BOOK EXCERPT: Blood of the Dark Moon - Adrianne Brennan - vampire/dark fantasy/supernatural romance - PG-13 excerpt

I'm Adrianne Brennan, a member of Infinite Worlds of Fantasy Authors, the Midnight Seductions Authors group, EPIC, and RWA!

This is an excerpt from my debut novel, *Blood of the Dark Moon*, the first in the Dark Moon series. *Blood of the Dark Moon* was the #1 bestseller at Aphrodite's Apples since day of release, and made the top five for Best Horror in the Preditor and Editors Polls of 2007.

This book has been contracted with Freya's Bower after Aphrodite's Apples closing and its re-release day is currently pending. Please visit
http://www.adriannebrennan.com/news.html for continued updates on its schedule.

If you enjoy dark fantasy, vampires, paganism, mythology, magick, tales of the occult, secret societies, supernatural romance, and vampire erotica, then this book is definitely for you. :)


*Blurb:

*Amanda, graduate student and devoted follower of Apollo, is intrigued when she meets Jesse, a handsome young scholar who shares her love of both the classics and the occult. He quickly sparks her interest--and ignites a dark flame of passion between them. Together, they embark on a shadowy path that leads Amanda straight into Jesse's scintillating underworld of vampires, magick, and eroticism.

Little does Amanda know she is about to fulfill a legacy that began over thirty years ago and ended in tragedy. Can she learn the truth about who she really is in time to help those whom she has grown to care about, and truly find happiness in her new life with Jesse?

*Blood of the Dark Moon* combines the classic eroticism of vampires with a touch of modern sensual romance and occult intrigue.

Pagan book reviewer Mike Gleason has this to say about *Blood of the Dark Moon*: *"This book set the hook almost from the first page and I remained hooked until the end....** It is well-written, engrossing and a fun read."
*

From a reader on the Aphrodite's Apples website: "*Her erotic scenes are powerful, I could smell the blood in the air and they never failed to achieve their goal: to arouse her readers*."
**
For more reviews from readers and reviewers, go here:
http://www.adriannebrennan.com/reviews.html

PLEASE NOTE! I will be signing out of print copies of my book at the Mass Morgue 2008 event in Cambridge, MA! For more details, go here:
http://www.adriannebrennan.com/events.html

*To read more about this book, click here:
http://adriannebrennan.com/botdm.html
*
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Some time after they had left the Greek diner, Amanda could only guess that they were venturing further into Queens and would soon, perhaps, be in Long Island. She kept watching the roads and the signs, looking for places she recognized. Unfortunately she hadn't traveled very much out of Manhattan during her stay at NYU and so nothing looked familiar to her. She settled for chatting with Jesse and watching the view from her window.

It was almost midnight when Jesse finally pulled off a major road and stopped at a nearby park. He parked the car off to the side, and gestured towards the sky.

"You can't see this in Manhattan. Damn, it's beautiful."

She stared up at the sky, and saw all of the individual stars that had been obscured by the pollution from the city. Leaning back against the car, Amanda found herself awed by the majesty of the sky combined with the gentle, clean breezes that swept through her hair. Away from the highway and the noises of the city to distract her, she could experience the outdoors at its fullest. She felt as if she were spinning away in the galaxy towards the stars.

With a flourish, Jesse opened up the back door of the car.

"Here, sit down with me." He sat on the seat and pulled her into his lap. Wrapping his arms around her, they gazed up together at the night sky.

"Gods, it's beautiful," she breathed.

Brushing her hair away from her face he merely commented, "And so are you."

She turned to smile at him before leaning back into his chest. They stayed that way for a few moments until Amanda began to feel that something was odd. She racked her brain to figure it out, still bedazzled by the night sky and the feeling of being in his arms, but couldn't think of it.

Then at last she realized what it was: she was leaning up against his chest, but could not feel nor hear a heartbeat.

Puzzled, Amanda wondered if it was just because she was leaning up against him and he was still wearing his leather jacket, but that couldn't have been it. At their close proximity, she should still be able to hear or feel something.

Figuring that the late hour and the fatigue were doing strange things to her mind, she dismissed it as her imagination. But in the silence between them, away from the city and the noise, the only breathing she could hear was her own.

*I must be losing it,* she figured. But as she stared up into the sky, too many things fell into her mind, gently yet persistently. Amanda had never seen Jesse during the daylight, never seen him eat, didn't know precisely what he did for a living other than "freelance computer work", and now she couldn't hear a heartbeat nor him breathing.

"Jesse?" she queried hesitantly.

Feeling him freeze behind her, she wondered if he knew what was on her mind, and thought to phrase her next words very carefully.

"You're not a normal guy, are you? I mean," she continued, trying not to rush through her words, let alone sound nervous, "not that I'm…all that normal myself, and all, but…." Her voice trailed off, not knowing precisely what to say, or how to say it.

Many moments went by without a response. She could feel him slowly running his hands through her hair, and delighted in the feel of his fingertips as they coursed through the strands, brushing gently against her neck.

Suddenly she remembered their first dinner outing, when Jesse had brought her the Latin magickal text which referred to strange allegories, symbols and various arcana. She recalled that the text kept referencing "blood" in some mystical context.

"Jesse?" Her voice was quieter than it had been before, no longer so certain that she was crazy.
*
//Your time has come.// *

Copyrighted 2008 by Adrianne Brennan

http://adriannebrennan.blogspot.com/
http://www.adriannebrennan.com/botdm.html
--
~ "Where love and magic meet" ~
http://www.adriannebrennan.com
Read about Blood of the Dark Moon, top five finalist in P&E for Best Horror:
http://www.adriannebrennan.com/botdm.html