AWESOME Giveaway (Signed book & Gift Card), Guest Post & Review - Dark Wolf by Kate Douglas

http://www.katedouglas.com

AWESOME Giveaway (Signed book & Gift Card), Guest Post & Review - Dark Wolf by Kate Douglas

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Book Blurb

Sebastian Xenakis is still coming into his power as a wizard. He can shapeshift by magical means and runs as a wolf using the power he draws from the elements. But young women are dying--raped by a human and then slaughtered by a wolf. Suspicion falls on the shapeshifting Chanku, but Sebastian wonders if he might somehow be guilty of the crimes. 

Then he meets Lily Cheval, the uncrowned princess of the powerful Chanku, and realizes he will do whatever it takes to clear his name and win her love. But evil walks where Sebastian goes, and there are mysteries neither Lily nor her father, the powerful wizard Anton Cheval can unravel.Is Sebastian the perfect mate for Lily, or is he instead, one she should fear?

     

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Book Excerpt courtesy of katedouglas.com

http://www.katedouglas.com/eroticromance/id78.htm

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Book Trailer

 

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Guest Post by Author Kate Douglas

Thanks, Toots, for the chance to blog with you! I’m writing this post late Monday night, the night before Dark Wolf finally releases. It seems as if I’ve been waiting for this book to come out forever, but I think that’s because I’ve never quite been so anxious for a book to release.

This is the culmination of all of the stories in the first Chanku series, Wolf Tales. It’s everything I’ve learned about the Chanku, about the different personalities within the pack, and all I wanted to discover about Lily Cheval, daughter of pack über-alpha Anton Cheval.

First of all, though, you don’t have to have read any of the prior books to enjoy Dark Wolf. This is a new series and the history of the Chanku is woven into the story so that you’ll never feel lost or as if you’ve missed anything, but if you have read the earlier books, you’ll feel an immediate affinity for Lily Cheval. When we left her at the end of Wolf Tales 12, she was a little girl who carried a huge burden—the entire history of the Chanku species going back to their escape from a dying planet, to the present, when their long-held secret of just who and what they were had been lost for so long that even the Chanku themselves had forgotten.

Forgotten until Lily found the answers, and brought them home to the pack. She was a little girl, wise beyond her years, who made a huge difference in the future of her species.

Now, Lily is the successful CEO of Cheval International, a successful import firm owned by Chanku Global Industries. She’s beautiful, brilliant, and filled with powerful magic, but she is terribly alone. There’s not a Chanku male alive with the strength to challenge her alpha soul, not a single man with magic powerful enough to meet her on a level playing field.

And then she meets Sebastian Xenakis. He’s everything she’s ever wanted in a man, except she’s not sure whether or not he’s Chanku. Sebastian shifts by magical means, and Lily has promised she will mate onlyher own kind.

And then there are the horrible attacks on young women—innocent women raped by a human, and then mauled to death by wolves. Is a rogue Chanku behind the attacks?

Is it Sebastian? When all clues seem to lead directly to the man Lily is falling in love with, she has to make a decision that puts everything she knows and loves at risk—does she defend him in spite of her fears? Or does she walk away from the one man she’s ever thought she might love?

Sebastian is an amazing guy. He’s complex—strong and intelligent, a true alpha, and yet terribly vulnerable in so many ways. Enough so that he even doubts his own innocence. And if it’s not Sebastian behind the assaults, who is it? And why has the Montana pack been targeted?

Lots of questions, and they’ll all be answered. I promise you that. Now I have to wait patiently for the book to come out tomorrow—though when this is posted, it will already be out. If you’ve not read any of my books before, I’d love for you to take a chance on Dark Wolf. Be prepared to have any preconceptions you might have of what an erotic paranormal romance has to offer sort of flipped upside down and backwards. My books are just a little bit different from the norm, hopefully in a good way.

I’d love to offer a copy of Wolf Tales 12 as a prize to one of you leaving a comment. That’s the story that ended the first series, and it will give you a chance to meet Lily as a child. Thanks so much for stopping by. And Toots, m’dear, thank you as well, both for your review and your generous invitation to blog.

Here’s a bit of a teaser—the first time Sebastian sees Lily. He’s at a reception and she’s the guest of honor. His reaction shocks him. Can we say “blown away?”

Silence fell, a few people pushed to get a better look. At times like this, he appreciated his above average height, because it was a simple thing merely to peer over the heads of those between him and the entry.

There was a small cluster of people blocking the wide doorway into the ballroom, but they moved aside as if clearing way for royalty. Sebastian realized he’d lifted a bit to his toes in order to see who or what everyone was looking at.

The final person moved out of his line of vision.

Sebastian’s breath caught in his throat.

She was taller than average, as slim and graceful as any woodland creature, and yet when she turned and gazed in his direction, he sensed pure predator beneath the tawny curls that cascaded in wild disarray over her shoulders and waving around her slim hips.

Without a doubt, he’d never seen anyone as lovely or as mesmerizing in his entire life. The woman smiling and greeting those who met her like subjects bowing to a queen, moved within an aura of light and color that jolted his psychic senses on a level never before touched.

He’d always seen auras—they were a normal part of his vision and he rarely thought much of them. They were a part of the whole, just as important in his perception of each individual as the color of their hair or the shade of their eyes.

He’d never seen anyone like this woman. She moved in a shimmer of russet and gold, but the brilliance of her aura actually reflected in the physical plane, shimmering over her gown in a scarlet wave of light and life. So many shades of red, from the deepest blood red to a shade bordering on orange.

She wore her will, her power and her energy like a crimson cloak, radiating life and courage, and enough blatant sensuality that he felt the connection clear across the room.

His body reacted on a level totally separate from his brain, though he wondered how many other men in the room were suddenly as aroused as he was. He sensed a thread of desire drawing all of them closer, but he fought the pull. Fought the need that pulsed deep and steady on a level he’d never once experienced.

He planted his feet, even though they wanted to move. He felt his wolf rise and forced that creature back as well.

Who was she?

What was she?

He stared at her as she raised her eyes and glanced in his direction. Then she quickly turned away, and once again appeared to focus on the small crowd that pushed closer. He recognized the mayor and a few city officials, but they were nothing. No one of interest. Only the woman.

His heart thundered in his chest with the certainty that she was every bit as aware of him as he was of her. He pushed, sending a soft yet powerful mental command, calling her to him.

She fought him. Smiling, shaking hands, sharing air kisses with one person after another, she slowly worked her way across the room. Her aura spiked, the red growing brighter, stronger, and he knew she drew on her own psychic power as she continued to ignore him.

Look at me. Now. Raise your head and look at me.

I think not. You’re much too pushy.

Stunned, Sebastian took a step backward. She’d heard him. Heard him and answered him telepathically. She’d not raised her head, not looked his way, but she’d still managed to put him in his place.

Damn. She was absolutely magnificent.

And there you have it. If Sebastian thinks he’s got it bad now, you should see him a couple of chapters later...

Kate Douglas

www.katedouglas.com

www.twitter.com/wolftales

www.facebook.com/katedouglas.authorpage

http://youtu.be/ttQ8fZjMEoM  (Dark Wolf video)

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Author Bio

I've been married for over forty years to a terrific man who puts up with the idiosyncrasies of life with a writer. We raised two really great kids who are now wonderful adults who've produced six grandchildren for us. ALL perfect, of course!

I've concluded my long-running Kensington Aphrodisia erotic paranormal romance series, Wolf Tales (which includes the Sexy Beast anthologies I-VIII) and the erotic Dream Catchers series, as well as The DemonSlayers series from Kensington Zebra. My current series--also under the Aphrodisia imprint, is called Spirit Wild. This one picks up on the lives of the second generation of Chanku shapeshifters, beginning with Lily Cheval's story in DARK WOLF.

I love to hear from readers and answer all my mail personally. The link with my email address is on the front of my website at katedouglas.com, along with first chapter excerpts of all my books. Please sign up for my newsletter with chances to win books and other goodies by sending an email to KateDouglas-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

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Toot's Review

Ok so let me say this first and foremost.....I LOVE KATE DOUGLAS! I happened to stumble upon some of her books on Amazon.com for free around the time this blog started. Her book series, StarQuest, was one of the first I reviewed for this blog and have been a fan ever since. I promised her I'd stalk her when RWA came to San Diego in 2016 and she laughed and said she'd stalk me back, LOL. What's not to love about that! Needless to say, I love reading all her super steamy, super smexy books. Her books are unlike anything I've run acrossed since. If you like super sexy, I mean jaw-dropping sexiness, you'll love her books but you will totally have to keep an open mind when reading them. There is absolutely NO vanilla in these books!

With all that being said, let me give you a run down of this series and my thoughts....

Series History:
Dark Wolf is the newest addition in Kate Douglas's shapeshifting Chanku world. Her very popular series, Wolf Tales came to an end with Wolf Tales 12 but as Kate said, there were still more stories to be told. The premise for the stories and the series is this *in a super small nutshell*: Anton, A Magician/Wizard, went on a mission to find answers to some pretty heavy questions he had. While doing research, he stumbled upon some books referring to a lost species of shapeshifters known as Chanku. The books state that humans who are born with the specific gene for shapeshifting had lost the ability because they stopped eating the nutrients needed to trigger the latent ability. Anton tracked down the almost extinct nutrients found in a Tibetan grass and cultivated them again. He started to take them himself and found that he was one of these humans with the recessed gene and after eating the grass, he could indeed shapeshift and with the shapeshifting came numerous other abilities such as long life, telepathy and a raging libido! Eventually Anton finds others with the recessed gene and a pack is born with Anton as the Uber Alpha, elected, respected and loved in that position, not won by might or right. The original Wolf Tales is about Anton's journey and the individual stories of those in the original pack.

So where does Dark Wolf fit in to this super long shapeshifting series. Well like all great series, Wolf Tales's original members had kids and so this next series is the kids stories. They are all grown up and are finding their way in the world and so Dark Wolf is born. It's the first book in the new crop stories spun off of the original Wolf Tales but it's really not a spin-off, more a future continuation.

Dark Wolf is about Anton's first born daughter, Lily. Lily has become an alpha female all on her own. When we first meet Lily in the original Wolf Tales, she's definitely something special. She is one of the first born of two fully Chanku parents and Anton being a Wizard, she has some magic all her own. Also being one of the first born children of the Uber Alpha, she's treated as the Princess of the pack. Lily has also earned her title. As she's grown, she's become the head of a lot of the pack's companies and become the face of the pack for the media. All around she is well loved but she longs for a companion. She wants the white picket fence, children and a loving, passionate partner. All her life, she's been expected to mate with Anton's second in command's son Alex. Alex and Lily grew up together, literally. They shared their crib, had their first shift together, even lost their virginity with each other but they have always known that they were not meant to be mated. There is a soul deep love but not passion and they both want passion but their parents are convinced they belong together.

While attending an arts gala in the packs honor, Lily attends in her father's place and meets the son of another powerful businessman, Sebastian. Sebastian is the son of the pack's biggest opponent. The man is very outspoken on the wrongness of the Chanku to the point of being a bigot. When they meet, sparks fly but could Sebastian be the one Lily is looking for or is he just as bad as his dad?

In this book, we also get Alex's story as well. Alex is a total player and is just biding his time while Lily makes a decision about their future. Either they will finally give in and mate with each other or they will find true love elsewhere. While Alex waits, he has no problem lovin' the ladies. He's never serious about any of them and they all know he belongs to Lily, or so he lets them believe. One night, while on a date, he hears someone in distress down an alley. When he goes to investigate, he sees a small woman being hassled by three men. Being the gentleman he is, he jumps in to save her. After rescuing the lady, she thanks him by name, WTH? Alex soon realizes that this is Annie, a missing member of the pack whom he grew up with but she left to go study in Europe. Annie has come home and maybe for good?

The Chanku stories are honestly some of my favorite shapeshifter books and not just because I love Kate as an author so much but because I  love the twists she puts on the classic. The Chanku are not just your typical Uber Alpha Male stories. Kate's wolves follow very closely to a how a real wolf pack operates. There are dominant Alpha Males and Alpha Females. The Males know their roles as protectors but they know the real power is the Females and always defer to them. Even with the mating, in these books, only the Females can choose their mates or decide to have pups. Every one of Kate's Alpha Females are just that, Alpha and who doesn't love a series with strong women and men that know the women have all the power?

Another thing that sets Kate's books apart are the polyamorous relationships. All of the Chanku not only have their main mates but they also have lovers. Because of their raging libido's, they recognize the overwhelming need for touch, love and sex but love is the main thing. Just like any family or pack, love is at the heart of everything, not just the sex but they also don't define love as just male/female. If it feels good and everyone is consenting, it's all good! Be aware, this is an erotic book/series, so you will find M/M, F/F, M/F, threesomes and foursomes as well as some animal/animal lovin', shapeshifter style but it's all done in a way that flows naturally with the story and only makes you want to eat some grass and see if you're Chanku yourself.

All in all, if you want some big family, big hearts, great shapeshifting, sexy-sexy PNR...give Dark Wolf a try.

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~*Giveaway*~

Because Toot's loves Kate so much

We're giving away a $10 Amazon Gift Card

*That way you can buy the book and more, WINK*

AND

Kate has generously offered, 

Winner's choice of 

one SIGNED paper book from her Wolf Tales series

Winner can choose one of #8, 9, 10, 11, 12

*I personally suggest #12 to go with Dark Wolf

Just fill out the rafflecopter below

a Rafflecopter giveaway