Jennifer Lyon and BLOOD MAGIC!

By Kate

My friend, award-winning author Jennifer Lyon, always wanted to be a witch. Since her witch-powers never materialized, she moved to plan B and now creates magic in her books. Her latest is BLOOD MAGIC, the first book in the new Wing-Slayer Hunter series, which garnered a 4-1/2 star HOT rating from Romantic Times Book Review. NYT bestselling author Lara Adrian says “BLOOD MAGIC brims with passion, adventure and paranormal intrigue. Jennifer Lyon's sexy, immortal slayers will get your pulse racing!"

Whew! My pulse is racing already!

Please join me in welcoming to the Lair the wild and witchy Jennifer Lyon!

Jennifer: Hey! This is so cool! I'm in the Bandita Lair! Look, there's Sven! Sven, appletini please!

What? No appletinis until I'm finished? Oh well, okay.

So, thanks Kate for having me here! I'm really honored. I love the Banditas! You guys rock! Never a dull moment when the Banditas are in town!

Kate: Uh, sorry about the appletinis, kiddo, but it's business before pleasure around here! [Note to Banditas: If she gets her hands on Sven's appletinis, we're all in big trouble.] So Jen, I can’t believe I finally have my own copy of your fabulous book! I love the idea of Witches and Wing-Slayer Hunters. Can you give us a hint or two about the story of BLOOD MAGIC?

Jennifer: I'd love to!

Once earth witches used their magic to shield and heal mortals, and the witch guardians were the immortal hunters who protected the innocent while tracking and killing the demon witches. Then a demonic curse broke the ancient bonds. Now the hunters are driven by a bloodlust to kill the witches they once guarded, and in doing so, lose their souls. The witches have diminished power and their guardians have become their killers. Humanity has lost the shield that stood between them and demons.

Darcy MacAlister has lived with being labeled strange, even evil, all her life. But on the day of her beloved mother's funeral, events are set into motion that forces Darcy to learn of her heritage—she is a witch.

Axel Locke is a witch hunter who refuses to give into the curse and kill witches. But when Alex's baby sister, Hannah, is marked for death by a demon witch, all bets are off. He'll do anything to save her, including kidnapping the witch Darcy MacAlister to force her to remove the death mark.

Darcy must learn her craft, and learn it fast. Axel must resist the siren call of Darcy's power-laced blood to keep his soul. And both work in a race against time to unravel the tangle of the curse to save Hannah ... and themselves.

I loved writing this book! The chemistry between Axel and Darcy was almost uncontrollable! As I wrote the book, the pages were practically curling at the edges from the heat. :-)

Kate: My toes are kinda curling from the heat, too! Yeow! Okay, I've got to ask you, since you’ve also written an award-winning mystery series as well as plenty of sexy contemporary romances, how did you come up with this dark, sexy paranormal concept of Wing-Slayer Hunters and the Witches who love them? Is it because you’re a witch? No, really. Is it?

Jennifer: Okay, I'll confess. For years, I tried to keep the witch thing under wraps. People can be a tad judgmental, you know? So I used my married name Jennifer Apodaca and wrote mysteries and some contemporaries, but all the witches in my head started to get restless.

Let me tell you, restless witches are NOT a good thing.

Finally, I took my broom out of the closet, so to speak. And I let the voices in my head have their say … in the books written as Jennifer Lyon. Lyon, of course, is my witch name. Everyone has one, right?

Kate: Uh, right. [Note to Banditas: Were we supposed to have witch names? Discuss at next Bandita board meeting.]

Jennifer: As to how I came up with the series, it was a process. I started knowing I wanted to write a book about witches, but it was the men I saw first. Five hot men struggling with a dark curse, and I knew they were called Wing Slayer Hunters. Then I saw the witches…and it went from there. Creating the mythology was the hardest part, but it was also the most fun! Gods, demons, curses with hot hunks and beautiful witches caught up in the fallout…oh yeah, what's not to love?

Kate: What a cool process you went through! [Yeah, I'll bet she saw the men first. Hello!] Ahem. Jen, can you give us a little sneak preview of book two?

Jennifer: Hang on, let me get my crystal ball. Okay, see the fog clearing?

Book two is titled SOUL MAGIC. Psychologist and witch Dr. Carla Fisk discovers that her dead twin sister's soul is trapped in the knife of the rogue who killed her. Convinced she failed Keri in life, Carla is determined to free her sister's soul before it dies off permanently. She knowingly risks her life by asking for help from the one person who might be able to find the knife—witch hunter Sutton West.

Sutton's father killed himself rather than go rogue. Sutton lives by that same creed, and now Carla is igniting both blood lust and searing passion in him. But Sutton can't turn his back on her, and so they work together while fighting against their deadly attraction.

Things take a more sinister turn when a demon and rogue witch hunter team up and use the knife to gain more demonic power and destroy Carla. Time is running out for both Carla and Keri.

Will Sutton find the answer in time to save the witch he loves and the soul of her twin sister? Is love really enough?

Both characters have so much at stake in SOUL MAGIC!

Kate: Wow! That sounds fantastic, Jen! I love the title, too. Okay, last question. What’s with you and the appletinis? Are you just a lush or is this some weird witches’ brew you concoct to lure hot men to your Lair?

Jennifer: See? There's that judgmental thing again! Stay out of my lair, Kate! I have a crystal ball! I've seen you lurking around, trying to lure my men out with your Irish Coffees and fancy shmansy wines. I saw you holding your book HOMICIDE IN HARDCOVER and whispering seductively, "How about working for a New York Times Bestseller, Boys?" I put a stop to that nonsense! I soundproofed the Lyon's Lair!

Kate: *whistling innocently* [Note to Banditas, we need a crystal ball for our Lair!]

Jennifer: What was the question again? Appletinis? Mmmm. Why do I like them? Oh! Well because there is nothing as hot as a shirtless hunk shaking up an appletini! It's pure inspiration for my writing!

Kate and Banditas, thank you so much for having me today! You make a witch feel all warm and thirsty with your hospitality! Oops, did I say thirsty? Where's Sven? Can I have my appletini now?

Kate: Sven, appletinis for everyone!! Jennifer, thanks so much for visiting today! Wow, Wing-Slayer Hunters. I want one! Maybe if I used my WITCH NAME, I could get one! Hmm, okay, I'm officially revealing my witch name here, today. It's ... Kate Coco Mocha!! Kind of exotic, don't you think? I feel it working ... hello, Hunter!!

What's your WITCH NAME? Come on, share with us! You might get one of those hunky Wing-Slayer Hunters to show up at your door. Yum! AND one lucky random commenter will win a signed copy of Jennifer’s BLOOD MAGIC!

P.S. Be sure to visit Jennifer at her wildly popular -- because she’s always posting pics of hot Wing-Slayer Hunters! -- website/blog, http://jenniferlyonbooks.com/