Wild and Free by Kristen Ashley ~ Tour, Excerpt, Interview, Review & Giveaway

WILD AND FREE 

(The Three #3)

By: Kristen Ashely

Release Date: December 29th
AMAZON
Blog Tour Giveaway HERE or enter at the bottom of this post.

SYNOPSIS

Abel Jin and Delilah Johnson have lived their lives with a hole in their soul, yearning for something they don’t understand.

Until one night Delilah is in mortal danger and a man who’s otherworldly strong and supernaturally fast saves her. Delilah is then cast into a world where fiction comes to life in the form of Abel, her destined mate, a vampire/werewolf hybrid who claims her at first breath as his.

But Abel knows the danger isn’t done. He’s dreamed for centuries that his mate will perish and he will stop at nothing to keep her safe.

For Delilah, she’s not only coping with fantasy come to life, but a mingling of very different families. Not to mention, she has on her hands a man who doesn’t understand his true nature and has lived his long life thinking he’s a monster.

Abel and Delilah together fills the hole that has been clawing at them for decades. But finally finding each other, it also tips their destinies as the last of The Three. They must unite with the other destined lovers, who with Abel and Delilah, are fated to save the world.

Or die trying.

The Three Series Reading Order:

 #1 Until the Sun Falls from the Sky (only $.99)

AMAZON

#2 With Everything I Am (only $.99)

AMAZON

#3 Wild and Free

AMAZON

EXCERPT

“I’m a monster, Lilah.”
“What?” I whispered.
“I’m a werewolf vampire. I exist on human blood. I can tear a man’s head off and I have. I’m a monster.”
“You—”
“I am,” he stated flatly. “And the first chance I’ve had in all my years to understand why I am as I am is to go to that fuckin’ hotel.”
I stared at him, then straightened my body so I was fully facing him. This caused his jaw to get hard again, but I ignored that and stated, “Okay, let’s break this down.”
“Nothin’ to break down.”
“Humor me,” I snapped, his head jerked, and his lips curved up.
“Carry on,” he muttered.
“Thanks,” I bit out. “First, how many men’s heads have you torn off?”
“Four, and two wolves.”
“That’s it?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“These being the night we met,” I stated.
“Yeah,” he repeated.
“The night some of them were trying to kill me and the others were trying to kill you.”
To that he said nothing.
I kept going, “So you haven’t torn off unsuspecting citizens’ heads willy-nilly, for the fuck of it, or on a psychotic rampage?”
He pressed his lips together and I knew it was to hide his humor because his eyes lit with it before he unpressed them to say, “No.”
“Right,” I said sharply. “Have you ever had a psychotic rampage?”
He shook his head.
“So let’s get to the human blood part,” I suggested. “When you were,” I paused, “drawing from one of your ex-bitches, did you ever kill one of them?”
“Fuck no.”
“Take too much and make them sick?”
“No.”
“Do it against anyone’s will?”
His eyes went guarded, but he said, “No.”
I threw up a hand. “Okay, so what’s the problem?”
He blinked, straightening in his chair, but again said nothing.
“I mean, seriously,” I went on, “I’ve seen lots of vampire movies and TV shows and even the good vamps screw up and overindulge. Hell, Jessica killed three fairies in a ravenous attack. She might have had her issues as a young vampire, but by that time, she was full-on good.”
His brows shot together. “Fairies?”
“Fairies.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
I threw up both hands and cried in exasperation, “True Blood!”
“Jesus, Lilah,” he muttered.
“No, seriously, Jessica is very sweet.”
“For fuck’s sake,” he growled, sounding like he was losing patience, which I didn’t figure was a good thing.
“Okay, back on track,” I began. “Tell me. Tell me one instance in your life where you actually behaved like a monster.”
“I wanna fuck you,” he snarled.
I stared.
“Yeah,” he ground out. “I wanna fuck you, Delilah. Consumed with the need and I have no idea why, but I can guess, seein’ as it’s like you’re a bitch in heat, I’m a dog that catches the scent and his mind is wiped…wiped of anything…but the need to mount you and”—he leaned forward—“rut.”
“Holy fuck,” I breathed.
“Yeah,” he said again. “That make you feel safe?”
“Abel—”
“I can smell your fear.”
I swallowed.
“It turns me on,” he kept going. “Makes me wanna tear into your throat and fuck you and feed from you. Now, does that make you feel safe?”
“No,” I whispered, because it really fucking didn’t.
“Right. No,” he bit off. “So I’m not a monster?”

INTERVIEW

RG: Thank you for stopping by RG! We are excited to promote the upcoming release of Wild and Free.

KA: And I’m delighted you’re promoting the upcoming release of Wild and Free! Thanks for jumping on board to be a part of that!

RG: The Three Series is one of my top favorite paranormal romance reads!!! What inspired you to create a world linking three couples and a very intriguing prophecy?
KA:  Oh, I love to read that you dig it! J As for my inspiration, I would guess that anyone who reads my stuff knows I have a fascination with the anti-hero and arguably the most famous anti-hero in literary history is Dracula. I’m not one to shy away from tackling any genre that I fancy. I’m also not one to shy away from breaking rules. Vampires and werewolves have a great deal of lore surrounding them and I wanted to play with that. I must admit I was a little concerned when I broke nearly all the rules and went my own way, creating an entirely different back story and making my vampires and wolves what they were. I thought the die-hard paranormal fans would not embrace it. But in the end, it’s all fiction and that’s the beauty of fiction. You can do what you want, let your imagination fly so anyone can run with anything and create worlds that work.
As for it being a trilogy with three couples, that just came out of the story when I was writing it. I wish I could explain a grand scheme and refer to my tome of an outline but I just go with the flow and that’s what came out of the flow!

RG: Wild and Free is the third and final book in Three Series. Are you planning any spin off novels from this series?
KA:  Right now, no. There are three wolves I’d like to see get happy ever afters (Ryon, Calder and Caleb). Also, things are quite changed at the end of Wild and Free and I’d like to explore that. But I’ve got so many series on the go that I need to see to. So for now I’ll have to finish this one and maybe revisit this paranormal world later.  RG: I so hope we see those wolves get their HEA!!!

RG: You write in different genres. Is there a favorite?

KA:  I love writing. That’s it. Period. Dot. Love it! By the time I’m done with a contemporary, I’ll be raring to get into a fantasy or paranormal because there’s so much more freedom to let your imagination run loose and do fantastical things. Then when I’m done with a fantasy or paranormal, considering I’ve created my own worlds and I do have to color in between those lines and keep track of it all, I feel a different kind of freedom in getting back to a contemporary. So the answer is: no. When asked which hero is my favorite I say, “I love the one I’m with.” Same goes for the genre!

RG: If you weren't a writer, what professional career would you have or want to be in? And why?

KA:  I’d want to be a backup singer because I could so totally rock that (if I could sing). Or I’d want to own my own coffee house or bakery because I love coffee, baked goods and socializing. I’d be all over creating Fortnum’s if I wasn’t writing. Books. Coffee. (And I’d add baked goods.) What could be better than that?

RG: If you could have dinner with any fictional character, who would you pick?
KA:  Oo, my. Wow. What a great question. I’d probably pick Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter novels because that witch freaking rocks. She’s the utter bomb. Or I’d pick Ranger from the Stephanie Plum series just because he’s hot and could probably teach me some pretty cool stuff (and I’d be an AVID learner).

RG: If you had hidden cameras in your house, what super embarrassing things would be seen?
KA:  I tend not to get embarrassed by much. I am who I am. I do what I do. I’m well aware that I’m a dork and can be a geek and definitely a klutz. I talk to my kitties like they’re human (but in my kitty voice—much like my character Feb in For You, I actually call my kitties Mr. Purrsy Purrs and Mistress Purrsy Purrs and a variety of other names, Starla is also Princess Fancy Pants a la Laurie in Sweet Dreams—see, dork). I dance around singing like I’m in my own music video. I have wood floors and a very long hall and sometimes I pretend speed skate down the hall in socks. Life is too short to take yourself too seriously so I try not to do that.
Though, if you saw my wild hair when I wake up, that might be a tad embarrassing!

RG: If you were being taken to a stranded island and could only take one book, which would you pick and why?
KA:  Oh my. This is impossible to answer. My first thought is To Kill A Mockingbird because it’s my favorite book. Then I thought Confederacy of Dunces because I’ve read that frequently and I get a kick out of it each time. But in the end, it’d have to be a romance so I’d pick from one of the great Judith McNaught’s masterpieces. Either A Kingdom of Dreams, Once and Always or Almost Heaven.

RG: What is your guilty pleasure where books are not concerned?
KA: As with not being embarrassed by much, I don’t get guilty about things. I think we should embrace who we are and what we like and if other people think it’s strange or funny or not worthwhile, that’s their problem. So I just go with who I am and what I like to do and there it is. That’s me and there’s nothing to be guilty about with that. You dig me? 

RG: Thank you so much for stopping by!  

KA:  Now, I must thank you so very much for wanting to ask these questions and being a part of the Wild and Free tour! It was fun “spending time” with you. So hope you enjoyed the book!!!

REVIEW OF WILD AND FREE

YET ANOTHER fabulous paranormal romance penned by Kristen Ashley!!!

Wild and Free is the third book in The Three Series it basically picks up right where the second book ends. This series is about three couples and the fulfillment of the foretold prophecies. Each book does wrap up nicely however, this series should be read in order.

Abel Jin is a vampire/werewolf hybrid that has lived his whole life assuming he was an anomaly. Taken in by the Jin family at a very young age, it was truly trial and error fine tuning his needs along with skills.

Delilah Johnson has lived most of her life feeling like she was missing a piece of herself.  After her parents divorced it became apparent she needed to live with her father.  Hooker Johnson is a fiercely loving father and a die hard biker who lives life to the fullest and never turns down a good time.  He passed these traits to Delilah.  Therefore, it was no big surprise when Delilah decided that she needed to get out of town and spread her wings.  So she packed her bags and ended up in Serpentine Bay which is a great little biker town and also the current home to the Jin family.

The idea of telling my father I’d hooked up with a werewolf vampire and was unexpectedly under attack during my vacation quest to Serpentine Bay was not one I relished.The good part of this was that Dad would totally believe me. I knew that sounded screwy, but he would. He was just that kind of guy.

Shortly after arriving in Serpentine Bay trouble with a capital T finds Delilah. Abel has no idea why but he senses Delilah's danger and comes to her rescue. I am not normally a fan of the whole “insta” love connection however with Abel and Delilah their immediate connection really fit the story. Oh don’t get me wrong, they have bumps in the road but all in all their love for one another is inspiring. 

No, I did it because everything was in his eyes. The answer to the meaning of life. The truth about whether or not love was real (it was, very much so). Inalienable proof that nothing was more important than family. The knowledge that he would die for me. The understanding that he would kill for me (though, I already knew that).Everything.
Before, I’d thought his eyes were enthralling.
Looking at them right then, I knew I could lose myself in them.
For eternity.

As the story unfolds we are blessed with the return of so many characters from the first two books. (happy dancing) KA worked her magic weaving old and new into the fulfillment of the prophecies. A super special treat is the relationship that develops between Yuri and Aurora.

You should be aware, Aurora, that when I’m angry at you, being sweet will do much to tame that emotion,” he told her quietly.
She nodded, drawing in breath through her nose, and he easily read she was relieved.
“However, when I’m furious at you,” he continued, “being sweet will only fan that flame.” ~ Yuri 

We see true partnership as the three couples come to terms with their place in the fulfillment of the prophecies.  In the end it wasn't the loss and heartbreak that brought true tears to my eyes. It was this passage...

“Acceptance is a word not in Delilah Johnson’s vocabulary,” Avery announced. “I’m sure you’ve noted why.”

It was dawning on him. “Because she sees no difference. She doesn’t have to accept, because she doesn’t even begin to judge.”

Avery nodded again. “She takes everyone just as they are. Even under frightening circumstances and even more frightening explanations, she took Abel’s side almost immediately. The power of that, Lucien, coupled with her capacity for love, loyalty, hope…There is nothing more powerful than that on the planet. Delilah is not all that we are. Delilah represents all that we can be. “

Wild and Free contains all the witty KA-isms we have all come to love AND lets not forget the hot alpha males that only she can deliver. The entire series is a MUST READ!

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