Elton John once said, “Music has healing power. It
has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours.” I believe
the same is true for an entertaining and engaging novel. And it’s the healing
power that, when a reader finishes the last page, the last word in a book, they
feel better for having had the experience. Perhaps even a little sad because
they’ve reached the end of an enjoyable journey. Music, like a great novel,
evokes much emotion in the listener. There’s this beautiful song written by
Luther Vandross entitled, “Dance with My Father.” It’s about a son whose father
has passed away. As much as the son misses his father, his only wish is to give
his grieving mother a final dance with her husband. If you’ve never heard the
song before, treat yourself and listen.
Here’s a YouTube link to the original
music video: https://youtu.be/wmDxJrggie8?list=RDwmDxJrggie8
I remember hearing the song while driving and it
bringing tears to my eyes. A few years earlier, my father had passed away. Over
a decade later, I cannot hear that lovely song without thinking of my father.
That’s the healing power of music, the bone-deep emotional impact that lingers
long after the song has ended. For this guest blog, I compiled a list of nine
songs that, when I listen to the lyrics, truly expresses the various emotions I
hope a reader will experience while reading “Of Beasts and Bonds.”
Here are a few lyrics to get you ready for the “Of
Beasts and Bonds” musical experience.
I
never knew love like this before, now I'm lonely never more
Since you came into my life You are my lovelight, this I know
And I'll never let you go You my all, you're part of me
Since you came into my life You are my lovelight, this I know
And I'll never let you go You my all, you're part of me
Never
Knew Love Like This Before, Stephanie Mills
Girl
don't you know you’re so beautiful
I wanna give all my love to you girl
Not just tonight but the rest of your life
I wanna be always here by your side
I wanna give all my love to you girl
Not just tonight but the rest of your life
I wanna be always here by your side
So
Beautiful, Musiq Soulchild
Every
time I let you in, abracadabra magic happens as we swim
Higher and higher finally we reach heaven
Come back to earth and then we do it all again
Higher and higher finally we reach heaven
Come back to earth and then we do it all again
Brown
Skin,
India Arie
“Where words leave off, music begins.” -Heindrich
Heine
Enjoy the music playlist for “Of Beasts and Bonds.”
Of Beasts and Bonds
Death and Destiny Trilogy
Book 2
N.D. Jones
Genre: paranormal romance
Publisher: Kuumba Publishing
Date of Publication: August 18, 2016
ISBN: 9780997529333
ASIN: B01FWLXNJG
Number of pages: 403
Cover Artist: Maduranga Nuwan
Book Description:
In a world of mystery and magic, sometimes old bonds must be broken before new ones can be formed. Who knew that finding one’s soul mate would test bonds and unleash beasts?
Mami Wata and Oya are now free from their watery prison and ready to wage a battle five hundred years in the making. Special Agent Assefa Berber and Dr. Sanura Williams are the prophesized Cat and Fire Witch of Legend. To save the world from Mami Wata, a water goddess with a bloody thirst for power and an insatiable appetite for death and destruction, they must defeat her beasts and the Water Witch of Legend.
Assefa and Sanura are fully in love but possess only a partial mate bond. While Sanura has merged their auras, bonding Assefa’s cat spirit to her, she has yet to accept his claiming bite. Their incomplete mate bond and their new relationship are tested when Mami Wata sets her malevolent eyes on them, manipulating beasts, sacrificing humans, and creating heartache. Can their bond survive, or will they drown under the vicious tide of godly might?
Excerpt:
With focused
golden eyes, alert gray ears, and keen black snout, the Mngwa took in his
surroundings.
The prickly
grass under his large, wide paws.
The heat of the
midday sun beating down on his thick black-and-gray fur.
The scent of
mullah bamyah—garlic, tomato juice, minced beef, okra, salt, and pepper.
The four
snarling big cats stalking him.
Scanning each
strong, lithe, and ferocious cat, the Mngwa cataloged their stance, their
position, and the distance between each other and from the Mngwa. They flanked
him, a large cat to his front, rear, and sides. If the Mngwa could smile, he
would have. Foolishly, they thought their numbers a strategic advantage that
would fell the undefeated Mngwa of myth and legend. Instead of a smile, he
snarled, a baring of elongated teeth.
A challenge.
The four cats
attacked, their bestial response to his bait.
Four sets of
paws struck the ground, claws digging into grass and dirt, brawny legs
propelling them forward. Razor-sharp teeth bared, husky growls cut through the
muggy June air, and feline eyes glowed with a premature win.
The leopard
reached the Mngwa first, snapping and going for the bigger cat’s neck. Not
wasting time with the youngest of the four attackers, the Mngwa sidestepped the
snarling, snapping leopard. To only pivot, turn, and ram the side of the
too-slow feline with the Mngwa’s massive head. Away from the Mngwa the leopard
flew, sailing through the air and crashing to the ground several feet away.
The three other
cats spared no pitying glance to the downed leopard, who lay on his side,
breathing labored and ragged. A sure sign of broken ribs.
More growls and
snapping, each cat trying for a different part of the Mngwa’s massive body. The
Mngwa was having none of it, so he went on the offensive. Leaping over the
biggest threat, the Bengal tiger, the Mngwa landed nimbly, then ran straight at
the cheetah. Taking the speckled feline by surprise, the Mngwa powered over the
cat, knocking him down before hauling him up by his scrawny neck and shaking.
The cheetah’s fragile neck was held firm between the Mngwa’s curved
saber-shaped teeth.
When the Mngwa
no longer felt resistance, he opened his deadly jaws and allowed the cheetah to
fall from his brutal clutch and slip, nearly unconscious, to the waiting grass.
Smack. Bite.
The lion and
tiger claimed simultaneous strikes on the Mngwa. A swipe across his
hindquarters and a bite to his side. The lion latched onto the Mngwa, his
lethal teeth working to find purchase in the cat of legend’s winter dense fur
and even thicker hide.
Like the
predator he was, the Bengal tiger charged while the Mngwa grappled with the
formidable lion. A mix of yellow-and-orange with wide dark-brown stripes, the
510-pound tiger landed on top of the Mngwa. His weight hefty, his claws long,
sharp, and dangerous. The maw that threatened his nape even deadlier.
The lion kept up
his offensive, kept clawing, kept sinking his teeth in deeper and deeper.
The Mngwa
roared, reared back on his hind legs, forcing the tiger off him and to the hard
ground. With a side dive, the Mngwa dropped the entirety of his 695 pounds onto
the 380-pound lion. His long, dark mane shot up and out with the force of the
attack.
The downed lion
snapped and snarled but didn’t get up. No, with the Mngwa looming over him,
golden eyes marble hard, paw raised, claws out and within striking range of the
lion’s throat, the feline had only two choices.
One would see
him dead, while the other …
The lion lowered
his eyes, and then his head.
Submission.
Pleased, the
Mngwa shifted his gaze to the tiger, his other senses having tracked the big
cat the entire time.
He knew it would
come down to this—the Mngwa versus the Bengal tiger. It always did.
The big cats
circled, taking each other’s measure. They searched for an opening, an
opportunity to attack with the least probability of an effective and bruising
counterattack. The combatants knew each other well—style of combat, defensive
and offensive tactics.
Speed, size, and
agility were on the Mngwa’s side. Yet, the toxin from an animal no longer than
an inch, the golden poison frog could kill a dozen men. Its tiny size and bright
colors deceiving. Not, at a length of 120 inches and 43 inches of shoulder
height, with a tail just as long, there was anything small about the Bengal
tiger baring his gleaming white teeth at the Mngwa.
The Mngwa
underestimated no one—no matter the outward appearance of the enemy. Even the
cat of legend, if incautious, could taste the bitter tang of defeat. So he
watched and waited and plotted the tiger’s downfall.
The tiger
charged, all muscle and menace. His long, powerful legs ate up the distance between
them, determined copper eyes all for the Mngwa.
The cat of
legend braced himself, choosing to face the big cat head-on. He wanted this
fight, the primal challenge that only a great beast like the Bengal tiger could
give him. A glorious battle of fangs, fur, and claws that would push, force,
and compel the Mngwa to prove his worth, his manhood, his undisputed dominance
as the predator of predators.
Crash.
The ground shook
- the Mngwa and tiger locked in a feral clench.
Biting.
Clawing.
Pulling.
Strong. The
tiger was so strong. But not strong enough.
The Mngwa opened
his mouth wide and clamped down on fur and flesh. The neck of his opponent was
thick with rigid muscles and delicate veins. The pulse of the tiger’s life a
strong, fast throbbing beat in the Mngwa’s deadly mouth.
The tiger whimpered his pain. Neither loud nor
long. But enough, enough for the Mngwa’s ears to detect the effect of his
attack. Yet the tiger fought on, as the Mngwa knew he would. As the Mngwa
wanted him to, the tiger too stubborn, courageous, and fierce to submit so
easily.
No, there was
much fight left in the Bengal tiger.
He swiped at the
Mngwa, vicious claws finding vulnerable underbelly and drawing blood. It hurt,
but not enough for the bigger cat to release his vice grip. The Mngwa sank his
teeth deeper into the side of the tiger’s neck, tasting blood and prideful
were-cat magic.
Her gardenia
scent slammed into his senses seconds before the Mngwa and the tiger were
surrounded by a ring of raging fire. Breaking his hold on the smaller cat, the
Mngwa turned to see an angry fire witch barreling toward them—green eyes cold,
red-gold hair and long striped sundress blowing in a wind that came out of
nowhere. Her deadly focus was all for the Bengal tiger who, unlike when he fought
the Mngwa, trembled with fear.
Lightning
hissed.
Thunder growled.
And fire witch
magic crackled in the blistering summer air.
Dammit, he had
to do something and fast. Retreating as far as he could go within the cage of
fire, the Mngwa propelled himself forward, accelerating when he approached the
heated barrier and jumped. With ease, he cleared the four-foot high ring of
fire and landed, with an oompf, on top of a glaring Sanura.
“I can’t believe
you just—”
He licked her.
From the front ring bodice of her green-and-orange striped dress, up her toned
shoulders and around the tie neck, and into thick hair covering an ear, the
Mngwa tasted his witch.
“Get off me, you
big furball. I can’t breathe.”
Satisfied and
comfortable, the Mngwa nuzzled his witch’s face, neck, and her heaving breasts,
unfazed by Sanura’s angry protestations. The only part of him that pinned the
witch down was his massive head and part of his chest. But, the Mngwa supposed,
even that much weight could be heavy on a woman who, while five-feet-ten-inches
tall, weighed no more than 140 pounds. With a teasing snort that had a lock of
her wavy hair flying upward and out of her eye, the Mngwa decided it best to
give the fire breathing witch some relief.
With a single
thought from Assefa—I’ll take care of our witch, my friend, go to sleep—the cat
gave way to the man. A transformative effect where fur and hide succumbed to
hair and skin, paws and claws shrank to hands and legs, and golden eyes,
muzzle, and fangs retreated, waning under Assefa’s command.
“Is that
better?” Assefa smiled down at his hot-tempered girlfriend, right before
settling the whole of him on top of the whole of her.
Very nice.
Sanura made for the best mattress—plush, lush and with the right amount of
firmness.
“You’re naked.”
A huffed complaint that did nothing to encourage Assefa to move off her.
“Of course. My
Mngwa doesn’t like clothing.” He shifted on top of her, letting Sanura feel
just how naked he was. “He thinks pants are too binding. What do you think?”
She closed her eyes
and shook her head. “I think you need to worry more about that big damn tiger
you were fighting rather than your Mngwa in boxers.”
About the Author:
N. D. Jones lives in Maryland with her husband and two children. She is the founder of Kuumba Publishing, an art, audiobook, eBook, and paperback company. Kuumba Publishing is a forum for creativity, with a special commitment to promoting and encouraging creative works of authors and artists of African descent.
A desire to see more novels with positive, sexy, and three-dimensional African American characters as soul mates, friends, and lovers, inspired the author to take on the challenge of penning such romantic reads. She is the author of two paranormal romance series: Winged Warriors and Death and Destiny. N.D. likes to read historical and paranormal romance novels, as well as comics and manga.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/NDJones
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NDJonesauthor
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/ndjones001
Tour giveaway
$50 Amazon Kindle gift card, Signed copy of "Of Fear and Faith" and "Of Beasts and Bonds," art print by Najja Creations
$30 Amazon Kindle gift card + eBook copy of "Of Fear and Faith" and "Of Beasts and Bonds"
$20 Amazon Kindle gift card + eBook copy of "Of Beasts and Bonds"
Enter here: https://gleam.io/fb/L7VzF165039160206844
