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My Familiar Stranger Now Available in Print.
Click here to buy in paperback form from Amazon.com.
FINALLY! To all of you who have asked for this book in print form, here you go. Enjoy.
Sneak Preview: The Witch's Dream
The Witch’s Dream excerpt #1
When Kay’s bunch arrived it suddenly seemed as if the one hundred seventy five room palace on twelve thousand acres would not be nearly big enough. His family had migrated to South Texas in the nineteenth century and found it agreeably inhospitable. Berserkers enjoy a good challenge. So they founded an organization to clean up the mess, taking on rowdy itinerants who heartily embraced a get-it-done, no-rules philosophy and called it the Texas Rangers. Were it not for berserkers it seems unlikely that the frontier mix of Comanche, desperados, and javelina could have been subdued so relatively quickly and by so few.
Chaos Caelian, named such by his maternal grandmother as was her privilege in berserker society, was affectionately known as Kay. It was the nickname bestowed upon him by his teammate Rammel Hawking soon after they’d met. Ram had thought a knight named Kay – like the foster brother of King Arthur from Arthurian legend – was amusing. So Chaos became Sir Kay and it stuck. Even his own parents eventually began calling him Kay.
Yes. Everybody knew the near giant knight as Kay except for his three older sisters who refused to give up calling him Bubba, never letting him forget for a minute that he was the “baby” of the family. The four youngest Caelian children were close in age, only a year apart, and in familial ties. There was a much older brother, but he and their parents almost seemed to comprise a second family. The three preschool girls started out calling him “brother”, but the nickname quickly degenerated into Bubba and would not go away.
Their grandmother, sometimes called Evil Gran by those she had named, gave the girls similar hardships to bear. Having inherited the “sight” from her own grandmother, Evil Gran claimed she knew three girls were coming and set out to name them after the Norns; the three keepers of time according to Norse myth. Hence, they were named in order of linear time – past, present, and future: Urda, Verdandia, and Skulda. In a triumph of sibling camaraderie and conspiracy over custom, their names had morphed into something more suitable before they entered kindergarten. Urda became known as “Urz”, Verdandia as “Dandie” and Skulda did a triple twist into “Squoozie” which, odd as it was, seemed like a custom fit.
Elora had once heard Kay say that opening the door to his boyhood home was like going through the wardrobe to the land of “Nornia”.
The entire family resembled the popular perception of Vikings: tall, fair haired, fair skinned, with blue eyes, an abundance of athletic ability, and an indomitable desire to know where to plunder the best jewelry. Fortunately the family had accumulated multigenerational wealth in land, cattle, and oil in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century so the quest for jewelry did not require going a’viking as it was known in the old days. Kay’s sisters were content with the occasional plunder of Gump’s, Tiffany, and Cartier.
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Honored to be featured on BB Friday at My Interview on Night Owl Reviews posted today.
click here for Victoria’s Interview on Night Owl
M.F.S. Reviewed by Between the Bind Blog
Review from Jenna Lynne at Between the Bind Blog POSTED 6/26/12
She gave me 4 1/2 stars on Amazon, but, I’m still proud enough of this review to post it because she took SO much time on the analysis and went so deep into her personal reactions. As an author, you can’t help but be moved when someone is emotional engaged by the characters of an otherworld that originated in the strangeness of imaginescape. Thanks Jenna. Not just for this review, but for promoting the genre of Paranormal Romance. – Victoria
Unique and Captivating – 4.5 Stars,June 26, 2012This review is from: My Familiar Stranger – A Paranormal Romance (The Order of the Black Swan) (Kindle Edition)
This book was a RIDE! I simply cannot say enough great things about Victoria Danann and the genius that is My Familiar Stranger. Danann’s writing style is uniquely honest and captivates her audience with both plot and characters in a well-developed and thoughtful world (or “worlds” as it seems).
The Love Nest:
Elora Liaken is the perfect meshing of kick-butt-ness and vulnerability. Literally dropping into an alternative dimension after watching her family be assassinated, Elora is saved by Storm, the de facto leader of the elite B-Team in the paranormal military unit, “Black Swan.” All Elora remembers of Storm is his delicious smell and comforting words while drifting in and out of consciousness. Well, that and another voice saying, “We should kill it.”
After healing, Elora distinguishes the latter from B-Team’s resident womanizer, Ram, who immediately recognizes Elora as his elven mate. Showing more brains than brawn, he doesn’t try to force his culture on Elora, knowing that humans rarely mate for life. Ram is crude at best while competing for Elora’s affection – but he is unaware that the competition is with not just one other man, but instead, two! The last in this triad being the ancient, overtly sexy, and repentant vampire, Istvan Baka.
These relationships seem to be straight forward at first, but progress interestingly enough and actually? One of my initial complaints is now my most favorite piece of Danann’s puzzle. I really did want Elora to choose each one of the men depending on the page I was on, to the point of being extremely frustrated that said gentleman was taking time away from my current fav, but, in what I’ve come to know as classic Danann style, this was exactly the point. As a reader, you are physically but moreover, emotionally pulled in several directions – just like Elora.
There is not one clear stand out mate until a choice is made and you’re like WHAT?! HIM?! Wait…but what about…?! These relationships develop organically, taking ample time before jumping into any sexual relationship. I enjoyed the flirting so much! Most writers do not give enough attention to the simple act of flirting. *sigh*
**SPOILER** The major qualm I had with this trio of suitors was that Baka wasn’t really ever in the running for me. Even though he was sexy as all get out, he was never a true contender for Elora’s heart. So this “trio” is really just a “duo” with a super sexy friend involved. **END SPOILER**
Our Heroine: The premise of a woman not needing protection from her man also brightened the read. I loved how competent Elora was in all aspects without being an unobtainable heroine or perceived as perfect – well from anyone but her men!
The Awesome: Danann’s world building is quite astounding. She has a knack for detail and can write such vivid imagery that I could recount to you with reasonable accuracy what rooms and buildings looked and felt like. I could not however tell you just what all three of our male characters looked like…well except some inappropriate details. 😉
This book had a slow first few chapters but once I understood Danann’s style and relaxed into her flow I enjoyed every page turn. I will be waiting ever-so-patiently (HA!) for the next installment, The Witch’s Dream to be released in Fall 2012.
What's next in Black Swan? The second book is…
In response to a comment from a reader received this morning, I decided to write a quick update on Book Two: The Witch’s Dream.
My target for release is mid October, but, if I enter into a contract to publish in print form as well as electronic, there might be a slight delay. I will post developments on this blog.
To Jen – I hope you always finish reading my books tapping foot impatiently for the next one. Thank you for the feedback. It keeps me typing.
Exclusive with Amazon.com
Update to my announcement a couple of weeks ago that we are going with Amazon.com exclusively. For those of you who want to read My Familiar Stranger on devices other than Kindle… here’s the solution.
