Book Tour for Love's Debt by Rachel Brimble (Promo & GIVEAWAY)

Love's Debt by Rachel Brimble is a short yet sweet story about overcoming pride and accepting help and love when it's offered.  Today I'm giving you a brief glimpse of this story as well as a giveaway.  You can also learn more about this book by visiting the other blogs hosting this tour listed here.

To keep herself from the depths of poverty, Milly Shepherd needs to be appointed manager of the Red Lion Tavern. The elderly owner is in failing health and has promised her the job permanently if no one more suitable applies. Milly will fight with her entire being to make the job her own.

Joseph Jacobs needs to supplement his income to pay off his father’s creditors and save him from debtor’s prison. Though the job as manager of the local tavern looks promising, Milly is favored by both the owner and customers.  Instead, Joseph swallows his pride and agrees to tend bar.

As they work together, their attraction grows, their goals cross, and both Millie and Joseph find they must face their fears …the question is whether they face them alone or together?

EXCERPT:

“No, I take it from here.” His jaw tightened. “I mean it, Milly. I don’t want you in there.”

“Why are we arguing about this? I thought we’d built a trust between us.”

His gaze darted over her face, lingered at her lips. “This has nothing to do with trust.”

“Then what?”

“Pride. If I haven’t got that…if I’ve stooped so low as to put a woman at risk, then there’s no point in going on at all. I won’t do it, Milly. I won’t expose you to whatever is behind that door. If you can’t stay here, then go back to the tavern. I’ll see you there shortly.”

His face was set, his shoulders stiff and Milly’s irritation grew. She poked a finger into his chest. It was like iron. She swallowed. “Have you heard the saying, pride before a fall?” He nodded. “Good, because if people don’t reach out to other people, Joseph Jacobs, they fall further than ever with nobody there to catch them.”

“Milly--”

She raised her hand. “Go. Do what you want. I’ve got more important things to worry about that a man full of so much pride, he looks fit to burst.”

Turning, Milly gripped her bag tightly in her hand and strode away. She did not look back, and she didn’t stop walking. Her stupid heart had let her down. Made her get involved in a man’s life and begin to care about him. Well, the buck stopped there. No more. If Joseph Jacobs ever needed her help again, he could take a long walk off the dock.

Blinking against the rare sting of tears, she tilted her chin and retraced her steps across town. Her shift at the tavern started in an hour’s time, but that didn’t matter; there was always plenty to be done and at least there, she was appreciated. Joseph certainly didn’t see what was right in front of his damn face.

Yet each step that took her across town weighed heavier and heavier. She’d seen where he and his father lived. It was little better than a hovel. She’d seen the newspapers stuffed around the window frames in an attempt to keep out the cold, the bare floorboards, and thick layers of soot from the fireplace spilling into the room. The landlady should be seeing to that, all of it. Bitter resentment furled in Milly’s stomach as her past flashed through her mind. She’d pulled her family from the gutter, and the future looked brighter than ever before.

Which didn’t help the nagging feeling that she could do more—wanted to do more to help Joseph. But she couldn’t. It would mean putting a hold on her own plans. All for a man she had hardly known more than two weeks.

She curled her hands into fists. This feeling inside her was new. This sense of wanting to fight for someone outside of her family. How had it gotten like this? To kiss him was bad enough, but to have this…this fear for him? That scared her more than anything.

BUY FROM WILD ROSE PRESS here

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Rachel lives with her husband and two young daughters in a small town near Bath in the UK.  She started writing short stories about eight years ago but once her children were at school, she embarked on her first novel. It was published in 2007. Since then, she’s had several books published with small presses as well as securing her first contract with Harlequin Superromance in May 2012.

Represented by US agent Dawn Dowdle, of Blue Ridge Literary Agency, Rachel is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and Romance Writers of America, When she isn’t writing, you’ll find Rachel with her head in a book or walking the beautiful English countryside with her family.  Her dream place to live is Bourton-on-the-Water in South West England. And in the evening? Well, a well-deserved glass of wine is never, ever refused…

Contact Rachel at:
Website - http://www.rachelbrimble.com
Blog - http://rachelbrimble.blogspot.com
Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/rachelbrimble or @rachelbrimble
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rachel-Brimble/181873201887441

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Review for Love's Debt by Rachel Brimble

To keep herself from the depths of poverty, Milly Shepherd needs to be appointed manager of the Red Lion Tavern. The elderly owner is in failing health and has promised her the job permanently if no one more suitable applies. Milly will fight with her entire being to make the job her own.

Joseph Jacobs needs to supplement his income to pay off his father’s creditors and save him from debtor’s prison. Though the job as manager of the local tavern looks promising, Milly is favored by both the owner and customers.  Instead, Joseph swallows his pride and agrees to tend bar.

As they work together, their attraction grows, their goals cross, and both Milly and Joseph find they must face their fears …the question is whether they face them alone or together?

********************

Love's Debt is a sweet historical featuring two people drawn together in their desperation to make ends meet and make something of their futures. Considering the shortness of this story, the main characters are surprisingly well fleshed-out and though they come from different societal spheres they're perfect for each other.

Milly is a strong woman who wants the best for her family and has gone where no woman has gone before and become manager of a pub.  When she first sees the sexy and formidable Joseph Jacobs she thinks he'll steal her job.  She also knows there's more to him than what she sees and sets out to discover the truth about him.  As she gets to know him she discovers his kind heart and loyalty to family, traits she also has and what draws them together.  Milly's extremely likable and stands up for what she believes in. She's scared to open her heart, but once she does it's done wholeheartedly. The feelings she has for Joseph are believable and evolve slowly and naturally to a satisfyingly sweet conclusion. 

Joseph is in a constant struggle to make ends meet and pay off his father's gambling debt.  His mother left when she realized the gambling wasn't going to stop but Joseph is loyal even through his disappointment and works two jobs to pay off the debt.  He's an admirable character and the subtle flirtatiousness he directs towards Millie from the start is endearingly sweet and believably evolves into something stronger.  He's also a smart man who doesn't let his pride get in the way off his happiness and leans on the woman who loves him when he needs her most.

The main characters are nicely fleshed-out with truly likable traits.  The interaction between father and son was heartbreakingly well-written and showed a great deal about Joseph.  My only disappointment was in how little insight we got into the father and whether there's hope for him to overcome his addiction.  While the story ends on a hopeful note there's a niggling suspicion about hopefulness for the father that I wish I could've been assured of.  The romance is sweet and the lone sexual encounter isn't graphic at all but is certainly satisfying.  Between the enjoyable writing style and likable main characters this is a book I recommend to anyone wanting a feel-good story.  This is my first time reading Ms. Brimble but definitely won't be my last!

My rating for this is a B+

*I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

Book Tour for Paint for Blood by Emily Ryan-Davis (Promo & GIVEAWAY)

The paranormal genre just got a new addition in the start-up to a new series by Emily Ryan-Davis that is full of various creatures of the night, tear-inducing moments, and some steamy sexual encounters.  Paint for Blood gives us a uniquely mystically endowed young woman hunted by vampires and others desiring her blood.  As cities fall throughout the US Dessa must trust the one thing she swore she never would...a vampire.  Join me today for an extended excerpt as well as a giveaway for this exciting new book.  To learn even more about this book visit the other blogs hosting this tour listed here.

There’s only one substance on earth that can create a new vampire--the blood of a Chalice, a rare individual with magic in her veins. Atlanta’s human-vampire Civility Laws demand that if a Chalice is found, she must be destroyed. Vampire Teijon Reyes allowed the mortal girl Dessa Collier to live despite the threat she posed to society. If he ever finds her again, he will kill her, personal desires be damned.

Heiress to a family tradition of ward-working, house painter Dessa Collier has spent the past twelve years pretending vampires don't exist. When a friend-enemy walks back into Dessa’s life after a decade-long absence, everything Dessa has been hiding from comes crashing down on top of her.

Thrown together on a mission to protect a city under seige, Dessa and Teijon can no longer hide from the powerful attraction that binds them...or the monsters out to destroy them.

EXCERPT:

Chapter One

Twelve Years Ago

You’re here to kill me, aren’t you?

The ghosts beneath Annabel McIntyre’s silky willow trees wouldn’t answer, but fifteen-year-old Dessa Collier thought the question anyway. Someday they would reply. Someday they would nod their ghostly gray heads. Someday they would say yes.

When they did, she would… well, she still didn’t know what she would do. Go quietly. Try to be dignified about it.

“I saw a vampire last night in Little Five Points.” Waiva Jones’s smug declaration was anything but dignified.

“You see vampires everywhere.” Dessa looked away from the ghosts. A battered pair of Doc Martens swung at her left side, suspended by their laces. Dessa flexed her fingers and relished the sting of shoe strings biting into her skin. The small pain distracted her from her headache.

“What were you doing in Little Five, anyway?” The warm dregs of a Coke sloshed in the bottom of the plastic bottle in her right hand.

“I went with Eight Ball,” Waiva replied, sing-song. “He wanted to take me out in his new car. Besides, what difference does it make why? I saw a vampire.”

Waiva stopped and turned, her beaded braids swinging lightly behind her shoulders. White teeth flashed a bright smile in her dark face. “Maybe they’ll come to Garrett River and you can see one.”

Dessa shook her head and kept walking. The ghosts kept pace, slithering through the ink of the deepening gloom. She didn’t want to think about vampires in Garrett River or anywhere else. Better the abominations kept to Atlanta and left Garrett River to its own monsters.

Her grandmother was getting too old to keep up with requests for protection from spirits she did understand. Haint blue paint, long believed to protect a home from malicious spirits, was only as powerful as the mixer’s knowledge. The Colliers’ haint blue had its limits. Vampires? Beyond those limits.

Waiva huffed behind her. “I don’t know why I thought you’d be excited. You never believe in anything.”

“I do so. I go to church.”

“You don’t believe. Don’t tell me you do. Aunt Rose says Colliers don’t know what faith is, and when I’m around you, I think she’s right.” Waiva came abreast of her only to sidle away. “Maybe I should stop hanging out with you. You might be contagious, all that not-believing.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” And Waiva was wrong. Dessa believed in plenty. She believed in her grandparents. Aida and Clement Collier had refused to turn her out even when Dessa’s mother begged Clement to put a bullet in his only granddaughter’s head.

She also believed in her mother’s fear. Marie Collier had known something, something about Dessa, and the knowledge drove her to choose taking life over nurturing it.

More than anything, Dessa believed in getting home before dark. Her stomach rolled with nausea because she and Waiva weren’t going to make it before sundown. On the edges of her vision, the ghosts seethed.

To either side of the road, fields of brown grass stretched off toward farm houses. Suddenly, the road she traveled every day after school felt too isolated.

“I don’t feel good,” she said. “Let’s cut across the McIntyre farm.”

Waiva shrugged and veered left, past a “No Trespassing” sign and onto the field. Dessa hunched her shoulders and followed, glowering at the grass as if the dry, crinkly blades were responsible for her problems. She tried not to see the blank faces of the dead as she crossed their grim picket line.

The McIntyre shortcut wasn’t really short, but it took them on a westerly path home instead of forcing them to round back to the east. It took them toward the setting sun, away from the encroaching dark. Not fast enough. Dessa’s heart rate spiked, and a chill spread from her nape to her lower back.

“Someone’s following us.” The soles of her feet cramped, ached to run, but muscles and instincts were at odds. Dessa’s stomach gnawed painfully at her spine. Run. No, stay. Hold still, pretend to be invisible.

Provide.

Up ahead, Waiva tossed her braids. “Nobody’s following us. We’re the only people for miles not sitting at a dinner table, and it’s too early for vampires.” Waiva’s voice took on a sly edge. “Maybe in another hour it’ll be vampires.”

“I have a feeling.” Dessa lowered her head and focused on putting one bare foot in front of the other. Shiny black polish tipped her toes. She and Waiva continued in silence until they reached the gnarled, walking-stick stump of a long-dead tree. The stump marked a mile to the Collier farmhouse.

“Race you!” Waiva took off in a sprint.

Dessa didn’t follow. Instead, she looked over her shoulder. The bottom dropped from her stomach, and her muscles went slack. A dense, squirming mass of shadow obscured her view of the road. Someone else’s memory rippled between her ears, filled her head, and gave the black cloud a name. Hungry.

She couldn’t make her legs move. The blob came upon her quickly, so fast she didn’t have time to scream before fingers of darkness shoved into her mouth. Midnight bands wrapped around her biceps and dragged her to the ground. Dessa lashed out, punching the air. An inhuman cry reached her ears just before the dark filled those openings. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move, couldn’t shriek when the first bite tore at her forearm.

Burning pricks of pain dotted her exposed skin and sapped her strength. Weightless phantoms took the shape of greedy, clawed hands. Heavy bodies crushed her chest. They savaged her, teeth tearing and ripping. Hungry.

After an eternity of pain, a man’s voice cut through the sounds of feeding.

“Get them off her,” he commanded. “Destroy the new ones here and don’t take any back.”

“Better death than a cell,” another man replied.

The instructions didn’t make sense and they weren’t for her, but Dessa tried to focus anyway. Running footsteps and quiet curses filtered through the noise of strange, hissing pops. The scent of blood clogged her air passages and made her gag. Blood. Hers. Oh, that was bad.

Awareness of her arms and legs, her burning skin, returned. Dessa started to shake. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to roll onto her side, but she couldn’t move. Paralyzed.

Large, strong hands cupped the back of her head and lifted it from the ground. The authoritative voice came again. “Can you hear me?”

Masculine scents of leather and tea tree oil penetrated the reek of blood. She wasn’t completely paralyzed. She could move her head and she did, turning her face, pressing her nose and mouth to his forearm. She breathed through the odor of blood. Gradually, sensations beyond pain and fear filtered through her brain. Waiva’s voice. Vampires.

She shuddered and opened her eyes to stare at the man above her. Broad shoulders blocked the darkening violet sky. He was layers of brown against the bruised backdrop. Coffee skin, walnut hair twisted in thick dreadlocks, amber eyes.

Long fingers pushed purple tangles of hair from her face. He tilted her head at an uncomfortable angle, pressed his fingertips beneath her jaw, and muttered, “Fuck.”

Dessa’s eyelids drooped heavily. He wasn’t supposed to use that word around her. She was too young, and she was female. Clearly he wasn’t from the South.

“You’re here to kill me,” she whispered. However many times she’d thought the words, she’d never spoken them aloud.

“Yes. I am.” He tilted her head, golden gaze intent on her face. “Do you know why?”

“My mother knew why.” She swallowed and closed her eyes. “How are you going to do it? With your fangs?”

“No fangs, baby. Never fangs.” He slid his arms beneath her shoulders and knees and lifted her off the ground. She should have resisted his hold. The notion of good sense lurked in the back of her head, struggling to penetrate the fog that divided her rational brain from her feeling brain. Feeling rose to the top and floated like sea foam.

She felt safe. Sure, he was going to kill her, but death was going to happen eventually anyway. She didn’t have the energy to delay it by struggling. Flopping limp in his arms required no effort at all. So what if he said “fuck”?

Someone approached. The man who held her lifted her higher against his chest. Distantly, she labeled his body language as possessive. But that was stupid and romantic. She was no princess even if he was a knight. And he wasn’t a knight.

“Call for a car,” he said. He muttered something else. Maybe the f-word again. Dessa blacked out and lost more time.

When she came back to herself, the thick scent of blood was gone, replaced by tangy pine. Dessa squinted at the outline of a tree-shaped air freshener dangling from the inside of a car door.

Her killer’s hand skimmed her butt, and he swore. “No ID. How am I supposed to know where to take you?”

He whispered the words. Why was he whispering?

“She doesn’t look good.” A new voice, low and grim. “We destroyed nine. How the hell is there anything left of her?”

“She could create a hundred more.” Her knight-killer again.

“A hundred new creations would damn us all,” the other man, the one who wasn’t touching her, said. “Our own laws make us murderers.”

“We agreed to them. Get out and wait for me.”

The car door slammed. Dessa didn’t want to look. She turned her face to his shoulder. Warm lips stroked her ear, followed by a hot, wet lick. He held her still and drew his tongue down her throat to her shoulder, eating her pain.

Don’t ever give your blood away. It’s more valuable than gold and the minute someone else possesses it, you’re lost to yourself. Don’t give it away, baby girl.

She’d forgotten those parting words from her mother.

The vampire’s tongue dipped behind her ear, and she shivered. She’d given her blood away, and she didn’t want to take it back.

AVAILABLE AT:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Gothic-fantasy-paranormal-romance-ebook/dp/B008J7MR4I/

BN: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/paint-for-blood-emily-ryan-davis/1112100208?ean=2940014621397

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/204481

All Romance Ebooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-paintforblood-874390-139.html

AUTHOR BIO:

Emily Ryan-Davis is a lifelong East Coaster whose passion for the written word saw her through jobs writing obituaries, press releases and grants before she decided “I’m going to do this” and sat down to write a book. She made that decision in 2005 and has since published several short stories and novellas with digital publishers including Ellora’s Cave. On May 24, 2012, Emily left supervisors and payrolls behind in order to focus her efforts on writing and raising her son.

 

Emily has been a member of the Writer’s Digest-recognized writing community Romance Divas, where she volunteers as a moderator and organizes the annual "Not Going to Conference" Virtual Conference, since 2006.

Visit Emily at:

Website: http://www.scorchedsheets.com
Blog: http://emilyryandavis.blogspot.com
Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/author.emilyryandavis
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/emilyryandavis
Newsletter: http://groups.yahoo.com/emily_ryandavis
Email: emily@scorchedsheets.com

*ENTER THE GIVEAWAY FOR 1 OF 5 COPIES OF THIS BOOK BY ENTERING here

Review for Paint for Blood by Emily Ryan-Davis

There’s only one substance on earth that can create a new vampire--the blood of a Chalice, a rare individual with magic in her veins. Atlanta’s human-vampire Civility Laws demand that if a Chalice is found, she must be destroyed. Vampire Teijon Reyes allowed the mortal girl Dessa Collier to live despite the threat she posed to society. If he ever finds her again, he will kill her, personal desires be damned.

Heiress to a family tradition of ward-working, house painter Dessa Collier has spent the past twelve years pretending vampires don't exist. When a friend-enemy walks back into Dessa’s life after a decade-long absence, everything Dessa has been hiding from comes crashing down on top of her.

Thrown together on a mission to protect a city under seige, Dessa and Teijon can no longer hide from the powerful attraction that binds them...or the monsters out to destroy them.

********************

Paint for Blood is an ambitious story with a unique storyline full of a variety of scary creatures amidst heart pounding life or death circumstances.  While I applaud its distinctively unique storyline and myths, at times there's almost too much going on that leads to confusion.  Growing up Dessa knew she was different and had to guard against vampires and other creatures of darkness but didn't really know why.  I know how she feels since I never really felt I had a deep grasp on the role of The Chalice nor the differences between the creatures haunting her every step.  There were times I admired Dessa for her strength and other times I cursed her stupidity, even when she knew she was making the wrong choice she still did it.  She felt she had no true value beyond what the myths and her training taught her which led to her harming herself to feel.  Her connection to the honorable and exotic Teijon was her first experience with unconditional love.  Teijon's connection to her was believable in its intensity and evolution from their life-altering first encounter in her youth when he saved her instead of killing her per his orders.  Their sexual encounters are steamy and erotic and include a light smattering of menage and m/m.

The taste of Dessa's blood has haunted Teijon for years and kept his relationship with Lee from going to a deeper level.  Ultimately a choice must be made which leads to a surprising twist and interesting implications for the next book.  Even though Teijon paid a penalty for not killing her the first time they met, he knows he can never harm her once she's in his life again and repeatedly puts his life on the line to keep her safe.  He's an exotic hero who never forces Dessa into anything.  He never keeps secrets from her and because of her weakness and irrationality at times, I felt he deserved a more worthy heroine.

The villains and their schemes are hard to figure out due to the large cast of characters and the feeling that a lot of action happened before this story even started.  I'm intrigued by the vampire laws and hierarchy and the struggle to maintain the safety of all amidst the fears surrounding the abilities of The Chalice.  There were numerous action-packed sequences that sped along at a heart pounding rate towards a gut wrenching cliffhanger.  All of these elements led to a story that was satisfying on an emotional and sexual level (even though I was left with tears in my eyes at the conclusion) but left me a bit lost and confused about the mythological part of this world.  I'm hoping that the sequel will clear things up and ultimately lead to a HEA.  Emily Ryan-Davis has a nicely flowing writing style, and while not everything worked perfectly in this story, I certainly admire the creativity and the bright promise of her work and am excited for the next release in this series.

My rating for this is a C.

*I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

Feature & Follow Friday....

Hello all, it's that day of the week where we learn new things about each other and discover new blogs along the way.  We also help each other by becoming followers of one another.  Normally that following would be through GFC (which would be great if you'd still take a few seconds to do), but with that being eliminated for certain blogs (a big boo-hiss to that) I now ask that you follow through a RSS Feed (or Twitter, FB, or email) which you can find to the right.  I want to thank all of you ahead of time who choose to become a follower and make sure to let me know in the comments if you're new so I doubly make sure to follow you back.  And now for this weeks get to know me question....

Q: What is the BIGGEST word you've seen used in a book lately - that made you stop and look it up? Might as well leave the definition & book too.

A:  I honestly can't think of a word that I had to look up.  There are some words that I might have to double check my spelling on, but none whose definitions were unknown to me.  Must be all that training I did in high school to compete in the spelling bee.  LOL!

Book Tour for Sun God Seeks...Surrogate? by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff (Promo & GIVEAWAY)

Mimi Jean Pamfiloff is back with the third book in her Accidentally Yours series, Sun God Seeks...Surrogate?,  with the action and humor continuing as gods, vampires, and humans get one step closer to the apocalypse.  Today I give you an in-depth look into this book as well as a taste of the first two books in the series.  There's a giveaway too, so keep reading all the way to the end....

AVAILABLE AT:

Amazon | B&N | Kobo

BLURB:

When 24-year-old Penelope learns of a new miracle drug that could cure her ailing mother, it’s the answer to her prayers. Until she sees the cost. But for every door that closes, a window opens. In this case, the window calls herself Cimil, and she’s quite possibly the most insane person Penelope’s ever met. Could it be because this complete stranger just offered Penelope one million dollars to carry her wealthy brother’s baby?

But Cimil’s brother isn’t your everyday millionaire. In fact, he gives new meaning to the word hot.

EXCERPT:

Wondering which screw in her head had come loose this time, twenty-four-year-old Emma Keane strapped a parachute to her back in preparation for yet another fun-filled jungle mission.

“Dammit! Stop wiggling!” she barked over her shoulder. “And that had better be your flashlight!”

Well, actually, it was a cranky, rather large warrior named Brutus strapped to her back and wearing the parachute because she had yet to find time for skydiving lessons.

Dork.

In any case, looking like a ridiculous, oversized baby kangaroo wasn’t enough to stop her from making this nocturnal leap into enemy territory—Maaskab territory. She had scores to settle.

Emma sucked in a deep breath, the roar of the plane’s large engines and Brutus’s growls making it difficult to find her center—the key to winning any battle. And not freak out.

Funny. If someone had told her a year ago that she’d end up here, an immortal demigoddess engaged to the infamous God of Death and War, she would have said, “Christ! Yep! That toootally sounds about right.”

Why the hell not? She’d lived the first twenty-two years of her life with Guy—a nickname she’d given her handsome god—obsessed with his seductive voice, a voice only she could hear. Turned out, after they finally met face-to-face, their connection ran blood deep. Universe deep, actually. A match made by fate.

Emma rubbed her hands together, summoning the divine power deep within her cells. One blast with her fingertips and she could split a man right down the middle.

“Careful where you put those,” Guy said, cupping himself.

Emma gazed up at his smiling face and couldn’t help but admire the glorious, masculine view. Sigh. She knew she’d been born to love him, flaws—enormous ego and otherworldly bossiness—and all.

His smile melted away. “Please change your mind, my sweet. Stay on the plane, and let me do your fighting.”

“Can’t do that,” she replied. “The Maaskab took my grandmother, and I’m going to be the one to get her back. Even if I have to kill Tommaso to do it.”

Guy shook his head. “No. You are to let me deal with him.”

Emma felt her immortal blood boil. She’d trusted Tommaso once, and he’d betrayed her. Almost gotten her killed, too. But she’d known—well, she’d thought—it wasn’t Tommaso’s fault. He’d been injected with liquid black jade, an evil substance that could darken the heart of an angel. That’s why, after he’d been captured and mortally wounded, she’d begged the gods to cure him.

Then she did the unthinkable: she’d put her faith in him again.

Stupid move.

He’d turned on her a second time, the bastard. Yes, his betrayal—done of his own free will—was her prize on that fateful night almost one year ago when her grandmother showed up on their doorstep in Italy, leading an army of evil Maaskab priests, her mind clearly poisoned.

“If Tommaso hadn’t helped her escape, we could’ve saved her,” she said purely to vent, because she really wanted to cry. But the fiancée of the God of Death and War didn’t cry. Especially in front of the hundred warriors riding shotgun on the plane tonight.

Okay, maybe one teeny tiny tear while no one’s looking.

“Do not give up hope, Emma.” Guy clutched her hand. “And do not forget…whatever happens, I love you. Until the last ray of sunlight. Until the last flicker of life inhabits this planet.”

Brutus groaned and rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed by the sappy chatter.

Emma elbowed him in the ribs. “Shush! And how can you, of all people, be uncomfortable with a little affection? Huh? You bunk with eight dudes every night. That’s gross by the way. Not the dude part. I’m cool with that. But eight, big, sweaty warriors all at once? Yuck. So don’t judge me because I’m into the one-man-at-a-time rule. That’s messed up, Brutus.”

Brutus growled and Guy chuckled.

In truth, Emma didn’t know what Brutus was into or how he and his elite team slept, but she loved teasing him. She figured that sooner or later she’d find the magic words to get Brutus to speak to her.

No luck yet.

Accepting a temporary defeat, she shrugged and turned her attention back to the task at hand. She took one last look at her delicious male—seven feet of solid muscle with thick blue-black waves of hair and bronzed skin. Sigh.“Okay. I’m ready,” she declared boldly. “Let’s kill some Scabs and get my granny!”

She glanced over her other shoulder at Penelope, their newest family member. Her dark hair was pulled into a tight ponytail that accentuated the anger simmering in her dark green eyes. Pissed would be a serious understatement.

Emma didn’t blame her. What a cluster.

“Ready?” Emma asked.

“You better believe it,” Penelope replied. “These clowns picked the wrong girl to mess with.”

Guy frowned as they leaped from the plane into the black night.

AVAILABLE AT:

Amazon | B&N | Kobo

BLURB:

Twenty-two-year-old Emma Keane has a secret friend. He’s powerful, mysterious, and devastatingly handsome. In her dreams, anyway.

In real life, he’s an enigma. Maybe just a teensie jealous. Definitely overbearing. He’s also a voice only she can hear.

So who or what is he? He won’t say. But if she wants to be free, to be normal, Emma will have to trek to the jungles once ruled by the Mayans and find the forgotten ruin holding the answers.

However, the ruthless deity she’s about to unknowingly unleash on the modern world might not be so easily extracted from her life. Bottom line, he’s got enemies, and now, so does she.

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BLURB:
“If you love her, set her free. If she comes back, she’s yours. If she doesn’t…Christ! Stubborn woman! Hunt her down, and bring her the hell back; she’s still yours according to vampire law.”--Niccolo DiConti, General of the Vampire Queen’s Army.

THE DETERMINED VAMPIRE: Niccolo DiConti has faithfully served as leader of Her Majesty’s army for over a millennium, but he’d rather sunbathe in the Sahara than spend another grueling day under his demented queen’s command. However, no one has ever left her side and lived to tell. So when a powerful goddess prophesies he will meet his salvation—a human woman he must turn into a vampire with her consent—he eagerly rises to the challenge. After all, how hard could it be to seduce a human female into taking the immortal plunge? Harder than he thinks. Because his mate won’t be born for another three centuries, and when he wakes up in the goddess’ tomb, not only is his life a mess, but his destined female isn’t about to settle for a coldhearted vampire. Can he win her over before it’s too late? Not if his enemies have anything to do with it.

AN UNWILLING BRIDE: On the night Helena Strauss meets the fierce, devastatingly handsome vampire who saves her life in the jungles of Mexico, she knows her world will be forever changed. Because an attraction this mind blowing only comes along once in a lifetime—or existence. And when he claims she is his one true mate, destined to be his for all eternity, it’s a fairytale come true. So what if her knight in shining armor is a vampire? Nobody’s perfect. But discovering the powerful, overbearing immortal doesn’t “do love”? Deal breaker. Helena will flee and set out to accomplish the impossible…sever the otherworldly bond between them. And it turns out, Helena is just the leverage Niccolo’s enemies need to break the mighty warrior and wipe out his people.

WARNING: This book contains sexual content (For some of you, not enough. I know. I’ll try harder, I promise.), adult language, hot men with unrealistically large physical characteristics, female whining (What? I whine all the time. It’s a healthy form of venting!), silliness, snark, sarcasm, and blatant abuse of the English language.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Before taking up a permanent residence in the San Francisco Bay Area, Mimi spent time living near NYC (became a shopaholic), in Mexico City (developed a taste for very spicy food), and Arizona (now hates jumping chollas, but pines for sherbet sunsets). Her love of pre-Hispanic culture, big cities, and romance inspires her to write when she’s not busy with kids, work, and life…or getting sucked into a juicy novel.

She hopes that someday, leather pants for men will make a big comeback and that her writing might make you laugh when you need it most.

Website: www.mimijean.net
iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/mimi-jean-pamfiloff/id498303364?mt=11
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/MimiJeanRomance
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mimi-Jean/218935048190356
Email: mimi@mimijean.net

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