Interview with "Unravel Me" Author Kendall Ryan
Kendall Ryan is the author of the bestselling erotic romance novels “Unravel Me” and “Make Me Yours”. Her third novel “Hard To Love” will be released January 16, 2013. You can follow Kendall on Twitter, like her on Facebook, and read our interview with her below. We discuss how Kendall developed “Unravel Me”, got a sneak peak of “Hard To Love”, and found out if she’s team Aiden or Cohen!
“Unravel Me” is quite the interesting story. How did you come up with it?
“Let’s just say I have an extremely over active imagination. First off I knew I wanted to write something in the vein of all the hot books I love: Fifty Shades of Grey, Captive in the Dark, Bared to You, Thoughtless…
And I began with this idea of a mental patient and a doctor – I love the theme of forbidden romance in my books, and because most of the other books I referenced put the male character in the power position or lead role, I wanted to flip that on its head and make the female character the doctor, or the one in control.
I wrote Unravel Me in sixteen days. It completely consumed me until I was done. My poor husband was starting to think I was just a touch obsessed, and I was!”
Were any of the characters in “Unravel Me” or “Make Me Yours” based off real people?
“Yes, actually. The male leads have qualities from men I’ve dated, my amazing husband, and in the case of Logan, the dirty-talker — guys I want to have dated! And the main character, Liz in Make Me Yours is based loosely on my friend Liz.”
Aiden never fully recovers his memory. If there was one day in your life you could forget what day would it be?
“Oh gosh! You guys do NOT mess around! That is a tough question. It conjures up awkward memories of me in high school, or the few times I’ve fainted at inopportune moments. I used to have a problem with low blood sugar and would just collapse. It can be awkward when you’re at work!”
Do you relate to Ashlyn or Liz more?
“Hmmm, that’s a GOOD one! Ashlyn is this smart, in control of her emotions type of chick and Liz is more sexually confident and burying all her emotions. I suppose I have little bits of them both in me.”
Team Aiden or Cohen? If you had to choose only one.
“Oh no, you can NOT make me choose, uh-uh. No way. I want BOTH! I’ll take Aiden’s take charge, alpha male nature and Cohen’s funny, sweet easy going swagger and meld them together. Oh, and just wait til you meet Cade in my newest book, Hard to Love. Holy bad boy.”
What made you want to write the complimentary novel “Make Me Yours”? Did it come to you while you wrote “Unravel Me” or after?
“I had no plans to write Make Me Yours. I have my next several books plotted out, and that one wasn’t even on the radar. But if you remember at the end of Unravel Me, Liz sort of stole the scene, and she basically took over and demanded her own book. I knew I had to give her a happy ending too.”
Both UM and MMY dealt with some pretty intense issues was one harder to write than the other?
“I would say that Make Me Yours was harder to write for me, mostly because of the emotional issues that Liz has to face. She had buried much of her pain so far down, even I didn’t know the extent of it until near the end of the story.”
What was your favorite scene to write in both UM and MMY?
“The naughty ones of course!!! In Unravel Me, it had to be the first time Aiden gave in to his temptation, and took charge, rocking Ashlyn’s world. And in Make Me Yours, I’m particularly fond of a scene that happens to involve a hot tub and some coconut tanning oil.”
Any plans to tell the story from maybe Cohen or Aiden’s side like you did in the MMY epilogue?
“At this point, no, but I do think that would be interesting, so I never say never!”
What about Logan’s? I’m dying to hear her story!
“Another reader actually emailed me to suggest the same thing. Haha. We’ll see.”
What is the last book you read?
“Double Time by Olivia Cunning. I adore her!”
What is the book you most recommend to your friends to read?
“Must reads I recommend are anything by Tammara Webber or Abbi Glines, On the Island, BackStage Pass, and Thoughtless.”
Can you tell us about “Hard To Love”? Maybe give us a little snippet?
“Hard to Love is a naughty fun little story about a porn star learning to be a good boyfriend. What I liked about writing this one is that it’s narrated in dual first person point of view, and alternates chapters between Cade and Alexa.
Here’s the blurb:
HARD TO LOVE due out January 16th!
Cade’s always taken risks…
Cade takes cares of his sick younger sister by doing what he does best–cage fighting and fu–er, starring in adult movies, his newest harebrained moneymaking scheme designed to pay for his sister’s growing medical bills. But when his latest gig finds him admitted to the ER sporting an erection from hell, thanks to the little pill given to him by the director, he can’t get the pretty little nurse who treated him out of his head, even though he knows she’s so far out of his league it should be illegal.
Alexa’s always played it safe…
Tired of being pigeonholed as the sweet, innocent one, hardworking nursing student Alexa has been looking for ways to break out of her Goody Two-shoes image. When her friend suggests the outlandish idea of losing her virginity to the sexy and sure-to-be-skilled porn star, Alexa is mortified. But then when Cade refuses her proposition, she finds herself pissed off and embarrassed. When she tracks him down to give him a piece of her mind, she isn’t prepared for what she finds. Watching him care for his little sister tugs at her heart, and suddenly it’s no longer just about losing her virginity, but about helping Cade. Because Lord help her, she might actually be falling for a porn star…”