Wendi Zwaduk - Romance to make your heart race

Home My Blog Bookshelf About Me Free Reads Contact

My Immortal

Available At:

What’s a girl to do when she finds out the man of her dreams is a 340 year old vampire?

Run like hell or offer her heart.

Being a vampire hasn’t been easy for Storm Richardson. He’s not programmed to kill or harm, unless he needs to feed. When he meets Stephanie “Stevie” Persing, he knows he’s found his mate. But if he crosses the line between work and play, he risks losing the only person who matters—her.

Stevie’s been in love with Storm since the moment she laid eyes on him. He’s brooding, intense, and her one weakness. But is her heart too steep a price to pay for his love, especially when she discovers his deepest secrets?

This book contains minimal scenes of rape in a flashback. Includes smokin’ hot sex in a hot tub, a pickup truck, and the shower.

Excerpt

“Storm, we’re working the Chatty Catty Club tonight to catch Bruce Tripp in the act. Edie’s ready to rip me apart because we haven’t produced any damning pictures. Doesn’t your friend Falco bounce there?”

Storm frowned and glared out the window at the illuminated main drag of New Haven, Ohio. The neon highlighted the front row of stores and the silvery sidewalk stretching into the distance, but he didn’t need the enhanced lighting.

Being a vampire hyper charged his senses. He could see things at great distances, feel the tiniest pinprick on his supersensitive skin, and hear every conversation in a crowded bar. He didn’t need the work as a private investigator—being immortal gave him a lot of time to save up his resources. Then again, to stay under the radar, he didn’t stick to one profession for more than a few years. Blending in worked just fine, until he met Stevie.

Stevie managed to whip his sense of smell and taste into warp drive. The sweet scent of her fear knotted his insides. He didn’t want her to be afraid when they were on the cusp of catching yet another cheating spouse. What was the true reason for her apprehension? He yearned to climb into her mind and help ease her fears.

For the night to go smoothly, he needed to pull his thoughts away from Stevie and continue mentally prepping. Their current client, the ever-exciting Edie Tripp, was just that—a trip and a pain in the ass. She made his brain ache. She suspected her husband of cheating with his secretary and wanted Storm and Stevie to catch him in the act, or as close to ripping the sheets as possible.

He needed something to get his mind off the pesky woman and the lousy way he was about to spend a perfectly beautiful Friday night.

“So, will Todd be there?” Stevie asked, her voice tinged with annoyance. “You didn’t answer me.”

“Yes, sweetheart. Todd’s the bouncer, and yes, he’ll be there. ” Storm smirked. His friend and fellow vampire, Todd Falco, could crush iron with his bare hands.

At the traffic signal, Stevie screeched to a halt. She turned to him and rolled her eyes. “You know what I meant, Storm. Do you think he could get us through the line faster? I hate to wait in heels. Then again, you know how much I hate working in heels to begin with.”

Storm rubbed his jaw, blotting out a smile. She hated anything but comfy sneakers or good old socks. Unfortunately, clubbing required sexy clothing and footwear. Whether she was comfy or not, she looked darn cute jacked up four inches in knee-high boots.

“If we cut in line, honey, then we’ll give ourselves away. The point is to blend in, so don’t worry about the heels. You’ll be able to sit at the bar. Allan’s waiting on you to give you the scoop about our clients.”

Like it was possible for him to disappear in the crowd; he was a freaking vampire. A bloodsucker and damned sex fiend.

He couldn’t blend in if he tried.

Women clung to him in droves, claiming they liked his raw sex appeal. He never understood the draw. When he looked in the mirror, all he saw was a monster in expensive clothing longing to regain his humanity.

Stevie stuck out her bottom lip in a pout and distracted him from his pity-party. “Fine, but this time, you’d better act like you want to be there with me. The only attention I got Tuesday night came from the tacky bartender and what he wanted was a better tip. Fortunately, Allan’s more of a gentleman. Still, we aren’t acting like a convincing team when you pretend I don’t exist.”

Storm frowned. Oh, she existed and blocked out the image of every other woman in the room. She inhabited his dirtiest fantasies each time he closed his eyes. In his latest dream, he wanted to throw Stevie against the nearest wall and make love to her until they both screamed with delight.

He couldn’t tear his eyes away from her. But then Stevie never saw that because of the never-ending line of women dogging his heels. What would she say if he finally told her the truth? She had an open mind. When he asked her about ghosts, she claimed to believe they existed.

Vampires were people, too…

Storm clenched his jaw. His heart thudded and fear thundered through his veins. The reason he kept his identity secret was the sheer terror of knowing she’d run screaming into the night if she knew.

Reviews

"Wendi Zwaduk has penned a thrilling little novel that is sure to grab your attention from the very start. My Immortal has all the right elements for an action packed short story. The plot is well developed and the characters' motivations are clear....The fact that Ms. Zwaduk didn’t follow my preconceived notion of “vampire finds mate” type storyline simply made me as a reader and reviewer look deeper into this fresh perspective. I honestly enjoyed My Immortal and plan to check out the other offerings by Ms. Zwaduk to see what else she has in store to keep us seasoned readers on our toes. 4 cherries." Honeysuckle - Whipped Cream Reviews
~~

For some strange reason, the entire time I was reading this book, I had the theme song from the old movie, High Noon, bouncing around in my brain. The words go something like, "Do not forsake me, oh my darling, on this our wedding day...I do not know what fate awaits me, I only know I must be strong...and I must face a man who hates me, or lie a coward in my grave..."

The story is of a sheriff, played by Gary Cooper, who marries Grace Kelly, but then has to go out to fight an outlaw the same day. Grace implores him not to fight, and says she will leave him if he does. In My Immortal, Storm is a vampire who must fight another vamp who is challenging him. Stevie has already left him because of his undead state, even though they have been formally mated. While a modern vampire tale doesn't immediately bring an old Western to mind, the circumstances are at least somewhat the same.

Stevie can't come to terms with what Storm is, and he can't make her understand that his love for her is not an unnatural thing, as she seems to think. He also needs to show his supremacy to his sire and rival, O'Toole, so that Stevie will be safe.

Three hundred odd years of life experience have given Storm the wherewithal to seduce Stevie and make her his own. She is madly in love with him, but can she live with his vamp quirks? Their lovemaking is electrifying, and it is that very passion that makes Storm reluctant to tell Stevie what he is, until he is forced to acknowledge that his arch rival O'Toole has already communicated that fact to her. All he can hope for is that she will somehow allow her love to overcome her revulsion toward him.

At the showdown between Storm and O'Toole, as Stevie is faced with the very real possibility that either Storm or she or both might well die at O'Toole's hands, she has to make a split second decision on how she wants to spend the rest of her life. Will she and Storm choose immortality? Life? Or will O'Toole choose death for them? Will Storm die a coward, or victoriously face the man who hates him?

High Noon is a classic story, and so is My Immortal in a different way. The plot is straightforward and somewhat predictable, but it moves along well and has a satisfying HEA ending. Rating: Reviewer: Patrizia Murray

To Megan Slayer