Meet Virginia Kantra!

Have I got a treat for you! I was introduced to Virginia Kantra's books when I judged one in the Ritas a couple of years ago. It knocked my socks off, so I wrote to tell her so. And this is one generous woman, lemme tell you. She sent me the Trouble in Eden series that she'd written for Silhouette Intimate Moments.

Well. . . generous or wicked. Because can you say, "Wanna free book, little girl?""
Now I'm a stone VK junkie.

And I'm not the only one, clearly. Romantic Times gave Sea Witch four stars and called it “an emotional journey of discovery and an intriguing launch into a compelling new series.”

At WritersAreReaders.com, Suzanne Brockmann wrote:
“A paranormal world that moves with the rhythm of the waves and the tide… Kantra tells Margred and Caleb's story with a lyric, haunting, poetic voice.”

Fresh Fiction said:
“Sea Witch is a fantastic story full of excitement, humor, suspense and loads of hot, hot sex. (Susan, who scored an early copy, interrupts to say: Oh, yeah) This paranormal is so interesting, you want it to go on and on and never quit. I thoroughly enjoyed [Kantra’s] witty style of writing and her wonderful, fascinating characters. Anyone who enjoys a good paranormal should NOT miss this one!”

But enough from them--let's let Virginia talk for herself. And, ooh! Ooh! She's giving a copy of Sea Witch to one lucky poster and the anthology Shifter by her, Angela Knight, Lora Leigh and Alyssa Day to another. Then the two of you can join me in twitching as we await her next book.

Take it away, Virginia!

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I’m so excited Susan invited me to guest blog today. This is more fun than sitting at the cool kids’ table in the school cafeteria. (At least, I imagine it is. I didn’t spend a lot of time at the cool kids’ table.) Anyway, the people here are nicer.

And we get to talk about books!

I remember summers by the books I read. All of Edward Eager at a cramped cottage on Cape Cod the summer I turned nine. Peter Beagle’s The Last Unicorn in a dusty London flat when I was fourteen. Mary Stewart’s This Rough Magic on the train in Germany. I read my first novel by Jayne Anne Krentz (it was Family Man) with my butt in the North Carolina sand and Susan’s Baby I’m Yours in Charleston a few years later.

The crash of the waves, the caress of the sun, the tang of salt, and the promise of a hot romance still mean “summer” to me. This year, I have a new paranormal romance series to share with you, stories filled with the mystery and magic, power and passion of the ocean: The Children of the Sea. Set off the coast of Maine, these books were inspired by the Celtic legends of the selkie, immortal creatures of the sea living apart from humankind but able to shape-shift into seductive human form.

For centuries, the children of the sea have co-existed in uneasy peace with their fellow elementals, the children of fire. Now that balance of power is tested as three siblings born of a human father and a selkie mother become embroiled in an ancient rivalry.

Caleb, the soldier, who returns from the desert to fall in love with a woman from the sea
(Sea Witch, Berkley, July 2008)

Dylan, the loner, who must choose between the freedom of his mother’s kind and the bonds of mortal love (Sea Fever, Berkley, August 2008)

Lucy, the dreamer, whose heart and fate are tangled with the sea king’s son
(Sea Lord, Berkley, February 2009).

In Sea Witch, Margred, a selkie, is driven to the island of World’s End by her desire for down-to-earth police chief Caleb Hunter. Strong, steady Caleb is bewitched by this sensual stranger. But when a murderer begins targeting women on World’s End, Caleb must face the terrible possibility that the killings are somehow connected to the mysterious Margred . . . and that the course of their love may threaten everything he believes in.

I hope you’ll check out the excerpts on my website, http://virginiakantra.com, and the “Countdown to Sea Witch” at my blog, http://www.myspace.com/virginiakantra

In the meantime, share: What are some of your all-time favorite summer reads? Do you remember where you were when you read them?

Happy Summer! And happy reading.