Title: Tainted
Author: Christina Phillips
Genre: Historical Erotic Romance
Release date: August 28th 2013
A dangerous love that Rome will never allow…
Driven by the knowledge he failed to protect his king and embittered at losing the woman he loves, Celtic warrior Gawain despises the lust he feels for the beautiful Roman patrician, Antonia. She is everything he’s never wanted in a woman, yet she ignites his passion like no other. Despite the danger of discovery he embarks on an illicit liaison with her, determined to uncover the reason for the infinite sorrow that haunts her eyes.
Newly arrived in Britannia from Rome, Antonia is inexplicably drawn to the cold, tough Celt whose touch stirs a desire she long thought died at the hands of her brutal former husband. With Gawain she learns the pleasure of sex and his unexpected tenderness thaws her frozen heart. But she hides a deadly secret that could be her undoing, and knows her growing feelings for him can lead nowhere. Yet when a shadow from her past threatens her future Antonia is torn between the Empire of her birth and betraying Gawain, the man she’s grown to love.
Inside Scoop: This medieval romance dabbles a wee bit in the paranormal.
Excerpt:
A door opened
to her left and she turned to see Gawain stroll in from the bathhouse. Her
heart thudded against her chest, making it hard to draw breath, and the pit of
her stomach trembled with strange, liquid heat.
He looked
utterly foreign, a savage warrior, and sunlight glinted on the barbaric jewelry
around his throat and at his ear. He smiled, a slow, seductive smile that sent
tremors through her blood and did nothing to ease the constriction in her
breast.
Except for
Elpis, she was alone with a strange man, a man she had virtually propositioned
in the street. A native of a conquered land who made no secret of the fact he
despised her people. And yet it wasn’t derision that glowed in his eyes. It was
lust.
For her.
“Lady
Antonia.” His smoky voice wrapped around her senses, as potent as though he had
wrapped his arms around her naked body. “You kept your word.”
“Did you
doubt I would?” She scarcely recognized her voice. She sounded like a sultry
seductress. Perhaps, after all, Gawain would never guess what a novice she was
when it came to playing such dangerous games.
He stopped
in front of her, so close that the amber flecks in his dark eyes mesmerized
her. “No.” The word sank into her blood, igniting sparks of pleasure that
skittered across her exposed flesh. “You want this as much as I do.”
It was
true. Why should she deny it? “Yes.”
__________________
Christina loves writing dark tales of tough, sexy warriors
who are brought to their knees by their heroines. A mystical touch of fantasy
or paranormal usually weaves its way through her stories, although strangely
enough this wasn’t her intention when she first starting writing her
Roman/Druid romances. But when ancient gods and goddesses get involved, it’s
best just to go with the flow J
She is published by Ellora’s Cave and Berkley Heat and has
dipped her toe in the indie pub waters. She is a member of the Romance Writers
of Australia, Romance Writers of America, the DarkSide Down Under Group Blog
and Historical Hearts Group Blog.
Christina is an ex-pat Brit who now lives in sunny Western Australia with
her family. She is also owned by three gorgeous cats who are convinced the
universe revolves around their needs. They are not wrong.
