Paranormal Week: A Look at the Award Winning Moldavian Moon Series

GOLD winner in the 2012 Reader's Favorite Contest, Fiction: Supernatural, "The Wolf's Torment."

The witches in this series are torn between loyalty and love, often making difficult choices in the face of adversity. The Moldavian Moon series is a notch darker than the Budapest Moon Series and the wolves have little to no redeeming qualities – they are truly "bad to the bone." Set in Romania between 1860-1880's, the series captures a classic paranormal feel involving witches, werewolves, and vampires.

In BOOK 1, "The Wolf's Torment," Crown Prince Mihai Sigmaringen is a witch. His best friend, Viktor, marries Mihai's sister, Sonia. Mihai himself marries a witch, Theresa. The dynamic between the characters becomes complicated when Viktor is bitten by a wolf. He struggles to retain his humanity, but eventually crosses a line, forcing Mihai and Theresa to make the most difficult choices of their lives.

REVIEW: "The Wolf’s Torment is certainly more than a story about a werewolf. There is quite a bit of depth in this multifaceted story of a family’s struggle with life, love and loss. The ending is definitely bittersweet and I had many questions that I hope will be answered in the next book in the series. I’m glad I had the opportunity to read this intriguing tale. Fans of historical, paranormal romance should give The Wolf’s Torment a try." – Poinsettia, Long and Short Reviews, 4.5 Books, Nominated for BOOK OF THE WEEK.

BUY LINK:
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-163/Stephanie-Burkhart-Moldavian-Moon/Detail.bok

In BOOK 2, "Twilight Over Moldavia," Prince Stefan is Mihai's son. He's also been cursed to become a werewolf on his 18th birthday. He's got one chance to break the curse – fall in love with the princess from Carpathia, Caroline. But is Caroline a woman he can fall in love with? Complicating matters is Timon, the werewolf who wants to see the curse fulfilled in Stefan.

REVIEW:
"Twilight Over Moldavia is even better than the first book in the series. It is an excellent story filled with just the right balance of romance, magic, and danger. Stefan and Caroline’s story certainly has a happy and satisfying ending, but the epilogue opens up a whole new story line. I’m already looking forward to the next book in this exciting series." – Poinsettia, 5 Books, Long and Short Reviews, Nominated for Book of the Month, FEB 2012

BUY LINK:
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-247/Moldavian-Moon-Book-Two/Detail.bok

COMING UP:

BOOK 3 in the series will be "Sunrise Over Brasov," and its due to be published in July 2013. Prince Michael Sigmaringen is on a mission to save Lady Rosa Getzi, the woman he loves, from the wolf Clement and his witch, Cassandra. Rosa, however, has been traumatized by her captivity and isn't quite giving of her trust. Can Michael make her fall in love with him all over again?

You can find the Prequel Free read here:
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-130/Stephanie-Burkhart-Moldavian-Moon/Detail.bok


Tomorrow: A Look at "The Secret Door."

Author Spotlight - Character Interview with Princess Caroline of Carpathia

Anna Hathaway inspiration for "Caroline"

GAEL: Hi, I'm Gael, the owner of "MUSEum" the bar where all muses hang out from the Desert Breeze Anthology, "Be Mused." The bar is a place to come and unwind and take a break. On occasion I get a celebrity in. How can I resist an interview?

With us today is Princess Caroline Moldoneavu from "Twilight Over Moldavia." It's great to have you here today, Your Highness. Tell us, how did you meet Prince Stefan?

CAROLINE: We met in the woods outside of Dragon's Keep, my ancestral home. I shot the prince with an arrow.

GAEL: Oh, you cupid! Or should I say Aphrodite?

CAROLINE: Aphrodite, I'm not. I'm much more skilled with a bow and arrow. It was an accident – how embarrassing! My father would be so disappointed. Thankfully, Stefan wasn't hurt.

GAEL: That's good he wasn't. How did he react to being shot with an arrow?

CAROLINE: He just stared at me. I'd never had a man look at me like he did. Then I noticed he had a flesh wound so I wrapped my scarf around his leg to stop the bleeding.

GAEL: Oh, I'm sure he appreciated the gesture.

CAROLINE: I did get a small smile out of him. I'd never touched a man before, but when I placed my hand on his thigh, I grew warm all over. I knew right then and there he was special.

GAEL: Did he know who you were when you shot him?

CAROLINE: No! Our parents had just formally arranged our marriage and I was too embarrassed to admit I was the Crown Princess of Carpathia and his betrothed so I lied and told him my name was Aurora. And it is – just my middle name.

GAEL: That's not very noble.

CAROLINE: He lied, too. He told me his name was Sebastian. I thought I'd never see him again. When he left, he took my scarf I'd wrapped around his leg. It was a family heirloom my mother knitted for me. She was disappointed that I'd lost it.

GAEL: When did you see Stefan next?

CAROLINE: I was waiting in the great hall with my family to be introduced to the Sigmaringens from Moldavia and meet my betrothed. Sebastian walked in wearing the uniform of Moldavian's Crown Prince. I almost fainted.

GAEL: I'm sure he was surprised as well.

CAROLINE: Both of us were stunned. My mother had to nudge me to curtsey with one of her scowls.

GAEL: I'm sure your mother was polite. She's a queen, after all.

CAROLINE: My mother is always disappointed with me and if it isn't one thing, it's another. Thankfully, Stefan saved the moment by producing my scarf, she thought I'd lost.

GAEL: I heard the prince was a real gentleman. How did the rest of your night go?

CAROLINE: Not like I expected, I assure you. If you don’t mind, I'm late meeting my grandmother. She's giving me a lesson in witchcraft.

GAEL: You're a witch, too?

CAROLINE: It's a long story.

GAEL: Congratulations on your engagement.

CAROLINE: Thank you. (dashes off)

GAEL: Sounds like their romance is off to an interesting start. I just might have to have the prince over to MUSEum some time soon. –wink--


BLURB: Would you marry a man cursed to become a werewolf?

4 Stars, Vijaya Schartz, author
In this novel full of danger and intrigue, sexy scenes, and unspeakable secrets, the werewolves are the villains, and oh how dangerous they are, and unwashed, and uncivilized. The kind of villains you love to hate.

5 Stars, Mona Risk, Author "No More Lies"
Burkhart's writing style grabs the reader from the first page. She keeps you breathless with her suspense as she transports you to exotic areas you will enjoy discovering.

Barbara Hodges, Author, "The Blue Flame"
Twilight Over Moldavia whisked me into a part of the world I knew nothing about, and gave me a wonderful love story filled with suspense too. What more could a reader desire? I will be reading the first book in this series and will be looking for the third, I can’t hardly wait.





BUY LINKS:

ALL ROMANCE EBOOKS:
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-moldavianmoonbooktwotwilightovermoldavia-667833-139.html

AMAZON KINDLE:
http://www.amazon.com/Moldavian-Moon-Book-Two-ebook/dp/B006RQ7LU8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325479348&sr=8-1

PUBLISHER'S BUY LINK:
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-247/Moldavian-Moon-Book-Two/Detail.bok

WEBSITE:
http://www.stephanieburkhart.com

TWITTER:
http://twitter.com/StephBurkhart

FACEBOOK:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephanie-Burkhart-Author/149938795021166

GOOD READS:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4031660.Stephanie_Burkhart

Author Spotlight - The Inspiration behind "Twilight Over Moldavia"

When I was a young girl, I used to watch "Creature Double Feature" on Saturdays and became convinced that there were beings who went bump in the night like vampires, werewolves, witches, and zombies. Silly me – I thought if I covered my neck with my sheets the vampires couldn't get me. Oh, and I never did figure out what happened to all the lint under the bed so I think there was merit to my theory.

All those creatures of the night resonated with that young girl so when I grew up, I wanted to write about them. Being the optimist I am, I gravitated toward romance writing. When I discovered paranormal writing, I'd knew I'd found my niche.

In 2005, I wanted to write a paranormal romance about a werewolf. Vampires were pretty popular back then and I wanted to explore the wolf. My idea? I wanted to write a fairytale in reverse where the princess had to save the prince. Inspiration had taken root.

I threw a dash of gothic and a pinch of moonlight into the plot and wrote "Twilight Over Moldavia." Prince Stefan had been cursed to become a werewolf on his 18th birthday. Can Caroline's love save him? I wrote the first draft then tackled "The Wolf's Torment," explaining how Stefan came to be cursed. I went through several drafts of each and my self-published "The Wolf's Torment" in 2007 had more horror elements than romantic ones. In 2009, I signed contracts with Desert Breeze for the Moldavian Moon Series. The published version of "Twilight Over Moldavia" is draft #4. It's a story close to my heart because I love how Caroline and Stefan come together to face adversity. I usually don't draw inspiration from music, but for their story, I drew a lot from "Astronomy" by Blue Oyster Cult. Inspiration comes from the willingness to explore - and Blue Oyster Cult.



BLURB: Would you marry a man cursed to become a werewolf?

4 Stars, Vijaya Schartz, author
In this novel full of danger and intrigue, sexy scenes, and unspeakable secrets, the werewolves are the villains, and oh how dangerous they are, and unwashed, and uncivilized. The kind of villains you love to hate.

5 Stars, Mona Risk, Author "No More Lies"
Burkhart's writing style grabs the reader from the first page. She keeps you breathless with her suspense as she transports you to exotic areas you will enjoy discovering.

Barbara Hodges, Author, "The Blue Flame"
Twilight Over Moldavia whisked me into a part of the world I knew nothing about, and gave me a wonderful love story filled with suspense too. What more could a reader desire? I will be reading the first book in this series and will be looking for the third, I can’t hardly wait.


BOOK TRAILER: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSAhxv0lTIM

BUY LINKS:

ALL ROMANCE EBOOKS:
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-moldavianmoonbooktwotwilightovermoldavia-667833-139.html

AMAZON KINDLE:
http://www.amazon.com/Moldavian-Moon-Book-Two-ebook/dp/B006RQ7LU8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325479348&sr=8-1

PUBLISHER'S BUY LINK:
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-247/Moldavian-Moon-Book-Two/Detail.bok

WEBSITE:
http://www.stephanieburkhart.com

TWITTER:
http://twitter.com/StephBurkhart

FACEBOOK:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephanie-Burkhart-Author/149938795021166

GOOD READS:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4031660.Stephanie_Burkhart

Author Spotlight - Q&A with Stephanie Burkhart

Question: I don't know much about "Twilight Over Moldavia." What's it about?

Steph: "Twilight Over Moldavia" is a paranormal romance set in the 1880's in Romania. Prince Stefan is cursed to become a werewolf on his 18th birthday. He learns this just as he's getting engaged to Caroline. She must make a choice to go ahead with the engagement or not. Timon, the werewolf who cursed him, hunts Stefan throughout the Romanian principalities, determined to claim Stefan for his pack.

Question: How long did it take you to write?

Steph: I wrote the first draft in 2005 and it was very different from this version. I put the draft aside and focused on other projects. From 2006-2009, I started a 2nd and 3rd draft, but didn't settle upon this draft until last summer. It took about eight weeks to write this version.

Question: Where did the inspiration for the story come from?

Steph: I love supernatural creatures, but decided I'd focus on werewolves instead of vampires because the basic premise of the wolf has a living, breathing man behind the beast. I wanted to focus on how the wolf struggles to retain his humanity. For me, witches are a natural fit for the wolf, an organic companion. Witches also have struggles, like learning to fit into the human world.

For "Twilight Over Moldavia" the premise was simple. I wanted to write a fairytale in reverse where the princess had to save the prince. The plot and characters grew from that.

Question: How did you come up with the title, "Twilight Over Moldavia?"

Steph: For Stefan's principality, Moldavia, it's truly twilight when the promise of the nation, the crown prince, is cursed to become a werewolf. By using "twilight" in the title, I hope to provide a small amount of hope that Stefan can be saved and find "happily ever after."

Question: How much research did you do?


Steph: Tons! I researched werewolf myths, witches, Romania, Romanian customs, Orthodoxy, Romanian names, Transylvania, Wallachia, Dracula, the Black Sea, and Bran Castle just to name a few.

Question: Tell us a little about the heroine, Caroline. What are her strengths?

Steph: When the story opens, Caroline has just been name the Crown Princess of Carpathia. She did not expect to have the title since she was her parents' second daughter, but her older sister, Edwina, died in a riding accident.

Caroline knows her own mind. She's the best horsewoman in Carpathia and she's skilled in archery, very non-princess traits her dancing is passable and her embroidery is abysmal. She knows she disappoints her mother, yet it's her understanding of duty that her father teaches her which drives her choices. Caroline hopes that ultimately she can make her mother proud of her.

Question: How did Stefan come to be cursed?

Steph: For that, you'll have to read "The Wolf's Torment," book 1 in the series.

Question: Do you have to read "The Wolf's Torment" before reading "Twilight Over Moldavia?"

Steph: No. I believe "Twilight Over Moldavia" can stand alone, but "The Wolf's Torment" will help the reader better understand how Stefan came to be cursed.

Question: Do you have an ebook reader?

Steph: I have a Kindle 2nd generation and a Kindle Fire. I love them both.

Question: Did you make any new year's resolutions?

Steph: To lose weight. I'm back at Weight Watchers and joined the weight loss challenge at work. If you want to follow my journey, I'm blogging about my experiences every Saturday on my blog, "Romance Under The Moonlight."

BLURB: Would you marry a man cursed to become a werewolf?

4 Stars, Vijaya Schartz, author
In this novel full of danger and intrigue, sexy scenes, and unspeakable secrets, the werewolves are the villains, and oh how dangerous they are, and unwashed, and uncivilized. The kind of villains you love to hate.

5 Stars, Mona Risk, Author "No More Lies"
Burkhart's writing style grabs the reader from the first page. She keeps you breathless with her suspense as she transports you to exotic areas you will enjoy discovering.

Barbara Hodges, Author, "The Blue Flame"
Twilight Over Moldavia whisked me into a part of the world I knew nothing about, and gave me a wonderful love story filled with suspense too. What more could a reader desire? I will be reading the first book in this series and will be looking for the third, I can’t hardly wait.


BOOK TRAILER: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSAhxv0lTIM

BUY LINKS:

ALL ROMANCE EBOOKS:
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-moldavianmoonbooktwotwilightovermoldavia-667833-139.html

AMAZON KINDLE:
http://www.amazon.com/Moldavian-Moon-Book-Two-ebook/dp/B006RQ7LU8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325479348&sr=8-1

PUBLISHER'S BUY LINK:
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-247/Moldavian-Moon-Book-Two/Detail.bok

WEBSITE:
http://www.stephanieburkhart.com

TWITTER:
http://twitter.com/StephBurkhart

FACEBOOK:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephanie-Burkhart-Author/149938795021166

GOOD READS:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4031660.Stephanie_Burkhart