Bewitching Book Tours: Blood Eternal tour & Giveaway

Blood Eternal: Awakened by Blood, Book 3
Signet Eclipse Mass Market Paperback 4th October 2011

Book blurb: Secrets don't disappear after seduction... Elizabeth Silk is struggling to reconcile her passion for the vampire overlord Saloman and her allegiance to the vampire hunters. When a shocking vampire revolt calls Saloman away from her, she refuses to follow him. To make matters worse, Saloman’s beloved cousin Luk has been found and awakened by one of his greatest enemies. Frenzied with bloodlust, Luk embarks on a killing spree and prepares to expose Saloman’s biggest vulnerability: Elizabeth. But under Saloman’s regime, vampires have become less concerned with secrecy, no longer willing to hide their power. Rumors are swirling about attacks on humans. After Saloman joins forces with the vampire hunters to consolidate his power, Elizabeth begins to understand her role in the inevitable collision of the two worlds. She could bring resolution between vampires and humans—if she can manage to stay alive long enough to play both sides….

Guest post: Why is my Hero not Scottish??? 
In case you don’t know, I’m Scottish. I was born here and have lived most of my life here. And I’ve been around the world of romantic fiction for long enough to know how popular Scottish heroes are – especially Highlanders in kilts! You might think I’m ideally placed to write about Scottish heroes – and I have done on several occasions - so why in the world is my hero of the Awakened by Blood trilogy (Blood on Silk, Blood Sin and Blood Eternal) not Scottish?

Well, he just isn’t! My heroine is Scottish, but my vampire hero had to appear much more alien and exotic to her. So he was born thousands of years ago, somewhere in the middle east, but the region he’s called home most over the centuries is Eastern Europe, particularly Romania and Hungary. I like the tradition, and it explains nicely why there are quite so many vampire legends in that part of the world, even before Bram Stoker!

There is also the fact that while I like Scotsmen (and indeed kilts!) as much as the next woman, I probably see them a little differently to non-Scots. In fact, one of the most surprising things to many of my countrymen – and women! - is the popularity of the Scotsman as romantic hero. In general, Scots like to think of themselves as the least romantic of men. They may feel as much as anyone else, but they certainly don't talk about it. According to no less authority than my father, the "L" word was something English blokes said! My own generation was a little more open - although taking no chances I married an Englishman :). And hopefully today's young Scotsmen are more forthcoming still. However, I wouldn't bank on it!

Of course, Saloman, my vampire hero of the Awakened by Blood trilogy, doesn’t talk much about his feelings either. He has all the distance of the very old and the very powerful - combined with vampirism! – and he knows he’ll be around long after his mortal lovers are dead. Despite valuing all experience, how much can he really afford to invest in one transitory love affair?

So, cautious and silent on matters of the heart, perhaps he would have made a good Scotsman! But in fact, Saloman doesn’t have a nationality. He isn’t even human and never was. He’s a vampire of the world.

Excerpt from Blood Eternal:

Set up: An Ancient vampire, believed to be Saloman’s newly awakened cousin Luk, has gone on the rampage in the Turkish hills. Elizabeth Silk is helping the hunters to track Luk and his allies…

Luk began to run, and as his limbs stretched out, he remembered their strength and what they could do. A surge of excitement urged him to speed up, to run around the entire world and never stop. But her scent was close and sweet, and as he leapt down the final fifty feet to land right in front of her, he grew dizzy.

Startled, the woman fell back, her dark hazel eyes huge in her beautiful face. Hair the color of a long-forgotten sunrise whipped against her soft cheeks in the breeze. Blood pumped through her delicate veins. The sound and smell of it drove him to new hunger, but this was one human he’d never kill.

“Tsigana,” he whispered.

The name held Elizabeth frozen. She’d had an instant’s warning from the Ancient detector, which suddenly, after indicating his slow plod away from her, went nuts, the readings obviously failing to keep up with the speed of the vampire who leapt out in front of her a bare instant after she’d known he would.

She’d had time to press her buzzer, at the same moment it had gone off in warning. The others knew. So she backed off, giving them time to get here, holding the stake poised for the vampire’s attack that didn’t come. He stood unmoving, staring at her.

The ordinary vampire detector in her pocket was still and silent. So the Ancient was alone. She prepared to attack, targeting the spot in his chest that she needed, but before she could fly at him, he said, “Tsigana.”

If he’d said her own name, if he’d called her Jane or Esmeralda or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, she wouldn’t have hesitated in the slightest. But he said Tsigana, as if he’d seen straight to her one weakness, a jealousy that amounted almost to fear of the long-dead human woman who had once held Saloman’s heart.

Her fingers curled convulsively on the stake, altering its aim by accident, and she had to readjust it. The Ancient who was Saloman’s cousin, his onetime friend and his betrayer, one of Tsigana’s three vampire lovers, continued to stare at her. She had the impression that if he breathed he’d have been panting, but weirdly, she sensed no threat from him. He lifted his arms slowly,

reaching out to her with intense, weirdly unfocused longing. Understanding slammed into her like a blow.

“I’m not Tsigana,” she said between her teeth. “I’m Elizabeth, the Awakener.” And she flew at him, aware her aim was true. She summoned every ounce of strength, every ounce of power she believed in. Because she didn’t know how long the hunters would take to get here, she had to try to do it alone, as she’d once tried to kill Saloman alone. She still believed she could have slain him, using her power as his Awakener, but she’d never found out for sure, because her heart, not her body, had prevented it. There was no such prevention here; Luk was the cause of most of the unbearable pain that had haunted Saloman for centuries. He was as good as dead, and she couldn’t even regret her lack of compassion.

But he didn’t wait for her. He leapt back so fast she didn’t even see him move. Her stake sliced through air, almost overbalancing her.

“Not Tsigana,” Luk repeated. He sniffed the air.

“Tsigana is dead.” Again she leapt, this time before she finished speaking, but again he evaded her. A howl rent the air, like a dog or a wolf in agony. It had to be coming from Luk, as his distant figure leapt back up the hillside at impossible speed, the bloodcurdling wail fading with him into the night. Not because he’d stopped crying, but because he was too far away to be heard.

“Shit,” Elizabeth whispered. With shaking hand she retrieved the Ancient detector from her pocket. The pointer indicated the hill up which Luk had vanished, the display counting madly as the distance increased. Then it went dead. Elizabeth delved for her phone, just as the needle swung rapidly several degrees to the west, and the display galloped forward.

Oh, hell, he’s doubling back. He’s gotten over Tsigana and now I’m dinner.


And here are the first two titles in this trilogy:

Blood Sin: Awakened by Blood, Book 2
Blurb: Even if you walk in the light, you can dwell in the dark. Months after her dangerous encounter with vampire overlord Saloman, Scottish academic Elizabeth Silk is still trying to cope with both the demands of her ancestral bloodline—which marks her as a vampire hunter — and the overpowering desire she feels for the immortal she brought back from the grave. But she is not alone in her fascination with Saloman. When Elizabeth tracks down a distant cousin from America, she learns he possesses an antique sword that has caught the interest of the Grand Master of the American hunters. It is the ancient and mystical sword of Saloman — a treasure of vast occult powers and a prize beyond measure to both vampires and humans. Now the race is on for possession of the sword. Even as her enemies and allies shift their allegiances and battle for supremacy, Elizabeth must decide which will rule her own perilous fate: unwanted loyalty or unholy love.

Blood on Silk Awakened by Blood, Book 1
Blurb: The debut of a seductive new series of vampires, lust, and revenge. 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.


About the author: Marie Treanor lives in Scotland with her eccentric husband and three much-too-smart children. Having grown bored with city life, she resides these days in a picturesque village by the sea where she is lucky enough to enjoy herself avoiding housework and writing sensual stories of paranormal romance and fantasy.

Marie Treanor has published more than twenty ebooks with small presses, (Samhain Publishing, Ellora’s Cave, Changeling Press and The Wild Rose Press), including a former Kindle bestseller, Killing Joe.

Blood on Silk: an Awakened by Blood novel, was her New York debut with NAL. In the Awakened by Blood series, Marie is delighted to be able to bring together her long-standing loves of vampire stories and Gothic romance.

Author links: Website Facebook Newsletter Blog: Marie Treanor's Romantic Theme Party

Giveaway:Marie Treanor is offering one commenter a print copy of Blood Eternal. This contest is open to US Shipping only and ends on Oct. 31. Please comment and leave your email.

We thank Marie Treanor and Bewitching Book Tours. My review of this series will be up soon.