Roxanne Rhoads's Blog, page 151
October 29, 2020
A Bewitching Thursday
In the Kitchen with Tanith Davenport Recipe for Cottage Pie #cottagepie #Inthekitchen #recipes #bewitchingbooktours
https://creativelygreen.blogspot.com/...
INTERVIEW - REVERSE HAREM FANTASY - THE FIFTH HORSEMAN (Horseman's Harem Saga, #1) by Freida Kilmari #bewitchingbooktours
https://thebookjunkiereadspromos.blog...
A Heart of Salt and Silver by Elexis Bell #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/CfMj50C5WWs
Trick or Treat at Caynham Castle
Jeanne Adams, Morgan Brice, Caren Crane, Nancy Northcott
#bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/aKsi50C5YUg
Haunted Halloween Spooktacular Giveaway #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/Rlkd50C5XQL
Spooktacular Spotlight on #ParanormalRomance: Rise By Moonlight by @nancygideon #bewitchingboktours http://ow.ly/Qeqb50C5Yed
Secret Spirit Guardians of Santa Fe by C.A. Masterson #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/kWE450C5Ygx
Spooktacular Spotlight on #NA #PNR: Ghost Guardians by S. Peters-Davis #bewitchingbooktours https://celiabreslin.com/2020/10/29/s...
The Markings by Catherine Downen - Book Tour #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/TDfp50C5YOU
Soul Seeker by Kaylin McFarren - Supernatural Thriller - The battle between good and evil resides with... #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/6gUY50C5Xkw
Alpha’s Revenge by Catherine Stine - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular
#bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/sQ9450C5Xr3
‘Hidden Gypsy Magic’ by Tena Stetler Haunted Halloween Spooktacular Book Tour with Giveaway & Guest post with Pine Enshrined Reviews and Bewitching Book Tours.
https://pineenshrinedreviews.wordpres...
A Warrior’s Kiss The Cupid Dating Agency Celia Breslin - Paranormal Romance - She’s chasing her dream. He’s after her heart. #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/X3kj50C5Xmx
ORIGINS Tranquilli Bloodline Book 3 by Celia Breslin - Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance - The Chosen One is home. Bad little vampires beware…
http://jbbookworms.blogspot.com/2020/...
HAUNTED HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR RECIPE - QUEEN'S ASCENSION (Blood Prophecy, #3) by Barb Jones #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/A6Wj50C5Yyf
The Genesis of Seven by Sara M Schaller #YAFantasy #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/gDrr50C5YMr
Haunted Halloween Spooktacular ~ Spooktacular Excerpt ~ Fighting for Home: Descendants of the Amazoi, Book One by Kim Richards @Kim_Richards #Fantasy #HistoricalFantasy #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/zGzO50C5XIl
Exclusive Hardcover Release of The Markings by Catherine Downen #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/WWXr50C5Ykr
Jealousy's a Witch by Louisa West #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/ytKa50C5XsS
Broken hearts and damned souls, magic and death…
All in a day’s work for a demi-demon.
But can she be more?
A Heart of Salt and Silver by Elexis Bell
https://amzn.to/2Tw5Sn1
#PNR #fantasy #supernatural #paranormalromance
#AHeartOfSaltAndSilver #darkfiction #fantasyromance
Double Alchemy by Susan Mac Nicol #bewitchingbooktours
http://simplykelina.blogspot.com/2020...
ORIGINS by Celia Breslin #bewitchingbooktours
https://simplykelina.blogspot.com/202...
Hidden Gypsy Magic
https://www.lisasworldofbooks.net/202...
Interview with the Authors of Trick or Treat at Caynham Castle #PNR #paranormalromance
https://www.roxannerhoads.com/2020/10...
Playlist for The Curse of the Mountain by Tyler Cram #horror #playlist #bookplaylist https://fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com...
Playlist for The Curse of the Mountain by Tyler Cram #horror #playlist #bookplaylist
I curated my playlist very carefully. Some songs chosen are very literal, like “Evil Spider” by BENEE or “Blood Red Summer” by Coheed and Cambria.
Then there are songs that are just meant to invoke a feeling that rivals the feel of Appalachian breezes against your skin, like “Fever Dream” by Iron and Wine, or “Down the Hillside” by Jose Gonzalez.
I also included a couple songs from my band Mortal Sons (hehe) because I write a lot of lyrics involving dark themes.
Give a listen and let me know what you think!
The Curse of the MountainTyler Cram
Genre: HorrorPublisher: Darkstroke booksDate of Publication: October 27, 2020ISBN:979-8684886829ASIN: B08H5N4H1FNumber of pages:236Word Count: 76KCover Artist:Laurence Patterson
Tagline: Death stalks a town. An ancient evil. A long-buried secret.
Book Description:
A young officer responding to a call in the middle of the night about chickens being slaughtered turns into a night of reckoning when a deadly creature emerges from the woods.
Years later, while on a hike in the North Carolina wilderness, four friends discover an old book. When they open it, they black out – only to find on waking that they have released the evil things that live within the pages.
As they fight to keep their neighbors from dying, they unravel a dark secret that the leaders of their town have held since their ancestors first settled.
But can the boys really stop the devil?
Amazon
Excerpt:
Roanville’s entire existence was archaic. Nothing was truly that modern there. The town was built on small businesses, a community full of people betting on themselves and their local companions. It was a logging community in the 1800s, it wasn’t a sweet place to live; it only existed to make a living. Slowly it crept its way up through time and modernity to be sustainable for all family types, but it still had trouble catching up. The locals joked that the slogan for their lonesome town should have been ‘The town that time forgot’. There were still pay phones in the city that were frequently used. The police and fire department shared a building because the cost of running both in separate buildings would’ve crippled the town. There were only four cops on the force, the Chief, Frank Gilmore alongside his deputies: Bradley Fine, a lazy native who was ready to retire at the age of forty. Garrett Brock, a stable and smart man around the same age as Brad. Brock was Frank’s right-hand man because of his dedication to the job. He served papers, and wasn’t afraid to give people he knew speeding tickets. The most important thing to Brock was that he needed to get paid. The police force worked off a ticket quota system. Brock held no prisoners. The newest addition to the team was Sarah Mann.
A few years ago, Sarah got a call from the outskirts of town. The trailer park, ‘Disneyland’, as it was called by the denizens, was the source of drugs in Roanville. It was constantly surveyed by the cops.
The caller said someone had been killing the chickens that the Quinn family owned, butchering them once a month since the beginning of the year. Sullivan Quinn didn’t even entertain the thought of someone else doing it. He knew it was his neighbor Ichabod Turner. Ichabod had a loose grasp on the English language. He was seventy-five and was skin and bone, Sarah thought he looked like a skeleton from a Halloween store. He had a yellow-stained beard and long grey frizzy hair. His eyes were sunken and his face was drawn.
He spoke as if there was a marble on his tongue. “Da… Sully… he, uh, he say it wah me ’cus I ain’t never wen to he granpappy fun’ral back een March. I say to Sully ‘daggom, boy, da’worl don’t stop for nobody granpappy, not even yours’ well… he don’t like dat much so he been plannin’ a war and dat boy, daggom, he try’na get me arrested… sheeeeit,” he explained to Officer Sarah Mann when she went down to mediate the situation.
It was night when she talked to them. She got called down because one of Sullivan’s chickens was shrieking, and when he went to go look on the side of his double-wide trailer where his coop was, its innards had been tossed around like dripping scarlet streamers. The fresh red blood hadn’t yet permeated the loose dirt.
He looked over across the street and saw the light inside Ichabod’s house flick off suddenly. Sullivan began to bang on the door, threatened to grab his .44 and shoot his way in. Ichabod called the Sheriff’s office. When Sarah arrived, Sully was pacing in front of Ichabod’s trailer with a revolver in his hand, Sarah jumped out of her patrol vehicle and yelled, “Put the goddamn gun down, Sullivan!”
“He killed my chickens! Every month, massacred! He did it, Sarah!” He was Standing in baggy jean shorts and a stained white tank top, pointing his gun at the house. Sullivan was a tall, skinny guy who had trouble with pills. He worked the lumberyard and a log fell off a pile and broke his leg, snapped like a twig, the bone protruded from his skin and was shattered in multiple places, nearly having to get it amputated. He got hooked on painkillers shortly thereafter. He was thirty, but the labor and drugs aged him. He used to be a hirsute young man, always kept his thick, golden hair shoulder length, and stayed clean shaven. Now he was nearly bald save for some patches, and had a scuzzy, holey black beard, speckled with blond and red strands that were so long off his chin he looked like a goat.
“Drop the gun, Sullivan, or I will be forced to pull mine out as well,” she yelled, her words weaved through the alleys between the trailers. She had her hand fixed on her Glock 17 attached to her hip.
Sullivan dropped the gun to his side. “Just get him out here so you can arrest him,” He said condescendingly.
Sarah walked to Ichabod’s front door, her eyes never leaving Sullivan. She was born and raised in Raleigh and ended up going to North Carolina State University. She had no extracurricular activities, no significant other. The idea of being a police officer took all of her time and thought. Frank found her by chance when he visited the Raleigh NCSU campus to meet with a friend that happened to be her Professor. She was in his office when Frank came in. He offered her a job by the end of the conversation. She was twenty-two years old, even in a small town she was making sixty thousand a year. Many scholarships through the state for women in policing gave her some extra bumps. Now she had been with the Chief for about four years and was sick of all the hick bullshit she had to deal with. A feud over killing chickens? What happened to my life? Now she was a cantankerous, young cop in a trailer park.
She banged on Ichabod’s door, the way only a cop can. He swung it open immediately. She led him into the middle of the trailer park’s road underneath a yellow-orange mercury streetlight. There was one every fifty feet, and in between each post was pitch darkness. As soon as someone would step out of the ten-foot diameter light beam, they would be completely gone.
Sarah asked, “Sullivan, what makes you think Ichabod did this?” She started writing in her notebook.
“He has had a vendetta against my family for some time now, Sarah. He didn’t go to my grandfather’s funeral a few months back and they were best friends,” he said politely, with a southern drawl.
“Now das just boolshit… Aaron hated my guts, boy, he tol me a few week back ‘fore he died dat he hated me for my, uh, demeanor or some shit. Dat I was jus too nasty and he didn’t wan to be seen wit me. But let me tell you bof dat he was nastier den a hooker lickin’ a frog to find her prince charmin’ ’cause he sexed he goddamn cousin… I caught him, too, in the back of his old pick-up back by route one-one-six, where da, uh, post office is. Dats why he hate me, boy.”
Sarah tried to understand what he was saying. She had never heard him uppity the few times she interacted with him. She stopped writing down what he was saying halfway through his aside.
“Don’t you fuckin’ slander my dead grandfather, you dirty shit,” Sullivan gritted through his words.
“Hey, Shut it, both of you,” Sarah said, looking up from her notebook, then back down again to write.
“How would I slaughter dem chickies, boy? I look like a serial killer to you?” Ichabod said, pulling on the length of his tarnished beard.
“Yeah, you really do. The guts were thrown out of them, Officer, and I think this man is sick enough to do it. I saw him standing and pissing off of Arthur Scott’s truck going seventy miles an hour on the highway coming into town,” Sullivan said, thinking that would be the final blow. She didn’t even look up and mumbled, “I expect nothing less from this town.”
“It’s a damn dog doin dis shit, I’m tellin’ ya’s. Couple miles down da road, that farmer, uh, I forget his name, two of his sheep, dead. I know it some damn big dog or wolf, you can quote me on dat one, lady,” Ichabod said.
“Officer,” she retorted, looking at him with fire in her eyes.
“I’m sorry, Officer, but dis mother fucking boy, he—what the fuck?” He squinted past Sarah, three streetlights down the road—an animal.
“What the fuck is that thing?” Sullivan said.
Sarah turned, and her throat dried immediately when she saw it. It didn’t move. She pulled her pistol out of her holster with some difficulty, she never had to pull it before. She had never seen a dog this big. Even from this distance she could see every detail of it. On all fours, it was five feet tall with paws the size of baseball gloves. Its fur was long, dark brown. Sarah could tell that the head was over a foot long, its prodigiously large vulpine teeth hung out of its mouth, glittering by the dingy light. The streetlight gleamed in the beast’s eyes. It stared at her. Her breathing started to sputter, she couldn’t control it. She shook with her gun in her hand as she raised it. A tear built up in her eye. She felt a wave of cold throughout her body as gooseflesh raised on her skin.
The beast stood on its hind legs, the light painted onto the creature and revealing its oversized dog-like body. Ichabod and Sullivan both screamed and ran into their houses.
Full stretch, it stood at nine feet tall. Sarah didn’t move. She stood there waiting for it to start coming towards her, the moon was going to reach its apogee in the sky and that’s when their duel began.
About the Author:Tyler is a horror aficionado. He has been obsessed with the genre since he was too young to be watching it. It started with An American Werewolf in Paris—the awful 90’s sequel to the original—and snowballed ever since. His influences stem from Stephen King, Joe Hill, Shirley Jackson, Algernon Blackwood, and countless others. He studied them almost academically, peering into their minds psychologically, pulling back the curtains to see what drove them to creating their stories.
The answer is reality. Tyler loves the idea that all great horror writers use the real world to concoct monsters. At certain points, you don’t know whether it’s the real ones or the fake ones that are scarier. He decided he wanted to open that box for himself, create something that no one has read.
That’s when the ideas start.
https://twitter.com/tyler_cram
https://www.facebook.com/spookytylercram
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/119551096-tyler-cram
a Rafflecopter giveaway
October 28, 2020
A Bewitching Wednesday
Halloween Favorites with the Authors of Trick or Treat at Caynham Castle #PNR #paranormalromance #bewitchingbooktours
https://www.abewitchingguidetohallowe...
INTERVIEW - YA FANTASY - THE GENESIS OF SEVEN (Empyrean Trilogy, #1) by Sara M. Schaller
https://thebookjunkiereadspromos.blog...
Character Costumes for Halloween- Trick or Treat at Caynham Castle #PNR #paranormalromance #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/MZtS50C4RWE
INTERVIEW - FANTASY - SECRET SPIRIT GUARDIANS OF SANTA FE by C.A. Masterson #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/8YP150C4QFD
Celia’s Must-Watch Halloween Movies @CeliaBreslin ~ Haunted Halloween Spooktacular ~ A Warrior’s Kiss (The Cupid Dating Agency) by Celia Breslin
https://saphsbooks.blogspot.com/2020/...
The Queen of Harlem Commandments by Michelle Smalls #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/5xf050C4RTF
The Fifth Horseman (Horseman’s Harem Saga) by Freida Kilmari ~ #BookTour #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/SWsz50C4RL9
Please Welcome Nancy Gideon as She Tells Us About Her Paranormal Romance, RISE BY MOONLIGHT, By Moonlight, Book 15
#bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/QTry50C4QDJ
Ghost Guardians by S. Peters-Davis #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/6FoH50C4Qn2
Double Alchemy by Susan Mac Nicol - Paranormal/urban fantasy MM romance - The World in Shadow #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/Wl3C50C4Qk2
The Curse of the Mountain by Tyler Cram #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/5lkW50C4Rv6
Soul Seeker by Kaylin McFarren #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/XuuK50C4QJA
Jealousy’s a Witch Midlife in Mosswood Book Two by Louisa West - Paranormal Women’s Fiction - A Halloween Spooktacular Post #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/hKyF50C4Qir
A Heart of Salt and Silver Elexis Bell #bewitchingbooktours
https://simplykelina.blogspot.com/202...
Fighting for Home by Kim Richards - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/hEMr50C4Q9L
Creepy, and local, books to read during Halloween season
https://www.tctimes.com/news/creepy-a...
Exclusive Hardcover Release of The Markings by Catherine Downen
http://www.roxannerhoads.com/2020/10/...
Spiritwalker by Tanith Davenport #PNR #eroticromance
http://www.roxannerhoads.com/2020/10/...
Haunted Halloween Spooktacular: Queen’s Ascension Blood Prophecy 3 by Barb Jones
http://mommasaystoreadornottoread.blo...
The Markings by Catherine Downen
https://www.lisasworldofbooks.net/202...
October 27, 2020
A Heart of Salt and Silver by Elexis Bell
All in a day’s work for a demi-demon.
But can she be more?
A Heart of Salt and Silver
Elexis Bell
Genre: Dark supernatural high fantasy romance
Date of Publication: 11/3/2020
Cover Artist: Elexis Bell
Tagline: With eternity on the line, is love worth the risk?
Book Description:
Ness, a demi-demon with a conscience, just wanted a peaceful afternoon in the Forest of Immortals. But Elias, a reckless mortal, went and spoiled it. Not that he wanted to be chased by psychotic vampires.
After saving his life, Ness agrees to help him find his estranged father and his Pack. But that means facing Nolan, the werewolf ex that holds her heart.
Now, Ness must decide. Use Elias to forget Nolan at the cost of his soul or crawl back to her ex and hope he still wants her even though she broke his heart.
But in a world sprinkled with immortals, broken hearts might be the least of their worries.
Fans of gritty fiction, compelling romance, and imaginative takes on magic and the afterlife will love this dark supernatural high fantasy romance.
#PNR #fantasy #supernatural #paranormalromance
#AHeartOfSaltAndSilver #darkfiction #fantasyromance
https://amzn.to/2Yt1nN2
A Bewitching Tuesday
https://paranormalists.blogspot.com/2...
INTERVIEW WITH TYLER CRAM (The Curse of the Mountain) #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/cfin50C3IVc
Soul Seeker by Kaylin McFarren @4kaylin ~ Supernatural Thriller #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/Z8hN50C3JcO
Haunted Halloween Spooktacular ~ What is Paranormal Women’s Fiction, Anyway? A Conversation with Louisa West #PWF ~ Jealousy’s a Witch: Midlife in Mosswood, Book Two Louisa West Paranormal Women’s Fiction #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/7s0c50C3J0g
SPOTLIGHT - HORROR - THE CURSE OF THE MOUNTAIN by Tyler Cram #bewitchingbooktours
https://thebookjunkiereadspromos.blog...
Ghost Guardians #bewithcingbooktours http://ow.ly/wv4650C3IRT
Exclusive Hardcover Release of The Markings by Catherine Downen #bewitchingbooktours https://paranormalists.blogspot.com/2...
Carina’s Halloween Cocktail and Snack #Recipes ~ Haunted Halloween Spooktacular ~ @CeliaBreslin ORIGINS: Tranquilli Bloodline, Book 3 by Celia Breslin #UF #PNR
https://saphsbooks.blogspot.com/2020/...
The Queen of Harlem Commandments
Michelle Smalls #bewitchingbooktours https://www.instagram.com/p/CG18TlrLk0u/
Hidden Gypsy Magic by Tena Stetler https://www.tsstuff.net/2020/10/hidde...
Holiday Book Tour for Rise By Moonlight by Nancy Gideon (GIVEAWAY)....... #bewitchingbooktours https://wowfromthescarfprincess.blogs...
Halloween Recipes That Kids Love #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/R7FZ50C3J5e
SPOOKTACULAR GUEST BLOG: KEEPING YOUR PETS SAFE ON HALLOWEEN with TENA STETLER (Hidden Gypsy Magic) #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/oH8k50C3IX2
Halloween Spooktacular Flash Fiction (Double Alchemy by Susan Mac Nicol) + giveaway #bewitchingbooktours
http://www.ismellsheep.com/2020/10/ha...
A Warrior’s Kiss by Celia Breslin #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/zb0K50C3IAh
Secret Spirit Guardians of Santa Fe C.A. Masterson
https://simplykelina.blogspot.com/202...
A Heart of Salt and Silver by Elexis Bell - Dark supernatural high fantasy romance - With eternity on the line, is love worth the risk? #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/Mwzh50C3IxI
The Markings Book 1 by Catherine Downen - YA Fantasy #bewitchingbooktours
https://jbbookworms.blogspot.com/2020...
Virtual Book Tour: The Genesis of Seven by Sara M Schaller
http://mommasaystoreadornottoread.blo...
Virtual Book Tour: Trick or Treat at Caynham Castle
http://mommasaystoreadornottoread.blo...
October 26, 2020
A Bewitching Monday
In the Kitchen with Suzanne M Sabol - #ChocolateCupcakeRecipe #InTheKitchen #bewitchingbooktours https://creativelygreen.blogspot.com/... #inthekitchen
The Markings, Book 1 by Catherine Downen @CatherineDownen ~ #YA #Fantasy #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/Pfin50C2zyY
The Curse of the Mountain Tyler Cram #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/n9AA50C2zns
Secret Spirit Guardians of Santa Fe by C.A. Masterson #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/LI9l50C2z92
INTERVIEW - NA URBAN FANTASY - RESIDUAL MAGIC (Blood and Bone Legacy, #2) by Suzanne M. Sabol #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/rap250C2ytN
The Perfect Monster Party for Kids #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/BxbU50C2yW7
Jealousy's a Witch by Louisa West - Book Tour + Giveaway
https://www.jazzybookreviews.com/2020...
The Fifth Horseman by Freida Kilmari
https://serenasynn.blogspot.com/2020/...
Secret Spirit Guardians of Santa Fe [Book Tour with Excerpt]
#bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/y4Ut50C2z6i
Ghost Guardians by S. Peters-Davis #bewitchingbooktours
https://simplykelina.blogspot.com/202...
Soul Seeker by Kaylin McFarren #SupernaturalThriller #bewitchingbooktours
https://serenasynn.blogspot.com/2020/...
Trick or Treat at Caynham Castle by
Jeanne Adams, Morgan Brice, Caren Crane, Nancy Northcott #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/U1jd50C2zLB
Haunted Halloween Spooktacular: A Warrior’s Kiss (Cupid Dating Agency) by Celia Breslin ~ #BookTour #Excerpt #Giveaway #bewitchingbooktours
http://angelsguiltypleasures.com/2020...
Rise By Moonlight by Nancy Gideon - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular #bewitchingbooktours https://serenasynn.blogspot.com/2020/...
HAUNTED HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR - FIGHT FOR HOME (Descendants of the Amazoi, #1) by Kim Richards
#bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/UGHL50C2yvH
Double Alchemy by Susan MacNicol - Book Tour + Giveaway
#bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/h6d450C2ym8
Origins by Celia Breslin - Book Tour + Giveaway #bewitchingbooktours
https://www.jazzybookreviews.com/2020...
Alpha’s Revenge Royal Alpha Wolves Club Book Three Shared World Series by Catherine Stine - Werewolf Shifter Romance - A heartbroken furious alpha, a forbidden childhood crush revisited. Will karmic justice destroy them both? #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/cPjU50C2yfn
A Heart of Salt and Silver by Elexis Bell
https://midnightmusingswithbertena.bl...
THE FIFTH HORSEMAN BOOK TOUR
https://ilovebooksandstuffblog.wordpr...
Exclusive Hardcover Release of The Markings by Catherine Downen
https://fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com...
Spiritwalker by Tanith Davenport #PNR #eroticromance
https://fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com...
Exclusive Hardcover Release of The Markings by Catherine Downen
The Markings
Book 1 Catherine Downen
Genre: YA FantasyDate of Publication: 4/24/2020ISBN: 9781087915173ASIN: B085TPG5SVNumber of pages: 444Word Count: 112KCover Artist: Bilal Haider
Book Description:
DATHER IS AN ISLAND THAT WAS ONCE KNOWN AS OHAU. A nation that rose from the ashes after an asteroid shower has divided itself when people began to discover their unique powers.
At sixteen-years-old Adaline sits in prison with her mother and younger brother, and today is Parting Day where more prisoners will be executed. After seven years of being spared, Adaline's luck has run out.
But she won't go quietly or easily. Her life depends on her ability to escape the grasps of the King and find a place of freedom. Discovering her unique powers is the turning point Adaline needs to get a second chance at her freedom.
In this thrilling novel of friendship, family, and secrets Adaline runs for her life and learns the truth of her past along the way.
Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/tuRfa2CXSPU
The new hardcover release is an exclusive edition of The Markings featuring 60+ pages of new content. These pages include bonus chapters from three main characters (Zavy, Alexander, and Derith), as well as the first chapter from book two. These exclusive hardcover editions are sold through Amazon. You can also buy unique Signed Copies with Sprayed Edges and a Bookmark on Etsy
Excerpt
“It’s time I tell you a secret,” my mother says. Titus leans in and his eyes widen, “A secret?” My mother lets out a dry laugh before pulling an old, black diary from her grey prison shirt. “What’s that?” Titus asks. “I am a Future Holder,” my mother says gently. “You have a gift?” I ask, shocked. We never talked about gifts before. I learned about them in school once. A select group of people were infected during the fall of the world before ours, giving them magical powers. As a kid, I’d always wondered what it would be like if my family was gifted, but I had never thought it would be a reality. “Yes, and so do you.” My mother hands me the diary, and I notice a small lock on its cover. “What gift do I have?” I ask quietly. “You are a Force Lifter, Adaline. You control whatever you see,” my mother says. “There is so much I never told you about how the gifts work. If someone is born with a gift, they will have a sense that is enhanced in a certain way. You have an enhanced sense of sight that lets you control what you see.” All of the information my mother is telling me loses me, and I feel a confused glaze settle on my face. My mother pauses and must notice she’s lost me. “I have an enhanced sense of sight as well, but my powers are different. I can see into the future.” “So I can save us?” I ask, as the idea of having magical powers fully processes. “No!” my mother almost shrieks back to me. “You have to wait to use it until the time is perfectly right.” “I don’t understand,” I draw out my words, confused. “You just have to promise me, or else we will all be killed. Do you promise, Adaline?” she asks urgently, her hands squeezing my arms. I hesitate and look into her icy blue eyes. “I promise,” I choke out in a small, almost inaudible, voice. “So you’ve seen this all happen?” I ask, starting to piece together my mother’s information about our powers.“Yes, as a Future Holder, I’ve had visions of how our lives play out,” my mother explains.I glance at the ticks in the wall and ask her, “So what does day 2,436 mean?”“Today you escape,”
About the Author
Catherine Downen is the author of The Markings. She recently graduated from Bradley University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. She has always had a love for writing and a passion for telling stories. Currently, Catherine is working as a Sustaining Engineer in St. Louis, while writing books.
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/g3dEGz
Website: https://cdownen.wixsite.com/website
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CatherineDownen
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheMarkingsCD/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_markings/
RedBubble: https://www.redbubble.com/people/catherinedownen/shop
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/7dvf495mvgnrbrf2s0i9h74lq
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/catherinedownen/_saved/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@catherinedownen
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20122064.Catherine_Downen
Book Two, Crowning Keys, Releases January 12, 2021
Spiritwalker by Tanith Davenport #PNR #eroticromance
SpiritwalkerSome Like It Haunted
Tanith Davenport
Genre: Paranormal erotic romancePublisher: Totally BoundDate of Publication: 20 October 2020ISBN: 978-1-83943-443-3Number of pages: 58Word Count: 15010
Cover Artist: Totally Bound
Tagline: By night she walks with spirits. By day they turn her world upside down.
Book Description:
Tamar Steele, a successful medium for a paranormal investigative team, should be happy with her life—but life seems to be against her. Her psychic field is being mysteriously blocked, causing her physical pain and, worse, making it more and more difficult for her to come, creating stress in her relationship with long-term boyfriend Jason.
But then, during the filming of a paranormal TV show, Tamar picks up on Leslie, the recently murdered sister of her co-worker Hana—who later tells her the murderer was in the room with them. Knowing the best way to enhance her psychic ability is through sex, Tamar must rekindle her troubled relationship with Jason and rebuild their passion as she fights to solve the murder. Can she find the killer in time?
Sequel to “I Heard Your Voice” and “Tamar Rising”
TotallyBound Amazon
Excerpt:
“Tamar?”Adjusting her headset, Tamar Steele shifted the microphone closer to her mouth as another chair flew across the room in front of her.“It’s all right. I’m on it.” There was the sound of breaking glass above her as a light bulb shattered. Tamar moved forward to avoid the falling shards, holding her torch out in front of her.She’s here. I can feel her.Her back was starting to ache. Through the darkness she could see a spirit beginning to form, long white robes and flowing hair framing a thin figure and pointed face. Terrified eyes fixed on hers.“Tamar.” Hana’s voice crackled in her ear. “You need to get out of there. This is getting too dangerous. Jason’s worried.”“Tell Jason to calm down. I know what I’m doing.”A newspaper shot across the floor, scattering pages everywhere. Tamar took another step towards the spirit girl, holding up her hand, focussing on the energy she could feel around her.“Matt, I need your help here.”She felt a light tug on her hair and knew Matt, her spirit guide, had been listening.“Listen to me,” she said firmly, holding the girl’s stare. “I can help you.”Fear. Panic. A name. Emily—her name is Emily. Died sometime in the 1920s.“Let me help you, Emily.”A sudden rush forward and the girl was right in front of her, arms outstretched, mouth open, gasping for breath. Automatically Tamar caught her wrists, keeping the reaching fingers away from her face as she saw Matt’s blond head manifesting behind the girl.“We can help you,” she repeated, then Matt’s arms were wrapping around the girl from behind, his face close to hers as he whispered soothing words into her ear.The girl froze, then collapsed back against him, her arms falling.“I don’t want to be here! I don’t know why I’m here.”“It’s all right.” Tamar’s gaze met Matt’s over the girl’s shoulder. “We can send you home.”She concentrated. “Light. Bring light.”A glowing white light slowly formed between them, growing until the girl was engulfed. A small smile formed on her face before, in a bright flash, she was gone.“We’re done here, Hana.”“Okay. Asher’s on her way.”Already Tamar heard the heavy footsteps of their newest team member coming down the stairs into the cellar. A strong smell of sweet smoke entered the room, closely followed by a short girl with rose-pink hair in a bob, her tattooed arms emerging from her T-shirt.“Hey, Tamar.”“Hey, Asher.” Tamar gestured to the space in front of her. “Let’s get the room cleansed and we can get out of here.”“No problem.” Asher moved forwards, holding the burning incense out in front of her. “Another satisfied customer upstairs.”“Glad to hear it—”Tamar’s voice broke off as her headset was filled with an ear-splitting scream.“Fuck!” Asher gasped. “What was that?”Struggling to regain her composure, her heart pounding, Tamar focussed hard on the room, stretching her energy field outwards, trying to find something… There was nothing.
Whatever it had been, it had come and gone.
About the Author:Tanith Davenport began writing erotica at the age of 27 by way of the Romantic Novelists' Association New Writers' Scheme. Her debut novel "The Hand He Dealt" was released by Totally Bound in June 2011 and was shortlisted for the Joan Hessayon Award for 2012.
Tanith has had short stories published by Naughty Nights Press and House of Erotica. She loves to travel and dreams of one day taking a driving tour of the United States, preferably in a classic 1950s pink Cadillac Eldorado.
Tanith's idea of heaven is an Indian head massage with a Mojito at her side.
http://tanithdavenport.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/TanithDavenport
https://www.facebook.com/TanithDavenport
a Rafflecopter giveaway
October 23, 2020
A Bewitching Friday
In the Kitchen with Kaylin McFarren - Green Smoothie Recipe #inthekitchen #greensmoothie #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/9Yq950C0FPw
Author Interview- Residual Magic by Suzanne M Sabol #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/vsCE50C0Geu
Please Welcome Tanith Davenport as She Tells Us About Her Paranormal Erotic Romance, Spiritwalker, Some Like It Haunted #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/ENSI50C0Gkv
INTERVIEW WITH SUZANNE M. SABOL (RESIDUAL MAGIC) #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/h97O50C0Ghj
The Genesis of Seven The Empyrean Trilogy Book One Sara M Schaller #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/gmBr50C0GlU
The Queen of Harlem Commandments by Michelle Smalls #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/2isi50C0GAm
It’s Halloween Party Time! with Nancy Gideon
https://bewitchingbooktours.tumblr.co...
HAUNTED HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR FEATURE - HIDDEN GYPSY MAGIC by Tena Stetler #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/Azts50C0G51
Double Alchemy by Susan Mac Nicol - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/3HHi50C0FTv
Ghost Guardians Book One S. Peters-Davis- Bri intends to work for her father, but ghosts, an old high school flame, a downtrodden best bud, and a deceitful tormenter play havoc with her future.
#bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/MNdI50C0G07
Haunted Halloween Spootackular ~ Halloweenish Playlist by Catherine Stine @crossoverwriter ~ Alpha’s Revenge: Royal Alpha Wolves Club Book Three, Shared World Series by Catherine Stine #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/GCoa50C0FNX
A Warrior's Kiss by Celia Breslin - Book Tour + Giveaway #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/qGv850C0FKo
Queen’s Ascension by Barb Jones - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/oM1c50C0FQZ
Seeking reviewers for Black Oak : The Loveless Chronicles Chapter 1 by Titus Murphy http://www.bewitchingbooktours.com/sa...
Fictional Characters To Invite to a Party- Trick or Treat at Caynham Castle #PNR #paranormalromance
https://fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com...
Jealousy’s a Witch by Louisa West - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular Guest Blog
https://fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com...
Fictional Characters To Invite to a Party- Trick or Treat at Caynham Castle #PNR #paranormalromance
The Authors of Trick or Treat at Caynham Castle are here Discussing Which Fictional Characters They Would Invite to a Halloween Party
Jeanne Adams:
Hello to all the Fang-tastic books readers! If I were to invite fictional characters to my annual Adams Family Halloween party (alas, no real party this year, but virtual? You bet!) I'd definitely invite Tony Stark because even reformed by Pepper Potts and his responsibilities as an Avenger, he's still the life of the party! I'd also invite Captain America, because anyone who looks like Steve Rogers is worth having at any party just as eye candy! Ha! Lastly, I'd invite Eve Dallas, Roarke, Delia Peabody and Ian McNabb from Nora Roberts's In Death series. Eve wouldn't want to come, because party, but Roarke, Peabody and McNabb would be amazing guests and seeing what kind of costumes Dee and Ian would come up with? Perfect.
Morgan Brice:
Sam and Dean Winchester (Supernatural) to make sure the monsters aren’t realLucifer (Lucifer) because he knows how to have funSabrina (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) because she also knows how to have a good time
Nancy Northcott:
Fictional characters I would invite to a Halloween party and why:
I'm a comic book geek, so I would invite Superman because I would love to talk to him about his loyalty to his adopted world.
I would also invite Robin Hood so I could talk to him about how a nobleman developed such archery skills when the bow was a common weapon.
Finally, I would ask Illona Andrews' Kate Daniels so I could learn how she carved out something resembling a normal life in a world of shifters, magic, and vamps and with her own unusual heritage.
Caren Crane:
I would invite all the cast from Criminal Minds. I think they are all probably insanely funny in real life, but I would want to see their reactions to people in costume, drinking and acting goofy. I think Paget Brewster would be my new bestie!
Trick or Treat at Caynham CastleJeanne Adams, Morgan Brice, Caren Crane, Nancy NorthcottPublisher: Rickety Bookshelf Press
Genre: PNR, Paranormal Romantic Suspense
Date of Publication: 9/25/20
ASIN : B08JZJ69YN
Come to western England’s Welsh Marches and the wickedly, spookily fun Halloween Ball at Caynham Castle. Let the Earl of Caynham and his fiancé welcome you into Halloween fun.
Lovers from Cape May, New Jersey, take a Halloween holiday at the magnificent Caynham Castle in Secrets and Ciphers. As their love and trust deepens, they also stumble across and solve a 700 year old mystery! Enjoy this M/M Romance with Morgan Brice’s Erik and Ben from Treasure Trail.
Follow an archeologist witch from Idaho as she tangles with a sexy photographer from the witchiest town in America, Jeanne Adams’s Haven Harbor, Massachusetts. In Trouble Under the Tower, they discover a hidden chapel, fend off thieves, and help put a dark entity to rest. Somewhere in all that trouble, love sneaks in!
In Mr. Never Again, spies from Nancy Northcott’s Arachnid Agency come to Caynham Castle to guard a weapons designer and her family. When her son goes missing, her loyalty may be at risk. Hunting for him offers Blaine and Dana a second chance at love if they’re brave enough to take it.
In Caren Crane’s tale, Murky Waters, a landscape architect from Massachusetts finds much more than he expects, both in a floral designer from his friend’s shop, and in the woods south of Caynham Castle. Discovery of an evil waterborne spirit threatens the new love he has found, unless his lover figures out how to set him free.
Four spooky, witchy, spirit-filled stories set against the stunning background of Caynham Castle’s epic Halloween Ball and Bonfire Night!
Excerpt Secrets and Ciphers by Morgan Brice:
“So when you said ‘castle,’ you really meant—holy shit! That’s a friggin’ castle!” Ben Nolan’s eyes went wide as the hired car pulled into the parking area at Caynham Castle.
Erik Mitchell laughed. “What did you think I meant?”
Ben shook his head, still staring at the large stone building partially hidden within the inner bailey walls. “I thought you meant like Biltmore. Or San Simeon out in California. You know—a big, fancy house built by a gazillionaire. But this is an actual castle!”
“Parts of it date back to the eleven hundreds,” Erik replied, nudging Ben to get him to open his door so their driver could retrieve their luggage. “The fortifications were meant to withstand warfare. It’s been continually inhabited by the Mortimer family for nine hundred years.”
“Wait until I tell my sister-in-law. She thinks it’s extra special that she lives in the same house her grandparents built.”
Erik paid the driver, and then he and Ben stepped to the side of the lot, awaiting the golf cart that would take them closer to the entrance. Caynham Castle had been converted to a hotel back in the 1930s, combining history, fine food, exceptional comfort, and aristocratic flair for those who yearned for a memorable destination.
“For the U.S., that’s an accomplishment,” Erik said with a shrug. “Different places, different times.”
“And you’re friends with the guy who owns it? The duke?”
“Earl,” Erik replied distractedly, checking his text messages to assure that they were in the right place to catch their ride.
“Oh, earl. My bad.” Ben rolled his eyes.
“And I’d say we’re more friendly colleagues than drinking buddies,” Erik answered. “He was the patron of the task force I served on around a fraud investigation in a major museum. We hit it off. He’s very down-to-earth. You’ll like him.”
“Are you on his Christmas card list?”
Erik gave him a weird look. “What?”
“You heard me.”
“I get a holiday card from my mailman too. It’s a polite fiction. Doesn’t make us besties.”
“So you do get a card from the earl?” Ben pressed.
Erik sighed and gave him a look of fond exasperation. “Yes. Are you happy now? It’s a very fancy card with foil stamping and laser die-cuts, and the signature is printed on the card. In case you were keeping track.”
“My dad always got a Christmas card from Earl Denning, the guy who ran the lawnmower repair shop near our house in Newark,” Ben said. “Not quite the same thing.”
Erik laid a hand on Ben’s shoulder as if he could guess what was bothering him. “Relax. I never thought you’d feel uncomfortable. I just wanted to spoil you a little.” He gave Ben a coaxing look that usually melted any hesitation.
“I’ve been to fancy places, just not quite this fancy,” Ben admitted, wondering if any of the clothing he had brought with him would be suitable. Well, at least there’s the tux Erik had me get for Jaxon’s big gala. But I don’t think I can wear that all week.
“Think of it as a museum,” Erik cajoled. “And remember what I told you about the food and the cake at the castle tea shop.”
Ben smiled, forcing his insecurities to the back of his mind. Erik had planned this trip to give them both some much-needed time off together, and Ben didn’t want to dim that glow.
“I’m looking forward to all of it,” he assured Erik. “The castle part just took me by surprise.”
“Because I totally tricked you into coming to a castle by telling you we were coming to a castle,” Erik said, but Ben could see his partner’s worried frown had eased.
“Yeah. You’re sneaky like that,” Ben teased.
About Morgan Brice:
Morgan Brice is the romance pen name of bestselling author Gail Z. Martin. Morgan writes urban fantasy male/male paranormal romance, with plenty of action, adventure and supernatural thrills to go with the happily ever after. Gail writes epic fantasy and urban fantasy, and together with co-author hubby Larry N. Martin, steampunk and comedic horror, all of which have less romance, more explosions. Characters from her Gail books make frequent appearances in secondary roles in her Morgan books, and vice versa.
On the rare occasions Morgan isn’t writing, she’s either reading, cooking, or spoiling two very pampered dogs.
Series include Witchbane, Badlands, Treasure Trail, Kings of the Mountain and Fox Hollow. Watch for more in these series, plus new series coming soon!
Facebook Group: www.Facebook.com/groups/WorldsOfMorganBrice
Pinterest www.Pinterest.com/Gzmartin
Twitter: @MorganBriceBook
Sign up for my newsletter and never miss a new release: http://eepurl.com/dy_8oL
Read a copy of my Badlands short story Restless Nights here for free: https://claims.prolificworks.com/free/js6x0fq8
Follow me on BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/authors/morgan-brice
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/morganbriceauthor/
Amazon profile: https://www.amazon.com/Morgan-Brice/e/B07CKVZSR1
ExcerptTrouble Under the Tower by Jeanne Adams:
“Good afternoon, sir.” The desk clerk greeted him with a broad smile. The warmly lit area boasted stone walls, rich wood and a softly burning fire. It was also gaily decorated for Halloween with carved pumpkins and a dish of candy on the desk. “Checking in?”
“Yes, thank you.” The dark-haired woman smiled as he gave his name. “Alden McDonald.”
“Oh! A double welcome then as you’re here as the guest of the earl and Dr. Alden.” Obviously connecting the names, she frowned. “Are you related?”
He grinned. In Haven Harbor, most of the families were intertwined in one generation or another. “A very long time ago, someone married someone. My family resurrected the name.”
The Alden name kept hanging around in most Haven Harbor families.
“I didn’t think people celebrated Halloween this much in England. I thought that was an American thing.” He gestured toward the ghost.
The receptionist grinned. “It’s catching on over here a bit more. You may already know, we’re hosting a 1920s themed Halloween Ball for charity..”
Ah. That explained it.
“Welcome to Caynham Castle, Dr. McDonald. Do let us know if there’s anything you need. Patrick will drive you up to your room in the castle proper.”
Nodding, he retraced his steps to the waiting golf cart. “Tell me about the towers,” he said to Patrick as he gave the young man his room number.
Patrick grinned. “Which ones? The one you’ll be staying in? The one the ghost of Lady Alice Neville’s daughter haunts? The one with the bar?”
“All of them.”
He listened in delight as Patrick pointed out Caynham Tower. Secret passages and hidden doors. What was not to love about that, especially this near Halloween?
“Now the tower you’re staying in, sir,,,” Patrick pointed at the bulk of the main building after they came out from under the second curtain wall archway into the inner ward. “That one’s the Challenge Tower. Some say they hear the ring of swords on the landing as you go up the stairs.”
“Swords?”
“Yes, indeed. See, the sixth earl caught his daughter’s suitor in her room.” Patrick wiggled his eyebrows to give extra meaning to the statement. “The earl challenged the guy to a duel. They battled up and down the hall. You can still see the sword marks.”
“Did the earl kill the suitor?”
“Nah.” Patrick’s youthful enthusiasm was infectious. “The man kept saying he wanted to marry the daughter––so the earl disarmed him and ordered the young scallywag brought to the library.” Patrick used a growly voice to mimic the sixth earl’s demand. “They wrote up the marriage documents then and there.
Laughing, Alden got out of the cart and headed into the main castle building. Patrick would follow with his luggage, so he headed up a set of stone steps with a thick glossy wooden railing.
He paused on the second landing and opened his magical senses. As if summoned, the faintest clash of swords rang in his ears and he felt the rush of cold that indicated ghosts were afoot.
Once settled in the room, Alden took time enough to wash up and change into jeans. Slipping on his well-broken-in hiking boots, he headed out for a meal.
Sebelle trotted up the stairs, heading for her room. It had taken every ounce of control she had to stop work for the day on the archeological site under Caynham Tower.
When they’d cleared the floor of the hidden rooms, they’d found a trap door in the floor.
A. Trap. Door.
Who knew what they would find beneath it?
“A trap door!” she exulted dancing over the expansive landing. She bounced up the stairs, only looking up at the last minute when she sensed something.
“Whoa!” The absentminded guy in the tweed jacket took a step down into her path. He was looking at the tapestry on the opposite wall.
“What? Oh, sorry,” he exclaimed, catching the railing to steady himself. His hand brushed hers and she felt a warm glow.
Uh-oh. He had magic.
“No, I should have taken the other side. My mind was elsewhere…” She stopped. He was perfectly still, his brow furrowed.
“You’re Dr. Sebelle Turturro. The head archeologist for the Caynham Tower project.”
“Yes.” She braced herself. He could be a reporter. Most guests were unaware of the study. Absolutely no one but her team knew about the trap door.
“Fascinating stuff. Hidden passages. Leaping ghosts. Secret rooms.” He stopped, his gaze unfocused. “You’re…”
Oh, no. This could be a mansplaining moment––a losing proposition––or questions about her visibly multiracial heritage––black, Polynesian and white––her gender, or her curvy body, or some other obtrusively asinine thing. Knowing about magic, and having enough for a spark, frequently turned men into assholes.
“I’m?” she finally asked, because she had to break the tension.
“The Dr. Turturro who wrote the paper on the disappearance of the Etruscan.”
Surprised––shocked, really––she smiled. “You read it? She wracked her brain for who he might be. Her study team was already assembled.
“Dr. Alden McDonald. Your photographer.” He extended his hand and they both gasped at the magical current that ran through the connection. “And a fellow practitioner, I take it?”
Their hands still joined, she gave a cautious nod. Hard to argue you weren’t into the woo-woo and witchy when you met someone who made your hand spark like a live wire.
“I generally don’t admit it.”
“I get that.” Alden opened his mouth to say more, but instead he cocked his head. “Do you hear it?”
She stilled her surprise at his easy acceptance, and listened.
Harsh, panting breaths. The ring of steel on steel. A thump. A gasp of pain or surprise.
“What the hell?” She broke their connection and pivoted. The noise from the landing. faded. Only a ripple of the tapestry gave a hint of something mysterious.
About Jeanne Adams:
Jeanne Adams writes award-winning romantic suspense, paranormal and urban fantasies, as well as space opera that’s been compared to the works of Robert Heinlein and Jack McDevitt. She’s also a sought-after speaker, teaching classes on body disposal for writers, worldbuilding and collaboration, plotting for pantzers and how to write a fight scene that works!
Jeanne lives in Washington, DC with her husband and two growing sons, as well as three dogs – two Labs and an Irish Water Spaniel. Don’t tell, but she’s prone to adopting more dogs when her husband isn’t looking.
Featured in Cosmopolitan Magazine, and other publications, her books have been consistently hailed as “One of the best Suspense Books of the Year!” by Romantic Times and “Stunningly realistic space adventure” by Amazon reviewers.
You can find her books on all major platforms, and connect with her on the web at:
Twitter at www.twitter.com/JeanneAdams
Facebook www.Facebook.com/JeanneAdamsAuthor
Excerpt Mr. Never Again by Nancy Northcott:
Even a babysitting assignment could go horribly wrong. Especially when you were watching an engineer to be sure she didn’t illegally sell a government-backed weapons system. In the wrong hands, well…World War III, anyone?
Even so, there would be tiny moments to enjoy the perks of the situation. Like several days staying in an actual castle, The Caynham Castle Hotel, on the boss’s dime.
Dana Gresham swung her rented sedan around a curve, and the town of Caynham-on-Ledwyche came into view. A few minutes later, she was driving through a charming mixture of half-timbered, medieval buildings interspersed with Tudor brick, Georgian stone and more modern styles. If she didn’t get to see more of it while on duty, she would stay a day or so after and explore.
There was only one fly in the ointment, and she absolutely would not think about him until she had to. Which would be when she checked into the hotel in approximately ten minutes and informed him she was here. Until then, no harm in admiring the quaint little town. Or the castle now looming above the trees ahead on her right.
Her cell phone buzzed, the tone a signal that the call came from her employer, the multinational, covert agency known as Arachnid, or from another employee. The car’s dash display read, Harris, and Dana grimaced. She’d jinxed herself by thinking about him.
Pressing the button on the steering wheel, she took the call. “Gresham.”
She turned left on Caynham Castle Road. The castle drive lay a little way ahead on her right.
“What’s your ETA?” Blaine Harris’s deep voice still sent ripples through her, and wasn’t that aggravating? Dana grimaced. She needed to get her hormones under better control.
It wasn’t like him to be so abrupt, though. Frowning, she replied, “About ten minutes. I just drove through town. Why?”
“Vidhur Mahajan has gone missing.”
The ten-year-old son of their subject. Personal considerations dropped away, and Dana mentally summoned an area map. “How long ago?”
“Nobody’s sure. Apparently, he wanders off every once in a while. The family was in the group touring the castle garden and beehives—lots of shifting positions to see things, a bunch of kids along, and everybody feeling safe on the Earl of Caynham’s private land. With his private bees.”
That dry tone hinted that he found Caynham-on-Ledwyche’s bee products industry baffling. She swung into the car park for a church and stopped.
“When they returned to the hotel,” he continued, “they realized Vidhur and this other kid had taken a powder. The family seems more exasperated than worried.”
The family being Dr. Kara Mahajan, her widowed sister, Bhavna Chaudry, and Vidhur’s fourteen-year-old sister, Aaliyah.
“She feels safe here,” he added. “Even the kid wandering off doesn’t especially worry either her because he likes to do that. She encourages it as fostering his independence.”
“Yeah, well, there are limits.” As the eldest of five, having been responsible for the younger ones while her widowed dad worked two jobs to keep food on the table, Dana wasn’t exactly lacking experience with kids.
“Maybe they just wandered off, but how do we know?” she asked. “Could the group who want to buy his mom’s weapons system be looking for a little insurance? We know they want to buy, but nothing we’ve seen gives me a strong feeling she wants to sell.”
“Wouldn’t you at least think about it in her shoes?”
“Probably. Wouldn’t you?”
Mahajan’s husband had been tortured and murdered by Pakistani intelligence. If she carried a grudge, nobody could blame her. Acting on it by selling India a weapons system underwritten by the British government, however, would take that too far.
“But if she doesn’t want to sell,” Dana continued, “what better leverage than one of her kids?” If that was the case, this assignment had just become a clusterfuck.
“Yeah. So we need to find that kid asap. If we can’t, well…”
“I know. I’m at the church. Where should I go from here?”
“Officers from MI5 masquerading as local detectives are questioning the family while the rest of their team fanned out to search,” Blaine said.
The Security Service had point on this with Arachnid, meaning Dana and Blaine, as backup. The British government thought no one would suspect two Americans of working with them.
“I’m on the path to Saxon Hundred, northwest of Caynham-on-Ledwyche,” he informed her.
“Because Vidhur Mahajan’s into gaming and there’s a game store there.”
“Got it in one. Meanwhile, you swing through Caynham and see if you spot them. One more set of eyes always helps.”
“On it. Keep me posted.”
“Back atcha.”
Blaine wasn’t one for phone etiquette, so the sudden absence of sound was her only cue that they were done.
Heading back onto Caynham Castle Road, Dana frowned at the picturesque buildings. What in this quaint town would draw a ten-year-old interested in robotics and gaming?
Was searching in the town a waste of precious time?
If someone had snatched the boys, any useful information lay back at the castle.
About Nancy Northcott:
Nancy Northcott’s childhood ambition was to grow up and become Wonder Woman. Around fourth grade, she realized it was too late to acquire Amazon genes, but she still loved comic books, mysteries, science fiction, fantasy, history, and romance. A sucker for fast action and wrenching emotion, Nancy combines the romance and high stakes (and sometimes the magic) she loves in the books she writes.
She’s the author of the Light Mage Wars paranormal romances, the Lethal Webs and Arachnid Files romantic suspense series, and the historical fantasy trilogy The Boar King’s Honor. With author Jeanne Adams, she co-writes the Outcast Station space opera mystery series.
Twitter: @NancyNorthcott
Facebook: https://facebook.com/nancynorthcottauthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3468806.Nancy_Northcott
Excerpt Murky Waters by Caren Crane:
Jason Wetherell eyed the limestone castle walls with a weary, appreciative gaze. As a landscape architect, he appreciated how Caynham Castle rose in stately elegance from its environs on the hill. As a traveler, he was grateful for the staff that opened the door of his airport transport, pulled his luggage from the trunk and escorted him to a waiting golf cart.
“Welcome to Castle Caynham, Mr. Wetherell,” the smiling porter said. Though the fact that he knew to expect Jason at this time was a surprise. “Ben will see you to Reception and they’ll get you checked right in.”
He gave the man a baffled nod and folded himself into the golf cart. The young man wasted no time getting him through the imposing stone archways and down the passage to set of very modern-looking entry doors. He saw signs directing guests to Reception on the driver’s side and a busy-looking gift shop on his own side.
“I’ll stay with your bags until you get checked in, sir,” Ben said. “The Reception desk is right through those doors.”
Jason figured he probably should have done some research on Castle Caynham before he got here, but he trip had come up so suddenly he hadn’t. He’d been waiting for an opportunity like the one the Mortimers had in mind for the Caynham property for a long time. His whole career, really. When his old college roommate, Tom Greenbury, called to tell him what the Earl of Caynham had in mind, Jason felt like it was the chance of a lifetime. Even if it meant he had to attend a costume gala happening on Halloween, of all things.
Jason approached the substantial desk and the smiling receptionist, whose name tag read Angela. “Jason Wetherell, checking in,” he said with a smile. “Or did you know that already?”
“Actually, I did know that, Mr. Wetherell,” she said with a smile of her own. “Lord Mortimer gave us your itinerary, so we were tracking your progress. I know there were delays leaving Boston, but we’re glad you’re with us now.”
That explained the personal attention, at least. Jason found it disconcerting to be the center of attention, but he understood the Earl’s interest in his arrival. He was anxious to meet the man. He’d never met anyone with a title before. Then again, he’d never taken on a project with the scope of what the Earl wanted, either.
“You’ll be staying in the Challenge Tower, Mr. Wetherell, which is to the left of the Great Hall,” Angela said, marking his room’s location on a handy map of the Castle. “As you can see, you’re on the top floor of guest rooms, so you’ll have a splendid view of the grounds.”
“Very good,” he said, not knowing enough about the area to appreciate what the view should be. “Who do I need to see about when I’ll be meeting with Lord Mortimer?”
“Ms. Wellbern, Lord Mortimer’s assistant, has left information for you regarding your meeting,” Angela said. “It won’t be until tomorrow, though, so you’ll have today to rest and familiarize yourself with the Castle. And with Caynham-on-Ledwyche, if you’re feeling like going into the town.”
“I think I’ll try to get settled in first and get my bearings,” Jason said, taking the slim folder of information she handed him and tucking it into the inner pocket of his coat. He hadn’t been sure he would need the overcoat, but brought it from an abundance of New England caution. He was glad he had. Not only was the sky gray and threatening more rain, but there was a distinct chill in the air outside. It reminded him of home.
He shook his head and headed back out to the golf cart, not wanting to ruin his first day here with memories and regrets about his home and family. Ben was waiting on him, just as he had promised.
“So where are we headed, Mr. Wetherell?”
“The Challenge Tower, apparently,” Jason said. “I’ll admit to being curious about that name. I’m sure there is a story attached to it.”
“Indeed there is, sir,” Ben said, navigating carefully through the light foot and golf cart traffic to a broad path leading toward a formidable-looking set of towers set into a looming walled fortress.
Jason was a bit floored by the sheer scale of the place, not to mention the impressively-maintained stonework. It had to take a full-time crew just to keep up the point work. Amazing.
“Back in the late 17th century,” Ben said, driving slowly and carefully, “the 6th Earl challenged his daughter's lover to a duel on a landing of the staircase in the Tower. They battled long and hard, up and down the stairs. The young man kept telling the Earl all through the duel that he loved the girl and wanted to marry her, but the Earl wasn’t swayed. The Earl won the duel, but he didn't kill the young man. He was so impressed with his sword work that he had the man bandaged and brought to his library. The men had some brandy and the Earl agreed to the marriage. Ever since then, that tower has been the Challenge Tower.”
“That’s quite a story,” Jason said, amused. “Any grain of truth in it?”
Ben threw him a surprised look. “Of course. You can see the cuts their duel left in the stone for yourself.”
Jason shook his head, astonished that a place with that sort of history was still standing and occupied. At times like this he realized how young America was, even the old parts, like his hometown in Massachusetts.
He was glad to be here and for this chance to do the work he’d dreamed of since he decided to study landscape architecture. But finding project suited to his degree in cultural landscape studies and design was apparently a challenge. He huffed a laugh to himself at the irony of staying in the Challenge Tower.
About Caren Crane:
Caren Crane began writing warm, witty contemporary romance and women's fiction to save herself from the drudgery of life in the office. An electrical engineer by training, she longed to create worlds where things were any color except cube-wall gray. She still works in a cubicle, but gets to hang out with witty, fabulous people whenever she's writing, which greatly encourages butt-in-chair time.
Caren lives in North Carolina with her wonderful husband. She has three fiercely intelligent, gorgeous grown children, having neatly side-stepped her mother’s threat that she would have children Just Like Her.
You can find info and excerpts at:
https://www.facebook.com/CarenCraneAuthor
https://twitter.com/carencrane1
