Forbidden Romeo (Shattered Hearts 3)by Katana Collins-review tour

Forbidden Romeo (Shattered Hearts 3)by Katana Collins-review tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date 17, 2024

A pair of star-crossed lovers take their lives? No offense, Shakespeare… but not this time. Not if I have any say over it.

Love is a four-letter word in Holden Dorsey’s family.

And I finally see why. For once, all the secrets locked away in this family surface. All the betrayals.

On the eve of our Broadway debut together, Holden’s ex comes back into the picture to drop the biggest secret of all.

She thinks she can ruin everything. The show. My career. My relationship.

But the only thing that would be more tragic than losing Holden… would be losing myself.

This time, I’m rewriting my ending. I refuse to fall on that knife for anyone ever again.

This time, Juliet not only lives… but she thrives.

•••••

REVIEW:This is the third and final book in the Shattered Hearts trilogy, and you do need to read in order with this one.

Holden and Kate have been through a lot! But can they really come back from this last event?

I’ve loved reading these books, they’ve been a real rollercoaster ride, with betrayal pain and sorrow at every turn, we see each others points of view. I really liked the diary entries, it’s not something you read every day. (Especially from the males point of view.)

There are twists and turns that will keep you reading until the last word. Moments that will have you thinking of the couple at odd moments of the day.

Their happy ever after took three books, and with each book you had to wonder if it would ever work! Both thinking they were saving each other. Didn’t that realise, that together they were better and stronger.

I liked how Holden became stronger with dealing with his parents, (they really weren’t the loving and supportive parents for Holden!) and Kate went after her dream of becoming an actress.

Yes, it’s a little like Romeo and Juliet, but they didn’t get a second chance at happiness. Kate and Holden did.

If you like your story with drama/betrayal/sorrow/miscommunication and a few plot twists, then this book/series is for you.

CLICK HERE for Julie’s review of BROKEN ROMEO

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Julie B 🦋

There are moments in life when the world slows down like a movie. Moments that I know, no matter what, will replay in my head over and over, imprinting on me.
Sometimes they’re moments I never want to forget. Other times, like now, I just know I’ll have to live this nightmare over and over again.
So when the beautiful brunette exits out of Holden’s dressing room, I know in my gut she’s going to change my life irrevocably. She’s wearing jeans, a simple button down top, and a nervous smile as she glances between Missy and me. “I thought we were meeting with Holden?” the woman asks.
“We will,” Missy says calmly. “But first, I wanted you to meet Kate. Kate, this is Megan.”
Confused, I give the woman a slight nod as a hello. Who is she? Why is Missy bringing her out to meet me now?”
“Katherine?” Holden’s voice on the phone tries to get my attention, but my focus is locked on Megan and I can’t bring myself to answer him. “Katherine, please,” Holden begs. “Are you there?”
Megan opens her mouth to speak, regret seemingly washing over her features. “I really think we should wait for Holden in the other room.”
We.
Right then, a young boy steps out from behind her frame. He must be about eight years old or so.
He has Holden’s dark hair. Holden’s high cheekbones. And most notably, his amber brown eyes.
“Megan,” I whisper. As in Holden’s ex-girlfriend.
I drop the phone to my side as Megan shuffles herself and the little boy backwards toward Holden’s dressing room.”
Missy leans in behind me, whispering, “Can’t you just see the headlines? A Comedy of Errors: The Secret Lovechild of Holden James!” I squeeze my eyes shut against the burning pain in my sinuses as she adds, “All you have to do is give me your part and all this can go away.”
Only it can’t go away. It won’t. Because I’ll always know the truth.
This… this changes everything.”

Social MediaGoodreads / Amazon AuthorWebsiteFacebook / InstagramPinterest

Katana Collins is a USA Today bestselling author of over twenty novels, novellas, and comic books in a variety of genres. She is most known for her sensual contemporary romances and her wildly popular comic book— Batman White Knight Presents: Harley Quinn with DC Comics.

When she was younger and stole her mother’s Harlequins to read beneath the covers with a flashlight, she wanted to read about the tough as nails heroine. The perfectly imperfect girl with quirks and attitude and sass. And the anti-heroes who were anything but “Prince Charming.” Forget the knight on a white horse … she wanted the bad boy on a motorcycle.

An avid animal lover, she lives in Portland, Maine with her kind of mean cat, derpy lab-pitt mix, mellow chihuahua, and very not mellow cairn terrier puppy. Oh, yeah… there’s a husband somewhere in that mix, too.

She can usually be found in a coffee shop with her nose buried in a laptop wearing fabulous (albeit sometimes impractical) shoes.

She loves connecting with book lovers like herself, and fellow sassy storytellers, so feel free to drop her an email, visit her on her website. She also loves connecting on Instagram, Facebook or in her reader group, Kat’s Kittens! 

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Knot All is Lost Pt 1 by Elizabeth Knight-Review tour

Knot All is Lost Pt 1 by Elizabeth Knight-Review tour

 

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Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3IK9JW8

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 18, 2022′

Being an Omega used to be the dream everyone wanted. Now it’s a nightmare.

Packs are a thing of the past, blackmarket dealers kidnap Omegas off the street, and the ones that escape are little better than pawns for the government to control.

So when my designation revealed itself in the worst situation possible, I ran. Or I tried to. While trying to escape, I found myself in an even worse fate at the hands of my abuser— my father. Now that he knows I’m an Omega he sees me as nothing more than a commodity, locking me away until he could legally sell me to the highest bidder.

Risking death, I take my one and only chance to break free. My only hope now is to seek help in the only place I think I can trust. And I find more than just shelter. I find love, affection, and the pack I always dreamed of having. But Omegas are still the most coveted object in this world that’s as broken as I am; and even the men who’ve started to heal my heart may not be able to save me.

•••••

REVIEW:Another new author for me to fall in love with. Beautifully written and really well thought out.

It centres around a young woman called Cambrie…..

Cambrie has had a hard childhood that got even harder when she emerges as an omega. (Omega’s are rare and will bring peace to a pack, unscrupulous people will take/kidnap and sell Omega’s for the right price). Trying to escape her father sees her being made a prisoner in her own home for two years, but when the opportunity to escape arises again, Cambrie takes it…..

The pack she stumbles into is just what she’s needs. Each of the guys brings something to Cambrie’s well being. Alphas and Betas that will do anything for her. But her father isn’t giving up that easy, and the government are interested in her and the pack that took her in…..

Cambrie, Marius, Nixon, Spencer, Rafael, Oscar, and Bodhi are finding their way through this new relationship.

And reading about the hardships Cambrie went through is hard going, but you get why it’s hard for her to fully trust anyone. The dynamics of the pack before Cambrie gives me the impression they were happy but not a proper bonded pack.

This book is more than just one woman finding multiple partners and living happily ever after. This world is in chaos, Omegas are in short supply after a terrorist attack wiped out a majority of mothers who were pregnant or would carry Omegas. The terrorists thought that Alphas and Omegas were favoured over Beta’s, so they figured get rid of Omegas and the Betas would take the place of the Omega. But the Omega holds the pack together, so without them most packs went through the motions.

We also have the ruling council that are definitely hiding things! Then we have Savo ……. (That’s something I wasn’t expecting ?)

I’ve also noticed that it’s no longer acceptable to use the phrase Reverse Harem, the term Why Choose has been deemed more appropriate, so from now on that’s what I’ll be using when it’s one woman with multiple partners.

Cliffhanger? Definitely. But it seems we don’t have too long to wait till the next book. Which I can’t wait for.

So if you like your story with multiple partners and a little drama, then this book is for you. Be advised that there could be possible triggers in this book for some people. Please check the warning before grabbing this book.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Julie ?

Elizabeth is originally from Illinois but is now living in the sunny Phoenix AZ. Though she is newer to publishing, Elizabeth has been writing for nine years. She started out in YA Fiction but recently found herself loving the Reverse Harem genre. Like her favorite books, Elizabeth loves to write strong women of all varieties. Not all strength is flashy or apparent at first glance—some lies just under the surface.

Author Links:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/elizabethknightsunicornqueens

https://www.instagram.com/elizabeth_kni8ht/

https://www.amazon.com/Elizabeth-Knight/e/B086WRJ2JY

https://www.bookbub.com/profile/elizabeth-knight

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The Dragon’s Vow by Marie Johnston-a review

The Dragon’s Vow (Silver Dragon Shifter Brothers 3) by Marie Johnston-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 14, 2022

Steel

When my brother was busy trying to win the mate of his dreams, I may have indulged a time or twenty in the voluptuous curves of a human woman. I fell hard and when I asked her for more, she turned me down flat. She would never move to the small shifter town I lived in and I could never leave. Message received. So I walked away before I told her what I was. Then I find out she’s pregnant with my young.

Avril

I moved to a big city after high school and I’ve been savoring the anonymity ever since. Then Steel shows up and destroys the tidy but exhausting life I’ve built for myself. I’m not allowed to raise a dragon shifter kid away from the clan, and since I know Steel’s shifter secret, I have to mate him. So, basically, I’m losing everything I worked for. But I refuse to lose my heart, no matter what.

••••••

REVIEW:Steel Silver is the middle brother in this series, and my favourite.
He’s the protector/enforcer for the Silver dragon Clan. It’s a job he takes very seriously. To the humans that live in the town the Clan reside they think he’s a sheriff?

Avril is Ava’s best friend (mated to Steel’s brother book?) She’s in a job she loves (nurse?) but the hours are beginning to wear her out, she needs to slow down!

Both were scratching an itch (but to Silver I think it was more.)

She’s pregnant! And she knows who the daddy is…. And when he finds out he’s in his car and off to confront her! She can’t have the baby outside of the Clan, the only alternative is to mate! But Avril wants to be wanted for her and not because she pregnant with Steel’s baby!
But when he tells her the reasons why, at first she’s very sceptical, she thinks Steel is delusional, put when she sees him in all his dragon glory, it hits home! She’s having a baby dragon!

So can Steel convince Avril he wants her and the baby, it’s not duty? And can Avril put her distrust of men aside and make a family with Steel?

Another great story from this author, pick it up, you won’t be sorry.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Julie

FOLLOW: Goodreads/Website/Facebook/Twitter/Instagram / BookbubPinterest

Marie Johnston is a RITA® Finalist, and a best-selling and award-winning writer of paranormal and contemporary romance – and an avid reader of them both.

Several years ago, when kids started outnumbering adults in the house, Marie Johnston left her job as a public health microbiologist to stay at home. Settling into working part-time and shuttling kids around gave Marie the opportunity to think about what she wanted to be when she grew up. A die-hard science geek, she explored her previously thought to be non-existent creative side after much time spent making snowman crafts and coloring princesses. Having entertained thoughts of writing a book one day then subsequently deciding it would be too hard, she finally put the figurative pen to paper and began to type – and fell in love with storytelling.

The Sigma Menace is the first series by Marie with Fever Claim being her first book EVER. She is humbled by the fact that people are willing to read to her books and looks forward to keeping readers entertained for many years.

Marie lives with her husband and four kids in the Upper Midwest where the summers are gorgeous, the winters are brutal, and spring and fall are luxuries.

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Grumpy Special Ops Bear 2 by Sedona Venez-review tour

Grumpy Special Ops Bear 2 by Sedona Venez-review tour

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO /

 

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 20, 2021.

Whatever it takes, he will protect his fated mate.

War Fergus understands. As the alpha bear shifter in his pack, he’s highly trained in the tactical maneuvers of battle.
Matters of the heart are another matter.

He should be prowling the woods in search of the most dangerous wolf shifter he has ever encountered. Instead, he’s plagued by thoughts of Trinity… the feisty little bombshell his body aches for.

In theory, the human beauty is everything he longs for in a mate. Yet one thing stops him from claiming her as his own.

Why the hell would fate finally deliver a mate who is the sworn enemy of his kind?

A Continuing Story:
Grump Special Ops Bear is told in three installments, or episodes, like a TV show. Each episode, except the last one, includes a cliffhanger!

••••••••

REVIEW:Book two in this three book series sees Trinity still evading the wolf pack that are hunting her!

You definitely need to read book one first, as book two starts immediately after book one.

Without giving too much away and spoiling it, Trinity is a go getting adventure seeker, she also does guides out into the wilderness, being paid a huge sum of money to take a group of men into the wildernesses doesn’t usually worry Trinity, but her gut kept telling her something was definitely wrong. And she should have listened to her inner voice! The group of men are actually a pack of wolf shifters, and for some reason (which you’ll find out) Trinity is to be the sacrifice! Can you imagine finding out there are real shifters? And that you are to be hunted!
She was to be released, chased, then killed!But Trinity has been giving the wolf pack a hard time after escaping…..

Which brings me to Fergus our bear shifting hero.He’s impressed with her survival skills, he’s not impressed that his bear thinks Trinity is it’s mate! Not happening!But when his team members dig up information on Trinity’s past, it certainly explains why the wolf pack chose her!

They finally meet, when Trinity gets injured and Fergus has to rescue and tend to the wound! The rest of his team want to use her as bait to draw the wolf pack out! Yeah, that not going to happen, Fergus and his bear are now looking after their mate!

We end on another little cliffhanger, well more of an abrupt ending than a cliffhanger.
Thankfully not too long till the third and final book is out.

I’m liking this book more than the first book. There is plenty of action as Trinity evades the wolf pack. There is a little levity in this book, but there is plenty of danger to keep you reading.
It flows pretty well, and before you know it the end of the book is sitting in your hands!

Can Fergus and his team protect Trinity? Why does she need protection? Why are the wolf pack so interested in her? And who will win Fergus (and he will walk away) or his bear (who wants to curl up to its mate) ?

CLICK HERE for Julie’s review of book one.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Julie B ?

USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR SEDONA VENEZ lives in New York City with her hot ex-military hubby–hooah–and their fur babies. She loves writing sizzling, sexy intricate stories about strong but broken characters who push limits, overcome their fears and risk it all for love.

Want a text alert when Sedona has a new release? Text “SEDONAVENEZ” to 33222

FOLLOW: Goodreads / Website / Twitter / FacebookInstagram / Bookbub /

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Marek (Guardians of Hades 4) by Felicity Heaton-Review & Giveaway

Marek (Guardians of Hades 4) by Felicity Heaton-Review & Giveaway

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 26, 2020

Prince of the Underworld and Lord of Earth, Marek 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.

Haunted by a betrayal that shattered him and set him on a dark path of vengeance, Marek closely guards his heart, as determined to keep it safe as he is to wipe the scourge of vampires from the world.

Until a hunt lands him in the presence of a beautiful woman who threatens to steal that heart as she battles his sworn enemy, her graceful moves igniting a passion so fierce and hunger so deep it consumes him.

Caterina’s sole purpose for the last decade has been freeing her brother of the curse of being turned into a vampire. When an alluring dark warrior steps in to help her battle a nest of bloodsuckers, her entire life is tipped off balance. She knows deep in her heart the warrior can help her save her brother, but can she trust a man who is driven to slay every vampire he meets?

When Marek’s enemy emerges from the shadows, and Caterina is pulled down a dark rabbit hole into a dangerous world, will they be strong enough to overcome their pride and their prejudices or will a dark turn of events shatter both their hearts?

•••••••••

Sandy’s REVIEW:MAREK is the fourth instalment in Felicity Heaton’s contemporary, adult GUARDIANS OF HADES erotic, paranormal/fantasy romance series very loosely based in Greek mythology, focusing on seven brothers- the sons of Hades and Persephone -sent to Earth to guard the gates to the Underworld. This is Prince of the Underworld and Lord of Earth Marek, and vampire hunter / human Caterina’s story line. MAREK can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty but I recommend reading the series in order as the brothers struggle against an unknown enemy to keep the human world and the Underworld from colliding.

NOTE: The Guardians of Hades series is Felicity Heaton’s interpretation of, and does not follow, the actual Greek mythological family tree or events.

Told from several third person perspectives including Marek and Caterina MAREK follows the building relationship between Prince of the Underworld and Lord of Earth Marek, and vampire hunter / human Caterina. Approximately ten years earlier Caterina’s brother Guillem was attacked, and Caterina is desperate to find a cure to prevent her brother from becoming a vampire but ten years of hunting and killing vampires, and her brother remains a shell of his former self, slowly succumbing to whatever disease is slowly eating away at his body. Caterina isn’t the only hunter in Barcelona destroying the hundreds of nests of vampires in her city, and in this Caterina struggles with her attraction to the warrior who may or may not be human himself. Enter Prince of the Underworld and Lord of Earth Marek, the man/the god with whom Caterina will fall in love but all does not go well for our story line couple when Caterina is targeted, and finds herself doing the bidding of someone who promises to fix what ails her dying brother, a bidding that will cost Caterina her humanity. What ensues is the slow building relationship between Caterina and Marek, and the potential fall-out as Caterina becomes the puppet of a powerful enemy, threatening to destroy Marek to take control of the Gates to the Underworld.

Marek despises the vampire with every fibre of his being having been betrayed by one in his past. Alone in his quest to take down the vampires, Marek battles between head and heart when he discovers another ‘warrior’ as desperate as he to kill the vampires that broke his heart but protecting the Gates to the Underworld comes at a cost, as Marek and his brothers find themselves in a constant battle with the numerous daemons that are constantly coming through the portals of H*ll.

Caterina is determined to destroy every vampire in existence believing one of the vampires is her brother’s maker but the more vampires Caterina kills, her brother becomes weaker with no sign of recovery. Meeting Marek, a man who claims not to be human, finds Caterina working together in an effort to rid the city of her brother’s ‘killer’ but working together means their mutual attraction grows with every encounter.

The relationship between Caterina and Marek is slow to build. Marek is at the command of his father, as well as the summons of the gate he continues to guard but someone or something is trying to gain access to the Underworld, using both Caterina and Marek in their endeavour, placing Caterina in the direct line of fire when Marek’s enemies forces Caterina to turn on the man with whom she is falling in love. The $ex scenes are passionate and intimate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

Once again, all of Marek’s brothers including Ares and his mate Megan (ARES #1), Valen and his mate Eva (VALEN #2), Esher and Aiko (ESHER #30) Daimon, eldest brother Keras, , and baby brother Calistos play secondary and supporting roles; their mother Persephone, and their father Hades, as well as a number of daemons, shape-shifters, and wraiths. We are introduced to Caterina’s brother Guillem, who finally succumbs to the powers slowly taking over his body.

MAREK is an action packed, ensemble story line wherein the reader is privileged to the internal dialogue, introspection and thoughts of the leading characters. Marek is compelled to kill the vampires he blames for betrayal; Caterina is hoping to cure the brother she so desperately loves. The premise is engaging, energetic and captivating; the characters are colorful, dynamic and spirited; the romance is seductive and steamy.

•••••••••••••

Julie’s Review: Marek the Guardian of the gate In Seville and the “earth” element is book 4.

Marek is on a mission, to seek out and destroy all and any vampires he comes across.

Betrayed by a lover, he slaughtered her nest and now he’s on a mission to wipe them all out!!

Caterina is looking for a cure for her beloved brother.

Bitten by a vampire, he’s slowly dying, he hasn’t got much longer, so if she can find his “sire”, then Caterina hopes he will become human again.

Looking for vampire nests in Barcelona she hopes to come across the vampire and kill it, before it kills her brother!!

Coming across Caterina was a surprise, and before he knows what’s hit him, he has a partner to back him up on the hunt. But what will he do when he finds out her secret? Will he help or will he end her brother’s life?

Caterina wasn’t expecting to find out that not only do vampires exist, but other monsters and gods roam this earth too. Can she trust Marek with her brothers secret, or will she walk away to protect him?

This book was a total surprise, I wasn’t sure of Marek’s background story. We know something dark happens in his past, but being betrayed by a vampire lover, wasn’t one of them. And it has to be a big betrayal as he’s bent on taking them all out, and he’s not suppose to!! (Vampires are permitted to go to and from the underworld)

He’s also in the middle of his brother’s “love life” and he hates that his brother Keras doesn’t speak to him unless he has to! (The story between Keras and the goddess of war looks to be a long standing one, and will I’m sure the story will be a good one)

Have to admit I was a little taken aback with how quick the main characters fell for each other (considering how in love he was previously!) but what he feels for Caterina is completely different from what he felt with Airlea.

Liked how the storyline is different from the rest (in fact all the stories are different)

It’s great that we get a little more information with each story that’s told. The ongoing war with the unseen forces that want control of both the underworld and this one.

And the surprises just kept coming in this one…..

As all the books in this series, it’s really well written, fast paced, loaded with fight scenes and twists.

We interact with all the brothers and the women in their lives.

We laugh along with the funny moments. And I wanted to shake them too!! And a few moments had me reaching for the tissues!!

The series is coming to an end soon ?and that’s sad! But I’m looking forward to reading the next brother.

It’s going to be epic!

Julie ?

Copy supplied for review

BOOKS IN THE SERIES:

Book 1: Ares
Book 2: Valen
Book 3: Esher
Book 4: Marek
Book 5: Calistos – Coming July 28th
Book 6: Daimon – Coming Fall 2020
Book 7: Keras – Coming Fall 2020

 

 

He had never been one for believing in signs, but as Marek watched the skull made of bubbles slide down the glass shower screen, a bad feeling stirred deep in his gut.
He finished scrubbing the suds from his hair and slicked it back, running both hands over his head as his eyes strayed back to the skull now stretching and deforming into something resembling Edvard Munch’s painting The Scream.
It meant nothing. Omens weren’t real.
If the bad feeling came from anywhere, it was because things had gone too quiet since the wraith had broken into the Tokyo mansion and rescued the shapeshifter female he and his brothers had managed to capture. It had looked as if she was going to be a valuable source of information, that Esher could break her down and convince her to talk if he had enough time.
Marek and his six brothers had held her in their grasp for only a few hours before the wraith had used the memories he had stolen from Esher to penetrate the barrier around the mansion and had whisked her away through a portal.
Now, they were back to square one. They had an enemy and they had no clue how many were in their ranks or what they planned to do next. All they knew was that this band of daemons wanted to destroy the gates he and his brothers protected between the mortal world and their home, the Underworld, to merge the two realms into one they would control.
Keras was still annoyed about the fact they had lost their only source of information, as well as other things.
Marek couldn’t remember the last time his oldest brother had said more than two words to him. At every meeting Marek attended, Keras spoke to the others about their reports and what he wanted them to do next, but when it came to Marek, all Keras dished out was the cold shoulder.
Marek cursed Enyo under his breath, not foolish enough to do it aloud in case the damned goddess of war was able to hear him. It was time she overcame whatever it was that stopped her from facing facts and his brother, before she ended up getting Marek killed. The next time she showed up on Marek’s doorstep, she was getting the cold shoulder treatment.
Or he would damn well teleport to wherever Keras was so she was forced to see his brother again.
It was about time they both faced their feelings.
Keras was as in denial as Enyo was.
The skull continued to mock him. Marek swiped the side of his left hand across the glass, obliterating it, and shut off the water. He didn’t believe in signs.
He made his own destiny.
The Moirai could tell him the future all they wanted, but what good were the seers when they couldn’t tell him the details? He and his brothers had been stuck in the mortal world for two hundred years thanks to the fates and their sketchy facts. Their father, Hades, had banished them from the Underworld to protect the gates and await the attack the fates had foreseen, believing it would motivate them and give them reason to focus all of their effort on their mission so they could return home.
Two centuries of waiting and the enemy had finally made themselves known.
War was coming.
Marek couldn’t wait.
His gut swirled with a dark hunger, one that had been steadily building over the last two weeks and pressed him to obey it. He flexed his fingers as his thoughts trod a dark path, feeding that hunger with images of beautiful carnage, of walls painted crimson, and blood rolling down his body as he stood amidst the aftermath of a battle.
The image wasn’t one he had witnessed, but one that was to come. Marek could tell the future too in his own way. He could predict the result of a hunt—because he always won. Nothing stood between him and the high of victory, not when he was hunting. His blood burned with need as his hunger got the better of him, and he stepped out of the shower, unable to deny it any longer.
Tonight.
He would make that vision real tonight.
He dried off and scrubbed a towel against his dark hair, mussing the waves into curls as he stared at himself in the mirror. He wasn’t surprised to find his normally brown eyes were black with the dark need to hunt, revealing the depth of his hunger.
He tried to keep his mind on other things as he tugged on his trunks and then his black combat trousers, and pulled on a tight black T-shirt, but his focus kept slipping, filling his head with pleasing images of fighting that roused another need in his veins, a trickle of pleasure that warmed him. His eyes slid shut as anticipation built, the thought of what was to come making him want to rush.
As always.
He clenched his fists, savoured the sting of his nails biting into his palms, and tamped down the urges, clawing back control. He would have his high soon enough. It was better he remained focused during the fight. Afterwards, when the twelve vermin he had been tracking for the last two weeks were little more than fizzing piles of flesh and bone, he could indulge himself and enjoy the bliss and satisfaction that came from killing them.
Vampires.
His father, Hades, would be angry with him if he discovered Marek’s need to slay vampires, a species his father viewed as allies. His brothers would probably be just as furious. Knowing that didn’t stop him. It couldn’t stop him.
The vampires needed to pay.
He had tried to deny the hunger to kill them, and it hadn’t ended well. The compulsion was strong, so powerful that it had driven him into his darker side—a side that came from Hades’s blood in his veins—and he had lost all control, becoming a slave to it.
His second-eldest brother, Ares, had found him a week later, caked with blood and grime. Apparently, he had located him by following the trail of carnage Marek had left in his wake. By his brother’s estimate, close to a thousand daemons had lost their lives to Marek’s blade, and on top of that he had slaughtered five Hellspawn.
Hellspawn were what he and his brothers called the daemon breeds that Hades deemed acceptable, ones who still served him and were allowed to travel freely between the mortal world and the Underworld.
Hades had forgiven him for killing them.
He doubted his father would forgive him if he became aware of the thousands of vampires he had slaughtered since then.
All of them in cold blood while fully aware of what he was doing.
Marek stalked into his bedroom, the terracotta tiles cool beneath his feet despite the thick heat of summer. Insects buzzed and chirruped outside, their song a soothing melody as he breathed deeply to focus, centring himself as he prepared for battle.
He felt the earth deep beneath him, sensed it surrounding him, and he closed his eyes as he allowed his connection to it to calm him further, and push out the frantic need building within him. Patience.
There were a dozen vampires in that nest in Barcelona, and he was going to butcher every single one of them.
Nothing was going to stop that from happening tonight.
He rounded his oak double bed that stood against the wall opposite the bathroom and opened a drawer on the side table to its right.
His dark gaze landed on the one thing it contained and the hunger roared back to life inside him.
He swallowed and reached into the drawer, his eyes slipping shut and pleasure rolling in on the wake of his hunger as his fingers made contact with the leather hilt of the blade. It was smooth beneath his touch, worn from centuries of use. He bit back a groan as he curled his fingers around it and lifted the blade, felt the delicious weight of it in his palm. He opened his eyes and looked down at it, shivered as he drew the curved knife from its sheath and the silver blade caught the low lights, reflecting them up at him.
The beauty of it hit him hard in the way it always did, had him transfixed as he took in every nick in the razor-sharp blade and recounted all the vampires he had killed with it, using the silver it contained to send them to their final deaths.
The need to hunt condensed inside him, boiled and raged, pushed at him until he surrendered to it. He swiftly sheathed the blade and jammed it into the waist of his fatigues, and focusing on his destination, he summoned his ability to teleport.
Darkness whirled around him, consumed him as he took a single step forwards. Familiar sensation washed through him, his connection to the Underworld lasting only a heartbeat before he emerged from the teleport. It was comforting nonetheless, and the closest he had been to home in two hundred years.
He landed in a cobbled alley surrounded by old cream stone buildings. The air was thicker here in Barcelona than in Seville, heavy with moisture that made it hard to breathe as the stifling heat bore down on him. He gave himself a moment to adjust to the summer temperatures, and then silently moved along the alley, using the shadows as cover as he stealthily approached the arched entrance of the vampire nest.
His senses sharpened as he focused them ahead of him, eager to count the number of foes awaiting him.
Only it wasn’t twelve signatures that popped up on his internal radar.
It was only five.
Marek cursed and moved faster, drawing his blade from its sheath at the same time. He could still eliminate these five, taking the edge off his hunger, and then he would wait for the rest to return. He reached the entrance of the building and stopped dead as the scent of spilled vampire blood hit him together with a feminine grunt and a hiss.
There hadn’t been any females among the vampires.
Was it a vampire?
Or a victim?
He eased the heavy wooden doors open and slipped inside. His eyes rapidly adjusted to the darkness that clung to the ground floor of the building, revealing the courtyard.
And a woman.
She stood in the centre of the courtyard, the low lights reflecting off her caramel-coloured hair as it tumbled around her shoulder, shifting in waves as she turned her head left and then right, eyeing the four male vampires moving to flank her. If it hadn’t been for the fact that she was facing off against the vampires, he would have thought her one of them with her tight dark clothing. She matched their style perfectly, calf-height black leather boots showing over her tight navy jeans and a form-fitting black tank revealing her toned figure.
A thin cut slashed up her left arm, a crimson trail from it reaching her elbow.
Darkness stirred inside him as she took in the vampires, her wide luminous hazel eyes bright with what looked a lot like fear.
A startling new urge blasted through Marek in response.
A need to protect her.
The dark-haired vampire facing her licked his fangs.
Not on Marek’s watch.
Darkness rushed through him, sweet and addictive, dangerously seductive as it subdued his softer emotions, leaving only raw rage and a black hunger for violence behind. His nails sharpened into claws, canines lengthening to match those the vampire was flashing at the woman.
His would-be victim.
Marek leaned his weight forwards and readied his blade, his gaze locking onto the male; mind racing to calculate everything about him, from his weight and height, to which foot he favoured and any possible weapons he had concealed on his body.
Satisfied that the vampire wouldn’t stand a chance, Marek pressed down on his right foot, intending to launch at the male.
Only the woman picked that moment to yell a battle cry and spin on her heel, a silver blur shining around her as she gracefully pirouetted.
And stabbed the vampire nearest Marek right through his heart with a short sword.
Marek rocked back on his heels.
She wasn’t a victim.
She was a warrior.
Breathtaking as she ducked beneath the blow from the blond male behind her and lashed out with her leg in a fluid sweep that looked as if she had performed it a thousand times. She caught the male’s ankles, toppling him, and spun back up to her full height as she brought her blade around.
It sliced clean through the throat of the vampire she had stabbed, cleaving his head from his body as he frantically clutched at the bubbling wound in his chest. The vampire slumped to land by what appeared to be the fizzing remains of another vampire, giving Marek a better view of the warrior as she took on the remaining three.
Part of Marek growled at him to intervene, to protect her as he had intended.
The rest of him was struck dumb by how gracefully she moved as she twisted and turned, blocked and attacked, undeterred by the way the vampires evaded her blows.
He had never seen anything like her.
It wasn’t fear that flashed in her hazel eyes as she spun on her heel and jammed her blade into the gut of the blond vampire. It was excitement. Pleasure. The same thrill he felt as he watched her.
Who was she?
The hunger that had gone dormant inside him the moment he had set eyes on her returned with a vengeance, snarling a black demand in his head as he watched her fighting the vampires.
Fighting his vampires.
It didn’t matter who she was. She was intruding on his battle, had ruined his plans for the night. These vermin were his to kill.
The woman slashed her blade across the leg of the blond vampire, cutting deep into his thigh through his black jeans, delivering another deadly blow of silver judging by how the vampire she had managed to kill was slowly melting away to nothing.
She leaned over and grasped the male by his hair, stared into his eyes as the silver consumed him, tearing pained hisses from between his clenched teeth as he convulsed.
Her first mistake.
A fatal one.
She had taken her eyes off the remaining two.
The tall dark-haired male grabbed her from behind, fisted her fall of caramel hair and pulled her head back, ripping a pained cry from her lips.
The vampire’s eyes blazed red as he bent his head to pierce her delicate neck with his filthy fangs.
Marek growled from the shadows, the feral snarl pealing from him before he could contain it as the need to protect her roared back to the fore, stealing control of him again.
The woman tensed.
The vampires froze.
Their glowing scarlet eyes edged towards him.
Marek launched at them on a roar.


 

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:

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Enter the grand tour-wide giveaway to win one of a $75, $50 or $25 Amazon Gift Card at the Marek book page. This giveaway is international and open to everyone, and ends at midnight on June 14th.

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