Now scheduling a two-week tour for All Or None by Clive Fleury
This tour will be December 7- 21 (weekdays only)epub copy available for review
To participate in this tour please send:
Now scheduling a two-week tour for All Or None by Clive Fleury
This tour will be December 7- 21 (weekdays only)
Romance
Romantasy
Dark Romance
Paranormal Romance
Horror
Haunted History
Urban Fantasy
Speculative Fiction
Cozy MysteryNow scheduling a one-week tour for When the Magic Comes by Shereen Vedam
This tour will be October 20- 27 (weekdays only)Excerpt from Diamond Moon Rising by Celia Breslin
A thump from outside on his deck, heavier than the staccato taps of the hail, halted him in his foyer. More offbeat thuds sounded near the front door.
Company in this weather?
No one would venture up his private road uninvited…
He stalked to his door and released a bit of power in warning. If they were a shifter, they would likely take the hint. And if they didn’t… Well, he was a dominant wolf, a Beta, and one of the alpha’s enforcers.
They don’t stand a chance.
The feedback froze his fingers on the doorknob.
Female.
He inhaled. Damn, she smells good.
Human. Wolf.
Wait…both?
The copper tang of blood hit his nose. She’s injured.
He flung open the door and caught his visitor off guard, one small, white fist raised to knock. The woman startled then fell forward. Ross caught her in his arms then pulled her inside, kicking the door shut with one booted foot.
The petite female sagged against him, a shivering bundle of sopping wet woman. Underneath the dampness, her scent drop-kicked his gut.
Fresh and sweet, like apples dipped in cinnamon and honey.
His body perked up, taking extreme notice. A growl of possession threatened to tear out of his throat, and an ancient, primal energy stirred to life inside him, accelerating his pulse.
Holy hell, she’s my potential mate.
The scent of her blood spurred him into action. He lowered her gently to the floor. “Are you okay?”
His instincts urged him to check her for wounds everywhere, but he was a stranger and didn’t want to spook her. But goddamn, he wanted to touch her. Peel off her wet clothes. To see all of her and warm her with his body.
With a jacket covering her torso, baggy jeans hiding her legs, and a ball cap pulled low over her face, all he could see so far was her quivering pale chin, full red lips, and delicate, trembling fingers peeking out from her coat sleeves.
“S-s-sorry, d-dripping all ov-v-ver your f-f-floor,” she said, her teeth chattering.
Her snow-white fingers curled into fists, her arms trembling with the effort to keep herself upright. Blood droplets dotted the floor plank near her hip.
To hell with propriety. “You’re injured. Let me help you.” He pulled up her cap and damn near swallowed his tongue.
Big green eyes blinked up at him from a face so pale it made him think of moonlight. Drenched, short black hair lay plastered to her head, the ends framing features reminiscent of the fairies his sister loved to draw.
Ethereal beauty. Want her to be my beauty.
She flinched and batted his hand away. “Stop,” she rasped before listing to her side, her body trembling.
With the cold or fear?
He desperately didn’t want her to be afraid. “Sorry. Please, let me help you. I’m Ross. You’re safe here. I promise.”
Excerpt
IN A FORGOTTEN CASTLE IN WYLDERLAND…
Alone with Grendel, the man she had been tempted to love, the prince she loathed, Vynasha didn’t want to wake up. Let her sleep for a thousand years like the cursed princess, Morana. Let these walls crumble, the rose garden spread throughout the keep with thorns and vines to keep the world out forever.
“I know you are awake, Ashes.”
Vynasha opened her eyes. The prince stood before the hearth, his back to her. He hadn’t changed clothes since she had last seen him. Yet his faintly luminous skin had dimmed from bronze to the dull gray she remembered. “What happened?” she asked.
“A fever in your sleep. Odym says it was the runes.” Grendel’s shoulders hunched as he hung his head. “I should not have come, I know this. But I…” he twisted to face her. “Forgive me, Vynasha, but I cannot stay away from you any longer. I could feel your pain through the bond, yet there was nothing I could do to stop her,” he growled. “Do not ask me to leave you again, I beg of you.”
Vynasha should have been disgusted, but she was coming to accept the fact that Odym had been right. No matter how she truly felt, they needed each other. And she could not deny the way his words danced about her mind and breathed life back into her limbs.
“I wish I could tell you I was different,” he continued, “before my mother cursed me. But the truth is, I was always a monster.” Grendel drew his shoulders back and lifted his chin, pushing away from the fireplace mantel. He shook his head and held his hands before him, palms upturned. “I never wanted to be my father. I shall not make his mistakes, and so I will be honest with you, Ash. No more secrets.”
She shuddered and desperately wished she could bathe, could banish dreams of Nymwe and be rid of the prince. The dread she felt before only grew as Grendel paused, clenching his fists as though steeling himself for words he could not take back.
“I owe you everything, so much more than you know. When you willingly accepted the curse, you took some of the monster into you. I have not been forced to change into a beast ever since. It has given me time to remember myself in your absence, who I was and who I hope to be.”
Vynasha ground her sharp teeth. So they not only shared a bond with his spirit, but she had taken part of his beast? That they were forced to share something she had learned to take pride in made her ill.
Whatever he saw in her face must have pained him, enough for him to turn away. “Forgive me. I shall go. I should have never hoped…” He shook his head, dispelling whatever he might have said as he took two more steps to the door.
She traced the tip of her tongue on her lip, tasting the blood she spilled to forget. His hand was on the doorknob when she said, “Wait.” The strength behind her command surprised her and caused the prince to freeze in place.
Vynasha lifted her hand with surprising ease. “Stay?”
We need each other.
His graying skin flickered to golden life as he turned with hope burning in his violet eyes. “Always.”
At his word, his promise, Vynasha released the breath she didn’t know she had been holding. Even then, a small corner of her mind railed against her actions, at the feelings she couldn’t seem to control. It must Grendel’s influence, his feelings trickling through their bond.
This is wrong.
Still, she couldn’t deny how the persistent itch beneath her skin abated with him beside her, holding her hand. It shouldn’t have mattered. Truly, she hated how easily she gave in to these feelings. She could never tell him. Grendel had bound her life to his. Even if she were to leave, to beg the wylderfolk to take her back into their home, she would never be rid of him. And the longer she remained in the prince’s castle, the less she wanted to be free.