Synopsis
The
Circus Spektakulär is proud to present Jack McCabe: Fire-breather,
knife-thrower, risk-taker.
My house burned down when I was just a boy, robbing me of both my parents.
Now I breathe fire, eat the poison that almost killed me.
Crowds come to see me night after night. Men for the spectacle, women for the thrill. I’m an oddity to be stared at and desired. With each flame I spit, I risk my life.
I wear scars on my body that will never go away, but the scars inside my head are far more difficult to overlook.
My brother doesn’t know me, and if I have it my way he never will.
Life was going exactly the way I’d planned until Lille came along. She wanted to run away with the circus, have an adventure, but this world was never meant for her.
I try to keep her safe, because she doesn’t know the dangers that are out here on the road. She doesn’t know the monsters that lurk behind the bright lights of the ring. In truth, I could be considered one of them.
We were fashioned from different cloths, never intended to mix. So I watch her. I try not to touch, even when her eyes invite me.
Join us in the Spiegeltent and let us give you a show. Allow my Lille to draw a picture for you in paint and sweat and skin.
The truest love is always the hardest to let in.
This is a standalone romance that tells the story of Jack McCabe, Jay Fields’ long lost, presumed dead brother. It is not necessary to have read Six of Hearts in order to enjoy Hearts of Fire.
My house burned down when I was just a boy, robbing me of both my parents.
Now I breathe fire, eat the poison that almost killed me.
Crowds come to see me night after night. Men for the spectacle, women for the thrill. I’m an oddity to be stared at and desired. With each flame I spit, I risk my life.
I wear scars on my body that will never go away, but the scars inside my head are far more difficult to overlook.
My brother doesn’t know me, and if I have it my way he never will.
Life was going exactly the way I’d planned until Lille came along. She wanted to run away with the circus, have an adventure, but this world was never meant for her.
I try to keep her safe, because she doesn’t know the dangers that are out here on the road. She doesn’t know the monsters that lurk behind the bright lights of the ring. In truth, I could be considered one of them.
We were fashioned from different cloths, never intended to mix. So I watch her. I try not to touch, even when her eyes invite me.
Join us in the Spiegeltent and let us give you a show. Allow my Lille to draw a picture for you in paint and sweat and skin.
The truest love is always the hardest to let in.
This is a standalone romance that tells the story of Jack McCabe, Jay Fields’ long lost, presumed dead brother. It is not necessary to have read Six of Hearts in order to enjoy Hearts of Fire.
Release Date: March 9th
Excerpt
Jack didn’t even announce that
he was starting when he stood at least ten feet away from me, flipped a knife
in his hand, caught it, then lunged with his whole body and flung the knife
right at my head. I squeezed my eyes shut, and a hollow thud sounded at my ear
where the knife had, thankfully, hit the board. Sounds of nervous excitement
and clapping came from the audience as Jack continued his assault on me. He
moved his body with the kind of skill that only comes from obsessive practice.
Adrenaline drowned me, my chest
rising and falling rapidly.
A small squeak of fright escaped
me when he threw a knife at my hip and it barely missed. In fact, I could feel
the hard edge of the steel pressing against me. I was surprised it hadn’t cut
into the fabric of my coat. Jack prowled around the stage, gaze on me,
calculating his next throw. Everywhere his eyes looked, I felt positively laid
bare. Molested by disinterest.
I might as well have been a sack
of potatoes for all the care he showed as to whether or not he might cut me.
Deciding I couldn’t take any more, I kept my eyes closed until it was over and
all six knives had been thrown.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
When I finally opened my eyes,
Jack was standing before me, unbuckling the belt that held me in place. I
didn’t move even after I’d been released, still trying to come to terms with
the terror I’d just endured. All of a sudden, Jack McCabe was more scary than
sexy.
“That was a close one,” he said
as he pulled out the knife that had landed just below my ear. I glanced to the
side to see a tiny lock of my hair fall to the stage floor. Oh, my God.
“You cut off my hair,” I gasped.
“Only a small bit. Don’t worry —
I didn’t leave a bald patch.” He chuckled darkly.
I didn’t know what to say, but I
was momentarily appalled at how cavalierly he was taking all this.
“I could sue you,” I said, and
then instantly grimaced. I sounded like my mother. It was only hair, after all.
He leaned in, and I thought I
saw him bare his teeth for a second. “Go ahead, pumpkin.”
:
About the Author
L.H. Cosway has a BA in English Literature and Roman Civilisation, and an MA in Postcolonial Literature. She lives in Dublin City. Her inspiration to write comes from music. Her favourite things in life include writing stories, vintage clothing, dark cabaret music, food, musical comedy, and of course, books. She things that imperfect people are the most interesting kind. They tell the best stories.
Hearts of Fire is the second installment in the Hearts series following Six of Hearts. This is the story of Jay's (who you met and loved in Six of Hearts) younger brother, Jack who travels and works with a circus and an array of characters. The story also follows Lille who meets the crew at one of their stops and decides to run away with them to get away from her mother and stagnant life.
Oh Jack, how I love thee. He carries around a lot of baggage left over from his traumatic childhood. Lille has had her own trauma but she also has this beautiful light within herself and she slowly chips away at Jack's hard exterior. I loved these two characters and I loved following their story. I loved when we got to see the real them. I cheered for them, I was intrigued by them, I swooned for them. These two go down in my history of favourite couples of all time. I will never forget these two.
I am circus obsessed! Being that, I loved getting to know all the characters we meet in this book. That is one of the many things I love about Cosway. She doesn't just create these brilliant main characters but she gives life and thought to every aspect of her books. From the secondary characters to the description of the settings, it's all plotted and planned.
I also loved that we got to see Matilda and Jay. I loved Six of Hearts and was really excited about getting to follow up on these two.
I am in love with this book. I want to sleep with it under my pillow. It has been my favourite read of 2015 so far and I know it will always been in my top ten reads of ALL TIME! It never fails to amaze me how Cosway can create and weave these characters and stories. She consistently brings us wonderfully weird and lovely worlds full of brilliantly, strange, and beautiful characters. Long may she reign. She is my QUEEN!
5 Totally Addicting Skulls
Everyone at Addicted Souls is a HUGE L.H. Cosway SUPER-FAN so I was OVER the MOON excited to get to interview her.
I loved “Hearts
of Fire” I have a HUGE fascination with the Circus and the sub-culture thatsurrounds it. What inspired you to write a novel centred on life under the Big
Top?
L.H. Cosway
For me, and I
think for a lot of people, the idea of the circus gives us a sense of
child-like wonder. We remember going as kids and how it seemed like this
fascinating, magical place. I wanted to write a book that captured that magic.
Plus, I like to set my stories in interesting settings where there’s lots of
opportunity for things to happen, and a circus is certainly one of those.
Amber
Did you always intend to write two Hearts books? Did the ideas form together or did one come first and inspire the other?
Amber
Did you always intend to write two Hearts books? Did the ideas form together or did one come first and inspire the other?
L.H. Cosway
No, Six of Hearts
was originally intended to be a standalone, but as I was coming to the end of
the story I began thinking about Jack. I
wondered, is it possible that he might still be alive, and where would he he’d
be if he was? The ideas grew quickly from there.
Amber
Amber
I fall absolutely
in love with all your male leads. Hands down, you write the best and swooniest
(yes, that is a word) men. What I love about them is how different and unique
they are from a lot of popular New Adult ideals of a leading man. Do you have a
favourite in all of your books? How hard are they to write?
L.H. Cosway
Nicholas from
Painted Faces will always have a special place in my heart. He was my first
romantic hero and I don’t think I’ll ever write another like him. In terms of
whether or not they’re hard to write, yes and no. Sometimes it’ll take a while
for me to figure out what makes them tick and then other times their personalities
come to me very naturally.
Amber
Speaking of
characters, I love that you write really great women characters. Where do your
ideas for them come from?
L.H. Cosway
There’s always
something in my female characters that I can relate to. Something I see in
myself. I take that one thing and create a person out of it.
Amber
Back to the
Circus theme in “Hearts of Fire”. Whilst reading your books I often wonder if
you research your topics while you are writing. If so, what does that process
look like?
L.H. Cosway
The research I do
for my books combines a few different things. First, I cultivate what I’ve
already experienced of the world I’m trying to portray. Second, I read books on
the subject and watch documentaries, and third, I go to
performances/events/places in person. For Hearts of Fire I went to a couple of
circus shows, and similarly, for Six of Hearts I went to see some illusionists
perform.
Amber
Did you always
want to be a writer? How long do you live with the stories in your head before
you start writing them? Are all of your books written in the order that they
came to you?
L.H. Cosway
No, not always.
I’d say I really wanted to become a writer in my early twenties when I became
obsessed with reading and would buy two-three new paperbacks a week (before the
days of kindles). Stories are usually in my head for a long time before I write
them. This is the predicament of having too many ideas and not enough time.
Generally, I’ll be thinking of characters for six months to a year before I
actually get the chance to write about them. And yes, most of my books are
written in order, but sometimes I’ll deviate depending on my mood.
Amber
Where did your
love for the fantastic and strange come from? It’s an obvious and beautiful
element of your stories.
L.H. Cosway
I like stuff that
feels exciting, and the fantastic and strange is exciting to a peculiar lady
like me. It’s always the strange part of a person that makes them interesting,
rather than the normal part.
Amber
What are you
working on next?
L.H. Cosway
I’m
working on King of Hearts, which is about the character King from Hearts of
Fire. I’m hoping to release this book in the summer.
Amber
Who is your #1
book boyfriend?
L.H. Cosway
That’s a hard
one! I’d say it’s a toss-up between Dex from Karina Halle’s Experiment in
Terror, Alex from Penny Reid’s Love Hacked, and Mal from Kylie Scott’s Play.
Thank you so much for letting Addicted Souls participate on the tour for Hearts of Fire!
0 comments:
Post a Comment