All Of Court's Men: Brennan

It's time for our weekly peek at Courtney Cole's delicious men! In this week's installment of All of Court's Men, we're taking a look at Brennan from Courtney's paranormal series, The Moonstone Saga. And, for this week only, the first book in The Moonstone Saga, SOUL KISSED, is on sale for only $0.99!

Brennan

Excerpt From Soul Kissed

“The world is not going to end,” I insisted slowly, taking in the desperation on Brennan’s stricken face.  “Why would you think so?  I was wrong when I said it would, Brennan. We can prevent my visions.  We can do anything we set our minds to.”

Brennan turned to me, his expression slightly calmer than it had been a scant moment ago.  I reached out to grab his hand, but he backed away, causing my heart to race.  He stepped out of the tent and I trailed behind him quickly.

“What is it?” I whispered.  “What did you see, Brennan?”

His eyes were pain-filled and stark when he answered.  “I saw flames and floods and a lot of blood.  There was so much blood.  I saw the same things that you did, Empusa.  And if we both see it, I think it is likely to happen.”

“It won’t!” I cried, gritting my teeth and throwing myself at him.  Clutching at him, I gripped his shoulders, trying to make him touch me.  Yet he still shirked away from my fingers, like I had a sickness.  It was alarming.

“Why are you moving away from me?” I asked helplessly, trying to ignore the cold pit growing in my belly.  “I didn’t cause your visions, Brennan. I wish nothing more than to protect you from any ugliness in the world.”

“I know,” he admitted softly.  “But I also know that this isn’t going to work.”

His voice was like gravel, painfully scraping the surface of my heart with every husky syllable.  “I can’t be with you,” he repeated.

He was so casual, so perfunctory, as though we were simply talking about a Cubs game or the weather. I stared at him, at his flecked hazel eyes that gleamed in the sunlight and my chest literally constricted at the thought of even one day without him.

“Yes, you can.  You’re perfect for me,” I answered uncertainly, reaching for him, trying to pull him close. If he could just feel my heart pressed against his, I knew that he might bend, if only just enough to listen.  But he would have none of it and backed away, leaning against the rocks behind us.  He knew the danger within my touch.

“Brennan,” I tried again, stepping forward.  The way that the sun bathed him in backlit glory was breath-taking and I had to re-focus.  It was difficult not to concentrate on his handsome, rugged face and the way his mouth moved as he spoke. 

     “Em,” he continued, as if I’d never even spoken. “I’m not…I’m not strong enough for this yet.  I won’t be able to control my abilities.  I just saw it.  I can’t jeopardize the entire mortal world simply because I can’t master my power.  And Circes… she said that you would risk everything for me. I can’t allow that, Empusa.  I can’t be the one who extinguishes your light.  That won’t be me.”

     He pushed away from the rocks and strode down the ledge with his distinctive lope.  He paused just once on the edge, before he bounded, landing gracefully on his feet far below me.  He didn’t look back, he simply walked away from me.   I stood still, frozen by his words, astounded by their meaning.  Until I realized that if I didn’t do something right now I would never see him again.

I lunged from the ledge, landing roughly in the packed sand below before I raced along behind him.  Even employing supernatural speed, I didn’t catch up with him for a mile. He had mastered speed himself, it seemed.    Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of black and I knew that my mother was close, watching us, but it didn’t sway me. 

I pushed Brennan against a nearby red stone rock mound, shoving him hard and he stumbled, staring at me in shock as his back collided with the stone.  He had never seen me lose my temper.  No one had.  I always had to be so careful, so controlled.  

“You think it’s only up to you?” I shouted.  The wind whipped my hair around my face and I ignored it as I stared directly into the mesmerizing eyes of the only man I had ever loved.

“I have a say in this, too,” I insisted.  “You think you can just throw everything away with a handful of cliches?  Newsflash:  The old it’s not you, it’s me line isn’t effective.  If you don’t want to be with me, just be man enough to tell me why.  Don’t tell me that it is because of the visions.  We can overcome them.  I know it.  If there is something else, tell me right now.”

My face was barely an inch from his.  I was close enough to feel his heart beat through his shirt, to feel the heat from his skin pulse through and bleed into my own skin.  I was close enough to inhale his very breath.  I knew what my nearness would do to him, but I didn’t care.  I closed my eyes and leaned into him… instantly absorbing what he felt; the jagged pain, the overwhelming uncertainty, but mostly, his unbridled need for me.  It filled him up and spilled into me. 

“Tell me,” I murmured against his lips.

He groaned and pulled me against him, his large hands flattening against my back as he smashed me to his chest and ravaged my lips with his own.  He kissed me like the world was ending.  And I knew, with every breath in me, that if he left, my world would end.   

His body was rock hard and he smelled like the sun.  I inhaled him as I grasped his hair and pulled him closer to me, as close as I could possibly get.  Even in the heat of this moment, though, I had to keep a corner of my consciousness carefully focused, making sure I didn’t absorb too much of his strength.  But I still allowed myself to taste it, to enjoy it. 

He was delicious.  Everything about him.

His tongue rammed into my mouth, swirling with mine and he tasted like honey as his very life flowed into me, wispy and transparent, but pulsing hard.  He was so vital.

It made me wild and I couldn’t control myself.  I ripped at his shirt, breaking the buttons as I frantically pushed it off of his shoulders.  I knew it was expensive, but I didn’t care.  My only thought was consuming all of him, every bit and I needed him inside of me to do that.  It was the only way.  My focus faltered and then was obliterated.  Nothing else mattered now but my need for him.

I began seeing things in blurs of color, tasting the scents in the air and feeling the textures beneath my hands as everything else faded away. His breathing was ragged, his heart beat stuttering and racing as we fumbled with clothing.  Our skin was hot and sticky as we pressed together.  I felt his heart beat join with mine, synching perfectly, as the process began.  My fingers pulsed and my vision unfocused.  It was happening.  I would only need a moment longer. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the beautiful field of pink flowers explode into flame, too close to withstand my energy as it flared into an uncontrollable storm. They burned impotently against the sandy horizon as our very own fire burned within us.  A loud boom exploded somewhere nearby and I saw chunks of earth scatter, falling around us from the sky. I had no idea where it had come from and I didn’t care at this point.

Brennan yanked at the button on his pants and I reached to help him, desperate to continue, to finish, but somehow sanity returned to me as I thought of that very word.

Finish.

If we completed this act, if I made love to this man- the man that I loved with every ounce of my being, it would finish him.  He could die because we hadn’t learned to master our power. 

I froze.

He reached for me, but I held out my hand.

“Don’t,” I rasped uncomfortably.  “Give me a minute.”

Soul Kissed, by Courtney Cole
Published January 3, 2012
Publisher: Lakehouse Press
Genre:  YA Paranormal Romance
To Buy: Amazon

(Synopsis) Question: When your mother is a powerful witch and your father is a soul-sucking vampire, what does that make you?
Answer: Cursed.

With all the beauty and charm of a Siren, but cursed as a blood-sucking succubus, Empusa longs for love and a normal life. Neither of these can ever be hers, because the only thing she brings to anyone she loves is death.

Em lingers in the mortal world, hiding from her father and existing in a lonely life. Until she meets Brennan. With golden hair and a radiant smile, he captures her heart and awakens it from slumber.

But Brennan is more than he seems. And in a relationship where life itself hangs in the balance, is love ever really enough?

Soul Kissed is book one in the Moonstone Saga. It is followed by Soul Bound (available now) and Princess of the Night (Coming soon). 

About the Author

Courtney Cole is a novelist who would eat mythology for breakfast if she could. She has a degree in Business, but has since discovered that corporate America is not nearly as fun to live in as fictional worlds. She loves chocolate and roller coasters and hates waiting and rude people.
 
Courtney lives in quiet suburbia, close to Lake Michigan, with her real-life Prince Charming, her ornery kids (there is a small chance that they get their orneriness from their mother) and a small domestic zoo.

Learn more about Courtney --> Website / Facebook / Twitter  

Putting Myself Out There - Fan Fiction

I do not profess to be a "writer." I enjoy writing. I actually don't think I'm half bad (don't burst my bubble). I mean, I'm in marketing and public relations to bring home the bacon. Writing IS part of my daily job.

But, honestly, I could never be an "author." It's hard for me to put myself out there for critique and criticism when I'm trying to be creative. MAD props to all those people out there who can.

In the fall, Jennifer L. Armentrout and several other authors got together to host a fan fiction contest, with the winner being awarded an all-expense paid trip to the RT Convention in May. I submitted an entry. I did it on a whim - wrote my entry in only about an hour. And, it was... fun. I didn't win, but I was weirdly okay with that. I was going to keep my piece a relative secret, and then I figured, what the hell.

This is the fan fiction piece I wrote that takes place in Jennifer Armentrout's Lux world. It takes place after the events of Opal (Lux #3), so if you haven't read it yet, you might not want to continue.

SHELTER (Lux #3.1)

Dawson

As our group escaped into the night, I felt like I was being torn in two. Part of me was aching for my brother. I knew first-hand what he was going through right now. The fear. The rage. Most of all, the desperation. I looked behind me to see Matthew literally dragging Daemon along, and I wished that there was something I could do.

And yet…

I looked down at the small figure huddled in my arms, and I immediately felt my concern morph into something closer to elation.

Beth.

She seemed so tiny – so much frailer than the last time I saw her. And, didn’t that make me want to smash my fist into something, or better yet, someone. But, for now, she was here, and she was safe. Finally.

As the cars came into view, I saw Ash, Andrew and Dee waiting off to the side. As soon as we slowed down to a walk, Dee ran to meet us and threw her arms around both Beth and me.

“Dawson, thank God! I’ve been worried sick – you should’ve been back a long time ago!” She glanced down at Beth then and murmured, “It’s good to have you back, Beth.”

The corners of Beth’s mouth turned up, but her smile didn’t reach her eyes. Not by a mile. We were going to have to talk sometime soon about what she had been doing for the DOD the past few months while I wasted my time going to school. But, that was a conversation for another day. Right now, I just wanted to get her home and tucked into my bed, where I intended to just hold her all night long to convince myself that she was real.

I put Beth down as Dee looked behind me, and confusion worked its way into her face. “What’s wrong with Daemon?” As her eyes met mine, I saw fear and comprehension start to dance across them. “Dawson, where’s Katy?”

“Dee…” I couldn’t form the words. I knew that Dee still loved her like the sister she never had, despite the events of the past few months, and that this news would crush her all over again.

“Dawson – Where. Is. Katy?”

“They took her,” said a small voice beside me. Beth was looking over Dee’s shoulder, into the trees. “The quiet rooms, the promises they make, the things she’ll see…” Her voice trailed off, and she took a deep, shuddering breath. “They took her, and they will never give her back. Not as she was. Not as she could’ve been.”

Dee’s eyes met mine over Beth’s head, and I saw them widen as tears started to form. I forced my brain to stop reading between the lines of what she had said. No. My Beth was here. With me. And everything will be fine now.

Except, at that moment, Matthew and Daemon reached us, and I was reminded of how not fine things were at the moment.

“Get your damn hands off me!” roared Daemon. He grabbed Matthew’s wrists and shoved him against the side of the car so hard, a Matthew-shaped dent appeared in the metal.

“This is your fault!” Daemon was so worked up his eyes were glowing and he started blurring at the edges. “If you hadn’t stopped me, I could’ve reached her. I was right there. I could’ve gotten her out! You’ve never liked her. You’ve never wanted her around. And, now she’s… she’s not…” Daemon’s voice broke, and he sank to his knees, his fingers digging into the cold earth as he struggled to regain the control he was famous for. 

Tears flowed freely down Dee’s face now, as she turned around and walked to the other side of the SUV. Even Ash and Andrew looked visibly upset. I glanced at Beth, and saw her looking at Daemon with an expression that scared the shit out of me. Pity. For her to look at Daemon like that, I knew that what was ahead of Kat was something that Daemon didn’t need to know about.

I leaned down and murmured in Beth’s ear, “Why don’t you get in and rest? I’ll be there in just a minute.” As her head turned up and she looked at me with those beautiful eyes, my heart stuttered. Dammit, I loved her so much.

As if she could hear my thoughts, she reached up and laid her hand on my cheek. “I love you, Dawson. Thank you.”

And, at that, my heart did stop for a second, I forgot to breathe and all logical thought left my brain. I knew it was bad timing. My brother had just lost the love of his life to our mortal enemy. My sister was grieving for the second time this year. And, I had this feeling in the back of my brain that the shit had not even begun to start hitting the fan where the DOD was concerned. But, in that perfect moment, there wasn’t a force on Earth that could’ve prevented me from bringing my lips down to meet hers.

They were softer and warmer than I had remembered. My hands came to her face, and I stroked her cheeks with my thumbs. I felt her hands fist in my shirt as she increased the pressure on my lips. I could lose myself in her right here and right now. But, my brother needed me more at the moment. I had all the time in the world with Beth now that she was out of there.

“I love you,” I breathed, as I pulled away and rested my forehead against hers. “Go sit down. You look exhausted. I’m going to talk to Daemon, and then, we’re going… home. Together. Okay?”

Beth caught her bottom lip in her teeth and nodded before turning and climbing into the SUV. At that look, I had to tell all my outer extremities to settle the hell down. We had bigger problems on our hands at the moment.

Matthew now stood off to the side, talking quietly with Andrew. Daemon was still on the ground, his head hanging between his shoulders. I leaned down and rested my hand on his shoulder.

“What am I going to do, Dawson?” he asked, hoarsely. “Everyone always looks to me for the answers, and for the first time, I don’t have any. All I know is that I need to get Kat out of there. I can’t live knowing they are doing everything they can to destroy her. I can’t… I can’t live without her. You understand that, don’t you?”

I couldn’t stand the desperate look in his eyes as he was begging me for something I didn’t know if I could give him.

“I understand, Daemon. I do. But, there’s nothing more we can do here tonight. Let’s go home and get some rest. We’ll talk more about what to do tomorrow.”

Suddenly, Daemon surged to his feet. “NO. We aren’t waiting another day. Another minute. Another second.” He fisted his hands in his hair while he looked around, frantically. “I need to go see Luc. He might have some ideas. Wait. Has anyone see that bastard, Blake? I swear, I’m going to kill that motherfu-“

Just like that, Daemon hit the ground, revealing Matthew behind him, his hand glowing brightly, as he lowered it back to his side.

“What the hell was that for?” I growled

“Daemon is out of control at the moment and not thinking rationally about the situation,” Matthew said, entirely too calmly. “I know a place where we can take him until he’s calmed down enough to look at things logically. Andrew and I can take care of it while you get Beth, Dee and Ash home safely.”

“’A place?’” I asked. “You’re treating Daemon as if he’s not someone who has put his life on the line for you – for all of us – before. He needs our support now more than a padded cell.”

“Dawson, have you already forgotten Daemon’s reasons for preventing you from charging after Beth when you first came home?” Matthew gripped both my shoulders in his hands and forced me to look into his eyes. “You, Daemon and Dee are like my own children. I don’t want anything to happen to any of you. If we let Daemon go off on his own now, it will only be a matter of hours before he’s also captured by the DOD. Or worse.”

I really hated to admit it, but Matthew had a good point. I just got my family back. I didn’t want to lose any of them again. But, if I allowed them to take Daemon away, he would hate me for it later.

I looked inside the car window and saw Beth looking out at me. She was my shelter now from whatever shit storm was blowing down our pipe. As long as I had her, I could face anything.

“Okay,” I said. “Do it.”

REVIEW: Up From The Grave (Night Huntress #7)

Up From The Grave (Night Huntress #7), by Jeaniene Frost
Published January 28, 2014
Publisher: Avon
Format: paperback, purchased
Genre:  adult paranormal romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble

Rating:  4 STARS

(From Goodreads) Lately, life has been unnaturally calm for vampires Cat Crawfield and her husband Bones. They should have known better than to relax their guard, because a shocking revelation sends them back into action to stop an all-out war…

A rogue CIA agent is involved in horrifying secret activities that threaten to raise tensions between humans and the undead to dangerous heights. Now Cat and Bones are in a race against time to save their friends from a fate worse than death…because the more secrets they unravel, the deadlier the consequences. And if they fail, their lives—and those of everyone they hold dear— will be hovering on the edge of the grave.

The entire time I was reading Up From The Grave, I had this undercurrent of bittersweet sadness coursing through me knowing that never again would I read a book about Cat and Bones for the first time. The Night Huntress series is one of my most favorite paranormal series of all time, and although Up From The Grave is not my favorite book in the series, it didn't take away from its poignancy. 

Cat and Bones become alarmed when they can't reach any of their friends who have been working for the dastardly Madigan. While trying to figure out where they are, they stumble upon a plot of epic scope, of which Madigan is smack in the middle, and the potential outcome could spell extinction for both vampires and ghouls. The couple must use the connections and favors they've culled over the years to stop Madigan and those he works for. 

There are some things that Jeaniene Frost does so well. She has always managed to keep me guessing, and Up From The Grave was no different. I knew going into it that there were some secrets that needed to come out. What was Don hiding? What was Madigan's end game? There was no shortage of surprises as these answers and other twists were revealed. I love that after seven books, I still couldn't see them coming. 

Bones is, without a doubt, my favorite paranormal hero EVER. The way he loves and protects Cat is just so romantic and swoony and passionate. He's not TOO perfect, either. He can be a downright ass sometimes. He pulls a few moves in Up From The Grave that made me want to throttle him, actually. But, his motivations are always pure, and they have to do with keeping Cat safe. So, I guess you can't be too mad at him when it's all said and done. 

The thing I liked best about Up From The Grave was the appearance of all our favorite side characters from the previous books. We saw Mencheres, Kira, Spade, Denise, Ian, Annette, Vlad, Leila, Tate, Dave, Cooper, Juan and Justina. We even saw some characters from books way back in the beginning, like Timmy. It was the perfect way to send off the series. All our favorites played a role of some sort in the overall plot arc - some moreso than others - and, it gave a sense of finality to it that otherwise may have been lacking. 

Although there were some plot elements that I didn't necessarily agree with, on the whole, Up From The Grave was a perfect send-off. It had a great mystery to figure out. There was tons of action. I laughed a lot - particularly whenever Ian opened his mouth. I also cried. How could I not knowing this was the end? I swooned, too, because Bones and Cat love each other hard and passionately and with such devotion. And, when it was all said and done, Bones and Cat get their happily ever after, although it happened in a form that I couldn't have guessed before reading this book.  

I'm still hopeful that this won't be the very last time we see Cat and Bones in a book. There's still one more Night Huntress World book expected (please let it be about Ian!!), and one more Night Prince book (VLAD!) to look forward to. There's a chance that my favorite couple will have cameos in both. But, their own story has very literally reached its final chapter. It was a fantastic farewell and really fun ride.