• Fantasy

    Author Interview: AJ Nuest @AJNuest Rowena’s Key #RLFblog #Fantasy

    Rowena’s Key 
    Rowena’s Key, Book I, The Golden Key Chronicles
    Genre Fantasy Romance
    Author Name AJ Nuest
    Book heat level (based on movie ratings): R
    The key would unlock his future and the safety of his kingdom,
    but he never imagined the sorceress would unlock his heart…
    Antiques restorer, Rowena Lindstrom, finds herself the owner
    of an ancestral armoire containing a hidden key and a magic mirror leading to another
    realm. But the handsome warrior prince waiting on the other side is truly the final
    straw. This must be an elaborate joke, right?
    As she struggles to discover the truth, Rowena learns Prince
    Caedmon Austiere needs the key to save his kingdom. In the end, she cannot deny
    him anything. Including her heart.

    Buy This Book

    Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FVE4RPY/
    Barnes and Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rowenas-key-aj-nuest/1117135322?ean=9780007550562
    ARe http://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html

    Interview with AJ Nuest

    Why did you write this
    book?
    Well, I’ve always been in love with the fantasy romance genre,
    and knew I would eventually take the plunge into trying to craft my very own fantasy
    romance. So, one day, I just sat down and started writing. I guess you could say
    I’d finally reached the place in my career where I just knew I was ready. A month
    later, the first novella was completed and I had officially caught the fantasy bug.
    A year after that, I’d turned the first installment into a four book series, and
    now a spin-off is rumored to be in the works. ;-)
    What is your favorite
    genre to read?
    Definitely fantasy with strong romantic elements. I just have
    a thing for princes, I guess…or any swashbuckling hero that charges in to save
    the day. I love the world building of fantasy romance, the complex plots and that
    persistent element of “Oh no! How’re they going to get out of this fix?”
    Fantasy authors always keep me guessing and I love that. There’s also a lot of external
    conflict in fantasy romance (i.e. the characters are kept apart by circumstances
    beyond their control) and I love that angsty-goodness.
    What is your favorite
    character from fiction (not including your own characters)?
    Jacqueline Carey wrote a two book series called The Sundering
    – Godslayer is Book One and Banewreaker is Book Two. The stories feature a hero
    by the name of General Tanaros. He is not a good man. He is extremely conflicted
    throughout the series, is deeply tortured, and lives with the bitter realization
    that he’s made terrible mistakes in his life – even though he has good reason behind
    these mistakes and continues on the same destructive path during the stories. There
    is just something about his character that I completely fell in love with. To me,
    he represents a intrinsic part of human nature. How maybe we would all go back in
    time and do things differently if we had the chance. He represents our regrets…how
    we wish things or circumstances would be different all while knowing we are powerless
    to change them. It’s a brilliant, brilliant series I would highly recommend to everyone.
    Read it. You will never be the same.
    Do you enjoy films and/or
    TV shows? Which are your favorites?
    I love both films and television shows, but I don’t really watch
    much TV. I just don’t have the time. If I’m going to sit and watch, I usually rent
    a movie or catch up on the programs I’ve recorded on the DVR. That being said, I’m
    a huge Marvel fan and race to the theatre the minute any of those movies come out.
    Bring on anything sci-fi as well…Transformers, Star Trek, etc. For television
    I love Sleepy Hollow and Once Upon a Time in Neverland. Oh and I’m a HUGE Big Bang
    Theory fan.
    What are you working on
    at the moment, and what are we likely to see from you in the coming months?
    I just finished the final installment of my fantasy romance series
    for HarperImpulse entitled The Golden Key Chronicles. Rowena’s Key is the first
    of four continuing novellas under this title. Right now, I’m working on a free read
    that will be offered with the collection release on April 3rd. I also have two other
    fantasy series clamoring for attention in my head. One is a three book fantasy under
    the working title Branches of the Willow Tree, which was just contracted by Harper
    this past week, and the other is a spin-off of The Golden Key Chronicles. I really
    hadn’t planned on writing more in that series but, after receiving so many requests
    from readers to continue, I folded. LOL
    Please tell us about your
    latest book.
    Rowena’s Key is a time travel fantasy romance set in both modern
    day Chicago and a 14th century realm based loosely
    on Kent.
    Rowena is an antiques restorer who finds herself drawn to purchase an ancestral
    armoire in order to retain a connection to her past, only to find her decision an
    epic failure. The first evening the armoire is delivered to her condo, she discovers
    a key inside a hidden compartment, and from there things go from strange to outright
    bizarre. Not only are her initials stamped on the side of the key, later that night
    the door opens and she finds herself face to face with a man who claims to be a
    prince from another realm. While she’s very suspicious of Prince Caedmon—and, in
    fact, believes the whole thing to be a set up conceived by her best friend, Oliver—as
    Rowena learns more about Caedmon and his life, she finds she holds more than just
    the secret to saving his kingdom. She is the answer behind a prophecy, and the key
    to unlocking his heart.

    Excerpt

    This scene is taken from when Rowena and Caedmon first meet,
    each of them standing on opposites of what she believes to be a computer monitor…
    What was with this guy, with his sable,
    shoulder-length hair and closely trimmed beard? His white shirt was best described
    as puffy, with ballooning sleeves and wide, ruffled cuffs. The front hung open,
    exposing the muscled contours of his beveled chest, the roughly stitched tails skimming
    the thighs of his fitted, leather…breeches?
    Oh, God. She chuckled and shook her
    head. He had to be one of Ollie’s theater friends. Bravo for his stunning portrayal
    of a swashbuckling swashbuckler. Too bad that also meant he was gay.
    He lifted the sword in both hands
    and turned a broad shoulder toward the mirror, the taut planes of his stomach easing
    in and out with each controlled breath. A trail of dark hair arrowed down inside
    the waistband of his pants, where his perfectly cupped manhood bulged for her inspection.
    Oh yes, too bad indeed.
    “If you scheme to divert me with
    your alluring attire and guileless stare, I’ll have you know an abundance of courtesans
    await my nightly dalliance. I am not so easily swayed.”
    Rowena inched a slow perusal of the
    delectable landscape back up to his face. His dark eyes glittered in the candlelight,
    and she mirrored his arched eyebrow. “Oh, really?”
    Perhaps she’d pegged him wrong. Wouldn’t
    that be a treat?
    She glanced down at her gauzy nightgown,
    the flickering fire doing little to cover her rosy nipples, pert in the chilly air.
    But he invaded her space with this theatrical exploit of his. What else did he expect
    her to be wearing, showing up like this in the middle of the night?
    “You’d better be careful.”
    She wagged a finger at him. “Or I’m apt to get busy with some serious despoiling
    all up in here.”
    “Enough, Sorceress!” He
    lunged forward, the blade of his sword slicing the air when he aimed the silver
    pommel straight at the screen. “Let us be done with this trickery. Name your
    demands before I smash the glass and ensnare your bewitching guise for an eternity.”
    A low laugh tickled the back of her
    throat. Talk about living a role. Sheesh, take the drama down a notch. She stepped
    close and ran a hand around the edge of the frame. The signal had to be streaming
    live, what with his ability to interact with her, but there wasn’t a wire or a microphone,
    heck, not even a screw in sight.
    She stood back and crossed her arms,
    shifting her weight onto one hip. Okay, she would bite, as long as Ollie promised
    this whole escapade wouldn’t end up on YouTube.
    “Fine. You’re extremely gorgeous
    and very talented. Seriously, you’ve got the whole English accent down perfect.
    And while I appreciate all the work that went into this little program, it’s about
    two in morning and I have to get up early for work. Tell Ollie I said good show,
    props to the production crew and I’m nominating the wardrobe guy for an Oscar.”
    There. That should call the evening
    a wrap. She grabbed the edge of the door and swung it closed.
    “You wear Rowena’s Key.”
    She froze…and then tentatively eased
    the door back open.

    Author Bio

    I am a multi-published, award-winning author who lives in the
    middle of a cornfield in NW Indiana. My loving husband, two beautiful children and
    a bevy of spoiled pets have agreed to stay and, in exchange for three rations per
    day and laundry service, tolerate my lunacy. While I spend most days happily ensconced
    in crafting romance across a multitude of genres, an underground coup has been percolating.
    The dogs just informed me the cat is secretly vying for dictatorship.

    Author Social Media

    Website – http://ajnuest.com
    Amazon Author Page –
    http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B004W0DH4K