13 minute read
Winter Sloane
from Uncaged Book Reviews
by Cyrene
Winter Sloane is the alter ego of a single mother who loves reading and writing romances in her free time. She likes writing about possessive bad boys and the women who love them.
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Uncaged Welcomes Winter Sloane
Welcome to Uncaged! You just released, Indebted to the Bratva Boss in October and this is part of the Kotov Bratva series. Can you tell readers more about the series and the book?
Indebted to the Bratva Boss is an enemies-to-lovers mafia romance book between a naive bookshop owner and a Bratva boss. When Marina is saddled with her father’s massive debt, she can only turn to one dangerous man for help—her ex-boyfriend Pavel. Trusting a criminal is risky but Marina has no other choice.
The first two books in the series features two Bratva brothers who find the love of their lives in unlikely situations and places. Viktor and Pavel know they’re not good men. They don’t believe in love but the strong women they’re about to meet will soon change their minds.
What is the most difficult scene for you to write? What is the easiest?
Fight scenes are usually difficult for me because they take require more planning, but nonetheless they’re fun and interesting to write. Date scenes are usually easy for me to write. I enjoy writing scenes where my characters have just met and are trying to get to know each other better.
Do you have a favorite character you’ve written? Has there been a character that’s been hard to write about?
I love all my characters equally, so I don’t have a particular favorite. Characters struggling with depression are usually not easy for me to write as I tackled depression in the past.
How do you come up with the title to your books?
Honestly, I’m not the best at coming up with titles but I usually try to make sure the title fits the story, so my readers know what to expect.
What behind-the-scenes tidbit in your life would probably surprise your readers the most?
Most of my books could be classified as dark romance but in real life I’m actually a very positive and cheerful person.
Which comes first, the plot or the characters in the planning stages?
For me, the characters always come first. I come up with up their back stories, their personalities and what they look like. Once that’s done, I’ll start working on the plot.
What are some things you like to do to relax when you aren’t writing or working?
I like to garden. My favorite plans are begonias and succulents. I also enjoy sketching (although I’m not very good at it) and taking long walks during my free time.
If you could have one all-year season, which would it be and why?
Autumn. It’s the perfect weather, not too warm or too cold. I’d like to sit in a quiet nook drinking chamomile tea while reading a good book.
How many hours a day do you write? On average, how long does it take to write a full novel?
Do you prefer ebooks, audiobooks or physical books? Are you reading anything now?
I prefer a mix of ebooks and audiobooks. I’m currently reading Broken Vow by Sophie Lark and listening to The Hive audiobook by Gregg Olsen.
What would you like to say to fans, and where can they follow you?
I would like to thank my fans for always supporting me. Without you guys, I wouldn’t be able to do keep doing what I love the most.
Enjoy an excerpt from Her relentless Bratva
Her Relentless Bratva Winter Sloane Organized Crime Thriller/ Romance
Katya: Some people call me an ice princess. There’s a reason for that. I survived the massacre of my entire family. When the Kotov Bratva took me in, I swore I’d do anything for my daughter and my new family. Aleksander is off-limits. He’s also relentless, persuasive, and addictive. I lean into his touches and kisses even though I should be staying away. I’m a survivor. I don’t just open up my heart to anyone but with Aleksander it’s easy. If being with him is so wrong, then why does it feel so right?
Aleksander: I know Katya Kotov inside and out. Under all that ice, lies a passionate and fiery woman I can’t wait to own and possess. I waited, hoping she’d find a better man, a decent man to settle with. But I’m not that generous. I’m a selfish and possessive bastard. Katya’s mine to tame and I’d kill anyone that gets in the way.
Excerpt
“Why don’t you make yourself more comfortable and sit next to me?” he asked.
“I’m fine here,” she said, returning to the armchair. “Why, scared I’ll bite?” Aleks teased.
“Maybe you should avoid flirting with me when you’re injured,” she suggested.
Aleks considered her words for a few moments. There and then, he came to a decision. They’d been dancing around each other for years. It was about time he changed that.
Aleks didn’t pursue Katya not because he was worried about what Viktor and Pavel would do if they found out he wanted her for his own. She wasn’t a fling either. He wanted to own her, body, heart, and soul.
If Katya found a normal, decent man who’d be able to take care of her and Anya, Aleks thought he’d be able to live with that. He was wrong. Aleks would kill any man who so much as looked at Katya wrong.
“When I’m better, we’ll revisit this conversation,” Aleks said. He made it clear that wasn’t a question, but a statement.
“Aleks—” she started, rising to her feet. He cut her off by grabbing her hand and yanking him close to him. Katya gasped, then ended up spilling on his lap. Aleks suppressed a wince, then wrapped his good arm around her waist, nudging her close.
Her breasts touched his chest, and he nearly lost it. Aleks reined in what self-control he had left. If she showed any sign that she wasn’t into this, he’d released her. Katya widened her eyes but didn’t stop him when he closed his mouth over hers.
Fuck, but she tasted as sweet as she imagined. Like raspberries and just the hint of the wine she drank earlier. She slid her hands up his shoulders.
When he pushed his tongue down her throat, she sucked down hard on it. Aleks slid his hands under her blouse, touching smooth and heated skin. He pushed past the wire of her bra to give her left nipple a squeeze.
She let out a moan when he tore his mouth away from hers. The sound didn’t do his thickening dick any favors.
“You better get off me right now or I’ll end up mauling you,” he said in a rough voice.
“You don’t think I can handle you?” she asked. Challenge blazed in her sharp blue eyes.
Don’t miss this title:
Austin Freeze
Promise to a Guardian Angel
The Infection
Austin Freeze Horror
When The Infection spreads, who will survive? Will there be a cure to end The Infection? Find out how people will face, struggle and battle against The Infection in this first book of author Austin Freeze’s horror trilogy. Join the intriguing characters and witness how they battle each day head on.
Follow Samantha, a very young and capable girl surviving during this infectious time, and her caretakers Zach and Emilia. But with crazy cults and bloody terrible destruction, it’s hard to keep Samantha safe, especially since the cure hasn’t been made and probably will never be. Samantha also has her own tricks up her sleeve, especially since she is infected; but no one but her knows. Will she survive this infectious world and help find a cure or will this be a continuous amount of death and despair that everyone will have to go through? Read on to find out.
Excerpt
Subject seems to be compliant with the testing, let’s continue with the copycat injection.” The room went silent as the subject was injected with the copycat drug, there was screaming from the subject and blood pouring out through the subject’s mouth. After the intense trial everyone went back to work as if nothing had just happened, but one scientist got up from his seat and walked over to where the subject had just been tested on. The man in the cage seemed to still be breathing steadily and didn’t show any signs of a dying state, but there was one thing that still needed to be tested. Experiment 717AB. Also referred to as the infection experiment.
November 18th, 2012. The first sign of the infection, seventeen people already reported dead without any previous conditions. Nobody was prepared for this to be happening, there was no sign of an infection starting until people were already dead. Scientists worked as hard as possible since the start of this infection, but some of the scientists didn’t want to participate in curing the infection. They wanted to increase the danger of it.
Dylan was one of the scientists that did not want to participate in the curing of this horrible infection, all he wanted to do was increase the likelihood of people dying. There was something about the smell of death and the lifeless bodies that really made Dylan feel good about what he was doing, yet there was always going to be the people who would try and stop him.
“Creators”. Creators were a group of scientists that built their own private army within their lab, this army would barge into random research sites that were housing the terrible man killers and their research. When this army would go into the research sites their orders were to kill anything and everything that moves and by the time the army would exit the building. No one would be left breathing.
Then there was the worst thing that anyone could possibly think about. Experiment 717AB. This experiment is what had started this mess in the first place and was also the experiment that was being performed by the rival research sites. What this experi-
ment did was something of a shock that this could be done, and a worldwide tragedy that it had been released. Dylan was the one to warn others about what this experiment actually and truly did since he wanted to make sure they knew that nothing could be done, he sent an envelope out to all the Creators research sites and told them what was happening and that there was no way to stop what the end goal was to be.
Austin Freeze’s love for writing goes back to when he was very young. His first love is horror/suspense, but he also likes to dabble in other genres. His current residence is outside of Austin, Texas, in the small sleepy town of Lockhart. Writing is something that he loves to do almost every day; now, whether it is horror or suspense is all up to chance. He hopes all will enjoy the book he has written because there’s more to come.
Nerd Daily Guest Post
Guest column by Paul Bahou
by Paul Bahou
People only get half of the story when it comes to being in a band.
I’m not talking about cover-band, playing ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ for the five-thousandth time at the tail end of your third set, please tip your waitress, shout out to the drunk cougars in the front, type band experiences. No.
I’m talking about writing and recording original music, arguing about who gets pushed higher in the mix, get the tub of merch in the van, driving to new cities just to play on an off night, shout out to the sound guy and the guitarist from the opener who loaned us his amp, type band experience.
I’m talking about the less than glorious aspects of the rock and roll lifestyle of the yet to make it crowd: Hustling to get people into the door, nerding out over the obscure band you’re going to be opening up for and the unfiltered joy of finding the perfect tone.
The band life can be rewarding and hit you with a level of satisfaction that gets you right in the soul… or maybe it’s just the oxy receptors in your brain. Regardless, few things top being immersed in music you had a hand in writing, while performing it in front of a crowd who reciprocates that energy.
It’s in those moments that you hit a level of clarity in your life as the absoluteness of your dedication flowers: The thousands of hours in the practice room, the lost battle of the bands, the hopes hung on an A&R rep who never showed up…
It all melts away in the show. Not all of them of course. Some are downright abysmal. No one wants to get up on stage in front of a room full of people when you’re battling the stomach flu, or your gear is breaking, or your dog just died, or the crowd just plain hates you. But sometimes… sometimes… it’s pure magic. It’s this way regardless if you’re playing the one AM set on a Tuesday at a dive bar, or are at a music festival with bands you idolize, the melting of self into performance enraptures you. Its why people stick with it even when it no longer suits them, even when it’s the very thing holding them back.
Such is the story of Lazer, the protagonist in my debut novel Sunset Distortion. He plays guitar in a heavy metal cover-band at a dive bar on the sunset strip. He is so enmeshed in what it is to play music, that the rest of his life has fallen away from him. It’s a story about a man who is unabashedly all-in on the rock and roll lifestyle, despite what he’s lost along the way… but then on page five he gets abducted by space aliens and all bets are off.
Sure, most people’s experiences with playing in a band don’t include space pirates, inter- dimensional brain leeches or cloned replicas of famed soviet cosmonaut Laika the dog, but the baseline experiences are all there: the joy, the agony… the hearing loss. But in the end what it really comes down to is the energy you get back from
| PAUL BAHOU |
your connections forged in the moment. The kinetic exchange between artist and fan. Short of holding your baby in your arms for the first time, there’s nothing else quite like it.
You’ve been a wonderful audience. Thanks for sticking around. Please tip your waitress. Buy my book and shout out to the cougars in the front.
©Copyright 2022 Paul Bahou for Uncaged Book Reviews www.uncagedbooks.com
PAUL BAHOU is the author of Sunset Distortion: The Pyramid at the End of the World. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from Cal State University Long Beach with a minor in music. He began his career writing grants while playing in his rock band, eventually moving out of music and into the sustainability sector. He lives in Southern California with his wife Melissa, daughter Sophie and son Harrison. He writes fiction, music and the occasional dad joke in his spare time.