Books-n-Kisses is so happy to have our pal Katie Reus back on the blog today to chat about her upcoming release Mating Instinct. 

BnK: Hi Katie, Welcome back to Books-n-Kisses.  We are always happy to have you on the blog again.

Katie:  I love visiting so thanks so much for having me here!

BnK: For my followers who may not know you.  Please tell us a little more about yourself.

Katie: I’m a writer, a mom, a wife, and a lover of books! Really good red wine and dark chocolate are two of my weaknesses. I’m a total action movie junkie, wear flip-flops year round and rarely leave home without my kindle. I spend my days writing dark paranormal romance and action-packed romantic suspense—usually while wearing yoga pants.

BnK:  Let’s talk about your newest release Mating Instinct. Tell us a little about this book.

Katie: I’m so excited about this release! It’s the third book in the Moon Shifter series and full of so much sexual tension and angst between the two main characters. The official description explains what it’s about perfectly:

As the beast within struggles to break free, he must learn to be what she needs…

Surviving for centuries, powerful lupine shifter Jayce Kazan managed to stay away from humans until he met Kat Saburova and was consumed by the need to protect her. But while Jayce shared his passion with the human seer, he refused to make her his bondmate—a refusal that caused the end of their relationship.

A year later, an attack that left Kat near death has resulted in another lupine shifter turning her. Furious that he wasn’t the one to save her, Jayce is determined to show Kat that he is the one she should rely on. But the newly turned shifter is still traumatized and worried that she’ll hurt those she loves, unless she can learn to control her inner wolf.

And as Jayce struggles to protect Kat from her own worst instincts and convince her to rekindle their love, the extremists who almost killed her are looking to finish the job…

BnK:  What was the hardest and most rewarding part of writing Jayce & Kat’s story?

Katie: About halfway through Alpha Instinct (book 1), I knew Jayce and Kat would be getting a story so the most rewarding part was when I finished that first rough draft. I put so much emotion into Mating Instinct and it’s definitely one of my more character driven books so just finishing it was a giant relief. The hardest part…hmm, injecting all the emotion that was necessary for these two characters to get past their own bullshit and baggage and find happiness.

BnK:   Open Mating Instinct to a random page.  Give us a few lines and tell us what is happening.

Katie:

Jayce continued to stare at her, his chest falling and rising erratically. Oh, yeah, she’d pissed him off really good.

“Get. On. My. Bike.” The words tore from his chest with apparent difficulty.

She really should just give in. Especially when he was in a mood like this. But she wasn’t in the mood to be passive or appeasing. She was in the mood to fight. “No.” With her gaze still on him, her eyes mocking, she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. Before she had a chance to call someone for a ride, Jayce plucked it from her hand and shoved it in his front jeans pocket.

Kat stepped toward him until they were inches apart and held out a hand. “Give me my phone.”

“If you want it, come get it.” He lifted a dark eyebrow in challenge.

Swallowing hard, she looked at the front of his jeans where the bulge of her phone was. Yeah, that so wasn’t happening.

I love this scene! This is near the beginning of the book and the first time Kat and Jayce have spoken to each other since the events that unfolded at the end of Primal Possession (book 2). They’re both full of anger, but the sexual tension between them ignites as soon as they see each other again.

BnK:  What is next in the Moon Shifter Series?

Katie: His Chosen Wolf, novella 3.5, and Avenger’s Mate, book #4. Both of these stories take place in New Orleans. HCW features characters not yet introduced, but their story is uber hot and full of a lot of supernatural action! It’s a pre-cursor to the events that start off Avenger’s Mate, which is Erin and Noah’s story. If you’ve read the first couple books in the series then you know who they are and I’m insanely excited about this book too. It takes place in a city I adore and in addition to a critical investigation they’re part of, they’ve got a lot of stuff to work through before they can find their HEA (there’s also a sweet secondary romance). It’s a very raw story with some issues I think a lot of women will be able to relate to.

BnK: Katie, I know you have a lot of irons in the fire.  Tell us about your other new releases Tempting the Jaguar and Enemy Mine.

Katie:  These are both paranormal novellas so the stories are really tight and focused on the two main characters. For the brief descriptions: Tempting the Jaguar is about Estrella, a packless jaguar shifter who finds herself being relentlessly pursued by the very sexy, protective wolf shifter, Rainer. For those who have read Destined Mate and Protector’s Mate, Rainer is Alaric’s youngest brother and he is delicious! Full details here.

Enemy Mine is a star-crossed romance about a shifter and vampire whose families are sworn enemies and I absolutely LOVE this story. I wrote this before it was even contracted because it was just one of those stories I needed to get on paper. Melina and Kiernan spent a hot night together a year before Enemy Mine starts and he’s tired of waiting on her to come to her senses and realize they’re meant to be together. When she’s attacked, he steps up and protects her, not caring what either of their families think. Full details here.

BnK:  You also have a romantic suspense series too (see I told you she was a busy girl).  Tell us a little more about your Red Stone Security Series.

Katie: I love my Red Stone men (and women!). The Red Stone Security group is a Miami-based security company that protects dignitaries and other wealthy people. All the employees who deal with the security side of things are former military or law-enforcement and are highly trained (and oh so sexy). The first three books feature the three brothers who run the company and the next two feature two of their very sexy male employees. All my guys fall hard and fast for their ladies and while they’re all uber alpha, none of them are jerks. I’m planning for the next book to release in April and it features my first RSS female security lead. She’s pretty badass so I’m excited to see how readers react to this one. Even though all the stories are tied together by Red Stone, they can be read as complete stand-alones.

BnK:  How do you keep so many books and characters from blending together?

Katie: Just like every person in my daily life is different, with amazingly different backgrounds and things that have shaped them, it’s the same with my stories and characters. To me, they’re ‘real’ in a sense because they’ve all got unique quirks and views on life. As far as keeping everything organized, I have a very detailed Excel spreadsheet for each series I write that helps me keep track of familial relationships, different plot threads, etc.

BnK: What is the best advice you ever got about becoming a writer?

Katie: Oh wow, this is hard! I’ve received so much great advice it’s hard to pick one thing, but learning to move past rejections quickly was something I was advised about many times. And all those people knew what they were talking about! I’ve learned not to dwell on the negative and instead focus on the positive. I’m too busy writing to worry about things I can’t change.

BnK: Katie, it was a pleasure to have you here again.  Is there anything we forgot to talk about that you would like to add?

Katie: I think we covered a lot so thank you again for having me as a guest!

A little more about Katie: Katie has been reading romance since a young age—ever since she discovered her mom’s hidden stash. Luckily the addiction stayed with her into adulthood. She writes paranormal romance and sexy romantic suspense for Carina Press, Harlequin Nocturne, and NAL/Signet Eclipse. To learn more about her please visit her website, blog, facebook or find her on twitter @katiereus.

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GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY

Katie is giving away a signed set of the MOON SHIFTER series (All 3 books – Alpha Instinct, Primal Possession and Mating Instinct), Romance Trading Cards (for Alpha Instinct, Lover’s Instinct & Primal Possession) and a custom made wolf themed book thong to ONE lucky winner that follows the tour. Fill out the Rafflecopter form below to enter the Grand Prize Giveaway:

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*****

Mating Instinct
Book 3

NAL/Signet Eclipse

Release Date: March 5, 2013

As the beast within struggles to break free, he must learn to be what she needs…

Surviving for centuries, powerful lupine shifter Jayce Kazan managed to stay away from humans until he met Kat Saburova and was consumed by the need to protect her. But while Jayce shared his passion with the human seer, he refused to make her his bondmate—a refusal that caused the end of their relationship.

A year later, an attack that left Kat near death has resulted in another lupine shifter turning her. Furious that he wasn’t the one to save her, Jayce is determined to show Kat that he is the one she should rely on. But the newly turned shifter is still traumatized and worried that she’ll hurt those she loves, unless she can learn to control her inner wolf.

And as Jayce struggles to protect Kat from her own worst instincts and convince her to rekindle their love, the extremists who almost killed her are looking to finish the job…

Amazon (paperback) / Amazon (Kindle) / Barnes & Noble (paperback) / Barnes & Noble (Nook)
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MATING INSTINCT Blog Tour 

2/11 – Curling up with a Good Book

2/12 – Dark Faeire Tales

2/13 – Mad Hatter Reads

2/14 – The Jeep Diva

2/15 – I Smell Sheep

2/16 – Sizzling Hot Books

2/18 – Reading Between the Wines

2/19 – Bookin’ It Reviews

2/20 – Rabid Reads

2/21 – Book Lovin’ Mamas

2/22 – Close Encounters with the Night Kind

2/23 – United by Books

2/23 – Ramblings From This Chick

2/24 – Book Monster Reviews

2/24 – Literal Addiction

2/25 – Salacious Reads

2/26 – Cocktails and Books

2/27 – Urban Girl Reader

2/28 – Books-n-Kisses

3/01 – Page Flipperz

3/01 – So Many Reads…So Little Time

3/02 – The Reading Café

3/03 – Under the Covers

3/04 – Paranormal Haven

3/05 – Vampires, Werewolves, Fairies Oh My!

3/06 – SOS Aloha Blog

3/07 – Total Book Nerd