Blog Barrage & Giveaway - Ares (Guardians of Hades Series Book 1) by Felicity Heaton @felicityheaton

Ares, book 1 in New York Times best-seller Felicity Heaton’s hot new paranormal romance series, Guardians of Hades, is now available in ebook and paperback. To celebrate the release of Ares and Megan’s romance, she’s holding a FANTASTIC GIVEAWAY and sharing sneak peeks of the book.

Enter the ARES international giveaway (ends December 11th) and be in with a shot of winning a $75, $50 or $25 gift certificate by using the Rafflecopter form at her website, where you can also download a 4 chapter sample of the novel: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/guardians-of-hades-ares-paranormal-romance-book.php

Here’s more about the book and the sexy Greek god hero and his heroine…

Ares (Guardians of Hades Series Book 1)

Felicity Heaton

Prince of the Underworld and Lord of Fire, Ares was banished from his home by his father, Hades, two centuries ago and given a new duty and purpose—to keep our world and his from colliding in a calamity foreseen by the Moirai.

Together with his six brothers, he fights to defend the gates to the Underworld from daemons bent on breaching them and gaining entrance to that forbidden land, striving to protect his home from their dark influence. Caged by the manifestation of his power, held apart from those he loves by his own fire and starved of physical contact, Ares lives a cold existence driven by duty and the desire to return to his world.

Until his world collides with a daemon who steals his power and a mortal female who shatters the ice around his heart and awakens the true fire within him—a soul-stirring passion both dangerous and seductive.

Megan has wandered far from her home, driven from everyone she loves by the devastating realisation that she is different to them all. Unsure who to trust in the world, she keeps to herself, until a fateful stormy night brings a temptingly handsome warrior crashing into her life and into her heart—a warrior who seems to hold powers more frightening and marvellous than her own.

When the New York gate comes under threat, and Ares is put to the test, will he choose his duty and regain the power he needs in order to save his world or will he choose the desires of his heart and sacrifice his fire so he can be with the woman becoming his whole world?

ARES is available from Amazon Kindle, Kobo Books, Barnes and Noble Nook, Apple iBooks stores and other retailers. Also available in paperback. Find the links to your preferred retailer at: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/guardians-of-hades-ares-paranormal-romance-book.php

ARES – Excerpt

What in the gods’ names was that smell and where was it coming from?

His body tensed, every inch of him going rigid in response to the delicate scent of evening sunshine and night flowering jasmine.

Every inch.

His eyelids slipped to half-mast and he drew in another slow breath of it, holding it in his lungs and savouring it. He had never smelled anything so sweet and tempting.

He had never smelled anything so feminine.

His dark gaze scoured his apartment. There was a faint sense of familiarity about the scent. It conjured an image in his mind of a beautiful brunette, her shoulder-length hair hanging in delicate wet ribbons that framed her face, a stark contrast against her clear pale skin. Luminous brown eyes had looked at him with heat and stirred a feeling he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

He had felt protective of her.

He frowned, his dark eyebrows pinching together. He had protected her. The daemon had unleashed his power on her and Ares had grabbed the slender woman and pulled her into his arms, holding her nestled close to his chest. She had been so small and slight in his embrace, curled against him, her heat making his heart thunder.

It thundered now.

Was it just the lingering scent of her on his clothes that he could smell?

He couldn’t remember the last time he had noticed the scent of a woman. Had he blocked out their tempting smell, rendering himself immune to their presence so he didn’t suffer as much? The past two centuries had been difficult, especially when some of his brothers had been with women. Seeing them happy and sated when he couldn’t have a woman of his own because the manifestation of his power meant that he would hurt them had killed him.

Ares looked down at his hands.

He didn’t have his power now.

The cold returned, fiercer than before, engulfing him and stealing away all the warmth he had felt on catching the lingering scent of the beautiful woman. He had always hated how his power had become a physical part of him when they had reached the mortal world. Only Daimon could understand how he felt and he shared his longing to be like their other brothers and have a power they could control, one that didn’t constantly flow only millimetres from their skin.

A feeling worse than cold swept through him as he contemplated his power was no longer a problem. It no longer flowed over his skin. No longer answered his call. It was gone. He was empty. No longer himself.

He inhaled with the intention of sighing and stopped when he caught a stronger lungful of evening sunshine and sweet jasmine.

His couch creaked.

Ares swallowed hard to wet his dry throat and edged forwards, the smaller towel clutched in both hands in front of his stomach. His heart beat hard against his chest, pounding out a rhythm that matched his fast breathing. He peered over the back of his red couch.

There was a woman on it.

The woman.

His eyebrows rose and his fingers shook. He stared at her, trying to comprehend what he was seeing. Why was she in his apartment? He thought back to seeing Daimon and Esher in the alley. They must have brought the woman with them.

Ares moved closer, until his thighs hit the back of the couch and he couldn’t get any nearer to her, and cocked his head to one side as he stared down at her. She was beautiful even in sleep, her face soft and hair wavy as it spread across the red cushion. He drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes. The scent of her caused a hard ache to start up in the centre of his chest, behind his breastbone, and he trembled. Nothing in this world or the Underworld, or even Mount Olympus, smelled as sweet and divine as this woman. She was everything feminine and sensual. His lips twitched into a smile and he drew in another breath of her, until she was all that he knew.

He opened his eyes and looked down at her, studying her as she slept, shaking right down to his bones with the undeniable need to gaze upon her.

To touch her.

Could he touch her?

The thought that he might be able to pushed at his restraint, forcing away his fears and doubts. He breathed hard, chest heaving, struggling with his raging desire as it slipped beyond his control. He needed to touch her, not just because his power was gone and he might be able to.

It was more than that.

He recalled everything about her from last night, from the moment he had first set eyes on her to the rage that had rushed through him when Daimon had tried to touch her. He growled low in his throat, a possessive snarl that shocked him. He had wanted her then, before losing his power, and he only wanted her more now. She was beautiful, brave. She had protected him even though she was weaker than the daemon. She had put herself in danger without pause or hesitation.

He had to have her.

She had to be his.

Heat suffused every inch of him as his gaze lingered on her, devouring her beauty. If he still had his power, right now, he would be in danger of setting fire to his belongings for the millionth time.

He had never burned so hot before, hungered so deeply.

Ares swallowed again, skin prickling and heart pounding. Would he hurt her if he touched her? He managed to prise the fingers of his right hand open and lowered it towards her. His breathing accelerated, racing faster than his heart, and he tried to steady himself. His gaze zeroed in on her bare arm. It looked soft and satiny. Tempting.

Inviting.

Would it feel as smooth beneath his fingers? He inched his hand towards her, his arm shaking. What if he hurt her?

His shoulders and chest heaved with his laboured breathing as he fought to bring it under his control. He ghosted his hand along her arm, holding it bare millimetres away from her. He ached to touch her but his courage failed him. He couldn’t risk hurting her. In the alley, he had felt a deep need to protect her. It gripped him again now, stronger than before.

He ran his gaze over her and it settled on her hands. Small, delicate, as beautiful as the rest of her. He frowned and caught a flash of them on his chest. He pressed his other hand to it, reliving how she had touched him and how good it had felt to have her palm against his flesh. She had touched him. He trembled with the need to touch her too. He hadn’t hurt her last night. He wouldn’t hurt her now.

It dawned on him that there was a beautiful woman in his apartment and if he touched her, she would wake.

Cold trickled down his spine and his eyes shot to his bedroom and then around his living room and the open kitchen. It was a complete mess. He couldn’t risk waking her by touching her and letting her see this. Gods. For the first time in his life, Ares wished he had listened to Keras about something. He should have hired a maid service.

He strode into his bedroom and kicked all the clothes on his floor into a pile. He bundled them up into his arms and then stopped, unsure what to do with them. He stared at the oak door to his closet and teleported there, shoved the sliding door open and tossed his clothes inside. He slid the door closed and teleported into the living room, glad that he still had this ability. He and his brothers called it stepping. One thought and one step, and they could move from this side of the world to the other.

He quickly stacked all the pizza cartons and takeout boxes and stepped to the kitchen. He didn’t have anywhere to put them and settled for neatly arranging them on the black granite breakfast bar. It was the best he could do without leaving the apartment.

He didn’t want to leave the apartment.

He glanced at the couch and the woman sleeping there. The skimpy dark rose top she wore drew his attention to her breasts and sent his blood pumping. He stepped again, appearing behind the couch this time, and looked down at her.

Now he would touch her.

He stared down at her, instantly entranced again. Would she feel soft? Warm? Cool? He wanted to know.

He drew in a fortifying breath and leaned over her, determined to touch her this time. He had to know how she felt and needed to see if he could touch her without harming her. He lowered his right hand towards her arm again and then moved course, heading towards her face, his need to touch her cheek too strong to deny.

She stirred before he could muster the courage to touch her, rolling onto her back and sighing. Her warm breath puffed against his hand and he had to grab the couch to steady himself. Even that small contact between them was too much for him. Her eyes fluttered and he snatched his hand back.

She was still a moment and then her eyes slowly opened and she frowned at her surroundings, and then looked up at him with soulful brown eyes.

“What are you doing in my apartment?” he whispered, shocked by how breathless he sounded.

Her lips parted, soft and full, alluring.

How long had it been since he had kissed a woman?

More than three centuries.

She looked dangerous as she lay on his couch, her warm eyes soft with sleep and hair mussed and crying out for him to tangle his fingers in it and pull her up to him for a long hard kiss.

She blinked slowly, long black lashes shuttering her beautiful eyes, and then smiled.

His heart thumped.

His breathing stuttered.

He had never felt so weak and defenceless.

He had never wanted anything as much as he wanted her.

And he would have her.

She would be his.

ARES is available from Amazon Kindle, Kobo Books, Barnes and Noble Nook, Apple iBooks stores and other retailers. Also available in paperback.

Find all the links, a fantastic 4 chapter downloadable sample of the book, and also enter the giveaway and be in with a shot of winning a $75, $50 or $25 gift certificate at her website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/guardians-of-hades-ares-paranormal-romance-book.php

Books in the Guardians of Hades paranormal romance series:

Book 1: Ares

Book 2: Valen – Coming in 2017

About Felicity Heaton:

Felicity Heaton is a New York Times and USA Today international best-selling author writing passionate paranormal romance books. In her books, she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons! If you're a fan of paranormal romance authors Lara Adrian, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter and Christine Feehan then you will enjoy her books too.

If you love your angels a little dark and wicked, her best-selling Her Angel romance series is for you. If you like strong, powerful, and dark vampires then try the Vampires Realm romance series or any of her stand alone vampire romance books. If you’re looking for vampire romances that are sinful, passionate and erotic then try her Vampire Erotic Theatre romance series. Or if you like hot-blooded alpha heroes who will let nothing stand in the way of them claiming their destined woman then try her Eternal Mates series. It’s packed with sexy heroes in a world populated by elves, vampires, fae, demons, shifters, and more. If sexy Greek gods with incredible powers battling to save our world and their home in the Underworld are more your thing, then be sure to step into the world of Guardians of Hades.

If you want to know more about Felicity, or want to get in touch, you can find her at the following places: