The elements touch everyone on Earth—Fire, Water, even Light—but every so often someone becomes more attuned to their elemental leaning and develops true power. When an evil Elemental known as Thanatos arrived in Olympus City, it saw the rise of its first hero—Zeus.
Published: October 2017
Heroes aren’t meant to act like their villains—or fall in love with them.
The elements touch everyone on Earth—Fire, Water, even Light—but every so often someone becomes more attuned to their elemental leaning and develops true power. When an evil Elemental known as Thanatos arrived in Olympus City, it saw the rise of its first hero—Zeus. But the death toll caused by defeating Thanatos changed Zeus, who by day is young detective Danny Grant.
It’s been six months since Thanatos terrorized the city at the start of Lovesick Gods. Danny should be used to his duty behind the mask, but the recent past haunts him. His girlfriend left him, he snaps at the barest provocation, his life feels empty—he needs an outlet, any outlet to pull him out of his depression.
Enter notorious thief Malcolm Cho, the Ice Elemental Prometheus. There was a time when Danny welcomed a fight with Cho, filled with colorful banter and casual flirtations that were a relief compared to Thanatos. Even as a criminal, Cho had recognized the threat Thanatos posed and promised to help Danny stop him, but the day Danny needed Cho, he never showed. Cho was the reason so many people died that day—including Danny’s mother.
Danny decides to teach the man a lesson and fan the fire of their attraction into something more. At worst, he’ll get some no-strings-attached sex out of the deal and finally blow off steam; at best, he’ll get Cho to fall in love with him and then break his heart to spite him.
Danny doesn’t expect to fall for Cho in the process, and he certainly can’t predict the much darker threat on the horizon.
GUEST POST
A little bit about the characters in Lovesick Gods
What’s exciting about this story to me is definitely the characters, particular the main protagonists who share the stage as the focus—Danny Grant/Zeus, my hero, and his nemesis, Malcolm Cho/Prometheus. While most people in the world of Lovesick are normal humans, Danny and Mal are Elementals—sort of like mutants for the comic book fans out there. They have natural born powers that for Mal manifested during puberty (which is most common) and for Danny manifested more recently due to personal trauma (which is rare but can happen).
Danny’s powers are lightning based, allowing him to teleport like a lightning bolt shooting across the sky, and Mal’s powers are rooted in ice.
The POV throughout the book alternates between the two characters, so the story really is both of theirs. It’s what is often called an enemies-to-lovers tale, which I’d say is more enemies-to-lovers-to-friends-to-true love, and it is a complicated path to that end.
At the start of the book, a lot has already happened that the readers are thrust into. Danny has been a hero for almost a year, from the moment he Awakened and got his powers, and six months ago, he took down his first supervillain, Thanatos. Several people, including Danny’s mother, were killed in the event, and he hasn’t been the same since. He in part blames Mal for those deaths, because he met with him prior to the final showdown with Thanatos and they agreed to take the villain down together. However, Mal never showed. Mal was never a serious threat in Danny’s mind before, since he’s a thief more than a monster, but they are still on opposite sides of the law, especially since Danny’s alter ego is a detective.
So, we start with Danny as a broken hero, on edge, depressed and snapping at everyone around him, blaming himself for what happened six months ago, which has been festering in him worse and worse, but also blaming Mal and wishing he had an outlet to release his fury.
Meanwhile, Mal has his own secrets as to why he didn’t show up the night Danny needed him, but he’s living life as normal, preparing for his next heist and wondering what Danny might be up to. He isn’t a bad guy, per se, he doesn’t like hurting anyone, but he is a thief and doesn’t follow the law.
Then hero and nemesis cross paths for the first time in months, and Danny decides to get revenge by seducing Mal only to eventually drop him and break his heart. The sexual tension between them has always been present, but Danny never took it seriously until he overhears evidence to the contrary in the first few chapters.
Therefore, we start off with the hero planning something not very heroic, and the seeming villain proves to be more kindhearted than people might expect. There is a broader villain in the background who eventually is the real threat, but the heart of the story surrounds the lies, manipulations, and relationship between Danny and Mal.
When I had my husband read the first few chapters originally, he was concerned to tell me what he thought, because he admitted he didn’t really like Danny. And that’s fine! That’s expected! You SHOULD dislike him to start, he’s being unlikeable. My goal, however, is to get you to understand him and come to like both characters and root for them to move on from their hang-ups and find something better—together.
About the author:
Amanda has a Bachelor of Arts in a personally designed major from St. Olaf College in Creative Writing and has been posting content online for many years, including maintaining the blog for the digital marketing company Outsell.She spent a summer writing screenplay script coverages for a company in L.A., and is an avid consumer of fiction through film, prose, and video games.
Amanda lives in Minneapolis, MN, with her husband, John, and their cats, Helga and Sasha (no connection to the incubus of the same name).
Author's Giveaway
1 comment:
Thank you so much for the chance to post here along the tour for my newest book release! It's part 1 of a 2-part series, so this is just the beginning, and I hope everyone enjoyed learning a little about the main characters today. Thanks again, and good luck to anyone entering the raffle!
Post a Comment