Tuesday, February 8, 2011

2nd Author Spotlight, Blak Rayne



Today, I am featuring author Blak Rayne. Her series, Devotion, is truly a fascinating set of books. The manner in which she writes definitely draws you in and keeps you there as you delve further into the book.

I'm a big fan, I want more! Please make sure you view the feature below as she answers a few questions. Here, she has offered a blurb, excerpt and a purchase link. Enjoy!


Devotion

'When love simply isn't enough...'

Parameters of Product: Ebooks

Publisher: Extasy Books

ISBN: 978-1-55487-650-1

Pages: 224

Flame Rating: 4 Flames

Cover Artist: Angela Waters

Release Date: September 1, 2010

Genre: Futuristic, GLBT, m/m, action

Buy link

Blurb:

A long-term friendship between swordsman Slade Igerman and sniper Reeve Taylor turns intimate. Slade, a high-paid leader in the Special Forces, has difficulty dealing with people in general and has never had any luck maintaining a serious relationship. He’s an outwardly cold and withdrawn man. Reeve is the complete opposite, a social butterfly, a very outspoken and sarcastic individual, someone who seeks to enjoy everything life has to offer.

After a year together, they have created what appears to be a lasting bond and are seemingly happy. And for the first time in his life, Slade has successfully kept the interest of one man. He’s in love and can’t wait to see what the future brings. But just when he thinks things couldn’t get any better, Reeve is called away by duty.

When the sniper returns, he finds his lover to be a very changed man and their relationship on the verge of collapse. Reeve can sense it, something has happened in his absence and Slade is keeping a secret. Whether it’s love or a bruised ego, he refuses to give up until he gets an answer. But when he does get the answer, it brings a host of personal demons to the surface. Forced to face an uncertain future, Reeve wonders if love will be enough to conquer the demons and save their relationship?

Excerpt:

Suddenly, a back section of the structure exploded and the beams began to give way around them, creaking and groaning from the strain of the floors weight above, shafts of flaming wood, concrete and steel rumbled, and came falling down in a kaleidoscope of confusion. Reeve didn't remember much after that except when he came too, he'd been flattened by the tremendous final blow of the ammunition stores. He stared at Slade who was laughing his bag off. He had a decent sense of humour, but whatever the cadet leader found so damned amusing with nearly getting killed, eluded him.

The swordsman groaned, holding his ribs and rolled over shifting toward Reeve. "That was close, eh?"

Dumbfounded Reeve sighed. His ears were ringing. "Yeah. Too close."

Slade laughed then winked at him. "Don't you just love it when in the heat of the battle, the adrenaline starts pumping and your dick gets so hard you'd fuck anything?"

The comment was far from amusing and the timing questionable. Reeve went multiple shades of yellow. "Bastard!" He now realized Slade had purposely let him sit there, sweating when he knew all along there was an escape route. "You're sick, blade boy--really friggin' sick! I nearly shit my pants! That's not funny at all!" He remembered he'd said the same thing once when they were battling a holographic bear in the training fields outside the Zone and almost bit the dust then.

The swordsman quickly rolled Reeve over onto his back. Then forced himself on top the large man, smothering him with kisses. "How about I bang you for awhile, cowboy? My dick is rock hard." Slade squeezed his crotch. "What about yours?"

Reeve clawed at his jeans, he couldn't get them off fast enough. "Yeah, do me, Slade--I can't wait!"

Where to find Blak Rayne

BlakRayneBooks.com
BlakRayneBlog
BRTwitter
Goodreads


*****


This is the second in my featured author series and I am pleased to showcase not only a fabulous author but a good friend. Blak Rayne was one of the first writers to reach out to me immediately. She did my first Yahoo chat with me last year and has been quite encouraging to me as a new writer.


Blak is also a top shelf author. Her series, Devotion is everything you could want in a book. Romance, action, hot sex, passion, and humor. While reading it I was able to visualize the characters, feel their pain and laugh along with them through hilarious moments.


I truly look forward to reading more of Blak's work in the near feature since she is starting a new series.


Here are a few questions I asked her regarding her books.



MM: When creating the characters Slade and Reeve, did you have someone in particular in mind?


Blak: Not really, Reeve's my fantasy cowboy. I'm positive scads of women out there dream about their own cowboy. He's big, sexy and powerful, just the way I thought he should be. In some respects the perfect seme, but not quite. Underneath he's kind and very affectionate. Slade on the other hand leans more towards average - attractive but not quite the powerhouse of his lover. Slade is a representative of my insecure side - the introverted and unsociable individual. But I still love him too because he can think with his head when things go wrong, where Reeve will at times allow his emotions to control his judgment.


MM: No spoilers, but there are some sensitive subject matters in your book that you deal with perfectly. Do you think that it's important for authors to add that dose of cruel reality to a story?


Blak: If you're looking for total fantasy, I hate to say it, but you'll have to look elsewhere. Yes I think it's important for authors to add reality to their stories whether it's cruel or not. For myself, I want my readers to relate, to feel for my characters - to become immersed and to sympathize, to cry, cheer and hate. Emotions are powerful and can make the difference between someone loving what you write and hating it. Who wants to read fluff - and excuse the word bullshit all the time. To me realism is the cake, it adds to the plot and brings authenticity.


MM: I love the mix of humor and romance in this story, in certain parts I was laughing at what I read. Is that something you look for in the books you read?


Blak: Can I be completely honest here? No. Not generally. It isn't something I specifically hunt for in a novel. But that doesn't infer I won't read it. Humour can be a nice ice breaker - you know ease the tension in a scene and add depth to a character's persona. But it depends who's writing it. I think writing anything with a comedic edge is difficult - actually one of the hardest things to pen and not every author can do it. This isn't to say I'm an expert, but it isn't as easy as it looks. Comedic dialogue is the toughest and each character's sentence has to bounce off the other without a glitch. Okay, enough ranting about that! LOL


MM: I notice that there are two parts to Devotion. Will we hear more from Slade and Reeve?


Blak: I've had a number of people ask and the answer is, yes. I actually started to write a third instalment to Devotion last year, even before the first two were published. It's almost complete. The men are older and there's a whole new set of issues for them to deal with. Without revealing too much, I can say that it's different than the first two novels as to their values and where they stand in their relationship. Their family grows, someone dies, someone gets married, there's a court case, another man enters the picture, there is a major war and I go more into the military/militant involvement. LOL That's it, now my lips are sealed!


Buy Link

I want to thank Blak for answering the questions. Much continued success. I'll be waiting for the rest of Devotion!


Next Author featured, Sapphire Phelan

3 comments:

S.Lira said...

Thx Blak for stopping by!

She said...

Good excerpt. I like when a relationship has to be rebuilt. They history between the two people gives a poignancy to the story and I root for the relationship to grow stronger.

S.Lira said...

Thank you for stopping by, Sheila. Devtion is just what you are looking for then. I hope that you will pick it up. :D