Nazi-Punching New Release for the Holidays (and a Devilish Cover Reveal!) by Jane Kindred

My slightly dumb but gorgeous Viking dragon shifter, Leo, is on the loose! Leo is hot AF and does not like Nazis. That is all you need to know.

But I’ll tell you more anyway, because I’m awesome like that. When I wrote Leo, I had two versions of Chris Hemsworth in mind: Hemsworth as Thor and Hemsworth as Kevin in the 2016 Ghostbusters remake. And because Leo himself has more than two versions, this makes sense. (Boy, am I on a cryptic roll tonight.) Both are totally adorable. He also has multiple Norse tattoos, which, as Leo and I discovered together, can give people the wrong idea, because certain deplorables have coopted the Norse gods for their own purposes over the years. Leo is not down with that.

Rhea, the heroine, is also adorable, tattooed (and a tattoo artist), with Riot Grrl (is that still a thing?) “mermaid” hair, and, as my editor commented, she is salty AF. (I added the AF, but I know that’s what she meant.) Particularly to Leo. But he kind of has it coming.

And all of this is just in time for the holidays, as the Wild Hunt, which Leo leads, rides from the Day of the Dead (or rather the Norse equivalent, Álfablót, a sacrifice to the elves) through Yuletide. Leo just happens to lead his Hunt through the Arizona desert among the snow-capped red rocks of Sedona, inspired by Johnny Cash’s Ghostriders in the Sky.

So, to recap, Leo looks like Thor, can be not-so-bright on occasion like Kevin, leads Odin’s Wild Hunt, has more than one personality, can shift into a Norse dragon, punches Nazis, and wears a cowboy hat and boots with a brown leather duster while riding through Sedona’s snowy nights. And Rhea has the blood of Lilith in her veins (oh, did I not mention that?), can read people’s fates in their tattoos, looks like a Riot Grrl (cuz I'm old), and is salty.

Oh, and for readers who like “Easter eggs” in their books (of a sort):

Dressler means Turner in German.

And that reference is timely right now, but that’s all I have to say about that, or I’ll just have a rage fit.

Never mind me; it’s been that kind of a year.

The Dragon’s Hunt, Book 3 in the Sisters in Sin series from Harlequin Nocturne, is available now from the following retailers:

Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
BookDepository.com
BAM
Booktopia
iBooks
Kobo

Note that this series should be read in order! You can find the series order and buy links on my website.

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As a special bonus, I’ve just received the cover for Book 4 in the series, Seducing the Dark Prince:

Hell Might Be Heavenly...for One of the Sisters in Sin

Lucien Smok is heir to the Smok fortune. He's also the crown prince of Hell, a legacy he despises. Clairvoyant Theia Dawn tries to convince herself that she's only interested in Lucien because of his family's role in the persecution of her ancestor, not because he's the most beguiling man she's ever met. The attraction that burns between them might be her downfall. Or it might be his salvation.

Seducing the Dark Prince is available now for pre-order from the following retailers:

Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble | Booktopia | iBooks | Kobo

On Punching Nazis and a Cover Reveal by Jane Kindred

If you follow my posts or tweets, you may have noticed a recent theme of mine, and that is punching Nazis. I am unequivocally in favor of it. There are plenty of people who are better at explaining why Nazis need punching, but suffice it to say, I don’t believe in tolerating intolerance. Anyone calling for the genocide of others has already thrown the first punch. 

My ancestors came from Sweden and the British Isles, so Vikings are in my blood. Perhaps that’s why I’ve always found them so fascinating. My hero in The Dragon’s Hunt, Leo Ström, is a Viking warrior lost in time. And as I discovered along with Leo, the gods of the Vikings suffer from an unfortunate association with certain deplorable groups in the modern age. I’ve recently begun to embrace my Norse heritage, and, like Leo, I don’t take kindly to having anyone pervert that heritage for their own racist agenda.

In a way, writing The Dragon’s Hunt was a way of reclaiming Norse symbolism. It was also a catharsis. The villain in Hunt is a bonafide Nazi from the Third Reich, a "Red Skull," if you will, who’s used magic to prolong his life. And he’s also obsessed with Norse mythology. Through Leo (and Rhea, the heroine), I got to experience the satisfaction of punching Nazis.

As it happens, my publisher surprised me with the finished cover art for Hunt just as the Nazis were marching on Charlottsville, where their violent ideology resulted in the murder of activist Heather Heyer. It’s too late to add an official dedication to The Dragon’s Hunt, but Heather, this one’s for you.

The Dragon's Hunt

Coming December 5, 2017

Awakening the dragon...

By day, Leo Ström works as an assistant in a tattoo parlor. By night… Well, he isn’t quite sure what happens at night. He just knows that it’s best if he restrains himself.

Ink is more than just superficial decoration to Rhea Carlisle. Her ability to read her clients’ souls in their tattoos gives her work its special magic—and it allows her to see that there’s more to Leo than his brilliant blue eyes.

The passion that kindles between them might be Leo’s salvation. Or it might be the end of the world…

Available for pre-order now from the following vendors:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BAM! | Booktopia | iBooks | Kobo

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Excerpt:

Blood ran into his eyes as he struggled to his feet. The groans of the maimed and the dying around him were eclipsed by the battle cries of his comrades who remained, and by the crack of iron against leather and wood—and against flesh and bone. They never should have followed their enemy into the woods. They’d been set upon by forces they couldn’t count, swarming out from behind every tree and every rock like a band of brigands, surrounding them with no room to maneuver, no way to stand in shield formation. It quickly became every man for himself.

Through the blood and mud caking his vision, he caught sight of the sudden arc of a battle-axe swinging down on him from his left. He’d lost his shield, and he turned and parried with his sword, but he’d taken a fierce blow to his sword arm from the last man he’d killed, and he stumbled back under the force, pain radiating like fire through his arm to the shoulder. The next swing from his opponent’s axe he couldn’t evade, and the blade caught him under the ribs, hooking in the links of his hauberk. He prayed to the Allfather as he went down that he might take one more enemy with him as he died. Let him die an honorable death. The axe descended, and he summoned all his strength, thrusting his sword to meet the bastard’s gut as his enemy fell on him.

The blade should have split his skull. He thought he’d felt the blow. But he was blind as a newborn kitten in the muck and mud. And then he realized he must have gone deaf as well. Silence fell over him like an oncoming bank of fog, muting the clangs and cries, engulfing him in an utter lack of sensation. Perhaps he’d died. But this was no Valhalla. This was…nothing. Had Odin not chosen him after all? Could this be Fólkvangr, the field of the slain in Freyja’s domain? Or was he in cold and empty Helheim? Surely he’d not been consigned to the Shore of Corpses. He was no oath-breaker; and murder—it didn’t count in war.

A hand, cool and feminine, touched his forehead. Perhaps this was only the in-between place where warriors waited for the Valkyries to come for them. He tried to clasp the hand but found he couldn’t make his limbs work. A cool kiss now brushed his forehead.

“Beautiful one.” The whisper at his ear was a soothing breeze, quieting the fire in his veins with the beauty of its cadence. “You shall not die.”

Was he to go back out to the battle? He must be in the tent being tended by his father’s slave girl. He’d lost consciousness.

“Did I kill him?” His voice came out in not much more of a whisper than his benefactor’s, though much rougher. His throat still felt the fire that had eased from the rest of him. A fever, no doubt, had taken him. He’d lain delirious and was only now coming around. Yes, this made sense. “Did I send my foe to Hel?”

“You were victorious. And I have claimed you.”

Before he could ask her to repeat the odd phrase, a searing pain encircled his heart, not fire this time, but the burn of ice, accompanied by the sensation of pins and needles in the flesh of his forearms. He could neither move nor speak, and the pain was becoming intense.

“Hush, beautiful one. Now they cannot have you.”

“They?” He managed to croak out the single word, though his tongue felt like wool batting.

Soft lips breathed against his. “That Which Became, That Which is Happening, That Which Must Become.”

Guest Author Inez Kelley Talks Vikings and THE BASTARD

VS sez: Today it's my pleasure to introduce our Guest, Author Inez Kelley, and her latest novel, THE BASTARD. Take it away Inez!

Vikings.

Big. Blond. Dirty. Horned hats. Brutal. Rape. Pillage. Repeat.

That is pretty much everything the common person knows. Well, that and the series on The History Channel is as enthralling as it is incorrect historically. But it has lovely eye-candy. But fiction isn’t real by definition and in some cases, it is really, really WRONG.

It’s not that true Vikings (from Old Norse víkingr meaning seafarer) didn’t leave us archeological clues. They did. Many of the scientific discoveries completely dispel what we thought we knew about the daring seafarers. Let’s take each of those words and look at them again.

BIG- This one is true. Viking men, Norwegians in particular, grew far taller than those around them. Reliable historical data commonly records Vikings towering over their English counterpoints. Recently a mass grave was discovered full of very tall, robust men. The burial site held between 34 and 38 remains of Viking males between 16-30 years, in prime physical condition, who had a diet largely of fish and shellfish. However, only a few Viking graves have yielded skeletons of six-feet or more. Were they tall? Yes, but then, in general all humankind was shorter.

BLOND – Not all. Many are described, in fact ‘named’, for their black hair or dark skin(Eric the Red, Bjorn the Black, etc. They stereotypical golden blond hair wasn’t rare but it was just as common to find a Viking with brown, black, red or gray hair.

DIRTY – Not at all. In fact, one of the reasons Vikings were called pagans was their propensity for bathing despite the cold weather. They bathed often, far more than their British contemporaries and used the sauna, a place deemed sinful to the Christian mindset. Archeological evidence of many Norse grooming kits have been discovered which include combs, brushes, tweezers, razors, a tiny ‘spoon’ designed to clean out the ears, and nail cleaning tools.  

HORNED HATS – This is pure opera-invention. Logically, going into battle with a hat sporting massive animal horns is rather stupid. One blow to the head would spin the hat, blocking one’s vision. Plus it would have been top heavy and not conducive to the athletic skill needed for battle. Viking helmets were made of leather or fleece-lined metal and were almost conical shaped. They fitted closely to the head. No horns. Period.

BRUTAL. RAPE. PILLAGE - While there is no denying or sugarcoating Vikings did invade and conquer, they didn’t make off like thieves in the night afterwards. The truest Viking trait is adaptability. They absorbed much of the culture they invade and flavored what was there with their own. The familiar Celtic Knot that is so fashionable today in tattoo designs and in Celtic Art is historically Norse. The right side of a boat, the starboard side? Comes from the Norse terms steor meaning rudder or steering paddle and bord meaning a ship's side. 

The figure now known as the swastika originally was a Norse twirl. Some scholars theorize that the Christian idea of Christ’s crucifixion stemmed from the Norse God Odin being speared and hung on a tree.

Look at some of the most fearsome names in history: Thorfinn Skull-splitter, Sweyn Forkbeard, Eric Bloodaxe. These were not choirboys. But at that time, neither was anyone else. Most nations were run like organized crime families, using muscle, extortion, and threats of violence to gather riches. The Vikings were just far better at the game than anyone else. That expertise has cemented them in history as the original bad boys.

Is it any wonder why I chose one of the biggest, baddest Vikings in History for the first book in my new series?

The story:

In the battle between good and evil, humans have never been more than collateral damage. Now they are prey. Mankind doesn’t need a hero. It needs a sinner. 
Corrupt. Wicked. Nefarious. Contemptible.... 

The Baddest Boys in History are back! 

You read about them in school. Now learn the truth. Real men. No vampires, no werewolves, no magic. Just down and dirty raw power —sin to sin, evil to evil, bad to bad. They fight for humanity. It was that or eternal damnation. 
They agreed to risk their souls. No one told them they would lose their hearts. 

THE BASTARD 
Vike died in blood, in battle, in betrayal. His ruthlessness was second only to his brutality. Now one woman makes his blood sing and he’ll stop at nothing to save her. He only has to face half of Hell to do it. 
Lacy is unknowingly descended from an ancient Holy line. Someone is slowly destroying her life and wants her dead. A fierce Viking comes to her rescue, and in his arms, she finds more than safety. 
If Vike can’t protect Lacy, he’ll have to kill her. And for a bastard, what’s one woman worth when the entire world is in jeopardy? 

INEZ KELLEY was born and bred in the mountains of West Virginia. She currently resides there with her lumberjack husband, their teenage drama queen, Spawnetta, and the Demolition Duo – Damien and his twin, the Omen.

Signup for Inez’s newsletter to get sneak peeks and contest entries. You can visit her at her website http://inezkelley.com/  Follow Inez on twitter at @Inez_Kelley or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/InezKelleyPage?ref=hl