A Dead and Breakfast Novel
A romance worth fighting for—tooth and claw.
Solitary vampire Fallon Underwood gets all the social interaction he needs being the silent partner at the Dead and Breakfast B and B high in the Colorado mountains. Change is hard for Fallon, so when his business partner, Tanner, suggests hiring a new manager for the inn, he’s adamant that they don’t need help, especially not in the form of bouncy werecat Carter Hughes.
Carter is a happy-go-lucky kitty, and he loves the hospitality industry, so the D and B ought to be a great place for him. He falls for Fallon as soon as he picks up one of Fallon’s novels, and begins to woo the vamp with gifts. When Fallon finally succumbs to Carter’s feline charms, the results are unexpected, to say the least. Their mating will have irreversible consequences—for their bodies and their hearts.
Buy links: Dreamspinner |
Amazon US | Amazon UK
Cat gives this one 3 Meows with a 2 Purr heat index...
Fallon is a vampire and is the silent partner of the Dead and Breakfast a B & B for paranormal beings. His partner Tanner is a bear shifter and with winter coming on he is feeling sluggish and wants help. Fallon likes being left alone to write his books.
Carter is a Mountain Lion shifter and happy to get an interview for the famous dead and Breakfast as day manager. Tanner likes him and hires him. He is a boon to business as he is a very outgoing and enthusiastic.
But as soon as he meets Fallon he realizes they are mates and begins wooing him. Fallon isn't as quick to accept that they could possibly be mates. And then things really start going wrong.
I thought this as a fun book to read. There are so many kinds of paranormal beings, each one fun in itself. I especially liked Tom the werewolf. There is a lot of worldbuilding and it really works for this story. I liked the authenticity. I had one issue. Carter is introduced as a Moutain lion shifter, then Fallon calls him a puma a few times and cougar once then back to Moutain Lion. I got very confused and had to keep going back. Other than that the story is sweet and fun with a bit of spice.
If you like Vampires, Cat shifters, werewolves, other paranormal beings, and an allover fun romance this is for you
Carter is a Mountain Lion shifter and happy to get an interview for the famous dead and Breakfast as day manager. Tanner likes him and hires him. He is a boon to business as he is a very outgoing and enthusiastic.
But as soon as he meets Fallon he realizes they are mates and begins wooing him. Fallon isn't as quick to accept that they could possibly be mates. And then things really start going wrong.
I thought this as a fun book to read. There are so many kinds of paranormal beings, each one fun in itself. I especially liked Tom the werewolf. There is a lot of worldbuilding and it really works for this story. I liked the authenticity. I had one issue. Carter is introduced as a Moutain lion shifter, then Fallon calls him a puma a few times and cougar once then back to Moutain Lion. I got very confused and had to keep going back. Other than that the story is sweet and fun with a bit of spice.
If you like Vampires, Cat shifters, werewolves, other paranormal beings, and an allover fun romance this is for you
He had a meeting with his business partner, Fallon, and it wasn’t yet fully sundown, so they had to meet in the vamp-proof attic. Vamp-safe? Whatever. He’d just ushered out the last guest until tomorrow, and Tanner was pleased to have a rare night off.
He pressed the phone to his ear. “Yes, Mr. DesJardins. I can have the north tower room ready for you by Friday. How many nights will you stay?”
He made a mental note that he would need to stock in blood for three nights. Antoine DesJardins liked to party. If by party he meant sit in the tower room and guzzle blood while devouring the latest Fallon Jameson novel. Every time Fallon had a new release, Antoine came up and got a signed hardback, then read for days.
Personally, Tanner thought Antoine was a damned slow reader. Fallon’s thrillers took him about six hours to read.
“Thanks, sir. I’m glad you’re looking forward to it. Bye.” He hung up just as he reached the fourth floor. Jeez, that last staircase was narrow and hot. He banged on Fallon’s door. “It’s five thirty!”
“Is it?” Fallon’s clipped, not-quite-British voice always sounded so polite. “So sorry. Come on in.”
He ducked into the aerie, which looked just like a writer’s office ought to. There was a grand wood desk with leather leg bumper things, a big swivel chair, and next to the sleek Mac computer sat an Underwood typewriter that had probably seen all the pages of Fallon’s first novel. A comfy overstuffed chair crouched by the little round window, which was covered right now with a state-of-the-art steel shutter, which kept out all light.
“Have a seat,” Fallon murmured. “Two minutes while I finish this chapter.”
“Sure.” He liked how Fallon had turned the living room into an office where he could impress folks if he wanted without letting them into his private quarters. People wanted to believe in the romance of the writer pecking away in his garret. Tanner knew that beyond the heavy wood door to the inner sanctum, everything was sleek, black and white and chrome.
No one wanted to think vampires evolved past the time of their real birth, and Fallon had been about since the Civil War or before.
Tanner sat, listening to the tap-tapping of Fallon hitting the keys. The rhythm was hypnotic, Fallon so fast and accurate that the sound was almost like the hum of a big machine. Tanner blinked, drowsy enough that he almost fell asleep.
Fall was here, and a bear’s mind turned toward hibernation….
“Are you well, love?” Fallon asked.
Tanner blinked and jerked upright. “Sorry. Sorry, did I doze off?”
“You did. It might have taken me more than two minutes. What are we meeting about?”
“I need to hire a manager.” Tanner just said it, not wanting to pussyfoot around. Okay, that was funny. He was so not a kitty.
“What?” Fallon’s black brows rose with shock, just as they always did when Tanner mentioned he needed help with the B and B. Fallon was happy to provide financial backing in return for his living space, but he had no interest in the day-to-day running of the business.
“I’m tired, Fallon. It’s crazy busy these days. I know you don’t see it, but it’s true.”
Fallon frowned harder. “You’re just saying that because it’s fall. Business will drop off some once the snows come, Tanner, and you’ll have time to sleep.”
He scowled back, knowing he could do a pretty great mean face thanks to his inner bear. “You’re just being stingy.”
“I am not.” Fallon sighed, the very picture of ennui. If there was a dictionary listing for “broody vamp,” Fallon’s picture would show up next to it. “I suppose you have figures to support this increase in business?”
“I do.” He hadn’t bothered to bring his tablet, because he knew Fallon had his Mac up and running. “If you’ll go to Dropbox and look at second-quarter final and third-quarter projected….”
“You and your spreadsheets.” Fallon clicked and the computer whirred, and Tanner sat back to let Fallon read through at his own pace. If there was anything Fallon understood, it was sales numbers. Fallon finally glanced up at him, raising his eyebrows. “Well, you’re right. There’s a significant increase in stays.”
“Right? Even with Glenda in to cook some mornings, I’m just running my paws off. And she won’t come up once the snows start.”
“So what do you propose, then?”
“That’s in the PDF.” He never came empty-handed to Fallon anymore. Never.
“Ah.” Fallon clicked around again, only to spend several moments reading. “Well, this is reasonable.”
“I thought so. I’ll begin taking résumés tomorrow and try to do interviews next week.”
“You’ll send me the résumés to review?”
“I will, but we always agreed I get final call.”
Fallon smiled faintly, a tiny slip of fang showing. “Of course.”
Right. Who was he kidding? Fallon had run off every employee he’d ever had, save Glenda and Jami, the night manager. She wasn’t scared of anything. Fallon wasn’t mean or even difficult to work with. He simply hated strangers having access to him.
The guests didn’t have master keys, Tanner would say.
Tanner sighed but smiled anyway. “How goes the book?”
“It goes well. Exceptional, in fact. Hopefully I’ll have it done before you start interviewing. You know how distracting that can be.”
“Oh, boo-hoo. I’m supposed to sleep all winter, and I always have to be awake. Cry me a river.” He stood, knowing Fallon was exaggerating from the tone of his voice. Fallon never gushed. He’d let his partner get back to work. “I’ll let you know when the first interview is scheduled so you can be sure to have all your words in.”
“Thank you.” Now Fallon was grinning, just happy as anything that he’d gotten Tanner’s goat, no doubt.
“You’re welcome. Thanks for taking the time.”
“I always have time for you, Tanner. You know that.”
That was true enough. Fallon was the best friend he’d ever had, and he would defend Tanner to the death. He just wasn’t happy about anything that meant change.
“I appreciate it.” He rose, then moved across to Fallon’s desk to kiss his friend on the cheek. “You’re a good egg, Fallon.”
“I am rotten to the core.” Fallon shooed him away with a languid hand. “Go on. I need to write.”
Tanner left the room, the stairs so much easier going down. He grinned. That had gone far better than he’d expected. Now he could only hope that finding an assistant would be just as easy.
Stories that leave a mark. Julia Talbot loves romance across all the genders and genres, and loves to write about people working to see past the skin they're in to love what lies beneath. Julia Talbot lives in the great mountain and high desert Southwest, where there is hot and cold running rodeo, cowboys, and everything from meat and potatoes to the best Tex-Mex. A full time author, Julia has been published by Dreamspinner, All Romance Ebooks, and Changeling Press. She believes that everyone deserves a happy ending, so she writes about love without limits, where boys love boys, girls love girls, and boys and girls get together to get wild, especially when her crazy paranormal characters are involved. She also writes BDSM and erotic romance as Minerva Howe. Find Julia at @juliatalbot on Twitter, or at www.juliatalbot.com "The mountains are calling, and I must go"
Please read as the entry
process has changed
Monthly giftcard giveaway:
The monthly giftcard giveaway has changed slightly, it will now be done via
Rafflecopter. Simply complete all the entries below which includes a “comment”
entry. You will leave a comment on this post, then copy the URL address above
and copy that into the comment entry in the space provided. Then at the end of
the month I will chose the winner via RC, pop back over to the blog to verify
their comment, then announce the winner!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
This sounds like fun. Love the cover.
ReplyDeleteenjoyed the review
ReplyDeleteThank you for the review. The cover is cute.
ReplyDelete