Blog Archives
Wicked Wednesday Reads: Lost Faith
Welcome to another edition of Wicked Wednesday Reads, petals! Today I’m here with April Zyon and her smouldering new romance Lost Faith, available from online purveyors of fine romance. Take it away, ma’am!
Gabriella Moreno was just a job, in and out to gain the objective, the death of her father. She turned out to be far more than that to Tobias Casey, however, from the moment he laid his hands on her too hot for words body.
Gabriella had just come home from a two-year stint abroad. The first night home she snuck out, never dreaming for even a moment anyone would be stupid enough to take her. Boy, was she wrong.
Faced with brutal truths, Gabbie followed her gut, and her heart, which, it seemed, all led to one place, Tobias. The heat of her homeland was nothing compared to the touch of this man. In his arms, she found something she had craved all her life, the other half of her soul.
Yet, how can she ignore the fact that the man who owns her heart is also the man who wants to take the last of her family?
Story Excerpt
Another day, another dollar. Only these days, Tobias and his team were getting paid a hell of a lot more than they had been in the military. Now they could set their own fees for doing the jobs that no one else wanted to do, or maybe couldn’t do, since they did on rare occasion work for their government’s shadier sectors. But there was no oversight, no backseat driving, and they paid big to get shit done.
Their current operation was one they’d been working on for nearly three weeks now with no success. The first week had been recon, getting oriented, and making sure they had their exits memorized for when they achieved their strike.
The only thing was, as they’d discovered during week two, the target they were after didn’t ever leave his super secure compound. Not that Tobias could blame the guy. Their target was a dictator, an arms dealer, a drug dealer, and a mass murderer. There were people worldwide hoping that Tobias’ team finally managed to do what no one else had to date.
Now it was week three and they were still watching the compound to figure out their way in. Or as Tobias was beginning to believe would be easier, how to get the asshole to come out. They’d tried forty different ways to infiltrate the compound. None had worked. Which actually made sense, given the target, Juan Moreno, or Senor X as they referred to him over com, had hired himself an ex-Special Forces soldier to be the head of his security. Tran Quan was American born but had ties to the Yakuza. Extra weight to be brought to bear should it be requested.
Taking a small drink from his canteen, Tobias ignored the sweat trickling down his spine. His attention was locked on a small group of vehicles approaching the compound. Binoculars up, he brought the lead car into focus and easily recognized one of Moreno’s drivers. His attention moving to the second car, he was surprised to see Quan in the front passenger seat. The man was normally glued to Moreno’s side so to see him out without Moreno… this was big.
“Ripper, we have four cars approaching the compound. I need to know who exits the second car once they stop inside. Get pictures.”
“Roger that, Rogue.”
Ripper and Cherry were up on the mountain using some seriously high-powered tools to stare down into the compound. Their position was treacherous since they were, literally, dangling off the face of that mountain. One wrong move and they’d be headed straight down toward death.
“They’re turning toward the gate now. Not stopping either, they’ve been waved right through,” Tobias reported. The gates slid shut but not before he spotted a slender leg wearing a dainty shoe at the end slipping out of the door being opened by a guard. Instantly, he felt his gut clench in need to see the body went with that limb.
A soft whistle came through the com. “Damn, she’s fucking hot. Think she’s banging senor X?” Herc asked.
“Too young for him, you oaf,” Cherry said.
“Like that would stop the old fucker. We all know he doesn’t care about age. One of the reasons why we’re here to see him shot,” Herc told her. “Personally, it’s my only reason to see his head explode under the impact of my bullet.”
“Cut the chatter. Tell me you have photos for everyone that came in those vehicles.”
“Confirmed,” Ripper said.
“Good, get your asses down from there. Scout will be here to relieve me soon, then we need to get back and review everything.” Tobias was hopeful that somewhere in those photos he might find a way to pull Moreno away from his security blanket.
Where to Buy
Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon AU
About the Author
Having been a lover of the written word all her life April has always wanted to expand her horizons and write something that could be shared with the world. Only one thing held April back, the fact that the letters and numbers mixed and jumbled more often than not. Diagnosed with Dyslexia when she was eight years old April had to work her butt off just to be able to keep up with the other kids in reading and writing, so her love for fictional writing was tossed to the wayside for the moment.
Time marched on, as it always does, and she forgot her childhood dream of becoming an author and instead focused on what she had to – creating a career for herself. As the endless waves of time passed the shores became less rocky and more sandy, a place where she could find an even foot. That and Microsoft invented Word. Hallelujah. This is where April began her journey into the written world, the world that her imagination had been ceaselessly creating for her entire adult life.
Now she has been given a chance to let her literary wings unfold and fly, thanks to the amazing publishers with Evernight Publishing and Secret Cravings Publishing. Now its time to let the dream take flight and watch it soar.
Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Google+ | Instagram | Pinterest
Marvelous Monday Reads: A Mate For the Sheriff
Welcome to another edition of Marvelous Monday Reads, angels! Today I’m featuring April Zyon and her hot new shifter romance A Mate For the Sheriff (Shifters Match.com 4). Take it away, April!
Jessica Morris has a secret that could get her killed. Hiding in plain sight, pretending to be normal, is all she’s ever known. And even though she’s been lucky so far, she knows that she can’t hide in Shifter Falls forever. Getting involved with the town sheriff is the last thing she needs, but lately it’s all she can think about.
Novak Porter has watched Jessica since the first day she came into town. He suspects that, like everyone else in Shifter Falls, she’s got a skeleton or two in her closet. She’s nervous around him, and for years he’s forced himself to give her time. But when a chance encounter throws them together for more than five minutes, Novak decides he’s tired of waiting. He’ll do whatever it takes to keep her around. Convincing her to work for him is easy, but getting her to believe in happily ever after might be a little more difficult.
Story Excerpt
Jessica turned to the voice in the darkness. The sexiest voice on the face of the planet. “Sheriff,” she said, her pulse increasing when she turned to look at him.
He looked as if he had been built of stone, and again she wondered just exactly what sort of shifter he was. No one seemed to know, or be willing to share, which was very strange in a town like Shifter Falls. Then again, she didn’t let anyone know what she was, either, so it could just be a privacy thing.
“I’m not sure what’s going on, but suddenly all the electronics inside the car went completely dead. The lights, dash, everything. I’m afraid it’s the alternator, since it has a brand-new battery.” She might be a lot of things, but she wasn’t completely stupid. “And I think that Jagger’s cub swiped my cell phone, again, so do you think you could maybe call a tow for me?” She shook her head. “That little guy gets me every single time. I swear he’s taken more cell phones off of me than I can count. Phi is never able to find them, so there’s no telling what he does with them.” She was snickering as she said that. She didn’t know why she was talking so much, but she was.
The sheriff was watching her intently and didn’t seem all that bothered by her random rambling. He merely pulled out his cell and put in a call for a truck. “Mick will come get your car. He said to leave the keys on the passenger front tire since he might be a while. They had to pull a couple cars from a slough after some young twits decided that drag racing with their parents’ cars was a good plan. Come on, I’ll give you a ride home.”
She whistled. “Oh boy. I bet there are going to be some kids in serious trouble about right now. Thanks for the offer of the ride.” She grabbed her purse, locked the car, and put the keys on the front passenger tire as she had been instructed. “You’ll probably be going out of your way a bit. I live at twenty-nine Forest Acre Road.” It was a dirt road surrounded by forest and she loved it. Nature called to her, and at least there she didn’t have to worry about nulling any abilities as she typically did when she was near other witches.
“No worries at all. It keeps me out of the station until the parents have finally wound down to a dull roar and the kids have had a few minutes for everything to sink in. Anyhow, I think that an hour’s worth of stewing before I arrive to come up with some interesting charges might help the situation. By then I’ll know if the lawyers have actually been called in or not and can figure out how to play this to keep the kids from doing something worse down the line.” The sheriff held her door for her, then shut it when she settled into her seat. A minute later he was setting out reflective markers behind her car before sliding in behind the wheel to take her toward town and home.
“You are a good man. Too bad you can’t keep a secretary to save your gorgeous ass.” She felt her face turn red from heat when she realized she’d blurted that out. “Crap, ignore me. I don’t know what I’m saying.” She cringed, but then shrugged. Since it was too late to take her candid observation back, she pressed on. “Well, from what I understand, you have gone through thirteen of them inside of three months. That’s outstanding right there.”
He leveled a look on her she couldn’t read. She was only thankful he seemed to ignore her initial comment and it allowed her cheeks to cool. “I have a specific way I expect things to be done. And, I admit, my temper can get the best of me. Everything we do can be called into question inside a courtroom. If even one I isn’t dotted right, or a T was missed being crossed, that is potentially a dangerous offender being allowed out on the street due to clerical error. Unacceptable in my book so, yes, I have some impossibly high standards I expect to be carried out by every man and woman in the department.”
“No, not impossibly high standards. They are perfectly reasonable. The way that everyone made it sound you were seriously a neat freak nut job, but what you’re saying doesn’t sound like that at all.” She understood the importance of perfect record keeping, of ensuring that everything was where it should be at all times. “When the council took me on as their secretary, I had to redo a hell of a lot of stuff because the person before me couldn’t seem to understand that paperwork is filed by number then letter. Idiots.” She smirked and looked over at him. “I guess I have high standards as well. Then again since I’m a witch without abilities, I have to be able to contribute somehow, right? Especially with my mother’s coven proclaiming me to be nothing but a human.” That’s what all of Shifter Falls thought of her, and she was happy to keep it that way. When she’d first started out on her own, she’d wondered if it wouldn’t have been smarter, and safer, to try to hide even the fact that she’d been born into a witch family. Ultimately she’d decided that it was better to stick as close to the truth as possible. So she never tried to hide the fact that she had been born to witch parents. It was unlikely that she would ever run into anyone from her old coven, but on the off chance that she did, she didn’t want to arouse suspicion by being caught in a lie. Besides, being known as a witch without powers—therefore, more or less, human—kept her just as safe as if she’d tried to pass herself off as a normal human.
“I’m glad you understand. Few do,” he muttered. “I think the council foisted their rejects my way for some form of payback. They all loved the idea when the mayor had me run for office and I won by a landslide, but the minute I arrested the first council member and wouldn’t take a bribe, they started to wonder. Told them the same thing I told the mayor when he hired me—I was going to run things my way, and if they found someone that could run against me and get elected that would be the only way they’d get me out of that seat. They haven’t had any luck yet.”
Jess knew it was because the sheriff was respected by every citizen in the Falls as well as the other two cities that made up their exceptionally small county. While not everyone agreed with his methods and strict by-the-book ways, they liked how he’d cleaned up and kept the area protected from a drug problem several years back when he’d first taken the position.
“You cleaned up the area. No one would run against you. You’re too good at your job, so it is what it is.” She shrugged. “You are strict and you can be an ass from what I’ve been told, but then again there are a lot of falsehoods that fly through Shifter Falls, aren’t there?” she asked with a smile.
“True enough. The trick is determining what’s truth and what’s lie in everything that goes around town. It’s amazing what one can discover the moment they find that tiny thread and give it a tug. After all, there’s not a soul in this town that is exactly who they appear to be on the surface once you dig down a little further.”
Where to Buy
Evernight Publishing | Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Barnes & Noble
Bookstrand | Smashwords | iTunes
About April Zyon
Having been a lover of the written word all her life April has always wanted to expand her horizons and write something that could be shared with the world. Only one thing held April back, the fact that the letters and numbers mixed and jumbled more often than not. Diagnosed with Dyslexia when she was eight years old April had to work her butt off just to be able to keep up with the other kids in reading and writing, so her love for fictional writing was tossed to the wayside for the moment.
Time marched on, as it always does, and she forgot her childhood dream of becoming an author and instead focused on what she had to – creating a career for herself. As the endless waves of time passed the shores became less rocky and more sandy, a place where she could find an even foot. That and Microsoft invented Word. Hallelujah. This is where April began her journey into the written world, the world that her imagination had been ceaselessly creating for her entire adult life.
Now she has been given a chance to let her literary wings unfold and fly, thanks to the amazing publishers with Evernight Publishing and Secret Cravings Publishing. Now its time to let the dream take flight and watch it soar!
Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Google+ | Instagram | Pinterest
Marvelous Monday Reads: His Mafia Princess
Welcome to another edition of Marvelous Monday Reads, pumpkins! Today I’m featuring April Zyon and her new erotic romance His Mafia Princess (Family First, Book 1). Take it away, April!
Thank you, for hosting me today. This book was truly one of those books that simply had to be written, it was one that was inside of my head and demanded to be let out. I hope that everyone loves it as much as I loved writing it.
I am doing a giveaway; 10 lucky winners will win a free copy of His Mafia Princess… read to the end to learn how.
Gregorio Bosco worked his way up the ranks of The Family. He never had trouble killing, selling, or anything he was tasked to do. He’d been trained to take over for Giovanni when he stepped down, but that all changed when Alessandra was taken. She was the only good in his life, and he’d do anything in order to protect her—no matter the cost to anyone around him.
Alessandra Morello was born into a life that she didn’t understand. She thought she was the daughter of a wealthy industrialist, however she learned it was far from the truth. She’s pulled into the center of a war with Gregorio as her only constant. Her attraction for the older man has only grown over the years, but can there be a future for them in their twisted world?
Story Excerpt
Gregorio was pissed off that he had been called to the mansion, again. He had to get a hold of his men, or the Boss wouldn’t let him take over in the timeframe given to them. It wasn’t because of his fuck up, but one of his underlings. The little bastard was dead now. Greg had personally seen to it. No one got away with stealing from the family, not under his watch. Period. Now if only he could get the Boss to agree that times needed to change and the stakes had to be higher so that their family ran even tighter, because the Russians were trying to move in on their turf and usurp their power. It was up to Gregorio as the Boss’s right hand—and eventual heir—to ensure that they died trying instead of taking over the area that they had carved out for themselves.
When he was let into the Boss’s study, he stood loose in front of the man. Gregorio was armed and ready for anything. “You called?”
“Gregorio, take a seat.” The man didn’t pose it as a question, and Gregorio knew it. It was an order. Once he was sitting, the Boss nodded. “I hear you took care of the mistake.” The Boss sneered as he said the last word, as if it were dirty. “And you made an example?”
“Yes, sir. I did. He’s currently hanging with his hands cut off and his gullet filled with molten silver. His silver-filled body was left on the lawn of the Russian Boss’s home, as per your request. We will need to be more careful with our recruits. How this one passed as Italian, I will never know. It was the theft from the small general store that got him. The girl recalled him speaking Russian as he stole from her. She was injured and in the robbery, she remembered our underling because he had come to collect the protection fee two days earlier.”
Gregorio smiled. It was a smile of pure darkness as he thought of the pain the man suffered. He then tilted his head slightly as he asked the next question. “You let your daughter leave without a guard?” Gregorio changed the subject to one he really wanted to know. That woman had gotten under his skin and had been there since she was sixteen when he saw her naked in the pool house. That was when he was third in the organization. Gregorio killed the second because he was jacking off to Alessandra. Only he was allowed to even think of her in that capacity, and he ensured that every-fucking-one knew it. Even the Boss knew now that Gregorio had declared himself to the man.
“She plays golf with her friends every Thursday. Her guards are with her. Have you learned more of her mugging?”
“I have.” Another reason Gregorio was angry; he was here when he should be tracking the bastards that hurt her. No one hurt her and lived.
“And?” the Boss asked impatiently.
“One of them is sitting in my basement tied to a chair. I was in the middle of discussing respect with the man when you called.”
“It’s more than respect,” the Boss said angrily. “You would do well to remember respect yourself.”
Gregorio had to bite the inside of his cheek. “Yes, Boss. I’m sorry.” He hated those words because it was a reminder of just how much more Gregorio had to learn. Just saying them had him wanting to kill someone.
“That’s better. You have to remember who you are speaking with at all times. Yes, I have been grooming you to take over, but that’s in the near future. In the meantime, you’ve much to learn, things I had to learn the hard way through trial and error and a lot of blood lost.”
“Thank you, sir.” Those words came from his mouth in a near growl. It wasn’t that Gregorio didn’t appreciate what the Boss was doing for him, but the simple fact was that he was impossibly impatient at times.
“Now, what was offered to Tomas to make him turn from his Family?”
“Half million and the promise of a new life. Beyond that, it was the tie to his long lost relative who was a Russian that we didn’t know about.” He shook his head decisively at that statement.
“The Russians are growing bolder. They are searching out long lost Russians in our family’s men and enforcers. Seems as if we need to work on our own genealogy so we can head these off at the pass when possible.”
“They want what we have. They want the docks. They want the refinery and everything else we have. Everything we’ve worked so hard to get.”
“That I worked so hard to get. That my Father worked so hard to get. Don’t forget, Gregorio, you are only being groomed because I didn’t have a son but a daughter. One that I would kill for and one that will never know the reality of her life.”
Greg knew the truth though. The old man had twin sons that were older than Alessandra, but they were born from his whore so they would never hold any sort of position of power inside of the organization.
“I agree. She’ll never know the truth of this life. Not as long as I live. That’s my blood vow to you, Boss.” He would give it too, his blood to keep Alessandra safe, to keep her pure and to keep her out of this life.
He was going to say something else when the doors opened. Gregorio was on his feet with his weapon drawn on reflex.
The man who stood in the doors literally pissed his pants. “I’m sorry, Boss, but we got a note you have to read.”
“Bring it.”
Gregorio holstered his weapon and watched. He was curious about what would have anyone daring to open the door when he and the Boss were in a conference. No one but Alessandra dared do such a thing. She would breeze in when they were planning war and not realize what she walked in on.
When the Boss stood fast enough to send his chair flying behind him, Gregorio knew it had to involve Alessandra. She was the only one that would garner that sort of reaction in the man. “Those fucking bastards!” The Boss yelled out his frustration. “Get everyone here.” He looked at Gregorio. “Someone took Alessandra. Took her in the middle of a crowded lunch at the Country Club.”
Gregorio saw red. He shook in his fury. “Who?” He spoke to the man that brought the note. “Where are her guards?”
“They were found in their cars, both with holes in their foreheads. Whoever did this made it personal. They wanted these men to see who killed them.”
“Boss?” Gregorio waited for his orders to find the woman that held both of their hearts.
“Go. Find her. Take her to safety. I’m done with these Russian bastards on our turf.”
“You calling a war?”
“They did when they took her,” the Boss said as he pulled his weapons from his desk.
Where to Buy
Evernight | Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Bookstrand | All Romance eBooks | Smashwords | iTunes
Giveaway
Simply click this link. (PS only available in the US, sorry!): https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/2f09835d46c86b22
About April Zyon
Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Reader Group | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter | Website
Nicola’s Sunday Shoutout: April Zyon
Today’s Sunday Shoutout goes to April Zyon and the newest installment in her Space Wars series, The Royal Mate, now available online from purveyors of fine erotic romance. Take it away, April!
It all comes down to this. The truth about what started the war between the Imarian and Craegin is coming out, along with the fact that there is one true royal left. One man to rule them all.
Markus Rothschild wants to live a simple, quiet life but when faced with the truth of what’s happening in his world, he knows he has no choice but to take his rightful place.
Paisley Ralston is a woman who loves teaching small children. She’s never even held a weapon, let alone fired one. Playing bodyguard to the royal heir is the last thing she expected to do. But when Markus’s security team is sabotaged, she may be his only hope.
Paisley didn’t realize that meeting Markus meant finding her mate. Hidden in a special bunker, Paisley and Markus will test their limits and prepare for what’s coming. Together they will come out stronger, bonded, and ready to face both galaxies.
Story Excerpt
She looked at her mother and frowned. She couldn’t have heard the woman correctly. Paisley wasn’t a militant; she wasn’t a protector. For the love of all the saints, she was a teacher for young children.
The marshal looked at Paisley with a frown, then sighed. “Because you are about the one and only person that I will trust to be around him right now, and since you know where the safe house is I will leave you to take him. It’s too dangerous right now for him to remain on his ship with Fintan.”
“Wait, you mean, The General?” There was awe in Paisley’s voice and she knew it but she had seen what the man had gone through for his mate. He was the only reason that Paisley believed in love once more. It was the reason why, with her mother’s help, she’d broken the arranged marriage and begun to live for herself and not for what she should do.
“He’ll be arriving soon with several guards. You are all going to the bunker. The guards will take the outer shelter, and you and Markus will take the inner sanctuary.”
The inner sanctuary was a place that none could enter if they weren’t of the Ralston family. It literally took living blood and a tie to the blood and heartbeat of a Ralston to keep the air actually on in that sanctuary. It would be either a haven or a tomb depending on if people knew it or not.
“And what about you, Mother? You’ve kept a low profile while they sorted out the issues that were evidently in your offices.”
“This is very true and it’s past time for me to get back to what it is that I do. Besides, this way I know that you will be safe as will Markus.”
“You could always go into the shelter with him instead of me,” Paisley pointed out.
“No, because they would use you to get to me. You are my one weakness, Paisley.”
Paisley moved and gave her mother a hug. “There are not many that know of me, Mother. You’d probably be safe, you know, and so would I.”
“No, there is too much to be done.”
“But—”
“No buts, Paisley. This is an order. You are to keep him safe.”
Paisley bowed her head and nodded. “As you say. Just remember I don’t know how to fight.”
“You don’t, but he does.” Her mother gave her another hug, then pushed her toward where the family bunker was. It was something that no one and nothing could get into. Even if the world exploded, the bunker would eject into space and hook up with a waiting ship that would become their own private spaceship. It had been designed with the ultimate of protections in mind. Her great-grandfather had designed it and it had kept her mother safe when this war began to truly heat up as it had in the last several months.
“I trust you,” Paisley told her mother. She took a deep breath and smiled. “I’ll go pack.”
“Your things are already in the bunker. I had my assistant go to your home and empty your closets and drawers, and I personally put everything into the bunker. It’s fully stocked with food for the two of you for as long as you might need to be in there as well as the machines to recreate foods if you wanted or needed it. I doubt that much time will be needed, but just in case.”
“A career military man,” Paisley mused. “And how does he feel about having to hide?” she asked with a knowing grin. She knew the type.
“About like what you think he’s feeling,” the marshal stated with a laugh. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Fin had to tranquilize him to bring him in. Now, go.”
And just like that Paisley was summarily assigned a duty that she had no business taking care of. She wasn’t a fighter and never had been. She was soft, short, and more than a little pudgy. Paisley was not anything that anyone really would ever look a second time at.
Where To Buy
Evernight Publishing
Amazon
All Romance eBooks
Bookstrand
About April Zyon
Having been a lover of the written word all her life April has always wanted to expand her horizons and write something that could be shared with the world. Only one thing held April back, the fact that the letters and numbers mixed and jumbled more often than not. Diagnosed with Dyslexia when she was eight years old April had to work her butt off just to be able to keep up with the other kids in reading and writing, so her love for fictional writing was tossed to the wayside for the moment.
Time marched on, as it always does, and she forgot her childhood dream of becoming an author and instead focused on what she had to – creating a career for herself. As the endless waves of time passed the shores became less rocky and more sandy, a place where she could find an even foot. That and Microsoft invented Word. Hallelujah. This is where April began her journey into the written world, the world that her imagination had been ceaselessly creating for her entire adult life.
Now she has been given a chance to let her literary wings unfold and fly, thanks to the amazing publishers with Evernight Publishing and Secret Cravings Publishing. Now its time to let the dream take flight and watch it soar!
Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Google+ | Instagram | Pinterest
Nicola’s Sunday Shoutout: Bad Alpha @evernightpub #badalpha #eroticromance
Bad Alpha and Bad Alpha: Manlove Edition feature a select collection of stories with shifters so ruthless they will stop at nothing to protect their pack. These aren’t sugar-and-spice heroes. Our alphas are feared, inked, and don’t ask questions first. They take what they want, never give in to their enemies, and think love is for the weak—until they meet their mate. Are you ready to learn how to tame a savage heart?
Hey folks, Nicola here! I am extremely delighted to host both of Evernight Publishing’s newest anthologies today (and not just because I have a story in one of them). I asked some of the authors to tell me what inspired their stories about bad alphas and the mates who love them.
Doris O’Connor
From the minute the submission call for the Bad Alpha Anthology went up, I knew I would have to write something. I love shifters and bad boys. Combine the two…yes, I could not resist that, so it wasn’t a huge surprise when I woke up one morning with bear shifter Zayden growling in my ear.
He was a sought after assassin, and he came to me mid kill of his latest assignment. Cynical, deadly, this killer for hire has no time for tender feelings, let alone a mate, so when he finds out that the Alpha he’s been hired to kill, is his mate.
In his words…
Quinton Thorn was his fucking mate. The universe was having a great big laugh at his fucking expense. He’d come here to kill his mate. His bear roared at the mere thought, and Zayden shook his head. He could no more kill the man than he could have killed his own mother. He wasn’t a complete fucking animal, but the new tender feelings that had coursed through him when he’d shaken Quinton’s hand meant he felt like a fish out of water. He knew how to kill and fuck, but he had no idea what to do about these emotions.
Such a delicious conflict. What would Quinton do when he finds out that his mate is a killer?
L.D. Blakeley
When the call for submissions was announced for Bad Alpha: Manlove, I mulled it over for approximately 10 seconds before deciding, “Yep! It’s time to throw your hat into the horror/supernatural ring.” Later that evening, while picking out a movie to watch, my husband mentioned that the myth behind the 2001 French movie Le pacte des loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf) might be fun to somehow incorporate into a story. So off I went, down the Google rabbit hole. There is a ton of info out there with regard to the Beast of Gévaudan. And with so much actual fact mixed up nicely with the fiction, the idea became all that more appealing. My story, “Destined”, didn’t take long to work its way onto paper (especially with Joe Manganiello and Gaspard Ulliel taking shape in my head as Marick and Caleb, respectively!)
Where to Buy
Bad Alpha
Evernight | Amazon | All Romance eBooks | Bookstrand
Bad Alpha: Manlove Edition
Evernight | Amazon | All Romance eBooks | Bookstrand
Bad Alpha
“For Blood” by J.R. Gray
The only way to end the war and stop the bloodshed is to marry the enemy. Every fiber of Roman wants to hate Victoria, but the more he sees, the more he craves her. Can he fight their past demons to be with her?
“Destiny Realized” by Khloe Wren
Leonardo has been the clan’s alpha for 300 years. Ruling his people has always been his one and only priority. Until he, along with his brother and sister, stop at a broken down car near their home in the Flinders Ranges on the edge of Outback Australia. The woman they rescue turns both Leo and, his brother, Valentino’s lives upside down. A mate was the last thing Leo wanted, and everything Val had ever hoped for.
Felicia is on the run. Again. Her baby’s daddy broke her daughter’s arm the last time he caught up with them so she’s desperate to stay ahead of him. But her car breaks down and trouble finds her. A killer takes advantage of her failing vehicle and she fears all is lost for her and her little girl, until another car stops and she finds herself in a whole new world where she may just have found the future she’s always wanted but never dreamed she’d have.
“Exiled Alpha” by Amber Morgan
Rachel Jacobs is a wolf on a mission. To save her pack from destruction, she’s turning to the werewolf who nearly destroyed it once before. Arkady Gusev is everything her father ever warned her against – so why does she find him so irresistible?
Arkady Gusev isn’t looking for a pack or a woman. But when Rachel walks through his door, she throws down a challenge he can’t resist. Is this exiled alpha about to come home?
“Drakon’s Prize” by Moira Callahan
Being the Alpha of a misfit clan of Dragons comes with its share of troubles. When the supernatural Council comes to Drakon Blackwood with yet another false claim against his clan he knows it’s time to make someone pay. Preferably with their life.
Allegra Hanson doesn’t work for the Council, and yet she’s been roped into assisting them in their investigation into the Blackwood clan’s supposed activities. Against her better judgment she goes to the clan’s lands to do what she can. What she never planned on was her visceral reaction to the Alpha.
The Blackwood clan land is valuable. Not for its location, but for what lies beneath the earth’s surface. Many will do anything to get it, one will stop at nothing, and is willing to kill Drakon’s woman to get it. Allegra is his, and there’s no way Drakon will lose the most precious prize of all.
“Tiger’s Mate” by April Zyon
Streak politics, and differences in opinions forced Kurt Owens to choose his own path. While it may be outside of the law in many regards he sees it as ensuring justice for the true victims of crimes when the system fails them. It’s his way of seeing the guilty pay, and keeping his own inner beast in check with the violence, and blood it craves.
Everyone thinks having a super power would be great. Alexa Harold would beg to differ. She’s been cursed to see ghosts, the dead not yet having gone to their final resting place, or judgment, or wherever they belong. They track her down, and harass her until she’s ready to go mad. Learning early in life what she needs to avoid has been the only saving grace in keeping her sanity intact.
Kurt never thought he’d find his mate outside of the streak, or streak functions. While those of a supernatural inclination aren’t exactly rare, they have had to be careful and keep their population down. Alexa is the woman for him the only one he could ever want or need. And when her life is put in danger by his own past Kurt won’t stop until everyone understands to get to this tiger’s mate, they’ll have to get through him.
“Dark Heart” by Elyzabeth M. VaLey
Ten years ago, Daryl Jones lost his pack to a group of demon vampires. Since then, he not only lost his will to battle for good, his life has become a spiral of drinking, fighting and fucking anything in sight. In his opinion, a pretty perfect existence. Until, he meets the new SOA representative sent to convince him to go back to the lab. With mile long legs, a tight little ass and a smile to kill for, when she offers him a bargain, how can he possibly refuse?
Silvia Adams, has one mission: convince Daryl Jones to work for SOA again. The agency needs him to get back into the lab and help develop a serum to neutralize the growing number of vampires. She knew it wouldn’t be easy task, but with her job on the line, she’ll do anything it takes, including, bargaining with the shifter and surrendering to her deepest desires. Only problem is, she might have bartered for more than she can handle.
“Resisting His Mate” by Lynn Burke
Warrick Keaton eludes a forced pairing with one of his kind. No one is going to choose his mate for him, not when he wants nothing to do with being tied down to a woman. He never expects fate to intervene in the form of a freezing, barely alive female. With his independence in jeopardy, Warrick fights his inner hawk’s desire to stake a claim on her.
Clare Byron longs to escape her domineering ex-husband, a jealous bear shifter determined to keep her prisoner. She seizes the opportunity to run and lands in the arms of another alpha—exactly what she doesn’t want or need.
For Warrick, Clare is everything he’s ever wanted in a mate and all that he’s run from. For Clare, Warrick is freedom in a way she never dreamed possible—the one man who will own her heart yet give her wings to fly.
“Alpha’s Vixen” by Jocelyn Dex
Dax is overwhelmed by desire when he catches the white fox trespassing on his land, and that totally pisses him off. He refuses to mate, no matter how much the fox inside him wants it, Dax definitely does not.
Opal is instantly enamored with the menacing black fox, but isn’t surprised when he chases her away—no one ever wants her, the freak-of-nature albino.
When theft and violence bring them together again, will they give in to passion, or will their hang-ups force them apart?
“Always Midnight” by Ashlynn Monroe
Taryne Michael is all her younger brother Travys has ever had for stability. When fifteen-year-old Trav doesn’t come home after he fights with her she spends the next week searching for him. He finally comes home he’s not the same boy who slammed the door the night he left. Something is very wrong and when she discovers he’s been transformed into a werewolf she’s at a loss as to what to do. The violent, angry boy isn’t the little brother she knows how to deal with. Teenage hormones are nothing compared to the animalistic young man emerging from the boy she’d raised.
Ax Greyson is a lone wolf, an alpha without a pack. He enforces laws non-shifters don’t know about. Celo Valley, is a place where two species co-reside. The werewolves keep the humans blind to their existence by being careful. Someone isn’t following the rules. Someone is killing, with no regard for secrets. When killing the woman seems like the only way to keep his people’s secret until Ax’s instincts find another way.
Mate…the word is the only thing that can scare a man like Ax.
“Becoming His Mate” by Harper Shaddock
After escaping an abusive ex, lone-wolf Brenna is looking for a fresh start. She never expected to stumble across a pack’s territory, or that the Alpha would claim her for a mate. Remy had enough on his plate dealing with a rival pack, but it was love at first howl and he’s not about to lose his mate…even if it means fighting her past her fears.
Bad Alpha: Manlove Edition
“Bully Boys” by Nicola Cameron
When Victorian solicitor Arthur Finter is forced to cut down a dangerous London alley after work, he stumbles upon pit bull shifter Alpha Gunner Jones in the middle of a dogfight with a rival shifter pack. The hard-nosed bully boy scents Arthur and recognizes him as his mate, but will events orchestrated by the other pack separate them before Gunner can lay final claim?
“The Alpha’s Assassin” by Doris O’Connor
Bear shifter Zayden Reid makes his living doing what he does best—killing people. The sought after assassin doesn’t have to think twice when he’s offered a lot of money to kill the Alpha of a wolf pack, until he scents his mate.
As the Alpha of his pack Quinton Thorn is used to giving orders. He may be gay, but that doesn’t mean he’s weak, and he’ll squash any challenge to his leadership with ruthless efficiency. When the threat comes from a source he trusts, however, can he afford to give into his feelings for his mate, knowing that he’ll endanger everyone under his protection?
The mating bond cannot be denied, no matter what the consequences, and they might well kill.
“Discarded Pup” by Angelique Voisen
Betrayed by his beta and abandoned by his pack, Cole Reyes wasted the last ten years of his life rotting behind bars. A cage is no place for a wolf, and wounds left open, fester. Cole has zero tolerance for mercy. The time Cole spent in prison didn’t just bleed out all the decency he once possessed. It broke him. Made him hard and unforgiving. Cole’s vengeance starts now, beginning with his beta’s new toy.
“Yellow Eyes” by Gale Stanley
The brutal war between shifters and humans is over, but each side still sees the other as a threat. The only thing they can agree on, is that they can’t agree. Humans live east of the bridge, shifters live west. Camden is a halfbreed, the product of a rape that happened during the war. Neither side wants him, but he lives with his human mother. The night she dies, Camden goes west looking for revenge. He knows he won’t find his father, and he’ll probably get himself killed, but he doesn’t care. As long as he takes a shifter with him, he’ll die happy.
Wyat is alpha of the pack living in the west. He’s a warrior who believes in separation of the races. Then on the night of the full moon, he discovers a half-breed hiding in the alley. The man’s scent makes him burn with lust, and against his better judgement, he takes him home—and discovers that sleeping with the enemy might just lead to a better future.
“Destined” by L.D. Blakeley
Caleb Stokes has had a shit night. Too bad catching his boyfriend in flagrante delicto with the club DJ isn’t the worst thing he’ll witness before the night is through. Marick Gevrees has no time for romance. He has even less time for a tipsy twink looking for a man to fill some Daddy fetish. But what the hell is he supposed to do when said twink wanders headlong into the middle of a bloody vendetta that could result in the exposure of his clan?
“Trouble” by James Cox
Tremarc is sleeping his way through the entire Bear Shifter Clan. He’s sent to the moon, under the colonized dome to stay out of trouble. When he meets sexy alpha Lyon and his mated human, Quinn his life takes a sharp turn that may just find him his happy ending or get him kicked out of yet another bear shifter clan.
“Outlaw Wolf” by Elizabeth Monvey
Dekker ran away from his pack in an order to protect his lover and Alpha, Grey, when he overheard two higher ranked wolves talk about killing him.
When Grey finds him six months later, Dekker tries to convince the man he loves to go away. But Grey won’t take no and as the two talk it out, their mutual attraction overwhelms them.
In desperation, Dekker renounces Grey as his Alpha. But when another force tries to punish Dekker by silencing him forever, Grey must choose which stand he’ll take…being the alpha for all his pack, or being the man Dekker needs, even if it means breaking the rules.
Fabulous Friday Reads: Sadie’s Mate
Woohoo, it’s the weekend! Let’s kick it off properly with April Zyon’s exciting new novel Sadie’s Mate (Space Wars), now available from Evernight Publishing and other purveyors of fine erotic romance.
Family kept them apart, fate brought them together.
Bracken Kauller has been unlucky in love. Not that his family doesn’t stop trying to push proper women his way. He’s found it easiest to stay on his ship, and out of their path. When trouble starts to brew on his vessel he needs an expert he can trust.
Sadie Monterey is smart, driven, and successful. But she doesn’t have it all. The only person she’s ever loved has seemingly made it his life mission to avoid her with the help of his family. Then circumstances throw them together in a life or death situation.
The threats are mounting against them, and time is running out. With only one move left to make, Bracken throws his heart on the line. He’ll do anything necessary to be Sadie’s mate.
Story Excerpt
Sadie sat in Bracken’s office with the packet that was for her eyes only in her lap and waited, not so patiently. She looked once more at the timepiece and saw that it was now forty-five minutes since she spoke to him last. She needed him to hurry. The power supply for the facial film wasn’t one that was everlasting and it was also bloody damn well hot as well. She shifted once more. Five more minutes, that was all she was giving him until she left and let him come to find her.
The door from the command deck slid open to reveal utter chaos, then slid shut to silence the noise. “Apologies for the delay,” he said. He moved to the desk and practically fell into the chair behind it. Rubbing his hands over his face, he leaned forward to prop his arms on the desktop. “What’s going on, Sadie?”
“You and your friend, Fintan, have been playing loose with the rules. Since he wed the Imarian woman, the marshal’s office have placed spies on his ship.” She passed the package over to him. “They want to bring you all down. They’re trying to find who all is with you. I never once thought to ensure that his destroyer was protected as well. Sure I’ve hidden the telemetry on his ship when I could, but I didn’t think about scouring it clean the way that I did yours.”
Bracken waved off her concern as he looked over the pieces of the package she’d been left. Reaching out, he pressed a button. “Draven, get Fintan for me, please,” he said, then released the button. “They really are starting to get desperate,” he muttered, shaking his head slowly.
She shrugged and leaned back once more. If he wasn’t concerned, why should she be? It was likely time she stopped protecting him as much as she did. “If you have nothing else to say, I should go back to my quarters. It’s been a very long and trying day.” Especially since she had been shoved onto the one ship in the universe she didn’t want to be. Not because she hated Bracken, but because she cared far too much for him.
“Don’t move,” he said sharply. A beep sounded, and the screen to her left lit up.
“Bracken, what’s going…oh, hello.”
“Fintan, meet Doctor Sadie Monterey, friend of the family. Mainly the sisters but we’re forgiving her for her horrid taste in friends. Sadie, meet General Fintan Daykin. The marshal’s office is stepping things up, Fintan. They’re into planting evidence now, and moles.”
Where to Buy
Evernight Publishing
Amazon US
Amazon CA
Amazon UK
Barnes and Noble
All Romance eBooks
BookStrand
iTunes
Smashwords
Nicola Cameron Writes 