Tuesday Flashback: A Love Affair with Valerio

I'm continuing with my flashback series that I started last week by digging into Valerio's relationship with Mira.  In my blog post last week, I posted some links to background details on Valerio and spoke generally about Valerio's character and why I liked working with him so much.

A big part of Valerio was his relationship with Mira.  Valerio was important to Mira for two important reasons in the series.  One was that Valerio taught Mira the heart and soul of what it meant to be a vampire.

Let's have a short history lesson for Mira to bring you up to speed.

Mira was kidnapped by Sadira and was later changed into a vampire (nightwalker).
After several long decades living under Sadira's thumb, Mira was kidnapped by the naturi.
Jabari rescues Mira and take her to Egypt to live with him for 100 years.  During that time, Jabari teaches Mira the history of vampires as well as gives her the skills to survive on her own.  With Jabari, Mira gets a respect for her people and their history.

After leaving Jabari, Mira spends the next few centuries traveling Europe with Valerio.  It is during these centuries that Valerio helps Mira appreciate her abilities and what it means to be a vampire in terms of power, torture, and fun.

With Sadira, Mira learned fear.
With Jabari, Mira learned respect.
With Valerio, Mira learned to live.

And it was more than just living where it was fun and games every night in a wash of blood and sex and screams.  Valerio taught Mira to accept herself and the life that she now had.

The swath of violence and mayhem they cut through Europe was part of the basis of the love affair that grew between them, which was the other reason Valerio was so important to Mira. Valerio made Mira realize that she could feel affection for another creature again.

There was a similarity of personalities that drew them together.  There was an odd trust that grew when they shouldn't have trusted each other.  There was also an unspoken need that neither wanted to look to closely at for fear of becoming vulnerable.

For the time they were together, Mira and Valerio burned hotter than the sun.

If you'd like to read more about Valerio's relationship with Mira, check out Bound to Me.

The e-book novella is available for only $1.  You don't need an e-reader to get the book.  If you have the Kindle app, you can read the book from your computer.  I think you may also be able to do that with the Google e-book as well.

Here are some quick links:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Google e-books
iBookstore
Kobo

You can find more of Valerio in:

Dayhunter

Wait for Dusk

Burn the Night