Interview and Giveaway with Elle Kennedy

Hello Maidens!  We are very excited to have here today Ms. Elle Kennedy.  She just released the first book in a new romantic suspense series that you all have to check out!  Lets give her a warm welcome!

MIDNIGHT RESCUE is the first book of your new Killer Instincts novel. Can you tell us a bit about it?Midnight Rescue centers around Abby Sinclair, an assassin who blows her cover in order to rescue a group of victimized girls. However, before she can follow through on that goal, she’s rescued by Kane Woodland, a sexy mercenary who’s been recruited by Abby’s boss to save the captured assassin. Abby and Kane eventually team up to save those girls, and as they work together, the attraction between them is impossible to fight.

BORN TO BE WILD is book 3 in your Welcome to Paradise series. What was the hardest part about writing this book? What was the easiest?The hardest part about Born to be Wild was making the hero likable! Jake Bishop is a bit of a bad boy. He doesn’t give a damn what anybody thinks of him, and there were times when he would come off as too insolent or insensitive—that was definitely something I needed to balance with his sweeter side. The easiest part, ironically, was writing Jake as that bad boy! It’s always fun to write a hero who isn’t afraid to say exactly what’s on his mind and doesn’t sugarcoat a thing.

You also have HOT AND BOTHERED from the Out of Uniform series. This is three short stories in one. Can you tell us about each story?
Heat of the Moment was originally meant to be a short story for a summer anthology. It takes place during a heatwave, when the heroine, Shelby, finally decides to seduce her long-time crush, Navy SEAL Garrett. She ends up getting more than she bargained for—a threesome with Garrett and his buddy Carson.

Now, the character of Carson was so popular that my inbox was full of reader emails asking when he was getting his own story. And that’s how the Out of Uniform came to be. In Heat of Passion, Carson is ready to settle down and determined to do it with Holly, a quirky brunette he indulges in a one-night-stand with, only to run into her again at Shelby and Garrett’s wedding.

Heat of the Storm features another member of Garrett and Carson’s SEAL team, Will Charleston, who has been in love with his best friend Mackenzie for years, and is now ready to claim the woman he loves.

HOT AND BOTHERED includes these three novellas, and next year HOT AND HEAVY will be released, which features the next three Out of Uniform books.

After reading Midnight Rescue I am very interested in finding out more about Morgan. Do you have plans of writing his book?
Definitely. Morgan is complex, mysterious and alpha to the core—of course he needs his own book!

What made you decide to write romantic suspense?
I love reading books that have a combination of action-packed scenes and sizzling romance, so it’s only natural that I’d love writing them. Romantic suspense lets you take risks, and with the Killer Instincts series, I’m definitely taking some risks. The books are a lot darker than what I normally write.

Your heroine Abby has had a very traumatic past and has issues to overcome, while your hero Kane is not so tortured. What do you think is key in finding the perfect balance when writing a couple that can compliment each other?
I try to give each character something important that they can offer the other. In Abby and Kane’s case, Kane pushes Abby to let go of her traumatic past, to open up and feel something. He comes off as harsh at times, but he’s not cruel—he understands that if Abby doesn’t get a little push, she’ll never open up to him, or anyone for that matter. Abby, in turn, allows Kane to be more tender than he usually is with women. She’s definitely his equal, and that’s something he’s never experienced in a relationship either.

Is there one particular heroine in your books that you most identify with?
That’s a tough one. I’m a lot like Annabelle from Heat of the Night, in terms of how incredibly sarcastic she is, and Jane from Heat It Up, because she just blurts out whatever is on her mind. I also really identify with Marley from Witness Seduction—she tries so hard to be positive about everything, even when her life is full of negatives at the moment. I try to maintain that level of optimism in my own life.

Can you give us a peek into the day of a writer? Do you write every day? If so, for how long?
My writing life is not at all glamorous. I wake up, have some breakfast, and try to force my brain into gear. Then I sit down in my office and write—whether I want to or not. If I’m not feeling motivated, then TOUGH LUCK, because when I’m on a deadline, I have no choice but to write. Fortunately, most times the book I’m writing doesn’t give me any problems so I have a lot of fun with it. Other times, the book will be driving me nuts by going in a direction it shouldn’t.

I don’t have set hours, but I do give myself a word quota to meet every day. If it takes two hours to meet that quota, great. If it takes twelve, TOUGH LUCK! I usually try to take one or two days off every week, but that doesn’t always pan out. For the last three months, I’ve pretty much been working seven days a week, 7-10 hours a day. Gulp.

Thank you so much for spending time with us and answering all our questions.  We are looking forward to your next book already!

Dangerous. Ruthless. Savage. And she’s the good guy.
Abby Sinclair had a desperate childhood until she was rescued and adopted by a retired army ranger who molded her into a master of self-defense. Now, she’s a cunning and fearless assassin thrust into assignment after dangerous assignment, using everything she has-nerve, resilience, strength, sex-to come out on top. Her only rule: trust no one.
Abby’s latest assignment is in Columbia: go undercover and snuff out a dangerous arms dealer active in the underground sex trade. But when Abby purposely blows her cover in a last-ditch attempt to free the helpless victims, deadly mercenary Kane Woodland is recruited as back-up. His mission: get Abby out of that hell hole.

The last thing Kane expects is to feel a primal attraction for Abby. But when she convinces him to join her on her perilous mission, their newfound passion could put the lives of their whole team at risk.

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