Tag: Bewitching Book Tours

Guest Post: Author Jacqueline M. Battisti on True Names + Giveaway

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | blog tours> Book Giveaway> ebook giveaway> Giveaways> Guest Posts

Today is special! I get to host Jacqueline Battisti for her very first guest post ever. I’ll confess that I jumped at the chance to be part of the tour for The Guardian of Bastet, Ms. Battisti’s debut novel, because even from the blurb it looked like an a scrumptious combination of the paranormal and urban fantasy. And I was not disappointed. (See my review for details)

Without further ado, take it away, Jacqueline…

Hello. This is my first guest blog post and I am so excited to be doing this. My name is Jacqueline M. Battisti and I am the author of The Guardian of Bastet. I am a stay-at-home mother with young children who also writes when time and the children allow. I have always loved romance, fantasy and paranormal books, devouring them as soon as I could find them at the book store. I even collect a few authors that are my absolute favorites and reread their books when I’m stuck and need a break from my own musings. They inspire me to keep going.

The Guardian of Bastet has evolved over time with many incarnations. My main character, Trinity Morrigan-Caine was originally named Misty. But after a few chapters, the image she projected in my head said, snarky stripper. It took me a while to discover my character’s true name. Trinity. Like the trinity of Mother, Maid and Crone of womanhood. She is a cat shifter, a witch and then the Guardian of Bastet. Three roles she must grow into and accept just like her name.

The Guardian of Bastet is the beginning of Trinity’s story. Here is the official blurb:

Cat-shifter Trinity Morrigan-Caine has discovered a demon is killing supernaturals. Magically challenged, she has every intention of letting handsome Alpha werewolf Gordon Barnes handle it. But after a dying vampire gifts Trinity a mystical amulet, she is drawn into the fray as the legendary Guardian of Bastet, a warrior born when the need arises.

Though Trinity initially rejects the role, she warms to the idea when Gordon agrees to train her—and their passion for each other grows as he teaches her to embrace her animal instincts.

As she begins to accept her destiny and believe in her growing powers, Trinity realizes the danger is even closer to home than she ever imagined—and she and Gordon are going to have to face the demon in a fight to the death…

I am currently working on the sequel to The Guardian of Bastet. It was the reason I left a couple of loose ends in this one. I’m just as excited to see where Trinity’s escapades lead. I hope you are too after reading The Guardian of Bastet.

This reader is overjoyed to know that there will be a sequel to Guardian. I want to see more of Trinity’s world, and find out Trinity’s circle adjusts to her being the Guardian instead of the family magical dud. Her new life is certainly going to be interesting. “May you live in interesting times” kind of interesting, that is. It should make for more terrific reading.

**~~~~~**TOURWIDE GIVEAWAY**~~~~~**

In celebration of the release of her new book, Jacqueline is giving away 5 copies of The Guardian of Bastet (EPUB or PDF)

-and-

3 Pewter Egyptian Bastet Cat Pendants (The Goddess Bastet has a very important role in The Guardian of Bastet

(Contest open to North American shipping addresses only)

Please fill out the Rafflecopter to win!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: The Guardian of Bastet by Jacqueline M. Battisti

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> blog tours> book reviews

Jacqueline M. Battisti’s new urban fantasy/paranormal debut, The Guardian of Bastet, had me from the very first word in the blurb. Her main character is a cat-shifter. Not a jaguar or a puma, oh no. At the full-moon, Trinity Morrigan-Caine shifts into a house-cat. The book might as well have jumped up and said “Here reader, reader, reader…”

The story made me purr with delight.

Trinity Morrigan-Caine is a half-breed. Her mother is a powerful witch of the Morrigan line. (Yes, that Morrigan. Morgaine. You know the one. She had a little something to do with a fellow named Arthur. Way, way back.) But Trinity isn’t a powerful witch like her mom. Because Olivia Morrigan went and fell in love with a werepuma, and that just isn’t done. So Olivia Morrigan got disowned and disavowed, and went to live with her husband, Ben Caine, in the Genesee Valley of upstate New York.

Which turned out to be kind of like Sunnydale in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Complete with demons and Hellmouth. Olivia Morrigan found herself the head witch of the Genesee Valley Society of Others (GVSO) because witches are just so much better than everyone else.

The only problem is that Olivia and Ben’s daughter, Trinity, isn’t quite what Olivia had in mind. Trinity isn’t much of a witch, and she doesn’t shift into anything fierce. Dad’s an alpha werepuma. When it’s Trinity’s time of the month, Trinity turns into good old Felis catus, otherwise known as an ordinary house cat. She even (ugh!) hunts mice. Very well according to her cousin and housemate.

Tracy’s other power? Well, since she turns into an animal, she can also understand them. Which makes her a fantastic vet. Her patients just adore her. And she does work miracles with the animals.

The other problem with being a were-kitty is that Trinity has all the morals of, well, a cat. She likes men. Frequently and often. And isn’t horribly particular. Which comes to bite her, and pretty much everyone around her, in the butt when Trinity brings a demon home on the worst booty call ever.

But at least Trinity didn’t summon the demon. She just didn’t pay attention when he started mesmerizing her. There’s a hotter place in hell for the ones who summoned him. Figuring that out and growing up and into her powers enough to take that bad boy out, is what makes this story sing.

This is Trinity’s story. She starts out as a damn good veterinarian, but a dud in everything else. Only one person believes in her, and unfortunately for Trinity, it isn’t one or both of her parents. (Dad did better than mom, but still…) The only one to believe in Trinity was the GVSO’s one and only resident vampire, Vincent. His last act is to gift Trinity with an ancient amulet, a powerful talisman that he has been keeping for centuries, waiting for the one person capable of meeting its potential.

That person is Trinity, the forbidden child of a witch and a shifter. Only she can be the true Guardian of Bastet. But only if she can accept herself and her own powers, powers that everyone has told her she does not have. She’s always believed she’s just a dud.

But only a true Guardian can send the demon back to the nether-realm he came from. And to do that, Trinity will have to accept that she is powerful and capable, and worthy of being the true avatar of Bastet.

Bastet was a warrior-goddess, the woman with the head of a lion. Her Guardian must also embrace the warrior within.

Trinity will need to be a warrior, and a shifter, and a witch. And powerful in all ways. Because that warrior within her will need to fight against a traitor who is way too close.

Escape Rating A-: The mother/daughter dynamics (and grandmother/mother/daughter dynamics) remind me a bit of Brave, and that’s a good reminder. A lot of what drives this story is the mother/daughter issue. Not just that Olivia makes no secret of her disappointment in Trinity, but also Gwendolyn Morrigan’s rejection of her daughter Olivia for marrying a shifter. And most of all, Trinity’s cousin Lily, and her feelings of rejection by her witch mother for also being an under-powered half-breed.

Trinity comes off as a bit self-absorbed at the beginning of the story (her mental dialog about turning into a cat once a month and playing with her cat-familiar as a cat is hilarious), but she definitely has reasons for where she starts out. And she certainly redeems herself.

Review: The Memory of Roses by Blair McDowell

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> blog tours> book reviews

The Memory of Roses by Blair McDowell is simply an incredibly lovely story. It’s also a love story, and a story about finding yourself, and about closure. The theme running through the book is “all’s well that ends well.” The story goes very well from beginning to end. The life that it tells, that definitely has some rough patches. But it ends very, very well.

Death and discovery. It could be a metaphor for the life of Ian McQuaid. He was, after all, an archaeologist. He was also the father of Britomartis McQuaid, and it’s his death that begins Brit’s journey. Because with her father’s death, Brit discovers that much of what she knew about her father was a lie.

Brit thought her parents’ marriage was a reasonably happy and faithful one. Her mother died of cancer when Brit was eight, and her father never remarried; Brit’s memories are those of a child. Her father’s will leaves her a house on the Greek island of Corfu, one Brit never knew he owned, and a package to deliver to his long-ago lover, a woman he met, loved and left on that island, one long ago summer before Brit was born. The summer just before Brit was born.

His last letter tells her to “Go to Corfu. I hope you will find there the peace, the beauty, the sheer joy in being alive that I found.” 

Brit goes in search of the mystery of her father’s life–the secret of what happened during that missing summer. She has time, and she has the burning need to know the truth. The things Brit doesn’t have are that peace, that joy that her father found on Corfu. She’s never had them, and she doesn’t expect to find them. She doesn’t believe they even exist, at least not for her. All the people she’s ever loved have left or rejected her, and she doesn’t even know why.

But on Corfu, she finds friendship, and in bringing the villa back to life, she finds peace and purpose. Brit starts to write, and finally finds joy in her work, real joy.

Love comes looking for her. And when it finds her, she begins to understand the reasons that her father made the decisions that he did, so long ago.

But there is one secret from that summer still left to be revealed. As Brit finally finds her joy, she discovers she has the power to totally destroy someone else. Or she can keep her father’s last secret.

Escape Rating A: I really loved this story. There were so many circles within circles, and they all came to the absolute perfect conclusions. There’s the mystery about what happened to Ian and Maria in the past, and you absolutely have to find out how their tragic love story ended so badly. Then there’s Brit’s unhappiness. You both want her to have a happy ending, and you want her to deal with her ghosts. Extra points for a particular person getting his just desserts near the end.

This is a story about resolutions. Not New Year’s resolutions, but about things getting resolved appropriately. Brit has to be ready for love before she can even get within shouting distance of happy, and Andreas is not just handsome, but also patient enough to be a friend first and wait for the moment to be right.

One other thing…this was just so good that I was able to forget the absolutely HUGE watermark that Rebel Ink Press puts on every single page of their eARCs. I was so completely immersed in the story and my eyes stopped seeing it.

 

Interview with Author Jeffe Kennedy on Writing in the Mist

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Author Interviews> Author Q&A> blog tours

The guest-of-the-day at Reading Reality is Jeffe Kennedy, the author of the new contemporary fantasy Rogue’s Pawn. It’s the first book of her new series, Covenant of Thorns, and there are definitely some thorny things going on in Faery, based on events in the first book. But I still can’t wait for what Jeffe calls RP2 in this interview. Rogue’s Pawn was fascinating, confusing and complex (see this review for more details on that) and I can hardly wait to learn more about her take on the Fae. 

But in the meantime, here’s Jeffe on how she’s really a lot like her cats, and more.

Tell us a little bit about Jeffe Kennedy when she’s not writing. Who is the inventor of Rogue’s Pawn away from her keyboard?

She’s not all that interesting, really. 😀 I like to read when I can and lie in the sun. I drink as much wine as I can get away with and I exercise every day to compensate. For the most part, I like being at home and I like being outside as much as I can. I have a series of little sitting spots – the front patio, the back patio, the grape arbor. I’m like a cat that way – I move from soft spot to soft spot.

What inspired you to write Rogue’s Pawn as the type of contemporary fantasy where someone crosses from our world to a world where magic works?

I grew up reading fantasy and science fiction – and the stories I liked best were the ones with the ordinary person who got transported to another time or world. Usually the person was a boy and I often felt like a girl would do it differently. I usually wanted more detail, like what would happen to the contact lenses I’ve had to wear since I was 12? I always came away thinking I’d tell the story differently. This was my big chance!

In Rogue’s Pawn, Gwynn is such a “fish out of water” character. Did you plan it that way from the beginning? Are you a plotter or a pantser? Or do your characters take over?

I did plan it that way, to the extent that I plan anything . I’m very much a pantser, though I like the term “mister” better. I knew what would happen to Gwynn, that she’d end up in Faerie and it would be bizarre and frightening and beautiful – and totally alien. But after that, I just ride along on the shoulders of my characters and discover things as they do. That’s why I like “misting” as an analogy. Much of the story for me is shrouded in mist and I can’t see what’s going on until I get right up close to it.

Who first introduced you to the love of reading?

My mother. She read to me every night and is a great reader herself. As a young woman, she made lists of “great books” she should read to improve her mind and she’s been involved in one book group for over thirty years now. Over time, I’ve managed to corrupt her somewhat and taught her to love the jucier genre books, too.

Who influenced your decision to become a writer?

That’s a very interesting question. Really, no one did – not in the way you mean, I think. I had teachers who told me I wrote well, but none of them suggested I become a writer. I showed a lot of aptitude for math and science, so I think they all thought (rightly so) that those would be more secure and lucrative career paths. I decided to become a writer all by myself, because I was profoundly unhappy doing the math and science thing with nothing else. I had reached a crisis point in my life where I had to ask myself what I *really* wanted. The answer surprised me.

What’s your favorite part about the writing experience, and why?

When the story takes over and I’m just along for the ride. It’s the most exciting, exhilarating experience there is.

What book do you recommend everyone should read, and why?

Hmm. I’m not much for “shoulds.” I think writers are well served  by reading extensively, both in and out of their genres. If there’s a blockbuster book, a phenomenon like Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games, Fifty Shades of Grey, then I think writers are foolish not to read them, regardless of their personal opinions. There are reasons why readers love these books – and that’s worth studying.

For readers? I think A.S. Byatt’s Possession is one of the most brilliant books I’ve ever read. Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood tells one of the best tales of young female friendships that I know of. In nonfiction, I think it’s really worthwhile to read Lucy Grealy’s Autobiography of a Face and then immediately read Ann Patchett’s Truth and Beauty, for her side of the story and great insight into the friendships authors – and women – have.

Other than that, I really recommend that everyone read exactly what they wish to, and don’t let anyone tell them what they should and shouldn’t read.

What projects do you have planned for the future? And there’s more of this series, right? Please?

LOL – yes! I’m thick in the middle of the sequel to Rogue’s Pawn, which I’m just calling RP2 at the moment. I feel very action-hero calling it that. And let me tell you – hearing you all ask for more is now my second favorite part of the writing experience. I’m just so thrilled.

I saw on your website that you have (or are had by) quite the menagerie. Does the border collie try to herd the Maine Coon cats? And how’s that working out?

Just the opposite! Our border collie is a quintessential beta dog and the older Maine coon cat is very protective and sassy. She does *not* like to be stepped on. Or any behavior that might lead to being stepped on or crowded in any way. Our old kitty died in March 🙁 and now we have a new Maine coon kitten. Fastest little thing any of us have ever seen. Both the older cat and the dog and running in circles trying to keep their eyes on him – and him off their tails!

Morning person or night owl?

Night owl by nature but I trained myself to be a morning person, just to get everything done that I need to!

I got lost in the cute kitten pictures on Jeffe’s blog. If Jackson (the Maine Coon kitten pictured above and at left) isn’t the cutest kitten ever, he’s definitely in the top ten. I’m amazed she gets anything done with this little guy in her arms. Oh the sacrifices we cat servitors must make!

I know I’ll be looking forward to RP2 as soon as the cats permit!

 

Review: Rogue’s Pawn by Jeffe Kennedy

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews

Rogue’s Pawn by Jeffe Kennedy is part of an interesting and fascinating sub-branch of urban fantasy. I call it crossover fantasy, where someone from our reality literally “crosses over” to another reality where magic works.

But just because magical powers are made manifest, doesn’t mean that the person suddenly manifesting them has a magically good time in whatever place he or she has found herself in. Magic can be both wondrous and terrible.

As the story opens, we don’t even know her name. But we’re in her head. And we know that she’s finally gotten fed up with her boring fiance and her academic/scientific job in the middle of a party where Clive (the truly boring fiance, she should have ditched him long ago) has belittled her for the last time. But in walking out, she follows a compulsion to go to nearby Devil’s Tower (Wyoming, iconic scene of Close Encounters of the Third Kind) and enact a very strange ritual.

She winds up in Fae, with the ability to wish things into being, and no idea how she got there. Compulsions to enact rituals don’t really figure into her calculations.

She’s attacked by a huge black dog, and captured by the fae. She wakes up in extreme agony, her throat nearly torn out. From there, she discovers that she has terrible magic powers, and zero control.

She truly does think things into being. And she has no mental controls at all. As far as the fae are concerned, she is a dangerous weapon that should be eliminated immediately. But the man who has rescued her wants her trained for war. He believes she is a weapon that can be used, with the proper conditioning.

His name is Rogue. She is chained within his castle. She is his pawn, his property. If he saves her life, she owes him.

Everything in fae is negotiable. Life, death, power, souls. Eternity can be bargained away. A person is only worth the price they can negotiate. Rogue has saved her because he wants something from her, but she doesn’t know what that might be.

She doesn’t know anything. From being an academic with knowledge at her fingertips, she has been thrust into a situation in which she has no information except what she can gain through negotiation.

She doesn’t even have her own name. Rogue calls her Gwynn. It is close, but not quite. And for the damage she caused in her first flush of power and lack of knowledge, he negotiates her use as a weapon in the war. She will be trained by utter sadists, but she cannot be permanently damaged. And she cannot be raped. Because Rogue has the rights to her firstborn child in return for saving her life.

Confused? So is Gwynn. She has lost everything, even her identify. She must remake herself in this strange new place where she has no friends, only enemies. And where she has power she must learn to control. She has to become more than just Rogue’s Pawn.

Escape Rating B: Gwynn’s voice is snarktastically terrific. Which is a great thing, because we see the entire world of Rogue’s Pawn through her first-person viewpoint. We only know what she knows and see what she sees. Her sarcasm is hilarious, but, because Gwynn is such a complete fish-out-of water, her knowledge is limited and adds to the reader’s confusion. I think I might have enjoyed the story more if I’d been less confused.

Gwynn’s lack of information is necessary to the story. I’m less certain that the reader’s total blindness is.

The training Gwynn undergoes to become a sorceress for the war effort is unquestionably torture, and equally unquestionably sadistic. Some desperate measure were definitely required to save Gwynn’s life by training her magic. She absolutely had to learn to make her mind a blank. Whether this was the only way, and how much of a betrayal it was, and how Rogue felt about it, etc., is one of those things that a different form of narration might have helped with.

Rogue’s motives and thoughts are difficult to fathom for a large part of the story. Gwynn simply doesn’t know enough about this world to have any handle on him. And we filter through her. Although we do finally get the big picture at the end. It’s the smaller pictures, like the war (hard to believe that’s the smaller picture, isn’t it?) that I’d love some explanation for.

And I truly wish I understood about Titania. Hopefully, I’ll find out lots more in the next books in the Covenant of Thorns series. Please?

Author Interview: Stacey Kennedy is Mystically Bound

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Author Interviews> Author Q&A> blog tours

Today’s interview was my chance to buttonhole Stacey Kennedy about her writing, her utterly marvelous paranormal/urban fantasy Frostbite series (see my reviews of the first two books, Supernaturally Kissed and Demonically Tempted to get an idea of just how fantastic they are) and ask some questions about the totally damnable cliffhanger at the end of Demonically Tempted. (Grrr!) The next book in the series, Mystically Bound, can’t come soon enough for this reader.

 

Since I’m dying to let everyone see the answers to those questions, here’s Stacey!

Tell us a little bit about Stacey Kennedy? Who are you when you’re not writing? Really?

If I’m not writing I’m a mom and wife. My time is split right down the middle between both of my “jobs”. So, if I’m not on the keyboard then I’m playing Barbies, making silly crafts, or spending the day at park. I love the outdoors, and the second summer hits we like to go camping as often as we can, which usually works out to 2-3 times a month. What can I say? I love campfires and s’mores!!

Other than that, I love to have fun and laugh! I love movies, girl’s night out where I’m up way too late, patios with lots of chicken wings and beer, reading, and just all that crazy stuff that girls like to do! I like to party and I love to dance! I’m always up for a good time!!

Who first introduced you to the love of reading?

Good question. To be honest, I’m not sure how I was first introduced to reading. I’m sure school played a part, but my mom reads about as much as I do. So, I imagine she rubbed off on me. But she never pushed reading or anything like that. I think it more or less grew on me. Now I can totally admit that I’m 100% addicted!

Who influenced your decision to become a writer?

Of course, books influenced me the most. My love for storytelling came because the stories I read captivated me. I suppose you could say they awakened my love of getting lost in another world. It was from reading that I got the itch to write my stories and create my own fun worlds.

But my hubby was so supportive when I came out of nowhere and said I was going to write a story. While I expected him to roll his eyes at me and call it silly since I’d never shown an interest before, he actually said that he thought I’d be great at it. It was his support that gave me the push to sit down and do it!

What book do you recommend everyone should read? Okay, now tell us why you picked that book!

It’s gotta be Keri Arthur’s, Riley Jenson Guardian series. And no, I can’t pick one book from that series to recommend. They’re all fantastic. If you like fast-paced action, heartbreak, romance, and just a fabulous read pick up that series. It’s one of my all-time favorites!

Are you a plotter or a pantser? Do you plan everything or just let the story flow?

For most stories, I never plot or outline. I usually just sit down and let the characters tell the story. But for stories, like DEMONICALLY TEMPTED, I did have to outline that one because the plot was more complicated. There were certain points I needed to hit in that stories especially since they will have an impact on book three, MYSTICALLY BOUND.  I needed to see them out in front of me to make sure I wasn’t missing anything.

Usually I outline when my plot and subplots are complex. Also, if there are quite a few subplots working together I like to make sure I hit all the plot points, so having an outline helps me find the flow of the story. That’s normally how I do it. I write down the three major plot points with the biggest twists in the story, then work around them. But my outlines are very simple and in point form. Then with the guide to follow, I go panster style and write. Typically, my outlines are always changing.

Do your characters ever want to take over the story?

My characters own the show. I never have control! I accepted that a long time ago and stopped fighting against them because in the end the direction they take me always ends up being the right one.

Take Tess and Kipp for an example. When I had outlined DEMONICALLY TEMPTED it didn’t look at all like the finished product. Once I hit the halfway mark in that story, Tess took me in an entirely new direction and I let her go there, even though it hurt to do so! Now I’m happy of course, because I see how the series will play out and it’s going to be exciting!

Now let’s get specific. Did you always plan that for that damn cliffhanger-to-end-all-cliffhangers at the end of Demonically Tempted, or how did that come about?

“dliffhanger-to-end-all-cliffhangers” LOL! Like I said above, the cliffhanger was not my original idea for how that book would end. In fact, I had planned for an ending that was far different from how it turned out. To put it simply, I had originally planned for a much happier ending that wrapped up the “big” issue between Tess and Kipp. I can’t say more without spoiling the new ending, but I had intended for both Tess and Kipp to be very happy.

So, it was a fight not to go that route, but I eventually gave in and let the story go where it needed to. It was never my intention to torture Tess as much as she’s suffered in DEMONICALLY TEMPTED, and even more so what she’ll face in MYSTICALLY BOUND, but that shift in the story felt right.

What’s the reaction been to that cliffhanger? Do people beg you for details of how it’s going to turn out? Have you received any interesting bribes?

I actually received more of a reaction from the first book, SUPERNATURALLY KISSED, with everyone trying to figure out what was going on with Kipp. It did surprise me how many people had it guessed right away, while others were totally shocked by the ending of book two. There were four spots in the first book where I implied the “truth”. Some saw it, others didn’t. And isn’t that just fun!!

I admit I was slightly concerned how people would react to the cliffhanger at the end of DEMONICALLY TEMPTED, and while some people have wanted to hex me, they’ll forgive me as long as I don’t take too long to write the next book. It’s even better knowing that some people think they have it all figured out and that they know how Tess and Kipp will end up with their happily ever after, but I have lots of surprises coming up in the next book that should shock! Because heck, they’re shocking me now!!

If the series were turned into a movie (in your wildest dreams!) who would you want to play Tess and Kipp?

Without a doubt Paul Walker for Kipp and Rachel McAdams for Tess.

What plans do you have for the future (after Mystically Bound)?

I do plan to finish the Frostbite series in early 2013, which means I expect to release the 4th and final book in the series by February/March. But I just have to see how my schedule is first. There are many releases coming out in 2013 including my baby, WEREWOLVES BE DAMNED that is my first ever mass-market paperback, and I expect that series will eat up a lot of my time.  So, let’s just leave it at, 2013 will be a very exciting year with tons of fun releases!

Speaking of Mystically Bound, when in the Fall? I want to start counting days.

I’m glad you do!! I’m just as excited to write it. I’m aiming for the end of October and I hope nothing comes up that pushes me off that date. I’m starting to write Mystically Bound within the next week and am so eager to dive in!

Coffee or Tea?

I’m a coffee gal all the way. Starbucks is even better!

Places to find Stacey:

Website | Blog | Facebook |Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page

I want to thank Stacey for answering all my questions, and I may want to choke her for dragging out what sounds like will finally be Tess and Kipp’s happily ever after until book 4 (no one said I’d have to wait until book 4!!!!) of her awesome Frostbite series.

Patience is not one of my virtues, but I guess I’ll just have to wait. And congratulations on your upcoming paperback release of Werewolves Be Damned. It’s already on my “to-read” list on Goodreads.

I’m afraid to find out how long your new series will be. Very afraid. Because I just know I’m going to love it.

 

Review: The Seduction of Phaeton Black by Jillian Stone

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> book reviews

The Seduction of Phaeton Black is just that, an extremely seductive story. And not just for the steamy sex. What seduces about Jillian Stone’s first foray into this cross between paranormal and steampunk is the way in which she mixes the darkly decadent underbelly of London during what we think of as the prim and proper Victorian era with evil spirits, misplaced Egyptian gods, and steam-powered wonders.

And the very, steamy sex. Lots of it.

Phaeton Black begins the story as a discredited Special Agent for Scotland Yard. In other words, he’s been recently sacked. His theory about the Ripper was discredited. He believed Jack was a blood-thirsty spirit. The Yard was certain Jack’s motives were more, well, earthly.

Phaeton was right, but there wasn’t any way the Yard could acknowledge that fact. And too many of Phaeton’s fellow officers didn’t want to. He’s generally right, and generally insufferable about it. He’s also seen a few too many uncanny things, and not always been able to cover it up.

Being able to investigate the paranormal makes those whose viewpoints are rooted in the here and now a bit nervous.

So does Phaeton’s marked fondness for absinthe. The Yard chalks his report about the Ripper being a hungry spirit up to the “green fairy”, and gives him the sack. When another problem outside the ordinary raises its ghostly head, the Yard drags him out from the hole he crawled into.

His new apartment in the basement of a brothel. Typical Phaeton.

The heroine of this adventure is America Jones, half-Cajun witch, in search of the pirate who stole her father’s shipping company. She needs Phaeton to help her steal it back. Legally this time.

With the powers from the witchy side of her heritage, America turns out to be the bait that Phaeton needs to entrap the hungry spirit the Yard has sent him after.

Ms. Jones wants Phaeton’s connections to the Yard to help her bring down the pirates, and protect her while she hunts them. And while they hunt her.

Their plan is to use each other to achieve their mutual aims. And then walk away. He’ll catch his killer. She’ll get her company back. If they manage to enjoy each other along the way, that’s just a way to pass the time.

Phaeton Black has never known what love is. Not in any form. He certainly doesn’t expect that this American chit he intends to use is going to teach him.

Or that she will be his salvation.

Escape Rating B+: The world that Jillian Stone has created in The Seduction of Phaeton Black is a seduction all by itself. Phaeton Black is one of those especially debauched anti-heroes who hides everything he feels behind a facade of worldly charm and flippant, often rude, remarks.

He acts like a user of everyone and everything around him. But it IS mostly an act. A coping mechanism.

America Jones is also coping. She’s lost everything she every knew, and using Phaeton Black is the only way she thinks she can get it back. And survive.

The spirit world is using both of them. The Egyptian gods are haunting London. Why not? Why shouldn’t one or more of them have been transported along with Cleopatra’s Needle and all the other ancient relics the British “liberated” (read that as looted) from Egypt. what a marvelous plot-twist!

The Egyptian gods need an assist to get back home. But gods don’t request help, they demand it.

The story was fantastic. Both literally and figuratively. Steam power, Egyptian gods, spirits, familiars, and Jack the Ripper. And pirates added for spice. What a ride! Including airships.

The way that Phaeton and America use each other, yet resist their mutual pull towards any emotional attachment, draws the reader towards their story just as they are drawn towards each other.

Phaeton’s and America’s story continues in The Moonstone and Miss Jones. It needs to continue. I can’t wait to read the next book. It looks like there are many adventures ahead.

Interview with Jilllian Stone + Giveaway

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Author Interviews> Author Q&A> Book Giveaway

I am so excited to welcome Jillian Stone to Reading Reality today to talk about her fantastic (review here) The Seduction of Phaeton Black and a little bit about her other Victorian series, The Gentleman of Scotland Yard. Phaeton Black has been on my wishlist forever, so I was thrilled to get a chance to ask Ms. Stone a few questions about this decadent and delicious steampunk paranormal series.

Please tell us a little bit about yourself. What does Jillian Stone do when she’s not writing?

My life, pretty much 24-7 writing and book promotion. Currently, I am writing an e-novella for The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard series (Pocket Books) and this summer I will begin the last book in the Phaeton Black, Paranormal Investigator series for Kensington Brava.

Most of the time when a writer tackles, or re-tackles, the Whitechapel Murders (AKA the Ripper Killings), their detective solves the case. What made you decide to have Phaeton Black be linked to a previous failure, however unfairly?

The premise sets up Phaeton’s story as a misunderstood paranormal investigator. In the opening chapter the reader meets the one man at Scotland Yard who believes that Phaeton might have been onto something in the Whitechapel Murders, (before he was fired) and now there’s a second series of murders along the Strand. Could it be the Ripper again, or a new fiend? That’s all I’m telling!

Absinthe shows up, or drips down, in so much decadent Victoriana. What was the fascination with absinthe? What exactly IS absinthe, anyway?

Absinthe, or the green fairy, is a liquor distilled from herbs: anise, sweet fennel and wormwood. It gained its romantic reputation during the late Victorian period, and was a particular favorite of the Parisian artisan crowd. There is also a wonderful ritual to making the drink and a visible chemical reaction that takes place when the chilled water drips slowly into the glass and mixes with the absinthe. The effect of several glasses has been described as clear-headed or lucid drunkenness. Absinthe is Phaeton’s drink of preference and it suits his character perfectly. He also enjoys a good single malt whiskey.

What attracted you to steampunk for your paranormal series instead of the usual contemporary setting?

I enjoy writing historicals and I liked the idea of combining a few genres, paranormal and steampunk romance with a Byronic antihero character (occult detective). The book also has a few erotic love scenes, so it really covers a lot of subgenres! In The Moonstone and Miss Jones, the sequel to The Seduction of Phaeton Black, the historical characters do some dimensional time travel and explore contemporary London, which was fun to write.

 

If you were casting Phaeton Black, who would play the part?

Johnny Depp or Ben Barnes would be the closest to Phaeton in terms of looks. Personality wise, Phaeton is a libertine, somewhat brooding character, who can be very funny at times. He is a magnetic force throughout the story.

Do you plan everything or just let the story flow?

Both. I wrote a seven or eight page synopsis for The Seduction of Phaeton Black and then adjusted the story as it developed.

Do your characters ever want to take over the story?

All the time.  Sometimes I have to beat them back with a stick, other times I let them take me to a new, interesting place.

Who first introduced you to the love of reading?

I have always loved reading for pleasure, back as far as I can remember, whether I was being read to by my parents or reading to myself.

What was the first moment you knew you wanted to write?

I flirted with the idea of writing for years but never applied myself to learning the craft and business until the last five or six years.

What book do you recommend everyone should read, and why?

I think that Outlander by Diana Gabaldon was one of my more recent influences, along with Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice. Just read them over and over. Neither book is perfectly written, so that should tell you something. It’s not about perfection or how lovely you can turn a phrase, it’s all about the story.

Can you tell us a little bit about your future projects? Phaeton will be back, right?

Oh yes, it takes three books to completely straighten up Phaeton and even then…! In book #2, I’ve introduced a number of new eccentric characters (The Nightshades) as well as several interesting antiheroes. The relationship between Phaeton and America takes a few twists and turns in book #2 as well.

I saw on your website that you also have another Victorian romance series coming out. How do The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard compare to Phaeton Black?

Actually, the first book in the series is available now, An Affair with Mr. Kennedy (Pocket Books). This is my historical romantic suspense series, with a bit of James Bond Steampunk tossed in. The heroes are all detectives for Special Branch, Scotland Yard, who become involved with spirited, heroic young women. The books are full of action, adventure and romance. I have two more full length books coming out this fall and an e-novella for Pocket Star.

Coffee or Tea?

French Roast in the morning. Iced green tea during the day!

Great questions Marlene, thanks for having me!

And thank you so much for answering them! The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard sound every bit as intriguing as  Phaeton Black, even if they are based just slightly closer to the ground. (And that’s a bit of a hint about some of Phaeton’s adventures).

If you want to keep up with Jillian Stone, you can find her on her website or on Facebook , Twitter, or Pinterest.

If you want to find out about Phaeton’s adventures for yourself, you’ll have your chance if you enter the giveaway below.

~~~~~**GIVEAWAY**~~~~~

 

The Key to Phaeton’s Heart steampunk necklace (designed by Ula Kapala and pictured at right)  and ten (10) print copies of The Seduction of Phaeton Black are being given away tour wide.

To enter the giveaway just fill out the Rafflecopter below.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Interview with Lilly Cain: Wild Woman and SFR Lover

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Author Interviews> Author Q&A> blog tours

Lilly Cain is here to celebrate the release of the third book in her fascinating science fiction romance Confederacy Treaty series, Undercover Alliance (review here). Ms. Cain has visited Reading Reality before. Her guest post on “Writing and Loving the Alien” gave me a chance to re-read and review Alien Revealed, the first book in the Confederacy Treaty series, and take a look at The Naked Truth again as well.

Take it away, Lilly!

So tell us a little bit about who Lilly Cain is when she’s not writing.

When I am not writing, I spend my time with my family—I have two daughters. I am a single mom, so I work hard writing and more recently, freelance editing. When playtime rolls around I like to relax by a campfire, roast marshmallows and sip vodka loaded lemonade, LOL. I have a cat; she’s evil but her nefarious deeds have slowed down to trying to sleep on my laptop and chew my proofs more than anything else.

Your blog says you’re a wild woman.  Is that only on the pages of your books, or does it have something to do with your real life?

Once upon a time it really was me. Now I remember it fondly (with the occasional backslide into a party – hey I don’t have the kids every weekend) but as you can see from the answer above, my wild side has slipped into the pages of my books more than anywhere else.

The Confederacy Treaty series is science fiction romance. What made you choose SFR as the venue for this series?

When I am plotting a new series I love to play what if and one day I was watching NCIS, and wondering what if the woman accused of terrorism was innocent?  What if she fell in love with one of the investigators? What if the explosion she was charged with causing actually happened in space? So love came first, then setting. 🙂  This was The Naked Truth. I wrote it first, but then realized there was another story that had to come first – Alien Revealed, the first meeting of an Inarrii alien and a human.

Who first introduced you to the love of reading?

My mother is a bigtime reader. And so was my grandmother. I used to look at them reading and pick up books of my own. Soon I’d read the entire contents of our small school library and was looking for more.

Who influenced your decision to become a writer?

My sisters perhaps. One actually hated English class. I loved it. The other simply claimed not to be able to write and I believed her. I wrote papers for them both, and had fun doing it! Then I took my first creative writing class in high school and I had a teacher whom I both loved and despised. She kicked me out of class after we argued over the meaning of one of my own poems! Yet she could hold her own and I so respected that.

What was the first moment when you knew you wanted to write?

I’d finished University and was getting married. Or I thought I’d finished. I was told I was a credit short and had to finish via correspondence while living in Bermudawith my new husband. I didn’t have a job, knew no one and the course kept me sane. I knew then I wanted to write.

Are you a plotter or a pantser? Do you plan everything, or just let the story flow?

I usually write a synopsis – about a page per 10K words. It gives me a plan, or enough of one that I want to start writing. Everything else is in my head. Once, I tried using pictures, but it didn’t help, so I still with the simple outline (which becomes useful when pitching to editors) and try to work on it every day until it is done.

Do your characters sometimes take over the story and just run away with it?

Occasionally. What I find is that I am writing along and then all of a sudden, I am stuck. And I think what the heck happened? I pull out my synopsis and guess what? Wherever I am, it is not in the plan. The story, not necessarily the characters, has pushed off in a new direction. Then I usually need to either back track or write a new synopsis!

What book do you recommend everyone should read, and why?

I don’t think there is any one singular book you should read. I suggest, if you want to write, you should read hundred of books. But for myself, I will never forget certain books. I fell in love with the worlds of Anne McCaffrey, Mercedes Lackey, Jean M. Auel, Isaac Asimov. Stephen King scared me. Nora Roberts soothed. Catherine Coulter intrigued me.  I can’t pick just one.

Speaking of science fiction, are you a fan of any science fiction series? Books, TV or movies?

I’m a Trekkie all the way! Every series, although I have my favorites. I also enjoyed Firefly, Dr. Who, Battlestar Galactica (old and new).

What’s your next project? Will there be any books set in the Confederacy Treaty universe?

I am actually writing one more for The Confederacy Treaty Series, currently called Honor Bound. It wraps up this particular series, but I love the Inarrii – the aliens in my series – so I imagine that they will pop up in another book or two. After that I am planning on something entirely different, some non sci-fi work as Lilly Cain.

Your blog says you love coffee and chocolate, so night-owl or (ugh) morning person?

LOL!!! Night person for sure, I am only forcibly a morning person while my kids are home.

I’m always so happy to meet a fellow Trekkie! Lilly, you named all my loves, Trek, Firefly, the Doctor, wow! Galactica reboot, yes, first, not so much. I’ll be looking forward to revisiting the Inarii in Honor Bound.

Thanks so much for answering all my geeky questions.

Undercover Alliance

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews

One of the neat things about genres like science fiction romance is that the author gets to use the science fiction part of the blend to “play” with or comment on some of the aspects of the human experience from a slightly different perspective.

Undercover Alliance by Lilly Cain lives up to its claim of being erotic science fiction romance. And it does a very good job of it, too!

But the alien race in her Confederacy Treaty series, the Inarrii, are not merely empathic, they literally require sexual healing as a means of processing tension and staying sane. Their bodies, although very similar to humans. are covering in l’inar, lines of nerve endings that convey and express pleasure, pain, stress and every emotion.

Undercover Alliance is the story of an Inarrii woman, a warrior named Sarina. Her l’inar were permanently damaged in battle, but she survived. However, with her l’inar severed, everyone believes that she will eventually lose her sanity, because she cannot achieve the full mind-contact and sexual release that is needed for an Inarrii to de-stress and remain sane.

Sarina thinks she’d be fine if she could just keep working. She’s a trained warrior. She thinks if she keeps doing her job, eventually a battle will solve the problem for her. The enemy won’t mind if she’s damaged goods.

But her own people are afraid that she’ll go berserk and don’t trust her in a combat company. So they assign her as a bodyguard to a low-status human during the final stages of the Human-Confederacy Alliance treaty negotiations — while they wait for her to crack.

The only problem is that her supposedly low-status human charge isn’t. He’s an undercover Spaceforce Security agent sent to make sure that the treaty does get signed. There are both human terrorists and alien Raveners out to break the alliance before it begins.

And John Norton absolutely hates pretending to be a bureaucrat. But not quite as much as he hates having to even let it look like he’s letting someone else handle his security. He’s used to working strictly alone. No partners.

It’s only in the silence of his own mind that he can think about how much he really wants to be in charge of everything…including his strong and beautiful bodyguard. It astonishes, and delights him, when she reads his thoughts enough to decide that maybe they can try being in charge of each other. Or take turns. Or all of the above.

Then someone tries to blow up their section of the ship. And only their section of the ship. Along with John’s cover story. While they are fleeing from marauders and fighting for their lives, John and Sarina discover that the moments between life and death are a great time to reach past the broken places for something wonderful.

They’re just not sure if they can hang on once the shooting stops.

Escape Rating B+: Undercover Alliance is the third book in Cain’s Confederacy Treaty series, after Alien Revealed and The Naked Truth. The series keeps getting better.

Undercover Alliance reveals a bit more of the world behind the story, and I enjoy seeing how they get where they are. Unfortunately, not everyone on Earth would welcome an alliance. There would be terrorists, damn it. Whatever we do, someone is always against it.

The Raveners remind me a bit of the Reavers from Firefly. I don’t think they’re that bad, but the name is close. There are always the good guys and the bad guys. And politics. Undercover Alliance has the political story in the background, making sure the treaty gets signed.

We also see that the Inarrii are just different from humans. Some of those differences are physical, not just the l’inar, but also that they are stronger, see better in low light, have better hearing. But also their society works differently. And it should. They aren’t human.

I hope there are more books in this universe. I want to see what happens next. Now that the treaty is signed, do the Raveners come in force?