BLOG TOUR for Mad Dog and the Archangel by Kat Henry Doran: Interview and Review

Today begins the Goddess Blog Tour for Mad Dog and the Archangel by Kat Henry Doran, and I was LUCKY enough to have Kat Henry Doran stop by to chat with me about her book.  Below the interview, I have included my review with a  SNEAK PEAK at the book given to me by Kat, to get you all excited about Mad Dog and Mr. Archangeli!!

A Tasty Read: So excited to start off this wonderful tour, Thanks for hanging out with us today, Kat.

Kat Henry Doran: Hi! Thanks for inviting me to visit your blog today. I hope we can have some fun.

A Tasty Read: The new book, Mad Dog and the Archangel, has a scamming Hero and a Heroine who used to be a nun. That right there should get the readers intrigued.

Kat:  I certainly hope so! It's not often that a man learns he just climbed out of a nun's bed. Great bed, by the way, but I don't want to give anything away—yet.

A Tasty Read: Tell us how the idea for Mad Dog came about.

Kat: I originally wrote Mad Dog to be part of an anthology which never worked out. I fell in love with Rafe Archangeli; he wouldn't let me give him up. I checked with the other authors from the anthology who gave me permission to take the original premise [returning to town to pick up an inheritance] and work it into the reunion series. Plus, with my other stories in the Class of '85—The List and Embraceable You, it was easy to work Rafe and Grace into the cast of secondary characters at the Eastman Awards banquet at the reunion. 

A Tasty Read: Mad Dog is part of the Class of '85 Series. What significance does the year '85 have for you?

Kat: It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. My kids were in their early teens and driving me nuts. I was working three jobs to put food on the table and keep them in Catholic school. I had the best volunteer job of my life which within one year turned into the best paid job of my life. I was writing, but it was so awful dreck comes close to describing the quality. I cringe when I recall I actually thought it was good. Man, have I learned a few things since those days.

A Tasty Read: Will we be seeing any reoccurring characters from The List or Embraceable You in Mad Dog and the Archangel?

Kat: Wow—you've done your homework [about my other contributions to the Class Reunion]. Thanks.

From The List, hero Mick Dineen is mentioned in passing as being one of the few men whom Grace Dunavan knows and respects, but we never see him on camera. From Embraceable You, the hero Rory McElroy plays a sizable role in Mad Dog, as someone who has the goods on Rafe and since he [Rory] has admired and respected Grace since he was a young boy, he is super protective of her well-being. Other common secondary characters seen in almost every Class of '85 story are Chief of Police Richard [Dickhead] Heade and his wife, also an alum, Elizabeth Baumgartner [Ready Betty] Heade. They're a pair. Dumb and Dumbette I believe Rory called them.

A Tasty Read: What's next for Kat Henry Doran?

Kat: I hope to continue adding to my Those Who . . . series which based on a poem by Henry vanDyke and features characters who are affiliated in some respect with the criminal justice system of fictional Umberland County, located on the shores of Lake Ontario in western New York State.  The first of the series, Those Who Wait, was released last summer out of Decadent Publishing.

Alternating with that series, I hope to begin the Wild Things about a group of attorneys, both civil and criminal, who specialize in helping those who make too much money to qualify for a public defender but not enough for a Dream Team defense.

A Tasty Read: Is there any other Genre you would like to write in?

Kat: Someday, I'd like to do a time travel, present to future.

A Tasty Read: Thank you again for stopping by to talk with us today, and I will definitely be looking out for more new releases.

Kat:  I thank you for giving me the opportunity to brag about characters whom I love deeply.

About The Author

Over the years I've had the honor to work at a number of occupations: operating room nurse, malpractice insurance investigator, forensic nurse examiner, victim advocate, wife and mother. Five years ago I became Nana for the first time and, believe me, it’s the best job ever!

Even if I sometimes wish they'd remain in the closet, the years I spent in the OR and labor floor, and later advocating for victims of sexual violence, contribute significantly to the voice of my writing. You don’t  spend thirty years playing loyal serving maid and mind reader to egotistical surgeons, then twelve years haunting police stations, Emergency Rooms, and criminal courts without developing an internal alarm system for covert misogyny, rampant apathy, and overwhelming bigotry. 

 I retired my stethoscope and speculum a few years ago but continue to advocate quietly for marginalized populations through Amnesty International and Doctors Without Borders.

         

 I like hearing from readers. You can contact me through my website: www.KatHenry.com, or blog: http://www.wildwomanauthor.blogspot.com/ 

Mad Dog and the Archangel

Kat Henry Doran

Released Jan 9th, 2012

ebook

The Wild Rose Press

Source: Goddess Blogs

Rafael Archangeli returns home to Summerville to bury an old friend, collect his inheritance, and then return to the only life he knows—conning wealthy women out of their money. In Rafe's world, money not only equals success, it goes a long way to obliterate the stigma of his past.

Grace Dunavan, former nun turned community activist, gave up worldly goods a long time ago with no regrets. But she's never known a man with the raw appeal of the Scourge of Summerville: Rafael Archangeli.

Their first meeting is like an errant strike of lightning, fierce and stunning in intensity, and takes both by surprise. Has Grace turned Rafe into a changed man? Or is he using his inheritance to pull off the biggest scam of his life?

I have to say, I enjoyed every aspect of the book except....It was TOO short!!  I wanted MORE!!  More Rafe Archangeli, More Grace Dunavan and more of the secondary characters (class of '85) that added a certain charm to the book. 

Kat pulls us in from the first page.  We have NO idea what is going on, or where we are being taken and then...WHAM...NO WAY!!  That did not just happen?  Ha Ha.

With each page turned, we get to learn a little bit more about Rafe, and YES, start to fall for him.  Those are the best kinds of Heroes...the ones that the more you learn about them, the harder you fall.

I have to say...I even LOVED Grace from the second we meet her.  she is no-nonsense, balls-out, Mad Dog...which I think is hysterical, especially how she got that name.  Let's just say when they meet...Its sparks at first sight!

Safety First.

A personal motto that served Grace Dunavan well for the past thirty-something years. She never picked up strange men. In fact, she rarely dated men, strange or otherwise. And wasn't she the first to preach the wisdom of obtaining a detailed history—family, medical and sexual before contemplating a walk on the wild side? With any man, including the brother of her best friend.

Especially one whose thick mop of jet colored hair, hooded black eyes and razor-sharp cheekbones, all of which held undeniable appeal for a good girl who always did what the nuns and her parents dictated. With a name like Archangeli he should be a protector, not a walking advertisement that proclaimed: I've Been There, Done That; Let Me Tell You All About It.

As he helped her into her coat, Grace heard Gaby murmur something about an attorney who was trying to track down Rafe. None of it made sense. What woman in her right mind could think straight when faced with a man who redefined potency?

It was a night of firsts for Grace: leaving a party with a man she'd never met before; admitting how and where she'd learned to drive; breaking the land speed record for contemplating her first one night stand.   

I enjoyed getting to know Rafe and Grace through each others eyes, and conversation.  Kat does an impeccable job of letting us get to know out main characters through dialogue, rather than just lumping it all up in a ball and handing it over.  I enjoyed Rafe and Grace's reactions to each others past and how the over came it. 

I highly recommend this book to anyone that likes a good reformed bad boy story, it tended to be heavy at times, but that just works to make the story more emotion packed.  For a quick, fun read...Look to Mad Dog and the Archangel, and her other books in the Class of '85 series, The List and Embraceable You.

** BLOG TOUR GIVEAWAY

Kat Henry Doran is Giving Away A Funky Bag and a Toiletries Bag from Kats Kustom KarryAlls with a whole bunch of "Author Swag" included!  The prize will be awarded to the person who leave the most comments on the COMPLETE TOUR. 

So to start it off, leave a comment here for Kat or A Tasty Read, and you are one step closer to the prize!!

Here is the rest of the Tour Dates to follow:  http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2011/11/virtual-book-tour-mad-dog-and-archangel.html