Dream Neighbour
The idea for Dream Neighbour came about after reading an article on Silver Lining, a speakeasy bar in NYC. The place sounded cool and I thought, “What a great venue for a first date!” If any of my readers have been there, I believe they’ll confirm I’m right.
With all the ingredients for making a great first date under the same roof—food, drinks, good music, and a great dose of sensuality and romanticism—how could I not start imagining right there and then a great sex scene between two sexy characters? The idea grabbed me by the throat and it wouldn’t quit until I put Steve and Samantha together and gave them a voice.
Steven’s character was shaped from an old boyfriend of mine whose cool, grounded demeanor, and enormous sex appeal was hard to forget after all these years.
As for Samantha, she is a sexually aware, confident woman but bad history has spoiled her for any kind of relationship with a neighbour.
When she spots Steven leaving the building early morning with a woman, she deeply regrets having turned down his dinner invitation. It’s going to take a leap of faith to cast her fears aside for a date with him. But when the alternative is never to know what it’s like to be kissed by the sexiest lips she’s ever seen before, she might discover she’s braver than she thought.
You have lived in six different countries, so please can you tell us about your experience in each?
It happened over a few decades, I’m showing my age now, and a couple of those countries were only summer experiences—I was an au pair in the UK, and a hotel management trainee in Holland.
I grew up in Portugal but left for Switzerland to further my studies when I was only nineteen. There I learned about passion and heartbreak, and how to make a good veal schnitzel! J I also developed an appreciation of other cultures as there were eighteen different nationalities represented on my course alone.
After a not so eventful year in Brussels, or so it seemed at the time, I headed for the States. The lukewarm feeling I have for this country stems from the bad boy-girl experience I had, and not from any particular dislike of Belgium people.
The States were a blast at all levels, and then some!
Eleven fun packed years that helped shape me into the woman I am today. There were a lot of firsts for me there, big sigh, and I have a great appreciation for a country that wasn’t mine by birthright, but that adopted me wholeheartedly, and vice versa.
The circle closed when I moved back to Portugal, then a family of five, and settled down. The winds of change are blowing again, though…sorry but I must keep you in suspense until such time as a decision is made.
You were born on a ship in the middle of the Indian Ocean, have you ever wanted to include this in one of your stories?
I haven’t, actually, but it’s definitely a possibility.
You believe that this was the catalyst to a life of adventure and romance, so what are your earliest memories of writing?
Inspired by Ann Frank I began my own diary at the age of eleven. For years I shared my daily experiences, thoughts, wishes and dreams with my imaginary friend, Suzanne.
Later, due to work and family life’s constraints, I had to give it up altogether but soon replaced it with epistolary writing— hundreds of cards and letters were written to family and friends during the years living abroad.
It was only once my first born was away in college that I started to toy with the idea of writing a book. That was three years ago!
The book has been compared to Jessica Sorenson and Barbara Freethy, so how does this make you feel and have you read their work?
I’d never heard of these two authors until I read your question.
I’ve done some quick internet research since and I’m flattered, and hopeful I’ll be as good a writer, and as popular with my fans as they are with theirs.
I can’t wait to read their work.
Please tell us a bit about your previous publication, Arousing Past.
Arousing Past is a book about second chances in life, and lost love, but rekindled unexpectedly several years later.
Joe Bradley was Melissa’s first lover, the love of her life, the bastard who broke her heart.
She’s never got over him, and when Joe suddenly reappears in her life she doesn’t want what he has to offer—marriage.
Used to getting what he sets his mind to—and he wants Melissa like he never wanted anybody else but her—Joe doesn’t take no for an answer. He continues to pursue her relentlessly, expecting it to be a matter of time before she caves in. But what he can’t fathom is why her gripe against him is so fierce after all, he’d offered to keep a long distance relationship going, she was the one that broke it off.
Pushed to the limit Melissa reveals what she swore never to tell anyone, and Joe finally gets her resistance, but with that understanding comes blame and resentment. Will they overcome the hurt of the past and move forward?
How much has travelling affected your writing?
A lot, I think. It fuelled my thirst for knowledge and it also allowed me to see other cultures with broader lenses—a powerful asset for any writer.
In each of my books I’ve introduced at least one of my real life experiences into the story—in Triple Pleasure it was Nick’s game, In-Flight Delight sailing on Long Island sound, in Arousing Past life in the big corporate world of hotel management, in Sinful Weekend skiing in Tahoe, and in my most recent release, Dream Neighbour, the love for the outdoors—climbing in particular.
Why does every woman need a bit of erotic fiction in their lives?
I’d say primarily to try meeting unmet needs.
I believe no matter how sexually fulfilled one is there’s always room for improvement, and to me no literature does the job better than erotic fiction!
Because it encompasses so many sub-genres—historical, science fiction, westerns, etc.—there’s no problem finding the right setting to play out one’s fantasies. You can be rolling in the hay with a gorgeous cowboy one day, lifting your skirt for a nineteenth century duke the next, or even take a trip through time and space and have hot sex with an extra-terrestrial.
Ultimately, I think women should read erotic fiction because it’s fun. Everyday life is filled with series issues, a few hours relief is a good thing in my book.
What would you say to someone who has never read any erotic fiction to lure them into the genre?
Read one of my books!
What is next for you?
I’m writing Luscious Weekend, book two of the Naughty Weekend series, and Lusitanian Stud, a love story between eighteen year old virgin, Sarah, an American girl spending summer in Portugal, and Diogo, a gorgeous Latin lover. Their steaming romance is short lived, though. When found in bed with him by her grandmother she is sent back to the States straight away, and doesn’t hear from him again until seven years later.
Although she can’t forgive him for not staying in touch all those years, she can’t deny the heat of attraction between them now. Sex is as hot and fulfilling as she remembered, but to overcome the pain of his silence she must first know why he never contacted her.
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