Guarding Poppy by Christine Wenrick Excerpt, Interview & Giveaway

Guarding Poppy

by Christine Wenrick

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

ONE NIGHT . . . ONE VIOLENT, SUPERNATURAL BATTLE . . .

AND FIVE STORIES OF THE MEN WHOSE LIVES WILL BE CHANGED BY IT.

Alec Lambert was born to lead. He’s a ruling Elder of The Brethren, possessing steely confidence, natural smarts, and decisive problem solving abilities . . . and he’s not too bad on the eyes, either. Everything in his life has gone exactly according to plan—until the night of Brahm Hill. Alec loses his best friend at the hands of the uncle he trusted like a father, along with his previously unshakable faith to lead those with whom he’s charged. Despite this, he continues to press ahead, and for his next assignment he’s asked to protect a very beautiful but very clumsy Dhampir who’s being hunted by a powerful warlock. Suddenly, he finds his whole Brethren world is turned upside down . . . and he finds himself harboring a desire for her he can’t explain.

Poppy Honeywell knows she’s far from perfect. Bad things tend to happen when she’s around. She’s more than a little clumsy, with a phobia or two mixed in. Not to mention that her name is certainly unusual. But she doesn’t have time to worry about all that because she’s on the run and not about to back down from the arrogant Elder who’s just been assigned as her protector, claiming he has all the answers to her problems. The real problem, though, is . . . she’s irresistibly drawn to this man who faces constant danger and takes charge so naturally. But Poppy also sees that taking charge of others helps Alec mask his own very deep pain.

WILL ALEC FIND HIS WAY OUT OF THE DARKNESS AND SURRENDER TO HIS FEELINGS FOR POPPY BEFORE THE WARLOCK CHASING HER CATCHES UP TO THEM BOTH?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Excerpt 

Sovereign Elder Joseph Davin stepped forward to embrace Poppy. “You’re not safe here, little flower.” Now Alec really felt like he was intruding on a private conversation. “I must protect you the best way I know how. I promised your mother.” He then motioned back to Alec. “I trust Alec. He’s a former Guardian—and a very good one. You yourself said that you can feel Irina getting closer. Let Alec take you someplace where he can protect you and you can know what it feels like to be safe. In the meantime, I will find a way to deal with Irina.”

Poppy dropped her head quietly, and for a moment it seemed she wasn’t going to answer him. “I feel safer here with you than I will with a stranger.”

“He’s right,” Alec finally said as he came slowly to his feet, realizing he needed to do something to gain this woman’s trust—though he could hardly blame her for being guarded after spending a lifetime on the run. “I may be a stranger to you, but I can protect you. And more importantly, I can give you all the tools at my disposal so you can protect yourself. If you have a sense for recognizing the warlock who’s threatening you, your Dhampir instincts are telling you that you’re in danger. You need to start trusting those instincts.”

Those huge gold eyes of hers locked on him fully with a look of utter determination as she walked right up to him—thankfully, straight this time. He had to admit, he flinched just a bit with the possibility she might trip again. “I don’t want any part of witchcraft, Dhampirs or vampires. That’s not who I am.”

“Yes, it is,” he challenged her without hesitation. “That’s exactly who you are.”

Her eyes narrowed as if she were preparing to blast him with a thousand different reasons why that was not true, but instead she replied, “I will agree to go with you on two conditions.” Alec simply crossed his arms in front of his chest. What was it about women and their conditions? Why couldn’t they just agree? “One, you’ll agree to never disagree with me again.” Alec’s brows arched high at that rather impossible request. “And two, I will only go with you if it doesn’t require us crossing an ocean in an air-”

Poppy’s words were cut off by her small squeal when Alec caught sight of Joseph sticking a needle into her arm. Her eyes widened in shock and she tried to turn to Joseph, but her limbs gave out from under her almost immediately. Alec reached out and caught Poppy when she would have otherwise collapsed to the floor. “What in the world did you do that for?”

“No worries,” Joseph assured him. “It’s just a little something to help her relax for the trip.”

Alec blinked at him. “Relax? She doesn’t like flying?”

Joseph shook his head. “Terrified of it, actually. Unfortunately, Poppy lacks an appreciation for the severity of her current situation. We need to get her out of London tonight—hence, something to relax her. But once she’s someplace safe she’ll be no trouble at all.”

Alec’s gaze narrowed shrewdly. By what he had already witnessed in the few scant minutes he had been in this woman’s presence, she was the very definition of the term high maintenance. 

So he doubted that very much.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Christine is a graduate of Washington State University where she received a BA in Interior Design. And true to form of using mostly her ‘right brain’, she splits her time between her commercial design career and her imaginary world of writing. She lives in the scenic Pacific Northwest where she enjoys hiking, camping and photographing many of the wonderful places that served as inspiration for her writing. Her biggest reward in life is any given day when one of her books connects with a reader because she herself is such a lover of reading. Some of her favorite authors include Lisa Kleypas, Julia Quinn, and Kimberly Derting.

Interview:

Where are you from?

I’m pretty much a Washingtonian. I grew up on the east side of the Cascade Mountains where I did a lot of the hiking and backpacking that inspired my first series The Charmed, and moved to Seattle after collage. Though I have done a fair amount of traveling to other places, I love this city and cannot imagine living anywhere else.

Tell us your latest news?

I am currently finishing up the next book in my Men of Brahm Hill series, Leaving Lily Behind, and hope to have it available next April.

When and why did you begin writing?

I had always played around with the idea of writing a novel, but I wasn’t serious about it until I woke up one morning with a clear vision in my head of the ending for my first novel, The Charmed. In creating that ending, the writer in me awakened, and I have not stopped since.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

In the beginning, I only published in eBook format. It wasn’t until I saw a physical copy of my novel in print that I felt like a real writer. There is just something about holding your own book in your hand that makes it feel real. That’s just the best feeling in the world.

What inspired you to write your first book?

As I mentioned above, it was envisioning the ending of my first book and my love of outdoors and nature. When you are trying to sleep in the woods at high altitude with no one else around, it hits you that this is the perfect setting for a vampire novel. J

What would you like my readers to know?

Because I have two jobs, as a designer and a writer, I am not able to release the books as fast as I would like to. But if you’re a fan hang in there. Your patience will be rewarded with the conclusion of my Men of Brahm Hill series. I am so excited about what’s coming up! And thank you for being a fan!

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/christine.wenrick

Facebook Fan Page:   https://www.facebook.com/ChristineWenrickBooks?ref=hl

Twitter: @CWenrick  https://twitter.com/CWenrick

Website: http://www.christinewenrick.com/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=la_B0094YGA7U_B0094YGA7U_sr?rh=i%3Abooks&field-author=Christine+Wenrick&sort=relevance&ie=UTF8&qid=1396380022

Giveaway:

One randomly chosen Grand Prize winner will receive a $100 Amazon gift card and a runner up will receive autographed copies of Someone Else's Skye and Guarding Poppy (US only).

a Rafflecopter giveaway