**Celeste will be awarding a $25 Amazon Gift Card to a randomly drawn commenter. More information below.**
Give Me Forever (Paranormal City #1)
by Celeste Carrara
Published: March 13, 2013
Publisher: Self Published
Length: 208 pages
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Available at: Amazon | B&N | ARe | Kobo
About Give Me Forever:
Serena, a twenty five year old newly turned vampire longs for a normal life. Daughter to the king of the Northeastern faction of vampires her life is anything but normal. Her actions are ruled by her duty to her people and her father’s demands. Serena’s father Sebastian is impossible to please no matter how hard Serena tries. Loyalty and fear keep her trapped in her life.
While tending to business for her father Serena meets Nick, a handsome young realtor whom she finds herself attracted to regardless of the fact that he is human. Even though she knows better she can’t seem to stop herself from falling into his arms, and his bed. Nick gives her a glimpse into the normal life she wishes for but how long can she ignore their differences?
When humans start showing up drained of their blood with obvious vampire bites on their bodies Sebastian takes it as a direct challenge to his authority. Someone is gathering his enemies with intentions of stripping him of his title. The only two he can trust to aid him is his daughter Serena, and his assassin Alex. Little did he know that once the two meet all their lives would change forever. No one can change the course of fate. When destiny calls they try to fight it but neither Serena nor Alex can deny the pull of their souls yearning to be joined.
*Adult Material*
Excerpt:
As soon as I entered my building it started again. The light-headedness came first. As I stepped into the elevator the dizziness hit me and it was hard to remain upright. What the hell is going on? Once the door opened revealing my floor, I rushed out in search of my father. A shiver ran through my body, and my hands were shaking. Trying to pull myself together, I used my senses to locate my father. When I did, I realized he wasn’t alone.
“Serena, come in please. I’m glad you’re home. There is someone here I’d like you to meet. This is Alex; he is an associate of mine. Alex, this is my daughter, Serena.”
I never thought I had a soul, but in that moment when our eyes met and our hands touched in greeting, my soul screamed for joy. Dazed and shocked, I couldn’t let go of his hand. Electricity seared as we touched. I couldn’t speak. Like a magnet, my body was helpless to the pull, and I never wanted to let go. When I heard his voice, it was a melody my whole body rejoiced for.
Ten Things You Don’t Know About Celeste Carrera
1. Cotton or Silk? Cotton
2. Champagne/beer/wine? I don’t drink alcohol.
3. Plotter/pantser: Plotter
4. Describe your workspace: My husband renovated a room in our home for me, off our living room. It has windows all around, is in the front of the house facing beautiful homes and greenery. It’s all white and bright and I love it!
5. Sports fan or just tolerate it? Just tolerate it.
6. Who is your biggest influence on writing? That is so hard because I have so many influences! If I have to pick, I will say that Gena Showalter is a huge influence for me.
7. Favorite food: Pasta
8. When did you start writing? When I was a preteen I started writing poetry. As I got older that continued but I stopped writing until about 2011. That was when I started writing Give Me Forever and it was the first time I ever attempted to write a novel.
9. If money were no object, where would you like to live? London
10. What’s next for you? I recently released book 4 of my Paranormal City series titled Give Me Pleasure. The next full length novel in this series, Give Me Your Love, is what I am currently working on.
My Thoughts:
I never tire of Vampire Romances and Give Me Forever is a perfect example of why not. Celeste Carrera took a well-covered genre and created an interesting, action-filled and extremely sensual and romantic environment. The characters are all unique and while the basic Vampire traits are present, we are exposed to some aspects of Vampire lore in new and different ways.
Serena is young, beautiful, powerful and lonely. As the King’s daughter, she has been quite sheltered growing up. Nevertheless, as she transitions into a true Vampire, an emotionally (as well as physically) strong, intelligent, and tough character emerges. She is, quite frankly, one of my favorite Female Vampires to date. She has a love life of sorts and while she has her fair share (and then some) of heartache, she is a character I could both relate and aspire to.
Romance lovers will be quickly enamored with Serena’s soul mate, someone she meets and then quickly finds her world turned upside down. He is seen handsome, tough, hot, sexy, tender and scared, all within a short period of time and their chemistry is explosive.
Sex is somewhat rampant in and out of the storyline and is all over the map on the heat scale. The descriptions are clear and somewhat graphic, making this an 18 and older book.
The book was engaging and easy to read. Turning the pages as quickly as I could, I devoured the book in several hours time. I was so grateful to learn that it is a series as I did not want to part with my new-found ‘friends’ at the end of the book. I encourage Vampire Romance lovers everywhere not to wait but to read Give Me Forever today!
About Author Celeste Carrera:
Celeste Carrara is a self-published author of the erotic paranormal romance series Paranormal City. A stay at home wife and mother, Celeste never dreamed she would be so fortunate to be a full-time writer. She resides in New York City with her husband of over fifteen years and their two children. All of Carrara’s books are based in her hometown, her favorite city Manhattan.
As a child she loved reading and used her writing of poetry as a way to escape her troubled childhood. Life got in the way, and her reading took a back seat to raising her kids. After her children became self-sufficient, and she had more time on her hands, her sister told her about a “hot new paranormal romance” she had to read. Celeste jumped in and returned to her love of reading. Always fascinated by all things paranormal, and a lover of romance, Celeste devoured every paranormal romance she could find. She has always liked her books with some spice so it came as no surprise she found erotic romance.
All this reading sparked the writer within. An idea for a story came to her one day and she decided to put it on paper. Soon, the ideas were flowing and she couldn’t stop writing. With encouragement from her husband, and best friend, Celeste completed her first novel, Give Me Forever, and hasn’t looked back. Currently she is working on more books of the Paranormal City series as well as stand-alone erotic romances.
Follow Celeste Online:
Giveaway:
Celeste will be awarding a $25 Amazon Gift Card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. Be sure to follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning!!
Sounds great! Thanks!
Thanks for your review and the excerpt.
kareninnc at gmail dot com
I love hearing when people are excited to read my stories! I wish you all luck on the giveaway!!!
I just wanted to add that Give Me Forever is book one in my series (Paranormal City) and there are currently four books available. I mention this because the books/characters/stories all intertwine. So if you fall in ove with Serena and Alex, don’t worry when the book is over. You’ll get to see a little more of them in other books. 🙂
Good Morning! I hope this day finds you happy and well. After reading the review, I immediately added your book to my amazon wish list.
It would be a good place to start spending the $25 GC on! 🙂 Thank you. Vicki.
Oh my! I love that first meeting. I want to read more and find out how these two fight that! I just bought the book so I can get started!
Oh it isn’t easy for them at all, but they fight it every step of the way until… Well, you’ll have to read it to find out! lol 😉
interesting facts
bn100candg at hotmail dot com
Indeed!!
This book sounds really good. Thanks for the giveaway. Please enter me.
I’m glad to hear you think it sounds good! I hope you give it a try! 🙂
Ohhh really looking forward to reading this one!
Ha! I’m the same about sports…
justforswag(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
I hope you enjoy it!
Ok, I’ll admit it, I’m sappy and cry at certain commercials too! lol
I totally get it about sports though! We have die hard Yankee fans in my family 😉
GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR GREAT BOOK AND THANKS FOR THE GIVEAWAY! calicolady60@hotmail.com
Thank you!
Oh Celeste…that is not sappy at all!! Serena is such an awesome character. I just love her!! I was so honored to get to read your book and share my thoughts. I wish you tons of success with this and cannot wait to read more! Let me know anytime if we can help you. 😉
Thank you! And you will get to see more of Serena & Alex in the other books in my series, especially my most recent release, Give Me Pleasure. I feel Serena embodies traits we can all relate to in some way. Growing up & finding yourself while navigating relationships & responsibilities isn’t always easy. She stumbles but always picks herself up & learns how to become independent while still being loyal to those she loves. I loved writing about her journey!
Great review, sounds like a good read.
Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com
Thank you so much for hosting me on your blog! Is it sappy of me to admit I cried when I read your review? lol It just makes me so happy when someone loves my characters, especially Serena. She is so near & dear to me.
thanks for the giveaway!
Thank you for hosting
Thank you for your thoughts. I always appreciate unique.
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com