Roxanne Rhoads's Blog, page 255

A Bewitching Monday

Guest Blog - Hexcommunicated by Rafael Chandler #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/2acI30ilpAa

Interview Sharon Ashwood – Enchanter Redeemed! #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/j8Mm30ilpfW

Interview: Custodian by Montana Ash #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/DLCL30ilnid

INTERVIEW WITH CASEY WYATT (Dead Girls Don't Sing #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/Wv0g30ilnzW

Interview with Frederick L. Malphurs, Author of A Year in the Life of Dr. Fox - Excerpt - Giveaway #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/ZPni30ilmLI

Freaky Franky by William Blackwell #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/U23t30ilpt6

Book Spotlight & #Giveaway ~ Hexcommunicated by Rafael Chandler #UrbanFantasy #UF ~ @rafaelchandler #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/S3sz30ilpH3

Farraway Mist by Tani Hanes #99cents #sale #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/4kXr30ilpmW

Featuring Defining Human Only Human, a new urban fantasy by Candace Blevins #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/dDoo30iloRU

Join the Multi-Author Facebook Party this Friday with Marcella Burnard, Laura Bickle, Nikki Lee Taylor, and Sadie Grubor
https://www.facebook.com/events/15185...

Into Nostra by Brantwijn Serrah Spotlight Tour #Giveaway! #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/OOu330ilp5e

Drinking the Knock Water: A New Age Pilgrimage Emily Kemme Spotlight Tour #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/a28730ilp9e

Defining Human by Candace Blevins: Spotlight with Book Trailer and Giveaway #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/7yvA30iloX9

Guest Blog - Hexcommunicated by Rafael Chandler

Hey there! I'm Rafael Chandler, author of Hexcommunicated. I'd like to tell you a bit about my writing process.

Writing is my life.

By day, I write video games. While working for Sony, Ubisoft, Kabam, Gameloft, and various other video game studios and publishers, I've authored 10 video games, including SOCOM 4 and Rainbow Six: Lockdown. I've also worked as a co-writer or copywriter on dozens of other games.

Sometimes, the project is brief: for example, I'll get hired to additional dialogue or story content for a mobile game that's already available. Something like that only takes a few weeks.

Other times, I get brought on board while the project is in its early stages, and I work with the game designers on creating the concept, developing the characters, and shaping the narrative. A project like that can last for years, and it's as serious an undertaking as any novel that I've written.

Speaking of which, I've written four novels: two vampire novels, a story about superheroes and supervillains, and a bloody tale of serial killers at war with each other. 

I've also written a dozen tabletop role-playing game sourcebooks, two non-fiction books, magazine and newspaper articles, a couple of comic books, and a blog series about video game development which was hosted by game industry site Gamasutra.



I'm tired just thinking about it.

So how I remain focused and motivated? Well, I have a process.

First: coffee. 

The secret to good coffee is to roll out of bed, blinking in the harsh and unfamiliar light of the sun, then stagger downstairs, accompanied by my pug, Jangis Con (that's how our little one spelled it, so that's the name that we gave the dog).

I feed the dog. I boil the water (I like my coffee the way I like everything: cheap and instant).

I take the coffee upstairs, set it down, forget about it, let it get cold, sip it, curse, take it downstairs, nuke it, and then repeat. This goes on for hours.

Second, I require a relaxing vibe in order to crank out all those thousands of words per day. 

A safe, comforting space produces a safe and comfortable frame of mind. Can't have that!

So I painted the walls red and decorated my office with heavy metal posters and monster toys.



Music also plays an important role. Mellow tunes put me in a mellow mood. So I listen to death metal. These days, I enjoy Artificial Brain, Ulcerate, and Blood Red Throne.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5c78xSEXXA


Ahh, that's nice.

The next order of business is the writing space itself.




I bought a workbench at the hardware store, and I stand at it all day. I type, I scribble, I walk around the room, muttering dialogue to myself, playing the roles of arguing characters.

No matter what I'm working on, I always start with an outline. A one-page summary with a few bullet points gets rewritten as a three-page outline with character names and major events. The next version includes a few additional details, such as locations or relationship notes.

A few months later, the outline is over a hundred pages long, and I'm ready to begin writing the novel.

The process is not unlike writing a screenplay for a video game: a brief concept document evolves and grows through various development and production stages, eventually becoming a massive spreadsheet with thousands of fields for character names, mood, area, special effects such as static or distortion, notes for the voice actors, filenames, and so on.

It's not all work, of course. Throughout the day, I take several breaks to play with my dog. Look at that face. How could I resist?




So that's it. That's the setup. That's where I was at when I wrote Hexcommunicated.

So what about you? What's your work environment like? Got a special setup? What about music? What inspires you?

HexcommunicatedRafael Chandler
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Neoplastic Press
Date of Publication: July 7, 2012
ISBN: 978-1478196662ASIN: B008IVFRCE
Number of pages: 302Word Count: 94,400
Cover Artist: Lou HarperCover Model: Rose Ballentine
Tagline: When the sun comes up, the girl of his dreams will murder him.
Book Description:
The name is Tepes. Nicolae Tepes. I'm a federal agent with Hex Division.
When the sun comes up, the girl of my dreams is going to kill me.
My partner's a werewolf, but we get along okay. We were investigating this murder when we stumbled across a conspiracy unlike anything we've ever dealt with before. Ghostmortems, Scarevoyants, all kinds of freaks.
It started bad and got worse quick: a psychic on our team had a vision of the future. At sunrise, I'll die at the hands of the woman I love, and then a psychotic death cult will deploy a supernatural weapon of mass destruction.
We've got eight hours to prevent this prophecy from coming true, but the psychics of Hex Division are never wrong...
Amazon Excerpt Two:
          I holstered my gun. "Right. Let's toss the place."            Zheng flipped the mattress over.             I pulled dresser drawers. I froze. Stainless steel shuriken rattled against each other. I hauled open a few more drawers; in each one, more throwing stars. Maybe a hundred total.            "Whiskey tango foxtrot," Zheng said. She leaned the mattress against the wall. A half-dozen circular saw blades gleamed on the boxspring.            "Ambush," I said. I drew my gun. I snapped my fangs.             Zheng went feral: full werewolf. Teeth bared, she hunched over and glared around the room, waiting for something to twitch so that she could eviscerate it. I held still.             After a minute, I relaxed.            "Okay," I said. "Nobody here. Let's keep searching."            With a high-pitched scraping sound, the bed's metal frame buckled once, then lurched across the room. With a heavy thud, it slammed end-first into the door, scattering saw blades all over the carpet.            I got ready to shoot, but there was no one to aim at. The bed had moved of its own accord. I whirled around. No targets. Zheng growled, a menacing rumble from deep in her chest. She cocked her head like a terrier. I heard it too: a clinking sound.            The shuriken in the drawers floated up into the air. Suspended by some invisible force, they twirled in neat rows, their sharpened edges flinging light around the room.            "Jesus on the cross," Zheng said.            I bolted for the bathroom. "Move," I said. "Get the door." I couldn't seem to form complete sentences. My instincts were screaming in crimson meter-high all-caps. My legs felt like concrete.            The circular saw blades wobbled up off the carpet and formed a line, rotating cautiously. They hovered. Zheng turned to follow me into the bathroom.            As if fired from a gun, the shuriken sliced through the air towards us. Behind them, the saw blades spun forward.            A hungry blade caught me in the side, chewing through my ribs and shredding one of my lungs. I coughed out a scream and fell short of the bathroom door. Pain sizzled in my nerve endings as a cluster of shuriken bit into my upper back, embedding themselves in the muscle tissue. Another saw blade shrieked towards me. I rolled over. It thunked into the carpet, then trembled as it tried to wrench itself out of the floor.            Zheng lunged for the bed frame. "Get it off the door," she snarled. Shuriken swarmed her like a school of piranha, slicing into her wrists and thighs, then darting away. She hauled at the frame, but it wouldn't budge, held in place by the same force that had turned this hotel room into a slaughterhouse.            A saw blade whistled towards Zheng's neck. She jerked her head to the side. It bounced off the metal frame, then zipped towards me. I scrambled off the blood-soaked carpet and hurled myself into the bathroom. Kicking the door shut, I slid back across the tiles. Saw blades thunked into the door.            "Break the window," I yelled through the door. "Jump for it." Zheng could survive a six-story fall, no problem.             "Can't get through," she yelled back. "Any windows in there?"            "No."            I grabbed the sink, elbowed myself up, and glimpsed a blood-soaked ghoul in the mirror, a throwing star sticking out of his shoulder. With a grunt, I reached back and started to yank it out, then thought better of it. At least it was stuck in the bone. If I pulled it loose, it might go for my eyes.            The toilet lid rattled.            "Oh, for fuck's sake," I said, backing away. The lid bounced up. A dozen serrated kitchen knives scraped their tips past the ceramic lid, shiny shark teeth poking forward as I reached for the doorknob.            Diving back into the room, I pulled the door shut behind me. The knives punched halfway through the door. I backed up.            Zheng stood in the middle of the room, clothes slashed to ribbons, muscles bulging as she swung the dresser around. Shuriken and saw blades, stuck in the dresser, shook violently as they tried to wrench themselves loose.            Flakes of plaster tumbled down from a ragged hole in the drywall; it looked like Zheng had tried to claw her way through to the next room.            I aimed my gun at the window, then saw the saw blades, dozens of them, pressed against the glass, a foot apart from each other, spinning silently. Any attempt to pass through them would hack me into strips.            "I got heartbeats," Zheng growled. It was hard to understand her with those monstrous fangs in her mouth.            Behind her, a swarm of shuriken wheeled and dove. "Behind you."            She dropped the dresser and swatted at the throwing stars irritably, some of them smacking into her arm, clacking into the bone. Blood spurted. She yelped. A metal lamp whipped itself off a nightstand and clocked me in the temple. I fell to my knees, black spots dancing across my field of vision. Zheng hauled me to my feet.            "Two pulses, both slow. All this yelling, they should be worried. But they're not. Whoever they are, they're asleep."            I blinked, trying hard to put this all together. A saw blade flew at me. I picked up the wooden coffee table and used it as a shield; the blade buzzed through the table and tore off part of my right bicep. I grabbed the spurting wound, clamped down on it. How much blood had I lost? Three or four pints? Out of what, ten? How long before I passed out and got decapitated?            A half-dozen saw blades peeled off the window and darted towards us. Zheng picked up the dresser and chucked it at them.            "Apologies in advance," Zheng growled. "No time to claw through the wall. I need a battering ram."            "Wait," I croaked.            Ignoring my protests, she hoisted me up.            "You got all those metal parts," she said, a shuriken clipping one of her ears off. "Figure I'm strong enough, you should go through drywall pretty good."
            "Oh, shit," I said.
About the Author:
Rafael Chandler writes novels (Mask Beneath Her Face, The Astounding Antagonists), video games (SOCOM 4, Rainbow Six: Lockdown), and tabletop role-playing games (Teratic Tome, Lusus Naturae). He's a metalhead, kaijuphile, and gorehound.
Web site: http://www.rafaelchandler.com
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/rafaelchandler
Newsletter sign up: https://mailchi.mp/56ed580b3c6a/rafael-chandler-author
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rafaelchandler
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rafaelchandler
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rafael_chandler
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/797404.Rafael_Chandler

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The Refuge Trilogy by Annabelle McInnes

True RefugeThe Refuge TrilogyBook OneAnnabelle McInnes
Genre: LGBTI Speculative Romance
Publisher: Escape PublishingImprint of Harlequin Australia
Date of Publication: 21st September 2017
ISBN: 9781489251015ASIN: B073QGPDQ7
Number of pages: 250Word Count: 65,000
Cover Artist: Escape Publishing
Book Description:
Book one in an emotional, erotic, dramatic trilogy about a world gone to hell, and the hell we hold inside…
The human race has been all but wiped out, along with our best traits: compassion, empathy, and generosity.
Euan is a survivor. In a dystopian wasteland infused with violence and cruelty, he protects something invaluable. His love for Nick and the solace that comes with the connection keeps him from destruction, and offers him that most elusive and dangerous emotion of all —hope.
But happiness comes at a price and a hunting trip leaves Nick vulnerable to the evil that still infects the world. When Euan returns, he finds Nick broken and bloody, irrevocably damaged in both body and soul.
Now Euan’s only goal is to find a place for Nick to heal, a safe place, a refuge where they can rest, recover and repair their love. When they risk a raid on an abandoned house, they discover the unthinkable, the rarest treasure of all. A woman.
Amazon US      Amazon UK      Amazon AU     BN
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Chapter OneTrue Refuge
Euan waited, his body held rigid in a state of hiatus. His muscles burned, quivering involuntarily from remaining immobile for so long. The warm breeze rustled the tussocks that surrounded him, and the seedpods tickled his ears as he crouched among the native grasses. The morning sky above him was a vibrant blue, marred only by sparse clouds that meandered across the unlimited expanse with little concern for the struggle for survival that went on down below. Only his chest moved as he took each slow inhalation of breath, his eyes remaining focused on the net that stretched out in front of him.
There was a movement to his right. A ripple in the stillness. The dry grass stirred and the brittle stalks crackled in the silence. There was a patter, a lull, a dislodged stone on the dry earth, and then all was quiet once again.
He dragged in a breath and forced his broad shoulders to relax. Each fist was clasped around a rusted tin can, their contents long gone, but the casing still served his purpose. His large hands held the round metal objects easily, the alloy cool as it pressed against his calloused skin.His nose itched but he ignored it. He narrowed his eyes as the sound to his right reoccurred. This time, the rustling was prolonged, the animal gaining confidence in its terrain. Just a few more minutes and then he could pounce.
He cursed when there was a shout and a clattering of plastic. The creature to his right bolted in the opposite direction to the snare, disappearing into its underground shelter. Euan’s hunting partner Lenny had reacted early, scaring the animals off before he was ready to act.
Sabotaging his attempts to gather enough food for them to return to camp.
Again.
He had no choice but to jump up from his prone position and beat the tin cans together. The combined noise created by the empty plastic bottles and Euan’s cans frightened the game they were trying to catch. A number of long-eared hares bounded before him, headed towards the net they’d pulled against the boughs of two oak trees and the pit they’d dug immediately before the mesh to ensure their bait would be caught.
The two men moved forward as one. Lenny was exuberant, his movements excessive and unnecessary. Euan was resigned and his unease grew with every step, until two rabbits were caught, clouds of dust rising like smoke in their wake.
Euan quickly discarded his tins and knelt at the edge of the pit. It was an easy thing to capture the frightened animals by the elongated ears and snap their delicate necks. Two substantial hares were nothing to scorn, and these were especially fat from the lack of human and domesticated animal encroachment. But it could have been more. It should have been more.
Euan rose but said nothing as he watched Lenny approach the pit. He couldn’t help curling his lip at stink of old sweat that clung to filthy, threadbare clothing as he reluctantly handed his prize over to the outstretched hand.
A shudder of uneasiness was beginning to crawl up his spine. That was the third time his effort to capture their prey had been foiled. That didn’t take even into account that the day before Lenny had dragged his heels the entire journey, keeping their pace deliberately leisurely, despite Euan’s attempt to get this provisions trip over and done with as quickly as possible.
This last attempt to undermine his hunting efforts was shining as brightly as a neon sign in an apocalyptic-induced darkness.
Lenny had thwarted him on purpose.
Euan watched with growing trepidation as Lenny tied the rabbits to his backpack with indifference. They were meant to be hunting to feed six people, themselves included. Neither of them had eaten since yesterday. His reluctance made no sense.
“I thought we were waiting for my signal,’ Euan stated, watching with a keen eye for any indication of ulterior motives.
Lenny blinked. ‘You didn’t make it?’
After a weighted pause, Euan murmured ‘No.’
The lean man shrugged, his gaze averted, before he re-shouldered his backpack, the dead rabbits swinging from their colourful twine.
Euan pulled himself up to his full height. It had been three years since the collapse of mankind. Three years of fighting for survival, living off the land, trying to escape the mayhem of what was left of civilisation. Since then, Euan had lived his life attuned to his senses, the prickle on his nape and the lead ball that rolled around in the pit of his stomach.
That lead ball was now dissolving, morphing into mercury that was poisoning his insides. Something was wrong, and he knew that the man in front of him, fiddling with the frayed shoulder strap of his backpack with suddenly shaking fingers, was the cause.





Fractured RefugeThe Refuge TrilogyBook TwoAnnabelle McInnes
Genre: LGBTI Speculative Romance
Publisher: Escape Publishing,Harlequin Australia
Date of Publication: 12 November 2017
ISBN: 9781489251640ASIN: B0746F6KJ6
Number of pages: 250Word Count: 65,000
Cover Artist: Escape Publishing
Book Description:
They thought they’d found a refuge, but the battle for survival has only just begun...
Surrounded by the destruction of the human race, Euan, Nick, and Kira find solace in one another, making their underground bunker a haven and a home. Sheltered under layers of steel and cement, they should be safe, but danger isn’t always kept outside — sometimes the enemy is within.
When their electronic warning system detects intruders, Euan and Nick must investigate. Outside, they discover the true terror that is approaching, and Euan must make a terrible decision: stay or go. To stay is to watch the only people he loves perish under the weight of pure evil. To leave is to face his certain death to protect them and potentially save humankind.
Despite all his preparation, skills, and strength, Euan knows that each decision carries the risk that he could destroy them all.
The second book in the Refuge Trilogy.
Amazon US      Amazon UK      Amazon AU      Booktopia
GooglePlay      Kobo      Nook      iBooks
Chapter One Fractured Refuge
The room was filled with the pungent scent of fried eggs and coffee. The air was warm. The climate-control system working at full capacity to eradicate the chill from an encroaching winter. Dishes were stacked high, men’s socks were squashed in odd corners and a pair of faded pink slippers lay discarded by an open doorway.
Euan lifted a ceramic mug that was glazed with dandelions in colours of gold, green and blue. He took a sip of the scorching beverage and ran his tongue over the burn to his upper lip. The sting was good; the bitter taste of the brew was better.
His gaze wandered. Steel beige walls were covered in artworks. Landscapes painted with muted oils, portraits formulated in lead. Images that captured the essence of life, the allure of the sky, the wonders of the spirit, the magic of dreams. Most made by his reluctant hand.
A single photograph was centred between the amateur drawings. Its position of significance was no accident. Two children grinned at the camera. Their arms were wrapped around each other’s shoulder. Smiles as bright as the sunshine filtered through their blond hair and glinted off their identical blue eyes. Two beautiful children, unaware of what their future would hold.
Two beautiful children who were full of hope, full of dreams, full of love and life.
Two beautiful children. One brother, one sister.
As adults, the two children would witness the end of the civilised world.
The mahogany chair groaned under Euan’s weight. The hardwood supported his spine as he leant back against the dark timber and stretched his long legs under the coordinating dining table. His bare foot knocked his companion’s. They shared a small smile as their skin touched and a spark of fire raced through their nerve endings. Nick bumped his eyebrows suggestively. Euan’s lips kicked up higher in response.
The food that he had just consumed nourished his body as effectively as the steel hull of the underground bunker protected those he cherished. Surrounded by strength, wrapped in love, the smile remained on his lips. It was kin to the grin that was emulated by those two children. He relished a moment of untainted satisfaction. A glorious bliss that bloomed in his sternum and radiated out through his muscles and into his limbs, his fingers, his toes.
It was beautiful. This was beautiful.
He sighed, content.
Kira’s voice broke the comfortable silence. ‘Is that coffee finished?’
His hand remained aloft. He held his breath in his lungs. His gaze moved from Nick to focus on the petite blonde woman who sat rigidly on the edge of her seat to his left. The hum of the ventilation system became the only sound in the underground room.
Across from him, Nick reached out and grasped the handle of his mug. His features were tight with trepidation. The muscles around his green eyes were firm as he lifted a twin to Euan’s mug from where it rested innocuously in the middle of the mahogany table. His shoulders were tense as he tilted his head to look inside.
His chin lifted and met Kira’s gaze. ‘Yes?’
The amiable atmosphere in the room plummeted. Euan let his breath ease out of his chest. He took a cautious sip.
Kira pursed her lips. A furrow deepened between her blonde brows. Her knee began to bounce with the rhythm of exaggerated irritation. The collar of the pale yellow t-shirt she wore was frayed, stretched, warped. Much like the building tension in the room. Euan bit back a sigh.
Her question was directed at Nick. ‘And you’re just going to leave it there?’
Nick’s nervous swallow was audible. His gaze flickered between a growing adversary and an inanimate object. He touched his tongue to his upper lip, raked his fingers through his hair and stared at the lesser of the two threats. His frustration increased, his irritability brewing beneath the surface. Nick’s predisposition was to please, to entertain, to love. But every man had his kryptonite. Being trapped underground, waiting for death’s scythe to slice his soul from his body would cause even the greatest man to falter. Nick was no deity in that sense.
Neither was Euan. They were simply two men, two men desperate to please a woman deteriorating before their eyes.



Eternal RefugeThe Refuge TrilogyBook ThreeAnnabelle McInnes
Genre: LGBTI Speculative Romance
Publisher: Escape Publishing,Harlequin Australia
Date of Publication: 12 January 2018
ISBN: 9781489252692ASIN: B075WRTDR7
Number of pages: 250Word Count: 65,000
Cover Artist: Escape Publishing
Book Description:
They fight for their survival, they fight for their love, and they fight for the human race.
Euan left his home whole, only to return broken, battered, and partially blind. He has endured the torments inflicted upon him by monster and man, but they are nothing compared to the consequences of betraying Nick and Kira. Incapacitated, he has no choice but to concede leadership to the man he considered his enemy, and is powerless as the distance between him and those he loves deepens and grows.
But his recovery time is short lived. The commander of destruction still lurks in the shadows, determined to dominate and control what is left of the human race. The final battle is upon them. They need a champion, a hero for humanity. There is nowhere left to run, and there is only one person who can provide the ultimate catalyst for change: A little, blonde sun-sprite, with crystal blue eyes.
The third book in the Refuge Trilogy.
Amazon US      Amazon UK      Amazon AU      Booktopia
GooglePlay      Kobo      Nook      iBooks
Excerpt Eternal Refuge:
Humanity needed a hero. But they would find no saviour in Euan.
The steel was cold beneath his fingers. He squeezed the rung of the ladder and the chill bit into his palms. He tilted his neck to look up. The open portal above him was the gateway to paradise, to fresh air and open space. Kira’s head peeked over the lip of the gaping exit and the impossible living fairy consumed his diminished vision. Her blue eyes glinted with adoration and pride, and her lips quirked when he glared at her for too long.
‘Do you need help?’ she asked.
He huffed and shook his head. It was bitterness that clipped his words. ‘Been in bed for long enough, sweetheart. Done waiting, done healing. If I can piss on my own, I don’t need help to climb a ladder.’
He held in the smirk when she sighed in mock exasperation.
One foot. Two. He pulled himself onto the base of the ladder and hissed through his teeth at the pain. Each foot was bound beneath his socks, so there was little risk of further injury, but the skin remained tender, fragile. The discomfort sliced up from the healing skin, through his calves and into the base of his spine.
He paused, breathed. ‘You say a word, and I will tan that pretty ass.’
‘You’ll have to catch it first,’ she said with a smile in her voice.
He answered her taunt with a low chuckle. ‘You’d like it if I gave it a try.’
Kira’s tone was serious when she replied, ‘I would.’
Four steps and his hands followed. The ache in his shoulder increased as it took on more of his weight. He blinked, and only one eye responded. The bandages were tight around his head and his hearing was muffled. His feet stung as if the stones still tore at his skin, as if the flames still licked at his bones. Rodger and his parasites had taken so much from him. Stripped him of not just the flesh from his body, but also his agility, his dexterity.
‘About to leave this fucking bunker and I can’t hear, can’t see, can’t fucking run—’
‘You’re almost there,’ she interjected to distract him.
It worked, as it always did. She was a witch that wove a spell of enchantment, a netting that drew him to her call. It had been her words that had brought him from the temptation of death to the disaster that was his corporal self. But if she was in the realm of the living, Euan would be too.
He moved to place his palm against another cold rung. Kira’s assessment from above was like a balm to his flaming skin. She filtered the shroud of despondency that clouded his thoughts. Under her gaze he would fucking succeed.
But his depth perception was shot and he missed his target. For a moment he wavered, his balance precarious. Mortifying images of his broken body sprawled out on the carpet below while Kira looked on propelled him to alter the direction of his fingers. At the last moment, he caught the support bar.
‘Fuck.’
‘You’re doing great,’ she said before the barbs of his self-flagellating thoughts could catch into his confidence and take hold.
But it was too late. His self-hatred had embedded its talons deep. His pride had done this. His pride and his ego. If only he had waited, if only he hadn’t been so selfish. If he had listened to his heart and not his head, he wouldn’t have risked their lives. They wouldn’t have lost Ben …Kira’s hand was in his vision. In front of his single working eye was the hand of a woman that was his heart, his humanity. Her long fingers were relaxed, pointed his way. The offering so sincere and innocent that the grunt that caught in his throat had nothing to do with the ram-rods of pain that shot through his nervous system. She had worked so hard to get him here, to keep him breathing, see him healed, on his feet, and strong enough to climb this fucking ladder without aid.
His gut was a pit of aggressive vipers. His breath erratic. His heart nothing but thunder and lightning. That damn throb in his shoulder.
‘You can do it,’ she whispered.
He took a deep breath and held it. Calmed himself. He nuzzled her palm instead of taking the offered assistance. When he brushed his lips against her skin, she let out a sigh.
‘I’m good, sweetheart,’ he told her, because he was. He may be less of the man he was when he had left them in his search for retribution, but he could, would, scale the ladder to the surface.

About the Author:
From the age of sixteen, Annabelle lived in a youth refuge while she remained committed to her education. She spent two years within a section of humanity that society overlooks.
Her experiences are the foundations that drive her stories and her characters. They fight for their freedoms, have courage in the face of adversity and will ultimately, always aspire for greatness.
Annabelle is privileged to spend her time writing with a backdrop of Canberra’s iconic landmarks and admiring its distinct and captivating change of seasons. Outside of her love for reading, she spends every free moment with her husband, son and her poodle named Serendipity. She drinks her whisky neat and is known to scour the local markets in an attempt to find the best blue cheese available.
Follow Annabelle on Instagram @annabellemcinnes, Facebook @authorannabellemcinnes and twitter @akmcinnes. Sign up to her newsletter at www.annabellemcinnes.com and be a part of the journey.
Website: www.annabellemcinnes.com  
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/58003716-annabelle-mcinnes
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annabellemcinnes/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorannabellemcinnes/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/akmcinnes


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All Things Halloween

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A Bewitching Friday

Guest Blog Drinking the Knock Water: A New Age Pilgrimage by Emily Kemme #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/evsp30iiN27

Ancient Magic and New Passion. Enchanter Redeemed by Sharon Ashwood. #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/kBAD30iiN5e

Defining Human by Candace Blevins
https://sheheartsbooks7.blogspot.com/...

Into Nostra (The Pact, #2) by Brantwijn Serrah #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/ETe430iiNgT

DEFINING HUMAN by Candace Blevins #bewitchingbooktours
https://teresanoel.blogspot.com/2018/...

Dead Girls Don’t Sing by Casey Wyatt #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/uYuP30iiMEW

Defining Human - Only Human: Book Four by Candace Blevins #urban #fantasy #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/Ooxg30iiMVe

The Black Sheep Shadow by Ashley Terrell #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/2iDk30iiMxB

Custodian - Elemental Paladins: Book Five by Montana Ash #paranormal #fantasy #romance #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/CHfr30iiMDp

Farraway Mist by Tani Hanes Spotlight Tour! #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/Ahii30iiNeO

DEFINING HUMAN by Candace Blevins #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/Fxrx30iiMzq

The Black Sheep Shadow by Ashley Terrell Book tour #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/cNvv30iiMBD

DEFINING HUMAN by Candace Blevins Excerpt, Trailer & Giveaway #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/xjf530iiMZ0

The Black Sheep Shadow by Ashley Terrell #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/rGow30iiMvy

A Year in the Life of Dr. Fox by Frederick L. Malphurs: Spotlight with Giveaway #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/7U6A30iiMrA

The Black Sheep Shadow by Ashley Terrell: Spotlight #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/ra6J30iiMoE

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INTERVIEW - Freaky Franky by William Blackwell
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A Bewitching Thursday

Candace Blevins: Top Five ways to survive around supernaturals when you’re human… + giveaway #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/uhsC30ihhT4

Interview - The Black Sheep Shadow by Ashley Terrell #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/jEq130ihhPx

Dead Girls Don’t Sing by Casey Wyatt excerpt w/ giveaway #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/h2M730ihhQW

Enchanter Redeemed - Camelot Reborn: Book Four by Sharon Ashwood #paranormal #romance #Harlequin #Nocturne #HarlequinNocturne #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/RGiy30ihhXU

Release Day Blitz Dark Embrace by Elle Boon
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Author Confessions with Ashley Terrell
http://www.roxannerhoads.com/2018/02/...

Custodian by Montana Ash
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Guest Blog - DEFINING HUMAN by Candace Blevins
http://www.roxannerhoads.com/2018/02/...

Release Day Blitz Dark Embrace by Elle Boon
#bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/6sLI30ihj0O

Release Day Blitz Dark Embrace by Elle Boon #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/JjQI30ihhMN

BookPromo…Into Nostra…#BookBoost #Supernatural #Adventure Brantwijn Serrah #bewitchingbooktours
https://mellojune.com/bookpromo-into-...

"The Black Sheep Shadow" by Ashley Terrell #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/2Q5v30ihhLG

DEFINING HUMAN ONLY HUMAN Book Four Candace Blevins #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/UQgL30ihjaI

Drinking the Knock Water: A New Age Pilgrimage by Emily Kemme #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/RpPp30ihiXx

#BookPromo…Freaky Franky…#BookBoost #Horror #Giveaway William Blackwell #bewitchingbooktours
https://mellojune.com/bookpromo-freak...

Dark Embrace by Elle Boon excerpt w/ giveaway #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/L4Ui30ihhmz

A Year in the Life of Dr. Fox by Frederick L. Malphurs - Book Tour + Giveaway #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/EsRy30ihhHi

Release Day Blitz: Dark Embrace (The Dark Legacy Series, #1) by Elle Boon #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/2w8130ihhzU

Guest Blog - DEFINING HUMAN by Candace Blevins
https://creativelygreen.blogspot.com/...

INTERViEW WITH TANI HANES (Farraway Mist) #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/OgZb30ihhZh

Release Day Blitz Dark Embrace by Elle Boon

Dark EmbraceThe Dark Legacy Series Book 1Elle Boon
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, Fantasy
Publisher: Elle Boon
Date of Publication: February 8th, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-64204-509-3
Number of pages: 185Word Count: 70K
Cover Artist: Valerie of Tibbs Design
Tagline: A DARK LEGACY where only the strong survive and those who are Goddess touched can complete the warriors who fight to protect the world from the creatures that go bump in the night.
Book Description:
Jennaveve, the Fey chosen by the Goddess to be the queen of her people for the past few millennium, is tired and wishes for a break, but hadn’t counted on being reduced to almost mortal thanks to a dark stranger. They say you should be careful what you wish for. The last time she’d taken a break, her Fey had left their realm, resulting in shifters on Earth known as the Mystic and Iron Wolves and even more she was still searching for.
Damien and Lucas Cordell knew they’d share a Hearts Love when the time came. As the twin sons of the Vampire King who’d mated a shifter, they were the first of their kind. When they’d thought their mate was finally within their reach and was a shifter like their mother only to realize she wasn’t theirs, they’d almost lost their lives to the alpha of the Iron Wolves, Kellen Styles. Instead, the error led them to the being that was…the Fey Queen Jennaveve. Only she was even more elusive than the wind.
Time and patience was something Damien and Lucas had in spades, until the female they’d already laid claim to, even if she hadn’t accepted them yet, was taken by an enemy. Saving Jenna became their one and only focus. As time and realms slip between them, their fear for her had them forgetting about patience and made claiming Jenna as their Hearts Love, hoping she accepted their Dark Embrace.
Will the Cordell Twins be able to rescue Jenna from the evil who has taken her?
Will Jenna get her powers back? Who is the dark presence and how will they defeat a being who is strong enough to bring the Fey Queen down to her knees?
BN

Excerpt Dark Embrace
“Hello again, Fey. You’re looking slightly ill. Are my…family not treating you well?” His eyes flashed from obsidian to red. Where her men had gorgeous eyes that she wanted to get lost in, this mans were cold and lifeless.His words finally registered. “Your family?”He raked his claws together, making them clack in a way Jenna was sure he did to scare his victims. Newsflash asshole, I’ve faced bigger, badder, uglier, and hopefully deadlier foes, she thought. “I’d love for us to stay here and chat, but I fear the big guy is waking, and well, I’m not in the mood for a reunion just yet. By the way. Sorry, my pet. I don’t usually use females as pawns, but in this instance, it’s a must.” He flew across the room, eliminating the space separating them.Jenna fell back against the bed, nearly falling on her ass. His quick reflexes kept her upright. “What the hell are you talking about?” She pressed her hand to his chest, trying to put space between them.He shook his head. “You’ll find out in due time, my pet. Now, we must go before father-what-a-waste awakens.”She knew the telltale signs of magic and could feel it as the man in front of her began to manipulate the fabrics of time and space. “Who are you?”He flashed her a smile, white teeth with two canines much longer than the others prevalent. “My name is Khan, son of Zahidda. Bastard son of Damikan at your service.”The door flew open, giving her hope she’d be saved. The sight of Damien and Lucas had her shoving harder against the rock-hard chest. “Let me go, asshole. I’m not your pawn.” It was like trying to move a mountain if you were a mere human. Goddess, she hated being so weak.“Jenna, flash away,” Damien growled.“Ah, but your female can’t. It seems I’m her cure, little brothers,” Khan taunted.Lucas stepped forward. “Who are you and what do you want?”Khan tilted his head to the side. “You have nothing I want. Tell your father I’ll be in touch. Oh, here,” he tossed a necklace onto the bed. “He’ll know who I am with that. If not, then you’re little plaything will become mine…until I tire of her.” Blackness swirled around Jenna as she heard both Lucas and Damien roar her name. A sick feeling hit her square in the gut, one she knew all too well. Khan was playing a game with the Cordell’s. One only he knew the rules to, and he had zero compassion for anyone getting in his way unless he could use them for his own gain. Jenna just happened to be exactly what he needed in order to hit back at the man he felt deserved it. Shit, she so could use her Fey powers, or even her bestie Kellen right about now. Or even better, if she’d not have been so stubborn and mated with Lucas and Damien instead of waiting, then none of this would have happened. “Well, what if’s do nothing but make big girls cry over spilled milk,” she muttered to herself.“What?” Khan asked as he opened the portal allowing light to filter in.She blinked a few times. “Huh?”“You mumbled something about girls crying and spilled milk.” He carried her over to a couch and set her down. His gentle touch and actions at war with his words to Damien and Lucas.The light airy room reminded Jenna of a lake cabin, one that families would go to on vacation. “Oh, um, nothing. I talk to myself sometimes.”Khan shrugged his shoulders. “Make yourself comfy, you’ll be here for a spell or two.” He winked.A growl rumbled in her throat. “Hahaha, very funny.”He was next to her in a blink. “No, I’m not funny at all. What I am is deadly. You will do best to remember that.” He raised his nails, the longer lengths looking ominous now, reminding her of the night he’d cut her cheek. “You did something to me when you sliced my cheek open.” If he was going to kill her, she’d at least know the hows and whys.

About the Author:
Elle Boon lives in Middle-Merica as she likes to say…with her husband, two kids, and a black lab who is more like a small pony. She’d never planned to be a writer, but when life threw her a curve, she swerved with it, since she’s athletically challenged. She’s known for saying “Bless Your Heart” and dropping lots of F-bombs, but she loves where this new journey has taken her.
She writes what she loves to read, and that is romance, whether it’s erotic, Navy SEALs, or paranormal, as long as there is a happily ever after. Her biggest hope is that after readers have read one of her stories, they fall in love with her characters as much as she did. She loves creating new worlds, and has more stories just waiting to be written. Elle believes in happily ever afters, and can guarantee you will always get one with her stories.
https://www.facebook.com/elle.boon
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https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8120085.Elle_Boon
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Books Available for Review

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A Bewitching Wednesday

Interview Brantwijn Serra, Author of Into Nostra #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/N8ss30ifTmu

Book Spotlight, Book Trailer, & #Giveaway ~ Defining Human (Only Human, Book 4) by Candace Blevins ~ #UrbanFantasy ~ Candace Blevins #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/mVdJ30ifTc0

Custodian by Montana Ash #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/dkpl30ifT0N

A Year in the Life of Dr. Fox by Frederick L Malphurs Excerpt, Interview & Giveaway #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/k1vL30ifSPv

Freaky Franky by William Blackwell Giveaway #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/EUbs30ifTl5

Excerpt Spotlight: Farraway Mist by Tani Hanes #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/o9kE30ifTiv

Enchanter Redeemed by Sharon Ashwood #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/h4th30ifTh0

"Drinking the Knock Water" by Emily Kemme #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/HZMe30ifTfl

DEFINING HUMAN by Candace Blevins excerpt w/ giveaway #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/StkE30ifTb3

Freaky Franky by William Blackwell #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/9ZQ730ifT62

Book Tour & Giveaway: Defining Human by Candace Blevins #bewitchingbooktours http://ow.ly/sPZK30ifT9a

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Review Burn Bright by Patricia Briggs

Burn Bright by Patricia Briggs
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


In Burn Bright, Bran is away and has left his son, Charles, in charge of the pack. Charles receives a strange call from one of the wildlings- the wolves that Bran cares for who are too unstable to be part of the regular pack. Charles takes his wife Anna with him to check out the situation. She's an Omega and can be really useful when it comes to calming down aggressive wolves.

They weren't expecting what they found. The situation is dire and problematic for the entire pack. There is a traitor in the mix...a traitor I didn't see coming until close to the end...right about the time they themselves figured it out. It was a shock.

This book is a nail biting, page turning, on the edge of your seat can't stop reading adventure. So much was going on I could not put this book down until I got the whole story and knew who was doing what. So many twists and turns...and emotions. Holy cow, the emotions this book stirred up.

We get several in depth views of characters, new ones, and ones we haven't seen much of before like Leah, Bran's mate.

There was also a jaw dropping revelation regarding Mercy and Bran. Seriously I did not see that at all. Now I want to go back and read everything with new eyes.

This was one of, if not the best book in this world so far. I swear each book just gets better.

Patricia Briggs is in my top five favorite authors of all time.

The Mercy Thompson World is probably in my top three book series that I absolutely love and must read.

I've read all the Mercy Books and all of the Alpha & Omega books. If you read either series you should be reading both because you really get a much more in depth look at characters from different points of view and you see a more complete picture of this world...and what a world it is. Briggs has built a complex world that I just can't get enough of.

View all my reviews

The book will be out March 6th, 2018! Pre-order it on Amazon here.Received the ARC on NetGalley 

About the Book:
In her bestselling Alpha and Omega series, Patricia Briggs "spins tales of werewolves, coyote shifters, and magic and, my, does she do it well" (USATODAY.com). Now mated werewolves Charles Cornick and Anna Latham face a threat like no other--one that lurks too close to home...
They are the wild and the broken. The werewolves too damaged to live safely among their own kind. For their own good, they have been exiled to the outskirts of Aspen Creek, Montana. Close enough to the Marrok's pack to have its support; far enough away to not cause any harm.
With their Alpha out of the country, Charles and Anna are on call when an SOS comes in from the fae mate of one such wildling. Heading into the mountainous wilderness, they interrupt the abduction of the wolf--but can't stop blood from being shed. Now Charles and Anna must use their skills--his as enforcer, hers as peacemaker--to track down the attackers, reopening a painful chapter in the past that springs from the darkest magic of the witchborn...