Featuring dark fantasy God of Summer by Kat Chant
Back in the Bronze Age, Angus McCraggan sacrificed his life to break the Celtic curse laid on his kind. He failed. Millennia later, he returns to modern Ireland to find his people have become feral, vengeful shadows. With his hollow hill now packed with tourists, he uses his power to keep his past hidden.
Until an American calls him out.
Since a banshee attacked her as a teen, Erin De Santos has been tormented by dreams of a boy she’s never met. Armed with a new identity, she returns to the Emerald Isle determined to face her nightmare. But her discovery turns fatal.
When the banshee strikes again, Angus surrenders his heart—and his hope of freeing his people—to save her. With his life now hers and his curse descending, Erin must make a terrible choice: kill her savior or share his doom.
Exclusive Excerpt from God of Summer
She ran her hand along the crisscrossed lines and zigzags lining the stones. Nothing special about it. Nothing but cool stone, ridges and dents. How could she connect to stone? If it was Angus, now, the ridges and dents of his ribs, the heat of his torso, then this would make sense. A tiny burst of sensation, like when she summoned him, flickered and faded.
Behind her, he gasped. “Don’t!”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t call me in there with you. I can’t refuse a plea from the heart, Erin.”
“Is that what I’m doing?” She’d done it at the trispiral, too. “Would you being in here be so bad?”
“This is my earth. Everything you give, I take. Give too much and you will wind up inside Newgrange, as I was, and I don’t know how to bring you out.”
“Lucky for you I’m not a giver.” She pressed her hand to her heart. “I’m one of life’s take—”
The rest of her warning was lost as he entered the chamber. The place lit up with a whoosh as his presence filled the space and he became an amber man-shape within a glittering, golden-walled room. The floor thrummed, sending tiny pieces of gravel and grit tickling over her bare feet. The artwork carved on the upright stones danced in rainbow hues and there was a distant sound, like a far-off choir, which seemed to bypass her ears and go straight into her brain. The air thickened with his smoky scent, and she inhaled until she was dizzy.
“You haven’t heeded a single warning I’ve given you,” he groused. “If you’d stayed outside the day we met, you wouldn’t be here now.”
“Because I’d be dead. If you hadn’t taken my fear that day, I wouldn’t have been able to withstand the banshee for a moment and you’d have an Erin-shaped homicidal nutjob to explain to my grandfather.”
That shut him down.
“Very well then my brave, bold lady, hold out your hand.”
She extended her hand, ready to shake. His soft chuckle washed over her and ended too soon. It was, if possible, better than his singing.
“We’re not striking a deal, mo chroí.”
Large, strong fingers wrapped around her hand and rotated her wrist. His touch sent a jolt down her arm. Tiny bolts of lightning flickered from her fingers to his. Her hand tingled, not unpleasantly, as a familiar languor seeped into her limbs. His hand spasmed and he made a sound similar to when she’d traced the trispiral outside.
Instantly, she let go. “Angus?”
“I’m grand. Your feelings have more strength behind them than I expected.”
“That was grounding?”
“Something like,” he said thickly. He cleared his throat. “Let’s give it another go; except this time, I’m going to put your hand on my heart.”
His heart was directly under the trispiral. Perfect for her plan to steal the key from his chest and break the seal between Newgrange and the land. If he could give her his heart yet keep a muscle beating in his chest, then she could snatch the magic from inside the brand.
Probably.
About Kat Chance
Kat Chant is an award-winning writer. A bookworm who grew into a history buff, she swapped beaches for castles and moved from Australia to the UK. When studying medieval history, she fell in love with a lad from Ireland…and fell in love with his country, too.
She and her family live in the heart of Ireland, surrounded by fields in forty shades of green.
Kat is a keen cook and often experiments with traditional farmhouse foods such as making bread, cheese, jam and liqueurs. She also decorates the occasional cake.
Giveaway
Kat Chant will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Hi Mary,
So good to be here today on your blog. WOWSERS, doesn’t Angus look mighty impressive at full size?
Happy to answer any questions from you and your readers.
All the best,
Kat
Congratulations on your release of God of Summer, Kat! Great excerpt, I enjoyed following the tour and learning about your book, which sounds like my kind of book and I love the cover! Good luck with your book and I hope the tour was a success!
Thanks for sharing it with me and have a spectacular TGIF!
Thanks so much, Eva. My weekend was spent celebrating my wedding anniversary, hence the lack of response! I hope you had a great weekend, too.
Great excerpt and cover.
Thanks a million, Rita!
I love the cover and title, this sounds really good.
Cheers, Sherry!
Happy Friday! I hope that you have enjoyed your book tour as much as I have enjoyed reading about you and your work throughout this tour. God of Summer is a must read for me and I will be keeping my eye out for the next stories in the series. Have a great weekend!
I had a wonderful tour and I’m very excited about my WIP, which I hope to share soon.