Welcome everyone! Susannah Sandlin is here with us today, showcasing her new series. Susannah Sandlin’s REDEMPTION is the first in the Penton Legacy series. Book two, ABSOLUTION, will be out September 18, and book three, OMEGA, on December 18. These books look fantastic, by the way. So get comfy, give her a warm welcome, and become fascinated like I was!
Book One Penton Legacy series
Following a worldwide pandemic whose vaccine left human blood deadly to vampires, the vampire community is on the verge of starvation and panic. Some have fanned into rural areas, where the vaccine was less prevalent, and are taking unsuspecting humans as blood slaves. Others are simply starving, which for a vampire is worse than death—a raging hunger in a creature too weak to feed.
Immune to these struggles—at first—is Penton, a tiny community in rural Chambers County, Alabama, an abandoned cotton mill town that has been repopulated by charismatic vampire Aidan Murphy, his scathe of 50 vampires, and their willingly bonded humans. Aidan has recruited his people carefully, believing in a peaceful community where the humans are respected and the vampires retain a bit of their humanity.
But an unresolved family feud and the paranoia of the Vampire Tribunal descend on Penton in the form of Aidan’s brother, Owen Murphy. Owen has been issued a death warrant that can only be commuted if he destroys Penton—and Aidan, against whom he’s held a grudge since both were turned vampire in 17th-century Ireland. Owen begins a systematic attack on the town, first killing its doctor, then attacking one of Aidan’s own human familiars
To protect his people, Aidan is forced to go against his principles and kidnap an unvaccinated human doctor—and finds himself falling in love for the first time since the death of his wife in Ireland centuries ago.
Dr. Krystal Harris, forced into a world she never knew existed, must face up to her own abusive past to learn if the feelings she’s developing for her kidnapper are real—or just a warped, supernatural kind of Stockholm Syndrome in which she’s allowing herself to become a victim yet again.
The Penton Legacy, Book 2
With the vampire world on the brink of civil war over the scarcity of untainted human blood, battle lines are being drawn between the once peaceful vampire and human enclave of Penton, Alabama, and the powerful Vampire Tribunal.
A Scottish gallowglass warrior turned vampire in the early 17th century, Mirren Kincaid once served the Tribunal as its most creative and ruthless executioner—a time when he was known as the Slayer. But when assigned a killing he found questionable, Mirren abandoned the Tribunal’s political machinations and disappeared—only to resurface two centuries later as the protector and second-in-command of Penton. Now the Tribunal wants him back on their side—or dead.
To break their rogue agent, they capture Glory Cummings, the descendant of a shaman, and send her to restore Mirren’s bloodthirsty nature. But instead of a monster, Glory sees a man burdened by the weight of his past. Could her magic touch—meant by the tribunal to bring out a violent killer—actually help Mirren break his bonds and discover the love he doesn’t believe he deserves?
It’s a town under siege, a powerful warrior in a battle with his past, and one woman who can make the earth move—literally—as the Penton Legacy continues.
Vampires in Kilts: The Scottish Gallowglass
Susannah Sandlin
This is not so much a story about vampires in kilts as it is vampires out of control. Vampires gone wild. (Uncooperative characters, more like.)
When I set out to create the vampires who would be the leaders of the community of Penton, Alabama, I decided to make them Irish. Aidan, the hero of the first book in the series, Redemption, was an early 17th-century Irish farmer turned vampire during the Siege of Kinsale. His hands remain calloused from manual labor, he keeps a greenhouse of night-blooming plants so he can still smell the sunlight on the earth and leaves, and he is known to occasionally mutter in Gaelic.
His second-in-command, Mirren Kincaid—the hero of Absolution—wanted none of that crap. I tried to make Mirren Irish, but he’d have none of it. He was a Scotsman, he informed me, of Norse descent. He did not till fields. He did not wield a scythe. And he sure as heck didn’t milk cows (he also didn’t use the word “heck”). And despite the name of this blog post, Mirren didn’t wear a kilt, although he’d look really hot in one. He’s kinda grouchy, so don’t tell him I said that.
Mirren was a Gallowglass warrior: heavily armored, aristocratic, highly trained mercenaries. He wore chain mail, heavy leather tunics, and iron helmet, and wielded a battle-axe. He still carries faolain, his beloved sword, in a worn leather scabbard. Um, did I mention he’s six-eight and weighs almost three-hundred pounds and can use faolain to behead a man in one stroke? And all that big alpha-ness happened before he was turned vampire.
Take monster warrior, add fangs, and stir.
Mirren’s got a problem, though. After he was turned more than four centuries ago, he became a mercenary of a different kind—the executioner for the bureaucratic Vampire Tribunal. He became legendary among his kind, known with fear as the Slayer. Until the Slayer was paid to do something that finally made him stop and question who and what he’d become. He faked his death, wandered alone, considered suicide-by-sunlight...until he met Aidan, who showed him another way to live.
Now, the Tribunal wants the Slayer back and is using an innocent human woman as bait.
Mirren is not a happy vampire. He’s sharpening his sword again. This is not going to be pretty.
Absolution is Mirren’s story. Next up: Omega (coming February 5), the story of Will, another of Aidan’s lieutenants. I tried to make Will Irish, but he laughed at me. I offered to make him a Scotsman, but he taunted me with a fake brogue. I bribed him with his choice of kilt and complimented his legs (which are really good).
But no. Will informs me he was turned vampire in 1969 and still has a penchant for listening to Jimi Hendrix. Off to buy some bell-bottoms now….
GIVEAWAY:
Across the Tour: 1 Kindle Paper White (or $100 U.S. gift card to Amazon, B&N, or Book Depository winner's choice),
5 signed print or audio copies of Absolution winner's choice of print or audio
About the Author:
Susannah Sandlin is the author of paranormal romance set in the Deep South, where there are always things that go bump in the night.
Keep in Touch via: Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Indie Bound | Twitter
A journalist by day, Susannah grew up in Alabama reading the gothic novels of Susan Howatch and the horror fantasy of Stephen King. (Um…it is fantasy, right?)
The combination of Howatch and King probably explains a lot. Currently a resident of Auburn, Alabama, Susannah has also lived in Illinois, Texas, California, and Louisiana.
Keep in Touch via: Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Indie Bound | Twitter
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| A Bewitching Book Tour Guest |
~Claire
www.claireashgrove.com
www.toristclaire.com
Posts
the final result is really great^^ so in a way it was better they knew who they were enough to tell you
I think they control me more than the other way around, but it's fun!
I really enjoyed Redemption, so looking forward to reading this one!
Thanks, Galena! I think Absolution is stronger--hope you like it!
Thanks for another fun interview Susannah! I enjoy learning those tiny details that are different in each post.
Great interview. I have not read this series and I don't know why. I will fix that! I am adding to my TBR list asap! Thanks
Enjoyed reading your post and learning more about the series
elaing8(at)netscape(dot)net