Today's Author Saturday Spotlight belongs to the writer who brings us the Beautiful Monsters series. She's broken our hearts, mended them, and lit them on fire more times than we can count. This series is dark, angsty, suspenseful, angering, thrilling.... you get what I'm saying. Today we are going to take a look at the three books in this series. Her new release Broken, book three, released a few days ago so I will have a review with that one. Yeah, I'm doing it a little differently this week. There will be a giveaway at the end for a paperback copy of book one, Captive. So be sure to check that out. And don't worry, I put her through a rigorous interview!
Everything changes the night he is lured into a trap and taken prisoner by High Lord General Tarrick—a seductive incubus who feeds off sexual energy. Forced into the middle of a war between vampires and incubi, Matthew is used as a weapon against his own kind. Although he's desperate for freedom, he is unable to deny the burning desire drawing him to the incubus general he now calls Master.
This book is intended for mature audiences.
Still mending a broken heart, Matthew has spent a year avoiding incubi and their army of hunters.
Now he has a new goal: lift the shroud on his past. Why had he been turned and abandoned by his sire? Why didn’t he feel the initial bond between sire and child that vampires experience? Who were his parents, and why had they given him up at birth?
Frustrated by dead ends, his luck changes when a teenage girl tracks him down. She’s strange, socially awkward, and she can see the future. Matthew’s future. She’ll help him if he agrees to save her from the darkness…from Tarrick.
With the incubi armies closing in, a mysterious protector appears, swearing his fealty to Matthew. He’s ancient, seductive, and cursed—unable to explain why he keeps calling Matthew ‘my prince’.
Matthew has many names, but none as distressing as pet. A slave to incubus High King Malarath, Matthew is tired. Tired of fighting. Tired of losing those he loves. Tired of the torture. And, in his despair, his body begins to decay around him.
The High King, angered that his pet is dying, brings in the one person who might be able to fix Matthew: High Lord General Tarrick.
While all trust Matthew had in the general is gone, maybe there is hope in the situation. All Matthew needs to do is start acting like an incubus and put on a show.
Review of Broken (Book Three)
Jex Lane has an amazing ability to pull the reader into the story. I wept with, and for, Matthew countless times. The rage I felt for those who hurt him... repeatedly, was fierce. The joy in the brief moments of happiness was like getting a lungful of fresh air after being submerged underwater. Each moment, emotion, situation, and character is so well thought out and created that I couldn't find a single flaw. The ones you're supposed to hate you really and truly hate. There's no maybe.
There are a lot of surprises in this book and not all of them are unpleasant.... I know that's shocking. The torture for Matthew was hard to take and it was far more brutal in this book than in the previous ones. But hang in there. If you thought Matthew was amazing before wait'll you see him now!
Again, no spoilers but I will say I was awesomely surprised at the turnaround of some characters, the revelation of plans, and what the future will hold now. You will not get out of this book without swollen eyes. I will say when it ended, though shaky, I was smiling. Yes, there's a lingering fear and in pure Jex Lane fashion you are left with that, "Oh hell what is she going to do know," feeling.
This is such a marvelous series and I said it last time I will say it again; it's by far one of the darkest, most creative, fantastically written series' out there. I am a full-fledged fan without a doubt and will devour this series if it kills me!
Interview
Thank you, Jex, for being here
today! You have a lot to answer for, lady! I got you right where I want you now
and you aren’t leaving until I get the answers. ALL THE ANSWERS. Kidding! Not
really. Don’t fight the restraints. Answer honestly and you’ll be released.
Sounds like my kind of
fun.
Beautiful Monsters is a series. Captive was book 1 and Sire book 2. In case people don’t understand why I’m so angry, you left us
with a cliffhanger. So my first question is, why do you hate us so much?
The tears of my fans feed
me.
But truthfully, Matthew’s
books flow together and don’t work as stand-alones. That gives me the freedom
to toss in twist endings every once and a while.
The series really does focus
mainly on Matthew. Sweet, wonderful Matthew. Whom you torture ruthlessly. In
book 3, Broken, it will open with
what many hope are some answers. Can you tell us ANYTHING about book 3 that
will give us some hope?
I won’t lie, Broken is a darker book. The darkest of
the three. Matthew gets put through many trials and at times it might feel
hopeless… but Matthew grows and learns through his struggles. I think readers
are going to enjoy his journey in this book. They might need a few tissues,
though.
If that’s not hopeful
enough for you, there’s always Hiroto. The cute little fox makes everyone happy.
Well, not the people he has to kill…but everyone else.
Have you planned out this whole
series already, and do you have an end number of books?
Yes and no. I’m mostly a
panster author, meaning I don’t do big outlines. I know the ending of Matthew’s
story but I’m not 100% sure how he’ll get from A to B quite yet.
I have material for at
least three more books for sure, and I also know I don’t want Matthew’s books
to go more than nine.
I do have plenty of
planned spinoffs in the Beautiful Monsters (BeMo for short) world.
When I read authors, like
yourself, I always find myself wondering what sort of books THEY read when they
have the time. So, who are some of your favorite authors and books?
I have so many! In the
vampire side of things, I like Rice, Ward, Harris, Bella, Heaton…
But my all-time favorite
series is Captive Prince by C.S.
Pacat. Fun fact: I actually read the first book after I had written Captive and nearly changed the name of
my book because of it. I stressed for months. Ultimately, I decided that since
the series title is Beautiful Monsters,
and not ‘Captive,’ I’d be okay.
Music…. There has to be a
soundtrack to this series. Has to be. If we were to watch this play out on
screen, what songs would we hear?
Oh gosh, we’d be here all
day if I listed the soundtrack for Broken
but I’ll give you a little:
For fight scenes pretty
much any video game or movie soundtrack works.
Don’t laugh, but while
writing Broken I listened to Taylor
Swift’s “Bad Blood” a lot.
One of my fans recently
turned me on to “Soldier” by Samantha Jade. It has a lot of themes that remind
me of Tarrick and Matthew. Although, if it was ‘warrior,’ it’d be perfect.
There are people in the world who
haven’t read this series yet, so I’m not going to ask a lot of the questions I
want. But, if someone were about to start this series or was thinking about it,
what would you say to them to prepare them or get them to read the Beautiful
Monsters book series?
Don’t start reading
before bedtime. These books are addicting.
This is a question many authors
hate, but I’m asking it anyway. When is book 4?
2018. I don’t have the
month yet and won’t until I finish the first draft.
A series like this one is emotionally
charged and precise. How do you keep it organized?
Organized? Haha. Some
authors have amazing outlines and grids to keep it all in order…but for each
book I’ll write down maybe three or four sentences of major events I’d like to
have happen, and that’s it. I’m telling the story as it needs to be told. I
wish I had a more insightful answer for you, but I really do wing it most of
the time.
Of all the characters you write
in this series, which is your favorite and why?
Tarrick.
He’s a pain in the ass to
write. He never does anything I want him to. Matthew is a good boy. When I need
him to do X, he does X. Meanwhile, Tarrick is stomping X in the face and doing
Y. But that’s what makes him so fun.
Plus, I have a thing for
suits.
Can you tell readers where and
how they can follow you so they can stalk you and this series? Facebook,
Twitter, other….
Website: JexLane.com
Email: Jex@JexLane.com
Twitter: @AuthorJexLane
Facebook (where I’m most active — feel free to add me!): https://www.facebook.com/JexLane
Beautiful Monsters page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJexLane/
Fast Fire Questions:
Day or night? Night!
Vampire or Incubus? Incubus
Horror movie or thriller? Thriller
Are you a lefty or a righty? Righty
Favorite band? Queen
Favorite movie? Star Wars
Dogs or cats? Both!
Indoors or outdoors? Indoors
Thank you, Jex, for being here.
It’s been awesome! Keep writing and I’ll keep reading.
Thanks for having me!
Giveaway
Enter for a chance to win a signed paperback copy of Captive
Book One in the Beautiful Monsters series! GREAT COLLECTION TO HAVE.
Contest will end on March 10th and it's open
Internationally!
Thank you and thank you to Jex for all the pain.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
