Tag: vampires

Holly Day: Vampire Food

Holly Day has a new release today! Celebrate National Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day with a magic user, a vampire, and a mountain of zucchini!

Cover: Vampire Food by Holly Day

Vampire Food

MM Slow Burn, Hurt – Comfort, Size Difference, Found Family, Vampire, Magic User

  • Author: Holly Day
  • Editor: Lourenza Adlem
  • Release: 5th August 2023
  • Price: $4.99
  • ISBN: 9781685505202
  • ASIN: B0CD5LQ3TM
  • KU:      No
  • Wide:  Yes
  • Buy: Amazon – JMS Books – UBL – Goodreads

A former blood slave. A strapping vampire. More zucchinis than any man could eat.

Rue Yarrow was rescued from a blood bar and taken to a gated community of supernaturals. Haunted by nightmares and memories, he does his best to avoid people. His only solace is his garden, where he uses his magic to grow an abundance of vegetables. But one day, it isn’t the zucchinis greeting him, but a severed human head.

Noah Caramine wants as little drama as possible, and interfering with a vampire clan’s business is never a good idea. He’s never met a magic user and is curious about Rue, but he fears there will be consequences for stealing the blood slaves.

When body parts start popping up inside the walls, Noah doesn’t know if someone is trying to frame them for murder or distract them from keeping the blood slaves safe. Rue never believed he’d go near a vampire again, but when threats are drawing closer, he turns to Noah. Who better to keep him safe from vampires than a vampire?

A former blood slave A strapping vampire. More zucchinis than any man could eat! Out now!

About Holly Day

According to Holly Day, no day should go by uncelebrated and all of them deserve a story. If she’ll have the time to write them remains to be seen. She lives in rural Sweden with a husband, four children, more pets than most, and wouldn’t last a day without coffee. 

Holly gets up at the crack of dawn most days of the week to write gay romance stories. She believes in equality in fiction and in real life. Diversity matters. Representation matters. Visibility matters. We can change the world one story at the time. 

Connect with Holly on social media: Website :: Facebook :: Twitter :: Pinterest :: BookBub :: Goodreads :: Newsletter :: TikTok

Excerpt from Vampire Food

As he rounded the house, he came to a stop. The back side was bigger than the front. Damn.
Half a second later, someone walked into him from behind. Without thinking, he dropped the spade, reached around, and grabbed them, ready to tear their throat out.
Rue stared wide-eyed at him. “Sorry.”
Noah gentled his grip. “Are you okay?”
“Sure. I was watching the trees. Not paying attention.”
Noah glanced at the trees. Apple and plum trees on this side of the garden. “The plums are almost ripe.”
Rue looked at the trees again.
“When you’re done feeling him up, can we get started?”
Rue stiffened at Asher’s call, and Noah let go of him in favor of giving Asher the finger, but he only got a grin and a wink in reply. Fucker.
“Right, let’s get to it.”
Gertrude moved to stand next to Rue. “Should we tell them to take their shirts off? We should have drinks and popcorn.” She bumped her shoulder against Rue’s.
Noah pretended not to listen but held his breath as he waited for Rue’s response.
“I should get back to the beans.”
No request to take his shirt off then. He hadn’t expected one.
“Let’s see if this rolling thing works first.” Gertrude crossed her arms over her chest.
Noah put the spade into the lawn and stepped on it to cut through the grass. Then he moved a blade length and did it again, and again, and again until he’d cut a line to the end of the garden. Then he did one more about a foot from the first line until he got a strip.
“The moment of truth.” He smiled at Rue and pushed the spade in under the grass edge. After a few tries, he got the edge to let go of the soil below. As he rolled, the grass separated from the ground.
“Oh, cool, it works.” Rue rushed forward. “I can do it, and you do another line.” He fell on his knees next to Noah, who let go when Rue touched the grass.
He got to his feet and reached for the spade. Before he started cutting the next line, Gertrude gave him a nod and a smile. “I’ll go help Chaton.”
Rue’s head whipped around. “Oh, yeah, sorry.”
“Not to worry, dear. I tried to save you from getting your hands dirty, but I see it was all in vain.” She grinned at him and walked away. Rue looked after her, some tension bleeding into his muscles, but then he shook his head and got rolling.
Asher worked at the other end of the lawn while Noah kept even steps with Rue. The roll grew rapidly, and soon Rue had to stand to roll it. They reached the end, only to start over again. After a few times, sweat was pearling and Rue was out of breath.
“Want to switch?” Stepping on a spade didn’t take too much effort.
“Yeah, maybe.”
They did one strip, but when they got about one-third into the second, Rue stopped. “There is something here.” Rue rammed the spade into the ground without any greater success. “It’s crunchy. I can’t get the blade down.” He hit the spade against the lawn again. Noah frowned as he took in the patch of dead grass. Strange.
“A stone maybe. Should I cut around it?”
Noah got to his feet, and Rue handed over the spade. There was something hard underneath, and the ground looked as if it had been disturbed, but only in a small space. Noah cut around it and pushed the spade in under the dried grass edge. As he got it loose, he grabbed it and pulled.
There, buried in the soil, was a mostly decomposed head. His gaze locked on the hair. It was dirty and mattered, but not dirty enough for him to miss the long blond strands with purple highlights. Fuck. “Gertrude!”
The stench of decay crawled into his nostrils, and he grimaced.
Rue gagged, and Noah reached for him. To his surprise, Rue turned into him, hiding his face against his chest. “Is that… is that…”
“A head, yes.”
“Madeline.”
Noah stared at the face. It was too decomposed to make out any specific features. Gertrude appeared by his side, followed by Chaton, who hissed.
“Madeline.” He turned to Rue, who was resting his forehead against Noah’s chest. “Did you kill Madeline?”
Rue shook his head, his entire body starting to tremble.
“Who’s Madeline?” Gertrude spoke in a low, soothing voice, but both Rue and Chaton were shaking their heads.
Asher looked at the head, then at Noah. “Where’s the rest?”
Oh, fuck. Were there more body parts hidden in the garden?

Buy Vampire Food: Amazon - JMS Books - UBL

Elizabeth Noble: The Vampire Guard

Let’s welcome Elizabeth Noble to the blog today with the age-old truth ‘Vampires are cool!’ She’s here to talk about The Vampire Guard series and its myth and background.

The Vampire Guard Book 1 -- Codename Jackrabbit by Elizabeth Noble

Thank you, A. L. Lester, for having me in Lester Tower today! (You are most welcome, any time!)

Vampires are cool. And they make awesome spies!

Since vampires live very long lives, that offers many avenues of character exploration. That’s my favorite thing about vampires. The characters have accumulated different skills over the decades and that really broadens what sort of story can be told.

Since, in this world, the vampires heal extremely quickly they’re almost super-hero like. They’re capable of surviving where a human might be killed. Then there’s the fact of their superior hearing, speed and strength.

The Vampire Guard is a spin-off from a paranormal romance/urban fantasy series, The Sleepless City, I wrote with Anne Barwell. As we developed our series we wanted our vampires, and werewolves, to be different.

The Vampire Guard Book 1 -- Quarry -- by Elizabeth Noble

These vampires don’t hunt humans and all vampires begin life as a human so as a group it’s in their best interest to preserve humans. One purpose of The Vampire Guard is to protect humanity and those who can’t protect themselves. While some of the characters are centuries old, they’ve adapted to changing times, some are proud of that ability! A poor farmer from the 1700s becomes a mercenary, musician then a detective with a degree in law. A boy born to nobility lives a life as a pirate, fur trapper then art thief! Another was a rabbi and Nazi resistance fighter, and yet another a humble seamstress turned international diplomate and spy. The list goes on! The Vampire Guard is multi-cultural and international and each character’s name and attitude matches their culture and time of origin.

Since these are espionage/thriller stories, The Vampire Guard employs high-tech tools during their missions. The characters use a combination of natural vampire (and werewolf) enhancements and technology to stay one step ahead of the bad guys. They don’t rely solely on their speed and acute hearing, however. At their disposal is cutting edge technology such as special holograph equipment allowing them to ‘see’ another vampire on camera. The Vampire Guard motto is Where legend and myth meet science and technology. Each book demonstrates that motto in different and exciting ways.

The Vampire Guard isn’t all vampires. Humans and werewolves have joined their ranks. A requirement for recruitment (you don’t join, you’re invited) is all the vampires are soulbonded. Since they can soulbond with humans and werewolves the skill set of the organization is tripled! This soulbonding makes each pair more than the sum of their parts and gives them powerful advantages as field operatives. It gives them abilities and attributes they might not otherwise have access to, such as empathically sensing their partner, or being impervious to vampire mind-control known as thrall.

In general, The Vampire Guard isn’t a romance, though there are couples, all established. The focus of the series is on a brotherhood of found family, friendships, and how four men come together and mesh as a team despite past histories, personal conflicts, and differing ideologies. Each member has unique skills: hacker, scientist, thief, soldier. They’re a well-oiled, snarky, and sometimes, deadly group of protectors and you’d better hope they never come for you!

Welcome to The Vampire Guard, where legend and myth meet science and technology...

Vampires and werewolves live long lives. The Sleepless City saga might have ended but the story continues…

Vampires make the best spies. Throw a smart-mouthed werewolf in with three vampires, mix well, and The Vampire Guard’s newest team is bound to become one of their greatest assets. Super spies with a full range of skills. Warrior, hacker, thief, and scientist. They get in, do the job and get out before the bad guys ever know what hit them.

They employ a combination of supernatural powers and cutting-edge technology to hunt down terrorists, thieves, biological weapons… and sometimes even their fellow vampires and werewolves. An eclectic organization comprised of individuals with diverse personalities, backgrounds, and abilities, this guard has bite—and they’re not afraid to use it.

Codename Jackrabbit (Book #1) – Quarry (Book #2) – The Series