Spotlight & Giveaway: The Trouble With Vampires by Lynsay Sands

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Lynsay Sands to HJ!

Hi Lynsay and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Trouble With Vampires!

 
Hi Sara! Hi everyone! 😉
 

To start off, can you please tell us a little bit about this book?:

This is Santo Notte’s story.
Having lived thousands of years, Santo’s literally seen it all and suffered far too much at the hands of those who were determined to break him. He is a survivor but centuries of torture and abuse have left him with scars that run so deep he’s plagued by nightmares every time he sleeps.
Petronella Stone’s slight stature is a striking contrast to Santo’s huge linebacker proportions, but still her no-nonsense personality can handle pretty much anything thrown her way, including Santo’s nightmarish past. For she, too, has a past, one that has left Pet aware of immortals and what they’re capable of. So when a 911 call brings Santo and several rogue hunters to the neighborhood, she’s ready to grab her nephew and run. But fate has other plans for her, and Santo may have just met the one person strong enough to wrestle away his nightly demons.
 

Please share your favorite lines or quote(s) from this book:

“You might want to get dressed then, buddy,” Bricker said with amusement. “You take him to school like that and his teachers are likely to think you’re some kind of pervert. If you even made it to school with him and weren’t pulled over by suspicious cops on the way.”
Santo glanced down at himself and closed his eyes briefly when he saw that he was prancing around the neighborhood in his boxers. Cripes, he’d been in the kitchen waiting to greet Pet in them too. Wouldn’t that have been a heck of a greeting?
“Damn skippy. Something has your boxers in a twist,” Bricker said on a laugh as he watched the expressions traveling across Santo’s face. “It’s almost like you’ve met your life mate or something.”

What inspired this book?

There were several inspirations for The Trouble With Vampires…

• First and foremost, Santo Notte. I’ve wanted to write Santo’s story ever since he arrived on the scene rubbing his shaved head in agitation. His story, although difficult to write at times because his past has caused him so much suffering, was long overdue. And once his character finally cooperated and wanted to be written about, his story fell into place.
• Secondly, my readers. Readers have been asking for Santo’s story ever since he first appeared in Under A Vampire Moon and more and more requests have come in every time he turns up as a secondary character in another story. It was time he got his story told.
• But once I got writing, Petronella Stone herself was pretty inspirational. Her strength, determination and overall character not only made her a great mate for Santo but also made her interesting enough that she needed to be more than just a secondary character.
• And finally, Parker Peters, Pet’s dynamic kid nephew, added some great comic relief. His harassment and mild teasing of his aunt and Pet’s fiercely protective mama-bear attitude towards her nephew illustrated an awesomely strong family bond, which fits in perfectly with the Argeneau series.

How did you ‘get to know’ your main characters? Did they ever surprise you?

As for how I got to know my characters…

It took me a while to get to know Santo. I actually started his story a year before it was finally completed. I really wanted to write it but a small part of me was putting it off as I knew his backstory would be a difficult one to write. And because he’s always been so quiet and reserved, it made it difficult to pinpoint his personality so it was a relief when he finally starting opening up… with the help of a few friends of course. Marguerite was key in helping to understand why he’d become so reticent and uncommunicative and she made him see how fatal an error it was not to talk to Pet. And Pet was key in helping him open up so he’d reveal the origin of his anxiety and the nightmares he’s plagued by.

As for Pet, her nephew, Parker, helped with that. Their interaction at the start of the story made it easy to get to know her, and once Santo started actually talking to her, she opened up to him about per past and the tragedy involving her parents.
And Parker was probably the easiest character to get to know. He came fully formed, playing a video game with his aunt Pet. A little genius with attitude who loves to harass and tease his aunt mercilessly.

As for my characters surprising me…all the time!
Santo is always so serious and reticent that it shocked the heck out of me when he finally started showing a sense of humor. Pretty sure it shocked the socks off Pet when he teased her too.
On Pet’s part, she surprised me when she gave back as good as she got from Santo. Even though Santo was her life mate, and thus irresistible to her, his complete lack of communication frustrated her to a point that she’d been ready to walk away if he hadn’t started talking to her. Wow!

What was your favorite scene to write?

Santo and Pet are great together but add Parker into the mix and a whole lot of funny happens. This is definitely one of my favorite scenes.

“What?” Parker’s shocked question sounded from down the hall, interrupting her mind’s mad bouncing around inside her head. It was followed by a horrified, “Nooooooo!”
Frowning, Pet started toward the hall just as Parker came hurtling out at her.
“When you said you’d see to dinner, I didn’t think you meant actually cooking it. Please tell me you aren’t cooking! Please,” he cried pitifully, collapsing against her with his face pressed to her stomach and his arms wrapping around her upper legs. “Please, Aunt Pet, I’ll be good I promise. Don’t punish us so.”
Pet scowled down at the little twerp as Santo came out of the hall too. His expression was shocked and alarmed until she growled, “Ha, ha, very funny, Parks.”
“I’m not being funny,” he protested earnestly, pulling back to peer up her. “You can’t cook, Aunt Pet. You’ll kill us all.”
“Oh, for God’s sake,” Pet muttered, beginning to flush now with embarrassment. “I’m just making chicken Caesar salad, Parker. It will be fine.”
“How old is the salad dressing?” Parker asked at once.
“What? I don’t know,” she admitted, clucking her tongue with irritation when he pulled away and moved to her refrigerator to search for the dressing. Sighing, Pet turned to Santo and reminded him, “I did mention I’m not much of a cook.”
Head stuck in the fridge, Parker snorted with derision. “The last time she cooked for me I was sick for two days. Food poisoning.”
“It wasn’t food poisoning,” she snapped. “You just had a tummy bug.”
“Food poisoning,” Parker insisted firmly. “And the time before that, she made chocolate chip and bacon cookies.”
“No, I didn’t,” she said quickly, knowing her cheeks were probably red as apples now. “There was no bacon in them.”
“No, there wasn’t,” Parker agreed. “But you made them with bacon grease. They were disgusting.”
“It was the only fat I had,” Pet said defensively, but could feel herself heating up even more. If her face wasn’t cherry red now, she’d be surprised.
When Parker turned his head and arched one of his little supercilious eyebrows at her, she grimaced and glanced to Santo as she explained, “My sister, Quinn, is always on some diet or other. All she ever has in the house is green stuff. I wanted to make Parker cookies, but of course there was no butter. Not even margarine or shortening. The only fat in the house was the bacon I’d brought with me for Sunday breakfast, so . . .” She left the sentence unfinished and shrugged helplessly.
“So you fried the bacon and used the leftover grease to make cookies?” Santo guessed.
“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Pet said defensively and then wrinkled her nose and added, “Mind you that was on a Saturday night after two or three glasses of wine.”
“It wasn’t a good idea,” Parker assured her.
“No, it wasn’t,” she agreed and then glanced to Santo and admitted, “They really were disgusting. But in my defense, that’s around the time they started that campaign claiming everything is better with bacon so I thought it was worth a try.”
“Everything doesn’t include chocolate chip cookies,” Parker said dryly, backing out of the refrigerator with the Caesar salad dressing in hand.
“Yeah, well, they put bacon on donuts now,” Pet pointed out, and then bit her lip and tried to think when she’d bought the dressing he was now scanning in search of an expiry date. Surely it hadn’t been that long ago? she thought, but sighed with resignation when he turned to her with his aha look. “What’s the expiry date?”
“June.”
“There,” she began with relief. “This is June. It’s fi—”
“Of last year,” he interrupted dryly.
“Right.” Pet sighed the word and then moved to the phone. “So . . . pizza? Again?”

What was the most difficult scene to write?

Santo wasn’t the most talkative character. His personality was reserved, so that along with the aftereffects of PTSD and the fact he’d been alone for centuries, his conversational skills were sorely lacking. So, when it came to trying to get to know Pet and therefore talking to her, he sucked at it bigtime. It was a difficult scene to write because Santo just wouldn’t talk, which in the end was perfect for this scene. LOL

“Yes.” Marguerite glanced from her to Santo. “Were you heading somewhere?”
“Shopping,” Santo growled.
Pet rolled her eyes at that and explained, “I mentioned to Julius about needing to get a few things for Mrs. Wiggles, and he decided it would be a good idea if Santo accompanied me. That way I can help pick out the coffee table and headboard to replace the ones they broke up last night.”
“Oh, yes. A good idea.” Marguerite smiled and moved inside and out of the way for them to leave. “I will go see if Julius needs a second pair of eyes watching the Purdy house while you are gone then. Have a nice time.”
Pet managed a smile and murmured, “You too,” as she led Santo out of the house and headed for her car. She was nearly to it when Santo took her elbow and urged her to continue down the driveway past it.
“What—?” she began.
“The SUV is bigger,” Santo announced.
Pet glanced back over her shoulder at her pretty little red Toyota 86 and sighed as she realized that they wouldn’t be able to fit a coffee table and headboard in it. The SUV would work better. Still, it would have been nice if he’d said more than the SUV is bigger. Shaking her head, she turned forward again and allowed him to lead her around the hedges to the black SUV parked in the Caprellis’ driveway. Her gaze went from it to the huge RV next to it, and Pet commented, “When I first met Marguerite and Julius yesterday, they mentioned that they drove here in the RV.”
“Sí,” Santo said as he opened the door for her.
Pet climbed inside and turned just in time to see the door close. Sighing, she watched Santo walk around to the driver’s side and slide in, but when he merely did up his seat belt and started the vehicle, she asked, “Why did they drive the RV? Why not drive an SUV like you guys did?”
They were the only two vehicles in the driveway, and the RV had been the only one there when she’d first arrived and met Marguerite and Julius, so it was a safe bet the men had arrived in the SUV, she thought as she waited for his answer. She just didn’t understand what the RV was for. They were gas guzzlers. Not something you’d drive around in unless you needed a place to sleep, but they were all sleeping in the house.
“They were already in the RV,” he said, and then added, “Do up your seat belt.”
Pet reached for the belt and drew it impatiently across herself to snap it in its holder, but asked, “Why were they in the RV? Were they on vacation or something?”
“Si.”
That was it. Just sí. Was he saying sí to the vacation or the something? she wondered grimly, and shook her head. It was like the man had no comprehension of how conversations were meant to go. That was a thought that recurred to her several times over the next two hours as they stopped first at the pet store and then at her sister’s favorite furniture store. Pet was naturally chatty and cheerful, but it didn’t matter what she asked Santo, his answers were either sí or no, with the occasional three or four word almost-sentence that revealed little more than sí or no. Frankly, talking to the man was hard work and exhausting. She soon grew tired of the effort and allowed a heavy silence to fall between them. She also rushed the trip along, eager to be done with it.
In the end, they weren’t gone more than an hour. It felt like a hundred, and by the time he pulled into the driveway behind her Toyota, Pet was so angry she couldn’t stand another minute with him. She’d decided that he definitely must have controlled her to make her want him last night, because there was absolutely nothing about him that was attractive to her now.
The minute the SUV came to a stop, Pet had her seat belt off and was sliding out of the vehicle. She had nearly two hours before she had to go pick up Parker, and she was thinking she should load everything she could into her car now, to save time later.
“Food?”
Pet was crossing the front yard to the porch when Santo said that. Pausing at the porch steps, she turned and arched her eyebrows in question. “I’m sorry. What does ‘food’ mean? Do you want some? Are you asking if I have any? What?”
Santo’s eyes widened at her snarky tone, but he said, “I was asking if you are hungry.”
“Well, then, why didn’t you ask that?” she said with exasperation, and spun around to jog up the steps.

Would you say this book showcases your writing style or is it a departure for you?

I believe my writing style remains the same regardless of what genre I write in, so The Trouble with Vampires is a good example of my writing style. There’s a fair amount of action, mystery, humour, a little horror and some romance all wrapped up in it.
I’m not big on plotting out stories. I tend to write by the seat of my pants and just try to keep up and follow my characters around, which is what I did with The Trouble With Vampires.

What do you want people to take away from reading this book?

I just want my readers to have fun! And hopefully they’ll get so caught up in the story that they’ll end up laughing at, cringing for, or maybe even cheering on the hero or heroine without even realizing it.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have planned?

As for what I’m working on…
I just handed in the copy edits for the next Argeneau, Immortal Born, and I have plans to start on the next in the series as well as the next Highland Brides’ story in the next few weeks, but I’m still playing with ideas on who to write next in both.

As for my upcoming releases…
One of my classic historicals, The Reluctant Reformer, will be reissued June 25th, 2019 with a new cover and the new name A Lady In Disguise! My editor hated the old name, lol.

Argeneau book #30, Immortal Born, comes out September 24th. This one involves Allie, a mortal woman trying to care for an immortal baby. All was well and fine initially, but as the child got older he required more blood than she could healthily give. In desperation, Allie turns to stealing from the local blood bank. Unfortunately, she’s caught red-handed, literally, and the incident catches the attention of the local enforcers. Oh, and did I mention that she’s on the run from immortals, rogue immortals specifically? Unfortunately, she doesn’t know the difference. To Allie, a vamp is a vamp, so when she first sees the Enforcer’s eyes, it sends her into a tailspin. To make things even more interesting, one of the enforcers, Magnus, can’t read her…

The next story in the Highland Brides series, Geordie’s story, will be coming out in early 2020. As I mentioned before, Geordie’s story is H-O-T so his is a much sexier story than usual, but with the humor and chaos that the Buchanans tend to bring wherever they go. (By the way, we just got a peak of a mockup of the cover and I’ll just say this…it definitely suits his story! <WG>)

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: Two signed paperback editions (or audiobook editions) of The Trouble With Vampires… winner’s choice!

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: If you were an immortal’s life mate but getting him/her to talk to you was about as easy as pulling your own teeth out one by one, what would you do to try to get him/her to open up?

 
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Excerpt from The Trouble With Vampires:

“She is your life mate.”
Santo came to a halt when Marguerite paused in the center of the kitchen and swung around to make that announcement. He scowled at the words and then shook his head. “But she—”
“Wants you to speak,” Marguerite interrupted gently. “I know that is difficult for you. You have spent more than two thousand years avoiding people and not talking. It has only been the last couple of decades or so that you have allowed yourself to enjoy the company of others, and even now, you mostly listen rather than talk. But she is your life mate, Santo. And she is mortal. While she has some knowledge of our existence, Pet has no idea that she is a possible life mate to you, or what that means. You will have to explain it to her, and even then, she will not automatically just fall in with it. She will need to be wooed, and she will need to get to know you. She cannot read your mind as I can and see how good and fine a man you are.”
“You can read me,” he said heavily. It wasn’t a question so much as a resigned acknowledgment. Immortals as old as he could only be read when they allowed it, or for the first year or two after meeting a life mate. It was another sign that they had met one, they briefly lost control of their ability to shield their thoughts from others. If Marguerite, who was much younger than him, could read him, then Pet was definitely his life mate. The thought made him scowl and he complained, “She does not like me.”
Marguerite smiled and shook her head. “She does not dislike you, Santo. She is just frustrated that you will not speak to her properly and is taking it as a lack of interest.”
Santo mouth tightened. Lack of interest indeed. He’d spent the last hour fighting the urge to take her in his arms, but all he said was, “I dislike talking.”
“Well, you had best learn to like it, because you will not win Pet without it. The days of cavemen thumping women over the head and dragging them off to their caves are over.”
“Pity,” he growled irritably.
Marguerite rolled her eyes at that and said, “The modern woman is free to come and go as she pleases, so you had best start giving her a reason to want to stay.”
Santo grimaced, but then stilled and lifted his head slightly as an idea struck him.
Obviously still reading his thoughts, Marguerite tsked with exasperation and said, “And that does not mean instigating life mate sex to try to tie her to your side.”
“Why not?” Santo asked, almost embarrassed at how petulant he sounded. “It would bind her.”
“So would rope,” she snapped impatiently.
Santo nodded thoughtfully, almost wishing his conscience would allow him to actually do that. Not tying her up permanently, but just temporarily while he showed her what shared dreams could be like, which would hopefully lead to life mate sex, and—
“Santo,” Marguerite said with a shock that assured him she was still in his head.
“It was just a thought,” he muttered, avoiding her eyes.
Marguerite glared at him briefly, but then asked, “Do you want to be a true partner to her, or a vibrator with legs?”
“What?” Santo gaped at her. He thought he knew what she was talking about, but his brain was having difficulty putting the words together with the sweet, refined woman he’d always known as his aunt. Perhaps he was misunderstanding. English wasn’t his first language, after all, so he asked, “What is a vibrator?”
“Exactly what you think it is,” she said grimly, and then sighed and reasoned, “And if you use life mate sex to claim her and do not allow her to get to know you at the same time, that is all you will be to her.”
Santo suspected that was supposed to sway him, but really, what was wrong with being a vibrator with legs? She could use him, play with him, pleasure herself with him. He had no problem being used and played with, especially since her pleasure would be his pleasure, and he wouldn’t have to talk to her—
“Santo,” Marguerite gritted out, still in his head and obviously striving for patience. “Pet cannot love someone she does not know.”
“She would get to know parts of me,” he argued, still not convinced it would be a bad approach.
“She would get to know your penis,” Marguerite said bluntly. “And a woman cannot love a penis, no matter how talented it is. She will use it and enjoy it, but not love it, and so she would have no reason not to leave it and go find another equally talented penis, one that might actually talk to her.”
“That would be a very talented penis,” Santo pointed out with amusement. When Marguerite didn’t even crack a smile, he sighed and then shrugged and said arrogantly, “We are life mates. No other penis could pleasure her like me.”
Marguerite arched her eyebrows. “No other penis could pleasure her like ‘you’? Not ‘like yours’? You realize you just called yourself a dickhead, which is how you are acting right now.” When he flushed, she added, “And it is not necessarily true that no one could pleasure her like you. While it is rare for a mortal to be a possible life mate to two immortals, it does happen. As you well know,” she added heavily.
Santo frowned. He did know. It had happened to his cousin Raffaele just weeks ago while they were in Punta Cana. A woman named Jessica had been a possible mate for Raffaele and another immortal. Santo briefly fretted over the possibility that such a thing could happen again, but then shook his head. “The chances of that happening—”
“Are not zero,” Marguerite interrupted. “But even if that did not end up being the case for Pet, are you really fine with her walking away even temporarily to sleep with countless men to find out for herself that none can pleasure her like you?”
Santo stiffened at the very suggestion. No, he would not be fine with that. She was his.
“Me Tarzan, you Jane,” Marguerite muttered.
“What?” he asked with confusion.
“Nothing,” she said shortly, and then shook her head. “I am just a bit dismayed to realize that, despite your stalwart support of family members, and efforts to ease everyone else’s situation, a Neanderthal has been hiding under that silence of yours all this time.”
Santo clenched his hands at the insult. “I am not a Neanderthal.”
“Then stop acting like one and acknowledge that to claim Pet you will need to win her trust and love,” Marguerite suggested grimly.
Santo glowered at her, but after a moment, gave in and nodded. “Fine. How?”
Marguerite relaxed a bit and said quietly, “I told you. You need to speak to her so that she can see who you are.”
“What do I say?” he asked, and when she gaped at him with disbelief, he said stiffly, “I am not trying to be difficult. I dislike talking about feelings and such feminine things.”
“You do not have to talk about your feelings,” Marguerite said soothingly, and then her lips twitched and she added, “In fact, since most of your ‘feelings’ for Pet right now seem to be centered in your lower regions, I would advise against it.”
Before Santo could decide if she was insulting or making fun of him, Marguerite glanced at her wristwatch and murmured, “There are still a couple hours before she has to pick up Parker, and I do not think she has had anything to eat today unless the two of you stopped somewhere?”
Santo shook his head.
“Good,” Marguerite said on a sigh. “Then I suggest you take her out for a late lunch and then talk to her. Just be yourself, but speak your thoughts out loud,” she suggested as if it was easy as could be. Walking around him, she moved to the door and then paused to swing back and add, “Your less prurient thoughts, though, Santo. Save any sex talk for later. All right?”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Irresistible desire and thrilling suspense combine in this electrifying new Argeneau novel from New York Times bestselling author Lynsay Sands.

For close to three thousand years the imposing, impossibly handsome Santo Notte has fought in armies across the world and battled his own, more personal enemies. Of all the places he might expect to encounter his life mate, a quiet corner of upstate New York doesn’t seem likely. But as soon as he makes contact with history professor Petronella Stone, while hunting down a suspected rogue immortal, he knows that she will be the greatest adventure of his eternal life.

He expects her to be surprised, confused, even overwhelmed. What he doesn’t expect is that Pet has a secret history of her own. There’s no mistaking the mind-blowing, mutual pleasure they share. But as Pet struggles to protect her nephew from a danger lurking too close to home, Santo realizes there’s another threat to her safety—him. And claiming their passionate future will be impossible until he leaves his past behind, forever…

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Meet the Author:

My name is Lynsay Sands and I’m the author of the Argeneau series and many hysterical historicals (as my readers tend to call them). I have written over fifty books and twelve anthologies, which probably tells you I really enjoy writing. I consider myself very lucky to have been able to make a career out of it.
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