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Jan 17, 2013
Blood Shadows (Blackthorn #1)
By Lindsay J. Pryor
Editions: ebook, paperback
Published: November 7th 2012 by Bookouture
Genre: Adult Paranormal / Romance
For vengeance - would you trust a vampire?
For justice - could you betray your family?
For love - are you ready to question everything you believe in?
Gifted with the ability to read the shadows of ‘third species’ beings, Caitlin Parish is the Vampire Control Unit’s most powerful agent. Despite that, her mission to hunt down Kane Malloy – a master vampire – comes with a death wish. Many have tried, but few have survived.
For Caitlin, tracking Kane is about more than just professional reputation. With her parents both mysteriously killed 7 years apart to the day, Caitlin knows that without Kane’s help she is next.
She has four days to make a deal with the wicked, the irresistible, the treacherous Kane Malloy. The vampire who despises everything she stands for.
Or die.
~ Bewitching BT
Character Profiles: Kane&Caitlin
Blood Shadows extract – taken from Chapter One
…" He appeared from behind her.
His movements were swift and accurate: snatching the gun from her hand, in the same instant he forced her face-first up against the wall, her earpiece hitting the ground.
She caught her breath, pressed her palms and knee to the wall in preparation to push back but his hard body was already against hers, his power reminding her that the strength she had in spirit was absolutely no match for the supposedly three hundred-year-old six-foot vampire who had her pinned to the wall as easily as he would a sheet of paper. And as she felt the tip of her own gun press below her ribs, she knew all four shots of the potent sedative, too powerful for the human body, would end it all for her.
Just like that.
But instead of firing, his soft lips brushed her ear, the arrogant upward curl of those enticing bow lips as clear in her mind as if he were facing her. He tutted playfully, his low rasp raking beneath her skin. ‘A little girl doing a man’s job – bound to end in tears.’
Caitlin clenched her fists. Brovin and Morgan had to be less than a minute away. She had to stall him. Her instinct was to try to reach back and catch his wrist. All she needed was her fingers on his pulse point and she’d finally know those dark recesses that no expert could reach – information she so desperately needed. But she knew she wouldn’t have enough time to wait for that painfully slow vampire heartbeat, even if she was in a position to get to him. There was only one way she was going to get the time with him that she wanted and needed.
‘Kane Malloy, I’m detaining you under section 3.4 of the Vampire Disciplinary Clause…’
He laughed, deep, guttural, terse. ‘You’re detaining me?’
‘On twenty-one alleged accounts of crimes against members of the third species including your own, thirty-two against humans…’
‘Delusional as well as reckless. Are you seriously the best they’ve got?’
‘It’s over, Kane.’
‘You breathe too fast to be convincing,’ he goaded.
‘You don’t breathe enough to judge me.’
He exhaled curtly. Panic jolted through her as he deftly unclasped the belt threaded through her jeans. To her disgust, for the first time on any tracking operation, she froze.
Kill her? Yes, of course the thought had crossed her mind. No matter how unbelievable or surreal it seemed, she had known it was a possibility. But rape? With her colleagues closing in there was no way even Kane would have the arrogance to attempt it in the minutes, maybe even seconds he had left.
But this was Kane. And if he wanted to leave a message for the VCU, a dead and violated tracker would ring loud and clear.
The fact she'd even got this close would be insult too much for his ego.
She snapped back a breath as he yanked her belt through the loops. And as his heel cracked the buckle, destroying the only way the VCU could locate her, she knew it was about to get worse.
Her phone followed next, removed from her back pocket by his stealthy fingers.
‘You’re lucky you serve a purpose,’ he said, combing her hair back over her shoulder.
Her heart pounded painfully. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘You’re the one who’s obsessed with me – what do you think?’
As he traced the back of his cool fingers tenderly down her exposed neck, a caress more sensual than she would have thought possible for someone with such renowned brutality, Caitlin held her breath. She was stunned by her own involuntary arousal, suppressing it with every iota of conviction she had.
‘I think you’d better walk away,’ she said, battling to get her focus back on the job. ‘Or give yourself up.’
‘Not going to happen, Caitlin.’ Pressing the tranquiliser gun tighter into her side, Kane made her wince, his reputation restored. ‘Question is, are you going to walk out of here co-operatively or am I going to have to carry you?’ "
| About the Author & Links:
Lindsay J. Pryor is a British Paranormal Romance author who writes dark, intense stories set in the dystopian world of Blackthorn.Her trademark powerful vampire heroes and utterly combustible sensual romances have earned Lindsay comparisons with both J.R Ward and Sherrilyn Kenyon.
A finalist in Mills & Boon’s New Voices competition in both 2010 and 2011, Lindsay has already proved a smash hit with readers.
Comments like “Utterly captivating”, “Jaw-droppingly good”, “Awesome”, “I forgot to blink”, “The sexual tension is off the charts”, “I nearly fainted when he removed her belt”, “I drooled on my keyboard” and even “Tell Kane he can have my soul RIGHT NOW!” convinced Lindsay she just might have what it took to become a published author.
With the launch of Blood Shadows, that dream is now a reality. Her journey to published author though has been a long one.
Lindsay has been creating stories since she was nine years old, when she quickly decided that fantasy was more interesting than reality. She thought she’d grow out of it but hasn’t yet.
Despite years of bashing out stories on an old typewriter, it was the death of her father in 2007 that finally convinced Lindsay to try and become a published author.
“One of the last things my dad said to me was to do what I wanted to do in life. After he passed away, I pulled out all my scribbles from over the years and got back to writing what I loved most – paranormal romance.”
If reviews are anything to go by, it was a journey well worth making.
