Felicity Heaton's Blog, page 117
June 20, 2011
Midsummer's Eve Giveaway Hop
It's the 21st June, which means that it's the start of the Midsummer's Eve Giveaway Hop hosted by I am a reader, not a writer.My giveaway is International, so everyone is welcome to enter, and I'm keeping entering nice and simple for everyone, so we can all just have some fun. I'm offering two sets of prizes, one for my blog and one for entries to a bonus giveaway on my website.
As my 500 Followers International Giveaway is still in progress, you will be automatically entered into that giveaway too when you join my blog.
Now, on to the prizes!
FIRST PRIZE
1 x ebook of winner's choice (excludes Ascension and Forbidden Blood), plus book swag package including signed book cover flats, bookmarks, keyring, coaster and fridge magnet.
SECOND PRIZES
2 x book swag packages including signed book cover flats and bookmarks, and keyring.
DOUBLE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING SOMETHING FANTASTIC BY ENTERING THE BONUS GIVEAWAY AT MY WEBSITE:
BONUS FIRST PRIZE1 x signed paperback of Hunter's Moon (Vampires Realm), plus book swag package including signed book cover flats, bookmarks, keyring, coaster and fridge magnet.
ENTER THE BONUS GIVEAWAY BY FILLING IN THE FORM ON MY WEBSITE - CLICK HERE
HOW TO ENTER
Entering is easy:
You MUST be a follower of this blog, either via Networked Blogs or Google Friend Connect.Leave a comment with your name, GFC name/Networked Blogs name, and your email address to enter the main giveaway.Visit the form page on my website to enter the bonus giveaway!
Giveaway is open from 21st June 2011 and closes on 24th June 2011 at 11:59pm. Winners will be selected at random on June 25th using random.org and posted here. Winners of the Bonus Prize will be posted on my website too at the link above. E-book prizes exclude Ascension and Forbidden Blood, and are available in PDF, HTML, Mobi or Epub format.
VISIT ALL THE OTHER BLOGS IN THE HOP:
Manday hottie
Ah... I'm drowning in work this week. I had a fabulous time in Istanbul last week, but my schedule is shot because of it. It's going to be a tough few weeks.
I need Manday more than ever this week. This is just the fix I need this morning.
It's Manday people! Here's your sweet treat to start the week and hopefully it will bouy you up... although I'm tempted to snuggle into that duvet with him. Think he could fit all of us under there with him?
Oh, yummo!
I need Manday more than ever this week. This is just the fix I need this morning.
It's Manday people! Here's your sweet treat to start the week and hopefully it will bouy you up... although I'm tempted to snuggle into that duvet with him. Think he could fit all of us under there with him?
Oh, yummo!
June 19, 2011
Hunter's Moon - character interview with Nicolae
As part of my Paranormal Pandemonium 2011 Blog Tour, I'm interviewing some characters and doing some posts on my own blog too, Indie Paranormal Romance Books. Today, I caught up with Nicolae, the hero from my vampire / werewolf romance book,
Hunter's Moon
.
If you haven't met him already, here's the lowdown on Nicolae. Nicolae is a dark, sexy, and rugged ex-alpha werewolf with a past that could make any woman want to kiss the guy. He's strong, a loner since the events that led to him fleeing Europe, and can be charming when he needs to be. He's a born leader and extremely protective, and very territorial. He won't let anything happen to anyone or anything in his territory, even if that person is a vampire.
FH: I have Nicolae here with me today to talk about his book, Hunter's Moon. Firstly, can you tell us a little about yourself?
Nicolae: Ah, what like? I mean, is it alright to talk about that stuff?
FH: *nods* You can tell us anything. It's all cool.
Nicolae: Alright then. I'm Romanian, although I have lived in Canada for the past century, and I'm a werewolf. Hell, it still sounds crazy when I say that aloud, even though I've been a werewolf for two centuries now. I was turned in Romania and lived with my pack there. It was peaceful until the vampires came for us. We didn't stand a chance. My sire, the alpha of the pack, and I, and the other warriors amongst us tried to fend them off. They rounded us up and took us all to the compound. It was hell. I don't want to think about it even now. We had done nothing to deserve such brutal treatment and abuse. Our pack had lived in peace, keeping to ourselves, never treading into vampire territory. When I finally managed to put an escape plan into action, I only made things worse. I lost my entire pack that night… and fled here, to a place where I was free of the vampires.
FH: Here being the remotest place on Earth. It must have been hard for you to deal with everything that had happened, and I'm sure many women's hearts have gone out to you already. Can you tell us about what happened in your story, Hunter's Moon?
Nicolae: It was around a century after I had escaped Romania and the nightmare of losing my pack, and I was finally learning to deal with it all in my own way. A night time hunt with the local timber wolf pack turned that all on its head. The peace I had found was shattered by a group of hunters and a woman. Tatyana. A vampire. It was difficult for me to accept her presence in my territory after everything I had suffered at the hands of the vampires, but the threat of the human hunters drove me to take her back to my cabin and help her heal. I had needed to know what she did so I could protect the local werewolf pack and the timber wolves. I thought she had brought them with her… I couldn't have been more wrong.
FH: In Hunter's Moon, you meet Tatyana. How did you meet and how did you feel about her initially?
Nicolae: Looking back now, I can't believe that I ever wanted to leave her in that clearing to die from her wounds or the sunlight. She's everything to me. The reason for my existence. It was difficult to get past everything that had happened to me, all the pain in my past, and accept her in my life and my territory. I was never sure whether I was coming or going at first. She tied me in knots and challenged everything that I believed about the vampires, and I'm glad that she did. We've both had hatred bred into us, and it was time for us both to open our eyes and look at each other for ourselves, not have our judgement coloured by what we've been told to believe and what had happened to us in our past.
FH: You have a lot of history with the vampires of Europe and it's generally frowned upon for a werewolf to enter into a relationship with a vampire. Was it difficult to get past the terrible thing that the vampires did to you and your pack, and fall in love with Tatyana?
Nicolae: Of course it was, but Tatyana's bloodline weren't responsible for what happened to me. The European vampires are often at war with each other, squabbling over territory and other petty things. Her bloodline, the Nocens, probably hate the Tenebrae bloodline as much as I do. I know that it was difficult for Tatyana too, and I think that helped me cope with my feelings and face them. Werewolves don't have laws against relationships with another species, but vampires do. Tatyana is risking a lot by being with me. When we eventually return to Europe, we'll have to be careful about it. If the Law Keepers discover that Tatyana is with a werewolf, they'll hunt her down and kill her. Not that I would let them get close enough to try, but it's always there at the back of my mind.
FH: How has life been since the events that happened and brought you together?
Nicolae: Peaceful. It might sound crazy, and sometimes I feel as though I'm dreaming, but everything has settled down again since the end of our story. Tatyana is slowly building a relationship with the local werewolves, and even the local timber wolf pack is beginning to accept her. She's hunted a few times with us, and has learnt that catching the deer we're chasing isn't the way into a wolf's heart. She lets the timber wolves have the glory now, and they're getting along better for it. Hell, even I wanted to snarl at her when she beat us to the deer that time. *laughs* She'll make a good pack member one day, when she stops trying to be the alpha female. She'll tell you different of course. Sometimes, when we hunt together and it's just us, I let her win. Don't tell her I said that. She'll wring my neck if she thinks I'm letting her beat me to the prize… but it's all worth it. Seeing her smile, seeing her happy and proud… that's something I'll do anything for. Even losing a hunt. She's beautiful when she's standing over a fresh kill, empowered by her victory. And hell… she's a saucy vixen afterwards too. My little alpha female.
FH: Your story, Hunter's Moon, is a book in a series. Can you tell us a little about the series and can we expect see more of you in other stories in this series?
Nicolae: Shouldn't you be the one telling me that? *laughs again* I'm sure we'll cross paths again at some point. The series you write based on the werewolves of my home continent and the vampires of the pure European bloodlines truly reflects the darkness and the danger of our world, but also the intense passion and the deep love we feel for our mates, even if the ones we fall for happen to be the enemy.
FH: Describe yourself in one word?
Nicolae: I'm thinking. *looks pensive* Failure springs to mind, but Tatyana would argue about that. Let's see. She would say… complicated. I would probably say… possessive. It's the wolf in me. *cracks a charming smile*
FH: Thank you for meeting with me today and chatting. Is there anything else that you'd like to add?
Nicolae: Only that I want your solemn promise not to mention any of what I've said when you interview Tatyana. If she comes back knowing any of this, I'm hunting you down.
FH: Hmm, I'm not sure that's much of a threat. I would probably pay to have you hunt me down. *looks at audience* Wouldn't you?
Here's a little information about Hunter's Moon and the places it's available:
Hunter's Moon
F E Heaton
The horror of the night he failed to save his werewolf pack from the cruelty of their vampire masters has haunted Nicolae for one hundred years, driving him deep into the Canadian wilderness in search of peace. That peace is threatened when unfamiliar hunters and the scent of blood lead him to a beautiful woman and a hard decision—face his past and help her or risk losing everyone he cares about again.
Bearing a heart filled with grief and with vengeance on her mind, Tatyana is intent on killing the hunters she's tracking and returning to her vampire bloodline, but her plan didn't include being shot with poisoned arrows or rescued by a glowering alpha werewolf who stirs forbidden hunger in her.
When the hunters make their move, will Nicolae be able to stop them before it's too late? Will he be able to overcome the darkness in his heart and embrace his desire for a vampire? And can Tatyana face her fears and risk her life for the sake of forbidden love?
ebook price: $2.99
paperback price: $6.99
genre: paranormal werewolf romance
length: 65000 words
rating: sultry
released: February 2011
Book 9 in the Vampires Realm series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Hunter's%20Moon
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Hunters-Moon/F-E-Heaton/e/2940011207600/
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/f-e-heaton/hunter-s-moon/_/R-400000000000000351166
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1460978544/
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1460978544/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hunters-moon-f-e-heaton/1030625714
If you haven't met him already, here's the lowdown on Nicolae. Nicolae is a dark, sexy, and rugged ex-alpha werewolf with a past that could make any woman want to kiss the guy. He's strong, a loner since the events that led to him fleeing Europe, and can be charming when he needs to be. He's a born leader and extremely protective, and very territorial. He won't let anything happen to anyone or anything in his territory, even if that person is a vampire.
FH: I have Nicolae here with me today to talk about his book, Hunter's Moon. Firstly, can you tell us a little about yourself?
Nicolae: Ah, what like? I mean, is it alright to talk about that stuff?
FH: *nods* You can tell us anything. It's all cool.
Nicolae: Alright then. I'm Romanian, although I have lived in Canada for the past century, and I'm a werewolf. Hell, it still sounds crazy when I say that aloud, even though I've been a werewolf for two centuries now. I was turned in Romania and lived with my pack there. It was peaceful until the vampires came for us. We didn't stand a chance. My sire, the alpha of the pack, and I, and the other warriors amongst us tried to fend them off. They rounded us up and took us all to the compound. It was hell. I don't want to think about it even now. We had done nothing to deserve such brutal treatment and abuse. Our pack had lived in peace, keeping to ourselves, never treading into vampire territory. When I finally managed to put an escape plan into action, I only made things worse. I lost my entire pack that night… and fled here, to a place where I was free of the vampires.
FH: Here being the remotest place on Earth. It must have been hard for you to deal with everything that had happened, and I'm sure many women's hearts have gone out to you already. Can you tell us about what happened in your story, Hunter's Moon?
Nicolae: It was around a century after I had escaped Romania and the nightmare of losing my pack, and I was finally learning to deal with it all in my own way. A night time hunt with the local timber wolf pack turned that all on its head. The peace I had found was shattered by a group of hunters and a woman. Tatyana. A vampire. It was difficult for me to accept her presence in my territory after everything I had suffered at the hands of the vampires, but the threat of the human hunters drove me to take her back to my cabin and help her heal. I had needed to know what she did so I could protect the local werewolf pack and the timber wolves. I thought she had brought them with her… I couldn't have been more wrong.
FH: In Hunter's Moon, you meet Tatyana. How did you meet and how did you feel about her initially?
Nicolae: Looking back now, I can't believe that I ever wanted to leave her in that clearing to die from her wounds or the sunlight. She's everything to me. The reason for my existence. It was difficult to get past everything that had happened to me, all the pain in my past, and accept her in my life and my territory. I was never sure whether I was coming or going at first. She tied me in knots and challenged everything that I believed about the vampires, and I'm glad that she did. We've both had hatred bred into us, and it was time for us both to open our eyes and look at each other for ourselves, not have our judgement coloured by what we've been told to believe and what had happened to us in our past.
FH: You have a lot of history with the vampires of Europe and it's generally frowned upon for a werewolf to enter into a relationship with a vampire. Was it difficult to get past the terrible thing that the vampires did to you and your pack, and fall in love with Tatyana?
Nicolae: Of course it was, but Tatyana's bloodline weren't responsible for what happened to me. The European vampires are often at war with each other, squabbling over territory and other petty things. Her bloodline, the Nocens, probably hate the Tenebrae bloodline as much as I do. I know that it was difficult for Tatyana too, and I think that helped me cope with my feelings and face them. Werewolves don't have laws against relationships with another species, but vampires do. Tatyana is risking a lot by being with me. When we eventually return to Europe, we'll have to be careful about it. If the Law Keepers discover that Tatyana is with a werewolf, they'll hunt her down and kill her. Not that I would let them get close enough to try, but it's always there at the back of my mind.
FH: How has life been since the events that happened and brought you together?
Nicolae: Peaceful. It might sound crazy, and sometimes I feel as though I'm dreaming, but everything has settled down again since the end of our story. Tatyana is slowly building a relationship with the local werewolves, and even the local timber wolf pack is beginning to accept her. She's hunted a few times with us, and has learnt that catching the deer we're chasing isn't the way into a wolf's heart. She lets the timber wolves have the glory now, and they're getting along better for it. Hell, even I wanted to snarl at her when she beat us to the deer that time. *laughs* She'll make a good pack member one day, when she stops trying to be the alpha female. She'll tell you different of course. Sometimes, when we hunt together and it's just us, I let her win. Don't tell her I said that. She'll wring my neck if she thinks I'm letting her beat me to the prize… but it's all worth it. Seeing her smile, seeing her happy and proud… that's something I'll do anything for. Even losing a hunt. She's beautiful when she's standing over a fresh kill, empowered by her victory. And hell… she's a saucy vixen afterwards too. My little alpha female.
FH: Your story, Hunter's Moon, is a book in a series. Can you tell us a little about the series and can we expect see more of you in other stories in this series?
Nicolae: Shouldn't you be the one telling me that? *laughs again* I'm sure we'll cross paths again at some point. The series you write based on the werewolves of my home continent and the vampires of the pure European bloodlines truly reflects the darkness and the danger of our world, but also the intense passion and the deep love we feel for our mates, even if the ones we fall for happen to be the enemy.
FH: Describe yourself in one word?
Nicolae: I'm thinking. *looks pensive* Failure springs to mind, but Tatyana would argue about that. Let's see. She would say… complicated. I would probably say… possessive. It's the wolf in me. *cracks a charming smile*
FH: Thank you for meeting with me today and chatting. Is there anything else that you'd like to add?
Nicolae: Only that I want your solemn promise not to mention any of what I've said when you interview Tatyana. If she comes back knowing any of this, I'm hunting you down.
FH: Hmm, I'm not sure that's much of a threat. I would probably pay to have you hunt me down. *looks at audience* Wouldn't you?
Here's a little information about Hunter's Moon and the places it's available:
Hunter's Moon
F E Heaton
The horror of the night he failed to save his werewolf pack from the cruelty of their vampire masters has haunted Nicolae for one hundred years, driving him deep into the Canadian wilderness in search of peace. That peace is threatened when unfamiliar hunters and the scent of blood lead him to a beautiful woman and a hard decision—face his past and help her or risk losing everyone he cares about again.
Bearing a heart filled with grief and with vengeance on her mind, Tatyana is intent on killing the hunters she's tracking and returning to her vampire bloodline, but her plan didn't include being shot with poisoned arrows or rescued by a glowering alpha werewolf who stirs forbidden hunger in her.
When the hunters make their move, will Nicolae be able to stop them before it's too late? Will he be able to overcome the darkness in his heart and embrace his desire for a vampire? And can Tatyana face her fears and risk her life for the sake of forbidden love?
ebook price: $2.99
paperback price: $6.99
genre: paranormal werewolf romance
length: 65000 words
rating: sultry
released: February 2011
Book 9 in the Vampires Realm series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Hunter's%20Moon
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Hunters-Moon/F-E-Heaton/e/2940011207600/
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/f-e-heaton/hunter-s-moon/_/R-400000000000000351166
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1460978544/
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1460978544/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hunters-moon-f-e-heaton/1030625714
June 18, 2011
Forbidden Blood (Vampire Venators Romance Series #1) - Out Now!
It's an exciting day for me today. I have a new release out. This time it's a vampire romance book and the first inn my new vampire romance series,
Vampire Venators
. I loved writing this book and I'm really hopeful for the series as a whole. I know it's my second vampire romance series, but it's very different to
Vampires Realm
. I think you'll all love it, so why not take advantage of the
hot summer offer
on this book (ends July 1st) and get it for a beautiful $0.99! That's a saving of $3!
Forbidden Blood
Felicity Heaton
In a dark world where vampires exist and where Source Blood, a rare human blood type, can bestow godlike powers upon them, the vampire Venators of the Sovereignty fight to protect the humans by banishing those who drink it to the endless dark.
Exiled from his family and with only his duty to sustain him, Kearn has been on the trail of an elusive Source Blood abuser for three years. When he saves a beautiful human female from the vampire's grasp, it turns out she's the lead he's been waiting for. Amber is a Source Blood and the perfect bait, but for who?
As they race to catch the vampire and survive the cruel games he plays, Amber is pulled deeper into Kearn's world and discovers the painful secrets he hides behind his handsome but emotionless exterior—hurt that she has the power to heal if she is brave enough.
Forbidden Blood is book one in the Vampire Venators series and a dark, sensual tale of betrayal, revenge and a love that knows no bounds.
ebook price: $3.99
genre: paranormal vampire romance
length: 126000 words
rating: sultry
released: June 2011
Book 1 in the Vampire Venators series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Forbidden%20Blood
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055I1LNW/
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0055I1LNW/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0055I1LNW/
Barnes and Noble Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/forbidden-blood-felicity-heaton/1103572024
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/66030
Click here for details on how to get this book for only $0.99 as part of my hot summer offers!
Forbidden Blood
Felicity HeatonIn a dark world where vampires exist and where Source Blood, a rare human blood type, can bestow godlike powers upon them, the vampire Venators of the Sovereignty fight to protect the humans by banishing those who drink it to the endless dark.
Exiled from his family and with only his duty to sustain him, Kearn has been on the trail of an elusive Source Blood abuser for three years. When he saves a beautiful human female from the vampire's grasp, it turns out she's the lead he's been waiting for. Amber is a Source Blood and the perfect bait, but for who?
As they race to catch the vampire and survive the cruel games he plays, Amber is pulled deeper into Kearn's world and discovers the painful secrets he hides behind his handsome but emotionless exterior—hurt that she has the power to heal if she is brave enough.
Forbidden Blood is book one in the Vampire Venators series and a dark, sensual tale of betrayal, revenge and a love that knows no bounds.
ebook price: $3.99
genre: paranormal vampire romance
length: 126000 words
rating: sultry
released: June 2011
Book 1 in the Vampire Venators series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Forbidden%20Blood
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055I1LNW/
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0055I1LNW/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0055I1LNW/
Barnes and Noble Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/forbidden-blood-felicity-heaton/1103572024
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/66030
Click here for details on how to get this book for only $0.99 as part of my hot summer offers!
June 12, 2011
Love Immortal - paranormal vampire romance - Six Sentence Sunday
This week I'm participating again in the fabulous
Six Sentence Sunday
where authors choose six sentences from their current WIP or books that are already released and share them on their blog.
My six chosen sentences this time come from Love Immortal , an epic paranormal vampire romance novel that is available now in e-book and paperback.
Love Immortal is out now in e-book for $4.49 and paperback for $12.99. Here's the blurb and cover, and the links to retailers:
Love Immortal
Felicity Heaton
Rescued from werewolves by the most breathtaking man she's ever seen, Lauren is dragged into the fight of her life and a dark world she never knew existed. There, she discovers that she's the latest reincarnation of a goddess and must drink the blood of her immortal protector, Julian, in order to reawaken and continue her three thousand year old mission to defeat Lycaon, the original werewolf.
With the help of Julian and an organisation of people with supernatural abilities, Lauren fights for her life, their future and the fate of mankind against Lycaon and his deadly army, but can she succeed when Lycaon has killed all of her predecessors?
Can she crack the armour around Julian's heart and seize her happily forever after with him? And can Julian bring himself to trust Lauren with the fragments of his heart after everything he's been through?
genre: paranormal vampire romance
length: 157000 words
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Love%20Immortal
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004HYHHME/
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B004HYHHME/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004HYHHME/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Love-Immortal/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940011179648/
Kobo Books: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Love-Immortal/book-OyQ9CMW5Jkaf0K_UwfVfGw/page1.html
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/felicity-heaton/love-immortal/_/R-400000000000000340123
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1456487884/
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1456487884/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Love-Immortal/Felicity-Heaton/e/9781456487881/
My six chosen sentences this time come from Love Immortal , an epic paranormal vampire romance novel that is available now in e-book and paperback.
"Let me see," she whispered, low and coaxing, no longer nervous.
His lips parted to reveal the barest hint of pointed canines. Caught in a trance, transfixed by the sight of them, she rubbed the pad of her thumb across his lower lip. He breathed in sharply, his reaction empowering her, and his mouth opened. His fangs glistened in the moonlight, white and sharp, but they didn't frighten her.
What did was the way his gaze shifted to her neck.
Love Immortal is out now in e-book for $4.49 and paperback for $12.99. Here's the blurb and cover, and the links to retailers:
Love Immortal
Felicity Heaton
Rescued from werewolves by the most breathtaking man she's ever seen, Lauren is dragged into the fight of her life and a dark world she never knew existed. There, she discovers that she's the latest reincarnation of a goddess and must drink the blood of her immortal protector, Julian, in order to reawaken and continue her three thousand year old mission to defeat Lycaon, the original werewolf.
With the help of Julian and an organisation of people with supernatural abilities, Lauren fights for her life, their future and the fate of mankind against Lycaon and his deadly army, but can she succeed when Lycaon has killed all of her predecessors?
Can she crack the armour around Julian's heart and seize her happily forever after with him? And can Julian bring himself to trust Lauren with the fragments of his heart after everything he's been through?
genre: paranormal vampire romance
length: 157000 words
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Love%20Immortal
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004HYHHME/
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B004HYHHME/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004HYHHME/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Love-Immortal/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940011179648/
Kobo Books: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Love-Immortal/book-OyQ9CMW5Jkaf0K_UwfVfGw/page1.html
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/felicity-heaton/love-immortal/_/R-400000000000000340123
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1456487884/
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1456487884/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Love-Immortal/Felicity-Heaton/e/9781456487881/
June 11, 2011
Forbidden Blood - Vampire Venators Series #1 - Chapter Five
As part of my
Paranormal Pandemonium 2011 Blog Tour
, I have been posting chapters of my next release, Forbidden Blood.
Forbidden Blood is a dark vampire romance novel, and the first book in the Vampire Venators series, and will be released on June 18th 2011. I've already posted chapter one, chapter two, chapter three and chapter four. That means that today is the final chapter I'll be posting, and with it I'm adding a little about the series.
Enter a dark world where humans live alongside nine species of demon without knowing it and a mysterious circle of ancient beings called the Sovereignty battles to protect mankind. For each of the nine species, Venators are chosen, hunters who are given the power of the Sovereignty and fight in their stead to defeat those in their species who seek to harm humans and demons alike. It is a world of vampires, werewolves, therianthropes, angels and other demons, each with their own distinct society and world they desire to protect--a world they desire to keep separate and hidden from ours.
Forbidden Blood
Felicity Heaton
In a dark world where vampires exist and where Source Blood, a rare human blood type, can bestow godlike powers upon them, the vampire Venators of the Sovereignty fight to protect the humans by banishing those who drink it to the endless dark.
Exiled from his family and with only his duty to sustain him, Kearn has been on the trail of an elusive Source Blood abuser for three years. When he saves a beautiful human female from the vampire's grasp, it turns out she's the lead he's been waiting for. Amber is a Source Blood and the perfect bait, but for who?
As they race to catch the vampire and survive the cruel games he plays, Amber is pulled deeper into Kearn's world and discovers the painful secrets he hides behind his handsome but emotionless exterior—hurt that she has the power to heal if she is brave enough.
Forbidden Blood is book one in the Vampire Venators series and a dark, sensual tale of betrayal, revenge and a love that knows no bounds.
genre: paranormal vampire romance
length: 126000 words
rating: sultry
released: June 18th 2011
Book 1 in the Vampire Venators series
CHAPTER FIVE
Amber woke slowly to an unfamiliar view. She lay on her back, staring at the ceiling, and could see the edges of the brown walls either side of her and the window behind her that formed another wall. She felt very calm, as though she had slept deeply. It surprised her. After what she had been through last night, she had expected not to sleep at all. She had drifted off waiting for the nightmares but felt as though her dreams had been pleasant, or non-existent.
Perhaps her dreams and reality had swapped places. She was living a nightmare and dreaming her old life now. The fear that had settled in her heart last night hadn't gone anywhere. It was quieter now, lessened by the steps Kearn had taken to protect her, to make her feel safe, but it wasn't going away. Deep inside her heart, a voice whispered that she should fear Kearn too, but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to feel that way, not even when a part of her knew that there was something different about him.
It didn't matter what he was. He was protecting her and she could help him. They needed each other. In order to swap her dreams and reality back around, she had to be strong and get through his, and she would, with Kearn at her side.
The quiet noise of the flat panel television built into the oak wardrobes opposite the foot of the bed filled the silence along with her breathing. She stretched. Kearn's bedroom was soothing. She wanted to sleep here forever.
The bed was soft and warm, the room peaceful and quiet, and she felt safe.
Amber rolled onto her side and took a deep breath. The brown pillows smelt like Kearn. She hadn't noticed it before. It was a warm smell. She smiled. Probably a very expensive warm smell.
There was no doubt in her mind that Kearn's job paid well. The car, the apartment, and the terribly modern décor that gave it an air of something out of a perfect homes magazine, all pointed towards money.
Another smile touched her lips when she remembered him insisting on her taking his bed. Very chivalrous.
And then there was his brother.
They looked alike in some ways and the very opposite in others. She imagined Kearn with blue eyes and black hair cut short around the sides but longer on top. They would definitely look alike then.
His brother had a different personality though. He was open, playful, and seemed to take great amusement from saying things that Kearn thought weren't suitable. If they hadn't told her that Kyran was the older brother, she would have thought him the younger.
Kearn seemed so cold in comparison, and more distant than she had first placed him. His behaviour around his brother, the flashes of anger swiftly chased by sorrow that had crossed his face at times, and the way he had ended the night so abruptly, all of them increased her feeling that Kearn was hiding something. What did he want to conceal?
Kyran had said that he knew vampires and he knew what his brother did to them. What did Kearn do to them? She had been about to ask him when she had felt incredibly sleepy. The tension in the apartment had risen the moment Kearn had closed the bedroom door on her and then the front door had slammed. Had they argued? Because of her?
Amber sat up on the double bed and pulled the brown duvet to her chest, covering her bare breasts with it.
Why would they argue because of her?
Because Kyran had been too friendly or because he had said something he shouldn't have?
Amber looked over at the bedside table.
And why were her clothes gone?
She scrambled across the double bed and peered down at the floor in case they had fallen off. They were gone. Her shoes were too. Only her black handbag remained.
Had Kearn taken them?
She blushed from head to toe at the thought of him coming into the room while she had been sleeping in his bed wearing only her knickers.
Her eyes widened.
He had even taken her bra.
Her cheeks burned now.
Amber wrapped herself in the brown duvet and shuffled carefully to the bedroom door. She opened it a crack and looked out into the main room. She couldn't see Kearn. The television in the white dividing wall above the low rectangular open fireplace was off. The apartment was silent save the noise of the television behind her.
Kearn was gone.
She hitched her duvet toga up and went back into the bedroom, crossing it to the bathroom. There was a white bathrobe on the back of the door. She dropped the duvet and put on the robe. It was too big for her but it was better than walking around Kearn's apartment in only her knickers.
She made the bed, turned off the television and then returned to the bedroom door and opened it.
There was no sign of her clothes in the living area, or in the kitchen in the right hand corner opposite it. The glasses and bowl were on the drainer, and Kearn's bloodied shirt was gone. She picked up one of the glasses, filled it with water and drank it down in one go. Her stomach growled. Food. She hadn't eaten in almost a day.
Amber checked the pale wooden cupboards. The first two being bare didn't bother her, but after the fifth, she started to find it strange. When she had checked every cupboard and found only a few glasses and some other kitchenware, but not cutlery or plates, she was disconcerted. She approached the large white refrigerator with caution, fearing what she would find in it. Vampires drank blood. What if the fridge was full of bits of people or blood bags stolen from the local hospital?
She grabbed the refrigerator door and yanked it open.
A blank white space greeted her.
Her heart pounded against her ribs.
She was going crazy.
She had to stop being so suspicious.
Vampires killed people. Maybe he didn't keep his food in the house. Maybe he ate street food of the vampire kind.
Amber shut the fridge door. She really was being stupid now.
Kearn hunted vampires.
Maybe he ate out all the time. There were people who did that. She had seen television programs where famous people had never used the expensive stove in their oversized kitchen. Kearn could be just like them.
Or he could eat blood.
She walked out of the kitchen, trying to distance herself from her thoughts as easily as she could distance herself from the refrigerator.
She stopped at the black front door of the apartment.
There was a note stuck to it, written in neat cursive script.
Do not even consider leaving. I shall return by the time you have showered and shall bring you breakfast. Kearn.
She tried the handle anyway. Locked. Some of the locks she could open from the inside, but one of them needed a key.
Well, that was considerate of him. He stole her clothes and locked her in his apartment, and then offered her a shower and said he would bring her breakfast. He was confusing her more every minute that she knew him.
Breakfast?
Amber glanced to her left, through the small study area to the bank of windows that formed the wall there. The sun was heading towards the horizon, casting a golden glow over the rooftops of London. He had a strange concept of meal times, but then he hunted vampires. It was probably a job he could only do at night.
She perused the books in the beech bookcase that lined the wall of the study opposite the open fireplace, her fingers tripping from spine to spine. There were many novels on the side nearest the front door, but closer to the wooden desk in front of the window, the books were all factual, and some of them were definitely not available in stores. Books on demons, vampires, werewolves and other creatures. All of them old and large, and leather-bound. None of them had authors or publishing houses on the spine. She took a thick, heavy tome on vampires, placed it down on the desk and opened it carefully to somewhere near the middle. Her gaze scanned the neatly hand written paragraphs on the yellowing page and stopped on a name she recognised.
She had to read it three times to make sure she wasn't imagining it.
Earl Huntingdon.
She cast a quick glance around the apartment, her heart starting to race and tremble at the thought of being caught snooping in Kearn's things, and then read the passage about the earl.
A vampire.
Kyran knew vampires. Was that why Kearn didn't like Earl Huntingdon? Perhaps there were good vampires after all and that was why Kyran was friends with him.
Or perhaps not.
Amber read the page, enthralled by the things it said about the earl and his bloodthirsty ways. He sounded dangerous, the sort of vampire that people had written tales about centuries ago, like Vlad the Impaler. He sounded like the sort that Kearn should kill.
She went to turn the page and read on but stopped herself. Reading about the horrible things vampires did to people and to other vampires would only frighten her. She closed the book and placed it back on the shelf. She was better off not knowing. They said ignorance was bliss after all. When Kearn had caught the vampire, she would be going back to her life. Kearn wouldn't be there to protect her from the scary vampires. She would be alone again and she didn't want to spend the rest of her life afraid, fearing that someone like Earl Huntingdon would somehow find her. She wanted to live life.
Dragging herself away from the study, she walked around the wide white dividing wall of the modern double-sided fireplace and stopped dead when she saw a black jacket and Kearn's gun on the end of the long black couch against the bedroom wall. The setting sun glinted off the silver gun, luring her to it.
She stopped at the window-end of the couch beside the gun and stared hard at it, memorising the weapon's exact position on the jacket so she knew where to place it so Kearn wouldn't know what she had done. With her heart in her throat, she reached a trembling hand out to the gun and closed the fingers of her left hand around the grip. Her whole arm shook as she lifted it. It was heavier than expected and felt cold against her fingers. She kept it pointed away from her, afraid it would go off, and studied it. It looked like a gun from a movie, sleek and modern, and dangerous.
What kind of bullets did it take? They had to be special to kill vampires.
Amber tried to figure out how to open it, turning it one way and then the other, and even looking closely at the bottom of the grip. In the movies, people changed the clip so quickly she never saw how they got it out. She lifted her other hand, tempted to pull the top part of the gun back and then stopped herself. She didn't know what would happen if she did that. If she blew out a window or made a hole in the white wall, Kearn would know that she had been messing around with his gun. Afraid of the consequences if that happened, Amber placed the gun back down in the precise spot and position she had found it, and stepped back from it. She didn't like it.
Turning away, she walked back to Kearn's bedroom and through it to the bathroom. Take a shower. Kearn had said he would be back when she had showered. She looked at the large white cubicle to her left. Take a shower she would.
She stripped off the bathrobe and her knickers, and closed the bathroom door. The clear shower door squeaked when she slid it open. She turned the water on and stepped under the jet, showering quickly and holding her hair up so it didn't get too wet. It would frizz if it did and she didn't want to look like a prize poodle around Kearn.
Amber shut the water off and stepped out of the shower. Her head spun. She closed her eyes and waited for it to clear. It had done that from time to time last night too. Was it the vampire trying to control her?
She shuddered at the thought. She didn't like the idea that someone could control her and make her do things against her will. She unravelled the bandage on her hand. The cut across her palm was still raw and it was bleeding in places again. She washed it in the sink and then looked for a new bandage, finding some in the cupboard in the black sink cabinet. She carefully wound it around her hand, tight enough that it would stop the bleeding, and pinned it.
The vampire had wanted her to taste her blood but she hadn't been tempted this time. Was his hold over her fading?
The sound of a door closing made her look up at herself in the mirror. Kearn.
She clawed her hair back into a neat ponytail, slipped the robe on, and tied it.
Kearn was in the kitchen when she walked out of the bedroom. He glanced over at her, his green eyes as impassive as ever. Not even the sight of her in his bathrobe fresh from the shower provoked a reaction. He crossed the room and held two large black paper bags out to her. There was a store name she didn't recognise written on the side in a white cursive font. She peered inside the first one at the clothes. The second had a cardboard shoebox in it.
"What is it?" She looked at Kearn.
"Your outfit for tonight." He dropped another similar bag on the couch facing the window and she looked in it too. Her own clothes. He had taken them to a store and, judging by the bags, it had been somewhere expensive.
Kearn held a small brown bag out to her.
"What's this?" She took it from him.
"Breakfast," he said without any trace of emotion, his eyes not leaving hers. "Coffee and pastries. I asked the woman what you might like."
Amber frowned. What she might like? As though a stranger would know such a thing. Couldn't he have judged for himself? Maybe he didn't know what food tasted like. Maybe vampires didn't eat anything other than blood.
Maybe he just didn't eat pastries. She had known men in her past that didn't touch sweet things. He could be like them.
"What about you?" She placed the clothes bags down on the couch beside the other one and eyed him closely, studying his face.
"I ate when I was out."
Amber stared at him. He stared back, colder than ever. He really wasn't very talkative. The effort of trying to make conversation with him was exhausting.
Kearn walked around her and along the length of the couch beside the wall to the far end of it. He leaned over and paused with his hand just above his gun. He kept his back to her as he picked it up.
"Do not ever touch it again," he said and went into his bedroom, closing the door.
A few minutes later the shower was running and Amber was still standing in the middle of his apartment feeling guilty for snooping and wondering how the hell he had known she had touched the gun. It had been in exactly the same place as he had left it.
He was an enigma.
He had no food, a lot of money, and treated her coldly even though she was helping him. She looked at the clothing and the food that he had bought. She couldn't figure him out at all. She had never met anyone so distant either. Was it his work? Maybe he was just unused to company. He hadn't been that at ease with his brother too.
Maybe he wasn't human.
She couldn't push that thought away. Whenever she gave it a chance, it came back.
Amber walked over to the kitchen island and placed the brown paper bag down on the granite top. She sat on one of the black and wood stools that followed the curve of the island, and opened the bag, removing the white paper cup of coffee. She took off the lid and scooped up some of the foam with her finger. Cappuccino. Just the fix she had needed.
There were a lot of different pastries in the bag. Covering his bets?
The bedroom door opened and Amber looked over her shoulder at Kearn. He rubbed a brown towel against his wet hair. Water dripped from the ends of the long silver strands and rolled down the bare strip of chest and stomach visible between the two sides of his black shirt. His body was delicious. Just what she wanted to eat for breakfast. His muscles shifted and bunched with each move he made as he dried his hair, a feast for her eyes only. She stared, unashamed of what she was doing. If he was going to put it out there, then she wasn't going to shy away.
Kearn tossed the towel back into his bedroom, ran his fingers through his hair, and then walked over to the jacket on the couch. He picked it up and placed it over the back of the couch facing the window. Amber sipped her coffee and kept watching him, or at least his body. He ruined her fun by buttoning his shirt and tucking it into his black trousers.
He came over to her and looked at the paper bag. She took another sip of her coffee and drank her fill of his face, putting to memory the curve of his lips as they parted and the way a line formed between his dark silver eyebrows when he frowned. He was undeniably good looking and was starting to creep back into sexy territory.
"Want one?" Amber offered the bag, part of her doing so out of politeness and the other part wanting to test him.
His green eyes shifted from the contents of the bag to her hand that was holding it. Blood was seeping into the bandage again.
"Take it if you want it," she said and his eyes met hers, incredulous and searching. It was the first sign of something other than cold calculation in them today. He almost looked shocked.
"No, thank you." Kearn pushed the bag back at her. "You should dress. We need to arrive at the club before everyone else so we do not look as though we are together."
She took a long leisurely sip of her cappuccino, unwilling to be rushed by him, and then slipped down off the stool.
When he had said they would go to a club, she had expected them to be together the whole time. The thought of being alone when the vampire could be stalking her was frightening but she had promised to play bait for him. She picked up the bags of clothes from the couch. What sort of bait did Kearn have in mind? The clothes would give her a hint.
She walked into his bedroom, kicked the door closed, put her coffee and pastries down on the side cupboard and dumped the bags on the bed.
Refusing to hurry, she ate a croissant and drank half of her coffee, and then devoured another pastry.
Amber pulled the large shoebox out of the first bag and opened it.
She tipped the contents of the other bag out on the bed beside it.
Her eyes widened.
"What the hell!"
That's the final chapter of my sneak preview for Forbidden Blood, but you don't have to wait long to get your hands on this book now. It's released on June 18th, just next week! Have you all enjoyed the book so far?
Forbidden Blood is a dark vampire romance novel, and the first book in the Vampire Venators series, and will be released on June 18th 2011. I've already posted chapter one, chapter two, chapter three and chapter four. That means that today is the final chapter I'll be posting, and with it I'm adding a little about the series.
Enter a dark world where humans live alongside nine species of demon without knowing it and a mysterious circle of ancient beings called the Sovereignty battles to protect mankind. For each of the nine species, Venators are chosen, hunters who are given the power of the Sovereignty and fight in their stead to defeat those in their species who seek to harm humans and demons alike. It is a world of vampires, werewolves, therianthropes, angels and other demons, each with their own distinct society and world they desire to protect--a world they desire to keep separate and hidden from ours.
Forbidden BloodFelicity Heaton
In a dark world where vampires exist and where Source Blood, a rare human blood type, can bestow godlike powers upon them, the vampire Venators of the Sovereignty fight to protect the humans by banishing those who drink it to the endless dark.
Exiled from his family and with only his duty to sustain him, Kearn has been on the trail of an elusive Source Blood abuser for three years. When he saves a beautiful human female from the vampire's grasp, it turns out she's the lead he's been waiting for. Amber is a Source Blood and the perfect bait, but for who?
As they race to catch the vampire and survive the cruel games he plays, Amber is pulled deeper into Kearn's world and discovers the painful secrets he hides behind his handsome but emotionless exterior—hurt that she has the power to heal if she is brave enough.
Forbidden Blood is book one in the Vampire Venators series and a dark, sensual tale of betrayal, revenge and a love that knows no bounds.
genre: paranormal vampire romance
length: 126000 words
rating: sultry
released: June 18th 2011
Book 1 in the Vampire Venators series
CHAPTER FIVE
Amber woke slowly to an unfamiliar view. She lay on her back, staring at the ceiling, and could see the edges of the brown walls either side of her and the window behind her that formed another wall. She felt very calm, as though she had slept deeply. It surprised her. After what she had been through last night, she had expected not to sleep at all. She had drifted off waiting for the nightmares but felt as though her dreams had been pleasant, or non-existent.
Perhaps her dreams and reality had swapped places. She was living a nightmare and dreaming her old life now. The fear that had settled in her heart last night hadn't gone anywhere. It was quieter now, lessened by the steps Kearn had taken to protect her, to make her feel safe, but it wasn't going away. Deep inside her heart, a voice whispered that she should fear Kearn too, but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to feel that way, not even when a part of her knew that there was something different about him.
It didn't matter what he was. He was protecting her and she could help him. They needed each other. In order to swap her dreams and reality back around, she had to be strong and get through his, and she would, with Kearn at her side.
The quiet noise of the flat panel television built into the oak wardrobes opposite the foot of the bed filled the silence along with her breathing. She stretched. Kearn's bedroom was soothing. She wanted to sleep here forever.
The bed was soft and warm, the room peaceful and quiet, and she felt safe.
Amber rolled onto her side and took a deep breath. The brown pillows smelt like Kearn. She hadn't noticed it before. It was a warm smell. She smiled. Probably a very expensive warm smell.
There was no doubt in her mind that Kearn's job paid well. The car, the apartment, and the terribly modern décor that gave it an air of something out of a perfect homes magazine, all pointed towards money.
Another smile touched her lips when she remembered him insisting on her taking his bed. Very chivalrous.
And then there was his brother.
They looked alike in some ways and the very opposite in others. She imagined Kearn with blue eyes and black hair cut short around the sides but longer on top. They would definitely look alike then.
His brother had a different personality though. He was open, playful, and seemed to take great amusement from saying things that Kearn thought weren't suitable. If they hadn't told her that Kyran was the older brother, she would have thought him the younger.
Kearn seemed so cold in comparison, and more distant than she had first placed him. His behaviour around his brother, the flashes of anger swiftly chased by sorrow that had crossed his face at times, and the way he had ended the night so abruptly, all of them increased her feeling that Kearn was hiding something. What did he want to conceal?
Kyran had said that he knew vampires and he knew what his brother did to them. What did Kearn do to them? She had been about to ask him when she had felt incredibly sleepy. The tension in the apartment had risen the moment Kearn had closed the bedroom door on her and then the front door had slammed. Had they argued? Because of her?
Amber sat up on the double bed and pulled the brown duvet to her chest, covering her bare breasts with it.
Why would they argue because of her?
Because Kyran had been too friendly or because he had said something he shouldn't have?
Amber looked over at the bedside table.
And why were her clothes gone?
She scrambled across the double bed and peered down at the floor in case they had fallen off. They were gone. Her shoes were too. Only her black handbag remained.
Had Kearn taken them?
She blushed from head to toe at the thought of him coming into the room while she had been sleeping in his bed wearing only her knickers.
Her eyes widened.
He had even taken her bra.
Her cheeks burned now.
Amber wrapped herself in the brown duvet and shuffled carefully to the bedroom door. She opened it a crack and looked out into the main room. She couldn't see Kearn. The television in the white dividing wall above the low rectangular open fireplace was off. The apartment was silent save the noise of the television behind her.
Kearn was gone.
She hitched her duvet toga up and went back into the bedroom, crossing it to the bathroom. There was a white bathrobe on the back of the door. She dropped the duvet and put on the robe. It was too big for her but it was better than walking around Kearn's apartment in only her knickers.
She made the bed, turned off the television and then returned to the bedroom door and opened it.
There was no sign of her clothes in the living area, or in the kitchen in the right hand corner opposite it. The glasses and bowl were on the drainer, and Kearn's bloodied shirt was gone. She picked up one of the glasses, filled it with water and drank it down in one go. Her stomach growled. Food. She hadn't eaten in almost a day.
Amber checked the pale wooden cupboards. The first two being bare didn't bother her, but after the fifth, she started to find it strange. When she had checked every cupboard and found only a few glasses and some other kitchenware, but not cutlery or plates, she was disconcerted. She approached the large white refrigerator with caution, fearing what she would find in it. Vampires drank blood. What if the fridge was full of bits of people or blood bags stolen from the local hospital?
She grabbed the refrigerator door and yanked it open.
A blank white space greeted her.
Her heart pounded against her ribs.
She was going crazy.
She had to stop being so suspicious.
Vampires killed people. Maybe he didn't keep his food in the house. Maybe he ate street food of the vampire kind.
Amber shut the fridge door. She really was being stupid now.
Kearn hunted vampires.
Maybe he ate out all the time. There were people who did that. She had seen television programs where famous people had never used the expensive stove in their oversized kitchen. Kearn could be just like them.
Or he could eat blood.
She walked out of the kitchen, trying to distance herself from her thoughts as easily as she could distance herself from the refrigerator.
She stopped at the black front door of the apartment.
There was a note stuck to it, written in neat cursive script.
Do not even consider leaving. I shall return by the time you have showered and shall bring you breakfast. Kearn.
She tried the handle anyway. Locked. Some of the locks she could open from the inside, but one of them needed a key.
Well, that was considerate of him. He stole her clothes and locked her in his apartment, and then offered her a shower and said he would bring her breakfast. He was confusing her more every minute that she knew him.
Breakfast?
Amber glanced to her left, through the small study area to the bank of windows that formed the wall there. The sun was heading towards the horizon, casting a golden glow over the rooftops of London. He had a strange concept of meal times, but then he hunted vampires. It was probably a job he could only do at night.
She perused the books in the beech bookcase that lined the wall of the study opposite the open fireplace, her fingers tripping from spine to spine. There were many novels on the side nearest the front door, but closer to the wooden desk in front of the window, the books were all factual, and some of them were definitely not available in stores. Books on demons, vampires, werewolves and other creatures. All of them old and large, and leather-bound. None of them had authors or publishing houses on the spine. She took a thick, heavy tome on vampires, placed it down on the desk and opened it carefully to somewhere near the middle. Her gaze scanned the neatly hand written paragraphs on the yellowing page and stopped on a name she recognised.
She had to read it three times to make sure she wasn't imagining it.
Earl Huntingdon.
She cast a quick glance around the apartment, her heart starting to race and tremble at the thought of being caught snooping in Kearn's things, and then read the passage about the earl.
A vampire.
Kyran knew vampires. Was that why Kearn didn't like Earl Huntingdon? Perhaps there were good vampires after all and that was why Kyran was friends with him.
Or perhaps not.
Amber read the page, enthralled by the things it said about the earl and his bloodthirsty ways. He sounded dangerous, the sort of vampire that people had written tales about centuries ago, like Vlad the Impaler. He sounded like the sort that Kearn should kill.
She went to turn the page and read on but stopped herself. Reading about the horrible things vampires did to people and to other vampires would only frighten her. She closed the book and placed it back on the shelf. She was better off not knowing. They said ignorance was bliss after all. When Kearn had caught the vampire, she would be going back to her life. Kearn wouldn't be there to protect her from the scary vampires. She would be alone again and she didn't want to spend the rest of her life afraid, fearing that someone like Earl Huntingdon would somehow find her. She wanted to live life.
Dragging herself away from the study, she walked around the wide white dividing wall of the modern double-sided fireplace and stopped dead when she saw a black jacket and Kearn's gun on the end of the long black couch against the bedroom wall. The setting sun glinted off the silver gun, luring her to it.
She stopped at the window-end of the couch beside the gun and stared hard at it, memorising the weapon's exact position on the jacket so she knew where to place it so Kearn wouldn't know what she had done. With her heart in her throat, she reached a trembling hand out to the gun and closed the fingers of her left hand around the grip. Her whole arm shook as she lifted it. It was heavier than expected and felt cold against her fingers. She kept it pointed away from her, afraid it would go off, and studied it. It looked like a gun from a movie, sleek and modern, and dangerous.
What kind of bullets did it take? They had to be special to kill vampires.
Amber tried to figure out how to open it, turning it one way and then the other, and even looking closely at the bottom of the grip. In the movies, people changed the clip so quickly she never saw how they got it out. She lifted her other hand, tempted to pull the top part of the gun back and then stopped herself. She didn't know what would happen if she did that. If she blew out a window or made a hole in the white wall, Kearn would know that she had been messing around with his gun. Afraid of the consequences if that happened, Amber placed the gun back down in the precise spot and position she had found it, and stepped back from it. She didn't like it.
Turning away, she walked back to Kearn's bedroom and through it to the bathroom. Take a shower. Kearn had said he would be back when she had showered. She looked at the large white cubicle to her left. Take a shower she would.
She stripped off the bathrobe and her knickers, and closed the bathroom door. The clear shower door squeaked when she slid it open. She turned the water on and stepped under the jet, showering quickly and holding her hair up so it didn't get too wet. It would frizz if it did and she didn't want to look like a prize poodle around Kearn.
Amber shut the water off and stepped out of the shower. Her head spun. She closed her eyes and waited for it to clear. It had done that from time to time last night too. Was it the vampire trying to control her?
She shuddered at the thought. She didn't like the idea that someone could control her and make her do things against her will. She unravelled the bandage on her hand. The cut across her palm was still raw and it was bleeding in places again. She washed it in the sink and then looked for a new bandage, finding some in the cupboard in the black sink cabinet. She carefully wound it around her hand, tight enough that it would stop the bleeding, and pinned it.
The vampire had wanted her to taste her blood but she hadn't been tempted this time. Was his hold over her fading?
The sound of a door closing made her look up at herself in the mirror. Kearn.
She clawed her hair back into a neat ponytail, slipped the robe on, and tied it.
Kearn was in the kitchen when she walked out of the bedroom. He glanced over at her, his green eyes as impassive as ever. Not even the sight of her in his bathrobe fresh from the shower provoked a reaction. He crossed the room and held two large black paper bags out to her. There was a store name she didn't recognise written on the side in a white cursive font. She peered inside the first one at the clothes. The second had a cardboard shoebox in it.
"What is it?" She looked at Kearn.
"Your outfit for tonight." He dropped another similar bag on the couch facing the window and she looked in it too. Her own clothes. He had taken them to a store and, judging by the bags, it had been somewhere expensive.
Kearn held a small brown bag out to her.
"What's this?" She took it from him.
"Breakfast," he said without any trace of emotion, his eyes not leaving hers. "Coffee and pastries. I asked the woman what you might like."
Amber frowned. What she might like? As though a stranger would know such a thing. Couldn't he have judged for himself? Maybe he didn't know what food tasted like. Maybe vampires didn't eat anything other than blood.
Maybe he just didn't eat pastries. She had known men in her past that didn't touch sweet things. He could be like them.
"What about you?" She placed the clothes bags down on the couch beside the other one and eyed him closely, studying his face.
"I ate when I was out."
Amber stared at him. He stared back, colder than ever. He really wasn't very talkative. The effort of trying to make conversation with him was exhausting.
Kearn walked around her and along the length of the couch beside the wall to the far end of it. He leaned over and paused with his hand just above his gun. He kept his back to her as he picked it up.
"Do not ever touch it again," he said and went into his bedroom, closing the door.
A few minutes later the shower was running and Amber was still standing in the middle of his apartment feeling guilty for snooping and wondering how the hell he had known she had touched the gun. It had been in exactly the same place as he had left it.
He was an enigma.
He had no food, a lot of money, and treated her coldly even though she was helping him. She looked at the clothing and the food that he had bought. She couldn't figure him out at all. She had never met anyone so distant either. Was it his work? Maybe he was just unused to company. He hadn't been that at ease with his brother too.
Maybe he wasn't human.
She couldn't push that thought away. Whenever she gave it a chance, it came back.
Amber walked over to the kitchen island and placed the brown paper bag down on the granite top. She sat on one of the black and wood stools that followed the curve of the island, and opened the bag, removing the white paper cup of coffee. She took off the lid and scooped up some of the foam with her finger. Cappuccino. Just the fix she had needed.
There were a lot of different pastries in the bag. Covering his bets?
The bedroom door opened and Amber looked over her shoulder at Kearn. He rubbed a brown towel against his wet hair. Water dripped from the ends of the long silver strands and rolled down the bare strip of chest and stomach visible between the two sides of his black shirt. His body was delicious. Just what she wanted to eat for breakfast. His muscles shifted and bunched with each move he made as he dried his hair, a feast for her eyes only. She stared, unashamed of what she was doing. If he was going to put it out there, then she wasn't going to shy away.
Kearn tossed the towel back into his bedroom, ran his fingers through his hair, and then walked over to the jacket on the couch. He picked it up and placed it over the back of the couch facing the window. Amber sipped her coffee and kept watching him, or at least his body. He ruined her fun by buttoning his shirt and tucking it into his black trousers.
He came over to her and looked at the paper bag. She took another sip of her coffee and drank her fill of his face, putting to memory the curve of his lips as they parted and the way a line formed between his dark silver eyebrows when he frowned. He was undeniably good looking and was starting to creep back into sexy territory.
"Want one?" Amber offered the bag, part of her doing so out of politeness and the other part wanting to test him.
His green eyes shifted from the contents of the bag to her hand that was holding it. Blood was seeping into the bandage again.
"Take it if you want it," she said and his eyes met hers, incredulous and searching. It was the first sign of something other than cold calculation in them today. He almost looked shocked.
"No, thank you." Kearn pushed the bag back at her. "You should dress. We need to arrive at the club before everyone else so we do not look as though we are together."
She took a long leisurely sip of her cappuccino, unwilling to be rushed by him, and then slipped down off the stool.
When he had said they would go to a club, she had expected them to be together the whole time. The thought of being alone when the vampire could be stalking her was frightening but she had promised to play bait for him. She picked up the bags of clothes from the couch. What sort of bait did Kearn have in mind? The clothes would give her a hint.
She walked into his bedroom, kicked the door closed, put her coffee and pastries down on the side cupboard and dumped the bags on the bed.
Refusing to hurry, she ate a croissant and drank half of her coffee, and then devoured another pastry.
Amber pulled the large shoebox out of the first bag and opened it.
She tipped the contents of the other bag out on the bed beside it.
Her eyes widened.
"What the hell!"
That's the final chapter of my sneak preview for Forbidden Blood, but you don't have to wait long to get your hands on this book now. It's released on June 18th, just next week! Have you all enjoyed the book so far?
June 10, 2011
Angel romances, Assassin's Creed and blog tours
This week has been long, but not exactly fruitful. Thanks to my obsession with Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and my need to play it every day for at least a couple of hours, my focus is shot. I have managed to struggle with my short attention span and bring it under control enough that I have managed to get the final two chapters of Her Guardian Angel re-written and ready for editing, but other things in my schedule have suffered.
I can't lay the blame solely at the feet of Ezio from Assassin's Creed. I think in part my lack of concentration and focus this week is down to overworking. I've been working non-stop recently and it was only a matter of time before my mind shattered and I wanted to do something other than author related work.
I'm just thankful that once I get the final two chapters of Her Guardian Angel edited, I can put it to rest for a while, and that I managed to get it done before heading off on holiday for a few days. A much needed holiday, that's for sure!
When I return, I'll be thrown straight into the release weekend of Forbidden Blood, but I think I can deal with that if I get everything on my list done and dusted, and therefore only have to worry about release stuff when I get back. I am looking forward to the release of Forbidden Blood. I want to see what readers think about the take on vampires in this one and whether there's interest in the series. I already have a vampire romance series on the go, so it will be interesting to see what sort of reception this one gets. The Vampire Venators series is quite different to my Vampires Realm series, so hopefully there'll be room for both of them.
I'm having a dilemma at the moment about what to write next. My schedule is very tight right now, but I really want to get the next Shadow & Light Trilogy novel written, edited, and released this year. I'd love to get it done for September and move Masquerade to October or December. Hmm. It's tricky though and it is providing me with a bit of a headache. I keep working my calendar, shifting things around and seeing if I could write it and get it edited in time. It's possible, but it would mean some seriously long days. Going to crunch the numbers again later and see if I'm just asking too much of myself.
I have to take into account that I'm signed up to around one hundred appearances this year at various blogs too. I need to make sure that I have time to get the articles for them written as well as getting books written or edited. On top of this, I want to start offering a flash fiction in my newsletter every month, and I have a few short stories that I want to write as freebies too.
I think I might quietly go away now and have a breakdown. Lol. When I took the leap to become a full time author, I had figured it would be easy and that I'd be able to get stuff done in no time because I had all day to do it rather than just a few hours a day. Wrong! Stuff just came along to fill those hours!
Right, I had best go get on with said stuff.
Felicity
I can't lay the blame solely at the feet of Ezio from Assassin's Creed. I think in part my lack of concentration and focus this week is down to overworking. I've been working non-stop recently and it was only a matter of time before my mind shattered and I wanted to do something other than author related work.
I'm just thankful that once I get the final two chapters of Her Guardian Angel edited, I can put it to rest for a while, and that I managed to get it done before heading off on holiday for a few days. A much needed holiday, that's for sure!
When I return, I'll be thrown straight into the release weekend of Forbidden Blood, but I think I can deal with that if I get everything on my list done and dusted, and therefore only have to worry about release stuff when I get back. I am looking forward to the release of Forbidden Blood. I want to see what readers think about the take on vampires in this one and whether there's interest in the series. I already have a vampire romance series on the go, so it will be interesting to see what sort of reception this one gets. The Vampire Venators series is quite different to my Vampires Realm series, so hopefully there'll be room for both of them.I'm having a dilemma at the moment about what to write next. My schedule is very tight right now, but I really want to get the next Shadow & Light Trilogy novel written, edited, and released this year. I'd love to get it done for September and move Masquerade to October or December. Hmm. It's tricky though and it is providing me with a bit of a headache. I keep working my calendar, shifting things around and seeing if I could write it and get it edited in time. It's possible, but it would mean some seriously long days. Going to crunch the numbers again later and see if I'm just asking too much of myself.
I have to take into account that I'm signed up to around one hundred appearances this year at various blogs too. I need to make sure that I have time to get the articles for them written as well as getting books written or edited. On top of this, I want to start offering a flash fiction in my newsletter every month, and I have a few short stories that I want to write as freebies too.
I think I might quietly go away now and have a breakdown. Lol. When I took the leap to become a full time author, I had figured it would be easy and that I'd be able to get stuff done in no time because I had all day to do it rather than just a few hours a day. Wrong! Stuff just came along to fill those hours!
Right, I had best go get on with said stuff.
Felicity
June 9, 2011
Review: Kiss the Night Goodbye by Keri Arthur
Having read the books one to three in Keri Arthur's Nikki and Michael vampire romance series, I had to read book four, even though I had been a little disappointed by the third book, Chasing the Shadows.
So here's my candid review of this paranormal romance book by Keri Arthur.
Kiss the Night Goodbye
Keri Arthur
Nikki James wants nothing more than to pass the Circle's strict entry exams so she can get on with the business of planning her wedding to Michael. But when one of the testers attempts to kill her, she realises buying a wedding dress is the least of her worries.
Especially when Michael is shot and kidnapped.
The trail leads her to the ghost town where Michael had once killed a madman. She's not surprised to discover that Weylin Dunleavy, the brother of that long ago murderer, has set in place events that will mirror the past in order to raise his brother's spirit from hell. Nor is she truly surprised to discover that a barrier of magic surrounds the old town, leaving her to battle Weylin with only her wits, strength and the one psychic gift she cannot fully control.
The one thing that does surprise, the one thing she cannot accept, is the fact that Michael no longer remembers who she is…
Review
Nikki and Michael are back in the final story in Keri Arthur's vampire romance series. Nikki has been busting her backside improving her fitness and her control of her psychic abilities since Michael has done the decent thing and not only asked Nikki to marry him, but has allowed her into the darker and more dangerous side of his life.
The story opens with Nikki once again trying to pass the Circle's entry exams and gets more than she bargained for in her latest attempt—someone trying to kill her. Thanks to the link forged between her and Michael that has increased not only her powers but Michael's too, Nikki escapes without much trouble. The only problem is that her bad luck isn't about to end there. Someone shoots and kidnaps the lovely slice of vampire that is Michael and it's down to Nikki, masquerading as Seline because the bad guy is fairly intent on getting some payback for an event that happened in the past involving Seline and Michael, goes out to save the day.
Nikki's problems get worse from there. The town where she must go is surrounded by a magical barrier and everyone is acting as they had a few hundred years back. Michael doesn't remember her, and she certainly doesn't look like herself, and she has to be careful because while the barrier has put a stop to most of her powers, her "personal magic" that comes in the form of pyrokinetic abilities given to her by the people she met in book two of the series, is still active. If Mr Bad Guy finds out that she's got some tricks up her sleeve, he'll kill her and Michael, and probably most of the town. Michael has a fairly hefty spell tattooed into his back that Nikki needs to wash off, but it isn't going to be easy when he can't remember her. It takes all of her wits to convince him to help her and to make him remember her, and to defeat the bad guy in this one.
It was good to see another new location, although caves did creep back in as there's plenty of mine shafts in the area to cause Nikki's usual panic attacks and Michael's worry (when he starts remembering her). I enjoyed the difference in their relationship in this one, although found it a bit questionable in parts since she basically seduces Michael whilst looking like someone else. Talk about psychologically damaging the guy when he eventually remembers and realises that he's been messing around with Seline… well, Nikki looking like Seline, but the outside package is the physical attractant in sexual relationships. That must have disturbed him.
I liked the bad guys in this one. They're nice and sinister and have a nasty objective, although I think they could have put up more fight. Repetition was back again, and Michael is going to need to get stronger bones because I swear he's broken his arm in the past two books! My only real downer on this one was the repetition, and some very horrendous editing that drove me insane. The author breaks one of the cardinal rules of writing – remember what you called things! She goes from calling the town "Hartwood" in the first few chapters, to "Hartwell", and eventually back to "Hartwood" for the final few chapters. There's also other glaring editing errors. Again, the book dropped marks for poor editing. In fact, it was so bad in parts that I was cringing as I read it. This means that yet again my reading enjoyment was spoiled. It could have been a wonderful book with a better editor on hand to fix the errors and point out all the repetition. There's also some amazing spelling problems like the word "wlndowsill" in chapter 15. Nice. The relationship does grow nicely in this book though, and at least Nikki isn't moaning at Michael all the time. I liked the progression in their powers and how tied to each other they were, but I had hoped for a stronger ending too. Call me an old romantic, but I want to see a wedding, not just be teased about it. Definitely read this book if you've read the first three. Definitely read them in order.
Read reviews of Kiss the Night Goodbye by Keri Arthur on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6076368-kiss-the-night-goodbye
So here's my candid review of this paranormal romance book by Keri Arthur.
Kiss the Night GoodbyeKeri Arthur
Nikki James wants nothing more than to pass the Circle's strict entry exams so she can get on with the business of planning her wedding to Michael. But when one of the testers attempts to kill her, she realises buying a wedding dress is the least of her worries.
Especially when Michael is shot and kidnapped.
The trail leads her to the ghost town where Michael had once killed a madman. She's not surprised to discover that Weylin Dunleavy, the brother of that long ago murderer, has set in place events that will mirror the past in order to raise his brother's spirit from hell. Nor is she truly surprised to discover that a barrier of magic surrounds the old town, leaving her to battle Weylin with only her wits, strength and the one psychic gift she cannot fully control.
The one thing that does surprise, the one thing she cannot accept, is the fact that Michael no longer remembers who she is…
Review
Nikki and Michael are back in the final story in Keri Arthur's vampire romance series. Nikki has been busting her backside improving her fitness and her control of her psychic abilities since Michael has done the decent thing and not only asked Nikki to marry him, but has allowed her into the darker and more dangerous side of his life.
The story opens with Nikki once again trying to pass the Circle's entry exams and gets more than she bargained for in her latest attempt—someone trying to kill her. Thanks to the link forged between her and Michael that has increased not only her powers but Michael's too, Nikki escapes without much trouble. The only problem is that her bad luck isn't about to end there. Someone shoots and kidnaps the lovely slice of vampire that is Michael and it's down to Nikki, masquerading as Seline because the bad guy is fairly intent on getting some payback for an event that happened in the past involving Seline and Michael, goes out to save the day.
Nikki's problems get worse from there. The town where she must go is surrounded by a magical barrier and everyone is acting as they had a few hundred years back. Michael doesn't remember her, and she certainly doesn't look like herself, and she has to be careful because while the barrier has put a stop to most of her powers, her "personal magic" that comes in the form of pyrokinetic abilities given to her by the people she met in book two of the series, is still active. If Mr Bad Guy finds out that she's got some tricks up her sleeve, he'll kill her and Michael, and probably most of the town. Michael has a fairly hefty spell tattooed into his back that Nikki needs to wash off, but it isn't going to be easy when he can't remember her. It takes all of her wits to convince him to help her and to make him remember her, and to defeat the bad guy in this one.
It was good to see another new location, although caves did creep back in as there's plenty of mine shafts in the area to cause Nikki's usual panic attacks and Michael's worry (when he starts remembering her). I enjoyed the difference in their relationship in this one, although found it a bit questionable in parts since she basically seduces Michael whilst looking like someone else. Talk about psychologically damaging the guy when he eventually remembers and realises that he's been messing around with Seline… well, Nikki looking like Seline, but the outside package is the physical attractant in sexual relationships. That must have disturbed him.
I liked the bad guys in this one. They're nice and sinister and have a nasty objective, although I think they could have put up more fight. Repetition was back again, and Michael is going to need to get stronger bones because I swear he's broken his arm in the past two books! My only real downer on this one was the repetition, and some very horrendous editing that drove me insane. The author breaks one of the cardinal rules of writing – remember what you called things! She goes from calling the town "Hartwood" in the first few chapters, to "Hartwell", and eventually back to "Hartwood" for the final few chapters. There's also other glaring editing errors. Again, the book dropped marks for poor editing. In fact, it was so bad in parts that I was cringing as I read it. This means that yet again my reading enjoyment was spoiled. It could have been a wonderful book with a better editor on hand to fix the errors and point out all the repetition. There's also some amazing spelling problems like the word "wlndowsill" in chapter 15. Nice. The relationship does grow nicely in this book though, and at least Nikki isn't moaning at Michael all the time. I liked the progression in their powers and how tied to each other they were, but I had hoped for a stronger ending too. Call me an old romantic, but I want to see a wedding, not just be teased about it. Definitely read this book if you've read the first three. Definitely read them in order.
Read reviews of Kiss the Night Goodbye by Keri Arthur on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6076368-kiss-the-night-goodbye
June 8, 2011
Review: Chasing the Shadows by Keri Arthur
Having read the first two books in Ms Arthur's Nikki & Michael series and really enjoying them, I swiftly moved on to book three of the vampire romance series!
So here's my candid review of this paranormal romance book by Keri Arthur.
Chasing the Shadows
Keri Arthur
Nikki James is in San Francisco at the request of her partner and best friend, Jake. The wife of Jake's old friend is missing, and Jake intends to find her—whatever the cost. While the authorities believe the kidnappings are the work of a sick mind, Nikki knows it is something much worse. Vampires. Six of them. And they know who she is, and why she's there.
Michael Kelly has just returned from a vampire hunting expedition in his homeland and wants to spend some much-needed relaxation time with Nikki. But when he discovers she's gone to San Francisco to pursue the vampire gang currently terrorizing the city, he has no choice except to follow. Not only to keep her safe from the gang, but because he fears the psychic talents she's beginning to develop. Abilities she should not have and cannot control.
The chase takes them through the sewers and tunnels of San Francisco. As the body count begins to rise, so, too, does the danger. Michael isn't the only one aware of Nikki's new abilities, and she becomes a target. But Nikki has no intention of obeying Michael's demands that she leave. She's tired of playing it safe and wants him to realize it's all or nothing. She's either a full partner in his life, or she's out.
But nothing prepares her for the price she has to pay for her stubbornness—the life of someone she loves.
Review
Nikki and Michael are back in book three of Keri Arthur's Nikki and Michael series. Nikki, a telepath and telekinetic, has had enough of playing house and waiting for Michael's return from a mission. Things have been going well for the duo, but their relationship is still strained by Michael's old-world ways sometimes. It's nice to have a little tension in the relationship as it grows, but sometimes I felt it was overdone. The story this time takes us to San Francisco, and back to Jake, Nikki's partner in crime-fighting from her days at the private investigation company. I was glad of the change of scenery as the first two books in the series both featured plenty of time spent in caves, and we often get numerous repetitions about what happened to Nikki in a cave in the first book (won't say what happened as it might spoil things for people). However, we did end up spending plenty of time underground again, this time in the sewers, but I could deal with that as it's still a change from caves and vampires have got to hide somewhere during the day.
Michael returns from his mission with a yearning to see Nikki at his remote cabin and a present in his pocket that isn't something sensual. A certain token for his love. The trouble is, she's headed out to the same mission he's just been assigned to, and now he's chasing her across the country rather than enjoying a nice lazy reunion full of lovemaking. When he eventually catches up with his wayward love, she's neck deep in trouble again. Together they go through various highs and lows with plenty of suspense tossed in to keep me flipping pages, and the odd scuffle between the lovers to keep things interesting, although sometimes it goes too far. Nikki becomes a little irritating in this one as she clearly doesn't know when she's on to a good thing and seems fairly determined to force Michael out of her life or get him killed. Personally, if a great guy like him wanted to coddle me a little and protect me from the uber-dangerous aspects of his life, whilst letting me in to the rest of it, I wouldn't moan like Nikki does. She came off as a bit petulant and childish in places. Nikki's powers are growing in this one, and it seems they're affecting Michael too, which makes it quite interesting, but they didn't grow enough to be particularly exciting. Nikki has also picked up some pyrokinetic abilities from book two as well.
I really enjoyed this story, but it started to feel a bit repetitive having read the first two. The author has stock phrases that she uses around twenty times per book each and it did start to grate on my nerves a little. The editing in this book sucked too. Lots of mistakes that really leapt out at me, and some times when the writing was really below par. I wanted this book to be as great as the first two, but it fell short due to the editing and repetition, and playing on Michael being over-protective, and also had a fairly predictable sad moment that didn't actually gain much emotional reaction from me because I didn't feel the person who died was emotionally involved or close enough to Nikki to actually warrant such a strong reaction from her. There was nothing in this book or the previous ones that made out they were very close. I still enjoyed Michael and it's nice seeing him battling his darkness to keep control around Nikki, although sometimes I wished he'd let a little of that darkness out to play. I do enjoy a good biting scene. It might have bumped this one up to a four in spite of the bad editing and repetition. If you've read the previous two, then do continue, but be warned that there are some nasty editing errors ahead.
Read reviews of Chasing the Shadows by Keri Arthur on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6076367-chasing-the-shadows
So here's my candid review of this paranormal romance book by Keri Arthur.
Chasing the ShadowsKeri Arthur
Nikki James is in San Francisco at the request of her partner and best friend, Jake. The wife of Jake's old friend is missing, and Jake intends to find her—whatever the cost. While the authorities believe the kidnappings are the work of a sick mind, Nikki knows it is something much worse. Vampires. Six of them. And they know who she is, and why she's there.
Michael Kelly has just returned from a vampire hunting expedition in his homeland and wants to spend some much-needed relaxation time with Nikki. But when he discovers she's gone to San Francisco to pursue the vampire gang currently terrorizing the city, he has no choice except to follow. Not only to keep her safe from the gang, but because he fears the psychic talents she's beginning to develop. Abilities she should not have and cannot control.
The chase takes them through the sewers and tunnels of San Francisco. As the body count begins to rise, so, too, does the danger. Michael isn't the only one aware of Nikki's new abilities, and she becomes a target. But Nikki has no intention of obeying Michael's demands that she leave. She's tired of playing it safe and wants him to realize it's all or nothing. She's either a full partner in his life, or she's out.
But nothing prepares her for the price she has to pay for her stubbornness—the life of someone she loves.
Review
Nikki and Michael are back in book three of Keri Arthur's Nikki and Michael series. Nikki, a telepath and telekinetic, has had enough of playing house and waiting for Michael's return from a mission. Things have been going well for the duo, but their relationship is still strained by Michael's old-world ways sometimes. It's nice to have a little tension in the relationship as it grows, but sometimes I felt it was overdone. The story this time takes us to San Francisco, and back to Jake, Nikki's partner in crime-fighting from her days at the private investigation company. I was glad of the change of scenery as the first two books in the series both featured plenty of time spent in caves, and we often get numerous repetitions about what happened to Nikki in a cave in the first book (won't say what happened as it might spoil things for people). However, we did end up spending plenty of time underground again, this time in the sewers, but I could deal with that as it's still a change from caves and vampires have got to hide somewhere during the day.
Michael returns from his mission with a yearning to see Nikki at his remote cabin and a present in his pocket that isn't something sensual. A certain token for his love. The trouble is, she's headed out to the same mission he's just been assigned to, and now he's chasing her across the country rather than enjoying a nice lazy reunion full of lovemaking. When he eventually catches up with his wayward love, she's neck deep in trouble again. Together they go through various highs and lows with plenty of suspense tossed in to keep me flipping pages, and the odd scuffle between the lovers to keep things interesting, although sometimes it goes too far. Nikki becomes a little irritating in this one as she clearly doesn't know when she's on to a good thing and seems fairly determined to force Michael out of her life or get him killed. Personally, if a great guy like him wanted to coddle me a little and protect me from the uber-dangerous aspects of his life, whilst letting me in to the rest of it, I wouldn't moan like Nikki does. She came off as a bit petulant and childish in places. Nikki's powers are growing in this one, and it seems they're affecting Michael too, which makes it quite interesting, but they didn't grow enough to be particularly exciting. Nikki has also picked up some pyrokinetic abilities from book two as well.
I really enjoyed this story, but it started to feel a bit repetitive having read the first two. The author has stock phrases that she uses around twenty times per book each and it did start to grate on my nerves a little. The editing in this book sucked too. Lots of mistakes that really leapt out at me, and some times when the writing was really below par. I wanted this book to be as great as the first two, but it fell short due to the editing and repetition, and playing on Michael being over-protective, and also had a fairly predictable sad moment that didn't actually gain much emotional reaction from me because I didn't feel the person who died was emotionally involved or close enough to Nikki to actually warrant such a strong reaction from her. There was nothing in this book or the previous ones that made out they were very close. I still enjoyed Michael and it's nice seeing him battling his darkness to keep control around Nikki, although sometimes I wished he'd let a little of that darkness out to play. I do enjoy a good biting scene. It might have bumped this one up to a four in spite of the bad editing and repetition. If you've read the previous two, then do continue, but be warned that there are some nasty editing errors ahead.
Read reviews of Chasing the Shadows by Keri Arthur on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6076367-chasing-the-shadows
June 7, 2011
Teaseday - Ascension - Urban Fantasy Romance Novel
This week Teaseday is focused on
Ascension
, my latest release and an urban fantasy romance novel in the Shadow and Light Trilogy. Ascension is hot, passionate, and full of action that will sweep you along and keep you turning the pages.
Ascension
Felicity Heaton
A witch on the verge of achieving phenomenal power, Lealandra must turn to her half-breed demon ex-lover Taig for protection from the dark force that is after her and also from her own magic.
With her Counter-Balance dead and her coven against her, Taig's blood and power is the only thing that can help her control her magic and survive the ascension and gain the strength to defeat her enemy.
Old feelings come flooding back as Taig allows her into his world and Lealandra finds herself fighting not only for survival but to win his broken heart again and heal the pain in their past. Can he forgive her for walking out on him all those years ago and will he ever believe her when she tells him that he's not a monster but the man that she loves?
ebook price: $3.99
paperback price: $8.99
genre: paranormal / urban fantasy romance
length: 91000 words
rating: sultry
released: April 2011
Book 1 in the Shadow and Light Trilogy series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Ascension
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004X6TWLK/
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B004X6TWLK/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004X6TWLK/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Ascension/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940011267451/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1461131839/
EXCERPTTaig closed his eyes and released a long low groan of unexpected pleasure as Lealandra's warm mouth fused with his. Her tongue slid between his lips, a delicious and familiar hot velvet caress that swept across his teeth and drew another hungry moan from him. Without considering the consequences and forgetting his anger, he twisted her long black hair around his fingers and tethered her to him so this breathtaking fantasy wouldn't end before he wanted, and he wanted it to go on forever.
He tilted his head and pressed harder against her mouth, his tongue brushing hers, delving in deep to taste her. A shiver of desire and need shot through him, and his breathing turned rough as he reacquainted himself with her sweetness and warmth. He hadn't imagined things turning out this way when she had walked into the bar tonight, but he wasn't about to push her away now that she was kissing him again, rekindling passion whose embers had burned deep in his heart all the time they had been apart. She moved against him, her lips soft and grazing his, slowing the kiss until he wanted to groan and pull her against him, wanted to thrust his tongue back into her mouth and show her just how ravenous she made him. It coiled tight in his gut, pushing for control, urging him to act on his desire.
All too soon, her lips left his but she remained close. With a soft puff of air into his mouth, she spoke.
"Are they gone?" Her quiet voice trembled along with her body, telling him that the kiss hadn't only affected him. His heart pounded for more and his blood rushed through his ears, dampening his awareness of their surroundings.
Taig glanced around the dim emptying bar. The two men were gone. He stared into her eyes, refreshing his memory of every fleck of silver against stormy grey. It had been too long since he had seen her, and felt even longer since he had kissed her. A tortuous length of time and an absence he couldn't easily forgive, even when her kiss made him forget it.
"Not yet," he whispered the lie against her lips, a split-second before his mouth claimed hers, dominant now that he was ready for the kiss. Desire became a raging inferno within him, burning away the anger that blazed back into life whenever he had a moment to think. This kiss was the only thing that mattered right now.
This time, Lealandra loosed a deep breathy moan. The sound sent his blood rushing ahead of his thoughts. He hardened instantly against his tight black jeans and wrapped his fingers around the nape of her neck, pressing them in and dragging her closer still. The heat of her kiss reawakened lost passion and a need for her that could never die. Six years of separation disappeared in an instant, erased by the fact that she had finally walked back into his life. He wasn't going to let her go this time. Even if this kiss was only a decoy, it still meant something to them both. He knew it did.
Her fingertips grazed his neck and pushed into the shorter black hair at the back of his head. He groaned internally at the feel of her nails against his scalp, declaring her growing hunger, and furrowed his brow as he brought his hand forward to claim her jaw, holding her in place. He burned at the feel of her soft satin skin beneath his fingers. Her touch was still electric, sending waves of hot sparks dancing along every nerve in his body, bringing his cold flesh to life. Tilting her head back, he thrust his tongue into her mouth and slid his free hand around her waist at the same time, pulling her so close to him that her breasts pushed against his chest with each gasping breath she drew. He eased his hand lower and caressed the patch of bare warm skin between the bottom of her short black strapless corset top and the waist of her long black skirt. Lealandra tensed. Too fast.
Taig braced for impact.
The flat of her hand slammed against his chest, forcing him backwards in the curved padded seat of the booth and tearing her from his grasp. Her gelid gaze stopped him dead.
"They're gone, aren't they?" Lealandra's tone was pure venom that matched the ice in her pale grey eyes.
Taig held his hands up, surrendering with a seductive smile that confessed every sin he had been considering. Lealandra wasn't the kind of witch you lied to. With such strong power flowing in her veins, it was easy for her to read everyone. Everyone but him. His blood saw to that. Her ability to see through him didn't come from magic. It came from the divine six months they had spent locked tight in each other's embrace. Six heavenly months he would never forget followed by six hollow years he wished he couldn't remember.
Lealandra looked around the bar, flicking her straight dark hair over her bare slender shoulders. His black gaze raked over her in the same hungry way it had done when she had first appeared in front of him tonight. She had grown a little thinner in their time apart. Her partner hadn't been taking care of her. Taig curled his fingers into fists at the thought of another man touching what was his. Anger blazed in his chest, ignited by the idea that the man she had chosen over him hadn't been looking after her needs. Had the idiot failed to see what she truly craved?
The magic that inhabited her body drained her and made her hungry. She needed to feed often and he wasn't talking about food. Magic as old and potent as hers demanded the highest price and had the basest needs. If it didn't get what it wanted, it was hard for Lealandra to retain control. It only proved the point he had tried to hammer home to her when she had been on the verge of leaving him all those years ago and disproved hers.
Taig didn't give a fuck about the rules of her kind. A witch was no match for a witch, especially not one who needed blood to sustain her.
Demon blood.
The thought that Lealandra had been struggling with her power these six long years stoked his anger into blind fury. Every muscle itched with the desire to find her pathetic excuse for a man and teach him a lesson he would never forget for making her suffer. The kind of lesson that would satisfy Taig's own deep dark cravings.
"I can't believe you'd take a cheap shot like that," Lealandra muttered in his direction, her eyes meeting his. "No. Wait. Actually… I can."
With his best sexy smirk, Taig leaned back into the grotty dark brown leather seat and stretched his arms out along the top. He shrugged and held her gaze.
"You kissed me first. I just returned the favour."
Her tongue swept over her lips, as though she wanted to kiss him again and was contenting herself with the lingering taste of him. If she wanted him to kiss her, he would. He would kiss her so hard that she would forget that idiot she had left him for and her own name in the process. She would forget everything but the feel of him inside her where he belonged. He would ruin her to everyone but him.
"That's not the kind of favour I need from you." Lealandra casually rested her elbow on the back of the leather seat and propped her chin up with her hand. Her head tilted to one side, her dusky kiss-swollen lips curving into a smile. His heart thundered, beating hard with the rush of desire that flooded him.
That smile had made him want her the moment he had laid eyes on her all those years ago. He still wanted her.
He tamped down his desire and got a grip. Her kissing him hadn't changed a damn thing. Whatever they'd had, it didn't exist anymore. She had trampled it on her way out of the door and it was going to take a lot more than a kiss to get her into his good book again.
"A favour? Tell me, why should I do you any favours? Last I checked, you were shacked up with another bloke. Why don't you ask Loverboy to help you out? I'm sure he could do something… unspectacular." Taig picked up his shot of whisky from the table and necked it. The liquid burned his throat as it slid down, heating him through. Sometimes it was nice to feel something other than cold. Alcohol and hunting were the only things that did that these days. His gaze ran over Lealandra. She used to make him burn hotter than Hell on a summer's day. She still did, but he wasn't about to let her see that. "I guess that's why you're here. Loverboy just doesn't cut it when it comes to handling demons. That pair of weaklings would have him inside out and back to front before he could lift a finger to cast whatever impotent half-assed spell he could muster."
Taig held her gaze, cool and steady, watching the hurt surfacing in her eyes and feeling like a bastard for it, but on some twisted level, it satisfied him.
He narrowed his eyes and casually placed the glass down. "Well, you're shit out of luck, Lea. I'm not interested."
Her only reaction was to look away from him. She flicked the small silver bells on the ties of her long skirt and her shoulders lifted in a sigh. That was unsatisfactory. He had expected a better response than that. He had wanted her to argue with him about it. Perhaps even fight him. A good fight with her might go some way towards releasing the anger that was burning like acid in his veins, eating away at him and filling his head and heart with acrid memories.
Memories that drove him to kill.
He quirked a dark eyebrow and waited for her to say something. It wasn't like her. She looked up at him through her eyelashes.
A hint of fear surfaced in her beautiful eyes and rippled across her pale skin in a wave that only he could detect. He sat up, all sense of casual lost now that he had realised that she was frightened and it wasn't of him. His anger faded. Something was very wrong. Lealandra didn't do frightened. No witch as powerful as her did, at least not when they had their Counter-Balance, their other half, the one who could temper their magic and help them maintain control of it.
"I'll pay you... whatever you want... just name your price." She coughed to clear her throat, as though such a pathetic attempt to cover her turbulent feelings would fool him.
It was there in her body and her power, and he knew her well enough that he could easily read both. She was scared, and he was an idiot for not noticing it the second she had approached him, and the moment those thugs had walked into the joint. They had been out of place and suspicious, and he had sensed their demon blood, and then Lealandra had kissed him and he had lost track of them and her feelings. She had tasted purely of hunger and desire. All sweet with arousal. It had been enough to throw him off her underlying fear.
"You know my price." Taig's eyes narrowed on hers, intent and showing her that he was being serious for once. His voice dropped to a low whisper. "I want you, Lea."
She swallowed and blinked. Once. Twice. "No deal."
When she moved to stand, Taig grabbed her wrist, locking his fingers tightly around it. She looked down at his hand and then into his eyes. Her startled look added to her natural beauty, her eyes round and her rosy lips parted. A blush stained her pale cheeks, deep enough that he noticed it even in the low light of the bar. He wanted her more now than ever and he wasn't about to let her walk out on him again.
"You knew what I'd ask for so why come to me with your problems if you were going to refuse?"
Lealandra pried his fingers off her and frowned. "You saw those men. I need a demon hunter. You're the best I know."
Demon hunter. The job title neglected to mention the fact that his father had been one of the most powerful demons to walk the Earth. He stared into Lealandra's stormy eyes and saw the same calm acceptance that they always showed him. Had his mother looked at his father that way? She had dared to be with him after all. That union had spawned himself—half demon hidden behind the mask of man.
Taig tapped his fingers on the dark table, torn between rejecting her request unless she agreed to his terms and kissing her again. His eyebrows knitted tight together. This wasn't easy. What they had shared six years ago wasn't the kind of everyday passion that most people found at the start of a relationship. It had gone beyond that. The dark and hungry craving had consumed them both, had pushed them to the edge and had almost tipped them over it a few times. It had been unbridled passion—the sort that was rare in this world—and it still flooded him whenever he looked at her, whenever her beautiful eyes met his and dared him to make a move. He could deny it all he wanted, pretend that he no longer felt a thing for her, but she still tied him in knots and had him on his knees with only a smile. She licked her lips again, a nervous sweep of her tongue that reminded him that something was wrong.
What could be so bad that she wasn't asking her precious coven for help and was instead looking him up after six long years?
Was it just the demons that had her scared or was there more to this than she was telling him? Witches and demons got on like a house on fire but usually they kept well clear of each other, sticking to their own world. It was unusual for a demon to go after a witch, but he couldn't deny that the two kids earlier had been looking for Lealandra.
And now she was asking him for help.
What reason could demons have for going after her?
Taig looked deep into her eyes, focusing on them as he tried to get a hold on her feelings. There was anger in her now, aimed at him, but the fear was still there too. It echoed in the unsteady beat of her heart and danced in the depths of her eyes. She was in trouble, big enough that she had sought him out even when she knew that he would be pissed off at her and that he would demand a high price for services rendered. Either she was desperate or she truly believed that he was her best choice.
Or maybe she just wanted to see him again and this was the perfect excuse for her to waltz back into his life.
Still, his ineffable charm and attractiveness aside, parts of it didn't make sense. Lealandra was powerful enough to take care of a couple of weak lower demons and her bastard Counter-Balance and dear coven should have been able to protect her if she couldn't fight them for some reason. Taig had never met them, but the coven was probably strong enough to take on a demon of his strength. Two weaklings would be nothing to them. Like swatting flies.
And why was she here anyway? Alone too. Her Counter-Balance would have a tantrum of galactic proportions if he knew that Lealandra had come to her ex-lover for help.
In fact, none of it made sense.
Taig's head ached from trying to figure it out. It was just like her to send his mind in ten directions at once. There was only one way to find out what the hell had Lealandra walking back into his life. He never had been backwards about being forwards, after all. It was one of the qualities that Lealandra had liked about him.
"Why do you need me?" Taig sensed the deep spike in her feelings, the rise in her desire that struck him hard and sent a jolt to his groin, reigniting his own hunger.
Her eyes widened and her cheeks coloured.
He hadn't considered the possibility of a second meaning to his words but now he was. His suspicions had been right. He wasn't the only one the kiss had affected. He wasn't the only one who felt this need burning deep within.
His eyes narrowed on hers in both a challenge and a command. He was damned if he was going to let her get away without answering, and damned if he was going to let her walk out on him again.
"Tell me."
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Ascension
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004X6TWLK/
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B004X6TWLK/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004X6TWLK/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Ascension/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940011267451/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1461131839/
Enjoyed the tease?
Ascension
Felicity Heaton
A witch on the verge of achieving phenomenal power, Lealandra must turn to her half-breed demon ex-lover Taig for protection from the dark force that is after her and also from her own magic.
With her Counter-Balance dead and her coven against her, Taig's blood and power is the only thing that can help her control her magic and survive the ascension and gain the strength to defeat her enemy.
Old feelings come flooding back as Taig allows her into his world and Lealandra finds herself fighting not only for survival but to win his broken heart again and heal the pain in their past. Can he forgive her for walking out on him all those years ago and will he ever believe her when she tells him that he's not a monster but the man that she loves?
ebook price: $3.99
paperback price: $8.99
genre: paranormal / urban fantasy romance
length: 91000 words
rating: sultry
released: April 2011
Book 1 in the Shadow and Light Trilogy series
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Ascension
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004X6TWLK/
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B004X6TWLK/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004X6TWLK/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Ascension/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940011267451/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1461131839/
EXCERPTTaig closed his eyes and released a long low groan of unexpected pleasure as Lealandra's warm mouth fused with his. Her tongue slid between his lips, a delicious and familiar hot velvet caress that swept across his teeth and drew another hungry moan from him. Without considering the consequences and forgetting his anger, he twisted her long black hair around his fingers and tethered her to him so this breathtaking fantasy wouldn't end before he wanted, and he wanted it to go on forever.
He tilted his head and pressed harder against her mouth, his tongue brushing hers, delving in deep to taste her. A shiver of desire and need shot through him, and his breathing turned rough as he reacquainted himself with her sweetness and warmth. He hadn't imagined things turning out this way when she had walked into the bar tonight, but he wasn't about to push her away now that she was kissing him again, rekindling passion whose embers had burned deep in his heart all the time they had been apart. She moved against him, her lips soft and grazing his, slowing the kiss until he wanted to groan and pull her against him, wanted to thrust his tongue back into her mouth and show her just how ravenous she made him. It coiled tight in his gut, pushing for control, urging him to act on his desire.
All too soon, her lips left his but she remained close. With a soft puff of air into his mouth, she spoke.
"Are they gone?" Her quiet voice trembled along with her body, telling him that the kiss hadn't only affected him. His heart pounded for more and his blood rushed through his ears, dampening his awareness of their surroundings.
Taig glanced around the dim emptying bar. The two men were gone. He stared into her eyes, refreshing his memory of every fleck of silver against stormy grey. It had been too long since he had seen her, and felt even longer since he had kissed her. A tortuous length of time and an absence he couldn't easily forgive, even when her kiss made him forget it.
"Not yet," he whispered the lie against her lips, a split-second before his mouth claimed hers, dominant now that he was ready for the kiss. Desire became a raging inferno within him, burning away the anger that blazed back into life whenever he had a moment to think. This kiss was the only thing that mattered right now.
This time, Lealandra loosed a deep breathy moan. The sound sent his blood rushing ahead of his thoughts. He hardened instantly against his tight black jeans and wrapped his fingers around the nape of her neck, pressing them in and dragging her closer still. The heat of her kiss reawakened lost passion and a need for her that could never die. Six years of separation disappeared in an instant, erased by the fact that she had finally walked back into his life. He wasn't going to let her go this time. Even if this kiss was only a decoy, it still meant something to them both. He knew it did.
Her fingertips grazed his neck and pushed into the shorter black hair at the back of his head. He groaned internally at the feel of her nails against his scalp, declaring her growing hunger, and furrowed his brow as he brought his hand forward to claim her jaw, holding her in place. He burned at the feel of her soft satin skin beneath his fingers. Her touch was still electric, sending waves of hot sparks dancing along every nerve in his body, bringing his cold flesh to life. Tilting her head back, he thrust his tongue into her mouth and slid his free hand around her waist at the same time, pulling her so close to him that her breasts pushed against his chest with each gasping breath she drew. He eased his hand lower and caressed the patch of bare warm skin between the bottom of her short black strapless corset top and the waist of her long black skirt. Lealandra tensed. Too fast.
Taig braced for impact.
The flat of her hand slammed against his chest, forcing him backwards in the curved padded seat of the booth and tearing her from his grasp. Her gelid gaze stopped him dead.
"They're gone, aren't they?" Lealandra's tone was pure venom that matched the ice in her pale grey eyes.
Taig held his hands up, surrendering with a seductive smile that confessed every sin he had been considering. Lealandra wasn't the kind of witch you lied to. With such strong power flowing in her veins, it was easy for her to read everyone. Everyone but him. His blood saw to that. Her ability to see through him didn't come from magic. It came from the divine six months they had spent locked tight in each other's embrace. Six heavenly months he would never forget followed by six hollow years he wished he couldn't remember.
Lealandra looked around the bar, flicking her straight dark hair over her bare slender shoulders. His black gaze raked over her in the same hungry way it had done when she had first appeared in front of him tonight. She had grown a little thinner in their time apart. Her partner hadn't been taking care of her. Taig curled his fingers into fists at the thought of another man touching what was his. Anger blazed in his chest, ignited by the idea that the man she had chosen over him hadn't been looking after her needs. Had the idiot failed to see what she truly craved?
The magic that inhabited her body drained her and made her hungry. She needed to feed often and he wasn't talking about food. Magic as old and potent as hers demanded the highest price and had the basest needs. If it didn't get what it wanted, it was hard for Lealandra to retain control. It only proved the point he had tried to hammer home to her when she had been on the verge of leaving him all those years ago and disproved hers.
Taig didn't give a fuck about the rules of her kind. A witch was no match for a witch, especially not one who needed blood to sustain her.
Demon blood.
The thought that Lealandra had been struggling with her power these six long years stoked his anger into blind fury. Every muscle itched with the desire to find her pathetic excuse for a man and teach him a lesson he would never forget for making her suffer. The kind of lesson that would satisfy Taig's own deep dark cravings.
"I can't believe you'd take a cheap shot like that," Lealandra muttered in his direction, her eyes meeting his. "No. Wait. Actually… I can."
With his best sexy smirk, Taig leaned back into the grotty dark brown leather seat and stretched his arms out along the top. He shrugged and held her gaze.
"You kissed me first. I just returned the favour."
Her tongue swept over her lips, as though she wanted to kiss him again and was contenting herself with the lingering taste of him. If she wanted him to kiss her, he would. He would kiss her so hard that she would forget that idiot she had left him for and her own name in the process. She would forget everything but the feel of him inside her where he belonged. He would ruin her to everyone but him.
"That's not the kind of favour I need from you." Lealandra casually rested her elbow on the back of the leather seat and propped her chin up with her hand. Her head tilted to one side, her dusky kiss-swollen lips curving into a smile. His heart thundered, beating hard with the rush of desire that flooded him.
That smile had made him want her the moment he had laid eyes on her all those years ago. He still wanted her.
He tamped down his desire and got a grip. Her kissing him hadn't changed a damn thing. Whatever they'd had, it didn't exist anymore. She had trampled it on her way out of the door and it was going to take a lot more than a kiss to get her into his good book again.
"A favour? Tell me, why should I do you any favours? Last I checked, you were shacked up with another bloke. Why don't you ask Loverboy to help you out? I'm sure he could do something… unspectacular." Taig picked up his shot of whisky from the table and necked it. The liquid burned his throat as it slid down, heating him through. Sometimes it was nice to feel something other than cold. Alcohol and hunting were the only things that did that these days. His gaze ran over Lealandra. She used to make him burn hotter than Hell on a summer's day. She still did, but he wasn't about to let her see that. "I guess that's why you're here. Loverboy just doesn't cut it when it comes to handling demons. That pair of weaklings would have him inside out and back to front before he could lift a finger to cast whatever impotent half-assed spell he could muster."
Taig held her gaze, cool and steady, watching the hurt surfacing in her eyes and feeling like a bastard for it, but on some twisted level, it satisfied him.
He narrowed his eyes and casually placed the glass down. "Well, you're shit out of luck, Lea. I'm not interested."
Her only reaction was to look away from him. She flicked the small silver bells on the ties of her long skirt and her shoulders lifted in a sigh. That was unsatisfactory. He had expected a better response than that. He had wanted her to argue with him about it. Perhaps even fight him. A good fight with her might go some way towards releasing the anger that was burning like acid in his veins, eating away at him and filling his head and heart with acrid memories.
Memories that drove him to kill.
He quirked a dark eyebrow and waited for her to say something. It wasn't like her. She looked up at him through her eyelashes.
A hint of fear surfaced in her beautiful eyes and rippled across her pale skin in a wave that only he could detect. He sat up, all sense of casual lost now that he had realised that she was frightened and it wasn't of him. His anger faded. Something was very wrong. Lealandra didn't do frightened. No witch as powerful as her did, at least not when they had their Counter-Balance, their other half, the one who could temper their magic and help them maintain control of it.
"I'll pay you... whatever you want... just name your price." She coughed to clear her throat, as though such a pathetic attempt to cover her turbulent feelings would fool him.
It was there in her body and her power, and he knew her well enough that he could easily read both. She was scared, and he was an idiot for not noticing it the second she had approached him, and the moment those thugs had walked into the joint. They had been out of place and suspicious, and he had sensed their demon blood, and then Lealandra had kissed him and he had lost track of them and her feelings. She had tasted purely of hunger and desire. All sweet with arousal. It had been enough to throw him off her underlying fear.
"You know my price." Taig's eyes narrowed on hers, intent and showing her that he was being serious for once. His voice dropped to a low whisper. "I want you, Lea."
She swallowed and blinked. Once. Twice. "No deal."
When she moved to stand, Taig grabbed her wrist, locking his fingers tightly around it. She looked down at his hand and then into his eyes. Her startled look added to her natural beauty, her eyes round and her rosy lips parted. A blush stained her pale cheeks, deep enough that he noticed it even in the low light of the bar. He wanted her more now than ever and he wasn't about to let her walk out on him again.
"You knew what I'd ask for so why come to me with your problems if you were going to refuse?"
Lealandra pried his fingers off her and frowned. "You saw those men. I need a demon hunter. You're the best I know."
Demon hunter. The job title neglected to mention the fact that his father had been one of the most powerful demons to walk the Earth. He stared into Lealandra's stormy eyes and saw the same calm acceptance that they always showed him. Had his mother looked at his father that way? She had dared to be with him after all. That union had spawned himself—half demon hidden behind the mask of man.
Taig tapped his fingers on the dark table, torn between rejecting her request unless she agreed to his terms and kissing her again. His eyebrows knitted tight together. This wasn't easy. What they had shared six years ago wasn't the kind of everyday passion that most people found at the start of a relationship. It had gone beyond that. The dark and hungry craving had consumed them both, had pushed them to the edge and had almost tipped them over it a few times. It had been unbridled passion—the sort that was rare in this world—and it still flooded him whenever he looked at her, whenever her beautiful eyes met his and dared him to make a move. He could deny it all he wanted, pretend that he no longer felt a thing for her, but she still tied him in knots and had him on his knees with only a smile. She licked her lips again, a nervous sweep of her tongue that reminded him that something was wrong.
What could be so bad that she wasn't asking her precious coven for help and was instead looking him up after six long years?
Was it just the demons that had her scared or was there more to this than she was telling him? Witches and demons got on like a house on fire but usually they kept well clear of each other, sticking to their own world. It was unusual for a demon to go after a witch, but he couldn't deny that the two kids earlier had been looking for Lealandra.
And now she was asking him for help.
What reason could demons have for going after her?
Taig looked deep into her eyes, focusing on them as he tried to get a hold on her feelings. There was anger in her now, aimed at him, but the fear was still there too. It echoed in the unsteady beat of her heart and danced in the depths of her eyes. She was in trouble, big enough that she had sought him out even when she knew that he would be pissed off at her and that he would demand a high price for services rendered. Either she was desperate or she truly believed that he was her best choice.
Or maybe she just wanted to see him again and this was the perfect excuse for her to waltz back into his life.
Still, his ineffable charm and attractiveness aside, parts of it didn't make sense. Lealandra was powerful enough to take care of a couple of weak lower demons and her bastard Counter-Balance and dear coven should have been able to protect her if she couldn't fight them for some reason. Taig had never met them, but the coven was probably strong enough to take on a demon of his strength. Two weaklings would be nothing to them. Like swatting flies.
And why was she here anyway? Alone too. Her Counter-Balance would have a tantrum of galactic proportions if he knew that Lealandra had come to her ex-lover for help.
In fact, none of it made sense.
Taig's head ached from trying to figure it out. It was just like her to send his mind in ten directions at once. There was only one way to find out what the hell had Lealandra walking back into his life. He never had been backwards about being forwards, after all. It was one of the qualities that Lealandra had liked about him.
"Why do you need me?" Taig sensed the deep spike in her feelings, the rise in her desire that struck him hard and sent a jolt to his groin, reigniting his own hunger.
Her eyes widened and her cheeks coloured.
He hadn't considered the possibility of a second meaning to his words but now he was. His suspicions had been right. He wasn't the only one the kiss had affected. He wasn't the only one who felt this need burning deep within.
His eyes narrowed on hers in both a challenge and a command. He was damned if he was going to let her get away without answering, and damned if he was going to let her walk out on him again.
"Tell me."
Available in e-book from:
Author's website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php?title=Ascension
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004X6TWLK/
Amazon Kindle Germany: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B004X6TWLK/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004X6TWLK/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Ascension/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940011267451/
Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1461131839/
Enjoyed the tease?
