Guest Post and Excerpt: Author of For Love or Vengeance, Caridad Piñeiro

Many thanks for letting me visit with you today!  Since we’re at Celestial Reviews, it only makes sense to talk about the very celestial heroine in my latest paranormal romantic suspense, FOR LOVE OR VENGEANCE.

Helene Alexander isn’t your ordinary FBI Agent.  She’s Nemesis, the Goddess of Vengeance.  She’s got daddy issues and she’s filled with darkness.  She’s also made a deal she doesn’t really understand and which may result in her not only losing her powers, but her life.

But back to those daddy issues.  Helene’s daddy is Zeus and if you do some digging into the various mythological stories, you know Zeus is not a nice guy.  In fact, he’s downright abusive and that has seriously impacted on Helene’s character and the choices she makes since Helene would do anything – and I mean anything – not to have to go back to Olympus and her father.

In some ways, that relationship with her father also impacts on her attitude toward men in general.  She doesn’t trust them for starters.  She believes they are weak.  Plus, with her many years of meting out justice, she also understands that the few men who are good and honorable are often either worn down or destroyed by the evil around them.

Enter Miguel Sanchez, her sexy, very good and very honorable new partner.  Miguel is one of those men that evil might wear down.  In fact, Miguel has already had his brush with evil during a shopping mall hostage situation.  That brush has wounded him, physically and emotionally.

Helene sees those wounds quickly thanks to her goddess powers.  She can’t understand them since with her black and white view of the world, she would do anything to exact vengeance.  But time with Miguel will help her learn the difference between the two and offer her a chance for something she had never thought possible:  Love.

Thanks for coming by to visit with me!  I’d love to hear from you whether you like a touch of gods and goddesses in your stories.

 Excerpt:

Miguel called himself a fool, and yet was powerless to deny he needed her. Needed the comfort of her arms. Needed to reach beyond her inflexible façade to the intense woman within. The one who felt pain and joy so deeply. Who understood the need for justice, and strove so hard to find it. The woman he hoped might be capable of more than just an occasional one-night stand.

She was leading him toward the door to another part of the club. It was guarded by a pale, muscular bouncer. The bouncer moved to block their path, but she held up the key and waved her hand, literally brushing him aside so they could pass.

Her steps were quick and short, the sound of her heels staccato sharp against the tiled floor in the hall.

Room number five was at the end of the hall. Her hand fumbled as she tried to slip the large key into the lock and Miguel reached out to steady her hand.

She looked up at him and murmured, “Thanks.”

“My pleasure.”

Never one to miss a beat, she said, “And mine, I hope.”

They went in and she locked the door behind him, then flashed him a sexy smile.

For a brief second, he registered an assortment of adult toys tacked up on one wall. And then her body was pressed against him, his back against the door.

She was quick to reach for his suit jacket, but he gently grabbed hold of her hands and stilled their motion. “I know you need to forget what happened today, but there’s no sense in rushing. We have all night.”

He reached up and caressed her curls, then rested his hand at the crook of her neck. He gently brushed aside her hair and bent his head. Nuzzling the soft skin by his hand, he whispered, “You’re very beautiful.”

She tipped her head to give him better access and murmured playfully, “Tell me something I haven’t heard before.”

“Immodest, too.” He kissed the side of her throat and leisurely dragged his mouth along the sensitive skin to a spot behind her ear. “And headstrong.”

“Ooh, you say such sinful things to a girl,” she cooed breathily.

He tugged on her finely worked hoop earring with his teeth, tongued her lobe, and whispered, “Opinionated.”

She cradled the back of his head and slipped her hands beneath his suit jacket to tug him closer. “I think those two are almost redundant,” she murmured.

“Smart-mouthed.” Then he covered that smart mouth with his, tasting her full lips. Urging her into the kiss with the press and tug of his mouth against hers. Inviting her to open, and when she did, slipped in to trace the perfect line of her teeth. He danced his tongue across hers and dared her to do more.

For Love or Vengeance (The Reborn Vampire Series)

by Caridad Piñeiro (Goodreads Author)

FBI Special Agent Helene Alexander is a goddess.  An actual frickin’ goddess. And her mission is clear, see that justice is served at all times or her days as a goddess are numbered. Helene’s new FBI partner defines good-looking, but Miguel Sanchez, wants nothing to do with her ends-justify-the-means attitude. He knows through experience the type of guilt her actions can bring and Miguel wants nothing to do with Helene’s careless ways. Even if she’s so damned hot she makes him burn with the need. When the serial killer they’re tracking strikes again, Helene and Miguel are drawn into a case that will challenge their most fundamental beliefs about justice and vengeance. But it’s the passion between them that forces a goddess to choose: eternal life with all her powers...or death—to save the man she loves.