Spotlight & Giveaway: Taming the White Wolf by N.J. Walters

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome 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, Taming the White Wolf!

 
Hi! Thank you for having me at HJ.
 

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

Immortal lone wolf Devlin Moore saves Zoe Moore’s life. That meeting plunges them into danger—werewolf assassins, magic, blood, and obsession. How much of what they feel for each other is real and how much is the result of a dark blood spell? Only time will tell…if they survive.
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

Lightning slashed the night sky, illuminating the lone wolf on the hillside. A wild howl ripped through the air. Rain wept from the heavens, washing the blood from his pure-white fur.

It was done. The rogue was dead.

Devlin Moore trotted into the woods without a backward glance. There was a time he would’ve felt something—remorse, sadness.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

The heroine is feisty and doesn’t hesitate to stand up to Devlin.

When Devlin asks her to have coffee with him, it’s the first time he’s ever taken a woman out for coffee. He’s known as the lone wolf for a reason.
 

What first attracts your main characters to each other?

What first attracts Devlin to Zoe is the fact her eyes are white like his, and she has a streak of white in her hair that matches his white hair. It’s unusual enough to make him take notice. When they run into each other a second time later that day, he begins to believe there are bigger forces at play.

Devlin saves Zoe’s life, keeping her from being hit by a car. She’s struck by his unusual appearance, not to mention the fact he’s downright hot. When they run into each other a second time, she begins to worry he’s following her.
 

Using just 5 words, how would you describe your main characters”love affair?

Intense. Sexy. Dangerous. Tumultuous. Powerful.
 

The First Kiss…

Whoever this woman was, she was pure temptation, a dangerous distraction he didn’t need. If anything, he needed to keep his guard up until he discovered why he’d been drawn to her.

She licked her lips again. Unable to resist, he leaned toward her. When she didn’t object, he brushed his mouth against hers. Lust roared through him like a runaway freight train. He almost staggered under the onslaught. Every muscle in his chest rippled as her hand skimmed over it before settling on his shoulder.

Mine! The possessive impulse caught him off guard. Wolves mated for life, but not lone wolves. As the name implied, they were solitary creatures by necessity.

Inhaling sharply, he sorted through myriad scents. Beneath the layers of sweat, liquor, and artificial fragrance lay a richer one, sweet with a hint of arousal—hers.

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

I find it impossible to pick a favorite scene from the book, but I do like this one. They’d fought and gone their separate ways, but he can’t keep from checking on her. He shows up outside her apartment…

Rather than knock—no way would she let him in with things as they stood—he placed his hand on the panel and listened, filtering away the outside noise. Once he was sure she was safe, he’d take some time to regroup and be back by nightfall. That was the sensible thing to do.

Her heartbeat was rapid, her breathing thready. Frowning, he hesitated. He could detect no one inside the apartment with her. A thin cry of terror pierced his heart.

The doorknob turned easily under his hand. What the hell! It wasn’t even locked. He shoved it open. “Zoe.” Asleep at her desk, she moaned. A nightmare held her in its grip.
Zoe,” he called again.

Shoving the door closed, he crossed the short distance to her side.

Her eyelids flipped open, awareness kicking in. He caught a brief glimpse of a fist heading straight toward his head, ducking before it made contact. Undaunted, she flew at him, beating at his chest and shoulders. He grabbed her upper arms and lightly shook her. “Zoe, it’s me.” He wrapped his arms around her, to keep her from hurting herself…and him.

Trapped in her fear, she was unable to hear him. If he was human, she’d have done some damage. As it was, all she did was hurt her hands and wear herself out.

“Stop it,” he snapped.

She brought her knee up sharply, aiming for his balls. He twisted, barely blocking the blow. Damn, she was out for blood. Gripping her hands in one of his, he took her to the floor, making sure he took the brunt of the fall. Turning her onto her back, he threw one of his thighs over hers, pinning her legs to prevent her from using them to inflict further damage.

She bucked beneath him, her eyes spitting fire. “Let me go.”

“Not until you settle down.”

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

Their first meeting is crucial. He keeps her from being hit by a car and then continues on his way, still a stranger. During the entire encounter, she’s too tongue-tied to actually speak.

Stuffing her phone in her bag, she stepped off the sidewalk. A horn blared. Tires squealed. A heavy hand landed on her shoulder and yanked her back. The deli bag slipped from her hand and dropped to the ground. Off balance, she would’ve ended up on her ass except she rammed into someone.

What the hell! Heart pounding, mouth dry, she trembled.

“Watch where you’re walking, lady,” the driver yelled, speeding away. Stunned, all she could do was blink. It had happened so fast.

“You okay?” The voice was impossibly deep and vibrated in the very marrow of her bones.

Tilting her head back, she stared up and up. Holy cow, he was one of the biggest men she’d ever seen, and every inch of it was prime. The black T-shirt he wore stretched across an acre of shoulders and clung to rock-hard abs. At a loss for words, she catalogued his features. He wasn’t handsome. That was far too tame a word. Primal sprang to mind. His face was all hard, sharp angles, his jaw stubborn. She curled her hands into fists to keep from reaching up to touch him to make sure he was real and not some figment of her overactive imagination.

Maybe I’m dead and this is heaven?

Readers should read this book …

If you enjoy sexy, action-packed paranormal romance, this book is for you.
Taming the White Wolf features a sexy loner werewolf and a feisty heroine brought together by magical forces who must learn to lower their guard and trust their hearts if they hope to survive their deadly enemies.

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

The other two books in this trilogy are already written, so they’ll be coming soon.

I’m working on an entirely new trilogy, also paranormal but not shapeshifters.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

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Excerpt from Taming the White Wolf:

Stuffing her phone in her bag, she stepped off the sidewalk. A horn blared. Tires squealed. A heavy hand landed on her shoulder and yanked her back. The deli bag slipped from her hand and dropped to the ground. Off balance, she would’ve ended up on her ass except she rammed into someone.

What the hell! Heart pounding, mouth dry, she trembled.

“Watch where you’re walking, lady,” the driver yelled, speeding away. Stunned, all she could do was blink. It had happened so fast.

“You okay?” The voice was impossibly deep and vibrated in the very marrow of her bones.
Tilting her head back, she stared up and up. Holy cow, he was one of the biggest men she’d ever seen, and every inch of it was prime. The black T-shirt he wore stretched across an acre of shoulders and clung to rock-hard abs. At a loss for words, she catalogued his features. He wasn’t handsome. That was far too tame a word. Primal sprang to mind. His face was all hard, sharp angles, his jaw stubborn. She curled her hands into fists to keep from reaching up to touch him to make sure he was real and not some figment of her overactive imagination.

Maybe I’m dead and this is heaven?

His hair was pure white and pulled back from his face in a short tail. But this guy wasn’t anywhere near ancient. No, he was young and vibrant and smoking hot. She didn’t think it was dyed, either. Not a single dark root in sight, and maybe it was stereotyping, but he didn’t seem the type to dye it. That meant it was hereditary.

He held her at arm’s length, his lips compressing into a hard line. “Lady, are you okay?”
Tongue-tied by his mere presence, she nodded.

“You need to watch where you’re going.” Releasing her, he walked away without a backward glance.

He might be handsome as sin, but his personality sucked. Okay, that wasn’t fair. He’d saved her life. She’d cut him some slack. He likely had somewhere he needed to be.

Glancing down, she found her deli bag. By some stroke of luck, it hadn’t gotten squashed beneath the tires of a car or trampled by passing feet. She grabbed it and checked. The sandwich was slightly crushed. The brownie was unharmed.

Zoe took a deep breath. “You’re okay.” Despite her reassurance, her stomach churned, and she couldn’t stop trembling. She wasn’t sure if it was due to the scare she’d had or the man who had saved her. Probably both in equal parts.
Forsaking the park, she headed home. Her unexpected hero was already out of sight.

Sighing, she went to rub her hand against her forehead and clunked herself with the deli bag. “Get with it, girl.” Clasping the bag to her chest, she slowly walked home and dragged herself up the stairs. She wasn’t hurt, but she’d had a shock.

After kicking off her sneakers, she took her meal to her desk, which stood in front of her one window and doubled as her dining table. Staring down at the street, she ate by rote, not tasting the delicious sandwich.

“I wonder what color his eyes are.” Sunglasses had covered them, but she’d sensed the intensity of his gaze from behind the tinted lenses. Giving a sigh, she reached for the brownie. “Stop it. It’s over. He’s gone. You were two ships passing in the night, even if it was daytime. Maybe he’s your guardian angel.”

That made her laugh. He was too badass. Whoever he was, he was anything but an angel.

Excerpts. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Taming the White Wolf
Lone Wolf Legacy, Book 1

The lone wolf answers to no alpha or pack. From his first transformation, he knows his destiny: to be both judge and executioner for rogue werewolves. Welcome to the spellbinding first book in New York Times bestselling author N.J. Walters intense new werewolf series.

White wolf Devlin Moore has spent nearly the last century following his destiny: hunting rogue werewolves. His fate is to be the only one of his kind—hardened, feared, and brutally ruthless. Only now, Devlin’s not alone. There are two others. And if that wasn’t unsettling enough, Devlin is drawn to New York City for what appears to be a human…

As far as Devlin can tell, vibrant artist Zoe Galvani is no threat. But there’s something about her— from her unusual eyes that look similar to the same shocking hue as his own, to his growing need to mark her as his that suggests magical forces may be at play.

Now there’s no escaping each other, or the attraction that grows stronger by the second. But no one, especially a human woman, should have this effect on a lone wolf. And just when he’s sure that having her could be his undoing…the truth steps out of the shadows.
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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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