Please welcome to Over Coffee, Patti O'Shea. My introduction to Patti's writing was from the Crimson City Series Through a Crimson Veil. Patti is a Nationally best selling Paranormal Action Romance author.I happened to mention my love of the Crimson City Series to a friend of mine which led me to Patti. Annette Fitzgerald (The Book Exchange) and I regularly kibitz over good paranormal authors and Patti is a favorite of hers. Lucky for me. :-)
Since I hadn't read the Light Warriors series, (yes, I'm behind. I'll catch up), I asked Patti to give me a bit of an intro about this book. I was curious about Kel and Farran. What made them tick and what the structure of the world she put them in and boy, she obliged.
- Meet Kel and Farran:
One of my favorite things about writing is the relationship between the characters. Watching the hero and heroine give and take, learn and grow until they reach a point where they can have a future together is fun and it was especially interesting while I was working on IN THE DARKEST NIGHT. Kel and Farran both had emotional scars that made it difficult to reach out and even harder to trust anyone. Luckily for me (although not so much for them), the situation kept them in close proximity to each other for the length of the book.
Kel is a magical troubleshooter who's been pulled from active duty because he's suffering from PTSD and his council is concerned about him. Farran is hiding from the Gineal (Kel's people), fearful that they'll kill her if they find her, but when a demon tries to grab her, she has no choice except go to the enemy for help. She heads to the home of the Seattle troubleshooter, but she finds Kel instead. He has his own reasons for agreeing to assist her.
- When they met, I wasn't quite sure how these two were going to fall in love. Kel was raw, suffering flashbacks and nightmares that left him afraid to sleep. Farran had learned the hard way not to trust anyone, especially men. But this is where the fun comes in. I keep writing and somehow the characters change in small ways until they're able and ready to reach out to each other.
This story, though, had other relationships to explore. Kel's sister helped them out several times and this gave Farran glimpses of the man Kel was before he'd been captured and held prisoner. It also showed how worried his family about him shutting them out, and I think that told Farran she meant something to him because he was letting her in. At least a bit.
The biggest and most important secondary relationship, however, was between Kel and his twin brother, Logan.
The two of them did everything together growing up, and while Logan doesn't physically make an appearance in DARKEST NIGHT until the epilogue, his presence is felt throughout the book. Kel thinks about his brother, talks about his brother, and their closeness is obvious. And so is the fact that there's a distance growing between them because Kel keeps pushing Logan away, refusing his offers of help. Refusing to talk about what happened to him.
If you read the previous book, EDGE OF DAWN, there were scenes between Kel and Logan where Kel was deliberately antagonistic. He's trying to push Logan away, but he can't quite make himself do it completely. (The two books, BTW, stand-alone and it isn't necessary to read both.) IN THE DARKEST NIGHT shows how much this costs Kel personally. These two have been best friends since they were born and losing that will destroy something inside Kel—but that isn't stopping him.
I hope if you read DARKEST NIGHT that you'll enjoy the relationships as much as I did, especially the one that grows between Kel and Farran.
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What kind of characters do you find interesting?
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Synopsis:
Fleeing from both her dark heritage and the magical council she attempted to steal from, Farran’s greatest fear is to be sent back to the father she has utterly betrayed. Yet when a demon attempts to capture her, Farran knows she cannot stay hidden. She must find help.
Kel Andrews is a magical troubleshooter with troubles of his own. Recovering from being kidnapped and tortured by darksiders, Kel has been removed from active duty by the magical council. When the mysterious Farran collapses on his doorstep, begging for help, Kel feels compelled to assist her in any way possible.As danger—both demonic and human—closes in on them from every side, Kel and Farran must learn to trust each other as they battle the monsters that are determined to keep them apart.
The Book Exchange is offering a contest to win a book from Patti O'Shea. Check them out.
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Patti O'Shea's passions are writing, airplanes and traveling. Fortunately, she's been able to enjoy all three. After receiving a degree in advertising copy writing, she took a job with a major U.S. airline and now works in 757 Engineering. Besides teaching her about the planes she loves, it's given her an opportunity to travel to places like Australia, Papua New Guinea and Canada's Yukon Territory. Writing, though, remains her primary love. Patti created her first romance when she was in junior high school and has been hooked ever since. She should have figured out she was a writer years earlier, however, since her dolls had such involved lives, complete with goals, motivation and conflict.
Blog Patti has some interesting Dossiers on her characters.
Website Patti loves to hear from her readers. She also has excerpts from the other books in the Light Warriors series.
