EXCERPT, GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY: Forbidden by Cathy Clamp

 Welcome! I'm delighted to be part of the tour for "Forbidden" by Cathy Clamp. I enjoyed the Sazi series she co-wrote with C.T. Adams and was quite happy to hear that she was writing a spin-off. I have an excerpt from the first chapter of the book, there's an interview with one of the main characters, Claire, who was also in the original series, and the publisher is giving away one copy of the book. So, grab a drink, move the cats out of your way, put up your feet, and enjoy!

About Cathy ~

Hi, I’m USA TODAY and Nielsen Bookscan bestselling author Cathy Clamp. I write urban fantasy/paranormal romance for Tor Books, including the Tales of the Sazi (shapeshifter urban fantasy romance) series, The Thrall (vampire) trilogy, the Blood Singer (urban fantasy, as Cat Adams) series—through book 6, and the new Novels of the Sazi series, beginning in August, 2015.

I’ve won a bunch of awards for my books over the years. My favorite was the Career Achievement Award for Paranormal Romance in May, 2008 from RT Bookreviews Magazine. I also shared the win for several co-authored books with C.T. Adams of the Book Buyer’s Best Award, the RT Bookreviews Reviewer’s Choice Award, the Reviewers International Award of Excellence, the Texas Gold Romance Award, the Write Touch Readers Award, and several others. It’s gratifying and humbling to win awards for books that you put your heart into, and I hope you enjoy them as much as other readers have!

I’ve also written several stand-alone novels, not in series, including my very first novel, The Road To Riches, an historical fiction about a railroad race in Colorado’s Silver Boom period, and Magic’s Design, the first urban fantasy published as Cat Adams.

I also write short stories, which is a whole different kind of writing.. I like writing in a lot of different genres, and it’s in short stories where I let my wings spread. I have published short stories in horror, science fiction, mystery, literary, Young Adult, romance, thriller, fantasy and western.

Find Cathy Online:

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Coffee Time Romance
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Character Interview of Claire Evans Sanchez

Q:  Hi, we’re here today with Claire Evans Sanchez, the wolf shifter heroine of FORBIDDEN. Welcome, Claire.

A: Thanks for having me. But I wouldn’t really call myself a heroine. I’m just a Wolven agent, trying to do my job.

Q: That was actually my first question! What is Wolven, and what does it mean to be an agent?

A: Oh! Well, I can talk a little about it, but a lot of it is secret. Wolven is the law enforcement branch of the Sazi government. It’s made up of shapeshifters who are alphic and have been trained in dispute resolution and arrest techniques. I should note that we only police other Sazi. We have no authority in regular society.

Q: So the Sazi are all shapeshifters, regardless of animal? And Wolven only protects other Sazi?  But wouldn’t you be terrific human police? Oh, and what do you mean by alphic?

A: Wow, lots of questions! Yes, Sazi are all shifters. Wolven doesn’t enforce human laws because humans don’t know the Sazi exist. The laws we enforce are specifically to keep that secret from humanity. Our number one rule is that nobody must know the Sazi exist. The second rule is to prevent any . . . accidents, that would create more Sazi. I suppose Wolven agents would make good police, but humans tend to fear what they don’t understand. It’s why we keep the secret.  As for alphic, only those shifters who have enough internal magic to shift off the moon can apply for Wolven.

Q: So shapeshifters can attack humans and make them into shapeshifters? Wow. That’s scary. But surely accidents do happen?

A: Oh, they do. I’m one of them.

Q: Wait!  You were turned by attack? So is that why you’re one of the police?

A: It’s a big part of it, yeah. There are evil people in the world. Combine evil with magic, and bad things can happen. I’m the result of one of those evil people. There are some others that were turned at the same time. I’m trying to make sure nobody else goes through what I do. And, too, I’ve always had a strong sense of right and wrong. Being a Wolven agent is something I would probably do anyway.

Q: But you went to Luna Lake to be a teacher. Do you want to teach too?

A: Eventually, yes. I really love children and would love to be a teacher . . . third or fourth grade is my favorite. There is so much opportunity to get kids excited to learn at that age.

Q: How did your parents take you becoming a shapeshifter?

A: You mean my biological parents? I never really knew my father. He left my mother when I was a baby. My mother wasn’t that great of a mom, I’m afraid. I was mostly raised by my grandmother until she died. Then I was in foster homes until I was about twelve. After I was kidnapped and then rescued, I was raised by the Tedford pack. They’re red wolf shifters, like me. Both of my alphas, Adam and Cara Mueller, are police. I guess it comes natural to me. [laughs]

Q: You’ve led a very interesting life, Claire! I can’t wait to read the story and find out how your background fixes what’s wrong in Luna Lake.

A: My background is actually why I was sent there and it does come in handy. I hope you enjoy the story.

Fear wasn’t something Claire Evans thought she’d ever feel again, but an all-too-familiar buzzing filled her ears while bile rose into her throat. Adrenaline raced through her veins, and her muscles flexed involuntarily, as though striking at an invisible foe. The sensations were hardwired into her from that time, long ago. But now she was just a passenger in a car in rural Washington, with no enemy that she could feel or smell. Yet she was alert and wary.

“You feel it too, don’t you? The dark tightens around your throat like a hand.” Danielle’s tremulous whisper beside Claire made her start and turn her head to look at the lovely African-American woman driving the car.

She tried to shrug it off. “I’m a Sazi … a wolf. The dark doesn’t scare me.” So why is my heart pounding like it’s going to leap out of my chest? She stared out the windshield where the bright headlights barely held the night at bay, looking for something … anything that would explain what she was feeling. Analyze the fear, Claire. Force it to reveal itself.

Danielle Williams’s laugh held just a touch of hysteria. “It’s not the dark, girlfriend. It’s what’s in the dark. Strange things live in the forest here. Stuff that even scares those that hunt at night. It’s why I’m the one driving you tonight.”

Claire turned in her seat to face Danielle more squarely. “Come again?” Before the other woman could open her mouth to respond, Claire took a deep breath through her nose and knew abruptly why fear had been tightening her throat. It wasn’t her own fear filling the air … it was Danielle’s. Underneath the thick scent of feathers that she expected to smell from an owl shifter was the unmistakable sour scent of near-panic. An owl scared of the dark? That was wrong on so many levels. There had to be something deeper at work. “What’s wrong, Danielle?”

A long pause followed. Claire let it grow until the other woman couldn’t stand the pressure anymore. “It’s my … little sister and … brother.” The words were choked out with long gulps of air between. Claire didn’t have to ask their names; though she’d just met Danielle tonight, she’d done her homework on her host family. Nineteen-year-old Danielle was the oldest biological child of John and Asylin Williams. Ten-year-old Kristy was the youngest and fourteen-year-old Darrell was in the middle. But the Williamses weren’t content to raise only their own children. They’d opened their home to more than a dozen orphans from the plague and raised them as their own. Many “after-plague siblings” of various races, families, and shifter species had come and gone through their massive, hand-built home during the last decade, making it the perfect place for Claire to stay and to gather information. Danielle snuffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve. “Kristy and Darrell have been missing for three days now. Nobody knows where they are. I left college to come home and help search.”

“Oh, man! What happened?” Three days? Why hadn’t she been told yet? Or did Wolven not know about the disappearances? 

**To read more, click HERE** 

 

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 USA Today bestselling author Cathy Clamp reboots the Sazi universe in Forbidden, a tightly-paced, high-tension urban fantasy thriller.

Ten years have passed since the war that destroyed the Sazi Council and inflicted a horrible "cure" on thousands of Sazi, robbing them of their ability to shapeshift.

Luna Lake, isolated in Washington State, started as a refugee camp for Sazi orphans. Now it's a small town and those refugees are young adults, chafing at the limits set by their still-fearful guardians.

There's reason to fear: Sazi children are being kidnapped. Claire, a red wolf shifter, is sent to investigate. Held prisoner by the Snakes during childhood, Claire is distrusted by those who call Luna Lake home.

Before the war, Alek was part of a wolf pack in Chicago. In Luna Lake he was adopted by a parliament of Owls, defying Sazi tradition. The kidnappings are a painful reminder that his little sister disappeared a decade ago.

When Claire and Alek meet, sparks fly—but the desperate race to find the missing children forces them to set aside their mutual attraction and focus on the future of their people.

Publisher: Tor
Series: Luna Lake #1
Format: trade paperback, ebook
Release Date: August 18, 2015
ISBN: 9780765377203 / 0765377209
eBook: 9781466854604
352 pages / $14.99 US
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Buying Links:  Amazon* | OmniLit* | Book Depository* | Barnes & Noble
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Thanks to the publisher, Tor Books, I have 1 print copy to give away to a US resident. The publisher will mail the book directly to the winner. No purchase necessary. VOID where prohibited. You must be 18 years old to enter.

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