I want to welcome Nara Malone to My Odd Little World. I got a chance to read her second book in her Pantherian Passions from Ellora's Cave, and I will post my review following Nara's bio and book blurb and excerpt. I will say it was an intriguing story, and I can't wait to read more in this world.
Nara will be awarding a digital copy of The Tiger's Tale, first in the Pantherian Passions series, and a $10 Ellora's Cave GC to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour, and a GC to purchase a video game targeted for female gamers written by Nara Malone with Orchid Games, Spirit Walkers: Curse of the Cypress Witch to a second randomly drawn commenter.
And now, a bit about Nara Malone.
Like the heroine, Allie, in Blind Heat, Nara is face blind and lived with the condition not knowing there was a medical explanation for her inability to remember faces. It’s a rare and only recently publicized condition. She hopes Blind Heat will help get the word out about face blindness.
Nara lives on a small farm in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains. When she's not writing, she loves to run, hike, bike, and kayak. Every story she tells incorporates her love of animals, nature, and adventure.
Blogs:
www.NaraMalone.com – author blog
www.Therianverse.com--blog containing interactive content for her books from two series that include therian shapeshifters –Patherian Passions, and Passions Portal.
www.PassionsPortal.com-- interactive website for Shadowling Manor , the setting for the multi-author paranormal series.
Contact:
Nara_malone on Twitter
Nara.malone on Facebook
The interactive world Nara built for Blind Heat is here--http://therianverse.com/naras-worlds/
Allie is determined to build an ordinary life. To survive, she needs to be the sort of woman no one notices. She has a generic job, lives in a generic apartment, and thinks maybe one day she’ll find an ordinary Joe who wants an average Jane sort of woman.Marcus is anything but an ordinary Joe. Even if humans don’t know he’s a shifter and millennial being, he’s the sort of man women notice. A night of passion spent with Marcus is a night any female, human or Pantherian, won’t forget.
But Allie does forget. She repeatedly fails to recognize him even after an intense sexual encounter. Marcus discovers the source of her problem—face blindness, a genetic disorder with no cure. And he decides to use erotic rituals to teach her to see with more than her eyes. What he doesn’t count on is Allie seeing past the man—and recognizing the beast within.
But Allie does forget. She repeatedly fails to recognize him even after an intense sexual encounter. Marcus discovers the source of her problem—face blindness, a genetic disorder with no cure. And he decides to use erotic rituals to teach her to see with more than her eyes. What he doesn’t count on is Allie seeing past the man—and recognizing the beast within.
Now for the good part, an excerpt from Blind Heat.
He stood just a few feet away, sheltered by a gnarled oak, right where the bridge crossed the creek and led to a picnic area. He appeared to be waiting just for her. But it had to be a mistake. There was no one, had never been anyone, who was just for her. This silver-eyed, dark-haired stranger held himself like an exotic prince, waiting for a princess maybe—definitely not for Allie the ad writer.
He smiled and it was like a sunrise breaking through her gloom. His gaze traveled her body, reigniting the fire she’d been trying to drown. The journey stopped right at her bellybutton where it peeked between the edge of her shorts and the top of the tee that didn’t quite cover her there.
Her eyes fixed on his shirt again. She could feel its heat beckoning like hot coals in a fire, inviting her to warm her hands. She could taste that color, a burn like Red Hots melting on her tongue. She swallowed. The sensation in her head rose to a humming, nudging her to go to him, to lose herself in that bold stare. She put her fingertips to the spot again, wondering if she might be having some sort of breakdown. His eyes sparked with pleasure at the reaction, but his tone was serious when he spoke.
“You have two choices, sweetheart, you can turn around and run back the way you came and I won’t try to stop you. Or you can come to me, reach for the mystery, have what you are aching for.”
If he had struck a match to her, he couldn’t have lit her any faster.
“But if you come to me, I’m not going to stop at a kiss. I’m not going to stop at all until it pleases me.”
This was not a morning to face down temptation. If only he felt like a stranger, then she might have a chance, but he felt so familiar, like coming home. Common sense told her to run. Security lay in the other direction, returning to flatline dull days lining up one after the other. What price would she pay to feel alive, live dangerously for a few minutes? There was no one here to take him from her. No one to stop her from exploring the forbidden, not this time. One taste and she’d drop back into her role as a polite, conservative wallflower. It was a dangerous choice. All the more reason.
Whew!!! I do believe the temperature in here just rose about fifty degrees. And this isn't even the hottest bit in the book!
Blind Heat is one of those books that draws you into the story from the beginning, and grabs you by the throat, daring you to put it down. The characters, Marcus and Allie, are crafted with care and depth, and I look forward to more in this unique world Ms. Malone has crafted so well.
As I read this, I was fascinated by all the information provided about Allie's condition-face blindness-and was surprised to find that Ms. Malone shares this with her heroine. I like Allie, with her determination to be as normal as possible, even as she has blocked out her early beginnings. She believes she is 'simply human' but nothing could be further from the truth, and I enjoyed watching as Marcus was able to bring her out of her self imposed isolation and help her learn to live a full and active life.
I really love Marcus, even if he is holding all kinds of secrets from his people. What's not to love? Handsome, sexy hot as sin and he cares, really cares, about the world around him and how it impacts the Pantherian people. More than that, he works diligently to stop the experimentation being done in labs, the creation of Parahumans-animals implanted with human intelligence. I like shifter stories, but this one is exceptional in its intensity, its humanity and it is one very hot and passionate story, with danger, romance and mystery around every corner. I went through the whole book waiting for answers to my questions. Will Marcus be able to save the animals without being caught? Will Allie let Marcus in to her life? What, exactly, is Allie, really? And can Marcus and Allie make a life together, against the odds?
Nope, not going to spoil this with answers to these and many other fascinating threads throughout this marvelous tale. If you want to know more, pick up a copy of Blind Heat, and lose yourself in Nara Malone's world of the Pantherians. But have ice water on hand, and keep the air conditioner on high, because it is a hot and steamy ride.
Remember, Ms. Malone is awarding a digital copy of the first Pantherian Passions book, A Tiger's Tale, along with some other great prizes to one commenter on the tour. Be sure to leave your e-mail address when you post.
*Oh and the video game is a blast-I have a copy and enjoy playing it after a tiring day at work*
I do want to thank Nara Malone for visiting, and for bringing her Pantherians to life so well.
