Today, I'm happy to have Anise Rae as my guest. She's sharing about her reading treasures. Be sure to check out her new PNR book release, Enchanter's Echo, along with her great contest at the bottom of this post.
One reader’s junk is another reader’s treasure
by Anise Rae
Books are my treasures. I take solace in them. I find
comfort and pleasure between their pages. They hold my memories, from my
battered copy of Cinderella that has traveled with me from my childhood home to
now, to the book club books that remind me of friends. But it’s the romance
novels lining my shelves with their promise of happy endings that sing to my
heart. They are the ones I most often take down to enjoy again and again…or tap
open on my e-reader as the case may be.
There are a lot of romance readers in the world, but it’s
not always easy for us to find each other. Someone has to be brave and dare to
mention it first. It can feel like a bit of a risk since there are those who
don’t hold the genre in high-esteem. We’re not alone in this lack of respect though.
There is at least one other genre that doesn’t get the respect it deserves
either: comic books and graphic novels. Poor comic book readers. We romance
readers understand. You have it even worse than we do. After all, some claim
that comic books don’t even count as real books. But really.Bound pages with
words? Sounds like a book to me.
In Enchanter’s Echo,
Edmund and Aurora, the hero and heroine, read comic books, and it comes out in
one scene. I admit I did not plan this, even though I plan everything in my
books. It just fell out of my pen and into the page. This
bonding over books was such a lighthearted moment…one the characters truly
needed…that it became one of my favorite scenes. I remember writing it. My
mother was sitting close by, and I loved what I had written so much that I read
it out loud to her. I rarely ever do that. Usually I guard what I write very
closely until I’ve gone through draft after draft with it.
This moment sang to me from the start. It was a connection
waiting to happen between the characters. Aurora brings up the comic books
partly because she’s too tired to guard her tongue, and also because they’re
facing horrible circumstances and she’s trying to put on a positive face.Edmund
is shocked…and thrilled…tofind out she reads them. He never sees it coming,
never thinks to ask if she likes them though the books are so important to him
they are the only personal item he keeps in his attic hideout--the one room on
his family’s estate where no one dares to disturb him. They’re his secret, his
solace, a slightly guilty one at that. But Aurora speaks up about them. And
rightfully so.No reader should ever feel as if she must hang her head because
of what she reads.
Your book treasures are worthy of respect simply because you
like them. So whatever they are, whether it’s comic books, political tomes, werewolves,
vampires or 50 Shades, hold your head
high. Defend your stash like the treasure it is. And if you dare to speak up,
even better. You never know when you’ll make a book connection.
So now, readers, I’d love to know…do you have specific books
that you re-read and consider treasures? Anyone ever dared to dis them?
Enchanter’s
Echo
Mayflower
Mages
Book
Two
Anise
Rae
Genre: Paranormal romance
Publisher: Kensington/Lyrical
Date of Publication: February 17,
2015
ISBN: 9781616505394
ASIN: B00PP2ZX8M
Number of pages: 270
Word Count: 99,685
Book Description:
Aurora Firenze lives a quiet life
hiding in a junkyard. Her repair shop is the last hope for gadgets and gizmos
before they get tossed onto the trash towers. Fortunately, Aurora can fix
almost anything, including mages, though repairing people with metal enchantments
is highly illegal.
Edmund Rallis, heir to the Rallis
senate seat, has spent months hunting down his errant enchantress. He’ll play
every game he knows to win her back and entice her to share the secrets she
hides. But he’s inadvertently put her on the frontlines of a new game, one with
an opponent who’s determined to destroy Rallis Territory and drive the Republic
toward war. If the new enemy isn’t stopped in time, Edmund will lose his
enchantress again—and this time there won’t be another chance.
Excerpt:
The keep-out
spell awoke at her approach. The enchanted mesh of vines and branches that
blocked the entrance to Rallis Territory’s forbidden forest vibrated in welcome
as its creator returned. Aurora Firenze cast her vibes along the perimeter of
her spell, testing and prodding. Its strength resonated back. It was as strong
as it had been six months ago when she’d created it and hid her secrets within
the forest’s depths. She let go of a relieved breath, but it didn’t cure her
tension.
Her nerves were
strung tight, as if she’d spent hours placating customers in her repair shop.
But the day had been quiet. She’d even made decent progress—fixing a curling
iron with a too-hot heating spell and a stapler that had a bad habit of chasing
the boss around the conference table. Yet a restlessness itched at her skin
with an unpleasant persistence. She’d closed up early and headed out for the
short walk to the forest. Within its heart, she’d find the peace to wash away
this unease.
She sent another
stream of vibes into the keep-out spell. A discreet doorway formed. With a
quick glance around the barren field and the junkyard behind her, she stepped
beneath her illegal spell.
As she brushed
against the branches, a faint thump sounded at her feet—the soft crash of a
pinecone or a weak branch falling to the ground. A normal forest noise. She
flinched anyway. Her glitter puffed around her in an anxious cloud as her mage
energy escaped her control. It was the fifth time today. Enchantresses did not
make good criminals. She should probably let the other three in existence know,
in case they were considering lives of crime. Those blasted sparkly clouds
would blow their covers wide open.
She lifted her
foot to continue into the small forest that was tucked inside the territory’s
capital city, but stopped. A proper lawbreaker should investigate mysterious
noises outside her lair. She turned and scanned the ground for the culprit. A
gold coin glinted in the crisp weeds. That wasn’t normal. She reached to pick
it up, scanning the field and the junkyard beyond with a twitchy gaze. Empty.
She was alone.
Behind her, the
forest shuttered closed, nearly catching her in its fortress wall. She jumped
forward with a surprised lurch at the swat of vines and twigs. A basic rule of
illegal enchantments: get out of the way or risk being incorporated into the
spell.
Ignoring the
sting of the swat, she stared at the coin. It was tarnished at the edges, a
used-up charm. See-me-not was embossed on its golden surface. She jerked her
head up. A man stood ten paces away. He was tall, broad...beyond familiar.
“Edmund,” she
whispered. A shiver tiptoed across her shoulders like kisses, soft lips that
hid a sharp bite. Her nerves stretched thinner yet, trapped in a battle between
memories of lovers’ frolics and the promise of a dark fate that had just
materialized from thin air.
Behind her, the
forest’s trees rustled with the wind, a warning to retreat, one she dare not
heed. Not until she knew why he’d finally come searching for her. She hadn’t
thought he’d ever come back.
He prowled
forward. “Hello, princess.” Though his words might have held some affection,
nothing of the lover she’d once known appeared in his countenance. He lifted
his left hand to reveal a glowing ball of mage vibes in his palm. His blue eyes
reflected the tiny flashes of energy, and his power snapped in the air like a
miniature electrical storm. The heir to the most powerful territory in the
Republic had quite a steam of anger built up.
Dark hair waved
across his forehead, and little curls peeked out at the edges of his neck.
Though the wind buffeted and pushed at Aurora, winter’s boldness didn’t dare
touch Edmund, not his hair, nor his dark gray suit or scarlet tie.
The hard slope
of his nose matched the sharp lines of his jaw and cheekbones. When he smiled,
he was deadly handsome. At the moment, he was simply deadly.
“Aurora.” He
cast her name through the air and a piece of her soul tumbled away, as if it
might dash toward him and cling like a forlorn, discarded lover. But he hadn’t
discarded her....
“You stand
accused of melding earthen metals to human flesh with an enchantment.”
Her heart
thumped once, hard and loud, and then took off with a sprint, drenching her
veins from head to toe with lightning sharp fright.
Goddess, he’d
found out. How?
Even as she
thought it, he revealed the answer. The glow faded from his ball of energy to
reveal a small metal sphere. Her racing heart shriveled at the sight, pulling
the rest of her organs with it, as if they thought to hide, seeking a chance to
slip past this disaster unnoticed and, perhaps, survive. She shifted her feet
on the ground, unable to resist the fear pumping through her core. Run, her gut
whispered. She couldn’t afford to listen... not with the evidence sitting in
his hand.
The sphere was
heavier than it looked. She knew that. After all, she’d made it...and thought
it long gone. He closed his fingers around it, capturing her fate within his
fist.
“How’d you get
that?” Her fast words shot out, hustling forward before fear, creeping up her
legs with tingles and pricks, stole her voice.
“You ought to be
down on your knees thanking me for confiscating it.” His voice was sharp and
cutting. He sounded like a stranger, his jokes and teasing wit long gone.
“What did you
do? Sneak into the junkyard and pluck his eye from his skull? Has it been
hiding under your pillow for six months?” Not at all where she’d thought it
was. Betrayal jolted through her. “Hardly actions befitting the heir of the
mighty Rallis realm.” Her voice wavered.
“You have no
idea what I’ve done.”
About
the Author:
Anise Rae has been reading
romance novels since she first discovered her grandmother’s stash of books
hidden away in a cabinet. Learning that she wasn’t the only one dreaming about
love and magic was a turning point in her life. She started her own stash of
books and wrote a few too.
A native of Ohio, Anise long ago
moved south, armed with boxes of romance novels and degrees in chemistry and
library science. Creating chemistry on the page between two lovers proved to be
a lot more fun than working with test tubes in a lab or searching patent
databases. She refocused on writing.
Her stories revolve around
heroines who dare to stand up to society’s expectations and be true to
themselves and heroes with plenty of savvy to fall in love with such brave
women.
Anise lives in Atlanta with her
two children and a fluffy dog that has an amazing ability to find dirty socks.
For information on future
releases and giveaways, sign up for her newsletter at www.aniserae.com
Author
photo by www.surianiphoto.com
Tour
giveaway:
$25 Amazon gift card
1 set of Paper copies of Syphon’s
Song and Enchanter’s Echo open to US Shippin
2 comments:
Thank you so much for hosting Enchanter's Echo, Marsha!
Glad to have you visit again!
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