The Solstice Prince
Realms of Love Book #1
SJ Himes
SJ Himes
Gay Epic Fantasy
Romance
Release Date:
November 24th, 2017
Cover Illustration
and Design by Sarah Jo Chreene
BLURB
Rescued from slavers, healer
novice Jaime Buchanan finds himself alone and free in Pyrderi, a kingdom of
magic, mythical creatures, and a culture as open and kind as his homeland was
cruel and close-minded.
Despite his rescue, Jaime is not
left without scars, both mental and physical. Traumatized by his experience and
hiding his gift, Jaime struggles to earn his place in the kitchens of Angharad
Palace, the heart of Taliesin City. His former life as a student of the healing
arts leaves him at a disadvantage in the kitchens, and his damaged state is
becoming more apparent by the day.
One day, when necessity and fate
intervene, Jaime meets someone unexpected—Prince Maxim, youngest son of the
Pyrderian king, a sword master and a devastatingly kind man. Unaccustomed to
powerful people with compassion and heart, Jaime flees. A cascade of events
reveals Jaime’s hidden talents of healing, and he finds himself not in chains,
but at the beginning of a new life.
This swift change of fortune opens
Jaime up to new possibilities, including a smitten prince who cautiously courts
Jaime, easing him away from his fears and reminding him that compassion and
love can make him strong. The winter solstice is quickly approaching, and
Prince Maxim shows Jaime the enjoyment and excitement to be found in a land
that embraces the ice and cold, and the mysteries of all things magical. He
learns to see the man under the royal mantle, and Maxim is more than even Jaime
suspected.
The winter solstice is nigh when
tragedy strikes, and Jaime learns that his past of grief and sorrow can be a
pillar of strength for his solstice prince. If there is one thing that Jaime
believes above all else, it is in the healing power of love.
EXCERPT
At some prearranged signal, the crowd
began to quiet, faces turned towards the canopy where the royals sat. Janis
stood and moved to the rail, lifting a hand to the crowd. The people cheered,
clapping and shouting the crown prince’s name. Prince Janis was popular with
the people if he garnered that kind of reaction— this was not the forced
greeting given to a leader that was feared or despised. Jaime still did not
know who the king was of Pyrderi, but the future King was well-liked, perhaps
even loved.
The people quieted and Janis shouted,
his words echoing through the cloud air. “Greetings citizens of Taliesin City!
On behalf of the royal family and my father, the king, I welcome you to the
first official day of the Solstice Festival! Today is cold and the wind is
sharp, so I’ll not waste any time! Would the priests please light the solstice
fire, and let the festivities begin!”
The crowd roared in approval and there
was a burst of smoke across the square. Two men and a woman dressed in gray
robes were standing at the base of a large metal structure about the height of
a tall man. The woman was cradling something in her hands that billowed out
dark gray smoke and she tossed it into the weird structure. Bright orange
flames promptly rose and the crowd cheered again. The royals clapped in
approval and Jaime hurriedly copied their example, though he had little idea of
what was going on.
Maxim leaned down and spoke in his ear.
“The priestess is a Magi and she lit the torch with her magic. The torch
represents how life endures even in the depths of winter. The winter solstice
is in a few days with the festival ending with the grand ball at the palace.
The winter festival here in Taliesin City draws in celebrants from around the
country and even from some of the islands in the Straits.”
Jaime blushed when Maxim pulled back
and gave him a swift wink and a charming grin. “Janis needs to stay and let the
people see him for a while, but the twins are about to escape the cold and we
have a tour to finish. The first day of the festival is just the opening
ceremony since a lot of people are still arriving. Do you want to stay or would
you like to finish the tour?”
“The tour sounds like fun, if you’re
sure we won’t be missed.” Any time alone with Maxim was worth the icy chill.
“You two should escape while you can,”
Janis said, having overheard Maxim. “I’ll be here until the cold gets too much,
talking to courtiers and the like.” The crown prince stood over Jaime who
blinked back up at him in surprise. For such a large man, he moved with
surprising subtlety. Janis motioned to the lower levels of the stands, and the
courtiers below were indeed standing and heading for the stairs that led to the
royals’ box. “Unless you want to stay and get fawned over by the masses,
Maxim?”
“I’ll save that for you, dear brother.
Enjoy your day, and welcome home.” Maxim helped Jaime to his feet. Jaime was at
a loss for how to respectfully say goodbye to the crown prince, but Maxim
solved this by tugging him away with a casual wave to his brother and the
twins, who hardly paid them any heed, tossing back small waves of their own
before they went back to talking. Janis grinned at them both and tipped his
head towards the stairs.
Maxim took hold of Jaime’s hand and
took off for the stairs. They hurried downward until they came back to where
the sleigh had dropped them off originally. There was a sleigh waiting for them
pulled by the same strange creature Maxim called an oryx. Maxim helped Jaime up
into the carriage and jumped in behind him. The driver snapped his whip, and
the sleigh jerked into motion.
Their visit to the festival might have
been quick, but Jaime didn’t mind. The way Maxim held his hand, tight and firm,
like he never wanted to let go, filled Jaime with warmth and a slow burn under
his skin, heating his cheeks in the chilly air. The prospect of spending the
next few hours in Maxim’s company was incomparable to anything he’d experienced
in his short life. Not better than the day he was freed from the slavers, but
it was close.
Falling in love felt like learning how
to live again.
Tell
us a little bit about yourself and what you're currently working on.
- HI!
My name is Sheena, I write as SJ Himes and Revella Hawthorne. SJ Himes is
my primary name, and I’m working on getting Revella back in the game
sometime soon. I write gay romance and erotica, in a wide range of
subgenres. I love paranormal, urban fantasy, and science fiction.
- I’m
from New England, Western Massachusetts, but I’m currently in New Orleans
living with my sister and my niece. I’ve been to a lot of places and I
have to say that New Orleans is the most interesting.
- I’m
currently working on four different titles at the moment, having just
released a book. I’ve got Bred For Love 4, Beacon Hill Sorcerer #3, Realms
of Love #2, and a joint project with Luna David in my current writing
cluster.
What
started you on your writing journey?
- I
learned to read at a young age, but had a lot of trouble in school because
the way they were teaching me wasn’t how my brain worked. One year in
elementary school, we were assigned a year long project--write a five page
story. I started it in September, and by the end of the school year in
June, it was 104 pages of handwritten epic fantasy. That should have been
my first clue. I went back to writing more earnestly in high school and
college, then took a ten year break due to RL issues and my job. It was
actually the soul-sucking nature of my EDJ that drove me to make the
decision to write full time. It took about 8 months from the day I resigned,
but I managed to get to a point where I was self-sustaining.
Is
there a genre you haven't written in but want to? What genre would that be?
- Espionage
thriller. I love complicated plots and characters with depth, but I think
the complex nature of a decent espionage thriller might be too much for
me. It’s on the whiteboard in my office, down near the bottom of the WIP
list. Maybe one day, when it doesn’t fill me with more dread than
excitement.
When
you're working on a WIP do you work with an outline or does the story drive
itself as you're creating it?
- I
am 75% pantser and 25% plotter. I have one or two major scenes in my head
for each book, usually the climatic portion of Act III and the epilogue,
but I wing it on my way there. Makes for interesting writing, and
sometimes I have to backtrack if I find myself getting too far afield. If
I plot out too much before I start writing, I get bored writing the actual
book, as my brain thinks we’ve “already written it.”
- I was a 100% panster with The Prince’s Consort. I
totally winged it. With Wolves of Black Pine, I had a vague idea of what
the end would feel like, but that one I also pantsed for the majority of
it. Took me ten months to write, and most of that was me teaching myself
how to turn the chaos of my rough draft into a functional plot. Now, I
have the outcome in my head, two or three things that needed to happen in
each book, and the rest I make up as I go.
What
one story of yours would you want to revisit for an update on the characters
and their lives?
- All
of my books are currently part of ongoing series, so they will all
eventually get an update. My one lone contemporary, Saving Silas, will
eventually get a sequel, but I can’t tell you when. So many books to
write, so little time. I need to clone myself.
What
are the last 3 books that you read or listened to on audio?
- This
is a hard one. I read so much in between writing my own books that I am
actually reading several different books concurrently. They are
Tap-Dancing The Minefields by Lyn Gala, Tried & True by Charlie
Cochet, and Late in the Day by Mary Calmes. The last audiobook I listened
to was the first book in Aimee Nicole Walker’s Curl Up and Dye series,
performed by Joel Leslie.
I'm a self-employed writer who stresses
out about the silliest things, like whether or not I got my dog the best kind
of snack and the fact my kindle battery tends to die when I'm at the best part
in a book. I write mainly gay romance, erotica, and urban fantasy, with
occasional forays into contemporary and paranormal. I love a book heavy on plot
and character evolution, and throw in some magic, and that's perfection. My
current series are: The Beacon Hill Sorcerer, Bred For Love (as Revella
Hawthorne), The Wolfkin Saga, and the epic fantasy romance series Realms of
Love. My last two novels in the Beacon Hill Sorcerer won 3rd Place in the Gay
Fantasy category for the 2016 Rainbow Awards.
I live in New Orleans, where the
personalities are big and loud and so are the bugs! New Orleans is rich in
cultural history, and the flavor and music of the City is impossible to hide.
Before that, I lived all over the United States: Tampa, Western Massachusetts,
Indianapolis, and on and on.... I'm a nomad, and I've yet to find a place that
calls to me strongly enough to become home. My faithful travel companions are
my dog Micah, the numerous voices in my head who insist they all get put on
paper, and the wind at my back.
Sarah Jo Chreene/Cover Artist
Sarah Jo Chreene is a 23-year-old
resident of Dallas, Texas, where she works part-time in an antique shop, which
is one of her dreams jobs. Sarah Jo delights in meeting new people, interesting
personalities, unique restoration projects, and the atmosphere of the shop
inspires her muse. Her other passion, and one she devotes most of her time to,
is her art. She sold her first piece at the age of 17, and hasn’t stopped
since.
Her professional portfolio includes the
self-titled album cover for the popular Texas band, Thieves of Sunrise, and
will be working with the band again on their third album cover. Sarah Jo has
worked with international best-selling romance author Riley Hart, doing a wide
range of projects from promotional artwork to interior illustrations, and artwork
for Hart’s alter-ego, Nyrae Dawn, in the YA novels The Weight of Destiny, and
Turn the World Upside Down. Sarah Jo’s most recent collaboration is with urban
fantasy author SJ Himes, creating the cover art, design, and interior
illustrations for The Solstice Prince, the first novel in The Realms of Love epic
fantasy romance series. Sarah Jo will also be creating the interior artwork for
the remainder of the series, a project for 2018 and 2019.
Sarah Jo loves to work in a variety of mediums,
including digital painting, Photoshop, charcoal, pens, pencils and freehand
sketching and painting in a wide range of styles from anime, sketchy, realism,
and cartoons. Sarah Jo ranks Norman Rockwell as a primary influence for his
evocative use of emotion and his beautiful portrayals of humanity.
Between professional commissions, Sarah
Jo delights in creating private artwork based on personal requests, from
original characters, to portraits, and has brightened the walls of many patrons
over the last eight years of selling her work.
For examples of her work, Sarah Jo is
on Instagram, DeviantArt, and Facebook. She is accepting commissions for a wide
variety of projects, and can be reached through social media and the following
platforms:
sarahjochreene@aol.com
Deviant Art: dwightyoakamfan.deviantart.com
GIVEAWAY
Thank you for having me! <3
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome!! <3
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