Aloha to Jennifer Estep and BY A THREAD

Today is St. David's Day.  Cymru's Red Dragon,  Y Ddraig Goch, will fly across the countryside.

2012 is Year of the Black Water Dragon.  From Chinese astrology,

Dragon is a legendary animal and it is symbol of emperor in China. Since the Dragon is coated with mysterious color, Chinese consider that the dragon is unpredictable, untouchable and people cannot see its head and tail at the same time. Therefore, we can might see something unexpected happening in 2012. 

Something unexpected certainly happens to Gin Blanco from Jennifer Estep's BY A THREAD:

When killing people is your job, there’s no such thing as a vacation.

Then again, how often does an assassin live long enough to enjoy her retirement? In this line of work, you either get lucky or you get dead. And since I destroyed my nemesis Mab Monroe a few weeks ago, all of Ashland’s lowlifes are gunning to make a name for themselves by taking out the lethal Spider—me, Gin Blanco. So I’m leaving behind my beloved barbecue joint and heading south with my baby sister, Bria, to cool my heels in a swanky beach town. Call it a weekend of fun in the sun. But when a powerful vampire with deadly elemental magic threatens an old friend of Bria’s, it looks like I’ll have to dig my silverstone knives out of my suitcase after all. Complicating matters further is the reappearance of Detective Donovan Caine, my old lover. But Donovan is the least of my problems. Because this time, the danger is hot on my trail, and not even my elemental Ice and Stone magic may be enough to save me from getting buried in the sand—permanently.

BY A THREAD is Jennifer's sixth book in her Elemental Assassin Series.   Let's see if six is Gin's lucky number.  Again from Chinese astrology,

The Chinese meaning of numbers takes on a cosmic glow with the number six. To the Chinese way of thought six represents longevity, expansiveness and celestial power. We see this in Chinese designation of the six cosmic points of direction with esoteric directions of "above" and "below" making six points of philosophical concentration. That theme of expansion and metaphysical insight is repeated in the Chinese observation of mankind's 5 senses, with its six sense extending out into etheric understanding.

I suspect that Gin has a sixth sense to protect herself.   Hopefully she can enjoy her weekend of fun in the sun!   Elf reviewed BY A THREAD for me at this link.  I am giving away a print copy of BY A THREAD to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Leave a comment about what you would do for "fun in the sun" - swim? surf? scuba?  sunbathe?  

I love Hawaii's warm weather but the beach is last on my list - I prefer touring historic sights, hiking the coast lines, and snapping photos along the way!

2.  This giveaway is open to all readers.

3.  Comments are open through Saturday, March 3, 10 pm in Hawaii.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, March 4.

Mahalo,

Kim in Hawaii

To learn more about Jennifer and her books, check out her website at www.jenniferestep.com.

La'ie is home to Oahu's dragon legend
(at this link)