Guest Post and Giveaway The Tempering (Mackenzie Duncan #1) by Adrianne James

Published September 13th, 2013

Description:

The Mythology department at prestigious Harvard University is tiny—and Mackenzie Duncan has just been selected as one of the lucky few. Her love for myths and legends is deep, but she never thought any of it could be real. 

After being attacked by a large wolf while walking home alone, Mackenzie realizes something is not right. She heals quickly, has suddenly become super strong, and is experiencing mood swings that can't possibly be normal. The myths she's studying aren't myths at all. Werewolves are real, and she's one of them. Fear of what she is, and who she might hurt sends Mackenzie running from the life she’s worked hard to build–and straight into the arms of a handsome Were named Geoff and into the home of his pack. Living with her new pack takes the edge off her confusion and self-loathing, but the arrival of new pack members changes the dynamic, and tests Geoff and Mackenzie’s growing relationship. 

The hardest part of being a werewolf is to have no control and no memory of her time as a bloodthirsty beast. When a moon cycle passes, and she is actually able to remember bits and pieces of the night, she starts to ask questions, and the more questions she asks, the more she realizes she doesn’t like the answers. Can she set aside her own sense of morals to belong to a pack that is like a family or will she leave everything behind yet again in search of a life she can be proud of?

GUEST POST

Why I chose to write Werewolves over Vampires 

I get this question a lot. The answer is simple. I fell in love with a story line that was werewolf centric. I have nothing against vampires, I love them actually. But for the story that was begging to be written, vampires would never have worked. 

The Tempering (and the rest of the series) is a story about a girl trying to figure out her new life, when her life was just really getting started. It’s about learning who to trust and who not to. It’s about choices and how to deal with life when you have no choices. It’s about how complicated feelings and attraction can be. It’s about life and guilt over things you have no control over. For this story, Vampires just wouldn’t work. 

Werewolves get to walk that thin line between human and paranormal and The Tempering shows Mackenzie trying to stay as far on the human side as possible…until she is shoved over and forced to deal with her paranormal side. 

I might write a vampire story one day, but for now, Werewolves are it for me. Hot hunky werewolves. Yes, those will do JUST fine ;)

EXCERPT:

Mackenzie could hear the entire pack in the talking and laughing from the hallway. When she rounded the corner into the dining room, she had hoped that Teresa or Natalie might have saved her a seat. Too bad her two supposed best friends were grinning wickedly at her, completely surrounded by full chairs. 

Everyone quickly hushed and stared at her with silly grins on their faces and it wasn’t until she saw that the only open chair was directly between Geoff and Liam did she understand. They were all enjoying her predicament. It was no secret how she and Geoff were becoming closer, and it was definitely no secret that she and Liam had gone out. 

Both men kept their eyes trained on Mackenzie. It wasn’t until she stood directly behind them and pulled out her chair that they acknowledged one another. Neither wanting to back down, they only lost eye contact when Mackenzie sat in between them. When it was obvious that she wasn’t going to give the group any form of entertainment, the noise returned to the room. 

Realizing she hadn’t eaten since dinner the night before, Mackenzie loaded her plate. She could see Margret watching as both men tried to gain her attention. She didn’t ignore either, but also wouldn’t let the conversation venture toward anything that could put her in a position of choosing one man over the other. It may have been selfish, but she honestly didn’t know what to do. 

“Geoff, how is the Alaska house fairing with the new influx?” Margret asked. The entire room quieted down once again and turned their attention to Geoff. He wiped his mouth with his napkin and returned it to his lap. 

“They are doing well. Better than we expected. That’s why I was able to come back for a few days. I needed to get something and was worried that if I left it for too long, I might lose it. So I was very glad things are going well.” As he spoke, Mackenzie couldn’t help but notice how the girls in the room looked to her with a smile. Ever the romantics. Mackenzie didn’t believe he was speaking of her, she wasn’t a thing after all, and how could he lose something he never truly had? 

“What did you forget?” Amanda, one of the older women asked with a grin. Mackenzie couldn’t believe they were pressing the issue, until she felt his hand snake up her thigh with only inches to her girly bits and squeeze. Trying to hide her shock, not only from the group as a whole, but also from Liam, who sat to the other side of her, she too used her napkin as a cover for putting her hands below the table. She placed her hand on top of his and moved it away. 

“Doesn’t matter. Pretty sure it’s gone now.” Mackenzie’s heart ached. She wanted to tell him that no, it wasn’t gone. But she looked over to Liam and then back to Geoff and she couldn’t tell him that. It wasn’t all gone, but part of it was given to someone else. 

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About the author:
Growing up, Adrianne couldn't get her hands on enough books to satisfy her need for the make believe. If she finished a novel and didn't have a new one ready and waiting for her, she began to create her own tales of magic and wonder. Now, as an adult, books still make up majority of her free time, and now her tales get written down to be shared with the world.

During the day, Adrianne uses her camera to capture life's stories for clients of all ages and at night, after her two children are tucked in bed; she devotes herself to her written work. Adrianne is living the life she always wanted, surrounded by art and beauty, the written word and a loving family.

As a young adult and new adult author, Adrianne James has plans to bring stories of growing characters, a little romance, and perhaps a little magic and mythology down the line for her readers to enjoy.

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