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With Love Q&A: Lexi Blake When did you first fall in love with romance as a genre? One day, when I was roughly thirteen or fourteen, one of my mom’s books caught my eye. Bertrice Small’s Skye O’Malley. Yeah, I probably shouldn’t have read that, but I loved it.

Who are some of your author-ly inspirations? I love to go back to the late eighties/early nineties when I was obsessed with reading. My real romance influences of that era were Jayne Ann Krentz, Linda Howard, and Julie Garwood.

Fill in the blank: romance is life.

What makes a good romance novel, hero or heroine? I like writing every kind of hero from the alpha male to the sexy nerd, but all heroes need to have a unique way of looking at the world. My heroines must be strong—though that strength can roar or be very quiet and unassuming. Tell us about your newest book? Revenge is the third book in the Lawless series and it’s the culmination of everything that’s happened in the last two. What I love about this third book is Drew’s point of view. Drew’s been enigmatic and very driven, but when you get into his head, you see the lighter side of the man. His past comes back in a way he never thought could happen. Lots of fun. Lots of romance. Lots of drama!

What’s your all-time favourite fictional love story (it doesn’t need to be a book!)? I’m going to show my geek here. Avatar is a perfect romance. Jake is bitter. His heart is hardened to everything. He meets a woman who teaches him how to live again. When she says, “I see you” she’s talking about his soul and for me it’s one of the most romantic moments in all of pop culture.

What are you reading now? Larissa Ione’s Razr. I love her Demonica series, even though I believe she intends to murder me in a fictional way in it…

What are some common misconceptions people have about romance readers or writers? There’s a misconception that romance readers are all one type. Come to a conference and you’ll see young and old, middle class and high-powered career women. And you might even see some men there, too.

Describe your dream date (and your dream date partner). There’s no hero I could write who would be a better partner than my husband. They all come from him. Well, except the clean freak heroes. That might be a little tweak I would make!

Speaking of dates, if you could choose anyone, living or dead to have a coffee with, who would you choose? My father died long before I published my first book, but so much of my love of writing came from him. I would love to sit down and talk to my dad one more time, tell him how much he influenced me and thank him for all the things he gave me.



