One Blood by E.F. Watkins

Title: ONE BLOOD

Author: E. F. Watkins

Publisher: Amber Quill Press, LLC

Purchase: Here 

Length: 232 pages

Prequel to my earlier novel, DANCE WITH THE DRAGON

Blurb:

Disgusted with his long, bloodthirsty existence, Jon Sharpay discovers a fresh challenge—the last living descendent of the arch-enemy who nearly destroyed him a century ago. He travels from New York City to Princeton to hunt down Kat Van Braam, a curator at the university’s art museum. But Sharpay also is being hunted, by two men—one determined to avenge the death of his pregnant young wife, the other a foreign agent out to recruit Sharpay’s paranormal skills for an international crime organization.

When Sharpay meets the brilliant and beautiful Kat, his plans for her expand beyond mere revenge. Kat also is drawn to “Dr. Sharpay,” the mysterious Eastern European scholar… until she learns his true nature and identity. Then she fights his enslavement of her will and vows to succeed where her ancestor failed—to keep this creature from ever harming anyone else. But will she be undone by her own “sympathy for the Devil”?

Excerpt:

A powerful force pulled the energy out of her. Kat knew she must be losing blood, but even that couldn’t be enough to explain this terrible sensation of life draining from her body. She could feel Sharpay’s hunger and intense pleasure as he fed upon her, drawing out something he needed, something that went beyond any mere physical substance.

At the back of her mind, Kat knew she should try to fight back, but both her body and her will seemed paralyzed. Her heart pounded faster, desperate to make up the loss of blood. She started to slip down into a dark vortex, the room swirling around her. She knew she would have collapsed to the floor, if not for the iron arm holding her.

At the same time, her belly stirred with another sensation—half sexual, half suicidal—to surrender and let him have as much of her as he needed.

It seemed an hour before she felt Sharpay, with difficulty, tear himself away. Released from his grip, she tottered and saw stars. He pulled up one of the straight-backed dining chairs and sat her in it.

He left her briefly. Slumped, head spinning, she heard him rummaging in her cabinets. He came back with a juice glass half-filled with a pale gold, acrid-smelling liquid.

“Drink this.”

Kat obeyed. The brandy seared her throat until she coughed, but then she drank some more. In a minute, warmth began to seep back into her depleted veins.

Bent over her, Sharpay pressed a finger against the spot he had bitten. At first Kat thought he was staunching the wound, but then realized he was taking her pulse.

“Much better,” he murmured, in a clinical tone.

She glanced up at him. No trace of blood showed on his lips, and as she watched, the sharpness of his canine teeth reverted to normal. The red light also left his eyes. His face had recovered a healthier color and his hair had darkened again, with silver only at the temples.

He spoke now in a cold, crisp tone. “After I leave, eat some of the dinner you’ve prepared and go to bed. You’ll have the weekend to recover. If you have to cancel any activities, make up a plausible excuse. You will come to my house again Monday night. Do you understand?”

Still dazed as a sleepwalker, Kat could only nod.

He gave her a last, tight smile. “You’ll be fine. You have an excellent constitution and a strong will to live. Just what I would expect from a Van Braam!”

***

To find out more about E.F. Watkin's writing:

Author's Website

Be sure to check out her author interview.

An Interview with E.F. Watkins

AUTHOR BIO:
Growing up in Cranford, NJ, Eileen always aspired to write novels. As soon as she could print, she began folding sheets of letter-sized paper in half, drawing cover illustrations and attempting to write "books." Her earliest efforts involved adventure stories about horses. During her high school years at Benedictine Academy in Elizabeth, NJ, she moved on to Nancy Drew-type mysteries.

In her freshman year at Marywood College in Scranton, PA, Eileen won first place in a college-wide short story contest. The real turning point occurred later that year, when a friend lent her a paperback of DRACULA. Eileen read it by flashlight during a thunderstorm and blackout in the dorm, and instantly knew that was the kind of book she wanted to write. More contemporary horror and suspense authors who have influenced her work since then include Ira Levin, Dean Koontz and Barbara Michaels.

Since 2003, Eileen has published six novels with Amber Quill Press LLC, five of them paranormal thrillers under the name "E. F. Watkins." Her first, DANCE WITH THE DRAGON, received a 2004 EPPIE Award from the national organization EPIC (Electronically Published Internet Connection.) as Best Horror Novel. Next came the "straight" romantic mystery RIDE A DANCING HORSE (as “Eileen Watkins”). Her third book, BLACK FLOWERS, was a finalist in the Thriller category in both the 2006 EPPIE Awards and the 2007 Indie Excellence Book Awards. She also has published the paranormal thrillers PARAGON and DANU'S CHILDREN. Her latest, ONE BLOOD, is a dark paranormal romantic suspense and a prequel to DANCE WITH THE DRAGON.

Watkins is a founding member of the Garden State Horror Writers, and also belongs to the mystery-writers’ group Sisters in Crime/Central Jersey and The Writer’s Workshop of Bergen County, NJ. She has taught fiction-writing seminars for the adult school in Wayne, NJ.

F. Paul Wilson, best-selling author of THE KEEP and THE SELECT, has said “E. F. Watkins is a writer to watch!” The Internet site Roundtable Reviews observed, “Watkins manages to combine the supernatural with everyday issues to create a world that is horrifyingly like our own,” and the magazine Eternal Night has called her "a true master of terror.”

A professional journalist for more than 30 years, Eileen has written about art, architecture, fine crafts and interior design for daily newspapers and local, national and international magazines. She shares her 1922 house in northern New Jersey with two cats--Bela and Harley--and decorates it with furniture, fabrics and accessories from the 1930s-40s.

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:

1) Links to website and list of books with purchase links.
Website

 2) How long have you been writing?
I’ve been seriously writing fiction since my senior year of college, many, many moons ago.

What got you in to writing?
I always wanted to, because as a child I was a voracious reader. I started a few “books” while I was still in grade school, but alas, didn’t get very far.

3) What was your first published book?
DANCE WITH THE DRAGON in 2003.

Looking back, is there anything you’d change about it?
I would smooth out some of the prose—I think I’ve improved along that line since then. Also, there are details I would change, especially about technology, because they date it as taking place around 1999-2000. I sort of solved that problem when I wrote the prequel, ONE BLOOD, last year. I gave it a prelude that explains both books take place in the days just before 9-11. That is significant, because a character becomes a remote viewer to protect the U.S. from terrorism.

4) What or who has influenced your writing?
In college, I got into gothics and—like many people—the TV show DARK SHADOWS. I also started reading Stephen King and Ira Levin. Of the two, I think I’m more influenced by Levin! I like to set my thrillers among middle-class, educated people and throw in a paranormal element that upsets their whole world and challenges them psychologically as well as physically. And like Levin, I also inject some black humor and emphasize strong female characters.

5) Where do you get your ideas?
I actually write about home improvement, interior design and architecture for a living, so places influence me a lot. The gothic Princeton campus at night; a depressed “coal town” where buildings occasionally sink from mine subsidence; an old theater under renovation that could be haunted. When I can people that kind of setting with characters who also capture my imagination, my plots tend to evolve from there.

6) What hinders your writing?
I hold down a demanding full-time job, so I always have to make time to write during the few hours that I’m home. On the other hand, I don’t have a family making demands, as many other authors do! Unless my cats are especially hungry, they’re pretty unobtrusive.

7) What genre are you most comfortable with?
So far I’ve written mostly paranormal thrillers, in which you know pretty early on who the bad guys are and the main question is how to stop them. That’s been my comfort zone for many years.

What would you like to explore?
I’ve just started a mystery series that’s almost “cozy,” with a psychic amateur sleuth and a bit more humor. I’m having a great time with that, but it’s a challenge to hold back clues and spread out the suspicion so the reader isn’t quite sure who is guilty of what, until the very end.

8) Are you a by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of writer, or do you have to use an outline to put your collective thoughts into some semblance of common sense?
Somewhere in between. I usually start on a book to get a feel for where it’s going, then outline a bit and still make adjustments as I go along. With the book I’m currently writing, one of the mysteries, I’ve been more seat-of-pants than every before. About ¾ through, I finally did some outlining, then immediately threw in a twist I hadn’t planned on! But I do know how I want it to end.

9) Which of your books is your favorite?
Usually the one I’m currently working on! But I always will have a soft spot for DANCE WITH THE DRAGON.

Why?
It was the first thing I wrote that I could tell had a strong plot and that I believed in 100%. I’m sure that’s why it was the first one to get published. After that, I tried to make all of my future stories just as compelling, because I’d gotten a sense of what worked.

10) Do you incorporate some of yourself into your characters? Personality traits? Likes? Dislikes?
All of a writer’s characters represent aspects of him/herself, so even my villains come from my “dark side.” It’s like method acting—you have to tap into times when you were extremely jealous, furious, desperate, etc. As for heroines, until recently most have been superficially very different from me, though with similar values. They are just a lot more courageous in how far they’ll go to stand up for those values! For the mystery series, I deliberately wrote a character who’s a younger version of me, and gave her similar tastes and experiences. The biggest difference is that she’s a bit psychic and I'm not! But as soon as she started doing the things she needed to do for the stories, she became her own person, too.

11) What do you think is the perfect hero/heroine? Why?
The “perfect” hero or heroine can’t be too perfect, or the reader can’t identify. I think you need a relatable but fundamentally good person. My heroine in PARAGON is very homely and can’t really change that. She gets a chance at love with a “perfect” man, but finds the moral price too high and has to make a big sacrifice. I think readers can identify with that sense of being flawed and rejected and are rooting for her to find happiness. Reviewers have commented on what an unusual and moving heroine she is.

12) What is your latest release? Please share the blurb and purchase info with us.
My latest is ONE BLOOD, the prequel to DANCE WITH THE DRAGON. A vampire travels to Princeton University to hunt down and romance a brilliant and beautiful archaeologist, the last living descendant of his arch-enemy. She fights his control, though, and resolves to destroy him. After centuries of preying on humanity, has he finally met his match? ONE BLOOD can be purchased from Amazon through my publisher’s website.

13) What do you have in the works?
The first book in my Quinn Matthews Haunting Mystery series, DARK MUSIC, is currently under contract with a publisher. I’m working on the second, called HEX, DEATH AND ROCK’N’ROLL.

14) Do you have any suggestions/comments for prospective authors?
Learn the conventions of the various genres and decide where your work belongs. (That confused me for many years!) Then you can still cross genres and break rules, but at least you’ll know that’s what you’re doing. Big publishers can be pretty rigid about categories, though, so be prepared to publish “small” if necessary.

JUST FOR FUN:

1) If you could be an animal, what would it be?
A horse. I’m even tempted to think I was one in a previous life. Why? I’ve always been tremendously drawn to them for their beauty, athleticism and sensitivity. (I’ve ridden a lot and owned my own Thoroughbred mare for a short while.) I think I share some of their faults, too—I also get high-strung, rebellious and a little nuts when I feel boxed in!

3) If you had super powers, what would they be?
Super strength.

Why?
I could fix a lot of stuff around my house and yard without having to hire professionals.

4) If you could be an immortal, what would you want to be?
I’d have to say a vampire, even though I’m well aware of the downside, having dealt with it in my characters. Why? Mind control! Who wouldn’t want to bend others to your will? I’d only use it on people who really deserved it, but--!

5) If you could change something about the world, what would it be?
Make people take the long view of how their actions affect others, and not just serve their own selfish needs.

Why?
Most people who do bad things are not deeply evil, the just don’t think and don’t care about anything that doesn’t immediately benefit them. Our whole economy and ecology have been wrecked by that attitude.

6) What would be a perfect date for you?
It probably would involve a spooky event or setting. A great play or concert, plus dinner at an atmospheric restaurant? A Halloween party with lots of creative types? Something unusual that would provide inspiration!

7) Is there anywhere you’d like to visit?
I’ve seen a little of the American south, but I’d like to see more. In Europe, I’d like to go to southern Spain. As I get older, places with a slower, more natural way of life really appeal to me.

8) Do you have any obsessions?
Actually, my fiction writing is a big one. If I go for too long without working on it, I get cranky and depressed. When I finally find time to work on my latest project, the clouds lift and I realize that’s what I was missing. It keeps me sane.

9) Do you have a crush on any actor/actress?
I do sometimes fixate on certain performers as models for my characters. I think it’s because I’m very visual, and to avoid cliches I need to picture someone clearly. Right now, I’m writing about a rock singer in his late 20s (my heroine’s client) who’s a mix of a young Alice Cooper, Johnny Depp and Cillian Murphy. That might seem like a weird mix, but you probably get the picture—good-looking and sexy but also offbeat and androgynous. He’s shaping up as a fun character.

Shiny Objects by Karenna Colcroft

Author: Karenna Colcroft

Title: Shiny Objects

Genre: Contemporary MFM

Publisher: Passion in Print Press

Purchase: Here

Format: ebook and print

Blurb:

Elena is happy in her relationship with her live-in boyfriend Corin. But when she runs into her former lover Niko at a party, she realizes she still has feelings for him. Her attempt to form a friendship with Niko goes off-course when the two of them kiss.

When she confesses to Corin, he encourages her to not only remain friends with Niko, but to pursue a relationship with the other man. At first Niko has no objections, but the two men soon become rivals, and Elena isn't sure she can handle being shared.

Excerpt:

When she opened her eyes, she jumped. Niko’s blue eyes were inches from her face, staring intently at her. “I wondered when you’d wake up,” he whispered.

“How long have you been awake?” She shifted onto her elbow and craned her neck to see the clock on her bureau. “It’s eight o’clock?”

“Yeah.” He ran his fingers down her arm, making her shiver. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas.” She kissed his lips. “Did you sleep okay?”

“Mostly. I’ve been awake a little while, waiting for you.” He yawned. “I’ll probably take a nap when I go home. I’m not used to sharing a bed with someone, let alone two someones.”

Elena looked over her shoulder at Corin, who lay curled on his side facing away from her. Their whispering apparently hadn’t disturbed him, which didn’t surprise her. The man slept like a rock.

“I’m not really used to the two someones thing either,” she whispered to Niko.

“Come here.” He grabbed her and pulled her on top of him. His erection bulged through his boxers. “Can you guess what I’d like to do right now?” he asked in a husky voice.

She glanced at Corin again. “What about him?”

“He’s asleep. If he wakes up, he can join in.” He ran his hands over her ass. “Are you sore from last night?”

She considered it. “A little.”

“Your ass isn’t used to a workout like that.” He pulled her down and pressed his mouth against hers. His tongue pushed its way between her lips, and his hands explored her body until, breathless, she broke the kiss. He grinned. “So I guess I won’t fuck your ass this morning. Just your pussy. Do you want that?”

She was still half asleep. Her body still ached from the night before. Despite that, Niko’s hands and voice made her pussy tingle, and she knew she wanted him, regardless of anything else. Regardless even of Corin sleeping on the other side of the bed.

Maybe he would wake up and join them. That would be a pleasant way to spend Christmas morning.

“Yes, I want you,” she whispered.

Niko’s mouth found hers again. He pushed her panties down slightly and slipped his hand inside them.

She moved against his hand and moaned softly. Her body responded eagerly to his touch.

He broke the kiss. “Take these off,” he ordered, snapping the waistband of her panties against her. “Not the nightie, though. Keep that on.”

***

To find out more about Karenna Colcroft's writing, please visit her at:

Website

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"Turning Passion Into Forever"

Chasing Booty by Shannon Leigh

AUTHOR: Shannon Leigh

ISBN-13: 978-1-60272-267-5

GENRE: Science Fiction / Futuristic / Action / Adventure / Interracial / Multicultural

PUBLISHER: Amber Quill Press

Purchase

BLURB:

When cops can’t catch the most-wanted criminals, they hire Gaelyn. She comes from a long line of bounty hunters, including her father, uncle, and grandfather. Extensive training in weaponry, hand-to-hand combat, and adverse conditions has seasoned her into a formidable opponent against any contracted hit, whether male, female, alien, or human. She has little fear of the unknown and thrives on adventure.

Only one other hunter matches her status—Reese, a Trøndite from the small planet of Sør-Trøndalag in the Capricornus Sector. And the man has a knack for stealing her contracts. Both cunning and gorgeous, the mix doesn’t seem quite fair. But attractiveness holds little power over money. Reese had beaten Gaelyn out of a half-year’s pay a scarce three months ago, and she’ll be damned if he’ll outwit her again.

Thinking she’s duped Reese back onto Jupiter, Gaelyn isn’t too happy when she runs into him on Quaoar at the Blue Moon, an authentic hole-in-the-wall bar tucked at the end of a narrow alley in what would be considered the rough part of town; just the place to find her contracted hit. But Reese not only has the information she needs to find her mark, he also has a business proposal that’s too tempting to pass up. And a partnership with Reese just might prove rewarding in a way Gaelyn never expects...

***

EXCERPT:
An empty alley greeted her. She scanned the pathway from front to back, top to bottom, slowly making her way behind the bar. It appeared as though he’d vanished.

He’s here…

Her eyes strained to see an outline, a shape, anything.

I know he’s here!

But without her de-cloaking goggles, she’d never see him, even if he stood against the wall right in front of her.

That slimy son of a…

She spotted what looked to be an article of clothing tucked behind a pile of empty crates near the back door. Using the toe of her boot, she pulled the item from its hiding spot. Instantly recognizing the khaki pants, she knew she’d been duped.

“Dammit!” Re-holstering her weapon, she retraced her steps and went back inside the bar. Ignoring the bewildered patrons who’d all stopped to watch her entrance, she went straight for the counter.

“Where are the ice caves?” she demanded, not waiting for the bartender to finish pouring his customer’s drink. “What’s the quickest way there?”

The bartender nodded toward a shrouded figure seated at the other end of the counter.
Gaelyn gritted her teeth. She didn’t have time for games. Glancing at the cloaked being through narrowed eyes, she quickly evaluated any potential level of threat.

Male. Tall. Well-built. Who is this guy? Where’d he come from?

She hadn’t noticed him before.

With an air of “don’t-fuck-with-me” in her step, she made her way toward him. “The bartender seems to think you can be of some assistance,” she declared, stopping a mere six inches to the left of the man’s seated frame.

He ignored her, choosing instead to take a long swig from his mug.

Removing her laser from its holster on her left thigh, she plopped it onto the counter top. Her hand rested lightly on its black metallic shape, her finger hugging the trigger. “Well?”

“I can take you there, for a price,” he replied, his deep voice a thunderous rumble within his muscular chest.

Annoyed, she lifted her chin. “Name it,” she practically growled.

The man chuckled. “It’ll be steep,” he warned. “Perhaps more than you’re willing to pay.”

Gaelyn’s patience wore thin. They wasted precious time. Is this guy gonna get down to business or what?

Struggling to see his face beneath the shadowed hood, she leaned a little closer. “Look, buddy. I don’t have time for games. Either name your price or I’ll take my business elsewhere.”

He glanced at her, his onyx, deep-set eyes two bottomless black pits within his handsome angular face. “I want half the booty. For starters.”

Gaelyn’s breath caught in her throat. Reese.

He pulled back his hood, letting the heavy material fall onto his broad shoulders in a neatly folded pleat. “Hello, Gael. It’s been a long time.”

Her right fist doubled at her waist. With forced control, she resisted the urge to knock that superior smirk right off his handsome face. “Reese,” she said through clenched teeth. “I suppose you’re after the same hit.”

He shrugged. “It’s a sizeable payoff.”

“He’s my contract.” Warning laced her tone.

Reese turned fully toward her, his massive frame almost comical atop the strained bar stool. “Well now, seems we have a difference of opinion on that matter.”

He offered a grin so seductive it could melt the ice right off Quaoar’s frozen surface. The bartender’s description fit him to a tee. With his rectangular features—the wide zygomatic breadth, the broad jaw and flaring gonial angles, the prominent chin—Reese did look like the devil himself. Of course the red skin, horns, and barbed tail only added to his demonic appearance.

Gaelyn’s gaze dropped to the tight black T-shirt stretched across his bulging pecs and flat abs. Warning bells clamored in her head, but her inspection continued on to the waistband of his faded jeans, and inevitably to the generous bulge at his groin. An old song her father used to play popped in her head and it took everything she had not to belt it aloud.

The devil went down to Georgia, he was lookin’ for a soul to steal.
In a bind, cause he was way behind, he was lookin’ to make a deal...

Despite her fury, Gaelyn’s insides responded. Her stomach knotted with instant need, causing her pussy to clench. One couldn’t dispute the man’s virility. While they’d never “hooked” up, she couldn’t deny her attraction. She’d be willing to bet half the contracted pay that he’d be awesome in bed.

She’d heard Trøndite males had large penises, that they were, in fact, able to do extraordinary things with their members. She wasn’t sure what those things might be, but the swell in his pants clearly indicated his considerable endowed. She imagined herself down on all fours with Reese up behind her, pounding his big cock in and out of her tight channel.

Moisture seeped between her legs, making her leather pants cling to her crotch most uncomfortably. The room felt hot. She hadn’t had a good fuck in quite a while. Perhaps they’d work that into the deal...

***

If you like audiobooks, be sure to check out the audio version available from Audio Minx.

Shannon Leigh
“Giving readers the O in their erOtica”
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Coming Home by Anna James

AUTHOR: Anna James

TITLE: Coming Home

GENRE: Contemporary Romance “R” heat rating

PUBLISHER: Melange-Books

PURCHASE: Here 

FORMAT: ebook  - pdf, print (Lulu)

***Ebook giveaway to commentor. Leave email addy. Will run for 1 week.***

BLURB:

Two years ago, Christine Kincaid found her sister, Andrea, in the arms of her fiancé, James Buchanan.  This after Andrea confessed to having an affair with James and being pregnant with his child. Distraught and wanting to escape the pain of James ’s betrayal, Christine fled her home, just outside of Washington D.C., to London, England, her birthplace.

As startling details of her parents’ tragic romance come to light, Christine now suspects she was deceived by Andrea and is determined to return home and win James back.  Only James seems to hate her now. She’d known that it wouldn’t be easy. She’d hurt him deeply by leaving. But she believed that somehow he’d forgive her and they would finally be together. Why did he have such a bad opinion of her? And what was she going to do to make him see that he was wrong?

James Buchanan was devastated when his fiancée deserted him. He had thought they would be together forever.  But he’d been wrong. Christine didn’t care about him. She didn’t care about anyone but herself. If she had, she’d never have left him to pursue her career.  But what really bothered him was how he’d been so wrong about her.  Christine had been sweet and loving to him, but the way she treated her sister was just awful. Andrea, who was alone and pregnant, had needed Christine’s love, understanding and support.  All Christine could do was condemn her for her mistakes and leave her to fend for herself.  How could he have ever loved someone who could treat her own sister that way? And what was he going to do now that she was back.

EXCERPT:

Prologue

The night security man greeted her warmly as Christine entered the building. She felt a pang of regret for not even acknowledging the man as she rushed past him on her way toward the row of elevators located at the far end of the lobby. She stabbed the call button and waited anxiously for the elevator to arrive. I need to speak to James now. I need him to reassure me that things Andrea said today are not true. James loves you, she told herself fiercely. Andrea is lying. She has to be.

All right, so things aren't that great between us right now, she acknowledged ruefully. They haven't been for a while. Not since that horrible argument between us after his trip to California. There's so much tension when we're together and James is so distant, downright cold at times. We haven't made love in weeks, her mind tormented further. It doesn't mean he's in love with Andrea, she denied furiously.

The elevator arrived and she stepped in. As it moved upward her mind drifted back to the conversation she'd had with Andrea, her sister, earlier that day. `He loves me now. You had your chance but you were too focused on your career... James is a fabulous lover. He made passionate love to me when we were at that conference in California, he couldn't help himself,' she had delighted in saying. James is the father of my baby.

No! Her mind screamed again in denial. Until you hear it straight from James you can't believe anything she says. You know she would do anything to split us up.

The elevator car stopped and the doors opened on the top floor. Christine took a deep breath and stepped out. James's office was just down the hall to the left.

She could hear muffled sounds coming from his office as she approached and paused just before she reached the door. Who was in there with him at this time of night? It was late; well after ten o'clock.

"Its okay, Andrea. Don't worry. Everything is going to be okay," he said.

Christine stepped into the open doorway and froze in horror. Andrea was in James' arms, sobbing. He was holding her—so close—she acknowledged painfully as tears welled in her eyes.

"I am not going to let you go through this alone. I'll be there for you every step of the way. You can count on me, Andrea. I promise."

"What about Christine?" Andrea cried.

"I will deal with Christine," James said with chilling finality, and then lifted Andrea's head from where it rested on his chest and gave her a gentle kiss. "I promise, Andrea. I will be there for you. I won't let you down."

Christine gasped. James looked up. Their eyes collided and Christine knew the truth. She turned and ran as if all the demons of hell chasing her.

***

To find out more about Anna James and her writing, please visit her at:

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Gargoyle by Alan Nayes

AUTHOR: Alan Nayes

TITLE: Gargoyles

PUBLISHER: Self-published

GENRE: Biomedical Thriller

PURCHASE:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble

LENGTH: 400 pages

GARGOYLES is book one of the sci-fi RESURRECTION Trilogy series. (Book 2 is PLAGUE, Book 3 RESURRECTION)

BLURB:

Brilliant pre-med student Amoreena Daniels needs money. Desperately.  Her mother is dying of cancer and her medical insurance has run out. When a seemingly perfect women’s clinic offers Amoreena a generous payment for service as a surrogate mother, Amoreena thinks her prayers have been answered. But then—much too early—her baby begins to move.

The strange dreams, another surrogate’s mysterious death and a drug-addicted former medical intern confirm Amoreena’s worst suspicions: there is something terribly wrong with the pregnancy. Amoreena embarks on a dangerous journey to uncover the truth behind the endless battery of genetic tests, sonograms and frightened patients, only to discover that she has unwittingly become a pawn in a high-stakes game of biomedical experimentation.

EXCERPT:

Somewhere near Itzimte Ruins, Guatemala, rainy season

She turned her first trick four months shy of her thirteenth birthday. Patricio had been a small man, only a boy really, being just two years older than she. His father had been a teniente in the security police that patrolled Mexico City, and he’d paid sixty pesos for Gabriella’s services. Gabriella wasn’t her real name then, but it was the name she’d used while plying her trade, and it was how she was currently registered at Las Canas.

Now, three years later, the teenage girl with the truculent almond eyes sat huddled under a gnarled tree limb, seeking refuge from the tropical shower. Her skin glistened moistly from sweat and precipitation, and she could smell her own fear above the pungent odor of the earth.

Gabriella stroked one hand across her gravid abdomen, then quickly climbed from the security and cover of the lush vegetation to resume her flight along the muddy carretera that would eventually lead her to San Andres. Nightfall was fast approaching. She pressed onward, prodding herself another half kilometer, though her feet and thighs cried out for rest. Surrounded by miles of unfettered jungle that comprised the Guatemalan lowland rain forests, she longed for a shortcut. There was none. And carved out of this most intimidating habitat in all Central America was Las Canas.

Wump. Wump. Wump. Wump. Los helicopteros. The choppers.

“Mi bebe!” My baby. Gabriella dashed back under the gloomy cover of the rain-forest canopy. She would rather risk an encounter with el tigre or even Desmodus rotundus, the loathsome bloodsucking vampire bat.

Wump. Wump. Wump. Anything but not the choppers. She could never return to Las Canas. Never.  

Gabriella clutched desperately at her stomach. It heaved with each laborious breath. She couldn’t maintain this frenetic pace; it was impossible. She forced herself to think through the tears, through the pain. She might still stand a chance if she could thwart their initial assault.

Wump. Wump. Wump. Wump.

“Que merida,”Gabriella cried out.

Her hands protected her eyes as she stumbled farther through the thick underbrush. Thorns ripped at her skin, and vines threatened to ensnare her ankles as if they possessed wills of their own.

She tripped, stumbling forward. Terror gripped her like a giant anaconda. Her breaths catapulted from her convulsing chest in short gasps.

Oh Dios, por favor, she prayed. Please God. If she could just make it to the Itzimte Ruins before dark.

High above her head, the canopy of epiphytes, vines, and towering ferns gyrated into a living tempest. The powerful downdraft from the Sikorsky’s blades created a whirlpool of flying debris.

Gabriella threw herself on the forest floor, cowering under the onslaught of tangled vegetation.

Wump. Wump. Wump. Wump.

“No!” she cried. “No!”

With nothing to cling to but remnants of past dreams, Gabriella began to pray. She prayed for herself. She prayed for Las Canas. But mostly she prayed for the bebes.

The men from the plantacion de azucar were coming.

***

To find out more about Alan Nayes and his writing, stop by his:

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Dirty Little Slayer by CR Moss

AUTHOR: C.R. Moss
TITLE: Dirty Little Slayer

GENRE: Erotic paranormal love story

PUBLISHER: eXtasy Books        

PURCHASE: eXtasy Books 

FORMAT: Available in: Adobe Acrobat (PDF), Palm DOC/iSolo (PDB), Microsoft Reader (LIT), Sony PDF, Sony LRF, Hiebook (KML), Html, Mobipocket (PRC), Rocket (RB), Epub (EPUB)

BLURB:
His love. Her soul. A slayer’s duty.
Jay, demon slayer extraordinaire, has gone rogue and is winging her way to New Orleans to meet up with Sophia. She’s expecting nothing more than a fun weekend hanging out with her best friend–until she receives an anonymous call. A contact has information she needs about a weapon and a battle. She arrives at the rendezvous only to find her demon lover, Ash, there.

She now has to make one of the biggest decisions of her life…follow her heart or fulfill her duty.

For your best reading experience, the Dirty Little books should be read in the following order: Secret, Lie, Trip, Girl, Demons, Boys, Slayer.

EXCERPT: AdultJay leaned back, gazed into Ash’s eyes. Desire and passion smoldered in his stare, combined with an underlying glimmer of hope. Her own yearnings for him boiled within her, stretching and coiling in fiery ribbons through her limbs, enflaming her body. She brought her hands around, cupped his face and placed her lips on his.
Ash swung his arms around her, embracing her in his warm cocoon, sending his tongue into her mouth in response to her advance. The second his tongue touched hers in sweet urgency, the bubbling of heated lust within her turned into a searing need for fulfillment. She threaded her fingers in his hair, deepened the kiss as far as she could go without making it look like she was chewing off his face. Their tongues warred, lapped within each other’s mouths, tasting woody and sweet from the drinks. Her breasts, pressed against his chest, strained against their confines. She wanted to release them, have his hands grasp the sexually stimulated mounds, have his teeth nip at the sensitive tips.
Reading her mind, he slid a hand between their bodies and molded his palm and fingers to her breast. She moaned into his mouth, and he smiled against her lips. His goatee tickled, but she didn’t stop their make-out session. They were too deep into the public display of affection. Jay was too aroused to have their joining end, even if they were making fools of themselves in the middle of the dance floor in front of the other patrons and dancers. She didn’t care. All her thoughts centered on one purpose—getting him into a private area where she could rip off his clothes and get his cock into her. She wanted to be where she could trail her tongue along the edge of his goatee and along the rest of his body, where she could taste every single inch of him in rapturous pleasure.
Ash broke the kiss, trailed his mouth over her cheek to her ear. “What would you say, my dear,” his voice rumbled in a soft, sexy purr, “if I said I would like to take you back to my room?”
“I’d say it’s about fucking time.”

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Love's Master by Gabrielle Bisset

AUTHOR: Gabrielle Bisset

TITLE: Love's Master

PUBLISHER: Self-published

GENRE: Historical Erotic Monster/BDSM

PURCHASE:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
All Romance eBooks
Smashwords


BLURB:

23 year old Lily finds herself widowed and forced to live with her brother and his family, including his eight year old son William, who is nothing short of a terror.  Sure she cannot go another day with his behavior, she begins to search for a new nanny and tutor for her nephew with little success.  But when she happens across an advertisement in the Times that seems to be the answer to her problem, she is set on a path that will take her where she's never been before.  Victorian England is a place of strict social codes, and the sensual world she enters is strictly forbidden for a woman of her social stature.

Her guide in this world is a man named Kadar, and the feelings he stirs in Lily threaten to change her forever.  However, Victorian society is never far away, and her brother intends on seeing his sister remarried and settled into a home near him in Regent's Park.  Lily will have to choose between Kadar, who makes her feel more alive than she ever believed she could and Captain Mason Danvers, the gentleman who can offer her security and comfort for the rest of her life. 

***Love’s Master involves light BDSM (spanking, blindfolding, whipping).*** 

EXCERPT:

The door closed and a mixture of aromas wafted across the room. Sweet and spicy smells filled her nose, along with other fragrances she couldn’t place at first. The variety was pleasantly overwhelming, and she breathed in deeply trying experience each of them.

She sensed him sitting in front of her, but she remained still as he’d ordered. Her fear had faded, and now she waited for him to hand her a plate and fork to eat the delicious food he’d kindly prepared for her.

“Lily, have you ever been fed by a man who wants to make love to you?”

The effect of his frank words left her speechless, and she merely shook her head. Was he going to feed her before they made love? Just the thought of it was more erotic than anything she’d ever heard of, let alone done.

“Open your mouth,” he said in his softly commanding tone that made her wish they were already finished with the meal and moved on to what was to follow.

She obeyed and tasted something sweet on her tongue. A wedge of orange exploded juice into her mouth as she bit into it. When she’d finished, his lips pressed against hers, and he kissed her, slipping his tongue into her mouth and tasting the remaining juice from the fruit.

As he pulled away, he whispered against her lips, “Delicious.”

She heard him open something, possibly a jar, and then he returned to her and ordered her to open her mouth again. When she did, he stuck his finger in and she closed her lips to suck sweet honey from it. Never before had honey tasted so incredibly good! Aroused, she playfully flicked her tongue against his fingertip as he slowly withdrew his cleaned finger.

Lily licked her lips and waited for the next taste she’d experience, but as she sat there, she realized she’d never learned the name of the man who was feeding her and soon would be inside her.

“What’s your name?”

She heard him stop what he was doing next to her, and for a tense moment, she worried she’d done something wrong by asking.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to...” she began, but let her voice trail off when she felt his lips brush the shell of her ear and his hand encircle her neck.

“Kadar.”

As his hand glided down her neck to rest on her collarbone, she said, “Kadar,” repeating his name as if to seal it in her memory.

Again, he kissed her, his tongue sensually gliding over hers and tasting the sweetness he’d just given her. His kiss, long and passionate, tasted better than any food she’d ever eaten.

He pulled away too soon, and she wished he would end his feeding her and proceed to making love to her. When he began to speak again, she sensed he saw the disappointment on her face.

“When a man truly makes love to a woman, it’s more than just thrusting his cock in and out of her, Lily. To truly make love to her, he needs to show her he can take care of her every need.”

As he spoke, his fingers lightly caressed her cheek below the blindfold. Leaning in to kiss her, he reassured her, “When I finally make love to you, every other need will have been met.”

Lily wasn’t sure how much more she could handle. Every touch, every kiss increased her arousal, as evidenced by the growing dampness between her legs. She was glad for a respite when he began asking her questions about herself.

“Tell me about your life, Lily.”

Hesitantly at first, she began to explain how she’s been married young but happily for just a few short years before her husband was taken by cholera. Overcome by emotion, both from memories of Jeremy and the sweet assault on her senses by Kadar, she began to cry.

“I’m sorry. I should be past crying by now,” she said as she lowered her chin to her chest. She may not have been able to see him, but she was sure he was watching her and she didn’t want him to see her face.

Silently, he lifted her chin and forced her to face him. Then, very tenderly, he kissed where her tears had fallen on her cheeks but said nothing about her sadness.

“Drink,” he ordered as he put a china cup to her lips and tipped it toward her. Slowly, she tasted a very strong tea and its warmth as it flowed down her throat eased her.

“Thank you. That’s quite delicious. What kind of tea is it?”

“Chai. It’s served black with cardamom. Did you taste that?”

“I thought it was cinnamon.”

“No, cardamom is sweeter with a spiciness. Like many great things, it’s a mixture of danger and comfort. Like the love I intend to give you.”

***

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