Anya Bast

I think the cover copy is going to change, but this is the cover art. WOW, I love it. Tony Mauro (the cover artist) is brilliant. If you like his covers, you should check out his artwork.

Cruel Enchantment is the second full-length novel in the Dark Magick series and will release in September.

Surprise! I have a book release today!

Twilight, previously a novella in the anthology And Lady Makes Three, is being released as a standalone today from Ellora’s Cave. Here is the cover, buy link, blurb and an excerpt.

Those who are not familiar with my Ellora’s Cave novellas should be warned they are *hot*. This one is a menage a trois romance and, be warned, there is contact between the two male characters. Also, this is an ebook, NOT paper.

It was always impressive to see, thought Dai as he and Nico mounted the top of a hill and the fourth triad tower came into view below them.
The tower rose high above the weed- and briar-choked hedges that wreathed its base. The weeds were impossible to keep at bay these days, despite the fact that darkness had grown so much that it seemed like constant twilight, and even though it was high summer, it felt like late autumn. Even now, in the gloom of the Encroaching Darkness, that tower seemed to cast a shadow.

He snapped his horse’s reins and dug his heels into the beast’s sides. Beside him, Nico did the same. They headed their mounts down the slope and through the gateway that led into the tower courtyard.

A black-hooded monk took their mounts and another ushered Dai and Nico into the tower. A small fire burned in the hearth, barely managing to touch the chill in the cavernous room. The floor was of solid stone, but no rushes had been laid down. The High Mages of the Vedicinn and their monks rarely succumbed to the temptation of such luxuries. A single table stood in the austere chamber, covered with texts and loose papers. Dai knew well the Vedicinn still sought ways to stave off the Encroaching Darkness, even though they all knew well it was Dai, Nico and the third member of their Sacred Triad—wherever she was—who would mean the difference between triumph and defeat.

Dai and Nico were two-thirds of a sacred triad—one of seven. The other six triads had been formed years ago and they were all waiting for the seventh to be realized. In the eyes of their elders they were failing. For years they’d searched for the woman who would complete their circle of magick. Her inclusion would form the last part of the conduit that would allow the power of all the triads to flow out and purify the binding fabric of their reality, fine-tuning it to a higher level. The formation of their triad would push back the Encroaching Darkness.

A shrunken form rose from the chair beside the table. A gnarled hand extended. The other liver-spotted hand clutched a wooden staff. “Come,” said the fourth mage.

Dai and Nico walked forward and went down on their knees, touching their fingertips to their foreheads in the formal gesture of respect.

“Rise.”

They rose and felt the full weight of the Fourth’s gaze on them. He narrowed rheumy eyes at them. “Time is growing short,” said the fourth in a voice that sounded as though it’d been broken over old stones. Timeless. Weary.

He needed to say no more.

Nico cleared his throat. His long black hair was loose and a hank of it had fallen across a dark eye. Nico was beautiful, dark and intense. It was said he could seduce anyone—man or woman. Dai knew it to be true. “We have a trace on her magick. She may be in the northern part of Carraton, and we are traveling there directly after this meeting, High Mage.”

The fourth’s eyes narrowed further. “I thought you told me her magick had been completely transferred to you.”

“Not the entirety of it. She still has a thin thread left.”

They did not know much about the one they sought, save that she was female. All the triads were of both sexes—two females and a male, or two males and a female. They also knew that years ago, some event had made their third member relinquish most of her magick. They speculated that she’d been greatly, perhaps irreparably, psychically damaged due to that unknown trauma in her past. Whatever happened had forced the magick out of her body and, as the other two sides of the triad, Dai and Nico had been forced to absorb it.

“Why have you not sensed this thread before now?” the fourth asked suspiciously.

His temper piqued, Dai stepped forward. It was as if the fourth thought they’d deliberately been thwarting the formation of their own triad. Even when the extra magick they carried was a heavy burden all of the time—and a nearly uncontrollable force some of the time. “We have sensed it over the years, High Mage, but it always moved so erratically that by the time we reached the area of its emanation, it had shifted. Now it has settled and stayed constant. We believe she has finally set up a home. I would respectfully ask your leave to be on our way immediately.”

The fourth stared at Dai and he returned his gaze confidently. Dai’s name was an apt one since he was like the day—friendly and full of light—but also had a temper that could grow hot as the sun.

The fourth tested that temper now.

Tense moments passed. Finally, the fourth banged his staff on the floor. “I summoned you here to impress the fact upon you that the fate of our world lies in your hands. The Vedicinn grows desperate. They search for ways to engage the magick of the triads without yours, and that will be risky. Go,” the fourth barked. His face grew haggard-looking and he seemed suddenly even older than his already ancient age. “You had better find her this time.”

* * * * *

Twyla dug into the hard packed earth in effort to free a hansclep root. Her nail broke to the quick and, cursing, she snatched her hand to her mouth and fell back into a sitting position. Her wooden, hand shovel had split yesterday and she sorely missed it.

It was market day in Dandre Village tomorrow. She knew she’d have to brave a trip in to buy a new one. The last time she’d gone, she’d been hassled by a local farmer. Out here in the country, women traveling alone were always suspect. The farmer, Marsten had been his name, had followed her around. Perhaps he’d thought she was a pleasure woman for hire, Twyla didn’t know. All she knew was that he’d received a sharp elbow in the ribs for his trouble.

She cast around until she found a suitable branch and used it to dig. Finally the root came up. “Dinner!” she declared triumphantly to the forest at large. The root was an ugly bulbous purple mass at the moment, but cleaned up and boiled with the rest of her potatoes and an onion it would be quite delicious.

Cradling the root in her shirttails, she stood and made her way through the murky forest that she called home. She’d found a ramshackle house back in the depths of the woods. It had likely been abandoned for years and had needed many repairs. She’d set about fixing it up, and the project was nearly complete now. Smoke curled enticingly from the chimney in the distance and the thatched roof came into view. She still had things to do but it was becoming very cozy already.

Home.

She hadn’t had one of those in a very long time. She’d never had a permanent one. She and her mother had always been forced to move to different villages when she’d been growing up. Never staying in one place long enough for them to settle and make friends or have any kind of stable life.

And then one day… Twyla gave her head a sharp shake. No, that didn’t bear any thought at all. Better to let the past be the past.

She passed the woodpile and the hatchet she’d embedded in one of the stumps. She’d begun to line the walkway up to the door with some large, flat stones she’d found. It looked pretty that way, she thought. Yes, she planned to stay here for a while, forever if she could hold the place. She was so tired of moving.

Twyla pushed the door open and entered the snug house. It smelled of the drying herbs she’d hung from the rafters. She’d warmed some water over the fire so she could bathe. After she placed the root on the trestle table, she poured the warmed water into her hip tub. She loosed her hair from the knot on the top of her head and shook the length out. It was long, to her waist, and blood-red. She had no time or need for vanity in her life and, practically speaking, she should have hacked it off long ago. She fingered a tendril and eyed the knife on the table. Really, she should. It was constantly in her way and was so difficult to keep untangled. She closed her eyes as a memory overwhelmed her.

“Your hair is like rubies, darling,” her mother said as she ran a brush gently through it.

Twlya inhaled. Her mother always smelled of vanilla.

“You have such pretty hair. Promise me you’ll never cut it.”

She opened her eyes, let go of her hair and stripped off her filthy clothing.

The water was comforting and pleasant when she lowered herself down into it and picked up the chunk of soap. She might not want to acknowledge the event that had decorated her body with a crisscrossing of thin, white scars, but she couldn’t ignore them either. They traced over her breasts, her stomach, thighs and buttocks and served as an ever-constant reminder of the night she’d lost both her mother and her innocence forever. The wounds, caused by a mercilessly lashing whip, had long since healed. Of course, the far more severe wounds within her mind and her heart had never healed, and she doubted they ever would.

She finished bathing, toweled herself dry and slipped into her warm, woolen sleeping gown and slippers. After she’d prepared her stew and set it to cook over the fire, she curled up in a chair to watch the fire lick red and amber over the bottom of her cooking caldron. She considered buying a book at the market tomorrow. It was an expensive luxury, but she hadn’t had a new book in a very long time. Exhaustion and relaxation gradually stole over her body and soon she found it difficult to keep her eyes open.

When she awoke, early morning light filtered in through the windows and the fire had burned itself to ash. She stood and checked the caldron and found it cold, as was her cottage. Her breath showed in the crisp air. Twyla cursed under her breath as her stomach rumbled. She’d have to remake the fire for heat and for food.

She moved to pick up her kindling basket from beside the door when she saw a flash of movement outside her window. Murmuring voices met her ears. Two males. Dropping the basket, she picked up her sword that lay against the wall instead. Moving stealthily, she inched toward the door and opened it a crack.

At first, she saw nothing, then she glimpsed two men roaming around outside. One was blond and fair; the other had dark hair and eyes. They were both tall, and well built. She bit her bottom lip, assessing them. They’d be far superior to her in swordplay unless she could dodge and strike, not allowing either of them to corner her and lay their weight against her.

No…with two of them that was probably not an option.

At the Writerspace chat last night (which was very well attended and was a total blast! Thank you!) someone asked me what music I listen to when I’m writing. I have a playlist for every book/series, but I rarely post it because….I don’t know why, really. So here is a small portion of what I’m listening to as I write the Dark Magick series.

BTW, for everyone waiting on a book from me (you are legion), I’m addressing the envelopes today and will have them in the mail ASAP.

Aqualung — Strange & Beautiful

Moby — Shot in the Back of the Head

U2 — If God Will Send His Angels

Apocalyptica — Cohkka

Angelzoom — Fairyland

My Morning Jacket — Gideon

Sirenia — Seven Sirens and a Silver Tear

Apocalyptica — I Don’t Care

Seether — Walk Away from the Sun

Black Light Burns — Cruel Melody

And many more. 🙂

I’m chatting tonight at Writerspace (9pm est) and would love to see you there!

Scroll down a bit for the grand prize winner of the Nook and the book-of-the-day winner from yesterday.

Not only is WICKED ENCHANTMENT releasing today, but Lauren Dane’s COMING UNDONE is out today and so is Yasmine Galenorn’s BONE MAGIC.

So, here’s what I’m going to do. Comment on this post by 5pm eastern time today and you will win one of the above books. Two prizes, two winners. Sound good? Answer the following question: What one word would you use to sum up 2009?

And the winners are…….

Sue B….., who said her year was challenging, (lots of challengings in the comments) won the copy of COMING UNDONE

Incident, who used the word Chaos to sum up the year, won the copy of BONE MAGIC

Please email me within a week to collect your prize! anyabast (at) gmail.com. Thank you all so much for entering!!!! 🙂

Whew…had a helluva time getting into my blog. My site is either getting lots of hits or mercury retrograde is screwing with me. 🙂

I am so excited to be able to share this first full-length book of my new series with you. It’s hard for me to find excerpts from this book without choosing one that might have a spoiler since there are a few twists, turns and surprises in the story. I managed to find this one, however. Enjoy!!

Buy at Amazon.com

Buy at Barnes & Noble

Buy at Borders

Excerpt…..

It was good that she didn’t trust him. Healthy. She shouldn’t trust him. Gabriel liked her honesty, too. He knew where he stood with her. No guessing. And that was refreshing.

Aislinn was an intelligent person and insightful, too. Those two things, combined with her beauty and the mystery of her magick, made her intriguing to him on a level not many women were.

He genuinely liked her.

Too bad he was duping her.

An odd, heavy sensation filled his chest, wilting the smile he wore as he gazed at her. For some inexplicable reason his thought process had diminished his pleasure. What was this feeling? Aislinn breezed past him, touching the gowns hanging on the racks near the door of the small, crowded shop. His smile completely faded and the heavy weight grew as he watched her. Was this regret?

Gods . . . was it . . . guilt?

Carina hit him playfully on the shoulder. “You’re frowning. What’s wrong?”

He blinked and jerked, not sure how long he’d been standing there so annoyingly confused. “Where’s the lingerie and let’s see if we can get Aislinn into some,” he growled and walked toward his prey.

“There’s my boy,” Carina purred.

Aislinn had stopped to finger the material of a dark red gown with a plunging neckline and back. It was sleeveless and had a long straight sheath skirt. Aislinn would be a knockout in that dress. It would set off her light skin tone, the silver blond fall of her subtly curling hair, and her beautiful light gray eyes.

“It’s beautiful,” he murmured as he imagined taking it off her. She’d look even better swathed in nothing but moonlight. Or just his hands.
She flipped the tag up at him. “It’s Valentino and it’s twelve thousand dollars.”

“You can’t afford it?”

“Oh, yes, I can afford it,” she said, moving to the next rack of gowns. “My family had money before Piefferburg was created.” She flicked him a sour glance. “We don’t live off the backs of the troop. However, I make it a point never to spend that much on any article of clothing for myself. It’s too self-indulgent.”

“I would spend that much in a heartbeat,” murmured Carina, coming to stand beside Gabriel. She fingered the rich material of the dress, then wandered off toward the purses.

“Okay,” answered Gabriel, pushing past Carina. “Then let me buy you something expensive and self-indulgent.”

She turned and narrowed her eyes at him. “No.”

“You have to let me. It’s to show you my appreciation for being my guide this week.”

She turned her back to him. “No, thank you. It’s not necessary.”

“Something slinky and sexy for your next lover, maybe?” He paused. “Who won’t be me.” Lie, lie, lie.

“No.”

“Ah, that means you will be taking me as your next lover?”

A clerk came near. Aislinn smiled and waved her away. “Hardly.”

“Good. We’re agreed. Let me buy something for the next lucky man. You have no reason to say no and you’ll offend me if you do, since I’m trying to repay you for your kindness.”

She halted near a rack of designer shoes. “I haven’t been very kind to you.”

“All the more reason to relent and allow me to buy you a gift.”

She ran her index finger down a pair of red Jimmy Choos. “I’ll say yes just to get you to quit and let me shop. I have a feeling you won’t stop until I give in to you.”

Oh, she was right about that.

He flashed a smile and hoped it didn’t look as predatory as he felt. “I’m nothing if not persistent.”

“Believe me, I noticed.” She turned and began to saunter away. “When I find something suitable, I’ll let you know.”

“It has to be lingerie and you have to let me see it on you before I buy it. You know, to make sure your next lover will approve.”

Her steps faltered, but she only called airily over her shoulder, “Fine.”

He blinked. He thought she’d howl at that string he’d attached.

Having no particular interest in women’s clothing other than when he was taking it off someone, Gabriel watched Aislinn. She touched the gowns, examined their sizes and lengths, talked to the clerk about alterations, but she did it all with a dull look in her eyes. Whereas Carina seemed beatific in the shop, with her ability to buy new things to wear at court, Aislinn touched the garments with listless, roaming hands, as though searching for something that wasn’t there, something she knew she’d never find between the four walls of the building. While all the time she kept glancing out the plate-glass window to the street and the passersby.

Aislinn Christiana Guinevere Finvarra of the Seelie Court, supposed purebred Tuatha Dé Danann, was bored. Bored with her life, yearning for more. That was another secret she kept from her peers. Add it to the pile.

She had to feel so lonely.

The heaviness that had settled in his chest earlier eased a bit. Luring her to the Unseelie Court was the best thing he could do for her. In the Black Tower she could develop her magick without fear of reprisal or banishment. A woman as intelligent and as interesting as Aislinn deserved that and more. She didn’t deserve to be stifled and strangled in a toxic and delusionary environment like the Seelie Court.

She wouldn’t be bored anymore. She wouldn’t be alone. Sure, she’d hate him for what he’d done. This couldn’t end any other way. But in the long run she’d be better off in Black with her own people.

“I think I found it.”

Gabriel came back to himself, realizing she’d browsed over to the lingerie section. A distance away he could hear Carina nattering at one of the store clerks. He walked to Aislinn and saw she held a red satin and chiffon slip in her hands. It looked long and . . . fascinating. Sexy. Now these were the kind of clothes that men were interested in, at least for the couple of minutes a woman wore them before they became a heap on the floor of the bedroom.

His eyebrows rose. “Try it on.”

She disappeared into the fitting room and reappeared a couple of minutes later. It covered her down to her ankles, yet still managed to be the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. The bodice cupped her breasts just perfectly, just the way he wanted to. His fingers curled as he imagined doing just that. The red looked incredible against her skin tone.

“Turn around.” His voice came out just a tad hoarse and he realized he was clutching a silk gown off one of the racks hard enough to wrinkle.
She turned and he lost his breath. The back dipped down very far, all the way to the top of her beautifully rounded bottom. He wanted to run his lips over every inch of slender, flawless skin from the nape of her neck to the small of her back and then—

“Gabriel?” She’d turned around and was staring at him, frowning.

He cleared his throat. “It’s beautiful on you. Your next lover will drool all over the carpet.” He knew that for certain because he would be that man. No way was he allowing any other man to see her in that gown.

Aislinn was his.

The grand prize winner in our Curl Up With a Book…And a Nook contest is: BELINDA B (bellie7 is the first part of your email)

Belinda, please contact either me or Lauren with your mailing address so that we can get your Nook to you. My email is anyabast (at) gmail.com

***PLEASE REMEMBER YOU MUST LIVE IN AN AREA THAT SUPPORTS NOOK TO WIN AND THAT YOU MUST CLAIM THE PRIZE WITHIN SEVEN DAYS***

The winner of the book-of-the-day prize from yesterday is…. Michellek, who said, “Actually I was thinking of giving your Witch’s series a try. Looks like some kick ass woman and I love that.” Congrats! And, btw, Michelle, you totally should do that. 😉

Email me within a week to collect your prize.

Thanks so much for playing, everyone!!!

The last book giveaway of the contest! Head on over to Lauren’s blog to see which one of mine she’s giving away. Today you get not only a novella by Lauren Dane, but one by Megan Hart too. Not bad!

By random drawing, the winner of yesterday’s book-of-the-day contest for UNDERCOVER is Amelia, who said, “I like all genres. I do like to read the new twists that authors give to the traditional paranormals.”

Congratulations! You have a week from today to contact me and collect your prize. anyabast (at) gmail.com

Want a shot at winning this book? Answer the following question in the comments:

Name one new author you’ve discovered lately and want to share with other readers. If you haven’t discovered a new author recently, what author are you thinking of taking a chance on?

Every day from today until January 4th, 2010, I’ll be giving away one of Lauren Dane’s fabulous novels. In turn, she will be giving one of mine away. Head on over to her blog to see which one.

By random drawing, the winner of yesterday’s book-of-the-day contest for MAKING CHASE is Jane, who said, “I would love to travel to Italy. I definitely want to visit all the museums.”

Congratulations! You have a week from today to contact me and collect your prize. anyabast (at) gmail.com

Want a shot at winning this book? Answer the following question in the comments:

Which subgenres of romance do you enjoy reading the most? Paranormal, contemporary, historical, futuristic?

Every day from today until January 4th, 2010, I’ll be giving away one of Lauren Dane’s fabulous novels. In turn, she will be giving one of mine away. Head on over to her blog to see which one.

By random drawing, the winner of yesterday’s book-of-the-day contest for CASCADIA WOLVES: STANDOFF is Cybercliper, who said, “I don’t really do resolutions. In the past, I’ve usually abandoned then all by the first week.”

Congratulations! You have a week from today to contact me and collect your prize. anyabast (at) gmail.com

Want a shot at winning this book? Answer the following question in the comments:

If you had the ability to take a dream vacation to one single country in the world, which country would you choose?