Linda Nightingale's Blog, page 24
August 2, 2019
The Maine Nemesis by R. Scott Wallis
[image error]
R. Scott Wallis will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
GENRE IS SUSPENSE. – The book is on sale for only $0.99.
When I first started thinking about my new Skyler Moore Thriller series, I instantly decided that my heroine should be from southern Maine. As a kid, I spent a great deal of time visiting my uncle’s home in Kennebunkport and my aunt and uncle’s camp on a lake in the central part of the state. I loved the endless lobster rolls, quaint old houses and farms, ice-cold water, and chilly summer evenings. Spending summer vacations in Maine still sounds like a good idea to me, especially now that I live in Las Vegas, Nevada, where daytime temperatures hover around the 110º mark!
My fictional town of Wabanaki is located somewhere close to Kennebunkport and Ogunquit and Portland—towns I know so well—but is sleepier, and devoid of the swarms of tourists those towns endure in the summertime. Skyler and her best friend—celebrity chef Brenda Braxton—grew up in Wabanaki, and still spend a good part of their summers there.
They say that you should write what you know, right? So, for book two, THE NEW MEXICO SCOUNDREL—which is also out now on Amazon—I decided to take my characters to Santa Fe, where I lived for a spell in 2017. Like southern Maine, Santa Fe is full of arty charm and tourists, and seemed like the perfect backdrop for part two of my story. If you haven’t been, it should be on your list; northern New Mexico is certainly magical and plays host to a world-renown opera house, top-flight restaurants, chilis galore, epic sunsets, more art galleries than you could ever visit, and tons of history.
And then there’s Las Vegas! That’s where I’ve finally settled with my family, and it’s where I write all of my stories. It only made sense that book three would take place here in southern Nevada. THE NEVADA SABOTEUR drops this coming September 27, and I couldn’t be more excited for Skyler, Brenda, and friends, both new and old, to experience Sin City.
Thank you Scott, for answering my questions and telling us about your book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Fiercely independent, insatiably curious, and always up for an adventure, public relations hotshot Skyler Moore is a hero for our time. She’s decidedly not a sleuth by trade, but mayhem often comes knocking as she and her friends visit the small towns and big cities of America.
In “The Maine Nemesis,” Skyler decides to spend the summer at her seaside cottage in Wabanaki, Maine, with her best friend—celebrity chef Brenda Braxton—and they have no idea that murder will be on the menu. But women are turning up dead in the once sleepy village where nothing ever happens. With the residents up in arms and the rinky-dink police force overwhelmed, Skyler and her friends feel compelled to lend a hand to save the town they love so much. The backdrop is classic New England Americana: lobster rolls, the whole town out for the Fourth of July, and summer evenings cooled by the ocean breeze. That…and an occasional murder, a kidnapping, and a few dangerous liaisons.
Skyler’s mile-a-minute adventure will keep you turning the pages to see what comes next for her and her Down East ‘friends.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt:
During one typically mild Maine summer, slightly more than a few decades ago, while the United States of America was celebrating the anniversary of its independence from England, fifth-grader Skyler Elizabeth Moore was celebrating her freedom from being the only little girl on her street. While she got along fine with most of the kids in her class, she’d not yet made a best friend—besides her beloved Raggedy Ann doll—so when Brenda Braxton, along with her brother and aunt, moved into the white clapboard house diagonally across the street, Skyler made it her mission to show the new girl around their tiny New England town in order to win her friendship.
There were only a handful of houses on the street and most of them were only used in the summer, making for a very sleepy, almost ghost town-like existence for a pre-teen girl during the school year. Skyler would stare into the houses’ dark windows as she walked to school, trying to catch a glimpse of something moving inside. A forgotten cat. A caretaker. Even a ghost. She believed in them and was certain that big old empty houses were where they lived.
When the biting winter winds that came off the ocean turned soothingly cool and the town sprung back to life after Memorial Day, Skyler would get her hopes up that a new family—with kids her age—would magically appear on the block. Specifically, a girl. So, when she finally spotted one that early July day, she wasted no time.
The moving truck was still in front of the house on the corner, and even though her mother told her to wait until the family settled in, Skyler marched herself to the open door and stepped into the front hall. She scooted to the left to avoid getting hit by a couch that two large men lifted through the doorway and then she followed them into the living room.
There she was. A girl her own age, sitting on a moving box, eating a banana.
“My mom would be very proud,” she said when she noticed Skyler. “She was always pushing fruit on me.”
“I love bananas,” Skyler lied as she moved closer. “I’m Skyler. I live across the street.”
“I’m Brenda. And I guess I live here now.”
“Welcome to Wabanaki.”
“Such a weird name for a town.”
“It’s named after an Indian tribe. American Indian, not India Indian.”
“I’ll never be able to spell it.”
“I’m good at spelling. It’s easy. W.A.B.A.N.A.K.I. Wabanaki. Almost like banana with all the A’s after the letters.”
“I guess. Did you just let yourself in?”
“I did. Is that okay with your mother?”
“I’m sure she doesn’t care. I’m glad you came in.”
“Me, too.” Skyler couldn’t stop smiling. “Me, too.”
Skyler noticed that Brenda was a little on the heavy side with a roll of fat around her middle that peeked out between her shirt and shorts, but it didn’t faze her. Brenda had a hearty, infectious laugh and positive attitude despite what Skyler would come to understand was an arduous childhood. Her homework could have been eaten by the dog, or the vacation she was looking forward to could have been cancelled at the last minute, and she’d always manage to find the silver lining. Brenda’s attitude would balance well with Skyler’s sometimes dark outlook on life.
Skyler didn’t know it at the time, but Brenda’s father went missing in action during [image error]some U.S. military action somewhere on the other side of the world and her distraught mother had been committed to a mental asylum. Her father’s sister took charge of the children and moved them from a bustling, unkempt New York City (at the time) to the more idyllic world that was sleepy Wabanaki, Maine.
For Skyler, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The girls had the rest of the summer to play outside, have sleepovers, and get to know each other before the school year would begin. And they did just that. Sometime between building a girls-only tree house and starting a weekly lemonade stand, they’d become blood-sisters, cutting their index fingers and pressing them together to form a lifetime bond. It had been Brenda’s idea. She’d seen her brother do it with his best friend, so it wasn’t totally insane.
“It seems insane to me,” Skyler said. “But I’ll do it. If you want me to.”
“I don’t want you to do anything that would make you feel bad. And I know blood makes you scream and cry.”
“That was just that one time, Brenda, and it was only because that stupid treehouse nail went right through my leg. I’m not afraid of blood. I’m going to be a veterinarian. I’m going to have to get used to it.”
“I’m going to be a cook, I think,” Brenda said. “So, if any of your animals die, you let me know.”
“You are not cooking dead animals, Brenda!”
“What do you think steak and pork chops and hamburgers are? Dead animals.”
“But they aren’t dogs and cats. I’m going to care for puppies and kitties.”
“Veterinarians also take care of cows and pigs and horses and stuff, you know.”
“Well, maybe. But if they die—which they won’t, because I am going to go to a very good veterinarian school—I’m not letting you cook them. There will be a pet cemetery in the back behind my pet hospital.”
“That seems wrong.”
“It does, you’re right,” Skyler said thoughtfully. “Well, we’ll get your stupid brother to take the dead animals away somewhere. But, I’m serious, Brenda, the animals are not going to die. That’s why I’m going to be a veterinarian, to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“Everything dies. My dad died. My hamster died. And our first dog died when he got run over by the trash truck.”
“That’s horrible. If I was older and if I had been there, I would have saved him.”
“She was a she and her head was smooshed into the road and they had to use a bunch of shovels to clean it up.”
“That’s so gross.”
“It was.”
“And sad,” Skyler said. “I’m super sorry.”
“It’s okay. I didn’t really see that happen. Actually, I don’t think that’s what happened to her. I made it up. I think she ran away.”
“That’s sad, too.”
“Not as sad as my dad dying,” Brenda said. “At least, we think he’s dead. He never came back.”
“Maybe he’s with your dog somewhere.”
“Maybe.”
“With your mom, maybe?”
“Well, that would just make me mad.” Brenda dug her fingernail into the bottom of her sneaker.
“Why?” Skyler asked.
“Because if they’re all together somewhere else, why are my brother and me here in Wabanaki without them?”
“Oh,” Skyler said softly.
“That would mean that they don’t love us.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“But that’s what it would mean. And I don’t want to believe that.”
“Don’t. It’s not true.”
Brenda became uncharacteristically quiet for a few moments making Skyler a little uncomfortable.
“Maybe we should do it now.”
Brenda brightened when she remembered the task at hand. She pulled out her brother’s Swiss Army pocketknife. “Ready?”
“I am,” Skyler said confidently, even though she was trembling. “Because we’re going to be sisters forever.”
“That’s the idea. I don’t want to have to play with just my brother for the rest of my life.”
Brenda took Skyler’s hand in hers, turned it over so that her palm was facing up, and pressed the knife into her finger without hesitation. Skyler’s eyes widened as she watched a small bubble of scarlet red blood form. She looked into Brenda’s eyes. She smiled, cut her own finger, and they pressed them together while they screamed and laughed at the same time.
“There,” Brenda said when she was able to calm herself, “blood sisters.”
“Blood sisters,” Skyler echoed. “Can we go clean these cuts now? I don’t want to get tetanus.”
“What is tetanus?”
“I don’t know, but it’s something awful and if you get it inside you, you die.”
“I don’t want to die.”
“Me either. I have a lot of animals to save.”
“And I have a lot to cook!”
The girls took off to find water, soap, and Band-Aids, and to call it a night. The sun was setting and it was getting dark, the sign that another summer adventure must come to an end. But they’d have lots more. They ensured that with blood.
And an infection.
Brenda’s cut got infected, but it wasn’t tetanus…and she didn’t die.
~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
[image error]
Scott Wallis is endlessly inspired by his surroundings and adventures. And he thrives on new chapters and creating unique projects to keep himself out of trouble. Scott started his working life as an advance person and assistant to a sitting United States Vice President. Later, he served as the creative director for a leading Washington think tank. That led to working directly for one of the richest men on Earth, conceiving and executing exclusive events for his billionaire friends. Tired of working for the man, Scott became a top-rated pop-culture podcaster and celebrity interviewer, while also dabbling in both the worlds of clothing manufacturing (creating his own baby clothes brand that was sold in over 300 stores nationwide) and retail sales, with his own well-received men’s clothing store.
Always willing to lend a hand or donate what he can, he’s an enthusiastic philanthropist, championing causes such as childhood bullying, animal adoption, and feeding the less fortunate. A wide-eyed world traveler, Scott has been to four continents, mostly by sea. While he loves exploring Europe and the Caribbean islands, it’s the vast United States that he likes best. He’s been to Alaska four times, Hawaii twice, and can’t wait to explore the eight states he hasn’t been to yet. Technically a Connecticut Yankee, Scott grew up in historic Williamsburg, Virginia, and lived for 25 years in the Washington, D.C. area, before recently discovering that the American West is where he is most at home. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Learn more at www.rscottwallis.com
Author Website:
Amazon Link:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1729813321/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_b7guCbE7B2WJN
The book is on sale for only $0.99.
Facebook Link:
https://www.facebook.com/skylermoorethrillers
[image error]
R. Scott Wallis will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js
August 1, 2019
The Secrets Between Us Cover Reveal!
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions to reveal the cover of The Secrets Between Us. Katie Mettner will award a $10 to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Of three things I was certain…
The first?
Mercy was exquisite in the most devastatingly broken way.
The second?
I didn’t know how to love, but for the first time in my life, I wanted to try.
The third?
The secrets between us could tear us apart forever.
I wouldn’t let that happen.
Read an Excerpt:
Before she could blink, my lips were on hers in a tentative test of the waters. Was she going to slap me across the face or kiss me back? Was she going to pull out a knife and shank me or kiss me back?
The moan that erupted from the back of her throat burned all the way to my soul and stole the air around us like we’d been sucked into a void. My lips worked hers over and my own traitorous moan echoed through the woods. It was gasoline to a flame. I held her face in my hands and bent her will to the machinations of my tongue. It pushed its way into her mouth and caressed her satiny smooth one. She moaned again and I wanted to believe it was her thinking about what this tongue and beard would feel like against her most private place. A moan ripped from my throat and I tore my lips away from hers, my hands still gripping her face gently.
“Did that warm you up?” I asked, my lips taking another taste of her before she could answer.
“Better than a fleece blanket warmed by the fire,” she answered. “Do it again and I’ll chop off your nut sack.”
The look on her face told me two things. I was going to do it again, and she was going to like it.
About the Author:
Katie Mettner writes small-town romantic tales filled with epic love stories and happily-ever-afters. She proudly wears the title of, ‘only person to lose her leg after falling down the bunny hill,’ and loves decorating her prosthetic with the latest fashion trends. She lives in Northern Wisconsin with her own happily-ever-after and three mini-me’s. Katie has a massive addiction to coffee and Twitter, and a lessening aversion to Pinterest— now that she’s quit trying to make the things she pins.
KATIE METTNER’S AMAZON PAGE: http://author.to/KatieMettner
KATIEMETTNER.COM: http://www.katiemettner.com/
NEWSLETTER: http://eepurl.com/du7LwH
BOOKBUB: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/katie-mettner
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/KatieMettner
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/Wisconsinwriter
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/sugarlipswi/
The Secrets Between Us on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46802047-the-secrets-between-us
Coffee Klatsch with Katie Mettner (Facebook Group): https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wisconsinwriter
Pre-Order link:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TW3P31R
a Rafflecopter giveaway
https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js
July 31, 2019
The Jade Hunters and an Interview with A.B. Michaels
[image error]
Let’s welcome Author A.B. Micheal and her Romantic Suspense, The Jade Hunters. She has agreed to a few questions to introduce the author behind the imagination.
A.B. Michaels will be awarding a $30 Gift Card. Stay tuned for the Rafflecopter Code.
What is your greatest temptation in men? Tall, lean, dark-haired athletic men whose bodies reflect an active life, not going to the gym. Arms are my favorite visual go-to.
…in food? Without a doubt, pot roast and sourdough bread with butter. I would give up sugar for that combo!
—in clothes? Depends on how fat I feel! I like wearing neutrals with a splash of color someplace in the outfit, but comfort is my number one priority. I also like wild, colorful coats!
What is your greatest weakness? Purses, by far. I can’t pass a display of them without checking them out and rationalizing why I need one more.
If you could have any kind of car, what would it be? I think probably a Lexus—classy but not too ostentatious.
Your dream home – mountains or ocean? That’s a tough one, which is probably why the setting for my Sinner’s Grove series has both. For a few years I had a mountain cabin by a lake and that was wonderful; I think I’d go with that because I love to kayak on lakes.
What inspired you to become a writer? I have always loved stories (especially those with happy endings!) and I’ve read a lot since I was a kid. It took a while, but I finally got up the courage to put my own stories out into the world.
Do you have a daily writing routine? If so, please share. Oh, I wish I did! In between books I lean toward reading and brainstorming, but once I begin writing, it tends to take over my life. I work best with deadlines (I fulfilled NaNoWriMo twice), but I do wish I was more disciplined about writing a certain amount every day.
What is your favorite book? I can’t point to one, although I have several that were quite memorable. I especially loved A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving because of its brilliant construction and memorable title character.
What is your favorite movie? Another tough question. I loved “The Great Escape” with Steve McQueen – so suspenseful and so poignant.
Who is your favorite historical figure? Definitely Abraham Lincoln – I even have a bobble-head doll of him! That homespun man, dealing with his own personal grief, had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and he did what he had to do to save our country.
[image error]In your books, who is your favorite hero and please introduce him. Oh, that’s like asking which of my kids I like best! I guess I would say August Wolff, a self-made man who became a Klondike King. He’s the protagonist of The Art of Love, the first book in my historical fiction series, The Golden City. His strength and vulnerability spoke to me; besides, he’s the founder (along with his mate, Lia Starling) of Sinner’s Grove, the artists’ retreat that lies at the heart of my contemporary series, Sinner’s Grove.
Who is your favorite heroine and please introduce her. Equally difficult question! Since you’re making me choose, I’d say Amanda Culpepper, the young girl who grows up in The Depth of Beauty (Book Two of The Golden City series). Mandy faces tragedy early in life but has an “old soul” which helps her as she grows into a beautiful, courageous young woman. Her granddaughter, Regina, is the heroine of The Jade Hunters; Reggie has definitely inherited Mandy’s grit and determination.
What do you have out now? My latest release is The Jade Hunters, which follows several descendants of the characters from my historical series. It’s full of twists and turns—quite a page turner!
New releases anytime soon? I’m working on a new mystery series (or two). Stay tuned!
Where can eager fans find you? I’m on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/abmichaelsauthor/ Twitter https://twitter.com/ABMichaelsBooks Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/abmichaelsbooks/ and of course, there’s always my website: https://abmichaels.com/ Please visit me online!
And now for The Jade Hunters, a thrilling Romantic Suspense!
BLURB:
Award-winning jewelry designer Regina Firestone is proud to exhibit her famous grandmother’s multi-million dollar “bauble” collection at the grand re-opening of The Grove Center for American Art, known among the locals as “Sinner’s Grove.”
The fact that she’s considering modeling the jewels in the nude like her grandmother did infuriates photographer Walker Banks, a co-owner of The Grove who’s in charge of the exhibit. Neither is willing to admit the real reason for the sparks between them.
Their argument takes a back seat when Reggie discovers that one of the most compelling pieces in the collection is not at all what it seems. Tracking down the truth will take the couple into the dark heart of a quest that’s lasted more than a century, one in which destroying human lives—including Reggie’s and Walker’s—means nothing in the pursuit of a twisted sense of justice.
The Jade Hunters is Book Three of Michaels’ contemporary series, “Sinner’s Grove Suspense.” The series follows the descendants of characters introduced in Michaels’ historical fiction series, “The Golden City.”[image error]
Excerpt: “The Pursuit”
By the time he made it to the room, Regina was standing at the opening of what looked like a submarine hatch. Of course. They were near the water. She was catching her breath and waiting for him.
“Come on,” she said. “She’s getting away.”
“Where does that lead?”
“To a cave,” she said. “It’s got to be an exit; otherwise they would have boarded it up.” She held out her hand. “Please, we can’t lose her. Let’s go.”
“I can’t,” he said.
“You can. Come on. We’re losing time!”
The panic that was never far away at times like this reared its ugly head. “I can’t do it. I told you I can’t handle small spaces. I can’t …”
Regina placed her hands firmly on the sides of his face as she looked deep within him. “This is not a long cave; it can’t be, because it’s very close to the water and is subject to the tides.” She pointed to the other side of the hatch. “You can see the tide is coming in. We must go and I need your help. You have always been there for me and I know you’ll be there for me now. Just as I’m going to be there for you, every step of the way. I will not let you go, I promise.”
Walker stared at Regina’s beautiful, earnest face. It had all come down to this. It was too important for her to stop, and too dangerous to let her go on her own. She needed him, and he wasn’t going to let a crippling phobia stand in his way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
[image error] A native of California, A.B. Michaels holds masters’ degrees in history (UCLA) and broadcasting (San Francisco State University). After working for many years as a promotional writer and editor, she turned to writing fiction, which is the hardest thing she’s ever done besides raise two boys. She lives with her husband and two spoiled dogs in in Boise, Idaho, where she is often distracted by kayaking, playing bocce, and trying to hit a golf ball more than fifty yards. Reading and travel figure into the mix, leading her to hope that sometime soon, someone invents a 25+ hour day. Her historical fiction series, “The Golden City,” explores America’s Gilded Age and its effect on characters, both actual and fictional, while her contemporary series, “Sinner’s Grove Suspense,” follows descendants of The Golden City as they navigate today’s equally treacherous waters. She is currently expanding both series.
Website:
Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/abmichaelsauthor
Facebook (Profile):
https://www.facebook.com/A.B.MichaelsWriter
Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/abmichaelsbooks
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/ABMichaelsBooks
BUY LINKS:
[image error]
Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NQ186L7
Barnes & Noble/Nook:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-jade-hunters-a-b-michaels/1131011538
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-jade-hunters
Google Play:
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/A_B_Michaels_The_Jade_Hunters
A.B. Michael will be awarding a $30 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour
a Rafflecopter giveaway https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js
July 30, 2019
Video Reveal!!
Death is his punishment. She’s his prize.
[image error]
Morgan’s house on the Battery
Blurb: Morgan D’Arcy is an English lord, a classical pianist, and a vampire. He has everything except what he desires most—Isabeau. As the Angel Gabriel he’s steered her life and career choice, preparing her to become Lady D’Arcy. Many forces oppose Morgan’s daring plan—not the least of which is Vampyre law.
Isabeau Gervase is a brilliant geneticist Though she no longer believes in angels, she sees a ticket to a Nobel Prize in Gabriel’s secrets—secrets that have led her to a startling conclusion. Gabriel isn’t human, and she fully intends to identify the species she named the Angel Genome. Morgan is ready to come back into Isabeau’s life, but this time as a man not an angel. Will he outsmart his enemies, protect his beloved and escape death himself? For the first time in eternity, the clock is ticking.
~~~~~~~~~~~/\
If you were in Isabeau’s shoes, what would you do? Risk it with a handsome but mysterious man who excites the hell out of you or stay with security and the familiar?
[image error]
July 26, 2019
Bound by Love and a Guest Post from Toni V. Sweeney
Bound by Love…When Evil Lives After…
In TV shows and movies, occasionally the statement will flash across the scene: “Based on True Events…”. In my novel Bound by Love, that statement would have read “Based on a True Location…”.
Part of the setting of my novel is an old house, abandoned by its owners. On my grandfather’s property, there was such a house. Though as far as I know nothing as [image error]violent or grisly as the events in my novel happened there, it became the place where the disappearance of Dylan Roth and his neighbor Jules Mercier is finally solved.
The real house was called the Old Stubbs place. That was the only name we children ever knew it by. That’s what everyone called it. It was located on the other side of my grandfather’s 220 acres—half farmland, half pulpwood forest and swamp—and we could stand at the edge of the feedlot in the backyard, look across the cornstalks and actually see it in the distance, a medium-sized house, its weathered planks devoid of pain, its two chimneys visible in the distance.
It could be reached either by following the road in an arc, going across the turn-off where dirt had been tamped down across a drainage ditch or going across the field on horseback. Both ways took an equal length of time but it was more fun to ride there, or for the more hardy of us to actually walk, following the tractor-trail across the terraces and skirting the pine woods where wild gooseberries, plum, and the occasionally yucca plant bloomed.
The entrance road went through a soybean field on one side and pecan grove on the other, leading directly to the house. There had once been a garden on one side, with a tiny outhouse perched in a corner. On the other side, a huge and ancient chinaberry tree grew, with a Cherokee rose twining itself through its branches. Beyond that, the house was surrounded on three sides by pine trees, with a fig tree and a stand of sugar cane facing it across the road that didn’t stop at the house but went past, meeting the tractor trail on the other side of the barn.
Steps to the porch were partly missing, partly falling to pieces and one had to climb them carefully. Overgrown hedges bordered either side. The porch itself was in pretty good shape but the roof was only partially there. Inside, two rooms opened into a center foyer with two rooms behind that. One front room held trash and junk…newspapers, boxes, you name it. It also had an upright piano, where mice had taken up homemaking. This fact give rise to the “mouse in the cupboard” incident in my novel.
[image error]
Log cabin with ch
While in that particular room, we bigger kids would run around raising dust and telling the smaller ones they were ghosts, but only in that room, probably because of the piano and the fact that when the mice ran around in it, it made weird janggly tunes.
Behind the last room was another, perhaps a storage area, since it was accessible only from the outside. By the time I knew the house, this room had steps but no door and no floor.
There were two springs on the property. One had been made into a well a short distance from the house; the other was a quarter of a mile away at the end of a field. It had been shored-up with planks and was filled with deep green water. Some of my uncles used to swim in it but I wanted no part of that dark stuff. I had no idea how deep it was and didn’t want to find out.
When my youngest uncle married, he and his bride lived in the old Stubbs place—very primitively. They had electricity strung to the house but they also had lanterns—just in case. There were fireplaces in the two front rooms but their heat was a large pot-bellied stove set in the bigger room. The kitchen held a set of hot plates attached to a small propane tank. My uncle plowed the garden and planted it. He lowered himself into the well, cleaned it out, and installed a pump, sending water to faucets he set up in the kitchen.
There was no indoor plumbing, and let me sway…I wasn’t particularly enamored of that outhouse, especially in winter!
They didn’t stay in the old Stubbs place very long, only until he made enough money to buy a real house another uncle had built elsewhere on the property.
All my life whenever we visited my grandfather, we children would range the fields and woods, and eventually end up at that old house. It was a fixture. Riding my horse, I’d go there, circle it, climb its pine trees, pick its plums, and ride through its woods. Whether alone or with my cousins, I always got a frisson when I was there, wondering who the Stubbses had been and why they’d abandoned the house. No one ever said and for some reason, I never asked. It was simply there, a part of the landscape until the day my grandfather died and it was torn down when the property was sold.
The old Stubbs place is gone now and a subdivision stands in its place but it, its dark, deep well, its pecan grove and sugar cane stand live again in my novel.
Bound by Love
After a nasty divorce, Dylan Roth is back home, joining his dad and brother in the[image error] family construction business. He’s assigned to the renovation of the old Mercier house, which is being filmed for the TV show Dream Homes, Unlimited. The last thing Dylan wants is to fall for Scarlett “Letty” Mercier, but an undeniable attraction is making it hard for him to say no to the redheaded beauty. When he learns the Roths’ and the Merciers’ pasts are entwined, he starts digging, and family history can no longer stay buried. Dylan and Letty are bound by a haunting secret that threatens to keep them apart unless they can break the ties of the past.
EXCERPT:
“Mother, whatever you’re cooking up, forget it,” I said. “Letty Mercier and I are not going to be romantically-inclined toward each other any time soon.”
“If you say so, dear.” She went back to the paper, laying aside the comics and opening Parade magazine.
“Don’t do that,” I warned. She’d used the same tone she always did when I said something and she refused to argue because she knew better. “I…no, never mind. Dad, What’s the deal here?”
“What do you mean, son?” Dad looked up from the want ads.
“Quit it. You know exactly what I mean. What’s this thing you and Letty keep hinting at? The bygone you two are letting go by. The reason her father might worry about her staying with us?”
Dad didn’t answer.
“You may as well tell him.” Mom looked around the page she was holding. “It’s unfair to keep Dylan in the dark, especially since Letty obviously knows.”
Dad didn’t answer. Instead, his mouth tightened into a sudden straight line.
“He has a right,” Mom went on. “So simply state it plainly…about your great-grandfathers, and the scandal, and everything.”
“Scandal?” I looked from him to her and back. “What kind of scandal?”
Dad sighed. “Why bring it up?”
“You already have,” she answered. “By not bringing it up.”
“So there really is some deep, dark secret?” I asked. “A skeleton in the Roth closet…and the Mercier one, too?”
“I don’t know why it has to be dug up at this late date.” Dad folded the newspaper and dropped it onto the lamp table in a gesture just short of throwing it. “Why can’t we simply ignore it and—”
“You realize you’re only making me more curious,” I told him. “What happened?” His expression was so serious I had to laugh. “Come on, Dad. What could be so bad? Did Great-grandpa Roth run off with Great-grandpa Mercier’s wife or something?”
Mom drew in a sharp breath.
For a full minute, Dad studied me silently before he answered.
“On the contrary. He ran off with Great-grandpa Mercier.”
Bound by Love is available from:
http://boroughspublishinggroup.com/books/bound-love
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/924697
July 22, 2019
Lisabet Sarai Free Reading Fest!!
Lisabet Sarai’s Free Reading Fest! #Romance #Prizes #FreeStories
[image error]
During the next few weeks, while she’s roaming the world, out of reach of the Internet, Lisabet is running a special event: Free Reading Fest. Drop by her blog every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Each day, she’ll have a different erotica or romance story for you, which you can read for free. Enjoy the story, then leave a comment letting her know what you think. Every comment that includes an email counts as an entry into her giveaway, with the following prizes:
1st prize – $10 bookstore gift certificate
2nd prize – $5 bookstore gift certificate
3rd prize – your choice of any two ebooks from my indie backlist
4th prize – your choice of any single ebook from my indie backlist
The more stories you read and the more comments you offer, the higher your chances of winning!
The event starts on July 22nd, and runs through Monday August 12th.
Join the fun! It’s all happening at Beyond Romance:
July 21, 2019
My New Book Video for Sinners’ Opera
Death is his punishment. She’s his prize.
Morgan D’Arcy is an English lord, a classical pianist, and a vampire. He has everything except what he desires most—Isabeau. As the Angel Gabriel he’s steered her life and career choice, preparing her to become Lady D’Arcy. Many forces oppose Morgan’s daring plan—not the least of which is Vampyre law.
Isabeau Gervase is a brilliant geneticist Though she no longer believes in angels, she sees a ticket to a Nobel Prize in Gabriel’s secrets—secrets that have led her to a startling conclusion. Gabriel isn’t human, and she fully intends to identify the species she named the Angel Genome. Morgan is ready to come back into Isabeau’s life, but this time as a man not an angel. Will he outsmart his enemies, protect his beloved and escape death himself? For the first time in eternity, the clock is ticking.
July 19, 2019
Here is my interview with Linda Nightingale
Hello and welcome to my blog, Author Interviews. My name is Fiona Mcvie.
Let’s get you introduced to everyone, shall we? Tell us your name. What is your age?
I’m Linda Nightingale and ‘I am not young enough to know everything’, or so says my favorite author of all time, Oscar Wilde! 
July 11, 2019
The Stone Awakened by Judith Sterling
Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce Judith Sterling and her book The Stone Awakened:
[image error]
What is your greatest temptation:
In men: intelligence
In food: cheesy fries
In clothes: comfy pajamas
What is your greatest weakness (example: buying shoes)? Ordering out for food instead of cooking.
If you could have any kind of car, what would it be?
Your dream home – mountains or ocean? Mountains or rolling hills in the Irish, English, Scottish, or Welsh countryside.
What inspired you to become a writer? A compulsion I’ve always felt and fed, even before kindergarten. (My mom taught me to read and write before I ever started school.)
Do you have a daily writing routine? If so, please share.
What is your favorite book? That’s a tough choice, but it just might be Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine.
What is your favorite movie? Another tough one! Maybe The Uninvited (1944).
Who is your favorite historical figure? There are so many, but I can narrow it down to four women with whom I’d love to have a good long chat: Cleopatra, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Elizabeth I of England, and Elizabeth Corwin, in whose 17th-century home I’m a tour guide here in Salem, Massachusetts.
In your books, who is your favorite hero and please introduce him?
Who is your favorite heroine and please introduce her?
What do you have out now? Excerpt, blurb, book trailers I write two different series: The Novels of Ravenwood (medieval romance) and Guardians of Erin (young adult paranormal fantasy). My most recent release is the second in the YA series, The Stone Awakened.
Blurb for The Stone Awakened:
[image error]Since moving to Ireland, Ashling Donoghue has tackled one challenge after another. Now the mystery of her parents’ disappearance seems unsolvable. Are they dead or only missing? No one—not even the godlike Breasals—has a clue. Hope and fear war inside her, but she’s determined to find answers and stay strong for her siblings. Even as she hones newfound powers, her banshee-in-training sister Deirdre needs her support.
Ashling could use a little help herself. She’s struggling to navigate her first romance, and while Aengus Breasal stirs her body, mind, and soul, his nemesis Lorcan does too. Both men harbor secrets about her past life as Caer. One has ties to Aoife, the scheming wind demon whose influence is on the rise.
As the Stone of Destiny awakens, so does the conflict within.
Excerpt:
Thunder shook the night as the Dullahan’s black stallion reared beneath him on the sweeping lawn below. The horseman thrust his severed head toward the sky and called out the names of those he hunted.
“Dylan Donoghue! Maeve Donoghue!”
Powerless to stop him, I watched from the bedroom window. The glass panes infused my palms with the chill of death itself. Out of sight, my parents screamed, then fell silent. The sound of laughter followed.
Exultant. Spiteful. Malignant.
Aoife! The wind demon whose foul plot shattered my family with a single blow.
Hate and despair welled inside me. “No!”
“Ashling, wake up!” My sister shook me awake.
She switched on the lamp between our beds, and I scanned the room. The same sash windows as in the dream. The same luxurious décor in shades of periwinkle, white, and gray. Even my slippers beside the bed were the same. But the night was quiet, and there was no immediate danger.
Deirdre tucked her long, blonde hair behind her ears and gave me a knowing look. “Another nightmare about the Dullahan?”
Nodding, I wiped the sweat from my brow. “And Aoife.”
“Sounds almost as bad as my dream the night he took Mom and Dad.”
“We don’t know he took them.”
“We don’t know he didn’t.”
“They’re not dead!” Dread clutched my heart, and I pushed out a long breath to calm myself. “They can’t be.”
New releases anytime soon?
My next release will be Night of the Owl, the fourth of The Novels of Ravenwood. No release date yet, but I’ll keep everyone posted!
Where can eager fans find you?
Website – https://judithmarshallauthor.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/judithsterlingfiction/
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16291161.Judith_Sterling
BookBub – https://www.bookbub.com/authors/judith-sterling
Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B01MT3KB7L
July 9, 2019
Dirty Damsels by Peggy Jaeger – All is fair in Business and Love!
All is fair in business…and love.
[image error]
That was the tagline that sparked my new modern day twist on the Cinderella fairy tale, DIRTY DAMSELS.
Ella Jones is a 21st century woman. She owns and operates her own successful cleaning business called DIRTY DAMSELS. The idea for the company came to her when her stepmother refused to fund her college education after Ella’s father unexpectedly died. Ella combined two things she loves: cleaning and organizing, into a business plan that’s done her proud. But now, a corporate raider wants to takeover her business and make it his own. Ella’s prepared to fight to the death for her company.
This isn’t your grandma’s Cinderella story! Ella is a modern, take no prisoners CEO, who can stand on her own and stand up for herself. She knows what she wants and what she has to do to make it in the world of business. What she doesn’t know is how to protect her heart from falling for the one person who could destroy all she’s built.
Blurb:
When I first saw Cynderella all covered in soot in that sexy maid uniform, I knew I wanted to be her Prince.
She’s a small and savvy businesswoman who’s built her cleaning company from the ground up. But now that Dirty Damsels is booming, I’ve been hired to arrange a hostile takeover.
But the temptation of having her was too much to ignore… We ended up spending one night together—a night neither of will forget. Now, I want more. I need more. I want to spend every night, skin-on-skin, with my beautiful Ella.
Problem is, when she finds out who I really am, she’ll never forgive me.
Excerpt:
The bathroom door opened.
In his tailored suit he’d been impressive and striking. With a white bulky towel wrapped around his waist, and the humidity in the bathroom sluicing off his damp torso, he was downright magnificent. Those wide and solid shoulders tapered down into biceps I could tell regularly attended a gym with him, and then into forearms corded with strong sinew and veins.
“I-I’m sorry,” I stammered. “I’m almost done. I’m sorry.” I blushed again and I cursed my fair skin. But really, how could I not blush and stutter when faced with this unbelievable specimen of hotness standing five feet away from me, all wet and hard muscled and gorgeous?
He moved like a panther across the rug, soundlessly stalking, as if playing with his prey, until he came to the opposite side of the bed.
He took one corner of the sheet in his hand and yanked it. “Do you have enough on your side?”[image error]
Speech was impossible because I knew I’d start blabbering again, so I nodded and tucked the sheet under the mattress.
“Hospital corners.” He nodded and then mimicked my motions. “I love a tight sheet.”
I couldn’t help but stare at the way his biceps swelled when he lifted the mattress as if it weighed nothing, and shot the sheet under it. Nor could I forgo glancing at the thick mat of black hair crisscrossing from one side of his pecs to the other and then down, disappearing below the towel. And I’d have to have been struck blind and stupid – which I’m neither – not to notice and admire the trim, tight waist and abdomen the towel was securely wrapped around.
At least I prayed it was securely wrapped.
I grabbed the comforter, shook it out and he helped me place it over the bed.
“Toss me one of those,” he commanded when I grabbed a pillow and began tugging the case on.
He caught both in midair.
The bed made, I turned to tell him about the platter of food, but stopped before the words could leave my throat. He’d moved without a sound again, coming to stand so close to me I could smell the citrus scent of the soap he’d used wafting off his body.
He placed a hand on my shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. I swear my body temperature went up ten degrees. I figured by now I resembled one of those cartoons where the character’s head turns beet red and then explodes upward.
“Thanks, Cinderella.” A devilish grin tripped across his tired face. “But I need to crash now, so…”
I truly could have stood there for the rest of the afternoon basking in his hotness, but I got the hint.
I nodded and made one last visual sweep of the room.
“Do you want me to close the blinds?” I asked, turning back just in time to see him drop the towel and slide – gloriously naked – into the freshly made bed.
Holy Mother of God. The man had a butt made for grabbing. Two perfect, round, and tight cheeks dipped from that narrow waist, leading downward to two thick and powerful thighs. Since his back was to me he didn’t notice my jaw hanging open to my knees while he burrowed under the comforter.
“Mmm…sure. Thanks, Cinderella.”
Even half asleep his voice made my heart skip a few beats and my girlie parts go zing.
Buy Links:
Amazon: Exclusive to KU readers for free
Kindle version: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TBBPHM8
Print Version: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1640348409
Bio
Peggy Jaeger is a contemporary romance writer who writes Romantic Comedies about strong women, the families who support them, and the men who can’t live without them. If she can make you cry on one page and bring you out of tears rolling with laughter the next, she’s done her job as a writer![image error]
Family and food play huge roles in Peggy’s stories because she believes there is nothing that holds a family structure together like sharing a meal…or two…or ten. Dotted with humor and characters that are as real as they are loving, she brings all topics of daily life into her stories: life, death, sibling rivalry, illness and the desire for everyone to find their own happily ever after. Growing up the only child of divorced parents she longed for sisters, brothers and a family that vowed to stick together no matter what came their way. Through her books, she’s created the families she wanted as that lonely child.
When she’s not writing Peggy is usually painting, crafting, scrapbooking or decoupaging old steamer trunks she finds at rummage stores and garage sales.
A lifelong and avid romance reader and writer, Peggy is a member of RWA and her local New Hampshire RWA Chapter.
As a lifelong diarist, she caught the blogging bug early on, and you can visit her at peggyjaeger.com where she blogs daily about life, writing, and stuff that makes her go “What??!”
Social Media links:
Website/Blog: http://peggyjaeger.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/peggy_jaeger
Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00T8E5LN0
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Peggy-Jaeger-Author/825914814095072?ref=bookmarks
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/peggyjaeger/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13478796.Peggy_Jaeger
Instagram: https://instagram.com/mmj122687/
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/peggy-jaeger
You-Tube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDR8RRIlssIyS0FYZWeGqsg/videos?view_as=subscriber
[image error]
