3 Questions with Lauren Smith (+ Giveaway!)

I'm excited to be talking about Tempted by a Rogue and having the author, Lauren Smith on the blog today! I'm kicking things off with three questions but make sure to check out Alexa of Alexa Loves Books and Kelly of Belle of the Literati's Q&A on Monday and Tuesday, as we each pick her brain about the romance genre, her books and more!

Lauren, thank you so much for stopping by the blog today! I really enjoyed Tempted by a Rogue. The more I learned about the characters -- Gemma, Jasper and James -- and their history, the more I kept wishing the book was longer. I wanted to hear more about their past and of course, spend more time with them with the present. What was the inspiration behind the story and these characters? 

The idea of love letters has always intrigued me. I used to date a man who was very good at love emails and hooked me from day one before we ever met in person. Crazy right? Well I got to thinking, back in the 1800s before FB, Twitter and email we only had handwritten letters. I wanted to write a story about a woman who falls for a man in love letters, but doesn’t know it’s really someone else. It sounded like a fun idea! I also liked the idea of a pair of men who are friends who get sort of crosswise over a woman. I’ve known a lot of great guys who always seem to be good friends with a not-so-good guy and yet it works. That was how Jasper and James were. Close friends, bound by loyalty, blood and battle, but at the same time, Jasper will choose the woman he loves over James when he finds her.

I just recently started getting into romance novels and now, I don't know why I waited so long! What made you decide to start writing romance? 

That’s so funny! It took me ages to get into romance novels too! I didn’t read my first until law school when someone pointed out that my epic fantasy novels were really more romance than straight fantasy. So I decided I should read a few, put aside my notions of silly bodice rippers…and it was history. I was HOOKED! I loved reading them and realized this was exactly what I wanted to write, since clearly I’d always been putting love stories in my books even since the fourth grade.

If you had to recommend 3 romance novels for a newbie like myself, what would they be? 

Ooh a toughie! Okay, let me think *taps finger on chin. Well I would have to say Gentle Rogue by Johanna Lindsey. It’s a classic, girl pretends to be cabin boy on a ship and falls for a British gentleman who does a bit of pirating as a hobby. He realizes quickly she’s a girl and goes along with her disguise…it’s adorable, sexy and just overall wonderful. My next recommendation would be The Host by Stephenie Meyer. It’s the most amazing love quadrangle story I’ve ever read between three humans and an alien. I don’t want to give away spoilers…but it’s brilliant! I read it yearly it’s that good! The third book I’d have to recommend is About A Vampire by Lynsay Sands. I love ALL of her vampire books and this one is my current listening material on my audiobook app on my phone and I just love it! Her stories are sweet, sexy and way too funny!

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Tempted the Rogue was my first Lauren Smith book but I'm sure it won't be my last. If you haven't read anything this by author (or you're already a fan), then you're in luck because we're hosting a giveaway thanks to Lauren! We have 3 paperback copies of Wicked Designs to give away (US only). 

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Also, special thank you to Estelle for inviting me to be a part of this!