Vampires in Love

When I hear the phrase "fool for love," a very specific image comes to mind. This one:

For those who don't recognize them, that's Buffy and Spike from the season 5 episode called, you guessed it, "Fool for Love." It's the episode where viewers finally got some real backstory on Spike, and it wasn't what most of us predicted. The badass vampire was revealed to have come from nerdy roots, ultimately getting turned because he was mocked and rebuffed by the woman he loved. Here, he's on his knees in front of Buffy, a fool for love yet again because he knows his feelings for her will never be returned.

To this day, Spike remains one of my favorite TV characters ever. He's the epitome of everything that breaks my heart in romantic heroes - that badass edge that hides a heart that loves too easily and deeply. He tries to earn a place in Buffy's life over and over again. Sometimes, he fails so spectacularly it just makes you love him more. Because it makes him human, even though he's a vampire.

I've never made it a secret how vampires are my favorite paranormal creatures, so when it came to my latest menage, I knew that was the direction I wanted to take it. My male heroes, Seth and Simon, are thralls to a dangerous female vampire who's enslaved them for decades. They have some of the abilities but not all of the limitations that come with being a vampire, a fate that Seth sealed for Simon when he fell in love with the other man in the fifties. He did it all for love, but now, he wants a better future for Simon. That's where Claire, the granddaughter of the mage who trapped them, comes in. It takes all three of them, and feelings none of them quite expect, to set the men free.

You can read an excerpt at Ellora's Cave. It might even tempt you to buy a copy.

In the meantime, though, as part of the bloghop, I'm doing a little giveaway to three random commenters. Leave a comment on this post and you have a chance to win one of three prizes:

1. A free copy of my e-book, the interracial vampire menage Enthralled in Silver
2. A Jules Smith gunmetal bracelet with a fangs charm:

3. A silver Pink Cosmo heart clutch:

So tell me. What do you think of when you hear the phrase, "fool for love?"