It is my immense pleasure to welcome author Kylie Griffin to My Book Chatter, and boy are you guys in for a treat!
Kylie is going to share some insights into her sexy leading man Varian today, and as an extra special treat, she is also giving away a Varian T-shirt to one lucky commenter!!
Be sure to check the details at the end of this post for your chance to win.
So without further ado, please welcome, Kylie Griffin...
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| Kylie Griffin |
G'day everyone! I've been looking forward
to visiting Cath's blog for some time now and meeting some of her readers. I'm
getting really excited about my book release for ALLIANCE FORGED (Bk#2 in the
Light Blade series - Berkley Sensation, July 3rd 2012) and can't think of a
better way to kick of my blog tour than starting here!
Now I know some of Cath's readers are
into paranormal romance with a passion. So, I thought it might be of interest
to some to learn a little about the hot guy on the cover. He's garnered quite a
bit of interest, mostly from those of the female persuasion :-), although there
have been a few guys asking why I used them as my cover model (they have quite
vivid imaginations! LOL).
Back to the hot cover dude. If you
haven't read the back cover blurb, I'd like you to meet Varian. He belongs to a
race of people called the Na'Chi - a half human, half demon hybrid
species. Not only is he the leader of a rag-tag bunch of outcasts but he's also
a warrior. Being part demon he's inherited their incredible strength and
enhanced senses and as he's of mixed blood these traits are augmented during
battle (this is a Gift from the human deity known as the Lady). The Gift
has kept him, and the rest of the Na'Chi, safe from the Na'Reish
demons who consider them a bloodborn disgrace and would see them all dead.
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| Super Sexy Varian |
Imagine having such abilities. Who
wouldn't want to experience such incredible power and prowess in battle? Should
I reveal now that Varian actually fears his Na'Reish heritage? For him,
having such a Gift is a double-edged sword - it helps him protect his people
but the kicker is the risk he takes every time he goes into battle. Letting his
Na'Reish side loose leaves him open to battle-rush, an insatiable hunger
to take a life, the thrill of the kill. That addiction could one day overwhelm
him and turn him into a mindless beast who is unable to tell friend from foe.
And having spent most of his life honing and using his Gift, Varian is finding
it harder and harder to control that side of him.
Does he lose control? Yes.
Does he hurt anyone? Yes! (and I'm not referring
to the Na'Reish demons he disposes of either)
More importantly, does he manage to
conquer the beast? Well, that's something you're just going to have to find out
for yourself when you read ALLIANCE FORGED! ;-)
Let's check out the cover again *grin* -
yeah, I know, it's a burden, but someone has to do it, and it may as well be
you!
If you look really closely at Varian's
eyes you might notice they're a violet color. This is a special feature of the Na'Chi.
But wait, there's more! There are flecks within the violet that change color
with the moods and emotions they're feeling. It's one way to tell a Na'Chi
from a Na'Reish demon.
If you've read VENGEANCE BORN, you'll
have meet Annika, the heroine, who is also Na'Chi. And if you recall the
scene in the forest when Kalan threatened to kill her, you'll remember the
flecks in her eyes turned yellow. The emotion she was feeling was fear. Their
eyes are an easy way for others to gauge what they're feeling.
Being a warrior-type, Varian gives new
meaning to the words stoic and reserved, he keeps his emotions and thoughts
pretty much to himself. So you'd think changing eye colors would come in handy
for Kymora, our heroine in ALLIANCE FORGED, to discover what Varian's feeling,
right?
Weeeeellllll ... no. She's blind.
But, like Varian, she has a Gift - the
ability to read auras and through that their emotions, and the accuracy of her
readings increase if she's able to make skin to skin contact. So while she
can't see Varian's eyes she compensates for it this way. It made for some
interesting scenes between them, especially once Varian found out about her
Gift!
If you'd like to read more about Varian
and Kymora in ALLIANCE FORGED you can visit my website to read an excerpt
(http://www.kyliegriffin.com/AF_Excerpt.html).
In the meantime, here's the back
cover blurb to whet your appetite:
(Book
#2 of the Light Blade series)
There
is no mercy in the demon realm. No escape. In this place of desperation and
conflict, anyone who is not purebred is virtually powerless. Until a blind
priestess lays claim to a half-breed warrior, body and soul…
Hunted
and marked for death by Na’Reish demons for their half-blood heritage,
the Na’Chi are searching for a new home—something an alliance offered by
the human leader could provide. With both races divided by prejudice, when
Light Blade rebels brutally attack the Na’Chi, the alliance seems doomed
to fail.
Varian,
leader of the Na’Chi, a hybrid race of gifted warriors, is cursed with
the darker impulses of his demon heritage. Controlling the part of himself that
craves the high of the battle is a struggle he’s afraid he’ll lose—until he
meets Kymora Tayn, a priestess driven to serve her deity. While he’s unwilling
to trust anyone outside his people, he finds himself drawn to Kymora’s strength
and passionate nature, and discovers she has the power to calm the darkness inside
him.
When
the Na’Reish raid human territory for blood-slaves and kickstart a war,
the key to the survival of both races—Na’Chi and human— is an alliance.
However, when Kymora is kidnapped, pitting human against human, Varian realizes
he must embrace his darker half, not only to save the alliance…but also the
woman he loves.
Cath, thanks so much for inviting me
along. I hope everyone has enjoyed learning a little more about Varian, my hero
from ALLIANCE FORGED!
If you have any questions or would like to know more
about either our hero or heroine, just ask. :-)
Thanks Kylie, I for one can not wait to get my hands on Varian, I mean, a copy of Alliance Forged!
Okay people this is it...for your chance to win a gorgeous Varian t-shirt answer this question: What features make a good book cover for you?
Leave your answer and a valid email address in a comment below and you're in
the draw!!
I will 'randomly' pick a winner at the end of Kylie's blog tour and email the
winner with details on how to claim their prize :)
Be sure to check out Kylie's blog for more tour destinations for your chance to
win more Light Blade swag and Alliance Forged ARC's.
If you'd like more information about Kylie Griffin and her books,
here are some links that may interest you =D
Website: http://www.kyliegriffin.com
How do you work for a
guy who took the job you wanted? Every time Captain Layne Sullivan runs
into Chief Ross Taylor, she struggles with that issue. It doesn't help
that he's a by-the-book cop who expects everything done his way. It also
doesn't help that he's hot. Ignoring that little fact is
impossible-she's tried!
