Lover's Absolution (EBOOK)
Lover's Absolution (EBOOK)
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CIRCLE OF BLOOD BOOK FOUR—PART OF A COMPLETED PARANORMAL ROMANCE SERIES (EBOOK).
Xander hates werewolves.
In all fairness, they’re not too keen on him either.
Normally, avoidance would be the obvious solution. At least, it would be if the werewolves in question weren’t holding a newly turned six-year-old vampire child as a prisoner. Alone in London, it’s up to Xander to rescue the boy before he can fall into the hands of Bael’s sadistic servant, Bastian Kovac.
That mission that becomes exponentially more difficult when Xander discovers the identity of the mysterious female werewolf acting as the boy’s guardian. With the forces of darkness closing in from all directions, nothing is as it seems.
There’s a reason vampires and werewolves don’t mix. Of course, in more than a hundred and twenty years, no one has ever accused Xander of playing by the rules.
Why should he start now?
* * *
The Circle of Blood Series
In another lifetime, six vampires lost their mates—and their mortality—to an unimaginable evil power. Now, if they can’t reunite with the reincarnated souls of their lost loves soon, it may just mean the end of the world.
From USA Today bestselling author R. A. Steffan and fresh new voice Jaelynn Woolf comes a steamy paranormal romance series perfect for adult fans of vampire fiction. Download Circle of Blood Book Four: Lover’s Absolution today and continue a heart-stopping journey that explores the power of love in a world gone mad with hate.
- Publication date: May 25, 2018
- Language: English
- Print length: 267 pages
- File size: 421 KB
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“OH, YOU HAVE GOT TO be kidding me,” Xander said, as a dozen werewolves appeared in the mouth of the dead-end London alley.
“Sorry,” said the dark-haired woman who’d lured him here on the pretext of helping her—apparently fictional—sister who had supposedly been attacked by a young boy with glowing eyes and fangs. She sounded genuinely sheepish as she jerked her chin at the man next to her, who was decked out in chains and ripped camo like some sort of cut-rate Mad Max reject. “He didn’t think you’d come if you knew what we really were, vampire.”
“Smarter than he looks, then,” Xander observed, thinking privately that it wasn’t a very high bar to reach. “Good to know.”
The alpha werewolf’s answering smile was thin and cruel. “You’d be amazed.” He cocked his head. “No doubt you’re getting ready to fly away home, little vamp, but you should hear what I have to tell you first. I’ve got something you want.”
“You think so?” Xander asked, affecting boredom to cover his irritation at having fallen for a pretty woman’s damsel-in-distress act. “What is it? Fleas? Kibbles? A squeaky toy? Maybe a nice, meaty bone?”
That cruel smile never wavered. “I’ve got that little baby vamp Manisha described to you, all chained up in iron shackles, so he can’t get away. Interested, now?”
Yes. Of course he was interested now. Because if what the alpha was saying about holding a child vampire prisoner was true...
“God, I fucking hate werewolves,” Xander told him, tone still conversational. “Have I mentioned that yet?”
“Oh, well. Off you flap, then,” the leader said, making a shooing motion with one hand. “Nothing stopping you, is there? Not unless you want us to take you to see Junior first…”
Xander gritted his teeth, wanting nothing more at that moment than the human ability to crawl into a bottle, get blind, falling-down drunk, and never crawl back out.
“Fine, Fluffy,” he grated. “You win. Take me to see this alleged vampire, and I won’t brandish the rolled-up newspaper.”
Fluffy’s flat, hard eyes were starting to make Xander’s skin crawl, quite honestly. But he held back any further insults as Fluffy shrugged a brawny shoulder.
“That’s real magnanimous of you, mate,” said the werewolf. “Best follow us, in that case. Dawn’s coming soon. You wouldn’t want to get a terminal case of sunburn, now would you?”
Actually, mate, Xander thought sourly, you might be surprised. Lately, that prospect has been growing more appealing by the day.
* * *
Manisha Sadhu was living a nightmare. With the green-eyed vampire and her other pack members in tow, she followed meekly behind Crank, the alpha werewolf. She and Sangye—the young boy she’d been meant to protect—had been handed to Crank like chattel a couple of weeks ago. Since then, he’d pretty much owned them both, body and soul. Before all this started, Manisha used to think she understood what reality was. She’d known evil existed in the world, of course—these days, you’d have to be blind, deaf, and stupid not to realize that evil existed in the world.
But… werewolves? Vampires?
Two weeks ago, she’d been a glorified nanny. No, even that was too generous. She was barely more than a housekeeper, included as part of the small retinue of people helping to hide Sangye in London. She’d been chosen for the position mostly because of her stint in British schools as a teenager and her distant family connections in the UK. After a roadside bomb in Tezpur killed Sangye’s Regent and his teachers, he and his remaining retinue fled India for the West in hopes of finding less chaos there.
They should have known better. At first, it seemed that things might work out for them. They had a strong case to offer the Office of Tibet in London when they appealed for asylum, and they’d been awaiting official word while staying in a private house where they would not draw unwanted attention. Then came the terrible evening that would live in Manisha’s dreams forever.
The sound of fists pounding on the door. A harsh shout to open up for the police. Bhuti, the most senior of Sangye’s surviving teachers, had opened the door, saying that there must have been some mistake. Half a dozen black-clad men immediately swarmed in, breaking Bhuti’s neck as Manisha watched in horror from the second story balcony.
She still remembered the smell that rose around the intruders like a cloud—in fact, some days she thought she would never be completely free of it. It was the smell of the grave. The smell of death. They moved quickly through the house, choked-off screams marking the senseless murders of the others who had been staying on the first floor.
Manisha ran into Sangye’s bedroom and started yanking frantically at the window, trying without success to open it while his mother clasped the boy in her arms and attempted to keep him quiet. She’d hoped that if his mother Jampa held Manisha’s legs while she lowered Sangye out by his hands, maybe the two of them could get the six-year-old down safely from the second story. But then it was too late.
One of the men kicked the flimsy bedroom door off its hinges even as Manisha searched around for something heavy enough to break the window’s glass. Huge forms rushed in and overpowered them. She struggled, certain that she was about to be killed like the others. A cold laugh came from the open doorway.
“Oh, how utterly delectable,” said a voice with an oily Eastern European accent. “You have truly outdone yourself, my Master.”
The speaker was tall and broad-shouldered, dressed in sunglasses and a dark, tailored suit that contrasted sharply with the black military gear the other men were wearing. He also didn’t appear to be conversing with anyone presently inside the room. A chill skittered its way up Manisha’s spine.
Jampa was weeping now, straining toward her son. “Please,” she begged in broken English. “Please, no! He is boy… just small boy!”
“Who are you?” Manisha snapped, trying not to gag at the stench now choking the bedroom. “I demand to know what agency or organization you represent!”
The man in the suit came closer, his sunglasses reflecting her frightened face in stereo.
“You demand?” he asked, clearly amused. “Well, if you demand it of me, then I will tell you that as far as you’re concerned, I am here on behalf of the Ministry of Death.”
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- 5 stars: 16 (80%)
- 4 stars: 4 (20%)
- 3 stars: 0 (0%)
- 2 stars: 0 (0%)
- 1 star: 0 (0%)
4.5 StarsHoly Moly with whipped cream and a cherry on top. This was a bizarre and crazy read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. What more could you expect for Xander's book?We land in London for this trip, and oh! boy was it a trip. Xander runs into some werewolves, by way of a pretty girl duping him. From there the story unravels quickly and precisely. Manisha is Xander's soul mate and it turns out she is a werewolf. Something bizarre happens to both Xander and Manisha, which at some point Eris will tell a story not his own.This book starts out with just Xander, but Tre, Della, Eris, Trynn and Snag show up to lend some help. Snag disappears, as does Sangye. We get Xander's back story on how he came to be, plus some extra. Manisha also provides her back story as well, on how she ended up in London.This was a great read in this series, and couldn't have been better. A little extra **** in this book than the previous ones, but about the same amount of cussing (which is really not very much). Highly recommend.
For me, the Circle of Blood started as a bit of a slow burn. I was hooked on the idea and the characters of the main vampires, but the protagonist of the first book, Della, didn't really do it for me. And now, having read all 6 books of the series, I stand by my original opinion that she's the least interesting character of them all... But hey, that's good news! During books 2 and 3 we were served some very interesting tidbits of history, world-building and interpersonal relationships, like Eris and Snag's friendship, the badass Trynn, the very interesting Haiti settings and the character of Mason who's been an absolute gem. The romance scenes have been good, if not as frequent as expected. Like I said, a nice slow burn.But oh boy, does book 4 up the ante!I don't know if it's the fact that Xander is such a fascinating character or the fact that the vampire-werewolf twist makes matters doubly interesting, but the pace of this book is much more intense and electric. The **** scenes have the urgency we've learned to expect from R A Steffan's other stellar work like The Horse Mistress. The dialog (and Xander's inner musings) is snappy, fun and fast-paced. The action scenes are captivating. And the twist about what Xander and Manisha's coupling actually does to their abilities (no spoilers), is masterfully served.Overall, for me this is the best book in all of the series, with Book 6 following closely behind.
This review is written after listening to the audio version of this book.I have to say that this fourth book is, for me, the best one so far in this series. I have always had a soft spot for Zander and was eagerly awaiting his story which proved to be well worth the wait. I enjoyed this one from beginning to end. Although I loved the first book about how Tre and Della met and then forged their bond, I didn't like the second book quite as much Eris and Trynne’s story seemed to lack a bond between them for so much of the book. I did however like the attraction between Mason and Oksana and I loved Mason who was almost too good to be true but in all these books it was Zader who captured my attention so I was happy when book four turned out to be his story.I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Xander and Manisha story, it was both enthralling and different. Manisha is the nanny to a six-year-old boy who is believed to be the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. When he is captured and turned into a vampire she finds herself turned into a werewolf. It is her supposed fate to become the mate of Crank the Alpha of this pack once she has made her first transformation. The pack is working for the demon Bayel's henchman and she is forced to make contact with Zander to lure him into a trap or else they will hurt the child.As it turns out she is the reincarnation of his long-dead wife and the connection is felt by both of them immediately but can they ever be together - a vampire and a werewolf? I loved Manisha she was so strong and determined to help her charge who having been turned into a vampire is refusing to eat. She's also determined to escape but is captured and finds herself locked in a disused industrial freezer with Zander. During her first shift she and Zander battle and bite each other the consequences of which are surprising and totally unexpectedI won't say anymore because it would spoil this incredible story but I will say that the next books have a lot to live up to.The narration of this book by Gwendolyn Druyor is again excellent.I was given the audiobook as a gift and am voluntarily writing my review.
An added twist with werewolfs and their history! Loving this series.
Interesting twist
This series is an absolutely amazing read. Two thumbs up!!!!!!! Cant wait to read the rest of the books that are left
The story flows between books. Doesn't drag out as some series do. It rounds out each story and brings them together. And the writing puts you right there.
amazing book
Zander is cornered by group of werewolves who claim that they have a six year old boy that has been changed into a vampire. He follows them and finds that it is true. He discovers that it is a trap for him because that all have the reincarnation of his dead wife.Manisha is a Buddhist who was in charge of protecting the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. Their caravan got overtaken by a group of evil men who killed all but her and the boy who was changed.Bastian Kovacs/Bael have plans to kill the vampires and their mates as well as other supernaturals and make them his puppets.Snag sacrifices himself to Bael in order to save the boy. But both are taken.I love this series. It draws you in and keeps you on the edge of your seat. There is so much action in these books that you don't want to put it down for even a second. Can't wait to find out what happens to Snag.
Great
I just wish that there was going to be more books in thus series, I have enjoyed this series and now that it gets really good it's going to be over, I sure that this next book will be my favorite, Snag aka Menkhef, can't wait to read his story.
I loved this paranormal mystery,romance.I couldn't put it down until the end of the story.I love the characters and can't wait for the next book in the series.I recommend this book to everyone.
I Love this series. The way that Xander was written from book 1 I couldn't wait to see what his mate would end up as. I wondered what plot twist was in store for him and boy was it ever a true twist with Manisha. I can't wait to read about Snag and what's to come with his story. I just know it will blow me outta the water so please make it soon!
I'm am on pins and needles with waiting for the other two books!!! I hope they will be out soon, I love the series a lot..
love it
Well obviously things had to be spiced up. This was great. Manishas not my favorite character in the world but i love xander. And he made this one. I cant wait for snags story. I think i love him the most. Hes got a intresting past thats for sure. This book reveals more about him than any other.
Great vampire book. Good character development. Definitely an adult read.Steamy **** scenes.
Fast paced, strong main characters. A centuries o!d species bias is turned upside down. A child turned into a vampire against his will and a millenia o!d vampire teaches other centuries old vampires a lesson on how to honorably feed from humans.
Ok, so four books in and I finally enjoyed the story from beginning to end. Why have I continued reading the series if I didn’t enjoy it? Well, first, it is a series. Second I like the storyline, just not all parts of it. In the first book, I loved how Tre and Della met and then forged a connection. Second book, I was not happy with Eris and Trynne’s story as I felt there was a disconnect between them. Third book, I liked the attraction between Mason and Oksana. The first three books seemed to focus more on the story and less on the couples, so by the time they decided to give it a go, you are about 85% into the book and little time to enjoy them together.This book, however, was different and the flow was much better. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Xander and Manisha while the story continued to unfold. I’m finally excited and anticipating the release of the next book.
I love the characters in these books and all the obstacles they face joining with their mates. The writing is superb with a different story for each character. The evil is so so bad. Can't wait for the next book!