When Blood Calls --Featured Reviewer

This is my first time reading this author and this is the first book in the series.


Ryan Doyle is in the FBI in the supernatural division through Homeland security. Luke is powerful vamp in the city of LA and picks up Sara and has a one night stand with her. Sara get a promotion with the DA office and then is moved to the Paranormal division. Sara first case to prosecute is Luke Dragos for murder of a werewolf judge .


There were so many points of views --it was a bit tough in the beginning to keep track of all the characters. I had to write notes of who was who and what kind of paranormal they were in this book.

Sara was thrust into this world after one day and has to figure out if Luke is innocent or not. Through out the book she was swooning over him, and then the next minute she didn't want to be attracted to a vampire. She was sending mixed signals and I for one got tired of it. Sara's father was killed by a vampire many years ago. Luke wants to continue to have a relationship with her and is surprised when she becomes a DA. Luke seemed to have many plans in place, so clue clue if romancing the DA was part of it.

Luke and Ryan also have some bad blood between them ,and want to know more of why they so dislike each other. Luke also has a ward Tasha who isn't all there . It was interesting to see how this world is setup and all the many paranormals in this book. This book also dealt with some serious issues from killing kids or doing naughty things with them. It was interesting to get an idea of their thoughts but as a parent, its not something I want to read about in a book.

Many people through out the book are trying to keep their Daemon at bay and fight the blood lust, and hearing about it reminded me of a drinking game. I loved all the twists and turns with all the characters and talking about events being Black or White or Grey.

 I was curious of all the romancing of Sara was all of Luke's plan B. I didn't completely trust him at time and for me the reader that's good.

Overall I liked this world and loved the hot romance between Luke and Sara. I hope the next book is about Ryan.

Book Review=4/B

Thanks to the author for the book and this is my Honest Review

Raphael by: D.B. Reynolds -- Featured Reviewer

Rating: 4/5
Origins: Provided by the Author
Format: Trade Paperback
Release Date: 15 April 2009
Publisher: ImaJinn Books
Synopsis: Malibu, California-home to rock-and-roll gods and movie stars, the beautiful, the rich . . . and vampires.

Powerful and charismatic, Raphael is a Vampire Lord, one of the few who hold the power of life and death over every vampire in existence. Thousands call him Master and have pledged absolute loyalty on their very lives. But when, in a brazen and deadly daylight attack, a gang of human killers kidnaps the one female vampire he'd give his life for, Raphael turns to a human investigator to find his enemies before it's too late.

Cynthia Leighton is smart, tough and sexy, a private investigator and former cop who's tired of spying on cheating spouses and digging out old bank accounts. When Raphael asks for her help in tracking down the kidnappers, Cyn's happy to accept. But she soon realizes her greatest danger comes not from the humans, but from Raphael himself.

Battling Russian mobsters and treacherous vampires, and betrayed by those they trusted, Cyn and Raphael find themselves fighting for their lives while caught up in a passion of blood and violence that is destined to destroy them both.

Review in Five: Fast-paced and Easy to Read.

Review: I love that the main characters in this book are strong willed and independent, they both have everything they already need out of life. Cyn is independent and strong in both her personal and business life. Raphael is a handsome, strong vampire who requires absolute obedience from his prodigy and his associates. I loved Cyn in this story far more than I liked Raphael, he is very distant and cold, almost as you would expect an actual vampire to be, and Cyn is actually quite clever.

The plot in this book is action-packed and fast paced. There was one thing I noticed in the story that brought up questions in my mind;  Cyn just shoots a guy for checking in with his boss, I think that was a tad bit extreme. Take the phone, punch him, throw him out the door, why shoot him? Who does that?

Anyway, this is pretty good book for a great paranormal romance lover and an action romantic suspense lover. There are some great scenes, some unique word usage, and great characters in this book. D.B. Reynolds's debut is definitely worth the read, as I am sure the other books in this series will be as well.

Series: Vampires in America: Raphael (1), Jabril (2), Rajmund (3)

Featured Reviewer: Monica from The Bibliophilic Book Blog

Faith Revisited by Madelyn Ford

Faith Revisited by Madelyn Ford
Review copy provided by author in exchange for an honest review.

!! Win this Book & Other Vampire Books during vampire week see above blinky!!

PJVs QUICKIE POV: Reminiscent of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, Ford immediately sucked me into her stunning world of fallen angels, club owning vampires -- and nasty demons that are ever present and on a mission to spread hate and discontent. Ford titillated me with a wonderfully sexy novel that had me from page one.

REVIEW: Faith and Hope, born of a vampire father, a very powerful vampire father, are on the cusp of their change. Unbeknowst to their over-protective father they hunt demons. They are hunting a nasty one that has taken a liking to killing women in their neighborhood. When engaging this demon a very powerful demon that they are unable to defend themselves against, appears and they know they are about to die.

Bale a fallen angel, from the race known as the Grigori rushes to the rescue of what he thinks are two human women. What he finds is much more. He takes the women back to the Grigori compound, because Faith has been infected with a deadly poison and he finds himself immediately possessive of her. He refuses to let her leave his room and even allows her to feed off of him as the change quickly over-takes her because of the poison. Though it is immediately obvious that Faith is Bale's mate, both are in complete denial, but as they try to distance themselves from each other complications arise.

The entire relationship with Bale and Faith is very deep and intense. Bale is your typical old-world Alpha male. Faith is your very progressive 21st century female, together they clash...but clash good. I found the relationship real and very sexy. I wanted a Bale of my own. Sometimes I did find that their stereotypical roles did get a bit overwhelming, but this is my usual problem with Alpha ruled PNRs. While I think aggressively over-powering men are sexy, they can be a bit much at some point. I did like that Bale called Faith "baby" instead of some insipidly derogatory pet name like "little one."

On top of it they are surrounded by all these other hot Fallen Angels and Faith's twin that you know will just star in their own book, can't wait to read those!

Overall a great read, and I can't wait to read more from Madelyn Ford!

RECOMMENDATIONS: PNR fans. Black Dagger Brotherhood junkees. Adults only, there is a lot of biting, nipping and sucking ;)




BWB Rating 3/4

Review for BWB

If you happen to look at our TABS there is a new one up there, Review For The BWB. We are looking for a few good reviewers to help out now and again on the site.

If you are interested just click on the tab and they have a google doc form to fill out. No biggie, just need a bit of information, so we know who you are and where you live ;)

Thanks everyone for sticking around the BWB!

Vampire Week - Guest Post Madelyn Ford

Blog with Bite would like to welcome author Madelyn Ford. Madelyn is the author of the sexy eBook Faith Revisited. That you can win during Vampire Week!

Thanks to Blog With Bite for inviting me to be part of your Vampire Week. I’m excited to be here. I have to admit, when Rachel (Parajunkee) first emailed about it, I wasn’t sure. I mean, my book Faith Revisited isn’t really centered around vampires but fallen angels. But since Faith is indeed a vampire, here I am.

Awhile back I read somewhere that angels were the “new vampires” (which is a good thing for me because I love my angels), but I haven’t seen a whole lot of evidence confirming this. I still think vampires reign supreme in paranormal romance. Why? I’m not totally sure because personally, I like them all; angels, demons, vamps, shifters, faeries. It’s the ability to take reality and shift it, mold it into something were soul-mates and love at first sight is the norm and happily-ever-after is expected.

Is it the thought of eternal life that draws us? The romanticism of living indefinitely? The vampire is forever young and forever beautiful. Or is it the sensuality of the act of drinking blood? That it has the ability to bind to people together forever? Or my personal favorite, they get to wear really cool clothes, drive really cool cars, and carry really cool weapons, lol?

In Faith Revisited, I’d like to think I took the vampire myth and added a little something to it. Vampires are born, not made and Faith, whose father is a vampire, is still human at the beginning of the book. She can walk in daylight (cause really, wouldn’t you be a little suspicious of your neighbor who only ever came out after the sun set :) ) though as a newly changed vampire, she does have some sensitivity. And the first vampire came to be from drinking the blood of an angel, which brings about an array of problems when she hooks up with Bale.

So what is it about vampires that makes you crave more? And I know I bucked some of the traditional trends when it comes to the myth. Do you like your blood drinkers to go up in flames at first light or does it matter? Me, I like them all.

Contest Deets:
Comment and answers Madelyn's questions for extra entries into the contest. Don't forget to stop on by the contest post and let us know that you commented here! {Contest Post Click Here}

The Results are In...How Do You Like Your Vamps?

Thanks to everyone who participated in the poll...it was a great turn-out, we really appreciate everyone participating.  So are you dying to know the results. I'm sure you are.



How do you prefer your vamps?

58% = Predators with Passion

29% = Emotional & Redeemed

6% each for Tragic and Self-Haters & Scary & Soulless

Seems everyone likes those passionate bad boys.

If they were to have vampires what superpowers do you think would most likely be present?

In order of votes:

1. Super Strength
2. Super Speed
3. Super Hearing
4. Super Sexiness
5. Super Sight
6. ALL
7. Super Sparkliness

Why do you think vamps are always hot?

61% = Vamp petrification is like instant face lift

20% = Turned by choice so obviously it would cull out the ugly

14% Only hot people want to live forever

Who needs a plastic surgeon when all you have to do is round up a hot vamp?

How do you prefer your vamps to crave blood?

Seems readers were pretty set on how they liked their fanged to crave blood.

55% = No need for killing, but you might need a blood transfusion after

28% Little sips will suffice

16% It is almost like a feeding frenzy - drink to the death

What do you want your vamps to wear?

49% Leather & All Black
30% Like everyday people
21% Armani & Abercrombie - High Style Baby!

And who epitomizes the PERFECT vamp??

1. Bones from Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress Series
2. Black Dagger Brotherhood Boys
3. Damon from Vampire Diaries
4. Lestat / Dracula / Eric Northman
5. Angel / Spike
6. Rapheal {Vampires in America}
7. Jean-Claude / Mick St. Cloud

Generation Dead by Daniel Waters

Generation Dead by Daniel Waters 

May 2008 by Hyperion Book
Hardcover, 400 Pages
Borrowed-Compliments of the Public Library

Review Posted by Tina at Tinasbookreviews

Book Synopsis

Phoebe is just your typical goth girl with a crush. He's strong and silent.and dead.

All over the country, a strange phenomenon is happening. Some teenagers who die aren't staying dead. They are coming back to life, but they are no longer the same-they stutter, and their reactions to everything are slower. Termed "living impaired" or "differently biotic," they are doing their best to fit into a society that doesn't want them. Fitting in is hard enough when you don't have the look or attitude, but when almost everyone else is alive and you're not, it's close to impossible. The kids at Oakvale High don't want to take classes or eat in the cafeteria next to someone who isn't breathing. And there are no laws that exist to protect the differently biotic from the people who want them to disappear-for good. With her pale skin and Goth wardrobe, Phoebe has never run with the popular crowd. But no one can believe it when she falls for Tommy Williams, the leader of the dead kids. Not her best friend, Margi, whose fear of the differently biotic is deeply rooted in guilt over the past. And especially not her neighbor, Adam, the star of the football team. Adam has just realized his feelings for Phoebe run much deeper than just friendship. He would do anything for her, but what if protecting Tommy is the one thing that would make her happy? (Amazon)

Review

Its hard enough being a teenager but adding a case of zombie death to the pile just makes things that much worse.........................after setting this book down my first thoughts go something like this:

OH fellow biters...I tried I seriously tried but it just didn't happen for me, after reading 100 pages of Generation Dead I had to put the book down. Now don't go looking for tomatoes to throw at me because I know many of you ya lovers out there really liked this. I think perhaps I wasn't in the right frame of mind to take on the type of fantasy this story offered, or perhaps it was just finishing a very tragic memoir about a family who was terrorized by a neighbor they nicknamed "The Zombie", regardless I just couldn't get into it. I might try again later down the road but would recommend you all try for yourself.

Rating

Reading the parts that I did Generation Dead remains a bit milder than PG-13, kissing, mild language and references to slutty clothing is mentioned. Death, disease and frightening elements are touched on.

DNF/4- YA Zombies

The Vamp Survey

For Vampire Week we want to know what vamp traits you are particularly fond of. Answers will be posted tomorrow.

HBIC Review of When Blood Calls by J.K Beck

When Blood Calls by J.K Beck

Septmeber 2010 by Bantam Books

Paperback, Pages 388

Review Copy

Review Posted by Tina at Tinasbookreviews

Book Synopsis

Sara Constantine is one of the country’s most tenacious prosecuting attorneys—and she’s just secured a well-earned promotion. At first she’s thrilled. Then she finds out her new job involves prosecuting vampires and werewolves. And nothing prepares Sara for the shock she receives when she meets the first defendant she’ll be trying to put away: Lucius Dragos, the sexy stranger with whom she recently shared an explosive night of ecstasy. When Lucius Dragos kisses the beautiful woman sitting next to him at the bar, he’s only hoping to blend into the crowd and avoid the perceptive gaze of the man he’s following…and planning to kill. But what starts as a simple kiss to secure his cover ignites into a fierce hunger that leads to an all-consuming passion. Charged with murder, Luke knows Sara will do whatever it takes to see him locked away—unless he can convince her that he’s not the monster she thinks he is. And that might mean making the greatest sacrifice a vampire can make............(Goodreads)

Review

The Shadow Keepers is a darkly multi-layered world full of violence, murder, romance and political drama. Sara the led attorney in a murder case and just newly transferred to Division 6 aka Preternatural Enforcement Coalition is faced dealing with her feelings over the defendant, someone who shares a secret with her…someone who just graced her duvet not to long ago………...While Sara is forced to deal with her feelings over Luke she is torn by the murder case, not knowing what to do with her feeling of fear and her feelings of passion the two’s relationship spins out of control……Luke an old dark vampire is no stranger to violence or murder, being an assassin can give you a somewhat cynical approach on life....but Luke has never had to pay for those murders or has had to justify the whys. Can Sara ignore her passions and find true justice for the victim or will she succumb to her own needs to help the lover of her dreams escape...

I had a bit of a hard time getting into this one, while the plot was entertaining I struggled to get the feel of the language limbo going on or rather just insert myself into the characters dialog. I can say the plot moved along fast and for sure kept me guessing until the end, which was done very nicely, nothing was really left unanswered and came full circle for all the characters. While I thought Beck certainly has the talent to write, shock and dismay her readers, When Blood Calls defiantly fell into my uncomfortable zone, especially when the demonic characters played front and center. At times I almost stopped reading due to the disturbing point of view of a child rapist and will be honest I started skimming those scenes ( child rape, pedophiles, or reading from their view point is not my cup of tea even in PNR) overall though for you PNR urban fantasy lovers out there...a scary- sexy story of the underworld meets Law and Order.

Rating

Recommended to adults only....and to only adults who can handle some of the disturbing aspects Beck writes about. Explicit graphic sexuality, graphic violence and murder. Child rapists, graphic language and many adult type themes.

2/4- PNR- Vampires-Werewolves-demons

Thank you to Ms. Beck for review copy and chance to read When Blood Calls

Link Up Your Generation Dead Reviews...

Review Deadline: Aug 29th

Generation Dead by Daniel Waters

Phoebe Kendall is just your typical Goth girl with a crush. He's strong and silent...and dead.
All over the country, a strange phenomenon is occurring. Some teenagers who die aren't staying dead. But when they come back to life, they are no longer the same. Feared and misunderstood, they are doing their best to blend into a society that doesn't want them.

The administration at Oakvale High attempts to be more welcoming of the "differently biotic." But the students don't want to take classes or eat in the cafeteria next to someone who isn't breathing. And there are no laws that exist to protect the "living impaired" from the people who want them to disappear--for good.

When Phoebe falls for Tommy Williams, the leader of the dead kids, no one can believe it; not her best friend, Margi, and especially not her neighbor, Adam, the star of the football team. Adam has feelings for Phoebe that run much deeper than just friendship; he would do anything for her. But what if protecting Tommy is the one thing that would make her happy?

Questions for readers...

What do you think of the cover???

Compare the US version to the UK versions, which ones do you like better???

US Cover	UK Cover

Raphael by D. B. Reynolds HBIC Review

 Raphael by D. B. Reynolds
 Review Copy Provided by author.

!! Win this Book & Other Vampire Books during vampire week see above blinky!!

PJVs QUICKIE POV: Vampires! Who can resist a vampire, especially a powerful, sexy, rich, vampire god like Reynolds created with Raphael. Oh mamma, I was in vampire heaven with this one, it had it all: tough and gritty heroine, sexy and ridiculously manly hero, interesting back-drop, mystery, violence and steamy, wall-shaking romantic interludes. I need to simultaneously smoke a cigarette and punch something after finishing this novel. Vampire fans, run, don’t walk --- and get this novel.


REVIEW:
The setting: Malibu, California.


The heroine: Tough cookie, private investigator, Cynthia Leighton. Former LAPD officer who does not play well with others. 

The hero: Lord Master Vampire Raphael, enough power at his fingertips to crush mere mortals with a look and make women undress on command.

The situation: While Raphael is away on business, someone makes a power-play to shake things up. Alexandra, a vampire Raphael holds dear, is kidnapped and guards are murdered. Raphael’s trust has been betrayed and there are traitors within his staff.

Raphael needs someone outside of his influence to solve this mystery, find out who kidnapped Alexandra and deal with the humans who have become pawns in this vampire power-grab. Cynthia Leighton is just what Raphael needs. She is used to working with vampires and she is smart enough to track down Alexandra and tough enough to bear witness to the vampire way of doing things. What neither one of them planned for was the attraction that is becoming much more than just a distraction.

Like I stated in the quickie above this novel had it all. A must-read for vampire fans. Strong characters, matched with an intensely hard-hitting plot and a whirl-wind and very lusty introduction to a society of vampires, made for an excellent book. One of the things that stands out the most about this novel was it was real. Far-fetched right for a paranormal novel? But the thing about PNR and UF is that the underlying factor in all of them is human emotion. You might be a vamp, but you were once a human - and here you are falling in love. The emotionally responses, the dialogue and even the sex scenes were real.

How many times have you read a sex scene in a book and went, “Well that was hot, but I don’t see myself ever doing that particular move.” These were nothing like that. It was real, completely believable character interaction.

Then, Reynolds also has a quirky way of writing that at first made me stop and reread a few sentences, but once it seeped in I really began to enjoy her voice. This doesn’t happen often, but she actually introduced me to a few new words. Nothing high-brow or anything, just interesting descriptions and metaphors and a way of rearranging sentence structure that gave the tone a little more depth and a old-world feeling. Not a historical feeling, this is hard to describe, but a full-bodied, aged feeling. A good analogy would be that her book was like a good merlot. Very spicy, aged and with a full-body flavor.

The only bitter flavoring that I found with this book was just a small niggling at the back of my head that I had read this before, or at least similar story-lines. Hot over-powering male vamp hires prickly female PI, doesn’t shine as the most original idea, but the setting, the characters and the excellent writing sets it a part from the rest.

RECOMMENDATIONS: Fans of authors such as J.R. Ward, Laurel K. Hamilton, Jeaninne Frost should really enjoy. Adults only, this book contains violence, explicit sex scenes and cursing. Not for anyone with a purity ring. ;)

Faith Revisited HBIC Review by Emily @ What Book is That?

Title: Faith Revisited
Author: Madelyn Ford
Page Count: 170 pages (pdf format)
Publisher: LooseID
Genre: paranormal romance
Copy for review provided by the author in exchange for an honest review

50 words or less: Bale thought he was stopping a demon attack on two innocent, human victims.  What he didn't know was that Faith and Hope, twin soon-to-be vampires, are not only not human, but that Faith is about to become more of a tangle and more of a temptation than he had ever planned for.

Despite its relatively short length, Faith Revisited sets the stage for what certainly seems to be a fun, entertaining new PNR series.  The characters are interesting and well drawn, the mythology of the story is complex and unique (which totally rings my bell) and the plot elements that remain to be resolved set up the next book very nicely.

The starring couple, Faith and Bale, are riveting and intense.  The attraction between them is intense, although they both do a feeble job attempting to deny what's between them.  Miscommunications abound, although once they both realize and accept that neither one of them is going anywhere, they both act like adults and problem solve their difficulties in a realistic way.

The secondary characters were interesting as well, and I definitely want to see what happens to them in future installments- especially Hope (who is her mate? Kash? Zeke? I must know!) and Charity (the werewolf superstar who I think is the heroine of the next book) and Penny (poor girl, people just dump on her for being loyal to the ones she loves.  I hope her HEA is sweet as pie. Go Team Penny!)

There were a couple of small things that didn't quite work for me as a reader, but those are more general pet peeves with the written word than anything specific about the book itself.  First- the switching back and forth between contractions and the different word pairings.  It was hard to determine what voice was being used- formal or casual- and why.  Second- the pacing in the beginning was a little choppy. There was an element of I-hate-you-I-need-you-I-reject-you-I-love-you-forever-and-ever-amen, but I have to say the second half of the book smoothed the story right out and the pace cooked along at a good clip.

Overall verdict? As the first book in a series, this one did a nice job of setting the stage for an interesting supernatural world.  I'm interested to see what happens in the series from here.

Overall Grade: B+
BWB Rating: 3/4

Interview with D.B. Reynolds

Blog with Bite is exited to welcome author D.B. Reynolds to the blog in honor of Vampire Week.  D.B. is one of our featured authors and the master mind behind the sexy Vampires in America series.




BWB: When you decided to write the Vampires in America series, what made you decide on vampires?

DB: I’m a huge fan of pretty much anything paranormal, but vampires can be so smooth, so elegantly lethal. I wanted to create a character like that.


BWB: Can you tell us a little bit about your series, in your own words?

DB: Vampires in America centers around the Vampire Lords. These are a very few extremely powerful and dominant vampires—in North America, there are only eight—who control every aspect of vampire existence. Each Vampire Lord has absolute sovereignty over his territory, with the power of life and death over the lesser vampires living there.


BWB: What do you consider your series, paranormal romance or urban fantasy?

DB: I lean toward Urban Fantasy, because each of my books contains a mystery or crime to be solved, and there’s a lot of action and, frequently, bloodshed in my books. My vampires are quite violent and aggressive, not your typical sensitive vampire of the Romance genre. On the other hand, there’s also a very strong Romance storyline in every book. So they probably walk that very thin line between the two genres.


BWB: There is a lot of romance, but your heroine, Cynthia is not your typical romance heroine. Smart, tough and not very willing to go all gaga over a man, even one as easy to inspire gaganess as Raphael. She is quite different than the usual “save me” virgins from other vampire fiction. What pushed you in the direction of the non-traditional female character?

DB: I don’t do virginal females! LOL My women are allowed to enjoy sex every bit as much as the guys. But for Cynthia specifically, I wanted a heroine strong enough to meet Raphael halfway. He’s such a dominating character, so overpowering, that his mate would have to be really strong or he’d just walk right over her. On the other hand, there are different kinds of strength. Cynthia’s an alpha female, as fearless and tough as any guy, but also very feminine. Sarah, the lead female character in Rajmund, isn’t physically aggressive the way Cyn is, but she’s strong enough to have survived some really tough knocks when she was very young and to have rebuilt her life all on her own. The next book in the series, Sophia, features a female Vampire Lord—a woman battling her way to the top in a totally male dominated world.


BWB: The character of Raphael, {Raphael (Vampires in America, #1)} is so very, well overpowering, did you base him off a real person, or maybe another fictional character in film or book? Or is he purely your creation?

DB: I think he’s my own creation. I certainly didn’t consciously pattern him off of anyone else, fictional or otherwise. The character Raphael was inspired by the opening scene of the book, the one with Alexandra. When the kidnapper comes for her, she’s frightened, but what she says to him is, “He’ll kill you.” And she’s absolutely certain of that. That scene is what started the book in my mind. It came to me in a flash and I knew I had to create a character who could live up to Alexandra’s absolute conviction that she would be saved and her kidnappers would be destroyed.


BWB: The world building is always a big factor in paranormal based novels. What inspired your master vampires and their semi-out of the coffin world?

DB: A lot of it was the need for a strong character like Raphael. I wrote him first and then his environment. But, also, I wanted my vampires to be empire builders in the modern world. I wanted them to be the power behind the scenes, which means they couldn’t be sneaking around in the shadows and cringing away from garlic and holy water. And I wanted to go against the too-sensitive and self-hating vampires who have become so prevalent lately.


BWB: There has been a bit of rumbling in the book blogger community that vampires are played out {don’t look over here though we love vamps!} after the Twilight/TrueBlood craze. What is your opinion on this? Are vamps going to slink back into their shadows, or are they here to stay?

DB: These rumblings stir themselves up every once in a while. Personally, I think they originate with people who don’t really like vampires, or don’t understand their appeal. People have been saying vamps are played out for years and yet they’re still here and still selling. No, I don’t think vampires are played out. I don’t think they ever will be. I know I’ll still be reading them!


BWB: What books or authors inspired you to write?

DB: I’ve been a reader as long as I can remember. There were always books in my parents’ home and we made regular trips to the public library. There is no one book or author who inspired me to write. It’s more the combined weight of all those books and all those writers.


BWB: What can we expect next from you? Are there more books in the Vampires in America series expected?

I just signed a new contract with my publisher for five more books, adding to the three already released. I always saw this series as eight books, one for each of the territories in North America. And after that, maybe I’ll move on to Europe, which will necessitate lots of, um, research trips over there!


BWB: Any signings, or tours, or just events you would like us to know about?

DB: I do lots of guest blogging and interviews (like this one) and I usually have a book giveaway in conjunction with those events. I also do book giveaway drawings on my own blog pretty frequently. The best place to know what’s going on is to visit my blog at http://dbreynolds.wordpress.com


And some random thoughts...

BWB: If you had a choice, immortality as a vampire, or stay human?

DB: Immortality as a vampire


BWB: Edward, Wrath or Bones?

DB: Raphael. LOL But, of those three, there’s no competition. It’s Wrath. I’m a big admirer of the blind king.

BWB: Synthetic or straight from the vein?

DB: The vein, what’s the point otherwise?


BWB: eBook or Print?

DB: Personally, I prefer print, as long as I’m sitting at home, or in a coffee shop. But for travel, you can’t beat an e-book reader. And I definitely think ebooks are the wave of the future.

Thank you DB for joining us today - and writing about VAMPIRES! We really do appreciate it.

 
Available from ImaJinn Books FictionWise.com, Amazon.com, BN.com


Available at ImaJinn Books, Amazon.com BN.com and Fictionwise


Available at Amazon, Barnes Noble on-line, ImaJinn Books, and Fictionwise.

Questions for our readers...

If you had a choice, immortality as a vampire, or stay human?
Edward, Wrath or Bones?
Synthetic or straight from the vein?


Contest Deets:
Comment and answers the questions for extra entries into the contest. Don't forget to stop on by the contest post and let us know that you commented here! {Contest Post Click Here}

Vampire Week - Guest Post J.K. Beck

I’m so psyched to be part of the Blog With Bite vampire event for a lot of reasons, but one is that the timing totally rocks, as I have a new series launching in just a few days and—you guessed it—the hero in Book 1 is a vampire!  (The series is the Shadow Keepers, and Book 1 is When Blood Calls). 

I’m writing this late at night in my dark office, with only the glow of the computer to illuminate the room.  It’s pretty cool, actually, and I don’t usually write that way (the dark makes me sleepy, and sleep tends to be counterproductive to the creation of words on paper).  But tonight, the atmosphere is inspiring as I try to think of what to write about—because I want to try to get across some of what I share with the book’s heroine, Sara, about the way we look at vampires.

I should probably point out that Sara didn’t come into the story knowing everything that I know (and when you get right down to it, I didn’t come into the story knowing everything that ultimately happened; that’s the fun of writing books.  The characters drag you along!)  You see, Sara is a prosecutor, and a damn good one.  And when she’s recruited into a special division, she’s astounded—and ultimately excited—to learn that her new job involves prosecuting paranormal creatures who break the Covenant.  What really blows her away, though, is the scope and breadth of this world she’s stepped into.  Because it’s ancient.   Really, really ancient.  Even though Division 6 (where she works) now exists as a secret part of Homeland Security, its roots go back before even the founding of Rome, when the dark creatures realized that they had to self-police if they were going to keep chaos at bay.  And that history fascinates her.

It fascinates me, too.  That was, in fact, the kernel of inspiration for this entire series—a self-policing paranormal world that’s essentially been around since the beginning of time.  And that fascination became more concrete when I started writing Lucius Dragos, the hero.  A man who is on trial for murder—who’s confessed to it, no less—and also happens to be the man with whom Sara had a passionate fling only a few nights before. 

How wild must that be, to have watched the world change over more than a thousand years.  It’s the kind of thing that us mere mortals can’t even really get our head around, but someone like Lucius, for him, a year is like a day.  An hour, even.   And what does that mean for dreams, regrets, loves, feuds?  Do they fade into the past?  Or is the past so much the present that even something that happened five hundred years ago is fresh and raw?  That idea fascinates me, and it’s one of the themes I play with in When Blood Calls, because Luke is definitely a man with some serious baggage—and Sara is a woman fascinated by the allure of history.

Building their world was a bit like an archeological dig, only backwards.  Or maybe forward and backward at the same time, crafting a piece of the past and seeing how that forms part of the puzzle in the present.  It was great fun writing it—and I hope you’ll have just as much fun reading it.

I hope you check out When Blood Calls, it’s definitely a dark, edgy, sexy romance, and you can read excerpts at my website, www.jkbeck.com (you can also see what contests I’ve got running, check out my blog, and sign up for swag and my newsletter!)

Obviously, I’m doing this blog tour to get the word out about the book and the series, but there are other ways to get the word out, too.  Check out my book trailer and you’ll see what I mean!



And, of course, there’s a contest!  I’m giving away bound galleys of books two and three (When Pleasure Rules & When Wicked Craves), along with a $15 Amazon gift card!  So leave a comment and be in the running to win! {Contest Post Click Here}

Don’t know what to say?  Say anything! But if you want a jumping off point, how do you feel about the whole immortality thing?  Thumbs up?  Down?  Do you think five hundred years ago would feel like yesterday?  Would you miss the way your room looked in candlelight and think harsh fluorescents are just plain evil?  Come on, you can tell!

And thanks for reading…and thanks to the folks at Blog With Bite for having me!

Contest Deets:
Comment and answers Ms. Beck's questions for extra entries into the contest. Don't forget to stop on by the contest post and let us know that you commented here! {Contest Post Click Here}