Category: Vampires

Eva Muñoz on Writing, HEA, and the new release I Dare You to Break Curfew (Inshari Chronicles #1)

I Dare You to Break Curfew (Inshari Chronicles #1) by Eva Munoz

Harmony Ink Press/Dreamspinner Press

Published August 20th 2019

Cover Art: Kanaxa

Sales Links:

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host Eva Munoz here today talking about writing, happy endings, and the new release I Dare You to Break Curfew. Welcome, Eva!

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Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Interview with Eva Munoz

  • How much of yourself goes into a character?

A: I really see myself in Camron. My curiosity always gets me into more trouble then I should be in. I’ve had my share of rebelliousness in high school. Saying I can’t do something is the fastest way to actually get me to do it. How anyone hasn’t figured this out about me yet is a blessing.

  • Does research play a role into choosing which genre you write?  Do you enjoy research or prefer making up your worlds and cultures?

A: I research as I write. When I’m putting together a scene and something pops up that I need more information on, I do a quick Google search. As much as possible, I want all the information I have to come from the story itself, that way the world building is much stronger.

  • Do you like HFN or HEA? And why?

A: I’m a romance fan so an HEA is important to me. But, when I’m writing a series, the HEA only lasts until the end of the book. By the next book, everything is fair game. That is actually what is happening with the second book. Poor Camron.

  • Do you read romances, as a teenager and as an adult?

A: Yes. Anything with romance catches my attention. I love falling in love and I love reading about characters falling in love and the obstacles they face along the way. Reading romance is so satisfying even if you know what the ending will be. There is a comfort to that.

  • How do you feel about the ebook format and where do you see it going?

A: If you read I DARE YOU TO BREAK CURFEW, I specifically have a scene where Camron debates the merits of ebooks versus physical books. Since I stare at a screen for most of the day, reading from a physical book is a great rest from the bright LCD glare. Plus, the smell. Don’t we all love that book smell?

  • Do you have a favorite among your own stories?  And why?

A: I love this Inshari series because it’s my love latter to vampires. I grew up on Anne Rice and Twilight and Holly Black’s THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLD TOWN. I wanted to share the Inshari with the world and I can’t wait for all of you to read the next book in the series.

  • What’s next for you as an author?

A: Harmony Ink just signed my racing book that I can’t wait to share with all of you. Think Fast and Furious but with LGBT characters. All that high-octane action with a sprinkling of romance set in a murder mystery. This is going to be a cool book, I promise.

Blurb

Inshari Chronicles: Book One

To save humankind, Camron may have to fall in love.

Vampires are real, and they are called the Inshari. After Camron Masters breaks curfew the first time, he discovers them living beneath Braylin Academy. The second time he breaks curfew, he meets a mad scientist who convinces him to take part in an experiment in exchange for more information about the Inshari. A small pinprick later, Camron wakes up as one of them and finds himself bonded to the prince of his dreams—vampire or not, Troyan is dark, brooding, and oh so delicious. But there’s the enigmatic Zaire vying for his attention too. Or is Camron just a pawn in a centuries-old feud?

All Camron’s ever wanted was to live his own fairy tale. But there’s always a catch after meeting Prince Charming

 

 

About the Author

Eva Muñoz loves dreaming of worlds filled with hot guys falling in love with each other. She believes that love is love is love and everyone has a right to find their person. Her love for writing began in high school. It was because her teacher complimented a story she had written that put her on the path she is on today. She would spin yarns on her father’s electric typewriter, bind the pages together, and bring the finished product to school for her classmate to pass around and swoon over. Little did she know at the time that writing would be a career she never knew she wanted.

She may have taken a circuitous path towards her passion for writing, but when she finally made that decision to stick with it after countless rejections, she never looked back. A degree in creative writing helps too. When she’s not at her favorite coffeeshop thinking up new worlds and characters to explore, you can find Eva in a classroom teaching creative writing of all things. Talk about passion meets day job. Today she is molding impressionable minds the way her teacher once did for her.

Twitter: @EvaMunozAuthor

A Lila Review: I Dare You to Break Curfew (Inshari Chronicles #1) by Eva Munoz

Rating: 3.25 stars out of 5

To save humankind, Camron may have to fall in love.

Vampires are real, and they are called the Inshari. After Camron Masters breaks curfew the first time, he discovers them living beneath Braylin Academy. The second time he breaks curfew, he meets a mad scientist who convinces him to take part in an experiment in exchange for more information about the Inshari. A small pinprick later, Camron wakes up as one of them and finds himself bonded to the prince of his dreams—vampire or not, Troyan is dark, brooding, and oh so delicious. But there’s the enigmatic Zaire vying for his attention too. Or is Camron just a pawn in a centuries-old feud?

All Camron’s ever wanted was to live his own fairy tale. But there’s always a catch after meeting Prince Charming.

I Dare you to Break Curfew lives to its name. It’s the starting point to the story even when Camron was daring himself. It starts into the action and gives the reader a good understanding of the MC’s personality.

This  story has an interesting premise and a new world hidden in plain sight. The characters were well thought as well as the world, culture, and the differences with the real world. It also makes a clear distinction to what the reader believes to be vampires characteristics.

I like the dynamic between Troyan and Zaire. How they reacted to Camron and how he changed them. The Inshari’s world meshed with the action and its occupants. The secondary characters were an interesting bunch too.

My main issue with the story may be a good point in favor of the author. During parts of the story I was as confused as Camron. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel a connection to his internal turmoil. I was an spectator not a participant, which took me out of the story. I read two other books in between to take time away.

I do want to read the next books in the series to learn more about this interesting world.

The cover by Kanaxa is a bit generic but it shows the main characters in the story. It has the feel for the setting and style of the Inshari’s.

Sale Links: Amazon | Nook | Harmony

Book Details:
ebook, 238 pages
ISBN: 978-1-64405-002-6
Published: August 20, 2019, by Harmony Ink Press
Edition Language: English

Series: Inshari Chronicles
Book #1: I Dare You to Break Curfew

A Chaos Moondrawn Review: Through the Tears by Leigh M. Lorien

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5 

Rafe’s human lover Eamon disappears through a portal to a differnet world after a ghoul attack. Rafe is a low ranking lord and thinks the king will not help so he decides to rescue his lover himself. As Eamon battles the elements and strange culture of the ghoul world with the help of Beah, a native who helps him, Rafe battles ghouls to learn the secret of portals with his second in command Kiran. Larger evil is afoot than just ghouls jumping worlds to eat humans and what started as a horrible accident, leads into a possible war no one saw coming.

Rafe is called a rin, which is basically a vampire. I liked the lore used here. Even though the ideas aren’t radically unique, there are some interesting takes on common science fiction themes: interdimensional travel, feeding on blood/sex/energy, mind linking/control, bonded mates, turning on magic users, religion to control the population, the feudal type of setting, etc. Eamon is strange at first, full of fear and anger, like he can’t take control of himself and needs Rafe to (mentally) control him. I think this was meant to show him as submissive, but I’m not sure I like this characterization. Taking this out of the equation, Eamon is loyal and brave, even when frightened. I loved the flashback of how Rafe and Eamon met. At the beginning Rafe is cold, calm, and collected even after Eamon disappeares; then he seems to miss him slightly, but does go to look for him. By the end the I love yous are completely over the top, so I wish this had been a little more even handed. It would have made their reunion more impactful. Beah is a great trans character who gets treated horribly by his tribe. Be aware they are several depictions of misgendering, humiliation, and dead naming–although the author doesn’t allow the reader to know the dead name, which I appreciated.

This story could be a self contained adventure, but it’s also a larger story arc that will be picked up in the next book. The side characters like Kiren, Orienna, and the King are all intriguing, but there is little to them in this book. Eamon is the fish out of water in this tale. There is a little of Beah being a fish out of water as well, for some nice symmetry. It’s difficult in a first book with all the world-building, so I am hoping the next book works harder at holding/highlighting the emotional moments between the friends and lovers so they don’t get stomped on in all the politics and intrigue. Those are what gives me something to root for–to hope they win and save the day. There are twelve worlds and this book has only shown small parts of two, so there are so many different possibilities for future stories.

The cover art by Natasha Snow shows a desert through what appears to be a grimy window pane, which I take to be the portal between worlds.

Sales Links:

NineStar Press | Amazon | Smashwords | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Book Details:

ebook
Published July 8th 2019 by NineStar Press
ISBN 139781951057015
Edition Language English

An Alisa Audio Review : Prophesy (The King & Alpha #1) by A.E. Via and Nathaniel Black (Narrator)

Rating:  3 stars out of 5

Justice Volkov is the youngest Alpha Zenith to ever lead the wolf shifters. Following in his father’s large paw prints was a responsibility he met head on. Now at age thirty-three, he is alpha of the alphas. As a direct descendant of the original Siberian pack, his wolf is bigger and stronger than Justice, himself is sometimes able to control.

His wolf howled long and hard but Justice kept it inside. It felt like a bass drum beating against his rib cage. The harsh breaths, angry snarls and the determined pacing inside him was overtaking him.

Justice takes his role of leadership and his legacy very seriously. He has little time for romance, not to mention a true mate. His packs are his priority. With a human government trying to regulate them, an uprising of rogue shifters, and a violent team of scientists trying to experiment on them, Justice has his hands way too full.

Chadwick ‘Wick’ Bentley is not enthusiastic when the captain of his escort tells him he has to leave his comfortable London home and go back to the States. As the Vampire King, he has no choice but to get his species back in line before they cause anymore chaos. At over one-hundred years old, Wick is no one to trifle with, but his smooth, charismatic manner makes him quite unique, despite the negative reputation vampires have. Wick has had nothing but time up to this point. He doesn’t feel the need to make issues pressing. Nothing is urgent in his life. Until he meets Justice. His beloved.

“Natural enemies can’t be mates.” Or so Justice thought. He knows his skepticism and rejection is hurting his mate, so while he fights their connection, Wick gets help from a source very close to Justice to help him win his beloved’s heart. Wick is a force all on his own, but when he’s blessed with a special gift from the Mother herself, not even Justice’s powerful wolf can prevent the prophesy from being fulfilled.

This story DOES NOT contain/mention MPREG.
No multiple pairings. No cliffhangers. It ends with a very HFN.

Warning: This book is MM paranormal: If you DO NOT like hot, alpha men shifting into large wolves, or vampires feeding from their mates, this may not be your read.

So, this has been one of those books that I was unsure about when it first came out but figured the audiobook would be my best shot for actually finally try it out.  I really enjoy most of this author’s books and did enjoy this one (and I know there is a second book) but it just felt a bit unfinished to me, I am not sure why as I know the story arc is going to continue throughout the series but just felt that there was do much unsaid.

I loved that we got to see both Justice and Wick’s points of view and it helped to understand them more.  Now, I know there is the whole mates insta-love thing, which I love, but after a mate basically pushes the other away and suddenly changes their mind and is suddenly in love with their mate, I just had some trouble with that.  Justice means well and I know he has a lot on his plate but he just seemed to make a lot of small similar mistakes when it comes to the vampires’ way of life.  I felt more for Wick with how different and apart he felt from the other vampires but was so glad that Justice was there to help guide him though the changes he went through.  I unfortunately didn’t feel the love with the characters and didn’t feel their connection to each other.

This is my first book narrated by Nathaniel Black and he did a nice job.  His narration and the voices he used help me to keep track of the story and what was going on but I didn’t feel the emotion in his voice which I think was one of the reasons I didn’t feel the connection with the characters.

I liked how the cover art by Jay Aheer shows how different Justice and Wick are and it gives great visuals of the characters.

Sales Links: Audible | Amazon | Audiobooks.com

Audiobook Details:

Audiobook, 6 hrs 50 min
Published: June 19, 2018 by AE Via
Edition Language: English

Series: The King & Alpha Series #1