Felicity Heaton is a romance author writing as both Felicity Heaton and F E Heaton. She is passionate about penning paranormal tales full of vampires, witches, werewolves, angels and shape-shifters, and has been interested in all things preternatural and fantastical since she was just a child. Her other passion is science-fiction and she likes nothing more than to immerse herself in a whole new universe and the amazing species therein. She used to while away days at school and college dreaming of vampires, werewolves and witches, or being lost in space, and used to while away evenings watching movies about them or reading gothic horror stories, science-fiction and romances.
Having tried her hand at various romance genres, it was only natural for her to turn her focus back to the paranormal, fantasy and science-fiction worlds she enjoys so much. She loves to write seductive, sexy and strong vampires, werewolves, witches, angels and alien species. The worlds she often dreams up for them are vicious, dark and dangerous, reflecting aspects of the heroines and heroes, but her characters also love deeply, laugh, cry and feel every emotion as keenly as anyone does. She makes no excuses for the darkness surrounding them, especially the paranormal creatures, and says that this is their world. She's just honoured to write down their adventures.
Sons of Lyra Science Fiction Romance series written as Felicity Heaton
Sons of Lyra: Slave Princess -
http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Sons%20of%20Lyra:%20Slave%20PrincessSons of Lyra: Runaway Hearts -
http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Sons%20of%20Lyra:%20Runaway%20HeartsSons of Lyra: Fight for Love -
http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Sons%20of%20Lyra:%20Fight%20For%20LoveSons of Lyra: Stranded -
http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Sons%20of%20Lyra:%20Stranded
An Interview with Felicity Heaton
By Holly Hewson for The Romance Studio
HH: Felicity, thank you for talking with us at TRS! Your featured book is Heart of Darkness. What can you tell us about this sensual tale of desire and revenge?
FH: Heart of Darkness is a heart-wrenching love story about two vampires from very different worlds.
The hero Aleksandr is the former heir prince of the vampires. These vampires are a little different to the usual kind. They've been led by the Nemov bloodline, Aleksandr's ancestors, from dark times when they were little more than beasts driven by their blood thirst and have achieved their humanity through limiting their kills. The downside is that if they don't follow the rules of their king and queen and they start killing often then they risk losing that humanity and corrupting their souls.
Aleksandr renounced his title when his defenceless younger sister was brutally murdered in their own palace by a vampire hunter four centuries ago. He vowed to hunt the killer and his family line to extinction. Four hundred years of hunting and killing has taken its toll on Aleksandr and now he is fighting a losing battle against the corruption in his soul.
When his hunt leads him to Prague on a wintry night, he meets not only a female vampire hunter who he kills but a female guard from the local bloodline.
A beautiful woman who completely mesmerises him.
Elise is a loyal guard of the Cerny bloodline. Her position is her life and it means everything to her. It's all she has focused on since she was young. When Aleksandr becomes a guest in her bloodline's home and asks specifically for her to be part of his guard, she wants nothing more than to escape him. It doesn't take her long to realise that Aleksandr is on the hunt for her and she isn't sure how to deal with him. She's never been pursued by a man so intently and no matter what she tries to do, it seems as though there's no way of escaping her handsome hunter or her growing feelings for him.
Can Aleksandr realise that his tactless pursuit of Elise is pushing her beyond his reach and that she means more to him than a game to be won before he ruins his chances with her? Well, you'll have to read the book to find out.
Heart of Darkness is action-packed, intense, deeply romantic and emotional, and is guaranteed to have you on the edge of your seat and aching for the characters as they fight against the odds to save Aleksandr's soul and seize their happily forever after.
HH: What do you like best about Elise and why will readers relate to her?
FH: Elise is very strong and loyal. She has many great qualities that you want to find in a heroine. She isn't about to lay down and let Aleksandr have his way. She fights him and doesn't back down, forcing him to realise that she means more to him than a mere game where the outcome is her in his bed. She is strong enough to face everything Aleksandr throws at her, including his darker side, and not let it deter her. She fights for what she wants and she makes Aleksandr change in order to win her heart. She tames him and I think that's something a lot of readers like in a heroine, and that they'll also be able to relate to her fears and hopes. Her reasons for avoiding Aleksandr and trying to escape his grasp are fears and hopes that all women experience at one time or another. We want the man pursuing us to truly love us not just want us as a trophy or for our body. We fear that the man we're falling for might not love us back and might break our hearts. And in Elise's case, we fear that we might fall hard for someone only to lose them.
HH: What do you like best about Aleksandr and why will readers love him?
FH: I like the fight in Aleksandr. He's not a man who is about to lie down and accept his fate. He acknowledges that what is happening to him is his own fault but he doesn't dwell on it. He fights for his future and for Elise, knowing that she might be his chance for salvation and their love might save him from the darkness growing within him, threatening to seize control. Sure, he's tactless and a bit of a rake at first, but as soon as he becomes accustomed to modern times and learns more about Elise, he does all in his power to change for the better and make her see that he really does love her and needs her more than anything. I think readers will love him for his integrity. Here's a man who is risking his very soul, facing becoming a bloodthirsty mindless beast, for the sake of avenging his dead sister. Her death pushed him over the brink and he's been bent on revenge ever since, but it's more than vengeance to him. It's about protecting his people from the threat of this specific line of hunters. He might have renounced his title, but he still thinks like a prince, placing his subjects before him and enduring the darkness so they might be safe. He's loyal, devoted, passionate, and brave. Everything a man should be.
HH: Elise is such a wonderful, strong protector. How do you make a heroine into a match for the hero -- without going too far?
FH: There's a sense in Heart of Darkness that whilst Aleksandr might be older and physically more powerful, he isn't stronger than Elise. She can match him strength for strength. Her loyalty, sense of duty, her desire to protect those she loves and cares about and her bloodline. It mirrors Aleksandr perfectly. They complement each other because of their strength of heart and their devotion to protecting their people. There isn't a point in the book where the balance tips at all. Both of them have their weak moments and it's at those times that we see the true strength in the other, the tenderness and affection, the depth of their feelings for the other party. I didn't write Elise thinking that she should be stronger than Aleksandr. I wrote her with the belief that she should match him in the depth of her emotions and her sense of duty and everything else. When I wrote her, it wasn't about physical strength. It was emotional strength that I wanted to show in both of them. I think if I had written her differently, focusing more on her physical strength, then things might have gone wrong. A strong heroine can complement a strong hero. It's all about keeping the balance.
HH: What draws today's readers to tales of magic and paranormal in your opinion?
FH: I think it's more often than not the heroes that draw readers to the world of paranormal romance. The best paranormal romances have a strong hero who can take charge and kick-ass, but who is also unafraid of being emotionally vulnerable or open around his heroine. He'll put the bad guy face first into the dirt and crack jokes while he's at it but he's a different man around the heroine. He lets his guard down around her. The notion of a strong powerful man, a very masculine man, dropping his defences around you and letting you see beyond the hard exterior is a very alluring one. I love to write strong men, fighters who can stand on the brink and stare into the storm they're facing without wavering, and who also reveal themselves to their heroines, turning themselves inside out to win her.
HH: What else do you have in store for lucky readers?
FH: I'm about to start the second draft of Masquerade, which will be the tenth book in my popular Vampires Realm series. I've also recently written the first two novellas in a four novella series entitled Vampire Erotic Theatre. I'll be writing the final two novellas after I complete the second draft of Masquerade. Masquerade will be my first release of 2012, followed by the four vampire romance novellas. I'm very excited about them and I think a lot of my followers on Facebook are too as they've been enjoying snippets as I was writing them.
HH: What are you reading at the moment?
FH: I'm not reading anything at the moment as I'm about to begin editing again and I can't read whilst actively working on a book, but next on my list are some more of Lara Adrian's fantastic Midnight Breed series, plus some other books on my TBR pile. I really have to get that pile down!
HH: Where is your favorite place to shop for books?
FH: I love to shop at Amazon for my Kindle ebooks. There's always some bargains there. I'll also shop there for paperbacks. Whenever I'm in town writing at a cafe, I can't resist dropping into a discount bookstore just a few doors down from the cafe. There are always some bargains there and they have a good stock of paranormal romances. I think I've picked up about fifteen new books since I started heading out the cafe more often.
HH: Any special plans for the holidays this year?
FH: I am going to take it off. That's special to me. I always vow not to work over Christmas week and then I end up working every day from early morning until late at night. Not this year. I'm definitely taking some time off to devour some books. I swear I'm going to read two books a day for a week and let the internet get on with itself.
HH: Thank you!
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