Thursday, August 24, 2017

Blog Tour: Runner by Karma Kingsley ~ (Interview, Review + Giveaway)

Title: Runner

Series: The Runner, Book One

Author: Karma Kingsley

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: August 21

Heat Level: 3 - Some Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 79300

Genre: Contemporary, age gap, celebrities, hurt/comfort, interracial, mild BDSM, movie industry, spanking, toys

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Synopsis

Alex Banez is a runner for a Los Angeles film set. When he has a chance encounter with executive producer Atwell Richards, he finds himself falling fast and hard. Atwell is rich, powerful, gorgeous, and everything Alex never thought he would have. But Atwell also has a dark side and an inflexible need for control that threatens to suffocate everyone around him. Alex has to figure out if he can love Atwell without losing himself.

Excerpt

Chapter One

Runner

Chapter One

“Dammit. Son of a…” Alex shook out his hand, holding back a curse as he blew a puff of cool air onto his burning fingers. The skin on his knuckles reddened and sizzled, and he clenched his jaw as he waited for the pain to subside. Goddamn new directors and their tea fetishes. He’d burned himself nearly a thousand times since the new management team had taken over the set. He was certain his hands were merely bone and burn marks, as the last of his skin had certainly just sizzled off.

Taking a deep breath, he carefully placed the scalding hot cup of Orange Jasmine onto a tray with two others, both varying pretentious flavors of tea. His new bosses from Maryland, flown in to save the current film from going up in flames, had a particular palate for teas.

Alex had thought they were joking when they requested that he place an order for the list of nearly fifty different flavors of the beverage, but the cold, sharp looks from his collection of recently arrived employers had quickly assured him that being a “tea connoisseur” was no laughing matter. He’d nodded in obedience and quickly hopped on the task, having to call in nearly every favor owed to him for the more exotic brands. He’d thought that was the hard part, until they had taken to requesting that he deliver them a new flavor of burning hot tea on the hour. In addition to the other millions of tasks he had to complete, he now had a timer attached to his waist, set to beep every fifty minutes and remind him to hydrate the arrogant devils that controlled his paycheck.

Though he wasn’t in the business for the money. God knows he wasn’t in it for the money. The shit job came equipped with equally shitty pay, but this was where he needed to be. Starting from the bottom was the only way to get to the top.

He picked the tray of mugs up and balanced it on his palm, keeping it steady with the light touch of his other hand. He plastered on a smile and moved forward toward the three men sitting confidently in chairs labeled with their individual titles. None of them mattered. They all outranked him.

“Oh, the tea is here,” one of them exclaimed, turning in his chair to reach back for one of the glasses.

Alex opened his mouth to warn him that he was taking the wrong glass. He’d arranged them in the order that they sat, so as not to forget who ordered what, but his effort was futile as the man brought the cup to his lips. He took a sip and immediately spit it back into the cup.

“Is this Pomegranate Raspberry?” he asked angrily.

“Uh, yes. But it wasn’t—” Alex started to answer but was quickly cut off.

The man stood up from his chair. He wasn’t an intimidating man. His features were light, his hair platinum blond, and he was barely half Alex’s size, but he was obviously used to having power and money and thought that his size was more threatening than it actually was. His gaze burned furiously into Alex. “I specifically asked for Red Velvet. Did you think that I wouldn’t taste the difference? Do you think that I’m an idiot?”

Alex stared back at him openmouthed. He had no words. He wasn’t even sure how the two questions correlated. He would never be able to taste the difference between any flavor of tea, ever, and he certainly didn’t think himself an idiot. “Well, it’s just—”

“It-it’s just—” the man mocked him. “Just go, runner.”

Alex stood frozen, still staring at him, and mortified by his outburst.

“I said go, before I find your replacement. Hopefully, one that can read the label on a bag of tea.” The man waved him off as his two companions watched silently. Alex gathered himself. He closed his mouth and turned to leave them to bitch about him and his incompetence. He clenched his teeth together. If you want to be in one of those director chairs one day, then you better damn well keep it together, he reminded himself. He was the set’s bitch boy for now but one day, he’d be running the show. One day soon.

Purchase

NineStar Press | Amazon | Smashwords | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Runner takes place on the set of a movie, have you ever been to a movie set?

I actually worked as an extra for two years in my early twenties. I only did one movie though. Pitch Perfect II. The rest were TV shows. I was a werewolf pack member for I think the second season of The Originals and a jogger, park goer, street walker (not a hooker, just a person on the street) for Under the Dome, ironically, a show that I never actually watched. I always meant to though. And a few other shows that I’m forgetting. It sounds really glamorous but it isn’t. It’s mostly just low pay and long hours, but the people make it great. If you get cast with the right group of extras, it’s like an all day party but with the wrong group, it’s just a very long day.

Do you read and reply to the reviews and comments of your readers?

Yes and no. I read them, but I don’t reply. Replying seems like stepping into quicksand and I’d rather not sink any time soon.

Does a bad review affect your writing?

Hmm...sometimes. If I read something that illuminates a shortcoming then I chew on it for a while and keep it in mind when writing my next project. If it’s just a nondescript negative review, then I’ll just move on.

I actually received a pretty scathing email recently about how inappropriately detailed my erotic romance was. Those are the kinds of reviews that I just brush off. Actually, I took this one as a compliment. My writing was so vivid and realistic that she was so absorbed in the scene it was offensive. In actuality, she may not have caught a cumwad to the face, but the writing was so immersive, it felt like she did. I get how that’s offensive. I’m pretty sure it’s exactly how you get pink eye.

3 Stars!

Let me start by saying that I'm not quite sure if I missed something important or what but the amount of names starting with an A in this story completely boggled my mind. First we have Alex, a man who dreams of one day becoming a successful director but for now knows he must suck it up and be the overworked, under appreciated, verbally abused grunt on the set. Next, we have Atwell (I was unable to get past the name, I'm sorry), the controlling, wealthy and successful boss. We also have Alessandro, the troubled brother. Alexandra his sister. Alissia, Atwell's best friend. I had a hard time keeping everyone straight.

While I had trouble connecting to the characters I will say that I found the story interesting. I loved the idea of seeing things through the eyes of someone in Alex's position, everything he had to do and put up with. I think the story was well written and flowed well. I just personally found myself wanting something more from the characters.

I wanted off the charts chemistry between Alex and Atwell but I didn't really feel it. There were moments where I thought Atwell was sweet and showed he cared for Alex but then there were also moments I felt like he just wasn't connecting right. Like it was forced for the story. His whole explanation of what it means for him to be in control just didn't feel natural to me.

I did feel emotional when it came to Alex. His past and what he went through while growing up was sad and really shined a light on his character. What had led him to the current point and shaped who he was.

Overall, I know there are going to be a lot of people who truly love this story. There is definitely some appeal for those who are into the Uber Alpha Boss and the Employee who steals his heart (in a way that makes him want to own every piece of him). If you like control, there is plenty here.

*** Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure, a review wasn't a requirement. ***

Meet the Author

Karma is a wine-enthusiast, feminist, activist, humanitarian, vegetarian and just all around liberal and that often seeps into her writing. She loves any place with white, white sand and blue, blue water and an endless supply of prefix-mo drinks (Moscato, Mojito, etc.).