Blog Tour w/Giveaway: Unsportsmanlike Conduct by Sophia Henry

Discover why Kelly Jamieson calls the Pilots Hockey series 

“fun and flirty, warm and sweet.”

UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT

Pilots Hockey #4

Sophia Henry

Releasing Oct 18th, 2016

Flirt

The author of Delayed Penalty returns with the story of a free spirit who believes she’s found forever with a playboy on a singles cruise. Discover why Kelly Jamieson calls the Pilots Hockey series “fun and flirty, warm and sweet.” 

Kristen Katsaros wants a life full of adventure and laughter. After a difficult childhood, her motto is to live each day like it’s her last—because it just might be. So when Kristen’s parents send her on a post-grad singles cruise in the Caribbean to meet a Greek husband, she promptly hooks up with the hottest guy she’s ever met. Pasha’s decidedly not Greek, but Kristen gives him a pass because he’s got fun written all over his rock-hard abs.

Pavel Gribov, the cocky playboy of the Detroit Pilots hockey team, can score any girl he wants. But when a teammate drags him on a singles cruise, he can’t resist the chance to help out a drop-dead gorgeous damsel in distress by pretending to be her boyfriend. Before long, the fake fling turns intimate, fueled by something much deeper than lust.

Kristen and Pasha both agree to walk away once the cruise is over, but reality hits like a slap shot when Kristen finds out Pasha lied about everything. Just when she’s ready to start living again, the two stubborn survivors must decide if they can bear to lose the best thing that ever happened to either of them.

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“So, what’s your story?” I asked.

“My story?” He lowered his head and gazed at me over his sunglasses.

My heart flittered fast, waiting for him to tell me to move or ask why I had chosen to sit next to him, given all the open seats surrounding the pool. But he didn’t.

Had I really chosen this spot because these were the only three empty chairs next to each other? I could have dragged another lounger next to two others.

“You’re not Greek. I can tell that by your accent.” Under the ruse of trying to figure him out, I twisted my torso and leaned toward his chair. Subconsciously I relished the opportunity to study his features more closely. “So you can’t be one of the Detroit-area Greek singles I’m supposed to be hanging out with.”

“I am. I came here with a friend.”

“Who’s your friend?” I asked, tucking my hair behind my ears.

“Blake Panikos.”

I didn’t recognize that name. And after spending the majority of my life around people in the Greek Orthodox community, I pretty much knew anyone close to my age, whether we went to the same church or not.

“How do you know Blake?” I settled back into the lounge chair, flicking back a corner of the towel that had fallen onto my shoulder.

Adonis’s lip curled into a smirk. “Panikos worked with me when I lived in Detroit.”

“Where do you live now?”

“North Carolina.”

“Really?” I sat up. “My best friend just moved to Charlotte.”

“Charlotte. That is where I live.”

“What a small world. She lives downtown, in the Avenue condos.” I paused to correct myself. “Well, I guess you guys call it uptown instead of downtown.”

“Why did she move to Charlotte? Did she get a job there?” Adonis leaned sideways and picked up a plastic cup from the ground next to his chair. He took a sip of his drink.

“No. She moved in with her fiancé. He’s a hockey player.”

Adonis didn’t respond, but he choked on his drink and diverted his eyes toward the pool.

“His name’s Aleksandr Varenkov,” I added. “Do you know him?”

“No,” he answered quickly, and adjusted his aviator sunglasses, which had slid down his nose. “I never heard of him. Maybe if I saw him, I’d know his face.”

“If the Internet worked here, I’d show you a picture on my phone.”

“The ship has Internet,” Adonis corrected me.

“Yeah, but I can’t afford the hundred dollars a minute they charge to access it.” A hundred dollars a minute was only a slight exaggeration—the ship charged enough that I didn’t feel the need to waste my money. I’d wait until we docked somewhere with a restaurant or a bar that offered free Wi-Fi. “So what do you do?”

His gaze veered from my lips to my eyes before he answered. “I am a Pilot.”

“Really? So you’re always traveling, eh? Do you love it?” I reached over and grabbed my water bottle off the tiny table next to my lounge chair.

“I like to fly. To travel. It is, um, a good job for me.” Adonis took another swig from his drink, something clear with a cluster of crushed ice floating in it. “Where do you work?”

I leaned back in the chair and bent my knees slightly—perfect position to soak up the sizzling sunshine. “I’m the assistant to one of the owners of Motor City Bar Management. It’s a company that owns a group of bars around Detroit. I coordinate all the volunteers and employees for events that our bars host or sponsor.” I finished my water and set the empty bottle on the table.

“What kind of events?”

“Concerts. Bar crawls. Promotional events before games,” I said, rattling off a few of the things I’d helped plan recently.

“Wonder if I’ve seen you around,” he said. “I go to a lot of concerts.”

“Probably not,” I said. “I just started two months ago. Before that I was at Central State.”

Adonis’s eyes darted toward something behind me. “You like the party life?”

“Sure. It’s fun right now while I’m young.” I wiggled my toes, watching the pink glitter polish sparkle in the sunlight. “My goal is to learn the ropes of event planning, then turn it into something more professional in a few years when I don’t want to be immersed in the bar scene anymore.”

Suddenly he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the chair, planting them on the ground facing me. Then he leaned close, his face inches from mine.

Was he going to kiss me?

My heart hammered, excited and eager to accept a kiss from this stranger. I licked my lips and closed my eyes. But instead of feeling his mouth on mine, I felt his breath against my face.

“The guy you are trying to avoid is behind you,” he said.

My eyes flickered open. “Huh?”

“The guy you ran from.” Adonis nodded. “He is behind you now.” He leaned back, resuming his original lazy, reclined position. Then he tilted his cup and drained his drink.

How did this guy already have my heart pounding and my mind begging for his lips on mine? I figured the salty ocean air must be permeating my brain and breaking down my common sense.

Q & A with Sophia Henry 

Tell us about UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT.
UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT is the fourth book in the Pilots Hockey series. All of the books are stand alone, so a reader can jump in at any point and won’t be confused. Each book in the Pilots Hockey series centers around the relationship and emotional journey between the hero and heroine. Though they are all connected by the Detroit Pilots, a minor league hockey team, the books are not hockey-centric. Which is important because even readers who don’t know (or like) hockey will still be able to follow and enjoy the books.

What initially inspired you to write UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT?
The song “I Lived” by One Republic and Bryan Warnecke, the teen with cystic fibrosis (CF) who is featured in the video for the song. The first time I heard “I Lived” I fell in love with the lyrics and the message behind it. Then I saw the video. Around that same the time, I’d been thinking about how I could write a diverse heroine—in my own way. Bryan inspired me to write a strong heroine with CF who has the courage and drive to live life to the fullest..

Tell us little about the characters in UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT.
Kristen Katsaros is an upbeat, fun-loving, free-spirit with cystic fibrosis. Pavel (Pasha) Gribov is a hot Russian hockey player hiding a painful past behind his cocky demeanor. Together they’re snarky, sweet, sexy and fun. :)

What was the hardest part of writing UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT?
The hardest part was writing a heroine with cystic fibrosis and doing her justice. All the people fighting for their lives every day deserve a kick a$$ representation of how strong and amazing they are, so I didn’t want to get it wrong. It was very important to me to show how Kristen LIVES. I don’t have CF, so I don’t know what living with it is like. I did a lot (A LOT) of research and I spoke with people who have it. I wanted to write a strong, normal, amazing person who has to work hard to stay healthy.

What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?
This is one of my favorite scenes because it’s so unexpected—for the readers and the characters! :) While Kristen and Pasha are dancing, they share details about their individual backgrounds, which gives them common ground and allows for them to get closer in a very subtle way. Here’s a snippet:

As I put weight on my back foot, rocking away from one particular creepy dude, someone caught my hand and tugged me forward into his hard chest. What kind of guy had the audacity to grab me when I obviously hadn’t been giving off those vibes?

To brace myself, I pressed my palms against a soft black button-down shirt. Pasha stood in front of me with an adorably arrogant smirk on his face. Instead of speaking, he held his arms up in a formal dance position. I took his hands and he immediately led me in a succession of smooth salsa steps.

It wasn’t intricate choreography that only two dancers who had practiced together would know, just a series of basic Latin dance steps. He led and I followed. But nobody else on the dance floor knew that. To them it probably looked like a scripted routine straight out of a musical.

And damn! Pasha could move.

~ From UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT by Sophia Henry

What are your future project(s)?
I’m currently working on BREAKAWAY, which will be out in March 2017. It’s connected to the Pilots Hockey series, but is a standalone book. The story features Luke Daniels, who readers may remember from previous books as the captain of the Pilots. In BREAKAWAY, Luke has moved up to the Pilots NHL affiliate, the Charlotte Aviators.

Is there anything else you would like to tell the readers about this book?
THANK YOU! That’s the first thing. I appreciate every single person who reads my books, goes out of their way to interact with me on social media or in person, or writes a review. It doesn’t go unnoticed and I feel humbled by all the love. Thank you all so much.

When someone buys a Sophia Henry book, they are automatically supporting a charity. I donate the first $500 of the royalties from each book before I take a penny for myself. I’m proud to say that my generous readers have already allowed me to make the donations for the first three books. I also plan on doing a yearly contribution based on book sales each year.

The charity I selected for UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT is the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (www.cff.org). To learn more about the organizations I chose for each book, please visit my website: http://www.sophiahenry.com/give-back/

***Thank you so much for having me on your blog! I truly appreciate it! ~ Sophia xx***

3 Stars

Was given this book and promised a honest review

Kristen Katsaros wants a life full of adventure and laughter. Her parents send her on a cruise for singles, in the hopes she will meet her future husband. And lets not forget her stalker too, highlight of the story, one has to have a stalker around.
Pavel Gribov, hockey player is on this cruise too, here is a man that can have any girl he wants but is attracted to Kristen. However their flirting is turning into something neither could imagine.
Both agree to part ways when cruise is done, haha not going to happen, even with the lies Pasha told her, bot have invested too much in each other. Will they forget each other or will they try to make things work?

Reviewed by Jara

Sophia Henry, a proud Detroit native, fell in love with reading, writing, and hockey all before she became a teenager. She did not, however, fall in love with snow. So after graduating with a BS in English from Central Michigan University, she moved to the warmth of North Carolina for the remainder of her winters.

She spends her days writing books featuring hot, hockey-playing heroes. When she’s not writing, she’s chasing her two high-energy sons, watching her beloved Detroit Red Wings and rocking out at concerts with her husband.

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