Bleeding Heart by Melissa Graves ADULT title (spotlight, excerpt, review and GIVEAWAY) GFT

I asked Melissa Graves the following question and she was gracious enough to answer:

What was the most difficult thing to overcome on your path to becoming a published author and how did you conquer it?

Melissa's answer:

I think what stops people from getting publish is simply the assumption that it's an impossible task to begin with.  Even people who have backgrounds and degrees in writing often don't know where to start, and it isn't as if you're handed a manual when you begin writing that explains what to do once you think you've got something that you want to share.  It becomes almost an assumption after a while—"of course, not me".

The question is: why not you?

I was absolutely one of those people.  I wrote and wrote and wrote, sometimes for no one but myself, sometimes for fandoms, sometimes for friends, and every time that I sat back and looked at that fifty thousand word story I would tell myself, "No one would understand this, or find it interesting" or "It's such an unpopular genre—who would care?" or "It's not profound enough" or "It's just not good enough".

Over time, though, I began to realize that maybe, just maybe, I was sabotaging my own efforts.  I knew that my stories entertained people, and that my friends and family never let up reminding me of that fact.  I began to receive comments on the stories that I wrote from people everywhere saying the same thing: "have you ever thought of being published?".

So I just kept writing.  The most important thing for me was making the decision to keep writing, no matter what the outcome; to keep creating, even when it felt ridiculous, and even when I thought that no one but myself would laugh or cry or care about my characters or stories.   I refused to allow my doubts to influence what I wrote or how often I wrote.  I wrote for myself, because it made me happy. 

Eventually, an opportunity presented itself—I took it, even though I was terrified, and I haven't regretted it since—but I never would have even been positioned to cross paths with that opportunity if I hadn't made the decision to write, and continue writing.

If you love and believe in what you have to offer, others will eventually love and believe in it, too.






Bleeding Heart
is an ADULT title

by Melissa Graves

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

While the public struggles to live side-by-side with vampires, medical student Brian Preston has dedicated himself to their care and study by working in a government-run clinic that monitors and feeds the resident vampire population. He has learned to expect the unexpected in his job, but his life takes a surprise turn late one night when a young, struggling vampire named Kyle stumbles into his clinic and his heart.

 As they draw closer, can Brian come to grips with loving the elusive vampire, and can Kyle find the strength to share the secret that can separate them forever?

Bleeding Heart is the story of love, blood, political intrigue and the secrets that can spell the difference between life and death.



Excerpt

"I know," Kyle says apologetically. "I can't help it." He swallows. "I mean, it only happens when I—when—I get excited. Sorry. Just, missed you."
  
"You—you can." Heat pounds in Brian's cheeks.
  
Kyle goes still, panting against his skin. "W-what?"
  
"You can, if you want," Brian repeats. His body is aching all of the sudden, for something new, for something more, for something that they haven't done yet. He can feel it, simply at the idea—it has been since they started kissing, of course, but now it's fully awake and invested in the proceedings—against the front of his jeans. "You can."
  
"Have you ever—"
  
"No," Brian answers. It's impossible to think clearly with Kyle holding him against the door, with Kyle's head bent over his neck like that. He's so hard that his jeans are starting to hurt; the angle at which he's risen against them is uncomfortable, but he can't move. "Please." The anticipation is like ants beneath his skin, crawling and crawling and crawling. "Please."
  
Kyle kisses the half-numbed skin just inches off of Brian's neck. His fangs are fully distended now and Brian can feel them, smooth and hard as they brush his skin.
  
The need to feel the pain that he knows he'll feel, to feel opened, to feel his blood run past Kyle's eager lips is sudden and new. Kyle can and will drink from his body; Brian can let him do that, this is a thing that they can do together, and it is as exciting as it is frightening.
  
"You can," he repeats. He feels dizzy. "I want you to. Want to take care of you, please. Do it." His hands are shaking so hard that he can't even maintain a grip on Kyle's waist, but it doesn't matter; Kyle is supporting him.
  
"God," Kyle breathes, shaking, his lips damp as they pass over Brian's shoulder again and again. "Ever since you—that night with the wine glass, I—god, I've dreamed of your blood so many times."
  
"Please," Brian hisses, arousal pounding through his body. "Do it. Do it."


Buy Links:

Amazon

Interlude Press





AUTHOR Bio and Links:

A veteran writer of fan fiction known as MissBeizy to her online readers, Melissa Graves’ stories have thousands of followers. At age 13, she wrote her first work of fan-based fiction, and by age 16, had met her future husband in an online vampire fiction chat room. A fan of science fiction/fantasy, she has a degree in anthropology and a passion for good chocolate, amateur erotica and fan worlds that celebrate diversity. She is mother to two cats.

Follow Melissa Graves and learn more about her work at her website

Links:

Twitter 

Goodreads












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MY REVIEW


4 stars



“Bleeding Heart” by Melissa Graves is an adult m/m paranormal novella that centers around a human medical student named Brian Preston who forms an unanticipated connection with a desperate vampire he meets at the blood service center where he works.  The young male who calls himself Kyle is fleeing a horrific experience and he serendipitously ends up at a site that caters to humans who want to experience vampire feedings.  The two slowly establish a connection that deepens as they explore a relationship but it is fraught with not only the complications attendant with being two males in a human-vampire relationship but the specter of Kyle’s past which may do more than just end the  blossoming romance before it can truly form, it may end someone’s existence.

This fascinating and evocative story is both frustrating and mesmerizing for me.  I thought it was a great storyline and it was delightful to watch the two main characters explore an intimate relationship that deepens gradually but I was disconcerted by the use of the present tense to tell the story and found it to be a bit jarring.  This story establishes a great framework with a complex system that is in place to deal with the needs of vampires and I think the author did a wonderful job of creating intriguing primary and secondary characters who all have their own stories to tell.  There are multiple threads that I would love to see developed in subsequent stories since this story provides a very entertaining sensual and suspenseful read and I would love to read more about this world.


A copy of this title was provided to me for an honest review