Showing posts with label Fated Mates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fated Mates. Show all posts
Her mind, impressive as it might be, was no match for the combination of her heart and body and their willingness to give everything she had, everything she was, to another being. To Talen.
────── ♔ ──────
Fated by Rebecca Zanetti
Standalone - Dark Protectors #1
Release - March 1, 2011
Genre - Paranormal Romance / Fated Mates
Multiple POV - 3rd person
Heat Level - 3.5 out of 5 / several scenes
Format/Source - ebook borrowed from the library / I own the paperback
Page Count - 336
Publisher - Brava
Release - March 1, 2011
Genre - Paranormal Romance / Fated Mates
Multiple POV - 3rd person
Heat Level - 3.5 out of 5 / several scenes
Format/Source - ebook borrowed from the library / I own the paperback
Page Count - 336
Publisher - Brava
Marry Me! Cara Paulsen does not give up easily. A scientist and a single mother, she's used to fighting for what she wants, keeping a cool head, and doing whatever it takes to protect her daughter Janie. But "whatever it takes" has never before included a shotgun wedding to a dangerous-looking stranger with an attitude problem.
Or Else! Sure, the mysterious Talen says that he's there to protect Cara and Janie. He also says that he's a three-hundred-year-old vampire. Of course, the way he touches her, Cara might actually believe he's had that long to practice. . .
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My Two Cents
Although I kind of dabbled before, I truly started my love affair with the Dark Protectors when I read Vampire's Faith. I read that story, fell in love with the world and characters this author created, and knew that I wanted more.
Reading about the next gen made me want to get to know the original heroes better. I went out, bought the paperbacks, and here we are!
And how could I not fall in love with Talen!
Alpha to the extreme, all he wanted to do was keep Cara and her daughter safe. Seriously, what guy puts his life on the line, dedicates his life to protecting someone he doesn't know... when it's not his job? And not only did he take on this duty, but he treated and cared for these two females as if they always belonged to his life. Janie was Cara's daughter, but now she was his. And nothing and no one was going to hurt them on his watch.
I really liked how this story evolved. Now that I know so much, it was fun to see these characters floundering. It's the start of the new war against the Kurjans and I had a blast seeing the Karys brothers unmated and fancy-free.
My only hangup was Cara. She drove me nuts! She was constantly fighting Talen for dominance and supremacy. Babe, you are not stronger or more capable than an immortal. Especially not an immortal who has been dealing with these enemies for centuries!!
"I can keep my daughter safe." Her eyes widened as he laughed. He actually laughed.
Just shut up dummy.
Overall, Fated gave me just what I was looking for — more depth, more plot, more action, more characters, more love.
Excerpt
Cara shook her head, dread pooling in her stomach as Janie left with the director. A slow anger began to burn away the dread. She glared at Talen. “So talk.”
He took a deep breath. “The discovery of your daughter has ended nearly four centuries of peace between my people and the Kurjus.”
“Janie? What people? The Kurjus?”
Talen pursed his lips, a frown settling between his eyes. Shrugging, he yanked a brown contact out of one eye, then the other.
“What the—” she gasped. Luminescent gold eyes glowed like molten lava. She pushed away from the table only to have Talen grasp her wrist, flattening her hand under his.
“Stay. There’s a lot more.” He smirked and rolled her chair closer.
“This is a trick.” She glared at the impossible golden hue, the heat of his hand overpowering the coolness of the table beneath her own.
“No trick, Cara. I am a protector of the Sanguisuga race.”
“Sanguisuga? Isn’t that Latin?” She’d only taken two semesters of the language.
“Yes.”
“For what?”
His grip tightened on her wrist. “Vampire.”
Cara coughed out a laugh. “You’re a vampire?” Her gaze swung to the door. Where was Janie?
Issuing another deep sigh she started to equate with him, he smiled. Two sharp canines instantly emerged.
“Oh God.” Cara struggled to yank back her hand.
“Do I need to bite you for you to believe me?” Interest and something darker wove through him, into her. She fought to block herself from his emotions.
“No. No biting.” Her mind reeled while reality spun away. “This can’t be true.” She shook her head. “But you were out in the sun. It was early, but the sun was out.” This wasn’t happening.
“The sun only bothers the Kurjans, Cara. We’re fine with a day at the beach.”
“They’re vampires, too?”
Talen shrugged. “No. They’re monsters.” His canines retracted.
“But they have fangs and drink blood?”
“Yes.”
“And you drink blood?”
“Only in extreme situations.”
“Extreme?” This couldn’t be happening.
“During a fight or sex.” He voice lowered to the growl he’d uttered just before deepening their earlier kiss. Something skittered through her belly in response.
“Oh.” Her mind flashed, unbidden, to his fangs. And sex. Her heart thumped once. Hard. “Why?” She stopped fighting. For the moment.
“Why what?” His thumb traced heated circles on the pulse point of her wrist, his golden gaze dropping to her neck.
“Why Janie? Why do they want women with odd abilities?”
Talen ran a hand over his jaw, his eyes returning to her face. “Janie’s special. You know that. Her psychic abilities are the strongest we’ve ever seen.”
Cara straightened her spine. As fear cascaded down it. “But how do you know? How did they find her?”
Talen scowled. “Both races can sense such abilities in humans, but we need to be in close proximity to do so. We don’t know how they found Janie. It could’ve been a fluke, but I doubt it.”
“How did you find us?”
“We have sources in the Meridoze gang, we heard about the extraction plan just in time.”
Cara stamped down on the panic fighting to rise. “Your peace has ended?”
“Yes. We were at war for hundreds of years until we both suffered too many losses. A treaty was signed prohibiting any contact with humans.” Talen shrugged. “Peace lasted much longer than anyone predicted.”
Cara narrowed her eyes. “You don’t sound sorry peace is over.”
Deceptively normal canines flashed in a grin. “We were made to fight. Plus, living amongst you, yet having no contact has been difficult. We need humans.” Golden heat ran over her face.
“For blood.” Nausea rose within her.
“That too.” His voice lowered.
Everything in her stilled, and even her heart may have stopped for a second. She lacked the focus to block the feelings coming from him now. “What else?” Her voice cracked.
“Both races are born male. Only. Our mates are human. And Cara,” his voice dropped to a rumble, “you’re mine.”
He took a deep breath. “The discovery of your daughter has ended nearly four centuries of peace between my people and the Kurjus.”
“Janie? What people? The Kurjus?”
Talen pursed his lips, a frown settling between his eyes. Shrugging, he yanked a brown contact out of one eye, then the other.
“What the—” she gasped. Luminescent gold eyes glowed like molten lava. She pushed away from the table only to have Talen grasp her wrist, flattening her hand under his.
“Stay. There’s a lot more.” He smirked and rolled her chair closer.
“This is a trick.” She glared at the impossible golden hue, the heat of his hand overpowering the coolness of the table beneath her own.
“No trick, Cara. I am a protector of the Sanguisuga race.”
“Sanguisuga? Isn’t that Latin?” She’d only taken two semesters of the language.
“Yes.”
“For what?”
His grip tightened on her wrist. “Vampire.”
Cara coughed out a laugh. “You’re a vampire?” Her gaze swung to the door. Where was Janie?
Issuing another deep sigh she started to equate with him, he smiled. Two sharp canines instantly emerged.
“Oh God.” Cara struggled to yank back her hand.
“Do I need to bite you for you to believe me?” Interest and something darker wove through him, into her. She fought to block herself from his emotions.
“No. No biting.” Her mind reeled while reality spun away. “This can’t be true.” She shook her head. “But you were out in the sun. It was early, but the sun was out.” This wasn’t happening.
“The sun only bothers the Kurjans, Cara. We’re fine with a day at the beach.”
“They’re vampires, too?”
Talen shrugged. “No. They’re monsters.” His canines retracted.
“But they have fangs and drink blood?”
“Yes.”
“And you drink blood?”
“Only in extreme situations.”
“Extreme?” This couldn’t be happening.
“During a fight or sex.” He voice lowered to the growl he’d uttered just before deepening their earlier kiss. Something skittered through her belly in response.
“Oh.” Her mind flashed, unbidden, to his fangs. And sex. Her heart thumped once. Hard. “Why?” She stopped fighting. For the moment.
“Why what?” His thumb traced heated circles on the pulse point of her wrist, his golden gaze dropping to her neck.
“Why Janie? Why do they want women with odd abilities?”
Talen ran a hand over his jaw, his eyes returning to her face. “Janie’s special. You know that. Her psychic abilities are the strongest we’ve ever seen.”
Cara straightened her spine. As fear cascaded down it. “But how do you know? How did they find her?”
Talen scowled. “Both races can sense such abilities in humans, but we need to be in close proximity to do so. We don’t know how they found Janie. It could’ve been a fluke, but I doubt it.”
“How did you find us?”
“We have sources in the Meridoze gang, we heard about the extraction plan just in time.”
Cara stamped down on the panic fighting to rise. “Your peace has ended?”
“Yes. We were at war for hundreds of years until we both suffered too many losses. A treaty was signed prohibiting any contact with humans.” Talen shrugged. “Peace lasted much longer than anyone predicted.”
Cara narrowed her eyes. “You don’t sound sorry peace is over.”
Deceptively normal canines flashed in a grin. “We were made to fight. Plus, living amongst you, yet having no contact has been difficult. We need humans.” Golden heat ran over her face.
“For blood.” Nausea rose within her.
“That too.” His voice lowered.
Everything in her stilled, and even her heart may have stopped for a second. She lacked the focus to block the feelings coming from him now. “What else?” Her voice cracked.
“Both races are born male. Only. Our mates are human. And Cara,” his voice dropped to a rumble, “you’re mine.”
About the Author
Rebecca Zanetti is the author of over forty romantic suspense, dark paranormals, and contemporary romances, and her books have appeared multiple times on the New York Times, USA Today, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iBooks bestseller lists. She lives in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest with her own Alpha hero, two kids, a couple of dogs, a crazy cat…and a huge extended family. She believes strongly in luck, karma, and working her butt off…and she thinks one of the best things about being an author, unlike the lawyer she used to be, is that she can let the crazy out. Upcoming series are: The Blood Brothers, The Realm Enforcers and The Scorpius Syndrome.
Visit https://rebeccazanetti.com/ for more information!
Her pleasure was his
and his was hers
and then his again.
and his was hers
and then his again.
────── ♔ ──────
Immortal Angel by Lynsay Sands
Standalone - Argeneau #31
Release - September 29, 2020
Genre - Paranormal Romance / fated mates
Dual POV - 3rd person
Heat Level - 3.5 out of 5 / a few scenes
Format/Source - ebook borrowed from the library
Page Count - 384
Publisher - Avon
Release - September 29, 2020
Genre - Paranormal Romance / fated mates
Dual POV - 3rd person
Heat Level - 3.5 out of 5 / a few scenes
Format/Source - ebook borrowed from the library
Page Count - 384
Publisher - Avon
For almost two centuries, Ildaria Garcia has been on the run, a trouble magnet with a knack for taking down bad guys. Lately, her vigilante tendencies have drawn unwelcome attention to her fellow Immortals. Forced to relocate, Ildaria is supposed to lay low in a new town. Instead, she quickly entangles herself with six and a half feet of muscular, tattooed trouble.
Joshua James Simpson Guiscard, aka G.G., knows a lot about Immortals—enough to make him wary. Yet from the moment Ildaria walks into his club, he feels desire stronger than anything he’s known. Accepting the fact that they might be life mates is disconcerting. But when her past catches up to them, G.G. faces a choice—confront his demons at last, or lose a passion that’s hot as hell.
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My Two Cents
I've found a new passion for PNR and because of this, I've got recommendations coming at me from pretty much everywhere. And I'm loving it!!
Lynsay Sands is an author that comes up quite a lot on my what-to-read next list so I thought I'd give her a try. Not only did I borrow this book from the library, I also bought a copy of Immortal Nights from Book Outlet. I'm determined to get through what I'm told are some amazing books!
I found Immortal Angel to be a surprising read. I went in with some expectations and some were met... others were not. I figured based on the cover that there would be tons of action, but aside from the very beginning, when Ildaria was going all vigilante, there was no action to be found. It was over and done with pretty quickly, which was a disappointment, however, I enjoyed the romance build and finding out some bits about the Immortal world these characters live in.
Was the concept of these people being vampire supposed to be so vague? They drink blood, they have enhancements, but the word vampire seemed to be something to be avoided. I'm not sure whether I liked that or not.
I thought that the relationship that grew between Ildaria and G.G. was cute, sweet, sexy and ridiculous (at times). I loved meeting all of the characters, I loved the romance, and only wished for something more. The author put a lot of effort into creating Ildaria's back story, which was truly tragic, and I was entertained by G.G.'s reluctance to be turned into an Immortal. I'm not sure what I wanted to be different aside from some action. It just ended up being an okay read for me.
Part of me hopes that Juan finds his true life mate. I felt bad for the guy and I want him to be caught up in happiness too.
I'm looking forward to getting through this author's backlist and falling in love with her characters!
Excerpt
Chapter One
“Professor Straithe is late.”
“Si , but he’s always late,” Ildaria pointed out as she pulled her notebook and a pen from her knapsack and then set the bag on the floor next to her seat.
“Yeah, but he’s really late tonight,” Lydia responded and then added eagerly, “Five more minutes and he’ll be fifteen minutes late. Then we can leave. Class will be canceled and we can hit a bar or something.”
Ildaria shrugged as she opened her notebook to a clean page and predicted, “He’ll walk in one minute before the fifteen-minute point and we’ll be stuck here. He’s done it several times this semester.”
“Yes, he has,” Lydia agreed, sounding deflated now, and then her tone turning irritated she added, “It’s a night class for cripes sake, not a morning class he has to drag his butt out of bed for, yet the man is always late.” She scowled and then muttered bitterly, “And then he’s a boring lecturer when he finally does get here. I swear if he weren’t such a hunk, I’d hate him.”
Ildaria chuckled at the claim. She doubted Lydia had it in her to hate anyone. The woman was just too kind. It was one of the things she liked about her.
“Oh myyyy. What have we here?”
Eyebrows rising, Ildaria glanced around and followed Lydia’s gaze to the top of the tiered lecture hall where two men now stood just inside the door. Both were tall and muscular, dressed in black T-shirts, black jeans, and black leather boots. They were carbon copies of each other . . . from the neck down. Only their faces and hair coloring differed. The Nordic blond had sharp features and an aquiline nose, while the dark-haired man had blunter features. Both were gorgeous. Both also looked lean, mean, and dangerous as they surveyed the class, obviously looking for someone.
“No books, no bags . . . They can’t be students,” Lydia commented, ogling the pair, and then she suggested, “Ooooh, maybe they’re new TAs.”
She was probably already planning on requesting after hours help, Ildaria thought on a sigh and muttered, “Or bloodsucking putas here to execute someone.”
“What?” Lydia turned on her with amusement, but Ildaria just shook her head and stared at the two men, her thoughts racing. She knew exactly who they were—Valerian and Tybo were Enforcers—or rogue hunters as her kind liked to call them. The immortal version of police, sent out by the Immortal Council to hunt down rogue immortals who had been misbehaving. Normal people, or mortals, like Lydia, would have called them vampire hunters if she had any idea that immortals existed. But Lydia didn’t know that.
“What are you doing?” Lydia asked with amazement as she watched her snatch up her bag from the floor and unzip it. “You don’t know those guys, do you?”
Mouth tightening, Ildaria didn’t respond. Instead, she quickly shoved her notebook and pen inside.
“You do know them,” Lydia gasped with mounting excitement. “Oh. You have to introduce me to them.”
“Trust me. You don’t want to meet them. They’re trouble,” Ildaria said bitterly, wondering if she’d be executed at once, or have to wait around for a Council trial before the deed was done.
“The most interesting men are always trouble,” Lydia assured her, gathering her own books with the obvious intention of joining her to meet the men.
Ildaria didn’t waste her breath trying to dissuade her again. Instead, she simply said, “Stay here,” and slipped into the girl’s mind to make her stay. When Lydia immediately relaxed back in her seat and turned to face the front of the class, Ildaria stood, slung her bag over her shoulder and scooted sideways along the row of occupied seats until she reached the stairs. She ascended them quickly, keeping her expression blank now that she was facing the men. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of showing her worry and fear.
Tybo and Valerian didn’t say a word when she joined them. They merely took up position on either side of her to escort her from the lecture hall and then the building.
It wasn’t until they were outside, walking the dark path toward the parking lot that Tybo spoke.
“You couldn’t resist, could you?”
Ildaria’s shoulders hunched instinctively in a protective move, but she forced them straight again and said firmly, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“You’ve been playing vigilante again,” he accused.
“I haven’t,” Ildaria assured him.
“You were caught on video tossing around some big bastard twice your size,” Valerian informed her, joining the conversation as they reached the parking lot. “It was uploaded onto Twitter or Instagram or something where Mortimer found it. He showed it to Lucian.”
Ildaria sucked in an alarmed breath at that, but insisted, “I wasn’t playing vigilante.” Unsure which incident had been caught on film, she added, “I was walking to my car after class, heard a girl scream and tried to help. What was I supposed to do? Just ignore it?”
“Yes,” Tybo said with exasperation.
Stopping, Ildaria turned on him with disbelief. “So you would have just ignored a woman screaming for help?”
Tybo’s eyes shifted away, telling her that he wouldn’t, but then his gaze returned to her, and he said, “Well, maybe I couldn’t have ignored it, but I sure as hell would have made sure I didn’t get caught on video if I did.”
Ildaria opened her mouth to respond, but paused and glanced to the side instead, when a woman’s scream sounded. Her eyes widened with dismay when she saw a struggling, young female being dragged toward the open door of a van at the far end of the parking lot. Ildaria had barely recognized that she was witnessing an abduction when Tybo and Valerian charged past her, racing for the other end of the parking lot at speed. Immortal speed. Inhuman speed.
Instinct almost had Ildaria charging after them, but Tybo’s words were still ringing in her head: Well, maybe I couldn’t have ignored it, but I sure as hell would have made sure I didn’t get caught on video if I did.
Her gaze slid around the parking lot, noting a few other university students around. There were still more nearer the buildings. Some of them were alone, some in pairs, some in clusters. Several had started forward as if to help, but were now slowing as they saw Tybo and Valerian charging in. The rest were raising their cell phones. Some were probably just taking pictures, but others were undoubtedly videotaping and there were probably still others that she couldn’t see who were doing both. Such was the world today. Camera phones had changed everything, she thought with a shake of the head, and then Tybo’s words slid through her mind again.
I sure as hell would have made sure I didn’t get caught on video if I did.
Snorting under her breath, Ildaria stayed where she was, pulled out her cell phone, and began to record too.
By the time the excitement was over, and Tybo and Valerian had handed the culprit over to the campus police and the young woman to the care of the EMTs, Ildaria’s phone was back in her pocket and she was leaning against their black SUV, waiting. She knew it was theirs because the license plate was RogueH4.
When they reached her, she commented mildly, “So, you can’t ignore a woman in trouble any more than I can.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Tybo muttered, exchanging a chagrined glance with Valerian as he pulled out his key fob and hit the button to unlock the SUV doors.
“Did you notice all the people videotaping?” she asked next.
Both men stopped dead at her words and turned to look around the parking lot. Many of the witnesses who had been filming were gone now, most leaving when the campus police had arrived. But there were still a few watching them with phones out, still recording.
“Damn,” Tybo growled.
Valerian sighed and said, “You take the two on the right side of the parking lot, and I’ll—”
“Don’t bother,” Ildaria interrupted as the pair started to move. “It’s already been uploaded to the net at least once.”
When both of their heads swiveled toward her with alarm, she smiled sweetly. “I tagged Lucian Argeneau on mine. He’s probably looking at it right now.”
“Ah, crap,” Tybo muttered.
“Now you know how I feel,” she said grimly and turned to get into the SUV, leaving them to follow at their leisure. When she finished doing up her seat belt and glanced out, she saw that the two men were still standing beside the vehicle, but with their phones out now. Looking for the video, she supposed with amusement and guessed they’d found at least one version of it when they both began to curse.
Releasing a satisfied little sigh, she leaned back in her seat to wait for them to get over their upset and take her to Lucian. Oddly enough, they didn’t seem as eager to get her there as they had been when they’d pulled her from class. It was a very quiet ride to the Enforcer house, with a lot of angry and accusing glares cast her way.
About the Author
LYNSAY SANDS is the nationally bestselling author who is known for her hysterical historicals as well as the popular Argeneau/Rogue Hunter vampire series. With her witty and charming personality, Sands describes books as, “Waking dreams or stories, tales to amuse, entertain and distract us from everyday life.” She’s been writing stories since grade school and considers herself incredibly lucky to be able to make a career out of it. Her hope is that readers can get away from their everyday stress through her stories, and if there are occasional uncontrollable fits of laughter, that’s just a big bonus.
Visit http://www.lynsaysands.net/ for more information
You belong to me, Farryn. Should another man dare to lay so much as a finger on you, I will flay his hand and shine my boots with his skin.
────── ♔ ──────
Nightshade by Keri Lake
Hopefully book 1
Release - October 29, 2021
Genre - Dark Paranormal Gothic romance / fated mates
Multiple POV - 1st and 3rd person
Heat Level - 3.5 / slow slow slow burn and a few scenes
Format/Source - eARC provided by the author (Thank you @ Give Me Books PR)
Page Count - 664
Publisher - Indie
Release - October 29, 2021
Genre - Dark Paranormal Gothic romance / fated mates
Multiple POV - 1st and 3rd person
Heat Level - 3.5 / slow slow slow burn and a few scenes
Format/Source - eARC provided by the author (Thank you @ Give Me Books PR)
Page Count - 664
Publisher - Indie
A love so forbidden, it would shake the heavens ...
My father called them messengers.
He once told me they walked among us, and that somewhere in this dark and godless city, there shined a faint sliver of hope. I had only to look for the signs.
Well, I’ve spent my whole life investigating the inexplicable, and all I've found are the unsettling vestiges of iniquity - the evidence of another world shrouded by the obscure. Purgatory to some, where depravity hides in shadows, and girls like me are little more than delicious bites of temptation.
Others call it Nightshade.
This peculiar place is where I first met the cold and callous recluse living in a decaying cliffside cathedral. Jericho Van Croix is the epitome of everything I’ve been told to fear. A raven-winged harbinger who wears intrigue like a warm black cloak. An enigma that I’m determined to unravel – even if it means getting closer than I should.
One touch is forbidden. Even so much as a kiss would be my demise. But the sin on his lips burns me up like a wild flame, and his growing infatuation weakens my resolve.
Giving him what he wants, though, will mean no chance for redemption, or escape. What's worse is, the signs I’ve followed yet failed to see all these years begin to unmask a terrifying reality:
That falling may be my only saving grace.
Purchase Links
My Two Cents
This read exactly as advertised! Just hearing about this story in the Vigilante Vixens group had me hungry... and I'm still ravenous because I want more Jericho Van Croix!!
Standing across from me, with the bolts of lightning at his back, the storm that still raged around us never once ruffling the feathers of his wings, he was sublime. Chaotic. Dissonance in the flesh. Both terrifying and incredible at the same time.
Nightshade was dark and depraved. Gothic and gruesome. Dirty and a bit disgusting. Nightshade was utterly delicious!!
Who knew reading over 600 pages of gothic PNR would be just what I needed?
I can't even give you anything about the plot or characters without giving some vital piece of this story away. Know that Jericho is an immortal who would make any woman want to be deserving of him. I love my soul, but... And Farryn was as annoying as any almost virginal, somewhat pure female would be, but she had a knack for hitting all of the right notes with me. So while she frustrated me, she made me cheer her on. While she had me rolling my eyes hard, she also made me smile and hope and dream.
I could have done without the extremely slow build, but then again, this story probably wouldn't have worked as well as it did if it were any faster. The world building was seriously on point!
Guessing the truth is easy, but knowing the truth, living the truth, understanding the truth... I'm still unsure what the truth really is. I'm kinda loving this opaque bubble I'm living in right now.
I want more.
I need more.
GIVE ME MORE!!
The end?
Excerpt
“It’s supposed to storm tonight. I’ve been told it’s dangerous up here when there’s lightning.” Hand in his, I let him guide me up the tower’s narrow, stone stairwell, lit only by the few flickering lamps that hung from the brackets on the wall.
Grip tightening as if I might try to get away, he glanced over his shoulder at me. “You’ve nothing to worry about.”
The stairwell opened up to beams and scaffolds, moving gears and the tired sounds they made. We hit a magnificent landing en route toward the bell at the tower's pinnacle, where the back end of the clock’s enormous hands ticked off the seconds in mocking. Counting down the end of innocence. I’d heard the vague rumors of the things that happened to girls in the bell tower. The utter depravity held mostly secret by its ancient walls.
“How can you be so sure?” I asked, stalling at a window, through which a cloud of lightning gave an ominous flicker over the black sea below.
His firm hand gripped me possessively, and before I even realized he’d changed direction, he backed me into the wall. Capricious as the wind that rapped against the window, he fixed his attentions on me, the chilled stones at my back a reminder that there was no escaping him.
The gentle brush of his knuckles down my cheek belied the shadow of malice that slipped behind his otherwise cold, inscrutable eye. “Because I’m so unreasonably rapacious when it comes to you, Miss Ravenshaw, that not even a bolt of lightning should dare touch your skin without consequence.”
In that moment, the thunder seemed more distant, somehow, or perhaps it was the incessant thump of my heart drowning it out.
“You’re jealous of lightning?”
He leaned in closer, the delicious scent of bergamot and licorice as intoxicating as the warm absinthe still pulsing through my veins. His lips traced a featherlight path along my jaw. Teeth grazed my earlobe, breath hot against my neck, as he whispered, “I’m jealous of anything that occupies your mind so unremittingly when you’re with me.”
About the Author
Keri Lake is a dark romance writer who specializes in demon wrangling, vengeance dealing and wicked twists. Her stories are gritty, with antiheroes that walk the line of good and bad, and feisty heroines who bring them to their knees. When not penning books, she enjoys spending time with her husband, daughters, and their rebellious Labrador (who doesn’t retrieve a damn thing). She runs on strong coffee and alternative music, loves a good red wine, and has a slight addiction to dark chocolate.
Website: http://www.kerilake.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kerilakeauthor
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/KeriLakeVigilantes
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kerilake
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/kerilake
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/HJPHH
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kerilakeauthor
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/KeriLakeVigilantes
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kerilake
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Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/HJPHH
For more than a thousand years, he'd searched for her.
And he'd found her in what he despised with a hatred so virulent he couldn't control it.
A vampire. The way she existed disgusted him. Her weakness disgusted him. Her pale body was too small, too thin, and looked like she'd break with her first stiff f--cking.
He'd waited a millennium for a helpless parasite.
And he'd found her in what he despised with a hatred so virulent he couldn't control it.
A vampire. The way she existed disgusted him. Her weakness disgusted him. Her pale body was too small, too thin, and looked like she'd break with her first stiff f--cking.
He'd waited a millennium for a helpless parasite.
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A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole
Standalone - Immortals After Dark #1
Genre - Paranormal Romance / vamp + shifter
Multiple POV - 3rd person
Heat Level - 3.5 / a few scenes
Format/Source - ebook purchase from Amazon
Page Count - 384
Publisher - Pocket Books
Genre - Paranormal Romance / vamp + shifter
Multiple POV - 3rd person
Heat Level - 3.5 / a few scenes
Format/Source - ebook purchase from Amazon
Page Count - 384
Publisher - Pocket Books
A mythic warrior who'll stop at nothing to possess her...
After enduring years of torture from the vampire horde, Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the Lykae Clan, is enraged to find the predestined mate he's waited millennia for is a vampire. Or partly one. This Emmaline is a small, ethereal half Valkyrie/half vampire, who somehow begins to soothe the fury burning within him.
A vampire captured by her wildest fantasy...
Sheltered Emmaline Troy finally sets out to uncover the truth about her deceased parents—until a powerful Lykae claims her as his mate and forces her back to his ancestral Scottish castle. There, her fear of the Lykae—and their notorious dark desires—ebbs as he begins a slow, wicked seduction to sate her own dark cravings.
An all-consuming desire...
Yet when an ancient evil from her past resurfaces, will their desire deepen into a love that can bring a proud warrior to his knees and turn a gentle beauty into the fighter she was born to be?
Find A Hunger Like No Other here: Goodreads / Amazon
My Two Cents
As much as Emma was running away from her destiny, especially the one she shared with Lachlain, I was feeling like she needed to pass her duties right on to me!
I would not and will not deny Mr. Lachlain MacRieve a dang thing! He's so delicious!!
You wanna kiss? Here are my lips.
You wanna touch? What should I use? Hands, toes, mouth, other...
You wanna bang? Tell me when and where.
Mated forever? Where the frick do I sign up???
Seriously.
I want to say that I enjoyed the tension that existed between Lachlain and Emma. Whenever there's miscommunication (or no communication), it can be quite good, amping up the heat, or it can be bad, making it an ordeal to get through. I'm still not sure which side I'm on. I do think it dragged on for far too long and I was begging for the romance to begin.
It was slow building, but there was plenty of foreplay, although it was kinda dubiously consented to. I don't know what to even think about it.
And don't even get me started on the Valkyries and their utter nonsense. Fun, but crazy. Wild, but insane. Gorgeous, but deadly. And utterly ridiculous!
Emma was like a lost girl. Half Valkyrie and half vampire, she didn't really belong anywhere. But she was raised by the Valkyries and they were the best of the best. All she wanted was to deserve their love. To be as honorable, as courageous, as fierce as they were. And yet, for most of the book, she was just rude, disrespectful, inconsiderate, and trifling.
Honestly, I couldn't stand Emma for most of this story. Lachlain... dude could do no wrong. He was away from society for over a century. He was tortured for over a century. What was Emma's excuse?
But then we got close to the end... and Emma became magnificent! Her perceived fragility and weakness gave way to a female who grew her own version of strength. And let's be honest... it was Lachlain who got her to see and reveal her best self.
My favorite moments came when these characters found clarity. When they were able to get past their preconceived notions and assumptions and get to the heart of each other. Lachlain was able to see the warrior within Emma and she was able to constantly challenge his bias against "leeches". And he just stayed being awesome, steadily working away and obliterating her walls.
So what did I think? I loved this story. I'm loving this series and I will be continuing to enjoy all of these characters!
“My ideal man? He’d have to be considerate, easygoing, and well-mannered.
Above all, he’d need to treat me like a queen.”
—Emmaline Troy, aka Emma the Timid, half vampire half Valkyrie
“Never run from one such as me, female.
You will no’ get away—and we like it.”
—Lachlain MacRieve, King of the Lykae
Above all, he’d need to treat me like a queen.”
—Emmaline Troy, aka Emma the Timid, half vampire half Valkyrie
“Never run from one such as me, female.
You will no’ get away—and we like it.”
—Lachlain MacRieve, King of the Lykae
You should definitely check out the first book of the series:
Myst and Wroth were a blast!!
Excerpt
Sometimes the fire that licks the skin from his bones dies down.
It is his fire. In a recess of his mind still capable of rational thought, he believes this. His fire because he’s fed it for centuries with his destroyed body and decaying mind.
Long ago—and who knows how much time has toiled past—the Vampire Horde trapped him in these catacombs deep beneath Paris. He stands chained against a rock, pinned at two places on each limb and once around his neck. Before him—an opening into hell that spews fire.
Here he waits and suffers, offered to a column of fire that may weaken but is never-ending—never-ending, just like his life. His existence is to burn to death repeatedly, only to have his dogged immortality revive him again.
Detailed fantasies of retribution have gotten him this far; nursing the rage in his heart is all he has.
Until her.
Over the centuries, he has sometimes heard uncanny new things in the streets above, occasionally smelled Paris changing seasons. But now he has scented her, his mate, the one woman made for him alone.
The one woman he’d searched for without cease for a thousand years—up until the day of his capture.
The flames have ebbed. At this moment, she lingers somewhere above. It is enough. One arm strains against its bonds until the thick metal cuts into his skin. Blood drips, then pours. Every muscle in his weakened body works in concert, striving to do what he’s never been able to for an eternity before. For her, he can do this. He must … . His yell turns to a choking cough as he rips two bonds free.
He doesn’t have time to disbelieve what he’s accomplished. She is so close, he can almost feel her. Need her. Another arm wrenches free.
With both hands he clenches the metal biting into his neck, vaguely remembering the day the thick, long pin was hammered into place. He knows its two ends are embedded at least three feet down. His strength is waning, but nothing will stop him when she’s so close. In a rush of rock and dust, the metal comes loose, the recoil making him fling it across the cavernous space.
He yanks at the bond wrapped tight around his thigh. He wrests it and the one at his ankle free, then begins on the last two holding his other leg. Already envisioning his escape, not even glancing down, he pulls. Nothing. Brows drawn in confusion, he tries again. Straining, groaning with desperation. Nothing.
Her scent is fading—there is no time. He pitilessly regards his trapped leg. Imagining how he can bury himself in her and forget the pain, he reaches above his knee with shaking hands. Yearning for that oblivion within her, he attempts to crack the bone. His weakness ensures that this takes half a dozen tries.
His claws slice his skin and muscle, but the nerve running the length of his femur is taut as a piano wire. When he even nears it, unimaginable pain stabs up its length and explodes in his upper body, making his vision go black.
Too weak. Bleeding too freely. The fire will build again soon. The vampires return periodically. Will he lose her just when he’s found her?
“Never,” he grates. He surrenders himself to the beast inside him, the beast that will take its freedom with its teeth, drink water from the gutters and scavenge refuse to survive. He sees the frenzied amputation as though watching a misery from a distance.
Crawling from his torture, abandoning his leg, he pulls himself through the shadows of the dank catacombs until he spies a passageway. Ever watchful for his enemies, he creeps through the bones littering the floor to reach it. He has no idea how far it is to escape, but he finds his way—and the strength—by following her scent. He regrets the pain he will give her. She will be so connected to him, she’ll feel his suffering and horror as her own.
It can’t be helped. He is escaping. Doing his part. Can she save him from his memories when his skin still burns?
He finally inches his way to the surface, then into a darkened alley. But her scent has faltered.
Fate has given her to him when he needs her most, and God help him—and this city—if he can’t find her. His brutality had been legendary, and he will unleash it without measure for her.
He fights to sit up against a wall. Clawing tracks into the brick street, he struggles to calm his ragged breaths so he can scent her once more.
Need her. Bury myself in her. Waited so long … .
Her scent is gone.
His eyes go wet and he shudders violently at the loss. An anguished roar makes the city tremble.
It is his fire. In a recess of his mind still capable of rational thought, he believes this. His fire because he’s fed it for centuries with his destroyed body and decaying mind.
Long ago—and who knows how much time has toiled past—the Vampire Horde trapped him in these catacombs deep beneath Paris. He stands chained against a rock, pinned at two places on each limb and once around his neck. Before him—an opening into hell that spews fire.
Here he waits and suffers, offered to a column of fire that may weaken but is never-ending—never-ending, just like his life. His existence is to burn to death repeatedly, only to have his dogged immortality revive him again.
Detailed fantasies of retribution have gotten him this far; nursing the rage in his heart is all he has.
Until her.
Over the centuries, he has sometimes heard uncanny new things in the streets above, occasionally smelled Paris changing seasons. But now he has scented her, his mate, the one woman made for him alone.
The one woman he’d searched for without cease for a thousand years—up until the day of his capture.
The flames have ebbed. At this moment, she lingers somewhere above. It is enough. One arm strains against its bonds until the thick metal cuts into his skin. Blood drips, then pours. Every muscle in his weakened body works in concert, striving to do what he’s never been able to for an eternity before. For her, he can do this. He must … . His yell turns to a choking cough as he rips two bonds free.
He doesn’t have time to disbelieve what he’s accomplished. She is so close, he can almost feel her. Need her. Another arm wrenches free.
With both hands he clenches the metal biting into his neck, vaguely remembering the day the thick, long pin was hammered into place. He knows its two ends are embedded at least three feet down. His strength is waning, but nothing will stop him when she’s so close. In a rush of rock and dust, the metal comes loose, the recoil making him fling it across the cavernous space.
He yanks at the bond wrapped tight around his thigh. He wrests it and the one at his ankle free, then begins on the last two holding his other leg. Already envisioning his escape, not even glancing down, he pulls. Nothing. Brows drawn in confusion, he tries again. Straining, groaning with desperation. Nothing.
Her scent is fading—there is no time. He pitilessly regards his trapped leg. Imagining how he can bury himself in her and forget the pain, he reaches above his knee with shaking hands. Yearning for that oblivion within her, he attempts to crack the bone. His weakness ensures that this takes half a dozen tries.
His claws slice his skin and muscle, but the nerve running the length of his femur is taut as a piano wire. When he even nears it, unimaginable pain stabs up its length and explodes in his upper body, making his vision go black.
Too weak. Bleeding too freely. The fire will build again soon. The vampires return periodically. Will he lose her just when he’s found her?
“Never,” he grates. He surrenders himself to the beast inside him, the beast that will take its freedom with its teeth, drink water from the gutters and scavenge refuse to survive. He sees the frenzied amputation as though watching a misery from a distance.
Crawling from his torture, abandoning his leg, he pulls himself through the shadows of the dank catacombs until he spies a passageway. Ever watchful for his enemies, he creeps through the bones littering the floor to reach it. He has no idea how far it is to escape, but he finds his way—and the strength—by following her scent. He regrets the pain he will give her. She will be so connected to him, she’ll feel his suffering and horror as her own.
It can’t be helped. He is escaping. Doing his part. Can she save him from his memories when his skin still burns?
He finally inches his way to the surface, then into a darkened alley. But her scent has faltered.
Fate has given her to him when he needs her most, and God help him—and this city—if he can’t find her. His brutality had been legendary, and he will unleash it without measure for her.
He fights to sit up against a wall. Clawing tracks into the brick street, he struggles to calm his ragged breaths so he can scent her once more.
Need her. Bury myself in her. Waited so long … .
Her scent is gone.
His eyes go wet and he shudders violently at the loss. An anguished roar makes the city tremble.
About the Author
Kresley Cole is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the electrifying Immortals After Dark paranormal series, the young adult Arcana Chronicles series, the erotic Gamemakers series, and five award-winning historical romances.
A master’s grad and former athlete, she has traveled over much of the world and draws from those experiences to create her memorable characters and settings.
Her books have been translated into 23 foreign languages, garnered 3 RITA awards, a Hall of Fame induction, and consistently appear on the bestseller lists, in the U.S. and abroad.
Cole lives in Florida with her family.
Visit http://www.kresleycole.com/ for more information
Mine to you. Yours to me. Bonded by blood, by spirit and by soul, we are one. No distance too far, no enemy too powerful, no sacrifice too great. I'll always find you. I'll always protect you. No matter what the cost. I am yours as you are mine.
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Darkness Awakened by Stephanie Rowe
Standalone - Order of the Blade #1
Release - November 12, 2013
Genre - Paranormal Romance / fated mates
Multiple POV - 3rd person
Heat Level - 3 out of 5 / a couple of scenes
Format and Source - ebook purchase from Amazon
Page Count - 406
Publisher - Authenticity Playground, LLC
Release - November 12, 2013
Genre - Paranormal Romance / fated mates
Multiple POV - 3rd person
Heat Level - 3 out of 5 / a couple of scenes
Format and Source - ebook purchase from Amazon
Page Count - 406
Publisher - Authenticity Playground, LLC
Can two sworn enemies overcome dangerous attraction to save those they love? A grumpy immortal warrior and a sassy, modern-minded witch team up in a steamy, irresistible romance.
Grace isn't about to let a grumpy warrior keep her from saving her sister. She'll do whatever it takes to get his help, including a bit of rule-breaking and blackmail. As for the addictive attraction between them? She's ignoring it completely.
Quinn is a little too busy and a lot too antisocial to help an interfering witch find her sister. But when he realizes the distractingly sexy siren might be the key to everything he wants, he's all in.
Grace and Quinn are determined to stay single, but a centuries-old, match-making curse has other plans for the pair. Can an immortal warrior burned by love win the heart of the sexy witch meant to save his ever-lovin' soul?
Purchase Links
Amazon CA 🡪 https://amzn.to/3j71hVA
Amazon US 🡪 https://amzn.to/3FSSQqj
Amazon UK 🡪 https://amzn.to/3DKxiKF
Amazon AU 🡪 https://amzn.to/3lJMu4M
Amazon US 🡪 https://amzn.to/3FSSQqj
Amazon UK 🡪 https://amzn.to/3DKxiKF
Amazon AU 🡪 https://amzn.to/3lJMu4M
My Two Cents
So I literally had just finished To Kiss a Demon and high off the win that story, I had to get my hands on another Stephanie Rowe book. I just needed more! And I got it. Meeting Quinn... and boy was he delicious... I can safely say that the streak is still hot!!
I began falling in love with The Order of the Blade in this book and I'm excited to fall more in the books to come. Quinn was a fierce immortal warrior who was tasked with taking out all threats to humanity — even his own kin. Grace was a woman who had the power of illusions, a power that scared her, but nothing scared her more than the destiny she faced with Quinn.
The suspenseful plot was enjoyable, if a bit drawn out, but I really liked getting to know all of the players. Friend or foe, the author didn't shirk her responsibility of giving us characters that had a ton of depth. Characters I want to get to know better.
I do wish that tension between Grace and Quinn wasn't so endless. I get that it was initially necessary to drive the story, but it went on for too long. For too long was Grace allowed to treat Quinn like dirt. For too long was Quinn doing the whole 'push-and-pull' with Grace. And for too long did it seem like their destiny didn't make sense.
However, I loved enough about this story to continue reading. I will be (hopefully) devouring the next book, Darkness Seduced, and the books to come. I need to know how the dead warriors were resurrected. Seriously, why did these men with potential to be great leading characters keep on dying?
So Gideon is next (and he's a hottie too) and he's supposed to be rescuing Lily, who was held prisoner for two years. I can't wait to see how that goes! I can only hope to get more glimpses of all of these amazing people (Elijah and Dante included) and enough to love to keep on pushing.
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And it didn't get 5 stars because...
One of my biggest pet peeves... The heroine being utterly ridiculous. Grace did the one thing that aggravates me to no end. Quinn is helping her find and rescue her sister. They've literally just met, but Quinn is determined to protect her at all times. You know... because he's immortal and SHE'S NOT!! I get her not trusting him right away. I get her trying to keep her secrets close, even though those secrets could help them in their quest. I get it. What I don't get is why she thought she could do bad all by herself. There was this one instance, when they're at the bar that started all the bad stuff, and she tells Quinn that she can take care of herself while he investigates. He insists on protecting her because there are tons of bad guys after them and they have no allies here, but she demands that he respect her independence. Okay. Yet, when trouble finds her... as we all knew it would... what does she do? Does she take care of herself? No? The chick screams the place down for Quinn to save her.
Excerpt
Quinn Masters raced soundlessly through the thick woods, his injuries long forgotten, urgency coursing through him as he neared his house. He covered the last thirty yards, leapt over a fallen tree, then reached the edge of the clearing by his cabin.
There she was.
He stopped dead, fading back into the trees as he stared at the woman he’d scented when he was still two hours away, a lure that had eviscerated all weakness from his body and fueled him into a dead sprint back to his house.
His lungs heaving with the effort of pushing his severely damaged body so hard, Quinn stood rigidly as he studied the woman whose scent had called to him through the dark night. She’d yanked him out of his thoughts about Elijah and galvanized him with energy he hadn’t been able to summon on his own.
And now he’d found her.
She’d wedged herself up against the back corner of his porch, barely protected from the cold rain and wet wind. Her knees were pulled up against her chest, her delicate arms wrapped tightly around them as if she could hold onto her body heat by sheer force of will. Her shoulders were hunched, her forehead pressed against her knees while damp tangles of dark brown hair tumbled over her arms.
Her chest moved once. Twice. A trembling, aching breath into lungs that were too cold and too exhausted to work as well as they should.
He took a step toward her, and another, then three more before he realized what he was doing. He froze, suddenly aware of his urgent need to get to her. To help her. To fill her with heat and breathe safety into her trembling body. To whisk her off his porch and into his cabin.
Into his bed.
Quinn stiffened at the thought. Into his bed? Since when? He didn’t engage when it came to women. Not anymore. The risk was too high, for him, and for all Calydons. Any woman he met could be his mate, his fate, his doom. His sheva.
He was never tempted.
Until now.
Until this cold, vulnerable stranger had appeared inexplicably on his doorstep. He should be pulling out his sword, not thinking that the fastest way to get her warm would be to run his hands over her bare skin and infuse her whole body with the heat from his.
But his sword remained quiet. His instincts warned him of nothing.
What the hell was going on? She had to be a threat. Nothing else made sense. Women didn’t stumble onto his home, and he didn’t get a hard-on from simply catching a whiff of one from miles away.
His aching quads braced against the cold air, he inhaled her scent again, searching for answers to a thousand questions. She smelled delicate, with a hint of something sweet, and a flavoring of the bitterness of true desperation. He could practically taste her anguish, a cold, acrid weight in the air, and he knew she was in trouble.
His hands flexed with the need to close the distance between them, to crouch by her side, to give her his protection. But he didn’t move. He didn’t dare. He had to figure out why he was so compelled by her, why he was responding like this, especially at a time when he couldn’t afford any distraction.
She moaned softly and curled into an even tighter ball. His muscles tightened, his entire soul burning with the need to help her. Quinn narrowed his eyes and pried his gaze off her to search the woods.
With the life of his blood brother in his hands, an Order posse soon to be after him, and his own body still half in the grave, he should be so focused on business that a woman could dance naked on his chest and he still wouldn’t notice. It shouldn’t be possible for a woman he didn’t even know, hadn’t met and barely even seen to rock him on his ass like this simply because he’d caught a whiff of her scent.
He was disciplined, dammit, and disciplined warriors didn’t fall for that shit. It made no sense.
His intense need for her felt too similar to the compulsion that had sent him to the river three nights ago. Another trap? He’d suspected it from the moment he’d first reacted to her scent, but he’d been unable to resist the temptation, and he’d hauled ass to get back to his house. Yeah, true, he’d also needed to get back to his cabin to retrieve his supplies to go after Elijah. The fact she’d imbued him with new strength had been a bonus he wasn’t going to deny.
But now he had to be sure. A trap or not? Quinn laughed softly. Shit. He hoped it was. If it wasn’t, there was only one other reason he could think that could explain his reaction to her, and that would be if she was his mate. His sheva. His ticket to certain destruction.
No chance.
He wouldn’t allow it.
He had no time for dealing with that destiny right now. It was time to get in, get out, and go after Elijah. His amusement faded as he took a final survey of the woods. There was no lurking threat he could detect. Maybe he’d made it back before he’d been expected, or maybe an ambush had been aborted.
Either way, he had to get into his house, get his stuff, and move on. His gaze returned to the woman, and he noticed a drop of water sliding down the side of her neck, trickling over her skin like the most seductive of caresses. He swore, realizing she wasn’t going to leave. She’d freeze to death before she’d abandon her perch.
He cursed again and knew he had to go to her. He couldn’t let her die on his front step. Not this woman. Not her.
He would make it fast, he would make it efficient, he would stay on target for his mission, but he would get her safe.
Keeping alert for any indication that this was a setup, Quinn stepped out of the woods and into the clearing. He’d made no sound, not even a whisper of his clothing, and yet she sensed him.
She sat up, her gaze finding him instantly in the dim light, despite his stealthy approach. They made eye contact, and the world seemed to stop for a split second. The moment he saw those silvery eyes, something thumped in his chest. Something visceral and male howled inside him, raging to be set free.
As he strode up, she unfolded herself from her cramped position and pulled herself to her feet, her gaze never leaving his. Her face was wary, her body tense, but she lifted her chin ever so slightly and set her hands on her hips, telling him that she wasn’t leaving.
Her courage and determination, held together by that tiny, shivering frame, made satisfaction thud through him. There was a warrior in that slim, exhausted body.
She said nothing as he approached, and neither of them spoke as he came to a stop in front of her.
Up close, he was riveted. Her dark eyelashes were clumped from the rain. Her skin was pale, too pale. Her face was carrying the burden of a thousand weights. But beneath that pain, those nightmares, that hell, lay delicate femininity that called to him. The luminescent glow of her skin, the sensual curve of her mouth, the sheen of rain on her cheekbones, the simple silver hoops in her ears. It awoke in him something so male, so carnal, so primal he wanted to throw her up against the wall and consume her until their bodies were melted together in a single, scorching fire.
She searched his face with the same intensity raging through him, and he felt like she was tearing through his shields, cataloguing everything about him, all the way down to his soul.
He studied her carefully, and she let him, not flinching when his gaze traveled down her body. His blood pulsed as he noted the curve of her breasts under her rain-slicked jacket, the sensuous curve of her hips, and even the mud on her jeans and boots. He almost groaned at his need to palm her hips, drag her over to him, and mark her with his kiss. Loose strands of thick dark hair curled around her neck and shoulders like it was clinging to her for safety.
Protectiveness surged from deep inside him and he clenched his fists against the urge to sweep her into his arms and carry her inside, away from whatever hardships had brought her to his doorstep.
Double hell. He’d hoped his reaction would lessen when he got close to her, but it had intensified. He’d never felt like this before. Never had this response to a woman.
What the hell was going on? Sheva. The word was like a demon, whispering through his mind. He shut it out. He would never allow himself to bond with his mate. If that was what was going on, she was out of there immediately, before they were both destroyed forever.
Intent on sending her away, he looked again at her face, and then realized he was irrevocably ensnared. Her beautiful silver eyes were aching with a soul-deep pain that shattered what little defenses he had against her. He simply couldn’t abandon her.
It didn’t matter what she wanted. It didn’t matter why she was there. She was coming inside. He would make sure it didn’t interfere with his mission. He would make dead sure it turned out right. No matter what.
Without a word, he grabbed her backpack off the floor, surprised at how heavy it was. Either she had tossed her free weights in it, or she had packed her life into it.
He had a bad feeling it wasn’t a set of dumbbells.
Quinn walked past her and unlocked his front door. He shoved it open, then stood back. Letting her decide. Hoping she would walk away and spare them both.
She took a deep breath, glanced at his face one more time, then walked into the cabin.
Hell.
He paused to take one more survey of his woods, found nothing amiss, and then he followed her into his home and shut the door behind them.
There she was.
He stopped dead, fading back into the trees as he stared at the woman he’d scented when he was still two hours away, a lure that had eviscerated all weakness from his body and fueled him into a dead sprint back to his house.
His lungs heaving with the effort of pushing his severely damaged body so hard, Quinn stood rigidly as he studied the woman whose scent had called to him through the dark night. She’d yanked him out of his thoughts about Elijah and galvanized him with energy he hadn’t been able to summon on his own.
And now he’d found her.
She’d wedged herself up against the back corner of his porch, barely protected from the cold rain and wet wind. Her knees were pulled up against her chest, her delicate arms wrapped tightly around them as if she could hold onto her body heat by sheer force of will. Her shoulders were hunched, her forehead pressed against her knees while damp tangles of dark brown hair tumbled over her arms.
Her chest moved once. Twice. A trembling, aching breath into lungs that were too cold and too exhausted to work as well as they should.
He took a step toward her, and another, then three more before he realized what he was doing. He froze, suddenly aware of his urgent need to get to her. To help her. To fill her with heat and breathe safety into her trembling body. To whisk her off his porch and into his cabin.
Into his bed.
Quinn stiffened at the thought. Into his bed? Since when? He didn’t engage when it came to women. Not anymore. The risk was too high, for him, and for all Calydons. Any woman he met could be his mate, his fate, his doom. His sheva.
He was never tempted.
Until now.
Until this cold, vulnerable stranger had appeared inexplicably on his doorstep. He should be pulling out his sword, not thinking that the fastest way to get her warm would be to run his hands over her bare skin and infuse her whole body with the heat from his.
But his sword remained quiet. His instincts warned him of nothing.
What the hell was going on? She had to be a threat. Nothing else made sense. Women didn’t stumble onto his home, and he didn’t get a hard-on from simply catching a whiff of one from miles away.
His aching quads braced against the cold air, he inhaled her scent again, searching for answers to a thousand questions. She smelled delicate, with a hint of something sweet, and a flavoring of the bitterness of true desperation. He could practically taste her anguish, a cold, acrid weight in the air, and he knew she was in trouble.
His hands flexed with the need to close the distance between them, to crouch by her side, to give her his protection. But he didn’t move. He didn’t dare. He had to figure out why he was so compelled by her, why he was responding like this, especially at a time when he couldn’t afford any distraction.
She moaned softly and curled into an even tighter ball. His muscles tightened, his entire soul burning with the need to help her. Quinn narrowed his eyes and pried his gaze off her to search the woods.
With the life of his blood brother in his hands, an Order posse soon to be after him, and his own body still half in the grave, he should be so focused on business that a woman could dance naked on his chest and he still wouldn’t notice. It shouldn’t be possible for a woman he didn’t even know, hadn’t met and barely even seen to rock him on his ass like this simply because he’d caught a whiff of her scent.
He was disciplined, dammit, and disciplined warriors didn’t fall for that shit. It made no sense.
His intense need for her felt too similar to the compulsion that had sent him to the river three nights ago. Another trap? He’d suspected it from the moment he’d first reacted to her scent, but he’d been unable to resist the temptation, and he’d hauled ass to get back to his house. Yeah, true, he’d also needed to get back to his cabin to retrieve his supplies to go after Elijah. The fact she’d imbued him with new strength had been a bonus he wasn’t going to deny.
But now he had to be sure. A trap or not? Quinn laughed softly. Shit. He hoped it was. If it wasn’t, there was only one other reason he could think that could explain his reaction to her, and that would be if she was his mate. His sheva. His ticket to certain destruction.
No chance.
He wouldn’t allow it.
He had no time for dealing with that destiny right now. It was time to get in, get out, and go after Elijah. His amusement faded as he took a final survey of the woods. There was no lurking threat he could detect. Maybe he’d made it back before he’d been expected, or maybe an ambush had been aborted.
Either way, he had to get into his house, get his stuff, and move on. His gaze returned to the woman, and he noticed a drop of water sliding down the side of her neck, trickling over her skin like the most seductive of caresses. He swore, realizing she wasn’t going to leave. She’d freeze to death before she’d abandon her perch.
He cursed again and knew he had to go to her. He couldn’t let her die on his front step. Not this woman. Not her.
He would make it fast, he would make it efficient, he would stay on target for his mission, but he would get her safe.
Keeping alert for any indication that this was a setup, Quinn stepped out of the woods and into the clearing. He’d made no sound, not even a whisper of his clothing, and yet she sensed him.
She sat up, her gaze finding him instantly in the dim light, despite his stealthy approach. They made eye contact, and the world seemed to stop for a split second. The moment he saw those silvery eyes, something thumped in his chest. Something visceral and male howled inside him, raging to be set free.
As he strode up, she unfolded herself from her cramped position and pulled herself to her feet, her gaze never leaving his. Her face was wary, her body tense, but she lifted her chin ever so slightly and set her hands on her hips, telling him that she wasn’t leaving.
Her courage and determination, held together by that tiny, shivering frame, made satisfaction thud through him. There was a warrior in that slim, exhausted body.
She said nothing as he approached, and neither of them spoke as he came to a stop in front of her.
Up close, he was riveted. Her dark eyelashes were clumped from the rain. Her skin was pale, too pale. Her face was carrying the burden of a thousand weights. But beneath that pain, those nightmares, that hell, lay delicate femininity that called to him. The luminescent glow of her skin, the sensual curve of her mouth, the sheen of rain on her cheekbones, the simple silver hoops in her ears. It awoke in him something so male, so carnal, so primal he wanted to throw her up against the wall and consume her until their bodies were melted together in a single, scorching fire.
She searched his face with the same intensity raging through him, and he felt like she was tearing through his shields, cataloguing everything about him, all the way down to his soul.
He studied her carefully, and she let him, not flinching when his gaze traveled down her body. His blood pulsed as he noted the curve of her breasts under her rain-slicked jacket, the sensuous curve of her hips, and even the mud on her jeans and boots. He almost groaned at his need to palm her hips, drag her over to him, and mark her with his kiss. Loose strands of thick dark hair curled around her neck and shoulders like it was clinging to her for safety.
Protectiveness surged from deep inside him and he clenched his fists against the urge to sweep her into his arms and carry her inside, away from whatever hardships had brought her to his doorstep.
Double hell. He’d hoped his reaction would lessen when he got close to her, but it had intensified. He’d never felt like this before. Never had this response to a woman.
What the hell was going on? Sheva. The word was like a demon, whispering through his mind. He shut it out. He would never allow himself to bond with his mate. If that was what was going on, she was out of there immediately, before they were both destroyed forever.
Intent on sending her away, he looked again at her face, and then realized he was irrevocably ensnared. Her beautiful silver eyes were aching with a soul-deep pain that shattered what little defenses he had against her. He simply couldn’t abandon her.
It didn’t matter what she wanted. It didn’t matter why she was there. She was coming inside. He would make sure it didn’t interfere with his mission. He would make dead sure it turned out right. No matter what.
Without a word, he grabbed her backpack off the floor, surprised at how heavy it was. Either she had tossed her free weights in it, or she had packed her life into it.
He had a bad feeling it wasn’t a set of dumbbells.
Quinn walked past her and unlocked his front door. He shoved it open, then stood back. Letting her decide. Hoping she would walk away and spare them both.
She took a deep breath, glanced at his face one more time, then walked into the cabin.
Hell.
He paused to take one more survey of his woods, found nothing amiss, and then he followed her into his home and shut the door behind them.
About the Author
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Stephanie Rowe is the author of more than forty-five novels, and she’s a four-time nominee for the RITA® award, the highest award in romance fiction. As an award-winning author, Stephanie has been touching readers’ hearts and keeping them spellbound for more than a decade with her contemporary romances, romantic suspense, paranormal romances, and YA contemporary romances.
A life-long reader, she began crafting stories at age ten, but didn’t realize it was her dream until she was an adult.
Once the light dawned, she immediately left behind “work” as the world defines it and went to “work” as she defines it, which means getting up every morning with a smile in her heart so she can spend the day doing that which makes her spirit sing.
Stephanie believes in learning to listen to your heart in order to figure out what your dreams are, and then opening yourself to the inspiration that will direct you there. She believes we all deserve the right to enjoy life, and for the ride to be as easy as we want it to be, and that we all should accept nothing less than making our dreams come true.
Stephanie currently lives in New England, and spends every day doing her best to fill it with people, observations and activities that uplift her soul, which include writing, tennis, dancing, friends, her dogs, and her amazing family.
Visit https://www.stephanierowe.com/ for more information
There was something about him she couldn't nail down, something that had never happened to her. His allure was magnetic, and the hunger to solve the puzzle he represented shocked her in its intensity.
────── ♔ ──────
Immortal's Honor by Rebecca Zanetti
Standalone - Dark Protectors #14
Release - December 7, 2021
Genre - Paranormal Romance / fated mates
Dual POV - 3rd person
Heat Level - 3.5 out of 5 / a few scenes
Format/Source - eARC provided by the publisher
Page Count - 328
Publisher - Lyrical Press
Release - December 7, 2021
Genre - Paranormal Romance / fated mates
Dual POV - 3rd person
Heat Level - 3.5 out of 5 / a few scenes
Format/Source - eARC provided by the publisher
Page Count - 328
Publisher - Lyrical Press
First comes danger . . .
When Vampire-Demon Sam Kyllwood discovers he’s the keeper of some mysterious circle, he laughs it off. When he finds out that his younger brother is supposed to fight to the death in said circle, he snaps right to furious. And that’s before he starts uncontrollably making things explode —it turns out it’s never too late to develop deadly new immortal abilities. But even those explosions are nothing compared to what happens when he tries to handle a very suspicious, brilliant and beyond sexy human female whose piercing eyes ignite a heat that rages deliciously outside even his unbreakable control…
Then comes desire . . .
Honor McDovall is one of the best interrogators Homeland Security has ever had. But no matter how well she appears to fit in, her mystical gifts are slowly driving her mad. She doesn't understand them, she doesn't want them, but for now, she'll use them to detect and defeat danger until she completely loses her mind. Unfortunately, her job brings her face to face with the deadliest man she's ever met—and she senses Sam is even more gifted than she is. Yet once they kiss, she realizes he's also more dangerous than the enemies suddenly coming from every direction. Good thing they both like to play with fire . . .
Purchase Links
My Two Cents
Was this book supposed to be as hilarious as I found it to be?
Immortal's Honor was Sam Kyllwood's story. Yeah, yeah. Honor was there too, but it was Sam who definitely stole the show.
As The Keeper, a title Sam absolutely hated, he and the Seven, the three keys and the lock were responsible for stopping the unstoppable. It seems that Ulric has only gotten more powerful, able to summon people to his prison world and do some pretty serious psychological (and eventually physical) damage.
And remember... not everyone wants to stop Ulric. The Kurjans believe he has served his time. You know, because killing 100 innocent women is an act you can find redemption for. The Cyst seem to be following their wayward general, Jaydon, who had his own plan — replicating the same ritual Ulric did so he could be just as untouchable. All of the 'bad guys' had their own agenda and it appeared that they all wanted to kill Sam.
Then there was Honor. This lady made me laugh so freaking much! From the moment she met Sam, she gave him a hard time. I think she was the first heroine that I've seen in this series who maimed her fated mate and basically left him for dead. How could I not find the humor in that? As an enhanced female, her power was at once powerful and mysterious. I'm still not sure exactly what she can do, but I know that what I've seen so far is amazing. That scene where she amplified the other enchanced women's powers... with her mind... such a unique touch!
It was pretty clear that the chemistry between these characters couldn't be denied, despite how hard they tried. I loved how everyone and their mama were pushing these two together. Shoot, I just loved seeing everyone up in the place. I enjoyed seeing how the shifter community had completely embraced Sam and Garrett, how devoted Bear and Nessa are to each other, how Flynn was such a great brother, how the truth has finally been shared with Sam's family... This book gave me everything!
There was plenty to love about this story and here at the end, I can't wait until the next book in this series. It's Garrett's turn!!
My Notes
When will Hope stop being so reckless and naive? This thing she has with Drake is driving me nuts, especially because we know that he isn't the good guy she makes him out to be. Dude just tried to kill her favorite uncle. WTH?! And her swinging between Pax and Drake is annoying. Oh and Pax's whole The Defenders plot has me both curious and infuriated. I'm super excited to see these kids really get their chance to shine and tell their story.
Quick Peek
"I appreciate your attempts to get to know me, so let me give you this. This challenge from you, this stubborn fight inside you, does nothing but turn me on." He waited until his words sank in and her eyes widened before continuing. "Your being pliant and obedient bores me. So you have a choice to make. Do you want to bore me or arouse me?"
She blinked. "How about I rip off your head and shove my socks down your headless corpse?"
Amusement grabbed him so quickly he couldn't help a quick bark of laughter. "Aroused it is, then." He slamed the door and crossed around the car to retake his seat. Oh, he couldn't keep her, but she was making that reality look bleak. Maybe someday when he took care of his problems, he could look her up.
About the Author
Rebecca Zanetti is the author of over forty romantic suspense, dark paranormals, and contemporary romances, and her books have appeared multiple times on the New York Times, USA Today, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iBooks bestseller lists. She lives in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest with her own Alpha hero, two kids, a couple of dogs, a crazy cat…and a huge extended family. She believes strongly in luck, karma, and working her butt off…and she thinks one of the best things about being an author, unlike the lawyer she used to be, is that she can let the crazy out. Upcoming series are: The Blood Brothers, The Realm Enforcers and The Scorpius Syndrome.
Visit https://rebeccazanetti.com/ for more information!
I woke up with an unshakeable feeling like today was the day that my life was going to drastically change. - Zilveren
────── ♔ ──────
Saving Silver by Xavier Neal
Standalone
Release - September 23, 2021
Genre - Paranormal Romance / instalove / fated mates / interracial
Dual POV - 1st person
Heat Level - 3.5 out of 5 / several scenes
Format/Source - eARC provided by the author
Page Count - 295
Publisher - Indie
Release - September 23, 2021
Genre - Paranormal Romance / instalove / fated mates / interracial
Dual POV - 1st person
Heat Level - 3.5 out of 5 / several scenes
Format/Source - eARC provided by the author
Page Count - 295
Publisher - Indie
I swear, one minute I'm dozing off during the night shift - don't judge me - and the next I'm being told I'm Fate Mated to an ancient dragon.
An ancient dragon I couldn't help but save when he woke me up out of the aforementioned slumber - again, don't judge me.
Now this same ancient dragon - that I'm apparently destined to be with - is doing everything he can to win me over, because it's up to me whether or not he'll live the rest of his life in absolute agony or absolute bliss.
Oh, and let's not forget the fact we're being chased by elves, working with a grumpy Griffin, and have to rescue some poor kidnapped dragon before an evil corporation kills it.
Ugh.
Any chance this is all some crazy dream that I can't wake up from?
No?
Well, can't blame this human for asking.
Purchase Links
My Two Cents
I found Saving Silver to be sweet, sexy and hilarious! From the moment Z and Adae met, I was caught up in the cuteness and hotness of their connection.
I enjoyed the concepts the author introduced — Sleepers and Awakers. Sleepers (humans) were blind to the complete world around them. Z, his brothers, and all other creatures that were believed to be mythical were all around us... we just couldn't see them. I loved Dae's reactions to everything she was introduced to, from her disbelief and confusion, to her curiousity and loyalty and love. What great characters!
Dae doesn't just see my beast side or my Awaker one.
She sees all of me.
Approves of all of me.
Loves all of me.
Just like a Fated Mate should.
There's a huge subplot that I'm sure will feature in some way in the book(s) to come and I can't wait to learn more. There were so many amazing side characters that I have to know! Like Zilveren's brothers, who seem to view finding a mate to be a death sentence. There's also the favorite cousins, especially Little B, who seems to have found his mate already. Even their faithful Gene deserves some shine.
This story has everything to make it an easy read...
🐉 humor
🐉 hot chemistry
🐉 sweet and no angst romance
🐉 the wonders of the supernatural, with suspense and bits of action
🐉 fantastic characters
As introductions go, this story has made a fan out of me and I will be staying tuned to see where this series will go.
About the Author
Xavier Neal is a best-selling romance author who enjoys hopping from sub genre to sub genre like a game of Hopscotch she can't resist.
In between writing, she loves to read (everything from romance to self improvement books), watch movies (old and new), eat too much Tex-Mex (her Chuy's t-shirt collection is out of control), and watch AHL hockey games LIVE (preferably against the glass whenever possible).
She currently resides happily in Texas with her bearded husband "Lumberjack” and their two fur babies.
Visit https://www.xavierneal.com/ for more information!
“Love is a fearsome thing. It lays us naked and vulnerable at another’s feet. Hate is an addictive drug. It protects us with weapons and armor difficult to beat. To love, it takes incredible courage; to hate, only its mirage.” —From the Ecliptic Prophesies, buried and forgotten
Pure Rapture by Aja James
Pure/Dark Ones #5
Release - August 15, 2018
Genre - Paranormal Romance / fated mates
Multiple POV - 3rd person
Heat Level - 4 out of 5 / several scenes
Format/Source - ebook borrowed through Kindle Unlimited
Page Count - 353
Publisher - Indie
Release - August 15, 2018
Genre - Paranormal Romance / fated mates
Multiple POV - 3rd person
Heat Level - 4 out of 5 / several scenes
Format/Source - ebook borrowed through Kindle Unlimited
Page Count - 353
Publisher - Indie
Their love is outlawed by both their Kinds…
Tal-Telal, the legendary General who led the Pure Ones to freedom, paid the ultimate price for his people: breaking the heart of his one True Love.
Her shattered heart continues to yearn…
Ishtar Anshar, once royalty reigning over a vast, ancient empire, lost everything she held dear. Deceived by those she trusted the most, she blamed the one male who sacrificed all to protect her.
No matter the distance and time, love is a renegade that cannot be ruled…
Now Fate has reunited them in this modern time to combat a burgeoning threat. Can they put the darkness behind them and forge a brighter future together?
Buy it here: Amazon
(free to read with Kindle Unlimited)
I don't tend to get weak when I'm reading romance, but you see... I have an achilles heel when it comes to certain stories. Give me a beautiful, broken, but hopeful warrior of a hero and I become a gelatinous mess. And Tal had everything I love in spades!
This was probably the most heartbreaking story of the series. Each flashback to Tal's past left me reeling. I approached each scene with fear and trepidation. The author did such an incredible job of weaving the history, struggle, romance, and odds of what became of Tal and Ishtar.
I'm declaring here and now... Tal is MINE and I will claw the face (and eyeballs) of anyone who dares to think to take him from me! 😂🤣😂🤣
And then there were all of the answers I got (or could guess at)!! If you don't want spoilers, stop reading this review now!!
Check out the previous books:
Aja James just completed the Pure/ Dark Ones paranormal-fantasy romance series in 2020. If you want your heart battered, bruised, shattered and skewered, then put back together in the most glorious ways, check out the series below. Every couple gets an HEA, but they fight like hell for it on the way.
Aja is now working on her new series, Dragon Tails, because dragons are her favorite shifters of all!
⊱ ──────────── 🐾 🐾 🐾 ──────────── ⊰
And then there were all of the answers I got (or could guess at)!! If you don't want spoilers, stop reading this review now!!
★ Medusa (or I should say Anunit)... this chick was insanely evil! She claimed to love her sister, Ishtar, but this female had no clue how to love. Enlil was devoted to her and she treated him as a slave. She made him her blood mate, but didn't even tie herself to him in return. Then because her sister had the audacity to find someone to love that wasn't her, she manipulated her and events to ruin everyone's lives. Some sister!
★ From Tal and Ishtar's first precarious meeting through to the sacrifices Tal had to make, all in the name of love... all of it had my heart pounding in anticipation because it knew that the day of reckoning was coming. These two would finally get to the truth of it all. Ishtar would finally see how true Tal has always been. I lived for every tension-filled, remorseful, sensual, and emotional scene between these two. Nothing made me happier than seeing all of Ishtar's feelings of bitterness, betrayal and vengeance faded away in the face of all that was Tal.
★ Did anyone else scream with joy when Ishtar made Anu submit the first time? How about when she took off half her face and clawed out her eyeballs when they battled a second time? That second fight scene had me rolling!
★ Seriously, every flashback to Tal's past made me want to cry.
One day, he wished his people could be free. To live without fear. To live for themselves.
★ When will Inanna being the Light-Bringer become relevant in this series? Will the fact that her mother is also a product of Light and Dark Ones be relevant?
★ Where the heck is Dalair? And why is it that, other than a casual mention in Sophie's mind, no one seems to be concerned with his absence? Why is no one saying where he is? Why is no one worried?
★ I still believe that the Creature and Ere are one and the same, now more than ever. Ishtar is a shapeshifter Dark One who gave birth to twins. One is Inanna. The twin boy may be alive out there somewhere. And the Creature is a shapeshifter. Makes sense, right?
★ I checked into the next book and found out it is about Enlil, which is great, because aside from knowing that he stabbed himself in the heart, destroyed his blood bond with Anu/Medusa, and forgot who he was, I need to know more. Will he remember his past? Will he continue on the path of Light? Will he reunite with Ryu and build some kind of relationship with his son? I've never really seen him as a villain, but more of an anti-hero, and I think I'll continue to like him (I hope).
~ Great Quotes ~
Who are we truly? The one we are born or the one we are made? Where does our path lead? The one with footprints behind us or the one that Destiny laid?
What is written cannot be unwritten, what is said cannot be unsaid. What is remembered can be a vision; Fate can be unwoven by pulling a single thread.
The past is written but incomplete, each story a footprint amongst countless feet. The truth is revealed but only a grain, a speck of sand amongst a vast desert plain.
Check out the previous books:
Aja is now working on her new series, Dragon Tails, because dragons are her favorite shifters of all!
Visit https://aja-james.blog/ for more information!
She was starting to glean aspects of his personality and attitude, something she hadn’t really bothered to assess in other people she’d encountered in her life. They simply hadn’t mattered enough for her to make the attempt.
But Devlin was different somehow. He mattered.
He mattered to Grace.
But Devlin was different somehow. He mattered.
He mattered to Grace.
Dark Pleasures by Aja James
Pure/Dark Ones #4
Release - June 15, 2018
Genre - Paranormal Romance / fated mates
Multiple POV - 3rd person
Heat Level - 4 out of 5 / several scenes (frequent)
Format/Source - borrowed ebook from Kindle Unlimited
Page Count - 320 pages
Publisher - Indie
Release - June 15, 2018
Genre - Paranormal Romance / fated mates
Multiple POV - 3rd person
Heat Level - 4 out of 5 / several scenes (frequent)
Format/Source - borrowed ebook from Kindle Unlimited
Page Count - 320 pages
Publisher - Indie
Devlin Sinclair, the New England Dark Ones’ Hunter, is on a mission to track down the elusive and mysterious Medusa, perhaps the ultimate nemesis the Pure and Dark Ones have been battling in recent years.
But he can’t do it alone.
Grace Darling has isolated herself from the world since a very young age, after her parents’ death and because of her own social disability. Awkward and brilliant, a born sensualist, Grace agrees to a blind date that changes the course of Destiny.
She has the skills he needs.
Their chemistry is off the charts, but will she, can she, give him the love he craves?
Buy it here: Amazon
free to read with Kindle Unlimited
Oh... I did?
Well, consider me SHOOK!!
This author is holding me captive with this series. I have other books I'm supposed to be reading. ARCs are piling up and yet... I can't stop myself!
The heroes are divine. The heroines are perfect for their mates. The plots are dynamic, complicated and intriguing. I've been hooked, I am hooked, and I will continue to be hooked until the end!
Devlin was an absolute sweetheart. Until now, I took him as the easygoing, flirty, more approachable member of the Chosen. Now I know better because he is all of those things and more. A perfect gentleman, Devlin was kind and caring, smart and astute, and he was fiercely loyal. He was left a broken man before becoming a Dark One and the lingering pain of his past fed into his present. And then he met Grace.
Grace was not normal, but she was uniquely perfect. With limited social skills and an analytical mind, she approached life like an equation — resolutely, determindly, logically. However, Devlin was an anomaly for her. He didn't fit into a box. He was unlike anyone she had ever met. He couldn't be forgotten. She wanted to have him, be one with him, to claim him, no matter how illogical it seemed.
I loved the way their relationship developed. From their two-week sex arrangement to her wooing of him, these two made magic happen. His open heart and her stunted one were made for each other!...this was Grace’s particular dilemma. She was helplessly addicted to everything Devlin.
He asked silent questions with his mouth: Do you want me? Not this shell that I wear, but me, the man inside? Can you care for me, hold me when I’m weak, accept the bestial part of me that wants to mark you, claim you for my own?
She answered his mouth with equal fervor and made demands in return: I want you. I want you inside my body, my blood. I want to be inside you too, so deep inside I become a part of you. I want you with a desperation that scares me. So badly I ache when we’re not together. So madly my heart splinters to see you in pain.
I did get some of the answers I was looking for and I couldn't be happier to know that I was right! And if you aren't interested in spoilers, stop reading here...
★ Tal is up and about. I just wish that (a) he could see and (b) he wasn't declining. That ending has left me devastated and I need to keep reading to find out if he's going to be okay. Please, please, please tell me that he and Estelle Martin (aka Mama Bear... aka The Love of His Life) end up together and that they're happy, healthy and whole.
★ Thank you for the glimpse of Ryu. Just knowing about him, Ava and their little Zane made me so happy. And I cannot get enough of this male's blushes!
★ So what's going on with the six degrees of separation?
- Inanna visited Mama Bear at Dark Dreams
- Mama Bear gives her baked goods to the Little Flower Orphanage
- Maria (Grace's aunt) stops in at Dark Dreams, has a rapport with Mama Bear, and works at the orphanage
- The Creature has a connection to Olivia? - Benji's mom
★ oooh... oooh... I can't wait to find out more about the ancient True Blood, Ramses
★ I need to know who Medusa really is, how she's able to control all of these people, and why she's doing it.
Check out the previous books:
How did a two-hundred-thirty-year-old vampire find himself on a blind date with a human female cyber genius?
A remote part of Devlin Sinclair’s mind pondered this question with immense curiosity and astonishment while the rest of him focused on the task at hand.
“That seat is taken.”
The Hunter of the Dark Ones flashed his most engaging and disarming of grins, nearly blinding the occupants of the nearby tables at Raoul’s with its brilliance.
At the very least mesmerizing guests of the female variety.
“Mith, am I right?” he called the woman seated before him by her encrypted chat room handle, knowing full well that her name was actually Grace Elizabeth Darling. Twenty-nine years old, single, and wanted by several government agencies for her cyber hacking skills since the age of twelve.
She tipped her head slightly to one side and gave him a slow, meticulous, dispassionate appraisal from head to toe.
As if he were the restaurant’s special menu for the evening, and she found every item on the list less than appetizing.
“You’re not Azor Ahai,” she stated with absolute certainty.
Devlin mentally rolled his eyes and stifled a sigh.
No, he was not the Prince Who Was Promised, according to George R.R. Martin’s magnum opus A Song of Ice and Fire.
He wasn’t even the man who used the name as his online handle in the chat room where he occasionally traded conversational volleys with Grace.
No, Devlin Sinclair, Marquess of Hartington in his human life, was the royal henchman to the New England vampire queen Jade Cicada.
Devlin had in the past few months painstakingly insinuated himself into the role of Grace Darling’s chat room flirtation so that he could track the elusive cyber genius down in the flesh.
“I am,” Devlin said presently, blinking his eyes with innocence and injecting a slightly wounded look into his countenance at her immediate rejection of his identity.
She stared unblinkingly back at him, her expression unsmiling and devoid of any emotion.
“I expected you to be balding and pudgy, and maybe a foot shorter,” she said.
“There are no pictures of me anywhere, I made sure of that,” Devlin pointed out, though he knew that the real man was in fact as she described.
He’d chosen to get closer to her through this particular identity precisely because the man suffered from extreme paranoia and took care never to leave traces of himself. Who better to impersonate than a ghost on the Net and an invisible man in real life?
That, and the fact that he engaged in far more conversations and commanded more minutes of Grace’s time than anyone else in cyber space, where she lived for fourteen out of her sixteen waking hours each day, ostensibly as the work-from-home Enterprise Architect at the hottest new tech startup Zenn.
It was a stroke of pure luck that Grace herself initiated this face-to-face meeting just as Devlin almost gave up on tracing her, though his own digital abilities were substantial.
But not as good as hers.
“I hacked some satellite images and filtered the distortion. I got one of you walking through Central Park while eating a Big Mac a couple of weeks ago.”
There was no accusation or apology in her voice. She simply stated a fact and waited for him to refute or confirm.
Huh.
Devlin had to admire her resourcefulness, but he was not surprised. He would have expected no less given her skills.
“I must have had some sun glinting off my hair that day, which you mistook for the bald spot, and I was bundled in a heavy coat, which probably made me look a bit…fluffier,” he suggested smoothly.
“It was nighttime.”
“How forgetful of me,” he corrected with another flash of teeth, but she didn’t seem the least bit distracted by their brilliant whiteness.
“It was the light from the street lamps, not the sun.”
She made no reply.
Instead, she unhurriedly took her napkin from her lap, put it back on the table, pushed her chair back, slung a small backpack onto one shoulder and got up to leave.
Devlin thought fast.
“How is Miu-Miu?”
She paused and looked up at him, her expression still a neutral mask.
“And Antony and Cleopatra?”
Devlin quickly glanced at his watch, quickly because he didn’t trust her not to disappear in a puff of smoke if he took his eyes off her for even a millisecond.
“You don’t need to go home to feed them for another few hours. Let’s sit down and have our dinner, shall we? I, for one, am famished.”
She stood there regarding him with that fathomless dark stare, and Devlin would have given half his considerable fortune to know what she was thinking.
He read people very easily; it was one of his many natural gifts. But this woman was a Sphinx as far as he was concerned.
Perhaps because in order for a human book to be read, there had to be emotional signatures, but in Grace’s case, there was only cold logic. Encrypted cold logic.
Seeing that she was hesitant enough to at least remain stationary rather than dash out the door and disappear without a trace, Devlin pushed his luck further by walking around her and pulling out her chair again.
“Please do take a seat. This is your favorite restaurant, isn’t it? It took some doing to get a reservation. I would hate to waste it.”
He held his position for several seconds, one hand on the arm of her chair, one hand ever so lightly settling on her shoulder to guide her into the chair, while she considered her options.
But really, any choice she thought she had was an illusion.
Now that Devlin had seen her in the flesh, she would only escape him if he allowed it.
The Hunter never lost his prey.
A remote part of Devlin Sinclair’s mind pondered this question with immense curiosity and astonishment while the rest of him focused on the task at hand.
“That seat is taken.”
The Hunter of the Dark Ones flashed his most engaging and disarming of grins, nearly blinding the occupants of the nearby tables at Raoul’s with its brilliance.
At the very least mesmerizing guests of the female variety.
“Mith, am I right?” he called the woman seated before him by her encrypted chat room handle, knowing full well that her name was actually Grace Elizabeth Darling. Twenty-nine years old, single, and wanted by several government agencies for her cyber hacking skills since the age of twelve.
She tipped her head slightly to one side and gave him a slow, meticulous, dispassionate appraisal from head to toe.
As if he were the restaurant’s special menu for the evening, and she found every item on the list less than appetizing.
“You’re not Azor Ahai,” she stated with absolute certainty.
Devlin mentally rolled his eyes and stifled a sigh.
No, he was not the Prince Who Was Promised, according to George R.R. Martin’s magnum opus A Song of Ice and Fire.
He wasn’t even the man who used the name as his online handle in the chat room where he occasionally traded conversational volleys with Grace.
No, Devlin Sinclair, Marquess of Hartington in his human life, was the royal henchman to the New England vampire queen Jade Cicada.
Devlin had in the past few months painstakingly insinuated himself into the role of Grace Darling’s chat room flirtation so that he could track the elusive cyber genius down in the flesh.
“I am,” Devlin said presently, blinking his eyes with innocence and injecting a slightly wounded look into his countenance at her immediate rejection of his identity.
She stared unblinkingly back at him, her expression unsmiling and devoid of any emotion.
“I expected you to be balding and pudgy, and maybe a foot shorter,” she said.
“There are no pictures of me anywhere, I made sure of that,” Devlin pointed out, though he knew that the real man was in fact as she described.
He’d chosen to get closer to her through this particular identity precisely because the man suffered from extreme paranoia and took care never to leave traces of himself. Who better to impersonate than a ghost on the Net and an invisible man in real life?
That, and the fact that he engaged in far more conversations and commanded more minutes of Grace’s time than anyone else in cyber space, where she lived for fourteen out of her sixteen waking hours each day, ostensibly as the work-from-home Enterprise Architect at the hottest new tech startup Zenn.
It was a stroke of pure luck that Grace herself initiated this face-to-face meeting just as Devlin almost gave up on tracing her, though his own digital abilities were substantial.
But not as good as hers.
“I hacked some satellite images and filtered the distortion. I got one of you walking through Central Park while eating a Big Mac a couple of weeks ago.”
There was no accusation or apology in her voice. She simply stated a fact and waited for him to refute or confirm.
Huh.
Devlin had to admire her resourcefulness, but he was not surprised. He would have expected no less given her skills.
“I must have had some sun glinting off my hair that day, which you mistook for the bald spot, and I was bundled in a heavy coat, which probably made me look a bit…fluffier,” he suggested smoothly.
“It was nighttime.”
“How forgetful of me,” he corrected with another flash of teeth, but she didn’t seem the least bit distracted by their brilliant whiteness.
“It was the light from the street lamps, not the sun.”
She made no reply.
Instead, she unhurriedly took her napkin from her lap, put it back on the table, pushed her chair back, slung a small backpack onto one shoulder and got up to leave.
Devlin thought fast.
“How is Miu-Miu?”
She paused and looked up at him, her expression still a neutral mask.
“And Antony and Cleopatra?”
Devlin quickly glanced at his watch, quickly because he didn’t trust her not to disappear in a puff of smoke if he took his eyes off her for even a millisecond.
“You don’t need to go home to feed them for another few hours. Let’s sit down and have our dinner, shall we? I, for one, am famished.”
She stood there regarding him with that fathomless dark stare, and Devlin would have given half his considerable fortune to know what she was thinking.
He read people very easily; it was one of his many natural gifts. But this woman was a Sphinx as far as he was concerned.
Perhaps because in order for a human book to be read, there had to be emotional signatures, but in Grace’s case, there was only cold logic. Encrypted cold logic.
Seeing that she was hesitant enough to at least remain stationary rather than dash out the door and disappear without a trace, Devlin pushed his luck further by walking around her and pulling out her chair again.
“Please do take a seat. This is your favorite restaurant, isn’t it? It took some doing to get a reservation. I would hate to waste it.”
He held his position for several seconds, one hand on the arm of her chair, one hand ever so lightly settling on her shoulder to guide her into the chair, while she considered her options.
But really, any choice she thought she had was an illusion.
Now that Devlin had seen her in the flesh, she would only escape him if he allowed it.
The Hunter never lost his prey.
Aja is now working on her new series, Dragon Tails, because dragons are her favorite shifters of all!
Visit https://aja-james.blog/ for more information!
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