Samantha MacLeod's Blog, page 4
June 20, 2019
Free Fenris!
Promised to a cruel king, Sol must choose between following her heart or fulfilling her duty in this steamy fantasy romance inspired by Norse mythology.
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The Monster’s Lover, the first book in The Fenris Series, is FREE for the next five days!
Click here to claim your copy
Like what you’ve read? Click here to join my newsletter and I’ll send you a free copy of Tam Lin, my sexy modern take on the Scottish folktale.
June 18, 2019
Book Review: No Man Can Tame by Miranda Honfleur
There is so much to love about this fantasy romance from Miranda Honfleur.
From the world building to the tension to the unexpected vulnerabilities of strong characters, No Man Can Tame just nailed it!
[image error]And that cover! *swoon*
Yes, the writing is beautiful, and her world is nuanced and fascinating. But can we talk about those characters for a minute?!?
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The premise of No Man Can Tame is fairly straightforward: all kinds of magical creatures, both benevolent and malevolent, have suddenly appeared in the world thanks to a disaster you don’t really need to understand (but you will recognize if you’ve read Honfleur’s Blade and Rose series). Now, in order to save her kingdom from the newly returned monsters, Princess Alessandra has just been betrothed to one of them…the dark-elf Prince Veron.
She’s slightly less than thrilled.
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Prince Veron is just about as happy as you’d expect to learn he’s been ordered to marry one of the soft and bizarre humans, and that the two of them must then embark on a Royal Progress across the kingdom to flaunt their joyous union.
Naturally, the two characters do eventually find common ground, and the intimate scenes between them were a lovely blend of emotionally satisfying and scorching hot.
However, what I loved most about Alessandra and Veron’s story is how very much both of them grow and learn in order to preserve the peace they desire. Neither Alessandra nor Veron is perfect; both of them, to be honest, can be downright jerks. But it’s their believable vulnerability and their earnest desire to rise above the social tides pulling their cultures apart that I found so engaging, and that ultimately won me over.
When I finished No Man Can Tame, I felt a pang of genuine regret. Not only that the story had ended, but also because our world could really use a bit more of Princess Alessandra and Prince Veron.
Click here for No Man Can Tame
Like what you’ve read? Click here to join my newsletter and I’ll send you a free copy of Tam Lin, my sexy modern take on the Scottish folktale.
June 11, 2019
Meet the Characters: Angrboða
If you’ve read The Trickster’s Song, my re-telling of Loki’s attempt to steal Iðunn’s golden apples, or The Monster and the Prisoner, book three of The Fenris Series, then you’ve already met Fenris’s mother Angrboða.
Charming, isn’t she?
[image error]Angrboða’s mood board from my Pinterest page
Angrboða, Dutchess of the Black Isles, is a brutally ambitious woman trapped in a world where gender means everything.
Angrboða, Loki, and Sol’s home realm of Jötunheimr is a ruthless patriarchy where women and girls are the property of their husbands and fathers. Despite this, Angrboða has managed to climb into numerous positions of power… usually by seduction, manipulation, and promises of future glory.
If you’ve read The Monster Chained, you’ll know how well these machinations worked for her son Fenris. And Hel’s Lover gives you an idea of how well they worked for her first child, Hel.
Even before Fenris’s birth, Angrboða and Loki had a history of using each other for their own gain and pleasure, although they haven’t spoken much since she assaulted him in The Trickster’s Song (for those of you keeping score, yes, that’s when Fenris is conceived).
But, now that Óðinn has imprisoned their son, perhaps Angrboða and Loki will be able to work something out…
Click here to preorder The Monster Freed and find out!
June 9, 2019
100 Reviews!
This was a really nice way to wake up last Thursday:
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That’s right… 100 AMAZING people have reviewed The Trickster’s Lover on Amazon!
And that doesn’t even include the reviews on Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk, and my first ever review in German.
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To everyone who has taken the time to read that massive 100,000-word novel and THEN taken the time to share your thoughts with the world…
THANK YOU!
Writing is pretty damn isolating (surprise, surprise), and it always feels like a minor miracle to hear from people on the other end. So, seriously, you reviewers are freaking rock stars.
I wouldn’t be doing this without you! 
June 7, 2019
The Saga Ends July 30
To those of you who’ve stuck with Fenris and Sol since January, who have traveled from the Ironwood Forest to King Nøkkyn’s castle to the dubious safety of Val-hall…
THANK YOU!
The Fenris Series is drawing to a close, and it’s been intense.
I released a book a month for the first three months of this year, and now I’m halfway through my edits on the fifth and final book, The Monster Freed.
[image error] The Monster Freed mood board from my Pinterest page
To those of you who have bought the books, posted reviews, and preordered the next one: your support has kept me going. I honestly can’t thank you enough.
And, to those of you who are wondering what comes next for Fenris and Sol after that hella cliffhanger ending, here’s The Monster Freed‘s blurb.
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Fenris lies in chains, imprisoned on a desolate island by Óðinn the All-father.
Betrayed, alone, and pregnant, his wife Sol is forced to rely on the man whom legends have taught her to fear: Fenris’s father, Loki the Lie-smith. Together, Sol and Loki develop a plan to rescue Fenris from his prison in lake Amsvartnir.
Doing so might kill them all.
And success will force Fenris to surrender the very thing that kept him alive.
The Monster Freed comes out July 30. Preorder now and save yourself a buck!
Click here to preorder
Like what you’ve read? Click here to join my newsletter and I’ll send you a free copy of Tam Lin, my sexy modern take on the Scottish folktale.
May 30, 2019
Fenris Returns!
The Monster Chained, the fourth installment in the epic fantasy romance series inspired by Norse mythology, follows Fenris and Sol to the shores of Asgard and the mythical fortress of Val-hall.
Can Óðinn the All-father be trusted?
Is Val-hall truly the sanctuary Sol and Fenris are seeking?
And have they truly outrun the dark shadow cast by King Nøkkyn’s false prophecy?
You’re about to find out!
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The Monster Chained is now live and available on Amazon! You can even order the snazzy paperback version.
(Also, yes, I probably should have posted this on Tuesday. I had a migraine yesterday, yo.)
Click here for The Monster Chained
Like what you’ve read? Join my newsletter and I’ll send you a free copy of Tam Lin, my sexy modern take on the Scottish folktale.
May 16, 2019
Waking up with Loki
Not only does she write amazing literary erotica, she also just sent me this 100% perfect mug.
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Apparently, Janine found this mug while touring around England with fellow erotic author Craig Sorensen, who was kind enough to mail it to me.
And now I feel prepared for Ragnarok.
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Like what you’ve read? Join my newsletter and I’ll send you a free copy of Tam Lin, my sexy modern take on the Scottish folktale.
May 9, 2019
Oh, Fenris…
One of the many things I’ve really loved about writing Fenris are these awkward social interactions.
[image error]I liked it so much I made a picture!
Loki’s son Fenris is a guy who chose to live by himself in the woods for years. He just doesn’t get people.
His wife Sol understands that he means well, and he’s trying… but his lack of social skills and intuition is going to get both of them into serious trouble.
Starting, oh, around May 28…
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Like what you’ve read? Join my newsletter and I’ll send you a free copy of Tam Lin, my sexy modern take on the Scottish folktale.
May 6, 2019
Sneak Peek at The Monster Chained
Is Val-hall truly the sanctuary Óðinn promises? Or is it a beautiful trap?
You’ll find out this month!
The Monster Chained, book four in the five-book Fenris series, comes out May 28.
I’m *this close* to finishing my edits, and I’m hoping to send this one out to my amazing ARC team by next week. (Want to join the fun? Click here!)
But how about taking a little peek right now..?
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Sneak Peek at The Monster Chained
“Fenris!” Thor boomed, making me jump. “I said I’d show you something truly impressive, did I not?”
Before anyone could respond, Thor stepped past us and climbed onto the table. There, with his bare chest and rippling muscles illuminated by the torchlight, Thor put his hands on his hips and laughed. Beside me, Fenris hiccuped again. Thor turned to look down at us. He seemed impossibly huge.
“You aren’t such a terrible fighter, little Fenris,” Thor said. He was talking to us, but his voice carried through every corner of the hall. “And you’re even learning how to hold your mead. But you want to see real strength?”
Cheers again. Now it seemed like the entire feast hall was following the action.
“Bring me a chain!” Thor screamed.
The crowd started yelling, and a ripple moved through the warriors pressed on either side of the table. A moment later, two burly, grunting men shuffled forward dragging a length of thick, oily chain.
I stared in horrified fascination as the two men climbed on the table, pulling the chain with them. Thor, grinning and laughing, crossed his arms over his chest. The two men looped the chain around Thor’s bare torso and pulled tight. Two bands of dark metal crossed over his arms, each link as thick as one of Thor’s fingers. In the torchlight, the chain looked greasy and malevolent. Fenris hiccuped as the men stepped back, each holding their end of the chain taut.
Thor’s expression shifted from joviality to a dark seriousness. “This is true strength, little Fenris,” Thor boomed.
Thor took a deep breath, grunted, and began to flex his arms. The dark metal loops of the chain dug into Thor’s biceps as his arms strained and his face turned red. I gulped. He was Thor Óðinnsen, of course, but there was no damn way he could get out of this. He was going to look like a fool in front of all the warriors of Val-hall.
Thor grunted and strained, tilting his head toward the ceiling. Veins throbbed in his neck. The men on either side of him pulled hard, leaning away from Thor, the chains fast in their hands. The bare skin of Thor’s arms flushed red against the dark metal.
Something screeched, like the metallic shriek of a rusted hinge. Thor panted and heaved forward, causing the men holding the chains to scramble for footing against the table. That horrible screeching sound came again, only louder this time. Now it looked like the chains were sinking into Thor’s skin.
There was a dry, cracking snap, and a dark snake of metal reared into the air. The man who’d been holding the chain crashed backward, falling into the crowd. Thor screamed in triumph; thunder boomed just above the roof of Val-hall, shaking the very rafters. The chain fell in front of me with a clatter, crashing against plates and shattering a flagon of mead.
The crowd exploded with cheers, screaming Thor’s name in near-orgasmic ecstasy. Thor’s chest heaved as he caught his breath. Sweat dripped from his body, but it didn’t wash away the dark lines of the chains. I could almost see violet bruises blooming along his biceps, and I fought the sudden urge to touch him.
Now, I realized. Now is the time to go.
I grabbed Fenris’s hand and tugged. He met my eyes, swayed forward, hiccuped, and nodded.
“Fenris!” Thor said, spreading his arms as if he were invoking the entire crowd.
Shit! Not now! I tugged harder on Fenris’s hand, but he ignored me. All his drunken attention had settled on Thor.
Thor wiped his brow with one bruised forearm and gave Fenris a smile that seemed almost predatory. “Val-hall hasn’t seen your magic yet. You think you could do something that impressive, little cur?”
Fenris pushed himself to his feet. His palms spread flat on the table as if he were bracing himself on the furniture, but he looked up to meet Thor’s gaze. The feast hall grew silent.
“I could do that,” Fenris said. Slowly. Deliberately. “But… Don’t you have a bigger chain?”
[image error]Yes, Fenris makes bad choices
Click here to pre-order The Monster Chained
Like what you’ve read? Join my newsletter and I’ll send you a free copy of Tam Lin, my sexy modern take on the Scottish folktale.
April 25, 2019
Loki Lives!!!
I’m not sure what, if anything, is going to happen to our favorite trickster when Avengers: Endgame opens this Friday night.
But Loki is alive and well in my books!
And, for the rest of April, you can download the first book in The Loki Series, The Trickster’s Lover, for free.
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Click here for The Trickster’s Lover
Like what you’ve read? Join my newsletter and I’ll send you a free copy of Tam Lin, my sexy modern take on the Scottish folktale.
