BOOK INFO
Title – Roman
Series – Saints and Sinners
Author – Kennedy Streath
Genre – Dark urban fantasy
Publication Date – 12/11/12
Length (Pages/# Words) - 89935
Publisher – PubRight
Cover Artist – Poppet
BOOK BLURB/SYNOPSIS –
Benedict Nowak bailed on his marriage, taking his son with him but leaving behind his five year old daughter. He had his reasons. He had no idea they’d come back to haunt him.
TJ had come to terms with the mother she despised, making those small concessions that made life bearable. But her mother’s death changed everything.
Her brother, Anton, was the parent missing in TJ’s life, until he found a calling in violence, and left his sister at the mercy of shrinks and a mother with ice in her veins.
Roman Rincon was the juvie rescued by Father Marcus and placed in the care of Benedict Nowak. With his records sealed, no one knew what happened that fateful night when Roman was only fourteen. All Father Marcus knew was the boy had confessed to a crime not even the cops would talk about.
In the small coal mining town of Montville, two teens whose lives have been shattered beyond repair must find a way to cope … with school, with each other, with growing up marked as broken in a town dying under the weight of secrets and lies.
Warned off having anything to do with Roman, TJ is all too willing to agree, except for one little thing. The young man lives in the apartment above her father’s car repair business so avoiding him might be a problem.
As for Roman, he will take his secret to the grave, no matter what the cost.
BUY LINKS
Amazon Kindle Link – http://goo.gl/cmdpWE
Amazon Paperback Link – http://goo.gl/qhrJow
Barnes & Nobles Nook Link – http://goo.gl/jRcMUV
Barnes & Nobles Paperback Link – http://goo.gl/JjMLb6
Smashwords Link – http://goo.gl/zCY17y
iTunes Link – http://goo.gl/vFPnrT
Goodreads Link – http://goo.gl/e8me04
EXCERPT
Roman (Saints and Sinners), Kennedy Streath
Forced into making decisions no young girl should ever make, TJ must deal with her conflicted feelings for a mother who cared only for her career and a father who turned his back on his responsibilities. When TJ’s mother dies, the teen must go live with a father who is a stranger, in a town dying under the weight of poverty and ethnic divisions.
TJ’s father, Benedict Nowak, has given Roman Rincon sanctuary. Fresh out of three years in juvie, the only friend Roman has is Father Marcus. The priest convinced the court to remand the troubled teen to Benedict’s supervision. Roman has to keep his head down and his nose clean.
This excerpt is the scene when TJ finally gets to meet the elusive teen.
*****
“Come on in, Roman. I want you to meet...” Ben waved in her direction, “…my daughter, TJ.”
The teen stared, eyes a flat obsidian, framed by impossibly long lashes, the thick brownish black brows creased into a single, disapproving line. Deepset, those eyes were all she could focus on, commanding her undivided attention.
Ben rattled on, “TJ stands for Theresa Jane…”
Throat dry, TJ mouthed a ‘hi’ but it died before her lips could form the word. To her surprise her father wasn’t filling in the blanks like she might have expected, spilling all her particulars.
No … her mother just passed. I’m all she has. Well, Tony also. But Tony’s gone, back to his unit. She’ll be going to the high school. We’ll see the prin—
Instead he’d turned back to his task, shoulders rigid with tension. TJ wondered why.
But then she looked closer at the man hiding behind a boy’s lean and lanky frame, at the sharp planes of his high cheekbones, the cruel set to lips just on the edge of full, a hint of a dimple offset by the tilt of his head that spoke to defiance and self-sufficiency.
The hoodie masked all but his face. Short sideburns shadowed by the fleece suggested raven dark hair. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he wore it long, perhaps in a tail. He wasn’t as tall as her father or Tony, maybe five eleven, but she’d thought him bigger the way he commanded a room, like he’d emptied it of air and filled it with his presence, something physical … and something not. That something seemed to hover in the air currents, leaving her feeling like cannon fodder in a bad horror movie.
She felt the catch in her lungs, the sensation of menace, but refused to look away. She knew all about turf wars from her mother: the legal kind with briefs and a quick wit, the other with self-actualization on each side of a tennis court, the advantage always Eleanore. Mostly she knew about negotiating. About trade-offs. Being bought. Staying out of the way. Rigging the balance sheet so losses looked less like failure and more like incremental skirmishes.
Eleanore cooked the legal ledgers to get what she wanted. TJ leaned toward a slightly different interpretation but both had understood a zero sum game.
Roman had that very special knowledge also. But one thing about him was different: he needed no one, he feared nothing. Of that she was one hundred percent sure.
When he turned away and left without a word, she and Ben breathed a sigh of relief.
EXCERPT
Roman (Saints and Sinners), Kennedy Streath
Forced into making decisions no young girl should ever make, TJ must deal with her conflicted feelings for a mother who cared only for her career and a father who turned his back on his responsibilities. When TJ’s mother dies, the teen must go live with a father who is a stranger, in a town dying under the weight of poverty and ethnic divisions.
TJ’s father, Benedict Nowak, has given Roman Rincon sanctuary. Fresh out of three years in juvie, the only friend Roman has is Father Marcus. The priest convinced the court to remand the troubled teen to Benedict’s supervision. Roman has to keep his head down and his nose clean.
This excerpt is the scene when TJ finally gets to meet the elusive teen.
*****
“Come on in, Roman. I want you to meet...” Ben waved in her direction, “…my daughter, TJ.”
The teen stared, eyes a flat obsidian, framed by impossibly long lashes, the thick brownish black brows creased into a single, disapproving line. Deepset, those eyes were all she could focus on, commanding her undivided attention.
Ben rattled on, “TJ stands for Theresa Jane…”
Throat dry, TJ mouthed a ‘hi’ but it died before her lips could form the word. To her surprise her father wasn’t filling in the blanks like she might have expected, spilling all her particulars.
No … her mother just passed. I’m all she has. Well, Tony also. But Tony’s gone, back to his unit. She’ll be going to the high school. We’ll see the prin—
Instead he’d turned back to his task, shoulders rigid with tension. TJ wondered why.
But then she looked closer at the man hiding behind a boy’s lean and lanky frame, at the sharp planes of his high cheekbones, the cruel set to lips just on the edge of full, a hint of a dimple offset by the tilt of his head that spoke to defiance and self-sufficiency.
The hoodie masked all but his face. Short sideburns shadowed by the fleece suggested raven dark hair. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he wore it long, perhaps in a tail. He wasn’t as tall as her father or Tony, maybe five eleven, but she’d thought him bigger the way he commanded a room, like he’d emptied it of air and filled it with his presence, something physical … and something not. That something seemed to hover in the air currents, leaving her feeling like cannon fodder in a bad horror movie.
She felt the catch in her lungs, the sensation of menace, but refused to look away. She knew all about turf wars from her mother: the legal kind with briefs and a quick wit, the other with self-actualization on each side of a tennis court, the advantage always Eleanore. Mostly she knew about negotiating. About trade-offs. Being bought. Staying out of the way. Rigging the balance sheet so losses looked less like failure and more like incremental skirmishes.
Eleanore cooked the legal ledgers to get what she wanted. TJ leaned toward a slightly different interpretation but both had understood a zero sum game.
Roman had that very special knowledge also. But one thing about him was different: he needed no one, he feared nothing. Of that she was one hundred percent sure.
When he turned away and left without a word, she and Ben breathed a sigh of relief.
AUTHOR BIO:
Kennedy Streath writes with gritty realism, exploring that intersect where the paranormal and the suspension of disbelief take a back seat to the power of the spirit and the raw edges of conflicted souls. He moves to the backbeat that’s a heartbeat, blending action, suspense and intensely sensual romance.
Kennedy lives in the country with horses to ground that spectre of disquiet that haunts us all and holds to a belief in the promise of the young and young at heart.
FOLLOW LINKS:
Amazon Author Page – http://www.amazon.com/Kennedy-Streath/e/B00ANS0U90/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1
Website/Blog – http://saints-and-sinners.weebly.com/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/KennedyStreath
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/17400936-kennedy-streath
Others – http://about.me/kennedy_streath
https://www.facebook.com/KennedyStreathAuthor
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Kennedy Streath
Author of Roman (Saints and Sinners)
What would you have done differently if you were the main character of your book?
TJ is sixteen, a teen on the cusp of womanhood, but already mature beyond her years. Reeling from the death of a mother who treated her in all ways like a commodity, she’s thrust into an alien environment, stripped of privilege, status and the sense of family … as tenuous as that had been.
Roman lives above her estranged father’s garage. He is enigmatic and dangerous, and everyone warns her off of having anything to do with him. He spent the last three years in juvie for a crime not even the cops will talk about.
Roman stands and watches, keeping his silent distance, until the start of school.
Good sense would dictate she not get on that bike… But then, that would have been an entirely different story.
What was your inspiration behind this book?
I lived in the coal-mining region in eastern PA, in and around dying towns, much like Montville in Roman. There’s something intrinsically surreal about the land burning from coal seams that caught fire years ago, spreading like a disease underground and displacing all who called the landscape above home.
There’s a spiritual link to the land that’s shared by the residents, a link forged by hard work and harder times. I wanted to explore what happens when the inexplicable occurs and faith is tested against a backdrop of pride interlaced with despair.
Why did you become a writer?
Communicating via the written word has always been far easier for me. Not sure why, since I was a jock in school and you’d think that would have solved a lot of problems, but nope. Technical writing became a big part of my career so when it came time to look to a different future, writing was there, waiting for me.
Do you have a favorite author or authors?
I much admire Nalini Singh and the ‘Verse she’s created with the Psy-Changeling and Guild Hunter series. And then there’s J.R Ward and the Black Dagger Brotherhood; Rob Thurman’s Cal Leandros dark urban world—all dark urban fantasy.
For action, my go-to’s are Greg Rucka and Robert Crais.
Do you like to write your books in a continuing series?
My alter ego is quite fond of series, with several on the boards.
I wrote Roman with an eye to making it a 3-part series, with Anton on deck. However, it is also a standalone so if I decide not to proceed it still can ‘stand on its merits’.
It’s been difficult to ease into the YA market without the backing of a major publisher. Teens still prefer books on shelves, not ebooks, though that is changing, albeit slowly.
If you could date any character from any book, who would it be and why?
Janet Evanovich’s Ranger. Hot, Cuban, trouble. All he’d need to do is say, “Babe,” and … well, I’d be a goner.
What kinds of books do you like to read in your spare time?
I read just about anything, with one caveat: I don’t read Stephen King (Uncle Stevie) because his books scare the bejeebers out of me. That said, I do have Under the Dome awaiting my pleasure. It makes for a dandy doorstop in the meantime.
Do you cry when writing sad scenes?
Oddly no, but then I channel the characters, so it’s much like being a voyeur as the words appear on the screen. It’s not until later, on the edit, that I’m able to see that forest and the trees. And yes, I’ve been known to snuffle and wipe my eyes on my sleeve.
Did you have a Cover Designer?
I have three. Poppet did the covers for Roman and Anton.
Sessha Batto has done the bulk of my published covers, ebook and print.
Dreams2Media’s Rebecca Poole has created several new covers for my WiPs and I can’t wait to get started on those YA and New Adult projects.
Who is your fictional boyfriend or girlfriend crush?
Malcolm Reynolds of Firefly fame (and bless Joss Whedon for creating such an amazing, conflicted character).
If you were able to dine and have a one on one with your favorite writer/author who would it be?
Harlan Coben. I met him at RWA in NYC and he is gracious, funny and erudite, a perfect dinner companion. Plus he is from the Garden State, so we share some common roots and interests—he’s a basketball fan and an incurable romantic.
Do just re-read your favorite books?
The last book I reread was Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley. I’ve reread Gone with the Wind, The Thorn Birds and the Harry Potter series dozens of times.
Thing is … my TBR is long enough to pave a runway for a 747. I’m working through the list, but life interferes and I’d rather be writing, so I don’t indulge as often as I’d like.
Do you ever get in a reading slump like your readers do?
On the contrary, I tend toward being obsessive-compulsive about reading an author’s complete body of work. I recently scored a signed copy of Jim Butcher’s Proven guilty. That prompted me to fill in the shelves with about 14 of the Harry Dresden books. I have Amazon on speed dial and I’ve more than made up the cost for their prime membership with free shipping.
What is the funniest book you ever read?
The early Janet Evanovich books were so funny, I often had to set them down and leave the room because my belly and my face would be sore from laughing. And I didn’t dare read one on a bus or other public conveyance for fear of being carted away like a loon.
https://www.facebook.com/KennedyStreathAuthor
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Kennedy Streath
Author of Roman (Saints and Sinners)
What would you have done differently if you were the main character of your book?
TJ is sixteen, a teen on the cusp of womanhood, but already mature beyond her years. Reeling from the death of a mother who treated her in all ways like a commodity, she’s thrust into an alien environment, stripped of privilege, status and the sense of family … as tenuous as that had been.
Roman lives above her estranged father’s garage. He is enigmatic and dangerous, and everyone warns her off of having anything to do with him. He spent the last three years in juvie for a crime not even the cops will talk about.
Roman stands and watches, keeping his silent distance, until the start of school.
Good sense would dictate she not get on that bike… But then, that would have been an entirely different story.
What was your inspiration behind this book?
I lived in the coal-mining region in eastern PA, in and around dying towns, much like Montville in Roman. There’s something intrinsically surreal about the land burning from coal seams that caught fire years ago, spreading like a disease underground and displacing all who called the landscape above home.
There’s a spiritual link to the land that’s shared by the residents, a link forged by hard work and harder times. I wanted to explore what happens when the inexplicable occurs and faith is tested against a backdrop of pride interlaced with despair.
Why did you become a writer?
Communicating via the written word has always been far easier for me. Not sure why, since I was a jock in school and you’d think that would have solved a lot of problems, but nope. Technical writing became a big part of my career so when it came time to look to a different future, writing was there, waiting for me.
Do you have a favorite author or authors?
I much admire Nalini Singh and the ‘Verse she’s created with the Psy-Changeling and Guild Hunter series. And then there’s J.R Ward and the Black Dagger Brotherhood; Rob Thurman’s Cal Leandros dark urban world—all dark urban fantasy.
For action, my go-to’s are Greg Rucka and Robert Crais.
Do you like to write your books in a continuing series?
My alter ego is quite fond of series, with several on the boards.
I wrote Roman with an eye to making it a 3-part series, with Anton on deck. However, it is also a standalone so if I decide not to proceed it still can ‘stand on its merits’.
It’s been difficult to ease into the YA market without the backing of a major publisher. Teens still prefer books on shelves, not ebooks, though that is changing, albeit slowly.
If you could date any character from any book, who would it be and why?
Janet Evanovich’s Ranger. Hot, Cuban, trouble. All he’d need to do is say, “Babe,” and … well, I’d be a goner.
What kinds of books do you like to read in your spare time?
I read just about anything, with one caveat: I don’t read Stephen King (Uncle Stevie) because his books scare the bejeebers out of me. That said, I do have Under the Dome awaiting my pleasure. It makes for a dandy doorstop in the meantime.
Do you cry when writing sad scenes?
Oddly no, but then I channel the characters, so it’s much like being a voyeur as the words appear on the screen. It’s not until later, on the edit, that I’m able to see that forest and the trees. And yes, I’ve been known to snuffle and wipe my eyes on my sleeve.
Did you have a Cover Designer?
I have three. Poppet did the covers for Roman and Anton.
Sessha Batto has done the bulk of my published covers, ebook and print.
Dreams2Media’s Rebecca Poole has created several new covers for my WiPs and I can’t wait to get started on those YA and New Adult projects.
Who is your fictional boyfriend or girlfriend crush?
Malcolm Reynolds of Firefly fame (and bless Joss Whedon for creating such an amazing, conflicted character).
If you were able to dine and have a one on one with your favorite writer/author who would it be?
Harlan Coben. I met him at RWA in NYC and he is gracious, funny and erudite, a perfect dinner companion. Plus he is from the Garden State, so we share some common roots and interests—he’s a basketball fan and an incurable romantic.
Do just re-read your favorite books?
The last book I reread was Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley. I’ve reread Gone with the Wind, The Thorn Birds and the Harry Potter series dozens of times.
Thing is … my TBR is long enough to pave a runway for a 747. I’m working through the list, but life interferes and I’d rather be writing, so I don’t indulge as often as I’d like.
Do you ever get in a reading slump like your readers do?
On the contrary, I tend toward being obsessive-compulsive about reading an author’s complete body of work. I recently scored a signed copy of Jim Butcher’s Proven guilty. That prompted me to fill in the shelves with about 14 of the Harry Dresden books. I have Amazon on speed dial and I’ve more than made up the cost for their prime membership with free shipping.
What is the funniest book you ever read?
The early Janet Evanovich books were so funny, I often had to set them down and leave the room because my belly and my face would be sore from laughing. And I didn’t dare read one on a bus or other public conveyance for fear of being carted away like a loon.
GIVEAWAY –
1 Print copy of Roman (Saints and Sinners) (US only)
2 eBook copies of Roman (Saints and Sinners): PDF, mobi or epub
1 comments:
This book sounds rather interesting! It's neat that you have so many author interviews on your site. They're always so fun to read! #getsocial17
-Amy @ burstingwithbooks.com
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