Man Candy (32 page)
MEET THE MUSE
Meet Dima Gornovskyi, the MAN
CANDY cover model and muse for
Quinn Rusek! After seeing a gorgeous
photograph of Dima on Facebook, I
thought he’d make the perfect Quinn, and
I reached out. What a delight to discover
he’s as sweet and smart as he is
beautiful! His enthusiasm and support
for MAN CANDY has been a thrill right
from the start. Want to get to know him
better? Read on for our Q and A!
Melanie: Hi Dima! I get so many
questions about you, I thought it might
be fun to put a short Q and A in the
back of the book.
Dima: This is such an honor for me!
Thank you :)
You were born in the Ukraine, raised
in Tunisia, and now you live in LA.
What feels most like home to you?
Living in L.A. is a conscious choice
and so here I feel most at home more
than anywhere else in the world, but I'm
very grateful to have grown up in
Tunisia & Ukraine for introducing me to
completely different cultures and
experiences that taught me so much.
What languages do you speak?
English, Russian, Ukrainian, French,
Italian and Arabic (but not all of them
are good anymore) :)
Don’t worry, I’m sure your Italian
beats my Ukrainian by several
thousand
chilometros
. You obviously
work very hard to stay so fit. How do
you do it?
For work, I need to be in the gym
almost every day. I used to be a dancer
so I love stretching and all kinds of
exercises. I am also pretty strict about
my diet and I have a very active life, I'm
always on the go.
I love that you have dance training!
OK so for a splurge, what’s your
favorite meal, and what would you
drink with it?
I'm a huge fan of braised short ribs
with a nice glass of red Zinfandel.
(Note to self, learn how to braise short
ribs.) What's your favorite candy or
dessert?
English Toffee.
What do you notice first about
someone when you meet them?
How organic they are. I love when
people are relaxed and natural no matter
who they are or what they're doing.
What's your dream vacation?
At home with my family (I travel a
lot and live far from my family so these
moments are always the best).
Do you enjoy modeling? (You make it
look easy, but it isn't! When I had my
author photos taken, I gained new
respect for people who have their
picture taken constantly!)
I absolutely love it! It can be
challenging at times because we are not
used to seeing ourselves from different
angles and perspectives, but it helps me
to get out of my comfort zone.
I’m pretty sure you have no bad
angles! But if you were not a model,
what would you be doing?
I would be a pianist or own an
advertising agency.
You play the piano too?
I used to play piano for years but
when I realized that I probably wouldn't
become a professional performer, I had
to put it aside to develop other things.
I'm absolutely in love with the piano
though and I hope to come back to it
when I get a little older and have more
time to practice. :)
What's the craziest thing you've ever
done?
I dropped my university two months
after the beginning of my studies. I was
supposed to become French / Chinese
translator. I turned out well eventually. :)
Haha, I agree! Do you have any
tattoos?
I do not. But I think tattoos are super
cool. If had one, it would probably be a
deer head.
You model all kinds of clothing. When
you're not working, what's your
favorite thing to wear?
I love the combination of navy blue
and white. A good fitting pair of jeans
and a T with a cool baseball hat in the
daytime, and I prefer all black for a night
look. Three of my favorite things in my
wardrobe are: My sherpa denim jacket,
Detroit baseball hat (because my name
also starts with D) and my Nike
sneakers.
Your Detroit baseball hat was one of
the first things I noticed in your
pictures! I love it—but I’m from
Detroit, so I’m a little biased. ;) Quinn
loves the Tigers and wears a hat like
that too. This was fate! OK, so what's
the best piece of advice you've ever
gotten, in any language?
To never stop dreaming. I'm a
dreamer and I dream big. I have all of
my dreams written down in multiple
places. So many of my dreams have
become a reality. Another great piece of
advice was to make a to-do list. I can't
tell you how effective that is for me.
YOU LOVE LISTS?! Wow, we have a
lot in common! Other than the fact
that you are much younger and better
looking and speak seven languages,
I’d say we were separated at birth…
yeah, maybe not. OK, I’m going to get
mushy for a moment. In MAN
CANDY, Quinn teases Jaime by
calling her "love bug" because he
knows it bothers her. What's your
favorite term of endearment to call
someone you love?
Cuddle bear, but if I wanted to
bother someone in a flirtatious way, I
would call them a weirdo.
Hahaha, cuddle bear! That’s one I
didn’t think of for Quinn and Jaime!
Now the lightning round…
Favorite color?
Navy blue
Favorite song?
Madonna - Secret
Favorite movie?
Blue Jasmine by Woody Allen
You really do love blue! It’s my
favorite color, too. :) Dima, thank you
so much for doing this--I truly
appreciate it!
Of course, this is so much fun for
me!!
You can keep up with Dima here:
https://www.facebook.com/dimagorn
ovskyi/
https://www.instagram.com/dimagorn
ovskyi/
Thanks for reading!
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Melanie Harlow likes her heels high, her hair
pink, and her history with the naughty bits left
in. In addition to MAN CANDY, she’s the
author of the HAPPY CRAZY LOVE series
(contemporary romance), the FRENCHED
series (contemporary romance) and the SPEAK
EASY duet (historical romance). She writes
from her home outside of Detroit, where she
lives with her husband, two daughters, and one
insane rabbit.
Connect with Melanie online:
Website: www.melanieharlow.com
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/AuthorMelanieHarlow
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56563/
Twitter: @MelanieHarlow2
Email: [email protected]
Pinterest:
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Tumblr: melanieharlow.tumblr.com/
Goodreads:
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ALSO BY MELANIE HARLOW
The Frenched Series
Yanked
(a Frenched novella)
The Happy Crazy Love Series
The Tango Lesson
(a standalone novella) SNEAK PEEK OF PLAY
MAKER, BY KATIE MCCOY!
James Martin aka The Play Maker:
international soccer sensation, owner of
a drool-worthy body, and panty-
dropping man whore.
He's the perfect one night stand.
And by one night stand I mean two
night stand.
And by two night stand I mean three
night stand.
Nicole Grant is living every girl's
fantasy: a rendezvous with the sexiest
Brit on either side of the pond. It's just
one night, and that's fine with her. With
her busy work schedule and a brother
she's devoted to, flings are all Nicole
has time for. No complicated feelings
and no strings attached. Just hot sex.
James Martin is used to scoring -- on
and off the field. His prowess in the
game is rivaled only by his reputation in
the tabloids. But after Nicole gives him
the best hookup of his life, he
experiences something new: a woman
who isn't throwing herself at his feet,
who knows all he has to offer and is still
keeping her distance. Apparently there's
a first time for everything.
James can't get Nicole out of his
head. She's funny and she's irresistible.
Nicole can't James off her mind. He's
good hearted and he's sexy. Will their
standoff end in a draw, or can this one
night stand kick off something real?
* * *
Nicole
All it took was one look and I knew
exactly what he wanted. It was a gift,
really. He crossed the crowded room,
coming straight towards me, just like
they all did, his gaze saying everything I
needed to know. He stopped in front of
me and licked his lips.
“Let me guess.” I leaned forward,
watching his pupils dilate as he watched
my deft hands do their magic. “Gin and
tonic.” I slid the glass across the bar.
His eyes widened. “How did you
know?”
I winked. “A good bartender can
always tell.” And I was a good
bartender. Hell, I was a
great
bartender.
I could figure out someone’s drink of
choice in an instant. You just had to
know what to look for. He was wearing
a slim fitting J Crew suit. That said he
was young, modern, the kind of person
that might be interested in the more
artisanal style cocktails. But he didn’t
have any of the patterns or flourishes that
some men his age were embracing. So
he still liked to keep things traditional.
Something that Don Draper might have
felt comfortable ordering. Gin and tonic
was a drink that seemed to be gaining
popularity, but still maintained an old-
fashioned feel. And once you see it, you
couldn’t unsee it. Mr. Gin-and-Tonic,
through and through.
And now he was mine for the whole
evening. He wouldn’t try ordering at the
other end of the bar. Nope. He thought
that I knew him. Which he liked.
Because everyone liked feeling that way.
Everyone wanted to be known, to be
seen. All it took was a simple
observation and I had him in the palm of
my hand.
He tipped well and returned to the
group he had come in with. But he kept
looking back. The men always did.
Because not only could I make a killer
cocktail – the exact one they wanted
before they even knew they wanted it –
but I wore my uniform extremely well.
The same curves that had gotten me
teased in middle school were bringing
grown men to their knees over ten years
later.
Maya liked to call me the blonde
Jessica Rabbit. All boobs and butt, both
which strained against the black shirt,
black pants and little black vest I had to
wear for work. Even though I was
completely covered up, I couldn’t
change the way I always seemed to be
on the verge of spilling out of my
clothes. Not that I’d want to. Because if I
couldn’t get a guy with a drink, I could
always get him with a well deployed
“bend and snap”, just like Elle Woods.
But that was only used as a last resort.
The guy wasn’t bad looking – though
a little on the skinny side for me – but
unfortunately for him I just wasn’t in the
mood tonight. I pulled my gaze away
from that side of the room and pulled out
a stick of gum from my purse. It was a
bad habit of mine, but since barely
anyone was in the bar, I popped a piece
of doublemint gum into my mouth and
started chewing. When the gum was soft
enough, I started blowing bubbles. I