Author Sara Reinke tells about her new Brethren series release

Today I'm welcoming author Sara Reinke to tell us all about her new book release from the Brethren series, Dark Passages: Trystan and Karen. She's offering a cool contest--see the bottom of this post for details.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a young girl gazed out of the car window as her family would drive through the heart of horseracing country. As they passed by acre after glorious, rolling acre of pristine bluegrass, marked with white fence perimeters beyond which champion Thoroughbreds stood languidly out to graze, the girl wondered about the people who owned those horses and farms. She imagined they must have been very wealthy, and that their estates were so expansive and grand that they could, in theory, spend their entire lives there. Never leaving. Without anyone outside of those stark white fences ever being any wiser.

Years later, that same girl would sit down in front of her computer and let her imagination run wild again, taking her back to those Kentucky meadows. From those humble beginnings, she began to build a new world, one where the people who lived sequestered on those farms weren’t really people at all, not like she was, not like you. They were vampires, she fancied. And she gave them a name: The Brethren.

Cut to present.

Undoubtedly you’ve figured out that young girl was me, and as whimsical as it may sound, that’s actually pretty much the gist of how the idea for The Brethren Series of vampire romance was born. Who could know that nearly twenty years from the first rough drafts, the series would encompass four books—with four more on the way, have sold tens of thousands of copies, have been translated into Portuguese and have attracted readers from all over the world?

I sure as hell couldn’t have.

The series got its big break in 2006, when I submitted a proposal for the first installment, Dark Thirst, to Kensington’s Zebra imprint. Much to my surprise and delight, that submission resulted in “the call”—the one every author dreams of, when an editor makes you an offer to buy your work. Dark Thirst was released in mass market paperback in 2007. In addition, they contracted the second book in the series, Dark Hunger, which was released in 2008. And while Kensington opted not to contract any more books, The Brethren Series continued, first with the release of Dark Passion through Double Dragon Publishing in 2009 and then most recently with the release of Dark Passages: Tristan & Karen, from my new independent publishing venture, Bloodhorse Press, LLC. I’ve taken control not only of my writing career, but my Brethren Series as well, and the enthusiastic reception I’ve received from readers so far has been positively mind-blowing. (I wish I’d done this years ago!)

Although out of print in paperback through Zebra, Dark Thirst, Book One in The Brethren Series remains available in Kindle ebook format. In it, Brandon Noble is one of the Brethren, an ancient clan of ruthless vampires. Horrified by his birthright, Brandon shuns the ritual of the first kill, earning his family's lasting wrath. When he finds love with a human woman named Angelina -- forbidden among the Brethren -- his fate is sealed. Can Brandon protect Angelina from his enemies -- and his own dark thirsts?

Dark Hunger, Book Two, is available from Kensington/Zebra in mass market paperback and multiple electronic formats, including for Kindle and the Nook. In it, Tessa Noble-Davenant will do anything to protect her brother, Brandon, even if that means traveling across the country with Rene Morin. A cynical, brooding, yet startling sexy vampire, Rene seems to take pleasure in finding fault with Tessa's every move. Despite this, a sensual attraction begins to develop between the two, one to which neither can afford to succumb. Rene and Tessa are being followed -- and a single misstep will put them at the mercy of forces more dark and powerful than they can even imagine...

Dark Passion, Book Three, is available in trade paperback and multiple e-formats through Double Dragon Publishing. In it, Augustus Noble is a man with secrets. His entire life has been built on half-truths, betrayals and lies—desperate measures to keep the woman he loves, Eleanor Trevilian-Noble, as his own. The patriarch of the Brethren, he has struggled for centuries to create an empire of wealth and prestige for her. Now all that he has fought for is in jeopardy—his grandson Brandon has risked it all in a desperate bid for independence and freedom. And just as Augustus can’t allow Brandon to escape the ages-old traditions of the Brethren race, he also can’t let the Brethren—and especially his longtime nemesis—discover a truth that, if revealed, would see them all killed.

In the fourth installment, Dark Passages: Tristan & Karen, Tristan Morin is a vampire on a mission: to not fall in love with Karen Pierce. To do so would prove that humans and Brethren were meant to be physically and emotionally bound to each other -- something he, as a full-blooded Brethren, refuses to believe. It would be so much easier if Karen wasn't beautiful. And if there wasn't something about her that draws him like a moth to a flame, damn near impossible to resist. Karen has always felt an inexplicable attraction to Tristan. More than just the fact he's strikingly handsome, it's as if being with him is something natural, comfortable and right. But soon a brash choice on his part leaves her heartbroken and confused, and a sadistic new enemy will put their tentative love -- and their lives -- to the ultimate test.

Coming up in June is Book 5, Dark Passages 2: Pilar & Elías, which will introduce readers to a whole new branch of the Brethren legend. In it, Pilar Cadana has only one thing on her mind—revenge against the vampire who murdered her father. But her plans to get close to him by working at a nightclub he owns backfire when instead, she meets Elías Velasco there. The handsome young police detective assigned to her father’s case, Elías is instantly drawn to the beautiful Pilar—and the attraction is mutual. But as the passion between them deepens, so too does the danger—because Pilar’s harboring secrets of her own that may cost her everything, including Elías’s love.

Then in November, Dark Vengeance, Book 6 in The Brethren Series reunites readers with Brandon Noble and Lina Jones, the beloved hero and heroine from Dark Thirst.

You can check out excerpts, find purchase links, watch my promotional videos and more by visiting my website: www.sarareinke.com. Plus if you sign up for my enewsletter, you’ll receive a FREE ebook copy of Dark Thirst with a special, limited edition cover. There’s no better way to discover the world of the Brethren than with the book that started it all!

I feel like I’ve come full-circle in so many ways in life, and that the girl who looked out her car window so many years ago would be both surprised and pleased by how her first simple, innocent inklings for a story have grown into something so amazing. I know I sure am. And I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Back blurb for Dark Passages: Tristan & Karen:

Tristan Morin is a vampire on a mission: to not fall in love with Karen Pierce. To do so would prove that humans and Brethren were meant to be physically and emotionally bound to each other -- something he, as a full-blooded Brethren, refuses to believe. It would be so much easier if Karen wasn't beautiful. And if there wasn't something about her that draws him like a moth to a flame, damn near impossible to resist.

Karen has always felt an inexplicable attraction to Tristan. More than just the fact he's strikingly handsome, it's as if being with him is something natural, comfortable and right. But soon a brash choice on his part leaves her heartbroken and confused, and a sadistic new enemy will put their newfound love -- and their lives -- to the ultimate test

Learn all about the Brethren series here.

Bio:

"Definitely an author to watch." That's how Romantic Times Book Reviews magazine describes Sara Reinke. New York Times best-selling author Karen Robards calls Reinke "a new paranormal star" and Love Romances and More hails her as "a fresh new voice to a genre that has grown stale." Find out more about Reinke and her books at www.sarareinke.com.

Links:

Website:  www.sarareinke.com

Blog:  www.sarareinke.blogspot.com

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/people/Sara-Reinke

Twitter:  www.twitter.com/sarareinke

Contest: 

Because my daughter made me watch Tangled for the 14,000th time this weekend, and the song “I’ve Got A Dream” made me wax rhapsodically in this blog post about my own personal fulfilled dream, it’s YOUR turn. Tell me about your dream—realized or not. What did you always want to be? What has your heart always longed for? Do you have your dream job? Did you land your dream man? Share your thoughts, share your dreams, and you’ll be eligible to win a FREE signed paperback copy of Dark Passages: Tristan & Karen, Book Four in The Brethren Series. Winner to be selected at random.