New Cover - Fall Fires Anthology

We have the cover for the last of the seasonal anthologies at Whiskey Creek Press Torrid, the Fall Fires Anthology:


Isn't it pretty? My story, Pumpkin Moon, is the final chapter in the Friends Incorporated series and takes up with Turner De Winton, the last of the owners of the private investigation firm.

Turner de Winton, twin brother to Brandt and the fourth owner of Friends, Incorporated, is head over heels in love with Valida Northrup. He knows there's something different about her... he'd certainly never expected her to be one of the undead. Determined to help protect her from the vampire hunters on her trail, he is equally determined to convince her that neither life—nor undeath—can come between them. And there’s also a little matter of a wager between him and his best friend that involves Valida and a jack-o-lantern painted on his ass…

~ * ~

“You want the loser to do what?” Turner De Winton turned his attention from his friend and leaned back in his office chair to get a closer look at the woman who’d just walked into Friends, Incorporated with his cousin Sydney.

Valida Northrup.

Her pale blonde hair was piled on top of her head today, leaving her long neck bare and vulnerable-looking. His eyes traveled down the rest of her body, lingering on full breasts, then down her long, long legs set off by the soft-looking, short skirt she wore.

God, he could look at her until he shriveled up and died.

And if he could get her into bed again… he’d die a happy man.

He shifted in his chair, trying to unobtrusively adjust his hard cock. One look, that’s all it took. One glimpse of her and his dick could drill through concrete. One thought and there was no shutting out the memory of the way she called out his name when he was buried balls-deep inside her slick heat.

“I said,” his friend Roger said, his voice jumping with humor, “that the one who backs the losing team has to have the woman of his choosing paint a jack-o-lantern on his ass. Then he has to moon the Mayor at the annual Fall Fires dance.”

Val went into his cousin Sydney’s office and Turner nearly upset the chair trying to keep her in sight. “Whoa!”

Roger laughed. “Dude, you have so lost it. Why don’t you just ask her out again already?”

“The timing’s never right.” Turner scooted the chair closer to his desk and fought a blush. Damn. It was bad enough making an ass out of himself in front of his best friend; he did it all the time. But somehow he got the feeling that Val knew he’d nearly toppled himself onto his head. The woman seemed to know every time he was less than debonair. Even when she wasn’t looking at him.

Now, here she was. She came to see Syd frequently, but always after dark. He’d gotten to the point where he was staying at the office later and later, just in case she came in. She’d been avoiding him since that one night, but he’d be damned if he was going to let her continue dodging him.

How one night of sex—albeit mind-numbing, roll-your-eyes-to-the-back-of-your-head sex—could have entrenched her so firmly in his mind, in his soul… he was clueless.

He didn’t like being clueless.

What was it about her that drew him? Her body? The startling blue eyes that always seemed to be layered with sadness? That sexy Brit accent?

“Why? How hard is it?” Roger interrupted his musing. “‘Hi, Valida. Remember me? Turner De Winton, aka Loser.’” He shook his head. “Man, I’ve only been married five years, but I still remember how to ask a girl out.”

“It’s… complicated, Rog.” Turner rubbed the back of his neck and blew a sigh from between pursed lips. He wasn’t sure he could put into words what he was thinking. How did you tell your best bud that you thought your would-be girlfriend wasn’t human? He’d caught a glimpse or two of a reflection in her eyes that made them look silver. And when they’d made love, he could’ve sworn at one point she was about to bite him.

Bite him.

Later he’d convinced himself it had been his imagination, that second when her teeth had looked like fangs. But still, he couldn’t shake the feeling there was something preternatural about her. She moved quietly, sometimes so much so that he couldn’t hear her. When she made noise, it was because she wanted to. There was often a coolness to her skin that didn’t seem normal. With all of that, he was almost certain she was…

He had a hard time even thinking the word. Was he nuts, wondering if his woman was a vampire?

Copyright ©2006 Sherrill Quinn. All Rights Reserved.

Pumpkin Moon, part of the Fall Fires Anthology, coming October 1st to Whiskey Creek Press Torrid! Mark your calendars now!!




"Love thy neighbor--and if he happens to be tall, debonair and devastating, it will be that much easier." ~Mae West