I like strong women. Like many readers, I have a hard time staying with a book if the heroine doesn’t resonate with me. When I set out to write the book before Ancient Ties, I dragged my feet. I had no title, just the heroine and an idea of the hero. I loosely formed the plot and started to write.
Then I deleted it and hung back to think for a bit.
Why didn’t I want to write this story? It was about the sister of the very first hero I wrote. She was raised in the human world and estranged from her brother. She was going to get kidnapped by her hero. Or saved. Or kidnapped by someone else, then saved by the hero?
Ugh. She was so…boring…
Epiphany. I’m the author. I can make it a story I want to write.
As soon as that thought crossed my mind, Birthright formed and reigns supreme as my favorite story I’ve written. Maggie Miller was fun to write. She might not know who she really is, much less her birthright, but she knows herself and best of all, she has common sense. Bad things happen and she rolls with it and she refuses to bend into the role the hero insists is hers because she knows she’s not the right person for it.
Then there’s Kaitlyn in Ancient Ties. A police officer for shifters and vampires, she knows how to fight and defend herself. But I felt part of her strength expressed itself in her knowledge that she needed a support network in life. Shifters in my world need a mate or they’ll eventually go crazy. The ones who hang on are often surrounded by loved ones who’ve got their back. Another sign of her strength: knowing she deserved a male who treated her better. She didn’t know the real reason Chayton acted like he did toward her, and despite him being her destined mate, she wasn’t going to beg after a guy who treated her like he did. Maybe it didn’t stop some intimate moments from occurring, but…we’ll call it part of the process…
Born to be Guardians…
Chayton Eagle comes from a strong line of wolf shifters, his father an ancient in their pack. Chayton proudly acts as a Guardian, defending the colonies from danger—both from outsiders and from threats inside the pack. The one thing he doesn’t need is a human-raised female on his team—especially not one who passes out each time she shifts! Never mind that she was trained by elite Guardians, Chayton doesn’t need the distraction of a tall, sexy-as-hell redhead when he’s working. He has to focus. And he has to remember he’s scheduled to take the blood oath with a female, a long-ago pairing arranged by her parents. It doesn’t matter he and Kaitlyn are fated mates.
She can’t be his. Not now. Not ever.
Destined to be Mates.
Kaitlyn Savoy knows Chayton is supposed to be her mate. Too bad he’s such an ass about her human upbringing making her weak. Too bad she’s been assigned as his partner to take down the feral shifters threatening one of the colonies. Too bad she’s so damn attracted to him. As the mission continues, Chayton is captured by the ferals, and Kaitlyn proves her worth as a Guardian. During the rescue, she uncovers the secrets of her past, secrets that will affect her future. Despite his best efforts, Chayton’s opinion of her begins to change, his respect growing—along with feelings he can’t deny. She’s become part of his life, part of his heart. A fact his soon-to-be inlaws notice—and they intend to put an end to the temptation Kaitlyn poses to Chayton.
No matter what.
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Then I deleted it and hung back to think for a bit.
Why didn’t I want to write this story? It was about the sister of the very first hero I wrote. She was raised in the human world and estranged from her brother. She was going to get kidnapped by her hero. Or saved. Or kidnapped by someone else, then saved by the hero?
Ugh. She was so…boring…
Epiphany. I’m the author. I can make it a story I want to write.
As soon as that thought crossed my mind, Birthright formed and reigns supreme as my favorite story I’ve written. Maggie Miller was fun to write. She might not know who she really is, much less her birthright, but she knows herself and best of all, she has common sense. Bad things happen and she rolls with it and she refuses to bend into the role the hero insists is hers because she knows she’s not the right person for it.
Then there’s Kaitlyn in Ancient Ties. A police officer for shifters and vampires, she knows how to fight and defend herself. But I felt part of her strength expressed itself in her knowledge that she needed a support network in life. Shifters in my world need a mate or they’ll eventually go crazy. The ones who hang on are often surrounded by loved ones who’ve got their back. Another sign of her strength: knowing she deserved a male who treated her better. She didn’t know the real reason Chayton acted like he did toward her, and despite him being her destined mate, she wasn’t going to beg after a guy who treated her like he did. Maybe it didn’t stop some intimate moments from occurring, but…we’ll call it part of the process…
Ancient Ties
Pale Moonlight
Book Two
Marie Johnston
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Date of Publication: 1/27/17
ISBN: 9781370775347
ASIN: B01MFEATE2
Number of pages: 220
Word Count: 59000
Cover Artist: P and N Graphics
Book Description:
Born to be Guardians…
Chayton Eagle comes from a strong line of wolf shifters, his father an ancient in their pack. Chayton proudly acts as a Guardian, defending the colonies from danger—both from outsiders and from threats inside the pack. The one thing he doesn’t need is a human-raised female on his team—especially not one who passes out each time she shifts! Never mind that she was trained by elite Guardians, Chayton doesn’t need the distraction of a tall, sexy-as-hell redhead when he’s working. He has to focus. And he has to remember he’s scheduled to take the blood oath with a female, a long-ago pairing arranged by her parents. It doesn’t matter he and Kaitlyn are fated mates.
She can’t be his. Not now. Not ever.
Destined to be Mates.
Kaitlyn Savoy knows Chayton is supposed to be her mate. Too bad he’s such an ass about her human upbringing making her weak. Too bad she’s been assigned as his partner to take down the feral shifters threatening one of the colonies. Too bad she’s so damn attracted to him. As the mission continues, Chayton is captured by the ferals, and Kaitlyn proves her worth as a Guardian. During the rescue, she uncovers the secrets of her past, secrets that will affect her future. Despite his best efforts, Chayton’s opinion of her begins to change, his respect growing—along with feelings he can’t deny. She’s become part of his life, part of his heart. A fact his soon-to-be inlaws notice—and they intend to put an end to the temptation Kaitlyn poses to Chayton.
No matter what.
Excerpt:
Chayton stormed
to his cabin.
A four hour
drive. With Kaitlyn.
Spending the
night. With Kaitlyn.
Roaming the
woods. With Kaitlyn.
His heart
pounded, his nostrils flared, and he huffed like a bear after a marathon.
Slamming his front door open, he charged through and kicked it shut behind him.
Only then did he
double over, hands on his knees, sagging to catch his breath.
Kaitlyn Savoy.
The sexiest
thing he’d ever laid eyes on.
The shifter he
was never supposed to meet. His mate.
And she was
oblivious to it.
He stomped
through his cabin. Her lack of mating insight was for the best. If he had his
pick of shifters, she’d be the last on the list. Besides, he was promised to
another. Kaitlyn was young yet, and based on her blasé to distasteful reaction
to him, she’d have no trouble moving on. Or not. Her sanity may last longer
than most who don’t anchor their souls with a mate. But if she needed to bond,
she wouldn’t have a problem finding someone. Like that bartender at Pale
Moonlight.
His fangs bared
and a growl escaped before he stopped himself. He’d never caught her with him,
but stories had it the bartender helped her assuage the physical needs shifters
of their caliber experienced. She hadn’t been with the guy since Chayton had
been around. That decision had increased the bartender’s life expectancy
considerably.
No. No. It
shouldn’t matter. She needed to move on and he had no say with who. Chayton
straightened and wiped his brow, which had dotted with sweat. It was always an
effort to contain his reaction around that female.
Why her?
Ancient
blood—pure, undiluted shifter blood—ran through his veins, thanks to his
father. His Sioux mother would roll over in her grave. Chayton’s bloodlines
were rich with history and honor.
The female he’d
sworn himself to, Tika, would make a lovely mate instead. Soft brown eyes,
feminine curves, and ancestry as strong as his. In fact, she was coming of age
soon. For him, that was twenty-five. Her parents had pushed for their union
when she turned eighteen, but that had seemed too pervy for him. At two-hundred
and twenty-nine, he wasn’t about to jump a girl the second she was legal. If it
was up to him, he’d wait even longer, but even Tika had pushed for their binding.
His stomach
rumbled, alerting him that he’d missed dinner. Not that he’d eat at the main
lodge anyway; it was a tactic he used to avoid Kaitlyn.
About the Author:
Marie Johnston lives in the upper-Midwest with her husband, four kids, and an old cat. Deciding to trade in her lab coat for a laptop, she’s writing down all the tales she’s been making up in her head for years. An avid reader of paranormal romance, these are the stories hanging out and waiting to be told, between the demands of work, home, and the endless chauffeuring that comes with children.
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2 comments:
Thank you for being part of my book tour!
The Pale moonlight books sound great. Thank you
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