    |  A page-turning paranormal series for fans of Twilight and A Shade of Vampire. Amelia never asked to unleash her inner vampire…she never even knew it existed. Amelia is sucked into a nightmare and killed at the hungry fangs of a monster…but then she wakes up and everything has changed. Her whole life has been a lie. What she thought she was—human—is nothing but a disguise, one she never even knew she was wearing. Amelia is a vampire and she always has been. Her family and even best friend Kendrick have known the truth all along, a lie they claim they kept to protect her. Sixteen going-on-forever, Amelia’s violent hunger could quiet a classroom in seconds. It could expose them and lead to her death. Killing for blood is forbidden—but vampires aren’t the only ones enforcing the rules. Another race exists that is more than willing to keep the toll down by any means they see fit. With her life spiraling, Amelia lives in fear of the day she finally loses control. The day she finally kills in cold blood. But then she meets Ty, a guy who is strangely familiar and hides a dark and dangerous secret of his own, and everything changes. Amelia senses Ty’s unnatural strength and, even more than that, for the first time she feels safe from herself. But lies and secrets won’t stay buried forever as her telling dreams turn into warnings. Amelia is unaware of the superior power she possesses and the danger she is in. Not everyone is who they claim to be. Not even Ty. Falling for him will be impossible not to do, but staying alive after that? Falling in love may just cost Amelia everything: her friends, her family…even her life. Warning - This book contains some language and sexual situations. Coming of age/ Vampire/ Paranormal Romance |
 | Hunted and anything but normal...even for a vampire. Amelia Lamont’s return to normal vampire life is threatened with a horrific vision, while new dynamics about her link to The Sight drive her to keep her growing and intrusive power a secret. And then there’s Ty—her sexy werewolf boyfriend—but can he truly accept Amelia’s connection and deepening bond with Kendrick? Although she’s escaped with her life for now, Amelia knows Caius is watching and waiting, preparing for the right moment to take back possession of his experiment—her. As she searches for the truth behind her creation, the fabric of the past is torn away, leaving her questioning whom she can truly trust…the deeper she digs, the darker her past becomes. Amelia’s outlawed romance with her race’s mortal enemy will be put to the ultimate test when her increasingly debilitating dreams turn catastrophic. For in the end, the truth always finds a way to come out, and vampire law is as unforgiving as it is fatal. Will Amelia’s forbidden love for Ty save them…or guarantee their death? Warning - This book contains some language and sexual situations. Coming of age/ Vampire/ Paranormal Romance. |
 | The love of Amelia’s life is dead…but is Ty really gone forever? After Ty bled out in Amelia’s arms, the disappearance of his body sparked an unlikely union between mortal enemies to uncover what happened and if the lycan-hybrid is still alive—even though alive no longer has the same definition. The Royal Vampire Council will take all necessary measures to protect Amelia, their vampire Oracle. The blooded daughter of a traitor, she is forced into seclusion from the human world to the Armaya—the vampires’ hidden Alaskan complex where even those in power have a hierarchy to answer to. The threat of the damned is escalating, and no royal is safe from the growing danger. With her loyal best friend, Kendrick, at her side, Amelia will commit any act to uncover the story behind Ty’s disappearance. The only chance Amelia has to save her lost love is by learning to control her secret abilities—abilities gained through the engineered blood in Amelia's veins. But as her chances of finding Ty alive dwindle, her feelings for Kendrick begin to grow. Powers, obligation, budding love, and lost love. There are battles to be won, but is the life Amelia’s fighting for already six-feet under? |
 | The love of Amelia’s life is dead…but is Ty really gone forever? After Ty bled out in Amelia’s arms, the disappearance of his body sparked an unlikely union between mortal enemies to uncover what happened and if the lycan-hybrid is still alive—even though alive no longer has the same definition. The Royal Vampire Council will take all necessary measures to protect Amelia, their vampire Oracle. The blooded daughter of a traitor, she is forced into seclusion from the human world to the Armaya—the vampires’ hidden Alaskan complex where even those in power have a hierarchy to answer to. The threat of the damned is escalating, and no royal is safe from the growing danger. With her loyal best friend, Kendrick, at her side, Amelia will commit any act to uncover the story behind Ty’s disappearance. The only chance Amelia has to save her lost love is by learning to control her secret abilities—abilities gained through the engineered blood in Amelia's veins. But as her chances of finding Ty alive dwindle, her feelings for Kendrick begin to grow. Powers, obligation, budding love, and lost love. There are battles to be won, but is the life Amelia’s fighting for already six-feet under? |
Minutes after leaving the restaurant, we were out of the city and leaving its warm lights behind. Ty turned his turbo-charged WRX onto a pitch-black gravel road shrouded with overhanging trees. I squinted and held my breath, trying to glimpse what lay ahead. My stomach clenched with nerves. Where on earth was Ty taking me?
After a few long seconds, the gravel road gave way to an open clearing, a lookout. Ty rolled up alongside a log railing. I shot through the passenger door, folding over the barrier to suck in fresh mouthfuls of air. A steady breeze blew, clearing his scent and filling my lungs. Now able to think again, my eyes roamed. Below the hillside the city sparkled, alive with nightlife. Everything was awash with the warm glow of streetlamps, from the moving cars to the illuminated advertisements. The sight was a stark comparison to where I stood, with black shadows carved by billowing oaks.
When warmth settled behind my back, I turned and almost jumped out of my skin. Ty was standing right behind me. A perplexed expression encompassed his symmetrical features. I hadn’t even heard him exit the car. I glanced down at his black hunting boots. How had I not heard those crossing the gravel? He towered over me, at least six-foot-one to my five-six. His warm-honey eyes watched me. The breeze suddenly died down. The heat of his body so close swelled his fragrant blood through the minimal space between us. Fear of my fangs extending had my hands curling into fists, nails digging into my palms. The rest of my body became suddenly rigid.
Oblivious to my strain, Ty reached up to touch my cheek with heated fingers. Then he brushed the hair back from my face. His hand lingered there, his fingers just grazing my neck. Goosebumps rose like a rippling wave over my skin. His face was barely inches from mine. Too close. My pulse elevated. Move away, my mind screamed. My body ignored me, remaining frozen stiff. Then before I could grasp what was actually happening, Ty dipped his head and pressed his full lips gently to mine. My eyes snapped shut as my fangs broke from their sheaths. But something more than wanting to bite into Ty was terribly wrong. Against my colder than human flesh, Ty’s lips were hot, far hotter than any human’s should be. Blistering compared to a vampire’s.
With my lips still locked to his, my eyelids flung open. His intense gold eyes were staring into mine. Without thinking, I jerked away, forcing my hands into his chest. I backed up until I hit the railing, raising a hand to my still-burning lips. A loud thumping echoed through my ears. It was my heart, I realized, drumming faster than I imagined was even possible.
Ty’s face held a mixture of confusion and hurt, but something was different about him. I knew I wasn’t imagining it this time. His still glowing eyes shone with brilliance under his hurt expression. They looked like golden jewels, somehow catching the light of the glittering stars above.
Ty shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to, I just…I thought you wanted me to kiss you.”
The shock of what had just happened retracted my fangs. With my heart drumming beneath my ribs, I took a hesitant step forward. Did I want Ty to kiss me? Before it had happened, I would have said with total conviction, no. But now…I wasn’t so sure. “It’s just, your lips.” I could feel my cheeks warming at the memory, hot on cold, skin on skin. My first ever kiss. “They were on fire. And your eyes…” I trailed off, needing a moment to decide. No, after all the strange things I’d seen, head-on was the best course of action to figuring Ty out. “They changed color!”
Ty immediately spun away from me, blocking his face from view. With caution, I closed the space between us to rest a shaking hand along his shoulder. “Ty, what are you hiding?” Ty turned around almost reluctantly, blinking. His eyes were back to their usual warm-honey and iridescent green coloring. But he wouldn’t look at me. “Ty,” I said, reaching out to touch his arm. “You can trust me.”
“Can I?” Ty’s calculating eyes rose, searching mine for a brief moment before his expression hardened. “Sometimes they change color, depending on my mood.” He took a step back and shrugged. “That’s all.”
His warmth faded as he moved back to his car. I couldn’t help feeling loss at his distance. There was a tiny part of me that wanted to back down, to let this interrogation go. Yet there was no doubt in my mind that there was more to Ty’s unusual eye color than he was letting on. I had never seen eyes of that vibrant shade in my life. Well, at least not on a human, I thought. During our transition at the cabin I had hunted packs of gray wolves. Many had golden eyes, though none had been as luminous as his. Everything fed my suspicions and a growing hope that I was right. But I wanted proof. On top of that, Ty had brought me here for a reason. It had to be more than just wanting to kiss me. With a surge of agitation at his closed-off attitude, I planted my hands on my hips. “I’m not buying it.”
Ty spun back so fast he blurred, his jaw clenched and his open hands were stiff at his sides. “Well then, why don’t you tell me what happened.”
His aggravated words hissed through clenched teeth, burned like hot coals against my flesh. Hurt, I dropped my eyes to the gravel. “I don’t know,” I whispered. “But I do know there’s something different about you.”
Peering up slowly I saw that Ty was still glaring at me. “You’re imagining things,” he spat through tight lips.
Fresh agitation swirled within my chest, and my hands curled into fists. I knew I should let the subject lie, but my mouth refused to obey. “I saw you before you won the race, and I know you saw me too. You can’t convince me that that didn’t happen as well.” Ty shook his head but didn’t respond. My voice lowered. “You’re not human, are you?”
Ty staggered as though my words had literally hit him. He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I am human. At least in all the ways that count…” His lips snapped shut with a start, and he turned back to his car. He arched his head up to the night sky. It was lit by a full moon and surrounded by a galaxy of glittering stars. His jaw clenched again as he yanked the driver’s side door open. “I’m taking you home.”
I slumped into the passenger seat. Ty dropped into the driver’s side, firing up the engine. His jaw remained tense as he curled tight fingers around the steering wheel. The strain caused his knuckles to whiten. A moment later, he flexed his fingers with a deep sigh. His hardened eyes shifted to me then back to the windshield as he planted his foot. A spray of gravel shot out from all four wheels. The WRX came to life, peeling away from the lookout. In seconds we had cleared the dark gravel road.
I sat in silence with my hair whipping from the fresh air pouring through the open window. My mind was spinning. Ty had inadvertently admitted to being something more than human. His chameleon eye color, ridiculous speed, over-developed muscle build and inhumanly heated flesh were proof enough. All of this filled my head with questions but gave me no definitive answers.
The saltiness of ocean swells filled the air as Ty veered onto Ocean Boulevard. He cleared his throat and glanced in my direction. “There’s a party next Saturday. Come with me.”
I stared at him, stunned. Was he actually asking me out again? After all the friction of tonight, the request wasn’t just crazy, it was absurd. Use it, a little voice in my head spoke simply as an idea came to mind. “Fine, I’ll go with you if you answer me one question.”
A curious smile, etched with mischief, pulled at his lips. “And what might that be?”
Certain he wouldn’t reveal why or how he was different, I settled on what I hoped would be a simpler question. “Why is your skin so warm?”
Ty’s smile hardened but his tone remained relatively light, almost goading. “Well, you’re not so normal yourself. Are you?”
A lump began to rise up my throat. If Ty didn’t know of the monster I struggled to hold at bay, he was damn good at messing with me. With a painful gulp I forced the lump back down. “No answer, no party.”
Ty shrugged. “If you say so.”
“I do.”
“Then why don’t we just agree,” Ty suggested, tone level and controlled. “That we’re both different compared to most people, and leave it at that for now.”
Different? A graphic image of Ty’s horrified face at discovering the kind of monster I really was flooded my mind. In spite of my curiosity, I decided to let it go. Any line of questioning would no doubt lead to returned questions, questions I absolutely wasn’t in any position to answer. I couldn't let him know the real me. No one ever would. “Fine,” I said. “I can live with that, for now.”
Ty turned off Ocean Boulevard and through the stone-hedged gates of my driveway to pull up behind the Cabriolet. Normally the car would be stored in one of the four lockable garage spaces. Safe from the elements, as Dorian liked to say. Except now it wasn’t. He’d left it parked in the exact same position it had been when Ty had picked me up. Which meant Dorian was still suspicious and covering all tracks. When I sighed, dreading a suspected onslaught of questions from my brother, Ty leaned across the center console. My eyes snapped shut and I clutched my sides with force. After what had happened at the lookout, I knew I couldn’t control my lust for Ty’s blood if his flesh connected with mine again. Please don’t kiss me.
Click.
A strong flow a cool air brushed over me and my eyes fluttered open. Ty was repositioned in his seat and watching me with one arched brow. The passenger door stood wide open. I mentally slapped myself. He wants me to get out so he can leave and get away from me. And I just sat there like a moron. I clambered out of the car with shaky legs and forged a weak smile. “Thanks, I guess. Tonight was, um…different.”
When Ty remained silent, his curious eyes watching me, I swung the door shut. Feeling like a total idiot, I went toward the house.
Ty called out through the open window and I stalled. “See you at school.”
With that, the window rose and the car reversed. It rumbled from the driveway, leaving me alone and standing in a band of porch light.
After a few long seconds, the gravel road gave way to an open clearing, a lookout. Ty rolled up alongside a log railing. I shot through the passenger door, folding over the barrier to suck in fresh mouthfuls of air. A steady breeze blew, clearing his scent and filling my lungs. Now able to think again, my eyes roamed. Below the hillside the city sparkled, alive with nightlife. Everything was awash with the warm glow of streetlamps, from the moving cars to the illuminated advertisements. The sight was a stark comparison to where I stood, with black shadows carved by billowing oaks.
When warmth settled behind my back, I turned and almost jumped out of my skin. Ty was standing right behind me. A perplexed expression encompassed his symmetrical features. I hadn’t even heard him exit the car. I glanced down at his black hunting boots. How had I not heard those crossing the gravel? He towered over me, at least six-foot-one to my five-six. His warm-honey eyes watched me. The breeze suddenly died down. The heat of his body so close swelled his fragrant blood through the minimal space between us. Fear of my fangs extending had my hands curling into fists, nails digging into my palms. The rest of my body became suddenly rigid.
Oblivious to my strain, Ty reached up to touch my cheek with heated fingers. Then he brushed the hair back from my face. His hand lingered there, his fingers just grazing my neck. Goosebumps rose like a rippling wave over my skin. His face was barely inches from mine. Too close. My pulse elevated. Move away, my mind screamed. My body ignored me, remaining frozen stiff. Then before I could grasp what was actually happening, Ty dipped his head and pressed his full lips gently to mine. My eyes snapped shut as my fangs broke from their sheaths. But something more than wanting to bite into Ty was terribly wrong. Against my colder than human flesh, Ty’s lips were hot, far hotter than any human’s should be. Blistering compared to a vampire’s.
With my lips still locked to his, my eyelids flung open. His intense gold eyes were staring into mine. Without thinking, I jerked away, forcing my hands into his chest. I backed up until I hit the railing, raising a hand to my still-burning lips. A loud thumping echoed through my ears. It was my heart, I realized, drumming faster than I imagined was even possible.
Ty’s face held a mixture of confusion and hurt, but something was different about him. I knew I wasn’t imagining it this time. His still glowing eyes shone with brilliance under his hurt expression. They looked like golden jewels, somehow catching the light of the glittering stars above.
Ty shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to, I just…I thought you wanted me to kiss you.”
The shock of what had just happened retracted my fangs. With my heart drumming beneath my ribs, I took a hesitant step forward. Did I want Ty to kiss me? Before it had happened, I would have said with total conviction, no. But now…I wasn’t so sure. “It’s just, your lips.” I could feel my cheeks warming at the memory, hot on cold, skin on skin. My first ever kiss. “They were on fire. And your eyes…” I trailed off, needing a moment to decide. No, after all the strange things I’d seen, head-on was the best course of action to figuring Ty out. “They changed color!”
Ty immediately spun away from me, blocking his face from view. With caution, I closed the space between us to rest a shaking hand along his shoulder. “Ty, what are you hiding?” Ty turned around almost reluctantly, blinking. His eyes were back to their usual warm-honey and iridescent green coloring. But he wouldn’t look at me. “Ty,” I said, reaching out to touch his arm. “You can trust me.”
“Can I?” Ty’s calculating eyes rose, searching mine for a brief moment before his expression hardened. “Sometimes they change color, depending on my mood.” He took a step back and shrugged. “That’s all.”
His warmth faded as he moved back to his car. I couldn’t help feeling loss at his distance. There was a tiny part of me that wanted to back down, to let this interrogation go. Yet there was no doubt in my mind that there was more to Ty’s unusual eye color than he was letting on. I had never seen eyes of that vibrant shade in my life. Well, at least not on a human, I thought. During our transition at the cabin I had hunted packs of gray wolves. Many had golden eyes, though none had been as luminous as his. Everything fed my suspicions and a growing hope that I was right. But I wanted proof. On top of that, Ty had brought me here for a reason. It had to be more than just wanting to kiss me. With a surge of agitation at his closed-off attitude, I planted my hands on my hips. “I’m not buying it.”
Ty spun back so fast he blurred, his jaw clenched and his open hands were stiff at his sides. “Well then, why don’t you tell me what happened.”
His aggravated words hissed through clenched teeth, burned like hot coals against my flesh. Hurt, I dropped my eyes to the gravel. “I don’t know,” I whispered. “But I do know there’s something different about you.”
Peering up slowly I saw that Ty was still glaring at me. “You’re imagining things,” he spat through tight lips.
Fresh agitation swirled within my chest, and my hands curled into fists. I knew I should let the subject lie, but my mouth refused to obey. “I saw you before you won the race, and I know you saw me too. You can’t convince me that that didn’t happen as well.” Ty shook his head but didn’t respond. My voice lowered. “You’re not human, are you?”
Ty staggered as though my words had literally hit him. He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I am human. At least in all the ways that count…” His lips snapped shut with a start, and he turned back to his car. He arched his head up to the night sky. It was lit by a full moon and surrounded by a galaxy of glittering stars. His jaw clenched again as he yanked the driver’s side door open. “I’m taking you home.”
I slumped into the passenger seat. Ty dropped into the driver’s side, firing up the engine. His jaw remained tense as he curled tight fingers around the steering wheel. The strain caused his knuckles to whiten. A moment later, he flexed his fingers with a deep sigh. His hardened eyes shifted to me then back to the windshield as he planted his foot. A spray of gravel shot out from all four wheels. The WRX came to life, peeling away from the lookout. In seconds we had cleared the dark gravel road.
I sat in silence with my hair whipping from the fresh air pouring through the open window. My mind was spinning. Ty had inadvertently admitted to being something more than human. His chameleon eye color, ridiculous speed, over-developed muscle build and inhumanly heated flesh were proof enough. All of this filled my head with questions but gave me no definitive answers.
The saltiness of ocean swells filled the air as Ty veered onto Ocean Boulevard. He cleared his throat and glanced in my direction. “There’s a party next Saturday. Come with me.”
I stared at him, stunned. Was he actually asking me out again? After all the friction of tonight, the request wasn’t just crazy, it was absurd. Use it, a little voice in my head spoke simply as an idea came to mind. “Fine, I’ll go with you if you answer me one question.”
A curious smile, etched with mischief, pulled at his lips. “And what might that be?”
Certain he wouldn’t reveal why or how he was different, I settled on what I hoped would be a simpler question. “Why is your skin so warm?”
Ty’s smile hardened but his tone remained relatively light, almost goading. “Well, you’re not so normal yourself. Are you?”
A lump began to rise up my throat. If Ty didn’t know of the monster I struggled to hold at bay, he was damn good at messing with me. With a painful gulp I forced the lump back down. “No answer, no party.”
Ty shrugged. “If you say so.”
“I do.”
“Then why don’t we just agree,” Ty suggested, tone level and controlled. “That we’re both different compared to most people, and leave it at that for now.”
Different? A graphic image of Ty’s horrified face at discovering the kind of monster I really was flooded my mind. In spite of my curiosity, I decided to let it go. Any line of questioning would no doubt lead to returned questions, questions I absolutely wasn’t in any position to answer. I couldn't let him know the real me. No one ever would. “Fine,” I said. “I can live with that, for now.”
Ty turned off Ocean Boulevard and through the stone-hedged gates of my driveway to pull up behind the Cabriolet. Normally the car would be stored in one of the four lockable garage spaces. Safe from the elements, as Dorian liked to say. Except now it wasn’t. He’d left it parked in the exact same position it had been when Ty had picked me up. Which meant Dorian was still suspicious and covering all tracks. When I sighed, dreading a suspected onslaught of questions from my brother, Ty leaned across the center console. My eyes snapped shut and I clutched my sides with force. After what had happened at the lookout, I knew I couldn’t control my lust for Ty’s blood if his flesh connected with mine again. Please don’t kiss me.
Click.
A strong flow a cool air brushed over me and my eyes fluttered open. Ty was repositioned in his seat and watching me with one arched brow. The passenger door stood wide open. I mentally slapped myself. He wants me to get out so he can leave and get away from me. And I just sat there like a moron. I clambered out of the car with shaky legs and forged a weak smile. “Thanks, I guess. Tonight was, um…different.”
When Ty remained silent, his curious eyes watching me, I swung the door shut. Feeling like a total idiot, I went toward the house.
Ty called out through the open window and I stalled. “See you at school.”
With that, the window rose and the car reversed. It rumbled from the driveway, leaving me alone and standing in a band of porch light.
In her teen years, Jessica spent many school hours writing poetry and dark short stories and took up sketching some of the terrifying things that came from the graphic night terrors she’d grown up with.
As an adult and after meeting the love of her life, Jessica got married and started a small construction business with her husband. With the birth of her son, Jessica suffered PPD and found escape in her books and their fantasy landscapes. It was at this time that her need to write flourished. In 2009 the decision was made and the first words to her New Adult Paranormal Romance novel What Lies Inside were written.
When Jessica isn’t immersed in writing about extraordinary characters with dangerous abilities and deadly obstacles to overcome, she likes to spend time with her two kids and husband, curl up with a good book, or watch anything and everything supernatural.
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Happy Hump Day! These books sound great. Will there be more titles for this series?
ReplyDeleteSounds so good.
ReplyDeleteSounds good.
ReplyDeleteThis looks good. Will definitely have to check it out.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the tour and thanks for the chance to win :)
ReplyDelete