Bestselling author Roxanne St. Claire lets her heroes take control, reads the books she'd have fun writing and reminds us why romance is always as good as our first time. Read on …

MB: What or who inspired your novel?

RS: I took this question on my dog walk this morning, and gave it 1.5 miles of thought. I think I wrote this, and every other book, because I like to challenge myself to write a certain kind of book.

My goal is to write books that are my favorite reads -- books that are deeply entertaining, that take me on a roller coaster ride so wild and fast that there's at least one moment -- or more -- where my stomach hits my brain and my toes curl, and I just want to scream because I am so into it.

Anytime I've discovered and devoured a book like that, I've inevitably closed it with the same thought: How much fun if this joyride came from my head, my heart, my very own hands?

So every time I write "Chapter One" -- the moment I hate most in a book -- I buckle up and hope for one of those rides.

MB: What do you like most about your novel?

RS: I'm a hero-driven writer, so he's generally my favorite aspect of any book. In "Thrill Me to Death," he is Max Roper, a character who first appeared in my debut novel, "Tropical Getaway," as a DEA agent.

I remember the morning I first "met" him. I had just written "DEA agent does such and such" on my trusty plot board, with no idea who that DEA agent would be. Then Max Roper walked onto my computer screen, and he happened to be naked in that particular scene because he was sleeping in Trinidad and he abhors heat and humidity.

And -- well, wow. He leaped out of my imagination, got dressed, and proceeded to use all of his considerable strength and subtle charm to wrest the book from my control. Years later, I finally found the perfect story for him -- he's a Bullet-Catcher now, forced to protect and investigate the one woman he's loved and lost.

Max was a challenge because he has many layers and loves to hide them all. But peeling them off --- along with his clothes -- was not unpleasant.

MB: Who is the most heroic person you know?

RS: I have a lot of heroes -- in my personal life, in my writer's world, in the universe at large. If I look at all of them -- from Debbie Macomber to Derek Jeter, from my husband to my father, from the lifesaving firefighter to the miracle-making brain surgeon, I admire everyday heroes.

These are individuals who have a code they follow, who are dependable, who earn respect rather than demand it, who do what they do really, really well and have a blast in the process.

And, my favorite kind of heroism usually includes a sharp sense of humor and a good dose of modesty.

MB: Who's your romance hero: dark, brooding bad boy or white knight in shining armor?

RS: Oh, I like both, preferably in one smokin'-hot package a girl could eat with a spoon. Hey, it's fiction. We can have everything.

Seriously, my favorite hero is a bad boy with a good heart. My heroes are alpha to the core, but at that core is a guy who knows how to listen, when to let go, and can whip up a mean lobster fra diablo.

I like a larger-than-our-ordinary-world hero, the kind of man you meet once in a lifetime and never forget. And, of course, it takes quite a woman to bring him to his knees, so I enjoy developing the heroine just as much as the hero.

MB: Answer the question you wish an interviewer would ask.

RS: The question would be: Why should a reader who has never considered your books give them a chance?

The answer would be: Because I promise that at least one time in that book your heart will pound, you will smile, you will get misty eyed, your laundry won't get folded, you will experience a life-and-death situation, and you will meet a man who reminds you of the very first time you fell in love.

I promise.