Posts
About the Book...Sentenced to spend the rest of his three remaining lifetimes in Nil, Amon Kalins is freed with the help of his Sidhe servant, Gethen, but now he must accept his life is never to be his again as the Council won't rest until he's safely back imprisoned within Nil's cold walls. Broken and nearly dead from his time in prison, Amon is saved by an Aeveren healer named Althea Forester. As a healer, Thea has served her people for forty-five lifetimes, never having a destined one and always knowing each lifetime would ultimately end with her alone. But destiny hasn't forgotten her.
Drawn to the seductive Amon, Thea quickly becomes a pawn the Council uses to trap him. Taken prisoner by the sadistic leader of the rebel group, the Soren, Thea must survive the vicious world of the people hellbent on taking her destined one away forever, and Amon must risk everything dear to him to free her from those who would sacrifice her to claim the bigger prize and return him to Nil.
About the Aeveren:
Aeveren are a race of people descended from humans, but long ago they were chosen by the Archangel Raziel to be his people. He gave them the gifts of reincarnation, powers beyond what humans have, and destined ones. Aeveren live fifty lifetimes through reincarnation and carry with them their memories from their past lives. Upon reaching their twentieth lifetimes, they receive a power, such as telepathy, teleportation, or the power of time travel. However, some Aeveren are born with their abilities, making them far more powerful than the rest of the race. Finally, each Aeveren soul is given destined ones, other Aeveren meant only for them. However, Aeveren possess free will, so like humans, they don't always choose as they should.
Excerpt:
Amon felt Thea’s body stiffen at his touch and even without probing her mind he knew he needed to brace himself for the onslaught of her emotions. As she turned around slowly to face him, he was secretly thrilled to notice she was still wearing his shirt.
Maybe this won’t be so bad.
“How the hell did you get in here? And who invited you in?” she snapped as she stood toe to toe with him, her hands on her hips and her blue eyes blazing.
Amon saw the genuine displeasure he’d caused and rethought the joke he wanted to make about not having to be invited in like a vampire. It was going to be as bad as he’d anticipated. And as painful if she continued to be angry.
“I’m sorry, Thea. I didn’t mean to frighten you.” In the hopes of diffusing the situation, he intentionally focused on softening his tone.
“Frighten me? Is that what you think you did? First, you have your goon kidnap me as if I’m your personal healer created just for you, and now you’re back to kidnap me yourself! Frightened? I’m so past frightened, Amon.”
If her emotions weren’t beginning to take their toll on him physically, he might be turned on by Thea’s outburst. He liked her like this. Feisty. Brave. A perfect match for him. Her emotions were beginning to cause him great pain, though, and in his still weakened state, he knew he wouldn’t be able to sustain much more of her anger.
“Please, Thea. Don’t be angry. I missed you.”
As he spoke, he took her hand in his and stroked his thumb over the soft skin of her knuckles.
“Amon, you broke into my house.”
Smiling happily as he felt her anger abate just a little, he answered, “Technically, I didn’t break in because I didn’t use the door.”
Thea looked at him with a confused look that made him want to explain, if only because it seemed to have calmed her down.
“I teleported in. So no breaking, really.”
“Teleported?”
“Yes, it’s one of my powers.”
“One?” Thea seemed to consider what he’d said and then continued. “I don’t care. You can’t just come into my house without being invited in.”
“I’m sorry. Can we sit down and talk?”
Amon saw her resolve weaken and knew he’d won her over for the moment. Still holding her hand, he walked with her to the couch and sat down next to her.
“Your house is very nice.” His words were predictable, but he hoped to avoid another emotional outburst from her that would be sure to hurt.
Thea turned her body toward him and smiled. “Amon, why are you here, if it’s not to kidnap me again?”
Her refusal to let him set the pace made him smile. He was going to have to tell her about Sevine.
“I missed you. I wish you hadn’t left.”
“Amon, I can’t just stay at your house for the rest of my life. I have a job...”
Thea caught herself and corrected what she’d said. “Well, I had a job before you sent that man to kidnap me and you held me captive.”
Amon felt her sadness wash over him, and he felt truly sorry for what had happened. “I never intended for that to happen. I will compensate you well to make up for everything. I promise.”
While he spoke, he looked directly into her eyes and wished they were back at his house together. Or better yet, at his home in Greece, somewhere he was sure she’d enjoy.
“You can’t just do things that hurt others and then simply throw money at the problem. I loved my job, and now I’ve lost it.”
Thea’s sadness stabbed at him, and he closed his eyes to ward off the pain. Unlike before, this was more an ache than searing pain.
“Are you okay, Amon?” he heard her say and he opened his eyes.
Wincing, he nodded, but concerned, she placed her hands on his and held them. “Where is the pain located?” she asked when she couldn’t figure out how to heal him.
“You can’t heal this, Thea. This is the pain I explained to you before.”
Gently squeezing his hands, she said quietly, “I can heal your pain. Please tell me where it’s coming from.”
There would be no explaining this away, so he decided to tell her the truth.
“Thea, you can’t heal it because you cause it. Or more specifically, your unhappiness causes it. My destined one cursed me to feel unrelenting pain each time I make you unhappy.”
“Why? I thought you said you hadn’t even seen her in lifetimes.”
“I haven’t.”
“Then why curse you with something from me?”
Amon sighed and knew he couldn’t avoid telling her the most important part of Sevine’s curse.
“She didn’t. The curse is more general than that. It affects me with anyone I love.”
Lifetimes of confidence seemed to evaporate in seconds as he watched Thea’s face darken.
“Love me? Is that what you think coming to my house to take me away is? Love?”
“You don’t understand. I found out...”
Thea cut him off in mid-sentence and put her hand up. “I understand perfectly. You want me back at your house to heal you, and you think the way to soften me up into accepting being kidnapped a second time is to tell me you love me. You must think I’m pretty pathetic if you believe that will work.”
Pain once again raged through his body and Amon silently reached out to Gethen to call for help. Moments later, he and Markku entered through the front door and Thea leaped from her seat on the couch.
“Don’t either of you have any manners either? Get out of my house now!”
Both men stood still waiting for instructions from Amon and appeared to almost look right through her. With each word, Amon felt weaker, and he leaned back against the couch, twisted in pain.
In a strangled voice, he whispered, “Thea, please listen. They’re here to help me. Your emotions are killing me.”
Turning to see his face drained of all color, she asked, “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
About the Author...
An avid reader of all types of books, I read my first romance even before I was a teenager. I must have been a very precocious young lady! I still remember the book, if not the title. It was about a Southern man during the years before the Civil War and his illicit affair with one of the slaves of a woman he "frequented". I remember vividly reading the word "manhood" often in the book, and the slave's name was Sukie. Isn't it amazing what the mind can remember?
Fast forward a couple dozen years and I'm a college history instructor. I still love history as much as that romantic young woman did, so I teach it to college students, and the romantic streak has never gone away. Now I get to do things that have to do with my other favorite love: romance novels.
The idea for my first book came to me in a dream. I know that seems almost cliched, but it did. I woke up one morning after having an extremely vivid dream and began to jot things down that I was able to remember. Days later, I had the first pages written and the ideas that I had dreamed about had become the characters in my first book. Those characters are the basis for the first series I've written, The Destined Ones Series, about a people called Aeveren who have lived side by side with humans since almost the beginning of recorded time. The first book in that series, Stolen Destiny, was published in June.
I'm still working on The Destined Ones books, and I look forward to what my imagination has waiting for me next. The second book about Aeveren, Destiny Redeemed, is scheduled to be released on October 13. I've finished the Victorian Erotic Romance Trilogy, three erotic novellas set in Victorian England. The first one, Vampire Dreams, is a paranormal erotic romance. The second novella, another erotic romance but an historical, Love's Master, involves some light BDSM. The third novella, Masquerade, is a straight historical, no kink or paranormal. After that, a paranormal romance set in the great city of New Orleans is up in December--Blood Avenged. Anyone who read Vampire Dreams will remember Vasilije, Brandon's sire. Blood Avenged is his story.
After that? Well, I'm in the planning stages of another trilogy, this time maybe novel length, that will come out in 2012. But one thing's for sure: no matter what the story is, it will involve gorgeous, Alpha male heroes; strong heroines; and steamy romance!
Website: Gabrielle Bisset
Twitter
SEVEN of you can win an eBook copy from Gabrielle's giveaway...just fill out the form below~!!
In Gabrielle's Own Words...
Occasionally, people will ask me if my Destined Ones books are sci-fi or fantasy. I’m usually thrown off a bit when I get asked this question because to me, they’re pretty straightforward paranormal romance. Then when we begin talking about the plots to Stolen Destiny and my new release, Destiny Redeemed, I see why they might think sci-fi or fantasy.
The characters in my Destined Ones books are Aeveren. Descended from humans but changed many millennia ago by the Archangel Raziel into Aeveren, they live fifty lifetimes through reincarnation, possess powers above what humans have, and are mated to other Aeveren who are their destined ones—souls they are meant to travel through their lifetimes with until one moves on after the fiftieth lifetime.
None of that lends itself to the sci-fi or fantasy idea, but it seems the idea of Nil is where people sometimes see a touch of the two genres. Nil is Aeveren prison. It exists on a different plane than humans and Aeveren on Earth do, but not on a different planet. It is a cold, dank place very much like a medieval prison where Aeveren are sent to be punished for crimes against their fellow Aeveren. The main character in Destiny Redeemed, Amon, begins the book as a prisoner sentenced to spend the rest of his lifetimes—three—in Nil for his abuses of his powers in his past lifetimes.
The prison is ruled over by the Council of Nil, a group of men and women who hear cases and deliver punishments to those who come before them. When an Aeveren is found guilty by the Council, he or she is sentenced to a period of time in Nil, ranging from a few years to lifetimes, or in Amon’s case, the remainder of his lifetimes.
The Council also rules over the local councils in many ways. While they have their own jurisdiction, each local council is given edicts by the Council of Nil, the most powerful council in the Aeveren world.
All of this may sound like it teeters on the sci-fi or fantasy line, but other than these administrative details, Destiny Redeemed is at its heart a paranormal romance. The story revolves around a man and a woman who, despite the fact that they’re Aeveren, experience the same types of barriers to happiness as any other romance novel couple. Yes, Amon is in his forty-seventh lifetime and can travel through time, and yes, Thea is blessed with the power to heal others simply by touching them, but in the end, the two of them are just two people in love against the powers that want to keep them apart. It just so happens that the powers trying to thwart this couple are paranormals like themselves.
So in the end, no real sci-fi, a touch of fantasy, and a lot of romance make up Destiny Redeemed. Thanks to Mad Moose Mama for having me at her blog for this stop on the tour for my book. It’s been great!
** Thank you Gabrielle for sharing yourself with all us Mad Moosers...we wish you the best in ALL that you do~!! **
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave us some love...and have yourself a groovy day~!! Peaces...xoxo