Red Stilettos, Book Two. While a standalone, books are best enjoyed if read in order.
Erika Bergstrom is shopping in an upscale adult boutique when handsome Rodrigo Torbellino asks for help finding a gift. Just her luck! As he flirts with her, she discovers he's shopping for a bridal shower gift for a friend, not a lover. So when he asks her to model a beautiful negligee then seduces her in the dressing room, Erika gives in to her urge for a wild new experience... a one-night stand.
The next morning, Erika's body is sated from pleasure. Rigo obtains a promise she'll call him and tells her that if she doesn't call him, he'll find her. She's intrigued and thrilled with his obvious interest until she discovers Rigo is the head of the company her brother wants the family to partner with, so she doesn't contact him. A month passes. When they meet again the fire between them burns just as bright as ever, but does Rigo want the business deal or her?
Can the red stilettos live up to their legend to provide the wearer with her heart's desire?
I earned a Master of Arts in Library and Information Science in 2003 and work as a librarian in central Iowa. I'm a member of Romance Writer of America, including multiple special interest chapters. Even in my teens I wrote romances, spending my lunch hours with pen, paper, and characters. I love to weave new tales by embroidering and knitting intriguing narratives for the amusement of myself, my friends, and my readers.
My writer's mission statement is to write about exciting, sensual, plus-size heroines who love and are loved by their intense, passionate and seductive Alpha heroes.
Why create a mission statement, other than because I'm a librarian and it's something we tend to do? Because I've been plus-size all my life and I don't know how to be anything else. When I started reading romances, almost every heroine had a slender, girlish figure. If she didn't start out that way, she ended up that way. Plain or pretty, the heroine was thin. I loved those stories and their writers, but I tired of not seeing me in the heroines of my favorite books.
As I started writing, I followed market trends and wrote about slender heroines. Then I thought, am I part of the market? Yes. I am. There must be other readers who want to read about a differently shaped heroine, too. Everyone deserves to find love. So now, I write about plus-size heroines who know, or learn, how to live in their skins. My heroines are authentic and that's part of the reason my intense, passionate, and seductive Alpha male heroes love them. I hope you will too.
Backlist
Seeking Truth (2010 Epic Award Winner and received a 4 star review from RT)
Protect and Defend (received a 4 1/2 star review from RT, 5 kisses from TwoLips, 4 cups from CoffeeTime, 4 heart from The Romance Reader, 5 ribbon from Romance Junkies)
A note from Francesca...
Whirlwind Affair is the second in the Red Stilettos series. Book one is Head Over Heals by Paris Brandon (released 2/12/10), third in the series is Dear Sexy Lexie by Ashlyn Chase, and fourth in the series is Bad, Bad Girlfriend by Delilah Devlin.
An Interview with Francesca Hawley
By Holly Hewson for The Romance Studio
HH: Francesca, thank you for talking with us at TRS. Please tell us about your featured book, Whirlwind Affair.
FH: Thanks so much for the opportunity to be here today. Whirlwind Affair is my first novella for Ellora's Cave publishing, though I have two novels already published with them. My heroine, Erika Bergstrom is a plus sized woman with more than a few issues when it comes to her body. She married young for all the wrong reasons and has been coming into her own as a single mother who has already raised her twins.
She wants to believe in legends and magic and when she allows handsome Rodrigo Torbellino to seduce her in the dressing room of an upscale erotic boutique, she has to wonder if the shoes have led her to her heart's desire.
HH: This is the second story in the Red Stilettos series. Where did you get the idea for the series to begin with?
FH: I was influenced by the book, "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" by Ann Brashares. I thought wouldn't it be fun if four adult women shared an object, in this case a pair of red stiletto shoes, that lead them to find their heart's desire. The four women pool their money to buy the shoes at an estate auction and they each decide they'll hold on to the shoes for three months. Conveniently their birthdays are spread throughout the year, so they have the shoes right around the time they are celebrating their 40th birthdays. I collaborated with my critique partner Paris Brandon and once we came up with the proposal, I contacted Ashlyn Chase and she agreed to participate then asked Delilah Devlin to join us and the four friends with the magical shoes found their writers.
HH: How does Whirlwind Affair continue where the first book left off?
FH: In the first book, Head Over Heels by Paris Brandon, the heroine Bella Jacienski falls off a ladder and into the strong arms of philanthropist Rhys Vincent. When Bella finds her heart's desire, Rhys Vincent, the passionate lover who only wants her, she sends the shoes to Erika.
Erika's daughters have given her a gift certificate for an upscale adult boutique but she's having a little trouble finding the magic to spice up her life. When Rodrigo Torbellino spies the beautiful full-figured woman in sexy red stilettos, he seduces her in a dressing room and the magic begins for them.
HH: What do you like about Erika and how do you relate to her?
FH: I love Erika's wry sense of humor. She genuinely cares about people but she also has some self-image problems. Erika's a plus-size lady and she has some size issues related to her body. I can totally relate to that being a large lady myself. Also, I decided Erika would be a small town librarian and since I'm a librarian in my day job, I could relate to her daily activities.
HH: What do you like best about Rigo and why might he be perfect for her?
FH: Rigo is a man who knows what he wants and goes out and grabs it. Actually, the name Torbellino translates roughly to whirlwind and that's sort of what he's like. I had fun playing with his name and incorporating it into the title. As soon as Rigo sees Erika he wants her and goes after her, but he's respectful about it. He's an alpha male with a definite hint of chivalry which is something I love in a hero. The men in the Torbellino family often fall in love at first site and once they fall, that's it. Rigo falls for Erika like a ton of bricks. What I love about him is that he likes her just the way she is. He likes her body and he thinks she's funny and smart. Erika has been a caretaker most of her life and Rigo is capable of taking care of her without taking over. Sigh…can you tell I like him, too. LOL
HH: What can you tell us about the books to come in this series?
FH: Book Three is what happens when you mix a snarky, widowed advice columnist and the determined younger cop who shows up at her door in Dear Sexy Lexie by Ashlyn Chase coming March 17.
Book Four has a cop with a secret fear and a girlfriend with an attitude and a plan to rock his world in Bad, Bad Girlfriend by Delilah Devlin coming March 24th.
What can I tell you, these authors are awesome and their stories continue the series beautifully!
HH: What else do you have in store for lucky readers?
FH: I'm working on a story featuring Erika's brother, Andy. Most of the folks in town know him as "Aw-shucks Andy" but this small town farmer is a sexual dom when he visits the city. I'm also working on follow ups to my shapeshifter book, Protect and Defend featuring some new shifters while revisiting others met in that first book. I'm also working on a follow up to my medieval erotic romance, Seeking Truth. I've had to become very good at multi-tasking in the past year.
HH: What would you most like to accomplish this year?
FH: You mean besides taking a breath, LOL! I want to complete Andy's story and one or both of the follow up stories I mentioned.
HH: What are you reading these days?
FH: When I'm not reading contest entries for RWA contests, I'm reading non-fiction books about medieval troubadours, BDSM and police procedure. Eclectic reading to go with my varied writing projects. But, I manage to do some fun reading just to relax, too. I loved Assassin's Kiss by Paris Brandon, and I really enjoyed Christine Feehan's Dark Slayer.
HH: Any exciting plans for 2010?
FH: I'm really thrilled to be attending my first Romantic Times Convention at the end of April which will be held in Columbus,Ohio. I'll be participating in the e-book expo on Friday and the book fair on Saturday. It will be so fun to have a chance to meet fellow authors and most especially my readers. My summer will be taken up with the summer reading program at the library where I work. In October, I'll be traveling back to Ohio, to attend Romanticon. The first Romanticon was held last year and is a convention hosted by my publisher, Ellora's Cave Publishing. Actually, it's the entire corporation, Jasmine Jade Enterprises, because not only do the Ellora's Cave authors attend but so do many of the talented Cerridwen Press authors too. I had so much fun last year that I'm really looking forward to another opportunity to interact with fellow EC/CP authors and the readers who love what we write.
