Lisa Rayns's Blog, page 4

Riding for Redemption Book Tour

Desperate to find her place in the world, Sara Beth dreams of applying for the Miss Wrangler Montana competition that tours with the rodeo circuit.
Riding horses has become her anchor until a near fatal accident takes more from her than she’d ever willingly sacrifice.

Determined to prove his business training, Johnny seeks out the Rourke family to call in an old favor. When he embroils himself in Sara Beth’s life, he has to prove they’re nothing more than friends.
Seeking independence, both Sara Beth and Johnny lean on each other more and more, until love threatens their friendship. Will they seek out each other or be confused by their dreams?
Can either of them leave their past and embrace their future?


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Bonnie R. Paulson mixes her science and medical background with reality and possibilities to make even myths seem likely and give every romance the genetic strength to survive. Bonnie has discovered a dark and twisty turn in her writing that she hopes you enjoy as much as she has enjoyed uncovering it. Dirt biking with her family in the Northwest keeps her sane.

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Pauline Creeden's Newsletter

In simple language, Pauline Creeden creates worlds that are both familiar and strange, often pulling the veil between dimensions. She becomes the main character in each of her stories, and because she has ADD, she will get bored if she pretends to be one person for too long. Pauline is a horse trainer from Virginia, but writing is her therapy.

 Armored Hearts, her joint effort with author Melissa Turner Lee, has been a #1 Bestseller in Christian Fantasy and been awarded the Crowned Heart for Excellence by InDtale Magazine. It is also the 2013 Book Junkie’s Choice Winner in Historical Fiction.

Her debut novel, Sanctuary, won 1st Place Christian YA Title 2013 Dante Rosetti Award and 2014 Readers’ Choice Gold Award for Best YA Horror Novel.

Her other books include: First Impression: A Shadow Maven Paranormal is her first mystery. It’s a dark urban/paranormal fantasy and was just released in March 2014. Abiding Flame: A Catalyst Novel is a Christian Science fiction/dark fantasy that has been described as a Star Trek episode with Frank Peretti influences, released with Prism Book Group’s new ILLUMINATE line. Chronicles of Steele: Raven is a steampunk fantasy set in an alternate universe. First released in a 4-part serial and now is in a complete pack.

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Hot New Release Chronicles of Steele: Raven: The Complete StoryAmazon #1 Bestseller: First Impression (A Shadow Maven Paranormal Book 1)Award-Winning Amazon Bestseller Left Behind for the Hunger Games GenerationAward-Winning Amazon Bestseller: Armored Hearts (Fantasy Steampunk)Spiritual Warfare in a Sci-Fi Setting Abiding FlameClockwork Fantasy Book Set Clockwork Fantasy - A Steampunk Collection

Whiskey Witches Release

Detective Paige Whiskey comes from a long line of witches. They may not all be the most powerful, but they are outspoken and supportive of their community. She alone has no gifts. She can’t summon fire, can’t read minds. She knows the arcane. She’s studied it. That, along with her connection to the Whiskey Witches, lands her some pretty strange cases.

Like the sacrificial murders of St. Francisville, Louisiana. There’s a killer on the loose, choosing people in a vain attempt to raise a demon. Not just any demon, though. A man born long ago, made a demon in order to protect the Gate to Hell.

Together with demon hunter, Dexx Colt, her kitchen-witch grandmother, and her paranormal investigator brother-in-law, they unravel a conspiracy far bigger than a few simple murders, and re-discover Paige’s gift.

She’s a demon summoner and she’s key to the killer’s plan.
Buy on Amazon / KoboMeet the Author: SM “Frankie” Blooding lives in Colorado with her pet rock, Rockie, and Jack the Bird. Jack has refused to let her to take up the piano again, but is warming to the guitar. It might help that Frankie has learned more than two strings. She’s added a few more Arabic words to her vocabulary, but don’t invite her into conversation yet—unless, of course, you’re willing to have a very . . . slow . . . conversation.

She’s dated vampires, werewolves, sorcerers, weapons smugglers and US Government assassins. Yes. She has stories. She’s also an investigator with a local paranormal investigation group, Colorado Paranormal Rescue!

Find out more about her at:Facebook /Twitter /Website

Fusion Book Blast

 

Authors: Shannon Mayer, Denise Grover Swank, Addison Moore, Shelly Crane, Amy Bartol, Eve Langlais, Stephanie Erickson, Jesi Lea Ryan, JC Andrijeski

NEW from HIJINKS INK PUBLISHING….. FUSION: Nine outstanding fantasy stories merged together to create a bestselling reaction. An anthology designed for readers of fantasy . . .

Paranormal, urban/contemporary fantasy, science fiction and dystopian fused together in one epic fantasy bundle. Make your way through fire and ice, love, lust and hate as NINE International Bestselling Authors come together to spin their tales of magic and destruction. This is a truly unique bundle that successfully blends all aspects of the Fantasy genre.  

ONLY 99 CENTS!
Buy on Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo | Smashwords
"ELEMENTALLY PRICELESS" an EXCLUSIVE Novella by SHANNON MAYER (International Bestselling Author) Urban Fantasy, Heat Rating: 2 "My name is Rylee, and I am a Tracker." A missing child, a deadly prophecy, and a world of unusual supernaturals slam together in this EXCLUSIVE novella from Shannon Mayer. Meet Rylee, a Tracker of missing children, and Lark, an Earth Elemental as they tackle a case neither could crack on their own dodging the world of the supernatural and FBI alike. Separate, they are deadly, strong, and determined. Together, they are unstoppable. Or so they think.

"ETHEREAL (Celestra Series, Book 1)" by ADDISON MOORE (NY Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author) YA Paranormal Romance, Heat Rating: 2 The Celestra Series has been optioned for film by 20th CENTURY FOX Sixteen year-old, Skyla Messenger is a dead girl walking. With her life in upheaval, she finds refuge in Logan Oliver, a boy who shares her unique ability to read minds and has knowledge she desires. If only he would share. Skyla’s bloodlines to angelic beings may not be able to save her from those who want her dead, but Skyla is nowhere near done living --- and she’s not going down without a fight.  

"HERE (On the Otherside Series, Book 1)" by DENISE GROVER SWANK (NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Author) YA Science Fiction, Heat Rating: 2 Sixteen year old Julia Phillips buries herself in guilt after killing her best friend in a car accident. But guilt can’t explain how she can suddenly draw, has false memories of the accident and how a bracelet engraved with her name ended at the scene. Suddenly, Evan Whittaker is interested in her and her life. Why he was missing for two days and returns wearing a pendant she’s been drawing for months leads the two on a journey to find out how Monica is still alive and just where Even is really from.  

"INESCAPABLE (The Premonition Series, Book 1)" by AMY BARTOL (International Bestselling Author) YA Paranormal Romance, Heat Rating: 2 I’m Evie and this was to be the making of me-my first year of college. I’d hoped that once I’d arrived at Crestwood, the nightmare that I’ve been having would go away. It hasn’t. At 17, I may be inexperienced, but I’m sane. When Reed is near, however, nothing makes any sense. He’s not what he seems to be…and neither am I. I’m afraid that the nightmare my dream is foretelling is…inescapable.  

"THE CURE” by STEPHANIE ERICKSON (Bestselling Author) YA Dystopian, Heat Rating: 1 “One life will make the difference.” Macey Holsinger has heard that phrase her whole life, in the name of fighting a disease that has claimed so many lives. How much will she be willing to sacrifice in the name of the cure?  

"UPRISING (A Collide Novel, Book 2)" by SHELLY CRANE (NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Author) YA Science Fiction, Heat Rating: 2 Sherry and Merrick come face to face with old friends and new enemies in this sequel to Collide. When a little girl is found, things change for everyone and loyalties will be tested. New romances, drama and rivalries may upset the delicate balance they established while transformations on both sides of good and evil will arise as the series continues.   "ARCADIA’S GIFT (Arcadia Series, Book 1)" by JESI LEA RYAN (Bestselling Author) YA Paranormal, Heat Rating: 2 When teenager Arcadia Day wakes in a hospital after what can only be described as a psychic episode, she finds her family in tatters. As her home life crumbles and her emotional control slips away, she begins to suspect that her first psychic experience was just the beginning.  

"BIRTH (Allie’s War, Early Years)” by J.C. Andrijeski (Bestselling Author) Contemporary Fantasy, Heat Rating: 4 High in mountain caves, surrounded by kind-hearted monks, the shadow of the Rooks hangs over Revik’s head, a constant reminder of the dark warrior he used to be. When strange, militant Seers appear, asking for his help, his first impulse is to say no...until he learns it is Kali who needs saving… the one person he cannot refuse.  

"WICKEDEST WITCH” by EVE LANGLAIS (New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author) Paranormal Romance, Heat Rating: 4 Evangeline is not a very nice witch, and she’s not afraid to show it. She lands a job where she is forced to work with a rude, cocky and totally unsuitable shifter. Despite it all, she can’t help craving his touch. When Ryker is partnered with the witch, he does everything he can to fight her allure. And fails. Vampires, a wedding from hell, and a cackling boss make this an action packed and humorous romance to remember.  

About the authors:Shannon Mayer: Facebook / Website /   Newsletter Sign Up 

Author Bio:Shannon Mayer lives in the southwestern tip of Canada with her husband, dog, cats, horse, and cows. When not writing she spends her time staring at immense amounts of rain, herding old people (similar to herding cats) and attempting to stay out of trouble. Especially that last is difficult for her. She is the author of the The Rylee Adamson Novels, The Nevermore Trilogy, A Celtic Legacy series and several contemporary romances. Please visit her website at http://www.shannonmayer.com for more information on her novels.

Addison Moore: Website / Facebook / Newsletter Sign Up

Author Bio:Addison Moore is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author who writes contemporary and paranormal romance. Her work has been featured in Cosmopolitan Magazine. Previously she worked as a therapist on a locked psychiatric unit for nearly a decade. She resides on the West Coast with her husband, four wonderful children, and two dogs where she eats too much chocolate and stays up way too late. When she's not writing, she's reading. Addison’s Celestra Series has been optioned for film by 20th Century Fox.

Denise Grover Swank: Website / Facebook / Newsletter Sign Up

Author Bio:New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Denise Grover Swank was born in Kansas City, Missouri and lived in the area until she was nineteen. Then she became a nomadic gypsy, living in five cities, four states and ten houses over the course of ten years before she moved back to her roots. She speaks English and smattering of Spanish and Chinese which she learned through an intensive Nick Jr. immersion period. Her hobbies include witty Facebook comments (in own her mind) and dancing in her kitchen with her children. (Quite badly if you believe her offspring.) Hidden talents include the gift of justification and the ability to drink massive amounts of caffeine and still fall asleep within two minutes. Her lack of the sense of smell allows her to perform many unspeakable tasks. She has six children and hasn't lost her sanity. Or so she leads you to believe. You can find out more about Denise at www.denisegroverswank.com or email her at DeniseGroverSwank@gmail.com.

Amy Bartol: Facebook / Website

Author Bio:Amy A. Bartol is the award-winning and bestselling author of the Premonition Series, which includes: Inescapable, Intuition, Indebted, Incendiary and Iniquity. She has also written the Kricket Series, which includes: Under Different Stars, Sea of Stars, and Darken the Stars. She lives in Michigan with her husband and two sons. Visit her at her website: http://www.amyabartol.com

Stephanie Erickson: Facebook / Website / Newsletter Sign Up 

Author Bio:Stephanie Erickson has always had a passion for the written word. She pursued her love of literature at Flagler College, in St. Augustine, FL, where she graduated with a BA in English Literature. She has received several honors in her writing career, including recognition in the 72nd Annual Writer's Digest Competition. After graduation, she married and followed her husband in pursuit of his dream. The Cure and The Blackout were written to reignite Stephanie's passion, when she found the time. Now that he is settled in his career, it's her turn to devote more time and energy into writing. Unseen, released in November, is her first book since she started writing full time. Stephanie has three projects planned for 2015. Her next release is well underway and is slated for a March, 2015 publication date, with the sequel to Unseen—Unforgiven—slated for release in July. Stephanie, of course, loves to read and write. She also enjoys living on the beach on Florida's Treasure Coast. Most of all, she and her husband are head over heels in love with their baby girl.

Shelly Crane: Facebook / Website

Author Bio:Shelly is a NEW YORK TIMES & USA TODAY bestselling author from a small town in Georgia and loves everything about the south. She is wife to a fantastical husband and stay-at-home mom to two boisterous and mischievous boys who keep her on her toes. She hoards paperbacks, devours sweet tea, searches year-round for candy corn, and loves to spend time with her family and friends, go out to eat at new restaurants, site-see in the new areas they travel to, listen to music, and, of course, loves to read, but doesn’t have much time to these days with all the characters filling her head begging to come out. Her own books happen by accident and she revels in the writing and imagination process. She doesn't go anywhere without her notepad for fear of an idea creeping up and not being able to write it down immediately, even in the middle of the night, where her best ideas are born.

Jesi Lea Ryan: Facebook / Website / Newsletter Sign Up 

Author Bio:Jesi Lea Ryan grew up in the Mississippi River town of Dubuque, IA. She holds bachelor degrees in creative writing and literature and a masters degree in business. She considers herself a well-rounded nerd who can spend hours on the internet researching things like British history, anthropology of ancient people, geography of random parts of the world, bad tattoos and the paranormal. She currently lives in Madison, WI with her husband and two exceptionally naughty kitties.

JC Andrijeski: JC’s Facebook page / JC’s newsletter sign up link / JC’s Website

Author Bio:JC Andrijeski writes urban fantasy, dystopian and paranormal romance. Current works include the gritty, epic, urban fantasy series, Allie’s War, which follows Allie Taylor and her antihero partner, Revik, in their attempts to save the world from a dark, psychic force bent on controlling Earth. She also has a new adult dystopian series, Alien Apocalypse about Jet Tetsuo, survivor and slave under alien conquerors, and the Gate Shifter series, about a shape-shifting alien and a tough-girl PI. She also writes crime fiction, children’s and some literary under different names, although her first love will always be of the supernatural, especially when it involves kick-ass superpowers and people fighting for the light and against their own inner demons. JC currently lives and writes full time in Bangkok, Thailand, although she tends to get itchy feet on a fairly regular basis, so can’t quite commit to that as a final resting place...

Eve Langlais: Website / Newsletter sign up / Facebook 

Author Bio:Hello, my name is Eve and I am a Canadian author who pens steamy romance--usually with shapeshifters, cyborgs or aliens lol. I love to write, and while I don't always know what my mind is going to come up with next, I can promise it will be fun, probably humorous, and most of all romantic because I love a happily ever after. I look forward to seeing you again, whether online or between the pages of a book.  


Huge Prize pack and signed paperbacks from the authors giveaway! Ends 1/2/2015 at 11:59pm EST. Fill out the form below.

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Clockwork Fantasy Box Set

Clockwork Fantasy - A Steampunk collection has just been released in time for Christmas. It is sure to please the steampunk lover on your list. Buy on AMAZON Four Steampunk Fantasies in one collection:

CHRONICLES OF STEELE: RAVEN (complete series novel)
Human life has value. The poor living in the gutter are as valuable as the rich living in a manor. The scoundrel is no less valuable than the saint. Because of this, every life a reaper takes must be redeemed.

Raven has lived by this first tenet since she was trained by her father to become a reaper. But since his death, she’s been spending years redeeming the lives she’s taken. By her count, she’s even and it’s time for that life to end. If she settles down and becomes a wife, she might just feel human again. But on the way to the life she thinks she wants, the baron of New Haven asks her to complete a task which she cannot ignore… Just when Raven decides to give up on her life as an assassin, she’s pulled right back in.

HEARTLESS IN NEW ORLEANS (short story)
Helen's time has run out, and she must sneak into the graveyard to get the key she needs from her former master. It is a race against time and the ticking of her own heart.

ARMORED HEARTS
When a crippled young lord rescues a girl falling from a tree, it reveals a secret about himself and his mother's side of the family that could put him at the center of a war with beings he thought only existed in fairy tales. Tristan Gareth Smyth lived his entire life stuck at home at Waverly Park and left behind while his Grandfather makes trips to London, all because of his blasted wheelchair. Then an American heiress falls in his lap, literally, and he must find a way to keep her at a distance to protect not only his secret, but everyone around him from an assassin sent to kill him.


WINTER FAE ~The Short Story Prequel to ARMORED HEARTS (Steampunk Fantasy)~
Once upon a time, a fairy princess gave up her home, her family, and her birthright for the love of a human lord. But life outside has made her sick. When she returns to the land of fae with her son, she discovers things are not as they should be. Will she find the healing she so desperately seeks for herself and invalid son? Or will she be received with the coldness of winter?
Pauline’s Newsletter Sign Up http://eepurl.com/Oe2Fn Pauline CreedenPauline Creeden is a horse trainer from Virginia, but writing is her therapy. In her fiction, she creates worlds that are both familiar and strange, often pulling the veil between dimensions. She becomes the main character in each of her stories, and because she has ADD, she will get bored if she pretends to be one person for too long.
Follow Pauline Creeden:Website | Facebook | Twitter

The Confessions of Sylva Slasher Book Blast

Sylva Fleischer is a teenager who works as a necromancer for a living. Wanting to get away from raising the dead for police investigations and demanding grieving families for a while, she goes on a cruise for spring break. Her vacation from the dead is short-lived when passengers on the ship turn into flesh-eating zombies. These are not the same simple-minded harmless zombies she raises and can control, so Sylva and her friends are trapped on the Pacific Ocean. Their only escape comes from a guy Sylva thought was dead: Brandon. It just so happens to also be the anniversary of his death, and she's still hurting from his loss!

Why didn't he call to say he's alive? All those tears … for nothing. 

Sylva doesn't normally hold grudges, but when someone plays with her heart they have to pay. However, with the fate of the human race on the line, Brandon convinces Sylva to join him in a secret mission, yet she can't shake the feeling that he's hiding something.

It didn't take long for her suspicions to hold true when it's revealed that Brandon has been romantically involved with the very enemy he now wants her to destroy. To top that brutal betrayal, the villainous female would rather kill Brandon than let Sylva have a chance to patch things up between them. Sylva is not the kind of girl to walk away from love without a fight, but with a strange virus threatening extinction of human life, she shoves her own feelings in her back pocket to face her greatest nightmare, and that nightmare starts with something that is eerily growing right inside of her own mind and body.

*When The Heart Bleeds, Sometimes Your Friends Are All You've Got *

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International Links: Germany | Spain | France | Britain | Japan 
 
About the author:
Ace Antonio Hall is an actor, former music producer, and ‘retired’ educator with accolades as a Director of Education for the Sylvan Learning Center and nearly fifteen years experience as an award-winning NYC English teacher. He has a BFA degree with a concentration in screenwriting and has published poetry, short stories and fiction in magazines, anthologies, newspapers and novels. 

Inspired by his father, Chris Acemandese Hall, who penned the lyrics to the Miles Davis jazz classic, “So What”, sung by Eddie Jefferson, and his sister, Carol Lynn Brown, who guest starred in the 1970’s film, “Velvet Smooth”, Ace spawned his creativity into developing the beloved but flawed teen character, Sylva Slasher.

Ace was the Vice President of the Greater Los Angeles Writers Society (2009-2011), and continues to head the Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror (ScHoFan) Critique Group as Co-Director of critique groups within the society. He is also a member of LASFS and the International Thriller Writers. On April 14, 2013, Montag Press published his YA zombie novel Confessions of Sylva Slasher. His next release, Skateboard Xombies, is coming out later this year, and he has already begun working on Skateboard Xamurai for the third installment in his Sylva Slasher series.

Find Ace on Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Instagram | Website | Blog | Amazon 

Looking for some zombie gear? Check out Ace’s Zombie Pop Shop!   CAN'T WAIT FOR THE SYLVA SLASHER SEQUEL? HERE'S A PREVIEW TO *SKATEBOARD XOMBIES, SEARCH FOR THE CRYSTAL COFFIN*:

On a normal school day in Lunyon Canyon, California, teenage necromancer, Sylva Fleischer, bickers with her teacher in class over an unfairly graded paper. But when the principal announces that all teachers should lock their door and not let any students leave class, the entire school is trapped in a world of terrifying zombies that not only bite with their teeth, they bite with their minds.

Since all life on Earth faces extinction at the hands of the perilous undead, a guardian of a secret society of vampire monks saves Sylva, her friend, Half-Pipe and her family, and lead them to an alternate world. And that's when the real terror begins ... on a planet full of every imaginable type of undead creature that ever lived ... Including those telekinetic zombies!

GET YOUR COPY OF Sk8board Xombies by Ace Antonio Hall on December 23, 2014!

The Confessions of Sylva Slasher is ... "

*A treat for Buffy fans*--but 100% *Ace Antonio Hall*'s own twisted vision. Breathes new life into the living dead; run, don't shamble to get a copy." --*Robert J. Sawyer*, Hugo Award-winning author of *Red Planet Blues*

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My Life as a 6th Grade Super Zero Release Blast

My Life as a 6th Grade Super Zero #1 
You’d think being a superhero would be cool. And you’re right. It would be cool, especially since the entire world is filled with plain old regular people. Superheroes and supervillains are kind of hard to find, but not as hard as some people like to think. So, anything would be better than being just a normal, everyday 6th grader, right? Wrong. The only thing worse than being an average kid would be what I am, and that is a hero with a totally useless, mega wonky, super power. I’m a dud—a zero. That’s me, Theo Perkins, a 6th grade super-freaking-zero.
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When not writing, Peggy Martinez can be found spending time at home with her husband, her teen son, and four little girls. She loves reading, writing, soap making, aromatherapy, gangster movies, prepping for the zombie apocalypse, and downing insane amounts of Twizzlers and Kazoozles. As if being a wife and homeschooling mom of five doesn't keep her busy enough, Peggy is a full time Author who has six published books, including The Time Warper Series, State of Decay, Sweet Contradiction, and Unnatural Occurrence. The 6th Grade Super Zero series is Peggy's first Middle Grade book series, but she's pretty sure it won't be her last! http://www.peggy-martinez.com/Peggy Martinez is giving 3 swag filled totes with a signed paperback (3 winners - US only) Fill out the form below to Entera Rafflecopter giveaway

The Light Who Shines is on sale! One day only!

Title: The Light Who Shines
Author: Lilo Abernathy
Genre: Urban Fantasy / Paranormal Romance / Mystery
Amazon Rating: 4.7 Stars
Amazon Reviews: 153
Regular Price: $4.99
Sale Price: $1.99

Kindle Daily Deal Date: Thursday, November 20th, 2014 (One day only)

BUY LINK Amazon Kindle 

BOOK BLURB

When Supernatural Investigation Bureau agent Bluebell Kildare (a.k.a. Blue) arrives at the scene of the crime, it's obvious the grotesquely damaged body of the deceased teenage boy was caused by far more than a simple hit and run; and she vows to catch the killer. Using her innate sixth sense, Blue uncovers a powerful magical artifact nearby. She soon discovers it acts as a key to an ancient Grimoire that was instrumental in the creation of the Vampire breed and still holds the power to unravel the boundaries between Earth and the Plane of Fire.

Blue and her clever wolf Varg follow a trail that starts at the Cock and Bull Tap and leads all through the town of Crimson Hollow. Between being sidelined by a stalker who sticks to the shadows and chasing a suspect who vanishes in thin air, the case is getting complicated. If that isn't enough, Dark Vampire activity hits a record high, and hate crimes are increasing. However, it's Blue’s growing feelings for Jack Tanner, her sexy Daylight Vampire boss, that just might undo her.

While Blue searches for clues to nail the perpetrator, it seems someone else is conducting a search of their own. Who will find whom first?

Danger lurks in every corner, and Blue needs all her focus in this increasingly dangerous game or she risks ending up the next victim.

PRIMARY CHARACTER PROFILES

Bluebell Kildare: Blue is a Supernatural Homicide Detective and a gifted empath who has a pure spirit and a will of steel. She was orphaned at a young age and has had a tough life so far. Yet, she continually picks herself up by the boot straps and fights to do what is right, regardless of the cost. Just how high will the cost be?

Jack Tanner: He's Blue's sexy boss, the head of the Supernatural Homicide Unit in Crimson Hollow. Jack is very old and powerful Daylight Vampire with many layers. He is driven a little crazy by his desire to protect Blue in the face of her independence. Can he keep his cool when Blue needs him most?

Varg: He is a great grey wolf who comes out of nowhere and decides to be Blue's companion. He seems to have some mysterious magical abilities and uses them to guard Blue's life. Can he keep her safe?

Maud: She is Blue's dear friend and mother figure. Maud used to visit Blue in the orphanage and read to her as a child. She can't cook but she makes awesome Southern beverages. What color is her hair today? Is it blue, fuchsia, scarlet, or peach sherbet?

Alexis: She is Blue's comrade and neighbor, as well as the sassy owner of a store called Herbal Enchantments. She is gifted in earth magic and if she isn't busy feeding her friends, she's telling them what to do. Does she have her hands on her hips right now, or is she waving her finger at Blue?

The Villain: Can he get any more evil? No. He is about as evil as they come . . .


AUTHOR BIO

Lilo Abernathy is a somewhat eccentric, deep-thinking, warm-hearted young woman of at least 43 years. She started out as a restaurant chain hostess and worked her way up to the exciting world of global mergers and acquisitions. She has enjoyed an on again/off again relationship with formal education and has been affectionately referred to as information hound. In the evenings, she fills her writing breaks by scanning the internet for answers to provocative questions, such as: "What causes diamonds to be formed in different colors?"

One thing that never changes is Lilo's ongoing love affair with books. A born bibliophile, by age ten she finished all the children's books in the house and started devouring the adult section. By age 15, she was working her way through grocery store book aisles and libraries. Just as Picasso had his blue period, Lilo had her own periods of readership--urban fantasy, paranormal romance, Gothic novels, etc. Now she's planning on creating a bookshelf for you to enjoy.

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SITE AND BLOG
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Get Twisted Free

Maya Anderson has faced more than her share of tragedy and heartbreak. For the past six years she’s constantly been on the move with her mom. When another disaster strikes, she finds herself back in her childhood hometown of Beaumont, living with her older sister for her senior year. A chance meeting reacquaints her with Ben McCaffey, a long-forgotten classmate from her past. After the murder of his girlfriend, Ben has become a social outcast. He’s despised by some and feared by most. Determined to become Ben’s friend, Maya begins to break through his layers of emotional protection. It isn’t long before they realize that they both have secrets in their pasts. As the line between dealing with grief and struggling with a desire for revenge begins to fade, the secrets that draw them together may be what will ultimately tear them apart. Because the closer Maya gets to Ben, the more dangerous her situation becomes.

**Listed by Amazon as a Top 100 Kids & Teens Kindle Book of 2012** Twisted is free on Amazon November 14th, 15th and 16th!!  Grab your copy here  *********************Follow the author on: Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | Website *********************

Favors and Lies Book Blast and Tour

Dan Lord is a forty-year-old private detective with a law degree working the blurred line between right and wrong in the Nation’s Capital. As a self-employed solutions broker and legal consultant, he works for a very select clientele. He doesn’t advertise and only takes cases on referral. But when two people close to him are murdered, Dan’s work becomes very personal.

With the assistance of a newly hired female intern, extracting clues from a ladder of acquaintances, Dan bounds through both the underbelly and elite of society, each step bringing more questions and yet ultimately taking him closer to the answer he seeks. A bail bondsman, a recluse hacker, a court clerk, a university student, an old-school barber, a high-class madam, an intelligence officer, a medical doctor, and a police detective are among the list of people Dan must cajole for help. His quest will lead him to discover things he never wanted to know, and put him in the position to reveal things that important people would prefer remain unrevealed.

Tense, ingenious, and filled with the unforgettable characters, Favors and Lies is Mark Gilleo’s most thrilling novel yet.
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Read an excerpt from the book: 

The cab pulled to the curb on one of the city’s myriad one-way streets and Dan spoke through the holes drilled in the security glass. “What’s the damage?”

“Nineteen even.”

Dan stepped from the back of the cab and slipped a twenty through the front passenger window. “Keep the change.”

“Thanks, big spender,” the burly driver replied, shoving the cash into the front pocket of his sweaty shirt.

Dan bent at the waist, his manila folder in hand, and peered into the open window. The glare from Dan’s light-blue eyes melted the driver’s bravado, bringing long-sought momentary silence to the interior of the car. The cabbie muttered something unintelligible and the car pulled away from the curb into evening rush-hour traffic.

Dan straightened his dark blue suit and his red tie before heading down H Street. The business side of the White House sat just beyond Lafayette Square to his left. As a white male in a suit, within spitting distance of the White House, Dan was perfectly camouflaged. Despite the changing face of American society and the dual terms of President Obama, those making the rules remained largely as it always had been – lily white. An hour watching C-Span was the only proof needed.

Dan walked deliberately to the corner of H and 16th streets and silently mingled with a half-dozen likeminded suits waiting for the light. The pedestrian signal changed from an illuminated red hand to the depiction of a person walking. The crowd moved. Dan took three steps toward the street and then froze at the edge of the curb. He scanned his environment for a mirror reaction from anyone in the vicinity. Sometimes the best way to see if you are being followed is to stop. It was a standard counter-surveillance move, likely perfected a hundred thousand years ago by an animal on the Serengeti trying to avoid becoming dinner.

The sidewalk around Dan emptied as the pedestrian signal on the far side of the street began to count down. Dan swiveled his head slowly, finishing with a glance over each shoulder. No one, he thought. At least no one on foot. Walking against traffic on a one-way street mitigated most of the possibilities of being trailed by car.

He waited until the countdown on the pedestrian signal reached five and then crossed the street illegally in the opposite direction, dissecting a group of lawyers and think-tankers on their way to a local watering hole to finish their briefs and pontifications for the evening.

On the far side of the street Dan turned right and headed back in the direction from which he came. Once again he checked for surveillance. Nothing.

Near the end of the block, with a taxi queue ten yards ahead, Dan checked his watch with a casual glance and turned left down an alley without looking back.

He passed several dumpsters and looked up at the darkening sky framed by the buildings on both sides of the alley. A light scent of urine wafted through the air. Under a fire escape near the corner of the building Dan turned again. He followed a staircase downward, his hand running along a worn metal handrail, his shoes trampling cracked concrete steps. Three stories above the urban crevasse, room rates started at eight hundred a night.

Dan forced himself to relax. Feeling out of place was the single greatest contributor for being spotted in an area where one had no earthly business. But with the appropriate behavior and movement, a man in a suit in an alley was no more out of place than a man in overalls in the lobby of an office building. Properly portrayed, every appearance could be overlooked.

Dan reached the bottom of the stairs and admired the collection of discarded cigarette butts thrown half-heartedly at an empty coffee can resting just outside the door. He took one more calming breath and pushed through an unlocked metal door that read “Exit Only” in neat white print. 

Unlocked doors were goldmines. Half the buildings in the Nation’s Capital were circumventing million-dollar security systems with propped open doors. A brick here. A doorstop there. If you knew where to look, an employee with a smoking habit could be better than a week of surveillance. Not to mention cheaper and less risky than paying off a doorman. 

Inside the building, Dan entered an elbow-room-only foyer facing another door. He watched the light under the closed door and waited for the telltale movement of people on the other side to subside. When the timing was right and the movement ceased, he pulled the knob.

An attractive blonde in an off-the-shoulder red dress took a breath of surprise. Dan muted his response and without pausing pointed towards the men’s room with his chin. “Wrong door.”

The lady in red smiled and Dan followed through on his impromptu ruse and entered the restroom. 

“Shit,” Dan whispered, looking into the mirror over a granite sink with gold fixtures. He had rules. One adjustment in the plan was standard. Two put him on notice. Three unforeseen adjustments to a plan and he aborted – immediately and without exception. There was little he could do about the woman in the hall so he pushed it aside. That’s one, he thought. A little early for an adjustment.

The lower level back door at the Hay Adams Hotel was a direct line into the living room of the elite. Off the Record – the appropriately named bar in the basement of the Hay Adams Hotel – boasted a history as long as its client list. It was where the rich blew off steam. People with faces too famous to enjoy a quiet drink in Georgetown or along Connecticut Avenue. Faces from the morning paper and evening news. Off the Record embraced customers who didn’t mind overpaying for drinks or the forty bucks it cost to valet their cars. Money was rapidly becoming the last legal barrier for keeping out the riffraff.

The Hay Adams Hotel, and its subterranean watering hole, was public. Dan could have chosen to walk through the lobby. He could have nodded at the bellhop and doorman as he strolled in unquestioned and unmolested. He could have slowly crossed the ornate wood-paneled entrance and past the polite scrutiny of the front desk as he made his way to the stairs. But why announce your arrival when you didn’t have to? Especially so close to payday.

In the mirror in the bathroom, Dan checked his watch, his hair, his face, his glasses, his teeth, his fingers. He peeked inside his manila folder. He exited the room and walked through the lone swinging door into the bar. He located his target before his first foot hit the deep burgundy carpet. He completed his room assessment by the time his second foot landed. Nine men and four women, he calculated, parsing his headcount before anyone noticed he was in the room. Five men at the bar, two of them seated together, most likely coworkers. Two women alone at a table on the far side of the room in similar black dresses. Waiting for dates, he thought. A table of three huddled in the opposite corner, far enough away to be out of most contingency scenarios. Dan added two more to the headcount for the bartender and waitress, and one more for the lady in red who was now in the bathroom.

Dan stepped from the dark corner near the bathroom and approached a man in his early fifties sitting alone at a table, his hand caressing a glass of Maker’s Mark.

“Judge McMichael,” Dan said, sitting quickly without invitation.

The judge tried not to look surprised but the corner of his eyes betrayed him as they danced towards the entrance of the bar.

“The back door?” the judge asked. 

“Bathroom window,” Dan replied straight-faced.

“Am I at the correct table?”

“Yes. Thank you for following instructions.”

Dan didn’t take his eyes off the judge. The judge looked older than his pictures in the press. More stately. Fifty and fit with large hands and sharp eyes. The lighting at the table was romantic – enough light to see the judge, but dark enough to erase cosmetic imperfections from across the table. Perfect call-girl ambiance.

The judge stared back across the table at a short grey mop of curls and wild blue eyes dancing behind thick black-framed glasses. The judge’s eyes dropped to Dan’s hands and the manila folder on the table. Dan noticed the judge’s attention and he covered one hand with the other, both on top of the folder.

“Why don’t we both agree to keep our hands on the table,” Dan suggested before getting to work. “See the two guys at the far end of the bar?”

The judge turned his head slightly.

“They are with me.”

The judge nodded.

“I will make this short and sweet. Your wife has divorce papers for you to sign. She also has an agreement regarding alimony and the custody of your stepson and stepdaughter. She says you have been refusing to sign these documents and have threatened her and her children.”

“Do you know who I am?”

“Yes. Judge Terrance J. McMichael. Born in Naperville, Illinois. Educated at Princeton. Law School at Dartmouth. Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit… also known as the D.C. Circuit. Wife is named Cindy. Stepdaughter is Caroline. Stepson is Craig.” 

“And you are?”

“Someone willing to ruin your life. Your wife hired me to make a request on her behalf. You are a highly intelligent man so I’m going to assume you heard my request the first time and that I don’t need to repeat myself.” Dan paused for effect. “You are going to sign the papers.”

“Do you have any idea what I can do to you?”

Dan slid the manila folder into the middle of the table and opened it. The first photograph showed the judge’s wife with raccoon eyes, her nose broken, swollen to...
About the author:

Mark Gilleo is the author of three award-winning novels. His books have won both the National Indie Excellence Award and the Readers’ Favorite Award. His two most recent novels were finalists in the 2014 International Book Awards. His latest novel, Favors and Lies, was named Runner-Up for fiction in both the 2014 San Francisco Book Festival and the 2014 New York Book Festival. Mark has a graduate degree in international business from the University of South Carolina and an undergraduate degree in business from George Mason University. He enjoys traveling, hiking and biking. He speaks Japanese. A fourth-generation Washingtonian, he currently resides in the DC area.

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