Virtual Book Tour- Legacy: The Niteclif Evolutions Guest Post, Review, and Giveaway

Welcome to the book tour for Legacy: The Niteclif Evolutions by Denise Tompkins!

I have a guest post, review, and giveaway today. First, a little about the book!

When Fate makes you her bitch, accept it and adapt. Or die.

 Looking back on the wish she made on Midsummer’s Eve, Maddy Niteclif should have been more specific. She only wanted to escape the shadowy nightmares that plagued her nights, not to be thrust into a completely altered reality. 


If a strangely familiar, sexy dragon-shifter named Bahlin, who causes a never-to-be-mentioned-again fainting spell, isn’t enough to make her question her sanity, his insistence she’s the Niteclif ought to do the job. Prophesied super-sleuth of the supernatural world—a world that desperately needs her help—isn’t a job she’s remotely qualified for no matter what her family tree says. 


 Catapulted into a very different London ruled by dark mythology, mystery and murder, Maddy makes a few startling discoveries. Paranormal creatures exist. Getting shot really sucks. And her body responds remarkably well to dragon magic—in more ways than simple wound healing. 


 But in this kill-or-be-killed world, reality bites. And Maddy must choose to go back to what she knows…or stay and fight for the man she knows she can’t live without.


Warning:  This book contains a shape-shifting dragon with a Scottish accent, modern and archaic weapons, global inter-species politics that make democracy seem mild, some very steamy sex underground, a severed head, murder, and…oh yeah…a woman caught in the middle of it all. 


 Time becomes irrelevant to the immortal. 


 But to one human woman, every second counts.




Legacy: The Niteclif Evolutions, Book 1
Author: Denise Tompkins
Genre: Fiction – Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
Published by: Samhain Publishing, Ltd. (October 18, 2011)
Age Recommendation: 18+ For Mature Content & Explicit Sexuality
Format: eBook
ASIN: B005IZUXZE
Number of pages: N/A


Today we have a guest post about how the author speaks to her characters.


During the middle of any given project, this might be me. I walk around almost dazed, often talking to myself under my breath to the consternation of those to whom I should be talking. Admittedly, I’ll get a lot of stares and concerned comments about how I work too hard and take my writing too seriously, but no one’s brave enough to tell me to quit. Why? It’s not so much that I can’t, though that’s surely part of the problem, but more realistically? It’s that I won’t.

When I get caught up in a story, I lose myself to the characters and the world and the nuances of personality. I spend oodles of time getting to know my characters—their likes and dislikes, habits and nervous tics. How? I talk to them.

This may seem odd to someone who doesn’t write, or to someone who writes but doesn’t write character-driven fiction. But to those of us who run a borderline obsession with our stories and characters, this isn’t that farfetched or exceptionally odd. To do otherwise would be the stranger habit.

Sometimes a conversation is simply about something that’s just happened on the page, and a character’s given reaction to that. I discuss with myself the way Bahlin might feel of Maddy’s most recent choice, or I consider how Maddy might feel over her most recent disagreement with her lover. I talk out options and preferences, actions and avoidances as if the characters were like interactive people on a living storyboard. Then there are the times the, uh, stranger conversations occur.

A perfect example happened the other day. I was down at the market looking for a nice brisket to bring home. I’m wandering the meat department when Bahlin pops into my head.
“Ever wonder what it would take to feed a dragon, love?” he asks, congenial since he got his way on the page yesterday.
My eyes dart around and I whisper, “No. I’m not talking to you here.”
“But this is the perfect place to think over the quid it would take to keep a growing drago in meat! Don’t tell me you’d expect me to exist on vegetables and free range cattle.” He snorts and lets a small tendril of smoke curl out his nose. “I’d be right fashed with you, Denise.”
I pick up the largest roast I can find and look at the price, choking. This opens the entire question of how does a dragon family keep meat on their table in modern times if they aren’t ranchers or butcher shop owners. And this is where my pastor finds me, standing slack-jawed with a hunk of raw meat in my hands, staring into space. When he greets me and I respond with a Scottish accent, he adds me to the church’s prayer list but never utters another word. After all, he knows I’m a writer.

Denise Tompkins lives in the heart of the South where the neighbors still know your name, all food forms are considered fry-able and bugs die only to be reincarnated in aggressive, blood-craving triplicate. Thrilled to finally live somewhere that can boast 3 ½ seasons (winter’s only noticeable because the trees are naked), her favorite season is definitely fall. It’s the time of year when the gardens are just about to pass into winter’s brief silence, and the leaves are out to prove that nature is the most brilliant artist of all. 


Denise is married to the love of her life. Both she and her husband are owned by two dogs and three opinionated parrots who keep her in stitches — literally and figuratively. One bird hates broccoli, one scared the pizza man to death upon delivery, and one bird loves to call out and invite stranger to “Come on in!” The birds thoroughly enjoy scolding the dogs. One dog, the mutt, has turned a deaf ear. The Bullmastiff, however, probably needs emotionally reconstructive therapy. 


A life-long voracious reader, Denise has three favorite authors. Why three? Because favorite authors are like chips: a person can’t have just one. Her little house was so overrun with books last year that her darling husband bought her an e-reader out of self-preservation. He was (legitimately) afraid she might begin throwing out pots and pans to make room for more books, and he didn’t want to starve. 


Along with reading, Denise loves travel, is obsessed with the British Isles, practices photography, enjoys cooking and looks forward to Christmas as an excuse to bake. 


Her debut novel, Legacy, is the first book in The Niteclif Evolutions and will be available in both e-book and later, in print, from Samhain Publishing.


Check out the tour page for more information on how to find Denise and her book!


Review and giveaway are after the break!



Review:


After losing her parents suddenly, Maddy has decided to run away to the UK. As soon as she gets there though, strange things start happening. Maddy soon discovers she is the Niteclif, a sort of supernatural detective for fairies, sprites, vampires, dragons, and the like. She's immediately involved in her first case, which naturally turns out to be way more involved that she thought it would be. Add to this two men vying for her, and Maddy has her hands full for sure. She will have to learn to navigate the various supernatural groups and try to interpret prophecies all while using her logic skills to solve a crime. Sounds easy, right?

This book wastes no time getting to the action, and there is a lot of action. In multiple senses of the word. Maddy was an interesting character. She thinks she is leaving it all behind to escape to the UK, but instead she finds herself involved in something much bigger. Discovering her family history with her was very fun. Bahlin was able to be both fun and complicated. This book certainly keeps you on your toes. Between the mystery behind the crime and the prophecies that crop up, there are a lot of twists and turns. I enjoyed that aspect of the book. This is also a very sexy book. That can be both good and bad. There were a lot of little interludes, and sometimes I just wanted them over so I could get back to the major plot points that I enjoyed more. On the other hand, I was happy that Maddy was getting some quality time with someone who appreciated her.

I appreciated the joining of several supernatural worlds. That added a new dimension to the story. The ending was perfectly set up for more stories. This book will be enjoyable to those who like both paranormal and mystery books. Oh, and romance. There's definitely a hefty dose of that too.

Book provided for review.


I have one e-book to give away! This giveaway will run from November 15th to November 30th and is open internationally. All you have to do is leave your name and e-mail in the rafflecopter form. Bonus entries for following the author's blog, Twitter, or liking her Facebook page. 


Thanks for stopping by!