Interview, Giveaway & Review: The Russian Seduction by Nikki Navarre

Today, we welcome author Nikki Navarre who is promoting her book The Russian Seduction.  Enjoy our interview with her after my thoughts on the book!

Giveaway details:
One lucky commenter will win an e-copy of The Russian Seduction. Just leave a comment with a valid e-mail address to enter.  This open internationally.  The book will be delivered via All Romance ebooks.  The contest will run until 10/13. Good Luck!!

Author: Nikki Navarre
Publisher:  Affluent Press
Date of publication: October 2012


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.

My thoughts:

The Russian Seduction was a very enjoyable book.  Victor and Alexis couldn't be more wrong for each other.  She is an American diplomat and he is loyal to his Russian government.  Yet, Victor can't deny his strong attraction to Alexis.  And boy is the attraction strong.  Their relationship just sizzles off the page.  Ms. Navarre knows how to write a steamy and very sexy love scene.  I don't think I"ll ever think of a train ride the same way again!  

I don't know much about Russian or international politics, but that didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book.  Along with the romance, The Russian Seduction is a great spy book.  If you like espionage mixed with romance and sexy spies this book is for you!  This is the first book that I have read by the author and I look forward to seeking out more of her works!

From the TBR Pile: What inspired you to become a writer?

Nikki: I've been a writer for as long as I can remember!  The very first story I ever wrote was a Harlequin-style romance, circa 1980, with a dangerous, fabulously wealthy, black-eyed hero named Dirk.  I love being able to escape into the magical world of a story where the heroine is smart, successful and exciting, the hero is thrillingly alpha and insanely in love with her, the setting is fun and exotic, and they live happily ever after.

From the TBR Pile: Where do you come up with the idea for your books?

Nikki: For my sexy romantic suspense Foreign Affairs series, my inspiration came directly from the five years I spent living and working as a diplomat in Russia, where I specialized in weapons of mass destruction issues.  I had a position very similar to my heroine in The Russian Seduction, rising-star American diplomat Alexis Castle.  The high-octane excitement of the edgy cosmopolitan world of modern-day Moscow, the blend of international intrigue and globetrotting glamour that was my life there, and the sense of unfriendly eyes always watching were definite inspirations for the story.  My hero, renegade Russian submarine captain and adrenaline junkie Victor Kostenko, is unfortunately a pure figment of my fertile imagination!   

From the TBR Pile: What exciting projects are waiting in the wings?

Nikki: In the Foreign Affairs series, I’m contracted to write Book 2, The Russian Temptation, which features a glamourous American chemical weapons expert and the elegant Russian hit man who’s hired to kill her.  And I am LOVING this project.

As for my “innocent twin,” historical romance author Laura Navarre, she’s launching a new trilogy for Harlequin/Carina:  dark Tudor romance with elements of Arthurian legend and fallen angel heroes—and, of course, the trademark political intrigue that pervades all my books.  The series launch is Magick by Moonrise, coming in March 2013.  

From the TBR Pile: Who is your favorite literary character and why?

Nikki: I’d have to say either Scarlett O’Hara from Gone With the Wind or courtesan-spy Phedre in Jacqueline Carey’s alternate Renaissance fantasy Kushiel series.  Scarlett because of her determination, resourcefulness, courage and willingness to break the rules.  And Phedre because she’s exotic, brilliant, devious, loyal, fabulously beautiful, and ends up with the BEST hero ever.  If you haven’t read the Kushiel books and like dark, edgy, lyrical, very sexy epic fantasy, I heartily recommend them. 

From the TBR Pile: Just for fun, if you could be any animal, what would it be and why?

Nikki: An exotic cat like a Siberian tiger.  Sleek, powerful, rare and very dangerous.

About the author:

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