Title: Soul Taker
Author: Karen Michelle Nutt
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Book Blurb:
No soul is safe...
A vampire from the Grim Sith sept is sucking the souls out of young women from the Boston area, but this sinister crime is far worse than a vampire seeking substance. He's selling the souls to the highest bidder and it seems business is booming.
A vampire, a werewolf, and a Necromancer are a most unlikely team, but Garran, Harrison, and Isabella plan on putting a kink in the dubbed Soul Taker's plans. It's personal now. One of their friends has fallen victim to the Soul Taker's charms, but to stop him from hurting anyone else, their efforts may involve raising the dead.
Excerpt:
Isabella was grateful for the turnout. Neighbors, relatives, and friends of Marcy's showed up. Father Dominic from St. Joseph's was good enough to lead them in prayer.
Isabella took a ragged breath, feeling a chill creep up her spine. With her nerves on end, she couldn't help looking over her shoulder and out the window to find the source of her discomfort. She watched people walk by the restaurant, hurrying to their destinations, oblivious that everyone in A Taste of Home mourned Marcy's passing. No one out of the ordinary stood out among these people, but the feeling of being watched made her shudder.
She rubbed her arms as her gaze shifted. In the shadows, at the end of the street, a man wearing dark clothing and a baseball cap stood there. She couldn't make out his features, only the colors of his aura, but something was off with it. The hues mingled and shifted at an alarming rate.
Her brows drew together in surprise as a ghostlike essence materialized beside the man, as if it stepped out of his body. It was Marcy. Fear lighted Marcy's features and she looked right at her. Her mouth moved in a pitiful attempt to communicate.
Isabella stood and walked over to the door to get a better look, but the man must have realized the attention she was giving him and turned on his heels, vanishing around the corner and taking Marcy's spirit with him as if she were nothing more than a helium-filled balloon tethered by a string.
Fear clutched Isabella's throat, warning her of danger, which didn't make any sense. She hadn't completed the ritual to bring Marcy back. Even if Nicholas hadn't interrupted her, her attempts to summon Marcy would have probably failed. She couldn't sense the woman's soul lingering, but just now… She was sure she saw Marcy's spirit. What she didn't understand is why it was attached to that man, as if he bound her spirit to him.
Nicholas walked over to her. She tried to shake off her apprehension for his sake, but her brother knew her too well. "What's wrong, Izzie?" Nicholas spoke softly, so not to disturb the vigil.
"Nothing." She shook her head. She couldn't tell her brother what she saw. Especially, since she wasn't sure what it was she'd witnessed. "Do we still have the Glock, Uncle Sebastian Pucci gave us?"
"Yes," he answered with caution. "Why?"
Isabella didn't have a good reason other than she felt a threat hovered near. "Where is it?" She turned and saw the concern etched in his features. "We should have it on hand."
"What's going on, Izzie?"
She hugged herself and chewed on her lower lip before she glanced outside again. "Something is… here, Nick, something that shouldn't be. I just can't put my finger on what it is."
"And you need a gun?" He kept his voice low, but the urgency in his words didn't go unnoticed.
She met his gaze. Tired worried hazel eyes so much like hers, like their father's, stared back at her. How could she explain it to him? "What if Marcy's death wasn't natural?"
"What do you mean?"
"What if she were murdered?" She hadn't believed it was possible until she actually spoke the word out loud. Marcy's death was not natural. Someone… or something had killed her.
Nicholas shook his head. "She had a weak heart."
Isabella didn't understand why her brother refused to see the truth. "Marcy was twenty-four and in good shape. She didn't drop dead of a heart attack."
The murmurs of prayer for Marcy were a singsong chant as her loved ones chimed in together, reciting the prayers for her soul to find peace. Prayers were strong and powerful, more powerful than some gave them credit. She hoped tonight's vigil worked to free Marcy's soul from the man who held her captive.
Nicholas ran his hand through his hair. "Do you really believe there's been a cover up to a murder? Why would someone want to murder a waitress from North's End?"
When he put it that way, it did sound ludicrous, but she couldn't ignore the warnings. The tiny hairs on her arms stood up on end and there was the tingling behind her ear she always got when something was going to happen. But the real clincher was the way her stomach lurched, as if she took a joy ride down a steep hill, making her stomach do a flip-flop. Her premonitions of impending doom were never wrong, but they were unpredictable and never clear. Something happened to Marcy and it had nothing to do with natural causes.
"I hope I'm not too late?" Harrison stood in the doorway, expectantly. His whiskey-colored gaze landed on her then shifted to Nicholas. He nodded a greeting to her brother.
Isabella's frown deepened. She hadn't realized Harrison left.
"No, of course not. Please, join us," she welcomed him. She glanced outside, scanning the street for the man she spotted earlier with Marcy's ghost lingering beside him. Everything appeared normal, nothing out of the ordinary, but she knew the dark presence lingered, waiting to strike again. She shut the door behind Harrison as a warning it wasn't welcomed.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
Amazon US: https://tinyurl.com/yafvtosq
Amazon UK: https://tinyurl.com/y7vl2kwz
Barnes and Noble: https://tinyurl.com/yc89pkwp
iTunes: https://tinyurl.com/ybtknht2
Why is your featured book a must-read?
Soul Taker is not just another vampire story but a lighthearted paranormal crime novel set in Boston. Be prepared to laugh, cry, and fall in love with the friendships these characters forge while hunting down the fiend that is stealing the souls of the innocent.
Giveaway –
Enter to win an e-book bundle of all 24 books featured in the Canada/America Bookish Event:
Open Internationally.
Runs July 1 – 4, 2020.
Winner will be drawn on July 11, 2020.
Author Biography:
Karen Michelle Nutt resides in California with her husband. Though her three children are grown and starting their own adventures, she still has a houseful of demanding pets. Jack, her Chorkie, is her writing buddy and sits long hours with her at the computer.
When she's not time traveling, fighting outlaws, or otherworldly creatures, she creates book covers at Gillian's Book Covers, "Judge Your Book By Its Cover".
Whether your reading fancy is paranormal, time travel or contemporary romances, all her stories capture the rich array of emotions that accompany the most fabulous human phenomena—falling in love.
Social Media Links:
Visit the author at her website: http://www.kmnbooks.com
Blog: http://kmnbooks.blogspot.com
Gillian’s Book Covers, “Judge Your Book By Its Cover”
http://judgeyourbookbyitscover.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorkarenmichellenutt
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KMNbooks
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Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/Karen-Michelle-Nutt/e/B002BLLBPE
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BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/karen-michelle-nutt
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Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenmichellenutt