Stricken
Alexa
York
Book
2
Marcia
Colette
Genre:
Urban Fantasy
Publisher:
Purple Sword Publications
Date
of Publication: 5/6/2015
ISBN:
ASIN:
Number
of pages: 167
Word
Count: 66,020
Cover
Artist: Traci Markou
Book
Description:
Personal
tragedy convinces half-werewolf Alexa York to get away to the town of
McCormick, Pennsylvania where she's charged with protecting Dr. Aiden
Joss, physician to the supernatural community. Not only does she need
the money, she needs the distraction. Unfortunately, she gets it in
spades when Joss's personal issues and a myriad of dangerously sick
patients make her new job nearly impossible.
A
mysterious disease is running its way through the New York Order of
the Amazons and leaving bodies in its wake. The same warrior who had
chosen her clan over Joss has asked for him help. Even though the
disease is real, Alexa has reason to believe his ex's sincerity is
not.
Given
the other numerous problems she has to deal with that are outside of
her job description, Dr. Joss might be the biggest threat to his own
safety. But, protecting him comes first. That’s difficult to do
when his efforts to find an antidote put everyone in his remote
clinic in danger, including Alexa.
Available
at Purple
Sword
Excerpt:
Chapter One
Present
day.
I
stood on the porch of Dr. Aiden Joss’s luxurious home irate as
hell. Someone was supposed to meet me at the airport in Philadelphia.
I ended up having to take a cab because all of the rentals were
booked from the only airport about twenty-five miles from the small
town of McCormick, Pennsylvania. The taxi driver must have mistaken
me for an oil baron with the fare he charged. He ended up having to
leave me at the front gate because the intercom was busted.
Thankfully, being a human hybrid had its advantages. After tossing my
duffle over the ten-foot wall, I followed by leaping over. Some
security.
The
downpour turned my black, wavy hair into thick tresses snaking down
my neck and upper back. Sadly, my duffle bag was just as pitiful as I
looked, since it wasn’t waterproof. I’d exercised more care when
picking out my purse and laptop bag.
The
front door opened. A tall, bulky man who looked like he missed his
calling as an NFL linebacker stood against the golden glow of the
interior. His face was criminal-hard, though something in his dark
eyes said otherwise. He wore a white shirt and jeans with a brace
around his left knee. He blinked.
“Oh,
boy.” He hurried to unlock the storm door and let me inside. “You
must be Ms. Alexa York.”
I
struggled getting past him with my wet duffle, carry-on and my
drenched clothes clinging to my cold body. “I am. I take it the
phones don’t work around here.”
He
took my stuff and set it aside. “The power has been flickering all
night. They just got the lights back on about three minutes ago. The
phone is Internet, so when the power goes out, everything goes out.”
I
unzipped my sodden jacket. “I get it. No phone, no phone calls.
Which is why I was stuck at the airport.”
He
sighed. “Again, my apologies, ma’am. With so much going on, I
only had a chance to worry about one thing at a time.”
I
glanced at him before answering. So much going on? The house was
quiet and not a soul in sight. What could’ve possibly had him too
busy to pick me up when he knew I was coming? Heck, I was here to be
his replacement while he was on the mend. If he didn’t want me
here, forgetting me at the airport or not sending a car to pick me up
worked in his favor.
He
offered his hand to me. “My name’s Sammy. I’m Dr. Joss’s med
tech and assistant.”
“Med
tech?” I looked him up and down. “But I thought you were his—”
He
chuckled. “I’m really his assistant. I’m only his bodyguard
when I have to be. And given the kind of world that lies beyond those
gates, I find myself playing the latter more often.”
I
closed my eyes and sighed. “I’m sorry if I sounded a little
crotchety, but—”
Sammy
waved a large hand. “No need to apologize. I’d be a lot more than
pissed had I been in your shoes. Speaking of which, let me show you
to your room so you can get some dry clothes on.”
Snorting,
I glanced at the puddle forming around my duffle. “Dry clothes,
huh. That would be nice.”
“No
worries, Ms. York. I’ll find you something.”
“It’s
Alexa, by the way.” Those close to me called me Lex. We weren’t
there yet.
“Alexa,
then.”
My
room was upstairs on the second floor along with five other bedrooms.
Every piece of furniture was stained pine and sitting against light
blue walls. Thankfully, I had my own private bathroom. When I looked
out the bathroom window, light was coming from the woods somewhere
behind the trees where it shouldn’t be.
I
sure hoped Dane had told me everything I needed to know about this
so-called mission. I would hate to learn something the
hard—painful—way. Though that would never be his intention, I
also knew his idea of what information was important to know was
different from mine.
Had
it not been for Wesley Dane, a full-blooded werewolf friend of my
family, I wouldn’t be here to play bodyguard for one of his closest
friends. It wasn’t the thousand dollars a day, tax-free money for
my services that had brought me here. I needed the distraction more
than anything.
“So,
how much do you know about me?” After snuggling into a thick, warm
robe I found hanging on a hook, I dried off my hair with a towel and
opened the bathroom door.
Sammy
was still there, though keeping his distance by waiting in the hall.
I thought it was weird, but whatever, seeing as this was more his
house than mine. “Enough,” he replied. “You’re half-werewolf,
which is extremely rare. You’re also married, which means either
your husband, who’s a full-blood, or Dane is going to tear Dr. Joss
apart if anything bad
happens
to you. Although, that sort of defeats the purpose of you being the
doctor’s bodyguard.” He half-smiled.
“Are
you expecting me to be torn apart?”
“No.”
He chuckled. “But I expect you’ll be put through the wringer.”
About
the Author:
Author
Marcia Colette didn’t discover her love for reading until her late
teens when she started reading John Saul and progressed to works by
Bentley Little, Stephen King and Laurell K. Hamilton. Her reading
tastes convinced her to write paranormals where curses cause people
to shift into spiders, psychotic and telekinetic mothers are locked
away in attics, and murderous doppelgangers are on a rampage. Let's
not forget about the hunky werecheetah coalitions who live throughout
North Carolina. As long as she can make it believable, that's all
that matters.
Born
and raised in upstate New York, Marcia now lives in North Carolina
with her mom and beautiful daughter. They’re not raising zombies in
the backyard. There aren’t any hellhounds living in the den, only a
rabbit and a cockatiel. So where she gets her ideas is as much a
mystery to her as anyone else.
The
best place to find her--when she's not stirring up trouble--is on her
blog where she loves connecting with readers.
Tour
giveaway
1
ebook copy of Stricken and a $10 Amazon gift certificate
Interesting cover design ;)
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