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An ancient, deadly magic is rising, and she’s the only one who can harness it…
Kate Hamilton hates being treated like an outcast. Born a powerless Null to America's pre-eminent magical family, she escapes to a distant college and the life of a theater major. The last thing she wants is to be dragged into her family's war for global domination against the rival Makris clan. But when an innocent favor pulls Kate into a perilous contest with a legendary magical stone, she plunges into their dangerous world of spellcasting and scheming. A world Kate's sexy, devious boyfriend Kris is all too familiar with…
Hardened magical operative Kristof "Kris" Makris chafes under the rule of his lunatic father, but he's found the perfect way to overthrow his leader and save his people. But the artifact he needs is in the hands of the Hamilton family, and each attempt to steal it from Kate brings him closer to blowing his cover. If he does, he'll do more than alert his father to his treachery. He'll lose Kate. And that possibility bothers him more than he cares to admit.
As the ancient power inside the stone begins to transform Kate into a vessel of world-destroying magic, the line between friends and enemies blurs. Kristof must choose between his family and the girl he's grown to love. And Kate must either trust the man she thought she knew or lose herself to the stone’s deadly embrace.
"A fun, creative, non-stop adventure! Tait brings us a well-realized magical world full of double dealing, action, and romance that fans of urban fantasy (like me!) will really love." ~ Chris Marie Green, author of ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG, Ghost for Hire, Book 1
Read an Excerpt from Cast Into Darkness:
Kate looked up at Kristof. White linen shirt tucked into tight-fitting jeans, sunglasses hanging off his collar, deep-blue eyes gazing down at her. He had the stone, his family had her. He probably didn't have a care in the world.
Asshole.
She yanked her arm away from his. Anger powered her steps as she strode past him, out the French doors and onto the porch.
Kristof followed, stopping beside her and resting against the whitewashed wall of the cottage. As he leaned back, his shirt split open to reveal a line of sharp, red wounds. The faint scent of blood, coppery and raw, filled the air.
"Get in a fight?" she asked.
"Something like that," he said.
"You lost, I hope."
"You lost, I hope."
Kristof's eyes held Kate's for a long moment. Then he traced out the intricate spirals of a cloaking spell, so they wouldn't be overheard. After its purple iridescence power shimmered over them, his shoulders relaxed.
"Things are complicated—more complicated than you can imagine," he said. "But I'm trying to get you out of here. Away from my sister. From my father."
"Why would you—"
"Why do you think?" He reached out and brushed her hair away from her forehead.
Kate jerked away from his touch, lips trembling. "No, no, you don't really… You can't have done the things you did and feel anything for me. You—"
He leaned forward, and his lips on hers, warm and insistent, caused the very core of her to soften, the anger to melt. He drew her into his arms and winced as her body met his.
Then he pulled her closer.
His hands were gentle where Dmitri's had been rough, his lips asked instead of took. Heat rose through her, flushing her skin. When they broke apart she felt dizzy for a moment, like she had the very first time they'd kissed, outside her apartment on Linden Street. "Kris… Kris…"
No. It didn't matter how her body responded to his familiar touch. She couldn't trust him. Not after what he'd done.
Get to Know the Author:
Janet Tait has loved writing for as long as she can remember but tried IT administration, website development, market research, and product management before surrendering to her inevitable destiny. She lives in San Diego, California with her husband and, in her spare time, enjoys haunting the halls of comic and science fiction conventions, playing old-timey tabletop role-playing games with her friends, and binge-watching British TV shows on Netflix.
Jillian: What’s your favorite kind of story to get lost in?
Janet: I love so many genres and so many books, it is hard to pick. I read all kinds of fantasy and science fiction (especially urban fantasy), romantic suspense and paranormal romance, and spy thrillers. I adore getting swept away by a new and exciting world peopled by fascinating characters. It's also a must for me that the book be well-written so that I never get taken out of the story and can just go along with the flow of writing. Fortunately there are a lot of great authors out there so finding good stories is never a problem.
Jillian: Describe your favorite kind of hero to read/write?
Janet: I fall head over heels for anti-heroes. Give me a tortured bad-boy who walks a line between good and evil any day. I am fascinated by their motivations and their internal struggles. Writing Kristof in Cast into Darkness was tremendous fun because part of him always wants to do the right thing, to become a better person, but his upbringing and his situation force him to making less-than-great choices. And the consequences of those choices create lots of exciting drama for Kate.
Jillian: Moody and complicated, my kind of anti-hero. Okay, back to the interview: What was the first story you remember writing?
Janet: I was very fortunate in junior high school to be taught writing by Greg Bear, one of the greats of modern science fiction. I can't remember much about the story I wrote for his class—something with an alien pilot lost in a strange world—but what I do remember is that Mr. Bear singled my story out for special praise, and told me I had the makings of a writer. He was very generous, because looking back, I suspect that story wasn't all that good. It was many years between that eight grade story and my next one, but all that time I kept his words close to my heart, and never gave up my dream of becoming an author.
Jillian: Which of your characters would you most/least like to invite to dinner, and why?
Janet: I love this question! I think of the feuding families in Cast into Darkness as "dysfunctional families with magical spells", and like most dysfunctional families, dinnertime would be when their unique flaws come out to play, so to speak. I would most like to have dinner with Kate's uncle Grayson. I could pick his mind about all the details of magic that he, as the Hamilton family's magical expert, would know better than anyone. Assuming we had dinner on one of his "good" days, when the paranoia backlash from casting spells didn't make him too cagey to give up his secrets. The person I would least like to have dinner with would be Kristof's father, Nico Makris. It would be like sitting down to a meal with a guy who has the evil menace of Voldemort and the focused craziness of Hannibal Lecter. I'd take the first opportunity to excuse myself and run very fast, very far.
Jillian: Do you read reviews of your books? If so, do you pay any attention to them, or let them influence your writing?
Janet: I do read them, because I appreciate that a reader took the time to put his or her thoughts down about my book. To me, there is no such thing as a "bad" review, because every review reflects that person's viewpoint. It is the truth for them. I enjoy the positive things people say, and hope to learn from the negative.
Jillian: Your book is classified as New Adult fantasy as well as urban fantasy. Can you tell us a little about this new genre?
Janet: While New Adult has gained a lot of traction from breakout books that could be put in the contemporary romance genre, it is really more of a category like Young Adult, that has room for many genres. There is New Adult fantasy, New Adult thrillers, New Adult science fiction, and so on. Common themes are coming of age, the challenges of college or a first job, breaking away from the family, and other post-high-school struggles. I love New Adult because college is when I really started to become my own person and make my own choices in life, and the sense of empowerment that gives (along with all the inevitable mistakes one can make) creates compelling stories.
Jillian: Tea or Coffee? And how do you take it?
Janet: To quote Captain Picard: Tea, Early Grey, Hot. I add cream because my British family drinks it that way, and I've come to enjoy it too, but never sugar. I'll drink pretty much any tea out there – chai, rooibos, green, mint, and any black tea. But I love the minty touch of bergamot in Earl Grey.
Janet has a question for readers:
How do you like your fantasy? Epic (think Lord of the Rings) or
urban (think True Blood)? What's your favorite fantasy novel?
Janet would love to giveaway an autographed copy of Cast into Darkness to one lucky commenter chosen by randomizer. Be sure to leave an email address along with your comment.
Janet would love to giveaway an autographed copy of Cast into Darkness to one lucky commenter chosen by randomizer. Be sure to leave an email address along with your comment.
For more about Janet and Cast into Darkness:
Website http://www.janettait.com
***Note: Offer void where prohibited. Prizes will be mailed to North America addresses only. If an Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) is available, the author may utilize that option for International participants. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants.
