One day til new release

I received a review yesterday for Mating Stone, the first book in the Jewels of Ursus trilogy, from Katie at Romance Junkies. Thanks Katie for the review.

"MATING STONE is a very short story with a lot of action and some serious and sensual love making. Elyssa Edwards doesn’t hold anything back and what you have is an interesting take on a shape shifting family and the characters that are a part of it. If I were Sarah I would have felt I was like Alice in Wonderland. Mark is the very sexy yet humble man who adores Sarah and is willing to sacrifice everything he has and known because of his love for her. The passion and love between these two have take up these short pages and the ultimate scene is the dream where Sarah is pleasured by both Mark and Tarris, who is some other being not of this world. Intense, sexy and action packed, MATING STONE kept my interest and should do the same for most readers.”


Tomorrow is the release day for Lovers' Stone, the second in the Jewels of Ursus trilogy. Lovers' Stone is the sequel to Mating Stone and focuses on Luke Ursine, the bad boy and black sheep of the Ursine family. Luke doesn't do things the easy way or the nice way. He does them his way.

To celebrate the release I'm holding a contest where the prize is a genuine diamond and ruby pendant with matching ruby stud earrings. The delicate pendant is a small circle of gems set in gold, of course, on an 18" chain. Entering to win this prize is easy. All you have to do is visit this blog and leave a comment. Each day's comment will earn you a slot in a drawing for the necklace. All entries must be received by midnight, July 11th (Friday) EST. The winner will be announced on Saturday (7/12).

The hero for Lovers’ Stone is the twin brother of Mating Stone’s hero:

Luke Ursine
Were/Shape-shifter: Bear
Occupation: Has a degree in architecture, but spends his time rehabbing old homes.
Age: 156 (looks 28-29)
Story: Appears first in Mating Stone by Elyssa Edwards from Ellora’s Cave. His own story is told in Lovers’ Stone to be released in July 9th.

His own brother refers to him as Lucas “screw the whole world and everyone in it” Ursine. And for a good many years that’s been the side of him the world, especially his twin brother Mark and his clan, have seen. The breach between the twins goes back decades and is wrapped inextricably around a family tragedy that claimed the lives of the two people who meant the most to them both. Luke can’t forgive Mark for his part in what happened, but he has never forgiven himself, either.

Wickedly intelligent, Luke delights in rubbing people the wrong way. The only person left in his world he’ll listen to is his sister-in-law, Sarah. He still does exactly what he wants, but he’d do almost anything to keep from upsetting her. He sees in her the best of their family and recognizes she has made his brother into a man and a leader that even he has to give grudging respect.

But not even Sarah could stop him from finding the woman who fate says is to be his. His one true, live long mate. The only mate he could ever have. The woman he has only touched in his dreams. But as his friend Tarris says, once he finds her, both of their secrets will be revealed and there will be no going back.

Excerpt:

Luke rose and walked slowly to the archway and stopped. Each of the other twelve corridors led to rooms that held stones. A male picked the path whose stones corresponded to the birth stone of the female he hoped to mate with. Only one stone in the tens of thousands that filled this mountain would support the mating of a particular couple. Supposedly if the mating was not meant to be, he would not find the stone. [His friend] Wade had searched through hundreds of gems to find the right one. He’d told Luke it had sung to him the minute he touched it. Wade said it had glowed and the face of his future mate had appeared in its depths. More, it had vibrated in such a way that he’d become instantly aroused and his need to join with his mate had burned like a fire in his body.

But this center corridor, this thirteenth passage was one that was never used. It could not be entered except by those who were called. And to Luke’s knowledge no one had been called down this path in so long what lay at its end had become legend. An oasis of lovers’ stones the lore said. A collection of stones from each of the caves, but they were more than just simple mating stones. These stones were for those Weres who were tied to another by destiny. The two bound by a lovers’ stone were destined for more than mating bliss. Theirs was to be a great life-long love. To Luke it sounded like more than legend. It sounded like bullshit.

The mist swirled around him and Luke’s legs carried him of their own volition through the arch and down the narrow tunnel. There were no torches here, only the glow of the golden fog lit his way. He heard the voice call again. “Where are you? I can’t see you.” It was a woman’s voice.

He heard nothing but the voice. Not even his inexplicably bare feet made a sound on the stone floor. He took turn after turn following the light that pulled him along. Abruptly the fog rose to the ceiling just in front of him taking the shape of a doorway through which he could not see. He heard her calling again. She was looking for someone. She was looking for him. The realization lifted something inside him. He stepped through a large bank of the golden mist and found himself in a vaulted chamber. In the center of the room was a shimmering pool surrounded by large low pallets filled with cushions and pillows. Directly across from him an identical doorway had formed. Before it, watching him with large frightened eyes was a woman. Her long black hair was loose and flowed down her back. The blue eyes glowed so brightly for a moment he considered that she might be a succubus but dismissed the thought. No creature could have gained entrance here except those who were like him. Only another Were could have entered the cave, let alone this most sacred place. Or that was what they’d always been told.

The woman was dressed in a long, red satin nightgown with thin straps that barely contained the full breasts that threatened to overflow the bodice. Her hips curved in a way that made a man long to run his hands over them, to hold tightly to them as he thrust inside her. The pull she seemed to be exerting over him was stronger than any desire he’d ever felt. Screw mating stones, just looking at this woman was making him hard.