Hi, there! Welcome to another book blitz brought to you by Xpresso Book Tours 😀 Our star is the second book in the The Wulfkin Legacy series, from T. F. Walsh: Cloaked in Secrecy 😀
Cloaked in Secrecy
T.F. Walsh
(The Wulfkin Legacy #2)
Published by Crimson Romance
Publication date: March 14th, 2016
Genres: Adult, Paranormal
Summary
What better way for a pack of wulfkin shifters to remain in seclusion than to hide in plain sight?
Death has followed Alena Novac’s circus family for years, but when the police arrest her brother for murder, she must rescue him before he transforms behind prison walls. With less than a week to execute her plan, a member from the Varlac family who murdered her mother reappears. Now, Alena has to decide whether to make good on her promise to avenge her mother’s death or risk rescuing her brother.
Enre Ulf has one mission – prevent Alena’s father from claiming his territory and slaughtering his wulfkin pack in Transylvania. Enre may have turned his back on his Varlac heritage, but that doesn’t mean he won’t impersonate one to infiltrate the circus clan and take out their alpha. Knowing that his secrets will lead to his demise, Enre takes the risk in order to save his home. What he never planned on was his wolf claiming Alena as his mate.
Now with the police closing in, and the real Varlac threatening them, Alena and Enre must overcome their pasts to save their packs’ futures.
Cloaked in Secrecy is the book 2 in the Wulfkin Legacy series, but can be read a stand-alone-book.
And here is where you can find Cloaked in Secrecy!
Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iTunes / Kobo / Googleplay
If you liked that teaser, just wait until you read there excerpts! This book already gained tons of points with me for the switching point of views ❤
EXCERPT
ALENA
“Girl, you going to stand there all day?” Sonia’s voice turned loud as she snapped me back to the here and now.
She sat at the table, both hands clasped around at least a dozen twigs, each about half a foot long. Balancing the ends on the center of the table, she let the twigs fall and studied the way the pieces of wood collapsed on top of each other. The majority crisscrossed each other, others rolled away from the pile.
Sonia’s dark-blonde curls were pulled off her face with a headband. She wore no makeup or her usual fake gypsy jewelry reserved for the circus customers.
“Have a seat.” She spoke without taking her eyes from the pile of sticks in front of her, her head tilting from side to side.
Taking a chair at the table and kicking aside a boot, I reconsidered telling her about my dream with Enre. The more I replayed the vision in my mind, the more I was convinced it was me lusting over him. Heat radiated down my neck at the thought of telling Sonia that I’d turned into some horny nymph.
“What do you see?” No matter how many times Sonia read my future, my insides still fluttered.
“He’s at the circus for you.”
“The Varlac?” I slouched into the chair, arms folded across my chest, fire scaling my cheeks. “I doubt it.” Not the first time the twigs would have been misinterpreted.
“You’ll bring a change out in him. How exciting.” She flashed me a cheerful smile.
A thousand possibilities swirled in my head, but none of them made any sense, except the one where I hated being paired with Enre. “What does that even mean?”
Sonia inched closer. “The universe has a sick sense of humor. It shows us only snippets of events. You know that.” She twisted in her seat and retrieved a pack of tarot cards from the bookshelf behind her. The top card had a brightly colored parrot painted on it. She sighed, stashed it back on the shelf, and continued to fumble through her numerous other decks.
“That’s for the tourists.” She spoke with her attention still on the bookshelf. “Anyway, what about you? Had any dreams lately?”
I licked my lips, deciding not to share the memory of what Enre had intended to do to me in the dream. “Not much.”
“So you dreamt about him? The shake of your head says no, but your tone tells a different story.” She giggled, a piercing laugh, as she retrieved another pack of cards, the backs printed with a kaleidoscope of colors in a diamond patchwork design. “Weeks ago, I told you a visitor was coming.” Sonia settled in her seat to face me.
~*~
ENRE
“We’re on the same team here. Shall I carry your carpet?”
She responded with a frown and tucked the rolled-up rug under her arm.
I took that as a no. “Let’s move.” I didn’t wait for her response and slid into the shadow alongside the cobblestone buildings, slinking closer to the station. Faint steps fell into a rhythm behind me.
She brushed past me, turned, and pressed a finger into my chest. “Fine, but try anything, and I’ll rip your heart out. We’re doing this my way. And I’m going first.”
I nodded, resisting the urge to draw her into my arms and kiss those pursed lips. She frowned and continued onward.
I followed her. Before we reached the entrance to the police station, Alena sneaked down a side alley and disappeared around the corner into the dark.
Closing in from behind, I curved right into the murky passage, my shoulders scraping the brick enclosure. I hurried in an awkward and angled walk-hop, trusting Alena knew where she was going. Against my better judgment, we were about to break into a prison. This was the police we were dealing with. But I doubted I’d have any luck in stopping Alena.
She halted and shifted my way. Within the cloak of the night, I barely distinguished the outline of her body.
“We’ll scale the wall and land in a small courtyard. Stick close. There are cameras, but since it’s only a holding cell, there’s a few spots to hide.”
Looking up, I stared at the circular barbed wire lining the top of the brick wall, and now the carpet made sense. Clever girl.
“Use the spot here.” She tapped the stone barrier. “There are a few broken bricks that should be easy to grab and step on while climbing. Anyway, make yourself useful.” She handed me the carpet, which was starting to unravel.
Her ascent appeared effortless, scaling the wall as quickly as a squirrel dashing up a tree. A tasty squirrel, for that matter. Reaching the top, she stuck her arm toward me. I handed her the carpet, and in slow motion, she placed it on the barbed wire. Testing her device a few times by pushing down on the carpet in several places, she climbed higher and carefully lifted one leg over and then the
Following suit, I used the irregularities in the wall as Alena suggested, but my progress was slower since my thigh quivered each time I pushed myself off it. After two attempts to get my wounded leg over the barbed wire and slicing my jeans near the knee, I took a deep breath and tried again. I clenched my jaw, ignored the pain, and threw my leg onto the other side. Straddling the wall with only an old carpet between barbed wire and my jewels, I slipped my other leg over and hopped down on the other side. The stinging pain of my injury throbbed, and I rode the wave of agony for a few seconds until it eased. Why was I doing this again?
Wonderful, right? Oh, and besides more info about Walsh (you know, the author), I’m pleased to bring to you guys a bit of the making of this book 😀
T.F. Walsh emigrated from Romania to Australia at the age of eight and now lives in a regional city south of Sydney with her husband. Growing up hearing dark fairytales, she’s always had a passion for reading and writing horror, paranormal romance, urban fantasy and young adult stories. She balances all the dark with light fluffy stuff like baking and traveling.
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Wulfkin Legacy Series
Cloaked (prequel to #1) – Out now
Cloaked in Fur (Book #1) – Out now
Cloaked in Secrecy (Book #2) – Out now
Cloaked in Blood (Book #3) – May 2016
Cloaked in Christmas – End of 2016
Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest
BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE WULFKIN LEGACY SERIES!
There are numerous myths about the hunter’s moon and what it stands for, but the truth of its origin is more practical than you’d expect. In my novel, Cloaked in Secrecy, I created a similar event called the Lunar Eutine, or red moon, which represents the transformation into adulthood and a time when werewolves are no longer being controlled by the moon.
“Two weeks ago, we’d been blessed with a red moon—the Lunar Eutine—a time when moonwulf were transformed into wulfkin and the moon no longer controlled our wolf side. I’d changed, as did Mila, but because of her young age, something went terribly wrong and she ended up stuck in her wolf shape, unable to shift back into human form.” Cloaked in Secrecy excerpt by TF Walsh
So, what is the Hunter’s Moon anyway?
Full moons appear around sunset, and unlike the other moon phases, it’s only during the full moon that there’s absolutely no darkness between sunset and the moonrise.
Now, before electricity, hunters used moonlight to get work done during the night, mostly hunting. Because the Hunter’s Moon generally occurs during the month of October, it precedes the Harvest Moon, which is the full moon nearest to the autumnal equinox. Hence, with the onset of winter, these farmers needed to make the most of their hunts and used this time with immediate moonlight after sunset to stalk their prey more efficiently.
References: Blog Dictionary http://blog.dictionary.com/harvest-moon
~*~
In Cloaked in Secrecy, Enre’s inner wolf knows who his soul mate is from the first time he met Selena. Their bond is unbreakable, no matter how much Enre might deny it. Sometimes, the wolf has a way of claiming what belongs to him.
When I wrote this book, I based a lot of my wolf hierarchy and behavior on real wolf packs.
In nature, some wolves will mate with another for life. During their courting stage, the pair can often be seen walking so close they look like their snuggling. During this time, the male and female tend to keep away from the rest of the pack to avoid troubles. The couple sleep close, always touching each other, making quiet whining sounds, their bodies bumping. Even after mating, the couple will continue being affectionate.
~*~
Imagine being able to channel healing energy into someone by means of a simple touch.
Well, for starters I’d be healing everyone I could get my hands on, and I wouldn’t charge a dime because no one deserves to be sick. But what if healing people left you drained and could kill you? This is the burden Alena faces. She was born with the gift of healing, and the only way she can protect herself from passing out or worse is to wear gloves at all times.
“… use your healing ability to get him fixed up so he can leave. See if you can find out what he’s up to. And remember who he is.”
A sickness stirred in my belly, and I dropped my gaze to my gloved hands. Father knew I avoided healing anyone. Last time, I had passed out and woke up two days later. Cloaked in Secrecy excerpt by TF Walsh
Together with her father and brother, Alena runs the Novac Circus along with thirty-seven other wulfkin. What better way for a pack of shifters to hide from the world than to do so right in front of their eyes. Cloaked in Secrecy follows Selena’s story and what she risks to save her pack family from extermination at the hands of the same wulfkin she swears is her fated mate. When death has always taunted her, can she finally learn to outrun it?
So, does such healing exist in real life?
Probably not in the form shown above, but some consider Reiki a form of healing through touch. Reiki a Japanese technique of laying hands on a patient and a positive life force flows through the healer and into the person receiving the energy. Dr. Mikao Usui from Kyoto, Japan, was the originator of what we today call Reiki. Did you know that Rei means universal life, while Ki means energy.
References: Simply Circus www.simplycircus.com
~*~
What is it about the circus that immediately invokes certain images in our minds?
For me, it’s clowns, the massive tent, and those old fashioned freak-shows. It may be the portrayal in fiction, movies, and journalists that distorts our view, but I’ve always loved the mystery surrounding these attractions.
Before I started writing Cloaked in Secrecy, I was stumped on the setting for the story. But then the circus arrived in my town, and I received my answer.
A pack of werewolves running a circus and performing for humans. Perfect!
But where did the Circus begin, you ask?
So began my research into everything circus, including the simple question of how did the first circus start.
It is claimed the goddess Circe in honor of her father, Helios the Sun God, staged the first circus. (In Greek mythology, Circe was a goddess of magic). This also lends itself to the name circus (derived from Latin name circus) that was believed to be the Romanization of the Greek word kirkos, meaning circle or ring. With all that said, the first circus was born.
Now, when it comes to the origin of the modern circus we’re more familiar with, the name Philip Astley is well known. He constructed the first circus building in London called The New British School or Amphitheater Riding Ring. In 1770, the first performance appeared. The raging success of this show was the start of the modern circus.
References: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circus & The Hanneford Family Circus http://www.hanneford.8m.com/
~*~
Being suspected fifty-feet in the air, on a silky piece of fabric, may not be most people’s ideal job, but it is for Alena, from my novel Cloaked in Secrecy. Performing this dangerous act is an adrenaline rush she wouldn’t swap with anything in the world.
“Alena wrapped her wrists in the silk and paraded around the ring with her arms stretched outward. She broke into a sprint, gaining momentum with each step.
My eyes locked on her form, her tapered waist, and toned arms. This wasn’t great for my self-control, but I couldn’t tear myself away. The crowd was silent, and even the music had died. Only the tapping of her feet on the sawdust-covered ground resonated as she picked up speed in her circular race around the ring. The red ribbons twisted overhead and drew her hands upward with each rotation.
On her next step, she lunged forward and lifted several feet off the ground. Her body, straight as a pin, orbited the circular performance ring, and the momentum of the ribbon starting to unwind sent her into a frantic spin.” Cloaked in Secrecy, by TF Walsh, excerpt.
Together with her father and brother, Alena runs the Novac Circus along with thirty-seven other wulfkin. What better way for a pack of shifters to hide from the world than to do so right in front of their eyes. Cloaked in Secrecy follows Alena’s story and what she risks to save her pack family from extermination at the hands of the same wulfkin she swears is her fated mate. When death has always taunted her, can she finally learn to outrun it?
So, where did Aerial Siks start anyway?
Aerial silks first appeared in a French circus school in 1959 when a student found a bolt of fabric in the local bizarre and performed her act completely on these fabrics. Funny thing is that the school seems to have no recollection of such a student, but the local newspaper did. So while we may never know who truly invented it, over the years, this style acrobatic style has become a popular act at most circuses.
References: Simply Circus www.simplycircus.com
I’m one of those book lovers that is simply addicted for knowing more and more about the books that I’m interested in, haha! Don’t mind me crazily sharing information here 😉
Now I’ll stop torturing you guys and let’s talk business: GIVEAWAY!
GIVEAWAY!
- $10 Amazon Gift Card
- 2x Cloaked in Secrecy ebooks
What are you waiting for?? To enter, just click the link bellow 😀
a Rafflecopter giveaway
That’s it, thank you so much for reaching this far and reading it all! I know it was a long post, but can you blame me? So many cool information ❤ #journalistfeelings Anyway, thank you, really, and thanks to Xpresso Book Tours for making me a happy blogger with so much material!!
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