Review & Contest: ASCENSION by Sable Grace

First, I'm being interviewed by author Marissa Farrar today at her blog--stop by here if you get a chance and say hello!

Now, ready for some steamy Friday paranormal romance? Today, we welcome the Queen―that would be MM, The Queen of English, a writing-workshop instructor who is taking on a new paranormal romance called Ascension. Read on, and enter for a chance to win!

ABOUT THE BOOK: The gates of hell have opened, and one woman will stand in the crossfire as the Dark Breed—vampyre, demons, shape shifters—and mankind fight their last battle for survival. Kyana is half Vampyre, half Lychen . . . and the last of her kind. Determined, dangerous, and damned, she has no love for the mortals who have imprisoned and misused her. But when the Order of Ancients entrusts her with a mission—to find the key that will send the Dark Breed back into Hell for eternity—Kyana has no choice but to accept. She is furious to learn her assignment comes with an escort . . . Ryker, a demigod and fierce warrior who long ago found a way under her skin and stayed there. In a shaky alliance, they discover an ancient cult with dangerous motive and a god who seeks to destroy all others. And as Kyana begins to feel the heat that threatens to bind her to Ryker, she knows she has to resist. For it could only mean the undoing of them both . . .

THOUGHTS FROM THE QUEEN OF ENGLISH: Ascension is the debut novel of the writing team of Heather Waters and Laura Barone under the pen name of Sable Grace. This urban fantasy takes place in St. Petersburg, Florida in the near future. Humans are at war with the Dark Breed, evil monsters who had been locked up in Tartarus until someone stole the key to the underworld prison and opened its door.

       Battling the monsters is Kyana, who is half Vampyre and half Lychen. The blending of vampire and werewolf has made her the best of the trackers, who take their orders from the Order of Ancients, Greek gods and goddesses. The Order gives her the mission to find the key that will send the Dark Breed back to Tartarus forever.

       That’s when things get interesting! Kyana is known to be a hot-head. The Order sends along Ryker, bastard child of Ares, with her to make sure she doesn’t kill the thief before they get to interrogate him. I did appreciate the irony here – the son of Ares, the original hot-head, is the cool-headed one.

       Ryker is also noble. Ten years ago Kyana tried to seduce him, but he refused. Not that he didn’t want her, as she believes, but … you’ll have to read to find out.  In the midst of danger and intrigue, her Lychen half seeks to bond with Ryker much to the dismay of her Vampyre half. Ryker wants forever, but Kyana promises only today.

       Kyana faces terrifying monsters and personal loss with the same kick-ass attitude. Thank goodness, Ryker is there to save her from her head-strong nature. The characters are fleshed out. No one is totally evil just as no one is totally good. Their adventures are scary and original.

       On my Grading Rubric for Books, Ascension earns a 3 out of 4 rating, or a B. Actually that’s very good, considering only classics earn A’s from me. If you like urban fantasy, a kiss-ass heroine, a strong, handsome, noble hero, and frightening situations and monsters, you’ll like Ascension.

       When you finish, you’ll be begging for a sequel. I know I am.

About MM, THE QUEEN OF ENGLISH: MM the Queen of English is a self-professed language arts geek. Being an English teacher for fifteen years has contributed to her geekiness. Becoming line editor for Black Velvet Seductions two years ago just made her geekiness official. The Queen believes her gift is understanding how to use the mechanics of English to effectively communicate with others. In other words, she knows how to make subjects agree with verbs and pronouns agree with their antecedents. She knows the how to use the verbs lie and lay correctly. You may applaud now.

     The reason the Queen decided to start her own workshop business, Workshops with MM the Queen of English, is reflected in the saying, “Give a hungry man a fish, and he eats for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he never goes hungry again.”

     Her goal is to teach writers what they need to know about English mechanics so that they won’t need an editing service to find those kinds of mistakes.

     If you’d like more information about the Queen’s workshops, visit her blog at http://queenofenglish.wordpress.com.

Thanks, MM (or should I say, ‘Your Majesty’)!

Want to win a copy of ASCENSION? You know the drill: +1 for comment, +1 for blog follow, +1 for Twitter follow @Suzanne_Johnson, and +1 for Tweet or Retweet. Go!