Suzanne Johnson - Royal Street - Giveaway, Character Guest Post, And Review

Royal Street (Sentinels of New Orleans #1)
by Suzanne Johnson

As the junior wizard sentinel for New Orleans, Drusilla Jaco’s job involves a lot more potion-mixing and pixie-retrieval than sniffing out supernatural bad guys like rogue vampires and lethal were-creatures. DJ's boss and mentor, Gerald St. Simon, is the wizard tasked with protecting the city from anyone or anything that might slip over from the preternatural beyond.

Then Hurricane Katrina hammers New Orleans’ fragile levees, unleashing more than just dangerous flood waters.

While winds howled and Lake Pontchartrain surged, the borders between the modern city and the Otherworld crumbled. Now, the undead and the restless are roaming the Big Easy, and a serial killer with ties to voodoo is murdering the soldiers sent to help the city recover.

To make it worse, Gerry has gone missing, the wizards’ Elders have assigned a grenade-toting assassin as DJ’s new partner, and undead pirate Jean Lafitte wants to make her walk his plank. The search for Gerry and for the serial killer turns personal when DJ learns the hard way that loyalty requires sacrifice, allies come from the unlikeliest places, and duty mixed with love creates one bitter gumbo.

Paperback, 336 pages
Expected publication: April 10th 2012
ISBN 0765327791 (ISBN13: 9780765327796)

Review:

Since the age of seven DJ (Drusilla Jane) has she’s trained with Gerald St Simon as a junior wizard, and deputy sentinel for New Orleans. She also has the ability of Empath. Along comes Hurricane Katrina, DJ is ordered out to Alabama, Gerry stays behind to guard an opened portal. That's when the action really starts up.

This is an amazing book to read. It not only has Wizards, but also, fae, elves, ghost, weres, and vampires. I really enjoyed the way the author mixed the world building. Our reality, actual events, historical figures (pirate Jean Lafitte), and paranormal characters. 

The characters are well formed. DJ is a bold, smart, and devoted heroine. Toss in Alex and Jake who both like DJ, and let the fun and interesting love triangle roll out in front of your eyes. The plot will leave you guessing at every turn. It just goes some many directions and not in a bad way. 

The pace flowed well. Ending wasn't a cliff hanger, but it really does set it up nice for a squeal that will be craved. And Last but certainly not least the cover. It fit so well into the story. Bravo Ms. Johnson!

My Rating 4.5 Stars!

PRE-ORDER

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Royal-Street-Suzanne-Johnson/dp/0765327791/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316618287&sr=8-1

B&N:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/royal-street-suzanne-johnson/1104154893?ean=9780765327796&itm=1&usri=royal%2bstreet%2bsuzanne%2bjohnson

Character Guest Post: Pirate Jean Lafitte of Royal Street

The Pirate’s Plans

(As transcribed by Suzanne Johnson)

Bonjour, mes amies. Je m’appelle Jean…Bah. You wish this to be in English? (Snarls at the lowly author transcribing his words onto a laptop, who nods.)

Very well. My name is Jean Lafitte, and in the year 1806, as a young man of twenty-six, I arrived in the city of New Orleans—Nouvelle Orleans sounds so much nicer, do you not think? (Lowly author nods, since she has learned it’s much easier to just agree with whatever he says.)

Within a decade, I became the most famous privateer to sail the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and had a thousand men at my command on the Louisiana coast. (Lowly author pipes up: Most people remember you as a pirate.)

Bah. History has called me a pirate, but I simply took what belonged to the Spanish, and they are  mongrels, oui? You must stop interrupting me, Jolie. (Lowly author swoons slightly at the endearment, issued in a deep, husky baritone with sexy accent.)

Now, where was I? Ah, oui. I was quite the handsome man, and many women wished to enjoy my company. As I am quite kind and considerate, I attempted to accommodate as many as possible. (Lowly author rolls eyes.)

Of course, my human life reached an unfortunate end. But imagine my surprise when—voila! —I was given a second, immortal life through the power of human memory. Now, I am a leader of the group of formerly famous individuals known as the Historical Undead. And we are very much alive.

As I am now immortal, how do I fill my unlimited hours, one might ask? This is my current difficulty. The borders between the modern world and the Beyond, where I live in Old Orleans (along with such unsavory creatures as vampires and elves), are enforced by the wizards. If I wish to enter modern New Orleans to conduct business, I must wait for someone with magical abilities to summon me.

Often, these are young folk who expect me to look like someone they call “Johnny Depp” or “Jack Sparrow.” I do not know these blackguards, although I issue an open invitation to duel with this Captain Sparrow or Monsieur Depp should either be brave enough to face me. (Lowly author considers trying to explain such newfangled things as movies, but decides against it.)

And as soon as I set foot into modern New Orleans, the local wizard sentinel chases me down and sends me back to the Beyond. How is a privateer to conduct business when he must constantly elude capture by a wizard?

Yet I have devised a plan. The current wizard sentinel, an arrogant and unreasonable peasant named Gerald St. Simon, has a young protégée—she is quite lovely, I am told, and I believe would be susceptible to my considerable charmes romantique. Her name is Drusilla, although she chooses to go by the unfortunate sobriquet of DJ.

Bah—those are alphabet letter, not a proper name for a young lady. (Lowly author rolls her eyes again—she’s heard this tirade before.)

Nonetheless, the next time some human with magical talent summons Captain Jack Sparrow to New Orleans, I shall arrive and arrange to meet the lovely young wizardess in a remote location. Perhaps to woo her first with my considerable mots d’amour, and then with a business proposition she will be unable to refuse.

For to refuse the famous pirate Jean Lafitte? It could be deadly, n’est-ce pas? (Lowly author points out that if he kills the heroine of this urban fantasy series before the first book is released, it will be a very short series indeed.)

Royal Street, in which Jean Lafitte has his chance to charm the young wizard sentinel DJ Jaco, releases April 10 from Tor Books.

Check Out This Book & Author Suzanne Johnson:

Website: http://www.suzanne-johnson.com/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Royal-Street-Suzanne-Johnson/dp/0765327791/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316618287&sr=8-1

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/royal-street-suzanne-johnson/1104154893?ean=9780765327796&itm=1&usri=royal%2bstreet%2bsuzanne%2bjohnson

FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/Suzanne.Johnson.author

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/Suzanne_Johnson

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5046525.Suzanne_Johnson

This bracelet is made of a stone called Yellow Turquoise, which is a naturally occurring blend of quartz, jasper and serpentine found in turquoise mines. It's a pretty deep teal color, and its magical properties are emotional grounding and courage.

&&&

Two books 

Internationally

Through April 15