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Guest Post - Mardi Gras—Letting the Good Times
Roll by L.M. Pruitt
For one—there’s not nearly as much nudity as people like to think there is. I know, I know, this news makes you very sad. But the law doesn’t disappear just because it’s Mardi Gras season. If anything, you’re more likely to get arrested for showing the world your ta-tas—NOPD is out in full force and they won’t hesitate to slap cuffs on anybody. Even a person with a great rack.
Second, Mardi Gras parades are a serious business. I mean like big deal big deal. People bring couches, tricked out ladders, folding chairs, any and or all of the above attached/loaded up on vehicles… it gets more than a little hectic. And the competition for throws—which can range from beads to medals to everything in between—is FIERCE. Seriously—don’t reach for something, let it come to you. Unless you want to lose an arm.
Finally—the party does stop. Don’t believe me? Be on Bourbon Street at midnight on Fat Tuesday/Lent Wednesday. NOPD clears the streets in cars and on horses, bars and clubs shutter up (even if they’re still pouring drinks inside), and the city gets downright quiet. Come the next morning there are plenty of people doing penance in one of the local churches or praying to the porcelin god. For the next (roughly) six weeks, New Orleans is pretty sedate. I like to think of it as the break the city needs after hundreds of thousands of tourists.
So there you have it—a quick, brutal rundown of Mardi Gars. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an absolute blast. I’ve been twice and loved it each time: hangovers, bad decisions, blisters and sickness in all. If you get the chance to do it, do it. And if you don’t—find a chance. You won’t regret it.
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Shades of Blood
by L.M. Pruitt
Book 3 Jude Magdalyn Series
by L.M. Pruitt
Book 3 Jude Magdalyn Series
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Kindle Nook
If it's not one thing, it's another.
Felipe, one of New Orleans's most infamous—and crazy--vampires is back in town. And to say he's unhappy is an understatement.
Duprees and Williams have to track down Felipe, fast, before he claims any more victims. If that means making a deal with the Devil--otherwise known as St. Germaine--and using an untrained dhampir, so be it.
If that wasn't enough, I've also got rebellious teenagers, feuding couples, and a suddenly full social calendar.
The more things change....
Excerpt
“I’m going to kill her.” I didn’t throw the phone across the room like I wanted to, but instead, set it down gently on the coffee table. I took a deep breath and held it for a long moment before releasing it. “I’ll just have to owe Williams another favor.”
“That would put you at owing him three times, which is three times too many.” Theo slid the phone out of my reach. I’d already thrown two phones this month, so I didn’t begrudge him the action. “What exactly did Danie do this time?”
It’d been almost a month since Williams had shown up in the foyer and left his niece—Hart’s daughter—in my care. Not that I really wanted her here or that she wanted to be here. Things were just getting back to normal after the terror of Halloween, after darting around the city trying to find Hart’s other psychopathic
brother. Having Hart’s daughter under my roof made me more than a little uneasy, even though he was still at the bottom of the Mississippi.
I’d argued with Williams. Danie had argued with Williams. Even Mickeal, Williams’s second-in-command and currently stationed at the Crossroads, had argued with Williams. He refused to budge. And my conscience wouldn’t let me throw her out without a definite place to go.
So Danie stayed. And did her best to make all our lives a living hell.
“Shoplifting. Again.” I drummed my fingers over my stomach, then stopped when one of the bumps kicked a little. Theo and I still called them the bumps, even though it was starting to look like I’d swallowed a small beach ball. At the rate I was going, I’d be as big as a cow by the time I delivered in May. “Down at that tourist shop.”
“Which one? There’s only half a million or so.” Theo made a little circle motion with his finger and I gave him my back. I always seemed to have a knot between my shoulder blades these days. Whether it was from Danie or from the bumps, I couldn’t begin to guess.
“Voodoo Blues. The owner recognized her, so instead of calling the police, he let her go and called me. I’ll send Elizabeth down tomorrow to take care of it.”
“Have you ever thought about letting her get picked up by the police? Seeing if having the law come down on her would actually make her see how stupid she’s being?” Theo pressed a kiss against my bare shoulder. I shrugged half-heartedly, tapping my fingers on my knee.
“Maybe it would work. Or maybe she’d go nuts on them and then we’d have a serious problem.” Restless
now, I stood up to pace in front of the fireplace. It was just now ten p.m. and most of the house had been up long enough to start getting into trouble. Any minute now, someone was going to knock on the parlor door and tell me they needed help with something.
I wasn’t psychic. It had happened often enough that it was a given.
Shades of Desire
By L.M. Pruitt
Book 2 Jude Magdalyn Series
If it's not one thing, it's another.
Felipe, one of New Orleans's most infamous—and crazy--vampires is back in town. And to say he's unhappy is an understatement.
Duprees and Williams have to track down Felipe, fast, before he claims any more victims. If that means making a deal with the Devil--otherwise known as St. Germaine--and using an untrained dhampir, so be it.
If that wasn't enough, I've also got rebellious teenagers, feuding couples, and a suddenly full social calendar.
The more things change....
Excerpt
“I’m going to kill her.” I didn’t throw the phone across the room like I wanted to, but instead, set it down gently on the coffee table. I took a deep breath and held it for a long moment before releasing it. “I’ll just have to owe Williams another favor.”
“That would put you at owing him three times, which is three times too many.” Theo slid the phone out of my reach. I’d already thrown two phones this month, so I didn’t begrudge him the action. “What exactly did Danie do this time?”
It’d been almost a month since Williams had shown up in the foyer and left his niece—Hart’s daughter—in my care. Not that I really wanted her here or that she wanted to be here. Things were just getting back to normal after the terror of Halloween, after darting around the city trying to find Hart’s other psychopathic
brother. Having Hart’s daughter under my roof made me more than a little uneasy, even though he was still at the bottom of the Mississippi.
I’d argued with Williams. Danie had argued with Williams. Even Mickeal, Williams’s second-in-command and currently stationed at the Crossroads, had argued with Williams. He refused to budge. And my conscience wouldn’t let me throw her out without a definite place to go.
So Danie stayed. And did her best to make all our lives a living hell.
“Shoplifting. Again.” I drummed my fingers over my stomach, then stopped when one of the bumps kicked a little. Theo and I still called them the bumps, even though it was starting to look like I’d swallowed a small beach ball. At the rate I was going, I’d be as big as a cow by the time I delivered in May. “Down at that tourist shop.”
“Which one? There’s only half a million or so.” Theo made a little circle motion with his finger and I gave him my back. I always seemed to have a knot between my shoulder blades these days. Whether it was from Danie or from the bumps, I couldn’t begin to guess.
“Voodoo Blues. The owner recognized her, so instead of calling the police, he let her go and called me. I’ll send Elizabeth down tomorrow to take care of it.”
“Have you ever thought about letting her get picked up by the police? Seeing if having the law come down on her would actually make her see how stupid she’s being?” Theo pressed a kiss against my bare shoulder. I shrugged half-heartedly, tapping my fingers on my knee.
“Maybe it would work. Or maybe she’d go nuts on them and then we’d have a serious problem.” Restless
now, I stood up to pace in front of the fireplace. It was just now ten p.m. and most of the house had been up long enough to start getting into trouble. Any minute now, someone was going to knock on the parlor door and tell me they needed help with something.
I wasn’t psychic. It had happened often enough that it was a given.
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Shades of Desire
By L.M. Pruitt
Book 2 Jude Magdalyn Series
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All I wanted was a little peace and quiet.
Instead, I've got dead Covenant members and a steady stream of letters from the new guy in town. His beverage of choice? A 2002 Merlot, with a shot or two of powerful virgin blood.
On top of that, I'm breaking in a new police liaison, failing at playing matchmaker, and fighting nausea like it's a full time job. All I wanted was a little peace and quiet.
Instead, I've got dead Covenant members and a steady stream of letters from the new guy in town. His beverage of choice? A 2002 Merlot, with a shot or two of powerful virgin blood.
On top of that, I'm breaking in a new police liaison, failing at playing matchmaker, and fighting nausea like it's a full time job.
Did I forget to mention that I've also got enough girls living at the Crossroads to start my own boarding school?
Peace and quiet? Out the window.
Excerpt:
“If someone doesn’t get me a lemon in the next five minutes, everyone will suffer. A lot.”
“Jude, I love you. Which is why I can say you’re being just a little overdramatic.” One look at my face and Theo changed his tune. “But then again, you could say pregnancy is dramatic and you’re just getting into the groove.”
“Nice save.” I tried to sit up again. Halfway through the upward movement greasy waves of nausea rolled over me and I eased back down onto the pillow. Strands of black hair clung to my sweaty face and I closed my eyes, exhaling slowly. “Not as nice as that lemon would be right now, but nice.”
“Elizabeth will be here in a moment. No doubt she’ll have a lemon. And tea. And toast.” Theo turned over to face me, laying one hand over my still mostly flat stomach. If you looked close, you could see the smallest of bumps.
I know, because I checked. Every other day or so.
If anybody told me three months ago, that the week before Halloween, I’d be lying in bed with a man who absolutely adored me—even the crazy parts—I’d have asked them what the hell they were smoking. If they’d thrown in being pregnant, I would have punched them in their jaw. Then gone to the store and bought a dozen pregnancy tests and prayed for them all to be negative.
But that was before the Covenant.
In two weeks, I’d gone from being an orphan raised by nuns, to the latest in a long line of only daughters. Women charged with the protection and well-being of hundreds of people with unique powers. Some made flame burn for hours, while others called the wind to knock you flat on your ass. They were a group of people who came together over two-hundred years ago, bound by a prophecy. One with no past, lost in the present, will bring in the future, through gifts of both this world and the next.
And lucky me, I’d passed the job interview.
I’d sent Hart to a muddy, watery grave-literally. Unless something went crazy wrong, he’d stay under the Mississippi until the Final Judgment. Williams ruled the vampires of the city now and kept his distance as much as possible.
And I, Jude Magdalyn Henries, led the Covenant. Maybe I wasn’t terrific at it. But Gillian would be proud.
All things considered, I think I came out with a pretty good deal.
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Shades of Gray
By L.M. Pruitt
Book 1 Jude Magdalyn Series
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Jude Magdalyn Henries lives what many would call an unconventional life.
Orphaned at birth, raised by nuns, a teenage runaway living on the streets... she now earns a living at odd jobs, including one as a fake tarot card reader. Very little about Jude's life appears normal, by any scale.
When she accepts a gig to do a private reading, unconventional takes on an entirely new meaning. Life as she knows it ends when she's thrust into a world she never knew existed-one filled with magic, vampires, and her beloved New Orleans on the verge of an underground war.
To make matters worse, she's got two men in her life vying for attention, Williams and Theo. Both call to a different part of her, but one scares her just a little bit.
Can she step up to the challenges set before her and make the right choices for the greater good?
Excerpt:
The moment I sat at the head of the table and took a good, long look at the three people making up the private party, I knew takingthis job was a mistake. They looked like nice, normal, sane people. I’dlearned many years ago when people look that normal, they usually aren’t, not by a long shot.
My employer for the evening, Mrs. “Just Call Me Bee” Talanger, clapped her hands together like a little girl and twittered excitedly. If one could imagine a child in the surgically over enhanced body of a fifty something year old woman. It might have been the twitter, the heavily perfumed room, or the look of hungry anticipation, but the feeling of I really shouldn’t be here got stronger. I started to stand, and the woman on my right raised a groomed eyebrow.
“Sister Henries, don’t tell us you plan to leave already? Bee assured Hart and myself you’d have a vision, answer some questions for us.” She shivered, as if the thought was both frightening and delicious. The look in her eyes was one I’d learned at a tender age meant they would find it delicious if you were frightened.
In answer, I arched my left eyebrow, making the tiny pinprick mole on the outside corner wink up. A handy, often impressive, trick. It was like a tiny exclamation point at the top of my face, an easier and less time consuming accent for my pale gray eyes than makeup. “Mrs. Talanger misunderstood my area of expertise. I read cards, I don’t have visions. I am not… gifted in such a manner.”
Thank God. It was difficult enough acting like a disgraced nun with a talent for tarot. Pretending to have visions would have been too difficult a con to pull off. Even for me.
“Are we to assume you have limited gifts then, Sister Henries?” The pale blond man on my left asked the question, a small smirk creeping across his face. I let my own face go blank, the type of blank usually reserved for when a person’s thoughts are far too wrong to be allowed to be seen. The smirk died away.
“That would be a very correct assumption.” I leaned against the high back of the chair, slouching despite the rigid frame. The movement loosened up the sloppy bun I’d thrown my hair in and strands of dark, almost black hair teased my bare shoulders. The outfit for this evening’s debacle was fortune teller, which also happened to be boho chic – the long, flowing skirts, loose, baggy shirts. The sort of style you can put together in under five minutes if you walk into a decent thrift store.
“Ladies and gentlemen, you all seem to have forgotten you’re sitting in a dining room in New Orleans, one of, if not the most, haunted cities in America. Not all of those spirits are friendly neighborhood ghosts. I would be most distressed if my attempts to foresee the future were thwarted by one of them.”
Mrs. Talanger exclaimed her lack of thought on the issue. I refrained from rolling my eyes in disgust because I hadn’t been paid yet. If it looked like I wasn’t, I’d indulge in some displays of annoyance, until then I’d be polite. I’d try – I didn’t know if I’d succeed.
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by L.M. Pruitt
a Jude Magdalyn free Kindle Short Prequel
Kindle
Kindle
Before Jude could throw fire...Before she could heal...Before she chose between two men...
She was a bartender.
Find out what Jude was up to the night before her world went nuts.
Hole in the Wall is available as an exclusive ebook to celebrate the release of the second edition of Shades of Gray.
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L.M. Pruitt has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember. A native of Florida with a love of New Orleans, she has the uncanny ability to find humor in most things and would probably kill a plastic plant. She is the author of the Jude Magdalyn Series as well as New Moon Rising, featuring Cari Gravier, and Taken, featuring Frankie Post. She is currently at work on the next book in the Moon Rising series, Harvest Moon Rising, due out April 2012. Ms. Pruitt makes her home in Florida with two cats--one smart, the other not so much.
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This looks good and it's a new author for me
ReplyDeleteI love this series and anything else L.M. writes! Her female leads are strong, witty, smart & independent but, not afraid to love. She is one of my favorite indie authors and I wish her much success, it will be well deserved!
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