Guest Blogger Allie Ritch!

Vampires. The very word conjures up sexy and delicious images for a paranormal romance lover. Pair those images with the writing of the talented Allie Ritch and you have a surefire hit. I’m very pleased to welcome Allie as she tells us a bit about her new release Drinking Partners (isn’t that a clever title?). Please show your love and comment today. I know you’ll want to read this one. I certainly do!

 

@AllieRitch’s Drinking Partners Puts The Bite Back In Romance

Thanks for having me at LL&L! I think it’s important that I be here today to warn readers about my paranormal romance, Vampire Territory 1: Drinking Partners. In fact, I think it’s my public duty. This is serious business. Readers, you should not read Drinking Partners if any of the following apply to you:

1. You are offended by hot vampire sex. We’re talking heart pumping, fangs extended, mind-blowing multiple orgasms that are not for the prudish.

2. You are anemic or have other cause for being outraged by blood drinking. Frankly, I think as humans we should be wary on principle, although I understand master vampires Alex and Lucas have instituted human-rights laws within their territories.

3. You have a heart condition and need to avoid excitement and action. The gun play alone could give you palpitations, not to mention the one love scene when Lucas puts a hole in the drywall with his…never mind. Just take deep breaths and think of calm blue water.

4. You have a reading addiction and for some strange reason wish to fight it. Once you start reading Drinking Partners, you may not be able to put it down.

You have been warned! Now you may read the blurb and excerpt below at your own risk.

Blurb: Being the master vampire for the Mid-Atlantic Territory is a tough job. Between the Human Rebellion trying to kill him with poisonous suicide donors and snobby born vampires bucking his authority, Lucas Thane has his hands full. What he needs is a regular drinking partner to feed from and a bigger power block. He finds both in the form of Alexandra Gage, the master of the territory south of his.

Alex could use a little help herself, but she has no intention of letting Lucas take over. Turned into a vampire against her will, she has had enough control taken from her. She’ll never let Lucas usurp her right to rule, but will she let him steal her heart? Passion ignites between them, and it’s amazing what vampire bodies can do.

http://www.loose-id.com/drinking-partners.html

 

Excerpt from Vampire Territory 1: Drinking Partners:

 

“You’re afraid of me.”

“I’m not stupid.” His statement pricked her pride and made her defensive. “I can see you’re powerful and cunning, and I find it hard to believe you came all this way to make friends.”

“Ah.” She got the feeling she went up in Lucas’s esteem. “You’re not entirely wrong. I came here to size you up.”

“And?”

“If you’d been another Gyula Tavarius, I would have gone for your head already.”

“You assume you can beat me?” She wasn’t altogether certain he was wrong.

He tsked at her. “I’m not stupid, either. If I wanted to kill you, I’d at least use Zander as backup.”

“Two against one isn’t a fair fight.”

As he stared back at her through the cracked door, his eyes went flat. “I don’t fight fair. Not when lives are on the line.”

“Good to know.” That should have been her cue to get as far away from him as possible, but she couldn’t fault him for his honesty. “I’m nothing like Tavarius, so where does that leave me?”

“It leaves you whispering at me through the door. Not the usual behavior of a master vampire, but I haven’t made up my mind about you yet. I question your ability to rule here. As long as you keep hiding instead of publicly taking control, the others will continue to attack you and fight for power.”

But how could she take control when she was on her own? She was one against many.

Alex didn’t confess her doubts to him, though. “I thought I’d start by taking your suggestion and making an example of recent challengers.”

“Good.”

There was a long moment of silence—the first awkward pause she’d felt in her conversation with him.

She hesitated. “Do you plan to come back tomorrow night?”

“Do you want me to?” He watched her so closely she checked her hood again.

Although she worried about giving him too much influence, she was more concerned that he’d leave and never come back. “Yes.”

“Then I will, but only if we shake on it.” Lucas wore a challenging smirk as he held out his hand.

Alex stared at it as if it were a wire snare. If she took his hand, would he notice hers was small and feminine? Vampires didn’t get calluses, so it wasn’t as though her smooth skin would give her away. She had a strong urge to touch him, but there was another risk.

“Do you plan to grab hold and yank me out?”

He kept his hand where it was. “I don’t need to resort to tricks.”

“You already confessed you don’t fight fair.”

His grin broadened. “Ah, but we’re not fighting, are we? Where’s that trust we were working on?”

If he planned to hurt her, she supposed it was better to find out sooner rather than later.

Before she could lose her nerve, she thrust her hand through the crack in the door and pressed her palm to his. His fingers were warmer than she expected. A bolt of sensation traveled up her arm on contact. It made her cheeks flush and her nipples tighten, and she was pretty sure every hair on her body stood up at attention. She was glad she was hooded and mostly hidden behind the door, though he probably noticed her accelerated heartbeat.

Lucas tightened his fingers—a tease or a warning?—before he let go.

She jerked her hand back and cradled it against her chest. It still tingled.

“I’ll see you tomorrow night.” He dropped his voice so low she had to lean forward to hear him.

Alex caught herself and straightened her spine. “Tomorrow then, but come after midnight. I have an errand to run first.”

If she was lucky, she’d live through it and be here to see Lucas Thane again.

***

 

Drinking Partners is available at Loose Id, Amazon, ARe, and other places where e-books are sold.

Website/Blog: http://allieritch.wordpress.com

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/allieritch

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AllieRitch

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/AllieRitch