Felicity Heaton's Blog, page 118

Editing, designing, and actually some relaxing

I've been scatterbrained all week because I'm really absorbed in playing Assassins Creed: Brotherhood at the moment. Since my original PlayStation 3 went kaput with the red light of death post software update (and Sony denies that it could possibly have anything to do with that) and I had to get a new one, I wanted to play a game that I hadn't started and lost the data for. AC: Brotherhood was that game. I think I'll definitely end up re-playing the second Assassin's Creed game too as I loved that one to pieces, and playing this one has opened a deep desire to play that one too.

I have managed to get some progress done on my second draft of Her Guardian Angel. The edit is coming along really well but I want to get it finished this week because I'm away on holiday for a few days next week. I don't want to lose my flow with the story and know that I will if I suddenly have a break at such a critical moment. I have around 60 more pages to edit, but that includes beefing up a few scenes, and adding in a completely new scene to the ending to really magnify it and make it end on a more dramatic and satisfying conclusion. I can't see it taking me too long to get it done, and I think I can definitely get it done this week if I'm good and can resist the lure of AC: Brotherhood long enough to actually get some decent work done.

I still haven't decided whether I'll be writing another story in this series. I need to weigh up everything I want to get done for next year and see if I have room for it, and see if there's enough interest in the series when Her Guardian Angel hits virtual shelves. If there's a good response to this novel, then I might write another novel in the series.

Aside from editing, I've been busy adding a new section to my website. I have a fun stuff section back in place now. At the moment, there's just some computer desktop calendar wallpapers there. I'll be adding more stuff as it comes to me. You can find it in the main menu of my website under the heading Goodies.

I've been busily writing down notes this week too, mostly for stories in the Hades' Boys series, Vampires Realm series, or Shadow & Light Trilogy. I'm hoping to get some more books written for the latter two series soon, and also get the Hades' Boys series started.

Part of my preparation for writing this new series, and continuing my writing in general, comes in the form of four new books that I purchased last week. I'll review them here when I'm done with them and let everyone know what I thought about them, and whether I think they're any good as tools in a writer's toolbox. Here's a list of the ones I've bought:

Characters and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card
Beginnings, Middles and Ends by Nancy Kress
20 Master Plots and how to build them by Ronald B Tobias
What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers by Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter

I'm mostly interested in the first two books at the moment. I also want to re-read some of my books that I love and keep on my shelves. Most of them are in the Write Great Fiction range and are really useful and insightful. I've learned plenty from them.

I think I'm going to read the first two books on this list before I write Masquerade, my next Vampires Realm novel/novella.

In other news, I've been busy formatting all the files for Forbidden Blood's release on June 18th. It's going to be a manic release weekend for me as I'm away in Istanbul just before it and won't have much time to prepare for the release. I'm hoping to get Forbidden Blood added to Smashwords and Amazon just before I go, so it should be available for purchase at those sites a few days before its official release. Not long now. I hope you've all been enjoying the sneak preview chapters of this book, and that you'll rush out to buy it. It's going to be a great new series for me. I'm debating whether to set up a mini-site for the series, a little like my Vampires Realm website.

That's all from me for now. Excuse any typos as I'm tired and it's cold in my office today, which makes typing difficult... and I really need to crack on with my work!

Manday hottie

It's Manday again! That sweet treat to start your week. I regularly post these over at my Facebook too, but they're a slightly cropped version most of the time. You don't get the full Manday hottie goodness!

Get a load of this hotness...




Yum... no?

Forbidden Blood - Vampire Venators Series #1 - Chapter Four

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, and chapter three of this long novel, and now here's chapter four. Just one more to go after this and I hope you're all enjoying it so far.



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 FOUR

Kearn led the way up through his apartment building. With all of the stores closed until morning, he would have to wait to visit the club and see if he could attract attention with Amber and her blood. He had hoped to end this tonight and take her home, ridding himself of both the temptation she presented and his unending mission to capture the man, but fate had never been kind to him. For now, he would battle his lingering hunger for her and bide his time. Tomorrow, he would buy her some clothes to wear to the club, and together they would hunt down the vampire. He didn't have much experience of dressing women, but was sure someone at the shops would be happy to assist him, especially since money wasn't a factor.

Humans and vampires were very similar in that respect. Money could buy you anything and the more you had, the more people were willing the crawl on their bellies for you.

Amber's fatigue flowed through the connection between their blood. It wasn't the only feeling that he could sense in her. Her emotions were steadily turning towards fear again. Perhaps it was a good thing that they had been unable to go to the club tonight. She needed to rest. All he had done since meeting her was push her into doing things his way. The man he sought would be cautious tonight. Going to the club wouldn't have produced any results. Tomorrow was a different matter. The vampire would want to find her. He would come out hunting and Kearn would be waiting for him.

There was another reason for him to take things more slowly. Pushing her now, when she was tired and afraid, would only lead to him losing her. She had locked him out of the car tonight and she hadn't done it out of fear of the vampire. She had feared him. He needed her to remain with him. His instincts whispered that he could force her to stay, at least until her blood was completely absorbed into his. No. No good would come of it. His mission was to protect humans, not prey on them. Not anymore. If it came down to it, he would confess that her suspicions were correct.

He was a vampire.

"So did they hurt when you had them done?"

He stopped just short of the black door to his apartment and turned to face her.

She looked nervous. Her heart was racing, sending her blood to the surface. It filled the white hallway with the sweet enticing scent and caused his fangs to itch. Her blood had tasted so delicious. His stomach ached, hunger to taste her again causing it to cramp, and he struggled to hold his fangs at bay. It was just the remnants of her blood affecting him still. The effects were already wearing off. He just needed to hold it together for a few more hours and then he would be free of the haze induced by her blood and she wouldn't be such a temptation. His gaze slid to her neck and his throat burned. He closed his eyes when the hallway brightened, signalling a change in his irises, and clamped his teeth together. It was just her blood in him. It would pass. He told himself it repeatedly but it didn't ease the tight ache in his gut. He wanted her blood, and it went deeper than a craving for another high.

"Kearn?" she whispered and he drew a long, steadying breath, and then opened his eyes. The hallway was dim again. He looked up at her.

Her gaze fell to his hand.

His did too.

He raised his right hand and her eyes followed it, fixed intently on the silver marks that covered it to his fingertips.

She seemed fascinated by them. He had caught her looking at him countless times since meeting her, and several of those she had been staring at his arm, her gaze tracing the marks that flowed over it from his shoulder to his hand. He was surprised that she hadn't asked him about it before now. Twice she had seen it activated. Now she was asking him whether the marks had hurt, as though they were just a tattoo, rather than asking what they did and what he was.

Didn't she want to know?

Or was she trying to pretend that she hadn't noticed, and that he was only human?

Perhaps she wasn't as strong as he had thought and was having trouble believing everything and taking it all in after all. Kearn reminded himself that she was human. This was probably some strange dream or nightmare to her. There had been moments when her blood had conveyed that she trusted him, and wanted to remain with him. Was her denial of the truth standing before her all because she wanted to continue to trust that he would save her? If he told her that he was a vampire, would she want to leave? Would she fear him then and see him as she saw the man—a beast and a monster?

Part of him didn't want her to feel that way towards him.

He would never harm her.

He only wanted to protect her.

He opened the door to his apartment while considering what to say about his arm and whether to tell her about himself. It wasn't a good idea. The moment the door swung open, he drew his gun and aimed it at the person standing in the middle of his home.

His brother raised his hands in an act of surrender and smiled.

"What are you doing here, Kyran?" Kearn holstered his gun and walked into the apartment. Only one of the lights in the kitchen was on, leaving the rest of the large room in near-darkness.

Amber followed him. When she stepped out from behind him, Kyran's dark blue eyes were on her.

"He cried like a baby when they put those marks on him." Kyran smiled broadly, his gaze assessing Amber.

"I did not." Kearn closed the door. It was unusual for Kyran to drop by unannounced to his apartment. His brother knew how much he hated it.

"It isn't like you to bring a girl home, Kearn." Kyran's blue eyes remained locked on Amber and he inhaled deeply.

His gaze slid to Kearn. The look in his eyes and the connection they shared through a familial bond asked a question. Was she Source Blood? Kearn refused to answer. His brother didn't need to know and wouldn't be able to tell from Amber's scent alone.

"Don't tell me you are planning to go a little rogue? The old habits die hardest, don't they?" Kyran said with a wicked smile.

Amber stared at Kearn.

Kearn glared at his brother. He wasn't intending to take Amber's blood. He knew the law and he wasn't going to break it by using her blood purely to get high. He had only taken a small amount for testing purposes. That was as far as it went. This wasn't the same as back then. He hadn't known he was breaking the law. He hadn't known she was tainted.

It was typical of his brother to bring up his past. Kyran had always found it amusing to make him uncomfortable but that trait had turned vicious since Kearn had become a Venator, to the point where Kyran took intense pleasure from saying things that would get him into trouble. He was convinced that his brother did it to see him suffer, to make him pay for the things that had happened between them centuries ago, so he bore it as punishment for his sins against his own blood.

He bore it in the hope that one day they would finally move past what had happened and would be able to forgive each other.

"Why are you here?" Kearn looked hard at his older brother and then moved back to the door of his apartment. It wasn't like Kyran to hide in the dark and he could smell blood other than Amber's. The flat dull smell of vampire blood. It all smelt the same, not unique like human blood. He turned on the ceiling spotlights. "And why are you bleeding?"

Kyran touched a gash on his face. It wasn't the only cut. A myriad of thin red lines covered his face, neck and hands. He grinned.

"I was playing with Earl Huntingdon and Marchioness Montagu. You know what they can be like." Kyran's grin widened. His blue eyes shifted back to Amber. "Although if I had known you had such sweet company, I would have come here earlier."

Kearn crossed the room, grabbed Kyran's arm, and led him over to the small dining area in the far left corner of his apartment. He didn't relinquish his grip on his brother.

"She does not know what we are."

"Kinky," Kyran whispered and raised a dark eyebrow in Amber's direction. "Do you intend to reveal it during the act?"

Kearn tightened his grip on his brother's arm, bringing his attention back to him. Kyran frowned down at his hand and then into his eyes.

"She is a lead on a case. Bait." He kept his voice low so Amber didn't hear him. He wanted to tell his brother that he wasn't interested in drinking from Amber, or anything sexual, but couldn't bring himself to lie. His eyes threatened to stray to her, to take in her beauty, but he kept them fixed on Kyran.

"A Source Blood?" Kyran went to look at Amber again but Kearn stepped into his path.

"If you reveal what we are—"

Kyran slapped a hand down hard on his shoulder and smiled. Kearn could see straight through it. Whatever his brother was going to say, it was a lie. The look in Kyran's eyes screamed trouble.

"I will not say a word out of place." Kyran removed Kearn's hand from his arm and was past Kearn before he could stop him.

Amber still stood by the door, an air of hesitation about her, as though she had noticed the tension between him and his brother and didn't want to be caught in the crossfire.

"I have been unforgivably rude." Kyran stopped far too close to Amber for Kearn's liking. "Permit me to introduce myself. My name is Kyran, and I am Kearn's older brother."

"Amber," she said and then peered around Kyran to him. "Brother? You don't really look alike."

They had looked alike before he had become a Venator. His hair had once been black like Kyran's and his eyes had been an equally deep clear blue. In terms of stature and build, they had remained much the same, and he could see himself in his brother's face. His eternal torment.

"Kearn looks like our father." Kyran's tone was sharper than razor blades. Kearn could sense the hate and the hurt in him. It was never going away.

Kyran should have been Venator. It was the tradition in the Noble and Lesser Noble families. The eldest son carried on the duty of their father as Venator. He had wanted it to be that way, because Kyran had thought of nothing but becoming a Venator since they had been children. Kearn had fought the Sovereignty, had tried to convince them to give the duty to his brother, but they had given it to him regardless. Kyran had hated him ever since. A part of Kearn still hated his brother in return for his role in what had happened, but the pain of what he had gone through was nothing compared to the fact he had stolen his brother's dream.

Time had healed some of the breach between them, but sometimes Kearn got the feeling that nothing had been forgiven or forgotten. No matter how much progress they made with each other or how they tried to get along, the past would always stand between them.

The countess would always stand between them.

There was something akin to concern in Amber's eyes as she looked at him. Why? Because of his silence or because of the mix of sombre and fiery feelings that accompanied his thoughts? She would be able to sense them if she tried. The connection her blood in his veins caused between them was open and transmitting the emotions in his blood back to hers.

Kearn reached out to her through their connection and felt the concern in her. He closed off his emotions and monitored her in case the vampire tried anything.

She forced a polite smile at Kyran.

"You mentioned an earl and a marchioness. I've never met anyone who knew fancy people like that."

Kyran looked over his shoulder at him, his black eyebrows raised again. Kearn shook his head a fraction, enough that only his brother would notice the answer to his silent question. No. He hadn't told Amber about them and their family and he wasn't going to let Kyran mention it either. It was best she knew as little as possible.

"Kearn doesn't approve of Earl Huntingdon. He believes him a bad influence. Don't you, brother?"

Kearn left the dining area and came to stand near Amber in the open space between the four areas of the main room of his apartment.

"Because he is." Kearn held his hand out, indicating the living area beyond the wall of the open fireplace. "Perhaps we should sit down since Kyran seems to have no intention of leaving soon."

"Sounds like a wonderful idea." Kyran flashed a smile and held his arm out to Amber. "Shall we?"

She hesitated, looking unsure of what she was supposed to do, and then slipped her arm around his brother's one. Kearn glared at his brother's back as he led Amber to the couches, his eyes shifting to red for a moment and the world sharpening with it. Kyran would feel the threat. Hopefully, it would improve his behaviour.

Kearn turned away and went into the kitchen area, trying to clear his head. What was Kyran playing at? Of course he despised Earl Huntingdon but Amber didn't need to know that, or about anything to do with the sordid man. Earl Huntingdon was an animal. His family had always relished power and embraced the myths surrounding vampires, and had always been the most blood-soaked and violent because of it. Sometimes Lesser Noble families had no sense of breeding.

He took a fresh glass from the cupboard and filled it with water.

Kyran wouldn't talk to him about what had happened during his century of exile from their family, but he knew that Earl Huntingdon had invited him into his home and treated him like a brother. The earl was young, almost the same age as them, and had taken the role as head of his household when his parents had died around two centuries ago. He had been only one hundred and fifty at the time, the equivalent to a human fifteen year old, but he had been bloodthirsty and ruled in violence with his sister.

Kearn carried the glass with him across the room to the living area and rounded the black couch that faced the window. Kyran was sitting on the one against the wall, his legs crossed, revealing a rip in the knee of his black tailored trousers. Had Kyran been out killing tonight with the earl and marchioness? The three of them were prone to such acts of debauchery when together. He couldn't smell human blood on him, but it was difficult with Amber in the room. The heavenly scent of her blood drowned out everything else, filling his mind with the need to take more.

His gaze roamed to her where she sat on the couch that faced the window, staring out of it. Forbidden. Why did that word only make her more tempting? He placed the water down on the coffee table in front of her and she looked up at him.

"Thank you." She smiled and then it melted away into a frown. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Does your brother know what you do?"

Kearn flinched internally at that question. He could feel Kyran's eyes on his back, boring a hole through his chest as though he wanted to rip out his heart with thought alone.

"Yes," Kearn said in a tight voice and sat beside her. She shuffled over to give him room and then sat with her hands in her lap, her body angled towards him and his brother.

He tried to think of something to talk about that wouldn't give Kyran an opening to hate him, ridicule him, or reveal anything about them and their family.

"I think Kearn has some more bandages if you need some." Amber smiled in Kyran's direction. She toyed with the cream crepe bandage around her hand.

"Did something happen to you?" Kyran sat forwards, resting his elbows on his knees. He reached a hand out to Amber.

Something inside Kearn said to knock his hand away and not let his brother touch Amber again, but he kept still. He didn't have any claim to her and his brother was behaving himself. If he stopped him, the next thing his brother said would probably be something about his penchant for blood drinking. The introduction had been bad enough. Permit me to introduce myself? He might as well have said—I'm a ridiculously portrayed vampire from a cliché low-budget movie.

Amber placed her hand into Kyran's. His brother cooed over it in a way that made Kearn want to hit him.

"This is terrible. You poor thing. What happened?"

It would have been more convincing to Kearn had his brother not been drawing a deep breath the whole time, trying to catch the scent of her blood.

"A man attacked me. A vampire, actually." She eyed Kyran closely.

"Damned vampires." He rolled his eyes.

Kearn did take her hand away from Kyran now, and gave his brother a dark look for good measure.

"I take it you know about them?" Amber put her hand back in lap and started toying with the bandage again. Kearn kept a close eye on her, concerned that the vampire's hold over her might not have faded completely. Since it was the vampire's blood in her body, and not the other way around, he would still be able to find her using the lingering connection between them until tomorrow night, or even beyond that, but Kearn had expected his ability to control her to have left her system by now.

He picked up the water and offered it to her with a smile. A delightful blush stained her cheeks. She had reacted the same way when he had smiled at her earlier tonight. Did she like it? He smiled again and she took the glass, running her fingers around the rim of it with her eyes downcast. Shy?

He could feel Kyran's eyes on him. Watching. It wasn't illegal for him to study a human and Amber fascinated him.

"I know all about vampires," Kyran said in a tone as black as an abyss. Kearn looked at him when Amber lifted the glass to her lips. Kyran blatantly ignored the silent command not to watch her by staring at her throat while she drank. Red briefly ringed his irises. "I know about them and the terrible things that Kearn does to them."

Amber choked, coughing and spluttering, her hand over her mouth. Kearn quickly took the glass from her. She stared at his brother with wide eyes. He didn't like the question he could see in them. She didn't need to know what he did.

He touched her shoulder and used the connection between them to give her feelings a slight push. Not too much influence over her thoughts. More of a suggestion than a command. He wouldn't control her as the other vampire had.

She rubbed her eyes and yawned. "I feel tired."

"It is late." Kearn placed the glass down on the square coffee table, feeling Kyran's glare on him the whole time. "Perhaps you should rest. You have had quite a night. I will stay on the couch. Please, make yourself at home in my room."

"Really? I couldn't." Her beautiful hazel eyes met his, full of warmth and honesty. They backed up the message her blood sent to his. She felt bad for taking his bed.

"I insist." He took her elbow, bringing her with him when he stood. Kyran was still staring at him. He led Amber past him and to the bedroom, and turned the light on for her. "The bathroom is just through that door. The control for the blinds is on the bedside table, as is the remote control for the television, in case you feel uncomfortable sleeping without background noise tonight. I will be here if you need anything."

She nodded and he closed the door. The moment it clicked shut, his eyes changed to red and he looked at Kyran. Scarlet eyes stared right back at him.

Without a word, Kearn walked to the door of the apartment and opened it. Kyran stood, stalked across the room, and stopped toe to toe with him.

"That was uncalled for. I was merely making conversation."

"I did not like the direction your apparently innocent conversation was heading." Kearn's red eyes locked with his brother's ones.

"Do you really believe the lie you are telling yourself when you say she only needs to know as little as possible?"

Kearn frowned.

"It is a lie, brother, and a shallow one. You do not keep her in the dark about your true self because you believe she doesn't need to know it in order to play the role you have assigned her." Kyran stepped past him but remained facing him, his back to the hall. "You do so because you are afraid of what she would think of you if she found out what you are… a vampire no different to the one who attacked her… a fiend lusting for her precious blood."

Kearn curled his fingers into a tight fist at his side and gripped the door hard with his other hand.

Kyran stepped back into the hall.

"She will find out, little brother."

He was gone.

Kearn growled under his breath at the truth in his brother's words.

It was only a matter of time before Amber saw past the façade.

For some reason, he didn't want her to see him for what he was.

He didn't want her to fear him.

Hate him.

Not even when it felt inevitable.

Kearn cursed and slammed the door.



Not long to wait now until the book is released! Final sneak preview chapter next week! Is everyone excited?

18 and Over Couples Book Giveaway Hop!

[image error] It's the 2nd June, which means that it's the start of the 18 and Over Couples Book Giveaway Hop hosted by Bitten by Paranormal Romance.

My giveaway in 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.

Now, on to the prizes!


FIRST PRIZE
1 x ebook of winner's choice (excludes Ascension), 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, keyring and fridge magnet.


HOW TO ENTERSign up to be a follower of this blog either on Google Friend Connect or Networked Blogs (this also enters you into my fantastic 500 Blog Followers International Giveaway).Leave a comment on this post with your email address and name.

DOUBLE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING SOMETHING FANTASTIC BY ENTERING THE BONUS GIVEAWAY AT MY WEBSITE:
BONUS FIRST PRIZE
1 x signed paperback of Winter's Kiss (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



Giveaway is open from 2nd June 2011 and closes on 5th June 2011 at 11:59pm. Winners will be selected at random on June 6th 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 are available in PDF, HTML, Mobi or Epub format.


Visit the other fantastic blogs that are participating and get swag and goodies there too!




Have Fun Everyone!

New book goodies at my website

I have FINALLY got my fun stuff section back up and running at my website. It only took me since my redesign in August to get it back on there. Bad me. I'm kicking things off with some new computer desktop wallpapers that are pretty calendars too. At the moment, you can download June, July and August. I'll add more as I make them.

Here's a teaser for June 2011, which features Ascension :


Yummy, no?

Check out the rest at the website under Goodies in the menu.

I'm also looking for suggestions as to what to put in this section of my website. Have you seen something awesome on another site that you think would rock if I did it on mine too? Leave a comment with any suggestions you might have and I'll see about getting them done.

Don't be shy! I don't bite hard.

Teaseday - Hunter's Moon - Vampire / Werewolf Romance Novel

This week's Teaseday focuses on the Vampires Realm series that I write as F E Heaton, and bring you an excerpt of Hunter's Moon , a vampire / werewolf romance novel and the latest book in the series. This book stands alone within the Vampires Realm series so you don't have to be familiar with the series to enjoy it.



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: $3.49
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/




EXCERPTCrisp air rushed through Nicolae's black fur in a constant stream, shifting with him as he wove through the dark forest, keeping pace with the bulk of the local timber wolf pack. The group ahead of him, led by the grey alpha, snarled and played, riding up on each other's shoulders as they ran. Nicolae bounded after them, his paws pounding the uneven ground and his footing sure. He ducked under a low branch and then leapt over a fallen tree, landing softly in the fresh leaf litter on the other side. Mountains stretched into the distance before him through the woods, their craggy peaks highlighted by glowing white snow. The fat moon flickered between the bare branches above him and called to his blood.

Nicolae obeyed.

He raced with the pack down the slope towards the hidden glade in the forest. Leafless trees gave way to tall pines that towered above him, blocking the light, and his eyes adjusted, the dark world around him sharpening and his senses following suit. Cool fingers of wind caressed his ears as he headed in amongst the pack and joined in their play, enjoying the clear wintry air and the bright night with them. Several younger wolves in the pack snarled and nudged him, and he playfully responded, gently shouldering them as they ran and fighting for dominance. He let them win even though they were far smaller than he was.

Nicolae wasn't interested in gaining rank within the pack. He was here to enjoy the moment and the company. Running with the timber wolves under a full moon excited him, took him away from the complications of the human world and set him free. There was nothing in the world as exhilarating as surrendering to his true nature.

Animal sounds filled his ears, undetectable to the humans who lived in the rugged mountainous region of Canada. The deer down in the valley ahead were moving, heading for a safe place to spend the night. He could picture them now as they waited nervously in the shadows of the trees around the glade, alert and aware of the wolves that ran in the dark forest. They would move and make it out onto the narrow strip of grazing land between the banks of woods at the valley bottom before the wolves reached them.

Tomorrow, there would be reports of a wolf attack on the deer, and how the Casey's horses had panicked, and Nicolae would have to pretend that it startled him to hear such a thing.

That he hadn't participated in the hunt and the kill of deer.

That he wasn't a wolf.

A burst of wings broke the silence, owls fluttering from their roosts and heading high into the sky. Hungry wolf eyes instantly tracked them for a heartbeat of time and then the pack moved on, their focus returning to playing and hunting the deer. The day birds settled down in their nests, safe from predators for another night, unbothered by the wolves running below.

The pack began to streak ahead and Nicolae returned his attention to them. His blood rushed and his heart thundered. He felt wild. Alive. The leaders were dark blurs in the distance, almost blending in with the night, silent predators built for this terrain. Younger wolves jostled for position nearer to him. He raced to catch up, the cold air burning in his lungs and a sense of freedom flowing through him.

A howl cut the night and the wolves shifted as one, turning right towards the mountain, away from the glade and the grazing land beyond. Something had caught their attention. The howl came again and Nicolae listened this time, deciphering it. Wolf-speak was old and varied from pack to pack, but he had studied this one closely, and long enough that they had accepted his presence on the mountain. They no longer feared him. It had taken him a century of working with each generation, but he had gained their trust and their friendship, and had learned how to communicate with them.

He pounded up to the peak of a bare hillock, threw his head back, and howled at the moon through the barren trees.

The answering call told him why the wolves were now running with intent.

There were men on the mountain.

Men who didn't belong there.

Nicolae ran down the other side of the hillock and rejoined the wolves, running close to them now, amongst the pack. The sense of calm and playfulness disappeared. The wolves were hunting, a sliver of fear flowing through the entire pack, alertness that called to his instincts. He focused on the woods ahead, mapping them and monitoring for a sign of the men. It was unusual for hunters to come onto the mountains at night, especially when winter's grip was closing on the area.

A distant noise snapped the group to attention. The alpha snarled. Nicolae stretched his superior senses farther ahead of them. They whispered of danger. He sniffed and caught the scent of men on the wind. No one that he recognised. The grey alpha snarled again, this time in Nicolae's direction. Nicolae answered with a growl. There was no reason to fear the humans.

He would protect them if it came to a fight.

He doubted that it would. Humans rarely hurt the wolves and never bothered him. They were probably looking for deer. He glanced at the moon. It was late to be hunting, and not just in the year. The sun had set hours ago and midnight was approaching. What prey were they after? The bears were already heading into hibernation, and deer didn't come this far up the mountain in winter. The only animals up here were small game and the timber wolves.

A trickle of fear slithered down his spine. His hackles rose in response.

Were they after the wolves?

They turned and moved in a silent dark stream down into the valley, away from the hunters. Nicolae lumbered onwards alone, towards the hunters he could sense in the distance. It was rocky ground where they were and the sparse trees would offer him little cover, but it was a risk he had to take. If the hunters saw him, he would head back down towards the valley, where the forest was thicker. He had to make sure that these men weren't a threat. He needed to protect the wolves.

Nicolae slowed to a trot as he reached the stony ground and lowered himself until his softer stomach fur brushed the leaf litter and rocks. He crawled forwards, moving as quietly as possible, stalking the hunters. They stood in a clearing, the moon highlighting them with threads of silver. Nicolae stopped behind the broad trunk of the nearest tree, as close as he could get without them noticing him.

Their murmured conversation masked the sound of his soft huffs. His heart thumped against his ribs.

Four men. Dark haired. They were difficult to make out even in the moonlight. He could tell they were tall, and that the two who had their backs to him were broad built, possibly even bigger than he was in human form. Their black fatigues caused them to blend into each other and the woods beyond, and he couldn't make out any of their faces or the builds of the other two men.

"I'm telling you she's gone down towards that valley," one of the men whispered, his accent local sounding enough. He was Canadian at least. Nicolae couldn't see him clearly from his position behind the tree and bushes, but he couldn't risk moving.

"Did you see how she moved? I've never seen something move that fast. Is that normal?" This voice had a tremor in it that spoke of inexperience and fear.

What were they hunting? Referring to animals as female was nothing new to him but it didn't sound as though they were hunting bear or deer. Were his suspicions correct and they were after the wolves?

Nicolae looked down towards the valley. The local timber wolf pack were all there and most of them had been with him all night. The distant howl that had alerted them to the presence of the hunters had been a scout. It hadn't given word of an altercation with the men. If there had been one, the wolf would have reported it to the pack.

He glanced the other way, towards the peak of the plateau and his cabin. Beyond it was the settlement. Were they hunting his sort of wolf? Impossible. No one in these parts knew of the werewolves. They lived quietly amongst the humans, blending in and keeping to themselves. None more so than him. He didn't belong to that pack. He didn't belong to anyone.

He cast his gaze over each hunter in turn, scrutinising them with his senses and putting their scents to memory. What were they doing on the mountain? One of the men looked in the direction of the valley and Nicolae stilled. They weren't dark haired. They were all wearing black woollen hats, and the one he could see had night-vision goggles on.

Nicolae shuffled back a step and hunkered down when the man turned towards him. Even the bushes around the trees had lost their foliage this far up the mountain. If he moved so much as a millimetre, the man would spot him through the infrared goggles. His heartbeat doubled and it felt impossible to keep still. He wasn't sure what sort of weaponry they had, but with the goggles, the men already had the advantage. They would be able to see him at a distance. There would be no quick escape into the darkness. Anticipation sent adrenaline to his muscles and they coiled in readiness. The wolf pack howled in the distance. The man turned away. Nicolae dared to peek through the twigs of the bushes at the men.

The one who had looked towards him was facing the others again, his hand hovering on the hilt of a vicious-looking hunting knife that hung from his utility belt. Nicolae glanced at the man next to him. A similar knife hung from his belt. Were they armed only with knives? He tried to see their hands but most of the men had them in front of them, or the bodies of the others hid them. They started talking again, calm and unfazed by the surrounding darkness and distant wolf howls.

Something about them didn't feel right. Their poise, their calmness, set them apart from the casual hunters that often came to the area, and gave him the impression that they were experienced in night manoeuvres and possibly trained in combat. In fact, he would hazard a guess that either they were in the military or they used to be. The only one who didn't feel like a threat was the one who was afraid. His heart pounded faster than the other three men's did, pushing at Nicolae's desire to attack. He clawed for control, his focus turning inward for a moment as he struggled against his animal instincts.

"I say we go down." The one in the middle of the group this time. His agreement with the first voice caused a murmur to run through them. The three men who had spoken turned towards the fourth, tallest, man.

The man stepped forwards, into the clearing, and Nicolae got a good look at him. The cold calculating edge to his expression warned Nicolae that this man was more than a hunter of animals. He had seen such faces before, in his past, on merciless killers that were acquainted with death and cruelty, and revelled in it.

Nicolae slunk further into the shadows, battling dark splintered memories that branded his mind with horrific images of violence and bloodshed, and seared his body with fierce pain. Each scar on his skin turned to flame beneath his black fur and he fought the urge to snarl. It had been so long since he had relived the nightmare of his past that he had forgotten how to deal with the pain. It threatened to cripple him, to force him from his animal state and expose him to the hunters. He battled the memories, using every ounce of his strength and willpower to remain hidden and as a wolf, but his control began to slip.

Screams taunted him, pleas for mercy and desperate cries for protection. His muscles bunched tight, bordering on cramping, and his heart wrenched in his chest as he relived everything in such vivid detail that it felt as though he had been transported back to that time, to the hellhole in which they had tortured him and his blood kin. Images of them swam in his mind, shifting in and out of focus, bloodied and beaten, eyes full of despair that turned to hope as they fell on him. He felt himself reaching out to them even though he couldn't move, trying to grasp the fragile visions as frantic need to comfort them flooded him. They slipped through his fingers, faces turning hollow and emaciated as they screamed, clutching themselves. His limbs shook, weak down to his bones, and he tried to shun the images, not wanting to witness their deaths again.

Not wanting to relive the horror of his failings.

He ground his teeth, biting down hard until his sharp canines cut into his gums and the taste of blood flooded his mouth. The metallic scent brought darker memories with it. They crowded his mind, driving him to the edge of despair, and threatening to break his hold on his wolf form. He couldn't lose it here. The hunters would see him. They would kill him before he had a chance to fully transform and escape into the woods. He would expose everyone to danger. He fought to remain focused, clamping his jaw and sucking in deep gulps of night air through his nose. The crisp edge to the air and the scent of the woods grounded him enough that he could shift his focus to the present and his surroundings, pushing away the terrifying memories.

"We go down," the hunter said at last, snapping Nicolae back to them and giving him a point of focus to hold on to, helping him clear his mind.

He breathed hard, gradually bringing himself back under control. The smell of the night soothed him and his pulse began to level again, his blood no longer blazing in his veins.

Nicolae looked up at the moon through the trees, needing to see it and see that he was free. His past laid thousands of miles away and a hundred years ago. Out here in the wild, he was free of the world that had once enslaved him. He was free of the vampires.

Two of the men moved past the one who Nicolae had decided was their leader. They brought their night-vision goggles down over their eyes and shouldered weapons that caused Nicolae to hesitate. The fourth man moved and did a sweep of the area.

Nicolae stared at the crossbow and the shiny tip of the dart aimed straight at him, his breathing faltering at the sight of it. The man moved on, scanning behind the group, and then followed them down into the woods.

Bows?

When was the last time he had seen a hunter use a bow? He couldn't recall one in recent years. Everyone used high-powered rifles with accurate sights now. Even he did.

The timber wolves howled in the valley.

Nicolae tried to make out what they were saying but it was difficult with the men distracting him. He crawled through the undergrowth, tracking them from a distance. Whenever one of the men turned his way, sweeping the area with their crossbow, he flattened himself against the ground and waited. Their progress through the forest was slow but they were heading towards the wolves. If they came too close to the pack, he would break cover and head down to warn them.

The hunters maintained their silence as they wove through the woods, giving Nicolae difficulty. It was hard to move without making a sound when the leaf litter was so deep and crisp. He placed each paw carefully, moving with stealth and keeping far enough away that they wouldn't hear him.

"I still say that she went up," one of the men whispered after they had been walking for over twenty minutes and Nicolae caught sight of the leader through the dense tree trunks.

The man held his hand up in a fist and the group halted. Nicolae stopped too, one paw in the air. It trembled with the exertion of holding it there. He gradually lowered it to the ground, holding his breath as he did so, and then exhaled when none of the hunters looked his way. The leader turned towards the man who had spoken and something silent passed between them.

Nicolae knew a threat when he felt it. It seemed the man who had spoken did too because he bent his head and remained silent as the group continued down towards the glade. Nicolae reached out with his senses, searching for both the wolf pack and the prey of the hunters. Could it be a bear?

They had talked about her being quick. Bears were fast when they had to be. He'd been on the receiving end of a few charges in his lifetime. They weren't as fast as wolves though.

He sensed the timber wolf pack on the grazing land far below. The alpha howled and Nicolae paid him no heed, only using the sound to confirm their position on his senses was correct. He couldn't feel any other animals besides a few birds and small creatures. The high-tech crossbows these men were packing said that they weren't after prey smaller than a wolf, not unless they enjoyed a challenge. Even then, they would probably go after big game. Hunting large animals with only a bow would be more exciting and dangerous. A challenge most hunters would relish. Which brought him back around to bears.

The men stopped a few hundred metres up the mountain from the glade. Their leader raised his goggles, looked towards the rugged horizon, and then turned towards the other three.

"She might have gone to ground." It was the one who had almost seen him. The leader looked thoughtful, his face shadowed and difficult to make out.

Two of the men he hadn't got a good look at earlier were in broken moonlight now, their night-vision goggles pushed up on their foreheads. They were young, one of them around his late twenties and the other into his thirties. Nicolae suspected it had been the youngest man who had sounded scared. The other one had a hard set to his jaw and coldness in his eyes. The sort of look a man got after seeing a lot of death.

Nicolae had that look sometimes.

"I shot her." There was certainty in the man's gravelly voice. None of the others looked as though they were about to doubt him.

Nicolae sniffed, trying to catch a scent on the chill air. If they had shot whatever animal they were after, then it would be bleeding. He would be able to track it.

"The poison will take care of her in that case."

Nicolae froze. Poison? He looked at the bolts loaded in the crossbows. Just what was it they had shot and now wanted to find? Hunters didn't normally poison their prey.

Not unless their prey was strong enough to survive arrows and bullets and come after them. He shook that thought away. There was no reason for him to get jittery. In the century he had lived in the area, not once had anyone attacked the werewolves.

"I don't want to risk it. I want to find her." The leader this time.

The alpha wolf howled again and Nicolae listened.

Blood.

They were hunting something.

Nicolae tensed, torn between breaking cover and heading down to see what the wolves had smelt, and remaining to listen to the men and ensure they left the mountain.

He raised his nose to the breeze and sniffed. He could smell it now, sharp and coppery, coming up from the valley.

A bolt zipped past him, thudding into a tree barely inches from his nose. Nicolae ran, keeping his rear down and weaving through the narrow gaps between the trees to cover himself. Another bolt narrowly missed him.

"Don't waste ammo unless you're sure it's what we're here after," the leader said.

Nicolae pounded through the forest, away from the men and down towards the valley. He picked up the scent of blood and followed the trail. It grew stronger, fresh and sharp in the clear air, cutting through it. He sniffed the ground at intervals, trying to see if the animal had bled onto it so he could investigate the scent and determine what sort of creature it was.

The pine trees grew dense around him as he neared the glade. Their scent obscured the subtler one of the blood, making it impossible for him to tell what it belonged to. It didn't smell animal.

It wasn't werewolf.

He rounded a tree and spotted something in the clearing ahead.

Human.

The timber wolves broke out of the woods on the other side to Nicolae, heading for the body. His heart slammed against his ribs and he crashed through the undergrowth and out into the glade. He dashed across the open ground, passing the body, and leapt into the group, snarling and snapping at them, driving them back. His teeth clashed with those of the more persistent wolves but he was careful not to draw blood. His attack wasn't about hurting them. It was purely to force them to leave the human alone. It was to protect them. If they ate the body, the locals would hunt them down and slaughter them all. He couldn't allow that to happen.

The alpha growled.

The rest of the pack cowered, lowering their rears and bowing their heads. Some of the younger ones at the back whimpered and whined.

The grey alpha came forward, smaller than Nicolae but bigger than the other wolves, and stared at him.

Nicolae breathed hard and held the alpha's yellow gaze.

The pack was hungry. With winter setting in, it was important that they fed well, but he couldn't allow them to harm this human. The alpha didn't move. Nicolae could understand his need to protect his pack and provide for them.

He huffed, turning the air misty for a second with his warm breath, and then came to a decision. He looked deep into the alpha's eyes, communicating with him alone. He would hunt and leave them a deer at his cabin in exchange for the human. Was that acceptable?

The alpha wolf stared at him a moment longer and then turned and trotted silently into the forest. The pack followed.

Nicolae huffed again.

He would do as he had promised and give them a deer as soon as he could go out and hunt. During harsher winters, he often provided for them. Wolves were a proud race, just like their werewolf brethren, but this pack no longer took offence at his offerings.

Nicolae knew the pain of not being able to provide for the pack, of failing in his duty to protect them, and because of those experiences he knew that he had asked a lot of the alpha tonight. He was grateful the wolf had chosen to accept the deer and, to show it, he would find the largest one he could.

He turned and sniffed his way back to the human. She lay on the leaf litter, motionless and pale. Covered in blood. It had a strange smell. Some part of it was human but the scent was different, familiar. Was it the poison that made it smell so wrong?

The woman's eyes were closed, her fair hair spread across the ground in a golden wave. Moonlight shone down into the glade, the bare branches of the trees splitting it into bright shafts that bathed her. He sniffed again and listened. No heartbeat but he couldn't be sure. Twin darts punctured her black fatigues, one in the left of her chest, up from her heart, and the second in the right side of her stomach. Could she have survived that?

He caught the scent of the hunters on the darts.

Why had they killed her?

She was dressed like them.

Nicolae listened again for a pulse. None came.

There were some things that he couldn't do as a wolf. He shuffled back a few paces to give himself more room and then focused. His bones popped and body twisted, the black fur on it slowly disappearing as he transformed back into his normal form. He grimaced and growled quietly, containing his pain for fear of alerting the hunters to his presence. He wasn't sure if they had gone and he wasn't sure if the woman was dead. He couldn't let either of them know what he was. His ribs stretched and his limbs cracked back into human forms still covered in patches of fur. It swept backwards, towards his shoulders, revealing deformed fingers that pushed out into normal shapes. His muzzle compressed, his teeth receding, and he moved onto his hind legs, standing with a wobble. Pain ripped down his spine with the final shift of his bones beneath his now human skin, and he bit back his desire to throw his head back and scream out his agony.

Nicolae clenched his fists and breathed deep, waiting with closed eyes for the pain to pass and his heartbeat to level again.

Centuries of life as a werewolf and whenever he spent too long in his animal form, he still felt the pain as he had during the first change.

The moment it subsided, he crouched beside the woman, naked and unashamed. He touched her throat. She was cold and he couldn't feel a pulse. Dead.

He ran his hand over his messy dark hair and frowned, thinking over what he should do.

His gaze assessed the two darts. Blood saturated the black material around them. He touched it, brought his fingers to his nose, and sniffed. He could smell the poison. Strong. Why had the hunters killed her? If he had found her before coming across the hunters, he would have said they had belonged to the same party. Only this woman wasn't armed.

Nicolae looked around the clearing for a weapon.

When he looked back at the woman, she was staring at him with dark eyes.

Her left fist flew towards him.

Nicolae rolled backwards into a crouch, barely avoiding the punch. She lunged, trying to grab him, gasping and wheezing. Blood pumped from around the arrow in her abdomen. The dart must have punctured her lung.

His gaze met hers again and he froze. The words of warning to keep still fled his lips.

Fiery orange eyes pinned him with the deadliest of stares.

Nocens.

She bore her fangs and Nicolae backed away, his eyes still locked with hers, panic sending an icy wave through his blood.

What was a vampire of the Nocens bloodline doing in Canada?

She snarled and then slumped backwards, hitting the dirt hard. Nicolae didn't move. He couldn't tell if she was dead or not but he wasn't about to risk his neck by checking her. His gaze darted between the arrows. There was a lot of blood on her, and around the glade. The arrows were poisoned. He dragged in a shaky breath.

The scent of her blood hit him and, now that he knew why he recognised it, he couldn't bear the smell.

Nicolae shook his head at the first assault of memories, desperate to keep them at bay. He wasn't there now. He was free. He had paid for it in blood and death, but he was free. The images came, relentless, horrifying visions of violence and pain, punishment in dark barred corridors, screams that echoed through the entire compound. He fell forwards, breathing hard, clawing the dirt into his fists and holding on. Cries. Blood. The sting of the whip against his back. He arched forwards and growled, his teeth elongating. The laughter of his cruel masters. His neck burned, aching under the pressing weight of an iron collar. The humiliation of his brethren.

Blood ran in a fetid river before his eyes, trickling over damp dark stones and along the gutter in front of the cells, mixing with faeces and urine. Shackles clanked in the dim light. Bars rattled under the duress of a fruitless attack by a prisoner.

He wasn't there.

Nicolae yelled his rage at the starlit sky. It burst from him, desperate and feral in its sound, and echoed around the distant mountains. A disconsolate howl from the valley answered him. The alpha. The sound of it and the message it contained soothed him and granted him relief. He shut the pain down, clearing his mind of the past and focusing on the present, but there was no comfort in it now.

His gaze snapped to the vampire.

He pushed himself back onto his feet and stood over her, staring with hatred burning in his gut. The hunters were still searching for her, and it wouldn't be long before they reached where he was. They would finish her off. If she managed to survive both the hunters and the poison until daybreak, then nature would take care of her. The sky was clear. When the sun rose, it would spill into the glade. She wouldn't be strong enough to escape it. Her kind deserved to feel pain.

He would never involve himself with vampires.

He strode away from her.

No matter how beautiful they were.

That thought arrested his steps. He frowned over his shoulder at her. The cold air curled around him, chilling and stiffening his bare body. He stared at the vampire and then at the horizon through the trees, and realised with self-loathing that he wasn't strong enough to do it. As much as he despised her kind, he wasn't a monster like them. She wasn't the same bloodline as the ones who had enslaved him. She had done nothing to deserve his bitterness. If he left her, it would plague him and he would regret it. If he needed a reason to help her, he would do it for the sake of information about the hunters. They had to be the reason that she was so far from home.

Nicolae went back to her. She looked small and fragile as she lay on the dirt. Her appearance belied her true nature but it couldn't fool his senses. When she had come around, he had felt her strength. Was she strong enough to fight the poison? He placed his palm against her forehead. She wasn't burning up yet. If the poison was the type most vampire hunters used, then there was still time to help her.

Part of him said to leave her. Her kind had given him nothing but pain. She should feel it in return.

He couldn't bring himself to do such a thing. Watching a dying vampire succumb to the sun and poison would be a petty form of vengeance. His heart had let go of his desire for revenge almost fifty years ago now, cleansed by his quiet life in the wilderness. Only the nightmarish memories kept it alive in him.

Nicolae sighed and picked her up, shifting her into his arms and cradling her against his bare chest in a way that didn't disturb the bolts. If she woke again, he would drop her in a flash and distance himself. He doubted that she would though. She had probably used the last of her strength fighting him.

Was he really going to do this? If he brought her into his home, if he helped her heal, then he would be helping the enemy.

In times of war, it was acceptable to help the enemy of your enemy. The hunters had tried to kill her. They were a threat to everything he had built here, and everyone that he knew.

He had to help her.

Even when he knew it would place him in danger.

The hunters were after her.

They would be after him too now.


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/


Enjoyed the tease?

Review: Her Vampire Husband by Michele Hauf

I was up late the other night with a poorly kitty, so I ended up reading a book. It's not like me to read something when I'm in the middle of editing one of my own paranormal romance books, but I started reading this book when I was waiting for my husband to finish doing something and ended up reading the whole thing. I really don't know how to put books down once I start them. It's not a reflection of the book's quality. It's a reflection of my OCD type nature.

I had been milling around the Amazon Kindle freebies recently and found that Michele Hauf had another one offered for free, so I downloaded it when I saw it and had it stored on my HTC Desire HD smart phone and my Amazon Kindle 3 waiting to be read.

Here's my candid review:


Her Vampire Husband
Michele Hauf

An arranged marriage between a werewolf and a vampire.

There will be blood.

She may resist his bite, but she can't resist his charms...

Werewolf princess Blu Masterson won't allow her seductive vampire husband to consummate their marriage with his bite, marking her forever. Alone in a secluded estate with her sworn enemy, Blu curses the marriage arranged to bring their rival nations together, especially since Creed Saint-Pierre calls out to her most feral desires.

When Blu uncovers her pack's secret plot to destroy the vampire nation—and Creed—she is forced to confront her growing feelings for her sexy undead husband. Will she choose the only life she's ever known or accept his vampire bite?



REVIEW

I went into reading Her Vampire Husband expecting it to be much like Kiss Me Deadly—not amazing, light paranormal romance. I think my opinion on the book benefitted from this, but I do also believe that it was a much better offering than Kiss Me Deadly by the same author, Michele Hauf.

Blu Masterton is a werewolf princess with her knickers in a twist because her father has arranged to marry her off to old and powerful vampire, Creed Saint-Pierre, in order to form a tentative truce between the werewolf and vampire nations. Creed Saint-Pierre isn't exactly thrilled with the arrangement either but he sucks it up because he knows it's the right thing to do given the circumstances, and it will benefit the vampires by giving them time to put their plan into action. Of course, once the couple sets eyes on each other and share their first kiss as husband and wife at the top of the aisle, things swiftly progress into a blossoming romance between the two.

It was a little too swift for my liking and once they start snogging and bonking, they can't seem to stop. It's rapid fire sketchy love scenes all the way. We're told that the hatred between vampires and werewolves runs deep, but these two get over their apparent dislike of the other's species fairly quickly and with minimal internal struggle. It all happened a bit too easily to be satisfying. I was expecting a good fight, a battle of emotions inside the characters, or at least some more realistic conflict.

The story is also quite light on plot, and things are fairly predictable, although I did like the back story of Blu and the little historical notes on Creed's life that are dripped in throughout the book. I liked the hero but feel he should have stuck to his principles a bit more and fought his desire for a little longer before playing lapdog to the heroine. The heroine, Blu, irritated me sometimes. The language she used and the way she behaved felt like a blatant attempt by Ms. Hauf to make the heroine appear very young and wild. I think it was the language that irked me most. If I heard the word 'dude' one more time I might have taken a seething dislike to the heroine.

The writing wasn't stellar, but it was okay. There were a few moments where words just didn't seem right and felt out of place, or the way she had worded it had me reading the same sentence five times to make heads or tails of it. There were also times when I felt the author could have put more effort into the description. The fight scenes in particular didn't really grab me. I wanted to be able to picture what was happening but couldn't. I also think some of the characters would have benefitted from better description. There's a lot of mentioning the clothing of the hero and heroine, and some about the looks, but a lot of the supporting characters don't get much description. I know from personal experience that you can't describe minor characters in detail without getting bogged down, but there were characters in this I would have classed as secondary characters, who had enough air time in the book that they deserved better description.

All in all, I'm going to give this a solid three. I might have been tempted to up it to a 3.5 if I had liked the heroine more. This book also benefitted from being free on Amazon Kindle. If it hadn't been a freebie, I probably wouldn't have read it as I wasn't tempted to continue with the author after reading Kiss Me Deadly.




Read reviews of Her Vampire Husband on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7025989-her-vampire-husband

Manday hottie

Okay, it's Monday, which means that it's also MANday! Yes, my appropriately re-titled day is back around again and here's your hot treat to start the week!

Can we say "delicious"?


You can see more Manday goodness at my FaceBook

Ascension - urban fantasy romance - Six Sentence Sunday

This week I'm participating in 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 come from Ascension , my recent urban fantasy romance release and the first book in my Shadow and Light Trilogy.

Taig 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.

Ascension is out now in e-book for $3.99 and paperback for $8.99. Here's the blurb and cover, and the links to retailers:


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?

genre: paranormal / urban fantasy romance
length: 91000 words

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.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1461131839/
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1461131839/


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ENDS JUNE 30TH.

Forbidden Blood - Vampire Venators Series #1 - Chapter Three

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 and chapter two of this long novel, and now here's chapter three.



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 THREE
Amber kept her eyes fixed on the man. The passing streetlights flickered across his face as he drove. He was a mystery and, for some reason, she wanted to crack him. She hadn't witnessed one trace of emotion in his eyes. At least nothing that had been real. Sure, there had been feigned feelings, but she had seen straight through those. The whole time he had been talking to her about her blood and tracking the man and keeping her safe, the whole time they had been together, his green eyes had remained empty and dark. If it weren't for them, for the sense of iciness that he radiated like a barrier around him, she would have thought him sexy.

He held rank at handsome though, and she couldn't deny that he was attractive. His longish silver hair and vivid green eyes were unusual, but only added to his masculine beauty, and his body pushed the bar and threatened to break him back through into sexy territory, regardless of his detached air. It could easily grace the cover of a male fitness magazine—all compact muscle without a trace of fat. Her eyes roamed his face, over his fine dark silvery eyebrows and down his nose to the curve of his dusky lips that had tempted her more than once this evening, to the defined line of his jaw. He was definitely handsome, but the edge to him, the invisible walls that he didn't bother to hide, stole something from his looks and warned her away.

Perhaps his profession made him so cold and distant. It was difficult for her to understand his role or even the effect it might have on him. She had never known anyone in the police force or military. She looked at the gun in the holster under his left arm. How many people had he killed? Not people. Vampires. He killed vampires and protected people, and now she was playing bait so he could catch the man who wanted to kill her, and no doubt kill him. Was that the reason he seemed so heartless and distant?

Was that why he lived alone in that building?

She wasn't blind. Even with that vampire's blood sending her crazy and controlling her, she hadn't failed to notice that his car had been the only one in the garage and that there was no sense of life in his building. He was alone there.

Did he live that way in order to protect humans like her from the vampires that might come after him, or for different reasons?

Her gaze slowly fell to his chest. The black buttoned shirt didn't stop her from remembering how good his body had looked. Her eyes shifted to his right hand on the black steering wheel. Or the strange tattoo that covered his entire right arm. She hazily remembered it from when he had rescued her. It had glowed blue. Had that been real or just the effects of the vampire's blood on her?

She shuddered with the thought that the vampire's blood was still in her, crawling around in her veins, and looked down at her bandaged hand. Could he still control her? She felt normal again now, back to herself, almost. Her mind was playing catch up and computing everything that had happened, making it all seem like some surreal dream even when she knew that it was reality. She was with a vampire hunter en route to kill the demon who wanted her blood. It should frighten her, she knew it should, but whenever she looked at the man beside her, her fear faded away.

"I'm Amber," she said, not only to break the steadily turning oppressive silence but because she wanted to know his.

"Kearn."

Amber presumed that was his name.

"So... you're a Venator." She felt silly the moment she said it but she had to do something to start a conversation with him.

He sped over a crossroad and then turned left at the next. They were heading back to where he had rescued her. She felt uneasy about returning to the area and leading Kearn to the factory, but he had assured her that he would keep her safe, and she was determined to believe him, if only to stop herself from feeling scared.

"I am."

He wasn't very talkative. She had hoped that he would turn out to be a talker so she could chip away at his hard exterior and see what lurked beneath.

What could she say to get him talking? His distance wasn't going to deter her. If they were going to be working together, then they at least needed to be on talking terms. Perhaps he wasn't used to company. If his building were empty as she suspected, it would make sense that he hadn't had much practice at making idle conversation. Her apartment building was full of people of all ages, and most of them stopped in the corridors to talk about trivial things like the weather, work and where they were going to or coming from. She'd had plenty of practice at making conversation. He would just have to catch up.

"Must be a pretty lonely job." She regretted her choice of words when he looked at her out of the corner of his eye and a strange sense of hurt filled her. It wasn't in his eyes, they were dark and narrowed, but something about him gave her the impression that he was lonely. "Sounds more interesting than my job though."

"And what is your profession?" He had a very formal way of talking at times, speaking with a regal edge to his deep voice.

"I wouldn't exactly call it my profession, but I'm an analyst."

His expression turned thoughtful. "An analyst? That could be useful in finding the man who is after you."

Amber laughed and he glanced at her.

"Only if he needs his numbers crunched. I'm more like an account… not the sort of analyst you're thinking of."

"I apologise." He frowned at the road. "I do not know much of offices and such."

Amber smiled. "I got that impression."

Kearn didn't say anything. She picked at her bandage again. Her hand still hurt but the bleeding had stopped now and the pain was lessening.

"Where is the building from here?" he said and she realised they were in the side street where the men had attacked her.

Amber directed him towards the building, leading him through the maze of one-way streets. He pulled the car to a halt around the corner from the gates of the old redbrick factory and looked across at her.

"Stay here. Under no circumstances are you to leave the vehicle." The hard edge to his voice made her nod in agreement even when she wanted to say that she was coming with him and he had no right to tell her what to do.

He turned off the engine and then stepped out of the car. The moment the door clicked shut, she felt on edge. With Kearn around, she had felt safe from the vampire. He had been a talisman that had kept the dark thoughts and her fear at bay. What if the man was in the building? Would he try to control her again if he knew that she was here? She didn't want to be his pawn in whatever game he was playing with Kearn, and she didn't want to die.

Amber stared at Kearn's back as he walked away from her in the beam of the headlights, her sense of safety leaving with him. He reached across and removed his gun from the holster. It flashed in the white light. He looked menacing dressed head to toe in black, his silver hair dancing in the night breeze and his gun in his hand. A fitting look for a man who hunted vampires. At the corner, he looked back at her and then he was gone.

She went to curl up on the black leather seat and then thought the better of it. Judging by the way people had stared at it during the journey here, the car had to be worth a hundred grand at least. She couldn't go putting a dent in the leather or scuffing it with her heeled work shoes.

The empty road was too quiet, increasing the creeping chill inside her. After a few wrong choices, she found the button for the radio on the black console and it came on, illuminating the dashboard. She kept the volume low, afraid that it would attract the wrong kind of attention if it were louder, and then tried to figure out how to turn off the headlights. She couldn't find the switch for them but she did find one that locked the doors. This car was nothing like any she had driven before.

Someone walked past the end of the road ahead of her and she froze, cautiously watching them until they disappeared from view.

What was Kearn doing? Had he gone into the building to find the men who had attacked her?

Vampires. It seemed incredible that they existed and she felt as though she shouldn't believe it even when she did.

Was Kearn going to kill them?

She didn't like the thought of him killing someone because of her, but she wanted to be safe again and go back to her life, and she knew that wouldn't happen without the vampire dying. Did France have vampires too? Kearn had said that once he had captured the man, she would be safe. No one else would know about her blood. No one except Kearn at least. Would he keep her secret for her? She wanted to escape London more than ever now, wanted to go somewhere new, where no one knew her, but she wasn't sure if she would ever feel safe again. Vampires would constantly be on her mind. Maybe she could ask Kearn for some self-defence lessons in return for helping him. She would feel a whole lot safer if she knew how to kill a vampire.

Amber pushed her wavy brown hair out of her face and then tied it up into a ponytail. The building to her left was dark. Would Kearn find anyone in it? If the vampire had known he was a Venator, then surely he knew that Kearn would come after him. He wouldn't have remained in the building.

The hairs on the back of her neck rose and she swore she heard someone saying her name. She looked around the streets but no one was there. The feeling came again, a notion that someone was calling to her. Was it the vampire?

She reached over to turn the radio up in the hope of drowning out the feeling and stopped dead when a loud cracking noise echoed around the streets. She had seen enough movies to recognise the sound. A gunshot. Kearn.

Without a second thought, Amber left the car and ran to the corner. No one was in the narrow road. She hurried on, heading for the gates. Another gunshot rang out and she flinched, instinctively hunching up to make herself small in case the bullet was coming her way.

She was about to move when a man landed in front of her, close enough that she stumbled backwards and fell, jolting her coccyx. He glanced at her with red eyes and then ran off. A vampire? Where had he come from?

Amber looked up the three-storey height of the building and wished she hadn't.

Kearn was falling out of the sky.

She screwed her eyes shut, not wanting to see him die. A warm breeze washed over her and then silence. She had expected more of a commotion when someone hit a pavement from a great height.

"I told you to stay in the car." Kearn's sharp voice cut the silence and she cracked an eye open. He stood over her, not a scuff on him, looking as though he had just walked along the street to see her rather than dropped from the heavens. She glanced up at the top of the building and then back at him. It wasn't possible for someone to fall like that and survive without a scratch.

The vampire had done it.

So had Kearn.

His green eyes narrowed, darker than usual.

Amber opened her mouth to explain but fell silent when he extended his right hand to her. It was glowing blue, the marks on it shining so brightly they were dazzling. Just what was it? Just what was he?

Her hand shook as she slipped it into his. His fingers closed over hers, the glow lighting her skin and washing all colour away, and he pulled her up off the ground. He didn't release her hand. He led her back to the car at a brisk pace and opened the passenger side door.

"Get back in the car," he said and she didn't hesitate or protest.

He slammed the door and ran off.

Amber breathed hard and tried to shake the image of him falling from the sky and his arm from her mind. How could he do that? Was he like the vampire? She kicked off her shoes, locked all the doors, and huddled up on the seat, afraid of Kearn coming back.

She lost track of time as she stared at the road in front of her, trying to make sense of everything and wondering why she was suddenly frightened. Kearn had never said that he was human but he hadn't mentioned that he was anything like the vampires he hunted either. Who was she to think that made him bad? She shared a gene with vampires, making her like them too. Perhaps he had found a way to use the power in that gene as the vampires did. Perhaps he was a vampire. Why did it frighten her if he was? He was still trying to protect her.

But he was keeping things from her.

And she didn't like it.

Her eyes widened when he stepped into the path of the headlights. They threw his shadow out long behind him. He holstered his gun under his left arm and walked towards the car, all glowering darkness that reminded her of the vampire who was after her. Was Kearn one too? She wanted to ask him but was too afraid of the answer.

His eyes bore into hers and she couldn't look away. She stared straight into them, still trying to decipher what he was hiding behind their impenetrable emerald shield.

He stopped at the driver's side door and tried to open it. Twice. Amber dropped her gaze when he bent over and looked at her through the window.

"I am sorry if I was rude. I only wish to keep you safe," he said, as though he honestly thought his somewhat arrogant attitude had forced her to lock him out of the car. She made herself look at him. There was no darkness in his eyes now, only a touch of confusion that was real. He smiled and she expected to see fangs but only saw normal teeth. "Apology accepted?"

What if she let him in and he tried to drink her blood, just as the other man had? She reasoned that he was helping her, and he did genuinely want to keep her safe, even if it was only so he could use her as bait to lure out the vampire. If he was like the vampire and wanted to kill her for her blood, he probably would have done so back at his apartment.

And she was safer with him than by herself.

A sense of calm flowed through her as she stared into his eyes, chasing back the darkness and the fear. Even if he was a vampire, he was her only protection against the man. She needed him. She couldn't fight the man herself.

She unlocked the doors and Kearn opened it, slid into the seat and stared at her.

"Did you find anything?" Her voice was a tight squeak and he frowned. "You seemed quite intent on chasing that man."

Intent enough to jump off the roof of a building and survive unharmed.

"Vampire," Kearn said and started the car. "And no, there was nothing in the building besides some bloodstains on the floors. Whatever they were doing there, they have moved location now that I know about it. I only managed to catch that one vampire."

"What happened?"

Kearn didn't say anything. He pulled the white Audi R8 out into the road and drove to the junction at the end of it.

He stopped the car at the line and his grip on the black steering wheel tightened.

"The next time I tell you to remain in the car, do just that. Unless you want to get yourself killed." The hard edge was back in his voice and she saw a flicker of how he had looked in the street.

His arm had been glowing. Human arms couldn't do that sort of thing. Could a vampire's?

"What will you do now? Was this your only lead?" she said rather than asking him whether he too had fangs and hungered for blood. She stared at his eyes, wondering if they might turn red, and then told herself to stop overanalysing things. He had bandaged her cut hand without so much as a hint of wanting her blood and the vampire Kearn had been chasing had red eyes and the other had fangs. Kearn had neither of those things.

"No," Kearn said and she almost jumped. Her eyes darted away from his face when he looked at her. The dashboard of an Audi was very interesting. She stared at it, frowning at times, doing her best to look fascinated by it and not him. "There is a club where we might get some answers."

"A club?" She looked down at her neat black trouser suit. "I'm not exactly dressed for that sort of place."

"I will handle that."

Amber's eyes drifted back to him when the car pulled away, accelerating along the wide tree-lined shopping street.

She couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to Kearn than met the eye, that he hid the real him behind a mask to keep the world at a distance. Why? The bright streetlights flashed on his face.

If he was a vampire, would he hurt her like the other one wanted to?

Or was there such a thing as a good vampire?




Are we enjoying the story so far? Can't wait until June 18th when the book is released?