Blood Will Tell releases Wednesday!

And I'm all in a tizzy. Part of me thinks it's a great book, part of me is convinced everyone will hate it, that the dialogue I thought was sharp and clever will just sound stupid, etc. etc. But it comes out on Wednesday anyway and I am very, very excited!

So not much of a post today. Tomorrow I'm blogging over at Bam's (although I have no idea what to blog about, so if you want to suggest a topic that would be great!) So you can read a real post from me there tomorrow, because today I'm taking advantage of this last chance to urge everyone to join my Yahoo group! Joining enters you in a conest to win a free release-day copy of the book, so don't be shy!

And here's another little excerpt too. Julian and cecelia are dining together, and he's just offered to let her stay at his house to protect her from the vampires who want her dead:

“I guess I don’t have much choice, do I?”
“We all have choices. You just only have one right choice.”
“I still don’t really trust you. I don’t think you’re a very nice man.”
“Do I have to be?”
She considered it. “I guess not, although I’d probably enjoy staying with you more if you were.”
“My dear,” he said, leaning in closer. “I seriously doubt that.”
This time she couldn’t hide her response. Heat flowed through her, blood rushing to her face.
He continued speaking in the same soft tone. “I somehow don’t think that a nicer man would be man enough for you.”
Her mouth was too dry to speak. She looked down, aware that by not answering she had answered him in the most eloquent way possible.
She could feel his gaze on her, almost as if his hands were caressing her. Soft and cool, running across her taut, sensitive nipples, making her gasp as her eyes closed involuntarily.
“You look stunning when you do that,” he said quietly. His voice caressed her too, sliding down her bare arms. “Beautiful enough to make an army of men fall to their knees.”
The compliment made her even warmer, but she opened her eyes. “You?”
He smiled a wistful smile that made him look younger. “I’m only one man. It’s nearly enough to kill me.”
He wasn’t joking. The knowledge made Cecelia a little weak herself.
“If you won’t let me die,” she said, surprised at how breathy her voice was, “I won’t let you die, either.”
“As tempting as dying from the beauty of you is,” he said, “it’s a deal.”
She nodded. “Can I call my lab assistant and let him know where I am?”
He was thoughtful, switching quickly back from “Julian the Romantic” to “Julian the Businesslike”. “No, but you can tell him you’re staying with a friend. Make something up so he won’t expect you at work. But don’t give away your location.”
“I don’t think all this is entirely necessary.” She was trying to trust Julian, but he wasn’t making it easy.
“Then you are far less intelligent than I have given you credit for.”
She sighed. Just when she was starting to feel all warm and squishy toward him, he turned that acid tongue on her again and reminded her that underneath the sex appeal was a viper. An intriguing viper, but one who could still hurt her. “You really are an asshole, aren’t you?”
“I prefer to think of myself as a realist. And realistically, your naiveté will get you killed before you even have a chance to see it coming.” She opened her mouth to speak but he held up his hand, stopping her. “No, Cecelia. You know a lot about what you do. This is what I do. Please give me credit for knowing how to do it.”
“You’re asking a lot from me.”
“Yes, I am. But I’m offering you your life in return. Either your life is important to you or not. Either you want to live or not. Honestly, I don’t imagine you want to die, even though your life is terribly dull.”
“It isn’t.”
“It is. But that’s not the point.”
“We’re getting awfully close to that cab, Julian.”
He rubbed his eyes with his thumbs, his face hidden. The gesture was at once vulnerable and masculine, and for some reason Cecelia felt a rush of triumph. He really didn’t want her to leave. She could feel how much he wanted her to stay, sense it like a living thing.
He didn’t want to give in to her, though. He wanted to say whatever the hell he wanted—he was obviously used to saying whatever the hell he wanted—without repercussions.
Arguing with him may have felt like some kind of bizarre foreplay that both pissed her off and turned her on, but Cecelia had a line. He wasn’t going to cross it, no matter how beautifully he complemented her or how attracted to him she was. The sooner he learned that, the better.
“Please don’t go,” he bit out, his face still hidden by hands that now massaged his forehead as if he had a headache. “I will try not to insult you by implying that your life is boring.”
“That’s a little better,” she said, enjoying herself now.
Until he looked up and caught her smiling. He narrowed his eyes. The deep color of them seemed to intensify, darker and darker, leaving her breathless. “Now you are smirking,” he said.
She stood her ground. “Yes.”
He surprised her by shrugging and pouring some more wine into his glass. “As long as you admit it. Enjoy your little victory, my dear. It may be your last.”
“I bet it won’t.”
He smiled. “I’ll take that bet.”
“What does the winner get?”
His smile grew wider. “Whatever they want, shall we say?”
She knew she shouldn’t agree to it, but honestly, she didn’t care. All night her heart had been beating below her waist and she was tired of trying to pretend that she didn’t want him as badly as he seemed to want her. “Fine.”
“Excellent.” He looked far too pleased with himself to make her comfortable.
Cecelia blushed and looked away, catching the eye of their waiter. He was leaning against the wall, glaring at them. “I think we should go,” she said. “Our waiter looks ready to kill us.”
“It is a bit late, isn’t it?” Julian took her hand. “Shall we go back to my place?”
The innuendo was so heavy that she laughed. “My mother warned me about men like you,” she said.
He raised one eyebrow. “Come with me,” he said, kissing her hand. “I’ll show you why she was right.”


So go on! You know you want to read it! And I'll announce the winner nice and early, so there will be plenty of time for you to buy the book if you don't win.

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