Friday, March 30, 2012

Blog Tour: Guest Post w/ Camilla Chafer + Giveaway!




Hi, I'm Camilla and I'm the author of the Stella Mayweather Series, an urban fantasy/mystery. The series starts with Illicit Magic and a lonely young woman, Stella, who has been caught up in a terrifying witch hunt and is whisked thousands of miles away to what she thinks is safety to learn her craft. The series is a blend of magic, mystery and romance with a splash of humour - and while the girls really do go all out to save themselves, there's always a hunky guy or two on hand to help them out. The series continues with Unruly Magic and Devious Magic, both out now.
I live in London, England, but I try to travel as often as I can – I’ve been all over the US and Europe. In my day job I'm a journalist and editor so I write for magazines, newspapers and websites throughout the world (my favourite assignment was spending a week riding rollercoasters - if you listen carefully you can probably still hear me screaming) but writing fiction has always been my first love.
 

Camilla's Current Releases:



Where to Find Camilla:


Character Introduction: Meet Evan Hunter

On this tour, I haven’t written about any of the characters yet, so today I’d like to introduce you to Evan Hunter.

I wanted Evan to be something of an enigma. He’s not a witch, but it’s clear he’s something else, something powerful that makes the witches uncomfortable even though they hold him in high regard or, at least, with respect. He’s telekinetic and can dematerialize along with other powers. He’s honorable, mysterious, a little stand-offish, and very attracted to Stella. We get hints of a tragic past, one he’s buried and, like Stella, he doesn’t have a family, leaving him somewhat of a loner too.

Of course he’s handsome with very short, almost black hair and dark eyes. He’s tall at 6ft2, strong and athletic… a formidable being whatever he may be.

Loyalty means a lot to Evan but it’s not just the favor called in by a friend that ensures he helps Stella. The mutual attraction helps a whole lot too, even though it momentarily threw him into indecision, leading her to believe he doesn’t like her.

At first he’s frustrated at teaching a witch who ‘leaks’ magic but is curious about her, often looking at her when she thinks she isn’t looking, and as their attraction grows he is more able to approach her. He’s often annoyed at the time she spends with Marc, but very much determined to not push her, realizing that for once Stella needs to set her own rules and decide what she wants. Evan is very thoughtful towards Stella. They have a shared love of books and music and he enjoys doing nice things for her, helping her feel more comfortable in her new life.

Teaching isn’t Evan’s regular job. His real role is actually reflected in his name ‘Hunter’ as he’s self-employed, working with the supernatural community to rein in paranormals, quite literally hunting them down if needs be.

He comes to believe that the reason why he has been asked to help Stella, rather than leaving her tutorship entirely to her fellow witches, is down to his specific skill set, skills that will help Stella keep safe, as well as to be her protector. He has no problem coming to her defense. As their affection blossoms into something more, Stella’s magic grows under his careful, sometimes playful, tutorship.

Thanks for hosting me today!


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Illicit Magic by Camilla Chafer
Publisher: Audacious (May 1, 2011)
Series: Stella Mayweather, 1
Genre: Paranormal/Urban Fantasy Romance



 More than three hundred years after the most terrifying witch hunts the world has ever known, it's happening again.

Racing from attack by the ruthless Brotherhood in London to the powerful witch council in New York, twenty-four-year-old novice witch Stella has to put her faith in strangers just to stay alive but she might not be any safer in their midst than from the danger she is running from.

Sent to an extraordinary safe house by the sea to learn her craft, Stella finds there is more than one dark secret in her new family: Étoile’s sister is spoken of in fear and sadness; Marc is supposed to be a powerful witch but is missing his magic; where does the owner of their safe house vanish to every day and why does Evan have the eyes of someone not quite human? There is only one secret that someone will do anything to keep quiet, but whose secret is it and will Stella have to pay the price for silence?
 



Where to Buy*:
More Info:







Illicit Magic by Camilla Chafer
Excerpt from Chap. 5

The man filling the doorway was at least six foot two with broad shoulders that tapered to a neat waist and long, jeaned legs. Toned arms extended from under a grey t-shirt and his hands didn’t look like strangers to work. As my eyes travelled up from his chest, I noted a tanned, square jaw that hadn’t seen a razor in a day or two, a slim nose and brown eyes so dark I could barely distinguish iris from pupil. His hair was cut short and so dark it could almost have been black. He wasn’t beautiful in the traditional sense but he was captivating, the type of man people automatically turn their heads to have another look at. I couldn’t drag my eyes away and my heart did a little flip.


A fleeting image of being wrapped up in his arms, his lips crushing mine, overtook my mind. He caught my eye and held my gaze. I was glad he couldn’t see inside my mind, but I blushed furiously. His face looked thunderous. And now, come to think of it, Marc didn’t exactly look happy either.


“This is her?” he asked no one in particular, his eyes still fixed on me, his expression fading from thunder to completely impassive.


“Stella,”I spluttered, my cheeks still red as the image in my head seemed to topple over and send us sprawling, limbs entwined. Was I supposed to shake his hand now? Good God. “Hi.”


Étoile looked from me to Evan and coughed lightly, her hand covering a smile and I just had enough time to wonder what she had seen before she said, “Evan will be teaching you.”


“I will not,’ announced Evan, his mouth set in a firm line. “She leaks. Find someone else.”


“David could teach her,” snapped Marc, scowling at Evan. The muscles in his arm had tensed though he was still sitting and I could see the veins bulge. What was with him?


“David is teaching Christy, Clara and Jared,” said Aunt Meg placidly. “Evan will be teaching her. That’s why he’s here.”


The ensuing silence was deafening. Marc scowled at Evan, Evan looked spitefully at me and I gripped my glass as if it were a life rope in a storm. Étoile finished up her second scone and looked around gleefully as if we were the height of entertainment. Meanwhile, my mind was getting increasingly lurid and I could hardly look Evan in the eye for fear that he would know that I’d just had a very exciting mental picture of us doing something that really should not have popped into my head while I was having a scone with civilised company.


“If you don’t want to teach me, fine,” I gasped, daring to look at Evan from under my lashes. Marc had leant back in his seat, arms crossed; Meg and Étoile were still looking at the man expectantly. Étoile coughed, but not before I heard her snicker again.


His jaw shifted and he breathed out. “I’ll teach you,” he said at last, making it sound like the least pleasant chore he could be assigned.


“Okay.”


“Fine.”Evan stepped back out of the doorway and strode back the way he came.


“Whew!”said Étoile. “That was weird. Like he was ever not going to teach you.”


“He’s an ass,” muttered Marc, swallowing the last of his iced tea and banging the glass back down on the table. “I’m sorry you’re stuck with him.”


“Evan Hunter is a very good teacher,” Aunt Meg chided as she gathered up the plates and swatted Étoile’s hand from the cake stand with a napkin before she could reach for another scone. I noticed Aunt Meg hadn’t eaten or drunk anything and hoped she didn’t think I was greedy for gobbling mine as fast as I could.


“What did he mean – I leaked?” I asked, thinking that sounded, well, gross.


“Your magic,” said Étoile. “He can feel it. So can I. You aren’t containing it, so it leaks. Not your fault.”



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GIVEAWAY IS NOW OVER--THANKS FOR STOPPING BY!



Interested in starting this new series? Great, now is your chance! As part of Camilla's tour stop, I have one e-copy of Illicit Magic to give away. Read the full rules below, follow the "How to Enter" instructions and fill out the Rafflecopter! Good Luck



Giveaway open March 30th till April 20th!


No entries will be counted after April 20th. Winner will be picked the next day.






How to Enter:


Mandatory: You must leave a comment (answering my question) on this post, with a valid email address^! No email address, no entry!
Mandatory: You must fill out the Rafflecopter below.


^A note on email addresses: Your email address must be visible to be entered into this contest. Why? This makes it easy for me to contact the winner and therefore get the prize out! Visible means: a) Email is left in your comment (ninja style is perfectly fine); b) Email is visible on your Blogger profile (or other such website--Twitter, Facebook, Blog, etc); or c) Email is used to log-in and fill out the Rafflecopter.

My Discussion Question:
So what do you think of Evan? Does he sound like the type of hero you love to read about--why or why not?



a Rafflecopter giveaway


~*~*~*~

 I'd like to thank Camilla for stopping by today--I enjoyed your guest post! :)

I'd also like to thank Bewitching Book Tours for allowing me to participate in this tour, as well as providing the review copy of Illicit Magic.

Don't forget to follow the rest of this tour for more great posts, interviews, reviews and giveaway chances! :D


Enjoy!





Until Next Time,
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*TBQ's Book Palace is a member of both the Amazon and Barnes and Nobles affiliates program. By using the links provided to buy products from either website, I receive a very small percentage of the order. To read my full disclosure on the matter, please see this post!

14 comments :

Camilla said...

Thanks for joining me on the tour!
Camilla

Unknown said...

This looks rather interesting! Especially Evan, but then I've always had a hankering for dark haired Men o' Mystery! :D

alexandra marell said...

The hint of a tragic past in a hero will get me every time!

The_Book_Queen said...

Nothing wrong with that at all! :) I think I'm guilty of it as well...

Enjoy!
TBQ

The_Book_Queen said...

Oh, me too. It's the tortured hero theme--I think unless the author does a horrible job (no so in this book, by the way!), it's almost guaranteed to make us love the hero!

Enjoy,
TBQ

Anonymous said...

Wow - what's up with Evan's 'tude? Makes me want to know more about him and also what the issue is between him and Marc. Love the tall, dark & intriguing guys.
Julie
riveroftimefan(at)gmail(dot)com

The_Book_Queen said...

:) That makes two of us--what is going on? Hmm..

Thanks for stopping by!

Enjoy,
TBQ

The_Book_Queen said...

Since Blogger keeps playing tricks with us, Danielle's comment has been *poof* magically removed twice today. Evil thing! So I'm posting it here for her:



Hmmmmmmm shame on you blogger deleting my comment *evileye* I'm pretty sure I said something like I am pretty much up for any boy hahaha

DBookWhore


Thanks for stopping by--even with Blogger having issues. And I'm all fo your statement! LOL.

Enjoy,
TBQ

Nadine said...

You had me at 6ft2. Seriously! Hmm...dark haired, has something buried deep, "Hunter" may have something to do with his profession. Yep, I'm in!

The_Book_Queen said...

Tall, dark and mysterious--yep, that pretty much makes any man irristible! Lol.

Good Luck!

Enjoy,
TBQ

evelynmoly said...

He sounds interesting. Would love to read the book. thanks

evelynmoly@yahoo.com

The_Book_Queen said...

:) Thanks for stopping by--Good Luck!

Enjoy,
TBQ

Donna S said...

I'd love to read more of this and see what happens. Thanks

donnasing777@yahoo.com

Kim D said...

WOW the book sounds GREAT!!!!!

swkimbell@yahoo.com