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Cora's Choice
Kiss of Memory
A short story of transformation
Doomed to live out his days in a Victorian sanitarium, Will Davenport is the victim of severe epilepsy that is untreatable by the medicine of his time. It disrupts his memory and perceptions, forcing him into a kind of semi-infantile state even as he knows that his mind is being taken from him.
All this changes with the appearance of Elizabeth, Lady Darnley. She has a strange power that makes his thoughts more coherent and less broken by her very presence, and she promises him the chance of a true cure—and a new life, brought by a vampire’s kiss.
This vampire historical paranormal romance tells the story of Will and Elizabeth, who appear in the Cora’s Choice series set in the Aethereal Bonds world. It is approximately 30 pages, at the border between a short story and a novelette.
Doomed to live out his days in a Victorian sanitarium, Will Davenport is the victim of severe epilepsy that is untreatable by the medicine of his time. It disrupts his memory and perceptions, forcing him into a kind of semi-infantile state even as he knows that his mind is being taken from him.
All this changes with the appearance of Elizabeth, Lady Darnley. She has a strange power that makes his thoughts more coherent and less broken by her very presence, and she promises him the chance of a true cure—and a new life, brought by a vampire’s kiss.
This vampire historical paranormal romance tells the story of Will and Elizabeth, who appear in the Cora’s Choice series set in the Aethereal Bonds world. It is approximately 30 pages, at the border between a short story and a novelette.
- GenresAnthologies
ebook
First published July 4, 2014
87 people want to read
About the author
V.M. Black
52 books410 followersI write steamy paranormal romance, particularly vampire and shifter/werewolf right now. Check out my two free series starters, Life Blood and Taken. :)
I most often compare my work to Twilight meets 50 Shades (my vampires in Cora's Choice are more dark and angsty, and the S/M elements grow more and more pronounced as the series progresses), but the names that readers most often mention are Anne Rice and Sherrilyn Kenyon.
In Cora's Choice, Cora's Bond, and the following series, I wanted to show a heroine's journey from ordinary girl to someone super tough. This is a journey of months--years, even. So many stories start with an Anita Blake-type, able to kick ass and take names from the first we meet her. I thought it would be awesome and really interesting to show someone becoming that person through tiny changes that build on each other.
My world puts a different twist on everything from vampires (they're alive) to elves (aliens) and demons (interdimensional djinn). The Alpha's Captive series features a kickass heroine out of the gate, while Cora's Choice series--followed my Cora's Bond and others--has my "big" character story line.
Yes, there's an HEA. :) But the story keeps going on!
I most often compare my work to Twilight meets 50 Shades (my vampires in Cora's Choice are more dark and angsty, and the S/M elements grow more and more pronounced as the series progresses), but the names that readers most often mention are Anne Rice and Sherrilyn Kenyon.
In Cora's Choice, Cora's Bond, and the following series, I wanted to show a heroine's journey from ordinary girl to someone super tough. This is a journey of months--years, even. So many stories start with an Anita Blake-type, able to kick ass and take names from the first we meet her. I thought it would be awesome and really interesting to show someone becoming that person through tiny changes that build on each other.
My world puts a different twist on everything from vampires (they're alive) to elves (aliens) and demons (interdimensional djinn). The Alpha's Captive series features a kickass heroine out of the gate, while Cora's Choice series--followed my Cora's Bond and others--has my "big" character story line.
Yes, there's an HEA. :) But the story keeps going on!
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 24, 2015
This was a quick short story that felt like an introduction prequel more than an actual complete story. Not that I didn't find it engaging or couldn't follow it. I was pulled in from the opening lines and it did its job leaving me with a strong desire to keep reading into the next book.
Will is a patient in a madhouse. His 'fits' aka Epilepsy was considered a madness disorder and he underwent the rigors of what doctors in a historical era did to treat their patients. The story is all from his perspective. He is a man locked in his own crumbling mind and he is aware of this as well as being aware that he used to be higher functioning. His outlook is bleak until a mysterious woman offers him a gamble of a changed life that would allow him a healthy functioning mind or the even stronger possibility of death. For Will, this is no gamble, but a win-win situation after what he has been through.
The story ends on a high note, but it is left wide open for what comes next. There is a sensual moment and I loved how things are not explained and Lady Elizabeth Darnley is left as a figure of mystery in the end.
As long as folks keep it in mind that this is a short intro piece, I think paranormal fans will enjoy it.
Will is a patient in a madhouse. His 'fits' aka Epilepsy was considered a madness disorder and he underwent the rigors of what doctors in a historical era did to treat their patients. The story is all from his perspective. He is a man locked in his own crumbling mind and he is aware of this as well as being aware that he used to be higher functioning. His outlook is bleak until a mysterious woman offers him a gamble of a changed life that would allow him a healthy functioning mind or the even stronger possibility of death. For Will, this is no gamble, but a win-win situation after what he has been through.
The story ends on a high note, but it is left wide open for what comes next. There is a sensual moment and I loved how things are not explained and Lady Elizabeth Darnley is left as a figure of mystery in the end.
As long as folks keep it in mind that this is a short intro piece, I think paranormal fans will enjoy it.
April 24, 2015
I received this as an ARC for an honest review in the box set called Red Hot Lovers: 18 Contemporary Romance Books of Love, Passion, and Sexy Heroes. Now I may or may not post spoilers, read on if you dare.
I am always in shock when I read one of V.M. Black's stories. This one is no different in showing me just how well her mind works when she is writing.
This story is complex so don't glance away as you read it. It made me cringe in horror at the main location with how the inmates are treated but also made me feel sorry for the way he may lose his life. All the time knowing she could set him right.
Poor Will a disorder that now days is understood and used to be called the King's disease. (If memory serves me right) You will be moved to fears, tears and so much in this complex short story!
I am always in shock when I read one of V.M. Black's stories. This one is no different in showing me just how well her mind works when she is writing.
This story is complex so don't glance away as you read it. It made me cringe in horror at the main location with how the inmates are treated but also made me feel sorry for the way he may lose his life. All the time knowing she could set him right.
Poor Will a disorder that now days is understood and used to be called the King's disease. (If memory serves me right) You will be moved to fears, tears and so much in this complex short story!
June 13, 2015
This is a tease. It took me a bit to push through because Will has epilepsy and it hurt me to read the way the sanitarium treats him. I have personal experience with epilepsy. One day Will Davenport meets a beautiful woman, Elizabeth, Lady Darnley and she makes an offer to something he really couldn't refuse. After being mistreated and sick of being lost in his own empty head Will takes what Elizabeth offers happily. She is his freedom and this is their beginning. She treats him like a man, a person not the like the sanitarium who saw him as a brainless monster. It could have been a bit longer than 3 chapters. The author could have also given us a little bit of the night after showing us the New Will. I am definitely going to read the next book.
May 1, 2015
Will is in the Victorian Sanitarium suffering from epilepsy and he's losing his memory an other functions. When he meet Elizabeth she bring things he never thought he could have on his own. Elizabeth offers him a possibility of a cure. The catch is he might die. Will thinks about but he decides with the life he has now he's already dead. Will he be able to survive what she has planned for him?
April 8, 2015
This was SUPER short but that is nice sometimes!
The writing was really good and I felt like I was in Will's head for the first chapter (he is an epileptic). Then he is rescued, has sex and is "cured". All in four chapters.
Good writing. I would read more from this author especially if I was into paranormal romances/ erotica.
The writing was really good and I felt like I was in Will's head for the first chapter (he is an epileptic). Then he is rescued, has sex and is "cured". All in four chapters.
Good writing. I would read more from this author especially if I was into paranormal romances/ erotica.
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March 25, 2015RED HOT LOVERS
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July 18, 2018Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews