#DarkTour: Shadow and Sweetblood Excerpt Day + Giveaway!

Shadow and Sweetblood Excerpt Day!

Welcome to #DarkTour, where we are celebrating the releases of our two e-novellas—Erin Kellison’s Shadow Touch and Laurie London’s Hidden by Blood. We’ve got a great prize package for one lucky winner, including Shadow Bound (book one in Erin’s Shadow series), Bonded by Blood (book one in Laurie’s Sweetblood series), Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch, as well as bookmarks and romance trading cards from both series. Talk about bliss. Just answer the question at the end of the post to enter. Easy.

Today we’re spotlighting our novellas with a short excerpt to pique your interest. Erin is up first with her dark and wicked Shadow Touch. But stay tuned for the hot, dangerous night of Laurie’s Hidden by Blood.

Hello everyone. I’m so excited to be here and share my novella with you. Shadow Touch was such a fun, little-bit-twisted story to write, and I can’t wait to continue Cam and Ellie’s story in future novellas (look for the second one next fall).

The premise is simple: Ellie Russo’s shadow has a mind of its own. It’s able to roam freely, independent of flesh and blood Ellie. Since the shadow represents Ellie’s deepest instincts and desires, mayhem ensues. Well, Ellie has had enough. She can’t take it anymore. She leaves her secluded home and travels to the Segue Institute, a paranormal research center working on many fronts—one of which is Shadow—in the hopes that Dr. Cameron Kalamos can help her with her problem. Cam has agreed to meet with Ellie, but he is about to get way more than he bargained for. Here’s a sneak peek at Ellie’s arrival at Segue:

The guard frowned at Ellie. “I’ll be a moment. Stay in your car.”

He headed back to the bunker while soldiers Two, Three, and Four kept watch.
They were all blocks of muscle and menace. Their concentrated interest made her mouth dry. Ellie had existed housebound all her life fearing men like these, ones who’d shoot her down like the freak she was. But enough was enough.

The guard had said to stay in the car, so of course, her shadow crawled right through the windshield, shifting effortlessly through the glass, then stood in front of all and sundry. She stretched, long and sexy, in the misty low-hanging fog. Her breasts lifted as her dark body arched, her rear on display. At least her legs were crossed, making a neat triangle at her pubis.

This kind of behavior was exactly why Ellie had come. Her shadow was determined to undermine her life. Why make everything so hard? These people might be able to help them.

“Down on the ground!” number Two shouted, leveling his weapon at her shadow.

“What position?” her shadow asked.

Face burning, Ellie dropped her head against the steering wheel, which honked.

There was a dart of movement in her peripheral vision, and when Ellie turned her head to look, she found a gun aimed at her, too. More soldiers approached the car. Lots of guns.

Too bad none of them could kill her shadow.

To check out Cam and Ellie’s story, find Shadow Touch here @ Amazon (.99¢)
or at Barnes & Nobles ($1.49)

And learn more about Erin’s Shadow series at:
www.ErinKellison.com
www.facebook.com/ErinKellison
www.twitter.com/ekellison

Next up is Laurie London’s delicious Hidden By Blood. I (that’s Erin) got to read her novella early (perks of the joint blog tour), and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I know you will, too. Just take a look at this:

Hi everyone! And, thanks, Erin. I have to say that I loved Ellie’s shadow. She’s such a bad girl!

Speaking of which, the e-novella Hidden By Blood is the story of an unlikely bad boy who turns an unlikely good girl bad. How’s that for a convoluted transition?


It’s a standalone story and even if you haven’t read Bonded By Blood, you’ll still be able to understand everything in Hidden. You’ll just get a broader view of the world when you dive into the full-length books...and you may recognize a few faces.

Former Army Ranger Finn McKentry is a sweetblood, a human whose rare blood is addictive to vampires. Like most of humankind, he didn’t know vampires existed until he is kidnapped and held captive by someone who carefully harvests his blood every few days.

Enter Brenna Stewart—a woman he’d once had a relationship with. As a vampire, Brenna never should’ve dated a human, let alone a sweetblood. Months ago, she walked out on him, offering nothing but a flimsy excuse. In an attempt to get her out of his system, Finn caroused his way around Scotland with his cousins, but eventually, he had to come back and run his company, San Juan Aviation.

Then one night, deep in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, after he’s been taken prisoner, everything changes again...

Footsteps shuffled outside, then stopped, and the door inched open a crack. A surge of adrenaline shot through Finn’s veins—his captor had forgotten to tether the chain. This was the chance he’d been waiting for—the little freak had finally let down his guard.

Finn was going to take advantage of the lapse even if it killed him. Trying not to rattle the chain, he moved as close to the door as he could. He reached for the water jug, silently cursing the fact that he felt so goddamned weak. There was a reason those blood-donation places only let you donate every couple of weeks, he thought, as he hefted the container over his head and tried to control his dizziness.

He’d stun the guy, wrap the excess chain around his pencil neck, then choke the hell out of him.

Slowly, the door swung open and a small hand closed around the edge.
’Tis now or never, baby.

Mustering all his strength, he threw the gallon jug. As it left his hands, he caught a glimpse of one sparkly shoe. 

“What the—”

The container bashed against the wall, water spraying everywhere, and Finn felt his knees give way.

The last thing he remembered before hitting the ground was the sound of a female voice...calling out his name.

I had a great time writing the story...a departure from the more common hero-as-vampire/heroine-as-human scenario (though I do love that as well). You can download Hidden By Blood here:

Purchase on Amazon for $2.39
Get it on B&N for free
e-Harlequin for free

For more information on the Sweetblood series, follow Laurie here:
www.LaurieLondonBooks.com
www.facebook.com/LaurieLondonAuthor
www.twitter.com/LaurieBLondon

And for our awesome prize pack, tell us what your favorite read is this year. Erin just finished A Game of Thrones (book 1) in conjunction with her new TV series addiction. Loved it. And because Erin was raving about GOT a few weeks ago, Laurie downloaded it to her Nook but hasn’t read it yet. Laurie’s favorite read this year would probably be...Virginia Kantra’s Immortal Sea.

Contest Deets - 1 Winner Prize Pack:

+ bookmarks & romance trading cards from both series

Giveaway ends 6/17/2011

Comment to Win:

Answer the Erin & Laurie's question above

Requirements:
Following is not required but appreciated!

Be nice & spread the word:
#Darktour Prize Pack #Giveaway! Books & Swag frm @EKellison & @LaurieBLondon hosted by @parajunkee http://bit.ly/joHAhZ Plz RT