Cardinal Desires

 

TEMPORARILY OUT OF PRINT.

From the Inside Cover:

How can Katy McCaully resist Sterling Fox?  At fifteen, she fell in love with a man in a painting, and he looks exactly like that Novgorodian knight.  Even though he’s got the keys to her chemistry set, she mustn’t succumb to his charms.  She’s a forensic psychiatrist working with Scotland Yard.  He’s a high-profile journalist who invades the underworld for a story or broadcasts live at the scene of the world’s worst tragedies.  Police and media do not mix.  They are both trying to capture the same animalistic killer whom newspapers have dubbed The Vampire Slayer.  Modern London doesn’t know that the Slayer has also killed four vampires.  Katy doesn’t know that Sterling is a vampire until too late—after she’s fallen in love with him.

CARDINAL DESIRES won the Georgia Romance Writers’ Magnolia Award in Mainstream.

Book Video:

Excerpt:

A strong hand closed on hers, and Katy knew how the sea felt at tide-turn, how a tree felt when lightning poured from the sky, and at once its roots quivered with glory and death.  In the comfort of Sterling’s embrace, his body heat warming her, the need for him was hot as a fever.

“I’m on your side.”  He squeezed her hand.  “We’re not enemies.”

Common sense presented its case.  “We don’t have to be enemies.  We can’t be friends.”

“Good.  I don’t want to be your friend.”  He wound an auburn curl around his finger and touched her hair to his lips.

An electric charge sizzled through Katy.  Throw your heart over and follow it.  Tuesdays, she had riding lessons with a wiry Scotswoman.  When she balked at jumping her horse over a six-foot fence, Dority had given her that sage advice.  “Throw your heart over and follow it, lass.  You’ll land fine on the other side.”

“We’ll take my car.  I’ll drive you home.”  He shot her a sexy wink.  “If you want to go home.”

The arrogance of the man!  Handsome devil expected women to tumble into bed with him.  She shrugged off his embrace.  “Taking a lot for granted, aren’t you, Mr. Fox?”

“I’m kidding, okay?”  He frowned.  “Give me a break, sweetheart.”

Sweetheart.  Her heart sailed over that six-foot fence.

“I know you were kidding.”  She grimaced.  “So was I.”

Katy could no longer resist.  She rested her head in the crook of his shoulder.  He smelled of leather and a faint trace of herbal shampoo.  Never had she been more aware of her body, her emotions, the wind and rain.  In the shelter of his arm, she felt safe and complete.

Suddenly, she was flying.

Sterling seized her in one arm, balancing the umbrella above them, and swung her over the rain gushing across the sidewalk.  He set her on her feet in the dry but didn’t release her from the one-armed embrace.  She gazed into his eyes as if he’d appeared from nowhere, and, in a way, his appearance was a miracle.  Her warrior had stepped down from the canvas into reality.  She imagined his beautiful body naked, wrapped around her, legs and arms entwined.  Her heart thumped a hungry beat, echoing between her legs, her trigger tingling.  Willful eyes wandered to the tantalizing shape beside his zipper.

“Katy,” he released her, took her chin in his hand, “you can’t hold this line much longer.”

The cold truth drilled through her heart.  “You’re too accustomed to getting your own way.”

“Wrong again.”  The passion in those smoky green eyes would have knocked her socks off had she been wearing socks.

Her breath froze in her lungs.  He didn’t seem to be breathing.  The world jolted along its way as two strangers stood in the rain and tried to deny the most natural of human needs.

“Sometimes,” the thought escaped her, “I feel as if—”

“We know each other.”  Lips parted, he bent to kiss her.

If he kissed her, she was a goner.

Reviews:

The Romance Reviews:

The world the author has created is a captivating story with a steady paced
plot, vivid details and compelling characters that grab the reader’s attention
and keep it to the very end. The author portrays the characters’ emotions and
personalities with an intensity and clarity that bring them to life, making it
easy for the reader to relate to them. The conflict with the serial killer is
well developed and the author paints the action and suspense with great detail
engaging the reader’s imagination.

New York Journal of Books Review:

In this dark portrayal of contemporary London scenery and society, there’s elegant description and sharp wit, as well as a love story sweeping from the past into the present, of a monster who fights not to be and the woman who accepts him however he is. All combine to make this a welcome second entry in this series.  http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/review/cardinal-desires