Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Daughter of the Dragon Princess VBT

Book Description:
Found abandoned as a baby and brought up in a children’s home, Lily Palmer has no clue that she is the last of the Dragon Princesses and destined to be mated to a king. But when she wakes up one night to find her apartment invaded by a stunningly gorgeous, but totally deluded madman, she can no longer ignore the dreams which have haunted her life.

 Exiled on Earth, and trapped in human form, the dragons have waited two thousand years for the only person who can open the portal between their world and this one. Now they have found her and Malachite Smith has one job—to deliver Lily to his King. According to dragon law, only the King and the Dragon Princess together can open the portal and take them home.

 But neither Mal nor Lily are prepared for the overwhelming attraction which flares between them. Or for his reluctance to hand her over to a king he despises. Can they stand as one and challenge the old ways, even if it means destroying his people forever?



Excerpt:
“You know, all I ever wanted was to be normal.” Lily swiped the rain from her eyes and glared at the scene in front of her.
They stood on the crest of a hill. All around them, the land fell away steeply, and straight ahead, the stone circle loomed out of the mist.
“Doesn’t seem very ambitious,” Joe said, coming to stand beside her, his tall figure hunched against the downpour.
“Maybe not, but they didn’t exactly encourage us to dream big in the children’s home, and I thought—be realistic—keep my life goals small. How the hell hard can normal be?”
Too fucking hard, obviously.
She kicked a rock at her feet, and then winced. Trudging up here, cold, wet, her heels rubbed raw from her new hiking boots, she’d somehow convinced herself this whole thing was a figment of her imagination.
No such luck.
The scene before her was familiar. She’d seen it so many times… in her dreams.
It was official—she was a crazy lady who had visions.
She turned to Joe. “Sorry,” she muttered. After all, this wasn’t his fault. He’d been a real sweetie. Nor was it his fault that beneath her shirt, the mark on her arm tingled, reminding her of its existence. She rubbed it absently and caught Joe’s speculative gaze before he glanced away.
“What’s the matter, Lily?” His voice was gentle, his gray eyes worried.
“Nothing.” She gave him a bright smile. “So, this is where you found me?”
“Yes. Hard to believe it was over twenty years ago.”
A lifetime—her lifetime anyway.
Coming to this place had been a whim, when the dreams had become too much, invading even her waking moments until they were impossible to ignore. Something had told her that the answers were back here where it had all started. Illogical—but then nothing about her life made sense recently.
She’d never met Joe before—well, except for the one time, but she had no memory of that—though he had sent her a “birthday card” each year on the anniversary of the day he’d found her. He’d sounded genuinely pleased when she’d called and asked if they could meet.
“Will you tell me what happened?” That’s why she was here after all. At the children’s home, they had told her she’d been found abandoned as a baby and handed in. Nothing else. And by the time she was old enough to ask questions, she’d seen enough of life to accept that she probably wouldn’t like the answers.
Joe nodded. “I was checking the sheep down in the lower pasture when I heard some sort of explosion. I ran up here and there you were.” He waved a hand in the direction of the circle. “All alone, so tiny. You were naked but with this mark, like a tattoo, wrapped around your arm. I kept thinking—why would anyone do that to a baby?”
Why indeed?
But a faint quiver of excitement tingled in her gut. Was this the answer to the dreams and visions? That she’d been here before. Was it that simple? Okay, she’d been a baby. Even so, those memories would be locked in her brain somewhere. Now they were trying to get out. That was all. There was nothing weird or unexplainable about what had been happening to her.
She took the last few steps, which brought her into the lee of one of the great stones. It was slick with rain, but warm to the touch, and she traced the swirling patterns cut into the rock, too regular to be carved by nature. Resting her forehead against the warmth of the stone, she allowed her fears to drain away.
Maybe she wasn’t crazy after all. She could go home. Forget all this and get on with her nice, normal life.
As she raised her head, she caught a glimpse through the gap in the stones to the amphitheater beyond—also familiar. The space was empty except for a flat table-like slab in the center and behind that, a stone arch, as tall as the uprights. She stepped into the circle, prickles shivering across her skin as she passed between two of the huge pillars.
“You were lying there, on the altar stone,” Joe said from behind her.
A faint hum filled her ears. The sound arose from within the arch, and she walked slowly toward it.
“Do you hear that?” she asked. The hum grew louder, more a buzzing now like a swarm of hungry bluebottles.
“Hear what?” he asked. “There’s nothing here.”
“But there is. It’s coming from the arch. You must be able to hear it.” It seemed impossible that he couldn’t.
She came to a halt in front of the flat stone and peered into the archway, to the gray sky and the standing stones behind it. As she stared, the image wavered, a ripple running through the view.
Her heart pounded in her chest, her whole body rigid. Even as her feet itched to run as fast as possible in the opposite direction, longing washed through her, an impulse to step through the arch and find whatever was on the other side. Taking a deep breath, she forced her feet to remain still while her hand reached forward, fingers outstretched. Joe called out from behind her but she ignored him. Flames flickered within the frame of the arch. The crackle of fire filled her ears as the scent of smoke teased her nostrils. On her right arm, the mark burned through her skin like a brand.
The noise grew and grew until a shrill scream crowded her head, drowning out her conscious thoughts. A jolt of electricity slammed through her.
Then blackness.



Thanks so much for stopping by. So, why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?
I’m actually English, but I now live on an almond farm in the mountains of southern Spain. I share the farm with my husband and a whole load of animals (four dogs, two cats, a horse, four chickens, two goats, and a three-legged Vietnamese pot-bellied pig called Piggles!) and I spend my time, reading, writing and picking the occasional almond.
How did you get started writing?
I sort of turned to writing out of desperation…
I’ve always been a voracious reader, but I actually started writing when I worked as a volunteer in Africa in my twenties (more than a little while ago). I was living in a remote village on the banks of Lake Kariba in Zambia, with no electricity, no TV, no internet, and very limited access to books (this was way before ebooks). I quickly ran out of things to read—dire circumstances for someone used to reading a book a day. But I did have a laptop computer (powered by solar) and so I turned to writing my own stories instead—and loved it.
What was the inspiration for your book?
I’d just finished writing a paranormal romance based around vampires and werewolves and wanted to attempt something a little different. I’d been reading a lot of fantasy at the time (The Black Jewels Trilogy springs to mind) and while I wanted to stick with paranormal romance as a genre, I also wanted to add a touch of fantasy. Dragons seemed the obvious choice for a fantasy creature and I made them shape shifters for a more paranormal feel.
What’s the one genre you haven’t written in yet that you’d like to?
I’d love to write a sprawling historical saga. I’ve always steered clear of writing historical because of all the research involved, but one day I’d love to have a go.
Are there any genres you won’t read or write in? Why?
None. There are probably some that I won’t get around to, but nothing I won’t do on principle. I’ll read just about everything fictional, and I’m a strong believer in writing the sorts of things you I to read—which doesn’t narrow things down much for me.
So, what are you working on right now? Got any releases planned, or still writing?
I write across a number of sub-genres and over the next few months I have a paranormal romance (Bittersweet Magic, book 2 in my Order series), a contemporary romance (Out of Control, book 2 in my Babysitting a Billionaire series) and a science-fiction romance (Death Defying, book 3 in my Blood Hunter series) releasing.
And right now, I’m writing another contemporary romance, Taking Control, book 3 in my Babysitting a Billionaire series—stories about tough female bodyguards and the men they protect!
Alright, now for some totally random, fun questions. Favorite color?    Yellow
Favorite movie?     Aliens
Book that inspired you to become an author?     The Lord of the Rings
Alright, you have one superpower. What is it?     Time travel
You can have dinner with any 3 people, dead, alive, fictitious, etc. Who are they?     Doctor Who, Jack Bauer, and Thorne (he’s the hero in my next Blood Hunter book and I’d love him to tell me what’s going to happen!)
Last question: Which of your characters are you most like and how/why?
This is hard – maybe Roz out of my next release, Bittersweet Magic, (but that might be wishful thinking). She’s short, snarky, drinks too much, and is very independent.




a Rafflecopter giveaway
Schedule:
October 7 RDB
Interview - Marked by Books
Spotlight - Lis Les Livres
Interview - Pembroke Sinclair
Book Blitz - Victoria's Gossip
Interview and Spotlight - BookwormBridgette's World
Spotlight - Book Worm & More
Spotlight (review later) - Offbeat Vagabond



Oct 8- 15 Tour
October 8 Interview and review - happy tails and tales

October 8 review - Nicky Peacock Author

October 9 Interview - Sharing Links and Wisdom


October 10 review - trips down imagination road

October 10 Spotlight and review - The Alaskan Bookie

October 11 Interview and review - Crazy Four Books

October 11 Spotlight - Share My Destiny

October 14 Spotlight (review later) - Booked and Loaded

October 14 review - Romance Book Junkies

October 15 Guest blog - Books & Other Spells

October 15 Spotlight and review - Book Bliss
About the Author:
Nina Croft grew up in the north of England. After training as an accountant, she spent four years working as a volunteer in Zambia which left her with a love of the sun and a dislike of 9-5 work. She then spent a number of years mixing travel (whenever possible) with work (whenever necessary) but has now settled down to a life of writing and picking almonds on a remote farm in the mountains of southern Spain.

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3 comments:

  1. Nina CroftOctober 9, 2013 at 4:41 AM

    Thanks for hosting me today and the great interview questions! Nina

    ReplyDelete
  2. Stormy VixenOctober 9, 2013 at 6:28 PM

    Great interview! Thanks for sharing it and the giveaway. I can't wait to read this book. evamillien at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Stormy VixenOctober 9, 2013 at 6:49 PM

    Thanks for sharing the great excerpt and interview and the giveaway. Sounds like a great book. evamillien at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete

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