Book Blitz and Giveaway: Storm Called (Royal States #1) by Susan Copperfield

Title: Storm Called
Series: Royal States #1
Author: Susan Copperfield
Publisher: Pen & Page Publishing
Publication Date: February 26th 2019
Print Length: 340 pages
Genre: Urban Fantasy

~

In the Royal States of America, magic rules all, but life—and love—always finds a way.

Latent horse empath. Dishwasher. Closet chef.

Future king.

When food poisoning sweeps through Dallas, Patrick Laycal doesn’t expect a princess to show up at his door asking for his help.

Her one, simple request dumps him in the middle of a Royal mess—one that could cost him far more than just his life.

Storm Called features characters first introduced in Null & Void, the first of the Royal States novels.

Goodreads * Amazon * Barnes & Noble *

iBooks * Kobo * Google Play

—

EXCERPT:

I need a new life and a new stomach to go with it. In a new record of awful, I paid for my kindness within the hour. Queasiness grew into malicious nausea. At the rate I kept swallowing, I’d have a sore throat to go with my churning stomach in no time. The Texan Royals still infested the restaurant, which would help my cause of going home early. I intercepted my boss, temporarily halting his frantic pacing. “Sir?”

My boss arched a brow. “You went to the store down the street, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t want to take long if you needed me,” I confessed.

“Well, I don’t. Head on home and take it as paid time off. The rest’ll be going home as soon as they’re done with their order; those folks will take their sweet time and blow the rest of the night anyway.”

Most days, Dougland McHarrison was a demon, but sometimes he surprised us with his humanity—at least a little. Tomorrow, I expected he’d find a new way to torment me. His creativity when motivated or annoyed impressed me, and the royal family had slaughtered his profits for the day, although if they liked the grease-filled hell he served, he’d be a busy man for weeks to come.

The word of the king and queen could make or break businesses.

Despite my churning stomach and general desire to crawl into a corner and die, I trudged to my evening college class across the city, wasting the extra hours exploring the bookshop down the road from the culinary school. Without a stronger talent, I’d never be able to use what I learned in my classes, but I refused to quit my extended education opportunity; I’d pushed hard from the day I’d entered school to graduating high school to qualify.

On paper, I’d been living perfection, and my efforts had been recognized with an invitation to attend classes at a reduced rate, one I could only afford because I stretched every other penny.

My mother liked insisting a clean home was a happy home, but she’d also taught me that good food was happiness because we wouldn’t find much happiness elsewhere. I doubt she’d meant for me to become a chef.

Some life lessons she taught me, some I taught her, and we both pretended I succeeded in the way she’d hoped for me. I cheerfully blamed her for the way I had turned out. Her lessons gave me the drive needed to do something more, even though my choices left her wishing for something else for me.

She clung to our caste while I struggled to break free of it.

People like us worked as labor, forming the foundation for the rest of society. In some ways, I had already broken the mold through my careful scraping of pennies to attend classes no one thought I needed.

They, society—and even my parents, however much I loved them—could kiss my ass. I’d already made progress in my life. I spoke in complete, intelligible sentences most of the time. My family hadn’t noticed—or cared—their linguistic butchering further entrenched them in our low caste.

The only way I’d make something of myself was if I refused to pander to society’s expectations.

I could sound intelligent. I worked hard. I did everything I’d been told would lead to success. In a way, they—my parents, society, and every single one of my teachers—had been right. When I quantified my position and compared myself to others in my caste, I enjoyed success.

I also made a mean barbecue chicken, deceptively sweet with crispy skin and enough kick to make the devil cry. As I wasn’t a complete bastard, I served it with sweet yams to soothe the burn and offer refuge from the hell spices I used.

If anyone wanted my pepper blend, they’d have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands. Unfortunately, I doubted anyone would.

No one but me and my parents ate my cooking. Making some effort to meet new people and invite them to my apartment would help with that—if I got my head out of my ass and trusted myself a bit more. I hadn’t ruined a dish in more than a year.

Well, not a dish I’d already mastered through experimentation.

The bookstore bolstered my spirits, and I survived class without anyone suspecting I’d run afoul of a bad sandwich. When I got home, I made a point of making lunch for the rest of the week, and I doubled up on the pepper. If I was going to suffer for my poor culinary choices, it’d taste damned good going down. If I got lucky, it’d be hot enough to make me breathe fire, a useful talent when one wanted to become a chef.

---

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Susan Copperfield is the royal romance, urban fantasy loving alter ego of award-winning & USA Today bestselling novelist RJ Blain.

Under the super not-so-secret identity of Susan, the Royal States of America is explored, where the work of sixteen founding royal families preserved the United States from destruction and civil war when magic swept over the world.

In the Royal States, life, love, and magic always finds a way.

Website * Goodreads * Facebook

* Instagram * Newsletter

---

GIVEAWAY:
Win a $25 Amazon gift card!
a Rafflecopter giveaway