Monday, April 7, 2014

Book Tour, Interview and Giveaway - Silk & Scorn (The Silk Series, Book 2) by Cassandra Dean



Silk and Scorn - The Silk Series Book 2

by Cassandra Dean 

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BLURB: 

No matter how much their mothers wanted Sarah and Arthur to wed, Sarah had loathed him. However, circumstance and her late husband’s father conspire against her, and she is forced to turn to Arthur for help. Perhaps she needs his legal expertise, but she refuses to acknowledge how handsome her oldest foe has become…or her reaction to him. 

His childhood nemesis is the last person Arthur Davenport expected to require his services. When a spurious claim against her late husband’s estate brings Sarah Wetherall to his door, he can’t refuse the pretty widow. 

Thrown together by fate, will they discover there is a fine line between scorn and passion? 

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Excerpt: 

“Stop looking at me like that.”  

“Like what?”  

Ignoring the sudden thud of her heart, she waved her hand. “That.”  

His fingers rubbed his cuff. “I’m not looking at you in any particular way.”  

“Yes. You are.” A way that made her feel shivery and weak and desperately wanting his body against hers. She had wanted to see him, had wanted…something, but this was too much, too fast.  

She squared her shoulders. “I’m leaving.”  

“Are you?” He took a step forward.  

The chair behind her, she couldn’t take a step back. Not that she would. Oh no, she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. “Yes! Must you answer everything with a question?” 

He took another step forward. “Am I?”  

He was so close, she could see the faint pattern of freckles on his skin. “What are you doing?”  

He was silent a long moment. “I don’t know.”  

“Well, you should know. You should be aware of your actions and their consequences.” Words bubbled from her, nerves running them together. “This is insupportable, ridiculous, and—and—”  

“Sarah. Hush.” He put his hand to her cheek.  

Slowly, she covered his hand with hers. The air between them thickened, as if a hundred thousand expectations rode the space.  

She didn’t know if it were she or him who swayed first, but their lips brushed. Soft, gentle, his lips clung to hers, and she could not remember ever feeling such sweetness in her life.  

They parted. Opening her eyes, she found a hesitant hazel gaze regarding her. She couldn’t describe how she felt. She felt warm and comforted and happy and hopeful. She felt…possibility.  

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Let's Learn a Little About Cassandra Dean!
·         When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
I’ve always wanted to be a writer, from the time I first learned what words were. I was always making up stories, and learning to hold a pen just gave me a way to record them. I’m so thrilled to have the opportunity to write and have people read my work. It is such an honour and a tremendous privilege, so thank you to the readers who make it possible.
 
·         What is your writing process?
Whatever works, really! Although I do find having an outline of each chapter, and then freeform writing what happens in the scene really helps me.
I also just try to START writing. It’s a job like any other and I find I need to buckle down and start. Once I do, I can get lost in it, but it’s always the starting bit that trips me up… J
 
·         Who is your perfect heroine and why?
I try and portray heroines who are smart, capable, funny and fallible. None of us a perfect, so I would say the perfect heroine is one who is interesting and arresting because of her flaws.
 
·         If you could be anything BUT a writer, what would you be?
A trapeze artist, or a circus performer. I reckon that would be pretty cool!
 
·         What are some of your all time favorite books?
Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase, the Hollows Series by Kim Harrison, the Guardian series by Meljean Brook, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte…oh, I have so many, it’s so hard to choose!
 
·         Has any life experience of yours shown up in a book?  (like you did or said something and thought, I have to use this)
All the time! There’s always bits and pieces that show up in my stories. Writers are observational creatures by nature, and so we’ll always here conversation that we include, or notice a person’s quirk that will make it into a character. Of course, there’s also that old joke of you don’t anger a writer, or they’ll kill you off in fiction.
As for me, Malvern, the hero of my previous work TEACH ME, has an interest in Italy that came from my own interest. I was learning to speak Italian at the time, so I gave that same fascination to him. Full disclosure – I totally don’t know how to speak Italian! I tried but life commitments got in the way. Hopefully I’ll be able to pick it up again one day soon.
 
·         Do you have a genre that you can see yourself writing in the future?
I have plans to write Steampunk and Fantasy. One day it will happen. One day…
 
·         Have you ever experienced writers block? If so, how did you get over it?
I’ve had periods where I am stuck, definitely. To combat it, I’ll print out the story and read it in hard copy. For some reason, that helps unlock my creativity and I generally can break the block! 

 
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AUTHOR Bio and Links: 

Cassandra grew up daydreaming, inventing fantastical worlds and marvelous adventures. Once she learned to read (First phrase – To the Beach. True story), she was never without a book, reading of other people’s fantastical worlds and marvelous adventures. 

Fairy tales, Famous Fives, fantasies and fancies; horror stories, gumshoe detectives, science fiction; Cassandra read it all. Then she discovered Romance and a true passion was born. 

So, once upon a time, after making a slight detour into the world of finance, Cassandra tried her hand at writing. After a brief foray into horror, she couldn’t discount her true passion. She started to write Romance and fell head over heels. 

The love affair exists to this very day. 

Cassandra lives in Adelaide, South Australia.
 

LINKS: 









 
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BUY LINKS: 
 
 
 
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Giveaway:
 
Cassandra will be awarding at each stop a signed SILK & SCORN postcard and a SILK & SCORN magnet to a randomly drawn commenter, and a Grand Prize of a $15 Amazon Gift Card, a hard copy* and ebook copy of SILK & SCANDAL, the Silk Series Book 1, a SILK & SCORN mug, a signed SILK & SCORN postcard and a SILK & SCORN magnet will be awarded to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour. (international giveaway)
*hard copy will be printed and bound, not an official bound paperback

The more you comment, the greater your chances of winning!!  Follow the tour HERE
 
 
 
 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

17 comments:

  1. Hi peeps,
    Welcome to SILK & SCORN's book tour! First off, thank you to Sue for having me on her blog and I hope you have lots of fun learning about me, SILK & SCORN and of course entering the giveaway. Fun fact: I live in Australia so I might not be around much as I'm probably a) asleep or b) at work, but I will check in and answer your questions and comments.
    Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the tour!
    ps, I'm having a few teething issues with my website at the moment, but hopefully it will be up and running again super soon.

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    1. Thank you so much for stopping by and loved your interview and fantastic romance, Silk & Scorn!

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  2. Hello!
    It's so wonderful to see an author saying her heroines are fallible! I so often meet with main characters described as perfect models either of goodness or strenght or whatever virtue is deemed important according to the circumstances, without realizing that in my opinion perfect characters need some flaws (hell, even lots of them! as long as they are treated as such and not excused).
    I personally find characters who always have the right thing to say or always know right or do good without fault a bit annoying. It might be because I can't picture them in real life and I can't feel sympathetic towards them...I guess I'm pretty flawed :P
    Thanks for the chance, in any case I shall keep an eye on this book :)

    PS: dunno if it's a mistake in the widget but at the 'add to GR' option the title shown is Fool's Gold, the link is correct though!

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    1. Oh man, nice pick up, Elisa! It's all fixed now :)
      Thanks so much for your comment, I really enjoy creating flawed characters. I, too, think people are more interesting for their imperfections, especially because no one in real life is perfect.
      Thanks again and I hope you enjoy the tour!

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  3. Nice interview and an intriguing blurb and excerpt. I'd love to get a peek at the mounting tension between Sarah and Arthur. Thanks for sharing.

    ilookfamous at yahoo dot com

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    1. Hi Elisa-Maria,
      Thanks so much! The tension between Sarah and Arthur is pretty stellar, if I do say so myself.
      Hope you enjoy!

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  4. Great interview! This sounds like an awesome book and I would love to read it. Entering under the name of Virginia

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    1. I like to think SILK & SCORN is pretty awesome :D
      I hope you enjoy it!

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  5. nice interview.thanks for the chance

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  6. Given your alternative occupational choices, any circus stories on the horizon?

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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    1. Haha, nice question, Mary! I hadn't thought of that, but now the ideas are swirling...
      Hope you're enjoying the tour.

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  7. Loved your interview! I always wanted to run away and join the circus... now I live in a circus and I just want to run away!

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    1. Haha, nice one, Desiree!
      It would be super cool to live in a carnival - I loved the show Carnevale, even as it was kinda creepy... Thanks for stopping by!

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