Staggering over to Nyko, Jacken and Dev tugged him into their huddle of hilarity, and despite still feeling sort of bad for Alex, Nyko couldn’t hold back his guffaws anymore.
That had been one heckuva great practical joke.
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I need your help!
If you enjoyed THE COMMUNITY SERIES BOX SET, please consider writing a review on your favorite bookseller site. Even if it looks like there are enough reviews, bookseller sites look for “recent activity.” New reviews encourage them to decide that a book is still popular, and then they will show it to other, potential readers—and this would really help me out!
Thank you!
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AVAILABLE NOW!
Book 4 in The Community Series.
MOON-RIDERS
Bound to the wrong mate… Crushed by an unforeseen enemy… Forced to become a person you were never supposed to be…
Recently promoted to the Special Operations Topside Team, quiet warrior Breen Dalakis is the least likely man to commit an unauthorized bite. But in a moment of blinding bloodlust, he bites and bonds with a new Dragon woman, permanently tying himself to a stranger. Now he must find a way to break through her seething rejection, but a lifetime spent skirting his emotions has left him stumped.
Wild girl Charlize Renault has never been in a long-term relationship, doesn’t want one now, and there’s a good reason for that—a deeply buried, secret reason. But when Breen disappears on a mission gone bad, Charlize’s emotional ghosts rise again. She’ll finally have to conquer her past if she ever wants to find true happiness with the man who has moved mountains to reach her…but the last time she fought her demons, they nearly destroyed her.
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*Find information in the back of MOON-RIDERS on how to get a FREE Community Series novella, “Prey!”*
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FREE companion novella to The Community Series!
Every nineteen years a full moon rises on Beltane night…
Known as Lună Zână in Vârcolac folklore, this powerful moon holds special sway over the breed. Finding themselves lured by its potency, four males make a terrible mistake some years ago, but vow never to speak of their crime. For over thirty years, their secret remains hidden…until Book 4 of The Community Series, MOON-RIDERS, when the gentle town physician, Dr. Jess, will end up paying dearly.
Click the link below to learn how to get your FREE copy of “Lună Zână,” and to find out about other BONUS MATERIAL!
http://tracytappan.net/boxset-bonus.html
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Keep reading for author notes about THE PUREST OF THE BREED…
The Romanian history mentioned in this book is true to the best of my research. Carol I of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Elisabeth of Wied were actual historical figures. They were proclaimed first King and Queen of Romania on 26 March 1881, following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War (1877-78) in which Romania earned her independence. Nicolai Pavlovich Kridener was commander of the 9th Russian Army Corps in this war, and Ion Brătianu was the Romanian Prime Minister during this time period. Elena Văcărescu (mentioned in this book as Pettrila’s friend) was Queen Elisabeth’s favorite lady-in-waiting and like a daughter to her; the royal couple remained childless after the death of their only daughter, Maria.
Vlad III, the Impaler (1431-1476), was also an actual historical figure and the inspiration—as many of you surely know—for the Dracula character in Bram Stoker’s famous novel. Vlad II, father of Vlad the Impaler, received the surname ‘Dracul’ after being inducted into the Order of the Dragons: Draculă actually means son of Dracul.
While I was writing this book, I had the pleasure of traveling to Romania, where I visited many of the places I wrote about and enjoyed numerous variations of the Dracula legend. I saw firsthand Peleş Castle in Sinaia, surely the most fairytale-like castle in all the world, and I walked the ruins of the Princely Palace in Târgovişte, climbing to the top of the fully intact Chindia Tower. I also tracked down the Văcărescu Estate in the same town (amazing that we managed that with the language barrier). The remains of this mansion consist of nothing more than four pillars and half a domed roof tucked away, forgotten, at the back of a children’s playground (unbelievable). The surrounding trees were home to a hauntingly large number of black crows. Transylvania as a whole, and the Carpathian Mountains especially, were as atmospheric as their reputation implies.
In the interests of historical correctness, I should tell you that both the Văcărescu Estate and the Princely Palace seemed to be out of use during the time frame of my book.
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About the Author
Tracy Tappan is the best-selling author of gritty romance, her novels spanning genres across paranormal (The Community Series), military romantic suspense (The Wings of Gold Series), and medieval historical (The Baron’s War Trilogy). Her debut novel, THE BLOODLINE WAR, won the bronze medal for romance from the Independent Publishers Book Award (IPPY), one of the largest national book contests. The second book in her Community Series, THE PUREST OF THE BREED, was a USA Book News Award finalist. The third book in her Wings of Gold Series, MAN DOWN, won the Reader’s Favorite Bronze Medal for Romance and was a 2017 Kindle Book Awards Semi-finalist.
Tracy holds a master’s degree in Marriage, Family, Child Counseling (MFCC), loves to play tennis, enjoys a great glass of wine, and talks to her two Labradors like they are humans (admittedly, the wine drinking and the dog talking probably go together).
A native of San Diego, Tracy is married to a former Navy helicopter pilot, who retired after thirty years of service and joined the diplomatic corps. He and Tracy currently live in Rome, Italy. www.tracytappan.com
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Continue reading for a sneak peek of book 4 in The Community Series, MOON-RIDERS…
Chapter One
Topside
7:10 PM, November
Sheraton Hotel, Harbor Island Drive, San Diego
He rode up on a Harley.
The distinctive, throaty grumble of that motorcycle’s engine brought Charlize swinging around to watch him, along with her two chef friends, Marissa and Lara. They were in perfect viewing position to watch the biker as he pulled up to the curb, light from the hotel’s portico glinting off chrome fenders and a sleek, dark helmet.
He was dressed in steel-toed combat boots, a black leather jacket, and a pair of faded jeans that hugged corded thighs…thighs that gripped the metal body of the motorcycle in a way Charlize had never seen or sensed before. Like somehow the man was more powerful than the machine. He was completely faceless, his tinted eye shield currently lowered—not the safest choice at night—which stripped him of normal human features. No expression. No eyes. Just polished black fiberglass and Kevlar.
His head turned toward the three of them.
Danger. Menace.
Charlize’s next breath slid out of her on a hot rush, and something rippled through her. A shiver, maybe. Not from the cold. It was early November, but San Diego November, so the weather was no more than brisk. Not from fear, either…not entirely, even though the danger coming off the biker was very real. Maybe—
The engine cut off. The biker dropped the kickstand with a negligent whack of his boot and dismounted with an easy swing of a long leg. He stood for a moment, unbuckling the chin strap on his helmet, his jacket partially unzipped to reveal a navy cotton T-shirt stretched tight over a suggestively muscled chest.
Charlize ran her tongue slowly over her teeth. Mystery solved. Her shiver had been one of sexual awareness. And now…
Here he comes.
Directly toward her.
He moved like a big panther, sure-footed and lithe—surprising for a man who clearly wrestled bears for a living. She dropped her gaze to the bedroom roll of his hips and made an mmm sound. His jeans molded an impressive package in front. Her nipples pushed tautly against her T-shirt.
Besi
de her, Lara gasped.
Charlize dragged her attention up. She’d missed the initial unveiling, since she’d been focused so intently below his waist, but…
The biker had removed his helmet, and…
Holy yowsa.
Hot.
Hot enough to please Satan, because his looks leaned heavily toward nasty with all the darkness he had going on—shortish black hair, black goatee, and a small black ear gauge in his left lobe. Moreover, he gave off an aggressive sexual energy that from one breath to the next left Charlize’s undies in need of a cycle through a clothes dryer.
She knew this type of man. Got off on this type of man. This kind of hottie snack absolutely dominated in bed. When he was done with a woman, there’d be nothing left of her. She would only be able to lie on the mattress afterward, sore thighs flopped open, vision glazed, thoughts of thanks for the abuse wafting through her mind.
Charlize twitched up one side of her mouth. Sounded about her speed. Her belly was already heating to the idea of getting mounted by this guy. Her last conquest hadn’t been nearly as hot and dangerous as Spank Me, Mister Biker here, so she was overdue for some action of the rougher variety.
The problem was timing. Marissa’s colleagues were due to pick up Charlize, Lara, and Marissa any minute.
She glanced slantways at her two friends. What would they say if Charlize asked them to hang out and wait while she bagged this guy? She stifled a snort. What would they think about her wanting to screw a guy on sight alone? Since the three of them mostly socialized around cooking activities, Marissa and Lara didn’t know that Charlize made pretty bold choices when it came to her sex life. To her, fucking men she didn’t know was a thrill and an adventure, while relationships were obligations and stress and a boyfriend who eventually got all stupid and sappy and wanted, supposedly, a closeness he would just fail to deliver on anyway, so why bother?
Yeah, no thanks. Give her a straight-up, straightforward fuck any day.
But not all women were DTF strangers. Fine. Others could do their thing, she would do hers, and anyone who wanted to slut-shame her for the way she lived, well…they could go party elsewhere.
Charlize took a subtle step forward. Snackilicious was almost up to her, and with no time to check in with her girlfriends, she was just going to have to do her thing and hope Marissa and Lara would be good wingwomen. Her “thing” consisted of a brazen stare accompanied by a move that always hit her a home run and got her around all the bases. She arched her spine and thrust her breasts forward.
Her breasts were her biggest asset—most obviously because they were big. That, coupled with her being a blue-eyed blond, with naturally curling golden hair falling in fat ringlets nearly to her waist, seemed to have molded her into every man’s wet dream fantasy girl. Seeing as her nipples were still poking against her T-shirt, seducing Snacky was going to be almost absurdly easy to—
He brushed right past her.
Without even a single glance in the remote vicinity of her direction.
In fact, he shoved his helmet into her hands just before sweeping Marissa off her feet. “Riss,” he growled, swinging her around. “Damn, I missed you.”
Marissa laughed, her palms coming to rest on the biker’s wide shoulders. “I’ve only been gone for three days, and what in the world is that thing you rode up on?”
“Just a new man-toy the warriors are testing out.”
Charlize blinked. She peered down at the helmet that’d been carelessly thrust into her arms and blinked some more. Her friend Marissa was beautiful, absolutely, with green eyes, a slender, fit figure, and tarnished blond hair hanging sleekly down her back, strands of her overlong bangs fluttering in her eyes, but… Charlize had never been ignored by a heterosexual male.
The biker set Marissa on her feet, a pair of exceptionally glittery silver eyes nearly devouring her as he bent forward for a kiss.
“Oh, no. No way.” Marissa angled away from his mouth, although she was still laughing. “I know how you kiss when you have that look in your eyes, and we’re in public.” She pushed gently out of his hold. “Besides, I want to introduce you to my friends. Meet Lara Klein and Charlize Renault…”
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The Community Series, Books 1-3 Page 99
