As you know I’m a sucker for a well written burning hot vampire.
My perfect vampire hero would be a bad boy who takes the heroine right to the edge. And guys, do I have a doozy for you.
Meet Kane Malloy and boy is he bad to the bone. Woo Hoo!
My hardcopy of Blood Shadows arrived last Friday and cannot tell you how excited I was to receive it. This series first found traction during the New Voices romance competition where for two successive years author Lindsay Pryor reached the final four. I believe her reader comments during the competitions numbered in the high hundreds. For a paranormal author this was an amazing breakthrough where hard-core romance readers crossed romance genres to fall in love with Kane. And that says a great deal about the quality of Lindsay Pryor’s writing.
Since the fall of 2010, where I first read Lindsay’s work, I’ve followed her progress with huge interest. Lindsay had never let anyone, and I mean anyone, read her work before she entered the first competition. What she had been doing over fourteen years was to learn her craft and guys, she learned it well.
I finished Blood Shadows at 3.30am this morning. Yep, I couldn’t put it down and as for ‘Who’s Edward?’ I’d say, ‘Who’s Christian?’ because Kane Malloy kicks that bad boy’s ass (or as Kane might say, ‘arse’.)
Here’s the blurb:
For justice - could you betray your family?
For love - are you ready to question everything you believe in?
Gifted with the ability to read the shadows of ‘third species’ beings, Caitlin Parish is the Vampire Control Unit’s most powerful agent. Despite that, her mission to hunt down Kane Malloy – a master vampire – comes with a death wish. Many have tried, but few have survived.
For Caitlin, tracking Kane is about more than just professional reputation. With her parents both mysteriously killed 7 years apart to the day, Caitlin knows that without Kane’s help she is next.
She has four days to make a deal with the wicked, the irresistible, the treacherous Kane Malloy. The vampire who despises everything she stands for.
Or die.
Blackthorn: Book One
Brought to you by Lindsay J. Pryor – powerful, absorbing, intense paranormal romance.
“Lindsay J. Pryor easily earns a place alongside Paranormal Romance’s best writers!” Michele Hauf
“An incredible voice for paranormal.” Rhyannon Byrd
Now as you can see Lindsay’s already found an impressive list of famous fans.
I’m not famous but I know a literary diamond when I find one and Lindsay’s a shining, brilliant new talent in the paranormal genre. Her writing is fluid, lyrical with sensual descriptive prose which hits the spot. The dialogue between Kane and Caitlin sparks.
Here’s an example:
One of the most challenging aspects of a paranormal author’s work is world building. And a dark dystopian world is a particularly tricky thing to pull off. Lindsay’s lived with her world, her characters, for many years which means she writes them with a confidence, an authority, that makes the reader believe they are real and the events which happen plausible and feasible. And that skill is what makes a talented writer a great one imho. And Blackthorn is a dark, claustrophobic, almost gothic world where nothing is as it seems.
What struck me when I first read Lindsay’s work and especially after reading this book from cover to cover is the intelligent exploration and development of the love story. It’s hot, it’s passionate and it’s compelling, it’s even fiercely intense, but most of all Caitlin’s vulnerability and her courage in the face of that vulnerability - and how Kane copes with it - make this a fabulously valid emotional arc. I loved it.
And there’s more to come, thank goodness.
To say I’m utterly thrilled to be able to write this today is an understatement. My emotions are all over the place; pride, joy and a lovely tickle in the gut that I was RIGHT, lol!
Oliver Rhodes of Bookouture (for authors click the link) has done a great thing by publishing Lindsay, a great thing, and he should take a bow while I give him a round of applause. Oliver’s had many years in publishing romance. The man knows his onions and he’s bridging a much needed gap between self publishing and publishing and given Lindsay the freedom to tell her story her way. A man of vision one might say and I for one wish him every success.
So what’s next for Lindsay Pryor? Want to see what she looks like? Here she is. I think she looks cute but she tells me she was channeling her evil side. Nope.
Book two, Blood Roses is out in the Spring of 2013 and Book three is out in the Fall of 2013.
And she’d better be well on the way with books four, five and six or I’ll want to know why - no pressure!
And finally, here’s my daughter (she’ll kill me for posting her but I do it with love) with her copy of Blood Shadows to buy it just click any of the title links:
I’ll keep you all posted on Lindsay’s progress, but if she doesn’t end up with a film/tv deal tripping along the red carpet with the rich and famous then my crystal ball’s faulty. And as you all know, there’s nothing wrong with my crystal ball!
I’ve missed you guys, but Rosie’s well, just being Rosie!
Have you found a new writing talent?
Big Hugs,
Christine X
CC MACKENZIE - USA Today Bestselling Author 