Words of Wisdom....from The Scarf Princess: Book Tour for Her Captain by Taryn Kincaid (Review & GIVEAWAY)

Those looking for a quick yet immensely satisfying romance between two people with vastly different outlooks on life will be drawn to Her Captain by Taryn Kincaid. Keep reading to get a tempting taste of this book, along with my impressions of it, and learn even more about this book by visiting the other sites hosting this book tour. To get even more insight into this romantic read Ms. Kincaid is sharing her answers to my probing questions too. In honor of this book release make sure to fill out the form below for a $10 bookstore GC and an e-copy of this book too!

LET'S GET TO KNOW A BIT ABOUT MS. KINCAID TODAY....

TSP: Knowing what you do now about the publishing business, would you have done anything different career-wise?
TK: Probably not. Aside from hard work and commitment, so much of this business is about luck and being in the right place at the right time. I’ve been extraordinarily luck with the publishers I’ve worked with, Carina Press, The Wild Rose Press, Decadent Publishing and Fated Desires. The owners and editors of Fated and of Decadent, in particular, have been so responsive and available to me. They’ve made the whole submitting and editing process a pleasure and a breeze, especially for someone like me, with limited free time on her hands. Aside from how much I personally love working with the owners and editors of Decadent, a big plus for me is that they don’t require a synopsis, the bane of many writers!
TSP: What does your writing space look like and do you surround yourself with any particularly inspirational items?
TK: It is a cluttered mess, like the rest of my place! Hey, between cleaning and writing, something’s got to give. Guess which I pick.

TSP: Beyond its synopsis, what do you want us to know about Her Captain?

TK: HER CAPTAIN truly was a labor of love. I adore the hero, Slate Claybourne who, as a Capricorn like me, is very like me in some ways. And although I'm not generally a true believer, I'm tantalized by astrology and the power of gems and stones and crystals. I had to do some research for the fortune teller scene! And, would you believe it? One of the ideas for Pieberry Island, HER CAPTAIN's setting, came from a bunch of picture memes I saw on Facebook, celebrating a certain "national" day. Can't tell you more without giving the origins of Pieberry Island away, but it wasn't National Doughnut Day!

TSP: Which of your books would you like to see made into a movie and who would play the main couple?

TK: This one! HER CAPTAIN! I can see Emma Stone or my girl crush, Jennifer Lawrence, as my heroine, the irrepressible Holly Harper. For Slate, I’d love to go back in time and capture a young George Clooney in amber. Bradley Cooper works for me, though!

TSP: Of all the heroes you've written, who's the most heroic in your opinion?

TK: Slate’s an ex-NAVY SEAL and sniper whose done a number of tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, and has had his commanding officer (Holly’s dad) die in his arms, so he’s pretty high on my hero list. I’d also have to pick Adam Caldwell, Viscount Riverton, the hero of HEALING HEARTS, a Regency and my first contracted book. Adam is a vet like Slate, but of the Napoleonic War. A noble and very reluctant hero.

TSP: My site's all about favorite things/the things you can't live without?

TK: Definitely my Kindle. Love and adore it. Could not survive without it!

Capricorn Slate Claybourne, an ex-Seal and former sniper who has seen and done things in country that no man should endure, returns to his bucolic hometown on Pieberry Island, desperate for the mundane, everyday routines he once wanted to escape.
A broken, soul-dead man unable to be around people, his body still a lethal weapon when his night terrors wake him from sleep, Slate's failed to keep the promise he made to the commander who died in his arms; to look after the older man's baby girl.
But animated Aries Holly Harper is not the pigtailed tot Slate expected her to be, when she lands on the island to take over the decrepit Pieberry House, determined to turn it into an inn for summer tourists, and even more determined to yank Slate back into the land of the living.
First she crashes into him at the island's holiday Winter Festival, dumping a towering stack of pies at his feet, then she drags him off to a fortune teller against his better judgment. Except for the sizzling attraction smoldering between them, they're incompatible in every way.
But when a furious December nor'easter traps them together at Pieberry House, will Slate and Holly overcome their pasts and discover they are two halves of a whole?

EXCERPT:

His square, sharp-edged jaw solidified like frozen iron, so rigid over his clenched teeth, a muscle ticked in his cheek. She almost laughed at his stunned expression, his cold, gunmetal- gray eyes unblinking, his brows zooming skyward like tarnished McDonald’s arches. Except that the face in question devastated her. If she’d thought him ruggedly handsome in the photos her dad had sent home, the giant, live-action figure totally stole her breath away, turned her knees to jelly, and melted her core. Hell, in another second, she’d be coughing and wheezing, trying to draw in a sip of the sustaining oxygen the hot-as-sin SEAL all but sucked out of the surrounding atmosphere. Jeez Louise. Raw, overpowering masculinity poured off him in waves.
Yet, the smiling face she’d often drooled over in pictures had disappeared. Did the grim man before her smile at all anymore? His sharp eyes seemed haunted in a profound way, his stares hyper-vigilant and unwavering…focused on her but, at the same time, a million miles away. She detected no humor dancing in them at all, despite the comical barbs they’d traded over the smashed pies. Hell knew bottomless grief gripped her still from time to time, wringing tears from her when she least expected the reminders of her loss.
But whatever embroiled Slate seemed worse, as if he’d slipped into a dark crevice of endless, dismal eternity and couldn’t find his way back.
I need to fix him. I have to.
Yeah, and good luck with that, girlie-girl.

MY IMPRESSIONS OF THIS BOOK:

With the brutality of winter weighing on us I'm thrilled to have come across this short story long on charm and entertaining in its banter. Throw in emotional issues for veterans dealt with subtly and thought provokingly and it all culminates in a satisfying read courtesy of likable characters and a nice blend of humor and sensuality.

Small town boy Slate left an outgoing young man full of humor but after witnessing so much bloodshed he's now left with scars both inside and out, returning home lost and wanting to be left alone. A promise to the man he saw as a father though puts him in close quarters with the one woman with the power to bring him out of the darkness as both of them engage in a sensual tug of war that keeps readers enthralled. At story's start Slate just wants to be left alone out of fear over what he could do as he's suffering from PTSD. His symptoms are palpable and painful to see and had me aching for him and the darkness slowly consuming him. The temptation of Holly though gives him a glimpse of the happiness he could have if he just takes a chance and it had me rooting for him every step of the way.

Holly is a breath of fresh air from the very first time readers see her. She's full of energy but had losses of her own that have left her flitting from one place to another. Through her father's letters and photos she's found a connection with Slate and meeting him in person doesn't deter her from wanting more from him. Seeing his dark side, and the painful war he's waging with himself, has her using every weapon in her kindhearted and endearing arsenal to help heal him in a journey that's over too soon. Holly is an outspoken women whose interactions with Slate were teeming with sexual tension as well as humor as his bark never scared her away from what her heart wanted. She was the rock he needed to be brave against a faceless enemy and she stood strong beside him which had me liking her all the more.

This was an endearing and entertaining read over far too soon. I was drawn to the overall theme of the story, along with the book series concept, as well as the emotional issues of PTSD but wish they'd been dealt with more fully. I wish too we'd gotten to know more about Holly and Slate, a deeper look at things from their POV, which would've pulled me further into this story. Along with the likable main couple there was a small but colorful cast of secondary characters that added to the small town ambiance with all its charm and well-meaning gossip. Add in some decadent and fiery sexual interludes and I found myself caught up in this book's sensual haze that gave me an afternoon of smiles and sighs as Holly and Slate raced to the HEA. Readers wanting a bit of afternoon delight will get just that with this short story!

My rating for this is a B.

*I got this book from the author for review in exchange for my honest opinion.

AUTHOR INFO:

Taryn Kincaid writes paranormal, historical romance and contemporary romance, sometimes spiced with a little humor or a lot of snark. She enjoys pinching and tickling words to make them dance. Her latest, RAIN, a post-apocalyptic retelling of Sleeping Beauty, is out now from Decadent Publishing. HER CAPTAIN, a Tempting Signs romance (Capricorn) from Fated Desires Publishing, will release in December, 2015. HER CAPTAIN is available for Pre-Order now!