ARC Reviews

Showing posts with label Felicity Heaton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Felicity Heaton. Show all posts

27/11/2016

Ares (Guardians Of Hades #1) by Felicity Heaton. Blog Barrage, ARC Review & $75, $50,& $25 G.C.Giveaway.



Ares, book 1 in New York Times best-seller Felicity Heaton’s hot new paranormal romance series, Guardians of Hades, is now available in ebook and paperback. To celebrate the release of Ares and Megan’s romance, she’s holding a FANTASTIC GIVEAWAY and sharing sneak peeks of the book.

Enter the ARES international giveaway (ends December 11th) and be in with a shot of winning a $75, $50 or $25 gift certificate by using the Rafflecopter form at her website, where you can also download a 4 chapter sample of the novel: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/guardians-of-hades-ares-paranormal-romance-book.php

Here’s more about the book and the sexy Greek god hero and his heroine…



Ares (Guardians of Hades Series Book 1)
Felicity Heaton
Prince of the Underworld and Lord of Fire, Ares was banished from his home by his father, Hades, two centuries ago and given a new duty and purpose—to keep our world and his from colliding in a calamity foreseen by the Moirai.

Together with his six brothers, he fights to defend the gates to the Underworld from daemons bent on breaching them and gaining entrance to that forbidden land, striving to protect his home from their dark influence. Caged by the manifestation of his power, held apart from those he loves by his own fire and starved of physical contact, Ares lives a cold existence driven by duty and the desire to return to his world.

Until his world collides with a daemon who steals his power and a mortal female who shatters the ice around his heart and awakens the true fire within him—a soul-stirring passion both dangerous and seductive.

Megan has wandered far from her home, driven from everyone she loves by the devastating realisation that she is different to them all. Unsure who to trust in the world, she keeps to herself, until a fateful stormy night brings a temptingly handsome warrior crashing into her life and into her heart—a warrior who seems to hold powers more frightening and marvellous than her own.
When the New York gate comes under threat, and Ares is put to the test, will he choose his duty and regain the power he needs in order to save his world or will he choose the desires of his heart and sacrifice his fire so he can be with the woman becoming his whole world?

ARES is available from Amazon Kindle, Kobo Books, Barnes and Noble Nook, Apple iBooks stores and other retailers. Also available in paperback. Find the links to your preferred retailer at: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/guardians-of-hades-ares-paranormal-romance-book.php

๐ŸŒŸ๐ŸŒŸ๐ŸŒŸ๐ŸŒŸ๐ŸŒŸ

Since Megan discovered her special power, she has moved around a lot.  Never allowing anyone close,  in case they find out.  On the way home in the middle of a thunderstorm, she takes a shortcut to avoid a dangerous looking man.  That turns out to be the worst,  or maybe the best, decision of her life. 
Ares is hunting daemons in his city, New York, when the evil smell of the one he is after reaches him.  Ares is one of the Guardians of Hades. His primary power is fire.  The Guardians are brothers, all Gods and they control the gates to the Underworld,  and make sure no daemons get past them. 
This is the first book in a new series, and I'm already addicted.  The brothers are wonderful characters,  all with very different personalities.  They have a difficult relationship with their father, Hades,  who keeps a careful watch over what they do and say.  Penance will be paid for breaking his rules. 
If you have read any from this author before you will know she writes battles that make you want to hide behind the sofa.  All those superpowers flying around.  Not to mention the HOT men fighting to protect the innocents.  The story will drag you in from the first page and the sex scenes will melt your kindles.  Mine is still steaming.  Nice full length book that gives you plenty to enjoy.  I loved it. 

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


ARES – Excerpt
The Frenchman ducked to evade a punch and threw his palm at the larger man. Was he trying to push him over? Megan couldn’t see why he would want to do that and it was the only explanation she could find for him pressing his palm against the man’s chest.

The immense brunet flung his head back and threw his arms out at his sides as he roared in agony at the storm. The lights on the wall of the alley died as his garbled scream filled the night, battling the growling thunder. He fell to his knees and arched backwards, the Frenchman’s hand still pressed against his chest. Orange light shone from the point where they connected, illuminating the blond man’s face as he grinned.

“It was too easy.” He drew his hand back and stared at his fingers.

Something glowed in the centre of his palm, strange light illuminating threads that ran around the back of his hand. He turned his cruel gaze on the large man.

The man collapsed forwards, palms pressing into the wet ground, and the lights on the wall blinked back into life again. His big body heaved as he breathed hard and she frowned as she realised something.

He was shaking.

Flames flickered over the Frenchman’s hand and a fireball grew from the centre of his palm. He aimed it down at the other man.

In an instant, Megan knew what he was going to do and she couldn’t allow it to happen. She couldn’t let this man kill the brunet. She wouldn’t stand for it. Her gaze quickly scanned the dimly lit street and darted back again. One of their guns lay on the wet tarmac only a few feet from her. She reacted on instinct, pushing off the ground and running for it.

She scooped it up.

Raised it.

Fired.

A loud crack like thunder split the silence and she jerked back from the force of the recoil.

The bullet nailed the Frenchman in his right shoulder, knocking him backwards, away from the other man.

An unholy shriek pierced her ears, more like the sound a bird of prey would make rather than a man, and the Frenchman turned his gaze on her. Megan hesitated, fear washing through her stronger than ever and her heart smashing like a jackhammer against her ribs. Eyes that glowed ethereally locked on to her.

What was he?

He raised his hand, the light from the fireball casting dark shadows across his face. She didn’t hesitate. She lifted the heavy silver gun and took aim again.

The fireball exploded from his palm.

The brunet launched to his feet and sprinted straight towards her, racing the twisting golden orb as it grew in size.

Megan stared death in the face, and it was fiery and painful and terrifying, and then there was darkness and heat. The man’s thickly muscled arms wrapped around her and he crushed her against his solid chest, shielding her, his heart pounding against her ear. He jerked forwards and she smelled the heat of the fire, felt the force of it rush past her, and curled into his embrace, waiting for the pain.

Waiting for the end.

Cold rain soaked into her scalp and slid down her face, and she opened her eyes as reality penetrated the haze of her fear and shock that she was alive and unharmed rushed through her.

The man loosened his grip on her and took an unsteady step backwards. He swayed on his feet, his face in shadow, head hung forwards. Smoke curled from his slumped shoulders.

“Need to get my powers back... going to kill the bastard...” he muttered and then his hands settled on her arms, heavy and trembling. His gaze lifted and met hers, red illuminating his irises. “You okay?”

She nodded.

A flicker of a smile curved his lips and then it dropped from his face as his expression went slack. He collapsed to his knees, his head landing on her chest and his grip on her taking her down with him. She hit the tarmac hard, pain shooting up her legs and spine. The man breathed heavily and rolled off her, landing on his front with his cheek pressed into the wet ground.

Megan shook so hard the gun still locked in her fingers rattled.

She stared down the alley to the Frenchman.

Steadily raised the gun and aimed again.

Slowly squeezed the trigger just as her grandfather had taught her.

The man disappeared.

The sound of rain filled the silence.

Megan let the gun fall from her grasp to clatter onto the ground near her thigh. She breathed slowly, her shoulders slumping as her tension melted away, leaving her chilled to her marrow as the adrenaline that had been fuelling her disappeared with it. Her gaze drifted down to the man lying on the cracked tarmac in front of her.

The scorched and smouldering back of his black coat revealed blistered skin beneath.

He had shielded her from the blast, taking the damage for her. She crawled over to him, removed her sodden coat and laid it down on the ground, and carefully eased him onto his back on it. He groaned. She welcomed the small sign of life and looked him over.

The front of his black t-shirt was missing and there was a dark burn mark in the middle of his defined chest, right over his heart. She didn’t know what had happened to him or what the fight had been about, but she knew one thing.

He wasn’t an ordinary person.

He was like her.

Megan gently laid her left palm on his pectorals, over the dark patch, and focused. The man flinched and his eyes slowly opened, coming to meet hers. He stared up at her, his dark gaze relaying his shock. She had always rejected her ability because it made her feel like a freak and an outsider, but she was quick to call it now. The burnt skin on his chest began to heal beneath her hand.

The man opened his mouth and then grimaced, his handsome face contorting viciously as he unleashed an unholy snarl that was more beast than man.

She focused harder, wishing she could do this painlessly. Healing a major wound always caused the injured party pain and it hurt her too. She was doing it as quickly as she could but for some reason, he was slow to heal and she was already beginning to feel the effects of using her gift.

Megan drew her hand away, revealing smooth unmarked skin. She stroked it and looked down at his face, checking on him. Rain poured down on them. It chilled her but he still felt warm beneath her fingers. She shifted her hand to his cheek and cupped it.

“Can you hear me?” She frowned when he failed to respond and she patted his cheek, hoping to rouse him. She didn’t want him to pass out and she could feel that he was barely holding on to consciousness. Fat drops saturated her clothing. They rolled down his face and soaked into his overlong dark hair. She picked the strands from his face and willed him to respond to her. “Please hear me. Move if you can. Do something to let me know.”

His eyelids fluttered and he moaned.

“I’ll try to heal your other wounds, but it might hurt. Just hold on, okay?” She waited long seconds before his mouth twisted into a grimace and he frowned. Her stomach rolled in time with the distant thunder. She had to heal his back for him, no matter how much it drained her or how much it hurt him, but she didn’t want to risk making him lose consciousness.

The voice of reason said that what she had to do was call an ambulance and then the police. She couldn’t. They wouldn’t understand if she told them the truth. The other man had powers, and he wanted to kill this one.

This man had protected her but the police wouldn’t care. They would throw him in jail for being a part of the fight and the other man would get away with everything.

She looked down at his face, absorbing how beautiful he was, strong and masculine, like a warrior. A fine layer of stubble coated his straight jaw and the slight crook in his nose told her he had broken it more than once. He was a fighter, and he had risked his life to protect her and now she would repay him by healing his wounds and taking care of him.

His lips parted.

Strange words fell from them, a language she didn’t understand, and pain speared her skull in time with each one. She snatched her hands away from him and covered her ears.

Her eyes widened as he stopped speaking and silence fell.

Darkness swirled in front of her, obliterating her view of the other end of the alley. She moved closer to the man, afraid it was the other one come to finish them off, and grabbed the gun.

Ribbons of black smoke separated to reveal two tall handsome men, both clad head-to-toe in dark colours and sporting black long coats like the one her protector wore.

Megan stared up at them, her fingers clasping the gun. She raised it and aimed, darting between the two newcomers, and breathed slowly to steady her nerves and her hands. Neither of them acknowledged her. They approached and she switched aim between them, and her fear began to get the better of her again.

She glanced at the man resting against her and resolve flowed through her. He had protected her and now it was her turn to protect him.

“Keep back,” she warned but they kept advancing.

She aimed at the white-haired one and squeezed the trigger.

Her finger stiffened and palm froze, and her eyes widened when she saw the ice covering the gun. It burned and she dropped it. The ice shattered, scattering across the wet ground and instantly melting.

“What the heck?” She stared at her palm, desperately trying to move her stiff fingers as they burned, numb from cold. Where had that ice come from?

Her eyes snapped to the white-haired man.

Had it come from him?

He towered over her now, his build slimmer than her protector’s was but not as lean as the other man beside him. His pale eyes held hers, glacial and dark.

“Did you do this?” the other, black-haired man snarled in a voice laced with darkness and she made the mistake of looking at him.

He was incredibly handsome but there was endless cold in his dark eyes. A ring of vivid blue encircled his irises and she shrank back, afraid of the sensation of danger that washed over her and told her to run. He might be slimmer than the other two, but he wore an air of lethal darkness, a threat that beat in her blood as though every sense and instinct she had was warning her that he was dangerous and would kill her without hesitation.

The man with softly spiked white hair stepped in front of him, placing himself between them, and turned his head and looked over his shoulder at his comrade.

“A gun did not do this.” He turned his pale eyes on her. “Why did you turn his gun on us?”

The black-haired man moved past his friend, swept both sides of his open long black coat behind his hips to reveal a worn grey-blue shirt and lighter grey scarf, and crouched beside her protector. His black jeans stretched tight over his thighs and she noticed he wore the same leather army boots as her protector, but the ends of his jeans had been loosely tucked into them.

He tunnelled his slender fingers through the long lengths of the top of his hair, pushing it back from the shorn sides and back, and ran dark eyes over him. Fine black eyebrows met hard above blue eyes that seemed strangely bright in the low light, swirling like a stormy sea.

“What happened?” It was the white-haired one who spoke but the question was there in the black-haired man’s eyes too.

“Another man attacked him,” she said, and then added, “and he protected me, so I protected him.”

She was still intent on protecting him. They didn’t seem like a danger to him, showed no sign of attacking, but if they made a wrong move, she was going to grab the gun again and use it this time.

They both stared at her and then exchanged a glance that told her the man wasn’t in the habit of risking his life to protect people.

The white-haired one moved forwards and frowned down at her protector too. “We must get him to safety. Take his arm but be careful. We should be safe while he is unconscious, but it is hard to tell.”

“You can’t move him!” Megan snapped.

Neither man looked at her.

She was getting tired of this.

She grabbed the gun and turned it on them again. She wouldn’t drop it this time, no matter what happened. The white-haired man pinned cold blue eyes on her and reached towards her, his black leather gloves glistening with what looked like frost in the dim alley lights.

Her protector jolted to his feet so quickly that the black-haired one fell on his backside.

“Don’t touch her,” the brunet growled and grabbed the white-haired man’s wrist, yanking his arm away from her.

He instantly turned to the other man. “Something is wrong.”

The black-haired man looked at the hand her protector had locked around his friend’s wrist, shock rippling across his face. “No heat?”

Megan got to her feet and steadied her gun with her other hand, aiming it back at the white-haired man. “Let him go.”

He gave her a pointed look. Yes, she was aware that her protector was the one manhandling him, but she didn’t care. She had to protect him.

The brunet growled something foul at him and swayed on his feet. He shoved the white-haired one away and stumbled towards her. “Must go... got to go.”

Megan dropped the gun again and caught him as he collapsed, taking her back down to the ground. She kneeled with him leaning in to her, his head on her shoulder and arms limp beside her hips. Her fingers touched the wrecked back of his black coat and the blistered skin there. It began to heal and she focused, trying to soothe his pain for him as he breathed heavily in her arms.

The two men stared at her.

The white-haired one spoke first.

“Change of plans. We take her with us. We need to know what she saw and she might prove useful.” He turned to the man standing a few feet behind him. “Esher, bring the female.”

The man called Esher cast him a dark unforgiving look and the strange glow around his pupils brightened but turned a deeper shade of blue, veering towards stormy grey. “You better not be serious.”

The white-haired man nodded.

Esher’s expression blackened into a scowl. “You are one cold bastard at times.”

The other one smiled and shrugged.

Was the man cold because he wanted to bring her, like a captive, or because he had told Esher to handle her?

She could sense his reluctance, a palpable disgust that he didn’t bother to hide as he rounded her and grabbed her upper arm. He towered over her, far slimmer than the man slumped against her but just as lethal in appearance.

The white-haired one pulled her protector to his feet and settled his arm around his shoulders, supporting him. Esher dragged her onto her feet too, the force behind his actions almost tearing her arm from the socket.

He tossed her a grim look.

Megan opened her mouth to unleash the scream burning up her throat.

Everything spun around her.




ARES is available from Amazon Kindle, Kobo Books, Barnes and Noble Nook, Apple iBooks stores and other retailers. Also available in paperback.

Find all the links, a fantastic 4 chapter downloadable sample of the book, and also enter the giveaway and be in with a shot of winning a $75, $50 or $25 gift certificate at her website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/guardians-of-hades-ares-paranormal-romance-book.php


Books in the Guardians of Hades paranormal romance series:
Book 2: Valen – Coming in 2017


About Felicity Heaton:
Felicity Heaton is a New York Times and USA Today international best-selling author writing passionate paranormal romance books. In her books, she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons! If you're a fan of paranormal romance authors Lara Adrian, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter and Christine Feehan then you will enjoy her books too.

If you love your angels a little dark and wicked, her best-selling Her Angel romance series is for you. If you like strong, powerful, and dark vampires then try the Vampires Realm romance series or any of her stand alone vampire romance books. If you’re looking for vampire romances that are sinful, passionate and erotic then try her Vampire Erotic Theatre romance series. Or if you like hot-blooded alpha heroes who will let nothing stand in the way of them claiming their destined woman then try her Eternal Mates series. It’s packed with sexy heroes in a world populated by elves, vampires, fae, demons, shifters, and more. If sexy Greek gods with incredible powers battling to save our world and their home in the Underworld are more your thing, then be sure to step into the world of Guardians of Hades.

If you want to know more about Felicity, or want to get in touch, you can find her at the following places:

15/11/2016

Ares (Guardians Of Hades #1) by Felicity Heaton. Cover Reveal.

It’s time for the cover reveal of Ares, book one in the Guardians of Hades series by New York Times best-selling author Felicity Heaton.


Step into a brand new paranormal romance world featuring sexy Greek god heroes on a mission from the Underworld to prevent our world and theirs from colliding in a calamity foreseen by the fates themselves and engineered by a group of deadly daemons. These powerful and passionate sons of Hades are sure to capture your imaginations and your hearts as they face down the rising threat against the two worlds and stop at nothing to claim the women who steal their hearts along the way.

Here’s more about the first book in the series, due for release on November 26th!

Ares (Guardians of Hades Series Book 1)
Felicity Heaton
Prince of the Underworld and Lord of Fire, Ares was banished from his home by his father, Hades, two centuries ago and given a new duty and purpose—to keep our world and his from colliding in a calamity foreseen by the Moirai.

Together with his six brothers, he fights to defend the gates to the Underworld from daemons bent on breaching them and gaining entrance to that forbidden land, striving to protect his home from their dark influence. Caged by the manifestation of his power, held apart from those he loves by his own fire and starved of physical contact, Ares lives a cold existence driven by duty and the desire to return to his world.

Until his world collides with a daemon who steals his power and a mortal female who shatters the ice around his heart and awakens the true fire within him—a soul-stirring passion both dangerous and seductive.

Megan has wandered far from her home, driven from everyone she loves by the devastating realisation that she is different to them all. Unsure who to trust in the world, she keeps to herself, until a fateful stormy night brings a temptingly handsome warrior crashing into her life and into her heart—a warrior who seems to hold powers more frightening and marvellous than her own.
When the New York gate comes under threat, and Ares is put to the test, will he choose his duty and regain the power he needs in order to save his world or will he choose the desires of his heart and sacrifice his fire so he can be with the woman becoming his whole world?


Ares is due for release in ebook and paperback on November 26th 2016 and will be available from all major online book retailers on that day, but it will be available for pre-order on Amazon Kindle, Kobo Books, Apple iBooks and Google Play stores in the week before release.

Join Felicity’s mailing list to receive a notification when Ares is released, PLUS a sneak preview of the first 4 chapters of the book and chances to win a signed paperback copy: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/newsletter.php

Add the book to your Goodreads shelf at:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20940858-ares

Books in the Guardians of Hades paranormal romance series:
Book 2: Valen – Coming in 2017

About Felicity Heaton:

Felicity Heaton is a New York Times and USA Today international best-selling author writing passionate paranormal romance books. In her books, she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons! If you're a fan of paranormal romance authors Lara Adrian, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter and Christine Feehan then you will enjoy her books too.

If you love your angels a little dark and wicked, her best-selling Her Angel romance series is for you. If you like strong, powerful, and dark vampires then try the Vampires Realm romance series or any of her stand alone vampire romance books. If you’re looking for vampire romances that are sinful, passionate and erotic then try her Vampire Erotic Theatre romance series. Or if you like hot-blooded alpha heroes who will let nothing stand in the way of them claiming their destined woman then try her Eternal Mates series. It’s packed with sexy heroes in a world populated by elves, vampires, fae, demons, shifters, and more. If sexy Greek gods with incredible powers battling to save our world and their home in the Underworld are more your thing, then be sure to step into the world of Guardians of Hades.

If you want to know more about Felicity, or want to get in touch, you can find her at the following places:


09/04/2016

Possessed By A Dark Warrior, (Eternal Mates #9) by Felicity Heaton. Blog Barrage, Giveaway.+ ARC Review.

Possessed by a Dark Warrior by Felicity Heaton

Possessed by a Dark Warrior, the ninth book in New York Times best-seller Felicity Heaton’s hot paranormal romance series, Eternal Mates, is now available in ebook and paperback. To celebrate the release of Bleu and Taryn’s long romance novel, she’s holding a FANTASTIC GIVEAWAY and sharing sneak peeks of the book.

Enter the Possessed by a Dark Warrior international giveaway (ends April 24th) and be in with a shot of winning a $75, $50 or $25 gift certificate by using the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post or at her website, where you can also download a 4 chapter sample of the novel: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/possessed-by-a-dark-warrior-paranormal-romance-novel.php
Here’s more about Possessed by a Dark Warrior, including an excerpt from this paranormal romance novel.
Possessed by a Dark Warrior
A powerful warrior and commander of the dark elf legions, Bleu is a loyal and devoted male, and one who has never failed in anything—except one thing. Love. When an elusive female dragon shifter surfaces in Hell again, giving him a mission to hurl himself into, he gladly returns to his hunt for her and the deadly blade she stole from his prince seven centuries ago, but as he closes in on his prey, fate reveals she is far more than his enemy?

Having escaped from the black market arena and her life as a slave, Taryn sets her sights back on the task she began seven hundred years ago when her brother stole a precious sword, but in the three centuries she’s been a captive, everything has changed. Corrupted by a craving for power, her brother has become dangerously obsessed with finding the blade and using it to claim the ultimate treasure—the position of King of Hell.

Faced with having to end her beloved twin to stop him from bringing all of Hell to its knees before him, will Taryn be strong enough to use the very blade he seeks against him? And when Bleu finally catches his elusive prey, will he listen to his head as it demands he complete his mission or his heart as it demands he claim his eternal mate?
Possessed by a Dark Warrior is available from Amazon Kindle, Kobo Books, Barnes and Noble Nook, Apple iBooks stores and other retailers. Also available in paperback. Find the links to your preferred retailer at: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/possessed-by-a-dark-warrior-paranormal-romance-novel.php

Another fantastic, all action paranormal romance from the Eternal Mates series. You could easily read this as a stand alone, but it does mention other couples from previous books so might spoil them for you. 

Bleu is an Elf warrior commander, whose job is to protect the Elf kingdom. There is a powerful, magical sword that was stolen many years ago by a dragon. Now Bleu has spotted the dragon and is determined to track her down and retrieve the dangerous artifact. 
Taryn is a dragon,  and she has just managed to escape from hundreds of years of captivity. Now she must try to stop her brother from destroying so many lives in  his madness.
Our hero has immersed himself in his work all his life. Now he is watching so many of his friends find their fated mates. He is only drawn to one female and she is the enemy. Any male with less self confidence would be intimidated by such a strong female. 
Our heroine is suffering from PTSD,  but has set herself an almost impossible task. Although as a dragon she is incredibly strong, her brother is much more so. She loves her brother and he loves her, but he is quite mad. 

A sexy, action packed adventure through the realms of Hell.  Beautifully described fights between dragons and demons that almost make you duck out of the way. 
I am totally addicted to this series.


Excerpt
The mountains seemed endless, stretching as far as his eyes could see across one hundred and eighty degrees of his field of vision. Bleu stood high on a cragged ledge, his back to a black mountain that many in Hell would find forbidding, because it marked the border of the dragon realm. He could see a few flying into the realm, their jewel colours bright against the dull grey sky. He hadn’t lived in the time when dragons had been free to fly in the mortal realm, but he could easily imagine how majestic they would have appeared against a dazzling blue backdrop spotted with pale clouds.
Dragons had been allies of the elves once, so many millennia ago that the only proof they had of their friendship were tattered pieces of the ancient records of the elven kings and queens, scratched onto thick leather now so brittle they would break if someone dared to remove them from the delicate glass case that contained them in the castle.
The castle.
Bleu turned his gaze towards it, instinctively aware of which direction his home lay in, feeling the familiar tug in his gut that told him to return to it. He had business there, and he had never been one to ignore his instincts. They were rarely wrong, and right now they were blaring a warning at him to step back from the dragon realm and seek a safer course of action.
He needed a team if he was going to venture into the realm of dragons and dare to question them about one of their own kind.
It was too dangerous to head in alone.
Dragons were fiercely protective of their own kind, even those they knew had committed a crime that had given their species a black name in the language of the elves.
He didn’t fancy ending up as roasted elf, so he would return to the castle and form his team—the same trio of warriors that had been with him the last time he had hunted the female dragon.
He focused on his body, calling his portal, and green-purple light shimmered over the scales of his black armour. Darkness swallowed him and when it receded, he was standing in the bright sun-filled verdant courtyard of the castle.
It towered above him, a beautiful mixture of pale and dark stone quarried from the mountains, shaped to form tall towers topped with conical tiled roofs set on a series of large square buildings with balconies that ran across their length. The main building stood five storeys tall, and the thick towers rose to spear the darkening sky and added another six levels.
A warm breeze chased over the high walls surrounding the castle and rustled the leaves of the trees in the orchard around him, carrying the scent of their blooms. Nature embraced him again, a tender touch that soothed him after being surrounded by the darkness of the demon and dragon realms.
He began to relax and then tensed again when Prince Loren appeared right in front of him, his handsome face dark and his violet eyes flashing as he shoved his fingers through his neat blue-black hair and began to pace. His formal knee-length jacket flapped around his legs with each agitated stride across the pale gravel path that spread outwards from the portal, intersecting the lush grass that grew beneath the trees.
Something was wrong.
Wrong enough that his prince had left a council meeting to come straight to him.
Before he could ask his prince what was bothering him, Loren turned on him.
The dark crescents beneath his prince’s eyes concerned him and he took a step forwards, growing determined to find out what was worrying him and find a way to relieve his prince of whatever burden his shoulders held.
“Where have you been?” Loren said, a slight sombre edge to his voice as he halted before Bleu, his bright violet eyes searching Bleu’s. “You have failed to return to the castle since Vail came.”
There was a tone in those last three words that conveyed a wealth of hurt but relief too. Loren always sounded that way when speaking of his younger brother, but Bleu held no love for the mad prince himself, not since he had gone to war with Loren and the elf kingdom, and had decimated an entire legion of the army.
The legion Bleu had served in under Vail.
He had been one of only a handful of survivors.
He wasn’t sure he would ever be able to think well of Vail, not even after everything they had learned about the reasons he had attacked his own kind. The things he had seen Vail do were branded on his mind, seared on his soul, together with the deep pain he had caused Loren. Bleu couldn’t forgive him.
“It has been a lunar cycle… so I will ask again… where have you been, Bleu?”
A month?
He could only stare at Loren as that sank in. He had thought it had been a week at most since he had left the castle, intent on returning to the last place he had seen the dragon female and seeing if he could uncover any clues that might lead him to her.
A month.
“Did your disappearance and subsequent avoidance of your home have anything to do with Vail… because he has left with Rosalind.” There was a softer note to his prince’s voice now, a soothing one that had no effect on Bleu as it dawned on him that his leaving had in part been because of Vail’s sudden appearance.
But not because he despised Loren’s brother.
He rolled his shoulder in a casual shrug, trying to let the epiphany roll off him just as easily, but failing dismally. His mood blackened again, just as it had that night a month ago when he had learned another fool had fallen under the spell of a bond.
A male no one in their right mind could love had found someone who loved him, and fuck had it stung.
“Good for him,” Bleu muttered and turned to walk away.
“Answer me, Bleu,” Loren barked and he halted, freezing to the spot and aware of the danger he was in.
Loren rarely raised his voice, especially to him. When he did, he meant business, and right now his prince was throwing off vibes that warned he was liable to break with convention and throw him in the cells if he was disobedient. It would be a first. Bleu had mouthed off to him, had behaved with little respect at times, and never had his prince punished him.
Bleu slowly turned back to face him.
“Did you stay away because of Vail?” Loren whispered, a heartfelt plea for an answer that told Bleu his prince didn’t want to punish him this time either, but people were watching them closely, and they would expect Loren to do just that if Bleu showed an ounce of disrespect.
He shook his head. “No… Vail isn’t the reason I have been away from the castle.”
It was the truth.
Well, mostly the truth. Vail wasn’t the whole reason he had left or the reason why he had been away.
He had just been the last straw.
Seeing Vail bonded to his fated female on a day that had been Loren’s wedding day to his own mate Olivia, and had brought the happily mated couples of Sable and Thorne, and Bleu’s sister Iolanthe and her mate Kyter to the elf kingdom had hit Bleu hard.
He hadn’t really thought about his actions at the time. He hadn’t really considered why he had left or what he had been feeling. He’d had a pressing need to investigate the dragon and he had left to do just that.
But an entire month had passed, and the look in Loren’s eyes told him that he had worried him, that the tone Bleu had heard in his voice and the sombre edge to his eyes had nothing to do with Vail, and everything to do with him, and that Loren wanted answers now.
Bleu had none to give to him, at least none that answered the questions in Loren’s eyes, because he didn’t want to look too closely at his reasons for leaving.
Instead, he would give his prince a safer explanation for his behaviour.
“I tracked the dragon,” he said and Loren’s expression gained a curious edge and he stepped closer to Bleu. Bleu sighed and raked his fingers over his longer hair, preening it back from his face as he tried to figure out where to begin. He knew how important the sword was to Loren, and he had sworn to retrieve it, and now he felt he was on the verge of fulfilling that promise. “I believe she has returned to her own realm for some reason. Perhaps the dragons there are hiding her, or she has gone to see someone, or she believes she will be able to conceal herself again among her own kind. I only returned to assemble a team so I might track the dragon into her own realm.”
Loren began pacing again, his head bent and the thumb of his left hand playing on his lip. His prince had never been able to keep still when thinking. It drove the council of elders mad when he silently paced back and forth in front of his throne, and that often amused Bleu no end. Anything that pissed off the council was fantastic in his opinion. They were antiquated idiots who stuck firmly to the rules and had given his prince nothing but pain and heartache for the forty-two centuries he had been at war with Vail, constantly badgering him to kill his brother.
Bleu had been all for killing Vail, but he never had been able to bring himself to do it whenever they fought. He had always faltered when dealing the killing blow, aware of the devastating pain it would cause Loren if he took Vail’s life.
Now the council were probably giving Loren hell as he attempted to convince them to allow Vail back into the elf kingdom now that he had proven he had been nothing but a pawn, a puppet controlled by a dark witch, and was maddened by the terrible things he had done.
Bleu couldn’t see them agreeing to that, and he couldn’t see his prince giving up this time either. Loren was a stubborn bastard at times, especially where those he loved were concerned.
“I have experienced fleeting sensations.” Loren glanced across at him but didn’t slow his pacing, taking long strides across the path, only needing three to reach the grass before he had to turn back around.
His prince needed a bigger space to work off some of his tension. Bleu would have offered to spar with him, but the urge to pull his team together and head into the dragon realm was growing stronger, and the thought of delaying his departure was near painful. He had to get back to the dragon realm.
He had to find her.
“They are familiar… and it took me some time, but I have realised what they are. It is the sword.” Loren huffed and his lips twisted into a grim, self-reproaching smile. “I admit that it has taken me some time to decipher the sensation… because my connection to it is not as strong as Vail’s… but it has surfaced again. Perhaps the dragon has retrieved it from wherever she hid it?”
Bleu didn’t like the sound of that. They still didn’t know why the dragon had stolen it or whether she had any ill intentions. She could easily decimate an entire demon army with it. But if that had been her agenda, why would she have waited so long to carry it out?
Why had she hidden the sword?
He wanted to believe that she viewed the sword as treasure and only treasure, but there was still a part of him that feared she meant to use it, that she had been waiting for some reason. Dragons could see the future if they were born of a strong bloodline. Had she seen something in her future and had stolen the sword because of it, and had been waiting all this time for that future to come to pass?
Loren’s hand clapped down on Bleu’s shoulder, jerking him away from thoughts of the dragon and what might lie ahead.
“Hunt the dragon. Eliminate her. Retrieve that sword for me, Bleu.”
Bleu had the feeling his prince was more aware of his innermost feelings, the ones he had tried to bury deep and ignore, than he would like and was giving him a mission to focus on in order to take his mind off things.
To give him a purpose again.

Possessed by a Dark Warrior is available from Amazon Kindle, Kobo Books, Barnes and Noble Nook, Apple iBooks stores and other retailers. Also available in paperback.

Find all the links, a fantastic 4 chapter downloadable sample of the book, and also enter the giveaway and be in with a shot of winning a $75, $50 or $25 gift certificate at her website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/possessed-by-a-dark-warrior-paranormal-romance-novel.php

Books in the Eternal Mates paranormal romance series:
Author Bio
Felicity Heaton
Felicity Heaton is a New York Times and USA Today international best-selling author writing passionate paranormal romance books. In her books, she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons! If you're a fan of paranormal romance authors Lara Adrian, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter and Christine Feehan then you will enjoy her books too.
If you love your angels a little dark and wicked, the best-selling Her Angel series is for you. If you like strong, powerful, and dark vampires then try the Vampires Realm series or any of her stand-alone vampire romance books. If you’re looking for vampire romances that are sinful, passionate and erotic then try the best-selling Vampire Erotic Theatre series. Or if you prefer huge detailed worlds filled with hot-blooded alpha males in every species, from elves to demons to dragons to shifters and angels, then take a look at the new Eternal Mates series.
If you want to know more about Felicity, or want to get in touch, you can find her at the following places:

ENTER THE AWESOME RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY!

Follow The Tour
April 09
Book Loving Pixies
Daria's Views on Books
Warrior Woman Winmill
I Smell Sheep
Calling All Bookaholics
Mythical Books
April 10
Book Reviews by Lynn
Eskimo Princess Book Reviews
Ashleyz Wonderland
Literary Treasure Chest
April 11
Sizzling Hot Books
Cover Reveals
Nellie C. Lind
Booked & Loaded
April 12
BookSkater
mlsimmons.booklikes
EBookObsessed
Fantasy is More Fun
Taking It One Book at a Time
April 13
The Jeep Diva
Karen McCoy Books
Reading Between the Wines Book Club
The Pen and Muse Book Reviews
April 14
Ever After Book Reviews
Yeya's Ramblings
Sapphyria's Books
Rabid Reads
April 15
Angel's Guilty Pleasures
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
She Hearts Books
The Romance Cover
April 16
Share My Destiny
Nicole's Book Musings
Barbara Book Blog
April 17
Lisa's Loves(Books of Course)
Wicca Witch 4 Book Blog 
The Reading Cafe
April 18
KT Book Reviews
A Fortress of Books
Kristina's Books & More
April 19
The Recipe Fairy
Just Talking Books
Book Briefs
April 20
Valerie Twombly
T&L Book Reviews
Ilovebooksandstuffblog
April 21
Sportochick's Musings
Kimmie Sue's Book Review
Erzabet's Enchantments
Book Lovers 4Ever
April 22
Totally Addicted to Reading
EndlessReading
Diaries of 2 Thick Chicks
Smexy & Fabulous
April 23
Books That Hook
Carpe_Diem
Fantatical Paranormal Romantical
Lushbookreviews
Extreme Bookaholics
April 24
Making it Happen
Book Nook Nuts 
Ali - The Dragon Slayer

07/03/2016

Possessed By A Dark Warrior, ( Eternal Mates #9) by Felicity Heaton. Cover Reveal

It’s time for the cover reveal of the next Eternal Mates series book, Possessed by a Dark Warrior. This is one I know a lot of readers are waiting for, since it stars a certain dark elf called Bleu. Yes, it’s finally time for our gruff moody commander to put his head in the sacred noose…
If you haven’t had a chance to step into this passionate and action-packed world of dark elves, fae, demons, vampires, shifters and hunters, then you can take the leap with the first book in the series, Kissed by a Dark Prince, which is only 99c / 99p right now. Find the links to your favourite retailers at: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/kissed-by-a-dark-prince-paranormal-romance-novel.php
Here’s more about the next book in the series, due for release on April 9th!
Possessed by a Dark Warrior by Felicity Heaton
A powerful warrior and commander of the dark elf legions, Bleu is a loyal and devoted male, and one who has never failed in anything—except one thing. Love. When an elusive female dragon shifter surfaces in Hell again, giving him a mission to hurl himself into, he gladly returns to his hunt for her and the deadly blade she stole from his prince seven centuries ago, but as he closes in on his prey, fate reveals she is far more than his enemy.
 
Having escaped from the black market arena and her life as a slave, Taryn sets her sights back on the task she began seven hundred years ago when her brother stole a precious sword, but in the three centuries she’s been a captive, everything has changed. Corrupted by a craving for power, her brother has become dangerously obsessed with finding the blade and using it to claim the ultimate treasure—the position of King of Hell.
 
Faced with having to end her beloved twin to stop him from bringing all of Hell to its knees before him, will Taryn be strong enough to use the very blade he seeks against him? And when Bleu finally catches his elusive prey, will he listen to his head as it demands he complete his mission or his heart as it demands he claim his eternal mate?
Pre-order your copy of Possessed by a Dark Warrior today at: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/possessed-by-a-dark-warrior-paranormal-romance-novel.php
Possessed by a Dark Warrior is due for release in ebook and paperback on April 9th 2016 and will be available from all major online book retailers.
Buy Links: Amazon US I Amazon.UKI Amazon.ES | Amazon DE | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | iBooks US | iBooks UK | iBooks AU | iBooks CA | iBooks NZ | Kobo | ARE | Google Play
Join Felicity’s mailing list to receive a notification when Possessed by a Dark Warrior is released, PLUS a sneak preview of the first 4 chapters of the book and chances to win a signed paperback copy: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/newsletter.php
Add the book to your Goodreads shelf at: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28524669-possessed-by-a-dark-warrior
Books in the Eternal Mates paranormal romance series:
Book 1: Kissed by a Dark Prince
Book 2: Claimed by a Demon King
Book 3: Tempted by a Rogue Prince
Book 4: Hunted by a Jaguar
Book 5: Craved by an Alpha
Book 6: Bitten by a Hellcat
Book 7: Taken by a Dragon
Book 8: Marked by an Assassin
Book 9: Possessed by a Dark Warrior
Book 10: Awakened by a Demoness – Coming Spring 2016
Book 11: Haunted by the King of Death – Coming Summer 2016
Felicity Heaton
About Felicity Heaton:
Felicity Heaton is a New York Times and USA Today international best-selling author writing passionate paranormal romance books. In her books, she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons! If you're a fan of paranormal romance authors Lara Adrian, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter and Christine Feehan then you will enjoy her books too.
If you love your angels a little dark and wicked, the best-selling Her Angel series is for you. If you like strong, powerful, and dark vampires then try the Vampires Realm series or any of her stand-alone vampire romance books. If you’re looking for vampire romances that are sinful, passionate and erotic then try the best-selling Vampire Erotic Theatre series. Or if you prefer huge detailed worlds filled with hot-blooded alpha males in every species, from elves to demons to dragons to shifters and angels, then take a look at the new Eternal Mates series.
If you want to know more about Felicity, or want to get in touch, you can find her at the following places:

19/02/2016

Bad Boys Of The Night, 8 Sizzling Paranormal ONLY 99c. Blog Barrage.

Bad Boys of the Night Boxed Set Blog Barrage

Bad Boys of the Night: Eight Sizzling Paranormal Romances Boxed Set is now available worldwide for a special introductory price of only $0.99!
This ebook boxed set features sizzling paranormal romances by eight New York Times and USA Today best-selling romance authors. Fulfil your darkest fantasies with alpha-male bad boys of the night in these stories about vampires, shifters, fallen angels, werewolves, demons, psychic warriors and ghosts.
Here’s more about this fantastic eight book boxed set, including an excerpt from one of the stories.
Bad Boys of the Night: Eight Sizzling Paranormal Romances is available from Amazon Kindle, Kobo Books, Barnes and Noble Nook, Apple iBooks stores and other retailers. Find the links to your preferred retailer at: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/bad-boys-of-the-night/
Bad Boys of the Night Boxed Set
Bad Boys of the Night: Eight Sizzling Paranormal Romances By Jennifer Ashley, Erin Kellison, Laurie London, Colleen Gleason, Felicity Heaton, Bonnie Vanak, Caris Roane and Erin Quinn
Featuring…

Bad Wolf (Shifters Unbound) by Jennifer Ashley
Wolf Shifter Broderick is stuck looking after his three younger brothers and a Collar-less Shifter who is driving him crazy, but he’s putting up with them for Joanne, the human woman he wants to take as mate. When Broderick is captured, mistaken for a Guardian, it’s Joanne who figures out that hackers are after the Guardian Network, the database that holds the deep secrets of Shifters past and present.

Shadow Fall (Shadow series) by Erin Kellison
A man with all Custo’s sins isn't cut out to be an angel. One moment he's fleeing Heaven; the next, he's waking up stark naked, called by a woman who's afraid of the dark. Shadow gathers around Annabella as she performs, a magic that allows her to move between worlds. Her abilities attract a primeval wolf, and it stalks her relentlessly. Custo stops at nothing to keep her safe, and though danger proves seductive, they fight for redemption and love.

Warrior’s Heart (Iron Portal) by Laurie London
Librarian by day, Zara Kane is a thief by night, stealing artifacts that belong to her homeland. When she learns a man she once loved has been wrongly imprisoned, she uses her para-abilities to orchestrate a daring escape. Vince Crawford isn’t afraid of anything, but when the woman he’s never stopped loving and the son he never knew he had are threatened by a ruthless enemy, he will stop at nothing to keep them safe… even if it costs him his life.

The Vampire Voss by Colleen Gleason
In 19th Century London, vampires live alongside the uppercrust members of Society... Even after centuries of lust, hedonism, and women, Voss, rarely finds himself bored. He is a rogue of the first order who loves nothing more than a warm woman, excellent vintage, and even a puzzling challenge to keep his mind active. But when one of his seemingly harmless manipulations sets him on the path to seduce the beautiful Miss Angelica Woodmore, things become a little less simple…a lot more passionate…and definitely more complicated.

Hunger (Vampires Realm Series) by Felicity Heaton
A vampire assassin hardened by centuries of service, Tor is a man of discipline and loyalty, never straying from his mission, and has purged all his weaknesses, including his emotions. But the moment he meets the broken, fiery female he is to escort to Oslo, something dangerous awakens in him, something possessive and powerful, and when he is pulled into a deadly game of cat and mouse with the man who betrayed her, Tor discovers he will do anything to protect the woman slowly claiming his heart and give her the vengeance she desires—even break all the rules.

The Mating Challenge (Werewolves of Montana) by Bonnie Vanak
Alpha werewolf and ranch owner Aiden Mitchell desires the curvy, vivacious Nikita Blakemore, alpha female of the Blakemore pack. He will have her as his mate and no other. To force her hand, Aiden maneuvers her into hosting a Mating Challenge, the ultimate warrior competition for werewolves, where males fight for the right to mate and breed with a female alpha. Fiercely protective of his future mate, Aiden will do anything to make her his own, even fight to the death...

Dark Flame (Flame Series) by Caris Roane
Committed to the rule of law, vampire Border Patrol Officer Robert Brannick falls hard for a beautiful fae woman who illegally seduces him in his dreams…

Diablo Springs, by Erin Quinn
When she escaped Diablo Springs years ago, Gracie Beck swore she’d never return. But all that changes on the night of her grandmother’s death when Diablo Springs lures Gracie’s teenage daughter to its treacherous border. Gracie races to the rescue—only to find herself trapped in the undercurrent of a hundred year old curse and the menacing spirits that still terrorize the town. She isn’t prepared to deal with Reilly Alexander—a man from her past who she’s never forgotten—at the same time. Reilly is determined to help Gracie and prove his to love to her, but they’ve come to a dangerous place where every lurking shadow should be feared...
Bad Boys of the Night: Eight Sizzling Paranormal Romances is available from Amazon Kindle, Kobo Books, Barnes and Noble Nook, Apple iBooks stores and other retailers. Find the links to your preferred retailer at: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/bad-boys-of-the-night/

EXCERPT FROM SHADOW FALL BY ERIN KELLISON

The bench at the bus stop was empty. Annabella sat, crossed her legs, and looked down the street again. No bus in sight.
Her mind wandered back to rehearsal. Tense shoulders—that’s what Venroy had said. She’d try harder to relax. And he’d said to watch her arms. Maybe there was something off with her upper carriage altogether.
Stop. You’re obsessing again. She stood to distract herself and leaned against a lamppost.
Still, it wouldn’t hurt to watch old videos. She had Natalia Makarova’s Giselle. She’d seen the performance a million times, but never concentrating on shoulders and arms. Maybe—
Across the street, a dense well of shadow drew her attention. Something was moving in there. Make that prowling. A big cat, maybe. Or a dog. Or…or…
Her heartbeat accelerated. She deliberately looked away. This was not happening again.
Between Giselle and the creepy wolf hallucination from rehearsal, she was going to give herself a nervous breakdown.
She took a shuddering breath.
There was no need to wait at the bench all night. She could pick up the bus at the next stop. And she needed a bigger distraction. She grabbed her bag, reaching inside for her mobile phone at the same time, and called her best friend, who answered.
“Hi, Mom,” Annabella said. She shouldered her bag and lengthened her stride down the sidewalk, taking care to stay where the streetlights were brightest. Paranoid, but whatever.
“Oh, good,” her mom answered. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you. I need an extra ticket for your brother’s girlfriend. Apparently he didn’t break up with her, so now she’s coming opening night.”
Annabella’s footfalls echoed on the sidewalk. A chill slid down her spine, raising the hairs at her nape as her heart worked her up to a fast stride. She tried to outpace the niggling feeling that someone was stalking her, but glanced over her shoulder anyway.
Nothing there but motley shadows, and a block away, a pedestrian.
“Annabella?”
Oh. Brother. Girlfriend. Ticket. Right. “You think he’s going to propose to her again instead?”
“I really don’t know—” Her mom broke off. “Why are you out of breath?”
“Walking home.” She glanced across the street and almost tripped to a stop.
A patch of skulking shadow traveled the opposite sidewalk. The shadow kept to its own, black on black, and was easy to lose if she blinked.
“Bell, it’s late.” Concern filled her mom’s voice. “Get a cab. My treat.”
“I would, but I don’t see one.” She kept her gaze trained on the layered darkness, her body stone-still waiting for the next movement. Everything seemed to be shifting ever so slightly around her. The buildings, the street lamps, the metal garbage bins. She was totally cracking up.
“Honey, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing. It’s stupid. I had a rotten rehearsal.” But since she could tell her mom anything, she added, “And I think I’m being followed.”
“What?” Her mom’s voice rose. “Where are you? Can you find someplace safe?”
Damn it. Now her mom was worried. “It’s just a dog, Mom. A dog is following me.”
“Get inside.”
“Businesses are closed. I’m waiting for the bus.” Not a quarter of a block away was the next stop, an empty lit bench waiting. No shadows there. Annabella made for it.
“Is there anyone to ask for help?”
She glanced around. There was no one in sight anymore. Weird. It wasn’t that late.
“Not really.”
“How can you be alone in the middle of New York City?” her mother demanded.
“I’m fine, mom. Don’t worry. The…uh…dog is staying on the other side of the street.”
Even as she spoke the shadows organized again into the unmistakable form of a black wolf, his eyes shining from the deep pitch of his rough, triangular face.
This had to stop. She had to get a freaking grip.
She dropped herself onto the bench and closed her eyes while her body quaked.
There’s nothing there. Just a figment of my imagination. A part of her screamed danger! while the rest of her remained resolute. She was not cracking up, not now. They could check her into an asylum…after the gala.
“Annabella?”
She opened her eyes as the wolf began a slow advance across the street. Head lowered, ears pinned back, he picked his way through the darkest fall of shadow toward her. His growl was low with menace. His eyes were wild yellow, and locked on her.
“Mom, I’m scared.” She sounded three, instead of twenty-three, but she didn’t care. She crab-crawled upward to sit on the backrest of the bench. Her blood pounded in her ears as she clutched the phone like a lifeline. Her body loosened slightly, and she knew, tired as she was, that she could run if she had to.
“I’m calling the police on the other line.”
Annabella’s eyes teared at the urgency in her mom’s voice. She shouldn’t have called home in the first place, shouldn’t have put her mom through this. The wolf crossed the midline of the road and she started to shake. A roaring sound filled her ears. This isn’t happening. This can’t be happening.
“Honey, it’s going to be okay.” Sure enough, her mom released a tirade of demands in the background. “Where is the dog now?”
“It’s…uh…” Fear choked her answer. The wolf ambled closer, his paws silent on the pavement. As he drew near, she perceived that the blackness of his coat was instead a variable absence of color. The thing lacked substance, like a nightmare, and yet his intent was palpable enough.
“Honey?” Her mom’s voice was high and harsh, frantic.
A scream built up in Annabella’s throat, gathering into a tight kernel of fear.
But the wolf stopped there, at the edge of a circular pool of streetlight. He snarled into a series of sharp barks, loud as cracking thunder, but did not cross into the halo of light. The barks hit her like blows, but she kept her seat. Didn’t run off into the dark.
The wolf satisfied himself with a slow prowl around the perimeter of the glow, his gaze fixed on her. Waiting.
If she could have wrapped the lamplight around her like a cloak, she would have. As it was, she fully intended to stay on this bench all night, until the sun rose and burned away the monster.
“Honey!”
“I’m here.”
“The dog?”
Wolf. “Mad, I think.” Her voice shook her words to pieces. “I’m not going to move. Or breathe. Maybe it will leave me alone.”
“Oh, honey.” Now her mom was crying.
“I’m sorry, Mom.” The tears in her voice matched her mother’s. The wolf finished its first threatening lap. “I should’ve taken a cab. I promise to take a cab from now on.” Her gaze followed the animal as it started a second circuit, somewhat larger to take him farther from the street bench.
The high-pitched squeal of a bus’s brakes told her why. The bus had arrived, hissing to a stop, its interior bright as day. Salvation.
“What’s that?” her mom asked.
The bus’s door folded open. Annabella laughed as tears spilled down her cheeks, and she stepped from streetlight to safety. “The bus. I’m on the bus.”
“Oh, thank you, God,” her mom breathed into the phone. “You’ll be okay now?”
With every light on in her apartment and a good night’s sleep. “Yeah, I think so.”
She glanced out the window onto the darkened street as she took her seat, searching for signs of movement. I hope so.
Grab the boxed set for just $0.99 to read this story and seven others…
Bad Boys of the Night: Eight Sizzling Paranormal Romances is available from Amazon Kindle, Kobo Books, Barnes and Noble Nook, Apple iBooks stores and other retailers. Find the links to your preferred retailer at: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/bad-boys-of-the-night/

                                                     

Follow The Tour!

Feb 16
She Hearts Books
I Smell Sheep
EBookObsessed
Liezel's Book Blog
Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents
Danielle's Domain
The Jeep Diva
BJ's Reviews
Booked & Loaded
Feb 17
Yeya's Ramblings
Mythical Books
Carpe_Diem
Books That Hook
Sassy Book Lovers
Books & Tales
Sunshine Book Promotions
Vampy and Racey Bookblog
Reading Between the Wines Book Club
Feb 18
Deal Sharing Aunt
Book Loving Pixies
Words, Words, Words
Diane's Book Blog
Secret Realm Book Reviews
Girl with Pen
KT Book Reviews
Oh My Growing TBR
Feb 19
Warrior Woman Winmill
Dani's Book Review Blog
Sultry Steamy Reading
MLSimmons
Literal Addiction
Feb 20
WTF Are You Reading
Binding Addiction
Book Lovers Life
Kristina's Books & More
Aly's Miscellany
Feb 21
RhiReading
Finder's Keepers
Moonlight Gleam Reviews
Nicole's Book Musings
Reese's Reviews
Feb 22
Bitten by Romance
Musings From An Addicted Reader
Page Flipperz
Novel Addiction
Vampire Book Club
Pure Textuality
Feb 23
CelticLady's Reviews
Bambi Unbridled
Barbara's Book Reviews
Book-Keeping
Happy Tails and Tales
Making it Happen
Feb 24
Angel's Guilty Pleasures
Archaeolibrarian
Blushing Reads
Sunshine Reads
Paranormal Tendencies
Mikky's World of Books
Feb 25
Sizzling Hot Books
Anya Breton's Blog
T&L's Book Reviews
BookSkater
Feb 26
Live, Laugh and Love Books
Urban Fantasy Investigations
Book Obsessed Chicks
Joyfully Reviewed
Feb 27
Book Crazy Scrapbook Mama
Deanna's World
Totally Addicted to Reading
Share My Destiny
Book Nook Nuts
Jeri's Book Attic
Feb 28
Eskimo Princess Reviews
Jo&Isalovebooks
Talk Supe
Ali - The Dragon Slayer
Books N Pearls
Majorly Delicious
Feb 29
Daria's Views on Books
Sportochick's Musings
BB's Book Reviews, Marketing Sales & Promo
Ashleyz Wonderland
Alpha Book Club