Guest Post & Giveaway with Kendra Leigh Castle

We have Kendra Leigh Castle here today for a guest post and a giveaway of a copy of Wild Highland Magic. (see below for details)

A Chat with Kendra Leigh Castle

You could say that a romance writer's world revolves in no small part around the pursuit of the perfect kiss. I love to watch that first kiss in movies, when all of the chemistry between the characters has flared to a point where words fail and there's no expression left but the physical. Ideally, that simple meeting of lips will express so much feeling that even the viewer can feel the world tilt on its axis, just a little. Of course, there are also times when that kiss is the moment you discover there is exactly ZERO chemistry between the male and female leads. It can be bitterly disappointing, especially when there's a great story being built around it. And the same goes in a book...granted, it's all on the writer to paint the picture, but the way the kiss is described can sometimes mean the difference between becoming completely engrossed and putting the whole thing down indefinitely.


No pressure on us writers, right? Actors and actresses have it easy, comparatively.


Anyway, there may not be such a thing as an absolutely perfect kiss (then again, maybe there is! I am a romantic, after all), but I spend a lot of time on the kisses of my heroes and heroines, especially that first one. So today, I thought I’d share the first kiss of the hero and heroine from my new release, Wild Highland Magic. Catriona MacInnes is a werewolf spending her first night in the Scottish Highlands with the ancestral pack she only just learned existed. Bastian an Morgaine is a secretive and powerful otherworlder, a friend of the MacInneses, dealing with some deadly problems of his own while staying in a secluded cottage on the grounds of the estate. At their first chance encounter, sparks flew, and Bastian hightailed it away from the alluring she-wolf before she could crack his amazing self-control any further. But Catriona is as stubborn a MacInnes as they all are, and when a late night run in wolf form leads her to the icy, brooding stranger, there’s no way she’s backing off…

* * *
He raised his eyes to the indifferent night sky, saying a silent prayer for patience. “I can’t have this conversation if you’re not going to get dressed.”

Cat stopped short, and he heard the laughter in her voice when she replied. “Well, I can’t have this conversation if I shift back into a wolf. But if you’ve got a fig leaf handy we can compromise.”
He had to look directly at her then, and her glowing golden eyes were dancing with mischief. Despite himself, Bastian felt his heart stumble in his chest; there wasn’t an inch of her that wasn’t perfect, her long lean form draped in nothing but moonlight. Her breasts were high and made just to fit a man’s hand, her legs long and shapely beneath the slight flare of her hips. He didn’t want to notice. He shouldn’t want to notice. But how the hell could he not notice?

By the Goddess, he thought, breathing deeply and catching an enticing whiff of her scent, all night-blooming flowers and magic, she’s beautiful. And every second he spent in her presence was making it more and more likely that he was going to do something incredibly stupid. He needed to get the hell out of here.

Just as soon as he could figure out how to make his legs work again. Right now they felt cemented to this very spot.

“Hey, wait,” Cat said in the low, musical voice that he was sure he’d hear in his sleep tonight, barely suppressing a giggle and apparently oblivious to the intoxicating effect she was having on him. “I have another idea.”

She obviously had no intention of letting him be. So on a wave of mounting sexual frustration, Bastian gave in. If nothing else, it almost guaranteed she’d run off and leave him in peace.

“So do I,” he said. And in one fluid motion, he grabbed her long, slim waist, pulled her to him, and crushed his mouth against hers in a kiss meant to send her running far, far away from the pervert in the woods.

Too late, Bastian realized he hadn’t factored in what Cat’s naked body pressed against him would do to him. Or to her, for that matter.

She tasted like moonlight, strong and pure, ripe with possibility and magic. And she’d been waiting for him to make the move. It was the last coherent thought that Bastian had before Cat opened her mouth for him, her hot little tongue teasing out the need that had been lurking beneath the surface ever since he’d first seen her. And as for need, Cat’s soft and broken sigh indicated she had plenty of her own. He could feel it, thrumming beneath her skin like an electrical current. Everything in Bastian rose and responded to it before he could shut it down; he was caught helplessly in her thrall as she fitted herself to him, every seductive curve fitted precisely against him.

Bad idea, warned some semi-coherent voice in the back of his mind. But for the love of the Goddess, it had been so long since he’d allowed himself to feel need like this.

* * *

Thanks so much to Darque Reviews for having me over today, and to all of you for stopping by! I’ll be here to chat all day! My question for you is: what’s your favorite movie kiss? I’ve got two…Sandra Bullock/Aidan Quinn in Practical Magic, and Bradd Pitt/Claire Forlani in Meet Joe Black.

Kendra Leigh Castle is the author of the MacInnes Werewolves trilogy, as well as the upcoming series The Fallen, coming from Harlequin Nocturne. She lives in Maryland with her husband, three kids, and menagerie of pets, and loves to be visited online at http://www.kendraleighcastle.com/

It was a pleasure to have you here...thanks so much!

Sourcebooks has a copy of Wild Highland Magic to give away to one lucky winner! Just answer Ms. Castle's question to be entered. This contest is open to readers in the US and Canada only, and the winner will be announced on May 18th.

You can read my review of Wild Highland Magic: http://darquereviews.com/12612/120396.html

Kimberly Swan, DarqueReviews.com