Launch Party: Worth Dying For print release!

Hi Everyone! My name is Luxie Ryder. I want to thank everyone for attending the party and a big thank you to Judy and Marianne for being such wonderful hosts!

I write what I like to call 'Sexy Stories for Real Women!' and I want to take the opportunity today to tell you about a couple of my new releases.

First up, Worth Dying For, which I am pleased to announce is now available in print!

Blurb:
Is a vampire's love worth dying for?

Malachi Bane had been condemned to live forever without the woman he would love until the day he died. He waits out eternity in isolation, on a small island in the Maine Archipelago. When a visiting couple threatens his peaceful existence, Bane prepares to kill them if he has to, in order to defend his home and protect his privacy. Instead, he is compelled to save the life of the woman he has become strangely fascinated with, not realising the consequences of his actions at first.

Amber Kirkwood isn't impressed by Bane's macho attitude and has no idea how she got embroiled in the mess her life has become. Her rescue from the island and subsequent arrest for her colleague David's unexplained death, sets off a chain of events she has no control over and no desire to be a part of. On top of that, she is then kidnapped by Bane and held hostage so he can protect her from Katerina, the vengeful female who created him and has never forgiven him for leaving her.

When the physical and emotional bonds begin to grow between the unlikely couple, Bane longs to 'change' Amber, in order to save her life and keep her with him forever. But she fears for her immortal soul and, with so much at stake, Amber can't be sure that what she feels for Bane truly is worth dying for.

Reader Advisory: This book contains moderate horror and mild scenes of violence.

Excerpt:

Amber’s mind had stopped automatically rejecting every new thing it was being forced to deal with.

Travelling at speed across the gulf in a small inflatable boat—propelled only by the power of a superhuman being—was insane enough. She laughed, then cried, then laughed again as she watched his huge arms powering through the water, the moonlight glistening along his wet skin the only reason she could see him at all. The motion forced her to relax and the gentle sway of the dinghy as it glided almost silently across the ocean lulled her to sleep.

Bane apologised when he woke her up and, despite her protests, refused to let her walk. The terrain they encountered minutes later would have been impassable even in daylight and she found herself admitting that he’d been right to insist on carrying her on his back again.

A fog had rolled over the hillsides, smothering the ground. It swirled around Bane’s feet and rolled up towards her, evaporating against the heat of her legs and leaving small drops of water instead to soak into her clothing. The trees around them frightened her, seeming like dark, hulking shadows waiting to attack. Amber closed her eyes and clung on tighter. Every night she’d ever spent on this island had terrified her.
The mist cleared higher up the mountain, disappearing altogether by the time they reached a dense patch of trees covering the entrance to a cave. The foliage rendered the opening invisible from only a few feet away. Bane carried her to the lip and she clutched at him in fear. The mouth of the cave looked dark and bottomless and Amber tensed as he walked towards the edge without hesitation.

“You’re safe,” he said, as if sensing how afraid the idea of going in there with him made her. “You’ll like it inside. I promise.”

He stepped off into the void. She screamed and clutched at his shoulders, squeezing her eyes tight shut. A gentle bouncy feeling told her they had landed seconds before he put her down in the darkness.
Amber suddenly knew what it would feel like to be deaf, blind and vulnerable as she waited in the pitch black. An overhead light came on without warning, causing her to scream again. Bane stepped away from her, a frown on his face as he rubbed his ear.

“I’ve got really sensitive hearing,” he said when he caught her looking at him. “If you can help it, try not to scream in here. The sound is intensified and it’s agony for me.”

So, he had a weakness. Amber couldn’t help but relish the fact. She stored the information away for future use, empowered by the knowledge. Bane’s quiet laughter drew her attention back to him.

“I said it was agony, not that I couldn’t tolerate it, so you can forget whatever you are thinking behind those pretty green eyes of yours.”

The urge to hit him almost overwhelmed her. Smug…arrogant…domineering. The words raced through her head and she bit her lip against the desire to scream them at him for as long and as loud as she could. Let him be the victim for a change. Let him wish someone gave a damn about how he felt. But he walked away, forcing her to forget the pathetic mutiny she was planning and follow him through a narrow corridor into the living area.

“Wow. Where’s Ursula Andress?” she muttered under her breath, smothering a laugh when what looked like a secret, underground lair from a James Bond movie came into view.
The centre of the cave rose cathedral like above the modern, sparsely furnished living area. A couple of leather sofas lined the walls and an entertainment centre with a large flat screen TV dominated another. The opposite side of the room had been turned into an enormous storage space filled with thousands of books. Amber estimated it had to be twenty feet tall by almost as wide, with shelves carved out of the rock face.

“Sit down.” He didn’t wait for her reply and gave her a gentle shove.

“This is crazy.”

“What did you expect?”

“I don’t know. Bearskin rugs and a log cabin, I guess.”

Bane snorted. “Like some kind of savage, I suppose?”

Find out more at Total-E-Bound or at LuxieRyderOnline.com