NBtM Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway: Vindictive by Ryan Lawrence

Welcome to my stop on the NBtM virtual book tour for Vindictive by Ryan Lawrence. This book tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have an excerpt from the book as well as an interesting guest post about revenge. There's also the tour wide giveaway for a chance to win a $15 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. Be sure to visit the other stops on the tour for more content. Enjoy!

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Title: Vindictive

Author: Ryan Lawrence

Publisher: Tellwell Talent

Publication Date: September 27th 2021

Print Length: 448 pages

Genre: LGBTQ+ Thriller

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The best revenge is revenge. Getting it is all that matters.

Jules Cartell has it all: wealth; beauty; a handsome, loving husband; a partnership in her father's law firm; and the top executive position at one of Canada's leading corporations, Cartell Worldwide. Aside from her secret, problematic desire for the married owner of the internationally renowned Château Bergé, Jules believes she and her life are pretty perfect. But the discovery of an unforgivable crime perpetrated against her family by her husband, Phillip, years before the two met sets Jules down the path of revenge. There is no option for forgiveness. Phillip has to pay. An eye for an eye.

It is said that when seeking revenge, you should dig two graves. Someone from Jules's past, someone aggrieved by her actions, seeks vengeance for themselves. This is an enemy without compassion, without morality, without mercy. An enemy who will accept no restitution short of Jules's death.

In the city of Fairporte, ON, secrets, lies, and betrayal can be found everywhere. As adversaries close in, will Jules get revenge before her past catches up with her? Unexpected allies may be instrumental to her success. They may also be the key to her very survival.

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EXCERPT:

Unable to speak, paralyzed in her chair, Jules stared at the contents of the box with shock and horror. It was a clear message: a death threat! No, not a threat, she realized, but a dark promise made to her countless years ago by a demon in man’s form. The box’s grotesque theme was a Stygian portent.

The box contained a pair of boys’ ice skates drenched in a viscous liquid the colour of blood.

Something Jules had not noticed earlier about the package when she had excitedly opened it was that it was slightly cold to the touch. Upon closer analysis, further inside the box were shards of ice laid haphazardly underneath the scarlet ichor. The pieces were broken in different ways to create various craggy shapes and sizes. As if someone broke through the surface of an ice-covered pond. I get it, you bastard!

Jules had just enough stamina and potency left inside of her before she had to look away to make one last, close inspection. She made out what appeared to be some writing heavily stitched into the worn leather of the skates. In a beautifully scripted style, the initials EF appeared before her eyes.

Ethan Falsworth.

Unable to look any longer, Jules shut her eyes tight. She stopped breathing, panic took over, and she began to pass out.

Instinctively, Jules brought her hands to her throat. No, be strong! Breathe! Her mouth opened, and she gasped her first breath in what seemed like hours but had only been seconds. Time seemed irrelevant. Nothing seemed real. Panic! She was lucid, but things were spinning fast. She was still having a hard time breathing. Her chest was tight, and she felt hot. Panic!

Jules willed her legs to move; she needed distance from the box. Several moments passed, but eventually, her limbs obeyed and pushed her, chair and all, with colossal force backward until she hit the wall. Although it was only a meter, Jules had her expanse. It was cold comfort, that small amount of distance, but it was enough to begin to clear her head.

Jules had not felt this kind of fear and anxiety since the night he had kidnapped her, the same night her dad died. Spinning her head around, she began searching. Was he here? In the building? Could he see her now? Was he close?

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ryan Lawrence was born and raised in Guelph, Ontario. He is a 2000 graduate of The University of Guelph in English. Ryan has worn many hats professionally, including working over 12 years as a custom art framer. While writing has always been a part of his life, it was only after leaving this profession that Ryan seriously took his education and passion for writing by the horns and began the journey towards Vindictive, his first novel.

Since 2002, Ryan has lived in London, Ontario, with his husband, Todd, together since 1997, their cat Dora, and his massive comic book collection that once fell on Todd. He’s okay.

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GUEST POST:

The Necessity of Revenge

by Ryan Lawrence

Revenge is a complex concept. At its core, it is the desire for vengeance or retribution motivated by perceived wrongdoing. The perpetrator, the one who carried out the unforgivable slight, the immoral act, the unforgettable harm, must pay for their transgression, and they must pay in a manner that will equal the pain and suffering of the injured party: an eye for an eye.

Justice as carried out lawfully by police, a judge, and a jury is insufficient to the one seeking revenge. Justice signifies the punishment or the severity of said punishment is in the hands, the judgment of others. And that is precluding the transgressor gets caught and subsequently proven guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Someone seeking revenge over justice is a person who has no faith in a system outside their control, for there is too much left to chance. The aggrieved cannot abide decisions made without input or involvement from them concerning the severity and manner of their enemy’s punishment.

And sometimes, the injured party wants payback, plain and simple, not justice—justice is ultimately unsatisfying. They want to feel the pleasure of having destroyed the malefactor themselves, getting their own hands dirty, reclaiming their power.

Some believe that enacting revenge lowers you to the perpetrator’s level, lessening you as a person. Some also feel that the act of revenge, even just the desire to “get back” at the person or persons who have wronged you, prohibits emotional and psychological healing. The inability to let go of grudges and bitterness ultimately makes a person unhappy and depressed, creating only a cycle of retaliation.

Perhaps, but for some, the necessity to make sure the perpetrator’s punishment is agreeable to their sense of fairness and equivalency makes revenge ultimately rewarding. And that reward of retribution is a need to feel satisfaction and gratification to move forward with their life.

What about forgiveness? Well, if you are at the point of desiring full-scale retribution, the forgiveness of transgression is not an option. Some sins are unforgivable.

In Vindictive, this is the path many characters walk, but none more so than my main protagonist Jules Cartell. And she takes a page out of Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince: “People should either be caressed or crushed. If you do them minor damage, they will get their revenge; but if you cripple them, there is nothing they can do.” Jules’s intention towards her transgressors is a level of pain and punishment that will prevent her enemy from future retaliation.

Her plan of revenge is methodical, brutal, and performed over time. Like Dickens wrote in A Tale of Two Cities, “Vengeance and retribution require a long time; it is the rule.” To maximize the pain and suffering of her enemies, especially her husband, Jules’s revenge scheme spans a significant amount of time, roughly two years.

In Vindictive, I wanted to show that even an unlikable character such as Jules had reasons for why she invested so much in acting cruel, vicious, and manipulative towards others, especially those who appeared weaker or innocent. Jules is a creation of circumstances outside her control. She is intelligent, capable, ambitious, and maybe more than a little self-centred, but she is not inherently cold or mean-spirited. She is a woman done wrong. I want the reader to see how an act, or acts, of violence against someone, could push them towards a level of vindictiveness that only travelling the path of revenge could satiate.

Does revenge ultimately lead Jules to the end goal of satisfaction? You will have to read Vindictive to find out.

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GIVEAWAY:

Ryan Lawrence will be awarding a $15 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter. Good luck!

(All the Ups and Downs is not responsible for this giveaway, its entries, or the prize. Goddess Fish Promotions and the author assume all responsibility for this giveaway.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway