The Anti-Hero by Elisabeth Naughton

Thanks so much to Fatin for inviting me to stop by during release week for ENRAPTURED! ENRAPTURED was recently named One of the Top Ten Romances for Spring 2012 so I’m excited for readers to finally get their hands on book four in the Eternal Guardians series.

 

For those who are new to the Eternal Guardians series, the Eternal Guardians are seven warriors descended from the seven strongest heroes in all of ancient Greece. They defend both their world—Argolea—and the human realm from threats born of the Underworld—specifically, one evil goddess by the name of Atalanta who was herself once a hero but who made a deal with Hades for immortality and the chance to command an army of daemons for a shot at revenge.

 

Orpheus, the hero in ENRAPTURED, is not a guardian. He’s the older brother of Gryphon, one of the guardians, and he harbors a secret even his younger brother doesn’t know—he’s half daemon. When Gryphon’s soul is sent to the Underworld, Orpheus finds the markings of the Eternal Guardians have passed to him. He has no desire to serve the order, knows he doesn’t deserve it because of his daemon half, and has only one desire: to find a way to rescue his brother. But that goal is thwarted when a mysterious woman enters his life, one who’s very purpose it to stop him from reaching his goal.

 

Orpheus is the classic anti-hero. He’s a schemer. He has his own agenda. He’s not a team player and he doesn’t care what people think of him. He’s been working against the guardians for as long as he’s been alive, and he holds no loyalty toward them, even though he’s one of them now. But there are layers to Orpheus, and those layers have been evident since the beginning of the series. Even though he’s manipulated and deceived, whenever the queen needed his help, he was there for her, even if that “help” was mired in sarcasm and feigned betrayal.

 

Readers often ask who my favorite character is in the Eternal Guardians series. That’s always hard to answer because every hero is my favorite at one time or another—otherwise I wouldn’t write him. But Orpheus has always been special, partly, I think, because I share his sarcastic sense of humor. His dialogue is the most fun for me to write because I don’t have to reign things in when I’m writing him. I can let that snarkiness out—even if he has a tendency to take it and run.

 

To celebrate the release of ENRAPTURED, my publisher is giving away a copy of the book to one lucky commenter! Simply tell me if you’re a fan of the anti-hero. What is it about the anti-hero that readers fall in love with?

***

ENRAPTURED BY ELISABETH NAUGHTON – IN STORES APRIL 2012

Orpheus—To most he’s an enigma, a devil-may-care rogue who does whatever he pleases whenever he wants. Now this loose cannon is part of the Eternal Guardians—elite warriors assigned to protect the human realm—whether he likes it or not.

 

Orpheus has just one goal: to rescue his brother from the Underworld. He’s not expecting a woman to get in the way. Especially not a Siren as gorgeous as Skyla. He has no idea she’s an assassin sent by Zeus to seduce, entrap, and ultimately destroy him.

 

Yet Skyla herself might have the most to lose. There’s a reason Orpheus feels so familiar to her, a reason her body seems to crave him. Perhaps he’s not the man everyone thinks… The truth could reveal a deadly secret as old as the Eternal Guardians themselves

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A former junior high science teacher, Elisabeth Naughton traded in her red pen and test-tube set for a laptop and research books. She now writes sexy romantic adventure and paranormal novels full-time from her home in western Oregon, where she lives with her husband and three children. Her work has been nominated for numerous awards, including the prestigious RITA Awards of Romance Writers of America, the Australian Romance Reader Awards, the Golden Leaf, and the Golden Heart. When not writing, Elisabeth can be found running, hanging out at the ball park, or dreaming up new and exciting adventures. Visit her at www.elisabethnaughton.com to learn more about her and her books. Her next book in the Eternal Guardians series, Enslaved, will be in stores in November 2012.

 

Read Full Post »

Cover Goodness: HEART OF BRASS by Kate Cross

Browsing for books and found this gorgeous cover. HEART OF BRASS by Kate Cross. Out May 1, 2012 through Signet Eclipse.

Arden is an undercover agent for one of the most powerful organizations of this steam-powered world—the Wardens ofthe Realm, a group with extraordinary abilities, dedicated to protecting England against evil.

Arden Grey enjoys a life most women in 1898 London can’t even dream of: she has the social status, wealth, and independence of a countess. She also has the ability to witness the final moments of a murder victim’s life. But ever since the disappearance of her husband, Lucas, none of this means anything to her. Until one night, when Arden spies a man watching her—a man she recognizes as her missing husband.

He’s been ordered to assassinate Arden as retribution forher part in the killing of a Company agent. Luke remembersnothing of his life before The Company, a corrupt agencythat has erased his memory. Even so, something preventshim from completing his assignment. There is something familiar about his lovely target, something that attracts him and fills him with dread. For he knows that if he doesn’t kill her, someone else will—and kill him as well.

Excerpt can be found here.

Read Full Post »