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Rising Darkness

Back Cover Blurb:

Can True Love Triumph over Evil?

Demon hunter, vampire and member of the Cadre, Damien Hancock has come to Wolvesrain to help Emma McGovern defend herself against a powerful demon. For if Emma fins love--and consummates that love--the demon Asmos will fulfill a generations- old curse and claim her soul. Damien knows just how powerful the ancient demon is, but he never anticipated the all-consuming effect courageous Emma would have on him.

Having led a sheltered life within the walls of her ancestral estate, Emma senses that Damien, like her, carries too much pain and loneliness in his heart. But as their attraction proves impossible to resist, Emma fears it is the curse that is drawing them together. Can the love she has found in Damien's strong arms now help her fight the rising darkness?

Excerpt from RISING DARKNESS:

Damien's breath caught. His chest constricted and his palms dampened.

Look at the fire burning in her eyes, the soft ruby dewiness of her lips--a peach ripe for the picking. Take a bite, Damien.

He licked his lips and felt his fangs descend.

"Mr. Hancock? Are you all right?" A soft voice broke through the cloud in his mind, interrupting his delicious thoughts.

"Emma McGovern?" he choked. He had to get ahold of himself. He took another deep breath. Nonsense. He was Damien Hancock. Adept. Master of the Occult. He'd trained for many years, honing his focus, his control.

He would not fall victim to a foolish gypsy girl's curse.

Reviews continued . . .

It is said that Hell has no fury like a woman scorned. But I think the Wolvesrain Curse, begun on the night of the Equinox over a century and a half ago by a young gypsy woman done wrong, may just prove that adage wrong. In conjuring her curse upon her faithless lover and his betrothed she had called down the demon Asmos to plague the condescending Amelia of Wolvesrain and all of her future heirs. They would only find love long enough to destroy it.

Damien Hancock had been reborn that night. Vampires had gathered to feed on the demon essence Camilla had called down. The vampires had destroyed what Camilla’s wolves hadn’t, decimating the gyspy clan as well. Damien and his brother Nicholai had become vampires that night while their two sisters had been murdered.

Damien, determined to keep his soul pure, had never tasted a drop of human blood. He had gone to work for the Cadre and had become a demon hunter instead. There he’d learned control over his own demons and had captured many others. But the last demon he had hunted had been too powerful and had claimed his partner Cara. The timing had been off on the exorcism he had performed on her, leaving Cara an empty shell. It was then that he and the Cadre had parted ways.

Now they were calling on him again, claiming a special circumstance, to protect the latest of Amelia’s heirs, Emma McGovern, the last of her line. The Cadre believes that Asmos was hailed from the same demon world as the demon who had claimed Cara.

Damien agrees to meet with Emma, but is surprised by the strong feelings she generates in him. She is drawn to him as well. He is the vulnerable alpha male no woman can resist. She is the classic damsel in distress. Neither had ever expected to experience love, he because he believes he is a monster, she because of the family curse. He alone
sees her beauty, not her scars. She sees into his heart and trusts him. But is this love true, or is it Asmos luring them to their deaths?

As the Equinox returns, the wolves have already returned home to Wolvesrain and with them the vampire clan that feeds on the demon's essence. Among them is Damien’s brother. The essence has made Nicholai far stronger than Damien. He has his work cut out if he wants to save his beloved. But the true danger is from Damien himself, for if he follows his heart they are both doomed.

RISING DARKNESS is an incredible paranormal romantic suspense that will keep the readers on the edges of their seats, rooting for the courageous pair of star-crossed lovers until the very last page. I highly recommend this read which is the second title in the Dark Enchantments miniseries.

Reviewed by Leslie Tramposch for PNR Reviews


 

Cadre vampire Damien Hancock is a demon hunter. He is sent to Wolvesrain to protect cloistered innocent Emma McGovern from Asmos, a powerful demon, who will own her soul if she ever makes love with her soulmate.

Damien knows that Asmos is as dangerous of a demon as there is. He knows he must be at his best, but is distracted by the courage Emma displays as she struggles to prevent the family curse from being activated. However, she is attracted to Damien and him to her; neither can prevent what she assumes is the inevitability of the curse while Asmos salivates in anticipation of owning another soul; one that Damien believes belongs to him out of his love for her.

Using a wonderful twist in which the heroine knows that love is futile and short term as the connotation is eternity with a demon not her beloved. Thus Damien the vampiric demon hunter has his work cut out to keep Emma safe, but wonders who will keep her safe from him because if he acts on his needs, only Asmos wins. Paranormal romance fans will enjoy this fine Hobson’s choice as abstinence seems to be the only way to insure the demon fails to get his Emma.

—Harriet Klausner:

Emma McGovern is under a curse. The old family curse states that if Emma finds and consummates love, that a demon by the name Asmos will fulfill the curse and claim her soul.

Damien is a demon hunter and a vampire, and member of the Cadre. He arrives at Wolvesrain to help Emma defend herself. However, neither pictured that the true challenge would come between Emma and Damien, which is even more dangerous because evil would triumph while love would lose with a woman's soul as the cost.

RISING DARKNESS was interesting. It was very quick read for me, fast paced, and easy to follow along with. No long plots to follow or pages to make connotations of characters. It was simple, straight forward, and I like it.

This is my first Cynthia Cooke novel, but I will add her to my author's-to-watch list.

Kym Oetting

Romance Readers at Heart

Caught in the grip of a centuries old curse that plagues her family, Emma McGovern fears what the coming equinox will bring. Damien has been sent to protect Emma, but the two find themselves fighting a forbidden attraction that could damn them both.

Centuries ago, the exotically beautiful and magically powerful gypsy Camilla believed the lies of William, an English gentleman, and gave him her body and heart. When William’s true intended bride came upon the two lovers, Camilla found out she’d been played for a fool. In her fury, she used her powers to curse William, his Amelia, and their heirs, and called upon the demon Asmos to carry out her vengeance.

Emma McGovern is the last of William and Amelia’s line. Timid, fearful, and reclusive, Emma is scared of everything – with good reason. She has lived her entire life fearing the family curse that killed her mother and left Emma scarred, and promises death to those who find love. As the Equinox approaches, her fear is multiplied by the demonic wolves that surround her family home of Wolvesrain; wolves intent on getting to Emma – again.

Damien was bit and became a vampire at the same time Camilla’s curse was conceived. He chose to fight his vampire instincts for human blood, and has spent the past centuries working with the mysterious Cadre as a demon hunter. His last assignment went horribly wrong and caused Damien to leave, but the Cadre wants him back. They know that Asmos will use his powers to make Emma fall in love and be loved in return, and once that love is consummated she will become a vessel for the demon. Damien is the Cadre’s – and Emma’s – best chance to contain the demon before he can possess Emma. Damien is also Emma’s best chance against the vampires – including Damien’s own brother - gathering in the woods outside Wolvesrain, intent on using Emma for their own purposes.

Damien had counted on being immune to Emma, but after one look into her expressive eyes, he knows his attraction goes far deeper than the demon’s lure. Emma, who has resigned herself to living without love, feels the same. Damien wants to protect Emma, and convinces her to go with him to the Cadre’s headquarters in St. Yve, where she will learn to defend and protect herself in the hopes of finally defeating the curse. But Asmos is more powerful than either of them anticipated, and the love that should be their salvation might just damn them both.

RISING DARKNESS starts you out on the edge of your seat and doesn’t let up until the end. Author Cynthia Cooke has created an intriguing world of good and evil that begs to be expanded upon. I loved Emma and Damien. They are wonderful together right from the beginning, and I enjoyed seeing their bond build throughout the novel. Emma especially was a great character; she starts out so afraid of her own shadow, but really comes into her own by the end of the story. Damien was likewise interesting – I loved how the author shows all sides to this complex hero. Paranormal fans will definitely want to check this one out, and likely be left demanding more!

Will Asmos have his day?

Asmos the Demon of Wrath!  In 1761 Asmos was summoned by a gypsy curse to possess the women of the McGovern family line.  If my heroine, Emma, finds love and consummates that love – her soul is his!	Asmos appears every year at the time of the fall equinox!   And with him comes the wolves!  Asmos whispers, cajoles, seduces--does whatever he can to entice Damien and Emma to fall in love and get together!
Though they know what’s at risk, Damien and Emma find temptation very hard to resist!	Are the demon wolves there to kill her, or help her find her way into Damien's arms?  And if they do?
All hell will break loose!!

Get Seduced By the Dark!

Read RISING DARKNESS, a vampire romance by Silhouette Nocturne. In stores September 2007!