Celebration For The Dead
Ellora’s Cave
ISBN (eBook)
Genre: Paranormal
Series: Witches Knot
Length: Short Novel
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Oathbreaker vampire hunter, Minx Rodriguez decides to mix a little business with pleasure when she heads to Mexico to celebrate El Dio de Los Muertos. She’s hot on the trail of the vampire who not only took her hostage and tortured her but who killed her friends and family.
Connor Bell finds himself in love with a vampire hunter who’s skipped town without notice. Much like he did to Minx just two weeks before. Together with a few members of Minx’s hunter crew and his own staff, he heads to Mexico to find her and make things right.
Even as they work through their problems and plan a feast to celebrate the lives of those they’ve lost to the Oathbreakers, the threat remains. A hunter’s job is never done and there’s a job to do in Mexico.
There’ll be a price to pay and the question remains as to whether Minx and Connor can survive what’ll be asked of them both.
“I only have an hour before Max and Jagger come back, probably a bit more if I know Max. We both know we’ll work this out. We can argue when I’m done with you.”
One of her eyebrows slid up and he wanted to laugh. “Done with me? Like a happy meal or something?”
“You’re being very difficult for a woman whose body is so hot the heat’s rising from her in waves. I can smell your pussy, sticky and sweet just for me. I know you want me as much as I want you.”
Sliding his hands up her torso from her waist, he pushed the collar of the robe she wore down her arms. Inch by inch the beauty of her skin revealed itself, soft and supple. Unable to resist, he kissed her bare shoulder, breathing her in as he did.
It was then he saw the bandages. “What happened?”
“Vampires. I told you, I stopped just outside San Fernando last night to do a bit of hunting. One turned into four, and one of those four was Anton Perdue.”
Rage washed through him, a relief since the fear was something new and put him off balance. “That bastard did this to you? My god, Melanie, this is severe. Did you go to the hospital?”
“No, he didn’t touch me. Got away right after I shot the last two. The one who did this is dead too. I’m all right. It’s already healing. No hospitals! Good god, what would I tell them? Pour holy water on it, I was attacked by a cougar?” She shrugged. “On a scale of what I’ve had happen to me this is just moderately bad. I’m not dead, or even undead.”
“Don’t joke! You’re damned lucky Perdue left instead of staying when you were already weakened. Don’t try to pretend, I can sense you lost a lot of blood.” He pushed away from her and began to pace.
“I’m not pretending. I’m just not having kittens over it. I slept for most of the day and went into town, bought lots of food high in iron and after I ate, I slept more. I know it’s not a joke. It’s what I do. What we do, or are you retired?” She moved to the chair and sat. Disappointment tempered his anger when she put her robe back in place.
She’d sort of looked forward to a few days alone to wallow a bit and to really figure out what she felt for him. Not like he cared. The man existed just to confound and tempt her. It was hard to think when he was there, taking up her every breath, her every thought. Which sort of answered the question of what she felt for him. Damn. The question, she supposed, was more of a what to do with him type thing.
Melanie took a long, leisurely look from the tips of the Marc Jacobs shoes to the top of his head. Sexy as sin and she figured he’d be twice as fun in bed. Funny, intelligent, compassionate and a damned fine warrior. And yet he’d walked out. Hell, ran out. She wanted him, and from that kiss he wanted her too. But could she pay the tab when he left again?
“I hate to think of you in danger. It drives me insane. I want to stop thinking of you but I can’t. You’re in my head twenty-four hours a day. I dream of you. Visions of you paint my eyelids every time I close my eyes. I smell you on my hands, hear your voice in my head. I’m done trying. I give in, Melanie, do you hear me?”
He fell to his knees in front of her and she stared at him, blinking rapidly.
His hands, warm and battle hard, slid from her ankles up her calves, thumbs softly pressing into the sensitive spot behind her knees while pushing her legs apart. The wisp of control she’d held on her need dissolved like smoke.
“Let me, Melanie. Please, let me touch you. Let me make things better.” His voice was ragged, hoarse and the Irish of it, the velvet seduction of that accent, stroked her deep inside.
Ruby Minx at Literary Nymphs gives five nymphs to CELEBRATION FOR THE DEAD and says in part:I wish I could give the reader a sense of the different foods simmering in the background of this book – from Pico de Gallo, pescado tacos with fresh tomatillo sauce, pan dulce, pan de muerto – I could go on and on but you get the idea. The author weaves Minx’s Mexican heritage, including the foods and smells, into the fabric of the story to create a rich tapestry that serves as a backdrop for the love between Minx and Connor. The language in the book creates a sultry aura which spikes the eroticism to unbelievable heights and very few authors can better Lauren Dane when it comes to creating just the right ambience for love and sex.
Judi at ParaNormalRomance says in part: This was a great read! Minx and Connor make for a great couple with very real issues to work through, and add to that, the fact that he’s a vampire and she’s a vampire hunter! He is one of the good vampires, an Oathkeeper, and the evil vampires they hunt are Oathbreaker’s, but it still made for some great tension and a whole lot of hot, steamy sex. I have to admit that it got a bit warm in the room for some scenes, and I was rooting for them all the way, when I wasn’t drooling over the great descriptions of Mexican food! If you’re in the mood for a great action filled love story about two people who belong together, and face a huge crisis, then this is the book for you!
Aris at Alternative Read says in part: This is very touching and loaded with great sex. I can’t wait for the next addition to the Witches Knot series.