What A Prize!!!!

Announcing the new paranormal book series from Ellora’s Cave!

Emerald Isle Fantasies

 

Blurb:

When guests check into the historic Castle Tullamore Hotel they expect bucolic scenery and luxurious service. What they don't anticipate is along with the 5 star accommodations they'll also get drawn into lots of otherworldly Irish mischief and erotic enchantment.

 

At Tullamore there are ghostly lovers, griffin-shifters, vampires, selkies, witches and werewolves waiting to lure the lonely and the adventurous into forbidden realms. The castle grounds are riddled with time portals where the unwitting can experience vivid adventures in other timelines. For the most part the hotel appears to be just a lovely Irish castle until things get wild and reality drops from underfoot like a swinging trapdoor.

 

Katalina Leon’s contribution to the Emerald Isle Fantasies series is Lord Griffin’s Prize and it is available now! http://www.ellorascave.com/lord-griffin-s-prize.html

 

Tessie:  Congratulations on your new release, Kat!!!! Please tell us a little bit about Lord Griffin’s Prize.

 

Katalina:  Tullamore Castle Ireland is an enchanted place where the unexpected happens. Phantom lovers materialize in haunted beds and a lonely griffin patrols the ramparts waiting to reclaim its mate. And that’s just the beginning.

For the adventure of a lifetime Maeve de’Burgo visits Tullamore to study genealogy. Through a magical act and time travel she becomes embroiled in a dangerous medieval romance and the unfinished life of her ancestor. Maeve gets thrown back in time to be captured, ravished and cherished as a war chief’s prize.

 

Ronan O’Griofa is a griffin-shifter, the most loyal of creatures. He’s been trapped in limbo as the avenging guardian of Tullamore since 1332 AD and longs to be free. When the soul of his wife returns to the castle he’s granted the privilege of becoming a man for one day to be her lover, win her heart and remind Maeve of a bond strong enough to last an eternity.

 

Tessie: How was the collaborative experience with the other Emerald Isle authors?

 

Katalina:  The Emerald Isle Fantasies collaboration was easy and came naturally. I’ve made a lot of good friends in the group. The project was started almost eighteen months ago. We were all Ellora’s Cave authors who were reassigned to a new editor based in Ireland. Our editor’s husband worked in the hospitality industry at a real Irish castle turned hotel. Pictures of his workplace were posted and the “Oohing and Ahhing” started immediately. Brainstorming to create our own fictitious castle filled with paranormal Irish high jinx and lots of unsuspecting guests was the next logical step.

 

Tessie:  Why did you choose to write the story of a griffin-shifter?

 

Katalina:  Griffins have always had a special place in my heart. According to 9^th century Irish author Stephen Scotus, griffins mate for life and are “highly monogamous.” If a mate dies the other will never re-mate, and that played a big part in my story. Griffins rule both air and land with justice and loyalty. So you see its hard to not love a griffin!

 A few years ago, as an anniversary gift, my husband gave me a beautiful bronze casting of a griffin to place next to my writing desk. The Griffin is there as a symbol of eternal love and loyalty. My husband’s a griffin at heart; he’s protective, loyal and he never turns his back on his responsibilities. I brought as much of that sentiment as I possibly could to Lord Griffin’s Prize.

 

Tessie:  What characteristics of your hero/heroine do you like best?

 

Katalina:   I love Maeve. She’s basically a strong woman who’s recovering from a humiliating divorce. She’s a little fragile when she first arrives at Tullamore, but no fool. While researching a distant ancestor she was named for, Maeve is confronted by the spirit of her long lost soul mate—a medieval Irish war chief named Ronan. Maeve’s never meet a man like this in the modern world and she’s swept away by him. The adventure demands she be brave and take a whopping big leap of faith, and a few leaps through time as well.

I simply fell in love with Ronan. He’s all heart and self-sacrifice. He epitomizes all that’s good about griffins. In the end his loyalty to a good cause earns him a little justice. He’s been trapped in the form of a griffin for seven hundred years, but when Maeve’s soul returns to Tullamore he’s allowed one day, from sun up to sun down to take the form of man and win her heart. I absolutely loved writing these two characters and giving them a happily ever after.

 

Tessie:  WOW!! I positively adore a story with a romance so soul-deep it spans time! Thanks so much for being here today, Kat.

 

Katalina:  Thank you, Tessie!

Also Jennifer LaRose’s Phantom Mischief is available now. Den Garson’s Ghostly Persuasion and Rebecca Royce’s Crimson Lust will be available soon! And there will be more…

Have a wonderful weekend!

Tessie
www.tessiebradford.com