Paranormal/Futuristic
Kiss of Pride
By Dottie
Apr 25, 2012 - 3:38:05 PM

At first, God had been pleased with Vikings…that is, until their actions turned them into arrogant, bloodthirsty worshippers of false idols. One family, in particular, displeased him…the Sigurdssons. The seven sons of Sigurd the Vicious (Sid Vicious??) were each guilty of one of the seven deadly sins. So he called upon the archangel Michael. Although St. Michael, the patron of warriors, did not care for the Norsemen, he interceded on their behalf. So it was decreed that the Vikings would slowly become extinct, but not by death. Instead, they would blend into other cultures and lose their identity. As for the Sigurdssons, the seven sinners must prove themselves sevenfold. They would roam the earth for seven hundred years, doing good works to earn their redemption. During this time, they would be Viking vampire angels, Vangels, fighting the Lucipires, Lucifer’s vampires, who have been killing sinners before they are able to ask for forgiveness.  To his dismay, St. Michael has been put in charge of the Vangels.

These vampires, also known as the VIK, were different from other vampires because they were made by God. Some considered them the darkest fallen angels, while others felt they brought hope because they were given redemption, but the seven thought of themselves as God’s joke on the world.

Although Vikar Sigurdsson has been trying to work for God, there have been times that he has messed up, so his time has been extended. His sin had been pride, but he has been working on that. He has not had sex for a hundred years. The last time caused him to have two hundred years added to his penance and he was not willing to risk that again. Now, in addition to fighting Satan’s vampires, he is expected to turn a one-hundred-twenty-year-old crumbling castle into a five star hotel in Transylvania, Pennsylvania. The Reckoning, which is the centennial meeting of all of the Vangels is due to take place there in one month and he must have the hotel ready in time for it. Busy and in a bad mood, he wants no company.

Alexandra ‘Alex’ Kelly, a reporter for the World Gazette magazine, lost her husband five-year-old daughter two years ago when they were kidnapped and killed by a Mexican drug cartel. Two of the cartel, the Mercado brothers, had been captured, but they stood a chance of getting off on technicalities. Since then, Alex has contemplated killing them or having them killed. In fact, she has already bought a pistol. Five years ago, she had been nominated for a Pulitzer, but she has been unable to get back to work since the deaths of her loved ones. Now her boss is letting her know she has to go back to work or lose her job, and he has an assignment for her. She is to go to Transylvania, Pennsylvania, a town of vampire wannabes and report on the man who recently bought a castle there…Lord Vikar, who is allegedly a real-life vampire. Although she scoffed at the assignment, she went.

After arriving, she checked into the local bed-and-breakfast for the night. Although warned not to leave her window open, she left it opened a crack and woke up the next morning with a bite on her neck. But when she tried to get into the castle, she found that she could not get past the gate. Still, using her ingenuity, she managed to get inside, where she is met by Vikar himself. At first, he tries to get her to leave, but then he sees the bite on her neck. But when he says he has to taste her, she begins to think he is just using a line to get intimate with her.

Seeing the bite marks, Vikar knew he had to taste her blood to see if she had been infected by the Lucipires. If so, he would have to keep her there to cleanse her blood. He has done this hundreds of times before, so there was nothing to it. But, once biting her, he found that this was the first time that biting someone caused his legs to buckle with desire. He knew that his appointment with her had been arranged by Mike Archer, aka St. Michael.  So he begins to wonder if, instead of saving her, she had been sent to save him?

A sizzling hot, hilarious read, KISS OF PRIDE, the first book in award winning author Sandra Hill’s DEADLY ANGELS series, is a delightful paranormal romance that will have you alternately fanning yourself and laughing out loud. Ms. Hill, who is known for love, laughter and sizzle, definitely does not disappoint with this awesome new book, which readers will find hard to put down. I loved the originally creative concept behind Ms. Hill’s latest DEADLY ANGELS series and cannot wait to get my hands on the rest of the books in this series. Packed with engaging, complex characters, Viking vampire angels, humor, evil villains, witty repartee, sexual tension, near-sex and life mates, this story is a keeper. Now that I have finished reading KISS OF PRIDE, I cannot wait to read the next addition to this delectable series, KISS OF SURRENDER, which is due out at the end of November. In the meantime, do not miss KISS OF SURRENDER!