Release Day

 Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Author, Lea Barrymire's

New Release

Alpha in Hiding

 

Lea Barrymire is here to talk about her new book Alpha in Hiding which is being release today at Ellora's Cave Publishing, Barnes & Noble and Kindle.  I had an opportunity to preview this novel and found the story to be a sizzling must read.  Her story has a unique twist with Seth starting out as weak wolf shifter, and Emily as the a strong Alpha female saddled with the task of turning this wayward male into the Alpha he was destined to be.  The transformation from weak, geeky male to charming and sexy as hell was refreshing.  He was not what I expected in an Alpha male, and the surprise twist in the story was intriguing and new.  The chemistry between these two characters and the sexual tension had me turning the page in anticipation of what was going to happen next.

 

 

Blurb:

It’s tough being the Alpha’s daughter. Emily Prescott spends half her life helping to manage the pack’s business and the other half putting horny he-wolves in their place. When her father sends her on a mission to bring a weak wolf into his shifter side, it seems like just another pain in her ass—until her bitch perks up and takes notice.

 

Seth has spent years fighting to keep his wolf at bay, but something about Emily brings out the animal in him. Wild sex with Emily turns into an uncontrollable urge to mate her and make her his. But Emily needs a strong mate—someone who can dominate and defend her. If weak, geeky Seth wants to woo her, he has some changing to do.

 

Excerpt 500 words:

With a sigh she approached the house again. The things she did for her father. Too bad she hadn’t listened to her hunch yesterday and ignored the call from him. When he’d asked her to dinner she’d known something was up, but again, it was her dad, so how could she refuse a meal invitation?

 

Damn it, I should have.

No one but her was allowed to turn down the Alpha. She rarely did, but yesterday should have been one of those times. When he’d opened the conversation with the bribe she should have listened to her instincts. A way out of the pack run had been the offer. The idea of avoiding another night of beating the shit out of a bunch of the single he-wolves in the pack was too good to pass up, though. She’d agreed to help someone who needed it before finding out what the problem was.

 

Well, now she was standing outside a house that contained the man supposedly in need of her assistance. What her father wanted was stupid. This male had ignored the pack’s invitations to participate in events for years. According to her dad, the pup was weak and had characteristics so unlike a shifter that someone needed to figure out what had happened. Was it a genetic defect or something entirely different? Her job was to try to bring the male around. Try to force his shifter nature to come forward by hanging out with him and seeing if that fixed his weaknesses.

 

“Fuck,” she huffed under her breath. With a quick rap on the door she sealed the deal. She would try to get this guy out of the house and see what happened if he was around another shifter for a couple of days.

 

She listened to the silence on the other side of the door for a moment, then pounded on the wood with a closed fist. Patience wasn’t one of her stronger traits. She tapped her foot, counting time until she could just bust the door down and let herself in. Finally she heard movement on the other side of the door. The sound of someone tumbling out of bed was loud in the early morning silence. She knew he pawed through some clothes and stumbled to the door. A lock and chain were disengaged before the door swung open.

Bleary brown eyes looked at her from under dark lashes. “Yeah?”

 

Emily stared at him and barely kept from baring her teeth. He was unshaven, un-showered and disheveled. She glanced up and down his frame and couldn’t find one redeeming feature. His dark hair was shorn close to his head. Glasses perched on his nose. Glasses, for cripes sake. On a shifter. That was almost unheard of. He’d thrown on a wrinkled concert T-shirt that was way too big for his slender frame. Sweatpants hung low off his hips. She swept her eyes back up and wrinkled her nose at what she saw. The whole package wasn’t impressive at all. Great. That would make her job so much easier…not.

 

“Are you done scoping me out and gonna tell me why you’re out here pounding on the door this early?” His voice, at least, was nice. Gravelly from sleep but deep and penetrating.

She stuck her hand out. “Seth Seymour, right? I’m Emily Prescott. My father sent me to speak to you.”

 

Blog Questions:

 

Tell us about your latest book.

 

Alpha in Hiding is my latest release, and as Erin said above, it’s about an Alpha female and a not-so-alpha male that get thrown together. Emily was a wonderful heroine to write. She’s strong, sexy and soft under all the bluster. I love how she developed throughout the story. Seth on the other hand, is a geeky, sneeze-ridden shifter that is so humanly weak that I wanted to smack him through the first chapters. Emily is tasked with drawing out the wolf, and the shifter characteristics, in our boy Seth. Over a weekend in the woods not only does he become friendly with his furry friend, but finds he has a hankerin’ for some alpha female.

 

When did you start writing?

 

Actually, I started one fate-filled evening after many a night of insomnia. I was living in Germany at the time, kidless and worry-free. I had an idea for a YA fantasy book. So, with a pile of loose-leaf paper and a pencil, I started writing. It took me 4 years to finish it. After that I didn’t attempt anything until a year ago. I sat down and started working on Cain’s Salvation, and the rest is history.

 

Where did the inspiration come from for Alpha in Hiding?

 

You might not believe it, but it just came to me. Most of my stories are just born, usually in the shower. LOL I read a lot of shifter books, but I hadn’t really seen a good “geek to alpha” book out there. Once the story starts taking shape in my head the characters take over and fill in the blanks for me.

 

Will you do more books about the wolf shifters?

 

Absolutely! I LOVE writing shifter books. I have a special place in my heart for wolves and all things big and predatory. As a teen I worked for a guy who did environmental education programs, and he had a pair of wolf pups. I learned a TON from that experience. I will never forget it, and anything I learned helps write the interplay between the characters.

 

What is your favorite thing about writing?

 

I love the escapism of the whole experience. I put headphones on, listen to hardcore metal, and lose myself in the words. Most of the time I’m not really sure where the story will go, or what the characters will say, so it’s as much an eye opener for me as it is the readers.

 

What do you find that is sexy about a man or a woman?

 

Hmm, I would say, on first impressions, beautiful eyes and a sincere smile are the first sexy things I notice about anyone. I am a sucker for dark eyes. I love a brilliant mind as well. Give me a geeky guy with a great smile and I’ll swoon just as much (or more) than over a muscled up pretty-boy. Superficial beauty doesn’t grab me like internal sunshine. Don’t get me wrong, I do love me some e-candy, but to truly find someone sexy I want to get in their head.

 

How do you juggle the demands of family and career versus writing?

 

That is a hard one. I’m definitely a multi-tasker by nature. All I can say is that I take any opportunity to write that I can get, that might mean sitting in my car during soccer practices with my laptop.

 

Wine or chocolate, what's your favorite?

Hmmm, can I answer both, please?! I would have to say dark chocolate is my favorite only because I have more chocolate-eating time logged than wine drinking. I do love a sweet wine, especially Rieslings. My hubby and I spent some time in the Rhine valley in Germany and I was exposed to lots of great wines.

You can purchase this book at the link below.

http://www.jasminejade.com/m-819-lea-barrymire.aspx

You can also find Lea Barrymire here at these sites...

leabarrymire@gmail.com

http://leabarrymire.blogspot.com/

https://twitter.com/#!/LeaBarrymire

http://www.facebook.com/people/Lea-Barrymire