Those looking for an exhilarating start to a new and sexy paranormal series will find this a tantalizing start. Keep reading to get an enticing glimpse of Beneath the Broken Moon: Part One by Sarah Makela, along with my impressions of it, and then add it to your bookshelf. Make sure to follow the giveaway link below for the chance to win a $50 Amazon GC, a $30 Amazon GC, and eBooks too!
When sensual vampire Derek Ashmore rescues her from dangerous hunters, she tumbles head over heels for him. Not a wise decision since werewolves and vampires are mortal enemies.
Meeting her caring mate-to-be Brendan Kelly has her further questioning the future. Regardless, her life has forever changed now that she’s met not one, but two men who pull at her heartstrings...
Meeting her caring mate-to-be Brendan Kelly has her further questioning the future. Regardless, her life has forever changed now that she’s met not one, but two men who pull at her heartstrings...
EXCERPT:
Bullets peppered the big screen of the Teatro de la Noche. Screams rang out around me, and I dropped to the floor, pulling my cousin Chandra down with me. Tension ached in my shoulders, and my heart pounded in my chest like a trapped animal, desperate to escape. Gunpowder stung my sensitive nose, but through the overpowering scent, I caught a whiff of a hunter heading our way. “Chandra, we have to move.”
If Chandra and I didn’t get out of here we’d end up dead—or worse, test subjects for the Cazador—human hunters ordered to scour the land of nocturnes by the plutocratic government.
“How? They’re all around us.” Chandra peeked over the seats before dropping back down beside me. “A few of them are chasing down those who ran from the first assault, but two more are heading straight for us.” She ran a manicured hand through her honey-brown hair, which was only a shade darker than my own. “Come on. I have a plan. Let’s try to sneak out the side door.” She crawled in the opposite direction, down the row of seats.
The sight of my cousin’s butt cheeks hanging out of her short skirt filled my vision; some things were better left unseen. I lowered my gaze, particularly since Chandra had forgone panties. She almost always held herself with an air of power and purpose. Perhaps that’s what it took to get attention from other werewolves. Chandra got it in heaps, but her lower social status stopped a lot of relationships. While it was a horrible time to second-guess my modest fashion sense, I couldn’t help wonder if I should take a lesson from my cousin. My own blouse and dark blue jeans had much less pizzazz. But I doubted my father would allow me to dress like Chandra; we had a privileged image to uphold.
I bit my lip, struggling to turn my thoughts back to the problem at hand. This was all too much. How could we get out of here unscathed when the roar of gunfire continued to close in?
We reached the end of the aisle. Chandra moved to glance over the seat, when a shout came from the opposite end, startling us both.
“Run, Chandra!” I barely kept my voice to a whisper.
She sprinted toward the bright red exit sign at the front of the theater, and I chased after her, trying to keep my pace natural though her long legs made it challenging. Maybe if they suspected we weren’t nocturnes, they’d leave us alone. The stomping of heavy boots on the theater’s plush carpets said otherwise. Then again, they weren’t opposed to taking their fellow humans down too. The very rich in power thrived on oppressing those less fortunate. What better way to keep the populace down than to have their thugs strike whenever possible.
“We should split up.” Chandra shoved a heavy trashcan in front of the door, but that wouldn’t be much of an obstacle to the pseudo-military bastards.
“What?” I couldn’t believe my ears. “No way. If we do that, we’ll—” The trashcan scraped the cement as the hunters tried to open the door. Maybe she was right. If we were together, there was a better chance of them catching us both. Alone, we might survive the night. I nodded to her, and we took off in opposite directions down the alleyway behind the Teatro. The door slammed open, smacking the wall hard, as I turned the corner and headed toward the main street. I had to find somewhere to hide out before the hunters spotted me again. In front of me, another group of Cazador chased a few werewolves down the main road. I slowed to keep my distance from them, but if I didn’t get somewhere fast, they were going to catch me. Ugh. As much as I loved getting out of the house and going to the movies, I wished I’d listened to my instincts tonight and stayed home.
Two sets of feet pounded the sidewalk behind me. Perhaps they’d spotted me before I reached the corner.
I picked up speed a little, pumping my arms as I struggled to keep to a human speed while staying out of range. The temptation to race through the streets nearly drove me to action, but I glanced back, seeing my pursuers for the first time.
One of the men had greying hair and a rounded belly, which explained the slower, heavier footfalls, while the other guy appeared younger and super-athletic. No wonder I was having trouble getting away. If he hadn’t been so scary, he might’ve been attractive. Pure masculine aggression raged through him, tensing his shoulders as his gaze focused solely on me, his prize. Each man carried a large-caliber handgun. I was just glad they were too busy running to try to shoot me...for now, at least.
My sandal hit an uneven patch of concrete in the sidewalk. My body lurched forward, but I caught myself before I could go down. I should’ve been paying more attention to the street. Up ahead on the opposite side of the road, I spotted a dark alleyway running alongside a row house. If I cut through, I could safely turn up the speed without exposing myself, and lose them.
The older hunter slowed; his breathing had become increasingly labored. He cocked his revolver’s hammer, and I darted across the empty road, making a beeline for the alley. The last thing I wanted tonight was to see Dr. Matthews. Just a little bit farther. A bullet smacked the ground at my feet, hitting me with fragments of pavement. I bit back a yelp, not wanting to give them the satisfaction of knowing my fear.
“I got this one, old kook,” the younger hunter grumbled, and his footsteps slowed too.
Another gunshot pierced the hazy night air. White-hot pain rocked my shoulder, nearly toppling me to the ground. I screamed, unable to hold it in, and picked up speed, no longer caring if I appeared human or not. The faint creak of a door barely registered before a pair of arms wrapped around my waist, jerking me inside the dark row house.
My rescuer softly shut the door, careful not to make a sound, and shoved a hand over my mouth. “Sshhh,” he whispered. “I won’t hurt you. You’re safe.” His voice was deep, with an English accent. He pulled me away from the door and hunched down in the darkened room, holding me close, waiting and listening.
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MY IMPRESSIONS OF THIS BOOK:
Into a dreary and dangerous post-apocalyptic world there's a war waging between humans and nocturnal creatures (werewolves and vampires) that has them constantly being hunted and fearful of being turned in. This group of hunters, The Cazador, are a deadly and mysterious military group whose insidious plans are just beginning to emerge as they not only kill nocturnes but experiment on them as well. As if living in fear of The Cazador wasn't bad enough, there's the centuries-long battle between werewolves and vampires fueled by arrogance and bigotry. In the middle of all this chaos fate has brought the desperate and injured werewolf Carmela to the doorstep of her vampiric savior Derek for an unforgettable meeting that profoundly affects them and will ultimately change the course of their lives.
Carmela is a shy young woman tired of her father's control and of the bleak future set before her being married to a man of her father's choosing and birthing pup after pup. A moment of rebellion ends with her being shot and meeting a vampire who she can't help being attracted to as he represents freedom and, through his ministrations, feelings of caring and comfort so often missing in her life. Werewolf society has become corrupted resulting in out of control male dominance that has her father physically and emotionally abusing all the women in his home in vivid and painful detail. It's no wonder she's desperate to escape, even with the assistance of a vampire! She's a commodity and, with the meeting of her father's chosen mate at story's end, she's running out of time to make a life of her own choosing. Along with the bleak future facing Carmela is the dismal future for her cousin Chandra. Chandra is a very sympathetic character as she was thrown onto the streets when her parents died leaving her to fend for herself. She's jealous of the opportunities Carmela has as she sees endless abuse in her future from her uncle and it leads to some unpleasant moments between her and Carmela that I fear could get uglier in the future and diminish my sympathy.
Derek has been a vampire a long time and you can sense his becoming tired. He lives a solitary existence pulling away from vampiric duties he once partook in. His only friend is fellow vampire Elliot who provided some comic relief and is trying to keep Derek active. Meeting Carmela excited Derek but confused him as he knows their being together would result in death for them both. He can't get her out of his mind and seeing her with another man brings out a possessive side that I look forward to seeing more of. Derek is a good man, not overtly violent as some vampires are, and his loneliness ate at me and has me rooting for him to claim Carmela for his own.
This was a fast-paced story, with almost too much happening at times to fully flesh out, teeming with sensuality. Carmela's father is truly vile with his deeds repugnant. He's losing control as seen through more and more marks being left on his wife and niece Chandra, and his increasing vileness of acts towards Carmela too. Derek is the only bright spot in her life and thoughts of him sustain her through the violence being done to her. With his possessive side kicking in I look forward to his actions in the next installment as he seems to be a man who takes what he wants...and right now he wants Carmela no matter what the fallout might be. With these strong main characters comes equally compelling secondary characters in the mysterious and playful Elliot and the battered and bruised Chandra. Their short time in the story left a large impact and I hope to see more of them. From the first page to the last this tale laid compelling groundwork for the future, fully immersing me in this gritty and warring world, and has me on edge waiting for the next installment. Fans of the paranormal will want to jump onboard for all the excitement and romance just starting with Beneath the Broken Moon: Part One.
My rating for this is a B+
*I got this book from the author for review in exchange for my honest opinion.
AUTHOR INFO:
NYT and USA Today bestselling author Sarah Mäkelä loves her fiction dark, magical, and passionate. She is a paranormal romance author, but she’s written all over the romance spectrum with cyberpunk, sci-fi, fantasy, urban fantasy...even a sweet contemporary romance!
A life-long paranormal fan, she still sleeps with a night-light. In her spare time, she reads sexy books, watches scary movies (and Ghost Adventures), and plays computer games with her husband. When she gets the chance, she loves traveling the world too.
WEBSITE: http://www.sarahmakela.com
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