Blog Tour: Excerpt from Dark Mercy by Zoe Winters

Introducing...

Dark Mercy!
By Zoe Winters

The Blurb

1955, Las Vegas, Nevada

Angeline has been on the run from her sire, Linus, for centuries. She’s tired, and she’s lonely. High from mescaline-induced blood, she sees a sign—a church that seems to glow in the distance—and she knows. Her future mate is in that building.


Important Author’s Note:

Dark Mercy is the beginning of Hadrian and Angeline’s story, not the end. Their HEA will happen later in their own full-length novel. This story is important both for the overall series and for this couple, but it’s not their HEA. Just a mild disclaimer so no one goes in with false expectations for this story.


About Zoe Winters: Zoe Winters writes quirky and sometimes dark paranormal romance. Her favorite colors are rainbow and clear.

Zoe's goal as a writer? "I want to write a book that makes you almost pee your pants because you dont want to put it down long enough to go to the bathroom. I want to write a book that you miss meals for. I want to write a book you miss bathing for. I want to grab hold of you and not let go until the very last page, where you crumble to the floor in a blissful heap, ask for a cigarette, and say: "Damn, was it good for you too," then tell 300 of your closest friends about it on Twitter."
--Cited from Winter's Website

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An Excerpt from Dark Mercy

Copyright 2012 Zoe Winters

“A-Angeline. I haven’t seen you here in awhile.” Could he not get that schoolboy stutter out of his voice?

“I was fighting temptation,” she replied coyly.

Hadrian cleared his throat. “And did you succeed?”

“No.”

She glided closer—or floated. The length of her dress made it impossible to tell which. She stopped mere inches in front of him. He should have taken a step back, should have excused himself, but her strange eyes locked with his. They drew him in, hypnotizing him.

If he were another type of man, he would have proclaimed she was a witch putting him under a spell, but it was just as much his responsibility as hers for not moving away. It was his fault for not finding a replacement for midnight Mass.  His mind became fuzzy.

What was I just thinking about?

Her eyes pulled him in, making the rest of the room swirl around him in a slow blur. If he’d looked down to find them both floating and spinning in the air, he wouldn’t have been surprised. He was dizzy from the delicious scent emanating from her.

Her voice was a siren’s song when she spoke again. “Forgive me, Father, for I’m about to sin.”

Angeline’s mouth tasted like hot cinnamon candy as her lips descended on his. Her lip gloss left his mouth tingling. She might burn him alive with a single kiss. She chuckled as she continued her exploration of his mouth, as if he’d stated his thought aloud and she found it amusing.

Somewhere deep inside him was the place that was screaming that this must not happen, but it sounded like it was shouting from far away down a long, dark hallway, disappearing into a tinny echo. Quickly overtaking that voice was one penetrating thought that refused to release him.

I want her. I want her. I want her. I want her. The thought happened in rhythm to the beat of his heart.

Her lips left his mouth and made a burning trail over his cheek and up to the lobe of his ear. “Father Hadrian.” It was a breathy pant that held all the promise of a new universe unfolding.

He couldn’t remember what she said after that or even if she said something after that. The pounding of his own blood rushing through his ears—and other blood racing south in response to her nearness—had drowned out his ability to think or hear anything else but the lilting magic of her voice calling his name.

“Father Hadrian… ”

Her tone had gone from that of an angel to a writhing serpent as she rubbed her sinewy body against him. This was wrong. The thinking part of him clawed to get out. Something was all wrong about this, beyond the breaking of a vow. But he couldn’t form a coherent thought.

I want her. I want her. I want her.

“And you shall have me. Forever,” she said.

Had he spoken out loud? He wasn’t sure.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me right now,” he said, as her fingers slid under the Roman collar.

It startled him. His collar. Where were his vestments? There were more layers of clothing, or there had been a few moments ago. He glanced down to find the vestments somehow on the floor of the sanctuary. He started to pull away.

“No, Father. Eyes right here on mine. Stay with me.”

His gaze shifted back to her eyes and his will merged with her again. He didn’t realize his shirt was off until the air from the chilly room hit his bare chest.

“Oh, what a surprise. You must work out. Don’t be shy, Father Hadrian. It’s a crime you never get to be inside a woman with this body.”

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What I have to say about Dark Mercy:

“ Just from the excerpt alone, I'm scorched. Haha, seriously, it has Winters' trademark all over it! If you don't know, Zoe Winters is a pen name for Kitty Thomas, and since I've only read Kitty books, I can see the similarities of her erotica novels in here. I haven't read Dark Mercy yet, but I can tell you, with her books, it's gonna be hot, intense, and downright exhilarating. ”

See anything that caught your eye? You can find out more about Winters and her books at these sites:

Author's Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

Or, you can subscribe to her newsletter by sending a blank email to freekept@gmail.com. You will receive a free novella and you can enter her fabulous contests!

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This tour is hosted by

The Last Girl Blog Tour: Review + Excerpt + Giveaway Deets

Introducing...

The Last Girl
By Kitty Thomas

The Blurb

Six years ago strangers broke into Juliette’s house; she was home alone and only thirteen. She kept her eyes closed, praying that if she didn’t see anything, she wouldn’t be killed. No one harmed her. In fact, one of the thieves protected her. Now Juliette’s dreams are haunted by him.

Christian has waited to take her, resisting the urge each night. It always ends badly with human pets. They’re too fragile. The longer he can wait, the better, because the moment he takes her, the clock on her life starts ticking down.

Then she’ll be gone forever.

AUTHOR NOTE:
This is a work of fiction, and the author does not endorse or condone any behavior done to another human being without their consent.

Warning: This book is meant for a mature audience and contains master/slave, group sexual activity, sadomasochism, girl-on-girl, oral and anal play, exhibitionism, blood play, edge play, as well as one other thing I’m not warning you about because it would be a spoiler... but it’s not a big taboo.

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

About the Author: Kitty Thomas writes dark literary erotica that explores power. This work is fiction and meant for an adult audience. The author does not endorse or condone any of the behavior carried out by characters in her stories.

Her work is not “erotic romance”. Often on some level it is about love and/or obsession. Often the couple in some way ends up “together”, but the work should not be expected to follow the conventions of any type of genre romance, erotic or otherwise.

Inspiration for Kitty’s work comes from many sources including Story of O, Nine and a Half Weeks, and the work of Claudia D. Christian.

Author Website & Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon

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~~An Excerpt from The Last Girl~~

copyright 2012 Kitty Thomas

I feel absurd being a nineteen-year-old virgin, a fossil from another time. Part of me is just glad to do the deed and get the fucking thing over. I feel like I’ve got a white V emblazoned on me, or as if I give off some type of scent. I don’t like the idea that something that should be private feels as if it’s somehow being broadcast.

I open the door a little bleary-eyed, my hair still mussed from oversleeping.

“Did I wake you?”

He’s got this stupid grin on his face. And flowers. I want to smack him. I know this is all because I’ve decided to give in and put out after three months of dating. I feel like I should love him if I’m going to do this.

I run my hands self-consciously through my hair.

“You look great,” he says, holding out the flowers.

No I don’t. I know it. He knows it. He’s just so happy to be getting laid tonight that he’s seeing me through horny-guy glasses. I’m still too sleepy to be annoyed.

I put the flowers in a glass of water and slip some flip flops on. It’s Southern Florida. Flip flops are a year-round joy here.

He’s got something romantic planned at the beach. Black cloth goes over my eyes as we get out of the car—a blindfold. I almost panic, but then I realize if I make a fuss, it will invite questions I can never answer. So I smile shakily and allow him to lead me down to the beach. My flip flops are still in the car. I breathe slowly in and out, listening to the waves crash against the shore, inhaling the crisp, salty scent of the sea, feeling the instability of sand collapsing beneath my feet.

“Don’t move. I’ll be right back. I’ve got to get a couple of things.”

I try not to be in that dark closet. I try, but I can’t help it. I’m there again, my eyes squeezed tightly shut, silently begging not to be found, not to be killed. A hand is on my arm again, leading me away and I come out of the fog, remembering I’m here with Devon. Everything’s okay.

“Where are we going?”

“Shhh”

My heart starts to hammer faster in my chest. Then it pounds and vibrates in my head. My entire being is one rapidly thudding heartbeat with no slowdown in sight. Something is wrong here, but I can’t make myself remove the cloth from my eyes.

You’re being ridiculous. It’s just Devon. He has a surprise.

I find myself in the passenger seat of a car. It’s not Devon’s car. I just know. Even blindfolded I know. This is the point where I should rip the scrap of fabric off and run. There is no evidence this person has a weapon, and he or she hasn’t spoken to me yet. But before my hands can move to the blindfold, the driver’s side door is shut and the car has started.

It’s so fast, I assume there must be more than one person involved. Tears gather and absorb into the thick cloth covering my eyes. Terror freezes me, keeping me from taking off the blindfold, from trying to leap out of the car that’s moving too fast now anyway. I’m suddenly thirteen again. The dream is real, and I believe that if I don’t see them, they won’t kill me.

I’m silent and they are silent. The only sound is the wheels scraping against the rough road and the occasional bump. My tears are coming harder now. Why can’t I fight back? Scream? Beg? Try to escape? Just take the fucking blindfold off! But I can’t do it. I may as well be tied up because I’m so scared I don’t know what to do or what to think.

A little while passes and the car stops. Again, too fast for me to react, my door is open and someone is helping me out. How many are there?

I cringe away but find my feet moving in the direction I’m being led. “Don’t hurt me. Please.”

Then I feel stupid. What if it’s Devon? What if this is part of some stupid frat thing he’s gotten himself into? It would be just like him to combine my deflowering with a secret frat party or something.

I expect someone to start giggling or say I’m a spaz, but fingers gently grasps my wrist, lifting my hand. I feel the planes of his face as he guides me to see him. I shake my head in disbelief.

No.

I was good. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t tell anyone anything. This can’t happen. I did what I was supposed to do. But it’s him. It’s my nightmare.

“I missed you, Juliette.”

Christian.

One of my favourite, most palm-sweating part of the book!! :D:D It incited such a deep sense of foreboding and yet anticipation of the best kind. I don't even know how to describe it!

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What I had to say about TLG:

“I loved the vivid descriptions that Thomas wrote. She has this way of writing that can paint a clear scene in my head.

Christian was a damn fine hero-villain to the story, mostly. He was the dark, mysterious, powerful, ancient, handsome, commanding (maybe a little too commanding sometimes) vampire that I prefer, it was just sometimes he wasn't as brooding and person-of-little-words as was my personal ideal. But still, I still liked the way he was with Julia - caring and tender at times, and domineering and sexy in others.

I think that all of Thomas' books have their own specialty and unique feature about them. In COMFORT FOOD it was the psychological play that she did on the readers and heroine's mind, in this it was the haunting past that connected her to a vampire obsessed with her. Someone who had so much power over her, and someone who stalked her and knew everything about her for years. Someone who was as much looking out for her as preventing her from being touched by other males.
... I'd recommend this to fans of dark erotica and BDSM. ” (See full review HERE)

Giveaway Details!

Kitty is giving away 5 signed copies of COMFORT FOOD (note: Not The Last Girl, but Comfort Food, another dark erotica).

Here's the details on her website: "When a tour stop is announced, readers who tweet or facebook or blog about that stop (and then use my contact form at the top of the site here to tell me about it), will be given an entry into this contest. You can get three entries for each tour stop (facebook, blog, tweet). At the end of the tour, I will use Random.org to select from all the entries, 5 winners of signed print copies of Comfort Food.

I will be putting a sidebar image of the Last Girl book tour on my site here along with a link to the tour stops. Anyone who posts this image with the link to tour stops on their own blog will get an additional 3 entries into the contest."

ALSO, don't forget to subscribe to Kitty's newsletter by sending an email to kittythomas29@gmail.com with the word "subscribe" in the subject line. Kitty runs amazing contests for her followers!

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Thanks for stopping by! Follow the rest of the tour HERE.

Review: The Last Girl by Kitty Thomas

Publication Date: Febuary 14th, 2011
Finished Date: April 19th, 2012
Publisher: Burlesque Press
Format: eBook for Review
My Rating: 3.5/5

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Author's Website

Blurb from Goodreads:
Six years ago strangers broke into Juliette’s house; she was home alone and only thirteen. She kept her eyes closed, praying that if she didn’t see anything, she wouldn’t be killed. No one harmed her. In fact, one of the thieves protected her. Now Juliette’s dreams are haunted by him.

Christian has waited to take her, resisting the urge each night. It always ends badly with human pets. They’re too fragile. The longer he can wait, the better, because the moment he takes her, the clock on her life starts ticking down.

Then she’ll be gone forever.

Warning: This book is dark erotica meant for a mature audience only.

My Review

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you look at the cover? My first thoughts were: Surreally mysterious and darkly sensual. I'm a girl who likes a dark erotica once in awhile and am entitled to my occassional guilty pleasures, and I think my erotica side was more dominating at the time, so after reading the synopsis, I was hell-bent on getting a copy of THE LAST GIRL. I went straight to Thomas' website, found her contact list and requested a copy. She generously gave one to me, and after that, I signed up for THE LAST GIRL's tour when the sign ups were up.

THE LAST GIRL holds a certain similarity to COMFORT FOOD, Thomas' very first novella and another dark erotica. Both were deeply disturbing and highly, well, stimulating, but I have to say that THE LAST GIRL captivated me more.

My Summary (a.k.a. SPOILERS!)
The story's almost exactly as the synopsis portrays it to be - Julia was thirteen years old when her house was broken into. Her parents were out, and Julia was home alone. She hid in her cupboard and hoped that the burglars would steal what they would and just leave her alone. Unharmed. Unscathed. Unseen. But what she didn't expect was for those very burglars be able to smell and sense her out. The cupboard door opens but she doesn't open her eyes. She pleads for her life, saying that she hadn't seen them, and she wouldn't rat them out if they would just let her live. One of them, a male, spares her. Something about him calms her. And after some time, they left.

Julia has been living with the same nightmare where the male burglar would somehow come back for her six years after the incident. And of course come back he did.

Christian has been alive since before the 14th century. He's taken many women as pets, but he ends up killing all of them in the process. Or they end up killing themselves. Either way. He's been abstaining from getting another one, but this one's too hard to resist. Since the time he saw her, eyes shut tight and compliant, he couldn't stop thinking about taking her. But the time is not right yet. He will bid his time until the moment she is ripe and for the reaping to come to make his presence in front of her again.

He's determined to keep this one alive, but how can he? When he is the lion and she the lamb? When his blood lust keeps trying to take control?

My Thoughts
I thought that the romance and plot of the book moved a little too fast that it bordered on impracticality sometimes, but most of the other times, I thought it was good and comfortable. It got confusing sometimes too, but Thomas seemed to have address those few points in the book. For example, Christian was lost in his blood lust once and was killing Julia when all of a sudden, he snapped out of it and says, "I think I love you." And I went, "okayyyy". Julia went on to reminisce about the time when she read Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, feeling cynical about the possibilities of true love developing over only a short time, and that now she finally gets it. Only those who went through the torturous yet wonderful process will understand its magic and complexity. Well, that's one way to solve the problem. Even though it wasn't as much of an explanation, she did tie up all the loose ends in this book, and for that I thought that it was a job well done.

Also because TLG is a novella, the originally goody-two-shoes Julia had her inhibitions about "public displays" stripped away rather quickly. It happened in this club that catered to patrons with more extreme sexual needs (think BDSM), where hypnotic, erotic electronica plays in the background that soothes away your fears and throbs and "envelopes [her] like a primal scream as [they, meaning Julia and Christian] step into manufactured fog". I've never heard of music that could turn people horny, but I'll keep a lookout for that and give Julia the benefit of the doubt in the mean time. But anyway, the other patrons there are enough to give the sexually-charged atmosphere, so it was pretty, well, lascivious.

I loved the vivid descriptions that Thomas wrote. She has this way of writing that can paint a clear scene in my head.

Christian was a damn fine hero-villain to the story, mostly. He was the dark, mysterious, powerful, ancient, handsome, commanding (maybe a little too commanding sometimes) vampire that I prefer, it was just sometimes he wasn't as brooding and person-of-little-words as was my personal ideal. But still, I still liked the way he was with Julia - caring and tender at times, and domineering and sexy in others.

I think that all of Thomas' books have their own specialty and unique feature about them. In COMFORT FOOD it was the psychological play that she did on the readers and heroine's mind, in this it was the haunting past that connected her to a vampire obsessed with her. Someone who had so much power over her, and someone who stalked her and knew everything about her for years. Someone who was as much looking out for her as preventing her from being touched by other males.

It did get boring at one part where I almost stopped reading the book, but after that the pace picked up, and I couldn't stop reading it. I'd recommend this to fans of dark erotica and BDSM.

P.S. One thing I don't like - American slang!! What's 101 mean if it's written in a note? I didn't get it, and I assume it's an American thing. :( Lol.

Update on P.S: I talked to Kitty some time ago, and she cleared up my confusion regarding the 101 note. Apparently, I was too dense to get it while I was reading TLG. My bad. :P

My Rating

Patience is a Virtue (8) + [Another] Cover Reveal

Shall I do the PiaV segment first, or the cover reveal? Hmm.......... I'm so excited for both, but I think Cover Reveal first since I will be featuring A LOT of books for today's PiaV.

Arise
The Syrenka Series #3
By Amber Garr

The Blurb

Not confirmed yet.

Amber is anticipating a May release, so let's all cross our fingers!

My Thoughts: The cover's BEAUTIFUL!! Don't you think? It's so mysterious, surreal, and utterly magical. And is that fire around her feet?? GAH, I want to read the book just by looking at the cover. Another masterpiece by PhatPuppyArt. :)

Now for Patience is a Virtue (#8)!

For those of you who haven't seen any of my previous Patience is a Virtue posts yet, this is a kind of a meme of sorts where I post the books that I already own and I can't wait to start on, but can't cause I'm still reading some other books. I know there's another meme going on which is similar to this one (The Time Will Come, Dusty Reads etc), but since I've started this already, I'm UNSTOPPABLE. MUAHAHHA. Ok, I'm just messing with you. But yeah, I don't want to stop, and I do this post on my own time and target.

I was stalking Kitty Thomas' website yesterday, salivating over her backlist of books, then I decided to request review copies for THREE of her novels, and she said yes!!!!!! Like last night!:D:D:D:D::D:D:D I am super, super, super excited to start on it, but I have so many ARCs to read first!! So hence, this PiaV post. :)

If you haven't heard of Kitty Thomas yet, she is a BDSM erotica writer who writes really unique BDSM - albeit a little disturbing - novels, involving lots of psychological play and stuff. Really cool stuff.

So, first up:

The King's Pleasure

By Kitty Thomas

Recently Released in 2011

The Blurb

In the kingdom of Himeros, Abigail is despised for her gypsy heritage. Pushed to the fringes of society, she’s forced to break the law in order to help feed her family. When a castle guard catches her stealing bread, he intends to cut off her hand for the offense.

Niall has just taken the throne and is determined to prove he isn’t a monster like his father. Awakened by the cries of a gypsy, he spares her from the guard’s blade and takes her as his slave instead. When he learns she doesn’t understand the kingdom’s carnal ways, he becomes determined to strip her of all inhibitions until her every desire is in service to the king’s pleasure.

Word Count: around 21,000

Warnings: This book contains master/slave, group sexual activity, mild sadomasochism, oral and anal play, exhibitionism, and voyeurism.

It sounds so freakin' hot and awesome! XP

Review: Comfort Food by Kitty Thomas

Published Date: March 21st, 2010
Finished Date: January 10th, 2012
Publisher: Burlesque Press
Format: eBook
My Rating: 3/5

Blurb from Goodreads:
Emily Vargas has been taken captive. As part of his conditioning methods, her captor refuses to speak to her, knowing how much she craves human contact. He's far too beautiful to be a monster. Combined with his lack of violence toward her, this has her walking a fine line at the edge of sanity. Told in the first person from Emily's perspective, Comfort Food explores what happens when all expectations of pleasure and pain are turned upside down, as whips become comfort and chicken soup becomes punishment.

DISCLAIMER:

This is not a story about consensual BDSM. This is a story about "actual" slavery. If reading an erotic story without safewords makes you uncomfortable, this is not the book for you. This is a work of fiction, and the author does not endorse or condone any behavior done to another human being without their consent.

My Review

Firstly, I don't get the cover. Not that I don't know that there are two people in the nude hugging in the dark, but I can't really tell where's the girl's arms, legs and ass are... The artistic side in me has not always been good, so, it may be just me. Secondly, this book is all about psycho-analyzing and such, and I know it's supposed to be a very disturbing story. It is a little disturbing, but it didn't really have an effect on me. And I'm not a fan of that ending. I was immediately intrigued with CF when I first read its synopsis that I dropped all other books I was reading and started on it. It was ok, I didn't really regret my choice, but this one could've waited.

My Summary - which would probably contain spoilers

Emily Vargas is a minor celebrity self-help guru, someone who addresses large audiences on empowering women. She's comfortable talking in front of crowds, and she knows how to communicate with any type of people. She thinks that women should be stronger and more indepedent, but things are usually easier said than done.

Emily was kidnapped at a bar, and when she wakes up, she's tied to a chair, bound, gagged, and eye-masked. Her captor doesn't speak to her, nada communication in any way or form. He just sits there, spoonfeeds her chicken soup, the one food that she has always found comfort in, and touch her. She resists at first, but Emily is a person who needs noise, sound and life around her, and so to get even a hint of a smile or angry response from her captor, she surrenders to the advances of her captor quickly.

She was trapped with a captor who played mind games with her for months, and her detoriation is evident from the pictures he takes of her in his "playroom" (BDSM term) from a little unwilling, to begging for more. And when he gets bored of her and dumps her back into her life, Emily doesn't know what she wants anymore. But as time passes, her decision becomes clear. But is it to return into the arms of her "master" (BDSM term)/captor, or to hand him over to the police where he'll get his just desserts?

End of Summary

I thought that the psychological play in CF was very unique and smart. The way Emily's captor started to break her and predict Emily's responses was amazing - not that I'm a sadist or anything, but it was really well-done. That said, even though it was a whole new experience for me, it didn't have that much of an effect on me; I even thought it was a little bland at times. I stopped reading it for a few weeks cause it got really dull, and I thought that Emily's degradation was a little too quick. She surrendered too fast, and she broke too fast. Someone with her level of confidence and intellect would have lasted longer. This is one of the things I found unrealistic.

Her captor had his own tragic past, he is smart and successful but because of all that pent-up emotions inside, he became a little obsessed with his little "project" on Emily. He wasn't crazy, far from it, but he had this predatory aspect going on for him. It can be a little unnerving, but as I've said, this book's psychological effect was lost on me because of its hasty progression.

CF was told in the first person perspective, but every time they had sex, it would change to third-person perspective. I find it really weird actually...

I thought that CF wasn't a bad book, just not a book that will occur to me when someone asks for a book recommendation. The end of it wasn't the best of endings too, so yes, COMFORT FOOD is a unique but average blend of psychological play, BDSM and the bonds in a family. I wanted to give it a 2 or 2.5, but I had to give credit to all her amazing research on psychology.

My Rating