Book 1
The HUNTRESS
Coming September 18th
New Adult Paranormal Fantasy Romance
What would you do if you woke up in another realm where the residents are beings from fictional tales?
Where all those things that go bump in the night are real and other realities do exist!!
Damariss Maxx just woke up in a world where all those things that go bump in the night are real.
An alternate realm where the residents are beings she thought only existed in fiction.
Will she find the way to keep life normal and simple for those unknowing without losing her own sanity?
All she has to do now is find a way to protect the people in her world from the nightmares that have bleed from this other realm into it and fulfill a prophecy that says she's their huntress queen or doom this other world to a bleak, violent existence.
Excerpt:
Knocking once, he
opened the door and went in. I stepped
in behind him and used him for cover as I looked around to scope out what I was
going into. There was no giant to be
seen. There were half a dozen really big guys standing, leaning or
lounging, all facing a man sitting behind a desk. The part that had me reach for the comfort of
my raptor was that not one of them except the guy behind the desk seemed—human.
They weren’t like
my giant puppy guy with the sappy eyes, no that would be okay at this
point. What they were, was, well I
didn’t know. They looked normal enough,
yet their skin glowed and their eyes were bright colors; anything from green to
lava red. I’d wanted new shades besides
orange. Definitely a be-careful-what- you-wish-for moment.
“Troy.” Puppy man said without a single ish that I noticed. “I found her in the
wasteland, she just appeared.”
My shaking hand
grasped the handle tightly behind my back.
“Did you check her
for weapons?” A large creature with neon
green eyes and long white hair, that gave him a glow of white all over stalked
toward me. He was dressed all in black
leather like a biker and I found that to be the only normal thing about him.
“Back off Welsley.”
My finder stepped forward and blocked this other thing’s path.
“Move aside Quapple or I’ll have to move you. We can’t let a stranger just walk in here.”
My protector’s
shoulders slumped and that alone made me want to stick my blade into Welsley
just for being a big glowy jerk.
Glancing over his shoulder at me, his brown eyes apologizing, I gave him
a little nod and stepped over so there was no one between the white guy and my
path.
Neon green eyes
moved over me and then paused on the arm still behind my back. He sneered and steeped towards me again.
Taking a nice wide
stance, I braced myself for some action and pulled the raptor free. With a very practiced move, I flipped it from
a hidden position to plain sight. I
locked eyes with him. “You. Back off now or I will slice you a whole new
lifestyle.”
He stopped and
there was no mistaking the shock on his face.
I heard a few snickers, but wasn’t about to look away from a pissy male
that had just been put on pause by a woman half his size, even one that was
having a bad day.
“Stand down.” A
voice of definite authority ended all motion and sound in the room.
My glowing
aggressor stepped back and moved aside so I had a clear sight line to the man
behind the desk. Nothing on him was
glowing. To be honest, he was most likely the nicest-looking piece of man I’d
ever seen. The am-I-drooling-on-myself
kind of nice. He had long blonde hair that
made my own look blunt and in need of some serious conditioning therapy. His face was taken right off some Greek god inage
of masculine beauty and slapped onto what looked like a body to match—at least
the part I could see above the desk.
“Everyone move back
and let our guest have a little breathing room.”
Like soldiers
marching, the six light-radiating beings stepped back as far as furniture and
walls would allow. The Greek Adonis gave
a small nod of approval and then looked at me.
Hazel eyes with long lashes that made me jealous looked at me
patiently. Feeling really awkward, I
slid the blade back into the sheath on my back and stood up straight. Slowly his eyes moved to the only body that
hadn’t moved away from me.
“Quinton, I was
beginning to worry. You’ve been gone
three nights.”
“I was safe
enough.” Again there was barely a trace of the lisp, as if he tried harder to
conceal it then he had with me.
“I don’t doubt it,
but next time call or at least turn on your phone.”
Phone? Music to my ears thank you very much for this
weirdness, now call me a cab.
“Please take a
seat.”
Eyes widening, I
looked back to see him looking at me.
Glancing around at the others, I moved and sat on the edge of a chair
closest to the door, trying to stay at an angle that let me see if one of the
glow-brights made a move toward me.
Quinton came over
and stood behind the chair, his sad eyes conveying he had my back. At this point I’d take what I could get.
The white haired
one moved around to stand behind the desk. He crossed his arms, green eyes
shooting darts at me. One of the others
moved over and stood behind him. He wasn’t as unearthly looking, with a dimmer
shade of blue aura and red eyes.
“She’s looking at
us like she can see us.” One of them
said with fear in his voice.
Were my eyes
supposed to be obscured? I could see
them and I wasn’t sure who but I could definitely smell one of them too and he
was long overdue for a little personal hygiene.
Slowly they moved to stand where I could see them, my first thought right
after you’re screwed was all those
horror movie marathons were coming back to get me. All that was missing at this point was the
screaming damsel —oh wait, I could play that part. I wasn’t much of a screamer and rarely
freaked out, but there’s always a first time.
About J. Risk: (J.Risk website)
I wanted to write a story that would fit into young adult, new adult and adult levels. Something that
was serious with fun elements—paranormal / fantasy that everyone could read and enjoy.
I've even decided to use J. Risk as the pen name for this to separate this series from my other writing which is definitely adult reading material.
Author Jacqueline Paige
(Multi-published Paranormal Romance author of The Magic Seasons series, The Hidden Senses Trilogy, The Dream Series and more)