Vampires and the Five Languages of Love By Kerrelyn Sparks

Nothing on earth can make this vampire fall in love…

After 499 years of existence, Connor Buchanan has arrived at an inescapable conclusion: he is a cold-hearted SOB.  He’s been watching his friends—those poor romantic fools—plummet off the cliff into love like a dazed herd of sheep.  But not Connor.  He knows that love leads to nothing by heartache.

Until Marielle…

She is an angel cast down from heaven for disobedience.  Trapped in mortal form, she finds a protector in Connor, a Scottish vampire haunted by a dark past.  Marielle hopes to heal his broken heart and earn her way back home, but suddenly she has these…feelings. This strange yet pleasant physical yearning—for a vampire!  Is this the work of a demon luring her into hell, or has this angel found heavenly bliss?

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The tenth book of the Love at Stake series, Vampire Mine, hits the bookstore shelves March 29th, and book # 11, Sexiest Vampire Alive, releases at the end of September. With those two books completed, it’s now time for me to start writing # 12. Time to get acquainted with a new hero and heroine. Time to step into her shoes, her head, and her heart and fall in love with a new hero. And I want that love to feel healthy, passionate, and real.

That got me thinking about a popular advice book for maintaining healthy relationships, The Five Love Languages, by Gary Chapman. In short, Mr. Chapman asserts that there are five ways to communicate love: physical touch, quality time, words of affirmation, acts of service, and receiving gifts. How fluent would my fictional heroes be in these five love languages?

Physical touch? My vamps and shifters are fictional romantic heroes–in other words, they have no problem fulfilling a heroine’s fantasy of the perfect lover. They’re naturally well-endowed and well versed in the act of making love. They may be a bit prickly to begin with, since they may be carrying a few centuries of painful baggage, but once they realize they’ve found their true love, they’re eager to touch, stroke, and caress. If my heroine needs physical touch to feel loved, then she’ll be deliriously happy after my hero gets his hands on her. Thinking back over my past heroes and heroines, I believe vampire Vanda and werewolf Phil were good examples of lovers who craved physical touch in order to feel loved.

Quality time could be a challenge for my Vamps, who are literally dead during the day. They’ll have to work extra hard to make sure their ladies are satisfied with the time they spend together at night. Quality time worked well for were-panther Carlos when he took Caitlyn with him on his expedition to Thailand. By the end of that trip, they were both madly in love.

Words of affirmation: probably the best way to end any good romance. Declarations of love and proposals of marriage—every hero needs to be a master at this, especially if he screwed up over the course of the book and needs to beg forgiveness. Vamps like Roman, Jean-Luc, Jack, and Robby have to find the perfect words to convince mortal women they can find an eternity of joy married to a vampire.

Acts of service. My heroes are always eager to serve their heroines, and not just in the bedroom! Many times, it means risking their lives to protect their women from the bad guys. Roman took the Stay-Awake drug for a week to help Shanna take care of baby Constantine and ended up aging a year for each day he stayed awake. Now that was a sweet declaration of love!

Gifts. A true romantic hero likes to give gifts. Jean-Luc is a great example. He not only gave Heather some beautiful new clothes, he gave her daughter some wonderful toys. Jack gifted Lara with a romantic trip to Venice. And we’ll see in Vampire Mine that Connor finds the perfect gift for his angel, Marielle.

Since I write romantic fiction, my heroes need to match our fantasy of the perfect man. So it’s hardly surprising that they’re fluent in all five languages of love. What language of love would you like a vampire or shape shifter to speak to you? Leave your response as a comment for a chance to win a signed copy of Carlos and Caitlyn’s story, Eat Prey Love. And don’t forget to find a copy of Vampire Mine this week!

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A big thank-you to Kerrelyn for visiting with us today!

For more information about Kerrelyn and the Love At Stake series, please visit www.kerrelynsparks.com. And don’t forget to answer the question for a chance to win Eat Prey Love. Good luck! 😀

 

 

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