Sydney Winward's Blog, page 23
April 5, 2020
Jana Richards’ Cover Reveal for To Heal a Heart
Blurb
Garrett Saunders’ world changed two years ago on a road in Afghanistan. Back home,
he feels like a stranger. As he struggles to find his place in the world, he meets a horse
destined for the slaughterhouse and a woman bent on rescuing the strays of the world,
including him.
Blair Greyson moves to Masonville to look after her ailing grandfather and give her
rescue horses a home. Right away she butts heads with a surly former Marine. Despite
a rocky start, they come to an agreement: Blair will board Garrett’s rescue horse and
he’ll help with repairs around her farm.
Garrett finds purpose working with Blair—and falls in love with her. But she’s hiding a
secret. Can she forgive herself and accept Garrett’s love, or will she let guilt and regret
continue to rule her life?
Author Bio
Jana Richards has tried her hand at many writing projects over the years, from
magazine articles and short stories to full-length paranormal suspense and romantic
comedy. She loves to create characters with a sense of humor, but also a serious side.
She believes there’s nothing more interesting then peeling back the layers of a
character to see what makes them tick.
When not writing up a storm, working at her day job as an Office Administrator, or
dealing with ever present mountains of laundry, Jana can be found on the local golf
course pursuing her newest hobby.
Jana lives in Western Canada with her husband Warren, and a highly spoiled
Pug/Terrier cross named Lou. You can reach her through her website at
http://www.janarichards.com
Jana Richards’ Social media links:
Website: http://www.janarichards.com
Blog: http://janarichards.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JanaRichardsAuthor
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/JanaRichards_
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/janarichards
Amazon UK Author Page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B002DEVWWG
Newsletter Signup: http://janarichards.com/contact.html#newsletter
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2892274Jana_Richards
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jana-richards
April 4, 2020
Marilyn Barr’s Cover Reveal for Bear with Me
A new town, a fresh start, and magical secrets that could destroy them.
Blurb
Blue eyes, dimples, and silky brown hair; Grant Luther has all of Alison’s weaknesses.
When he asks for one last chance to save their marriage, she agrees to relocate their family to isolated Strawberry, Kentucky in pursuit of his career dreams. Grant views Alison’s sensory issues as limitations and protects her from outside threats. When he finds his new job includes changing him into a shifter in a war against the soul-sucking Sluagh he vows to keep the changes a secret. What he doesn’t know is Alison has been hiding a magical secret of her own. One that makes her a target of the Sluagh.
Will Alison emerge from Grant’s shadow to protect her family? And can Grant learn that being different can be a strength not a weakness?
Excerpt
“You look perfect. I mean perfectly healthy. I mean mostly uninjured,” she stammers. She places her tiny hand over her eyes.
Feeling braver than ever, I walk right up to her. I gently remove the hand from her face and hold it to my own. “See, I’m fine,” I whisper as I gently rub my thumb over her tiny knuckles.
Her eyes lift to mine and lock our gazes. I have always found the golden color of her eyes fascinating but never studied them up close. They are light brown with a golden star in the middle. I am literally star gazing as she takes in the injuries to my face. We stand there for about a minute, lost in time.
I wonder if she is thinking about when we first started dating, the hard times that followed, the present, or the future. I search her face for clues but don’t want to break the spell by opening my mouth. I decide to put said mouth to better use by lowering my head toward hers.
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Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram ~ Amazon Author Profile ~ Goodreads
April 3, 2020
Book Review of Curse of the Blacknoc Witch by Tori V. Rainn
My Review
Bad children being forced to run from evil creatures every night against their will? Monsters eating children alive and spitting them out into monsters? How dark and gruesome! This book captivated me from beginning to end. The world building in the forest is phenomenal, with small bits of humor thrown in there that made me chuckle. I loved Samuel’s determination to save children from an inescapable doom and Layla’s bravery as she fights off monsters and tries to break the curse.
This book has a dark Grimm’s fairy tales type of feel to it with fun little riddles along the way. Every scene in the forest, my heart was in my throat as I wondered what would happen next. The cover is stunning, the story gripping. This was a wonderful read and I really enjoyed it! I highly recommend.
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Favorite Quote
A rabbit with a swollen, raw hump on its back, stands on its hind legs, showing off fangs protruding from under its twitching nose. A shriek forms at the back of my throat, but I swallow it down. After getting a good look at me, the rabbit scurries off into the brush. I let out a breath of relief. What is wrong with this place? Despite how hideous that rabbit appeared, Samuel still took the ugly show by far.
Blurb
Samuel dreamed of being a lot of things, but a monster trapped in a forest realm never entered his mind. The Blacknoc Curse wasn’t supposed to be true, only a children’s story meant to persuade them away from evil. Yet, here he was tasked with hunting cursed kids. There’s nothing left for Samuel except the horror surrounding him.
Layla, a young girl tormented by the same curse, is dropped into the terrifying forest every night, running from the monsters intent on taking her life. She meets Samuel and vows to save all the children, especially Samuel, from their torment.
Working together can they defeat the Blacknoc Curse?
Amazon ~ Apple Books ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Book Depository ~ Goodreads
April 2, 2020
Book Review of Wild Rose Pass by Karen Hulene Bartell
My Review
Ben Williams has always been an outsider, and never had somewhere he truly belonged. Cadence McShane has always longed for something more than life at the fort, a life filled with adventure and purpose. When their desires are tugging them in different directions, will they be able to overcome and compromise in the name of love?
I just adored our hero, Ben. He’s compassionate, from sparing the life of a threatening rattlesnake to providing food and shelter for a desperate family in need, he is the perfect example of humility and kindness. He knows his way around the wilderness, and there is no better person to feel safer with.
The book is well-written and filled with such incredible details that made me feel like I was right there in the story. I loved learning that allowing a horse to breathe your breath helps them get acquainted with your scent. I also love the recipes included at the end of the book. It’s so fun to read about food in a story, and then to see the actual recipe for it. I think I’m up to the challenge of making old-fashioned molasses taffy!
This was such a wonderful book, and I highly recommend it to those looking for a great historical romance with a swoon-worthy hero.
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Favorite Quote
“Let me guess. You want to learn to dance in time for the Harvest Ball.” Tom smirked. “Any particular reason?”
“Even if I had one, it’d be none of your business.” His cheeks burning, Ben turned away, grumbling. “Never mind. Sorry I asked.”
“Don’t go off half-cocked. You took me by surprise is all. Give me a minute to think.” Tom ran his hand across his face. “Come by my quarters tonight, say after seven.”
Ben did a double-take. Is he laughing up his sleeve?
Book Blurb
Cadence McShane, free-spirited nonconformist, yearns to escape the rigid code, clothes, and sidesaddles of 1880s military society in Fort Davis, Texas. She finds the daring new lieutenant exhilarating, but as the daughter of the commanding officer, she is expected to keep with family tradition and marry West Point graduate James West.
Orphaned, Comanche-raised, and always the outsider looking in, Ben Williams yearns to belong. Cadence embodies everything he craves, but as a battlefield-commissioned officer with the Buffalo Soldiers instead of a West Point graduate, he is neither accepted into military society nor considered marriageable.
Can two people of different worlds, drawn together by conflicting needs, flout society and forge a life together on the frontier?
Amazon ~ Barnes and Noble ~ Goodreads
Thought I’d give the Taffy Recipe a Try
It was a success! I used to make candy with my mom when I was little, but I’ve never attempted taffy before. I followed the recipe for old-fashioned molasses taffy at the back of the book. My favorite part was the stretching. It turned a beautiful, shiny golden color, and it tasted better than expected!
I made it with dairy-free butter, as my 2-year-old son is allergic to dairy. He says it’s “yum!” Though while I was stirring and stirring the liquid taffy, he got into the entire container of Oreos (did you know Oreos don’t have any dairy?!), and I have no idea how many he ate. Over half the package was gone. Here are some pictures from our fun taffy-making adventure!
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April 1, 2020
Favorite Books Series and Why
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People kept telling me “Read Brandon Sanderson!” And I kept thinking “Nah, I’m not really interested. Plus the books are long.” Oh, boy was I glad to pick up my first ever Brandon Sanderson book, Way of Kings. It’s my favorite book of all time. The world-building is phenomenal in every book I’ve read of his. I’m sucked into each book, unable to put it down until my eyes burn from staring at the pages for too long. If you haven’t read Brandon Sanderson, do it now!! Even unbelievers can be made into believers.
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I love these books. At first, I was drawn in by the beautiful covers. Next, the story caught me like a fish on a hook. The bachelor/bachelorette meets dystopian. These books are just too good. The next book on my list by Kiera Cass is Betrothed. If only it would come in the mail! I ordered it a month ago.
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Oh. My. Amazing! I am in love with Rhys. Maybe even a little obsessed. I love the characters, the magic, the world-building, the storyline. I am EAGERLY awaiting Nessa’s story, which I believe is set to come out in 2021. So lonnnnggggg!!
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I have to throw these in there because they are just so good! The Hope Springs Series by Sarah M. Eden had me in fits of laughter as well as in tears. You can’t help but to fall in love with the characters. I read them two years ago, and I still think about them often. My favorite characters are Joseph and Ian. Though if I had to pick a love interest for myself, Tavish all the way. Swoon! Too bad Cecily can’t see how handsome he is! (She’s blind.) Set in the late 1800s, the series will make you feel a range of emotions. Pick them up, you won’t be disappointed!
March 30, 2020
Book Cover Crush Monday: Please See Us by Caitlin Mullen
I really like this cover because it has a suspenseful foreboding feeling to it. I immediately think “thriller”, which is not wrong. Can you believe I’ve never read a thriller before? I need to add a few thrillers to my to-read list! If you have any recommendations, please send them my way!
March 27, 2020
Book Review of Enchanting the Beast by Maggie Dallen
My Review
I am pleasantly surprised that I really ended up liking this book. In the beginning, there was a lot of info dumping and unnecessary repetition that took me out of the book time and again. But by the middle, it ended up picking up. More repetition near the end, with a few unanswered questions and loose ties.
However, the characters were enjoyable, and I found myself rooting for them to end up together. I really liked Spencer and being inside his head. The relationship between him and his father was really interesting and believable. Holly and Spencer were really cute together, and I found myself smiling and laughing throughout the story. By the last page, I was thoroughly engrossed in the book.
This was a fun read that didn’t take too long to get through. I recommend to anyone looking for a fun contemporary romance.
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Favorite Quote
Her arms were full by the time she returned to the table where Spencer sat. When she set them down they sort of tumbled out of her arms in a super graceful manner. The flour outright fell from the crook of her arm where she’d been cradingly it and it landed in Spencer’s lap with a thud and then a poof as a cloud of powder puffed out of the open top and settled over Spencer’s face.
Holly stared in horror, her hands over her mouth. His nice, neat, formerly blue buttoned down shirt was now white. His face was ghostly pale. And his glasses… She choked on a wholly inappropriate laugh as he slowly lifted a hand to wipe off his powdered glasses and peer at her.
Blurb
It all started with a lie…
Holly has been sent to con her reclusive tech genius neighbor, but she has one big problem: she can’t lie to save her life. To make matters worse, she breaks every rule in the book when she develops a crush on her mark.
Spencer is on to his stunning neighbor’s deception from the start, but in an effort to figure out her plan he’s gone and done the unthinkable—he’s fallen for the one woman he can never trust.
March 26, 2020
Character Art: Alavara Elroris
Alavara Elroris
I recently entered a raffle for character art, and I was one of the winners! @ARTmmkay did an amazing job at capturing Alavara’s essence. She is a deadly assassin, a dark elf forced to carry out her father’s wishes, even if it means becoming the mate of the vampire king to stop a war in its tracks.
However, Jesper Degore refuses to have an elf on the throne. His one condition to take her as his mate is that she must be turned into a vampire like him.
Excerpt from Blood Heir, a WIP in the Bloodborn Series
Rain poured heavy from the clouds, soaking the entire landscape in glittering darkness like pools of fresh blood coating the kingdom in the stain of one’s enemies. Clattering droplets provided the perfect cover to mask one’s movements, to drown out one’s footsteps, and to especially hide one’s scent from the bloodsucking creatures roaming the land.
Alavara Elroris rubbed her hands together, and a brief spark of blue lit up her palms, glowing under the muted moonlight. She touched a hand to the side of a brick building, and it stuck fast with the magic flowing through her veins. One hand placement after the other, she climbed the side of the building before swinging her legs up and over a wooden beam, allowing herself to dangle upside down.
Slowly, as to avoid making any noise, she pulled out an iron-tipped arrow from her quiver and angled her bow to face toward the open window of the tavern. He was here. She’d been following him for some time now, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.
Even beneath the awning, rain droplets spattered her face as if wet blood already flecked her skin. A male with dark red hair sat within view of the window, a tankard on the table in front of him. In all honesty, she had not expected the new king of vampires to be so handsome. He had a seriousness to him she felt sure could wilt a flower just by looking at it, but handsome all the same. The deep red hair, the prominent jaw, a straight nose, and green eyes. She couldn’t decide if he was handsome or beautiful. Both, perhaps.
And he left himself open to take an arrow to the throat.
She nocked her arrow and pulled back on the bowstring, holding her breath as she took aim at the male’s pretty neck. The king had no heir, and without an heir, the kingdom would resort to chaos, which would allow another army to march in and overthrow it.
A much smaller female body stepped in front of the vampire king and hid him from view, her back to the window as if guarding him from a potential threat lingering outside. Alavara snarled and let her bow slacken. More than once tonight, that same female had thwarted her plans. She wanted to put an arrow through her neck if only to get her out of the way. But as soon as she killed the female, the king would be on alert and she would have lost her chance.
No. Better to wait until he was alone.
She smiled as she remembered the tankard sitting in front of him. Alone and intoxicated. What a perfect match for an assassination.
March 25, 2020
Favorite Things to Do in the Spring
Crane My Neck to Look at Flowers
I love going on walks just to see all the flowers cropping up. I probably look like an idiot as I’m glancing back and forth at the daffodils and the pansies and… oh yuck! What is that disgusting smell coming from that tree? Oh, and there’s another daffodil. So beautiful!
Plant a garden
I only recently bought a house, and I discovered that I have free reign on what goes in the garden! I am currently the world’s worst gardener, BUT I did grow a watermelon…the size of a baseball. But hey! The rhubarb didn’t die…but it didn’t grow either. And are those the fifth batch of weeds I have to pull??
Laying in the Sun
After a long winter, I love being able to sit outside and enjoy the sunlight. Not only that, but my 2-year-old son is less cranky when he gets to spend time outside rather than being stuck inside as it snows. Ack! Bees! Okay, we only got stung once each. Time to put up the hornet killer tubes.
Being Able to Write Outside
Seven o’clock p.m. is my favorite time of the day. It’s when the kids finally go to bed, I have some peace and quiet, and I can go outside and write in the backyard with a glorious view of the mountains.
March 20, 2020
Official Cover Reveal: Root Brew Float
I am excited to announce my next release, Root Brew Float, coming out on May 18, 2020! This is part of The Wild Rose Press One Scoop or Two series. Every novella has something to do with ice cream and the nostalgic feeling of summer. Make sure to click on the image below to enter the rafflecopter giveaway for a chance to win a prize! Or click this link.
Root Brew Float is available for pre-order now! Only $2.99.
Amazon ~ Barnes and Noble
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Blurb
Josephine Brevil has lived hundreds of years haunted by the horrors she experienced during the Salem Witch Trials. She takes great care to hide her powers, though serving a Root Brew Float laced with a magic potion now and again never hurt anybody. The Order sends her to Massachusetts to deal with a paranormal threat, and she meets the young and handsome widower, Clarence Watts. However, being with him comes with a choice. How can she choose between the man she loves and the magic she holds dear?
Excerpt
“There’s a reason we’re inside the circle. Nothing can touch us in here. Now close your eyes and listen to my voice.” She paused for a moment to take a deep breath, channeling the magic swirling within her core. “Clarence Watts, our task here is to send your deceased wife into the afterlife, beyond the door and into the next realm. If you have done as I previously instructed, you have gotten rid of many of Heidi’s earthly belongings, which is a crucial step to letting her go. Now, imagine a rope that connects you to Heidi. Cut it and sever the tie.”
“It can’t be that simple.”
“It’s not. It’s symbolic of freeing her, but the act of letting go is another story altogether.”
“I’m not sure how I’m supposed to let her go.”
“Cling onto something else you care about. It usually helps.”
His hands tightened around hers. She cracked her eyes open, her heart racing as she stared at their conjoined hands. The word home echoed in her mind again, and when she tried to push it away, it slammed back into her stronger than before.
Home is with the Order, she insisted.
Yet, her pounding heart didn’t believe her.
