New York Times best-selling paranormal romance author Felicity Heaton is here today for the book tour of her new shifter romance release, Claimed by her Cougar, the first book in her brand new Cougar Creek Mates Series. Set in her popular Eternal Mates world, Cougar Creek Mates takes you into the deep Canadian wilderness to a secret place that's home to a cougar shifter pride led by four sexy brothers, each guaranteed to steal your heart and set it racing! With all four books in the series releasing just weeks apart, this is going to be one hot summer.
Check out the book and be sure to enter the awesome grand giveaway happening at her website!
Felicity Heaton
Having lost his parents and mate in a brutal attack on his cougar shifter pride by a hunter organisation, Rath burns with a need to keep humans off his land and out of his life. He'll do whatever it takes to protect his pride from them, but when a lone female wanders into his territory, it isn't a burning need to drive her away he's feeling and it isn't his pride that needs protecting - it's his heart.
Down on her luck, Ivy follows a lead to a spot where she hopes to photograph black bears, but what she discovers there is a mountain of a man who lacks manners and seems determined to drive her off his property - a man who stirs unbidden fire in her veins and a strange sense of home.
With a pride gathering on the verge of happening at Cougar Creek and the air charged with a mating heat, the last thing Rath needs is a human on his land, especially one as beautiful and alluring as Ivy, one who rouses a fierce need to fight for her, but he can't convince himself to let her go... and that proves dangerous for them both.
Enter the grand tour-wide giveaway to win one of a $75, $50 or $25 Amazon Gift Card at the Claimed by her Cougar book page. This giveaway is international and open to everyone, and ends at midnight on August 12th. Enter now: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/claimed-by-her-cougar-shifter-romance-book.php
If the tip she had received turned out to be nothing, Ivy was going to kill the person who had given it to her. She rubbed her hands together, struggling to keep the chill off her numbed fingers as she made her way through the thick coniferous woods, following a faint path that she hoped would lead her down to the river she had heard almost a mile back. She paused and checked her position on her GPS.
She was getting close to the coordinates she had been given now, and not even the freezing morning temperatures, or the chilly night camping that had seen her awake more than asleep, listening tensely to every noise in the darkness, could dampen her excitement.
Black bears.
If she could get some photographs of a mother with cubs in undisturbed habitat, it would be incredible, perfect for her series on Canadian bears, an idea she had hit on last year when trying to shatter a creative wall that had left her close to giving up photography altogether.
Yasmin had talked her through it, always the voice of reason and support, convincing her not to give up just yet and to think of a project that could stir her passion again.
Ivy was glad that she had listened and had decided to try a series on bears, because some of the photos she had taken of grizzlies in the fall had restored her faith and now she had found the energy she had been missing, the enthusiasm she had always had for photography.
It wasn’t her work. It was her passion.
One she couldn’t believe she had almost given up on now that she was back in the saddle.
She carefully picked a path over the roots of the spruces and pines that towered above her, half of her focus on the world around her and half of it on the project.
If things went well with the black bears, maybe she could head over to the coast and find some spirit bears. It would be more of a challenge, but she had done her research and there was a place that was off the beaten trail, just like this one. No tourist groups to disturb her work or get in the way. Just unspoilt and untamed nature at its finest. She could picture the photographs now, just as she could see the ones she could get in her current location, and another bubble of excitement burst inside her, bringing a smile to her lips.
She could do it if her funding held.
Ivy didn’t want to think about that, not when what had happened with one of her sponsors had sent her into her creative depression in the first place.
She adjusted the straps of her backpack, one that he had bought her.
One she had wanted to ditch but getting a bag of this calibre, one that could safely store all her equipment, some clothing and food, and her camping gear, was expensive, and she had never been one to do something as frivolous as throwing away a perfectly good bag and buying a replacement.
Her budget was stretched tight enough as it was.
She was damned if she was going to risk running out of money just to spite a man who didn’t give a damn about her.
Ivy paused and listened, searching for the sound of the river through the patches of birdsong. Nothing. She pushed onwards, heaving a sigh as her feet started to ache in her boots. She must have walked a few miles already, had started out from her camping spot at first light, as soon as she had been able to walk without needing a flashlight.
It was growing lighter now.
Ahead of her, the trees thinned, and she peered through them. Golden light cast shadows, telling her there was an opening of some sort in that direction.
She quickened her pace, the thought of standing in the weak sunlight and letting it warm her driving her more than the thought the river might be there. She needed to warm up or her brain was going to freeze. She should have found her gloves in her pack this morning, and maybe a hat, something to keep the chill off so it wasn’t such a distraction, but she had been so excited by the thought of finding black bears in this pristine wilderness that she had rushed to keep moving towards the location she had been given.
An animal called in the distance and she stilled, her head whipping in all directions, pulse jacking up as she listened hard, trying to figure out where the sound had come from, and what had made it.
A deer broke cover just a few metres ahead of her and she almost shrieked as she jumped and stumbled back a step. The heel of her hiking boot caught on a root and threatened to send her down, and she staggered as she fought to maintain her balance so she didn’t land on her backside, and her pack.
The animal glanced her way, called again and bounded into the trees to her right as she grabbed the trunk of the pine to stop herself from falling and breathed hard and fast, her heart hammering as adrenaline flooded her veins, leaving her trembling.
When the sound of its footfalls disappeared, and the birds began singing again, she breathed a little easier, focused on each one she pulled down into her lungs to steady her racing heart as she sagged against the tree.
Damn, being so deep in the woods was making her jittery.
She wasn’t sure she had ever ventured so far into the wilderness before, and she hadn’t realised it would put her so on edge, afraid of every noise she heard. She had been so caught up in the fact the person she had spoken to at a bar in Golden, deep in the heart of the Canadian Rockies, had told her he had seen a lot of bears in this valley in the past that she hadn’t really thought about how remote it was.
Or how alone she was.
Normally when she headed into the wilder places in the world, she had a guide with her.
This time, she was flying solo.
Looking for bears.
Damn, she hoped she hadn’t made a terrible mistake by trekking into the middle of nowhere and wasn’t about to meet a grisly end.
Pun intended.
Ivy looked back over her shoulder as she palmed the bear spray hanging from her belt of her brown trousers, using the feel of it to calm her nerves. If she trekked all day, she could probably make it back to her Jeep where she had parked it at the end of a logging track. It would be dark when she got there, but she could sleep in the safety of the vehicle and drive at first light.
She glanced at the forest around her, and shook her head, causing her ponytail to sway across the shoulders of her beige weatherproof jacket.
No. She had to keep going forwards, wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she didn’t do this. It would always play on her mind, tormenting her with the fact she had given up when she might have been able to get award-winning photographs of bears.
When she scanned the woods again, and spotted mist creeping through the trees below her to her right, her feet took the decision out of her hands. She marched down the slope, winding through the broad trunks of the ancient trees, and slowed as she left them behind.
The river.
It was eerily silent as it stretched before her, shallow and broad, rippling over rocks.
She stared at the dense dark green woods on the other side and the mountains that speared the azure sky beyond them, the cragged peaks still laced with snow.
The beauty of it hit her hard, had her standing still and taking it in as she swept her gaze across the scenery, to her left towards where the sun was rising, not quite visible beyond a dip in the mountains.
She wasn’t sure she had ever been anywhere that felt so tranquil.
Where she felt miles from civilisation.
It was breathtaking.
A smile crept onto her lips. The trek and the terrifying night sleeping in a flimsy tent had been worth it just to see this.
She followed the rocky bank of the river, letting it lead her now, forgetting her GPS, sure this was the spot the old man had told her about, and that she would get the photographs of bears that she wanted here, if she had a little patience.
And damn, they were going to be amazing.
She could feel it as a shiver over her skin, a sweep of prickles that stirred her excitement to a whole new level and had her looking at all the angles, seeking just the right one to make a composition that would blow the world away.
She found it as she rounded a bend in the river and the trees hugging the bank eased away from it, allowing the scenery to open up.
It was perfect.
Incredible.
The shallow river rippled over rocks, flowing swiftly around the bend, and trees enclosed it on both sides. The mountains embraced those trees, rising high into the sky. Yes, this was the place. She was going to get the shots she wanted here, she was sure of it.
As the sun broke the horizon above the mountains, and mist swirled across the river, she reached for her camera. She had to photograph it. It was too beautiful to let it slip through her grasp. She pulled her backpack off, set it down on the bank near the trees and unzipped it, taking out her camera. She fixed a wide-angle lens on it, one that would give her enough field of view to really capture the beauty of the valley but could zoom to give her a close up if a bear appeared, and positioned herself.
Ivy snapped a picture and looked down at the screen of her Nikon, smiled at the shot, adjusted her settings, and lifted her camera to take another. As she swept it across the scenery, looking for the best composition, she imagined a black bear emerging from the haze and how perfect it would be. It was a magical scene as the sun rose and mist hung just above the rippling water, and it would only be made even more magical by a bear.
She took a handful of photographs, the changing light as the sun rose leading her to take another and then another, documenting the splendour of the scene as it subtly shifted.
She had never seen anything so beautiful.
So breathtaking.
She swung her camera left, towards the side of the river she was on, wanting to capture a shot of it with the glacier in the distance and the sun rising above it.
A shape loomed in the mist, disturbing it, and her heart lodged in her throat, a thrill chasing through her as she pressed down on the shutter release, sure it was a bear.
But as the mist parted, it wasn’t a bear that emerged.
It was a man.
A mountain of one.
He moved towards her with a predator’s gait, prowling through the mist that tried to cling to his long powerful jeans-clad legs and the cuffs of his worn dark green fleece, the sun rising behind him casting golden highlights in his thick dark hair. His square jaw, shadowed by stubble, tensed and his stony grey eyes darkened as they narrowed on her.
It took Ivy a moment to realise he was talking to her.
“You’re trespassing.” His gravelly deep voice rolled over her, a growl that suited his appearance.
He looked more dangerous than the wild animals in these parts.
Book 2: Captured by her Cougar (coming 18th August 2018)
Book 3: Courted by her Cougar (coming 8th September 2018)
Book 4: Craved by her Cougar (coming 29th September 2018)
Felicity Heaton is a New York Times and USA Today international best-selling author writing passionate paranormal romance books. In her books, she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons! If you’re a fan of paranormal romance authors Lara Adrian, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter and Christine Feehan then you will enjoy her books too.
If you love your angels a little dark and wicked, the best-selling Her Angel series is for you. If you like strong, powerful, and dark vampires then try the Vampires Realm series or any of her stand-alone vampire romance books. If you're looking for vampire romances that are sinful, passionate and erotic then try the best-selling Vampire Erotic Theatre series. Or if you prefer huge detailed worlds filled with hot-blooded alpha males in every species, from elves to demons to dragons to shifters and angels, then take a look at the new Eternal Mates series.
If you want to know more about Felicity, or want to get in touch, you can find her at the following places:
No comments:
Post a Comment