Interview with Lindsey Piper and Giveaway - May 17, 2015

Please welcome Lindsey Piper to The Qwillery. Hunted Warrior, the third Dragon Kings novel, was published by April 28th on Pocket Books

TQ:  Welcome back to The Qwillery. Hunted Warrior is the 3rd novel in your Dragon Kings series. Please describe Hunted Warrior in 140 characters or less.

Lindsey:  A contested ruler and a woman who's never been free chase prophecies and dragons.



TQ:  Please tell us something about Hunted Warrior that we won't find in the book description.

Lindsey:  Nikolaj Coster-Waldau featured quite strongly in the inspiration for Malnefoley a man who’s trying to drag his dying culture into the future and who’s wants to be a better man, but who’s pretty sure he’s failing.



TQ:  What sorts of research did you do for Hunted Warrior?

Lindsey:  I got to do incredibly wide ranging research! Everything from the crypts beneath Paris all the way to ruins in Greece. What can I say, Malnefoley and Pet have a big mission to undertake.



TQ:  Which question about Hunted Warrior do you wish someone would ask? Ask it and answer it!

Lindsey:  “Was it awesome giving your heroine the ability to see the future?”

No! It was hard! I had a ridiculously hard time trying to figure out how to make it make sense. Pet’s gifts were a seriously important part of the plot—but if I screwed something up, I could have ended up spoiling my own book!



TQ:  Give us one or two of your favorite non-spoilery lines from Hunted Warrior.

Lindsey:  I know this one is a little long, but I do so love this paragraph.

“Pet was straddling his torso. She lowered her arms so that his hands lay inert on the rocky earth. She was wild, with her pinned-up hair in static spikes and her eyes full of daring. And triumph.
She leaned down and kissed him. An errant spark renewed between their skin, with slippery wetness to soothe the melding of flesh against flesh. The kiss itself was anything but soothing. The strong, sure push of their mouths turned everything unnatural . . . natural.”

This one is sooooo close to spoiler…or is it? *evil grin* “She broke free of comforting hands and stared up where, she hoped, a glittering dragon circled far overhead. “



TQ:  The Dragon Kings series is Paranormal Romance (PNR). Do you believe that a PNR novel must have an HEA?

Lindsey:  Personally, I think it needs an HFN – happy for now – at the least. Otherwise aren’t you in Urban Fiction land? And don’t get me wrong, I love some urban fiction, but it’s not where I turn when I want the happy feeling that romance gives me.



TQ:  In the series so far, which character has surprised you the most? Which character is your favorite? (We won't tell the other characters.)

Lindsey:  Pet has both surprised me and turned into my favorite. When she first showed up in Caged Warrior, curled around the evil doctor and doing his bidding, I had no idea that I’d end up writing Hunted Warrior about her. But she started whispering in my ear about where she’d come from—and the secrets she kept. There was no getting away from her then.



TQ:  What's next?

Lindsey:  BIND, by my Katie Porter name, is coming out in audiobook! Bind is about sexy dark-ops Colonel Nicky Stafford who runs a top secret unit called Command Force Alpha. Astrid, his financial whiz, tracks dirty money to a ropes conference – and they go undercover together. With ropes. And kink.

Bind at Amazon



TQ:  Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.

Lindsey:  Thanks for having me!

Hunted Warrior
The Dragon Kings 3
Pocket Books,  April 28, 2015
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 384 pages

Demonic gladiators, ruthless mafia villains, and a race on the brink of distinction: What will become of them? One proud leader wields his power to unlock dark mysteries in the third book in this fierce, sensual new paranormal romance series.

When the head of the Five Clans of the Dragon Kings wants something, he gets it. Raised among the most privileged of his dying race, Malnefoley conceals a devastating tragedy from his youth. Now, many call him the Usurper because of his unconventional rise to power. His influence is waning while the Dragon Kings must solve the puzzle of their slow extinction. So when a particularly important captive escapes his compound in the Greek mountains, Malnefoley leaves nothing to chance. She is his prisoner to retrieve.

The woman is known as the Pet, a former associate of a sadistic doctor from the Asters, a human crime cartel. Her loyalties cannot be trusted, even when she claims to hold the secret to conception—an invaluable secret for a race unable to procreate. Neither can her unique gift from the Great Dragon be believed. She’s a soothsayer, able to see glimpses of the future. Her quest is to find and save a Cage warrior on the verge of her first match—a young woman whose destiny is bound to a timeless prophecy.

Malnefoley has no respect for the ancient superstitions that brought about his childhood trauma. His only goal is to return the Pet to his compound and use her knowledge for the betterment of their people. Yet her restless energy and raw sensuality are as intriguing as her predictions about the rise of the Great Dragon. He dares not trust the crafty fugitive’s loyalties, but as their treacherous chase turns passionate, can he even trust himself?

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

See Melanie's review here.

About Lindsey

Lindsey Piper is the alter ego of award-winning and RITA-nominated author Carrie Lofty. She also co-writes contemporary erotic romance as Katie Porter. The DRAGON KINGS series is her first foray into paranormal fiction. She lives and writes in Chicago.

Website  ~  Twitter @LindseyPiper  ~  Facebook  ~  Goodreads  ~  Tumblr

The Giveaway

What:  One entrant will win a Mass Market Paperback copy of Hunted Warrior by Lindsey Piper. US/CANADA ONLY

How:  Log into and follow the directions in the Rafflecopter below.

Who and When:  The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a US or Canadian mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59 PM US Eastern Time May 27, 2015. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.

*Giveaway rules and duration are subject to change without any notice.*

a Rafflecopter giveaway




Previously

Silent Warrior
Dragon Kings ePrequel
Pocket Star, April 22, 2013
eBook, 80 pages

An exciting, emotionally charged prequel to the Dragon Kings trilogy featuring warriors fighting for their lives in violent cage matches to guarantee their clans’ survival—available exclusively as an eBook!

A silent woman ashamed of her criminal background becomes a Cage warrior to seek redemption. An unrepentant fortune hunter will do anything to escape his mounting debts. Although rivals on the streets of Hong Kong, they find common ground when seeking their clan’s stolen idol, but for vastly different reasons. Neither one suspects that love will begin when he becomes the first man in five years to hear her speak.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Books-A-Million : Google Play : iTunes : Kobo

Caged Warrior
The Dragon Kings 1
Pocket Books, June 25, 2013
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 400 pages

The first installment in this fierce and sensual new paranormal romance series features demonic gladiators, ruthless mafia villains, and a proud race on the brink of extinction.

Ten years ago, Audrey MacLaren chose to marry her human lover, making her an exile from the Dragon Kings, an ancient race of demons once worshiped as earthly gods. Audrey and her husband managed to conceive, and their son is the first natural-born Dragon King in a generation—which makes him irresistible to the sadistic scientist whose mafia-funded technology allows demon procreation. In the year since her husband was murdered, Audrey and her little boy have endured hideous experiments.

Shackled with a collar and bound for life, Leto Garnis is a Cage warrior. Only through combat can Dragon Kings earn the privilege of conceiving children. Leto uses his superhuman speed and reflexes to secure the right for his two sisters to start families. After torture reveals Audrey’s astonishing pyrokenesis, she is sent to fight in the Cages. If she survives a year, she will be reunited with her son. Leto is charged with her training. Initially, he has no sympathy for her plight. But if natural conception is possible, what has he been fighting for? As enemies, sparring partners, lovers, and eventual allies, Leto and Audrey learn that in a violent underground world, love is the only prize worth winning.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

See Melanie's Review here.

Blood Warrior
The Dragon Kings 2
Pocket Books, July 30, 2013
Mass Market Paperback, 400 pages

The Dragon Kings, an ancient race of demons, were once worshipped as earthly gods. Centuries later and facing extinction, their survival is challenged when a madman renews his clan’s tradition of ritualized murder.

For decades, Tallis of Pendray has been visited in dreams by a woman who tempts him to fulfill a sacred prophecy. He devotes his life to the cause, until her violent demands destroy his family. Now he wants revenge.

To her devoted followers, Kavya of Indranan is a peaceful savior. But believing Kavya responsible for his deadly dreams, Tallis kidnaps her on the eve of a vital truce within her warring clan. During the ensuing chaos, her bloodthirsty brother attempts to kill her, certain the sacrifice will transform him into a dangerously powerful telepath.

Tallis safeguards Kavya—who shares little but a name in common with his avowed enemy. Their impassioned flight leads them to the Scottish Highlands, where Tallis is held liable for his crimes. He’ll do what he must to protect Kavya and the iconic message of harmony that could ensure the survival of the Dragon Kings . . . as much as her love could heal his jaded heart.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-a-Million : IndieBound

See Melanie's Review here.