VBT: Lie to Me by Tori St. Claire (Tour Wide Giveaway)

What’s In A Name?

Hi all!  Thanks for having me over and letting me take control of the blog today.  I’m really excited to be here!

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by the meaning of names.  I never cared much for my given name’s meaning “strong” (how unfascinating is that?)  But in general, the origin and meaning fasincates me.  I’ve spent days in some cases looking for pets names with specific meanings.  For instance, I have a horse who is black.  His name is Valraven’s Areion.  Areion being the black Pegasus that came from Poseidon’s rape of Demeter, and Valraven being the black winged horse that Freya, the Celt death goddess, rode.  That one took a couple weeks to come up with.

The meaning of my pen names I find rather amusing.  Note, I didn’t research the meaning before choosing them, so it’s rather ironic, especially when you consider “Tori” which came from Victory and first belonged to a saint.  Cough.  ‘Nuff said.

And so was Claire… actually the most notable founder of “Claire” began an order of nuns. 

Anyway, for kicks and grins, I thought I would share the meaning of some of the names you’ll encounter in LIE TO ME, the second Black Opal novel, an erotic romantic suspense published by Berkley Heat.

Yakiv – the supplanter, the holder of the heel, may God protect  Interesting, if one considers who Yakiv is, and what he’s done.

Alexei (our hero) – helper, defender  Perfectly apt, although it too came from Saints, which Alexei definitely is not.

Sasha (our heroine) – defending men, to defend and help, feminine form of Alexander  Again, very complimentary to Alexei, which fits her intended role.

Grigoriy – watchful, alert – definitely one of his roles.

Isaak – he laughs, also in Christian foundations he is asked to sacrifice his son, although an angel interfered at the last moment.  He does do a lot of laughing.  The latter part is intriguing.

Kevin – Kind, gentle, handsome – Oh yes.  Most definitely!

Misha – who is like God? (rhetorical), Also known as the archangel of soldiers, leader of the heavenly armies.  All I will say is, Mmmm.

Irina – peace  Also very fitting, considering how the name came into play

Kadir – strong  Too bad powerful and filthy rich isn’t in there. Otherwise, I concur.

Saeed – lord, master No truer words exist.

Now the thing that intrigues me the most, with the exception of Yakiv, I looked none of these up until this posting.  Ironically, every one of them fit the character.  How cool is that?

I hope you’ll check out Lie To Me and let me know if you agree with the pairing of the names!

So I’m curious – what’s your favorite name out there today, or what is the meaning of your own name?

  

~Tori St. Claire

A man of action… 

After helping to break up a Russian human trafficking ring as part of the CIA’s elite Black Opal team, Alexei Nikanova’s newest assignment is to rescue one of the stolen women and return her to her father. When he arrives in Dubai, he discovers his target is Sasha Zablosky—a woman he knows all too well, and who has haunted him ever since their unforgettable time together in Moscow, two and a half years earlier. But he finds Sasha reluctant to leave her sheikh, the only true friend she’s ever known. Only Alexei can’t give her a choice. 

A woman of deception… 

With their yearning roused by intrigue, Alexei and Sasha can no longer resist temptation, and spend night after night in forbidden pleasure. Soon Alexei finds himself falling for her, even as he battles a shadowy menace to protect her. But Sasha is no innocent. She has a past darker than she could ever admit, one that Alexei could never forgive. And it is about to explode into her life once more. As the lies they tell themselves—and each other—pull them deeper into a perilous desire, what began as simple passion becomes a love certain to destroy them and end the lives of countless innocents.

Excerpt 

Opening his eyes, he smoothed a hand down her long silken hair. “You should get some sleep.”

“It’s morning. The sun’s peeking up.”

Carefully avoiding the mirror, he shifted his gaze to the window, noting the early violet hue in the sky. “I guess it is.” Which meant they wouldn’t be going anywhere until tomorrow morning. He’d put her through enough for one night. Her father could live another day without her. Particularly since he knew she was safe at least.

As he nuzzled her hair once more, tiny wisps getting caught on his unshaven chin, all the places they connected soaked into his awareness. His pulse kicked up a notch. Against his thigh, his cock stirred.

Damn. What was the matter with him? It was like some animal had invaded his body. Sure, the sex was mind-blowing, but this wasn’t normal. Certainly not for him.

His cock was going to have to wait. He knew from experience Sasha could go all night. But those amazing evenings hadn’t included bullets and death. She might be strong, yet he couldn’t ask her to endure more.

Easing out of her embrace, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and guided her to the door. “You still need sleep.”

All five and a half feet of her tensed like stone. Bracing against his steering efforts, she shook her head. “I don’t want to sleep, Alexei.”

In her adamant whisper, he heard the fear he had once known so intimately. Dreams had a way of making all the realities unavoidable.

Alexei stopped urging her toward the door and turned to catch her chin in his hand. He tipped her face to his. A dozen reassurances floated through his mind. What made it off his tongue shocked him. “Why don’t you hate me?”

Bio

National Bestselling author Tori St. Claire grew up writing. Hobby quickly turned into passion, and when she discovered the world of romance as a teen, poems and short stories gave way to full length novels with sexy heroes and heroines waiting to be swept off their feet. She wrote her first romance novel at seventeen.

While that manuscript gathered dust-bunnies beneath the bed, she went on to establish herself as a contemporary, historical, and paranormal author under the pen name, Claire Ashgrove. Her writing, however, skirted a fine line between hot and steamy, and motivated by authors she admired, she pushed her boundaries and made the leap into erotica, using the darker side of human nature and on-the-edge suspense to drive grittier, sexier, stories.

Her erotic romantic suspense novels are searingly sensual experiences that unite passion with true emotion, and the all-consuming tie that binds -- love.

Tori will be giving away a $25.00 Amazon Gift Card to one random commenter during the month of July.  Two additional commenters will receive a basket of swag.  Follow the tour – the more times you comment the better your chances of winning!  Complete tour dates can be found here.