Monday Morning Flash Fiction Challenge, Week 51

Good Morning Blogoverse!

After two weeks of intense temperature and little rain, yesterday we had normal summertime temps and a thunderstorm, yay! I was so hot, I felt ill all the time! I know, the temps are supposed to be back, but I going to enjoy the respite (even if it's only at night) for as long as possible, and I hope we're finished with heat indices of 105-120 degrees...

So, for this morning...it's time for our flash fiction challenge!

Today's image is kind of fun! Next week I'm going to add the female version similar to this one, so maybe a new storyline here? Anyway, I hope everyone has fun with this....it's another Luis Royo.

So, the rules remain the same, somewhere around 350 words, and come back Friday to post your response.

And as always, have fun and have a great week!

Ciao!

Thief of Hope by Cindy Young-Turner

Publisher:  Crescent Moon Press
Pages:  318

(Released:  May 16, 2011)

From the Cover:

Sydney, a street urchin and pickpocket in the town of Last Hope, has managed to evade the oppressive Guild for years, but there is no escaping fate when she's sentenced to death for associating with the resistance.

After she's rescued by a wizard, Sydney is forced to accept that magic-long outlawed throughout the Kingdom of Thanumor-still exists, and the Tuatha, a powerful faery folk, are much more than ancient myth and legend. When the wizard offers a chance to fight the Guild and bring Willem, bastard prince and champion of the Tuatha, to the throne, Sydney embraces the cause as a way to find her own redemption.

But Sydney's fear of the Guild, distrust of authority, and surprising connection to the Tuatha threaten Willem's success. Can she untangle the strange threads that entwine her life not only to the fate of the kingdom, but also to Willem himself?

Sydney has lost everyone who was important in her life. She never knew her mother, and the only father she has ever known, Edgar, was taken by the Guild and hung for his actions against the authority. She's grown up in a world where she can't depend on anyone but herself.

When the Guild comes looking for her, she knows she'll be put to death. She's a pickpocket who has the misfortune of nixing a few coins from a Guild official, and they're merciless. Sydney feels almost without worth, no one has valued her since Edgar's death. Love has been almost nonexistent in her young life, a life full of strife.

Oryn finds Sydney left to die in the forest outside Last Hope, and brings her across the magical boundary. He brings a little hope back into her life, and though she doesn't know it yet, she's one of the keys for the hope of the realm. At Oryn's home, she meets other exiles, in preparation for a revolt against the Guild. The bastard son of the King is ready to take his place on the throne, all Willem needs is the help of the people of Last Hope. For Sydney, it means learning to trust someone other than herself. For Willem, it means trusting Sydney's senses, her ability to see what others cannot, to know what has been forgotten.

Thief of Hope by Cindy Young-Turner is a tale told through the twists and turns of a place where the Guild controls lives, brings death, and most of society under it's boot heel. The Guild has taken over this realm, outlawed magic, and forgotten that the fae ever existed, nothing more than myths and fairytales. Willem offers a chance to bring change, to give freedoms and safety, to crawl out of the shadow of the oppressive Guild. Sydney hasn't trusted anyone in a long time, but in Willem she sees a possible future, the possibility of a free life. Willem sees in her the possibility of hope, if she can change, have faith, then others can as well. It brings new meaning to the tireless battle before him. Each is drawn to the other like moths to a flame, Willem to the hope that Sydney can give, and as well as the hope he can give. Each is what the other needs, but it is a love that can't exist. Or can it? The bastard King and the one-time pickpocket have to learn if love can exist where you want it, where you need it.

Thief of Hope exists in a place where magic has been bled out of the land, and the people are suffering for it. Not all magic comes in the form of wands or spells (though that can be found in this story as well), but in the ability of the land to renew itself, heal, for the people to have hope, and for the oppression to be alleviated. Willem and Sydney can help make this happen, but through their time together, love and need blossom. But, will it survive? Is it meant to be? I wish I had the answer to these questions, and it's my hope to find them in the next book in the series. I would like to see Willem and Sydney together, but can the bastard King take a former pickpocket as his bride and queen? Can Sydney accept something else? I'll be waiting to see what's in store for this pair. There are excellent secondary characters in this book as well, so I'll also be looking for some of their continuing story. Lovers of paranormal romance will find a sweet romance at the core of this book, and magic lovers will want to take a peek as well. There's a mysterious world waiting to be discovered. 5 out of 5 fairy kisses for this reader. Most excellent tale, and I'll be looking for more from this author.

I received my ebook from the author for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Body of Sin by Eve Silver

Publisher:  HQN, Harlequin Enterprises
Pages:  384

(Release Date:  August 23, 2011)

From the Cover:

The ultimate fall from grace…

Once the favorite son of the Lord of the Underworld, Lokan Krayl held enviable privileges and powers. Powers that led to a devastating betrayal—murder.

Resurrected by his immortal brothers, Lokan is still trapped in purgatory. He has no way to contact his family. He has no answers. In order to find the truth about his death, and who killed him, he must escape his prison. And there’s only one way out: through the twelve gates of his eternal enemy, Osiris.

But Lokan has help. Bryn Carr, the woman who duped him once before, is his beautiful yet unwanted guide. She’s been sent by his brothers to aid him. She’s his last hope. Lokan must place his fate—and that of the mortal and immortal worlds—in the hands of the one woman he can never trust.

Lokan Krayl was thought to be lost, the one-time favorite son then killed by an unholy father, sacrificed to allow the Lord of Chaos a chance to walk in the mortal realm once again. His brothers, Dagan, Malthus, Alastor with their mates have found a way to bring Lokan back, maybe, if Bryn Carr, his enchantress, can guide him back to the mortal realm. But, is Lokan willing to give up what will be necessary to make their plan work? If he can't, his father, Lord of the Underworld, the Chaos Lord, will find a way to use his granddaughter in the same way he attempted to use Lokan.

Lokan will be forever changed by what has transpired since his cruel death. As a God of the Underworld, it was thought impossible to kill him, now he knows different. Sacrificing himself to save the one person he can't live without, his daughter, Dana.

Body of Sin by Eve Silver is an excellent finish to this mythos based series, the Otherkin series. If you haven't read this series before the books in order are: Sins of the Heart, Sins of the Soul, and Sins of the Flesh, with Daughter of Sin (novella in the same world). Lokan is the son most trusted by the Lord of the Underworld, his right hand man. But, when it is discovered that Lokan has produced a child, his father sees his chance to rule the mortal world, to take as only he can. He is incapable of real love, his sons are mere instruments for his use. It is the love of his brother's that saves Lokan, as well as the love of the only woman who can love help him return, and the need to save his daughter that makes him want to return to what has been left behind. It will take everything he and his brothers have to bring him home.

Body of Sin finishes the story started in Sins of Heart, and I recommend reading the books in order. There's great world building, a hot romances, and an excellent tale that unfolds and grows with each book. I found myself hoping Lokan would find his way, laughing at the insanity, crying at the inevitable. Eve Silver weaves a magical story that all lovers of mythos will want to read. Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance lovers will find a satisfying tale of love lost and found, hope revived. I highly recommend the entire series. 5 out of 5 fairy kisses, I'd give it more, but I ran out of kisses! Put this series on your reading list.

I received this ebook for review from NetGalley and Harlequin. All opinions expressed are my own.

Forever Vampire by Michele Hauf

Publisher: HQN, Harlequin Enterprises
Pages: 384

(Released: April 19, 2011)

From the Cover:

Vail the Unwanted is a pureblood vampire. But raised in Faery, he has neither home nor peace, and when his aid is sought in the recovery of a priceless diamond gown, his price is information.

Specifically the whereabouts of his accursed father. His goal is revenge, and the supernaturally sexy Lyric, the icy blond vampiress with whom he must work, is a distraction he can't afford.

Outwardly as cold as the diamond dress in which she was kidnapped, Lyric has her own secrets. Desperate to break free from her criminal family, she aligns herself with the brooding Vail.

Together they seek justice while each secretly works for freedom and a fresh start. For Lyric that means holding herself apart, even from the smoldering blue-eyed Vail. For Vail, it means a battle to the death for revenge—and for a temptress he can't deny.

Lyric can't stand her life the way it is, the pressure of her family, her mother, and her mother's fiancee. She sees an escape, if she can make it happen. If she can find a happy medium between the light and the dark. If she can survive. What the ice princess needs is the hope only love can provide.

Into her life comes the Vail, the Unwanted, an ickor addicted vampire who grew up in the Unseelie Court, and exiled when he takes what it's leader, the Lord of Midsummer Dark and his biggest enemy, wanted. He's the tracker sent to find Lyric and what has been stolen. Now, he has something else that the leader of the Unseelie wants, and it may lead to a battle between the Seelie and Unseelie, or it could mean his death.

Forever Vampire by Michele Hauf is the continuing story from Seducing the Vampire. Vail is the son of Vivianne and Constantine who imprisoned her after discovering he could never have what she had already given to his half-brother, Rhys. After raping her, he leaves her buried and aware, beneath Paris for 200 years. If is only by accident that she is released, and only Rhys can keep her sane. Vail, the dark prince, is the son born of that one-time union and taken in payment of a boon owned by Rhys to contain his duel nature. In this story, Vail as become the unwanted, turned against his nature and kind by faery. From his lifetime spent there, he has become addicted to ickor, fae blood. Lyric has grown up in a crime empire, her family is one of thieves and criminals. She wants to find a place without family pressures, and away from the Lord of Midsummer Dark who at first wants her, then only wants to kill her. When she is kidnapped, it is the perfect escape, until Vail finds her. Then she discovers the escape is the last thing she wants.

Forever Vampire is a sexy, exciting addition to Michele Hauf's vampire stories. If you haven't read Seducing the Vampire, I would start there to find out more about Vivianne and Rhys, and Constantine who wants to create his own empire. Vail and Lyric are a perfect match for each other, she's an icy white princess untouched by love, and he's the dark prince with forbidden desires. They are the hope for each other, without ever realizing it. Though compatible in many ways, the reader is left wondering what these two will do, and it's not revealed until the end of the story. Paranormal romance lovers will find a hard and fast love story, very nicely done and told only as Michele Hauf can. 4.5 out 5 fairy kisses, and as always, anything that Michele Hauf releases goes on my reading list. Can't wait for the next book!

Book Trailer:



I received my copy from NetGalley and the publisher, Harlequin, for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

A Touch of Crimson by Sylvia Day

Publisher: Signet, The Penguin Group
Pages: 368

(Release Date:  October 4, 2011)

From the Cover:

FIRST IN A NEW SERIES! CAN TRUE LOVE SURVIVE A WAR BETWEEN ANGELS, VAMPIRES, AND LYCANS?

An angel with immense power and insatiable desire, Adrian Mitchell leads an elite Special Ops unit of the seraphim. His task is to punish the Fallen–angels who have become vampires–and command a restless pack of indentured lycans.

But Adrian has suffered his own punishment for becoming involved with mortals–losing the woman he loves again and again. Now, after nearly two hundred years, he has found her: Shadoe, her soul once more inhabiting a new body that doesn’t remember him. This time he won’t let her go.

With no memory of her past as Shadoe, Lindsay Gibson knows only that she can’t help being fiercely attracted to the smoldering, seductive male who crosses her path. Swept into a dangerous world of tumultuous passion and preternatural conflict, Lindsay is soon caught between her angel lover, her vampire father, and a full-blown lycan revolt. There’s more at stake than her love and her life–she could lose her very soul…

Adrian Mitchell wants nothing more than to exist, to complete his mission... until Shadeo newest incarnation is revealed. She is his life, the only reason he would fall from grace. It has been so very long since he recognized her soul. But when events lead him to forgo his usual transportation, he's forced to fly commercially, and he finds what he's been seeking, what he's been denied.

Lindsay Grant is instantly attracted to the angel in disguise, Adrian Mitchell. But, she's not used to the attention of one so attracted in return. It frightens her that he gets so quickly under her skin. She's never been the commitment type, and what she thinks will be a brief affair, suddenly blooms into much more, more than she can even realize.

Lindsay Grant holds within her what Adrian Mitchell has been waiting for, and he will have her, at all costs. The question is: who will be desire more? Lindsay or Shadeo?

A Touch of Crimson by Sylvia Day is the first book in a new series, Renegade Angels. It tells the story of what happens when angels come to covet what they were sent to guard. And those unable or unwilling to forgo their desires, become the Fallen. The Watchers with their lycan guards, police the Fallen and guard the mortals. Wings removed, the Fallen have little choice but to gain sustenance by taking the blood of those they love, sent to protect, cursed as vampires. The leader of the Fallen, Syre tried to forbid his daughter, Shadeo, from loving one of the Watchers, Adrian. But, in his unsuccessful bid to turn her, she dies. The curse of Adrian loving her is that her soul is reborn again and again, always seeking him. Lindsay Grant has always been different from the others around her. She's quicker than is supposed to be possible, sees what shouldn't be seen, senses what others cannot. She doesn't fit in until she finds Adrian. Then, her life starts to make sense. With lycan Elijah protecting her under Adrian's watchful eye, no harm will befall her. Unless or until Shadeo's father tries to claim her.

A Touch of Crimson is an excellent start to a wonderful series that I can't wait to read more of. I was left hanging, hoping to turn more pages as the story mysteriously vanished before my eyes. I couldn't believe I had come to the end. The romance between Adrian and Lindsay is scorching hot, the bad boy angel indulging in the forbidden desire, and the woman who wants to deny him, save him from himself and the curse of the Fallen, if only she could help herself, if only she didn't desire him more than anything else she's ever had before. If you're in the mood for a steaming hot romance of undeniable love, pick this book up, you won't be disappointed. If you love Alpha males and strong heroines, this is the book for you. Paranormal Romance lovers and Urban Fantasy lovers need to add this one to their lists, it is a must read, can't put down. For myself, I devoured this book in a single sitting, and I'll be eagerly waiting for the next in the series, A Hunger So Wild (Elijah's story) coming summer 2012, and book 3, yet to be named or announced. I need more angels and lycans in my life! This reader gives 5 out of 5 fairy kisses to A Touch of Crimson, wonderfully told, climatically exciting!

Because I can't resist, here is an excerpt from Sylvia Day's website:

Lindsay woke in a shadowed room. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes, her head turning to figure out where she was.

Her cheek touched the cool cotton of the pillowcase and she saw Adrian. He sat to the left of her in a round low-backed chair covered in silver damask. He was bare except for a pair of loose-fitting white pajama bottoms and whatever he might be wearing underneath them. He watched her with a searing intensity, his mouth straightened into a dangerous line. Although he didn’t move a muscle aside from blinking, she felt a tornado churning inside him.

“Hi,” she croaked past a dry throat. She must have pushed her body too far; she always felt like hammered shit when she exerted herself beyond her limits.

He reached for the clear glass pitcher of water on the bedside table and poured a large ration into a waiting tumbler. Then he stood and helped her sit up, propping her back with some pillows before handing her the drink.

She accepted with a grateful smile. There was a thick cushion of white gauze bandages on her left forearm. Beneath them, pain throbbed dully. She downed the entire contents of her glass and passed it back.

He picked up the phone beside her and punched a button, ordering room service. They were in a hotel, she realized. The windows to the right of the bed she lay in were at least two stories tall and had Tiffany Blue drapes drawn across them. There was a large sitting area beside her and a massive entertainment center at the foot of the bed. Considering the size and opulence of the room and the grand piano she saw through the open living room doorway, they were in…

“Las Vegas?” she queried.

Setting the phone down, he nodded. He poured her a refill and returned the tumbler to her.

She blew out her breath. “How long have I been out?”

“We were in Hurricane the day before yesterday.”

Yikes. “Is everyone okay?”

His gaze bored into her. “You were the only one seriously hurt.”

“That’s good.”

“The hell it is,” he growled, his voice rumbling through the room like thunder, rattling every loose object. “I told you to stay put.”

Here we go. “That was my plan, too. Until the vampire on the porch aimed a shotgun at you. Then I couldn’t stand still.”

“Why the fuck not?”

God, he was sexy when riled. She’d never seen him show anything besides total self-possession, but he was visibly seething now. “Because you needed someone at your back. Everyone else had their hands full. I couldn’t take the risk that you’d be spread too thin and leave an opening.”

“I could survive it.”

“You don’t know that! You told me yourself that you’ve had casualties. You’re not indestructible. I wasn’t going to stand around and watch you die.”

If there was any mercy in the world, she’d never have to watch another person she cared about die.

“So you decided to make me watch you die?” Again…

The unspoken word slid insidiously and inexplicably through Lindsay’s mind. She winced and pressed her palm against a suddenly throbbing temple. Adrian took the glass from her other hand—the hand that should have been too weak to hold it—and bent to press his lips to her forehead. The pain left her like a receding tide.

“If only you could bottle that talent,” she murmured.

Remembering the ninja/Matrix vault she’d done over the vampire, she freaked herself out with her own coolness. How the hell had she known how to do that?

“You’re going to drive me insane.” Although his voice was once again smooth as silk, the turbulence inside him hadn’t abated. He straightened.

“Can you open the curtains?”

Adrian hit a button on the nightstand and the drapes parted, revealing an overcast sky and drizzle. In Las Vegas. Not that it never rained in the desert city, but at this time of year…?

She looked at him, knowing his mood was once again affecting the weather, which affected her in turn. “You were really worried.”

His hands went to his lean hips, exposing the entirety of his perfect torso and delicious biceps. His wings materialized, extending with a sinuous grace. He was so damn beautiful. So fierce and proud. He was like catnip to her. She wanted to roll around with him in a blissful stupor, breathing in that scent of his that drove her wild.

“When you fell to the ground—” He exhaled harshly, his lashes lowering to hide the sudden flaring of his brilliant eyes. His arms crossed his chest and his feathers ruffled, giving so much away with his restless movements. “Yes, I was worried.”

*Sigh* worthy of more than 5 fairy kisses....

I received my copy for review from NetGalley and Signet. All opinion expressed are my own.