Happy Friday, everyone! Today I'm honored to have fellow Wild Rose
Press author Melissa Fox with me. Her book Wraith Redeemed is the first in a projected paranormal romance series, which you can learn more about at her website. She's lived a number of different places in her life, but currently resides in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and her prize-winning dogs (more about them below).
Melissa's kindly allowed me to ask her five nosy questions AND is very generously offering a free copy of Wraith Redeemed and a $25 Amazon gift certificate, so make sure to enter using the Rafflecopter at the end of our interview!
Now let's get started!
1. Hi Melissa, thanks so much for being with us today. You mention on your website that you've been an
inveterate reader since you were a child. What were some of your favorite books
growing up?
I read everything I could get my hands on, including
whatever my mom and dad had lying around! The Hardy Boys and The Black Stallion
books, of course. Encyclopedia Brown – man, is that a blast from the past, or
what? The magazine Highlights. Alfred
Hitchcock and the Three Investigators. Albert Payson Terhune, Marguerite Henry,
Judy Blume. Poe. Stephen King, Tolkien,
Harlan Ellison as I got a little older. The first romance I read was Kathleen
Woodiwiss’s Rose in Winter when I was
a senior in high school on Spring Break, and that opened my eyes to the
experience of falling in love within the pages of a romance in so many
different ways.
2. Wow, a lot of those titles really bring back memories. Kathleen Woodiwiss was the author who turned me on to romance, too. You also mention that you have dogs. We're great
animal lovers here at The Divas of Desire. Can you tell us a little about your
pets?
What beautiful dogs! They must be great companions.
3. Your book
Wraith Redeemed is a paranormal romance featuring a demon slayer. You also
have a future book in the Wraith series, Wraith
Enchanted. What is it about the paranormal that appeals to you as an
author?
Paranormal has it all, suspense, action, romance, emotion,
imagination. I love world building, coming up with twists and abilities not
constrained by conventional worlds. So much fun to manipulate and fantasize.
4. First
Impressions and Second Chances, your upcoming book, is a contemporary
Romantic suspense. It features an
undercover agent for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Did the book involve a
lot of research?
Oh, yes, Ash’s story! He’s become my favorite hero that I’ve
written so far – there’s just something about him. Stubborn, too, as I tried so
many times to make him FBI, ATF, police, something easier than a Mountie –
which I knew little about! He’s been pretty insistent so far to stay a Mountie,
so I had to do a ton of research. Still have more to do, iron out some issues,
which is why it’s still a work in progress and hasn’t been submitted anywhere
yet. If anyone knows about being a Mountie, especially undercover in Toronto,
hit me up!
5. I'd love to read about a Mountie. Sounds awesome! Would you please tell us about your most recent
release? We're all ears!
Wraith Redeemed is a second chance, reunion, hero done his
woman wrong and has a lot of explaining to do story wrapped up with
supernatural, good versus evil, demon slaying action and adventure. It was so
much fun to write and have Conor and Merry and their world in my head, and I’m so
excited to have the opportunity to share them with everyone.
WRAITH REDEEMED:
Demon-slayer Conor O’Shea is about to engage
in the most dangerous encounter of his life—facing the woman he scorned.
For years, Merry Bradbury's world revolved
around Conor O'Shea. After his sudden betrayal leaves her alone and
heartbroken, she comes home to settle her past and move into the future. The
last person she expects to see is Conor.
Conor never wanted anything more than forever
with Merry. Discovering he is a Wraith warrior, honor bound to fight demons,
destroys that plan. Merry is his Amorta, his one true soul mate, but he leaves
to keep her safe from the evil that stalks him.
Eight years later, Conor's worst fear is
realized, and he returns to defend Merry from his enemies. Can he save her from
an unspeakable fate and reclaim her heart? And if he does, will Merry be able
to accept all that he is?
EXCERPT #1
“Stay here,” Conor told her. “Don’t
move, no matter what you see. No matter what happens, Merry. Stay right here.”
He waited until she nodded her assent before
he turned. The woman hissed, and his shoulders rolled as he took a step toward
her. Merry’s eyes grew round when long-bladed weapons appeared in his hands.
“Wraith,” the woman snarled, lowering herself
into a half-crouch.
The wicked blades twisted in his hands to
point in her direction. He took another step toward the redhead, unnaturally
swift but pure and beautiful in his power.
“Go now,” he said in a quiet, even tone. “And
I’ll let you live one more day."
The woman’s attention left him for an instant
to settle on Merry, her eyes narrowing with speculation. A slow, feline smile
curved her red lips.
“You think you can protect her,” she purred.
“How sweet. I’m going to find out if she is as delicious as she smells after
I’m done with you.
EXCERPT #2
“I always knew you loved me,
Conor.” Merry could barely hear her voice over the pounding of her heart.
“I didn’t understand. I still don’t, not completely, but I knew. That’s why it
hurt so much and why I could never forget. That’s why I had to come home.”
His free hand curled around her neck. She
didn’t know if he intended to bring her closer or hold her in place. Her breath
caught, and his expression changed to something she recognized, something that
turned her breathlessness into searing pain. He pulled her up those last few
inches and placed his mouth on hers.
Shock ripped through her the minute their
lips touched. She gasped, rising to meet him with pent-up longing and
frustration. After a brief, stunned moment, both his hands flew up to hold her
face as she gripped his arms. She sighed in relief when his mouth opened over
hers, the scorching heat making her head reel and her body want more. She
accepted the touch of his tongue, pulled him in and welcomed him as she went
blind with pleasure. The compulsion to keep taking and never stop overwhelmed
her senses. His taste flooded her soul.
He felt so good.
Merry fought against the desire to ravish
more than his mouth, to hold on to reason and keep the contact to just kisses.
She had never expected to hold him close again, to be immersed in his heat and
scent. Their unique connection proved just as strong as she remembered, and she
savored the moment until she had to pull from his embrace or succumb to the
temptation of his hovering mouth.
“Conor—” The look on his face gave her a hot
thrill of excitement. “Conor.”
To purchase WRAITH REDEEMED, go to:
Find Melissa at:
Thanks so much for being here today, Melissa! It's been wonderful. And please pet your dogs for me!
Have a wonderful weekend, all!
Okay, everybody, don't forget to enter the Rafflecopter for the giveaway of one copy of WRAITH REDEEMED
in winner’s choice of format and one $25 Amazon gift certificate! Ends March
15, 2013.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
