Title: Absolution
Author: P.L. Parker
Genre: Paranormal/Vampire Romance
Book Blurb:
From the mists of time…dark powers arise.
Born in blood and entombed for six hundred years, the dhampir Chloe awakens. Zaccarius, the most feared Slayer of all, is sent to determine her worth and, if necessary, to render justice. Enthralled by the purity of her mind, he becomes her protector, only to fall beneath the armies of the Dark Master Jochad.
Ancient and dying, Jochad demands Chloe choose—her blood for the life of her lover!
Excerpt:
Gripping the railing in terror, Chloe stood at the edge of the soaring parapet, gawking at the ground so far below. Gusting wind whipped her hair and tore at her gown as she struggled to maintain her precarious position. Against her better judgment, the threesome had convinced her to join them on the roof of the hotel, explaining they intended to teach her to fly. She grimaced. So here she stood, teetering on the brink of disaster, too fearful to climb back over the metal railing. The ground was too far away and even glancing down caused her head to spin and her stomach to roil.
“Just take a deep breath and jump.” Benny urged her on, flipping through a book. “Just imagine yourself flying.”
“Think ye I’m a lackwit that I would willingly leap to my death?”
“You won’t die.” Shauna smiled, complacent in her understanding of the workings of a vampire. “You’re already dead.”
“I don’t know if this is a good idea…” Earl protested. “She doesn’t act like she can do this.”
“She can!” Benny exclaimed. “It says right here,” he thumbed a page, “that vampires can fly.”
“But I be only half-vampire,” Chloe ground out through trembling lips. “And if the book be wrong, I be dead for certain.”
Benny heaved a great sigh. “You can do this,” he crooned. “Just let go and soar like a bird.”
“If ye be so convinced, come to this side and fly with me. I’ll hold ye tight!”
Saucer eyed, he leaned out, calculating the distance to the ground. “I don’t think so.”
“Yet ye would ask me to?”
“Chloe.” He tried again. “If you don’t do this, how’re you gonna fight the bad guys next time?”
“If I be dead, 'twill not matter!”
Floating above them, cocooned from sight and mind, Zaccarius viewed their actions with interest. He’d left earlier, instructing them to stay put until he returned, but his intuition had gone on overdrive and he’d returned before his intended meeting with Alisdair. As he surmised, they weren’t in the room, and it’d taken little to track them to this location. As he watched and listened, a feeling welled up, something he hadn’t felt in years. He coughed, recovering quickly as Chloe, her sharp hearing attuned to the sounds of the night, glanced up, curious, her glowing eyes searching the night sky.
Laughter! That was what he felt—laughter. The scene was from some comedic nightmare. His sweet Chloe balanced on the edge, shaking in her boots, while the dimwitted duo and their like-minded female cajoled her into jumping. He was ready to intervene if she actually jumped, but her good sense told him she wouldn’t.
“Maybe we should try something else first,” Earl interjected. “Something easier, like thrall or mesmerizing or whatever it’s called. We can work on the harder stuff later.”
“Thralling isn’t going to save her if they come for her.”
Shauna picked up a book, reading aloud. "The lore of the vampire includes soaring above the treetops."
Chloe peeked down again, then shut her eyes. If anything, the ground looked even farther away. She leaned back, rolled over the rail and fell onto the rooftop. Solid footing never felt so good.
Benny’s face appeared over her. “You can’t just give up!”
“I canst not do it.” The ground be too far away, and flying impossible!
Benny consulted his vampire bible again. “Okay. Maybe we could just try the disappearing act. Says here that all vampires can dissolve into mist—and we know that happens because we’ve seen it.”
Zaccarius snorted. He was missing a very important strategy meeting and Alisdair would be intensely displeased, but this was just too good to miss. Idiotic as it seemed, the dimwitted duo and their female compatriot just might have something.
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Why is your featured book a must-read?
Besides the darkness surrounding vampire stories, this is a fun book.
The story begins as Chloe, a 600 year old half-vampire, is resurrected by two unsuspecting research assistants. She’s not the norm for a vampire, in fact, she didn’t know she was a vampire. Her father cared for her and kept her “condition” to himself and his friend Gavin, and when he couldn’t care for her anymore, he entombed her hoping that someone in the future could save her.
Zaccarius, the hero, is hot, tortured, and when he is sent to determine her worth, he falls under her gentle spell.
There is a lot of humor in this novel, centering around the two research assistants and a female cousin of Benny’s. Lots of action and a different viewpoint to the whole vampire mystique.
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Author Biography:
I write stories with alpha males and strong, determined women. I am a dreamer, an avid reader of fiction, a sometimes gardener and an inept crafter. I live in Idaho. I have a husband, three sons, two daughters-in-law, a granddaughter and little grandson. Over the years, I taught and performed dance but as time passed, I decided to try my hand at a new endeavor - writing. I enjoy life and all its promises.
Social Media Links:
Website: https://www.plparker.net/
Blogspot: http://plparker.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PLParker