The weather maybe getting cold outside but my author guest this week is happy to heat you up! Author
Teal Ceagh writes some very sexy books that are guarnteed to keep you warm this winter and I wanted to make sure that my erotic loving readers could get to know her and her Destiny Trinity books better!
So I hope you all enjoy Teal's guest blog and the excerpt from her book that she is sharing with you! Also make sure you enter the contest for your very own copy of Beth’s Acceptance, the first book in the Destiny’s Trinities series.
Read my Review!
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Twilight Confessions of an Urban Fantasy Hash-Up Mistress
I love Stephanie Myer’s Twilight series of books, although I confess I was a late convert, and I was dragged kicking and screaming into trying it. Once I was there, though, as usual, I was sucked into the story and hooked.
I usually get hooked into a series via the books first, then get to watch the movies afterwards, and wince at what has been left out. One of the rare exceptions to that rule was Lord of the Rings. While there was huge swathes of material that had to be left out of those movies, I never was disappointed by what they did decide to leave out, and what they included. What they did manage to squeeze in was fine by me. I still do a marathon sit through the extended versions of those movies every Christmas, with whoever has the strength and patience to keep me company (not Saul...he can’t stand creatures with pointy ears!)
However, for Twilight, I came at the series backwards. I got arm-twisted into watching the movie first, by being assured it just sucked and wouldn’t be worth watching (I had a hate-on for Stephanie Myers and her millions of books sold at the time) and that I’d probably be just wasting my two-plus hours. So I watched the movie and ended up buying the book because I was then told that the movie missed out so much detail. Which is such a fatal thing to tell an author!
From there I ended up reading the whole series, even though I confess I had to pull myself through New Moon a bit...would you have believed ten years ago a romance could be published where the hero spends ninety percent of the book off stage?
Of course, the Twilight series is Young Adult, so there’s not a lot of sexy stuff going on, and I write Ellora’s Cave fiction, so in terms of steam, we’re polar opposites and I couldn’t help noticing that as I read the series. There were times in Myer’s stories when I really wanted Edward to just get down to business, if you know what I mean. I think Bella did, too.
But I’ve noticed this absence of a properly developed romantic relationship in a lot of urban fantasies out there lately and for me, the stories are the poorer for it. I like my romances well done, and the “romantic interest” (as Hollywood likes to call it) that gets handed off as a subplot and token nod to the ladies and to round out the character development just doesn’t do it for me most of the time.
After all, in real life sex is all around us, permeating our lives at all levels and all through our days, whether we’re conscious of it or not. The need to procreate and maintain the species drives nearly everything we do. It doesn’t sound romantic, put that way, but the mating dance: seduction, romance, love, and babies, is all part of that drive, and it’s hard-wired into us, so no matter what we’re doing career-wise, we’re also fully involved in that mating dance at some level or another, whether we like it or not. So if we’re going to write fully-developed stories that feature complete characters, then the romantic side of their natures should be fully explored. Makes sense, no?
Well, that’s how I like to think of it, anyway. And that’s why I write erotic urban fantasies and erotic paranormal romances instead of just the straight kind. Apart from just exploring the erotic side of characters and allowing me to deliver a properly developed romance inside an urban fantasy it also frees me up to write far more daring storylines that “straight” publishers might otherwise baulk at.
The second novella in Destiny’s Trinities, an erotic urban fantasy series, Mia’s Return, stretched those sorts of boundaries...well, the whole series does, really.
Ten years ago, Alexander hungered for Mia Menendez and for a single day they had indulged that passion before tragedy struck. Now Mia is back, but she thinks Alexander died ten years ago and no man has been able to stir her heart since. The truth could kill her.
Wyatt Whitacker, demon hunter, hates Alexander and all his kind. But one look at Mia and her pulse-stopping curves and his scarred, angry heart begins to melt and his body to rouse in ways he’s long forgotten.
The bonding has begun…
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Excerpt
He considered running down the fire escape stairs to the foyer and avoiding the congestion in the elevators. At this time of day it would take forever. The stairs wouldn’t tax him in the slightest. But it might draw attention to him. So he patiently waited for the elevator and stepped on with a dozen others and moved to the side to give them room.
The elevator stopped on the next floor, with more people getting on but by then his animal instinct was crowding him, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He was being watched. His heart thundered.
He made no sudden moves. Instead, as people pushed onto the elevator, he turned so his back was to the side wall of the car, giving him an excuse to look at everyone if he brought his head up.
He lifted his head and looked around.
She was standing on the other side of the car, almost completely obscured by the other riders because she was only just over five foot.
Mia. Shamira Menendez of San Diego, California.
His first aching thought was, You’re so fucking beautiful, Mia.
Then reality caught him in the chest. Mia was staring at him because she thought he was dead. She thought he died ten years ago, in San Diego.
And now she was watching him with tears in her eyes and all he could think about was his swelling cock and his exploding heart and how much he wanted to take up where he had left off…bending her over the counter, sliding his cock into her pussy and making her scream his name.
“Are you all right, sir?”
He tore his gaze away from Mia. “Excuse me?” he said hoarsely. He looked down at the gray-haired lady next to him.
“Your breathing is all funny,” she said. “Are you claustrophobic?”
Others were looking at him now. Becoming the center of attention was never a good thing for a vampire. Zack had drilled that into him. Seaveth was even more of a sergeant about it, now vampires were assimilating into human society. He swallowed. “I’m fine,” he said.
But he wasn’t. He looked at Mia. She was still watching. She knew it was him. There was no way to deny it. No escape. No bluff he could use to fool her. The knowledge gleamed in her eyes.
“Give him room, please,” she said. “Everyone, stand back a bit.” She was stepping closer, taking charge.
They all shuffled back, clearing eighteen inches. Mia squeezed between them and stepped into the space. “Take a deep breath,” she told him, her voice low.
He couldn’t tear his gaze from her face. The tears in her eyes pooled and one fell down her cheek. Just one. But she didn’t wipe it, or show any sign of emotion. Cool, calm, controlled. “We’re nearly there,” she added, speaking for the others in the car, maintaining the illusion of a claustrophobe in full panic mode. She knew as well as he did it was nothing of the sort.
As the doors opened, the others stood back, letting them exit first. She grabbed his lapels and hauled him from the car. He let her, for he stood a foot higher than her and outweighed her by nearly a hundred pounds. But her scent alone was wreathing his head and making his senses reel. Something with vanilla and…grapefruit? He could feel his incisors trying to descend and his mouth filling with vampire saliva to deaden her flesh so she wouldn’t feel the first piercing of his teeth. His cock was pounding with the agonizing need to slam her against the walls of the foyer and fuck her senseless.
He was almost hyperventilating with the dilemma.
Her hand rested on his chest. God, he could feel her heat through her hand. He swallowed.
“You’re supposed to be dead,” she whispered. No hello. No attempt to confirm who he was. She was that sure of him despite ten years.
He couldn’t afford to answer her, to even start the conversation. Instead, he stared at her, soaking up details. She had been eighteen when he left and even at that age, infinitely dangerous to his pulse. Now she was a mature woman and beyond dangerous. He could feel it in his heart, his mind, his cock. His whole body was responding to her like a nuclear magnet. She wore her dark hair down to her shoulder blades but styled in some mysterious fashion that just brushed over one eye and framed her high cheekbones and pointed chin. Her black eyes, still gleaming with tears, with their arched strong brows, were staring at him, giving him no quarter. They never had. And her lips…full, the top one like a cupid’s bow. He had dreamed about kissing those lips and woken sweating in his lonely bed all those years ago when he could sweat. Those lips still looked sweet, the teeth behind them white and beckoning.
Mia was wearing a dress. He had no way to describe it, except to say it wrapped her in roses and made the most of her figure. And she had a figure. Even at eighteen she’d had a figure. He had lusted after it. And in ten years, it had changed very little. Her breasts had not sagged. Her hips had not spread. And her waist was still as tiny as ever. It was that tiny waist he had grabbed as he bent her over the counter…
He realized his heart was thundering in his ears. With her hand on his chest, she must surely feel it too.
She was frowning, staring at him. “You haven’t changed,” she said. “Not at all.” And she stepped back, her hand falling away.
Alexander realized she had seen, then, he had not aged. This was one of the reasons that Zachariah and Diego had insisted he move to New York once Zack had made him.
Mia took another step backward and he could see her doing the mental math.
“Mia,” he began and stopped, mentally cursing. He’d just confirmed he was who she thought he was. Until that moment there had remained the possibility of pretending she’d made an embarrassing mistake. It would have killed him to do it but it would have been a way out. That chance was gone now. He closed his eyes. What a fucking disaster. He opened them again and took a last look at her. Beautiful Mia. She was starting to realize there was something dreadfully wrong. Horror was creeping into her expression. He needed to leave before she began to look at him like the monster he was.
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To buy this book from Ellora’s Cave,
click here.
For more information about the book on Teal’s site,
click here.
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Contest Time!
Teal has been very kind and donated an e-book copy of Beth’s Acceptance, the first book in the Destiny’s Trinities series as the prize for this weeks contest!
How do you enter? Well Teal talked about Twilight! So what else is there worth talking about this week? Tell us your thoughts on the books... what do you really think of them?
No Twilight = No entry!
The usual rules apply!
Earn another entry for each place you link this contest on the net. Make sure you add links here for me to confirm your entries!
You can also earn extra entries by emailing your friends about the contest. Just make sure you send a copy of your email or receipt to me at Amberkatzes_book_blog at gmx dot net.
I will offer more prizes if my Amazon Associates account gets more money!! So please make sure you order at Amazon.com through the links around the site and help keep the contests coming!
The contest will stay open until Sunday 6th of December 2009 4pm CET and the winner will be picked by a randomizer. Entrants should check back to see if they have won. I do not hunt down winners and will pick new winners for any prizes not claimed within 7 days.
If you are claiming a prize, have emailed me and have not heard back before the 7 day limit is up then post a comment here on the blog. Your email may get sucked into my spam filter.
Please also note that I can not be held responsible for prizes that come direct from authors. I will check with them for you if you haven't recieved your prize but I can not hunt down your mail! Any prizes that come from myself could come from a 3rd party eg. Amazon or Bookdepository. If I am sending a prize myself please be aware that it could take a few weeks to reach you as it is coming from Europe.
