Kisa by D. V. Stone ~ New Release #WRPbks #Blog

Please help me welcome today’s guest, D.V. Stone…

Way back when I first began to write, Felice was the first book I published, knowing that it would be a series about sisters. I’d planned for there to be three. I like three. It’s one of my favorite numbers. I also like circles. They are my favorite shape. Ask my husband what kind of door I dream of, and without hesitation, he’ll tell you a round one like Bilbo Baggins. Sorry, squirrel! 

So much has happened to me since that time I first pushed the “Publish Now” button. I’m a hybrid author who is both traditionally and independently published. Contemporary books have embedded themselves into my genres. But I always return to fantasy. 

Over the years, I realized how little I knew about writing and publishing. Every time you learn more. About the craft. About publishing. About yourself. Earlier this year, I pulled Felice from the listings and had her re-edited and recovered in anticipation of launching Kisa into the world. 

I also learned that the three sisters have a long-lost relative. I learned that there were dragons in the Darrian world. I learned not to kill someone off in the first book and then try to bring them back in the second.

So, Kisa’s been a long time coming. I hope you fall in love with the middle daughter of King Dar, who wants to take care of everyone. Who finds herself trying to balance her needs against the world’s. Who often resents being the caretaker but also is compelled to do her duty. Something I think many of us struggle with. 

In a war between humans and shifters, sparks, and fur fly…Until scales appear.

Princess Kisa, the middle daughter in the shifter nation of Dar, is often overlooked and underestimated. Always the devoted caregiver of family and country, she’s come to terms with her future as a Shield-Mate in a political marriage. Many, including Kisa, are surprised when her father names her as heir to his throne.

Kalman, once a privileged son of the former protectorate Sorota, is an outcast and a man without a future. The people of Ruinae consider him a weak, self-indulgent man. Only his trusted servant knows the heart of the soldier beneath the veneer.

Forces are gathering against the two countries, and now dragons, long banished to the outland, have returned. Kisa and Kalman are charged by King Dar to find out how entrenched the dragons are with the enemy. Since a long-ago meeting, Kalman never forgot the spitfire Lynx-shifter. He’s no longer the boy she’d met, but a man. One determined to have her despite their differences. But Kisa can’t fall in love with the enemy. Can she? Would her people accept not only the son of Sorota but one whom her family also seeks retribution?

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BHFBLYLJ

Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 1, 2022

https://www.bookbub.com/books/kisa-shield-mates-of-dar-by-d-v-stone

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61160281-kisa-shield-mates-of-dar

Excerpt

“How may I serve you, Father?” Kisa glanced around. “It’s been long years since I’ve been in here.”

This was his personal lair. Darkly masculine with shelves filled with books. Maps lined the walls and a side table with a miniature replica of the kingdom and surrounding areas. It was where he could find peace from all the demands of running the empire. Though no respite from the ghosts who haunted him.

Amaya’s portrait stared down at him with accusation I left my daughters in your care. You’ve disappointed me, Shield-Mate.

“We have much to discuss.” He turned from the portrait, his chest tight with pain as he walked behind his writing table and lifted the stack of papers he’d collected. “These are all Shield-Mate offers for you.”

She stared first at them and then him. Barely a whisper squeezed out, “So many?”

“Is it love and Shield-Mate you want?” He asked with a penetrating look. “What is your greatest desire, daughter?”

Kisa’s mouth opened and closed as she stared at him. He had never asked her about her dreams. Shouldn’t a father know his child? “Well, what is it?”

“What do you mean?” She tugged at her earlobe as she’d done since she was a babe.

“If I throw this pile of papers into the fire —” he grasped the stack into his large hand and pointed to the hearth with them, “—will it disappoint you? Or give you relief?”

She blinked at him. “I don’t know what you are asking me.”

“It’s simple––disappointment?” He shook the papers. “Or relief.”

Kisa whispered, “Relief.”

Dar threw the communiqués into the fire, where they flamed and sparked. Neither spoke while the letters—some paper, some parchment—curled at the edges, turning brown, then black, then nothing but ash.

When the last cinders drifted away, his daughter sobbed, and he thought he would too. “Someone must rule when I’m gone.”

 “What?” Her voice cracked. “I always thought you intended to bind Lansdowne and Dar into one kingdom, and Orsolo and her Shield-Mate would co-rule.”

“Orsolo is shrewd and intelligent but frivolous. Before her Shield-Mating, I informed your older sister that she would not be Queen here.” Dar folded his arms across his chest. “Before you ask, she was relieved.”

“I know as children of the Darrian royal house, there is no guarantee to ascend the throne.” Kisa hugged her arms around her waist. “Who did you decide it would be?”

 Dar went to the matching high-backed chairs near his desk and, with a groan, sank into the cushions. “Come, sit. This will be a lengthy conversation.”

Bio

D. V. Stone is an award-winning, multi-genre, traditionally and independently published author. She writes books people want to read. Whether romance or fantasy, contemporary or mid-grade, her stories are about the importance of friends and family. About overcoming obstacles while often with humor.

Around the Fire is a popular weekly blog where she introduces both established and new authors giving an insider’s look into their lives and books as well as tidbits about her own life.

Now retired, she is a full-time author and incorporates her life experiences into her books.

A former Emergency Medical Technician, she volunteered in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania. At the same time, she worked as a professional EMT in a women’s state prison. She was the proprietor of a coffee shop, and a small restaurant/ice cream stand in the years that followed. The years following were as a manager in an animal emergency hospital, while her last position was in a human medical office.

When not behind the wheel of 2Hoots—a 41-foot long 13.2 feet high 5^th Wheel camper, she rambles around town in Northern New Jersey in a white Camaro. She also loves travel and history.

D.V. is a wife to an amazing husband, mother to one son, and not your average grandma to three beautiful grands. A woman of faith, she believes and trusts in God.

“My greatest pleasures are spending time outside with friends and family, cooking over the open fire, sipping a glass of wine, and reading.”

Hali, her rescue dog, always reminds her to let readers know, “Woof, woof.” Which is loosely translated as support your local animal rescue.”

You can learn more about D. V. by following her on social media.

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Books by

D. V. Stone

Independent Releases

Shield-Mates of Dar Series

Felice

Book one of the Shield-Mates fantasy romance with magic, mayhem, and family devotion.

Kisa

Book two of the Shield-Mates A Fantasy Romance Series where a war between humans and shifters. Sparks and fur fly…Until scales appear.

Mid-Grade

Agent Sam Carter Series

The Mystery at Branch Lake https://a.co/bb0HlkS

The Mystery at High Pointe Tower https://a.co/bb0HlkS

By The Wild Rose Press

Impact Series

Rock House Grill

One man’s choices. One woman’s Impact

https://books2read.com/u/49No0k

Jazz House

One woman’s choices. One man’s Impact

https://books2read.com/JazzHouse

Lake Unami Stories

Rainbow Sprinkles

After the storm come the rainbows.

https://books2read.com/u/38QEoa

Sophia’s Magic Beans

A single mom in a small town where sometimes fairytales do come true. 

Contributing Author

Australia Burns

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