Phoenix Rising Series
Naked & Neo Geisha
by Alexandra Christian
Publisher:
Boroughs Publishing Group
Genre:
Sci-Fi/ Paranormal Romance
Naked
Phoenix Rising, #1
by Alexandra Christian
Date of Publication: April 13th
2017
BLURB
OUT OF THE STACKS
Librarian Phoebe Addison has
lived her entire life within a seventy-five mile radius of her small Louisiana
town, but when she receives a strange medallion from her adventurous, off-world
sister, reality tilts toward the bizarre. Everything Phoe thought she knew
is…well, wrong. Dead wrong. But bone-numbing fear has no place in this brave
new world—nor by the side of the dangerous, exquisite man who saves her life.
…AND INTO THE FIRE
Following the tragic slaughter of
his family, operative Macijah “Cage” St. John understands evil in a way no man
ever should. He traded happiness for a magnificent and terrible power, and fate
isn’t done with him yet. He wasn’t looking for comfort. He didn’t need
tenderness. But today he’ll play hero to a damsel in distress, and his quest
will deliver him to the uncanny Martian colony of New London—and his heart to
the demure Phoebe Addison. The bookish beauty’s hidden talents and deep abiding
love just might save Cage from himself.
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Excerpt Naked:
“Hey…”
she sighed, taking the curve of his jaw in the palm of her hand and raising his
eyes to meet hers. “I’m okay. You saved my life. For like… the millionth
time.” He didn’t move, so she didn’t pull away, finally able to observe
him. His jaw was set, tense as he stared at her with those dusky, changeable
eyes. But Phoe could feel a tremble there. A fear lurking underneath that she
would never have expected a man like Cage to possess. “I’m fine.”
“And what
in hell were you doing?” he said, snapping his head up to glare at her. “I told
you to run away and you did exactly the opposite of what I said! You could have
been killed! Or worse, bitten! You just… you don’t understand, Phoe. I’m
supposed to protect you, and I didn’t protect you. I can’t lose another…”
His words trailed off. She could tell he wanted to say more but wouldn’t. She
held his gaze, but he looked away, as if he were hiding some weakness he
couldn’t stand for her to see. There was some trauma lurking there.
“What are
you talking about?” she said. “Help me understand.”
“I
can’t,” he said, pulling back and shaking his head as if to clear it. “I won’t.”
“But why…”
He rolled
back on his heels and rose quickly, his shoulder brushing against the bedside
table and nearly toppling the glass of tea, an uncharacteristically clumsy
movement. “Just leave it alone, Phoe. My demons are my own.” The weakness
was gone, and now that hard-edged, barely contained anger returned. She knew if
she pressed him that he would lash out. She was starting to understand, to be
able to read his moods that had seemed so random and mysterious when they’d
first met. There was a scab, healed over but still burning. “Rest up,” he said,
turning to walk away. “We’ll leave at sunset. Addie has a car.”
Swallowing
her nausea, she threw back the blanket and stumbled out of the bed toward him.
“Wait… Cage…”
He
stopped but didn’t turn.
“Look, I
don’t know what’s happened to you in your past. But we all have demons. Some of
us, more than most people. I get it.” She lay a hand on his shoulder,
feeling the tremble of muscles pulled tight. The sensation of gentle touch had
evidently become a foreign concept, and his first reaction was to flee. His
head turned, staring down at where the cool, pearlescent flesh of her
fingertips rested against him. Such a profile, his eyes gazing downward and
just the faint glisten of a single tear resting just under his eyelashes. Phoe’s
heart broke for him. “You can trust me.”
“I do
trust you, Phoe.” She slid her arm along his shoulder, and he turned,
enveloping her body in a gentle embrace. He brushed a hand over her brow,
smoothing back the stray locks that fell around her face. Being so close to
him, she felt small and skittish. If he loosened his grasp even just a little,
she feared she would retreat. He took her hand, bringing it to his lips and
then pressing her palm against his cheek. Instantly his body relaxed, as if her
touch were some sort of calming drug. Phoebe could actually feel the tension
melting from his embrace. His eyes were full of fire and his breathing labored.
Phoe couldn’t believe that it was her doing this to him. That all of this was
for her. “I don’t trust me,” he went on. She was mesmerized by the curves of
his lips as he spoke and without even realizing, she’d moved closer. Only a
breath between them, and then their lips touched. He kissed her, lightly at
first then more insistent. Phoe was stiff, the sensation so unfamiliar as his
sumptuous mouth caressed her lower lip, worrying it gently, teaching her what
to do. She melted into his embrace, and he teased the crease of her mouth with
the tip of his tongue, coaxing it open before taking possession. Cage stole her
breath and then offered his own. His arms tightened around her waist as he
pulled her in against him, letting his hands rest on her hips as their kiss
went on and on. When he let her go, Phoe stumbled, holding her dizzy head. A
fluttery feeling rose in the pit of her belly, and all she wanted to do was
kiss him again.
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Neo-Geisha
Phoenix Rising
by Alexandra Christian
Date of Publication: October 26th
2017
Reluctant to become a spy again,
Macijah "Cage" St. John's instincts prove correct when all hell
breaks loose for him and his lady love, Phoebe Addison, who is also his new
partner.
BLURB
BACK...
Macijah "Cage" St.
John' didn't want the spy life anymore. He would have been thrilled to spend
every morning lying in the field behind Phoe's home in smalltown Louisiana
watching the clouds roll by. But his Miss Addison wanted to spread her wings,
literally. So Cage accepted a mission that teamed him up with his lady love. If
only he had trusted her.
TO THE FUTURE
Everything about being a spy was
a million times more exciting, and scarier, than the books she'd read in her
former life as a librarian. When her first mission with Cage turned into a
colossal clusterf*ck because he withheld information and kept secrets, Phoebe's
world narrowed into a long tunnel of betrayal. Captured by space pirates and
delivered to a horrible fate, she wished the last words between them had been
of love, because she was certain she would never see Cage St. John again.
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Excerpt Neo-Geisha:
Phoebe
stood there letting the steaming water pour down over her body, wishing it
would wash away the doubt. She didn’t hear the swish of the door opening so
when Cage stepped into the shower behind her she screamed, coming at him with
the tiny penknife she kept on hand at all times.
“Whoa,”
he chuckled, grabbing her wrist. “Calm down. It’s me.” She held firm to the
hilt of the knife for a few seconds before letting him slip it from her grasp.
“You’re all right.”
“Am I?”
He
nodded. “You’re always safe with me, love.”
“Is that
a promise?” She met his gaze, searching for sincerity in it.
“Always.”
He leaned in and pressed his lips to her forehead. “You really must stop taking
weapons into the shower. That’s a nasty accident waiting to happen.”
All the
pent-up emotion and stress from the last several weeks bubbled to the surface
and she crumpled against him, her tears mixing with the falling water in a
mixture of relief and fear, exhilaration and uncertainty. “There now, baby.
You’re all right.” He wrapped his arms around her, brushing the matted tendrils
away from her ear and kissing her lightly at the small hollow beneath. It made
her feel small and protected. She craved the strength she felt in the hard
muscles cording through his arms and chest.
“Is it
like this every time?” she sniffled.
He
chuckled. “You get used to it.”
“I didn’t
think you were supposed to be afraid.”
“Where on
earth would you get that idea?” he said. “Fear keeps us on our toes.”
“It
didn’t do so well for me,” she replied, rubbing at her burning eyes. “I fucked
up everything.”
“No you
didn’t. It isn’t anyone’s fault. It just happened.”
“If you
hadn’t been there…” she sniffled. “I’d… I…”
He took
her chin between his fingertips and forced her head up. “You would have figured
a way out. You’re smart and managed to keep your cool. As soon as the antidote
took hold, you were able to shift. That confusion you created saved both our
skins. So no more of this doubt, all right? You need to not worry so much,” he
purred, nudging her back under the spray. The steam was a comfort, wrapping her
in a blanket of humid warmth and she began to relax. “You’re so tense.” He
turned her around brushing his fingertips along her spine.
“You know
I’m a worrier,” she muttered.
“It’s a
useless endeavor, I’m afraid.” His fingers came to rest at the swell of her ass
and began tracing circles at the base of her spine. The callouses at the tips
tickled at her skin and she shivered. He pulled her against him, so close that
she could feel his lips fluttering against the cuff of her ear. “You have to
let that go. Let me help you forget all about the wolves in the dark.”
She
leaned back, luxuriating in the sensation of his hands slip-sliding over her
body. Her skin was slick with the water and the remnants of expensive bath oil.
“I think you’re trying to seduce me, Mr. St. John.”
“Of
course I am,” he replied, pushing her hair away from her neck so that he could
feather gentle kisses under her hairline. “Do you mind?”
“I’ll
tell you when I mind,” she mumbled with a groan as he pinched her fleshy
earlobe between his teeth. She reached back, tangling her fingers in the soft
curls at the base of his skull. They were short, but long enough to wrap around
a fingertip and tug lightly. She could feel his body so close behind her, hard
against her softness. The contrast was so erotic that she was breathless even
before his hands slid over her breasts.
“It isn’t
fair,” she sighed as the blunt edge of his thumbnail slid over her nipple. “To
let me get all clean only to make me dirty again.”
“I’ll
gladly scrub anything you have, Miss Addison.”
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Author Info
Alexandra Christian is an author
of mostly romance with a speculative slant. Her love of Stephen King and sweet
tea has flavored her fiction with a Southern Gothic sensibility that reeks of
Spanish moss and deep fried eccentricity. Lexx likes to keep her fingers in
lots of different pies having written everything from sci-fi and horror to
Sherlock Holmes adventures.
A self-proclaimed “Southern Belle
from Hell,” Lexx is a native South Carolinian who lives with an epileptic
wiener dog and her husband, author Tally Johnson. Her long-term aspirations are
to one day be a best-selling authoress and part-time pinup girl. She’s a member
of Romance Writers of America.
The Book Junkie Reads . . . Interview
with Author: Alexandra Christian
How would you
describe you style of writing to someone that has never read your work?
I always say that my writing style is an unholy marriage
of Anais Nin and Stephen King, as those two writers have probably been the
greatest influence on me as an author. I’m in love with language and voice. I
want my writing to be almost audible in the reader’s ear as they read. That
being said, I want to convey the message in as few words as possible. I also
love dialogue, so my characters talk to each other a lot. There are very few
pages in an Alexandra Christian novel where people just sit and think about
stuff.
What mindset or
routine do you feel the need to set when preparing to write (in general whether
you are working on a project or just free writing)?
When I sit down to write, I must have music, a notebook
and pen close by, and either a cup of coffee or some other drink. I do most of
my writing on a computer, but some scenes just need to be written out freehand
first. Music is always such an important part of my processing as a reader and
thinker, so when I get ready to write, music is essential. I’ve also gotten in a terrible habit of
writing in coffeeshops. On one hand, it’s great because you don’t have any of
the “home distractions” like television, pets, a messy house, etc., but on the
other, once you get into that habit, it’s hard to just write while you’re
sitting on the couch.
Do you take your
character prep to heart? Do you nurture the growth of each character all the
way through to the page? Do you people watch to help with development? Or do
you build upon your character during story creation?
Characters usually come to me and I can’t get them out of
my head. I’ll start writing things down
about them and create a very informal profile that has basic information like
their physical appearance, age, and personality traits. I’ve even been known to
write little stories that give a little information about the character’s
backstory. I’ve always felt that I need to learn as much as I can about the
main characters before I start writing, even if I don’t share most of that
information with my readers. People watching is definitely part of that
process. Of course, during the writing of the book, I learn even more. You
can’t help learning more as their reactions to different situations and people
play out on the page.
Have you found
yourself bonding with any particular character? If so which one(s)?
I feel particularly close to the heroine of the Phoenix
Rising series, Phoebe. She has so much of me in her. That feeling of being
afraid to step out of your comfort zone being trumped by your sense of responsibility.
Also, Phoebe is a woman who has always wanted to be more, but felt caged by her
responsibilities and circumstances. I very much relate to that aspect of her
personality.
Do you have a
character that you have been working on that you can’t wait to put to paper?
Oh, there are so many! The next book in the Phoenix
Rising series features an AI cyborg who thinks he’s Sherlock Holmes. I’m really
looking forward to that. It’s no surprise, though. I’ve been doing a lot with
Sherlock Holmes lately. My next project is a series of novellas about Dr.
Watson, monster hunter. The first one is done and I’m about to start the second
in which we find out that Mrs. Hudson (the canonical landlady) is a witch. I
cannot WAIT to get started on that one.
Have you ever felt
that there was something inside of you that you couldn't control? If so what?
If no what spurs you to reach for the unexperienced?
My mother passed away nine years ago at the age of 66.
When she died, I realized that I was just under half her age. I told myself
then that if my life was halfway over, I had better get going doing those
things that I had always wanted to do. I don’t want to have any regrets, and so
I think that drive to get everything you can out of life has spurred me to want
to do more things. So far I’ve changed careers and written a bunch of books, so
there’s no telling what’s next.
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