Release Day Blitz - Blood Monarch by Drako

About the Book:
A king's duty never ends, even when his kingdom changes. Vladimir Dracula is one of the most famous and misunderstood figures in all of history. One thing is true, he is a king, and he is a vampire. He is the true king and enforcer of the vampire race. Feared by all of his own kind, he is perhaps the most lethal of the Black Dragon God's mortal born servants. At the same time, he personifies sex. None can resist his charms, save one.
Vax King is the Chosen of Hecate, the Heir of Mjolnir, and has no plans on a mate. When he's called on to enter Fae lands, he's surprised to find the legendary vampire there. Looking to aid the beautiful Fae, Anaya, and her soul mate, Galen, Vax must enter a world of sex of violence with only Vlad to accompany him. Here, there can be no denial, no hesitation. Only truth....and dominance.
A war is brewing in the Fae lands, as the fallen angels rise to lay claim to the power of their goddess, Verlaine and topple their higher brethren. Older than most, Vlad must accustom himself to having a soul mate, and use all his legendary power to stop the forces of darkness long believed to be controlled by him. A new kingdom is the prize, and none knows better than the famed Dracula that the secret to power lies in the blood.

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Meet the Characters:

Vladimir Dracula

AKA: Vlad, Vlad the Impaler, Dracula
Height: 6’10”
Weight: 315 pounds
Hair: shoulder length, brown
Origin: A human follower of Jarel, the Black Dragon god. He was caught in the crossfire of Jarel’s disagreement with a demon god and the result changed him into one of the first vampires. 
More info: Contrary to popular belief, he has never sired another vampire. The entire race descends from the married couple, Vacker and Deidre. He has functioned as the final enforcer of the race since its creation. He is lethal in battle, being one of those fortunate enough to have had Jarel’s favor in mortal life first. He is also extremely sexual, with an appeal that draws others to him. He should not be confused with the prince who became known as Vlad the Impaler. He’s far older and earned the name in a far different manner. 

Vax

Height: 6’4”
Weight: 220 pounds
Hair: long, red
Origin: A mortal born witch, servant to Hecate, the patron goddess of witches. He was chosen by the goddess himself to wield the legendary hammer Mjolnir to expel Lucifer from the mortal world.
More info: Vax originally had a bit of a self-confidence issue. Because he’s mortal born, he is not used to the strength and power gifted to him by the goddess. He’s a quick learner, and in fact, had a bit of conflict with Vlad in his first story. He’s the first person to resist Vlad’s charm when the vampire is really pouring it on. 

Anaya

Height: 5’3”
Hair: long, red
Origin: An orphaned Fae, she comes into contact with Brandon during his mortal life and the two have a son, Theo, who eventually becomes one of the Three Fates. She is actually the daughter of the Fae queen and the very first angel, Apollyon.
More info: Anaya was captured due to her softer and trusting nature in the second book, and the reasons are complicated. Her ties to the father of her child as well as her soul mate, in addition to her parentage, made her a target. But she’s certainly come into her own and is no damsel in distress

Galen

Height: 6’6”
Weight: 258 pounds
Eyes: blue
Hair: long, black
Origin: A warrior angel created by an ancient goddess, he has only known war and duty and has not adjusted to the idea of having a soul mate.
More info: Galen has loyalty that cannot be questioned, even falling from grace to aid in the fall of Lucifer. He’s powerful and ruthless in battle, but unfamiliar with the concept of love. It’s taken him a long time to accept Anaya.

About the Author:

Drako resides in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, which you may notice is part of the setting of this series. When he isn’t writing, he’s busy editing for other authors, reviewing books, working, going to college, and spending time with his friends and two nieces. He blogs often and is very active on Facebook while trying to readjust to activity on twitter. His subject matter varies as he likes to talk about more than just his writing. You can check out his posts at his website, drakosden.weebly.com



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Hopebreaker by Dean F. Wilson

In the world of Altadas, there are no more human births. The Regime is replacing the unborn with demons, while the Resistance is trying to destroy a drug called Hope that the demons need to survive.

Between these two warring factions lies Jacob, a man who profits from smuggling contraceptive amulets into the city of Blackout. He cares little about the Great Iron War, but a chance capture, and an even more accidental rescue, embroils him in a plot to starve the Regime from power.

When Hope is an enemy, Jacob finds it harder than he thought to remain indifferent. When the Resistance opts to field its experimental landship, the Hopebreaker, the world may find that one victory does not win a war.


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My Review:
The world of Altadas is very different from that of our now. There are no more human births and the unborn humans are exchanged for unborn demons. At the same time, the Regime that controls the world of Altadas, is producing a drug called Hope that the demons need to survive.  Jacob, or protagonist, is a man who smuggles contraceptive amulets into the city. He cares little about what is going around him. But when is captured and then rescued by the Resistance, he gets caught up between the two power players when his talent for smuggling may play a bigger role for the resistance than he is aware of.

Jacob is a likeable character who takes some time to warm up to. He feels real and while reading his story, it was very easy to empathize with him though at times I did wonder if he knows about the concept of fear. There are additional characters, some of them more likeable than Jacob, and they each play their roles in way of advancing the plot. The connection between Jacob and other characters, for instance Whistler and Taberah, have been beautifully explored.

The plot was something different to me as this was my first foray into steampunk/scifi genre. I knew very little about what to expect and was pleasantly surprised throughout the book. With twists and turns, with betrayals and adventures and a dash of humour, Dean F. Wilson has created a wonderful Novel.

About the Author:

Dean F. Wilson was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1987. He started writing at age 11, when he began his first (unpublished) novel, entitled The Power Source. He won a TAP Educational Award from Trinity College Dublin for an early draft of The Call of Agon (then called Protos Mythos) in 2001.
He has published a number of poems and short stories over the years, while working on and reworking some of his novels. The Call of Agon is his first published novel.
Dean also works as a journalist, primarily in the field of technology. He has written for TechEye, Thinq, V3, VR-Zone, ITProPortal, TechRadar Pro and The Inquirer.

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Character Interview - Kartik from Fade into Red by Reshma K. Barshikar

Ayra always wanted to be an Art Historian. She saw herself flitting between galleries, talking Michelangelo and Dali with glamorous ease. At twenty–nine, life has decided to make her an underpaid investment banker juggling an eccentric family, a fading career and a long–distance relationship that is becoming a light-year one.
On a monsoon day in June, she is suddenly sent packing from Mumbai to Tuscany to buy a vineyard for a star client. What should have been a four day trip turns into a two week treasure hunt that finds her in the middle of midnight wine deals, dodgy vintners, rolling Tuscan hills, a soap opera family and one playboy millionaire who is looking to taste more than just the wine. Towards the end she finds that the road to true happiness is almost as elusive as that perfect glass of Chianti.



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- What do you do for a living? Is it also your passion?
I don’t think Customer Analytics can be anybody’s passion. I work for Ogilvy in their Analytics department. I joined them as a trainee and they noticed my flair for numbers and put me in analytics. Now I manage a team that basically validates ad spending so it’s quite important. Numbers are a passion but I’m not sure crunching numbers is what I want to do all my life. I’m no John Nash.

- What is the first thing that people usually notice about you?
That my hair is a mess; some folks say I’m Sendhil Ramamurthy’s doppelganger. He’s that scientist in the Heroes. My mother tells me to change my clothes when I walk out the door; her dream is to see me in a suit one day.

- Are you an indoor or outdoor person?
I am a music person, so I would say indoors or outdoors playing the guitar.

- What TV series resembles your life?
I don’t watch much TV, but Ayra always says the movie Rock On resembles my life. Ayra watches tons of TV. She loves Grey’s Anatomy and The Good Wife.

- What is the song of your life?
That’s a tough one. Atlantic City by Bruce Springsteen works when I’m feeling down and out, Pink Floyd’s Wish you were here or Comfortably Numb. Anything by Floyd actually, my music is quite old school.  You don’t look impressed. (He laughs) I can do happy as well. Dream on by Aerosmith or Champagne Supernova by Oasis. I love old school arena rock.

- If this book was to be made into a movie, which actor should play your role? 
Probably that Sendhil guy since everyone thinks he looks like me.

- Describe Ayra in 3 words that suit her best.
Kind, dorky and paranoid, Intelligent, Vain. How long do you have?

- Where do you see yourself going now?
I am trying to find my way into music again so I have put together a young band called Raksha and I manage them part time at the moment. They are still new but they’ve just been signed to open for Parikrama & Strings. If that goes well, we’ll pursue that full time.

- Do you think the story did justice to you? Or do you have some regrets still?
I’ve been told that I’ve got a small fan following; most the readers want the sequel to be about me. I think I came across as a little needy and cantankerous early on in the novel but I came into my own after that. I wasn’t happy initially but the time when she was in Italy helped me put a lot of things in perspective.

- Tell us about your author, Reshma, 
Reshma’s cool, she wrote me well. I think she worried too much about how things were going to turn out for Ayra. She didn’t have to. We characters have a way of doing what we want to in a novel, I think I surprised her in the end. (Laughs again)

About the Author:

After finishing her A Levels at Bridgine School, Windsor, and getting a BA (Hons) at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, Reshma started her career as a Journalist for India’s national newspaper The Hindu, Business Line but left mid-career to pursue an MBA at the Indian School of Business that led to a successful career in Investment Banking. After 5 years in Investment Banking she quit her job to travel for two years and visited Europe, China, and the US. She conceptualized the novel during her travels through the Tuscany wine country. She created the eccentric Ms Krishnamurthy, her precocious cat and her dog eat deal environment. Her deep appreciation for the south Indian family dynamic, experience as a freelance journalist and a passion for Italian wine helped create Fade Into Red.
Simultaneously she also honed her skills as a Travel Writer and has contributed to India Today Travel Plus, SilverKris, Harper’s Bazaar, Grazia, National Geographic Traveller and The Hindu Business Line. She is also co-founder of the literary blog, The Caterpillar Café.

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Garden by Jane Yates

Inspired by the classic novel The Secret Garden, Jane Yates introduces us to a steampunk world of bio-domes, robots and mysteries. Eleven-year-old Aberdeen is so used to being by herself that all she has to fill her thoughts are stories of mighty dragons and grand castles. Aberdeen’s world is soon thrown into disarray however; her parents murdered.

Having no choice, Aberdeen is sent to live with her uncle back on Earth where her fascination into her new surroundings begin to take hold. Untrusting of new people at first, it isn’t long before Aberdeen comes across 3 other children, and taking a risk, befriends them as she tries to adjust to her new home. And yet, along with Maisy, Peter and Lenard, Aberdeen comes across a riddle – a set of clues to reveal the hiding place of a lost manuscript. A manuscript that forces more questions than answers.

Oh, and there’s Frank too, Peter’s robot dog, who completes this special circle of friendship.

Garden is a journey of self-discovery, of trials and friendship. With adventure boundless, Jane Yates follows up her acclaimed Paradox Child trilogy with a new tale for young fans of steampunk and science fiction. 

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About the Author

Jane lives in the historic city of Oxford, England with her two spaniels. She works at the Pitt Rivers museum there too and is amazed and inspired by its wondrous array of objects. Being a museum of anthropology and world archaeology, Jane often finds herself influenced by its exhibitions. And indeed it has helped Jane write a trilogy for children – the Paradox Child series.

Jane is not only a mother, artist and storyteller, but dyslexic too, which only highlights her success even more. Jane refuses to allow the disorder to halt her dreams and continues to enjoy her favourite hobbies. Jane is a lover of steampunk, adventure and children’s stories, which often play a huge role in her own books.

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