Welcome to UTC, Lavinia. Let’s get to know you a little bit better. Who is Lavinia Kent? Please tell us five interesting things about yourself that readers wouldn’t know!
- I got my MBA before deciding that I wanted to be a romance author. Being an accountant is actually one of my fantasy careers.
- I can easily become addicted to sushi. Once I have it, I just want it again and again.
- I love analyzing television and movies. Give me a glass of wine and good friends and we can talk for hours. I also think that watching a fun show and discussing it is one of the best ways to bond with my children.
- I wake up every morning with my cats staring at me, waiting to be fed. I roll over and meet slitted yellow eyes. It doesn’t matter what the hour is. I’ve never decided if they sense my waking or spend the night just staring at me.
- I hate talking about myself. I always feel so uninteresting as I scramble for answers to these questions.
This past January, you released the next installment to the Bound and Determined series, a novella called REVEALING RUBY. Can you tell us a bit more about this story?
Ruby’s novella was a true story of the heart. I hadn’t intended to write about her, but from the moment I put her on the page she’s been determined to have me tell her story – and it is a good one.
I love the blurbs Loveswept has been giving me, so I’m going to share that:
As the proprietress of London’s most discreet house of pleasure, Madame Rouge—Ruby to her clientele—prefers to keep her own company. The first rule in her establishment? She never, ever personally entertains the customers. However, the tall, dark, and provocatively tattooed American sailor who shows up on her doorstep makes Ruby wonder whether some rules were made to be broken. If she indulges, even just once, Ruby’s loyal patrons might get the wrong idea. If she doesn’t, she may never stop fantasizing about where that tattoo leads. . . .
No complications: That’s all Derek Price, captain of the Dawn’s Light, asks of his consorts on shore, and he’s willing to pay handsomely for the favor. But of all the women at Madame Rouge’s, the one he wants is the only one he can’t have, for any sum. Derek is not a man with an abundance of patience. However, for a night with Madame Rouge, Ruby, whoever she is, he’s willing to make those lush curves and sapphire eyes come to him.
In February, BOUND BY BLISS, the next full length novel is set to release. Tell us more about Bliss and Stephan’s story.
This was a harder book for me to write. I knew Bliss’s character and what I wanted to happen to her, but I was struggling – and then I started thinking deeply about her hero, and looking at pictures of Stephen Amell (Arrow is my favorite show to watch with my sons). There was something about how different he looks when he smiles that told a story for me.
And again, I’ll fall back on the blurb that I love:
Lady Bliss Danser, daughter of the Duke of Mirth, is a scandal waiting to erupt. Which is why her highly conventional brother wants to saddle her with Stephan Perth, Earl of Duldon, the only man he thinks will marry her. Worse, Stephan keeps threatening to punish her, to teach her just how a woman should behave. His words may cause Bliss to tingle in the strangest places, but that doesn’t mean she likes the man himself.
Stephan has secretly desired Bliss for years, but he knows how close he is to losing his beloved. Careful not to rile her impetuous heart, he promises only to aid Bliss in her search for another fiancé. And if she’s determined to understand the male body first, he’s happy to comply in that regard as well. However, she must follow his rules or face the consequences. Slowly he takes Bliss to the darker, steamier side of his world . . . where she realizes that Stephan is everything she’s ever wanted.
What is your favorite thing about writing Erotic Historical Romance?
How easy it is to become lost in the writing. Writing erotic scenes has always been easy for me. I find it very easy to get caught up in the moment when I am writing about what happens second to second. I find it much harder to write scenes where I have to reduce what happens in an hour to a single paragraph.
Did you struggle with a particular scene in this upcoming book?
There’s a scene with the villain near the end that I went back and forth about. I didn’t want to make this book too similar to Mastering the Marquess, but I wanted to tell the story I believed in.
How would you describe this series in 140 characters or less?
Bound and Determined: Strong dominant men in a Regency setting falling in love with equally strong women who know when to give in and when to resist.
What’s your favorite thing about Stephan?
His smile. I started out writing this hard, dominant man – and then I realized that when he smiles, everything changes. He may rarely show his playful side, but when he smiles you know it’s there.
Tell us one of Bliss’s strengths.
She doesn’t give up. She’s had some hard things happen in her life and she’s stayed strong throughout. What she actually needs is a man who can let her relax and not worry for a while.
What are you currently working on?
I’m currently working on both a novella (with no cliffhanger) about one of the minor characters in Bound by Bliss, and on Ruby’s book. The two heroines are very different women, and I’m having a great time with the contrast.
In Lavinia Kent’s luscious, erotic historical romance, a free spirit learns her true desires from a master of the heart, of the body—and of the sweetest discipline.
Lady Bliss Danser, daughter of the Duke of Mirth, is a scandal waiting to erupt. Which is why her highly conventional brother wants to saddle her with Stephan Perth, Earl of Duldon, the only man he thinks will marry her. Worse, Stephan keeps threatening to punish her, to teach her just how a woman should behave. His words may cause Bliss to tingle in the strangest places, but that doesn’t mean she likes the man himself.
Stephan has secretly desired Bliss for years, but he knows how close he is to losing his beloved. Careful not to rile her impetuous heart, he promises only to aid Bliss in her search for another fiancé. And if she’s determined to understand the male body first, he’s happy to comply in that regard as well. However, she must follow his rules or face the consequences. Slowly he takes Bliss to the darker, steamier side of his world . . . where she realizes that Stephan is everything she’s ever wanted.
Bound by Bliss is an erotic romance intended for mature audiences.
Includes a special message from the editor, as well as an excerpt from another Loveswept title.
About Lavinia Kent
Lavinia Kent never knew that most people don’t make up stories in their heads to pass the time. She still has a hard time understanding how those who don’t survive the doctor’s waiting room or a grocery store line without another world to escape into.
Growing up in New York state and Wisconsin, Lavinia graduated from Wellesley College and, for reasons that are still not quite clear, also holds an MBA from Washington, D.C.’s Georgetown University. Lavinia has remained in Washington ever since.
She lives under the gracious (and usually benign) rule of Erzsebet, the cat, along with her husband, three children, one cockatiel, two rats, and Erzsebet’s younger, subordinate tomcat, otherwise known as The Golden Snitch.
As the mother of three, Lavinia finds “leisure time” to be ever-elusive, but when she is not reading romance novels, she watches far too much HBO and reality television. It must also be noted that she has an encyclopedic knowledge of all things Buffy and Doctor Who.
Lavinia was a two-term president of the Washington Romance Writers and is proud to be a four-time Romance Writers of America Golden Heart nominee.
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This series sounds good
Enjoyed the interview. Thank you. I am also enjoying the series. I really cannot wait for Ruby’s book. Thank you. I was really hoping she would get one.
Next to Jess Michaels for Erotic HR, Lavinia is amazing! Definitely loving this series.
I will definitely be reading this series!!
Thanks for the interview, books sound good.