Book Giveaway: Long Black Curl

As most of you probably already know (unless you're really new to the blog), I read A LOT. I also have a lot of friends who are authors. As you can imagine, this works out pretty well. Except for my budget and my overflowing shelves...

Like most folks, I have some authors who are "must buys." Any time they put out a book, I get it automatically. Sometimes even in (gasp) hardcover, if I can't wait the extra time for it to come out in paperback. Not all of these authors are friends, of course, although many of them are people I have stalked followed online long enough that they at least know who I am. (Snort.)

Here is a pile of what I've read in the last couple of months (not counting the books I read on the Kindle at night before bed, when my eyes are tired). Luna clearly had her favorite. When I got the book I put it down on the couch next to me and when I turned around, this is what I saw. Isn't that adorable?

Long Black Curl with a short tortie cat

Large pile of books with a curious yellow cat

You can see from the pile of books that I read a fairly eclectic selection. The bottom two are British contemporary romances, then there is one by an American author (I'm very picky about which contemporaries I read, but I do have a few favorite authors). Then there are a couple of my "must buy" folks who write fantasy/urban fantasy/paranormal romance: Maria V. Snyder, Devon Monk, and Lisa Shearin. Plus a new-to-me author I discovered at Rober-Con last year, Laura Anne Gilman. I'm currently binge reading her Paranormal investigations series.

If a book is in this pile, you can safely assume I am recommending it wildly.

And then there is Alex Bledsoe, whose book, LONG BLACK CURL, Luna is so enamored with. Alex and I go way back--we both had stories in The Pagan Anthology of Short Fiction--and although we haven't yet gotten to meet in person due to distance (he lives in Wisconsin, I live in upstate NY), we truly are friends. In fact, if you have a copy of WICKEDLY DANGEROUS, his name will probably look familiar to you. That's because he wrote one of blurbs on the back. (He called it "Paranormal romance at it's best"!)

Alex has a couple of fabulous series out. LONG BLACK CURL is the third in his "Tufa" novels. Here's the summary:

Long Black Curl: a brand-new tale in Alex Bledsoe's acclaimed urban fantasy series, where magic is hidden in plain sight and age-old rivalries simmer just beneath the surface

In all the time the Tufa have existed, only two have ever been exiled: Bo-Kate Wisby and her lover, Jefferson Powell. They were cast out, stripped of their ability to make music, and cursed to never be able to find their way back to Needsville. Their crime? A love that crossed the boundary of the two Tufa tribes, resulting in the death of several people.

Somehow, Bo-Kate has found her way back. She intends to take over both tribes, which means eliminating both Rockhouse Hicks and Mandalay Harris. Bo-Kate has a secret weapon: Byron Harley, a rockabilly singer known as the "Hillbilly Hercules" for his immense size and strength, and who has passed the last sixty years trapped in a bubble of faery time. He's ready to take revenge on any Tufa he finds.

The only one who can stop Bo-Kate is Jefferson Powell. Released from the curse and summoned back to Cloud County, even he isn't sure what will happen when they finally meet. Will he fall in love with her again? Will he join her in her quest to unite the Tufa under her rule? Or will he have to sacrifice himself to save the people who once banished him?

As always, Alex is going to send me my very own signed copy. (Woot!) But I couldn't wait to read it, so I bought one for myself...which I am now going to give away to one lucky reader! [Because it is a hardcover, and therefore heavy, I'm afraid I'm going to have to restrict this giveaway to USA only. Sorry foreign peeps.] I loved this book beyond measure. Alex is one of the best writers I know, which is really saying something. The Tufa are a fascinating mixture of fairy lore and Southern rural life, all wrapped up in magic and music. You WANT to read this series.

To enter, you can follow Alex on Twitter and/or leave a comment here. Tell me if you have a favorite author or authors, or if you have read any of Alex's books. This is a short one, so don't wait to enter.

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