Betrothed (Magic Matched # 1) by Lola White: Interview

Genre: paranormal romance/suspense

Publisher: Totally Bound Publishing

Date of Early Release:  March 27, 2015

Date of General Release: April 24, 2015

Word Count: 93,000

Available at:

Totally Bound: www.totallybound.com/betrothed

Betrothed Synopsis

In witching society, magic and politics are the only things that matter, and marriages are arranged for advantage rather than love.

But neither Ileana Lovasz nor Eliasz Levy are looking for love. Humiliated by a string of broken betrothals, Ileana only wants freedom from her manipulative grandfather. Eliasz simply wants an alliance with Ileana’s brother Silviu, a man rising through the witching ranks. That is, until the Lovasz woman arrives at his home and stirs up emotions he’d never thought to feel.

Silviu has bigger things on his mind than his sister’s marriage. Georgeanne Davenold, Silviu’s betrothed and the key to his rise in power, is back in his life after a ten year separation that left her distrustful of his intentions. Their union is a novelty, spanning the divide between Matriarchal and Patriarchal Families. Their union is also alarming, combining the influence and magic of two witches only heard of in myth and legend.

Ileana, Eliasz, Silviu and Georgie must build an alliance that will help them all get what they want but, with too many lies and too many enemies, the game they’re playing turns deadly. When the two women come under attack, neither Silviu nor Eliasz knows which is the target. They only know they will protect the women their hearts have claimed as their own, even though that means defying the traditions of witching society, risking every goal they hold dear and confronting the dangerous members of their own families.

Magic Matched Synopsis

The Magic Matched series tells the story of Silviu Lovasz and Georgeanne Davenold, two witches with a power only told of in myth. In witching society, there is a strict hierarchy, Family covens are ruled by Mothers or Fathers who hold the bulk of their bloodline’s power and archaic rules are enforced, disregarding modern sentiments. Magic and politics are the only things that matter, and marriages are arranged for advantage rather than love.

Silviu and Georgeanne have been betrothed since the moment of Georgie’s birth. When Silviu’s father learned a baby was to be born under the Bane moon, he reached across the Schism dividing the covens into matriarchal and patriarchal houses to the Davenold Mother, with a bold scheme to place their children at the top of the witching hierarchy. With Silviu wielding the enhanced talents of a Reap witch, he is the perfect match to Georgie, an abomination without magic who should have been killed at birth because of her defects. The only way to protect themselves against those who fear them enough to kill them, is take a position of leadership.

But they can’t reach the top alone. Reuniting after a ten-year separation that left Silviu aching with loneliness and Georgie distrustful of everyone who claims to love her, they begin building strong alliances. Silviu’s siblings, Costel and Ileana, and Georgie’s cousins, Adam and Christiana, are instrumental to their plans. But not all family members are worthy of their trust and the closer they get to their goals, the more dangerous some witches prove to be.

Silviu and Georgeanne must learn to open their hearts to each other in order to unlock their full magical potential. But with all that stands in their way – archaic traditions, murder plots, and a betrayal that threatens all they can be – they will need the group of allies they have built to help them navigate the dangerous world of witches, and the dark magic stalking them every step of the way.

Excerpt

“Georgeanne Davenold is now old enough for me to do exactly as I wish to her, without her Family’s interference.”

Vasile stared at his son for a long moment, leaving Silviu feeling weighed and measured, evaluated in a way he’d grown used to, years before. It still wasn’t easy to keep calm under the silver stare.

“Don’t lose your head, my boy. This isn’t some female to take without consideration.”

Silviu hefted a brow. “I’ve never had any complaints.”

Vasile scowled. “You put your damned heart on your sleeve and you’ll lose every advantage you’re likely to gain with that girl. She’s been molded in Madeleine’s image. Do not underestimate her.”

“That’s exactly what you want, Father. A woman as strong as Madeleine. Her entire life has been arranged by you for that very reason. She was always meant to be Madeleine’s second reign.”

“And your first, but she’s your weakness,” Vasile spat, abruptly leaning forward in his chair. One rigid finger drilled into his desktop, emphasizing his point. “I don’t know what the hell it is about her, but I could see it the moment you met. Do not jeopardize all we’ve worked toward for a female who will never allow you to be her weakness. She has her own agenda and, with the sole exception of that Beltane night, she’s never given us any reason to think she would be willing to put it aside to please you!”

Surprise held Silviu for a breathless moment, a hideous vulnerability sweeping over him at how easily his father had read him. He cleared his throat with effort. “We both want to lead the covens. What makes you think her agenda wouldn’t match mine, if properly explained to her?”

“You won’t win the heart of a matriarchal female,” Vasile countered. “You’re too…male, for any of them. So, don’t even bother to try.”

Silviu hid the fear spearing through him by slouching back in his chair, a deliberate insouciance that was all that ever truly fooled his father. “I know. It’s a political alliance, not a love match.”

Vasile lost some of the tension in his shoulders. “Only Georgeanne can unlock your full potential, only she can provide a conduit for all the magic that should rightfully be yours. Together, you could join the Families, power from both sides of the Schism. Just think! You will rule with your combined power over all the covens.”

“Just as you wanted, Father.”

With one last searching glance, Vasile shifted back in his chair, a crafty gleam sparkling in the depths of the eyes he finally turned on his daughter. “Eliasz wants you.”

“That’s ridiculous,” she scoffed. “He doesn’t even know me.”

Vasile shook his head. “There is no earthly reason why the powerful Levys would want to ally themselves with our Family except Eliasz’s lust. We aren’t politically relevant.”

“But that will change,” Silviu said.

“Yes, but no one in the Levy Family knows the extent of my plans.” Vasile raised a brow at Ileana. “You will do everything in your power to keep Eliasz’s attention and win his heart. Do you understand me?”

Ileana’s eyes went wide. “Throwing me into Eliasz’s bed, then?”

Vasile pointedly eyed the tiny skirt riding high on his daughter’s thighs. “Are you going to tell me you’re a virgin?”

“I won’t tell you anything on the matter at all, Father.” Ileana cocked her head. “What makes you think this time will be any different from before? Grandfather is going to find some reason to pull back from this alliance.”

Vasile’s hard face went rigid. A low growl ripped from his throat. “The old fool has no idea how much he’s cost this Family. He is the reason we have no power in the witching world, but so long as he wields the magic of our bloodline we have no weapon strong enough to bring him down.”

“We need this alliance,” Silviu said, turning to take Ileana’s cold fingers and squeezing gently. He tried to give her comfort, hope. For so long, they’d been each other’s support in the face of their Family’s machinations. “The Levys are no joke, Iley. This one will go through.”

“You can’t promise that,” she argued.

“We’ll do our best.” Vasile rapped his knuckles against his desktop. “But you’ll have to do your part, girl. Wrap that man around your finger. I know you can do it. You can be very charming when you put your mind to it. People naturally like you.”

“Convince him to elope with me, perhaps?”

“If need be, yes.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Silviu glanced at his sister, the sudden calmness in her voice sounding alarms in his skull. She only used that tone when she was about to challenge the archaic, patriarchal rules they were forced to live by.

Vasile seemed unaware as he moved on to his favorite subject—intrigue. “Now, as for the meeting with the Levys, I will expect very specific things from both of you.”

It was nearly the witching hour before they were given permission to leave their father’s presence, lectures and orders still ringing in Silviu’s ears. When he slipped out into the cold hallway, he shut the study door behind him carefully, calmly and with complete control.

Only then did he lean back against the wall, close his eyes and let a shudder born of too many emotions to fully contain roll through him. Tension and intrigue fell from his shoulders, making him feel half his weight, now that his father’s focused gaze was no longer resting on him.

“Now’s your chance, Silver,” Ileana whispered.

He nodded. “And yours. We will both be bolder than we’ve ever dared before.”

“I’ll give it everything I have,” she promised.

Dragging in a deep breath, gathering his cracking armor of calm around him once more, Silviu set off toward his bedroom, making his own plans for Georgeanne Davenold that had nothing to do with politics, and everything to do with pleasure.

Author Bio

Lola White writes what she writes, which is erotic fiction. Sometimes horror, sometimes paranormal, sometimes romance. It’s all sexy, but never predictable because she likes to twist reality at its edges in her stories. She likes delving into the emotions of her characters, finding their strengths and weaknesses, and seeing (and showing) how they get themselves out of whatever trouble has found them—if they can. Don’t try to label her collection of tales beyond the most basic description, EROTICA, because she writes whatever story comes to mind, whatever speaks to her. She’s certain something in her library will speak to you, too.

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Interview 

Please welcome Betrothed author Lola White to Diane’s Book Blog. 

What is your favorite part of the story?

When you say story, I think in terms of the series, Magic Matched, rather than just the first book, Betrothed. The series is about Silviu Lovasz and Georgeanne Davenold learning how to open their hearts to each other in a society that inspires distrust.

So, my favorite part of the story is Georgeanne’s learning process, which has a lot of similarities to my own, in terms of trust issues. Georgie has been raised by a strong woman, to be a strong woman, and she sees the world as it is. Which makes it even harder for her to open herself up to Silviu, who is more idealistic than her. Silviu is an intelligent man and he’s been raised to expect and wield great influence, but he’s a romantic at heart and his self-confidence has him viewing the future through rose-tinted glasses. It throws Georgie for loop, sometimes.

She’s caught in a situation she can’t escape—her betrothal to Silviu is unbreakable, and they are Magic Matches, two witches whose magic works on the same frequency. Their Match can unlock the true potential of their magic, but only if they develop enough affection for each other to stabilize the force. Georgeanne has to be brave enough to learn how to trust Silviu and the love he offers.

How long did it take you to write Betrothed?

The bare-bones rough draft of Betrothed took about three weeks to write. A few times a years I get on writing kicks where I will write two or three whole novels in a month or two, but then my muse takes a vacation. When the stories take a pause, I put on my editing hat to go over what I’ve written and add, subtract or totally rewrite.

Betrothed is the first book of the series, so it was much easier to write, being a blank canvas. The other three books took much longer, and were constrained by the rules, relationships and traditions I’d created in Betrothed. I found myself having to go back through all the books to keep tweaking things so the whole story would be consistent. If I put all the minutes I spent writing, rewriting and editing Betrothed all together, I figure I spent about five months on the book.

Who or what inspired you to be a writer?

This is a difficult question to answer. You can’t be a writer if you’re not a reader, and my mother should get the credit for my love of reading. We were in the library every week to get new books, and she always made sure I was reading outside my age range and my comfort zone. I didn’t know I wanted to be a writer until a few years ago,  though I should have guessed because I was always writing something and I was always reading something—fiction and non-fiction, biographies, histories, thrillers, fantasy, sci-fi…literally anything that catches my interest. But romance and erotica are my favorite genres because, for me, those are the two that can sweep you up fast and make the world around you disappear. I guess at heart, I’m kind of a romantic, too.

What inspired you to write your first book?

A dead end job!

I needed a job when I came back to the United States after several years in Africa and I took one that didn’t really suit me. It was fine for a while, but I wasn’t using my degree or any of the training I had accumulated and I started getting really negative. I’m not naturally pessimistic so I struggled with that, which caused a lot of stress, which made me more negative. The cycke was pretty depressing…

One day I found an old notebook of story ideas God-only-knew when I had written. One of them caught me and I thought—I should write this. I did, and it was terrible (forever locked away), but in the process my negativity dissolved and I felt better than I ever had. And I realized, I’d found what I wanted to do. It was an uphill climb the entire way, and I’m still not close to what I’m aiming for, but when the odds are against you and everything in your brain screams for you to give up and the only thing that keeps you going is the insistent whisper in your heart that says you’re doing exactly what you’re supposed to be doing… well, let’s just say I have faith and inspiration in spades.

Can you share a little of your current work with us?

I have several irons in the fire including two more releases this summer. But the bulk of my attention is currently focused on the second book of the Magic Matched series, Married.

Silviu and Georgie are together again in England for the wedding of Constance Gage-Levy, who readers will meet in Betrothed. There’s a few new characters, including Tulah, a woman with just the right mix of qualities to sweep cynical Adam Davenold off his feet, and Graves Ngozi, who I had such fun with. He’s a delicious Bad Guy, instigating bad things that have the power to completely throw Georgie’s world off its axis and upset Silviu’s political ambitions. 

What do you prefer paperback, hardcover, or ebooks?

I love books any way I can get them…but I have a serious addiction to paperbacks. I love the ease of ebooks and how quickly I can access my favorite authors or an awesome new story I can’t wait to read. But I love holding books in my hands, and paperbacks fit better than hardbacks. I love flipping to my favorite parts—no, not (always) the sex scenes, either—and rereading them over and over. I’m a big reader, but I’m not always a big buyer due to the size of my bank account, so if I buy a physical copy of a book, I love it and will read it until the covers fall off, then I’ll tape them back on and read it again… Anything you love always holds a special place, right?