Maxine Mansfield: A Debut Author with a Fun and Unexpected Twist on Adult Fairy Tales

I’m pleased to introduce my very good friend and fellow writer Maxine Mansfield. Maxine and I met when I lived in Alaska and we joined the same critique group. We’ve watched each other grow into excited and talented (certainly in her case) published authors. Maxine’s debut novel “Touched By the Magic” is an adult fantasy erotica that you might, just might, let your mama read! Yes, it’s hot. It’s also slightly voyeuristic and more than a little unusual. BUT, it’s also sweet and fun and completely entertaining. You’ll laugh out loud at the crazy antics of her gnomes and wild characters, but you’ll fall in love with hero and heroine Uthiel and Briar. I guarantee it’s a book you won’t forget. So help me welcome, Maxine Mansfield. -- Liz

About Maxine

Maxine Mansfield writes romances in many different forms from her easy chair in the far northern state of Alaska, where the summer days are long and the winter nights even longer. She has one very special man, three equally special adult children, and six delightful grandchildren in her life. Not to mention a very bossy and verbal African Grey parrot called Gabriel.

About “Touched By the Magic”

New to The Academy of Magical Arts, Briarlarn Tumbleweed wants to learn the art of a True Healer, but her nerves get the best of her when she’s paired in the sexually dynamic healing class with Uthiel Stoutheart, Paladin of the Realm. Between burning off his eyebrows and overturning a candle on certain exposed male parts, she isn't making a very good impression. But how can she focus when Uthiel is strong, brave, and touches Briar in a way that leaves her weak in the knees, quivering with pleasure, and begging for more?

Falling in love with the accident-prone but talented Briar was not what Uthiel had planned, but life with the sexy healer is adventurous, hilarious, mind-blowingly stimulating, and clearly his destiny. His soul awakens while taking her to new heights of ecstasy, yet he can't allow his own pleasure. There’s no getting around it—he must leave The Academy and pursue his quest to right the wrongs done to his people if he can ever hope to find happiness with Briar.

But is their love strong enough to mend the magic so desperately needed to preserve their world, and that touches both their souls with a searing heat?

A little excerpt for you:

What good is studying to be a true healer

if you can’t heal the one person who holds

your heart in his hands?

Briar gulped once more and shifted until she was directly in front of him. Standing on tiptoes, she whispered, “I’m still a virgin.”

She stepped back and watched all the color drain from Uthiel’s face.

“You’re a what? How on Albrath did that happen?” He stared at her as if she’d grown an extra head. A slight twitch in his left jaw became more pronounced.

“I told you, there wasn’t anyone around to take care of that tiny detail.”

Her cheeks burned with embarrassment, and her throat tightened so much she could barely breathe. If she lived to be a thousand, she didn’t ever again want to see the look of horror Uthiel leveled at her. She felt like a freak in a carnival sideshow.

The paladin sat heavily on a stool. “I’ve never known a twenty-one-year-old virgin. How did you even get accepted into the Healer program? I mean, for God Draka’s sake, Briar, Healing the Soul is almost entirely sex, in one form or another.”

Briar swallowed her tears. “They didn’t ask, so I didn’t tell. Well, really, they didn’t ask directly, and I figured what they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt anyone. So, will you help me, or not?”

And now some fun questions for Maxine

(Note: Maxine has a fabulous gift basket of goodies including a copy of TOUCHED BY THE MAGIC, a mug, a dragon, a gnome and other wonderful gifts to one lucky commenter today!)

LIZ: Welcome, Maxine. I’m so glad you’re here!  How often do you get lost in a story?

MAXINE:  I am such a romantic at heart, and I almost always find myself lost in whatever story I’m reading. Especially if it’s well written and the characters are engaging. Whether I find myself in Julia Quinn’s Regency England, or in Monica McCarty’s Highlands of Scotland, or Lizbeth Selvig’s small town Minnesota, it’s the wonderful escapism of the story that draws me in. For just a little while, I can put away my own day-to-day concerns and glory in the trials, tribulations, and finally, the ultimate triumphs of others.   

LIZ: What’s the first book you remember reading?

MAXINE: Believe it or not, lol, I was kind of a strange child. That is to say, I didn’t care for the typical kid’s books. I was completely and totally hooked on biographies. My favorites were every single book I could find about the life of George Washington Carver. The adversities he overcame, and the determination to make something of himself no matter what, are lessons I’ve never forgotten and have taken to heart. And, even today, at my age, I absolutely love a good peanut butter sandwich! 

LIZ: What’s your favorite “love” word?

MAXINE: It’s not really a word so much as it is a sound. I absolutely love a sigh. I love the connotation of the breathiness, of warm air flowing across skin, of the idea of satisfaction it denotes. I even enjoy simply reading the word, because I know exactly what emotions it portrays for me.

LIZ: What’s your favorite fairy tale?

MAXINE: How could anyone be expected to choose? I love them all. I grew up on The Beauty and the Beast, Rapunzel, Snow White, and Cinderella. Then, with the help of grandchildren, was introduced to Ariel, and Mulan, Fiona, and Princess Tiana. One of the reasons I give my own books a fairy tale quality is because I appreciate what they represent. Strong, intelligent women, overcoming adversity and finding true love along the way.  What more could anyone possibly want from a love story?  

LIZ: Cast your book using fairy tale or cartoon characters.

MAXINE: Touched by the Magic, and the entire six book series set at The Academy of Magical Arts is a combination of a little bit of every fairy tale I’ve ever read, I do believe. Briar could probably be best described as being a lot like Ariel from The Little Mermaid, because they both have red hair, and there isn’t anything she wouldn’t do, and no where she wouldn’t go, to accomplish her goal. Uthiel? I see him as being a lot like the beast in The Beauty and the Beast, because he is plagued with deep seated hurts that he needs to allow to be healed before he can ever let himself love again. Leeky Shortz, the rogue gnome? Well, the most I can say about Leeky Shortz is, thankfully, one of a kind. 

LIZ: What one thing about your hero drives his heroine crazy? And what one thing about your heroine drives her hero nuts?

MAXINE: Uthiel is beyond stubborn, and he has a problem trusting Briar’s judgment. In typical ‘I’m a paladin of the realm, and you are simply a…a…damsel in distress, so I must be right’ fashion, it takes him considerable time, pain, and energy to come to the realization that he just might be wrong about a certain dragon.

Briar is a klutz. She doesn’t mean to be, it’s just that being that close to Uthiel Stoutheart makes her a little nervous sometimes. She didn’t mean to burn off his eyebrows, and she didn’t mean to cause him to be knocked out by a fireball in the arena, and she certainly didn’t mean to dump hot wax…well you get the idea.

LIZ: Name three things that are, at this moment, in your heroine’s purse, satchel, reticule, weapons belt or amulet bag (or whatever she carries)?

MAXINE: Briar is a healer, so she never goes anywhere without her bag of herbs. She always has a more-than-adequate stash of agrimony, sphagnum root, and of course her precious Dak Forest mushrooms. Though she and Uthiel both would probably have benefitted more if she’d have carried a good burn ointment.

LIZ: What sound or noise do you love? 

MAXINE: Other than the sound of a sigh, or the laughter of my grandchildren? I love, love, love thunder storms. The surge of the wind, the splattering of rain on a rooftop, or against the leaves of a tree, or upon the ground, and the rumbling of thunder crashing, then rolling off into the distance is like a beautifully choreographed symphony. Relaxing, and exciting at the same time, thunder storms have always evoked strong emotions in me. As a little girl growing up in the Ohio valley, I loved lying on my bed and watching lightning streak across the sky during a good storm. It’s the one thing I truly miss living in beautiful Alaska. Though we have the spectacular northern lights, the midnight sun, and mountains that reach into the clouds, thunder storms are few and far between here.   

LIZ: What will always make you smile, even on a bad day?

MAXINE: The sound of one of my grandbabies voices, especially the little one. When my four year old grandson calls and says, “Nana, get in car, I want you come now.” I can’t help but smile no matter what else might be going on in my life. 

LIZ: What’s your favorite kid joke?

MAXINE: “Knock, knock.” “Who’s there?” “Orange.” “Orange who?” “Orange you glad I knocked?” My seven year old granddaughter thinks that’s just the funniest thing ever.

LIZ HAS GOTTA ASK: What’s the most personal thing you’ve ever put in one of your books?

MAXINE’S GOTTA ANSWER: Remember the reference to being a klutz and the hot wax? Enough said.   

What’s next for you?  Later this summer I have a novella coming out called SERVED. It’s part of The Wild Rose Press’s Boys of Summer short stories. And, the next book in the Academy of Magical Arts series, Tempted by the Storm, is due out in the fall.

Do you have a question you’d like to ask your fans?

Who’s your favorite fairy tale hero and why?

Contact Maxine:

E-mail:  maxine-mansfield@hotmail.com

Website: www.maxinemansfield.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maxine.mansfield.9

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/#!/LeekyShortz

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13631001-touched-by-the-magic

Blogs: http://www.maxinemansfield.com/blog.html

Maxine Mansfield  

Title: Touched By the Magic

Publisher: The Wild Rose Presss

ISBN: Print: 978-1-61217-370-2; Digital: 978-1-61217-371-9

Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and The Wild Rose Press