Monday, December 28, 2015

A new book release and beastly heroes

I finally have a new book out. My hero is a little different from the normal romance hero. He is half-wolf and half-man. Does that make him any less appealing? I don't think so and neither does the heroine. :) The Wolf Queen is a new twist on Beauty and the Beast and the Greek myth of Lycaon the werewolf.

Cursed by Zeus to live in the body of a wolf, Lycaon found a way to change his shape into a human form, but he can't quite get rid of some wolfish qualities. I think of him as savagely handsome like Jason Momoa in Game of Thrones. I decided to go all the way with making my hero look the part of a beast, but still make him appealing. A Beauty and the Beast story doesn't work for me unless the "Beast" actually looks the part like in the B&TB series in the 1980s with Ron Pearlman as the Beast. I wasn't going to wimp out and make my hero too handsome when he's supposed to be cursed with a beastly appearance.



Book Title: The Wolf Queen
Author: Kelley Heckart
Genre: Greek myths/fantasy/werewolves/romance
Release date: 12/17/15
Page Count: 246
ISBN-13: 978-1519606242
ISBN-10: 1519606249 
ASIN: B019HML564
Kindle Buy Link: http://amzn.to/1Mk95rZ
Trade Paperback Buy Link on amazon.com: http://amzn.to/1Mk9aMc

Blurb

The Wolf Queen
Book 2: The Arcadia Series

A new twist on Beauty and the Beast and the Greek myth of Lycaon the werewolf. A Bronze Age fantasy, adventure, and romance set in Arcadia, the wild forests of the goddess Artemis… Game of Thrones meets The Iliad


A tormented wolf man… A mysterious girl with a terrible secret…

Alara, a princess from a foreign land, is forced to wed the sorcerer-king Aramon, a power-hungry warlord, who discovers her dark secret and wants to use her to create an invincible army. When she meets Lycaon, she must decide if she should trust the cursed, tormented half-man half-wolf who might be her enemy or her true mate.

Lycaon, once a great king until he was cursed by Zeus to be a werewolf, is drawn to the mysterious princess. He is torn between helping Alara escape and using her to gain power over those who despise him.

Secrets abound and old enemies are reunited to battle Aramon before his terrible plan is unleashed. Time is running out as the dark moon approaches. Soon, Arcadia will be overrun with an unstoppable, vicious army unless Aramon can be defeated. To prevent his victory, the cost is high. As Lycaon’s affection for Alara grows, it becomes more difficult for him to decide which to save: Arcadia or her.


“Ms. Heckart draws the reader into the pages and enchants them with her words.”
Karen McGill, Coffee Time Romance

Excerpt (PG):
Although she had been warned of Lycaon’s band of misfits, seeing them watching her with cold eyes made her skin crawl. “Y-you are a goat man.” She stared in astonishment at the horns, the pointed ears, and goat legs with hooves covered in thick brown hair. Despite being half goat, he was the most handsome man she had ever seen with bright, slanted blue eyes and shoulder-length dark brown hair, some strands knotted into warrior braids. A belted loincloth covered little, revealing a muscular upper body.
He raised a bushy eyebrow. “I prefer satyr.”
The other odd-looking people laughed.
She opened her mouth to speak again, but the circle parted and a man stepped forward. A hood covered his head, so she could only see glimpses of his face—a flash of fang-like teeth, fierce eyes, and lots of dark hair. She shrank back from the man who looked like a mix of human and wolf.
“Who in Tartarus are you, and what are you doing in my lands?” His voice sounded like a vicious snarl.
Transfixed by his appearance, she wondered what the rest of his face looked like beneath the hooded tunic. Towering over her, his muscles strained against the dark brown woolen tunic and deerskin leggings he wore. Masculine power encircled him like a god’s nimbus, in the proud way he carried himself, and in the way he commanded their attention, for even his companions stepped back and looked at him with reverence, even the giant who barely stood taller than what glared at her now.
Alara eyed his large feet covered in laced up leather boots, afraid he might kick her, his anger at her quite apparent by the claw-like hands, partially covered in fingerless leather gloves, fisted at his sides. All she could see were his eyes, framed by heavy, dark, forbidding eyebrows, fixated on her from within the hood. Ice blue and emerald green rings. Fiery golden flecks. Intense and feral. She would never forget them. He held back his anger, but for how long? “I-I came…” His fierce stare made her forget her speech.
****

Multi-published author Kelley Heckart lives in Arizona with her musician husband, dog and a number of backyard “pets,” including Godzilla the desert iguana. Her stories reflect her passion for ancient and medieval time periods, storytelling and the supernatural. Inspired by the ancient Celts, her tales are filled with fierce warriors, bold women, otherworldly creatures, magic, and romance. When not writing, she works as a freelance editor and practices target archery. She can be found online at http://www.kelleyheckart.com/

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Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author
Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly



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