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Guest Blogger: Donya Lynne + a giveaway

Former cobalt addict and AKM drug counselor, Io is a male vampire known as much for his abrasive personality as for his playboy lifestyle. Life on the edge suits him, and he lives full throttle, making his own rules, damn the consequences. What he wants, he takes, and what he wants now is Miriam. If only he can find a way to see her again without getting himself killed, but her father stands in the way.

 Miriam is the daughter of the king. Strong-willed and defiant, she feels like a prisoner in her own home and struggles to break free from under her father’s oppressive hold. The king’s law surrounding Miriam is explicitly clear: No one touches her. Period. It’s a sentence that’s left Miriam to suffer from loneliness and resentment.

In a fit of rebellion, Miriam has turned to cobalt to find relief and freedom, but now she’s a prisoner to addiction as much as to her father’s strict control. What’s more, she can’t get sexy Io, who gently tended to her at the AKM facility as she recovered from her first overdose, off her mind. Will she ever see him again?

When Miriam overdoses a second time, she and Io are thrust back together, and all bets are off. Seeing each other was the one thing both wanted, and not even the king’s laws and threats of punishment will be enough to defuse their rebellious obsession with one another now that they’ve found each other again, even if the consequences are death.

 

Rebel Obsession, Io’s story, was a labor to write. Io and Miriam were so riddled with shame over what they had become, that neither wanted to talk, so I had to pull the story from them bit-by-bit, a little at a time. But the end product was worth the struggle. I’ve come to thoroughly enjoy the writing of this book, as hard fought as it was in the beginning, because when the characters finally opened up, they opened up big.

Why were they ashamed, you might be asking? Well, if you’ve read the previous books in the series, particularly Heart of the Warrior, you’ll see that Io was a bit of a bastard. He is notorious for being a womanizer and a bashing homophobe, and when his best friend, Arion, ended up coming out about his homosexuality in Heart of the Warrior, Io was floored. That storyline continues in Rebel Obsession, and we get to see how Io deals with the loss of his friend and watch him face the hard truth about himself: He’s a dick. I do love when characters go through hard self-realization like this. It’s fun to write.

As far as Miriam is concerned, she is ashamed that she fell victim so easily to the drecks’ drug, cobalt. She regrets taking that first hit, but now she doesn’t know how to stop. Priding herself on being smarter and stronger than that, she obviously beat herself up pretty badly throughout the entire writing of this story. There were days I felt like I was merely pulling her along in my mind. The epiphany came when it hit me: SHE’S ASHAMED! And she was confused, too, because she didn’t know who she was. After I realized that, it was easier to work with her, because I finally knew how to approach her to get her to spill her story…and I simply rode the idea that she was in the midst of an identity crisis, which helped immensely.

But Rebel Obsession isn’t all about Io and Miriam. It became clear early on that this story was a transition piece for the series, and it has a giant cast of characters, connecting the earlier books of the series to the ones still to come. In other words, if you miss this book, you will miss key components that link the early books with the ones coming after it. My editor says this is her favorite book of the series so far, and it’s definitely the biggest, coming in at 112,000 words, my upper limit for book size.

A few favorite characters see their storylines continue to develop in Rebel Obsession. Trace is obviously one of those characters. Everyone wants to know more about Trace. Well, you’ll definitely learn more about him in Rebel Obsession, and I think you’ll like what you learn. We also see Malek, who until now has been whitewashed, calm, and logical, take a turn for the worse. There’s a complicated reason for that, which we started to see in Heart of the Warrior, but you’ll have to wait until the next book, Return of the Assassin, due out in late 2013, to get his full story.

In fact, I’m drafting Malek’s piece now, and I’m in love with him. Whereas Rebel Obsession comes off as a more romantic, transitory piece, Malek’s story is taking shape to be deep, dark, and full of action and devious plotting, rife with conflict and adversity. So, stay tuned for more on his story.

We also see the introduction of several new characters in Rebel Obsession, both bad and good. Some will be pivotal to other developing storylines, while others will simply simmer along through the series.

If you haven’t read the other books in the series, yet, and want to get caught up before tackling Rebel Obsession on January 2, you can find them on Amazon with the below links. The books are also available at Barnes & Noble, All Romance ebooks, and Smashwords.

Rise of the Fallen – Book 1

Heart of the Warrior – Book 2

Micah’s Calling – Novella Supplement

If you want to keep up to date with what’s going on at AKM or with any of my other work, and also see occasional snippets of my current works in progress, you can follow me on Facebook: Author Donya Lynne or on my blog: www.donyalynne.blogspot.com

Thank you for having me on the blog today! Enjoy my boys…and their girls (or their boys, as the case may be).

Happy Reading and Writing,

Donya

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

26 Responses to Guest Blogger: Donya Lynne + a giveaway

  1. Kassandra December 20, 2012 at 5:44 am #

    Whoever does your covers deserves a raise *fans self*

    Thanks for the chance!

    Kassandra
    sionedkla@gmail.com

  2. Nicole Nobles December 20, 2012 at 6:40 am #

    I definitely think this will be a good book…wasn’t so sure at first considering I usually don’t read anything so deeply influenced by drugs but it would make their struggle harder.
    Thanks for the chance!
    Nicole.nobles@aol.com

  3. Meg G. December 20, 2012 at 9:30 am #

    Books look great. I will be adding them to my TBR pile!

    Meg G
    megonski216 at yahoo dot com

  4. erinf1 December 20, 2012 at 9:35 am #

    sounds fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing!

  5. Maria D. December 20, 2012 at 10:04 am #

    This sounds like a great series and one I would really enjoy! I can’t believe I didn’t know about it – just picked up the first book for my kindle – it was on sale too:) Thanks for the giveaway

  6. kyla whitley December 20, 2012 at 10:29 am #

    happy holidays, donya! rebel obsession sounds like an excellent read! your already on my tbr list! thank you for sharing a little bit of your life with me. 😀

  7. bn100 December 20, 2012 at 10:49 am #

    Nice covers. Sounds like an interesting series.

  8. Ilona December 20, 2012 at 11:18 am #

    I want the books just to sit and admire the covers – they are hot guys 😀

    ilona
    felinewyvern at googlemail dot com

  9. Karen Roma December 20, 2012 at 12:53 pm #

    Thanks to Book-n-Kisses for hosting Donya today and to Donya for sharing her time and insight into this story.

    I love this series and can’t wait to read Rebel Obsession!

    Safe and Happy Holidays wishes coming your way from Australia!

  10. Julia December 20, 2012 at 12:54 pm #

    OMG! I am so excited about finding this series…WOOT! WOOT!
    Thanks for the AWESOME reads!!!! and the GIVEAWAY!!!
    HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!
    julia

    juliamills(at)aol(dot)com
    juliamills@aol.com

  11. Ebony Morton December 20, 2012 at 1:02 pm #

    Cool contest

  12. Viki S. December 20, 2012 at 1:42 pm #

    I’m adding you to my tbr. Who is your cover artist? They remind me of pickeyme’s work.
    vsloboda(at)gmail(dot)com

  13. julie December 20, 2012 at 1:53 pm #

    enjoyed the post, ive read the first 2, so it will be nice to see the story progress. thanks for the chance. all the best

  14. Christy Perry December 20, 2012 at 3:39 pm #

    Great interview and book excerpts! I have added them all to my TBR! They all look so amazing and sound like great reads thanks for sharing with us and for the chance to win 🙂

  15. gamistress66 December 20, 2012 at 6:31 pm #

    have enjoyed the 1st 3 books & the this one sounds like another good one. looking forward to reading it. 🙂

  16. Jennifer Bielman December 20, 2012 at 8:18 pm #

    EEEEE! Some very hot covers. Thanks for the giveaway.

  17. PaParanormalFan Renee December 20, 2012 at 11:30 pm #

    Hello Donya,

    I have not read your “All The King’s Men Series” but WOW do they LQQk Great Reads & you have really HOT, Eye-Catching Cover Art. I am definiately going to start reading your series. Thank you fot this Great Giveaway.
    Take Care, Merry XxxxMas & Stay Naughty,
    PaParanormalFan (Renee)
    paranormalromancefan at yahoo dot com

  18. Filia Oktarina December 21, 2012 at 2:51 am #

    The cover books was very HOT!!! I want it!!

  19. Linda December 21, 2012 at 3:37 am #

    Love this, =) can´t wait for my chance to read,

    Thanks for the giveaway & Happy Holidays!
    //Linda

  20. Mary Preston December 21, 2012 at 4:41 am #

    This series looks incredible. I can’t believe I haven’t read any of these yet. YUM on the covers!!

  21. pam howell December 21, 2012 at 6:34 am #

    yes – the covers ROCK & grab attention!!
    would LOVE to win!! PICK ME!!

  22. pam howell December 21, 2012 at 7:50 am #

    LOTTA cover LOVE going ON
    I completely & utterly AGREE 🙂

  23. pam howell December 21, 2012 at 9:38 am #

    AH HECK- I couldn’t WAIT
    I bought book 1 – only 99 cents on AMAZON!!!!
    then- caved & bought Book 2 for myself!!!
    I like that M/M!!

  24. Joanne B December 21, 2012 at 11:31 am #

    Gorgeous covers. Congrats on the new release. Can’t wait to read Rebel Obsession.

  25. ErickaS December 24, 2012 at 4:45 pm #

    I love these covers!

  26. Elvina Hanson December 24, 2012 at 4:47 pm #

    Sounds interesting. Can’t wait to read it.

    erhmsh@hotmail.com

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