Interview and Review: Guardian of Fate by L.J Kentowski

I want to welcome L,J Kentowski today.  She graciously agreed to be interviewed today.  Her debut book is Guardian of Fate.  You can see my review of Guardian of Fate right after my interview.

Thank you for stopping by today.  I really enjoyed Guardian of Fate. 

Thank you so much for having me today on The Book Maven! It’s truly an honor to be here, and I’m so glad you liked GOF

1.     How did you come up with the idea of the Guardians? The idea for Guardians grew from the main character, Cassandra. I had a vision (pun intended) of her having this supernatural ability that helped her save lives. From that, it seemed natural that it would be an angelic type of gift, which of course, led to her fighting the forces of the Underworld. So, I guess the entire novel was pretty much her fault J

2.     I loved both Caleb and Hunter.  How did you choose which for Cassandra to end up with? To be honest, I never really intended to fall in love with both of them. I thought I knew from the beginning the one for Cassandra, but as I got more involved with each of them at different parts of the writing process, I started to confuse myself. I can only imagine how Cassandra felt! I think I’m still trying to figure it out *shameless plug for Book #2, Seeker Of Fate*

3.     Will we see more of a love triangle in the next book or will Caleb find someone for himself? Yes. These guys don’t want to give up on the fight for Cassie and Book 2 brings with it a whole new playing field for Caleb, as you read from the horrible cliffhanger I left at the end of Guardian Of Fate. I really am sorry for that, by the way. I didn’t mean for it to happen, really.

4.     Are any of your characters based on people you know or even yourself?  No, not really, although I wouldn’t mind knowing a few guys like Hunter and Caleb. Cassie may have a teensy bit of the witty sarcasm my husband keeps telling me I blurt out in my everyday life.

5.     Being a mom also,  I know how challenging it is to juggle everything. Where do you find the time to write and work through your ideas? I think that is the toughest thing for me — finding time. I work full time during the day and then come home to family life with my young son, step-daughter, husband, and crazy dog, so most of my writing/thinking time is done after their energies are worn out or I make them all go to bed. That’s my prime time — sticking the headphones on, blaring the music in my ears, and letting the ideas flow, with the world around me blocked out. Sleep doesn’t factor into my life, but who needs it, right?

6.     Do you have any authors you read that have inspired your writing?  I love, love, love, Karen Marie Moning, Jeaniene Frost, and Ilona Andrews. Their series’ blew me away! I loved the characters in every one of them and their abilities to build the worlds they did truly amazed me! Through each and every one of their books, I ate, slept, and lived their characters’ lives. Okay, that sounds a bit stalkerish, but I’m an honest person.

7.     Ok…now I am gonna ask you just a couple fun/silly questions.  Do you have any guilty pleasures? Okay, I’m going to tell you this, but you cannot tell my husband — I dream about hot, sexy, alpha male book characters, and when I wake up, I pretend I just got done living a double life. Other than that, reading, writing and music are my passions, but I’m only guilty about them when I ignore the rest of the world because of them.

8.     Can you share with me three things that not many people know about you? I was destined to be an FBI profiler, but turned down the 2^nd half of the interview process to be with my husband. I have Bachelor’s Degrees in Psychology and Criminology. Finally, the first diaper I ever changed was my son’s. Seriously, my entire life I vowed never to marry or have kids, and now they are my world.

9.     What is your ultimate dream as a writer? Oh, it’s a pretty typical dream. You know the one — get discovered, sign a multi-book contract, along with its multi-million dollar movie deal. But in reality, I’m just ecstatic when someone tells me they really enjoyed my book and that they can’t wait to read more.

10.   Can you name one thing as a Supermom that had you shaking your head and smiling? I know I have tons of these moments with my son.  Oh gosh, that is so hard to pick, since like you I’m sure, it happens every day, several times a day. But the one thing right now that gets me going is that my son thinks he’s a little blue hedgehog named Sonic. This kid runs around grocery stores humming the theme songs and running like he’s really in this other world. It gets really embarrassing when he puts on his sister’s old white sparkly gloves and runs around the yard. I’m hoping this stage is almost over. I’m ready for him to be Batman!

Thank you again for stopping by and I really look forward to reading the next book in the Guardian of Fate series. 

Thank you for having me! I had lots of fun and I hope you and your readers did as well! And thanks so much for checking out Guardian Of Fate! I hope all of you give it a peek too. If you do, please let me know what you think of it! Seeker Of Fate is just around the corner, so make sure to watch for that too

Have a great week everyone!

LJ

Book Description:

Fear of death is all too common. Visions of it chill the bones and skip heartbeats. Seeing it coming and knowing only you can rescue the soul of the victim from the fiery bowels of hell…that’s downright life-altering.

Cassandra Cosgrove’s life was altered at the age of sixteen when she found out that it was her responsibility to save the lives, and ultimately the souls, of innocent victims targeted by Hell’s demons. As impossible as it seemed at first, she was able to live a fairly normal life, while secretly fulfilling her obligation as a Guardian of Fate.

But years later Fate has its own plan when her visions begin drastically changing at the same time two mysterious men appear in her life. Cassandra suddenly finds herself caught in a battle between good and evil, with her own soul on the line. When it seems everyone in her life has a secret they’ve been hiding from her, who can she trust to be the Guardian of her Fate?

This book was a phenomenal start to a series.  I can really see a lot of promise in the books that will come after this one.  The characters of Cassandra, Caleb and Hunter were all well illustrated and excellently formed.  Ms. Kentowski’s writing was very fluid and was so good you don’t realize your done the book till your reach her cliff hanger of an ending.  As an avid paranormal romance reader I read a lot of similar books.  What really stood out for me with this book was the interactions between the characters and Ms. Kentowski’s ability to have you flipping who you want Cassandra to be with.  At one point I was so mixed up I was waiting for another character to be introduced just to have another choice for her.  I did love both Caleb and Hunter.  Not just because they were achingly hot, but also because they were smart, secretive and yes very hot.  Cassandra contains everything you desire in a good heroine.  She is also smart, supernaturally talented, strong and has a very sassy mouth.  Overall, I highly recommend this book and the series it will become.

I’d like to thank L.J Kentowski for stopping by today and Bewitching Book Tours for allowing me to host one of their stops.

For more information about L.J Kentowski and Guardian of Fate you can go to her websites below or to Barnes and Noble, Amazon or any other book retailer.

Author website: http://www.LJKentowski.com

Blog: http://www.ljwrites.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/laurajeanwrites

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LJKentowski

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5382939.L_J_Kentowski