Are you going?

LET ME IN starts tomorrow!  Are you going?  Have you seen the original Swedish version?  If so, does that make you want to see the US version more or less?

YA Vampires in Manga ~ BLOODY KISS Series

BLOODY KISS by Kazuko Furumiya


Bloody Kiss Volume 1

At BN.com


A young girl inherits a mansion that is inhabited by vampires.  She is encouraged to sell, but later decides to keep it and eventually falls in love with one of the vampires who also claims her as his Bride.  Although, she is resistant to his claim, since he only bit her once and that surely he can't really believe she is his Bride... What an archaic tradition, and a vampire one at that, because a vampire wife would have to let her husband "feed" on her.  Wow, what a "connection" that would be...


I have to say that I read this and enjoyed it for the most part.  Although, a couple of parts were a little bit choppy, it read fairly well overall.  It may have also been the fact that Manga books read differently that other books.  For instance, from back to front and from right corner down to bottom left.  Well, check the index sheet to make sure, because I checked it every once in a while to make sure I was reading in the right order!  :)


In general, a fun YA vampire Manga read.  Not necessarily my favorite of the Manga's I have read, but definitely an original one that was worth picking up, for me, at the local library.  Let me know if you thought the same or read any other Manga books lately.


Here's what the Goodreads synopsis has to say, with a little more detail:


Kiyo is a struggling student who strives to become a lawyer and clear her father's name. When she inherits a mansion from her late grandmother, Kiyo thinks she's finally hit a streak of good luck. But she soon finds out that the mansion is already inhabited by a couple of vampires, including the handsome Kuroboshi, who seems to have his eyes set on Kiyo for his new vampire bride...


Bloody Kiss was first created in Japanese and then released in English.  More information can also be found at one of my favorite online sites, Wikipedia!  :)


Happy YA vampire reading!  :)


~Shauna
GR, Twitter, Blog

Winner!!!!

The winner of Kristin Stefanos' LOST DEVIL'S THRONE is...

MustangHeritage!

Please email vampchixmail@gmail.com with your snail mail address.

Congrats!

Queen Of Song And Souls releases today!

We're celebrating the release of C.L. Wilson's Queen of Song and Souls by having a giveaway!  The publisher has sent us the 4-book set in the Tairen Souls series, which includes: Lord of the Fading Lands, Lady of Light and Shadows, King of Sword and Sky, and Queen of Song and Souls.  How would you like to win the entire set?  Here's how to enter:

Visit C.L. Wilson's website, and report back one interesting fact you discovered while exploring the various pages.  Or follow CL on Twitter, then let us know. Winner will be announced this Friday, so enter through Thursday night!

Queen of Song and Souls
The first deadly battles of the new Mage Wars have been fought, and victory has been won at a terrible price. As the toll of an unfulfilled matebond and the torment of war begins tips Rain towards madness, Ellysetta knows if she cannot find a way to defeat the darkness growing inside her and complete the truemate bond, Rain will die and she will become the prophesied monster Vadim Maur uses to destroy the Fey and enslave the World




  

Guest: Kristin Stefanos

Please welcome Kristin Stefanos, author of Lost Devil's Throne, to VampChix today!  Do you preferred your vampires evil or perhaps eligible for redemption?  Let us know in the comments, and be entered to win a copy of Kristin's LOST DEVIL'S THRONE! [winner announced on Wednesday]

There is no denying the allure of the vampire mythos: enigmatic, seductive, lethal. No matter how you like your vampires from attractive and pacifist to violent and grotesque, they all share a similar draw; ensnaring those around them, taking what they want without remorse. When I first brainstormed Lost Devil’s Throne and the books to follow in the series, I knew immediately which supernatural creature would have the starring role. An avid reader of mythology, it was the original vampire legends spanning time and culture which captivated me. They are a far cry from today’s familiar polished, gothic-chic characters. The vampire has always been the quintessential loner. A societal outcast: feared, hated, hunted. Cursed to wander the world long after death. A plague, a parasite, destroying those they loved in life.

What turns an average human being into the perfect sociopath, doomed to hunt the living, surviving only by murdering others? It’s interesting we’ve endowed the vampire with a moral ambiguity which most other monsters are never allowed. There’s a general consensus any creature to hunt humans from werewolf to demon must be destroyed for the good of all (although if they promise to behave, hunt only animals, and are particularly good looking, we do cut them some slack from time to time). The vampire seems to be the exception to this rule. We overlook their parasitic behavior and downright murderous tendencies. Is it because unlike most supernatural creatures, they usually retain the most outwardly human characteristics? Are they easier to identify and sympathize with? Are we hoping they will one day find redemption?

As we approach October and my favorite holiday of the year, I’d like to suggest an alternative to the clichéd vampire we all know and love. Embrace the monster and don’t be fooled by the pretty veneer. Underneath lurks an assassin who, in their quest to live forever, will take what they need to achieve that goal by whatever means necessary. Wandering through the world a silent witness, watching the endless eons roll by like waves on the shore. They are blessed and cursed by time as immortality brings perfect, bitter solitude. Try to save them if you must, but it will be in vain. They are Nosferatu, the undead, the vampire, and they neither need nor want redemption. 

The vampires in Lost Devil’s Throne are not nice. Sure, there’s the courtly one from Haiti and the gracious businesswoman who heads the Chicago coven, but still – underneath the surface (and not too far beneath) lurks a monster. Follow Alexandra Drakis, a sanguinem vitae, a human who can quickly regenerate blood, into the treacherous, seductive world of the undead where the line between good and evil is tenuous at best. What you don’t know can come back to bite you…

Lost Devil’s Throne www.lostdevilsthrone.com

Kristin Stefanos Facebook 

Lost Devil’s Throne Facebook Fan Page 

Purchase Lost Devil’s Throne on Amazon 

Coming soon!

Upcoming Vamp books to watch for and future guests!

Just wanted to feature a few book covers today.  Some are gorgeous!

Blood of the Rose is out Feb '11

Syrie James' Nocturne is out in Jan '11

Jon Merz will be doing a guest spot at VampChix in January to promote his latest, The Kensei

Christmas With A Vampire is a December release, and we will be featuring a few of the authors from this anthology here!

A November '10 release for In The Company Of Vampires

Watch for Clay and Susan Griffith to pop in to VampChix during the VampBash to promote The Greyfriar

Ultimate Hawt Vampire Contest at Vampire Wire

You must cruise over to Vampire Wire and enter your vote for the Ultimate Hawt Vampire Poll & Contest.  Marta is offering a plethora of pretty prizes, so click!

Vamp Clothes

Looking for some fun places to find a vampire costume for Halloween?  Or heck, we just like to dress this way all the time.  Check out these cool online stores.

Infectious Threads has goth, punk, cyberpunk clothing.  (Pic to left is from this store).

Gloomth & The Cult of Melancholy has some really cool things.

I love Heavy Red.  I've gotten a few things here.  Spend some time looking through their offerings; you're sure to find something darkly glamourous.  (Pic to right.)

Rivithead.  Aren't you curious?

If your vampire is historical, I love the offerings at Pimpernel Clothing.

That's just a few ideas.  Now tell me your favorite online store for vampish clothing!

That Haiku Guy is Back

Yep, Ryan Mecum is his name, and haikus are his game.  And poems!  We featured his book Vampire Haiku last year, and next week Bite Club will be featuring his latest, Werewolf Haiku, and holding a contest where you can enter your own werewolf haiku to win a copy of the book.  So start thinking now, and get your haiku ready!

Ryan sent this vampire poem about the vampires in America:

The Vampires in America, by Ryan Mecum

The vampires in America are hard at work,

creating vampires in America stories

where the vampires in America are nice.

The vampires in America

write stories about American vampires

who go to high school, who go on dates,

who watch the CW, who like baseball,

who play in the sunlight and sparkle.

The vampires in America want you to think

that vampires are people, too.

They can’t help it if they were born that way

(or bit that way).

Isn’t this America?

What about their rights?

What are they supposed to do, starve to death

while leaches have free reign

to latch onto any poor soul

who enters their pond for a dip?

America is the vampires pond.

They didn’t make it that way.

That’s just how it is.

Vampires should not be discriminated

simply because they are vampires

or at least that what the vampires in America

are working hard to make you think.

The vampires in America hope you believe

that they cower in fear at blond Sophomore girls

who roam the streets with wooden stakes,

and vampires, so fragile, so weak,

have only one course of defense,

they must turn from their wicked ways

and fall lovingly into submission

with the lip glossed underage girl,

and despite their decades wide age gap

she forces him to attend her Junior prom

complete with an afterprom gymnasium

full of inflatables and fat children

which he wills himself not to drink

but to stay eternally thirsty

in the name of  love.

But in truth, the vampires in America,

they are not nice at all.

They do not love us.

but only what’s inside of us.

We are not their masters

we are their drink containers,

their human shaped juice boxes,

their Capre Sun blood bags.

Their distracting entertainment

before their main course.

And the stories vampires feed us

of friendly vampire boys

these drain us of our fear

and drain us from the truth

that, in truth, draining us

is all they want to do.

American vampires are monsters.

They are demons.  

They are wolves in sheep clothing.

Or bats in emo clothing.

Sunlight is their enemy,

not narrow-mindedness,

nor high school girls with temps.

Don’t be tricked, don’t be brainwashed.

vampires are not your friends.

They don’t want forgiveness.

They don’t want redemption.

They just want your blood.

Guest: Marie Treanor

Hey, everyone!  First a quick apology for getting this post up late this morning.  My brother got married last night, and I wasn't thinking 'blog'.  But here it is!  Please welcome guest Marie Treanor to the vampseat today!  Gorgeous cover, isn't it?  Marie would love to give away an eBook to one lucky winner; his or her choice of any eBook from her backlist.  So show her some love in the comments!

Exploding the Vampire Myths

Not I! I wouldn’t dream of it! I love all the vampire stories out there, old and new, and I’ve particularly enjoyed writing a few too. In fact, I have a new book out (BLOOD ON SILK), the first of a vampire trilogy called Awakened by Blood, and while I love my powerful, inclined-to-evil vampire hero, I thought I’d talk today about my myth-busting heroine, Elizabeth Silk.

Elizabeth is on a mission in Transylvania. A little naive, perhaps, but very down-to-earth, skeptical and analytical, she’s researching a thesis that will explain the prevalence of vampire myths in eastern Europe. A little like the sixteenth and seventeenth century witch craze, vampire myths, she believes, were invented to justify the otherwise illegal killings of people who threatened the community – greedy or cruel lords, military recruiters etc.

The thesis is important to Elizabeth: she came late to academia and she has confidence issues. Obtaining her PhD and academic credentials is, to her, a necessary self-justification. And her research is all going very well, apart from one annoying character who crops up all over history, but only in folktales. There’s no actual evidence that he ever existed or ever died. Until a mysterious man gives her a lead to the burial place of this “vampire”, and she discovers a stone sarcophagus ornamented with the lifelike carving of a man. When the sarcophagus comes to life and bites her neck, it is, as you might imagine, a bit of a shock.

She doesn’t believe in vampires; if she reads vampire fiction it’s purely to understand the appeal of the creatures of the night to the human imagination. Her interests are largely historical. Waking Saloman, the most powerful vampire of all time, is bound to change her life, but she doesn’t yet know it. In fact, she fights against it, trying to rationalize what she saw and the sexual attraction she experienced. After all, if it was real, then her whole thesis, rather than the vampire myths that inspired it, is exploded.

With her life, beliefs and research turned upside down, there’s only one thing left for Elizabeth to hang onto – her duty, which is clearly to kill the dangerous vampire she accidentally awakened. But there’s a problem there too. In fact there are several – she needs to learn to fight and kill; she’s struggling against a profound sexual attraction to him; and, worst of all, he needs to kill her to gain the mystical strength of his Awakener, and his lust for her to her isn’t going to stop him.

I confess I like Elizabeth! She has to learn very quickly to cope with an entirely new and threatening world. She wants to do the right thing, but she thinks for herself and insists on working out exactly what the right thing is. She’s independent, compassionate, vulnerable but perfectly willing to stand up for herself – and ultimately capable of it too. So although she doesn’t get to explode all those myths to her own intellectual satisfaction, I’m glad she gets, in the end, to explode a few vampires J.


BLOOD ON SILK: An AWAKENED BY BLOOD Novel

By Marie Treanor

Out Now from NAL Signet Eclipse.

Scottish academic Elizabeth Silk is spending the summer in Romania researching historical superstitions for her PhD. While she is tracing local folktales, one subject in particular sparks her imagination. His name is Saloman, legend's most powerful vampire, a seductive prince staked centuries ago. Now, in the ruins of a castle crypt, Elizabeth discovers the legends are real. Her blood has awakened him. Her innocence has aroused him. But Elizabeth unleashes more than Saloman's hunger.
An army of vampire hunters has amassed to send Saloman back to hell. Sworn to help - yet fearing Saloman's deadly blood lust - Elizabeth seeks to entrap him, offering her body as bait. But something stronger than dread, more powerful than revenge, is uniting Elizabeth to her prey. Caught between desire and rage, Elizabeth must decide where her loyalties lie...and what the limits are to a yearning she can no longer control.



Read an excerpt here: http://www.marietreanor.com/BloodOnSilk.htm

Marie’s website: http://www.MarieTreanor.com

Connect on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marie-Treanor-Paranormal-Romance/105866982782360

Spotlight on Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

We wanted to spotlight Chelsea Quinn Yarbro today to call attention to some of her older titles that are being rereleased by E-Reads in electronic format and print-on-demand trade paperback editions.

THE PALACE is the second novel in Yarbro's historical horror series featuring the vampire Count Saint-Germain.
In The Palace, Renaissance Florence provides the background for this story of the collapse of the artistic and literary life of the city after the death of Saint-Germain’s friend Lorenzo the Magnificent, followed by the rise of the fanatical Savonarola.

As well, another of Yarbro's novels, TO THE HIGH REDOUBT, an epic fantasy novel is also being rereleased by E-Reads.
To The High Redoubt is an engaging, epic fantasy adventure written by the creator of the widely-read series of novels about the immortal vampire known as Le Comte de Saint-Germain.

In his quest for power, Bundhi, Lord of Darkness and stealer of souls, has taken family, vision and freedom from Surata, the last surviving adept in tantric alchemy, before selling her into slavery in a distant land. But he has underestimated the depth of Surata’s power and he could not foresee that destiny would bring her a champion, Arkady, soldier of fortune and destined hero. As their mutual trust deepens and the wellspring of power from which Surata draws her magic is steadily revealed, the two form an unbeatable force as they challenge their enemy in the very heart of his empire. 


And the latest news from Ms. Yarbro's site:
Tor has contracted for An Embarrassment of Riches (set in Bohemia, 1269-72) will be novel #22 in the Saint-Germain Chronicles; Commedia della Morte (France & Italy 1792-94) will be novel #23. (With two short stories collections, that makes them numbers 24 and 25, respectively in the Chronicles as a whole.)


Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's website.
CQY's Facebook

Supernatural takes aims at Vampire Diaries

An episode during the sixth season of Supernatural may spoof on the Vampire Diaries.  For the full article click here.






Guillermo Del Toro's next in his high-tech vampire series, THE FALL is out next Tuesday.

Download a free issue of Night Owl Reviews!

The fang debate

I recently read an article at an entertainment blog that talked about fang position in vampires.  Seems people have their preferences.  The most common place for fangs seems to be the canine position, with the lateral incisor position as a close second.  Though some movies and books have placed the vamp's fangs front and center.

Fangs can be tiny little things that might only puncture through the skin and the vein, or massive, gnawing instruments of destruction.  Some can be willed down by the vampire, others are permanently down.  Some flick out and retract back against the roof of the mouth, much like snake teeth (as I've been told they do in True Blood).

This is my opinion: it doesn't really matter where the fangs are, or how they're shaped.  What matters most when the vampire is drinking his victim's blood is that the fangs are out of the way when it comes time to suck blood.  Yes?  You only need the fangs to puncture the vein, then they should retract so you can do some serious feeding.  Because how to feed when those pointy things are in the way making a mess of the flesh?

On the other hand, some horror vamps probably prefer that total destruction of flesh, veins, and the entire neck, so they have no worry that their fangs are down.  Think Blade and those wicked hinged jaws full of deadly fangs.  And Nosferatu featured the fanged central incisors.

So what about you?  Do you have a preference for fang placement?  Do you think it matters?  

Blood and Roses

If you want to read a delightful novel that might be described as "Jane Austen meets Bram Stoker," published long before the current "mash-up" fad, pick up BLOOD AND ROSES (1994) by Sharon Bainbridge. This author, a pen name for the writing team of Sharon Farber and Sharon Rose, actually sets the plot in the late Victorian era rather than the Regency, as evidenced by mentions of the American Civil War and the works of Charles Darwin. After the Gothic prologue in which a gullible village girl meets a vampire seducer by moonlight, however, the main action morphs into what reads like a comedy of manners worthy of Austen. This novel could appropriately begin, "It is a truth universally acknowledged that an unmarried vampire in possession of a large fortune must be in want of a wife." Mrs. Portland, social-climbing wife of a rich merchant, is determined to marry her younger daughter Guenevere to the mysteriously reclusive Sir Geoffrey Utley. Elaine, Guenevere's sensible older sister, takes an instant dislike to Sir Geoffrey, who appears less like Bingley than Darcy, barely concealing his disdain for the local mothers pushing their daughters at him. Meanwhile, Elaine's cousin Violet, a doctor's daughter with up-to-date medical knowledge and a love of science, becomes acquainted with the progressive Dr. William Praisegood, who has come to High Grimmire to investigate an epidemic of "green sickness" (anemia) among the working-class girls. When a young lady drops dead of that same illness at a ball given by the Portlands, the suspense and horror facets of the story shift into high gear. Dr. Praisegood explains vampirism as a contagious disease with which he and his physician ancestors have had long experience. Who is the master vampire preying on the girls, and even if he is found and destroyed, can any of the new undead he has created be redeemed from the compulsion to feed on unwilling victims?

While there's ample horror and pathos, the witty dialogue ensures that comic relief is never far away, yet without undercutting the terror of an unknown vampire stalking the village. Elaine's slightly ga-ga great-aunt, her nominal chaperon, matter-of-factly accepts the possible infestation of vampires as just another interesting episode in a lifetime that has seen much worse, such as the Napoleonic wars, and she comes out with eccentric remarks at the most inopportune times. Violet reacts to a summary of Polidori's "The Vampyre" with the levelheaded and exasperated remark, "You mean the silly young twit lets an undead monster kill those near and dear to him because he gave his word under trying and falsified pretenses? He deserves to be in a madhouse!" I can't quote the most deliciously funny line in the entire book, because it gives away the main secret of the plot. (It's on page 268; if you read the novel, you'll spot it.)

I guarantee this story will rivet your attention. Every time you're sure you've identified the villain, something else happens to cast doubt on your assumptions. The ending, dramatic but laced with humor, impressed me as totally satisfying. Aside from a few typos, the book seems to me practically perfect except for a problem with the prologue that I didn't notice until this reading (my third or fourth). Maudie, the victim seduced by the vampire "lord," doesn't seem to recognize him in that scene, and there's no plausible reason why she wouldn't. The authors can be forgiven for misleading the reader in this minor way, though. Don't trust the cover blurb, by the way. It's riddled with inaccuracies. The reference to Dracula and Van Helsing has nothing to do with this novel, which is set well before DRACULA, and Van Helsing is mentioned in the text only once in passing (as a young man). Nevertheless, BLOOD AND ROSES does expertly evoke the atmosphere of a classic vampire novel, but as filtered through the self-reflective lens of over a century of genre development.

Margaret L. Carter
Carter's Crypt

Guest: Lucienne Diver

Please welcome the multi-talented author/agent, Lucienne Diver, whose latest, REVAMPED is in stores now!  

“How to Stay Dreamy When You’re Dead” by Gina Covello, Fashionista of the Damned (as told to Lucienne Diver)

First off, if you’re a zombie, I can’t help you.  I don’t think there’s any skin care regimen in the world that’ll keep your skin from sloughing off when you’re many days dead.  Maybe supplement your all-brain diet with some Twinkies once in awhile or something else loaded with preservatives.  Or, wait, pickles!  Pickled eggs, pickled pigs feet…all kinds of really gross stuff gets pickled.  If it works for them, it should work for you.  Beyond that, may I suggest accessorizing with air fresheners.   Maybe some Febreeze earrings and a nice pine pendant.  Even so, you may want to stalk downwind.  I’ve also got to think that darkness is your best lighting.  You know, as in total, lunar or solar eclipse darkness. 

If you’re a werewolf or some other shifter, well then, you’re not dead…except maybe for your social life once a month, so this post really doesn’t apply to you.  Although, all that stretching of the skin, popping of joints, ecetera and so forth….  You probably want to make sure you’ve got a killer moisturizing regimen with some secret ingredient to promote elasticity.  And I hear Acai is the new wonder-berry for joints and anything else that ails ya.  All the cool kids are drinking it.

Now, if you’re a vamp like me, chances are you’ve got a complexion problem…as in your face shines like the moon, as pale as parchment.  Self-tanning lotions just make you look like an Oompa-loompa.  What’s a guy or gal to do?  Okay, you’ve got a few options.  Guys, you can spike your hair up, pose a lot and tell everyone you’re going for the Robert Pattinson look.   Although, when possible, it’s best to be a fashion leader rather than a follower.  Gals, your options aren’t quite as appealing.  You’ve got, um, Morticia Addams from The Addams Family and maybe Bellatrix Lestrange from Harry Potter, but neither of those is going to necessarily net you a date for the prom.  My solution?  Shell out for the professional spray tan.  Unless, of course, you’re going goth, as I had to for a super-secret mission (which you can read all about in ReVamped…names changed to protect the “innocent”), in which case, you’re already golden. 

Next: make-up.  I’m totally not a philosophical person, so soul…no soul, who’s to say, but I think the biggest argument for fangnation being close to damnation is the fact that we have to spend all eternity with no way to fix our hair and make-up.  That’s got to be the ultimate cosmic joke, right?  No reflection can equal serious stylistic suicide if you’re not careful.  Now, in Vamped I tried to turn my own stylist, which didn’t work out so well for me, but if you’ve got the means to support your minions, I say go for it.  (In fact, in just a couple of days, I have a piece on “The Care and Feeding of Minions” posting on the Magical Words blog for those so inclined.)  If not, you may want to practice with someone you trust to tell you whether your make-up makes you look like a mime and your hair a hornet’s nest.  Remember, practice makes perfect. 

If you’re actually going for the Bellatrix Lestrange look, like for Halloween or something, frying your hair with a really bad perm ought to do it.  If that doesn’t work, try the old finger-in-a-light-socket approach.  Being mad as a hatter never hurts either, but sometimes you can go a little too far with the method acting.  If you find yourself poking pointy sticks at bespectacled boys, pull back just a bit.  Especially if said poking involves cackling as you mutter Latin-sounding words in an ominous voice.

Clothing: I don’t care what decade you died in, it’s vitally important to be au courant with fashion.  You know how you can tell it’s important?  The French invented au courant, and Paris being the fashion capital of the world…  You get me?  Good.  Anyway, you don’t want to trail behind on the latest fashions or become totally irrelevant.  And don’t worry, your comfort zone will come around again.  Fashion seems to recycle every thirty or forty years or so, just like television.  I mean, bringing back Hawaii Five-O and The A-Team…what’s that all about? 

Remember, blood is never fashion-forward.  So if you tend to be a messy eater, I totally recommend bringing along a change of clothes or at least a handkerchief to dab at the overflow.  Because, really, bibs rank right up there with adult diapers as things to be avoided at all costs.

Okay, so we’ve covered skin care, cosmetics, clothing and costuming.  I guess we’re good.  Follow my advice and you’ll be looking fine into forever.  Just because you’re old as dirt doesn’t mean you have to look it.

______________________________

Gina Covello is the heroine of Vamped and ReVamped from Flux Books.

Lucienne Diver is her chronicler, as well as a book-addict, literary agent, wife, mom, blogger and occasional sleeper.


Visit Lucienne at her website!
At her blog (where you can watch a great interview with Lucienne talking about ReVamped)


Let's hear from you.  If you could give your favorite on-screen vampire some fashion advice, what would it be?

Are you all planning to read Dracula next month?  For more info

Winners!

The winner of Sherrilyn Kenyon's NO MERCY is...

DOT S!

And the winners of Susan Sizemore's PRIMAL INSTINCTS are...

JENNIFER MATHIS


TERESA K


Please send your snailmail address to vampchixmail@gmail.com

Congrats!  And thanks to everyone for stopping by and commenting!

Priest

The latest PRIEST trailer.  Doesn't show in theaters until May 2011.  I love that Maggie Q is in it.  Had a bit of a girl-crush on her ever since Live Free Die Harder, and saw her last night in Nikita.  Looks like Nikita will be an excellent series (fingers crossed).

Well, I tried to embed the trailer, but no luck.  So here's the direct link.

I like this new poster...

A salute to Susan Sizemore, her Primes series and other vamps!

Last week Susan Sizemore's latest, PRIMAL INSTINCTS hit the bookstores!  Do you have your copy yet?  It's the ninth entry in her Primes Universe that features sexy vampires, hunters and werewolves.  And to celebrate this new book Susan is giving away a copy of the book to two lucky winners.  So leave a comment, and tell us what you think about this book cover.  Do you love covers featuring just the hero?  Or do you prefer both hero and heroine on the cover? And (I think I can guess the answer to this one) is less clothing better than more? ;-)  [Winners announced on Saturday.]

Tobias Strahan leads the elite vampire squad known as the Dark Angels, protecting the city’s paranormal denizens. It’s the perfect job for an übermacho Prime . . . until clan heiress Flare Reynard stirs an obsession in him that refuses to fade. Flare’s mother, desperate for a grandchild, has made Tobias an intriguing proposition, and it’s soon clear to Tobias that Flare is nothing like the spoiled princess he’d assumed her to be. She’s smart as hell, wickedly funny, and loyal, and Tobias knows deep within that she is his bondmate—the bondmate every Prime searches for.  Flare has every intention of providing her clan with children, but on her own terms. That means a donor and a clinic, not a wild tumble with the most potent Prime of them all. Flare knows it’s a mistake to get close to a warrior like Tobias, since their searing connection puts her heart, his loved ones, their entire world at risk. But logic is no match for fierce, instinctive desire. .  Read the first two chapters of PRIMAL INSTINCTS at Sizemore's website. Here's a look at the entire Primes Universe series: DARK STRANGER: #8:  A twist of fate made Zoe Pappas heir to the Byzant throne. Bound by duty and devotion to keep the Empire safe, Zoe is captured while on a secret diplomatic mission and sent to an underground prisoner-of-war camp. In this strange, shadowy place, residents are governed by fellow inmate General Matthias "Doc" Raven, whose powerful magnetism rouses an urgent desire in Zoe. But the intensity of her attraction is matched by her surprise at discovering that Doc has a secret of his own: he is a vampire. Zoe's presence puts everyone in the camp in danger. Doc knows it, and knows too that Zoe's royal status makes it impossible for her to bond with a vampire. The only way to save her is to help her escape, and lose her forever. But some fires are impossible to quench, even when following your heart is the ultimate taboo.... PRIMAL NEEDS: #7:  Sidonie Wolf never wanted the traditional life of a female vampire -- with her favors fought over by powerful Prime males -- but she must accept her duty to her kind, even if she's already given her heart to a werewolf she can never have. Erasing Joe Bleythin's memories of their blistering affair was necessary to keep him safe, but he sees her betrayal as unforgivable. So Sid's new assignment to work with Joe to track down supernatural terrorists is sheer torture...a shockingly delicious torture. Joe can't believe his new role with an elite military team known as the Dark Angels has drawn him into an uneasy alliance with the woman who deceived him. Ignoring Sid, even hating her, should be easy. Instead, he wants her more fiercely than ever. Now, partnered with Sid on a dangerous mission, he'll discover just how deep desire can be -- and just how far he'll go to keep her.... PRIMAL DESIRES: #6:  In Las Vegas, Jason Cage is known as "The Beast Master." But his onstage feats of magic are nothing compared to the abilities he keeps hidden from human eyes. Jason is Prime of his vampire family, and once used his telepathic skills to tame wild werewolves. It's a talent that leads him to beautiful, sensual Sofia Hunyara, who instantly triggers all of Jason's primal urges. Sofia is destined to be his bondmate, but keeping her alive long enough to convince her of that fact will not be easy. Sofia has no reason to trust Jason, or to believe his story about her family's secret history as Wolf Tamers. The only thing she's sure of is an overwhelming attraction that quickly develops into a scorching affair. If Jason's claims are true, can Sofia embrace her legacy -- when it means walking away from a soul-searing desire that's deeper than any she's ever known? PRIMAL HEAT: #5:  As Prime of his vampire Family, Mathias Bridger is sworn to protect his own kind at any cost -- but years of acting as a fierce guardian of his people have left him yearning for more out of life. His chance comes in the form of Phillipa Elliot, the beautiful police officer whose allure hasn't dimmed in the two years since they had a brief, torrid affair. And though she's involved with someone else now, Phillipa can't deny the feeling that Matt is her destiny. When the Family comes under attack from fanatical vampire hunters, Matt uncovers treachery that shatters his world. So how can he possibly invite Phillipa into it? Fighting to protect his kin, he tries to push Phillipa away to the safety of her mortal life -- but he aches for her, and his will is no match for the flames of their all-consuming passion. . . . MASTER OF DARKNESS: #4: When vampire hunter Eden Faveau mistakes Laurent, a renegade vampire of Tribe Manticore, for her new partner, he's not about to correct her. He's stolen a laptop full of sensitive files from the Tribe leader, Justinian, and needs help cracking the encryption. At first he wants sexy and intelligent Eden only for her computer wizardry -- but soon he wants her for much, much more.Working by night and growing closer every day, Laurent and Eden struggle with the passion that threatens to overwhelm them. But when Justinian captures Eden, and Laurent proves his loyalty to his Tribe in the most shocking of ways, Eden vows to kill Laurent for his deception. Can he find a way to prove his love for her before a full-on war breaks out between vampires and humans? I HUNGER FOR YOU: #3: Mia Luchese comes from a long line of vampire hunters but has never believed in the supernatural. When she's attacked by vampires, though, Mia must accept her family's dark legacy. What she doesn't know is that sexy S.W.A.T. team leader Colin Foxe, her rescuer and former lover, is also a vampire. Colin doesn't want to mate with a mere mortal, but his attraction to Mia is blistering. To get to the bottom of the attack on her, he is forced to reveal his real identity -- and Mia hers. But a generations-old battle that should rip them apart cannot break the bond that has their souls hungering for an eternity of ecstasy in each other's arms.... I THIRST FOR YOU: #2: He appears out of the dark desert night -- a huge, dangerous stranger who sparks desire and fear in her like she's never known. Josephine Elliot knows only that her captor's name is Marcus Cage, and that he's on the run. But who is chasing him, and why? Is Marcus protecting her by taking her hostage...or is he planning to use her to buy his own freedom? And why, above all, is she so inexorably drawn to him, body and soul? Marcus is overwhelmed by his thirst for Josephine and instantly recognizes her as his soul mate. Desperate to evade enemies intent on destroying him and his kind, Marcus has no choice but to take Jo on the run. But when she unwittingly betrays him to his enemies, both are thrust into mortal danger. Can their newfound love survive her deceit and spare them a dark fate? Or will their insatiable desire burn for eternity? I BURN FOR YOU: #1: Bodyguard Domini has had visions and premonitions all her life. Her psychic abilities rarely frighten her anymore, until she begins to suspect they're linked to Alec, the new employee at her grandfather's firm. Now her dreams are haunted by a man who is sensual and primal, a man with Alec's face. Then she learns that he is also a vampire and her life will never be the same. Sizemore has long worn two writing hats, that of romance author and sf-fantasy scribe, and each is evident in her first effort to join both forces. Her vampires have the classic weaknesses but are born of a branch of humanity instead of evil powers and search via science for answers to the puzzle of their existence. The bonding of Sizemore's two literary worlds is as powerful as what Alec and Domini feel for each other in this sexy read laced with laughter, the first in a burning new series. CRAVE THE NIGHT: The omnibus edition features I BURN FOR YOU, I THIRST FOR YOU, and I HUNGER FOR YOU And in case you prefer your vampires a little less romantic and a touch more hardcore, Susan also wrote the LAWS OF THE BLOOD series. Heres her description of the series:  The books are about vampire cops. No, not vampires who are police officers, but vampires whose job it is to enforce the laws of their community. My vampire cops are as likely to be protecting vampires from human predators than the other way around. These are the books in the Laws of the Blood series:      And if you remember the TV series FOREVER KNIGHT, you'll be thrilled to know Ms. Sizemore also wrote a tie-in novel for that series.   [Don't forget, you can still enter to win Sherrilyn Kenyon's NO MERCY.  Page down a few posts to enter.]