Spotlight & Giveaway: Loki Ascending by Asa Maria Bradley

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Asa Maria Bradley to HJ!

Hi Asa Maria and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Loki Ascending!

Please tell us about your new release Loki Ascending: 

I am delighted to be here on Harlequin Junkie today, celebrating my upcoming release of LOKI ASCENDING. This is the third book in my Viking Warrior series—although each book can be read as a standalone—and fans of the series will recognize the hero, Scott, and the heroine, Irja, from earlier books. Irja is an immortal Valkyrie and the healer of the Norse men and women. She puts all her self-worth into how well she serves her fellow warriors. Although she’s been attracted to Scott for some time, she doesn’t think herself worthy of him since he is her queen’s younger brother. Also, history has taught her that bad things happen to people she loves. Scott also has a chip on his shoulder and it is pretty big. He’s been in love with Irja from afar since forever, but because she was instrumental in finding a cure for him when the rogue government lab he grew up in experimented a little too much on him and inadvertently put him into a coma, and because she is a bad-ass healer, and because she is immortal, he doesn’t think she’d ever be interested in her.

These two very stubborn and very flawed people both struggle to not give into their feelings for each other, but the universe plot against their wishes. Not only are the Vikings and Valkyries falling ill with some mysterious ailment that challenges even Irja’s superior medical skills, the evil trickster god Loki is doing his damnedest to defeat the Norse tribe and thereby trigger the end of the worlds—both that of the gods and the humans. The only thing that can stop him is Irja embracing the magic she hasn’t used for centuries and allowing Scott to bond with her so he can serve as the anchor of her power.

It has been a blast writing this book, especially since I’ve known Scott and Irja since the very first book in the series. However, if there was one piece of advice I could give this couple before the opening pages of the novel, it would be to have more faith in themselves and trust their instincts. I’d also tell them to not try to do everything on their own and ask for help every now and then. But they are so dang stubborn! It takes close to two hundred pages before they even admit to themselves how they really feel about each other. It is very frustrating for an author when your characters are that hard-headed.

Harlequin Junkie asked me what scene I would use for the audition of the main characters, if LOKI ASCENDING was optioned. Since Irja and Scott obviously have so much chemistry and yet try their hardest to resist it, I’d want to see the lead actors in a scene where the physical attraction is strong. For example, in the scene below Scott has been injured in a fight with Loki’s wolverine/human hybrids and Irja is giving him an antidote for the creatures’ poisonous claws.

She was almost done pulling the antidote from the vial into the syringe when the swish of fabric caressing skin made her look up.
Freya’s mercy. He’d taken off his shirt.
She had seen and touched his body many times while he’d been her patient. And she’d been drawn to his sleek physique then, but this was something completely different. His shoulders had somehow become broader. And the expanse of sun-kissed skin covering well-defined muscles was too much for her sleep-deprived brain to process. She stared at the narrow strip of hair that started below his belly button and disappeared into his jeans, the syringe and vial in her hands forgotten.
Her berserker growled and paced in tight circles.
“Are you okay?”
Scott’s words brought Irja out of her stupor, but she had to breathe deeply before she could center herself enough to calm the inner beast.
“Yeah, fine. Just tired.” She tried for a smile, but judging by the worried look he threw her, it probably looked more like a grimace.
“You should rest before the evening meal.”
“I’ll try.” She finally managed to finish prepping the syringe and placed it on the table.
Scott reached for her hands, clamping them between his. “Irja, you have to take care of yourself. You are of no use to anyone if you drive yourself to exhaustion.”
She couldn’t meet his gaze. The heat from his hands touching hers distracted her to the point where she held her breath. She slowly pulled away from his grip and inhaled deeply. “You sound like my brother.” She tried for another smile.
“Pekka is not wrong.”
His dark eyes studied her, but she still couldn’t meet his gaze. He would see too much, and right now she was too raw to hold up her emotional walls.
“Let’s take a look at your shoulder.” She winced at the false perkiness of her tone but quickly stepped to the side so she could look closer at the back of his deltoid. As she leaned closer, she had to stop herself from deeply inhaling. He smelled of the soap he’d used in the shower, clean and citrusy. And underneath that, there was a unique male scent that made her think of open desert skies and dry winds.
This was ridiculous. He’d been her patient for almost a year back in Washington State. She’d never felt the need to sniff him before. She mentally shook herself back into reality and reason.

See! The woman just won’t listen to her heart, or her hormones. She’s so caught up in duty, honor, and past baggage that Scott has to take off his shirt—and more—several times before Irja finally gives in to her desires. I complain about Irja’s stubbornness, but the truth is that I loved writing her and Scott’s story. They’ve waited so long to be together and it was an honor to be able to finally give them their HEA.

Thank you to Harlequin Junkie for hosting me today, and thank you to you for reading. If you like paranormal romance with alpha males and the strong stubborn women who eventually bring them to their knees, give the Viking Warriors series a try. The books are based on Norse mythology, but takes place in contemporary times.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: A Paperback copy of Loki Ascending by Asa Maria Bradley

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Book Info:

LOKI WANTS TO END THE WORLD
Only they can stop him—but at what cost?

Although Scott Brisbane is human, he’s developed an inner warrior—a berserker that wants to claim Irja Vainio as his own.

Irja is an immortal Viking healer, but she hasn’t used her true powers for centuries. The last time she did, someone close to her ended up dead. So instead she relies on medicine and science to protect her tribe while denying her feelings for Scott.

But the Viking warriors are falling mysteriously ill, and without magic, Irja’s knowledge of healing isn’t enough. When the trickster god Loki offers her a cure, it comes with a steep price that could cost Irja everything. She needs Scott’s help, the man whose loyalty to the Vikings is unmatched, whose love for Irja cannot be broken—and whose inner fury has yet to be unleashed.

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Meet the Author:

Originally a native of Sweden, ASA MARIA BRADLEY came to the United States as a high school exchange student, but decided to stay for the next couple of decades and add a few more degrees. She now lives in the Pacific Northwest. Learn more about the author at asamariabradley.com.