Fiona Jayde: "Badass Guys for Kick-Ass Girls"

Today The Cozy Page is proud to welcome author of sci-fi erotic romance Cold Victory, Fiona Jayde:

Intergalactic warfare has not been kind to humans. Convicted pilot Zoya Scott has the chance to avenge her family, redeem an act of desperation with that of sacrifice. She’ll end this war if she betrays the man whose touch burns through her soul, the man whose ship and crew she must destroy. The man who is her bloodmate.

Commander Galen Stark never expected the convicted pilot on his ship to be anything more then a good looking inconvenience. A small brush of their hands grips him with vicious lust, a need he can’t control. She is his bloodmate – a biological reaction burning through his veins.Except she carries an explosive. And Stark may have to give the order to destroy them all.

I've always enjoyed strong female leads - in books and movies and TV. Be it a super smart woman, or super strong woman, or super sexy woman - I like strong confident female characters who know what they want and will go after it, right or wrong.

Especially in romance, I love a woman who can give a man a run for his money. I'm not talking about "spunky secretaries" - although they too can be fun- I'm talking about women who kick ass and take names. Women like Eve Dallas from the InDeath series who is both strong and vulnerable, and takes no shit from no one.

What has always been fascinating to me is finding the right matches for such heroines. A man for any kickass girl can't always give in, because he'll be a wimp. But any man who has to consistently prove himself stronger/better/more dominant may end up coming off as a bully, jerk or worse.

When writing (and reading) I'm always conscious of the line between wimp and bully. I've once read a book where the hero and heroine consistently butted heads, but the guy went so far over the top in his quest to keep the heroine safe that I put the book down, unable to read more. The story was great. The guy was a jerk. It was finito for me liking the book.

I suppose it is the constant tension, the yang to her yin that make the sparks smolder, especially when two strong characters butt heads. And what some readers may find sexy, other readers may find too pushy. I always enjoy playing with that tensions - and reading about it, where one side gives in now, but may be the one on top later.

Here is a snippet from Cold Victory where I hope to prove that my hero is badass without coming across as wimpy or jerky.

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“Officer Scott.” Another punch sent the bag swinging.

His gaze was like a physical caress. He'd upped the grav stabilizers. Zoya could feel the shift in weight sneaking up through the already-clenching muscles of her thighs.

“Commander.”

“I'll get out of your way.”

Desire, reckless and hot and unwanted, swam through her system, quickening her pulse, her blood, her breath. She had to pound on something. “You box, Commander?”

The sudden weariness in that hot gaze told her he was infused by the same heat that kept tormenting her. Involuntary biological reaction, she told herself again, and licked her lips.

He seemed to focus on her mouth. “I'm more of a kickboxer.” A heavy hook kick into the bag demonstrated his point.

“Impressive.” He raised an eyebrow but didn't say a word. Zoya had the distinct feeling that he was forcing himself to stay away from her.

She kept her voice cool as another spike of arousal stabbed through her. “I need to work off some aggression. I figure you can understand.”

He simply nodded.

“Care to point spar?”

The look from those wild eyes nearly sent her temperature to melting. “I don't think it would be a good idea.”

She lifted up her fists. Came closer. “No rank. No insignia. I need to kick somebody's ass, Commander. I'm sure you'd understand why I want it to be yours.”

She needed a good sweaty workout to wipe away the thoughts of death and ravenous lust.

“No contact.” Like an Earth predator, Zoya circled him, tucking her chin low.

“Hit anywhere you like.”

Cold Victory © Fiona Jayde

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To The Readers: Who are some of your favorite badass heros?

Thank you to Fiona for making Cozy a stop on her book tour. Readers, if you comment you will entered to win a $15 Amazon.com Gift Card. Learn more about Fiona's work at her website and don't forget to get your copy of her fantastic book, Cold Victory at Loose Id.

For more chances to win, comment on the last stop of Fiona's book tour tomorrow at Amber Scott Project's blog...

Fiona Jayde is a space pilot, a ninth degree black belt in three styles of martial arts, a computer hacker, a mountain climber, a jazz singer, a weight lifter, a superspy with a talent for languages, and an evil genius.All in her own head.

In life, she is an author of kickass, action packed, steamy romances, possesses a brown belt in Tae Kwon Do and blue belt in Aikido, a web developer, scared to death of heights, loves jazz piano, can bench-press about 20 pounds — with effort, speaks English and Russian fluently, and when not plotting murder and mayhem enjoys steamy romance novels, sexy spy thrillers, murky mysteries and movies where things frequently blow up.