A Bloody Good Cruise

The Wild Rose Press

A BLOODY GOOD CRUISE is a fun-filled blend of the vampire world and luxury cruises.

If I can give you a quick backstory here, I can honestly say I don’t read a lot of vampire books. But I’m hooked on cruising. For this reason I thought to combine the two, and learn about vamps in the meantime. I read a ton of vamp novels including Dracula and all the Anne Rice classics. I researched the history fo vampires. I even watched the movie with Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise but I wasn’t so convinced Brad was the best actor for that role. I do know an actor who’d make the perfect vamp–Vincent Irizarry, (http://www.vincent-irizarry.com/main/) who played Dr. David Hayward on All My Children. One look at him and you’ll see what I mean. He doesn’t even need fangs. I wnted my vamps to be Italian, so I set the story in the Mediterranean, starting off the coast of Sicily, the scene of my very first cruise. But my vamps have their own traits–they’re Roman Catholic, don’t sleep in coffins, go out in daylight, and love garlic. The basic theme is tolerance–as the vamps ‘come out’ to the world, they want to be accepted for who they are, and want to end the prejudice and stigma associated with vampires. The president even gets into the act.

Synopsis

Romance author Mona is human. Ship’s doctor Fausto is a vampire. He can never be one of her kind, and she’s afraid to become one of his. As they sail the Mediterranean on a writers’ cruise, the couple is stalked by vampire hunters, and by Fausto’s notorious ex-wife, Lucrezia Borgia. Events force Mona and Fausto to team up with the hunters to capture Lucrezia, but where can they go from there? With Fausto’s friend and Mona’s editor vamping it up and hunters on the loose, can this bloody good cruise have a happy ending?

Excerpt

Mona forced a dose of cheer through her jangly nerves. Vampire hunters wouldn’=t have the balls to attack Fausto and his friends on this ship. Security was tight. “Well, you’re here, so does that mean you’ve been going out, and aren’t confined to your house any more?”

Fausto shrugged. “Almost. I couldn’t wallow in self-pity forever. And I knew seeing you would make it worthwhile.”

She smiled and gave him a genuine Italian cheek pinch. “I’ll cheer you up, faccia bella, you can count on that. You must feel safe.” She gestured at the tacky duds. “I mean, relatively speaking.”

“Don’t let this scare you, but –” He glanced around over the rims of his shades. Uh-oh. Whenever he said “don’t let this scare you,” it scared her. “I got an ominous message at the doctor=s office earlier.”

“What B” She swallowed a lump. “What kind of ominous message?”

He looked away, shaking his head. “Nothing to get alarmed about. The hunters just want me to know they’re here. After the initial jolt wore off, I said, ‘okay, I’m being stalked again.’ But I’m used to it. It doesn’t make me constantly look over my shoulder like in the old days. My family’s murder gave me a reality check. If they want me, they’ll get me. I can’t let it interfere with my work, or what little leisure time I have here. And you shouldn’t either.” He gazed at her adoringly and cupped her cheek. His hand was surprisingly warm. “But you’re still scared. All the blood’s drained out of your face, and not in a good way.”

A Bloody Good Skit

This skit appeared with my guest spot on www.authorroastandtoast.blogspot.com

“This place is amazing!” Melissa swings around and drops her luggage on the foot of her bed.

“Holy moly!” Lilly sweeps the drapes apart and opens the glass slider. “A balcony too!”

“We are gonna have so much fun.” AJ uses her ‘Precious’ to click picture after picture. Her present object of intention: a bird shaped bath towel.

Mary grunts. “That life jacket weighed a ton. It would probably drown me faster than without it. But, those Italian cabin guys sure know how to charm a girl.” She sighs.

“That’s ’cause you like your butt pinched. I personally did not care for the pinching stuff.” Mac slides out of her sweater. “We were lucky to get rooms so close to one another.”

“Says you. You don’t have to room with a snorer.” Lyn walks through the adjoining room door.

Mary sticks her tongue out at Lyn.”I don’t snore, I breathe heavy.”

With a loud blast of the ship’s horn, the girls rush to the balcony waving and smiling to the people on shore. Only a few people outside celebrate getting underway, which they find rather odd. An Italian cruise ship on a beautiful day with no one out here sharing it. That and the large hats and heavy clothing, even gloves, that most of the people wore. Lyn wonders if Italians ever heard of sunscreen.

A bit later they sit in the posh dining area. Why are so few people here? Mac glances around. The normally blustering room is nearly empty.

Yeah, kinda strange. Melissa puts her fork down. “This tastes wonderful, spinach ravioli with marinara sauce, Risotto with green apple and champagne and to wash it down, Moscato Rubino (BAD LINK>>>>>>>>) red wine. That isn’t the problem.”

“Pssssst.” Lilly looks around and shakes her head.

“Pssssssst.” Mary notices the noise and sees a waiter behind a pillar near their table.

“Can I help you?” Mary asks.

He whispers, “This is a vampire cruise. They never eat here. If you want more lobster tails I got tons of them. Just let me know.” He vanishes into the shadows.

“That doesn’t surprise me.” Melissa grins. “Our author has written a vampire story after all. And this is the celebration cruise. No problem she promised me that they brought the best blood available with them. We should be safe.”

Lilly gasps. “Should be? You knew about this and didn’t tell us?”

“It’s okay ladies. Diana is mortal too. If she feels safe so should we.”

AJ shivers.

“Besides, I brought garlic.”

Melissa, Lilly, Mac, and Lyn all laugh nervously as they look around the room. At that moment Diana Rubino, the author of A Bloody Good Cruise, walks in and approaches the girls.

“Any problems, ladies?” she asks. “Let me assure you, you are perfectly safe here. Most of the passengers are vampires. But they live every day amongst us and you would never know. You have nothing to fear. Is there anything you want to ask, that might make you feel more comfortable, and less afraid here?” Diana nods to each of them with a huge smile and warm reassurance.

“I already have garlic, so can I have a couple more lobsters please?” Mary asks.

“Sure, but no need to carry garlic for protection against the vamps.” Diana pats Mary on the shoulder. “Our Italian vamps love garlic.”