A New Level of Madness – #MFRWHooks #paranormal #erotichorror

It’s time for the Book Hooks Blog Hop! This snippet from Demon’s Grotto continues with Cora and Dr. Damp.

Don’t forget to check out more excerpts from authors in the MFRW Book Hooks Blog Hop.

Demon’s Grotto:

by Kate Hill

Horror Romance, Paranormal Romance

Excerpt (Rise of the Creature):

She’d never doubted the doctor’s dedication to science. It was his sanity that was in question. Cora believed he was better suited as a patient in the madhouse, and this recent endeavor proved it.

Cora shifted her head ever so slightly to stare at him. Once again she tried to reconcile in her mind how such a normal, even handsome, shell housed the mind and soul of a madman.

Tall with wavy, reddish-blond hair and vivid blue eyes, he had a sinewy build that was far stronger than it appeared. She’d seen him move heavy equipment and corpses of large men without assistance. Yet his mental strength far surpassed his physical. It kept him going during stretches of seemingly endless work when he ate little and slept even less. She often wondered what made him so obsessed and so dedicated, but she didn’t ask. She merely listened when he talked about his work. Though she still didn’t understand most of it, some of it made sense to her after working with him. Sometimes he explained his experiments to her. She admired his intelligence and his medical
knowledge, but she wondered why a man with such talent wouldn’t put it to use for the living rather than obsess about the dead.

His work at the asylum seemed mechanical. It didn’t excite him like his experiments here in his private lab. Why, then, did he keep up his practice at the madhouse? It wasn’t because he needed money.

Thunder echoed through the darkening sky and Dr. Damp urged the horses toward the mansion. When they reached it, the stable boy he employed met them at the walk to take the horses.

“You should have left for home by now, boy,” Dr. Damp said.

“But I didn’t want to leave before you returned, sir.”

“I’ll take care of the horses myself. Off with you, now, before the storm worsens.”

“But –”

“I don’t like to repeat my orders.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll see you tomorrow, sir.”

Dr. Damp nodded absently. His attention was already elsewhere.

Other than the stable boy, Dr. Damp also employed a housekeeper, though he had given the middle-aged woman two weeks off to visit her sister. Cora knew the doctor’s generosity with both the stable boy tonight and the housekeeper were more for his benefit than theirs.

Tonight would be the climax of his horrible experiment, and Cora dreaded it. If it worked, then the doctor had reached a new level of madness. If it failed, his rage would be uncontrollable, of that Cora was certain.

“Go inside, Cora,” Dr. Damp said. “Meet me in the laboratory. I’ll be there as soon as I see to the horses.”

He performed all his gruesome, ungodly experiments in the laboratory on the third floor of the mansion. Cora always felt unsettled and often queasy in the lab. She’d never been squeamish, but the doctor’s experiments were disturbing on a spiritual level.

Blurb:

Ben wants Laura to reconsider staying overnight at Demon’s Grotto, and he has information about the club’s history that should convince her. He tells her three creepy love stories, hoping she will change her mind.

Rise of the Creature: When a mad doctor brings a dead man back to life, only his beautiful assistant can make that life worth living.

The Demon Within: A man on the run stops to rest at a rooming house, not knowing that it’s the hunting ground of a gorgeous succubus bent on devouring handsome guests.

Don’t Cry, Wolf: An ad for a maintenance man at a bed and breakfast is answered by a former soldier who’s harboring a hairy secret. The business’s lovely co-owner becomes involved with this sullen hunk who’s more than she imagined possible.

After hearing these stories of love and murder, will Laura decide to spend the night at Demon’s Grotto?

From Changeling Press.

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