Showing results by author "Alice Winters" in All Categories

Life is normal… suspiciously normal. During my long, lonely years as a hitman, I never realized that one day, I would have a family to call my own. Now, instead of stalking my targets and taking down people with a flick of my wrist, my specialties lie in things like planning sleepovers (why does Waylon look terrified?), The Fence hour (those are screams of joy), and involving others to help our child succeed (no, of course I didn’t abduct anyone).

Stumbling into a crime scene is pretty typical for me. As a human, joining the VRC has done everything but keep me out of trouble. And now I seem to be playing a part that I’d really rather not play…if I want to keep my head, that is. By my side is my partner Marcus, a vampire who has vowed to tear the world apart—and even a mattress—to keep me safe. I want to do everything I can to protect my newfound family, no matter what we’re forced to face.

Being a hit man has its perks, but I never thought getting an accidental mooning by an attractive PI while he’s caught on a fence would be one of them. While it’s not exactly love at first sight, he’s captured my interest and won’t let go. Suddenly, I find myself caught in a game of cat and mouse, determined to attract the attention of Jackson, the PI who should be my enemy. He pretends like he’s not flattered by my flowers and the mentions of my totally-not-fictitious blow-up doll, Randy (or was it Dandy?), but I know better.

Smart men never dabble with demons. I never claimed to be smart, but at least, I’m powerful enough to control them. When I bound Havoc to me nearly 300 years ago, I never realized how difficult he’d make my life, although “accidentally” lighting him on fire every now and then does bring a smile to my face. Havoc is handsome, mysterious, and somehow, my closest companion, even if we don’t always get along.

Though I was born with the ability to see the dead, I struggled with it until my brother was killed and his ghost was left behind. Now, I’m determined to figure out who is responsible for his death…the problem is that Detective Maddox Booker, the one working the case, is a grumpy and stubborn man who wants nothing to do with me and definitely doesn’t believe in ghosts. It doesn’t help that I keep finding myself looking ridiculous in front of the detective, thanks to interfering ghosts who enjoy laughing at my expense.

Smart men quit while they’re ahead - they lay low and hope disaster blows on by them. Not me. Especially when disaster seems to follow me and my soulmate Havoc, a demon I bound to me 300 years ago with my magic. The dark mage Geoff is back from the dead and creating chaos by devouring the hearts of people with magical abilities, giving him overwhelming power as his followers grow.

Seneca is the complete package. He's smart, sexy, and confident, much to Chevy's annoyance. They've worked with each other for two years, and even though Chevy might secretly find his partner charming and attractive, playful harassment is all they have. Chevy was born with a unique gift that allows him to go into the memories of others. As detective, he uses this ability to find peace for victims who have been hurt or attacked. But neither Chevy nor Seneca are prepared when they are asked to go into the mind of a serial killer in hopes of finding survivors.

When Felix lands a job taking care of a man recovering from severe injuries, he thinks his life may have just turned around. Anything has to be better than the place he's leaving. There's something about Lane that draws Felix to him and makes him question if this place could finally become a home for him. But when someone begins stalking Felix, he is left to question who Lane is and what actually happened to him. Together, Felix and Lane will be forced to see just how far they will go to protect each other. 

When the vampire stalking me sent me a letter, I was prepared for my new life with the man I love to get thrown into chaos. But as the days stretch on and nothing happens, I become determined not to allow that monster to rule my life and decide that Marcus and I will move on. We can’t always allow the past to haunt us. If that includes pestering Marcus and harassing my fellow detectives, they’d better learn to love it because I’m not going anywhere, even if they like to remind me I’m the only human working in a department filled with vampires.

Is a nice little wedding with Blow-up Randy and Jackson My Love too much to ask for? Clearly, because someone’s trying to kill one of us...again. Generally, this would be my thing and I would jump right in singing my murder song, but they want Jackson dead and I will do anything (and I mean anything) to keep him alive - including and not limited to: 10 Dobermans, bulletproof glass, and dragging Cassel in with the promise of more Jerebear.

Getting into the vampire-only detective unit was the easy part. What’s going to be more difficult is dealing with my new partner - an ancient vampire who keeps threatening to eat me. The unit has never had a human in it. Marcus - or, as I like to call him: Fangy McFangface - would really prefer to keep it that way. He’s grumpy, short-tempered, and broody, but I have a way with words, and I know he’s starting to like me, even if he swears he’s not.

Now that Leland’s decided to give up his life as a hitman and take a walk on the mild side, we’ve been enjoying a simple life of taking down bad guys the legal way. I didn’t know he would be just as reckless as a PI, but it’s not my fault if I happen to enjoy helping him hunt down the occasional criminal. If only I could keep the house from being overrun by Leland’s gun shrine - or stop him from making our cases “more exciting” by terrorizing people into confessing. Overall, life seems perfect, right? Wrong.

When I gave up life as a hitman, I thought everything was going to be better. I was going to become a PI, help people, and live normally…and then I met Jeremy, the most perfect man to have ever saved my life (I mean, he might be the only one who has saved my life, but he’s still the best at it). From that point on, it was all over for me - I knew we were meant to be. The issue is that he doesn’t…quite seem to realize that. But when he’s targeted by criminals (literally, someone just shot at his head), he needs to rely on someone, so why not me?

When Marcus Church brings his brother Claude in to help solve an unusual murder, I’m positive he did it just to disrupt my monotonous life. None of my coworkers in the Vampire Related Crimes unit seem to understand that I want to keep a wall between me and everyone else - especially Claude, who does everything he can to break through it with an annoying smile. After more vampires begin to die, Claude pinpoints the actions of the killers to a group of vampire hunters, leaving us in a race to stop them.

Snagging the hunter was the easy part. Now, I have to prove to him that a life filled with chaos, the most amazing fish ever, and delightful me is so much better than normal—trust me, he isn’t too hard to convince. But when a group of insolent chimeras laughably think they can target my one true love, they have another thing coming for them—likely death.

Nothing can go wrong with being in love with a demon and having a dragon familiar whose idea of a fun time is watching me plummet to the ground, right? Now that things have settled down, I’m hoping to finally get some peace and quiet to spend with Havoc. Instead, we get a guy who can walk the river of the dead, a centaur that seems allergic to pants, and an angel who has only one true love: himself. This is the group of misfits I’ve been given to protect the district. Sometimes I can’t help but wonder how we stopped an unbelievably powerful dark mage.

Despite winning Gabriel’s heart, my trials are not yet over when I’m stuck competing with Gabriel’s cat for his affection (why is she only evil when he’s not looking?), dealing with coworkers trying to befriend me (I should have blackmailed more of them), and worst of all... meeting Gabriel’s parents (whose affection I will win with lavish presents).

As a member of the vampire council, being tasked with keeping an eye on a few people shouldn’t be too hard, right? Wrong. The moment I meet the VRC, I realize how very wrong I am. It’s fascinating how in a group filled with ancient beings, the only reasonable one is the human. Definitely not the grumpy vampire… or the other grumpy vampire… and don’t get me started on the eye-searing clothes the bubbly one wears.

One would think that being over two hundred years old would at least give me some skill at wooing the man of my dreams, though oddly, I seem to be fumbling around more than wooing. But that’s alright, I will fumble my way right into Cyrus’s life if he lets me. After a rocky start, Cyrus is finally starting to open up to me as he realizes that vampires might not be all bad.

When did fake-then-real dating an ancient vampire become the easy part? Casimir’s ridiculously sweet now that he’s conquered “the art of the flirt,” as he calls it. He tries hard to fit in with my family—if we forget about those silly threatening chocolates he sent my father—and he even makes me popcorn… okay, he tried. I know, I know, I’m just bragging at this point.