Spotlight & Giveaway: Shift Out of Luck by Abigail Owen

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Abigail Owen to HJ!

Hi Abigail and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Shift Out of Luck!

 
Hi HJ and readers! Thank you so much for having me!
 

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

Which alpha will end up on top? There’s only one way to bring peace to fueding wolf shifter packs—the alphas of each pack agree to a mating of convenience.
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

The small chapel in the heart of the Colorado Rocky Mountains was beautifully natural, with pews carved from matching pinewood standing in rows, a single aisle down the center, and floor-to-ceiling windows at the front. The view of the lake and mountains outside glittered under the brilliant light of the full moon.
Marrok Banes didn’t see any of it.
He was too busy waiting for his mate to walk down the aisle.
His arranged mate.
And his sworn enemy.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• The mating in Shift Out of Luck is the setting for book 1 – The Demigod Complex
• The Brimstone Inc. series is set in the same world as my Fire’s Edge and Inferno Rising dragon shifters series.
• Tala’s wolf keeps trying to kill Marrok’s wolf.
• Tala and Marrok faked a blessing from the gods to try to get their packs on board.
• The relationship flash starts with the mating right off the bat. Bring a fan.

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

Marrok is instantly attracted to Tala’s fighting skills, which she had to nurture to become alpha of her pack. But she’s also got a heart for her people.

Despite her irritation with his need to protect her–she’s an alpha, dammit, she doesn’t need it–Tala falls for the way he protects everyone he loves.
 

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

The wolf shifters are circling…
 

The First Kiss…

“Open your eyes.”
Unaccustomed nerves gripped him as she slowly lifted her eyelids and took in the scene he’d prepared for them.
No reaction.
Slowly she moved forward, taking in the details. He crossed his arms and waited. First, she examined the waterfall, trailing her hand through the downpour. With her back to him, he couldn’t gauge her reaction, though. Then she crossed to the pillows and leaned over to touch one, running her long, tapered fingers over the opulent material.
His own skin tightened as though she’d physically touched him.
Finally, she swung around to face him, her expression unreadable. “You did all this for me?”
“Yes.”
Confusion flashed across her features so quickly he almost didn’t catch it. “But this is an arranged mating.”
“It may be starting that way, but you are my mate.”
She glanced away, once again taking in her surroundings. Then crossed the cavern to where he stood. With a featherlight touch, she laid her palms against his chest and gazed up into his eyes. Her one simple touch, combined with her wildflower scent swirling around him, fired his blood, but he managed to hold himself still. Waiting for her.

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

My favorite scene is set during a full moon celebration. Tala and Marrok are still at odds when it comes to leading their newly combined packs, but very in sync in bed. In this scene, she’s still particularly pissed about an earlier issue he cause, but also caught up in wanting him. Her sister doesn’t help…

Wolf shifters celebrated every full moon—or more accurately, their ancient history, through the lineage of werewolf ancestors, of being held in its thrall, though they could now shift at will—with a night of revelry held deep in the wilderness. Wisely, she and Marrok hadn’t allowed anyone to shift, deeming it too dangerous yet for both packs to shift together. Relations needed to improve before that happened. Instead they’d hunted in separate groups earlier and come together to cook their prizes over open fires. Astra had also brought beer and fixings for s’mores. A small gesture of friendship Tala appreciated.
Exhaustion hung heavy over Tala’s body. Gods, she was dragging like a swimmer caught in a riptide.
Marrok stood across the clearing from her. Usually glued to her side, he seemed to have read the giant “Give Me Space” sign practically written in neon across her forehead.
Tala turned her attention away, gazing around the meadow, beautiful in the full moonlight. Such a setting was idyllic, as wolf shifters preferred to surround themselves with nature. The full moon, the rhythms their ancestors used to be tied to, radiated a cool, calming glow over everything. A night for celebration.
That was, if they didn’t all kill one another first.
“No bloodshed.” She whispered the prayer to any gods listening. She lifted her gaze to the moon with a particular plea for those goddesses.
“What’d you say?” Her sister’s voice broke into her plea.
Tala winced. Damn wolf shifter hearing. “Nothing.”
“Yeah, right.” Though Tala had moved apart from the others, needing a minute to herself, her sly sister had snuck close and now stood beside Tala, peering at the wolf shifters around them. “Do you think it would help if I slept with one of the Banes? As a gesture of goodwill, of course? They do have a tasty selection of male wolves.”
“Astra,” she hissed.
In response, Astra wiggled her provocative backside, covered in a pale turquoise dress that barely covered her ass, and continued as though she hadn’t been warned. “Marrok looks particularly bed-worthy tonight. You lucky girl.”
“Gods save me.” Tala dropped to sit on a felled tree, using it as a bench of sorts.
Astra sat beside her. “Tala Canis Banes, you can’t tell me you don’t want your mate. I’ve seen the way you look at him.”
Terrific. Tala lifted a shoulder in a shrug.
Astra shook her head, returning to her perusal of the gathered shifters. “I’d be all over that tall hunk of man-cake if I were you,” she muttered. “I’m surprised your wolf isn’t dry humping him every second of the day.”
“Lower your voice.”
Astra hooted. “If a man looked at me the way he looks at you, I’d spontaneously multiple-orgasm.”
“Orgasms aren’t the problem,” Tala snapped, making sure to whisper, not wanting to be overheard.
A wicked smile graced her sister’s features. “I’m glad to hear it.”
Her wolf, meanwhile, snarled in her head.
Dammit.

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

All of it. Ha! But crucial is the beginning of the book when they consumate their mating of convenience. Because of why it happens, but also how it happens, the rest of the book and many of their troubles, result. But that’s a little too hot to share here. So I’m sharing the first scene after that…

Tala hurled a knife at the target twenty feet away and pictured her mate’s head.
Her mate.
It had been a month. Thirty-ish days of the most amazing, hot-as-sin, give-and-take nights followed by the most hair-rending, teeth-gnashing, beyond frustrating days.
Ironic, those nights, given how her own pack had written her off as a frigid ice queen before. She’d been too focused on becoming alpha to give men much thought until now. Every pack handled the selection of alpha differently. In her pack, all contenders fought until only one remained standing. She understood Marrok’s pack based theirs more on bloodlines, as did many others. Hers found that led to bias, murder of siblings in the ruling family, and lack of adaptation to the ever-changing world around them.
Another knife flew, only this one missed wide, embedding in a nearby tree, sinking deep with the force of the emotions behind the throw.
Damn. She never missed like that.
Was the problem the emotions or her clothes?
She’d come from another meeting that hadn’t ended well for her. As usual, for meetings, she’d dressed professionally. A sleeveless top with a square neckline and pencil skirt, she’d paired the outfit with killer black stilettos. Always present the image you want to be known by. She made sure her clothes screamed class, control, and power. Plus, the heels on her stilettos doubled as weapons in a pinch.
Marrok did the same, dressing for meetings in power suits meant to drive home his position in the pack. But the second they were alone, the jacket and tie came off and sleeves were rolled up, as though he didn’t enjoy the confinement.
She kicked off her heels, set, and threw again, this knife going exactly where she wanted.
Tala gave a grim smile. At least she could control something in her life. Part of the reason she was alpha was that no one saw her coming, even when they thought they did. Secrecy and innovation were key to her brand of fighting.
She’d earned alpha, but, as a woman, she found she had to earn it over and over again. Every damn day.
Another knife struck true.
I have to make this mating work. But how?
Given the way things were going so far, only one month into her arranged mating, peace for the Canis pack was apparently coming at the cost of losing all the respect she’d fought for.
The faked sign from the gods had helped, but it hadn’t fixed everything. If Marrok disagreed with her one more time in public, no matter how small or even reasonable, she was going to have to do something about it.
Like unleash her wolf on the man.

Readers should read this book …

If you love seeing a feisty female wolf shifter show her alpha mate exactly who should be on top, you’re going to love Shift Out of Luck!

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

Oh gosh, I’m in deadline land all of 2020. I’m working on the next books in Brimstone Inc. as well as in the two dragon shifters series set in the same world – Inferno Rising and Fire’s Edge. Upcoming releases include:
Bait N’ Witch (Brimstone Inc.) – June 2020
The Blood King (Inferno Rising) – Aug 2020
Try As I Smite (Brimstone Inc.) – Oct 2020
The Protector (Fire’s Edge) – Dec 2020

Hope you love them all!!!

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: $10 Amazon Gift Card!

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: If you were a wolf shifter, celebrating a full moon night, how would you celebrate?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
 

Excerpt from Shift Out of Luck:

“Wait!” Marrok called.
She stopped mid-stride and spun to face her mate, who pointed. Following his direction, she discovered a mountain lion shifter slinking out of woods into the clearing where she stood, not fifty feet from her.
What the hell?
No way had the cat shifter, notorious loners, not smelled or seen the evidence that it had wandered into pack territory.
Dammit. Just one break.
Why the hell was this so damn hard at every single turn? Another predator shifter in their territory wouldn’t help things with the members of their packs at all. This land was protected…by the alphas.
It swung its head, feral eyes glaring directly at her. Before she could yell out, silence settled over the area like someone hit a mute button, muffling any noise. Not a creature dared move or even breathe.
Anger seared her insides. Whatever this shifter had done to one of her people, he’d answer to Tala. Now.
She sprinted across the clearing, her wolf pushing her to superhuman speeds.
The mountain lion crouched, ready to pounce and waited for her to come closer. Tala hesitated only a fraction at the fact that he didn’t run—normally cougars didn’t take on more than one wolf, especially not two alphas, because the odds were against them and they were smart. But not this shifter.
Tail whipping behind him, he prepared to fight. Only she had no intention of fighting that way.
Still running, Tala pulled one of the sticks out of her hair. From one of the many secret compartments on her vest, she produced a tiny blow dart and slipped it in the end of her weapon.
“Tala, no!”
Although she hadn’t heard him behind or beside her, Marrok suddenly jumped between her and the cougar. She didn’t stop fast enough and slammed into his outstretched hand. Her momentum flipped her sideways, and her face connected with the trunk of a tree with a sickening crack, the wood splintering under the impact. Nausea flooded her gut and crept up her throat as stars danced in her vision, competing with a blackness determined to consumer her.
She dropped to the ground, shut her eyes and sucked in a long slow breath, fighting the wave of unconsciousness. Finally, her head stopped buzzing. Forcing her eyes to open, she found Marrok kneeling over her, his face creased in concern.
“The cougar?” she asked, her head clearing quickly. Accelerated healing was one of the best bonuses of being a wolf shifter. She levered up and got her feet under her.
“He ran off.”
“Dammit, Marrok. Why didn’t you stop him?” Her wolf growled inside her head.
“I decided my mate, who I slammed against a tree, was too important.” Real concern filled the words, but she was too focused on his actions.
She leveled a glare on him that would’ve had anyone in her own pack running for cover. “Speaking of which, why the hell did you get in my way?”
She could’ve leveled the cougar with one dart. The poison wouldn’t kill a shifter but knock him out for hours. That’s all they needed. Her wolf snarled and pushed against Tala’s control, furious they’d been thwarted.
“My mate, still in human form, was going up against an already shifted mountain lion.”
She shoved him in the chest, and irritation rose more as he didn’t budge. “Your alpha mate.”
An itching sensation in her eyes told her they’d changed as her wolf pushed harder. The metallic taste of blood dripped on her tongue as her canine teeth elongated in her mouth, and pricked lips shut tight around a multitude of expletives she held back. Pissed didn’t begin to cover it.
Marrok scowled, but before he could comment, she stalked off into the woods. It was either that or snap his neck.
Her mate followed in silence. Smart man. For once.

Excerpts. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Which alpha will end up on top?

The Montagues and Capulets have nothing on the Canis and Banes wolf packs. The two have been feuding for ages. The brutal murder of the Banes’ alpha only added fuel to the fire. And now there’s only one way to bring peace—the current alphas of each pack, Marrok and Tala, need a mating of convenience.

Tala has her doubts. A thousand of them.

Never mind that Marrok drives her body to levels of desire her vibrator has trouble keeping up with. If she can’t get her inner wolf—or her people—on board, forget peace, because she’ll lose the tenuous control she has over the Canis pack. Her new mate is just so damn alpha. He’d better learn to play nice or Tala will have to show him who’s boss.

But Marrok has plans of his own, and nothing and no one, not even Tala herself, can resist an alpha…

***This novella was previously self published as “The Worse for Were” but has undergone a complete re-edit. Scenes were added, things were changed, but the kissing still remains!
Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Goodreads |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Multi-award-winning paranormal romance author, Abigail Owen, loves plots that move hot and fast, feisty heroines with sass, alpha heroes with heart, a dash of snark, and oodles of sexy shifters! Other titles include wife, mother, Star Wars geek, ex-competitive skydiver, spreadsheet lover, Dr. Seuss quoter, eMBA, organizational guru, Texan, Aggie, and chocoholic. Abigail currently resides in Austin, Texas, with her own personal hero (who she totally married!) and their two children, who are growing up way too fast.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | | Instagram |