A warm welcome to authors Liv Rancourt & Irene Preston joining us here today @ Love Bytes to talk about there new release “Bonfire”. A book in the Hours of the Night series.
Check out the Guestpost, Exclusive Excerpt and the Giveaway!
Welcome Liv & Irene 🙂
Picking a present is hard. Picking a present when you’re a twenty-two year old who grew up in a family of gift-givers and your boyfriend’s a vampire-monk?
Impossible.
Yet this is the task faced by Sarasija in Bonfire, the holiday novella follow-up to Vespers. Sara has his work cut out for himself, too, because Thaddeus doesn’t have much use for material possessions. Which is partly why the scene where Sara bought Thad a sweater with Happy Birthday Jesus in blinking lights didn’t make the final cut. (Although it still makes me smile…)
Seriously though, Bonfire focuses more on the relationship between Thaddeus and Sarasija rather than demon-related chaos. There’s a mystery for them to solve, and plenty of spooky-lights-in-the-swamp action, but there are also some quieter moments that show how they work through their differences in age, upbringing, and outlook.
For example, Thaddeus has lived in his house on the Amite River for eighty-some years, but very few of his neighbors know him at all. He keeps to himself so no one will question his unchanging appearance and nocturnal habits.
Despite his precautions, people do wonder…here’s a snippet from Thaddeus’s point of view…
I knew that from experience. As a solitary man who kept to himself, I periodically came under scrutiny from the neighborhood. There would be talk, and the bravest would come down the river to my house and poke around. My assistant, or maybe Mayette, would allay their fears, and the next good bit of gossip would distract them.
He’s right about his neighbor’s behavior and his strategy works well enough … until Sara arrives. Sara recognizes the vampire’s isolationist approach makes him a target whenever anything weird happens, but he doesn’t have Thad’s years of perspective. Sara also finds friends everywhere, which adds another layer of complexity to the situation.
Thaddeus wants privacy and Sara wants community. Something’s gotta give.
So yeah, our guys are dealing with stuff – above and beyond the feu follet leading the locals astray in the swamp. Bonfire is shorter and sweeter than Vespers; a thank-you-and-happy-holidays to the readers who have been so supportive over the last few months.
You’re probably wondering what Sara does get Thaddeus for Christmas. Come on now. I can’t give that away here. <grins> You’ll have to read Bonfire and find out. I will say that before Irene and I wrote the gift exchange scene, we kept our “presents” a secret from each other. I drafted most of the scene, leaving blanks that Irene filled in. In the end, we surprised each other by picking eerily similar gifts.
Great minds – and compatible characters – think alike, I guess.
About the time Bonfire releases, Irene and I will start working on book 2. If you’ve read Vespers, you know Thaddeus & Sarasija defeated the Big Bad, but Weyer’s Praestigiis Daemonum is still out there somewhere. Depending on who gets ahold of it, all hell could very well break loose.
Keep reading because we’ve got a great excerpt, and make sure you enter our rafflecopter giveaway. To celebrate Bonfire’s release, we’ve got a $20 gift card to give away. Happy Holidays!
Bonfire Blurb
Silent night, holy hell. Thaddeus and Sarasija are spending the holidays on the bayou, and while the vampire’s idea of Christmas cheer doesn’t quite match his assistant’s, they’re working on a compromise. Before they can get the tree trimmed, they’re interrupted by the appearance of the feu follet. The ghostly lights appear in the swamp at random and lead even the locals astray. When the townsfolk link the phenomenon to the return of their most reclusive neighbor, suspicion falls on Thaddeus. These lights aren’t bringing glad tidings, and if Thad and Sara can’t find their source, the feu follet might herald a holiday tragedy for the whole town. This holiday novella can be enjoyed alone or as book 1.5 of the Hours of the Night Series. Bonfiretakes place the December after the events in Vespers.
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Excerpt from Bonfire by Irene Preston & Liv Rancourt:
He didn’t say any of that, though. Four months of living with Thaddeus Dupont was long enough for a smart person to learn when reason wasn’t going to sway the man. Instead, he changed the subject. “Antiques Roadshow?”
“Our time would be better spent in study or some productive task.”
Sara grinned to himself. Thad always put up a token resistance, but he enjoyed the show as much as Sara did. “Just for a little while. To take my mind off Chase.”
Thad followed him into the next room. “I suppose if it will calm your mind, we might indulge in one episode.”
Thaddeus took his usual spot on one end of the couch. He sat upright, both feet on the floor, hands clasped in his lap. Sara’s record for getting him to break posture without outright seduction was half a show. He flicked on the TV and queued up the next episode. He had set the DVR to record every installment of Antiques Roadshow it could find. Sara owed his college roommate, Nate, a huge debt for getting him hooked on it. Not only was the show the one program Thad deigned to watch on TV, but it was one of the few leisure activities they had in common. Mostly because Thad had no concept of a leisure activity. Sara was working on that, but meanwhile, Antiques Roadshow was common ground and as close as they got some days to normal twenty-first-century life.
The opening credits rolled. Tonight the show was in Flagstaff, Arizona. This should be a good one. Not too many ancient treasures in Flagstaff, probably. There was more likely to be folk art and items brought over by immigrants in the last century or two. At least one item was sure to be close enough to something from Thad’s youth to set him grumbling.
Sara swiveled around so he could curl his feet up on the couch and put his head in his boyfriend’s lap. He had barely settled in before Thad’s fingers delved into his hair. Sara sighed happily. Thaddeus might be shy about expressing affection in public, but here at home, he was less reticent.
Within a few minutes, Thaddeus had indeed found something to grumble about. It seemed his grandmother had owned a cast-iron coffee mill like the one the cute hipster had brought in. “Even I have an electric model,” he mumbled under his breath. “Although the workmanship on Grandmother’s was certainly better than anything you buy today.”
Sara bit his lip and waited for the appraisal.
“Seven hundred and fifty dollars?” Thad vibrated in outrage.
Sara patted his leg soothingly.
“Well,” Thad said, “perhaps the young man will sell it. He looks as though he could use the money.”
Sara decided not to mention the professionally ripped jeans on the poor young man retailed at over three-hundred dollars. He tuned out the next item as Thad’s fingers continued to massage his scalp, trace the line of his ear, and knead his shoulders gently. He had started grumbling about something new, and Sara wondered if the vampire knew how distracting his touch was. He let his eyes drift closed as those strong fingers traced the collar of his shirt and slid underneath.
Thad suddenly went still, and Sara realized he was stroking Thad’s thigh. He inched his hand higher, and Thad tensed. He turned his head to press a kiss into the denim under his cheek. “Don’t stop.” His voice came out low and husky. “That thing you’re doing with your hand feels amazing.”
Thad began moving his fingers through Sara’s hair again, then down his arm, to his side. Finally, Thad’s arm rested over him, and his fingers splayed across Sara’s belly. They found their way under his shirt and into the hairs under his navel.
Sara groaned. His hips moved involuntarily.
Thad’s hand lower would feel really good. And he could return the favor.
He stroked Thad’s thigh more firmly and felt an immediate response under his head. Thad’s usual cypress scent got stronger and muskier. Sara rolled toward Thad and buried his face in the vampire’s belly. He pushed up Thad’s shirt and nuzzled the skin underneath. Warm, but not too warm. Because vampire. Not too warm meant he was probably getting hungry, and Sara could convince him to eat.
Thad’s hand was on his back, still stroking him but not pulling him closer. Not encouraging the way Sara wanted him to. And suddenly, he needed encouragement. He needed Thad to need him. Thad was always ready to give pleasure, but he still held himself back from receiving it. He still delayed his own satisfaction until hunger pushed him to succumb. Maybe he got off on it a little, the anticipation. Maybe Sara got off a little on the ability to make a vampire lose control.
Tonight, he didn’t want any sinful favors, and he didn’t want to be a lapse in self-control. He wanted to make love to his boyfriend. He wanted to take pleasure in giving pleasure.
About Irene Preston
Irene Preston has to write romances, after all she is living one. As a starving college student, she met her dream man who whisked her away on a romantic honeymoon across Europe. Today they live in the beautiful hill country outside of Austin, Texas where Dream Man is still working hard to make sure she never has to take off her rose-colored glasses.
Where to find Irene
Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Mailing List | Goodreads
About Liv Rancourt I write romance: m/f, m/m, and v/h, where the h is for human and the v is for vampire … or sometimes demon … I lean more towards funny than angst. When I’m not writing I take care of tiny premature babies or teenagers, depending on whether I’m at home or at work. My husband is a soul of patience, my dog’s cuteness is legendary, and we share the homestead with three ferrets. Who steal things. Because they’re brats.
Where to find Liv
Facebook | Twitter | Mailing List | Goodreads
The giveaway will open be thru 12/4/16
Prize pack includes $20 Gift Card to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or AllRomanceEbooks.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
This sounds like so much fun! I’m looking forward to reading this.
What fun!