I’m super excited to interview one of my favorite authors Cecilia Tan. She’s written some of the sexiest, hottest books I’ve ever read. She took some time to answer my question about her newest book Taking the Lead, the debut novel in her Secrets of a Rock Star Series.
Spoiler alert: this book is about a billionaire who happens to be a woman. A deliciously, hot twist. The book comes out today so grab your copy now!
Bawdy Bookworms: First of all, I stayed up until 3AM reading Taking the Lead. Axel and Ricki were so incredibly hot together, I couldn’t put down your book.
Cecilia Tan: I am so glad you loved them together. 🙂
BB: In Taking the Lead, Ricki, our heroine, is the heiress while sexy Axel is a rock star. Who or what inspired you to switch the roles in billionaire BDSM erotic romance?
CT: Lately there has been so much billionaire billionaire billionaire in romance I was getting a little tired of how it automatically meant “super rich dominant jerk.” Why can’t the woman be the billionaire for once? Or the sub? Or both? It isn’t money that makes someone a dom. I also wanted to write a heroine who didn’t need her hero for anything EXCEPT love. Ricki has money, power, an entire staff to support her. It was freeing to have the only reason she keeps thinking about Axel be the erotic and romantic connection between them. I loved that.
BB: You’ve always portrayed BDSM relationships in a very layered and multidimensional way i your books. What would you want readers to get out of the relationship Taking the Lead?
CT: Axel’s different from a lot of my other male doms (and most of the male doms out there) because he’s still a little new to being a dom. He’s always been the one in charge in bed and he’s had a lot of rough sex, but he’s still figuring out his style as a BDSM dom. In a lot of ways he’s the opposite of James (from Slow Surrender), who was also a rock star dom, but where James is a control freak who plans things out to the smallest detail, Axel is improvisational and makes it up as he goes along. James uses dominance as a way to keep his emotions bottled up. Axel doesn’t keep anything bottled up!
BB: There’s some very, let’s say, creative sex scenes in the book. What sex toy(s) would Axel consider his favorite? (I’ll keep the definition of sex toy as anything used for sexual pleasure since Axel is quite resourceful.)
CT: Exactly! That’s what I mean about him being improvisational. If there’s something within arm’s reach and it looks interesting (and clean…) he’ll use it. It all depends on what reaction the toy gets from Ricki. If it sends her to the moon, he’s all over it. Hm, I suppose that answers the question. RICKI is Axel’s favorite sex toy. And she loves it!
BB: If a book club was reading Taking the Lead, what cocktail or food should they serve in honor of the Ricki and Axel?
CT: Hm, it’s a toss up between red wine and hot chocolate, isn’t it? Those seem to be the two things that get mentioned as favorites in the book. I suppose you could serve both: chocolate and red wine go so nicely together. They eat a lot of sushi, too, don’t they. A nice fatty fresh salmon is one of the most sensual foods ever.
BB: The second book in this series, Wild Licks, focuses on Ricki’s sister and Axel’s best friend. I can’t wait to read it! I absolutely love Sakura, Ricki’s best friend, and Paul, Ricki’s assistant. They’re so fun and full of life. Do you have plans to write their stories?
CT: If the series does well, I’ll get to write more of the background characters! I certainly hope so. Right now I’m signed up to write two more books, one with Mal, the guitar player from Axel’s band, and then one with the drummer, Chino. With any luck and if people really like the series, they’ll let me keep going! Here’s hoping!
Thank you Cecilia for taking the time to chat with us!
Make sure you check out Cecilia’s website and follow her awesome tweets! Don’t forget to grab a copy of Taking the Lead. You won’t regret it!
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