Author: Nina Mason
Publisher: Vamptasy Publishing
Heat
level: sizzling
Formats: Kindle and paperback
Where to buy:
Paperback:
http://smarturl.it/queenofswordspb
Blurb:
When Graham Logan,
a Scottish earl turned vampire by a dark wizard’s curse, draws the Queen of
Swords, he knows he’s about to meet the love of his life. For the third time.
But surrendering his heart will mean risking her life…or making her what he is.
Neither of which his morals will permit him to do. Graham, who believes he lost
his soul to the curse, rages at God: Why give her back only to take her again?
Cat Fingal, the
third incarnation of Graham’s twin flame, won’t let him escape so easily. As
soon as they meet, she feels she knows him and begins having past-life
flashbacks. A white witch, she casts a spell to summon him, wanting answers and
to fill the void she’s felt all her life.
Graham has other
problems, too. Like the seductress who wants him for herself and the dark
wizard who cursed him and killed his beloved the first two times.
Will he find a way
to save her this time around? Or will she save him?
Excerpt:
12th
May. Visited Caitriona tonight for the first time since becoming a monster. She
slept, unaware of my presence, & for a time, I was content simply to
observe. As the hours passed, I began to wonder what might happen if she awoke
to find me in her room. Would she think me a wraith? Would she think it a
dream? Desiring to know, & to get closer, I sat down on the corner of the
bed, alert for any stirrings. Seeing none, I crawled up the bed until I reached
her side. Still she did not stir. Ever so carefully, I set my head upon the
pillow next to hers. She slept on. Drinking in her scent, I felt contentment
for the first time since fate & Fitzgerald
tore us apart. I closed my eyes & must have drifted off, because next I
knew, her arm fell across my chest. Startled awake, I found her blinking at me
in disbelief.
I lay
there, still as death, waiting for her to react. Her hand moved up my chest to
my face. She dragged her fingers across my jaw, pressed them against my lips,
touched the end of my nose, my eyebrows, my forehead. As she combed back my
hair, she whispered: “This must be a dream. But you feel so real, so alive. I
don’t ken how such a thing is possible; nor do I care. I only pray I shall
never awaken.”
I
kept still. I could hear her heartbeat, smell her blood, but her blood was not
what I craved. She set her head on my chest & started to sob.
“Am I
dreaming?” she asked, soft & low.
“Aye.”
She
raised herself up, came over me & pressed her mouth against mine.
“Can
we make love in my dream?”
“Aye.”
When
it was over, I collapsed beside her, feeling so elated, so profoundly moved, I
very nearly wept.
She
set her head against my chest. “Will you promise me something?”
“Anything,
m’aingael.”
“Always
come to me like this in my dreams.”
About the Author
Nina
Mason is a hopeful romantic with strong affinities for history, mythology, and
the metaphysical. She strives to write the same kind of books she loves to
read: those that entertain, edify, educate, and enlighten. Three of her books
will be published in 2014: The Queen of Swords, an urban fantasy/paranormal
romance; The Knight of Wands, book one in the Knights of Avalon Series; and The
Tin Man, a political thriller about the dangers posed by media monopolies. She is currently at work on Book Two of the
Knights of Avalon series and is itching to get back to a book she started a
while back about a merman who falls for an oil company spokeswoman after a
phantom tanker capsizes on the coast of the Hebrides islands. When not writing,
Nina works as a communications consultant, doll maker, and home stager. Born
and raised in Southern California, she now lives in Woodstock, Georgia, with
her husband, teenage daughter, two rescue cats, and a Westie named Robert.
Social-media
links:
Boilerplate
interview with the author:
Q. Tell us about your book.
A. The Queen of Swords
tells the story of a bookish white witch who returns every century to reunite
with her earthbound soul mate. He’s a Scottish earl turned vampire by a dark
wizard’s curse back in the Regency era on the eve of their wedding. She came
back once before in the Edwardian era only to be killed by his maker in the
same manner as before. He believes he has no soul, so can’t understand why she
keeps coming back. She believes he does have a soul and that she comes back to
free him from the curse. The story follows their journey as they try to work
out who’s right and how they can stop history from repeating.
Q. After this, what's your next
project?
A. My current work-in-progress is book two in The Knights of
Avalon series. After that, I haven’t decided. Probably another paranormal
romance/urban fantasy. I’ve got a stalled manuscript about an oil company
spokeswoman who gets involved with a merman during an oil spill in the
Hebrides. Might get back to that one, or write one featuring Benedict and
Avery, the secondary couple in The Queen
of Swords. I’d also like to maybe write a sequel to The Tin Man, my political thriller releasing in August. It tells of
two journalists thrown together to solve a series of murders tied to a global
conspiracy to take over the media.
Q. What inspires you to write what
you do?
A. All of my paranormal stories are inspired by my love
of the history and mythology of
Scotland, my interest in the unknowable, and my belief in the redemptive power
of love.
Q. When did you start writing?
A.
About as soon as I could write the alphabet. When I was a kid, I won an essay
contest sponsored by the local library (I was an avid reader and always did the
summer reading challenge). Back in the days of typewriters, I wrote a romance
novel about a couple of ballet dancers, but never did anything with it. Didn’t
try my hand at fiction again until five or six years ago, when I started what
is now The Queen of Swords.
Q. What inspired you to write the
book?
A.
I started the first draft after reading Twilight.
While I liked the saga, I also found myself frustrated by the lack of sex and
Edward’s lack of history. In literature, vampires originally personified
uncaged sexuality, so a chaste vampire seemed counter-intuitive to me. Plus, I
felt writing an immortal creature provided fantastic opportunities to build an
interesting backstory. What had he/she seen and experienced over the centuries?
How was he/she affected by it? My immortal characters all have a history tied
to the world and what they’ve seen and experienced has colored them in some
way.
Q. Are you a careful planner or do
you let the story guide you?
A. I do a bit of both. I work out the characters and their
motivations, setting, and where I want the story to go. I also tend to do index
cards for each scene or major plot point from start to finish. Once I begin to
write, it can go completely off the rails, depending on where the characters
want to take it. As long as they’re reaching the touchstones, I let them do
what they want. If they go too far off track, I either re-plot the novel or
rein them in, depending on which direction seems better at the time.
Q. Who is your favorite among your characters?
A. I love them all, of course. Graham, the hero in The Queen
of Swords, is both noble and funny. Callum, the hero in The Knight of Wands, is
a good-hearted romantic. Leith, the hero of my WIP, is a bit on the dark side,
but still well-intentioned. If pressed to pick just one, I’d have to go with
Alex Buchanan, the journalist hero in The
Tin Man. He’s very complex and has lots of demons to overcome, but also is a
really good guy.
I grew up in a small northern Minnesotan town married my high school sweetheart, had two beautiful children and as soon as we could we moved to a warmer climate. I have worked with my husband building and
