Revenge...
...is not so sweet. Family betrayal leads to slaughter and destruction, and deception and unforgiveness play their hand in Broderick MacDougal's destiny to become immortal and seek revenge. Immortality does not take away the human conditions of the heart, and as far as Broderick is concerned, it magnifies them. Love, hate, passion and boredom all seem exaggerated by the centuries. Love lends itself to many forms and matures over time. It also appears in places one never expected.
These books are the chronicles of Broderick "Rick" MacDougal and his struggle to find peace for himself and extract revenge for the slaughter of his family.
Midnight Conquest
Book 1- Scotland, 1513 (Publisher: Mystical Press - Cover Illustration: Mildred L. Losee painted bottom scene!)
Broderick MacDougal's guise as a Gypsy to mask his vampiric identity eventually becomes a quest to disappear from the heartaches forged by revenge. Running from his past is no longer an option when his old Clan rival ensnares him in a trap using an enticing widow. Broderick is compelled to discover if she is bait or an accomplice, and the cinnamon-haired beauty is his next conquest.
Widow of an abusive husband, Davina Stewart-Russell clings to the only image that gave her strength during those dark times--the Gypsy rogue who stole her heart as a youth. After nine years, she is finally face-to-face with him again, but reality clashes with fantasy as she is confronted with Broderick's passionate pursuit of her.
When Davina's past comes back to haunt her, Broderick is forced to reveal a dark secret worse than anything Davina thought possible. The challenge put before them has fatal risks and neither of them are prepared for the sacrifices expected of them both for the sake of eternal love.
Read Chapter 1 here! Click here to purchase eBook! Trade paperback COMING SOON!
Midnight Captive
Book 2- Scotland, 1531 (UPDATED! Drafting Novel)
Cailin MacDougal has lived a dangerous life being the adopted daughter of vampire Broderick "Rick" MacDougal, so she has no choice but to learn to fight in order to protect herself. However, such behavior is hardly desirable in a dutiful wife who's supposed to embroider and run a household. This aggressive side of her behavior should be easy enough to hide from her betrothed...shouldn't it?
After being away at fencing school for seven years, James Knightly has returned as a master swordsman, ready to captain his own ship and finally wed his betrothed, Cailin MacDougal. However, what he finds waiting for him is a dagger-toting hellion for a bride, an immortal father-in-law, and an enemy bent on extracting his revenge by threatening the family James holds most dear - the MacDougals.
Broderick MacDougal is lured away from his family with the promise of - at last - learning a way to protect those he loves from his clan enemy, Angus Campbell. Broderick knows he's headed for a trap, but the bait it too tempting to resist...and he unravels the beginning of a prophecy that will lead to redemption for all vampires. The cost of such redemption, however, may be the very soul of the woman he would die for...his wife, Davina.
Eternal Hunt
Book 3 - Germania, 1636 (concept only - subject to changes)
Monika Conrad is no stranger to the supernatural as the resident wise woman who provides spiritual guidance and herbal remedies for the local townsfolk. Casting spells to ward away werewolves and vampires is part of how she makes her living - and they work so well, she's never actually seen such creatures. Until she meets Broderick MacDougal - a real vampire. His seductive and irresistible presence makes her realize why her services are under such demand!
Broderick MacDougal is drawn to the powerful witch by a familiar force, but she keeps supernatural creatures at bay with her spells and wards and Broderick is finding it difficult to get near her enough to decipher who she really is. Rick makes the raven-haired wise woman his next pursuit to unravel this mystery of why she reminds him so much of his late wife, Davina. However, Rick must break through her spiritual defenses to gain access into the world of this enchanting nymph.
Broderick's quest to gain access to Monika causes a chain of events that starts a witch hunt...and drags her into his own clan nightmare that has lingered with him for two centuries. Monika is not only in danger of the fiery stake of judgment, but also from Broderick's own past enemy who is out to destroy anyone who dares to come close to him.
Midnight Eclipse
Book 4 - Europe, 1760s (concept only - still drafting summary)
Broderick MacDougal follows the familiar yearning of his soul to the captain of a mercantile vessel who is as seductive as a siren at sea - and she is just as deadly. The world of the supernatural opens to Broderick as he not only finds himself in the midst of an ancient war of shape shifters, the devious Cordelia Harley has re-entered his life and turns the tide on his war with Angus Campbell.
Born into a hated race of Norse werewolves, Celina Hunter knows all too well the dangers of trusting anyone other than her two brothers. And yet the survival of her family hinges on trusting the strangely familiar Broderick MacDougal, a natural enemy of her kind. Enemy or not, Celina slips into the spell of this vampire's promises of eternal love, gambling with all she holds dear.
Broderick and Celina are bound by a curse, but having come this far through the centuries, Broderick is not about to risk his chance at having his soul mate for eternity. The price, however, may be more than Celina is willing to pay as there is more at stake than just her immortal soul.
Eternal Savior
Book 5 - London, 1888 (concept only - still drafting summary)
Being forced to choose a husband is the last thing Gemina Roland expected to do to survive. However, her beloved yet dying father won’t leave her a penny unless she marries. Gem can’t decide which man is worse to meet on the altar – her controlling third-cousin who is certain to leave her destitute or the handsome, yet familiar, Broderick MacDougal who is a stranger with promises that sound too good to be true. She is certain he must be setting her up, but should she take that chance?
Broderick MacDougal’s continuing quest to seek revenge against his old clan enemy leads him into the Whitechapel District of seedy London…and into the benevolent arms of Gemina Roland. Protecting her from the notorious serial killer Jack the Ripper turns out to be the least of their problems. A marriage of convenience turns out to be a deadly trap for Broderick and Gemina is the bait!
Old clan wars and ancient grudges take a turn toward the unexpected and Broderick must do more than save Gemina from eternal damnation…he must finally admit to a truth he’s denied for almost four centuries.
Midnight Deliverer
Book 6 - Los Angeles, 2017 (concept only - still drafting summary)
Rebecca Ferris knew she was unique, but when she is thrown into the world of the undead, even THERE she’s different! Unwillingly changed into a vampire, she now has the role of delivering the wrath of God upon the entire vampire race. The weight of mankind’s safety is hefted onto her shoulders and all she wanted to do was get a cup of coffee to get through her finals!
Time heals all wounds and Broderick MacDougal is finally ready to come to terms with his past. However, some sins can’t be forgiven…or can they? Redemption is not a term he’s accustomed to, and as a result he is now faced with a choice that hasn’t been available to him in over five hundred years. Rebecca Ferris unexpectedly becomes the Deliverer of that choice.
Both Broderick and Rebecca have more than sexual tension to deal with between the two of them as choices are set before them that will not only change the course of their futures – but determine the fate of both mankind and the vampire race.
Author's Note
My first novel Bonded By Blood was actually the title of the original book I wrote back in 1992. I abandoned the first half of the book, showing how Broderick became a vampire, and kept the second half, which has now become MIDNIGHT CONQUEST. When I had finished BBB, I did my submissions and was very excited to have a New York agent interested in the book. She made suggestions, but I was in the middle of my first divorce, so the book had to be put aside. About a year and a half later, I took two weeks off from work and finished rewriting BBB and resubmitted it. I had apparantly missed the boat on the vampire romances (HA HA - Little did she know how popular they would become), but she was very gracious to give me a four-page critique. She also asked if I had any other books that I could send her. However, since life had thrown me a few more curves, I needed to put my writing aside, but it never stopped me from developing the tales of Broderick MacDougal.
In creating the backstory for the first book, I discovered a whole world of adventure and revenge waiting to be written about. I had developed other concepts for vampire stories - such as having Jack the Ripper as a vampire or creating the vampire lore that leads to their final destruction - Rick just kept pestering me to weave them all into one large saga. After going through my second divorce, I decided to dust off BBB and re-read it. YUCK! No wonder the New York agent didn't want to represent it! It went from bad to worse with the rewrite. Time for an overhaul! I pulled this out here, yanked that out of there, put this in here and voila! MIDNIGHT CONQUEST was born and I was able to develop the rest of the concepts for the books in the series .
In all the vampire romance novels that I've read through the years, one thing always struck me about them: Since most of the vampire heroes are a few hundred years old, some even a couple-thousand, I always thought it was unrealistic (because vampires are SO realistic...anyway) that in X-hundreds of years he couldn't find ONE woman that set his heart on fire! Come on! In all of 500 years, you can't tell me that you didn't fall in love with ONE woman until you hit the 20th or 21st centuries; when we humans - in our average span on 80 years - can marry, become a widow/er and remarry again...in just 80 years? Thus was born BONDED BY BLOOD. Broderick MacDougal does indeed have several wives throughout the centuries; however, he learns a lesson of immortality with each one of them AND it takes him about 100 years between each wife for him to recover and open his heart again. Or, perhaps there's something more to these women than meets the eye? Hrmmmmm....guess you'll have to read them to find out. Mwuhahahahaha!
Keep checking for updates and developments!