Tuesday Treat: A Drop O’ Scotland’s Finest and a Contest

When Naomi and I arranged for me to guest on her blog, she indicated the Tuesdays were “Treat” day and that I should write about something short and sweet – whatever my idea of a treat was, or some small pleasure my characters indulged in.  Then, even as my smile was forming, she hastily added that sex was off the table.  Damn.

As most of my characters are vampires, sweet indulgences are not something they get to enjoy, although Nial, one of the heroes in Blood Knot, (http://bit.ly/g9pSw5)  attempted it with severe consequences in that book.  Which neatly reminded me of Garrett’s downfall in Blood Stone…and here I am.

Garrett, one of the heroes of Blood Stone, for some complicated reasons that are wrapped up in spoilers, needs to dive into the deep end of a bottle and escape reality for a while.  I don’t think there’s a man on planet Earth who hasn’t thought that was a good idea at least once in his life.  Once is usually all it takes for him to figure out just how stupid an idea it really is, but they all have to try it at least once, and a lot of women seem to need to try it, too.  But Garrett has developed some taste over the six centuries he’s walked the planet (I did mention he was a vampire, yes?), and he doesn’t pick just any old bottle of booze to pickle his brains with.  Oh, no.

Calum Micheil Garrett was born in 1574 in Kincardenshire, Scotland.  If you know your Scots history at all, you’ll know that Kincardine is the heart of the mighty Bruce clan, and Garrett was raise and fought as a Bruce, until he was turned in 1601. 

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So when he reaches for a bottle, he naturally turns to scotch.  But not to Johnny Walker, which he calls “cheap piss”, but a sixty year old bottle of Fettercairn.

Fettercairn Distilleries were established in 1824, in Kincardinshire, and they are still making single malt scotch even today. (http://bit.ly/tZMsNr ) It’s a good bet they established their distillery methods based on the local home still recipes and methods that had been passed down from generation to generation.  If there is a scotch that could be considered a Bruce clan scotch, it would be Fettercairn.   Garrett was staying true to his roots when he cracked the seal on his bottle of Fettercairn.

It’s a pity the consequences of drinking it were so dire.

But…I would be spoiling the story to say more.  :-)

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Blood Stone is my 44th title and my ninth indie book.

Nial orders Calum Garrett to get close to Hollywood producer Kate Lindenstream.  Garrett reluctantly complies for he has held himself apart from humans for centuries.  Kate doesn’t fall into Garrett’s arms, either.  She already has someone for that.  Roman Xerus -- whom Kate knows as Adrian -- and Garrett go way back to the sixteenth century Scottish highlands, but they parted bitterly two hundred years ago.

With Roman’s support, Kate battles Garrett in wills and business as he methodically forces himself into her life. However, on the closed-in movie set in the Californian desert, Garrett’s calm, orderly world crumbles for Garrett is drawn to Kate.  He has begins to experience real, human feelings.  

Kate doesn’t cooperate in the chess game Nial orchestrates, despite being unaware of the strategies swirling around her film set.  Demanding and expecting only the best for her movie, Kate’s agenda forces Roman and Garrett to work together to protect her and keep the humans around her ignorant of the Pro Libertatus, the anonymous and all-powerful vampire group who nearly killed Nial, Sebastian and Winter, and shield Kate from the excesses of the League for Humanity.  But could Roman really be with the Pro Libertatus?

There’s hidden intentions everywhere, and centuries of repressed feelings, along with at least two different groups that mean them harm.  Then there’s the rumours that Kate has found the mythical Blood Stone, the key to unlocking vampire history and lifting their curse.   Who is Kate, really?  Because once Garrett begins to notice, things about Kate don’t quite add up, either...

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An Excerpt From: BLOOD STONE
Copyright © TRACY COOPER-POSEY, 2012
All Rights Reserved.

 

Gaining entry to the roof of The Standard wasn’t that difficult, despite the security they had in place. Garrett stripped off his jacket and loosened his tie while he searched out the coolest and shadiest corner, and settled in to wait.

He dug out the sunglasses everyone had warned him to bring to L.A., glad now he’d taken the effort. The sun truly was a killer, here. He hadn’t for a moment thought he’d spend much time outside in L.A., because he’d had wall-to-wall meetings booked.

He didn’t have to wait long. Barely ten minutes after he’d hunkered down in the shade cast by the water tower of an air conditioner, the roof access door creaked open, then thumped almost closed, up against the length of two-by-four he’d used to prop it open.

“Over here,” Garrett called.

“I can smell you,” Roman agreed. He rounded the tower, his leather jacket held over his back with one crooked finger, the wrap-around sunglasses nicely anonymous, like the endless limousines here. He stood over Garrett. “Jesus, Calum,” he swore and shoved his hand into his pocket. It made his biceps ripple, and his shoulder with the tattoos flex. Just the sight of the tattoos on his shoulders, so familiar to him, bought an odd ache to Garrett’s chest.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing here?” Roman demanded.

Garrett got to his feet. “And it’s nice to see you, too, Roman. What are you passing as at the moment, anyway?”

Roman dropped his coat and tore his glasses off, but the effect was lost when, despite the shade, he had to wince and wait for his eyes to adjust. He glared at Garrett, his hand clenched around the glasses. “What the fuck do you care?” he said, his voice low. “And besides, doctrine says if you haven’t been introduced to me by humans, I don’t get to tell you. Find out the hard way. I’m not a fucking famous financial jerk this century.”

Garrett took off his own glasses and everything righted itself. Colours and vision properly enhanced. He hated sunglasses, but sometimes they were a necessary evil. He pulled his tie off. Outside, without air-conditioning, it was an unnecessary layer, even though neither of them was particularly bothered by the heat.

“Why all the anger?” he asked softly. “I did what we agreed. I stayed away. You’re as big a surprise to me as I am to you, today.”

Roman’s eyes narrowed. Thoughtful, or suspicious. Garrett knew that look of old, and it gave him another strange little jerk, low down in his abdomen.

“I’m not here for you,” Garrett stressed.

Roman’s jaw rippled. “Then what the fuck are you doing with Kate? You’re jerking her around.”

Garrett sighed. “I can’t say.”

Roman half laughed, half snorted in disbelief. “Since when could you not tell me anything?

Garrett grimaced. “I can’t tell you this.”

The humour in Roman’s eyes faded. “What are you into?” he breathed.

Anger touched him. Garrett clenched his jaw. “You know, you can’t just rock back into town after a hundred and seventy-nine years and expect to pick up where you left off. Things change, Roman. Times change.”

“You haven’t,” Roman said flatly. “You might be wearing Armani, but you’re still fiery Calum Micheil Garrett of the mighty Bruce clan, and even now your hand is resting next to the hilt of your broadsword, because you’re on the defensive.”

Garrett dropped his right hand down so it was hanging fully extended, annoyed that Roman had noticed the old instinct. Of course Roman would. He’d lived through those times, too.

Roman gave a small, almost silent laugh in reaction.

“I don’t suppose ye’re about to tell me why you’re hanging about the lovely Ms. Lindenstream, then?” Garrett challenged Roman. He winced. His brogue had emerged thicker than he normally allowed. Roman was pushing his buttons, unravelling his discipline.

Roman’s eyes narrowed. “Hey, I didn’t just rock up here at all. I was already here. This is my town, Calum. You’re the invader.”

“I take that as a ‘no,’ then.”

“I’d do that,” Roman replied evenly. He put the heavy sunglasses back on and picked up his jacket. “You’re not going to back away from Kate, are you?” His tone made it not a question.

“I can’t,” Garrett replied truthfully.

“I can’t give you free rein. It wouldn’t look right, even if I wanted to.”

Garrett sighed, as potential meanings and implications occurred to him. “Is she...important to you, Roman?”

The protective sunglasses were hiding Roman’s eyes from Garrett, and his eyes were one way Garrett most often could spot the real truth behind Roman’s layers of protective shielding. So Garrett knew he was about to be handed either a flat-out lie or a prevarication.

Roman glanced away, toward the roof access door.

Escape, Garrett realized.

“I guess you’ll just have to figure that out along with my name for this century,” Roman said, hoisting the jacket over his forearm. He turned to go, his whole body tight with the need to move. Garrett could see the tension in the ripple of tendons and muscles in his arms, the tight turn of his hips.

“I’ll protect her,” Garrett said. “She won’t be harmed.”

Roman swivelled slowly back to face Garrett again. He took off the glasses once more. “Those sorts of games?” he asked quietly. He stepped closer. “Jesus Christ and all his saints preserve us, what have you embroiled her in, Mikey lad?”

It took Garrett a moment to understand Roman’s second question, because his voice had grown hoarse and guttural. Then Garrett realized: Roman had switched to Medieval Greek, the Greek of his childhood.

He’d let down his guard for one shocked moment.

“English, Roman,” Garrett murmured.

Roman drew in a sharp, surprised breath and pushed the sunglasses back on in a defensive, recovering gesture. He tilted his head in enquiry at Garrett.

“There are forces in play you don’t know about,” Garrett told him. “That’s as much as I can say.”

“Forces,” Roman said flatly. He considered Garrett a moment longer. Then he smiled. “Well, those forces haven’t met me, yet. And you just made sure I’m never leaving Kate’s side.”

“I said she would be safe. I meant it. Have I ever lied to you?”

“Before today?” Roman shot back.

Garrett bent to pick up his own jacket and tie, to hide the petty hurt he knew would show in his eyes.

“Besides,” Roman added. “There’s more to Kate than meets the eye. Don’t underestimate her.”

Garrett straightened up.

Roman had gone.

Garrett headed for the roof access door himself, not trying to catch up with Roman. The meeting was over and to be seen together in public would be dangerous. They had to return to their allotted roles now.

And Garrett had to report in to Nathanial. This was a turn of events that would create some ripples of concern.

As he walked down the echoing iron stairs, Garrett heard a whispering echo of his mother’s voice. It was a memory from when he was a child, and because it was a human memory, it was faded and fragmented. But he caught the sense-impression of a cottage, bright with summer light and the smell of bread baking. His mother stitching one of his shirts as he sat impatiently waiting for it so he could go out and play with friends who were outside, rolling in the grass. “Be slow choosing a friend, Calum Micheil,” she had intoned in her thick burr, “but slower in changing him.”

It had been nearly four hundred years since Roman had become a friend.

Was it time to rid himself of a bad habit once and for all?

BLOOD STONE is the second book in the Blood Stone series

BLOOD STONE is the sequel to BLOOD KNOT.

It is a Plus-sized Novel.

WARNING:  This book contains two hot, sexy alpha heroes, frequent, explicit and frank sex scenes and sexual language.
It includes heart-stopping sexual scenes between the aforementioned sexy heroes, menage scenes, anal sex and the use of sex toys.  Don't proceed beyond this point if hot love scenes offend you.
No vampires were harmed in the making of this novel.

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Blood Stone is the second book in my best selling vampire romance series.  It will be on sale on September 14, if not a bit before then. 

The good news?  The first book in the series, Blood Knot, is my #1 best seller, was the Winner of the Coffee Time Reviewer’s Recommended Award, was listed as one of Goodread’s “Most Drool-worthy Covers“, nominated for Erotic Vampire Book of the Year by The Romance Reviews, and received a CAPA Nomination for Best Paranormal Book of the Year by The Romance Studio, December, 2011, among many glowing and rave reviews.  If you’re curious about Blood Knot, you can read more here:  http://bit.ly/g9pSw5. 

The really good news?  On the 14th, when Blood Stone is released, Blood Knot drops down to $0.00 for three days of free downloading at Amazon.

Bookmark Blood Knot on Amazon now:  http://amzn.to/hcrCCf

And bookmark Blood Stone on my website, so you can jump to the Amazon link the day it goes live:  http://bit.ly/TrCuWv

If you want a reminder on the 14th to go get your free book, sign up to my blog’s RSS feed, or to the email feed, or to my newsletter.

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Tracy Cooper-Posey writes romantic suspense, hot erotic paranormal and urban fantasy romances. She has published over 40 novels since 1999, been nominated for 5 CAPAs including Favourite Author, and won the Emma Darcy Award. 

She turned to indie publishing in 2011. Her indie titles have been nominated three times for Book Of The Year.   She has been a national magazine editor and for a decade she taught romance writing at Grant MacEwan University. 

She is addicted to Irish Breakfast tea and chocolate, sometimes taken together.  In her spare time she enjoys sewing, history, Sherlock Holmes, science fiction and ignoring her treadmill. An Australian, she lives in Edmonton, Canada with her husband, a professional wrestler, where she moved in 1996 after meeting him on-line.  

You can find her site at http://www.TracyCooperPosey.com.

It is indeed a treat to have Tracy Cooper-Posey on my blog today! Thank you so much, Tracy, for joining us. Readers, Tracy is giving away an Ebook copy of BANNOCKBURN BINDING, which is the first book in her vampire time travel series, Beloved Bloody Time.  Details here:   http://bit.ly/QKSdh7  To enter, leave a comment, and tell us your favorite drink, alcoholic or otherwise. We'll draw a winner on September 30th.

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