Writer In Progress: Sacrificial Lamb Cake; written by Katrina Monroe

This month I bring you an excerpt from Katrina Monroe’s latest novel, Sacrificial Lamb Cake [Okay, I love that title – Darke], from Red Adept Publishing.

When asked why she chose this particular excerpt, Katrina replied…

I chose this bit because I think it showcases two things: this book is meant to be satire, to a degree. Anyone who reads the blurb will know this novel touches on some pretty basic Christian dogma, but it is in no way a soapbox novel. People are people are people, and, as this book (hopefully) shows, have the potential to do good and bad. But this scene is also a pivotal moment in the book, one that gives the reader insight into Jude and Rain without (hopefully) being too spoilery. 

Excerpt:

Alert the media. Carve it in the record books. Stain it with blood. Lucy had been telling the truth. Judas didn’t have time to analyze her step out of character. Rain stood on the opposite bank of the pond, chatting away like nothing had changed. Only confirmed.

Son of a bitch.

No, son of God.

Same thing.

Anyone else would be elated. Dumbstruck. Much like the robe-clad twit bent over in the muck to slip sandals on Rain’s feet. Judas, however, felt a gnawing combination of betrayal and panic.

“I get it,” he muttered to the cloudy sky. “You work in mysterious ways and do not bend to the plan of a humble traitor. Lesson learned. You can let me in on what’s going on now.”

He waited. A goose, separated from its flock, landed nearby and picked at an abandoned pastry bag.

“You should take lessons from the Greeks.” Judas pointed a finger at the goose. “You’re shit at omens.”

A stream of white dripped from the goose’s backside.

“Fuck you, too.”

Across the pond, one of the group members wrapped a faded white robe around Rain’s shoulders and helped her to adjust the belt. At first, Judas thought they were only trying to warm her, but then the shortest of the group, a woman, led her by the elbow back to the water.

This can’t be good.

Judas dropped her clothes on the damp grass and sprinted around the perimeter of the pond, reaching the group just as Rain waded knee deep.

“What the hell are you doing?” He forced the words through deep breaths. Two-thousand-year-old lungs were worse than a smoker’s.

The woman guiding Rain shot him a nasty look.

“They’re baptizing me,” Rain said.

The one who’d put the sandals on her feet raised his Styrofoam cup. “It is written that John the Baptist baptized Jesus Christ. It is a sign that Rain should come to us on the very day that we are to baptize our sister in Christ, Maria.”

Maria, a plain, young thing, waved meekly.

Judas turned to the woman holding Rain. “So you’d be John, then?”

“Stacy.”

Judas covered his mouth and nose with his hands and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingertips. He felt a headache brewing. “I really don’t think this is a good idea,” he said into his hands.

“What?” Rain said.

He removed his hands and clapped them together, once, loudly. “Out of the water, Rain.”

Sandal-boy stepped forward. “Who are you to order about the Messiah?”

“My agent,” Rain said, apologetically. “Long story,” she added when they all looked at her like she’d grown a second head.

The fourth of the group, a gray-haired, hook-nosed woman silently watched from a distance. She didn’t seem to care either way. Her face held no expression, and she stood as still as stone. The woman glanced at Judas, and it turned his stomach.

“Jude, it’s cold. The longer we stand here arguing, the closer my legs are to falling off. I’m doing this. It’s right.”

Stacy and sandal-boy nodded triumphantly.

Short of dragging her out of the water, Judas couldn’t stop her, and he was hesitant to manhandle the Messiah in front of her new followers. They’d probably drown him.

Waist-deep, Rain and Stacy turned to face the shore. Rain shivered, and her lips had already taken on a blue tinge.

Stacy held her in one arm and raised the other toward the sky. “Heavenly Father…”

Sandal-boy and Maria bowed their heads. The hook-nosed woman and Judas stared forward.

“With this water, we humbly cleanse your messenger, our Messiah, of all sins. May she emerge a pure child of God. Amen.”

“Amen,” Sandal-boy and Maria echoed.

Stacy dipped Rain backward into the frigid water and slipped, barely catching herself before she too was dunked. When she pulled Rain out, Judas noticed a bright red trickle from her arm.

Rain shivered violently. Stacy anxiously pulled her back to shore where Sandal-boy and Maria waited with a fresh robe, wearing twin looks of horror.

“Y-y-you cut the Messiah!” sandal-boy accused.

Stacy gasped.

Rain shook her head, teeth chattering. “It’s f-fine. I h-hit a r-rock.”

Judas snatched the robe from Maria and tucked Rain’s thin form into it. He helped her slip out of her soaked jeans and wrapped another robe around her legs like a skirt. “I have a bad feeling about this,” he whispered in her ear.

“What are you talking about?”

Judas looked over his shoulder at the hook-nosed woman. She hadn’t moved since Rain entered the water, and her face was vacant. One of Lucy’s scouts would have gone batshit by now, so she obviously wasn’t one of them, but Judas knew the woman didn’t belong there.

Stacy handed Judas a pair of sweatpants, head bowed to Rain. “Apologies, Messiah.”

“Her name’s Rain.” Judas snatched the sweatpants.

“Thank you.” Rain glared at Judas. Her shivering had slowed enough that she was able to dress herself.

The hook-nosed woman began to shudder.

Judas grabbed Rain’s arm. “We have to go.”

“Let us come with you,” Stacy said.

Judas didn’t give Rain the chance to respond. Still gripping her arm, he ran, practically dragging her behind him. After he’d put a few yards of distance between them and the woman, he chanced a look over his shoulder. The woman’s clothes fell off in shreds. Skin bubbled and melted away. The explosive hum of thousands of wings hit Judas’s ears, and he cried out in pain. Engorged, winged insects flew up out of the woman’s insides and separated into swarms like black clouds. One of the clouds separated like a battalion and headed directly toward Judas and Rain.

Judas quickened his pace with Rain struggling to keep up. The robe flapped like a cape behind her. She looked behind them and screamed.

“What the hell are those things?”

“Locusts,” Judas said.

Safely in the car, Judas threw it into reverse and stomped on the gas pedal. He needed to put as much distance between them and the swarm as possible. He needed time to think.

“What the fuck is a locust?” Rain stared gape-mouthed through the windshield.

“A problem.”

Where to purchase Katrina’s books:

http://www.amazon.com/Katrina-Monroe/e/B00P1L245C/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1433459381&sr=8-1

http://redadeptpublishing.com/#!/Sacrificial-Lamb-Cake-by-Katrina-Monroe/p/46536474/category=12029173

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sacrificial-lamb-cake-katrina-monroe/1121227819?ean=2940151539258

Where to find Katrina online:

Twitter: @authorkatm
Blog: authorkatrinamonroe.wordpress.com

Attention Authors! Free Promotion!

If you haven’t already seen, I do two monthly blog series’ where I interview and post excerpts from books from both new and established authors. I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing some wonderful authors, and the excerpts are a great way to showcase a writer’s talent.

I have decided to keep both going, and I welcome all authors; published either Self, Indie, Traditionally, and in any genre.

Here are the details. I do one interview and one guest excerpt post per month. The interview is posted on the 15th of each month, and the excerpt post at the end of the month. There are ten questions for the interview and I try to make them as much about you and your work as I can. My goal is to promote only you, so if you’re part of a blog group or writing group, that’s wonderful, but I don’t want to promote them.

As there are a limited amount of spots open, this is a first-come, first-serve policy. Below is the list of available spaces. I will update this post until all spots are filled.

Please note:

There are a few guidelines that MUST be followed.

I require all potential interviewee’s have their book available on both .mobi and epub formats. This means the public can purchase your ebook on either Amazon (.mobi) or Barns and Noble/iTunes/Kobo or any other outlet that deals with epub. If your book is print only that’s fine; everyone can hold a book, but not everyone has the same ereader.

If you’re interested you can email me at the address below. Please include how you are published (Traditional, Indie, or Self), the name and genre of the book you wish to promote, and several links to where your book can be found. This is just a reassurance that people of all ereader types can purchase your book.

Post all this in the body of your email and send it to;
darkewhispers69 (at) gmail (dot) com

~~~~~~~~~~

2015 Interview Schedule

INTERVIEW SCHEDULE IS NOW FULL

2015 Writer-In-Progress Schedule

August 31/15 – OPEN

Oct 31/15 – OPEN

Dec 31/15 – OPEN

ATTENTION AUTHORS! Free Promotion!

If you haven’t already seen, I actively engaged in promoting authors of all genre’s and career paths by either interview them or allowing them to post a small excerpt of their published work on my blog. I’ve had the pleasure of hosting some wonderful authors, and it’s time to put the call out again. I welcome all authors; published either Self, Indie, Traditionally, or unpublished with a WIP, and in any genre.

 

I will not host an author whose book contains bestiality, child porn or abuse in any way, nor will I host an author whose book purposely demonizes a group of people based on their race, religion, political or sexual orientation.

 

I do one interview per month which goes live on the 15^th . There are ten questions and I try to make them as much about you and your work as I can. The guest excerpt post consists of a 1,500 to 2,000 word sample of a novel you wish to promote.

 

My goal is to promote only you, so if you’re part of a blog group or writing group, that’s wonderful, but I don’t want to promote them. All spots for 2014 are taken. For 2015, I have 9 spots open for the guest excerpt post and 5 spots open for the interviews, and therefore will take applicants on a first-come, first-serve basis.

 

Please note:

I require all potential interviewee’s have their book available on both .mobi and epub formats. This means the public can purchase your ebook on either Amazon (.mobi) or Barns and Noble/iTunes/Kobo, or any other outlet that deals with epub. If your book is print only that’s fine; everyone can hold a book, but not everyone has the same ereader.

 

If you’re interested, you can email me at the address below. Please include how you are published (Traditional, Indie, or Self), the name and genre of the book you wish to promote and several links to where your book can be found. This is just a reassurance that people of all ereader types can purchase your book.

 

Post all this in the body of your email and send it to;

darkewhispers69 (at) gmail (dot) com

 

I look forward to hearing from you!

ATTENTION AUTHORS! Would you like some free promotion?

If you didn’t already know, I do two monthly blog series where I focus on authors and their work. One is an interview I conduct via email, and the second is a guest post of an excerpt for a book the author wishes to promote. I’ve had the pleasure of highlighting some wonderful authors, and it’s time to put the call out again.

I welcome all authors, published either Self, Indie, Traditionally, and in any genre minus any books/authors with books depicting bestiality, any form of animal cruelty, child pornography, or any book where the author demonizes another group of people based on race, religion or sexual orientation.

 

Breakdown

I do one interview per month and it goes live on the 15^th. There are ten questions and I try to make them as much about you and your work as I can by basing future questions off your answers.

The guest post consists of a 1,500 – 2000 excerpt from your novel(s) and goes live on the last day of the month. If you would like to do both, I can arrange it so that your interview and guest post would appear in the same month. If you would like this, please be aware that it may not happen in a month of your choosing.

My goal is to promote only you, so if you’re part of a blog group or writing group, that’s wonderful, but I don’t want to promote them. I have a limited amount of spots open; therefore, it is a first-come-first-serve deal. I will update this post until all spots are filled.

 

Please note:

I require all potential guests to have their book available on both .mobi and epub formats. This means the public can purchase your ebook on either Amazon (.mobi) or Barns and Noble/iTunes/Kobo or any other outlet that deals with epub. If your book is print only that’s fine; everyone can hold a book, but not everyone has the same ereader.

If you’re interested, you can email me at the address below. Please include how you are published (Traditional, Indie, or Self), the name and genre of the book you wish to promote and several links to where your book can be found. This is just a reassurance for me that people of all ereader types can purchase your book.

 

Post all this in the body of your email and send it to;

darkewhispers69 (at) gmail (dot) com

ATTENTION AUTHORS! Would you like some free promotion?

If you didn’t already know, I do two monthly blog series where I focus on authors and their work. One is an interview I conduct via email, and the second is a guest post of an excerpt for a book the author wishes to promote. I’ve had the pleasure of highlighting some wonderful authors, and it’s time to put the call out again.

I welcome all authors, published either Self, Indie, Traditionally, and in any genre minus any books/authors with books depicting bestiality, any form of animal cruelty, child pornography, or any book where the author demonizes another group of people based on race, religion or sexual orientation.

 

Breakdown

I do one interview per month and it goes live on the 15^th. There are ten questions and I try to make them as much about you and your work as I can by basing future questions off your answers.

The guest post consists of a 1,500 – 2000 excerpt from your novel(s) and goes live on the last day of the month. If you would like to do both, I can arrange it so that your interview and guest post would appear in the same month. If you would like this, please be aware that it may not happen in a month of your choosing.

My goal is to promote only you, so if you’re part of a blog group or writing group, that’s wonderful, but I don’t want to promote them. I have a limited amount of spots open; therefore, it is a first-come-first-serve deal. I will update this post until all spots are filled.

 

Please note:

I require all potential guests to have their book available on both .mobi and epub formats. This means the public can purchase your ebook on either Amazon (.mobi) or Barns and Noble/iTunes/Kobo or any other outlet that deals with epub. If your book is print only that’s fine; everyone can hold a book, but not everyone has the same ereader.

If you’re interested, you can email me at the address below. Please include how you are published (Traditional, Indie, or Self), the name and genre of the book you wish to promote and several links to where your book can be found. This is just a reassurance for me that people of all ereader types can purchase your book.

 

Post all this in the body of your email and send it to;

darkewhispers69 (at) gmail (dot) com

Escape from Witchwood Hollow – Cover Reveal

How far into the hollow would you go?

“After losing her parents in a terrorist attack on the Twin Towers, fifteen-year-old Honoria escapes New York City to Arnn—a farming town with more legends than residents, and a history of witchcraft and secrets best left buried.

Everyone in Arnn knows the story of Witchwood Hollow: if you venture into the whispering forest, the witch will trap your soul among the shadowed trees. In the lure of that perpetual darkness, Honoria finds hope when she should be afraid, and a past of missing children and broken promises.  To save the citizens of Arnn from becoming the witch’s next victims, she must find the truth behind the woman’s madness. How deep into Witchwood Hollow does Honoria dare venture?”

ESCAPE FROM WITCHWOOD HOLLOW is Jordan Elizabeth’s first novel.  This young adult fantasy will be published through Curiosity Quills Press on October 29, 2014.

 

Jordan Elizabeth, formally Jordan Elizabeth Mierek, can’t get enough of the woods, be it splashing through a stream, sitting beneath an ancient oak, or following a path up a hill.  Some of those adventures have led to abandoned foundations.  Exploring the rocks and crumbling bricks sparked Jordan to imagine who might have lived there before, and that train of thought carried her to a wicked legend and an enchanted hollow.  You can contact Jordan via her website, JordanElizabethMierek.com.

 

 

 

 

 

You don’t have to wait for October 29^th to explore Witchwood Hollow.  Jordan Elizabeth is offering up a free eArc.  To enter for your chance to win a copy of ESCAPE FROM WITCHWOOD HOLLOW, you will need to share the cover.  This can be on your blog, Facebook, Twitter… Each time you share the cover image, log it into Rafflecoper to record it.  It will give you more chances to win.  The drawing for the winner will be held on October 20^th.

Because WordPress doesn’t allow javascript, you can click the link below to enter into the Rafflecopter giveaway on another site.

http://www.annmnoser.com/

 

Guest Post: Hunter’s Trap, by Anne Michaud

A very good friend of mine is launching her new book and I said she could take over my blog for today. Anne LOVES dark things and never grew up. She never stopped listening to gothic, industrial and alternative bands like the ones she listened to when she was fifteen. She loves to read horror and dystopia and fantasy, where doom and gloom drip from the pages. She was supposed to make films, and had a few listed on festival programs but decided to write short stories, novelettes and novels instead, and has been printed in a dozen anthologies and magazines since.

The blog is all yours, mon ami.

~~~~~~~~~~

Merci Darkey!!!!

I wrote Hunter’s Trap two years and a half ago, for some new print press opening their doors to unagented authors; it got to the final round but ended up rejected, for reasons unknown. In between the ten queried agents, seven asked for the full manuscript to read; bold, daring and creepy as hell were mentioned attributes, but none of them bit the bait. So I let the book rest, thinking it could always be suggested as a second project in case an agent decided to represent me and asked to read something else that was ready.

And then, things happened, things that made me realize that maybe I don’t always play well with others, maybe I do have a tendency to want things my way, and maybe I want more creative control over my books. And why shouldn’t I want it all? Ten years of working hard, getting cramps from twisted fingers for luck, sacrificing a virgin every full moon spells for someone else to change my writer’s life… until I got fed up and decided to take charge.

So I founded Sad Ghost Press – an adequate imagery reflecting the main theme throughout my books. I’m scared, I’m a tad melancholy and a lot excited, because on September 9th, 2014, HUNTER’S TRAP will hit the virtual shelves and be available for people to read. My way, the way I want it.

 

Seventeen-year-old Dayton Mulligan is stuck looking after his little brother Jeremy when their father goes off on his annual hunting trip. But when Dad’s last phone call ends in a shotgun blast, it’s enough to send both boys out into a blizzard to search for him.

Caught in the killer weather, Dayton and Jeremy take refuge in an abandoned hunting cabin, which isn’t as empty as it first seems. A ghost inhabits its walls and promises to reveal the truth behind their father’s disappearance, but the brothers doubt their host’s sincerity as the spirit demonstrates its hatred for anyone who trespasses on its land.

Far from the safety of civilization, Dayton must swallow his fears, fight for himself and for his family before it’s too late and Hunter’s Trap claims them all, forever.

 

 

Goodreads giveaway ending on October 10th: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/103358-hunter-s-trap

Website: http://annecmichaud.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/annecmichaud

Twitter: @annecmichaud

ATTENTION AUTHORS! Free Promotion!

If you haven’t already seen, I actively engaged in promoting authors of all genre’s and career paths by either interview them or allowing them to post a small excerpt of their published work on my blog. I’ve had the pleasure of hosting some wonderful authors, and it’s time to put the call out again. I welcome all authors; published either Self, Indie, Traditionally, or unpublished with a WIP, and in any genre.

I will not host an author whose book contains bestiality, child porn or abuse in any way, nor will I host an author whose book purposely demonizes a group of people based on their race, religion, political or sexual orientation.

I do one interview per month which goes live on the 15^th . There are ten questions and I try to make them as much about you and your work as I can. The guest excerpt post consists of a 1,500 to 2,000 word sample of a novel you wish to promote.

My goal is to promote only you, so if you’re part of a blog group or writing group, that’s wonderful, but I don’t want to promote them. All spots for 2014 are taken. For 2015, I have 9 spots open for the guest excerpt post and 5 spots open for the interviews, and therefore will take applicants on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Please note:

I require all potential interviewee’s have their book available on both .mobi and epub formats. This means the public can purchase your ebook on either Amazon (.mobi) or Barns and Noble/iTunes/Kobo, or any other outlet that deals with epub. If your book is print only that’s fine; everyone can hold a book, but not everyone has the same ereader.

If you’re interested, you can email me at the address below. Please include how you are published (Traditional, Indie, or Self), the name and genre of the book you wish to promote and several links to where your book can be found. This is just a reassurance that people of all ereader types can purchase your book.

Post all this in the body of your email and send it to;

darkewhispers69 (at) gmail (dot) com

I look forward to hearing from you!

Claimed by the Demon Blog Tour

Do you know what I hate? Forgetting to do things; like setting the clock forward. I’ve been behind the whole day. Worse, it buggers up my schedules.

Do you know what I like? Demons (as if you didn’t already know that), which is why I am proud to be a stop (albeit, late) on Felicity Heaton’s Claimed by a Demon King blog tour! It’s all yours, Felicity!

~~~~~

It’s great to be here at Darke Conteur’s as part of the Claimed by a Demon King Book Tour celebrating the release of the second book in my new Eternal Mates series of paranormal romance novels.

Today, I’m going to be sharing an excerpt from the book.

But before we get to the main event, I want to introduce myself. I’m a British paranormal romance author and a USA Today best-seller. I have been writing since 2005, and went indie in 2006. I love to write big worlds, populated by vampires, shifters, demons, fae and angels, and I have several series. This tour is about the Eternal Mates series, which is actually a spin-off from my Vampire Erotic Theatre series. That series focused on a family of vampires at one theatre in London but it had glimpses into the wider world outside the theatre. It’s that world of fae, dark elves, demons, witches, shifters, and other incredible species that the Eternal Mates focuses on.

Now, on with the show…

Claimed by a Demon King – Excerpt
Sable’s world disappeared in a swirl of cold black shadows. She closed her eyes against it. The heat of the sun on her skin gave way to the icy chill and then became a blast of moist warm air. The shrouding silence of the portal shattered under the explosion of grunts and roars and the metallic clang of weapons clashing.

The scent of morning became the odour of blood.

Sable snapped her eyes open and her heart leaped and pounded, quickening her blood and preparing her body.

The first thing she saw was Thorne shirtless and swinging his enormous broadsword at an equally massive bare-chested warrior. His opponent blocked with his own blade and growled, flashing huge fangs as he swung a meaty fist. The blow connected with Thorne’s right cheek and he stumbled, grunting as he struggled to regain his footing and ready his blade to defend himself.

Sable’s hand instantly went to the folded crossbow at her side and she flicked it open, pushing away from Bleu at the same time. Another immense demon attacked Thorne before he managed to right himself and the dagger sliced across the Third King’s thickly muscled right shoulder.

Thorne roared and finally launched himself at the males, taking them both on at once. They weren’t alone. The wide oval courtyard of the dark stone fortress was in pandemonium. Sable counted at least two dozen demons, all focused on him with their weapons drawn and at the ready. No other fought on his side.

The sight of him standing alone against so many adversaries, bleeding from multiple wounds on his torso and arms, brought a red haze down over her vision.

Sable launched herself into the fray just as one of the males attacked. Her heart raced, pumping adrenaline that made her feel high as she reached beneath her left arm, slipped her fingers into the rings on two of her throwing knives, and hurled them with deadly accuracy at the warrior. They nailed him in the left of his broad chest and his shoulder, and she didn’t give him a chance to recover his focus. She loosed a barbed dart from her crossbow at him, reloaded in the space of a heartbeat, and shot the other male now attacking Thorne.

The barbed dart embedded into the demon’s left thigh and he grunted, his eyes glowing crimson as he turned his attention on her. Good. She had to give Thorne a moment to recover his wits and get back in the fight.

The warrior stomped towards her, blood pulsing down his leg with each step, turning his black leathers slick and shiny. He growled, his top lip peeling back off his fangs, and shook his head. His dusky horns curled further, forming a loop and flaring forwards into twin dangerous points near his cheekbones.

Sable made a mental note to avoid them and drew the short blade strapped to her other thigh, ready to fight him. He swung the moment he was within reach and she ducked beneath the long silver blade, rolled forwards and came to her feet behind him. She slashed up his back, her knife splitting tanned flesh and scraping over bone, and grinned as he arched forwards and roared.

The thrill chasing through her blood increased, consuming her, driving her to keep going and embrace wildness it unleashed within her. She had been born to fight monsters and she felt it now more than ever as she faced off against the enormous demon males, swiftly calculating their every move before they could make it, ready for anything.

Sable grabbed a bolt with a thick cylinder on the end from her quiver pouch. Explosive dart. God she loved these things. She loaded it onto the small crossbow and swung to her left, aiming at the group of males storming towards her.

She grinned and pulled the trigger.

A large bloodstained hand clamped down on the weapon, grasping it and holding the bolt in place.

Sable growled in frustration and released her crossbow, leaving it in the demon’s hand. She thrust hard with her blade, blindly stabbing at her new enemy.

The huge male grabbed her wrist before she could drive the cold steel into his flesh. The tip pressed into his muscular chest and she froze when she realised it was Thorne frowning down at her, his rough masculine features crinkled in confusion.

“You seek to harm me, Little Female? I thought we had discussed this before?”

His deep gravelly voice washed over her and his thumb caressed the inside of her wrist. Sable trembled. The hot shivery ache rolling through her increased in intensity as he tugged on her wrist, gently drawing her closer to him, his red gaze holding hers, commanding and powerful. She couldn’t break its hold on her. She tilted her head right back, lost in his eyes as he towered over her, making her feel small and weak, vulnerable to him.

Sable dropped her blade, the clang of it hitting the stone slabs beneath her feet jarring in the thick silence. She breathed hard, firmly under his spell and unable to form a response.

She had forgotten just how gorgeous he was and how his presence lit her up inside like fireworks on November fifth.

“Well?” Thorne cocked his head to one side and a hank of wild red-brown hair fell down onto his bloodstained brow.

Sable slowly shook her head and forced words up her dry throat and past her lips. “I was trying to help.”

A smile worked its way onto his firm lips and he flashed short fangs. “That is very kind of you… but I do not require your assistance to spar with my men.”

Spar?

Sable inched her gaze towards the demon males to her left. They had all stopped and were staring at her. She looked to her other side, at her team and the elves, and cringed. None of them had moved. She alone had leapt into the fray.

A blush burned up her cheeks before she could stop it. Thorne canted his head again, raised his free hand and lightly brushed the backs of his short claws across her left cheek. She shuddered under the gentle caress, her pulse quickening for a different reason as the heat burning inside her exploded into wildfire. She had to get a grip. This was a mission.

“Did you believe me to be under attack?” he husked in a low, quiet voice that sent a fierce shiver through her, cranking up her temperature another thousand degrees.

She couldn’t bring herself to look at him. She nodded, and admitting it left her feeling like a fool.

“And you came to my aid?” Had he moved closer to her? His breath washed over her cheek, moist and hot, smelling faintly of something sweet and the coppery tang of blood.

Sable nodded again.

“You are but a little mortal female… yet you desired to fight all these demon males in order to protect me?”

When he put it like that, she couldn’t stop herself from blushing harder. She had reacted on instinct but the tone of his voice and the way he drew her closer still, until she could feel his heat rolling off him and over her, told her that he thought she did it because she felt something for him.

Desired him.

She cleared her throat, finally locked down her emotions and found her voice again, and even the courage to lift her gaze to his. “Not out of favouritism or anything. I’m here on a mission and that mission entails protecting you and your kingdom from demons. I saw you battling a score of demons and I did my duty.”

She twisted her hand free of his grip and hated the sharp disappointed edge his eyes gained. It made her feel like a bitch. She grabbed her blade from the dark stone pavement and jammed it into its sheath, and then snatched up her crossbow and checked it over, taking her time about it, stewing under the intense heat of his gaze.

Sable kept her head bent and holstered her crossbow and the unused explosive dart. Thorne continued to stare at her. So did everyone else. She was not going to blush. She racked her brain, trying to think of something to say to make everything go back to normal, and diligently kept her gaze away from Thorne.

She had also forgotten how impossibly tight his dark mahogany leather trousers were. They clung to his muscular thighs, stretched over them like a second skin, held closed by criss-crossed lacing over his crotch.

Not staring. Not staring.

Her eyes betrayed her, leaping to the impressive bulge in his trousers, and she forced it upwards before anyone noticed. Thorne’s gaze locked with hers again, holding her immobile.

“I’ll need my blades and bolts back now,” she muttered, not quite with the world or aware of what she was saying.

Thorne nodded. “Of course.”

He signalled his men and Sable realised just what she had asked, and felt dismal as the men immediately tore the barbed darts and throwing knives from their flesh without giving a single grunt or revealing a flicker of the pain they must have experienced.

They came forwards and placed the weapons into Thorne’s outstretched hand. He wiped the blood off them on his leather trousers and then held them out to her.

Sable swallowed her guilt and took them from him. She slipped the blades away beneath her arms and put the darts back in her quiver. The silence in the courtyard thickened again. She wasn’t sure what to do. She had made one hell of a first impression—on her team, on the elves, on the demons.

On Thorne.

She wanted to groan and bury her head in her heads.

She needed a do-over on everything after she had appeared in the Third Realm. It really hadn’t gone as planned.

~~~~~

I hope you enjoyed this peek into Claimed by a Demon King!

Be sure to follow this fantastic tour to learn more about the passionate alpha heroes and sassy heroines in the Eternal Mates romance series! You can also find yourself in with a chance to WIN a $50 or $25 Amazon Gift Certificate if you follow the tour. More details, including how to enter and a full list of stops, are available at the Claimed by a Demon King Virtual Book Tour page: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/claimedbyademonking-book-tour.php

Claimed by a Demon King 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 and a downloadable 6 chapter excerpt at: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/cbadk

Claimed by a Demon King (Eternal Mates Romance Series Book 2)
Felicity Heaton
The moment the demon King Thorne of the Third Realm set eyes on the mortal huntress Sable, he knew she was his fated one. The fiery, dangerous female awakened hungers he had never experienced before, a dark craving and passion that has consumed him in their time apart. As the lunar cycle wanes, she enters his world again and nothing will stand in the way of him claiming his forever with her—not the relentless assault from the Fifth Realm or the dark elf male determined to seduce her out of his grasp.

Intent on achieving the coveted position of commander at Archangel, Sable leads her small team into the dark underworld and the Third Realm, to a war where her allies are the very creatures she normally hunts—vampires, werewolves, and demons. Her eagerness to lead the deadly mission has everything to do with winning her promotion, and nothing to do with the kingdom’s brash, lethally seductive demon king—a king who stirred fierce desire and wildfire heat in her with just a look and an innocent touch when they first met, and has been in her wicked dreams ever since.

As the gathering storm between rivals unleashes irresistible passion that flares white-hot and the heat of the battle brings life-shattering realisations, can Sable place her duty before her heart? Or will she surrender to her deepest desires and be claimed by a demon king?

Claimed by a Demon King 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/cbadk

Books in the Eternal Mates romance series:
Kissed by a Dark Prince (Eternal Mates Romance Series Book 1)
Claimed by a Demon King (Eternal Mates Romance Series Book 2)

About Felicity Heaton:
Felicity Heaton is a USA Today and 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:
Website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk
Blog: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/blog/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/felicityheaton
Twitter: http://twitter.com/felicityheaton
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/felicityheaton
Mailing List: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/newsletter.php

So how about I do a give-away this summer?

I know, it’s a little early but the early bird gets the worm, right?

I’ve decided to do a giveaway this summer for the companion novel THE SAINTS OF BELVEDERE ROAD. I’m going to call it The Summer of the Scrayling Giveaway, and do it via Rafflecopter. I’ve never done anything like this before and I figure if I start planning now I should be able to have some really nice gifts when the time comes. I’m not rich, so they won’t be too extravagant and I want them to be connected (somewhat) to the book. I’ve got a $20 Amazon as one of the prizes and I should be able to find a few other things that complement the book between not and then. I have ideas, but I’m not sure if I can find them online.

Rafflecopter seems to be the way to go. I’ve seen several writer-friends do them and they look fun, I’m just not sure how to put it all together. I have some questions, but I’m not a big fan of ‘like this page’ or ‘follow me on twitter’ deal. It feels hollow and I want people to follow/like because they’re interested in my work, not because they could get stuff, or am I being too picky? I thought about having a few questions relate to the first book. The book itself is free so it’s not like they’d be spending any money, especially if I have the answers within the sample that’s available. Does that sound all right or too tacky?

I’ll update around the same time each month. I figure this would be a good way to build excitement, or is starting five or six month’s ahead ridiculous? I’m thinking I could do a post each month revealing the prize and talking about how it is connected to the book.

So there it is, the first stirring of my first giveaway. I’m excited and nervous at the same time. Have you done a giveaway? How did it go? Are my idea’s too lofty? I’d love any and all advice!