Two rival opera
singers. One vampire, one human. Both running from the past.
The Baritone’s
Rival
The Vampire
Impresario Book 2
by J.B. Warrick
Genre: M/M LGBTQ
Paranormal Romance
Two rival
opera singers. One vampire, one human. Both running from the past.
Oscar Acosta’s abusive ex-boyfriend is dead, and his
old vampire coven is gone. Now all he cares about is winning a coveted spot
with the prestigious local opera company. His stiffest competition is Trent, an
adorable fellow grad student with a linebacker’s build who he is
definitely not crushing on.
When Oscar’s ex
turns out to be not-so-deceased, sending several vampires to kidnap him, Oscar
is forced to reveal his own vampire identity to his classmate. Can he trust
Trent or should he keep him at a safe distance?
Trent Erickson is on his own with no safety net. He
doesn’t have time for partying, especially not with a privileged trust fund
nepo baby like Oscar. Trent’s not going to let some rich flake steal his star
spot onstage, even if the guy stirs up feelings in him that he doesn’t
understand.
But when he
witnesses three savage vamps attacking Oscar, Trent’s own hidden history rears
its ugly head. After all, he knows more about fighting vampires than any human
should.
The
Baritone’s Rival is a 60,000-word rivals to lovers, bi-awakening, fated mates
vampire romance with a guaranteed HEA and no cliffhanger. It contains an
ambitious opera singer and the closed-off vampire who falls for him in spite of
himself. It also has steamy scenes and the violence you might expect from a
vampire story. It is a standalone novel in an interconnected series. Not
suitable for readers under 18.
GUEST POST
Stuff About Me:
Can you, for those who don’t know you already, tell something about yourself and how you became an author?
I work in the arts and I’m a recent transplant to NYC, but I lived in Chicago for about twenty years. I love my new home city. My passions are opera (which you can tell from my books), video games, reading, wandering around museums, and eating really great breakfast foods.
I’ve always wanted to be an author, and although I’ve worked as a creative in theater my whole adult life, I found it hard to finish novel-length works. Way back in college, I had a short story published in a pro mag (a sweet if clichéd story about a prince falling in love with a dragon shifter who had abducted a princess – I was doing dragon shifters before it was cool!), but for about twenty years after that I didn’t really get any fiction writing done. I’d gotten decently far in a few novel attempts, usually stalling out around 20k words, but I wasn’t able to really figure out my process until November of 2023, when I finished my first full length novel.
Tell us something really interesting that’s happened to you!
In my twenties I traveled the world working on cruise ships! I had a job with a theatrical company playing the piano for their shows, and so I got to go on several contracts. I was very lucky with my second contract and ended up in Europe for a few months. We ported in Barcelona and stopped all around Spain, as well as in Italy (Rome, Pisa), Morocco (Agadir), Gibraltar, and Portugal (Lisbon). We also had a few trips to Dover in England.
Honestly, I would have never gotten to see all those places without that job, so I’m very grateful. I’m a firm believer that artists need a broad range of input to create, and I was exposed to so many new things. I’d love to go back to Spain, which was my absolute favorite!
What are some of your pet peeves?
I don’t know if I’m just cranky, or if I have undiagnosed sensory issues, but I just can’t stand loud noises. I don’t mind a hum of activity – in fact, I prefer it to silence when writing. I adore hanging out in a coffee shop to get my words done. But loud noises make me want to die, and not that I’m in my forties, they also startle me for some reason.
Where were you born/grew up at?
I grew up in Massachusetts, and although I haven’t lived there in decades, I’ll always consider it home. There’s something about small town New England that feels different from anywhere else. Part of it is the geography: small town life takes on a different character when you’re surrounded by trees and hills, versus the flat expanses of the Midwest.
Also, everything is so much closer together! My husband says that in New England, everything is only a twenty-minute drive away. I’m sure it feels that way to him, being from Illinois. Personally, I loved the ability to shoot up to Maine to have some lobster, or up to Vermont to peep some leaves in the Berkshires.
If you knew you’d die tomorrow, how would you spend your last day?
Listening to music, eating incredible food, hanging out with my friends and loved ones. I’m probably happiest when I’m in a cabin in the woods with a bunch of friends, hanging out around a fireplace, eating snacks and playing songs and getting into ridiculous conversations.
Who is your hero and why?
I try not to have heroes, as everyone is fallible and has the capacity to disappoint or, worse, to cause harm. That being said, you can’t go wrong with Dolly Parton. She’s a great example of a human who made a lot of money making some legitimately awesome art and then spends that money on helping others. I want to be Dolly when I grow up.
Describe yourself in 5 words or less!
Driven. Introverted. Funny. Sarcastic. Earnest.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
Actually, I think I always have. I’ve always written music, plays, short stories, etc. There’s been a creative writing aspect to almost all the jobs I’ve had as an adult.
Considering myself a novelist, well, that’s different. There was definitely a part of me that didn’t think of me as a “real” writer until I could finish a novel. When I finally mastered my process and got through my first during NaNoWriMo in 2023, that’s when I started to really feel it. It solidified fully when I published my first book (not that one).
Which of your novels can you imagine made into a movie?
Honestly, all of them! Although I don’t think The Tenor’s Shadow and The Baritone’s Rival will be made unless vampires come back into the zeitgeist, although with the release of Nosferatu, who knows?
But in actuality, I think The Last of the Dark Lords has a lot of potential as a movie. It has the sweep of a fantasy epic, but the story is more contained and could live inside a two-hour movie. I love the world of Fyr, and the setting of a lush green city in the middle of an arid wasteland sort of gives Dune meets Lord of the Rings.
EXCERPT
Oscar retrieved a plastic bottle of alcohol and gauze pads from the island.
He crouched down next to Trent. His cheek was right by the man’s broad
chest.
“I don’t think you need stitches, but this is going to hurt a little.”
Trent nodded, although Oscar thought he might be drifting off. He poured a
few drops of alcohol on a pad and touched it to the topmost cut.
Trent breathed in sharply, his hands gripping at the sides of the chair and
his eyes snapping open.
“Fuck.”
Well, he was awake now. Oscar worked as fast as he could, but he wouldn’t
risk infection. His fingers made their way across the damaged skin tenderly.
Tenderness was not something Oscar had known much of, or something he
trafficked in, but seeing Trent there brought it out in him.
He just wanted his classmate to be okay, for his smooth, pale skin to be
unmarred by scars and injury. He had to reverse the wound, to make it as if it
had never been. He didn’t know why it was so important. Trent had said he’d
been in vampire fights before. Still, something about touching him like this
made Oscar’s chest open up. It felt raw, unprotected, to be caring for Trent in
this way.
When he hit one particularly tender area, Trent yelped in pain, and Oscar’s
heart leapt into his throat. Why was he having this reaction? He wasn’t
squeamish. He’d killed vampire and human alike. Was it just that he was
responsible because Trent had saved his life? Every sigh and moan caused
another crack in Oscar’s cool facade.
When the cuts were clean, he covered the area with a large piece of cotton
gauze, holding it in place with medical tape. Oscar stepped back to admire his
handiwork. Trent looked almost rugged with the bandage. It was a contrast to
his innocent, midwestern face and sun-kissed skin. And it was sexy as
hell.
Oscar forced away the thought. This man despised him and clearly had a thing
against vampires in general. He was straight! Yet Oscar couldn’t help drinking
in the sight of Trent as he relaxed against the wooden chair with his eyes
closed.
“How are you feeling, Trent?” Anthony asked, startling Oscar. He hoped he
hadn’t been staring for too long.
Trent’s eyes fluttered open. “Okay. The sting is duller.”
Anthony stepped toward him, reaching out to help him up.
“Good. Let’s go sit you down in the common area. I can get some ibuprofen
for the pain.”
Trent grabbed Anthony’s hand and heaved himself up. As they moved to the
door, Trent looked over at Oscar with a strange look on his face. A question.
Did he not want to leave Oscar?
“I’ll be right there,” Oscar said. A smile sprang up unbidden at Trent’s
expression. “I just need to wash your blood off my hands.”
“That is a weird thing to hear,” Trent said, chuckling low. A spark of
electricity ran up Oscar’s spine at the deep, rich sound.
What was wrong with him?
As Trent and Anthony left, Oscar went over to the porcelain farmhouse sink,
tossing the scraps of gauze and medical tape in the trash as he passed it. He
turned on the water and held out his hands.
There wasn’t too much to wash off. The wound had dried, other than a few
drips when the t-shirt was removed. A quick rinse and he was clean.
Except for the single droplet of Trent’s blood that sat on the side of the
knuckle of Oscar’s right pointer finger.
He didn’t know why he did it. It was an impulse, a sudden desire with no
logic or reason. After staring at the burgundy bead for a long moment, he
brought his hand to his face and licked it off.
His vision blew out in a bright rainbow of color. The taste of it exploded
his senses, and a thrilling tingle ran from his tongue, down his throat, and
spread to every inch of his body. He was overwhelmed with the sensation.
Never mind the sweet, perfect flavor of it. Honey and clove. It was all
Oscar wanted to taste for the rest of his life. The intense, thrilling assault
on his senses could only mean one thing.
No. He couldn’t be Trent’s mate. Would the universe do this to him? Would
fate give him a mate who despised the very idea of it? A man who wanted nothing
to do with vampires? Who wanted nothing to do with him? Who
probably hated him?
Amazon * Bookbub * Goodreads
Book Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DSM1TLX2
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-baritone-s-rival-an-mm-fated-mates-vampire-romance-the-vampire-impresario-book-2-by-j-b-warrick
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223464838-the-baritone-s-rival
The Tenor’s
Shadow
The Vampire
Impresario Book 1
One
temperamental opera singer. One vampire bodyguard. Let the sparks and secrets
fly.
Anthony
wouldn’t let anything stand in his way.
His career as an
operatic tenor was finally taking off, and he would be damned if he let some
stalker keep him from his globe-hopping musical dreams. But he had made the
mistake of telling his uncle about the threatening letters the creep had been
leaving in his hotel room.
Now he was
saddled with a muscle-bound bodyguard who was seriously cramping his love life,
even if the guy did have a swoony accent and the perfect number of freckles. No
matter what Anthony did, he couldn’t get rid of the stubborn redheaded Brit.
Freddie just didn’t fit in with his glamorous life of encores and galas and
schmoozing. And how did the man never sleep?
Freddie was
there to do a job.
Or maybe a few.
He had been content as head of security for the Hughes vampire coven in London.
But now he’d been sent to America to keep his coven master’s nephew safe from
the threat of a rival coven. He knew the rules. Anthony couldn’t find out about
the existence of vampires, and he certainly couldn’t find out that
Freddie was one. Plus, he had to manage Anthony’s demanding
personality, and Freddie was painfully bad with people. And he absolutely
one-hundred-percent had to keep himself from hooking up with the overbearing
American.
When friction erupts into steamy passion, can Freddie and Anthony forge a
relationship together? Or will Freddie’s secrets and the deadly vampires of the
Azarian coven tear them apart?
The Tenor's
Shadow is a 50,000-word MM vampire romance with a guaranteed HEA and no
cliffhanger. It contains a strong-but-silent vampire bodyguard and the high
strung opera singer that falls fast for him. It also contains steamy scenes and
the violence you might expect from a vampire story. Not suitable for readers
under 18.
EXCERPT
Excerpt from The
Tenor’s Shadow by J.B. Warrick (Explicit)
Freddie was the head of
security for a vampire coven. Most of his job was hiding their existence and lying to
humans. But it was wrong to lie to Anthony. He wasn’t sure why, but the certainty
of it resounded like a bell deep within him.
“There are things I can’t
say.” He forced the words out. “To keep you safe.”
Anthony’s hand wrapped
around his waist. Freddie had not been this close to another person, human or
vamp, in decades. He lived a solitary existence. It kept him alive and sane. He
preferred it. Or so he had thought.
“I do feel safe with
you.”
At Anthony’s words,
warmth spread throughout Freddie’s body, a comforting heat, as if he had just
fed. He looked down to see Anthony’s face buried in his arm. Anthony was so
much smaller than Freddie. It stirred his need to protect. Anthony was a
fragile human, but he had a fire in him that deserved to be safeguarded, to be
nurtured. Add in the fact that he smelled so damn good, and Freddie was lost.
Anthony’s hand ran along
the side of his torso, and all thoughts of his job melted away as his cock
hardened.
They were at thirty-five
thousand feet. Freddie had never cared to join the mile-high club, but Anthony
stirred a level of desire in him he thought had faded long ago. He made Freddie
feel almost human again.
Freddie looked around.
The airplane lights were turned down low and the nearby passengers were mostly
asleep. A few wore headphones, listening to a podcast or watching a movie.
Freddie leaned down, putting his lips against Anthony’s ear.
“With you against me like
this,” he whispered, letting his deep voice rumble in his chest, “I can’t help
but imagine how you’d look naked.”
Anthony let out a sweet,
soft moan. God, playing with him was delightful. Freddie stroked the back of
his neck, the motion both energizing him and grounding him.
“Shh, you wouldn’t want
anyone to hear you. Better stay quiet.”
Anthony nodded, keeping
his eyes closed and moving his head to Freddie’s chest. Freddie flicked his
tongue against Anthony’s ear, and he squirmed as Freddie tightened his grip
around him.
“I imagine you lying
naked in front of me, your pretty cock so hard for me.”
Anthony managed to keep
from moaning this time, but his fast intake of breath sent a jolt of desire
down Freddie’s spine.
“So hard it hurts. I’m
still in my suit, but you’re there, totally exposed, waiting for me. When I
touch you, you tremble underneath me. I squeeze your cock and it’s too much to
bear.”
Anthony’s arms tightened
around him, and Freddie growled at the sign of his need.
“I’m so desperate to
taste you. I spread you open and run my tongue along the rim of your hole.”
Freddie licked down
Anthony’s neck as Anthony shivered and took in tiny gulps of air. He was trying
to mute his reactions, but control was slipping away from him, and it delighted
Freddie. Freddie could break him if he wanted to, and god, did he want to.
Nothing would be hotter than having Anthony right at the edge.
“I make you suck my
finger to get it nice and wet.” Freddie tapped his index finger against
Anthony’s lips, and Anthony opened up. Freddie slipped the digit inside
Anthony’s warm mouth. Anthony suckled him instinctually. Freddie could tell
that his brain had gone offline. Only the desire to please remained.
“Good job, sweet. Then I
push into your hole, first one finger, and then two. Once I’ve got the third
in, I’ll know you’re ready for me.”
Anthony let out a quiet
sob. Freddie licked a little circle on his neck, and Anthony’s breath quickened
as he did so. Anthony’s skin was delicious, citrus and salt and sweat.
“I unzip my zipper, fully
dressed and standing over your naked body, and I take out my cock. It’s hard
and dripping for you.”
Anthony’s fingers clawed
at Freddie’s side, full of desperate desire. Freddie chuckled. Anthony
squirmed, hearing it.
“You have to be quiet,”
Freddie whispered. “When I enter you, you can’t make a sound.”
Anthony nodded, his eyes
still closed.
“I need to know you hear
me, baby.”
“I…I’ll be quiet.”
Anthony’s voice was barely even a whisper.
“Do you promise me?”
“I promise.” Anthony’s
breath hitched, and a tremor shook him. Freddie thrilled at the effect he was
having.
Freddie looked down at
Anthony, at his angelic face and his pale, bare neck. He was perfect.
“When I push into you,
you’ll be fuller than you ever have been in your entire life.”
Freddie checked the
nearby rows one last time. Nobody was looking. He let his fangs drop.
It was dangerous to do
this here, where someone might see. And it was dangerous because the demon was
straining inside Freddie, wanting more, so much more, clamoring to claim
Anthony. But Freddie knew he could never hurt him.
Gently, so gently, he bit
into Anthony’s neck, barely puncturing the skin, not deep enough to reach a
blood vessel. Anthony’s whole body spasmed. Freddie clamped his hand down on
Anthony’s mouth, preventing his cry from escaping. Anthony trembled, and Freddie
held him tight against himself.
The tremors slowed,
subsiding into gentle twitches as the orgasm finished. Freddie removed his
hand, stroking Anthony’s face.
“God, I think I just…”
Anthony whispered.
Freddie hummed
affirmatively. Anthony’s spent form rested against his chest and stomach. He
was overwhelmed and floating in the afterglow. Freddie licked his thumb and
rubbed it over the bite mark. The saliva would close up the shallow puncture
wound, and in a few minutes, it would be nothing more than a fading red
spot.
A single drop of blood
had been left behind on Freddie’s thumb. He couldn’t help himself. He sucked it
off his own skin.
The flavor of it exploded
his senses, growing from an intense tingle on his tongue to a burst of
electricity running through his whole body. His vision went white.
What was happening to
him? Nothing had ever had that effect before. He’d heard of such a thing once,
from a vampire who’d fed from his mate. Could that be what that was? Could
Anthony be his?
Freddie squashed the
conjecture. He was too old, too hidebound, too violent to have a mate. The
universe would never give him such a gift.
“What did you do to me?”
Anthony’s question came out in a broken whisper, forcing Freddie back into the
real world. “That was…I’ve never felt anything like it.”
Freddie couldn’t speak.
Instead, he stroked Anthony’s hair and luxuriated in the sensation of Anthony’s
body pressed against him.
Eventually, Anthony fell
asleep. Freddie sat there, listening to Anthony’s slow, even breathing, and
already second-guessing himself. Anthony didn’t know he was a vampire. He was
getting in too deep, and it was with the coven master’s nephew. With a human.
This was going to hurt.
Amazon * Bookbub * Goodreads
Book Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DJ7GGYGW
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-tenor-s-shadow-an-mm-vampire-bodyguard-romance-the-vampire-impresario-book-1-by-j-b-warrick
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/219738949-the-tenor-s-shadow
About the
Author
J.B. is a writer
of MM paranormal and fantasy romance. They live in New York City, and when
they're not writing they spend their time eating delicious snacks and listening
to opera. If you're looking for fast-moving open door romance, fun and magic,
and just a touch of darkness, J.B.'s books are for you!
Website * Facebook * Instagram * Bluesky * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads
Author
Links
Website: https://jbwarrick.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086553187617
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jbwarrickwrites
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/jbwarrick.com
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/j-b-warrick
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/J.B.-Warrick/author/B0DJ7NCRDB
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/52224435.J_B_Warrick
Giveaway
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