What do you like most about "Unleashing the Storm," your wildly erotic new romance about a beautiful animal psychic, Kira, and rough, buff special agent Ender, who's sent to capture her?

Steph: Well, this book just wrote itself. Authors we tell that to tend to want to hurt us, and we understand - because we've written books together and separately that were nowhere as easy. But also, the whole tone of "Unleashing the Storm" was just there from moment one and grew organically from Ender and Kira and their needs.

Who or what inspired "Unleashing the Storm?"

Larissa: I seriously can't remember... I think I mentioned wanting to do something with animals...or a vegan.

Steph: All I remember is emailing Larissa and saying, I want to write a hero named Ender... She came back with Kira, an animal whisperer. And that's usually how our books start — we find the hero and heroine and somehow the plot just flows from there. What's fantastic about this series is that nothing is too out there — we get to just let our imaginations fly.

Your heroine, Kira, literally goes "into heat." What about that is a turn on for women readers?

Steph: I think it's in part the combination of Kira's need to be aggressive and the fact that she's completely vulnerable to her needs at the same time. She lets go because her body forces her to do so. However, even though she feels pleasure, she's conflicted and feels guilty until she can find the right man who can love her and both understand and handle her needs. It's a tough role for just any man to fill, but Ender's perfect for it.

Larissa: I think it speaks to the part of women that wants to be taken care of. Kira is normally very strong and very independent. But once a year she is desperate for someone to take care of her — and to care for her. Ender is incredibly capable, and he makes her feel safe, something she hasn't truly felt in a long time. Even though she really can take care of herself, she wants to let her guard down sometimes, and don't we all. As strong as we women are, sometimes it just feels good to know that we can rest, that someone has our back.

What about the hero of "Unleashing the Storm" makes him special and just right for your unconventional heroine?

Steph: My favorite kind of hero is very Alpha, very tough and hardened and very "I'm not built for love." They're the ones who fall the hardest. And it's so much fun, watching their confusion, because half the time they don't realize that they are falling in love. And Ender is really a pain in the ass — he doesn't like people, doesn't trust them — his job entails killing, not making friends.

So the fact that he liked Kira, that he couldn't bring himself to do his job, that Kira needed him so badly, just tugged at his heart. Both of them are wounded by life in so many ways — and I love that they save each other but neither one had to inherently change for the other.

Please tell us about ACRO and your ACRO series.

Larissa: We've always called the ACRO series "Erotica meets the X-Men" — it's a combination of paranormal romance, romantic suspense and erotica — definitely erotica. ACRO is the name of an agency filled with rare and covert operatives, men and women who might never have felt at ease with their powers in the outside world until they discovered that there were others like them.

There's a dark side to some of their powers. For example, the hero in the first book could control the weather — it's an awesome power, and a destructive one if the hero decided to use it for evil.

"Riding the Storm," "Unleashing the Storm," and "Seduced by the Storm" [July 29, 2008] are connected by a running "storm" subplot that can spell the end of the world!