Caridad Pineiro® Romance Author
NY Times & USA Today Bestselling Romance Author
With my recent release of VAMPIRE REBORN, some have been asking to see more of how kick-ass FBI Agent Diana Reyes and Southern Vampire Ryder Latimer got together. So today’s Teaser Tuesday is a blast to the past and the very first book in The Calling is Reborn Vampire Novel series.
If you can’t see the excerpt below from DARKNESS CALLS, you can click here.
Darkness Calls THE CALLING/REBORN Vampire Novel Series by Caridad Pineiro
I’m still a little behind, so today I’m offering up a recipe from my friends Lois Winston and Caroline Mickelson. So click here to visit the fabulous Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog for a very tasty recipe for Chicken Cacciatore!
Did you know “cacciatore’ is Italian for hunter? This style of meal was prepared hunter-style with whatever vegetables and meats were at hand.
Also, please take a moment to visit with me at Paranormal Dimensions! I’m sharing some behind the scenes details on my latest release in THE REBORN vampire novel series.
As an author it seems as if you wait forever and ever for a release and then BAM – It’s release day!
Today is the release day for THE CLAIMED, the second book in the Sin Hunter Paranormal Romance series. This is the follow-up to my RITA® nominated book, THE LOST.
Here is a little teaser for THE CLAIMED:
Victoria Johnson loves her life. She’s her own boss in a quaint beachside town, and has great friends who keep her grounded. If only they knew who she really is: an heiress to an ancient race who possesses astonishing superhuman powers. It’s Victoria’s duty to restore her clan of Light Hunters to their former glory by choosing the perfect mate. In Christopher Sombrosa, she just may have found him. Strong, smart, and successful, Christopher exudes a powerful energy. Their connection is sensual, irresistible-and forbidden.
A member of the Shadow Hunter clan, Christopher has defied his own father to lead his people away from affliction and violence. Yet he cannot ignore his duty to carry on his ancient bloodline. Stunningly beautiful and brimming with an erotic life force, Victoria is everything Christopher ever hoped for in a mate . . . but as a Light Hunter, she’s his mortal enemy. Together, they could unite their warring tribes. But murderous factions on both sides don’t want peace-and they’ll stop at nothing to keep light and darkness apart forever . . .
Also sharing some reviews and a little excerpt for you. If you can’t see the excerpt below, you can click here to read it.
Today I have with me my friend and fellow author Lynn Rush who is here to share her latest release with us! Please welcome Lynn and take a moment to find out more about AWAITED, the second book in her Wasteland series. I hope you enjoy this little teaser and take out a moment to check out Lynn and AWAITED.
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Russell Leonard is a centuries-old Guardian who’s lost faith in his purpose. So when he’s charged with procuring the first female Guardian in over two centuries, he can only hope it’s the red-headed beauty who’s been haunting his dreams for months. And if it is, he intends to claim her as his. But when he finds his dream woman, Annabelle is mute and bears no Guardian’s Mark.
He soon realizes she’s been tainted by an ancient evil. Russell must somehow release the secrets trapped within this delicate, mute beauty, to help her tap into the only weapon powerful enough to silence a millennia-old demon—her voice.
Add Awaited to your Goodreads to-read shelf
A couple of weeks ago, we had the great cover reveal, which was an exciting time. But now my publisher has chosen a little excerpt that’ll be on their site.
So, I thought I’d give a little sneak peek!
But first, I wanted to thank Caridad Piñeiro for her kind words about Awaited:
From the first action-packed scene, AWAITED grabs you and doesn’t let go until its awesome conclusion. ~~Caridad Piñeiro, NY Times Best-Selling Author
My feet finally found the water’s floor. I tugged the female from Durk’s grasp and hoisted her up into my arms.
The water had washed away the crimson stains, but left her lips thin and blue. Durk pressed his fingers to her neck. “No pulse.â€
“Go. Find wood dry enough to burn. We need fire. I’ll start CPR.â€
He bolted to his feet and darted away. I settled her on the damp foliage covered floor and ripped her buttoned blouse apart. I rested my ear to her chest. Nothing. Cheek to her mouth. Nothing.
I clamped my hands together and started counting out compressions. “Please. You can’t die. I just found you.â€
Her chest caved beneath my weight with each push I offered to start her heart. Pumping it for her. She looked so cold. So small. So fragile. Darkness tainted her lips. I imagined they’d be full and bright red like in my dreams. Her glowing skin was now dull and lifeless.
Please. Michael.
There must have been a reason for me to be on this plane. This time. This date. This instance. Not to let me find someone I’d dreamt about, then to lose her.
I pinched her nose. With my other hand I cradled her neck and opened her mouth to mine. My lips formed a seal around hers, and I blew. Her chest raised. One more breath.
I turned my head, listening. Nothing.
I repeated it for another cycle. Durk returned holding an armful of branches. He ripped open his pack and pulled out a bag.
“Zip lock?â€
“Jessica made an appearance at my room while packing.†He held it up. “I thought she’d lost her mind. Matches, magazine, and tiny foil blanket.â€
“You didn’t say anything.â€
“Told me not to.â€
Durk went to work on the fire as I finished the second round of compressions. I leaned down to breathe for her again and paused an inch before contact with her lips. “Please,†I whispered and sealed her mouth with mine.
I breathed into her, then turned and drew in a gulp of air and let it flow into her. A gentle scent of sandalwood and sugar wrapped around me. Coiled me in warmth. The woman flinched beneath me.
Then coughed.
I tilted her to the side and water spewed from her mouth. A tremor rocked her little body. The crackle of a flame, and the scent of burning leaves filled the air. “There you go. Get it out.†I patted her back.
She flopped back and her eyes opened wide.
The same honey irises I’d seen a hundred times in my dreams stared at me. “Can you hear me?â€
The lids hung heavy over her dilated eyes, then slid shut.
“No. No. Stay with me.†I patted her shoulder.
Durk joined me, kneeling beside her on the other side. I pressed my finger to her neck.
“She’s got to be in shock. Freezing. Get that fire going.†I peeled my shirt over my head as I stood. “Find all you can to get a small shelter formed around the fire.†I ripped at the belt securing my soggy pants to me. “I’ll warm her up.â€
Wasn’t exactly how I’d dreamed I would first lay with a woman, but I’d be damned if I was going to let her die.
She was mine.Â
Many thanks for all your kind words on taking a break! I’ll be getting to e-mails tonight and will write you all! The writing is going really well and I’m excited at how the story is shaping up. I just had a breakthrough this morning about how to reinforce the conflict and am pushing onward!
As promised, I’ve got a guest blog from a fellow author, Amanda Arista! You may remember Amanda from when she visited to tell us about the first book in her “Diaries of an Urban Panther” series. Well Amanda is back with more for us today. So here’s a little teaser and excerpt for you this Wicked Wednesday morning.
Violet Jordan Rule #2 of being a superhero: Find reliable sidekicks
Dear Diary,
Once I took down Haverty, the Primo of the city, I thought life was going to get better. After four assassination attempts, I’m thinking not so much. Haverty’s pack needs a new leader and I’ve just about run out of reasons why I’m not right for the job. Besides, having loyal followers would definitely help me fight off whoever’s out for my blood. Especially since my boyfriend is always busy playing White Hat to every Wanderer except me.
So now I just need to figure out how to mentor new shifters, run a pack, keep my “real” job, and have some sort of personal life. I guess it’s all in a day’s work for this writer-by-day / panther-by-night.
Chaz put the glass into the sink and reached out to pull me to him. “Tonight, I get you. Sacred Destinies be damned.â€
“Oh, please don’t say that.â€
Now that the words were out in the air, I was looking into every shadow and jumping at every random noise, just sure that is was another attack. I winced through stop lights on the way to the restaurant and jumped at a slammed car door in the parking lot.
“We’ve been out before,†he said as he opened the car door. “Even if something does happen, then we will take care of it together.â€
I sighed. “Guess I can’t argue with that.â€
He wrapped my arm around his as we walked into the restaurant. It was just a family style place, nothing special. I had suggested something populated. Using a crowd as a shield had become part of the life recently, which meant that usually we had screaming children running around us at romantic dinners.
We were seating and as usual, I got the seat with the kid on the other side kicking my booth.
“Its not exactly Nine steakhouse, I know, but…â€
It finally clicked: the date offer and his newly washed jeans. “Is this an anniversary dinner?â€
The corner of his mouth turned upwards. “Maybe. Try again.â€
I looked around at the red glittery décor and my face hit my palm. “Valentine’s day? Chaz, I would have suggested something a little more …â€
He laughed. “It’s okay. Almost past me by as well. I’m just glad that we’re together.â€
I sighed and looked through my fingers. “I suppose that we do have that to celebrate.â€
The kid kicked the seat again.
As soon as the waitress took our drink orders, both our cell phones rang.
We both sighed and reach for our respective phones.
“Hello,†I answered to the unknown number. Might as well, right? Not like any one can kill me through a phone, but that was a pretty good movie idea.
“Miss Jordan, its Tucker Briggs.â€
I turned away from Chaz when I recognized the voice. “Tucker? What can I do for you?â€
The kid behind me kicked the seat again and I frowned.
“I wanted to see if we were meeting on Sunday like you said.â€
“That was the plan. Did Shadow find you?â€
“Yes, Ma’am.
“Are you guys okay?â€
“Fine. He also told us of your kindness.â€
I snorted. “I gave him leftovers.â€
“You don’t understand Miss Jordan…â€
I couldn’t let him finish. “Tucker Briggs. Take care of yourself for the next two days and you can explain it to me then.â€
The kid kicked my booth for the fourth time, and then a tuff of yellow hair stuck out around the edge of the booth.
“Good bye, Tucker.â€
I snapped the phone closed and stuck my head around the edge of the booth to be nose to nose with the little tyke with a foot like Landon Donovan. Just for an instant, I let the panther slip through into my eyes and let out a little growl.
The little boy slipped back into his booth and began to cry. Satisfied, I went back to looking at my boyfriend.
Chaz stared back at me with an arched eyebrow.
“What?†I asked innocently.
He leaned across the table and dropped his voice. “I don’t think that the Powers gave you this gift to scare children.â€
The family behind me got up and took their screaming child with them, leaving Chaz and I alone in this small section of the restaurant.
“I’d like to think that I have earned having a quiet dinner with my boyfriend.â€
Amanda was born in Illinois, raised in Corpus Christi, lives in Dallas but her heart lies in London. Good thing she loves to travel.
During the summer after second grade, she read every book in the young adult section of the library, much to the surprise of the local librarian. So she started making up her own stories and hasn’t stopped.
She has a husband who fights crime, one dog who thinks he’s a real boy, and another who might be a fruit bat in disguise. She spends her weekends writing at coffee shops, practicing for the day that caffeine intake becomes an Olympic sport, and plotting character demises with fellow writers Wolvarez, Killer Cupcake and Keith (names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent).
Amanda is adopted and loves to share that story with others to promote adoption.
Amanda has a collection of turtle figurines that collects on her travels.
Amanda has a strange love of cheesy horror movies. She prefers demons and witchcraft to slasher films.
Amanda is a really good bowler and completely rocks at croquet.
To find out more about Amanda, you can visit her at:
www.amandaarista.com
Twitter: @pantherista
A funny thing happened on the way to my reboot of THE CALLING series.
To be sure that I had everything just right for you, I spent big chunks of the last week re-reading DARKNESS CALLS, DEATH CALLS and some of the later books in the series. Still have to go back and read the one that is tentatively titled VENGEANCE CALLS to make sure I’ve got the timeline right for you.
So what was the funny thing? Oh man, how I have missed this world and all these old friends. It only served to whet my appetite for starting the next Diana and Ryder book!!
Speaking of Ryder, today’s Guilty Pleasure Monday is a casting call. Ryder is dark, delicious and deadly and the picture above is how I had imagined him, but I’m wondering who I would cast if I were going to do a movie.
To me Ryder is kind of a blend of Clive Owen, Pierce Brosnan and Eddie Cibrian. Maybe with a little Joe Manganiello thrown in.
How do you picture sexy Southern vampire Ryder Latimer? Who would you cast in the movie?
Welcome to today’s wet, but still decidedly Wicked Wednesday! I have with me today my friend and fellow author Stephanie Draven. Stephanie and I got to meet at an RT a few years back and it was so nice to get to know here. Before we kick off with Stephanie, though, just a reminder that the guest blogs and giveaways continue today! Please take a moment to stop at The Qwillery for a chance to win some goodies.
But now for a little bit about Stephanie who is currently a denizen of Baltimore, that city of ravens and purple night skies. She lives there with her favorite nocturnal creatures–three scheming cats and a deliciously wicked husband. And when she is not busy with dark domestic rituals, she writes her books.
Books like DARK SINS AND DESERT SANDS, her latest release for Harlequin Nocturne! Here’s a little teaser for you.
Wrongfully accused and broken by torture, an American soldier transforms into a mind-controlling minotaur bent on revenge…
Escaping a hellish Syrian prison, U.S. serviceman Ray Stavrakis emerges with uncanny powers and an eerie ability to morph into a mythical Minotaur, half-man, half-bull. Only one woman can prove his innocence and soothe the savage beast inside–the same woman who’d driven him to the brink of insanity with her cool-eyed interrogation and her hot-blooded sensuality.
But Vegas psychologist Layla Bahset has no memory of Ray or her past. Only a feeling of being stalked by a nonhuman predator. Is it Ray…whose eyes condemn her soul even as his hands ignite her body? Or is another evil force hunting her down like prey?
Now nothing can stop Layla from remembering what she really is…and what her evil creator has planned for her and her soldier lover…
Without further ado, here’s a little more from Stephanie.
I’m a sucker for Greek mythology. Who doesn’t love all those dysfunctional deities and dangerous demi-gods? The ancient Greeks knew a thing or two about human nature, and most of the things that we fear–or get turned on by–are covered in their stories. So why not twist the legends into a romance?
That’s just what I’ve done with my Mythica series for HQN Nocturne, each of which is a stand-alone book set in a shared world, all centered around the following premise:
Dark Sins & Desert Sands is the most daring book of the series and I was delighted that one reviewer already pointed out the super-hot subway sex scene. I’m eager to find out how readers are going to react to a hero who can control the heroine with nothing but his mind. He’s a modern day minotaur with the power to see deeply into her thoughts and to trap her in the labyrinth of her own memories. He’s a man bent on vengeance who unexpectedly finds love along the way and I hope you’ll enjoy the following excerpt:
Ray slammed his hand against the bedside table. “I was innocent, damn you!”
Her accusation obviously infuriated him, instantly and powerfully. He looked like he could tear the whole room apart, like he could kill her, but when he reached for her, he just took her face in his hands. “Layla, you need to listen to me. I didn’t do anything but risk my life for my country. Someone told you otherwise, and I need to know who. What was the evidence against me?”
“I don’t know,” Layla said. “I don’t remember.”
Fury burned higher and hotter in his eyes. “I need you to remember. I’ll make you remember.”
In her half-naked humiliation, she felt angry and defiant. “Oh? How are you going to manage that?”
“I have an idea or two,” he said with a dark laugh. “Every time I get your pulse racing, you seem to remember something else. The first time I touched you, you whispered my name. I kissed you, and you remembered your ex. I bent you over a sink, and now you remember questioning me. What happens if I throw you down on this bed and give you what you really need?”
“Don’t,” she said, putting her hand on his chest.
He grabbed it and twisted it just to the edge of pain. “You know I can do it. In fact, you want me to do it. All that crap you said in there about how you looked like a slut, that’s just an excuse. You’re just scared, and maybe you should be, because let me tell you something, I’ve done worse things to unlock people’s memories than get them off.”
The coarseness of his language seemed to physically scrape her skin. All the bravado went out of her, and she was left only with her vulnerability. “You don’t understand,” she whispered. “I’m not like this. I’m not this person who…who…has sex in a stranger’s motel room.”
“We’re not strangers,” Ray said. “And it’s pretty clear to me you don’t know who the hell you really are. You think you’re some demure little rabbit, but do you want to know what I saw inside your mind?”
Layla inhaled sharply. “What?”
“I saw a lioness.”
“A lioness?” It sounded wrong in every way. She wasn’t anything like a lioness. Layla was wary and restrained, not wild and free. She was a creature of order and logic, not instinct. It’s true that when she’d defended herself in the stairwell she’d felt like a fierce predator, but she hadn’t known that part of herself. She also didn’t know the part of herself that wanted this man. She was a stranger to the part of herself that quivered and ached for him.
“Then make me remember, if you think you can,” she said. “Do it.”
Thank you, Stephanie for dropping by! I love mythology and am really looking forward to reading this one. What about you guys? Are there any myths that you especially love? Persephone? Diana (you know I love that one!). Narcissus? Share any that you would like to see incorporated into a story.