Angel Martinez:

Lioness on the Knife - Coming 3/11/2010 From Red Rose Publishing!

Eight stories, eight strong-willed heroines and the men who love them and learn to deal with them, willing or not.

 

- Meara, a young farm girl, discovers her mischievous night visitor is a handsome pooka.

- Aphrodite decides her affair with the self-centered Ares is a mistake. When she fights to save her marriage, she finds there's more to her reclusive husband, Hephaestus, than she thought.

- Vitez serves the mysterious Itsuka, guarding her back in her fight against demons and satisfying her appetites.

- Zilar, fostered by Amazons, is given in marriage to General Azeria. Intimidated by her and drawn to her, Zilar must learn to please her without angering her other spouses.

- Poor Lucifer, his mom's moved in and life in Hell will never be the same.

- Selena has a degenerative blood disorder the doctors can't diagnose. Alex has some tough decisions to make when he realizes the true nature of her condition.

- Naïve, sweet Cedric's determined to rescue the princess. Too bad she has other ideas.

- Sylvia's world came apart when her husband died. When she goes to a brothel staffed by men, the one she selects turns out to be more than she bargained for.

An excerpt from 'Aphrodite's Rubicon' :

She reversed direction, hurrying to Dionysus' quarters. Outside the arched grapevine pergola that served as his doorway, fauns and maenads sprawled in untidy heaps like leaves strewn before the storm of the wild god's passage.

"Must have been quite a party," she murmured in dismay.

A faun with dapple-gray markings opened one eye. "No shit. Um, I mean — indeed it was."

"Is he in?"

"Himself is in there somewhere." He belched none too delicately. "But I can't vouch for his mood."

She picked her way carefully over roots and fallen twigs, the stench of stale wine mingling in unpleasant combinations with the results of rebellious stomachs. Vines parted for her as she passed, leaves rustling in languid murmurs, pergola giving way to arbor and then to thicket. In the center of this maze lay Dionysus' sleeping chamber, a clearing hung with honeysuckle and freesia, the god's bed a moss-covered mound beneath a spreading oak.

Large cats lounged here like a living rug. A leopard startled at her entrance, a panther lifted his head with a sleepy growl, but the low, miserable moan was no feline noise.

Dionysus looked as if someone had dropped him facedown on his bed, limbs flung out in all directions. The tangled mass of long, black hair hid his face while his body lay mostly exposed except for a leather jacket festooned with altogether too many buckles and rings. Late twentieth century, she supposed. Bloody nail tracks crisscrossed his muscular buttocks and bruises mottled the backs of his thighs.

She sank down beside him to stroke some of the hair from his face. "Dio? Are you in there?"

A bloodshot eye regarded her balefully, without recognition, and for a moment she feared the madness had him in its grip.

"Hello, beautiful," he rasped finally. "Don't suppose you can make me mortal for a bit?"

"Why ever would you want that, dear?"

"So you could kill me," he moaned and heaved himself over onto his back. More bloody tracks covered his chest and stomach. Even his penis hadn't escaped unscathed.

She smoothed his hair back and bent to kiss his forehead. "That bad, is it? What in the world have you been doing?"

"Good question." His forehead wrinkled in concentration and he caught her hand to press it to the side of his face. "Oh, your palm is so cool. Leave it right there, please."

After a few pained whimpers, his eyes snapped open. "I remember. Orpheus was playing a gig in New York. He wanted me to come play bass. Everyone always loves the bass player, so I went. There was a lot of crowd surfing. And this huge after party. Things are fuzzy after the orgy started. Hands and lips and nails and teeth everywhere..."

"And now you regret going?"

"Never." He grinned up at her. "I feel like crud but I don't regret a single minute."