Dana Marie Bell - Blood of the Maple

Blood of the Maple
By Dana Marie Bell

A seduction-gone-wrong leaves vampire Parker Hollis with a new vegetarian lifestyle and on the run from a vengeful witch. Moving to small-town Maggies Grove, Parker meets a redheaded dryad with green, leafy blood that draws him in a way he hasnt experienced in decades. His new neighbor smells divine, and it isnt long before craving gives in to need.

In a unique community of supernaturals, tree-loving outcast Amara Schwedler has never quite fit in. Shes scarred by a traumatic incident and feared by the local townsfolk. Shes convinced Parker will look elsewhere for a mate once he discovers shes not one of the O-positive set, and cant believe it when Parker finds her irresistible.

When the witch whos been plaguing Parkers life discovers the newfound attraction between Parker and Amara, she takes out her anger on the town. Can the supernaturals of Maggies Grove accept Amara and band together in time to withstand the assaults of the enraged witch?

78,000 words

Dear Reader,

A new year always brings with it a sense of expectation and promise (and maybe a vague sense of guilt). Expectation because we dont know what the year will bring exactly, but promise because we always hope it will be good things. The guilt is due to all of the New Years resolutions we make with such good intentions.

This year, Carina Press is making a New Years resolution we know we wont have any reason to feel guilty about: were going to bring our readers a year of fantastic editorial and diverse genre content. So far, our plans for 2011 include staff and author appearances at reader-focused conferences such as the RT Booklovers Convention in April, where well be offering up goodies, appearing on panels, giving workshops and hosting a few fun activities for readers. Were also cooking up several genre-specific release weeks, during which well highlight individual genres. So far we have plans for steampunk week and unusual fantasy week. Readers will have access to free reads, discounts, contests and more as part of our week-long promotions!

But even when were not doing special promotions, were still offering something special to our readers in the form of the stories authors are delivering to Carina Press that were passing on to you. From sweet romance to sexy, and military science fiction to fairy-tale fantasy, from mysteries to romantic suspense, were proud to be offering a wide variety of genres and tales of escapism to our customers in this new year. Every week is a new adventure, and we want to bring our readers along on the journey. Be daring, be brave and try something new with Carina Press in 2011!

We love to hear from readers, and you can email us your thoughts, comments and questions to generalinquiries@carinapress.com. You can also interact with Carina Press staff and authors on our blog, Twitter stream and Facebook fan page.

Happy reading!
~Angela James

Executive Editor, Carina Press
www.carinapress.com
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To Mom, who makes a face every time she sees me eat sashimi, but encourages me to bring it to our family dinners anyway. Someday Ill get you to try it, and youll see what the big deal is. Of course, we might have to raid Dads homemade wine first.

To Dad, who suggested I send some homemade wine to my mother-in-law because he noticed how much she loved it when she came to visit. Im awarding plenty of brownie points for that, even though Im taking a lot away. P.S.: The old fart remote control car the boys had tooting in my face has met with an unfortunate, yet predictable, staircase accident.

Finally, to Dusty, who still manages to sneak up and scare me even after twenty years together. Im sorry, but laughing when I smack you in retaliation doesnt make me want to stop. Neither does calling me Super Grover, even if I do hit like a girl. Chocolate, on the other hand, works wonders.