Welcome to the blog tour for
If You Were My Vampire,
sponsored by
Bewitching Book Tours!
For my stop, I'm featuring an
excerpt and mini-review!
excerpt and mini-review!
If You Were My Vampire
(Shades Below, #2.5)
L.J.K. Oliva
Digital Edition, 370 pages
L.J.K. Oliva, Publisher & Cover Artist
April 3, 2017
Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Sometimes, your life begins the day you die...
Asher Evans is a man haunted by history. Turned vampire in the concentration camp that claimed his family, he has never recovered from the loss of his humanity. Removed from the mundane world and resigned to facing eternity alone, he's completely unprepared when the unthinkable happens: he meets a girl.
As the youngest daughter of San Francisco's most prestigious psychic family, Grace Alan has always known about the things that go bump in the night. She especially knows about monsters...including the fact that she is one. Grace has spent her entire life trying to be normal, and finally, things seem to be looking up. There's only one problem.
She's just been murdered.
When Asher stumbles upon a dying Grace, he knows he should leave her to her fate. But in a world that looks at him and sees a monster, Grace reminds him what it feels like to be human. He can't bring himself to let her die.
Unfortunately, rescuing her has consequences. Female vampires have been illegal for centuries. In saving Grace, Asher may have condemned them both.
Asher Evans is a man haunted by history. Turned vampire in the concentration camp that claimed his family, he has never recovered from the loss of his humanity. Removed from the mundane world and resigned to facing eternity alone, he's completely unprepared when the unthinkable happens: he meets a girl.
As the youngest daughter of San Francisco's most prestigious psychic family, Grace Alan has always known about the things that go bump in the night. She especially knows about monsters...including the fact that she is one. Grace has spent her entire life trying to be normal, and finally, things seem to be looking up. There's only one problem.
She's just been murdered.
When Asher stumbles upon a dying Grace, he knows he should leave her to her fate. But in a world that looks at him and sees a monster, Grace reminds him what it feels like to be human. He can't bring himself to let her die.
Unfortunately, rescuing her has consequences. Female vampires have been illegal for centuries. In saving Grace, Asher may have condemned them both.
Can be read as a standalone.
Note
This mini-review is of the excerpt below, and
not of the entire book.
This brief excerpt is so sweet and romantic.... It totally pulled me into the story! In just this one glimpse, Oliva has given her readers a very memorable look into her characters' personalities. Asher is so tender with Grace, and she has obviously grown to trust him by now. I love his spontaneity in suddenly asking her to dance with him, too. They are just PERFECT together. I certainly want to find out more about them!
The scene is perfectly set, as well. I totally felt that I was there, watching these two in their privately romantic moment. The feel of the place, the haunting song, the seagulls feeding on scraps of bread, the fiercely blowing wind.....
In short, Oliva has made me want to get swept away by this story! And I think Asher will surely become my newest book boyfriend!
UPDATE
It's around 2:00 AM right now, and I
have just purchased this book.
I CANNOT PUT IT DOWN.
I might not get much sleep tonight.....
UPDATE
It's around 2:00 AM right now, and I
have just purchased this book.
I CANNOT PUT IT DOWN.
I might not get much sleep tonight.....
Traffic was scant on The
Embarcadero. Even going at a light pace,
it didn't take long to reach Fisherman's Wharf.
A stiff wind was blowing in off the bay, and the crowds of tourists had
long since departed in favor of warmer retreats. Seagulls feasted on the scraps of sourdough
bread bowls sticky with clam chowder left in their wake.
A lone street musician
remained on the empty sidewalk. He was
seated on a small, rusty stool, a battered guitar perched on his knees. He sang in a haunting tenor, his voice crisp
and clear in the stillness. The words of
the song echoed off the surrounding buildings.
Someone to watch over
me...
Asher stopped. "This song was written the year I was
born."
Grace didn't
answer. Asher was about to look down
when her hand slipped into his.
Perhaps it was the
cold. Perhaps he was still high from the
streetcar ride or the race down Market
Street.
Either way, he clearly wasn't in his right mind, because instead of
pushing her away, he spun her around so she was squarely in his arms.
Her eyes widened. "What...?"
"Dance with
me." He couldn't believe
himself. Asher took a deep breath. "I mean, unless you don't—"
Grace coiled her fingers
through his, lifted her other hand and rested it on his shoulder. She met his eyes. Asher wasn't sure what she saw there. A blush stole across her cheeks, but she
didn't look away. "You'll have to
show me how."
Asher released the breath. He hadn't been aware he was holding it. Gently, he reached up and adjusted her hand
on his shoulder. Then he set his hand to
her waist. "It's easy. Just move with me."
He heard her breath
stutter, and her hand trembled a little in his.
For some inexplicable reason, that pleased him. He firmed his other hand against her back,
and started to move. It was nothing
complicated, just a simple two-step he'd seen his parents do. Asher closed his eyes. For a moment, he could almost remember a time
when things had been normal. A time when
he'd been happy.
A time when he'd been
human.
He jerked his eyes open
again. His throat ached. He swallowed ruthlessly, tried to lock down
the place inside him that felt poised to crack wide open. He started to pull back.
Grace's fingers
tightened around his, and she rested her cheek against his chest. Her hand slid from his shoulder and curled
around the back of his neck.
Asher wasn't sure he
remembered how to breathe.
"Grace," he whispered.
The emptiness inside him expanded.
"I can't..."
"It's
easy." He felt her voice in every
fiber of his being. "Just move with
me."
Asher stared down at
her. The emptiness receded a
little. The vise around his chest
loosened. He closed his eyes again and
let Grace hold him, let the scent of patchouli leak into his senses and anchor
him firmly in the present moment.
They danced until the
song ended, and the street musician finally packed away his guitar.
Purchase Links
L.J.K
Oliva writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance, with a heavy dash of
suspense. She likes her whiskey strong, her chocolate dark, and her
steak bloody. L.J.K. likes monsters… and knows the darkest ones don’t
live in closets.
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I like your 2 AM update!
ReplyDeleteLately I also have gotten pulled into books and have been reading late into the night. It is something that I used to do a lot when younger but I had fallen out of it. I have been reading more science fiction again, I think this is why this is happening :)
Happy reading!
Hey, Brian!
DeleteYeah!! Except that I'm a bit disappointed by all the profanity in the book.... For instance, "the F bomb" is liberally sprinkled throughout. You know how much I DETEST the use of that word! But I'm torn, because the characters are SO TERRIFIC, and the action is great!
I used to read late into the night, too, when I was in my late childhood years, and throughout my teens and twenties. Now that I don't have to get up early anymore (I start work at 3:30 PM, Monday through Thursday, hehehe), I can stay up as late as I want! And this week I'm on Spring Break vacation, so it's even BETTER!!
Oh, man.....I need to get back to reading SF!! I now own "Ringworld", as I mentioned in another comment reply to you. So I should jump into it!! The thing is, romance gets me EVERY time! Lol. I MUST do something about this!!!!
Happy Reading to you, too!! Happy Wednesday!! (It's nearly 1:00 AM down here.)
Have a GREAT rest-of-the-week!! <3 :) :) :)
Hey Maria! Apologies for commenting on this so late. Thank you so much for reading my book, and for your mini review! I love your 2AM update, too :-D
ReplyDelete