Alice lives in London, UK, with her husband and son. By day she’s a compliance manager for a pharmaceutical company. By night she writes fantasy romance about shape-shifting mermen, water monsters and time-traveling witches. Her first book, “A Merman’s Choice,” was published in January 2019. It is the first book in the Sea of Love fantasy romance series, inspired by the landscapes and legends of Brittany and Wales. The second and third books, “Music for a Merman,” and “Mermaids Marry in Green,” are out now. Alice loves reading and writing stories, and sharing them with anyone who’s interested!
Character Interview:
Beverley: What’s your name?
Bryony: Bryony Benetynn
Beverley: Where did you grow up?
Bryony: On the Morvann Islands, a remote archipelago off the coast of Wales, the homeland of my people, the shifter merfolk.
Beverley: During what time period does your story take place?
Bryony: Over two days and one night, in Las Vegas.
Beverley: What’s your story/back story? Why would someone come up with a story about you?
Bryony: I think I’m the first openly gay mermaid in the Morvann Islands. When I fell in love with a sexy witch, Maia, my family couldn’t accept that relationship. Maia and I decided to run off to Las Vegas, where we could live and love in peace. My author wanted to tell my story for the BVS collection of LGBTQIA+ romance stories, “Rainbow Desire”.
Beverley: What’s your goal in this story?
Bryony: My goal is to make my girlfriend Maia happy. But I am worried that she is hiding something from me – or perhaps that she is getting bored of a life among ordinary humans… or even bored with me.
Beverley: What conflicts are you facing?
Bryony: When Maia’s ex, the hot warlock Ariel, turns up, I discover the truth about Maia’s hurried flight from London, and the providential casino win that enabled us to buy our house in Vegas. Also, I can’t help being attracted to Ariel… which of course creates a conflict with Maia.
Beverley: Do you have a plan for resolving them?
Bryony: I don’t have time to come up with a plan… Maia turns up and the afternoon takes a turn for the better…
Beverley: Is there anything else you’d like us to know about you?
Bryony: I work at the Gran Mar hotel. I take part in their mermaid show. I’m the only real mermaid in the tank!
Blurb for Rainbow Desire
Rainbow Desire is a celebration of life and love in its kaleidoscope of exotic rainbow colours. The stories within the book also reflect its vibrant shades of romance from light to dark. I hope you will enjoy the wealth of narratives in this glorious LGBTQ+ anthology.
Blurb for Love Comes in Many Shapes
Bryony, a shifter mermaid, has run away with sexy witch Maia, and now they’re living the dream in Las Vegas. But Maia is hiding a secret. When her ex, a super-hot warlock, turns up, Bryony can’t fight her attraction to him. Will she choose him? Or Maia? Or both?
Excerpt from Rainbow Desire
Unlike the other mermaids, Bryony had her own changing room. She’d insisted on it as part of her contract with the hotel. It was little more than a broom cupboard, but she could close the door, and that was all that mattered. No one could see her change into her aquatic shape. No one could discover that, unlike the girls in swimsuits giggling outside, she was the real deal. A shape shifting mermaid from the Morvann Islands in Wales.
She checked the clock on the wall. Twenty-five minutes to go. Damn, she’d cut it a bit fine. She kicked off her sandals and peeled off her shorts and T-shirt. Her skin was darkening, turning a pearly grey, and thickening. She wiggled her fingers and toes, as if that would make the webs grow faster. She wished there was a way to accelerate the shifting process. Perhaps she’d ask Maia to do some research. One of the books of spells she’d brought from London might contain the answer.
A rap on the door. “Ten minutes!” the stage manager called out.
“Coming!” Bryony could feel her tail pushing at last through her buttocks. Her curly brown hair retracted into her skull. Her nose was flattening, leaving only a single nostril that she could close at will.
Finally, she was ready. She opened the door. The other mermaids were already lining up, shuffling forward on their fake fish tails. Bryony padded along the corridor on her webbed feet to join the back of the queue.
“Off you go, ladies.” The stage manager lifted the black curtain, revealing the ladder that climbed the side of the tank. The lights were dimmed, to hide their entrance. One by one the fake mermaids shimmered up the rungs of metal and dived into the aquarium. Oohs and aahs rose from the invisible audience in the theatre.
Bryony grabbed the ladder and made her ascent, a lot slower than her colleagues. Webbed hands and feet were not designed for climbing. At last she made it to the top and plunged headlong into the cool water.
The lights brightened. A stunned silence greeted her. She was used to it. She didn’t match most people’s idea of a mermaid. She swam to the bottom of the aquarium and pressed her face to the glass.
The vast room was full of people, lined up on the rows of seats, or around tables in the bar area. And Maia sat in the front row, less than a yard away. A huge smile lit up her lovely face. Her blue eyes sparkled. “Now that’s the best mermaid I’ve ever seen!” she said in a loud voice.
She did this every night. “We French call it la claque, ma cherie,” she’d said. “Friends posing as theatre goers, who clap and cheer to encourage the rest of the audience.”
The warm glow in Bryony’s chest spread through her limbs. Maia always had her back. She was lover, best friend, and cheerleader rolled into one. “My girl,” Bryony whistled, in the language of the merfolk, and blew her a kiss.
Buy Links for Rainbow Desire
https://amzn.to/3ATp0jl
https://books2read.com/u/mYZPQd
Social Media Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AliceRenaudAuthorRomance/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/alicerauthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18670218.Alice_Renaud
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/alice-renaud
Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/Alice-Renaud/e/B07L52P17B
Website: https://nomadauthors.com/alicerenaud/alicebooks.html
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