Review: Brave Are The Lonely by Heather Long

BRAVE ARE THE LONELY by Heather Long
FORMAT: PDF
GENRE: Historical Paranormal
LENGTH: 78,299 words
PUBLISHER: Heather Long (March 6,2012)

When the spirit fever struck a town, a village or an outpost, it left few if any survivors. The white man blamed the Indian saying they used their mojo on them. The Indians blamed the white man for angering the spirits. The survivors knew it didn’t matter. The Fevered were forever changed.


When death seemed preferable…
Mourning his mate drove fevered wolf shifter Cody out of Texas, but a brother’s need drags him back from the brink.

…and good deeds never go unpunished…
Gypsy princess Mariska only wants to protect her people and her freedom, but a dangerous choice puts her on a collision course with an angry wolf.

…the best thing that could happen to him…
When Cody touches Mariska, his wolf cannot escape the hunger that fills him. For Mariska, Cody’s touch brings her a pleasure she never imagined, but is it enough to heal his fractured soul?

…was the last thing he expected.
As danger stalks all three of them, they must confront who they are or risk losing Cody forever.

His wolf. His woman. His way.

Find Heather: Author Site | Twitter | Facebook | Blog
Where To Buy: Kindle | Nook | All Romance
Book Extras: Read an Excerpt

I loved it

Other Books in Series:

click for excerpt

REVIEW:

Previously... In Marshal of Hel Dorado, the lovely spitfire Scarlett Morning Star fell in love with studly marshal Sam Kane. Cody Morning Star, her brother from another mother fell in love with her. At least his wolf side did. The Wolf wanted to mate with her, make her his. Unfortunately for The Wolf, Sam made an honest woman out of Scarlett. Now, Cody and The Wolf are chasing after Kid (Sam's baby brother) to keep him safe while The Wolf is mourning the loss of not being with Scarlett.

Now... Poor Cody, his wolf can't let go of the fact Scarlett gave herself to another man. Running on all fours until an almost run-in with the bad guys at a saloon/brothel because of Kid's Great Wandering Peen, Cody finally shifts back to his human form. The whole time he was in wolf form, Kid was able to understand his emotions and his thoughts. Cody knows that somehow Kid may be "one of them" with his talent to read and experience people's emotions.

The journey that keeps going... Kid doesn't know where he's going but he's got to get away from his family. Heading west is the only course he's got in mind. Through the plains, up the mountain, across streams...

A Gypsy princess... Mariska is a Traveler. Her father brought the whole clan over from their home country. Only a man who proves his strength and courage will win the heart of the gypsy princess. Only problem: her father wants her to marry the first man who offers for her. Since she wants to go by the tradition of her mother, she will wait until she finds a man worthy.

An attack on the Traveler camp... sets things in motion. Indians attack the Traveler's camp site killing them but Cody and Kid ride in and save the day. I especially like this scene because of Cody's dry sense of humor. Kid asks if they should say some prayers or something after burying the Indians. Cody's response? "A good day to die." *giggle*

A few good men... Mariska's father invites Cody and Kid to partake in a celebration in their honor. They saved the Traveler's and Mariska from either getting killed or forced upon by the Indians. Cody doesn't want to impose but Kid wants to do right by these people.

Lady in red... Mariska's father demanded she wear a red dress in honor of the tale of The Red who went out to save her people from The Big Bad Wolf (Red Riding Hood anyone?) by offering herself as a sacrifice.

Complications... Cody's outright dismissal of Mariska after her father offers her as a gift for saving them makes her a bit pissy. Who the heck was this stranger coming in and saving them but refuses her? Her self worth takes a hit. Retaliation? Drugging their food. Complication? The herbs she put in their food combined with herbs put in Kid's special Sexy Time Pie don't mix well and he could die. Her idiocy cost her to be lashed to her wagon and left for dead by her clan. The other complication: a dark wolf with vengeance and retribution on its mind. Cody and Kid must keep this evil away from Mariska.

Sexytime... In a wagon, on the ground, in a brothel, with lonely housewives, in a cave. I think you get the point. This book is full of The Sexytimes so if you're squeamish or have a limit as to how many times you can stand it, this might not be for you.


FAVORITE QUOTE:

Wool gathering over a man who made it clear he wasn't interested. His too beautiful blue eyes danced with amusement at her fury. He'd denied interest and her pride stung deep under the whip of his dismissal. Mariska never undervalued her own worth, she was a princess, she could ride, she could shoot, she could hunt, mend, cook, drive her own wagon and care for her people. She was a woman of high value and worth, not some chit that he could shake off with just a wave of his hand.

OVERALL: Bromance to the next level. Not really. I liked the relationship between Kid and Cody. A camaraderie of sorts and they definitely were good for each other. Cody kept Kid safe while Kid helped Cody mend his two warring halves (human vs. wolf) with the help of the lovely Mariska. I also like that Mariska stood her ground. She was not going to be submissive unless it was in the arms of Cody during Sexy Time.  It's a pulse pounding, thigh clenching, heartstopping, fire racing through your veins, omg they did what now? kind of read. Fans of historical paranormals, get ready to put Heather Long's Fevered Hearts series on your must read list. Seriously.


***provided by author's PA***

Blog Tour: Guest Post + Giveaway with Heather Long

X-Men meets Captain Tightpants meets Young Guns. Heather Long's Fevered Hearts series is all that an more. Today she's stopped by to share her latest book in that series and one(1) lucky reader will win a copy. Heather's known for writing different genres but she keeps it hot and sexy.

Meet Heather:

Heather Long lives in Texas with her family and their menagerie of animals. As a child, Heather skipped picture books and enjoyed the Harlequin romance novels by Penny Jordan and Nora Roberts that her grandmother read to her. Heather believes that laughter is as important to life as breathing and that the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus are very real. In the meanwhile, she is hard at work on her next novel.

Connect with Heather: Author Site | Twitter | Facebook | Blog

Thanks to Kati and Jamie for having me as a guest today. I’m thrilled to talk about one of my favorite series. The Fevered Hearts books are very close to my heart (pardon the pun!). What I originally conceived as a series of novellas turned into an epic landscape, roaming the old west, where the water may be scarce, the ride is long and the men are as tough as the land they live upon. I remember being stunned that it last 80,000 words that first time around.

In the first novel, I introduced readers to Sam Kane, the honorable upstanding Marshal of Dorado and to Scarlett Morning Star, the Fevered girl raised in seclusion and sheltered by her adopted father and seven older brothers. One of those older brothers is Cody. Cody had a bumpy go of it in Marshal, choosing at the end of the book to leave Dorado and the Flying K behind when Sam and Scarlett married.

Brave are the Lonely is his story. It’s also another leg in Kid Kane’s journey. Kid is the youngest Kane sibling, he’s always felt a bit on the outside and he struggles with his own secrets. When Cody saw Kid leaving at the end of Marshal, he followed him. Brave is every bit the story of brotherhood, loyalty and friendship as it is about passion, love, forgiveness, and acceptance.

Cody can be ruthless, but his fierce protectiveness cannot be matched.

Here is an excerpt from Brave Are the Lonely:

Cody followed the curve of the wash trail Kid rode. The faint scent of water, rabbit, scrub brush and mice tickled his nose. The smaller animals went quiet in his passage and he left them be. He wasn’t hungry. Kid’s words echoed in his
ears.

His turn to hunt.

The wolf’s mouth fell open, tongue lolling in the wind, sampling the air. He was ever watchful for the dangerous scent of man. Luckily, they were traveling upwind, which brought the scents to him. He would know they were there long before they appeared. Kid was safe for the time being, which meant Cody could roam.

The young man’s frequent visits to every hovel they came across left the wolf bewildered. He refused to follow him to closely, the smell of unwashed bodies, cooking food and strangeness overwhelming. But he never strayed far.

He’d ambushed one angry husband who came after Kid at their first town and frightened off another at the third town. Kid’s insatiable appetites for female companionship didn’t make him discriminating. They’d even spent one rainy night
at a remote farmhouse. Cody in the barn with the horses while Kid seduced the absent farmer’s daughter. At least she didn’t have a husband.

The wolf understood the husband’s anger, the rage at Kid’s philandering. But Kid was pack. That meant Cody would protect him.

A long escarpment of rocky outcroppings beckoned. The sun-drenched stone would be warm in the air that turned progressively chilly the further west and higher up they went. Kid said they’d be in the mountains soon, but the distant peaks were closer than Kid believed. Cody grew up on a mountain, one didn’t have to go higher to find the colder air.

Home flashed through his mind. The scents of the lake, the rich pines, firs and cedars were fresh to his tongue. A familiar flame haired female splashing in the icy cold lake, heating the water at the edges until the boys could frolic there as well.

The howl tore out of his throat before he could stop it, hard, long and keening. Scarlett chose another. Cody understood that. She was happy. The man was happy for her.

The wolf missed her.

The land went silent around him, what few critters that hadn’t scrambled out of his way huddled quietly, sure that the end was near. Cody ignored them all. He’d caught the scent of deer the night before. He wanted venison, sick of rabbit, squirrel, grouse and fish. The wolf wouldn’t bother with it all, but Kid said it was his turn.

Now that you’ve had a glimpse at the book, all you have to do is leave a comment with your email address to be entered to win a free eCopy of Brave are the Lonely.

BRAVE ARE THE LONELY:

click for an excerpt

When the spirit fever struck a town, a village or an outpost, it left few if any survivors. The white man blamed the Indian saying they used their mojo on them. The Indians blamed the white man for angering the spirits. The survivors knew it didn’t matter. The Fevered were forever changed.

When death seemed preferable…
Mourning his mate drove fevered wolf shifter Cody out of Texas, but a brother’s need drags him back from the brink.

…and good deeds never go unpunished…
Gypsy princess Mariska only wants to protect her people and her freedom, but a dangerous choice puts her on a collision course with an angry wolf.

…the best thing that could happen to him…
When Cody touches Mariska, his wolf cannot escape the hunger that fills him. For Mariska, Cody’s touch brings her a pleasure she never imagined, but is it enough to heal his fractured soul?

…was the last thing he expected.
As danger stalks all three of them, they must confront who they are or risk losing Cody forever.

His wolf. His woman. His way.

Where To Buy: Kindle | Nook | All Romance
Book Extras: Read Ch1 | Read Ch2
Other Books in Series:

click to read Ch1

Okay peeps, Heather is graciously offering a copy of BRAVE ARE THE LONELY to one(1) lucky reader and it's open internationally. Yay!! Here's how to enter:

• Leave a meaningful comment for Heather about historical paranormals. Do you read them? If so, do you have a favorite?
• Fill out the rafflecopter form. You must leave a comment for Heather. All other entries are optional.

A huge thank you to Brandy for forwarding correspondence between Heather and us. Another huge thank you to Heather for hanging out on the blog and for providing the giveaway copy.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Interview + Giveaway with Heather Long

Hullo all you wonderful people! Not too long ago, Kati read a book called Marshal of Hel Dorado and loved it. It was a bit X-Men-ish and throw in some Captain Tightpants and you've got a fantastic start to a new series. Today, Heather Long is stopping by to share her latest release, Cassandra's Dilemma which involves two males and one woman. A polyamourous story. A total 180 from Marshal of Hel Dorado. We love The Sexy here at Romancing Rakes For The Love of Romance and Heather has come to share it with y'all today.

WELCOME TO THE BLOG HEATHER!!!

Meet Heather:

Heather Long lives in Texas with her family and their menagerie of animals. As a child, Heather skipped picture books and enjoyed the Harlequin romance novels by Penny Jordan and Nora Roberts that her grandmother read to her. Heather believes that laughter is as important to life as breathing and that the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus are very real. In the meanwhile, she is hard at work on her next novel.

Find Heather: Author Site | Twitter | Facebook | Blog

Jamie & Kati: Who is Heather Long? (Author, mother, animal lover, international woman of mystery)
Heather: Heather is an overworked, overtired, and overcommitted author who bit off a lot more than she can chew in the last several months, but to be honest…I don’t think I’d have it any other way. Being a mom is probably my hardest job, but ultimately it’s the most rewarding. My mini me is my loudest and most enthusiastic cheerleader. I am just days away from turning in my thesis and completing my master of business administration. That’s a huge whoop whoop for me, because it means after eighteen months, I won’t have homework on top of deadlines, day job and my mini me’s dance commitments.

As for the rest, I’m definitely an animal lover. Nearly every animal in my home is one that I found as stray (including an emergency rescue in the middle of a downpour on a busy road) or provided a home for. We’re of the opinion that the animals in the neighborhood have marked a path to my door that says, “Need a home? Scratch here and bark for Heather!”

J&K: Tell us a little bit about CASSANDRA’S DILEMMA. [no copying blurb :)]
H: Cassandra’s Dilemma is a book that took me on more than a little bit of a journey. The first draft of it was written in 2009 while my daughter swam. I am a huge fan of urban fantasy and in most of those books, you’ll find that witches, vampires or werewolves have come out into the world, but we never actually ‘saw’ that happen, it was always a ‘previous’ event. So I wondered how would a species introduce itself and thus Cassandra Belle was born.

The name was a natural fit, because she’s named for Cassandra of Troy, the prophetess who wasn’t believed. From that kernel of an idea that story evolved and what was originally an MF love story developed into a poly amour when Jacob walked onto the page. He’s a bit of a forceful personality and when Helcyon showed no signs of bowing out, I had to rethink how we were going to do this.

J&K: What book or author brought you into the romance genre?
H: I don’t know that there was one exact book that ‘brought me in.’ I’ve been reading romances or had them read to me since I was little. My grandmother wasn’t a fan of picture books and so she used to read to me from her Harlequin Presents. I grew up listening to stories by Penny Jordan, Carole Mortimer, Nora Roberts and more. I’ve been exceptionally fortunate to meet two of the ladies on that list. When I was nine or ten, I read my first Harlequin and learned that the characters didn’t quite take naps the way my grandmother said they did (*wink*) and that book was Escape to Desire by Penny Jordan and I was hooked.

J&K: Do you have any writing rituals? (blasting music, drinking wine, complete silence...)
H: Those tend to vary a little based on the book that I am working on, but typically my writing day starts between 4 and 4:30 in the morning. I get up, let out the dogs, make coffee and all of us head out to the garage. I have a little portable desk out there, I crank up Pandora radio’s epic soundtracks channel, flip open the laptop and start writing. I write between two and three hours every morning like that with a break to get the mini me off to school. But that’s when my mind is freshest and the words really flow.

J&K: Plotter or pantser?
H: Yes, I’m a bit of both. I usually start out with a fairly solid idea; jot out a synopsis that takes me from beginning to end and highlights the turning points or at the very least a blurb. Then I dive in and write. For me, stories are organic so they don’t always travel the path I mapped out in blurb or synopsis.

J&K: If Hollywood came knocking and wanted to make CASSANDRA’S DILEMMA into a movie (a super sexy movie), whom would you cast?
H: Hrm this is super tough. For Jacob, I think I would go with Karl Urban. Cassie would need to be someone who struck a happy middle between Rachel Weisz (I actually had her in mind when I started writing this) and Scarlett Johansson. (That's right people, Kati found a mash up of these 2 actresses.) As for Helcyon, I think they’d need an unknown but someone who could do for green eyes what Ian Somerhalder did for blue.

J&K: How do you pick names for your characters?
H: Character names come from a lot of different places. I think Jacob’s name came from my daughter reading the Twilight series at the time while Helcyon came from the idea that he was going to be called Helo for a while, but I didn’t like the way that ‘read’ on the page. Cassandra as I said earlier earned her name from her place in Troy. Other characters just show up, most of the time, they have a name. Every once and a while I have to stretch and look names up look for meanings and then see what I come with.

J&K: If you could write an anthology with any author (dead or alive) who would it be and what would it be about?
H: Um…all of them? No, seriously. I’d say of the authors I love, I would love to do an anthology with Patricia Briggs, Kelley Armstrong and Nalini Singh about shifters. Those three women are definitely among my favorite authors list. I also wouldn’t mind doing an anthology for fun with Mel Schroeder and Nikki Duncan, something saucy and sassy, maybe set in a piano bar. Yes, I know, a little odd!

J&K: What can readers expect from you next?
H: This is going to be an excitingly busy year for me. I have two more Fevered Hearts novels coming out (Brave Are the Lonely which is Fevered Hearts #2 releases in March). I have this series of sexy shorts coming out from Decadent beginning this summer about Marines. I am currently working on a superhero novel for Carina and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I am cavorting in my own version of a play land of stories and characters. I love playing in so many different worlds, genres and getting to know the characters.

J&K: Authors choice.
H: Do you prefer authors who stick to the same genres or do you enjoy experimenting in different genres if you already like the author?

J&K:  Thanks Heather for hanging out at Romancing Rakes For The Love of Romance!


CASSANDRA'S DILEMMA:

A woman on the edge.
Cassandra Belle is about to break the story of the century. But one well-placed bomb devastates her plans and leaves her on the run and in a fight for her life and her heart. Caught between wild allure and primal need, Cassie is torn by the desire to submit to both of them.

Two enemies on a mission.
The sexy Fae lord Helcyon wants to protect her, but his pleasure leaves her quaking at the loss of control. The dangerous Wizard Jacob wants to save her, but his war with the Fae frightens her even as he captivates her with passion.
With her enemies closing in, Jacob and Helcyon must challenge everything they’ve ever known to work together or risk losing her.

Where To Buy: BookStrand.com
Book Extras: Read an Excerpt

Okay lovelies, here's the deal. Heather has been kind enough to offer an e-book copy of CASSANDRA'S DILEMMA to one(1) lucky reader. The giveaway is international. Yay!

Here's how to get your sexy on:

• Leave a comment for Heather answering her question: Do you prefer authors who stick to the same genres or do you enjoy experimenting in different genres if you already like the author?
• Fill out the rafflecopter form with the name you commented under and your email address. All other entries are optional.

A huge thank you to Heather for hanging out and to her PA Brandy for forwarding correspondence between Heather and us.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ARC Review: Marshal of Hel Dorado by Heather Long

MARSHAL OF HEL DORADO by Heather Long
FORMAT: PDF
GENRE: Historical
PAPERBACK: 328 pages
PUBLISHER: Heather Long (November 8,2011)
ISBN: 9781452441726

In the shadows of the old west, the untamed land live bands of outlaws and outsiders. In a time when fevers could fell whole towns, these few survivors are marked. Marked…and forever changed.

Sam Kane is the oldest brother, the steadfast son and the confidant marshal. He’s never met a problem to hot to handle until a gang behind a string of robberies across the territory set their sights on his town. Now with the bank’s gold inexplicably missing from a locked safe, the town hunting the elusive thieves and a passionate redhead with a fiery secret in his jail, Sam has his hands full.

Scarlett Morning Star lived in seclusion in the mountains of West Texas most of her life. She longs for adventure, but with seven very protective older brothers, adventure is hard to come by. When she tags along uninvited on their latest escapade, she is left behind during a bank robbery and finds herself in the custody of the very sexy town marshal.

The town wants to lynch her, the Marshal wants answers and her brothers want her back, can Scarlett keep it together or will her explosive secret burn them all?

Her life. His badge. Their fight.

Where To Find Heather: Author Site | Facebook | Twitter | Blog
Where To Buy: Amazon | Kindle | Nook | All Romance
Book Extras: Read an Excerpt

Go and Buy it NOW!

REVIEW:

What do you get when you put the X-Men and Captain Tightpants together? Scarlett Morning Star and Marshal Sam Kane, the hero and heroine of Marshal of Hel Dorado. Seriously, this book surprised the heck out of me. I read it on the first leg of my flight back to San Diego. I even tuned out all the screaming children because I wanted to finish this book before touching down in Vegas. That's how awesomely awesome it was.

Scarlett Morning Star wanted an adventure. She was tired of just sitting up high on the mountain while her brothers got to sow their wild oats all over Texas. Well, she got her adventure. Marshal Sam Kane finds Scarlett in the bank and swears there were others with her. Without the others to arrest, he takes Scarlett in their place. And boy howdy! he's in the for the ride of his life.

Sam puts Scarlett in the jail cell but due to angry townspeople, he takes her to his family's ranch to wait on the judge. The town wants to string her up but Sam wants to give her a fair trial. On the way to his family's ranch, the attraction to this redheaded spitfire gets his pants in a very uncomfortably tight bunch.

With Sam's father and brother Micah taking up her cause and believing her a victim of the robberies rather than an accomplice, Sam's hide is chafed. How the heck did this slip of a woman get his family on her side from the moment she climbs off his horse?

Scarlett knows her brothers will come for her. With seven brothers who all have tempers and special abilities, she knows they'll either burn the town down searching for her or hurt the Kanes who have been nothing but kind with the exception of suspicious Sam. When Sam's youngest brother Kid tells her he will take her to her brothers, she agrees. No need for bloodshed.

But Sam isn't done with her. This minx of a woman has gotten under his skin. Since finding out her ability to shoot fire through her fingertips, he's intrigued and is accepting of the fact she is able to. As Sam puts two and two together regarding the string of bank robberies and her brother's abilities, he can let Scarlett hang for what her brothers did. All she wanted was an adventure and she got a whole lot more.

After leaving the Marshal behind, Scarlett can't seem to forget about him. Returning to the mountain only makes her sad and her family begins to notice. Her father, Quanto realizes that his little girl has grown up and may need to come down from the mountain to find her happiness.

Sam and Scarlett must come to terms with their feelings for one another while fighting bad guys, returning the gold her brothers stole, finding something to ground her powers and making their families accept their attraction for each other.

FAVORITE QUOTE:

"His heart seized in his chest, his first thought was to rescue her from the flaming water. His second, even more startling, was to wonder how she created such a feat.
The man who walked through walls.
The gold stolen from a sealed vault.
The wolf in town.
Her fever, the rage of this struck, so swift. Her skin had literally burned his fingertips. Rolling his thumb over the fading blister on his right forefinger, Sam found himself at a complete loss." (***quote subject to change in finished copy***)

OVERALL: If you love westerns AND the supernatural, you'll want to pick up this book. Take one sexy Marshal who I have dubbed Captain Tightpants 2.0, a fiery redhead who can conjure flames and shoot them out of her fingertips, 7 brothers with supernatural abilities including walking through walls and shifting into a wolf, a Professor X-like father who dream walks and a shootout reminiscent of old westerns and you've got a formula for a must read series. You'll laugh out loud, sigh, squee, ponder, shout obscenities (in a good way) and want to scream at Scarlett and Sam: "do it already!" As with any first book in a series, Heather Long has introduced memorable characters that I want to know more about and did a fantastic job in building a world where the every day and the things that go bump in the night collide. I look forward to learning more about the brothers and finding out the women who will tame them. Well done Ms. Long, well done.


***review copy provided by Brandy W***