking the hero of whatever book I am currently reading.
I have read quite a few books with fireman heroes and will agree they do make good heroes. Whether they are the silent, kind type, or the brash, strong ones who tend to cross the line, they fit perfectly.
I have not read any of kate's books.
ReplyDeletepattyb43