Fiction Furbaby: Meet Princess Sofia from Ginger Snapping All the Way by Gabbi Grey @gabbigrey @RobsRescues #RLFblog #Pets

Gabbi Grey’s full-length gay romance Ginger Snapping All the Way is what happens when you take a ginger lumberjack Scrooge, who just wants to be left alone, with a sunshine pediatric nurse who needs shelter during a snowstorm.

Gabbi, welcome to Romance Lives Forever. I’m Kayelle Allen, author and owner of this blog. Happy to have you here! We support all furbabies, real life or fictional. We want to know all about your Fiction Furbaby, but first, please tell us about Ginger Snapping All the Way.

Ginger Snapping All the Way by Gabbi Grey

Genre contemporary gay romance

Book heat level (based on movie ratings): R – steamy

Maddox

I’m not a fan of Christmas. I’m happy to stay up in my mountain cabin and let the silly season pass me by. But when a friend asks for a favor, I can’t say no. Now I’m stuck in my cabin during a snowstorm, trapped with the most beautiful man I’ve ever met—who can’t wait to get away. He just might break my heart when he goes.

Ravi

I’m racing to get home for the birth of my goddaughter when mechanical troubles force my plane’s emergency landing. There are no beds at the inn due to a horrendous storm, but a friend says she knows a guy who won’t mind putting me up until the bad weather passes. Now I’m trapped with that man, and I must decide if I stay, hiding from the rest of the world, or go and face my past to earn a shot at my happily ever after.

This is a 72k word, hurt/comfort, lumberjack/nurse, grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity MM romance novel with a moderate amount of angst.

Meet Princess Sofia from Ginger Snapping All the Way

Full name: Princess Sofia

Nickname:Sof

Gender: Female

Species: Canine

Physical description: Little white furball with an adorable black nose

Relationship to main character: companion to Maddox

Relationship to the love interest: quickly wrapping the newcomer around her little paw

Where this furbaby came from: Sofia was a rescue

What inspired you to create this character?

As I was writing Maddox, I realized he was too dark. Scrooge, hermit, general grumpy guy. I acknowledged I need something to soften him up. Although he loves his nieces and nephew – and even his sister – he doesn’t interact with them until much later in the book. Vivacious Princess Sofia was the perfect foil for Maddox’s dark and brooding.

What does the main character think about this furbaby?

Maddox adores Sofia. He tries to play it off like she’s no big deal, but she’s his entire world. There are days when he’d prefer to stay in bed, hidden from the world and from himself. Sofia forces him to keep living. He has to stay healthy because she needs him. And he needs her just as much.

What does this furbaby eat?

Princess Sofia is fed very expensive kibble. When Maddox needs to bribe her – like staying out of the bedroom when he’s, uh, busy with Ravi – she gets a soup bone and even premium wet food.

What is this furbaby’s natural habitat?

For all her delicacy, Princess Sofia is a creature of her environs. She lives up on the mountain with Maddox. She loves to chase squirrels into the woods and knows to stay away from the nasty bears. She doesn’t get to see many people, so she’s thrilled when Ravi shows up – another human to manipulate.

What does this furbaby add to the story?

Princess Sofia is the comic relief in this book. Both my men have deep emotional wounds, and I worried the story might be too dark. Sofia adds just the right amount of levity.

What about this furbaby will readers like, and why?

Readers enjoy Sofia precociousness. She’s like a secondary character. She’s whip-smart (except when chasing squirrels into the woods and getting poor Ravi lost). She knows what she wants and how to manipulate Maddox to get it. Readers like how she’s able to read Maddox’s moods and to be there to support him when he’s devastated because he and Ravi need to be apart for a while.

Please share an interesting fact or tidbit about this furbaby.

Maddox’s nieces Alexa and Alannah named Princess Sofia. They’ve never seen How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Maddox pretends to be horrified by the name and even contemplated calling her Butch when the girls weren’t around. He realized he was too old for subterfuge and that Butch sounds too much like Bitch. He maintains Sofia likes her name. If pressed, he’ll admit to liking it as well.

Describe a humorous incident involving the animal character.

One day Maddox arrived home to find Sofia was not in the backseat. It took him two hours of walking the back roads before someone said they’d seen Sofia. She was sunning herself in someone’s backyard after having taken a dip in the kiddie pool. She never told Maddox whether she jumped or slipped. Needless to say, she’s been wearing a harness in the truck ever since. (And this may or may not be a true story – my Ally never told me if she jumped or slid – but she did take ten years off my life when I found her gone…)

About Ally

This post is called Fiction Furbaby, but perhaps your own pet does not have fur. If you have a pet that has fins, wings, scales, or other features, please tell us about them here.

Which, if any of the pets in your writing are modeled after your own pets? In what way?

Princess Sofia is Ally and Ally is Princess Sofia. My little ChinPoo has an attitude when she wants something (or doesn’t – try putting a winter coat on her). Her gentle nature was the perfect example for Sofia.

What do your pets do when you are writing?

Even as I write this, Ally’s asleep on a mat under my writing desk. She’s never more than a foot away from me. Ever.

Where did you find your pet?

Ally was a rescue. She wasn’t being abused, but she was neglected – her owner couldn’t care for her properly. She went through several different places before she came to my home. Once she realized I was her forever person, she attached herself to me. We’re almost never apart.

What do you feed your pet?

Like Princess Sofia, Ally gets very expensive kibble. She has a severe attachment disorder so when I leave, she gets a tray of wet food and a dental bone. I put her in her crate (her safe spot), dump the treats, and run like hell.

Describe a toy or favorite item your pet loves.

We were visiting my friend Donna and Ally wandered away. She came back with a stuffed rat. Donna’s dog Chili just shrugged. Ally for the steal. She loves it, and will often jump up on my lap with the rat in tow.

Where to buy Ginger Snapping All the Way

Universal Book Link https://books2read.com/u/3yaArV
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09KMC3X5X
Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ginger-snapping-all-the-way-gabbi-grey/1140479206
iBooks https://books.apple.com/us/book/ginger-snapping-all-the-way/id1593193241
Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/ginger-snapping-all-the-way

Gabbi Grey Social Media

Gabbi Grey lives surrounded by trees, racoons, deer, and other woodland creatures, on a mountain in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin poo keeps her safe from nasty bears.
Working for the government by day, she spends her nights writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances…and while she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love.
Website https://gabbigrey.com/
Twitter https://twitter.com/GabbiGrey
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AuthorGabbiGrey
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.ca/gabbigreyauthor/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/authorgabbigrey/
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15456297.Gabbi_Grey
BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/authors/gabbi-grey
Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/Gabbi-Grey/e/B07SJVFX1M
Get to know Gabbi Grey better by signing up for their email newsletter.
https://gabbigrey.com/
Again, thank you Kayelle for letting me hang out. I have a contest going on if you’re interested.
https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/801c221b102/

Shout out to Rob’s Rescues – founded by a 9-year-old animal activist

Rob’s Rescues is a non-profit organization in Georgia helping people in need care for and feed their pets. It was founded in 2014 by a then nine-year-old boy. Rob’s Rescues is dedicated to collecting pet food for people in need to reduce shelter surrenders, and to advocating for the adoption of shelter pets. Rob writes monthly articles advocating for shelter animals in the Around About Local Media magazine publications. His column was first published in 2014. He also has pet food collection sites for people in need in the community and interviews amazing people. His interviews appear online once they are published in his column.
Rob volunteers for Pet Buddies Food Pantry, the Cherokee County Animal Shelter and Cobb County Animal Control and collects pet food for these organizations and the communities they serve. He also wants to bring attention to smaller, rural shelters. Mostly he wants to get kids to be Rob’s Rangers to teach kids that they can help shelter animals. Rob has also talked to kids in a classroom setting.
Rob’s Rescues is a Non-Profit Corporation and all donations are tax deductible.
Website http://www.robsrescues.com/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/robsrescues/
Twitter https://twitter.com/RobsRescues

Shout out to Tiny Kittens

Tiny Kittens is a non-profit dedicated to rescuing feral cats. Located near my home in British Columbia, they do amazing work. I’ve watched the Grandpa Mason videos often, and was heartbroken when he passed. His legacy lives on with all the kittens he cared for. https://tinykittens.com/