Excerpts from my Books- Open Book Blog Hop

This week we get to highlight our books in the firm of excerpts. I thought it might be fun to get acquainted with Tasha, a minor character in Wolves' Pawn, who ended up being the hero of her own story in Wolves' Knight. But first, for those of you who managed to stumble upon my blog and haven't read Wolves' Pawn yet, here's the blurb:

Dot McKenzie is a lone wolf-shifter on the run, using everything available to her to stay one step ahead of her pursuers. When she is offered a chance for friendship and safety with the Fairwood pack, she accepts.

Gavin Fairwood, reluctant heir to the Fairwood pack leadership, is content to let life happen while he waits. But old longings surface when he appoints himself Dot’s protector ... and becomes more than a friend.

But her presence puts the pack and her new friends at risk, and Dot must go into hiding again. When old enemies threaten the destruction of the Fairwood pack, it will take the combined efforts of Dot and Gavin to save it.

Can anything save their love and Dot’s life when she becomes a pawn in a pack leader’s deadly game?

And now here's our introduction to Tasha. She first shows up about a quarter of the way into the book, 

Outside the conference room, a number of men and women with guns stood at alert in the hallways. Dot shivered at the sight, and Gavin placed a comforting hand on the small of her back. One of the women, a tall blonde with two guns strapped across her back, a pistol stuck in the waistband of her pants, and a nasty looking knife strapped to her thigh, jumped out of the chair she’d been sitting in, and approached them.

“Hey, Gavin,” she said with a grin as she pulled one of the guns over her head and handed it to him. “The arms master sends his regards—said he remembered this was your favorite model rifle.” Nodding, he hefted the AK-47 then slung the band on his shoulder. She handed him a magazine. “He said to see him if you want more ammo,” she added. She turned to Dot and extended her hand. “I’m Tasha. One of your bodyguards for the night. Tanya will be the other one. She’s my twin sister. You won’t see much of her, she’ll be taking outside duty.

Tasha got written out of the story about halfway through it. Spoiler alert! No, she didn't die. But I guess she wasn't real happy with that, because about a year after Wolves' Pawn was released, she started bugging me. She wanted me to tell her story. I tried putting her off for awhile, but she wasn't listening. I finally gave in and Wolves' Knight was the result.

First, here's the description of the book:

Tasha Roeper knows what it means to protect your own. So when her friend, Dot Lapahie, CEO of Lapahie Enterprises, suspects that the Free Wolves are under attack, Tasha immediately signs on to lead the investigation and guard Dot.

But Tasha's not convinced it's the Free Wolves that are the target. She fears that her own pack—the Fairwood Pack—are the actual quarry and Dot is only a decoy.

The deeper Tasha digs, the more puzzles she uncovers.

Torn between tradition and a changing world, will Tasha risk everything to save a friend—including her own life—when old enemies arise?

In this excerpt, Tasha, after being gone for over a year, is meeting with the Fairwood's pack arms-master, Elder Fenner.

 “We weren’t sure you’d want to come back. The reports we got were that you fit in well with the pack in Maine. I half-expected you to find your mate.”

Tasha knew the pack leader had sent reports back. At first she felt like a kid in school again, but soon decided that it didn’t matter. It wasn’t like she was a prisoner. She had been free to leave anytime she wanted.

“Have you been talking to my mother? Because she mentioned the same thing.” She grinned. “I bonded deeply with many members of the pack, both male and female, and I can count on them for help if I ever need it. But none of the males appealed to me as anything but friends. My mother is worried because I’m well past the typical mating age for females, and I’ve never been in a serious relationship.” Although Tanya hadn’t mated yet, she’d had several long-term boyfriends. The older she and her twin got, the more they developed their own personalities.

“Your mother has mentioned her concerns to several of the elders. That’s why I brought it up. As much as people push the whole concept of mates, there always have been exceptions to the rule. For a while, we thought Elder Fairwood might be one of them, that he might never choose a mate. That would’ve been a disaster for the pack.”

“And then he found Dot.”

“Yes.”

Tasha smiled. “So the Elders gossip about the pack members’ love lives.”

“It’s not gossiping,” Elder Fenner said sternly. “We're showing our concern for the future of the pack.” He grinned. “Don’t tell anyone. It’s a badly kept secret.”

“Got it.” She watched an ant crawling up a stem of grass, wondering if she should breech protocol and ask a personal question. “You never mated.”

“No.” He closed his eyes. “I came close once, but she was killed in a pack war. Since then, I’ve devoted myself to making the pack as secure as possible so the same fate doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

“You’ve done a good job.”

A V of geese flew overhead. “Am I good enough?” she asked quietly.

So Tasha is responsible for turning Wolves. Pawn, which was intended as a stand-alone book, into a series. Yes, there will be more books in the Free Wolves' Saga.  If you haven't bought the books yet, the links follow.

I can't wait to see what all the other bloggers posted. You can find out by following the links below. And feel free to leave a comment!

Wolves' Pawn

Amazon

smarturl.it/tyseu6  (Amazon world-wide)

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wolves-pawn-pj-maclayne/1119391168

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id873248397

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/wolves-pawn

Here are the links for Wolves' Knight, Tasha's Tale

http://www.amazon.com/Wolves-Knight-Free-Book-ebook/dp/B0199BC6YI/

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/wolves-knight

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wolves-knight-pj-maclayne/1123127673

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1066865102

https://www.createspace.com/5920665


August 29 - Excerpts from Your Novel. This is probably the easiest. It has the added advantage of allowing us, your potential readers, to “sample the brew.” Just write a paragraph to set up the excerpt. Oh, and be sure to link to your book, so we can buy it.

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants' blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person's blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.
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