Confessions
of a Vampire’s Lover –
A Paranormal Love Story
By
Kelli A. Wilkins
Hi romance lovers,
It’s summer, and what better time of year to read a romance set at the beach?
My contemporary paranormal, Confessions of a Vampire’s Lover,
is a different type of romance. For starters, the novella is told in the first
person from the hero’s point of view. The story also makes use of a setting
where you don’t normally find vampires –
the beach!
I got the idea for the story while sitting on a nearly deserted beach at the
end of the summer season. (I’m not a beach person, but I was there with my
husband, a surfer.) As I sat there watching the few people milling around, I
wondered: “What if a vampire went to the beach? And what if she fell in love
with a surfer?”
I liked the idea of contrasting typical sun worshipping beachgoers and
surfers with a darkness-loving elusive vampire. Besides, what could be more
mismatched than a die-hard surfer falling in love with a nocturnal
blood-drinker?
I started toying with ideas and knew that although the book is about a
vampire, I wanted to keep the central focus on Brian and Anya’s relationship
and not on the ‘bloodier’ aspects of vampirism (show her feeding, etc.) There’s
a fine line when blending horror and romance into paranormal romance. Too much
gore or a “too terrifying” creature can snap the readers (and the characters)
out of the romance and into a full-on horror story.
I made Anya (the
vampire) sympathetic and sexy, and not overtly terrifying – yet she still flexes her vampire muscles when she needs to. This
story could have easily gone down the horror road and become a full-fledged
vampire story, but I wanted to show a softer, kinder side to the Anya and
embrace her once-human side.
When I wrote the book I made sure that the love scenes were highly sensual
and almost surreal. Aside from being a vampire, Anya is a woman with needs, and
she makes sure Brian satisfies them. I don’t remember how I was inspired to
have the story told by Brian, but it worked. Readers and reviewers like the
first-person aspect – it pulls you
into a story that would seem unbelievable.
Here’s the summary and a tame excerpt from Confessions of a Vampire’s Lover:
Confessions of a Vampire’s Lover
The moment Brian spotted Anya sitting on the moonlit beach, he was hooked.
Beautiful, smart, and sexy, Anya was the girl of his dreams. She didn’t mind
that he spent the hot summer days riding the ocean waves, because once the sun
set, he belonged to her – all night
long!
Everything is perfect between them – until
Brian discovers Anya’s shocking secret. Can Brian give up the sun, sand, and
surf to be with the woman he loves?
Read Brian’s first-hand account of their unusual love story in… Confessions
of a Vampire’s Lover.
***
I
first saw her on the beach. I came up over the top of a dune and spotted her
right away. She was sitting on the sand, about ten feet from the water. It was
almost midnight and the beach was deserted, except for us. The moon beamed down
on her, and she seemed to glow with a strange luminescence.
I
stood still, listening to the roar of the crashing waves. Seeing the girl had
stopped me in my tracks. I felt drawn to her, like I had known her before. But
that was impossible, wasn’t it?
Who
are you? I
wondered.
A
gentle wind ruffled the blonde hair cascading around her shoulders, allowing me
to see her more clearly. Her head was bent down and she was staring at
something she held in her hands.
I
inched a little closer and watched her for a few minutes. She looked close to
my age, somewhere near thirty. I longed to ask her some inane question to break
the ice, but I froze. What could I say to her? Lone figures on the beach at
night were probably not interested in making conversation.
I’d
never had much luck with women. They thought history teachers were boring and considered
surfing nothing more than a juvenile waste of time. Most of the women I had
dated wanted successful, professional men like lawyers and doctors who drove
fast cars and had money to burn. What kind of woman would fall in love with an
unemployed thirty-year-old teacher who drove a beat-up car littered with sand
and surf wax?
I
turned and gazed out over the ocean. The sets were breaking just offshore. The
surf would be good tomorrow morning if the wind didn’t shift.
A
minute later, I glanced back toward the girl. She was gone. Not just gone from
that spot— but gone, vanished. I looked up and down the beach, but I didn’t see
her anywhere. Had I scared her away? Where did she go? I knew she hadn’t passed
me, and there were no footprints leading off into the distance.
I
wandered to where she’d been sitting and found a paperback book half buried in
the sand. I picked it up and squinted at the cover in the dim light. A couple
dressed in Victorian clothing was locked in a passionate embrace. Had she
been reading this out here?
I
heard a whisper behind me, and I whirled around. Nobody was there. The darkness
and the roaring waves were playing tricks on me. At least, that’s what I
thought.
I
headed home. I couldn’t stop thinking about the girl as I gathered my surf gear
together.
Who
was she? Why was she alone on the beach at midnight? I wasn’t sure why I was so
entranced by her. Maybe she—like me—was hoping to find some solace in the
eternal ocean waves.
***
Order Confessions of a Vampire’s Lover here:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IBYWYCI
All
other platforms: https://books2read.com/u/49xp1J
Read
reviews & more: https://www.kelliwilkins.com/confessions-of-a-vampire-s-lover
I hope you’ll check it out. It’s a perfect blend of
steamy beach romance and mystery.
Enjoy
the summer!
Kelli A. Wilkins
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kelli A. Wilkins is an award-winning author who has
published more than 100 short stories, 20+ romance novels, 7 non-fiction books,
and 6 mystery/horror ebooks. Her romances span many genres and settings, and
she likes to scare readers with her horror and mystery stories.
Her latest release, The Route 9 Killer, was
published in May 2023. This mystery/thriller is set in Central NJ.
Kelli’s paranormal/mystery romance, In
Another World, was released in 2022. She released two horror shorts, More
Than I Bargained For and Silent Sentinel in 2021.
Follow Kelli on her Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKelliWilkins and visit her
website/blog www.KelliWilkins.com for a full title list and social media links.
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