Monday, October 1, 2012

Blood and Bones by Courtney Cole ~ Guest Post & GIVEAWAY

NOW AVAILABLE 





Love is dangerous… “I’m a monster, Eva. There is no saving a monster. But I love that you want to try.” My heart constricts at the expression on his face. He has no hope for himself, so I have to hope for him. “You’re not a monster,” I argue softly. “You’re a man, Luca. A man like any other, you’re made of blood and bone.” As a little boy, Luca Minaldi was told he was a monster. As an adult, he knows it is true. He lives in Malta, a fairytale-like place filled with sunshine and sea, beauty and secrets. And Luca’s darkest of secrets is the best kept of them all. Eva Talbot is spending the summer in Malta to finish up her doctoral dissertation. When she meets Luca, a mysterious and handsome shipping tycoon, there is an instant attraction, a disturbing and beautiful energy that she has never felt before. But she senses the darkness that lives within him. Eva is hired to care for his mother, who suffers from dementia, but it is Luca who Eva will eventually risk everything to save. Her life becomes a swirling chaos of darkness and romance, of secrets and mystery. And the question that emerges will become the most important answer of all. Can she save Luca from the darkness that plagues him without losing herself? The answer is a matter of life or death.

Guest post

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Guest Blog Post for Courtney Cole
 * * *
Courtney Cole as You’ve Never Seen Her

So, you may know that my Twitter handle is @CourtwritesYA.  The YA, of course, stands for Young Adult.  I’ve written ten books and all of them are YA and NA.  EXCEPT for my newest release, Of Blood and Bone.

What the heck?  Courtney Cole wrote adult fiction??  This seems to be a common question that I’m hearing this past week or two.   And the answer is…. Heck yeah, I did.   Of Blood and Bone contains a LOT of adult content…racy sex, seduction, violence.  There’s even some blood.   You know, the good stuff.  And it is not PG-13 in any way, shape or form. 

Why did I do this?   Well.  Simply put… I wanted to. 

One day, a couple of years ago, I was watching Dexter (the Showtime series about a serial killer) and for some reason, a storyline popped into my head about a woman who fell in love with a serial killer.  The more I thought about it, the more I tweaked it.  It would be a dark romance, not a thriller.  The MC wouldn’t be a serial killer, but he would be someone with dark issues.  He would be good on the inside, but he would be ‘damaged’ and he would hate himself because of this ’affliction.’ I eventually decided that he would have some sort of a Dr.Jekyll/Mr.Hyde complex.  The story kept evolving. 

And eventually Of Blood and Bone was born.  But I didn’t write it right away.  I put it off because it is so not something a YA writer should write. To do it up the right way, it should contain everything that YA shouldn’t.

But with the release of so much darker stuff this year, I decided that now was the time.  And so I wrote it.  And I love it.  In my opinion, it’s the best thing I’ve done so far.  The two things that I hear the most about it are:  “Wow!  I’ve never seen Courtney Cole like that!”  and “It was amazing-- I thought about that book for days after I read it.”  Both things make me smile…because you truly haven’t seen Courtney Cole quite like this.

Here’s the blurb:

Love is dangerous…

“I’m a monster, Eva. There is no saving a monster. But I love that you want to try.”
My heart constricts at the expression on his face. He has no hope for himself, so I have to hope for him.
“You’re not a monster,” I argue softly. “You’re a man, Luca. A man like any other, you’re made of blood and bone.”

As a little boy, Luca Minaldi was told he was a monster.
As an adult, he knows it is true.

He lives in Malta, a fairytale-like place filled with sunshine and sea, beauty and secrets. And Luca’s darkest of secrets is the best kept of them all.

Eva Talbot is spending the summer in Malta to finish up her doctoral dissertation. When she meets Luca, a mysterious and handsome shipping tycoon, there is an instant attraction, a disturbing and beautiful energy that she has never felt before. But she senses the darkness that lives within him.

Eva is hired to care for his mother, who suffers from dementia, but it is Luca who Eva will eventually risk everything to save. Her life becomes a swirling chaos of darkness and romance, of secrets and mystery. And the question that emerges will become the most important answer of all.

Can she save Luca from the darkness that plagues him without losing herself?

The answer is a matter of life or death.

And a short excerpt (from Eva’s point of view):
“Evangeline,” he says softly, his dark eyes glued to mine. “I’m so sorry about the other night.  I wish I could remember.  I wish I could take it back.”
“I don’t,” I tell him honestly.  “I really don’t.”
He gazes out the window for a scant moment more, seemingly deep in thought, before he crosses the room to me.  He kneels in front of me and looks into my eyes.  In this moment, he is as vulnerable as I’ve ever seen him, as I’ve ever seen anyone. He’s completely open to me, hiding nothing.
I want so desperately to kiss him.
“I can’t,” I tell his dark eyes, praying that I don’t fall into them.  “I want to kiss you right now.  But I can’t. You’re my patient.  There are ethics…”
Luca shakes his head, his hands on my knees and his gaze upon mine.  “You aren’t my doctor, Evangeline.  You’re my friend.  I’m simply talking to a friend who wants to help me tonight.  You’re not licensed to practice medicine in Malta, remember?  So where does that leave your ethics?”
He smiles wolfishly and waits without moving.  He’s offering himself to me.  I know that.  And it is against his better judgment. He has told me that, as well.  Yet here he is, on his knees in front of me.
I suck in a breath and inhale the air that is so charged with everything that Luca is.
Whatever that is.
It is dangerous on many levels.  I know that.
I reach out unsure fingers and trace the top of his shoulders, moving over the contours.  They are so broad, yet so slender at once.  He’s perfectly built.  Strong, lithe and powerful.  I drop my head.  I know that I don’t want to resist him anymore.  For the first time in my life, I’m going to do something that my heart wants to do, not what my head tells me to do.
I grip him tighter with my fingers and pull him to me.  He folds in between my knees, pressing me to his chest.  I can hear his heart thumping rhythmically against mine as my fingers linger on his warm back.
He dips his head and presses his forehead to mine, staring into my eyes.  His are a smoldering and stormy black.
“I’m afraid to get close to you,” he tells me.  “I’m afraid for you.”
“I’m not,” I whisper.  “I’m not afraid of you.  Kiss me, Luca.”
Even I can hear the thick desire in my voice and Luca hears it too.
He groans and covers my mouth with his own, muffling the sound with my lips.  He is pressed so close that he seems to absorb me.  Every plane of his body is against every plane of mine.  I don’t know where he stops and where I start, but it doesn’t matter.  All that matters is him and me and this.
* * *

That scene continues on to become quite steamy.  Seriously, I had a fan on my desk for writing moments like those.  Haha.  I’m just kidding.  Or am I? 

Of Blood and Bone is the first book in new trilogy, The Minaldi Legacy.  It is available here  on Amazon and here  on Barnes and Noble.com

Check it out and see why people are saying, “Holy moly!  I’ve never seen Courtney Cole like that!!” 

I really hope that when you do, you’ll like what you see.  J   

***GIVEAWAY*** 



(3) Swag Packs that includes a $10 Amazon gift card, a t-shirt, as well as misc. Courtney Cole swag. Open to US/Canada.  See rafflecopter below.  Ends October 6th.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

17 comments:

  1. Thanks for the giveaway! This book looks amazing!!!

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  2. This sounds awesome!! I love the cover and the excerpt makes me want to buy it right this second!!

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  3. Love the excerpt! I can't wait to finish this scene!
    Thank you for the great giveaway!

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  4. This is on my TBR. Someday I will get to it. #lesigh

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  5. Enjoyed the excerpt and added this to my ever growing TBR, thanks for sharing as this is a book I may have skipped over otherwise!

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  6. I'm glad Courtney decided to write this. It sounds like a really great book. Thanks for sharing!

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  7. The story sounds really intriguing, yet another book added to the TBR pile :)

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  8. This book sounds amazing! It's definitely going on my to-read list!

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  9. Why do you give exerpts like that and then leave you high and dry??Ugh!!

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    Replies
    1. Sorry Kelly. I was in the same boat as your. Guess we both need to get the book. :)

      Valerie

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  10. what a beautiful cover! Thank you so much for the giveaway!

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  11. WOW! I NEED this book in my life. It will for sure have to be one I purchase once I lift my book buying ban!

    Molli | Once Upon a Prologue

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  12. Thanks for the giveaway! This book looks amazing!!! will have to get a copy when i can!

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  13. Sounds like a really great read. Thanks for the giveaway.

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  14. I can't wait to read, awesome giveaway.

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  15. It sounds great! Can't wait to read it :) Thanks so much for the chance to win!

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