KAREN’S KILLER BOOK BENCH: Welcome to Karen’s Killer Book Bench where readers can discover talented new authors and take a peek inside their wonderful books. This is not an age-filtered site so all book peeks are PG-13 or better. Come back and visit often. Happy reading!

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PACK BOUND
Pack Bound Series Book 1
BY LEISL LEIGHTON

The Pack Bound Series

Is an ancient pact enough to ward against a terrifying evil?

Five hundred years ago, facing extinction, a group of powerful witches united to create a pact with the Were to save Witch-kind. The Pact expelled an ancient evil, known only as the Darkness, that blocked the Were from their wolves. With the Darkness destroyed, the Packs and Covens grew strong as they thrived beside each other in their brand-new world.

But the Darkness was not destroyed.

Today, the Packs and their Covens have lost the knowledge of why the Pact was created and the danger that lies ever near. But an ancient curse has brought that danger into their midst once more. Now they must root out the secrets of their pasts and the lies that have separated them and rediscover the bonds that once made them strong enough to stand against it. If they don’t, the Darkness will destroy them all. 

If stories of wild magic, shifters, witches, fated mates and the struggle against evil are your nirvana, then the award nominated Pack Bound Series is for you.

Get started on this unputdownable suspenseful paranormal series now!

The Perfect Holiday Reads

Download Pack Bound for FREE!

AND

Get Moon Bound for only 99c!

Needing something to while away the holiday hours? Pack Bound and Moon Bound, the first 2 books of my award nominated Pack Bound Series, are on sale!

See what reviewers are saying:

“Wow! I have found a new author to read.” Eva Millien – Stormy Vixen’s Book Reviews

“I was hooked!” Cyn – Goodreads Reviewer

“I can’t wait for the next book!” Cassandra Loskot – Cassandra Lost In Books Blog/Book Reviews 

“Holy shiznet!!! What a gr8 story. I was grabbed from the start and held within i’s grasp until the end.” Sandy (Ladycolor7) – Amazon and Goodreads Reviewer

“I love this book!” Jessica – Goodreads

“Second book just as good as the first!” Debbie – Amazon and BookBub Reviewer

“Amazing. If you thought the first book in this series was good, book 2 is just as good. I couldn’t put this book down and really can’t wait for the next one in this series.” N J Parker – Amazon and Goodreads Reviewer

PACK BOUND
Pack Bound Series Book 1
BY LEISL LEIGHTON

Blurb

One Pack, one Coven, a destiny intertwined…

Five hundred years ago, facing extinction, a group of powerful witches united to create a pact with the Were to save Witch-kind. The pact expelled an ancient evil, known only as the Darkness, that blocked the Were from their wolves. With the Darkness destroyed, the Packs and Covens grew strong as they thrived beside each other in their brand-new world.

But the Darkness was not destroyed.

Skye Collins has been brought up to fear her magic and shy away from Witch and Were alike. But when Jason McVale, the Alpha of Pack McVale, comes in search of her, she is intrigued and tempted. Yet, the intensity of passion she shares with Jason threatens her control – and if she loses control, she just might turn into the weapon the Darkness intended her to become all along. 

Can she trust this Were when he says his Pack will die without her? More importantly, can she trust her magic before the Darkness has its way? 

If stories of wild magic, shifters, witches, fated mates and the struggle against evil are your nirvana, then the award nominated Pack Bound Series is for you.

MOON BOUND
Pack Bound Series Book 2
BY LEISL LEIGHTON

Blurb

Only her love can heal his broken soul…

Bronwyn Kincaid loves being independent and single but most especially she loves her job as a Wiccan Healer. Using her power to heal people’s pain completes her. But after the events of Samhain when she helped her best friend, Skye Collins, defeat evil witch Morrigan and stop the Darkness, powers that once brought her so much solace now have a dangerous edge. Which is a big problem given sexy loner Were, River Collins, desperately needs her help.

River can’t trust himself. After the night Morrigan was defeated, his wolf turned into a Beast that longs to hunt and kill. Terrified of what he might do, he pushes everyone away. Except, Bronwyn, won’t be pushed. A light in his tortured soul, she is determined to figure out why his wolf has become a creature of nightmares. And by the Moon, he can’t make her stop, especially as it seems to help her to learn about her new power.

However, the evil Darkness that hunts the Were and their Covens wants to use River and Bronwyn’s burgeoning powers to destroy everything they’ve both come to hold dear. But how can they stop it when they can’t even control what is drawing them to its side?

If you love stories about tortured heroes, fated mates, hot shifters, witches coming into their power and all with a large dollop of sexy romance, then the award nominated Moon Bound is for you.

MOON BOUND
Pack Bound Series Book 2
BY LEISL LEIGHTON

Excerpt

Chapter 1

Skye stopped at the crest of the ski run and took a moment to appreciate the beauty of the Victorian Alps laid out before her. A breeze, full of the scent of eucalypts and the cool freshness of snow, blew a lock of red hair into her eyes. She swept it back under her ski hat and took a deep breath.

‘What a beautiful day.’ She’d skied in Austria and Canada, but even though the ski season was so much shorter in Australia and the snow not nearly as good, there was nothing like the stark beauty of the blue-tinged mountains of the Great Dividing Range. The other ski resorts were breath-taking too, but these mountains were home. They sang to her soul in a way the others couldn’t.

Taking another deep breath, she pushed off over the crest and, with a wild ‘Yahoo!’, flew down the slope, her knees moving like rubber pistons as she attacked the moguls.

She ignored the swish and slide of other skiers around her, enjoying this moment of freedom on her last day, before she had to go back and face the real world. She wished she had an extra few days to gird her loins—as her grandpa used to say against the responsibilities awaiting her at home, but it wasn’t to be.

Instead, she was determined just to be happy with the now. It was a rare clear day at Mt Buller, and she was going to enjoy it to her fill.

She was just getting into a rhythm on the moguls when a strange chill crept down her spine—the kind of chill you got when someone was watching you surreptitiously. She’d been having that feeling off and on all day. She slowed, turning to see if she could catch them at it.

‘Whoa!’ she heard. Then something hard and heavy smashed into her. The sky tipped and an oof of breath exploded out of her as she hit the snow. A large body landed on top of her and then they were sliding, smashing over and through the moguls, until they finally slowed and came to a stop.

Head spinning, she lay with her arms flung out wide, crushed under the hot weight of a man. She moaned.

‘Are you okay?’ the man’s husky voice murmured in Skye’s ear.

‘Only if I don’t breathe,’ she managed, surprised she wasn’t winded. Snow inched into the collar of her parka. She shivered.

He shifted, pushing up onto his elbows to look down at her.

Despite the pain sparking through her body—damn, she was going to have some impressive bruises for show-and-tell on Monday—she became uncomfortably aware of the way their hips pressed together, legs tangled. She hadn’t been this close to a man in way too long. This wasn’t the way she’d imagined it happening again, though.

She tried to move. The action made his board—amazingly still attached to his feet—cut into her leg. She winced. ‘Well, this is a very charming way to meet and all, but can you get off, please? You’re crushing my legs.’

‘Sorry.’ He scrambled back.

‘Oh, fudgy-duck!’ She gasped as his board scraped over the bruise.

‘Are you hurt?’ He ran his hand over her leg, checking for injury.

Shivers chased across her skin that had nothing to do with the snow melting inside her jacket. Skye pulled away. ‘No. I’m fine. Just let me stretch it out.’

He shifted back. But instead of getting up and skiing off like most other people would, he stayed, kneeling beside her as she stretched out her leg.

‘I’m so sorry. I usually ski, but my brother talked me into trying out a snowboard this year.’

Her temper spiked at his words. Rubbing her aching leg, she snapped, ‘Are you kidding me? What the hell are you doing on Federation? It’s a black run—or didn’t you notice all the signs up the top, you irresponsible arse?’

His eyebrows rose above his sunglasses. ‘Wow. That thing about redheads and tempers is true.’

She bristled. ‘You could have killed yourself, or someone else. Namely me!’

He brushed snow from his hair. ‘For your information, I was doing okay until I hit that goddamned icy patch. I don’t know why I agreed to try a board,’ he grumbled.

He sounded so much like her twin, River, when he was pouting, that her flare of anger disappeared and she had to hide her grin. ‘So why did you go over to the dark side?’

‘My trickster of a brother said it would be a rush, but I think he just wanted to see me fall on my arse.’

Her lips twitched. ‘That would be okay, except for the fact that you fell on mine.’

‘It looked softer than mine.’

She choked on a laugh. ‘Are you saying I have a fat arse?’

Rather than trying to back-pedal, his mouth curled into a lopsided smile—such a lovely mouth. ‘No. In fact, I was thinking how nice it looked before I smacked into you.’

Skye dragged her eyes from his mouth. ‘Is that why you took me for a toboggan ride, with me as the toboggan? To meet me and my nice arse?’

‘That, and the fact you stopped so suddenly.’

She snorted. ‘I thought you said there was an icy patch.’

‘Yeah.’ He laughed. ‘I did. Didn’t I?’ He pushed his sunglasses off his face to look down at her.

She gaped.

He had the most startling eyes. They were deeply blue on the edge, almost black, but lightened to an icy blue at their centre. Lightning-bolt striations crazed through the iris, making it seem as if his eyes glowed. They reminded her of a picture of a wolf River had put on his bedroom wall when they were young. She’d asked him to take it down. He’d thought it was because she was frightened of big dogs, but it hadn’t just been that. The wolf’s eyes had haunted her in a way that confused her ten-year-old soul.

This man’s eyes were even more dangerous to her equilibrium. They pulled her in. Her chest ached like she’d been winded.

He broke eye contact and pushed to his feet, allowing her to catch her breath. ‘Here, let me help you up.’ He put out his hand.

Don’t touch him!

Skye hesitated as her inner voice barked at her; it was part of a spell her grandpa had woven to stop her from using her magic and to warn of any other magic users around. It usually sounded like her grandpa, calm and kind and supportive, but now her grandpa’s voice held a tone like that of her grandmother, Morrigan Cantrae, at her commanding best.

Her first instinct was to do the opposite of anything Morrigan commanded. But she was no longer a child and instead of fighting it, she hesitated as she thought it through.

Her inner voice, changed or not, was only supposed to react so forcefully if she tried to use her magic—something that could never be allowed—or if an equally powerful witch or warlock was around or she was in danger.

Well, she hadn’t used her magic and there was nothing about this man that suggested he was a warlock; no tingling under her skin that warned her a true magic user stood before her. No sense of impending disaster.

And the chance of him being an axe murderer was pretty well zip.

So, if he wasn’t a warlock or an axe murderer, there was no reason not to accept his offer of help.

She put her hand in his.

His fingers were strong as they wrapped around hers, and so warm the heat of him soaked into her, even through her gloves.

‘Thanks,’ she choked out as that warmth slid through her, doing something entirely untoward to her nerves. Overwhelmed, she pulled her hand from his grip.

He stepped back.

Perversely, now that he’d moved away, she wanted to get closer, beg him to touch her again. What the hell?

‘Are you sure I can’t do anything for you?’

Looking up into his face and those remarkable eyes, his voice a melting tenor in her ears, she forgot all about the pain in her leg and ankle. ‘I’m pretty certain there are many and various things you could do for me.’ Oh God! Had she said that out loud? She slapped her hand over her mouth, eyes wide. The look on his face told her she had. ‘I’m sorry,’ she muttered through her fingers. ‘I don’t know why I said that.’

He moved closer. ‘I don’t mind that you did.’

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Links to Leisl’s website, blog, books, etc.

Amazon Series Page:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09YMB37SF

Universal Link for Pack Bound (FREE):

https://books2read.com/u/bWEBzM

Universal Link for Moon Bound ($.99):

https://books2read.com/u/md6Dpl

You can catch up with Leisl at: www.leislleighton.com | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram | Twitter @LeislLeighton |

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Thanks, Leisl, for sharing your book with us!

Don’t miss the chance to read this book!