About Loki’s Game by Siobhan Kinkade

Unemployed museum curator Lily Redway responds to an advertisement in the newspaper, thinking she is applying for a job. On the other side of that small, black-and-white box waits two things: a fantasy world come to life and a man named Rowan Keir.

Rowan is a man with many secrets. He is a shape-shifter, a descendent of old world mythology, and the guardian of a rare and valuable Nordic artifact. He is also being hunted by the god Loki and has spent the last six hundred years outsmarting and outrunning him.

With the fury of Asgard on Rowan’s trail, Lily finds herself caught up in a real-life fantasy story, a love triangle, and an ages-old war that pitches her into a different world and one very hard truth: All is fair in love and war.

EXCERPT:

 Lily’s mind reeled. They knew each other. And they hated each other. And Rowan owned the damn club. This must be the trouble Rowan talked about.

“All right, outside…both of you,” she shouted, and started for the front door. Rowan caught her wrist and pulled her around behind a curtain, into a dark hallway. The touch of his fingers on her skin burned; threatened to derail her completely. Then the cold night air rushed over her and his touch left her. Lily turned to face the pair of them, taking a deep, hard breath to steady her jangled nerves. “Now, will one of you please explain to me what the hell is going on?”

Loren and Rowan caught each other’s stare, holding in that pattern for a long moment. Neither spoke.

“Rowan…how do you know him?”

“We go way back,” he said through clenched teeth. She was afraid of what that meant. “Your boyfriend,” he spat the word at her, “has a bad habit of stealing things from me.”

“First of all, Loren isn’t my boyfriend.”

“Didn’t look that way inside.”

“I work for him, you idiot. As for that kiss…I hardly had time to process it before you threw him halfway across the room!”

“My prerogative as owner,” Rowan replied, unrepentant.

“Go to hell, Keir,” Loren snapped, obviously having had enough of this game.

“Fuck you,” Rowan said. “Fucking poacher.”

“If you wanted her, you should have marked her.”

“I am not a barbarian.”

“What?” Lily interjected, but went unnoticed.

“So the chest-beating He-Man bullshit is considered civilized in your world?” Loren asked with a smirk.

“You will destroy her.”

“And it is no concern of yours.”

“It is.”

Loren rolled his eyes and laughed, a deep, sardonic chuckle that rattled Lily’s nerves. She had no idea what this argument was really about, but at the center of it was not where she wanted to be. “Don’t give me some lame line about her being your mate.”

“Hurt her and I will tear you limb from limb,” Rowan threatened.

“I’d like to see you try.”

“There won’t be any trying, kitten.” The air shimmered around Rowan’s form. His eyes, normally that soft sea-and-sky color Lily loved, had dilated, shifting to black. His teeth looked sharper, his fingernails more like claws.

“BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!” Lily screamed, and both men froze. She swallowed around the frustrated lump in her throat. She knew how close Rowan was to losing it, knew that Loren had provoked him. No matter how she spun it in her head, Rowan was the monster she wished he wasn’t, and while the offered protection flattered her, it also frightened her.

There was something deeper happening here, she knew. She had no idea what they were really arguing about, but she knew without a doubt that she was at the crux of the fight, and was ultimately the catalyst for whatever would happen from here on out.

“Now will one of you idiots please put aside the testosterone and calmly explain to me what is going on? Loren?”

“Keir here is jealous because he let you get away.”

“No,” Rowan countered, his voice taking on an edge of desperation that set her nerves on high-alert. Even with what little she knew of him, she knew he was reasonable. And he did not sound reasonable right now. “He is dangerous, Lily.”

“I knew this was a mistake,” she muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose. This had to end or someone was going to get hurt. “Look,” she started, forcing calm into her voice, “I don’t know where this misguided sense of duty has come from, but as flattering as it is on both sides, it’s a little creepy.”

“He’s jealous,” Loren said at the same moment Rowan muttered, “He is dangerous.” Throwing her hands up in disgust, Lily turned and stalked away, hailing a cab despite both their protests, and gave the driver Loren’s address so she could pick up her car.

Author Bio

At a very early age, Siobhan developed a love of reading. By first grade she was on a fifth grade level, and by the time she was a teenager she spent every penny she earned on new books. Oddly enough she gravitated toward science fiction, fantasy and horror while avoiding the romance genre at all costs. It wasn’t until her mother introduced her to Nora Roberts that she realized romance could be fun.

Not much has changed since then. She is still a voracious reader and recovering grammar junkie.

Left to her own devices, she plots interesting ways to seduce, frighten, and destroy. While she finds herself drawn to the dark and eerie, she is also very much a free spirit and hopeless romantic. With multiple stories in publication and several more on the way she spends her time writing happy-ever-afters for the underdogs.

Siobhan writes both contemporary and dark paranormal romance (and a little bit of fantasy and horror under another name, omitted to protect the guilty), much of it of a highly erotic nature. Having never really enjoyed reading romance, she finds writing it to be a cathartic act. By manipulating the characters, she can make the happy endings much more satisfying for herself, and hopefully for her readers as well.

Author Links

Blog: http://siobhankinkade.wordpress.com
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSiobhanKinkade
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/#!/siobhankinkade
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/siobhankinkade

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