Book Tour/Giveaway - The Descendant by Melissa Riddell

The Descendant by Melissa Riddell

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GENRE: Sci-Fy Romance 

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BLURB: She wants her world back; he wants her heart. Tilly Morgan and her four-legged companion, Kodiak, are just trying to survive the alien arrival. Two years ago, the visitors unleashed devastation—a world-wide EMP followed by a deadly virus that wiped out more than half of humanity. Traversing the lonely landscape, she runs into an alien on patrol with one order: eradicate all human life. A mysterious, dark-haired stranger named Jareth comes to her aid, and she reluctantly allows him to join her quest to find her sister. He even persuades her to let the damaged alien tag along against her better judgment. As her group travels the desolate world and inches closer to her goal, she’s forced to examine her unwanted feelings for Jareth and come to terms with her heart, even if the truth threatens to destroy her and everything she’s come to believe. 

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 Excerpt: His eyes crinkle. “Hmm.” He lets go of my shoulders and continues cleaning the cut, then blows on it to speed up the drying process. The way his lips open and the feel of warm air—his exhalation—on my skin causes me to clamp my teeth together. His breath smells like cinnamon, and that full bottom lip looks way too enticing. I hide a shiver. “Would you stop that?” “Stop what?” Unable to bring myself to say blowing on me, I flap a hand near his mouth. “That.” He frowns for a moment, then tips his head back. “Oh, you mean this?” He leans forward, keeping his eyes locked to mine, and pushes air through his lips, as if daring me to say something. “Yeah. That.” My voice sounds uneven. His words are pure silk. “Why? Does it turn you on?” “What?” I push at his chest, but he’s about as movable as Mount Rushmore. “God, no. Your breath smells like you’ve been eating dog food, and it makes me want to hurl.” Dropping his hands, he pulls back with a frown, and looks like he wants to exhale into a palm and sniff. I stifle a giggle. Yeah, I’m a butt, but the comment knocks him off his sexy game and gives me a chance to collect my wits.

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From The Author:

Thanks so much for hosting The Descendant on this stop, Gimme the Scoop Reviews. I hope everyone enjoys reading Tilly and Jareth’s story.

A few days ago, a reader sent me a message that said, “You make your male characters sound so dreamy!” and this made me stop and think. How do we, as writers, accomplish this?

With Romance being my primary genre, making a character dreamy is one of the most important ingredients in my story cocktail if I want readers to connect and fall in love with my characters.

How is this accomplished? For me, the first ingredient is a flaw. That might sound strange but hear me out. Beauty really is in the eye (and mind) of the beholder, and true beauty comes from our imperfections. Romance is about so much more than kissing and making googly eyes—it’s being intimate and open with the other person, laying out the ugliness, and their acceptance of that hidden self.

So, in that vein, when creating people, I pick at least one unflattering trait the character needs, such as selfishness, pride, control issues, etc.—you get the picture—and use it to shape their journey. After all, no one is perfect, and imaginary characters shouldn’t be, either.

One of the best examples of that comes to mind is the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. Remember how Tris and Four fall in love? The reader sees Tobias has cruelty issues due to his father’s past abuse. He even admits he has a hard time being kind. Through Tris’s eyes—and with her determination—we watch Four transform from someone a little broken into someone beautiful despite that darkness.

Is he handsome because of his looks? Not in my opinion. If I remember correctly, Tris describes him as having a hooked nose. This is not the status quo of physical beauty. No, his flaws and insecurities—and his attempts to overcome them—are the true attractiveness of his personality.

Even though we read to escape the real world, our brains still file what we learn in the story to help us deal with life. By watching a character overcome or embrace his or her flaws, we also use what they’ve experienced on their journey to help in our own personal lives—and fall in love with them along the way. At least, that is a romance writer’s hope—that they created a living, breathing, person with whom the reader can love—or at least empathize.

This leads me to Tilly and Jareth in The Descendant. Tilly has several flaws, such as being impulsive and naïve, so the reader is privy to this almost immediately with her first-person, present tense narration. Even before she sees what Jareth looks like, though, she finds herself drawn to his personality—and she’s not sure why. When she finally gets a good look at him in the light, she notes he’s attractive, but even then I threw a wrench in the attraction factor with his annoying, arrogant behavior.

With Jareth, it’s necessary for Tilly to dig under those layers to find the real man underneath. On the outside, he’s cocky and sure of himself, but those aren’t his true imperfections. He uses his swagger like a shield to hide that inner darkness, which only makes her want to keep digging.

In the end, the way I see it, a character with physical beauty and perfect behavior is just boring. There’s no opportunity for growth or intimacy. As humans, we all have that dark, ugly side we don’t want others to see. I think it’s a remnant from our ancient ancestors, when they had to fight every day for survival, either by protecting the tribe or providing sustenance. When we choose to let someone else get a glimpse into that tarnished part of our soul—and they don’t run away screaming or call the police—well, that’s the true beauty of love.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links: Melissa Riddell is from a small, West Texas town in which she still lives with her husband. Her writing career started as a hobby when she was a teenager, writing poems and short stories. Eventually, she branched out and began constructing novels. When not contemplating new story ideas, she can be found traipsing around Texas State Parks, herding her cats, or reading a book.
 You can follow her on several different social media platforms below:
 

 Facebook: facebook.com/melcriddell


Twitter: twitter.com/MelCRiddell


Instagram: instagram.com/averela


Goodreads: goodreads.com/melcriddell
 

Website: https://averela13.wixsite.com/melissariddell 

Amazon buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Descendant-Baltin-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B07ZWHVKBP/ The book will be $0.99 during the tour. 

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 Melissa Riddell will giveaway to randomly drawn winners via Rafflecopter a $10 Amazon/BN GC, a signed copy of The Descendant (book 1), or an ARC of the second book in the series. Please use this rafflecopter code on your post: 

 a Rafflecopter giveaway