Title: MARKED RAVEN
Author: J.B. Dane
Genre: Urban Fantasy PI Mystery Comedy
Book Blurb:
Most guys wouldn’t mind that it’s practically raining females at the mansion, some expected, some surprises, one Bram Farrell (aka The Raven) could do without. And then there is his new secretary, Naomie, who he’s falling in love with. Keeping her alive—and himself—is going to be tricky.Outrunning an alchemist, a vampire, and a witch will take more than cutting wit.
Luckily, this paranormal Sam Spade has some resources besides his dry sense of humor. His dachshundric hellhound is with him and his magic is trickling back. Which should be helpful considering someone has put a hit out on him.
There’s a lot on Bram’s plate. The question is, will he live through it this time?
Excerpt:
It wasn’t until I was standing at the booth that I caught a glance at the girl wedged as far back in the opposite seat as she could get. Her lipstick was definitely candy-apple in color and unsmudged, unlike her friend’s. Her eyes were heavily kohled and were unnaturally wide. Her gaze darted from the couple across from her to the strange assortment of other patrons. An untouched mug of troll beer sat before her and she had the lower edge of her bottom lip firmly gripped between her teeth.
“Naomie!” I gasped.
Beelz had lagged behind me in the crowd, apparently lingering to help himself to something’s unattended meal. Plates were much easier to reach in Great Dane mode. At my exclamation, I caught his instant drop back to dachshund form from the corner of my eye.
“Boss!” Naomie gasped back at me. But I saw her shoulders relax. Her teeth freed her bottom lip. Yep, Sir Bram had come to rescue her. Everything was—or soon would be—fine in her world once more.
“What the hell are you doing here? Do you have any idea how dangerous this place is?” I demanded. Okay, maybe I snarled it. The Bridge catered to folks who snarled. It was catching.
The ghoul pushed to his feet and found that, even standing, I had the height advantage. I saw the balk, but he decided to brazen it out. “Clear off, slick. This party’s doing fine without you part of it.”
His shirt was unbuttoned to display a hairy chest and a gold amulet on a thick chain. I grabbed a handful of both fabric and chain, dragged him up on his toes, and leaned into his upturned glare. “Pal, the Seventies called and left a message. They want the wardrobe back.”
“You don’t scare me,” he growled.
“You know who I am?” I countered.
“Yeah. The guy in the books. The Raven.”
True, but Naomie and her friend didn’t know that. “Fictional character, bucko,” I said and added a nasty grin. “But if I were The Raven, what do you think I’d do to a slime ball like you?”
He tried to shrug me off and found he lacked the traction to do so. “I ain’t doing nothin’ wrong, Farrell. Leave me be.”
I glanced over at Naomie. “Time to go.”
She scooted across the bench so quickly I wondered whether Ruth had begun waxing the seats. Her friend, however, stayed where she was.
I leveled a glare at her. “You, too, sugar.”
She took a deep breath, folded her arms across her awesomely displayed rack, and turned mulish. “No,” she said. “I’m enjoying myself.”
“You won’t for long. This piece of shit”—I shook the dangling ghoul until his teeth rattled a bit—“has already slipped you happy drugs. He likes to make stupid little girls disappear. He’ll sell you to anyone with cash in hand and let them do whatever they want to you. If they happen to kill you, he’ll just charge them extra and arrange to have your body disposed of.”
“You’re just trying to scare me,” she insisted adamantly.
“Apparently doing a lousy job of it, too,” I said and turned my attention back to the ghoul, letting him drop back to his feet. He staggered a bit but caught himself on the table. “You’ve got a relative I’ve been asked to locate. Solomon Prisk. You think he’ll like hearing that you and I had a nice cozy chat?”
“We ain’t having no cozy anything, Farrell,” he said.
I smiled in a way that was far from friendly. “You know that, and I know that, but do you think Sol will believe it if I tell select people how helpful you’ve been in giving me information about him?” Not that I’d be grilling him about Prisk quite yet. I’d hunt him down for that treat in the very near future, though.
The ghoul’s expression alone said his cousin wouldn’t take his word as line-and-verse in the bible of the streets. His bravado packed up and left.
“Fine. Take ‘em both with you,” he snarled, then pushed through the crowd toward the bar. Not a one of the self-absorbed customers had paid any attention to our contretemps, and they ignored his shoves as well. Life went on for the regulars at The Bridge Bar and Grill.
In his absence, Ruth surfaced and glared at both Naomie and her friend. “You’re both barred from this establishment,” she announced. “We don’t like troublemakers.”
Naomie’s friend gaped at her. “Troublemakers! He’s the troublemaker here!” She pointed at me.
“He’s the woodsman like Chris Hemsworth in those movies,” Ruth corrected. “I called him to save your scrawny neck. Now get the hell out.”
Naomie was already on her feet and buttoning a long trench coat that looked like it had seen duty in World War II. She spotted Beelz at her feet before she finished. “Oh, you brought back up!” she cried and swept him up in her arms, getting super emotional. Tears of relief leaked from her eyes.
Beelz took care of washing them from her face. Didn’t seem to mind that, with them making her eyeliner run, they wouldn’t be exactly tasty.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/books/marked-raven-raven-tales-book-two-the-raven-tales-2-by-j-b-dane
It’s a brand-new year, full of possibilities. Did you make any resolutions/goals for 2025? If so, please share one.
Fingers crossed that, somehow, I get more organized in 2025. Which means, not all that different a resolution from other years. The past one did more to aggravate the situation. I moved mid-year and am still trying to find things that are hiding from me. As a further move is in the wind when the lease is up (because I hate the current place), I’m torn over just leaving things as they are and discover previously hiding items when unpacking at the next address. Pretty sure that the stuff yet in covert cover is snickering as it savors stomping on my efforts to unearth it.
Why is your featured book a must-read in 2025?
The start of 2025 is a great time to begin spending time with my fictional (in more ways than one) magic tossing PI, Bram Farrell because The Raven Tales series will be a “wrap” in December. MARKED RAVEN might be the second book in the series but as it kicks off on Valentine’s Day, it’s a perfect read for this season. Also, it’s the start of Bram’s love affair with his secretary, though early stages on it as they dance around the attraction.
If you’ve read the first book in the series and wondered whether Beelz, the hellhound that prefers to manifest as a black and tan dachshund is back, I wouldn’t dare leave him out. I think he has a fan club of his own. And not necessarily because they are dog fanciers!
Giveaway –
One lucky reader will win a $100 Amazon gift card.
Open internationally.
Runs January 1 – 31, 2025
Drawing will be held on February 3, 2025.
Author Biography:
JB Dane has gone by many names on covers over the past 35 years. It was 1990 when her first book was released (romantic suspense comedy) and was followed by other titles written under different names for several traditional publishers. When The Raven Tales series concludes in December this year, it will be her 40th novel, though there are also Prequel and “Between the Books” novella length cases to deal with, too. Spinning stories is what she realized she wanted to do when she was 12 years old. It’s the only “job” she’s ever wanted or enjoyed doing, so dream come true. Just took more years to shove her foot in the door than expected when a dozen years old.
Social Media Links:
Facebook.com/JBDaneWriter or @JBDaneWriter on X/Twitter.