Mara Livinston is newly divorced, and two weeks before
Christmas, she is driving from Texas back home to Denver,
when a snow storm hits. Her car skids, and won't start,
so she goes looking for help, and that's when she finds
herself surrounded by wolves. She runs and as she tries to
escape, she falls and bumps her head. When she comes to,
she notices that she her rescuer is an extremely good-
looking man, who somewhat seems familiar. Conner Reese,
the good Samaritan who took in Mara, remembers her
perfectly. Several years ago, he had danced with her at a
wedding and he has never forgotten her. Mara has sprained
her ankle, and Conner asks her to stay put at his cabin
until she is able to get by. When that time comes, she
does not want to leave, but when a friend of Conner's
drops by, Conner doesn't stop her from going home.
CHRISTMAS WITH A BITE is a sweet love story with a
paranormal twist, and the issues actually differ from
what we usually see in vampire romances. Conner does not
try to impress Mara with his powers; his preternatural
abilities figure for the most part in the background,
while they are essential to the story arc. Conner is a
caring and generous man, and it is comforting to see how
well he treats Mara, who had just gone through an
unpleasant relationship with her inconsiderate husband.
CHRISTMAS WITH A BITE is very well written, in a crisp,
modern prose that is perfectly suited to the story and
the settings. CHRISTMAS WITH A BITE is a very fast and
easy read; I was actually surprised at how quickly I
finished the book. Conner and Mara are very appealing
characters, and the dialogue is fun and realistic, and
there are revelations and unexpected turns of events
towards the end that change the dynamics of the
relationship between Conner and Mara.
CHRISTMAS WITH A
BITE is an ideal Holiday book for paranormal romance
lovers!
A paranormal category romance from Entangled's Covet
imprint…Sometimes the holidays totally bite...
This Christmas, Mara Livingston is determined to start over.
But as she's driving to her "new" home, a freak winter storm
forces her off the road. Now she's stranded in the middle of
nowhere. Then he shows up. And there's something strangely
familiar about him...
Connor Reese never expected to see Mara again. Nor is he
prepared for the onslaught of emotions?including an
unimaginable rush of desire?she stirs within him. Now he has
a chance to claim the woman he's always wanted. Except,
there are a couple of small details that Mara doesn't know.
The first is that Connor is a vampire. And the second is
that if his family finds out about Mara, she will most
certainly be killed...
Excerpt
Chapter One
Mara Livingston would have preferred a serious kick in the
girly parts over being married
to Rob Wright. Her fairy-tale marriage had been nothing more
than a craptastic joke. She
glanced down at her hands on the steering wheel and shook
her head. She eased the gleaming
wedding ring off her finger and tossed it into the glove
box. She didn’t want it anymore,
didn’t want the bitter memories that came with it.
Then, like Cupid himself mocked her, Rob’s baseball tumbled
out of the glove box onto the
floor of the car. Another disgusting reminder. How easily he
had fooled her, charmed her
into believing whatever spewed from his lips. She twisted
her hands on the wheel nervously,
hating how he could still affect her while she was on her
way out of his life forever.
She shook her head. It was regret, she told herself, regret
that he was never the husband
she needed.
The last few years had been the hardest of her life, she
admitted, and even though she was
glad to finally put things to rest with Rob, she couldn’t
bring herself to forgive him. In
fact, she couldn’t feel anything but irritated. If only
she’d been able to pull off the
blindfold earlier and see through his illusions. Then she
wouldn’t be a thirty-year-old
woman with a failed marriage and a failed career.
Love was for idiots, and Mara was the biggest idiot of all.
Now, two weeks before Christmas, to add to the misery, a
freak Texas storm popped up,
dumping snow and ice on the road just before she planned to
drive home to Denver for the
holiday. White-knuckled, Mara cruised down the highway,
praying that she would make good
time to her parents’ house.
Hard pellets of ice pelted the windshield. They already
covered the road. And—lucky her—
dozens of cars littered the side of the highway with bright
yellow emergency lights
flashing.
Her temples throbbed, and her breath caught in her throat as
she found herself gliding
sideways on the road, skidding and drifting over the top of
the ice hiding in plain sight.
Once she steadied the vehicle, she noticed red and blue
lights flickering ahead and the
traffic began to slow.
“Great,” she sighed.
She tapped her fingers anxiously on the steering wheel until
the jam crawled far enough
ahead to reach an exit. Once off the highway, she plugged
her parents’ address into her GPS
and set off for what she hoped would be a shortcut.
For a long stretch, she didn’t see a single vehicle.
Streetlights became fewer and farther
between. Her stomach plummeted as she studied the dark ahead
of her. The GPS was
practically useless. She didn’t even know if the piece of
crap was working right. Why would
it lead her here?
The car began to slide, and the steering wheel jerked from
her hands. She grappled with it,
but before she could right herself, the car was out of
control. As she whipped around, the
world blurred, headlights illuminating spinning scenes.
Panic squeezed her heart, and she
tried to call up her father’s repeated instructions should
she lose control like this.
“Let off the gas pedal,” he would say. She lifted her foot.
“Go with the drift.” But she couldn’t. She gripped the wheel
fiercely, praying, but it
didn’t help.
She felt herself scream as she slipped off the shoulder of
the road and slammed up against
a row of tightly- packed trees. The car sputtered and went
dark. Only silence followed. For
a moment, Mara wondered if she might be dead, but then the
biting sting of cold settled
over her and she smacked her hands on the steering wheel,
letting her head fall back
against the headrest. Tears stung the backs of her eyes. She
was relieved to be alive and—
it seemed— relatively uninjured, but she had wrecked her
car. Like she needed one more
disaster right now.
“Damn it,” she groaned.
She fished around for her cell phone and squinted at the
bright screen. No reception. The
phone and her GPS were ganging up on her.
“Does anything around here work?” She wanted to scream, have
a tantrum, and throw
something. But what was the point?
The windows slowly fogged as she sat in the useless,
smashed, nonworking car. Its only
purpose now was to keep the wind off of her. It would be
brutal if she stepped outside. The
chill amplified as she became very aware of her limited
supplies. She had been in such a
hurry to escape her life with Rob, she hadn’t bothered to
pack many warm clothes. She had
no blankets, water, or food.
Is my luck ever going to change?
She laughed. But it wasn’t a sound of joy ripping for her
throat. “Maybe Texas doesn’t want
me to leave,” she muttered, clenching her jaw as she
contemplated her options.
It would be safest to sit in the car and wait out the storm.
She could put on all the
clothes she had at once to keep warm and pray that someone
came by and noticed the wreck.
Or she could get out and explore on foot. There had to be a
town close by. She had come so
far without seeing anyone, she’d bet anything a town was
just up ahead. After all, Amarillo
wasn’t exactly a deserted area.
Resigned, she grabbed her wallet and tucked it into her coat
pocket. She opened the car
door, thankful it was the passenger side pressed up against
the trees, and stepped outside
onto the frozen ground. Her sneakers crunched down into the
snow. For a moment, the sound
brought her back to her childhood.
Growing up in Colorado, she was familiar with snowy winters.
She’d only moved to Dallas
after college. Rob moved there with her. It was one reason
she thought he was ready to
commit.
Reality pulled her back to her senses. She had to stop
thinking about him and deal with her
current state of affairs instead. He was her past. He needed
to stay there.
Thankfully, the snowfall had slowed and the soft glow of the
clouds reflecting the moon
gave her enough light to see.
In fact, it was almost peaceful. Her eyes locked in on what
might be a driveway not far
ahead. She sped up.
The crunching snow echoed around her. She paused, holding
her breath. The sound continued.
She wasn’t alone. Something else was lurking close by.
She scanned her surroundings, but didn’t see much but snow,
bare trees, and shrubs. She
shrugged. Maybe she was paranoid. She picked up her pace
again. The cold press of the wind
whipped across her face. Her shoes were soaked through and
her toes were turning to ice.
She wrapped her arms around herself, hugging tightly as she
willed her feet to keep going.
She’d only search for a few minutes, she decided. If she
didn’t find any help by then,
she’d go back to the car until someone passed by.
“Or until I turn into an icicle,” she mumbled.
She froze as a low growl sounded behind her.
Of all the dangers she imagined before leaving the car to
find help, coming upon wild
animals was not one of them. She turned slowly and locked
eyes with a wolf. Its golden eyes
sparkled. She could tell it had serious intentions of making
her its late night snack.
Her heart pounded, and she held her breath. Keeping her eyes
on the beast, she took a step
backward. Then another creature emerged from behind a tree.
This one stepped closer to her.
She swallowed hard. Its teeth gleamed at her, taunting her
with its unspoken plans.
She glanced around, afraid to take her eyes off the wolves
for more than a moment, looking
for a place she might escape the hungry animals. But the
only spot she could hide would
have been up a tree, and climbing with frozen, gloveless
fingers was a joke.
I’ll be wolf chow for sure.
Then, as if two weren’t enough, another advanced from the
darkness. Trembling from the cold
and fear, she took another step back. The wolves began to
advance. The first wolf, the
smallest, looked at the others. They snarled at it, taking
their eyes off Mara for an
instant. This was her chance.
She turned on her numb heel and fled. The cold air scratched
at her lungs, but soon she
spotted what looked like a massive, two-story cabin tucked
away in the middle of the woods.
So that had been a driveway after all. A spark of hope took
shape in her mind as she ran
faster than she ever realized she could. Silently pleading
for help, the bitter cold and
gut-wrenching fear squeezed every muscle in her body like
she was caught in a vice. She
fought to move them.
The growling wolves were right on her heels. Cutting through
the trees to make a straight
shot to the cabin, she stumbled, falling over something
buried beneath the snow. She yelped
as her ankle gave way. She couldn’t gain her footing back,
and she landed hard on the
ground, smacking her head. Her vision blurred, and she felt
her stomach ready to give way.
She was going to die.
She couldn’t move. It was so cold. She let her eyes fall
shut and waited for the wolves to
claim her. But they didn’t come. Their snarls faded with the
blowing wind. She pried her
eyes open and blinked to see a large figure looming over
her. Silvery eyes danced from
within the darkness.
Conner Reese gazed down at Mara.
The woman who had haunted his dreams for nearly a decade was
face down in the snow in front
of his secret hideaway. After one dance at a wedding eight
years before, he never expected
to see her again.
The growling wolves were more important than his
reminiscence, though. An intense need to
protect the dark- haired woman overcame him. He stepped
forward to face the beasts in
challenge. He hissed like a snake and felt fire burn within
his belly, blood pulsing
through his veins as a primal rage clouded his mind.
Obviously fate brought her to his door tonight, and no wolf
would take that away from him
now.
He reached for a nearby branch and snapped it off the tree.
It was thick as a baseball bat.
He swung, hitting the closest wolf so hard it sailed across
the snow, landing yards away.
The second wolf hunched down, creeping forward with fangs
piercing through the darkening
night. He leapt, but Conner was quicker. The branch
connected even more soundly than the
first time. The wolf yelped as snapping bones echoed around
him. It dropped onto the fresh
snow, dead. The third wolf, the brightest one, fled.
Dropping the branch, he knelt down and
collected Mara into his arms.
It had been a long time since he held a woman. The softness
of her curves and the sweet
fragrance of her body were as maddening as he remembered. He
closed his eyes, searching for
the calm within the storm of his thoughts. How could this
woman stir emotions in him so raw
after such a long time? Why did he feel as if he’d known her
for more than just one dance?
He stared down at her pale face, then examined her body. She
wore a winter jacket that
would have been fine in a tropical climate, but not in
weather like this. She had to be
frozen solid. He quickened his steps. He needed to get her
warm and check her for injuries.
Pulling her closer, the palm of his hand rested alongside
her soft breast. His body warmed.
A tight lump formed at the back of his throat. He swallowed
it down.
After kicking open the front door, he hurried inside and
placed Mara on the cushioned
leather chair beside the roaring fire he kept blazing every
night. He didn’t use much
electricity tucked away in the middle of nowhere, but he
always had a fire to keep warm.
He stripped off her jacket, and her soaked shoes and socks.
He would have undressed her
completely if not for the simple fact that he was already
having trouble keeping it
together with her in his living room.
He rushed to his room and yanked the comforter from the bed,
then returned and wrapped it
around her for extra warmth. Then he retrieved a damp towel
and dabbed at her brow. The
scent of her blood stirred him as it soon soaked the cloth.
He tossed it aside. He’d take
care of the rest of the blood later. At least the wound
didn’t look life threatening.
He pulled the ottoman closer and propped her legs up,
noticing how swollen her ankle had
already become. He placed a pillow underneath her foot, then
went to the kitchen and threw
some ice cubes into a plastic baggy. He made his way back to
her with superhuman speed and
delicately covered the tender area with the makeshift ice pack.
A wave of satisfaction flared inside him knowing he’d
protected her and made her as
comfortable as he could.
He leaned against the arm of the chair and watched her,
guarding her like a treasure. The
soft glow of the fire danced over her sun-warmed brown hair.
A different style than he
remembered. Still beautiful.
When Conner had last seen her, she wore it back in a tight
bun for an elegant, sexy look.
Now it flowed around her freely and bright. He preferred it
this way. His fingers itched to
caress the softness of those stands, curl it around his
fist, haul her up against him to
devour her mouth. She would taste exquisite. Her blood would
taste exquisite.
He’d never forgiven himself for passing up the opportunity
to taste her all those years
ago. Now she, against all odds, appeared at his doorstep,
states away from their homes.
He’d come to these woods to escape the outside world, the
one filled with bitter memories
and resentment. She’d found him nonetheless.
Even his covenant didn’t know where to find him. That had
been the idea. Vampires tended to
live in larger cities. Easier to find food. They didn’t come
to the outskirts of Amarillo.
That was the main reason he’d chosen the place. He wanted to
be alone.
But now a woman he desired in a raw, astonishing way was in
his chair. So much for being
alone.
No matter what he felt for her—had felt for her—his decision
was made long ago. His last
lover was dead, and in many ways, so was he. He couldn’t
take that pain again. To keep Mara
safe, to keep everyone safe, he would never share his secret
again.
The prickle of emotions burned the back of his eyelids. He
blinked and bit the inside of
his cheek, finding comfort in the twinge of pain that
distracted him. He wasn’t meant to
love again. He was meant to be left alone. Forever.
Mara groaned and shifted her weight in the chair. Every
muscle in his body tensed as he
waited to see those hypnotic eyes staring back at him. Her
tongue glided over the seam of
her lips, and he couldn’t help but follow the pink tip. Her
long neck stretched enticingly,
veins thundering beneath the skin, perfect to drink…
He slid his tongue over the lengthening tips of his fangs.
Craving more than her kiss, he
shot over to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of blood from
the hidden compartment at the
back of the refrigerator, chugging it down as quickly as
possible. He was not about to go
stark raving thirsty with her trapped in his cabin.
Keep it together. She’ll be gone soon.
Once she was awake and he knew she was all right, he would
help her get back on the road
and send her as far away as he could. He could compel her to
forget about him. Yes. That
was exactly what he would do after she left. If she lingered
longer than necessary, he
didn’t think he could resist the temptations she offered
Mara Livingston had to get away from him before he destroyed
them both.
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