Giveaway & Review ~ Little Red by Trista Jaszczak

Trista Jaszczak is guest posting today! :-)

Chat With Red And Ethan From Little Red

First I get to sit down with those handsome and loveable Parker boys and now I get to sit and chat with the stars themselves, Ethan and Red. It’s always a great time to sit with these folks that I so adore, so read on and enjoy our little chat!

Trista: I cannot thank you both enough for being here. Now, Sam…do you want me to call you Sam?

Red: Red, please call me Red. I like that much better.

Trista: Seems Ethan’s little nickname has grown on you.

Red: Haha, it really has.

Ethan: That’s not the only thing that’s grown on her.

Trista: Haha, she seems pretty fond of you too.

Ethan: I would really like to think so.

Trista: Tell me Red, what was the first thing about Ethan that attracted you to him?

Red: His eyes…oh…definitely his eyes. They were so bright and so silver they took my breath away. They were brighter than the moon. I can’t even describe how they made me feel.

Trista: It seems to me that they’re still quite a bright silver and beautiful. Ethan have you had any real changes since the rage lifted?

Ethan: All of that angst has finally lifted. The anger, the aggravation, the urge to maim something is finally gone. That feeling…all of those thoughts truly control you and at time it’s the only thing on your mind. It was annoying and repetitive. You literally had to fight with your own self…you were your own worst enemy. While, we certainly don’t fear the full moon anymore, we do feel it coming. We can feel it as it changes but not like we did before. It’s peaceful and rather calm. To look at the moon for what it is and it not controlling us. Of course, our senses are still in tact and we’re in full control of them. We can sense what a normal person can’t. Now, it’s just a cool trait to have and we use it against one another, haha.

Trista: So you can sense things like a pregnancy?

Red: Haha, except for Ethan.

Ethan: Haha, laugh it up ladies…I didn’t know what that was or what I was feeling. Take a pen and piece of paper…now scribble all over it…that’s what I felt, haha.

Trista: Why Ethan, I do believe you are blushing! Okay, we’ll be nice now. What was the first thing that attracted you to Red?

Ethan: This tiny little brunette in a bright red leather jacket, pushing a motorcycle half her size down a ditch…what’s not to love? In all seriousness, when she turned around and I saw her face…I felt like I was hit with a Peterbilt. It felt like my heart was about to jump out of my body. My mother always told me when I found the right person, I would know…I just didn’t know how right she was. So many feelings collided and after all those years…all that time of being secluded, being cursed, I didn’t think I would ever or could ever find that. The night Red struck me in a way that I never thought possible.

Trista: Well, now that I’m a little teary eyed…Red, what would you say to people who thought you to be a weak woman?

Red: Weak?…My life was hell until Ethan got to me that second time. I survived. Someone weak may have no been able to survive what I went through from age 14 and on. Was I vulnerable later on? Definitely. Was I emotional? Dear God was I ever! But, I was also carrying twins with an incredible gift, that could make me feel more than I ever have in my life. Add that in with 7 men who would barely let me move…haha…I don’t think that’s so weak. It was a lot of emotion…a lot of feeling in ways that I never have…and 7 men being protective. But…I wouldn’t trade that for anything.

Trista: I don’t think I would trade that either. I would call you lucky. Ethan, do you ever feel like your internal battles got to be too much for you?

Ethan: At times, I really did feel like I was ready to be done with it. The rage truly did control us and it was the only thing on our minds. It wants to take over you, it wants to drive you completely insane and that’s why a lot of my thoughts were the same. But, I had never felt the rage that strong, until I found Red…until I had something to love…something to fight for…Add in the twins and my mind was a battlefield. But, with something like the moon rage, it is hard for people to understand it and I completely understand that. Again, take that pen and piece of paper…scribble like crazy like a toddler…that’s how my mind was.

Trista: I will say…I am happy that you and your brothers have relief…have peace after all this time. And, now…because I have to bring it up and I’m dying to bring it up!…I’m noticing an awfully adorable bump on Red!

Red: Haha…yeah….

Trista: Blushing and glowing at the same time…you make me want to cry, I’m so happy…number three?

Ethan: It may be number three and four. *winks*

Trista: Haha! Quite proud that twins run in the family. And you must be proud of two special twins.

Ethan: More than anything.

Trista: Now, I won’t say too much to our readers, but I will say that the Parker pack is certainly continuing to happily grow! Ethan…since I asked your brothers, I have to ask you…who is the true Alpha of the Parker pack?

Ethan: Haha!…you actually braved that question? Red, no doubt, Red is the Alpha. She saved us all from the curse, from ourselves. I could have easily…well, I could have had blood on my hands and damned us for life…Red, she changed that. She really saved us.

Trista: The others seem to think so too. Now, this may be tough for you Red, and Ethan you may want to cover those ears…but I have to know…Red, had things not worked out with Ethan, for whatever reason, do you think that you would be with another Parker right now? If so…who?

Red: Wow. That’s a hard question. Especially since it’s so difficult seeing myself without Ethan. Oh gosh…you know they’re all special to me as brothers and I love them dearly. But, I guess I would have to say it would be a toss up. Haha, Aaron of all the ones, he did a complete three-sixty. Ian, who promised he’d never leave me and kept that promise. And, James, just because from the get go, James did nothing but comfort me. He eased me into everything when I needed it the most.

Ethan: I’m pretty sure Ian would steal her if he ever had the chance, haha.

Trista: He did say something like that during his interview!

Ethan: Yeah…he’s still trying to get your number too. Watch out for that one, haha.

Trista: Haha! So tell me…what does the future hold for Ethan and Red?

Red:

To live happily ever after…………….

Ethan:

Trista: And, I know for sure, that you and the Parker boys will live happily ever after. A much deserved happily after. Red, the world needs to know…do you still ride the motorcycle?

Red: I do! Well, not right now…but I do. I still love it! Ian has restored and customized my bike, it looks amazing…red…of all colors. A new helmet to match and I haven’t ran out of gas in a long time, haha. Ethan isn’t exactly fond of it, but he’s worries. *winks*

Trista: Haha! I never pictured Ethan as a worrier.

Ethan: It’s a motorcycle…that’s bigger than her. I won’t tell her no but I will worry, haha.

Trista: Ethan, would you ever ride?

Ethan: *shakes head* I tried, I failed, I’ll leave it to Red and Ian.

Trista: Failed…why do I have the feeling there’s a YouTube video somewhere with this failure?

Ethan: If it was up to Ian and Aaron there would be.

Trista: Haha! I hate to say it but I do think that we’re out of time. I can’t thank you two enough for being here and I do hope I can talk you into another interview because believe me when I say, I have loads more questions! Thank you Ethan and Red! If you want to know about their story, check out book I in my Believe series, Little Red, it’s the real story behind Little Red Riding Hood and her Big Bad Wolf.

Book Description: 

Follow Sam Wentworth through the winding back roads of Louisiana, on a desperate escape from her past, where she falls into the arms of the unlikely and sometimes unwilling hero, Ethan Parker.

When circumstances and fate seal the two together, entangling them with his six older brothers, Sam finds her life changing in ways that she never imagined. Filled with feuding families and a little old bayou magic, can Ethan put aside everything he has ever known to keep Sam safe from the dangers that their lives and their love possess.

Little Red

Believe Series, Book One

Trista Jaszczak

Genre: romance/fantasy

Publisher: Front Porch Romance

eBook released June 18, 2013 and paperback fall 2013

ASIN: B00DHRYKDG

Number of pages: 207 estimated eBook

Word Count: 62,921

Cover Artist: Charisma Knight: Designs by Charisma


Purchase Links:  Amazon / Goodreads / ARe / Publisher

Excerpt:

This is it. This has to be it! My entire life has been spent with someone holding me back. Always holding my life in their hands and controlling my every move. Not now, not anymore. I’m taking my life in my own hands. This is my new beginning, my long awaited, well-deserved fresh start.

I kick back a little more on the throttle of my motorcycle as the wind whips into my helmet and leather jacket. It’s not quite the January weather I’m used to. The weather is milder and the wind is much warmer down here in Louisiana. It’s nice and kind of comforting.

My surroundings have completely changed. I’m miles away from Kentucky. I take a quick peek around. The road has been quiet for a few hours. It’s nearing dark. This also means I risk bigger animals coming out. Surely, they have deer down here in Louisiana. I’ll have to find a place to lay my head anyways.

I’ve been riding for hours. It becomes uncomfortable on a motorcycle and I have to be nearing the end of this tank of gas. Not to mention, my ass just so happens to be killing me. I peer at a few road signs and see the few upcoming towns, nothing more than a local diner or two and a handful of gas stations. Not even your typical cheap motel.
I really am in the middle of nowhere. The tent in my saddlebags will certainly come in handy tonight. At least, it’ll do until morning. Another 20 miles until the next town, that doesn’t seem bad if I keep my 75 mile an hour pace. I relax and begin to look forward to a peaceful night’s sleep. Until the loud sputtering from my motorcycle jolts me back to full awareness.

“Son-of-a-bitch!” I cry out from underneath my helmet. I’d misjudged my mileage and with no gas gauge, I had no way of telling when I’d run out of gas. I’m luckily able to roll my bike to a slow and steady stop off on the shoulder of the road. I shake my head, wanting to give myself a good hard kick for not being more careful. I glance around as I hop off. Figures, I am surrounded by nothing but woods and my guess, swamps and nearly 20 miles away from any town.
This isn’t exactly what I had in mind when I said I would make use of the tent in my saddlebags. I let out an exasperated sigh as I undo the chinstrap to my helmet, yanking it off my head and let my hair fall around my shoulders.

I bite down on my lip and contemplate. I can’t leave my bike here on the side of the road. I can’t walk 20 miles and back just for gas with it already so dark either. I have no choice. I’ll walk my bike into the woods and set up camp.

People do this all the time, right? No big deal. It’s not like the big bad wolf will jump out and get me. I peer into the woods. Darkness has already fallen over the trees.

They stand quiet and still as even the animals, it seems, have all gone quiet for the night. I laugh off the thought of the big bad wolf. I guess it’s alligators I have to watch fordown here. Or, is it crocodiles?

I shiver, put on a brave face and straddle my bike once more. It’ll take all my strength to waddle it down the ditch and into the woods over the uneven terrain. I figure a short way off the side of the road and into the woods and I should be fine. Enough to be out of the line of traffic but not enough to get myself terribly lost.

As I wiggle the bike down the small slope I begin to exert myself on the flat but rough terrain as I push the bike forward, throwing my petite body into it as much as I can. I grunt as I give one more strong push forward.

The bike lurches along slowly as my helmet clangs against the already scratched black paint. I groan, aggravated with myself more than ever for letting the gas tank get bone dry.

“What in the hell are you doing?” I stop dead in my tracks. I hadn’t heard a single footstep, not even a twig. I swallow hard and throw myself off the bike, flipping out the kickstand as I do.

I turn slowly to see a rugged looking man staring hard at me. His dark washed jeans are splattered with dirt and debris at the bottom, suggesting that he has been romping in the woods beyond. His heavy boots are caked in a layer of thick mud that’s starting to dry in certain spots.
He places his hands on his hips, making his leather jacket open to display a well-fitted tee shirt that I can see defined chest muscles, visible even under the moonlight. His gray eyes shine and shimmer under the light of the full moon as they glare at me in an almost threatening way.

No, not threatening.

Warning me of something and somehow worried. His brown hair is styled fairly nice, which is surprising considering the 5 o’clock shadow on his face. He’s much larger than me. Well, almost everyone is larger than me, but he must be over 6 foot tall. Huge compared to my tiny 5’5” frame.

“You shouldn’t be out here alone.”

I glare at him and swallow, not quite sure of what to say. “I don’t have a choice.” I tell him, “I ran out of gas.”

His eyes shift to my motorcycle. He lets out an almost mocking chuckle, “You ride that?”

I nod, “How else do you think I got here?” I shoot, now just feeling annoyed with him. I turn back to my bike as I kick the stand up and start on my way.

“I wouldn’t go in there if I were you,” He hollers.

“Good thing I’m not you,” I yell back. This time, the footsteps are unmistakable. They’re loud and pounding on the earth. I have a sudden urge to drop my bike and run, but where?
I feel his hands on the handlebars of my bike and I feel myself sigh out of relief. I look over at him and for the first time, I think I catch a smile.

“I can’t let you go into these woods alone.” He tells me as he helps guide the bike forward.

“And just why not?” I ask. “I’m in the middle of nowhere. I don’t have much of a choice and I’m not staying on the side of the road.”

His gray eyes suddenly turn on me. I stop dead in my tracks and stare back. They’re bright, silvery glow almost matches the full moon. I gasp, shocked and almost frightened by their beauty.
“The big bad wolf might get you, Red,” He winks. I let out an unsure chuckle. By big bad wolf, he could mean himself or an actual animal. I feel my heart rate quicken as he shoots me another smile, “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you.”

“And, just how do I know that?” I ask, now letting him take on the full weight of the motorcycle.

He glances over at me, almost unsure himself. He stops and seems to think about something for a moment, “You just have to trust me, Red.”

“Trust you? A man I just met in the woods.” I say, crossing my arms in front of me.

“I did just meet you in the woods,” He declares.

I think for a moment, lick my lips and give him a nod. “But, I’m half your size. You could take me out in a second,” I tell him. I snap my mouth shut realizing what I’ve just said.

He laughs. “Relax Red, you’re safe. I won’t let the big bad wolf get you,” He winks.

“Red?” I ask, finally. He takes a moment to nod toward my red leather jacket and helmet. Both are a brighter red. I’m stupid.
I feel myself laugh for a moment as he starts pushing the bike forward again, “Where exactly do you want this thing?” He questions.

“Just off the road, where someone passing by can’t see my bike,” I tell him.

“Someone passing by, huh,” He says, coming to a row of trees that he hides the bike behind.

“Would that someone passing by be anyone in particular?” He plops the kickstand down and stands the bike carefully. His silvery-gray eyes meet mine again.

“Just,” I pause. “Just some old ex, he’s sort of a pain in my ass.”

“Ahh,” he breathes out, “Running from the ex.”

I stop and think for a second, “Something like that.”

“That must mean you’re not from around here,” He says.

I shake my head. “Kentucky,” I mumble as I shove my hands into my pockets.

“So, Red, you have a name?” He questions.

“Samantha Wentworth,” I mumble softly. “Everyone calls me Sam.”

“Well, I’m not everyone,” he states matter-a-factly, “I’ll call you Red.”

I stare at him, almost confused for a few moments. “Just who exactly are you?”

“Ethan Parker,” He tells me. “Just call me the keeper of these woods.”

About the Author:

Trista Jaszczak (pronounced Jazz-ick) is a writer, military spouse and a mother. She is originally from Hamilton, Ohio but calls home where ever the military sends her and her family, which is currently Anchorage, Alaska. She has a great love for writing, the outdoors, fitness, guitar and the arts.

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8 custom made beaded books marks (made by ClaraBelle’s Custom Creations offered by Bewitching Book Tours)

6 Little Red eBooks (PDF form)

6 Little Red signed posters (those about 11x17)

US shipping for the book marks and signed posters.



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My Thoughts:

I liked Red and Ethan and I hope that there will be more books that contain these brothers. I'd really like to see Ian get a mate. ;-)

There was steam, action, excitement and even a little bit of an adrenaline rush when the bad wolves came to town. If you like werewolves, you'll want to be sure and give Little Red a read. :-)

The only issue I had with this book was that I had a few moments where I was frustrated and just wanted things to work out and them to be mated already. lol! My mother always said I needed to be more patient.

Eventually it all worked out. I really, really liked the ending. It was sweet.

I received an ecopy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. I really liked it and I hope to get more books about these brothers.  

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