New Release Spotlight; The Blood Witch by Holly Day

Hello everyone! Thank you so much, Nell, for allowing me to steal a spot on your blog again. I’m sorry, but I’m going to ruin your day 🙄

As you might have guessed, I’m here because I’ve written another story. This one is a gay paranormal tale about a werewolf king and his witch – who initially doesn’t want to be his at all. That alone is enough to apologise to Nell since it’s an I-don’t-want-to-have-a-boyfriend book, but I see that as a minor offence. What’s about to come is so much worse. So. Much. Worse.

The heat level in The Blood Witch isn’t particularly high, they’re too busy fighting for their lives than to get it on, but there is one scene… And – Nell, close your eyes, dear – it happens in the shower.

If you wondering what the heck I’m talking about, you should take a quick break from reading this post and hop on over to A.L. Lester’s blog where Nell wrote an awesome post about how shower scenes make her fear for the characters’ health.

The funny thing is, I’m on team No Sex in the Shower, too. Showers are slippery, and while the water might be warm, the shower stall walls are not! And in books, it’s always easy to lift someone and press them against the wall, right? Have you tried it in RL? I panic if hubby lifts me outside of the shower where it isn’t slippery. What if he falls? I’m no whisp, we’re talking some weight here, so what if his back gives out or something? 😳 Stupid man *shakes head*

So I’ve firmly planted myself on the No Sex in the Shower team, and with firmly, I mean I prefer to keep my feet on the ground. No lifting or carrying!

But… There is a shower scene in The Blood Witch – no lifting! But backs against the cold shower stall wall. Though no one is complaining about it 😁

The shower scene is toward the end of the story. Before they get there, Conri, the werewolf king, has to catch Nick, our witch. And once the catching is done, he has to convince him to stay – not an easy thing to do.

Blurb:

Nick Adore has been in hiding for six years. He does his best to pass himself off as human and only wants to be left alone. But one day, he walks in on a robbery. Instead of quietly walking away, he reveals himself as a blood witch, and now the werewolf king demands to see him.

Conri Biast is king. He has been the king of Norbridge for eleven years, but someone is trying to take him down. For months, he’s known there’s a blood witch in his territory who refuses to pay his respects, and that puts him on the top of his list of suspects. But when he goes to confront the witch, things don’t turn out the way he’d planned. The witch is his mate. 

 Nick doesn’t want to be anywhere near Conri. Being close to kings always ends with him getting hurt, but he finds himself sucked into the power struggle. Conri doesn’t know who he can trust, but he knows he needs Nick by his side. Together, they’re strong, but are they strong enough to keep the throne?

Gay Paranormal Romance / 43,009 words

Buy links

JMS Books :: Amazon :: books2read.com/TheBloodWitch

Excerpt:

The pleading tone in the witch’s voice rubbed Conri the wrong way. He should want to be with him, not want to get away from him. Conri was his mate, he should know it, should feel it.

Only a witch wasn’t a shifter, and only shifters had mates. Vampires could bond, but they could pick who they bonded with. Shifters had one mate—one. And his was a blood witch who could kill him without lifting a finger.

“No, you’re coming with me.”

The pressure around his rib cage built slowly. A spark of blue traveled from one fingertip to another on the witch’s hand. “Let me go.”

“No.”

The pressure increased, and Conri gasped. He couldn’t breathe, and he couldn’t move. Pain built in his chest.

“Let. Me. Go.”

Conri wheezed out a breath, and Jared, the young wolf who’d found the witch, took a step in his direction. Conri’s vision blurred as the pain increased. It was like last time, but last time had been quicker.

The witch moved fast, not as fast as a shifter or vampire, but fast all the same. Last time he’d fainted, but last time Conri had scared him by breaking into his apartment. This was far more controlled, the witch looked calm while Conri was dying.

He slipped away, left the dining room while Conri tried telling Jared to get him, but no sound left his mouth.

One second became two and the tightness around his chest slowly eased. “Get him.”

Jared hesitated.

“Don’t let him get away.”

Jared sprang into action, running after the witch. Conri got to his feet, drew in a ragged breath, and took a stumbling step to follow. His body was sluggish, but he was moving. A faint breeze greeted him as he made it out of the hotel and onto the sidewalk. The train station was full of people, and Conri cursed. They couldn’t be too obvious about searching for someone. Humans would call the cops, and Conri had had enough of cops to last for some time now.

Urien was still in custody—sleeping now—and Conri was sure the majority of those who had been hauled out of Twilight would be locked up for weeks.

Few lawyers worked with shifters. It had taken a great deal of money to get Lev to agree to be his lawyer, and as far as he knew, he was the only supernatural he represented.

“I lost his scent in the crowd.” Jared came to stand by his side.

Conri didn’t reply. He needed the witch, needed him for his own sake, but also because a blood witch in his kingdom would earn him power. He needed him to make sure he hadn’t turned any of the blood on the body they’d found by the river into his.

The cops hadn’t asked him about it, but if Urien had enthralled one of them, and he’d said there was a body with Conri’s DNA on it, it was only a matter of time.

They’d probably taken him in on the charges of running a business and planned on laying the murder on top of it, so he’d never see the light of day again. But then one of the officers had gotten carried away, and Conri would never again growl at the bills Lev sent him. He’d managed to get hold of the surveillance tape, had raged and threatened, only to grin at Conri when they walked out of the station. Conri didn’t believe Lev cared for him, but there was no denying the satisfaction he got from arguing with the police.

“What do we do?” Jared’s eyes swept over the people entering and exiting the waiting hall.

“We have to find him.”

Jared nodded. “Because?”

Conri tried not to growl. “I need his help.”

“Oh…” Jared’s shoulders slumped. “I thought we were to kill him. Getting him to help is much better.”

Conri frowned. “Why would we kill him?”

“Because he tried to kill you, my king.”

Conri rolled his eyes. He wanted to be king, he loved being king, but he didn’t want people to call him my king.

“He could’ve killed me in a second and didn’t, and that’s twice he hasn’t, so no, no harm will befall him.” Conri might lock him up, though.

About Holly Day:

According to Holly Day, no day should go by uncelebrated and all of them deserve a story. If she’ll have the time to write them remains to be seen. She lives in rural Sweden with a husband, four children, more pets than most, and wouldn’t last a day without coffee. 

Holly gets up at the crack of dawn most days of the week to write gay romance stories. She believes in equality in fiction and in real life. Diversity matters. Representation matters. Visibility matters. We can change the world one story at the time. 

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