Taken by the Maine Coon by @meganslayer #romance #takenseries #shfiter #mainecoon #monsterromance

 

Taken By the Maine Coon (Taken 9) 

A Paranormal Women’s Fiction Novel by Megan Slayer

Sale Price: $4.24

A big cat and a woman without magic could just be the right combination.

Meela Durning swears she doesn’t belong in Eerie. She’s not magical. Never has been, but she’s the child of paranormals. When she’s forced to return to Eerie to sort out the problems from her past, she finds a big, fluffy cat. The animal lover in her has to make sure the feline gets home. He could be missing. Someone has to want him, right?

Aslan Maine has known from the moment he met Meela that she was destined to be his. He’s seen her in his dreams. When she picks him up to return him to his rightful home, he can’t hide his secret any longer. He’s no ordinary cat!

She can’t believe her eyes when the fluffball she rescued shifts into the sexiest man she’s ever seen. When he offers her forever, she’s got to decide if she deserves to be alone or to have a future with the handsome shifter.

If she can survive her past, she can have him. Right?

Buy Today
Changeling
Pre-Order Now
Amazon
Apple Books
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Smashwords

Now for an excerpt!

Taken by the Maine Coon (Taken 9)
Megan Slayer
All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2025 Megan Slayer

“Christ, I’m tired.” Meela Durning stretched and cracked her back. She shook her head, then closed her laptop. She hadn’t spoken to anyone in particular. There wasn’t anyone there to hear her. Just as well. When she’d had someone there to listen, he hadn’t listened. Hadn’t wanted to be there, either.

She’d grown used to being alone.

Tonight, she didn’t want to be by herself. It wasn’t like she could poof a man into existence. She’d wanted to try that for ages, but with no magical abilities, a spell was out of the question. She supposed she could summon one, but that only worked in her dreams and she swore it had nothing to do with magic. Just her overly active imagination.

She shrugged, then stretched her legs before standing. The man of her dreams might only be in said dreams, but that didn’t matter. He couldn’t let her down that way. Didn’t have faults. He wanted to be there. Wanted to please her. Wanted to be with her.

Unlike her ex -- the rotten troll.

She sighed and pushed in her chair. She didn’t even have a fish. She’d wanted a cat, but the building manager didn’t permit animals that had fur. Ridiculous rules.

She checked that the apartment door was locked, then picked up her phone before switching off the lights. She padded into the bedroom. Once she tossed the phone onto the bed, she made her way into the bathroom. She stripped out of her shirt, and bra, then her jeans and panties, returning to the bedroom long enough to don her sleep shirt. She brushed her teeth, but her thoughts turned to the man of her dreams.

She paused, mid-brushing. Man of her dreams. That sounded so silly. The only time he’d ever appeared physically, she’d been asleep.

A vision of him formed in her mind. Tall, muscled, but not huge… thick dark-blond hair with just a bit of shag to it. Enough to remind her of a superhero, with his hair blowing in the breeze. Twinkling green eyes, a wicked smile that hinted at mischief, but he’d been a gentleman. A dusting of hair from his navel to below the belt.

She’d never seen his cock, but she’d felt it. Heat washed over her. She swore she’d felt his hands on her body, the way he’d touched her and kissed every inch of her. He took care of her. Treated her like a treasure. Like she had worth.

She knew damn well she had value. It’d taken her years to figure that out, but now that she knew, she wasn’t about to let anyone tell her otherwise. She refused to be a doormat again.

Wendigo

I believe in monsters. Real monsters. They live among us. We read about them in the news.  They are difficult to contemplate because they are human, and we shudder to think that our race, much less our co-workers or neighbors, can sink to such depths of depravity.  

That's why I write about creatures. I take a human, one with psychopathic tendencies, and then make him supernatural. Probably not all paranormal or horror writers do this, but it seems a natural progression for me to start with the human characteristics and then twist them.

In the first book of my paranormal series, Song of the Ancients, the creature is witch-gone-to-the-dark Nuin Ash. He's trying to open a portal in a Sedona vortex sealed for centuries, release his demon Lord from the Underworld, and loan the demon his human form.

How does Nuin make himself strong enough to withstand demonic possession? By stealing power from other witches. Since a witch's power resides in the blood, he is killing the most powerful witches he can find and eating their flesh.

There's a name for a monster like Nuin: Wendigo.

Legends of this creature date back centuries, and are almost always associated with the act of cannibalism. In fact, one persistent tale details the Wendigo's origin as a human who was forced to resort to consuming his fellow travelers in an unfortunate Donner Party-esque situation in order to survive a particularly brutal winter.

Nuin's plan, however, is intentional. And once he delves into such dark magic, it consumes him. The man becomes the monster, in mind and corporeal form, driven to hunt without remorse. The classic definition of a psychopath driven to the extreme.

I think the most memorable killers in fiction are sociopaths, able to mask the monster within, at least initially.

My 'good guy', Nicholas Orenda, is hunting Nuin because the monster is killing off his family. But embedded in both of these characters is the theme of becoming the thing you most fear. The Wendigo was once a hunter, a human warrior who gave into his own selfish temptations for power and became the monster he once hunted. For Nicholas, the hunt itself has released his own darkness. He wants revenge and personal vengeance more than anything else. Left unchecked, his obsession could turn him into the kind of person he most despises.

Here's a book excerpt where Nicholas gets his first clue that Nuin has abandoned his humanity:

Why would someone sneak into a cemetery and bury a body? He could think of a number of mundane reasons, but why would a witch do so? Unless he defiled the body and didn't want anyone to know. His hole grew deeper and his unease increased.

Only three feet down his shovel hit something firmer than the soft soil, connecting with a muffled thud. Digging carefully down one side, he cleared a space to stand beside the box. He removed the crowbar from his sack and pried the coffin nails from one side, muttering softly, "Coffin nail, familiars of maggots and unsavory creatures of the kind. Do my bidding, my evil works, when I so command." Blowing on the nails, he pocketed them and opened the lid.

He held his breath and shone the flashlight on the body, a young woman, barely past her teens. Her hands had been folded on her chest. He ran the flashlight further down, illuminating several places on her right arm where jagged chunks of flesh were missing.

Burning bile rose in his throat, making him gag and cough. "Something chewed on this girl. Oh, Goddess, tell me she died first."

Yes, there's a demon in the story. But I think Nuin is the scarier creature of the two. He's a handsome, flirtatious, functioning human going through the mundane motions of everyday life.

Until he's not.

Much like the people we read about in the news headlines.

Sandy Wright moved to Arizona 17 years ago and fell in love with the southwest desert, including its Native American influences. After a trip to Sedona, the germ of a novel was born.

“I love to take ordinary characters and put them in extraordinary situations that change their view of the world.”

Her first novel, Song of the Ancients, introduces witchcraft and shamanism seen through the eyes of an ordinary woman.  Readers interested in witchcraft—or just a dark, eerie tale—will enjoy this paranormal suspense, written by a real-life Wiccan High Priestess.

Song of the Ancients is available on Amazon in print and ebook.

All He Needs is Love

It’s time to cheer for the bad guy…and fall in love with him while we’re at it.

We’ve been romanticizing monsters — traditionally the antagonists and villains of a story — for years now. Vincent from Beauty and the Beast, Lestat and Louis from Interview with a Vampire, Angel and Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, Scott from Teen Wolf, and so many more have been romantic heroes in our movies and television shows, bringing monsters out of the dark. Or at least out of the dungeon.

These monsters are a new kind of tortured hero, and often offer us all the ingredients of a classic, Victorian romance hero — brooding, and darkly attractive despite his harshness — but with a paranormal twist. They’re monsters, so they can’t help being a little bit bad. 
And because the idea that the love of the right person can touch the heart of even the darkest hero is so appealing to so many of us, perhaps monstrous heroes are even more compelling. Only the right person will be worthy of the monster’s compassion.

The idea of being so special to your partner that only you can reach through his monstrous facade and touch the human soul beneath is like something straight out of a fairy tale.

All he needs is love.

Geeking Out!

Geeking Out!

There are several things I geek out about; Dr. Who updates, Once Upon a Time spoilers, new comic book movies, Sherlock (PBS TV Series) speculation, book updates and sneak peeks from my favorite authors. So many things to get excited over. When I have news or spoilers or updates or just want to speculate I normally go to my fav people; Chris Marie Green (aka Crystal Green, aka Christine Cody), Cynnara Tregarth, Dawn Montgomery and Qwillia Rain to name a few. It’s always fun to share something with people who get it and won’t act like you’ve gone insane because you’re so excited about casting news or a little tidbit that’s been put out via an interview. Even Facebook games get the treatment. Dorky I know.

 All these things can inspire me and my writing, pushing me to be more creative, but in the end it’s all just fun. Now the reason for this blog post: Godzilla.

 You’re probably reading this and thinking, what? Well, it all stems from an article that was posted on E! Online and EW about another Godzilla remake. My first reaction was to remember the Matthew Broderick movie (that my dad loved but I wasn’t too fond of). The only thing that movie had in common with Godzilla was Japan and the name, that’s it. The King of the Monsters that I grew up with was nowhere in sight. No baby Godzilla who could only blow smoke rings and if you really wanted him to defend himself with his father’s infamous nuclear breath you had to step on is tail, no Rodan, no Mothra with those creepy twins that liked to sing. No Anguirus, no other monsters that I grew up watching. Can another Godzilla movie erase the blockbuster that flopped? And okay, all those cheesy movies like Godzilla vs the Smog Monster?

 The skeptic in me says hell no, you guys already screwed up this movie up once. I’ll stick with the classic. The optimist is on the fence. There was comfy cheesiness factor in Godzilla movies, from being able to see where the head of the suit connects with the rest of the costume to the horribleness that was the outfit for King Kong in the King Kong vs Godzilla movie. You had great storylines that could be fun and funny. It was perfect escapism for a kid and for adults who loved the King of the Monsters.

 What more can Hollywood do to Godzilla? How can they redeem or make us forget that “Blockbuster” that went bust where our favorite monster was all but unrecognizable? I don’t know, but I’ll keep watch and hope that this time they get it right. A new generation should fall in love with Godzilla like I did.

 What do you think can Godzilla’s reputation as King of the Monsters be reclaimed for a new generation or are they just gearing us up for another flop?

Selena Illyria bio: 

Coming Soon From Etopia Press!

Dear Reader,

 Unmask Your Desires, Satiate Your Hungers. 

 Author, part vampire, part pixie, Selena Illyria was born with a need to write and enable. Her imagination takes her into the paranormal, sci-fi and fantasy genres and all sorts of mischief. When not writing she enjoys catching up on her TBR pile, watching some of her favorite programs and listening to her favorite music as well as teasing people with posts on decadent food and plot bunnies.

To connect with you her can either go to: 

Her Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Selena-Illyria/100175079107?ref=nf 

Her Twitter: www.twitter.com/Selena_Illyria 

Her Amazon Central Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0075NG31K 

Her Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/selenaillyriasofferings/ 

Her publishers are: Etopia Press, Loose-Id, Purple Sword Publications, Liquid Silver Books, Changeling Press, Tease Publishing