Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Midweek teaser from Blood of Changes #vampires #romance #urbanfantasy



Left for dead by his only love, Drew is helped by his old vampire friend, Greta. He's lost his memory and as he tries to go back to his old life, he begins to change. As the days go by events spiral out of control and all he can think about is finding the woman who left him for dead. Suspense, fun, romance, a vampire hunt, and a love story.

Read the teaser

Drew opened his eyes. He had a raging thirst, and he grasped the wrist held close to his mouth biting into it, sucking the blood frantically.

Greta tried to soothe him and take her wrist away.

“Drew, Drew, are you okay? You will be hungry. Let me get you blood. You need a good, long, drink.” She watched him as he sat up disoriented and puzzled.

“Who are you? Where am I? What’s going on?” Drew was struggling to stand, and he was unsteady on his feet at first.

Greta was worried, she wanted him fed right now or he might turn on her, and she took his hand.
“Come on, Drew, let’s go get you some food. There will be plenty in your fridge.”

Drew shrugged off her hand and repeated, “Who are you?”

He followed her down the stairs to the kitchen and watched her as she took out a carafe of blood. He desperately needed the blood and grabbed it, drinking from the carafe until it was empty. He felt better but still hungry. Passing the table to get to the fridge he put the empty carafe down and then took out more blood in blood bags. He drank two down and then sighed. Turning to Greta he suddenly smiled.

“Thank you for helping me, and I still don’t know who you are.” His manner was gentle and open. Greta was surprised. She stared at him dumbfounded for a few seconds. Drew pulled out a chair from the table and offered it to Greta to sit down. Drew sat next to her waiting for her to answer.

Greta took a deep breath. “My name is Greta, and we’re old friends, very old. You live here. Something happened to you to make you die, before you did die, you called me and asked for help. When I got here, you were dying. Then you just died for a few moments, so I fed you my blood to bring you back again. This is your house, Drew. Do you remember anything now?” She tried a smile at him. He seemed solemn and intent on her as she spoke. She was waiting for the old Drew to show up, smart mouthed, arrogant, and selfish.

Drew looked about him at the big kitchen and then back at Greta.
“I don’t remember a thing. Was I a vampire before? I don’t feel shocked about it. In fact, it seems familiar. I feel comfortable with it as if I’ve always been one. I feel hungry again. Let’s go hunting and thank you once more for saving me.”

He touched the shirt he was wearing, and looked down at it.
“There will be a shower here. Show me around, Greta. I’ll get changed and then we can go hunting.” He smiled his lovely smile and she could tell he was different. He didn’t know his smile was sexy and enticing, and he was being friendly and polite. He stood up and offered her his hand.

Greta showed him around the house. 
When she showed him the bathroom attached to his bedroom, the same one he’d lay dying in, he wrinkled his nose.
“It’s horrible, look at the mess. I should get it cleaned up. Do I have helpers? This is a big house?” He was serious and worried as he asked her this.

Greta smiled broadly. “Not at the moment, but we can get you some later.” She took him to the other bathroom down the hall and left him there.
Greta shook her head in disbelief. What had happened here? Where was that witch Elise? She cleaned up the bathroom attached to Drew’s bedroom. It took seconds. There were cleaning materials in the cupboard under the kitchen sink. The bathroom had been kept clean by someone, and apart from the mess of blood vomit, nothing else needed doing.

She looked around the place. In the wardrobe, she noticed a couple of dresses that belonged to Pearl. Weird, she thought, but left them alone. There was no evidence of the witch Elise that she could see. She could smell her around the place. It was a vague smell, but she knew it was Elise because she’d met her. Drew seemed not to recall Elise. That’s a blessing, Greta thought, and not just because she’d always had a romantic fantasy about herself and Drew.

Drew appeared in the doorway, a white towel around his waist, his hair wet. He looked gorgeous, and Greta feasted her eyes on this sight as he walked towards her.

“Are we only friends, Greta?” he asked, giving her a look loaded with sexual invitation.

Greta swallowed. This could be her chance, because she’d wanted Drew for years. Maybe she could just kiss him. Her heart yearned for it and then her head overruled the desire. What would happen if Drew got his memory back and she’d taken this advantage of him? It might not be pretty. She nodded at him. “Yes only friends.”

Drew looked at her knowingly, as he approached her. “But you’d like more…I can see it…let me kiss you just to say thank you for rescuing me.”

She stood very still as he came close. She was as tall as he was at around six feet, maybe just over. Their faces were level. Drew was gentle and caring as he took her face in his hands and kissed her. Greta kissed him back. She felt an overwhelming desire, but did nothing else except stand there, her hands by her sides.


Drew sighed as he pulled away. “That felt good. I think I need more than blood on my hunt.” He smiled at Greta and she smiled too. Drew was nice like this, and she wanted him more than ever.

Copyright T.Stokes 2018 Traveling Stars
Find all three Ruthin vampire, romance, urban fantasy FREE on Smashwords, Nook, KOBO and iBooks



Sunday, January 14, 2018

Welcome back to E.D. Parr and new release #MMromance #scifi The Dreamboat


Gorgeous, powerful warlock, Indigo Vaughn, sells his magic spells to people looking to make a dream come true. One night, as he gazes down on the city below from his sky barge, The Dreamboat, he wonders why, in centuries, his own wish for a man to love hasn’t materialized.
Beautiful, sexy, Darian O’Harr has suffered his fair share of misery. He’s a musician and learned long ago to sing for his supper. New to the city, he comes to Indigo seeking a spell that will bring him the love of a handsome man.
As soon as he sets eyes on Indigo, his heart races and his body betrays his pent up needs.

Here is the man of his dreams. What can Darian do as the warlock gathers his magic to cast a spell that will bring him another man?
Please visit the site for content warnings
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Coming soon to, KOBO and NOOK

Read a story excerpt

Darian waited until Milan couldn’t see him from the skeeter, and then he circled the grounds and took the back gate to the path that would lead him away from the royal quarter of the city. He sped home, walking at a pace, his cloak wrapped around him, and all the time his thoughts spun. When Indigo had asked to see him again soon, he’d somehow invited his lover, his love, to visit his home. Darian didn’t know if he’d extended the invitation so that if Indigo was going to leave him because he was poor, it would happen fast and save him severe heartbreak, or if he hoped Indigo would accept his poverty, and his anxiety would diminish leaving him free to love Indigo. I’ve fallen in love with him. I never saw it coming. I wonder if he did? If he loves me, that is…
Darian passed one of the better apartment buildings. Less ancient and better kept than the one he currently lived in, the turrets gleamed lilac in the sun and willow trees draped over low white walls surrounding the building. Huge pots of jasmine stood at the bottom of the stoop. The sign he’d noticed a few days previously still hung from the wide pillared porch. ‘Apartment vacant, apply within.’

He paused. It can’t hurt to look. He walked up the path. The rich scent of jasmine wafted over him. He rang the bell.

The concierge showed him the apartment. It had a long balcony overlooking a bend in the stream that wound past the castle and fed the half-moat. Wild roses blossomed on the bank. The morning breeze played with pale pink petals, lifting them and scattering them gently into the sparkling water.

Darian fell in love with apartment. It was clean and bright with light from long windows. The pale floors of polished wood added to the charm. It sat close to the border delineating the royal quarter so would only take him minutes to walk to work.

“Yes, I’ll take it.” Surprise widened his eyes as he heard the words falling from his mouth.

“Two moons’ rent up front is required before you move anything in—one for the rent, one for security. You’ll need to sign a contract. Any nonsense, noise, bawdy behavior, litter, damage, and you’re out. I don’t give warnings. I don’t give back the security money.”

Darian cringed under the suspicious gaze of the concierge. He’d expected a less alarming transaction. He only paid weekly for the place he currently lived in. The landlord there was kinder in manner. He thought about the invitation he’d given to Indigo. How wonderful it would be to meet Indigo at the castle and bring him here instead of to his dusty little rooms in the poor area of the city. “I need to bring the money later today after I’ve collected payment for my work.”

The concierge smirked. “Work at Temptations do ya, pretty boy?”

Darian recoiled and shook his head. “I do not. Not that anyone who does is … is inferior. I’m a musician.”

“Right then, if you’re not back with payment by fifteen hundred hours the place goes to the next applicant.”

Darian nodded and backed away. He left the building. By the time he arrived at his current dwelling he wondered how he could amass two moons’ rent in so little time. The sum amounted to an entire wage period. He made coffee and gazed from his pitted window at the people passing on the boardwalk that raised them from the unmade dirt track. People in this area still used ground transport and a vehicle sped by kicking up a cloud of dust and small gravel.
Darian had showered in the sky barge. Indigo had left him alone so that they didn’t fall on each other and have sex, which they’d enjoyed all night, but would have been unable to resist again, naked and close to each other in the cascade of water. He pictured his lover laughing and his heart contracted with emotion. I must rent that apartment. I can’t bring Indigo here. I wonder if the treasurer would pay me wages in advance. I’ll ask. The queen expected him at the castle by noon to sing and play as she entertained guests for lunch.

Darian possessed only three sets of clothes and he put on the last clean shirt from his armoire. He gathered the items that needed cleaning—two shirts and a pair of pants along with two pairs of undergarments and a cotton jacket. He stuffed them in the blue canvas bag to drop them to the laundry at the end of the street. The woman there was good at her job and inexpensive. A deci-coin would buy her services. He took one from the tiny pouch of money secreted in the inside pocket of his cloak and slid it into his pants pocket so that he could pay without showing he had other coin. It was a trick he’d learned as a young man living on the streets of the neighboring world’s capital.

Copyright E.D.Parr 2017, Evernight Publishing

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