Sharon Ashwood – Possessed by a Warrior – Interview, Review and Giveaway
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Description: Release Date May 1, 2014
A dazzling dress is wreaking havoc—and costing lives…
The violent death of her uncle sends Chloe Anderson reeling—and rushing to his estate. As coexecutor of Jack’s will, she assumes that he has left her something. What she doesn’t expect is a bejeweled wedding gown with a note warning her to trust only his business partner—dark, mysterious and sexy Sam Ralston.
Chloe’s been burned in love, but never bitten, and there’s something about Sam that keeps drawing her in, despite her fears. The attraction is mutual, intense, and it takes all of Sam’s willpower to hide his fangs. With Chloe’s career at stake and murderous thieves hot on their trail, the vampire vows to protect her. But can he save her from himself?
Chloe’s been burned in love, but never bitten, and there’s something about Sam that keeps drawing her in, despite her fears. The attraction is mutual, intense, and it takes all of Sam’s willpower to hide his fangs. With Chloe’s career at stake and murderous thieves hot on their trail, the vampire vows to protect her. But can he save her from himself?
Review:
So who killed Death? It was almost a joke. Irony sucked.
It’s up to the remaining 3 Horsemen of La Campagnie (The Company) to discover just that. Especially for Sam, aka, War. This was an affront; Jack was their leader, and a battle Sam would deliver to exact rightful vengeance. Now why on earth would Jack bequeath a spectacular wedding dress (diamond-encrusted bodice) to his niece, Chloe? It must be a clue! With it came instructions to trust Sam, and Chloe was just as blood-thirsty for justice. Hunting alongside Chloe didn’t suck (in his dreams!) Did I just write hunting? Well, yeah…vampire’s hunt! Bury the lead, why don’t I? 😀 It’s why I took the story in the first place (no surprise). But after one visit to Sharon Ashwood’s hilarious blog, I knew I was bound for something special. Possessed by a Warrior was a tantalizing, sumptuous tale of romance and thrills. I already plan on gifting this to my friends!
“War was meant for killing, not affairs of the heart.” Whatever lets you sleep at night, Sam. Hardened against any possibility of a loving relationship, Sam constantly admonishes himself with his credo for the lingering fantasies revolved around Chloe: Women like her die around creatures like you. The mutual attraction sizzled, however, and the observations, the “sizing up”, refused to be ignored. Ms. Ashwood maintained Sam at a discreet distance (heavy on the brooding), but aroused with a silent seduction of luscious and heated monologue.
She was pretty, but it was a sense of poised energy that made her remarkable – like an arrow about to fly. He couldn’t help watching, expectant for the moment, wondering what would happen if she finally sprang lose.
Hell-bent on keeping distance from Chloe, lest his unnatural being taint her (although Chloe doesn’t suspect), Chloe grabs the proverbial reins by the hand, to hell with that “need-to-know” basis, and launches her own investigation. When she discovers Jack’s recent whereabouts included meeting with a famous dress designer *ding*, who died recently *ding*, and now Jack was dead…DING!
Of the three people in that scene, Chloe was the only one who hadn’t been murdered. Yet. What’s the connection? The answer was obvious. Jessica Lark [designer] was –
And then the action really takes off when someone breaks into Chloe’s bedroom, intent on stealing, killing, for possession of the precious wedding dress. A bitter civil war raging between rival families since the Crusades has presented itself in the middle of Jack’s murder, and each side demands restitution. Sam’s hard-fought subdued demeanor disappears, replaced by the lethal predator necessary to protect Chloe.
But there was hunger in Sam’s gaze that went beyond a man thinking a woman was pretty. Beyond lust or possession or control. It was as if he wanted to devour her.
I, too, fell under Sam’s enchantment, by way of Sharon Ashwood, lol. 38% in and I savored every moment, every word – it would end all too soon. If there was one criticism, it was Sam waiting until the “morning after” for the big reveal. I would have preferred full disclosure instead of “you weren’t supposed to remember that part” (and then I would have gone back for thirds!) Unfortunately, breaking the rules leads to lethal consequences in this supernatural world of The Company. Is their forbidden love worth it? Other than that, Sam is one swooooon-worthy vampire and I implore you to read this book!
Maybe it was time War chose his own battles. It meant breaking every other bond he had, but what would he not give for a chance at real happiness?
*Swoon with me…resistance is futile!*
Reviewed by Carmen
Copy provided by Publisher
The Reading Cafe is happy to welcome Sharon Ashwood. Sharon is here today to discuss her new release, Possessed by a Warrior, as well as tell us what she has in store for us in 2014.
Let’s talk to Sharon.
TRC: Sharon, we at the Reading Café would like to thank you for taking the time to answer our questions.
TRC: Please tell us about yourself
Sharon: Here is the bio from my website:
Sharon Ashwood is a novelist, desk jockey and enthusiast for the weird and spooky. She has an English literature degree but works as a finance geek. Interests include growing her to-be-read pile and playing with the toy graveyard on her desk. As a vegetarian, she freely admits the whole vampire/werewolf lifestyle would never work out, so she writes her adventures instead.
Sharon is the winner of the RITA® Award for Paranormal Romance. She lives in the Pacific Northwest and is owned by the Demon Lord of Kitty Badness.
That gives you the basics, but I’ll add that I love cooking, I do most of my reading on audiobooks, and I’m starting a Photoshop course this month. I joined Pinterest, and I want to start working on my own images rather than just posting existing stuff. I draw a little, and I’d like to get back into creating visually as well as just with text.
TRC: Did you always have an interest in writing? When and how did you first start writing?
Sharon: I’ve written off and on as long as I can remember, but I got serious about publishing fairly late in the game. I was working as a freelance arts writer when I ran into the Romance Writers of America, who put on a local conference. What they had and I wanted was knowledge of the publishing industry. I joined and that opened a lot of doors for me. I got published by winning a local contest that put my manuscript on an editor’s desk. That was around 2005.
TRC: What was your first book ever published?
Sharon: Ravenous: the Dark Forgotten came out in 2008 just as the economy collapsed. I have breath-taking timing sometimes. This was the first of four urban fantasy romances. The others were Scorched, Unchained, and Frostbound, which is still my favorite book.
These were the first books published as Sharon Ashwood. Prior to that, I wrote some historicals and a huge number of non-fiction articles.
TRC: How did you come up with the idea for the Horsemen series? How many books are you planning for this series?
Sharon: There are four in the Horsemen series, two this year and two next. The entire series involves a royal wedding between two tiny Mediterranean countries that have been rivals for centuries. The wedding, which is a love match, will bring peace, but there are factions who don’t want that. The Horsemen (three vampires and a werewolf) are a special ops team from a supernatural spy agency. Their job is to make sure the wedding goes off without interference, but the more they get involved, the more tentacles of a huge plot emerge. There are four self-contained adventures, but they paint a larger picture that comes together in the last book. It has been huge fun to write.
As to where the inspiration came from—I was playing around with ideas for a police story and it kind of wandered off and did its own thing when I wasn’t looking. I really liked the idea of a wedding—it’s happy and full of promise—and one day I was watching a wedding party drive by and thought, yes! And then after I turned in the series proposal, Will and Kate announced their engagement and I thought, thank you! I had a real royal wedding to observe as I wrote the stories. I don’t think much crossed over into my story world, but it was kind of cool.
TRC: Possessed by a Warrior is the first book in this series, and was released May 1st. Can you please give us a brief description of this book?
Sharon: In a nutshell, is the Horseman they call War. He’s like James Bond with fangs, all very suave and cool and collected, but then his best friend Jack (aka Death) is killed. He ends up helping Jack’s niece wind up his estate. Chloe is a wedding planner and she inherits a designer dress from Jack that’s covered in diamonds—and it’s at the core of a series of murders. She’s next. Add chase scenes, a horrible mother of the bride, a werewolf with a comic streak, hairspray, and one very conflicted vampire, and you get the idea. Sam and Chloe are a great couple. He’s a straight arrow faced with hard choices, and she’s not backing down when it comes to keeping control of her life and loves. The book is pure paranormal romance. I like to think of it as a fantasy with just enough bite to keep it interesting but not so much it spoils the fun. It’s the kind of book I would read in a lawn chair with a cold drink on a summer Sunday afternoon.
TRC: The second book, Possessed by an Immortal is scheduled to be releases on June 1st. Can you give us a brief description of this story?
Sharon: Dr. Mark Winspear (Plague) is a different character than Sam. He’s a medical doctor now, but as a vampire, he’s got a long, painful history. He lost his human family in a horrible way and now he’s the poster child for Vampire 101: Basic Brooding. So there he is in his cabin on a remote island and Bree literally washes up on his doorstep with her sick child. Naturally, he helps out and before he knows it she has him at gunpoint. She’s desperate, scared to death, and on the run from the same bad guys as are after Mark.
However, they have to get the boy to specialized medical help, which means a long road trip dodging and hiding from their enemies. But while they’re physically running, Mark and Bree have to stop emotionally running. For one thing, she’s got an important tie to the royal wedding, which makes her vulnerable on a bunch of different levels. For another, Mark’s been a father before and really doesn’t want to suffer the pain of losing his family again. And by the way, who is the boy’s real father?
Excerpts to both books are available here:
http://www.sharonashwood.com/horsemen/
TRC Note: We will be reviewing Possessed by an Immortal on June 20th
TRC: Can you please tell us about your Dragon Lord series?
Sharon: These are Cravings novellas, so they’re meant to be short. I wanted to write about dragon shifters, and this was the perfect format to try something a little different. There are two stories, and the first is Lord Dragon’s Conquest. In it, an archaeologist discovers the dragon society and upsets the balance of power that’s held the dragons in thrall for centuries. I love the fact that Keltie is only a junior professor, but she finds something that makes the stuffy old guys in her department drool with envy. Anyway, the real question is how the dragons will react when their whole world is blown apart by a mere human female.
Valkyrie’s Conquest goes in a different direction, and tells the story of one of those dragons a few years later, and what happens when he stumbles into urban warfare between the Norse gods and the legions of hell. Odin has frozen the hearts of his warrior maidens, but his power is fading. Tyra, my Valkyrie, rebels against Odin’s rules after meeting a stunning example of dragon manhood.
TRC: What are you working on today?
Sharon: The fourth Horseman book, Possessed by the Fallen.
TRC: Many authors have friends or family, that they bounce ideas and information back and forth. Do you have anyone you like to discuss your stories with?
Sharon: Yes, I have my critique group and a couple of Beta readers who listen to me ramble and are happy to tell me when I suck.
TRC: On your website, you have a blog which has some cute posts from The Demon Lord (your cat). What is your cat’s name, and how did you come up with idea of posts from the mouth of Kitty Badness?
Sharon: I jokingly refer to my cat as the Demon Lord of Kitty Badness. The name on his vet’s file is Jordan, which is what the shelter named him. By the time I rescued him, there was little hope of retraining him to answer to something else, or much of anything, really. He was a little cuss as a kitten and has never entirely lost that side of his personality.
He started posting early on because a blogger wanted posts from writers’ pets and he got way more response than I did. Of course that went to his head, and he considers himself the real talent in the family.
TRC: Would you like to add anything else?
Sharon: My greatest wish is that readers have as much fun reading my books as I do writing them! And I love to hear feedback, so never hesitate to drop me a note.
LIGHTNING ROUND
Favorite Food: Produce fresh from the farmer’s market, maybe with crusty bread and a soft cheese.
Favorite Dessert: Something with fruit, like a flan.
Favorite TV Show: This varies. At the moment, Grimm, but I can’t wait to see what happens on Chicago Fire.
Favorite Movie: I’m always up for a good horror classic, like Dracula. I prefer Gary Oldman’s version.
Last Book You Read: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
Favorite Fictional Character (not your own): Probably Sam from The Lord of the Rings. He was in over his head, but he always had a solid sense of who he was and what was truly of value. As time goes on, I really admire those qualities more and more.
Milk or Dark Chocolate: Dark
TRC: Thank you Sharon, for taking the time to answer our questions. We wish you the best of luck with both new books from your Horsemen series
Sharon: And thanks to you and all your readers! Now, here’s a question for them: When it comes to reading about authors and their pets, do you think their pets tell the truth? Who are the bigger liars, cats or dogs?
You can learn more about Sharon at the following links:
Website / Twitter / Facebook / Blog / Newsletter / Pinterest / Email
Sharon is graciously offering a signed paperback of Possessed by a Warrior to one (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.
1. Please register using the log-in at the top of the page.
2. If you are using a social log-in such as Twitter or Facebook, please post your email address with your comment.
3. LIKE us on FACEBOOK and then click GET NOTIFICATION under ‘liked’ for an additional entry.
4. LIKE us on Twitter for an additional entry.
5. Giveaway open Internationally
6. Giveaway runs from May 14 to May 17, 2014
Wonderful review, Carmen. Also a wonderful interview, Sharon. Quite a few of us here have a love of cats. The Demon Lord of Kitty Badness is cute. lol
Thank you, Barb! OMG, when I looked at Ms. Ashwood’s blog…the love for her cat…vampires…we were a match from the start! 🙂
What a great interview and review these are going to put them on my TBR list please enter me in the giveaway.
What a fabulous review. Your expressions are fun to read.
Sorry, I meant to add that it was great to meet you Sharon. After reading Carmen’s review, I plan to buy your book.
Ahhhhh, thank you, Bran!!! It was a fantastic read and I totally encourage you to buy it!!! I’m reading the sequel now…hope you’ll come back for that review, too. 🙂
Loved the interview. Demon kitty is very cute. I think cats would be the liers.
Lol, Lori. Ms. Ashwood is so fun, right?!
It looks like a fun book! Adding another to my want-to-read list…
DO!!! I devoured the book and am enjoying the sequel as well. 🙂
rosebud10@hotmail.com I love your website
Thanks for stopping by, Rose!
There aren’t many romance with a four horsemen theme. Sounds like an interesting read.
Indeed…and Ms. Ashwood makes you love each Horseman. Loved this book!
Great review & interview! Allergic to cats.
Thank you, Eileen. Sorry to hear about your allergy. 🙁 Hope you’ll add this to your TBR.
Great Review. Those books sound cool. I like the horsemen theme and supernatural.
Thank you, Kirby. I’m loving the sequel as well. Ms. Ashwood is a great writer.
Very nice review Carmen. Sounds like a great storyline.
Thank you Sharon for taking the time to answer our questions at The Reading Cafe. It is always our pleasure to introduce the author to our members. Congratulations on the release of POSSESSED BY A WARRIOR.
It was wonderful, Sandy. I was sold on the vampire, but Ms. Ashwood is full of life and I’m enjoying the series immensely!!! 🙂
Great review Carmen … interesting interview… love these things. Sounds like a really good read too.
I look forward to reading these books, they sound great. I love paranormal.
julieaalexandria@me.com
Ty for the opportunity to win!
maureenmckenzie2007@yahoo.com
A favorite author, a new series–what’t not to like? Thanks for more hours of great entertainment and fun. Count me in!
Please enter me in the giveaway. Terrific interview and Sharon is a new author for me but with the reviews, I am definately interested in her books.
email: rboinaz@cox.net
I love Sharon’s books and I can’t wait to read this one. Thanks for sharing it and the wonderful interview. evamillien at gmail dot com
Thanks for the review and interview. Sounds like a pretty good book.
Lea Ellen {night owl in IL}
borg_66@hotmail.com
Cats, vampires, warriors–count me in! Liked on Facebook as Donna Bayar Repsher, gemgal14@gmail.com
Looking forward to reading this series. Please enter me in the giveaway.
WONDERFUL SHARON AND I HOPE TO READ YOURS SOON
Great review and interview. Although cats and dogs are both loyal, I think both a cat or a dog would lie, but for different reasons. The cat will lie to get something it wants. The dog will lie to protect you in any way. Also, have to mention the cover is beautiful. Thanks for the giveaway.
riveroftimefan(at)gmail(dot)com
Wonderful review Carmen-sounds like you really loved this story.
Congratulations Sharon on the new release. Love the cover and the colors.
Please enter me into the giveaway-thanks.
Great review Carmen. Loved the interview too. Sounds like just the kind of book I would like. Thaks for coming by Sharon.
I appreciate the review, Carmen, and I love the cover of this book. Please enter me into the giveaway. I like on FB and also get notifications.
bmndshuler(at)hotmail(dot)com
Great Review Carmen. As always u entertain me and make me want to read the book. This one definitely sounds like something I will enjoy. Great interview too
I would gladly add this book to my TBR pile.
Very nice review Carmen. Sounds like something I would like to read.
Oops, congrats to Sharon . Thanks for giving us a peak into you writing.
And TheDemon Lord- I think all cats like to believe they rule the world 😉
Congrats on the new release! I can’t wait to read it.
Terrific review, Carmen. I want to read this, please enter me to the giveaway.
Sounds great, thanks. I like on facebook and follow on twitter, harvester5905
magic5905 at embarqmail dot com
THANKS SHARON AND GOOD LUCK ALL!
First Congrats!! Awesome Review. Those books sound so up my ally!!! I like the horsemen theme and supernatural.
tamsroses@yahoo.com
Nice review and interview ladies. Congrats to Sharon on the new release.
Please enter me into the giveaway.
Sounds great! Please enter me into the giveaway and I also follow on Facebook.
sgibby1642@yahoo.com
CONGRATS SHARON AND HAPPY WEEKEND ALL
TBBL IN CASE I DON’T WIN. LUCK ALL
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