Jessica Jones
A superheroine so awesome she gets her own show—count me in. If you’re expecting the normal ‘flash’ (had to make the superhero pun) of the genre, this delivers a whole different brand of story. Instead, Jessica Jones comes off like an urban fantasy, and the lead is the sort of surly, bad-mouthed heroine of my dreams. She’s damaged and doesn’t want to be a hero, barely scraping by, and the exact sort of underdog I want to root for. On sheer attitude and resilience alone, Jessica Jones is on this list.
Buffy
You don’t get to do lists of badass women without Buffy. She was a pioneer of her times, slaying vamps at night and fumbling her way through high school during the day. While there are a lot of other stand out characters in the show, her strength places her in an entirely different category. Despite all the gray areas she wandered through and how she wavered, she maintained her moral code at the end of the day and led with self-sacrifice and determination.
Cordelia
So, I’m representing Angel here too, and I’m sure this name on this list comes as somewhat of a surprise. However, I want you to consider that Cordelia weathered Buffy without a single superpower, and the only thing she was working with in Angel happened to be visions. Yet, the character’s brand of sass didn’t dim, her loudmouthed objections and complaints didn’t waver, and she remained ferocious even when she lived in a world where most folks could overpower her. That takes grit.
Caroline Forbes
Vampire Diaries is one of those unexpected shows that comes off like a teen romance…and ends up being about two brothers and their relationship. Somewhat like Supernatural. And while the main character of the show didn’t thrill me, the moment Caroline Forbes stepped onto the scene with her Type A neuroticism and bossiness, I was smitten. While everyone else is struggling with their bloodlust, the moment Caroline turns, she adapts fast, and throughout the series tends to do the least amount of damage from her kind and maintain her morality. If that’s not impressive, I don’t know what is.
Bonnie Bennett
In terms of self-sacrifice, I think Bonnie Bennett is the crowning champion. She’s on her own, a lot, gets knocked down, a lot, and yet time and time again she’s out there using her witchy mojo to save Elena and crew. It’s a thankless job, and yet throughout the series the emotional fortitude of this character is amazing. With the hell she’s experienced, being able to forgive certain individuals, or even tolerate them for the sake of her friends shows the shade of loyalty this character displays.
Hayley Marshall
When you think werewolf, fierce as hell comes to mind, and also Hayley Marshall. She first appeared in the Vampire Diaries, however she really blossomed in the Originals. The woman Klaus affectionately refers to as ‘Little Wolf’ has a strong as hell personality and holds her own amidst the big beaters in New Orleans. She’s an advocate of her people and unafraid to step to the plate for them and fight, despite the danger. And as a mother? Folks out to harm Hope better run and hide, because Hayley will go feral.
Bo
This list couldn’t be complete without a nod to Lost Girl. Bo Dennis puts the ‘b’ in badass, and she’s relentless in the protection of her friends. She assumes the mantle of leadership with ease, and what I love about the show is that folks don’t try to question it. Man and woman alike fall in line, because not only does Bo hold herself to a strict moral code, but she’d do anything on the planet for those she cares about.
Kenzi
While I love Bo, the real star of Lost Girl, for me at least, was Kenzi. Talk about moxie. This girl had it in spades. She used her scrappy street smarts to fight alongside Bo even when she didn’t have a single power to her name, a human amongst the fae. Like Cordelia, it takes an extreme amount of strength and resilience to hang tough with that sort of crowd, and yet Kenzi does, time and time again. She does it in style too, with the sort of goth-punk attire I’m always envious of.
Waking for Winter
Philadelphia Coven Chronicles
Book Four
Katherine McIntyre
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Loose Id
Date of Publication: July 4th, 2017
Book Description:
The Philadelphia Coven has thwarted the Order of the Serpent’s every attempt to destroy their city only to draw out the scariest nightmare from the Otherworld, the Caoranach. One of the Coven’s own, Cami Akiyama, has already met this creature—the very monster who tortured her, branding her with a mark. Given Cami’s history with the big bad, the Coven leader assigns her a bodyguard, none other than the gorgeous and lethal necromancer, Dante Martinez, the ex-boyfriend she disappeared on years ago. One conversation confirms the spark between them never died, and based on the way Dante flirts, he won’t allow that flame to extinguish out without a fight.
No one has ever compared to Dante and the incendiary passion he inspired in her, but the Caoranach broke her—Cami’s too damaged for any sort of relationship. Not like that stops him. If anything, he fights harder for the memories of a love that kept her sane on the bleakest nights. And despite every effort to distance, she finds herself falling for him all over again. Except the Caoranach isn’t finished with her—the branded mark holds the secret to the city’s destruction or salvation, and Cami stands in the center of the storm.
Excerpt 2:
He sucked in a
harsh breath. “So it had nothing to do with us?”
So, so
complicated that phrase. It had everything to do with them, with how bright
their flames burned when they were together and how their fire threatened to
consume survival and reason alike. The aching intensity he inspired in her had
reached the fervor of consumption, to the point she wasn’t sure she’d ever be
able to extricate herself. In their time apart, she’d grown. Fallen down,
scraped her knees, and fucked up, sure. But she’d learned to stand on her own
and had become a woman who could fight her own battles. Had she stayed back
then, she risked not only losing him but herself in the process.
“You’ll always
have the place you carved into my heart.” Her words came out quiet while the
enormity of the realization crashed through her. As much as she tried to
distance herself, as much as she’d tried to move on, the second Dante entered
her life again, his presence returned her to a home she’d been away from for a
long, long time. His uncharacteristic quiet unsettled her nerves, but after the
bombshell she’d dropped, she didn’t expect quips or quick conversation.
The inches
between them grew agonizing since she wanted so badly to reach out and stroke
his arm or squeeze his hand and close the distance. To indulge in the comfort
his mere touch allowed. However, the silence reached a deafening crescendo, and
for once she couldn’t read his gaze.
Dante sat up on
the bed, a bandage over his side where he’d been patched. The doctors had cut
off his shirt but left his jeans on. His mouth tightened with pain at the
motion, and he moved carefully as he slid to the end of the bed to grab her
hand. So close, the scent of his smokes and metal surrounded her, intoxicating
in his nearness and his heat a blossom unfurling in her chest. His dark,
honeyed skin looked good enough to lick, and her tongue darted out to wet her
lips on instinct.
He traced his
fingertips down her cheeks to lift her chin, the slight touch electric, an
awakening that traveled through her body in a way that brought her into the
present for the first time in too long.
Closing the
distance between them, he leaned down and brushed his lips to hers.
About the Author:
A modern day Renaissance-woman, Katherine McIntyre has learned soapmaking, beer brewing, tea blending, and most recently roasting coffee. Most of which make sure she’s hydrated and bathed while she spends the rest of her time writing. With a desire to travel and more imagination than she knows what to do with, all the stories jumping around in her head led to the logical route of jotting them down on paper. She writes novels with snarky women, ragtag crews, and guys with bad attitudes. High chances for a passionate speech thrown into the mix.
Website: http://www.katherine-mcintyre.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kmcintyreauthor
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/pixierants
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/authorkmcintyre
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment