This alluring release from Victoria Dannan caught my attention right away. Victoria will be giving away a little special something. See the end of her post for the question! If you're looking for the ROMANCING the HOP, see my the next post ...
First, thank you for having me. Authors, particularly indie authors like myself, rely heavily on book enthusiasts to make connections with readers. Don't know what we'd do without you.
Regarding the
question about the type of powers possessed by the heroine of My Familiar Stranger, she has two. One
is supernatural, but explainable from a science fiction perspective.
Her name is
Elora Laiken. She is part of a powerful, ruling clan - a distant relative of
the monarch - in a dimension that is similar, but not identical to our own.
That's why I call her a stranger in a "stangish" land. When the clan
was gathered for a festival, a rival political group staged a coup in the form
of a massacre. Minutes ahead of her own inevitable assassination, she is forced
into a pre-experimental device by her tutor and mentor.
When she was
deposited at her destination in an alien dimension, she was so damaged they
weren't even sure she was humanoid and had no expectation that she would
recover. Needless to say, she did heal after several months' convalescence and then
discovered she had gained some bonuses in the process. In the book that process
was compared to being forced through a giant cheese grater while being tumbled
like a rock polishing machine. Since her body was designed for the properties
of another dimension, her cell density in the new world gives her strength and
speed that exceeds that of record holders.
Partly by
fortune and partly by design of the transport's inventor, she landed in a very
old, secret society of vampire hunters and paranormal investigators who are
accustomed to dealing with highly unusual phenomena. The exceptional physical
attributes were a device woven into the plot to make it possible for the
heroine to aspire to working with the modern day knights who befriend her.
Her other power
is not supernatural, but is highly prized and serves her equally; the power of
charm. Not the kind that may be acquired through training such as a Dale
Carnegie course. The kind that is innate and as natural to the personality as
breathing in and out. If you doubt the value of charm, it probably means you
have it in spades. Those who don't have it recognize that it is the prize that trumps all others:
beauty, wealth, political power, talent, and so on.
It is that charm
that is principally responsible for three gorgeous men simultaneously pursuing
her romantically. In the end she must choose between the honorable and stalwart
hero who saved her life twice, the beautiful elf who believes she is his mate,
or the intensely seductive six-hundred-year-old vampire.
My Familiar Stranger will be available in Kindle format for
FREE for three days over the Labor Day Weekend beginning September 1st and
ending at midnight on the third so that anyone who has not had a chance to read
it can do so before release of the second book in the series, The Witch's Dream, on October 14.
My Familiar Stranger, By Victoria Danann
The Order of
the Black Swan #1
Genre:
Adult Paranormal Romance, Paranormal Fantasy
Publisher:
7th House
Date
of Publication: April 21, 2012
ebook
ISBN: 978-1-933320-49-6 ASIN:
B007V8RAKW
Date
of Publication: August 31, 2012
print ISBN: 978-1-933320-77-9 ASIN:
to be assigned
Purchase
Links: Amazon
BOOK TRAILER: http://www.youtube.com/embed/wIDjWBWHg2k
Book
Description:
A secret society, hot
guys, and vampires come together for a once in a lifetime adventure and a once
in a lifetime opportunity proving that true love can find you in the strangest
places, even far, far from home.
Minutes ahead of inevitable assassination, Elora Laiken is forcibly transported to an alternate dimension similar, but not identical, to her own.
Of course a girl could suffer worse problems than having gorgeous suitors. Perhaps more importantly, in the midst of an epidemic of vampire related abductions, can she stay alive long enough to choose between an honor debt, true love, or the breathlessness of single-minded passion?
My Familiar Stranger is a full length, stand alone, Paranormal Romance novel that also sets up the foundation for the Black Swan series. It is loved by fans of paranormal romance, fantasy romance, and urban fantasy.
Minutes ahead of inevitable assassination, Elora Laiken is forcibly transported to an alternate dimension similar, but not identical, to her own.
Of course a girl could suffer worse problems than having gorgeous suitors. Perhaps more importantly, in the midst of an epidemic of vampire related abductions, can she stay alive long enough to choose between an honor debt, true love, or the breathlessness of single-minded passion?
My Familiar Stranger is a full length, stand alone, Paranormal Romance novel that also sets up the foundation for the Black Swan series. It is loved by fans of paranormal romance, fantasy romance, and urban fantasy.
Erotic quotient: A few steamy scenes. No
menage. No BDSM.
Short Excerpt My
Familiar Stranger:
“What are you doing out here, Baka?” Somehow, encountering
him “in the wild” made him seem more appealing instead of more frightening
which was disturbing.
“Following you of course,” he said with matter of fact ease
looking down as he circled the corpse.
“Although it seems there was no cause
for concern, Lady Laiken.”
“You’re saying you followed me because you were worried?
About me?”
“Hard to believe, isn’t it?” His pale eyes sparkled in the
dim light of the alley, still damp from a fresh shower that magically turned
the entire city into a slick surface of reflecting light. Every couple of
seconds his gaze wandered back and forth between the open ends of the alley
before coming back to fix on her with a concentration that made her want to
squirm and press thighs together. He knew he was having that effect and was
enjoying it. Thoroughly.
“I like the costume. Especially the very red, very short
skirt.” His gaze scanned her slowly and appreciatively, top to bottom and back
again before coming to rest on her mouth. “And the lip stain. Enticing. Would
you call that blood red?”
“Okay. Look. I’m kind of an amateur at this. I don’t know
what they usually do about, er,” she glanced down at the dead vampire, “clean
up. Do you?”
“Yes. They have people who take care of it. They conceal the
evidence as best they can and call for pick up.” He grabbed the body by the
arms, easily pulled it next to a pile of garbage bags stacked next to a trio of
dumpsters, and sat it upright against the brick wall so that it looked like it
could have been a drunk passed out.
“Right.” That sounded like a good plan. “I don’t know who to
call.”
Baka pulled his phone out of his pocket and speed dialed a
number. “One of your knights just bagged a vamp, but she didn’t have the clean
up number.”
Baka held the phone away from his ear. Elora could hear Sol
shouting curses on the other end. “She? What the great father of fuck do you
mean she?”
“You didn’t intend to turn the Lady Laiken loose on a poor,
unsuspecting population of vampire who’ve been running amuck, digging in and
planting roots in the community? Surprising considering that she has to be the
best weapon you’ve got.” There was quiet on the other end of the line. He
glanced up at Elora. “We’re in an alley off Broadway between 38th and 39th. The
package is semi-concealed and I will stay here to make sure the scene is secure
from discovery until your people arrive.”
She could hear the murmur of Sol talking, no longer
shouting. Baka said, “Okay,” and hung up.
“He wants to see all four of you when you get back. No
matter how late it is. His office. He’ll be waiting.” Baka tilted his head as
his lips spread into a beautiful, white fangless grin. Captivating. Then, he held his phone up saying, “Did that qualify
as being a good vampire?”
Elora studied him for a second, then reached out and took
the phone from his hand as casually as if she was taking hot chocolate from The
Hub barista. She programmed her number into the phone and handed it back. “Don’t
make me sorry.”
“Cross my heart.” He took the phone and slid it back into a
jeans pocket.
“Oh very funny. So you’re a painter, a musician, an author,
an interior decorator, a vampire, a spy, a possible stalker, and a comedian.”
With the hint of a sardonic smile he said, “At a lounge near
you. Shows nightly at ten and twelve.”
While Elora was trying to process this bit of cognitive
dissonance, he went on. “You’d better get back to the cafe. If bits of Bad
Company come back and find you missing, at least two of them will turn
Manhattan into a state of chaos, bedlam, and pandemonium.”
Well, what could be said to that? “Thank you for your help
with the, uh, mess.”
With a flourish he executed an old world bow with grace and
a lack of self-consciousness that could only be managed by someone who had
lived during the time when such things were en vogue. “I live to serve.”
“Uh huh.” She started toward the mouth of the alley then
looked back to say, “By the way, that was bad ass bass tonight.”
Through the darkness she could see white teeth flash. “I
take requests.”
She chuckled half way back to the bistro replaying in her
head Baka’s dry humor, quick wit and sexy mannerisms, asking herself what she
was doing semi-flirting with the most infamous vampire in the annals of The
Order.
Author
Bio:
For the past thirteen years, Victoria has illustrated and
authored Seasons of the Witch calendars
and planners.
Though works of fiction are a departure for her, she has had
this series simmering on the back burner of her mind for years. In addition to
authoring and illustrating Seasons of the
Witch, she plays rock music and manages one of Houston's premier
R&B/Variety/Pop bands.
This series will eventually include some of my actual
experience in the paranormal with fictionalized anecdotes from my journals
during the years when I was a practicing "metaphysician," but most of
the material is fantasy - of course.
GIVEAWAY QUESTION: “Since the ancient Greeks, and
probably since we became sentient, men have been asking the question, ‘What do
women want?’ I think I know what the answer is – at least for a lot of us - and
it’s related to why Paranormal Romance is so popular with women and so
satisfying to the core in a way no other genre can be. Before I began writing
for this audience, I read about two hundred PNR books and realized that there
is one element common to almost all and that it can only be expressed in a fantasy
world. Can you guess what it is?” (NOTE: You don’t have to match my answer to
win. I’m always interested to hear what other PNR fans think.)
The prize is a free download of M.F.S. with Smashwords
coupon. Anyone who gives a thoughtful answer wins.
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