Thursday, January 14, 2016

Hunting for Spring by Katherine McIntyre!



Hunting for Spring
Hunting for Spring
Katherine McIntyre
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Loose Id
Date of Publication: 1/12/16

ISBN: 978-1-68252-060-4
ASIN:
Word Count: 63,000 words
Cover Artist: Veronica Tibbs
Book Description:
Hunters are a lonely breed, and Conor’s no exception, until the day he meets Brenna. Even though she slinks in unannounced and kills the wight he was hunting down, the girl’s a mystery and he can’t get that blinding smile or those gorgeous curves off his mind.

Since they’re both after the same caster who’s unleashing these monsters, he suggests teaming up, and despite her initial reluctance, the hungry way she scans him down promises something powerful.
However, her secrets have repercussions, and faster than Conor can lift his Glock, he’s drawn into the web of kidnappings and Unseelie mischief, all concealing the machinations of a darker foe—one that plans to bring Philly to ruin.
Available at Loose ID
Excerpt:
He took two steps back, quite aware of the presence on the other side of the room. “You know, stealing someone’s kill is bad form,” he complained, cutting through the quiet tension.
“Looked to me like you could use the help.” The female voice came from behind him.
Conor turned around, his hand inching for his Glock.
She sat on the countertop, one leg hanging over the edge. Long strands of dark, messy hair hung past her face, brushing her cheeks as she lifted her chin. The woman had the sort of striking features that made men gape, and Conor fell victim. Her blue eyes intensified with a curious light as she scanned him, and in the shadowy room, her pale skin took on a silver hue. Even though her dark eyebrows knitted together, lending her features a sort of stark fierceness, her pursed mauve lips softened her face.
The girl tugged on the cord of her hoodie, and her eyes narrowed. “What’s a normal kid like you doing hunting a beastie like that?” Her boots hit the ground with a thud, and she brushed her knees off, making the buckles of her cargo pants jangle.
Conor arched his brow, wiping his jacket sleeves on the wall in a sad attempt at getting rid of the wight crud. “Sweetheart, whoever trained you in magic should’ve given you the rundown on everyone you might encounter—including hunters.”
He caught the recognition flashing in her eyes, as well as the careful way she stalked around him like a panther surveying an encroaching predator. “Well, feel free to piss off, then.” Her words were curt but not shocking. Hunters and casters shared a history of bad blood due to the chaos so many irresponsible witches caused. However, one bit of curiosity lingered within him—why had she been tracking the wight? Unless she’d created this monster.
His anger flared at the memory of the wounded dog. At the remains of what used to be a human male lying on the floor, all wreckage from some stupid caster playing around with powers he or she shouldn’t have been.
“Maybe my work’s not done yet.” He leaned against the wall and tugged his hunting knife from his boot. Her entire body tensed in a slight, almost imperceptible way, but the inquisitive look never left her eyes. Without further ado, he began picking under his fingernails with the tip of the knife. “Care to share why you were tracking that wight?”
“Hoping it would lead me to its master.” She shrugged. “You wouldn’t happen to be trailing him too?”
“If finding the source will stop these attacks, I’m joining you.” Conor didn’t leave any room for disagreement in his voice. Casters in a spat could get ugly, and he didn’t want to clean up more of these messes.
“Excuse me?” She placed her hands on her hips, those blue eyes of hers flashing. “From where I stand, you’re not much help.”
Conor tapped the side of his nose. “Unless you happen to have an item of his. You’ll never find a better tracker than a hunter, even with magic.”
A huff slipped from her lips, followed by a frown. “Fine, but the second you try to slip a knife in my back, I’ll torch you faster than those wight remains.”
Conor snorted. “I’m humbled to inspire such faith.” He ran his fingers through his hair and grimaced at the dirt he’d raked through. A rustle came from the door.
She snapped to attention as fast as his hand tightened around the hilt of his knife.
A whine followed by a snuffling sound came from the entryway. Conor squinted as the outside light cast the visitor in shadow.
He relaxed his grip and slid the knife back into his boot.
The small beagle from earlier made its way toward him, limping as it favored its side. Relief flooded through him to see the little guy survived. Even though his father had trained him to shut out emotions since they blinded fast and efficient decision-making, he couldn’t help the occasional indulgence. After all, he didn’t envy his father’s lonely existence. Crouching, he scooped the beagle into his arms, careful not to brush the wounded stump.
“I’m Conor Malone, by the by. If you want my help, we’re going to take a quick side excursion, because this guy needs medical attention and I need to clean up.” The dog whined again when he clutched the shuddering body closer.
She arched an eyebrow. Based on the curl of her lip, she must be more in his father’s camp of anti-emotion. Not like he gave a damn while a dog trembled in his arms. After a minute of stale tension that weighed heavily in the carnage-filled room, she spoke up.
“Fine. We can save your puppy, but if I catch you singing to the woodland critters, I’m out.” At that, she cracked a grin. Not one of those casual tossed-aside ones but a smile that lit her eyes with mischief and illuminated her whole face.
Conor made his way to the door, pausing before he stepped out onto the street. “You never told me your name.”
“And you never asked.” She outpaced him, hopping down the first couple of steps. “You can call me Brenna.”
My Review

I totally enjoyed this story!! It's got a great story line- hunters hunt the things that go bump in the night. They usually shoot first- but this time it's different. Conor is tracking a caster who is summoning wrights- like a flesh eating zombie with killer instincts. But his fellow hunters- his ass of a father and his adopted brother- are tracking fae who are kidnapping humans left and right. And Brenna is the in between. She's not entirely human and she just wants what was stolen from her. When she saves Conor, he agrees to help her get that. But sometimes things make the road bumpy ;) 

Conor is a little cold and lonely. He has to be with being a hunter. But he's more than that, he's sweet and kind and caring- he saves a beagle- cutest stray dog ever- and helps a woman who isn't even human. He's a softy in everyone else's eyes. His father and brother are literal assassins. Sure they kill the bad guys but sometimes they don't even stop to distinguish the difference of bad vs good. And they cause trouble for Conor and Brenna. 

Brenna is an anomaly. I won't tell you what she is only that she isn't all human. And at first you think she's down right frozen, but you realize she's trying to survive and Conor's kind kill her kind without thought. Until she spends more than a few moments with him. All bets are off here. Lol 

I loved how their relationship developed. No insta love maybe lust but they were both wary of each other until they worked together. And I seriously wanted to beat up Conor's dad. On multiple occasions. I am pretty sure I would shoot him- that beagle is IMPORTANT DAMMIT!!! Hmmmph. Anyways. Liam is a little different and I won't say much more than that. The bad guys are plentiful! There's a dark spell caster releasing monsters that kill innocents. There's fae kidnapping other innocents. There's other supernatural creatures that just give you the willies! And I loved the writing style that gave me both POVs and some insight to everything. I also loved the beagle Failinis and the support from Jev- she's totally cool!!! I would love to see more from this world be created and it's such a cool way the author created things. Overall a great paranormal romance with some excellent suspense and mystery and a fun adventure! 5 FIERY PAWS!! ;)




Author Interview

First, tell me a little about your book ….
Hunting for Spring is a supernatural romp through Philly with a sexy hunter at the helm who runs into a badass chick on a mission. Sparks, chaos, and nightmarish monsters ensue.

Do you recall how your interest in writing originated or did you always just know?
One of my earliest memories is reading a book, so for me, I think my interest in writing was a cyclical part of my love for reading. In second grade, when folks asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always said an artist and a writer. I love to create. Love, like the passionate, fireworks through your veins kind of love.

What inspired you to write your first book and what was it?
The first manuscript I ever finished in full was a romance about soulmates that spanned from ancient Celtic times to modern day. It was rife with all of the relationship woes I was going through at the time, and so poorly written it will never see the light of day. Although, there’s always a chance I might go back and re-write it someday. However, I’ve been writing stories my entire life—I find inspiration in little moments every day and an inexorable need to share them.

Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
I think I haven’t been through nearly the trauma and danger I put my characters through, so a lot of what I do when I write is empathizing. The empathy is strong in this one, so for me I’ll equate the rush of fear in a dangerous situation to the sensations I’ve experienced in a car crash, or dangerous moment. Or for example, even though I haven’t experienced the sort of losses my characters do, I have experienced grief before and can draw the associations. Oddly enough, people I know and events in my life end up working themselves into stories in subtle ways, whether it’s a line of dialogue, a setting, a side character, etc.

How do you choose when/which characters die in your books?
Usually a thought strikes me—that this has to happen and there’s no other way around it. I’m not one to casually kill off characters—there’s purpose behind each one, whether it’s to drive the stakes home, or cause a rallying point. Each death usually hits home fiercely though—I’ve written a couple that I had to put myself into a really dark place to write.

Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
I’m always on the lookout for new reads, and last year I really delved into indies. I want to take a second to shout out the new-to-me indie authors I read in 2015, including Landra Graf, Pippa Jay, Lana Moon, Decadent Kane, LP Maxa, and Paula Millhouse. Supremely talented bunch of women.

Who do you look up to as a writer?
Anyone whose work I fall in love with. If your book makes me my heart race, my pulse quicken, and leaves a mark on my soul, I’m deeply awed at your writing prowess. Most recently I’ve been reading Nalini Singh, and the way she handles relationships is incredibly beautiful.

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your book?
I’m going to be uninteresting on this one with a resounding no. The reason being is I’m the sort who is constantly charging ahead. (I’m an Aries, what do you expect?) So the second I finish a project, for me—it’s finished. The only time I might find myself wishing I’d done things differently is if I didn’t add a certain detail that I wanted to use later on in a series or something.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Well, with the writing itself, I have a funny tendency to speed into the ending. My husband always laughs about it because he’s my first line of defense beta-reader wise. So most of the endings to my stories were originally much more truncated. Hunting for Spring’s needed to be expanded by a lot. Also, while I love that I’m a pantser not a plotter, sometimes I hit walls with that where it takes awhile to problem solve a situation I’ve written myself into, or a stagnancy that I need to rejuvenate.

What book are you reading now? Or what genre?
Paranormal romance all the way with Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series. I’ve done a lot of reading in 2015 though, and read many a good books in varying genres. I will say, most of them happened to be some form of fantasy though.

Who designed the cover? And do you help with them?
Victoria Tibbs designed the cover! I don’t help per se, but I do fill out an aid when contracted which details preferences, describes the character appearances, settings, themes, etc. I’m perfectly thrilled with this one.

Did you learn anything from writing your books and what was it?
I learn a lot from all of my books! One of the benefits of being an impulsive sort of writer is that I just outpour all of this emotion and imagination and see what hits the page. Without a sort of meticulous plot involved, I submerge myself in all of it and then at the end I discover broader themes and aspects that have surfaced based on difficulties with my own life. Unintentional, of course, but it’s thoroughly fascinating because each story I’ve written bears an imprint of my psyche with it.

If you could be one of your characters, who would you chose?
Bea from An Airship Named Desire, hands down. She might live a life fraught with danger, betrayals, and peril, but goddamn is it interesting. Besides, I’ve always loved flying and exploring, and though a life as an airship pirate would be low on luxuries, I’d take the freedom any day.

Are there any books you think some of us should read, just because?
The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle. Not only was that my childhood movie, but the book itself is timeless. I think the lush fantasy writing is still just as engaging, and the tale itself has that sort of fairy tale magic to it. However, what makes this truly worthwhile, and what left the biggest impact on me is the ending—while filled with hope and joy, it’s bittersweet. And when I wrote Hunting for Spring, I had that in mind and therefore created my own ‘Last Unicorn’ ending.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
First off—to all of the lovely folks who’ve reached out to me with their kind words—thank you a thousand times over. A writer’s job gets lonely and we hit a lot of rough patches, and I speak from experience when I say that a positive review or person at an event mentioning they loved my book has helped me stand up and dust off when I’ve gotten kicked down. And I’d also like to say to stay tuned—to quote one of my own characters “I can’t promise you’ll be bathing in jewels, but we keep things interesting.”

About the Author: 
Katherine McIntyre 

A modern day Renaissance-woman, Katherine McIntyre has learned soapmaking, beer brewing, tea blending, and most recently roasting coffee. Most of which make sure she’s hydrated and bathed while she spends the rest of her time writing. With a desire to travel and more imagination than she knows what to do with, all the stories jumping around in her head led to the logical route of jotting them down on paper. Not only can her poetry and prose be found in different magazines, but she’s had an array of novels and novellas published through Decadent Publishing, Boroughs Publishing, Hazardous Press, and Jupiter Gardens Press. For more casual content, she’s a regular contributor on CaffeineCrew.com, a geek news website.







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