A Paranormal War from A Vampire Point of View
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War…
dark, dangerous, deadly…
Paranormal…
Dark, dangerous, and even more deadly – at times, and sexy as hell all others…
Vampires…
Dark, dangerous, and deadly…bloody, brooding and torn by bloodlust…
Witches, Werewolves and Women (okay, men too)…
Add to the mix…
Every element from fighting to sex to conversations become more intense, the stakes get higher…
All of these elements were in my mind when I started to create my first ever series, At War in the Willows. While the war in this little resort town (a place I created out of my own imaginings of a place I would want to live) is between differing clans of paranormal s and humans, I gave the vampires in it the voice. Each novella is from one point of view only - the first a male vampire, the second his vampire sister, and the third their vampire brother. This allowed me three couples, three romances doomed to fail form the start. Hey, I love the angst and the challenge :)
I made lists in fact, brainstormed every creatures strengths and weaknesses before I not only paired them romantically, with potential deadly elements to their relations, but also before I created my fight scenes. So, what did I gain from using the vampire point of view? To me, they had the most challenges, but also, the character of Isaac, who has the voice in Book I, well he was my favorite character. He had more than just the usual vampire issues going against him. He was flawed in many ways and life had handed him many bad breaks. I found him the most intense to write, and I think that intensity carried on then easily to his family, and to all the other characters.
Basically, I think the vampire point of views gave me that edge to the dark, dangerous and deadly that is present throughout all three stories.
At War in the Willows Series Blurb:
The Willows is a resort town run by vampires, werewolves and witches. Here, their true identities are kept secret from humans, and intimate relations between the individual clans are strictly forbidden.
When it becomes known that the vampire Amberlyn has fallen in love with the werewolf Kane, the tedious line of their co-existence has been crossed. Caught in the crossfire of this revelation, Drake, the vampire clan leader and Amberlyn’s maker, is killed along with an innocent witch. These deaths spark a series of horrific events leading to an all out War In The Willows.
In Book 1, Amberlyn’s vampire brother, Isaac, always one to kick ass first and deal with the consequences later, kidnaps a witch, Winter. He intends to find out what type of retaliation the witch clan is planning against the vampires and werewolves. In doing so, he finds so much more then he bargained for.
By Book 2, Isaac and Winter devise a plan to try to get the Elders of the clans talking peacefully. But, things don't go as they'd hoped, and the fighting between the clans becomes more devious - deadly. Now, Devin, another Vampire of Drake's making, steps in to help pick up some of the pieces as his sister, Amberlyn, fights to be with the werewolf, Kane.
When Book 3 begins, it is Devin who hides the biggest secret; he’s in love with a local human. In a moment of desperation – of love – Devin sweeps this human, Sara, away to his home in order to keep her out of harm’s way.
Unexpected close encounters, bodies ripe with need, and situations beyond their control lead to forbidden relationships. Now three vampires, a witch, a werewolf and a human must ride along the edges of the rules. They will attempt once unthinkable romantic entanglements despite all those who oppose their relationships while fighting for their lives as well.
With the Willows full of violence and bloodshed, meetings and magic amiss, will the clans ever be able to find peace among them again? Or, will this war destroy the Willows?
Genres: Erotic, Paranormal (Vampire, Witch, Werewolf) Romance
Book I, The Vampire's Witch - Available Now at Amazon, NNP Store and All Romance eBooks
Book II, The Vampire's Wolf - Available Now at Amazon, NNP Store and All Romance eBooks
Book III, The Vampire's Human - Coming December 2012
Reviews for Book I, The Vampire's Witch
“This is the first adult book I've read by Kiki Howell. And it was delicious! Good plot, great characters and sexy enough to raise the temperature in my house about 20 degrees... It's a very fast read, only about 50 pages. But it's a real page turner!” ~4/5 Stars by Lilac Wolf
“Ms Howell weaves a spell binding web that ensnares the mind and lets the reader drift away in to another world. I highly look forward to the next two books in this series!” ~4/5 Stars by Phoenix Johnson
The Vampire’s Witch, Book I in the At War in the WillowsSeries, Excerpt:
Rage carried Isaac from California back to Tennessee at a fevered speed even for a
vampire. The night curled in around him, but not as the embrace it usually was. Instead,
tonight, it was like a dense fog, which seemed to strangle him. He couldn’t say he was
going home, even though that was where his families were. Both of them, or at least,
what was left of them. Home meant a place that welcomed, sheltered, and yet he’d had no
choice but to run from The Willows. Even now, several years later, he would have to be
careful while staying with his vampire family that his real family never saw him. For all
his birth family knew, he’d gone missing a decade ago. Hopefully they thought him
dead—an accurate conception for all intensive purposes.
The voice of his maker’s maker, Achim, a man he viewed as a grandfather now,
echoed in his head. Drake, Isaac’s maker, was dead, staked outside the business he’d run.
The Willows was to the mortals a peaceful, beautiful resort area in the mountains of
Tennessee, full of sun and water and trails in the summer, which switched to
snowboarding and skiing in the winter, everything a tourist could want. His clan had
moved there a few years before he was made. While vampires were transient, forced to
always keep moving every few decades or so by the fact mortals started to question why
they never aged, resort towns were perfect to keep the questions low with so many people
always coming and going. Plus, these types of places provided them jobs running the
always-active nightlife.
Clans of werewolves and witches had already been in The Willows when his clan had
arrived. Until tonight, the clans had basically kept apart, recognized and peacefully
accepted their hatred for each other. They worked together, amicable enough in public,
but that was where it ended. Tonight, his vampire sister, Amberlyn, had thought it wise to
reveal her love for the werewolf, Kane, of all given creatures. A verbal battle between
vamps and werewolves at the cove had turned violent and deadly. A young witch who
was in the wrong place at the wrong time, had been killed by a shot that had been fired
after a werewolf had staked to death Amberlyn’s and Isaac’s maker, Drake. While the
wolf and vamp clans had all but declared war, the witches were already threatening their
own special sort of revenge. All of this had happened in the matter of three cursed hours.
Now, he was nearly there just a few hours away from sunrise.
Isaac, even in life, had been one to kick ass and ask questions later. As he entered The
Willows – the place eerily quiet – a chill, more pervasive than it should be for a spring
night in these parts, snaked down his back as he approached the group of houses where
most of the witches lived.
“Blessed wenches,” he grumbled into the air. And, he meant that in an angry, jealous
and missed the sun type of way. Witches got to have special abilities and easily blend
into society as mere mortals. His boot crushed the yellows, pinks and whites of the spring
flowers, which decorated the first lawn he’d come to. They represented spring fever and
love, and he relished their demise under his boots.
“Fuckin’ Amberlyn!” Isaac had never gotten to know his sister much, except through a
few visits when her, Drake, and Drake’s maker, Achim with his wife, Willa, had come to
visit him in Los Angeles.
Someone was going to pay for Drake’s death. Isaac wasn’t going to be picky either.
Whatever witch he came across first would do for information, then possibly revenge
depending on how things went down. Revenge was his job in California, and he was very
good at it. Tonight though, he hadn’t thought his plan of attack all the way through yet.
His thoughts were still more on what he’d lost tonight. After Isaac had been made,
Drake had left The Willows with Isaac, stayed with him, mentored him, became a real
father to replace the human one he could no longer see.
Isaac pushed the memories aside, squashed them with anger-laced pain. First things first, before that damn strong sun around here rose, some random witch was going to give him answers about what they had planned. He would go for the werewolves tomorrow night after he had a planning session with Amberlyn and Achim. Isaac had promised them that over the phone. No one had said a damn word about the witches. Being one of the new temporary leaders of the clan now – as one of those closest in bloodline to Drake – he had a job to protect the other vamps.
With strength and speed, he broke into the house. There was no lock or doorknob
around that could keep him out if he wanted in. The broken door, the briefest scream of a
woman startled out of sleep, were all but seconds, and he was gone. With a hand over the
scared-frozen woman’s mouth just in case, he erred on the side of caution somewhat,
even though she wouldn’t realize what had happened to her. He ran through the woods
with her in his arms at speeds that made her world blur.
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The Vampire’s Witch – Copyright© 2012 Kiki Howell. All rights reserved.