A man of mysterious powers....
....a woman who fights her destiny.
On mid-winter's eve she must decide.
Solstice Surrender
"This is the must-read story of the year." -- Fallen Angels Reviews
Erotic romantic paranormal.
Part of the WINTER WARRIORS anthology.
Hard R rated.
Currently Available at Ellora's Cave
Would you rather buy this
book at your local bookstore?
Print this page, take it to your bookseller
and ask for a Special Order.
Reviews. Outline.
Excerpt. Author's Notes.
Interesting related links & cool stuff.
"Highlander (the series) meets the X-men’s Phoenix". ... casting the movie.
Reader feedback
"I just finished the book. Heavy sigh! You write so well--excellent description so that I can see the settings, great action sequences and great lovemaking scenes, too! Thank you for this. I really enjoyed it.I appreciated the Canadian setting. Banff is such a romantic setting and the way you described it, I could put myself right there. I love exploring that beautiful old hotel. You are one of those so skilled writers who the reader knows has done days and days of research and back story so the book LIVES. Your descriptions are so well written, as are the action sequences, which are so hard to write well. And your love scenes are graphic enough to steam, but at the same time the connection forming between the two characters is so compelling. They give me that lovely little lurch somewhere in my heart!"
--
Bonnie, a reader.
Reviews:
Five
Stars!
"Solstice
Surrender" was an excellent book. This is the must read story of the year.
Her characters are fun loving and realistic. The way this author uses her words
to draw you into her story is like a work of art. I really enjoyed my time in Ms.
Cooper-Posey's world; I will be coming back soon.
Jill for Fallen Angels Reviews
Five
Stars!
In "Solstice Surrender" Tracy Cooper-Posey brings the paranormal element into this excellent anthology. As erotically charged as the first story, this novella is also a bit more on the emotional side. I admit that I developed a soft spot for Rhys, the hero, who has spent quite some time waiting for his mate. Fast paced and filled with love scenes of the “OMG” sort, this one will certainly appeal to paranormal romance lovers.
Mireya Orsini for Just Erotica Romance Review
Five Stars!
I really liked this story. The paranormal aspects makes it really interesting and fun to read. It kept me wondering what would be revealed next. Rhys is sensitive and sensual all rolled into one amazing package. Jenna is confused but willing to search for the truth with a strong will. This story is hotter that hot. The love scenes scorch the pages. This story is a must read for anyone who loves paranormal reads.
Angela Brewer for The Romance Studio
5 stars
"Solstice Surrender" was an excellent book. This is the must read story of the year. Her characters are fun loving and realistic. The way this author uses her words to draw you into her story is like a work of art. I really enjoyed my time in Ms. Cooper-Posey's world; I will be coming back soon.
Jill Burke for Fallen Angel Reviews
3 stars
This interesting trio of stories offers a bit of horror, psychic phenomena and fantasy. Three strong, intelligent women prove that love can come in
the most dire of circumstances, and often accepting it is the real victory.
Susan Mobley for Romantic Times Magazine (April 2004)
4 stars
Each story in the Winter Warriors anthology has one thing in common: the main characters kick butt. A common thread runs through all the stories: helping those in need. All together, this is one anthology that will not only stimulate the mind, but also bring a smile to the reader through the character’s adventures and ultimate successes. Awesome read from three authors who joined forces and created cool, kick butt stories.
Melinda for Sizzling Romances
4 stars
Solstice Surrender is an interesting read with
suspense, paranormal, and hot sexual scenes. Rhys is a sensitive man who will do
anything to protect Jenna. Jenna is strong- willed woman going through a rough
time, yet is still willing to listen to Rhys. This is a great read for
paranormal fans.
Overall this is a great anthology that has a little of everything. Don't pass up
adding this to your collection.
Pat McGrew for Sensual Romance Reviews
Outline:
Jenna MacDonald, cynic extraordinaire, flees to Banff, Canada,
for the holiday season to lick her wounds in private after an assignment takes a
tragic turn. But trouble manages to find her even in the heart of the Canadian
Rockies.
A mystery-clad stranger called Rhys Cellyn exerts a powerful influence over her
mind and her body, while Jenna struggles to stay afloat in the mythical world he
plunges her into. Time is against her, for at the moment of the winter solstice
she must make a fateful choice.
Excerpt:
Chapter 1
The coffee shop was crowded but Jenna could still hear every contemptuous word the man in the taupe wool coat said. Each cutting phrase rang clear despite three tables and the blended babble of French, English and Japanese that separated them. And if she could hear perfectly well, then the petite brunette sitting next to him must be benefiting from a Dolby surround sound experience.
Shadows
dusted the skin under the woman’s eyes, and she kept her gaze on her big round
coffee cup. Occasionally she sipped it. Otherwise she left her hands in her lap.
“Why
on earth you thought it necessary to order breakfast for five a.m. defies
analysis,” the Prince continued, stirring his latte with violent flicks of his
fingers. “I booked the guide for this afternoon and I don’t know why I
should have to get out of bed before eight a.m. for anyone. My porridge was as
cold as a wet herring. A complete waste of food and money.”
It
was the second time he had been through this diatribe since Jenna had been drawn
to the sound of his rich English baritone and begun to listen.
She
looked up at the big clock behind the five girls tripping over each other behind
the counter, as they rushed to fill orders. Breakfast for even the most
lay-about person in the world would have been three hours ago.
She
glanced back at the bowed shoulders of the woman beside the Prince, and shoved
her distaste for the man up to active dislike.
“I’m
sorry, Charles.” The woman seemed to whisper compared to his penetrating bass.
“I thought we might go window shopping before the hike...”
“Shopping?”
He almost dropped his coffee cup in his amazement. “We come half way around
the world on the trip of a life time, to the most stunning mountains on the
North American continent and you want to shop?” The contempt in his
voice would have withered the ego of Madonna. The woman shrank into herself even
more.
Jenna’s
top lip tried to curl up in disgust.
The woman picked up her coffee cup. Her hand trembled a little.
Dump
the coffee on him,
Jenna silently urged her.
The
Prince rolled on as if his companion hadn’t spoken. “Your utter lack of a
brain is ruining this entire tour. I should have left you at home, but then you
would just get yourself into even deeper trouble there, wouldn’t you? If I
wasn’t dancing attendance every hour...good lord, you’d probably die of cold
because you’re too stupid to re-start the oil heater, or something or
other.”
Pressure
built up in Jenna’s temples as she stared at the woman. Her gut clenched,
roiling with anger. Dump the goddam coffee in his lap! The mental urging
was so powerful Jenna could feel her throat working as if she had actually cried
it aloud.
And
the woman swung her hand around in a ninety-degree arc until the coffee cup was
poised over his thighs. Deliberately, she turned it upside down, emptying it of
a steaming half-liter of rich brown mocha.
Jenna’s
jaw dropped and her eyes widened.
All
hell let loose.
The
Prince bounced to his feet with a roar of pain, and cracked his thighs against
the edge of the table with a wet slap. The impact produced a sharper scream of
agony, and he plopped back down with the suddenness of a puppet whose strings
had been severed. Only his chair wasn’t there anymore, for his abrupt rise to
his feet had pushed it back out of the way.
He
hit the floor, and the thud jarred the ancient beams. Jenna felt the impact
reverberate through her table and chair.
The
Prince stayed down this time, while the room of tourists gasped and exclaimed in
their native tongues. From across the room, Jenna heard a single snigger,
quickly muffled.
The
woman looked even more amazed than Jenna felt. She still held her cup out at
half mast, upside down, drops of coffee beading on the rim. She stared at it as
if it had suddenly come alive in her hand.
Those
nearest the Prince dived to help him as he flopped about on the floor. He was
simultaneously trying to lift his soaked, steaming trousers away from his
crotch, and massage his bruised thighs.
But
Jenna’s satisfaction over the swift turn of events died as she watched the
woman. The brunette lowered the cup to the table with the same care one used to
handle an antique crystal decanter...or a rattlesnake.
She
stepped away from the cup as if it might leap at her. Then she crouched beside
the man, and patted him with her napkin. “Nigel...I don’t know what to say.
I have no idea how that happened. It was like watching someone else do it.”
Others
around her were smiling, amused. They didn’t believe her any more than the
princely Nigel would believe her.
Jenna
had watched her pour coffee all over him. Of course the woman had done it
herself. Because if she hadn’t acted from her own free will, then what just
happened here? She glanced around to see if anyone was staring at her, if anyone
thought she had anything to do with this.
A
man lounged at the table by the door, a day-old Calgary Herald in his
hands. He was watching her, his face bereft of even a hint of the hilarity that
gripped the rest of the room.
Her
stomach clenched and a strong urge to flee the store gripped her. She drained
her coffee cup, then moved towards the only exit—the door the man sat beside.
When
his gaze did not move away from her as she approached, Jenna’s heart picked up
speed. She talked to herself firmly. Maybe he just likes your hair, Jenna. In
this tourist town casual vacation affairs start quick and end quicker.
But she couldn’t discount the pandemonium going on behind her. Every other eye in the store was glued upon the Prince, who was swearing as lustily as any dock worker while staff, customers and the brunette worked to soothe him and clean the mess up.
In
a room with a mini-drama unfolding, anyone who could ignore the chaos to focus
upon something else was highly motivated.
So
what did he want?
The
habits of her profession kicked in. Jenna took a mental snapshot of the guy’s
face, cataloguing the features for future reference. Large brown eyes, thick
brows and blonde hair trimmed neatly. Strong jaw and neck. The neck was layered
in muscle and thick, like a body builder’s. The luxurious overcoat hid the
rest of him except for the polished toe of an expensive casual leather shoe.
Clearly, snow and slush was not an issue for him.
One
all-encompassing glance, then she lifted her chin, kept her gaze on the sidewalk
outside and headed for the door in what she hoped was a confident,
don’t-mess-with-me bearing.
And
nearly jumped out of her skin when he stood, clearly intending to halt her.
A
hand settled on her shoulder, big and heavy. She felt the body belonging to the
hand slide into place on her other side. A quiet voice sounded; “Keep walking,
straight past him. Don’t look around. Out onto the street. Quietly, now.”
Dozens
of questions arose, but she pushed them aside, focusing instead on the fact that
this voice, this body, was helping her. Somehow.
She
swallowed, and kept walking as instructed, looking neither left nor right,
although sorely tempted to look up at him—from the way his hand rested on her
shoulder, she knew he was tall.
Outside in the street, the hand fell from her shoulder and picked up her other hand. “Can you run?”
Author's note:
This story was both a pain and a pleasure to write. It was enormous fun because I got to play around with a new fantasy theme that I have been mulling over for a while now, and got to write in a new sub-genre. Plus, I created a hero that even I would like to know more about. One day, perhaps....
The pain came from having to restrict myself to such a short length. Yes, it's book-length, my preferred format, but as it's included in an anthology, I really had to keep it short. Keeping a story short is not my best talent! Therefore, the original story had twenty years of back story for the characters, and quite a few thousand words of extra story and subplot to it before I realized what I was doing wrong, and painfully, bloodily chopped all but the essential story line out of the manuscript.
But I kept the remains!
-- Tracy.
Casting the Movie...
I often get asked who I would cast in the movie of my book, if it should ever come to pass, so just for fun:
Movie producer's pitch:
Highlander (the series) meets the X-men’s Phoenix.
Casting call:
Jenna.
Famke Janssen
Rhys.
Adrian Paul.
Don't agree with my picks? Can think of someone who's
just perfect?
Let me know! I'll add
your choices to this page, too!
Interesting related links & other cool stuff:
Max Ebook.com - Your one-stop for ebooks!
