BookwormBridgette's World: BLOG TOUR: Lord Griffin's Prize by Katalina Leon GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY

Friday, September 20, 2013

BLOG TOUR: Lord Griffin's Prize by Katalina Leon GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY

Lord Griffin's Prize (Emerald Isle Fantasies)

by Katalina Leon

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Categories: Action/Adventure

Publisher: Ellora's Cave

Release Date: July 10, 2013

Heat Level: Steamy

Word Count: 50,000

Available at:

{Amazon}{ARe}{B&N}{BookStrand}{Ellora’s Cave}{Kobo}

Blurb:

Part of the Emerald Isles Fantasies series

Tullamore Castle Ireland is an enchanted place where the unexpected happens. Phantom lovers materialize in haunted beds and a lonely griffin patrols the ramparts waiting to reclaim its mate. And that’s just the beginning.

For the adventure of a lifetime Maeve de’Burgo visits Tullamore to study genealogy. Through a magical act and time travel she becomes embroiled in a dangerous medieval romance and the unfinished life of her ancestor. Maeve gets thrown back in time to be captured, ravished and cherished as a war chief’s prize.

Ronan O’Griofa is a griffin-shifter, the most loyal of creatures. He’s been trapped in limbo as the avenging guardian of Tullamore since 1332 AD and longs to be free. When the soul of his wife returns to the castle he’s granted the privilege of becoming a man for one day to be her lover, win her heart and remind Maeve of a bond strong enough to last an eternity.

Warning: This title is intended for readers over the age of 18 as it contains adult sexual situations and/or adult language, and may be considered offensive to some readers.

My name is Katalina Leon. I’m an artist, author, mother and wife. I write for Ellora’s Cave, Loose Id Publishing and a couple new to me publishers to be announced soon. I try to bring a touch of the mystical and a big sense of adventure to everything I write because I believe there’s a bold, kick-ass heroine inside all of us who wants to take a wild ride with a strong worthy hero.

Today I want to introduce a new paranormal book series from Ellora’s Cave that I think is something really special. The “Emerald Isle Fantasies” book series takes place in an enchanted Irish castle turned hotel and currently includes nine great Ellora’s Cave authors with more coming soon. It’s a whole lot of paranormal fun and romance with a little drama and few spooky chills thrown into the mix.

Here’s the Emerald Isle Fantasies Blurb:

When guests check into the historic Castle Tullamore Hotel they expect bucolic scenery and luxurious service. What they don't anticipate is along with the 5 star accommodations they'll also get drawn into lots of otherworldly Irish mischief and erotic enchantment.

At Castle Tullamore there are ghostly lovers, griffin-shifters, vampires, selkies, witches and werewolves waiting to lure the lonely and the adventurous into forbidden realms. The castle grounds are riddled with time portals where the unwitting can experience vivid adventures in other timelines. For the most part the hotel appears to be just a lovely Irish castle until things get wild and reality drops from underfoot like a swinging trapdoor.

My contribution to the Emerald Isle Fantasies is “Lord Griffin’s Prize” and of course includes a very sexy griffin-shifter who hasn’t been a man since 1332 AD…

Lord Griffin’s Prize

Katalina Leon

The Emerald Isle Fantasies collaboration was easy and came naturally. I’ve made a lot of good friends in the group. The project was started almost eighteen months ago. We were all Ellora’s Cave authors who were reassigned to a new editor based in Ireland. Our editor’s husband worked in the hospitality industry at a real Irish castle turned hotel. Pictures of his workplace were posted and the “Oohing and Ahhing” started immediately. Brainstorming to create our own fictitious castle filled with paranormal Irish high jinx and lots of unsuspecting guests was the next logical step.

Griffins have always had a special place in my heart. According to 9^th century Irish author Stephen Scotus, griffins mate for life and are “highly monogamous.” If a mate dies the other will never re-mate, and that formed the basis of my story. Griffins rule both air and land with justice and loyalty. So you see its hard to not love a griffin!

A few years ago, as an anniversary gift, my husband gave me a beautiful bronze cast of a griffin to place next to my writing desk. The Griffin is there as a symbol of eternal love and loyalty. My husband’s a griffin at heart; he’s protective, loyal and he never turns his back on his responsibilities. I brought as much of that sentiment as I possibly could to “Lord Griffin’s Prize.”

I love my heroine Maeve. She’s basically a strong woman who’s recovering from a humiliating divorce. She’s a little fragile when she first arrives at Tullamore, but no fool. While researching a distant ancestor she was named for, Maeve is confronted by the spirit of her long lost soul mate—a medieval Irish war chief named Ronan. Maeve’s never meet a man like this in the modern world and she’s swept away. The adventure demands she be brave and take a whopping big leap of faith, and a few leaps through time as well.

I simply fell in love with Ronan. He’s all heart and self-sacrifice. He epitomizes all that’s good about griffins. In the end his loyalty to a good cause earns him a little justice. He’s been trapped in the form of a griffin for seven hundred years, but when Maeve’s soul returns to Tullamore he’s allowed one day, from sun up to sun down to take the form of man and win her heart. I absolutely loved writing these two characters and giving them a happily ever after.

Thank you for having me as a guest. I hope you’ll check out “Lord Griffin’s Prize” and The “Emerald Isle Fantasies” series.

Lord Griffin’s Prize is available now from Ellora’s Cave.

Look for Jennifer LaRose’s “Phantom Mischief”, Den Garson’s “Ghostly Persuasion” and Rebecca Royce’s “Crimson Lust” Coming soon: Lena Loneson “Selkie’s Rapture” and Virginia Cavanaugh’s “Tell Me Your Secrets”

And there will be more Emerald Isle Fantasies coming soon…

You can find me at these links:

[Ellora’s Cave][Loose Id][Amazon][All Romance eBooks] [Facebook][Night Owl Reviews Author Page][Pinterest]

Maeve placed a gloved hand on the golden door handle of the Tullamore Castle Hotel and pushed. The glass door resisted against the vacuum of a blustery gust. The short but stormy walk from the cab to the curb had left rain sheeting from her umbrella and tall black boots.

She bore down, gave the door a firm shove and watched in awe as it swung open onto a timeless realm entrenched in equal parts modern luxury and dour medieval grit. Above the entrance a time-ravaged, iron-studded medieval shield bearing the image of a griffin held a place of honor between two Victorian-era crystal sconces, punctuating the contrast of a far-reaching past.

Maeve was too tired to care that she was tracking water across the patterned carpet as she ambled into the elegant front lobby dragging a lopsided piece of rolling luggage. For the past twenty-four hours she’d roamed airports, engaged in endless desperate bargaining with airline personnel to exchange tickets, hunted down cabs and texted anyone she could reach to tell them that her international flights and all her arrangements on the ground had been disrupted by turbulent weather.

The challenging journey from the US to Ireland had left her weary to the bone. Everything that could go wrong had. As she approached the front desk there was little wonder in her mind why the word “travel” had its roots in the original travail, which literally meant torture.

An attentive middle-aged woman, with red hair swept away from her stark face, stepped from behind the carved baroque counter to greet her. “You must be Maeve Clark. We received your message. I’m so sorry you’ve had such a difficult time getting here.” The woman reached for Maeve’s luggage. “Let’s get you signed in so you can rest.”

The woman glanced out the front entrance as the cab that had brought Maeve turned and drove away in the pouring rain. “I don’t see anyone else out there. Is Mr. Clark with you?”

“What time is it?” Maeve fought the impulse to rub her eyes with the heels of her hands and grind what little mascara still clung to her lashes onto her cheeks.

The woman smoothed the lapels of her prim navy suit. “It’s 1:11 a.m.”

“Oh god. I’m so disoriented I thought it was earlier. By the way, I’m no longer Maeve Clark. I made the reservations last year before I divorced. Didn’t I update you on the name change?”

The woman’s gaze lingered on the prominent wedding ring on Maeve’s left hand. “No name change was mentioned, but we have a beautiful room waiting and we’re pleased to have you visit with us, Miss...?”

“Maeve dé Burgo.”

The woman looked elated. “You’re a dé Burgo? Of course, now it all makes sense! Oh this is wonderful, and so appropriate. I’m certain you are aware that the ancestral founder of Tullamore Castle was Lord dé Burgo?” The woman clasped Maeve’s hand. “My name is Áine Byrne. I’m the current owner of Tullamore Castle and if I’m not mistaken, you and I are distant relations.”

“You’re the castle owner? I’m so happy to meet you, Miss Byrne.”

“Call me Áine. I’m simply thrilled to have a dé Burgo under our eaves again!”

Maeve was dumbfounded by the woman’s intense enthusiasm for her maiden name. “I’m surprised to see you working the front desk at this hour.”

“I’m a hands-on owner and a notorious insomniac. Night is when interesting things happen at Tullamore. I like seeing everything and everyone who comes through the front entrance. Hospitality is my business and I enjoy being hospitable.”