Author Saturday Spotlight: Barbara Elsborg *Interview and Giveaway*

My Spotlight Author this Saturday is Barbara Elsborg. If I had to choose one word to describe her writing style I'd say, eclectic. If you search through her books, it's impossible to not find something you'll love.

She doesn't write in one set genre, she mingles. You will have M/M choices, M/F choices even M/M/F choices. You'll have suspense, love and intrigue throughout.

Since her books are so diverse, Barbara has decided to make her giveaway a Reader's Choice. So whatever your flavor you'll have a great many to choose from.

Let's take a look at Barbara's books... Well some of them anyway...

Blurb:

"The most dangerous refuge could be his lover's arms. "

Everyone has at least one deep-seated fear. For Tyler, it's being in debt. He's so desperate to get out and stay out of it, he'll do almost anything-including selling his body at Saturday night sex parties.

But he refuses to open his mind to anyone, especially the men paying to use him however they want. The only time he's truly happy is during the week at college, when he can escape into his music.

The moment Haris sees Tyler playing piano at a concert, he falls hard, and he's willing to do whatever it takes to make the guy his. Even if it means-for the first time in his life-opening his wallet as wide and desperate as his heart.

20,000 to live with a good-looking guy for four months? How can Tyler resist the chance to ditch the sex party scene for good? But neither man realizes how much they're risking. And when outside forces close in, ready to destroy them, the trickiest part about the next four months could be just surviving.

Warning: Contains a "for hire" bad boy with a filthy mouth, an awkward guy with a penchant for BDSM, a hypochondriac butler who won't shut up, a dog called Alcide, and a lot of hot and dirty M/M sex.

Blurb:
Keeping an eye on his charge isn’t easy. Keeping his hands off? Impossible…

It took attending his own funeral to force Logan to accept a new life as an undercover MI6 agent. That doesn’t make his latest assignment any less aggravating. Babysitting a Russian pop star with delusions that someone’s trying to kill him.

Other than an inexplicable attraction Logan ruthlessly suppresses, he couldn’t have less in common with the irritating, arrogant rich kid. He’s even prepared to walk away—until very real bullets start flying.

After his mother’s death, Zak Kochenkov’s life unravels in an impenetrable haze of grief, drugs and alcohol—until one bodyguard candidate stands out. Except his hopes of having some fun with that guard’s body evaporate when he realizes Logan is buttoned up tighter than a clam.

The first thing Logan learns is that his charge won’t do as he’s told. And there’s some secret behind his haunted eyes that shakes Logan’s resolve to keep him at arm’s length. Because he knows if he lets passion close his eyes, that’s when danger will find them both…

Blurb
Ash is an ordinary girl, leading an ordinary life, but behind her smile she hides a secret so damning she’s sure no one could ever love her. Noah is a war photographer who’s come back from Afghanistan with a secret so dark he can’t escape its smothering grip.

Both need redemption. Ash looks for it by making people happy. Noah seeks it under the whip of a Dom. They’re damaged souls, drowning in guilt, unable to escape the legacies of their pasts. Then their worlds collide in an explosion of fireworks so strong it singes not only them, but those around them. It’s said love heals all wounds, but sometimes before love enters the heart, the intense fire of passion has to burn a path, lighting the way

Blurb
Stockbroker meets stock breaker. But who’s taming whom?

London stockbroker Jasper Randolph flies to Jackson Hole with hopes as high as the Grand Tetons. Hope that the getaway will force him to let loose, get dirty, and overcome a deep-seated phobia about horseback riding.

He hadn’t counted on an attraction to the dude ranch owner’s son, a man with sun-tousled hair, eyes bluer than Wyoming skies…and a father who’d rather eat tofu than accept his only son’s sexuality.

The moment Calum lays eyes on the uptight, buttoned-down Brit, he’s lost. But with his own saddlebags full of emotional baggage, he knows he should be looking at anything but Jasper’s spotless riding boots and tight-fitting jodhpurs. Trouble is, Jasper makes his heart buck like a wild horse trying to break free.

Despite the differences that set them oceans apart, they fall hard and fast. Trouble isn’t far behind, and they’re in for a rocky romantic ride. Especially since there’s growing evidence that someone is willing to do anything—no matter how dangerous—to poison their love.
Product Warnings
Mix one sun-bronzed cowboy with a yummy Brit who’d give Darcy in his wet shirt a run for his money. Mix gently. Try not to drool.

Blurb
Some crimes can never be forgotten...


Kate Evans doesn’t take risks. She chose her apartment with care—a safe district with a good neighbor—a place where she can live a quiet, unassuming, under-the-radar existence. Then she makes one mistake and opens her door to accept a delivery of flowers from a secret admirer and her life will never be the same again. A guy she’s never seen before bursts into her apartment and asks her to marry him. Jack Thompson won’t take no for an answer and drags Kate on a cross country journey to hell.

Invalided out of the police, Nathan Beranson works as a private investigator in San Antonio, Texas where he spends too much of his time following unfaithful spouses and delivering the bad news to their partners. When his fiancée cheats on him with Jack Thompson, the half-brother Nathan’s only just met, he becomes obsessed with Jack in the same unhealthy way as his revenge-seeking clients. By the time Nathan finally realizes putting the ghosts of the past to rest is a wiser option than settling an old score, it’s too late. He’s already been drawn into his sibling’s latest deadly game and Nathan and Kate find their nightmare is only just beginning.

You can check out all of Barbara's books on her Goodreads page Barbara Elsborg on GR
 There are SO MANY!

***INTERVIEW***

You are a VERY diverse author. You have M/F books like An Ordinary Girl and Strangers and M/M books like Every Move He Makes and With or Without him. Do you favor one genre more than the other or do you truly love the versatility of genre mingling?

I also have MMF books! I don't favour one genre over another but I seem to have drifted more into MM in the last couple of years. I like the variety that changing from one genre to another brings. It keeps me fresh! I hope. I'm working on an MM book at the moment and my next will likely be an MF.

 How do you think you’ve evolved creatively?

I hope I'm a better writer! I think you have to learn lessons from every book you write. My characters have definitely become more detailed, more angst driven. The plots in my stories have become more complex too. But I still don't plot anything beforehand which can lead me up some blind alleys. I wish I could plan things out, but I just can't.

 Do you let the book stew – leave it for a month and then come back to it to edit?

No, though I have a book that I've been working on - on and off for a couple of years. The way I write is to go over and over each chapter as I write. So each day, I might start at chapter one again until I reach the point I feel there is enough detail to write on. I'm now within two chapters of finishing the story I'm working on, today, I'll start from the beginning again. By the time the book is complete, I've already gone over it several times. I then let a few beta readers check it out before I reread, tweak and send it off. I'm too impatient to wait a month! But I know it is good advice!

 Do you do a press release, Goodreads book launch or anything else to promote your work and does it work?

No press release. I'm not big enough. I can't do a Goodreads launch because I don't have the ability to offer a lot of free copies. if there is a way of promoting on Goodreads, I wish I knew about it.  I do get in touch with a few blogs, as do my publishers. I use social media to spread the word, and my website. I contact all on my email list. I probably should do more but like most authors, the marketing side I find difficult. Does the promo work? Only if the book is any good. Word of mouth is the best promotion of all. So I think finding blogs with reviewers who like your story and will promote it, helps tremendously.

 I know this is likely a tricky question but do you have any authors that you favor? Ones that you freak out over when a new book is released?

There are some authors who are auto-buys for me. I wouldn't even read the blurb. I'd just buy. Sarra Manning, Eloisa James, Fiona Walker, Loretta Chase, Mary Balogh, Freya North, Karin Slaughter, Mo Hayder, Tom Woods, Nikki French. There are a LOT more. I think people outside the UK might not know all of these. They're not writers of erotic romance but of contemporary romance, historical romance, psychological suspense and of thrillers. I haven't liked everything they've written but as authors I admire them immensely.  

 What is the easiest and hardest part about writing?

The easiest is filling the story in with details once I have the essence of it written down. I like editing too. The hardest is when I find I've written myself into a corner and I'm reluctant to delete what I wrote that put me there! I either have to, or I have to write myself out of it. I don't find the sex scenes easy either - not unless some humorous element occurs to me, then I can get on with it!

 Is there any topic you'd never write about?

Apart from all the obvious one like paedophilia, incest, bestiality etc - I can't think of one. Because I come up with all my ideas myself, I'm unlikely to go down the path of one I feel uncomfortable with. The only genre I couldn't write is FF or dystopian worlds. Way out of my comfort zone.

 Where can you see yourself in 5 years time?

Doing exactly what I do now. I'd like to think I'd have made a bigger impression in the erotic romance world but there is a lot of competition out there.

 Can you tell us about your future project (s) ?

The book I'm just about to finish is the second MM in a sort of series  - for Samhain. The first is called Falling and this book is called Running. Running takes up a character who plays a small role in Falling. I have an MMF sci fi erotic romance out on September the 2nd with Samhain too. But when I've finished Running, I have a suspense novel called Crossing the Line to self-publish. It's dark and brutal and not anyway shape or form like my erotic romances. I can't find a home for it so I'll go it alone. It needs a bit of tweaking and then I'll publish. 

How can readers discover more about you and you work?

Goodreads

Website

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Amazon

I can't thank Barbara Elsborg enough for being my spotlight today! I am a huge fan and it's been an honor to pick her brain. As if she wasn't wonderful enough she is doing a Reader's Choice Giveaway. You can choose ANY of her books. Take a look on her GR, Amazon or her website to see choices that aren't listed above.  Enter the Raflecopter Giveaway below and if you win you'll be emailed and you will need to provide what book, format and what email you'll want it sent to and Barbara will email it to you. You will have 48 hours to respond if you win! Contest ends on Friday July 25th! GOOD LUCK!

***GIVEAWAY***

  





a Rafflecopter giveaway