Pirate’s Alley by Suzanne Johnson: Character Interview & Giveaway

Pirate’s Alley

Sentinels of New Orleans

Book 4

Suzanne Johnson

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Tor Books

Date of Publication: April 21, 2015

ISBN: 978-0765376978

ASIN: B00O0FZQS2

Number of pages: 352

Word Count: 96,000

Book Description:

From award-winning author Suzanne Johnson comes the fourth book in the smart and sexy Sentinels of New Orleans series.

Wizard sentinel DJ Jaco thought she had gotten used to the chaos of her life in post-Katrina New Orleans, but a new threat is looming, one that will test every relationship she holds dear.

Caught in the middle of a rising struggle between the major powers in the supernatural world—the Wizards, Elves, Vampires and the Fae—DJ finds her loyalties torn and her mettle tested in matters both professional and personal. Her relationship with enforcer Alex Warin is shaky, her non-husband Quince Randolph is growing more powerful, and her best friend Eugenie has a bombshell that could blow everything to Elfheim and back.

And that's before the French pirate Jean Lafitte, newly revived from his latest "death," returns to New Orleans with vengeance on his mind. DJ's assignment? Keep the sexy leader of the historical undead out of trouble. Good luck with that.

Duty clashes with love, loyalty with deception, and friendship with responsibility as DJ navigates passion and politics in the murky waters of a New Orleans caught in the grips of a brutal winter that might have nothing to do with Mother Nature.

War could be brewing, and DJ will be forced to take a stand. But choosing sides won't be that easy.

Available at   Amazon   BN   Book Depository

Excerpt

DJ, are you awake?

          Freaking elf. “Go home, Rand.”

          I am home. Where are you?

          I frowned and burrowed my face into the soft down pillow. Which wasn’t my pillow.

          Holy crap. What had happened?

          I sat up and took in several observations at once, none of which made sense and all of which sent my heart rate jack-rabbiting hard enough to send my blood pressure into the ozone.

          First, I was lying beneath a heavy bedspread woven in a rich blue-and-cream print. The bed was an elaborate confection made to look like an antique half-tester, and a brass chandelier hung overhead.

          I recognized the Hotel Monteleone. I recognized Jean Lafitte’s bedroom in the posh Eudora Welty Suite in the Monteleone. I didn’t have a clue as to how I got here.

          Second, I wore only underwear. My clothes were thrown across a chair in the corner. I had no recollection of removing them.

          Third, the pillow next to mine still held the clear indentation of a head, and there was water running behind the closed bathroom door.

          What in God’s name had I done?

          Rand! Where are you? So help me, if that elf was behind this, I’d splay him open like a catfish and watch his guts fall on the floor. Then I’d batter and deep-fry him.

          God, Dru. Stop shrieking like an elven shrew. I think you got too cold and went into a survival state.

          Survival state? Then I remembered, and shame joined panic. I had gone into hibernation like a bear, right out on Royal Street in front of God and everyone. Quince Randolph, you sonofabitch! Why didn’t you warn me that would happen?

          Stop yelling. How did I know you’d be stupid enough to go traipsing through the snow to the point of unconsciousness? I can tell you’re in the Quarter, but where are you?

          Catch you later.

          I slammed shut every mental door I could imagine and then troweled imaginary caulk in any imaginary cracks around said doors. I was vaguely aware that, off in the distance of my mental stronghold, Rand was yelling at me.

          Had Jean hauled me back to the hotel like a sack of pommes de terres? How had he explained a hibernating blonde to the hotel management? At least my dark blue underwear matched. Had he taken advantage of me? No, it wasn’t his style. Which meant I’d consented.

          Alex was going to kill me if I didn’t kill myself first. I wasn’t sure hibernation-brain was an adequate defense.

          The bathroom doorknob rattled and I dove under the covers, even though I realized it was like closing the barn door after the half-naked cows had escaped.

          From my hiding spot, I heard the door open and footsteps cross from tile to carpet before stopping with a rustle of fabric. “Hey, babe. You finally back from the dead? Whatcha doin’ under there?”

          “Rene?” I poked my head out and frowned at my buddy the merman, fully dressed in jeans and a Saints sweatshirt. His feet were bare, and he walked around the bed and climbed in as if either one of us belonged here, much less at the same time.

          “What are you doing here? What am I doing here? Who undressed me? Where’s Jean?” And, as an afterthought, “Why are we in bed?”

          Now that I realize I hadn’t acted like my licentious great-aunt Dru and slept with the pirate, I transferred my anger to the proper place and it wasn’t to myself. I’d kill that sneaky Frenchman if he weren’t immortal.

          Rene was not immortal, however, and he was within reach. “You better start talking, fish boy.”

          “Aiyeeee.” Rene cackled like the Cajun he was, and fluffed the pillow behind his head. “I told Jean you’d be spittin’ mad. Nothing happened, babe. Your clothes were wet and I was just trying to keep you warm. I’m a shifter, you know. We run hot.”

          “Oh, do you now.”

          That made him laugh harder.

          I threw off the covers and stomped over to my clothes. He’d seen whatever I had and I knew he didn’t want it, so there was no point in hiding. I picked up three soggy layers of T-shirts and sweaters, and cords so wet they weighed about ten pounds.

          My breath hitched. The staff; I’d lost the staff. I whirled to Rene, who sat propped against the lush draped fabric that covered the headboard, watching me with a grin. “Where’s my bag?”

          “In the living room. Everything’s there, babe, even your magic stick. Jean, he took care of you.”

          Yeah, I just bet he did. It was hard to argue effectively in underwear I’d intended only Alex Warin to see, so I went into the living room, dug my room key out of my messenger bag, and stuck my head out the door, looking up and down the hallway.

          “I’ll be back. Don’t go anywhere,” I yelled at Rene, and made a run for it, jamming the keycard into my door lock and slipping inside before I was spotted. If hotel cameras caught my mad dash on security footage, well, I’m sure they’d seen stranger things. This was New Orleans, after all.

Author Bio

Suzanne Johnson writes urban fantasy and paranormal fiction from Auburn, Alabama, on top of a career in educational publishing that has thus far spanned five states and six universities—including both Alabama and Auburn, which makes her bilingual. She grew up in Winfield, Alabama, but was also a longtime resident of New Orleans, so she has a highly refined sense of the absurd and an ingrained love of SEC football, cheap Mardi Gras trinkets, and fried gator on a stick.

Writing as Susannah Sandlin, she also is the author of the best-selling Penton Legacy paranormal romance series and The Collectors romantic thriller series. Elysian Fields, book three in the Sentinels of New Orleans series, won the 2014 Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence while her Sandlin-penned novel, Allegiance, is nominated for a 2015 Reviewer’s Choice Award from RT Book Reviews magazine.

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Character Interview  

Please welcome DJ Jaco and Jean Lafitte from Suzanne Johnson's Pirate’s Alley to Diane’s Book Blog. 

What is your full name? Do you have a nickname?

DJ: My full name is Drusilla Jane Jaco—isn’t that awful? So everyone calls me DJ.

Jean: Bah, those are initials, not a name.

DJ: Jean insists on calling me Drusilla. That annoying elf Quince Randolph insists on calling me Dru.

Jean: Je m’apelle Jean Laffite. The Americans insist upon spelling my family name incorrectly.

DJ: Do you have a middle name?

Jean: Not that I have shared.

DJ: Share.

Jean: Non.

How old are you?

DJ: 28

Jean: An unmarried still. You are what the English call an old maid, Drusilla. You should remedy this.

DJ: Is that a proposal? You want me to marry you?

Jean: I shall be 235 on my birthday next. What shall you ask next?

What is in your refrigerator right now? On your bedroom floor? On your nightstand? In your garbage can?

DJ: Leftover pizza, half a muffaletta from Frankie and Johnny’s, and a takeout order of hot and sour soup from Five Happiness. Empty takeout boxes in the trash.

Jean: Qu’est-ce que c’est refrigerator?

DJ: That thing in your hotel suite at the Monteleone you call a cold box.

Jean: Ah, mais oui. It contains nothing.

DJ: Yes it does. I stuck a box of Snickers bars in there last time I visited.

Jean: Qu’est-ce que c’est Snickers?

DJ: Never mind.

Who are the people you are closest to?

DJ (turns to raise an eyebrow at Jean): My friend Eugenie. Boyfriend Alex.

Jean: He is not a boyfriend; he is a dogfriend.

DJ (ignores him): My friend the merman, Rene Delachaise. And probably this guy.

Jean: I also am close to Rene, and Drusilla, and my brother Pierre and companions 

Dominique and Renato.

DJ: Who’s Renato?

Jean: Renato Belouche. You have not yet made his acquaintance.

DJ: Great. A new pirate.

Jean: We must speak of your manners, Drusilla.

DJ: And the horse you rode in on, Jean.

Jean: I have no horse. I should like a horse for my birthday.

Who is your funniest friend?

DJ and Jean (turn to look at each other and shake their heads): Rene.

What is your biggest fear?

DJ: Getting someone else I love killed.

Jean: Being forgotten.

DJ: Jeez, we’ve gotta lighten up.

Jean: Non, you do not wish to be lightened.

DJ (shrugs): I don’t know what the hell he’s talking about.

Which living person do you most despise?

DJ: Oh, the list is so long. Right now? Quince Randolph.

Jean: You dislike your elf more than your First Elder, Monsieur Hoffman?

DJ: Well, he’s pretty awful too. Then there’s the Axeman. And Mace Banyan.

Jean: Do not forget Etienne the vampire. I must have my revenge on him yet.

DJ: Our list of enemies is getting long.

Jean: Oui, it has always been thus.

Which talent would you most like to have?

DJ: I wish I could sing. I sound like a frog.

Jean: You should wish to learn swimming.

DJ: I don’t want to learn how to swim; I want to avoid the need to swim.

Jean: I should enjoy learning to steer an automobile. Drus—

DJ:  Never.

Giveaway

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