BLURB:
Studying and hard work have led Tai Murata to her dream of becoming the next valedictorian at Harington University. Feeling as though everything is finally within her reach, the decision is made to work up the courage and admit her true feelings to her best friend and room-mate, Jessa, on the night of Tai’s twenty-first birthday party. Everything seems to be going according to plan until something deep inside Tai is unleashed, and she discovers a whole other part of her she never knew existed.
Jessa Conway is a free-spirited girl who’s getting ready to graduate college and see where the wind takes her. While she’s excited about the prospects of what the future may hold, she isn’t too excited to explain the plan to her sweet but sensitive best friend Tai, who has been planning their next steps after college since they first met. It’s not that Jessa doesn’t want to be around Tai- in fact she finds herself being drawn to her in a different way than before- but the idea of being stuck in the same place she grew up is terrifying. When she finds out about the sudden dangerous other side of Tai, she decides to stay close by and help in any way she can.
With the powerful and animalistic change in Tai’s life threatening to tear apart everything that she’s worked so hard for, together the girls search for the answers that will help Tai rein in the ancient beast that is begging to be set free. Can Jessa help tame the fox within?
Coming from a smaller town than most, Evie Collins always wondered if there were books made for women like her. After finally reaching the conclusion that there needed to be more out there for the LGBTQ crowd who also crave romance in their lives, she vowed to do something about it. Pen in hand, she began writing- drawing from her own experience as a lesbian woman. Having grown up in the northeast, she traded her snowy winters for balmy summers down in North Carolina’s lovely Outer Banks. To keep her company she brought her sweet daughter and her beautiful partner with her, hoping she’ll live out her days on the beach, and spend her nights cooped up and writing in her very own dilapidated beach house that will one day even have an office.
Author Interview with new romance author Evie Collins.
What made you decide to write in the LGBTQ genre?
I’ve had the deep desire to tell stories since I first learned to write my name, and once I realized that I wasn’t as interested in all the cute guys in school like the rest of my friends…well, I knew even then that were was a lack of books that I could directly relate to. When I started in the self-publishing business a couple of years ago, I found myself having to write for the wider, heterosexual female audience and while it wasn’t too difficult, I did so with a heavy heart. The market for what I wanted to write seemed impossibly small, and therefore I didn’t try to write what I really wanted to. Luckily, there are now many indie authors and a handful of traditional ones out there that have been stepping up and pushing for more diversity in not only romance, but in literature altogether. I love the fact that this includes more LGBTQ books being published. As a lesbian woman, it makes me (and my partner) very happy to see this and I have finally decided to take the chance and write what I love and what I know. I
n 5 words, please describe your ‘Romance Writing Style’:
Humorous, sassy, realistic, sweet, steamy.
Where do you hope to be in five years from now?
Hmm…well it’d be nice to be on a yacht somewhere in the Caribbean, but I’ll settle for being an author with many more titles under my belt and hopefully some extra money to go along with!
What do you do in your down time?
I love spending time with my daughter and partner, but would it be totally nerdy of me to admit that I sit around and read most of the time? I’m a true bookworm, but sometimes you’ll also catch me working around our beach house we bought last year. Plenty of stuff to keep me busy in that department, believe me.
In 4 words, describe yourself.
Cautious, Laid-back, Soft-spoken, Optimistic.
Do you have a favorite author or authors?
Oh boy, haha. It’d be hard to pin down even more than one because I read so much and I truly adore many authors. I’ll say that at the moment I’ve been into the southern beach romance type reads, so Dorothea Benton Frank- I love her! I’d be struck speechless if I ever had the chance to meet her.
Do you often read your competitor’s books?
You know what they say about keeping friends close but enemies closer…Of course I’m just kidding! I wouldn’t really say there is a whole lot of ‘competition’ in the paranormal romance catering to gay or lesbian, but I have read a few of some of the more well-known names. I’m just happy that there are others trying to help build up the community for the readers out there, quite honestly!
Tell Us About Something You’ve Written.
Right now I’ve just come out with my first novella, “Fever of the Fox”, which is the first book in my new trilogy “The Kitsune Chronicles.” It’s about a young woman graduating at the top of her class in college and getting ready to embark on what she hopes to be the rest of her perfectly set-up life. With a little pep in her step she decides she wants to tell her best friend that she’s in love with her and hopes it all goes well. Before she really gets the chance to do anything she has what I’d call a very ‘transforming’ night, and finds out that she is not who she thinks she is. Her and her best friend set off to find answers as to what is causing this insane half-shifting from girl to fox and what she does find out may shake the very foundation she’s been trying to hard to build up for herself. This is a paranormal shifter story about a young lesbian woman, but I’d definitely also pen it as a coming-of-age or new adult story as well. The first book is definitely more sweet than saucy, but the steam factor will rise as the next two come out! Look for it exclusively on Amazon, June 26th, 2015.
If I was going to stop being a prude for once in my life, now was the time. I slid the straps of my one-piece off of my shoulders, shivering even though the night was warm and balmy. Jessa, who probably couldn’t believe that I was actually doing this, kept her head only just above the water, with eyes trained on me. Somehow I managed to keep eye contact with her as I pulled the bathing suit down and stepped out of it, kicking it over to where my flip-flops lay on the ground. The slanted smile of hers was the last thing I saw before diving into the deep end of the pool. Even with the temperature being warm, the water seemed to be only a degree or two below frozen tundra. I shrieked as I quickly emerged, gulping in as much as I could from the sheer shock of it. “Holy shit! Why didn’t you tell me the water was freezing?” My teeth were already chattering. She laughed, shrugging her shoulders innocently as I swam over to her. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m perfectly comfortable.” “Oh please, I’m the one with the built-in running heater! I can’t even imagine how you’re able to just sit there like that!” I splashed her playfully, enjoying the sound of her giggling as she returned fire. We stayed like that for a while, splashing and goofing off, not worried about getting caught or what anyone else would think for once. When the two of us started trying to dunk each other is when I noticed the inconveniencing of my tail splashing around behind me in the water. “Dammit,” I muttered under my breath. I was being third-wheeled by my own damn fox tail. Who would’ve thought? Jessa glanced back at the bushy appendage and swam even closer. I was suddenly very aware of the fact that my best friend was completely naked and only inches from my own very naked body. I could feel that same burning behind my eyes, like when I nearly burned down the school’s chem lab. Thank god for Jessa’s quick thinking or I’d be owing Harington University a huge chunk of money right now. I squeezed my eyes shut, mentally trying to stop whatever weird ancient forces were wanting me to burn holes into the gorgeous body in front of me. Of all the times I had to close my eyes this was not one I wished for. The water between swished around and Jessa was pressing her herself up against me, circling an arm underneath my arm and around my back. She began shushing me and rubbing circles with the palm of her hand between my shoulders, relaxing the tension that was building up in my body as I tried desperately to control the fire that was wanting to blaze. I looked past her, focusing on a spot of moonlight that was shining between the branches of a tree. “Deep breaths, Tai. Just breathe with me.” The pressure of her chest expanding against mine both calmed and excited me. It was so weird feeling like I was gaining more control over my powers yet at the same time I had never felt so vulnerable before. I did as I was told and took deeper breaths, laying my head on her shoulder and trying to think of anything else but the fact that Jessa’s nipples were softly rubbing against mine. With my extra-sensitive sense of smell I noticed things I had never even thought about before, like the scent of my coconut shampoo in her hair, the chlorine in the water, the slightly moldy scent of damp towels in a pile outside the pool office, and even the smell of salt on her skin. Concentrate, I scolded myself. There was a new tension growing between us, I could tell. Jessa’s fingers worked their magic on my shoulders and I continued to practically melt from the overwhelming sensations I was experiencing. She laughed after a minute, breaking me from my thoughts. “Are you sniffing me? Like a…like a dog?” She pulled back with the hugest grin on her face, her hands wrapped around my upper arms. I rolled my eyes but laughed with her. “I’m sorry! It’s weird, right? Oh my god I’m such a freak,” I whined, covering my face from embarrassment. Jessa’s smile softened into something else more thoughtful. “No, you’re not a freak. You’re this completely other thing that is probably the coolest thing anyone in the history of the world could ever be. I mean come on, you’re a kitsune! Literally a fox goddess. A goddess! I would kill to have people think I’m a goddess, or hell, anything better than what most probably think of me,” she said, her voice trailing off as she looked over my shoulder.