Fidelity
No not the investment company, but the loyalty and commitment two people show each other when in love.
I hit a stumbling block last year when a fun loving succubus snuck under my radar and took over my life. For three weeks I wrote like a mad woman and completed the first draft of Starved for Love. (The insanity of being a writer. LOL) Fidelity was the wall I hit when I met Pia and wanted to write her love story, because even though the book is erotic, it is also very much about love.
There are lots of lines that can be crossed when considering fidelity. Each couple has their own set of rules but most would consider sleeping with another partner cheating.
CHEATING…
The big taboo of the romance genre.
What had I gotten myself into? Succubus and fidelity are two opposite sides of the spectrum. Combining the two just seemed—boring.
So, I bent the rules because Pia wanted romance. She needed to be swept off her feet and head over heels in love. Fidelity gives a relationship a foundation, but for some races that foundation has to be more flexible. A succubus, in my world, can only feed from other races, not her own, and she can’t feed from only one person. That would equate to us living off of a diet of apples only. Not healthy. It’s physically impossible for her to be loyal to one man. She’d tried it and almost died.
The only male who can understand that problem is one of her own kind but her race considers love a weakness. Something to use to lure their meals to bed, not to be experienced.
When all her hope is lost she meets Val, an incubus, who is curious about Pia’s obsession with love. Though he understands her need to sleep with other men, he’s possessive of her time and affections. Fidelity still exists even for her race in other ways.
Blurb:
After almost dying of starvation to remain faithful to a mortal lover, succubus Pia Blyton now shields her heart by feeding solely on men she won’t fall for. The only trick is, to create energy to survive, she must achieve orgasm. At least that rules out bad sex with her three lovers. Too bad she’s a sucker for falling in love.
When her demon lover doesn’t arrive for their arranged rendezvous, Pia is forced to ask her vampire lover to step in before her energy becomes dangerously low. In return he demands a favor and Pia finds herself in the hotel suite of the mysterious Valerio Hunan, who seduces her with a devastating kiss. Too late Pia learns he’s an incubus who wants to lure her into marriage—a marriage without love.
As an incubus used to bedding a variety of succubi, Val doesn’t understand Pia’s yearning for love. He needs a succubus wife to provide him with a steady source of energy. But he wants Pia for the passion and renewed interest in life she makes him feel. Can Pia convince Val that sex isn’t just for survival and love is for more than the weak?
Excerpt:
Beeping my car unlocked, I went to the driver’s side.
“I don’t see why Hoel can’t drive us in my car.” Val folded himself into my VW Bug.
“Because Cooper likes his privacy and my taking you will be bad enough. Why do you need to meet my suitors?” I jammed my key in the ignition and started the vehicle, then kicked it into drive.
“Making sure you feed properly will fall on my shoulders. I want to meet the…flavors you prefer.”
He sat with his back to the door, his knee bent on the seat so he could face me. “Do you love him?”
I snorted, then glanced at him. His eyebrows were furrowed as he frowned at me. “You’re serious? Of course not.”
“But you care about him.”
“He’s food.”
“I’ve seen how you react to chocolate. Is he chocolate?”
More like macaroni and cheese but from Val’s expression I didn’t think that was the answer he wanted. “What are you expecting? If you want me to promise they mean nothing to me then I’m the wrong succubus to court. I don’t like sex with strangers. It hurts me on all sorts of levels.”
“So you do love him.”
“No!” I shook my head since he didn’t seem to understand the first time I answered this question. “I choose suitors who I won’t fall in love with, but I like them. As friends.” I rubbed my forehead. “This is complicated.” Of all the days that Val decided to tag along, I was going to see the suitor he’d disapprove of the most. Cooper was territorial and caring.
“It’s only as complicated as you make it.” He still frowned at me and seemed unhappier.
I wanted Val to see beyond our culture’s emotional boundaries. If I could open him to the possibilities of love, we might both get what we desired from this courtship. First, he had to trust me and I needed to earn that trust. “I was just going over to tell Cooper we had a change in schedule.” I poked him in the stomach. “Some incubus is mixing me all up.”
His scowl grew deeper.
Annie Nicholas
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~
For a chance to win a digital copy of Starved For Love, just leave a comment below. The winner will be drawn on Sunday. Good luck! 😀
Honorary Mention of Book Sluts 'R' Us Blogger Awards by 
RR@H Novel Thoughts & Book Talk 
This sounds very intriguing. I really like the example of only eating apples but it makes me want to do a riff on that scene from Forest Gump with naming all the shrimp dishes. Apple tatin, apple dumplings, applesauce…..
I like fidelity in a romance but in the paranormal world its different. I like reading incubus stories but its not about the sex, its about survival. In this reader’s mind, its different.
Great post!
Marika
maw1725@gmail.com
LOL, Amy!
Marika, I totally agree with you.
I really like your idea. It doesn’t sound like the easiest situation for Pia but nothing is easy in love! I liked the excerpt, it’s obvious Val already cares for her. Thank you for the post.
I agree with Marika’s statement. Pia’s life and situation are outside the norm… enjoying the sound of the book! Been awhile since I last read a Succubus or an Incubus story.
I would love to read this book. sounds very good. Thanks for the giveaway. Please enter me.
Great excerpt–thank you so much! As for fidelity, while I do tend to be a stickler for that in reality, in fiction when there’s a different world with some different creatures and worlds, I’m more open to relaxing those rules 🙂
Very nice excerpt. The book sounds good.
fascinating – I already like Pia and want to get to know her beter…
Great excerpt. I’ve just started reading paranormal romance and I quite like the genre! Thanks for the giveaway 🙂
kitcat76(at)hotmail(dot)com
Very intriguing, thanks for the guestpost.
I love this excerpt!! I’ve never read a book that had a succubi or an incubus.
Thank you very much for sharing.
tiffanykrepps @ gmail . com