It might seem a little odd given that I write romance, but I have my husband’s love of the Discovery Channel to thank for a lot of my inspiration and The Holiday Survival Guide is no exception.

The hero in this novella is a survival expert who used to have his own TV show (ringing any bells yet?) and anyone who has spent any time watching the Discovery Channel will have stumbled across Bear Grylls. There is something innately sexy about a man who is not only physically tough enough to withstand extreme conditions, but also mentally strong enough to keep going when those conditions threaten to be too much. Add to that sharp intelligence and a complete lack of shame when it comes to nudity, and suddenly things become very interesting indeed.

This is the man you’d want on board when your plane went down and you were stranded in the middle of the desert. Someone who knows so much about wildly different environments and is able to conquer their fear and do things that I know I personally would never be able to do, like jumping out of an plane, climbing a sheer rock face, or eating things that really shouldn’t be eaten.

We’re so often surrounded now by waxed, preened, pretty men with gym honed bodies designed purely for show, and to me there’s nothing sexy about a man who spends most of his time worrying about his hair. Give me a man who can build a shelter and start a fire any day.

If the zombie apocalypse ever happens – I know who I’ll be calling 🙂

Jane O’Reilly started writing as an antidote to kids’ TV when her youngest child was a baby. Her first novel was set in her old school and involved a ghost and lots of death. It’s unpublished, which is probably for the best. Then she discovered contemporary romance, and that, as they say, was that. She lives near London with her husband and two children.  Her next title with Escape, Perfect Timing, is available for pre-order now.