What Halloween would be complete without a vampire and a werewolf? Thankfully author Markie Madden has a great story for us, introducing Fang and Claw part of her Undead Unit series…
Lieutenant Lacey Anderson of the Dallas Police Department heads up a elite new squad dedicated to solving crimes involving Immortals like herself. Lacey, a Vampire left for dead when her family was slaughtered by Werewolves, still has nightmares about the attack.
Detective Colton Scarber is her unwilling partner and second-in-command. He’s a Werewolf, a descendant of those who killed Lacey’s coven. She’s unaware of this, but she doesn’t trust him from the start. When the fragile beginning of the team is threatened by the truth, can they learn to trust one another as partners must, or will the Undead Unit be doomed to failure?
A mysterious suspect and strange physical evidence leads them to solve a case spanning decades, and leaves Lacey with no other choice but to rely on her enemy when her very life is at stake!
New release time. Take a look at Fang and Claw by fellow awethor Markie Madden.
Over a hundred years in the future, it’s a world where supernatural beings live and work among humans. Of course, the governments of the world have forced them to take the Undead Oath in order to gain citizenship; they must not prey on humans for food. They’re given tasks in jobs suited for their species, but just as among other minorities, they must struggle to prove themselves.
Lieutenant Lacey Anderson of the Dallas Police Department heads up a new elite squad dedicated to solving crimes involving Immortal species like herself. Lacey, a Vampire left for dead hundreds of years ago when her family was slaughtered by Werewolves, still has nightmares about the grievous ordeal.
Detective Colton Scarber is her unwilling partner and second-in-command of the unit. He’s a Werewolf, a descendant of those who killed Lacey’s family. She doesn’t know this, but she still doesn’t trust him from the start. When the fragile beginning of the team is threatened by the truth, can they learn to trust one another as partners must, or will the Undead Unit be doomed to failure?
A mysterious suspect and strange, unknown physical evidence leads them to solve a case spanning decades, and leaves Lacey with no other choice but to rely on her enemy when her very life is in danger!
A human sacrifice throws vampires of two worlds, trueborn and baseborn, into an escalating conflict. One side pushes for revenge, the other for freedom. The trueborns stubbornly hunt for Anthony and Louis, pushed by Hesrah’s desire to avenge her human best friend, Alexa. The baseborns are divided between rallying with those challenging the rule of Ankhsis and obeying the trueborns.
What emerges from the portal between Earth and Ankhsis in the middle of the turmoil rocking both worlds is more dead than alive. Neither human, nor baseborn, and certainly not trueborn. This new being will either damn them all or be their race’s most powerful weapon. Will they trust it not to destroy them, or will Ankhsis decide putting it down is the only solution?
In the end, who is guilty? Who will pay? Will anyone survive its wrath?
Book Trailer
Excerpt:
Excerpt
I shook my head, trying to focus on Seth. “Don’t move,” I said in what I imagined was a stern voice, but to be honest, it shook a little. “Not a muscle.” “What are you doing,” Seth asked. He did not seem scared either, but he certainly did not trust me around him. “Just shut up and do as I say!” I got closer to him and it all became harder to bear. The smell of his blood, the sight of it, the sound of it running through his veins, the scent of his sweat, it all made my vision blurry. My head was pounding and my stomach hurt worse than ever before. I reached out and put one hand on his shoulder, right next to the bite. I took a few deep breaths, but I tried to get used to the feeling of his skin under my touch and all that closeness to… well, my favorite dish. When it seemed to become something I could take without sucking him dry, I pushed his head toward his right shoulder. He resisted the move but finally moved it. The closer my lips got to the bite, the harder it was to keep in mind what I was supposed to do. I was breathing heavily and moaning, I think. There were some sounds coming out of my throat, but I was unsure what it all was. I licked tentatively and stopped when my brain registered the taste of his blood. I had vivid images about bleeding him dry distracting me, but I pushed through and continue to lick the fang marks a little longer, till I was sure I had covered it all in my saliva. All I wanted was to be far from him, fast. And the moment the thought formed in my mind, I started running backwards. I bumped into the furthermost wall and stopped. Seth and Magnus seemed to react very slowly, as if they were moving in slow motion. I could see their startled expressions at the sudden move but only long seconds after I had touched the wall. “All right, it seems you also have speed. Almost full feral powers on Ankhsis. That will certainly be a problem,” Magnus said in a surprisingly steady voice. In my experience, people tended to panic a little when they discovered a problem. Oh, shit was one of my go-to phrases. After making it through the earlier challenge, I started to trust my abilities of self-control more. So I walked back to the bed and sat on the very same chair that Seth had been sitting on when I had woken up. “Are you OK?” My shaky voice made me cringe a little. “Yeah, fantastic,” Seth mumbled, arching a brow and staring right at me. It did not take a genius to figure out he was being sarcastic; even Sheldon Cooper would have picked up on it that one time. “I’m really sorry.” I winced at the thought of what could have happened and averted my eyes. “I’m sorry, that was harsh,” he said, taking me by surprise. I hadn’t expected him to let it go so quickly. I sure as hell wouldn’t have gotten over someone trying to suck the life out of me so quickly. “We’re both new to this, I guess. I am not used to be someone’s prey; you don’t know how to control your urges. My ego is what you have bruised the most.’ “I truly am sorry, Seth! It really is unlike me to behave like that.” “You mean bleed strange men dry after trying to sexually take advantage of them?” He smirked but his smugness was not funny in the least. “I don’t remember you resisting that second part much.” I sneered and clenched my fists, starting to feel less guilty for having attacked him.
“Now, now, kids! Don’t fight,” Magnus said, getting closer to us, probably imagining they could have done a better job at stopping me together. The anger was so thick I could have cut it with a knife… if it took a material form. Oh, damn it, who cared, I felt it seething and my stomach coiled with the need to cause some damage and fill up on blood in the process. “Oh, no, Alexa, I wouldn’t dare say I wouldn’t have… encouraged you to have your way with me,” Seth continued on the same half-amused, half-mocking tone. “But see, I was not the one calling some idiot’s name when I finally emerged from the portal.” I couldn’t say if I ever had a chance to even think I should try to control my rage. I just threw Magnus across the room, grabbed Seth by the neck and jumped on top of him, on the bed. I could have just squeezed his neck a little and there would be no more mocking me. The skin on my inner thighs was touching his abs. A perfect six pack, I could feel it without looking. The raw sexual desire slowly overpowered the anger and the hunger. He was smiling, I eventually noticed. His hands were suddenly moving and I shivered at his soft but steady touch. He caressed me from my ankles upward over my knees and finally settled around my waist. I could smell his arousal and it only made my physical reaction worse. “Want to forget about him for a while?” Seth asked and I realized I had stopped holding him by his neck and I was tracing his upper arm muscles instead. I ran across the room once more. I heard him laugh, so I just ran out of the room and out the door. I kept running down the stony alley and into the woods.
Make sure you read book one of the series before enjoying book two!
The Edge of Hope – Bad Blood Trilogy, Book 1
Everyone she loved betrayed her. She felt lost and broken. Getting away from the pain and embracing a new path, Alexa decided to leave her old life behind and chase a long forgotten dream in Malta. There she met a gorgeous man, bearing the scent of fresh love. He led her to a new city to explore, Amsterdam. Is the tall, dark, and delicious man a dream come true or just a risky gamble?
Alexa chose hope and new beginnings over fear and warning signs only to be brutally dragged into a world she never really thought existed. Vampires, their feuds, and her future held tightly in their hands.
Trapped in a mysterious world, Alexa gives love chance after chance. Following her quest of self-discovery in a blood bound world, will she survive the journey?
Take advantage of the sale for The Edge of Hope – $0.99 everywhere
Writer, traveler, and coffee addict, Alina Popescu has been in love with books all her life. She started writing when she was ten and even won awards in local competitions. She has always been drawn to sci-fi, fantasy, and the supernatural realm, which explains her deep love for vampires and is also to blame for this trilogy.
A human sacrifice throws vampires of two worlds, trueborn and baseborn, into an escalating conflict. One side pushes for revenge, the other for freedom. The trueborns stubbornly hunt for Anthony and Louis, pushed by Hesrah’s desire to avenge her human best friend, Alexa. The baseborns are divided between rallying with those challenging the rule of Ankhsis and obeying the trueborns.
What emerges from the portal between Earth and Ankhsis in the middle of the turmoil rocking both worlds is more dead than alive. Neither human, nor baseborn, and certainly not trueborn. This new being will either damn them all or be their race’s most powerful weapon. Will they trust it not to destroy them, or will Ankhsis decide putting it down is the only solution?
In the end, who is guilty? Who will pay? Will anyone survive its wrath?
Make sure you read book one of the series before enjoying book two!
The Edge of Hope – Bad Blood Trilogy, Book 1
Everyone she loved betrayed her. She felt lost and broken. Getting away from the pain and embracing a new path, Alexa decided to leave her old life behind and chase a long forgotten dream in Malta. There she met a gorgeous man, bearing the scent of fresh love. He led her to a new city to explore, Amsterdam. Is the tall, dark, and delicious man a dream come true or just a risky gamble?
Alexa chose hope and new beginnings over fear and warning signs only to be brutally dragged into a world she never really thought existed. Vampires, their feuds, and her future held tightly in their hands.
Trapped in a mysterious world, Alexa gives love chance after chance. Following her quest of self-discovery in a blood bound world, will she survive the journey?
Take advantage of the sale for The Edge of Hope – $0.99 everywhere
Her room felt so familiar, even in the twilight. He knew every detail, every piece of the shabby décor, her scent and her books and the careless mess that reigned it. Hesrah hadn’t changed a bit. As her steps brought her closer, he slipped out the window and up the old oak guarding it.
She walked in, looking worn out. He wasn’t surprised, not with the stress of the past week and the ruthless workout she had submitted herself to. She looked pale and worried and she reached out to the glass of water without even looking at it. She drank it all and lay down on the bed, probably thinking it would just be for a minute, a little rest before going to the portal. But she wouldn’t wake up till morning; the tasteless drops from Magnus would take care of that.
“Sleep, little sister! I’ll watch over the portal tonight,” he whispered, smiling down on her. Someone had to take care of her, and their mother was failing miserably. Hesrah did not know how to deal with her own emotions. When she was faced with pain or fear or worse, lack of control over a situation, she’d retreat into pushing her body over any reasonable limit and pretend things were fine.
She was doing it now, obsessing over shifts to watch the portals, her human friend and those who had betrayed her. He knew what hurt her most, apart from her friend’s fate being anyone’s guess, it was that Louis character having deceived her. She hardly ever made friends, and when she did, she put too much of her heart in it.
“I so miss you,” he said softly, the corners of his mouth dropping and twisting his smile into a frown.
Seth had just made it to the portal when it flared up. Nothing happened for several minutes, but it wouldn’t close down. He took a few steps back, thinking he might be what kept it active, but it was something else altogether. He kept waiting for a few more minutes and just when he thought nothing else would happen, a body got thrown out so viciously it landed fifty feet away.
About the author
Writer, traveler, and coffee addict, Alina Popescu has been in love with books all her life. She started writing when she was ten and even won awards in local competitions. She has always been drawn to sci-fi, fantasy, and the supernatural realm, which explains her deep love for vampires and is also to blame for this trilogy.
New release time. Today I want to share with you a great author I was very lucky to meet at my first ever book fair last Saturday, Simon Okill. Simon was great fun and I know you’ll love his work so please go and check out his latest release Blood of the Eternal Moon.
A lurid tale of blood lust, decadence and eroticism set in Paris 1925 where a young woman is nearing her Eternal Vampire state. To accomplish this she must escape the smothering grasp of a cruel hybrid vampire, Lucien, who is addicted to her pure blood. A fleeting chance reveals itself but he follows her scent and massacres all who dare protect his supply of Eternal blood.
She awakens in a tiny room, trapped and defenceless with amnesia. Something buried deep within her yearns to be set free by the next full moon – her Eternal Birthday. Her true self, Eternal, emerges in brief flashes of awareness to protect her from the demonic horrors of this terrifying asylum.
Desperate, she forges an alliance with her true love, Edouard, a handsome young doctor treating her. Lucien’s evil persona draws closer by the second. With little time remaining, Edouard must unravel Eternal’s vampiric past and make good their escape.
With the Eternal Hour at hand and the forces of darkness converging, Edouard and Eternal must fight to rid the world of this evil. If they lose, Lucien will reign supreme and unleash the dogs of war and chaos upon the world. Let the final battle begin.
Here’s a blurb from Blood Descendants by Beverly Toney – what do you think?
Cheyenne wanted to be part of a family, but she had been a peculiar child and her behavior had her shuffled from one foster home to another. After 13 years in as many foster homes, Cheyenne’s wish was granted. Her foster mom, Joyce Redding, was a gift from heaven and for 5 years, they lived a nice, quiet life. But, in life, appearances could be deceiving.
The summer before her senior year, Tabitha came to town and the two became fast friends. But, Tabitha brought more than friendship. Cheyenne would have to decide who to trust, what sacrifices to make, and, most importantly, what she was willing to become!
What Halloween would be complete without a vampire right? I am very pleased to bring you a great author Alina Popescu and her latest novel The Edge of Hope, which is on promotion all this week in celebration of Halloween. You can download this book for just $0.99 for this week only.
Everyone she loved betrayed her. She felt lost and broken. Getting away from the pain and embracing a new path, Alexa decided to leave her old life behind and chase a long forgotten dream in Malta. There she met a gorgeous man, bearing the scent of fresh love. He led her to a new city to explore, Amsterdam. Is the tall, dark, and delicious man a dream come true or just a risky gamble?
Alexa chose hope and new beginnings over fear and warning signs only to be brutally dragged into a world she never really thought existed. Vampires, their feuds, and her future held tightly in their hands.
Trapped in a mysterious world, Alexa gives love chance after chance. Following her quest of self-discovery in a blood bound world, will she survive the journey?
Today we’re featuring an exclusive extract from Carmilla: The Wolves of Styria, by David Brian. Have a read.
Correspondence from Laura Bennett, addressed to Doctor Hesselius. March 6th, 1871
We followed the cortège with our eyes, until it was swiftly lost to sight in the misty wood; and the very sound of the hoofs and the wheels died away in the silent night air.
Nothing at that point remained to assure us that the adventure had not been an illusion, but for the young lady, who just at that moment opened her eyes. I could not see, for her face was turned from me, but she raised her head, evidently looking about her, and I heard a very sweet voice ask complainingly, “Where is mamma?”
Our good Madame Perrodon answered tenderly, and added some comfortable assurances.
I then heard her ask: “Where am I? What is this place?” and after that she said, “I don’t see the carriage; and Matska, where is she?”
Madame answered all her questions in so far as she understood them; and gradually the young lady remembered how the misadventure came about, and was glad to hear that no one in, or in attendance on the carriage was hurt; and on learning that her mamma had left her here, till her return in about three months, she wept.
I was going to add my consolations to those of Madame Perrodon when Mademoiselle De Lafontaine placed her hand upon my arm, saying:
“Don’t approach, one at a time is as much as she can at present converse with; a very little excitement would possibly overpower her now.”
As soon as she is comfortably in bed, I thought, I will run up to her room and see her.
My father in the meantime had instructed that a servant on horseback be sent for the physician, who lived about two leagues away; and also that a bedroom be prepared for the young lady’s reception.
The stranger now rose, and leaning on Madame’s arm, walked slowly towards the drawbridge that led into the castle gate, our small group forming a cortege behind them.
It was at this point, that for sure the evening’s strangest of happenings occurred. We were barely a stones throw from the drawbridge, when a sound, much like the distant rolling of thunder, signalled that once again something was approaching from the high ground. In unison, we turned, only to behold a sight the like of which I will never forget.
Down from the hills, and running out onto the bridge, there appeared a wolf. Now I make no claim to having been an expert on such animals, indeed my previous experience consisted of only ever before having seen two of these most beguiling of creatures. They are rare in these parts now, and on both previous occasions it had been but the briefest of glimpses, viewed from some considerable distance. However, even allowing for my lack of knowledge of such beasts, I recognised the fact that this animal was huge, being easily big enough to have taken down a stallion, without assistance from other members of its pack.
I opened my mouth to speak; I was both excited and alarmed at being in such close proximity to this fascinating and equally frightening creature. However, my silence was sustained by Mademoiselle De Lafontaine’s grip upon my forearm. A grip which grew suddenly tighter, as with her other hand she pointed back towards the hills. Our little group fell as silent as it had become still, not a one of us daring to move. We watched in awe, and I dare say no small amount of fear, as running down from the hilltops, under the light of a silver moon, there appeared six more wolves. They raced out onto the road, and then across the bridge, and although slightly smaller in stature than the first black beast, every one and all looked a most formidable creature.
Within an instant they had passed, trailing off in the same direction as the carriage cortège had previously taken. It took us some moments before any of us actually found our voices, and then we broke into an excitable babble, each one of us seeking to offer our own explanation as to what could have possibly brought these animals this close to our home.
Various hypotheses were offered up to account for the appearance of the wolves, and it was an event we would further discuss many times over the coming days. Yet thinking back to these events now, although it was not noticed by me at the time, I am
sure that our young visitor did not partake of discussion about the beasts, at least not on that first night of her arrival at our schloss.
Lieutenant Lacey Anderson of the Dallas Police Department heads up a elite new squad dedicated to solving crimes involving Immortals like herself. Lacey, a Vampire left for dead when her family was slaughtered by Werewolves, still has nightmares about the attack.
Everyone she loved betrayed her. She felt lost and broken. Getting away from the pain and embracing a new path, Alexa decided to leave her old life behind and chase a long forgotten dream in Malta. There she met a gorgeous man, bearing the scent of fresh love. He led her to a new city to explore, Amsterdam. Is the tall, dark, and delicious man a dream come true or just a risky gamble?
Limelight Literature 