Book Review, Interview & Giveaway: Out of Control by Stephanie Feagan

Today I welcome Stephanie Feagan, author of Out of Control, an excellent romantic suspense.  She's stopping by for an interview during her book tour which starts today.  Out of Control also comes out today so make sure you get your copy.  And after checking out the interview and review, enter the tour giveaway!

Interview:

What three things do you need in order to write?

Music, coffee, and time. Mostly time.

What's your favorite season?

Fall! I love when the days grow shorter, cooler, and there’s the scent of woodsmoke in the air.

Flip Flops or Sneakers?

I walk every day, so sneakers, except when it’s pedicure day.

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?

Russia. It’s tops on my bucket list, and wonder of wonders, I’m going to Russia in August. Can’t wait!

What's the first sentence of Out of Control?

The blond guy was making me jumpy.

Tell us what is Out of Control is about.

The heroine, Blair, is a petroleum engineer who works for a company that kills oil well blowouts. After she’s almost killed on a platform blowout, she’s assigned to work one of a string of blowouts in west Texas, along with her new coworker, Nick. Blair thinks Nick is way too full of himself, but there’s something about him she can’t ignore. When it becomes evident that the blowouts were set on purpose, one thing leads to another and they discover it’s part of a grand plot to disable the world’s oil supply. Their suspicions lead them to Saudi Arabia, where Blair finds herself saving the world while wearing a scarf and abaya, unable to drive or speak to anyone other than Nick, her ‘husband’. Lots of explosions and bad guys and some really fun twists and turns in this book. Also, kissing. And sexy times. Whee!

Dish, who’s your favorite character?

I love Nick and Blair, but my favorite may be Leslie Conaway, a grad student working on a documentary about the oil business who becomes Blair’s friend with ovaries, an oddity for her because she works all the time, and all of her friends are macho adrenaline junkies. Conaway is snarky and funny and everlastingly loyal.

What was your inspiration for Out of Control? I’m really curious since I don’t think I’ve read a novel dealing with oil rigs and people that work on them.

I grew up out here in the oilfields of west Texas. Before he went to college a little later in life, my dad was a roustabout (oilfield speak for guys who set drill pipe and get dirty and smelly.) A well he was working blew out and he had significant burns. A couple of guys died. When I grew up, I married a petroleum engineer who brought me back to my old stomping grounds, where the tallest tree is a mesquite bush, you can’t walk through the desert without stepping in a rabbit hole, and pumpjacks line the horizon. It’s hot, dry, and dusty, but to me, it’s home, and desolately beautiful.

The oil business has always fascinated me. I’m a CPA and have been involved with many different lines of business, but nothing else is like the oil business. Elements of it really abrade my feminist sensibilities, but there’s a part of me that’s entranced by the whole romanticized world that is the oil business. Blowouts fascinate me. It’s like Hell coming topside. I liked the idea of a female working in a male-dominated business, and being very good at it. Throwing a guy at her who’s just a smidge different than all the other guys she works with mixes it up a little, throws her off her game, and oh, it was so fun to write!

What can we expect next from you?

I’m working on a book about Conaway, the snarky grad student, which I hope to have finished in early fall. I’m also dipping my toe in the historical romance world and have a sexy Regency coming in July, The Last Duchess. In September, I’ll be publishing the third installment of the Mephisto Covenant series, The Mephisto Kiss, a New Adult written under my YA pseudonym, Trinity Faegen. It’s a crazy year, but exciting!

Awesome, I can't wait to read Conaway's book, I loved her in Out of Control!

Thanks Stephanie!

Thank you so much for having me!

Make sure you check out the rest of the tour stops here.

My Review:
What was not to love about Out of Control?  Kick-butt heroine who knows when to lean on someone else, check.  Kick-butt alpha male hero who is definitely more than he appears, check.  Interesting suspense, check.  Believable romance, check.  It had everything I was looking for in a romantic suspense!  Now onto the specifics:

Plot:
I normally start with characters, but since I feel this book was slightly more suspense than romance (but don't worry there is still romance) the plot is more of the steering factor.  The characters are important too, but the suspense seemed to drive the book, at least to me.  From oil wells in the Gulf to one in Texas and then overseas this book offers the variety of different locales.  I loved the information about what the team did to stop the oil rig fires.  It was fascinating but the plotting really got going with the suspense of who set the fires and then onto finally solving and proving the crime which takes place overseas and really added to my interest.  I don't know much about oil drilling, oil rigs and the fires but really feel Ms. Feagan did her research.  And her research really shines with the overseas part of the book.  I was fascinated, captivated and just thoroughly entrenched in this book due to the plot.

Characters:
The characters are stars in their own right.  Blair is a female in a career full of males and she comes from a fancy family.  So many contrasts about her, and I loved it.  She also didn't pretend to be something she wasn't.  She was tough, but underneath it she seemed to understand she needed to lean on someone.  Now maybe she didn't want to but she understood it.  Nick is alpha to the hilt but kind and gentler with Blair.  He also has secrets which are fascinating and really add to the story. And the chemistry between Nick and Blair is scorching.  You can feel the heat between them and it's sexy. As I mentioned in the interview I loved Conaway.  So snarky and fun, yet she pulls no punches as well.  She will get what she wants through sheer determination.  And I loved that she and Blair clicked.  Conaway really added to the story and sometimes it's hard to have that third character that you really like, but Ms. Feagan did it and now I can't wait to get Conaway's story as well!

Out of Control was an amazing edge-of-your-seat read.  It took me one day to read (I had interruptions).  I just had to know how it would turn out and kept turning the page.  I was engrossed by the plot and I cared about the characters.  I loved learning new things and visiting new places.  It was one of those reads that I am still thinking about days later.  I want more of Nick and Blair and hope to see at least a little of them in Conaway's book!  If you love romantic suspense then this is a great book to read!

My Rating: 5.0/5.0


About the book:

And they thought the blowout was hot…

Oil rig blowout specialist Blair Drake is finished with men—especially after her disastrous marriage that caused her family to disinherit and cut all ties with her. But when Nick Robichaud, a handsome, roguishly charming oil well fire expert, wildcats into her life, throwing his devil-may-care attitude all over the place, the real sparks begin to fly.

Forced to work together to kill a string of sabotaged oil rig explosions, Nick and Blair discover a plot to cripple the world’s oil supply. Unless they stop the doers, it’ll mean global economic catastrophe. With time running out and their lives on the line, they risk everything to prevent disaster. But nothing can stop the fire between them from burning out of control....

Buy Out of Control:

Amazon | B&N

 

About the Author:

Author of the RITA winning Pink Files series, Stephanie Feagan has had a love affair with romance novels since she was eleven and discovered there are kissing scenes in Victoria Holt books. She spent a lot of time in her closet with a flashlight, reading as fast as possible to get to the end, only to start a new book and begin the whole Leave-Me-Alone-I’m-Reading cycle all over again. She still stays up until the wee hours to finish books, now courtesy of a lighted e-reader which she believes is mankind’s greatest invention ever.

Stephanie also writes Young Adult and New Adult paranormal romance as Trinity Faegen. A practicing CPA who loves travel, books, new pencils, old keys, and smart guys, she lives in the oilfields of west Texas with her engineer husband and a mean cat. She’d love to hear from you. She answers to Stephanie, Trinity, Hey Lady, and Mom, and can be reached at Stephanie@StephanieFeagan.com or Trinity@TrinityFaegen.com

She’s aware the similarity between her pseudonym, Faegen, and her real name, Feagan, confuses pretty much everyone, herself included. Since so many mispronounce Feagan as FEEgan instead of FAYgan, she thought she’d mix it up when she took a pseudonym and make it easier on people. Now people say FayEEgen, and spell it wrong. Next time she takes a pen name, she’s totally going with Smith or Jones.

Stephanie’s Links:

Website | Twitter | Facebook

Giveaway:
Enter the Tour Wide Giveaway – 1 $25 Amazon gift card & 1 $25 B&N gift card.
 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

***I received this book from the publisher for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any other way except receiving the book for free.  ***