An Excerpt from DARK IMMORTAL

Because poor Alric and Diana got gipped out of a proper week during Immortals Month, I'm going to post a special excerpt from Book 3...

“Some part of you remembers me,” he said knowingly. “Your body remembers what we are to each other.”

“You’re wrong.” Diana shook her head, adamant in her refusal—of his words and of him and of what he made her feel. “I don’t believe you. None of this is real. It’s all just a—”

He lifted a hand to her face, lightly trailing a curled finger down her cheek. Calloused and rough, but warm on her skin.

She started, her gaze jerking back up to his. His hand was too large, like the rest of him. She knew very well there was little she could do if he decided to use that size and strength against her.

It scared the crap out of her, but even so she didn’t pull away.

He touched her with such gentle care, almost trepidation. As if he were more afraid of her—of what she might do—than she was of him. Curiosity rode her. If by some fantastical twist of fate this man was telling her the truth, she would know from his kiss.

Won’t I?

His gaze shifted to her mouth before he closed the distance. His lips were warm, firm…but light against hers. He was giving her all the time in the world to reject his touch and pull away. When she didn’t do so immediately, he groaned and leaned in closer. There was nothing demanding in his kiss, yet she felt as if she were being marked, as if this one kiss could break down all her walls and leave her shivering and vulnerable. 

More to the point, if he kissed her and she felt nothing, they would both know it. She would be able to put aside the ridiculous uncertainty that continued to torment her once and for all. 

Maybe he would even let her go.

“Diana.” He murmured her name as if it were made to be uttered in his deep voice, his breath stealing between her slightly parted lips. He curved his hand around the back of her head, holding her to him with the gentlest of tethers as he slid his tongue across her lips, changing the kiss from something soft and unthreatening to one that hungered—and dared her to feed the hunger. Dared her to accept it. Crave it.

Oh God.

She turned her face away, gasping for breath as she fumbled with ragged desperation between the seat cushions for the knife.

Diana freed Alric from his prison and the insanity his captivity inflicted upon him. She healed him with her passion, and now she lies broken after a vampire attack, locked deep inside herself where he cannot reach her. 

The huge, muscled man leaning over the strange bed where Diana awakes is straight out of nightmares full of blood and pain. Yet she’s drawn to him, her body yearning for him even as her mind struggles to make sense of a lust she can’t recall. 

Alric has no intention of giving up on the woman who never stopped fighting for him. His one hope is that time and his familiar touch will help her heal and remember. But with a demon god poised to tip the balance of power, time is not on their side.

Alric and Diana of DARK IMMORTAL

First of all, my apologies! This week got away from me, so poor Alric and Diana from book 3, Dark Immortal, aren’t getting the attention they deserve during Immortals Month.  

Because Oh. My. God. They totally deserve the attention.

Alric is big. Like…BIG. The other Immortals call him “the Saxon”. He’s practically as old as Rhys, but man has he been through hell. Chained underground for hundreds of years, he couldn’t die…but there wasn’t much left of him either. Not in body and not in mind.

Diana saved him in more ways than one, and since then, although their relationship hasn’t been perfect, they’ve tried to make it work because they love each other so much. But loving a damaged immortal warrior is way tougher than you think it’s going to be. Trust me, Diana found out first hand.

To make matters worse, she was attacked by a vampire who tore through her mind and sent her into a coma. Finally she awakens…but nothing is the same.

Alric and Diana may be the darkest characters in this series, but I completely fell for them both. I love Diana’s spirit and spunk, and I love Alric’s complete and utter devotion to the woman he loves.

We also meet a few new characters in Dark Immortal…and right now, yep…I’m thinking of Karnage!

Now, he was a surprise. More so than even Justice from Book 2. At least I knew that Justice was basically one of the good guys. With Karnage, I was sure I was writing just another demon, another bad guy that the hero would have to take care of…right up until I saw what he was hiding—who he was hiding—and realized he had his own story, one that was going to be hard to tell.

Karnage became an important element to the culmination of Alric and Diana’s story, and in the end everyone’s lives are changed forever!

Absolute Justice

Immortal Kiss is book 2 of the Immortals Series, and one of Baron and Max’s trials comes when they come face to face with the vampire enforcer, a dude who only goes by the name Justice.

 

He’s a cold, hard, immortal prick who pretty much decides which vampires live and which vampires die, based on a few hard fast vampire rules like whether or not they have the “Taint” – which basically means that a vampire has taken blood from an unwilling host.

 

When I first introduced readers to Justice, I had considered him to be a strictly secondary character who probably wouldn’t show up in the Immortal world again because the focus of the series isn’t really on the vampires of the world, but the demons who invade it.

 

But the response to Justice was huge and I decided to give him another chance. So, although I’m not finished with his book just yet, here is a working blurb…

 

Justice is the last of his kind—a vampire Enforcer. His job is to police the vampire community and uphold its laws, a position that has served him well for thousands of years…until he may have to enforce the woman he’d once loved long ago, when they were both young, both innocent, both human.

 

Miranda has been running from the very person who once professed to love her, a man she hasn’t been able to eradicate from her mind or her heart even though she knows that they are on opposite sides of the only law that matters—His.

 

When a great evil threatens all vampires, rules, law, and justice go out the window…and everyone will have to work together. But will it be enough to erase everything that has come between Justice and Miranda? Will it be enough to save them?

 

Baron and Max of IMMORTAL KISS

It's IMMORTALS MONTH, which I'm bringing to the blog as a way of (re)-introducing you all to the men and women who make up my Immortals series.

Last week we talked about Rhys and Amy of IMMORTAL DUTY. If you missed that post, check it out here.

This week I want to introduce you to Baron and Max, but first we'll talk about Baron.

Mmmmm. BARON SILVER.

He's one of my favorite characters...like...ever.

He blew onto the scene in the first book with a chip on his shoulder, a murky past, but lots of smiles and a cocky swagger that was completely irresistible. Book 2 wasn't even supposed to be Baron's book, but I couldn't help it, as soon as I dug into him a little deeper and got to know him, I had to write his story first.

Because the truth is, as much as he seemed like the bad boy, the one who hung out in clubs and went through women like "single ply tissue", Baron was hiding something ... besides the fact that he had become one of the Immortals ... and once I figured out what it was, I loved him EVEN MORE!

And Max...well, it's a good thing that Max is a strong woman, let me tell you. No other heroine would have been a good match for this guy. Maxine Devereaux has known Baron since they were kids, and doesn't take any of his shit. They have their own rocky past and she'd written him off a long time ago as a lost cause, but because of a promise made to his brother, she ends up tracking him down ... and her whole world gets torn apart by a vampire.

The story of Baron and Max has stuck with me ever since I struggled to get it all on paper. They are the couple that wouldn't leave me alone. I'm so very very glad that readers are able to know them!

IMMORTAL KISS, book 2 Immortals

It’s been two years since Baron’s initiation into the world of the Immortals, a task force who fight the demons hiding in the shadows of the human world. During those years, he’s been training hard and trying to forget. All in the name of setting aside his past to embrace the challenges of his new future…a future without Maxine Deveraux.

The last person Maxine wants to face is Baron Silver, the man her body and soul cry out for. But Baron’s brother is dying, and Maxine must honor his last wish.

A vendetta with a vampire doesn’t faze Baron…until the creature leaves Max on his doorstep, her beautiful body broken, her soul changed forever. Now Maxine must come to terms with her new dark nature—and if Baron wants to keep her, he’ll have to explain why he broke her heart.

Later this week we're going to talk about Justice -- the Vampire Enforcer who appears in Baron and Max's Book.

And remember! All my facebook peeps, all my twitter peeps, and everyone who comments on the blog this month will be entered into the contest -- winner announced at the end of the month!

IMMORTALS MONTH GUEST: Amy Ruttan!

I want to thank J.K. for having me here today. She said that this month’s theme was Immortals. Okay, I seriously love her Immortal series, because I love Immortals.

 

What is so intriguing about Immortals?

 

I think for me the idea of an Immortal hero or heroine is the fact they’ve seen it all, if they’re old enough. Only the real old immortals appeal to me.

 

Unless they’re “newborn” or however you want to put it, then they’re usually ancient.

 

My favorite Anne Rice book was not the vampire series or even her witch series, but The Mummy.

 

This book is nothing like those movies with Brendan Fraser which were good. This book was about Pharaoh Ramses II. Ramses discovered the secret of immortality from a Hittite priestess. He drank the elixir and became immortal. Living through ages of time, knowing there was no way to die even if you wanted to.

 

I have reread this book countless times. I love it.

 

I love reading how the world would’ve have been a long time ago through the eyes of a character.

 

I’ve never really written a true Immortal, in the fact that the couple of books I wrote which featured fallible heroes, the heroes always had a way out. They aren’t truly immortal like Ramses II in Anne Rice’s book. Sure, my heroes can withstand lots of thing, but there’s a way out, a way to die and find peace. Kind of like The Highlander movies.

 

In my book Warrior Unbound my hero isn’t the first of Stone Warriors, but he stays immortal, trapped forever until he’s ritually killed (giving him peace) or another takes his place. Only then does he becomes mortal.

 

Even my bear shifters have a bit of something special. They heal quickly; they don’t get the same diseases and illnesses that we mere “humans” get. They can live a long time, but you can kill them.

 

I don’t know if I could write a true Immortal, because I feel sad for them. I see their pain of living alone for so long. Never sated, never finding peace and I’m too sympathetic to my characters sometimes. I torture them, but I’ve never bestowed such a fate on them. Yet.

 

Even vampires which are supposed to be Immortal can be killed. Anne Rice’s vampires are killed from fire, sun and beheading I believe. It’s been a long time since I’ve read them.

 

The Highlander it’s beheading.

 

Other than the Ramses II from The Mummy and the Greek Gods or other deities are there any other true infallible Immortals?

 

I mean, Zeus saved all his siblings after they were consumed by Cronus, that’s pretty damn infallible to me. Of course, Zeus did dispatch his father after he burped up (some say it was through a pretty nasty C-section) Zeus’ siblings.

 

So are there any more true Immortals in fiction? One who could survive beheading, burning, lynching and apparently burping up children? If there is, I want to read it.

 

I love reading about Immortals. How about you?

You can find more about Amy here:

Website: http://www.amyruttan.com

Blog: http://amyruttan.blogspot.com
Twitter: @ruttanamy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amy.ruttan.3

 

 

Rhys and Amy of IMMORTAL DUTY

So we're getting IMMORTALS MONTH started off by introducing the hero and heroine of IMMORTAL DUTY!

Immortal Duty (Immortals Series, Book 1)

Walking home from a late-night shift at the hospital, Amy Bennett unwittingly stumbles into the violent, mysterious world of sexy Rhys Morgan. She wants him at once, but he’s a man with dangerous secrets, and despite the explosive attraction between them he seems determined to push her away. 

One of the oldest of his kind, the intense Immortal warrior Rhys spends his nights on the streets of Chandler protecting the city from the demons that threaten to overrun it. He’s always been strong, but now he has a weakness…Amy. 

His gift of premonition has always been more of a curse, and especially since Amy’s death has been haunting his dreams. But she’s part of his world now, and he doesn’t know how to save her, or how to protect his heart.

I don't know how many of you know, but this book was my first ... ever! It was originally published about 5 years ago, and I'm very happy to have it out in the world again. 

I've always pictured Rhys as a scruffy, dark character, a lot like Clive Owen.

Amy is the perfect woman to challenge him. She's smart and spunky, but also sweet and soft. When I picture her, I think of Charlize Theron.

I didn't write the book with these characters in mind. I like to let their physical traits and personality traits evolve organically as the story evolves, but after I was done these were the familiar faces who fit the best. 

I always wondered, though, what would happen if I started a book with specific traits in mind, how it might change the way I proceed with the story. 

What actors/actresses do you find the most compelling? Which ones do you imagine taking center stage as the characters in your favorite books?

(All comments on the blog between now and the end of the month will gain an entry in my BIG month-end contest!)

IMMORTALS!

July is officially IMMORTALS MONTH!!

I'm very excited to share my Immortals series with you all month long.

We're going to have contests, special excerpts, guests and more!

I hope you're all as excited as I am.

You can keep up to date with the festivities here on the blog, on Twitter, and on my Facebook Page, so I hope to see you around.

GUEST AUTHOR: Cynthia Sax

Being married to an Italian, I can totally relate to the idea of food being the thing that brings and holds families together, and with that, I welcome my good friend Cynthia Sax!

JK Coi 

______________________________________

He Watches Me… Eat

It doesn’t matter what the occasion is. Whenever my family gets together, there’s food. When writers or other coworkers socialize, it is usually over food or drinks (many, MANY drinks). When friends come over to my house to visit, I always ensure there’s food on the table.

How, what, where someone eats can tell us a lot about their character. Anna, the not-so-innocent-yet-virginal heroine of He Watches Me, is in survival mode. She’s a new graduate. She put herself through school, taking on student loans, and her job at a charity pays minimum wage. She can barely cover her expenses.

Anna lives off free samples and day-old bread. While she’s at work, she eats quickly, seated alone at her desk. She doesn’t have food to share with others. When coworkers offer her a taste of their lunch, she says no, rebuffing their offers of friendship, because she doesn’t have any food to give them in return.

Anna also doesn’t have the money to go out for drinks after hours with her co-workers. They ask her to join them. She must say no, again turning down their offers of friendship. At these social functions, her co-workers bond even tighter, and Anna is left out, becoming more and more isolated from the others, invisible and alone.

Until she meets Blaine.

When Blaine, the billionaire hero of He Watches Me, sits down at the dinner table, he shares food for everyone else before he serves himself. Strangers think this is unusual. He’s an important man. Shouldn’t he serve himself first? But friends and established business partners know Blaine puts others first. He protects and feeds the people he cares about.

Blaine also prefers to order take-out from the same Chinese restaurant he has frequented since he first founded his company. Blaine’s loyal. He hasn’t forgotten the people who helped him long before he was a billionaire and he prefers to build long-term relationships. This hints that his relationship with Anna might be long-term also.

Will their relationship be long-term? Blaine is driven to feed and protect the people he cares about. Anna is hungry yet proud and she has no food to offer Blaine in return. This food conflict is symbolic of the other conflicts in their relationship.

What do your eating habits say about you?

***

He Watches Me

She desires to be seen. He wants to watch.

Anna Sampson has a naughty secret. Every night, she slips into her neighbor’s yard and swims naked in his pool. She fantasizes that the dynamic young billionaire watches her nightly nude aquatics, his brilliant green eyes gleaming with lust.

She discovers this isn’t pure fantasy. Gabriel Blaine has been watching her via his security cameras, and now that he has returned to L.A., he doesn’t plan to stop. That’s all he wants—to watch. Anna knows she shouldn’t allow him and she certainly shouldn’t want more, but she craves Blaine’s attention, needing his gaze fixed on her body.

Part One of The Seen Trilogy

Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/He-Watches-Me-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B00CD36FS8

Author Website: http://cynthiasax.com/

Blog: http://tasteofcyn.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cynthia.sax

Twitter: @CynthiaSax