Only In Her Dreams Book Tour – Review, Interview and Giveaway

This is one if these books that I haven’t encountered before and that is what I love about these Book Tours.You can read a novel that creates a different perspective or define an area of a genre. In this case Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance. Only In Her Dreams, has opened my mind to the various twists and the characters point of view that makes the book even more interesting and different from my perspective.

Lucessa doesn’t realise her true heritage… Throughout her life her family has been torn apart… Her father disappeared, her mum suffers from amnesia and she has been haunted by a gorgeous man in her dreams. When everything changes the moment ‘the guy’ enters the cafe… Lucessa’s thinks she going crazy, but Maxim has an effect on her; after constantly being in her dreams for all her life; her perception of him changes. Lucessa is one of the main protagonists of the novel. McKnight describes of to be the strong, hard-working caring character built on a tough background. Chapter by chapter her character grows and she becomes even stronger and her continuous attraction for Maxim’s heats up. ,

Maxim…. hmm now Maxim is my kind of guy. His strong, safe, protective and is incredibly hot. When you have a duty to protect your brother’s family, you take it very seriously. But when he has been in Lucessa’s dream for most of her life and then encounters her in the real world, his emotions and duties are intruded by this sudden attraction for each other which are spiralling out of control. As another one of the protagonists of the novel, you see the insight into journey and his life as an Onerioi warrior. but he also begins to be quite a strong yet challenging guy, his abilities allow him to be that much stronger, yet when he encounters Earth he begins to act a little more human which suits his persona perfectly.

What I  loved about this book is the twist of a Greek Mythology entwined with a modern day romance.  But there is one character or should I say animal that even though she is not as significant as the main characters makes the novel that more brilliant and leave you saying “Aw” Lucessa’s dog, Goosey; is one of those characters that also builds in the novels; she instantly connects with Maxim and saves the day. I know its not the main point of the novel but I had to mention it! This is brilliant novel by Christina McKnight one of which I would highly recommend!

Thank you to author and Bewitching Blog Tour for supplying this novel for a honest review.

An Interview with Christina McKnight

Who inspired you to write The Oneiroi Series? 
My mom pushed me to read and write from a young age. During my twenties, I devoured books by JR Ward and Lara Adrian. Having primarily read historical romance, the Urban Fantasy genre was completely foreign to me as a reader and writer. These two authors cultivate character development, multiple plotlines, and some of the most amazing sex scenes ever in each of their books. I knew when I started The Oneiroi Series it had to live up to the standards set by Ward and Adrian. With my series I focused on developing complex relationships between my characters and plot twists that would keep my readers guessing until the very end…and beyond.

Why specifically ‘Urban Fantasy?
With this particular novel the urban fantasy genre found me! Before writing Only In Her Dreams, I’d primarily written historical romance with a few paranormal elements thrown in for fun. I was completely out of my comfort zone when I saw the direction my characters were taking me. I tried to rein them in and force them into a genre I was more at ease with…alas, they had other ideas!

When I’m asked why Urban Fantasy in general, I always take this to mean why Urban Fantasy over Paranormal Romance…and there is an easy answer to this question. What I love about the UF genre is that there is no happily ever after guaranteed or implied. This allowed me to plot out a series of books and not be set on a happy ending for each.

How did you come up with the ideas for your debut novel Only In Her Dreams?
Only in Her Dreams actually came to me in a dream. Ironic, I know. Several times I dreamt of a man watching me. He never approached, moved, or spoke, but stayed silently in the background. I starting thinking: Who is this guy? What does he want?

A fellow writer -and self-proclaimed dream expert- said the man may be someone I’ve come into contact with recently. My next question: What if this mystery man from my dream showed up in real life?

Only In Her Dreams, The Oneiroi Book 1 took off from there.

Was there anything in your novel that was based on experience or creative writing?
The relationship between Lucessa and her father is loosely based on my own experiences with my father. No, my father didn’t rule a Greek underworld or have blue iridescent eyes. I can’t go into huge detail here because it would be a major spoiler but my father passed away suddenly in a motorcycle accident a month before I started writing Only In Her Dreams and subconsciously I wrote about our chaotic relationship—the concept of building trust and how easily that trust is broken.

What was your favourite scene to write about and why?
My favourite scenes to write were the ones between Darius and The Dark One (Not naming names!). I loved being able to take a well-known figure in Greek mythology and make him ‘just a man’ doing normal everyday things like taking a bath and gardening.

Who was your favourite character to write about? And did they have personal or similar personalities/qualities to yourself?
This is horrible to say but I loved writing my bad boy! I think this was because I knew I had to redeem him in book two. There is a fine time between a redeemable and non-redeemable character and I hope I pushed this boundary with Darius. Is my mom reading this interview? I’ve always had a thing for the bad boy and Darius is no exception. Darius struggles throughout the whole book between good and evil…unfortunately, the stakes are stacked against him and he continually embraces his bad side.

I have to ask this… Is there more in store for Lucessa and Maxim?
Oh yes! Only In Her Nightmares, The Oneiroi Book 2 focuses on Darius and his journey…and Maxim is a huge part of that. With Lucessa and Maxim’s help Darius will redeem himself in the eyes of his family, or at least part of his family.

What lead you to become a writer as a career?
My mom has always been the buzz in my ear, pushing me to tell my stories. Without her insistence I don’t believe I would have nurtured my writing talent. Now, writing is all I think about…with my family and my writing I feel my life is complete. Well, a house on the beach would be nice too!

Describe your book in five words?
Refreshing, with a mythological spin. (Did I just waste two words on ‘with’ and ‘a’? As a writer, I need 75k to say anything, LOL)

Finally is there anything that you would like to say to your readers?
Wow! There is so much I want to say to my readers! Number one is THANK YOU! Also, I’m very excited about book 2 in The Oneiroi Series. They should be prepared for a much darker and grittier book…this is Darius, after all!

Thank you so much to Bewitching Book Blogs for allowing me to be a part of this tour… And a MASSIVE THANK YOU to Christina McKnight herself for being a part of my blog and conducting an interview for me.