Ex Libris

Stella: Do you still remember what inspired the story, was there a specific moment/event/film/song that sparked the idea or how did it all start?



Chris Noth as Jack

Stella: And now let’s have Couple’s Therapy: Sydney, Jack, if you had to introduce each other, what 3 words would you use to describe the other?



Keira Knightley as Sydney

Stella: When was that specific moment you realized “wow, I just love that person!”?



Robert Downey Jr. as Jack

Stella: Jack, was there a moment when you thought about giving up on pursuing Sydney?

 

Courtney Cox as Sydney

Stella: Can you tell us any behind the scenes secret related to ? (either to the writing process, or some tidbit about the characters, a scene that didn’t end up in the final version, etc.)

Stella: You have published several romances previously, both contemporary and paranormal romances, which subgenre do you prefer? Or which one comes most naturally to you?

Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Natale endured an average childhood with two brothers to annoy and parents to baffle. She planted her nose in a book very early in life and has yet to come up for air. The writing addiction began early as well. Natale was active on her school newspapers and literary magazines, then later she attended the University of Missouri-Columbia, earning bachelor’s degrees in English literature and magazine journalism.

Book #1 in the Second-Story Brides series

Not even the bride could deny a certain punch-line quality to her current situation: hard-nosed divorce attorney dumps her fiancé and her career to take a job selling wedding gowns.

Sydney Garfield has always approached relationships rationally—none of this emotional head-over-heels or opposites-attract business. Marrying Jack Kaiser is the smart thing to do—after all, he’ll be the “perfect” husband. But after a life-changing shake-up at work, Sydney abandons logic—and her fiancé—to chase the fairy tale.

Real-estate mogul Jack can’t believe the woman he’s head-over-heels for is ditching her hard-won success—and him—to work as a small-town shop clerk. That’s her idea of a fairy tale? Hoping she's merely in need of time, Jack follows Sydney to Smizer Mill, where he invests in the quaint coffee shop next door. Now, he’s got a few new challenges: make a failing coffee shop a success and convince Sydney that theirs is a romance worthy of a true happily ever after.

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Julia Voth as Alyx

Alyx:

Tom Welling as Isaac

Isaac:

Chandler Riggs as Micah

Micah:

Aly Michalka as Cindra

Cindra:

Simon Baker as Benjamin

Benjamin:

Book #1 in the Alyx Rayer Chronicles series

“Isaac was more than just precious to her, he was precious in ways the world could only fathom. If she failed, she failed everyone.” –Marked for Vengeance

Alyx Rayer’s existence in Atlanta, the eternally bustling capital of Georgia, is one of routine and blending in among the worker bees. But her ‘normal’ life is actually a façade for a higher calling; she's a three hundred year old soul, encased in a human vessel and sent from the darkness between heaven and Earth to capture her Marked when summoned by her superiors.

During the initial, routine stake-out of her Marked, a dream prophet named Isaac Walsh, Alyx is thrown for an emotional loop when his allure captivates her heart from two rooftops away. The event marks the very instance when her sense of what’s right and what’s wrong is brutally challenged as her contact with him is strictly forbidden.

While already trapped between honor and desire, her emotional struggles are further challenged by a man in a black suit who continually pops up when she least expects it, his presence evoking a strange response from the scar she was branded with at birth. The scar tingles like a warning beacon, alerting her that something is amiss. Because her superiors never told her what this would mean, or much of anything except what to do when they summon, she can only conclude to try and keep her sanity, and her life, from completely shattering to pieces.

This engaging first book of the series is a Paranormal Romance novel interlaced with twists, turns, and thrilling suspense that is sure to satisfy readers of any genre.

CHAPTER 11: , The Alyx Rayer Chronicles

Isaac zipped the bag closed and rounded the corner to the kitchen, snatching the butcher knife from the counter on his way to the door. When he emerged from behind the cabinets, he halted. Alyx stood in the middle of the living room between the staircase and the sofa, staring through the broken door.

“Where’s my son, bitch!” he barked. Seeing her there was of no surprise to him now, he had almost expected her to show up.

At the sound of his voice, she spun around. He dropped his bag, pointing the knife in her direction to show that he meant business, her frightening appearance not deterring him in the least. Because she had occupied his dreams for so long, this didn’t seem any different.

Her dark, polished eyes studied him intently as her body positioned into a careful stance, like a lioness sizing her opponent – or her prey – anticipating her next move. Fairly certain that his face didn’t reveal it, he now felt hunted and vulnerable. “Hello again, Isaac,” she said with a caginess to her voice that harmonized with her posture.

The feral tone in her words almost unraveled him. “Do you know where my son is?” he asked again, and hoped she hadn’t noticed the crack in his voice.

Her eyebrows pinched together as she searched the flat, his question taking her by surprise. “Your son?”

“Yes, I have a son! Don’t play around with me,” he said, waving the blade violently through the air.

“Why would I know?”

“Well don’t you?!”

Her brows pinched tighter. “I wasn’t aware you had one.”

Oh I’m sure.

She placed one foot in front of the other, carrying her smoothly in his direction, reminding him again of a feline.“Do you know who I am?”

He jutted the knife toward her. “I know that you look like a demon and that your name is Alyx. Is that even your name?”

“Yes, that is my name,” she said calmly. “But do you know why I’m here?”

She took another indulgent step, and Isaac lunged forward. “I will use this, I’m not playin’ around!”

She fought an amused smile and held up her hands. “I don’t think that will be of much use to you.”

“All I want is my son, so if you can’t help me with that you need to get out of my way,” he said, grabbing the bag he had dropped, and marched for the door.

“You don’t want to do that,” she warned as she moved into his path.

He stepped around her. “Watch me.”

“No, you don’t understand… you don’t want to do that!” she shouted desperately.

He had almost made it there when she gripped his upper arm, pulling him back with the strength of a man three times her size. Clang! The power behind her quick grasping had launched the blade into the wall and onto the concrete floor. He hollered under the vice of her death grip and dropped to his knees.

“Oh, Isaac, I’m so sorry!” she cried and released her hold. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I don’t know my own strength yet.”

He rubbed his throbbing arm as he stood, and when he glared at her, a burning remorse showed in her eyes. She told the truth, his pain upset her. “You care that you hurt me?”

“It was a reaction. I’m sorry.”

Isaac’s anger slowly withered away. Maybe he should listen to what she had to say. After all, if she had come to harm him, she wouldn’t be upset over his pain.

S.J. Pierce has a degree in Marketing Management, works for a Fortune 500 company in Atlanta, Georgia, and devotes her precious, spare time to writing Fantasy novels as an indie author.