BLOOD GUILT Special Offer - Only 99 cents!

Just a quick heads-up to let you know that until 2nd July, Blood Guilt, the first of my Blood Hunters vampire romance series, is on offer for only 99 cents (73 pence in the UK)! If you haven't read it already, you might want to grab it now :).

BLOOD GUILT: Blood Hunters, Book 1
By MARIE TREANOR
Ebook Only 99 cents from Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and i-Books 

"one delicious book....one big ball of fun...sexual tension and temptation and fulfillment..." - Place of Reads.

"a beautiful thing to be a part of.... you just gotta read this baby." Butterflyometer Books

"captivating" - BeLoved Books

"an excellent series... beautifully written with action, adventure, love, lust, and sex... In a 
world full of vampire stories, Marie Treanor has carved out her own niche that will keep readers 
coming back for more!" - Faerie Tale Books


Natural enemies, deadly attraction...

The first of a new vampire romance series, a sequel to the Awakened by Blood trilogy.

Mihaela, a fearless vampire hunter secretly haunted by loneliness and childhood tragedy, finds it difficult to adjust to the new world order where vampires are not always the bad guys. She's taking a much needed vacation in Scotland when she sees a little boy being chased through the streets of Edinburgh. Rescuing him brings bigger problems - two vampires from her past: Gavril, who killed her family; and the reclusive and troubled Maximilian, gifted Renaissance artist and one-time overlord of the most powerful undead community in the world. Maximilian once saved her life and now needs that favor returned.

The earth moves for Mihaela in more ways than one. From Scotland to Budapest and Malta, she  races against time to prevent a disastrous, vampire-induced earthquake and save an innocent yet powerful child – all while fighting a dreadful attraction to Maximilian, her only ally, whom she can’t afford to trust. For Maximilian, the hunter becomes a symbol of renewed existence, as he struggles to accept his past and rediscovers his appetite for blood and sex - and maybe even happiness.

*

Books 2 and 3 in the series are also available...

BLOOD OF ANGELS: Blood Hunters, Book 2
By MARIE TREANOR
Ebook $2.99 from Amazon.com, Amazon UK, B&N, Kobo and i-Books 

Obsession... a wounded hunter, a damaged vampire







BLOOD DESCENT (Blood Hunters, Book 3)  
By MARIE TREANOR
Ebook $2.99 from Amazon.com, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and i-Books

A child is born...into the final showdown of Vampire and Hunter

The Final Showdown? BLOOD DESCENT Is Out!

I'm thrilled to announce the release of Blood Descent, the third Blood Hunters book, and a milestone in the series...

BLOOD DESCENT (Blood Hunters, Book 3)
By MARIE TREANOR
Ebook $2.99 from Amazon.com, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and i-Books

A child is born...into the final showdown of Vampire and Hunter

The face of a killer, the heart of a lost child… Konrad once led the legendary first team of Hungarian vampire hunters. Now, refusing to ally with the undead, he goes his own way, slaughtering vampires across the length and breadth of Europe.

The dying thoughts of one such vampire send Konrad to Britain in search of a dangerous instrument that  might be just what he needs in his obsessive war with undead overlord Saloman – a war he’s determined to win at any cost. The only being who can lead him to the instrument and its current, evil possessor, is sexy, mysterious, young Glaswegian vampire Maggie, who holds herself aloof from her own kind.

Maggie sees much more than Konrad’s anger and cruelty. She makes it her mission to reach beyond the horrors of his past and find the man he should have been. Difficult, when he threatens her heart as well as everything she believes in; and when her whole being clamors for his body and his blood.

While journalists circle, about to break the news of vampire existence on mainstream television, Elizabeth Silk labors to give birth to Saloman’s daughter, and Maggie plays a dangerous game that risks everyone for her belief in one troubled man.

*

“Tramp broke his leg once falling through that hole,” she observed.

“Are his bones still here?”

“No; he took them with him when he left. Squeamish for a hunter, aren’t you?”

Konrad sat on the table and dangled his legs over the edge while he took in her candlelit lair. It was surprisingly comfortable. And clean. Lots of fabric and color. Dark, rather good wooden furniture. A turn-of-the-century dressing table arrayed with hairbrushes and bottles, a wardrobe and full-length mirror, a desk with a leather-bound notebook and several pens. A bed made up in one corner with lace pillows and bright cushions. Did she bring her victims back here to feed in comfort? The idea bothered him. No wonder she’d said he was squeamish.

“Never been called that before,” he said casually, bringing his attention back to her face. “Did you know Victor?”

“Should I?”

“He had some connection to Glasgow,” Konrad lied. “You’re an unusual vampire with unlikely friends. I wondered if his connection was you.”

“There are several vampires in this city. Do I have—did I have something in common with this Victor?”

“Another vampire called Georges,” Konrad said.

He slid off the table and strolled toward her. She still smelled good, the same dark, seductive perfume as last night, overwhelmingly feminine. With some effort, he focused on her expression. Her sultry eyes were impenetrable, but this time there was no noticeable reaction that he could see. She was ready now for anything he threw at her.

He came to a halt so close he was almost touching her. It was a good way to get to vampires, who didn’t care to be close to hunters, and he felt her tension as if it was his own. But then, his own was considerable too. It had to be to resist the urge to touch her. She’d be able to hear the beating of his heart, probably knew what effect her body had on him. He used that, crowding her, turning it into the kind of threat he’d never have used against a human woman. A vampire didn’t deserve that respect.

Her head tilted to meet his deliberately harsh gaze. It may have been a struggle, but she achieved a hint of sardonic amusement in her gorgeous green eyes.

Konrad stirred. “Georges is in possession of an instrument stolen from hunters.”

“He plays the fiddle?” she guessed flippantly. Her gaze dropped to the stake he still held ready to use, but unlike most, she still didn’t back off.

Konrad smiled. “You have heard of it.”

Maggie shrugged. The movement brushed her arm against his sleeve. He wondered how her skin would feel against his. The brief, electric touch of her wrist last night had only been enough to arouse his curiosity. Was it soft, like a real woman’s, or just cold and dead? It didn’t look dead. It hadn’t felt dead last night. Instead, it seemed to glow, like the rest of her.

With the blood of her victims, he reminded himself harshly.

She said, “I hear a lot of things that make no sense. Like I said, I don’t gossip.”

“Did you hear where Georges or this instrument is? Or what they plan to use it for?”

“I know they’re not here in Glasgow.” She tilted her head back farther, the familiar gesture of a vampire insisting she wasn’t afraid. She was. He could almost smell it. He’d got to her all right, although whether with his too-close presence or his questions, it was impossible to tell.

Her neck was beautiful: long, slender, elegant, like a ballet dancer’s. He wanted to wrap his fingers around it, trace the complicated path of her delicate veins. He stirred, just to upset her, to feel her against his jacket again.

“And how, exactly, do you know that?” he asked softly.

“I’m a vampire. I’m good at knowing where people aren’t.”

“Would you help me find this instrument?”

Her eyes widened. She had no breath to feel on his face, and yet he almost imagined he could. The tiny hairs on his skin stood up in awareness. She swung away from him, and his breath spilled out in a rush of relief and disappointment. She sat down on a frayed, once-opulent armchair. She crossed her shapely legs, and even at this distance, his blood surged to his already growing erection.

“Now why,” she wondered, “would you ask me that? You don’t like me; you don’t trust me. You’re as liable to kill me as to let me live, and you really don’t want my help with anything. But for the record, no, I won’t.”

Konrad curled his lip. “Is that why John likes you? Because you pretend to be so straight talking?”

Maggie picked up a packet of cigarettes from the arm of the chair. “You really have forgotten, haven’t you? You don’t need a reason to like someone.”

*

If you haven't already read the first two books in the series, they're also available as ebooks, only $2.99!

Blood Guilt: Natural enemies, deadly attraction...

Blood of Angels: Obsession... a wounded hunter, a damaged vampire

Marie

Marie Treanor

www.MarieTreanor.com

A child is born...of vampire

Blood Descent

Blood Hunters 3, Ebook Out Now

Serafina and the Virtual Man is Free!

Thought you might like to know that this weekend and Monday 29th, you can download Serafina and the Virtual Man for free from Amazon and Amazon UK. Grab it while you can :)


SERAFINA AND THE VIRTUAL MAN: Serafina's, Book2)
By MARIE TREANOR
Free until 29th April from Amazon.com and Amazon UK

Real man versus dead man - no contest!

Dale Ewan, the wealthy owner of Genesis Gaming, has a serious poltergeist problem. In desperation, he calls on Edinburgh's unique psychic investigation agency, Serafina's.

But Sera and her hacker friend, the beautiful and aggressive Jilly, find more than one spirit haunting the ugly country house. While Sera fights the poltergeist, Jilly encounters what appears to be the ghost of Dale's brilliant ex-partner, Genesis Adam, trapped in his own new virtual reality system.

Jilly delves headlong into Adam's mystery. How did he get there? Why is he more exciting and attractive than any of the real men in her life? How are Jilly's own criminal brothers involved in his death? And what are Dale and his wife Petra hiding? Apart from the body buried in their garden...

While Jilly falls in love with the sexy, virtual ghost, Sera has problems of her own, not least the shadowy presence of the undead Founder that seems to threaten Sera, her vampire lover Blair, and all her friends.

And of course, if you haven't read it already, Book 1 in the series, Serafina and the Silent Vampire is still available, only $2.99 from Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and i-Books.

Marie

Birthday Release! SERAFINA AND THE VIRTUAL MAN by MARIE TREANOR

Yes, it's my birthday - again!

But the upside is, I'm thrilled to be celebrating a new release! Serafina and the Virtual Man came out yesterday at Amazon - the second in the Serafina's series featuring a unique psychic investigation agency based in Edinburgh, Scotland.

So, by way of celebration, here's the blurb and an excerpt from the new book - enjoy!

SERAFINA AND THE VIRTUAL MAN:

Serafina's, Book 2

By MARIE TREANOR

Ebook $2.99, from Amazon.com and Amazon UK

Real man versus dead man - no contest!

Dale Ewan, the wealthy owner of Genesis Gaming, has a serious poltergeist problem. In desperation, he calls on Edinburgh's unique psychic investigation agency, Serafina's.

But Sera and her hacker friend, the beautiful and aggressive Jilly, find more than one spirit haunting the ugly country house. While Sera fights the poltergeist, Jilly encounters what appears to be the ghost of Dale's brilliant ex-partner, Genesis Adam, trapped in his own new virtual reality system.

Jilly delves headlong into Adam's mystery. How did he get there? Why is he more exciting and attractive than any of the real men in her life? How are Jilly's own criminal brothers involved in his death? And what are Dale and his wife Petra hiding? Apart from the body buried in their garden...

While Jilly falls in love with the sexy, virtual ghost, Sera has problems of her own, not least the shadowy presence of the undead Founder that seems to threaten Sera, her vampire lover Blair, and all her friends.

*

Jilly stared at the stranger in front of her. Typical. The first man she’d met in ages whom she didn’t want to punch, and he was short of the full shilling.

“Dead? Why should I be dead,” she snapped. “Are you?”

He dragged one hand through his untidy black hair and down over his stubbly jaw. “Well, yes, I think so.”

Jilly blinked. “You look pretty lively to me. Where did you come from?”

He gazed around. “I don’t know. Sort of—asleep, and then I was here looking at you.”

Shit, she hadn’t even seen him in her desperation to get at the computers. He hadn’t been on the benches… Perhaps he’d been under them? Or wandered in from somewhere else in the house, through the outer study?

“Who are you?” she asked. And then since attack was the best method of defence: “What are you doing here?”

“Adam. And I don’t know.” His dark gaze came back to her. His frown deepened. “Are you sure you aren’t dead?” He stepped closer, reached out one curious, hesitant hand, and touched her cheek. Almost as if he imagined she’d disintegrate on contact.

Warm fingers, slightly rough in texture…

Her breath caught, but since his hand slid away almost immediately, she’d no reason to shove or punch. She curled her hands into fists but kept them still at her side.

“Soft,” he murmured as if pleased by the discovery. His frown cleared, and his lips quirked upward, almost smiling. “So soft.”

Jilly flushed. “Only on the outside. Why do you keep saying ‘dead’?”

“I remember dying.” The frown was back. “I was shot. Hurt like hell.”

“You’ve been dreaming,” Jilly said with a dismissive flap of one hand.

He nodded. “Could be. Or I could be wasted. Certainly never imagined the afterlife would resemble Dale’s testing lab.”

“Is that what this place is?” Jilly asked with interest. “What’s he testing?”

The frown between his brows twitched. His lips parted, and he sank backward, leaning his hip against the edge of the bench. “Of course… Wow. Shit, this is mind-blowing. I can remember.”

“Remember what?”

“My life… Well, most of it. No wonder everything’s so unreal.” His glazed eyes came back into focus, sparkling with excitement as he gazed at her face. “And you—did I really manage to think you up too?”

“No, you fucking didn’t,” Jilly said indignantly, and a grin flickered across his face. He had a good grin, boyish and spontaneous, allowing her a glimpse of what might, in other circumstances, be a fun-loving personality.

“Thought not. You’re much too grumpy.”

Jilly felt her lips part in shock. She wasn’t used to anyone calling her something as unpleasantly mundane and trivial as “grumpy.” Even Sera usually just ignored her or threw things at her when she got bad tempered. Men either told her she was beautiful in a placating sort of a way or backed off in terror, which was just as it should be.

Amusement lingered in his dark eyes as he straightened and began to pace around the room.

“Trust me, it’s a fascinating combination, and I’m very glad to have met you. Although I wish I was alive to enjoy the experience to the full.”

Jilly rolled her eyes. “Oh, for… Are you back at the dead thing again? You want to see a doctor, or preferably a shrink.”

He spread his hands wide at his side and came to a halt just in front of her. “Feel free to bring one.”

She had to crick her neck to look him in the eye. She wished she wasn’t so aware of his tall, strong body only inches from hers, and confusion made her snappish.

“You’re not my problem, pal. Look, just walk past me and out the door.”

She stepped aside with a strange mixture of relief and disappointment. He glanced at the door. His brows twitched. Then he took one pace forward and stopped. Suddenly, he looked lost, and, stupidly, her heart tugged as if he were an abandoned child.

“Come on,” she muttered ungraciously. “I have to get out of here anyway. Follow me.” She marched to the door, turned to make sure he was coming too—and found an empty room.

*

:) Thanks for reading! There's another, hotter excerpt on website if you'd care to check it out: http://www.marietreanor.com/SerafinaAndVirtualMan.htm#excerpts

Also, you may already have read Book 1 in the series, Serafina and the Silent Vampire - if you haven't, you can grab your e-copy at Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and i-Books.

Marie

BLOOD OF ANGELS Free Once More! Plus: Enter to Win a Kindle Fire HD!!

BLOOD OF ANGELS, the second of my vampire romance series, Blood Hunters (which follows on from the Awakened by Blood trilogy) is free to download from Amazon today and tomorrow! Get your copy here.

Also, the book is featured today on Kindle Nation Shorts, where you can read a long excerpt and enter the Kindle Fire HD giveaway here!

Don't miss your chances!

Marie

BLOOD OF ANGELS Free Today!

I'm very glad to tell you that today and tomorrow (26th and 27th Jan), my new vampire romance Blood of Angels, second in the Blood Hunters series, will be free on Amazon Kindle! So, please grab your free download while you can :).


BLOOD OF ANGELS: Blood Hunters, Book 2
By MARIE TREANOR
Free 26th and 27th Jan from Amazon. 

Obsession... a wounded hunter, a damaged vampire

Six months ago, vampire hunter and inventive genius Istvan nearly died in the seminal battle that would change the relationship between humans and vampires forever.

A year before that, he first encountered sexy vampiress, Angyalka, owner of the Angel Club, favored haunt of the undead. Istvan won that round, but when he recklessly seeks her out again in search of the secret of angels, he's alone and so exhausted he can barely stand, let alone fight vampires. Plus Angyalka's out for revenge, and very happy to use his powerful sexual attraction to her…

But Angyalka has her own secret weaknesses amd terrifying strengths even she doesn't understand. Their battle becomes one of wits and sex, but when someone bombs the club, they fight together to contain all the threats closing in on the Angel, from humans and vampires, including the sadistic killer who could just be dangerous enough to finally topple undead overlord Saloman.

As Istvan struggles to harness the mysterious power of angels, Angyalka needs a deeper strength to send away the fascinating hunter who delivers on all her deepest sensual desires and yet can't come to terms with her vampire nature.

Marie

New Release: BLOOD OF ANGELS!

VERY happy to announce the release of my latest book! Blood of Angels, the second in the Blood Hunters vampire romance series, is now available from Amazon.

As you may know, the Blood Hunters series follows on from the Awakened by Blood trilogy, although it can be read on its own. And one thing I have to mention in connection with both series, is the cover art. So before I post the blurb and excerpt from Blood of Angels, here's a quick glimpse of ALL the covers - just because they're so beautiful :).

     

NAL did the Awakened by Blood covers, Kimberly Killion designed the Blood Hunters ones...

And so to Blood of Angels!

BLOOD OF ANGELS: Blood Hunters, Book 2

By MARIE TREANOR

Ebook $2.99 from Amazon. 

Obsession... a wounded hunter, a damaged vampire

Six months ago, vampire hunter and inventive genius Istvan nearly died in the seminal battle that would change the relationship between humans and vampires forever.

A year before that, he first encountered sexy vampiress, Angyalka, owner of the Angel Club, favored haunt of the undead. Istvan won that round, but when he recklessly seeks her out again in search of the secret of angels, he's alone and so exhausted he can barely stand, let alone fight vampires. Plus Angyalka's out for revenge, and very happy to use his powerful sexual attraction to her…

But Angyalka has her own secret weaknesses amd terrifying strengths even she doesn't understand. Their battle becomes one of wits and sex, but when someone bombs the club, they fight together to contain all the threats closing in on the Angel, from humans and vampires, including the sadistic killer who could just be dangerous enough to finally topple undead overlord Saloman.

As Istvan struggles to harness the mysterious power of angels, Angyalka needs a deeper strength to send away the fascinating hunter who delivers on all her deepest sensual desires and yet can't come to terms with her vampire nature.

*

István caught the vampiress Angyalka by luck. If she’d noticed him, he’d never have been able to jump her in time, slam her back hard against his body, and shove the discreetly palmed wooden stake over her heart.

Now, if she made any move to escape, she’d impale herself on the lethally sharpened stick and disintegrate. It was a classic move, perfectly executed. But it gave him no satisfaction since their quarry, the Ancient vampire Saloman, had just soared through the skylight in the glass-domed ceiling of the vampires’ nightclub, taking Elizabeth, the hunters’ bait, with him.

Fear, anger, and guilt would all have to wait. István’s immediate goal was to prevent the fiasco turning into a bloodbath. His team leader, Konrad, openly brandished a wooden stake, an understandable act of aggression which had brought Angyalka flying over the bar in the first place. Now, the backward surge of humans and the forward surge of vampires halted abruptly as everyone stared up to the skylight through which Saloman and Elizabeth had vanished.

There was even an instant when, from pure surprise, the vampiress held herself motionless as she took in her own position, clamped between István’s legs, pinioned by his arms. She couldn’t go forward onto the stake, so she strained back into him.

He followed with the stake, piercing her skin. He felt the wetness of blood under his palm, between her firm, soft breasts.

She was strong. But she wasn’t stupid. She stilled once more and then unhurriedly tilted her face up to look at him.

Her beauty crashed into him, a blow of raw, powerful lust. Short, stylish black hair framed piquant, almost elfin features that seemed oddly familiar. Fine, straight black brows sloped upwards like a devil’s over mocking, mysterious blue eyes so dark they looked navy. She had delicate, hollowed cheekbones, a short, straight nose, and a full, sensual mouth that just cried out to a man to crush it under his—if he was brave enough.

Big, jet earrings dangled from her pale shell-like ears. One caught against the creamy whiteness of her cheek as she twisted to gaze up at him. She wore a short little black silk dress with full-length, black leather boots. Long, slender legs, slim, elegant body, tiny waist, shapely breasts, and an alabaster, swanlike neck.

She looked like the angel carving over the club’s front door.

Her thick lashes drooped and rose again. The other vampires, interestingly, didn’t move. Perhaps they understood Angyalka’s danger. Perhaps she told them telepathically to be still. Her strange, dark blue eyes held his while, deceptively casual, she recited the club rules: “No fighting, no biting.”

Even through the relentless beat of the surrounding music, her voice wrapped around his loins like velvet, soft, dark, and seductive as sin. And it carried to the other vampires, who made no further move toward the hunters. Konrad and Mihaela, realizing they wouldn’t have to fight their way out after all, began to run for the exit in pursuit of Elizabeth and Saloman.

Deliberately, Angyalka pushed her firm bottom back into István’s hips. “What about you, hunter? Are you leaving too?” She smiled, rocking subtly against the erection he couldn’t hide. “Or are you staying to dance?”

The terrifying thing was, even with Elizabeth at the mercy of the monster they’d come to kill, he was tempted. And seeing it, she began to sway to the music, playing havoc with the lust already raging through his body.

He was far too old a hand to fall for this trick.

He stepped back. But like lightening, as soon as her hand could move, it flew up to cover his on the stake between her breasts. Electricity zinged through his fingers. He knew an urge to drop the stake and just palm her breast instead. As if she knew it, her siren smile broadened. Without warning, she spun to face him, revealing her fangs and all the very real danger that lurked below the pretended seduction of her eyes.

He’d held her immobile in front of her people. He’d humiliated her in her own bar, and she wouldn’t forget it. But he’d no time to barter words with a vampire, not even this one. He had to find and save the woman he loved, who would never ever love him.

“No dance, then,” she hissed. “Next time, it will be different.”


And of course, it is :). Thanks for reading! Hope you;re inspired to dash off and download it :).

Marie

The Next Big Thing: My BLOOD OF ANGELS

So, Happy Christmas, everyone! Hope you had a wonderful day - as I did! - and are still enjoying the Festive Season!

Today, I’m participating in The Next Big Thing blog hop, which sees writers answering questions about their works in progress, and tagging other writers to follow on. Last week, I was tagged by the wonderful, multi-talented and intriguingly named K.A. M’Lady, whom you can catch up with here:

http://kamladyotherworld.blogspot.com.

And you can read all about her Next Big Thing here. Many thanks to K for her tag!

Now, the next part of my job is to tag the next authors and their blogs – which was doubly difficult because a) I admire so many and b) everyone’s so busy over Christmas and New Year! However, I'm happy to say I have manage to pin down one of my favourites, my old friend Kate Rothwell/Summer Devon who writes beautiful, unusual and charming historicals (Kate) as well as highly imaginative, erotic paranormals (Summer). Summer's next book is an m/m contemporary called Taming the Bander, published in February by Samhain.

You can track her down here: 

http://katerothwell.com, 

here: http://summerdevon.com

and here: http://katerothwell.blogspot.com - where you can check out her Next Big Thing post next Wednesday, 2nd January 2012.

And so back to my next big thing, Blood of Angels... Here are my interview answers:

What is the working title of your book?

I’ve just been proofing the final files for BLOOD OF ANGELS.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

BLOOD OF ANGELS is the natural progression of a story that began with BLOOD ON SILK, the first of my Awakened by Blood trilogy. I’m now writing a spin off series called Blood Hunters, of which BLOOD OF ANGELS is the second book. It grew largely out of the previous stories and characters which got under my skin. Although I have to confess that Angyalka, my agoraphobic vampire heroine, actually grew out of my own realization that with writing so much I was beginning to avoid going out of the house! So I took Angyalka’s issues a stage or too further J.

What genre does your book fall under?

Paramormal/vampire romance – on the steamy side!

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I always find this a really hard question to answer! Very seldom do I see my characters as like any actor I know. So I suppose I have to pick actors that change dramtically with each role. Johnny Depp in understated mode could play Istvan, my scientific yet kick-ass hero. Not sure about Angyalka – although Hungarian, she has a style I associate with France J, but I can’t think of a specific actress!

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Obsession... a wounded hunter, a damaged vampire

Where do you plan to submit your book, or will you self published it?

I’ll be self-publishing it - I’m self-publishing all the Blood Hunters series

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I can’t remember! A first draft of a full length novel can take anything from three weeks (my fastest ever!) to three months. I think this one was probably seven or eight weeks.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Goodness, there are so many vampire romances out there that I wouldn’t know where to start! Plus, I suppose we all like to think our own story is unique J. The best comparison is probably with my other stories, especially BLOOD GUILT, the first book in this series, and with the prequel Awakened by Blood trilogy, BLOOD ON SILK, BLOOD SIN and BLOOD ETERNAL.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

Hmm – a combination of things and people! As I say, this book is a natural progression from a story that keeps moving forward in my head. As such, I have to acknowledge my agent, Robert Gottlieb, on whose advice I first wrote BLOOD ON SILK from a long-standing germ of an idea. And my husband, who's actually the inspiration for at least part of all my heroes, including the inventive and off-the-wall Istvan of BLOOD OF ANGELS J.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

 Vampires - both scary and sexy! Need I say more? :) Well, maybe I should! 

BLOOD OF ANGELS is another stage in the saga readers might have read or at least heard of before, and my world seems to grow with every story. It features wounded and yet strong characters whom readers may have met in the past. Plus, there's a hot enemies to lovers tale - always irresistible to me! And meeting old friends such as Saloman, Elizabeth, Maximilian and Mihaela. And of course new readers to this world have a new vampire series to catch up on and follow :) 

Oh and it should be out in January 2013!

Marie

Party Winners

Just taking a moment amidst the Christmas madness around here to thank everyone who came to the party, readers and authors, commenters and lurkers! Obviously a special thank you to all our generous guest authors who partied with us. It was a wonderful party and I enjoyed every moment :).

And a quick word about the contests. Winners will be announced by each author in the Comments section of their post, so don't forget to check back to see if it's you :). It's up to individual authors when they choose to close their contests and pick their winners.

However, I can announce that the Changeling Press winner is: bn100candg. So, many congratulations to her! She's won a series of Changeling Christmas short stories, and she's chosen the White Hot Christmas set.

And finally, I'd like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas, (or indeed which ever other holiday you celebrate this season!), and I look forward to seeing you again in the New Year!

Marie x

Christmas of the Damned by Marie Treanor

My first Christmas story for Changeling Press was about miracles, though not really religious ones :). Like my new story, Damned Santa, Christmas of the Damned is set in the ruined, post-nuclear apocalypse city which began with Loving the Wolf.

Sol, my unlikely hero, performs miracles every day simply by carrying out his duties as bouncer at the City of the Damned's most popular nightclub. No one even guesses what he does, until one Christmas Eve, he rescues a wounded wolf who's more damaged than anyone else can see...







Christmas Cookies: CHRISTMAS OF THE DAMNED
By MARIE TREANOR
Short story available now at Changeling Press 


No one remembers why, but every year on the same cold December night, the survivors of the ruined City of the Damned gather to celebrate a miracle that never happens...

When a wounded wolf appears outside the city’s most popular nightclub, only Sol, the tough doorman, recognizes that the wolf is more than she seems.  But then, so is Sol.  A man of few words who hides his gift and his generosity, only he can unlock the wolf's lost humanity.

And as it turns out, the meeting of these two remarkable creatures is just one of the miracles of this Christmas night.

*

     The fur of her head was silky soft. She stiffened under his touch but didn’t move away. He began to caress her, stroking her ears and neck, feeling the matted fur and dried blood. She didn’t wince when he touched her wounds. He closed his eyes and let it crash over him, the pain of her broken rib and bruised leg, the knife cuts in her neck and back. He could bear that easily. What overwhelmed him was her internal agony, the memories of violations and terror and grief; the impossibly conflicting fears of human compassion and animal violence locked inside her.

     Deeper and deeper he fell into her pain until he couldn’t quite muffle a groan of anguish, but still he held on, feeling now the wild confusion of unsatisfied lusts within her.

     The wolf had never mated. She had half-killed a male wolf who had approached her too forcefully in her last season. A loner like him, but seeking, and fearing solitude at the same time.

     Sol’s head fell forward. He held on grimly, taking it all, until gradually, he felt her wonder, and slowly, carefully, he could begin to disperse the pain, deal with it. Eyes still closed, he held his hands over her wounded neck and back, reached down between her forelegs, seeking and finding the broken rib.

     When he opened his eyes, the wolf still stared at him, wonder and gratitude and new, desperate fear fighting for dominance in her amber eyes.

     “Come back,” he whispered. “It’s time.” And pressed his lips to her soft, furry head.

     A whimper escaped her. There was more pain, unbelievable, unbearable, but he took that too, head thrown back against the sofa for support while the wolf’s body twisted and changed, limbs lengthening, bones altering shape and position. The fur began to vanish from her shoulders and back, her face shortened and re-formed, hairless and white as her long, slender limbs.

     A lovely woman knelt between his knees, trembling.



Commenters on all Changeling Press posts - including this one! - will be entered to win a past Changeling Christmas series! 

Cry for the Moon by Marie Treanor

Cry for the Moon, a short Christmas story I wrote a couple of years ago, focuses in the beginning on a tragic element of many people's Christmas - loneliness. My heroine is so lonely after the loss of her husband two years ago, that she's spending Christmas alone in an isolated cottage, with a suicide plan.

Not festive!

However, since this is romance, unexpected hope comes to Ruth. And this does seem right for Christmas! So, thinking of the real life lonely this Christmas, and wishing them new hope and better things, here's an excerpt from Cry for the Moon...

Holiday Howlz: CRY FOR THE MOON

By MARIE TREANOR

Available Now from Changeling Press

A lonely woman spends Christmas by herself in the country cottage she once shared with her beloved husband, a soldier who disappeared without trace two years ago. She has finally accepted that he's dead and is even contemplating suicide.

On Christmas Eve, a knock on the door heralds the arrival of a homeless man in ragged clothes who bears a staggering resemblance to her husband. However, he doesn't know who he is, or what has led him to the cottage. Recklessly, she lets him stay the night, but begins to suspect she may have made a terrible mistake when, in the midst of unexpected passion, a wolf flees howling from her bed.

*

Ruth lost herself in her dream, the remembered feel of his lips and tongue, the caress of his hand on her breast while the other sneaked up her skirt to stroke her thigh and hip and slide round between her legs. She was wet for him, always eager and the discovery made his breath hitch as he slid his fingers inside her panties to find the slick nub of her clitoris. Jared’s fingers… she loved his fingers, adored the pleasure they gave her. But soon, she wanted more. She turned in his arms, burrowing under his sweater to pull it over his head before unzipping his jeans and dragging out his fully erect cock. Raising herself in his arms, shivering as his hands closed around her naked hips, she gazed into his hot, devouring eyes as she lowered herself onto his cock. God, it felt so good, filling her, answering her every desperate need…

A loud knock shattered her dream. Whisky sloshed over her hand as she jumped. Who the hell could that be? Whoever it was, she hated them for interrupting her dream. It had almost felt real.

Standing, she dashed her hand across her wet face. Shit, when had she started to cry? As the knock came again, loud and impatient, she walked unsteadily to the door, wiping her eyes on her sleeve as she went.

She was a woman, alone, in an isolated cottage at night. But she ignored the danger. She’d been beyond caring for some time. In any case, it must be Jane or Charlie in the midst of some emergency.

She flung open the door, “What is it?”

And found a tall man leaning one arm across the door frame, staring at her. In the contrast of the lit cottage with the darkness outside, she couldn’t make him out properly, but he seemed to be large and ragged and unshaven. And by some unkind trick, he managed to look like her husband.

Her throat dried up. Shock and grief kept her frozen. Had she fallen asleep in front of the fire and was dreaming? After all, she’d had dreams like this before, where he came back… Only he hadn’t looked so… rough.

He moved, pushing his head forward into the light and she saw that of course it wasn’t Jared. This man had blank, wild eyes, not the thoughtful, intelligent, often cynically amused ones of her husband. And he was too thin, too unshaven. Jared had never had stubble growing all over his neck like that…

The man took a step nearer her, and instinctively, although she wasn’t frightened, she took one back. She blinked. In the glow of light from the cottage, his neck no longer looked so hairy, though he clearly hadn’t shaved for some time. Unsure, she lifted her gaze back to his.

He stared at her, a frown etched between his thick brows. Or were they really so thick? Perhaps they were just untidy. But his eyes… her mind was playing tricks, for his eyes seemed to be exactly the same shade of bright, piercing blue as Jared’s.


Incidentally, Cry for the Moon is also part of the Wolf Hunt series, and is available in this ebook collection, together with Urban Wolf, Forest Wolf and Galactic Wolf.


WOLF HUNT - E-book collection, by MARIE TREANOR - Available Now from Changeling Press:
Only sex can restore the damaged wolves. Will love destroy their vital mission, or save the world?


Commenters on all Changeling Press posts - including this one! - will be entered to win a past Changeling Christmas series! 

Marie

Day 2 of the Christmas Party!

And I know it's going to be just as much fun as yesterday! Thanks to everyone who joined the party - hope you'll make it back today and bring your friends!

Although there will be new posts going up today, you can still enter yesterday's contests too. All contests will close at 5am EST on Saturday morning, and winners will be chosen during that day.

Cheers!

Marie

Marie Treanor - Oh No! Santa's Trapped Where???

In the City of the Damned... a dark, dangerous, ruined husk of a place, largely destroyed by nuclear war, the effects of which still block the sun. Somehow, people still live there - many of them very strange people, mutants like vampires, werewolves (lupi), oddly gifted or cursed individuals...

But you know all this, because you read about it in the City of the Damned series :).

What you may not know is that among those mutants lives the original, slightly mad, slightly punk, time travelling Santa Claus...

Well, didn't you ever wonder how Santa managed to get around the whole world in twenty-four hours? Time travel, of course.

But since the war, he just can't get out of the City of the Damned in any time, and his helpers can't get in. He has to hope his elves are taking care of the rest of the world, while he works alone in the City most people fear to enter, and somehow keeps track of all the children and their meagre toys - past, present and future. It's not easy without materials or workers - or safe, when he keeps running into himself from another time...

Then an unexpected helper shows up - but she's a thief, and she's on a mission to get out of the City. She could just be Santa's own sexy Christmas treat...or she could be something more. As one of his future selves has already found out... Will find out. Maybe. If his present self can persuade her to stay.

Well, I never said it wasn't confusing! Re-enter the City of the Damned for yourself, and all will become clear! In the mean time, before the contest, here's a snippet...



DAMNED SANTA (Santa's Helpers)
By MARIE TREANOR
Out Now from Changeling Press

Has Santa Claus really been trapped in the ruined City of the Damned?

Kate's a survivor who's had enough of the city. Escaping the lupi police, she hides out in the workshop of a sexy if insane mutant who claims to travel in time just to give presents to other people's children. Kate could be his lover, his savior, his helper -- if he can only persuade her to stay.

*

“It’s my busy night. Here.” He handed her clean plastic bottle of water. “I think it’s uncontaminated.”

“You think? Don’t you care?”

“Not for myself.”

Shit. She paused with the bottle not quite touching her lips. “Are you a mutant, Nicholas?”

 “Sort of. Are you?”

“No.”

“So you’re afraid of me?”

Was she? She stared at him. “Should I be?”

His blue eyes gleamed with wickedness. “Not if we’re to end up in that bed.”

She whisked herself away from him. “Dream on, asshole. I’m going.”

“Because I want to make love to you?”

She rounded on him from a safe distance. “Yes!”

His lips quirked , fascinating her. Treacherous moisture gathered between her thighs as she imagined those lips on her body, in all the places suddenly tingling under his scrutiny.

“I didn’t say I’d do it today,” he pointed out, glancing at a dial strapped to his wrist. “In fact, much as I’d love to, I just don’t have any time right now. Why don’t you wait for me? You can eat whatever you find in the cupboards beside the fireplace.”

He walked over to the bag he’d dropped earlier, picked it up and continued over to the corner table with the toys, which he began to stuff into the sack.

Baffled, she glared at his back. “Wait for you? Because you think you can come back and have sex with me?”

He glanced over his shoulder, grinning at her outrage. And Jesus, his smile was devastating enough to kill her anger stone dead. His eyes darkened.

“I live in hope,” he said. “Don’t you?”

Whoa, she wasn’t going there again, not after Lars had tried to sell her to his friends. With a touch of desperation, she countered, “Don’t you care that I broke into your home to rob you? Don’t you care that I still will the moment you’re gone?”

He dropped the last teddy bear in the bag before closing it, and swung it over his shoulder. “There’s nothing worth stealing now.”

She frowned, coming closer again as if she couldn’t stay away. A moth to the mutant flame that would probably kill her. Or at least burn her. “You’re weird, do you know that?”

“Yes, I know that. So I’ll see you later?”

She came to a halt a foot away from him and lifted her chin. “No.”

He took a step closer and her breath caught. It was as if some hot, magnetic current emanated from him. Something about his stance, poised and still, not even touching her, was more intimate than an embrace. She found herself watching his lips again, wondering how they felt, how they tasted. He stirred and her gaze shifted to the hand holding his sack of toys. Long-fingered, strong, deft. How would it feel on her body, on her breasts, between her thighs, stroking…?

She forced her attention back to his face. Mistake. He was even sexier when his eyes clouded with lust.

“We’ll be good together. So good…” he whispered, and bent his head. Her stomach seemed to dive and dissolve. Her pussy clenched with fierce, treacherous longing and she couldn’t make herself avoid it.

His mouth brushed hers, caressed and fastened. His hand came up and cupped her cheek, his skin rough, exciting, although his touch was gentle.

There was nothing she could do except open to him, helpless with totally misplaced desire. His tongue slid along hers, hot and exciting. And then, he was gone.

Not just stepped away from her, but totally gone.

  

:) So tell me, do you think time travel is a reasonable explanation for Santa's speed dash around the world on Christmas Eve? Or do you have a better explanation?

Commenters on all Changeling Press posts - including this one! - will be entered to win a past Changeling Christmas series! 

Happy Christmas!
Marie

Welcome to the Christmas Party!

Good morning all, and Happy Christmas!

Welcome to our second Christmas theme party! Grab yourself a mince pie and a glass of mulled wine or champagne, or whatever is your favourite tipple of the season (I'm going for coffee myself at this time of the morning but it's a virtual open house here :)), and enjoy the company.

This Christmas Party is going to work a little differently from most parties here, where we normally have a guest author each day throughout the week. Instead, new posts will appear throughout today and tomorrow, so whenever you join us, I hope you'll check out all the posts, stop and chat with as many authors as you can, and enter as many contests as you like. Each post will contain a contest, as well as an excerpt to help add to your already groaning TBR :).

We have more than twenty authors here to share Christmas with us today and tomorrow, and they bring with them a wide variety of seasonal romance, from sweet to hot, and covering most sub genres you can think of :). So please stay a while and celebrate a romantic Christmas with our very talented guests:


B.J. McCall, Zenobia Renquist, Desiree Holt, Sean Michael, Anne Kane, Vanessa Kelly, Megan Slayer, Cheryl St.John, Sam Cheever, Ayla Ruse, Linda Thomas-Sundstrom, Cynthia Sax, Sharon Bidwell, Shirley Hailstock, Shelley Munro, Linda Carroll-Bradd, Leah Braemel, KA M'Lady, Tonya Kappes, Marie Treanor, Sarah Mäkelä.

And if you have to leave us, please drop back when you can! Bring your friends and let's party :).

Swan Song

As my final contribution to the party, I thought I'd share with you a smidgeon from Swan Song, a tongue-in-cheek short story of mine which is loosely based on the Swan Maiden/Swan Lake story - except in mine, the shape-shifting swan is a male ballet dancer :).

Hope you enjoy it!


SWAN SONG
By MARIE TREANOR
Available now at Changeling Press 

When you find yourself confiding in a swan, you know you’re in trouble. When the swan talks back, madness clearly beckons. Throw in a fool of a fiancé about to be dumped, a Russian gangster, and a lustful ballet dancer with tights to die for, and the night becomes strangely magical…


 
“Want to do lunch?” I asked the swan. Since he didn’t say no, I tore a bit of bread off and dropped it in the water beside him. He dipped his head again, as if in thanks, which made me smile. He was a splendid creature, graceful and noble like most swans, but in my present mood of self-pity, he also seemed to have incredibly kind and intelligent eyes.

    “I suppose you don’t feel the cold,” I said wistfully, huddling inside my borrowed fur-lined leathers. “My suitcase is full of swim wear and strappy sun-dresses. Not entirely suitable for winter picnics in Russia.”
While he snapped up the bread, I bit into my share of the sandwich. The bread was a bit odd -- good cheese though.

    “Come to that,” I added, swallowing, “I don’t think you’re meant to be here either. Don’t you guys usually go to my country for the winter? Or are you just back?”

    He fluttered up his feathers a bit, almost like a human shrug. For some reason, it seemed a gesture of great sadness to me. I knew an urge to wrap my arms around his graceful neck, although since I thought he’d probably savage me for the presumption, I managed to keep my distance.

    “So what’s the deal with your people, then?” I asked, tearing off some more sandwich. “As I understand it, Jason’s company rebuilt this pre-revolutionary mansion where we are now, apparently guests of Mr. Yepanchin. Who is this Yepanchin? Just nouveau riche? Or gangster? Because I have to tell you, my money’s on the latter. Worse, I have even more money on the notion that Jason doesn’t care. He’s climbing into this shit up to ears.”

    I sighed again. “Yes, you’re right, of course. He’s an arse.”

    “Then why are you marrying him?”

    I choked, sending lumps of semi-masticated bread and cheese spattering across the water. Through my watering eyes, I stared at the swan. Then, as common sense returned, I twisted my head to look around me. There was no one in sight. We were at least fifty yards away from the nearest tree, a hundred from the house, There was nowhere for anyone to hide.

    Slowly, I turned back to face the swan. It had finally happened. I was officially insane.


:)

What other versions of this story have you come across

Marie

Screen Tales

As I'm sure you've noticed, fairytales are "in" just now. Not only in the realm of books but in a rush of films and television shows.

One of the things Bonnie Dee and I do in our adult fairytales is to "empower" the heroines of the story. I know other authors do the same in their takes. Passively waiting to be rescued by a handsome prince just isn't acceptable to most writers or readers any more! So I was quite surprised to come across some criticism on the web of the new films and tv shows as insulting to women. The argument seemed to be that the heroines had to "turn themselves into men" - ie warriors - in order to succeed. Or that women weren't represented at all, as in the series Grimm.

Now, I haven't actually seen the new films, like Miror, Mirror or Snow White and the Huntsman, or Grimm or Once Upon a Time, so I can't really comment! I would like to know your views though :).

So what are your favourites among the current screen versions, and why? Is there an older one that captures your attention more? Perhaps a classic, like Cocteau's 1946 Beauty and the Beast? Personally, I loved Company of Wolves (a highly imaginative and atmospheric take on Little Red Riding Hood) when it came out. And I thoroughly enjoyed the 10th Kingdom. What about you?

Marie

Fairytale Heroes and Villains

You can't get much meaner than fairytale villains, can you? They're spiteful, cruel and often use dark magic, like the Queen in Snow White, Rumplestiltskin, or the witch in Sleeping Beauty. But it seems to me that sometimes the heroes aren't much better!

Take the king in Rumplestiltskin who forces the poor miller's daughter to spin straw into gold. Marriage to him is meant to be a reward? Her happy ever after? Really? (You should read Demon Lover, to see what Bonnie Dee and I think of that one :)). And what about the dude in Rapunzel? Climbing up her hair must have HURT! What sort of careless, even abusive husband would he make?

In fact a lot of the fairytale heroes are induced to rescue the princess with promises of power and wealth to go with her hand in marriage. He's not really making much of a sacrifice, is he?

So, talk fairytale heroes and villains with me! Which "hero" doesn't measure up for you? Which villains are the scariest? Or even the most attractive? :)

To give you an idea what I mean, here's a snippet from the opening of Demon Lover...

Excerpt from DEMON LOVER By BONNIE DEE and MARIE TREANOR

Available Now in  E-book from Samhain Publishing and Amazon. 

And in Print. 

“Is your name Charles? Oliver? Harold?” Gwyneth’s pulse pounded, and she shivered despite the fact she held the precious trump card up her sleeve. Her husband King Midas, the courtiers and soldiers all looked on, frozen as they had been from the moment the devil arrived in a thunderclap and a puff of sulfurous black smoke. Literally frozen by some magic force that thickened the air around them.

“No.” The evil being’s deep voice reverberated through the room, sending a chill down her spine and making the hair on her nape prickle. As menacing as a towering black thunderhead threaded with crackling lightning, the dark-shrouded figure dominated the throne room of the castle. Gwyneth longed to throw back his hood and behold his face just once.

“Brandon? Sylvester? Archibald? James?”

Why was she playing this dangerous game when her child’s very life was at stake? She should simply spit out the horrid name her spy had overheard and win Brea’s freedom. A demon from hell couldn’t break a deal, could he? Surely he was bound by his word.

“No. Are you prepared to concede, to pay me what you owe?” A cool voice came from the dark depths of the hood.

Gwyneth exhaled slowly, trying to rein in her racing heart. The warmth of victory swelled through her, but she willed herself not to show it with a smug smile. No point in angering her enemy.

“Is your name perhaps”—she paused and licked her lips—“Rumplestiltskin?”

There was dead silence in the room for the space of three heartbeats. Brea stirred in her cradle and gave a soft gurgle. Gwyneth glanced from the hooded figure to her husband, whose frightened gaze was riveted on the intruder.

Gwyneth knew she was correct. She’d received an eyewitness account of this cloaked demon waltzing around a campfire, gloating over her inability to guess his ridiculous name.

“Is your name Rumplestiltskin?” she repeated.

The dark being strode forward, stopping only a few paces from her and the cradle.

“No. It is not.” He reached for the baby.

For a moment, Queen Gwyneth froze, unable to fathom his answer, then she darted between him and the cradle, intercepting his black-gloved hands as they reached for her precious daughter. She snatched up Brea and clutched the baby to her breast too tightly, making the infant squawk in indignation.

“You lie! I know that’s your name. I won’t let you take my baby.”

“Madam, I never lie, and the child is mine.” He moved closer.

Gwyneth caught the familiar scent of smoke and earth that permeated his clothes. The odor should’ve turned her stomach, made her gut clench in fear, yet it instantly brought back memories of several long, dark, mysterious nights when he’d talked to her and…touched her while she spun straw into gold.

“I won’t harm her. I wish to raise her as my own.” His fingers tightened in the baby’s blanket.

“Begone, demon! I’ll never let you take her.” Gwyneth pushed away his hand.

“I would not be accused of separating a child from its mother,” he drawled. “You’re welcome to come to the underworld with us, lovely Gwyneth. If you dare to give up your wealth and title.”

“No!” Midas cried. Maybe he cared for Gwyneth and Brea more than she’d thought. More likely he feared losing the source of his riches—not that she could’ve spun one golden thread if it weren’t for the magical creature who now claimed their child in payment.

“Guards, seize him!” The king yelled quite futilely as everyone in the room, except, apparently, Gwyneth, was still frozen in place.

The black figure loomed over the queen and her child. His cloak seemed to billow in an unseen wind, and the air around them was charged as if from an approaching storm.

Gwyneth clutched Brea and stared into the depths of the hood, trying to glimpse a pair of eyes, trying to make a connection as she begged for mercy, but it was like trying to look down a well. A person might catch a glimmer of water at the bottom, but it was simply too dark to see anything clearly.

“Please, sir, leave my baby alone. I will come with you if that is what you desire, but this poor, innocent child has done nothing. Why should she pay for my unholy bargain?”

“Unholy?” A harsh bark of laughter came from the figure. “You think me some kind of devil? Well, maybe I am, but I’m not the one who was willing to give up her baby in exchange for a pile of gold.”

Neither was I. It wasn’t my fault. I was trying to save my life. Gwyneth wanted to protest and explain her actions, but excuses would not move him. She gripped his wrist, solid and strong beneath the black gloves—not an incorporeal spirit, but a demon of flesh and blood, as she well knew. She stared into the hood, searching for the face she couldn’t see, and made her offer again.

“I will come with you. I will do anything you want. Anything.”


:) Marie