Crystal Jordan » Blog

New Cover and Excerpt!

Crystal — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 23:16:48 +0000

I just got the new cover for UNLEASHED, which is the sequel to UNTAMED. So without further ado, check out the cover, blurb, and excerpt!

It is a future few envisioned–humans with the ability to shape and shift into every imaginable predator on earth. This new world is dangerous, dark and filled with desire…

HUNTING TEMPTATION

Fox-shifter Gea Crevan is a PI working a case deep in the underbelly of New Chicago. She relies on ruthless businessman Quilliam North for good intel and even better sex, but resists taking him as her mate. Until she witness his carnal lust for another, and suddenly all her feral instincts are unleashed…

RECLAIMING TEMPTATION

Grifter Felicia Tamryn is half cheetah and all woman who always gets what she wants. Until the day she tries to con Constantine Breckenridge and instead finds her heart held tight in the talons of an eagle-shifter. Felicia tries to run but her past and her body betray her, catching her in a sexual trap of her own making…

Excerpt

This is an unedited excerpt, it may differ slightly from the final version.

It was a dangerous game she was playing.

How long could she expect to keep fucking her mate without telling him what they were to each other? Gea could only be grateful that he couldn’t sense it himself. Only shifter species that mated for life could tell when they found their mate, and leopards couldn’t. Artic foxes, however, were not as lucky. Just a handful of species could sense it. Even then, not all of them had a mate they were supposed to spend the rest of their lives with. It was a crapshoot, and she was on the losing end. Deus, after what her mother had been through, she’d thought there was no way that fate would land her with a mate.

She’d been wrong. So very, very wrong.

When it came to Quill, she stayed away as long as she could, but when the need grew too strong, she had to have him. Touching him, tasting him, feeling him thrust deep inside her fed a craving she didn’t even want to admit she had. She licked her lips, savoring the flavor from his kiss that still lingered.

Tonight’s trip into the Vermilion had given her an excuse to show up on his doorstep. His place was right on the edge of civilization, right before it gave way to the dangerous wild side. A perfect metaphor for the man himself. One foot still in the shady dealings of the Vermilion he’d grown up in, one foot in the upstanding world of legitimate business. The dichotomy intrigued her, and she wished it didn’t.

She wished she could resist him, resist the draw he had on her, but she hadn’t once been successful since the night she’d met him and sensed what he was to her. If she was close enough to touch, she did. Her insides twisted tight, and she clenched her fingers to still their shaking. Now was not the time or the place to show weakness.
But she was weak, wasn’t she? As weak as her mother had been, addicted to her mate. Dependent. Pathetic.

No. No. That would not be her. That would never, ever be her. As long as she never told him, never claimed him, she was safe. It was just sex. She never gave him more. Her only lucky break was that his upbringing made him just as wary as she was of tying himself to someone.

Next time, she’d fight harder to stay away from him. Next time, she might even manage not to knock on his door.
It was unfortunate her investigations took her into the Vermilion as often as they did. But where else could people hide all their filthy little secrets? Or so they thought. So far, not one of her investigations had been fruitless. The information was there, if you knew who to ask. If you knew who to pay.

Suppressing the pain and fear and self-loathing that always followed the high of being in Quill’s arms, she focused on the task at hand. This was what mattered. This was her life. This was who she was. She needed to remember that.

Another block of skirting through the darkness and she was in front of the warehouse she wanted. Slipping around to the side into the unlit alley that separated it from the next building, she faced a wall with no door. Or so it appeared. Squatting down, she pressed her ident card to a tiny vidscreen hidden at the base of the wall. A small click sounded and she pushed in a rough square of staggered bricks that was level with her hip. She hopped up and shimmied inside. The bricks swung shut behind her.

“Ziegler?” She squinted in the gloom, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the total lack of light. At least outside, there was the hint of moon and stars. “Ziggy, where are you? Since you called to set up this meet, you’d better be here!”

Never mind that she needed the information he claimed to have, it was usually better to keep Ziggy on the defensive. The blisshead wouldn’t hesitate to make the most of any situation that could get him more creds to feed his addiction.

She shoved aside a dusty tapestry that covered a doorway in the narrow warren that ran the length of the building. It was doubtful the owners of the warehouse even knew Ziggy had his hideout back here. The tight space always made her antsy and claustrophobic.

“Ziggy!”

“Here.” The skinny man slinked through a door, his fingers twitching the way they did when he was coming down off a high. “You got my creds?”

“Depends on whether you have the intel you promised.” She crossed her arms and jutted her chin.

“I got it. It’s prime.” His yellowed teeth flashed in a smile that was supposed to be ingratiating, but wasn’t.

“Just what you wanted about Tam.”

The last place anyone had seen Tam was in a technobrothel. A very public area in a technobrothel. The question Gea wanted answered was why the cheetah been there in the first place. Hardly a way to lay low after pulling a job. Her client didn’t know what Tam had been there for, only that she’d disappeared shortly after and hadn’t been seen since.

Gea figured that if she wanted to know were Tam had gone, then she needed to know where she’d come from. And why. The why was always the hardest question to answer, but usually the most crucial and most revealing. People did all manner of stupid and insane things, but unless they were completely bent, they had their reasons, and it was a lot easier to do her job when she knew the motivation behind the action.

She made an impatient gesture at Ziggy. He always claimed his information was prime, but he’d say anything to get his next fix. “Let’s hear it.”

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Romance Trading Cards

Crystal — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 04:01:57 +0000

Some friends of mine came up with Romance Trading Cards, and I did a couple last year. One for the Prowl series and one for the Forbidden Passions series I wrote with Loribelle Hunt. I have to admit, it was pretty fun to do a little creative designing with photoshop, since I’m usually a writing-creative rather than visually-creative kind of girl.

So I couldn’t resist the chance to play with design a little more and I did a couple of new RTCs to celebrate the release of Night Games. If you want some of these pretties, send me an email or use the Contact form on my site to let me know and I’ll drop a set in the mail for you.

Night Games is out!

Crystal — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 11:51:40 +0000

Night Games is out today, which is the sequel to Embrace the Night. These are two of my favorite books I’ve ever written, so I’m excited to have them both out in the world. This one is Selina’s book, but those of you who read the first one and wondered what happened to Tess will get a nice peek at her in this story too.

Here are the detail for Night Games, and I’m having a CONTEST to celebrate over on Smutketeers. Check it out.

NIGHT GAMES

Over time, the Magickals have learned to live in the company of humans and keep their extraordinary abilities a secret. But despite their vigilance, one lurks among them who will stop at nothing to obtain his dark desire. . .

A cop with the Seattle P.D., Selina Grayson is committed to both her job and her privacy. Few know that she’s a centuries’ old elf with a tragic past that continues to haunt her. Yet her body still craves the exquisite ecstasy of sex that is her birthright—and a night of complete sensual abandon is just what she needs. . .

A Special Agent with the FBI Magickal Crimes Unit, Jack Laramie is one of the few Normals who know Magickals exist. He’s wary of their power, but one touch from Selina ignites a fire within his blood. Hot with desire, he’s ready to succumb to her erotic spell. But working a serial killer case together isn’t quite as pleasurable—especially when the killer has a taste for humans like Jack. Now one wrong move could put out their heat for eternity. . .

* * * * *

EXCERPT:
“You look hot, baby.”

A low wolf-whistle pierced the air, and Selina turned away from the window she stood at, her eyebrow arching high. The sight of a woman in a long, shimmery wedding gown and a leer on her face made her snort. Chloe Standish of the wealthy, influential Standish witch family was not your average bride. Chloe’s best friend, Tess Jones, chortled as she walked out of the bathroom to join them in the big bedroom.

When Selina spoke, her tone was wry. “Thanks, you’re going to make Merek jealous.”

If anyone besides Merek had asked her to be in a wedding, she’d have laughed in his face. But the big warlock used to be her partner in the Seattle Police Department’s Magickal Task Force. The years together meant she’d developed an unfortunate weak spot for the man. Which meant she was not only attending his wedding to a high-society bride, but she was in the wedding party. And wearing a damn dress. She hadn’t worn one in at least a decade, and this thing was tight enough to count as a second skin. She had no idea how women wore shit like this on a daily basis, especially considering the high heels were killing her toes.

Uncomfortable was something of an understatement for the day. Her boss, her boss’s boss, and his boss were all at the wedding. Along with every important Magickal law enforcement officer in the city, state, and country, the mayor and several senators and congressmen who happened to be Magickals as well as elected officials. And they’d all be watching her shimmy up the aisle because the way she had to move in this get-up couldn’t be called a regular walk.

Good thing they’d never tapped her to go undercover as a hooker in a prostitution bust. She’d never have pulled it off. Then again, coy flirting had never been her forte. Either a man wanted her or he didn’t. And she wanted him back or she didn’t. End of story. No need to beat around the bush with stupid little mind games. Modern courtship was for the birds. Most of her lovers in the last few years were older Magickals like her, who’d been around the block a dozen times and didn’t want to mess about with all this love and dating crap.

Even then, it had been many months since she’d bothered with sex. Too busy with work, but she’d gone through longer dry spells before, so she didn’t worry about it. If she wanted some play, she could get it. Her hormones decided to give a sharp wail at that moment, telling her that they damn well wanted some play, even if the rest of her was wrapped up in police work.

The bride shrugged, her grin widening. “Merek knows I don’t bat for the other team. But, since he’s a guy and that’s how they are, I wouldn’t put it past him to want to watch us together.”

Selina rolled her eyes, but didn’t deny that the other woman was probably right. Men. It didn’t matter their species–Normal or Magickal–they were all the same. “That is both disturbing and typical, all at that same time.”

Turning toward a floor-length mirror, Chloe checked her make-up one last time and straightened the little pillbox hat and short veil she wore. After her parents died, the witch had lived in her Aunt Millie’s mansion in Upper Queen Anne. Selina was pretty sure the old woman had been around in the 1800s when the palatial Victorian style home had been built. Mildred Standish was a mover and shaker in the Magickal community, representing the Witch Coven on the All-Magickal Council. Everyone knew her name and her fearsome reputation.

It felt more than a little odd to be standing in the woman’s house, but everything about this day was designed to throw Selina off-kilter, so she ignored it and went to help Tess straighten the back of Chloe’s dress.

Tess’s long red hair fell forward to cover her face when she bent down. “I’m just glad Merek didn’t add me to that little fantasy.”

“Oh, he so would. Three hot chicks going at it for his entertainment? Or maybe just the two of you, since he’s probably too possessive to share me.” Chloe’s hazel eyes sparkled as her reflection met Selina’s gaze. “Men. Can’t live with them, illegal to kill them.”

“Mostly illegal.” Selina winked.

“Yeah, damn. There’s that whole having a badge thing.”

She arched an eyebrow. “It has its trade-offs for the lousy hours and bad coffee.”

Author Copies!

Crystal — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:29:12 +0000

I got my author copies of NIGHT GAMES! I do love a shiny, pretty, lovely new book. And it’s always awesome to come home from the library and find a box of them waiting for me.

I’m giving away copies over on my Facebook Fan Page, if you want to check it out. (You may need to scroll down a little to get to the right post).

But here’s what the book is about, it’s the sequel to EMBRACE THE NIGHT, and comes out at the end of February. Woot!

More info and an excerpt here.

It’s 2012, baby!

Crystal — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 04:23:33 +0000

Happy new year to everyone! I hope this one is even better than the last (especially since it may be the apocalypse and stuff this year, so smoke ‘em while you got ‘em, right? Make this year count!).

And if it’s not the apocalypse, then you’ve had a year to practice living life to the fullest, and you can keep doing just that. See? There’s always a method to my madness.

HAPPY 2012!

Happy birthday to me!

Crystal — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 04:17:48 +0000

The Prof and I are taking off on a post-Hawaiian road trip up the California coast, and we’re stopping in the town where we met (and had our first kiss, awww!).

Knowing my slight obsession with cupcakes, the Prof has promised to take me to a cupcakery in town that I tried when we were there on our anniversary trip in summer call Crushcakes.

It’s going to be soooooo good. I can’t wait. This baby? Has my name on it. It’s calling to me. And it says HAPPY FREAKING BIRTHDAY, CRYSTAL, NOW COME EAT ME!

Merry Christmas!

Crystal — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 04:15:37 +0000

A very merry Christmas to all from the Prof. Moriarty and me! Right now, we’re lounging on a beach in Hawaii, since that was our gift to each other this year. Trust me, we needed the break. I hope everything has as wonderful a holiday season as we’re having!

Smutty Xmas!

Crystal — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:29:52 +0000

A preview of some awesome stuff we have in store for you on the Smutketeers. There will be guests galore and a boatload of prizes to be won. We’re doing a HUGE blowout this year!

Want to win a copy of NIGHTSHIFT?

Crystal — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 21:18:23 +0000

My author copies have landed! Happy holidays to me! They’re a little late, but since the box looked as if it had been chewed up and spit out by one of those giant lizards from Star Wars, I think that was more a post office problem than my publisher.

You know what this means? I can give copies away! Woot! Who wants one? Leave a comment on this post about your favorite holiday memory and you’re entered to win (For the record: the giant-lizard-chewed-box is not a favorite holiday memory). I’ll draw a name on Friday!

AND THE WINNER IS…KIMARA!

Nightshift . . . and knitting!

Crystal — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:19:01 +0000

NIGHTSHIFT is out today, woohoo!

The official blurb for my novella “Taken Between” is really short, so here’s my unofficial (but more descriptive) one:

Max Delacourt is many things–a Between, a red wolf, a former soldier, an expert in security, and a prince. His father was the royal bastard who revealed their race to humanity and put them all in danger. His older brother Elan has been scrambling to preserve the simple human rights of their people ever since. As soon as his brother assumed the throne, Max knew what he had to do–he resigned his commission in the Marines and became the head of the King’s Guard. Elan might be working to protect the Between, but someone has to protect the king from those humans who’d like nothing more than to see their race thrown into chaos with no leader. No one would ensure Elan’s safety like Max would, so he left the military without a backward glance.

There’s nothing about his brother that Max envies, except the love of Kira Seaton. Like Max, Kira left her position with the Los Angeles Police Department to join the King’s Guard as second in command. She’s known both brothers since they were children on the Between island kingdom of San Amaro. Then, she’d been a servant’s daughter with a burning desire to prove herself. She’d been determined to keep up with both the older boys no matter what.

Years with the LAPD gave her a place where her natural curiosity and tenacity as a fox-shifter was valued, but it was never where she belonged. Elan becoming king meant he’d need help from those loyal to him, and it seemed as good a time as any to return home–this time in a position of influence that meant she had nothing left to prove to anyone.

Despite what Max thinks, she’s most definitely not in love with Elan Delacourt. No, she has the grave misfortune of loving the younger Delacourt brother. Half the time, she’s not certain if she wants to punch Max or kiss him.

Check out the video!

Read an excerpt here.

——-

CONTEST: I’m over on the Smutketeers for the next couple of days giving away some of my knitting to celebrate the new book release. If you want a chance to win (and to see exactly what I’m giving away), go leave a comment!

http://www.smutketeers.com/2011/11/29/nightshift-and-knitting/