TBR welcomes Jean Hart Stewart

TBR: Welcome to TBR, Jean. Will you share a little bit about yourself?
Jean: I’m open to telling you anything you want to know. Just wish I knew what’s the most interesting to readers. I’ve had scads of interviews, and am never sure I’m hitting what the reader wants. Let’s see, I’m deep into my newest book, tentatively called Stormy Pursuit. Just winding it up and going back through it to make sure it has plenty of sex in it. It will be part of a new erotica series called Passionate Pursuits from Ellora’s Cave. My former books have been sensual, sometimes deeply so, but not erotica. It’s always fun to try something new.

TBR: Tell us about SEDUCING SIMON and where it's available.

Jean: My latest release is Seducing Simon, book seven in my series on a Mage family. Simon’s misunderstood as a dishonorable man, and so he acts that way. Until Troy comes along to unravel the mystery and his frozen heart. Available at www.passioninprint.com.

TBR: Please tantalize us with a story blurb or excerpt.
Jean: Here’s an excerpt I hope you enjoy:

She took another glance at her muddy skirt and uttered a rather loud  ‘Blast that damned driver.’ She stood pondering what to do. She was a mess and probably no respectable cabbie would want her in his cab. She’d better start walking.

A male hand holding a large white handkerchief suddenly began to gently mop her face and hair.

“I’m one very sorry damned driver, miss. That was inexcusably careless of me.”

Troy froze. She remembered every intonation of that seductive voice. The voice she loved and she’d avoided hearing for four years. Simon, the man she’d thought never to see again. She looked down for a moment, and realized she wanted to take the chance he wouldn’t recognize her. He hadn’t seen her since she was fifteen. She knew well she’d changed a great deal in the past few years.

Keeping her face lowered, she grabbed the handkerchief and dabbed at her wet blouse. Oh blessed Merlin, the silk material clung to her breasts as if it were her second skin. Well, at least he wouldn’t recognize that part of her. She’d barely started to develop when he’d last seen her. Poking her breasts out, but still not looking up, she considered what to say. Ah yes, she’d been immersed in French all day. Why not continue?

She batted his hands away. “Espece d’imbecile. Cretin.” She switched to English with a decided French accent. “Go away. Go away.”

He dropped his hands. “Would you at least let me pay for new clothes of your choice? I fear I’ve ruined your lovely outfit.”

If that wasn’t just like Simon. Trying to buy his way out of a scrape.

“Just go away,” she said again. Determined not to let her sorrow show, and miserable even beyond what she’d expected,  she forgot to use her assumed accent. To finally see Simon and not want to acknowledge him seemed  so unnecessary and cruel. If he hadn’t already broken her heart it would certainly crack now.

Even looking down at her toes she could see him still. Could feel him hold himself motionless.

“Will you please look at me, Miss? How can I apologize when you keep your eyes fixed on the pavement?”

Blessed Merlin, he’d caught her change of accent. Whatever else his faults, Simon was no dummy. Speechless, she kept her eyes down,  but a large male hand gently took her chin and raised it.

“Troy,” he sighed. “Troy. It’s really you. I thought I knew your voice. You’re all grown up. Quite beautifully grown up. I wouldn’t be sure were it not for your gorgeous eyes. I’ve never seen anyone else with that lovely sherry-color. Unless it’s your mother’s.”

He added the last with a grin which faded as she glared at him.

“Ah, Troy,” he sighed. “Not you too.”

He said not another word.

TBR: What inspired you to write about the theme?
Jean: I’d done an eight book series on Druids and wanted something different. This family is descended from Merlin and the Lady of the Lake. Each has inherited magical talents.

TBR: Are you a plotter or pantser?
Jean: I generally start out knowing the beginning and the ending of the book, and get them down. Sometimes the sloppy middle to tie them together is more pantser. Guess I’m a mixture.

TBR: How do you develop your characters?
Jean: No trouble there. They tell me all about themselves

TBR: Do you have a favorite quote you’d like to share?
Jean: Yes, one from Mary Balogh. I asked her after hearing her speak how she’d deal with a sloppy middle and she answered, “That’s easy, make it worse.” So I do.

TBR: Which of your characters would you most/least like to invite to dinner, and why?
Jean: Oh lordy I fall in love with everyone of my heroes. Come to think of it, dinner with all those hunks would probably render me speechless and unable to swallow.

TBR: While creating your books, what was one of the most surprising things you learned?
Jean: How little control I have over the story sometimes. Little conscious control, that is.

TBR: Tease us with one little thing about your fictional world that makes it different from others.
Jean: That’s a toughy. I do a tremendous amount of research before each book to get the time period and setting correct. But most authors do that. I written about Druids and Mages and am now on Elves, so of course can assign them traits to make them different  from ungifted humans  and that’s fun in itself.

TBR: What’s the most interesting comment you have received about your books?
Jean: From my husband about one of my sex scenes: “Where did you get that?”

TBR: Where can readers find you on the web?
Jean: wwwjeanhartstewart.com, Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Romancebooksrusblogspot.com, sevensexysirensblogspot.com,  or at any of my publishers

TBR: Is there anything you’d like to ask our readers? 
Jean: Do you prefer explicit sex or implied?

TBR: Readers, Jean is giving one lucky commenter a choice of her ebook backlist –check her website at http://www.jeanhartstewart.com for the complete list. She'll pick a winner on Valentine’s Day and announce the winner here.

Thanks for visiting TBR, Jean. Best of luck to you.