Guest Author: Maya Banks featuring Sweet Persuasion

***This contest is now closed. Thanks for entering***

Maya Bank’s Sweet Persuasion, the second in the Sweet series, is our featured book today. I have been a long time fan of Maya’s, and was one of those authors that once I read the first one (Colter’s Woman) I knew that I wanted to read all of her backlist. There was no doubt that I had found a new favorite author to follow. I know that when I pick up one of her stories, whether it be her Harlequin series, the ones published by Samhain, or Berkley that it will have everything that I am looking for in a romance.

Sweet Persuasion did not disappoint, and I think it is the most intense book featured this week. Damon and Serena’s story is similar to what I perceived the BDSM lifestyle to be, yet I came to understand and admire Serena’s desire to live her fantasy, and loved that Damon was strong enough to fulfill it for her and be the man she needed him to be. Sweet Persuasion is a powerful, and passionate love story.

For five years, Serena has run Fantasy Incorporated and has devoted her time to fulfilling her clients’ fantasies. Never her own. Until now…

Her most secret desire is to give ownership of her body to a man. Someone who will command her, pleasure her, and have complete authority over her. So she seeks out Damon Roche, owner of an exclusive sex club and a man strong enough to make her do anything he wants. Anything.

Together they’ll journey into a world she’s only dreamed of. She’s given the opportunity to immerse herself in a different life while her normal one waits for her to return whenever she wishes. Damon has no desire to let her go, however. Serena is the woman he’s long searched for, and it’s up to him to convince her to stay when the game is all over with. He wants their fantasy to become their reality and for Serena to remain his pampered, cherished submissive.

Read an excerpt

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• Welcome to Seductive Musings Maya, for readers who don’t already know about you, tell us a little bit about yourself:
  
  I live in Texas with my husband and three children. Love to travel, watch football, baseball. When I’m not writing, we like to hunt and fish. Lately we haven’t been able to spend too many weekends on the lake, but we’re planning to remedy that this weekend!
  

• Why did you decide to become a romance writer?
  
  Can’t see myself writing anything else, and I love to write.
  

• Tell us about your latest book Sweet Persuasion:
  
  Sweet Persuasion is book 2 in my sweet series. Damon first made an appearance in Sweet Surrender. Julie was mentioned by virtue of the fact Faith took Nathan to get his ear pierced. Ah and well that’s where their story begins or I should say Julie’s obsession heh. Damon is a guy who knows what he wants out of life. He’s just resigned himself to never having it. Serena is finally reaching out to grab what it is she wants—a strong, dominant lover, and this is where their paths intersect. Damon’s willing to go along for the ride, but the more he gets to know Serena, the more he realizes she’s the perfect woman for him. He very much wants their fantasy to become reality while Serena really just wants a period of time when she can be immersed in the fantasy. It’s an emotional, rocky road for them both, but more so for Serena.
  

• Sweet Persuasion is part of the Berkley Heat line, so is considered erotic romance. What do you think makes a great love scene, especially while incorporating the BDSM elements?
  
  I think any time you include the characters’ emotions, their heart, into a love scene, it’s automatically going to be more powerful. I’m not especially interested in a mechanical sex scene. Now emotion doesn’t always means hearts and flowers and declarations of true love, especially in the beginning. But I think showing the progress of the relationship through the love scenes can be very evocative.
  

• In Sweet Persuasion I was surprised by Serina’s desire to enact her fantasy as a sex slave/submissive to Damon. The outward image that she projects is one of a self assured, confident, take charge career woman, yet her secret desire is to experience what it is like to be a submissive in every possible way; to be wholly owned and controlled by someone else. While she desires it, she also seems to struggle internally with this new dimension to her character/personality, and Damon really tests her commitment to his version of the BDSM lifestyle. When reading Serena’s story I have to admit there were some parts that seemed much more extreme and approached the limits to what I am comfortable with, but in the end felt were crucial to her character development. Why do you think it was necessary to push her character to the intensity that you did?
  
  I think anything lacking in intensity would have just convinced her that it was a fluffy fantasy. I don’t think it would have challenged her. Furthermore, I think it was important for her to *see* Damon. If he’d sugarcoated things, it wouldn’t have been honest. I don’t think they could have had an honest relationship going forward. Damon is an intense guy.
  

• For someone who has not read Sweet Persuasion, or any of the Sweet series for that matter, what would you say to try and convince someone to buy it?
  
  To me, it’s a series all about friendships and loyalty. You have a tight knit group of people who are often loud, obnoxious, they play practical jokes, they annoy the piss out of each other. They work and play together. Above all they’re loyal. Seeing them fall in love…well, to me that’s worth the price of admission.
  

• So far all of the books in the Sweet series have had some level of BDSM lifestyle, will that also hold true for Sweet Seduction (Nathan & Julie’s story), and Sweet Temptation (Micah and Angelina’s story). Can you tell I’m fishing for more details on these books that I can’t wait to read :)
  
  Hehe, Sweet Seduction is what I call my breather book. The focus is different. Nathan and Julie were so much fun to write. It’s a fun, rompy kind of story but still has an emotional kick to it that’s hard to ignore. But no, Sweet Seduction is not a BDSM story. As for Micah and Angelina. I’d say this is the most intense story. Micah is….well, he’s hard. But Angelina is so perfect for him. She’s stubborn. She’s loyal. And despite the fact that she knows what kind of man Micah is, she doesn’t let him walk all over her. BDSM does play a role, but the focus is less on obedience. It’s raw and emotional (in my opinion) with a few surprises thrown in for good measure ;)
  

• What other books can readers look forward to in the near future?
  
  I have an e-book out in September called Songbird. The Tycoon’s Secret Affair, the third Tycoon book, is coming out in a couple of weeks from Silhouette Desire, then Nathan and Julie in October, and Micah and Angelina next April. My action/adventure romantic suspense series debuts next September from Berkley. I just got the cover for the first book and holy yum! You can see it at my blog ;)
  

• Will any of your recent travels and adventures in Scotland and the UK play a part in any of your future stories, because I have to tell you there is a dire shortage of contemporary romances featuring sexy Highlander men in kilts with that killer accent. Can’t get enough of them in any genre :)
  
  Earlier this year I sold a Scottish historical trilogy to Ballantine. It’ll release back to back probably late summer/early fall 2011
  

• And finally, just for fun…if you could write the “fortune” in a fortune cookie, what would it be?

“Just eat the damn cookie”


The Sweet series:

You can find out more about Maya and her books on her website, both of her blogs Southern Sin, and Writeminded, Myspace, & Twitter (maya_banks)

I'm on my way to pick up the final Tycoon book at the end of this week...squee! I can't wait to read that one. So far The Tycoon's Pregnant Mistress has been my favorite from this series, but we shall see...I also can't wait for Sweet Seduction.

Maya in her diabolical geniusness (is that a word?) made sure that her readers had enough temptation in Sweet Persuasion to be compelled to read Sweet Seduction. I must read it, and if you haven't read Sweet Persuasion yet, save yourself some trouble and pre-order Sweet Seduction at the same time.

And if you haven't seen the cover for her romantic suspense, The Darkest Hour, do so it will make your day because that is one yummy cover! She has so many great books coming that I seriously don't know how she does it all. To top it all off she is writing a Highland historical romance series. I'm seriously considering submitting Maya for sainthood because Highland historicals are my fav genre of romance. With all of her great books to choose from I am in some serious booklover heaven...and just a little bit of debt:)

But enough about my love of Maya's writing. The talented Maya Banks has offered to give away not one, but TWO signed copies of Sweet Surrender (1st in the Sweet series) to two lucky commenters!

And don't forget you can earn 5 extra entries to win Lilli Feisty's book Bound to Please by blogging about Maya's guest interview & giveaway at Seductive Musings. See the Monday's Muse post this week for specifics on how to gain these entries.

How to enter the Maya Banks giveaway:

• To enter you must leave a meaningful comment
  

Rules and disclaimers:

• This contest is open to anyone
• The contest will end Sunday August 2nd at 11:59 pm EST and the winner will be contacted via email on Monday August 3, 2009
• Winner will be selected using Random.org
• The winner will have THREE days from the date they are contacted to provide the requested information. If you do not respond within three days a replacement winner will be selected. NO EXCEPTIONS
• The book(s) will be mailed directly from the publisher or author and no substitutions are allowed
• Seductive Musings is not responsible for prizes that are not honored, distributed in a timely manner, lost, stolen, or damaged during transit
• All giveaways are subject to change/cancellation without prior notice

Good Luck!!!

Join us tomorrow for another special guest, Lauren Dane