TWISTED:  Alpha wolves, ninja cheerleaders, and spicy kisses

This is a sexy, sweet, and funny story with great characters.~K&T Book Reviews

I highly recommend this series if you love alphas and the paranormal genre.~The Book Blog

Totally enthralling, this book has it all: sizzling hot-action, jaw-dropping plots, smart-ass attitude, sarcasm and humor and let’s not forget steamy, mind-blowing sex. ~ Confessions from Romaholics

TWISTED is a novella in the Dark Protector series and features Maggie, a wolf shifter who has been a part of the series for many books. She heads out on a mission for the king to find out who’s been messing with shifter innoculations…and right into Terrent Vilk’s arms. The Alpha wolf has been waiting not so patiently for this moment to come, and no way is he letting her go now. The novella is in ebook form only right now, and will be available in a print anthology with TEMPTED and TAMED, the other two Dark Protector novellas, in early 2014. Here are the buy links for TWISTED, and the back cover blurb and an excerpt are found below. I hope you enjoy Maggie’s story!

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EXCERPT of TWISTED

Terrent made the split decision to shift from wolf to man just in time to smack into the woman and start twisting through the air. He timed the movements so he’d hit first, calculating the distance and ground cover. Tucking her close, he allowed his right shoulder to impact, immediately rolling over several times and keeping her off the ground. The pain didn’t hit until they’d finally stopped.

Agony burst like fire through his shoulder.

He took a deep breath, mentally dispatching healing cells to the muscles and tendons.

Maggie shuddered on top of him, her heart beating so hard he could feel it on his chest. The woman levered herself up, tears streaming down her face. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” Straddling him, she patted his chest, his stomach, his face. “I’m sorry.”

God, she was cute.

Her breasts glowed in the moonlight, and she was sitting smack on his groin.

Suddenly, he forgot all about his shoulder. “Why did you shift?”

“I couldn’t help the change.” She ran her palms down his arms, obviously searching for injuries. “I’m still regaining my strength from having the virus for so long, and sometimes I can’t hold the wolf form.”

His eyebrow lifted. “Maybe you should’ve told me that before we climbed rocks.”

“Um, yeah.” She bit her lip. “But I was having so much fun. You don’t like heights, anyway, so I wouldn’t have thought to tell you.”

“I don’t mind rocky hills when I’m in wolf form. But flying? Or climbing trees? Or, God forbid, high-rise buildings? No way.” Then he waited for reality to hit her.

She finished patting him down and relaxed, her knees on either side of his hips. Straddling him. All movement stopped. Her pretty brown eyes widened. A lovely pink flush rose from her breasts to her face.

Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating.

He expected her to scramble off him. To stutter. Instead, she tilted her head to the side and slowly, so damn slowly, flattened her palms against his chest. A low purr rumbled up from her abdomen.

A wolf who purred. His head might explode, she was so damn perfect.

She swallowed. “You’re naked.”

“So are you.”

She wiggled a little bit. Heat roared between his ears and down his spine. He grabbed her hips to hold her in place. “Ah, don’t wiggle.”

Her blush strengthened to a red that had to burn. “Sorry.”

She didn’t look sorry. Heat lightened her brown eyes, and curiosity filled her expression. Wolves. Always curious.

She wasn’t the only one wondering.

He slid his palms up her flanks, ignoring the pull in his injured shoulder. It’d heal within minutes. Her skin was smooth and so damn soft. He remembered how soft. It had been hell leaving her in safety the last decade while he hunted the additional werewolves created during the war. He’d had a job to do, and he’d done it.

She ran her hands along his ribs, a small smile tilting her lips. “You’re so big.”

“Too big?”

“No. Just big.”

He outweighed her by a couple hundred pounds. When they’d dated before, she’d liked his size. Before she’d been taken and infected with a virus by their enemies. Did soldiers scare her now? Rage ripped through him, but he forced his anger down. “I won’t hurt you.”

She nodded, absorbed in watching her hands drive him crazy. “Why the one fang?”

“Huh?” His anger dissipated in a flash.

“The one fang mark on my butt. You have two fangs.”

Oh. “I had broken one off in a fight with a werewolf earlier that day. It took about a week to grow back.” Probably a good thing, too, or he would’ve marked her. Not that he wasn’t going to soon.

“Oh.” Her gaze met his, and she blinked. “Well, ah…” She bit the inside of her lip and looked away.

“What, Maggie?” He tried to gentle his voice, but her tight little body on him had the words emerging guttural.

“I don’t remember how to do this,” she whispered, her gaze on his collar bone.

His heart flipped over. Jesus. She might as well cut it out and wear it for a hat. The little organ—and anything else he had—belonged to her. The sexy, cunning, pretty little wolf had a sweetness to her that shocked him, considering what she’d gone through. He wanted that sweetness to wrap around him and never let go.

His hold tightened. “Wanna learn?”

BACK COVER BLURB

In human form, Terrent Vilks is all male animal–dark, ripped, predatory. As wolf, he’s unforgettably dangerous, unforgettably hot. Yet Maggie can’t remember him. . ..

Not even when she learns she once agreed to mate him. Yeah, that was years ago, before she was kidnapped and tortured, before she lost her memory. Now she knows just one thing about herself–she’ll do whatever it takes to bring down the monsters who took her, even trust her ex.

He’s got her right where he wants her. . .

I hope you enjoy TWISTED! 🙂

I’ve been getting a lot of fan letters and new FB likes lately with UNDER THE COVERS about to be released in May, TWISTED in June, and FORGOTTEN SINS in July…and I LOVE it!  There are a few things I didn’t know before becoming an author that I wish I’d known…and here they are:

1)       Authors with NY Publishers have no say in the price point of the books. None-zippo-zilch.  I have no clue how much my book is priced at until I either see it in a store or check online retailers.  🙂

2)      Those of us with traditional publishers don’t create our own covers.  I see the cover after it’s pretty much ready to go.  Having said that…I’ve LOVED my covers!  The graphic arts departments at Kensington, Entangled, and Grand Central seriously rock.

3)      We have no say in whether a book gets printed or not.  Or whether it’s available in e-book or not.  These type of things are never guaranteed in a contract.  Of course we want them in both e-book and print.  Always.  So far, I’ve been fortunate.

4)      We know not to read reviews…yet we do.  And yeah, sometimes we take them personally…and wish year-long yeast infections on the reviewer.  Yeah, I’m talking to you—mean reviewer.  And…we can tell if it’s a personal issue and not something to do with the book…even if somebody tries to mask it.

5)      When someone gives us a poor rating on Amazon or GoodReads because the price of the book is too high…we think she’s a moron.  (See number one above.)

6)      Once we get several reviews…we realize that the EXACT same thing one reviewer just loved is the reason another reviewer didn’t like the book.  This is a great thing…because then we realize we can’t please all the people, and we should just go write the next book…and stop reading reviews.  🙂

7)      We’re taken aback and overwhelmed by the kindness of readers and how they’re willing to go out of their way to help promote our books.  (Yes, FB street team… I mean you.)  It’s very humbling, and I hope I express how much this means to me and how much I appreciate all of my readers.

8)      Reading fan mail is the best part of many days.  Thanks for sending fan mail!

9)      There’s no magical muse.  Honest.  We just have to sit down and write when we’d rather be doing laundry sometimes.  This actually is a job.

10)   We feel an incredibly strong loyalty to our readers and really, really, really don’t want to let you down.  Ever. 

Hello, folks!  Sorry about my lengthy absence…I’ve been busy.  I requested time to interview Kane Kayrs, but he just couldn’t make the time.  I guess being the smartest guy in the Universe tends to keep one busy.  So I contacted Amber, Kane’s mate, and she said they’d love to sit down with me.  This time I chose a brand-new coffee shop in town.  They haven’t heard of us there, which is a good thing.  Those Kayrs men get me kicked out of places every darn time.  Here’s the transcript of the interview, with a couple of my thoughts thrown in:

Oh, wait a minute.  I guess I should give you some quick background.  I arrived early and found a nice booth toward the rear of the shop.  Then, since I’ve hung with the Kayrs men before, I sat with my back to the door and left the chair that faced the door for Kane.  Yeah. Not my first rodeo. 

Kane and Amber arrived, both carrying tons of shopping bags.  Kane wore his customary black slacks and silk shirt, while Amber wore a long, flowing skirt and lots of Celtic jewelry.  They reached the table, Amber scooted in, and Kane took the chair I figured he’d take.

ME:  Thank you so much for meeting me here!  I know how busy you are.  Been shopping?

KANE:  You could say that.  He gave Amber a look.  Apparently my mate loves after Christmas sales.

AMBER:  Oh, I really do.  You have to check this out.

At that point, she reached in a bag and pulled out the most adorable little hoodie with a picture of Einstein on it.  I got all excited…OMG – a Kayrs baby?  My heart actually leapt into my throat.  Honest.

AMBER:  Isn’t this the cutest?  It’s for Walter.

I coughed.  Yeah.  I coughed.

KANE:  Walter is the monkey I use in my lab.

ME:  Um, yeah.  Okay.  So…how about any Kayrs babies?  You know?  I’m just curious.

AMBER:  I think a baby would be wonderful!  But, it usually takes vampires quite a while to procreate for some reason.  Usually a century or two.  Well, except for Talen.

KANE:  It’s probably because we’re mostly immortal.  I mean, since we live so long, it makes sense that there shouldn’t be too many of us.  From a universal perspective, that is.

ME:  I see.  But I notice you’re not saying no.

At this point, three waitresses wandered into view from behind the counter.  As one, they all saw us, and they all sucked in breath.  Then, not caring of their associates, they all tried to rush forward at the same time.

Two of the waitresses smacked into each other and went down.  The other leaped several feet to land at our table. 

TRIUMPHANT WAITRESS (to Kane):  Hi.  What can I get you?

He lifted that eyebrow in total Kayrs fashion.

KANE:  Are your friends all right?  (She nodded and didn’t take her eyes off Kane).  Okay.

AMBER:  Maybe we should help them get off the floor.

KANE:  Stay put, sweetheart.

Yep.  Kayrs male all the way.  Then Kane smiled at the waitress.  Her eyelids fluttered, but to her credit, she didn’t swoon.

KANE:  Izzy will have a double caramel latte, Amber will have an organic bean, all natural, vegan Bobby Bill, and I’ll have a cup of coffee–black.

ME:  Um…how did you know what coffee I like?

A Kayrs eyebrow rose.  Oh yeah.  Smartest.  Guy.  On.  The.  Planet.  He probably actually knew what I’d had for breakfast, how much money I had in the bank, and my secret dreams nobody else had ever guessed.

AMBER:  Kane remembers everything.  So, how are things with you, Izzy?

ME:  Um, fine.  Thanks.  How’s life as a vampire mate?

AMBER:  Terrific.  I mean, Grandma Hilde is getting along fairly well with the vampires, though she does try to run things sometimes.

Kane flashed her a look.

ME:   So how is life at Realm Headquarters? 

Just then, the outside door jingled.  Always a bad sign when meeting the Kayrs men.  So I turned…and it wasn’t Talen or Jase, the two who usually cause me problems.  It was a large, hulking, sexy, dark-haired guy.  I’d never met him.  But the air vibrated around him in a way I’ve come to recognize as shifter-tension.

Kane instantly stood and planted himself between the table and the door.  Yeah.  The big guy wasn’t going to let anything happen to little ole me.  Well, and Amber.  I’m sure he wanted to protect Amber, too.

The guy prowled forward, his gaze on Kane.

KANE:  Terrent. 

Terrent:  Kane.

Oh.  I figured out quickly that the guy must be Terrent Vilks, the sexy as hell wolf shifter who’s the hero in TWISTED.  I began to stand because hey, I needed to interview him.  One look from Kane (over his shoulder no less) had me sitting back down.  Darn it.

KANE:  Why are you here?

TERRENT:  I need your help.  Maggie’s in trouble, and it’s time for her to move to wolf headquarters.

KANE:  We can keep her safe.

TERRENT:  Not like I can…and you know it.

Kane rubbed his chin.  Have you talked to Dage?

TERRENT:  No.  I figured I’d get you on my side first.

KANE:  Good plan.  But I can’t guarantee I’ll agree.  Let’s talk.

TERRENT:  I’d love to.  But there’s a cadre of werewolves just outside of town, and I figured…

KANE:  We’ll talk while we hunt.  He looked at me and gently drew Amber out of her chair.  Izzy?  I enjoyed our chat.  We’ll meet again after we take care of the werewolf problem.  Pure anticipation lit his sizzling eyes.  Yeah, the guy wanted a good fight.

AMBER:  I’ll just stay and chat with Izzy.

KANE:  No.

Just as easy as that, all three of them disappeared through the door.  I felt a little bereft until I noticed a hulking shadow by the door.  Gathering my courgage, I marched over to a huge, blonde guy with eyes the color of a midnight storm.  “Who are you?” I asked.

HUGE, BLONDE GUY:  Your bodyguard.  The king wants you safe.

Well, now.  It rocks to be Izzy, doesn’t it?  🙂