Spotlight & Giveaway: Burning Ash by N.J. Walters

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome romance author N.J. Walters to HJ!

Hi N.J. Walters and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Burning Ash!

 
Hi everyone! Thank you for having me at HJ!
 

Please summarize the book a la Twitter style for the readers here:

Sparks fly when Asher—vampire, assassin, and one of the Forgotten Brotherhood—and Jo Radcliffe, vampire hunter, cross paths on the same hunt. Someone is playing a deadly game with them. Through twists and turns and assassination attempts on Jo’s life, the sizzling lust between them cannot be denied.
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

“You have got to be kidding.” Asher stood in the shadows at the back of the abandoned church in rural Kentucky, exasperated by the spectacle unfolding in front of him. A multitude of candles flickered in the light breeze as two dozen fawning acolytes—or as he liked to call them, idiots—stood with their attention focused on the man standing on the slightly dilapidated raised dais.

“I am Prince Vlad. I am the father of all vampires.”

He barely kept from snorting at the ludicrous pronouncement.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• Asher, the most dangerous vampire in the world, loves reality television, especially The Real Housewives of anywhere.
• Asher likes to tease Jo that he’s special. She has no idea just how true that statement is.

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

He’s attracted to her courage. She hunts vampires on her own, without backup of any kind. And she has no problem standing up to him.

He intrigues her. On the outside, he seems easygoing, but it hides a darker more powerful side that calls to her.
 

Using just 5 words, how would you describe Hero and Heroine’s love affair?

Forbidden. Perilous. Scorching. Tumultuous. Deadly.
 

The First Kiss…

She swung the duffel bag with her weapons across her shoulder. The weight sent her tilting to one side. He stopped her from stumbling but didn’t let go of her arms. And she didn’t care.

Stop staring at his lips.

He moved closer, as if daring her to move away, but she didn’t.

Just a taste.

That couldn’t hurt. Right?

Sure, his inclination to take over annoyed her, but he’d actually proved himself to be dependable backup and decent company on the long drive back.

Throwing caution to the wind, she went up on her toes, putting their mouths in perfect alignment. His lips were warm and firm as they feathered over hers in a barely there caress. Not enough. If they were going to do this, they were going to do it right. Reaching up, she gripped the back of his neck and held him in place. His mouth curved into a smile before his tongue teased her lips.

When she parted them, he slipped inside. Her toes curled in her steel-toed boots. She’d been kissed before, but this was different. He took his time, stroked and explored, mapping her mouth, nibbling on her lips. There was no rush, no sign of impatience.

Not to be outdone, she returned the favor. He tasted divine—a deadly combination of hot male, coffee, cinnamon, and sugar. Yum.

Without revealing too much, what is your favorite scene in the book?

That’s a hard one. I don’t have a favorite one, but I do love the scene where they first meet. She’s so suspicious of him and he’s so intrigued by her.

Snippet:

“Who the hell are you?” she demanded of the tall, lean man who was still mostly in the shadows. Whoever he was, he was dangerous, maybe even more so than the creature she’d just beheaded. He’d come out of nowhere and snatched the crossbow bolt out of the air like it hadn’t even been moving.

A shiver raced down her spine.

Dressed all in black, he blended with the dark. She hadn’t known he was there until he’d deliberately come forward. And she always had total situational awareness. It was a matter of survival.

Her profession had a very high mortality rate.

A nudge of his foot sent the vampire’s head rolling back toward the body. The undead would need to be burned if he didn’t start disintegrating soon, but she was keeping her distance from the man in black.

“Asher.” He gave her a half bow. “And you are?”

A quick shake of her head. “You don’t need to know.”

“That hardly seems fair considering I saved your life.”

“It didn’t need saving,” she asserted.

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would be absolutely crucial to include?

The first scene where the hero and heroine meet in an abandoned church in rural Kentucky would be crucial. It had atmosphere, action, and tension.

Scene snippet:

The air stirred in the doorway. Asher melted deeper into the shadows and went completely still. A silent figure stealthily crept into the space, moving along the opposite wall.

Whoever it was, they were human, not another paranormal.

Curious, he followed the newcomer. He doubted the crowd in front would notice them if they ran through the place naked.

Everyone in the room focused on Vlad, as he sucked the blood from his first victim.
It took more than being bitten to become one of the undead. He had to share his blood back.

Call me crazy but I don’t think Vlad is a sharing kind of guy.

The newcomer stepped into the light. “Vampire,” the melodic voice carried easily through the building. The hood of a long, leather duster was shoved back to reveal a tall, stunning woman with a deadly crossbow held easily in her hands.

Asher’s heart skipped a beat. Blood pounded through his veins, hot and thick. Confident and deadly was always a huge turn-on. This woman was both those things and more.

As soon as Vlad turned toward her, she fired. A steel bolt whistled through the air, speeding toward the intended target—the vampire’s heart. At the last second, Vlad yanked the person he was holding upright, using them as a shield. The bolt pierced the man’s spine.

“Shit,” she muttered and released the crossbow. It was secured over her shoulder by a leather strap so it fell to her side. Reaching behind her, she pulled a short sword from a sheath on her back. “Come and face me, you coward,” she ordered.

Her fearlessness was captivating. Who was this woman?

No way could he allow anything to happen to this delectable creature.

Readers should read this book …

This is not your ordinary love story. If you enjoy a dark paranormal romance with complex characters then give it a try.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have planned?

I’m currently working on book three of the Assassins of Gravas series–a short, sexy science fiction romance. And there will be at least one more Forgotten Brotherhood book. Maybe more.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: A $5 Amazon Gift Card. (USA and Canada only.)

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: The Forgotten Brotherhood series features all kinds of paranormal creatures–fallen angel, vampire, bear shifter, werewolf, and more. What is your favorite paranormal creature?

 
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Excerpt from Burning Ash:

He placed his hands dramatically over his heart and shook his head. “After all we’ve been through together, you’re going to shoot me?” The odds were about fifty-fifty. Although given the glint in her eyes, it might be more seventy-thirty, and not in his favor.

He dropped his hands back down by his sides. “Look, I caught wind of the gathering and figured I’d check things out. Those people were idiots, but that’s not a good enough reason for them to die. If it was, a good chunk of the population would be in serious trouble.”

“You’re right about that.” She lowered the crossbow and sighed. “How’d you hear about it? You got a network?”

Many hunters kept in loose contact with one another sharing information. Just as many were loners. He’d bet she fell in the latter category. “Email.”

The woods thinned out and then abruptly ended as they stepped out onto the road. A dusty black truck was parked just off to the side. It wasn’t new enough or old enough to garner much attention.

“Now that is interesting.” She pulled her keys out of her pocket, unlocked the driver’s door, and tossed her knapsack into the cab.

“Why is that?” He suspected he already knew the answer.

“I got one of those. Unsigned? Sender unable to be traced?” She tucked her crossbow into the space behind her seat, then her sword. Not that she was unarmed. No, he’d bet good money she had several knives and a gun or two tucked away under that long coat of hers.
“The same. What do you think it means?” He stood by her door as she slipped onto the driver’s seat, keeping one hand on the metal frame so she couldn’t shut it without a struggle. Her choices were to talk to him or kick him out of the way, slam the door, and gun the engine.

She didn’t strike him as a runner.

“It means I need to get the hell out of her here and suggest you do the same.”

“Right.” Playing a gamble, he gave her a small wave and headed off down the dark road with his hands in his pockets.

Either way, he couldn’t lose. If she drove away, he’d simply follow. But he was betting on her to stop. Her innate curiosity, not to mention her sense of self-preservation, would demand she question him further, mine every piece of information. The only way to accomplish that was to talk with him.

An unknown informant, one that couldn’t be tracked, was something to be concerned about.

The door slammed. The engine revved. Gravel flew from the spinning tires as she pulled away from the side of the road. Asher whistled as he ambled along. The truck passed him and kept on going, the taillights winking in the distance.

About eighty feet down the road the brake lights came on. “Gotcha,” he whispered.
He didn’t hurry, keeping to a slow and steady pace. Losing patience, she backed the vehicle toward him. Specifically, right at him. At the last possible second, he jumped out of the way, barely keeping from being clipped.

Yup, she was pissed with him. He quickly hid his grin.

The passenger door popped open. “Get in.”

“Since you asked nicely, how can I refuse?”

Excerpts. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Burning Ash
Forgotten Brotherhood, Book 3

No one is more surprised than Asher, one of the oldest vampires on Earth, that he’s attracted to vamp hunter Jo Radcliffe. She’s smart, a talented slayer, and she’s gorgeous. Something about her pulls at him, like no one ever has before. For a man, whose name strikes fear in everyone––this is something new and intriguing. And quite possibly deadly, if she discovers his secret.

Jo has two things in common with the handsome Asher––they are both slayers and someone is messing with them in a very-much-trying-to-kill-them way. She’s not so happy about joining forces with a dude she doesn’t know. But he’s sexy as hell and really good at his job as one of the Forgotten Brotherhood, whose business it is to execute misbehaving paranormals.

She knows she’s bait in a larger plot to harm Asher and the Brotherhood. And there is nothing he won’t do, no line he won’t cross, to keep her safe––which may be the weakness that destroys them both.
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Meet the Author:

N.J. Walters is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who has always been a voracious reader, and now she spends her days writing novels of her own. Vampires, werewolves, dragons, time-travelers, seductive handymen, and next-door neighbors with smoldering good looks—all vie for her attention. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to live it.
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