R.E. Hargrave's Blog, page 57
December 9, 2021
BOOK BLITZ: Licking Her Christmas Cookies by Alina Jacobs #GIVEAWAY
Licking Her Christmas Cookies
Alina Jacobs
Publication date: November 16th 2021
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Holiday, Romance
In hindsight, opening a Christmas tree ornament shop in a small town was a terrible idea.
The Thanksgiving turkey is still warm, and I’m already up to my eyeballs in debt from my failed business.
To make matters worse, my knight in flannel never appeared—you know, the guy, the one who was tall, dark, and plaid, who had a friendly yellow lab and a truck and sold firewood, the one who showed the big-city heroine the true meaning of love and Christmas.
Yeah, he did not come rescue me.
Instead, Matt Frost showed up like the Prince of Winter to yell at me about the rent I owed him.
He did not feature in any of my Christmas fantasies. In fact, he was exactly the type of Christmas-hating alphahole billionaire in a suit I left Manhattan to escape.
I can’t worry about him.
I need to fix my life.
I have to make a bunch of money before Christmas Eve or I’m a toasted marshmallow.
No ornament will be left off this Christmas tree of desperation!
Gambling on the Christmas raffle that lets you win either ten thousand dollars, a giant snow globe, or a snack-addicted reindeer? Spin that roulette wheel and bring it on.
Moonlighting as an elf for an irate Santa? Mama’s gotta get paid.
Entering in The Great Christmas Bake-Off in hopes of winning the grand prize? Fetch me my custom elf apron.
I so have this bake-off wrapped, ribboned, and in my Christmas stocking.
Except when I’m paired with Matt the Grinch, I see my dreams of a debt-free Christmas going up in Yule log flames.
Matt Frost and I are not compatible baking partners.
Especially not after he licks the frosting off my Christmas cookies while I scream.
Not like that! He’s a Christmas-hating Scrooge who ruined my bake-off entry.
I am not in the market for a Christmas romance.
Especially not with a six-foot-five guy with ice-blue eyes and washboard abs.
No, not even when he’s covered in frosting, standing in front of a decorated tree, and looking better than an edible Christmas card.
Nope, not even then.
‘Tis the season for holiday romance! This is a full-length standalone holiday romantic comedy with nonstop Christmas and romance. If you love over-the-top small-town Christmas festivals, overbearing but well-meaning great-aunts, and smoking hot guys in nothing but a Santa hat who will melt the snow off the roof of your house, snuggle up with a spiked hot chocolate and get in the Christmas romance spirit!
—
EXCERPT:
“This is a bomb cookie,” I said happily, taking a picture of the finished dessert for Instagram. “I’m totally winning.”
A shadow passed over my baking station, and the temperature dropped ten degrees.
“This is your big plot to find my rent money?”
I looked up into Matt’s icy blue eyes.
“I have a multipronged approach.”
“You need to get a real job,” he said curtly. “Running a Christmas ornament shop is not a real job, and neither is participating in a bake-off. You’re not winning, and you’re delusional if you think so.”
“Neither are you,” I replied hotly. “They clearly just brought you on as the pretty face. Though why they bothered I’m not sure. Clearly, everyone is going to have eyes for Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Flannel over there.”
“Brody?” Matt snarled.
I laughed.
“Isn’t he amazing?” I continued, needling Matt.
As if he knew we were talking about him, Brody turned to catch me staring. I blew him a kiss, smirking when Matt growled in annoyance then swooning a little bit when Brody flexed his pec muscles at me. He wasn’t wearing a shirt.
“It’s not even sanitary,” Matt hissed through his teeth.
“Ooh, someone’s jealous!”
“I’m not.” Matt slammed his hands down on my table.
“Watch it!” I yelled. “You’re going to mess up my cookies. I don’t want your Christmas-hating cooties all over my dessert.”
“Too late,” Matt said and picked up the cookie I had just spent ten minutes decorating.
“Don’t you dare touch my cookies!” I shrieked.
“A lot of women want me to touch their cookies,” Matt said, the corner of his mouth quirking.
“Doubtful,” I retorted, grabbing across the table to the cookie.
He held it aloft.
“In fact, they want me to lick them.”
“I swear I will have you gutted and stuffed as a Christmas tree ornament,” I warned.
“So, you don’t want me to lick your cookies?” He gave me a smoldering glare.
Lick my…oh…ohhh…shit.
My face went hot under the stickers, glitter makeup, and hair spray.
No.
Yes.
Maybe?
No, Merrie, jeez!
“I have standards,” I told him.” There’s only one man here who I’d want to lick my cookies, and it’s not you, so give me back that snowman.”
“I’m supposed to be judging,” he retorted, “and I can’t do that without a taste test.”
Then he licked my freaking Christmas cookie! Ten whole minutes of frosting work was gone.
“You… you!” I sputtered. “I spent a million years decorating that.”
He bit the head off the snowman then tossed it back on the platter.
“That was actually pretty good for a Christmas cookie. I think I might have to lick your cookies again.”
“You…” I wanted to curse him out, but we were on live TV, and this was supposed to be a family-friendly program. The cameramen, sensing drama like sharks sensed blood, were hovering around us.
“You…doo-doo head!” Not as satisfying as calling him a fuckface asshole but it would have to do.
Matt snorted. “I think you should stop wasting time on name-calling since you clearly suck at it and get back to baking.”
He clapped his hands at me. “Chop chop.”
Fuck this asshole.
“Chop this!” I hollered, scooping out a handful of bright-red royal icing and throwing it at him.
Matt cursed, for real, with multiple F-bombs because if you were some sort of moneyed Manhattan type, you did not care about ruining the sanctity of The Great Christmas Bake-Off.
Author Bio:
If you like steamy romantic comedies with a creative streak, then I'm your girl!
Architect by day, writer by night, I love matcha green tea, chocolate, and books! So many books…
Sign up for my mailing list to get the free novella AFTER HIS PEONIES along with special bonus content, giveaways, and more!
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December 8, 2021
B@@K REVEAL: She's the One Who Won't Behave by S. R. Cronin
She’s the One Who Won’t Behave
S. R. Cronin
(The War Stories of the Seven Troublesome Sisters, #6)
Publication date: July 8th 2022
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Historical
The War Stories of the Seven Troublesome Sisters:
It’s the 1200’s in Ilari, a small mythical realm somewhere between Europe and Asia. Peace and prosperity have reigned for generations. That doesn’t mean every citizen is happy, however.
In the outer nichna of Vinx lives the seven troublesome daughters of an intellectual farmer and his ambitious wife. Ilari has no idea how lucky it is to have this family of misfits, for the Mongols are making their way further westward every winter and this prosperous realm is a tiny plum ripe for picking. Desperate, the seven sisters will devise a way to save their realm. Can their preposterous ideas possibly work?
She’s the One Who Won’t Behave:
Gypsum, the sixth of seven sisters, has always been a rebel. Yet no one thought she would go so far as to join the reczavy, a group living in tents on the edge of the desert and known for their sexual promiscuity and playful ways.
But as the date of the Mongols’ return draws near, Ilarians of all types must work together if they are to have any hope of surviving. And the reczavy, for all of their odd ways, do have plenty of tricks up their sleeves. Well, up their sleeves whenever they are bothering to wear clothes, that is.
Gypsum is touched when her oldest sister Ryalgar comes to call, and brings an olive branch with her. Ryalgar recognizes that the reczavy have as much to lose as anyone, and as much to contribute. Will Gypsum accept a key role in the plan to stop the invasion? Of course she will.
Unfortunately, her playmates don’t all feel the same sense of urgency. Many would rather simply enjoy the time they have left. A few claim to be allergic to long term planning. And some are too busy with their own poorly-timed plans to overthrow the government Ilari already has.
Good thing needlepoint is the one traditional skill at which Gypsum has always excelled. She will need to thread a fine needle in order to coax this recalcitrant group into becoming life-saving warriors of a very different kind.
Author Bio:
Sherrie Cronin is the author of a collection of six speculative fiction novels known as 46. Ascending and is now in the process of publishing a historical fantasy series called The War Stories of the Seven Troublesome Sisters. A quick look at the synopses of her books makes it obvious she is fascinated by people achieving the astonishing by developing abilities they barely knew they had.
She’s made a lot of stops along the way to writing these novels. She’s lived in seven cities, visited forty-six countries, and worked as a waitress, technical writer, and geophysicist. Now she answers a hot-line. Along the way, she’s lost several cats but acquired a husband who still loves her and three kids who’ve grown up just fine, both despite how odd she is.
All her life she has wanted to either tell these kinds of stories or be Chief Science Officer on the Starship Enterprise. She now lives and writes in the mountains of Western North Carolina, where she admits to occasionally checking her phone for a message from Captain Picard, just in case.
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BOOK BLITZ: Kissing Charlie by Elsa Winckler #GIVEAWAY
Kissing Charlie
Elsa Winckler
(Unexpected Love, #1)
Published by: Inkspell Publishing
Publication date: December 7th 2021
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
One Kiss Will Change Their Lives Forever
Bowen therapist Charlie Wilson is not interested in men or relationships. Her only concern is making sure her sister Lindsay is safe.But then billionaire Logan Johnson walks into her rooms and stirs powerful feelings inside of her. Logan’s perfectly knotted tie is a clear indication free-spirit Charlie should steer clear of him at all costs.
They are complete opposites, so why does he keep coming back to see her?
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—
EXCERPT:
“How did you hurt your back?” Her voice was cool, and she wasn’t meeting his eyes.
“While hiking,” he said curtly. He was in pain; it didn’t matter what the hell happened. “Tell me about this Wowen, Bowen, whatever the hell you call this cr—therapy.”
She gave him a cool look. “It’s called Bowen Therapy.”
“Bowen Therapy,” he said, his gaze on her mouth.
“The guiding principles of the technique were established by Tom Bowen during the 1950s. It focuses on the whole person, not just the condition. In other words, it treats the cause, not only the symptoms. It helps the body to heal and restores the balance by shifting the body from your innate ‘fight or flight’ system to a more natural state of calm.”
He watched her as she studied his body. She was holding something in her hand. Damn, she had yet to touch him, but he was struggling not to react to her nearness. The fact that he was lying on his back wasn’t helping, either.
“Natural state of calm? With you doing strange things to my body?” he grumbled, only realizing the ambiguity of his words when they hung in the air around them.
Her lips twitched.
“Oh, you think this is funny?” he snarled.
“I think you’re in pain. I think you like being in control and at the moment, you’re not. That’s why you feel the need to lash out. But it’s fine. I often have children throwing tantrums.”
“I’m not throwing a tantrum, damn it…” He tried to sit up straight, but a pain shot up his back, and groaning, he had to slowly lie down again.
“The movements in Bowen Therapy,” she continued as if he hadn’t interrupted her, “are very distinctive and are used on precise points on the body. It involves moving the soft tissue in a particular way. I will use a rolling-type movement, using my fingers, hands, or sometimes my elbow. It will create a focus for the brain by stimulating the nerve pathways and tissue. I work on only a small area, depending how far your skin can move. What you may find strange—”
“This whole damn day is strange. I don’t know what the hell my mother was thinking,” he muttered.
Author Bio:
I write love stories because I love reading them. I like the heroines to be feisty, independent and headstrong. And the heroes must be strong but possess a generous amount of sensitivity and should of course, be gorgeous!
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BOOK BLITZ: Accidentally in Love by Danica Flynn #GIVEAWAY
Accidentally In Love
Danica Flynn
(MacGregor Brothers Brewing Company, #1)
Publication date: December 7th 2021
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Holiday, Romance
At thirty-five and single, I’m tired of the dating game. Tired of men who look at me and say, “You’d be prettier if you shed a few pounds.”
There’s only one man I want a future with — my grouchy friends with bene fits, Nolan. But he’s adamant about keeping things casual.
All that changes when one night we get careless, and those pink lines show up on the pregnancy test months later.
Nolan wants to do right by me. He wants to give me what I’ve been searching for, but I’m pretty sure he’s only doing it out of obligation. It’s not like the bearded brewmaster loves me like I love him.
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—
EXCERPT:
Are you sure you don’t have the flu or something?” Gemma asked from across the kitchen table, stirring her burrito bowl in thought.
Gemma lived in South Philly, but commuted to the brewery in Drakesville. When we could, we’d have dinner together before her shift. I tried to cancel tonight, but she insisted. My sister could be needy.
I shrugged and pushed my untouched bowl of food out of the way. I had zero appetite tonight.
“PMS?” she asked.
I stared back at her in silence.
“Avs, when did you last get your period?”
“Not since before the Arts Fest,” I admitted in a low whisper.
Her eyes turned to saucers. “That was two months ago!”
I cringed. “Maybe it’s stress?”
Gemma looked horrified.
When Gemma was in college, she had a pregnancy scare, and I drove all the way up to State College to be with her. She didn’t want kids, and an unplanned pregnancy hadn’t been in the cards. She ended up not being pregnant and got her period the next day, but to this day, she always was stressed if it was late. If Gemma had been in my shoes, she wouldn’t have ignored the signs. She would have taken a pregnancy test the day her period was late.
She stood up and put on her coat.
I furrowed my brow at her. “Where are you going?”
She glared at me. “Going to the pharmacy to get a pregnancy test.”
Before I could argue, she ran down the steps and out of my apartment. I cringed at my door slamming shut behind her.
Gemma was gone for maybe fifteen minutes before she clomped back up the steps and waved a bag of pregnancy tests in my face.
“Come on, let’s take these,” she said and led me into my bathroom.
Ten minutes later, we stared down at the third and final pregnancy test and waited for the results. The first two tests were positive, so I didn’t have a good feeling about this one. I knew I was pregnant before those pink lines showed up on the first test, but I didn’t want to accept it. I ignored what my body told me and tried to will the pregnancy away. I had even been avoiding Nolan because if I had seen him, I would have burst into tears and told him everything.
My timer chimed, and I handed the testing stick to my sister. “Please look. I can’t.”
She gave me a sympathetic smile. “Oh, Avs,” she cooed and squeezed my hand in comfort.
“I’m pregnant, aren’t I?” I sobbed.
Author Bio:
Danica Flynn is a marketer by day, and a writer by nights and weekends. AKA she doesn’t sleep! She is a rabid hockey fan of both The Philadelphia Flyers and the Metropolitan Riveters. When not writing, she can be found hanging with her partner, playing video games, and reading a ton of books.
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December 7, 2021
BOOK BLITZ: Wolf Tempted by Eliza Gayle #GIVEAWAY
Wolf Tempted
Eliza Gayle
(The Enigma Shifters)
Publication date: November 30th 2021
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Savannah is on the run and spiraling out of control. Not because of the power she yields, because she’ll do anything to maintain her freedom.
What began as nightmares has morphed into much more as her gift of clairvoyance is far stronger than what her sisters possess. She isn’t sure what that means for her future, but one thing is clear. She needs to RUN.
But if this is the beginning of the end, she will not go quietly into the night.
She follows no one’s rules but her own.
Until the wolf hunting her shows her the meaning of tempted…
Kingston needs this job. They are offering the largest bounty he’s ever been offered and because he now has to take care of his nephew, he has to take it.
Only when he catches up to the missing woman, he discovers there’s a lot more to her story than what they gave him.
—
EXCERPT:
She moved over to the door, pulled out her tools, and looked over her shoulder one last time to ensure no one was watching. She might be decently skilled at breaking and entering, but that didn’t mean she wanted to get caught. This was her first visit to New Orleans, and she had no desire to see it from the inside of a jail cell.
Satisfied that no one saw her, she quickly inserted the picks into the lock and went to work. While she’d probably done this a hundred times or more, it never failed to kick up her heartbeat and get the adrenaline coursing through her body. Getting in and out of somewhere she had no business being had become quite an art form, and one she was damned proud of. Never mind that it made her a criminal. That was neither here nor there.
For her, the end justified the means, and in this case, it could mean the difference between life and death.
Again.
Right now, all that mattered was getting this job done and done fast. On that note, and with one final twist of the metal picks, the lock clicked free, and the door popped open. She shoved her tools back into her pocket and disappeared inside, making sure to close and lock the door behind her. Having to unlock the door to escape might slow her down for a second, but that was a hell of a lot better than someone waltzing in from the outside and catching her off guard.
The hairs at the back of her neck prickled, letting her know that her spidey sense had been activated. She didn’t have much time. She needed to find the supplies the witch required and get the hell out.
“If you wanted in that badly, sugah, you could have just knocked. For a knockout like you, I would have opened the door whether the shop was closed or not.”
She jerked at the voice that came out of nowhere as she whirled around to find a man standing in front of the door she’d just walked away from. But was he? A man, that was. These days, it was getting harder and harder to tell who was human and who was something else. Once she’d learned to look, she couldn’t seem to walk down a street without tripping over a supernatural or two.
Not to make assumptions, but this one certainly seemed out of this world. He was extraordinarily tall, more than six-four if she had to guess, with dark skin that seemed to mesmerize her. And good God but was he beautiful. It was hard not to stare. Not even his annoyed stance, arms crossed aggressively over his chest detracted from his appearance. No way was he an ordinary human. Right?
Shit. She couldn’t tell for sure without getting closer, and she had a feeling getting too close would not do her any favors.
No one was supposed to be here. The shop had been closed for quite some time. She’d watched the lone female employee lock up and leave the premises more than thirty minutes ago. So who the hell was this guy?
“Cat got your tongue?”
“I need some ingredients for a spell, and it couldn’t wait.” For all she knew, it was likely the truth. The witch hadn’t bothered to inform her why she needed these items, only that they were required before she would lift a finger to help her.
The man eyed her curiously, and she got the immediate impression that he knew she wasn’t telling the truth. That was the thing about these people. They possessed all kinds of unusual abilities, and you never knew for sure which one you would encounter next. Not that she had any business talking about these people.
She’d become one of these people way before Jami, without anyone else realizing.
At the moment, he stood eerily still, simply watching her with eyes that seemed to glow with silver threads that looked her over from head to toe. That stare unnerved her. It was as if he saw something no one else did.
By the time he finished looking her over he had his hands on his hips and one leg cocked her way. “I call bullshit on that answer, sweetheart. Try again.”
His saucy retort caught her off guard. From the Crocs on his feet all the way to the beanie over his head, he gave off the vibe that despite his wild appearance, he wasn’t going to take any shit from her or anyone else for that matter.
“It’s not for me personally, not exactly. But it is for a spell.” At least she believed that to be true.
“What kind of spell? You clearly aren’t a witch, so I highly doubt you can work anything more than a basic love potion, and for that you don’t need anything worth breaking in for. Your local grocer carries that shit.”
She nearly choked on his insult. “I am not looking to work a love spell. A man in my life is about the last thing I need.”
His right eyebrow raised well into his hairline. “You sure about that? A lot of situations can easily be resolved with a nice roll between the sheets.”
Author Bio:
I am so excited you have found my books! Be sure to click the orange follow button so you can be notified by Amazon about new releases. Want to know more, including behind the scenes? You can sign up for my VIP newsletter at: http://elizagayle.com/newsletter
Eliza Gayle is the NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of over 25 paranormal romance books. (She also writes contemporary romance under E.M. Gayle) She lives on a small island in the Pacific Northwest and spends her days writing romance, wandering the beach, kayaking or trying to remodel something. (She blames the latter on Pinterest.)
Before her writing career began, she served in the Marine Corps and lived a crazy life of adventure. Then she read her first erotic romance novel and everything changed. So after years of thinking about writing she finally grabbed her laptop and wrote.
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BOOK BLITZ: The Journey by Kelsey Ketch #GIVEAWAY
The Journey
Kelsey Ketch
(Death Island, #1)
Publication date: November 25th 2020
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, New Adult
With her family name tainted by her great-grandfather’s crimes, Meriden Cummings could only dream of fleeing her oppressive life. Then she unearthed a piece of tanned skin, and her blood revealed an ancient map adorned with Mayan glyphs, launching her on the journey of a lifetime. However, she finds herself bound to the map, and there is a cost to her newfound freedom. One that will torment her mind as well as her soul.
After being shanghaied by pirates, Gregory Wilson escapes to a small English village where he runs into an obnoxious auburn-haired beauty. When he learns she is about to set sail on dangerous waters, he signs up to join her crew, hoping to defend her from the pirates seeking her great-grandfather’s treasure. But, will he be able to protect her from the ghost that haunts her or the curse running through her veins?
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—
EXCERPT:
[Meriden]
Tucker barked at something that had recently washed up onto the shore. Curious, I walked toward the obvious tangled mess. “What do you have there?”
I pushed him aside and grabbed the green and grey mass. I peeled off the debris and seaweed and rinsed the mud and sand off in the Mouth of the Severn. From the mess appeared an object, which I could only describe as an elaborate golden coin, about four inches in diameter. Yet, the slightest touch caused three outer rings of glyphs—similar to the ones painted on the map—to rotate around a sitting man with a long headdress, bowl, and club. His face profiled, and his legs crossed. The most outer ring consisted of nineteen complicated glyphs, including an eagle’s head, a goat-like face, and a demon face; the middle ring held twenty square glyphs with three curls underneath, some depicting things like hands, skulls, and faces; and the innermost ring had a series of dots and lines—much like Roman numerals—that counted up to thirteen. On the other side of the coin, the same skeletal figure from the map sat in the center while nine teetered glyphs were spaced out along the outer rings—five on the outer ring and four in the middle. Among the glyphs of the middle ring were four arrows pointing in what I would call the cardinal directions. Overlapping the middle and inner rings were three large arrows. Much like a compass pointing north, east, and west. And to the south, two skulls faced each other, leaving a microscopic gap.
My mind spun with disbelief. This had to be related to Death Island. I was sure of it. But how? And where did it come from? How did it get here?
The breeze carried my hair off my shoulder, a shiver ran down my spine, and goose bumps unraveled across my arms when I sensed a presence nearby. I turned to spy a man as pale as ash with a beard as white as snow watching me. Black veins stretched throughout his exposed flesh. His eyes nothing but two black pieces of coal. The mere sight of him made me jump in my own skin, nearly causing me to drop the Mayan coin as I gasped in fright. In an attempt to regain my composure, I took my eyes off the man for a second to steady myself, only for them to fall back on the gardener, or ghost, I met at the Railings’ home.
Author Bio:
Kelsey Ketch is a young-adult/new-adult author, who works as a Wildlife Biologist and Data Analyst. During her free time, she can often be found working on her latest work in progress. She also enjoys history, mythology, traveling, and reading.
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BOOK BLITZ: The Magi Menagerie by Kale Lawrence #GIVEAWAY
The Magi Menagerie
Kale Lawrence
(The Magi Menagerie, #1)
Publication date: September 7th 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Historical, New Adult, Young Adult
Some stars aren’t meant to be followed.
For seventeen years, Ezra Newport and his parents were habitual immigrants, traveling from their Ottoman Empire home across 20th century Europe. As the Newports migrate to Belfast, Ireland, Ezra wants nothing more to settle into a consistent life and lay the foundation of his architectural dreams. But after a strange, mechanical bounty hunter murders his mother and prompts the disappearance of his father, Ezra discovers that his parents had actually been on the run. Now, their enemies are targeting him, and they won’t stop until he is dead.
In a moment of desperation, Ezra’s fate collides with the Third Order of the Magi, a secret society dedicated to using their supernatural powers to protect their communities. With increasing violence around the world, the Magi are fairly certain they know who’s behind the attacks on Ezra and his family since the same group could also be threatening their own existence.
Both Ezra and the Magi’s survival hinges on knowledge only Ezra’s father has and the key to saving them could be buried within history itself. In a race across continents and time, both Ezra and the Magi must secure an ancient Babylonian artifact before hell is unleashed on the world. And, against all odds, Ezra must decide where his allegiances truly lie, despite what is written in the stars.
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—
EXCERPT:
Ezra
A blinding white light illuminated the compartment then faded just before a concussive shockwave sent the scene around them into oblivion. Reeling in confusion, Ezra found himself lying prostrate in a barely conceivable jumble of his former surroundings. Splintering glass shattered around him. A warm stream of a substance—oil? Blood? —trickled down his forehead and along the corner of his mouth. Ezra wiped it away with the sleeve of his coat, cringing at the crimson trail left behind. His equilibrium—as much as he tried to control it—spiralled in a vicious vortex, rendering it nearly impossible to get his bearings.
“Anne?” he croaked in Turkish. His voice, hardly louder than a whisper, was drowned out by the infernal ringing in his ears.
Reaching for the compartment door handle to pull himself to his feet, Ezra recoiled when he noticed the door had been smeared with cruel red streaks. Smoke billowed throughout the walkway, choking him as he navigated on hands and knees through the devastation.
“Anne?” he called again.
“Ezra!”
His mother was within arm’s reach, but the look in her eyes seemed dangerously far.
Ezra crawled to her side where she lay gasping for air. His stomach contorted into knots at the sight of a dark, liquid halo surrounding her headscarf.
“Let’s get you out of here,” Ezra insisted, attempting to prop her up into a seated position. He frantically looked around for any sign of his father. “We need to find Baba!”
“Shhh,” she insisted, shakily reaching up to her son’s face. “Don’t worry about us. Flee. Get as far away from here as you possibly can.”
“What are you saying?” Ezra said, wondering if somehow his brain had lost all ability to comprehend language.
“Your baba and I knew this day would come,” she whispered, tears swimming in her eyes. “They have found us. They have found you.”
“Who? Who has found—” Ezra began but was silenced when her complexion faded to a ghastly white. He hesitantly followed her gaze over his shoulder.
Distorted by smoke, an inky black shadow materialised at the end of the walkway. The figure plodded toward them with an uneven gait, accompanied by ominous, mechanical whirring. But when the being finally stopped, and the smoke cleared just enough to expose his anamorphic features, Ezra could not bring himself to move.
“By the Order of Babylon, you are hereby commanded to follow and obey,” his deep voice warbled through some type of amplification apparatus. His breath’s condensation—or rather, steam—fumed from the steel grates around where his mouth should have been.
Ezra’s own breath faltered as the orange light from nearby flames illuminated the figure’s head. Slits in his mask revealed rugged skin and dark shadows beneath an organic eye, but the other portion consisted entirely of an intricate web of gears and piping. While at one time, the figure might have been an ordinary person, whoever now stood before him was nothing close to being human.
“We shall not!” his mother barked defensively, feigning a physical strength Ezra knew she lacked. “We will never yield.”
“Hmm,” the shadow mused. “So be it, Magus.” A snap of his fingers sent ruby sparks into the haze and, upon deteriorating, revealed a massive cobra. Its thick body slithered across the wreckage and advanced straight for Ezra.
“Ezra, go!” cried his mother as a deluge of glass fragments rained upon them.
Crab-walking backward, Ezra manoeuvred as fast as he could away from the serpent, but it navigated the debris as if nothing stood in its way. The reptile snapped its jaws centimetres from his leather shoe, a fierce wrath in its eyes.
“Leave him alone, devil!” yelled Leyla, summoning what strength remained to kick at the snake with her boot.
Almost in slow motion, the cobra turned its fiery eyes toward his mother and bared its fangs as if overjoyed to set a course for its new target.
“No!” Ezra screamed in terror. “No, no, no!”
The cobra paid no attention to his pleas. It struck in one sickening flash, almost too fast for the eye to comprehend. As it withdrew, Ezra choked back arduous smoke—and a wave of tears—as his mother reflexively reached for her neck.
Narrowing its eyes as if perversely satisfied by the work of its venom now coursing through her veins, the cobra turned back to Ezra.
Trembling, Ezra tried to move but could not persuade his petrified limbs to cooperate.
“Go, my love!” Leyla rasped. “Go!”
Using his elbows to help pull him down the corridor, he furiously attempted escape. If the half-man, half-machine could grin or show any form of expression, Ezra imagined he was elated beyond measure at the persistence of his pet. The mysterious being advanced, his boots ravishing the ashy remains of pencil-sketched architecture.
“Where is your father, boy?” demanded the figure. “Tell me!”
Ezra could barely breathe as the figure hovered above him. A true vision of the Grim Reaper. The last thing Ezra saw before his vision faded was the cruel twinkle behind the mask of the stranger.
Author Bio:
Since the early age of 6, Kale Lawrence knew she either wanted to be an astronaut or an author. Obviously, the astronaut gig didn’t work out, so instead, Kale turned to fantastic fictional worlds. When Kale is not writing creatively, she works as a Marketing Manager at a pet product company, and pretends she’s an Olympic swimmer at the gym. She has also served as a board member for the South Dakota Writes organization.
In addition to books, Kale has lent her writing prowess to television, and her writing has been featured on nationwide PBS television programming, NBC newscasts, ABC newscasts, and the Travel Channel.
Kale currently lives in Sioux Falls, South Dakota with her feisty tortoiseshell calico cat, Emma Bug and sassy Siamese, Seattle Bean.
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December 6, 2021
BOOK BLITZ: Heart of Gold by Quinn Coleridge #GIVEAWAY
Heart Of Gold
Quinn Coleridge
Publication date: November 19th 2021
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Workaholic attorney Simon Phillips negotiates multi-million dollar deals in the tech world, but he’s secretly falling apart. With an ulcer, insomnia, and a growing dependence on alcohol, Simon conceals his dark side from the other partners at his firm, until the day he wakes up on a bathroom floor in his good Tom Ford suit, smelling of Jose Cuervo. Simon barely remembers his intoxicated rant from the night before, but it lands him with a forced leave of absence and two months of community service.
After choosing to perform his service at an obscure nonprofit medical clinic, Simon meets Dr. Kate Spencer. A dedicated physician and widow at twenty-eight, Kate knows how painful love can be, and she doesn’t trust workaholic lawyers. Especially ones with cool blue eyes and a history of breaking hearts.
Yet a rocky friendship develops between these two world-weary souls, and when dangers from Kate’s past emerge, somehow Simon is the one standing at her side.
Can love help them heal? Or will they miss their chance at happiness?
—
EXCERPT:
Life was good twenty-four hours ago.
Was being the key word. Past tense.
Simon Phillips knew this in his gut. Just as he knew everything since then had gone to hell somehow.
Where am I? What happened? His muscles felt stiff where they rested on a hard, cold surface of some kind. Blinking rapidly, Simon opened his eyes against the blinding light overhead and inhaled a cinnamon sugar scent, thinking suddenly of the snickerdoodle cookies his grandmother had baked years ago. He detected something else as well.
Is that tequila?
The floor gleamed white beneath him. Simon recognized the Carrara marble and realized with sudden horror that he was in the executive bathroom at his law firm. While his brain urgently told him to move, his motor skills struggled to obey. The room spun when Simon finally pulled himself to his knees. He exhaled slowly and noticed the snickerdoodle-impersonating air freshener attached to the wall. More surprising still, the essence of Jose Cuervo clung to him like cheap cologne.
Leaning his head against a nearby sink, Simon tried to remember. What’s with the booze? And why am I on the floor in my Tom Ford suit?
Then, through the mental fog, the memories came flooding back in gruesome Technicolor. It can’t be true.
Except that it was.
“Shoot me now,” Simon muttered. “I’m as good as dead anyway.”
Leonard Cronin walked through the door at that moment. “Would that I could oblige you but there are laws against that type of thing.”
Author Bio:
Quinn Coleridge grew up in the Pacific Northwest where she learned to love rain storms and reading by a crackling fire. She wrote often in a variety of genres, studied literature as an adult, and created a humor column for a small town paper. Since moving to the desert with her husband and kids, Quinn doesn't use her fireplace much these days, but she still loves books.
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December 5, 2021
BOOK BLITZ: El Diablo by Marteeka Karland #GIVEAWAY
El Diablo
Marteeka Karland
(Black Reign MC, #5)
Publication date: December 3rd 2021
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
I wasn’t expecting a man like El Diablo. Good thing I’m able shake his legendary control.
Jezebel – Life in a gilded cage isn’t all it’s cracked up to be – especially if the whole purpose of the cage is to keep me a virgin till I’m ready to be sacrificed to the man of my father’s choosing. I want out, and don’t think I haven’t tried. It’s not that easy with daddy’s Brotherhood guards all over the place. But that doesn’t mean I want to trade one cage for another. And, let’s face it, I have no idea how to live on my own. I’ve never had the chance. Now I’m not sure I want to learn, because my new jailer – err, rescuer — is the sexiest man I’ve ever known. El Diablo’s not the monster everyone’s made him out to be. But can I tame the beast of a man without losing my heart? All I want for Christmas is a chance to find out…El Diablo — I went hunting for a victim. Instead, I found a Christmas Angel. She’s the daughter of my enemy, used as a pawn in a deadly game of chess. All I really wanted was the Brotherhood out of Palm Beach. Instead I found an innocent who brings out a side of me I’d thought long buried and gone. But Jezebel’s younger than my own daughter, and just as much trouble. And I’m El Diablo — a title I earned heart and soul. I’m so not what she needs. And now she’s under my protection in the Black Reign compound. She should be completely off limits. I won’t let the Brotherhood take her back and force her to give up her dreams. But who’s going to protect her from me?
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—
EXCERPT:
“Get up, come on, get down with the sickness!” I screamed out the song from Disturbed as the video played on the huge TV covering one wall. I had ground beef browning with onion and had just put in peppers, garlic, mushrooms, and tomatoes. It wouldn’t be long before it was time for the cheese and noodles. I rubbed my hands together. This was gonna be so good!
I stirred the egg noodles, testing their tenderness. Yeah. It was close. I cut up the Velveeta cheese into small blocks, then poured in the tomatoes. After mixing it, I dropped in the cheese a few blocks at a time and stirred until melted, all the while belting out song after song. Disturbed. Five Finger Death Punch. Alice Cooper. AC/DC. Rammstein. Yeah, I liked it hard and loud.
I’d just stirred in the noodles when a movement near the door caught my eye. A man. Correction, a huge man was shutting the door behind him, his eyes on me, but wincing as if the sound was a bit too much for him. Which, likely, it was. I hadn’t met this guy before, but I was used to Malcolm sending in men to intimidate or scare me. Sometimes he sent them to get to know me, to try to cajole me into toeing the line. Especially when I was being particularly difficult. I hadn’t been, though. Not for a couple of months. I’d had my fill of the outside the last time I’d snuck out. I suspect Malcolm knew I was capable of bypassing his security and sneaking out and had simply set up a bad situation for me to fall into.
Instead of muting the TV, I smirked at the big bastard and turned it up even louder. He merely shook his head, then motioned at the remote. Obviously either wanting it or wanting me to mute it. Instead of complying, I shoved it down the garbage disposal and flipped a switch on the wall, turning it on.
The big guy ground his teeth, pulled a gun from his back, and shot the TV.
“Well,” he said, shaking his head slightly as if to clear it. “I guess I won that round.” He gave me a shark-like smile. “My name’s El Diablo. I’d say I was a friend of your father’s but that would be… oversimplifying things, shall we say.”
Author Bio:
Romance author by night, emergency room tech/clerk by day, Marteeka Karland works really hard to drive everyone in her life completely and totally nuts. She has been creating stories from her warped imagination since she was in the third grade. Her love of writing blossomed throughout her teenage years until it developed into the totally unorthodox and irreverent style her English teachers tried so hard to rid her of. Now, she breathes life into faeries, space hunters, werewolves, vampires, shapeshifters, and a few just plane ole ordinary people. She loves to see the awkward, self-conscious band geek get the captain of the football team and make him beg for it.
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December 4, 2021
BOOK BLITZ: Yellowstone Wolf by Jaylee Austin #GIVEAWAY
Yellowstone Wolf
Jaylee Austin
Publication date: December 2nd 2021
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Her assignment leads her into the wilderness—right back to the man who stole her heart.
Leslie Starr thought she’d left her past behind when she’d joined the Shifter Federal Bureau of Investigation. Unfortunately, the series of violent crimes she’s investigating in Wyoming appear to target her best friend Grace, head of the SFBI… and the sister of her ex-fiancé, Roger.
Leslie’s never fit in with Roger’s wolf pack. She doesn’t do sweet, subservient, or small-town living. The fact that she still burns for Roger doesn’t help, especially now that he’s the alpha of his group and needs to claim a mate…
Roger Diego’s ranch near Jackson Hole is a safe haven for the Yellowstone Pack, and as their alpha, he’s expected to put their needs before his own—even when it means breaking his engagement to the woman he loves and embracing the life of a shifter over his human side.
When a dangerous criminal targets shifters in his area, Roger will do whatever he can to help catch them, including working with his captivating ex, Leslie. Roger knows Leslie is his mate and longs for her to submit to him, but he doubts she’d ever let any man claim her.
With his sister’s life on the line, they have to close this case—before their forbidden desires put the entire pack in danger.
—
EXCERPT:
A body lay on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue hidden among flawless pruned shrubs.
Another victim.
I snaked both arms around my waist, trying to ward off the eerie darkness slithering along my spine. This woman had the same stoic look as the last two. Something about these dead women reminded me of Grace.
Across the street protest marchers carried signs saying “SHIFTER LIVES MATTER.” If the police didn’t catch the killer soon, they’d have a riot on their hands.
The blue lights of DC’s finest officers created a shield around the victim. I stood on the corner waiting to be allowed to enter the crime scene. I flashed my Paranormal Federal Bureau of Investigations badge. The officer waved me in. I ducked under the yellow police tape. “I’m here to see the police chief.”
The officer pointed me in his direction.
“Third girl this month.” Larry bounced on the balls of his feet and continued to investigate the body.
The deceased woman’s blonde-streaked black hair lay strewn down her breast. Her lips painted blue. Perfect chiseled cheek bones and almond shaped eyes. Her ankles bound with silver coiled rope and a warlock destiny symbol carved across her flat stomach.
I might not have been a forensic detective, but obviously someone wanted to send a strong message. I pushed my glasses to the top of my head squinting. “Thanks for the text.”
“I could use your knowledge of warlock magic.”
“What about the reporters standing behind the tape?”
“We’re trying to keep the press away, especially since every one of these women resemble Grace Isaeva.”
Grace was my best friend, but most important she was the former President of the United States. After she passed the civil rights legislation, gaining the shifter population equal rights, she’d taken leadership of the PFBI. I drew in a breath to take in the fact just over a year ago I’d broken the biggest news story of my career only to find myself under scrutiny by the shifter organization I was trying to help. The hurt still lingered in my heart, so I resigned from CNN as a news reporter. Grace offered me a job overseeing the magical other worlds that co-existed with the humans. At least I was able to put my knowledge of modern witchcraft to good use. “Do you think our perp is killing these women for revenge?”
“The thought has crossed my mind.”
Larry jotted notes in his phone. He stopped at the victim’s feet.
“What can you tell me about the symbols?”
I walked around the body and knelt at her side to get a better look of the painted images on her stomach.
“Human or shifter?” If she was human instead of another shifter then there was a chance our killer wasn’t targeting the clans.
“Wolf.” An officer who worked street patrol gave us her name.
“Which pack?”
“Local girl. She’s part of the Smith pack outside town. Her pack’s pretty riled up and demanding the department turn the investigation over to the shifter authorities.”
Author Bio:
On any weekend you can find me surrounded by faeries, dragons, and angel figurines inspiring me with creative ideas. I live in Apple Valley, California and during the day I teach Language Arts. I inspire other young writers to reach for the stars and trust that they have a story to tell. Since childhood creating stories has always been a favorite hobby of mine. As an adult I'm grateful to write and share my thoughts with others. Happy reading and may the magic of life fill you with dreams of hope. Visit my website, instagram page, and pinterest to see update images of Tilly, my pug and I go on supernatural adventures.
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