Blurb:
Raven embarks on a perilous journey to protect her mother’s legacy and finds herself fighting for her life at every turn. When she meets Xander Kane, he is everything she wants in a man and everything she cannot afford to let herself have right now. Will they be able to overcome the obstacles that confront them at every turn and find their way to love?
Excerpt:
“Myra, hurry up, girl. I need you up here before the nightfall,” she said, and Myra sighed again. It was already getting dark outside so, with slumped shoulders, she made her way up the flight of rickety stairs, fully expecting a dinner of liver and onions with boiled potatoes to be waiting on her upstairs along with a game of cards.
The scene that met her as she pushed the door open and entered the apartment, however, made her freeze in the doorway, her jaw hitting the wooden floor in shock. Hazel had pushed away all the furniture to leave a wide space in the center or the living area. She had used chalk to draw an enormous star in the middle of the floor, on each point of which there was a lit candle, the flame flickering in the slight breeze that entered through the half-opened window. There were bottles of oils and essence placed on the ground beside the peculiar drawing on the floor, and a black book lay inside it. The salt-and-pepper-haired woman was busy walking around the shape and sprinkling some sort of liquid methodically onto the floor. When she noticed Myra standing dumbfounded in the doorway, she quickly put down the container she was holding and beckoned for the girl to join her where she stood. “Come girl, we don’t have time to waste! The time has come for you to meet your destiny.”
“Aunt Hazel, what is all this?” Myra asked when her wits returned to her. She took several tentative steps forward, wondering if the old woman had finally lost it after all. “I thought we were going to watch The Sound of Music again and then play cards.”
“It is your time, dear girl. Today is the day. This is what I have been preparing you for, for all these years. Come! Take your place now, it will soon begin.”
“Take my place? Where exactly is my place, aunt?” she queried cautiously, her feet still firmly rooted to the spot where she had stopped.
“You are the eldest, Myra, the first. It is you who must bear the Mark first. It will begin with you.”
As much as Hazel’s words confused the heck out of her, Myra didn’t bother to question her any further. She knew her aunt would only keep speaking in riddles so the sooner she did as she was told, the better it would be for her. Hesitantly, she walked over to where the old woman stood, and upon her instructions, she stepped over the outline of the star and went to stand in its center. Immediately, there was a whiplash of lightning, followed by a horrific roar of thunder, causing Myra to jump in fright. Where the hell had that come from? It had been a bright, clear day, no sign of rainclouds anywhere. Suddenly, all coherent thought fled her mind as a searing pain gripped the back of her neck. It felt as if someone was carving her skin with an extremely sharp object, or branding her with a hot pole. A tortured cry tore from her lips and she fell to her knees, her arms flying to the point of the pain as if she could make it stop by wiping it away.
“Yes, it has begun,” Hazel’s voice noted solemnly. She hobbled closer to where Myra knelt, clutching the back of her neck. “Let go, Myra. Accept your mark. Accept your true powers.”
Then the wind began howling outside, rushing in through the open window with the strength of a mid-summer Castallantran hurricane, so powerful that it whipped Myra’s hair about her face and roared loudly in her ears. In the midst of all this, the candles didn’t only remain lit, but they seemed to be burning even brighter still. Staring at them in shock, Myra suddenly noticed that inside each flame, there was the face of a different woman staring back at her. She gasped and made to jump to her feet, but Hazel’s hand on her shoulder restrained her.
“Do not fear, my child, no harm will come to you,” the woman reassured her, and reluctantly Myra remained kneeling as the faces in the candles’ flames began to chant together. The words were in a language Myra had never heard before. There was no way for her to understand what they meant, but somehow, she could tell exactly what they were saying.
One of three, witches that be, we grant you this day, the power to see. Strength, wisdom, and courage be yours, to find the spell caster and the other that cures.
Then, just as suddenly as it started, the howling wind stopped. The pain at the base of Myra’s neck subsided just as the flames from the candles went out simultaneously, bringing an end to the mysterious chanting, and the apartment was once again as quiet as it always was. Myra jumped to her feet, head reeling with consternation as she turned to face Hazel. The old woman just smiled and nodded before bending to retrieve the black book from the floor. When she straightened again, she handed it to Myra and then pulled her in for a tight hug. “Welcome to the sisterhood, Myra,” she whispered affectionately. “I know this is overwhelming, but I tried to prepare you the best way I could.”
Myra pulled away to look suspiciously at her eccentric aunt, her eyes darting down to the book in her hand, then back to Hazel’s face. “Aunt Hazel,” she began, her voice quivering slightly. “What just happened?”
“You finally joined the family, my dear,” her aunt replied, smiling gleefully. “You now possess one third of the powers of the Great White Witch of Castallantra.”
Myra promptly fainted.
Buy Link: http://www.bookstrand.com/the-white-witchs-legacy-1-raven
Interview:
Me: What inspired you to write your first book?
Kelsie: I am an avid reader and I’ve enjoyed books so much throughout my life that the plots just kept coming to me. So I decided to try my hand at writing my own story. A friend of mine encouraged me to get it published because she really enjoyed reading it and the rest is history as they say.
Me: Do you see writing as a career?
Kelsie: Oh yes, I ultimately would like to quit my day job and write full time.
Me: This book is the first in a series. Do you prefer to write single title or series? Why?
Kelsie: I prefer stand alones, they don’t require as much concentration and memorization of details. I like to follow series though because they help you to see more of the characters even after their stories have ended.
Me: Give us some insight into your main character. What makes him/her special?
Kelsie: Raven is very young and innocent at the beginning of the story but she had to grow up really quickly when her life took a very sudden change in direction. She’s special because she’d very determined and strong-willed and when she discovers that she has all these really cool magical powers it fascinates her just as it would a child. Xander is a very commanding man, he struggles with who he is but doesn’t let that determine how he operates in life. He’s the take charge kind of man that a woman can’t help but submitting to, even if it is just mentally. He has a dangerous edge but ultimately he makes a woman feel safe.
Me: I love a good conflict. What draws your main characters to each other and keeps them apart?
Kelsie: Mutual attraction brought them together at first but then Raven bruised his ego and pissed him off. So he wants revenge, bad enough to stoop to blackmail. That’s how they ended up together.
Me: What’s your favorite sub-genre (contemporary, sci-fi, etc.) to write? To read?
Kelsie: Contemporary MF books are definitely my favorite followed by paranormal or sci-fi stories.
Me: I usually get plot ideas in the shower and while driving. When/where does inspiration strike you?
Kelsie: I suffer from severe insomnia most nights and instead of taking sleeping pills to knock me out, I prefer to lie in bed and imagine story plots. That’s when most of my plotting and even writing takes place.
Me: What new stories are you working on?
Kelsie: I’m finishing up book 3 in this series but I’m also working on two contemporary stories right now, Ember’s Secret Sin and Lover Undercover. I also have a Futuristic paranormal novel, A Dangerous Antidote, lined up as well. Hope to be done with them all by the end of the year.
Bio:
Kelsie Belle wears many hats – wife, mother and teacher are just a few but the erotic romance writer hat is by far her favorite. Kelsie is wildly gregarious by nature. She considers herself ‘forever 21’ and enjoys reading contemporary romance, Science fiction and fantasy, listening to music and dancing like there’s no tomorrow. A caffeine addict that lives life from one coffee mug to the next, she’s always on the go, ready and waiting for the next adventure.
She has been a storyteller for as long as she can remember, her characters live inside her overactive mind and a thousand stories come to life in her head every day. This novel is the first in her three book paranormal series The White Witch’s Legacy. It promises to be an exciting trip into her wild imagination and she hopes her readers will enjoy the experience of taking a ride outside the ordinary with her.
Social Media Links:
Website: www.kelsiebelle.wordpress.com
Blog: Ms. Belle’s Blushing Books
Facebook: www.facebook.com/kelsiebelleplaying
Twitter: @mskelsiebelle
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Kelsie-Belle/e/B00JTLUEAW/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1409005664&sr=1-2-ent
Remember to comment by midnight EDT on Wednesday, September 3, for a chance to win a copy of Raven!
Mellanie Szereto
Romance...With A Kick!
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