Maggie Blackbird

Today, I have author Viviana MacKade in the interview chair.  We’re discussing her latest release Valkyrie Love, a fantasy romance.  Be sure to check out the excerpt.

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1. First, what’s your favourite scene in the book? Not in regards to writing, but reading, and why?

Viviana:  There are many, but one I particularly enjoy is when Brenna and Reed fight (more like a brawl really). You have a Valkyrie, somebody who was literally made for battle, losing it to a simple man only to get the upper hand again thanks to the oldest trick in the world. It was so much fun to write!

2. If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your book?

Viviana:  Not a word.

3. What do you love most about your two main characters?

Viviana:  Brenna’s courage; Reed understated strength of character; and in both, emotional honesty.

4. What makes you want to shake your two main characters?

Viviana:  Brenna’s recklessness. Sometimes it gets the best of her.

5. If you could spend time with one character from your book, who would it be? And what would you do during that day?

Viviana:  Obvious answer would be Brenna, or Reed. But man, I spent SO much time with them already…. So, it would be Ulf, and I’d spend the day drilling him about his world.

6. If your two main characters dined together, what would they cook up? It can be breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even a snack.

Viviana:  Dinner, and steak with roasted potatoes.

7. How did you come up with the title for your book?

Viviana:  Because it’s all about Brenna, learning to understand and accept a new feeling.

8. If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the leads?

Viviana:  Michael Fassbender for Reed. Jennifer Connelly for Brenna.

9. If your book was a candle, what scent would it be and why?

Viviana:  A scent unknown, as 90% of the book is set on a different plane of existence.

10. If your book had a theme song, what would it be and why?

Viviana:  Paranoid by Black Sabbath and Highway to Hell by AC/DC.

11. If your book was a colour, what would it be and why?

Viviana:    Rainbow, because there’s a little of everything.

12. If a reader asked you why they should read your book, what would you tell them?

Viviana:  Because they would have an adventure like no other.

13. What can we expect from you in the future?

Viviana:  I’m not sure yet. There’s a couple of contemporary suspense I want to go back to, and a couple of Fantasy ideas I’m still plotting.

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Book Title: Valkyrie Love
Series: N/A
Author: Viviana MacKade
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Heat Rating: PG 13
Word Count: 66,000
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: February 28, 2022

Valkyrie love never comes easy.

Blurb:  Brenna left Asgard with a curse on her name and a broken heart.
A Valkyrie now free and independent, for millennia her life had been great. Just great.
Then a bleeding Elf knocks at her door holding a baby.

Alexander Reed left the Marines and lost the wheel of his life.
A soldier without a worthy fight, he became everything he despised.
Until he ends up in the wrong backyard at the wrong time.

Fljóða, Queen of the Light Elves and last of her lineage, is an infant with a death sentence on her head.
Hunted by the Night Elves, her survival brings Brenna and Reed together for the ultimate mission: take the little Queen to safety in the Vanaheim Realm, deep in the Roots of Yggdrasil.

Not simple, but straightforward.
Or so it seemed.
Between flaming giants, demons, and an army of Half Breed determined to kill the Queen and conquer all the Elvin Realms, Brenna and Reed will have to face their inner monsters.
Monsters appearing in the form of feelings neither want but cannot control.

Purchase at Amazon

Reed rested his elbows on his knees, observed his scarred hands before zeroing his quiet, blue-green eyes to her. “What am I doing here, Brenna?”

“She saw you in a vision.”

“Mae?”

“Yes. Elves have that ability. She saw you and me in Vanaheim, cheering for victory.”

“So, I’m destined for something? Because visions and destiny can kiss my – you know what. I’m done having people making choices for me.” Soft, slow, his words held iron and steel, an unbreakable will. “I choose for me.”

Brenna chuckled. “You can relax, Alexander Reed. Visions are not what’s necessarily going to happen. It’s not a prophecy. They are one of the millions of possibilities. If you decide to come, if you survive the journey to the Vanaheim, if we do everything that specific vision requires, then there’s a chance for us to end up becoming the vision.”

“Better.” Then he frowned. “What do you mean, if I survive? What about you?” He stopped. “Wait a second, what are you?”

Brenna could be selling him some crap, or at least try to. What would the point in doing as much be? This man, a stranger, was way in already, she might as well come clean. “I’m of the Aesir people.”

“Why is the name familiar?”

“Because the realm I come from is Asgard.”

She saw the moment where realization dawned on him. Very few knew about Vanaheim, or Muspelheim, the land of the fire giants. Many, many people thought they knew about Asgard–thank you, Hollywood. His eyes grew huge, and he ran a hand over his messy short hair. “Shit.”

Because there was something deeply comic in the way he took that news after all he’d learned, she tilted her head and dealt the final blow. “I’m a Valkyrie.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

Brenna burst into laughter. “I will not,” she said when she could speak again.

He kept looking at her, up and down, like she came from another planet. Well, okay. She did. But so did Maeraggyth, and he didn’t get a seizure for it.

“You are a goddess,” he finally said.

“No, I’m not. We served Odin and Freyja, who are Gods, but we were not goddesses ourselves. Strictly talking.” Brenna shook off the uncomfortable feeling her past always gave her and readdressed the topic. “Reed, is it? No Alexander, no Alex. Sandy?”

“Reed.”

“Well, Reed, nice to meet you and welcome into the mess that’s Yggdrasil. Are you hungry?”

“I am.”

Without a second thought or hesitation, Brenna headed to the door. “Then come,” she told him. “We’ll eat and talk more later.”

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Beach bum and country music addicted, Viviana lives in a small Floridian town with her die-hard fans and personal cheer squad: her husband, her son, and her daughter. She spends her days between typing on her beloved keyboard, playing in the pool with her babies, and eating whatever her husband puts on her plate (the guy is that good, and she really loves eating). Besides beaching, she enjoys long walks, horse-riding, hiking, and pretty much whatever she can do outside with her family.

Find Viviana:  Web Site | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon