Today I’m sharing with you one of my favorites: THE FIFTH KINGDOM, a romantic suspense I did for Carina Press early last year. Why is it one of my favorites? Both the heroine and hero, Bill and Deanna, are wounded characters who need love to help heal the wounds of the past.
I loved bringing them together as well as something very shocking in the middle of the book. I can’t say what and spoil it, but it involves Bill and it’s a biggie. A life-threatening biggie.
I hope you like this excerpt. Please note that it is for mature audiences.
One of my favorite books that I’ve written is THE FIFTH KINGDOM, a romantic suspense story that I did for Carina Press. There was something about the hero, CIA Agent Bill Santana, that hooked me from the moment he showed up on the pages. Add to that a heroine who is so not ready for love much less adventure, toss in some ancient ruins and a kidnapping and the story just came alive for me.
RT Book Reviews: 4.5 Stars, ““This story is an Indiana Jones-style thrill ride infused with just the right amount of romance and sexual tension…The mystery, the family dynamic and the love story all blend together perfectly in this delightful adventure. Who needs Harrison Ford when you’ve got a tale like this?â€
Also check out RT’s Morgan and Whitney as they dish about the book by clicking here!
For now, I’ll leave you with this free read. This scene is just after someone has tried to grab the heroine, Deanna, from in front of the prep school where she teaches. Bill has taken her to a safe house, but was injured during the kidnapping attempt when he was shot. Luckily his vest stopped the bullet, but he is still feeling the impact of it. In this scene, Bill and Deanna start to feel attraction growing between them.
Visit with me later today at My Book Addiction and More where I’ll be chatting about NOCTURNAL WHISPERS and having a giveaway of a copy of THE FIFTH KINGDOM and a $10 Gift Card.
Don’t forget about the NOCTURNAL WHISPERS Release Party – Feb 1 to Feb 29! Many thanks to those of you who have already downloaded NOCTURNAL WHISPERS and those who have agreed to review it!
To celebrate the release, we’re going to be having a month long release contest. To be eligible to win a $25 Gift card, copies of AZTEC GOLD and THE FIFTH KINGDOM plus a LOST T-shirt and an awesome tote bag, just click here!
By now you know that I’ve got two releases coming up, THE FIFTH KINGDOM a romantic suspense, and THE LOST, a paranormal romance.
Now I don’t want to give too much away about either of them, but after considering it for some time, it occurred to me that they have something in common that has really grabbed my attention: Magical and mystical energies.
In THE FIFTH KINGDOM, the energy comes from an ancient relic discovered in what could be Montezuma’s tomb. The relic is a copy of the Aztec Sun Stone sitting the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. The original sun stone is about 12 feet in diameter and weighs about 24 metric tons. You can read more about the original here.
The relic in the book is similar in terms of its look, but it is small enough to hold in your hands and made of obsidian and silver on stone. It is very different in one important way: It has mystical powers which are released once it comes in contact with something very sacred.
What can be so sacred? What about blood?
Now I won’t spill about whose blood awakens the energy in the relic or what it is because I don’t want to spoil the story for you.
Those energies, whether in relics, nature or in people, are all around us I think. As I said, that’s what inspired me for the two stories.
For THE LOST it was my visits down to the shore and the power I’d feel in nature, but also in the people gathered on Sunday mornings for Pavilion Praise in Ocean Grove. The gathering of that many people focused on one thing creates almost palpable energy to me.
It made me remember that I had felt something similar on a Palm Sunday many years back when my family and I went to Rome for Holy Week. Walking into St. Peter’s Square when it was filled with thousands of people joined together was seriously an amazing experience.
Those energies in us and around us is what inspired the SIN HUNTERS, a race of people capable of harnessing and using those energies for all kinds of cool things.
In the next few weeks, I’d like to explore with you those LOST energies. Find out if you believe or not in whether such powers can exist in nature, people or things.
For today, I’ll leave you with the Aztec Sun Stone and it’s supposed abilities to predict the end of THE FIFTH KINGDOM and also, the video premiere for the novel.
I’d love to hear from you as to whether you believe in THE LOST energies as we explore some other relics, people who see auras and sense energies, and all other kinds of cool things!
Don’t forget that on Thursday I’ll be having a live video event with Jeaniene Frost where we’ll be chatting about sexy urban fantasy and its heroes and heroines. If you can’t see the widget below, you can go to this link: http://t.wbx.me/fbam1 for the live video event.
There is something about alpha heroes that is so sexy, but of course, no one really wants a true alpha hero. I mean who could live with someone who always had to be on top, didn’t want emotional connections to anyone and equated physical strength with emotional strength. Just some of the not-so-nice traits of alpha heroes.
What we do love is strong men who are seemingly sure of themselves, but have that chink in their armor that allows for real relationships to develop. Physically strong men who are capable of being gentle as well as capable of showing emotional weakness. They can know to be strong by sharing the burdens of life with a significant other.
When I started writing THE FIFTH KINGDOM, I knew CIA Agent Bill Santana was going to be that kind of sexy hero. One who was strong, but had a soft spot inside. A wounded spot, actually. I didn’t know that at first when I started writing, but as Bill met up with the prickly and equally alpha Dr. Deanna Vasquez, a lot of his pent up old emotions rose up to make him so much more of a real person.
That pain that he was carrying inside of him touched Deanna, who likewise had a similar wound in her psyche. I think that’s what made them so special together – that their love for each other healed the scars they both bore in their hearts.
Of course we need some action as well since it is a romantic suspense. In THE FIFTH KINGDOM, the action revolves around Bill’s search for an archeologist kidnapped by a Mexican terrorist group. The archeologist is Deanna’s mom, Dr. Miranda Adams, who abandoned Deanna nearly fifteen years earlier which is the source of her pain.
Miranda has discovered what may be Montezuma’s tomb and an ancient artifact within the resting place, but it is only as the story evolves that Deanna comes to realize that the relic has some very unusual powers.
I loosely based the relic on the Mexican sun stone (shown below). The sun stone is a calendar of sorts, but also a history of the Mexica people (whom we call the Aztecs). The original of the stone is in Mexico City and in the story, Deanna and Bill take a visit to the museum to see the stone and to also try and infiltrate the terrorist group.
In case you haven’t had a chance to check out an excerpt from THE FIFTH KINGDOM, here it is!
A big thanks to Xakara for inspiring today’s Thursday 13, namely 13 (okay maybe 14) paragraphs from my upcoming Carina Press romantic suspense release, THE FIFTH KINGDOM.
Just a little setup for you. The hero, Bill Santiago, is a sexy CIA Agent who is investigating the disappearance of an archeologist and a possible connection to a Mexican terrorist group. The heroine, Deanna Vasquez, is the daughter of the missing woman, but she has a love/hate relationship with her mom, who abandoned her years earlier.
Bill and Deanna travel to Mexico together to try and put an end to the possible threat against both her mother and the United States. Along the way, Bill and Deanna find unexpected danger, namely, a threat to their hearts as love blossoms between them.
As for this short excerpt, if it isn’t hot enough where you are today, today’s Thursday 13 may change that, so you are warned that what follows is a little spicy and for a mature crowd. If you are not over 17, please do not continue. And yes, I am a tease! Please don’t be angry with me for that. Continue reading “Thursday 13 – THE FIFTH KINGDOM”
Today I’m sharing with you one of my favorites: THE FIFTH KINGDOM, a romantic suspense I did for Carina Press early last year. Why is it one of my favorites? Both the heroine and hero, Bill and Deanna, are wounded characters who need love to help heal the wounds of the past.
