Being rapped in a bedroom with a woman is a grand thing. Being
trapped in hundreds of bedrooms over two thousand years isn't. And
being cursed into a book as a love-slave for eternity can ruin even a
Spartan warrior's day.
As a love-slave, I know everything about women. How to touch them, how
to savor them, and most of all, how to pleasure them. But when I was
summoned to fulfill Grace Alexander's sexual fantasies, I found the
first woman tin history who saw me as a man with a tormented past. She
alone bothered to take me out of the bedroom and into the world. She
taught me to love again.
But I was not born to know love. I was cursed to walk eternity alone.
As a general, I had long ago accepted my sentence. Yet now I have
found Grace--the one thing my wounded heart cannot survive without.
Sure, love can heal all wounds, but can it break a
two-thousand-year-old curse?
Have you ever wanted to know what it's like to be immortal? To
journey through the night stalking vampires that prey on humans? To
have unlimited wealth, unlimited power? That is my existence, and it
dark and dangerous. I play her to thousands, but am known to none.
And I love every minute of it.
Or so I thought until one night when I woke up handcuffed to my worst
nightmare: a conservative woman in a button-down shirt. Or in
Amanda's case, one buttoned all the way up to her chin. She's smart,
sexy, witty, and wants nothing to do with the paranormal--in other
words, me.
My attraction to Amanda Deveraux goes agains everything I stand for.
Not to mention the last time I fell in love it cost me not only my
human life, but also my very soul. Yet every time I look at her, I
find myself wanting to try again. Wanting to believe that love and
loyalty do exist.
Even more disturbing, I find myself wondering if there's any way a
woman like Amanda can love a man whose battle scars run deep, and whose
heart was damaged by a betrayal so savage that he's not sure it will
ever beat again.
Life is great for me. I have my chicory coffee, my warm beignets and
my best friend on the cell phone. Once the sun goes down, I am the
baddest thing prowling the night: I command the elements, and I know no
fear. For centuries, I’ve protected the innocent and watched over
mankind, making sure they are safe in a world where nothing is ever
certain. All I want in return is a hot babe in a red dress, who wants
nothing more from me than one night.Instead, I get a runaway Mardi Gras
float that tries to turn me into roadkill and a beautiful woman who
saves my life, but can't remember where she put my pants. Flamboyant
and extravagant, Sunshine Runningwolf should be the perfect women for
me. She wants nothing past tonight, no ties, no long-term commitments.
But every time I look at her, I start yearning for dreams that I buried
centuries ago. With her unconventional ways and ability to baffle me,
Sunshine is the one person I find myself needing. But for me to love
her would mean her death. I am cursed never to know peace or
happiness-- not so long as my enemy waits in the night to destroy us
both.
Dark-Hunter: A soulless guardian who
stands between mankind and those who would see mankind destroyed.
Yeah, right. The only part of that Code of Honor I got was eternity
and solitude.
Insanity: A condition many say I suffer
from after being alone for sol long. But I don't suffer from my
insanity--I enjoy every minute of it.
Trust: I endured a lifetime as a Roman
slave, and 900 years as an exiled Dark-Hunter. Now I'm tired of
enduring. I want the truth about what happened the night I was
exiled--I have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Astrid (Greek, meaning star): An
exceptional woman who can see straight to the truth. Brave and strong,
she is a point of light in the darkness. She touches me and I tremble.
She smiles and my cold heart shatters.
Zarek: They say even the most damned man
can be forgiven. I never believed that until the night Astiid opened
her door to me and made this feral beast want to be human again. Made
me want to love and be loved. But how can an ex-slave whose sould is
owned by a Greek goddess ever dream of toughing, let alone holding, a
fiery star?
What do you get when you take one immortal Viking warrior no one can
remember five minutes after he leaves their presence, an Apollite
heiress on the run for her life, and one seriously pissed off demigod?
Basically, you get my life.
It started out simple enough. I went to save a woman one night in a
club. The next thing I knew, the doorway to hell had opened and out
stepped Daimons the likes of which I'd never seen before. Led by the
son of Apollo, they are out to end the curse that has banished them all
to darkness. The only problem with that is they have to kill Cassandra
Peters to do it and if she dies, so dies the sun, the earth and all who
dwell here. Life's just a bowl full of cherries, ain't it?
Brought together by fate, it's now my job to protect a daughter of the
very race I have been hunting for centuries. Neither of us dares to
trust the other. But she is the only one who remembers me... More than
that, with her courage and strength, she is the only one who has ever
touched a heart that I thought died centuries ago.
The only way for a Dark-Hunter to regain his soul is through the love
of a woman. But what happens when that woman isn't exactly human?
Bride McTierney has had it with men. They're cheap,
self-centered, and never love her for who she is. But though she prides
herself on being independent, deep down she still yearns for a knight
in shining armor. She just never expected her knight in shining armor
to have a shiny coat of fur...
Deadly and tortured, Vane Kattalakis isn't what he seems. Most women
lament that their boyfriends are dogs. In Bride's case, hers is a wolf.
A Were-Hunter wolf. Wanted dead by his enemies, Vane isn't looking for
a mate. But the Fates have marked Bride as his. Now he has three weeks
to either convince Bride that the supernatural is real or he will spend
the rest of his life neutered--something no self-respecting wolf can
accept...
But how does a wolf convince a human to trust him with her life when
his enemies are out to end his? In the world of the Were-Hunters, it
really is dog-eat-dog. And only one alpha male can win.
Rome ruled the world and my family ruled Rome. I was born the noble son
of a legendary Roman Senator. I walked through the ancient world as a
general, a god, and through an act of brutal betrayal, I bound myself
to a goddess so that I could protect mankind from the evil scourge that
haunts it.
Now I find myself dating said scourge. I’m not exactly sure how it
happened. One minute I was in my element, killing vampires and the next
thing I knew a self-styled vampire slayer had stabbed me.
Tabitha Devereaux is unlike any woman I have ever known. A human, she
has trained herself to fight vampires every bit as capably as any
immortal. Idiosyncratic and off-beat, she’s is the total antithesis to
everything I find desirable in a woman and yet she beguiles me.
There’s only one small problem. She happens to be the twin of my mortal
enemy’s wife. A man who was once killed by my family. More than that,
Tabitha and her sister are now being stalked by an ancient evil bent on
revenge. One that refuses to rest until everyone Tabitha holds dear is
dead.
Unlike my Dark-Hunter brethren, I rely on no one but myself. They
spurned me and I turned my back on them. I’ve never cared what the
other Dark-Hunters, or anyone else, thought of me. But now the only way
to save Tabitha and her family is to find someway to bridge two
thousand years of hatred and prejudice.
They say that opposites attract, but can they continue to stay together
when even the very Fates of the universe conspire to keep them apart?
In the realm of the Dark-Hunters there is a code of honor that even
immortal bad boys must follow:
Harm no human. Drink no blood. Never fall in love.
But every now and again a Dark-Hunter thinks himself above the Code.
That's when I'm summoned. Who am I? I'm the one thing the fearless
fear. Step over the line and it's my wrath you will face. Nothing can
touch me. Nothing can sway me. I am relentless and unfeeling.
Or so I thought until I met a female Dark-Hunter who goes by the name
of Danger-it's not just her name, it's how she lives her life. She
doesn't trust me at all. And who could blame her? She alone knows that
I'm here to be judge, jury and most likely executioner of her friends.
Yet she is my key to saving some of them. Without her, they all will
die.
Dangereuse St. Richard is a deadly distraction. Something about her is
reawakening a heart I thought was long dead. But in a race against
evil, the only hope mankind has is that I do my duty. And how can I do
my duty when it means that I will have to sacrifice the only woman I've
ever loved?
Beautiful scholar Channon MacRea has spent years studying the legendary
Dragon Tapestry, devoting days and nights to deciphering the
impenetrable Old English symbolism. Then one evening the unnaturally
handsome Sebastian appears. He claims to hold the key to solving the
tapestry's mysteries. Bearing magnificently taut and tanned flesh
marked by intriguing scars of battle, he also claims to be a dragon
slayer trapped between two worlds.
For Channon there's only one way to finally uncover the secrets of the
intricate embroidery--by following the seductive stranger into a
fantastic alternate world of magic, danger and erotic adventure.
"Dragonswan" was previously included as a short story in Tapestry published by Jove in September 2002.
A true Katagaria, Wren is a hybrid mix of a Snow Leopard mother and a
White Tiger father. As a result, he can take either form at will. He
was an abomination that should never have been allowed to be brought
into the world. When his parents began to suspect his powers, his
father tried to kill him. No one is quite sure what happened to either
of his parents after that.
Because of their brutality and extreme alpha natures, both the White
Tiger and Snow Leopard branches of the Katagaria are all but extinct.
Many believe Wren is the last of his kind on either side.
Half-dead, he was taken to Sanctuary when he was barely more than a
cub. The bears took pity on him, but with every passing year as he
grows older, they are becoming more and more aware of his powers and
strength. He is currently only forty-five which in our years makes him
around the human age of twenty-two.
A complete loner, he is carefully watched by all the Peltiers who fear
what he might be capable of. Even Wren is afraid of himself and of ever
discovering the true ferocity that lays within his beast's heart. For
this reason, he has vowed to never mate and to stay far away from
everyone.
Awakening from a drugged sleep in a cold cell, Kiara finds herself a
prisoner of the merciless marauders who threaten her father's
planetary kingdom. Miraculously, a rescuer appears, but behind his
fearsome mask is the handsome face of a dark avenger whose outlaw
touch sets her very soul aflame. They call him Nemesis. Once a
renegade assassin, now a warrior-soldier sworn to protect the
innocent from the ruthless mercenaries throughout the galaxies, he
has many enemies. Besieged on every side, he knows he is a danger to
the beauty he saves from certain death. But the lovely Kiara stirs a
hungry longing in his battle-hardened heart, spurring him into a
struggle that could restore his honor and heal the wounds of a
beleaguered empire--or tear Kiara from his arms forever....
Haunted by a past that would never let him live in peace, Syn has
sworn to let no one close to him. He lives in a world of danger. A
world of two-faced friends, and enemies at every turn. Tyra has a
haunted past of her own, one of poverty and desperation. It is for
that reason that she makes a hated bargain-bring Syn to justice and
find the information chip he stole years ago, a chip that contains
the information it takes to bring down a dynasty. But what she
finds is a man unlike his reputation, a man who has principals and
courage. A man who reawkens feelings in her she can't deny. Can
they overcome their pasts and a bitter betrayal to find the love
each of them needs to survive?
Devyn Kell's knowledge of women, gambling and medicine was as cast
as the cosmos. But what he knew about a spaceship's maintenance
system wouldn't fill a moon crater. So when irresistible Alix Garran
told him that his vessel's rear stabilizer was down, Devyn hired her
as his engineer. While she taught him about his ship's nuts and
bolts, he longed to tutor her in the mechanics of love. Fleeing her
past, Alix wanted a life free of trouble. Yet no sooner had she
signed on with Devyn than they were outrunning the authorities and
heading toward Paradise City where even assassin's weren't safe. But
Alix didn't know what real danger was until Devyn's burning kiss
awakened her restless spirit with a taste of heaven.
Man of My Dreams, 2004
Reprint of "Fire & Ice"
with Maggie Shayne & Virginia Kantra & Suzanne Forster
A princess on a quest to save herself from an unwanted
marriage, quickly finds herself in the arms of legendary commander
whose only goal is to forget the life he once lived. Wounded in
body and spirit, Adron Quiakides wants nothing more to do with this
existence. He lives in a cocoon of pain, but one fateful night an
angel stumbles into his life and leads him to the pathway of
redemption. The obstinate, ever-hopeful Livia typpa Vista isn't the
kind of woman to take his name and his money, then leave him in
peace. She's the type of woman who takes his heart and shows him
that life, even as he is forced to live it, is worthwhile. But can
even Livia's steadfast love save Adron from himself?
Cast to the mortal realm by an evil sorceress, Arina had more than
her share of problems. She was trapped in a temptress's body,
tormented by untested passions, and doomed to lose any man she
desired. Yet even as Arina yearned for the safety of the pearly
gates, she found paradise in the arms of a Norman mercenary. The
villagers said Daemon was the devil's son, but he was only a man
plagued by strange dreams--visions of a tantalizing beauty who
enchanted him like no other, Then the enticing stranger appeared in
the flesh, and he vowed nothing between heaven and earth would keep
them apart. But to savor the joys of his very own angel, Daemon
would have to battle demons--within and without--and risk his very
soul for love.
Naughty Or Nice, 2001
"Love Bytes"
With Patricia Ryan, Carly Phillips & Kathryn Smith
Sherrilyn Kenyon heats up an office where two coworkers decide to
spend the holidays together--only to find themselves surrendering
completely to forbidden passion . . .
Betrayed by love, Taryn finds it hard to believe in old-fashioned
heroes -- until a dark-eyed, bare-chested hunk literally steps off
the pages of a paperback romance and into her heart. Now, Taryn
wonders if her mind is just playing beautiful tricks -- or if her
fantasy has just become a reality...