The Vitruvian Man, a fantasy/paranormal romance novel

Monsters come in many guises. No one knows better than Bruno DiCesare, whose ancestor was cursed centuries ago by none other than Leonardo da Vinci, whose experiment to create an actual Vitruvian Man went horribly wrong. The beast within Bruno prevents him from mingling with people – except during Carnevale. The festival provides him ten days of glorious freedom.

Ten days of freedom isn’t enough for Melina Weaver, whose work at the Institute has taken a frightening turn. She’s ordered to experiment on inmates, but she never signed on to create monsters of men. Carnevale might provide more than a temporary escape, especially after she meets Bruno.

Brought together by accident, bound by fate—and magic. Love works its charm over Bruno and Melina, but each one holds a secret. Bruno thinks his secret will drive Melina away. Melina’s afraid Bruno will hate her for what she’s become. He’s become her world, but his world is full of monsters who want to destroy them.

Available at:

Smashwords

Amazon

(Coming soon to other online retailers)

Thanks to Decadent Publishing, who first published this story as The Vitruvian Man trilogy of novellas (Cursed, Charmed, and Claimed) in 2013.

Reviewers have said (of previous versions):

"A spellbinding tale of love, mystery, suspense and intrigue like no other"

"A unique blend of historical facts and paranormal elements that combine in an action-packed romantic story"

"A magical novella that will surely engage the imagination of a reader"

The previous novellas totaled 66,528 words. After revisions, which included cuts as well as additions, the word count for The Vitruvian Man novel is now at about 83,000.

I hope you'll love this story as much as I do!

One last tango with romance

After nearly two years, I’m finally finally putting the finishing touches on The Vitruvian Man! First published by Decadent Publishing as a novella trilogy (Cursed, Charmed and Claimed) in 2013, I asked for the rights back a few years ago so that I could combine the stories into one full-length novel, and expand the story as it should have been from the first. Because of the word count restrictions on Decadent’s line that I subbed the stories for, some readers said the story felt rushed. I couldn’t argue – I had to cut quite a bit, and abbreviate some sections to fit the guidelines. It’s long been a regret.

The story’s been one of my favorites. I’d read an article in Smithsonian Magazine about Carnevale in Venice about the same time I read two other intriguing science articles, one about human tests of the hormone oxytocin (not to be confused with the street drug), and another about scientists embedding the text of books into human DNA.

While researching Venice, I fell in love with the city. The history’s so rich, and the setting’s incredibly beautiful. My longtime interest in Leonardo da Vinci played right into it, and after learning of the objections of his contemporaries to his gruesome study of human anatomy, that also played right into the story line of da Vinci experimenting not only with his inventions, but with dark magic.

Add the Goo Goo Dolls’ song to the mix, and that’s how Cursed first came to me.

Since getting the rights back to the three releases, I’ve made a few important changes to the story premise. The hero is now a descendant of the man to whom Leonardo subjected his experiments to become a literal Vitruvian Man. The story goes into greater detail about the antagonist characters, and as I mentioned, is expanded in general.

The exceptions are the sex scenes. I’ve honestly never been comfortable with writing them. Editors were constantly prompting me to add more “body parts” and lengthen the sex scenes. Another publisher once pushed for me to include the “C” word, which I flatly refused. I have never liked reading stories that demean women in that way, and I will certainly never write one.

So I’ve taken out any explicit sexual language from this story, and the scenes focus more on the emotional aspect.

This will be my last release as Cate Masters, at least for awhile. I have so many other stories I want to tell that, while they may or may not include a romantic aspect, will not dedicate more than fifty percent of the story to the romantic development, as the romance genre requires.

I’m grateful that readers have loved my romance stories, and I’ve had a lot of fun writing them. It may be more difficult to find a publisher for the novels I’m writing now, but I need to follow my writer’s heart – into speculative, fantasy, magical realism, and mainstream stories, writing as C.A. Masterson.

I hope you’ll come along for the journey.

A Dangerous Affair in Venice - anthology of Cursed, Charmed, Claimed

He's lost everything... except her

From beasty man, bitter and lonely, Bruno diCesare's transformed by Melina’s love. Fire destroyed his  quarters, and everything he loved. But his love for Melina is stronger. So strong, it threatens to blind him to danger.

She's given up everything for him...

Melina Weaver also transforms—from shy, bumbling scientist... to student of magic... to powerful fire mage.  She has no money, no job, nowhere to go--and she doesn't want to. Bruno is her life now, but his world threatens to destroy them.

Their only hope? To join with the rogue magicks and overthrow the Council's dictatorship.

If they survive the battle, will they be able to create a new world for themselves?

Available for just 99 cents from
Amazon
All Romance
Barnes and Noble

What reviewers are saying...

Cursed was a shockingly beautiful love story – Indy Book Fairy

This book was awesome – The Jeep Diva

Cate Masters did a fantastic job of writing in this novella.  I was very impressed with how she was able to create such vivid and beautiful scenes – Bitten by Romance

"...a spellbinding tale of love, mystery, suspense and intrigue like no other.

These books had me from the first chapter and I couldn't put them down. Paranormal romance has met its match with these books and the history that is wound within the story sets the tone for what the underside of Venice is for those of magical persuasion." – Sarah Says Read Romance

I really recommend this series. A bit of ole lore and set up in today's society really makes this story ( series) wonderful!! – Julie’s Books Reviews

Excerpt

Light danced in his dark eyes. “I must admit, your fire dancing fascinated me. What made you choose such a dangerous skill to master?”

“The thrill of the challenge, I suppose.” It balanced the rest of her mundane life, to a degree. Mastering each new level gave her a sense of achievement, where work couldn’t.

Something flashed through his dark eyes. “Mistakes must be very painful.”

“I practiced a long time before I worked up the nerve to actually light the wands. I found the fire great incentive to focus, however.” God, her grin must be goofy, the way he stared. Such gorgeous eyes, such a deep brown they almost appeared black. He probably had rugged features, if his large hands provided any indication. Too bad he wore gloves, another barrier between them.

“Yes,” he said, “I imagine so.”

“What about you? What other magic do you know?” Oh please, can you get any more ridiculous? It sounded like a line from a bad chick flick.

The crinkle around his eyes was the only evidence of his smile, but enough to charm her.

“Lifetimes of studying the dark arts have provided me with many tricks.”

“Lifetimes?” she blurted.

He stiffened in her arms. “Pardon?”

She watched him carefully. “You said ‘lifetimes’. Plural.” And what the hell did he mean by ‘dark arts’?

Rigidity masked the grace of his movements. “I’m sure you’re mistaken.” He stared over her head as they whirled to the song’s rhythm.

Mistaken my ass. How very strange. More strange that the question upset him. He’d clammed up, and his muscles were so tense, she expected him to bolt. Better to drop it. For now. “Must have been a slip of the tongue.”

“Yes.” Relief sounded in his tone, though guarded.

This man had something to hide. How intriguing.