Saturday, November 8, 2014

a Siren caught between a Werewolf and a Vampire


 CAPTURED

The Fallen Siren Series, Prequel #0.5

by S.J. Harper

an Urban Fantasy / Paranormal Mystery Romance

Synopsis
Join FBI Agents Emma Monroe and Zack Armstrong.

She’s a Siren. He’s a Werewolf.

Their mission is redemption.

 Emma Monroe is a Fallen Siren, cursed by the gods and banished to Earth for her failure to prevent the kidnapping of Persephone. She’s had many names and many lives, but only one mission: redemption. Now she works for the FBI and is on temporary assignment in Charleston. Solving this next missing persons case could be the key to ending her ancient curse—unless the temptation that’s her new partner gets in the way.

 Zack Armstrong is a Werewolf. Tall, dark, and dangerous, he currently works for one of the bureau’s elite Child Abduction Rapid Deployment teams. In many respects the man is every bit as mysterious as his secret and perilous past. But there are two things he’s certain about, that he’s going to get his man and his woman.

When Zack finds himself suddenly shy a partner and a third child goes missing in Charleston, Emma goes from consultant to CARD team member in the space of a few hours. The abductions of the first two boys ended in murder, an outcome that neither Zack nor Emma can abide. As they race against time to track down the kidnapper and rescue the latest victim, they find themselves fighting something just as treacherous—a growing attraction that can’t be ignored or denied.


Read an Excerpt and pearls' Review HERE on our July 25th post.


 AVAILABLE NOW:







CURSED

The Fallen Siren Series, Book 1


Meet FBI Agents Emma Monroe and Zack Armstrong.

She's cursed. He's damned.

Together, they make one hell of a team.



 Emma Monroe is a Siren, cursed by the gods and bound to earth to atone for an ancient failure. She’s had many names and many lives, but only one mission: redemption. Now that she works missing persons cases for the FBI, it could be just a rescue away. Unless her new partner leads her astray.



 Special Agent Zack Armstrong just transferred into the San Diego Field Office. He’s a werewolf, doing his best to beat back the demons from his dark and dangerous past. As a former Black Ops sniper, he’s taken enough lives. Now he’s doing penance by saving them.

 Emma and Zack’s very first case draws them deep into the realm of the paranormal, and forces them to use their own supernatural abilities. But that leaves each of them vulnerable, and there are lines partners should not cross. As secrets are revealed and more women go missing, one thing becomes clear: as they race to save the victims, Emma and Zack risk losing themselves.

Read pearls' Review HERE from our Oct. 6, 2013 post

 AVAILABLE NOW:







RECKONING

The Fallen Siren Series, Book 2


Join Agents Emma Monroe and Zack Armstrong.

She’s sacrificed. He’s suffered. They’ve both been betrayed.

Now it’s time for a reckoning.

Special Agent Emma Monroe has a secret. She’s a Fallen Siren, cursed by the gods and banished to Earth for her failure to prevent the kidnapping of Persephone. As an FBI agent she saves the lives of others believing redemption could be one rescue away.

 Her partner Zack is a werewolf and former Black Ops sniper who once carried out a string of questionable assignments. Now he’s determined to atone for his past. Ironically, there’s a portion of his past Zack doesn’t remember—an affair with Emma. Giving into their attraction for one another almost led to their undoing. Now it’s back to business as usual.

While trying to unravel the mystery behind a series of kidnappings in Southern California, Emma and Zack become entangled with political tensions in the vampire and Were worlds. Not to mention the struggles they face in their relationship with one another. With so much uncertainty, they come to realize the only thing they can really count on is one another…or can they? 
Review by pearls
Zack and Emma are on the FBI's missing persons task force, creating a great mystery novel.  The cast just happens to be supernatural, immortal, and undead. Readers will enjoy the search for what has happened to the missing girls.  This is all set against paranormal territory wars and relationship strife.  This is their third case, but the book can be read as a stand-alone as the authors provide enough background to keep new readers in the loop.  Emma finds herself torn between the love of her immortal life and doing the right thing to keep him safe.  All the while, she is trying to maintain a safe relationship with another.  The case, relationship issues and territory battles all come together in an action-based climax.  There are also intense bedroom (and shower) scenes, as Emma is, after all, a Siren caught between a werewolf and a vampire.  I'm happy to report this third installment thrilled me as much as the first one. 

EXCERPT

What we’re doing is wrong on so many levels. That’s what I tell myself as I wake, my aching in all the right places. In just a few short months, we’ve fallen into the kind of pattern I’d normally think of as dangerous. But somehow, when I’m with him, I feel safe.
My mind drifts as I watch the flutter of curtains. The morning sunshine pours into the bedroom  from the balcony. Have I ever had a steady lover so possessive, so creative, so . . . demanding? His hand on my hip comes to life, fingertips skimming downward across the curve of my buttocks. He inches closer to me, spooning his body against mine. Nothing separates us under the sheets—it’s skin on skin. Fingers slide between my thighs. I’m wet. It seems lately, in his presence, I’m perpetually this way. I just can’t help myself. A Siren is a Siren. A sexual creature, born of Gaia. I’m one of three, cursed by Demeter thousands of years ago for failing to protect Persephone. It’s for this I atone, for this I pay. It’s the reason I search for the missing and avoid love at all costs.
The first brings me closer to the promise of redemption. Forgetting the latter? Finding real love? That promises nothing but ruin and death.
“Good morning,” I whisper.
He lifts one of my legs. His long, thick shaft slides between them. I feel the warmth of his smile as he re- plies, “It’s about to get even better.”
The rumble of his rich baritone, still rough from sleep along with the promise of what’s to come, makes me smile. But the sense of contentment is fleeting. The first few bars of “Bad Moon Rising” blare from my phone. Liz, my best friend, and quite possibly the most powerful witch this side of the Mississippi, added the ringtone to my cell five months ago and I haven’t been able to change it. She assigned it to Zack, my partner, a dark, rugged werewolf who was formerly, and quite secretly, a badass black ops assassin. Now, like me, he spends his days working for the FBI and searching for the missing.
I feel Kallistos’ irritation at the interruption. I pat his hand. “Hold that thought,” I say, then
reach for my phone.
“Zack. It’s early. What’s up?”
“Jimmy. He wants to see us right away and apparently you haven’t been answering your texts."
I glance at the clock on the nightstand. It’s just past seven on a Monday and I’ve managed to piss off the boss. “Why didn’t he just call me?”
“He did. Twice.”
“Damn it! I must have slept through it.”
Or, Kallistos had taken it upon himself to set my cell to silent. Again. Thanks to Liz’s spell, and much to Kallistos’ chagrin, Zack’s calls ring through regardless. Liz knows how close Zack and I
came to disaster. This is her special way of reminding me of the ever-present danger. She’s also the main reason I’m sharing the vampire King’s bed now. She encouraged him and pushed me like a veritable yenta. After countless protests they wore me down. I decided to give the no-strings-attached relationship proposal a trial run.
Kallistos has retreated to the other side of the bed. I’d like to think out of guilt, but I know better.
I momentarily mute the call. “Stop silencing my phone,” I scold.
His clear blue eyes give nothing away. “You don’t get enough rest.” His tone is matter-of-fact. No argument. No apology. Not ever. Admittedly, it’s one of the down- sides of dating a vampire King with more than a millennium under his belt—one that I’ll eventually have to address if our arrangement continues. Eventually. But not today.
“You don’t get to make decisions for me,” I counter.
He answers my rising ire with a disarming smile. “You need coffee, Emma. I’ll call down.”
I unmute the phone, turning my attention back to Zack. “How much time do I have?”
“The briefing was scheduled for seven thirty. Reminding Jimmy it was Labor Day got us a
reprieve until eight.”
I brace myself, knowing I shouldn’t ask, but do anyway. “Did you and Sarah have plans?”
My question about Sarah, the she-wolf who shares Zack’s beach house, is met with the expected pause. Zack doesn’t say much about his private life. His reluctance doesn’t have anything to do with our history. As far as he’s concerned, we have no history; there’s never been anything personal between us at all. Thanks to Liz’s super-duper spell casting, Zack’s memories of those times have been erased. Not all of them, of course; only the ones indicating there had ever been any physical intimacy between us. Our casework history, secrets shared about our natures and pasts, that’s all remained intact. But remembrances of our one, glorious night in Charleston and the fact we became lovers after his move here to San Diego a year later? Gone.
Kallistos climbs out of bed and heads for the balcony. “Maybe the four of us can do something together later,” he murmurs on the way.
I throw a pillow at him, but miss by a mile. By the time it hits the floor he’s outside and, thanks to a little pink pill called Protectus, appreciating the early-morning sun like only someone who’s spent more than a thousand years in darkness could—face tilted up, eyes closed. Kallistos is responsible for the creation of Protectus, part medical miracle and part magic. It’s been around for a couple decades now, along with the Blood Emporiums he created.
Most Emporiums are located in the backs of busi-nesses catering to those who pursue alternative lifestyles—tattoo shops and heavy-metal clubs. For vampires they offer fresh blood from paid donors who, for the most part, have no idea where the blood ends up or who is paying for it. Would-be vampires and goths simply believe they are indulging in a fantasy. They never see the real vampires who come to buy their blood bags and the drugs that allow them to function during the day.
I watch my lover breathe deeply of the ocean air. Appreciate the way shadow and light play across his body, which is hard, lean, and eternally young.
“I was going to make my famous London broil,” Zack finally volunteers. “But, duty calls. Right, partner?”
Zack has a way of saying the word partner like it really means something. And it does. A lump forms in my throat. Our reasons may be different, but the mission is the same. Zack understands me better than any partner I’ve had.
I nod. “Yes. Duty calls.”
“I’ll let Jimmy know we’re on our way in.”
“I’ll meet you at the office in forty-five minutes.” As I hang up, I silently recite the same words I do every time I go out on a new case. Redemption could be one rescue

AVAILABLE NOW: 


 

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:



S. J. Harper is the pen name for the writing team of Samantha Sommersby and Jeanne C. Stein, two friends who met at Comic- Con in San Diego and quickly bonded over a mutual love of good wine, edgy urban fantasy, and everything Joss Whedon.

Samantha Sommersby left what she used to call her “real- life” day job in the psychiatric !eld to pursue writing full- time in 2007. She is the author of more than ten novels and novellas including the critically acclaimed Forbidden series. She currently lives with her husband and terrier pup, Olive, in a century- old Southern California Craftsman. Sam happily spends her days immersed in a world where vampires, werewolves, and demons are real, myths, and legends are revered, magic is possible, and love still conquers all.

 Jeanne Stein is the national bestselling author of The Anna Strong Vampire Chronicles. She also has numerous short story credits, including most recently the novella Blood Debt from the New York Times bestselling anthology Hexed. Her series has been picked up in three foreign countries and her short stories published in collections here in the U.S. and the U.K. She lives in Denver, Colorado, where she !nds gardening a challenge more daunting than navigating the world of mythical creatures.


AUTHOR CONTACT LINKS:












TOUR GIVEAWAY DETAILS:



GRAND PRIZE: Kindle Fire

a Rafflecopter giveaway

No comments:

Post a Comment