Today I am so pleased to welcome Alice Winters to Joyfully Jay. Alice has come to talk to us about her latest release, How to Elude a Vampire (which I reviewed here and loved). She has also brought along goodies to give away. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!

 

My newest release, How to Elude a Vampire, just came out last Thursday! This is the second book in my VRC (Vampire Related Crimes) series about Finn, a human detective who joins a vampire-only police unit. There, he’s partnered with Marcus, an older vampire who isn’t sure he wants a human on his team. Their story continues in book two after a body is found in the river and they’re called onto the scene.

One thing that all of my books have is humor. But I don’t want my books to only revolve around the humor, so I enjoy creating a good balance between plot and humor. This second book dives into where the first book left off, with our main character Finn faced with a vampire who has been stalking him for thirteen years. While writing the second book, my goal was to keep the plot from getting too heavy, so I had to make sure I was keeping things well-balanced. I always consider it “sandwiching.” I like to sandwich a heavy chapter with two lighter chapters where the dialogue or the humor pushes the storyline and helps show the love between Finn and Marcus. Like most things when writing, there’s a fine line between the perfect amount and having too much. I never want the focus on humor to overshadow the growth of Finn and Marcus’s relationship or the seriousness of the situation. Check out How to Elude a Vampire today!

Let me show you an example of the humor that cushions the serious parts. In this scene, Marcus and Finn are meeting Finn’s sister Aria’s human boyfriend for the first time. The boyfriend is a bit nervous, but Marcus and Finn are determined to make him feel like he fits right in.

***

And then Aria’s boyfriend draws extremely still. “Is that menacing-looking man your father?” he whispers.

I turn to look at Marcus who is doing his signature brooding look as he walks over to us.

“Oh no, no, no. That’s Finn’s partner; my father’s not that scary,” Aria assures him.

I watch Marcus as he sexily struts over to us and scans Nick. “Huh,” he says. And that’s it.

Nick’s eyes get wide and his terror seems to escalate from that one simple word.

“What?” I ask curiously.

“Ah, I just forgot something at work.”

“Oh. I thought you were commenting on the human,” I say.

“You’re human too,” Marcus reminds me.

“Nah… I’ve transcended beyond the status of human. I’m much superior.”

Marcus’s eyes narrow. “Are you picking on me again about my inability to properly greet humans?”

I can no longer hide my grin. “Perhaps.”

“Watch this.” Marcus holds his hand out. “Human, your hair is very red. It’s similar to the color of blood. I like it.”

Nick looks even more terrified, but he gives Marcus a forced smile and shakes his hand.

“Marcus is like a big fangy teddy bear,” I assure Nick, or at least I try to. He doesn’t look very assured.

***

If you’ve already read books one and two, I have two exclusive short stories in my Facebook reader group: Alice Winters’ Wonderland: https://www.facebook.com/groups/AliceWinters/. One is about Marcus and Finn meeting for the first time and the other is about Karsyn’s date!


Blurb

Finn
When the vampire stalking me sent me a letter, I was prepared for my new life with the man I love to get thrown into chaos. But as the days stretch on and nothing happens, I become determined not to allow that monster to rule my life, and decide that Marcus and I will move on. We can’t always allow the past to haunt us. If that includes pestering Marcus and harassing my fellow detectives, they’d better learn to love it, because I’m not going anywhere even if they like to remind me I’m the only human working in a department filled with vampires. But Marcus loves me for who I am, even if he’s not crazy about the cute pet names I call him like McBitey. Being with him is more than I could have dreamed, and even with the trials thrown in our way, he never fails to make me smile.

Marcus
When Finn joined the VRC, I never expected how everything would change. Now that he’s the brightest part of my days, I’m unsure of how I existed without him. Before Finn and I can settle into our new life together, we’re called in as lead detectives when a body is found in the river, and the case soon hits closer to home than we anticipated. I want to be by Finn’s side to keep him safe, but at the same time, Finn’s fighting for the freedom he’s always wanted after being forced to live a life of fear. What I do know is that my future is with Finn, no matter what happens.

How to Elude a Vampire is the second in the VRC series and contains a display of manly prowess that doesn’t go as desired, reluctant bonding with a new pet, interfering with a snarky Russian’s love life, misuse of office supplies, a vampire with a killer fashion sense but very little game, a total lack of ancient kung fu powers, a feisty human who almost always gets his way and the possessive vampire who adores him.


Bio

Alice Winters started writing stories as soon as she was old enough to turn her ideas into written words. She loves writing a variety of things from romance and comedy to action. She also enjoys reading, horseback riding, and spending time with her pets.


Giveaway

Alice has brought two winner’s choice of ebook to give away, one each to two lucky readers. Just leave a comment at the end of the post to enter. The contest ends on Friday, April 24th at 11:59 pm ET.


  • By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
  • If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
  • Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
  • Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize.
  • All book prizes are in electronic format unless otherwise specified.
  • By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
  • Readers may only enter once for each contest.  Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
  • Void where prohibited by law.
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