The series is about Secret Warriors, Ancient Evil, and Destined Love. Part of a secret society of warriors ordered by Michael the
Archangel, these warriors are all that stand between humans and the demons set
on destroying the world. These warriors exist all over the world, but this
series focuses on the Scottish warriors and their destined mates. The stories
are set in the ordinary world, but there are things happening that aren’t quite
ordinary.
Originally, Embrace the Highland Warrior started as a romantic
suspense, the first book I ever wrote. About six month into writing, I got the
idea for Awaken the Highland Warrior, so for a while I was writing two stories,
the romantic suspense and the paranormal. When I met my wonderful agent, she said
the paranormal would be the book to sell. So I put the first book aside and
focused on Awaken.
Right away, I knew this had to be a series. I couldn’t tell the
whole thing in one story, and as I thought about what the second book in the
series would be, I realized I already had it. My romantic suspense, the first
book, belonged in the series. It had all the ingredients I needed, at least the
skeleton was there, I just had to make it paranormal. So my romantic suspense
shifted into a paranormal.
But it wasn’t as easy as it sounds. Any writers reading this
will know how difficult it is when you make one small change to a manuscript.
It took a LOT of work. In fact, I think it took me longer to revise the manuscript
than if I’d just written something new from scratch. I had to add in the
paranormal elements and change scenes, add new plot threads and work in all my returning
secondary characters. But I really felt that the story belonged as part of the
series. In the end, it was worth the work.
Even though the book has demons and fierce battles, this isn’t a
dark paranormal. It blends genres, mixing lots of mystery and suspense with
adventure, humor and sizzling romance.
My publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca, will give away a copy of Embrace
the Highland Warrior to one commenter, US and Canada only please. My
question is do you like paranormal stories, and if so, how dark?
New York Times best selling author, Anita Clenney grew up an avid reader, devouring Nancy Drew and Hardy
Boys books before moving on to mysteries and romance. After working as a
secretary, a Realtor, teacher’s assistant, booking agent for Aztec Fire
Dancers, and a brief stint in a pickle factory (picture Lucy and Ethel--lasted
half a day)…she realized she'd missed the fork in the road that led to her
destiny. Now she spends her days writing mysteries and paranormal romantic
suspense about Secret Warriors, Ancient
Evil and Destined Love. Anita lives in suburban Virginia, outside Washington
DC, with her husband and two kids.
You can find out more about Anita
and her books at:
We’ll leave you with
an excerpt from Embrace:
Cody sighed. Might as well get it over with. He removed the
shackles, returned them, and bent over her. “Shay, wake up.”
Her eyes flew open. She planted both hands against his chest
and shoved, knocking him on his back, then sprang on top of him. “How dare you
handcuff me to a bed?” she yelled, punctuating each word with a shake that
rattled his brain. He didn’t fight back. She had to get it out of her system,
and he didn’t blame her. He’d be more than pissed if someone shackled him.
She landed a fist into his stomach, and the breath rushed
out of him. Okay, enough was enough. He captured her hands and rolled, trapping
her under him.
“Get off me, you oaf.”
“I’ll get off when you stop beating the snot out of me.”
She let out a war cry and lunged for his throat, teeth
bared. Intrigued, he hesitated a second too long, and she sank her teeth into
his neck. A jolt of desire shot straight to his groin. He’d never been one for
the rough stuff, but damn! He pulled back before she could do more than leave a
bruise. He trapped her legs with his and held her hands above her head, letting
his full weight press her into the soft mattress. She still struggled but could
move only enough to get him excited.
“I’m sorry, Shay. I had to do it. It was too dangerous to
let you go traipsing through the woods. I had to keep you safe.”
“What if he was hiding in one of the other bedrooms and
sneaked in here while I was handcuffed to the bed? You left me so I couldn’t
even protect myself.”
“Lach heard him out in the woods, but that’s why I locked
the door, just in case. If this guy had broken it down to get to you, you
would’ve screamed, and I would’ve come running. I was never far from the
house.” He’d heard every name she called him.
Her eyes still flashed fire, but her breath was steadier,
and she kept glancing at his mouth. He thought that was a good thing. He
wondered if she’d calmed enough not to hit him, because he should move. She had
to notice the effect all the wiggling around was having on him. He felt her
hips push against his, and he groaned. He relaxed his grip and lowered his
head, letting his lips touch her chin. He kissed his way to her mouth, and she
head butted him in the nose.
While the stars exploded in his head, she shoved him aside
and bolted out the door. He jumped up and went after her as she pounded down
the stairs. He caught up with her outside. She was swinging her purse like a
whip, headed for the car.
“Where are you going?” he demanded.
“Get away from me.”
“You can’t leave.”
“Watch me.” She opened the door. “I’m tired of people hiding
things from me. I thought you were going to stop. Now you’re handcuffing me to
the bed.”
“I explained it to you.”
“Don’t touch me,” she said, jerking away when he grabbed her
arm.
“You’re not leaving.”
Shay straightened her shoulders. “You can’t stop me.”
He grabbed her, tossed her over his shoulder, kicked the car
door shut, and stomped up the steps.
“Put me down!” Shay kicked and twisted, cursing at him. He
dumped her on her feet inside the door.
She blew her hair out of her face, and as soon as she could
see, she threw a punch at his chin. He deflected it and grabbed her arm. “Stop
hitting me.”
“How dare you throw me over your shoulder like some kind of
caveman,” she spat, trying to wrench her arm free. It didn’t work, so she used
her knee.
“Ah, not there.” Cody trapped her knee. “I made the mistake
of letting you leave here nine years ago without listening to me. By God, I
won’t do it again. You’ll listen if I have to sit on you,” he growled.
She drew back her other arm, and before she could throw the
punch, he had her on the floor and was sitting astride her, pinning her wrists
to the floor. She bucked and twisted, but he held her down. “We can do this all
night if you want, but you’re going to listen to me this time.”
“Listen to more lies? You’re still hiding things from me.
Like the fact that you have Nina’s entire house under surveillance. Like the
fact that you’ve got a Bat Cave in your basement. Like the fact that you were
in Scotland when the stalking started.”
“You think I’m your stalker?” he yelled. “Me! I’m trying to
keep you alive. We’re all trying to keep you alive. That’s what the clan’s been
doing your whole damned life, trying to keep you alive! And just like always,
you’re making it hard as hell. Your father wasn’t a bloody spy, and that thing
in your living room wasn’t a man!”
11 comments:
I thoroughly enjoyed your excerpt. Paranormal romanc eis wonderful to me for the creativity and the elements of darkness. How dark do I like it? Depends on my mood. Sometimes, I want someting lighter and sometimes I want something edgy and dangerous in my reading.
Hi Anita. Your book sounds great. I loved the excerpt. I am a big fan of paranormals.
Hi Lil, I'm glad you liked the excerpt. I think all readers have different reading moods. I know I do.
Hi Crystal, thanks! I enjoy paranormals as well, although I prefer them not too dark.
I wont' read the excerpt because to me they ruin the story. I have no idea why. I will however, be putting it on my downloads to the Nook.
I enjoy a good paranormal, but I want humor and romance too. Not big on a lot of blood and gore, although I do still read LKH. I guess it always depends on the story line. And I'm always looking for a new series!
Ev, I definitely don't want to ruin the story for you. I don't like dark and depressing. My paranormals have both suspense and romance, and there is always humor. Even more in Embrace than Awaken. When I submitted this book, I was afraid my editor would want me to take out the two funniest characters (two old ladies) but she said whatever I did, NOT to touch those two ladies. She loves humor too.
I enjoy Highlander stories, and paranormals as long as the paranormal doesn't overpower the story. How dark depends on the story involved and my Mood.
Hi Chey. I don't prefer too dark, but I think it also depends on my mood.
I've read some paranormals but I am
definitely not into the really dark
stuff! When I run into "darks," I
close the book and do just that! I
run to something more to my taste!
Pat Cochran
I had read a few paranormls, but I wasn't won over, however, I recently read a new one & loved it, so I want to read more. And since I also love Scottish Highlanders this one sounds like another that I would love. But I don't want them to dark & gory.
sallans d at yahoo dot com
I really like paranormals. Dark doesn't bother me as long as long as its a good story. With a paranormal, there is that "anything" can happen feeling. Its really fun :)
rachie2004 AT yah00 *d8t* c-m
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