I am very pleased to welcome Tara Fox Hall to Reading Reality. Tara is here on her Broken Promise tour. As part of the tour, I read and reviewed both Promise Me and Broken Promise (terrible completist, I hate starting series in the middle!) and the Promise Me series is a paranormal romance series with an interesting twist, the human heroine rescues the vampire, then the promises start getting made, and broken, over and over.
But let’s hear from Tara about her love of books, and how she got started writing them!
The Love of Books: An Evolution
A huge thank you to Reading Reality for having me here today!
I’m here today to promote Broken Promise, the second book in my paranormal romance Promise Me series. But before I get to that, I’d like to talk about my love of reading, and how I got hooked on books in the first place.
When I was in grade school, I remember loving my school library. Taking the long walk to the end of the school every Tuesday at 11AM, and the following hour when we could select books to check out. In those first years, I can’t remember many of the books I read, only that they almost always involved horses. Before I left grade school, I had read the entire Black Stallion series, including the Island Stallion books and related works, at least twice. I liked the library so much that I even entered the library’s weekly contest in my final year there, because I enjoyed the word finds and answering other questions about the books I selected. Much to my surprise, I got a library award at the end of the year, a small plaque I still possess.
My mother—as a teacher—was also the member of several book clubs for her class, and placed orders each month for books for her students. I remember being so excited each month to get the short double page pamphlet for each club, to see what was offered. Most times, my mom was able to get me free books, and I made good use of those coupons. I had a strict book budget of $10 a month, and remember deliberating over my choices, trying to stretch that to as many books as I could. In my later years, my mom would let me help her sort the books into piles with the orders. It was so exhilarating to see the piles, especially my own, form up. It was hard not to try to sneak in a little reading on the way home that night. But I still stuck rigidly to scary stories and horse stories.
Later on, in middle school and high school, my mother would take me to the public library near our house. It was there I picked up my first copy of Interview with the Vampire, and was forever hooked on vampires. That library was also where I discovered the many works of Stephen King, Dean Koontz, John Saul, and other horror authors. Eventually, I had read most of the books in the library that were horror…much to my lament. A year later, I was in college and working part time. The latter let me shift my habits to buying instead of borrowing, as I had money, but no longer the luxury of reading a book from cover to cover in a few sittings. Bookstores afforded many new delights, such as Brian Lumley’s Necroscope series, “other” Anne Rice Novels, Robert Jordan’s Eye of the World Series, and Fred Saberhagen’s Dracula series. Now my world had broadened to thrillers, horror, vampires, fantasy, and erotica. But there were still a lot of genres I wouldn’t touch….like romance.
As the economy tanked and the price of gas doubled, there was less discretionary income for books. To stretch my dollar even further, I began attending book sales, and also began buying used books through secondhand stores, yard sales, or anyplace they were cheap. Here I discovered a completely new world of books I’d never seen in the bookstores or libraries. It was here I discovered Michael Moorcock’s Elric, the Redwall series, and many new-to-me horror authors, like Andrew Neiderman and William Johnstone. I also tried a lot of genres I’d never tried before, like romance, true crime, western, action-adventure, and historical fiction.
Now is the next evolution in books: e-books! While I do not yet have a Kindle, I have the Kindle App for my computer, and I also enjoy books in PDF. Between reviewing for several sites and free e-books, I am awash in far more books than I can read. Like the other stages of my own evolution, I hope this one brings me even more new and exciting discoveries.
Broken Promise by Tara Fox Hall
Shocked at Danial’s betrayal, Sarelle returns to her old home to consider her options. Yet even as Sar plans a reconciliation with Danial, Terian arrives, confessing his desire. When Theo witnesses Terian and Sar kiss, he angrily confronts Sar, leading to startling consequences. Will Sar’s heart choose Danial, Terian,…or Theo?
“Thank you,” Devlin said with a sigh. “Let us not speak of that. There is something that troubles me, Sar. There is more in your voice than sorrow when you speak of Danial. There is fear, too.”
“I’m not afraid of Danial,” I said quickly.
“Not this moment, no,” Devlin countered. “But at times I hear it, unmistakably. I expect you to fear me, but I find it odd you are scared of him. Tell me why.”
“We fought,” I said reluctantly.
“And?” Devlin prodded.
“He hit me.”
“Repeat your words,” Devlin said frostily. “And look me in the eyes as you say them.”
I turned to him defiantly. “He hit me,” I said bitterly. Then I turned from him again.
“I would not have believed it,” Devlin said slowly. “But you aren’t lying. Where and when did this happen?”
“In the face,” I said bitterly. “As for when, we were separated when it happened.”
Devlin fell silent, thinking.
I lay there in his arms, trying not to feel sorry for myself, trying to plan of what to say next, of some way to convince him to let me go. I tried scenario after scenario, and came up with nothing.
“That you were separated does not matter,” Devlin said suddenly. “You had taken an oath out of love to him, and he to you. It does not matter what you had done, or said. Oathed Ones are never to be struck.”
“I guess I picked the wrong brother,” I said sarcastically.
“Yes, you did,” Devlin said seductively. He turned me to face him, his hand on the side of my face. “I see no mark on your skin. When was this?”
Reluctantly, I grasped his cool hand in mine, and slid it upwards. “There is a tiny scar there from his ring.”
“Yes,” Devlin said, “I feel it.” He leaned in close, giving the scar a gentle kiss. “I’ll take him to task for this, Sar. You have my word.”
“Since when are you my champion?” I said sarcastically. “You kidnapped me. If you really want to help me, just take me home.”
“I’d love to take you home,” Devlin said meaningfully. He kissed me gently, his cool lips brushing mine.
“Stop.” I moved my head, breaking the kiss. “I meant my home.”
“Oh, kiss me,” Devlin said longingly. “There are several miles yet, and I’ve learned enough to know you are not oathed to Danial.” He raised his eyebrows in a meaningful motion. “I’ll restrain myself, I promise. We’ll wait to make love until later.”
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