Paranormal Romance Month- Beth Caudill

Thanks for popping in! Welcome to Paranormal Romance Month.This week, it's my pleasure to feature author Beth Caudill. I’ll be talking with Beth about her latest release, Healer’s Fate. Naturally, there’s a contest involved. What to do you have to do to win a free copy of Healer’s Fate and a $5 Gift Certificate to The Wild Rose Press? It couldn’t be easier. Leave a comment!

Healer’s Fate…

Corliss Rumdone hides behind her status as Healer to avoid the normal wolf pack hierarchal challenges. A forced mating changes the course of her life. Instead of Raymond, the beta wolf selected for her, she mates with Liam—her best friend and heir to the Alpha pair.

Liam whisks them away to a shifter retreat so they can allow the mating bond to settle in private. But interference from those seeking power and two terminal children arouse past hurts and challenge their new relationship. Even their home is not the haven it should be as Liam must watch Corliss fight for the right to stay his mate. For one healer, death becomes a weapon to balance life.

Sounds intriguing, doesn’t it? Let’s talk to the author…

SKY: Welcome, Beth. Great to have you!

BETH: Thank you Sky. It’s great being here and this is a wonderful opportunity you’re giving to your fellow authors. I have to say February is a great month. Not only are there flowers and chocolate for Valentine’s Day but I get to eat birthday cake as well. (No, I’m not admitting how old I am.)

SKY: Happy Birthday! I have to say, Healer’s Fate sounds like a super read. What inspired this story?

BETH: Sometimes authors don’t have a simple answer to that question. Several things came together for me to write Healer’s Fate. Right now publishers prefer series to standalone stories. It’s something I don’t tend to write but I am interested in pursuing. Also in the back of my head I wanted to do a werewolf wedding scene but never had a story to go with it. The Wild Rose Press sent out a submission request for their Got Wolf series and that started me thinking. (Yes I know a dangerous thing)

I had an elf story started (Orlando Bloom as Legolas in The Lord of the Rings is very good inspiration.) and I decided to make the two stories happen on the same world. After deciding those few things – wolves, a wedding scene, and a planet populated by paranormals – the story wrote itself. I missed finishing the story in time to participate in the Got Wolf contest but I did finish. (The elf story is on hold currently because some motivations for characters don’t work and I have to start the story over.)

SKY: My heart is already aflutter. Liam is one of my all time favorite names. Give us a little taste of Healer’s Fate’s Liam. I’ll bet he makes everyone’s heart give an extra heavy thump!

BETH: Here is how Corliss see’s Liam as he joins her for the wedding ceremony:

Liam’s black, short-trimmed hair blended into the shadowed forest backdrop. He never let it grow long like the other males in the pack. He’d once told her it kept the females from petting him every time he walked through the village. Shadows hid his eyes but she knew they were green. A deep, piercing shade she loved to look into.

She smiled at the picture he presented wearing the forest green bowtie, no shirt, and an overly tight tuxedo coat. He appeared very masculine in the ill-fitting attire. The tightness of the coat outlined his well-defined muscles and moonlight glittered off the strip of fur on his chest—the proclamation of his status as an Alpha. A reminder of how close to the surface his wolf resided.

I don’t give Liam a lot of story time. Most everything is in Corliss’s viewpoint. I see Liam as a strong Alpha who uses his strength to protect those in his care. While he’s willing to let Corliss be herself, he doesn’t want to see her taken advantage of because of her powers to heal. Here is a scene between the two of them after a confrontation with another werewolf:

He gently touched his lips to hers. A flick of his tongue sent tendrils of fire through her body. “I may be overprotective, but I promise you won’t regret our bonding.”

Corliss rested her head against his shoulder. “There’s no one else I’d rather be joined to. Thingsare moving too fast. I have no control and I don’t like it.”

His right hand came up and caressed the side of her face. Then he laughed. “You and your lists. So organized and restrained.”

She nipped at his neck. Smartass!

Liam wrapped her hair around his right hand and slowly tilted her head back. “I think you’ll do well as Alphena because of those traits. And I’ll be around to make sure you take plenty of time off to play.”

This time his kiss expressed his aggressive nature. It left no room for her to deny his dominance. Using the grip on her hair, he moved her in the position he wanted—her back slightly bent so he could step between her bare legs, spread so his erection fit perfectly between her folds.

The thin pair of shorts he wore was the only thing preventing him from slipping inside her and calming the ache he created there.

“Take me to bed,” she demanded, freeing herself from his kiss.

He gave her a wicked smile. “I don’t know. I like the idea of taking you on the floor.” His gaze roved their immediate area. “Or maybe against the wall.”

She hated being exposed where anyone could see them, even if they were alone. “Please take me to the bedroom.”

He tugged her hair back further so her breasts stuck up at his face. His green eyes darkened to emerald and he blew warm air across her nipples. He sucked on one puckered nub before scraping his teeth along the sides. Their lower bodies rubbed against each other, adding to her tension.

She couldn’t relax or enjoy the sensations he evoked in her body. Desperate, she pleaded, “Please, Liam.”

He allowed space to develop between their bodies, but still supported her with one hand. The other he trailed from her neck down between her breasts before moving his hand to cup her right one. With slow movements he maneuvered her into a standing position, but quickly trapped her against the wall.

“What’s it worth to you, Sunshine? I’m perfectly happy taking you right here.” He lifted her left leg to his hip, then caressed her ass. To taunt her, he slipped the tip of his fingers between her folds, then pulled them out.

Back and forth.

Around her ass, between her legs, and a squeeze. His hands never stopped roving her body. She whimpered. Front, back, everywhere he surrounded her—his scent, his body, and the power of his wolf. She couldn’t resist him. She didn’t want to.

“I promise to quit trying to leave. I’ll do whatever you want until tenth day starts.” That would be the start of their second week. “Liam. Please! Take me to bed.”

Magnanimous in victory, he smiled, picked her up and said, “Of course, little wolf. All you had to do was ask.”

She growled at him. And then she had to suffer his laughter as he closed the door behind them.

SKY: Super excerpt! Of course, what is a hero without his heroine? Corliss Rumdone sounds like a strong, courageous woman. If she could speak to us, what would she say are her strengths and weaknesses? Would she even admit to a weakness?

BETH: Corliss would admit one of her weaknesses would be a wariness to confront people. Being a healer, she doesn’t want to cause anyone pain. A strength would be the willingness to do anything to get the job done.

SKY: I won’t keep you much longer but I’m sure everybody is dying to know… what can we expect from you next? Any new stories up your sleeve?

BETH: My goal for this year is to write a full length, standalone, fantasy novel. So far it isn’t going very well. After the holidays, I’ve had a hard time getting back into things, particularly when I came to the decision that the followup to Healer’s Fate needed to be restarted because things weren’t working halfway through. The motivations for certain characters don’t work and I need to rearrange things.

The recent snow here in NC only contributed to my lackluster word count as the kids have had three snow days now and everyone is stircrazy. To try and get the Muse back into storytelling mode, I decided to rewrite my very first short story – a werewolf paranormal romance (imagine that). It makes me laugh because I headhopp every other paragraph and there are lots of places I’m write show don’t tell the scene.

I also have another paranormal romance novella I can work on. I’m using a twist on the Ladyhawke storyline with an owl shifter and a guardian angel. (It was inspired by a submission request from Samhain but I only got two chapters written by the deadline. Healer’s Fate came out in the middle of the submission window and I did promo instead of writing.)

I’m limiting myself to writing these three stories. I have tons of ideas so I have to limit what I work on. Otherwise nothing would ever be completed.

SKY: Wow! Despite all, you’re keeping busy. I’m sure all your readers are thrilled! It’s been so much fun having you visit, Beth. Thanks for sharing.

BETH: Thank you for having me. Your questions required me to search a bit deeper for answers. I hope you enjoyed this brief glimpse into Healer’s Fate. You can find out more about my stories on my website-http://bethcaudill.net/ or blog- http://bethcaudill.blogspot.com/. Join my newsletter group and you can be entered to win a Valentine’s basket. I’ll have a picture posted under the website contest page shortly. Here are what the reviewers are saying about Healer’s Fate:

Xeranthemum at Long and Short Reviews gave Healer's Fate a 4 1/2 Book review

" Look no further for an entertaining and interesting wolf shifter romance than Healer’s Fate. It delivers a fine balance of love, intrigue and relationship quirks....Healer’s Fate is a solid romance between two characters which others deemed unsuitable yet fate determined as perfect. I agree with fate and Ms. Caudill. Liam and Corliss are a fine match and I enjoyed reading their story. I hope to read more by this author." For a complete review, click here-http://longandshortreviews.blogspot.com/2010/02/healers-fate-by-beth-caudill.html.

Emma D. at Bitten By Books gave Healer’s Fate a 4 ½ Tombstone review

“I must admit to being entranced and wanting to hear more of Corliss and her world.” For a complete review, click here-http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=15563.

Danielle at Coffee Time Romance and More gave Healer's Fate a 4 Cup review

"Healer's Fate is a fantastic novel. Beth Caudill tells a story with a voice that is smooth, entertaining, and leaves the reader wanting more. . . .This is a great book to read and any paranormal fan would be happy reading about these wonderful characters." For a complete review, click here-http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/BookReviews/healersfate.html.

It's not over yet! Here's another head-turning glimpse inside Healer's Fate...

Weaving around the dark trees, Corliss’ paws traversed spongy moss and scrunched dry leaves.She followed in the large, gray wolf's footsteps. It wasn’t too hard. Though his face and body were dark gray, the tip of his tail and the bottoms of his paws were bright white. They flashed like a beacon in the darkness of night.

She’d been three and he six the first time they'd met. Though her mother had Beta strength,her father didn’t. The pack ignored him and he survived with the barest of necessities until he’d mated with her mom.

For her protection, her parents kept her separated from the rest of the pack. She’d had no idea who Liam was when he’d run out of the woods behind their cabin.

Her mother walked out of the house to find her rolling on the ground with a wolf pup. Seeing her mother, she’d shouted, “Look, Mom, can I keep him? We can call him Socks.”

Addressing the animal, she’d asked, “You’d like to be Socks, wouldn’t you?” The pup tackled her to the ground and licked her face.

It had been a good day until her mother explained the wolf pup already had a home and needed to go back to his parents. Then her mom told her about pack hierarchy and how she couldn’t play with the pup anymore because he was the Alpha’s son and they held no position.

Except it didn’t work out that way. Liam made sure she’d been included in events from then on. No one insulted her in his presence, but she still knew she’d been lowest of the low. She was also the only one to call him Socks, which she did quite frequently until he turned sixteen.

That day he had defeated four challengers for the right to become the Alpha. Once he mated, he would be the next leader of their pack. And she wouldn’t, even with her emerging healing skills, have the status to be his mate.

So she’d stopped calling him Socks, drifted back to the fringes of the pack, and watched from a distance.

Maybe the time had come to stop hiding. She had more skills than the pack knew. Forming a toothy grin, she thought that since he still called her Sunshine, maybe she should start calling him Socks again. That thought warmed her in a self-satisfied way.

Buy Healer’s Fate now. Click here http://www.whispershome.com/book_pages/healers_fate.html

Don’t forget. For a chance to win a copy of Healer's Fate and a $5 Gift Certificate to The Wild Rose Press, you need to leave a comment by February 12th, 12 PM EST time!

Thanks for joining us!

Sky