Vampire Huntress Legend Series by L.A. Banks, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Susan Squires, Ronda Thompson, Amanda Ashley, Lori Handeland

Contents of the sampler:Nothing Like the First TimeThe Power Players: A tour by Master Vampire Carlos Rivera.Damali's Journal.Character Dossiers (with illustrations by Eric Battle).Minion excerpt.The Awakening excerpt.The Hunted excerpt.The Bitten excerpt.The Damned excerpt.Nothing Like the First Time is a prequel story that covers Damali's foster fathers attempted sexual assault, how she escaped and encountered Carlos for the first time... moreContents of the sampler:Nothing Like the First TimeThe Power Players: A tour by Master Vampire Carlos Rivera.Damali's Journal.Character Dossiers (with illustrations by Eric Battle).Minion excerpt.The Awakening excerpt.The Hunted excerpt.The Bitten excerpt.The Damned excerpt.Nothing Like the First Time is a prequel story that covers Damali's foster fathers attempted sexual assault, how she escaped and encountered Carlos for the first time. This version of events differs from other retellings of it during the novels as it's told from a 15-year-old Damali and 17-year-old Carlos' perspective as opposed to them as adults looking back or re-living the memories. The story takes place some time between November 1997 and August 1998. less

There is one woman who is all that stands between us and the eternal night. Here is an account of her legend…All Damali Richards ever wanted to do was create music and bring it to the people. Now she is a spoken word artist and the top act for Warriors of Light Records. But come nightfall, she hunts vampires and demons—predators that people tend to dismiss as myth or fantasy... moreThere is one woman who is all that stands between us and the eternal night. Here is an account of her legend…All Damali Richards ever wanted to do was create music and bring it to the people. Now she is a spoken word artist and the top act for Warriors of Light Records. But come nightfall, she hunts vampires and demons—predators that people tend to dismiss as myth or fantasy. Damali and her Guardian team cannot afford such delusions, especially now, when a group of rogue vampires has been killing the artists of Warriors of Light and their rival, Blood Music.When strange attacks erupt within the club drug-trafficking network and draw the attention of the police, Damali realizes these killings are a bit out of the ordinary, even for vampires. Instead of neat puncture marks in the neck showing where the blood has been drained from the body, these corpses are mutilated beyond recognition, indicating a blood lust and thirst for destruction that surpasses any Damali has encountered before. Soon she discovers that behind these brutal murders is the most powerful vampire Damali has ever met—a seductive beast who is coming for her next… less

A battle is brewing in the underworld, and at the center of it all is Damali Richards, spoken word artist and vampire huntress. But she is not just any huntress; she is the millennium Neteru, a woman so powerful that the vampire world is about to start a war-one that threatens to spread onto her streets-in order to possess her...Fallon Nuit, a rogue vampire who is one of the most powerful Damali has ever encountered, has allied himself with the deadly Amanthra demons in order to claim her... moreA battle is brewing in the underworld, and at the center of it all is Damali Richards, spoken word artist and vampire huntress. But she is not just any huntress; she is the millennium Neteru, a woman so powerful that the vampire world is about to start a war-one that threatens to spread onto her streets-in order to possess her...Fallon Nuit, a rogue vampire who is one of the most powerful Damali has ever encountered, has allied himself with the deadly Amanthra demons in order to claim her. But the Vampire Council has plans for her as well. And now an unlikely variable has entered the equation: an ex-lover turned master vampire with an agenda of his own. Damali must risk trusting him once more if they are to survive. less

Each millennium brings a new Neteru, a vampire huntress whose mission is to vanquish evil from the world. This millennium's savior has come in the form of Damali Richards, a hip-hop diva with the heart of a warrior and an attitude to match. But a war in Hell has cost Damali both her powers and her past love, Carlos Rivera. Still, Damali can't let her grief stand in her way. Several gruesome deaths, starting with an American research team, have come to Damali's attention in Brazil... moreEach millennium brings a new Neteru, a vampire huntress whose mission is to vanquish evil from the world. This millennium's savior has come in the form of Damali Richards, a hip-hop diva with the heart of a warrior and an attitude to match. But a war in Hell has cost Damali both her powers and her past love, Carlos Rivera. Still, Damali can't let her grief stand in her way. Several gruesome deaths, starting with an American research team, have come to Damali's attention in Brazil. The nature of the deaths leads Damali to believe that the killer is anything but human...Unknown to Damali, the life of Master Vampire Carlos Rivera was saved by a most unlikely group: a band of monks also dedicated to fighting the Dark Realm. In exchange, they want Carlos to help stop the inhuman murders plaguing Brazil-and they will use Damali as bait if they have to. Reunited, Damali and Carlos give in to the erotic passion they have fought for so long. Together, they are a powerful force. But Damali has made a terrifying enemy who won't rest until the beautiful Neteru is dead... less

In an unseen world that lurks in the shadows, they roam the night--feral, passionate, and dangerous. And when their world touches ours, a primitive desire takes hold, leaving mere mortals powerless in its wake...Four of romance's most intriguing authors have come together to create a mesmerizing anthology--unforgettable tales of vampires, shapeshifters, and werewolves... moreIn an unseen world that lurks in the shadows, they roam the night--feral, passionate, and dangerous. And when their world touches ours, a primitive desire takes hold, leaving mere mortals powerless in its wake...Four of romance's most intriguing authors have come together to create a mesmerizing anthology--unforgettable tales of vampires, shapeshifters, and werewolves. At the heart of these deeply sensual tales are everyday people facing extraordinary events--men and women thrown together by fate and an irresistible desire. In this world, your eyes can betray you as myth becomes reality, curses are vanquished, and love is the only weapon that can stand in the face of evil. In this world, there is a moment when passion and forbidden desire collide at the... Stroke of Midnight.Winter Born by Sherrilyn KenyonTwo enemy Were-Panthers discover that fate has destined they become lovers. Pandora must learn to trust Dante's foreign nature. But as she slowly succumbs to the truest passion she has ever known, dark forces have already set out to reclaim her... NOTE: This story has been re-released in the Dark Bites anthologyBorn of the Night by Amanda AshleyWhen Lady Shanara Montiori is taken hostage, she learns that the rumors about her captor are true. Lord Reyes is afflicted with the dark curse of the werewolf. Still, Shanara can't fight the attraction they both feel. Will their love break the curse-or feed its powerful hold?Make It Last Forever by L. A. BanksAn innocent mistake forces the beautiful Tara onto a mission to save herself from the dark fate that awaits her. Salvation comes in the form of a seductive biker with a heart of gold. But will surrendering to their ripe attraction unleash a danger even she cannot control?Red Moon Rising by Lori HandelandNovelist Maya Alexander's peace is shattered when she is stalked by a Navaho skinwalker who has taken on the guise of a wolf. Her only hope is the mysterious Clay Philips. In his arms, she seeks protection-but as the red moon rises, no one is safe from the danger that lurks nearby... less

The Bitten is the fourth daring and pulse-pounding book in L. A. Banks's Vampire Huntress Legend seriesThe vampire civil war has been averted, deadly were-demons have been beaten back, and now it Damali Richards and Carlos Rivera (now a Council level vampire) will finally have the chance to settle in and explore their deeper, sexier love.But Carlos and Damali should know by now that there is no rest for the saviors of the known world... moreThe Bitten is the fourth daring and pulse-pounding book in L. A. Banks's Vampire Huntress Legend seriesThe vampire civil war has been averted, deadly were-demons have been beaten back, and now it Damali Richards and Carlos Rivera (now a Council level vampire) will finally have the chance to settle in and explore their deeper, sexier love.But Carlos and Damali should know by now that there is no rest for the saviors of the known world. One of the four topside Master vampires has stolen one of the Keys---the living blood of Christ---that opens the sixth seal as foretold in Revelations. He who possesses the Key and the Seal can decide to the outcome of the Final War, a.k.a. Armageddon. With a vampire in possession of the Key, the balance between the Light and the Dark have been thrown off and even Damali is deeply affected: she is now sporting a pair of fangs.In order to retrieve the Key, Carlos and Damali are quickly thrust into a web of vampire politics and intrigue. And when Carlos's secret drug, Oblivion, finds its way into the hands of the enemies, even the seventh level of Hell comes calling. less

The Body of a Goddess...with the Heart of Hell itself.The devil is a dead-beat dad and his consort Lilith couldn't care less. A stolen embryo stirs in Lilith's womb and a plan pulses through her veins: To unleash her child from the gates of hell--as soon as she destroys the only two vampire hunters who can possibly stop her...THE FORBIDDENDamali Richards is a woman-child in a world running with blood, depravity and demons... moreThe Body of a Goddess...with the Heart of Hell itself.The devil is a dead-beat dad and his consort Lilith couldn't care less. A stolen embryo stirs in Lilith's womb and a plan pulses through her veins: To unleash her child from the gates of hell--as soon as she destroys the only two vampire hunters who can possibly stop her...THE FORBIDDENDamali Richards is a woman-child in a world running with blood, depravity and demons. Turned by her lover, Carlos Rivera, and brought back again, Damali clings to the one measure of purity that was handed down to her through generations of the wise, gifted and strong. Now, through the power of magic, through the ache of desire and the touch of her lover, Damali is on a journey from the streets of Philadelphia to the ancient earth of Africa. With a small army, with Carlos and with her own mad skills, she might just save the world from the demon seductress who wants her and her faith obliterated--before Armageddon begins... less

The only way to Heaven is through the gates of Hell…Damali Richards knows all about a blood rush. The kind that happened when she first went skin-to-skin with former vampire Carlos Rivera. Or the kind that happened on the streets of Philadelphia, when her crew took on the devil’s own... moreThe only way to Heaven is through the gates of Hell…Damali Richards knows all about a blood rush. The kind that happened when she first went skin-to-skin with former vampire Carlos Rivera. Or the kind that happened on the streets of Philadelphia, when her crew took on the devil’s own. Now, Damali, Carlos, and the Guardian team are recovering in the Arizona desert, trying to hold it all together and find out how much love, and how much war, they still need to make…until the demon consort Lilith changes everything.The Damned are seeping out from below, and a new contagion is spreading simply by touch. For Damali and Carlos, time is running out. With Armageddon near, the ultimate truths lie strewn from a shaken underworld to the pristine mountains of Tibet, where the two lovers will approach a pinnacle of power—and the scintillating, shocking secret of salvation… less

The Chairman of the Vampire Council is dead, and Lilith, the consort of the Unnamed One, and the Unnamed One himself are out for revenge against Damali Richards, the Vampire Huntress, and her lover, Carlos Rivera. A ruthless and carefully planned strategy---one that not even Damali will anticipate---has been developed. There is only one entity who can best Damali, send Carlos packing, and put the Guardian team at mortal risk... moreThe Chairman of the Vampire Council is dead, and Lilith, the consort of the Unnamed One, and the Unnamed One himself are out for revenge against Damali Richards, the Vampire Huntress, and her lover, Carlos Rivera. A ruthless and carefully planned strategy---one that not even Damali will anticipate---has been developed. There is only one entity who can best Damali, send Carlos packing, and put the Guardian team at mortal risk. This powerful being was once banished into a forsaken land and possesses everything that would bring a Neteru to his or her knees. This time the fight is not so clear-cut, and it is not only Damali's soul in the balance but her body and heart as well. less

PRIMAL KISSES, EROTIC SECRETS. ETERNAL PASSION.Sink your teeth into these sexy paranormal stories from some of today's hottest authors.Until Death Do We Part by Sherrilyn KenyonOver five hundred years ago, Esperetta’s soul was bound to her husband’s by dark magic, and when Velkan became a Dark-Hunter, to her horror, she became immortal as well. Now, they must come together to fight an old enemy…and the passion that threatens to consume them once more... morePRIMAL KISSES, EROTIC SECRETS. ETERNAL PASSION.Sink your teeth into these sexy paranormal stories from some of today's hottest authors.Until Death Do We Part by Sherrilyn KenyonOver five hundred years ago, Esperetta’s soul was bound to her husband’s by dark magic, and when Velkan became a Dark-Hunter, to her horror, she became immortal as well. Now, they must come together to fight an old enemy…and the passion that threatens to consume them once more.NOTE: This story has been re-released in the Dark Bites anthologyRide the Night Wind by L.A. BanksDark dreams haunt Jose Ciponte, dreams of a woman so beautiful he aches for her-and a deadly enemy who stalks them in the night. And now those dreams have become a reality…The Gift by Susan SquiresAll Major Davis Ware wants to do is propose to the beautiful Emma Fairchild. Instead, he is called back into battle, and a desperate fate. And Emma will venture into hell itself to save him.The Forgotten One by Ronda ThompsonLady Anne Baldwin longs to break free from her proper bonds. When she meets the mysterious Merrick, whose eyes glow like a wolf’s, she may have found more than she bargained for. less

New, deadly enemies of the Vampire Huntress join forces with the old in the battle that will lead to the Armageddon in The Wicked, the eighth installment in L. A. Banks's hot Vampire Huntress seriesDamali and Carlos have finally tied the knot, but there is no happily ever after on the horizon.Cain, the son of Eve and the new chairman of the Vampire Council, is amassing an army of creatures like no one has ever seen before... moreNew, deadly enemies of the Vampire Huntress join forces with the old in the battle that will lead to the Armageddon in The Wicked, the eighth installment in L. A. Banks's hot Vampire Huntress seriesDamali and Carlos have finally tied the knot, but there is no happily ever after on the horizon.Cain, the son of Eve and the new chairman of the Vampire Council, is amassing an army of creatures like no one has ever seen before. But while a band of human scientists are conducting secret experiments, they open the dimension that holds Cain and release him into the human world, bigger and badder than ever.Her family slaughtered, Damali heads for hell to serve justice and faces off with a nemisis the likes of which she has never encountered. Carlos doesn't take his wife's disappearance lightly and races against time to get Damali back...only to learn that his wife might be pregnant. The question: is the child his or the Chairman's? less

The Chairman has been killed and now Lilith, Satan’s Consort, sits on the vampire throne as the Vampire Council’s new Chairwoman. She raises all the dark covens, calling every major dark witch and warlock to do her bidding. Her goal is to distract the team members while the unborn heir to the Dark Realms awaits his own birth. All Lilith needs now is Damali’s newly discovered angelic powers... moreThe Chairman has been killed and now Lilith, Satan’s Consort, sits on the vampire throne as the Vampire Council’s new Chairwoman. She raises all the dark covens, calling every major dark witch and warlock to do her bidding. Her goal is to distract the team members while the unborn heir to the Dark Realms awaits his own birth. All Lilith needs now is Damali’s newly discovered angelic powers. That will allow her evil progeny to walk through the veil between worlds and take his throne as the true Antichrist.Damali and her crew race to stop Lilith. However, raising not only the dark covens but all vampires that had not been slain by Damali, puts the world out of balance and kicks off the Armageddon. less

After the battle at Masada, the Neteru team returns to San Diego believing forty-thousand demons had been eradicated and that Lilith's spawn has been killed. But somehow the treacherous little creature got away. Just as had been prophesized at the dawn of the Armageddon, the anti-Christ has been born and will soon rise to power.Rewarded for her creation, Lilith is given the daylight bite and power to make Councilmen day-walkers... moreAfter the battle at Masada, the Neteru team returns to San Diego believing forty-thousand demons had been eradicated and that Lilith's spawn has been killed. But somehow the treacherous little creature got away. Just as had been prophesized at the dawn of the Armageddon, the anti-Christ has been born and will soon rise to power.Rewarded for her creation, Lilith is given the daylight bite and power to make Councilmen day-walkers. Having Fallon Nuit and Sebastian able to withstand sunlight is a huge problem, especially when they are adding new master vampires at recordbreaking levels. Meanwhile the dark realms are healing and adding to what had previously been wiped out—feeding off the dark energy of the newly created anti-christ who is only waiting to emerge. less

The Dark Realms are taking cover after an angel onslaught from On High. The Antichrist has been injured and the fourth biblical seal has been broken. Yonnie and Val, a strange combination of a daywalker and an angel hybrid, have joined Damali and Carlos's team. And the two new Council-level vamps, Elizabeth Bathory and Lucrezia Borgia, are still in recovery from their last mission... moreThe Dark Realms are taking cover after an angel onslaught from On High. The Antichrist has been injured and the fourth biblical seal has been broken. Yonnie and Val, a strange combination of a daywalker and an angel hybrid, have joined Damali and Carlos's team. And the two new Council-level vamps, Elizabeth Bathory and Lucrezia Borgia, are still in recovery from their last mission.Seething in the underworld is the Unnamed One, so furious that he's bringing the battle topside, unleashing a full-frontal assault on mankind for the offenses committed by the Neteru team. This time, the Guardian team must address serious human casualties and collateral damage while Nuit rebuilds Blood Music from a mere record label into a media brainwashing empire for the Dark Lord. less

The entire Neteru Guardian team is on the run, having now been labeled as America’s most-wanted terrorists following the gruesome demon battle that felled the Washington Monument and crashed the front doors of the White House. The Antichrist is positioned for emergence, the powers of darkness have released the pale horse of the apocalypse, and half of the Neteru team is pregnant. Plagues from hell that ravage the country are being blamed on bioterrorism. The nation is under martial law... moreThe entire Neteru Guardian team is on the run, having now been labeled as America’s most-wanted terrorists following the gruesome demon battle that felled the Washington Monument and crashed the front doors of the White House. The Antichrist is positioned for emergence, the powers of darkness have released the pale horse of the apocalypse, and half of the Neteru team is pregnant. Plagues from hell that ravage the country are being blamed on bioterrorism. The nation is under martial law. The Neterus and their team have gone underground. If things weren’t bad enough, the Dark Realm breaks the sixth biblical seal, which plunges the world into perpetual darkness and, irrevocably, into Armageddon. less

Short story in the Vampire Huntress world.