DESTINY OF THE WITCH
Rise of Orion, #4
by J.M. Davies
April 10th 2020
Publisher: J.M. Davies
Genre: Paranormal Romance
ISBN: ISBN-9798620706396
ASIN: B085D8KJGG
Number of pages: 247
Word Count: 77,293
Tagline: Haunted soul-shifter, Ella Masters’ destiny is to defeat her nemesis, the Morrigan, and save mankind, but since when does destiny ever play fair?
BLURB
In the thrilling climax of the Rise of Orion series, the stakes are higher than ever before as Ella Masters risks everything to fulfill her destiny. As the last Welsh witch and soul-shifter, she has battled many enemies, but none as malevolent as the Morrigan. The devious goddess is determined to destroy not only her, but mankind as well.
Betrayed by her lover Marcus Drayton, an agent for the security team Orion, and facing impossible odds Ella must find the strength to fight her deadly adversary—alone.
Marcus is desperate to save Ella. In a daring and calculated move, he surrenders himself to the Morrigan to prevent his soul mate from clashing swords with the harbinger of death. But has he underestimated what’s at play? When the seductive goddess, manipulates him—her true agenda in this twisted game is revealed.
With the world a battlefield and the very balance of nature under threat, will Ella and Marcus defeat their foes? Will destiny keep them together or tear them apart?
Excerpt:
Ella spun around,
facing a bloody battle scene. Chaos surrounded her and for a moment, she froze,
unsure what to do. Marcus was at the edge of the beach, fighting several
monsters, and the cats from the island were jumping on the creatures’ backs and
clawing at them, only to be tossed aside. Ghostly skeletal and sinewy figures
swarmed the wedding party like ants, wielding swords and brandishing axes and
slicing down those in their way. The creatures dragged thick swirls of mist
from the ocean, making visibility patchy at best. The moans and yells grew
louder.
When a one-armed
corpse hollered and lunged at her with his silver blade held high above his
mottled head, Ella launched into action. Luckily, with her attacker’s reduced
eyesight, his aim sucked, and he missed, giving her time to duck out of the
way. The sudden movement ripped the delicate seam of her dress, revealing her
stash of weapons strapped to her legs. Grabbing her knife from the holster
secured around her thigh, she twisted around, ready to fight back, but
hesitated for a second, unsure where to stick her weapon into the boney carcass
to cause maximum damage. A silver breastplate covered the creature’s chest.
Cries and roars
surrounded her. Ella couldn’t believe the chaos and plunged the knife into the
monster’s side, where pink muscle and torn flesh hung loose. The creature
wailed but managed to grab her throat and squeezed it tight. His sharp skeletal
bones tightened, shutting off her air supply, stealing her breath. Blinking to
stay awake, she watched as a blurry figure grabbed the decomposing form. In one
fluid motion, he snapped the creature’s neck and ripped the head off, dropping
it to the ground. Heaving in a lungful of oxygen, she didn’t have time to
respond as Roman, the prince of vampires, whisked her off the ground to stand
next to Isabella on the wedding dais. The vampire pulled her in close and
hugged her tight.
“I should’ve
known…” she said, still catching her breath. “I detected a foul scent earlier.
It smelled like a dead body,” Ella said. Being a soul-shifter, one of her
talents was to detect other creatures by their scents. She crouched low with
her small blade out in front, backed against Roman, Isabella, and several vamps
as the fog swirled around them.
“That monster
would’ve killed you, Ella. How the hell did they get through the wards?”
Isabella asked.
“I would like to
know the answer to that,” Roman yelled.
“The wards were
set up so no one would get inside…” Isabella shrieked.
“Well, the
undead are definitely here and they weren’t on my guest list. These creatures
don’t abide by normal rules. They are deadly assassins who’ll keep coming until
they have achieved their goal. The only way to kill them is to sever the head.
Nothing else will work. But for us to do that, we need to be able to see them.
Now would be a good time to use your unique gifts to get rid of this infernal
mist!” Roman hollered.
“You think I
haven’t already tried?” Isabella replied.
The prince
switched his gaze between the women and the battlefield, obviously weighing up
the odds. Ella tilted her head, calling out for the spirits to help to disperse
the fog that blanketed the ground.
“You need to
leave. There’s too many of them,” Roman shouted. He nodded at one of his
guards. The vampire grabbed hold of Isabella’s arm, but she struggled in
protest.
“I’m not
leaving. You can’t ask me to, Roman. This is my fight too. This is our
wedding.”
Roman kissed her
on the lips and without another word, Isabella vanished, along with the guard.
The prince flicked his gaze over at Ella. “Don’t look at me like that. After
all, she’s hardly dressed for a fight, and the creatures have weapons that
destroy our kind. You shouldn’t be here either, not in your condition, but I
suspect you would protest as much as Isabella. Fortunately for you, I have no
authority where you’re concerned. But tread carefully, my feroce guerriero.”
Author Info
J. M.Davies, Jen is the author of The Rise of Orion paranormal romance series as well as several contemporary and YA fantasy novels under the name, Jennifer Owen Davies. Jen’s novels are available worldwide in Ebook and print format. In 2014, she was signed with Secret Cravings to write the Children of Annwn fantasy series and in 2018 signed with Limitless Publishing to write the Bound by Love series. Jen is also an indie author producing and publishing work of her own.
Jen loves to create realistic and flawed characters who deserve a happy ever hopefully providing a satisfying read.
J. M. Davies, Jen, is originally from Wales in the UK, but now lives with her family in a small town in New England close to the city of Boston, the coast, and the mountains. Both countries are huge sources of inspiration for her writing. Since she could read, Jen has enjoyed an eclectic taste in books, but loves all thing's romance, and from her love of the written word stemmed the desire to create her own satisfying stories. Although, a shortie at only five feet tall, she has a big heart and hopes that is evident in her storytelling.
Jen has been married for twenty-three years to her greatest supporter. She is mom to four boys, an adorable rescue hound called Ella, and a feline called Kitkat. When she isn’t writing paranormal or contemporary romance, Jen manages a local romance only book club called ‘Babes with Books’. She loves discovering old treasures at yard sales and revamping them, watching Grey’s Anatomy, walking on the beach, cooking, biking and when there’s time the gym. She loves to chat to readers and below are some ways to stay in touch with the latest news about her books and competitions. If you haven’t read any of Jen’s book sign-up for her newsletter, and you’ll receive a free book!
The Book Junkie Reads . . . Interview with J.M. Davies . . .
How would you describe your style of writing to someone that has never read your work?
I write as if I am watching a movie. I see my characters clearly and try to give readers a strong visual of what’s happening, which is why I enjoy writing in the third-person past tense. That way, you are able to see what other characters are feeling and experiencing, which I love when reading a book. I write paranormal and contemporary romance, and although they are very different sub-genres, my aim when writing is to draw the reader into the lives of all the characters and I always deliver a happy ever after or at least for right now.
Do you feel that writing is an ingrained process or just something that flows naturally for you?
Oh, my gosh, when I started to write full-time, ten years ago, I was clueless. I did not know if I could even write a complete story. My background was in nursing and after relocating to New England from Wales for the second time I picked up a pen and notebook and created my first ever full-length story. It took me four years to get it where I wanted. So, to answer your question, I do believe the ability to sit and write was ingrained, but since then, I have adapted and changed how I write. I have developed a routine, but I am always changing this with the aim of making the stories stronger, and I’m getting more efficient with self-editing. Writing is a huge learning process.
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)?
Hm, right now, I start with creating a vision board and draft a rough outline of the characters, their goals and the conflict. I read and undertake research and develop individual character sheets. Once, I feel I have a sense of the characters, I will plot at least the first five or so chapters making brief notes on index cards of things I want to include in those chapters. Then I start. I will try to write and keep writing without editing to get that first draft done. It’s really all the ideas I have for what I want the characters to do and where I want them to be. It’s really rough. I usually let it sit for a while, a month, if I can hold off and then, I’ll go back and add the layers and fill in the gaps.
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?
This is something I am working on because character development is so important. It’s like an actor taking on a role, he/she has to undertake research in order to slip into the shoes of the character they’re playing, but they usually only have one person to develop a relationship with. As a writer, you have to get to know all the characters in your book but developing that relationship, opens your eyes to each person’s way of thinking, and it makes it easier to know what will happen next.
Can you share your next creative project(s)? If yes, can you give a few details?
Ha, I am due to get back to rewriting, An Unexpected Christmas. It’s a sweet, small-town romance. Book One in my Sandy Bay series, which I hope to have out later this year. I loved creating the story between Jenna Hartman, movie star, and Ryan Cooper, farmer, high-school sweethearts, which I started writing during “Nanowrimo” in 2019. It’s my first seasonal romance. The series centers around a group of people that are connected to each other in some way, set in the coastal town on the North Shore in New England.
What are some of your writing/publishing goals for this year?
To get at least three books published and to have started my spin off from The Rise of Orion series, The Vampire’s Witch.
To increase my audience by producing more books.
Being focused on writing and not being distracted.
Where would you spend one full year, if you could go ANYWhere, money is not a concern? What would you do with this time?
Without a doubt, I would love to spend a year in Italy, in Tuscany, probably the small hilltop town of Montepulciano. I would learn the beautiful language, eat, drink and write. It’s a magical place and it’s where my book, The Deal is set. I was lucky enough to visit the town when I turned fifty and spent the afternoon at the vineyard that I based my fictional one on. It was heaven and a dream come true. I would go back tomorrow in a heartbeat.
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