From the
Bestselling Author who brought you the Award Winning Paranormal Romance Once Bitten, Twice Shy (Wolf Smitten
book 2) comes a new Fantasy Paranormal Romance!
Author Phoenix
Johnson is thrilled to introduce her next title, Persephone!
The beautiful cover, by the
talented and lovely Fiona Jayde!
In
this sweet fantasy, Persephone must overcome her abusive past and the alluring
call of the Darkness to discover her destiny and the truth about her
heritage.
Released
August 1, 2015, Persephone is the sweeter side of fantasy, much like the books
Phoenix grew up reading. She thoroughly enjoyed writing this delightful tale,
and sincerely hopes that those who purchase and read Persephone get as much
satisfaction from it as she did.
Blurb
Persephone takes her future and heart into her own hands when she meets a
mysterious man on a sweet summer day. However, when tragedy strikes, Adrian
begs her to follow one request: head
to the sea.
Determined
to honor his request, she begins a journey where she discovers her true
heritage and family. The problem is, a dangerous past is nipping at her heels
every step of the way. Will she make it to the sea and find her destiny? Or
will she lose everything she fought so hard to find?
Excerpt
A kindred
spirit.
His warm brown eyes seemed to glow in the muted forest light, and the sun
coming from behind hit his hair and it shone brighter than before, almost
creating a halo. She shook her head lightly, berating herself for her fanciful
thoughts. He was just an ordinary man. An ordinary man who was now a lot closer
and stretching out his hand in greeting.
“I’m Adrian,” he introduced himself. “I’m
from Adiron, just north of the forest.”
Persephone took his hand and a small bolt
of electricity ran through her arm. Her eyes widened and she saw Adrian’s do
the same.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m not sure what
happened there.”
Persephone smiled softly, though her heart
still pounded from the shock. “That’s okay.” They looked at each other and
laughed as they realized they’d repeated their first words to each other almost
exactly. “I’m Persephone.” She chuckled, delighting in the merry sound of his
deep laugh and the way his warm eyes seemed to dance, slightly crinkled at the
corners from his mirth. “I’m from Mythosandria, just through the trees to the
east. To be honest, I’m also trying to escape for some peace.”
Adrian nodded, a knowing look in his eyes.
“I’ll share my story if you share yours.” He suddenly grinned devilishly.
She couldn’t help but flash her own grin in
response. A deep breath sent sharp pain through her ribs, reminding her of why
she was out here. She grimaced in pain, holding her hands to her side.
Adrian stepped forward, concern deepening
his voice. “Are you all right?”
Persephone nodded, pain straining her
voice. “I will be. Just some bruised ribs, courtesy of the drunkard I’m
supposed to call Father.” Slowly straightening her stance, she took shallow
breaths as the discomfort subsided. She glanced up at Adrian, who stood a head
taller than her, despite being rather tall herself. His eyes had darkened and
were almost black. She noticed his eyes scan her face, pausing on her cheek,
and she guessed that a bruise was starting to show where she’d been struck.
Adrian reached up his large hand to gently brush the tender flesh and
Persephone flinched as a small stab of pain radiated from her cheek. He paused,
his hand hovering over the skin but not touching while his eyes, still dark
with anger, seemed to search her own, looking for what she didn’t know.
“Your own father did this to you?” he
demanded quietly, his voice steady but his growing fury imminent. All she could
do was nod and look down. His finger hooked her chin to force her to look up.
“You do not look down in shame. You have nothing to ashamed about. He’s the
brute who should be ashamed. I have half a mind to tell him as such.”
As he turned in the direction of her
village, Persephone grabbed his arm. “No, please don’t!” she cried, hating
herself for sounding so weak. “It’s not all the time; he just has bad days,
that’s all.”
“And that gives him the right to lay a hand
in anger on you? You should not be defending him. You’re the one who needs
defending.”
His words pricked her pride. “Like I’m a
defenseless, helpless maiden in need of rescuing? I can defend myself, thank
you.” Anger flooded her where fear had been only moments before. “I won’t be
standing idly by for much longer, I’ll have you know. I don’t care that they
have plans for me to marry that pig the mayor calls a son,” she spat. “I just
need to find somewhere to go when I leave.”
Adrian stood back and looked her up and
down. She watched him take in her fiery stance and nod. “Glad to hear it.”
***
About the
Author
Phoenix
Johnson has always been intrigued by the written word. Even when she was a
young girl, she usually had her nose stuck in at least one book, and her need
to read would drive her to peruse the back of the same cereal box each morning
at breakfast.
Paranormal and
fantasy captured her heart, with tales about dragons, magic, and fanciful
creatures sweeping her away to a wonderful new world where she felt she truly
belonged. While she dabbled in writing while in primary school, it wasn’t until
high school that she decided she should try her hand at writing her own book,
and even gave poetry a try.
She wandered
away from writing for a few years, but was soon encouraged to return and,
within months of picking up the proverbial pen, Phoenix’ first story, The
Wolf In The Neighborhood, was accepted for publication by Naughty Nights Press. While working
on the rest of the Wolf Smitten Trilogy, Phoenix decided to take on a
university degree, and is now in the final stretch of her Bachelor of Art’s
degree in Professional Writing and Publishing, with plans to continue on to her
Master’s degree.
In early 2015,
Phoenix was thrilled to discover she’d made two Top 5 lists with three entries
in the 2015
Easychair Bookshop Awards. In June, it was announced she had placed first
in Best Paranormal with Once
Bitten, Twice Shy, the second instalment in her Wolf Smitten Trilogy,
while The
Wolf In The Neighborhood and Wolf Smitten placed third in their
respective categories of Best Paranormal and Best Series. With her inclusion in
the Alphas
on the Prowl Box Set in 2015, Phoenix hit the top 100 bestsellers lists
across numerous distributors, number 1 bestseller on several Amazon lists, and
this was quickly followed by the announcement of her achievement of number 1
bestseller for her publisher, Naughty
Nights Press, for the full second quarter of 2015. The awards and
achievements have only served to strengthen her ambitions, and she is now
aiming at reaching the bestseller lists for USA Today and New York Times.
Phoenix has
been working hard to make 2015 her year, and has been busy organizing
paranormal anthology Twisted
Tales with seven other
authors. Its release at the end of June is greatly anticipated, and she is
extremely excited to see where her writing career takes her next.
