Thursday, January 22, 2009

SEDUCING THE MOON

Seducing the Moon, book 2 in my Brava werewolf series, is available now for pre-order at Amazon.com, Borders and Books-A-Million!


Here's the blurb and an unedited excerpt:


It only takes a little moonlight to bring out the primal desire between two lovers...

Declan O'Connell has a history with Pelicia Cobb, but not the kind that's going to help him win her back. It was bad enough that he broke her heart as a gruff ex-commando. Now he's got another side to his personality, a furry, fierce side that goes a little wild under the light of the moon...

Pel wants nothing more than the chance to clean up the mess Declan made of her life--without his interference. But with a sniper taking shots at her on her doorstep, there's no one better to protect her than Declan. And it's hard to ignore all of his deliciousness, especially the way her body responds to his undeniable magnetism. There's no question the rugged Irishman brings out the animal instinct in her—an instinct that propels her toward him, even when she knows she should run away...

~ * ~

"O'Connell, you had better be all right, because if you've broken your worthless neck on my property I'm bloody well going to kill you."

Declan raised his head from the steering wheel, rubbing the sore spot on his forehead where he'd connected with the unforgiving plastic. Already he could feel the slight bump caused by the impact was lessening. Being a werewolf did have its advantages. And from what he'd experienced in the last four months, not that many disadvantages.

He focused on the woman stomping toward him. The deep red t-shirt she wore set off her creamy skin to perfection, and her jeans hugged curves that he hadn't touched in much, much too long. The morning sunlight glinted on her honey blonde hair and reflected off the anger glittering in her ocean-blue eyes.

Stripping off her gardening gloves, Pelicia Cobb stopped beside his vehicle and looked at the corner of the historic bed and breakfast that had seconds before become an unplanned hood ornament on Declan's rental car. "Oh, my God. Look what you've done!" She planted her hands on her hips and glared at him. "Where did you get a car?"

"They've set up a small 'cars for hire' booth near the ferry office, darlin', you know that," he said through the open window.

"Like we need more cars on our tiny stretch of roadways." Her scowl deepened. "And don't call me darlin'. I got over that charming Irish brogue a long time ago." Her gaze went back to the corner of the house. Something like a growl came from her throat. When she looked at him again, her eyes were hard with anger. "Just when exactly did your mission in life become one of making my life a bloody impossible mess? Tourist season just got underway and now you've demolished my house." Thinking to tell her she was overreacting--as a former commando and demolitions expert in the Royal Marines he damned well knew how to properly destroy something, and this wasn't anywhere near what he could have done--he opened his mouth to respond.

She forestalled him with a sharp downward slash of one slender hand. "Never mind," she growled. "I already know the answer. It was two years ago, the last time you deigned to grace me with your presence."

Even with the deep frown on her face, Pelicia was still the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. "You'd damned well better have insurance, because I can't afford to fix this." She gestured toward the corner of the granite house where several large blocks were clearly askew. "Even with an occasional guest, it's been a hard off-season, as usual."

"It's not like I did it on purpose," he responded, doing his best to not sound like a teenager making excuses to his mum. Although she certainly was doing a bang-up job of making him feel like he was about fourteen again.

He pushed open the car door. The crumpled metal protested with a loud grinding groan, and he had to exert pressure to get it all the way open. He climbed out from behind the wheel. "Besides, you know I'm not anythin' if not responsible."

Her lips twisted. "Ah. Right. How could I forget? The great Declan O'Connell, commando extraordinaire, responsible for eradicating villains from the world one innocent at a time."

Declan gritted his teeth at her sarcasm. Forget fourteen years old. Try five. Though as unfair as her words were, he couldn't fault her for her feelings.

Two years ago, the firm he'd worked for at the time had sent him to London to assist with an investigation into an international document-forging organization--primarily because of his friendship with Pelicia and his knowledge of the Isles of Scilly. In the course of his investigation, he'd been instrumental in getting her arrested. Even though she'd been cleared of all involvement, in the end she'd lost her job and her reputation had suffered. She'd returned to St. Mary's to take over this bed and breakfast after her grandfather--the real talent behind the forgery ring--had been sent to prison.

"Listen, Pel--"

"Oh, forget it." She sighed and crossed her arms.

She looked so fragile and defenseless that he had to fight to keep from pulling her into a comforting embrace. He knew the second he did he'd have a snarling wildcat on his hands that would quickly dissuade him from thinking she was either fragile or defenseless.

Copyright 2009 Sherrill Quinn. All Rights Reserved.


Seducing the Moon - available now for pre-order at Amazon.com, Borders and Books-A-Million!

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