To give you a taste of the Darkride Chronicles, I’ve got some excerpts to share along with the cover reveal!
Darkride
Series: The Darkride Chronicles book 1
Author: Laura Bradley Rede
Published: Dec. 9, 2011
Word Count: 160,000
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Age Restriction: 12+
Synopsis: Ander McNair used to be the favorite son of a great monster-hunting family – until he was bitten by a werewolf and the hunter became the hunted. Now anything that makes his pulse race, even a kiss from his girlfriend Cicely, is enough to turn him into a monster. When he finally has his chance to earn his cure by killing a vampire prince, Ander finds he has to choose between his own past and the future of the girl he loves. Can a guy who’s not even human learn what it means to be a man?
Luke Marianez used to be an immortal vampire prince – until the witch he loved betrayed him and cursed him with the ability to die. Now he lives in the world of vampire blood bars where the waitresses are the drinks, and dreams about killing the last of the witch’s line so he can live forever. But revenge doesn’t just mean breaking the curse. He wants to break the girl’s heart, too. Can Luke seduce Cicely without falling in love himself?
Cicely Watson doesn’t believe in werewolves or vampires. She’s not even sure she believes in true love. But she’s about to discover what every werewolf knows:
People change.
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Ander seems to feel better, too. He jogs a little ways ahead of me, then doubles back, high-fiving the trees as he comes. “So,” he says, “your birthday. What are you doing to celebrate?”
I shrug. “You know, helicopter ride, movie premier, champagne toast at sunrise. The usual.”
His eyes are full of sympathy. “Mom working, huh?”
“For the caterers tonight, then she has a wedding to do tomorrow, so I’m sure she’ll be busy. But she might make a cake.”
“Oh,” he sighs, “your mom’s cake! Damn, that’s good.”
“She’s a pro,” I say.
“So,” he says, “what are you going to wish for?”
I’m suddenly glad for the shadowy darkness. It hides my blush. “Same thing I wished for last year.”
“And you haven’t gotten it yet?”
“No,” I say, “Not yet.”
“Well,” he says, “Maybe this is your year.”
Right now all I wish for is to be able to see the expression on his face, but the shadows hide it. Does he know I wished for him? Is there some hidden promise in his words? There can’t be. I mean, if he felt the same, why wouldn’t he just tell me? If he felt the same, why didn’t he kiss me back there, when his arms were already around me? He can’t feel the same. I put a little extra stomp in my boots, trying to crush out any spark of hope before it has the chance to catch. This is how I get hurt.
We walk for a while in silence. What is he thinking, I wonder? His face is unreadable in the half-light. Trying to see him makes my eyes hurt, and trying to understand him makes my brain hurt. Being best friends with Ander is like doing long division in your head all day. It’s like trying to follow a foreign film without the subtitles. How can Zoe say he’s straightforward when I feel like everything he says is in secret code?
The woods have begun to thin. Up ahead, through the trees, I can just see Ander’s house, as dark and elongated as the shadows around us. It’s the only house around, shielded by trees on every side. Ander used to joke that I was the “girl next door,” because my mom’s trailer is the next closest place, and we’re on the other side of the woods. Only the long gravel drive connects Ander’s house to County 13 and the rest of the world. Its gray paint is peeling and the porch sags, but there are yellow marigolds in the window boxes and a welcome mat by the front door.
I wonder who that welcome is meant for. I’ve never been invited in.
Without saying a word about it, we both stop a respectful distance from the yard, like there’s an invisible line I can’t cross. “Well,” Ander says, “I guess I should go in.” He looks up at the sky, then glances at the house. There’s a light on in the kitchen window. His uncle is home.
“Yeah,” I say, “I guess you should.” But neither of us goes anywhere. Ander takes a little swig of Gatorade. I take a deep breath. I almost hate to ask him, because I know he’ll have to say no. His uncle never lets him go out.
But I promised myself I’d ask him. It’s a new year and I’m starting it right.
Now or never, Cicely.
“Do you want to go out tonight?”
Laura Bradley Rede grew up as the oldest of nine kids in a small town on the coast of Maine. She now lives in Minneapolis, MN with her partner, their three kids, one great dane, and six city chickens. She is a Writers of the Future award winner and author of the YA paranormal romance series The Darkride Chronicles (DARKRIDE and CROSSFIRE) along with numerous YA short stories. Her new NA paranormal romance KISSING MIDNIGHT will be released fall 2013.
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