Book Spotlight with Sonja L. Myburgh

Hello and welcome to this weeks Author Guest on JoAnne's Blog. This week I have the lovely Sonja L. Myburgh, and her new release, Between Rubies and Opals. Please make her feel welcome and dont forget to comment. Thank you.

Between Rubies & Opals Blurb:

Since the dawn of time, there has been a violent race feud between the vampires and the werewolves, and many lives were lost through the centuries.

For five centuries, Vampire-governor Marcus Wasilewski rules Algharakh with a marble fist, as he classifies the vamps as the superior race, which severely oppresses the wolf race. Racism is eminent and the wolves demand justice, as Senator Frank Morton, leader of the political party W.O.L.F, brings Algharakh on the precipice of a political shift. 
In the midst of all the chaos, a forbidden love blooms between Sam, a werewolf, and Erin, a vampire.
"Even in the midst of tragedy, a silver lining managed to crawl out behind the darkness…" 

Excerpt from Between Rubies & Opals:

Erin plugged her headphones into her ears and started humming along to an old school rock ballad as she folded her clean clothes. Even though this was the first time that she did her laundry by herself, she knew exactly what she was doing, as she memorized every single online tutorial on how to properly fold clothes.

A strange feeling crept up her spine and she got the distinct feeling that she was being watched. It could be her paranoia, which was already in overdrive. If her mother knew where she was, she’d be so incredibly dead. Well, figuratively speaking, of course. She stopped suddenly, staring at the half-folded shirt in front of her and slowly turned her head to the side. There was a guy, who looked about her age, standing a few feet away from her, shoving his light gray jacket onto a dryer, with an amused smile on his face. The gray shirt he had on made his shoulders look extra broad and Erin felt another strange, yet powerful pull towards this guy. He was tall, had light brown hair and was ruggedly handsome, everything that Erin liked in a guy, but with her recent catastrophe on the dating front, she was not sure what exactly she liked anymore.

Her ex, Lukas was still a sore subject, and even when Anthony mentioned him briefly yesterday, she was feeling troubled.

Empty.

Even though Anthony apologized for bringing up Lukas’ name and the whole blasted situation, that had caused Erin unbearable agony for almost half a century, it still hurt. Hearing his name brought back so many vivid memories. Memories she would much rather forget. Memories that made her skin crawl and broke her stillborn heart all over again. Although Erin tried her best to shrug it off, it pained her more than she thought it would.

That was the trouble with being the way she was. All her emotions were intensified. When she’s happy, she’s ecstatic, the world was hers for the taking, but when she’s sad, depressed and empty, her whole world crashed down around her, and she would feel less pain if her head was ripped off her body by an angry wolf. She often wondered why she experienced her emotions so intensely, and sometimes felt jealous of her brother, being able to feel nothing at all. Maybe that would have been better altogether.

She gathered her train of thought, before it went flying off a cliff and realized that she was openly and shamelessly staring at this guy. Embarrassed, and slightly ashamed, she dropped her head and continued to fold the shirt in front of her.

Then, as a saving grace, her favorite part of the chorus blared through her headphones and for a brief moment, she forgot about everyone around her and belted out the chorus to herself. She glanced over at the guy again, but this time he was looking straight at her, with a crooked smile on his sexy face. He was hot – bottom line - and she felt herself blush as she removed her headphones from her ears.

Cringing inwardly, she knew she had done it again. “Oh god, I was singing really loud, wasn’t I?”

“Just a little,” the guy said to her, his words rolling off his tongue like melted chocolate.

Erin let out a long, slow breath and it felt like everything was moving in slow motion. “I’m sorry, it’s a habit.”

“You like old school rock?” he asked her and walked up to her.

“A little too much. It’s my favorite era.”

“You didn’t strike me as a rocker girl.”

“Oh really? So the leather jacket wasn’t a giveaway?” She pointed to her leather jacket that was draped over the backrest of her seat and raised an eyebrow at him.

“Not really, you look more like a hippy girl to me,” he said with a smile as he touched her dark side braid.

“It keeps my hair out of my face, especially on days like today. The rain makes it go extra fuzzy.”

“I know the feeling,” he nodded with a sexy smile.

“Besides, nobody remembers anything from the hippy era, they were all high.” Erin pulled a face and suddenly looked around her. “Which reminds me, where’s Lex?”

“The tall, blonde girl?” he asked.

“Uh huh,” Erin cringed, knowing that he obviously noticed Alex first. It was always like that.

“She’s over there, chatting up my friend.” He motioned to the door and Erin saw Alex talking suggestively to a guy, who looked vaguely familiar. He had pitch black curly hair, but couldn’t really make out his face. Turning her attention back to the guy in front of her, she noticed his hair was straight and not as dark. His eyes were something she had never seen in her almost-300 years in this world. They were the brightest blue she had ever seen, with slivers of silver that sparkled like diamonds every time he looked at her.

Erin took a deep breath, and composed herself, or at least tried to. She hadn’t fallen down yet, so that was a good thing.

“Right, of course she is. I can’t take her anywhere,” Erin sighed. “I should really consider getting her a leash.”

“Good idea.”

“Well, at least now I get to see the guy she’s sleeping with tonight, which is definitely a first.”

“I highly doubt she’s his type.”

“Why is that?”

“He’s not really a blonde girl type of guy. Much like myself, we prefer brunettes. Even redheads.”

“Your subtlety is almost commendable,” Erin grinned at him and he let out a laugh.

A deep, throaty laugh, that made her knees feel weak.

“Thank you. I’m Sam, by the way.” He held out his hand to her.

“Erin. It’s nice to meet you, Sam.” Erin placed her hand in his and looked at him, feeling the slow motion movement return. His eyes swirled around like the dark depths of the ocean, and she had to fight with herself to look away. Luckily, Sam let go of her hand, making everything go back to normal speed. She let out another slow breath and watched as he crossed his arms.

“I’ve never seen you here before,” he pointed out.

“That’s because this is my first time. Here.”

“Your first time? To a Laundromat?”

“As a matter of fact, yes.”

“Why is that?”

“I have no idea. It was always done for us.”

“Rich daddy?”

“You could say that.”

“And I’m guessing, by the way you look around all the time, they don’t know you’re here, right?”

“Not at all. My mother would kill me if she knew where I was,” Erin chuckled nervously.

“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.” Sam knocked his knuckles against the door of the dryer.

“So why are you here then? I don’t see any clothes…” Erin raised an eyebrow at him.

“You do realize that it’s raining outside?”

“Yes.” Erin nodded and looked outside at the rain falling down. “But it’s just rain, you know.”

“I don’t like getting wet.”

Erin let out an amused giggle and looked at him. “And you’re only drying your jacket?”

“If you want me to strip down, just ask,” Sam said to her with a crooked smile that almost made her skin melt off her body.

“I’ll remember that.”

Author Bio:

 

 



Sonja L Myburgh is a 30 year old Sagittarian, and lives in Port Elizabeth, South Africa with her husband Mark. She is the author of romance novels On The Line, A Bullet For You, historical fantasy trilogy, Return To Salem, contemporary romance If You Only Knew: #1, and If You Only Knew: #2. Her newest release is a fantasy vampire/werewolf romance, Between Rubies & Opals. She started writing ever since she could remember. Possibly the oldest cliche ever, but in her case it is true.

From a very young age, she enjoyed writing essays, short stories and enjoyed reading. A lot.
"At the risk of sounding like a nerd, which I probably am, I am a real bookworm!"
She enjoys reading up about all things, which makes researching for new material relatively easy. She loves subjects like reincarnation and psychological topics. Anything unusual and out of the ordinary adds fuel to her proverbial fire!  "Writing to me is like therapy, allowing me to express myself in words and then ultimately letting others read them!"
"I have an over-active imagination, and an over-active brain in general. I carry a notebook in my bag ALL the time, just in case..."
"I am a self-diagnosed coffee-addict, and totally proud of it!"

Social Media Links:

Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/sonnatjie

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/authorsonjam

Twitter page:  https://twitter.com/littleauthor_SM

Instagram: @littleauthor84

Website: https://authorsonjalmyburgh.weebly.com

Amazon Buy Link for Between Rubies & Opals: https://viewbook.At/BetweenRubiesandOpals

Upcoming News:

My current work in progress, Waiting on Normal, is something completely different to what I have written before. It is based on actual events, giving it more of a real-life feel. It’s not a ghost story or anything creepy, it’s about a girl with a mental illness and how it affects her life.

It’s currently in its first round of proofreading and edits, and at the moment it will be set for release in early May 2015. (This date may change). For more updates about Waiting On Normal, and other news and/or giveaways, connect with me on my various social media pages!