Ellesea Loves Reading: New Release Spotlight: Vanquished by S.E. Green

Wednesday, 11 November 2015

New Release Spotlight: Vanquished by S.E. Green

(Warning: For mature audiences only)

For a price, the world’s most powerful people can explore their darkest desires. On a private island hidden in the ocean they may hunt humans for game, attend gladiator-style fights, participate in elaborate orgies, and freely indulge in all the deadly sins within the cosplay of ancient times.

Abducted from their life in Miami, Valoria and her younger sister wake up in this secret society, wherein Valoria is condemned to the fights and her sister is taken away to become a sex slave.

Now “property” of a sadistic tyrant, Valoria joins other men and women captives who are forced to fight and maim for others’ enjoyment, to run in their hunts, and participate in deviant fantasies. And she’s under the cold, watchful eye of Alexior, a hired trainer with his own agenda for being involved in the twisted decadence.

After surviving several near-death ordeals, a defiant Valoria focuses on her training and against all odds soon becomes a favorite. But she fights for one thing and one thing only—to be reunited with her sister and to be freed.

But promises of freedom are sometimes just manipulative lies . . .

I pace in a circle and turn back to see the other warriors heading into the men’s and women’s quarters. I start to follow and glance to the left where Alexior stands in the dark beneath the awning where the water barrel sits.

He’s staring right at me, and his intense gaze thumps straight through me.

I cross the sand to step under the awning and come to a stop in front of him. I look up at the shadows cast by his cheekbones and into his conflicted eyes, and something deep inside of me stirs.

He lifts a hand and runs his fingers through my short dark hair. He caresses my eyebrows, down the length of my nose, across my cheekbones, then trails his index finger over my bottom lip. I close my eyes and soak in the warmth and comfort of his touch.

Cupping the back of my head, he brings me closer. His lips move over my cheek and down to my neck to nuzzle in, and I breathe out on a quiet sigh.

Lifting my hands, I curl my fingers into his hips, and he shifts his face, and our lips meet in a simultaneous open mouthed kiss. There is no preliminary peck. Our tongues dive deep. Circling. Pulsing. Devouring. Our bodies move closer until we are pressed from chest to hip, and every minute nerve in my body awakens.

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Goodreads

S. E. Green (aka Shannon Greenland) is the award winning author of the teen thriller, Killer Instinct, a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers; the teen spy series, The Specialists, an ALA Popular Paperback and a National Reader’s Choice recipient; and the YA romance, The Summer My Life Began, winner of the Beverly Hills Book Award. Her books have been translated into several languages and are currently on numerous state reading lists. Vanquished is her debut novel for adults.

Shannon grew up in Tennessee where she dreaded all things reading and writing. She didn’t even read her first book for enjoyment until she was twenty-five. After that she was hooked! When she’s not writing, she works as an adjunct math professor and lives on the coast in Florida with her very grouchy dog. Find her online everywhere @segreenauthor.