M.W. Russell's Blog, page 8
December 29, 2012
Paper Back - The Transient
Loved by your #Teens - Now Available in #Paperback! The Transient #Fantasy #Teen #Romance #Paranormal
http://www.amazon.com/The-Transient-C...
http://www.amazon.com/The-Transient-C...
December 27, 2012
December 26, 2012
Snowdrops Wilt at Dawn
Another Chapter Finished in Snowdrops Wilt at Dawn! Book 2 in the Demonic Series and the Followup to Roses at Dusk.
Fan page https://www.facebook.com/RosesAtDusk
http://www.amazon.com/Roses-Dusk-Demo...
Fan page https://www.facebook.com/RosesAtDusk
http://www.amazon.com/Roses-Dusk-Demo...
December 22, 2012
BookMarks Review for Roses at Dusk
Jennifer Mason from BookMarks Blog has just posted this wonderful review of Roses at Dusk
http://t.co/8u0zX81Q
http://t.co/8u0zX81Q
Roses at Dusk - Five Star!
Can be bought at the following locations..
http://www.amazon.com/Roses-Dusk-Demo...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Roses-Dusk-De...
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
PaperBack and E-copies available
http://www.amazon.com/Roses-Dusk-Demo...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Roses-Dusk-De...
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
PaperBack and E-copies available
December 20, 2012
JUST A FEW HOURS LEFT until I draw the winner of the Roses at Dusk Promotion.
The winner receives the paper back of Roses and a beautiful dove pendant. There is still time to enter! Download your e-copy of Roses and leave your name here with proof of purchase and go in the draw to win.
http://www.amazon.com/Roses-Dusk-Demo...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Roses-Dusk-De...
http://www.amazon.com/Roses-Dusk-Demo...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Roses-Dusk-De...
December 17, 2012
TO BE DRAWN AT MIDNIGHT TONIGHT!
LAST CHANCE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR E COPY AND GO IN THE DRAW!
It's easy! Just Download your e-copy of Roses at Dusk from Amazon US/UK
http://www.amazon.com/Roses-Dusk-Demo...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Roses-Dusk-De... and be in the draw to Win the paperback of Roses and this beautiful heart/dove necklace!
Once you have downloaded - leave your name/email/proof of download here in messages and go into the draw!
The Winner will be drawn December 20th!
It's easy! Just Download your e-copy of Roses at Dusk from Amazon US/UK
http://www.amazon.com/Roses-Dusk-Demo...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Roses-Dusk-De... and be in the draw to Win the paperback of Roses and this beautiful heart/dove necklace!
Once you have downloaded - leave your name/email/proof of download here in messages and go into the draw!
The Winner will be drawn December 20th!
December 16, 2012
The Latest from Lion Hearts - Magical and Enchanting Romance
Visit LionHearts Fan Page and 'Like'
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lion-H...
Departure – A Lion Hearts Excerpt.
Lilly could ride exceedingly well. The summer days of her childhood had been filled with windswept horseback adventures, riding the hills and rocky trails of the peaks. Even now, as she reached the boarder of her family's estate, her heart was lifted with joy by the intoxicating scent of lavender.
But the steed she rode never skipped a beat. He knew the path well, and under Lilly's encouragement he galloped on, passed the homeward track, through the dark rocky hills, to the Pennines well beyond.
Tristan would not suffer her absence, in fact he encouraged it. Consumed with local affairs he was more often travelling lately. Worried over his young bride's boredom, he encouraged her frequent visits to her family’s home. But cordial visits were not Lilly's concern. The thoroughbred rounded the last bend and halted, chomping at the bit and breathing hard. Lilly slid gracefully from her mount and stared at the disused gamekeeper's cottage, her heart pounding wildly. Set in stone, it stood dusted with the cobwebs of time and enveloped with the bordering trees, holding nothing but memories of sensuality and love. It was hers and Merek's, which no one else would share. She and her Knight would relish in their stolen moments between its walls, basking in each other's ardent glory until the day he must depart once more .
She relieved the horse of its burdens and sent it to graze. With one eye on the already setting sun, Lilly made haste through the door, and shut it tight. She leaned against the wood, breathing rapidly, full of anticipation; she knew that her patience would not be tested long. Merek always arrived on time.
After pacing for minutes, Lilly set about ensuring her dress was neat and adjusted just as he loved; just a hint of shoulder escaping the white chemise below, with her hair tumbling to one side. The final rays dropped below the tree line, just as the sound of rushing hooves reached her ears. She didn't peek outside the window; the expectancy almost too much. Instead she stared resolutely towards the cherry blossoms out back. Heavy footsteps made their way quickly through the door.
Lilly didn't turn to her visitor, she didn't need to. His musky scent, mingled with the sweat of his ride soon reached her and only intensified as he stole up behind. She shivered as a gentle finger moved slowly down the nape of her neck and then lingered as soft lips pressed to her shoulder.
"I have missed you." His whisper rushed across her skin.
"And I you, my Knight. You have travelled long."
"How I have yearned for this moment my love," he answered with a pained edge to his voice. "My wish is for us to always be as one."
"Tis my wish too," Lilly answered breathlessly.
"I feel you in my heart each day." Merek reached up and clutched Lilly's shoulders firmly and breathed deeply inhaling her perfume. "You smell beautiful."
"I breathe in your scent and it intoxicates me to the point of weakness. I'm lost in your words and helpless with your touch." Lilly turned slowly and stared with wonderment into the plummeting depths of Merek's blue eyes. They incapacitated her.
He lifted a hand that looked far too rugged to issue gentleness and he ran his fingers deftly along Lilly's cheek. He gazed upon her with such adoration that it seemed inconceivable that he had suffered the ravages of war.
Merek answered her look with a smile.
"Lilly, before you, I knew no strength. I breathe your essence within me."
"Before you there was no light in my day," Lilly answered.
"Then let each day now be without shadow and the night be lit by the fullest moon, let your dreams wander carefree and your air be of summer bloom."
"You are indeed the essence of my being, dear Knight and I shall treasure every moment we share." Lilly tiptoed has high as she could stretch and pressed her lips to his cheek. It felt rough but inviting, leaving her skin flushing with heat.
"You have become so very important to me. I wish to have you, to hold you, to dream and to be - limitless and with stars, with you in my arms." Merek slid his hand down Lilly's back and pressed her closer to him. She could feel every muscle and fibre of his being. "Let me feel you once again."
Lilly pulled back and held both Merek's hands from afar. Battle worn, tired but with eyes that shone with yearning he stared back at her intently. She was powerless to refuse. Wordlessly, she led him to the bedside. Threadbare and tattered, it still offered comfort and fulfilment where any other, without her Knight would be cold.
Merek paused, stripping away his layers of chainmail, leather and tunic – three gold lions glistened brightly from where they were discarded at his feet. Lilly eyed them with reverence, the poignant reminder of the sacrifices' he makes for King and country and the bravery that sets him apart. Merek came and stood, so his form towered over Lilly's diminutive frame. There as gently as a summer's breeze he slid two hands across her snow white shoulders until the silk began to slide.
"You are mine my dear sweet princess – today and always, through darkness to light."
"Always, my Knight. I am the half and together we are whole. Without you no meaning exists."
Lilly stood statuesque, trembling and elated as her laces were relieved. Slipping to the floor, Lilly's dress was no longer with her chemise putting up no resistance at all.
* * * *
With the shifting tides of seasons, change does come and Merek and Lilly's stolen days were numbered as once again he received Kingdom's call.
It was the last rising of the sun before his departure, that Lilly woke – frightened and dazed, alone in her bed. She leapt out, fearful that she had missed their goodbyes, only to find Merek seated on a fallen log. In his hand a worn looking quill. She approached quietly, to the sound of scratching parchment, but he sensed her approach and turned.
"Sorry – I did not want to disturb you." Merek dropped his eyes and hastily rolled up the paper and handed it to her with a smile. "We both know I am not good with the spoken word my lady. It is so much easier in the hand."
Lilly giggled as her brave Knight flushed with an uncharacteristic moment of discomfiture. His verboseness may be limited but his ability to spark flame to fire with what he had written was not. His prose regularly sent her crashing to her knees. By the light of the early sun, drifting through the trees, Lilly stood and read what he had risen so early to write.
In passage of days, as tender with green and given to the mildest touch of bloom, I came in return and through summer we shone. With age, resplendent with flame, as tread time in expedition of seasons, came the passing of moments.
Through these days, and with winsome measure, we did wander without burden of formality and in respect of sentiment, devoid of care and given to the inclination of love.
But for the grace of days in turning, such memories should be lost. Yet now, I would stop time in sacrifice of morning, and all for the preservation of a moment. I yearn once more the passion of night’s glory and the crush of ardour before lust.
In peril of duty, before the magnificence of honour and in contradiction of my heart, the lion’s call and the resting lamb bring flood. Retreat, this instance of weakness, for I am forever the fool, in attachment to that which I mourn and damned by my duty to God.
Now, denuded by season, stripped of life and naked before the frigid breath of winter, the harridan cries and I am bare once more to weakness.
Should this first pale light of morning be the last that we share, let it be without the cold touch of doubt – for these sands run thin, yet still they run and time is not yet of ending.
I challenge the sun, transient before dawn, to sink from the heavens and I charge the moon to muster the stars. But I command not the heavens – and the cruel truth of light casts shadow most felt.
While waking, without words but with candour – your gaze while knowing, your strength with smile and your fidelity in touch.
In king’s venture, devout to the call but with doubt of this moment, I turn. You shall not see tears and there can be no retreat from duty – but instead I give custody of my heart.
And come the end – the smoke and thatch as when I came, while cherry blossom since passed. I tread once more the sadness of being and mourn the loss of grace. – Your loving arms and warm embrace, your touch so warm and tender – begone.
She choked with emotion as the words filled her like an overflowing cup. Throughout her reading, Lilly noted out the corner of eye, that Merek had moved away and was already readying his horse. The mail was back in place, which she had not seen for so many days and the Kings colours already to fly. She hastened to him and rested a comforting hand on his back, not wanting to cause him further unease.
"And yet the dawn must come, my love. But I shall not weep. As you cast to shadow, I shall face the sun’s calling and send you away with a kiss. Your bravery brings with it such splendour, such beauty that it fills me with hope in the essence of a dream. That one day again I shall be lost to your arms, seduced by your touch with the ardent yearning of your lips. Be safe my Knight."
Merek turned toward her and pressed one last kiss to Lilly's forehead. She fought to swallow back her tears as Merek turned and walked away and gathered his mount, towards perils unknown, with no guarantees of if or when he would return.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lion-H...
Departure – A Lion Hearts Excerpt.
Lilly could ride exceedingly well. The summer days of her childhood had been filled with windswept horseback adventures, riding the hills and rocky trails of the peaks. Even now, as she reached the boarder of her family's estate, her heart was lifted with joy by the intoxicating scent of lavender.
But the steed she rode never skipped a beat. He knew the path well, and under Lilly's encouragement he galloped on, passed the homeward track, through the dark rocky hills, to the Pennines well beyond.
Tristan would not suffer her absence, in fact he encouraged it. Consumed with local affairs he was more often travelling lately. Worried over his young bride's boredom, he encouraged her frequent visits to her family’s home. But cordial visits were not Lilly's concern. The thoroughbred rounded the last bend and halted, chomping at the bit and breathing hard. Lilly slid gracefully from her mount and stared at the disused gamekeeper's cottage, her heart pounding wildly. Set in stone, it stood dusted with the cobwebs of time and enveloped with the bordering trees, holding nothing but memories of sensuality and love. It was hers and Merek's, which no one else would share. She and her Knight would relish in their stolen moments between its walls, basking in each other's ardent glory until the day he must depart once more .
She relieved the horse of its burdens and sent it to graze. With one eye on the already setting sun, Lilly made haste through the door, and shut it tight. She leaned against the wood, breathing rapidly, full of anticipation; she knew that her patience would not be tested long. Merek always arrived on time.
After pacing for minutes, Lilly set about ensuring her dress was neat and adjusted just as he loved; just a hint of shoulder escaping the white chemise below, with her hair tumbling to one side. The final rays dropped below the tree line, just as the sound of rushing hooves reached her ears. She didn't peek outside the window; the expectancy almost too much. Instead she stared resolutely towards the cherry blossoms out back. Heavy footsteps made their way quickly through the door.
Lilly didn't turn to her visitor, she didn't need to. His musky scent, mingled with the sweat of his ride soon reached her and only intensified as he stole up behind. She shivered as a gentle finger moved slowly down the nape of her neck and then lingered as soft lips pressed to her shoulder.
"I have missed you." His whisper rushed across her skin.
"And I you, my Knight. You have travelled long."
"How I have yearned for this moment my love," he answered with a pained edge to his voice. "My wish is for us to always be as one."
"Tis my wish too," Lilly answered breathlessly.
"I feel you in my heart each day." Merek reached up and clutched Lilly's shoulders firmly and breathed deeply inhaling her perfume. "You smell beautiful."
"I breathe in your scent and it intoxicates me to the point of weakness. I'm lost in your words and helpless with your touch." Lilly turned slowly and stared with wonderment into the plummeting depths of Merek's blue eyes. They incapacitated her.
He lifted a hand that looked far too rugged to issue gentleness and he ran his fingers deftly along Lilly's cheek. He gazed upon her with such adoration that it seemed inconceivable that he had suffered the ravages of war.
Merek answered her look with a smile.
"Lilly, before you, I knew no strength. I breathe your essence within me."
"Before you there was no light in my day," Lilly answered.
"Then let each day now be without shadow and the night be lit by the fullest moon, let your dreams wander carefree and your air be of summer bloom."
"You are indeed the essence of my being, dear Knight and I shall treasure every moment we share." Lilly tiptoed has high as she could stretch and pressed her lips to his cheek. It felt rough but inviting, leaving her skin flushing with heat.
"You have become so very important to me. I wish to have you, to hold you, to dream and to be - limitless and with stars, with you in my arms." Merek slid his hand down Lilly's back and pressed her closer to him. She could feel every muscle and fibre of his being. "Let me feel you once again."
Lilly pulled back and held both Merek's hands from afar. Battle worn, tired but with eyes that shone with yearning he stared back at her intently. She was powerless to refuse. Wordlessly, she led him to the bedside. Threadbare and tattered, it still offered comfort and fulfilment where any other, without her Knight would be cold.
Merek paused, stripping away his layers of chainmail, leather and tunic – three gold lions glistened brightly from where they were discarded at his feet. Lilly eyed them with reverence, the poignant reminder of the sacrifices' he makes for King and country and the bravery that sets him apart. Merek came and stood, so his form towered over Lilly's diminutive frame. There as gently as a summer's breeze he slid two hands across her snow white shoulders until the silk began to slide.
"You are mine my dear sweet princess – today and always, through darkness to light."
"Always, my Knight. I am the half and together we are whole. Without you no meaning exists."
Lilly stood statuesque, trembling and elated as her laces were relieved. Slipping to the floor, Lilly's dress was no longer with her chemise putting up no resistance at all.
* * * *
With the shifting tides of seasons, change does come and Merek and Lilly's stolen days were numbered as once again he received Kingdom's call.
It was the last rising of the sun before his departure, that Lilly woke – frightened and dazed, alone in her bed. She leapt out, fearful that she had missed their goodbyes, only to find Merek seated on a fallen log. In his hand a worn looking quill. She approached quietly, to the sound of scratching parchment, but he sensed her approach and turned.
"Sorry – I did not want to disturb you." Merek dropped his eyes and hastily rolled up the paper and handed it to her with a smile. "We both know I am not good with the spoken word my lady. It is so much easier in the hand."
Lilly giggled as her brave Knight flushed with an uncharacteristic moment of discomfiture. His verboseness may be limited but his ability to spark flame to fire with what he had written was not. His prose regularly sent her crashing to her knees. By the light of the early sun, drifting through the trees, Lilly stood and read what he had risen so early to write.
In passage of days, as tender with green and given to the mildest touch of bloom, I came in return and through summer we shone. With age, resplendent with flame, as tread time in expedition of seasons, came the passing of moments.
Through these days, and with winsome measure, we did wander without burden of formality and in respect of sentiment, devoid of care and given to the inclination of love.
But for the grace of days in turning, such memories should be lost. Yet now, I would stop time in sacrifice of morning, and all for the preservation of a moment. I yearn once more the passion of night’s glory and the crush of ardour before lust.
In peril of duty, before the magnificence of honour and in contradiction of my heart, the lion’s call and the resting lamb bring flood. Retreat, this instance of weakness, for I am forever the fool, in attachment to that which I mourn and damned by my duty to God.
Now, denuded by season, stripped of life and naked before the frigid breath of winter, the harridan cries and I am bare once more to weakness.
Should this first pale light of morning be the last that we share, let it be without the cold touch of doubt – for these sands run thin, yet still they run and time is not yet of ending.
I challenge the sun, transient before dawn, to sink from the heavens and I charge the moon to muster the stars. But I command not the heavens – and the cruel truth of light casts shadow most felt.
While waking, without words but with candour – your gaze while knowing, your strength with smile and your fidelity in touch.
In king’s venture, devout to the call but with doubt of this moment, I turn. You shall not see tears and there can be no retreat from duty – but instead I give custody of my heart.
And come the end – the smoke and thatch as when I came, while cherry blossom since passed. I tread once more the sadness of being and mourn the loss of grace. – Your loving arms and warm embrace, your touch so warm and tender – begone.
She choked with emotion as the words filled her like an overflowing cup. Throughout her reading, Lilly noted out the corner of eye, that Merek had moved away and was already readying his horse. The mail was back in place, which she had not seen for so many days and the Kings colours already to fly. She hastened to him and rested a comforting hand on his back, not wanting to cause him further unease.
"And yet the dawn must come, my love. But I shall not weep. As you cast to shadow, I shall face the sun’s calling and send you away with a kiss. Your bravery brings with it such splendour, such beauty that it fills me with hope in the essence of a dream. That one day again I shall be lost to your arms, seduced by your touch with the ardent yearning of your lips. Be safe my Knight."
Merek turned toward her and pressed one last kiss to Lilly's forehead. She fought to swallow back her tears as Merek turned and walked away and gathered his mount, towards perils unknown, with no guarantees of if or when he would return.
