Blood and
Fire: Book Two of the Talbot Trilogy is a paranormal romance by Tori L.
Ridgewood that was released February 2014.
Book Synopsis:
What chance
does one witch have against five vampires? Alone, not much. But Rayvin’s allies
are gathering…
The battle
between good and evil supernatural forces heats up in the long, cold November
nights of the former mining town. But how will Rayvin’s motley crew of
spellcasters and shapeshifters cope when they discover the threat they face is
even greater than they imagined?
Blood and Fire is available for sale on:
The Talbot
Trilogy books:
0. Mist and
Midnight (prequel)
1. Wind and
Shadow
2. Blood
and Fire
3. Crystal
and Wand
Excerpt:
Crouching
to prod the fire, Grant thought over the options now open to him. It wasn't
safe to go back to Talbot, at least not until he had gained a better
understanding of what had happened to him. He needed more than a measure of
control over this thing. Once he had that, he could go home and set things
right. Destroy de Sade once and for all. After all, was that not the purpose of
werewolves? To be an equal adversary for the undead?
The
next question was not as simple. Just how did a werewolf train himself? Was it
even possible for him to remain cognizant and in control when his body was no
longer human?
A
knot of sap crackled and snapped. He amused himself with the thought that the
fire was speaking to him.
The
thought that he was merely delusional, that being able to magically transform
into a vicious four-footed animal was a hallucination, the product of slow
starvation and exposure, nearly made him laugh aloud.
If
a fire could speak, its language would be visual, he decided. He relaxed his
eyes and let the glowing embers form shapes and letters.
The
wind blew in from the open cabin door, swirling around him and carrying the
clean scents of snow, damp wood and earth, mixed with the rank odour of animal
carcass from his footprints in the snow…and something else.
Grant
held very still.
The
something else was faint, but recognizable. Vaguely comforting. It made him
think of an old wet dog. Or an old man who had not washed in a long time. Some
combination of the two.
A
cluster of coals fell in a rush of sparks. The noise drew Grant’s attention,
even as the strange smell made his nose twitch and his nostrils flare.
The
collapsed, blackened piece of wood strongly resembled the face of a man with
strong, mature features. It was broad in the forehead, with a long nose and
wide, round eyes. A scattering of red embers looked like a bushy beard covering
the mouth and jaw.
It
couldn’t be possible during the day, but it seemed to Grant that he could hear
the borealis sing.
Solomon. The name that belonged to this
face. It was spelled out clearly for him, just for a moment, in the leaping
flames.
A
few more sticks collapsed, changing the image. An a-frame cabin on a lake. A
short, blunt mountain nearby, and a small lake in the shape of a teardrop. The
mountain had sheer sides. Grant thought
he recognized it, had even been rock climbing on it in his youth. Mount
Cheminis, near Dark Lake.
Yes.
Grant understood. He blinked, and the images were gone. Exhaling, he got to his
feet and went to the door. The scent of wolf and man now seemed to clearly mark
a trail through the trees, to the south-east.
Someone
had sent him a message. His gut wanted to tell him that it was Rayvin, though
logically that couldn’t be right. How the hell could she contact him from so
far away? She’d done it before, sent him a mental plea for help, but she’d only
been a few blocks away. And was it at all possible that she knew this
character?
About the Author:
After her
first heartbreak, Tori found solace in two things: reading romance novels and
listening to an after-dark radio program called Lovers and Other Strangers.
Throughout the summer and fall of 1990, the new kid in town found reading
fiction and writing her own short stories gave her a much needed creative
outlet. Determined to become a published author, Tori amassed stacks of
notebooks and boxes of filed-away stories, most only half-finished before
another idea would overtake her and demand to be written down. Then, while on
parental leave with her second baby, one story formed and refused to be packed
away. Between teaching full-time, parenting, and life in general, it would take
almost seven years before the first novel in her first trilogy would be
completed. In the process, Tori finally found her stride as a writer.
At present,
on her off-time, Tori not only enjoys reading, but also listening to an
eclectic mix of music as she walks the family dog (Skittles), attempts to turn
her thumb green, or makes needlework gifts for her friends and family members.
She loves to travel, collect and make miniature furniture, and a good cup of
tea during a thunderstorm or a blizzard. Under it all, she is always intrigued
by history, the supernatural, vampire and shapeshifter mythology, romance, and
other dangers.
Tori is
currently working on Crystal and Wand: Book Three of The Talbot Trilogy.
She lives in Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada with her husband and two children.
She is a full-time teacher at a local high school.
Author Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ToriLRidgewood
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5760106.Tori_L_Ridgewood
