TBR welcomes Emma Lai

TBR: Welcome to TBR, Emma Lai. Will you share a little bit about yourself?
Emma: Thanks for hosting me at TBR. I love fiction and write a variety of genres, though only romance as Emma Lai. When I’m not penning a new story or editing, I’m chasing my two-year old son.

TBR: Tell us about Riding Rodeo and where it's available.
Emma: Riding Rodeo was released by The Wild Rose Press and is available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble as well as All Romance e-Books and Fictionwise.

The last person Amanda Goodson expected to walk into her bakery was Sean Cassidy, the bareback bronc rider who rode her hard one night and left without a good-bye the next day. Since then, she’d sworn off one-night stands and cowboys, but one look at the man she called Rodeo leaves her hankering for another ride.

A nasty injury ended Sean’s career and left him with nothing but time to contemplate past sins, especially the most damning one...walking out on Amanda, the one woman he couldn’t forget. Eager to right the biggest mistake of his life, he finds Amanda—and learns he has competition. Never one to back down from a challenge, he offers to fulfill her darkest fantasy—taking two cowboys for a ride.

When the dust settles, will Sean’s plan to win Amanda’s trust backfire or will she risk her heart for one more shot at Riding Rodeo?

TBR: Please tantalize us with an excerpt.
Emma:

The bell over the door tinkled as a new customer entered the bakery. Amanda Goodson's breath caught when she glanced over the shoulder of her current customer, elderly Mrs. Thompson. Bright afternoon sunshine from a beautiful late-spring day entered the storefront window and cast a delicious glow over the tastiest man Amanda had ever seen.

A navy blue T-shirt clung to broad shoulders, a muscled chest and six-pack abs. Brawny thighs strained the denim of a pair of faded jeans, and she knew from a previous encounter that the material hugged a firm ass.

She licked her lips. The rodeo was back in town.

Sean Cassidy winked when he noticed her gaze. He strode toward the counter with the same slow roll of his hips she remembered, his cowboy boots, polished to a high sheen, clomping against the slate floor with each step. The rhythmic tattoo of his sexy walk called to mind their one headboard-banging-against-the-wall sexual exploit.

Thud. Thud. Thud. She wasn't sure if it was her heartbeat or echoes of her memory.

Sweat moistened her palms, but it wasn't sweat tickling the insides of her thighs. Damn the man. He could still make her cream her panties even though their one-night stand happened more than a year ago--one year, six months, and some change, but who was counting?

TBR: What inspired you to write about the theme?
Emma: My sister lost her best friend, who was one of those people who always had a smile on her face. I wanted to give her the happily-ever-after she wouldn’t get.

TBR: Are you a plotter or pantser?
Emma: I’m pretty much a panster. Story ideas come to me as an opening scene, and I just go where the characters take me after that.

TBR: How do you develop your characters?
Emma: The interaction in the opening scene sets the personalities of the characters. I just try and stay true to them.

TBR: Do you have a favorite quote you’d like to share?
Emma: My personal motto. Writing is my life. Life is my hobby.

TBR: Did any music inspire your book? Do you have a playlist?
Emma: I’ve never been inspired by music though I like to have it playing while I work.

TBR: Which of your characters would you most/least like to invite to dinner, and why?
Emma: My current favorite is the Earl of Markham, a secondary character from Twice is Not Enough. I just finished writing the sequel to the story, in which he plays an important part, and fell in love with him. Too bad he’s married. I might have to go write a prequel to the two books so I can spend some more time with him.

TBR: What's next for you?

Emma: Oh, I have lots on the schedule for 2012. The third book in the Mates of the Guardians series, His Capture, Her Rescue is due out in April. I’m joining forces with a couple of other authors for a planned series of four erotic anthologies. I’ve also finished my first M/M romance and the sequel to Twice is Not Enough. With any luck they’ll be picked up and published this year. Finally, I have a full length contemporary erotica in rewrites.

TBR: Any other published works?
Emma: The first two books of the Mates of the Guardians: His Ship, Her Fantasy and His Hope, Her Salvation and a handful of erotic titles: Twice is Not Enough, Slave to Innocence, Tempting Terms, Not Just Friends and Riding Rodeo. 

TBR: What’s the most interesting comment you have received about your books?

Emma: I had a German fan tell me I have a special gift for sensibly describing the complex feelings associated with the slave systems of antiquity.

TBR: Where can readers find you on the web?
Emma:

Website: http://www.emmalaiwrites.com

Blog: http://emmalaiwrites.blogspot.com

Twitter: @emmalaiwrites

TBR: Is there anything you’d like to ask our readers?
Emma: If you’ve read any of my stories, is there a secondary character you’d like to see get his or her own story?

TBR: Readers, Emma will give away a pdf copy of Riding Rodeo to one lucky commenter. She'll pick a winner on Tuesday, January 24th and announce the winner here. Be sure to leave your email address so she can contact you.

Thanks for visiting TBR, Emma. All the best to you.