Welcome one and all to my stop on the DEAD Memory Tour brought to you by I.O. Book Tours. Here you will find my review of the book, author info, the first chapter and best of all an awesome giveaway located at the bottom of the page.
So, everyone have fun and have an enchanting day.
Now, on with the show !
by Lizzie T. Leaf
Discovering an unconscious man who may be vampire, in the neighbor’s yard leads werewolf Tawny Howls down a love path that’s not going to make her father happy. She senses this man is different, but that doesn’t stop her attraction. Werewolves and vampires are traditional enemies, and it doesn’t help when he remembers nothing about his prior life.
Awakening to find a beautiful woman hovering over him, he remembers nothing of his past life. When Tawny decides to call him David, he’s fine with the name and the attention he receives from his nurse. But why does the scent of the prey she hunts excite him more than the food she cooks?
Can the strong attraction between a shifter and a vampire overcome years of distrust for each other’s species? Will the discovery of his true identity ensnare them in a battle that endangers their lives, in an effort to save mankind from Demon rule?
Prologue
“Witch, protect the vampire. Get him to safety.”
Caught
between human and wolf form, the werewolf barely avoided
the talons that slashed
out at him from a charging demon. Bobby knew he’d
better get his head
focused on the fight or his ass was grass. The safety of an
undead being shouldn’t
rank high on the list at the moment.
His
sensitive ears picked up the murmur of a chant over the sounds of
battle.
“Magical
Realms,
Transport
now
To
a Place
That
is vampire safe.”
The
witch had heard his shout and taken care of the problem. Why was
he so concerned about a
vampire? There were only a few he could stand to
be in the same room with,
unless it was to rip off their heads. But from their
first meeting this one
seemed different. He appeared to have compassion and
a soul, if such a thing
was possible for a bloodsucker.
Seconds
before shouting his plea to the witch, Bobby’s sharp ears picked up
a gunshot. Out of the
corner of his eye, he caught sight of the lead demon — a
gigantic, hairy bastard —
raising his sword to relieve the vampire of his head.
What was special about
the bullet to leave the vampire immobilized?
He’d
have to deal with the vampire later. Jumping to the side, he brought
the club in his left hand
down on the skull of the fang-toothed creature that
raced at him. The sword
in his right hand pierced the demon’s throat. Right
now, he had more pressing
matters that required his attention.
Where
in Hell had all these demons come from? If he didn’t watch his
own ass, he’d be a
headless werewolf when one of the sharp talons sliced it
from his shoulders. At
the very least, if one of the creatures managed to sink
its row of razor sharp
teeth into the flesh on any part of his body, it wouldn’t
be a fun night for Bobby
Wolferman.
Nope,
he was fond of all his body pieces and no way would he let one of
the ugly beasts take a
bite out of him.
Bobby’s
adrenaline surged and he laughed as he turned to face the next
charge. Just another day
in the battle of good versus evil in the great city of
New Orleans.
Chapter
One
Tawny
Howls walked around the man that sprawled naked, except for a
cross on a gold chain
around his neck, spread-eagled in the shade of the
huge oak tree that
guarded Billie Joyce Nolan’s cabin. If he were conscious,
he’d probably be griping
about the sand in his crack. The Nolans had never
believed in grass yards,
and he sank into a sand bed. The thought gave a little
lift to her spirits,
pushing away the mood that had eaten at her the past few days.
Several
sniffs of the air detected nothing unusual — that, to her way of
thinking, could be a
problem. She didn’t detect a human scent and he appeared
human.
Puzzled,
she knelt beside the unmoving body. She forced her stare away
from his thick male
appendage that created a rush of heat through her. Instead,
she looked closely at the
wet darkness that soaked his left temple, turning the
dark blond hair into a
glossy, almost black patch with streaks of red. Definitely
congealed blood, but her
keen sense of smell only picked up a faint metallic
aroma.
Something
didn’t feel right. She pushed the uneasiness aside and focused on
determining how bad his
injuries were. What bothered her about him would
have to wait until later.
She glanced toward the rough boards on the porch.
No,
need to get him into a bed. Splinters to go with his other injuries aren’t a
good
thing.
Decision
made, Tawny popped the lock on the cabin door and went back
for the man, tossing him
over her shoulder with ease.
To
think, only a few minutes ago she’d been basking nude as she waited
for the sun to rise.
Starting her day with meditation had become her way of
lifting the depression
she’d battled this week. As the dawn broke, she’d spied
the body.
A
quick glance out the kitchen window as she searched for a cloth to go
with the water now
heating on the stove told her she’d missed her favorite
part of the day. The
explosion of rays when the sun peeked its head over the
mountains always made her
heart sing, no matter how depressed she felt at
that moment.
Oh
well, not the first disappointment in my life lately.
Her
father’s demand that she return home to Appalachia to be with
her own kind and give up
the wild, crazy city ways had started a series of
disappointments.
Wild
hardly described her life in New Orleans. Overworked and underpaid
was a more accurate
description. Never a party animal, her job as a detective
with the New Orleans
Police Department left little time for wild and crazy,
unless Daddy considered
sleep to fall into the party girl category. Besides,
given all the evil she
saw in her chosen profession, spending time with her
own company seemed safer.
Home
less than a week, she realized her father’s real reason for wanting
her back with “her kind”
as he kept saying.
“Daughter,
it’s time you picked a mate. In fact it’s past time.”
The
males he invited to the farm for her to make a connection with were
everything she’d left
home to avoid. The one last weekend topped the list.
Arrogant and demanding,
he wore his “I’m in charge” attitude like a badge
of honor. In less than
five minutes she knew marriage to this stud would have
the little woman at home
with kids while he ran with the pack. No way did
a life of barefoot and
pregnant fit into her plans.
Besides,
when and if I do decide to marry, it will be for love.
This “mating for the good
of the pack” made no sense. She didn’t need to
be tied to some male just
to satisfy animal lust. An occasional hook-up with
a human male took care of
that need.
The
hiss of water bubbling over from the boiling bucket brought her back
to the present. “Enough
wool gathering,” Tawny muttered as she tossed the
dishtowel, the only cloth
she could find, over her arm and poured steaming
water into a pan. On her
way from the kitchen, she grabbed the bottle of rubbing
alcohol she’d discovered
in a cabinet. A soft moan caught her attention,
and she hurried to the
bedroom.
The
blotch of blood that oozed from his temple made his face appear
paler against the white
pillowcase. She set the bowl on the table beside the
bed and eased her behind
onto the edge of the mattress. He didn’t move with
the shift of the bed, so
hopefully he’d passed out again. Cleaning up the gash
on his temple wouldn’t be
fun for him if he came around while she poured
alcohol on the freshly
cleaned wound.
Chewing
on her bottom lip, Tawny studied the crease closer. With the
blood cleaned away, it
was obvious her patient had been grazed by a bullet.
What
kind of trouble is this guy in? And what have I got myself into playing
Good
Samaritan?
Her
cop instincts made it impossible to ignore the body in the yard, even
if her tender heart, as
her mother always called it when Tawny’s sympathy
for someone kicked in,
would have let her.
This
wasn’t the time to worry about the situation. His other bruises, cuts,
and scratches needed
attention, and as she worked her glance kept going
back to the bullet
crease. She’d spent enough time at crime scenes to know a
gunshot wound when she
saw one.
“Oooh.”
The soft moan and restless movement alerted her he was coming
out of the coma.
Her
patient reached a hand toward his head, and Tawny pulled it back. “I
just got your head all
cleaned up and would be most appreciative if you didn’t
touch it and spread germs
again.”
“What?
Where…” His eyes fluttered open, then closed. “Where am I?”
“You’re
in my neighbor’s bed. She’s not around at the moment, but I don’t
think she’ll have any
issues with my bringing you here. After all, I found you
in her front yard.”
He
forced his eyes open again and this time looked at Tawny.
Blue.
Oh my goodness, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man with such blue eyes.
With
that blond hair and all those muscles, he’s what Granny Ethel used to call a
right
handsome buck.
His
lips curved upward in an attempted smile. “Who are you?”
“Tawny
Howls. My family’s farm shares boundaries with the Nolan place,
which is where we are.”
“And
it appears you’re my guardian angel.” He attempted another smile
that ended up in a
grimace. “I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck.”
“Well,
I won’t make you feel any worse by telling you what you look like.”
Tawny couldn’t stop the
grin that spread across her full mouth. “All I can say
is, it had to have been a
heck of a big truck.”
“That
good, huh?” He lifted his hand and she grabbed it again.
“I
think we need to get your head bandaged. Hang on and let me see what
I can find in the closet.
I’m sure Billie Joyce has another set of pillowcases we
can use if I can’t find
anything else.” Tawny rummaged through drawers and
the old wardrobe that
stood in the corner taking up too much room in the
cramped surroundings.
She
had to settle for another white pillowcase, and after ripping it into
strips, she bandaged the
still-seeping head wound.
This
guy better count his blessings. I’m amazed there’s not more blood.
Leaning
back, Tawny admired her work. “You look like a regular Sultan
waiting for your harem to
arrive.”
“Nice.
Every man’s dream.” He mustered a little chuckle. “Thank you…
Tawny, isn’t it?”
“That’s
my name. Which leads me to the big question, what’s yours?”
“I’m…”
His
silence stopped her efforts to pick up the remnants left over from her
bandage creation. The
puzzled look on his face pulled her back to the bed.
Oh
shit!
His
skin had taken on a pasty sheen.
He’s
going to pass out.
“Is
your name so bad that you don’t want to share it with me?” A little
humor might get him
through this rough spot.
“No.”
He stared quietly at his hands folded across his chest like a dead man,
refusing to meet her
stare. “I don’t know who I am.”
“You
have no idea where you sent him?” Bobby paced back and forth
in front of the giant
stone fireplace in his New Orleans mansion. “Cate, I
asked you to send the
vampire someplace safe, not somewhere unknown.”
He stopped and raised his
eyes to the heavens. There were times werewolves
needed the aid of prayer,
especially when they prayed for control.
“Look,
Mister Bossy, if you recall things were a little hectic. I think it’s
called the ‘heat of
battle’ and I did the best I could to save Fang’s ass.”
If the
glare she shot in his direction held the daggers it was meant to
convey, he’d be a dead
Were. And she had the power to accomplish the feat
if she chose.
“You
should be grateful, shifter, that I had the sense of mind to conjure
a spell that quickly.”
“Right.”
Bobby dropped in the closest chair and attempted to focus his
mind on a calm place.
“Can you recall exactly what you said?”
Cate
shook her head in frustration and shot Bobby another nasty glare.
“The same thing I told
you five minutes ago. I asked the universe to take him
to a place that is
vampire safe.” She tucked her legs under her and crossed her
arms. “I’m not going to
repeat it again, so don’t bother asking.”
She
had repeated her chant to him at least a dozen times since their return
to his house, and he
couldn’t blame her being annoyed. Yes, he could understand
the heat of battle.
They’d been outnumbered, and the vampire being
taken out of action
hadn’t helped. Still, between the two of them, they’d left
a lot of dead demons, or
at the very least, a bunch of badly wounded ones.
Too bad they healed
quickly.
His
problem now, in addition to the finding the vampire, was to figure
out the identity of the
demon leader. He had more power than any demon
Bobby had come up against
previously — a giant, ugly creature, who appeared
to take delight in
inflicting pain, and some of the demons had called him boss.
Bobby wished they’d used
the big guy’s actual name so he would have a starting
base on where to find out
more.
Life
these days had become a battleground for Bobby and his allies, and
the situation kept
ramping up. Lately, it seemed as if someone had booked a
demon convention in the
city and forgot to inform him. Even his contact on
the police force
acknowledged there was some bad shit going down.
“Why
don’t you contact that vampire friend of yours up north? My high
priestess said he’s in
tight with the blood sucker king.” Cate tugged on her
short skirt in an attempt
to cover more of her never-ending legs.
It
will take a strong spell to make that piece of fabric longer.
For a
brief moment, Bobby regretted his interest wasn’t in the opposite
sex. The witch would make
some lucky male a good mate.
Turning
from the appealing view of shapely female legs, Bobby stared into
the flickering flames of
the fireplace and considered Cate’s suggestion. The
last time Aaron Lowell
came to New Orleans to check on his investments, he
brought a friend with
him. The man had only been introduced as Daniel to
Bobby and the rest of
their little investment group, when they met to discuss
their various business
issues.
Always
one to keep a sharp ear to the grapevine, Bobby heard the rumor
that Daniel was the new
vampire king. From Cate’s suggestion to contact
Aaron, it must be a known
fact, not just a rumor.
Hairs
along his spine prickled and then receded — a sure indication to
Bobby that his decision
had just been made.
The
only question that needs answering is the how? Shall I call Aaron, or simply
show up in New York City at his bar?
Author Bio
In addition, Making Christmas, a Christmas Historical novella set during the Civil War won Love Romances Café Best Historical for 2011 and is a finalist in the Aspen Gold for Best Novella.
Beyond Magic, the first book in the Magical Love series won the 2012 Award of Excellence Best Paranormal/Fantasy/Sy-Fi, and is a finalist for Best Paranormal in the Aspen Gold. Winners are announced in mid to late October.
Since discovering the fun of writing paranormal, she plays with creating vampires, faeries and other immortals. Her current focus is the DEAD series. Musa Publishing has re-released the first four novellas in the series and DEAD Hot, a new novella, is scheduled to release in October. Emerging Magic, the second novel in the Magical Love series will also release in late October or early November with Passion in Print Press.
When not creating mischief for paranormal beings, she can be found exploring the other genres she wants to write. She also serves as the 2012 President for the Heart of Denver Romance Writers.
Lizzie loves to read, spend time with her family and travel with her best friend husband during her free time, on which most of friends ask…“what free time?”
Find Lizzie T. Leaf Online
DEAD Memory is Lizzie's fourth book in the DEAD series and things just keep getting better and better. Every book I have read from this series I have loved. Some of the characters developed to quickly for me and sometimes it could feel a bit rushed but some how it didn't take away from the story and left the book the awesome page turner I like so much.
In DEAD Memory we meet up with Tawny, who we briefly learn about in the end of the second book. In this book we learn that Tawny and her family have secrets of their own about being werewolves. While out and about Tawny stumbles onto BJ's grandparents house and discovers a man passed out in front. She looks him over and sees that he is bleeding from his head. When he wakes up he doesn't have any idea who he is or where he is from. The only thing that we can tell from this point is that Tawny really likes this guy and her father isn't going to be to happy about it.
While I really like all the books, so far in this series I think this one might be one of my favorites I really like Tawny and she is so relatable when it comes to wanting to be happy but not willing to change who she is to please her parents or anyone else for that matter. When she was first introduced, to me she felt like she was nothing but a child and then here she is all grown up and a werewolf. Lizzie brings something else to her books that many authors are unable to do and that is to bring humanity to characters who one would think should be different because they themselves are not human.
I'm excited for the last book DEAD Hot and to see how Lizzie ends everything or maybe ends the series in a way that could leave room for more to come later.
I rate this book :
I have to say that if you haven't went and grabbed your copy of these great books yet then you really need too. You won't be disappointed. This series has become one of my favorites.
*Disclosure Notice*
I received a free copy in exchange for my personal and honest review. I was not compensated in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed herein are my own.
Thank you for hosting Lizzie today :)
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