Taste Me Giveaway with Tamara Hogan

If I had to choose one aspect of writing paranormal or urban fantasy romance as my favorite, I’d have to say the world-building. All authors, regardless of genre or sub-genre, engage in world-building to some degree, but those of us who write paranormal, urban fantasy, futuristic and sci-fi novels? World-building on steroids!

One of the things that appealed about building the Underbelly Chronicles’ world was answering “What if?” questions. When writing Taste Me, one of the first matters I had to consider was my characters’ origin story. If I was going to propose that mythological creatures were real—and I was—how did they come to exist in the first place? Did they evolve here, alongside humanity, or did they come from someplace else entirely? I found the scope of the latter idea to be much more fertile ground from a story-telling perspective. What if, long ago, a spaceship crashed here, marooning the survivors? What if, given the behavior they observed in the local population, they influenced our history and mythology so they could coexist with the locals, hiding in plain sight?

The survivors—incubi, succubi, sirens, Valkyrie, vamps, werewolves and faeries—all have biological strengths and weaknesses that prevent any one species from becoming too dominant. In the Underbelly world, Valkyrie are gloriously physical creatures, possessing hyperactive metabolic, adrenal and hormonal systems and living by the adage, “Food, fight, f*ck”—but their body chemistry gets seriously out of whack if they can’t expend all that excess energy. My vampires are allergic to UV rays, eat food, and yes, drink blood—only because it’s a biological imperative. They cannot ‘make’ other vampires with their bite, but biting—and being bitten—are highly erotic. They possess massive personal glamour, and the strongest among them can influence others’ thoughts—unless they’re dealing with a species with innate buffers, like the faeries. Physically tending toward frailty, faeries compensate with strong empathic powers, and they’re revered as healers, therapists and artisans. Werewolves, the only shape shifters in the Underbelly Chronicles world, give the Valkyrie a run for their money in the physicality department. They are vocal, exuberant, and can shift to lupine form at will. Incubi and succubi must absorb emotional energy for sustenance, and emit pheromones which render them sexually irresistible. Sirens manipulate and amplify emotional energy with their voices. All the species share enough of a genetic base that they can mate with and reproduce with each other—and they have, for centuries.

Given the characters of the Underbelly Chronicles share the planet with humans, they can’t remain entirely separate from us. They have human friends, they have jobs, but their number one priority is keeping their true origins secret. They are some aspects of earth culture they’ve completely assimilated into, but others that are distinctly separate: their ruling council, hospitals, their justice system, their spiritual beliefs, and cultural institutions, including definitions of romantic and family relationships which are rather more flexible than ours.

As a writer, I get to create species, cultures, institutions, and re-interpret history to suit my own purposes. I get to visit this world I’ve created, again and again, every day I write. What could be more fun?

Read an excerpt! (mature readers only)


TASTE ME BY TAMARA HOGAN – IN STORES MARCH 2011

Hot, sexy urban fantasy romance by a new author with talent to burn…

He Wants Her So Badly He Can Taste It…

Ever since their tempestuous fling years ago, incubus Lukas Sebastiani has known that siren Scarlett Fontaine was meant to be his. But when you’re a sex demon with an insatiable desire, relationships are way more than complicated…

Her Siren Songs Bring Men to Their Knees…
Rock star Scarlett Fontaine desperately needs a break after a grueling tour. But with murder and mayhem surrounding her band, and the one man she never thought to see again put to the task of protecting her, life is going to be anything but peaceful…

Every encounter between them creates more turmoil—and heat—until Scarlett pushes Lukas to the boiling point, and unleashes forces that go way beyond anything she can hope to control…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tamara Hogan loathes cold and snow, but nonetheless lives in the Minneapolis exurbs with her partner Mark and two naughty cats. When she’s not telecommuting as a quality and process engineer for a global networking company, she writes urban fantasy with a sci-fi twist. Taste Me was a 2009 Daphne Paranormal Winner and Golden Heart paranormal finalist under the title Underbelly. For more information, please visit http://www.tamarahogan.com/ .

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Exclusive Excerpt of Glimmer & a Giveaway

As part of Vivi Anna's virtual book tour for her new book Glimmer she has stopped here to offer an exclusive excerpt along with the chance for one lucky reader to win a copy of Glimmer.

Exclusive Excerpt: GLIMMER by Vivi Anna, copyright February 2011

I sprinted down the stairs and out the balcony doors in a panicky rush, praying under my breath that he was still alive. I would never forgive myself if he had died on his own, alone and without help.

As I neared him, I saw fresh angry red scratches on his hands, arms, and face. Fearing the worse, I crouched down and placed my fingers on his neck to feel for a pulse. “Da?”

He groaned and I let the breath I was holding go, mumbling a thank you to the benevolent spirit that had heard my prayer. His pulse was strong under my fingers.

I rolled him onto his back. That was when I saw the four-inch creature licking blood from a tiny cut on my father’s chin. In a flash, its tiny head came up and it hissed at me, its thin lips stained crimson.

However many stories tell about the playful and whimsical nature of pixies, I knew the truth.

There was no whimsy in the creature’s slanted opaque eyes as it glared and spat like a wild cat. I could feel the malevolence wafting off it like steam from a scalding shower.

Games of fancy were not on its mind. Thoughts of blood and pain were definitely more like it by the look of venom on its tiny periwinkle face. Distending its long vicious claws, it leapt.

Luckily, I had quick reflexes and I managed to snag the little creature, arms pinned to its sides, in my fist before it could rip out my eye, which it had definitely been aiming for.

“Letz me go, wicked girl!” it shrieked.

Its voice was high pitched like a bell and inaudible to most people. But I had great hearing and discerned every single syllable it snarled. “Why are you here? How did you get here?”

The pixie struggled in my grip but I had no intention of letting go, not until I received some answers.

“Iz always here, stupidz.”

“I’d watch your little mouth, pest.” I increased the pressure of my grasp. “Why did you attack my father?”

It thrashed about again, trying to release its limbs so it could rip and tear into me. But I didn’t relinquish my hold. Fury lifted its blue lips into a cruel snarl, and I could plainly see two rows of tiny razor-like teeth. I had no time to respond to its intentions before it sunk those fangs into the meaty part of my thumb.

I yelped and nearly opened my hand, but I caught myself before I freed my prisoner. Cringing from the sharp pain singing up my arm, I gritted my teeth and asked my question again. “Why did you attack my father? Answer me or I will squeeze you like a tube of toothpaste.”

As the pixie unhooked its teeth from my flesh and glared, blood trickled down my wrist to drip onto my pants. Its hungry gaze eyed the red path with ruthless enthusiasm. Like a thin black worm, its tongue snaked out of its gaping mouth and lapped at the crimson feast.

Angry, I increased the pressure on its body. True to my word, I squeezed the little bugger like a tube of white goo.

“Stopz! Stopz!” It yelped and thrashed about. “Iz tell you want youz wantz.”

I released the pressure a little. “Go ahead.”

“Nightfallz tell me.”

“Who in Nightfall? What’s the person’s name?”

It shrugged its bony shoulders. “Iz no not.”

My father groaned again and I looked down at his slack face, marred by angry red marks. He was an old man, fragile and innocent. He didn’t deserve this fate. Rage blossomed inside me. I shook with it. Squeezing the pixie hard, I stared into its eyes and spoke low, my voice as cold as brittle ice, “Tell. Me. Who.”

It shook its head back and forth and moaned, “Iz no name. Just hearz a whisper on the windz.”

“What did it say? What were the words?”

I could see the hesitation on its face so I squeezed even harder. Its face darkened to a deep purple as the air left its tiny lungs. After one final struggle, it slumped in my fist and murmured on one of its final puffs of air, “Killz Jason Decker.” ****

This scene is one of my favorites in my book Glimmer. If I had to pick a scene that embodied everything I was trying to convey with my words it would be this one. The mood is one of danger and urgency and even a sense of the mysterious. That is how I pictured Glimmer. It’s a scene like this, for me, that makes all the time and sweat blood and tears I put into writing worth it. I’m very proud of this scene. I’m proud of the book. And I hope that you dear readers enjoy it as much as I did writing it.

Thanks to Roxanne for hosting me today!!

Have you ever read something that just took your breath away, that stuck with you even after you finished the book?

Answer in the comments of this post for your chance to win an ecopy of Glimmer!

Winner Wednesday

The winners of It Happened One Bite by Lydia Dare are Jen B. and Rena Rossner

2 winners of Master and Apprentice are debbie and Vivien

the 2 winners of The Art of Seducing a Naked Werewolf are Bethie and jmspettoli

The 3 winners of the 500 Business Cards giveaway are Anonymous , Beth , and Mysti

Congrats

Guest Blog and Giveaway with Suzanne Rock

The Writing Dead with Suzanne Rock

Ever have those days where you just want to shoot your manuscript (or a book you’re reading) in the head?

I do. In fact, I had one of those days today. When I started writing, things were going great in my story. The words were flowing and the characters were behaving. Then I hit a new scene. All of a sudden, my bright, vibrant characters coughed and sputtered, then developed a raging fever.

I tried to force the issue, banging those words out and pushing through the plot. Now the entire manuscript seems to be limping along with foam in its mouth and blood on its fingers, eager to sink its teeth into my creativity and tear it to shreds. Yup, you guessed it, I’ve hit a wall. It turns out that this wall is in the middle of my book, and it’s a rather common phenomenon.

It’s so common in fact, that people have given it a name. When reading, people refer to it as the sagging middle. When writing, things can go so slow that they stall all together. Then it’s often called writer’s block.

I prefer to call it the “writing dead.” :-)

In my story, I know who these characters are and where they came from. I also know where I want them to go. So what’s the problem? My characters don’t want to go where they need to be. They’re resisting me, and as a result, they’re taking a detour from the story. For some reason, the words are harder and harder to get out onto the paper. The characters have lost their glow and have become sick and lifeless. I’ve begun to lose interest. That’s the worst part.

If the writer loses interest, you can better believe the reader will, too. Part of me wants put the story out of its misery. Much like Rick Grimes in the Walking Dead series, I flex my fingers on my pistol and watch the half-finished manuscript drag its mangled body to the finish far out on the horizon. The story has a long way to go and it seems like it will never get there. It’s suffering.

One bullet and I would end the torture and let it die an honorable death. I’d bury it someone on my hard drive, never to see the light of day. But everyone knows that if you fire that shot, the noise would bring more zombies. I’d probably encounter a similar problem with the next manuscript, and the next. Wouldn’t it be better to grow as a writer and figure out what happened?

There are many reasons why a scene can drag, and even more reasons why writers suffer from writer’s block. The most common problem involves pacing. In a good book, conflict is at the forefront of every page. If the writer drops the conflict, if the characters take a detour in the plot or pause to expand on backstory, the pacing slows, and the reader loses interest. The more conflict you have, the faster the pacing. Okay, that’s all well and good. The trick is, how do I add more conflict – aka more life -- to my manuscript?

Some people add a more characters and subplot, some add a bit of action. I prefer to take a deeper look at my characters. Many times conflict can be inherent in their personalities.

For example, in my new release Dark Obsession, my hero Javier is an ancient vampire. He has maintained old fashioned values from an era long ago. Back when he was first turned, men were in charge and everything had a place. Things were always black and white. My heroine on the other hand, had to learn to adapt to a changing society. Once, a long time ago, she was timid and fragile. Circumstance made her hard and cunning. When Catherine and Javier reunite at the beginning of the story, it didn’t go well. Javier wanted Catherine to go back to the timid young miss he know over a century ago. Catherine was angry that he left her to fend for herself and wanted to shoot him in the head.

Much like I wanted to shoot this manuscript this morning. :-) I won’t shoot the manuscript today, and probably not tomorrow. I know that the answer to saving my story lies in the central characters. I’ll just need to spend some time with them and discover more of their likes and dislikes, so that I can layer more conflict, give them better direction, and tighten up the plot. In the meantime, I have a couple of questions…

For the writers, how do you overcome the writing dead? Have you ever written a scene that dragged? How did you fix it?

For readers, have you ever watched the Walking Dead? Are you a zombie fan?

One commenter will win a copy of my newest release from Red Sage Publishing, Dark Obsession.

Book Title: Dark Obsession

Book Two in the Immortal Realm series, but can be read as a stand alone novel

ISBN: 9781603106139

Buy Link: http://www.eredsage.com/store/DarkObsession.html

Cost: $3.99

Type: Paranormal, Erotic Romance Length: Category (~52k)

Pairing: mainly m/f, but it does contain a m/f/m involving main characters and m/m between secondary characters

Other kink: whipping, bondage

Setting: Egypt, present day Paranormal Components: werewolves, vampires, fey, demons, egyptian mythology Book

Information: http://suzannerock.com/?page_id=285

Bio:

After over a decade in the scientific world, Suzanne needed a creative outlet. She tried scrap booking, cooking, crocheting, painting, and piano, none of which held her interest for very long. Then one of her friends suggested writing. Thrilled with the idea of creating her own worlds, she opened up her lap top and never looked back. When Suzanne’s not writing, she can be found playing with her two daughters, testing her husband’s latest kitchen creations, or curled up with her favorite romance novel in her central Massachusetts home.

http://www.suzannerock.com/

http://trulymadlydeeplyromanceauthors.blogspot.com/

www.facebook.com/suzanne.rock

www.twitter.com/Suzanne_Rock www.goodreads.com/suzanne_rock

Blurb: Long ago Javier chose to walk away from one person that mattered most in his life. Now that he is free to once again roam the Earth, he becomes obsessed with making up for past mistakes. His mission is to gain Catherine’s vote on the Immortal Council, but when he sees her he realizes he wants much more than her support for the vampires. He wants her heart. When she disappears from the Immortal Council’s halls, he tracks her down, determined to get her to remember the past — and the love they once shared. Catherine can’t let the passion she had with Javier rekindle again — no matter what the cost. Much has changed since he abandoned her so long ago.

With the Immortal Council fragmented and her werewolf king abducted, Catherine has little patience for Javier’s empty promises. Still, Javier is persistent, and soon she sees the value in having an ancient vampire for an ally. A deal is struck: she will submit to his every carnal desire if she can gain his aid in finding her king. Unfortunately, things don’t go as planned, and their erotic interludes ignite the passionate anger of Catherine’s only fey ally. Can the three of them put aside their obsessions long enough to free the tortured werewolf king? They must do it soon, for a dark presence looms on the horizon that threatens the stability of the Immortal Realm – and will force Catherine to choose between her clan and her heart.

Guest Blog with Lori Green with Hot, Hexed and Bothered Excerpts

“Now what do you say, Kitten?” I hauled back and hit him with everything I had. It wasn’t enough. “I thought you’d purr, Kitten, not show your claws.” “Would you stop with this ‘Kitten’ bullshit? My name is Mikki and you’re Corbin the killer.” “Destroyer actually. It’s a family thing. My grandfather was Konrath the Destroyer and he passed it on to my father Ernie who passed it to me.” “Ernie the Destroyer?” “Good times, Kitten. We used to raze small townships on the weekends as a family. Three generations of utter evil, those were the good old days.” It was completely mad. We were standing in a backyard in the middle of Hell’s suburbia and the hunkiest, yet deadliest, man I’d ever met was waxing poetic about playing Pillage the Village with his family. “Is everyone in Hell a maniac?” There was a wood bench near what looked like a fishpond and I went to sit on it. “My friend is upstairs unconscious, you killed a woman for no reason and I’m feeling like the last bastion of sanity in an utterly insane situation.” “She wasn’t a woman, she was a harpy. Harpies have no purpose except making others miserable, so I did everyone a service. And Caryl’s made of strong stuff. She’ll pull out of this thing she’s in.” Corbin stood in front of me and I looked up; his face was unreadable in the darkness. “Well, it’d be nice if we didn’t end up with too big a body count.” “A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do.” He crouched and looked me directly in the face. “So, Kitten, you want to fuck?”

* * * *

Demons are fun. I know in most paranormal romances the Hell creatures usually aren’t a barrel of laughs but I just can’t see them that way. In my vision of Hell the Underworld is crawling with slightly looney War Demons, accountants, imps and way too many insurance salesmen.

When I write I like to amuse myself. What can be more amusing than turning assumptions upside down and making the most dangerous creatures the funniest?

I never plan who might show up in my stories and I loved writing Hot, Hexed and Bothered because the best characters ever decided to pay a visit.

The story began with two witch best friends but it didn’t come to life until they went to Hell and met new friends there. Once they arrived they immediately met Corbin the Destroyer and his nemesis, James Thomas Snerf. Once the insurance selling Demon, Ez, showed up, I knew I was going to have fun.

* * * *

“It’s the Hell-lands, you know.” Ez was positively cheerful. “Do what they say or Satan sends a nice big Sonnellion to eat your being and then where are you? Course if you volunteer, they just throw you in the pit and let you stew a few thousand millennia.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said.

“Sonnellions are pussies,” Corbin said.

“Do we have to keep him?” I asked Caryl.

“You wanted him,” she pointed out.

“My bad. It was the muscles. I liked the muscles.”

“The brain is the most important muscle,” JT said quietly while Corbin lifted his arm and flexed.

“Like this little witch?” he asked.

“Muscles are overrated,” Caryl said, “it’s about how a man listens to you.”

“Listening is good,” JT agreed.

“Listening is for pussies,” Corbin said, “unless I’m listening to a woman moan or an enemy scream, while I rip his balls off his body with my bare hand. Now there’s a pretty sound.”

“You have issues,” I told him.

“So why did you get sent to the Hell-lands?” Caryl asked.

“Oh that.” Ez’s smile finally dimmed. “Not a very good Demon, I guess. Hey! This is my road. East 68th. The missus is going to love you guys!”

**** I’m grateful to Noble Romance for wanting to give Hot, Hexed and Bothered a home. I hope that there are others who will enjoy my vision of a Hell that’s populated with insurance salesman and bus drivers and poodles named Fang. And for the readers who like me, want to have a side of seriously silly with their paranormal, I’m glad to not be alone. Dorky Demons need love too. Hot, Hexed and Bothered is available from Noble Romance @ http://www.nobleromance.com/

You can find Lori Green at http://lorigreenauthor.blogspot.com/

Upcoming Release Tease: Malcolm by Eliza Gayle

The third book in Eliza Gayle's Black Cougar Shifter Series will be released on April 5.

Here's a description of the book-

Malcolm: Book 3 in the Black Cougar Series

Publisher: Gypsy Ink Books
ISBN:
Genre: Erotic Paranormal Romance
Themes: Shapeshifter, Action/Adventure
Format: eBook
Length: Category Length Novel

He can run be he can’t hide. Not from duty. Not from danger. And especially not from the woman who forces him to face the truth.

Malcolm Gunn’s time is running out along with his ability to shift. When confronted with his past he thinks he’s found a solution. With the help of a little rope, he can let nature takes its course. Unfortunately the woman who is the key to his existence harbors a powerful secret that will destroy them both.

Cheyenne’s been hired to track and retrieve Malcolm at any cost. Her only plan is to get in, get out and keep her sanity intact. In that order. But she’s been warned…If he catches her, he will stake his claim whether she is willing or not.

Deceit and lies bring them together. Murder puts them on the run. Their enemies are closing in and there’s only one, irreversible way out. Some choices can never be forgiven and one man’s anger can destroy it all…Malcolm.

If you haven't read the first 2 books in the series, Lucas and Kane , you can check them out at http://elizagayle.net/books/ - where you can see their covers and read blurbs and excerpts

You can find the books for sale on AllRomanceEbooks.com, Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Smashwords.com along with several other online ebook stores

Eliza will be doing a 2 week virtual book tour for Malcolm where you can read interviews and guest posts with Eliza as well as read reviews of Malcolm and have the chance to win free goodies.

You can learn more at http://bewitchingbooktours.blogspot.com/2011/03/now-scheduling-virtual-tour-for-eliza.html

Review of Pale Demon by Kim Harrison

5 Fangs for Pale Demon Book 9 in The Hollows series

Description:

Condemned and shunned for black magic, Rachel Morgan has three days to get to the annual witches’ conference and clear her name, or be trapped in the demonic ever-after . . . forever after.

But a witch, an elf, a living vampire, and a pixy in one car going across the country? Talk about a recipe for certain disaster, even without being the targets for assassination.

For after centuries of torment, a fearsome demon walks in the sunlight—freed at last to slay the innocent and devour their souls. But his ultimate goal is Rachel Morgan, and in the fight for survival that follows, even embracing her own demonic nature may not be enough to save her.

My Review:

Wow- this was probably one of the best Hollows books yet.

We get to see a lot of the world of The Hollows outside of Rachel's little Cincinnati area. I had no idea the outer parts were so desolate. We've never really seen how bad the tomato virus outbreak really affected the human population before. Sure we've learned little bits here and there throughout the series but "seeing" the world along this road trip was an eye opener.

The road trip lets us delve headlong into the complex relationship between Rachel and Trent. Nothing like getting stuck in a car with someone for 3000 miles to bring more of the story between them to light. I always knew, right from the beginning, there was something going to happen between Rachel and Trent, even if it would break all the normal rules of romance novels. I mean they've tried to kill each other several times, or at least torture each other extensively, but there's always been something under the surface. Some would think it stems from their childhood past together, which is particularly true but there's much more there.

It seems Rachel is finally allowing herself to see Trent as a good looking male and acknowledge her attraction to him, even if it's only subconsciously. I just wonder if it'll end up with them together in a happily ever after. Rachel surely deserves it. Her character has been through so much over this series, she's probably one of the best written characters ever with the most growth as well. Harrison is a master storyteller and is fabulous at throwing in unexpected twists and turns that you never see coming. You get so focused on the story you don't see what's coming until it's in your face- which is fabulous because I hate figuring out the entire story from the set up in chapter one. I love a good surprise- or better yet lots of surprises.

I truly love Rachel and this series. I'm sad to know that only a few books remain before it ends. It will be a bittersweet goodbye for me because I love this series so much I hate to part with it yet Kim Harrison promises a happy ending-so hopefully it will be a fond farewell.

During the road trip from hell they have to battle elves who attack Trent trying to stop him from completing his mysterious "elf quest" that he can't share the details about. During one of the battles a demon gets let out from his prison-in broad daylight during one of the battles- and literally all hell breaks loose...under the sun.

Rachel ends up learning a lot more about Trent, elves, and demonkind during this trip. She also learns a lot about herself because of this freed demon and the time she has to spend in the everafter.

We get to see plenty of interaction between her and Al (I can't help but love psycho demon Al who is extremely complicated) and we learn more about the only remaining female demon, Newt.

In Pale Demon other characters are fleshed out- like Jenks who is finally moving on, Bis who we learn more about as a gargoyle, and Pierce who has always been a bit iffy in my opinion.

We also see some Rachel's relationships reach an end point- which is both sad but necessary.

Rachel has to face the witches council and an angry demon that can walk in the sun. How will she manage to get out of this one alive? Will she make it out alive?

The things revealed toward the end of this book might shock, surprise or amaze you- like what Trent's elf quest was really about, how Rachel fights the demon, and the abilities Trent has that no one ever knew about.

I eagerly await book 10 so I learn what Rachel is going to do next.

If you love this series you have to read this book. I devoured it in two days (which was over a month ago but I am just now finally getting aorund to typing up my review- sorry for the delay). Non-stop action, thrilling interaction between characters, and the constant wonder of "OMG what's going to happen next?".

If I had to pick just one series that I adore this would be it. Sure I love many, many books and authors but to pick them all apart deciding on which characters, flaws, story lines, settings, world building, etc etc that I love the most- well this series has it all.

If you have not picked up a book from this series yet- what on earth are you waiting for? This is a MUST READ series. Start from book 1 and just keep going. I swear it only gets better.

A Review of Taste Me by Tamara Hogan

.25
4.25 Fangs for Taste Me by Tamara Hogan





A great start to a new series by Tamara Hogan.

If you love all things paranormal you'll love this book. It has it all- vampires, succubi, incubi, sirens- all part of the Underworld.

But it has a twist. These supernatural creatures came to earth when they crashed here. Hmmm... tad bit of sci-fi flare added in to make things interesting and different.

I would have loved to see more sizzle between Scarlett and Lukas from the start but the world building and action are pretty good making this more of an urban fantasy book than a paranormal romance, though don't get me wrong once the romance hits the sex scenes are steamy.

The murder mystery, club scenes and song lists add more interest to the book. I think this first book builds up the world and characters in a way that will make the subsequent books in this series flow much better.

It's something edgy and new for the genre and I liked it. I hope to read more of this new exciting world Hogan has created.

Review of It Happened One Bite by Lydia Dare

5 Fangs for It Happened One Bite








Book Description:

He's lost, trapped, doomed for all eternity...

Rich, titled, and undead, gentleman vampyre James Maitland, Lord Kettering, fears himself doomed to a cold and lonely existence-trapped for decades in an abandoned castle. Then, beautiful Scottish witch Blaire Lindsay arrives, and things begin to heat up considerably...

Unless he can persuade her to set him free...

Feisty Blaire Lindsay laughs off the local gossip surrounding her mother's ancestral home-stories of haunting cannot scare off this battle-born witch. But when she discovers the handsome prisoner in the bowels of the castle, Blaire has no idea that she has unleashed anything more than a man who sets her heart on fire...

My Review:

The Dare duo has another winning series on their hands.

First werewolves now vampires...

Witty, wild, seductive, and sexy....I love the complexities of the characters and the intriguing plot developments.

Blaire is a feisty witch. James is the quintescental brooding vampire. The two have chemistry that sizzles right off the page. Toss that into a castle in the Highlands of Scotland and I was glued to this book turning pages as fast as I could.

Blaire being her mother's daughter thought she knew enough about her family heritage to get by. Too bad mom didn't tell her everything she needed to know... but family secrets always make for an entertaining read.

And It Happened One Bite is definitely an entertaning read filled with magick, mayhem, romance, and mystery all placed in a historical setting filled with paranormal characters that can be humorous and quite human in their feelings and failings. The bad guys are truly bad, the good guys are flawed and everyone is interesting and plays their parts perfectly.

If you loved Dare's werewolf books you are going to adore this new series, especially if you;re a vampire fan. You might even see a familiar character. But don't worry if you haven't read the other books this one will stand alone all on it's own.

I can't wait to read the next books in this series.

Guest Blog with J.E. Cammon

Precious Mettle

Hello everyone, and thank you for stopping in. Firstly, I want to thank Roxanne for letting me come by and write words; the more I learn about the industry, the less I take for granted, and opportunities like this are rare.

It’s funny what the mind chooses to keep sometimes, how its substance determines its character. I remember vocally musing in the computer room years ago with my roommates. The computer room is what we called the space where we crowded our machines together and communally gamed like madmen. Roommates is what I was blessed to call my best friends back then. None of us had yet to graduate, them with their technology degrees and me with my literature, so we all delved with equal veracity into the nooks and crannies of our desks for the dusty piles of copper and nickel when it was time for a food run. But I remember thinking how things would change for them when they started making their sizable salaries. I remember wishing out loud that my future had as nice and defined a road.

“You’re lucky,” one of them said in argument, “all you have to do is write one good book, and you’re set.” And I know that he doesn’t remember saying it, and I guess it’s a bit foolish for me to have held onto to such a flippant sentiment, tossed over a shoulder haphazardly as it was. But I did.

I guess I’ll learn if the statement was even true, but whatever it is revealed to be, its simple conviction affected the fire which forged my thoughts. There were other things said to me over the years which I kept, too, “You write well enough to do this for a living,” and “You just need to decide what to write, and you’ll be fine.” I stamped these into the precious metals and hung them on nails hammered into my synapses. In the night when I dreamed, the little electric currents skipped across that iron and made the words glow, back lighting my fantasies and my terrors.

I’m happy that this is my first release, a narrative treatise on friendship and trust, and all the ugly, hopeful things that people allow others to burden them with. I’m happy because it is friends, and it is friendship that has gotten me this far. Were I living under a rock, never having met any of the amazing people I know, it’s likely that I would still think about stories, but I probably wouldn’t have bothered writing any of them down, toiling over them line by line, hammering and smoothing them until the reader knew what I felt.

So here’s a blurb from a novel dedicated to friends, my release Where Shadows Lie: Bay City. I hope you read it, and find at least some of the good and true left there for you.

“A star fall's light briefly uncovers the obdurate mask of evening over a world that looks suspiciously like our own. What it illuminates is the underbelly of an eastern US seaport, and the creatures hiding beneath in an effort to understand, belong, and simply exist. Who is David, and why is he so far away from his clan? Before Nick, his only friend was a vampire named Jarvis, however Nick's only gift seems to be a curse: to bring change wherever he goes, so maybe he isn’t much of a friend.

“Where the three disparate souls find secrets, and answers to their questions, they also find a volume of yet more mysteries and it's possible that by story's end, all of them will have wished they hadn't been present on the evening when everything changed irrevocably forever. Is it worth trading everything to the darkness to know anything? After all, shadows lie, but what's a supernatural creature to do when where shadows lie is home?”

Incubus Character Interviews with Author Janet Elizabeth Jones

Today please welcome Janet Elizabeth Jones author o Incubus. This is a stop during her virtual book tour conducted by Otherworld's Publicity.

Writers can't say it enough: it takes an industry to produce a book, but only one person can give it life. That's you. Before you think I'm being glib, dear reader, let me say it this way.

A story passes through a hundred hands and hearts on its way to you, and it takes every single one of those creative, devoted minds to create, produce, distribute and put that story into your hands--but it takes your imagination to make the story real. Your imagination is the essential, ever-changing, ever new, magic ingredient in every story, and no two readers imagine a story in the same way.

Just so you know, you're the person I want to reach. You're the one. It's all about you. Whether you're near or far, struggling or safe, happy or sad, feel welcome on this planet or disenfranchised by society, whatever your story is, if my story fails to touch a chord in your soul that we share as human beings, or if my characters fail to ring true to the depth of your oh-so-human heart, then I haven't compensated you for the time, money, and trust you've invested in the book.

You may only be looking for a few hours of escape. You may not need happily-ever-afters. But we all believe to some extent in the power of love. We believe because we've seen it in our lives, or in the lives of others. It's out there. The kind of love we can give our heart to on our own terms and cherish for the rest of our lives. A love that won't shy away from pain or anger, the killer emotions that make us sick at heart and road weary. A love that won't shrink into the shadows the first time we shine our inner light in its direction. A love that answers to the name we give it in our deepest dreams. A love that speaks for itself. Incubus is about this kind of love.

My hope is that you will see in Meical Grabian and Caroline Bengal some of your own uncompromising courage, that stuff that gets you out of bed every morning. Okay, for some of us that's coffee, and though many of us would argue that coffee and courage are interchangeable, coffee doesn't sound as poetic as courage. And even if you threw away your rosy-tinted glasses a long time ago or find feel-good preambles like this one a little tedious, you have to admit, loving someone, and letting them love you back, takes a lot of guts. For Meical and Caroline, it's literally a matter of life or death.

Thank you for dropping by today. Now, I'll quit the warm-fuzzies and let my characters do the talking. Here's Meical Grabian, Caroline Bengal and Benemerut Neshi (aka The Alchemist).

Meical Grabian:

To save his kind, Meical Grabian agrees to participate in a dangerous experiment. One that takes his vampire's thirst for blood and leaves him hungering for something new. An incubus can be sated only with passion—but what woman could love what he's become?

Interviewer: Meical you're the first of The Alchemist's test subjects to survive the transformation. I understand nothing went the way either of you anticipated.

MG: That's right. Not even Neshi could have predicted the outcome. I survived, but I'm not exactly what he had in mind. I've been asked not to give any spoilers though, so I'll leave it at that.

Interviewer: We know what a vampire is, but can you explain what an incubus is?

MG: An incubus feeds on human sexual pleasure. He uses dreams to arouse his prey. It's his prey's passion that sustains him. Unlike a vampire, he's impervious to sunlight, which is why Neshi felt that this particular transformation would create a more normal--more human--existence for vampires. In essence, they become givers, not takers.

Interviewer: So...it's always your prey's pleasure? Yours doesn't matter?

MG: (grinning) Well, it's hardly awful if I enjoy it, but yes, my own pleasure does nothing to keep me alive. Only Caroline can do that for me, and only her pleasure. And to answer your next question, yes: it matters if there's an emotional bond between an incubus and his prey.

Interviewer: Uhm...you just read my mind...

MG: Sorry. It's a reflex. But yes, based on Neshi's initial findings, even if an incubus only meets his prey in dreams, his sustenance is proportionate to the emotional bond they have. He might subsist for a while on random, nightly gymnastics with someone he'll never visit again, but he won't survive. Eventually he'll turn ugly and gaunt and starve to death. And there can be no use of force, either. That gets you dead quicker than starving. It's a fail-safe Neshi built into the process. For someone who can turn you into ashes with a glance, he's surprisingly sentimental and old-fashioned.

Interviewer: There was another reason why you agreed to be The Alchemist's guinea pig, wasn't there, besides wanting to enjoy sunlight again? Your friend Ellory Benedikt and his family were in trouble, right? Tell us a little about that.

MG: Yes, Ellory was facing a showdown with an old enemy he couldn't possibly defeat without the help of our vampire community, but most of them were either too afraid to join his side, or they chose to ally with his enemy. His family--his mate Talisen and his adopted fledgling vampires--would be next to die. I owe Ellory a lot. If not for him, I wouldn't have survived after I was turned, so there's nothing I won't do to help him. The only one powerful enough to see the Benedikts through their crisis was The Alchemist, but like most of us, Ellory doesn't trust Neshi, especially since most fledglings Neshi encountered became fodder for his experiments. Also, it's a fact that Neshi doesn't give his help for free. The best way I could help Ellory was to make it worth Neshi's trouble to offer asylum. So I swore my willing participation in his experiment in return for his promise to protect the Benedikts. I really didn't care what happened to me after that. I just wanted a little time at sunrise before I died. That's all that mattered to me. Until Caroline.

("Meical Grabian was first interviewed on the Romance Lives Forever blog." http://romancelivesforever.blogspot.com/ )


Caroline Bengal:

Caroline's compassion and earthy beauty tempt the hunger Meical has desperately been keeping at bay. And soon Meical is visiting Caroline's dreams, seducing his prey while she sleeps.

Interviewer: Caroline, we know there are catastrophes that change people’s lives overnight, but it’s still hard to believe. One day you’re a successful child psychologist, and the next, you’re literally running for your life, hiding out in the back roads of the Poconos. How did it happen?

CB: I’d been working with my mentor and his patients in the El Paso area for about a year. Trauma cases are my specialty, so one night, he called me in on an emergency case at the hospital to help a catatonic little boy the police found wandering along I-10. He’d witnessed something so violent that he’d disconnected from his identity, but gradually, I was able to piece together who he was. He turned out to be the son of a powerful criminal the police had been after for years, and the information I uncovered while helping the boy enabled the police to finally bring his dad to justice. And that’s when everything in my life went wrong.

Interviewer: Because even from prison, he had enough influence to retaliate against you.

CB: Right. Bad Dad got mad.

Interviewer: I know what happened next is especially hard for you to talk about. His people did eventually get to you, and you actually lost a leg because of that attack. But something intervened that night and kept them from killing you.

CB: Yes, but I can’t talk about that either. I promised: no spoilers.

MG: Of course, Caroline’s escape so angered her enemy that he sent a professional assassin after her–I didn’t get to kill him until later–but from the moment he began hunting her, she didn’t know a moment of safety.

CB: Until the night I pulled you out of a snowdrift.

Interviewer: And that’s where your story really starts. And we’ll stop there, and let the readers find out for themselves what happened next.

Benemerut Neshi (aka The Alchemist):

In his human life, Ben was a physician in ancient Cairo. As a vampire, he's the closest thing to a druggist that vampires have, but his efforts to find a way to transform vampires into incubi and succubi have made him an outcast among his own people. It's a deadly process, and only one vampire, Meical Grabian, has survived it. Night Raven News wants to take a closer look at the vampire who made Meical's incredible, if perilous, transformation possible.

Interviewer: For the benefit of our audience, I'd like to explain, that even though your methods have made you out to be a monster, what you're trying to accomplish is a way to enable vampires to sustain themselves on human passion rather than blood. If they survive the transformation, ideally they'll even be able to withstand sunlight.

But during your work with Meical Grabian, there were unexpected results, and though we know the experiment wasn't exactly a failure, something definitely went wrong. We're not trying to give away spoilers, but we'd love to hear your side of it.

The Alchemist: I think it best that the readers find out for themselves.

Interviewer: Oh, come on, we won't think less of you. You're among friends here.

The Alchemist: Until I get hungry again. And that's not intended to titillate your audience. This is the legacy of my long existence: uncontrollable hunger. And it will only get worse, as I live on, unless someone intervenes on my behalf.

Interviewer: Someone like Shelby Mackleroy?

The Alchemist: It remains to be seen. She has her whole life ahead of her. She needs time to grow and live and be happy, to come to herself, to find her place in this world. Her world. Not mine. Regardless of the fact that she holds my life in her hands, it must always be her decision to choose me, or not. Until she is able to do so, the best thing I can do for her is stay out of her life.
In the meantime, I'll use what sanity I have left to keep working. But if I am to achieve a peaceful and pleasurable symbiosis between human and vampire, I must have subjects with which to test my findings. I claim the vampires who are unwanted, unprotected, hunting where they shouldn't be, preying on humans who are not their rightful prey, or trespassing on another vampire's domain. Regrettably, these are most often the young and weak of my kind: the fledgling vampires.

And before you ask me the next question on your mind: no, I don't allow them to suffer, though everyone thinks otherwise. I do have a heart, such as it is. It lies in pieces spread from one end of this earth to the other, and Shelby is the only person alive who can make it whole again, if I can survive my hunger enough to still be fit for her.

Interviewer: But if you can give vampires the chance to feel the sun again, like you did for Meical Grabian, I'd think they'd be flocking to you, even though there's a risk.

The Alchemist: It depends on the vampire. Some love the night; others still long for the sun. But even if they want what I can give them, they have to trust that the process is worth the danger. They have to trust my methods. They have to trust me--their worst nightmare.

Interviewer: Thank you for your honest answers to my questions, Ben. I'd like to know how things work out for you and Shelby. Maybe we'll be reading your book soon, and everything will turn out alright for you both.

The Alchemist: That is the hope that sees me through every long night of my existence, but only time will tell.

So now you have had a brief moment with the author and the characters. We hope this has tantalized your reading senses. The links to pick this book up in either print or e-book are below as are all the ways to stay in touch with the author.

Ebook- Incubus

http://ebooks.eharlequin.com/F3F33064-9D89-4728-B99B-5CFE126F7505/10/141/en/ContentDetails.htm?ID=10671153-E0E9-4A19-85EB-D1B8A6E847EF

Print Book – Incubus
http://www.eharlequin.com/storeitem.html?iid=22904&cid=$item.i_origcat

Author Places:
http://www.janetejones.com/
http://thenightravenmuse.blogspot.com/ /

Giveaway: Master and Apprentice by Sonya Bateman

Thanks to Pocket Books & Simon and Schuster I have another fabulous book giveaway for you.


Today I'm giving away 2 copies of Master and Apprentice by Sonya Bateman.


Book Description

A DEADLY CULT. AN UNBREAKABLE CURSE. THE RULES ARE SIMPLE:
LEARN TO KILL . . . OR DIE.

Luck has never been on Gavyn Donatti’s side. Anyone else with magic abilities inherited from a distant genie relative would have it made, but not Donatti, descendant of a cranky, shape-shifting genie named Ian. The prince of a murdered kingdom, consumed with revenge and driven by an unbreakable curse, Ian is determined to hunt down and destroy every last one of his enemies in the power-hungry snake clan—at any cost, including his life. Or Donatti’s.

Obsessed by his own rage, Ian has never really taught Donatti how to use his abilities. So when a powerful cult of magic-users captures Ian’s wife, the princess Akila, and then Ian himself, Donatti is left alone to take on dozens of half-djinn and their mysterious leader with designs on world domination.

Facing an impossible mission, Donatti is forced to turn to an enemy for help—one who claims to know how to unlock his true potential. Trusting a snake might be the last mistake Donatti ever makes—but if he doesn’t learn to wield the power inside him, everyone will pay the ultimate price.

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Giveaway: 500 Business Cards from All Business Cards

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500 Business Cards to 3 winners.

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Winner Wednesday

The winner of the Mardi Gras book mark is Judy

PL Parker's Absolution winner is Sherry

The 2 winners of Surrender to the Dark by LA Banks are
BookMarc Blogpants and Jen B.

It Happened One Bite Giveaway with Lydia Dare

When we set out to create our Regency paranormal world, we were taxed with the job of deciding who would populate our world. In the beginning, we had a very normal (human) heroine, Lily. That’s our first book, A Certain Wolfish Charm. So, okay, we have humans in our world, we know that. Now what else do we have? Regency rakes already had a lot in common with the Lycans we had in mind, so that was a nice fit. They were privileged, growly men who usually were scoundrels by their very nature. So, our Regency Lycans were born. We decided that only our males could be Lycans, though females can pass on the Lycan trait and they also wear the same birthmark as a Lycan male. But only the Lycan males are driven by the power of the moon.

Then in our second book, one of our Lycans got a little broken. Who better to heal him than a Scottish witch? Our course, our Regency Lycans had no idea Scottish witches existed. And neither did we, until we sent Benjamin Westfield off to find a hook-nosed old woman who could heal everything that ailed him in Tall, Dark and Wolfish. Little did we know that beautiful Elspeth Campbell had replaced her mother as healer in a coven of five. Honestly, we had no idea until the coven sisters walked into the pages with their various talents, charms, and powers. And attitudes. Lots of attitude.

So, now we have a world populated with the average, everyday human, Lycans and Scottish witches. Our third book was a girl-next-door romance, where William Westfield finally has to atone for all of his sins before he can get anywhere with the woman he has loved from afar – way afar because she hates him. Way, way afar. But again, this book, The Wolf Next Door, was Lycans, a human lady and a little Scottish witch thrown in for some humor.

But at the end of this book, we had a side heroine everyone hated. Literally hated. In reviews, people even mentioned this side character as being spoiled and hateful. And we had the bad guy from The Wolf Next Door, Dashiel Thorpe, who was a Lycan and he needed so badly to be redeemed. So, spoiled little witch meets bad boy Lycan in The Taming of the Wolf. We didn’t plan this book ahead of time. It just happened.

But sparks don’t begin to fly until our fifth book, when a witch with said sparks beneath her fingertips encounters a man who has been locked in the dungeon of her family’s castle. He has been asleep for twenty years, she soon learns. But he’s more than two hundred and fifty years old. Onto our stage and into our Regency paranormal world walks our very first vampyre, the hero of It Happened one Bite. But he’s not alone. When he wakes, more than one vampyre come calling.

By this point, we have Lycans, witches and vampyres in our world. Vampyres seemed to be a fairly natural introduction, and indeed they bring a bit of history with them that’s a lot of fun to explore. James was saved from death and introduced to a life-after-death by a vampyre who we met in The Taming of the Wolf, although we’re not sure how many readers caught the reference. Lord Blodswell is a former knight in shining armor. And he began the circle of three vampyres who walk onto our pages and into our hearts. The third, vampyre, well, he’ll just have to remain a mystery at this point. But it’s someone we all know and love, who is changed when he chooses life-after-death over death.

Our Regency vampyres are gentlemen in their own rights, and are in fact so gentlemanly that they would never bite the neck of a woman to whom they have not been introduced. It’s tough being a vampyre and a gentleman, or so we hear. We’re eager to hear how much you like these new additions to our world. And hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Here’s a question for you – what’s your favorite addition to the paranormal world? Dragons? Vamps? Lycans? Werecats? Or something else entirely?

IT HAPPENED ONE BITE BY LYDIA DARE – IN STORES MARCH 2011

He’s Lost, Trapped, Doomed for All Eternity…

Rich, titled and undead, gentleman vampire James Maitland, Lord Kettering, fears himself doomed to a cold and lonely existence—trapped for decades in an abandoned castle. Then, beautiful Scottish witch Blaire Lindsay arrives, and things begin to heat up considerably…
Unless He can Persuade Her to Set Him Free…

Feisty Blaire Lindsay laughs off the local gossip surrounding her mother’s ancestral home—stories of haunting cannot scare off this battle-born witch. But when she discovers the handsome prisoner in the bowels of the castle, Blaire has no idea that she has unleashed anything more than a man who sets her heart on fire…

The Dare Duo- Tammy and Jodie

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lydia Dare is the writing team of Tammy Falkner and Jodie Pearson. Both Tammy and Jodie are active members of the Heart of Carolina Romance Writers and live near Raleigh, North Carolina. Their next two books will also feature gentleman vampires: In the Heat of the Bite (July 2011) and Never Been Bit (September 2011)! For more information, please visit http://www.lydiadare.com/ .

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Upcoming Virtual Book Tours from Bewitching Book Tours

Check out all the virtual book tours coming up in the next couple of months presented by

Bewitching Book Tours.

Quite a few will be offering book and prize giveaways so be sure to follow the tour site so you can know where to enter so you can win

Glimmer Tour

The Shifters of 2040 Tour

Echoes and Illusions Tour

Catching an Evil Tail Tour

The Banishing Tour

My Frankenstein Tour

A Ranger's Tale Tour

Twice Cursed Tour First week of May

Sirenz Tour Coming Summer 2011

Guest Blog and Giveaway with P.L. Parker

Each of us has had our brush with the paranormal. Whether it be ESP, pre-cog, or ghosts, we all experience something—sometime. . .

The two story Victorian house stood in the center of lush green and gold fields in the heart of farming country. Care had been taken with the home’s renovation and the graceful lines, cornices and wrap-around porch were as fresh as the day when it had been first constructed, the classical lines and beauty a testament to the architecture of bygone days. An aura of mystery surrounded the old edifice, drawing passing strangers to stop and stare, moved by the richness of the pastoral scene.

I stepped in, standing at the doorway, allowing my eyes to adjust. I drew in a deep breath and let it out, marveling with delight. The interior was an antique collector’s dream—oak or maple wood furnishings, oil paintings and tintypes on the half-paneled walls. Throw rugs covered the solid oak floors gleaming from years of polishing by loving hands. It was as though I’d stepped back into another century. But something gave me pause. I suffered a moment of anxiety…tensing.

The scent of cooking wafted on the summer breeze. My stomach rumbled.

My host threw open her arms in welcome, chattering with excitement. “You have to take a tour of the house before we eat,” she exclaimed. “We just finished the upper floor and it’s almost all complete.”

I nodded, anticipation and the promise of food caused my mouth to water. We strolled through the lower level, the sun room, the sitting room, dining area and kitchen. Perfectly preserved as it had once been—but my nerves tingled.

She started up the staircase. “Hold on. It’s kind of steep and I don’t want you to fall.”

The staircase opened into a long hallway graced by oaken doors positioned in various places along the way leading out to an upper veranda. We meandered along, stopping to admire the wallpaper, the wall hangings, wood carvings, and the oak paneling before stepping out onto the deck. The view was fantastic. Farmland stretched into the distance tucked beneath hills and mountains towering to the azure skyline. Too beautiful for mere description.

“I’m starving,” she said. “I hope you’re hungry.”

She was a good cook and conversation was fast and furious. Our friendship was new and we hadn’t had the opportunity to visit very often, but we found numerous topics to discuss.
A grating noise caught my attention. I tilted my head, listening. Overhead, a door could be heard to open, steps walked along the upper hallway, another door opened and then closed. The hair rose on the back of my neck.

“Is someone here?” I asked, perplexed. I hadn’t seen anyone but her since I arrived.

“No, but don’t worry,” she grinned, a mischievous twist of her lips. “That’s our resident ghost.”
I shifted, suddenly uncomfortable. “Ghost?”

“Yeah,” she laughed. “He opens doors and leaves things around, but mostly he walks out onto the upper deck.” Blue eyes glazed over as she considered. “I think whoever it is died here and he’s looking for his lost love.” She shrugged. “Makes a good story. He doesn’t scare us anymore. Just walks around.”

Goose bumps rose on my arms. I shivered, unnerved.

“Do you want to see something really weird?” She jumped from her seat and motioned for me to follow.

Really weird? I’m not so sure. I’m not what you’d call an adventurous person and things like ghosts, witches and things that go bump in the night scare me. I believe! But I was an invited guest…

She led me up the stairs to the second floor and into her bedroom. She opened a window and leaned out. “See that round window out there?”

Dusk had settled over the panorama. Night would seen be here.

I leaned out, nodding as I located the object. About the size of a ship’s porthole like many old houses have.

She climbed out the window reaching for my hand. “Be really careful,” she cautioned. “It’s very steep out here.”

She wanted me to climb out on the roof! I don’t think so.

“Come on,” she urged. “It’s worth it.”

I inhaled, praying for courage. I climbed out, choking on terror. Vertigo seized me in its hideous clutches. Spots danced in front of my eyes. I felt faint.

She wrapped an arm around my hips. “Sit down and scoot along the roof.”

I slid down, thanking God for the brief moment of deliverance. I scooted as she instructed.

Slivers embedded themselves in my posterior, but anything was better than standing up. I reached the window.

She pushed me forward. “What do you see?”

I looked in. My eyes adjusted to the dark interior. The room might have once been a walk-in closet or perhaps a dressing room attached to the main suite. But no door opened from any wall. It was a closed room.

“What do you see?” she asked again.

I cupped my hands around my eyes to see better—shock held me motionless.

“What do you see?” She giggled, knowing what my answer would be.

“There’s a long wood box sitting on what looks like old sawhorses or something.”

I looked to her for confirmation. “It looks like an old wooden casket.”

Her eyes popped with excitement. “The ghost who walks comes out of that room, even though there’s no door. It’s been plastered over. We think it’s his body in there.” Her voice hushed.

“Maybe he was murdered and put in there by whoever did it.”

“So why don’t you bust the wall down and get rid of it?” Made sense to me. I wouldn’t live in a house with a dang coffin in it!

“We kind of like the not knowing. The notoriety. You know what I mean?”

“No,” I snapped. “I don’t know what you mean. I think it’s really creepy and I wouldn’t live here if you paid me.” Ghosts and people, at least for me, isn’t a good mix.

We crawled back inside and into the hallway. My eyes were drawn to the area where the coffin was housed. Nothing there to give any indication as to what lurked beyond.

Cold air swirled, brushing us with its chilling fingers.

“He’s coming out again,” she whispered, eyeing the wall.

My knees grew weak, my imagination rampaged. I had no desire whatsoever to see the specter. I ran from the house shaking in my shoes.

We moved from that area shortly after and I lost contact with my new friend. I often wonder if they left the casket as is or if they finally tore down the wall and found out what was in there. I’ll never know. I never went back to that house.

Absolution
by P.L. Parker
eBook ISBN: 9781615723164


Price:
Genre: Paranormal
Sub Genre: Paranormal
Novel of 94640 words
Heat rating: 3
Edited by Alison O'Byrne
Cover Artwork by Dawné Dominique
Print ISBN: 9781615723171

About the book:
For years, travelers in the French Vosges Mountains heard the wailing of a woman echo in the hollows. Her cries went unbidden. No one was brave enough to seek out the source. Over time, the screams lessen, then stop. Eventually, even the memories slipped away, forgotten.

Six centuries later, two over-eager research assistants find and release the young half vampire, Chloe—unaware of events they unwittingly unleash with her.

Far away, other forces are aware of her awakening. Zaccarius, greatest of all the Slayers, is sent by the Council of Nine to seek out Chloe, determine her worth and render justice. Enticed by her purity and innocence, he becomes her protector. However, Jochad, the Dark Master and his army of evil vampires are eager to claim Chloe.

In the battle that ensues, Zaccarius falls beneath Jochad’s army. To save her lover, Chloe must make a choice. Ancient and dying, Jochad needs her blood to reanimate. His ultimatum—her blood or Zaccarius’ life.

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