After fleeing a brutal mental hospital in Barcelona, Felipe Camarena is trying to forge a new life as a psychology student in San Diego. Trouble is, he has a knack of knowing things he shouldn’t about people, and the all-too-real demons from his past are coming back to haunt him.
Professor Lukas von Rainer is a Warden—someone who hunts incubi and tames their sexually ravenous and dangerous offspring. As a fellow Sensitive, Lukas is the only one who can help when Felipe is severely injured by an incubus. He takes Felipe to his ranch in hopes that his Lipizzan horses will help him recover, but Felipe refuses to face his past and attempts to seduce Lukas instead. Lukas fends him off, surprised to find himself falling for the young man he’s vowed to aid. For years, he’s believed a physically satisfying and truly loving relationship is impossible because of his abilities, but is it?
He may not get the chance to find out. Even as he and the horses work their magic to heal Felipe, the incubus tracking them means to kill him and anyone who gets in its way.
To coincide with the release, I've also put together a video so you can meet me and the Lipizzan horses who inspired the book. As an added bonus, I'm having a drawing to win a copy of Capriole. All you have to do to enter is tell me about your favorite horse, whether real or fictional. Let me know in the comments below and I'll pick a name by Friday the 16th, 11:59 pm PST.
Excerpt:
Felipe slid into the Mustang’s passenger seat, too exhausted to care what Lukas planned on doing with him as long as he didn’t have to move or think. Lukas didn’t seem like the kind of man who would be cruel, but without being able to sense him, Felipe couldn’t be sure.
Felipe stared at Lukas’s key fob as it knocked against the steering column. It was leather burned with a picture of a running horse—the Mustang’s symbol. “Did you get a Mustang because you have horses?”
“Of course. White horses, white Mustang.” Lukas switched on the radio. “Do you like classical music?”
Felipe shrugged. His head lolled against the seat as he gazed out the window into the darkness beyond. Wherever they were, there were no streetlights.
Lukas drove east out of the city for about a half hour. The sky was just lightening to gray as he turned down a dirt road and drove through an iron gate inscribed SPIRIT HORSE RANCH.
He parked in the gravel driveway near a small ranch house and gestured to Felipe when they got out. “Come meet the herd.”
He parked in the gravel driveway near a small ranch house and gestured to Felipe when they got out. “Come meet the herd.”
Reluctantly Felipe followed him toward a fenced area containing four white horses and two mottled gray. They were beautiful animals, strong and well built and emanating an intense presence that made Felipe uncomfortable.
“Have you ever been around horses?”
Felipe shook his head. Nervousness rooted his feet to the ground. He stayed several feet back while three of the animals arched their heads over the top of the fence and studied him. Their brown eyes held an unsettling amount of intelligence.
“This herd is very friendly. They won’t bite, and they love attention. Don’t you?” One horse whickered in answer. Lukas scratched the nearest under the jaw, inciting a stab of jealousy in Felipe at how comfortable he was with them. “These are all Lipizzans. I trained with a man from the Spanish Riding School when I lived in Austria, and brought Graciela in foal when I emigrated. This one is her son, a gelding. His official name is Pluto Graciela, but I call him Grady.”
“Pluto like the dog? And why is the riding school in Vienna Spanish?”
Lukas chuckled. “He’s not named after the cartoon character. There are six foundation stallions: Pluto, Maestoso, Favory, Siglavy, Conversano and Neapolitano. Purebred colts are given their father’s name followed by their mother’s, hence Pluto Graciela. The riding school is Spanish because the original horses were of Spanish heritage.”
They’re from home. The thought sent a surge of homesickness through him.
Lukas reached into a coffee can and put a sugar cube in Felipe’s palm. “Here. Grady loves these. Keep your hand flat and he’ll use his lips to take it.” Lukas gave him a push, sending Felipe within three feet of the fence. He extended his arm, and Grady artfully craned his neck to snatch the proffered treat. Soft, furry lips brushed his skin, but Felipe also felt something nontactile, something…
He jerked his hand back, trying to figure out just what he’d sensed. It was like that knowing when he bumped into a person, only the horse had felt somehow…clean. Pure.
The corner of Lukas’s mouth crooked up. “See? That wasn’t so bad.”
Lukas’s amusement annoyed him. “I’m tired,” Felipe said.
The slight grin vanished. His tone didn’t hide his disappointment. “Come on. I’ll show you to your room.”
* * * *
Lukas left Felipe alone in one of the bedrooms, frustrated by the kid’s reaction. But then, he hadn’t known what to expect. He’d hoped Felipe would show some interest in the horses rather than keeping his aloofness and gazing at them from behind the same wall of self-protection he used to distance himself from people. So he couldn’t break through it for an animal, either. Lukas had faith the horses would have something to say about that—if he could get Felipe close enough.
Evey Brett, 2012
I LOVED the video--when the sexy music started up just as Pooka came strutting out, I had to laugh! That is so very . . . Pooka.
ReplyDeletefavorite horse I guess it would have to be Black Beauty, which I read the weekend I turned seven. Horses became people for me then (though I still remember the sharp grief I felt at poor Ginger's death).
Congrats on Capriole!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite horse was Gypsy. I rode her on my grandfather's ranch as a teen--usually bareback, because she didn't like the saddle. She was a big, heavy horse, but intelligent and responsive. Once time I was racing my brother across the 90 acre pasture, Gypsy and the sorrel gelding galloping neck and neck, and when I coaxed Gypsy with a soft word and touch of my heels, she surged ahead.
Cute video. Love the horses. :-D
ReplyDeleteI really like the sound of this book! Congrats. I'm going to have to put it on my TBR pile. Love the title too. Sound like a terrific book, Evey. :)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite breed of horse is Friesan, but...Shhhhhhh...don't tell my real life favorite horse, my little bay Arabian. He's not much of a riding animal--I've gotten kind of cowardly about riding lately--but he plays fetch, bows, and knows various other commands. Basically, he's an overgrown trick pony.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, this sounds like a great book!
Thank you to everyone who stopped by, and congrats to P. Kirby for winning the copy of CAPRIOLE! I'll send you an e-mail.
ReplyDeleteSartorias, I read Black Beauty often as a kid and was always sad at Ginger's death.
Mindseas, Gypsy sound like an awesome horse.
Janni, Thanks--glad you enjoyed the video.
Marie--Thank you and I hope you enjoy it!
P. Kirby, I have a friend with Friesians. They're gorgeous. One of the Lipizzans is half-Arab and sometimes too smart for his own good. :>p