Jewel of the Sun's BLOOD DESTINY

A little about the making of Elan and Cassandra's story.

I saw a call for submission for stories centering around gems, and more specificially birthstones. Excited, I jumped on the idea. There was no doubt my story would be about the peridot - the Evening Sun, the Jewel of the Sun, Gem of the Sun and many other mental and physical lores attributed to it. I absolutely love Peridot, it's my birthstone.

I knew others would go for the exotic Egytian route with their versions, but not me. I lived in Arizona for a while, near the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation where peridot is mined here in the United States. I have a special fondness for Native American's as it's part of my heritage, and felt it was the way to go with my story. Yet, I wanted it localized.

Jewel is the first story where I actually chose my hero's name first. I searched many name lists, many Apache name lists. I wanted something easily pronounced. I came across Elan and it meant friend. In any relationship, friendship is every bit as important as love, trust and faith. Takoda also means friend, so there I had the perfect name. Elan Takoda. Cassandra Jones, I simply pulled out of the air as I normally do, but I already knew she was going to need a friend in more ways than she could ever imagine.

I sat and wrote the story, agonized over critiques and finally finished it. I subbed it. Then I prayed for a rejection. I suddenly felt it the characters were short changed and needed more space then the call line allowed. Several months later, when it was on the edge of being accepted or rejected - it teetered in my favor. I breathed a sigh of relief and set to work on it. For over a year, I wrote, rewrote and followed my gut wherever something felt off.

The time came and I signed a contract. A new worry took over then. How will it be accepted? I mean, seriously, it's a paranormal, but not of today's trend. It's not about vampires, werewolves or shapeshifters. Will the critics be hard me for that? Will the readers feel like I regressed thirty years? The worry stayed with me, but this week, it's lessoned a tad.

Jewel of the Sun's BLOOD DESTINY just received it's first review and while it won't be posted on Coffee Time Romance & More's review site until April, I'm sharing it with you today.

Cassandra Jones is having a bad day. First she finds her fiance receiving personal attention from one of the other girls at work and punches him. If that was not bad enough she then finds she is part of a pact made by boyhood friends long before her birth. A pact that includes the sexiest man she has ever seen.

Elan Takoda knew that his grandfather was up to something when he sent the jewels to a pawn shop rather than his home. When he first lays eyes on Cassandra he realizes there is more to the story but knows that he must find a way to end the pain for him and Cassandra.

Elan and Cassandra have been hurt by life and have no desire to trust another with their heart. Together they must figure out how to break the spell that weaves them together but trying only made the spell stronger. When the spell is broken will they still be able to walk away from each other with their heart and souls intact?

If reading were a physical thing then I ran through this book. I was entranced from the very beginning with both of the main characters. Bekki Lynn has an amazing talent for weaving the spell around the reader and preventing them from leaving the story until it was done. It was almost like the spell on the main characters included me the reader. The erotic love in this book is off the charts hot. Bekki Lynn has just joined my list of TBR authors and if you will excuse me I think I need to go find everything she has ever written. Enjoy Jewel of The Sun’s Blood Destiny as it is a book no one should miss.

Delane
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance & More

Delane gave Jewel of the Sun's BLOOD DESTINY 5 Cups -- Wohoo! Thank you, Delane!

Now, I know the verdict is still out, but I feel so blessed for this whopper of a review.

Adult excerpt:

“Let’s go to the bed,” he managed to say. She started to fall when she forgot to lower her leg before attempting to move forward. “In a hurry?” he asked, catching her. He meant to make light of it, but the huskiness of his voice gave a different meaning. The fire raged in him.

“I guess,” she said, righting herself.

She sounded equally as affected. He grabbed the camera, turned off the lights and left her to follow him. He didn’t dare touch her right now. He’d hurt her with the need threatening to erupt. When he flipped on the lights around the bed, he saw her climb on the bed and sit with her legs under her. She ran her hands over the cool satin, her eyes on them. His chest heaved and he raised the camera to capture the innocence of a seductress. Cassandra raised her head and looked through the viewer at him. “What do you want?” she asked with a sultriness, causing shivers to shoot through him.

The camera slipped, but he caught it. He swallowed. “Give me what you’re comfortable with.” Under normal circumstances, he knew beforehand what the client wanted, but this wasn’t a client. Shudders swept through him when she leaned back on her elbows, bringing her legs forward. The glimpse of the green thong she’d left on had his zipper pressing into hard flesh.

He wanted shots of her with her hand splayed over the scrap of green, the ring, the bracelet, maybe a finger slipped beneath the band as if she was thinking of removing them. Images raced through his mind. Heat broiled in his gut and more sweat beaded on his forehead.

She rubbed the soft sole of her foot against her ankle as she shook her hair back behind her. He reached for a softener lens and snapped it on the camera as she moaned.

“Do you feel it?’ she asked him.

“What do you feel?”

“I’m not sure. It’s like…It’s stronger than before.”

She ran her fingers through her hair as he forced himself to watch via the viewfinder. The air thickened around them, heavy, breathless air filled with monumental tension. He wanted to rip the sheet from her body and give a warrior cry as he joined with her body.

“I’ve awakened from these bizarre dreams…feeling like I’ve had hot…sweaty sex.” Her tongue ran over lips and she blew out while her breasts heaved. “Now, it’s like…intense foreplay.”

“The psyche factor,” he told her as he moved around the bed. She fell back on the pillow and the look on her face combined with her heaving breasts caused him to lower the camera. Color came into her cheeks and spread, her hips rose and her heel dug into the bed. He forced himself to continue taking shots, but the sounds of the camera no longer played a song for him. He’d never seen anyone come alive as she was. She groaned and balled the bedding in her hands. Her eyes closed and he forced down a moan and tried to tune out the raging fire within himself.

“So hot…wonderfully hot,” she whispered as her back arched, tipping her head back.
She reached for the knot lying in her cleavage and undid it, tossing the fabric aside. Perspiration rolled down his chest from the effort of trying to hold himself back. Her beautiful, perfect breasts lay before him, the tips hard and begging to be touched. He backed up and picked up the remote to the hidden cameras he used for couples who wanted full range shots with privacy. What was happening before him needed recorded, even if it was in stills. She was consumed with the same fiery passion he’d been dealing with.

“More, I need more,” she mumbled.

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I read somewhere that it's a shame the photographers never get credit for the photos we use on our covers. The photographer whose work is pure inspiration for me knows how much I appreciate his work. He also feels honored for the use of photos on so many books. Lev Dolgachov is an amazing, hands on photographer from Estonia. He has some work I can literally sit and write an entire story around by just looking at them. The girl protraying Cassandra on the cover of Jewel is the third photo of his that I've used on a book. He's also responsible for the signiture photo on my website for the past few years. My handsome Native American was photographed and offered up by Juan Monino who takes some amazing portraits and stills.

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While Jewel of the Sun's BLOOD DESTINY won't be released until April 26, it is available for pre-order at eXcessica and Amazon.

Chapter One is also available for reading.

Have a fantastic weekend!


Bekki
http://bekkilynn.net/