Jul 316 min read

Blood Curse — Book Tour & Giveaway

Hi everyone. Today we are featuring Brekke Elle book "Blood Curse." Check out the exclusive guest post below along with all the book's details. You can also enter to win a gift card if you read to the bottom. Happy reading everyone :).

Blood Curse by: Brekke Elle, Tour Banner

Hello people of the internet!

I’m Brekke Elle (rhymes with Becky Bell), author of Blood Curse, a historical paranormal fantasy romance about wolf shifters amid the American Civil War.

How Did You Become An Author?

Like a lot of writers, I have been telling stories my whole life, but it wasn’t until I finished grad school and started working that I had time to write seriously. I spent ten years trying to break into the traditional publishing industry! But I guess writing genre mash-ups and characters with chronic illness doesn’t sell in Big Publishing, so I decided to go my own way!

It has been such a fun journey to learn about the business side of indie publishing– from working with a cover designer, to marketing. I’m definitely better at spinning the story thread, but I’m having fun bringing my novels to life.

Blood Curse is the first in my Cully Beinn wolves series, which is about wolf shifters in the American Civil War. But it’s also a coming of age story about a young woman who bucks against responsibility even as she wants to embrace adulthood. It’s about love, and the pull between the infatuation of adolescence and the more mature love of adulthood (and, you know, fated mates). It’s about magic, and kinship, and the things that curse us.

Because I had to be complicated and layer all of this on top of one another, I decided to tell stories my own way. I’m a bit stubborn (and Scottish-American, like the Pack, but alas, not a redhead), so I jumped right into indie publishing and haven’t looked back!

What Is Something Quirky About You?

I grew up as a living history reenactor (1740-1840, non-military). Basically, I dressed up like a pioneer, and was a competitive black powder muzzleloader sharpshooter– I wasn’t ever very good, but my brother was an excellent primitive archer. We camped several times a year in white canvas tents, and cooked over an open fire in cast iron pots and skillets. I wore calico dresses and bonnets, and practiced embroidery, as well as knife-throwing. My uncle was the lead writer for a prominent Living History magazine – it was a massive part of my life. I actually studied history in college with the hope of running a museum that had a living history component. Unfortunately, I don’t do much reenacting any more– time gets away from us so fast! But it shaped a lot of who I am as a person and a storyteller.

This is part of why I set Blood Curse during the American Civil War– I know a lot about the day-to-day life of people living in the early-to-mid 1800s. Especially lower-working class people. And getting to use those tidbits in my writing was a lot of fun!

Tell us about your main characters- what makes them tick?

While there is a vibrant cast of characters, the books follow Serenity “Rini” MacIlroy as she confronts the realities of the American Civil War. By the time our story starts, the Civil War is at a fever pitch, and the tide is turning towards the Union. Rini faces soldiers encroaching up the mountain where her Pack has stayed safe and hidden from humankind. She’s training to be a healer, and trying to navigate the line between childhood and adulthood.

Add into that mix she’s got the magical ability to hear the songs of plants and trees, and has a mystical vision-dream and, holey moley, Rini is thrown right into the deep end! Rini is passionate and stubborn, unfailingly loyal and kind. She struggles with impulse control, and with her own self-doubt.

Rini is surrounded by friends: her big sister Mena, who is patient and gentle, but also brave in her gentleness; Rini’s two best girlfriends, Lumina and Lilith, who are twins and polar opposites, Lilith is outgoing, boy-crazy, and an eternal optimist, while Lumina is more introverted, sarcastic and witty. And one of my absolute favorites, Aunt Sedna, the wise and enigmatic pack Healer and priestess who is mentoring Rini. There might be a love interest (or two!) – but I’ll leave you to read the book to see who that is!

What are you currently reading?

I am almost finished with the last book in the Evalyn Maynard Trilogy by Kaydence Snow. It’s a series about a young woman who has spent her life on the run, only to discover she’s got a supernatural ability and it links her both with a quartet of supernatural men, as well as to an underground world fighting for control of our world. Gives me a lot of the Broken Bonds series by J Bree vibes, but more of a YA feel (although this is definitely New Adult!).

I’m beyond excited to share Blood Curse with all of you! It’s out now, and Blood Bond the second book in the Cully Beinn Wolves series comes out September 3rd!

If your readers want an exclusive prequel story about Rini’s ritual Marking into adulthood, they can grab it here: http://subscribepage.io/Uc1Sor

Blood Curse by: Brekke Elle, Promo Graphic

Blood Curse

Cully Beinn Wolves Book 1

By: Brekke Elle

Genre: Historical Paranormal Fantasy Romance

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Blood Curse by: Brekke Elle, Ebook Cover

An untrained healer’s apprentice.

A shifter pack forced to go to war.

And a curse that could swallow all of them whole.

Rini MacIllroy chafes at the responsibilities of being an apprentice healer to her shifter wolf pack. They have stayed safe by keeping separate from humankind, but the American Civil War encroaches on their village, and Rini’s friends and lover are sent down the mountain to fight, while Rini must stay behind.

When a deserting soldier attacks a young girl, Rini jumps into action with tooth and claw. But her rage unknowing unlocks an ancient curse that feeds on bloodshed and violence. Now Rini is hunted through her dreams by a shadow made of nightmares and midnight. Even her steadfast friends and mentor, the ancient priestess Sedna, are unable to help her quell the lust for blood that threatens to consume Rini from the inside out.

When one of her Pack returns from the battlefield, he is broken in body and spirit. Even Sedna’s considerable power cannot heal him. Rini must sing back his soul, using her healer’s magic to heal the wounds that go beyond flesh. While the curse tightens its hold, calling not just for bloodlust but to claim souls, Rini struggles to keep her own inner wolf at bay. Neighbors turn against neighbors, friends betray friends, and the Pack threatens to rip itself apart at the seams.

Can Rini defeat the curse in her own blood, or will she and the Pack she loves be consumed by the beast within?

Blood Curse is a lush historical paranormal fantasy set gainst the backdrop of the American Civil War, weaving the folklore of the Scottish Highlands with New World magic. Perfect for fans of strong female friendships,coming-of-age adventure, and slow burn, fated mates romance. It ends in a mild cliffhanger.

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Brekke Elle

Brekke Elle is a word tinker, coffee drinker, and has clumsy thumbs (or so she claims to excuse typos!). A Georgia peach living in the heart of North Carolina, Brekke has traveled and lived around the world – including attending the University of Cambridge in England, interning for an NGO in rural Cambodia, and working at a university in Northern California. Along the way she has collected stories (and a bit of bad poetry too). Her first real desire to become a writer (more than just wanting to be Jo March when she was 9) was after reading SABRIEL by Garth Nix. It was the first world she ever wanted to fall sideways into, and she has been recreating those lush worlds for readers ever since.

When she’s not losing herself in her imaginary universes, Brekke spends most of her time chasing her four kids (including twin toddlers!), canning up homecooked chicken broth, and volunteering at a neighborhood community garden. Her favorite color is black (no, really), her favorite fairy tale is Beauty and the Beast (preferable one of Robin McKinley’s retellings), and her favorite drink is coffee until 3pm, then it’s a full bodied Pinot Noir.