Bitten by Paranormal Romance #bloghop

Paranormal romance. Mmmm. Vampires, werewolves, and shifters. Oh my. These days, paranormal romance seems to be synonymous with erotic romance, and the more erotic the better for many readers. But how did the ideas of erotica and paranormal come to be such cozy bedfellows?

I just started reading Dracula for the first time, and the edition I have comes with a long introduction with a breakdown of Bram Stoker's history, as well as the manuscript. Did you know that Bram Stoker was quite possibly gay and might have used his writing symbolically to illustrate his true feelings? Or that many of the vampiric/blood references in Dracula were sexual in nature, even alluding to fellatio and infidelity, and that Dracula himself was sexually ambiguous with an eye for men as well as women? For its time, Dracula was an extremely erotic book, even though we don't see much in the way of outright sexuality. So, could the Granddaddy of all paranormals simply be the first erotically flavored paranormal romance, and all vampire stories that have come since simply carried on the tradition and followed the natural progression into racier and more obvious eroticism? Who knows, but today's paranormals certainly make for good reading, don't they?

So tell me, which do you prefer: vampires or werewolves? Who's your favorite paranormal author, and what's your favorite paranormal book? Because even I, an author of paranormal romance, love to find new books to read. :)

PRIZES
A winner will be drawn on September 17 to receive a $10 Amazon gift card and a copy of one of my books: Rise of the Fallen, Heart of the Warrior, or Micah's Calling. Please leave your email where I can contact you if you win. If I am unable to contact the winner within 24 hours after the draw, I will select a new winner.

Make sure you visit the other blogs on the hop to enter for one of many more prizes.

Good luck to everyone, and happy paranormal romance reading!

...Since this is an over 18 giveaway, here's an over 18 excerpt from my latest work in the AKM series, Micah's Calling, which is a follow-up to Rise of the Fallen:

Trace took a deep breath and blew it out as he stood, and then he made the short walk to the door and carefully opened it. He couldn't even breathe, he was so nervous. And yet, something drove him onward.

After entering the hall, Trace quietly followed the sounds of their muffled grunts and gentle, rhythmic gasps. A soft cadence of slapping flesh beckoned him forward, and his cock kicked up to full mast as he thought about the two people dearest to him making love in the way of true mates.

Damn, but he wanted what they had so fucking badly.

He kept to the shadows, using his power to partially cloak himself, which wasn't hard to do in the dark hour before dawn. The blinds and drapes hadn't even closed over the windows, yet, and no lights were on. Only the lights from the city below, brightened by the snow, illuminated the room.

And then he saw them.

On the couch.

Their coupled forms faced each other, and their bodies moved in perfect synchronization. Sam was on top, her hands pressed against the back of the couch on either side of Micah's head, her body churning and bouncing aggressively as Micah took her hard from the bottom. She faced Trace, but her eyes were closed. Her face was the picture of bliss with her bottom lip dropped open as she breathed heavily.

Her breasts were small, but buoyant, and they jiggled with the power of Micah's thrusts.

Trace pressed his back against the wall and watched, his cock straining as he gaped.

The two of them together were beautiful. So in love. What did it feel like to love someone like that? And to be loved the same way in return? To want someone so badly you didn't care about anything else?

Micah suddenly changed tempo, slowing down, breathing hard. Sam's eyelids opened halfway as she smiled at him and rotated her hips around and around.

Trace hardly dared make a sound for fear of being discovered. He didn't want them to stop.

The air smelled of sex and of lilacs mixed with Micah. Sweet and sultry. Heavenly.

Then it happened. Sam's gaze lifted and caught Trace's. He froze, unable to turn away, unable to move, and unable to speak.

Almost immediately, Sam's body seized and shuddered as she fell into orgasm. Her eyes rolled back as her body collapsed forward against Micah, her breathing erratic and choked as she wrapped her arms around Micah's head and held his face against her chest before opening her eyes and staring right into Trace's once more. And she came again, gasping, but not looking away from him.

Oh fuck! Fuck! He was dead. Micah was going to kill him. And yet, Trace couldn't move.

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