The Crimson Hunt
(Eldaen Light Chronicles, #1)
By: Victoria H. Smith
Publisher: Self-published
Published: Nov. 8, 2012
Genre: Paranormal Romance / New Adult
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College junior Ariel Richmond is working on year three of Project Normalcy.
Her house reeks of keggers past and her bestie is just a slight bit vulgar. But the thing is—they both aid in making life refreshingly uneventful.
So much for hard-earned mediocrity when Luca Grinaldi appears on the scene.
Luca’s sudden presence on campus is hard to ignore. Those bright eyes act like a beacon to unsuspecting females, and with features like his, he’s got to be moonlighting for GQ. Luca hopelessly captivates Ariel with his confidence and charisma, but the mysteries surrounding him make him nearly untouchable. And just when Ariel grows close enough to unlock his secrets, a tragic event sends her life in a downward spiral.
That steady life is no longer an option and allies quickly become scarce. The mysterious Luca seems to be the only one willing to help her—but with that trust comes the burden of his secrets. He has a dark mission of otherworldly proportions, and is willing to sacrifice as many lives as it takes to see it completed.
Gone are the days of simply maintaining normalcy, and if Ariel isn’t cautious with her trust, so soon may be her future.
Grabbing my cup, I forgot myself and indulged in a sip.
Luca watched me, his gaze hard.
Note to self: brown tea + white shirt + GQ model = bad idea. I placed my cup on the table’s surface and wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans.
He continued to watch me. His stare was so deep it could be mistaken for analyzing.
Gosh, he stared hard. Like his eyes were trying to unearth some secret he wanted to know from mine. Since I wasn’t skilled in the art of mind reading, I figured I should make an attempt at formulating some sentences. “So, who is ‘I am Luca?’” I asked, mimicking his original introduction to me. Nice, Ariel, real nice. Making fun of him will definitely score you points.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, what do you do in your spare time? Besides helping girls save cute, baby deer in the middle of vacant woods, of course.” I laughed. It was getting easier to be more natural with him. I liked that.
He laughed, too, breaking his analysis. “School and work takes up the majority of my time.”
Something told me there had to be more to him than that. No one who looked like that graced the world with their beauty in such a mundane way.
“What about you?” he asked.
“I guess the same as you. Just work and school.”
“So why did you find my answer odd?”
Was he skilled in the art of mind reading? “What do you mean?” I laughed in nervousness.
He smiled and rested his finger to his delicious lips. “You looked a little underwhelmed by my answer, is all.”
By God, he got me. “I just thought that … I guess I didn’t know what I thought.” Oy vey.
He laughed gently.
Victoria H. Smith has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. She puts it to good use writing romance all day. She resides in the Midwest with her Macbook on her lap and a cornfield to her right. She often draws inspiration for her stories from her own life experiences, and the twenty-something characters she writes give her an earful about it.
In her free time, she enjoys extreme couponing, blogging, reading, and sending off a few tweets on Twitter when she can. She writes new adult fiction romance in the sub-genres of science fiction, urban fantasy, and contemporary, but really, anywhere her pen takes her she goes. Her new adult science fiction romance, The Crimson Hunt, will be published November 2012.
