Blog Tour: Five by Christie L. Rich Review, Guest Post & Giveaway

Five by Christie L. Rich
(Elemental Emnity, #1)
Release Date: August 10, 2011
Publisher: Christie L. Rich; 314 pages

Rayla Tate’s life is about to turn vertical…again. As if it wasn’t bad enough her mother disappeared under questionable circumstances leaving Rayla to be raised by her aunt in a horrendously small town. Her overprotective guardian is determined to ruin Rayla’s life. She refuses to let Rayla out of her sight or out of the state. Provincial living might be what her aunt demands of her purposely sheltered niece; but, Rayla has other ideas. In a desperate attempt to follow her dreams she flees the safety of her home and runs away to college with her best friend toward a bright future in the art world.

However, excitement over her newfound freedom turns into terror when she is chased by a mysterious stranger on her way to school. When his motorcycle suddenly morphs into a fire-breathing pegasus, Rayla questions her sanity. Worse, the man riding next to her stirs a burning desire in her soul she has never known or could have ever imagined. Using all the will she owns, she manages to resist the compulsion she feels; yet, as he disappears into the night, she is certain he hasn't gone far.

Rayla quickly dismisses the encounter to her overactive imagination. She is determined to settle into her new life, yet the images and feelings of that night still haunt her. To make matters worse, her aunt seems to be in on the act, insisting that Rayla will soon be hunted by a pack of fae lords for a power over the elements she never knew she possessed—a power that could change the world. Quicker than she ever thought possible, she finds herself surrounded by stunning men that all seem determined to win her heart. Why does she feel drawn to each one of them? More importantly, what dark power do they hold over her? Rayla must quickly learn to fend off these beautiful and seductive pursuers using whatever means necessary or find herself lost to the fae world forever.

When I first started to read Five, I was wondering how the Fae element would come into play. It is always interesting to see how books approach these different types of paranormal elements. Christie gradually pulls you into the world of Fae. You find things out just as Rayla, the main character, does. You feel like you are right there with her, if not feeling like you are her. I do have to say, the Pegasus at the beginning had me very curious to what else was going to come up in this book, but I love how it affected the two girls and how it starts to add tension.

At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about the relationship Rayla had with her best friend, Cassie. Cassie seemed to be very guarded even with Rayla, and that seemed odd to me. But throughout the book, it started to make more and more sense to me why I had gotten the initial feeling. I fell in love with Zach right away. She did a good job of making him irresistible.

When Rayla gets further into this Fae world, things seem to happen to her very fast and she is thrown into a whirl wind of different emotions, guys, worlds you name it. It would be very easy to get thing mixed up fast or get confused by all of this, but Christie did an amazing job of writing here. She kept up with everything and make it a very fun adventure. Luke is a interesting character, I didn't expect him to play as big of a part as he has in this book. He's not helping anything between Rayla and Zach, and it's going to be interesting to see hwat happens.

When I finished this book, I was so engrossed I lost track of time and when I realized it was the end, I groaned in frustration. I didn't want this book to be over. I bought Dark Matter right away, I need to know what happens with Rayla, Zach and Luke.

 Guest Post

Just The Facts, Ma’am

By

Christie Rich

Writing fiction has been a blast for me from the start.  It’s hard to believe only a few short years ago, I had the idea for my Elemental Enmity Series come to me.  I’d read the Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning, and in a word, I became OBSESSED with the fae, lol.  I joined Miss Moning’s message boards and started talking with other fanatics about theories I had and such between each book.  Ms. Moning left each installment with a huge cliffhanger ending, so there was always plenty to speculate about.  During the process of speculating, I learned a lot about the fae—from their origins to the different type of folklore that exists around the world.

There was one historian in particular that peaked my interest to a much higher level because of the cool stuff she knew, so I went searching for the truth about the fae.  Google became my best friend.  You see, I had theories to prove, and I needed to support it with the facts (grins).  So by the time I wrote my own book about the fae, I had a basic understanding of their origins from scouring every inch of the web.  That being said, I made up the majority of fae lore in my books.  I know—I know, but its fiction, after all.  I did adhere to the fae timeline for the most part, but the descriptions of the races and creatures varied so much from site to site, I sort of had to wing it.

As odd as it may sound, writing fiction does require research for a few things.  Setting is one of the areas an author can’t get wrong.  I needed to find a certain type of setting, one that would make it difficult for the fae lords to pursue Rayla, but at the same time could be within a close proximity to her.

I was blown away when I found out that Notre Dame had an all girl’s school a mile away that could participate with all the Notre Dame extracurricular activities, take classes, and socialize easily with those of the male persuasion.  The more I researched the surer I was that St. Mary’s was the perfect setting for Five (Elemental Enmity Book I).  The weirdest part was when I wrote about tunnels under both schools, I had no idea that they actually exist!  They have recently been closed to students, but the tunnels once served as a means to travel between classes during the harsh Indiana winter months.

Research can be intimidating, but living in the technological age has some decidedly great advantages.  We have more information available to us than ever before.  I hope to one day be able to write on location, provided it is not on mars, but until then knowledge is just a short websearch away.

Thanks so much for having me here today, Ashley!  You’re awesome.  My first Elemental Enmity Book, Five is free for download on Amazon US, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords.  I hope y’all will pick up a copy and enjoy a read on me!

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