Rachel Thompson

Jack Canon's American Destiny

Friday, July 5, 2013

Orangeberry Book of the Day – Magicstorm (Heart of a Vampire) by Amber Kallyn

Chapter One

Brandon Wulfgar sat stiffly on the icy metal chair. He took a hefty gulp of his drink--a mix of blood and whiskey--never glancing away from his twin brother. Eric lay in the bed, facing the stone wall of the dungeon room. He mumbled in his dreams, the quiet mutterings occasionally punctuated by short, guttural screams. Was he reliving the painful past they’d shared, or that of Eric’s own more recent tortures?

The room stank of cold sweat, permeated by fear and agony.

Brandon’s hands clenched and the mug cracked. It crashed to the floor, shattering.

He stared at the white shards of ceramic covered in crimson. The sight mirrored how he felt, unable to help his brother pick up the pieces and leave the darkness he’d descended into.

With a sigh, he stood and headed for the hall. His king’s new wife was going to be pissed he’d broken yet another cup. He snorted, the sound lacking any amusement. Dalia would just have to deal with it.

He opened the door, then stopped short.

Dalia stood in the hall, arms crossed, tapping her foot. Her short pink-streaked blonde hair settled around her pointed chin and her green eyes flared, vampire-red circling the irises. “Again?” she demanded.

It didn’t matter he dwarfed her with his six-foot-four height, nor that he was ten times stronger. All she had to do was shoot that look of hers and even the strongest of the vampire warriors living in the castle crumbled as if facing a disappointed mother.

Brandon merely shrugged. “I’ll clean it up.”

“Yeah, right.” Her gaze softened as she looked past him to Eric. “No change?”

“None.”

She straightened, rubbing her hands together. “Jordan wants to talk to you. I’ll sit with your brother. And I’ll clean up the poor cup. Again.” Shooting him an ironic look, she added, “We’re almost out of dishes.”

It wasn’t true, but she had a point. He’d gone through an awful lot of mugs lately. But it wasn’t on purpose.

As the older twin, albeit only by five minutes, he’d been raised to protect his brother. To fight the world, side-by-side. Yet he was failing miserably, unable to draw Eric from the cocoon of sleep where he’d escaped.

Dalia entered the dungeon room, and leaving the thick metal door open a bit, sat in the chair Brandon had vacated. She leaned back, hands folded in her lap and started humming. Her voice was soft and airy, a sound guaranteed to get soul-deep inside anyone listening and make them feel better.

As an Omega, she could calm people’s ragged emotions. More recently, with her magic growing, she no longer needed to look into their eyes to gain that connection. Her voice could suck anyone in when she tried.

Brandon’s shoulders tightened when her voice brought no reaction from Eric. It took most of his will to leave, but he forced himself to walk down the icy hallway, and upstairs to his king’s chamber.

Inside, Jordan reclined in a chair, facing the fireplace. The man held a glass of amber-colored liquid. A second full glass sat on the table beside him.

“Sit for a while,” Jordan stated, his Scottish brogue thicker than normal.

Brandon twitched at the tension in Jordan’s voice, and crossed the room to the waiting chair on the other side of the table.

“Any change with Eric?” Jordan lifted his drink and sipped, trying to act casual as he ran a hand through his short blond hair.

Taking his own glass, Brandon gulped it down. The smooth whiskey burned his throat, then settled warmly in his gut. “No.”

Jordan sighed, shifting to face Brandon fully.

Trepidation filled him. The man was normally direct.

“The ‘cult killings’ have started once more in the city,” Jordan said, his gaze dark with anger and confusion.

“But Connor killed the demon behind them just a few weeks ago,” Brandon protested.

“Aye. Yet, here we are.”

Brandon set his empty glass back on the table before he broke that one too. “So is Connor returning?”

“He’s busy with something else.”

“What? His refound family?”

“Nay. Something for the Magic Council.”

Considering the man was a Judge for the council, it shouldn’t be surprising. “So they’re not sending him back?”

“Not now.”

A sinking suspicion crawled into his gut. “Then who are you sending to investigate?”

Jordan just stared at him.

Jumping to his feet, Brandon paced to the fireplace. “I can’t go. Eric needs me--”

Jordan’s voice broke through his agitation. “Needs you? He hasn’t said two words in the last month. He doesn’t respond to anything we try.” He stood, arms behind his back, as Brandon paced. “Someone has to take care of the problem. If it’s another demon, you’re the only one I can send.”

Anger turned his stomach, bile burned up his chest. “I can’t leave my brother.”

Jordan’s voice cracked like steel. “You’ll tell me no?”

Stopping short, Brandon slowly swung around and met his king’s blazing red gaze. He’d never told Jordan “no,” since the man had rescued both him and Eric from living agony. But to leave his brother...

The tension in his shoulders ached. His chest tightened and he gave his king the only answer he could. “When do I leave?”

***

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Genre – Paranormal / Vampire Romance

Rating – PG

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Kat H. Clayton – Inside the Mind of an Author

Inside the Mind of an Author

by Kat H. Clayton

If you had the opportunity to look into the mind of an author, what would you expect to find?  What if I told you that an author’s mind was like a crystal ball and you could peer into its inner workings? If you were to ask for a glimpse, I think you might be scared of what you would see or at least be perplexed. But then again, that probably wouldn’t just apply to just an author’s mind. There’s good reason for why mind reading is something that only exists on the pages of a paranormal or science fiction novel.

I really couldn’t tell you what you would find inside the mind of any author you choose (note the whole mind reading thing again), but I can give you a glimpse into what you might find in mine.

If you didn’t know who I was, but someone handed you that crystal ball I mentioned a moment ago and said that it would allow you to see what’s going on in my brain, you would probably be terrified by what you would see. It would most likely reveal images of how to kill a person or how to almost kill a person, but bring them back from the brink of death. It also might show you images of a high speed chase or two as well. Without knowing who I was, you would likely conclude I’m a serial killer or at the very least a psychopath, drop the ball and run for your life. You wouldn’t have been so terrified if, before you had peered into that magical ball, that someone explained that I am a mystery writer. Then all the crazy images would make sense. You would sigh in relief knowing I wasn’t a maniac and that thinking of ways to kill off characters comes with the job description.

Inside my mind, I’m always turning over new ideas of how, when and what character isn’t going to make it to the next book. I’m also constantly churning ideas of where to put clues for my characters to find and what revelations to create next to keep my readers guessing the whole time. I’m a “pantser” (I write by the seat of my pants) and I don’t outline, so my writing thought process is from moment to moment, jumping from one thing to another without really thinking about what happens next beforehand.

These thought processes never really stop in my brain, so no matter if you pick up my crystal ball while I’m doing laundry, reading another novel, swimming or driving, I’ll be turning over some sort of scene and trying to logically work it out in my brain. For this author, the thought processes of my story never stop (except maybe when I’m asleep, but sometimes even then I dream about it), but you can rest assured that not all of them involve killing off characters.

The first book in The Kings of Charleston Series.

Casper Whitley is forced to move to Charleston, South Carolina where she’ll be the new kid her senior year of high school. Casper’s upset about the move until she meets the Roman family’s gorgeous son, Cal, but there’s a problem. A mystery surrounds him which can be summed up in one word…Kythera. Never heard of it? Neither has Casper until she finds the word tattooed on cars, paintings and all her new friends.

After Casper’s life is threatened, someone is forced to tell the truth about her parents, the Romans and Kythera’s motives for her being in Charleston. Once the truth is revealed, she must decide whether to protect her family and Kythera’s secrets or walk away from everything she has ever known.

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Genre – YA / Mystery / Suspense

Rating – PG13 (No sex scenes, some violence)

More details about the author

Connect with Kat H Clayton on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://kathclayton.com/

Review: The Kings of Charleston (The Kings of Charleston #1) by Kat H. Clayton

The Kings of Charleston (The Kings of Charleston #1)The Kings of Charleston by Kat H. Clayton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Make a list of facts you learned from the story. Casper was named after the horses. There farm was in Lexington.

The Whitley's owned several factories, a production company, a publishing company, and a stake in Fashion House. They has won more KY Derbies than anyone else. They just won another one. The Queen of England bought horses from them. They bred a lot of colts. They rented a house in Charleston, North Carolina. There was a secret society called Kythera.

Casper's dad made a deal for Casper to join, to help their finances. Cal and Casper were in love. Cal's father killed Jacob. All members of the society had to have the name tattooed on their body. 36.

Casper - Senior in high school, loved her horses. Kind of a tom boy. She didn't like all the parties that her mom had her attend. Preferred her horses over most people.

Cal - Senior in high school. He was tall with dark hair. He was the recruiter for Kythera. He was very popular.

Tyson - He was Cal's father Very rich, very tall and handsome. He was a murderer.

Casper's parents - Rich, but were losing everything. Her father is the one who got his family involved with Kythera. He was selfish and weak.

Did the book description relate to the story? The description fit the book's story and I was immediately intrigued to read more about Casper.

Do you find the characters convincing? The characters are all believable and I liked that there were many small characters who were a part of the plot but did not confuse the reader.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from the author.

View all my reviews