Special EBFY: "Vulnerable" by Amy Lane

Dear readers,
this week I want to introduce you this book, the first of a Paranormal Romance series, which was very successful in the USA and thanks to its racy and sensual style, it literally casted a spell on me. I'm talking about "Vulnerable" by Amy Lane, a brilliant start of a saga which at the moment includes four books. If you like Laurell K. Hamilton, you will enjoy that, because Lane condenses in its history the two separate worlds which have Merry and Anita as protagonists. Here, we can meet all kinds of supernatural beings, fairy and vampires co-exist, but humans ignore that and the main character, Cory, is a pleasant blend of the best features which made me so excited about both the vampire hunter and the sidhe princess. This week, however, there will be a new addition to the introduction to the story, I will include a review of the book and, oyez! Oyez! An exclusive interview with the author, who has shown completely her willingness to help me, answering to my emails at the speed of light. Thanks Amy, you're fantastic!
VULNERABLE Title: Vulnerable Author: Amy Lane Publisher: iUniverse Pages: 265 Synopsis: Working graveyards in a stop & rob seemed a small price for Cory to pay in order to get her degree and get the hell out of Nor-Cal. She was terrified of disappearing into the aimless vortex that awaited the lost and the young that haunted her neck of the woods. Until the night she actually stopped looking at her books and looked up. What awaited her was a world she had only read about--one filled with fantastical creatures that she was sure she could never be.And then Adrian walked in--and she discovered that risking your life was nothing compared to facing who you really were. And then falling in love.
REVIEWI had previously announced that, but to repeat it is not bad of course: I really liked this book, and if we consider that it is the first in a series, where usually characters and plots are introduced for the first time, creating a bit of thrill in the reader, I have great expectations for the future.
The story is simple and maybe not so new, in these era of abundance in vampiric material, but it's a nice and easy reading. The main character is Carol-Anne Kirkpatrick, who prefers to be called Cory (a male nickname, a little bit like Dowson's Creek’s Joy Potter), who studies at the University, and to pay fees and leave as soon as possible her parent’s home, makes night shift at a service station. It 'an insecure girl who hides behind the dark make-up, trying to escape customer’s glances. But one evening one of the regular patrons takes her hand and asks her to look at him ... it’s Arturo, he is beautiful and he’s an elf. That is the episode which will open her the doors of all the fantasy world that surrounds her, not just elves, but vampires, shape-shifters and other creatures that she previously had simply ignored, but that now are real and tangible to her as any other human being. It’s the same main character who describes that event: WOUNDED

“If it hadn’t been for Arturo, I never would have known what Renny and Mitch were, and if I hadn’t known that, I never would have known what Adrian was. And if I hadn’t known that, I never would have met Green.” (Excerpt page 1)

A chain reaction of events and encounters, that will upheaval her and change her in the deep. Adrian will be the first to overwhelm her with its charm, blue eyes and hair golden like wheat. He will woo her and love her deeply, unconditionally and without reservation, shortly after meeting her. Love should be simple and make life easier and better, but Cory will understand that it is not always the case. Before getting to know the truth about the beings she believed to be relegated to legend, she had followed only one big goal. To study, graduate, to be free to leave home and show everybody her value. Now, with Adrian by her side, she discovers a new truth about herself. There is power inside her.
Power to soothe and heal the pain that afflicts her lover, power to defend herself and defend others, to get in touch with the essence of nature, with the Goddess. It will be Green, to guide her in this difficult process, offering knowledge, security, a new home and…love. Will it be possible to find a balance to make the happiness of Adrian and Cory too? Will the strong bond that unites them break, leaving those who are entrusted to them without protection? And what about her plans to study and a future of independence?
The main characters and those who are closest to them, are well described and the reader will get easily affectionate. It’s inevitable to elect one’s own favorite alpha male. I have personally chosen Green as soon as he entered the scene: he’s beautiful, useless to say, he is also sweet and caring with all creatures looking after him for comfort and protection.
The style is fluent and easy reading, even if one’s not so deeply entrenched in English, so if you have just started to read in original, this series is for you. The point of view is the one of the omniscient narrator, which changes in each chapter, alternating Cory, Adrian and Green. This takes the reader closer to this three characters, allows one to know them more intimately drawing a more complete picture. An antagonist is almost completely missing, or rather, there is one, but it's just a name, who is looked for and repeated. It is possible to get him only at the end, while during most of the novel he remains a nebulous presence, preventing the reader to decide for one side or another, and as it happens in most cases to contempt him or hate him.
It is positive, in my point of view, the inevitable reference to Laurell K. Hamilton. Cory is a mix of the best sides of Anita and Merry and the world that surrounds her is composed by shape-shifting vampires from the first and fairies from the second. Adrian’s powers are similar to those one is already familiar with the beautiful J. Clude, and the four marks which bind him to Anita, are repeated here to join him to Cory (funny, among other things, to quote the books by this author, such as “holy” text and knowledge’s repositories of the vampires’ world.) If you've already read my review about "A lick of frost" you will know that, after reading both complete series, I was a bit tired of the plot lacking of the latest books. Lane is both reassuring as something known and beloved and refreshing as an exciting novelty.
Therefore it’s a very positive start for me, and I can not wait to get my hands on the future books. If you're interested, you can browse the author’s website, to find the other series that have made her famous, while on www.amazon.com, you can use the look inside option to read the first chapter of every book in its original language.
WOUNDED
Synopsis: Cory was seriously affected by the loss she suffered, and her attempt to recover without the help of her new "family" makes her weak and vulnerable to the attack of a new enemy. Revelations about the past of Green and about old friends who will prove to be traitors, will seriously affect Cory who will have to find within himself the strength to fight and live.
Excerpt:Green: "If someone gives their life for you, it is because they can not bear to live in a world without you. This is a great gift and a terrible burden, and if you are going to live, you need to be grateful for the gift and prepared to bear the burden."Cory: "I do fearsome things, when I'm touching people who love me..." Cory fled the foothills to deal with the pain of losing Adrian, and Green watched her go. Separately, they could easily grieve themselves to death, but when an enemy brings them together, they find out what a great and terrible force love can be. BOUNDSynopsis: Cory’s life is very complicated, but at least she managed to find a new zest for life. Unfortunately, Green must travel a lot and leave her alone to bear the burden to protect their "family." She feels overwhelmed by the responsibility she was entrusted to, but she will not fail and when a monstrous creature will attempt to kill her and her beloved ones, she will do everything in his power to stop it.
From the official website:Humans have the option of separation, divorce, and heartbreak-for Corinne Carol-Anne Kirkpatrick, sorceress and queen of the vampires, the choices are limited to love or death. Now that she is back at Green's hill and assuming her duties as leader, her life is, at best, complicated. Bracken and Nicky are rivalling for her affections, Green is gone taking care of his people, and a new supernatural enemy is threatening the sanctity of all she has come to love. Throw in a family reunion gone bad, a supernatural psychiatrist and a killer physics class, and Cory's life isn't just complex, it's psychotic.Cory needs to get her act and her identity together, and soon, because the enemy she and her lovers are facing is a nightmare that doesn't just kill people, it unmakes them. If she doesn't figure out who she is and what her place is on Green's hill, it's not just her life on the line. She knows from hard experience that the only thing worse than facing death is facing the death of someone she loves.Because loving people is easy-living with them is what takes the real work, and it's even harder if you're
RAMPANT Synopsis: A pedophile vampire is turning innocent children into vampires and it's up to Cory and her people to stop it. It will be easy to find him, but she will have to struggle hardly to defeat him. I sincerely hope that this series will find the way to Italy, so fertile this time is, and, by my side, I'm sure that it would earn a certain number of fans. 
From the official website: Lady Cory has carved out a life for herself not just as a wife to three husbands but also as one of the rulers of the supernatural communities of Northern California-- and a college student in search of that elusive degree. When a supernatural threat comes crashing into the hard-forged peace of Green's hill, she and Green determine that they're the ones in charge of stopping the abomination that created it. Their vow to protect leads Cory, Bracken and Nicky to Redding--where a tight-knit family of vampires threatens the people Cory loves to keep a terrible secret. It also leads them to a conflict of loyalties, as Nicky's parents threaten to tear Nicky away from the family he's come to love more than his own life. Cory has to work hard to hold on to her temper and her life as she tries to prove that she and Green are not only leaders who will bind people to their hearts, but also protectors who will keep danger from running RAMPANT.
INTERVIEW WITH AMY LANE To close this English book for you special, here's to you, dear readers, for the first time in Italy, an interview with lovely Amy Lane, enjoy it!
1. Hi Amy. I'm very happy to welcome on my blog. Would you like to introduce yourself to the Italian readers who have read your novels or who are going to do?
Hi,Vittoria! It’s so lovely to be here, I was so excited when I got your invitation! To introduce myself, I’m a middle aged mother of four, and I’ve recently had the opportunity to write full time! It’s been partly wonderful and partly frustrating—the worst thing about working from home is that you keep getting tempted to do housework instead of actual work! It’s sort of a blurry line!
2. When was the first moment you knew you wanted to become a writer?
I remember being very small—four or five—and telling my stuffed animal a story. My older daughter (who is sixteen) did the same thing as a child, and grew up to write stories. My oldest son (who just turned eighteen) used to play with his action figures, and now he would like to write. I watch my four year old doing that now, and think, “She’s going to grow up and write the most amazing things.” I think the love of stories starts early, and it all depends on how much we nourish it to bloom.
3. What do you do while are you writing? Have you a particular creative process?
Well, if I’m not careful with what’s on the kitchen table, I EAT when I write! (This is a VERY BAD thing!) Otherwise, I tend to simply imagine the stories when I’m about other things—working out, driving the car, taking a walk or a shower—and then I sit down and turn that moment in my head into a moment of words.
4. When you are not writing what kind of books do you like to read? What have you read that you’ve loved? What would you recommend?
I like to read what I like to write—plus a little bit of classical literature thrown in. Fantasy, urban fantasy, m/m romance, science-fiction—these are all in my Kindle, and I love them all. Kim Harrison is one of my personal favorites, as is Patricia Briggs and, of course, Charlaine Harris. I also like the poetry of John Keats, the novels of Jane Austen, and the m/m romance novels of Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux!
5. What inspired you to write "Vulnerable"? How did the opening idea develop afterwards? What was the hardest part of writing this book?
My opening idea for Vulnerable was taken from my experiences working late night fast food as I went through college. I saw a lot of odd things—and a lot my college professors passing through who asked my what a bright kid like me was doing working a nowhere job. The world’s perception of a worthwhile person is very often entirely based on the wrong things—I wanted a heroine who looked to be all the wrong things but had all of the right things inside.
6.Did you plot the story in advance or did the story and characters develop as you wrote?
For Vulnerable and Wounded, the story and characters developed as I went. As I wrote more, I got better at planning ahead, and now, I don’t start a novel without a good idea of where it’s going and a few important stops on the way—although I’m always happy to make side trips, discover new people I hadn’t planned on meeting, and have a few knock-down drag-outs with bad guys if I’ve got time for it too!
7. Why did you choose to narrate about vampires and fairies? How did you manage to create a world of your own, surrounded by so many literary examples dealing with the same genre?
Well, when I started writing Vulnerable, it was 2001—this market wasn’t NEARLY as glutted as it is now. Even Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse wasn’t around yet. And other than that? I used my own backyard as a setting. When I wrote characters, I tried to write people you’d discover in that place. I have sort of a love/hate thing with the Sierra Foothills—and that’s why I think it has such a different feel. I also dislike heroes who treat people poorly, and I tend to look at my heroine’s actions and think, “Would I like someone who would do that to someone else?” Sometimes, the answer is no, but Cory does it anyway—but that’s the sort of thing that makes characters re-evaluate their own actions, and, hopefully, grow.
8.Reading Vulnerable, one can’t help to think about the two series have made ​​Laurell K. Hamilton so famous, and moreover, Cory quotes her as a source to learn about the paranormal. Which is your relationship with this author?
I started out LOVING LKH—I really did. I thought she was original and fresh, and I adored Anita Blake. But I had problems with her character—again, Anita didn’t treat people the way I would like to be treated myself—and so when I wrote Cory, I set out to write someone who was a little more flexible, and a little more compassionate in accepting other’s differences.
9.We know Cory as a young girl who hides behind the gothic makeup and projected to escape from his present life. What has made ​​her so little aware of her strength and her value?
The same thing, I think that has made all of us unaware of our strength and value—the world’s tendency to dismiss anything different as weakness. She didn’t fit in with the world she was born into—so she made a concerted effort not to fit in anywhere. And people saw that façade and dismissed her, and she started to believe them. It’s always easier to believe the bad stuff about yourself—and it takes away our power.
10.I know that every reader will have her favorite male character: I love Green! His altruism, strength, and this unlimited paternal instinct (in addition to his breathtaking beauty), make of him a unique character, can you tell us something more about him? How will you be able to develop the relationship between Cory and Adrian, only through love?
Green’s history is long and sad--and so involved that he's going to have a book (written in retrospective) that will be largely devoted to him. I have such a respect for a person who can live a long, heartbreaking life, and still have curiosity, compassion, and optimism. I think these people should be our heroes--and Green has been that for me. And as for Cory and Adrian? Some things in literary tradition should never change. Elizabeth Bennett should never regret giving Mr. Darcy another chance, Sidney Carton should never regret giving up his life for his beloved's husband, and Corinne Carol-Anne Kirkpatrick will never regret looking up one night in February and truly seeing the vampire who taught her how to love.
11.Which character do you prefer? Which one could you never, ever, allow to leave the scene?
Of course, Adrian is my first love, but I'm a big fan of 'the big three'-- Cory, Green, and Bracken. The one who surprised me the most, though, was Bracken. I had never thought of writing a character who was SUCH a complete bastard--but who had such a good heart. Bracken is almost perpetually grumpy--but when he's with Green, he's SO respectful, and SO tender with Cory--you can almost see both of his parents--his rock-quarry of a father and the sweetness of his little pixie mother--in him, and I love that.
12. Can you tell us something about the other series you've written? Is there one to which you are more affectionate?
Well, the Green's Hill Werewolf series is an e-book series that's sort of a spin off of Green's Hill--it features two heroes--Jack and Teague, and Teague is perhaps one of the most tortured people I've ever written. He was so damaged I actually doubted I COULD write him a Happy Ever After. I figured a way to do that, but Jack actually had to change, and I doubted that was possible too. (The first two are available from Torquere press as of April 9th, and then, every other month after that.) My epic fantasy series, Bittermoon I & II, is sort of dear to my heart--it's long, some of the most complex writing I've ever done, and the second book COMPLETELY ripped my heart out. It's one of the best things I've ever written-- but GOD was it hard to do. And I just finished the third installment of my contemporary m/m romance series. The series is called "Promises", and the first one is Keeping Promise Rock, the second one is Making Promises, and the third, which is pending acceptance, is Living Promises. Keeping Promise Rock just got nominated for a major award from smartbitches/trashybooks.com, so I'm pretty proud of that :-)
13.On what are you working now? Which are your future plans?
I'm working on Quickening, the fifth Little Goddess book--but I'm afraid it's not my primary project. I'm also working on a stand-alone project called A Solid Core of Alpha--it's a science fiction romance involving a character who was locked inside a shuttle for ten years with a holodeck, who came up with a very creative way to stay sane.
14.Thank you so much. It was a real pleasure for me. Do you have something to tell before you say goodbye? Mostly that I'm so excited to know that I have fans in Italy. I have lived a rather provincial life-- just like Cory, I have never traveled to another country. Books have been my escape and my view to a larger world, and the idea that MY books are a doorway for someone from such a lovely country to take a look at my neck of the woods--that's really really awesome. Thank you so much for taking a chance on my books, Vittoria--I'm very very honored.