Friday, October 13, 2023

[Blitz] Red Winter by Annette Marie

Red Winter – Special Edition Hardcover Omnibus
Annette Marie
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance

A breathtaking fantasy romance inspired by Japanese mythology, with mischievous shape-shifters, treacherous gods, and forbidden love.

From Book 1: Emi has spent her entire life hiding from the creatures that hunt her. The savage earth spirits are determined to kill her before she can become the living host of a goddess, so she stays hidden–until the day she saves the life of one of her hunters.

Shiro isn’t the harmless fox spirit she thought he was. He’s mysterious, cunning, unpredictable … and now hers to command. He’s sworn to pay his debt to her, but he doesn’t know who she is. If he finds out, he’ll kill her.

But she can’t send him away–not yet. Her future isn’t what she thought. The lies surrounding her fate have begun to unravel, and she needs answers before time runs out–answers that lie in the spirit realm. Shiro can take her there … if she dares to trust him.

And only then will she find out how deep the gods’ treachery runs.


Red Winter includes 30 full-page illustrations by award-winning artist Brittany Jackson.


THE RED WINTER TRILOGY
Red Winter (#1)
Dark Tempest (#2)
Immortal Fire (#3)

Visit the Kickstarter Campaign Here!

This Special Edition Hardcover Omnibus includes:

  • All three titles: Red Winter, Dark Tempest, and Immortal Fire
  • New illustrated dust jacket by artist Brittany Jackson
  • All 30 full-page illustrations from the original novels
  • New interior layout & design
  • Foil-stamped typography on the dust jacket and cloth cover
  • Colored end-papers
  • Red sprayed/stenciled edges
  • Hand-signed and personalized by the author
  • Etched wooden bookmark, stickers, and more! (More via stretch goals)

Excerpt from Red Winter:

None too gently, Yumei forced Emi’s head one way then the other, examining her. Pushing her head back, he dipped his face down to her neck and inhaled through his nose.

“Is she human?” he asked Shiro, straightening. He didn’t release her chin. “She smells of human female and you. Did you bed her?”

She gasped, outrage and embarrassment flooding her face with heat. She tried to jerk back but his fingers tightened painfully, holding her in place.

“We rolled in the snow together some,” Shiro said, mouth quirking up in that sly grin of his as he met her furious stare, “but it was an act of survival, not passion. The ogres were something of a challenge.”

Yumei turned her face to one side and back again. “Are you certain it was she who removed the first binding?”

“There was no one else.”

The Tengu studied her a moment longer, then released her chin. She had time to take in a single relieved breath before he grabbed her wrist. He pulled her hand to his face, turned her palm up, and bit the side of her hand beneath her thumb.

She cried out and tried to yank her arm away from him. His strength was like the grip of a steel vise, unmovable. He held her hand in his mouth, his gaze distant. He let her go so suddenly that she lost her balance and fell on her rump in the snow.

“Human,” Yumei said decisively. “But I can taste divine power in her blood.”

Emi turned her hand up to see a small puncture wound in her palm from his canine. A single drop of blood ran down her wrist, tracing a crimson line on her pale skin.

A shadow blocked the moon above. Shiro reached down and touched his thumb to the trail of blood. He slid his thumb up her wrist to the wound, then brought it to his lips. He grinned at her as he licked her blood off his skin. She stared at him, too shocked and appalled to speak.

“Definitely human,” he said to Yumei without breaking eye contact with her, daring her to protest their treatment of her. “Do priestesses normally taste like gods?”

“I am not certain,” Yumei admitted. “I have never tasted a true servant of a shrine.”

She clutched her chest, her hand pressed against the hidden mark over her heart. Her pulse pounded in her ears, her fear almost too much to bear. She didn’t taste like divine power because she was a dedicated priestess, but because she was a goddess’s future host. If they realized the truth, they would kill her on the spot.

Author Bio:

Annette Marie is the best-selling author of The Guild Codex, an expansive collection of interwoven urban fantasy series ranging from thrilling adventure to hilarious hijinks to heartrending romance. Her other works include YA urban fantasy series Steel & Stone, its prequel trilogy Spell Weaver, and romantic fantasy trilogy Red Winter.

Her first love is fantasy, while fast-paced adventures and tantalizing forbidden romances are her guilty pleasures. She lives in the frozen winter wasteland of Alberta, Canada (okay, it's not quite that bad) with her husband and their furry minion of darkness—sorry, cat—Caesar. When not writing, she can be found elbow-deep in one art project or another while blissfully ignoring all adult responsibilities.

To find out more about Annette and her books, visit www.annettemarie.ca

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