Today I am so pleased to welcome Charlie Cochet to Joyfully Jay. Charlie has come to talk to us about her involvement in a new anthology, Charmed & Dangerous: Ten Tales of Gay Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy. She has also brought along a copy to give away.  Please join me in giving her a big welcome!

Soldati Prince - Charmed and Dangerous Header Banner

 

Hello all! Thank you so much for joining me today at Joyfully Jay’s as I chat about The Soldati Prince, my contribution to Charmed and Dangerous: Ten Tales of Gay Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy! I am so excited to be a part of this amazing lineup of authors in an anthology filled with fabulous M/M stories on everything from wizards to shapeshifters.

What if?

That’s one of my favorite questions in writing. It’s produced many a plot bunnies and was the catalyst that spawned the THIRDS. The Soldati Prince was also born from a ‘what if’ question. I asked myself: what if a regular guy turned out to be not so regular. This was followed by the question: what if our not so regular guy was connected to a king, one from another realm? Several more what if questions emerged, all leading to what soon became the story of The Soldati Prince.

What if questions also help me with world building, something I had so much fun with on this story. Although part of the story is grounded on reality, the other half consists of much more fantasy. In The Soldati Prince we have two worlds, the human world as Riley knows it, and the magical realm that exists alongside it, hidden from humans by a magical veil. Due to the discourse rampant in the world, the veil is quickly growing thinner and many creatures are sneaking off into the human world, including the demons determined to kill Riley.

I’m happy to say this won’t be the last we see of this world, or Riley and Khalon. Their story is just beginning. There’s still so much we have yet to learn about the Soldati race, its king, and our fiery Riley Murrough, plus a couple of the other characters. In The Soldati Prince we get to see how our heroes meet and our brought together. I hope you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!


Excerpt

With a series of roars and mewls, the tiger began to contort itself, its fur drawing inward and its body changing. Now what? Before him the tiger changed into a man with intense green eyes.

The man’s muscles twitched and flexed as he slowly stood. His jaw was chiseled, his brows thick and as pitch black as his hair. There were several nicks on his tanned skin. Riley had no idea where the black boots, leather pants, and tight T-shirt had come from, but they made him look even bigger, more menacing. Both arms were covered in tribal tattoos, from the patterned bands around his wrists and forearms, to the more intricate designs disappearing under his shirt sleeves.

“Please don’t kill me.”

The man’s eyes widened. “You see me?”

Shit. “Um, no. Didn’t see a thing.” Riley got up and held a hand up in front of him. Two equally muscular men and Wonder Woman joined their friend. The others had changed too. This was crazy. Riley backed away slowly. “I’m uh, I’m gonna go check myself into a hospital about my uh, not seeing you guys. Excuse me.”

“Khalon, look!” The fair haired man pointed to Riley’s arm. He followed the guy’s gaze and cursed under his breath. There were four bands of tribal markings around his left forearm where the creature had grabbed him. Had it somehow marked him? If it had, why did the marks look like a tattoo? Wait, the patterns looked just like the ones on this Khalon dude’s arms.

“What is this?” Riley looked up and nearly jumped out of his skin. The one they’d called Khalon stood in front of Riley. He took hold of Riley’s wrist and held his arm up to inspect it.

“It can’t be.”

Just when Riley thought this night couldn’t get any weirder. Khalon shook his head before releasing Riley. His jaw muscles clenched as he grew pensive, his eyes narrowing.

“We’re taking him with us.”

“What?” Hell no. Riley tried to make a break for it, but Khalon threw his arm around Riley’s waist and pulled him up against him. “What the fuck? Who the hell do you think—”

“Sleep, human.”

Khalon waved his hand over Riley’s face and everything went black.


Blurb

Charmed and Dangerous book coverCharmed and Dangerous: Ten Tales of Gay Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy

Take a cauldron full of magic, add a pinch of humor, a dash of snark and a huge dollop of m/m goodness, and what do you get? Charmed and Dangerous: Ten Tales of Gay Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy. This all-new collection is packed with arcane action and intrigue, and every story will whisk you away to a fantastical world where the hero finds his prince and the paranormal investigator always gets his man.

The Soldati Prince

Riley Murrough goes from serving lattes to being chased by demons. If that wasn’t bad enough, he bears the mark of a shapeshifter king from a magical realm. Riley’s determined to get answers, but if the demons out for his blood don’t kill him, the urge to strangle the arrogant king might.


Bio

Charlie Cochet author photoCharlie Cochet is an author by day and artist by night. Always quick to succumb to the whispers of her wayward muse, no star is out of reach when following her passion. From adventurous agents and sexy shifters, to society gentlemen and hardboiled detectives, there’s bound to be plenty of mischief for her heroes to find themselves in, and plenty of romance, too!

Currently residing in Central Florida, Charlie is at the beck and call of a rascally Doxiepoo bent on world domination. When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found reading, drawing, or watching movies. She runs on coffee, thrives on music, and loves to hear from readers.


Giveaway

Charlie has brought a copy of Charmed and Dangerous to give away to one lucky reader. Just leave a comment at the end of the post to enter. The contest ends on Tuesday, September 8th at 11:59 pm EST.

  • By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win.  The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
  • If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
  • Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
  • Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize.
  • All book prizes are in electronic format unless otherwise specified.
  • By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
  • Readers may only enter once for each contest.  Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
  • Void where prohibited by law.
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