A to Z Blog Challenge -- F -- Furies of New England series Book 3 DARK FURY

Welcome to Day 6 of this year's April blog event -- the A to Z Blog Challenge!

Today it is my pleasure to introduce you to Nicola R. White, a fellow member of my writers' group Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada.

Nicola writes kickass paranormal romances for new adult readers. What is new adult? you may ask. It's a crossover genre between YA and the broader spectrum of adult fiction (YA featuring high school aged protagonists who are routinely called upon to save the world because the adults are bringing grandma to her doctor's appointment or searching for furnace parts at the hardware store.) New adult focuses on all those things that the 18-to-30 year old crowd wrestles with: moving to a new city, landing that first real job, navigating roommate relationships, redefining one's place in the world.     

Today we're taking a look at Nicola's third book in her Furies of New England series, DARK FURY which released this past February.  

The Furies are ancient female dieties who act as champions of justice and vengeance. In Nicola's series, four friends discover they have somehow become hosts to the spirits of the Furies. As each of the main characters carves out a relationship with the Fury residing within her, the books' romantic suspense storylines give the Furies more than enough excuses to emerge.

In DARK FURY, Rachel Underwood's dream of attending Harvard University finally comes true when she walks onto campus as a mature student. It's been a long journey, but she's finally made it -- no longer fresh out of high school but with a few years under her belt. Too bad she also has a Fury lurking inside of her.

Tisiphone definitely complicates Rachel's confusing attraction to FBI agent Ethan Graves, who has lurked on the edges of the Furies' activities in Books 1 and 2. Will Rachel get a chance to sort out her own feelings for the disconcerting agent, or will Tisiphone leave Rachel and Ethan to burn in the fireball of her breakout quests for retribution?

Nicola's first book FURY'S KISS wrapped up the series' first instalment with the four friends making peace with their new roles and assembling a Furies team with an Avengers or an X-Men feel to it. I loved it. My own vampire character Peredur in VAMPIRES SAINTS AND LOVERS has a similar identity crisis when the saint inside of him takes over, so I really love this aspect of Nicola's series.       

A to Z Blog Challenge -- D -- The Devil from THE DEVIL YOU KNOW

Welcome to Day 4 of this year's April blog event -- the A to Z Blog Challenge!

Today it is my pleasure to introduce you to my good friend Shawna Romkey, a fellow member of my writers' group Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada.

Shawna writes paranormal and fantasy novels for the YA (young adult) and new adult reader. That can be a bit of a misnomer, however, as I'm in my early 50s and I love her series.

Today we're taking a look at Shawna's Speak of the Devil series, which just wrapped up this past February with THE DEVIL YOU KNOW. 

I'm a massive fan of her first two books in the series, and I'm currently checking my mailbox because I recently ordered a paperback copy of THE DEVIL YOU KNOW for my keeper shelf, as I'm more of a page-turning kind of gal, rather than a swipe, swipe kind of ereader.

This series has a cast of Midwestern high schoolers who thought their biggest problems had to do with losing their friends in a fatal car accident -- which, granted, is way up there on the coping scale.

However, the human characters are only part of the crowd, which include hunky, broody angels, the ancient female powerhouse Lilith and of course, the Devil himself.

Book 1 lets loose an earth-bound battle between heaven and hell, while Book 2 takes us straight to the original Dark Side.

THE DEVIL YOU KNOW brings main character Lily's living on borrowed time thing back to the table as she battles to save her warrior angel boyfriend Luc before that pesky Devil decides to renovate God's earthly handiwork and wipe out all of humanity.

If you need the stakes to be higher than whether Lily's senior prom dress is the same exact one as the homecoming queen's, Shawna's Speak of the Devil series is just what you've been waiting for. If you find yourself wondering why you find a character like the Devil so irresistible, just remind yourself that he's the King of Seduction and go with it.