UFI welcomes Amber Lynn Natusch Author of The Caged Series. Thanks for Joining us!!
When
I was asked to compose a guest blog post, I had no idea what to
write. As an author, it was an especially low moment. Then a great
friend suggested that I take an excerpt from the first novel in my
series, Caged, and explain what I loved about it. Genius! Times like
this illustrate my need for a team of levelheaded people around me―an
entourage of rational thinkers.
The
unfortunate reality for me was that my favorite scenes from Caged all
contain spoilers, but I still managed to find some good ones :)
For
this blog, I chose a scene that highlights one of the two mysterious
men that Ruby finds herself caught between. They both have alluring
qualities, but are equally shrouded in lies, leaving Ruby to sort
through them on her own. Getting a straight answer is completely out
of the question as you will soon see.
Without
further ado, I give you Ruby, Sean, and Eric, in the notorious club
scene.
*****************************
His
face
was
close,
breathing
my
air.
Every
time
I
made
eye
contact
with
him,
I
lost
myself
in
the
most
literal
sense.
I
said
things
I'd
never
said
before,
and
did
things
I
would
never
have
done;
I
was
a
completely
different
person.
I
was
so
influenced
by
his
energy,
his
power,
as
if
it
was
seeping
out
of
him
and
into
me.
I
knew
I
could
sense
the
feelings
of
others
as
well
as
I
could
my
own,
but
this
was
entirely
different
and
new.
The
feeling
was
heightened
exponentially
with
eye
contact
so
I
tried
my
best
to
avoid
it.
I
did
an
amazingly
poor
job
of
it.
I
heard
a
voice
from
behind
me
but
didn't
acknowledge
it
until
a
hand
clamped
down
onto
my
arm
and
jerked
me
around
in
a
not-so-friendly
way.
Sean's
look
was
murderous.
He
was
visually
communicating
his
desire
to
creatively
remove
certain
body
parts
from
the
guy
he'd
just
peeled
me
off
of,
making
sure
the
process
was
intolerable.
There
was
something
personal
about
his
stare,
like
the
two
had
been
at
a
crossroad
before.
"Do
you
two
know
each
other?"
I
asked,
not
really
expecting
an
honest
answer.
I
needed
to
diffuse
the
situation
before
the
pissing
contest
got
any
more
heated.
The
man
laughed
and
said
nothing.
I
abruptly
turned
to
look
at
Sean,
not
sure
how
he
would
react
to
the
man's
expressed
humor
with
the
situation.
He
did
nothing
but
stare
him
down.
"You
never
truly
know
anyone,
Ruby,"
he
said,
calmly.
"But
no.
I
don't
know
him."
Sean's
emphasis
on
the
word
"him"
seemed
strange,
but
so
was
Sean
sometimes.
I
shrugged
as
I
audibly
exhaled.
Boys
can
be
so
trying
sometimes.
I
looked
back
at
the
man
causing
such
a
clear
air
of
tension
between
them.
I
wanted
to
know
who
he
was.
However,
as
soon
as
I
looked
at
him
I
no
longer
cared,
I
just
wanted
to
be
with
him
regardless
of
the
cost.
"I'm
Eric,"
he
said
without
being
prompted.
"Ruby,"
I
managed
as
I
struggled
against
Sean's
very
strong
grip
to
get
closer
to
Eric.
"We're
leaving,"
Sean
stated
as
he
whirled
me
around
and
marched
me
towards
the
door.
My
feet
barely
made
contact
with
the
floor
and
I
realized
he'd
picked
me
up
around
the
waist
to
drag
me
out
of
the
dance
hall.
Eric
followed
closely
behind
with
a
wickedly
amused
look
plastered
all
over
his
face.
The
situation
was
more
personal
than
either
of
them
was
letting
on
and
I
was
furious
at
being
in
the
dark
about
something
that
so
clearly
involved
me.
Sean
stomped
through
the
lobby,
pushing
through
innocent
club
goers
with
no
regard.
As
we
broke
through
the
front
door,
Eric
slipped
a
small
piece
of
paper
into
my
hand
as
Sean
continued
on
towards
the
parking
lot.
He
didn't
see
me
take
it
so
I
managed
to
quickly
slip
it
into
my
shirt
and
down
my
bra
even
with
the
restricted
range
of
motion
I
had
in
my
arm.
I
doubted
that
Sean
would
strip
search
me
to
find
it
even
if
he
had
seen
what
I
did.
Eric
slipped
out
of
sight
into
the
bar
while
I
continued
to
be
hauled
away
like
luggage
to
the
car.
"I'm
quite
capable
of
walking,
you
know,"
I
said
with
as
much
ferocity
as
I
could
muster.
"I've
seen
what
you're
capable
of
tonight,"
he
scoffed.
"Why
are
you
so
angry
with
me?"
I
asked
trying
desperately
to
figure
out
what
offense
of
mine
he'd
suffered.
"It's
nothing,"
he
answered.
"Nothing?
This
is
how
you
act
about
nothing?
Remind
me
never
to
do
something
to
you
then,
because
I
shudder
to
think
what
your
reaction
would
be
to
that,"
I
said,
trying
to
wiggle
away
from
him.
__________________________________
If you’re dying to know more about me, allow me to put you at ease. I’m a sharp-tongued, sarcastic cancer, who loves vegetable smoothies, winter storms, and the word portfolio. I should NEVER be caffeinated, and require at least eight hours of sleep to even resemble a human being. At thirty-four, I just now feel like I can keep a straight face while saying the word “rectum” (which is actually a huge lie because I just laughed out loud while reading this to my husband). I live with my iPod firmly affixed to my body, drive too fast, and laugh/cry at inappropriate times.
Find Amber and her books
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Caged
Author: Amber Lynn Natusch
Release Date: December 15, 2011
Publisher: Self Published
Caged Book #1
ASIN: B006MWY07E
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Author
I stood in the middle of the room, unmoving – I barely breathed. My life had just become surreal, impossible, and one enormous lie. I needed to go, to run somewhere, anywhere to beat back the reality that was rapidly closing in around me. The image of him was burned into my retina, flashing over and over again like a warning. He was trapped somewhere between human and decidedly not, and I realized that was my new reality.
I was too.
After the death of her parents, Ruby awakens from a lifetime of shadows and finds herself alone, thrust into a world of lies, deceit, betrayal and the supernatural.
As her quest for truth continues to come up short, she realizes that maybe some questions really are best left unanswered.
When her true identity is finally unveiled, she is forced to choose between two of the mysterious men who continually seem to crop up in her life.
She chooses poorly.
Now abandoned, Ruby must learn to call on the darkness within to survive, or spend a hellish eternity imprisoned because of it
*Minor Spoilers may be revealed*
I jumped into Caged not knowing what it was really about and had no clue it was a werewolf story. The story starts off a bit slow with information, You get through about half the book before any hint of the paranormal is even mentioned then BAM your thrown right in to everything and things start to make more sense.
Ruby is frustratingly naive when it comes to most matters. She is quick to jump to the worst conclusion but also quick to double guess herself. She hides behind humor and is quick with her comebacks. I found her to be real and easy to connect with. Her entire story is heartbreaking and compelling. She makes the story more real with her emotions and it becomes impossible to put the book down once you get into it. The men of the story aren't always straightforward and its hard to see where they stand and if they are trying to help or hurt Ruby. Having said that I liked Sean from the moment his character was introduced and I could tell Eric was nothing but trouble.
The only thing that I did not care for in CAGED had to do with the play out from after Ruby was "caged". I was glad we didn't "witness" what happened to her, we got many hints but no solid confirmation until the end of the book. I would have thought she would have been a tad bit more traumatized but maybe the trauma from it wont show up until book 2 as a lot happened afterwords and she really didn't have much downtime.
Amber definitely knows how to write my brand of book crack.I really enjoyed CAGED and am really excited to find out what will happen next.
I gave it 4/5 stars
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