A Warm welcome to author Lisa Oliver joining us today to talk about new release
Welcome Lisa 🙂
Hi Dani and the team at Love Bytes. I am thrilled to be able to pop over here today and talk to you about my recent release, Someone to Hold Me, which is Book 6 of the popular The Gods Made Me Do It series. This book, which can be read as a standalone, is about Hades, Lord of the Underworld, and what happens when he meets his fated mate, Ali, who is a cute chipmunk shifter.
A lot of people have always been fascinated by the dead, and by extension any being who has an association with it. Long before I’d mentioned Hades looking for his own mate (in previous stories) readers wrote and told me how they’d love for Hades to find his forever too. But, more tellingly, they wanted to know more about my version of Hades.
In the research I did on Hades, there wasn’t a lot to find. His biggest publicity moment came when he swept Persephone from out of a field, in a huge carriage driven by four black horses. If you research Persephone, you find the story is mostly based on Demeter, Persephone’s mother and how her heartbreak over Persephone’s abduction caused the winters to come early all over the land. This in turn led to Zeus’s interference (according to legend) and the arrangement where Persephone spent three (or six) months in the Underworld, and the rest of the time with her mother was born – alongside the concept of seasons.
But not many people know Persephone, after she became Hades’ unwilling wife, was also known as the “Dread Queen Persephone”. Which got my brain thinking about what the relationship between Persephone and Hades must have been like. No one ever says. It was always assumed by ancient scholars that Persephone hated being in the Underworld, yet there was also mention, when she was down there, she was also hell in a skirt.
What would a marriage like that be like? I can only imagine it would be horrible, and my heart felt bad for Hades. But, my characters never cheat on their vows, so that had to be addressed in the story too. Here’s a snippet of Hades explaining it to Ali, his (at the time) unclaimed mate.
Ali glanced at him sideways. “Do you mean you didn’t fall into insta-love with Persephone?”
“Insta-lust,” Hades said firmly. “Big difference.”
“But you did marry her, didn’t you, so she must have meant something to you.”
“Gods didn’t marry as such, not like people do today. There was no ceremony or sharing of vows.” Leaning back on the couch, Hades looked up at the pale blue sky awash with streaks of white clouds. “I took her down to the Underworld, and enough people witnessed the taking which is why scholars know about it today. It would have impugned Persephone’s honor if I’d just had my way with her and then dumped her back at her mother’s.”
“You took her to bed against her will? That’s… that’s….” Ali sounded horrified and rightfully so.
“Not at all what you’re thinking.” Hades cursed the long dead scholars who twisted a tale that should never have hit the human stage. “I wined and dined that woman for a week and didn’t get so much as a glimpse of her ankle. She lorded over my demons like a queen, with me scurrying along behind her begging her to favor me with just one smile.”
“But the pomegranate seed?”
“Romantic nonsense.” Hades let out a sigh. “Truth of the matter is, no god can enter my domain without my permission, but if they gain access, for whatever reason, there is nothing stopping them from leaving unless I do something to prevent it. You hardly think Persephone went without eating or drinking a morsel the whole week she was there, do you? She was ordering up banquets every damn night, demanding I bring in delicacies from all over the world. No, Persephone was like a mill-stone around my neck. She tasted power as a possible Queen of the Underworld, and she wasn’t going to let that go without a fight. After a week, I wanted her to go. It was her that insisted on staying.”
Hades was shocked when Ali started chuckling. “It wasn’t funny,” he said. “The whole domain used to breathe a sigh of relief when she finally started going back to her mother’s.”
“Tell me the sex was good at least,” Ali bent over he was laughing so hard. “I’ve just got this picture in my head, of you the avenging lord, determined to have his wicked way with an innocent lass, and then when you capture her, she stays, and then you can’t wait to get rid of her. That’s hilarious.”
“We never consummated our relationship,” Hades bit out. That was still a sore point for him even though so much time had passed. “She preferred the pretty boys like Adonis and goodness knows how many others she took to her bed, but she never graced me with so much as a glimpse of an ankle.”
“That doesn’t make sense. She was your Queen, and didn’t Zeus interfere decreeing she had to return to you for part of the year? Why did you…? Surely, she…? Oh….” Understanding flashed across Ali’s face.
“Exactly, my damn brother interfered so she could keep the title of Queen. Because Persephone was technically my niece, and Demeter was giving us all grief about the whole affair, he insisted she spend a third of the year with me. Every damn year and that wasn’t my fault, but Persephone wasn’t going to give up the title of being Queen because that gave her a higher rank than Demeter, so Zeus, thinking he was doing me a favor, insisted that meant she had to spend part of the year with me. I guess he thought she might thaw towards me over time. She never did.”
Poor Hades. You can read how he gets his HEA in Someone to Hold Me, and if you are a fan of the gods and want to catch up with Baby’s story, his book, You’ll Know In Your Heart is also available in all good e-book stores.
I want to give a huge shout out to Dani and the team – thank you so much for hosting me here today. Have a wonderful day everyone.
Lisa Oliver has a new MM paranormal shifter romance out, book six in the The Gods Made Me Do It series: “Someone to Hold Me.”
Hades, Lord of the Underworld, has spent years searching the world for his Fated Mate. He’s watched his brother and nephews find their “light” and yet he can’t find his. On the verge of giving up hope, Hades attends his brother Poseidon’s wedding; so outside his comfort zone, but his discomfort proves worth it. Because there, at the reception, he finally sees his light.
It wasn’t that Ali was uncomfortable around wolves – he’d been a good friend of Claude’s for years. But when one of the wolves at Claude’s and Poseidon’s wedding gets verbally pushy, he feels he has no choice but to shift and find the alpha. What he doesn’t expect is to find a beautiful man with soulful eyes, holding out his hand.
After all Ali and Hades have been through in their lives, you’d think the Fates would be kind to them. But between Cerberus’s howling, Persephone’s snarking, and Ali’s family proving there is more to them than their blatant wealth, Ali and Hades have their hands full creating a life with each other. But maybe, just maybe, the Mother has a gift for them after all.
This is an MM paranormal true mates story intended for adults only. This book can be read as a stand-alone. Mpreg elements (Not the MCs, or the focus of the story)
Lisa is giving away a $25 Amazon gift card with this tour – for a chance to win, enter via Rafflecopter:
Cupping his hand carefully, Claude reached around his neck. Sitting on his palm was the cutest little chipmunk Hades had ever seen. He had pale gold fur, mixed with almost white on his belly and paws, and his face had two black streaks that ran from his sharp little eyes to the edge of his pointed ears. And he was pissed off. Sitting upright on his back legs, the little fellow jabbed his wee front legs around as though he was boxing, chattering nineteen to the dozen. Hades doubted anyone could understand what was being said, but they could understand the tone and it was all directed at the hapless Bart.
“Well, would you look at that,” Sei grinned reaching out a finger as it he wanted to touch. “Ali has to be the cutest little shifter I’ve ever seen.”
“Put your finger away,” Hades muttered quietly, more to himself than anyone else. “You touch him, and I’ll strip the skin from your fingers.”
But obviously he wasn’t quiet enough. “Brother?” Sei looked shocked and then a huge smile spread across his face. “You see the light at last?” Claude and the other wolves who’d all stood around wanting to be nosy, looked between them as if not sure what was going on.
Hades only had eyes for his cute little mate, who had stopped chattering and was now twitching his nose madly in Hades direction. “I’m not the greatest catch,” he said quietly, catching the little creature’s eyes, “but I’ll spend eternity doing my best to make you happy if you’ll let me.” He slowly held out his hand and waited.
Time stood still. Hades wasn’t even sure if his heart was beating anymore. The little chipmunk dropped down on all fours, looking over his shoulder at Claude who smiled, then at Bart who growled, and then back at Hades. Twitching his tail madly, he took a flying leap, landing directly on Hades’ palm. Hades quickly moved his other hand to cradle him. He didn’t want his little mate to fall off and hurt himself. But Ali showed no signs of falling. Looking up at Hades he pointed one of his front paws at Bart and started his angry chittering again.
“I know, I know. I completely understand.” Hades said, nodding, keeping an eye on the angry shifter. “This guy has upset you and he deserves to pay. I totally agree.”
“Er, bro,” Sei cast a worried look in Claude’s direction. “The wolves get upset when us godly beings interfere in pack affairs.”
“Ali’s not pack.” Hades called on his power. A voice screamed in the back of his head that this was not the right place, that he could lose his mate if the wee guy couldn’t handle who he was, but Hades wasn’t about to shirk his duty to his precious mate on the very first day. “Do you know who I am?”
The world looked different from his new perspective. In his god form, Hades’ head almost touched the ceiling – the wolves below him not even half his size. His power cloaked the room – dark, dangerous – there was not a being in existence who didn’t immediately recognize how menacing he could be, even if they didn’t know who he was.
Only Ali appeared unaffected. The tiny chipmunk looked even smaller in his huge hand, but the guy didn’t seem worried, rubbing his cheek against Hades’ thumb which Hades found rather soothing.
“I’ll say again,” Hades’ voice bellowed around the room. “Do you know who I am and who’s mate you’ve had the audacity to upset?”
“Oh, my gods,” Bart fell to his knees, blathering. “I’ve done it now. My sexy shaft is going to be the death of me. That’s who you are, isn’t it? You’re Death and you’ve come to take me away and fuck, I’m still hard. I can’t die before I orgasm, that’s just not fair.”
“Actually,” Thanatos pushed through the crowds, his mate tucked in by his side, “I’m Death and I’m not taking you today, although your god reference was highly accurate.” He looked up at Hades and winked. “The man is a simpleton, Lord; I can see his soul. He is one of the classic examples of a man being led around by his dick, but I don’t believe he meant any permanent harm to your mate.”
Hades’ heart almost stopped when Ali leaned over his finger, chittering madly at Thanatos. Tilting his head to one side, Thanatos listened and then nodded. “You are quite right, little one, that anger of his is a grave concern. Any of the Doms here know they have to respect the laws of consent. I’m sure Claude has a suitable punishment for him, though, don’t you think? You really don’t want trash like this cluttering up the Underworld.”
Ali chittered a bit more and Thanatos laughed. Hades wished he had the power to understand all languages but only Death himself had been granted that power. “You’re probably right about that too, little one. But the Fates get upset when someone takes a life unnecessarily and this man isn’t bad, he’s just misguided. I’m sure he’s going to apologize, isn’t he?” He looked back at Bart who was watching, his mouth slack.
“Apologize,” Claude growled, stepping forward when Bart stayed silent, his fist raised. “You’ve upset two gods today and Death himself, not to mention my really good friend. Say you’re sorry, or I’ll castrate you and then we won’t have to worry about your dick leading you astray again.”
“Not my dick, not my dick.” Bart doubled over, clutching the body part in question. “I’m sorry. I’ll listen. I’ll take whatever punishment you give me, but don’t kill me, please don’t kill me.”
“It seems your presence has rendered him more useless than usual,” Sei sighed, digging Hades in the thigh with his elbow. “Why don’t you take your new mate somewhere special and get to know him. You have my word Bart won’t bother you or your mate again.”
Slowly moving his arm, Hades bought his hand up to his face. His sweet little chipmunk showed no fear – even reaching out for him with his cute front paws. “Are you ready to leave?” He asked keeping his voice as low as possible which wasn’t easy in this form. Ali’s excited bobbing of his head meant his fur brushed across Hades’ cheek sending tingles throughout his whole body. Closing his eyes, Hades enjoyed the sensation for just a moment, before translocating them to his favorite earthly home. No matter how accepting Ali was proving to be, he wasn’t about to subject his mate to the cold hardness of the Underworld until he absolutely had to.
Lisa Oliver had been writing non-fiction books for years when visions of half dressed, buff men started invading her dreams. Unable to resist the lure of her stories, Lisa decided to switch to fiction books, and now stories about her men clamor to get out from under her fingertips.
When Lisa is not writing, she is usually reading with a cup of tea always at hand. Her grown children and grandchildren sometimes try and pry her away from the computer and have found that the best way to do it, is to promise her chocolate. Lisa will do anything for chocolate.
Lisa loves to hear from her readers and other writers. You can friend her on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/lisaoliverauthor), catch up on what’s happening at her blog (http://www.supernaturalsmut.com) or email her directly at yoursintuitively@gmail.com.
Blog: http://www.supernaturalsmut.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lisaoliverauthor
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/wisecrone333
Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/author/lisaoliver
and if you are keen on excerpts teasers and cover reveals join my group 🙂
https://www.facebook.com/groups/540361549650663/
Author Website: http://www.supernaturalsmut.com
Author Facebook (Personal): http://www.facebook.com/lisaoliverauthor
Author Facebook (Author Page): https://www.facebook.com/LisaOliverManloveAuthor/
Author Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/wisecrone333
Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisa_oliver_author/
Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4839871.Lisa_Oliver
Author QueeRomance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/lisa-oliver/
Author Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Lisa-Oliver/e/B004WH4ZEE/
