Primani
Book One
Laurie Olerich
Genre:
Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy
Cover
Artist: Angela Bauer
Book Description:
Mica Thomas
is Sean O'Cahan's worst nightmare. Part angel, all Primani, he's a ruthless
protector with unusual talents. Jaded by the weakness of humans, he takes a
hands-off approach to his charges. His job's to protect her. That's all. But
Mica's got other ideas. He's strong, but she's stronger. Will his one moment of
weakness destroy them both?
Mica doesn’t
believe in quaint notions of fate and destiny. She’s a live-in-the-moment kind
of girl until she’s attacked and left for dead. When Sean and his friends
appear out of thin air to rescue her, Mica knows there’s more to them than they’re
saying. Secrets and lies pile up but she can’t walk away from him.
As the clock
ticks, Mica is drawn deeper into the Primani world until there’s no way out.
Tick-tock.
Time is running out. What happens when it does?
Excerpt:
It was about time to go out. Ricki and Dani
were coming over to get me in a little while. I was finishing my hair and
looking at my face critically. Was my nose
crooked? I peered closer at my reflection. Mm, maybe it was okay. All traces of
bruises were gone. The heart shape of my face was back and my lips were full
from good genes instead of blood clots. I looked at my eyes for changes. Wide
and tilted up at the outside, they shone dark blue in the mirror. They still
had a shuttered look to them. I wasn’t quite healed. I forced a happy smile
that would reach my eyes. Ugh! That’s worse. I look like a crazy person. Better
to keep the smile small. I would just hope no one paid much attention to my
eyes.
A movement caught my eye in the mirror. I
spun around but the room was empty. Carefully, I snatched up my hairspray and
crept around the corner. If someone was in here, they would get a rude
surprise. I was armed this time! But I didn’t hear anything and I didn’t really
sense anyone else. I must have imagined the dark-haired boy in the hall. At
least it didn’t look like Scott Flynn. Maybe I needed a dog.
The party was huge. We were out in the
country at Dani’s friend Angel’s house. Her parents had gone skiing and left
the house to her. We were glad to keep her company…all 100 of her best friends.
I hadn’t been to a party since my going away party last summer. After my mom’s
funeral, I stayed with my sister until I finished school. It was horrible but
my friends helped a lot. They kept me busy on the weekends and then threw a
huge drunken bash for me before I left in June. It was the party to end all
parties. I came very close to losing my virginity that night but was saved the
trouble by the police after the neighbors complained. Marc was devastated.
Poor baby!
It had been a long time since I had been to a
party. I was ready to have some fun tonight. I kept trying to push that
half-seen face from my hallway out of my head, but he kept intruding anyway. I
was making my way from the pool house back inside when I saw him again.
I stopped in my tracks and stared. Whoa!
Who are these guys?
I’ve never seen them before. There were two
ridiculously gorgeous guys standing in the shadows near a covered walkway. They
were talking intently to each other and seemed to be scanning the crowd for
someone. There’s no way they were partying. No possible way--they were way too
intense. They reminded me of Secret Service agents, but without the suits.
Instinctively, I crouched behind a snow-covered shrub and watched them. The
taller one seemed to be chewing out the shorter one. The shorter one was
listening and nodding his head. He looked unhappy. I couldn’t help but stare.
It was him!
He had short hair and a hard face. It was too
strong…too mature for a teenager. I could see his cheekbones from here. I
couldn’t make out his eyes though. He looked as if he was about to kick
someone’s ass or take over a small country. He stood tensely, listening to the
other one. His shoulders were squared back and tugged against the t-shirt he
was wearing. Taking advantage of my invisibility, I let my eyes wander over the
rest of his body. Glancing down at his arms, I did a little swoon and kept
going. Sadly, his good parts were hidden in the shadows. Oh, yum!
He was hot. But what was he doing here? Was
he really in my house earlier? That’s impossible.
“Find her!” The wind shifted and the harsh
words drifted clearly. The taller one gestured towards the house. He had the
same military look to him, but he was bigger and much more intimidating. He was
more bulky in the shoulders but had a lean torso and a nice butt. I imagined he
had amazing abs. Yes, he was gorgeous but looked mean. There was something
about the set of his jaw that said he’d take no crap from anyone. What were
they doing here? A small shiver went down my back and I started to look for an
exit.
“Mica! There you are! We’ve been looking for
you. Come back inside. Someone found a karaoke machine.” Tyler’s voice
interrupted my spying. Smiling impatiently, he reached out to grab my arm and I
flinched. He held out a hand and said, “Hey, my bad. I’m sorry, dude!”
The strangers zeroed in on me like I was
standing in a spotlight. Both sets of eyes pinned me to the ground and I froze
like a baby deer. While Tyler babbled about karaoke, I watched them watch me.
Both stared so intently that I was afraid I would burst into flames. They
seemed to know me. How was that possible? Who were these guys? The big one said
something to the shorter one and they started moving my direction. The big one
moved like he was stalking prey. I yelped and bolted back to the house. I was
striving for a dignified retreat but knocking people out of the way kind of
ruined it.
“What’s with you? You look like you’ve seen a
ghost.” Tyler skidded to a halt beside me.
I laughed shakily. “Did you see those guys?”
“What guys?”
“The two guys who were standing across from
us outside! You didn’t see them? They were coming over to us.”
Tyler looked down his long nose and said,
“Dude, I didn’t see anyone but you standing behind a bush. I think you need
another beer.” He put a new beer in my hand and clinked his bottle against mine
in a toast.
I stayed inside the rest of the night and
kept close to my friends. I kept a lookout for the ‘secret agents’ as I
nicknamed them. I didn’t see them again. Maybe I had imagined the whole thing?
It seemed so real though. It was really late when it was time to go home. Ricki
was pretty wasted so I was driving. I wasn’t exactly sober and my dad would
kill me if he knew I was driving. But hey, I had a new philosophy: I would die
when it was my turn. In the meantime, I would live life how I wanted and we’d
just see how things turned out. Aric and Dani walked us to the car and helped
Ricki into the backseat. Aric made sure she had a seatbelt on and asked me how
I was doing.
“Oh, I’m fine. I don’t feel buzzed at all.
Don’t worry about us.”
He looked dubious and told me to drive slowly
because the roads were slippery. I only had to drive about 30 miles to get us
home. Ricki fell asleep before we turned onto the main highway and it was
unnaturally quiet. I turned on the stereo and sung disjointedly to a Lady GaGa
song that I barely knew. Tapping my fingers on the steering wheel, I yawned.
The miles mocked me as we crept along in the snow. I wasn’t even sure we were
really moving…My feet were freezing so I turned the heater on. Before long, the
car was toasty warm and so were my eyes. Blinking to stay awake, I shifted
forward to lean on the steering wheel and focus better on the road. Not one of
my better ideas. The woods were dark around us and the falling snow obscured
everything. It was like driving in a black and white tunnel. My eyes closed and
I blinked hard again. The snow was so pretty bouncing off my window. It was
mesmerizing…I was drifting off to sleep when the car started to slide and
abruptly stopped. The bump jolted me awake and I looked around in astonishment.
I wasn’t alone. I wasn’t even driving. I was in the passenger seat.
“What the hell? How did you get here?”
The Secret Agent Man from the party looked at
me with snapping eyes. “Are you crazy? You almost died back there! Do you know
how close you came to wrapping this car around a tree?” His hands flew as he
yelled and I cringed away from him. Taking a deep breath, he held up his hands
in a gesture of peace. “Calm down; I’m not going to hurt you,” he hissed
impatiently and wrapped his big hand around mine before I could protest.
About the
Author:
Laurie
Olerich is the author of the new Primani series. Part urban fantasy, part
romance, part paranormal...Three things she can’t live without! Laurie spent
most of her life in the Northeastern United States and in Western Europe. She
now lives in San Antonio, Texas, with her son and Dalmatian duo, Domino and
Rambo. Desperate to escape the heat, she
lives vicariously through Mica and her Primani by setting their adventures in
the mountain coolness of New England and the rainy days of London. Before
throwing caution to the wind and diving into a writing career, Laurie dedicated
20 years to her country by serving in the United States Air Force. Much of her
time was spent around men with guns and cool toys...this explains her obsession
with both.
Thanks for having me here today! I appreciate your support! Primani made the Amazon Top 100 Best Seller List in Psychic Romance last week! Yay! I'd love to hear from anyone who's read it or just anyone who wants to comment!
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