Welcome to the Official Blog Tour for Reign & Ruin, the first in her Mages of the Wheel series, by J.D. Evans! On our tour stop today, we have an exclusive excerpt AND a couple of author-hosted giveaways to share! Be sure to check it out and grab your copy now!
Genre:
New Adult
Epic Fantasy
Series:
Mages of the Wheel, #1
Publish Date:
January 23, 2020
Publisher:
Whippoorwill Press LLC
Synopsis:
“All magic is beautiful,” she said, “and terrible. Do you not see the beauty in yours, or the terror in mine? You can stop a heart, and I can stop your breath.”
She is heir to a Sultanate that once ruled the world. He is an unwanted prince with the power to destroy.
She is order and intellect, a woman fit to rule in a man's place. He is chaos and violence and will stop at nothing to protect his people.
His magic answers hers with shadow for light. They need each other, but the cost of balance may be too high a price. Magic is dying and the only way to save it is to enlist mages who wield the forbidden power of death, mages cast out centuries ago in a brutal and bloody war.
Now, a new war is coming. Science and machines to replace magic and old religion.
They must find a way to save their people from annihilation and balance the sacred Wheel—but first, they will have to balance their own forbidden passion. His peace for her tempest, his restlessness for her calm…
Night and day, dusk and dawn, the end, and the beginning.
*FREE o Kindle Unlimited*
*Excerpt*
Naime rose up on her knees and pressed her mouth softly to his, her breath held, slipping her hands to rest on his shoulders. She pulled immediately away, unsure.
“I don’t know how.”
Makram slid off the trunk, landing on his knees in front of her, wrapping his arm around her waist to draw her against him.
“I know you don’t.” He brushed his mouth over the bridge of her nose, then her cheek, then her brow, burning her with the tenderness of it. “I know I shouldn’t touch you or let you touch me. I shouldn’t speak to you, I shouldn’t look at you.”
“But I like all of those things,” she protested breathlessly, her mind fogged.
“I can’t stop,” he said. “I am trying and failing.”
“Then,” she began, tingles of anticipation and shyness arcing across her lips and down her throat, “teach me.”
“Yes, Sultana.” The pupils of his eyes broke open, spilling black night across the irises.
Her pulse roared, her mouth went dry, and she breathed a halfhearted murmur of apprehension. Her parents had loved each other, but Naime had never expected that to be her fate. She had always imagined any kiss she experienced would be two people who barely liked each other pressing lips together for awkward moments of silence and the benefit of others.
She had not imagined she would feel the clutch of desire that stole her breath.
His first kiss was brief and fierce, the softness of his mouth laid over hers, warmth and little shocks of sensation bursting all over her body, not just where his lips touched hers. Then he pulled back and rubbed his mouth over hers before concentrating first on her lower lip then her top with gentle, coaxing pressure. Naime gave the same in kind, trying to match his pace and focus on him without being made useless by sensation.
He tipped his head, pressing the same kisses along her jaw, and her throat, and the shivers that slipped across her skin were indiscernible from those caused by the cold. She gasped, her arms sliding around his neck to prevent herself falling backwards under his ministrations, and he returned his mouth to hers, less gently. His stubbled jaw abraded her skin, a shocking contrast to the wet, warm stroke of his mouth, then his tongue.
She had never understood when she saw people lurking in corners and alcoves, had thought it all unseemly and nauseating. But now she understood. She did not know how she would ever stop thinking of this, of sharing breath and longing and touches so intimate they were unbearable and yet not enough. Naime’s hands flew to his neck, her nails digging against his nape, clinging as much as she was pleading, afraid and enraptured by every emotion and sensation that swept over her. Her entire world collapsed in and existed only in the places they touched.
Makram parted from her but did not draw back, only tipped his face to nuzzle hers as his breath slid out in a slow stream.
“You aren’t finished?” she said against his jaw. “I was just beginning to get the hang of it.”
He breathed a laugh. “I am finished. You’ve ended me.”
~~~~~
**About the Author**
J.D. Evans writes science fiction and fantasy romance and is the author of the novel, Reign & Ruin. After earning her degree in linguistics, J.D. served a decade as an army officer. She once spent her hours putting together briefings for helicopter pilots and generals. Now she writes stories, tends to a tiny human, knits, sews badly, gardens, and cultivates Pinterest Fails. After a stint in Beirut, J.D. fell in love with the Levant, which inspired the setting for her debut series, Mages of the Wheel.
J.D. currently resides in Raleigh, North Carolina, though she will always be a Montana girl at heart.
Stay connected with J.D. Evans
~~~~~
***The Giveaway***
Note: Not Responsible for Lost & Damaged Prizes in Your Mail Box
Get the details on J.D. Evans' Giveaways on Goodreads and Facebook,
HERE!
Blog Tour Organized by
Nice!
ReplyDeleteThank you! :)
DeleteWow! A teaser of a kiss!
ReplyDeleteRight on!
DeleteLove the chemistry!
ReplyDeleteRight on!
Delete