Female Agency Meets Scarface by Landra Graf – Guest Blog and Giveaway

Long and Short Reviews welcomes Landra Graf who is celebrating the release of her newest book. Enter the Rafflecopter at the end of the post for a chance to win a $10 Amazon gift card.

My latest release and book series is space and sci-fi meets the mafia. Each book in the series is inspired by a different mob movie. The first book, A Talent For Trouble, was inspired by the movie Scarface. Problem number one the female characters in this movie have no agency.

Scarface has two primary female characters in the movie, Tony Montana’s love interest, Elvira, and his sister, Gina. Both of them have minimal speaking parts and most of the time when they do speak it’s to either argue with the lead character or thank him for something he’s provided. Either way, by the end of the movie Tony has alienated both of these women, who end up abandoning Tony. While I liked some elements of Scarface, and found inspiration in Tony Montana’s drive to the top of the drug food chain, his leading ladies definitely lacked a certain amount of agency. Time to solve for X.

My book has more than two females running around. For starters, I gave myself a heroine. The hero’s best friend is an AI-controlled female-identifying ship. There’s the heroine’s first mate and her pilot. All the females in the story have lived tough lives, even the ship, and have to operate in a world where their sex, at times, is held against them. Except, they don’t let it stop them from taking charge or paving a path to the destiny they want. The hero is really along for their ride. In this type of environment, each female character is a badass. They each have special skills and deploy them as needed (queue the mental image of Liam Neeson from Taken). A few of them aren’t afraid to take a life and will happily even the playing field. As my heroine, Antonia would say, “You take a kiss, and I’ll take much more.”

Now giving females agency, with their own lives, their own existence without men, is only part of the equation. I also made their strengths turn-ons. Yep, my hero and the male counterparts these women surround themselves with find strong women sexy. Equality, consent, and a level playing field with your partner is such a turn on. I found it easy to allow the hero to see the benefit in surrounding himself with these women. How they never took away from anything he was doing, but enhanced it.

Finally, when I write a story the whole concept of hero saves the damsel in distress goes out the window. The quickest way to give a heroine agency is to have her save the day. Though toxic masculinity would have heroes offended at the idea they would be saved by a woman, my hero is merely happy to be alive. Happy to be rescued and yes, this isn’t the first time I’ve written a story where my heroine does the rescuing. Most of my stories involve female characters taking risks and going out of their way to save the people they care about the most. At the core of granting female characters agency lies the single thing we romance writers search for the most… love.

Drug runner Emilio Morales is one deal away from being the sole runner from Earth to the upper planets—until his partner attempts a double-cross. Now, Emilio’s stuck in a disabled spaceship with an unpredictable, attractive female who’s willing to help him out if he’ll assist her in retrieving her ship from an impound facility.

Antonia ‘Toni’ Smith is sick and tired of being beholden to men. The only way to guarantee freedom is to get back her bootlegging ship to run her own business again. When Emilio kills her ticket out, she’s forced to rely on him for assistance. Emilio, the most wanted and annoying man in the solar system, is a sexy-as-hell means to an end.
But every plan the duo makes falls apart and every day they spend in each other’s company increases the tension between them.

With the death toll rising and their defenses low, can Emilio and Toni get the happy ending they want, without falling for each other in the process?

About the Author: Landra Graf consumes at least one book a day, and has always been a sucker for stories where true love conquers all. She believes in the power of the written word, and the joy such words can bring. In between spending time with her family and having book adventures, she writes romance with the goal of giving everyone, fictional or not, their own happily ever after.

Buy the book at Amazon.

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