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Serpent's Tooth
At first, it seemed like the screenplay of a romance--
A famous rock star disappears...twenty-five years later, a former fan discovers he's still alive. They fall in love and marry and he takes her to the ranch where he's hidden for a quarter of a century...and there the love story degenerates into a tale of horror...
Once Travis Brandt, aka Hildebrand, the most famous singer of the '80s, takes Melissa Powers to his ranch in the sandhills of Nebraska, everything takes on a sinister tinge. Travis' assertions as to why his former marriage was destroyed, and his decision to disappear at the height of his career sound false to his new wife, as does his refusal to have children. When Melissa discovers she's pregnant in spite of her husband's careful attempts to prevent it, she learns Travis' secret...a tale of rags-to-riches, the story of a youngster from Nebraska who became a star, the idol of millions, but wanted more; of a young man who bartered his soul for riches, living for sex, drugs, rock and roll, and demon worship.
Hildebrand wanted it all and got it, and now Travis, Melissa, and their new family will suffer for his sins!EndFragment
A famous rock star disappears...twenty-five years later, a former fan discovers he's still alive. They fall in love and marry and he takes her to the ranch where he's hidden for a quarter of a century...and there the love story degenerates into a tale of horror...
Once Travis Brandt, aka Hildebrand, the most famous singer of the '80s, takes Melissa Powers to his ranch in the sandhills of Nebraska, everything takes on a sinister tinge. Travis' assertions as to why his former marriage was destroyed, and his decision to disappear at the height of his career sound false to his new wife, as does his refusal to have children. When Melissa discovers she's pregnant in spite of her husband's careful attempts to prevent it, she learns Travis' secret...a tale of rags-to-riches, the story of a youngster from Nebraska who became a star, the idol of millions, but wanted more; of a young man who bartered his soul for riches, living for sex, drugs, rock and roll, and demon worship.
Hildebrand wanted it all and got it, and now Travis, Melissa, and their new family will suffer for his sins!EndFragment
335 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2010
1 person is currently reading
6 people want to read
About the author
Toni V. Sweeney
92 books45 followersToni V. Sweeney a.k.a. T.S. Snow and Savannah Scarborough
Toni V. Sweeney specializes in SF/fantasy stories, though she has written in other genres as well.
Her western novels NEBRASKA: Walk the Shadow Trail placed 1st in Historical Romance at the 2015 Paranormal Guild's Reviewers Choice awards and 2nd in Other Novels at the Preditors & Editors Readers Poll; NEBRASKA: Vengeance from Eden was a Top 10 finisher in the 2014 Preditors & Editors Readers Poll. She also placed in the Top 10 Authors for 2015 from that same poll.
In 2014, TUESDAY'S CHILD (by Icy Snow Blackstone) won 1st in Contemporary Romance at the Paranormal Romance Guild's Reviewer's Choice awards.
THE EARTHMAN'S BRIDE (writing as Icy Snow Blackstone), re-released by Class Act Books in May, 2012, placed first in Alternate Romance/SF Division in the Maryland Romance Writer's Contest "Reveal Your Inner Vixen in 2008. JERICHO ROAD (also authored as Icy Snow Blackstone), placed 7th in the National Writers Association's Novel Contest in 1997.
Under her own name, Toni writes SciFi/fantasy and space opera and the occasional horror and romance novel. Writing as Icy Snow Blackstone, she authors romance novels. She is currently promotion manager for Class Act Books. She has reviewed books for 2 Lips reviews and at present is on the review staff of the New York Journal of Books and the Paranormal Romance Guild. She was recently named a professional reader by netgalley.com.
Her trailers are featured on Youtube.com.
Toni V. Sweeney specializes in SF/fantasy stories, though she has written in other genres as well.
Her western novels NEBRASKA: Walk the Shadow Trail placed 1st in Historical Romance at the 2015 Paranormal Guild's Reviewers Choice awards and 2nd in Other Novels at the Preditors & Editors Readers Poll; NEBRASKA: Vengeance from Eden was a Top 10 finisher in the 2014 Preditors & Editors Readers Poll. She also placed in the Top 10 Authors for 2015 from that same poll.
In 2014, TUESDAY'S CHILD (by Icy Snow Blackstone) won 1st in Contemporary Romance at the Paranormal Romance Guild's Reviewer's Choice awards.
THE EARTHMAN'S BRIDE (writing as Icy Snow Blackstone), re-released by Class Act Books in May, 2012, placed first in Alternate Romance/SF Division in the Maryland Romance Writer's Contest "Reveal Your Inner Vixen in 2008. JERICHO ROAD (also authored as Icy Snow Blackstone), placed 7th in the National Writers Association's Novel Contest in 1997.
Under her own name, Toni writes SciFi/fantasy and space opera and the occasional horror and romance novel. Writing as Icy Snow Blackstone, she authors romance novels. She is currently promotion manager for Class Act Books. She has reviewed books for 2 Lips reviews and at present is on the review staff of the New York Journal of Books and the Paranormal Romance Guild. She was recently named a professional reader by netgalley.com.
Her trailers are featured on Youtube.com.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 24, 2012
I have read a good many of Ms. Sweeney's books, liked some, loved some and disliked some. All I can say is that I absolutely loved this one, it had me hooked from the first page and I couldn't put it down. I tend to read a book a day and every once in a while a book just captivates me, this was one of those books.
Melissa Powers has decided to take a three week cruise and never expects that it will change her life forever. On board the ship she meets Travis Brandt, a rancher from Nebraska, a man who she feels she knows. When she suddenly realizes that he is the missing actor and rock star known as Hildebrand. Twenty years earlier Hildebrand disappeared after many years he was pronounced dead. Obviously the report of his death was premature.
Their shipboard romance turns into much more when Travis asks Melissa to marry him. The one thing that Travis is adamant about is that he does not want children. Not now, not ever. Why?
The book flashes back in time to when Travis was living the life of Hildebrand, actor and rock star. A drug and alcohol user and womanizer. We watch as his agent, Della, corrupts his very soul and turns him to satanism. As Hildebrand, Travis is totally involved in the darker side of humanity. He is supposedly the Chosen One, but at one point he turns against the coven and becomes just plan Travis again. Can he really get away from the Devil? Why has the coven not come after him for twenty years? Can his desire not to have children have anything to do with the Devil?
Melissa and Travis are adults, he is fifty-one and she is forty-one, but you are never too old to find love and happiness, and they seem to have found both. But, how long can it last? Can
Travis really get away from his dark side. When Melissa becomes pregnant Hildebrand's past comes back with a vengence. Can he save the ones he loves? Good against evil will evil win this time?
There are so many twists and turns and Travis' fight for his soul is great. The love story is beautifully written, a love story about two people both in the middle of their lives fighting a battle that has been waged over and over, the fight between Heaven and Hell.
As for the ending I never saw it coming.
Reviewed by: Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Review Team
Melissa Powers has decided to take a three week cruise and never expects that it will change her life forever. On board the ship she meets Travis Brandt, a rancher from Nebraska, a man who she feels she knows. When she suddenly realizes that he is the missing actor and rock star known as Hildebrand. Twenty years earlier Hildebrand disappeared after many years he was pronounced dead. Obviously the report of his death was premature.
Their shipboard romance turns into much more when Travis asks Melissa to marry him. The one thing that Travis is adamant about is that he does not want children. Not now, not ever. Why?
The book flashes back in time to when Travis was living the life of Hildebrand, actor and rock star. A drug and alcohol user and womanizer. We watch as his agent, Della, corrupts his very soul and turns him to satanism. As Hildebrand, Travis is totally involved in the darker side of humanity. He is supposedly the Chosen One, but at one point he turns against the coven and becomes just plan Travis again. Can he really get away from the Devil? Why has the coven not come after him for twenty years? Can his desire not to have children have anything to do with the Devil?
Melissa and Travis are adults, he is fifty-one and she is forty-one, but you are never too old to find love and happiness, and they seem to have found both. But, how long can it last? Can
Travis really get away from his dark side. When Melissa becomes pregnant Hildebrand's past comes back with a vengence. Can he save the ones he loves? Good against evil will evil win this time?
There are so many twists and turns and Travis' fight for his soul is great. The love story is beautifully written, a love story about two people both in the middle of their lives fighting a battle that has been waged over and over, the fight between Heaven and Hell.
As for the ending I never saw it coming.
Reviewed by: Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Review Team
January 7, 2015
On a cruise Melissa bonds with an older man, Travis, who turns out to be a famous celebrity in hiding from a once successful life. But by degrees we become aware that his enormous success came at the price of bonding with demonic forces. Although he later rejected these dark powers in favor of a return to sanity and anonymity, such eternal entities simply are not going to forget him. Librarian Melissa, who as a youngster worshipped the former rock god and movie star Travis in his first incarnation as Hildebrand, comes to accept the reborn Travis as he is, and she becomes his ticket back to full life and normality. While he hides the truth from her as long as he can, he truly loves her and believes he’s doing best by keeping her in the dark about his past.
The novel slowly builds moods of romance and horror, beginning as a love story with a just a tiny drop of evil in the background. But as the characters continue to develop though excellent dialog and effortlessly-sketched psychic interaction, the percentage of romance to horror starts uneasily… shifting … and finally we’re confronted by a flat-out horror novel, its unconventional story arc challenging our expectations of an easy, plot-driven vanquishing of raw evil.
Flashbacks are necessary and clearly labeled as such. The novel captures the many moods of Melissa adjusting to her future with Travis as she moves from her urban life to a horse farm in Nebraska, juxtaposed with the chronicle of Travis’ long journey though darkness and his struggle back towards the light. As troubling new hints of something seriously amiss begin to mount, Melissa and Travis strive for unity and love even as they make mistakes … sometimes serious mistakes.
Serpent’s Tooth accelerates to a shocking conclusion and one can only hope there’s a continuation of this story, some new life for Melissa and Travis. The reader must be curious as to how the couple might manage to go on. But then again, you just can’t trust those junior varsity demons who have so much at stake here!
review by Michael D. Smith
The novel slowly builds moods of romance and horror, beginning as a love story with a just a tiny drop of evil in the background. But as the characters continue to develop though excellent dialog and effortlessly-sketched psychic interaction, the percentage of romance to horror starts uneasily… shifting … and finally we’re confronted by a flat-out horror novel, its unconventional story arc challenging our expectations of an easy, plot-driven vanquishing of raw evil.
Flashbacks are necessary and clearly labeled as such. The novel captures the many moods of Melissa adjusting to her future with Travis as she moves from her urban life to a horse farm in Nebraska, juxtaposed with the chronicle of Travis’ long journey though darkness and his struggle back towards the light. As troubling new hints of something seriously amiss begin to mount, Melissa and Travis strive for unity and love even as they make mistakes … sometimes serious mistakes.
Serpent’s Tooth accelerates to a shocking conclusion and one can only hope there’s a continuation of this story, some new life for Melissa and Travis. The reader must be curious as to how the couple might manage to go on. But then again, you just can’t trust those junior varsity demons who have so much at stake here!
review by Michael D. Smith
April 1, 2017
Uncaged Book Reviews:
The storyline is fun to read lots romance with a little cult and magic thrown in. But towards the end of the book the story felt a little rushed to me. Also there some moments when u find yourself blushing as you read it. It ends in a cliffhanger. So I’m thinking one, what happens to Travis’s wife as we forget about her after the baby is born. Two, what happens next with the way the book ends, will there be more? It’s worth a read but it’s like a film made for TV never to return. Reviewed by Jennifer
Full review at UncagedBooks.com
The storyline is fun to read lots romance with a little cult and magic thrown in. But towards the end of the book the story felt a little rushed to me. Also there some moments when u find yourself blushing as you read it. It ends in a cliffhanger. So I’m thinking one, what happens to Travis’s wife as we forget about her after the baby is born. Two, what happens next with the way the book ends, will there be more? It’s worth a read but it’s like a film made for TV never to return. Reviewed by Jennifer
Full review at UncagedBooks.com
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews