Jewel of the Sun's BLOOD DESTINY

A little about the making of Elan and Cassandra's story.

I saw a call for submission for stories centering around gems, and more specificially birthstones. Excited, I jumped on the idea. There was no doubt my story would be about the peridot - the Evening Sun, the Jewel of the Sun, Gem of the Sun and many other mental and physical lores attributed to it. I absolutely love Peridot, it's my birthstone.

I knew others would go for the exotic Egytian route with their versions, but not me. I lived in Arizona for a while, near the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation where peridot is mined here in the United States. I have a special fondness for Native American's as it's part of my heritage, and felt it was the way to go with my story. Yet, I wanted it localized.

Jewel is the first story where I actually chose my hero's name first. I searched many name lists, many Apache name lists. I wanted something easily pronounced. I came across Elan and it meant friend. In any relationship, friendship is every bit as important as love, trust and faith. Takoda also means friend, so there I had the perfect name. Elan Takoda. Cassandra Jones, I simply pulled out of the air as I normally do, but I already knew she was going to need a friend in more ways than she could ever imagine.

I sat and wrote the story, agonized over critiques and finally finished it. I subbed it. Then I prayed for a rejection. I suddenly felt it the characters were short changed and needed more space then the call line allowed. Several months later, when it was on the edge of being accepted or rejected - it teetered in my favor. I breathed a sigh of relief and set to work on it. For over a year, I wrote, rewrote and followed my gut wherever something felt off.

The time came and I signed a contract. A new worry took over then. How will it be accepted? I mean, seriously, it's a paranormal, but not of today's trend. It's not about vampires, werewolves or shapeshifters. Will the critics be hard me for that? Will the readers feel like I regressed thirty years? The worry stayed with me, but this week, it's lessoned a tad.

Jewel of the Sun's BLOOD DESTINY just received it's first review and while it won't be posted on Coffee Time Romance & More's review site until April, I'm sharing it with you today.

Cassandra Jones is having a bad day. First she finds her fiance receiving personal attention from one of the other girls at work and punches him. If that was not bad enough she then finds she is part of a pact made by boyhood friends long before her birth. A pact that includes the sexiest man she has ever seen.

Elan Takoda knew that his grandfather was up to something when he sent the jewels to a pawn shop rather than his home. When he first lays eyes on Cassandra he realizes there is more to the story but knows that he must find a way to end the pain for him and Cassandra.

Elan and Cassandra have been hurt by life and have no desire to trust another with their heart. Together they must figure out how to break the spell that weaves them together but trying only made the spell stronger. When the spell is broken will they still be able to walk away from each other with their heart and souls intact?

If reading were a physical thing then I ran through this book. I was entranced from the very beginning with both of the main characters. Bekki Lynn has an amazing talent for weaving the spell around the reader and preventing them from leaving the story until it was done. It was almost like the spell on the main characters included me the reader. The erotic love in this book is off the charts hot. Bekki Lynn has just joined my list of TBR authors and if you will excuse me I think I need to go find everything she has ever written. Enjoy Jewel of The Sun’s Blood Destiny as it is a book no one should miss.

Delane
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance & More

Delane gave Jewel of the Sun's BLOOD DESTINY 5 Cups -- Wohoo! Thank you, Delane!

Now, I know the verdict is still out, but I feel so blessed for this whopper of a review.

PG excerpt:

Cassandra moved up behind him and laid her hand on his shoulder. “Silent as a cat on prey, and hearing as astute as dog.” She knelt beside him and handed him the jewelry box. “This belonged to your Aunt Nikita.”

He looked at her as he took it. The light of the flames danced over her face, His heart fluttered with feelings threatening to melt his resolve.

Without a word, Elan took the necklace from the box. The likeness of the design still puzzled him. If this was his great aunt’s necklace, he had no memory of it. He didn’t recall anyone mentioning a missing necklace when she died, but then he was a young man.

“Explain. Tell me why you have the necklace of my aunt.” He looked at her and waited.
Cassandra swallowed, looking up at him with worried, crystal blue eyes. “She was my grandmother’s best friend. I have no shadow of her in my memory.” When she repositioned to face him, he turned and sat on the hearth to see her as she spoke. “The similarity in the designs rattled my grandfather’s memory and he found pictures of her wearing it.”

She reached out and fingered the necklace as the light of the fire glistened off her eyes. The seriousness he saw gave him a sense of what she had to tell him was a piece to the puzzle he needed. Her breasts rose and fell and the sheet she had wrapped around her slipped, revealing more of her tempting flesh. He forced himself to ignore the distraction. She turned her face toward the fire as she bit down on her bottom lip. With a gentle finger, he turned her face back to his and caressed her lips with his thumb, to stop her from drawing blood. She kissed the pad as her eyes watered.

“I don’t know what to make out of all this, Elan. I came here to give you the necklace, hoping…I don’t know. I thought if it had anything to do with this connection, these sexual…Hell, I don’t know what to call them. They’re real and not real and I can’t take the sleepless nights…the sex without it being…in this realm.” She blew out on a sigh. “I thought maybe if you have this, being a member of the family, returned full circle or something, it would all stop.”


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I read somewhere that it's a shame the photographers never get credit for the photos we use on our covers. The photographer whose work is pure inspiration for me knows how much I appreciate his work. He also feels honored for the use of photos on so many books. Lev Dolgachov is an amazing, hands on photographer from Estonia. He has some work I can literally sit and write an entire story around by just looking at them. The girl protraying Cassandra on the cover of Jewel is the third photo of his that I've used on a book. He's also responsible for the signiture photo on my website for the past few years. My handsome Native American was photographed and offered up by Juan Monino who takes some amazing portraits and stills.

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While Jewel of the Sun's BLOOD DESTINY won't be released until April 26, it is available for pre-order at eXcessica and Amazon.

Chapter One is also available for reading.

Have a fantastic weekend!


Bekki
http://bekkilynn.net/