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Today Words and Peace published a spotlight and ebook giveaway announcement for Gypsies, Tramps and Weeia, the first title in the Paris Marshals urban fantasy series about superhumans. Words and Peace is the personal website of Emma, a French artist and reader. Thank you Emma! Visit her website to read the post and enter the giveaway at https://wordsandpeace.com/2016/12/05/spotlight-and-giveaway-gypsies-tramps-and-weeia/
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Thank you to all the wonderful Goodreads readers who entered my recent giveaways for print copies of In the Garden of Weeia, an urban fantasy novella, and the first two books of the new Paris urban fantasy series Gypsies, Tramps and Weeia, and Weeia on My Mind. All three books are about the Weeia superhumans.
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At the end of the giveaway period, 2,782 readers had entered the three giveaways: 861 readers had entered the giveaway for In the Garden of Weeia (https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/199886-in-the-garden-of-weeia), 854 signed up for the recently released Weeia on My Mind (https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/200135-weeia-on-my-mind), and 1,057 people had entered the Gypsies, Tramps and Weeia giveaway (https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/199884-gypsies-tramps-and-weeia).
A Well-Written, Suspenseful and Thrilling Read
Weeia on My Mind by Elle Boca is book two of the Weeia Marshals series and continues the story from the first book in the series – Gypsies, Tramps and Weeia.
Danni is in Paris and is seven months into her first assignment after graduating from the Marshals Academy in America. Her boss, Francois, is very “hands-off” in directing Danni and hardly acknowledges Danni’s work until she proves herself to be a very capable Weeia officer. Madame Marmotte is the local Weeia office manager and also shows quite a bit of disdain for Danni.
When the Marshals Academy sends a new recruit, Sebastien to the Paris office to work with Danni, the tables turn and Danni must oversee the new underling. Something she is not at all eager to do. Sebastien is related to Madame Marmotte and soon Danni sees a different, softer side of the office meddler and malcontent who thinks the world of Sebastien. No sooner has Sebastien arrived in Paris, he and Danni come up against several villainous sorts akin to the Mafia and are in a fight for their lives. Sebastien proves he is a worthy partner and Danni soon warms up to the idea of having him in the Paris office.
In the midst of fighting Weeia on Weeia crime and carrying out assorted other duties, Danni becomes romantically involved with Iaen, a border-line “bad-boy” type who is just the right mix of good and bad to send Danni’s heart aflutter. The two become very close and soon are spending all of their free time together – which may or may not be a wise choice for Danni.
This second book in the Marshals series is a well-written, suspenseful and thrilling read that is a bit darker than the first book in the series. But, as with any crime-fighting story, criminals die and the manner in which they die could be off-putting to some readers. However, the events that unfold are paramount to moving the story forward and bringing it to a satisfying conclusion.
If you are a fan of urban fantasy or paranormal books, the Weeia collection is a wonderful world to get caught up in and enjoy. I have read all of the Weeia books and cannot recommend them highly enough. They are great stories that I could see being on television or the big screen.
Keep the Weeia stories coming, Ms. Boca, this fan is definitely hungry for more.
S.A. Molteni, author of I.T. Geek to Farm Girl Freak
Giveaway ends December 28, 2016.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Anne Marvin blogs at Truthinfantasy.com, saying, “I’m learning to live authentically in the real world. And to have some fun along the way. I look for truth in paranormal and urban fantasy.” She recently wrote a post (truthinfantasy.com/blog/the-office/) in which she mentioned Weeia on My Mind. With her permission you can read it here. Find more thought provoking posts about Truth in Fantasy on her website.
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I just finished Elle Boca’s Weeia on My Mind. Excellent read. I found myself turning pages quickly to see how it all got resolved. But what really struck me about the book was Ms. Boca’s remarkable attention to detail and her close, totally on-point observations. Particularly with respect to a topic I thought I’d forgotten, but which came rushing back like the tide at full moon when I was reading this novel. Ms. Boca has perfectly captured the ins and outs of office life. I’m not sure if it’s depressing or inspiring to know that even a race of superhumans struggles with the office two-step, dancing quickly to climb the corporate ladder, keep others from flinging us down and avoid getting stepped on.
Weeia on My Mind is written from the perspective of young Danni Metreaux, a Weeia law enforcement officer recently transferred to Paris, her requested posting. Once she gets there, however, she is confronted with several familiar figures in offices across the globe and across time: the long-standing, do-nothing bureaucrat who resents the presence of personnel who actually want to work and the obstructionist assistant/secretary/office manger who makes life as difficult as possible for those same folk who are just trying to get shit done. Anyone who’s ever worked in an office knows who I’m taking about. These characters and the situations they create were drawn so faithfully that the lines between truth and fantasy were very blurred, as they often are in my beloved genre.
In the book, Danni desperately wants to seem professional and knowledgeable. She wants to make her mark. Like all of us who’ve been newbies in a corporate environment, we know, like Danni, that appearances count, that our behavior is being scrutinized and commented on, and that everything we do is being analyzed by an electron microscope. All of which makes it brutally difficult to fit in while simultaneously standing out. Which is the name of the game in The Office, no matter where it is or what it does or makes.
Like the rest of us, Danni struggles to juggle the requirements, explicit and implicit, of the chain of command. We need to make our bosses look good. But we can’t show them up. We need to ensure that we’re asking for permission before we go off half cocked, thinking we know what to do, but we need to demonstrate independent thinking and initiative. We need to first, do no harm, but also do what needs to be done. It’s exhausting.
Then there is the problem of our place in the hierarchy. Offices are the most structured, hierarchical environments in the universe. Submarines have nothing on a well-established office. With this hierarchy comes a need to understand how to behave with superiors, subordinates and colleagues alike. Forgetting our place is a mortal sin in The Office. We’re expected to be graciously subservient to those above us; firm but fair with those below us; and we need to be overtly friendly while hiding the sub rosa machinations going on as we try to outshine our competitors, otherwise known as our peers. Totally draining.
And what about what happens when work relationships become personal–as in friendships and romances? If we’re working 60-70 hours a week, we’re spending more time with our fellow workers than with anyone else. Relationships happen, whether we want them to or not, and whether they are permitted or not. I was frankly shocked that Danni didn’t develop a more-than-professional interest in her new protégé. Sebastian is smart, hot, and rich. They do become friends, which is nice, and predictable insofar as the real world is concerned. It could have gone the other way, which leads to all sorts of contortions while people try to hide their forbidden office romances. I’ve kept more of these kinds of secrets than any other. And I worked in a classified environment for twenty years.
And finally, Danni has to deal with the “We-Be’s,” a particularly nasty sub-species of office dwellers who will screw you up every time. These are the folks with the lovely attitude that says, “We be here when you come and we be here when you go. Ain’t nothing you can do to us or for us, so fuck off.” I’m pretty sure that is a direct quote. These troglodytes are in the trenches, and it’s almost impossible to extricate them. And they can make our lives a living hell, if they so desire. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.
There are others from Satan’s headquarters who can make life fairly toasty as well. I’m talking about bosses from hell, including the ragers, the gropers, the mouth-breathers and the tyrants. There is nothing worse than a bad boss. I’ve been blessed in my professional life; mostly, I’ve had bosses from Heaven. The only one from Down Under eventually came around and joined the side of the angels—and we became good friends. I would have lost that bet.
And all of these memories of my corporate life as a national security contractor came pouring in as I read Elle Boca’s latest offering. These are bittersweet memories, as I don’t really miss office life, but I do sometimes miss the intensity, the structure, the shared sense of purpose and responsibility and the camaraderie of working in an office environment. But I think I will stroll down memory lane with my beloved books, rather than in real life. Truth is sometimes more palatable in fantasy than in reality. Thanks, Elle Boca, for the great read and the fun ride.
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