BookLover Sue: Interview & Giveaway - Guarding Poppy by Christine Wenrick

Guarding Poppy

by Christine Wenrick

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

ONE NIGHT . . . ONE VIOLENT, SUPERNATURAL BATTLE . . .

AND FIVE STORIES OF THE MEN WHOSE LIVES WILL BE CHANGED BY IT.

Alec Lambert was born to lead. He’s a ruling Elder of The Brethren, possessing steely confidence, natural smarts, and decisive problem solving abilities . . . and he’s not too bad on the eyes, either. Everything in his life has gone exactly according to plan—until the night of Brahm Hill. Alec loses his best friend at the hands of the uncle he trusted like a father, along with his previously unshakable faith to lead those with whom he’s charged. Despite this, he continues to press ahead, and for his next assignment he’s asked to protect a very beautiful but very clumsy Dhampir who’s being hunted by a powerful warlock. Suddenly, he finds his whole Brethren world is turned upside down . . . and he finds himself harboring a desire for her he can’t explain.

Poppy Honeywell knows she’s far from perfect. Bad things tend to happen when she’s around. She’s more than a little clumsy, with a phobia or two mixed in. Not to mention that her name is certainly unusual. But she doesn’t have time to worry about all that because she’s on the run and not about to back down from the arrogant Elder who’s just been assigned as her protector, claiming he has all the answers to her problems. The real problem, though, is . . . she’s irresistibly drawn to this man who faces constant danger and takes charge so naturally. But Poppy also sees that taking charge of others helps Alec mask his own very deep pain.

WILL ALEC FIND HIS WAY OUT OF THE DARKNESS AND SURRENDER TO HIS FEELINGS FOR POPPY BEFORE THE WARLOCK CHASING HER CATCHES UP TO THEM BOTH?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Excerpt:

“Why. Am. I. On. A. Plane?” Poppy emphasized each word as her hands gripped at the luxurious sofa arm beside her. But the modern jet seemed determined to bounce all of them out of their seats as the cabin continued to jostle about angrily. They were definitely in the middle of some mean turbulence, which was to be expected of anyone fool enough to be flying in a small plane in winter conditions.

“Because it’s the most efficient way to get someone across an ocean,” Alec answered. “We still have about an hour or so before we land. So you’re going to have to let me know if you’re going to panic on me.”

Her gaze narrowed on him angrily as she pushed her next breath through her nostrils. “Can I just hit you instead and we’ll call it even?!”

His brow lifted as if he found that comment interesting.

Poppy leapt to her feet inside the small cabin and she noticed Alec braced his hands against his chair arm as if to steady himself. Surely he didn’t think she was really going to hit him? “You’re not going to trip again, are you?” he asked her.

Poppy glared at him and then down at herself. She was looking for any reasonable explanation to defend the innate clumsiness he’d gotten to experience firsthand within the first minute of meeting her in Joseph’s study. “These are very challenging heels!”

Yep. That was the best she could come up with.

The Elder smiled. No, it was definitely more of a smirk. “I’m sure they are,” he replied. “Now, will you please sit down before you get bounced off your feet? The turbulence may get worse before it gets better.”

“Worse?” Poppy squeaked. She might very well end up back in his lap if this turbulence got any worse. She didn’t like to think of herself as a coward, but when it came to flying she definitely was, even more so than her irrational fear of spiders. They just had too many legs. “Look—you need to understand. I don’t fly! Ever . . .! You need to find a way to land this plane, right now!”

“I can’t do that. As I explained, we’re over a lake.”

“Well get un-over the lake!”

The Elder didn’t say anything in response, just seemed to contemplate that. He removed the reading glasses that were a dead giveaway that he was human, though, he looked fit enough to give even one of his Dhampir guards a run for their money. He’d certainly felt fit enough when she had crash-landed into his chest in Joseph’s study . . . which had been utterly embarrassing. One moment, she’d been fully prepared to burst in and make her case to Joseph about why she needed to stay at The Hallow, and the next, the tip of her shoe had caught on the carpet and she was flying forward straight into a complete stranger.

“In an effort to have us all on the ground safely as soon as possible, I do not recommend suddenly veering off course to get ‘un-over’ a lake. We will be starting our descent shortly.”

“Oh God, descent . . .,” she mumbled to herself as she rubbed her hands over her face. “This is not good. This is not good.”

“It will be all—”

“Where are we landing . . . Elder Lambert?” she added awkwardly, realizing they had not actually exchanged first names.

He returned his glasses to the bridge of his nose and went back to looking at his tablet. “You may call me Alec. I much prefer it to Elder Lambert. We’ll be landing in Alberta at The Oracle, The Brethren site I’m in charge of. After discussing it, Joseph and I felt this would be the best place for you to stay.”

“Well, isn’t that nice,” she answered him flippantly. “You discussed it. By any chance—in any of this heavy dialogue—did anyone consider asking me if I wanted to go to Canada?”

Alec just sighed in that ‘you’re going to cause me a lot of trouble, aren’t you’ sort of way.

Buy Link: Amazon

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let's learn a little about Christine Wenrick:

What is your writing environment?

Mostly I write when it’s dark, cold and rainy outside, which works really well for Seattle (although, the summer couldn’t be more beautiful, but we don’t tell people that or everyone would move here). Must be the influence of the darker paranormal stories I’m working on. I write in my favorite recliner in front of the fire with my favorite animal crackers. I’m good for hours.

Who is your perfect hero and why?

That’s a fun question because I’ve written many different types of heroes. But I love men with a funny or sarcastic sense of humor, and who are confident in themselves. They have that wicked spark in their eye when you talk to them and it’s fun to try and guess what they’re thinking. You have to guess because they’re not going to tell you. Those are the men you notice in the middle of a room. You know what I mean?

What authors have caught your interest lately and why?

Alice Clayton. Wallbanger is one of my favorite novels. Love her humor and wit. Her writing style is very unique. I love it!

What type of book have you always wanted to write?

Historical, but I recognize the incredible amount of research and detail that goes into writing a period piece. I have a great amount of respect for the authors who specialize in this genre. When I’m ready, I’ll try it.

Top 3 things on your bucket list?

1) Traveling to Italy, more specifically the Tuscany valley. I have done a fair amount of traveling but that is one place I have not been able to see yet.

2) Going to the Superbowl.

3) Building one very cool treehouse from my first book.

How did you get the idea for this particular novel?

I really wanted to write a story about a man dealing with the loss of his best friend, and how it affects everything in his life around him, including how he responds to finally meeting the right woman. I think, especially when were young, we can’t conceive that the most important person in our life is suddenly not there. That is exactly what Alec is struggling with in Guarding Poppy and it makes him a flawed hero . . . but he is still a good man for Poppy. I loved writing this book.

What is your favorite scene in your new release?

Unfortunately I can’t tell you because it is the very last scene in the book. I waited the entire story to write that scene, and I love how it came out.

What are you working on now and when can we expect it to be available?

The Men of Brahm Hill series will be a total of five books. We are hoping to have book three Leaving Lily Behind available April 1^st. But then again, since that’s April Fool’s Day, I may just be teasing you. J

What do you like to do when you are not writing?

Reading, and anything with my friends. Movies, barbequing, poker night, snowshoeing, casino night, camping . . . My friends make me laugh and as I’ve already mentioned, I love to laugh.

What would you consider a perfect date?

It would probably have something to do with sports, like a football or baseball game. I love sports, love to talk sports, love fantasy football, so the right guy had better like sports. Fortunately for me, that’s not too hard to find.

What is one interesting fact about you that readers don’t know?

Probably that I love sports and am two-time champion of my fantasy football league. And I hope my league is reading this because I plan to take them down for a third time this year!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Christine is a graduate of Washington State University where she received a BA in Interior Design. And true to form of using mostly her ‘right brain’, she splits her time between her commercial design career and her imaginary world of writing. She lives in the scenic Pacific Northwest where she enjoys hiking, camping and photographing many of the wonderful places that served as inspiration for her writing. Her biggest reward in life is any given day when one of her books connects with a reader because she herself is such a lover of reading. Some of her favorite authors include Lisa Kleypas, Julia Quinn, and Kimberly Derting.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christine.wenrick

Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/ChristineWenrickBooks?ref=hl

Twitter: @CWenrick https://twitter.com/CWenrick

Website: http://www.christinewenrick.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Giveaway:

One randomly chosen Grand Prize winner will receive a $100 Amazon gift card and a runner up will receive autographed copies of Someone Else's Skye and Guarding Poppy (US only).

The more you comment, the better your chances! Follow the tour HERE