Please welcome Lisabet to Discover... She has a brand new release! Congrats, Lisabet.
Twisting Tropes
Like most authors, I write the kind
of books I’d like to read. The wide range of genres and styles you’ll find in
my back list reflects the diversity of my reading tastes. Check out my books
and reviews on Goodreads and you’ll see what I mean.
I tend to value most highly books
that are original and surprising. Perhaps the worst sin a story can commit,
from my point of view, is to be predictable. Alas, romance is frequently guilty
of this transgression. Tropes practically define the genre, especially these
days. Authors explicitly label their work according to the tropes it exploits:
enemies to lovers, forced proximity, reverse harem, slow burn, secret baby...
Nothing turns me off more than knowing, before I even open the book, what is
likely to happen.
As an author, I strive for the
originality I seek in the work of others. One way I (try to) achieve this is by
deliberately twisting tropes and turning clichés on their heads. I delight in
up-ending my readers’ expectations. Meanwhile, looking at familiar situations
or characters from a fresh perspective provides great opportunities for
enriching the narrative.
Few sub-genres are more stereotyped
than paranormal romance. Everyone knows that vampires are centuries-old, dark,
brooding, and full of power. Werewolves live in packs where roles from alpha to
omega are clearly defined. The two races of supernatural creatures rarely
encounter one another, but if they do, they are mutually hostile.
My new paranormal romance
Fangs,
Fur and the Single Girl plays with these well-trodden themes. My
vampire hero has been undead for a mere six years; he was turned by accident.
My werewolf has never met another of his kind. And although the two initially
hate one another, their love for my heroine eventually overcomes their antipathy.
I do hope I can coax readers to step
outside their comfort zone a bit and take a chance on this tale of love, lust,
power and commitment. You might not recognize the tropes, but I do guarantee a
happy ending.
EXCERPT
The
shock of separation drove black spikes of pain into her temples. She opened her
eyes, gasping for breath. Motes of red swam in her vision. She twisted around
to look at him, in wonder and terror.
“Sorry.”
He shrugged. “I didn’t know how else to convince you.”
“You’re—you’re
the real thing, aren’t you?” Bianca thought her chest would burst. “Nosferatu.
Undead.” She rubbed at her throbbing
forehead. “But it can’t be! I never believed...”
“Believe,”
he whispered, almost inaudible. Then all at once was back in his chair, leaving
her heart slamming against her ribs. He smiled at her, that wide open,
country-boy smile. Bianca worked to catch her breath, to calm herself to some
semblance of normalcy.
It
wasn’t possible. Vampires were a fiction, a legend. They were creatures of
fantasy and nightmare. For some reason even
she didn’t comprehend, the notion of vampires tapped into something fundamental
in the human imagination. She personally knew dozens, maybe hundreds, of people
who desperately wanted vampires to be real. These people, and others like
them, fueled the engine of her success. However, even the most obsessed, the
ones who caught and ate flies and slept in coffins in their cellars, knew the truth.
And
now, here, that truth was being challenged.
He
read her doubts, in her mind or on her face. He disappeared suddenly, then
reappeared at her side
with a glass of water. “Looks like you could use this.”
Another blink and he was back where he started, smiling at her across the desk.
The water was there, at her elbow, proof that she hadn’t been hallucinating.
She took a sip and stopped fighting the evidence of her senses. It wasn’t
possible that he was a vampire. But it was true.
“Are
you very ancient?” she asked, finally. The question sounded absurd. What was
she doing, continuing the interview?
Jim
laughed, wholeheartedly this time.
“I’m
twenty four. Or I was, that night six years ago at the frat party, when
somebody’s girlfriend’s sister turned me. I admit that I was drunk. Barbara had
just told me that she wanted a commitment, and I knew I wasn’t ready. I told
her I loved her, but that wasn’t enough to satisfy her. So I went off, got
plastered, and the next thing I knew I was in bed with this slutty-looking
brunette who had very sharp teeth.” Bianca couldn’t help giggling. His tale was
such a contrast to the mythology that she marketed.
“And
then? What happened next? What about Barbara?”
Jim’s
face grew shadowed. “Look, I don’t really want to talk about it. Not now, at
least. Not here. Can we go somewhere quiet and dark for a drink?”
“You
can drink? I mean, besides—well, you know.”
“Sure.
I can’t eat solid food, though. It’s awful, because my senses are exceptionally
acute. I can smell a juicy steak grilling half a block away. Pure
torture.” He sighed. “Anyway, what about
the job? Do you still think that I’m unqualified, Ms. Sorenson?”
Bianca
took note of the challenge in his voice. Her body still trembled at the
proximity of an honest-to-goodness creature of the night, but her mind was
working overtime. How could she best use him to further her goals? To expand
her vampiric empire? His photos were far too raw for her audience. Could he
project the same level of intensity in a less extreme scene? And what about his
co-models? Could he elicit the same sort of rapturous response from them that
she had seen in Barbara’s face? Without actually taking them, of course?
She
imagined herself in the woman’s position, offering her throat to those vicious
fangs. The notion was seductive. She had just been given a taste. To give in
completely to that kind of power—to be overwhelmed, consumed by an unnatural
hunger... She’d scoffed before, but now she understood the temptation.
Bianca
had always felt like the boss, even as a lower-than-dirt intern at Harper’s
while she was still a student. She’d always wanted the power, never considered
letting go. Now the thought of offering herself to this creature made her damp
with desire. A wave of dizziness swept over her, followed by a surge of fear.
This guy was dangerous. He was a threat to Bianca’s essential self. She wasn’t
all that concerned that he’d kill her. No, she was afraid he’d somehow erase
her, turn her into some craven, submissive creature begging to be bled. Like
all those silly girls who snapped up her magazine as soon as it hit the stands.
The city is full of fanatics who
believe vampires are real. Bianca knows that’s a fantasy. Then a blond,
blue-eyed blood drinker walks into her office and turns her universe upside
down. Trying to escape from the vampire’s seductive influence, she collides
with a wolf shifter whose mere presence inspires irresistible lust. How can
Bianca resolve her feelings for her two mutually hostile lovers?
Buy Links
Kinky
Literature –
https://www.kinkyliterature.com/book/1508-fangs-fur-and-the-single-girl/
Amazon
US – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CXF755SM
Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CXF755SM
Smashwords – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1540924
Barnes and Noble – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fangs-fur-and-the-single-girl-lisabet-sarai/1145179250?ean=2940167695276
Kobo – https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/fangs-fur-and-the-single-girl
Apple Books – https://books.apple.com/us/book/x/id6480071026
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/210320373-fangs-fur-and-the-single-girl
Bookbub - https://www.bookbub.com/books/fangs-fur-and-the-single-girl-by-lisabet-sarai
About Lisabet
Lisabet Sarai became addicted to words at an early age. She began reading when she was four. She wrote her first story at five years old and her first poem at seven. Since then, she has written plays, tutorials, scholarly articles, marketing brochures, software specifications, self-help books, press releases, a five-hundred page dissertation, and lots of erotica and erotic romance
– over one hundred titles, and counting, in nearly every sub-genre—paranormal, scifi, ménage, BDSM, GLBT, and more. Regardless of the genre, every one of her stories illustrates her motto: Imagination is the ultimate aphrodisiac.
You’ll find information and excerpts from all Lisabet’s books on her website (http://www.lisabetsarai.com/books.html), along with more than fifty free stories and lots more. At her blog Beyond Romance (http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com), she shares her philosophy and her news and hosts lots of other great authors. She’s also on Goodreads, BookBub and Twitter. Join her VIP email list here: https://btn.ymlp.com/xgjjhmhugmgh
.jpg)
