Please welcome today's guest,
Rachel Leigh!
Rachel's here to talk about the inspiration behind her newest release, Hot Summer Sands, as well as what's next in the future.
Rachel, I
could really use a vacation right about now, and a romp on a Greek island with
a hot man sounds perfect. What inspired you to write about the island of
Zante?
We actually went there on a family holiday back in
2009 and I knew I would write about it someday. The beaches are gorgeous, the
people friendly and lots of emigrated Brits now call Zante their home. The idea
of a Brit setting up a restaurant came to me immediately but I thought it would
be the heroine who ran it rather than the hero’s sister. That’s writing for
you!
Sam
Clarke sounds divine, and the perfect hero. Reformed party boy with a
conflicted past. What secrets can you tell us about Sam? And how does he end up
on the island of Zante, or is he a native?
Ooh, I can’t give away his secrets, you’ll have to
read the book for that! He ended up moving to Zante from England a few years
before the book opens. He and his sister left their warring parents to a messy
divorce and start afresh as young adults.
They’ve never looked back…
Michelle
Hutton has a lot of growing to do from the blurb. How does her conflicted past
figure into the story? Any seductive food scenes to look forward to?
Plenty of seductive scenes and plenty of growing and
learning too! Yes, Michelle comes to Zante full of anger and hurt over her
mother’s betrayal. She wonders how someone so close to you could lie for so
long and decides that some of her own selfish needs will be met for a while.
The trouble is, being selfish is a hard thing to do when you’re not that way
naturally.
From
another blog I gleaned some inside information (yes, I'm a snoop) that your
next book involves British show jumping, revenge and hopefully hot sex. Can you
tell us a little about how you'd research for this sort of story? And maybe
when/where we could look for this exciting story line?
The setting for my next book was inspired by one of
my favorite series of books by Jilly Cooper. She is a fabulous British author
who writes sexy “bonkbusters” and her most successful series is set around the
horse world. I had just finished reading “Polo” and knew I had to try my hand
at an equestrian story too. As far as research goes, I spent time riding and
attending trials as a young teenager, so I am used the visuals from my memory
and the rest from fantasy J
Since
the viral explosion of erotic romance in the media, people have been eager to
expand their horizons. Besides interesting settings like Hot Summer Sands, what
can readers expect when they open a Rachel Leigh novel?
More than anything, my stories are grounded in high
emotion. Erotic romance is primarily about the emotion, wants and desires of
the characters rather than the actual sex. The sex leads from whatever problems
they are trying to work out at the time.
Readers should view erotic romance as “Romance”
rather than “erotica” – the erotic part means you can expect some hot, graphic
scenes but in the main, it is what’s going on inside the characters that is
important.
Hot
Summer Sands is available now from The Wild Rose Press. Here’s the blurb and a
sneaky excerpt:
Chef Michelle Hutton
flees her controlling mother in the UK for the sun and freedom of Greece,
longing for a new beginning and maybe just a bit of Zante’s local heat. Sexy,
pro-bono lawyer Sam Clarke might just be the one to teach her to let go. He's
sexy, capable, and totally in control. And too damn hard to resist.
Sam Clarke and his best
friend had once been the baddest boys to hit the local party scene— sex, booze,
and more sex—until his friend is killed. Sam turned his back on the blatant
sexuality of the island years ago, but can’t resist Michelle’s desire to bask
in the sun and explore the need that grows between them.
Excerpt:
Closer
and closer he came, rounding the counter and standing so close to her that
Michelle was forced to tip her head back to meet his eyes. The smell of him –
warm, musky and clean--wafted under her nose. She inhaled…and
really wished she hadn’t as her knees quivered. She took another step back
until her ass hit the steel countertop behind her.
His gaze
darted over her face, lingering at her lips. Michelle put a hand on his chest
without thinking and then whipped it back to grip the counter.
Trepidation
mixed with arousal pooled like liquid in her stomach. “Sam, talk to me. What’s
wrong?”
His eyes
dropped to her chest and unmistakable lust flared in eyes, darkening them to a
gorgeous midnight blue. Desire pulled at her core and her nipples tightened.
He met
her eyes. “Everything.”
She was
trapped by the raw animal need to have him. To feel his hands on her bare skin,
his mouth on hers. She licked dry lips. “You look like you’re either going to
attack me or--”
“Fuck
you?”
She
flinched. The harsh expletive shocked and aroused her in equal measure. “What?”
His
hands clamped onto her hips, possessive and unyielding. A feral storm raged in
his dark blue gaze. “I need to know.”
She
stared, unable to move or breathe. “Need to know what?”
“Need to
know if this…these feelings…are just--”
“Lust?”
The word slipped from her tongue, her mind blank of everything but Sam. The way
he smelled, the lickable square line of his jaw. The yearning to have him on
her, in her, over her.
If people haven't read a Rachel Leigh novel or novella after devouring Hot Summer Sands, they're going to be hot for your back list! What else can I get my greedy paws on, NOW?
Hot Summers Sands is my third novella, but readers can also buy “Explicitly English” and “Coming Back”. Both these stories featured English people in England. Enjoy!
Buy
Links for Hot Summer Sands and Rachel’s other novellas:
Hot
Summer Sands:
Coming
Back:
Explicitly
English:
Want to chat and hang out with Rachel? Here's where to find her!
Rachel’s
Links:
Twitter:
@rachelwriter
Thanks for stopping by!
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