For an action/adventure ala Indiana Jones, but with a female who talks to ghosts and angels in the lead, check out “Debriefing the Dead” by Kerry Blaisdell under our Fantasy page. 5 sparklers for this one.
Under Non-fiction, we have a new review from Teresa on “Paul Among the People: The Apostle Reinterpreted and Reimagined in His Own Time by Sarah Ruden” – a 5 sparkler plus look at one of the apostles.
VICIOUS CIRCLE was my first published novel, first in 2015 from Torquere Press, and then re-released in January 2020, from Dreamspinner Publications.
I have always had a fascination with difficult-to-like main characters. All my protagonists struggle with themselves for a variety of reasons: their morally questionable jobs, their horrible childhoods, a need to be perfect, a desire to project invincibility at all times, a belief they are unlovable, trust issues, lost memories, severe injuries and other traumas. Then I have to find them the one person in the universe who can get past all that and love them, truly and deeply, for whomever they are. Oftentimes, the persona projected on the outside is very, very different from the real person on the inside.
Cor Sandros, from VICIOUS CIRCLE, was a particular challenge for several reasons. For one thing, she was my first protagonist to get a romance. I’d never written romance before, even as a subplot, though I’d read a number of them.
Second, Cor is an assassin. I had to find a way to make an assassin a viable romantic partner and someone with whom readers could identify or at least sympathize. Without too many spoilers, Cor has a very difficult childhood. She’s suffered through many traumatic experiences. She’s been betrayed by those she loved, so trust is extremely difficult for her. She has every reason to be evil, but she is most definitely not.
Cor is a heart-of-gold assassin. She belongs to a guild dedicated to eliminating the worst of mankind to better the lives of the rest of humanity. Every contract is carefully examined, investigated, and vetted before being accepted and signed. Despite all that, Cor still sometimes wrangles with guilt. It’s killing, even if she thinks it’s deserved, and who is she to decide? And what if the Assassins Guild makes a mistake in judgment?
To do what she does, Cor must maintain an emotionless façade, an impenetrable shell allowing herself few friends and fewer lovers. Toss in an addiction to painkillers after a crippling injury and you’ve got a very difficult protagonist indeed. How to make a character like this approachable?
To start, I realized I had to go with writing in first person point-of-view. Only by gaining insight into Cor’s inner thoughts, dreams, and desires, her perception of herself as flawed, her loneliness and longings, could I hope to help readers understand her perspective and identify with her on some emotional level. You have to really see and hear her to get her. Or you have to see her through the eyes of someone who loves her, who has broken through the shell to get to the passionate and caring person beneath.
Enter Kila, a pacifist. Because what sort of romantic interest character would be the absolute most difficult person to pair with an assassin? Someone who abhors violence and especially killing, that’s who. But through Kila’s eyes, the reader sees the inner Cor, the person Cor could have been if she hadn’t joined the guild, and Cor begins to see that person in herself as well.
I also had to create Cor’s entire backstory. Why is she the way she is? Why would she choose a violent profession? I had to show her as a survivor of those she would later hunt down and eliminate. I had to show why she believes that sometimes killing someone is the only way to be certain they stop. But I also had to balance that with an understanding that some people could be redeemed. And I had to give Cor the insight to know one from the other to the best of her ability and realize that she couldn’t always be right.
I had to make her fallible, had to make her know she’s fallible. She knows she will make fatal mistakes. And I had to make her live with that.
I’m sure there are readers who will never get past the violence of Cor’s career choice, but hopefully by understanding why she does what she does and what made her the person she’s become, most will make that connection to the character.
I hope you’ll like Cor as much as I do.
BLURB: Assassin meets innocent.
BUY LINKS: https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/vicious-circle-by-elle-e-ire-11479-b
Facebook: Elle E. Ire
Twitter: Elle E. Ire (@ElleEIre) | Twitter
Young officer-in-training Lailani Harris is just trying to survive in a violent world, and survival means following orders… until her conscience will no longer allow it.
After the old government collapsed, the American Republic formed. Prisoners are used as live target practice for trainees such as Lai, and her world is shattered when her cousin ends up at her firing station. Rather than kill her, Lai and her best friend break her cousin out, and all three go on the run as fugitives. Hunted by the government she once served, Lai will learn just how corrupt the country has become. She might have a part to play in changing it, if she can find the courage to grow into the leader she’s meant to be.
Excerpt:
“Harris!” the sergeant yelled. “What do you think you are doing?”
Lai looked back to Mel, the only kid still alive on the wall. Mel was breathing heavily, and her forehead was slick with sweat.
“Lailani Harris!”
Lai forced herself to look her sergeant squarely in the eye and tried to keep her voice from shaking.
“That’s my cousin,” she replied in a weak voice. The other students around her gasped. Jaime stepped up beside her but did nothing more.
“Why didn’t you shoot her?” the sergeant demanded. Lai blinked several times, unsure she had heard correctly.
“She’s my cousin,” Lai said again. She realized she was holding her gun in a death grip and relaxed her fingers.
“That does not mean you are allowed to let this felon live.”
Lai sucked in a sharp breath. She had never heard of this happening before. Even if a family member of a student were on death row, they would never be assigned to that student. No one could be that careless. Perhaps it was because she and Mel were only cousins through marriage and did not share the same last name.
“But—” Lai began, but was quickly cut off by the sergeant.
“I don’t want excuses, Harris. I want that girl dead. You are going to face her and shoot her in the head. That is the exercise.”
“I can’t shoot my own cousin,” Lai cries. Jaime finally spoke up.
“Sergeant, there must have been a mistake. Lai’s cousin shouldn’t have been at her station. She shouldn’t have been assigned to this group at all. She’s in shock. That’s all.”
“I don’t want any excuses from you either, Martinez.”
Jaime took a step back and said nothing more. Lai glanced back to where Mel was still chained to the wall. Her eyes were wild, pleading. She wanted to die about as much as Lai wanted to kill her.
“Harris, I don’t care if she’s your twin sister. If you don’t put a bullet through her head this second, I will put you on kitchen duty for the next year and drop you to a Delta group!”
Lai knew she was serious. Sergeant Washington never put up with anything. Either you did what she instructed or you would find yourself dropped a year in training.
Lai’s hands tightened around her gun again. She turned to face Mel, the girl she had been inseparable from since she moved to the Republic until she had left for training. With shaky hands she lifted her gun and trained it on Mel’s forehead. Mel was crying openly now, and she fought weakly against her bonds. No officer moved to stop her. Lai took a deep breath and allowed herself to think for a short moment.
If she didn’t shoot Mel, someone would. If she didn’t shoot, Mel would die anyway and she would be dropped to a Delta training group for another year of basic training. There was nothing she could do. The logical part of her mind told her to do it. For Mel to be on death row, she had to have done something terrible.
What Oscar had told her floated back to Lai’s mind. That wasn’t necessarily true. She could have stolen a car. She could have hurt someone in a fight. She could have done any number of things that did not call for her life. In that moment, Lai made a decision she knew she could never return from.
In one fluid motion, Lai spun around to face Sergeant Washington and shot the woman in the leg.
About the author: Jordan Gillespie is a young author living in British Columbia, Canada. She is enrolled at the University of Victoria with the hopes of eventually becoming a librarian. She has been writing since she was too young to hold a pencil and had to dictate stories to her mother. When she isn’t writing, Jordan enjoys rock climbing, baking, playing with her pets, spending time with her girlfriend, and losing to her girlfriend’s little brother at Mario Kart. She is a lover of tea, coffee, and any local café where she can buy a good vegan muffin.
Including LGBT characters in her writing is hugely important to her. Young people especially deserve to see themselves represented in a diverse range of genres, and Jordan hopes to add to this body of work with her own writing. She has published three short stories with Harmony Ink Press in their Harmonious Hearts collections, and won the pride month short story contest in June 2019 at the locally owned bookstore Bolen Books. Her favorite genres to read are science fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction, and her favorite authors are Ursula K. Le Guin, Madeline Miller, and Neal Shusterman. Accuracy is her first published novel.
Two new reviews posted:
THEN THERE WAS YOU by Lynn Crandall: Contemporary Romance. Good premise, but it just didn’t draw me. So… sweet romance, lots of action, HEA that satisfies. If these work for you, pick it up.
PUBLISH OR PERISH by Kerry Blaisdell: Romantic suspense. Kerry has great promise as a romantic suspense author. I would definitely read more by her and with that in mind, I do recommend this book, though because of hot scenes, not for the under 18 group.
Two new reviews have been posted:
ATTIC LETTERS: Secrets of Love and War by Laurie Adams – a poignant story that connects current people with WWII people through letters and family secrets. Find it under “Romance” (though technically, it’s not exactly a romance).
FALL THROUGH SPRING by Amy Lane – A M/M romance about two men who have strong issues like body image, mental illness, and more and how they find love even through their problems. Find it under the LGBTQ Adult page.
See Teresa’s 5 Sparkler review of: Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale by Adam Minter on our Nonfiction page!
A Sun So Bright
Reigning Hearts ~ Book Three
A billionaire heiress walks into a bar…
When Fiona Merrill finds herself without a date on New Year’s Eve, the frustrated New York socialite takes matters into her own hands. After way too many glasses of champagne, she propositions the familiar bartender with an offer he can’t refuse. But the handsome, Brooklyn-born drink-slinger turns out to be a lot more than she bargained for.
Chris Ballard lives with his mother, biding his time until he can save enough money to completely renovate his crumbling farmhouse in upstate New York. An opportunity for some quick cash is a no-brainer, and with the amount of money Fiona offers him, he is eager to agree to her scheme.
In a world of have and have nots, posing as the next Manhattan power couple is the easy part. Things become challenging when Chris dares Fiona to go deeper than what her pampered life style offers. Is it possible for the heiress to change her ways and discover a bigger purpose? Or will the poor little rich girl continue her selfish ways with only her money to keep her warm?
About the author: Dubbed, “The Singing Author,” KG Fletcher lives in Atlanta, GA with
her husband Ladd and three sons. She is an active member of RWA and Georgia Romance Writers. Her Amazon Bestseller, GEORGIA PINE was a FINALIST for the 2019 Maggie Award of Excellence. KG is a hopeless romantic continuing her work on her original cabaret act called, “The Novel Romantic – an unexpected evening of sweet & spicy love” to help promote her romance novels. She is also a conference speaker and shares how music can enhance a writer’s experience.
Check out my new review for an LGBTQ teen paranormal book called “Owl” by M. Raiya. A five sparkler, this is one of the best books I’ve read in a while. Look for it under LGBTQ+ for teens.
You can find details on this holiday-themed boxed set under my “holiday” reviews. But basically: Like most boxed sets or anthologies, there were books in here that I absolutely loved (Mischievous Christmas Angel) and others that were okay, but didn’t draw me in. Still, that being said, I definitely recommend this set. The stories are really good and all have a HEA that satisfies. Buy the set, sit back with your favorite beverage, and enjoy.
