Book Spotlight & Giveaway Deadlier than the Rest by Shirleen Davies

Deadlier Than the Rest - Week Blitz

By Shirleen Davies

Historical Western Romance

Date Published: March 3, 2014

  

“A passionate, heartwarming story of the iconic MacLarens of Fire Mountain. This captivating historical western romance grabs your attention from the start with an engrossing story encompassing two romances set against the rugged backdrop of the burgeoning western frontier.”

Connor MacLaren’s search has already stolen eight years of his life. Now he close to finding what he seeks—Meggie, his missing sister. His quest leads him to the growing city of Salt Lake and an encounter with the most captivating woman he has ever met.

Grace is the third wife of a Mormon farmer, forced into a life far different from what she’d have chosen. Her independent spirit longs for choices governed only by her own heart and mind. To achieve her dreams, she must hide behind secrets and half-truths, even as her heart pulls her towards the ruggedly handsome Connor.

Known as cool and uncompromising, Connor MacLaren lives by a few, firm rules that have served him well and kept him alive. However, danger stalks Connor, even to the front range of the beautiful Wasatch Mountains, threatening those he cares about and impacting his ability to find his sister.

Can Connor protect himself from those who seek his death? Will his eight year search lead him to his sister while unlocking the secrets he knows are held tight within Grace, the woman who has captured his heart?

Read this heartening story of duty, honor, passion, and love in book five of the MacLarens of Fire Mountain series.

EXCERPT

Connor followed her up the narrow steps to her place, carrying her small bag, and set it down on the floor inside.

“You going to be okay here tonight?”

She slipped off her coat and hung it on a nearby hook. Grace wanted to be alone but didn’t want him to leave. Her heart told her to walk up to him, lace her arms around his neck, and ask him to stay. She shouldn’t. She was still married and it would be wrong, even if her marriage was a mockery. She planned to obtain a divorce, which was simple to do in Utah. The laws were lenient and divorce common with people coming from other states to take advantage of the quick dissolution procedures. She simply hadn’t had time to do it with work and planning how she was going to free Meggie.

Grace walked to a window and stared at the dark sky, deciding what to do. She needed to tell him about Moser but the words wouldn’t form. Say something tonight, or let him leave—she was conflicted. She continued to look out when she sensed him walk up behind her, felt his strong arms wrap around her waist, and draw her flush against his chest.

He pulled loose strands of hair away from her neck, bending to place kisses up to the tender spot behind her ear. “Ask me to stay,” he whispered before tugging a sensitive earlobe with his lips. She sagged against him, letting her head fall back against his chest and giving him access to the soft column of her neck.

Shirleen Davies

I have been writing most of my life, but only recently began the transition into fiction. Historical romance, contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and short stories are what keep me reading, so that is the focus of my writing.

I was born in California, grew up between a growing beach town and a small town at the base of the San Bernardino mountains. My mother originally planned to name me Katherine, but she read an article in the paper about a woman named Shirleen shortly before my birth, so instead of having a cool nickname, like Kate, I am simply Shirleen. My mainstays growing up were all the Nancy Drew mystery books; I loved them. Eventually I moved on to mysteries, suspense stories, crime novels, and romance. Pride and Prejudice will always be one of my favorites.

Besides California, life changes have allowed me to live in Oregon, Colorado, and Arizona. Everywhere I have lived has been inspirational in one way or another, giving me the opportunity to meet remarkable people with their own stories to tell. I've sailed, skied, owned horses plus lots of other animals, and ridden various off-road vehicles. I enjoy dancing, fishing, hunting, being the back-seater on my husband's Harley, traveling and, of course, reading and writing.

Prior to transitioning to writing fiction, I worked for Fortune 500 and many smaller, start-up companies. Fortunately, I regained my sanity long enough to start my own consulting firm, which I still maintain today.

My husband and I spend most of our time at our main home in the mountains of Arizona and our second home in Southern California. Between us we have five boys with growing careers and families of their own. So, from my perspective, my life is a success and always an adventure. I wouldn't change a thing; well, except finding more time to write.

I love hearing from readers, so please feel free to email me at shirleen@shirleendavies.com.

Author Links

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Guest Post & Giveaway Revelations by Rayna Noire

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Guest Post by Rayna Noire
TEN PLACES I WANT TO VISIT

The great thing about being a writer is that travel is research. Every place I go I gather information. Here’s ten places I’d go if I had the money.

1. New Orleans- I am interested in the haunted aspect as opposed to Mardi Gras.

2. Easter Island- There is something about the large stone heads looking out into the sea that intrigues me.

3. Scotland- The people and the populace are a favorite of writers.

4. Australia- There is a different vibe there and koala bears. 

5. New Zealand- Can anyone say Lord of the Rings? Indeed, we've been twice and want to go again! Gorgeous country :)

6. The Amazon River & Rainforest- I know I couldn’t explore it all, but I’d enjoy a peek at the diversity that exists there. It would be an indulgence for the science teacher in me.

7. Dominican Republic- My dream is to own a B&B on the coast someday. I’m shopping for location.

8. Florida Keys- I am beach and paperback book type of gal too.

9. Las Vegas- Actually, I’d like a return trip since it would be a great place to locate a story.

10. Green Turtle Island- this is a tiny island with cottages on stilts, no television, no phones and no air conditioning. I’d like to check out from everything and experience nature. I bet there’s some great snorkeling in the sparkling clear waters too.

I’d be curious to discover where everyone else wants to go.

***

Revelation
Pagan Eyes
Book Two
Rayna Noire
Genre: Paranormal YA
Smashwords

Book Description:

Nora’s impending college graduation is a triumph over the dark incident in her past that changed her life and stopped her best friend’s.  Balancing school, work and her demented admirer at the diner is tough.  All she has is six more months, but it similar to walking a tightrope blindfolded.

Life-like dreams pull her into the 19th century world of Clayton.  A man who declares he’s her soul mate.  Even though, she’s decided against romance, the young witch finds herself drawn to the Irish healer, even hearing his voice in her head.

This would make most people question their sanity. Nora needs to find out if Clayton is real and if she’s crossing over into another world in her sleep. If she is, will she end up stuck in the past? Can magick bring them together?

Excerpt:

“You brought me over before?” The memory of him jumping down from the wagon came to mind.

“I have. I believe you remember.” He cocked his head, and his eyes twinkled as if he could read her thoughts. “My heart danced with joy, but then, you were gone that quick.” He snapped his fingers to demonstrate.

How one man’s will could carry her across time, even for a second, was a mystery. The idea of being out of control should have frightened her, but paradoxically it didn’t. Clayton didn’t frighten her.

“I have no say in this?” She placed her fisted hands on her hips and threw him a glance that had the more friendly interns backing away.

“Ah, my Nora, the same fire as before.” He shook his head at his words and then added, “I do not claim to understand the ins and outs of such matters. Your will enters into it, too. At first, you didn’t stay long. I think I surprised you. Now, your stay has been much longer than before. It must mean you want to be here.”

His confident smile and knowing look irritated Nora. She thought of a few put-downs that worked well on other men who tried to chat her up, but a log fell in the fire, sending up a flurry of sparks. The sudden motion stopped her automatic response and drew her attention to the sparks as they flared and disappeared.

Her glaze went back to Clayton, whose alert countenance was brighter than any spark. What if he was right? How could that be? She’d never had the opportunity to have a normal boyfriend as most teen girls did. It didn’t mean she hadn’t had a few crushes. Still, they paled in comparison to what she felt sitting there, a sense almost of belonging. It was hard to understand why this one man would have such an effect on her, especially after she’d given up on that part of her life. Still, it wasn’t fair to this charming man to let him believe that there might be something between them.

She stood, unaware of how to explain what she needed to say, but it couldn’t be explained sitting. Hands behind her back, she paced around the fire, one side of her body alternately heated by the closeness to the fire while the other side felt the nip of the falling temperatures. “Clayton, you seem like a nice man.”

“Ah, here it comes.” He raised his hand toward the sky. “Just like when you were a princess and I a lowly footman. You gave me the long speech about how different our stations were in life.”

“I did?” Nora almost remembered, if she really tried, a haughty princess and a lowly footman in some dark corner of her memory.

“Do you remember now?” Clayton stood and watched her as she paced. “Do you remember how I responded?”

Memories of the offended footman sweeping up the haughty princess materialized in her mind. “You, you, you…” She was unsure how to say it. “You changed my mind.”

“That I did. That was then. I understand things are different now, and you need healing more than a lusty embrace.” He walked slowly toward her, stopped a foot from her, and held out his arms. “I am here for you.”

A cry bubbled up in her throat as she took two running steps into his open arms. Clayton wrapped his arms around her and rocked her gently. “Go ahead, cry it out. You have the right.”

The crying she’d denied herself for so many years suddenly erupted, flowing like lava. Nora wept until she could weep no more. Her sobs continued for minutes until they became less and less, morphing into occasional hiccupping.

The wood smoke irritated her eyes as she lifted her head from Clayton’s shirt and vest. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into me.”

His embrace tightened as he rested his head on top of hers. “You needed the cry. I am willing to bet you do not allow yourself to cry or show any weakness often.”

With an indelicate sniff, Nora wiped her nose with the back of her hand.  “You’d be right. I can’t remember the last time I cried. I suspect it was when my dog Brownie was killed when I was twelve.”

Clayton gave her an extra squeeze before loosening the embrace.

Cold, she wanted to ask him why he let go, but realized he was fading away. “Clayton.”

***

About the Author:

Rayna Noire is an author and a historian. The desire to uncover the truth behind the original fear of witches led her to the surprising discovery that people believed in magick in some form up to 150 years ago. A world that believed the impossible could happen and often did must have been amazing. With this in mind, Ms. Noire taps into this dimension, shapes it into stories about a Pagan family who really isn’t that different from most people. They do go on the occasional time travel adventures and magick happens.

Twitter  www.twitter.com/raynanoire

Website  www.raynanoire.weebly.com

Facebook  www.facebook.com/AuthorRaynaNoire

***

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Book Spotlight & Giveaway Deadly Revelations by Andrea Johnson Beck

Deadly Revelation - PROMO Blitz

By Andrea Johnson Beck

Psychological Romantic Suspense

Date Published: April 8, 2014

  

  

Love.

Dr. Anne Montgomery’s heart and soul belongs to Adam Whitney but her tyrannical husband, Carter Montgomery, continues his ruthless reign by punishing Anne with another murder. Will Carter succeed and take away everyone Anne has ever cared about?

Family.

Something Anne has craved since childhood. Dr. Casey Adler has been the only one Anne considered a sister, until Claire Monroe enters her life. Can her newfound sister be trusted?

Betrayal.

Someone close to Anne is helping Carter and everyone is a suspect. As revenge consumes her, she slips further away from Adam but will unexpected news thrust her into the darkness, or will Anne battle the demons and take her life back?

EXCERPT

                    If Anne had ever felt Montgomery blood course through her veins it was in that moment. Every cell boiled beneath her skin. Murder was the only thought in her mind—severe, merciless murder. The kind that would tantalize viewers to gawk at their television screens as helicopters flew over the grotesque scene as a dismembered body was rolled into the back of a black windowless van. The headline would read, “Wife attacked psychotic drug-addicted husband.” And won.

                    

                    Anne’s emotion paralyzed as did her muscles. She knew fear. Experienced loss, anger, and hatred, tasted betrayal and revenge. What skimmed along her reasoning was new. Darker than anything she had ever felt before. The smell of death burned her nostrils and blood seeped into the floor like crimson polish.

                    

In the early morning hours, as Anne slept in Adam’s arms, Carter had invaded the house, cut out another piece of her sanity and then vanished into the night. Carter was the phantom in children’s bedtime stories. The monster that could slip through the shadows, steal souls and taint dreams. Carter was not only Anne’s husband, but also her nightmare.

                    Bites pricked her heart the longer she stared at Robert’s executed body. Anne’s vision blurred and moved and at times tricked her mind into seeing movement from him but he was dead. Robert was dead. Carter had invaded Michael’s home to make a statement. He would never let Anne go.

Book #1

Dr. Anne Jamison, a brilliant neuropsychiatrist, is living the concrete jungle life in Minneapolis with her fiancé, prominent attorney Adam Whitney. But the mysterious death of Carter Leeds, her beloved former boyfriend, still haunts her…

After three years of unanswered questions, a mysterious package finds its way to Anne. The note inside reveals the possibility that Carter may, in fact, be alive. Even more shocking, her very own fiancé may have had a hand in his attempted demise. Anne doesn’t know what—or who—to believe, and the deeper she digs, the more she is overcome by a dangerous game of cat and mouse. But will Anne’s trust be restored—or will she be the one left plotting revenge?

Buy it From Amazon

About the Author: Andrea Johnson Beck

Andrea was born a Midwestern girl, grew up in Iowa and South Dakota. She came out of the womb writing, her parents have recorded evidence of Andrea's whimsical imagination. She has had many poems and short stories published over the years, even did free verse sessions at a local coffee shop but there aren’t any recorded evidence of that. Andrea is thankful for the lack of technology in the 90's.

After twenty-nine trips around the sun, she decided it was time to sit down and write her first book. And, she did. Two weeks before her 30th birthday, Andrea completed, Deadly Deception. Sadly, it sat in her laptop for two years before she decided to self-publish in November 2012.

Montlake Romance loved Deadly Deception and Deadly Redemption so much, they wanted them and their author. Andrea and Montlake Romance decided to interweave the two stories into one novel. The "new" Deadly Deception released October 8th, 2013. The 2nd book in the series, Deadly Revelation, released April 8th, 2014.

Andrea resides in North Carolina with her quirky family, where she homeschools her son and writes about the craziness that pours from her mind. Her son, Logan, has caught the writing bug. He talks about being on the Autism Spectrum and homeschooling at his very own blog, The Quirky Mustache. Logan has touched many lives and is her hero.

Authors Links

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Release Day Giveaway: Chronicles:The Library of Illumination by C.A. Pack

Chronicles: The Library of Illumination - Release Blitz

By C.A. Pack

Young Adult Fantasy

Date Published: April 29, 2014

  

Within the walls of a centuries-old building lies the magical Library of Illumination, a place where books literally come to life. 17-year-old Johanna Charette is the youngest curator ever chosen to oversee the day-to-day operation of the library and she knows, in case of trouble, having an assistant can be invaluable, so she hires 16-year-old Jackson Roth to give her a hand. Jackson gets off to a rocky start, but manages to prove his mettle. Besides, he’s kind of cute and a lot of fun.

Johanna is charming and brilliant—and a natural born leader. She keeps the library operating on an even keel. Jackson is clever and intrepid. He relies on his wits to keep them out of danger when trouble arises. Unfortunately, his derring-do is one of the reasons why they sometimes find themselves in awkward situations. So it shouldn’t be any surprise when his wanton curiosity sparks a journey to a distant realm, where they end up with front row seats in a battle against an ancient foe.

EXCERPT

“What’s this? Jackson asked, picking up a book that sat by itself on a bottom shelf. A thick layer of dust obscured the cover. “Did you leave this book down here?”

“What book?”

He opened the book to a random page to see what it was about. Dracula suddenly loomed over him, blood dripping from his mouth. “Uhhh ...!” Jackson’s scream did not get past his throat.

Dracula moved in for the kill. The teen managed to slam the book shut just as the vampire’s teeth made contact with his skin.

“What are you doing?” Johanna poked her head around the corner of the shelf and spotted the blood on Jackson’s neck. She looked down and recognized the volume of Dracula by Bram Stoker and winced. “We must have missed that one. Are you all right?”

Jackson swiped at his neck.

“Come with me.” Johanna led him to the circulation desk. She took out a first-aid kit and cleaned away the blood with an antiseptic wipe.

“Am I ...?”

“It’s just a surface wound.” She wrapped the bloody wipe in a tissue and threw it in the wastebasket. “You’re going to live ... but not forever.”

Jackson sighed with relief. “You know, when my mother used to patch me up, she would kiss it to make it better.” He raised his eyebrows and grinned at her.

“If you got hurt working for Larry at Once A-Pawn A Time, would you ask him to kiss it to make it better?”

“You really know how to hurt me.”

Johanna laughed. She leaned in and lightly kissed Jackson’s neck.

He could feel the hairs along his nape tingle.

“All better?” she asked.

About the Author : Carol Pack

C. A. PACK, author of Code Name: Evangeline, Evangeline’s Ghost, and the Library of Illumination novelettes, is an award-winning journalist and former television news anchor/writer from Long Island, New York.

Authors Links

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Buy Link

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Guest Post/Blog Tour: He: A Sexual Odyssey by Stephan Morsk

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Guest Blog - About "He"
by Stephan Morsk


Thanks so much to all of you at Books & Tales for allowing me to introduce myself and my work to you.  My name is Stephan Morsk.  I’ve published a book entitled “HE:A Sexual Odyssey” and hope to introduce it to you with some excerpts.  First, I’m a mental health professional who writes daily for the past 15 years or so.  I’ve won a 7th and an 8th place in a Writer’s Digest Contest out of a field of 19,000, published short stories, won honorable mentions and received praise from Kirkus Reviews.  My work falls roughly into the erotica genre, but I’ve made up my own term, mysteroticom, to encompass mystery, comedy and erotica on one evangelical souffle.  My favorite author is Norman Mailer.

Enough about me.  My writing tends to centrifugate around the theme of male salvation by women, sometimes very problematic women.  The sexual and emotional power of women is another theme that emerges repeatedly.  Finally, the arbitrariness of gonzo fate, blitzkrieg karma is often bound to land my protagonists in untenable situations through no fault of their own.

In “HE” the protagonist is an unnamed, thirty-ish law student living in Manhattan.  He’s somewhat introverted, rather isolated from the common hub of humanity and seeking salvation from his hermit-like existence by finding Ms. Right.  He knows that out there is the one woman who will bestow upon him something akin to connection, some elusive visceral, testicular thread to the human race.

Misha is one candidate but is gorgeous, young and, he presumes, out of his league.  She’s so enticingly hot he grabs the shirt she’s left in the foyer of the apartment of his ex-boss.


Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply, a sensation nonpareil invading his nostrils and lording his olfactory tubercle, marauding down his spinal cord and initiating a gonadal reflex complete with phallic tumescence, his cobalt lust the closest thing he could enjoin in the Milky Way of Misha gratification.

His reverie was broken when the cloth was snapped from his fingers.  There, standing above him, was the albescent Misha, a tart smirk gracing her lips, which were yanked to one side of her face in denunciation.  “You’re pathetic,” she said, a sly smile orchestrating her mouth.  p.10.


“HE” does end up in a relationship with Misha, but it turns out to be a sado-masochistic one in which she texts him the times she’ll be in a restaurant with her real boy friend.  Then they hook up clandestinely in the women’s room and he performs sexual humiliations at her bequest.  Why he goes along with this he’s not quite sure.

Another candidate for deity is Eve who “HE” encounters in a coffee shop.  He notices her breast are ‘freaks of nature’ in their energetic buoyancy.


But it was her breasts that intrigued him.  He’d seen breasts like those once before in a store in San Francisco, some trinket place that sold small souvenirs.  The woman, a cashier, undoubtedly noticed his impertinent stare.  Her breasts were viscerally launched form the radix of her chest, two emotive munificent barrels at right angles to her ribs.  It was not their size, but their rectitude, draped loosely with a thin fabric that astonished him.  He could not help but ogle.  These were the same in a woman who sat nonchalantly imbibing a chai latte.  He was entranced, nor did he believe she noticed him through his dark sunglasses, which lent anonymity to his gaze.  He could stare unabashedly.  p. 11.


When she departs she accidentally leaves her briefcase and he makes a mad dash to return it to her unsuccessfully.  But, there’s a cell phone in the briefcase along with some cut out pictures of women’s body parts, and the phone rings reuniting her with him.  Eventually he returns the briefcase and cell phone to her whereupon she disappears probably forever much to his dismay.  When, one day she shows up at his door unexpectedly he’s more than a little overjoyed.


“I’ll be staying a while,” she said.  He nodded excitedly at the news.  Not that he had invited her.  She’d brought her bosoms, and that was enough to engage his endorsement.  “I’m in a bit of a mess,” she said, cutely as ever.  She kept tossing off phrases, warnings really, puntos de informacion by way of explication.  “I’m not who you think I am,” she said.  Then finally, “I carry a gun.”  

Ignoring all this data momentarily, he asked, “Can I get you anything?”  p. 37.


She can do no wrong in his eyes.  If Eve had said she was a mafia kingpin he would have welcomed her unflinchingly into his abode.  Unfortunately she falls into a coma and has to be carted away by ambulance.  He’s left to explore the contents of her purse and a small suitcase she left behind containing several compartments.


First one: a small bag of cannabis sativa.  Rolling papers in a white cover and a book of matches.  He replaced it and zipped it up.  Second one: photos.  These were not like the ones in the briefcase, but filthy renditions of HER in various poses of concupiscence... her legs pulled up to reveal the snooty tuft of her pubic hair; on hands and knees on a mattress from the back, revealing everything;  her upper body, head thrown back and tongue wagging no doubt to someone’s pleasuring lips, etc.  There must have been twenty of them.  He replaced them for further inspection.  Third: a long tube of something heavy.  Opening the end, which unscrewed, he saw inside something metallic.  It slid out easily and looked like a long solid pipe of... what? Platinum?  Titanium?  P. 40.


Whatever it is leads to contact with an international group of thugs determined to repossess it.  He meets another potential savior in a hotel lobby who refers to herself only as Tinkerbell.  Just his luck she turns out to be an ex-Russian whore, lesbian gangster type who eventually has sex with him in exchange for the rod.  At the same time she manages to slip something nefarious into his vodka.  When she finally leaves with the rod and the cash she had promised would be his, “HE” realizes he needs immediate medical attention.


Collapsing more than sitting onto the back seat, he said, “Mount...”

“What?” the man asked.  “Can’t hear ya’, brother.”  

“Mount,” he said again, the words sticking on his lips.  He was getting daffier by the moment.  

“Mount... what?” the cabby said.  

“Cy... an... ide...”

“Mount Cyanide?”

Shaking his head no, he said, “Sigh... nigh...”

“Oh, Mount Sinai hospital?”  the guy asked.  He nodded.  “You all right, brother?”  He shook his head no.  

“Mer... gen... see...”

“You ain’t gonna die on me in my cab are you?”  He shook his head no.  “Okay, then I’m movin’.  Otherwise I call you a ambulance man.  Got no dyin’ in my cab, brother.  Uh, uh.”  p. 65.


Once again his quixotic quest for Ms. Right proves more than a little disastrous.


Well, I hope I’ve teased you enough to consider giving “HE: A Sexual Odyssey” a chance.  I can assure you you won’t be disappointed.  It is available in soft cover at Amazon, e formats on Nook and Kindle.  I maintain my own website morsklitmonthly.com with a new short story monthly.  I’m on Twitter at @SMorsk.   Facebook too.


Thanks again for letting me share a bit of my novella with you.

Stephan Morsk

***

HE: A Sexual Odyssey
Stephan Morsk 
ASIN: B00E3GZPTI
ISBN: 0-7414-8224-X 
Genre: erotica
Book Trailer
Available at: Buy Books on the Web | Amazon



Book Description:

In HE the unnamed protagonist, a law student, is involved with a series of women who either loathe him, try to poison him, save his life or exploit him sexually. The first is the nanny of his ex boss’ kid. She sends him a hateful letter, enclosing a pubic hair and rubbed with pheromones. After observing a woman in a coffee shop whose breasts are ‘freaks of nature’ she leaves a briefcase and departs. He’s unsuccessful in returning it to her, but this karmic event exposes him to a bevy of dangerous and seductive paramours.

***

About the Author:

Stephan Morsk is a mental health professional who writes daily.  He won a 7th and an 8th place in the Writer’s Digest competition 2001 out of a field of 19,000 writers.  He has published a short story and won honorable mentions in other years.  His web site morsklitmonthly.com offers a new short story each month.  He is interested in novellas and recently submitted “Parrot Moon” to the Paris Literary Prize.  He’s finished several other short books, part of a four part series including “HE”, “Trashy Novel-A Love Story”, “She” and “I”.  He lives in rural Minnesota with his family.  Favorite novelist, Normal Mailer.  He enjoys exercise and is a reasonable amateur magician.   

http://morsklitmonthly.blogspot.com/

http://www.morsklitmonthly.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Stephan-Morsk/e/B00C41SIM0/

Book Spotlight: The Uncovered by Jes Young

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Title: The Uncovering
Author: Jes Young
Genre: Paranormal Romance / Urban Fantasy
MM Publishing USA

“Tab Bennett is normal — unusually, excessively normal. Her job as a bank teller is safe and secure, her grandfather finally let her move out of the house (at least to the cottage at the end of the driveway), and her fiancé fiercely guards her chastity, whether she wants him to or not.

It's something of a shock, then, when Tab learns that she is the elvish queen of the fabled kingdom of the Inbetween. Also shocking is the appearance of the staggeringly confident and gorgeous elvish warrior who claims to be Tab's true betrothed. Even amidst a steamy love triangle, Tab must tell friend from foe in an unknown world of danger, deceit, magic, and sex.

The first in the Underneath and Inbetween trilogy, The Uncovering sparkles with wit and unadulterated fun.”

Book Excerpt #3 

That night I had a dream that Rivers and I were walking in the deep forest. I wasn’t afraid. She was like a beam of sunlight in the darkness, glowing, leading me by the hand the way she did when we were little. She pointed out rocks that might trip me and held back branches that would otherwise have tangled in my long, dark hair.

“I always protected you,” she said, looking back at me, her eyes big and black. “But you didn’t protect me.”

“I didn’t know how.”

With a shrug, she continued leading me deeper and deeper into the woods. The further we went, the less careful she became about the rocks and the branches. I stumbled and the trees lashed out and pulled at my hair and cheeks. She didn’t seem to care.

“Maybe we should go back.”

“We can only go forward from here.” Her hand was very cold in mine. Icy cold. “Don’t worry,” she whispered. “I’ll protect you from the monsters in this forest. Even though you didn’t protect me.”

Rivers wasn’t glowing with sunshine anymore. She was pale as the moon. She was growing dimmer by the second.

“I want to go home.”

“I’m never going home,” she said.

The trees blocked out the sky. The branches twisted together above us, seeking something that would always be out of their reach. There were birds perched on the limbs, shiny black birds that called to each other with human voices.

home, never going home

“Hush, you silly birds,” she said. “You’ll frighten the queen.”

frighten the queen, frighten the queen. Their call echoed from bird to bird and branch to branch.

“The starlings like you,” she said, looking up into the sea of glossy red eyes above us. “They don’t want the monsters to get you.”

They didn’t look friendly. Rivers didn’t look friendly either.

“Will you let the monsters to get me?” I asked.

She shrugged. “You let them get me.”

frighten the queen, frighten the queen

“I didn’t know about them. I would have protected you if I knew.”

never going home

“That’s a great excuse,” she said, “but I’m still dead.”

“I’m sorry,” I cried. “I’m so sorry.”

She started backing away from me. She spoke in a whisper that grew louder and louder which each word. “There are monsters in these woods. Some of They eat princesses for supper, but most of They prefer to make them suffer.”

The birds took to the sky, flying around us, feathers brushing against my cheek and throat and hands.

suffer, make them suffer

“I’m not a princess,” she whispered, “so what do you think They did to me?”

suffer

never coming home

“I’m sorry, Rivers. I’m so sorry.”

The starlings twisted around her, swirling as one, a mass of black wings and ruby eyes.

“Make them suffer,” she said. Her eyes were like the starlings’, glossy and glassy and empty, the deep color of bad blood. The birds drew close around her and then shot off, like a hundred thousand feathered arrows, into the sky.

I woke up in my bed, alone and scared, with tears streaming down my face.

***

About the Author:

Jes Young holds a BFA in creative writing from Emerson College.  She writes Urban Fantasy and Paranormal romance because, in spite of a complete lack of supporting evidence, Jes still believes in fairy tales, happy endings, and true love.

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https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5827855.Jes_Young

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Book Spotlight & Giveaway Taking Chances by Ariadne Wayne

Taking Chances - Release Blitz

By Ariadne Wayne

Contemporary Romance

Date Published: April 27, 2014

  

Lauren and Mark Burrows lost their parents in a car accident one night. Despite their father being the drunk driver, both struggle with the urge to turn to drink; Lauren most of all. When all they have is each other, Lauren feels lost when Mark falls in love with Cassie Warren and moves out.

Ethan Stone has been alone since his divorce. His ex-wife took him for everything, and he has felt empty for a long time. He's not looking for love, but Lauren brings him back to life. The question is whether she can fight her demons for the man she loves, and if Ethan can handle the wild ride that is life with Lauren.

EXCERPT

With Ethan’s arm around her shoulders, Lauren nestled up close, nuzzling his cheek.

“I did want to watch this, Lauren. You’ll distract me.”

“That’s the idea.”

He grinned. “I am trying not to make our relationship just about sex.”

“I know. I’m happy right here, but I’m still trying to distract you.”

Ethan laughed. “You’re so naughty.”

“Always.” She rolled her eyes. “As if I would be anything else.”

He kissed her lips softly. “Is that better?”

“Getting there.”

“If I keep kissing you, I’m not going to want to stop.” He said, in an attempt to look serious.

“That’s what I’m counting on.”

Ethan kissed her on the nose. “That’s all you’re getting until the movie is finished.”

“Spoil sport.”

She rested her head on his shoulder. Moving his hand down from her shoulder to rub her arm, he shared a smile before snuggling up again.

“I know I tease, but I do like this,” she said.

“So do I. You know, it’s been so long since I was this close to anyone. Just to have you here and in my arms is the best feeling.”

“I’m glad, Ethan. I’ve been looking forward to being here with you, even if it is only for a few days.”

“We’ll have to make the most of it. Spend every second we can together.”

He leaned back to look at her. What this beautiful woman saw in him, he didn’t know. Her long blonde hair hung in curls around her shoulders, and she had those gorgeous brown eyes that just sucked you in. The type you just want to look into forever.

She smiled, and his stomach plunged through the floor. There was so much to her that no-one else could ever know about. How anyone had never worked that out was a mystery, but Ethan saw it.

The depth of Lauren’s feeling in return was obvious. Looking at her, really looking at her, her emotions were written all over her face.

“How can no-one have claimed you before,” he said, softly.

She blushed, colour flooding her cheeks. The look on her face made his heart race at the thought she was his.

“Ethan,” she whispered.

Ariadne Wayne

Ariadne Wayne loves books and lives in Auckland, New Zealand with her husband and two children. Having always had a prolific imagination she now writes the words down instead of storing them in her head where she can't share them.

When she's not writing she works in Telecommunications, frequently banging her head on the desk with the random things that can happen to the ordinary phone line.

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Book Spotlight & Freebie: To Catch a Spinster by Megan Bryce

To Catch a Spinster - PROMO Blitz

By Megan Bryce

Historical Romance

Date Published: June 2012

Come back to a time when manners are everything and rules are made to never be broken. Come back to a time when men are in charge and women do what they are told...

Yeah, that never happened.

Welcome to Megan Bryce's Regencyland, where ladies with backbone get what they want. Where a woman can thumb her nose at rules and care little for convention, and yet somehow, unexpectedly and most reluctantly, find love.

To Catch A Spinster

Olivia Blakesley, self-proclaimed spinster extraordinaire, is quite happy with her life. She has her studies and her duties, what need does she have of a husband? With five sisters married she knows the reality does not live up to the promise, and does not need to personally experiment with the state to know she would be ill-suited to it. However, she finds herself envious of at least one aspect of marriage. But to experience the physical side of marriage, one doesn't need a husband, all one needs is the right man...

Nathaniel Jenkins knows his duty. Marry a young girl from a respectable family and father an heir, no matter how cold the endless parade of suitable girls leaves him. But a shocking proposal from a scholarly spinster leaves him wondering if unsuitable is just what he's looking for. Can he convince his spinster that marriage is the greatest experiment of all?

EXCERPT

Miss Olivia Blakesley watched as her youngest sister was married and thought, “That does it, old girl. You are officially on the shelf.”

Truthfully, she wasn’t quite yet. But at the ripe old age of seven and twenty, with two older sisters and three younger sisters all married, she was close enough. What man would want the sister who had been left behind? More importantly, why would she want the man who would want her?

She wouldn’t. So it was a good thing she had her studies and responsibilities. She was fairly certain she would have gone stark raving mad these last eight years waiting for a suitor who would never come if she hadn’t started studying the stars or helping her father with the accounts. Not exactly respectable activities for a gentle young woman, but she enjoyed them.

Her mother blamed those activities for her current matrimonial-less state. What woman would rather sneak outside to paint stars than flirt with a beau? What woman who was at least pretending she wanted to get married would wear those high-necked, front-buttoned, somber-colored old maid rags?

Olivia handed her mother, who sat sniffling in the pew beside her, a clean handkerchief.

“Thank you, Olivia. I can always count on your handkerchief to be dry at weddings, can’t I? I don’t understand how you can be so emotionless.”

“I’m not emotionless, and you should be grateful as you now have two handkerchiefs to drench.”

Olivia’s father winked at her as he patted his wife’s hand. “It’s not as if this wedding was a surprise, my dear.”

No, Eugenia had been promising that she would be snatched up the quickest since Prudence had taken nearly two years in the marriage mart. Eugenia had lasted a mere two months. The Blakesley sisters were nothing if not goal-oriented.

Olivia had her own goals and, unfortunately for her mother, they did not include catching a husband. Even so, she did not want to die inexperienced in love, estranged from her sisters because they knew something she didn’t.

Lust.

She did not want to die a virgin spinster aunt, caring for her aging parents.

It would be much better if she could die an experienced spinster aunt, caring for her aging parents.

She glanced at the cross hanging above the vicar’s head. Dear Lord, what was she considering? Was she really thinking of. . .

No. It was a sin. And she was in a church, for heaven’s sake.

But as her father was wont to say: In the course of life, some commandments must be broken. For emergencies. For science.

Thou shalt not kill. Definitely one to be broken in an emergency.

Thou shalt not worship any graven images. A few might say that Olivia worshiped her Dutch-made telescope. For science, of course.

Honor thy father and mother. She had never been any good at that one.

Thou shalt not commit adultery. . .

Well, she just wouldn’t choose a married man. This was, after all, a scientific emergency.

She was not going to die an old maid.

Olivia looked back at the altar. Her beautiful sister in her lace-trimmed ivory satin wedding gown beamed at her new husband, who looked down at her with obvious love and a little bit of panic. Olivia would never have that. She would never fall in love. Never have someone to depend on– only herself.

She nodded. So be it. If she could not have everything, she would have something. If she could not have love, she would have lust. She would find someone to teach her desire.

Amen.

About the Author:

Megan Bryce sits in front of a computer all day making up stories for a living. Which means she is not nearly as interesting (as well as tall, svelte, and/or dressed) as her characters. She gets bored quickly and just can't be bothered with anyone in her head who doesn't make her laugh-- which translates into fun books, outrageous situations, and witty characters who will leave you laughing and gasping for more.

Website: www.meganbryce.com

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