Sue Perkins's Blog, page 15

New Release

Caishel - Cloud Kingdoms Book One, is released by Desert Breeze Publishing. This is a fantasy romance book set on an alternate world. Castles float in the air and nahars (unicorn type of animal) are the usual mode of transport.

Caishel survives on the streets of Ardville by dressing as a boy, but she jumps at the chance to become a page in the cloud castle. Sire Ailan offers her the job as he believes her to be male. He soon finds out the truth, but keeps the knowledge to himself. The safest way to protect Caishel is to maintain her disguise. His major problem is can he protect her from himself?


Excerpt
Caishel strutted into the departure hall with a show of bravado. A few feet inside the hall, a hand pulled her to a stop."What are you doing here?" A boy dressed as a castle page asked aggressively. "Trying to steal something I bet. Guard!"Caishel struggled and managed to free herself, but a guard appeared and grabbed her arm."What's going on here?""This filthy urchin," the page's tone showed he considered Caishel a piece of dirt, "has no right to be here. He's probably trying to get up to the castle so he can steal something."A crowd gathered, attracted by the commotion."Is this true, boy?" The guard demanded."I'm going to the castle to be a page." Defiance colored her words."A page! You a page! The likes of you don't get hired as pages." The crowd muttered in support of the other boy's words."Would someone mind telling me what's going on here?"Ailan hadn't spoken in a loud voice, but his cool authority cut through the murmuring crowd and an abrupt silence fell as everyone turned to look at him."This urchin shouldn't be here, Sire," the guard holding Caishel's arm replied. "We think he's trying to get up to the castle, probably to see what he can steal.""He says he's going to be a page to a noble." The page sneered. "Of course, it's got to be a lie. None of our nobles would hire a wretch like him.""You are?""Frano, Sire! Page to Sire Moir," the boy replied crisply, but his self-assurance withered under Ailan's scrutiny.Caishel hid her amazement at the way Ailan gazed silently at the guard. The man shifted uncomfortably until the Sire flicked his hand; the guard released her."Thank you. Now if you would be so good as to clear the way, my page and I would like to board the transport."The crowd instantly moved aside for the Sire. Caishel grinned wickedly at the boy who had spoken, then waggled her fingers at the end of her nose. Frano scowled, anger darkening the youthful features."I think the rude gesture was a little unnecessary," Ailan commented quietly as they took their seats on the transport."Stuck up preeve! Thinks he better than me. Why shouldn't I show him what I think of him?" Her shoulders hunched, Caishel sank down in her seat, annoyed the Sire had seen her insulting gesture.
"I can think of one good reason," Ailan replied. "Your work hours and free time will be spent with the other pages. It's not a good idea to make him your enemy before you even get to the castle!"

Visit Marva Dasef's blog to read another excerpt and be in the draw to win and ebook of Caishel.

January 2014

Not too bad a start to 2014. Almost finished decluttering the house and tidying up the property, nearly finished final read through of my February release and looking forward to seeing Dolly Parton in two weeks time. 

I've always wanted to see Dolly Parton as I love her singing and the sense of humour that comes across in her interviews. For the first time in 30 years she's coming to Auckland so friends and I are going to the show. We're really excited to be able to see her.

On another note the North Island had a big earthquake today. Felt it here in the South Island, but only as a teacup shaker. 

This is an update to where I am at the moment, but hopefully in future I'll be able to update my blog on a more regular basis.

Hope you all had a good festive season and 2014 has started well for you all.

Happy New Year Everybody

Only minutes to go here in New Zealand and we will welcome in 2014. Here's wishing all your hopes and dreams come true in the New Year. Happy New Year to my friends and family across the globe.

Free eBook

Doesn't time fly? I can't believe it's three months since I wrote on this blog. Must get myself back into the art of blogging again.

The reason I'm posting today is Desert Breeze's free eBooks for Christmas are now available. One of the free books is my prequel to The Sixth Key. This is the story of Tynan's mother, a previous Queen of Sacral, and revolves around The Queen's Ring.

Visit the link and find not only my free books, but also other sweet romances by Desert Breeze's fabulous house of authors.



The Queen's Ring
Desert Breeze Free Ereads

The Reluctant Bride by Beverley Eikli

BLURB:

Emily Micklen is proud, passionate – and left with no option after the death of her loving fiancé, Jack, but to marry the scarred, taciturn, soldier who needs to secure a well-connected wife.

Major Angus McCartney hopes that marriage to the unobtainable beauty whose confident gaze about the ballroom once failed to register his presence will offer both of them a chance to put the past to rest.

Emily’s determination to be faithful to Jack’s memory is matched only by Angus’s desire to win her with honour and action. Sent to France on a mission of national security, Angus discovers how deeply Emily has been duped, but the secrets he uncovers lead them both into danger. Can Angus and Emily unmask the real conspirators before they lose everything?

Excerpt
Major Angus McCartney was out of his depth.
He glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece. Only five minutes in this gloomy, oppressive parlour after the womenhad arrived and he was questioning his ability to complete his mission, a feeling he’d not experienced before Corunnafour years before.
He’d been unprepared for the assault on his senses unleashed by the beautiful Miss Micklen. He shifted position once more, fingering the letters that belonged to her. For two years he’d carried the memory of the young woman before him as a confident, radiant creature in a white muslin ball gown with a powder-blue sash. Now her tragic, disbelieving gaze unleashed a flood of memory, for in her distress she bore no resemblance to the paragon of beauty at the Regimental Ball, a bright memory in an otherwise tormented year after he’d been invalided out of Spain. Clearly Miss Micklen did not remember him.
She’d remember him forever now: as the harbinger of doom, for as surely as if he’d pulled the trigger he’d just consigned her hopes and dreams to cinders.
She turned suddenly, catching him by surprise, and the painful, searing memory of the last time he’d confronted such grief tore through him.
Corunna again. As if presented on a platter, the image of the soldier’s woman he’d assisted flashed before his eyes, forcing him to draw a sustaining breath as he battled with the familiar self-reproach which threatened to unman him.
He reminded himself he was here to do good.
‘A skirmish near the barracks?’ the young woman whispered, resting her hands upon her crippled mother’s shoulders. ‘Last Wednesday?’
‘That is correct, ma’am.’
Mrs Micklen muttered some incoherent words, presumably of sympathy. Angus pitied them both: Miss Micklen digesting her sudden bereavement, and the mother for her affliction. The older woman sat hunched in her chair by the fire, unable to turn her head, her claw-like hands trembling in her lap.
He cleared his throat, wishing he’d taken more account of his acknowledged clumsiness with the fairer sex. He was not up to the task. He’d dismissed the cautions of his fellow officers, arrogantly thinking he’d be shirking his duty were he not the one to deliver the news. It was condolences he should be offering, and he had not the first idea how to appeal to a frail feminine heart.
Nor was he accustomed to the lies tripping off his tongue as he added, ‘A tragic mishap, ma’am, but Captain Noble acquitted himself with honour to the end.’
Miss Micklen’s gaze lanced him with its intensity. Tears glistened, held in check by her dark lashes. ‘I can’t believe it,’ she whispered, moving to draw aside the heavy green velvet curtain and stare at the dipping sun. ‘Jack told me he was on the Continent.’
Choosing not to refute Jack’s lie, he said carefully, ‘An altercation occurred between a group of infantry in which I was unwittingly involved. When Captain Noble came to my assistance he was struck a mortal blow to the head. I’m sorry, Miss Micklen.’
He wished he knew how to offer comfort. The beautiful Miss Micklen of the Christmas Regimental Ball had seemed all-powerful in her cocoon of happy confidence. Unobtainable as the stars in heaven, he’d thought as he’d watched her skirt the dance floor in the arms of the unworthy Jack Noble. For so long he’d carried Miss Micklen’s image close to his heart and this was the first time he’d been reminded of Jessamine.




Sue Perkins review of
The Reluctant Bride by Beverley Eikli
A lovely historical romance set in England in Napoleonic times. The main characters are caught in a web of intrigue and Emily, the heroine, finds the stability of her life is rocked when her fiancé is killed and everything disintegrates around her.
Angus, the hero, is strong and considerate with a consuming passion for Emily. They struggle through their first months together, with Angus going on business for weeks at a time, leaving Emily alone with her thoughts which turn from sorrow to disbelief with many other confusing moods along the way.
I truly enjoyed this book, a wonderful story and I loved the way the author made me aware of the historical times, without throwing historical facts at me. I just hate it when the story is swamped by history, but this is not the case in The Reluctant Bride. I would imagine in this era there were several women like Emily who found themselves in a difficult situation, but had no savior to turn to. A lovely book with well drawn characters and emotions which were very real to life. If I were rating this I'd give a five out of five.


AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Beverley Eikli is the author of eight historical romances published by Pan Macmillan Momentum, Robert Hale, Ellora's Cave and Total-e-Bound. Recently she won UK Women's Fiction publisher Choc-Lit's Search for an Australian Starcompetition with her suspenseful, spy-based Regency Romance The Reluctant Bride.
She's been shortlisted twice for a Romance Readers of Australia Award in the Favourite Historical category — in 2011 for  A Little Deception, and in 2012 for her racy Regency Romp, Rake's Honour, written under her Beverley Oakley pseudonym.
Beverley wrote her first romance when she was seventeen. However, drowning the heroine on the last page was, she discovered, not in the spirit of the genre so her romance-writing career ground to a halt and she became a journalist.
After throwing in her job on South Australia's metropolitan daily The Advertiserto manage a luxury safari lodge in the Okavango Delta, in Botswana, Beverley discovered a new world of romance and adventure in a thatched cottage in the middle of a mopane forest with the handsome Norwegian bush pilot she met around a camp fire.
Eighteen years later, after exploring the world in the back of Cessna 404s and CASA 212s as an airborne geophysical survey operator during low-level sorties over the French Guyanese jungle and Greenland's ice cap, Beverley is back in Australia teaching in the Department of Professional Writing & Editing at Victoria University, as well as teaching Short Courses for the Centre of Adult Education and Macedon Ranges Further Education.
She writes Regency Historical Intrigue as Beverley Eikli and erotic historicals as Beverley Oakley.
Beverley won the Choc Lit Search for an Australian Star competition with The Reluctant Bride.
Shortlisted for the 2012 Australian Romance Readers Award for her novel Rake's Honour
Finalist in the 2011 Australian Romance Readers Awards for her novel A Little Deception.
Links:
http://beverleyoakley.com/Beverley_Oakley/Welcome.html
https://www.facebook.com/beverley.eikli?ref=tn_tnmn


Amazon.com 
Amazon.co.uk 
Barnes & Noble 
Amazon Author Page

The Rainbow Ghost Bus - SALE PRICE!!!

The Rainbow Ghost Bus is now available at the sales price of $2.95




Visit MuseItUp Publishing to purchase at this wonderful price.



I am happy to announce my new Tween novel The Rainbow Ghost Bus is now available for purchase in several different formats at MuseItUp Publishing, Amazon and many other ebook sellers. A fantasy novel, it is written for 9-12 year olds. A little bit of fantasy, a little bit of ghosts and a very human boy and girl who have to solve the mystery of the ghost bus with the Number 13 on its front.



The Ghost Bus takes Jack and his sister to Sunland. It abandons them and will only return when they have collected letters to solve the mystery of the Rainbow Bus Company. But which letters and how do they find them?

The Rainbow Ghost Bus - SALE PRICE!!!

The Rainbow Ghost Bus is now available at the sales price of $2.95




Visit MuseItUp Publishing to purchase at this wonderful price.



I am happy to announce my new Tween novel The Rainbow Ghost Bus is now available for purchase in several different formats at MuseItUp Publishing, Amazon and many other ebook sellers. A fantasy novel, it is written for 9-12 year olds. A little bit of fantasy, a little bit of ghosts and a very human boy and girl who have to solve the mystery of the ghost bus with the Number 13 on its front.



The Ghost Bus takes Jack and his sister to Sunland. It abandons them and will only return when they have collected letters to solve the mystery of the Rainbow Bus Company. But which letters and how do they find them?

The Rainbow Ghost Bus

The Rainbow Ghost Bus
Middle Grade Fantasy

I am happy to announce my new Tween novel The Rainbow Ghost Bus is now available for purchase in several different formats at MuseItUp Publishing, Amazon and many other ebook sellers. A fantasy novel, it is written for 9-12 year olds. A little bit of fantasy, a little bit of ghosts and a very human boy and girl who have to solve the mystery of the ghost bus with the Number 13 on its front.





The Ghost Bus takes Jack and his sister to Sunland. It abandons them and will only return when they have collected letters to solve the mystery of the Rainbow Bus Company. But which letters and how do they find them?



Excerpt



Tonight their parents were out and Jack sat with his headphones on, playing a computer game. Kate lounged on a beanbag reading a book. A paper clip hitting the back of his head made Jack take off his headphones and glare at his sister. 

“What's the matter?”

“Did you see that?” Kate pointed at the circular window.

“I saw my score dropping when you hit me.” He turned to continue his game, but his sister pulled him round until he faced her.

“I saw a flicker of light coming from the covered window.”

“Not possible.” He remembered his father's explanation of the reason for the circle.

Jack glanced at the circle every time he entered the room. Now, because Kate insisted, he looked again. A pinpoint of light flickered in one of the sections.

Another flicker and Kate thumped him on the shoulder. “See?”

“Yes, I can see the light coming through, but it's not possible. It must be reflecting off something in here.” He felt proud of himself for shooting down her idea. 

“I know there's no light up there. With the metal cover on the outside we shouldn't be able to see a thing.”

“It's dark outside.” Jack still stared at the window. “So there wouldn't be any light even if without the cover.”

“Good point. What do you think is making the glitter?”

“Don't know, but it's getting bigger.”

He'd been watching the light grow. It now resembled a torch beam and grew stronger by the minute. The base of the light stopped growing, but the beam splayed out and spread quickly, like headlights of a vehicle getting closer.

“What's that noise?” Jack heard a sound that didn't belong in their nice new home. 

“I can't hear a thing,” Kate replied. “No, wait. Do you mean a sort of rumbling noise?”

“Yes.” Jack hung over the railing and looked down below. “I think it's coming from downstairs.”

Kate led the way and Jack was happy to let her. They moved cautiously and the lower they went, the stronger the light grew. They reached the bottom and Kate pushed him behind her.

“Hey,” he objected.

“I'm responsible for you, Jack. For once in your life do as you're told.”

“The light's shining through the windows.” Jack kept his voice at a whisper but obeyed his bossy sister and stayed behind her.

Moving quietly Kate led the way to the huge bi-fold glass doors. The rumbling noise increased and the light dazzled them as it lit up the whole space, preventing them from seeing outside. The loud noise stopped abruptly and now Jack had to strain to hear a low murmur.

“There's a lot of smoke. Do you think there's a fire?” Jack couldn't hide the tremor in his voice.

“It's not that sort of smoke.” Kate replied. “More like the stuff you get in a film when they want it to look foggy. Look, it's getting thinner.”

The mist slowly thinned. A dark outline appeared and gradually became clearer. The bright lights illuminated the patio making the outside like daylight.

“Wow.” Jack exclaimed. “Will you look at that.”

The Rainbow Ghost Bus

The Rainbow Ghost Bus
Middle Grade Fantasy

I am happy to announce my new Tween novel The Rainbow Ghost Bus is now available for purchase in several different formats at MuseItUp Publishing, Amazon and many other ebook sellers. A fantasy novel, it is written for 9-12 year olds. A little bit of fantasy, a little bit of ghosts and a very human boy and girl who have to solve the mystery of the ghost bus with the Number 13 on its front.





The Ghost Bus takes Jack and his sister to Sunland. It abandons them and will only return when they have collected letters to solve the mystery of the Rainbow Bus Company. But which letters and how do they find them?



Excerpt



Tonight their parents were out and Jack sat with his headphones on, playing a computer game. Kate lounged on a beanbag reading a book. A paper clip hitting the back of his head made Jack take off his headphones and glare at his sister. 

“What's the matter?”

“Did you see that?” Kate pointed at the circular window.

“I saw my score dropping when you hit me.” He turned to continue his game, but his sister pulled him round until he faced her.

“I saw a flicker of light coming from the covered window.”

“Not possible.” He remembered his father's explanation of the reason for the circle.

Jack glanced at the circle every time he entered the room. Now, because Kate insisted, he looked again. A pinpoint of light flickered in one of the sections.

Another flicker and Kate thumped him on the shoulder. “See?”

“Yes, I can see the light coming through, but it's not possible. It must be reflecting off something in here.” He felt proud of himself for shooting down her idea. 

“I know there's no light up there. With the metal cover on the outside we shouldn't be able to see a thing.”

“It's dark outside.” Jack still stared at the window. “So there wouldn't be any light even if without the cover.”

“Good point. What do you think is making the glitter?”

“Don't know, but it's getting bigger.”

He'd been watching the light grow. It now resembled a torch beam and grew stronger by the minute. The base of the light stopped growing, but the beam splayed out and spread quickly, like headlights of a vehicle getting closer.

“What's that noise?” Jack heard a sound that didn't belong in their nice new home. 

“I can't hear a thing,” Kate replied. “No, wait. Do you mean a sort of rumbling noise?”

“Yes.” Jack hung over the railing and looked down below. “I think it's coming from downstairs.”

Kate led the way and Jack was happy to let her. They moved cautiously and the lower they went, the stronger the light grew. They reached the bottom and Kate pushed him behind her.

“Hey,” he objected.

“I'm responsible for you, Jack. For once in your life do as you're told.”

“The light's shining through the windows.” Jack kept his voice at a whisper but obeyed his bossy sister and stayed behind her.

Moving quietly Kate led the way to the huge bi-fold glass doors. The rumbling noise increased and the light dazzled them as it lit up the whole space, preventing them from seeing outside. The loud noise stopped abruptly and now Jack had to strain to hear a low murmur.

“There's a lot of smoke. Do you think there's a fire?” Jack couldn't hide the tremor in his voice.

“It's not that sort of smoke.” Kate replied. “More like the stuff you get in a film when they want it to look foggy. Look, it's getting thinner.”

The mist slowly thinned. A dark outline appeared and gradually became clearer. The bright lights illuminated the patio making the outside like daylight.

“Wow.” Jack exclaimed. “Will you look at that.”

Lost on Disc - Middle Grade novel

The computer powers down, ejecting a star fighter from his program. Flic offers to help Stargun find his way home, but the task is harder than he thinks. The star fighter's impatience leads them into all the wrong programs.

Flic wants to help, but he's terrified the Grand Master of the operating system will discover their plight and disintegrate both of them.

Only 99 cents on Amazon.com




















Other Middle Grade books available at

MuseItUp Publishing or Amazon.com







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            $1.99