PAT SHEPPARD REVIEWS ~ LISA BETH DARLING'S THE HEART OF WAR~ PLUS AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT

Title: The Heart of War

Publisher: Moon Mistress Publishing

Inside the Heart of every Warrior breathes the Soul of a Hero--even within The Heart of War.

Meet Ares God of War, the Alpha Male to beat all Alpha Males and the greatest Warrior the world has ever known. He's moody, grumpy, dominant, ravenously sexual, and above all, built like a Greek God.

Suspected of killing his Daughter in-Law, Psyche, and long in exile from Olympus, the solitude of Ares' secluded Greek Isle is interrupted when Magdalena MacLeod a plucky little Fey washes up on his shore after believing she's been shipwrecked. It's not mere fate that has brought the unlikely couple together yet it may be what tears them apart.

Get lost in this sweeping dark saga of lust, rage, revenge, and redemption. Battle Ancient Gods while falling in love with Ares God of War and Alena MacLeod. They share a love that will rock the world from the heights of Olympus to the Celtic moors.

The Heart of War contains scenes of graphic sex and violence. As such, this novel and the entire OF WAR Series is intended for MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY it is NOT recommended for the Faint of Heart.

PAT SHEPPARD REVIEW: 

Let's Make Love Not War - Ares, God of War has been exiled to his own island for thousands of years.  He often amused himself with causing wars between the humans but he soon tired of that.  He took whatever human woman he wanted for his sexual favors and men for their male companionship.  But even that gets old.  Until one day in the height of being pleasured a odor enters his nose and he must investigate.  He finds a woman attached to the odor, dumped on his island by the sea.  And attached to her is a *wait for it, yes wait for it" a chastity belt.  He wonders how did she get here,  because there are no ship remnants and she has no wings.  He goes about his business once he revives the woman.  But something about her just keeps drawing him in.  Ares learns that his family members had interest in her.  Zeus, Poseidon, Eros, Apollo, Cernunnos and Aphrodite oh my.  The stories that lay behind these names are not mine to tell, so you must read it for yourself.  Love, lust, power, betrayal, abandonment, hatred and the list goes on.  But what does it take to end all wars?  Love and thy name is Magdalena, woman from the sea.

- I gave the book four stars because it lived up to my expectations.

SPOTLIGHT ON LISA BETH DARLING

1.     Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?
At current I’m 47, married 28 years, I’m the mother of two grown daughters.  Not only do I still live in my hometown of New London, CT we reside in the home where I grew up.  I love Facebook games, I was nearly addicted to Candy Crush Saga for a while. I don’t like Twitter but that’s probably because I don’t understand it. I have a huge movie collection that I keep adding to on a near weekly basis and that I indulge in nearly every night when TV season isn’t with us.  And, I must admit, I’m a choc-aholic.

2.    When and how did you know you wanted to be a writer?
I discovered that I am a writer in the 4^th grade when the class was given a creative writing assignment. It’s my very first one and when I put pencil to paper I was instantly whisked away from my desk, time, and space. I didn’t come back until my little short story was finished.  From that moment forward I knew I would write for the rest of my life.

3.    Tell us about your upcoming work?
“Kingdoms of War” will be the sixth and final installment in the OF WAR Series and will release at some point this year. I don’t have an exact date yet. It’s very explosive and I don’t expect all characters to live through it but we will finally find out if Ares and Alena get their happily ever after.

4.    Do you have any mentors? Heroes?
Stephen King, Bruce Springsteen, John (Cougar) Mellencamp, Harry Chapin, Jim Croce. All of them can spin a wonderful tale.

5.    Can you tell us your favorite character from your books so far and why?
Ares God of War will probably always be my favorite character. He’s very rough n’ tumble, a total badass, but way underneath it all he’s a little bit gooey.  He’s completely in love with his wife, Alena, and love is a very foreign concept to him so he ends up doing a lot of the wrong things for the right reasons.

6.    Was it difficult for you to get published?
With so many small presses and internet based publishing places getting published isn’t as hard as it used to be. Finding the right publisher is a huge challenge.

7.    Who are your favorite authors/reads?
Stephen King will always be my favorite no one can scare me or draw me into a story quite the way he can. I’m a child of the 70s and 80s so I still love VC Andrews, Jacqueline Susan, Harold Robbins, Judith Rossner, and Mary Higgins Clark.

8.    Hobbies?
In the nice weather I try to garden but it’s difficult with so many hungry critters creeping into the yard at night. They get way more veggies than I do!

9.    What is your dream job?
Any place that I’m needed and that allows me to utilize my creative talents along with my business skills.  So, I’m halfway there with my current job as the secretary for a local union.

10.  Do you have any favorite TV shows?
I simply adore crime dramas. Hubby calls it ‘murder porn’ but I don’t care. I never miss “Bones”, “Castle” (gotta love ‘Castle’ right??), “NCIS”, and “Person of Interest”. I catch “The Mentalist” on the web because I can’t stay up that late on a Sunday night and get up at 6am on Monday morning.  Over the last season I also grew quite fond of “Sleepy Hollow”.

11.  What’s next for you?
Once the OF WAR Series closes out I’m not really sure what’s after that.  I can envision carrying on a new series with the new characters we’re introducing in this novel and, of course, with whatever characters survive or I might have a standalone novel in mind.  I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what the Muse brings me.

12.  Where can we find you?
Huddled in a corner…no just kidding.
Website: http://www.moonsmusings.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/lbdarling
Blog: http://lbdarling.wordpress.com

13.  What would you like readers to know about you?
That I appreciate them to no end and I’m very approachable if anyone ever wants to drop me an email or post on my FB page or whatever they are free to do that. I love hearing from people who have read my books interaction with them really keeps me going.

Thanks so much for participating!!!