Essex Serpent

Après la Grande Guerre entre les Humains et les Bêtes, un accord était conclu : le monde serait désormais gouverné par les Hommes-Bêtes. Tous les cent ans, une union sacrée était scellée entre les deux races, et celui ou celle qui donnerait naissance en premier à un enfant hybride deviendrait le dirigeant de la prochaine génération. Dans ma vie antérieure, j'avais choisi d'épouser Jordan Malet, le fils aîné du Clan des Loups, réputé pour sa passion fidèle. Je lui avais donné un Homme-Bête au sang sacré de loup blanc. Notre enfant était devenu le successeur désigné de l'Alliance Humano-Bestiale, et Jordan avait logiquement acquis un pouvoir absolu. Ma sœur Denise Vasseur, elle, séduite par la beauté des Renards, avait épousé l'aîné du Clan des Renards. Mais ce dernier, au cœur volage et à la vie dissolue, lui avait transmis une maladie et l'avait rendue stérile. Dévorée par la jalousie, Denise avait mis le feu à notre demeure et nous avait brûlés vifs, moi et mon jeune fils… Quand j'ai rouvert les yeux, je me suis retrouvée le jour même de l'union entre Humains et Bêtes. Denise, plus rapide cette fois, s'était déjà glissée dans le lit de Jordan. Oui, elle aussi s'était visiblement réincarnée. Mais ce qu'elle ignorait, c'était que Jordan, derrière son apparente noblesse, cachait une nature brutale et violente. Il n'avait jamais été, et ne serait jamais, un bon partenaire !

Dans notre vie antérieure, ma sœur Annick Dubost et moi avions recueilli deux œufs magiques. Le sien avait donné naissance à un Serpent de Glace, le mien à un Phénix de Feu. Elle s'était emparée sans vergogne de mon Phénix, mais l'Apocalypse de la Chaleur était survenue. Alors qu'Annick mourait de chaud, elle avait convaincu mon propre mari, ce Serpent de Glace, de m'étrangler. Mais le destin nous avait ramenés pourtant au jour de l'éclosion. Cette fois, Annick a choisi l'œuf du Serpent de Glace, certaine qu'il la protégerait de la fournaise. Mais elle ignorait un détail crucial : pour conserver ses pouvoirs, un Serpent de Glace devait boire du sang frais… chaque jour.

"You are the reason..." I said with shaky hands. "Tavi..." Essex breathed. "I swear I would break down every mountain and build never ending bridges to get to you, mate. You're the reason my heart is still bleeding," I replied with glossy eyes. "You are my reason, Tavi," he said before crashing his lips into mine. "I cannot lose you," I replied allowing those tears to freely fall. "You won't. I love you," he said kissing my tears away.

On the day we were to choose our magical guardians, my sister laid claim to the griffin's egg, leaving the serpent's egg to me. She boasted that, as the trueborn daughter of the queen and the eldest princess, she was destined to become the chosen heir. However, her griffin egg never hatched, what stumbled out was nothing more than a pitiful turkey. My serpent egg, however, nurtured by the waters of the enchanted spring, awakened into a true white wyvern. When I was named heir to the throne, my sister raised a cup in celebration, only to poison me with the wine and end my life. I opened my eyes again at the moment of choosing. This time, my sister snatched away my serpent egg, shattered the griffin's before my eyes, and imprisoned me on a distant isle: determined that I would witness her glory as the chosen of the white wyvern and heir to the crown. Yet when the white wyvern cracked its shell, destiny shifted. I bound myself instead to the Titan Ape, a beast mighty enough to bring the wyvern to its knees.

I was the second princess of the Phoenix Court. And I fell in love with a lowly black serpent. In my past life, just to be with him, I purposely picked that black serpent during the Sacred Bonding ceremony when we each chose our companion beasts. After that, we spent every night together. I didn't care what the whole clan thought. I was determined to marry him. But on our wedding day, that same serpent I'd given my heart to drove an arrow straight through me, killing me while I was three months pregnant. As I lay dying, I heard him hiss bitterly in my ear, "If it weren't for you, I'd have been with Seraphine by now. You should've died a long time ago." That's when I finally got it. All he cared about was power. And he'd been in love with my older sister all along—the sister who was next in line for the Phoenix throne. When I opened my eyes again, we were back at that same moment—the Sacred Bonding ceremony. Before everyone, he dropped to his knees and confessed he loved my sister. He begged not to be bound to me. The whole clan looked at me with pity. But I only smiled and pointed to a small white serpent resting quietly off to the side. That black serpent thought clinging to my sister would make him powerful. What he didn't realize was that only the one I chose would become the true heir to the Phoenix Court.

Sacred. Holy. Devoted. The Garden of Eden. Thousands of fairies would use any sort of magic to protect the garden and the fittest of them all must hold the title of the Fairy Goddess. Bloodlust. Hunting. Feeding. Everything about the vampires who's been blending in with the humanity for thousands of years now. And to live for eternity, one must meet the serpent in the Garden of Eden. What would happen if the light world of fairies and the dark life of vampires collided due to mistake made by their new generations?

Blurb: What happens when a Queen Serpent falls in love with an Alpha running for the king? Her Nemesis and the creature who killed her husband? Serpent Queen Liza is funny, witty, arrogant, a little stubborn, and a bit short-tempered, but a cunning cobra with a golden heart. A shape-shifter, Queen Liza has been blessed with the power to guise into any living creature. Be it a vampiress or a she-wolf. Twenty and four, she thinks of herself as tough, bold, fearless, and rebellious who is complete as she was. It was until she stumbled into the arms of her sworn enemy. And she likes it. Alpha Ibhaan is the ruler of the Taksh peck. A thirty-something, he is a smart, powerful, intelligent, clever, and drop-dead gorgeous black wolf. His heritage, Taksh Pack, is magnificent. It is developed, rich, and famous among the 49 subcontinents Packs of Chaitali. The wolves are living ahead of time in a super luxurious and comfortable lifestyle with elective democracy. It has everything that Liza’s country lacks. But will she ever be able to cherish it with revenge and desire pumping in her veins? Recently, the government has taken over the Ahi-Empire, the country of serpents co-ruled by Queen Liza and her husband King Maurya, putting a full stop to age-old rivalry, and destroying her world. Will Ibhaan be able to resolve the conflicts between the two races when his conscience is repenting an age-old stigma? Chaitali is not as glorious as it appears on covers of the ‘Wolf-Street’. It has a history comprising a million mysteries.

BOOK ONE ***** The first rule in the Empire. YOU COULD LIE. If it meant protecting the Empire, then do it. But no one wanted you to lie to them. Not even the ones who set the rule. * I was going to snatch the empire from their hands and I'd be far too gone before they realized it was now my weapon. But he came, dressed in silk, a serpent I need to kill. **** GENESIS OF THE EMPIRE OF SIN SERIES

"The League of Rogues takes what they want—but have they taken on too much?For too long Miss Emily Parr has been subject to the whims of her indebted uncle and the lecherous advances of his repulsive business partner. Her plan to be done with dominating men forever is simple—find herself a kind husband who will leave her to her books.It seems an easy enough plan, until she is unexpectedly abducted by an incorrigible duke who hides a wounded spirit behind flashing green eyes.Godric St. Laurent, Duke of Essex, spends countless nights at the club with his four best friends, and relishes the rakish reputation society has branded him with. He has no plans to marry anytime soon—if ever. But when he kidnaps an embezzler’s niece, the difficult debutante’s blend of sweetness and sharp tongue make him desperate for the one thing he swears he never wanted: love.Yet as they surrender to passion, danger lurks in Godric’s shadowed past, waiting for him to drop his guard—and rob him of the woman he can’t live without.Warning: This novel includes a lady who refuses to stay kidnapped, a devilish duke with a dark past, and an assortment of charming rogues who have no idea what they’ve gotten themselves into.The League of Rogues is created by Lauren Smith, an EGlobal Creative Publishing signed author."

"I was kidnapped. My brother drugged me and sold me to the Serpent Pack. The desire was getting stronger, and my heart was in despair. Suddenly, a man appeared and told me that I was safe. I didn't know who he is, but I wanted him so badly. He told me he is Owen and demanded I remember his name. I hope my mate Blake could forgive me. I had no choice. When I went to tell Blake about all this, I was shocked by what I saw. Blake was sleeping with his good friend Jeremy! OMG! My mate is gay! While filming them to keep some evidence, Owen showed up..."