Eleri Stone – Guest Blog and Giveaway

I’ve always had a weakness for star-crossed lovers stories. Lovers kept apart by circumstances beyond their control—fate, birth, position, society. While the star-crossed lovers trope is one of the oldest and most enduring out there, Shakespeare is particularly famous for it. Not only are his tragedies chockfull of them, but he also coined the term:

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes,

A pair of star cross’d lovers take their life,

Whose misadventur’d piteous overthrows

Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife.

— Romeo and Juliet

I’m writing romance not tragedy, but the hero and heroine of Rebellion, Cole and Taya, do start out very much in opposition to one another. Cole is a wolf-shifter from Texas working for a pack company that wants to setup a research base in Yaguara territory. Taya is a jaguar-shifter from an isolated and ultra-traditional kingdom tucked away in the Amazon rainforest. Her people are engaged in a civil war with one group wanting to cling to the old ways and the other knowing that eventually they’ll need to find a way to integrate with human society. She’s a warrior. He’s a businessman. She’s known nothing but the struggle for survival. He grew up supported and loved by a large family.

When desperation forces the Yaguara king to call upon the wolves for help, offering land and information in exchange for aid in ending the conflict, Taya is vehemently against the move for many reasons, not least of which is that the wolves are traditional enemies of the Yaguara. Because it’s a romance, I suppose it will surprise no one that Cole and Taya find a way to overcome these issues but it is a very bumpy road to their Happy Ever After.

What’s your favorite trope in romance? Friends to lovers? May-December? Reunion? Can’t resist a good love triangle? Just let me know in comments! I’m giving away a copy of Rebellion (or if you’d like to start with one of the other books in the series that’s fine too:) to one random commenter.

A big thank you to the ladies of RR@H for having me here today!

About the book

Cole Brandt is a wolf shifter, sent by his pack to the Amazon jungle to negotiate a treaty. He’s unaware that the kingdom of jaguar shifters he’s meant to meet with has split—and Cole’s suspicion that jaguars are selfish and deceitful is confirmed when he’s seized by the rebel faction.

Taya Silveira, a jaguar shifter and fierce warrior loyal to the king, resents being assigned Cole’s rescue. She doesn’t approve of his pack’s involvement in her jungle—to her, wolves are greedy, weak creatures who will exploit the resources the Yaguara protect.

Struggling against centuries of ill will and prejudice, Cole and Taya must work together to prevent a devastating civil war. They can’t deny their physical attraction—with the heightened senses of shifters, their desires are plain. But if they give in to passion, they may be forced to choose between staying with their tribes, or staying together.

You can find more information about the Lost City Shifters series here. You can read an excerpt from Rebellion here.

About the author

Eleri Stone was born and raised in New Jersey. She graduated from the University of Iowa, married her college sweetheart, and settled in the Midwest where she still lives with her husband and their three children. A lifelong fan of fantasy, she started reading romance as an adult and was instantly captivated by the strong female protagonists, character-driven storylines and guarantee of a happy-ever-after. Writing fantasy and paranormal romance, she is the author of the Lost City Shifters series (shapeshifter paranormal romance), the Twilight of the Gods series (paranormal romance based on Norse mythology) and the Spellcraft series (secondary-world fantasy romance).

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