Thursday, August 22, 2013

Spotlight~ Alanea Alder

Alanea Alder

Alanea loves reading almost as much as she loves writing and can be found at any given moment either in front of the computer lost in her own world or on the couch with her iPad reading some of her favorite authors. She believes that love truly conquers all and that everyone no matter what, deserves a chance at that love and a place they can call home.


Kindred of Arcadia: Fate Knows Best
Rebecca Morgan thinks she knows what she wants out of life, until her life plan goes to hell in a handbasket. Now she is out looking for adventure. She just doesn’t expect to discover a shifter-only town and one six-foot-eight, grumpy, bear-shifting sheriff named Aleksander Arkadion.
Aleksander Arkadion only wants to date shifter females after working a brutal homicide case that has him returning to the shifter-only town of his youth. Which is why is he curious to discover a human in town and shocked when he realizes the tiny woman is his mate.
As the attraction between them grows, Aleks realizes that he can’t stay away from the petite female, but the realization may come too late. Although her body was never in any danger, he may have destroyed her heart by pushing her away. Now he has to convince his mate he really does want her while keeping her safe from rogue hyenas bent on taking her.

Excerpt
“Aleks, hey, buddy,” Liam said lazily.

“Hey, asshole,” Aleks replied sounding distracted.

“I just wanted to call and let you know that you’ll be picking up Rebecca at my house for your date.” Liam waited. Three, two, one and… He held the phone away from his ear at the roar.

“What the hell is she doing at your house, cat!” Aleks roared. Liam smiled. He was making this too easy.

“Well at the moment her luscious little self is in my shower and wait, yes, I smell coconuts. She’s bathing.” He held the phone away from his ear again at the roar, unaware that everyone had stopped what they were doing to listen.

“If you so much as lay one finger on her, cat, I will rip you apart.” Aleks growled.

“What was that, Rebecca, you need help getting into your dress? Don’t worry, kitten, I’m coming. Sorry, Aleks, have to run. Toodles.” He stayed on the line long enough for one last roar to come through before disconnecting the line.

He turned around whistling and saw everyone staring.

“What?” he asked

“Aleks Arkadion is going to kill you,” Ashby said, white as a sheet.

“No he isn’t. If he didn’t kill me for wrecking his Charger, he won’t kill me now,” he said sitting down on the sofa. He reached over and grabbed a magazine and started to flip through the pages.

“That was you?” Rian asked, his eyes wide.

Liam just chuckled.


* * * *

“Aleks. Can’t. Breathe,” Liam said as Aleks’s hand squeezed his throat. Aleks was surprised at the lack of interference he was getting from the pride. They just shrugged their shoulders.

“Ashby told him you were going to kill him,” Rian said.

“Where is Ashby?” Aleks asked, his hand still around Liam’s throat.

“He’s upstairs finishing Rebecca’s hair. Nicholas did her makeup. She put in a lot of effort for you, bear, so you better not fuck this up,” Rian said, his arms crossed.

Aleks raised an eyebrow. The pride seemed to be more protective of Rebecca than their Alpha, whom he had pinned to the wall by the throat.

“Oh for God’s sake, Aleks, let him go! You’ll upset Rebecca and ruin your evening before it begins,” Kate said, coming down the stairs. Aleks immediately dropped Liam.
“Kate, why are you here?” he asked.

“Why would I miss the opportunity for actual girl time? We don’t have much of that at the pack,” she said, swiping a piece of chocolate.

Aleks opened his mouth to say something when the door upstairs opened and Rebecca appeared at the top of the stairs. Her scent hit his nose, and he felt his chest constrict. How could he have possibly thought he could stay away from her? She made her way down the stairs with Nicholas and Ashby following behind her. She moved gracefully, and when she got to the bottom of the stairs, he got the full effect of the dress. It had tiny spaghetti straps that seemed to accent her shoulders. The black dress only seemed to display her creamy skin to its every advantage. The lone slit up one side was nearly his undoing. He didn’t realize he was growling until Liam hit him in the ribs. Rebecca just blushed and smiled at him.

“Ready?” he asked, holding out a slightly trembling hand. She nodded and moved forward, taking his hand.

“Goodnight, everyone, thank you, for everything,” she said, smiling at the room.

“Have her back before midnight, young man,” Liam said, standing in front of the pair.

“Out of the way, cat,” Aleks muttered. Rebecca stepped forward and gave him a hug.
Aleks growled. She ignored him.

“Goodnight, Liam.” She kissed his cheek. Aleks growled again.

“I’m serious though, if you don’t want to go back to the bed-and-breakfast we made up a guest room for you. That’s where Sebastian has been hiding. I let Leona know you may be staying here,” Liam said, smiling down at her.

“Watch him for me?” she asked. Liam nodded.

“Who’s Sebastain?” Aleks asked. Rebecca waved.

“Goodnight, everyone.” She started walking toward the door.

“Who’s Sebastian?” Aleks asked again walking out the door with his arm around her waist.

Behind the Scenes

Q: Do you have any unique talents or hobbies?
A: I’m a fast reader J I can usually do about 100 pages per hour, I wish I could write that fast!

Q: What can we expect from you in the future?
A: Definitely a whole lot more in the Arkadia universe. As of right now I have two additional series planned based in the same world. I’m also kicking around a futuristic/space story line.

Q: What can readers who enjoy your book do to help make it successful?
A: Tell their friends and leave reviews!! I love reviews J I keep them all.

Q: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
A: When I was six. My book collection was minimal and I was too little to go to the library. That’s when I realized I could create my own  stories. I’ve been doing it ever since.

Q: How long does it take you to write a book?
A: That really depends. If I’m focused, have copy and shiny objects are to a minimum, then about two weeks. If I can’t seem to get the story going two months.

Q: What is your work schedule like when you're writing?
A: I work a full time job as an Operations Manger so I put in 50-60 hours a week doing that. My writing schedule is squeezed in around those hours.

Q: What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
A: If I’m stuck I eat Red Hots. Have no idea why it helps, but it does.

Q: Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?
A: Google is my friend. Google is my kryptonite (shiny object) when I’m trying to write. It starts like this. Hmm I wonder what is the gestation period for bears is. Ohhh cute picture of a baby bear. I wonder what a baby hyena looks like. Little hyenas are cute, grown ones look mean. Oh yeah they are getting tortured by Payne, I wonder what medieval torture devices I can write about. Holy shit!! I can never unsee that!! Hmmm how does that work. That’s just wrong! That looks like a nipple ring lol. Ohhh nipple clamps. BDSM tools of the trade…. What in the hell is a cock cage? LMFAO ha ha ha ha….hmm…. What was I doing?

Q: What do you like to do when you're not writing?
A: Read, I love to read.

Q: What does your family think of your writing?
A: My entire family is 100% supportive, they know exactly what I write. My mom insists she is my biggest fan and has read both of my books lol.

Q: How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?
A: I have two published but a ton more written. I will always love Fate Knows Best since it’s my first published, but my fantasy novella will always have a special place in my heart. It may be dug out later,, you never know.

Q: Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?
A: When Fate Knows Best was released, I started hearing from readers almost immediately. I was as spazzy as a caffeinated squirrel. So far nearly all my communications have been positive.

Q: What do you think makes a good story?
A: I think making the characters realistic, slightly flawed and quirky. I also love falling in love with the characters. I can usually forgive a lot in a book if I like the characters.

Q: As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?

A: Ok, as a result of a childhood of reading adult fantasy, I wanted to go on an epic quest with elves and knights, fight in a huge battle and then rule as queen. Yeah. I’m still working on that.

Review~ Fate Knows Best

Fate Knows Best was a quick paranormal romance by Alanea Alder that moved hastily through adventure and dialogue. Rebecca Morgan, a human, stumbled upon an all shifter town and learned she was the fated mate of the town’s sheriff Aleksander Arkadian. Aleks was a bear shifter, the eldest of the town Alpha and Alpha Mother, next in line to take over the leadership position.  Aleks did not want a human mate and mishap after mishap occurred until the two finally came together for their mating and HEA.

Ms. Alder’s characterization of the main characters was an interesting phenomenon. Although I think that she anticipated Rebecca to be a strong-minded and strong-willed character, she came across as a slight bubble head that exuded a sugary disposition. I am not sure that anyone could be that nice all the time, and then when the reader saw a different side of Rebecca it was in a complete one-eighty.  Additionally, everyone in the town quickly became enamored with her, which was part of her charm. In defense of Rebecca’s character, though, I completely appreciated her rambling and big heart. These qualities endeared me to her.

Aleks was a grumbly bear, as Rebecca called him; sexy as hell and a heart of gold. It was very apparent that anything he did was for the betterment of the town and the love of his mate and family.

The minor characters in the book were well written and I respected Ms. Alder’s idea of a community where all types of shifters were welcome, sans any prejudice.

There was an underlying sense of turmoil in the story that developed and was solved very quickly. I would have preferred the angst to be drawn out more in order to give more depth to the story, but that was simply my personal choice. I still very much enjoyed the book and found myself laughing at Rebecca’s antics.

I look forward to reading the next book in the series. This was my first encounter with reading Ms. Alder’s work and I plan to read more of her series. The men were hot and the sex steamy.

Sexy & Sizzling
A four handcuff review



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