Guest Post & Giveaway with Author Tori St. Claire

Hi Everyone. Please help me welcome Tori St.Claire  to AsianCocoa's Secret Garden today. Thanks for stopping by today, Tori!

Thank you so much for hosting me today – I’m thrilled to be back at Asian Cocoa’s Secret Garden, discussing my newest release, Lie to Me. 

When Spies Make Errors

In keeping with our July festivities, I want to share a tidbit – did you know that the American Revolution would have never succeeded without espionage and the use of spies?

It’s true.  The nature of the Colonies, with everyone speaking one language, made it easy for folks to pretend loyalty to one side or the other.  Plus, women were considered too unintelligent to be of concern, and when the British housed servicemen in Revolutionary homes, the women listened to conversations and reported to Revolutionary leaders. 

So we, as a country, have been employing spies for our greater good since our inception.  And as we all know, once in a while, things go wrong.  We wouldn’t know what we do now about our early spies if those Revolutionary spies hadn’t made errors and gotten caught.

I figure that every now and then, “wrong” translates to having to “undo” what we’ve “done” (or not done, officially, as the case may be).  How is that handled?  That was the question I pondered when I originally began to think about Lie to Me.  What if, in the course of standard operations, the Black Opals made a mistake and had to undo that wrong?

A few hours later, I had Alexei, who’d kidnapped the wrong girl.  Now, when he’s finally escaped the nightmare of the job he despised, he must return to Dubai and reclaim a woman he’s wronged.  Only when he leaves… he has no idea he’s going after the only woman who ever mattered to him.

What a glorious mess for an author to have free-reign with!  Did I mention the same woman has secrets of her own, not the least of which is that someone wants her dead?  Yes, yes, a grand, perfect pile of muck to throw an already damaged hero into.  Add in the chemistry between the pair, the danger that’s never far away, and it’s the perfect mix for fireworks of an entirely different kind.

I’ll share a peek at Lie to Me, but I’d love to hear your thoughts:  If you were living in Revolutionary times, and you had British officials in your home, what would you do to secure our independence?  (And yes, slipping arsenic into their drinks is a totally okay answer!)

I’ll go first:  I would do everything possible to portray my home as possessed by evil spirits.  It might not accomplish much, but stringing their underclothes in the front lawn, in the middle of the night would create a good deal of personal enjoyment.  I can picture the British’s expressions when their undergarments are blowing in the breeze!  Because, you know, as a woman I’d be too dumb to think of that.  Worst case scenario I spend my days amused.  Best case, I drive them from my home.

Lie to Me
by Tori St.Claire
Publisher: Berkly Heat
Release Date: July 3, 2012

A man of action…

After helping to break up a Russian human trafficking ring as part of the CIA’s elite Black Opal team, Alexei Nikanova’s newest assignment is to rescue one of the stolen women and return her to her father. When he arrives in Dubai, he discovers his target is Sasha Zablosky—a woman he knows all too well, and who has haunted him ever since their unforgettable time together in Moscow, two and a half years earlier. But he finds Sasha reluctant to leave her sheikh, the only true friend she’s ever known. Only Alexei can’t give her a choice.

A woman of deception…

With their yearning roused by intrigue, Alexei and Sasha can no longer resist temptation, and spend night after night in forbidden pleasure. Soon Alexei finds himself falling for her, even as he battles a shadowy menace to protect her. But Sasha is no innocent. She has a past darker than she could ever admit, one that Alexei could never forgive. And it is about to explode into her life once more. As the lies they tell themselves—and each other—pull them deeper into a perilous desire, what began as simple passion becomes a love certain to destroy them and end the lives of countless innocents.

Excerpt

Opening his eyes, he smoothed a hand down her long silken hair. “You should get some sleep.”

“It’s morning. The sun’s peeking up.”

Carefully avoiding the mirror, he shifted his gaze to the window, noting the early violet hue in the sky. “I guess it is.” Which meant they wouldn’t be going anywhere until tomorrow morning. He’d put her through enough for one night. Her father could live another day without her. Particularly since he knew she was safe at least.

As he nuzzled her hair once more, tiny wisps getting caught on his unshaven chin, all the places they connected soaked into his awareness. His pulse kicked up a notch. Against his thigh, his cock stirred.

Damn. What was the matter with him? It was like some animal had invaded his body. Sure, the sex was mind-blowing, but this wasn’t normal. Certainly not for him.

His cock was going to have to wait. He knew from experience Sasha could go all night. But those amazing evenings hadn’t included bullets and death. She might be strong, yet he couldn’t ask her to endure more.

Easing out of her embrace, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and guided her to the door. “You still need sleep.”

All five and a half feet of her tensed like stone. Bracing against his steering efforts, she shook her head. “I don’t want to sleep, Alexei.”

In her adamant whisper, he heard the fear he had once known so intimately. Dreams had a way of making all the realities unavoidable.

Alexei stopped urging her toward the door and turned to catch her chin in his hand. He tipped her face to his. A dozen reassurances floated through his mind. What made it off his tongue shocked him. “Why don’t you hate me?”

Author Bio - 

National Bestselling author Tori St. Claire grew up writing. Hobby quickly turned into passion, and when she discovered the world of romance as a teen, poems and short stories gave way to full length novels with sexy heroes and heroines waiting to be swept off their feet. She wrote her first romance novel at seventeen.

While that manuscript gathered dust-bunnies beneath the bed, she went on to establish herself as a contemporary, historical, and paranormal author under the pen name, Claire Ashgrove. Her writing, however, skirted a fine line between hot and steamy, and motivated by authors she admired, she pushed her boundaries and made the leap into erotica, using the darker side of human nature and on-the-edge suspense to drive grittier, sexier, stories.

Her erotic romantic suspense novels are searingly sensual experiences that unite passion with true emotion, and the all-consuming tie that binds -- love.

Tori can be found at:

http://toristclaire.blogspot.com
www.claireashgrove.com

Twitter: @claireashgrove

Giveaway:

Tori will be giving away a $25 Gift card to one randomly drawn commenter during the month of July. Two additional commenters  will receive a basket of swag. The more comments you leave the better your chances of winning. Complete tour dates can be found here.

 

To Enter:

Answer Tori's question from the post or leave a comment or question for her and include your email address. Good luck.

Guest Post & Giveaway: BY ROYAL COMMAND by Laura Navarre

Sympathy for the Devil:  Crafting a Delectable Villain

By Laura Navarre

Good morning, readers!  I was delighted when Monique offered me this chance to chat about a subject I ADORE but, as a romance author, am rarely asked about:  how to craft a believable and compelling villain.  As a writer of dark medieval and Renaissance romance, I’ve always had a sneaking sympathy for the Devil (i.e., the villain) in fiction.  That’s why I wove the tapestry of my medieval romance, By Royal Command (Harlequin/Carina, July 2012), around a deliciously complex villain.  He was a real historical figure in Anglo-Saxon England whose actual descendent, incredibly, is a personal friend of mine.  And I am proud to say my villain does not twirl his moustache.

Set on the turbulent shores of Anglo-Saxon England during the Viking conquest, By Royal Command is the story of a daughter of royalty who must choose between two warring brothers to save the English throne.  Lady Katrin of Courtenay believes she murdered her cruel husband when she prayed for his death, but she doesn’t mourn him.  Struggling to defend her northern lands, she’s proud and courageous as any man.  Determined never to remarry, she believes manipulation and deceit are a woman’s only true weapons.  But they won’t be enough to save her from her vengeful uncle:  Ethelred, the King of England.  Katrin’s marriage to a powerful ally is the cornerstone of his scheme to defeat the Viking invasion and save the English throne.

Katrin’s uncle, King Ethelred of Wessex, was a real historical figure who ruled England until he was overthrown by the marauding Sweyn Forkbeard in 1013.  Ethelred assumed the English throne at the tender age of thirteen after murdering his brother, which cast a shadow over his reign.  The details I provide about Ethelred and his family are mostly true, although his dark brilliance and sadistic tendencies in the story are my own invention.  He began paying the Danegeld, an annual tribute to buy off the raiding Vikings, in 991. Ethelred’s dilemma was immortalized by Rudyard Kipling, who famously warned, “If once you have paid him the Danegeld, you never get rid of the Dane.”

When Katrin makes the Devil’s bargain with Ethelred and agrees to an arranged marriage to save the man she loves, Ethelred becomes Katrin’s dark ally—invested in her success for his own sinister motives.  And I could have kissed the Goodreads reviewer who read By Royal Command and spoke admiringly of Ethelred as a criminal mastermind.  This is a villain worth his salt.

What are my secrets for crafting a villain both the hero and the reader can respect?   Personally, I need to be fascinated—even a little in love—with the devils in my fiction.  Here’s how I make that happen.

 

1.     1. Villains are people too.  I make my villains human, giving each one a backstory that’s developed as fully as my hero’s story.  I know all the major milestones of my villain’s childhood, the pivotal catalysts that make him the villain he is.  I give him strengths as well as weaknesses, laudable qualities as well as flaws, human vulnerabilities as well as advantages.  Incidentally, the smarter and stronger the villain, the stronger the hero must be in order to overcome him.  In other words, a good villain makes for a good hero.

    2. Every villain is the hero of his own story.  When you’ve made your villain a real person, it becomes much easier to endow him with strong and believable motivation for his dark deeds.  In the immortal words of screenwriter Robert McKee, no villain should ever twirl his moustache.  Although we may not agree with his values, every villain acts for reasons that seem laudable to him.  Bear in mind that, for most villains—unless they’re insane or invading aliens—random destruction does not make a compelling goal. 

3.    3. Make the villain the hero’s dark mirror.  Here I dip into material from the workshop I teach on “Sympathy for the Devil:  Dark Heroes in Popular Fiction.”  Many of the best, most fascinating heroes reveal unsettling similarities at some level with the villain.  Hero and villain may have common backgrounds, a similar personality trait or passion (in love with the same woman?), or a shared history.  Whereas the hero’s response to these stimuli is to behave heroically, the villain follows a darker path.  Thus, the villain becomes the hero’s dark mirror.  In these cases, the villain’s role is transformative, and his opposition makes possible the dark hero’s redemption.

If you’d like to read more about my villain the King in By Royal Command, my publisher has released an exclusive extended excerpt (the first five chapters!) free for a limited time.  You can find the goods here at http://t.co/T4qZ6vUY.  

I love hearing from readers!  Let’s keep in touch:

www.LauraNavarre.com

www.Facebook.com/LauraNavarreAuthor

www.twitter.com/LauraNavarre

Happy reading!

By Royal Command
by Laura Navarre
Publisher: Harlequin/Carina Press
Release Date: July 2, 2012

Two brothers. One woman. Three hearts at war.

Katrin of Courtenay's husband is dead-and she doesn't mourn him. He was cruel and controlling, and she doesn't need a husband to hold her northern keep. But her vengeful uncle, the King of England, has other ideas: intent on marrying her off, he's ordered his Viking-bred warrior to return her to court.
On the journey, the Viking captures her interest, and for the first time Katrin understands passion. But her guard is honor-bound to deliver her to the king, and so it is settled-she must wed the mysterious Rafael le Senay, the Baron of Belmaine.

A forced marriage to a stranger slowly becomes something more, and Katrin realizes she is in love with Rafael. But with the shadow of her former lover hanging over her, and Rafael's powerful brother making dangerous plans, can Katrin negotiate the delicate balance between survival and happiness?

Read an Excerpt of By Royal Command:

http://www.lauranavarre.com/book/60/excerpts

Author Bio for Laura Navarre

In her other life, Laura Navarre is a diplomat who’s lived in Russia and works on weapons of mass destruction issues. In the line of duty, she’s been trapped in an elevator in a nuclear power plant and has stalked the corridors of facilities churning out nerve agent and other apocalyptic weapons. In this capacity, she meets many of the world’s most dangerous men. 

Inspired by the sinister realities of her real life, Laura writes dark medieval and Renaissance romance with a dash of political intrigue. A member of Romance Writers of America’s Published Author Network (PAN) and a 2009 Golden Heart finalist, she has won the Emily Award for Excellence, the First Coast Romance Writers Beacon Award, the Georgia Romance Writers Maggie Award, the Golden Pen, the Duel on the Delta, Hearts through History’s Romance through the Ages, and other awards. 

Previously published with Samhain and Dorchester, Laura’s newest releases are her epic medieval romance By Royal Command (Harlequin/Carina, July 2012) and her sexy romantic intrigue The Russian Seduction (Affluent Press, August 2012, as Nikki Navarre).  She teaches writing workshops on “Sympathy for the Devil: Dark Heroes in Popular Fiction.”

Laura holds an M.F.A. in Writing Popular Fiction from the University of Southern Maine.  Living in Seattle with her screenwriter fiance and two Siberian cats, she divides her time between her writing career and other adventures for U.S. government clients.

Connect with Laura here at:

Website: www.LauraNavarre.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/LauraNavarreAuthor

Twitter: www.twitter.com/LauraNavarre

Giveaway Details:

Laura is giving away one $25 electronic gift card to either Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble to one randomly drawn commenter from the tour.  

Please leave a comment along with your broken up email addy. The contest is open the duration of the tour from June 18 – July 2, 2012. The more chances a person follows and comments on the tour, the greater their chances of winning. 

Good Luck! 

Be sure to visit the other blogs on this tour. Click on the tour button below for a list of participating blogs. Good luck and thanks for stopping by.

Review: GIVING IT UP by Amber Lin

Giving It Up
by Amber Lin
Publisher: Loose ID
Release Date: June 18, 2012
Source: Review copy from Author

Allie prowls the club for a man who will use her hard and then ditch her. Hey, it's not rape if she wants it. Instead she finds Colin, who looks tough but treats her tenderly, despite her protests.

He tempts her, but kindness and a few mindblowing orgasms aren't enough to put her back together again. Allie has no hope for a real relationship. Two years ago her best friend betrayed her in the worst possible way – she’d be stupid to trust a man again. Besides, she has her daughter to think of, the only good thing to have come from that dark night.

But when her rapist returns, threatening her sanity and custody of her daughter, Allie turns to Colin. Under his protection and patient touch, Allie begins to heal and learns to hope. Colin’s no saint, though, and his criminal past draws danger of its own. Allie must fight to protect her child and the man she loves, hoping her newfound power will be enough to save them all.

Allie is a survivor. She’s been knocked down and kicked over and over but still manages to pull herself together and move forward. What else can she do with a baby daughter to look after? Plus she has her ride or die best friend, Shelly by her side. And with the help of her new found love Colin, she begins to slowly heal from the tragedies of her past. 

Giving It Up was a deep and dark emotional read. I was rooting for Allie to get her happily ever after the entire time. Being raped by someone you trust is devastating enough but to then be taken advantage of again by an authority figure would have been enough to tip anyone over the edge of sanity. I loved Allie’s tenacity and her ability to cope with her demons. She picked up random strangers for anonymous sex. But her once a month “date nights” gave Allie the outlet she needed to exorcise painful memories. While her methods were probably not healthy or safe,  it allowed her to function.

I wasn’t so sure of Colin’s intentions in the beginning. He was the strong silent type that didn’t open up with his feelings so I never knew what he was thinking or what he was going to do. He’s had a pretty tough life and dark past as well. But his love for Allie and her daughter was heartwarming and made me love Colin in the end. 

I enjoyed the suspense in the novel and the tension between the characters. The flow of this story was great. The back stories were woven in perfectly. Each character that was introduced played their part and moved the story along. All of the characters were damaged which made the novel dark and much more interesting. Allie is a single mother struggling to support her daughter Bailey and keep her own battered psyche whole. Colin had a difficult childhood and has a criminal history. Shelly is the prostitute who would do anything to help her friend Allie but she seems to have demons in her past as well. Then there’s Colin’s brother, Philip who is deeply entrenched in some serious criminal activity. I suspect there may be stories for some of these other characters in the future. 

I thoroughly enjoyed Allie and Colin’s story. Their relationship was rocky and full of tension. At first I wasn’t sure they were right for each other but as the story moved along I could see the growth of trust and love in their relationship. Their love scenes were brutal, sexy and honest. Within those scenes was a window into Allie’s damaged soul. Giving It Up was an incredibly moving novel. It’s a dark love story that will make you gasp and cry and leave you emotionally drained but there is happiness at the end for these flawed lovers.