Diane Burton: GUEST: Tamara Hughes #NewRelease BEWITCHING THE BEAST

Friday, August 17, 2018

GUEST: Tamara Hughes #NewRelease BEWITCHING THE BEAST

Please welcome author Tamara Hughes. Her newest book was released on Wednesday. The cover is so compelling. Look at his eye!

Here's what Tamara has to say about this book. Welcome, Tamara.

The original idea for Bewitching The Beast came from a song I heard on the radio while driving to a writers’ meeting. The song was “Better Than Me” by Hinder. You can do much better than me. That particular lyric had me wondering what would make someone feel they were undeserving of someone’s love. I guess I was in a paranormal mood because I automatically thought about the guy being some sort of creature that hurts a woman and feels bad about it.

I like to write fairly unique paranormal elements, but I wasn’t sure at first what this guy’s deal was. Soon after, I started listening to Evanescence. Their Fallen album in particular inspired me. The more I listened to it, the more this story developed in my head. Ethan ended up being a man possessed by a spirit who was eating away who he was inside, while Tess needed to wake up from her grief of losing her fiancé. I’ve never had a book come to me this way before. We’ll see if it ever happens again.

Here's the blurb:

Ethan Lockwood hates what he’s become—a slave to a parasitic monster whose victim’s names pepper the obituaries. He’s possessed by The Beast, a dragon who feeds off human spiritual energy. After a year of fighting The Beast’s demands, Ethan is losing the battle. The creature is taking over his mind, body, and soul. When he spies Tess, he can relate to her weary look and the sadness in her eyes, but her aura shines like a beacon, attracting The Beast. Ethan is forced to drain her energy, but for a split second, she subdues the creature inside him, compelling the spirit to slumber. How? Can she somehow free him from The Beast? Ethan chases after her. He can’t afford to let Tess die.

Since her fiancé’s death, Tess Edwards struggles to find new meaning in life. She doesn’t expect that new meaning to involve a sexy photographer who says he’s possessed by an energy-stealing beast. He claims she’s in danger and that he’s the only one who can save her. Great. He’s a nut job—cute, but delusional. She doesn’t believe in dragon spirits and magic, not until she finds her grandmother’s Book of Shadows. She’s descended from witches, and the book warns her of her fate. Although the beast inside Ethan needs her alive, he isn’t the only one of his kind. There’s another, and he wants Tess dead.

Excerpt:

The Beast had taken over again, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. Ethan’s thumb brushed the back of the slender hand in his. He’d overpower The Beast’s compulsion if he could, but it was no use. For the last year, he’d tried everything he could think of to stop that monster, and nothing ever did any good. The evil inside him had become too strong. A bitter taste coated his tongue, and self-disgust soured his stomach. He’d been reduced to becoming a fucking minion to a parasite.

He glanced back. But why a woman this time? The Beast had never preyed upon a woman before. Then again, through the monster’s eyes, her aura glowed brighter than any he’d seen. The amount of psychic energy within her had to be phenomenal.

Shit. The Beast just had to choose this particular woman, didn’t he? When Ethan had first spotted her, he’d read the pain in her eyes, something he could relate to. No, he saw more—spirit. Nothing could defeat this girl, not totally. She was the first to catch his interest in a long, long time—he struggled to swallow past the knot of remorse in his throat—and now he was going to destroy her life.

The buzz of the crowd grew louder with each minute as midnight approached. Despite the mass of people around them, his senses centered on this one woman. He detected the faint smell of vanilla on her skin and the whisper of her every breath.

Ethan led her down a hall he knew too well. His chest ached with The Beast’s need for her energy, a need that grew stronger with each step. He opened a door and entered a storage room, drawing the girl in the teal dress with him. Shelves with boxes of glasses, paper towels, and cleansers lined three walls. A stack of chairs and a stool filled the cramped space, along with the usual mops and brooms.

“What’s your name?” she muttered as he flicked on the overhead light and closed the door.

He did a double take, and hope cut through the dread. No one under The Beast’s trance had spoken to him before. He took in her pale-gray eyes. They had the vacant look he’d become accustomed to. Damn. His hope dimmed. “My name’s Ethan.”

“I’m Tess. Tess Edwards.” Her silky voice washed over him as her full lips curved into a smile. Ash-blonde hair hung in waves past her chin. She stepped toward him, and those pink bobbly things on her head wiggled back and forth. The dress she wore accentuated her shape. Not too thin, just curves in all the right places. Beautiful, and sexy. At one time, before The Beast had invaded his body, he might have snuck a date into the closet for a whole different reason. Wouldn’t that be a nice change. To feel normal again. The very idea sparked his imagination, and his mind reeled with what else they could do in this closet.

As if she read his thoughts, Tess smoothed her hands over his chest and pushed the leather jacket off his shoulders. It slid down his arms and landed on the tiled floor. Long-suppressed need shot through him as she dropped kisses along his chest. What was happening here? He took her shoulders and put some space between them.

The Beast hissed inside his head, commanding him to follow his body’s desires, directing his senses to her, only her. Why? What could that parasite have to gain? Psychic energy was stolen through a hand to the back of the neck.

Rising on tiptoe, Tess lifted her face to his, her lips beckoning. Ah, God, so damn tempting. He backed up a step. She followed and yanked his T-shirt from his jeans. Ethan moaned when her hot hands explored his back. It had been so long. Not since The Beast had claimed him. He clenched his fists. “Wake up, Tess,” he rasped, knowing full well it wouldn’t change anything. He’d never been able to break The Beast’s trance.

Her fingers slid over his skin, waking every nerve ending. Enough. He turned for the door, and The Beast’s hiss became a roar. Power surged through his legs, rooting him in place. Tess reached around his neck and urged his face closer to hers. No, he couldn’t do this. His body rigid, he fought the devil inside him, pushing away its evil commands. He grabbed her arms and shook her. “Tess, wake up!”

Her hands seized his wrists, and an electric impulse flowed from her fingertips and up through his arms. Not a painful shock, more like a tingling vibration. His muscles tensed, and he gaped as The Beast’s hold on him faded away, jarred into submission.

This book is available on Amazon. And it’s also in the Kindle Unlimited program.

About the Author

A small town girl with a big imagination, Tamara Hughes had no idea what to do with her life. After graduating from college, she moved to a big city, started a family and a job, and still struggled to find that creative outlet she craved. An avid reader of romance, she gave writing a try and became hooked on the power of exploring characters, envisioning adventures, and creating worlds. She enjoys stories with interesting twists and characters who have the grit to surmount any obstacle, all without losing the ability to laugh. To learn more, stop by her website: www.tamarahughes.com.