VBT# Torn Asunder - Kiki Howell

As the month passes , it's that time again for Virtual Book Tours - Today's VBT# is part of BK Walker Books www.bkwalkerbooks.weebly.com . Read on as I present today authoress "Kiki Howell" and her book "Torn Asunder".

Synopsis : Torn Asunder - Kiki Howell - Oct 2010

Aubrey Griffen is a witch whose true reasons for coming to London soon fall to the wayside when she catches the eye of Edmund Bryant, the Marquess of Dalysbury. He seduces her into a whirlwind romance until the lies and threats of his mother force her to flee to Triaill Brimuir, a secret island of her ancestors off the coast of Ireland. Edmund goes after her only to be hit by Aubrey's confusion and anger when she magically transforms him into an elemental beast of her own creation.  However, it is when Edmund's lust mysteriously turns him back into a man that the couple are forced to deal with a family secret and untold of powers. Now, Edmund must learn to shift himself into the beast in order to save her in a battle of black verses white magic.  Fraught with scenes of explicit intimacy, romantic spells and mystical shapeshifting, Torn Asunder is a unique blending of the age of manners with sexual magic.

Genres: Historical (Regency), Paranormal (Witches & Shifters), Erotic Romance Adult Content Warnings: Explicit Graphic Language, Violence

Author Bio : Kiki Howell

Ever since she was young, Kiki Howell has loved to listen to a well-woven tale with real characters, inspired plots, and delightful resolutions. Kiki could spend hours lost in a book, and soon she knew that creating lives, loves, and losses with just words had to be the greatest thing that she could do. To that end, she pursued her study of literature and writing, earning a bachelor's degree in English. She then followed in a Master's program in Creative Writing.

"After a long break having my boys, I finally just had to write again. And, as soon as I gave the stories the space, they entered it. It's both awesome and humbling to find the words in my mind become characters on a page and create their lives."
She has now had over twenty stories published between five different small presses. She could not be more thrilled or grateful to see her creations polished and out in the real world. Please look around. Although, a bit of caution, most of her stories tend to hang out on the graphically sexy side of town.
Kiki resides in the Midwest with her incredibly handsome and talented, singer/songwriter husband and two children. When she is not writing, she is spending time with her family, reading, baking or knitting.

                                                            Guest Post : Kiki Howell
Ten Fun Facts about Kiki :

1. I am an author, mostly writing in the genres of paranormal, erotic romance although I have expanded my wings some lately into historical romance and romantic suspense.


2. I have this thing about water and fire together. If I have a fountain going it needs a candle in it if possible (I have one that the water runs over a glass lamp shade which is over a candle.) or at least nearby.


3. I am married to a fantastic singer/songwriter, and I have even written a novella using his song lyrics http://www.kikihowell.com/2010/06/sorcerers-songs-trade-paperback-novella.html


4. I am a certified Feng Shui practitioner. Here is a blog post for more information explanation http://ritbs.blogspot.com/2010/01/art-of-feng-shui-by-kiki-howell.html


5. I am obsessed with books and have my own Amazon credit card set up for one-click ordering - dangerous, am constantly at my library, and love to hang out at borders, etc.


6. My favorite season is winter, NOT summer! Groan all you want! I suffere from heat intolerance, so I would rather be in a sweater in front of a fireplace trying to warm up.


7. I have two boys, two dogs, and one constantly messy house *hand head*


8. One dog is a retired greyhound, Fork In The Road, although he has been renamed to Drake. He is from Florida, but also loves the snow BTW!


9. My brother made the iRenew, Floam, Hercules Hooks, Snuggie, Perfect Brownie Pan and Bendaroos commercials. The little white dog dancing in the Snuggie is his.


10. One of my favorite snacks as a child used to be Heinz ketchup on American cheese slices with a side of pickles. Gross right? I wouldn’t eat it now, well except for the pickles. Not sure I have come very far though, one of my favorite snacks currently is dipping carrots and cauliflower in a mix of cream of shrimp soup and cream cheese, with Colby cheese dipped in mustard, and those pickles!


EXCERPT:


The roses, elegant in their refinement, fell from one another with little grace as she undid the paper around them. Staggering back a few steps until her back met with the wall, she slid down to the floor letting the wrapping and flowers fall where they may. Aubrey wrapped her arms tightly around her midsection. Her chest ached more with each beat of her heart as she swallowed hard, blinked away the mistiness over her eyes, and remembered.


It had been the beginning of the season, a bit over a fortnight ago, when she first encountered Edmund Bryant, the Marquess of Dalysbury. Although she rolled her eyes still at the title, she felt impelled to live through it all again--through the days of fantasy in which she had allowed herself to participate. Love at first sight didn't always give way to rational thinking. It did, however, make possible even the wavering delusions of believing impossible dreams could come true. She had just come to London to live with Lord and Lady Sanderly, her cousins who had paid for her travels under the guise of giving a poor relation of marriageable age a chance to find a good husband.


Whereas, the truth of the matter was, she was a relation who had shown a great aptitude for learning of the magical powers she had inherited. The good Lord and Lady, while holding the public title of Earl and Countess, were actually descendants of one of the notorious Pendle witches. They were to teach her to harness and utilize her innate talents in secret while flaunting her about from various parties and balls in the public eye.


She recalled with a weak smile the first ball Lord and Lady Sanderly had thrown to immerse her into proper society. At the time, she had consciously gripped her hands before her waist to resist fidgeting while trying hard to fix to memory all of the titles of those to whom she was being introduced. Her level of discomfort had increased, however, as an unsettled awareness of someone in the room, a haunting premonition of sorts, had made her heart race and her mouth dry. She had paid mind to ignore the successive shivers which rushed the length of her spine until they pooled as heat in her tightening stomach.


Reminded she was holding her breath only when forced to speak, her ribs had begun to ache. When a chill more pervasive that any she had ever known even in the drafty county cottage she had been raised in permeated her shoulders, she had turned in the direction of the source, and her eyes had met with a man standing just across the room looking back at her. She had immediately felt challenged to not look away from the gaze of his dark eyes. They radiated a raw energy unlike anything she had ever encountered before even among those with her own esoteric abilities.


A connection was made. Her heart beat at a frantic, uneven pace like a horse racing over shoddy roads. At the same time, a vague forewarning had made her break out in a glistening of sweat while she fought the urge to escape as well the need to move toward the man. She had given merit to her reactions based only on the fact she had captured the glance of an aristocratic gentleman with a lady in a lavish satin gown on his arm of obviously higher circumstances.


Engrossed in his fine manners, she watched as his hand removed the one holding onto him from his arm with a slight nod of his head. The lady in return had given him a slight curtsy but glorious smile before turning back to her other acquaintances which Aubrey recognized to be a duke and duchess she had recently met. His tempestuous form fit in posh attire spun on the heel of his expensive footwear to find her again with his haunted and hungry eyes. He seemed an odd mix of rugged and refined. She had felt the thrill and danger of being pursued by a beast which lurked inside of the man.