Excerpt and Giveaway: Love Potions

Today I have the pleasure of sharing a fun snippet with you all from Michelle McCleod's adult paranormal romance novella Love Potions, and, because Michelle is amazing, I also have a lovely giveaway to offer you as well! Yay! I don't often get to post excerpts on the blog, so I'm excited to bring you guys a little something different today, hope you enjoy it!

“Really, Raven, I don’t think this is necessary. What do you think you’re going to accomplish?” Frowning, Marion fought her friend’s grip.

Aidan waited, intrigued to see what would happen next.

The blonde spotted him and her face lit up in a smile. Dragging Marion with her, she came to stand in front of him. “Hello.”

“Hello,” he said not missing the way she assessed him. From the appreciative gleam in her eye, he must’ve passed inspection.

“My name is Raven and this…” She thrust her companion in front of her, “Is Marion.”

“We’ve met,” Aidan said with a nod to Marion.

“Yeah, we’ve met already. Actually, we’re done meeting.” Marion finally twisted free of her friend’s grasp and glared at them both while rubbing her arm.

“You were the one watching Marion on the dance floor, weren’t you?” Raven asked.

Aidan nodded. “There’s something unique about the way your friend dances.”

Raven laughed. “Yeah, it’s called sexual frustration.”

Marion gasped and hissed, “Raven.”

Raven ignored her. “You see, Marion’s my roommate and she never goes out. She sits at home and blows up love potions in ratty old sweat pants. I can’t take it anymore. She’s ruining my love life. Since you seem interested, I thought I’d facilitate a conversation.”

“I’m going to hex you the second we get home,” Marion said.

“I’ll double-hex you back,” Raven said with a sigh of exasperation.

“Are you looking for love?” Aidan asked, interrupting the two before their spat escalated.

“No.” But Marion wouldn’t meet his eyes when she said it. There was a troubled expression on her face that made him wonder what her previous romantic experiences had been like.

“I’ll leave you two to get acquainted.” Raven edged back toward the door. “I’ll have the bartender send up some mead, okay? My treat.”

Aidan nodded while Marion just glowered at her feet.

Raven shook her head. “Come on, Mar. He’s a perfectly nice elf. It wouldn’t kill you to sit and talk to him.”

“Fine.” Marion stomped over to the chair next to Aidan and plopped down with such force, she started to topple backwards. Aidan reached out and caught her, gently setting her right. She blushed. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“See? Perfectly nice,” Raven said with a pleased smile. “I’ll be back to check on you in a little bit. In the meantime, for the love of the gods, talk.”

Marion stuck out her tongue, but Raven had already disappeared down the stairs.

Aidan laughed at her impudence, a response that earned him a dirty look, which he found doubly amusing. He studied Marion, noting the delicate bone structure of her face, the deep brown eyes which flashed bright when she was upset. Dark hair flowed down her back in a glossy wave. She was pretty enough, but her clothes were so baggy that he had no idea what she looked like aside from her face.

“I won’t bite, you know.”

“No?” she said, doubt threading through her voice.

“No.”

She flushed. “Of course not. I mean, it’s not like you’re a vampire or anything.” She paused. “You aren’t, are you?”

“No. I’m an elf.”

“You look like an elf.”

“I do?”

“Well, you have the pointy ears. Vampires don’t have pointy ears.”

“No, they have pointy teeth.”

She gave a nervous laugh in response.

“Why do you blow up love potions if you’re not trying to fall in love?”

“I’m taking a potions class.”

“You’re in school then?”

“Yes. I’m working toward a magic degree. Only...”

“The love potions keep exploding.” He finished.

“Yes.” Marion sighed. “I don’t understand it. I’m doing everything right, but no matter what I do they just go…kablooey.”

A huge thank you to Michelle for allowing me to share this snippet! For more information on her and her books, you can find her here:

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GIVEAWAY

To help foster a little love this holiday season, Michelle is generously offering up 3 e-book copies of Love Potions to my amazing blog readers! Please note that this novella is an adult paranormal romance, not YA, so keep that in mind when entering. To enter, please leave a comment on this post with a valid email address so I can contact you if you win. As these are e-book copies, this giveaway is open internationally and will run through midnight EST on Friday, December 9th after which time a winner will be chosen and announced on the blog. Good luck everyone!

LOVE POTIONS

An incompetent witch, a cursed elf, and the wizard who wants to kill them.

Witch-in-training, Marion, is about to flunk her Potions class because of a serious case of 'love block'. If her love potions keep exploding like stink bombs, she won't graduate to the magical defense classes she really wants to take. A problem because her ex-boyfriend is out of prison and wants to pick up where they left off...with his hands around her throat.

When Marion learns she'll never make a love potion if she doesn't fall in love, she takes a risk on Aidan, a handsome, charming elf...cursed to break her heart.

Love Potions is a 30,000 word count novella with a touch of humor and a side of hot sex. Includes exclusive sneak peaks of Ashley L. Willis' The Calling and Michelle McCleod's forthcoming Urban Fantasy, Crime Bites.