It never bodes well when a prince of Asgard takes an interest in a mortal. Not for Aila. Not when that god is Loki, the infamous father of monsters. To love such a god is as improvident as it is dire. Curse Of Blood: Gods & Monsters is a dark, romantic tale spanning three parts, and weaves together a tapestry of ancient myths and viking lore. It tells the story of Aila, a woman who must overcome the trammels of loss and the vicissitudes of love to emerge as a leader of men; and the mother of werewolves. This is the prequel to Lair of Beasts. Read in any order. Cover designed by @jeaninecroft Copyright © 2016 by Jeanine Croft

Two women caught in a struggle between Death and the Dark One … Gabriel – Death – is winning the ground war against demons in the mortal realm. But a rebellion is brewing among his army of grim reapers in the underworld he still can’t access. Worse, just when he thinks he knows where his heart belongs, he discovers there are two Deidres: the human he started to fall in love with and the deity whose love-hate relationship with him spanned hundreds of thousands of years. What he doesn’t know: the two Deidres made a deal that will send one of their souls to the underworld by the end of the week. Deity-Deidre expects nothing but smooth sailing in her future. Until the Dark One strips her powers on her way out of Hell, leaving her a vulnerable human, reeling under the influence of human emotions, which deities do not possess. The deal she made with human-Deidre suddenly seems impossible to win. For the first time in her existence, she understands what Gabriel felt at her mercy for the eons they were together. She doesn’t know how to win the trust of the man she’s always loved – or even if she can.

The continuation of the Rhyn Trilogy saga. Death Finds Love. Recently appointed as Death, Gabriel’s life can’t get much worse. His underworld is in shambles, and he’s racing demons to collect souls in the human world. To add to his mess, he discovers that his predecessor raised an unwelcome Immortal from the dead, one who threatens the Immortal Council that his friend, the Ancient Rhyn, is trying to hold together. When the underworld shuts Gabriel out, he’s convinced he’s hit rock bottom. Until he meets her, and he realizes things can get worse. Much worse. Now in human form, Deidre – Gabriel’s predecessor and long-time tormenter – is dying from a brain tumor. Rather than mourn, she decides to enjoy the rest of her short life by checking off every box on her bucket list. Little does she suspect that a weekend getaway to the beach will throw her into the hands of Death himself and overturn everything she knows about her world. Deidre has no idea who she was in her past life, but she must learn fast, or she’ll never understand why the Immortals, demons and Death alike are after her. The secret is buried in her head, and the only way to uncover it will kill her. To survive, she must reach the wounded man behind the mask of Death and show him that the world is filled with more than tragedy and pain.

Caught between Fate and the Dark One ... Stuck in Hell, human-Deidre struggles to hold onto her hope that she can change the course of events that landed her as the mate of Darkyn, the Dark One. The chances of her leaving Hell plummet when the Dark One takes a drastic step to ensure he never loses his latest possession and blood binds her in an ancient rite from the time-before-time. In doing so, he is forced to share his power with her. Rather than despair, she begins to see that she has unexpectedly found her place in the world: protecting innocent souls from the bloodlust of the demon she's forever bound to. Rather than accept her place at his side docilely, she begins to use her newfound influence to help those she cares about, including Gabriel, the former lover she's not yet ready to let go of, even knowing she'll never leave Hell.

Death or Hell? Three weeks after leaving Rhyn, Katie learns the Immortals have no intention of letting her go despite her deal with their leader. Rhyn discovers he can only protect her if he accepts his place among the Immortals. However, doing so may cost him the only thing that matters. Meanwhile, demons are closing in, and Death orders Katie killed. Death's assassin and the demons pursue them, and Katie will have to choose between Death or Hell to save Rhyn from both.

The life of nineteen-year-old Katie rarely goes the way she wants. Just when she believes things can’t get much worse, a baby immortal claiming to be her son and death’s personal assistant appear on her doorstep. Everyone around her begins to insist she’s someone she’s not, while demons, deities and immortals threaten to tear her life – and sanity – apart. Scared but brave, she confronts this new world head on, where she meets Immortals like Gabriel, a death dealer, and Rhyn, an outcast half-demon who claims her as his mate in a show of defiance to his Immortal half-brothers. Determined to spite the siblings that sentenced him to Hell, Rhyn rescues Katie from the demons and discovers what everyone is after: his little human has a gift that will safeguard – or annihilate – the immortal and mortal worlds. His defiance melts into possessive protectiveness of the fiery yet vulnerable Katie as he realizes the sorry truth: he’s the only ally she’s got, and he won’t leave her high and dry the way his brothers did him.

The Grey God Darian can’t quite shake off the dark streak remaining after the thousands of years he spent enslaved by evil – or the memory of how the only woman he loved betrayed him. When given a second chance at life and love, Darian struggles to leave his past behind, before it destroys his future. The warrior destined to become his mate, Jenn, is accustomed to fighting – and defeating – dangerous men. But Darian isn’t just another powerful man, he’s immune to her mind reading talent and completely unpredictable, a trait sure to get anyone near him killed. Jenn feels trapped between the wild god and his enemies, who learn her fate long before Darian does. Rather than embrace her destiny at his side, Jenn defies it in an attempt to protect him and her own heart.

The White God’s most trusted friend, Jule, has his powers stripped by the Watchers. They give him an impossible mission: find the mysterious Magician and kill her, before she reopens the gateway between the realms. Jule quickly discovers the beautiful Magician is not what the Watchers claim. Afraid of her own powers, the Magician has lived a sheltered life, a near-prisoner of someone determined to use her magic to destroy the human world. The Magician, Yully, must choose between her loyalty to the man she views as her father and Jule, the man whose touch brings her hope and happiness after years of fear. Meanwhile, the young Black God is growing into his powers, with the assistance of a being that shouldn’t exist, and whose presence threatens to alter the balance of power between Good and Evil.

Caught in the war between the White and Black Gods, Sofia and her rare gift bring victory to he who grabs her first. Her difficult transition from human to oracle forces her into a new world, where she struggles in her role as Damian’s mate and to help a mysterious man who’s supposed to be dead.

With the White God in Europe, Dustin is left alone in Miami to protect the Grey God, a man-god struggling with his identity, and the White God’s mate. One of the Black God’s vamps in Miami suddenly goes rogue and starts killing humans by the dozen. Dustin initially doesn’t think much of the ruthless, human-hating thug, Talon, until it becomes clear that the vamp is receiving help from otherworldly beings whose intentions are nothing short of destroying humanity. To make matters even worse, Dustin’s begun to dream of his dead sister, who tells him he’ll be seeing her soon. Dustin rescues Bianca and her troubled brother, a Natural whose mysterious talent makes him vital to Talon’s plans. Bianca, a woman as sunny and sweet as Dustin is hard and cold, has the rare Natural gift of healing. She can bring the recent dead back to life or turn a vamp back into a human. She can even reach Dustin’s heart, which he locked away long again after his sister’s death. Convinced he’ll be killed soon, Dustin won’t risk his heart or Bianca’s, despite their mutual attraction, and Bianca discovers even her incredible talent can’t save both the men she loves.