reviews_and_ramblings | Blog Tour: Flesh Market by Kate Lowell

Flesh Market (Bodies and Souls Book 1)
Publisher: Loose Id LLC (November 9, 2015)
Amazon Kindle: Flesh Market (Bodies and Souls Book 1)

Blurb: Special Agent Leo Gale is up a creek. A year and a half of deep cover is about to go up in flames. He needs help – something, someone to salvage the operation and save the lives of untold numbers of trafficked teenagers.

But he wasn’t expecting the partner they sent, or his own gut-punch of a response to the man.

Julian worked hard for that FBI Honors Internship. It was supposed to be a foot in the door. He’d never expected it to catapult him into the middle of a major undercover operation. Yet here he is, sleeping on a filthy mattress and using every trick in the book to avoid torture—and worse. He’s never felt so scared, or so alive, in his entire life, and he’s not sure if it’s the danger, or Leo, that’s making his heart race.

There’s no time to think about it, though. The operation is heating up, and Leo and Julian are running out of time and options. As choices become more difficult, they must find a way to take the traffickers down, or risk becoming just another set of organs for sale.

Excerpt:

Inside the bathroom, DeGraff peered behind the door and moved an OUT OF SERVICE FOR CLEANING sign from the back to the front.

Julian was at the sink at the far end of the room, staring into the mirror with water dripping off his face. DeGraff stepped into one of the stalls, and Leo went to wash his hands at one of the other sinks. Julian glanced up at him, then tore off some paper towel and wiped his face dry. He tossed the towel in the overflowing garbage can and slunk past Leo with all the angsty self-consciousness of a hormonal teenager.

Leo wished he had time to appreciate the performance, but he had a job to do. As Julian passed him, Leo spun and grabbed him from behind, pinning Julian’s arms to his side and covering his mouth. Julian made a startled noise, muffled by Leo’s hand, and began to thrash. He kicked Leo painfully in the shin, but by then DeGraff was out of the stall and had jabbed his syringe into Julian’s shoulder. Leo fought the young man down to the floor while DeGraff stood watch by the bathroom door. Five tense minutes later, Julian was completely spaced out, limp as a rag in Leo’s arms.

Meet the author: Kate lives on the east coast of Canada, in an old farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. She has one horse now, who still has medical issues, and three cats, all of which still have mental issues. She still refuses to get a dog, because who knows what would be wrong with it?

Kate loves to read and write. She also likes playing with computers and is going back to school to do a programming degree, just for giggles. Or the opportunity to take over the world. (Oh, who are we kidding? Think of all the work that would mean.) She also likes pictures of pretty men and keeps many of them on her computer. (The pictures, not the men.) She would dearly love a cabana boy to mow her lawn and maybe rub her shoulders after a long day of making men fall in love with each other, then cackling evilly and raining frustration and danger on them.

1) Why do you write?
I’ve always told stories—mostly inside my head. It’s almost a relief to get them out onto the page, like it makes room for the rest of my life. I’m must more fun to be around when I’m writing, because my brain can breathe.

2) Which of your books was the most difficult to write?
No contest—it was Flesh Market. This book dug its claws into me and wouldn’t let go. It was a difficult topic, and the story required me to write some scenes that brought me to tears as the words spilled onto the page. Those scenes, and ones to come in the sequels, are still hard to live with.

3) Give us an insight into your main character. What does he/she do that is so special?
Julian is smart. Like, gifted smart. He’s driven to succeed, for reasons which will come to light in later books, but his childhood wasn’t the idyll some might suspect it was. Like most gifted kids, he’s not accustomed to failure—he’s used to deciding to do something, and then just doing it. Flesh Market will be a test, and a learning curve that will change Julian forever.

4) How much research do you do for your books?
Depends on the book. The Wolves and Witches series doesn’t need much research. Christmas Goes Analog needed a bit more, though most of that could be accomplished by asking my brother questions about what went on in his workplace. Flesh Market was probably the most research-intensive book I’ve written so far.

5) Who designs your covers?
The publisher provides a cover artist for books that are sold through them. My cover artist for Flesh Market is April Martinez, who has done other covers of mine. The base image of the two men came from the Spanish photographer called Varian Krylov. For my self-pubbed works, I did the covers myself, more or less successfully. 

Where to find the author:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008313548018
Twitter: @Kate_Lowell
Website: www.katelowell.com
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27273838-flesh-market

Tour Dates & Stops:
3-Nov: Jessie G. Books, KathyMac Reviews
4-Nov: BFD Book Blog,
5-Nov: Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, MM Good Book Reviews
6-Nov: The Blogger Girls, Sinfully Addicted to All Male Romance
9-Nov: Cheekypee Reads and Reviews
11-Nov: Divine Magazine, Hearts on Fire, QUEERcentric Books
12-Nov: Kimi-Chan, Love Bytes, Havan Fellows
13-Nov: Happily Ever Chapter, Bayou Book Junkie
16-Nov: Inked Rainbow Reads
17-Nov: Elisa - My Reviews and Ramblings, My Fiction Nook