Interview & Giveaway: Grave Vengeance by Lori Sjoberg

UFI welcomes Author Lori Sjoberg. Thanks for Joining us!!

What can you tell my readers about yourself that they might not know from looking on your bio or reading in another interview? 

Usually, I’m not a superstitious person, but I keep a can of good luck Spam in my kitchen pantry. I live in Florida, and in 2004, while cleaning out the hurricane emergency kit, I tossed out our old can of Spam. And wouldn’t you know it, right after that we were hit by three hurricanes in a two-week period! My husband joked that it was because I tossed out the Spam, so I bought another can and ever since, we’ve been hurricane free. Yeah, I’m sure it’s just a coincidence, but I’m not about to tempt fate. That can’s been in my pantry for over ten years now, and the sides are starting to bulge out as if there’s gas building up inside. I suppose it’s time to buy another can and give this one a proper burial…

What do you enjoy doing on your down time? 

Aside from spending time with my husband and four-legged fur baby, I enjoy reading, horseback riding, and traveling.

What is your Favorite part of writing? 

I love creating new worlds and then losing myself in them. Seriously, who wouldn’t enjoy that?

Do you have any certain routines you must follow as you write? 

I’m easily distracted, so I usually turn off the television and internet while I’m writing. And if I get stuck, I take my dog for a nice, long walk to clear my head and think things through.

What are some of your Favorite books or Authors in the Urban Fantasy/ Paranormal Genres? 

Anne Rice, Hanna Martine, Kresley Cole, JD Robb, and JR Ward all have space on my keeper shelves.

How would you pitch GRAVE VENGEANCE to someone who has not heard of it before? 

Two reapers—bitter enemies—are forced to work together to stop a common enemy…and maybe fall in love along the way. And even though it’s the third book in the series, it can be easily read as a standalone.

Can you tell us a little bit about the world that GRAVE VENGEANCE is set in? 

I’d love to! In the world of GRAVE VENGEANCE, reapers are damned souls who have been given one final chance to earn their salvation by harvesting the souls of the recently departed. They’re immortal – they heal rapidly and possess the ability to compel the human mind – but otherwise they must rely on their wits to complete their daily assignments. Which sucks for them, since their jobs often put them in perilous situations.

Do you have a favorite scene in GRAVE VENGEANCE? 

– Just one? Ack! There’s a scene toward the end that I absolutely loved writing, but I don’t want to say which one it is because it’s a major spoiler.

Which one character out of all your books was your favorite to write about? What about the hardest to write about? 

My favorite? Dmitri, hands down. A former KGB agent prior to becoming a reaper, he’s tough, ruthless, pragmatic, and has enough baggage to fill an aircraft carrier. But beneath the hard exterior is a passionate man, one who’s been betrayed in the worst possible way and needs the right woman to heal him.

As for the hardest, I’d have to go with Samuel. He’s been an antagonist throughout the series, but there are things in his past that shaped his character, and writing about him without giving too much away has been a challenge.

What Other Projects can we look forward to reading from you? 

I recently finished writing book four in the Grave series. This one features Adam, who is one of the newest members of the reaper world but harbors a secret that’s buried so deep even he isn’t aware of it. I’m also working on another paranormal series as well as a contemporary trilogy.

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Growing up the youngest of three girls, Lori never had control of the remote. (Not that she's bitter about that. Really. Okay, maybe a little, but it's not like she's scarred for life or anything.) That meant a steady diet of science fiction and fantasy. Star Trek, Star Wars, Twilight Zone, Outer Limits - you name it, she watched it. It fed her imagination, and that came in handy when the hormones kicked in and she needed a creative excuse for being out past curfew.

After completing her first novel, she joined the Romance Writers of America and Central Florida Romance Writers. Now she exercises the analytical half of her brain at her day job, and the creative half writing sensual paranormal romance. Grim reapers are her specialty, but she loves to write about all creatures of the night.

Find Lori and her books

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

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Grave Vengeance
Grave #3
BN iTunes Kobo Google Books

Handsome and haunted, he's a reaper who prefers to work alone. But Fate has other plans for him and the sassy secret agent who shot him in another life—if their pasts don't catch up with them first.

Dmitri Stavitsky has never played well with others—a Soviet KGB spy in life turned reaper after death, his work of bringing souls to the other side is best done alone. But orders from the top soon place him alongside fellow reaper Gwen Peterson, the American counter intelligence agent who took his life so many years ago.

Now, as a ghost from Gwen's past resurfaces with the power to steal reapers' souls, the two have no choice but to set aside their differences and apprehend the rogue together. But their cross-country mission soon ignites feelings Dmitri thought he was no longer capable of—for the woman who helped destroy him. With an ancient force and a small army against them, he'll have to let go of old grudges or risk his future with Gwen...as Fate hangs dangerously in the balance.

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Excerpt: 

Some men were nice to look at. Others, you couldn’t look away from. And then there was Dmitri Stavitsky.

He was taller than her, around six foot four, and had the powerful build of a gymnast. The shirt he wore did nothing to conceal his thick, corded arms or the broad expanse of his chest. His thighs strained against the confines of his jeans. He carried himself with an air of confidence that most men found intimidating and most women found irresistible. And even though Gwen despised him as much as he despised her, she had to admit he wore it well.

Gwen could feel his eyes moving over her while she drove, and she resisted the urge to squirm in her seat. “What?”

The passing streetlights played over the planes of his face. He hadn’t shaved in a day or two, and his jaw was shadowed with stubble. It made him look almost as dangerous as he was.

Almost.

Back in the day, he’d been one of the KGB’s top agents. For nearly a decade, he worked within the borders of the United States, stealing some of the country’s most valuable secrets. What he couldn’t steal he usually destroyed with calculated and ruthless efficiency. He killed defectors before they could spill their secrets as well as killing anyone else deemed an enemy of the Soviet Union. The full extent of his treachery was never determined; he’d taken those secrets to the grave.

“You cut your hair.” During the Cold War, he spoke with a flawless American accent to mask his true identity. The habit died when the Iron Curtain fell, and now his rich, deep voice contained a blend of both Russian and American, with the former growing more pronounced whenever he got pissed off.
Like now.

“So nice of you to notice.”

One corner of his mouth twitched. “It makes you look like a boy.”

Bastard. Her grip tightened around the steering wheel. “Like I give a damn what you think.”

He laughed under his breath. “I think you do.” The smirk on his face vanished when she ground the gears. Careful! It took me two days to rebuild the transmission.

“Sorry.” Not really. She totally meant to do that. “Third’s a little sticky.” She held back a smile as she hooked a right onto Alafaya Boulevard.

Dmitri raked his hands through his short, dark hair. He was a few weeks past the time for a cut, and the ends curled around the nape of his neck. “Why are you here, Gwen?” Her name sounded like poison on his tongue.

Good question. Her current base of operations was on the opposite side of the country, along the American side of the border with Mexico. Samuel had been vague on the details when he contacted her late last night with orders to fly to Orlando for a special assignment. She hated the idea of working with Dmitri, but knew better than to refuse an order. After all, the Big Kahuna wasn’t known for his gentle demeanor. The quicker they got the job finished, the quicker they could return to their normal routines and forget the other existed.

“Samuel sent me,” she replied with a shrug, knowing he’d understand the way the boss operated.
He nodded, his expression grim. “And why did you steal my car?”

“Because I could.” And because she knew it would piss him off. It was the way things
had always worked between them. They’d lost their humanity and become reapers together, and had been at each other’s throats ever since. Two Cold War relics, passing through the modern age. “You really need to install a better anti-theft system. Anybody with a screwdriver can hot-wire this thing in less than five minutes.” She’d done it in three.

She could have sworn he growled.

An uneasy silence fell between them. She darted a quick glance in his direction and saw the unwashed hostility darkening the blues of his eyes. The muscles along his jaw clenched and unclenched, his full lips pressed into a thin white line.

The light ahead switched from green to yellow. After checking for cops, she punched the gas to make it through the intersection before the yellow turned to red. “You know, I’m not happy about this either. The sooner we do whatever Samuel wants, the sooner we can go our separate ways.”

With a huff of annoyance, Dmitri rolled down the passenger side window and propped his arm on the sill. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

For once, they were in perfect agreement.
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