Bonded by Blood Blog Tour! (+Giveaway!)

Welcome to today's tour stop! I've got a lovely interview from the lovlier Arial. Take a peak at this then check out an excerpt! 

Hi there! Thank you for stopping by my blog today :) Why don't we break the ice a bit.

What are your three most recent thoughts??

·         I hope the bread I just baked doesn’t turn out too hard and we can eat it!

·         I can’t write when I have the blahs. :(

·         Woo hoo! My book Midnight Conquest won the InD’Tale Crème de la Cover award for May!!

Oh wow! Congrats on the award! So exciting! Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

I’m a crazy redhead who tells it like it is, loves hot Scottish vampires and I’m TOTALLY in love with my husband, who is my best friend and romance novel hero. He helps me brainstorm all my stories and has to be the most supportive husband on the planet! I’m also from Chicago, Illinois (nails on a chalkboard if anyone says it with an “s” at the end …don’t do that!) and we named our dog after one of our favorite wizards: Zeddicus Zul Zorander from Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series. Except we redubbed our dog Zeddicus “Drool” Zorander for reasons you can probably guess.

What was your favorite part from Bonded by Blood?

That’s a tough one. I love all my stories. Bonded By Blood is the name of the series and right now Midnight Conquest (bk 1) and Midnight Captive (bk 2) are out. I think it would have to be the scene where Broderick kinda busts in on Davina nursing her baby. It’s a real tipping point for him when he realizes the sacrifices he made to become immortal. 

Excerpt:

So, the next question—why hide she was a widow? What kind of battle raged inside this woman’s head?

Broderick, too impatient to wait, wanted answers now. He fixed his breeches, threw on his shirt and boots, and marched over to the adjoining room, ready to demand those answers, but the words died on his breath. Broderick stood immobilized in the open doorway.

Embers from the hearth cast a crimson glow upon Davina, seated in a chair close to the dying fire’s warmth. She sat unaware of him, so intent on humming to her child, caressing the infant’s cheek. Tears shone on Davina’s face. In her arms lay a babe who seemed less than a year old—Cailin. With cinnamon curls so much like her mother’s, her pink mouth suckled at Davina’s nipple, her tiny hand resting on the fullness of her breast. His mouth watered at the sight. At the same time, this image of purity, motherhood, and innocence kindled a protective nature that flamed in his soul. Broderick clenched his fists. Immortality would never allow him to experience the joy of having his own children—fatherhood sacrificed for revenge. For the first time, the impact of his foolish decision pierced his heart like a blade. Who was this idiot who wasted the woman and child Broderick now ached to cherish and shelter? Surely, he deserved to die.

Davina raised her head and their eyes met. Her sweet humming stopped, as did the caresses she gave her child. Her eyes turned cold as she glared at him, wrapping protective arms around her baby. Shame swallowed him whole as he became an intruder in this delicate scene. He stared at her a moment longer before he retreated to the bedchamber.

Do you base characters or names on real life people?

Not usually. My favorite place to go when naming characters is BabyNames.com. I love to have the meaning of a name apply to the personality of my characters. It’s not always applicable, but 95% of the time it is.

How steamy do you like your love scenes?

Scorching hot! I love to write erotic love scenes, especially when the characters are so deeply involved. Expressing love physically adds so much more to the experience when you interweave those sensual sentiments and heartfelt with blazing hot lovemaking.

If you could be any character, from any book who would you be?

Well, aside from my own character Broderick MacDougal, I’d probably want to be Kvothe from Patrick’s Rothfuss’s Name of the Wind. Very intriguing and multi-layered character!

 Pirate, Cowboy, Soldier, or Spy?

Pirate! LOVE the swashbuckling hero because they can be such sexy rogues and still have the propensity to fall in love. Soldiers and spies are a little too married to their careers (I used to be in the military AND special forces, so I know) and I’m  just not a big country girl…unless it’s in some Scottish or Irish glen!

Do you have any Literature pet peeves? (Love Triangles, Insta-Love, etc?)

I really cringe when I see authors making their characters do things just for the sake of the story and it goes against their true nature already established from the beginning.

What is one thing you want to accomplish before you die?

Move to Ireland! My hubby and I are planning on doing that around the year 2016…provided my writing career takes off enough to support us…and it’s starting to do that. :D

Thanks so much for being here today!

Thank YOU for having me!! I’m honored to be here and I’m available for questions. Oh, and if visitors leave questions for Broderick MacDougal and even Angus Campbell (my villain), they’ve been known to make appearances. WARNING: They’re real rogues!!!

Here's an excerpt from book 1 of the series: Midnight Captive

Hands relaxed at his hips, he employed the technique he learned at Fechtschulen to gradually work through the next exercise. Moving slowly, he grabbed the daggers, slid them out of their sheaths, elbowed his invisible opponent behind him and spun to stab his phantom chest. James shook his head and replaced the daggers. Sloppy. Again.

He repeated the movement several times at a slower pace to ensure he was comfortable with each step in the execution. Once he performed the maneuver smoothly and with ease, he increased his speed. On occasion, he’d drop a weapon, curse himself and start again. The point of the exercises this morning were to complete as many of the movements Broderick had taught him without having to think about what to do.

Grab the daggers. Elbow opponent. Spin and pivot. Stab through the heart. Grab. Elbow. Spin. Stab. Grab. Elbow. Spin. Stab.

And then to accomplish the moves while thinking of something else.

Grab. Elbow. Spin. Stab. Why must she…grab…always run…elbow…when our exchanges…spin…turn into heated…stab…arguments? Grab…she has always been…elbow…one to speak her mind…spin…and now I see…stab…her holding back…grab…and hiding behind…elbow…this façade…spin…of the dutiful wife…stab. What I would like to do is GRAB her by the ELBOW, SPIN her around and STAB her with my—

“Good morrow, James.”

Cailin’s sultry voice floated about the air as she sauntered into the room…wearing a pair of form-fitting, tan breeches…that showed every…single…curve of her slender legs, and hips sweet enough to grab onto!

“I see you have been working hard on your routines.” She smiled that heart-breaking grin and James sighed.

He nodded and dropped his jaw to the floor when Cailin swiveled that perfectly curved backside toward him, bent over and placed something on the bench before her. His mouth watered and the blood in his body rushed so suddenly to his groin it ached. For the love of God! Turning his back to her, he stomped across the room and quickly donned his shirt, leaving it hanging loose to cover his erection straining against his breeches, demanding to bury itself to the hilt inside that luscious and surely creamy temptation.

He clenched his jaw and cursed his body’s fierce reaction. “Your father allows you to wear such revealing garments?” He winced at how his harsh words grated his ears, and most likely hers. He spun to face her again and groaned inwardly at her wounded expression.

“I…my…mother made them for me…to do the training with my father. My skirts would get in the way, you see, and…” She shrugged and her fingers fumbled with the hem of the loose linen shirt she wore. “I never wear them outside of this room. Should I change?”

Difficult question to answer! His groin screamed, “NAY!” His head screamed, “AYE!” His groin won the argument. “Nay, Cailin. Never change. I mean, all is well. You just caught me by surprise.” He swallowed and cleared his throat, stepping toward her, a little uncertain on his feet.

~~~~~

Arial will be awarding a $15 Amazon or Barnes & Noble Gift Card (winner's choice) to a randomly drawn commenter during this tour and her Virtual Book Tour. Also, at every stop a randomly drawn commenter will be awarded a 5-Star Short Story eBook, Romance Trading Card set & signed Bonded By Bloodseries post card.