Hello, everyone! Thank you, lovely Nell, for allowing me back on the blog 😘 This month, we’re celebrating National M&M Day. You know, the colourful little chocolate balls M&M not M/M – though there should be a day that celebrates that. In A Vampire Chew Toy, M&Ms are handed out both as gifts and bribes.
It’s about Devin, who is a former blood slave. He didn’t have a clue vampires existed before he was kidnapped and held captive for about a year. When we come into the story, he’s still trying to find his feet after all the trauma he’s been through.
He is plagued by nightmares and panic attacks, and he avoids people best he can. Since he can’t see himself going back to a normal life, he lives with the team of supernatural beings – five shifters and one vampire – who rescued him.
One thing Devin still enjoys is baking and cooking – I guess that’s two things – and to Mars’s awe and astonishment, he does most things without following a recipe.
Are you one who follows recipes? I have to admit that I skim recipies, and then I do as I please. I very, very seldom follow a recipe from start to finish. And it doesn’t matter if I cook or bake. The difference is that I like to bake whereas cooking is something that has to be done 😣
The good thing about not following recipes is that I use what I have at home and what I feel like. The bad thing is that when I make something good, I have no idea how to make it again since I never measure or weigh or write anything down. It’s a surprise every time! LOL
It also stresses my sister out whenever we cook or bake together. She follows recipes rigorously 😳 No sense of adventure there 😆
A Vampire Chew Toy is a slow-burn, found family kind of story, and I enjoyed writing it. One of my beta readers who has been with me for several years and read everything I’ve written said it’s her favourite story. It’s hard to pick favourites among the stories you’ve written, but it’s one of my favourites too.
Blurb:
Devin Jace lives in a huge mansion together with six other people, five of them turn furry, and one needs to drink blood to survive. Sometimes, he suspects it’s all a dream. Four years ago, he had no idea supernatural beings existed. It wasn’t until he was snatched off the street and forced to live as a blood slave he realized vampires are real and don’t sparkle.
Three years ago, Mars O’Ceallaigh was part of the team who saved a badly scarred and severely traumatized Devin. As the only vampire on the team, he got to work undercover. To keep up the facade, he tasted Devin’s blood. Not a day has gone by since without him thinking about it, both the taste of the blood and Devin. But he wants Devin to be happy, and since he knows vampires are his worst nightmare, he does his best to keep out of his way.
When the team learns Devin’s captor has escaped prison, Mars is convinced he will come for Devin. Devin might fear Mars, but there is someone he fears more, so when Mars swears to keep him safe, Devin trusts him. Mars more than enjoys being by Devin’s side at all times, but will spending every minute of every day with him be enough to keep him safe?
Paranormal Gay Romance: 57,723 words
Buy links
Excerpt:
Devin grabbed a roasting pan from the oven. He’d made two pans of lasagna, and then, unsure if it was enough or if everyone ate lasagna, he’d made a big pot of a made-up recipe for chicken, mushrooms, and wine sauce. It turned out fabulous in his opinion, creamy and nice, and the mushrooms heightened the taste. He’d made rice and a big bowl of salad, and in a last-minute fit of panic of someone not liking either chicken or lasagna, he put bread and cheese on the table.
Rei and Hanna entered the kitchen as he put a stack of plates on the table.
“Holy shit, is that lasagna?” Hanna ran over to the pans of lasagna and inhaled deeply.
“Ah… yes. There is chicken and rice too.”
Both Rei and Hanna stared at him, and he had an urge to run and hide.
“There is chicken too?”
Devin’s voice dropped into a whisper. “I didn’t know if everyone liked lasagna.”
Hanna barked a laugh. “Oh, honey, last week Kenia served burned oatmeal. Lasagna is divine compared to that.” She grabbed a spatula and cut herself a piece.
“I thought the oatmeal was for breakfast.”
“She served it again since more than half was left since breakfast.” She grimaced, and Devin huffed. He might not know a lot about shifters, but from what he’d gathered, they ate a lot.
“Devin?” Rei walked closer to him.
“Yeah?”
“I’m double booked.”
Hanna snorted, and Devin narrowed his eyes. “You’re double booked?”
“Yes, tonight.” He gave Devin a pleading, though somewhat playful, look. “I don’t know how to solve it.”
“Oh, come on.”
“It’s true. I’m double booked, and I don’t know what to do.”
Devin crossed his arms over his chest. “And you think I do?”
“You solved Murrie’s problems.”
“I hardly solved his problems. I fixed it so he only had to tackle one problem at a time. It’s not the same as solving them.”
Rei slid his phone toward him on the counter. “Please.”
“Shameless.” Hanna shook her head as she reached for the salad.
Devin looked at Rei’s phone but couldn’t help but smile. “And what exactly do you want me to do?”
Rei walked to the refrigerator and opened the cupboard above, then he frowned. “Where are the M&Ms?”
“In the pantry. I didn’t know we had a snack cupboard.”
Rei found the M&Ms and poured them into a bowl he handed to Devin. “Please.”
“You’re bribing me?”
“No. It’s a gift to my favorite human in the whole wide world, is all.”
Huffing again, Devin grabbed the phone, only to hand it back to him. “Give me access to your calendar.”
Rei didn’t have to ask how to do it, and Devin checked his schedule once he got a confirmation that he’d been given admin status. “My God! You have three dinner dates this evening.”
Rei grimaced. “Yeah.”
Devin shook his head. “How many of these are work-related?”
“None, but feel free to use work as an excuse when you turn them down.”
“Excuse me? When I turn them down?”
“I don’t want to disappoint anyone.” Rei rubbed his neck. “Look, Tom is a nice guy, but all I wanted was a one-night stand. He turned clingy after, and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. I believed we had an understanding. I don’t want to break his heart. Amanda was fun, but she’s human, and I don’t have the energy to lie and hide. She’s not my mate, so telling her the truth is out of the question. Eleanor is… not the most pleasant creature, but she’s great in bed. Vampires are something else, you know.” He sighed dreamily while Devin fought the icy fear rolling over him. “But as I said, she’s a bit of a bitch, and I don’t want to get on her bad side.”
Devin stared at him. “You’re a slut.” He also noted his conquests were both male and female and of all species. He had never gotten any vibe whatsoever from Rei, and he hadn’t cared enough to wonder.
“Yeah, well, you’re a prude.”
“Doesn’t have the same ring to it. I’d rather be a prude than a slut.”
Mars chose that moment to walk into the kitchen, his eyes instantly focusing on Devin, and Devin sucked in a breath. Great.
“Yeah, well, fix it for me. Please.”
He did his best to focus on Rei and not watch as Mars walked over to the table to inspect the food. “Am I to cancel all three?”
“Yes, and no rescheduling.”
“Do you have their numbers?”
“I added them to the schedule before I came here.” He grinned.
“Smug bastard.”
“I’ll love you forever and ever.” Rei blew him a kiss as he, too, walked over to the food.
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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