*Giveaway & Author Interview* The Russian Seduction by Nikki Navarre *LitConnect*

The Russian Seduction
by Nikki Navarre

Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: Foreign Affairs, #1
Tone: Dramatic, action
Heat Level: Hot
Publisher: Affluent Press
Publishing Date: October 1, 2012
Word Count: 258 pages
Format: Digital and Print


Back Cover Blurb:

State secrets have never been this sexy.

Victor Kostenko was the golden boy of the Russian Navy, a submarine captain with a maverick image, until he lost his command for an act of treason he didn’t commit. Arrogant, aggressive, and super-smart, the
captain pairs his daunting reputation with an appetite for adventure. And he’s never met a rule he won’t break. Now it’s rumored he’ll do anything to get back in his government’s good graces.

Political Counselor Alexis Castle is one of the highest-ranked diplomats at the U.S. Embassy, a rising star who yearns to live up to her father’s legacy as a legendary ambassador. Brilliant and driven, she’s always
played by the rules. She’ll torpedo her career for sure if she falls for one of the world’s most dangerous men – a bad-boy Russian sub captain who breaks every rule in the book.

When a hard-line Russian leader invades a country the U.S. promised to protect, war can only be avoided
by a risky undercover liaison between one man who has everything to gain…and a woman who has everything to lose.

Purchase Links:
Amazon.com Print: http://amzn.to/Pt9ldP
All Romance eBooks Digital: http://bit.ly/S0vP3Y







Ladies and gents, please put a warm welcome to Ms. Navarre!!!!


Since you are a new to me author, I am hoping to bring you to the light of others! So let’s share!

Why don't you tell us a little about yourself.... Something that we cannot Google about you, lol!

I’m a former diplomat who lived in Russia for five years, where I specialized in weapons of mass destruction issues.  For a while, I traveled with an armed bodyguard who was a Russian ex-military officer—one of the many adventures that inspired The Russian Seduction.  I’m one of very few Americans ever to visit the “hermit kingdom” of North Korea.  And I was once alone in a hotel room with the then-President of the United States for exactly one minute—in a purely platonic capacity.  These days, I consult for government clients on arms control issues.

Tell us a little about your book?

Set in the edgy cosmopolitan world of modern-day Moscow, The Russian Seduction is smart, sexy romantic suspense with lots of glamour and international intrigue.  State secrets have never been this sexy!

Victor Kostenko was the golden boy of the Russian Navy, a submarine captain with a maverick image—until he lost his command for an act of treason he didn’t commit.  Now it’s rumored he’ll do anything to get back in his government’s good graces.

Rising-star American diplomat Alexis Castle always plays by the rules.  She’ll torpedo her career for sure if she falls for a bad-boy Russian who breaks every rule in the book.  

When a hard-line Russian leader invades a country the U.S. has promised to protect, war can only be avoided by one man who has everything to gain…and a woman who has everything to lose.

How much emotion does it take from you to write?

I wrote The Russian Seduction on a pure adrenaline rush.  Since I normally write Tudor and medieval romance under another name for a major press, this Foreign Affairs series has been a bracing departure for me—and tons of fun to write!

What is your favorite part of the book?

To discover the dangerous truth behind the submarine accident that cost Victor his command, he and Alexis end up hurtling through the night on an express train bound for St. Petersburg…in a ritzy first-class cabin.  Each of them suspects the other of being an intelligence agent with a hidden agenda.  Given the risk that Victor is under orders to compromise her—not to mention the virtual certainty that they’re under surveillance—the sizzling chemistry between them is an itch Alexis can’t afford to scratch.  But Victor is an alpha male who’s very accustomed to getting his way.  Writing that sex scene steamed up the windows, both in the train and my library! 

When hired killers board the train, Alexis and Victor are forced to flee on foot through the Siberian tundra, with the killers in hot pursuit.  Those were some of the most exciting scenes for me to write.

You can only pick 3 words for your main characters..what would they be? *to describe your main characters*

Renegade captain Victor Kostenko is aggressive, sexy and super-smart.  Does that count as four words?

Political Counselor Alexis Castle is brilliant, driven and sophisticated.

Which was the easiest character to write and the hardest ~ and why??

Victor was like a gift from God.  I woke up one morning with the clearest visual of this guy standing over my bed. Golden hair like melted butter, glacial blue eyes, a hard jaw glittering with gold-dust stubble, and broad shoulders encased in the black jacket and epaulets of a Russian submarine captain.  I just knew him, inside and out, and felt like I always had.  I didn’t even do a character sketch for him, which is the only time I’ve written a book without one.

The hardest character to write was Geoffrey Chase, Alexis’s ex-husband and her new boss at the American Embassy in Moscow.  He’s obsessed with Alexis sexually and threatened by her professionally, and he just wasn’t fun to write!

How many books are you shooting for in this series??

I’m under contract to River Valley Publishing for the first two books in the Foreign Affairs series.  The sequel is The Russian Temptation, which features an American chemical weapons expert and the elegant Russian hit man who’s hired to kill her.  As long as I’m having fun with the series and readers are enjoying the books, I’ll probably keep going. J

What are you currently working on?

My “innocent twin,” historical romance author Laura Navarre, has a historical paranormal romance trilogy under contract to Harlequin/Carina.  We’re deeply enmeshed in writing those at the moment!

Do you have anything due to release soon?

My next release is a Laura book. Magick by Moonrise is a dark Tudor romance with elements of Arthurian legend and a fallen angel hero.  It’s the first book in the Magick trilogy, scheduled for quick release starting in March 2013.

What's one thing that you enjoy about writing?

I love escaping into an exotic, exciting world where true love leads to happily-ever-after.

What do you prefer ebooks or paperbacks?

I’m a completely omnivorous reader!  I’m a globetrotter and love the portability of my Kindle.  But there’s nothing like the sensual pleasure of a crisp new paperback, gleaming jewel-bright on my bookshelf.

Is there a genre you would like to write but are a little apprehensive to try?

One of my former editors has been urging me to try my hand at straight historical fiction, a la Philippa Gregory.  I wonder if I’m good enough to do it.  Possibly after the Magick trilogy and the Foreign Affairs books, I’ll give that a try.  I do have a fascinating, famous historical woman in mind I’d love to write about. 


Okay.... personal time!!!! Oh yeah, I go there... Hahah...

If you thought you were safe... Nah... Forgot it... Not a chance! We will start off slow and easy, I promise!

What is on your night stand/dresser?

Um, have I mentioned that whole nomadic wanderer thing?  Right now we’re in the middle of moving onto an island in Puget Sound.  My hubby is residing in a sleeping bag on the floor in an empty house, and I’m in a guest house at one of the nuclear sites, doing work for one of my government clients.  The book on my nightstand is The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Spies and Espionage, which is research for my Twitter party on Famous Spies in History (with prizes! Oct. 3, noon Eastern, #NikkiNavarre)

What are you listening to right now?
The diligent hum of the guest house refrigerator.  I can’t write in anything except profound silence.

What are you reading right now?
An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon—research for one of my historicals featuring a Scottish heroine.

What is your favorite season? Holiday?
Summer.  And Halloween. J

And what has been your best b-day present ever??
I’m happy if I’m in the U.S. with my hubby instead of alone in Azerbaijan (as I was last year) on the big day.

Dark or Milk Chocolate?
Milk chocolate.  No contest.

What's ur fave drink?
Vodka martini made with a Russian vodka called Russkiy Standard, straight up and filthy.

Junk or Health Food?
Healthy please.

Vampire or Werewolf?
Neither.  Fallen angel girl here.

Twitter and/or Facebook?
Both!  I’m at www.Facebook.com/NikkiNavarreAuthor and @Nikki_Navarre on Twitter.

Pinterest or not?
Not a photo kind of person, so not.




Author Bio:
DOSSIER FOR NIKKI NAVARRE
DECLASSIFIED
Subject: Nikki Navarre
Assignment: Double Agent
Cover: Diplomat. Playgirl. Author of The Russian Seduction.
Nikki Navarre is the sinister twin of unsuspecting historical romance author Laura Navarre. In her other life, Nikki is a diplomat who’s lived in Russia and works on weapons of mass destruction issues. In the line of duty, she’s been trapped in an elevator in a nuclear power plant and has stalked the corridors of facilities churning out nerve agent and other apocalyptic weapons. In this capacity, she meets many of the world’s most dangerous men. Inspired by the perilous realities of her real life, Nikki writes romantic suspense set in glamorous international locales and laced with political intrigue. Her literary credentials are suspiciously similar to those of her innocent twin. A member of Romance Writers of America’s Published Author Network (PAN), winner of the 2012 Pacific Northwest Writers Association award for romance and a 2009 Golden Heart finalist, she has won the Emily Award for Excellence, the First Coast Romance Writers Beacon Award, the Georgia Romance Writers Maggie Award, the Golden Pen, Hearts through History’s
Romance through the Ages, and other awards. Nikki holds an M.F.A. in Writing Popular Fiction from the University of Southern Maine, an M.A. in National Security Policy from The George Washington University, and other alarming credentials. Based in Seattle with her screenwriter accomplice and two Siberian cats, she divides her time between her writing career and other adventures for U.S. government clients. Her notorious adventures in the world of diplomacy will get her in trouble one of these days. The Russian Seduction (October 2012) may be the last mistake she ever makes.

Nikki’s Coordinates:
http://www.lauranavarre.com/book/nikki-navarre-books
http://www.facebook.com/NikkiNavarreAuthor
http://www.twitter.com/Nikki_Navarre

                   ***Giveaway Details***

One randomly drawn commenter from each tour stop will win one digital copy of THE RUSSIAN SEDUCTION. (The winner will need to have an All Romance ebooks account to have the book ‘gifted’ to them in an epub format.) The giveaway is open internationally as long as the winner can accept a digital format via All Romance eBooks.

Rules::::
You have to leave a comment and your email address. No email - No entry!!!

That's it... No hoops, nothing hard...

But those two things are a must!!!!

Contest ends on October 13th and the winner will be announced in this post on the 14th. I will send the winner information to LitConnect for them to contact you!! Good luck to all!!!!


Tour Stops:
Additional tour stops can be found at:
http://events.litconnect.com/the-russian-seduction-by-nikki-navarre
The more stops readers comment on, the greater their chance of winning.
Virtual

And remember... Always keep it Dirty, Smutty & Hussy!