Dear Reader,
Iâm beyond thrilled to share the fourth installment of the SWEETBLOOD series, which centers around a group of vampire warriors based in the Pacific Northwest. The world is a deadly and seductive one, where Guardians fight to protect humans from Darkbloodsâvicious members of their race who still kill humans like their ancestors did and sell their blood on the vampire black market. The rarest, called Sweet, is very addictive and commands the highest price.
Itâs hard to believe that just last year the series began with Bonded by Blood. Donât worry if you havenât read the other books, though. I wrote each one to stand alone.
When I first met Tristan Santiago, the region commander, he stormed onto the pages of Bonded and stole the show. Heâs hotheaded and very hard to ignore.
Because I own horses, I was reminded of the dynamics of herd behavior as I wrote Santiagoâs story. In a nutshell, the horse that persuades the other horses to move their feet and get out of his way is the dominant one. I had a horse like this once. He was sweet to my daughter and me, but when he was around other horses, he expected them to move out of his space. And if they didnât, he bit or kicked them.
Thatâs Santiago. If he gives you an order, he expects you to obey, and if you donât⦠Well, letâs just say itâs not going to be pretty.
Once, my horse encountered another who seemed immune to his authority, who didnât care that my horse thought he was in charge. It really threw the poor guy for a loop. He was confused and wasnât himself for a while.
Guess what? Roxy Reynolds has that same effect on Santiago. Unlike everyone else around him, she isnât impressed with his authority and does things her way. She doesnât jump when he tells her to jump. She gets under his skin like no one else has ever done, which upsets his entire world and sense of self. And then, of course, he falls madly in love with her.
As you can imagine, I had a great time torturing Santiago with Roxy. I hope you enjoy reading their story as much as I enjoyed writing it.
All my best,
Laurie
To Tyler. Iâm very proud of you!
First, Iâd like to thank you, the readers of the SWEETBLOOD series. Without your enthusiasm, this would not be possible.
Thanks to my critique partner, my sister Becky, who lovingly and gently tells me when I suck. And my beta readers, Janna, Mandy, Kathy, Shelley and Kandis, whose shrewd and thoughtful assessments have saved me a lot of heartache down the road. I love you guys!
To my wonderful editor, Margo Lipschultz, who seems to âgetâ me even when I donât âgetâ myself. To all the people behind the scenes at Mills & Boon>® Nocturneâ¢, thanks for all that you do. And to the talented folks in the art department who make the awesome SWEETBLOOD covers: you rock!
Much thanks to Cherry Adair, Delilah Marvelle, Larissa Ione and Alexis Morgan for your friendship and your words of wisdom. I am so very grateful.
To the Cherryplotters, thanks for your creativity and inspiration.
To my GIAM buddies, my friends at Romance
University, my GWRWA chapter mates and the
Bookinville ladies, thanks for all your support.
And finally, to my husband, Ted, and two children: I love the three of you very much.
Also available from Laurie London
BONDED BY BLOOD
EMBRACED BY BLOOD
âENCHANTED BY BLOODâ
in A Vampire for Christmas
TEMPTED BY BLOOD
WHEN ROXANNE REYNOLDS rounded the corner in her rental car, the last thing she expected to see in the headlights was a half-naked man stumbling on the side of the road.
She slammed on her brakes, pulled the car to the shoulder and fumbled to find the emergency flasher switch. Not only was this section of the Sea to Sky highway a terrible place to stop, but it wasnât exactly somewhere a sane person would be taking a walk, especially after midnight.
With his shirt ripped down the front and one of the sleeves missing, the man held up a hand to shield his face from the glare.
Her first thought was that heâd been involved in a car accident. But when she noticed he wasnât wearing shoes, she nixed that conclusion. Maybe a wild animal had attacked him. Given how remote this area wasâthe last town she passed had to be ten miles backâit wouldnât be too hard to imagine. She wasnât certain what sorts of predators lived in this part of British Columbia, but surely a bear or a mountain lion would be capable of taking down a full-grown man.
She found the switch and jumped from the car. But when she got her first big whiff of the cool night air, she knew instantly that it wasnât an animal.
Although some would argue that a vampire was an animal.
The sweet smell of the manâs blood assaulted her senses, making her gums ache as her fangs prepared to drop. Running toward him, she automatically shut down her bodyâs natural instincts to his very rare and highly addictive blood-type and the sensation dissipated. Given her work as a scent tracker, sheâd followed the trail of many sweetbloods, but unlike most vampires, she could control how they affected her without much difficulty.