Shield Wolf: LIULF – Preview Excerpt

Liulf_CoverHere’s a PREVIEW excerpt from one of the ALL NEW stories included in the Scottish Shifter Box Set, to release September 18th.

From Liulf, New Scotia Pack 1, Mahdrah Ahlee by Victoria Danann

Liulf squatted on the castle parapet with his back to the sound of the ocean crashing against Girnigoe’s black craig cliffs. If he let himself think about the damp cold or the January wind that tried to penetrate flesh and bone, he’d start to shiver in a way that would rack his whole body. So he’d learned to focus on other things. Looking east, over the land he loved, he felt a sense of pride and history. And memory. In his slightly less than four hundred years, he’d covered every inch of pack territory in wolf form and much of it in biped form as well. He knew he was blessed with good things, but that didn’t fill the underlying emptiness that he couldn’t quite pinpoint. Lack of purpose maybe. There wasn’t much satisfaction in guarding a border without an aggressor.

That very day a wolf had said it was easy for Liulf to make reckless choices because he didn’t have a mate. Liulf had kept his face passive, but inside the words had stung. It wasn’t as if he could control destiny. What Lycan didn’t want to find his mate? Well, perhaps Conn would prefer to be a bachelor wolf forever.

It was true that Liulf could have settled for a bitch who was merely compatible, as most did. But he hadn’t because he knew there was more. There was mating that was, well, magical. He wouldn’t say so out loud because his brothers would never stop razzing him if he did. But he lived with a constant yearning that never subsided, spoken or not.

All the fucking in the world wouldn’t take the edge off his desire. And he should know. All he had to do was keep from cursing the Fates until they saw fit to gift him with the one. The one he knew was out there.

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READ WILD big shifter sale & giveaway this weekend

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FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A BLACK SWAN MOUSE PAD, LEAVE A COMMENT TELLING VICTORIA WHY YOU WANT ONE!!

Winners are

Beverly Smith

Zonell Conant

Melissa Garcia

Wynette S. Evans

Melanie McClure

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Come read on the wild side!
Huge shifter romance sale and giveaway!

As I mentioned earlier this week, the pack has gathered and we’ve put together quite a sale for you!  If you’re in the Wolf Pack FB group, you’ll be seeing additional giveaways and fun there.

If you haven’t joined the pack yet, you can find us here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1435064660059434/

The giveaway is here: www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e05c9016/

And all the books on sale are listed below.  Remember, prices can change without notice so verify before you buy!

 

Victoria is SERIOUS ABOUT SHIFTERS

 
Welcome to my stop on the Seriously Shifter GIVEAWAY Hop.

Late summer I will be launching a new series entitled Exiled.

Following is the introduction that was given in Book 6 of the Knights of Black Swan, A Tale of Two Kingdoms.

Rosie had waited on a tabletop boulder on a windswept mountaintop of Prescient Dimension where she went when she needed to contact Kellareal for longer than usual. She explained that she wanted a change of environment, where she could take a break from her life and rethink the direction of things.

She knew she’d pushed things with Glen, but she also knew that, despite her feelings and desires to the contrary, the relationship wasn’t serious and wasn’t going to be. Not for a while. He’d made his decision. He was going wherever Z Team went and at least she had enough pride to know she wasn’t going to follow along like a camp whore. Even if he’d let her. Which he probably wouldn’t.

So she’d take a lesson from that and maybe look for a little adventure of her own while she was young. While she was young.

The breeze that blew her wild hair back from her face grew a little softer. Kellareal appeared to float down from the sky wearing a long white robe that billowed around him, arms outstretched as if inviting embrace, and landed in front of her soundlessly. She knew he would want to be congratulated on the theater, so she clapped. He bowed.

“Lally. How long do you think I’m going to live?”

“You called me for that?” He picked up a pebble, sat down beside her, and threw it out over the canyon overlook. “We may have to rethink your summoning privilege if you’re going to abuse it, young lady.”

“No, that’s not why I called, but since you’re here…”

“Well, your elemental side is very long lived, meaning eons. Your human side is cursed with short life under the best of circumstances. Then there is the issue of fragility, the moment to moment uncertainty, the… risk, if you will, of being human. I tell you, it causes me to marvel constantly at their courage. Living under those circumstances, I’m not sure that I wouldn’t just curl into a ball and hope for sudden death to put an end to the suspense.”

“If they only knew how cynical real angels sound, you would never get your own TV shows.”

“Hmmm. No doubt.” He grinned. “But a few feather sightings would bring them right back around.”

Rosie giggled. “You’re hopeless.”

“And is that why you wanted to see me?”

“No. I need to get out of town for a while, change of scenery. Maybe I need to broaden my experience.”

“Get out of town,” he repeated drily. “What does your mother think of this?”

“She thinks she can get in touch with you if there’s an emergency and that you’ll know where to find me.”

The angel pursed his lips, stood and paced for a while. “Vacations are fun. Sabbaticals are informative. Quests are enlightening, sometimes cathartic. Retreats are rejuvenating. Treks are adventurous. This?” He stopped and looked at Rosie. “This sounds like running away. Hard to put a noble spin on running away.”

“I’m not necessarily asking for your blessing, Lally. Just a place to…”

“…hide?”

Rosie flushed. “It’s a favor.”

Kellareal looked at her for a long time. “I can’t decide without hearing the whole story. I want to know exactly what it is you’re running from and what you’re hoping to gain.”

By the time Rosie finished spelling it out, she was sorry she had started the whole thing. Spelling out what had brought her to that mountaintop sounded spoiled, selfish, childish and silly, even to herself as she said it. She supposed that was one of the angel’s goals in having her connect the dots out loud. She hoped that the worst of it, humiliation-wise, was over.

“Have you thought about how long you want to be away?”

She hadn’t thought about it.

“Do I have to decide that now?”

“No. I suppose you can do a pay-as-you-go plan.”

“Wait. What do you mean pay-as-you-go?”

The angel took her elbow and pulled her to her feet. Standing several inches taller, he looked down into her face. “You’re right, Elora Rose. It is time for you to learn something of the world. First lesson, nothing’s free.”

A few minutes later they were standing on the periphery of an enclosure – a crude, gray stone wall. From what Rosie could see, there were homes and buildings built around a park-like commons area with sparse gas lighting, but the overall impression of the place was of a fort. Through a break in the wall that formed a gate with iron bars, she could see that they were on a hilltop overlooking the lights of a large town.

The air was scented with the welcoming smell of wood burning fires releasing white smoke into the atmosphere. The prominent feature of the compound was a long row of motorcycles, some of which had parts shiny enough to reflect in the cold moonlight.

beast background“Where are we?” Rosie asked.

“It’s a project of mine, Rosie. A secret. You can’t ever tell anyone.”

“Okay.”

“Promise.”

“I do.”

“They’re what’s left of Telstar.”

“Telstar? Isn’t that one of those worlds that went crazy with genetic engineering?”

“I guess it depends on what you mean by ‘went crazy’.”

“Okay. Let me put it this way. You start out with a wolf. You end up with a Shih Tzu or a Pug. You start out with a human, you end up with a …”

“The flaw in your argument is the owners of dogs like that would say they’re an improvement on the prototype.”

Rosie blinked. “So you’re saying you’re taking me to a place where I should be prepared for…” She left the end of that sentence for him to fill in the blank.

“Okay. Consider this your briefing in a nutshell. There were some experiments that went on for a couple of generations. People became concerned and even invoked religious invective to fuel a movement to eradicate all the produce of the experiment.”

“Produce?” He nodded. “You mean the people?”

“That is what I mean and I, ah, intervened. I saw an opportunity to solve two problems. There was a group of people here in need of protection, which is one of the ways Telstar skills might be used. This group was under threat of genocide. I knew the Telstar survivors would relate. So I paired them with the humans that needed them. “

He waved his hand at the darkness. “It’s pretty here. This dimension hasn’t been ruined yet. Lots of everything. Gives them a chance.” He looked at Rosie. “You know?”

“Wasn’t that against some rule?”

The angel pursed his lips and heaved a big sigh. “Rules need to be placed in the context of knowing the rule makers. And their agenda.”

Rosie studied his face in the darkness. “Lally, you’re an anarchist.”

“Guess that depends on who you talk to.”

“Are there others?”

“Other elementals who think like I do?” She nodded. “Yeah. Anyway. They’ve been here for a while now. Some have started families. Their own take on culture is starting to emerge. Interesting to watch. The one in charge of the place is a nice fellow with a nice family. Owes me a favor. Simple as that.”

“Does everybody in the multiverse owe you a favor?”

His mouth twitched at the corner as he looked down at her. “Working on it.” His eyes drifted back to the settlement. Rosie thought she saw a hint of pride. Proud sponsor perhaps.

“This could be a good place to get your thoughts sorted out. They’ll give you a job and who knows? Maybe a new perspective. So welcome to the EC. That’s what they call it, short for Exile Camp. By the way, don’t mention Telstar. They don’t like to be reminded. I don’t blame them. They left that behind to start a new life.” He turned to face Rosie. “A new world really.”

She looked around again. “What’s with the motorcycles?”

His expression was definitely sheepish. “Oh, they, the Telstar, like them. A lot. So they became part of our arrangement. I made an adjustment to the engines so they’ll run on water and threw tools and maintenance stuff in with the deal.”

“Are you saying that they’re weren’t motorcycles here before?”

“No. Every dimension develops differently. You know that.”

“Well, yes… So how did you get motorcycles here?”

He laughed. “Rode them.”

“You did not.”

He nodded, grinning. “One at a time.”

“I didn’t know you could ride a motorcycle through the passes.”

“For all I know, I’m the only one who knows it. Let’s keep it that way. Okay?”

She shrugged. “Okay. What do they look like?”

“Look like?” Kellareal laughed out loud. “Oh, sweet baby.”

MY GIVEAWAY…

MoonlightAmazonPRG

One signed copy of MOONLIGHT: The Big Bad Wolf. Winner of the REVIEWERS CHOICE AWARDS  Best Vampire~Shifter Novel of 2013, the Paranormal Romance Guild.2013PRG1st place High Res

For a chance to win, leave a comment telling me why you’d like a signed copy of Moonlight.

THANK YOU for visiting my stop on the hop. To continue go here… http://theherdhops.blogspot.com/p/march.html

Black Swan Collected Tales, Books 1-6 Release

The Order of the Black Swan is a serial saga including My Familiar Stranger, The Witch’s Dream, A Summoner’s Tale, Moonlight, Gathering Storm, and NEVER BEFORE RELEASED Book 6, A Tale of Two Kingdoms.

Once upon a time a girl lost everything familiar. She escaped death by being forced into an experiment that left her in another world where modern day knights, elves, vampires, werewolves, witches, demons and fae became her allies, friends and family. She discovered a place where adventure intersects fairytales, where honor is more than an ideal, and she learned that love can find you in the strangest places, when you’re least expecting it, even when you’re far, far from home. This is the story of Elora Laiken’s strange and wonderful journey. It is also the story of those whose lives she touches along the way.

If you love romance, paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, urban fantasy, contemporary, this series is right for you. 17+

ISBN: 978-1-933320-94-6

533,000 word

 iTunes     SMASHWORDS    KOBO      B&N 

 On Amazon the set is available as Black Swan Collected Tales, 1-3 and 4-6.

It's a BIG OCTOBER.

October 30th on Alphas, Authors & Books Oh My … My list of the top gothic horror books that gave roots to modern paranormal romance.

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Don’t miss the interview with Stalkson Grey at Paranormal Cravings on October 31st!!

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The incubus, Deliverance, is NOT getting his own book, but he IS getting his own hour at this fabulous paranormal speed dating event.

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Great Chances to win Black Swan E-Books for yourself or friends by particpating in these blog hops.

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Sexy athletic body

5***** for Beast Behaving Badly

Beast Behaving Badly (Pride, #5)Beast Behaving Badly by Shelly Laurenston

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you’re looking for shades of relevant social commentary, you won’t find it here. This book was totally silly.

It was also cute, funny, and entertaining with some dialogue I could really appreciate. The ultimate beach read. If I still had a beach body, I would go to the beach and take this book.

Read because of a reference by a blogger I admire. Glad I got it.

View all my reviews

By |2019-03-25T18:04:45-05:00March 17th, 2013|paranormal romance, shifter|2 Comments

Heart FEATURED TODAY

Heart_500x750Heart: Book I in Animal Trilogy

By Jacqueline Paige

Three women without knowledge of their true heritage…

Three men that have waited for their mate all of their lives…

Hearts and tempers collide with wild passions and animal instincts

in the Animal Trilogy

~

Heart

Torn from her sheltered life, Rayne is alone and scared after she discovers her fiancé is not the man she thought he was.  Unable to accept the corrupt world he belongs to, she flees to the furthest possible location she can reach on her own.  Nothing could ever prepare her for the journey and what she finds out when she arrives.

Is she strong enough to survive on her own?

The epitome of the lone wolf, Devin stays in the wilderness and far away from people, avoiding the decision of whether to accept his title as leader and alpha of the pack.  One alluring woman stirs up his resolve and passion when she disturbs his solitary world.  The man inside is tempted in a way he can’t understand but his wolf knows he’s found his mate.

Can he have her without succumbing to the responsibilities waiting for him?

TBR  November 1st  at Eternal Press   http://eternalpress.biz/people.php?author=428

Excerpt:

If nothing else she was warmer now.  How long would the rain last?  Do I want to wait it out and then try to find a washroom – in the dark?  Rayne shook her head before she could go any further with that thought. There was no way she was getting out of this car until it was light out, rain or no rain.  How many hours until daylight?  She debated very briefly whether she could squirm around and reach the purse to get her phone.  Highly doubtful.  Besides being cocooned in the puffy material, the phone was off for a reason and turning it on just to check the time wasn’t worth the risk of Aiden being able to trace the location.  Truthfully she didn’t know if that was possible even though all the movies referenced it being so, but understanding what type of man Aiden was and what he was capable of, she wasn’t taking any chances.

Working one arm free from the bag, she shifted far enough forward to reach the ignition; he couldn’t track the cars clock.  Turning the key, her heart sunk when she noted the time, there were too many hours left until dawn.  She looked out the windshield and froze, her heart jumped into her throat. Afraid to so much as breathe, Rayne stared at the animal a few feet away from the headlight.  Her brain first said dog, but that was no dog.  That was a wolf; it had to be a wolf.  Were wolves that big?  It seemed bigger than in any pictures she’d seen.

She sat there looking at it, not sure if she should honk the horn or just sit and try not to get hysterical waiting for it to leave.  The car may be metal, but the roof was something this animal could probably get through. As she continued to stare at it she couldn’t help thinking it was a beautiful creature. It’s grey and brown fur looked soft and thick, not that she’d ever be able to find out if it was.  It was the way the haunting grey eyes watched her that made her decide not to honk the horn or scream as loud as she could, which had crossed her mind briefly.  Rayne was fairly certain it was as surprised to see her as she was to see it.  Didn’t wolves travel as group?  A pack?  She wanted to look around and see if there were more in the trees, but the logical part of her brain said she was better off not knowing.  Never argue with the logical part.

She was sure she stopped breathing all together when it took a step closer to the car and then turned quickly back towards the trees.  As she was reaching for the keys it stopped and looked back at her for the length of two heart beats before it bolted into the trees and disappeared.

Turning off the key, she sat in the dark leaning back against the seat while she tried to remind her body how to take air in. In this moment with her heart beating so loud she could hear it, or at least it felt that way, Rayne reached the decision that she was not getting out of the car until daylight, and even then was questionable.  One more conclusion was also not turning the lights on again; her mental state was much better not knowing what else was outside of the car.  She checked to make sure the door was locked, she did know a wolf wouldn’t just walk up and use the door handle, but she felt better knowing that she was locked in and more importantly other things were locked out.

Pulling her arm back into the sleeping bag, Rayne shuffled down as far as she could and closed her eyes.  The sooner she slept, the closer daylight was to getting here.  Over the noise of the water beating off the car, she thought she heard a howl.

By |2019-03-25T18:04:46-05:00February 18th, 2013|shifter|0 Comments

Big Bad Beast FEATURE & GIVEAWAY

BigBadBeastBIG BAD BEAST (novella)

Werescape Book Six
Skhye Moncrief

Genre: Paranormal Romance

ASIN: B0088DE3EA

Word Count: 38,000 words

Cover Artist: Erin Dameron-Hill (EDH Graphics)

Kindle    Nook

GIVEAWAY: One e-copy per tour stop, Kindle or epub. Leave a comment for a chance to win.

Book Description:

Each wants the other, but neither can stand to be in the same room.

One day in the Big Woods, Normal Josie wakes up and helplessly watches a Shifter virus kill her immediate family in their remote wilderness homestead. Josie has no choice but to carry on. She’s forced to brave the forested Wild alone, leading a string of pack horses with all the supplies she can manage to her uncle’s Shifter outpost–back to where she became known as a little Normal female who could kick butt with the best Shifters, back to where she fell in love with the only Shifter she could ever mate. Thank goodness he isn’t there. But when living among a pack of Shifters, a girl has to obey the alpha. And her alpha has secret plans for her, plans that involve the only Shifter she loves–the Shifter who now irritates the hell out of her.

Stationed at an isolated agricultural outpost with nothing but teenage hormones for company, Shifter Hostillian doesn’t mind monotonous day-to-day schedules where he rules the roost. And then his inner Wolf’s favorite wild cat screeches at his door. He has no desire to mate the only person who challenges everything he utters. But his Wolf makes demands the minute it catches Josie’s scent.

Stand back and watch the fireworks light up the Minnesota sky because the BIG BAD BEAST can’t help but to huff and puff and blow Josie’s house in…

About the Author:

Aside from muscled men in fur, leather, denim, or kilts, I love cultural ecology, cultural evolution, cultural relativism, and natural processes. Big ideas. Simple concepts that manifest in world building to crazy people like me who studied anthropology and geology before turning to writing romantic fiction. My rule of thumb is to love the good, the bad, and the ugly of every culture in my tales so every aspect of my stories resonates as real as possible.

Website: http://skhyemoncrief.com

Blog: http://blog.skhyemoncrief.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/skhye.moncrief

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/SkhyeMoncrief

Yahoo Group/Newsletter: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skhyemoncrief/

By |2019-03-25T18:04:46-05:00February 10th, 2013|paranormal romance, shifter|17 Comments

highlight book title to see on Amazon

PARANORMAL WOMEN’S FANTASY

Not Too Late 1. Midlife Magic

Not Too Late 2. Midlife Blues

Not Too Late. 3. Midlife Mojo

Not Too Late 4. Midlife at Midnight

Not Too Late 5. Midlife at Midsummer

Not Too Late 6. Trials of Tregeagle

Not Too Late 7.  Hallow Hill at Halloween – Part One 

Not Too Late 8. Hallow Hill at Halloween – Part Two

KNIGHTS OF BLACK SWAN PARANORMAL ROMANCE

Knights of Black Swan 1. My Familiar Stranger

Knights of Black Swan 2. The Witch’s Dream

Knights of Black Swan 3. A Summoner’s Tale

Knights of Black Swan 4. Moonlight

Knights of Black Swan 5. Gathering Storm

Knights of Black Swan 6. A Tale of Two Kingdoms

Knights of Black Swan 7. Solomon’s Sieve

Knights of Black Swan 8. Vampire Hunter

***Be sure to pause the series and read  Exiled 1. CARNAL before going on to Journey Man.

Knights of Black Swan 9. Journey Man

Knights of Black Swan 10. Falcon

Knights of Black Swan 11. Jax

Knights of Black Swan 12. Trespass

Knights of Black Swan 13. Irish War Cry

Knights of Black Swan 14.  Deliverance

Knights of Black Swan 15. Black Dog

Knights of Black Swan 16. The Music Demon

Order of the Black Swan Novels

Black Swan Novel Prince of Demons

WITCHES & WARLOCKS

Witches of Wimberley 1-3

Warlock Coven 1.QUEST

THE HYBRIDS

Exiled 1. CARNAL

Exiled 2. CRAVE

Exiled 3. CHARMING

THE WEREWOLVES

New Scotia Pack 1, Shield Wolf

New Scotia Pack 2. Wolf Lover

New Scotia Pack 3. Fire Wolf

Hotblooded 1. Stalk

CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

SSMC Austin, TX, Book 1. Two Princes

SSMC Austin, TX, Book 2. The Biker’s Brother

SSMC Austin, TX, Book 3. Nomad

SSMC Austin, TX, Book 4. Devil’s Marker

SSMC Austin, TX, Book 5. Roadhouse

CDMC Lafayette, LA Book 1. Batiste