The bloody war between the Vampire Tribunal and the defiant scathe of Penton, Alabama, rages on, forcing its residents and their bonded humans to retreat into the underground fortress of last resort: Omega. There, Will Ludlam is charged with the care of Penton's humans, though he longs to fight alongside his vampire brethren. He knows the risks: as the renegade son of the Tribunal's vicious leader, Will's capture could doom the resistance.
Yet he is determined to prove his worth to his adopted scathe, to his vengeful father and to former US Army officer Randa Thomas, his beautiful, reluctant partner. Randa has little faith that a former member of the vampire elite has what it takes to fight a war. But as their enemies descend upon Omega, Will's polished charm and Randa's guarded heart finally give way to the warrior within.
Fans of Susannah Sandlin's Penton Legacy are sure to devour this long-awaited third installment of the steamy paranormal series.
Series:
Penton Vampire Legacy, Bk 3
Author: Susannah Sandlin
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Date of Publication:
February 5, 2013
ISBN: 978-1612183596
ASIN: B0073XV3L2
Number of pages: 328
Word Count: approx. 88,000
Purchase links:
Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Book Depository
Here's an excerpt:
Will stopped and scented the air again. There were two vampires nearby; one belonged to the Penton scathe, and one didn’t.
He ignored both vampires and skirted to the back of the street where the burned shell of his house still smelled of smoke and ash after three days. Aligning his position with the oak tree twenty feet behind what was left of his chimney, he paced forty steps into the woods.
A thorny bramble that had been draped over a small, scrubby bush pricked his fingers when he pulled it back. Grasping the trunk of the bush, he eased it from its loose grasp in the soil, exposing the top of a metal box.
The loud click of a cocked pistol preceded the cold press of steel against the back of his head by less than a second.
He inhaled, annoyed. A rookie mistake. He’d gotten so engrossed in his task he’d let someone slip up on him.
Vampire.
Penton scathe.
Female.
Freaking Randa.
* * *
Randa grinned, enjoying the disgusted look on Will’s face. “If I were your father, I’d already have the silver spoon back in your mouth, Willy. He’d have you trussed up like a rodeo calf by now, hauling you back to wherever it is he lives when he’s not terrorizing innocent people.”
Will Ludlam was the kind of guy Randa Thomas had hated as a human, and she didn’t like him a bit more as a vampire. Less, in fact. Not only was he a spoiled rich boy, he was now a virtually immortal spoiled rich boy. He had probably been a blue-chip jock in school with a 4.0 GPA and a string of girls trailing his every step.
Plus, he annoyed the hell out of her. The consummate smartass.
“No, if you were my father, you’d have slit my throat—not enough to kill me, but enough to make sure I couldn’t fight back.” His voice was soft, calm. “Then you’d hand me over to your sadistic, freakshow of a second-in-command Shelton, who would play with me until I couldn’t take it anymore. Only when I was good and broken would you return the silver spoon to my mouth.”
Good God, would any father really do that? Will didn’t sound as if he were joking. Randa relaxed her stance for only a split second before the world tilted and she hit the ground, landing on her back with Will stretched out on top of her in a full body press. And he had her gun.
“Damn it.” She pushed against him but it was like pressing on bedrock.
He propped on his elbows and grinned down at her. His hat had fallen off in the scuffle and the moonlight glinted off his hair, making it look silver instead of a naturally streaked blond. And he had dimples, as if God hadn’t already rewarded him with enough in the looks department.
“And if I were my father, you would be dead. Or worse. Believe me, with Matthias, there’s always much worse. Give up?”
She squirmed again, but froze when she realized he was getting turned on by her movements. There was definitely more of him pressing on her than there had been a few seconds earlier.
He laughed, a white glint of teeth in the moonlight. “Oh, don’t stop moving, sweetheart. This is getting more and more interesting.”
Yeah, she could feel exactly how interested he was getting. She felt a very un-vampirelike flush of heat as he wedged a knee between her legs. Damn it. She clenched her teeth at her body’s betrayal—which he’d be able to sense. She hated being a vampire; there was no sense of privacy. “Get. Off. Me. Now.”
Will lowered his head and, damn him, inhaled deeply, with his face pressed against the side of her neck. Her carotid artery also thumped in a very unvampire-like cadence. She waited for the smartass comments to start.
Instead, he lifted his head and looked her in the eye. She could swear his heartbeat sped up, although it was hard to tell over the pounding of her own. Well, this was awkward.
He blinked and opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again.
Well, that was one good thing. Will had been stricken dumb, at least for a moment. It wouldn’t last.
Here are the other books in the series:
The Penton Legacy, Book 2
By Susannah Sandlin
Release date: October 9, 2012
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Book Description:
With the vampire world on the brink of civil war over the scarcity of untainted human blood, battle lines are being drawn between the once peaceful vampire and human enclave of Penton, Alabama, and the powerful Vampire Tribunal.
A Scottish gallowglass warrior turned vampire in the early 17th century, Mirren Kincaid once served the Tribunal as its most creative and ruthless executioner—a time when he was known as the Slayer. But when assigned a killing he found questionable, Mirren abandoned the Tribunal’s political machinations and disappeared—only to resurface two centuries later as the protector and second-in-command of Penton. Now the Tribunal wants him back on their side—or dead.
To break their rogue agent, they capture Glory Cummings, the descendant of a shaman, and send her to restore Mirren’s bloodthirsty nature. But instead of a monster, Glory sees a man burdened by the weight of his past. Could her magic touch—meant by the tribunal to bring out a violent killer—actually help Mirren break his bonds and discover the love he doesn’t believe he deserves?
It’s a town under siege, a powerful warrior in a battle with his past, and one woman who can make the earth move—literally—as the Penton Legacy continues.
Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Book Depository
Book One Penton Legacy series
By Susannah Sandlin
Following a worldwide pandemic whose vaccine left human blood deadly to vampires, the vampire community is on the verge of starvation and panic. Some have fanned into rural areas, where the vaccine was less prevalent, and are taking unsuspecting humans as blood slaves. Others are simply starving, which for a vampire is worse than death—a raging hunger in a creature too weak to feed.
Immune to these struggles—at first—is Penton, a tiny community in rural Chambers County, Alabama, an abandoned cotton mill town that has been repopulated by charismatic vampire Aidan Murphy, his scathe of 50 vampires, and their willingly bonded humans. Aidan has recruited his people carefully, believing in a peaceful community where the humans are respected and the vampires retain a bit of their humanity.
But an unresolved family feud and the paranoia of the Vampire Tribunal descend on Penton in the form of Aidan’s brother, Owen Murphy. Owen has been issued a death warrant that can only be commuted if he destroys Penton—and Aidan, against whom he’s held a grudge since both were turned vampire in 17th-century Ireland. Owen begins a systematic attack on the town, first killing its doctor, then attacking one of Aidan’s own human familiars
To protect his people, Aidan is forced to go against his principles and kidnap an unvaccinated human doctor—and finds himself falling in love for the first time since the death of his wife in Ireland centuries ago.
Dr. Krystal Harris, forced into a world she never knew existed, must face up to her own abusive past to learn if the feelings she’s developing for her kidnapper are real—or just a warped, supernatural kind of Stockholm Syndrome in which she’s allowing herself to become a victim yet again.
Susannah Sandlin’s REDEMPTION is the first in the Penton Legacy series. Book two, ABSOLUTION, will be out September 18, and book three, OMEGA, on December 18.
Amazon / Barnes and Noble / Book Depository
Susannah Sandlin is the author of paranormal romance set in the Deep South, where there are always things that go bump in the night. A journalist by day, Susannah grew up in Alabama reading the gothic novels of Susan Howatch and the horror fantasy of Stephen King. (Um…it is fantasy, right?) The combination of Howatch and King probably explains a lot. Currently a resident of Auburn, Alabama, Susannah has also lived in Illinois, Texas, California, and Louisiana.
Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads / Indie Bound
Here is what Susannah shared with me when I had the pleasure of interviewing her:
Out of all the books you've written, if you could live in one of them which would it be and why?
Oh, I’d totally volunteer to be a vampire’s familiar, or “fam,” in one of the Penton Legacy series books. I’d probably rather wait until the vampire civil war is over so I wouldn’t, like, be beheaded or something, but then…yeah. I’d probably pick Redemption, the first book in the series, because I still love Aidan. He’s the considerate, brooding vampire. Mirren, the hero of Absolution, would drive me insane with his stubbornness, and Will…hmmm…now that I think about it, I might choose Omega just to spend some time with Will. Funny, fanged…what’s not to love?
In what scenario do you do your best work?
When I have a deadline to work toward, but when it’s a reasonable deadline that gives me a chance to set a reasonable daily word goal, and then time to revise. In the past six months, I’ve had some insane deadlines, and those are too stressful to enjoy. But I need a deadline or I’ll never get anything done.
What are you working on and when can we expect it to be out?
Next up is Storm Force, what I call a “paranormal romantic suspense” novel, that is being released beginning March 19 as a Kindle Serial.( When you buy the book at $1.99, you get the first “episode” of four chapters on March 19, and then a new “episode” every two weeks until you’ve received the whole novel (but you only pay $1.99 total). In July, it’ll be released as a regular book. It’s about an undercover team made up of former Army Rangers and a group of shapeshifters that investigate cases of domestic terrorism. High action, lots of suspense…and some romance.
Which books have been on your tbr shelf the longest?
Probably the Hunger Games trilogy. I never seem to quite get to them, but they’re waiting. But my TBR room…because it’s grown way beyond a shelf…is epic.
Paper or plastic? Paper.
What food can't you live without?
I’m currently trying to live without carbs, and that’s tough. But don’t get between me and my Diet Coke. Seriously!
Inside or outside?
Inside. I am so not an outdoorsy girl. I do like to stay inside and look out at the outside, though.
Ice cream in a cone or dish?
I like a good waffle cone but not those mushy cones.
What is your favorite sport?
College football. I live in the South, I attended an SEC school, and I work at an SEC school for my day job. It was inevitable.
What is your favorite or least favorite veggie and fruit?
Least favorite: Turnip greens and coconut. I think coconut’s a fruit…Is coconut a fruit?
What is your favorite animal?
I love dogs. I have two who are snoring in unison as I type this. In the wild, I love alligators. They fascinate me.
What is your biggest pet peeve?
People who are always negative. Drives me up a wall!
Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.
Thank you for having me here today, Brenda!
My Thoughts:
I should warn you that rape and abuse are mentioned.
I read all three books back to back. I was really taken with the characters. The were like family. I liked seeing another side of Will. I can't believe it's taken me this long to find this series.
The plot is full of action and some romance. There wasn't as much romance in Omega as the other two books. :-( I enjoyed getting a glimpse of their psyche in this last book though.
I thought Susannah did a wonderful job of wrapping up the book in a way that concludes the series while also leaving possibilities for more. I would really like more!
I recommend this book and the series as a whole to everyone who likes vampires or paranormal romance books. This series is a must read!
I received copies of all three books in exchange for my honest opinion. I honestly loved this series. While Omega was my least favorite of the three books, I still was completely entrenched in it. I couldn't put any of them down.
Could you live in an underground bunker for any length of time?
a Rafflecopter giveaway
I'd love to know what you're thinking. Please leave a comment!
