***eARC provided by
author in exchange for an honest and unscripted review
Blurb for THE QUEEN OF SWORDS:
When Graham Logan, a Scottish earl turned vampire by a dark
wizard’s curse, draws the Queen of Swords, he knows he’s about to meet the love
of his life. For the third time. But surrendering his heart will mean risking
her life…or making her what he is. Neither of which his morals will permit him
to do. Graham, who believes he lost his soul to the curse, rages at God: Why
give her back only to take her again?
Cat Fingal, the third incarnation of Graham’s twin flame,
won’t let him escape so easily. As soon as they meet, she feels she knows him
and begins having past-life flashbacks. A white witch, she casts a spell to
summon him, wanting answers and to fill the void she’s felt all her life.
Graham has other problems, too. Like the seductress who
wants him for herself and the dark wizard who cursed him and killed his beloved
the first two times.
Will he find a way to save her this time around? Or will she
save him?
* * * * *
EXCERPT:
Biting his lip, Graham turned the card of
the here and now quickly. Seeing what he’d most feared tightened his chest. The
central figure sat in profile upon a throne carved with angels and butterflies.
She wore a white gown and a cloak decorated with clouds. More clouds gathered
in the background, suggesting a storm was coming. The woman’s left hand reached
out toward someone or something unseen in the distance. Her other hand gripped
the up-thrust symbol of her suit.
The Queen of
Swords.
He’d drawn the card only once before: the
morning he’d met Catharine La Croix at a sidewalk cafe overlooking the Seine.
To say her resemblance to Caitriona discomposed him was an understatement. He’d
been floored by the likeness. He’d also been drawn to it like a sailor to a
siren’s song.
Unfortunately, he’d had no ship’s mast to
rope himself to until the danger passed. Within a few weeks, they were deeply
in love. He never suspected she might meet the same fate as her previous
incarnation. Not until it was too late, anyway.
He’d done his best to protect her. After
seeing Gerard Fitzgerald, the dark wizard who’d cursed him, on the street
outside her apartment on Rue de Cherche Midi, he’d kept a watchful eye on her.
Being as stubborn as before, she didn’t care for his vigil. One morning, she
slipped out after he’d fallen asleep. He’d searched for her everywhere, out of
his mind with worry. He’d had her blood, should have felt her, but he didn’t.
That evening, he learned why.
Fitzgerald had done it. Of that, he was
certain. He just didn’t know why. Now, it looked as if history was about to
repeat. And what could he do about it except tear out his hair, beat his fists
on the walls, and cry to heaven, “Why? Why give her back to me only to take her
again?”
Grief closed around his throat like a
strangler’s hands. Coughing to ease its grip, he overturned the card of his
future. Surprise stung his heart when he saw The Fool. Squinting, he studied the
image of a gaily-dressed youth whose open arms seemed to embrace the world. His
right hand held a knapsack, his left, a single white rose. Nipping at his heels
was a wee white dog. The Fool, fearing nothing, looked skyward with a dreamy
expression as he strode toward the edge of a cliff.
Bewildered, he shook his head. What could
it mean? The Fool stood on the threshold. He was the protagonist of the tarot,
the archetypal hero embarking on his quest, the soul starting its journey
toward atonement. The Fool, in other words, was the polar opposite of the
hopeless, faithless tightrope walker Fitzgerald’s dark curse had turned him
into over the past one hundred years.
* * * * *
A story of curses, reincarnation, love lost, love regained, and carried by the fear of losing it all over again unless an evil wizard bent on capturing the soul of Graham Logan can be destroyed. Graham easily recognizes Cat Fingal as his twin flame, his soul mate, and his lost love who has come to him a third time. As much as he wishes another chance with her, he knows the only way to keep her safe is to stay away from her. Easier said than done when she’s a witch, and she conjures him into her presence and holds him captive under a spell for a weekend.
THE QUEEN OF SWORDS by
Nina Mason is an excellent debut novel for this talented author. Caught up in
the story immediately, it swept me away through images created in my mind as we
learned the history of this boldly modern highlander who still carries himself
like the lord that he is from a time long past. Through flashbacks of both
Graham and Cat, we learned their history as lovers, how they were lost to each
other twice before and the reasons for Graham’s hesitation when he first
encounters Cat. Nina mingles knowledge of tarot cards as well as spells to keep
the story moving forward while these star-crossed lovers’ attempt to stop
Fitzgerald and break the curse that has a deep hold on Graham. The only time
that I felt the story lagged was the two weeks journeying the Scottish
countryside – it was interesting and a great way for Nina to boast her
knowledge of Scottish history but I felt it took away from the excitement of
their putting their plan against Fitzgerald into place.
I highly recommend
reading THE QUEEN OF SWORDS by Nina Mason to anyone who loves a highlander
story and the excitement of a paranormal. The love story is grand, the spells
fascinating, and the happily-ever-after sweet.
Now, please help me
welcome Nina Mason to Unwrapping Romance as we learn a little bit more about
her world …
Amy: Nina, perhaps you'd like to tell us a little
bit about yourself for those who don't know you yet.
Nina: This one’s always tough. One can so easily tell too little or too much. I’m an avid reader of fiction who turned her hand to writing it seriously six or seven years ago. Ever since, I’ve been trying to learn how to do this well and not let rejection sandbag me while eking out a living. On a more biographical note, I’ve always been creative, had a love of the written word, and have worked in communications and journalism most of my life. I was born and raised in Southern California, lived briefly in Southern Oregon, and now live in Georgia with my husband, teenage daughter, two rescue cats who enjoy shredding my furniture, and an adorable Westie named Robert.
Amy: THE QUEEN OF SWORDS is your first novel. It’s unique and exciting. What was your inspiration for it and your characters?
Nina: As far as I can recall
(hey, it was years and several rewrites ago), I sat down to write a book about
a human girl and a vampire who thought about more than getting into each
other’s pants. Things evolved. The characters changed many times over. Well,
hers did. He stayed pretty much the same from day one, except for his name. He
started out as Robert then he was Cam, and finally Graham. She was Kat, then a
thousand other names I can’t remember, and finally came back to Cat. The tarot
cards were there from the get-go. I read tarot cards and wanted to include some
sort of premonition for him that his twice-lost love would return a third time.
Originally, the book had a lot about vampire literature. When we meet Cat,
she’s working on her doctoral dissertation on the subject. This stemmed from my
frustration with posts on the internet dissing Twilight by people who clearly
understood nothing about the genre. I decided to write a vampire novel with
characters who discussed vampire literature. At a deeper level, it’s also the
new archetype of sexy bad-boy battling the old archetype of villainous seducer
and murderer. On the surface, it’s a sexy paranormal romance, but it has layers
for those who want to look for them.
Amy: Indeed, the layers are there – hints of
homosexuality as well as BDSM. Is this type of romance where you see yourself
staying with your writing, or do you see the possibility of dipping your pen
into other romantic genre directions?
Nina: I like incorporating mythology, especially
Celtic mythology, into my romance novels so I plan to stick with that element
for a little while. My next book (The Knight of Wands) is the first in what
will be a four-part series. It also features divination—astrology, mostly, but
also tarot cards and runes. The hero was court astrologer to King James IV in
Scotland and is now a political astrologer. The heroine is an English socialite
who writes the horoscopes for underground newspapers in London. They’re opposites.
He’s a fiery Leo and she’s a freedom-loving Aquarian (lion and butterfly). He’s
also a type of faery vampire. The mythology is different than in The Queen of
Swords, but not incompatible. After I finish book two in that series, I hope to
get back to a book I started a couple of years ago about a merman who gets
caught in an oil spill in the Hebrides. The heroine is the spokeswoman for the
oil company. I also have a thriller coming out in August from CHBB, a sister
imprint of Vamptasy, the publisher of The Queen of Swords. The thriller has no
paranormal elements or divination, but does have a Scottish hero. So, at this
point in my career as an author, that’s the unifying thread of my oeuvre. And
the fact that my heroes all have internal demons to overcome (as one of my beta
readers astutely pointed out to me). If I tried my hand at another genre, it
would be Scottish historicals. I love them, but don’t know the genre well
enough yet to come up with something fresh and new.
Amy: Sounds like some
exciting reads coming. I’m especially intrigued by the one with a merman. I
know you're a reader as well as writer. My readers like to know what
authors have influenced your writing, so which authors have inspired yours?
Nina: I only wish I could write half as well as
some of them. Diana Gabaldon, Anne Rice, Jane Austen, Wallace Stegner, Barbara
Kingsolver, and Stephen King. So many authors have inspired me, it’s hard to
name just a few.
Amy: That’s certainly a very good list with which
to start. My last question for you and my personal favorite: if you could be
ANY character in ANY book, who would it be and why?
Nina: Wow… That’s a tough one. I wouldn’t want to
be in Diana Gabaldon’s books as wonderful as they are because she’s pretty
vicious when it comes to her characters. Anne Rice’s also suffer (did you see
she’s going to finally release another in the Vampire Chronicles series?—so
excited about that one). How about Elizabeth Bennett in Pride & Prejudice?
I wouldn’t mind sleeping with Mr. Darcy and living at Pemberley would suit me
fine. And from the wrap-up, it sounded as if her mother didn’t visit very
often, so, yeah. Let me be Lizzy in P&P.
Amy: Love your reasoning
and no, I didn’t know there was a new Anne Rice vampire coming, thanks for that
info. Nina, thank you so very much for joining us today, and for sharing THE
QUEEN OF SWORDS with us. Congratulations on your debut and I'm sure my readers
are as excited as I am to read more from you.
My dears, Nina is
offering a tour wide giveaway of 3 digital copies of THE QUEEN OF SWORDS. A Free Copy to 3 lucky people, folks, this one is definitely worth the cost of admission so don't pass up a chance to get a free copy.
Nina: Here’s my question:
Which literary vampire famously said, “Evil is a point of
view”? Hint: He’s about to make a comeback.
Amy: Thank you, Nina,
for that great question – if you’d like to enter the Giveaway, please use the
rafflecopter and when it’s time to enter by leaving a comment, I hope you’ll
give Nina’s query a shot but if not, I’m sure she’d love to hear from you with
questions or comments. Good Luck and as always …
Happy Reading Everyone!
THE QUEEN OF SWORDS by
Nina Mason, Vamptasy Publishing, available now in ebook format at
Amazon.
***click on links or cover below for purchasing information
