Amazon Product Description: A Cinderella who spends her nights as a wolf. A prince with a taste for blood.
Seventeen year old Cydney struggles against her werewolf nature, trying to keep everyone around her safe. No way will she risk exposing the beast at the prince’s ball, no matter how her two cousins try to persuade her. As she attempts to carve out some semblance of a life, Cydney can’t forget the boy she loved three summers ago — or what she did to him after losing control.
Turned into a vampire to save his life, the prince refuses to live up to his royal duties. He just wants to find the girl he loved and lost...the werewolf girl who bit him. But his father, the king, commands him to attend a ball where he must choose a wife. Can he find his Cinderella before he's forced to marry another? He doesn’t even have her real name, much less a glass slipper.
My thoughts: This was a fun twist to the Cinderella story of old. Prince charming is a vampire. Cinderella is a werewolf. Of course there is a ball and that is where they will hook up - - - but the last time they saw each other she bit him! I enjoyed the read very much. The characters are nicely developed and easy to invest in. Dunstan, the king's advisor, is my favorite character; I found myself seeing people I know in him. The author has set her characters in a world where paranormal is normal and humans are the "odd man out" so to speak. Well written, entertaining, and worth the read for certain. I wish the story had been longer and am hoping to see more from Veronica Blade.
Kenya Wright always knew she would be
famous since the ripe old age of six when she sung the Michael Jackson thriller
song in her bathroom mirror. She has tried her hand at many things from
enlisting in the Navy for six years as a Persian-Farsi linguist to being a nude
model at an art university.
However, writing has been the only
constant love in her life.
So here we are Kenya is publishing her first book,
Fire Baptized, the urban fantasy novel she always wanted to read. This novel is
the first book in a series.
Will she succeed? Of course.
For she has been coined The Urban Fantasy
Queen, the Super Iconic Writer of this Age, The Lyrical Genius of Our
Generation. Granted, these are all terms coined by her, within the private
walls of her bathroom as she still sings the Michael Jackson thriller song.
Kenya Wright currently resides in Miami with her three amazing, overactive children, a
supportive, gorgeous husband, and three cool black cats that refuse to stop
sleeping on Kenya’s
head at night.
Since the 1970’s humans have forced
supernaturals to live in caged cities. Silver brands embedded in their
foreheads identify them by species: a full moon for Vampires, a crescent moon
for Shifters, a pair of wings for Fairies, and the list goes on, for each
supernatural species has been tagged and categorized by humans.
Lanore Vesta is marked with a silver X,
the brand of Mixbreeds, second-class citizens shunned by society. She stays to
herself, revealing her ability to create fire only during emergencies. All she
wants to do is graduate college and stop having to steal to survive. But when
she stumbles upon a murder in progress, she catches the attention of a
supernatural killer. Now all she wants is to stop finding dead bodies in her
apartment.
Enlisting help from her Were-cheetah
ex-boyfriend Meshach and a new mysterious friend named Zulu, she is steered
through the habitat’s raunchy nightlife. But their presence sometimes proves to
be more burden than help, as they fight for her attention.
While the corpses pile up, and the scent
of blood fills the air, Lanore is left wondering: will she find the psycho or
die trying?
Brothers Winchester, Remington and Colt know the legends—they were trained from childhood to destroy demon predators, wielding the latest steam-powered gadgetry. It’s a devil of a job. But sometimes your fate chooses you...
CHASING TROUBLE
Winn Jackson isn’t interested in hunting nightmares across the Wild West—even if it’s the family business. Unlike his rakehell brothers, Winn believes in rules. As sheriff of Bodie, California, he only shoots actual law breakers. That’s what he’s doing when he rescues the Contessa Drossenburg, Alexandra Porter, a lady with all the elegance of the Old World—grace, beauty and class. And then he sees her fangs.
Alexandra isn’t just some bloodsucking damsel in distress, though. She’s on a mission to save her people—and she’s dead certain that Winn’s family legacy is the only way. Luckily, aside from grace and class, she also has a stubborn streak a mile wide. So like it or not, Winn is going to come back with her to the mountains of Transylvania, and while he’s at it, change his opinions about vampires, demon-hunting, and who exactly deserves shooting. And if she has her way, he’s going to do his darnedest to save the world.
Raised by a bibliophile who made the dining room into a library, Theresa has always been a lover of books and stories. First a writer for newspapers, then for national magazines, she started her first novel in high school, eventually enrolling in a Writer's Digest course and putting the book under the bed until she joined Romance Writers of America in 1993.
In 2005 she was selected as one of eleven finalists for the American Title II contest, the American Idol of books. She is married to the first man she ever went on a real date with (to their high school prom), who she knew was hero material when he suffered through having to let her parents drive, and her brother sit between them in the backseat of the car. They currently live in a Victorian house on a mini farm in the Pacific Northwest with their two children, three cats, an old chestnut Arabian gelding, an energetic mini-Aussie shepherd puppy, several rabbits, a dozen chickens and an out-of-control herb garden.
Winn stared down the length of the table at the Contessa. Her hair was upswept in a complicated creation of curls and twists, leaving her elegant neck and her collar bone and the tops of her creamy shoulders tantalizingly bare just above a swath of red silk. A whiff of onions tweaked his nose and he looked down to see a steaming bowl of soup had materialized unannounced in front of him.
Winn found himself at a loss as to which of the spoons he should use. He’d never found a need for more than one and certainly not three. And there were just as many forks. Which should he use? A prickle of sweat began to itch his neck beneath the stiff starched rim of his boiled collar.
“Do you approve of our first course, Mr. Jackson?”
Winn glanced up and saw her lightly tap the spoon to the farthest right of his place setting. He picked it up and waited for her to take the first bite, then followed suit. Hunting had taught him a lot, but never anything about the ways of high society. Who needed to know which spoon was used for soup when it was a properly packed shotgun shell that was going to save your ass?
He shifted uncomfortably in his chair and took a bite of the onion soup. “It’s tasty.”
He could tell she tried to suppress her smile. She took another bite, then lightly patted her lips with her napkin. “You seem surprised.”
“Wasn’t anything I expected, that’s for sure.”
Her laugh was husky and genuine, wrapping around him and making him even more aware of how very feminine she was. Winn was out of his element. How did one make fancy dinner conversation?It wasn’t as if he could talk about work at the jail, or hunting. Ma had taught him enough to know those weren’t appropriate at the dinner table. The sudden memory of her pierced him, turning his stomach with regret. He put down his spoon and pushed the bowl away from him.
“Is something wrong with your soup?”
“Little rich for my blood,” he murmured.
One of the crystal goblets to his right began to fill with red liquid out of thin air. “That’s a mighty fancy trick.”
“Materializing objects is not a trick, Mr. Jackson, it is a power we work to achieve.”
He took the glass and sniffed the contents, making sure it was wine. The pleasantly tart flavor of grape swirled in his mouth, but he nearly choked when he saw what the Contessa had in her own glass.She held her own goblet to her lush mouth, but the red liquid was too bright, too viscous, to be wine.
“That a special vintage?” he asked, suspicion lacing his tone. She pulled the glass away from her lips and nodded.
“Anything I’d want to try?”
The Contessa arched a brow and shrugged. “I’m not in the habit of telling men such as yourself what you can and cannot do.”
Winn was momentarily distracted by the disappearance of his soup bowl and its replacement by a dinner plate filled with braised beef, tender asparagus and roasted red potatoes. It smelled better than anything he’d eaten in months. The back of his mouth ached and watered. His stomach growled. He didn’t bother trying to figure out which fork he was supposed to use to be proper, he just grabbed one and tucked in.
“It’s good to see a man with an appetite,” she said softly.
Winn glanced up at her as he chewed a bit of beef so tender he could cut it with his fork. He swallowed. “You say that like it hasn’t happened in awhile.”
She sipped at her wineglass thoughtfully. “Perhaps because it has been a long time. I’ve been a widow now nearly twohundred years.”
Winn choked, and launched into a coughing fit. “Two--twohundred years?”
***and on to the giveaway***
Giveaway Details
Enter to win an Advanced Reader Copy of Theresa Meyers' second book in her Legend Chronicles steampunk romance series, THE SLAYER, along with an autographed cover flat and an antique china cup (cups will vary) accompanied by an assortment of teas and decadent Bliss chocolate.
Ciara Knight always had a passion for storytelling. At an early age, she wrote several short stories and poems, and in college she started work on her first novel. It wasn’t until late 2008 that she returned to her true passion of writing. Over the past few years she has penned five novels and joined several professional writing organizations to better her craft.
When not writing, she enjoys reading all types of fiction. Some great literary influences in her life include Edgar Allen Poe, Shakespeare, Francine Rivers and J K Rowling.
Ciara is happily married and enjoys family time. She has learned to embrace chaos, which is a requirement when raising three boys, and utilizes the insanity to create stories not of this world including, Fantasy, Paranormal, Sci-Fi, and Young Adult Dystopian.
Her first love, besides her family, reading, and writing, is travel. She’s backpacked through Europe, visited orphanages in China, and landed in a helicopter on a glacier in Alaska.
Alexander Lorre gives new meaning to the term “tormented teen”. He’s a newly fallen angel, which means he has the self-control of a three-year-old, the hormones of a teenager and the strength of an angel. When he rescues Gaby Moore from drowning, the chemistry between them is undeniable. With a local demon threatening Gaby’s life, he struggles to find a balance between remaining close enough to protect her but distant enough to control his desires.
As danger draws closer, Gaby uncovers shattering secrets that will lead to an ultimate choice. Will she fight alongside her father, an earthbound hunter killing fallen angels and demons, give into the demon blood coursing through her veins and join the demon world, or save the man she loves from both? The first two choices damn her, but the last one could destroy them all.
...and now to feed your need to read...
Her father pulled the thread through the needle as she cleaned his side with iodine, revealing a three-inch gash. Blood didn’t faze her, not anymore, but the needle did. She flinched at the sight of her father pushing the needle through and tugging it out the other side. The way his skin pulled with the thread made her queasy.
“Daddy please quit. We can find another way to pay the bills. I can get a part time job to help. You’ve done enough.”
“What’s enough?”
“It already cost you your wife. Would you risk your own life leaving me orphaned?” It came out so fast she didn’t have time to stop herself. It was horrible and untrue. He didn’t have anything to do with her mother’s death. He blamed himself because he was driving the car that night. But it wasn’t his fault, it couldn’t have been.
The hurt in his eyes broke her heart. “I’m sorry.” She didn’t know what else to say. The first aid kit dropped to the floor when she stood, once again feeling like her world was spinning out of control, and went to her room to sulk.
It took forever before she fell asleep, and even then, she tossed and turned. Visions of darkness and evil filled her dreams. Monsters clawed and tore at her flesh. Bright lights exploding-suffocating-pain.
Her own screams startled her awake. It had seemed so terrifyingly real. She glanced at the digital clock beside her. It was only three in the morning, but she knew she couldn’t go back to sleep. Not with those visions in her head. Crawling out from under her sheet, she went to her makeshift art desk and started to draw.
The first picture, full of the familiar army greens, tree bark browns, and charcoal grey swirled together into what looked like several creatures fighting. They resembled a cross between a bear and a coyote with a hunch back like a buffalo.
The next one showed shades of orange and gold with silver lined clouds. A sunset over an ocean appeared tranquil, but at the bottom the dark colors with claws turned up and overtook the white clouds.
The last one looked like her room. The white wings she had painted before appeared to be wrapped in a cocoon. A daffodil yellow light shone from the top of the bed.
All of them were strange, each one evoked a different emotion when she looked at them, fright, concern, and peace. Sighing, she slipped them into the leather portfolio her mother had given her just days before she’d died. Sniffing back tears, Gaby headed downstairs to get a bottle of water.
When she looked in on her father, he lay stretched out asleep on the couch with an empty bottle of whiskey on the floor. He still wore his bloodstained shirt. Two days worth of beard shadowed his face.
She froze. Her pulse thundered in her ears while she stood there staring at him. Sweat dripped down from her temple and an image flashed back to her.
The water bottle hit the floor. She raced up the stairs to her room and tore open the old memory chest her mother had given her. Papers flew everywhere as she ripped through binders and notebooks until she found it.
The exact image of her father, whisky bottle, blood and position of his body were identical.
You can see the entire tour schedule by clicking HERE.
You can see my review by clicking HERE.
Welcome to The Wormhole and my day on the tour.
It is my pleasure to feature an interview with J.D. Brown.
? When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? I actually didn’t realize it until I started writing my first manuscript about three years ago. I had toyed with the idea of writing a book on and off for years before that but always dismissed the idea. When I was in high school, I hated writing term papers so I didn’t think I would enjoy writing fiction either. Boy was I wrong. Fiction is so different from non-fiction. Once I got started, I just fell in love with the craft and the creative process. I knew instantly that I never wanted to stop and that I wanted to make this a career.
? How many jobs did you have before you became a writer? I had a handful of random, totally unrelated jobs. I worked in retail at clothing stores, video rental stores (before DVD’s were the norm), Dunkin Donuts and a gas station, a movie theater, and a veterinary clinic. I was lost and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. None of those felt right or held my interest for very long. But it did give me a wide range of experiences to draw from.
? How long does it take you to write a book? I’m a slow writer. I do a lot of plotting and percolating beforehand. I write several drafts and edit several times until everything is as perfect as I can make it.
? What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk? Hmmm…I’m not sure I would call any of them interesting, but I do have a few. I always have a cup of coffee and/or some snack food to munch on. When I’m really in the zone, I’ll get up and pace around my house. It’s really strange because I seldom realize I’m doing it! But for whatever reason, I need to move while a scene unfolds in my head. Then I zoom back to the computer and write it. J
? Where do you get your ideas or inspiration for your characters? Oh goodness…there are so many elements that go into the creation of my characters and I’m sure most of them are subconscious. I’m a very character driven author. The characters are always the first thing to pop into my head. They tell me, through slow gradual revelations, about themselves, their world, and their problems. So it’s a journey for me too.
In Dark Heirloom, I will admit Ema and I have a few things in common, but is she me? No. She’s a person with a history all her own.
Jalmari and Jesu, vampire brothers, are based loosely (physically) on two of my favorite Finnish rock stars. But even they took on a personality and a look all their own as soon as I started writing the story.
? How do you decide what you want to write about? In Dark Heirloom’s case, the story was just so lodged in my brain, I didn’t think of anything else until it was done. Currently I have several new ideas percolating along with the sequel to Dark Heirloom (book 2 is title Dark Liaison). I pretty sure I know which story/series I want to work on next and I picked it because it’s also a paranormal and it’s something I think fans of Dark Heirloom will enjoy.
? What books have most influenced your life? I would have to say all of them, and I’ll explain why. I’m a hardcore book worm. Ever since I was a child, I had my nose stuck in a book. Though I favor Urban Fantasy and Paranormal, I will seriously read anything from Shakespeare to cereal boxes. I was probably the only kind in school who read the assigned books cover to cover instead of just the cliff notes. Each and every story touches my heart in some way, and I believe that’s what eventually led me to write my own novel.
? What are you reading right now? Second Grave on the Left by Darynda Jones.
? What do you like to do when you are not writing? I read, of course! J I also like to watch The Vampire Diaries pretty religiously, go for walks with my dogs, and have coffee with my friends. I enjoy drawing, painting, sewing, and graphic design, but I don’t do those very often.
? What is your favorite comfort food? Anything fatting and bad for you - pizza, fries, chips, you get the idea. I don’t have a sweet tooth so I opt for the greasy things, which might be worse. LOL.
? What do you think makes a good story? Any book that makes me care about the characters or that makes me have an outward reaction - I love screaming at the characters while I read and hope to make a few people yell or laugh along with my characters in Dark Heirloom.
? Who would you consider your favorite author and why? Oh I have a few, it’s impossible to narrow it down to just one. Anne Rice and Orson Scott Card are definitely my top two. They are masters of their craft, Queen and King of their genres and of the writing world, and I have great respect for them.
Cassandra Clare is my current author crush and I want to be just like her when I grow up. I think her books are amazing and hope mine can be that good. J
Fun random questions: ·dogs or cats? Dogs. ·Coffee or tea? Coffee. ·Dark or milk chocolate? Milk. ·Rocks or flowers? Flowers - but now I’m wondering what I would do if someone gave me a bouquet of rocks…. ·Night or day? Night. ·Favorite color? Black. ·Crayons or markers? Markers. ·Pens or pencils? It depends on if I’m writing or drawing. Pens for writing, pencils for drawing.
More About the Author:
J.D. Brown graduated from the International Academy of Design and Technology with a Bachelor Degree in Fine Arts. She currently lives in Wisconsin with her two Pomeranians. Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, her writing is influenced by the multicultural urban society of her youth which she continues to visit each summer. J.D. loves paranormal characters; from vampires and werewolves, demons and angels, to witches and ghosts. Her writings are often a combination of suspense and romance. J.D. enjoys helping and promoting her fellow writers and leads an active life on the web. She also writes erotic romance for the MuseItHOT division under the pen name Danielle Ravencraft.
Book Blurb:
“You’re a vampire” is so not what Ema Marx wants to hear when she wakes from a two-day coma in a cryptic yet exquisite castle in northern Finland. Unfortunately, it explains a lot. Like why she’s able to see in the dark and walk through solid objects. What she doesn’t understand is why the other vampires expect her to have all the answers. It’s their fault she turned into one of them…right?
Jalmari’s hatred for his old-man intensifies when he’s ordered to bring that troublesome girl to their castle. He has a clan to run; there’s no time for babysitting newborn vampires no matter how they were converted to their culture. But when a two-thousand-year-old premonition threatens to take the crown and his life, Jalmari sees no other choice than to take out the catalyst, Ema Marx. Fortunately for Ema, she could also be the clan’s only savior.
The race to figure out her vampiric origins is on. And maybe she’ll get the hang of the blood-drinking gig along the way…
