Getting Wild...with Lori Wilde

This month I am introducing something new I plan to do every month. One of my columns will feature a short interview, blurb and excerpt, from Harlequin authors and their books. For my first edition I’m excited to have Lori Wilde on board to talk about her November release Zero Control. She has supplied us with a thrilling excerpt that will only have you begging to read the book. I read Zero Control in one sitting. It’s a quick read that pulls you in. And oh my gosh, the ending. I cannot believe Wilde leaves us hanging the way she did. It only makes January seem an eternity away to wait for the conclusion of this series with His Final Seduction.

Welcome Lori!

Tonya: What inspired Zero Control?

Lori: I wanted to do a series of stories about an "adults only" resort and since I'd been to England, the British Isles appealed to me.

There's something very romantic about the Shakespearean era setting and I hope I captured that in the book.

Tonya: Eros sounds fascinating and every fantasy come true. Is there such a place out there? If not, how did you come up with such a zealous retreat?

Lori: I think there are adult oriented vacation destination resorts out there, but Eros is wholly from my imagination. I just pictured what I considered sexy. I hope readers agree.

Tonya: Roxie is a very fascinating character. She's strong and beautiful; she has secrets yet she looks innocent. Dougal is another alpha male of yours I have a crush on:) He's powerful, sexy, dark and mysterious. With a few secrets of his own. At first, Roxie and Dougal seem like a far-fetched match. Dougal's rough, Roxie is soft. But they both have had rough pasts and luck would have it they were meant to be together to help one another heal their broken hearts and wounds. What inspired these characters? What inspired their chemistry and intense relationship?

Lori: I must admit Roxie is a bit of me. I'm really very shy at heart with a paradoxical adventuresome streak. I love travel and trying new things. Dougal is an honorable warrior type who's let his heart get him into trouble before, so he's very wary. He needed someone like Roxie who really is sort of an innocent, even though she's found herself in over her head. He's a protector at his core and even though she has trouble admitting it, Roxie really needs him.

Tonya: I absolutely loved the "history role-play" between Dougal and Roxie. Did you have to do a lot of research/reading for the historical characters?

Lori: I love doing research for my books, especially with the advent of You-tube. I learned fencing from watching the How To Series you can find there. And like Roxie, I'm a bit of a ham who enjoyed acting in high school.

Tonya: I could go on and on about Zero Control but we only have limited space. It's a romantic read, a charming setting, and a fantasy that comes to life on the pages. It's a plot like any other and one I know Lori Wilde and Harlequin Blaze fans are going to love. In fact, I think new readers will love this story. Is this the first in this miniseries or am I missing pieces to the puzzle? Also, what can readers expect from Lori Wilde in the future?

Lori: Actually, readers were first introduced to Eros Airlines and Fantasy Resorts through Taylor Milton's romance in The Right Stuff 4/1/09 from Blaze. His Final Seduction in January 2010 will finish up the series. It's set at the Eros resort in Venice with a secondary romance that takes place at the Eros Resort in Hollywood. Boy, did I have fun researching Casanova, glass blowing, gondolas and movie making.

I've just signed on to do three more books with Blaze. And I have a new series launching 11/24/09 with Avon books. These books have the same hometown community feel of a Debbie Macomber book but with the sexy, humorous elements readers have come to expect from Lori Wilde.

Now Lori is going to share the blurb of Zero Control and a short excerpt.

Eros Vacations presents Castles, Shakespeare...and sizzlin' sex!

Live it up--literary style! Guests are whisked away to Great Britain for two weeks of luxury adventure, history and plenty of naughty possibilities! Whether it's an illicit tower tryst, a romantic boat ride or even some hot dungeon action, your pleasure is our concern.

But both executive assistant Roxie Stanley and undercover security agent Dougal Lockhart have their own motives for this vacation. Except that sex--mind- meltingly great sex--is the only thing either can think about. It's forbidden. It's tantalizingly irresistible. And they're losing control...over and over and over!

Excerpt:

“Hey handsome, you can shake your spear over here anytime you want.”

In light of that sexy remark, Dougal forced himself not to roll his eyes as a group of women filed onto the Bombardier CRJ200, chatting, giggling, and finding their seats. The majority of them were young, rich and attractive. The red-haired woman who’d cracked the suggestive comment briefly met his gaze, then lowered her eyelashes, licked her lips and murmured, “yummm-o,” before moving down the aisle.

It didn’t help matters that Dougal was dressed like Joseph Fiennes from Shakespeare in Love right down to the artsy, beatnik beard he was itching to shave.

After all, this was Eros Airlines and Fantasy Adventure Vacation and Taylor’s company’s catch phrase was Something Sexy in the Air. Other than the pilot and co-pilot who were both pushing sixty, Dougal was the only male employee aboard. He felt like the last cut of prime beef in the meat market on the fourth of July.

He was going to have to talk to Taylor. The puffy sleeved shirt and skin tight leather breeches were bad enough, but the facial hair simply had to go. Resisting the urge to scratch his jaw, Dougal greeted each guests with the requisite smile, welcoming them aboard with an affected British accent. It was going to be a long two weeks. Look at the side benefits. You stand an excellent chance of getting laid.

Except he and his men had signed a contract with a morality clause. While they were encourage to flirt with the guests, sexual contact was strictly prohibited.

Dougal watched a provocative young woman with a great ass wiggle away and he hissed out his breath. Damn that morality clause.

That was the moment Dougal spotted her.

The last one to board.

The one who didn’t belong.

She stood out like a single red rose in a field full of dandelions, all genteel and otherworldly, an escapee from the pages of Grimm’s Fairytales. He half expected to see unicorns and songbirds and butterflies trailing after her.

Her hair was raven’s wing black, her skin pure alabaster, her eyes a stunning shade of ice-floe blue. She must be wearing contact lenses. No one’s eyes were that color naturally. She was dressed in a butter yellow sundress made out of some soft frothy material that caused his mouth to water. Dougal could taste the sugar-coated marshmallow bunnies and chickens his mother had put in his Easter basket when he was a kid.

Unbidden, he found himself imagining what she looked like underneath that springtime sundress. Did she have on white cotton panties with a sensible under- wire bra? Or if he unzipped that yellow dress would he find a delightful surprise? Maybe a wicked scarlet bustier and G-string panties?

Dougal tilted his head. No, he decided. Pink satin tap pants and a matching camisole. Sweet, yet sassy. A good girl longing for adventure but nervous about reaching out and grabbing what she desired.

And yet it was more than her ethereal beauty that set her apart from the others and Dougal was trained to notice subtle differences. It was the serious, ‘all business’ slant to her slender shoulders and the determined set to her chin as if she had something to prove. It was the perceptive expression in her eyes, the purposeful way she moved and the manner in which she was sizing him up just as intensely as he was measuring her.

No mere vacationer, this one. Not a woman simply looking for a good time. This enigmatic lady had an agenda.

Alarm bells went off in his head. Until he knew exactly what her agenda was Dougal was keeping a close eye on her.

Another thing that didn’t fit—she was traveling solo. Everyone else on the vacation package had traveling companions, but this mysterious miss appeared to be all alone. No doting husband or fiancé or boyfriend at her elbow. No best buddy yapping her ear off. No mother or sister or cousin.

Perhaps she also worked for Eros, maybe she was an actress paid to help set the stage for the Romance of Britannia tour the group was embarking upon and it was her first day on the job. If you put her in historical garb along the lines of the ridiculous outfit he’d been forced to wear, she’d be a shoe-in for a vestal virgin ravaged by Roman Conquerors.

Except that Taylor hadn’t clued him in to any new employees joining the group and he’d made it quite clear that he was to be kept in the loop regarding anything to do with passenger safety.

Odd, though, while his brain and experience were warning him to watch out for her, his gut was telling him something completely different.

His gut was whispering something startling and stupid. She’s the one you’ve been waiting for.

Lori: Thanks for having me here, Tonya. It’s been a delight.

Tonya: Thanks for stopping by Lori, can’t wait to read His Final Seduction and other future releases! Be sure to check out Lori’s website for all her latest news and her books.

Be sure to check out other great reads from Harlequin Blaze this month, there are some hot ones!

Happy Reading,
Tonya