Ravaged Blog Tour, Day 1: A Review of "Witchy Wolf", by Leona Bushman

Leona Bushman won me over last year with her zombie novella, Slow Burn.  This year, she leads the charge in Ravaged with the anthology's first, very sweet, short story, Witchy Wolf.

If you enjoy the Immortals After Dark series by Kresley Cole, you'll love Witchy Wolf.  Immediately I felt the tug of that modern fantasy kissed by ancient myth and the magic of the old world.  The story follows a young witch named Sabrina (isn't that always the best name for a witch?), making her traditional walkabout to meet her coven at Stonehenge. Sabrina's carrying a secret this year, though... something of which she is certain the coven Mother will not approve.

Along the way she runs into Treyan, a handsome man with a secret of his own: he's a werewolf, and on an errand from his pack leader. He can sense something different about the witch, though, and so he finds himself lured away from his deed to find out what about it is so alluring to his lupine senses.

This story carried the sparkle of urban fantasy magic, witches and werewolves traveling back to their roots in the midst of a modern tourist attraction, playing rugby and craving Coca Cola in the midst of ancient tradition. It makes the characters playful and loveable, as well as helps us identify. It also weaves ribbons of supernatural beauty throughout, taking us through the mysterious monoliths of Stonehenge to a coven's rite at Avebury.  The juxtaposition is clever and fun.  It's a quick little read but its great to settle down with right before bed, if you want a smile and a laugh and a sexy little sojourn into the night.

This post is part of the Ravaged Blog Tour!  Remember to enter our giveaway for a chance to win one of seven copies of the book for free!

For Your Pleasure: Leona Bushman

Today on Foreplay and Fangs, we're pleased to remind all you lovelies that Leona Bushman's hot new novella, Slow Burn, is Now available at Breathless Press.  To celebrate Release Day, I'm happy to welcome Leona to the blog for an interview on the book.  

F&F:  Welcome to Foreplay and Fangs, Leona! Are you excited for the release of Slow Burn? 

Leona Bushman: Yes :). This and another zombie story, Mayhem in Mexico: Zombie Infestation, an urban thriller, comes out on Halloween. I'm beyond excited!! Two Zombie book releases in less than a week! LOL But Slow Burn has a special place in my heart because of the reactions of my editors :).

F&F:  Nice!  So my first question is, what inspired you to blend an erotic love story with zombies? 

LB:  LOL simple, really. Breathless Press put out a call and I had an idea... :D Okay, it's never that simple. I have a gazillion ideas. This one came with inspiration. This is going to sound mean, but I wanted to make my editor cry and/or gag and scream. I believe I've accomplished all three :D And, in turn, the line editor which was an added and unexpec
ted bonus.

F&F:  Are you a fan of the zombie genre yourself?  What are some of your favorite zombie films or books? 

LB:  LOL yeah. Before Borders went out of business, I bought the first Walking Dead comic. I even managed to keep it out of my family's mitts for nearly a year so it stayed purty lol. I watch The Walking Dead, of course LOL also, Zombieland :) As can be seen by the meme here.

F&F: As I mention in my review, your zombies aren't the traditional walking corpses of Night of The Living Dead fame.  What made you decide to depict them the way you do? 

LB:  Just, what else would be scarier than a zombie than a faster, smarter zombie? But really, it seems to me, that if it's an actual virus, we would retain something of our former selves, at least for a while. I've set up two different worlds with different kinds of smart zombies (Slow Burn and Mayhem in Mexico:Zombie Infestation. The only thing they have in common is they're not shamblers). I don't know if I could write a slow shamble and make it scary to me. And if I'm not scared, I'm not convinced the reader is. If you can't engage yourself in the story, why would you think the reader would be? That's my writer motto.

F&F: Was there any sort of extra research you had to do for Slow Burn? 

LB:  Oh lordy, was there. First, I had to look up how to (redacted) and the proper weapon generally used by (redacted) and was completely surprised. When I told my husband he was like now way. How can you (redacted redacted) with that? I had to show him. Not that there was no disagreement, but in the places that mattered, they pretty much agreed. That was the biggest one. It took the longest time and was the most disturbing. I shudder even now.  And, erm, sorry about the redacted, but I can't give out the spoilers... lol.  I also had to look up general first aid. I used to be an EMT, so my base knowledge is too much compared to what Joe Schmoe of the street would know. I mean, this single father who sells insurance and securities isn't going to know how to fix (redacted) without help from somewhere. So I had to do research to see what knowledge my character couldn't have, if you know what I mean.

F&F:  I've kicked around the idea of writing zombie story erotica myself but always wondered how to find opportunities for romance when the undead are threatening to eat my characters' heads.  Was it hard for Karla and Sebastian to get in the mood for sex scenes when you had so much horror breaking loose around them? (I will say it didn't seem like it!) 

LB:  I have to admit, that was the thing that nearly tripped me up. I mean, you're in the middle of this survival time and you're taking time out to get it on with someone. But then I realized that it's during emergencies that basic instincts take over. Things are taken down to their bare minimum. So as long as there isn't a zombie on their tails, when the mood strikes... The real trick became how to get some without the teenagers catching them. LOL.

F&F: These two are clearly a hot item! Any plans for future stories with them in the leads? 

LB:  When I started writing it, no. But as I got to the end...a second story came to mind and I knew that I couldn't leave it like that. The possibilities that this world created are bigger than I had even imagined as I started the story.

F&F: Yes!  That is awesome news, i hope I get to read that one, too.  That... May or may not have been a completely self-serving question there... Anyway, How about other works? Anything special coming up next?

LB:  My next release is Halloween, as stated above. I'm also putting the moves on in the Steampunk short I'm working on, Finish up Book three in the War of the Weres series, The Panther's Hunter, and a couple/few shorties, I think, just for fun LOL I know I'm forgetting some...oh yes, one secret project.

F&F: Secret project?  Aww, but I wanna know noooooooow.....you smut authors are such teases.  

***

You can find more information on Leona and her works at her author website,  www.leonajbushman.com. Check out her blog at www.lbushman.blogspot.com, and visit her on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLeonaBushman.  Her twitter is @L_Bushman.

Thank you again to Leona for joining us, and congratulations to her on her new and upcoming releases!  Remember to check out Slow Burn from Breathless Press, and if you like it, lovelies, give Leona a little love by leaving a review and telling your friends.  

Dire Straits and Delicious Sex: a Review of Slow Burn, by Leona Bushman

I'm a bit of an "accidental" zombie fan.  Since we were freshmen in high school, my now-husband has pretty much devoured any and every zombie movie, TV show, book or comic book he could get his hands on, and that means I got to sup on them as well.  I know the classics from George A. Romero to the comedic satires like Sean of the Dead.  I've gotten the play-by-plays of The Walking Dead -- not the show, the comics -- and heck, I've even perused his copy of the zombie X-Men.  We have action figures from zombie movies, we play video games like Zombie Bowling (yes, this is a thing, and it's glorious), and I even bought a zombie embroidery kit for him for Christmas.  You get the idea.

When I was offered the chance to preview Slow Burn, I must admit I wasn't sure what to expect.  I read the description on the pre-order page and was caught instantly by the setting: a pair of office co-workers looking forward to a relaxing (and lusty!) week together in the Cascades.  I could see the classic setup for your small handful of "survivors": Sebastian (the handsome hero), Karla (his lovely heroine), his teenage son Jack and Jack's sweet girlfriend, Rachael.  All the bones of a zombie survival horror story were there.  And how, pray tell, would the sexy side play out?  And would this tale of lovers vs. the undead measure up to the many, many zombie stories across so many mediums I had already encountered?