Title: The Hierarchy of Needs
Author: Rebecca Grace Allen
Genre: Erotica, Romance
Release Date: July 7, 2015
Publisher: Samhaim Publising
Jamie Matthews is stuck in a rut. After hitting a wall with her dream career, she’s back in her hometown, living a life as monotonous as swimming laps in the neighborhood pool.
Being surrounded by her perfect brothers is a painful reminder of her failure to launch. The last bonfire of the summer is an ideal way to let off steam, especially when she runs into Dean Trescott, the playboy friend she had one hot-as-hell night with back in high school.
Since the day Dean met Jamie, he’s loved her beauty, talent, and smile that lit up the whole damn block. But dating isn’t an option. She has a bright future ahead of her, and he refuses to chain her to his—helping run the family business that’s barely staying afloat.
A “what-happens-in-Vegas” weekend was supposed to get their craving for each other out of their systems. But neither counted on the past repeating itself, drawing them together in even hotter and dirtier ways and dangling the possibility they might both be able to get exactly what they need…
Warning: A friends-to-lovers twice over story that contains some hot ’n’ heavy kissing in the waves, hair pulling, and a man who knows how to use his hands. It may also feature a few practical jokes—only the fun kind, of course.
The Twilight Saga was my biggest influence, because it was missing the essential element that makes this genre what it is: sex. After four books of sexual tension and no payoff whatsoever, I went straight to my computer thinking “there’s got to be better stuff than that on the internet somewhere!” I found the Twilight fan fiction community and it’s where I dipped my toe back into writing after having abandoning it for years. I’m so grateful it acted as my bridge into becoming a published author.
2. When writing a book, what is your favorite part of the creative process (outline, plot, character names, editing, etc)?
Editing is my favorite part, because that’s when I really get to fine-tune things. The bones of the story have been put in place, and it’s my opportunity to go prune away the parts I don’t need, adding the details that will make other parts shine. It’s also the time I get to have a lot of back and forth with my editor, and her brilliant comments on each round of revisions are always as entertaining as they are informative. I know a lot of writers dread revisions, but I love them!
3. When reading a book, what genre do you find most interesting/intriguing?
I’m the most intrigued by young adult love stories—ones about the kinds of innocent first romances I never had. I had a rough start to the dating world, so it’s nice to be able to vicariously experience those sweet, heavily charged, elbows-almost-touching, is-he-going-to-kiss-me moments. I also enjoy stories set in a dystopian future, as well as the occasional supernatural young adult romance.
4. If you could co-author with any author, past or present, who would you choose?
I would love to write with Maggie Stiefvater, but it would never work out because I’d be spending the whole time in bowing in a Wayne’s World “I’m not worthy” style. And, she doesn’t write erotic romance. Oh well!
5. Have you always wanted to write or did it come to you "later in life"?
Both, in a way! I’ve been a writer since I first figured out how to combine a pen and pencil with creating a story. I wrote my first “book” when I was 9. The cover was felt and the title was written in puffy paint. I believe my mother still has it somewhere, which terrifies me. My passion for writing continued in college, where I got a Bachelor’s in English with a concentration in creative writing and literary comparison. I took the Writer’s Workshop Seminar three times, although that might’ve been because the professor was one delicious silver fox. Writing took a backseat for most of my adult life as I tried to pursue other more “realistic” careers, but I’m so happy to have found my way back to it.
Rebecca Grace holds a Bachelor of Arts in English with a double concentration in Creative Writing and Literary Comparison, which seemed like a good idea at the time. After stumbling through careers in entertainment, publishing, law and teaching, she’s returned to her first love: writing. A self-admitted caffeine addict and gym rat, she currently lives in upstate New York with her husband, two parakeets, and a cat with a very unusual foot fetish.
