Today we welcome my good friend and amazing author J.J. Devine. You really need to check out her work! She tells wickedly good stories that have a way of drawing you in and keeping you intrigued.
And Without Further Ado ... Blurb for Cheyenne Bride
Murder is afoot in the Wyoming territory, forcing Chris Davis to
make a matrimonial match he never would have taken otherwise. Especially when
his bride-to-be is still in love with the man he holds responsible for his
parents’ death. Torn between his morals and loyalty to his family, Chris Davis’
heart betrays him at every turn. Nichole lied about her heritage. Could she
also be lying about not being a part of his parents’ death? He should just
leave her to his enemy and be done with her, or kill them both. If only it were
that simple.
Nichole Michaels, known to the Cheyenne as White Deer, grew up
hearing her mother spin tales of the visions of the man she would one day
marry. Believing them to be nothing more than myth, imagine her surprise when
she finds herself standing face to face with a vision come to life. She is torn
between the past and a man whose love is certain, and a man whose love promised
to be the strongest tie she has ever known, yet may never be able to claim. Chris needs her, but is that enough to make
her deny her heritage for the rest of her life? Her heart aches to know the
depth of the love claimed in her mother’s visions. Is she strong enough to
withstand a rancher with a heart of stone to find it?
Excerpt From Cheyenne Bride
One Wolf paced the fence line like a caged animal.
He should just bust down that door, rip White Deer from that man’s arms, and
take her far away from here.
She should never have gone to the fort, never have
found her way to the Bar D, to Chris Davis. Why had he been stupid?
The opening of the cabin door drew his attention.
The cover of darkness hid him from view, but he could see her basking in the
moonlight. Never had she looked more beautiful. Her dark hair flowed down her
back. The doeskin dress molded to every perfect curve.
His body reacted, as it always had, growing hard and
rigid. The taste of her lips filled his mouth, the innocent tenderness of her
tongue against his own.
Damn, Chris
Davis.
“What are you doing?” he demanded, drawing her
attention.
“One Wolf, where have you been?” She glided down the
steps coming toward him. His heart picked up its pace. Every part of his
existence ached to claim his woman.
“You know where I have been, White Deer. Or have you
forgotten the tribe you have wanted to belong to since you were a girl?” He
spit the bitter words from his lips.
“I see you have now become this white man’s whore.” He
nodded toward the cabin door. “I thought you had more pride.”
He grabbed her by the arms, pulling her inches from
his face. “Is this what you want?”
“One Wolf, this life is my mother’s vision for me.”
“And your nish ki’s knowledge of your life had
nothing to do with a white man.” He reminded her angrily.
“One Wolf, let her go.” Chris’s angry voice filled
the night air.
“I asked you to do that once, Chris Davis. Did you
not refuse?” His eyes never left hers as he roared his resentment.
“White Deer belongs to me now.” Chris’s tone was livid.
One Wolf threw his head back, a wicked laugh coming
from somewhere deep inside him. “White Deer is it now? Only months ago, you
could not accept the Cheyenne blood that runs through her veins. Are you
telling me now you can accept that blood?”
One Wolf spun her around to face her lover, gripping
her shoulders against his palms. “Look at her! Does she belong in your world?
She dresses like us. She speaks our tongue. She is her mother’s daughter. She
will please her husband as Cheyenne women please theirs. Is this what you
want?”
Anguish strained Chris’s face as his eyes fixed on
the image he was painting for him. With White Deer in his arms, shoving the
truth back into this white man’s world, even Chris couldn’t deny where she
truly belonged.
“One Wolf, let me go,” Nichole ordered, pulling
hard, she gained her release.
“Chris and I are working to build a life together. You
must learn to accept this.”
One Wolf laughed again. “Accept what I know is not
right. He cannot even answer a simple question. Sure, he allows you to dress as
one of us. He even calls you by your Cheyenne name. But can he truly say, in
his heart, he accepts the Cheyenne blood in your veins?”
“How is he any different than you, who only wishes
to see the Cheyenne half of my heritage?” One Wolf grabbed her up once again,
pulling her roughly against his chest. Chris sprang into action. He ripped
Nichole from his grasp, shoving him away from her.
“One Wolf, White Deer could be carrying my child,
you’ll not touch her again.”
“A child she should be having of mine!” He shouted.
The words penetrated his heart so deep, it felt like a hot knife twisting into
his flesh.
“No, One Wolf, it was me her mother envisioned for
her, not you.”
One Wolf laughed again. “You speak of visions as if
you believe in them. Do you remember I have known you for many years?”
“She belongs to me, One Wolf.”
“Stop this,” Nichole ordered. “Do either of you care
what I want? You both claim to love me, but do either of you care that this
tears me apart inside? To see two men, who once claimed to be friends, go at
each other like two dogs over a bone?”
“Chris, you must understand this is hard for both
One Wolf and I. We’ve spent many years as friends, we’ve shared much of our
life, and yes, at one time I fancied myself his wife.”
She turned to One Wolf. “But now, One Wolf, you must
understand, with Chris is where I belong. I know this in my heart, as sure as I
know you and I will always share our past. I have given myself to him as a
woman gives herself to her husband.”
“There was a time when you were going to give to me
this same honor, or have you forgotten?” The ground felt as if it were slipping
from his feet. He had let this go too far. Now, it seemed, he had lost the only
woman he would ever love.
“I haven’t forgotten,” she said softly. “But it
wasn’t meant to be. Can’t you see this? We’re meant only to share our lives as
friends, nothing more.”
Her words finished, shattering his heart. The pain
in his chest was more unbearable than anything he’d ever felt before. He stared
into those lovely dark eyes, and knew she believed what she said.
One Wolf turned on Chris.
“If you hurt her, I promise you, as I told you
before, I will kill you,” he growled. “She deserves the acceptance she seeks.
If you cannot give it to her, then I beg you now let her go with me. I can heal
her heart.”
Something in the form of guilt flashed from Chris’s
eyes, giving a short-lived hope to his heart. The moment Chris wrapped a
protective arm about her shoulders, One Wolf knew he didn’t stand a chance
against the one thing tying her to her mother. A vision.
His tone grew softer, as his eyes locked and held
hers. “White Deer, I give you what you wish, in hopes one day you will come to
me with the knowledge it is our hearts which belong together. It is something I
have always known, and one day I know you will see it, too.”
He reached out, brushing the back of his hand against
the soft skin of her cheek. His eyes drifted closed, as he took in the feel of
her. “Nemohotatse, my little
warrior.”
He left the couple standing in the darkness, his
heart in turmoil. No matter what she told him, he would love her until his
dying breath. For only when his heart stopped beating, would his love for her
die.
INTERVIEW WITH J.J.
What
is your latest release?
Right now I’m in edits for my up and coming release,
Into the Darkness. It’s a vampire/witch romance that plunges my heroine, Raven,
from her mortal world into the paranormal. Laying at her feet not only her
fate, but the future of her hero’s vampire world and her other half, the realm
of the witches.
Talk
about rejection from traditional publishers and how it affects you.
This used to really deflate my ego. I would send in
a manuscript I’d spent hours, weeks, months, years working on, sit on pins and
needles forever waiting to hear something, anything, only to receive the
proverbial form rejection letter if I heard anything at all. I would lick my
wounds, pick myself up, dust myself off, and start the process all over again.
It was a few years into this when I realized maybe I
needed to look at this as a learning process. Something wasn’t attracting my
targeted publishers and editors, what was it? I began polishing not just my
manuscript but the synopsis and query letter. Soon I was receiving requests for
full manuscripts. I’d really thought I’d gotten somewhere…until the rejections
started coming in again.
These rejections were different. They were in the
form of actual letters explaining why they didn’t accept my works. At first
their rejections took a chunk out of my hide, then I realized something. “They
are giving me clues as to why my work isn’t ready for publication yet.” Light
bulb going off.
I look at rejections now as a learning process to
help me better my writing. Not just a publishing house telling me, ‘No!’ It has
changed my way of thinking about rejections (which almost all of us receive
those). I use them as a motivational tool to continue to work hard at getting
my works published.
Many
people don’t feel that Indie Authors are real authors. They believe that you
have to be traditionally published to be considered a professional/valid
writer. How do you feel about this?
I have heard from the moment I begun socializing with
other authors, “Don’t self-publish!” as if this is a horrid thing to do. Now
granted, I do believe there are ways of self-publishing that should be avoided,
such as vanity press (not because the author’s works aren’t good enough, but
because these companies take advantage of authors).
With that being said, I personally have not delved
into this aspect of publishing, however, I do intend to try it.
I feel we should do our research with this angle of
the publishing world, just as we do our research for our writings. We need to
be well informed before embarking on self-publishing, because it is our writing
reputation and our name we’re selling to readers.
I’ve read some amazing books put out by Indie
authors. I’ve also read some I wished the author would have considered another
round of editing and a good final read through. I feel this market has great
potential to really give authors more control over their careers we just have
to strive to give quality reads to our readers.
What
genres do you write in? Do you have pseudonyms for them? If so why?
I write historical and paranormal romances. The
Cheyenne Bride (recent finalist in the historical category of the 2014 Red
Carpet Awards) is book one in my Acceptance Series. Based in the Wyoming
Territory they take you on a journey through the eyes of the Davis family. They
allow readers to experience their trials and tribulations as they make a life,
on a ranch in the Laramie Mountains.
Into the Darkness is the first in my Darkness
series. These put my readers in the realm of vampires and witches. They also
let readers experience the steamier side of J.J. Devine.
Yes, I use a pseudonym, J.J. Devine. I have many
names throughout my daily life, author, wife, mom, grandma, you get the
picture. Having a pseudonym helps me to keep this part of my life separate from
those other responsibilities I have on a daily basis.
When I put on my J.J. Devine hat, I’m all about
writing and writing business. So I guess you could say, it helps me keep things
straight.
Do
you have strong convictions on anything? Do you back them up with actions?
Yes, I do. Coming from an abusive childhood home I
am firmly against abuse on all levels. I have spoken to Criminal Justices
classes, foster parents, and also done interviews on the topic of abuse. I
donate 10% of all my sales to Hands of Hope an organization that assists and
helps mothers and children of abuse.
In a good many of my stories you will also find the
occasional abused heroine, however, the story is not as much based on their
abuse as their rise above it.
Do
you believe in love at first sight or do you think it takes time?
I do believe in love at first sight. My husband and
I met on July 2, 1985 and we were married on August 31, 1985. Yeah, less than
two months. It has been 29 years this August and we’re still together, still
that couple people roll their eyes at because of how we click with one another
even today.
A good deal of the time I write my hero and heroines
much in the same manner, with the ‘love at first sight’ concept. Now, mind you,
it may be love at first sight, but relationships take time to build and no one
knows that better than my heroes and heroines.
Do
you believe is soul-mates? Is there someone out there for everyone?
Oh most definitely! I watched my grandparents and
their relationships and there has never been a doubt in my mind, soul-mates not
only exist but I’ve witnessed their unions first hand. Now this doesn’t mean
soul-mates don’t have rocky patches sometimes. They may be soul-mates but
they’re still human.
In a good many of my writings I use the soul-mate
theme. I like to portray that connection of soul-mates, in fact, one manuscript
I’m working on, Soul Mates, is a more extensive viewpoint on this idea,
actually having my hero and heroine remember times from other lifetimes where
they were once lovers. It intermingles the concepts of soul-mates and
reincarnation (which is a whole different topic, LOL).
Get your own J.J. Devine Books:
About J.J. Devine
J.J. Devine grew up loving the written word. She spent her days daydreaming and imagining
what life would be like if she lived between the pages of the books she
read. Today, she still spends her days
dreaming. Only now she pens them into the romance novels she enjoys writing to
share with her readers. On her down
time, she enjoys spending time with her hubby, children, grandchildren, and
pets. As well as helping to bring public awareness on the subject of domestic
violence.
Author Links: (Click below to be redirected)
Thanks to J.J. for and all our visitors for stopping by.
Hugs
Katie
