Authors Dish: Ember Leigh's Favorite Heroine

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September 2018: Favorite Heroine
~ Ember Leigh ~

CTR asked:
QUESTION: Of your published titles to date, which heroine is your favorite and why?

Ember Leigh said:
I love all my heroines equally—I swear. All the heroines of this MMA series are badass in their own way—from single moms to nonprofit activists to cult escapees—but Amara of ‘Breaking the Rules‘ (book #1 in The Breaking Series) rises above the rest just slightly (please don’t tell the others!). I loved writing her because she has parts of my own former idealism in her. But what has been the best part is reading what readers think of her.

To be honest, most call her a bitch! I think this is great. I mean, let’s reclaim that word, right? Reader reviews are very divided on her though. She was my favorite to write because her ideals really acted as the blockade in her relationship with Travis. She was the non-profit queen, while Travis made his living beating people up in the MMA world. Some people are naturally repelled by violence, especially if they experienced it earlier in life. And Amara is not one of those women who sees fighting and thinks “Oh, hot!”. (Ahem, the author, however…)

That said, I think a lot of us who had really noble, pure ideals in late childhood/early adulthood find it hard to reconcile them with what real life sends our way. Amara made her mark on the world by assisting domestic abuse survivors. How could she possibly be with someone who capitalizes on that same violence to make a living?

But maybe that’s what makes her a bitch—her moral conflict, her unwillingness to just let a hot body sway her from making good choices. Or maybe that’s just what I intended for her. Either way, in Breaking the Rules, love truly wins. And Amara doesn’t have to burn away her own moral fiber to love Travis, either.

As with all things, what we see on the surface is not necessarily the heart of the matter. And this nonprofit queen stood to learn a little bit about how fighting can actually become a force of good. She just had to allow herself to be swayed by the hot body—just a smidge!—so that she could open her eyes to something much greater.

– Website – http://www.emberleighromance.com
– Twitter – @EmberLeighAuth

Breaking the Rules by Ember Leigh cover

Breaking the Rules, Book #1 of The Breaking Series

[Contemporary MMA Erotic Romance]

Amara’s move home is anything but fun. With her mom recovering from a cancer diagnosis, her only goal is to find a job in her field and support her family. But once she lays eyes on Travis Holt, she realizes her time in LA might be a lot more tolerable if she could use him to take her mind off things.

For Travis, there’s only ever been one rule: stay away from his best friend’s sister. And it wasn’t a problem until Amara moved back west all grown-up and sexier than sin. When she comes strutting around his gym every day, it’s impossible to keep his eyes–and hands–off her.

The one-off fling Amara imagined isn’t possible with a God like Holt. And once Eddie finds out, they’re suddenly cast into the turbulent waters of Something More, the unfamiliar terrain where Amara has to confront whether she can truly support someone whose career is the antithesis of everything she’s worked for in the non-profit world.