To read an interview with the author, please see the October issue of Uncaged Book Reviews.
Releasing the Demons
L.D. Rose
Urban Fantasy
Blaze Knight has been through hell and back, but the nightmares aren’t over yet.
Five years after Blaze was maimed by Cyrus Chimola, a powerful vampire with a penchant for torture, he’s still trying to pick up the pieces of his shattered life. As a genetically engineered mercenary with the ability to bend fire to his will and to see in infrared, Blaze’s mission is to protect what’s left of humanity. When Chimola and his crew return to the Bronx gunning for Blaze’s blood, Blaze is forced to face the demons of his past. Hell-bent on revenge, he seeks the help of Valerie Medeiros, an NYPD detective who manages to steal his heart and save his life in more ways than one.
Motivated by her sister’s gruesome death, Valerie has made it her life’s goal to bury every vampire in the ground where they belong. When she brings in Blaze Knight for suspected murder, she discovers he’s not only innocent, he isn’t a man at all—he’s a half-vampire hybrid working with a band of brothers for the U.S. military. Valerie has a hard time trusting anything with fangs, yet she quickly falls headlong into Blaze’s life, a life full of darkness and horror she can’t even begin to fathom. The bodies are stacking up, but Valerie can’t seem to let go of this hybrid, a beautiful monster filled with pain, rage, and passion unlike anything she’s ever known.
In a world where the line between good and evil is blurred, Blaze and Valerie will find danger at every turn, risking everything they’ve come to know and love, including one another.
Excerpt
Valerie kept her eyes locked on the glass windows covered with cigarette prices and beer ads, watching Tattoos pay up at the cash register. Once she reached the side of the building, she pressed her back against the warm brick wall. Sweat trickled down her spine and she wiped her clammy hands on her jeans before she drew her Beretta. She listened for the bell hanging above the store entrance, and when it jingled, she peered past the corner of the building.
There he is.
Holding a pack of Marlboros, he slipped it into his back pocket along with a silver money clip. He walked back toward the Chevelle, scanning the area one more time as he stepped off the concrete elevation.
This is it. Do it. Now!
With her gun pointed at the ground in a two-handed grip, Valerie pushed off the wall and turned the corner, staring at his back. Her voice was loud and clear as she called, “Blaze.”
He stopped and pivoted around. A fleeting expression of confusion filled his face, but it quickly turned into shock as she lifted her gun and shouted, “Freeze, NYPD!”
Gasps and shouts resounded as everyone turned their attention on her. Some people ducked while others gawked, and she wished they would just climb into their cars and get the hell out of here. She did her best to ignore them, keeping her focus solely on the man before her as she carefully approached him. He didn’t make any sudden movements, his brow furrowing as a muscle in his jaw ticked.
Valerie flashed her badge to prove she wasn’t bullshitting. “Get your hands in the air where I can see them.”
He slowly lifted his arms and spread his hands out wide. Then spoke with a voice like black gravel, matching his appearance all too well. “What’s going on here?”
She closed in on him, his presence becoming more and more overwhelming. Sirens resonated in the distance, sending a trickle of relief through her. He didn’t appear armed but that didn’t mean jack.
“Turn around and get down on the ground. Now!”
Anger consumed the confusion on his face but he surprisingly complied, giving her his back again before dropping to his knees with his hands above his head.
She kept her gun aimed and her mind submerged in the well of her calm. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d arrested someone; she usually shot to kill. “Cross your ankles,” she ordered, and he did so, crossing his booted ankles as if he’d done this before.
Valerie placed her foot in the space between his legs, so if he attempted to stand he would end up flat on his face. People finally backed away as she removed her tungsten carbide handcuffs from her utility belt, gripping the Beretta with knuckles white as chalk. Tungsten carbide was the only metal strong enough to hold a vampire, but she used it on everyone, regardless of species. Two New Rochelle cruisers whipped into the gas station, blocking off both exits before four officers leapt out of their respective vehicles. Valerie put the gun up and cuffed Blaze’s dominant hand, swinging his right arm around before latching onto the left.
He didn’t put up a fight. He didn’t even flinch. But he balled his big hands into fists at his back. She read him his Miranda rights as she cinched the cuffs around both of his thick wrists.
“You have the right to remain silent—”
“I have the right to know what’s going on,” he growled, showing her his savage profile.
“Anything you do or say can be used against you in a court of law.”
“What are you arresting me for?”
“You have the right to an attorney.”
“F**k the attorney—”
She yanked the chain of his cuffs, bringing his solid body against her as the faint scent of cologne tickled her nose. She leaned into his ear, anger flashing through her as she thought of bloody grass and charred flesh.
“You’re under arrest for the murder of Elena Delgado. Now get the f**k up and move.”
EXCERPT TWO (sexy):
His body hardened, his heart thudding in his chest. If that wasn’t enough, the stirring low in his belly sure as hell was.
He wanted her. Badly.
And so did the leech inside him.
“Blaze?” She peered at him with concern, taking a step closer.
He snapped out of it, realizing she’d asked him something he completely missed. “Huh?”
“Do you want some coffee? Something to drink? Eat?”
Yeah, you. He swallowed his saliva, straightening. “I should get going.”
“Oh.” She tried to hide her disappointment but she was bad at it. She wants you to stay. “Where are you heading?”
“Probably home for a few hours. Rest up a bit.” And drink about a gallon of blood while thinking of you. “You know.”
Valerie set what he assumed was the bag of coffee on the counter. She took another step toward him as a wave of jasmine swept over him, tugging him in places he shouldn’t be tugged.
He took a reflexive step back. Goddamn it, he was fine. He’d been fine right up until now. What the hell just happened?
Bad idea, Blaze. Bad f**king idea to starve yourself and walk into her apartment at dusk, with that body, and that face, and those eyes, and that smell . . .
“I’ll show myself out.”
She looked entirely confused as he turned away and headed for the door. Christ, he was acting like he’d never been in a woman’s apartment before, and God knew he’d been in many. But he’d never been this hungry around a woman before—at least, not in ordinary circumstances. And he wasn’t famous for his control.
He could feel it, that ugly darkness inside him spreading through his veins, making his lips and toes tingle. The leech opened its jaws and yawned, sucking down what was left of his civility. His gums tightened, squeezing his canines, urging them to grow, to elongate.
To spring free.
“Blaze—”
He needed to get out. Now.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” he ground out, his voice a near growl. “Good night, Val.”
He slammed the door behind him and managed to stagger ten paces down the hall before his limbs stopped working. Sweat dripped down the sides of his face and trickled down his spine. His hands shook and he clenched them into fists. He stood there, chest heaving, heart pounding, fangs pulsing, cock throbbing. He closed his eyes and lifted his face toward the ceiling, trying to wrestle the monster down, trying to beat it back into submission.
But it was already too late.
Through the din in his head, Blaze heard a door click behind him, disengaging from its frame. It creaked open slowly as jasmine slithered through the hallway toward him, rising up and striking at his senses, delivering the final blow. He craned his neck and spotted her.
Valerie’s blond hair fell in a curtain as she peeked out, looking for him. Her eyes widened when she found him, still standing in the corridor, and she quickly retreated.
“Sorry,” she murmured, but before she could close the door, he was already there, his hand propped against it.
She looked at him in pleasant surprise. “Blaze, I—”
He didn’t give her a chance to finish. He seized her mouth with his before he slammed the door behind him and locked it shut.
Uncaged Review:
L.D. Rose has created a dark, gritty world with an alternate history of New York, and vampires or leeches are the rulers of the night, with human body counts way too high each night. Detective Valerie and her partner Deron are two of the brave on the force that go on patrol at night, when most people are holed up in their homes. When they are called to a murder scene for a girl whose body was bitten and burned from the inside out, the black and white world that Val knows becomes many shades of grey…
Blaze is a hybrid, a genetic science experiment, half human, half vampire. During these experiments, each hybrid developed a special talent, unique to them. Blaze, as his name implies, has the ability to control fire. Captured and tortured for 7 months, Blaze is a walking time bomb – and has become a person of interest to Valerie and her team after the murder of the charred girl.
This is as gritty as they get, and when I hit about the 30% mark, it ramped up, and at 50%, I could not put this book down. Emotional and action-packed – it will have you anxiously turning pages. One series that will go on my to-read-again list as I’m sure in all my excitement, I missed something the first go around. Reviewed by Cyrene
5 Stars
Black Bullet
L.D. Rose
Urban Fantasy
Fledgling vampire Jonathan Kerr has just met his match.
Not even his past life as a former marine and FBI agent could prepare him for the battle against the monster inside him, struggling to take hold. After an old nemesis of the Senary surfaces in Brooklyn, unleashing chaos and terror in the battered borough, Jon sets out to take him down. Instead, he ends up with far more than he bargained for when he clashes with the beautiful half-vampire hybrid, Lawan Knight…
Uncaged Review: In book two, we follow Jon and Lawan’s story. In this series, when a vampire is turned, they lose their soul and all of their humanity. When Jon died, and the Senary saved him by turning him, Rome was able to keep Jon’s soul within his body. Unfortunately, Jon’s also sharing his body with Taylon, the vampire that was killed.
Lawan is a female hybrid, living on the edges on her own, killing leeches. But after the torture of her past, she trusts no one, getting through to her is not going to be a piece of cake.
Again, the story is well written with a brilliant well thought out world. Most of New York City is owned by the leeches, and with them gaining ground – the Senary is stretched too thin as it is. The action scenes and the storyline is spot on, and the romance only enhances the story. It will pull all your emotions through the wringer and give the ending it deserves. This is a book you can’t read fast as you don’t want to miss a thing.
Reviewed by Cyrene
5 Stars
[symple_box color=”black” fade_in=”false” float=”center” text_align=”left” width=””]L.D. Rose is a neurotic physician by day, crazed writer by night, and all around wannabe superhero. She writes paranormal romance and urban fantasy, but she’s been known to delve into horror, sci-fi, and medical suspense on occasion. L.D. Rose is a PAN member of the RWA, FF&P, NEC-RWA and CoLoNY. She currently lives in Rhode Island with her studly hubby, her hyperactive boxer, and her two devious cats. Sign up for her newsletter for the latest on the Senary, sneak peeks, giveaways, and other fun stuff: http://eepurl.com/bKvuXD You’ll receive a free horror short story with sign-up! You can also join her reader group on FB for more shenanigans. 😉 DEVOUR THE NIGHT: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1544747369161573/[/symple_box]
