Guest Post | The Blood Witch by Holly Day

Guest-Post

Holly is stealing a spot on the blog because it’s release day!!! The Blood Witch is out today. It’s a story we wrote for National I am in Control Day.

Conri is a werewolf, he’s also the king of Northbridge, and he thinks he has things under control – he doesn’t. Someone is trying to take him down by planting his DNA on a dead body, but Conri has no idea who.

Nick is a blood witch which means he can change the getup of blood. He can copy DNA and transform his own or someone else’s blood into something it isn’t. It’s a handy trick in a world where supernatural beings aren’t given the same rights as humans and everyone have to leave blood samples as soon as they’re gonna apply for something.

One day, Nick walks in on a robbery. A werewolf woman has been hiding her identity and has started a restaurant, something supernaturals aren’t allowed to do. When she is shot in the arm, Nick changes her blood so it appears human.

Once Conri learns he has a blood witch in his kingdom, he becomes his prime suspect, and he goes to find him.

I had so much fun writing this one. It’s a fated mates story so you can all guess that when Conri goes to confront Nick, things don’t work out the way he’d planned. So much for being in control LOL

That little shit

Excerpt:

Nick looked up as a shadow filled the window of his balcony door. A second later, a huge man yanked it open and stepped into his one-room apartment.

He dove for the phone, but the man moved fast as lightning, and a growl filled the air. When his fingers gripped Nick’s wrist, he kicked the man’s knee and flung himself backward. He wasn’t strong enough to fight a shifter, but he only needed a few seconds to collect his thoughts.

With a deep breath, he released his magic. Power dripped from his fingertips as he allowed it to build.

The man advanced on him, but when Nick flung his magic at him, he halted mid-step. The look he gave Nick was curious at first, then his face twisted into something savage. Panic shone in his eyes.

“Right now, your blood is moving very, very slowly. Your body is shutting down. Leave and never come back, and I’ll let you live. If not, I can stop your blood flow. It’ll show up as cardiac arrest in an autopsy.” Nick was gonna be sick. He’d sworn he’d never be close to a king again. His power was draining, with black dots dancing across his vision.

He stopped the magic. “Leave.” His voice was hoarse, and his knees wanted to buckle.

“I’m the king.” The man didn’t sound any better off than Nick was.

“I’ve seen kings die before. Now leave.” He curled his fingers around the backrest of his chair, praying the king would leave before he collapsed. The black dots multiplied, and a roar rose in his ears. “Leave.”

He wasn’t sure if the man left or not as he sank down on the chair. He needed to rest. In an hour or two, he’d get something to eat, and soon after, he’d be back to normal. It would be fine.

When he had rested, he’d pack a bag and leave the city. It was stupid to think he could live here once he’d tipped his hand. Six years was too long to stay in one place—he should have known. He should have run as soon as he’d helped the female in the pizza place. So naive to think they’d leave him alone once they’d realized what he could do.

A hand landed on his shoulder, and he shot off the chair. He still couldn’t see properly, and he had no strength. A strong arm wrapped around his waist, a low growl sounding close to his ear.

“Stop fighting.”

Nick pushed at the man—the king—lazy sparks of magic jumped to his fingertips, but what could he do? He didn’t have enough power to slow his blood a second time. Shifters were so much stronger than humans. He could take down more than one shifter before blacking out, but then he had to act quickly, not hold on to the control and stand around chatting as he had.

“I won’t hurt you.” His words were soft and sounded far away despite the man holding him close. A sound followed. Nick couldn’t say if it was a moan or a growl, he couldn’t tell if it was a sound of pleasure or of pain. One of victory most likely—the king had caught himself a blood witch.

Blurb:

thebloodwitchNick Adore has been in hiding for six years. He does his best to pass himself off as human and only wants to be left alone. But one day, he walks in on a robbery. Instead of quietly walking away, he reveals himself as a blood witch, and now the werewolf king demands to see him. 

Conri Biast is king. He has been the king of Norbridge for eleven years, but someone is trying to take him down. For months, he’s known there’s a blood witch in his territory who refuses to pay his respects, and that puts him on the top of his list of suspects. But when he goes to confront the witch, things don’t turn out the way he’d planned. The witch is his mate.  

Nick doesn’t want to be anywhere near Conri. Being close to kings always ends with him getting hurt, but he finds himself sucked into the power struggle. Conri doesn’t know who he can trust, but he knows he needs Nick by his side. Together, they’re strong, but are they strong enough to keep the throne? 

Buy links 

Gay Paranormal Romance: 43,009 words 

JMS Books :: Amazon :: books2read.com/TheBloodWitch 

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 :: Instagram 

 

Read Around the Rainbow | Your Ideal Writing Shack

ReadAroundTheRainbow

This is the first month of the Read Around the Rainbow webring thing 😄 We’re a bunch of authors who blog on the same topic. You’ll see the links to the others below, and if you click on the links by the image in the sidebar, you’ll be taken to someone’s site.

Where Would Your Ideal Writing Shack Be?

That’s the question we’re all answering this month! When I’m frustrated with the people around me, I always tell my husband that we need to move to a deserted island where no one can reach us or come visit. I soon realise how impractical it would be to live on a completely deserted island and say that we at least need to live somewhere where we can’t see any houses and preferably by the sea.

I often mention one of those small Scottish islands where they’re looking for residents to hubby, thinking it would be ideal for us. Then I picture one of those islands and just know there will be people who will want to talk and have like a community…and talk 😨 So no, perhaps not ideal.

When I say I’m an introvert, I mean I’m an introvert. As long as I have my husband and a good internet connection, I’m happy never to see anyone. So my ideal writing shack would be somewhere far away from people.

Last week I went into our closest city to go with hubby grocery shopping, he’s the one doing the shopping in our family, and it was the first time I was among strangers since before Christmas.

I grew up in a coastal city on the Swedish west coast, and I miss the sea every day. We moved to where we’re living now – outside a small village of about 350 inhabitants in the middle of nowhere – six and a half years ago, and while I like my daily walks in the forest, I miss the sea.

Another thing about living near the sea is that the Hardiness Zones are more forgiving. I like to garden, and I have this dream of being somewhat self-sufficient when it comes to fruit and veggies, even though I have no idea what I’m doing when pottering around by the garden beds. I’m a discovery gardener 😆 and learn and forget as I go.

Where I live now, I have 141 days between the last and first frost date, so…

Another factor is that I have four children, ages 6 to 13. When I picture my ideal writing shack, they’re all grown up and have moved away from home. I see a small house in the countryside, preferably by the sea, where everything is quiet apart from the roosters crowing now and then, and the only one sharing that space with me is my husband.

I love my children, but have you any idea how frustrating it is to try to write with them around? I go up at the crack of dawn to get some words down before they wake up. At the time of writing this post, one child is home, and she’s baking in the kitchen. I’ve already had to leave my desk several times to help her or stop what I’m doing to answer questions.

Sometimes, I’m amazed I get anything done at all, but most days I’m just dreaming about that quiet place. That small cottage with no neighbours in sight, where people don’t visit, and where the internet connection is superb. The garden will be prolific, we’ll have more than 141 frost-free days, and the chickens will peck around in the garden.
I want to be a hermit when I grow up LOL

Writing shack

Read About

A.L. Lester’s Writing Shack

Nell Iris’s Writing Shack

Addison Albright’s Writing Shack

Lillian Franci’s Writing Shack

Fiona Glass’s Writing Shack

Amy Spector’s Writing Shack

Ellie Thomas’s Writing Shack

K.L. Noon’s Writing Shack

Cover Reveal | The Cake Shop

We have a cover!!! The Cake Shop will be out on April 9th, and it’s another one of those either-or stories. This time, we got to pick from either Rain or Shine – I picked Rain.

The Cake Shop is in the same series as Cup o’ Sugar and The Drunken Dog. They’re loosely linked, so you don’t have to have read one story to read the others, but it’s about people who belong to the same werewolf pack.

York is a member of the Halfhide pack, and after a run-in with a rivalling pack, he takes refuge in a bakery. The owner is a bear shifter who wants nothing to do with York, that they are fated mates matters little.

Are you ready to see the cover??

thecakeshop

Blurb:

York Winter and his packmates are attacked by a rivaling werewolf pack at a lumberyard. Injured and exhausted, York runs into a part of town he’s not familiar with, and when the enemy is closing in, he takes his chances and escapes into a bear-owned bakery.

Torbjorn Holt doesn’t do people, and he doesn’t do wolves no matter what the pull in his heart is trying to tell him. He’s learned his lesson and will not have wolves in the bakery, and he’ll definitely not mate one. Luckily, York isn’t too badly injured, so Torbjorn doesn’t feel bad about kicking him out into the rain.

York can’t believe what’s happening. He’s finally found his mate, but Torbjorn refuses to let him stay. Torbjorn will never trust a wolf again, and if York doesn’t leave soon, he’ll knock him out with a rolling pin and dump him in the alley. York has to make Torbjorn understand he means him no harm, but how will he do that when Torbjorn refuses to talk to him?

Pre-order link

Gay Paranormal Romance: 12,864 words

JMS Books