Take You to a New World Day #3: Jessa Slade

Today's guest is Jessa Slade, a new and wonderful paranormal author. I first met Jessa at RWA nationals last year-- she was sitting across the tabl from me at a dinner and the two of us hit it off. It wasn't until later that we found out we had more in common than we thought-- not only do we both write for NAL, we're also both with the same agency. Please join me in welcoming Jessa to Love Musings. Today, she'll be giving away a copy of Seduced by Shadows, her first paranormal romance.

Blurb for Forged if Shadows:

The war between good and evil has raged for millennia, with the Marked Souls caught in the middle. But the new girl doesn’t play by the old rules...

Blacksmith Liam Niall never wanted to be a leader. Barely surviving the Irish Potato Famine, he escaped to Chicago...where he lost half his soul and gained a wayward band of demon-possessed warriors. Now, as the talyan face a morphing evil, Liam grows weary and plagued by doubt…until a new weapon falls into his hands. Her name is Jilly Chan. To save her demon-ridden soul, Liam must win her for his battle—and his bed.

Waging a one-woman war against threats to the street kids she mentors, Jilly won’t be any man’s woman...or weapon. But Liam—with his hard eyes, soft brogue and compelling hands—is a danger to her rebellious independence...and her heart. Even as the proudly independent Jilly tries to remain true to her own soul, Liam's fiercely passionate touch leaves a mark on her flesh as searing as her new demon tattoo - and Liam's own iron will is about to be tested to the limits...

Two halved souls sharing one fierce passion will sear a fresh scar across the city. Who’s in danger now?

Excerpt:

In this scene, our heroine, Jilly Chan, for the first time faces the malevolent demons stalking Chicago…and the man who will fight for her heart. To read the first three chapters, visit http://tinyurl.com/forgedofshadows.
* * *
In her calmest, pre-saloon-brawl voice, she said, “I don’t want any trouble.”
Didn’t want, yet always seemed to find. The three monsters took a step in unison toward her.
Yeah, that line never worked in the movies either.

She should be terrified, considering what had happened the last time she faced a monster like these. Well, not quite like these. Rico had been a plain old human monster with one gold tooth, not mandibles. Somehow, these actually seemed less scary. Her heartbeat ramped up, not with fear—or not only with fear—but with a savage glee so that the catch in her compromised breathing sounded like eagerness. How sick was that?

She couldn’t hear the kids at all now. She was alone. Her pulse went semiautomatic fire in her ears, and her muscles burned like a dozen police flares had been struck in her joints.
“Okay, then. Red rover, red rover, let Jilly come over.” She took three steps forward. Her bootheels rang hard on the pavement.
Then a fourth figure appeared, not so hulking broad as the first three, but every bit as tall.
The newcomer’s wings flared low—no, not wings, a duster. The monster Jilly’s eyes had conjured became just a man.

He paused there, bareheaded against the gusting wind that ran eager fingers through his shoulder-length dark hair. Some glint of neon caught in his eye, flaring violet as he turned toward them.
The newcomer twitched open his duster and withdrew a—a what-the-hell hammer. The haft extended almost too long to be hidden under his coat, even as tall as he was. The blunt business end was as big as her head.
“Now, that’s the murder weapon I was looking for,” she muttered. Too bad it was going to be used to murder her.
The man whirled the hammer in a broad arc. Above the hollow whistle, he shouted, “Jilly, get out of here.”

As the monster trio whirled to face him, he lowered his head and charged.
For a heartbeat, she froze. How had he known her name? Did she know him? She almost recognized the feral grace of him, as if the old comic books she’d once devoured had come to life. Thanks to the crappy alley light, he was cast in black and white and shades of gray—but he was every bit as strong and fearless and take-charge as the heroes of her fantasies.
Right, like she was going to rely on anyone else to fight her battles ever again.

She dodged to one side of the alley. She’d seen a glint beside the neatly stacked boxes—right there. Yes! Someone had forgotten a box cutter.
She scrabbled at the cardboard, fingers closing around the narrow metal, sliding the tiny razor tooth out in the same motion. She spun back to the fight.
despite her speedy weapons procurement, Thor already stood, legs braced, over one carcass. With another swing of his hammer, he dispatched the second creature. He knocked its mandibled head right off its shoulders like a meaty croquet ball. Jilly’s stomach heaved at the wet thud of the head thwacking into the brick wall.
The last monster—obviously smarter than Jilly herself—ran.

The man whirled, every line of his body poised to pursue. Jilly’s breath caught hard, this time in pure pleasure at the taut, precise flow of his moves. He seemed so familiar, like something she’d dreamed. Maybe as she’d fallen asleep in the middle of one of those gawd-awful CGed action movies.
The monster-head stump oozed a black scum, and she swallowed hard at the blunt reminder; this hammer-wielding superhero was no faker.

Question of the Day: Since Jessa's excerpt is about a monster ... As a child, were you ever afraid of a monster in your closet or some other inappropriate place? For me, I was terrified of ... wait for it ... a shark in my swimming pool. I know, I know-- crazy, right? But I wouldn't go in the water alone until I was seventeen. I guess I figured if there were two of us, the crazed, bloodthirsty shark that lived in my backyard pool would eat the other person first ... I must have seen Jaws at far too early an age ... Leave a comment for a chance to win Seduced by Shadows.