Ad copy

Steamy Dragon Shifter Series 🌶️🌶️ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ “A new author to me and absolutely not what I expected. And in a good way. A totally different take on a dragon story. Love this author.” - Amazon Reviewer Blurb for Riding Through Fire: The dragons on Draig Island are not your run-of-the-mill kind. They’re something else entirely… I cannot believe my bad luck when I am called to give blood and just before the cut-off age of twenty-five. I thought I was in the clear. The selection process is obscure. All I know is that it has something to do with a person’s DNA. If the scientists find what they are looking for in my sample, I might be sent to the island as a tribute for the dragons who reside there. Yes, actual dragons. Not that I’ve ever seen one of the creatures. Apparently, they do exist; they just don’t mingle with us on account of being extremely dangerous. I mean, they’re huge, breathe fire, and have sharp teeth and claws. Bottom line, dragons and humans do not mix very well. I’m not sure why they need human tributes. Of the thirty handed over annually, some return months later with no memory of their stay on the island. As for the rest, who knows? It’s baffling and terrifying in equal measure. Quite frankly, I hope I never find out what goes on at Draig Island. I keep telling myself that only thirty end up going. Not that many, considering that tens of thousands of blood samples are taken. My odds are good. I’m not going to get called up. I’m horrified when I receive another letter telling me that I have been selected. I need to pack and get my affairs in order. I leave for Draig Island in one month with no guarantee I’ll ever return and no idea what is to become of me. I’m not panicking at all. This story contains mature themes/language. Also, be prepared for a ton of growls, dirty talk, and a hard-won HEA. Hulking, skulking, foul-mouthed, brooding dragons ahead. You were warned! Each book follows a different couple. Reviews of Riding through Fire (The Dragon Tributes Series): ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ “Fabulous new take on dragons and humans! Funny at times, spicy a lot of the time, and full of characters you grow to love.” - Amazon Reader ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ “Wow just wow! I found this series by complete accident, and holy cow it’s so much like Fourth Wing and Aragon combined. I love it!!!” - Amazon Reviewer ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ "I read a lot of this authors books but this one is an exceptional take on Dragons. I was gripped from the start" -Goodreads Reviewer Free in Kindle Unlimited. Also available in paperback and audio. If you are looking for a spicy, paranormal romance series, dive into Riding through Fire now by clicking the 'Learn more' button. 🌶️🌶️🌶️ Excerpt of Riding through Fire Chapter 1 Hunter I trudge up the third flight of stairs, winded by the time I reach the top. You would swear I’d be fitter after living in the same apartment building for years, but I’m not. Not even close. I sweep a strand of hair from my face and start down the lengthy hallway that leads to my apartment. There is a long, open balcony on one side, and the wind is howling. Tugging my coat more firmly around myself, I keep my eye on the prize, namely the second-to-last door at the end. The icy wind feels like it is blowing right through me, and my purse feels like it weighs a ton. I look down at the tan leather, grumbling to myself about how I need to clean the thing out. I swear I’d keep the kitchen sink in it if I could. Finding my keys in my sea of stuff takes me a minute or two. There’s half a granola bar – why didn’t I think of you earlier? – my wallet, my sunglasses, a pen, Kleenex, a lipstick I thought was lost forever, headache tablets, an almost empty pack of gum, a notebook, a half-filled bottle of water, and then, squeezed in next to my makeup bag and a tube of toothpaste, are my keys. “Finally,” I mutter, yawning as I unlock the door. We just finished audits on a major company. Today was D-day to return the files to our client, so we had to work late…again. It’s the third day in a row, and I’m beyond pooped. As if to prove a point, I yawn again. My stomach growls loudly. It started eating itself a good couple of hours ago. My cheapskate boss wouldn’t order in, but even worse, he wouldn’t let us get takeout, either. He said it would take up too much time. Talk about being a slave driver. There must be laws against that, surely? I push open the front door, hoping to be greeted with the aroma of home cooking, but the apartment is dark. I groan. My roommate has been dating a guy for over a year now. It might even be longer than that. She spends more and more time at his place lately. A part of me is waiting for her to tell me she’s moving out. Don’t get me wrong, Tyler is a nice enough guy. The two of them are so in love it makes me sick, but only because I'm so damned jealous. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before I have to look for a new roomie, which makes me a little sad, even though I’m happy for her. I am! I’m also dreading it. Who can blame me? Carmen and I have been living together for seven years, ever since we started college together. She studied psychology, and I went into accounting. Considering how chaotic I am, my parents couldn’t believe it, but what can I say? I love crunching numbers. I love my job. My only wish is to pay off my student loan already and actually live something of a life. It sucks being buried under financial debt. Once inside, I fumble for the light switch. I must be more tired than I realized. I’ll probably make myself some two-minute noodles and hit the sack. I groan as I pull off my boots, wiggling my toes before heading into the living room. When I see it, my heart literally stops for a few beats. I think I make a strange noise, but I can’t be sure. I’m freaking out. It’s full-blown panic, only not on the outside. My eyes feel huge, and I realize I am clutching my chest. I can’t breathe. Oh no! Ohhhhhh no! Nooooooo! This can’t be happening. I take a few steps back and blink a few times as if the scene before me might magically change. It doesn’t. I’d almost forgotten about this. Once again, I’d started to feel like I was in the clear. Apparently, I’m an idiot because I have been fooled twice. Twice. I take a seat on our overstuffed sofa and sink down deep. This particular piece of furniture needs to be overhauled. Reupholstered and re-everythinged. It needs help. I need more help right now. I can’t take my eyes off the envelope on the kitchen counter. We have an open-plan living, dining, and eating area. Yes, I live in an apartment the size of a postage stamp. Having said that, I love it anyway. I love my overstuffed, shitty sofa. I love my life. I mostly love my life. My life, as I once knew, is over. It’s over! Craaaaaap! The envelope is a gorgeous sage green and made from expensive paper. It’s embossed with a golden dragon that wraps itself around front and back. Scales, tails, wings, and all. It would be beautiful if it wasn’t from the Tribute Council. Holy shit, I’m freaking out! An envelope. A thick envelope. Arghhhhhhh! It could be to say that I didn't qualify. If that’s true, it’s a very long letter telling me I didn’t make it. The envelope is thick and double the size of the one they sent me calling me in to give a blood sample. It’s too thick. Please don’t be what I think it is. Please! No! Three months is a long time. That’s how long it’s been since I gave my sample. I fretted like crazy for the first few weeks. It was on my mind often over the next few, and then…I got complacent. I started to relax. What’s wrong with me? Why did I relax? I don’t want to open the envelope. Wait just a second. I realize that Carmen didn’t message me about that ticking time bomb on the dining room table. She clearly picked up the mail earlier today and put it neatly on the table, but couldn’t send me a little warning text. It would have been helpful. I could have prepared myself mentally for this moment. I root through my bag. Then I dig through it again, realizing I have left my cell phone at work. It’s in my top drawer. My boss, Derick, doesn’t like seeing us on our phones when we’re on a deadline. He doesn’t want to see us on our phones, period. I can’t believe I left it at work. Then again, I can believe it. I’m brain-dead after the last few days. I even dreamed about profits and losses the whole of last night. I heft myself up and off of the sofa with a huge sigh. It takes some work, but I’m finally standing. I drop my purse on the floor beside my feet with a thud. It lands on the red wine stain we haven’t been able to remove since we first moved into this place. Carmen broke a bottle while trying to open it. We were drunk and disorderly at the time. I remember how much we laughed and laughed. There may even have been falling. Then we went to bed, only surfacing late the next day. The stain had fully set by then. In fact, the stain seemed to have had stain babies during the night, and so my passable secondhand rug was ruined. We’ve both had good intentions to replace it since but haven’t gotten around to it. I drag my eyes off the stain and back to the envelope. Arghhh! I go over to the table and pick it up. It’s heavy. I may as well get this over with, so I rip up the edge, sticking my finger inside to tear it open. With a huge sigh, I pull out the contents, unfolding the cream letter on top. It’s also made from thick, handmade paper with the same gold dragon embossed on the right corner. It looks exactly like the one that invited me to give a sample. Invited. Hah! That’s hilarious since it’s a crime not to go. There is no turning down the Tribute Council. I would have needed a doctor’s letter, and the date would have simply been rescheduled. If you are called, you attend or end up in jail like a convict. The average sentence length is two years, up to five. There is talk of increasing the sentence to a much longer term. Not pitching up after you’ve been called as a Tribute is a whole other ballgame. You are hunted down like an animal. A price is put on your head. Every bounty hunter in the country looks forward to this time of year because there is serious money to be made. Once caught, you are dragged to the island, kicking and screaming, if need be. There is no escape. No mercy. No option. If this letter is to tell me that I am a Dragon Tribute, then I have to accept my fate. There’s nothing else to it. I take a deep breath and unfold the letter. Dear Miss Foster, Congratulations, you have been selected to be a Tribute… It’s like the floor falls out from under me. I grab the table, my lungs seizing. It feels like everything seizes. Like the world stops. My world certainly does. I’m sucking in air like a crazy person, but still feeling like I might pass out from lack of oxygen. This isn’t happening. How? Why me? Of all the tens of thousands of samples given, only thirty candidates are selected to go to Draig Island each year. I’m twenty-five years old – that’s the cut-off age. I would not have been called or selected after this. I almost made it. Almost… I’m devastated. My life, as I know it, is over. I suck in a deep breath. “Hunter?” I turn. It’s my roomy Carmen. She’s standing in the hallway. She looks stricken. “What is it?” Her eyes move to the letter in my hand. To the envelope on the table where I left it and then back up to meet my eyes. “Oh, my god! Please tell me that you haven’t been… Oh god! You have, haven’t you? You’ve been selected as a Tribute?” I nod mutely. “No!” she practically yells. “I came back to check in on you. Why haven’t you answered any of my texts? I tried calling. I knew it. As soon as I saw that envelope, I knew it.” She looks at the letter in my hand again. “When do you leave?” A tear tracks down her cheek. Before I can answer, she goes on. “You’ve really been selected?” She slowly shakes her head in disbelief, swiping at the tear with the back of her hand. I nod, looking down at the letter, now slightly crumpled. I clear my throat as I take in the words, letting my eyes track across each sentence. “I have a month. One lousy month to get my affairs in order.” My voice is shaky. “What does that even mean?” Carmen asks, her voice a little shrill. “Get your affairs in order?” “I don’t know. A month is nothing.” Great! Now, I sound shrill, too. “I guess I have to plan for in case I never end up coming back.” I hold back a sob. She walks into the kitchenette, grabs two shot glasses from the cupboard, and digs the vodka out of the bottom of the freezer. It’s the one we keep for emergencies, and this constitutes an emergency. I notice that the bottle is already three-quarters of the way down. It’s been a rough year. Kevin and I broke up six, make that seven months ago. Now this! I would say that this is worse, which shows that I’m finally moving on with my life. Although when I envisioned moving on, it didn’t include bloodthirsty dragons. “Pour fast,” I tell Carmen. My heart just about beats out of my chest. Carmen nods and fills the shot glasses all the way to the brim. She slides one of the glasses across to me. We down the contents in one go. The clear liquid burns all the way down my throat, and I feel instantly warmer. I wince because it tastes revolting. We really need to get caramel flavor next time. Next time? There won’t be a next time. I’ll be eaten. Gone. Dead. Worse. No one knows what happens to the Tributes who are forced to go to Draig Island, those who never return. “Another one?” Carmen asks, holding up the bottle; she must see something in my expression. It’s thoughts of death. My eyes must have clouded with worry, and I’m clutching my chest again, which feels tight. “Definitely,” I bark out. She pours again, only going halfway this time, which is good since I only have one fucking month to sort out my whole entire life, and I can’t afford to get drunk. I might do something stupid, like run away. I grab and down the shot again before Carmen gets a chance to lift hers halfway to her mouth. I don’t wince this time. The burn feels good. Slightly buzzed, I keep reading the stupid letter. “I will be taken to the island by helicopter. Oh joy, I need to do a full medical, which is scheduled for tomorrow. Derick is going to freaking kill me.” “It’s not like he can fire you.” Carmen points out the silver lining in all this. “Nope, I’m going to have to quit.” I pull in a deep breath as panic rises. The law states that I may leave my position of employment without giving notice. I mean, I have affairs to get in order and shit to do. “When do they put on the ankle bracelet?” Carmen asks me, her voice barely a whisper. “Tomorrow, straight after my medical.” I visibly shiver at the thought. The ankle bracelet will make running infinitely harder. That’s why most runners do so as soon as the letter arrives. Now is my chance. I feel sick. “That sucks.” My roommate gives me a pitying look, then she brightens up. “Maybe you’ll fail your medical exam.” Carmen jumps up and down. She’s grinning. “That wouldn’t be a good thing, babe. I would need to have a life-threatening condition to fail. In fact, there is almost no way to get out of this that doesn’t involve me dead or dying.” “Of course. I’m sorry! I’m an idiot.” She shakes her head. “You’re not an idiot. You’re sweet and kind and…” I make a sobbing noise, putting a hand over my mouth for a moment. “I'm going to miss you.” We hug for a few minutes. Both of us are crying. “I’m not sure how I’m going to tell my parents. They will be so upset,” I say as I pull away. I sniff, wiping my face with my hand. “You might end up coming back. You never know,” Carmen says. “You could be one of the lucky ones.” I nod. “You’re right. I need to be strong. I can get through this…whatever this ends up being in the end. I can do it. I can survive fire-breathing dragons.” Carmen takes my hands. “Of course you can. You’re one of the strongest people I know. Smart, too.” “That's sweet of you, but I’m only five and a half feet tall.” Which makes me slightly taller than Carmen. That’s why she thinks I’m so strong because, compared to her, I am. Compared to the rest of the world, not so much. Hopefully, the dragons won’t eat me on account of my size. Although I might be short, there is still quite a lot to me. I’m not tiny by anyone’s standards. I look down. I’ve picked up weight since the breakup. I’m out of shape. I won’t be able to run or fight. Double crap! I'll start working out right away. I’ll eat healthy, too, and shed a few pounds. I've got this. Then again, I stress eat. Nooooo! I’ll be a prime target for those winged beasts. I force myself to take in a deep breath because I need to stop thinking like that. The dragons are not going to eat me. They might be nice. We might not be food to them. What could they possibly want with us? Other than the obvious. We probably make tasty human snacks. Stop, Hunter! Back to the part about that kind of thinking not being helpful. Some of the Tributes come back. A lucky few. Never the same number, mind you. I need to make sure that I am one of them, that’s all. “At least you’ll get the money.” Carmen looks at me from under her lashes. “At least there’s that. You have to try to look on the bright side, Hunter.” “Yep, it’s all here.” I tap the booklet that was inside the envelope. “I’ll receive thirty thousand dollars as soon as the ankle bracelet has been secured. Then a further thirty if I am sent back home.” “That’s fantastic money.” “You’re right.” I nod. “I’ll be able to pay off my student loans. My credit card debt, too. If I end up coming back, I'll have money in the bank.” “Exactly. You’d have enough to put a deposit down on a place for yourself.” She gets this sheepish look, biting down on her lower lip. “Are you going to move in with Tyler?” She nods. “Tyler asked me weeks ago, but I haven’t been able to tell you.” I force a smile. “It works out then.” I sigh. “We’ll have to let this place go. At least I won’t have to find another roommate. You said it; we have to look for the positive aspects of this.” I lick my lips. “I’m going to go on a little adventure. One I’ll have no recollection of when I return…and I am going to come back. I’ll find a new job – a better job – and get on with my life.” I’ll keep telling myself that until I’m blue in the face. In fact, it’s going to become my mantra. Survive the dragons. Leave Draig Island. Move on with my life. Unless, of course, I get eaten first. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to banish the thought. It won’t go, no matter how hard I try. Click the ‘Learn more’ button to dive in…