I’d like to welcome author Carol Van Atta to the blog today! I hope you enjoy the awesome guest post Carol’s written and stick around to enter the giveaway for a chance to win your own copy of Carol’s latest release, I Kissed a Dog (cute title, right?).
Like most authors of paranormal romance, I like the idea of love and romance with a paranormal twist or two that spices things up for the couple. I’m also a fan of love that is intense, at times irrational, and even impulsive. It makes for great reading. However, because of the hot topics we write and/or read about, we might want to consider adding a warning label to our special brand of sexy, supernatural shenanigans.
Warning: Hot and Heavy Romance leading to heated hormones and hellacious heartbreak may result from attempting to replicate the relationships in this book.
What I’m saying … we need to keep our feelings for steamy supernatural romances that have the potential to shred our hearts and maybe even our hope, in check.
So, let me ask you, have your friends ever pointed out your relationship failures? Ever heard the word co-dependent and cringed? Do you excuse and tolerate behaviors that are unacceptable and hurtful in your mate? For example: He makes me bleed because he can’t help himself. He is, after all, a vampire. Or … he only bosses me around when the moon is full; remember he’s a werewolf.
If you can answer “yes” to any of the above questions, you just might be in an unhealthy relationship and possibly addicted to love, romance, or the idea of participating in a relationship despite the painful consequences and high emotional price tag.
I know the scenario all too well. It’s easy to fall for those alpha males we inhale like a breath of fresh air while devouring our favorite romances, paranormal or otherwise. The stories make dysfunctional, and dare I say, at times, borderline abusive men appear so tantalizing. They also tempt us with the notion that can’t live without a specific relationship/person … think Bella sitting in that darn chair following Edward’s departure in the Breaking Dawn, The Movie.
Why am I bringing up this depressing topic during the “Love Month”?
Because it’s important to remember the books we read, featuring men who ultimately bring danger and even disaster to our lives aren’t good for us in the real world. We don’t have super powers, (unless you’re hiding something super secret!) to combat the villains and vicious characters that seem to cling to these men like a pair of poured on leather pants. Nor are we equipped to handle all the chaos that accompanies them roaring down the main street of our hearts.
But the main reason, friends, is because I care. I know what it’s like to search for love in the darkness hoping it would light up my life. Unfortunately, I ended up with a blood thirsty vampire latched onto my neck unwilling to release his relentless and painful hold. What seemed so enticing and intoxicating in the beginning became poison to my heart and life. When a vampire is attached to your throat, it’s hard to live life, let alone experience love.
This special post is just a reminder for us to enjoy the lethal love in the books we read, without allowing our desire for love and romance to overpower our commonsense.
On the lighter side, this is what makes reading paranormal romances the safe and better option. I borrowed this from my website.
Why write a series of books about wolfy-men, who according to legend, howl at the moon, shed fur, and shred their victims with their big teeth – oh my? I think the explanation can’t ignore the psychology of women. Do I speak for all women? Of course, not! But I do know (right or wrong) a wide range of women (myself included) are, or have been at some point in the past, drawn to “bad boys,” men who for whatever reason live daringly adventurous lives, doing things that often cause them to stand apart from other less intense guys, the type of guys we might refer to as uber reliable or b-o-r-i-n-g. Bad boys are so refreshingly far from boring, they’re not even on the same map. They’re typically easy on the eyes, usually in a non-traditional way, and have strong, possibly overbearing personalities; they are decidedly masculine in every sense of the word. Dare we say they’re predatory? They take control, go after what they want, and are nowhere near tame. Feral. Wild. Sexy. Dangerous. Yep. They’re beastly. And what’s more beastly than a werewolf? See my point? If you want tame, werewolves are not for you. Danger isn’t for everyone. Yet, I challenge you to take a long look at the desires of your heart. Do you crave adventure? Excitement? Passion? If you’re breathing, I suspect you’ve wished for those very things a time or two … or three hundred. Don’t worry. And don’t be ashamed. You’re so not alone. Men with supernatural tendencies tend to live outside the box we call normal. Excitement, danger, and passion cling to them like peanut butter to jelly. Yummy! And we just can’t help but want a taste. Granted, we may live our safe, predictable lives, but opening a book that rockets us into a world of romance, intrigue, and danger, along with a good dose of humor, allows us to experience those bad boys without the not-always-positive side effects. In other words, we can safely enjoy danger and desire without breaking a nail or nursing a broken heart.
That final sentence says it all. We can enjoy our wolfy guys from the safety of our favorite arm chair, without putting ourselves in harm’s way.
However, if you’ve found yourself dealing with an unwanted and toxic relationship, I’d like to recommend a resource you might want to check out. The book, Biting Back, by Claudia Cunningham, is a no-nonsense, no garlic guide to facing the personal vampires in your life.
Be safe. Love. Live. And read. Happy Late Valentine’s Day.
I Kissed a Dog
Book One in The Werewolves of the West Series
Author: Carol Van Atta
Paperback: 446 pages
Publisher: Charles River Press (October 20, 2012)
http://www.charlesriverpress.com/
ISBN-10: 1936185725
ISBN-13: 978-1936185726
Available Formats: Trade Paperback, with Electronic versions in Kindle and Nook. Purchasing options with Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Chloe Carpenter isn’t like other women. She can communicate with animals. A gift she unwrapped following one of her frequent dances with death.
In her otherwise wacky life, she’s finally found a semblance of sanity working at the Plum Beach Wildlife Park, where her unique talents can make life or death differences for the animals in her care. That semblance is shattered when a new veterinarian roars into the park in his spiffed up sports car and sets his golden gaze on her. If she had her way, he’d roar right back out.
Problem: He’s her new coworker and he’s saved her life twice – in the past twenty-four hours.
Zane Marshall, Enforcer for the Pacific Pack of purebred werewolves, has a job to do – figure out who or what is mutilating the young men of Plum Beach.
With orders to find the woman who talks to animals, he accepts a position working alongside the fiery Chloe Carpenter, a female who ignites his interest far more than he ever expected. Remarkably, she’s the one elusive female with potential to bring meaning and passion to his empty existence.
Problem: She despises him.
Together, they’re forced to unravel a mystery of supernatural proportions, a murderous mystery with eternal implications for everyone. In the process, they discover opposites really do attract.
Major Problem: Zane is pledged to another woman, and she’ll do anything to keep him from Chloe.
Like most authors, Carol Van Atta is no stranger to the written word. She penned a short novel at age 12. (somewhat frightening illustrations included), and had a creative writing piece published in her high school newspaper (about David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs LP). Yes, she’s an ex-80’s rocker chick.
She has contributed to several popular inspirational anthologies and devotional books, and lives in the rainy wetlands of Oregon with one terrifying teen (another in college) and a small zoo of animals. She is taking an undetermined hiatus away from inspirational writing to delve into her darker side. It is rumored that this genre-jumping occurred after Carol discovered two suspicious read marks on her neck, and experienced an unquenchable urge to howl at the moon.
That’s certainly quite a gift to have. This is going to be very interesting.
Congrats to Carol on the release! This sounds fantastic 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Lori, for featuring me on your wonderfully awesome blog! I’m so thrilled you enjoyed reading I Kissed a Dog. Thank you for the review. Good luck everyone on the contest!
Congrats on the release, Carol! The book sounds wonderful. Chloe sounds great. Can’t wait to read your book and meet her.
Congrats on the new book!! I have been wanting to read this book for awhile. It is on my list of book to read. Thank you so much for sharing.
I thank you all for your interest in my book! I hope you have the chance to read it. Also I noticed a mega case of mistaken identity in my post when referring to Bella Swan. I should have referenced New Moon NOT Breaking Dawn. OOPS! Sometimes I’m so darn human!