Interview & Giveaway with Laura Kaye

Books-n-Kisses is super excited to have the WONDERFUL Laura Kaye back on the blog.  We always love having Laura on the blog.  We love her and her books.  Which brings me back to why we are here.  Laura has 2, yes 2 new releases this month Her Forbidden Hero and Seduced by the Vampire King.  Both which are very good stories.  So enough of my ramblings lets get to the good stuff. 

Q1)  Can you please share with us a little about yourself?

Laura:  I would love to! And thanks so much for having me here—I always enjoy hanging out at Books-n-Kisses! I write paranormal, contemporary and erotic romance and just celebrated my 6^th and 7^th releases in pretty quick succession: Her Forbidden Hero on May 15 and Seduced by the Vampire King (Vampire Warrior Kings #2) on June 1! I’m also a wife, mom of two young girls (ages 8 and almost 6), college history professor, Marylander, and complete vampire addict!

Q2)  Have you always wanted to be an author?

Laura:  Well, I suppose so, because from the time I began college, I knew I wanted to be a college history professor, and publication is an expected part of that job. So, I’ve published two works of historical non-fiction as part of my academic career. However, I didn’t begin writing fiction until almost four years ago, and while I wanted to be an author, getting published is not easy, so the fact that it’s happened is really a dream come true.

Q3)  Can you share with us your typical writing day.  Is there anything you have to have while writing?

Laura:  Have laptop, will write! LOL Seriously, that is the single thing I require. My typical writing day is to meet my best friend and YA paranormal author Lea Nolan at Panera, stake out a comfy spot in our regular booth, and write all day until it’s time to pick up the kids. Alternately, if it’s a teaching day for me, I’ll write in the evenings after dinner, homework, and baths.

Q4)  Most challenging or rewarding part of writing?

Laura:  I’ll start with the most rewarding part first, since that’s the easiest! The most rewarding part of writing is hearing from readers how much they enjoyed my books. After all, if it weren’t for readers, there really wouldn’t be much reason for me to do this! One positive comment from a reader is like fuel that can keep me going all day! Seriously, I love interacting with people about books! The most challenging part of writing is just having enough time to do everything that needs done. Between writing, promoting, my day job, my family, my house, and optional things like, you know, sleep *winks*, sometimes there just aren’t enough hours in the day!

Q5) Can you please tell us about your latest book(s)?

Laura:  I’ll share both since I’ve got two new ones out right now!

Her Forbidden Hero is a truly heartfelt contemporary romance about a tormented former Army Special Forces soldier battling his war-borne injuries and demons and attempting to stay away from the one person—his best friend’s little sister—who gives him the most solace but is off limits. Here’s the blurb:

She’s always been off-limits… Former Army Special Forces Sgt. Marco Vieri has never thought of Alyssa Scott as more than his best friend’s little sister, but her return home changes that…and challenges him to keep his war-borne demons at bay. Marco’s not the same person he was back when he protected Alyssa from her abusive father, and he’s not about to let her see the mess he’s become. …but now she’s all grown up. When Alyssa takes a job at the bar where Marco works, her carefree smiles wreak havoc on his resolve to bury his feelings. How can he protect her when he can’t stop thinking about her in his bed? But Alyssa’s not looking for protection–not anymore. Now that she’s back in his life, she’s determined to heal her forbidden hero, one touch at a time…

Seduced by the Vampire King is the second book in my Vampire Warrior Kings series and offers a twist on the enemies-to-lovers theme by pairing together a vampire warrior who wants nothing more in his life but vengeance for his dead brothers with a human woman who fled 5,000 miles to escape a life in the service of vampires. Here’s the blurb:

American exchange student Kate Bordessa has fled to Russia to escape her family’s hopes that she’ll become one of the Proffered, human women who feed and mate with elite vampire warriors. But when she stumbles upon a wounded vampire in the streets of Moscow, she’s instinctively driven to protect him–and feels an undeniable spark of desire. Grieving over the deaths of his brothers, Vampire Warrior King Nikolai Vasilyev has thrown himself into battling his enemies, focused only on vengeance. Until the attack that brought him to Kate. Their sexual attraction explodes into a night of uncontrolled passion–a night that marks them as mates. Is their connection strong enough to convince them to embrace a destiny neither of them was expecting?

One thing that ties both books together are tortured alpha heroes… Yum!

Q6)  How did you come with the idea for this story?

Laura:  Her Forbidden Hero came to me at first with a single image: a very broken man sitting in the near dark and struggling to play the guitar. Two things about Seduced by the Vampire King came to me right away—the opening scene of the book in which the hero, Nikolai Vasilyev, engages in urban warfare with his ancient enemies, and the fact that the hero had fled having to serve vampires. From those small pieces, the stories grew outward and took on a life of their own. This is my normal process, by the way, characters come to me and then a story fills in around them.

Q7) Can you share with us your current work in progress?

Laura: The next book I will write—starting this week!—is the follow-on story to Her Forbidden Hero, which will feature the heroine’s brother Brady in his own story. Next, I’ll be writing the third Vampire Warrior Kings story.

Q8)  Who are some of your favorite authors?

Laura:  J.R. Ward is hands down my favorite author. I adore her Black Dagger Brotherhood books and have re-read them a gajillion times! I got to see her in person this spring and hear her talk about the Brothers, about how she writes, and spoilers in future books—and man, that rocked so hard, I can’t even tell you! I was all fangirly! I’m also a big fan of Sherrilyn Kenyon and had the chance to meet and take a picture with her last summer!

Q9)  Do you feel that any of your favorite authors have inspired your writing style? 

Laura:  Definitely. I feel like I learned a lot of what I know about how to write male point of view from Ward and Kenyon, who write fantastic male characters in my opinion. Also, I grew up on Stephen King and Anne Rice, and they definitely influenced my writing of the paranormal.

Q10)  What is in your To Read Pile that you are dying to start or upcoming release you can’t wait for?

Laura:  OMG can you believe it’s Lover Reborn, the newest J.R. Ward book? When it released, I was deep in the throes of writing Her Forbidden Hero and I just haven’t had a chance since then!

Q11) Is there anything else you would like to add?

Laura:  Thank you all so much for reading!

I’m hosting a GIVEAWAY! Two winners: one person will win an ebook of Her Forbidden Hero and one will win an ebook of Seduced by the Vampire King. Open to international! Please leave your email address to enter!

And finally, thanks again to Kelly for hosting me!

BnK:  It is always a pleasure to host you Laura.  We love having you on the blog.  Okay readers, if you want a chance to win one of Laura’s books please fill out the Rafflecopter form below.

About Laura Kaye:

Voted Breakout Author of the Year in the 2011 GraveTells Readers’ Choice Awards, Laura is the bestselling and award-winning author of over a half-dozen books in paranormal, contemporary and erotic romance. Hearts in Darkness is the EPIC eBook Award Winner for Best Novella and HOLT Medallion Award of Merit Winner for Best Romance Novella, Forever Freed is the NJRW Golden Leaf Winner for Best Paranormal of 2011 and is a finalist for two GDRWA Booksellers’ Best Awards, and North of Need, the first book in the Hearts of the Anemoi series, is a finalist for a FF&P PRISM award, was named GraveTells’ Best Book of 2011 and won their 5-STAR Gold Heart Award, and won Sizzling Hot Read of the Year at Sizzling Hot Books. Laura lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.

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