Welcome to Nina Croft, author of Brazen LOSING CONTROL!

So excited today to be interviewing Nina Croft, author of the Entangled Brazen LOSING CONTROL! We shared a release day yesterday (NO ROMANCE REQUIRED's available now!) and I'm so thrilled to have her here today. Check out her fun answers to my questions and her SEXY new book! And whoa, look at that gorgeous cover!
 
And to read an excerpt and find out more, visit the LOSING CONTROL page on Entangled's website!

http://www.entangledpublishing.com/losing-control/

Hi Nina! So excited to be sharing a release day with you and Katee. Tell us a little about LOSING CONTROL (even the title intrigues me!)

Thanks for having me here, Cari!

Losing Control is one of my favorite romance types—a ‘friends to lovers’ story. For the last four years, Jake and Kim have been best friends. But in reality, Jake has been biding his time. He actually wants the whole deal, love, marriage, babies... Kim, on the other hand, is recovering from an abusive relationship. She’s determined never to put herself in anyone’s control again. No way will she ever remarry, but at the same time, she doesn’t want to lose Jake’s friendship. The book follows her increasingly frantic struggles to keep Jake firmly in his best friend role, while fighting an overwhelming and totally inconvenient sexual attraction.

I see that LOSING CONTROL is the first book in the Babysitting a Billionaire series. Love that name! How many books do you have planned?

There are three books in the series, based on three girlfriends who all work for Knight Security. Dani and Jess, the heroines from books 2 and 3, both make appearances in Losing Control. Hopefully, readers will be rooting for their happy-ever-afters as well.

Bodyguard books are SO hot. What made you want to write one?

I’m a big believer that you should write the sort of things you love to read and I love bodyguard books. But I also love books about strong heroines, so I decided to make the series about women who work (or as in the case with Losing Control—who  want to work) as bodyguards and keep their men safe. Not that the men involved are always appreciative of the effort. I love the fight an alpha male has to accept that his woman is strong enough to protect him.

For the readers we have that are curious about our process, do you outline your stories before you begin or fly by the seat of your pants?

I’ve tried both, but come to the realization that I’m a total plotter. I actually enjoy plotting. I outline right down to scene level. I think the main reason is that it gives me time to get to know my characters before I start the actual writing. I need to wait for that moment where they start chatting away in my head—then I’m ready.

But I also have a pretty low boredom threshold, so I tend to do it differently each time. Spreadsheets, cards, the hero’s journey…. Right now I’m learning how to use Scrivener and it’s fun.

Tell us something about Jake from LOSING CONTROL that will make us even more eager to read it! (though c’mon, from the smokin’ cover to that blurb, is that even possible?)

Jake’s ex-army, and he now runs a security company among other things. He’s definitely an alpha male—he’s tough and pretty much a control freak, but he also has a huge protective streak.

Of course, he’s gorgeous as well—

“With his thick, dark hair that always looked sexily ruffled like some woman had just run her fingers through it, his high cheekbones, strong, straight nose, and beautifully stern mouth. He was six feet three inches of lean, mean, drool-worthy man.”

Jake understands that Kim is scared of losing control over her life and it’s a real battle for him to try not to overwhelm her. He has to go to great lengths to prove he can relinquish control, including one incident with a four-poster bed, a few lengths of rope and…

What’s your typical writing day like? Do you have any special rituals to help get you in the mood?

I live on an almond farm in the mountains of southern Spain, with my husband and a whole load of animals. So the start of the day is usually seeing to them (not the husband, he’s very self-sufficient.) I feed the pig, walk the dogs, ride the horse... After that, most of the day is mine, though the dogs do tell me when they need attention. I tend to spend the mornings, while my mind is fresh, writing new words. Then in the afternoons I do everything else, editing, promo stuff, critting… anything that’s on my to-do-list.

And this time of year, the work is interspersed with dips in the pool to cool off and wake me up.

What qualities make up your ideal hero? (In real life or fiction or both – your choice!)

I love total alpha heroes. At least in fiction. I love them lean and mean and with just a touch of arrogance. He has to feel strongly about things and be willing to fight for what he believes in. I also think all heroes should have a protective streak. He knows he’s big and strong, and he wants to use that strength to protect the people he cares about.

Oh, and I’m also a sucker for tall dark and handsome.

And just for fun: would you rather run away for an impetuous sexy island getaway with your significant other or curl up in front of a roaring fire during a snowstorm? And why?

It’s got to be the sexy island getaway. I love the summer and the sun. I was born in the north of England where the sun hardly ever shone and I seem to have spent my life since heading south. I also love the sea, so an island is my perfect holiday destination.

Though the one thing I love about winter is snow—so I don’t mind the occasional snowstorm (and we do get them on our mountain.).

Thanks so much for spending some time with me today, Nina! Best of luck with LOSING CONTROL – I can’t wait to read it!

Thanks Cari! And good luck with NO ROMANCE REQUIRED. I’ve loved the series so far!