About Michelle

Michelle Marcos is a native of Miami, Florida. A first-generation American born of Cuban parents, she became a devotee of the English language. After graduating from the University of Miami with degrees in English and Education, she spent several years as a middle- and high school teacher teaching English to children from other countries.

How did you get interested in romance novels?
I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I used to hold romance novels in disdain. As a student of Shakespeare and English literature, I thought it beneath my dignity to pick up one of “those books.” My sister, Mabel, was such a fan of them; I never saw her without one. Finally, I decided to give them a chance. I asked Mabel to recommend one for me, the best she’d read up to then. She handed me a copy of Judith McNaught’s Whitney, My Love. I was stunned. Not only was the story wonderful and engaging, but the writing challenged me: I actually had to read it with a dictionary in hand because there were words I didn’t know (I remember “reticule” was one I had to look up). The next one I read, The Passionate Prude by Elizabeth Thornton, was just as delightful. I’ve been hooked ever since. Come to think of it, I never gave Mabel those books back!

Your heroines start out on the wrong side of the law. Confess…is this “writing what you know?”
Ha! Sadly, no. My life isn’t as exciting as theirs. But I write what I like to read. Let’s be honest: why should only guys get the fun of being thieves, pirates, and lawbreakers? It’s great to read stories where the rogue hero is led out from the dark side by a powerful heroine. But wouldn’t it be more fun the other way around? I’d like my heroines to enjoy the adventure of being the shady ones…and meeting the dashing hero who will turn their world upside down.

I suppose that’s why there is conflict throughout When a Lady Misbehaves.
Conflict is the backbone of great drama. Romance is most exciting to read when you get two people who were meant to be together but the obstacles between them seem insurmountable. The conflict between April, a scullery maid at the bordello who fleeces money out of men, and Riley, a judge with no patience for liars, is already setting up our heroes for battle. But add to that the differences in their class, position, and even their level of refinement, and you have great conflict. It’s so much fun to fall in love with an adversary.

That’s a theme that’s repeated in your upcoming novel, Gentlemen Behaving Badly.
Yes. Mina isn’t a beauty like the courtesans at the bordello. Her job is to write erotic letters (under the names of the courtesans) to well-placed, wealthy men in order to entice them into patronizing the establishment. But when one of her steamy S&M letters is found in the pocket of a dead nobleman, Chief Constable Salter Lambrick goes undercover to find its author, who has now become the prime suspect. Mina, who is a reader of erotica but has no experience of it, is shocked to learn that the handsome but mean-looking man at the bordello door is equipped with a leather tawse…and is looking for her!

Do you write full-time?
Yes and no. I do write full-time, but I have another career with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Miami. I love the work they do, building homes for low-income families in need of a decent place to live. I grew up very poor, and our family was very large, so I know what it’s like to live in inadequate housing. At one point, there were eight of us living in a house with only one bathroom. On the plus side, we learned how to dance with our legs crossed! But Habitat is great because it’s a Christian ministry that reaches out to hardworking people and offers them a hand up out of poverty, rather than a handout.

You dedicated your first book to Jesus. Does your faith have a place in your writing?
Absolutely. I learned what true love is from Jesus. His was a great model for the love a man can have for a woman. He befriended prostitutes and people of questionable moral character because he knew they weren’t evil, only misguided. And the sacrifices he made…have you ever met a man who would give up everything he owned—even his own life—for the woman he loved? Not just rescue the damsel in distress, but actually take her place? That’s a hero in my book. It’s that pure love—that level of sacrifice—that inspires the love in the romances I write.

How many installments of the Pleasure Emporium novels will there be?
Right now, there are three planned, but in a bordello, there are so many stories waiting to be heard. Who knows?