Author interview and Giveaway: Hot Summer Sands by Rachel Leigh
Welcome Rachel! Please start off by telling us a little about yourself.
I am a Brit living in South West England, married with two young daughters. I am lucky enough to be a stay at home mom so I spend any free time writing and reading. If I’m not doing that, I am running around after the kids or socializing with friends and family. My biggest pet peeve is when I hear people say, “I’m bored.” Never seems to happen to me!
Is Hot Summer Sands a single title, or part of a series?
Single title
What were your inspirations for the story?
My family and I holidayed in Zante in 2009 and I knew I would set a story there eventually – then inspiration struck when my heroine told me she was a chef. I never forgot one of the restaurants set right on the beach…beautiful!
When did the writing bug first bite?
I’ve always loved writing stories since I was young but it wasn’t until my youngest daughter started school that I pursued the idea of being published. Rachel Leigh is a pseudonym for my erotic romance stories but I was published first in mainstream romance in 2007. The spiciness came later in 2010… 
Who are you favorite authors, book/series?
Nora Roberts and Tess Gerritsen for mainstream, Randi Alexander and Jaid Black for erotic romance.
What is your most favorite childhood memory?
Running free and playing though the local streets and fields near where I lived – nowadays kids just don’t seem to have that level of freedom.
Do you have any hobbies or special things you like to do in your spare time?
Sounds ultra boring but I am an avid knitter – totally relaxes me!
Boxers, brief or commando?
Boxers
Favorite eye color?
Brown
What’s the strangest thing you’ve heard or seen?
I’m not sure if this counts as strange or disgusting – while my husband and I were on holiday in Turkey, we saw an elderly lady lift her skirts and relieve herself at the side of the road heedless of the passersby. No one else batted an eyelid!! Ewww…
Author: Rachel Leigh
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Length: 140 pages
Genres: Erotic Contemporary Romance
Heat Level: Sizzling
AVAILABLE AT:
BLURB:
Chef Michelle Hutton flees her controlling mother in the UK for the sun and freedom of Greece, longing for a new beginning and maybe just a bit of Zante’s local heat. Sexy, pro-bono lawyer Sam Clarke might just be the one to teach her to let go. He’s sexy, capable, and totally in control. And too damn hard to resist.
Sam Clarke and his best friend had once been the baddest boys to hit the local party scene—sex, booze, and more sex—until his friend is killed. Sam turned his back on the blatant sexuality of the island years ago, but can’t resist Michelle’s desire to bask in the sun and explore the need that grows between them.
Swallowing hard, she hesitated for an imperceptible moment at the periphery of the bar entrance before stepping from the tiled corridor to the bar’s wooden flooring. Without making eye contact with a single patron, whose gazes she felt boring into her temple, breasts and denim-clad ass, she headed straight to the bar.
With the bravado of a woman used to frequenting such places alone, a welcome and heated cloak of sexy confidence settled like a new friend around her shoulders. She slid onto one of the stools and leaned back…then realized there was no back.
“Oh, God.” She tilted backward and reached out toward the bar. Too late. She was going to land right on her ass.
A clammy hand caught her elbow before she could fall. “Hey, pretty lady, don’t worry I’ve got you.”
Michelle gripped the bicep of the tattooed arm that grabbed her. She inhaled the guy’s scotch and cigar tainted breath as it blasted her face, making her want to gag. Her stomach dropped to her shoes as she looked up into his bloodshot, leering eyes.
She forced a smile. “Thanks.”
“Hey, thanks buddy. But I got this.”
Michelle’s heart stopped as a very different hand slapped onto the bar, the arm tanned and strong and very male. His other hand brushed and stilled against her butt as he steadied the stool that wobbled precariously beneath her.
“Are you okay, sweetheart? I turn my back for a second and you get yourself in a load of unwanted trouble.” His voice was deep, husky, and dark. “You trying to dance with that stool?”
Michelle’s cheeks burst into flame even as icy-cold perspiration broke out on her upper lip. She felt like a side of beef at a meat market. Could she have looked any more stupid? Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to ignore the image of her mother’s disproving face that filled her mind.
She should be grateful. There was absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. She opened her eyes and faced the second man.
Her stomach tightened. Could anyone possibly look that good?
Michelle stared as words lodged painfully in her throat and her heart picked up speed. He winked, his dark, midnight blue eyes flashing a silent “trust me.” He turned to Scotch Breath. “Thanks for saving my wife from landing on the floor, buddy. You want a drink?”
Rachel Leigh lives in the UK and has been married to her own sexy hero for fourteen years.
With three novellas contracted with The Wild Rose Press, Rachel is busy writing her fourth. This is a voyage into the sensationalized and sexy world of British show jumping, featuring a fit and demanding horse trainer and a wily, inquisitive journalist who knows just what she wants and will do whatever it takes to get it.
When Rachel isn’t writing, she’s reading, watching TV, running around after her two daughters….or playing with her husband.
Visit Rachel at:
Website – http://rachelleigh.co.uk/
Blog – http://rachelleighromance.blogspot.co.uk/
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rachel-Leigh/266044849655
Twitter: @rachelwriter
Follow Rachel’s tour at http://cblspromotions.
Giveaway!!
Love the cover and excerpt! Congrats on your book.
And I’m ewwwing right with you about the lady in the streets of Turkey! lol