It’s with pleasure that we welcome again Author Zoe Archer on Book Lovers Inc. Zoe’s new book, Rebel, was released last week. It is the 3rd book in The Blades of the Rose series. This is a fantastic series. Love, Adventure, Magic, Exotic locations…discover a new way to read historical romance, you won’t regret it! Let’s give a warm welcome to Zoe, who will tell us more about her unconventional heroine, Astrid. Stay tuned and you could win a copy of Rebel!
All alone, he sits in the corner of the saloon. Even as he drinks his whiskey, his eyes never leave the door. Watchful. Wary. Hard-won experience in his gaze. He talks to no one, and nobody approaches his table. When he finally puts his hat on and steps out into the night, the stories circulate. About the men he’s killed, the ice in his veins. He doesn’t wear his guns anymore, but only a fool would challenge him. No one challenges him.
But a day comes when he can no longer sit by himself. When he’s forced back into a life he thought he had left behind, and he has to strap on his guns, even though he swore to himself that never again would he hold a weapon. Yet he has no choice. His past has caught up with him, and there’s no more running.
The figure of the retired gunfighter is one that looms large in the popular imagination. Its most famous representation is the novel (and later, the film adaptation) Shane. But there’s also John Wayne in The Shootist, Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven, and Gregory Peck in High Noon. Obi-Wan Kenobi is another retired gunfighter, though his weapon was the light saber, not the six-shooter. Despite the different settings, the theme that unites all these characters is that once, they were gunslingers, sometimes killers, but they’ve put away their guns in an attempt to reform or put that dark part of their lives behind them.
The retired gunfighter has always been a man. Until now.
In my newest Blades of the Rose novel, REBEL, the retired gunfighter is a woman. Astrid Bramfield. She wasn’t a killer for hire, but she was a member of the Blades of the Rose, a secret organization that seeks out and protects the world’s magic. Like many retired gunfighters, Astrid suffered a terrible loss in her past. Deeply scarred, she has turned her back on the Blades of the Rose and lives in total isolation in the depths of the Canadian wilderness. She wants nothing to do with magic, and she wants nothing to do with emotions. Just like a retired gunfighter, she gets drawn back into a world she tried to leave, involving not just her gun, but her heart.
Often, the retired gunfighter has to make a choice: walk away, or do the right thing. Despite the fact that he was once a killer, he does have a conscience, and he steps up to protect the innocent. Frequently, he is drawn in because of a woman, who somehow melts the ice around his heart and makes him realize that he isn’t dead inside.
In REBEL, Astrid must pick up her rifle again not because of a woman, but because of a man. Nathan Lesperance. A man with no family, no home, as much of an outsider as she. Nathan is a fighter, but he’s against a dangerous enemy and steep odds. If Astrid doesn’t help him, he won’t survive. She wants to protect herself, especially her heart, but her conscience won’t allow her to turn her back on Nathan, and the attraction between them is too hot and too real to be ignored.
Throughout the Blades of the Rose series, I’ve loved creating heroines who subvert the usual roles of women in action and adventure. The heroes are definitely heroic, the villains villainous, but the heroines can dish it out and take it just as well as any man. For the heroes, there’s nothing more alluring than a woman who can kick bad guy ass. Astrid is nobody’s fainting liability. In fact, she might be the toughest Blade of the Rose there is. She put her guns away, but when the time comes, not only does she pick her guns up again, she knows how to use them. Yet Nathan is there to remind her that she may be tough as nails, but she’s also a woman, with a woman’s desires. And he’s just the man to satisfy those desires.
Thanks for having me here today!
Leave a comment and you’re entered to win a signed copy of REBEL!
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About the Book:
On the Canadian frontier in 1875, nature is a harsh mistress. But the supernatural can really do you in…
A Lone Wolf, Nathan Lesperance, is used to being different. He’s the first Native attorney in Vancouver, and welcome neither with white society nor his sometime tribe. Not to mention the powerful wildness he’s always felt inside him, too dangerous to set free.
Then he met Astrid Bramfield and saw his like within her piercing eyes. Now, unless she helps him through the harsh terrain and the harsher unknowns of his true abilities, it could very well get him killed…
And The Woman Who Left The Pack, Astrid, has traveled this path before. Once she was a Blade of the Rose, protecting the world’s magic from unscrupulous men, with her husband by her side. But she’s loved and lost, and as a world-class frontierswoman, she knows all about survival. Nathan’s searing gaze and long, lean muscles mean nothing but trouble. Yet something has ignited a forgotten flame inside her: a burning need for adventure, for life–and perhaps even for love…
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About the Author:
Zoe Archer is an award-winning romance author who thinks there’s nothing sexier than a man in tall boots and a waistcoat. As a child, she never dreamed about being the rescued princess, but wanted to kick butt right beside the hero. She now applies her master’s degrees in Literature and Fiction to creating butt-kicking heroines and heroes in tall boots. Her BLADES OF THE ROSE series—featuring dashing men and fearless women—will be released Fall 2010. Zoe and her husband live in Los Angel
Twitter, Website, GoodReads, Facebook
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Zoe is offering 1 signed copy of Rebel to one lucky commenter.
All you have to do is leave a meaningful comment about the post.
Please leave us a way to contact you
(email in blogger profile or twitter name-
no way to contact you – no entry).
This giveaway is open to Europe, the US and Canada!
Giveaway ends on Saturday, November 20th
we will announce the winners on Sunday.
Bonne Chance!
About Caro The HEA Lover
Caroline is a HEA loving, yarn addicted French who's desperately hoping to get a HEA of her own. If she's not reading then she can be found knitting while listening to Audiobooks or watching Tv shows. Her secret addiction is reading websites that make fun at other people's expense (DYAC, Failbook)! Caroline also blogs at the Secret HEA Society with Susi.
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I really like it when authors write strong leading woman. I really enjoy reading about them. I would love to read this book.
twoofakind12@yahoo.com
Rebel sounds amazing and I'd love to read it. Strong heroines are the best and villains who are actually real villains are also great! Also, the cover's fantastic.
k_anon[at]hotmail[dot]co[dot]uk
The fearlessness of the Zoe's female characters is one of the awesome things about the Blades of the Rose series.
glitterbeamsunsheen@gmail.com
I have heard such great things about this series. I have the first one cued up on my kindle and can't wait to start.
Zoe – great series!
I love me some kick ass heroines. Have SCOUNDREL here on the desk to start reading today, my first Zoe Archer book. Looking forward to catching up with THE BLADES OF THE ROSE.
I love the strong heroine theme. Rebel sounds wonderful and I would love to win this book.
question…do the Blades of the Rose books need to be read in order?
I love the comparison of Rebel's heroine to some of Hollywood's great retired gunslingers. I do have to point out, though, that the lead in High Noon (one of my favorite Westerns) is played by Gary Cooper, not Gregory Peck. (In To Kill a Mockingbird, Peck's charactger is pretty adept with a rifle!) Thanks for a great post and giveaway. (Email in profile.)
Arkansas Cindy: they don't have to be read in order, but they would make more sense, especially with REBEL and STRANGER, the final two books in the series.
LSUReader: thank you for catching that! I guess I have some movies to watch again!
I like heroines who bend/blur the gender boundaries. I am looking forward to this entire series. Got "Warrior" already. =)
jenma76 at hotmail dot com
I've read Warrior so far, and it was fantastic! I can't wait to read the rest of The Blades of the Rose series. The main characters in Rebel, Astrid and Nathan, sound like a very interesting pair.
Barbed1951(at)aol(dot)com
Lol, I am thinking about my xmas wishlist..yes I roll like that 😉 And I was told I must read Zoe Archer. The covers sure tempt me, mmm, a lot
blodeuedd1 at gmail dot com
I'm always looking for new authors to read, sounds good! tWarner419@aol.com
Rebel sounds really good. I love reading about strong heroines.
Res498(AT)aol.com
I too love a strong female character. They are so much more enjoyable to read. Probably because I would prefer to be one instead of the withering rose type.
robin [at] intensewhisper [dot] com
I haven't read the Blades of the Rose series but it looks like I need to do just that. The series sounds great. It is really nice having a strong woman as the main character. Thanks for sharing with us today. Eva (ejcoppersmith@yahoo.com)
I haven't started this series yet but I can't wait to do so! 🙂 It sounds so great. I love the idea of the world.
Thanks,
Kelly
kittykelly28 @ hotmail.com
This sounds like such an awesome book and I absolutely love the cover!
throuthehaze at gmail dot com
I'm excited about reading this book – bring on those unconventional heroines!
abbydillon16@yahoo.com
I am a follower and email subscriber. Please enter me in contest. I would love to read this book. Sounds very interesting. Tore923@aol.com
I have never read a story with a retired female gunslinger type of character but it sounds very interesting.
mce1011 AT aol DOT com
I absolutely LOVED 'Warrior' and am half way through 'Scoundrel' and am loving it just as much. I have to add my voice to the others already posted that as much as I think the boot-wearing, gun-slinging men are H-O-T hot and amazing, it's the women in these books that bring so much life to these stories.
So…pick me! pick me! pick me!
akbabcock at gmail dot com
Great post! 😀 The Blades of the Rose series sounds awesome and I'm in love with the premise. Thank you for the chance to win this great book! ^O^
Giada M.
fabgiada (at) gmail (dot) com
i loved warrior and this sounds like a great book too. the retired gunslinger being a woman twist is very intriguing to me. can't wait to read it!
@meaghankoci
I keep hearing such great things about this series and I would love to start my collection of them.
Thanks for the giveaway!
apk1princess@live.com
I love when women are kick butt. My favorite books are those where the hero and the heroine are on more or less equal footing. It's nice to see the heroine doing the saving sometimes, whether she's saving the hero or herself.
ntelhiard@gmail.com
I loved Warrior but I had not time to read the second one so far *stupidlife* and I'm certainly just dying to read the third one! LOL
claudigc at msn dot com
Zoe, thanks so much for your post – I haven't had the chance to read your books yet, but I've heard a lot of good things about them and after reading your post I can't wait to get my hands on Rebel! Astrid seems to be an incredible woman and it looks like hero and heroine switched place for this book…
wish you all the best, Ina
I love the name Astrid. It's perfect for the setting in the northern wilderness. The cover, as usual for the series, is great.
ironss[at]gmail.com
Awesome post! I'm definitely looking forward to reading Rebel . I love strong heroines and the fact that it's set in the harsh northern Canadian wilderness makes it even better.
spettolij AT gmail DOT com
Rebel sounds really good. I love strong heroines, and it will be nice to read about a Native American hero.
marlenebreakfield(at)yahoo(dot)com