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Thursday, March 23, 2017

Blog Tour: A. M. Manay's She Marches Through Fire

It's finally here: the final book in A.M. Manay's November Snow series!

There aren't many things that cause me to go all fangirl, but this series is one of them! I am pleased to welcome A.M. Manay, one of my favorite authors of all time to my blog today.

Psychic vampire November Snow must battle grief, injury, and her own family as she fights evil on all sides. She seeks a cure for the poison sapping her strength and a fairy weapon as powerful as it is dangerous to wield. When it is time to save the innocent and gain justice for her maker, will she find the strength to march through the fire?


Title: She Marches Through Fire (November Snow Book 3)
Series: November Snow
Author: A.M. Manay
Cover design: A.M. Manay
Release Date: March 28, 2017
Genre: Supernatural fantasy
 
AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER at most booksellers: books2read.com/u/4AgGAN



 Once again, I had the privilege of beta-reading this one, so I got my November Snow fix early. Manay delivered once again in this book. When I beta read, I highlight passages on my Kindle with tiny comments like, "love" or "dropped kindle." This book was filled with these comments. Moments took me by surprise time and time again, and I had no idea what was going to happen in advance. 

What I love the most about these books is the incredibly deep characters Manay creates. Luka Lazzari affected me in the first book, and his hold on me (and November) only grows through the rest of the series. 

Here is my official review (and scroll to the end of the post for links to my reviews of the other books in the series):


A.M. Manay has written the November Snow characters into my soul. November embodies goodness, a tall order for a vampire, but Manay’s true skill shines through Luka Lazzari, one of the most complex characters I have had the pleasure to read. Love him, hate him, love him again—Manay’s portrayal of Luka’s centuries-long journey blossoms in the final chapter of November Snow’s story.

I have read She Dies at the End, She Lights up the Dark, and She Sees in Her Sleep twice each. I’m looking forward to reading She Marches Through Fire for a second time on March 28 because I want to spend time with November, Luka, Nigel, Zinnea, and the others. I miss them! (And by the way, I don’t usually read vampire/paranormal/supernatural books!)

  And now for the good stuff!

 

 

Dirty Excerpt

From A.M. Manay:

Since my host today tends toward the steamy side of life, I thought I’d give you an excerpt of one of the naughtier sections of my forthcoming novel, She Marches Through Fire.  If you’d like to find out just how things work out for my heroine and her “frenemy,” as well as just how they came to this pretty pass, don’t forget to pre-order your copy before March 28th.


Luka and November landed hard on their behinds in a pitch dark room.  Luka tried to stand up and promptly bonked his head on the low ceiling.
He swore and whispered, "Where the hell are we?"
"Under the church," November replied.  "The one where I was hiding when Nigel found me."
"They're probably watching it," Luka scolded.
"Yeah.  Good thing we didn't use the door, then, huh?" she retorted, then stuck out her tongue.
"Fair point," Luka allowed.  "If we keep quiet and leave the same way we came in, I suppose we'll be alright."
"That was the idea."
November stretched out on the floor.  Luka joined her, still rubbing the back of his head.
"Do you think the humans will know we're here?  I mean, that we're here in the Bay Area, not right here, specifically," she clarified.  November sounded fretful and a bit shaken, now that the immediate crisis had passed.
"Maybe not.  I checked before we left the library.  William's folk had disabled all the exterior cameras before they struck.  Same at the hotel.  Raina swept up the evidence left behind: weapons and phones.  A couple of wallets.  We turned them off and chucked them in your bag to go through later.  We might have missed one, but hopefully Birch grabbed it before any humans could.  The car wreck might be an issue, if it was caught on camera.  And they'll wonder why no one was in the wreckage.  But since all the vehicles were stolen, the drivers fleeing the scene is not too hard to explain away.  It comes down to whether we have any luck, really."
"Great," November replied bleakly.  "Surely, I'll have some of that one day."
"Are you alright?" Luka asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine.  I routinely execute family members who are beating other family members to death, after I kill a couple of strangers in a parking lot.  Totally normal Tuesday for me."
"You don't have to be all sarcastic about it," Luka scolded. 
He turned on his side to face her, propping his head up on an elbow.  She stared stubbornly at the ceiling, her hands tensely entwined in the edges of her jacket, her breath shallow.
"You defended yourself and your allies.  You did nothing wrong.  You were magnificent," he said.  He reached over and stroked the side of her face.  His fingers snuck down her neck.  He expected her to bat his hand away, but she did not.
"Maybe I don't want to be magnificent at killing people," she countered.
"It beats the alternative," he replied, studying her closely.  "Besides, we are predators.  A thin veneer of civilization covers a violent nature.  Same goes for the humans, the fairies, and the werewolves.  We kill.  We feed.  We fuck.  We love.  We hate.  Pretty much anything we do is motivated by the hunger for one or more of those things." 
 "What a heartwarming life philosophy."
"I try," he replied, bemused.  "Your fangs are still showing, by the way.  It's been an hour or more since you killed Emil.  Your body agrees with me that you're a predator, even if you don't want to accept it."
"Well, so are yours," she retorted weakly. Her hand flew to cover her mouth.
"Too bad Nigel isn't here.  He seemed to cheer you right up after you killed Fernando," Luka teased, grinning widely.  "Battle is quite the aphrodisiac.  It's nothing to be ashamed of."
"Oh, shut up," November snapped.
"Of course, it isn't really Nigel you want right now.  You don't want sweet Nigel trying so earnestly to please you.  Not today.  Today, kitten, you want it to hurt.  Today, you want to punish yourself.  For killing Emil, sure.  But mostly for surviving when Ilyn died."  Luka's voice was serious now, the playfulness having disappeared entirely.
"You're out of your mind," November protested weakly.
"Am I?  I saw you let that arrow hit you, in the parking lot.  You saw it coming.  You inched over just enough so it wouldn't kill you.  You let another one of the bastards cut you twice before you took her head off. 
"It's been so difficult, I'm sure, now that your leg doesn't hurt like hell.  Nothing to distract you from the stabbing emptiness and the constant struggle to act like you're just fine: brave November, savior of the world.  I don't know if the others can see it, but I can.  My poor kitten.  Let me help you.  I'll give you a little respite.  Ease your sorrow, for a little while.  Let me be your self-destructive impulse.  Just for now."
November closed her eyes, that tiny movement acknowledging the truth of what he was saying, even as she refused to reply.  Luka's lips twitched.  He waited: silent, patient, utterly still.  He knew he had her.
"Bite me," she finally whispered.  "Hurt me."
Not wanting to give her a chance to change her mind, Luka didn't hesitate.  He was on top of her before the words finished passing her lips.  She arched beneath him as his fangs tore into her shoulder, right next to the spot the arrow had pierced a few hours earlier.  Vampire venom soon flooded her eyes with temporary bliss.
November wriggled out of her jacket and flipped Luka over, pinning him to the floor as she pulled her blood-stained gray T-shirt over her head, revealing a hot pink bra beneath.  "If you ever lord this over me, if you tell the others . . . so help me, I will rip your face clean off."
"I wouldn't dream of it, kitten.  A gentleman never tells," Luka replied, eyes bright with amusement.  Catching sight of her glare, he added, "You have my word.  I've never lied to you, kitten."
"Good," she replied.  "Now take off some clothes and pull my hair or something before I come to my senses." 
In the blink of an eye, she was once more on her back.  "Happy to oblige," Luka whispered.

Links for more:

 

Pre-Order She Marches Through Fire: books2read.com/u/4AgGAN

 

Let me leave you with a comment I made in my review of Book 2: She Lights up the Dark: Manay is the real deal, and she'll be a household name before long.