Blog Tour, Exclusive Interview & Reviews: MINE by Katy Evans
Synopsis
“I will do anything to make her MINE.” —Remington Tate
In the international bestseller REAL, the unstoppable bad boy of the Underground fighting circuit finally met his match. Hired to keep him in prime condition, Brooke Dumas unleashed a primal desire in Remington “Remy” Tate as vital as the air he breathes . . . and now he can’t live without her.
Brooke never imagined she would end up with the man who is every woman’s dream, but not all dreams end happily ever after, and just when they need each other the most, Brooke is torn away from the ringside. Now with distance and darkness between them, the only thing left is to fight for the love of the man she calls MINE.
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Today we bring you our exclusive interview with Katy Evans! We are honored to have Katy, the bestselling author of Real and Mine visiting us here at Up All Night Book Blog.
UAN: Hey Katy! Thanks so much for joining us at Up All Night for some questions. We so appreciate you and all you do for your readers! We are Remy groupies and Mine had us falling for him that much harder!
KE: Hey Dawn and Abby! Thank you so much for having me over, it is a real pleasure to be here!
UAN: Let’s get started…
Was Mine always intended to follow-up Real, or was Real originally a stand alone? (We can always use more Remington!)
KE: Real was originally a stand alone. But when I finished the story and Remy gave me his wonderful POV, I just couldn’t leave it at that. I had to know more. How would they make it work? How would things work out between them? What were the things on his mind in so many of the scenes in Real? So, I decided I needed a sequel (MINE – Nov 5), and also a story where I could get to see and live his thought processes (in REMY – Nov 26). I can’t wait to share both!
UAN: What has your reaction been to Remy Fever? It seems we all have it!!
KE: Since I’m as in love with him as Brooke is, I wholeheartedly approve. Sometimes I get that wicked little sense that we’re all back in high school, crushing over the same guy. It’s fun and exciting, as it always is to find that you can talk to someone about something you deeply love!
UAN: On a more serious note, can you talk a little about why you chose to write about Bipolar disorder?
KE: I have a friend with BP. I admire everyone who rises above this condition, and I admire all the loved ones with them who stay by their side, with support and understanding. It’s not easy for anyone involved. But like I’ve said before, I do believe there is a light in the dark, and I hope everyone who has any form of mental illness will find theirs.
UAN: An interesting quote for us was, “Everyone who has ever been sick or has ever been on medication long-term knows that when you fix one thing chemically in your body, you give something else up. Look at the list of side effects. There is no magic pill for health. We are works in progress, and health is not a static place. It is a goal that is always moving and needs to be chased, daily and forever.”
This is a unique perspective that holds merit. We think a lot of people would think that Remy needs medication. Have you had much controversy with this?
KE: I’m sure there are people with varying opinions, and that is quite all right. He’s not trying to make a political statement, or stating that he is right. It’s his and Brooke’s love story, and I wanted to tell it as they told it to me.
I have become aware of varying types of mental illness being a part of a part of many people’s lives, and I really admire how human beings can rise above it and become stronger, better, kinder.
A friend was told, “take these pills” and when she asked, “What else can I do doctor? Please? Please tell me?” I remember the answer they gave her was, “Nothing. You can’t do anything to stop it.”
To tell someone that they no longer have control of their body and that they can do “nothing” is something I can’t fathom. You have to have choices.
The same goes for Remy. He may, in the future, decide (with Brooke) to make a different choice. That’s quite all right too. We are human beings, ever in motion, always chasing something—our health, love, jobs, improvement. A decision one day may prove wrong the next, and an adjustment can be made. That’s the beauty of it. We are not immovable, we are flexible, adaptable, ever wanting to be better, stronger, faster, happier.
UAN: We love that Brooke finally gets it. She is in love with someone who has Bipolar. In Mine, we deal with her insecurities just as much as we see her inability to accept his disease. Can you talk about why you decided to have Brooke react to his mental illness the way you did?
KE: Brooke wanted me to challenge her in this book, even if Remy seemed to be against it. He was really not happy with me with the way I tested her, but I had to be sure that she would be able to handle Remington, the good and the bad, all of the perfectly imperfect. I already knew he would do anything for her, but I wanted her to show me how much she loved him and I wanted her to show me that she fully understood what it would mean to have his love. Its not easy for any of us to watch people we love suffer. She is not afraid of his condition, but she’s afraid of him being vulnerable because of it—she’s protective of him, just like he is. I think she’s human and imperfect too, and yet she is all he needs and wants, and vice versa. I love them so very much.
UAN: And Pete, gah ! We wanted to smack him. Do you think he always had Remy’s best interest in mind?
KE: Yes, I really do. In REMY we get to see how it all went down, and I do feel that Pete and Riley are really protective of Remy. Brooke left him, and what they got to see in the hospital broke their hearts. The last thing they wanted was for Remy to keep pining after her when she’d left him like that. So they thought they were protecting him. They definitely thought they’d be able to get Remy to get his groove back—but ahh, they forgot Dark Remy is the one who almost died for Brooke. Dark Remy loves her as hard as Blue Remy and maybe even more violently because she’s his one and only anchor.
UAN: Thank you, Katy, for sharing more of Remy and Brooke with us and all your readers! What can we expect next? More of Remy and Brooke or are you working on another project?
KE: Thanks so much for having me over! Next we have REMY, my favorite. I just loved being in his head, watching him and Brooke in the present, then reliving some important Real and Mine scenes in his POV. Very enlightening stuff! Next we have the stories of Brooke’s friends, Pandora and Melanie, and after that I do have two books planned which I will later tell you all about. I can’t wait!!
UAN: We loved having you here, Katy! Thank you!
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Abby’s Review 4 stars
If you fell in love with Brooke and Remy in Real, then this is the perfect follow-up. This has a perfect blend of sweetness, sexiness, pain and beauty.
Brooke is trying to deal with the fall-out of leaving Remy. The pain he went through when she left weighs heavy on her and we see Brooke with her insecurities trying to cope. She has a back and forth internal battle where she struggles between jealousy and self loathing.
We see the strong Remy with a broken side. We see how he is for Brooke. How sexy this man can be. There is no doubt, that he is the ultimate MMA bad boy as far as book boyfriends go.
I read another MMA book a week or two ago and he had nothing on Remington Tate. I mean nothing! I was left with the other book that is not be be mentioned missing my Remy. And after reading Mine, I got my fix.
Pete annoyed me in this book. I wish Remy would call him out on his big mouth. He gossips more than a girl. I swear there were multiple times where I was thinking he might double cross Remy. He seemed shady to me.
I also wish there was a bit more parental story-line. I really liked watching Remy stand up to them. I wanted more. The parental aspect of both Remy’s and Brooke’s gave good insight.
I like how Katy Evans is not afraid to dive head first into all aspects, high and low, of mental illness. It is a personal belief for me that mental illness holds a stigma unlike any other disease. I appreciate Katy Evans bringing so much light to bipolar disorder and I am grateful that she has shed some light on it.
♥♥♥
Dawn’s Review 4 Stars
I absolutely could not wait to get my greedy hands on Mine! The minute it was on my ereader, it was all I could think about to curl up with it and read all night. Real was such an off-the-charts 5 star for me that I needed more! Mine is a heartwarming, sensual, painful, and emotional read. It gave me what I needed to feel like I had wrapped up Remy and Brooke’s story. And the conclusion was beautiful and made me heave a big, happy sigh.
With that said, I’m going to share up-front that while I loved having a continuation of Remy’s story (because for me, it’s all about him!), Mine fell a bit short of a 5 star for me.
What I loved. Plain and simple: REMY! His heart, his love, his strength, his dedication, and his ever-abiding focus on what is his – Brooke. I loved the fight scenes and the pace of the last 50% of the book. The care and tenderness that Katy Evans uses when writing about Remy’s black times is beautiful and just makes me feel that much more for him. There were some seriously sweet and intense moments when I could feel the love and complete and utter commitment that Remington has for Brooke. He is still the off-the-charts sex god in an Underground boxing ring as he was in Real and with Mine that intensity was ratcheted up.
There were a few areas that I struggled with more in Mine. Brooke. She was too whiny throughout a good part of the story for me. I missed her toughness that I felt she had in Real. In the end, though I saw that come back, particularly during a scene when Remy has gone into a dark place. The. Use. of. Periods. When. Talking. Those distracted me and didn’t add to the story. I also felt like Nora’s character and role in Mine was confusing and didn’t add to the storyline for me this time.
Overall, I loved spending more time with Remy. For Remy fans, I think you’ll find even more to love of him with Mine.
Copy provided for honest review.
About the Author Hey! I’m Katy Evans and I love family, books, life, and love. I’m married with two children and three dogs and spend my time baking, walking, writing, reading, and taking care of my family. Thank you for spending your time with me and picking up my story. I hope you had an amazing time with it, like I did. If you’d like to know more about books in progress, look me up on the Internet, I’d love to hear from you! Website: www.katyevans.net Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Katy-Evans/521052267929550 Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorkatyevans Email: authorkatyevans@gmail.com
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