Plan A: Marry Her, Plan B: Kill Her- Guest Blog and Giveaway with Evie Byrne

Hello! I'm happy to be back at Fang-tastic Books. Thanks for having me, Roxanne.

I'm here to talk about my new release, Damned by Blood and to give away a free copy.

What kind of woman would carve her initial into a man’s chest? What kind of a man would tattoo that wound to make it permanent?

Meet Alya Adad and Mikhail Faustin, the darkest, most reckless characters I’ve ever written. On their twisted, blood-soaked path to love, they break every rule in the book, write a few rules of their own, and break those, too.

For those of you who have been following the Faustin Brothers series, get ready to plunge into the shadow world of the vampires, a world that was only hinted at it in the first two books.

Mikhail Faustin is the prince of New York. His authority is absolute, his power unquestioned—and his heart is empty. The pain he carries inside leaves him with nothing to offer a mate. When he discovers that Alya Adad is not only his destined bride but also the source of his misery, his fate is sealed. He must either kill or claim the woman he despises most--or die trying.

Alya is the most powerful of her kind born in generations and a prince in her own right. She kneels to no one, certainly not to her first lover, Mikhail. She plans to kill him before he captures her, but when she realizes she holds the key to his heart, and all his secret desires, things become a more complicated...

I've been here before, talking about my Faustin Brother series--a trilogy of e-books from Samhain. The premise of the series is deceptively simple. Each brother has a book, and during the course of the book, he must win his bride. To do so, though, he -- and his bride -- are tested to their limits. Everyone has to earn their right to love in Evie Byrne's world. Muhahaha.

In the other two books, the couples begin as strangers. Also, in those books both of the heroines are humans, while their suitors are vampires. This provides conflict too, but more the fun kind of "gettin' to know you" kind of conflict. In Damned by Blood, both characters are vamps, powerful, territorial vamps. And they know each other--they have a history. A very bad history. Bring on the angst!


Going against the grain is scary!

As you might be able to infer from the blurbage, I wrote myself into a pickle with this book. When it began, I imagined it to be a more traditional "capture" type story-- i.e. a big sexy Alpha wins his woman by force. Mikhail sets out to get Alya, intending to either capture her or kill her. He's armed with a magical rope that will bind her to his will.

The problem is, Alya would rather die than submit. She and Mikhail fight tooth and nail, but neither of them comes out on top. To find a happily-ever-after for them, I had to think sideways, and figure out a way for both of them to win.

I've already got my first review. Jane at Dear Author gave Damned by Blood an A-, calling it "fresh and fabulous." It's an excellent review. (Yes, I admit I'm biased!) But seriously, Jane gives an excellent rundown of how this power dynamic works, without giving away too much of the plot.

She praises me for not declawing Alya. I was relieved, because I worried that leaving her claws would make her unlikeable--one of the worst things a romance heroine can be. And though I personally thought the decisions Mikhail makes to win her showed his inner strength, some readers might think him weak for it. The jury is out. I'm waiting to hear every one's opinion.

Why don't you read it and let me know? I'm giving away a copy of Damned by Blood, all you have to do is leave a comment below.

Tell me what you dislike in a hero or heroine. Do you have different expectations for vampire than humans?

What is sure to make you throw a book against the wall?

The winner will be chosen by random draw. Please note that Damned by Blood is an e-book.

Here's a little taste to tempt you. This excerpt is from the beginning of the book, where Mikhail pays an unexpected visit to Alya's office.

***

Mikhail Faustin. She hadn’t seen him since he was younger than Matthew and Maya. She glanced their way, admiring their supple, slender bodies and their flawless skin, her mouth quirking into a smile. She and Mikhail had been very young indeed.

It seemed like there should be a law against killing your first lover, though considering their history, Mikhail probably wouldn’t mind driving a spike through her head. She wondered exactly how much he hated her.

Dominick paced, checking his weapons as he did.

Alya kicked off her heels and put her feet up on the desk, all the while keeping one eye on the front office monitor. “I hope security remembers to use plenty of lube. Did you get some of that knyaz lube I asked you to stock for distinguished visitors?”

Dominick scowled at her. This would be his first face to face with a genuine Faustin, and it had him all riled up.

Maya spoke through a yawn. “Is the Iceman as gorgeous as they say?”

Alya shrugged. Iceman, Ice, Frost—these were all street names for Mikhail. He must have changed a lot over the years, because when he was young, he ran as hot as any man she’d ever met. Even his pale blue eyes burned like the heart of a flame.

Mikhail walked into the front office that moment. The security camera caught him from a high angle, showing her a sleek animal in a severe black suit. Her chair hit the ground with a thump as she leaned close to the monitor.

Rapt, she chewed on the side of her thumb while she watched him speak to her secretary, marking all the ways he’d grown up. He was taller, broader through the shoulders, and the sweet lines of his face had turned austere and sharp as a blade. His straight, platinum hair brushed his collar. That hadn’t changed. She remembered his hair well, how it slid through her hands, heavy and fine.

As she’d heard, he did absolutely nothing to hide his vampirism anymore. Some vamps could pass naturally. Others made adjustments in order to pass. For instance, she wore contacts and sunglasses when she went out, and she did her best to move slowly, like a human. If you knew what to look for, it was easy to spot a vampire in any crowd, but no one would ever mistake Mikhail for human.

The power he held as his family’s leader shimmered around him like a second skin. He made a beautiful prince. Once upon a time she could not resist the draw of that power, but she wouldn’t pay the price for it anymore. Princes demanded absolute submission from those around them, especially their lovers. Now that she was a prince herself, she submitted to no one—not on the street, not in the council chamber and never, ever in the bedroom. She’d done her time on her knees. She had no intention of kneeling ever again.

Tapping Mikhail’s image on the screen with her fingernail, she murmured, “Very pretty. Too bad I’m going to have to kill you.”

He chose that moment to look up, directly into the camera. Straight into her eyes. Alya snatched her hand from the screen.

Her assistant buzzed. “Ms. Adad? Mr. Faustin and Mr. Silver are here.”

Mikhail continued to stare into the camera lens. She could not shake the feeling that he was tracking her with his uncanny eyes. Alya turned off the monitor, annoyed that he could rattle her with a trick like that. She checked her knives and leaned back in her chair. “Send them in.”

When Mikhail walked through the door the curtains stirred and the air temperature dropped. In a glance he took in every detail of the room, just as she would, memorizing the layout, cataloging the feeders, Dominick, and hanging Frank, and tucking that information away for future use.

Alya stood to greet him. She sampled his power, letting it brush over her skin before shaking it off with a shiver, like a cat that’s been stroked backward.

Their eyes locked and held without the camera as intermediary. She’d not been challenged so directly for a long time.

For the briefest moment, she glimpsed him as the angelic boy he’d been, kissing her with a smile. Was that really him? Had that girl been her? Some version of them, maybe. An incarnation on another plane. Butterflies filled her stomach, a visceral memory of how he’d once thrilled her. She hardened herself against the unsettling feeling. Sentimentality was a dangerous luxury.

“Knyaz,” she said, inclining her head without lowering her eyes. She used the title he’d be known by among his own people.

“Knyaginya,” he said, his gaze level, his hands folded in front of him, his expression that of a church saint. His use of the feminine honorific made her smile. It was quite an ugly mouthful. And properly, she should be knyaz too. She was no one’s princess.

“To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?”

Mikhail gestured to his lawyer. Alya had forgotten the man even existed, but he’d been standing there at Mikhail’s left shoulder all along, grey and unobtrusive. He stepped forward with a letter sealed with black wax and dropped it on the table.

“Ms. Adad, I’ve come to testify that this sworn affidavit from Natalia Faustin is certified as genuine prophecy by the Council of Mothers.”

What in the hell did that mean? Now she’d have to call in her lawyers to find out. She didn’t touch the letter.

Mikhail pulled back his coat sleeve, revealing a strange bracelet—no, rather a slender black rope coiling up his arm. She hissed as she recognized the magic crawling over it. How had security let that by?

Shit. Hoping against hope, she pushed her panic button with her toe. Dominick raised a brow at her. She made a subtle “wait” signal with one finger.

“Alya Adad, I declare you mine by right of dream, bound to me by fate and blood—”

And then she understood. He hadn’t come to kill her, he’d come to marry her.

***

Read excerpts from the series at Samhain, and visit my website for more excerpts, reviews and author’s notes.