consenting sex – Seven Troublesome Sisters

Today it is my pleasure to welcome author K. T. Munson and her fantasy romance short prequel Zendar: A Tale of Sand.

Author’s description

Zendar is a world of sand and strife.

Living in the great capital of Zendar, Sol, Nitya has always longed for something more than her family’s merchant lifestyle. She craves adventure—or at least hopes something remotely exciting could happen. When her best friend, Juni, secures them both positions in the palace’s kitchen, Nitya gets to experience a different world than she ever imagined—especially after a young soldier catches her eye.

Her world will never be the same.

My Review

Zendar: A Tale of Sand is pure fun. In this light, fast read author Munson introduces an interesting world, a believable and likable family, and a sweet young woman every reader will enjoy.

When Nitya’s yearning for adventure brings her into contact with a handsome palace guard, we all know how this will end. It doesn’t matter. The tale is well told and it holds other surprises. Besides, one feels the chemistry between the two would-be lovers, and the inevitable is approached with a perfect mix of subtlety and detail. Enjoy the scene you know is coming.

I do add an extra bit of applause, though, for the handsome palace guard’s awareness that when a woman consents to sex with a man who is saving her life, she may not be in a position to fully give that consent. So, this well-muscled and chiseled-faced man turns out to be wise and kind, too! Another nice surprise.

I’m sure this prequel is designed to make readers curious to learn more about the desert world of Zendar. It worked for me. I’ll be looking into Munson’s full-length books A Tale of Blood and Sand and A Tale of Wind and Sand.

About the Author

K.T. Munson is an independent author. First published at 5 years old in the young writers conference, she has pursued writing ever since. She maintains a blog creatingworldswithwords.wordpress.com that is about writing and her novels. She was born and raised in the last frontier, the great state of Alaska.

Find the Author

On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ktmunson
On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ktmunson
On her online sale site: http://authorktmunson.square.site/
On her blog: http://www.creatingworldswithwords.wordpress.com

Enjoy the Book

This short prequel is available FREE! Find it at
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Zendar-Tale-Sand-Collection-ebook/dp/B08GJT1MQC
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/zendar-kt-munson/1137534341
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1039556

Yes, there is a giveaway

The author will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Enter here to win.

This post is part of a tour sponsored by Goddess Fish. Check out all the other tour stops. If you drop by each of these and comment, you will greatly increase your chances of winning.

My Favorite Excerpt

“Her.” The guard pointed in her direction. “She was there.”

Nitya froze, unsure what she was being accused of. Today was supposed to be her last day. She’d gotten to see more of the palace and was quite content to return home. What was happening?

“Me?” Nitya heard herself say dumbly.

Sergeant Ramas seemed equally as surprised. “Are you sure?” he asked the guard.

“I’m sure. She and a man served the food,” the guard answered. Nitya’s mouth went dry as she wrapped her hand around Juni’s.

The Sergeant cleared his throat. “And the man?”

“Not here,” the guard answered.

Sergeant Ramas pointed at her. “Take her,” he ordered.

Nitya stepped back. “I didn’t do anything!” The tears were instant, and she tried to pull away. The guards were quick to get ahold of her. It all felt dreadfully real and horribly surreal at the same time. It was as though it was happening to someone else.

Thank you!

K. T. Munson — we appreciate your sharing Zendar: A Tale of Sand with us! Best of luck with all your tales of Zendar.

I’ve started working out at a gym (again) and this time around I’m facing a challenge I haven’t seen before, and it involves breast cancer. No, I don’t have it and let me go on record as being against cancer of all types and firmly in favor of a disease free life for everyone. However ….

Someone in the gym has decided to put cute little pink sticky notes with hand-written statistics about breast cancer at eye level on the machines. I suppose if these had been in place for a week or so I might have ignored them, but it’s been almost a month now and I’m getting tired of averting my eyes. Nothing written on a sticky note is going to change my health care practices. However, I have emotional attachments to women who have died from this awful disease and to others who have bravely fought a battle that they are losing. These notes put me in a funk every time I see them. I’m fine with educating people. I’m not fine with badgering them.

trump-assult-scandal Enter sexual assault. Most women I know have experienced it in some mild form, including me, and too many of those I love have had experiences that were disturbing enough to continue to haunt and challenge them. I wish healing for them, and safety for all women. I recognize that to ignore the problem is not to solve it. I welcome honest dialog and a world striving to be better. However ….

It’s hard for these brave souls to move on, or to even have a good day, when almost every newscast addresses the topic, and half of the available entertainment feels compelled to have a scene, episode or back story about the same. When is comes to the news, a lot of this is tied to the presidential election and the way that events are unfolding. We all can’t wait for the election to be over, and for me this is just one more reason.

27-15 As far as the entertainment industry goes, if I want to be positive then I think that they are striving to be relevant and, at their best, helpful. After all, I wrote a book about human trafficking with the best of intentions. When I am in a less charitable mood, I am sure that some others are only capitalizing on what they think will sell, and I understand with some sorrow how I could be accused of the same.

So I get to write a book about human trafficking but you don’t? Who decides when enough about a subject is enough, or whether the handling of a difficult topic is sensitive or exploitative?

I can’t answer that question. I do know that I never want to see ugly topics like disease and assault (and poverty, racism, domestic violence, homophobia, child neglect, human trafficking, war, and gun violence) swept under a giant collective carpet. Awareness can lead to solutions. But I also think it is fair to consider how toxic the atmosphere can become once we are fixated on a difficult subject, especially for those struggling to recover from emotional wounds that get strained a little every time the subject arises.

There are no easy answers here; just the age old need to step back from what we are doing every once in awhile, and to look honestly at our own motives and to consider the feelings of all others.

I do know that when difficult topics are handled with warmth, compassion and even a little humor, it helps. That can be a hard thing to do, and successful examples are rare. This video, put out by the Thames Valley Police about a year ago relating the issue of consenting sex to having a cup of tea, handles a difficult subject as well as anything I have ever seen.