The Cities Below
Book 1
Jen Colly
Genre: Romance, Sci Fi & Fantasy
Publisher: Kensington Publishing/Lyrical Press
Date of Publication: November 3, 2014
ISBN: 9781616505196
Number of pages: 190
Word Count: 60,000
Cover Artist: Renee Rocco
Book Description:
Soren and Faith must find a way to survive the evil and darkness.
Faith’s spur of the moment vacation, meant to free her and boost her spirits, has left her lost on the streets of Paris. And apparently, Paris is populated with something more than just humans. Vampires, suave, seductive and oh so sexy, and one such warrior vampire has set his sights on her.
When Soren hears Faith’s terrified screams, he rushes in and saves her life without considering the consequences. Two problems: one, she’s a human and clearly aware of his vampire qualities, and two, the men who attacked her were not men at all, but demons. Their target, his beloved underground city of Balinese. He can never let Faith go home again, but can she learn to love his people...love him?
Available at Amazon
Faith looked up at the silhouette of a man curled over her, his head barely blocking the raindrops pelting her face. She was moving, her feet were not, and the city was sideways. The foreign world passed by her, the images coming slowly, as if she were seeing everything through someone else’s eyes.
She was numb, her muscles from cold, her mind from shock. Her memories seemed intact, scrambled and hazy, but intact. She remembered being afraid of flying on the airplane, and the taste of the ginger gum that kept her nausea at bay. She’d been lost in the rain on the way back to her hotel. Then two men had trapped her in an alley.
Her shoulders and ribs shuddered with chills powerful enough to make her teeth rattle.
She fought through it, lifted her head and looked down at her hands.
“My purse.” The words didn’t come out right. Her jaw refused to open, and her lips had difficulty forming the simple words. She tried again. “Took my purse.”
“I have it. You need to be warm and dry right now,” the man said, keeping up his pace, never once looking at her. By the sheer confidence in his husky tones, without a doubt, this was the man who had saved her. That intense look on his face was nearly the same as when he’d pulled the muggers off her, driven them into the wall. It was oddly comforting, at the moment.
Tall buildings, probably homes, surrounded her, swaying in her field of vision as he strode along. Light peeked through several arched windows, yellow and warm.
He entered one of the larger buildings as if he owned it and carried her past several numbered doors to the end of the hallway, where he started down a creaking set of stairs. Suddenly she feared falling down those stairs, but her shuddering muscles wouldn’t allow her to hold on tighter. She closed her eyes and trusted him not to drop her.
After the last step had been left behind, she took a deep breath, opened her eyes, and almost wished she hadn’t. The basement hallway was musty, and each bare light bulb they passed only revealed cracks chasing each other across the ceiling.
He stopped, pressed her against a green door as he fished for the doorknob with the hand supporting her legs.
“Put me down,” she said, trying to help, and fully expecting him to drop her to her feet.
He fought with the knob until it finally gave and carried her inside, then kicked the door shut behind him.
Top 10 Life lessons I learned from my vampires
By Jen Colly
1. Love: Love is forever. Literally.
2. Reality Bites: There’s always someone bigger, scarier, and much more powerful than you. Fate has planned this for a reason. Do not defy fate and attempt to be bigger, scarier, or more powerful than what you are. The act of defying fate tends to come back and bite you in the butt.
3. Facts of Life: Vampire laws have been in place from the beginning of their existence. These laws, though they vary from city to city, have not changed much over the centuries. If you are not familiar with vampire laws, you had best learn fast. The simple fact is, you either live by their laws, or die.
4. Fisticuffs: Really, where do you punch a vampire? Hit him in the jaw and you’re likely to catch a fang. My suggestion: Brush up on your negotiation skills.
5. Holy Water: People think holy water will drive away vampires, that the pure, consecrated liquid will burn their unholy bodies. Vampires think this is wildly funny.
6. Humans: Sweet as they are, humans are not very bright. They will believe nearly anything you tell them. Stab any living creature through the heart and there’s a really good chance it will die. Sure, let’s make a pointy wooden stick the magic weapon.
7. You are what you Drink: Be sure the red wine in your goblet really is wine. Otherwise you may wake with a two-toothed overbite and an aversion to sunlight. It’s happened before.
8. Don’t Talk to Strangers: If you don’t tell the vampire where you live, he can’t show up uninvited. This also applies to men in general.
9. Demons: Not every demon is a bad demon. Not every demon is a good demon. Not every demon is 100% demon. But every demon will consider you lunch.
10. Be Wary of Red Eyes: When you see a creature with red eyes, have enough common sense to realize that this is not normal, and run for your life. If you can see the demon, he can see you.
Jen Colly is the rare case of an author who rebelled against reading assignments throughout her school years. Now she prefers reading books in a series, which has led her to writing her first paranormal romance series The Cities Below. She will write about anything that catches her fancy, though truth be told, her weaknesses are pirates and vampires. She lives in Ohio with her supportive husband, two kids, one big fluffy dog, and four rescued cats.
Website: www.jencolly.weebly.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jen.colly.1
Twitter: www.twitter.com/collyjen
Thank you for having me today. I had a blast with the top ten list! This was so much fun. :)
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