SERAFINA AND THE SILENT VAMPIRE
Serafina’s Book One
By Marie Treanor
Coming 28th August
Silence
has never been so sinful…
Welcome to Edinburgh's unique
psychic investigation agency, Serafina's.
Serafina MacBride is psychic -
but not strictly honest. While staging a hilarious vampire attack at a client's
party, Sera is stunned to encounter a real vampire - annoying, gorgeous and
inaudible to everyone but her. When her client's son is found dead with
puncture wounds in his neck, she tracks the silent vampire to his lair.
But the amoral and seductive Blair is also on a mission - to find and kill
a nest of young vampires who've invaded his territory. Soon Sera is drawn into
the bizarre world of the undead, where danger lurks in the shadows along with
forbidden sensual delights - and a murderous conspiracy to flood the world with
financially astute vampires who talk.
Supported and hindered by Blair's
eccentric, undead friends, and by her own motley crew from Serafina's, Sera and
Blair uncover surprising truths about each other and about the mysterious
Founder from whom all vampires are descended.
In the end, Sera draws on powers
she never knew she had in a frantic fight to defeat the forces of evil and
preserve the strange, complicated being
she's trying so hard not to love.
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Vampires and Kilts by
Marie Treanor
Hello, everyone, and thank you, Dana, for having me on your
blog today!
Dana has asked me to talk about what fascinates me about
vampires and kilts - which I seem to have combined in my latest book SERAFINA
AND THE SILENT VAMPIRE (released today – Champagne!).
Well, I’m not alone! As
you know, vampires and in particular vampire romance have been popular for
ages, in books, films and television.
And of course Scottish romances, featuring brawny Highlanders in kilts and no
shirts (brrr!) have a large and devoted following. As regards my own
fascinations…where do I start???
Vampires have enthralled me since childhood when I used to
get to stay up late on a Friday night to watch “horror” films with my Dad –
this introduced me to classics like Bela Lugosi’s Dracula, and Christopher
Lee’s Hammer Horror version, and inspired me to read Bram Stoker’s novel. I was
hooked. A little later I read Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire and was
blown away all over again. Why? Because there’s something utterly mesmerizing
about a figure so powerful, who’ll live forever and yet is damned and evil – or
at least is believed to be. You long to see more of him, find any vulnerability
or still-human emotion. This combination of bad-boy might and eternal tragedy
is a sexy one and as I began to write seriously, it was one I couldn’t resist.
All very well. But why is my vampire in a kilt on the cover
of SERAFINA? Because he’s Scottish, and he’s crashed a formal party where he’s
trying to blend in, and at such parties in Scotland, formal wear for men can
often be a kilt. Plus, I thought readers would like it. I’ve been around the
romance world long enough to have picked up the universal obsession of
non-Scots for the kilt J.
As an actual Scot myself, I confess I don’t fully understand
this obsession! I’ve grown up with boys complaining that they’ve been forced to
wear kilts to Sunday school, weddings, whatever, and watched football fans
celebrate (or more often commiserate) in crazily long kilts and tartan tammies
which are fun caricatures of the national dress. Which is, of course, what
kilts are anyway. The writer Sir Walter Scott is generally attributed with
inventing today’s Highland dress, adopted by Scots in a resurgence of national
pride in the nineteenth century. But the really funny (and interesting) thing
is, that the kilt is an idealized version of the rough costume worn by the
poorest Highland peasants, and yet it became adopted by all Scots including great
noblemen and wealthy Lowlanders, who would once have despised it! The kilt
became a universal symbol of “Scottishness”, of patriotism.
So, it has a long and interesting history, but to be honest,
much of its attraction for me stems from its fascination for others! Of course,
some men can look extraordinarily handsome in a kilt – like my vampire hero,
Blair – so I’m all for it some of the time. But Blair wears jeans at other
times and looks sexy then too.
Still, I did enjoy writing the kilted scene at the beginning
of SERAFINA. For me it was an irresistible combination of biting vampire and
swinging kilt over muscular, bare legs J.
Hope you think so too!
Excerpt:
Although the
scary glow didn’t vanish from his eyes, they seemed to soften. His body didn’t.
It still pinned her helplessly to the wall. He lifted his hand and touched her
cheek, trailing his fingertips down her jaw to her throat. She gasped.
“Serafina,” he
murmured in her head. “Some things are just stronger than you. They don’t
necessarily hurt you, and they won’t necessarily defeat you.”
Distracting her
from his surprising words, the bulge in his jeans was hardening, both alarming
and exciting her. After all, he had the kind of face and body to die for. Sera
had no intention of dying.
“Okay,
celebrate!” she spat. “You’re stronger than me.”
His lips
twitched. “I was thinking of Nicholas Smith. But now you mention it, yes, I
am.” His fingers lingered over her vein, stroking. She shivered, trying not to
feel the spurt of physical pleasure that was in danger of drowning out her
alarm, especially when he swayed his hips in a slow, sensual caress. His
erection rubbed against her tummy,
and she had an insane urge to stand on tiptoe to feel it grind between her
legs. “And, you know, I like that too.”
“Why?” she got
out, reaching wildly for the smart comment that somehow eluded her.
His fingers slid
upward to her face once more, and he traced the outline of her lips. “Because I
can kiss you without you feeling the need to stop me.”
She narrowed her
eyes threateningly, although her heart seemed to plunge right through her
stomach to her womb. “It won’t be the need that’s lacking,” she managed.
“But you like
the way I look,” he pointed out, pressing gently on her lower lip to part it
from the upper. “I’ve read it in your mind.”
“Doesn’t mean I
want you slobbering all over me!” Oh
Jesus, what would it feel like?
“I won’t
slobber,” he promised and bent his head.
She couldn’t
have avoided it. She refused to dent her dignity further by trying. So she
glared into his face, daring him, while her heart thundered in treacherous
anticipation. His lips hovered over hers for an instant, just long enough for
her to panic that perhaps he was changing his mind and wouldn’t do it, after
all. She felt an urge to close the distance herself—only to break the tension,
of course. And then he did it, sliding his fingers away from her lips to cup
her face and sinking his mouth into hers with blatant, wonderful, terrifying
sensuality.
There was none
of the buildup she was used to, the gentle brushing of lips, the soft, quick
kisses that grew deeper and longer. It was an outright assault on her senses,
and it was devastating. His lips were cool and firm as they moved on hers,
savoring, almost as if he were drinking from her. Oh shit, don’t think drinking here! He opened her mouth wider for
his tongue, which swept around her teeth and curled around her own, drawing it
into his mouth. She tried to speak, but the attempt got lost in the shock of
his long, sharp teeth under her tongue. Blood drummed in her head, a tattoo of
fear all mixed up with wonder and sheer, unadulterated lust.
A weird sound
came from her mouth, and he deepened the kiss, almost grinding his mouth into
hers, demanding the response she found it impossible not to give. There had
never been a kiss like this one, fierce and overwhelmingly sexual, driving all
thought from her head but the gratification of desire. She melted into it,
opening wide for him, winding her tongue around his, sucking and biting his
lips, drawing him deeper in.
At some point, he’d
begun to grind his hips too, rubbing himself against her, and she found herself
moving with him, standing on tiptoe and pressing back to try to assuage the
aching need between her thighs.
When she almost
ran out of breath, he broke the kiss and smiled. “Oh yes,” he whispered in her
mind. “All night with you. All night and day, and all night again…” His words
drove her to fever pitch, eliciting a helpless mewl of desire as she reached
for his mouth once more.
He gave it with
enthusiasm. His hands were on her hips, stroking down to her thighs and
dragging upward inside her jacket and over the sides of her breasts. She moaned
into his mouth, felt his thumbs caress her desperate nipples over and over. She
wanted them on her naked breasts. She wanted no clothes at all between them.
She wanted him buried deep inside her, pounding her to the greatest, sweetest
orgasm of her life. More than that, she yearned to blast his control to hell,
to make him lose himself in the pleasure she could give him. She was sure no
one had ever wanted her this much before.
She squirmed
against him, dragging her arms free at last to loop them around his neck and
comb her fingers through his soft hair. His hands cupped both her breasts,
making her gasp, and swept downward to the fastening of her jeans.
She tore her
mouth free to gasp, half laughing, “Oh stop! We can’t! This is a respectable
street! People are bound to pass.”
“I don’t care. I
want you now. Just for starters. I want to make you scream as you come the
first time, see your face in the open air as you fall apart around me. Oh yes.”
She caught his
head as he plunged back for her mouth, his fingers determinedly unfastening the
buttons of her jeans. “Blair, no!”
He paused and
raised his head, his eyes black and clouded with lust. “Admit it. You want me
to fuck you.”
She caught the
golden flash in his dark eyes, glimpsed the pointed fangs between his parted
lips, and swallowed hard. “Does it come with blood drinking?”
“Oh yes…”
What I Liked:
This book hooked me from page one. The voice of it, in particular was a real treat. Sassy and full of kick butt attitude and action. Serafina is a blast. Reading the opening scene in the book, I felt like I was at the party, hobnobbing with the snooty and pretentious guests and secretly laughing about it all with Sera. The psychic investigator job was perfect and in your face with all the anti vampire trappings around the party. Excellent scene development.
Blair was an interesting character. The silent vampire was a heart throb on wheels and I couldn't get enough of him. The interplay between he and Sera was dynamic and felt very real. Excellent!
What I Didn't:
Not a thing. Just wanted it to never end. Sigh...
Overall:
I have a new author that is in my must read list! Marie Treanor has a voice that had me giggling in the break room at work and sneaking reading moments while I was supposed to be cooking dinner. Some books it takes you a few pages to figure out if you like it or not. It took one sentence and the sarcastic bite had me turning the pages like the caffeine addicted bookaholic that I am.
Sera is a hilarious and very biting character that made me love her right away. Add in a fake vamp attack, a real fangified murder, some pretty cool friends on both sides and the hunky Blair (aka silent kilted vampire extraordinaire) and you have a story that just won't quit. I loved it. Taking my iPad to bed and reading until my eyes won't stay open anymore, loved it.
5/5
Author Bio:
Marie Treanor lives in Scotland with
her eccentric husband and three much-too-smart children. Having grown bored
with city life, she resides these days in a picturesque village by the sea
where she is lucky enough to enjoy herself avoiding housework and writing
sensual stories of paranormal romance and fantasy.
Marie Treanor has published more
than twenty ebooks with small presses, (Samhain Publishing, Ellora’s Cave,
Changeling Press and The Wild Rose Press), including a former Kindle
bestseller, Killing Joe. Blood on Silk: an
Awakened by Blood novel, was her New York debut with NAL.
Website: www.MarieTreanor.com
Blog: Marie Treanor's Romantic Theme
Party:
Enter to win a tour wide giveaway of a $25 Amazon gift card.
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2 comments:
Dana, thanks so much for the lovely review! SO glad you enjoyed SERAFINA. Thanks too for being such an excellent blitz host :).
Marie
This book sounds aweseome! You had me at vampires and kilts! Awesome post! Thanks for the excerpt and awesome giveaway!
ehaney578 at aol dot com
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