Divide
and Conquer
Champions of Elonia
Book 1
Carmen Fox
Genre: Urban Fantasy with
romance elements
Publisher: Champagne Books
Date of Publication: March
2, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-77155-175-5
ASIN: B00U0W2BIM
Number of pages: 377 print
pages
Word Count: 97k
Cover Artist: Ellie Smith
Book Description:
Two women. One prophecy.
Zero places to hide.
Flung from her mundane
Seattle existence into a world of magic, scientist Lea struggles to
make sense of a destiny she doesn’t want. The moment she finds
comfort in the arms of a man who appreciates her inner nerd, a new
magic sweeps the realms.
Nieve, Lea’s instructor,
may be seasoned in the art of war, but she’s clueless when it comes
to romance. To save her world, she allies herself with her enemy, a
kindred warrior soul, who leaves no doubt he’s after more than her
cooperation.
As each tick of the clock
swallows another person’s memory, Lea and Nieve will do anything to
hang on to theirs, but betrayal drives a wedge in their friendship.
Can they reconcile and rally the troops before the magic wipes out
their pasts?
Video
Trailer: http://youtu.be/jLmIiCumCQE
"Urban
Fantasy doesn't get better than DIVIDE & CONQUER. Action,
excitement, and 2 kick-ass heroines to root for fill this rich,
complex and dynamic world. Carmen Fox does not disappoint!"
~National &
USA Today Bestselling author Anna J Stewart
Excerpt:
NIEVE
I dropped my
magical defenses, allowing my luster to envelop me in a powerful
light. Without the sun’s ready supply of energy, that meant using
some of my precious resources.
“Holy crap.”
Lea jumped out of her bed and squeezed against the far wall of the
room.
Finally, some
reaction. “It’s called luster.” I twirled to prove I wasn’t
hiding a flashlight behind my back. “It’s a by-product of an
Elonian’s affinity with light. Anyone sensitive to magic can see it
unless I suppress it.”
In my mind, rows of
thick bricks piled one on top of another around me, extinguishing my
luster.
“A-are you an
angel?” Her airless voice barely traveled the distance between us.
I kinked back my
head and laughed. “Definitely not.”
She unglued herself
from the wall and took a few steps toward her bed. “You said I’m
an Elonian. Why don’t I shine?”
“You can’t see
your own luster, but it’s there. Without the training to suppress
it, you’re a living flame to the Shades. It’s the reason they
call us Sparks. It’s also how they’ll identify you. You know,
before they kill you.”
Lea picked up a
sweater from the floor. Her focus went distant, no longer in this
world. Something I’d said must have triggered a switch in her
brain. Not a day too soon.
I trotted to the
corner by the window and picked a collection of stuffed animals off
the armchair. From the deep V between Lea’s brows, I concluded her
thought processes weren't going anywhere fast. Once the toys occupied
the windowsill, neatly arranged by height, I sat.
With her dark
lashes, a tiny nose and a sprinkling of freckles, she looked so young
and so…Kindred. Unexpected sadness ripped through my chest. The
misery pressed onto my diaphragm, making me feel like I was an evil
monster come to chop up her innocence like next week’s firewood.
Even though she was
predicted to be my ally through the dark days, she was still a total
stranger. Yet her pale, elfin face stirred something in me, some
glimmer of recognition, of familiarity even. My childhood friend
Belinda had a similar innocence about her. She’d chew the end of
her pen for hours while pondering her words. Her poems were meant to
bring joy to a war-torn land. They burned with her when Galleo
invaded her village.
Lea would not share
Belinda’s fate. I’d see to that. By the end of her training,
she’d be able to take on a whole battalion of Shades by herself. I
squinted at her short stature and took a sobering breath. If not a
battalion, then a group of ten.
About
the Author:
Carmen Fox is an Amazon
no. 1 bestselling author in the vampire and werewolf mystery
categories for her book Guarded (The Silverton Chronicles). Guarded
was also the Amazon no. 1 urban fantasy novel in Australia.
She lives in the south of
England with her beloved tea maker and a stuffed sheep called Fergus.
An avid reader since childhood, she caught the writing bug when her
Nana asked her to write a story. She also has a law degree, studied
physics for a few years, dabbled in marketing and human resources,
and speaks native-level German and fluent Geek. Her preferred niches
of geekdom are tabletop games, comics, sci-fi and fantasy.
Website:
http://www.carmen-fox.com
Twitter: @authorcarmenfox
Book page:
www.carmen-fox.com/dac
Sample
Interview questions
Tell us about the
role of women in your writing.
They’re strong. This is
particularly true for Lea and Nieve, the two heroines of DIVIDE AND
CONQUER. They’re happy to accept help, but are perfectly capable of
beating the odds by themselves.
What makes DIVIDE
AND CONQUER different from other books?
Many books rely on a main
female character and a male character working together. The
importance of female friendship often falls by the wayside. I wanted
to create a book with an ambitious plot that celebrates women and
their friendships. Think Lethal Weapon, or any other buddy movie, but
with women, magic and a chain-smoking gargoyle.
Who are Lea and
Nieve?
Lea is a physics geek who
searches for meaning. She starts out as a newbie to all things magic,
but proves herself to be resilient and stubborn. Nieve is a tough
warrior, but over the course of the book her softer side comes
through, helped along both by Lea and by a man she wishes she didn’t
have feelings for.
So, what about
romance?
Neither Lea nor Nieve have
had typical high school experiences so their romantic entanglements
throw both for a loop. Lea is too cerebral to simply fall for a guy,
or at least she thought she was until she meets a certain someone.
Swept away by her first real crush, she must find a way to balance
who she is with who she wants to be. If anything, Nieve is even worse
off. She’s a warrior, and the men she knows are put off by strong
woman. The one guy who isn’t might just be the last man Nieve wants
to get involved with.
Do you have a close
best friend?
No. Even though most of my
life my best friends were male, for a few years I did have a best
female friend called Kim. She moved away from my home town when I was
about thirteen and we kept in touch until we went off to college. I
haven’t seen or spoken to her since. As you get older, making close
friendships gets tougher. You end up with many good friends, but this
one meaningful other who is willing to accept you for who you are is
a rare beast to find.
Tour giveaway
2 copies of the Divide and
Conquer e-book
1 copy of the Guarded paperback (unsigned) 3 $10 Amazon giftcards
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thank you for the chance to win :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like an interesting read!
ReplyDeleteI cannot wait to read more about Lea and Nieve!
ReplyDeleteThis looks very interesting! I'd love to check it out!
ReplyDeleteThank you for informing me about this book.
ReplyDeleteThanks for featuring my book, and good luck to all rafflecopter entrants.
ReplyDeleteSounds intriguing, I'd like to learn more about the spotless-mind angle.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the excerpt, thank you.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed reading your interview, thank you!
ReplyDeleteThis looks interesting, thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDelete