Author Kendra Leigh Castle Giveaway!! Day 3

MsM: It's day three already! Where does the time go when you're chasing drunken pirates and hiding jugs of rum? I want to thank Kendra for coming to the island and sharing about her books and heroes. It's been a pleasure having her here on DIK. Thank you Kendra.

Kendra writes: This is my last day on the island, and I’d like to thank my lovely hostesses, especially Ms Moonlight, for inviting me. It’s been a relaxing little respite from the usual insanity I live in the middle of, and I’m trying to make the most of my last day of sun and fun. Oh, so the sand castle building contest yesterday went a little awry. That kind of thing happens when you have a dragon-shifter who doesn’t know how to lose and thinks breathing fire is an acceptable outlet for frustration. It was a shame, though…Bastian’s ice castle might have been a little outside of the rules, but it was pretty amazing until the big meltdown. Gideon and Gabriel tried to work together, but…well, I think it would have been beautiful, if they hadn’t started throwing one another into it. Brothers. *eyeroll*

My one consolation is that Captain Jack hasn’t burned anything down this time. Okay, I admit it. I let Jack Sparrow tag along. But he’s been so good about not destroying anything. He loves this place! And if you’ve never seen Jack taking an afternoon swim with all of that bronzed skin glistening in the sun, then I suggest you check it out. Nothing finer.

I told you all that I’d introduce my little band of heroes at some point, and I think today’s the best time to do it, when they’re all too tired from causing trouble to move much. I’m very proud of bringing each of them to life, and just like real men, they’ve each brought me their share of joy and headaches.

First up is Gideon MacInnes from my debut novel, Call of the Highland Moon. He’s a big, sexy Scotsman who also happens to be next in line to lead his pack. He’s also starting to panic at the responsibility that entails, which is why he takes off for one last trip to wander America and, possibly, find a mate. The problem is that in my mythology, werewolf bites are fatal to all but the strongest humans. Add to it that my werewolves know their mates almost immediately, bonding permanently on their end even if the human never knows about it, and you can see why Gideon would want to be careful. But he doesn’t know he’s been followed to America by an enemy who’ll stop at nothing to get what he has…which is how he winds up in the care of exactly the kind of woman he can never have. And of course, the only one he’ll ever want. In my mind’s eye, Gideon always looked like Gerard Butler in Timeline. Now who wouldn’t chance a bite for that?

Next is Gideon’s brother Gabriel, the hero of my book Dark Highland Fire. Gabriel is his brother’s opposite in almost every way, a cheerful slacker with a healthy case of Second Son Syndrome. He owns a pub in Tobermory and spends his time partying and chasing women. Well, actually, having women chase him. But after the events of the first book in the trilogy, Gabe is feeling restless and a little useless. The fact that his pack is being hunted by a bunch of otherworldly shifters has been, as you might imagine, a little hard to digest. Then, in a single wild night, Gabriel finds himself responsible for a demigoddess on the run from their mutual enemy…and for the first time, Gabe finds out what it’s like to want what he can’t have. At least, he can’t have Rowan an Morgaine without a lot of work and a couple of near-death experiences. Which is exactly why it was so much fun to write this book! I envisioned him as looking something like Marco Dapper, here.

The third hero I’ve brought along is Bastian an Morgaine, the quiet, strong, brooding brother of Gabriel’s heroine and the heart of Wild Highland Magic. Everyone assumes Bastian is just sort of cold, but there’s a lot more to him than the icy stoicism he projects. Bastian has been dealing with a hereditary curse for most of his life, one he’s been warned never to tell another soul about because of the danger it would pose to them. As the game of cat and mouse he’s played with the shadow stalking him nears its inevitable endgame, Bastian heads for the Scottish Highlands, and the home of his kind’s new allies, the MacInnes Werewolves, to try one last time to defeat the thing that has isolated him from the life he longs to live. But he’ll need the help of an old enemy to do it. And he certainly never counted on a certain beautiful, precocious werewolf who’s determined to have him no matter what his issues are, ready or not. Bastian looks quite a bit like Ingo Rademacher, though with even lighter hair and paler blue eyes. Same smokin’ bod, though!

Lastly, I brought Wild Highland Magic’s co-hero/anti-hero, Lucien Andrakkar. I can’t tell you much about him without giving the story away, but he’s actually in all three books of the trilogy, and his journey may be the one I most enjoyed. He’s a dark, bad boy dragon shifter with a very big chip on his shoulder, not so much hulking Alpha male in looks but more lanky and hawkish. Kinda Richard Armitage as Guy of Gisborne!

Oh. And there’s Captain Jack. Ah…Jack? You might want to get away from the tiki bar with the torch, Jack. Jack? Jack, noooooo!

**Sounds of hollering, a very nice male voice slurring the words to A Pirate’s Life for Me, cries for buckets of water, and eventually, the roaring of an angry mob of women apparently impervious to Jack Sparrow’s impassioned declarations of his love for every last one of them. Eventually, there is a loud splash, and cheering.**

Well, looks like Jack’s been tossed out to sea. I think he can make it back to the ship we have anchored out there for our departure…I mean, he seems to swim pretty well while intoxicated. In any case, thanks so much for the vacation ladies (and, um, sorry about the tiki bar…I’ll be sending funds to rebuild that).

Time for me to depart, but before I go, I’d like to give away a signed copy of one of my books to a commenter. Winner can choose which book. What I want to know is, which hero of either book or film would you want to be stranded on a desert island with? Thanks again for the party, ladies!

Kendra's books...

-Call of the Highland Moon

-Dark Highland Fire

-Wild Highland Magic

MsM: Thank you Kendra! And someone help Jack, he won't let go of the rum and can't swim with two jugs in his hands for goodness sakes!! Jack! Jack!! Let go of the rum!! *Jack tosses evil drunken glare at me* Oh well... I guess I'll go find the DIK lifeguards.

Thanks again Kendra!! It's been a delight to have you here on the island!

Don't forget to visit Kendra Leigh Castle at her blog!!! It's a great place to visit!

Author Kendra Leigh Castle - Day 2!

Author Kendra Leigh Castle is back to share more about the books she loves and second day on the island!


Kendra writes: It’s my second day on the island, and I’m busy lounging in a hammock and sipping yet another margarita. Okay, and trying not to think about the guyliner-wearing pirate who went streaking around the island last night. Not that the view was bad, mind you. But the rum’s gone, and I really don’t want to have the “Why is the rum gone?” discussion again when he wakes up. My own little entourage of heroes is still passed out in the hut. Of course, that’s what I get for creating so many men who are basically nocturnal. The werewolves will be out eventually, though the brothers MacInnes, Gideon and Gabriel, did some serious damage to themselves last night when we all decided to play poker. I think my dragon-shifter, Lucien, got a black eye out of the deal once they figured out he’d been cheating, and I had a hell of a time convincing Bastian, who also happens to be an ice mage, that drowning him was not an acceptable option. They all have heroines waiting for them on distant shores who would like it if they didn’t kill one another, and my husband is going to be pretty pissed off if I wind up in jail as an accessory to murder. I’ll never understand how we all ended up dancing around that bonfire. Well, except that someone convinced me to unearth the rum that Ms Moonlight and I had so cleverly buried. Hmm.

Anyway, for right now, I’m just going to enjoy the sun, the warm breeze, and the five favorite books I was told I could bring to entertain myself with. Though it was hard to choose, I thought I’d share what I brought:

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen-
I know, this is so boring of me, right? Almost everyone loves this book. Still, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit it was a favorite. I never, ever get tired of watching Lizzie bring the proud and adorably clueless Mr. Darcy to heel. Possibly the most well-matched couple in the history of romance, and the end of the book, in which we learn what happens to Jane and Lizzie after marriage in some small way, is a treat that the movies really should have incorporated.

The Prize by Julie Garwood-
Julie Garwood is the reason I write romance. That is not an exaggeration. I started getting into my mom’s Garwood collection when I was in, like, sixth grade, and ever since then her charming, quick-witted, and inevitably clumsy heroines have been my idea of the ideal heroine. Likewise, her gruff Alpha Male heroes who hide hearts of gold formed the basis for how I think about and create my own heroes. The best Julie Garwood books make you go “Awwww” and tug your heartstrings, but they also make you laugh. To me, The Prize is pitch perfect, the story of a Saxon noblewoman who has to deal with the fact that her home has been given to a Norman baron. I love the scene where the king lets Nicholaa pick her own husband, and the increasing expression of horror on Royce’s face as he realizes where she’s heading.

The Stand by Stephen King-
No, it’s not romantic. But about once a year, I sit down and re-read what I consider King’s finest work (and I like a lot of his books). It’s post-apocalyptic, frightening as hell, and moves me on levels that most writing just can’t reach. Makes his charcters really live and breathe to the reader is Stephen King’s special gift. I know that they’re fictional, and yet I have never stopped wondering what happened to Frannie, Stu, Tom Cullen and the rest after the book’s haunting close.

Warrior’s Woman by Johanna Lindsey-
It’s old now, but I still love this book (and its Fabio-tastic, 80s purple eyeshadow explosion of a cover). It’s in a place of honor on my keeper shelf because it’s the first romance I read that really pushed the boundaries of what I’d come to expect in the genre. I was usually reading about lords and ladies, or cowboys, or even sheiks or Vikings. Very cool, but grounded at least a little in history. Then came this amazing book in which the heroine was a kick-ass futuristic Earthling and the hero was the ruler of a bunch of sexy alien barbarians. Once I’d read it, I wanted MORE. The next book, Keeper of the Heart, was just as awesome, but this book, I am convinced, made me a paranormal romance writer. And every time I read it, I still think that Tedra and Challen rule.

The Sandman by Neil Gaiman-
Okay, this is a little bit of a cheat, because it’s one story, one graphic novel, separated into volumes. That’s because it was actually a comic back in the early 90s, though when I used to think “comic” I’d think of Superman or something, not this surreal, fascinating journey with the family that is the Endless: Desire, Death, Delerium, Despair, the wayward brother Chaos, and most of all, Morpheus, the King of Dreams.

These are my picks for the island…now let’s hear about yours! What book would you bring?

Author Kendra Leigh Castle- Day 1

I'd like to welcome and introduce you to a wonderful author and cyber friend of mine, Kendra Leigh Castle!

You can catch Kendra on her blog: HERE

And you can find her sexy paranormal romances: HERE

Kendra writes: Ahh, it feels good to finally get out of the rowboat and dig my toes into some warm white sand! When Ms Moonlight was kind enough to offer me a ticket for this little three-day getaway, I knew it was exactly what I needed. Especially since, because this is an island in the blogiverse, I get to rock a smokin’ bikini the whole time and relax with my entourage of heroes. I’ll tell you about them in a day or two (and, um, pay no attention to the man in the pirate hat mincing his way toward the tiki bar…he has nothing to do with a certain someone who apparently caused some, er, trouble the last time he was here).

In the meantime, here are the answers to the Q&A that was part of my ticket here!

Favorite Reading Position –
Curled up in a chair, preferably with the cat or one of the dogs for extra coziness, book on my knees. Oh, and I like it to be quiet, which doesn’t happen that often!

Favorite Heroine –
Aw, do I have to pick just one? I love so many! One of my all-time favorites, though, would have to be Annabelle Peyton from Lisa Kleypas’ Secrets of A Summer Night. She’s the heroine of the first Wallflower book, a ravishing (don’t you just love that word?) beauty who is nonetheless considered unacceptable for marriage because of her well-bred family’s lack of fortune. Annabelle handles impossible situations with dignity, grace, and that hint of Peerage-specific snobbishness that I can’t seem to stay away from in my reading. Plus, she ends up with the hottest of the Wallflower heroes, Simon Hunt. *fans self thinking about the scene that ends in the hotel linen closet*

Book everyone loves but you don’t –
Twilight. But I tried! I really did! No, don’t throw things at me!!
If you could be in one book/series/world which would you pick –
I would very much like a one-way ticket to Gena Showalter’s version of Atlantis. It’s like a dream buffet of supernaturally powerful men, and there’s a sense of humor about it that I just love. Deciding between gorgeous nymphs, dragons and vampires doesn’t sound like such an awful dilemma to me!

How old is your inside voice –
It’s probably about 16: excitable, starry-eyed, sometimes melodramatic, and frequently libidinous. It also sometimes sounds like it’s been sneaking the cheap vodka out of my parents’ liquor cabinet.

If you could be a hero who would you be –
I’ve gotta go with Nightcrawler from the X-Men. I know, I know, not a romantic hero. But I always want to be the heroine in romances, and Nightcrawler is so COOL! Yeah, if I were a hero, I’d have blue skin, a tail, and the ability to teleport. And that sort of criteria may explain why I can’t think of an actual romantic hero I’d like to be…

Which of your heroines is most like you –
All of my characters have pieces of me in them, heroes and heroines (and villains) alike. But I think my very first heroine, Carly Silver from Call of the Highland Moon, is probably the most like me overall. She’s got a lot of the things I love wrapped up in her, from the fact that she owns a Romance-only bookshop, to her being a total sucker for animals in need, to her utter inability to apply mascara properly. No, really, I’m very bad at it. The mascara wand is a deadly weapon in my clumsy hands. Carly is her own person, of course, but I related to her very strongly. Whereas the flame-throwing demi-goddess heroine from my second book, Rowan, is someone I’d like to be when I grow up!

Boxers, Briefs, boxer briefs, kilt (I say we add commando) –
Kilt, of course. Which, done properly, is also commandoJ

Which hero would you like to be your significant other –
The guy I’d pick out of my own books is the secondary hero of Wild Highland Magic: I’ve never really gotten over my thing for the surly, dragon-shifting, sometimes-villain Lucien Andrakkar. I do love reformed bad boys. Which explains my husband! Otherwise, I would probably (for this moment in time, because really, who can pick just one?) choose Will, the conflicted, darkly delicious Sheriff of Nottingham in Collette Gale’s erotic Robin Hood tale, Bound by Honor. One word: YUM.

If you were stuck on a desert island what 3 things would you bring-
I would definitely bring the B&N Nook I’m getting for Christmas. Yeah, I’m a brat and I already know what I’m getting, but I was asked to be specific this year and all I really wanted was an e-reader! The latest Navy move has brought us to a place without a big bookstore, and this is going to make it a lot easier to get my fix. So I figure it’s also a must-have for any desert island! Other things to bring would be a fluffy pillow (this is ridiculous, but every time I used to watch Lost I was horrified at the thought of sleeping with no pillow) and a toothbrush. Not going to end up like Tom Hanks in Castaway with the tooth…*cringe*

Favorite drink to bring to the DIK party
Frozen margaritas all around! And the amount of tequila in them guarantees a party of epic proportions. Good thing, too, because it already looks like there’s going to be a rum shortage.

Um, Ms Moonlight, would you mind helping me hide the few remaining jugs? And then we might want to do something about Captain Ja—I mean, that nameless pirate guy who’s sprawled out on the bar. Singing.

Oh, God, I knew I should have told him no…but what was I supposed to say when he did the puppy dog eyes thing? *groans and trudges off*

-Thank you Kendra! I've hidden the rum, but you know he's like a bloodhound. We can hope and have the island fire brigade on call. Doesn't the island look wonderful? I can hardly tell where all the fire damage was.