Hi Fangtastic readers!
So, my assignment today is to let you know my top favs fairy tale characters, so here they are in no particular order.
1. The evil stepmother/queen from Snow White
I love the villains because you can do so much with them. I’ve actually twisted this character twice, once in the second book in the Sexy Shifter Fairytale Romances, SNOW, and once in my longer fantasy series, The Tales of the Dark Court. What I love about this character is working with the motivatin underneath the character, why is she so hateful and yet able to get away with her evil deeds? How can she possibly live with herself? In fact, I think we can include the evil stepmother from Cinderella in here too. I’ve been working on one of the later books in this series, CINDER, and the stepmother is one of my favorites to write. In that book she’s a former top-model and she’s a backstage momma who wants the steps to also be top-models. What delicious motivation, she thinks she’s doing it all for the kids, but truthfully, it’s all about herself. Love it!
2. Lost heroines: RED, Little Red Riding Hood
When you are talking about fairytales you are talking about little girl lost stories. And when I write modern adult fairy tale twists the heroines have to become not just adults, but adults who find love and in doing so, find themselves. In RED, my heroine grows from depending on her family to make all her decisions, to making the tough decisions herself. Loving a boy from the wrong side of the woods is her driving force for change because love conquers all, right? Even being a lonely lost fairy tale heroine.
3. Bad boy heroes or princes in disguise?
The thing missing from children’s fairy tales is the bad boy gone good, because that’s the ultimate adult fairy tale. Most of my twists have a guy who isn’t a prince, but finds his inner Charming deep within. I love flawed men, because in reality, we’re all deeply flawed, so men who start off only thinking of themselves, but end up sacrificing all for true love, that’s my kind of hero. All my princes, whether they have an official title, like in my fantasy series, or if they are just regular guys, like in Sexy Shifter Fairytale Romances, all have massive changes they have to go through. And I love making them sweat each and every choice—making them pay the hard price, all so they can find true love with their fairy tale princess.
I guess you can see that I have a tough time picking just a few fairy tale characters as favorites. That’s because each and every one has their own story to tell. Each one has their own journey, whether it’s a bad boy who reforms, a heroine who become strong, or a villain who can never see past her own needs. And twisting each one in a new and different way is what I love to do. What are your favorite characters? Why do you love to see them twisted into new and different plots?
RED: A Sexy Shifter Fairytale Romance
Jessica Aspen
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Abracadabra Publishing
Date of Publication: January 2015
Number of pages: 73
Word Count: 33,853
Cover Artist: Viola Estrella
Description:
When Red runs into the hot new forest ranger she thinks it will be just a quick fling but passions ignite and soon Red is scrambling to hide all her secrets.
Fraternizing with humans is taboo but when feisty werewolf, Red, runs into the hunky new forest ranger, Evan Brewster, she jumps on the opportunity to let loose her desires. Evan is stoked when he meets the petite red haired hottie, and combined with his new discovery of wolves in Colorado, thinks his career and life are made. Then Red pushes him away, her hostile brother threatens his life, and things begin to spiral out of control.
Caught between her sexy lover and her pack can Red trust Evan with her secrets? Or must she sacrifice her human lover—and her heart?
Excerpt:
RED
A
Sexy Shifter Fairytale Romance
Red entered the
deep woods, sniffing in appreciation of the cool damp piney scent. The familiar
narrow path was little more than a deer trail through the brush. It would get
her to Grandma’s in good time. Grandma was a bit of a lone wolf who refused to
have a phone. She lived up on the mountain in an area of the forest you
couldn’t get to by road. Her independence drove Red’s mother crazy but Red
admired the sheer rebelliousness. Good old Grandma. She insisted the old ways
were best and she would live off the land until she died.
No wonder Mom
had sent her to check on Grandma. Red’s lips curved in a smile. Kill two rebel
birds with one stone. Her mother was ever-efficient.
She moved deeper
into the woods musing about ways to get the old she-wolf on her side of the
argument. Each stride loosened joints tight from a week trapped in the kitchen
with her mother. The warm morning sun coming though the trees dappled the earth
in an ever-changing pattern and increased her pleasure in her body’s movements.
Her pace slowed and she became lulled into feeling there wasn’t any danger.
She wished she
dared to change into wolf form and really move. Feel the trail under her paws,
smell the true scents of the woods, taste the air. But her mother’s warning
about the hunters in the park was fresh. Hunters wouldn’t hesitate to shoot a
wolf.
All they would
have to do was say it had attacked them, their dogs, or their squeaky duck
lures and the new park ranger would side with them. No, ever since the new
ranger had taken over, all the pack had become more cautious.
Her body moved
her up the trail on auto-pilot while her brain continued to re-hash her
problem. She was stuck in limbo, like a lamb before the slaughter. Alive, but
going nowhere. She was desperate to get out of town. Her mating instincts told
her she should search out a mate. But they conflicted with her personal
instincts that told her to go find a career and separate from her controlling
family.
But instead of
taking charge of her own destiny like a human woman, here she was, checking on
Grandma like a good girl. She even had a Tupperware box of goodies stuffed in
her pack in case Grandma wasn't eating anything but rabbit.
Zoned out on the
familiar path, her sensitive nose picked up a smell. An appetizing smell, of
cloves and wood smoke and something…something male.
She froze, all
her senses on alert.
Her ears and
nose almost twitched forward.
There, in the
shadows on the side of the trail, was a man. A man in a ranger uniform standing
next to a large frame backpack. How could she not have noticed him before? How
long had he been watching her?
She forced her
body to look relaxed and stifled the urge flooding her system and threatening
to overwhelm herthe urge to change into her wolf and deal with the danger.
She smiled, and
hoped it wasn’t too toothy. Her instincts said she was a wolf, but all he would
perceive was a young woman—not a threat.
This had to be
the new ranger Seth had talked about non-stop for the last week. How this new
guy had taken Uncle Bob’s spot when Uncle Bob died last month in a car
accident. How no one was ready from the pack to step into Bob’s position and
handle the pack’s personal area of the forest. How the ranger had better watch
his step—or there would be trouble.
Seth had bitched
and moaned, but what he hadn’t said was how totally hot this guy was. Or how
delicious he smelled. She put him at just under six foot, but that was tall
compared to her petite five-foot two. Long and lean, he had the look of someone
who spent a lot of time outdoors, hiking or maybe skiing. He stepped forward
and swept back his shaggy brown hair, revealing warm brown eyes that held the
look. The look men gave women—open, appreciative, and a touch guarded.
She returned it
with a bold appraising one of her own. He was just what she needed to distract
her from her family issues. He was hot, male—and a stranger.
“Hi, I’m Evan
Brewster.” He held out his hand, waiting for her to take it. She hesitated. A
slow smile crept across his lips.
She swallowed.
Wolves didn’t shake hands and she didn’t usually meet anyone she hadn’t known
since birth. She stepped forward, held out her hand like she thought a normal
girl would. And ignored her stomach’s quivering.
“You must be
Uncle Bob’s replacement. Nice to meet you.” Here was her chance to practice
with a regular human. To prove to her parents and the pack elders she could
function in the wide world. That her days of indiscriminate changes were over,
and that she was a competent adult. He took her hand. His calloused grip was
warm and strong.
Electricity shot
up her arm and into her chest. Her heart rate sped up just like the seconds
before a kill. Sudden warm wet heat pooled between her legs. She yanked her
hand back, stopping short of rubbing her tingling palm on her thigh.
Oh man! She
didn’t even know this guy. He wasn’t pack, wasn’t even a shifter, despite his
touch that had her shaking. Shaking like a spindly branched cottonwood in the
fall breeze. She took another deep sniff, reassured herself that he was all
human. And knew he was not only human, but he was all male.
She wasn’t in
heat. Why would she respond to him like this? Like she wanted to strip him down
and do him right here on the path. Maybe it was the uniform. This guy filled
out the standard park ranger uniform nicely. Much nicer than Uncle Bob. This
was what her family had been afraid would happen if she went to college and was
around too many human males. That she would pick a human, instead of one of the
not-so-distantly related wolves they kept parading in front of her. Mate with
one of them, instead of her own kind.
Inter-species
relationships between humans and wolf-shifters were common in the old days when
populations were spread out and the choice of mates was slim. Now they were
rare. Extremely rare. No one mated permanently with humans. It was wrong, just
wrong. Maybe her family was right. If she was this desperate she should just
pick one of the available local wolves and settle down.
But she’d never
felt like this about any of the pack males. Not even the human guy she’d been
with as a teenager had caused this immediate tingling urge for sex. She
swallowed, feeling suddenly shy and cautious, and smiled.
Evan.
She rolled his
name through her mind, resisted the desire to taste the flavor of it on her
tongue. Maybe if she wasn’t touching him she could do this—carry on a normal
conversation. She struggled for something to say, something that would cover
this incredible desire to fuck a complete stranger.
“Welcome to
Radon,” she managed to get out. “How do you like it so far?” Inane. Moronic.
But it was out now. She hoped he couldn’t see the shaking that had started at
his touch, or smell the moisture between her legs. Luckily, he was only human.
Calm down, Red!
You can do this. You have to do this.
“It’s been
interesting. It’s a pretty tight-knit little town.” His gaze had warmed,
becoming friendly. And interested.
She knew what
that appraising look meant. She’d received it from all the available males her
parents had invited to their house in an effort to entice her to settle down.
But none of the bachelor wolves had made her feel like this. Like her whole
body was tuned in to his. Like she should get on all fours, push her ass in the
air, spread her legs, and beg.
Her palms were
damp. She caught him checking her out and was glad her hoodie was zipped up
over her chest. Her nipples tightened so fast, so hard, they almost hurt.
"Town's
been a little tough on you, huh?" she asked. Poor guy, he couldn't have
known what coming to this area would be like. They hadn’t had a ranger who
wasn’t pack in her lifetime. The county was up in arms.
“You could say
that.” He shot her a conspiratorial smile that warmed his eyes to molten
chocolate. She had a sudden vivid picture of a sheepskin rug and him lying
naked in front of a fire, her lips and tongue tracing the contoured lines of
muscles illuminated by the flames.
She dragged her
mind back, forcing it to focus on the present. Focus on the words coming out
from between his sexy lips.
“You’re the friendliest
person I’ve run into in this town. Where have you been hiding?”
Wrong question
ranger. The question was who had been hiding him from her? Now her mother
keeping her home from work to make jam made sense. Her mother would never think
she was an adult. Although maybe her mom was right—given her lusty thoughts
maybe she should be sequestered.
“I normally work
in town—at the general store. I must have just missed you.” Yeah right. Did
that sound as lame to him as it had to her? She lifted her chin. Her mother’s
plan had backfired. Despite being sent off to the boonies she’d met the new guy
in town. And boy was he hot.
“Is that
Burdock’s? It’s the only general store I’ve seen.” One long hand reached up,
pushing his thatch of hair back off his face in an unconscious slow sensual
movement. The hair fell forward back into place as soon as he released it,
thick and dark and oh so touchable.
“Yeah. I guess
you’ve been in there.”
“Yeah. Is the
black haired dude with the bad-ass attitude related?” His eyes crinkled up at
the corners when he smiled. Another urge to spread her thighs slid through her.
In an effort to control it, she clenched them tight.
What had he
asked?
“Seth,” she
said, relieved she knew what to say. “He’s one of my brothers. He’s none too
happy you’re here.”
“Why is that?”
“Let’s just say
we’re a typical small town. Outsiders aren’t really welcome.”
“You know,
you’re the first woman I’ve met under thirty all week. I was beginning to
wonder where they all were.”
Dangerous
territory. She’d better be careful what she said. Obviously the alphas had the
few available females under lock and key.
“We have a
surplus of men in this town. You probably just missed the women.” He made her
so nervous, she just knew she would slip and let something out. Something that
would alert him that all was not as it seemed in small town Radon, Colorado.
“It’s been nice but I have to get going.”
She smiled and
started to move down the path, but he stepped in front of her, blocking her.
The back of her
neck prickled.
She supposed he
was eager to talk to the only friendly face in town but she wished he would
back off. She was having enough trouble controlling herself as it was. Her
heightened senses told her to take action. Now.
He’d moved too
close. His spicy male scent filled her nostrils, caressing her skin. She wanted
to bury her face in the crook of his neck and inhale, suck him in like oxygen
before going underwater.
“Where are you
off to?”
“My grandmother
lives up the mountain. I’m just going to check on her, stay a while.”
His face lost
its easy smile and grew concerned. “You’re hiking up the mountain by yourself?
A woman like you shouldn’t be out here alone.” She bristled at his statement.
Just like her brother! What was it with men and their bossy attitudes?
“A woman like
me? Slow down buster! I’ve been hiking this mountain since I could walk. You’re
out here alone, why not me?”
“But I’m a
trained outdoorsman. What if the weather changes? You hardly look prepared in
those shorts. What do you have in that pack?” He moved closer to her. She
backed up, suppressing the desire to bare her teeth. With relief she channeled
her newfound sexuality into anger instead. This she understood. Human or not,
he was beginning to get her back up, just like any other male.
“I’ll be at Grandma’s
before dark. And it’s an incredible day. No storm in sight. See ya.” She edged
around him back onto the path, determined to put both him and temptation behind
her.
“Wait, I’ll go
with you. There are signs of hunters in the area. You shouldn’t be hiking
alone.” He shouldered his oversize pack with ease. Then scrambled, trying to
buckle the waist straps and keep up with her at the same time. She stepped up
the pace.
She could feel
him close behind, knew he was eye level with her ass. Knew he watched her
backside swish with each step. Her tingling nerves began to send messages
again. With him nipping at her ankles, she felt like prey.
“No, thanks. You
won’t be able to keep up.” She moved faster, pumping her legs in a rapid rhythm
on the familiar trail. His legs might be longer than hers, but she had wolf
stamina and a light pack. No way he could keep up with her for long.
“Hey, I’ve been
through hell in the military. If I could keep up in basic, then I can keep up
with you, little girl.”
She laughed. Flashing
a catch-ya-later look over her shoulder she put on a hair more speed. He’d find
out soon enough that she might be little but she had more oomph in this little
package than most. And he could just watch her swish her tail until she was out
of sight.
About the Author:
Jessica Aspen always wanted to be spirited away to a world inhabited by elves, were-wolves and sexy men who walk on the dark side of the knife. Luckily, she’s able to explore her fantasy side and delve into new worlds by writing spicy paranormal romance. She loves indulging in dark chocolate, reading eclectic novels, and dreaming of ocean vacations, but instead spends most of her time, writing, walking the dog, and hiking in the Colorado Rockies.
To sign up for Jessica Aspen’s new release email and to get your FREE bonus book, please go to: http://eepurl.com/zs4Sj
Website: http://jessicaaspen.com
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