1) Unearth the truth about vampires and, 2) Become hella famous.
Nowhere on that list did I have “die” or “get turned into a bloodsucker.” But guess what? Life doesn’t always go according to plan. Now, thanks to an unfortunate back-alley encounter, I’m the newest member of the undead country club (fangs, coffin, and all). And my savior? Sire? Whatever…
Freaking. Dracula. Himself.
Even stranger, he claims I’m his mate. Like… eternal love. But come on! I don’t have time for that. Not only do I need to track down my attempted murderer, but I also need to learn how to be a vampire. Falling in love is the last thing on my mind right now.
Reality came crashing down, and I jerked back. I’d just kissed Dracula. Vlad. The Count. Whatever. The man had more names than I did panties at the moment. Which, speaking of, I needed to phone Lucy and ask her to go shopping, since we’d only packed weekend bags.
But that was a different, easily solvable problem. Nothing like this. Kissing Dracula had to rate stupider than busting into a vampire club to expose illegal bloodletting, which turned out not to be illegal. Impulsive, remember?
This right here was proof. Two nights under this man’s roof, and I was making out with him and swapping blood like we were lovers. Gah! I shouldn’t have thought that. I didn’t need the word “lovers” in my head right now. Not with him standing so close, eyes still blazing, and certainly not with my lady bits still waving their pom-poms and cheering me on.
Kissing Dracula was stupid, right?
Maybe?
Who the hell even knew anymore? “I, uh, should go.”
Vlad inched toward me. “Go where? This is your room.”
Right. My room. Because I’d just showered after attacking Harold. And here I was, getting my freak on with the Count himself. If he could just stop watching me like I was the cherry on top of a very delicious strawberry sundae, that would be greatly appreciated. I couldn’t think with him standing there, all smoldering eyes and swollen lips.
The invitation was clear, as were his desires. I wasn’t one of those women who was blind to the opposite sex. If I so much as gave the word, Vlad and I would tumble into that tiny bed next to us.
And damn, I was tempted.
On the one hand, I was a grown-ass woman, allowed to kiss whoever the hell she wanted. But on the other, this man was five hundred years older than me—which, ick—and a vampire. All right, maybe that last one was unfair, considering I was also a vampire. But if he’d never been turned, he would be rotting away in a grave right now. Then again, so would I. Not a very sexy thought. Why focus on the what ifs, though? He had been turned, and instead of a rotting corpse, he was a downright gorgeous beast of a man who I wanted to dry hump like a randy mutt. Decisions, decisions….
“Okay, then you need to go,” I told him. “I, uh, need to be alone. Is that okay? I need to think. And I can’t do that with you here.”
Vlad inclined his head and blinked, the heat fizzling from his gaze. “Very well.”
“Thank you.”
“Of course. I’ll be in my office, should you need anything.”
A shiver rolled through my body. I could think of one thing I needed, but my last impulsive decision had gotten me killed. I really needed to start thinking things through. And since I wasn’t allowed to go to a bar and get wasted—probably wouldn’t even work anyway—there was only one other thing I could think to do and that was call Lucy.
Vlad took my hand and kissed my knuckles before exiting my room.
I slumped against the wall and blew out a relieved breath. Man, he knew how to wind me up. And he hadn’t even done anything. Just walked into my room. Was that all it took now to get my engine revving?
Kinsley Adams is a thirty-something-year-old author who stopped counting when she turned twenty-five. When she isn’t writing uproariously hilarious romantic comedies, she’s raising her womb-gremlin with the hopes that he might one day become the world’s first Supreme Leader.
Title: The Ritual Author: Shantel Tessier Genre: Dark Contemporary Romance
The Chosen One
I vow. You vow. We vow.
Barrington University is home of the Lords, a secret society that requires their blood in payment. They are above all—the most powerful men in the world. They devote their lives to violence in exchange for power. And during their senior year, they are offered a chosen one.
People think growing up with money is freeing, but I promise you, it’s not. My entire life has been planned out for me. I never got the chance to do what I wanted until Ryat Alexander Archer came along and gave me an option for a better life. He offered me what no one else ever had—freedom.
I chose to be his. He made me believe that anyway, but it was just another lie. A way that the Lords manipulate you into doing what they want. After being sucked into the dark, twisted world of the Lords, I embraced my new role and allowed Ryat to parade me around like the trophy I was to him. But like all things, what started out as a game soon became a fight for survival. And the only way out was death.
Loyalty Freshman year at Barrington University I KNEEL IN the middle of the darkly lit room along with twenty other men. My hands are secured tightly behind my back with a pair of handcuffs. My shirt is torn, and blood drips from my busted lips. I’m panting, still trying to catch my breath while my heart beats like a drum in my chest. It’s hard to hear over the blood rushing in my ears, and I’m sweating profusely.
We were dragged out of our beds in the middle of the night to serve. Our freshman classes at Barrington University start in two weeks, but we already have to show our loyalty to the Lords.
“You will always have to prove yourself,”my father once told me. “You were each given a task,”the man calls out as he paces in front of us. His black combat boots slap against the concrete floor with each step, the sound echoing off the walls. “Kill or be killed. Now how many of you can fulfill it?”
“I can,” I state, lifting my head to stick my chin out in the warm and sticky air. Sweat covers my brow after the fight. It’s rigged. You are supposed to lose. The point is to wear you down. See just how much you have to give. How far you can go. I made sure to win mine. No matter what it took.
He smirks down at me like I’m fucking joking. “Ryat. You seem so confident in yourself.”
“I know what I’m capable of handling,”I say through gritted teeth. I don’t like being second-guessed. We were each raised for this—to be a Lord.
Wealth got us here.
Yet our determination will separate us by the time it’s over.
The man looks at the guy on my left and nods. The guy walks behind me and yanks me to stand by the back of my shirt. He undoes the cuffs, and I rip the shredded material up and over my head before dropping my hands to my sides when what I really want to do is rub my sore wrists.
Never show weakness. A Lord does not feel. He’s a machine.
The man steps up to me with a knife in hand. He holds it out handle first to me, his black eyes almost glowing with excitement. “Show us what you can do.”
Taking it from him, I walk over to the chair bolted to the floor. I yank the bloody sheet off the chair to reveal a man tied to it. His hands are cuffed behind his back, and his feet are spread wide and secured to the chair legs.
I’m not surprised I know him—he’s a Lord. Or was. The fact that he’s restrained tells me he’s not anymore. But that doesn’t change my orders.
Kill without questions.
You want to be powerful? Then you realize you are a threat to those who want your position. In order to succeed, you don’t have to be stronger, just deadlier.
The man shakes his head, his brown eyes pleading with me to spare his life. Multiple layers of duct tape are placed over his mouth—those who spill secrets will be silenced. He thrashes in his chair.
Walking behind him, I look down at his cuffed wrists. He wears a ring on his right hand; it’s a circle with three horizontal lines across the middle. It stands for power.
Not just anyone would know what it means, but I do. Because I wear the same one. Everyone in this room does. But just because you get one doesn’t mean you’ll keep it.
I reach down and grab his hand. He begins to shout behind the tape as he tries to fight me, but I remove the ring easily and walk back around to stand in front of him. “You don’t deserve this,”I say to him, placing it in my pocket. “You betrayed us, your brothers, yourself. The payment for that is death.”
When he throws his head back and screams into the tape, I press the knife to his neck, right below his jawline. His breathing fills the room, and his body strains, waiting for the first cut. A Lord does not show mercy. Blood and tears are what we demand from those who betray us.
Can an unexpected extended stay in a small Alaska town show them that God brings the one we need to us when we most need them?
Whitney The trip was supposed only for exploring the campsite for my outdoor wilderness excursion charity for foster kids. As the CEO of the company, every mile I log is for the children and I won’t let them down.
But my stubborn rental car doesn’t care about my list of plans and appointments.
The handsome town mechanic comes to my rescue and drives me around for the day, showing me the sites and revealing his broken heart … and a few other surprises I didn’t see coming.
Then my father calls with news I never expected, and I realize I might need to put my own plans for happiness on hold.
Drew
Ever since my wife passed away, I’ve devoted myself into being the best dad I could be.
This stranger is a ray of sunshine, only outshined by my bubbling and spirited five-year-old daughter. My little girl instantly takes a liking to her, and I wonder if God’s brought her into my life for more than just a day or two.
Whitney is supportive, successful, and sweet, everything I didn’t think I deserved again.
But when my worst nightmare as a father comes true, I realize yet again that I’ve got to put my daughter’s needs above everything else.
If I can’t be strong enough for Bailey, how will I ever be the man Whitney needs, too?
Inspiring the Mountain Man is short – like really short. So if you aren’t a fan of 30 minutes or less, instant-love romances, then you may want to stay away. But if you’re looking for a quick sweet story with all the good feels, then you may want to take a look.
Whitney is in the area to scope out campsites for a youth trip when she meets Drew and his daughter – with the help of a little matchmaking at the inn. Their relationship and getting to know you period is fast – but it doesn’t gloss over Drew’s loss of his affection for his daughter. Drew would do anything for her – even leave love behind.
The biggest thing I didn’t like about the story was how quickly the little bit of danger was wrapped up. I feel the story would have been better without it, as the story was too short to really fit it in well.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**
