About S.J. Maylee

S.J. Maylee fell in love with storytelling at a young age and with it came a deep-seated desire for everyone to find their happily ever after. She’s finding the happy endings for her characters one steamy story at a time. When she’s not reading or writing, you can find her caring for her garden, laughing with her two young sons, or dancing to her husband’s music. She’s a PMP (Project Management Professional), Nia instructor, and coffee addict. As a writer she has a tendency to break hearts, but she always glues them back together

Review: The Summoning (Dragon’s Lair #2) by Seraphina Donavan

Posted on April 22, 2013 by S.J. Maylee

The Summoning (Dragon’s Lair #2)

by Seraphina Donavan

Published: December 14th 2012
Publisher: Cobblestone Press
Genre: Erotic Romance, Shifter, Menage

BLURB:

As dragon shifters, Remy and Philippe had spent their lives searching for their perfect mate, and in Lilly Montague, they found her. But enemies from their past are threatening their happiness. Dragon law dictates that they must meet the issued challenge and face their enemies in battle. But when Lilly sees them in Dragon form, will she be able to accept them?

SJ’s Review:

This is the second short story in the Dragon’s Lair series. In the first Lilly finds her mates in dragon shifters Remy and Philippe. The story is short but it quickly takes you to several fun places. The first is hot and steamy, yum. The second is completely nerve racking. The tension and worry Seraphina creates is palpable. From here, you’ll get more steam, a brief romantic M/M scene, action, and a satisfying end.

The plot could definitely fill and would be worthy of a full length novel. At times, it may feel a bit rushed and there are a couple of head hopping moments, but I really enjoyed this quick tale.

I give The Summoning 4 stars and recommend it to paranormal menage fans that want a quick satisfying read.

I was given a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest and fair review.

You can click the cool cover at the top to see The Summoning on Goodreads.

Weekend Writing Warriors – Time’s A Wastin’

Posted on April 21, 2013 by S.J. Maylee

Click here to go to the Weekend Writing Warriors blog

Click the logo to go to the Weekend Writing Warriors blog

Welcome friends new and old. I’m going to give you a couple more posts from the WIP I’ve been sharing before I move onto something new.

In the Blind (working title), and you can see the past posts from this WIP here. The Logline: When a head hunter finds her dream lover in a night of pitch black unrestrained passion, she fears she’ll never find him again. Fate steps in and throws the two together, but they might never discover the truth and stay in the blind.

Over the past few weeks I’ve shared Jane’s experience at Club Blind and her business opportunity that put her back in touch with Rob. Last Post we found out why Rob isn’t keen on Jane’s job opportunity. It’s for the company his ex-wife works for. In this week’s post, I’ve skipped just a little and we’re still in Rob’s POV.

His marriage wasn’t meant to survive. His promises weren’t meant to be kept. It was time to stop punishing himself.

“I’ll let you know if I find another opportunity.” She stood and lingered. “Thanks for meeting me today. It was good to see you again.” She took a step from the table.

Wait!! He’s not going to let her leave, is he? Time’s A Wastin’ Rob. You’re not thinking Jane wants to leave anyways, right? <If you want, you can Tweet That> Come back next week and I’ll give you another clue.

Hope you enjoyed my eight today. Thank you so much for visiting me, it means a lot to me that you took the time to visit my little place on the web. Don’t forget to check out the other Weekend Warriors, and Saturday Spankings too.

ROW80 Check-in #57 Pushing Forward and Fun Projects

Posted on April 21, 2013 by S.J. Maylee

Apparently, when an introvert is not careful, the time she takes to recovery can turn into a bad case of procrastination. Oops. I’m supposed to be working at being the best I can be. My best certainly does not include procrastination.

I didn’t accomplish as much as I could have this week, but I did accomplish a good bit. Yesterday, my disappointment tried to pull out some negative thinking. I recognized that ugly thought process, because it was followed by thoughts of taking an extended break or quitting. Yesh. Really? Really! I took a step away from the computer, did a home related project, and read a good book. The break did me good and quieted my negative nelly.

Have you dealt with your own negative nelly lately? Please share your steps to ward her off, pretty please.

The Goals – week-2 results

Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters – done.
Daily progress in writing craft, word count, editing, and/or plotting – done, except for Friday and almost yesterday. I started the week strong with lots of edit work and craft study. However, I did a poor job of managing my time this week and by Friday I had so much to do, outside of writing, I didn’t get to any of my goals. Boo! By Saturday, I felt tired and discouraged. I tried to work through it, as I mentioned above. Finally, I settled into my craft book for a good read.
Workout a minimum of three times a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep, and my calorie limit – not done. I worked out once and only kept up with my water goal. I’m sure the loss of this goal contributed to nelly showing her ugly face. WEEK 3 PRIORITY
Weekly Nia study (i.e. studying the song/movement structure) – kind of done. Although performing the routines is a part of the study, and I did make time for Nia yesterday, I need to do more than just the movement. I need to start thinking about my Nia studies like my writing craft studies. I’ve found a way to fit in my writing craft books several times a week. I need to do the same with Nia. WEEK 3 PRIORITY
Stay on top of my co-op preschool Treasurer responsibilities – done. I collected the LAST tuition payments for the year, completed a deposit, and attended a board meeting.
Organize something in the house each week – I love jewelry. I always have on earrings. Always. But I often forget everything else. I have several places to store it all which is great, except when I forget it’s there or I forget to put them away. A couple weeks ago, I found this fun idea on Pinterest and I already had the frames. So, what do you think? Is it cute? Now my jewelry is sorted into four places, but I’m hoping this easy to grab from display will help me to remember to wear them.

What you might have missed here this week:

Evernight’s Book Boyfriend Blog Hop <- today’s your last chance to hop around for a chance at all kinds of prizes and a kindle paperwhite

A Chat with Shannan Albright author of Beloved Wizard <- she shared many things with me, including her challenges in getting her first book published and criticism she received that put her in a better writing place

Cover Reveal for The Awakening: Aidan by Abby Niles <- beautiful cover and the blurb hooked me. What about you?

Cover Reveal for The Awakening: Aidan by Abby Niles

Posted on April 19, 2013 by S.J. Maylee

The Awakening: Aidan

by Abby Niles

Publisher: Entangled Publishing

Blog | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook

@abbyniles

Synopsis:

Is the gift of eternal love a blessing or a curse?

After years of counseling grieving shifters, psychiatrist and half-shifter, Dr. Jaylin Avgar has become jaded on shifter mating. She wants to marry a human and forget about the love for eternity crap.

Then she meets Aidan O’Connell, an infuriatingly laid back shifter who represents everything she doesn’t want. Yet, the more he pursues her, the more she craves a future with him. Only one thing stands in her

way: death. Can she overcome her fear of losing Aidan to the one guarantee in life?

Millionaire consultant, Aidan O’Connell knows he’ll one day meet a woman who?ll awaken an unrelenting mating instinct. Unfortunately, that woman is Jaylin, who has no qualms about telling him that he and his so-called eternity can shove it. When she pushes him away, he takes a drastic step so she can no longer escape. The close proximity throws the instinct into overdrive. Can he control the need engrained in him until he?s certain she will reciprocate the bond, or will a moment of weakness doom him to hell on earth?

Giveaway: $50 Visa Gift Card. Contest runs from 4/19-4/30.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Chat with Shannan Albright author of Beloved Wizard

Posted on April 17, 2013 by S.J. Maylee

Shannan and I are sitting down today for a relaxing chat. Pull up your lawn chair, your favorite drink and join us. I also have all the details on the first release in her Knights of Excalibur series.

Title: Beloved Wizard

by: Shannan Albright

Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Length: 70 Pages
Sub-Genres: Romance

Blurb:

Merci Tramaine is not happy to be called back into service by her old boss Arthur, especially when she is charged to find her missing ex-lover. Drake Monroe is Merlin reincarnated. With his powers bound by the Goddess Nimue, he has become a skilled fighter, but is no match for Nimue who kidnapped him, determined to destroy him forever.

The bloodline of Morgan Le Fey taints Merci, keeping her on the edge between light and dark. The goddess’s wicked trap springs shut, leaving both Drake and Merci racing against the clock. Passions ignite once again, but are they too late to plan a future or will they be torn from each other?

This time for eternity.

Shannan lets dig right in with a hard question, lol. Picture your favorite place in the world. Now, can you tell us a little bit about the place you’ve pictured?

A pristine white beach at low tide, the waves lapping up to shore in lazy surges, the fizzing sound of sea meeting land lulling, encouraging you to relax and leave the stress of the world behind. Here there are no deadlines, micro-management or responsibilities. Here there is only a complete state of being in the moment, one with nature around you. The breeze is warm, not over heated. Just a pleasant caress against the skin the scents of sea and land with a floral undertone of Gardenia’s and Jasmine. If this place doesn’t exists, it should so I can go there. Lol!

And so I can go there too. You relaxed me with your favorite place. What was the last book you read that made a lasting impression on you?

Easy since I just read it. JR Ward’s Lover at Last. I have read quite a bit of M/M and never have I found such dimension within the struggles to be in love with the same sex. She covers all the bases and with such sensitivity and passion I was sad to have finished it.

I’ve heard wonderful things about Lover at Last. I’m very much looking forward to reading an experiencing it. Can you tell us about your challenges in getting your first book published?

Lol, Got a few years? I started writing in 1980 and hit every brick wall there was and then some new ones. I decided to go a different way with my writing after illustrating a children’s book and started putting together a graphic novel…, which is still unfinished. Along the way I got back into writing, became an RWA member and spent a few years just taking workshops. When a new e-publisher was looking for short stories I figured what the hell, I’ll just add to my pile of rejections and submitted for their Christmas anthology. I was accepted and boy, it took a while for the shock to wear off on that one. The rest, as they say is history.

Persistence paid off, I’m so glad to read that. Can you tell us about a criticism you’ve received that pushed you into a better writing place?

I got a rejection letter from a big New York publisher that told me to give it up. I didn’t have the talent and was wasting both there’s and my time. Well after I licked my wounds I got mad. Even if they never knew, I would be a published author. When someone tells me no I have a tendency to dig in and prove them wrong. Good and bad this is my nature. Guess the Cajun stubbornness in me won’t let things die, or take a person’s words as the truth.

Brilliant. You ignored the negativity, took the challenge, and you won. I love it. Which one of your characters would you NOT like to meet in real life?

I really, really wouldn’t like to run across Mordred. I may have to hurt him just for breathing. I’m not a violent person, but his superior snotty, entitled attitude drove me nuts even when I wrote him in I had to grit my teeth to get through it.

Lol. That’s awesome. Which one of your characters would you most like to meet in real life?

Viviane, Lady of the Lake would be a cool character to meet. She is so not what one expects of a goddess. A cross between Goth girl meets Anime, she would be a hoot to share an afternoon with.

I bet. You should write a blog post one day detailing an afternoon with her. I’m thinking, it would be a fun read. What turns you on creatively?

Oh this is easy. Oil painting or illustrating.

Cool. My mother and grandfather are painters. I love watching them create. What is your greatest fear?

Bad health. I think I can successfully meet any challenge but that. To have no control of your body as it shuts down? Way too scary for a control freak like me.

Agreed. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

I would like to finish my graphic book and be a graphic artist. Okay, it’s sort of like the same thing, but with more art so it’s different. Lol!

Yes. That would bring your two interests together. Neat. What is your greatest extravagance?

It’s coming up in September. I’m taking my first cruise to the Bahamas. This is the first time I’m going out of the United States and I’m so stoked.

You are going to have a fabulous time. I’m back thinking on your first answer. J What is your favorite music (genre/artist/album/song)?

Nickleback followed by Maroon 5 and Train. And I can’t tell you what my fave is since I love all of their songs.

Rock-n-Roll with pop, I love it. What is your motto?

I see a light at the end of the tunnel and it’s not a train.

What are you working on now?

I am finishing a novella on my other series The Dark Breed Enforcers, plus the next full length book in the series. At the same time I am working on a Historical paranormal about Dragon shifters and I working two other first books in a series. One is tentatively called The Summoning: Rise of the Sentinels about angels called Watchers pitted against the bad guys called The Dark Guard. The other is called Demon Bewitched: A Cast Wars Novel. This deals with witches, demons and angels. That’s what’s on my plate for this year.J I hate to be idle as you can tell.

Thank you for having me on your blog. I had so much fun answering your questions.

That was a lot of fun, Shannan. Thanks for playing along.

Excerpt:

“I have no wish to be the next greatest anything. I like me just the way I am. I mind my own business and no one gets into my shit. Nice, quiet and uncomplicated.”

Color rose on Nimue’s fair complexion. Merci knew she’d just crossed the line, but couldn’t seem to care, even if the goddess could squash her like a bug. The only thing that mattered to her was Drake’s tall form moving ever closer toward them.

Nimue grabbed her upper arm in a punishing grip, whirled her around to face Drake. Nimue flung her hand out and Drake flew back like a puppet on a string, crashing into the far wall of the warehouse with a sickening flesh-meet-cinderblock thud. He lay crumpled amidst the debris like a broken doll.

Something snapped within Merci. Her blood scalded her veins. The taste of ash filled the back of her throat. Rage, cold and biting, filled her, coloring her vision in a red haze. Drawing energy from the earth, she channeled it up through her body, willing it to form. Her hands glowed, magic as hot as a stream of lava engulfed her. Her skin stung like the bite of a thousand fire ants as a small burst of electricity arched over her arms, snapping with pent up energy. The stench of ozone, hanging like a heavy cloud in the still air, filled the area. The force arched into Nimue, dropped her to the floor. Merci offered a feral smile while Nimue wreathed in pain against her magic. She bent down close enough for Nimue to hear her. “Since you don’t know me, I will explain this to you. You don’t fuck with what is mine. Drake, is mine.”

Buy Links:

Extasybooks.com | Amazon.com | Bookstrand.com | Sony E-book | Barnes and Noble

About The Author:

Growing up she was the dreamer in her family, something not always thought of as a positive thing. As a child she would draw and build stories around her pictures, so writing was a natural extension for her. Recently a family member told her that from now on she would encourage those dreamers she knew. Stating with hard work and focus dreams can come true. Shannan Albright is proof that dreaming can be a positive thing.

When not writing she spends her time between oil painting and reading. She loves writing paranormal, urban fantasy, historical and fantasy romances because of the world building and rich characters she finds. She loves dark, edgy heroes and heroines overcoming impossible odds internal and external.

She is a “hopeful” Romantic who believes a healthy relationship built on respect and a strong partnership is the key to a happy ever after.

Shannan Albright

@ShannanAlbright

Evernight’s Book Boyfriend Blog Hop

Posted on April 15, 2013 by S.J. Maylee

Book Boyfriends…

They can be strong and sexy, dark and dangerous, rebellious and reckless or cute and quirky. We love to escape into their world and fall in love with these irresistible heroes. Evernight Publishing has them all and I’m helping them show off their favorites in the Book Boyfriend Blog Hop!

The authors of Evernight invite you to a Speed Date challenge. Their cowboys, Doms, detectives, millionaires, royalty, vampires, soldiers, shifters, even steam-powered heroes are waiting to meet you on each author website.

So pull up a chair and get to know every single one. Here’s who you’ll meet:

Nicola Cameron’s IAN WEST

Karyn Gerrard’s DEEGAN BLACK

Stacey Espino’s CALLUM O’SHEA

Raven McAllan’s RYAN CULLIVER

Cait Jarrod’s JAKE GIBSON

Jenika Snow’s DOMINIC

CR Moss and RM Sotera’s ANDREW MATHISON/DALTON DOUGAN

Morgan King’s ARTHUR EARL OF HENTONBURY

Sandra Bunino’s JASON ROYCE

Carlene Love Flores’ LUCKY MASON

R. Brennan’s RICHARD HALSTEAD

Nicky Penttila’s ELLIOTT

Doris O’Connor’s GRISHA

D.C. Stone’s BARI DEXTER

Robin Badillo’s TUCKER WILDE

Tyler Robbins’ JARED PROPHET

Erin M. Leaf’s SETH DUSTIN

Marie E. Blossom’s ZERFIRINO

Elyzabeth M. VaLey’s ADRIAN ORMONDE

Michelle Clay’s JAMES “SULLY” SULLIVAN

Emma Shortt’s GEORGE CONSTANTINOU

Christle Gray’s DRACO TARALUNDAR

Ella Grey’s ALEX WINCHESTER

Lila Shaw’s ADAM

Ashlynn Monroe’s SAWYER

Kastil Eavenshade’s MATT

Lilith Duvalier’s ALARIC

Kacey Hammell’s HUNTER SULLIVAN

Shyla Colt’s KELLY QUINN

Diane Thorne’s STEPHEN

TC Collins’ ADAM RIVERS

Luxie Ryder’s MALACHI BANE

Michaela Rhua’s MICHAEL

Charisma Knight’s DANE

Lorraine Nelson’s LUKE MANNING

Tina Pollick’s GABRIEL

Avril Ashton’s WES DUMONT

Sam Crescent’s WAYNE

Marie Medina’s BASTIAN

London Saint James’ LORD ASHTON ARCHER

Kathleen Grieve’s DR. CRUZ AVERY

Siobhan Muir’s FREDRICK MACGREGOR

Shawn Lane’s JOE

Adonis Devereux’s KAMEN

James Cox’s THE OUTLAW

Hazel Gower’s CALEB

Angelina Rain’s DANIEL

Stephanie Berget’s SEAN O’CONNELL

Isabella Olivia Ellis’ LORD LUKE STONE

Anna Keraleigh’s WICK

Wow! What a line-up!

What’s up for grabs?

One lucky hopper will win a KINDLE PAPERWHITE eREADER sponsored by Evernight Publishing.
My blog is giving away one free eBook from Evernight (winner’s choice of any eBook from Evernight Publishing’s website). I’ll use random.org to pick the winner the morning of April 22nd.
Plus, visit each blog hop stop for a host of fabulous prizes!

How to enter?

Tell me about your favorite hero trait and why in the comment section below. Be sure you leave your email address to be eligible to win a prize.

Keep hopping to the next author or blogger. After you’ve met each hero click here to vote for your favorite book boyfriend. You’ll earn an extra grand prize entry!

You’re one step closer to meeting your next Book Boyfriend…

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to see the linky list of all the participating blogs and authors for more chances to win…

Weekend Writing Warriors – Out of Reach

Posted on April 14, 2013 by S.J. Maylee

Welcome friends new and old. I’m going to give you a couple more posts from the WIP I’ve been sharing before I move onto something new.

Over the past few weeks I’ve shared Jane’s experience at Club Blind and her business opportunity that put her back in touch with Rob. Last Post Jane presented Rob with the job description for Keller’s company. He’s impressed until he learns where he’d be working. In this week’s post, I’ve skipped just a little to put us back in Rob’s POV, but Jane and Rob are still in the coffee shop. Gina is Rob’s ex-wife and she works for Keller.

Jane pulled her hand away and he let her go. The loss of her touch felt more present than the horror he once thought of ever working with Gina again. If he was honest with himself, he’d admit his apprehension had nothing to do with Gina. Nope, she was just a reminder of a commitment he let sour.

“I’m sorry to have upset you.” Her hand lay on the table just out of his reach.

He shouldn’t let his failed marriage ruin another relationship, or in this case, a career opportunity. He hadn’t even asked Jane out, yet.

They’re going to figure this out, right? Only I (and my CP) know the answer to that question. 🙂 If Rob’s not careful, Jane will drift away until she’s out of reach. <If you want, you can Tweet That> Come back next week and I’ll give you another clue.

ROW80 Check-in #56 One Step at a Time

Posted on April 14, 2013 by S.J. Maylee

This round I’ve challenged myself to be the best I can be. Some weeks that will mean reaching all of my goals and some weeks it will not. The promise is to be the best I can be. Our best effort does not always mean accomplishing everything. I’ll need to simply be honest with myself and take a fresh look at each week.

Each week I want to take advantage of what I learned and accomplished in the previous week and set myself up for success, not failure. So, what did I learn this week? What did I accomplish?

I learned why it takes me so long to recover after crazy, fun times. Jenny Hansen had this post in her A to Z challenge this week. I learned I’m 89% introvert. Wow. 89%. Geesh. I adore my family and friends and I love spending time with them, but after, I need time to recover and here’s why: Introverts gain energy from time spent by themselves.

I Promise to no longer fault myself for taking time to recover.

Last week (Easter week) I hosted my family and spent four days at an in-door water park surrounded by people. I was exhausted by the end of the week. I had such big plans for the time between rounds and wanted to start round 2 with a bang, but I needed time to recover. Ugh. Nope, I promised, remember. 🙂

I took time over this past weekend to recover and Monday I was fresh and ready to be the best I can be. Sweet. I finished my Margie packet. Yeah! I started a new craft book. I got back into editing my WIP and even spent time with Nia. Sweet.

Now, this weekend I’m spending time with my two besties from high school. Squee. I love those two ladies, but by Sunday night I’ll be in recovery mode. I’m hoping to start fresh on Monday. We’ll see what happens. I’ll remember my promise and not let my recovery ruin my week.

Did you learn something about yourself this week?

The Goals – week-1 results

Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters – done.
Daily progress in writing craft, word count, editing, and/or plotting – done. I finished lecture 9 and the wrap-up in my Margie packet and a finished another round of edits on my WIP. I was planning to start a new Margie packet right away, but I’ve started to read another book and then I’ll get back to Margie. I’m really enjoying Writing Love: Screenwriting Tricks for Authors II by Alexandra Sokoloff
Workout a minimum of three times a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep, and my calorie limit – not done. Boo. I kept up the water and calorie limit, but I only worked out once and I didn’t get enough sleep. WEEK 2 PRIORITY
Weekly Nia study (i.e. studying the song/movement structure) – done. One of the things I adored about studying ballet was the repetition. Each morning was spent at the bar doing the same or similar movements. The simplest moves can be very complicated when you take the time to break them down and feel your way through each one. Nia has a similar process and it’s called the 52-moves. It’s been sometime since I took the time to think and feel my way through each move in the Nia practice. This week I took the time and the practice was invigorating.
Stay on top of my co-op preschool Treasurer responsibilities – done. We’re getting close to the end of the school year and finally some of the pressure is drifting away. I attended a parent meeting this week and collected tuition payments.
Organize something in the house each week – I prepared my home for company this week and my hubs started his spring project of finishing the walls in our boys basement play room. It’s his task, but I’m pretty excited about it.

What you might have missed here this week:

Spotlight: Marooned with the Millionaire by Sandra Bunino <– fabulous, must read book

Flash Fiction #40 – Chasing Alison

Cover Reveal: WEREWOLVES BE DAMNED by Stacey Kennedy

Posted on April 12, 2013 by S.J. Maylee

WEREWOLVES BE DAMNED

A Magic & Mayhem Novel

by Stacey Kennedy

Publisher: Entangled Publishing

Release date: April 15, 2013

Book link <~ takes you to Stacey’s site

Goodreads

Book Description:

Nexi Jones—part witch, part guardian, and wannabe kick-ass warrior—can’t throw a punch or conjure the simplest magic. But that doesn’t stop her from hunting the werewolves who slaughtered her human family. She’ll have her revenge, but only if Kyden, the elite guardian, would get the hell out of her way.

Kyden can’t decide if Nexi wants to get herself killed or if she just has no clue what she’s doing. But her father made it clear: keep Nexi safe…or else. Of course, the more Nexi runs toward revenge, the more she needs Kyden’s aid, and as she grows into her power and confidence, so does his desire to protect her. The only problem? She’d rather he dropped dead.

But when a vampire paints a bull’s-eye on Nexi’s back, she’s hard-pressed to deny Kyden and the help he’s offering. Even if it means getting her revenge will be a little bit harder. At least it will still be as sweet.”

About the Author:

Stacey Kennedy is an urban fantasy lover at heart, but she also enjoys losing herself in dark and sensual worlds. She lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, who gave her a happily-ever-after. Together, they have two small children who can always make her smile, and who will never be allowed to read Mommy’s books. If she’s not plugging away at a new story, you’ll find her camping, curling up with the latest flick, or obsessing over Sons of Anarchy and Game of Thrones.

Website – http://www.staceykennedy.com/

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/AuthorStaceyKennedy

Facebook Fan Page – www.facebook.com/StaceyKennedyFanPage

Twitter – https://twitter.com/#!/Stacey_Kennedy

Goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3473046.Stacey_Kennedy

Teaser:

I’ve found you, fur ball.

Nexi peered from behind the large oak tree and spotted the small log cabin nestled in the thick forest. The porch light cast a warm glow into the night. Fog settled over the lush grass, and the night was dark, eerie.

Stepping away from her hiding place behind the tree, she strode forward and gripped the dagger tightly in her hand. Keeping the silver blade pointed outward, she climbed the cabin’s porch steps, taking each one slowly to avoid detection.

Once she arrived at the front door, she wrapped her hand around the door handle. Rich hunger for revenge burned in her veins and made her intent on one thing: to slaughter the werewolf who escaped the night of her parents’ murder. Not caring what awaited her, she stormed inside, dagger pointed, ready to kill.

The simple cabin had two large brown couches near a wood-burning stove, a kitchenette behind the living room, and a quilt-covered bed resting in the back. And that was it; there were no other rooms to investigate. No secret hiding places she could see.

No damned werewolf.

She cursed, shut the front door behind her, then trotted down the steps to return to her hiding spot. On her way across the yard, she glanced at the space to the right of the tree, which looked much like a heat wave, indicating that the portal to the Otherworld remained.

In some places around the world—or the Earthworld, as supernaturals had called it—there were permanent portals to the supernatural realm. This portal had only appeared because Nexi had travelled to this cabin from the Otherworld. Once she passed through the portal again, the gateway would vanish.

Magic had its perks. Quick travel was one of them.

Nexi shook her head at how normal all this magical stuff seemed now. Just over a month ago she’d never believed in anything that went bump in the night. Now she knew all those things existed, and in fact, she was one of them.

To her horror, she had learned that her birth mother, Tillie, had been murdered by a power-hungry vampire, Lazarus. All those years ago, her birth father, Drake, had protectively decided to block Nexi’s supernatural abilities. He had planned for her to live and die as a mortal. Now with her return to the Otherworld and the removal of the block on her true identity, there was no going back.

She was no longer plain, human, Nexi Jones.

She was Nexi Jones, part guardian, part witch.

Looking away from the portal and to her hiding spot until the werewolf returned, she hurried her steps. She wasn’t ready to return to the Otherworld yet. Not until she had the werewolf’s head as her wall ornament would she dare go home.

Just as she neared the tree, a woodsy scent that had nothing to do with the forest mixed with the citrusy aroma of aftershave. A blink of an eye later, the dagger she held was now at her throat, a hard body closed in on her back.

“You smelled lovely when you arrived.” The low voice by her ear held a faint English accent. “But I never imagined you’d be so pretty.”

The blade pressed into her skin, not drawing blood, but implying that if the werewolf chose, she’d be destined for the grave. “I’m…”

“Going to explain yourself.” He lowered the dagger, took hold of her arm, and jerked her forward.

In a few short strides, the werewolf tossed her through the threshold of the cabin, and slammed the door behind them. He sauntered to the couch, sat down, and regarded her. “Now then, darlin’.” His olive skin was stunningly flawless, and his chocolate-colored hair was spiked tall. “Why would a pretty lass like yourself plan to attack me?”

“Don’t move.” That charm wouldn’t fool her. “Stay right where you are.”

“My mouth is the only thing moving.” His slanted amber eyes raked over her. “Would you like me to stop talking?”

“No.” She hesitated then added, “Only your mouth can move. Nothing else. Tell me what you know.”

He gave her a long look. “I’d be glad to tell you anything you’d like, love.”

His kind face and soft voice wouldn’t trick her. He was a werewolf. She was certain, which was another oddity.

After the block on her supernatural abilities had been lifted, she could identify a supernatural creature as if knowing the difference between a brunette and a redhead. “Tell me why you killed my family.”

“That’s an interesting accusation.” He cocked his head, studying her with a frown. “But I think the more important question is who are you?”

She lifted her chin. “The lass who’s going to cut off your furry wolf balls.”

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Flash Fiction #40 – Chasing Alison

Posted on April 12, 2013 by S.J. Maylee

Thanks for stopping. Another picture…another 100 words.

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Brian refused to think about the trouble Alison had found or if she was hurt. He took a look at the clock and pushed harder on the gas pedal. This wasn’t the first time she’d pressed an informant too far, but he wanted to get there before the gun shots. A deep breath did nothing to calm his racing heart.

He’d been putting off asking for a new partner, preferring to ignore his feelings than risk losing her all together.

He wouldn’t lose her today.

A slam to the horn, a hard left, and he pulled into a quiet lot.

Hope you enjoyed my flash today!! Don’t forget to follow the link to get to the other FFF posts. Flasher Fiction Friday. Or click away on the links below.

J S Morbius: http://morbiussworld.blogspot.co.uk/
Pablo Michaels: http://www.pmmanmanromance.com
Angelica Dawson: http://angelicadawson.blogspot.com
Gemma Parkes: http://gemmaparkes.blogspot.com/
Doris O’Connor: http://thetardisscribbles.blogspot.co.uk/
Sherri Hayes: http://www.sherri-hayes.blogspot.com