Paranormal Erotic Romance. Life Reignited by Sabrina Garie.

Today I’m thrilled to welcome over Sabrina Garie, author of Life Reignited, Divine Temptation, Book 2. So sit back, relax and check out this scrumptious Paranormal Erotic Romance.

Publisher:  Ellora’s Cave

ISBN:  9781419991691

Number of pages:  87 novella

Word Count: 24,000

Cover Artist: Fiona Jayde

Giveaway! Be sure to enter the Rafflecopter after this post for a chance to win one of the following: 2 e-copies of Life Reignited (Book 2, Divine Temptation), 2 e-copies of Thirteen Nights (Book 1, Divine Temptation) or 3 decks of Ellora’s Cave Playing Cards.

Book Description

Phoebe lives trapped between two worlds. Born an Amazon warrior, she’s sworn to serve the Greek pantheon. It’s her work as a scholar in the human world that gives her life passion and purpose and eases her heart—which shattered when the pantheon forced her to abandon her human lover.

Alexander Xenos is world renowned classics expert, who has dedicated his life to the study of ancient cultures and promoting peace. His fame and global adventures hide a hole in his heart, ripped out by a beautiful, gentle scholar, who shut him out cold after the most intense love affair he'd ever had.

Thirty years later, Sander meets his long lost love, only to learn she's an Amazon, the mythical gods are real, and they are about to go to war. And Phoebe, who still sets his blood to boil, is in the thick of it.  He'll have to prevent a conflict between the Greek and Norse pantheons or lose her again—this time permanently.

Available at Ellora’s Cave

Interview Time!

What inspired you to write this book?

A couple of years ago, some critique partners and I decided to write an anthology together.  Each of was had to have a club run by a siren proprietress.  We had free rein to write any type of story—the siren sisters would be the connecting link. While we never did produce the anthology, I did write the story, which became Thirteen Nights, Divine Temptation 1.   I feel in love with the secondary characters, and wanted them to have a happy ending.  As luck would have it, Ellora's Cave launched its VaVaBoomers series which was love stories for those over 50, which gave me the opportunity to write Phoebe and Sander's story and give it to home. Life Reignited is part of two series: VaVaBoomers and Divine Temptation.

Tell us about your book cover and how it relates to your story.

For the cover artist, I identified the power of ancient knowledge as a key theme of the story and she knocked it out of the park. You have the hot guy in a library, just crackling with magic and power.  The hero, Sander, wins battles using knowledge and his mind.  While Phoebe, the heroine, is also a scholar she is an Amazon warrior and tends to fight with her fists first.

Are you currently working on another story? If so, we’d love some details.

I am finishing up Hope Restored, Divine Temptation 3. The heroine is Marta, who appears in both Thirteen Nights and Life Reignited. She's not very likeable in Thirteen Nights so I use Life Reignited to soften her a bit, but not completely. In Hope Restored, we learn why she is the way she is, which makes her past actions very forgiveable. Here's a short section, where Marta meets Paean, our hero, for the first time.  Her prickly personality is front and center until Paean is forced to look below the surface. 

A tall, leanly-muscled woman, over six feet, light brown hair pulled back in a French braid glared at him. The aristocratic beauty of her face was marred by a stare that spit venom and a mouth pursed so tight her lips were barely visible. Dark circles rimmed her eyes. She rubbed her hand as if it had been hurt. “That case is dangerous,” she growled. “Take better care of it.”

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Ya think?”

She was a prickly pear. “Let me see it. I know a little first aid.”

He put his guitar and backpack down to examine her outstretched hand, surprised she let him touch it. He turned the arm toward him, noticing an unusual tattoo on her shoulder—the kill markings of an Amazon warrior. Fury erupted in his gut, clawed up his chest into this throat. Even after a millennia, the wound remained raw. Not that it was her fault. She would have no idea who he was. He’d been thrown off Olympus so long ago, his name disappeared from the common language. Maybe somewhere in an old dusty old scroll the historians no longer picked up, there was reference to him, but he doubted it.

“Are you going to patch it up or just stare at it?”

“Not liking my bedside manner or you just a grouchy patient?’ He couldn’t stop the resentment from leaking into his tone until he looked deep into her eyes. She wasn’t angry, she was tortured.

What sort of personality does your hero have?

Sander is geeky, fearless, with a sexy British accent and an Angus McGyver I-can-fix-anything approach to life. He's equally at home trekking through the savannah, searching for artifacts in Scandinavia, writing a blog, teaching a class or presenting a paper. He doesn't do love. He never got over Phoebe, or the pain of losing her.

What sort of personality does your heroine have?

She's stoic, moving forward with life even though she has a hole in her heart the size of Texas.  She's an Amazon, who struggles with being an Amazon. She'd be happier doing research, writing papers, and being bonded to her love, who she had to leave because of her obligations to the gods. She's a little fearful of upending the apple cart, but ultimately learns that it takes more courage to rebel against authorities than it does to fight your enemies in a fist fight you were trained from birth to win.

Tell us about your favorite writing environment. Is it indoors, outdoors, a special room, etc.

I write on my couch, with my feet up.  The room is silent. I know many prefer to write with music, but that does not work for me.  The only downside is that I don’t have soundtracks for my books that I can share with readers.

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

I do write books is series.  Life Reignited is part of my Divine Temptation Series with Ellora's Cave, all centered on Amazon women, obligated to the Greek Pantheon, who find a way to be with the men they love. Often, in many paranormal books we find the men who are bonded warriors. I switched that, and made the women's tribe the group that flows through the series.  Divine Temptation includes Thirteen Nights,  A Flicker of Power (1.5 available free), Life Reignited, and coming next year, Hope Restored.

If you could make changes to a story you’ve already written, which would it be and why?

I am happy with the story in Life Reignited overall. One thing I would do if I rewrote it today would be to add hints of a romance between Forseti, the Norse God of Justice, and his head Valkyrie, Sigrid.  There is one suggestion of this, but it could easily be written off as the action of a body guard.

Excerpt

Copyright © SABRINA GARIE, 2014

All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.

Sander wished Phoebe didn’t feel so enticing. Her unique orchid scent wove its way through his bloodstream, mucking up his focus. He couldn’t square the gentle, quick-witted, brilliant scholar he loved as Cassie with the sad-eyed, battle-scarred Amazon warrior called Phoebe fitted against him. His body remembered her. No other woman ever came close to her creativity, capabilities and stamina in bed. She taught him what it was like to fully lose himself in a woman, and he’d never been able to replicate it. He finally understood why—it was never a fair fight. A human woman could not match a physically enhanced being. He’d always thought she was the love of his life, but did he even know her? Nothing made sense, except the hard-on straining against his zipper. Her physical impact hadn’t dimmed. At all.

When Phoebe stabilized, she led them back to her room at Neutral Ground. She appeared perfectly fine after a fight that would have killed most humans. At her door, she pressed her thumbprint on a small indent above the handle, then pushed it open.

“How did you open the door?” He peered inside. “And what did you do to merit this suite?” Molded ceiling, velvet coverings, red and gold Persian carpets and antique furniture that reminded him of a bedroom he’d find in Buckingham Palace. He was sure the paintings—Botticelli’s Birth of Aphrodite, Rubens’ Judgment of Paris among others—were the artists’ originals. Phoebe was right. This would be an intellectual candy land if his emotions weren’t tied up into knots.

A distraught laugh whispered out of her. “I ticked off the Elders and a portion of the Greek pantheon resistant to change. Neutral Ground is one of six safe havens worldwide sanctioned by the Council of Pantheons. Anyone who threatens me here is subject to death. Outside, well you saw for yourself. The DNA lock is an added protection, just in case. Thank you for coming to my rescue, by the way. My fighting skills are not what they used to be.” Her cheeks burned red. Was she embarrassed?

“You’re welcome.” In the corner an inlaid mahogany desk piled high with ancient scrolls drew his attention. “Are those what I think they are?” Her eyes followed his gaze and her eyebrows rose in what looked like an aha moment, then an indulgent and very real smile lit up her face. It was the first time tonight he’d seen the vivacity that lived in his memories, and he’d sneaked glimpses of her all evening.

“Yes, they are. Ancient scrolls documenting the history, culture and science of the Greek pantheon. I even have an original of The Republic by Plato, and Sappho’s poetry. You’re welcome to take a look.”

As a classics scholar, he read ancient Greek, Latin, Scandinavian, Teutonic and Celtic languages. This was a treasure trove he couldn’t resist. “Aren’t you afraid of ruining them?”

“They’re protected by pantheon magic. They can’t be destroyed.” She hooked her arm through his and guided him to the corner. After scrutinizing the pile, she picked up a scroll and handed it to him. Her fingers lingered on his hand longer than necessary. Sparks ignited under the touch. This was the woman he remembered—glowing eyes, an impish grin, with ancient knowledge flowing around her as if it were part of her aura. If there were more lines radiating from her eyes and lips, they softened her, made her more the Cassie he had adored, less the unknown Phoebe.

He took the scroll in one hand and pulled his reading glasses out of his jacket pocket with the other. He got the spectacles a year ago and wasn’t used to wearing them but his eagerness for the scrolls overcame any hesitation.

“They suit you,” Phoebe said.

He nodded, too absorbed by the parchment now open on the table. “You remembered The Odyssey was my favorite. This is truly Homer’s original copy?” A shiver ran down his spine. It wasn’t every day a man meets his personal deity.

“Yes, it is.” She moved closer, her hair brushing his ear as she leaned over to look at the text with him. Phoebe’s floral scent, the heat of her body skated along his skin, threw his concentration off, something that never happened. If his mind questioned the emotions he thought he once felt for this woman, his body didn’t. Given his age, he thought he could move past physical needs.

Apparently not.

His cock stiffened like that of a hormone-driven teenager in heat. By the way Phoebe squirmed, he’d guess she felt it too. Like in London, when they couldn’t keep their hands off each other.

“Take a look at this passage in its original. You can see why it’s commonly misinterpreted.” 

Phoebe’s arm brushed his, sending electric charges exploding beneath his skin.

“The article you published on this created controversy. I was impressed with the argumentation. Now more so. This passage makes interpretation harder, not easier.”

“You’ve followed my work?” Her face beamed with happiness and a soft pride. “I’m glad. I’ve read everything you’ve published, and follow your blog, Found Worlds. You’re making history and culture popular.”

Her praise shot jolts of warmth into his chest. That smile and her soft breasts brushing his arm unlocked the door to his memories. Unbidden, images of naked, sweat-drenched bodies tumbled out. Yes, he’d followed her work, justifying the way he gobbled up her writing as respect of one professional for another. With her next to him, touching him, he had to admit now it wasn’t true. Through her words, he stayed connected to her. And she, him.

About the Author

Sabrina Garie is on a journey to create the most kick-ass heroine romance fiction has ever known and the hero who can take her. A believer that big, audacious goals spice up life, she relies on coffee, red wine and laughter to make those goals (and her characters) come alive.

When not at the computer, she wrangles vegetables and extra helpings of homework into her star-spangled, fashion-loving progeny, kowtows to a fat cat and reads, a lot. As a child, she wanted to be an astronaut, just to see what’s out there. Now, she just makes it up.

Visit Sabrina Garie 

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