After fleeing her native city — and nightmares of a traumatic childhood — Sage Peterson meets the overbearing, pretentious, yet haunted Professor Elias. He’s the only one who knows about her mysterious powers, which seem to be spiraling out of control. When he convinces her to train with him, she finds herself thrust into a five hundred year war and on the run from vampires, werewolves, and even worse — her budding feelings for James Elias.
James had been living a dull and empty existence for the past century and a half. When a fiery half-sorceress, half-witch with a stubborn streak and sharp wit enters his life, he sees her only as a potential weapon to use against his greatest enemy. But when he discovers the vulnerable woman beneath the angry mask, instinct screams to keep her safe. To protect and provide. And to claim her as his.
But will it be too late? As passion and lust ignite between them, vengeance is slipping away. And when Sage is confronted with fulfilling an unexpected destiny, will she choose to trust James with her heart?
SNR: Can you tell us a little b
it about Destiny Divided in your own words?
LS: Destiny D
i
vided is set in modern times where the supernatural races hide what they are from the humans. For the most part they live in their own communities and don’t
have much to do with the human world. Sage is a 25 year old girl raised in foster care with no knowledge of her biological family. She has these mysterious powers that
she can barely control and has no idea where they
come from. James is a sorcerer who runs into her by accident and recognizes what she is. He convinces her to live with him so he can train her to use her powers responsibly. Turns out she’s a half-sorceress, half-witch and very powerful. There’s a lot of sexual tension between the two of them, though they hate each other at first. James is very alpha, pretentious, but loyal. Sage is a sarcastic, smart ass who’s only ever relied on herself and has some anger issues. Pretty quickly she finds herself in the middle of a war between the sorcerers and the Underworld. And she seems to have a big role in it though she doesn’t understand why. Her journey throughout the book is figuring out who she is and learning to trust her heart and soul to James. James has secrets of his own and his journey is about giving up on centuries old prejudices, which leads to a choice between the girl he’s grown to love and his dream of ultimate revenge.
SNR: What got you interested in writing Paranormal Romance?
LS: Well I’ve always had a thing for vampires (ever since I saw Interview with a Vampire in high school). And I’m a sucker for a good love story. Mix the two together and…well…paranormal romance was just a good fit. People ask me if I’ll ever write any other kind of romance but I don’t think a story without a paranormal element would hold my attention long enough. I need fantasy. I need to get away from real life and be taken somewhere magical. Must be my inner child (it hasn’t quite grown up yet).
SNR: What made you choose to write a series?
LS: Honestly I didn’t mean to. Destiny Divided was meant to be a single story. I had another series in mind when I began writing but Sage popped up in a dream and demanded to be written (isn’t that just like her?). Pretty quickly other stories within this world started writing themselves and now, six months later, I have six books planned. Each book is the love story between two characters, usually having a secondary role in a previous book. Each book will contain action, humor, and of course, romance. Some of the previous characters will continue to have roles but I try to let the lead characters be the stars. Writing a series, honestly, is so much easier than single titles. You don’t have to keep creating new worlds over and over (which suits my lazy side. Lol.).
SNR: Sage’s character is a very tough and character, what inspired you to write her?
LS: Both my children are adopted from foster care. And before that I’d worked with foster kids in a variety of settings. A lot of her anger and disconnect from relationships I’ve observed first hand. Foster care has always been a passion of mine. When I created Sage, I needed her to be a kick-ass, don’t-take-crap-from-nobody kind of girl. Having her raised in foster care was a good catalyst for that. In book two however, her foster sister is the female lead. She turned out opposite. Instead of having a nasty temper and impulse control issues, she has an anxiety disorder and is very shy. So, two different ways of reacting to trauma.
SNR: I really enjoyed the world you created for both the Underworld and the sorcery world (Caerwyn). What inspired you to create them?
LS: Hmm…good question. I’m not sure I have an answer. They just kind of wrote themselves. I knew I had to keep the story in modern times and somewhat within our own human world. I love reading historical romance novels but I knew my limits regarding writing historical accuracy. Plus the language…major props to writers who can use “twas” and “thou” appropriately. But creating another dimension between earth and hell worked for the series in so many ways. The sorcery world is going to take a back seat in the next few books, then come back later on. But the Underworld will continue to be a back drop for the next few books. Mostly, I think I just needed somewhere to hide all these supernatural creatures I was creating.
SNR: What did you enjoy most about writing this story?
LS: Oh, so many different things. I loved writing the fight scenes. Creating characters. The steamy scenes were fun too. Expressing my silly sarcastic humor (my husband got a break from it). The best part? Reading it when it was done! Lol.
SNR: What are some of your favorite Paranormal Romance Series?
LS: Immortals After Dark!!!! Kresley Cole has been a huge inspiration to me as a writer. I also love the Changeling series by Nalini Singh. Right now I’m reading the Dark series by Christine Feehan. I’ve read so many wonderful series and each has inspired me in some way.
SNR: What surprises you most about being a writer? Something you didn’t expect?
LS: How much psychology is involved in writing characters. Thank God for my best friend, who is a family therapist. I’m always on the phone asking, “Would so-and-so with such-and-such personality really do ____?” Then she talks me through it. But it’s my favorite part. I’ve always been intrigued by personality types and which go together and why.
SNR: If you could be any one of your characters which one would you be and why?
LS: I would have to say Morgan, who’s the lead in book 4. She’s a fey spy and totally kick-ass, but not in an angry way like Sage. She’s a happy-go-lucky girl, very funny. She reminds me of the Cheshire cat (who was my favorite cartoon character when I was little). She’s happy, easy going, but just a little bit creepy.
SNR: Are you working on any other projects that you can tell us about? Possibly Book 2? (maybe some more Maddox, lol he just intrigue me with the few scenes he had.)
LS: Oh yes! Book two is out this June. It’s Marcelo’s story, a vampire introduced at the end of Destiny Divided. He finds Sage’s foster sister, Erin, and basically has protection detail while he takes her to the Underworld to see Sage. Erin’s sister is almost the opposite of Sage. She’s sweet and timid but by the end of the book she’s transformed into a proud warrior. Marcelo starts off gruff and demanding but he has a few surprises as well (turns out vampires can be very romantic.). Maddox, a sorcerer from Destiny Divided, I’m afraid has a very rough road ahead of him. I’ve already got a book planned for him in the series. The funny, boy-next-door goes through a transformation that is very sad. But don’t worry, the female lead will find the true Maddox and bring him back for us!
Thank you so much for having me and I hope you all enjoy my book!
REVIEW:
More and more I’ve been meeting new authors that have such great work, I was grateful to be asked to read and review Destiny Divided by Leia Shaw.
I’ve read a lot of PNR’s and so many vampire books in my time you would think I’d get tired of reading the same thing over and over again. But Leia Shaw adds her own touch to a very exciting new Paranormal Romance, with her twist of witches and sorcerers. This series started out with a bang and a very promising start, Who wouldn’t love a story with kick butt fight scenes, some smoking hot sorcerers, powerful witches and a lead female character who isn’t your average bad girl. Nope she’s got an attitude that would make a burly biker man cry.
Sage has had it rough, in and out of homes all her life, never being able to feel that connection and love from anyone. She always felt like she needed to run, fight, and steal to get through life. She lives in a basement and the only way she can earn enough money to get by is to steal from people, mostly when she’s at school.
And at school, I mean Sage is sneaking in the classes, not only to get some goodies but also to learn. Little does she know she caught the attention of a young Professor. Arrogant and snooty, James is a man with power and secrets and he finds Sage to be everything he’s been looking for. Not only because of the attraction but because she possess unbelievable power.
James offers to help Sage with her power since he possesses a lot himself. This is where the story really starts to pick up. Sage is an extremely tough girl, she doesn’t like being helped or told what to do and with James being a “do as I say” guy they seriously have a lot of issues to deal with.
I felt that both Sage and James really needed to cool down their attitudes a lot; I just wanted to yell, “Calm down! Which made me realize how into this book I was, and loved it! I was pulling for these two to overcome the many challenges that they had ahead and figure out that they both needed to say how they felt about each other.
There was one part in the book that confused me a bit. Where it felt like a whole scene was missing. I went back a noticed that I wasn’t skipping anything but that the issue wasn’t addressed, but we still get a bit of information on what happened as I read on.
I’m very interested to see what happens next, since the ending gives a hint that we get to learn more about some secondary characters that I’m dying to know more about.
Overall I was addicted to this book and couldn’t put it down, I felt myself smirking at many scenes because the sarcasm is just seeping out of each page with brilliance. I love a story with great sarcasm and bickering, makes me smile each time. I highly recommended Destiny Divided!
RECOMMENDATION:
This is an Adult Novel with Sexual Content and Adult situation, with a bit of violence. Recommended to fans of Christine Feehan and Kresley Cole.
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