Question of the Week: POV Preference?

Welcome Genevieve Dewey to Romance Beckons.
Genevieve Dewey is the author of The Downey Trilogy (First, I Love You & Second of All) and the short stories Bird Day Battalion & V-Day Aversion. She is a wife, mother, sister, friend and Anthropologist. She was raised mostly in Nebraska, partly in Arizona. She has a Master’s in Anthropology and worked as an Applied Anthropologist for years (even ran her own research company for a while) before deciding to be a stay at home mom. She loves passionate (rational) debates, reading, and libraries… oh, and Chicago and high-heels and chocolate and target practice and gangster flicks and anything with the FBI in it and run-on sentences. She lives in Nebraska with her three brilliantly diabolical children and one incredibly funny husband.


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Genevieve is here to talk about POV -what's your preference- and to share excerpts from her books. The Downey Series consists of The Downey Trilogy (First, I Love You; Second of All; and the forthcoming Third Time’s The Charm) as well as the spin-off short romances The Bird Day Battalion and The V-Day Aversion. It is not necessary to read the Downey Trilogy to understand the short stories OR vice-versa. The Downey novels are mixed genre: contemporary family drama/intrigue with a romance subplot. The short stories are contemporary romance.

How are they connected?
For starters, both Detective Tommy Gates and Mickey Downey from The Downey Trilogy are mentioned in The Bird Day Battalion. In that short story, Katelyn Anderson’s mom mentions that Kate once went out on a date with Tommy who is her brother Kyle Anderson’s former partner at the Omaha Police Department.

Not only that, but Officer Kyle Anderson (who is in both The Bird Day Battalion and The V-Day Aversion) is briefly mentioned at the end of First, I Love You and shows up again at the end of Second of All.

Bird Day Battalion occurs before First, I Love you chronologically, but V-Day Aversion occurs the same month Tommy Gates heads to Chicago for his big Human Trafficking case in First, I Love You.

Today’s Focus will be on the short stories featuring Dominic & Katelyn. I am currently writing a full length novel for this Nebraska duo. It will, of course, be full of shenanigans. For those of you who may not have read them yet, here is a little bit about them (and I’ll start by saying the first short is FREE, and the second short only $.99!):

THE BIRD DAY BATTALION
(A short Thanksgiving romance)

Meet Katelyn Anderson, a play by the rules, temporarily out of work archaeologist desperate to pull off the perfect Thanksgiving dinner for her family. Enter Dominic Valentini, her oldest friend and former neighbor, a take chances, take control, think outside the box kind of man. She needs his help. He just needs her.

This is a quick read (fluffy with a wee bit of spice) served up free on a platter of gratitude to my readers for all your kind support. It’s the usual blend of family shenanigans, love, and romance in a small uncomplicated dose.

Here is a short excerpt to give you a taste:

“But… we’re nothing alike. It’s one thing for two people to be friends, friends who are almost like family, and be so very different, but if we dated, I’m pretty sure we’d drive each other crazy,” Katelyn replied, more to remind herself than anything, and still not daring to look at him. “Maybe it’s more about the ‘what if’, the fantasy or forbidden nature of it. Maybe what you’re feeling is just… curiosity.”
“Or maybe I’m just damned attracted to you and have been since puberty.”
“Or maybe—” She cut off as he reached forward and abruptly turned off the water, yanked the dish she had rinsed at least a dozen times over out of her hands, and cupped her face with sudsy hands.
“Or maybe I’m crazy about you. I tried to tell myself all those things over the years, that it was just because you’re my oldest friend, you’re an attractive woman and I’m a free agent, but it’s not. You’re absolutely right, you and I couldn’t be more different. You make lists for your lists, and I can’t stand following the rules. You get up and run every morning and I’m a night owl. You like working from home, I have to see at least three people by noon. But I like that about you. I like that I know all that about you. And I like that we’re opposites. Yin and yang…”
Katelyn’s mouth had dropped open in rapt fascination at his words and the warm tickle of the soap suds trailing down her cheeks and neck. Dominic took the last remaining step between them and dipped his head. Panic took over and she stepped back, pulling his hands from her face. He seemed undeterred and merely took another step forward.
“Sonny and Cher…”
She let out a nervous ‘tuh’ and rolled her eyes as she stepped back again.
“The first allusion was better,” she managed to get out feebly and put her hand up as he stepped forward again. She tried to step back again but her back hit the wall of the kitchen. His lascivious grin returned.
“My – my brother and dad are in the other—”
“Ted Turner and Jane Fonda…” he interrupted.
“Stop it,” she said but couldn’t help chuckling a little at his tenacity. His face was now centimeters from her own, his eyes twinkling with markedly sexual mischief and she was definitely having trouble breathing normally.
“Hatfield and McCoy…” he whispered against her lips sending a shudder through her entire body. She struggled futilely to hold on to the last threads of logical resistance.
“Technically, they were very similar culturally speaking as is the case a lot with these feuding fam—” she cut off as his mouth finally met hers.
Her heart drummed wildly and she imagined those little angel and devil cartoons popping up on her shoulders, saying, respectively, ‘stop it, this is Dominic, your oldest friend’ and ‘go for it, take a chance for once in your vanilla life’. Then he curved an arm behind her back and brought her forward from the wall, deepening his kiss. Both the little angel and little devil sighed in delight – or maybe that was her – who could tell? More to the point, who cared? His lips and tongue were currently rendering her brain into utter mush capable of only one clear thought:
Dominic Valentini was a seriously good kisser.
Like, could cause a Nun to lose her religion seriously good.
She didn’t remember him being this good in 7th grade. Of course that was ages ago and naturally they were older and more experienced and…
“Stop thinking,” he whispered against her lips.
Then his tongue was in her mouth again and his left hand tugged at her blouse until he could snake his fingers underneath and send a tickling, teasing trail up her side. She moved her hands from where they had perched against his shoulders up to his hair and gripped his head, deepening her participation in the kiss. He groaned in response and moved both of his hands under her shirt, both gripping and exploring her at the same time. His lips finally left hers and began a rough suckling trail down her neck as his hands found her breasts. She buckled into him, one hand tightly gripping his head in encouragement the other moving down to his ass and pressing him against her pelvis as her leg hooked up and around his thigh. She could feel his body’s growing eagerness against her belly and he growled deeply, captured her mouth again, and pressed her completely against the wall in a crushing full body kiss. The thunk of her head and the vibration of his guttural noises temporarily cleared her thoughts and made her remember they were not alone in the house. She quickly pushed him away. He stumbled back, hair mussed, lips wet, eyes foggy and frustrated with passion.
(COPYRIGHT 2012, Genevieve Dewey. ALL Rights Reserved.)

There’s MORE Dom & Kate shenanigans in The V-Day Aversion for only $.99!

THE V-DAY AVERSION
(A short Valentine’s Day Romance)

Dominic Valentini is a man with a plan. Katelyn Anderson is a woman with her own plan: avoid whatever Dominic’s got planned.

It’s two days from Valentine’s Day, and Katelyn’s sister Kandace wants Kate to help her catch her estranged husband cheating. Katelyn’s just fine with this as it gives her another excuse to avoid Dominic, whose only crime is being Practically Perfect in every way possible. Dominic just wants Katelyn to stand still long enough to give her a Valentine’s Day to remember. The only problem is, Katelyn hates Valentine’s Day.

An excerpt from The V-Day Aversion:

Everything was always on his terms and his turf. He had just assumed she would move in with him without even discussing it with her. She ignored the little Kandy-sounding voice in her head that said, ‘duh because you’ve been avoiding him‘ and told herself it was perfectly natural to want to put off an unpleasant confrontation with the man she loved. She was still endlessly repeating this in her head (and almost had herself convinced it was true) when she pulled in to her driveway.
“Just because he’s used to having it his way in every other aspect of his life doesn’t mean he can push me into this decision,” Katelyn mumbled to herself as she fished her house keys out from her purse.
“That’s cute, two and a half decades of knowing each other and I never noticed you talk to yourself,” a voice said from the corner of her front porch.
Katelyn dropped her keys and jumped.
“Dominic!” she clutched the front of her sweater. “You scared the piss out of me!”
She glared at him then narrowed her eyes even more at the sight of him looking perfect and dashing as always. How did he do that? That combination of dangerous, disheveled and delicious. She knew for a fact he just got up in the morning, took a shower, sprayed some man-stink on and that was that. She had to spend an hour getting ready and still her hair always frizzed out and looked like she had done nothing to it.
“Not my problem you’re so unobservant you didn’t notice the guy sitting on your front porch.” He waggled his eyebrows and got up from the porch swing. She turned around and picked up her keys to unlock the door.
“First, you leave me hanging last night for supper—”
“We never had formal plans and something came up and—”
“Then you don’t even throw me a bone and come over after the game—” Dom continued.
“Oh, please, you only invited me over so I could help you clean up after my brother and brother-in-law—”
“Now you stand me up for lunch—”
“I told you I honestly lost track of time,” she said and turned back around. He was lounging against the railing on the porch by the steps with his hands in his pockets. She sighed. He was like sin in a man-shaped package. And her sister wondered why she was avoiding him? A nun would have no willpower around Dominic Valentini in full flirt mode.
“And I haven’t gotten any nookie since practically New Years…” Dom continued in a soft purr.
“Oh, what a load of bull! It was last week, ok, maybe the week before that, but I had my period and that totally doesn’t count—”
“I got blue balls, babe, it’s not pretty. Maybe you could put on that sexy nurse outfit you wore on Halloween and tend to my—”
“Oh, for God’s sake, Dominic! And who says nookie any more, I mean, really?” Katelyn spit out and crossed her arms, but she couldn’t help laughing a bit. He had always been able to get her out of a bad mood even when they had just been friends. Now that they were dating, he had even more ways to poke a laugh out of her. Why am I avoiding him again? She wondered. Oh, yeah, the house. She frowned at him. He stopped lounging against the railing and sauntered over to her, all the while grinning and clearly unfazed by her menacing look.
Oh man, not on the front porch, Katelyn thought as she recognized the mischievous twinkle in his eyes. She backed up until she hit the door, fumbling behind her for the handle. Mrs. Dickerson was going to have a field day with this, her panicked mind continued a beat before he squished her against the door. It seems like he’s always squishing me against something, she thought in irritation. Then Kandy’s voice in her head mocked, probably because he knows you secretly love it.
“I’m starting to think you’re avoiding me, Skate,” Dom whispered against her lips.
He had one hand flat against the door above her head and the other against the door next to her waist. The entirety of him was pressing against her. The entirety of her was now gooey and fuzzy headed.
“Are you avoiding me, babe?” Dominic asked while trailing his lips, without actually kissing her, along the edge of her jaw.
“Ahhhh… ummm… Why… um, whhhhy would I be avoiding you?” she managed to get out feebly as his lips moved to her neck and his hips ground against hers. “Dom-Dominic… there’s… there’s people out here!” She squeaked out the last word as his tongue licked the lobe of her ear just the way she liked it.
Dom’s head lifted and he raised his eyebrows. His hand above her head lifted from the door and looped behind her, scooping her flush up against him as he stepped back. His other hand turned the door knob, opened the door, and twirled her out of the way of it opening – all in one swift move.
“Exactly why we should take this inside,” Dom said with a grin. “Great idea, Skate.”
Then he let go of her abruptly and walked right into her home like he owned it.
(Copyright 2013, Genevieve Dewey. All Rights Reserved.)

QUESTION OF THE WEEK!

And my question for you, dear readers, what would you like to see MOST in a full length Dom & Kate novel? Do you prefer one point of view like in Bird Day, or both lovers’ point of view like in V-Day? Oh wait…that might’ve been two questions. *wink*