Quite honestly, I hadn't heard of Shari Richardson before recently and I'm glad I get to be a part of this promo for her books. Her first book in Highland Home series was published a year and a half ago and is called Mourning Sun. It's a story about vampires, angels and different supernatural creatures. It's mainly targeted to young adults since the story takes place in a high school. The cover arts are fantastic and if I hadn't heared about these books via this event and would have had the chance to see them before, I would have definitely taken another look and would have wanted to find out what these books are about. Let's take a look shall we?
By clicking on the books you get direct links to Goodreads with the exception of the fift cover which links to Amazon. There are five books in this series and the fifth book is set to release September 10, 2012.
Highland Home Series
So.. Now that you've seen these awesome covers (love the first and the fifth, by the way) and they've got you interested, I've got an excerpt to chare with you. It's intriguing, mysterious and worth spending a few minutes of your preecious time.
The first chapter of Mourning Sun (Highland Home #1) by Shari Richardson
The young woman
sat beside the bed, holding the boy's hand. Her lips moved in silent prayer,
pausing only when he moved restlessly and moaned.
"Mathias?"
Her voice was soft but rich.
He moaned again,
but didn't wake. The young woman began to pray once again.
"Kathryn!"
Mathias sat upright, searching the room with blind eyes. "Kathryn, run.
Don't look back, just go!"
"Mathias, my
love, I'm right here." She helped him lay back, smoothing her hand over
his fevered brow. "Rest, my darling. You'll be well soon."
Mathias lay down,
tossing restlessly. From time to time, he would whisper "Kathryn,"
before slipping farther into unconsciousness. Each time he spoke her name,
Kathryn kissed Mathias and resumed her prayers.
Hours passed, but
Kathryn, consumed by the life that drained from the man she loved, didn't
notice the light draining from the day. She prayed. She held Mathias' hand. She
soothed him when he was restless. Outside the window, the sun sank into the
horizon. The sound of waves crashing against the shore slipped into the silence
that now filled the room.
As the last of the
light left the room, Kathryn rose to
light a candle. When she returned to her place by his bedside, she set the
candle on the table and leaned down to see Mathias better in the flickering
light. She put her hand upon his chest and then sat by his side and lay her ear
against his still chest.
"No,"
she whispered, curling her hand into a fist on his chest. "Oh Mathias, I
can't live without you." Tears slipped down her cheeks as she closed her eyes and let the grief take
her.
Mathias' eyes
snapped open. Had she been watching, Kathryn would have seen that warm, dark
eyes of his life were gone, replaced by pools of deepest, coldest black. He
reached for Kathryn's hand where it lay on his chest, pulling it up to his
lips.
"Mathias?"
Kathryn blinked away her tears. Her eyes opened wide in disbelief, but there
was no fear in her gaze, only the love she had for this beautiful boy.
Mathias licked his
lips and ran his nose along the length of Kathryn's arm. She stayed frozen by
his side, mesmerized by his gaze, which never flickered from her own. Even
after his teeth sank easily into the warm flesh at the bend of her elbow,
Kathryn never flinched. The room filled with a wet sucking, disrupted only by
Kathryn's one brief gasp. Mathias lovingly cradled her arm against his lips as
he drank, insensitive to the monstrosity of his act.
When Kathryn lay
pale and still, Mathias blinked slowly.
He looked down at the beautiful, pale and cold woman whose glassy eyes
were riveted on his face. He brushed his hand along her cheek, lovingly
caressing her face as he had done so often in life. It was only when she didn't
smile and ask for his kiss that understanding slowly dawned in his gaze and he
screamed.
"Kathryn, my
love, my heart, my sun. What have I done?" His hands pulled at his face,
drawing it into a gruesome mask of pain and anguish.
Lifting her body
with infinite care, Mathias lay Kathryn on the bed from which he had so
recently risen to this new and monstrous life. He closed her eyes and kissed
her pale lips lovingly. "I will
mourn you for eternity," he whispered before he threw himself out the
window.
***
My eyes snapped
open, my heart galloping along as though I'd just run a marathon. The last
image of the young man's anguished face, hauntingly beautiful in his pain,
lingered in my mind.
"Mairin, are
you okay?" my mom called from the hall outside my bedroom.
"Yeah
Mom," I said. "Just a weird dream."
Mom stepped into
my room and sat with me on my bed. "Want to tell me about it?"
I shook my head. I
wasn't sure how to explain what I'd just dreamed. I knew from the clothes the
two people had been wearing that the dream wasn't one of my premonitions, but I
had no explanation for who Mathias and Kathryn were or why I would be dreaming
about them.
"I think I've
been reading too many romance novels." I said, laughing and trying to ease
my mother's anxiety. "This one was set in the 1920s I think. Just a boy
and a girl. Nothing to worry about."
Mom kissed my
forehead. She always worried when my dreams woke me, even when they weren't
nightmares or premonitions. "Think you'll go back to sleep tonight?"
"Probably. It
wasn't really a bad one." Unless you counted murder as bad, I added
silently
"You need to
sleep more, baby. Tomorrow's the first day of school and you'll want to be on
the ball."
"I'm fine,
Mom. Really. It was just weird, not scary and definitely not a
premonition."
OK, so that was a
lie. Watching that boy drain the life out of his love made my stomach
somersault with horror, but I didn't feel like explaining that to my mom in the
middle of the night. Despite what he'd done, Mathias didn't strike me as evil
or sinister. His obvious grief over what he'd done in my dream hinted at a
deeper, purer soul than the act would seem to allow for.
"Okay, okay,
I can take a hint. Sleep well, baby. I love you."
"I love you,
too, Mom."
I curled onto my side, clutching my pillow
after Mom went back to her room where her partner Tawnya was probably waiting
for a report of my dream. I knew sleep should have been a dim hope after the
dream I'd had, but strangely I didn't feel frightened or threatened by this
dream. There was something so compelling about Mathias that I found myself hoping
he would be waiting for me when sleep claimed me once again. I closed my eyes,
whispering his name and willing him to come to me. When he appeared, waiting at
the edge of darkness where dreams live,
I reached for him.
Okay, now that you've read the first chapter I know what you're thinking: "How come I haven't heard of this book before???" Yes, I'm thinking exactly the same thoughts and I will definitely add it to my TBR pile on GR, read it and give this book a rocking review so that others can find this series as well. After you've given this series a chance, whether your loved it or not, speak your mind and express your thoughts so the word can be spread in as many ways as possible.
Further on, in a few days you can read an interview with Shari and get to know her a little better (note: interviewing was not done by me).
Now off to the giveaway. It's INTL and the prize is AWESOME!!!
Giveaway: (1) eBook copy of each of the five Highland Home Novels (complete series)
Yes, you read that correctly! If you were to be the winner, you get ALL these books. Thanks to Shari Richardson for giving away her precious books.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
