I can't believe it's July already. Where has the last few months gone? I've been crazy busy and before I knew it, school was out, the kids are home and summer has officially begun. Wow. I sure hope you are all surviving the heat because up around these parts in Canuk land it's been very, very HOT!
And speaking of hot, I've got some cool news and a HOT excerpt from the next novella in my League book, To Hell and Back.
First off, this week I'm releasing my first YA, Ravyn's Fall under the pen name
JULIE BLACKSTONE. I'm uber excited about this book and well, the cover is stunning, don't you think?
Falling in love shouldn’t be dangerous…
Sixteen year old Ravyn Creed has always known she
was different. But even she doesn’t know
the secrets of her birth… secrets that should have remained hidden. Secrets
that can kill her.
On a night meant for fun—for music and dancing and
boys—darkness enters her world and nothing will be the same again. With both
Heaven and Hell after her, will the mysterious Zeke Lancaster be the one to
save her? Or will she find the strength
to save herself…
Ravyn's Fall should be available on Amazon by July 11th, and then on B&N and various other vendors by the end of the week. Visit my website by clicking HERE for updates and if you are inclined to read the first chapter you can click HERE
On a side note, my kids band Ravyn's Fall (and yes they stole their name from the title of this book) has written an original piece of music and I'll have it up as soon as it's mastered.
Now onto To Hell and Back.
I'm nearly done writing the second novella in my LEAGUE OF GUARDIANS series and it continues Logan and Kira's story. It's set to be released on October 30th, but here's a sneak peek at the first chapter... Enjoy and yes, as you can see a lot of nasty business awaits these two as they struggle to find their HEA!
Water dripped somewhere
behind Logan Winters. It was a steady
fall, one he’d heard for days it seemed and yet he knew it could only have been
a few hours.
Drip.
Drip. Drip.
It
would eventually drive him crazy, he knew this, but for the moment his sanity
was intact. For the moment, he was still alive. Besides, he’d rather
concentrate on the wet, monotonous sound that echoed against cold stone, than
the pain that ripped across every inch of his body.
Because it was a pain he was all too familiar with and he
sure as hell knew what was coming next.
Another
wave of hurt rolled over him but Logan
managed to hide a groan, aware he was no longer alone. Aware that she was back and as a new scent drifted over to him he realized she
wasn’t alone. Something dark, putrid, and malevolent had joined her. One of her pets not doubt.
He
tensed and prepared himself for what was to come. He knew it would be awful. He knew it would
be brutal and without mercy. Such was the way of it down here in District
Three. In Hell.
Logan’s
arms—spread wide and held up by chains of fire—ached, the muscles stiff and
useless. His left eye was swollen shut,
his cheekbone smashed, while the fingers on his right hand were broken. His bottom lip oozed blood, but it was only
one of many abrasions that marred his face, his chest and torso.
And
they’d barely gotten started.
He
saw her then. Her pale, white feet, toes painted blood red—and then slowly as
he raised his head—her rounded hips, tapered waist and breasts that swelled
generously, their puckered tips a dusty rose. She wore a sheer bit of cloth
that did nothing to hide her nakedness. Her skin was creamy, her mouth plump,
the candy red lips slightly parted. Not one blemish marred her flesh and her
long hair hung in golden ropes, over her shoulders, streaming down like shining
wisps of the silkiest threads.
Lilith.
His
chest burned with hatred and his heart was tight with pain as he gazed into
eyes the colour of liquid glass. He
clenched his teeth, ignored the pain and let his beast show through. He vowed, if nothing else, that he would
survive this.
He
had to, or all was lost.
Chapter One
Two
days earlier…
Logan
leaned against the window, his right leg casually bent at the knee, while he
pulled the collar of his leather jacket up a little higher. The wind was
chilled and rushed along the sidewalk, blowing bits of debris and dust, dead
leaves and garbage. It was nearing dinnertime and behind him the hair salon
glowed warmly in the gathering dusk.
He’d
stopped in this small Canadian town only an hour earlier and now, his brow
furled menacingly as his gaze swept up and down the sidewalk. He couldn’t shake
the feeling that he’d done wrong. They
should be on the road, moving North…getting closer to their destination, not
hanging around some small country town teeming with humanity and—his nostrils
flared—more than a few otherworld creatures.
Especially
not so close to All Hallows Eve.
He
crossed his arms and glared at a woman who smiled seductively as she moved down
the sidewalk. Her smile faltered for a moment, probably because the tall,
statuesque blonde with breasts as large as melons, legs as long as sin and a
mouth as ripe as a cherry was the kind of woman who wasn’t used to men ignoring
her. Hell, she was the kind of woman he
would have tasted with no regrets, once.
But
that was before. Before Kira Dove.
Behind him a giggle, a soft, wonderful,
feminine giggle pierced the silence and for a second everything inside him
stopped. His face softened and he looked to the side wanting to turn around so
that he could see her, but Kira had made him promise he’d wait.
And
so he would.
He
shook his head, wondering what his brothers would think of how this little slip
of woman had managed to get under his skin more than any before. And in just
under a month. All she had to do was lower her lashes, bite her lip, gaze up at
him…and he was done for.
Him.
Logan
Winters. Ruthless hellhound and all
around bastard.
He’d
had no plans whatsoever of stopping in Waterford
but once Kira caught sight of the quaint town she’d begged him to, and
considering she’d been locked in a mental institution most of her life, he had
a hard time saying no. Everything
through her eyes was new and shiny and wonderful. It soothed something in his old, tired, soul.
And
really, when she asked so nicely, how the hell could he turn her down? She’d gone on for a good twenty minutes about
pumpkins and Halloween and trick or treaters, witches and black cats.
She’d
done it all. Bitten her lip, turned her head just so. Told him about the
parties her parents used to host, parties she’d spied on from the landing when
the adults got crazy and the booze would flow.
She’d leaned in and kissed him, there beside his mouth where he loved to
be teased. And though he knew better, though the danger they lived with was real,
he ignored it. The sun was shining, the
air crisp with fall and he couldn’t say no.
Not to Kira. And especially not
when he’d spied the joy in her eyes.
For
the last month Logan Winters had lived, no, he’d fucking breathed, to see the
shadows lessen from their dark, depths.
Christ two days ago he’d taken her dancing. Him. Dancing to some honkytonk shit in some
honkytonk bar out in the middle of nowhere.
He’d even mastered the two-step but that was more or less because Logan
Winters never did anything halfway. If
he was going to twirl his woman across a whiskey soaked dance floor he was
going to do it right.
Logan
growled softly and banged his head against the glass behind him. He was, for want of a better term, pussy
whipped, and he didn’t give a rat’s ‘effing ass. A smile tugged the corner of his mouth. Pussy whipped. Whatever.
He’s given in to her wish to spend the night in Waterford with the promise that she would pay
a high price later. Much later when he
had her all alone. When her hot little
body was pressed against his. When he stripped her bare and made her cry out
his name with passion.
When
he joined with her. Mated with her. When
he…
Christ,
he was hard just thinking about all the ways he was going to make little Dove
pay for this side trip and he’d scored bonus points because he’d agreed to wait
outside while she had her hair done.
Though truthfully, he’d gotten used to her bad bleach job, with the dark
two inch roots and the hacked off ends.
He shifted again and hissed as his jeans rubbed against
his thickening erection. If she didn’t
hurry up…
“I’m ready.” Kira’s soft voice jolted him and he turned,
nostrils flaring as her subtle, earthy, scent washed up and over him. His heart tightened and for a moment he could
do nothing but gaze down into her heart-shaped face. The woman could be bald for all he
cared. She’d had him way the hell before
fucking hello, it had just taken him a bit to catch on.
“Well?” She touched the flirty ends that just touched the
tops of her shoulders. They were now dyed her
natural, ebony color with a few crimson highlights. “Do you like it?”
He saw the hesitation.
The fragile confidence that threatened to take away the lightness of the
moment. He raged inside at the madman
Mergerone who’d abused her so, though he knew the bastard would suffer. Only yesterday he’d learned from his brother
Lucian, that Mergerone had been dragged to hell and sent to District Three for
processing. He’d pay and the price would
be steep.
Logan
reached for Kira, slid his hand along her jaw, cupped her head as she leaned
into his touch and then bent low. He
felt her shiver as his warm breath rolled across her flesh and the emotion
inside him was so fierce he had to wait a second before he could speak. He cleared his throat and nuzzled her just
underneath her ear.
“There is nothing about you I don’t love.” His voice was
husky, thickened with desire. “Now, let’s find a hotel,” he growled, his
erection straining even more as she made that little sound in the back of her
throat…the one that drove him crazy.
“A hotel,” she whispered. “But don’t you want to eat
first?”
A wicked glint entered his eye and he drew back. He slipped his arm around her shoulders
possessively. “Oh, I’ll be eating. Don’t worry your pretty little head about
that.” He loved the blush that stained her cheeks. “It’s just, my menu is a
little more exotic than what we’ll find in a local pub.”
She made that sound again and her arousal was instant. It
flooded his nostrils and he smiled, content, soon to be sated, and for the
moment…happy, which was an odd thing for a hellhound.
Logan led Kira down the street, his steps slow and
unhurried, not at all like the emotions that raged inside him. They turned the corner and followed a sign
touting Waterford’s best Bed and Breakfast.
It was near the end of the street, nestled among old oak trees and all
the colors of fall.
For a moment something drew his head up—a sense that all
wasn’t right—and he ran his eyes over the milling humans. Several feet ahead a werewolf paused and held
his gaze for several seconds until the tall, golden-haired shifter bowed his
head in respect and looked away. Logan
glared at him for good measure before turning his attention elsewhere. He
sensed a vampire nearby and when he would have taken a moment to dig deeper,
send his senses flying on the wind, Kira tugged on his arm and suddenly the
darkness was no more. There was only
sunlight and fresh rainwater and Kira.
“Thanks for letting us stay.”
His arm slid around her shoulders possessively and he
turned once more toward the Bed and Breakfast. “We’ll spend the night and most
of the morning but that’s it.”
She
nodded, clung to his side and beneath his skin, the beast stirred. Aroused and
possessive.
Logan didn’t see the dark shadow that melted
into the alcove of the coffee shop across the way. He didn’t feel the ripple of
evil, or the scent the putridness of the underworld. In that moment, Logan only saw Kira and even
though her safety was paramount, he was helpless to stop the tide that was
coming. It was an unusual lapse in
judgement and yet it was so much more.
It was hunger, desire and need…and for the moment, it was weakness.
As it was, Logan Winter’s world was about to implode and
he had no way of stopping it.
Kim Falconer is a Supernatural Underground author writing epic science fantasy novels set in the worlds of Earth and Gaela. Kim’s latest series is Quantum Encryption.
