Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Guest Post and Giveaway with Pamela Palmer

Today Darque Reviews welcomes Pamela Palmer with a guest post and a giveaway sponsored through the nice folks at HarperCollins. Thanks so much for joining us Pamela!

Thanks for having me at Darque Reviews!

The Guest Post:

I’m often asked how I came up with the idea for my Feral Warriors series for Avon Books. Like so many things, it didn’t happen suddenly. The idea didn’t appear, full-blown in my head. In fact, at first, all I knew were the main characters of the first book, which became Desire Untamed -- the girl next door heroine who thought she was human, and the fierce, dangerous male who stole her away for the power she possessed to save his race. I knew they were immortal. But not what kind of immortal.

I’m a huge fan of J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood, Alyssa Day’s Warriors of Poseidon, and Suzanne Brockmann’s Navy SEALs. I love the band of brothers theme, the warrior males bound together by a common cause or a common enemy, and the wonderful interactions between them. I knew I wanted to tell that kind of tale. My warriors were immortal, but what were they?
I’ve always loved the concept of men who could shift into animals, but most shape-shifter books deal with packs and prides and although I love reading about them, that wasn’t the story I had in my head. I finally realized my band of warrior brothers weren’t exactly brothers at all. They were shape-shifters, but not a pack. Not a pride. Each man was the last of his unique line. Each shifted into a different animal. Each went by the name of that animal.

And the Feral Warriors were born.

I adore romance, but I also love a good, fast-paced, high stakes story with nasty, evil villains. So after creating the Feral Warriors themselves, I had to discover their world, their enemies, and the dangerous situation they found themselves in. After all, warriors need a good battle now and then. By this point in my discovery process, the floodgates had opened and the ideas were rushing freely. The Mage, or the magic ones, had always been the rivals and enemies of the Ferals and their shape-shifting race. However, the true villains are the Daemons and their master, Satanan, all of whom were imprisoned eons ago. But evil is rising, dark forces gathering to free Satanan and his Daemon horde, and the Feral Warriors are the only ones who stand between us and the destruction of our world.

Passion Untamed, the third book in the series, just hit shelves today! In Passion Untamed, Paenther is faced with his worst nightmare when he falls for the seduction of a sweet beauty and finds himself chained in a Mage lair, a captive of a witch and her evil companions.

His muscles corded as he fought the chains with every ounce of strength he possessed until his skin was damp with sweat. But the chains didn’t budge. He was pinned fast, his arms trapped above his head, his legs spread and tethered.

Ah, goddess. If only you’d stopped me. There was no fate worse. He’d have sold his soul to have escaped this.

Heaven help him. His soul was probably the very thing the witch wanted. To finish what the Mage had started all those years ago – tearing him loose from his animal once and for all.
He caught her scent, that delicate, damning smell of violets. She stepped into the doorway, the ethereal beauty who’d shown him heaven between her thighs then captured him in her net of bewitchment. Lust slammed into him all over again.

Even as hatred seared its way through his blood, his gaze drank in the sight of her. She was slender, with few curves revealing themselves beneath the soft, shapeless blue dress. But her short hair accentuated a long, graceful neck and features that were too fine, too delicate for a cold-hearted witch.

Mage or not, she stole his breath.

She watched him, her eyes wary, as she gently stroked the rabbit in her arms. At her side, a doe pressed her head against the witch’s hip while several excited squirrels chased one another around her ankles.

He’d thought she was human.

Closing his eyes against the sight of her, he prayed that grave error didn’t turn out to be the last mistake he ever made.

Thanks for the opportunity to join you here and to tell you a little about the Feral Warriors!

It’s been a pleasure to have you here Pamela, thanks so much for sharing your time with us.

You can visit Ms. Palmer’s website to learn more about the Feral Warriors: HERE

Be sure to check out the reviews for the first three Feral Warrior installments: HERE

You can also ‘Browse Inside’ each of these books by visiting their pages at HarperCollins:
Desire Untamed: HERE
Obsession Untamed: HERE
Passion Untamed: HERE

The Giveaway:
To enter for a chance to win a set of the first three books in the Feral Warriors series, please leave a comment on this post. If you can remember the first paranormal romance that got you hooked on the genre, we’d love to here it. If you have a question for Ms. Palmer, she has graciously offered to check-in today and answer them. The winner will be announced on September 1, 2009, so be sure to check back! Good luck, and happy reading.

Kimberly Swan, DarqueReviews.com

45 comments:

Marnie said...

I remember - It was Amaryllis by Jayne Castle. Vampire book - Dark Prince by C. Feehan. I still have both.

chey said...

Captive of the Beast by Lisa Renee Jones.

californiameaghan said...

i dont remember my first one. i know that i started slow, like with mind readers etc before jumping into vampires etc and beyond! i do know that i love the genre!

meaghan_koci (at) yahoo (dot) com

Pamk said...

It was Maggie Shayne Twilight series from long ago. I was absolutely awestruck with these books. And there was another author can't remember the name now but she switched to westerns and is still published that a trilogy of vampire books way back when. I still have all of these on my keeper. And actually reread the occaionally and they are still as good as I remembered.

Jennifer K. said...

I can't recall what the first one was. That kind of makes me sad, LOL!

throuthehaze said...

count me in please!
my first was Come To Me by Lisa Cach

throuthehaze at gmail dot com

Michelle Greathouse said...

Kimberly,

Wonderful interview. :)

I don't remember the first PNR book I read - that was a very long time and many books ago. :) Ann Rice is the author that first brought Vampires to me - and I was hooked. I then started looking for more vampire stories - stories where the so called bad guys were actually the hero's.

Please enter my name for the contest.

Michelle
kweenmg at yahoo dot com

The Scarf Princess said...

Pamela, you have great taste in the series you like! Those are the exact same ones I read.

This series sounds great and it's on my wishlist!

As for my first paranormal, it was Stephen King's Salem's Lot (not romancey, but got me into the genre).

joderjo402 AT gmail DOT com

Pamela Palmer said...

Hey everyone! I've been trying to remember my first paranormal and I'm having trouble, too. Maybe Diana Gabaldon's Outlander? JR Ward's Dark Lover may have been my first vampire romance. It's the one that sticks in my head the best!

Ellz said...

I am fairly new to this genre, I started with Twilight. I actually hadn't read anything in a while, but since reading that series, I have been devouring just about anything I can get my hands on. This one sounds like a great series. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I would love to be entered in your draw. Thanks.
wandanamgreb (at) gmail (dot) com

Social Ghost said...

Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost. I liked it so much that I actually emailed her to tell her.

Carmen R said...

I can't recall which book got me hooked onto paranormal romance but which ever it is I'm grateful to it.


hdtermite (at) yahoo (dot) com

Anonymous said...

Great giveaway
The first paranormal romance that got me hooked on the genre,I think(if memory serves me right) it was Bitten by kelley Armstrong or Dark Lover by JR Ward
elaing8(at)netscape(dot)net

Cecile Smutty Hussy said...

I can recall which book struck my fancy... Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. Then from there, I found Lynda Hilburn's and Devereux stole my heart after that!!! And I needed more!

Oh Kim... how have you been??
I pimped you out at my place... Hope you had a great day and have a wonderful tomorrow!

Kainani said...

For me it was Return to Me by Julia Templeton.

Pamela I'm excited about this series. I have the books on my TBR list. Crossing my fingers & hoping to win.

Unknown said...

Hi Kimberly and Pamela!

Hmmm, I've read so many, but I going say Charlaine Harris, I love her Southern Vampire Series, and Kim Harrison, LKH, and so many more. Totally love the genre!

Thanks for the great giveaway!

Dottie :)

gymmom_027@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

I put your contest up on my blog under my banner.

Thanks Kimberly and Pamela!

Dottie :)

Karen W. said...

I can't remember the first paranormal romance that got me hooked because I always looked for the time travel and futuristic romances even when they were rare and not "the thing." :)

I'm still not tired of them yet, though, and the Feral Warriors series sounds great!

azteclady said...

I am not quite sure--it was a long time ago, frankly!--but I think it could have been one of Maggie Shayne's Twilight books in the early 1990s.

Llehn said...

The first paranormal romance I read was The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause.

lesly7ch(at)yahoo(dot)com

Leontine said...

Loved the post, great giveaway and how can I forget my first paranormal?! It was Karen Moning with her Highlander series *grin* And after that series I got to taste the Dark-Hunters by Sherrilyn Kenyon, I was hooked for life!

host said...

Hi! My first was Twilight by S. Meyer and I just got hooked up. The rest is the history...:)

tetewa said...

A friend of mine got me hooked on this genre when she introduced me to Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series!

cfisher1504 said...

I have read so many I can't remember my first... There are so many great books out there...

cfisher1504 at gmail dot com

Blodeuedd said...

I sure remember my first, it was bitten by Kelley Armstrong and i was smitten at once. I never looked back.

This sure looks a great series

buddyt said...

I haven't read very many of them and I can't remember the first or even the last one I read so mayby I shoyld try another one ?

Please enter me in the gibeaway.
Thank you

Carol


buddytho {at} gmail DOT com

Chris said...

Well, I read The Vampire Lestat in 1988 and I think that was the beginning of the end, although it was years before I read more paranormals.

CrystalGB said...

Dark Gold by Christine Feehan was the book that got me hooked on paranormals.

CrystalGB said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Karen Chance's Cassandra Palmer series got me hooked

Has said...

I think my first paranormal was crystal Fire by Jayne Castle AKA as Jayne Ann Krentz. I think I fell in love with the genre there and then as it combined both fantasy and romance and before that book it was hard to read or find anything like that.

mrsshukra said...

Kresley Cole's A Hunger Like No Other really got me into paranormal romances!

delilah0180(at)yahoo(dot)com

jeanette8042 said...

I definitely remember this! My first was Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dance With The Devil.

Anonymous said...

I can't really recall, which is sad. I haven't been reading paranormal that long, actually. I had started reading a bunch of them at the same time, so they're all blurred together. I started with general paranormal and then headed into PNR, so that also helps blur it all. I think it was a Lynsay Sands book, but I'm completely guessing :D

jaam121388 at yahoo dot com

Maija said...

It was some Teresa Medeiros novel many years ago. It wasn't about vampires or anything, but about a time traveling.

Beleth said...

I think the first one was a dark hunter novel (Sherrilyn Kenyon), after that i started reading everything i could of this genre.

battyaboutbats(at)gmail(dot)com

Ina said...

Hi Pamela!
Your series sounds great - I will definitively check it out!
The reason behind my addiction is Kelley Armstrong with her first book about Elena - I thought "ok, a story about werewolves...mh, I don't know" but a day later I bought the second book and it was too late for me *lol*
Best wishes,
Ina

Carla Ribeiro said...

I do remember. It was Dark Legend, by Christine Feehan.

I ♥ Book Gossip said...

I fell in love with Christine Feehans series. I think it was Dark Gold.

cindyc725 at gmail dot com

Scott Romanski said...

Sounds like a good read.

lastrideusa at yahoo dot com

Unknown said...

My first one was Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice in 7th grade.

Thanks for entering me in the giveaway.

shylaloulou@gmail.com

Mandyfish said...

Dracula was actually my very first paranormal romance....but in a more traditional sense - Karen Marie Moning and her time-traveling Scotsman started my obsession.

mandyfish@gmail.com

Carolyn H said...

It was LKH Anita Blake. I think I read it from my friend 3 times before I went out and got the whole series.

JMom said...

The Anita Blake series from Laurell K Hamilton