Blood
Will Tell
Book One
Meredith Mansfield
Genre: Paranormal
Romance/Urban Fantasy
ISBN: 978-1484141137
ISBN: 9781476442884
ASIN: B007WGBNII
Number of pages: 249 pages
Word Count: 96,000 words
Book Description:
Being a half-blood is inconvenient
on a good day, especially when the half you got from your mother is
werewolf. Valeriah can’t take wolf form, but the full moon still
fills her with manic energy. Running helps; a tired werewolf is a
good werewolf.
Living perennially caught between
two worlds--human and werewolf, magic and non-magic--doesn't leave
much room for love. That suits Valeriah just fine. She's never had
any luck with that anyway.
Until her cousin’s life is threatened, that is, and
out of necessity she accepts the help of a mysterious young man to
protect Cristel. Rolf is everything that makes Valeriah's pulse speed
up in spite of herself. Now, with Cristel's life in the balance, is
the worst possible time for that kind of complication.
But Rolf's secrets could destroy her trust and that might cost her life.
Blood
Is Thicker
Book Two
Meredith Mansfield
ISBN: 978-1492105138
ISBN: 9781301244065
ASIN: B00EDCTFIY
Number of Pages: 212 pages
Number of Words: 78,000 words
In the sequel to BLOOD WILL TELL, the newlyweds, Rolf
and Valeriah, face a new crisis.
Born half-werewolf, Valeriah's life has never been
simple. Her recent marriage to a dragon has led to a
transformation--Valeriah is now a dragon, too. But, taking the form
and knowing how to actually be a
dragon is not the same thing. Her life has even more complications
than ever. So many, in fact, that she doesn't recognize the signs of
her own pregnancy until Rolf rushes her to the Hatching Grounds to
lay their eggs.
But then things only get worse, because something's
wrong on the Hatching Grounds. The underground source of heat that
sustains the eggs is slowly dying. Valeriah and Rolf have to scramble
to discover what's gone wrong and find a way to fix it before their
eggs die.
Chimeria
Two Book Bundle
Contains both
Blood Will Tell
and Blood Is Thicker
ASIN: B00FR0AXOG
Excerpt- From Blood Is
Thicker, Chapter 1, Scene 2:
Valeriah huffed irritably as she beat her giant leathery wings to
gain altitude for the next pass. This flight school boot camp was not
what she'd had in mind when Rolf suggested the isolated villa for the
remainder of their honeymoon.
The full moon and the manic energy it brought out in her never did
improve her mood and having indigestion to go with it wasn't helping
any. Used to be, she'd run for miles to calm that madness. Or engage
in practice fights. Now she'd do well to run anywhere without
tripping over her own feet or tail and fighting was out of the
question. She used to be able to take care of herself, not have to
depend on Rolf to catch her food and take care of her. No doubt he
was enjoying it, but she didn't like the feeling at all.
Of course, Rolf was always ready to help her work off the full-moon
energy in other ways. In human form, that would have been fine with
her. While she'd never say this to Rolf, on the whole, she found the
mating of dragons unsatisfactory--not unpleasant, but far from
breathtaking. He'd been a much more versatile and exciting lover as a
human. Hanging upside down, wings folded, clutched in Rolf's talons,
while he slowly circled the lake just didn't have as many thrills. It
was like trading the most spine-tingling rollercoaster at Magic
Mountain for the merry-go-round. You
were still moving but it just wasn't the same. Thank the Goddess that
he was more than twice her size as a dragon and strong enough to
carry her. Otherwise, they wouldn't have even that. It was going to
take her a while to master flying upside down.
She reached her intended altitude in a bad mood. Rolf had been
drilling her in aerobatic maneuvers for hours and she was sick of it.
Well, let's see what he thought about this. She folded her wings back
for the dive, pulling out only at the last second into a perfect
barrel roll.
Rolf's trumpeting crow of delight echoed back from the surrounding
mountains. "You're ready!"
"Ready for what?" she asked as she landed in front of him.
"For me to show you how it's really done. Fly with me."
As soon as they lifted off, Rolf darted in and grabbed her talons in
his own. Well, that wasn't what she'd thought he'd meant when he was
so excited about her aerobatics, but all right.
Rolf gestured skyward with his chin. "We need to go higher."
Maybe this was going to be a little different after all. Any change
would be a good thing. They climbed, talons still joined and wings
beating in unison. Up and up until even dragon lungs could barely
suck enough oxygen from the thin air. Then they hovered for a moment.
Rolf shifted his grip on her talons to draw her closer, so close she
had to curtail her wing beats. His much wider wings continued to
beat, nearly encompassing her completely at each stroke. He pulled
her closer until their bodies met. She could feel the heat of him
against the delicate scales of her belly and then, with one sharp
movement, the heat was inside her, too.
Valeriah pressed against him, wrapping her neck and tail around his
to bring him closer. In spite of the minor inconveniences, she really
did love Rolf. Moments like this helped to remind her how much. She
started to let her weight fall backwards, but Rolf pulled her back
up.
"Not this time. Fold your wings and dive," Rolf said.
She did. They plummeted, necks and tails entwined, wings clasped.
Yes! This was what she had been missing. The rush of freefall sent a
tingling sensation surging down the length of her body. She shivered
and that sent another wave exploding outward from her center and then
back again until she felt she would break apart if he were to let go
of her.
They pulled out only at the last second, rolling together, which sent
altogether new and delectable sensations through her body.
"Up again?" Rolf asked.
"Up! Yess!" Valeriah answered.
They climbed and plunged again, still joined. When they pulled out,
Valeriah screamed, "Up!"
Rolf obliged. This time, when they dove, they were above the deep
lake behind the villa and they did not pull out. They plunged into
the waves, continuing the dive until their lungs were near to
bursting. Only then did they finally separate, each driving for the
surface and air. They paddled over to the beach and lay, wing-tip to
wing-tip, utterly spent, wings extended so the afternoon sun could
warm them as they sucked air into their starved lungs.
"Goddess! I've never gone for three falls before," Rolf
said, gasping.
Valeriah raised her head. Her grin exposed rows of serrated,
razor-sharp teeth. "I'll try for four, if you want."
The rumble of his laughter made wave-like ripples in the sand of the
beach. "Mercy! I fear that would burst even my heart." He
stretched his wing so that he could caress the edge of hers. "Do
you forgive me, now? For driving you so hard to learn to fly?"
Her laugh sounded more like a purr. "Oh, I think sso. Yess.
Definitely." Just now she was very glad she'd slowed down enough
to let him catch her last spring.
About
the Author:
Professionally,
I've been a financial analyst and a visual basic programmer. I also
have a paralegal certificate, although I've never worked in that
field. It's anybody's guess what I'll be when I grow up.
Imagining
stories and writing have always been an important part of my life.
It's one I've finally gotten to spend a significant amount of time on
while I care for my mother who has Alzheimer's disease.
Twitter: @MansfieldMJ
Thanks for spotlighting this. I'll be back by later. :)
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