Tag: kick-ass

I want to welcome fellow paranormal romance author Rosalie Lario who is here to share with us her latest release from Entangled Publishing! Like me, Rosalie is a lawyer who decided writing novels might be a fun change from writing contracts.

Mark of the Sylph is Book Two in Rosalie’s Demons of Infernum series and here is a little taste of what the novel is about:

Half-demon Taeg is desperate to free his pregnant sister-in-law, who is spellbound to an indestructible book that will create an army of the undead. He is convinced that an ancient sword can destroy the book and the spell forever, but this relic has been hidden for a millennia by a powerful glamour. The clock begins to run out on his search when an old rival goes after the book and Taeg’s family in his quest for revenge.
Librarian Maya Flores has a secret: she’s immune to magic and is well aware of the supernatural beings prowling the streets of New York City. Haunted by a brutal demon attack that took her family, she is on a one-woman mission to destroy the evil demons who did it—and any others who get in her way.

Maya is Taeg’s best hope for uncovering the sword. Unfortunately, she wants nothing more than to kill him. As he fights for her trust and to save his family, she is forced to face the truth that not all demons are evil. And the worst part? She might be falling in love with one, too.

Here to tell us a little more about Mark of the Sylph is Rosalie!

I admit, I’m a huge fan of mythology. Whether it’s Greek, Egyptian, or Welsh, I love reading the myths of other cultures. In fact, one of my undergraduate majors was Classical Studies, i.e. the study of Ancient Greece and Rome. So when I started writing my paranormal romance series, I knew I had to throw a little bit of mythology in there. Just cause it’s fun. 🙂

The DEMONS OF INFERNUM features four half-demon brothers who work as interdimensional bounty hunters. My latest release, Mark of the Sylph (#2 in the series), follows Taeg, the second oldest brother. He’s on a mission to find an object that will destroy The Book of the Dead, an ancient book made of indestructible material which contains a spell for resurrection of the dead. His pregnant sister-in-law is bound to the Book, which puts her life in danger from those who seek to wield its power. So when Taeg discovers that Excalibur, the sword of Merlin, not only exists, but also has the power to destroy any object, he can’t wait to get his hands on it. The problem is the sword is hidden by a glamour rendering it invisible. Lucky for him, he’s discovered a rare human who is immune to all forms of magic. But as he’s about to find out, she’s not too fond of demons. He’ll have a hell of a time convincing her to help him find the sword.

Here’s an excerpt, which takes place after Taeg learns about Maya’s ability and tracks her down. Suffice it to say, she’s not happy to see him 🙂 :

Taeg tightened his hold on her wrist until she dropped the dagger. He grabbed her other wrist and pinned it back. “Look at me.”

Yeah, apparently she wasn’t in an accommodating mood. Because instead of listening she jerked her knee up, catching him square in the junk.

“Ooof.” That freaking hurt.

He let go, hands automatically lowering to protect his goods, and she shoved hard on his chest. As he staggered several feet back, she spun and delivered a stunning roundhouse kick that almost had him admiring her form, right before it caught him in the side and sent him sprawling.

“What’s the deal, lady?”

She grabbed the knife and flew at him faster than he would’ve expected from a human.
Taeg shoved off the ground and sidestepped her attack, and recaptured her wrist. He yanked her arm up behind her as he maneuvered behind her back.

“Shit,” Maya cried. The knife clanged to the ground, and he loosened his hold a fraction.

“Stop. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Yeah. Right.” Her tone made it clear what she thought of that.

Pushing her to the nearest wall, Taeg turned her to face him. He kept one hand on her shoulder and the other on her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes.

“Calm down, Maya.” The familiar hum of energy in his ears told him his charm was doing its thing. “I’m not going to hurt you. I only want to ask you a few questions.”

Her scowl softened long enough for him to assume his power had worked. He let her go and backed up a few steps. “How do you know what I am? Can you see the real me?”

Rather than answering, she lifted a knee and slid one of her dainty hands into her boot. When she withdrew it, she clutched another dagger, a match to the one on the ground. Suddenly the reason for her boots became quite clear. The woman was a freakin’ walking arsenal.

“Oh, shit.”

She kicked off the wall and leapt into the air in a flying move that Jackie Chan would have envied, adjusting the grip on her dagger. Hand high in the air, she aimed for his neck. The woman was clearly determined to remove his head from the rest of his body. Taeg dropped his legs out from under him, hitting the ground hard.

Maya’s legs struck his back as she flew over him. He untangled himself and whirled around, but damn she recovered fast. She tossed her dagger to the side to avoid jabbing herself as she tucked and rolled. Then she jumped to her feet and faced him with both fists up. Her face was almost expressionless, her heavy panting the only indicator she was battling to the death. Damned if his interest wasn’t drawn to her ample chest beneath that tight black top.

She smiled, almost as if she were enjoying herself, and came at him with another kick.

He leapt back to avoid being hit. “Damn it, I’m trying to talk to you, lady.”

Maya sounds like my kind of kick-ass heroine! Thank you so much for sharing this with us today, Rosalie. To find out more about Mark of the Sylph, please visit http://www.entangledpublishing.com/mark-of-the-sylph/or Rosalie’s website at www.rosalielario.com.

Rosalie would love to know, do you enjoy reading stories that contain some sort of mythology within them? Read any good ones lately? 🙂