RW: What’s your story/back story? Why would
someone come up with a story about you?
AT: I’m ambitious, but it might not be the
first thing you notice about me. Ambition is still the quality that has driven
every one of my major life choices. I set out to be a successful business owner
and hit certain career markers before the age of thirty, and I’ve done that.
But I was worried about the state of the business, and that’s what led me to
accept an unusual offer from Dennis Delaney.
RW: Can you tell us about your hero
AT: Dennis is a single father whose son, Cole,
attends my private preschool. Cole was with us for several years before I met
Dennis in person. Usually, we only dealt with the nannies! But Dennis always
sent me memos about Cole’s care. Every morning, when the nanny dropped off Cole,
I also received a fussy little note about shoelaces or snacks or something. So
I always imagined Dennis to be a fussy, bespectacled type with skinny arms. Was
I ever wrong about that!
RW: What problems do you have to face and
overcome in your life?
AT: My business was showing a worrisome decline
in the number of applicants for the next school year. In Chicago’s posh
neighborhoods, reputation is everything, and I was worried that the school’s
prestige might be slipping. I have to fix it. I just have to. This business is
everything to me.
RW: Do you expect your hero to help or is he the
problem?
AT: Maybe
both! Dennis is a perfectionist and his morning memos have always been
something of a pebble in my shoe. But I know if I can satisfy Dennis, if I can
meet his exacting and rigorous standards, then I’m doing everything I can to
make Miss Turner’s School as good as it can be.
RW: Where
do you live?
AT: My
business is in Lincoln Park, a high-rent neighborhood on Chicago’s lakefront. I
have a modest apartment in a cheaper neighborhood, though, because all my
resources go into the business.
RW: Bubble baths or steamy showers? Ocean or mountains? Chocolate or
caramel?
AT: Bubble baths, for sure—that’s where I do some of my best
thinking! Neither ocean nor mountains, but Chicago’s beautiful Lake Michigan.
And how about chocolate AND caramel? I want it all! I also develop a special
fondness for carrot cake in the book. That one is Dennis’s fault.
RW: If you came with a
warning label, what would it say?
AT: “Don’t underestimate
me.” People do that sometimes because I’m basically a preschool teacher and I’m
used to being around little kids all the time. This gives me a sweet, playful
demeanor, but inside, I’m very determined to succeed.
RW: Party life or quiet
dinner for two?
AT: Quiet dinner for two. I
go to the clubs with my girls sometimes, but I prefer being able to really
connect with people one on one. Dennis is a good match for me in that respect.
He’s charming across a table.
RW: I love pizza with (fill
in the blank).
AT: Spinach and cheese,
deep dish, Chicago style. There’s nothing else like it! I can’t always finish a
whole slice—they’re so filling! But I love every mouthful. This is one of the best
things about living in Chicago.
RW: Nothing like Uno’s on a
Friday night! The first Uno’s! Even the leftovers’re yummy.
Those are all the questions I have for
you. Thank you for speaking to me.
AT: Thank you so much for having me! I hope you
enjoy my story!
RW: I’ve
already read it, and I liked it a lot. Cole’s quite the scamp! And Dennis—woo!
Five stars.
Kayla Drake
Bio
Although she’s an
enthusiastic traveler, Kayla Drake has spent most of her days right where she
was born, in Chicago. When Kayla decided to write romance novels, she knew the
stories had to feature her favorite places in this beautiful city by the Lake.
Whether her couples visit the sculptures or the zoo, the sports arenas or the
shopping districts, romance always grows in the “City of Big Shoulders.”
Teacher’s Pet
The Plot
Memo to Miss Turner:
Audrey Turner owns Miss
Turner’s School, a top-tier preschool in the posh Lincoln Park neighborhood.
Her students are the children of some of Chicago’s most successful doctors,
lawyers, and entrepreneurs—and these parents expect nothing short of the best.
No parent is more
demanding than wealthy investment banker Dennis Delaney. Every day, Audrey
receives a morning memo from him containing precise instructions for his son,
Cole’s care. No detail is too insignificant to escape this single father’s
notice. When Dennis finds himself coping with a short-term summer childcare
issue, Audrey agrees to be his temporary nanny. It’s a chance for a close view
of their lifestyle, and if she can keep Dennis Delaney happy, then all the
other parents should be content, too.
It’s only two weeks.
Two weeks of daily contact with Chicago’s most meticulous parent—and its most
eligible bachelor. Two maddening weeks of rigorously high standards and
sizzling sex appeal. Audrey can handle anything for two weeks, right?
An
Excerpt:
He wanted to touch her
silky hair, know the softness of her throat under his fingertips, hear her
voice telling him all her secrets.
Be patient, he
instructed himself, but his arm curled closer to her shoulders. He inclined his
head towards her. Her shoulders were mere inches from his fingertips.
Everything about her was close, so close that he could catch the faint, clean
scent of her shampoo. He wanted to be closer still. He wanted to know
everything about her and to have her know everything about him.
He stared at her pink
lips and wondered what it would take to get her to kiss him, to talk freely to
him, or even to use that pink-rimmed mouth in ways he dared not envision at the
moment. If he tried to kiss her, would she recoil? They hardly knew each other,
after all. They’d spent a few evenings together talking about his son, their
careers. But she knew nothing of his past, nothing of what was in his heart. He
told no one these things. He banned himself from even thinking about them.
The distance between them
was his fault. But it was one problem he could rectify.
To hell with patience.
Contact Kayla
Drake At:
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Kayla-Drake/e/B074YMZYL9
Book Links:
