Title:
Because the Night
Author: Kristen Strassel
Series: Night Song’s Collection Series (#1)
Genre: NA Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Foreword Literary
Release Date: Nov 5 2013
Edition/Formats It Will Be Available In: eBook & Print
Blurb/Synopsis:
Immortal Dilemma is the hottest band in the Las Vegas
vampire rock scene. They draw insatiable fans from around the globe, thanks to
a supernatural attraction called Bloodlust. Tristan craved such an opportunity
to fill his empty mortal life, and now he has eternity to earn his place along
the legends of rock n roll debauchery.
Callie always feared that Tristan’s excesses would get him
into trouble, but she never thought they’d lead him to immortality. To
reconnect with him, she must weave her way through a world not only she had no
idea existed, but does not welcome her.
Blade turned down a spot in Immortal Dilemma after learning
what he must sacrifice for that lifestyle. He finds Callie a refreshing change
from the girls in the vampire rock scene. When Callie drags Blade back into the
world of Immortal Dilemma, his resistance drives her into the waiting arms of
Tristan, who shows her the true meaning of Bloodlust.
But the very things that Callie fights so hard to save are
the very things that fight to destroy her.
Book Links
Author Information
Kristen shares a birthday with Steven Tyler and Diana
Ross. She spends each day striving to be
half as fabulous as they are. She’s worn
many hats, none as flattering as her cowboy hat: banker, retail manager,
fledgling web designer, world’s worst cocktail waitress, panty slinger, now
makeup artist and aspiring author. She
loves sunshine, live music, the middle of nowhere, and finding new things to
put in her house. Kristen is represented
by Pam van Hylckama Vlieg of Foreword Literary.
Author Links
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Excerpt
A ballerina came on to the stage with no
fanfare. The curtain didn’t rise and the lights didn’t dim.
She began to move, light and delicate, she could have been
dancing on a cloud. The severe bun she wore had been powdered to look ghastly,
and her ribs seemed to poke through the plain white leotard she wore. A single
spotlight followed her every movement, and then the screens on either side of
the stage flickered to life, projecting her image. Lilting music began to play
and a hush fell over the crowd.
As she spun around in circles on point, trapeze artists
swung across the stage above her, flipping around in mid air. Two other performers peddled on tricycles
with giant front wheels. The music
became more and more frenzied and the spotlights pulsed and strobed on each
performer as they swung around.
I didn’t notice the man step from the shadows behind the
ballerina until the music came to a stop.
The other performers disappeared. With one arm clamped around her waist,
he pulled her head back to the side, exposing her neck to the spotlight. He paused and grinned, I could barely see
more of him than his teeth, as if he pondered his next move. She held still and graceful, even under
siege. Then, in a move almost too fast for the human eye to process, he pressed
his mouth to her neck until her body went limp and fell to the ground.
The house lights went down and the crowd went wild. My hands
were still clutched together in my lap, heart pounding like crazy. Immortal
Dilemma played vampires on their TV show, but I knew it was an act, just like
that performance. Vampires weren’t real.
The girls around me rose to their feet, screaming and
crying. Some jumped up and down. The emotion in the room pulsed and throbbed
like the strobe lights overhead, making my head spin. Beside me Keisha was
already on her feet, and with my knees trembling, I stood as the curtain fell.
The lights shined just on the drummer, who seemed to be the
only member of the band on the stage.
His sticks flew against the skin of the drums, the thuds and riffs
ripping through the silence like fireworks.
As his solo drew to a close, giant flash pans of fire shot up in time
with each strike. The heat exploded through the theater, warming me even all
the way up in the balcony.
And with the last pound of the drums, the rest of the band
rose up through the floor on giant pedestals.
The whole place shook with the screams of the crowd.
Tristan commanded on the left side of the stage, in a direct
line with my seat. His dark hair was
long, flowing free, and his face was painted in some sort of elaborate skeleton
design that was almost pretty. Under his
guitar, he wore a red fuzzy coat, open, with no shirt underneath and black
shiny pants that looked like they had been poured around the shape of his body. Standing on the pedestal, he played his
guitar with his head tipped back and his eyes closed, swaying to the beat, as
if he was trying to sense his way through the music. He was eerily peaceful, somehow still
beautiful, drenched in red light.
The pedestals lowered to stage level, and Tristan sprang
onto the stage. He roamed back and forth along the crowd, whipping his hair
around, teasing the audience members in the front rows by leaning over them
with his guitar but staying just out of reach. Anytime he threw guitar picks to
the crowd, a heap of humanity fought for the small piece of plastic he had
held.
He smiled wide, showing those horrible, horrible fangs. I
hated that part of his costume. They made him look like a monster. His eyes
scanned the audience, seeming to look directly into mine. My stomach
clenched. Even way back in the balcony,
I felt as if he played just for me.
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