Today I’m thrilled to be interviewing mother and son duo, Thomas and Lisa Oliver, co-authors of Uncaged, the first book in an exciting new shifter series.

Hello to you both and thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current book.

Hello, and thank you for having us here.  I’m Lisa and I write M/M shifter books.  Some of my other series include the Cloverleah Pack, Bound and Bonded, Stockton Wolves and the Alpha and Omega series.  It’s no surprise that this is also a shifter book, the first time I have ever co-written with anyone.  Why don’t you tell them about it, Thomas?

Hi all.  I’m Thomas and I am excited about my first book. The Shifter’s Uprising series is all about overthrowing oppression and ordinary people/shifters making a stand against oppression.  Well at least that is the overall theme.  In Uncaged we meet Carlin and Lucas who are both prisoners in the Souterrain, which is a place where shifters are forced to fight each other to the death for human audiences.  When Carlin finds out that Lucas is his true mate, he will fight with everything that he has so that the two men can have their freedom.  But the baddie in the book, Martin, has a number of reasons for not letting Lucas go…after all, if he has Carlin killed he can claim Lucas for himself.

Say something to your fans.

[Thomas] First of all, thank you all for giving this book a chance.  As a first time author that means a lot to me. When I wrote this book I wanted people to not only enjoy the love story between Carlin and Lucas, but also to think about the similarities in this fictional story, with everyday life, even if it is on a subconscious level.  Many of the aspects in this book, oppression, governments or people in power acting without restraint, and discrimination on so many levels, are all part of the general society today and personally I would love it if people could recognize that these things can only happen if we as individuals don’t take responsibility for our own actions.

[Lisa] It was Thomas’ conviction and passion about his ideas that led me to work with him on actually getting the book written and published.  I love my men on men stories, and although this book is a little different to what readers usually expect from me (more action for a start), the rules I live and write by – honesty, fidelity and the dream of true love, are all in this book.  Thank you to my readers who appreciated the differences and let me know how much they loved the story.

About Uncaged

Carlin is an Alpha Wolf Fighter, one of only three in the top spots at the Souterrain – an underground fighting club, run by the Elite to punish shifters who have gone outside of the laws. He’s happy enough, only has to fight exhibition matches, has his own apartment space, food and sex on tap – yep, life it good. So when Martin offers him the chance to fight for his freedom, Carlin turns it down. It’s no fun being a lone wolf and Carlin is quite happy where he is.

Then Lucas catches his eye. A handsome man, a stunning fighter, moving up through the ranks fast. Lucas might not have the killer attitude that most men at the Souterrain have, but he’s got the moves. Carlin has no problems insisting the man is bought to his apartment – sex is never a bad idea. But when he catches Lucas’s scent and realizes the man is his fated mate, suddenly getting him to bed is the least of his problems. Lucas wants to be free, and for the first time in a long time, so does Carlin.

Unfortunately there is more to Lucas than meets the eye. Martin certainly has no intention of letting them go, and if he has to have Carlin killed to keep Lucas at the Souterrain, then the man has no problems with that either. Suddenly the deal Carlin makes with Martin goes horribly wrong, and Carlin and Lucas realize that the price for freedom might be Carlin’s life, and even then Lucas will not be free.

Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble

An Excerpt from Uncaged

Carlin knew he was behaving like an idiot pacing up and down the floor of his small apartment, but he couldn’t stop.  How long did it take for one man to have a shower for fucks sake? He’d ordered food for the both of them. Having been a fighter for more than five years, Carlin knew that Lucas would be hungry – hopefully for food and sex.  But if the bloody man didn’t get his skates on then Carlin would eat alone and get straight to dessert when Lucas arrived.

About to call Brian and find out where his errant fuck had gone, Carlin caught the sound of people outside of his door. He threw himself on the couch and picked up a book.  He didn’t want Lucas thinking he was waiting for him or anything.

Brian came in, Lucas a few steps behind him.

“Alpha Fighter Carlin.  This is Lucas, ranked fifth after today.”

Carlin was surprised.  He’d heard the man had moved swiftly up the ranks, but he didn’t realize that Lucas was so close to a shot for an Alpha ranking. In theory, one more fight and he might have to fight Lucas in the ring. For a moment Carlin was tempted to send the man away.  He did have some conscience, even after so many years of being a fighting machine.  He didn’t want to have to kill someone who had been in his bed.

But then Lucas stepped past Brian, and Carlin was caught in angry eyes. Silver eyes.  Something tugged at Carlin’s brain – the eye color had some significance, didn’t it? But then Lucas’s scent hit Carlin’s nose and any rational thought fell straight out of his brain.  

“Leave, Brian,” Carlin said, standing up and not breaking his stare with Lucas. He knew his body radiated the power he was famous for, and guessed he might look intimidating, as he heard Brian whisper to Lucas as he scurried out of the door, “I told you not to stare at an Alpha.  You’re dead meat pup.”

“Better dead than a fuck toy,” Lucas snarled – his comment for Brian, but those silver eyes stayed fixed on Carlin.

“I agree,” Carlin said, his voice dropping as he got closer.  Before Lucas could react, he reached his hand around, grabbing Lucas by the nape and pushing the man’s face into his throat. Whatever Lucas was going to say was muffled by Carlin’s skin, although the man was kicking, punching and doing everything he could to get free.

“Sniff, damn you,” Carlin said urgently. “Fucking sniff, and then I’ll let you go.”

Carlin felt Lucas quieten, although his body still stayed rigid in Carlin’s grasp.  Lucas’s deep inhale was the only sound in the room. Carlin knew the moment Lucas had worked out what Carlin was trying to say.

About Lisa Oliver and T.J. Oliver

Lisa Oliver had been writing non-fiction books for years when visions of half dressed, buff men started invading her dreams.  Unable to resist the lure of her stories, Lisa decided to switch to fiction books, and now stories about her men clamor to get out from under her fingertips.  

When Lisa is not writing, she is usually reading with a cup of tea always at hand. Her grown children and grandchildren sometimes try and pry her away from the computer and have found that the best way to do it, is to promise her chocolate.  Lisa will do anything for chocolate.

Lisa loves to hear from her readers and other writers.  You can friend her on Facebook here, or email her directly at yoursintuitively@gmail.com.

Thomas Oliver doesn’t have a lot of time for writing itself although he can talk about his ideas for hours. A construction worker by day, he has a wicked imagination and it was from sharing some of his ideas with Lisa, that the idea for this series was born.

When not working, Thomas is like any other young man. He loves to spend time with friends, his girlfriend and working on his car. His dream is to do up a project car – something mean, with attitude and plenty of power under the hood.

Anyone wanting to contact Thomas can do so through Facebook.

As part of this blog tour, Lisa & TJ are giving away three ebook copies of Uncaged!! To enter, just click the link below!

Rafflecopter Giveaway

Please be aware that the only way to enter the giveaway is to click the Rafflecopter link above. Any comments on this post will not count towards entering the giveaway unless otherwise stated but are still welcome anyway.

Don’t forget to check out JustJen’s review of Uncaged to see what she thought of it!

Good luck!