The Phoenix Rising Series by Alexandra Christian is on virtual book tour. The science fictiom romance stops at Readeropolis with an...
The Phoenix Rising Series by Alexandra Christian is on virtual book tour.
The science fictiom romance stops at Readeropolis with an author guest post.
Be sure to enter for a chance to win the giveaway for a $25 Amazon GC or a swag pack (1 winner each) and follow the Silver Dagger book tour (for other dates see the link at the bottom of the post).
Top Five Favorite Books
Alexandra Christian
As a writer, one of the most important things you can do to hone your skills is to read. As a great man once said, “if you don’t have time to read, then you don’t have time to write.” I’ve always taken that to heart and tried my best to read not only in my own genre, but also across others. Here are some of my favorite books, in no particular order—
- Pet Sematary by Stephen King: This is possibly my favorite book of all time. I’ve read it countless times and enjoy it more every time. In fact, it’s the first book I downloaded on my first kindle so that I could always have it with me. It’s really a study in how to construct a story that’s engrossing, heart-wrenching, and at the same time scary as hell.
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte: I came to this book later than most. I read it on my own in college when I was going through a deeply gothic romantic phase. The language is among the most beautiful in all of literature, in my opinion. And of course the tragic romance of Heathcliff and Catherine is sexual and sad and cathartic. There’s also a ghost story woven through that adds a twinge of creepy that we can still see in good gothic paranormal romances today.
- Beauty’s Punishment by Anne Rice (writing as Anne Roquelaire): I would strongly recommend that anyone who is interested in writing erotic romance or erotica read the Beauty series. Beauty’s Punishment is the 2nd in the series and is my favorite, but all three of the original series is good (Rice released a 4th a couple of years ago and it was really tame in comparison). Fair warning, nothing is taboo in these books. There are incidents of heavy bondage, bestiality, power exchange, discipline, horseplay, dubious consent, group sex, obscure fetishes—whatever you can think of, it’s probably graphically detailed in the story. However, Rice’s gift for language makes even the raunchiest of acts sensual and gorgeous. Another warning—THIS BOOK IS NOT AN INSTRUCTION MANUAL. E.L. James got a lot of flack (and rightly so) for her depiction of BDSM in her 50 Shades series. The BDSM acts and sexual slavery that are depicted in the Beauty books are functions of the world in which the fairy tale takes place. It’s safe to say that you shouldn’t try any of this at home, kids.
- The Bride by Julie Garwood: An old school romance in every sense of the word. At times it teeters on the edge of bodice ripping, but it’s sooooo good. It was one of my mother’s favorite books and I must have inherited the gene. It’s a costume Scottish historical ( I mean, don’t go looking for extreme accuracy here) with an arranged marriage, an English virgin, and a sexy laird in a kilt. Need I say more? Diana Gabaldon probably owes quite a bit to this story and if you like that sort of dynamic, you’ll love this book. It’s also hilariously funny, which I always appreciate in a romance.
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling: I’m a total Potterhead (Go Ravenclaw!). I love every one of the books, but the story of Snape and Lily Potter is what elevates this one above all the others for me. A lot of people may poo-poo the Potter series as being kiddie books, but most writers of “adult” fiction could learn a lot from reading them. Rowling is the master of leaving clues for the reader, making pieces fit together, and having a through-line arc for the series that comes to a satisfying conclusion while also telling satisfying, individual stories within that arc. I’ve read so many series where there’s all this build up to the endgame over the course of several books only to have it fizzle. By the time Harry faces Voldemort at the end of Deathly Hallows, the reader is ready for an epic battle and it does not disappoint.
There. I hope I’ve given you some fodder for your TBR pile. This list could go on and on. There were so many I left out, but I tend to be long-winded, so I’ll hush now. Just remember to find those books you love and tell everyone about them.
Naked
Phoenix
Rising Book 1
by
Alexandra Christian
Genre:
SciFi Romance
OUT OF THE STACKS
Librarian
Phoebe Addison has lived her entire life within a seventy-five mile
radius of her small Louisiana town, but when she receives a strange
medallion from her adventurous, off-world sister, reality tilts
toward the bizarre. Everything Phoe thought she knew is…well,
wrong. Dead wrong. But bone-numbing fear has no place in this brave
new world—nor by the side of the dangerous, exquisite man who saves
her life.
…AND
INTO THE FIRE
Following
the tragic slaughter of his family, operative Macijah “Cage” St.
John understands evil in a way no man ever should. He traded
happiness for a magnificent and terrible power, and fate isn’t done
with him yet. He wasn’t looking for comfort. He didn’t need
tenderness. But today he’ll play hero to a damsel in distress, and
his quest will deliver him to the uncanny Martian colony of New
London—and his heart to the demure Phoebe Addison. The bookish
beauty’s hidden talents and deep abiding love just might save Cage
from himself.
NeoGeisha
Phoenix
Rising Book 2
BACK...
Macijah
"Cage" St. John' didn't want the spy life anymore. He would
have been thrilled to spend every morning lying in the field behind
Phoe's home in smalltown Louisiana watching the clouds roll by. But
his Miss Addison wanted to spread her wings, literally. So Cage
accepted a mission that teamed him up with his lady love. If only he
had trusted her.
TO
THE FUTURE
Everything
about being a spy was a million times more exciting, and scarier,
than the books she'd read in her former life as a librarian. When her
first mission with Cage turned into a colossal clusterf*ck because he
withheld information and kept secrets, Phoebe's world narrowed into a
long tunnel of betrayal. Captured by space pirates and delivered to a
horrible fate, she wished the last words between them had been of
love, because she was certain she would never see Cage St. John
again.
In
NeoGeisha, Alexandra Christian returns to the intriguing,
post-apocalyptic world she created in Naked. Cage and Phoe continue
to build their relationship, but not without complications. Romantic
conflict and fast-paced action keep the pages turning, right down to
the satisfying ending. ~ Nancy Northcott, Author of the Light Mage
Wars series
NeoGeisha
hit all my personal high points: wild adventure, sheet-scorching sex,
killer machines, thousands-to-two odds and a vampire shape-shitfting
James Bond in space. ~Vivien Jackson, Author of Wanted and Wired
series
In
Absinthia
Phoenix
Rising Book 3
ALL INCLUSIVE VICTORIANA & STEAMPUNK
Interplanetary
master spies, Macijah "Cage" St. John and Phoebe Addison
are forced to take vacation time, and she wants to go to Absinthia,
an off-world all inclusive interactive vacay planet set up as
Victorian London, but with all the future comforts. Cage doesn't do
down time, but their boss has other ideas, so begrudgingly, Cage
agrees to go to Absinthia. Within a day of their arrival, they get
embroiled in a Ripper copy cat series of murders complete with
séances, "altered" humans, kidnapping, and affairs of the
heart - their hearts, which will always belong to each other.
Out
of Ashes
Phoenix
Rising Book 4
THE LOVE YOU TAKE IS EQUAL TO THE LOVE YOU MAKE
Phoebe
Addison and Macijah "Cage" St. John have so much going on
they can barely take a breath. Interplanetary master spies who
generally drive their boss crazy, they are now trying to track down
the person - is a skin walker a person? - who tried to kill him at
their engagement party. Yeah, they were talked into returning to
Louisiana so the whole town could show up and gawk at Cage. But they
have bigger problems than usual when tracking an assassin. Secrets
that have been buried for too many years are about to be uncovered if
Cage and Phoe can survive the people, vampires and "things"
that are trying to kill them. And to top if off, Phoe has a secret
she's sure will send Cage into a tailspin. But, as with everything
they have lived through to be together, their love is the constant
that is its own reward.
Alexandra
Christian is an author of mostly romance with a speculative slant.
Her love of Stephen King and sweet tea has flavored her fiction with
a Southern Gothic sensibility that reeks of Spanish moss and deep
fried eccentricity. As one-half of the writing team at Little Red Hen
Romance, she’s committed to bringing exciting stories and
sapiosexual love monkeys to intelligent readers everywhere. Lexx also
likes to keep her fingers in lots of different pies having written
everything from sci-fi and horror to Sherlock Holmes adventures. Her
alter-ego, A.C. Thompson, is also the editor of the highly successful
Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes series of anthologies from
Mocha Memoirs Press. A.C. will also pen several Shadow Council
Archives novellas starring everyone’s favorite sidekick, Dr. John
Watson, coming soon from Falstaff Books.
A self-proclaimed “Southern Belle from Hell,” Lexx is a native South Carolinian who lives with an epileptic wiener dog and her husband, author Tally Johnson. Her long-term aspirations are to one day be a best-selling authoress and part-time pinup girl. She’s a member of Romance Writers of America and Broad Universe—an organization that supports female authors of speculative fiction.
A self-proclaimed “Southern Belle from Hell,” Lexx is a native South Carolinian who lives with an epileptic wiener dog and her husband, author Tally Johnson. Her long-term aspirations are to one day be a best-selling authoress and part-time pinup girl. She’s a member of Romance Writers of America and Broad Universe—an organization that supports female authors of speculative fiction.
Follow the tour HERE for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!
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Well I bet she did have a good time then. Lol Thanks so much great cover I love that.
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