Predatory Tour Stop: Character Interview, Review and Giveaway with Dianne Duvall

Please join me in welcoming the lovely Dianne Duvall to the blog today! Dianne is the author of the Immortal Guardians books which also happen to be one my favourite paranormal romance series! The latest installment, Darkness Rises, isn’t due out until October 1st but in the meantime you can check out her short story in the Predatory anthology to help tide you over until then!


Character Interview with Richart d’Alençon

Who were you when you were mortal? I’m curious about your life as a human.

[box]I was mortal so long ago that that time almost doesn’t seem real to me when I think about it now. I fear I was distressingly unremarkable. The son of a wealthy aristocrat. Or I should say the second son. Étienne was born a few minutes before I was. The fact that we were twins always seemed to titillate the ladies, but I found it hard to grow close to anyone because of the secrets I harbored, the gift I couldn’t reveal, as well as those of my siblings. There were dark times, of course. I lived during the Reign of Terror. I was transformed during the Napoleonic Wars. Then I became immortal and . . . everything changed. [/box]

Was there anything remarkable about your parents? They did give birth to three, eventual Immortal Guardians after all…

[box]I’m trying to think of something pleasant I can say about my father and am drawing a blank. The truth is he was a wastrel who spent his nights drinking and whoring and didn’t care that my mother could read it all in his thoughts. My mother was a gifted one, telepathic like Étienne and Lisette. I don’t think my father, who was human and lacked any special gifts, ever came to terms with that. She was also beautiful and kind. And, though she grew bitter over his infidelities and cruelties as the years passed, she never ceased showering her children with affection. We all adored her.[/box]

What was your favourite decade and why?

[box]This one is, because this decade brought me Jenna.[/box]

If you could exchange “gifts” (i.e. your teleportation) with anyone on your team who would it be and why?

[box]Actually, I don’t think I would exchange my gift if I could. As a mortal, I often envied my brother and sister and wished I shared their telepathic abilities. They could communicate with each other in a crowded room without speaking and over long distances. It was like having a cell phone two centuries before they were invented. Once I became an Immortal Guardian, however, I learned just how useful my gift could be. It enables me to save lives, teleporting fellow immortals and their Seconds out of harms way. And I fare far better in battles than other young immortals. An enemy can’t strike a foe who is constantly appearing and disappearing. And such tends to evoke chaos in opposing forces, something that has come in handy in recent years. So I’m content with my gift.[/box]

Do Immortal Guardians experience something similar to the “werewolf mate” instinct? Because it seems that when you guys do fall, you fall fast and hard. Or is it more of a gut feeling?

[box]We don’t have a “mate” instinct. Perhaps, if we did, most of us wouldn’t spend centuries or millennia alone. With Jenna . . . something just clicked. She appealed to me on so many levels, I couldn’t stay away from her, couldn’t wait to see her every night, couldn’t spend enough time with her when I did. It’s hard NOT to fall hard and fast when you find someone who makes you look forward to rising the each night when nothing else has done so in a very long time. I imagine it was the same for Roland, Marcus, and Bastien.[/box]

How did you manage to hold on to your French after all these years? I would have thought that with speaking English all of the time you would have lost your accent.

[box]French is the first language I ever learned and is still my favorite. Though I currently reside in America, I’ve spent the bulk of my immortality in France and other French speaking countries. Luxembourg, Ivory Coast, Canada, and Senegal to name a few. And my siblings and I often revert to our native tongue when the three of us are alone. It’s hard to break a habit begun over two centuries ago.[/box]

Does the prospect of living forever scare you sometimes? Eternity seems like a very long time.

[box]Scare me? No. Before I met Jenna, however, I did find the notion . . . wearying. I’ve been more fortunate than most immortals, since my brother and sister are both immortal, too. I’ve had their companionship all these long years, and we’ve always been close. But a brother and sister can’t take the place of a wife and lover. The prospect of spending eternity without ever finding love, and the happiness and contentment it brings, weighed me down whenever I let myself think about it. The prospect of spending eternity with Jenna, on the other hand, is wonderful and exciting. [/box]

Are there any disadvantages to being Immortal?

[box]I do miss feeling the warmth of sunlight on my skin and being able to move about freely during the day without having to don uncomfortable protective suits because I lack the tolerance for the sun that the eldest among us possess. That is the greatest disadvantage for me.[/box]

What’s your favourite aspect of being an Immortal Guardian?

[box]Perpetual good health. I never age. I never fall ill. If I’m wounded, I heal at a miraculous pace. Throw in the preternatural speed and strength and there is very little I can’t do. [/box]

If all the vampires suddenly vanished and you no longer needed to be an Immortal Guardian what would you do? What’s your Plan B?

[box]Hmm. I don’t have a Plan B. Vampires outnumber immortals so greatly that it’s hard to imagine not having to hunt them every night. Dr. Lipton IS working hard, though, to find a cure for the virus. Either that or a way to prevent the brain damage it causes in humans exposed to it so they won’t go insane and become maddened vampires. If she should succeed, I suppose we’re ALL going to need a Plan B. Perhaps I should ponder this further.[/box]

Thanks so much Dianne and Richart for taking the time to chat with me today! 🙂


[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3VQBfUNwLkk/UXsb_TmGUEI/AAAAAAAAH7g/NM4w2fMDjkU/s320/DianneDuvall.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]About the Author




Dianne Duvall is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of the Immortal Guardians paranormal romance series. Her debut novel DARKNESS DAWNS was nominated for the RT Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Vampire Romance by RT Book Reviews, for Best Paranormal Romance – Vampire by The Romance Reviews, and for Best Book of 2011 by Long and Short Reviews. NIGHT REIGNS, the second book in her Immortal Guardians series, was declared an “utterly addictive” Top Pick by RT Book Reviews. PHANTOM SHADOWS, the third book in the series, was deemed a Top Pick by both The Romance Reviews and by Night Owl Reviews. DARKNESS RISES, Immortal Guardians Book 4, will be released on October 1, 2013.




When she isn’t writing, Dianne is active in the independent film industry and once even appeared onscreen as a machete-wielding maniac not unlike the vampires she so loves to create in her novels.




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My Review


Title: Predatory
Series: Sentinel #0.5, Immortal Guardians #3.5
Author: Alexandra Ivy, Nina Bangs, Dianne Duvall & Hannah Jayne
Publisher: Zebra Books
Format: eBook, 417 pages
Published: May 7, 2013
ASIN #: B00AY48QUI
Genre: Anthology / Paranormal Romance

Four of today’s most exciting paranormal authors take readers into the thrilling realm of vampires, immortals, and other supernatural beings with a thirst for illicit desire…

Out Of Control by Alexandra Ivy
Ph.D student Angela Locke has a crush on her sexy professor, Dr. Nikolo Bartrev. When she learns he’s actually a Sentinel with extraordinary powers, she joins forces with him to catch a psychopath. But soon, their hottest pursuit is of each other…

Ties That Bind by Nina Bangs
Cassie Tyler agrees to sub for her friend at the funeral home where she works. But she gets more than she bargained for when a group of men attack her and a vampire comes to her rescue. . .

In Still Darkness by Dianne Duvall
Immortal Richart d’Alençon can’t forget the woman who rewarded him with a sensuous kiss after he saved her from a trio of vampires. While Richart knows that loving a human can only bring trouble, the taste of forbidden lust is too great to resist. . .

High Stakes by Hannah Jayne
When vampire fashionista Nina LaShay’s design contest rival is found dead, she’s the prime suspect. Sexy photographer Pike is number two. He’s the kind of man who makes Nina salivate. But will she have to reveal herself to have him–and to save them both? Or does Pike have a secret of his own?

*** For the purposes of this tour I’m only reviewing In Still Darkness***

Out of all of Dianne Duvall’s Immortal Guardians, Richart d’Alençon has always been my least favourite so I’m not overly upset that his love story only merited a novella. In spite of its brevity, In Still Darkness still delivers plenty of sizzling romance, bloody battles and a picture perfect HEA that’s sure to make you want to read the full length books if you haven’t done so already. As an added bonus, Roland, Sarah, Marcus, Ami, Étienne, Lisette and yes, even Reordon are also along for the ride.

Duvall does a remarkable job of making Richart and Jenna’s relationship believable by somehow cramming a month’s worth of dates into so few pages. I was surprised and somewhat delighted with the fact that McBride is 37 years old in this story; definitely a rare occurrence in Paranormal Romance! The age jokes that follow are cute and fun; I especially enjoyed Jenna’s reaction when d’Alençon finally reveals his true age and she realizes that she’s actually not the oldest one in their relationship. There’s only one thing that somewhat annoyed me about this novella and it was the author’s inaccurate use of the French word “chier” on a few occasions. Most readers will probably miss it and perhaps it’s been corrected in the final copy but it still irked me.

I can’t get enough of Dianne Duvall’s Immortal Guardians and even though this is a mere blip in her overall universe, I still thoroughly enjoyed In Still Darkness. Hopefully it was enough to tide me over until Darkness Rises hits shelves in October!

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