Where Magic Rules and Menace Abounds. Storm Crossed by Dani Harper.

Today I'm thrilled to welcome over Dani Harper, author of Storm Crossed, Book Four in The Grim Series. 

Release Date: January 9, 2018

Publisher: Montlake Romance

ISBN-10: 1503948943

ISBN-13: 978-1503948945

Book Description

The latest stand-alone novel in Dani Harper’s Grim Series will delight old and new fans alike, transporting them to the ancient fae realm beneath the modern human world, where magic rules and menace abounds . . .

Heir to a noble fae house, Trahern is forced to watch helplessly as his twin brother is cruelly changed into a grim—a death dog—as punishment for falling in love with the wrong person. Trahern doesn’t believe love exists, but he will do anything to keep his brother alive—even join the Wild Hunt and ride the night skies of the human world.

Lissy Santiago-Callahan believes in love but has no time for it. She’s busy juggling her career as an academic and her home life as a single mom to a young son with Asperger’s. Her hectic life in sleepy Eastern Washington is made even more chaotic with the sudden arrival of a demanding fae and his unusual “dog.”

Mortal and immortal have nothing in common, and the attraction between Lissy and Trahern surprises them both. But when their desire places Lissy and her child in the path of a deadly faery feud, will the connection last, or will their separate worlds prove too great a divide?  

 Amazon

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Let’s Interview!

Hi, I’m Dani Harper and I’m excited to be here. Love your big comfy chairs! I’ve had my morning coffee – okay, I’ve had two, and there’s a third in my hand – and I’m ready to answer questions! 

Welcome Dani! Congratulations on your new release! I'm with you on the coffee intake. I'm easily on cup #4 by now. ;-) So tell me, what kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

I think I’ve been researching my whole life! I’ve had a fascination with mythology, legend, and folklore since I first learned to read, and I was fortunate to have access to some incredible collections of books on those subjects. Plus, I was also lucky enough to know my Welsh gramma, and a few other people who could be coaxed to talk about faeries.

Anything supernatural or paranormal fascinated me as a child, and still does. I have mad research skills gained from my career in the newspaper business, and I collect information like a dragon hoards gold. Yet I still find myself researching as I write. It never ends, and I enjoy learning about anything and everything.

Does your family support your career as a writer?

I am incredibly fortunate in that respect. My husband reads every word I write, even though fantasy and paranormal romance isn’t exactly his chosen genre. He’s my first and best beta reader. And definitely my staunchest fan. He’ll tell complete strangers about my work, anytime, anywhere, even when I’d really rather he didn’t, LOL. My grown daughters have cheered me on from the very beginning too, and my youngest often beta reads for me as well.   

Does writing energize or exhaust you?

Near the end it becomes an invigorating joy. During those final chapters I find myself writing faster and faster, the words flow, and I’m so deeply in the zone that I CAN’T WAIT to open my laptop and immerse myself in the story again.

In the earlier stages, writing can be pretty exhausting. No matter how much you plotted and planned beforehand, you’re still feeling your way along, and there’s a zillion decisions to be made. And sometimes the characters flat out refuse to cooperate.

No matter what stage the book is at, I’ve had to learn to take frequent breaks, clear my head, and get some exercise – walk or bike or swim. One of the very best “breaks” for me is to go out to my chicken yard and work on something there while I hang out with the flock. (Who knew that poultry was so good for mental health?)

Tell us about your favorite writing environment. Indoors, outdoors, a special room?

Most of my laptop work gets done at our kitchen table. It has the best lighting in the house, and the coffee pot is close at hand! I do have an office, and it has an exercise bike with a desktop in it – I spend close to an hour on that nearly every day.

When I’m stuck on a scene, though, I may have to pack up the laptop and leave the house in favor of a busy coffee shop or even a crowded McDonalds. No matter how much noise goes on around me in a public setting, it doesn’t distract me because it has nothing to do with me. I don’t have to respond to it! At home, the dogs want in and out, the phone rings, the laundry and the housework call out for attention – you know how it is!

Are your book/books available in audio?

YES, every one of my Grim Series stories is available as an audiobook. And I’m very excited and grateful that the narrator of the first three, actress Justine Eyre, graciously made time in her busy schedule to voice Storm Crossed. She has an amazing gift for accents, an affection for the characters, and really brings the story to life. My readers adore her, and so do I!

What genre/genres do you prefer to write? Are there other genres you’d like to write in the future?

I love fantasy and the supernatural too much to ever give them up. If I wasn’t writing paranormal romance, I’d probably move over to urban fantasy (hey, my favorite author is Ilona Andrews!). But I confess, I’ve become more and more interested in romantic thrillers over this past year. I’d love to try writing one!

Do you write books in series? If so, share a bit about the series you currently have published or are coming soon.

My stories do tend to grow into series! I never plan to do that in advance. It’s more a case of creating a world that I’d like to spend more time in, and characters that have more to tell. (Right now, a couple of them are actively campaigning for a book of their own!)

A recent example is my ghostly Yuletide romance, The Holiday Spirit. The characters have been among the most demanding – and creative – of any I’ve ever written, and I finally agreed that we would allow the book to evolve into The Haunted Holiday Series.

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Thank you so much for inviting me to your blog today! And I can hardly wait to chat with your readers in the comment section.

Thanks so much for joining us today! Wishing you much success. 

EXCERPT

“What are you doing here?” demanded a new voice, a rich masculine voice, and every one of her friends fell silent.

Oh great, we’ve attracted a park ranger, thought Lissy as she turned to face this new issue. How are we going to explain—

It was no ranger. The first thing her eyes took in was a heavy black cloak, thrown back to reveal strange leather clothing. Ornately tooled and trimmed with silver, it hugged a lean frame.

No, some instinct decided, not lean but lithe. Lithe like a big cat, all coiled agility and snake-strike muscle in a deceptively relaxed package. She was forced to tilt her head to see the strong jaw that underscored the man’s angular face—and the scar that ran diagonally across his throat.

Still, he could have been called handsome if it wasn’t for a strange otherness to his perfect features that was impossible to describe. Human, yet decidedly not. And no human she knew boasted hair like that. Pulled into a thick braid that fell halfway down his back, it was white in the way that snow was white—not a single shade, but many.

She had to remind herself to breathe. This was no lost cosplay enthusiast or a Lord of the Rings extra, but an actual living, breathing member of the faery race. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a faint thought protested that such a thing was completely impossible. It wasn’t very convincing, however, not with a flesh and blood dog the size of a goddamn Volkswagen already in front of her.

The man’s pale hair glowed in the fire’s light. A fistful of loose strands fell across his face, and beneath them his eyes were watchful, alert. A panther scanning for prey.

And he had found her.

The stranger’s unnerving gaze lingered for only a moment before apparently dismissing her. “What are you doing here?” he asked again, and Lissy realized he spoke to the enormous canine behind her.

“Wait a sec. This is your dog? Yours?” All the shock and fear of the past few minutes transmuted into anger. She’d been prepared to die defending her child, and this man, this being, was totally responsible! It was as if a switch inside had been thrown. Normal-everyday-college-science-professor Lissy was abruptly replaced with I-will-savagely-tear-apart-ten-man-eating-lions-to-save-my-kid Lissy. She stepped directly into his line of sight. “What the hell were you thinking, letting this animal run around loose like that?” she demanded.

He merely looked around her, as if she was a tree or a bush or a goddamn rock, and that just ramped up her fury. “You! I’m talking to you!” Without thought but backed by a considerable amount of adrenaline, she shoved him with all her strength. The element of surprise gave her an extra advantage, and the tall man stumbled back a step.

Now she had his full attention.

Most nature documentaries she’d watched advised against locking stares with wild animals, yet Lissy stood her ground and met the stranger’s riveting gaze boldly—despite her resentment at having to look up to do it. She all but bared her teeth as she stated her case: “You. Endangered. My. Son.”

“There was no danger to your offspring. The hound does not devour mortals.”

Was he mocking her with that imperious tone? “Yeah, well us mortals had no way of knowing that your monster dog doesn’t snack on humans. You have no right to frighten people like that!”

“I require no rights from you. I ride with the Hunt.”

Her gaze flicked to a faint ripple of movement at his side. The heavy cloak drew aside as if by its own volition, and the fae’s hand casually rested on the handle of a large coil of plaited leather at his hip. Ghostly tongues of bluish light flickered continuously over the heavy whip, here then gone in an instant only to reappear in a different spot, as if they were living things. 

Lissy could hear some gasps from her cluster of friends, and some hurried words between Morgan and Brooke. Though she’d never encountered the Wild Hunt herself, she knew that had to be what the stranger referred to. As a mere human, she should be utterly terrified.

Instead, she couldn’t care less if he was a unicorn. “Well, I require a goddamn apology from you, Mister,” she heard herself say, and folded her arms to wait.

About the Author

Legend, lore, love, and magic. These are the hallmarks of Dani Harper’s transformational tales of faeries, shapeshifters, ghosts, and more, for a mature audience.

A former newspaper editor, Dani’s passion for all things supernatural led her to a second career writing fiction. There isn't anything she likes better than exploring myths and legends from many cultures, which serve to inspire her sizzling and suspenseful stories.

A longtime resident of the Canadian north and southeastern Alaska, she now lives in rural Washington with her retired mountain-man husband. Together they do battle with runaway garden gnomes, rampant fruit trees, and a roving herd of predatory chickens.

Dani Harper is the author of Storm Crossed, Storm Warned, Storm Bound, Storm Warrior (the Grim Series), as well as First Bite (Dark Wolf), for Montlake Romance. She is also the author of a Yuletide ghost story, The Holiday Spirit, plus a popular shapeshifter series, which includes Changeling Moon, Changeling Dream, and Changeling Dawn.

For more, visit her website at http://www.daniharper.com

Amazon Author Page - https://www.amazon.com/Dani-Harper/e/B004FD8RV2  

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Dani.Harper.Fan.Page/  

Twitter - https://twitter.com/Dani_Harper  or @Dani_Harper

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