Tag: superheroes

Interview with Author Nana Malone on Superheroes in Romance

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Author Interviews> Author Q&A> blog tours

I’d like to welcome Nana Malone to Reading Reality today to tell us a bit about her thrilling (and deliciously sexy) superhero romance series, The Protectors. The first book, Reluctant Protector, is available free, so there’s no excuse not to dive right into Nana’s world of genetic experiments, brave escapes, and superhero rescues. Once you’re thoroughly hooked, Forsaken Protector (see review) will take you for another wild adventure.

But first, let’s see what Nana has to say about her writing, and her inspirations for this world of superpowers and super-villains.

Marlene: Welcome, Nana! Please tell us a little bit about yourself. Could you give us a picture of your non-writing life?

Nana: Oh I’m just your average Ghanaian/American girl who lives in sunny San Diego with an American husband who thinks my family is crazy.  My Big Fat Greek Wedding has nothing on us.  In my infinite spare time, I chase around my two year old trying to tame her wild mane of hair, try and corral my spunky Scottie and occasionally let my hubby pamper me.

Marlene: Reluctant Protector and Forsaken Protector are both well, superhero love stories. (Very cool, by the way!) What inspired you to write the series?

Nana: When I started thinking about doing a superhero romance, it was back when Heroes was on.  I kept thinking about all the places they could have gone with that story and didn’t.  Then when I started watching Alphas, I kept thinking about ways to evolve the superhero lexicon.  I wanted something that was believable for the modern world.  Like this could happen to you or your neighbors best friend.  But I also wanted it to be dark and explore the darker side of what happens when you have all this power and no one to relate to.

Marlene: Do you think that genetic engineering will be capable of creating “super soldiers” like Symone and Garrett sometime in the near future, or even in our lifetimes?

Nana: We’re already getting there.  I don’t know how many of you were watching the Olympics, but they had a world class runner competing with prosthetic legs.  The advances science and technology are making are huge.  I think if not in our generation then in my daughter’s for sure.

Marlene: In Forsaken Protector, Garrett is the only person that Symone is able to touch because of her powers. It almost feels like he’s her “fated mate”. Is that concept a part of the Protectors series, or is it a coincidence?  

Nana: Well, I don’t believe in coincidence.  I think we all have paths to travel and every decision we make helps us get there.  I also think there are different paths that can be taken to get there. For Symone and Garrett if they didn’t met when they did, I think they would have eventually met.  As for her not being able to touch anyone but him.  I think it has a lot to do with letting your guard down around someone.  Your real guard where someone sees the real you.  We don’t do that often as human beings.  Makes us entirely too vulnerable.  I think when Cassie and Symone found their partners in Seth and Garrett, they were at the point in their lives that they needed to be a little vulnerable to survive.  That’s kind of the running theme through out the books.

Marlene: Do you plan everything or just let the story flow?

Nana: I have a rough outline for the first draft, then a more detailed one after that to assist in plugging holes etc for my first round of edits.

Marlene: Do your characters ever want to take over the story?

Nana: All the time and I let them sometimes.  I can be very stubborn.

Marlene: Who first introduced you to the love of reading?

Nana: My parents.  I was reading at an early age and I have these faint memories of being in Ghana and being surrounded by books.  Either at home or at my grandparents’ place.

Marlene: Who influenced your decision to become a writer?

Nana: Helen Fielding 🙂 It wasn’t until I read her book with her style of humor and wit that I had the courage to do it myself.

 

Marlene: What book would you recommend that everyone should read, and why that book?

Nana: Yeesh, books are intensely personal.  All dependent on life experience and what your path is. But my favorite for triumphing against adversity is Kaffir Boy by Mark Matherbane.

 

Marlene: Can you share some info about your upcoming projects? Will there be a sequel to Forsaken Protector? Please?

Nana: Oh yes, there will be additional books in the Protectors series.  Next up is a fun contemporary called Sultry in Stilettos, then the next Protectors book, Wounded Protector.  After that will be another contemporary novella that’s the sequel to Game, Set, Match.  Next year we’ll be seeing more of the Protectors.   That series is meant to be 12 books.

Marlene: Now can you tell us 3 reasons why people should read your books?

Nana: They’re fun escapism.  IF you love intense love stories, then they are for you.  And if you like it steamy, then I’m your gal! Plus who doesn’t love a superhero.

Marlene: Coffee or Tea?

Nana: I’m not really a hot drinks person 🙂

Nana, I think you made my day when you said there are meant to be 12 Protectors books. That is definitely something to look forward to! But part of me is still back at the Heroes/Alphas mashup thing. That’s my kind of concept.

Thanks so much for answering all my questions. I can’t wait to find out what the next chapter is in your superhero saga. Who is wounded and who is their protector? Write fast, pretty please?

Review: Forsaken Protector by Nana Malone

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews

Forsaken Protector is more superhero romance than paranormal romance, with a little bit (maybe a lot) of science fiction by way of genetic manipulation thrown in for very good measure. And it so works.

Gentech Labs has been shut down for a year when Forsaken Protector begins. (For that story, get Reluctant Protector. It’s good and it’s free!) But the young men and women that Peter Reeser used in his genetic experiments have been altered for life, against their wills and without their permission. They just have to live with the powerful, unpredictable and sometimes awful results.

Symone Jackson received one of the more awful results. Enhanced strength and speed, the ability to heal herself, and one nasty side-effect. Anyone she touches gets an electric shock. A potentially lethal electric jolt. Sort of like one of the X-Men, Storm, but with way less control over her powers. Symone can’t touch anyone without barriers. No hugs, no kisses, no lovers. She can’t lose control. Ever.

Symone is being watched. Garrett Hunter has a mission to capture the computer hacker/terrorist Symone Jackson. Only problem is that none of his target’s behavior matches that of a terrorist. She works at a youth center, counseling teens to stay off the streets, she feeds stray cats, she goes to the library. But when she stops a gang of street-toughs from assaulting a girl, Garrett knows for certain he’s been lied to. Terrorists don’t stop would-be rapists. And no one else besides his unit is supposed to have the same kind of powers that he has. Powers that he’s just watched Symone demonstrate in no uncertain terms.

Among his powers, Garrett is an empath. He hates liars. And his mission just went totally pear-shaped.

Garrett knows about the genetic experimentation. He went to Symcore Industries and asked to be part of a new military program. His career in the military was ending, and not by his choice; he was in the beginning stages of ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease. The “super soldier” program didn’t just cure him; it made him stronger, faster, and gave him X-Men-type powers like empathy. But he’d been told that his unit was the first group in the experiment. Now he knew something was off. He just wondered how much.

And Symcore had his kid brother, Michael. Their family has a history of the disease. Garrett went into the program, not just to save himself, but also in the hope that Symcore could find a cure for Michael before the disease got him, too. But Garrett knows that if there is one lie, there are usually more. He has to talk with Symone, and find out if anything he was told is the truth.

And as soon as they try to communicate. all hell break loose. He knows she’s telling the truth. He can feel it. And Symone knows that he’s been altered, just like she has. And that the experiments are still going on.

And one more thing. Whatever form the power has taken in Garrett, Symone can touch him. All over. And isn’t that a complication she didn’t need when a whole set of super-soldiers is chasing after her.

Except now she has one on her side. If she can bring herself to trust him. If she can afford to let herself care.

And if Garrett’s former buddies don’t get them both killed before they can get to safety. If there is any safety left.

Escape Rating B+: Think of Nana Malone’s Protectors series as the X-Men with romance instead of philosophy, and you’ve got a good picture. Or maybe Lora Leigh’s Breed series, substituting superpowers for shapeshifting. Or mix well and stir.

But definitely those two things tossed together to make a delicious (and hot and steamy) story. The genetic experiment gets superpowers, and the kids were unwilling lab rats, and tortured. That’s from Reluctant Protector. Peter Reeser was a psychopath/sociopath, a couple of other ‘paths, but brilliant.

Anytime you have a military contractor looking to make super-soldiers, something always gets out of control, and that’s where Symcore comes in. Garrett signs up willingly, but it doesn’t end there. And that whole “need to know” covers a lot of sins. Once he starts asking questions, he gets burned.

There’s a bit of the “fated mate” trope hinted at. I’m not sure whether they are, or it just feels like it. Whether anyone from the program could have helped Symone figure out how to control her powers, or whether it had to be Garrett. Maybe we’ll find out in later stories.

Overall, both books in the series have been tremendous fun.

Ebook Review Central, Samhain Publishing, May 2012

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Ebook Review Central> ebooks

Happy Monday! That means that Ebook Review Central is back. And we’re featuring Samhain Publishing’s May 2012 titles. And what a diverse group of titles they are!

Samhain covers everything imaginable, and this month is no exception. On one side, they have the nostalgic days of yesteryear, with their Retro Romances. And as far on the opposite corners from Retro sweetness as it could possibly get, Samhain has both a Horror imprint on one hand and this month two Science Fiction Romance series; Joely Skye’s Minders series for those who prefer their SFR to be Male/Male Romance, and the anthology series Midnight Justice, for those who prefer Male/Female SFR romantic action. With 35 titles in the list, there was bound to be something for everyone.

Also a few titles that may not have been for anyone. Some things didn’t garner any reviews this month, even on Goodreads and Amazon.

There was one title that seems to have been for just about everyone. At least, a lot of people read it, liked it, and said so. This week’s number one title was easy to pick! Joely Sue Burkhart’s Yours To Take stood out from the very large crowd in the list with 16 reviews, including top ratings on several blogs. Why was Yours To Take so well received? It looks like several factors. This is book three in Burkhart’s Connaghers series, and series books have built-in, or pent-up, demand. Added to that, Yours To Take taps into the ongoing interest in BDSM/Kink stories stirred up by 50 Shades. The Connaghers series should be on a lot of lists for readers interested in stories to read after that, and the whole series (Dear Sir, I’m Yours #1, Take Me #1.5, Hurt Me So Good #2)  gets high marks from reviewers.

The second featured title for this week is Hard Tail by JL Merrow. This Male/Male contemporary romance is a sweet love story that deals with some very hard issues. Tim gets laid off and divorced, at just about the same time. That kind of cosmic kick in the pants makes you re-examine which way your life is going. While his brother recovers from some injuries, Tim steps up and manages his bike shop for him. After all, he has the time. Time to discover that he’s a lot happier managing the bike shop than he ever was in the corporate world. And that part of the reason his marriage died is because he’s never let himself think about how far in the closet he’s been. But Matt, the repair tech at the bike shop, reminds him of why. But Matt has some problems of his own. An abusive boyfriend that he needs to free himself from before he can be ready to be involved with someone new. Reviewers loved the humor and discovery in this story. And also Tim’s cat clearly owns the bike shop and everyone in it.

The third and final featured title is the Midnight Justice anthology. This is a superhero romance containing three separate books, Blade of Moonlight by Kimberly Dean (#1), Superlovin’ by Vivi Andrews (#2) and Breaking Bad by Jodi Redford (#3). What you have here is a universe of good versus evil, with secret identities and crime fighters with super powers who fight in masks. Except that unlike the caped crusaders on TV, there’s also a lot of kinky sex involved. There’s also mind-controlling soda. Just in case you ever wondered about the “Secret Formula” for your favorite soft drink. These just read like sexy comic-book style fun to most reviewers.

So there you have this week’s features for Samhain Publishing. Kinky, bike-riding superheroes. Wait a minute, that’s not all in the same book. Maybe someone will have to write that one.

After looking at the Midnight Justice superhero stories, I simply can’t resist the Batman thing. So, we’ll be back next Monday with another exciting episode of Ebook Review Central. Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!

Batgirl vs. Marian

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Librarians

Librarians need a new stereotype. And I know just where to find one. The Mary Sue: A Guide to Geek Girl Culture, has picked 10 Action Librarians from books, movies, TV and Anime. Whether you agree with those particular choices, well, as the car ads state, your mileage may vary. But the concept, I like.

We, meaning all of us librarians, know that there are really only two librarian stereotypes: the old lady with her hair in a bun, finger to her lips, going “shush” (a difficult image for the male librarians among us), and the “hot” librarian, unbuttoning her previously buttoned and repressed self.

If you don’t believe me, check out the entries for librarian at the tvtropes wiki. The shushing bun-wearer is the scary librarian, and the unbuttoned hottie is the hot librarian. Teachers have way more cool options than we do.

“Marian the Librarian” is both a character and a song from the play (and movie) The Music Man. As portrayed by Shirley Jones in the movie, Marian is a stereotypical small-town librarian in the early 1900s. She is a spinster, she lives at home with her mother, and she doesn’t trust men. What an image for us to live with!

Batgirl, on the other hand, is a superhero. She is the daughter of Police Commissioner Gordon in Gotham City, home of Batman. When daddy doesn’t let her join the police force, librarian Barbara Gordon decides to become a crime fighter on her own terms, by inventing her secret identity. Librarian by day, Batgirl by night.

In one version of the DC Comics universe, Batgirl is shot and crippled by the Joker. She emerges from the shadows as the wheelchair-bound Oracle. What better way for a librarian to contribute to the cause of fighting crime than as an oracle?  Oracles have always been considered to be people who provide wise counsel, or make authoritative and influential pronouncements.  Oracles have often been able to see the future. So Batgirl, no longer able to kick-butt physically, still does it with data. Sounds like a superhero librarian to me.

The other issue with all the current librarian stereotypes is that they are universally female and/or passive. Well, what about Rupert Giles in Buffy? Not passive, not female, not a milquetoast. Certainly not enough hair to put up in a bun. And definitely saves the world more than a few times.

And last but not least, at least for me, the Librarian in the Discworld, who was transformed into an orangutan when a spell went wrong. The Librarian would probably say that the spell went right, if he could say anything except “Ook”. He certainly won’t let anyone change him back. He likes being an orangutan. What I envy him is his access to L-space, the extra-dimensional space that connects all great libraries together and allows the keepers of those libraries to move from library to library through L-space. His ability to move from the stacks at Unseen University to, say, the Library of Congress to the library on Trantor to the British Library…now that’s a super-power.

On second thought, I still want to be Batgirl.