Blurb:
Eternal Desire Blurb:
Liz Beth, a paranormal researcher, is haunted by the seductive vampire, Quillon, who may or may not be real. She arrives in New Orleans the week of Halloween to search for the elusive vampire of her dreams and instead encounters a handsome stranger, Christien, with whom she begins a passionate affair with.
Soon she is torn between her dream lover and a flesh and blood man, both of whom are a mystery to her. The closer it gets to Halloween the wilder things become. LizBeth gets closer to the truth about Quillon while Christien has her under his own spell.
Will all be revealed at the Vampyre Ball or will the masks stay in place?
In New Orleans at Halloween anything is possible.
Liz Beth, a paranormal researcher, is haunted by the seductive vampire, Quillon, who may or may not be real. She arrives in New Orleans the week of Halloween to search for the elusive vampire of her dreams and instead encounters a handsome stranger, Christien, with whom she begins a passionate affair with.
Soon she is torn between her dream lover and a flesh and blood man, both of whom are a mystery to her. The closer it gets to Halloween the wilder things become. LizBeth gets closer to the truth about Quillon while Christien has her under his own spell.
Will all be revealed at the Vampyre Ball or will the masks stay in place?
In New Orleans at Halloween anything is possible.
The scene below is an excellent introduction to her thoughts on Quillon her vampire and Christien her sexy stranger. It also tosses in a few clues about LizBeth’s lonely life and her lack of connection to humanity.
PG Except from Eternal Desire:
I found myself going back and forth thinking about Christien and Quillon. One moment, I would be concentrating on Quillon. The next moment, I would have a flashback from the night before with Christien, and my knees would get weak. For so long, I had dreamt about Quillon, first imagining him as my guardian angel, then later imagining him in a much more carnal light. But Quillon was always so ice cold in my dreams. He was so distant, a fantasy but not flesh—at least not yet, not to me.
Christien was so warm, so non-vampirish, so human.
Christien was a man—a real man—and being with him rivaled the dreams and images I had of Quillon.
I felt myself being torn between a shadow and a stranger. Could it get any more complicated?
I was feeling run-down and my head ached. I decided I really needed some caffeine. I found the Café du Monde on Decatur, right on the edge of Jackson Square. The square was full of a variety of people: street musicians, artists, a dreaded mime, several fortune tellers and other people from all walks of life. I sat down at a small table, sipped at my pick-me-up-in-a-cup—a delicious café au lait—and people-watched.
My life was usually focused on the dead, the undead, or other strange preternatural occurrences. I often forgot about the humanity that surrounded me. They laughed, they danced, and they seemed to be having a good time. Teenagers hung out with their friends while tourists had their fortunes told and dropped money into the jars and hats of the artists and musicians. It was a beautiful slice-of-life scene. So everyday, I thought. So normal. I was lost in it.
Suddenly, I realized the sun was hanging low in the sky. It was getting late. I had to rush back to my hotel, drop off the books and get cleaned up. I was all dusty from digging around in the library, and I couldn’t meet Christien looking all disheveled.
I took an ultra-quick shower and dolled myself up as best I could with what I had available, which, unfortunately, wasn’t much. I hadn’t packed for dating. Jeans and a tight t-shirt would have to work this time.
I scurried out of the hotel and practically ran the whole way to him. I was out of breath by the time I met Christien, promptly at sunset, at the corner of Canal and Bourbon Streets. He smiled as I ran up to him. I was huffing and puffing, completely out of breath. Good job, Liz! Score another dork point for you, I thought. I could have tried for a sexier arrival and maybe sauntered up like a sex goddess a few minutes fashionably late. Instead, I was like a love struck teenager who couldn’t wait to be with him. I was just staring at him and following along with whatever he wanted. Luckily, he didn’t seem to mind.
He took me on a carriage ride around the city. He seemed very knowledgeable about New Orleans history, and he told me many stories that the tour guides had not. He also told me about all the Halloween festivities that would be going on that weekend. “I would be honored if you would attend the Vampyre Ball and Dark Masquerade Ball with me this weekend.” He sounded so formal.
Praise for Eternal Desire:
After reading Eternal Desire, I would have to call Roxanne Rhoads a master of words. Each sentence flowed into another with a nice blend of old elegance and contemporary style… ~review by author Kiki Howell
Ms. Rhoads is an artist with words. She very tastefully wove the romance with the love scenes making the reader feel as if true romance and chivalry were still here… ~review by Bertena Varney
Eternal Desire won second place in The Pen and Muse’s 2010 Short Story Competition
Link to book video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuJ6niYhgJg
Eternal Desire is one of my favorite stories that I have written.
I love Christien, Quillon and LizBeth and have mentioned them in a few of my other works but hope to write a sequel to Eternal Desire soon, maybe a full length novel. I have the idea written down and the story slightly mapped out- it’s just on the back burner right now. One day soon I hope to get to it because there have been requests for more of these characters. I take that as a good sign.
Today I’d like to give away a ebook copy to one lucky reader.
~Roxanne Rhoads
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