It's great to welcome Robyn Bachar back with her new release, Poison in the Blood. This book has all sorts of paranormal creatures...even vampire librarians.
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The supernatural world of my Bad Witch books includes a wide variety of paranormal creatures and magic users. Witches, shapeshifters, faeries, sorcerers, seers, librarians—yes, librarians. Magic librarians. Even vampire librarians.
I love libraries. As a student I worked in the main library of the University of Illinois. The stacks are massive—two buildings, ten floors, endless rows of books. I always wondered what secrets might be hidden behind the aged doors marked “Do Not Enter.” Could there be tomes of arcane magic tucked between the farm reports? Ancient spells hidden in the rare book room?
In the Bad Witch books librarians are the keepers of magician history. A librarian’s greatest wish is to join the Order of St. Jerome and become a chronicler, so that he or she can do their job for all eternity and tend a glorious, enormous library of magic. Becoming a chronicler is considered a great honor, something that a librarian works toward his entire life.
So what happens if a librarian has spent his entire life preparing to become a chronicler, and he suddenly learns that he has a soul mate? And not just any soul mate, but the beautiful, charming woman he’s been secretly pining after for years. That’s Michael Black’s dilemma in The Importance of Being Emily (included as a bonus in the print edition of Poison in the Blood—it’s two books in one!). Michael learns, much to his surprise, that his soul’s perfect match is the meddlesome seer Miss Emily Wright. Michael has sworn himself to the Order, and to have a life with Emily means turning his back on everything he’s worked for. As a seer, she can’t join the Order, and he’s faced with a tough decision: Immortality, or true love?
The Importance of Being Emily and Poison in the Blood tell Emily and Michael’s adventures in a Victorian England filled with magic and murder, and how they find their happily-ever-after despite their star-crossed state. I love writing these characters, and I hope that readers enjoy them too.
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Poison
in the Blood
Bad
Witch:
The
Emily Chronicles
Book
2
Robyn
Bachar
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
E-book: June 18, 2013
Print: June 3, 2014
ISBN: E-book 978-1-61921-587-0
ISBN: Print 978-1-61921-916-8
Number of pages: 272
Word Count: 55,711
Cover Artist: Kanaxa
Book Description:
She is honey to his throat…but
one sweet taste could part them forever…
Banished from home while her
husband adjusts to life as an immortal, blood-drinking chronicler, Emily Black
is homesick, heartsick and struggling under the constant sensory barrage of a
city drenched in ancient magic. When an old friend asks for her aid in solving
a string of murders, she welcomes the distraction, despite the danger.
Justine Dubois is grateful for a
seer’s help, and more understanding than anyone of Emily’s plight. As a
guardian, Justine commands respect; as a woman, her magic is considered
inferior. Together, they are determined to prove their worth to London’s
magicians, starting with solving these murders—with maybe a bit of matchmaking
on the side.
Long before he met his soul mate,
Michael Black made a commitment to join the Order of St. Jerome. He will live
forever, forced to watch the woman he loves age and die. As Emily hunts the
murderer, Michael struggles to protect her. But if he loses control of his
hunger, the greatest threat to her safety could be Michael himself.
Warning:
Contains tortured soul mates, scheming faeries, vampire debauchery, deadly
parasols, illicit blood-drinker relations, and adorable plot moppets.
Readers
can receive 30% off the ebook of Poison in the Blood from the Samhain
Store by using the coupon code POISON14 at checkout.
Excerpt:
Excerpt:
Normally
stepping into a garden would soothe me, but we were still within London, where
there was no comfort whatsoever. I looked up at the night sky and wished I were
with Michael.
“You have the soul of
an artist, Miss Rose. It is a rare gift.” Mr. Paris stroked my hand, and I
tugged it free of his arm. I folded both hands before me primly and smiled.
“Again, that is very
kind of you.”
“I consider myself a
patron of the arts.”
“So you attend
gatherings such as this often?” I asked.
“Of course. I am
always on the lookout for new talent.”
“I see. Did you know
Mrs. Harding?” I tried to examine his aura to determine his reaction, but his
magic continued to be so overwhelming that my eyes watered. Mr. Paris must be
unspeakably powerful, and I found myself both worried and intrigued. Perhaps he
was a sorcerer? One who specialized in darkness?
“I did. Poor girl.
What a terrible thing to have happened to her and her family… Tell me, are you
working on a second collection of your work?” he asked, quickly changing the
subject.
“I am, though I am
afraid the subject matter is quite a bit darker.”
Mr. Paris smiled a
predatory grin, and my pulse leapt with a thrill of fear. “I am not afraid of
the dark, Miss Rose. Are you?”
He stepped closer,
but I held my ground, studying him with a curious tilt to my head. “What are
you?” I asked.
He blinked, startled.
“I beg your pardon?”
“What sort of magic
do you practice?” I clarified.
“Oh. I am a
librarian, of course,” he replied, and I laughed, unable to help myself.
“What’s so funny?”
“You are most
certainly not a librarian. Do people truly believe that lie?”
The smile slid from
Mr. Paris’s face as his expression hardened. He stepped forward and tried to
grab my arm, but Miss Dubois was suddenly between us, a shining silver blur. With
a snarl he turned and ran, and the guardian chased him out of the garden and
into the street.
Uncertain of what to
do, I followed. I stood hesitant at the garden gate, wondering which way they
went. My vision shifted, and I followed Miss Dubois’s blazing footsteps. I
paused next to a blur traced over the high brick wall of another garden. It was
another magical doorway, rather like the one I had discovered near Mrs.
Harding’s body outside the Undiscovered Country. Foolishly I raised my hand to
touch it, despite knowing full well that doing so could trigger another vision,
but a hand emerged from the brick wall and grabbed my wrist.
Overwhelmed with
shock, I barely managed a strangled gasp as Mr. Paris stepped through the wall
and glared down at me. “Who are you?” he demanded.
“You first.” My voice
trembled, and Mr. Paris grinned. He tightened his grip and snapped several
small bones in my wrist, and I screamed.
“Who are you?” he
repeated.
Something bubbled up
within me, a bright plume of prophetic magic that became my answer. “I am your
end.” That time my voice did not tremble at all, but was filled with terrible
certainty. I would cause Mr. Paris’s death, and I knew it with as much
confidence as I knew the sun would rise in the morning.
Something in my gaze
must have worried him, because he snarled. Scowling, he grabbed my forearm with
both hands and twisted. The bone snapped like dry kindling, and I screamed
again. Before he could torment me further Miss Dubois arrived and bashed him
with a round silver shield. Mr. Paris vanished into thin air, and the guardian
stood near me. One arm bore the shield, while in her other hand she held a
sword. How cunning of her. I wanted a sword as well.
“Are you all right?”
she asked.
My knees wobbled and
began to buckle, but then two dark blurs streaked up to us, and I was suddenly
swept from my feet and cradled close in Michael’s arms.
“Darling! What
happened?” he asked.
“You caught me.” I
blinked—however had he moved that fast? Simon sighed and shook his head at his
student, and I sensed that Michael and I were both in for a scolding.
“Of course I did. I
will always catch you. Are you all right?”
About
the Author:
Robyn Bachar was born and raised
in Berwyn, Illinois, and loves all things related to Chicago, from the Cubs to
the pizza. It seemed only natural to combine it with her love of fantasy, and
tell stories of witches and vampires in the Chicagoland area. As a gamer, Robyn
has spent many hours rolling dice, playing rock-paper-scissors and slaying
creatures in MMPORGs.
Tour giveaway:
1 signed print copy of Poison in the Blood
1 $25 Amazon gift card
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2 comments:
Thanks for having me today! :)
Robyn, I'm glad to have you spend a day with my readers!
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