Cate Ashwood Interview

Please Welcome Cate Ashwood!

Thank you so much for hosting me today! I am thrilled to be here talking about my newest book, . It’s the first book in the Zero Hour series and follows the relationship between Adam and Sam (or Dex, as Adam calls him). Adam is a paramedic and Sam is a forensic pathologist.

If you know me (or read the other posts on the tour), you already know my husband is a primary care paramedic, and when we started dating, he was about to start school. I, in an attempt to be super supportive (plus I just found everything really interesting), made flashcards and study guides. I ran fake calls with him and even let him practice starting IVs on me. I’m fairly well-versed in the day to day operations of the job and what it takes to be the spouse of a paramedic.

But when I started writing this book, I knew almost nothing about forensic pathology. Sam, in fact, began as a history teacher. He was then a doctor, who became a pathologist, and finally he specialized in forensics. It fit much better with the story to have him involved in the murder investigation, and—let’s be honest here—I wanted him to have a really cool job (not that history teachers aren’t cool…).

Working in the lab, I have had some hands on experience with pathology, but histopathology is a much different discipline than what Sam does. I had to research. A lot. There are some incredibly useful resources out there on the internet, put together by people who are obviously passionate about what they do, and I am so very grateful for it. I might have some intensely suspicious internet history, but being able to nerd out about anatomy and physiology was one of my favourite parts of writing this story.

Title: A Forced Silence
Author: Cate Ashwood
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: December 11, 2015
Genre(s): Contemporary/EMT/Doctor
Page Count: 200
Reviewed By: Ele’s Review 4.5 stars
Blurb:

For paramedic Adam Carson, his world is lights and sirens and saving lives. Pressures at work keep him firmly in the closet, and life is too busy to contend with the complications that come with dating and relationships. When a familiar face from his past turns up where he least expects it, Adam starts to question whether or not there is room in his life for those complications.

The last person forensic pathologist Sam McKenna expects to see at pub night is Adam, the guy who made his life hell in high school. The attraction is instant, but Adam isn’t gay and Sam has no interest in pursuing him. Still, the leftover animosity from their teenage years isn’t enough to extinguish the lust growing between them. After both are called to the scene of a horrific murder, Adam admits he’s not as straight as he led Sam to believe and they seek comfort and distraction in each other’s arms. One night becomes many as the murder investigation intensifies, but when Adam is faced with losing Sam, he is forced to make a choice: to break his silence, or to give up everything for the job he loves.

Excerpt:

Sam began to feel a bit queasy. He attributed the feeling to alcohol and not to the way the woman was running her hands up and down Adam’s biceps, dragging the material of his T-shirt up to reveal smooth skin covering the tightly toned muscles underneath.

It felt like the walls were moving closer, the air thicker, the temperature rising. He should get up, leave the bar, or step outside get some air at least. Just as Sam was bracing himself to stand and push through the wall of warm bodies blocking him from the front door, Mandy grabbed Adam’s hand and spoke, her voice low and gravelly.

“Dance with me.”

Adam glanced back at Sam. His body language was muted as he turned and followed the girl into the mass of people simulating partially clothed sex. Sam watched him walk behind her before swinging her around and into his arms on the edge of the dance floor. He pulled her close to him, one hand splayed wide on her lower back, fingers dipping slightly beneath the fabric. He pulled her hair over her shoulder, whispering something into her ear that made her laugh.

Sam wanted to turn away, wanted to run, but Adam hadn’t taken his eyes off him since they started dancing. His stare held Sam helplessly in place as he watched Adam sway with the woman in his arms. He watched him as he felt the heat rising up his throat, sure that the blush staining his cheeks would be obvious to anyone who happened to look his way. He still couldn’t move. He was stuck.

It was so wrong. He felt the flash of jealousy as Adam’s hands moved up and down her spine, tracing the lines of her back, her ass. Sam’s breath was coming in slow pants, imagining what it would feel like to have those hands on him, tracing up and down his back, his ass.

The steady beat of the music thrummed through his body, and he could almost imagine he was the one Adam was pressing up against, feeling that maddening friction as they rubbed against one another, searching for some relief for his aching cock.

There was no way he could leave now, no matter how much he wanted to. He was painfully hard, and the moment he stood, it would be obvious to everyone, especially Adam, who was raking his eyes up and down Sam’s body. His pink tongue darted out, wetting his lips as he once again caught Sam’s gaze.

He was falling into insanity. He had to be. There was no other way to describe his reaction to the incredibly hot, incredibly off-limits—and not to mention incredibly straight—man in front of him. His involuntary attraction sparked a flare of anger. He was getting a little too old to be letting his dick control him. Sam had just about enough. The night had been long, trying, and Sam was tired. He wanted to go home, go to sleep, and pretend none of it ever happened.

Buy Links

Ele’s Review GoodReads

About the Author:

Cate Ashwood wrote her very first story in a hot pink binder when she was in the second grade and found her passion for writing. Her first successful foray into romance writing came five years later when she wrote her best friend, who was experiencing a case of unrequited love, her own happily ever after.

Cate’s life has taken a number of different and adventurous roads. She now lives a stone’s throw from the ocean, just outside of Vancouver, British Columbia with her husband, son, and two cats. Her life is filled with family and friends, travel, and, of course, books.