Viviana Enchantress of Books: Author Interview and Giveaway: Doing It Over by Catherine Bybee

I am extremely excited to have Catherine with us today! I had the pleasure and honor of interviewing her for latest release DOING IT OVER, first in the "Most Likely To" series. I've read and LOVED "Doing It Over"! Need to type up the the review and it will be up shortly. I will share that it is AWESOME!!!

EOB: Hi Catherine! Thanks for being with us today! What can you tell us about “Doing It Over” that isn’t the blurb or filled with spoilers?

CB: Thanks for having me here. There is a small town feel with stronger links to woman's fiction between the pages. Or at least that's what my editor has said. But...and there is always a but...this is a Bybee romance. Sexy when it needs to be, strong because it has to be and snarky because I can't write any other way!

EOB: “Doing It Over” is part of a new series called “Most Likely To”, what inspired this new series?

CB: A couple of things. I wanted to part away from uber rich characters and put some roots down in characters more people could relate to. Even though we all love to picture living high and having all the toys, sometimes it's nice to see characters struggling with conflicts we can relate to.
The second thing that inspired me to write this series was my own group of friends I've known since childhood. It helps that I am living in a home with teenage boys just graduating or soon to graduate from high school. I'm reminded of how I felt at that point in my life and how it all changes in ten years.

EOB: With a new series, comes a new set of characters… In “Doing It Over”, we have Melanie, a single mother and Wyatt a builder that the blurb described as “ruggedly handsome”. What do you love best about the hero and the heroine? As individuals and as a couple?

CB: I love their loyalty to their friends. Not a new trait with my books.
I love Melanie's ability to reassess her life and not let the world hold her down when things are hard. As for Wyatt... He's a patient and confident man who let's the romance between him and Melanie happen at it's own pace. Together they find the right pace to make life work and don't let their own heads keep them from each other with doubt or insecurities.

EOB: Melanie has a young daughter, and things haven’t gone ‘according to plan’ or what she may have envisioned for herself. How do you go about writing a heroine that doesn’t come across as whining or trying to play the “poor little me” card? (Sidebar conversation - sorry, it’s a pet peeve of mine… the whining heroine and it seems like some authors believe the heroine needs to come across that why in order for the hero to come across as ‘strong’ – NOPE)

CB: I think that a heroine, no matter how hard her life is, has to come to her own rescue. Sure, the hero can help out or do his part, but she can't be a blubbering idiot or why would the hero want her in his life? I think strong heroines are a Bybee trademark and Melanie is no different.

EOB: I’d ask if you’d ever wanted a “do-over” but I think most of us at one point in our lives or another, may have that moment, if so, what was yours?

CB: I went through a divorce this year after twenty one years of marriage... Nuff said.

EOB: In your other series, “Weekday Brides” there was a strong sense of friendship among the heroines and even among some of the heroes. Based on the blurb, it seems like Melanie also has a tight circle of friends with Jo and Zoe. What does friendship mean to you and how does that transfer over to your books/characters?

CB: As you will read in my dedications and acknowledgments, these books are somewhat inspired by my own circle of friends. Kari, Brandy and I go back as far as first grade. We are always there for each other and would drop everything if we needed to. True friends listen to your shit and shovel it back if you're messing up. Even when you try and hide your feelings, true friends will call you out. I think that comes across in every book I write.

EOB: Catherine, as always, LOVE having you here with us today and Thank You for tell us more about your latest release and about yourself!! I know readers enjoy getting to know the author better!!

CB: Thanks again for having me. I hope you enjoy Mel and Wyatt's story.
I did! *grin*

Take a few minutes to scroll down and learn more about DOING IT OVER, Catherine and don't forget to enter the giveaway!

Doing It Over
(Most Likely To Series, #1)
by Catherine Bybee

Blurb:

Voted Most Likely to Succeed, Melanie Bartlett ended up anything but. The down-on-her-luck single mom wants a complete do-over—is that too much to ask? With her family long gone from River Bend, strong, independent Mel is as surprised as anyone to end up in the quaint small town she once called home. But with her friends, Jo and Zoe, by her side, and a comfortable room at Miss Gina’s quirky bed-and-breakfast, she just might have turned the corner on a new life.

Wyatt Gibson never liked the big city. River Bend suits the ruggedly handsome builder just fine. Wyatt knows he’s home, even if that means being charmed by the appearance of Melanie and her spunky, adorable daughter. Is Wyatt’s calm devotion—even amid a coming storm—enough to convince Mel she may have found a home to call her own, a family that never leaves, and a true love to last a lifetime?

About The Author

New York Times & USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bybee was raised in Washington State, but after graduating high school, she moved to Southern California in hopes of becoming a movie star. After growing bored with waiting tables, she returned to school and became a registered nurse, spending most of her career in urban emergency rooms. She now writes full-time and has penned the Weekday Brides Series and the Not Quite Series. Bybee lives with her two teenage sons in Southern California.