Behind the Book with Amber Belldene

In my day job, I’m an Episcopal priest and when I first started writing racy romance, it was my dirty little secret. But slowly, I came out of my closet to loads of support from my colleagues and even the bishop I have vowed to obey. (I know, vows of obedience sound like something out of a historical romance, right? But that’s my life!)

No longer hiding my writing felt wonderfully freeing. Turns out lots of churchy people agree with me that love (both the romantic and the sexy kinds) are not unholy, but at the heart of what it means to be human. If you’re religious in any way, you might even believe romantic and erotic love are ways we experience God’s love. That’s what I always preach at weddings and it inspired the rehearsal dinner toast in One Sinful Night in Sao Paulo.

But all the tension, worry and secrecy of my time in the closet as a romance writer inspired me. I knew there would be some people who didn’t like me writing sexy stories, and I realized I could mine that disapproval for some great story conflict! So I decided to write a book about a woman like me, navigating the world of church and still wanting to be fully human and embrace her sexuality. That’s how One Sinful Night in Sao Paulo was born.

Beyond that single similarity, Cassie is nothing like me. She struggles with people seeing her as so good and holy she’s off limits for dating and fooling around. I can assure you no one has ever mistaken me for a good girl!

To make things even harder on Cassie, I doomed her to love her brother’s best friend, so she’s even more off limits to her hero. And then I sent them off to a wedding in one of my very favorite places: Sao Paulo, Brazil. In some ways this novella is a bit of a love story for that city and a memoir of one of my favorite vacations ever, which my husband and I took a year after we were married. If you want a little tour of Sao Paulo, check out my Pinterest board for the story: https://www.pinterest.com/amberbelldene/one-sinful-night-in-s%C3%A3o-paulo/.

As you read Cassie and Adam’s story, you’ll get a taste of the beautiful sights, smells and flavors of one the most amazing cities on earth and you’ll understand why Cassie can’t resist just one sinful night in Sao Paulo!