B.L. Blair's Blog, page 27

Coming Home by Kimberley O’Malley - $15 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

BLURB:Dr. Elizabeth Abbott Fitzgerald has spent the last ten years of her life running; from tragedy, from family, from love. But now her mother’s failing health calls her home to Windsor Falls, North Carolina; to the place where her past awaits. Sam Bishop can’t believe his eyes when the love of his life returns after ten long years. All he wants is to clear his conscience and get back the family he lost when Connor, his best friend and Elizabeth’s husband died tragically. Could it really be true that time heals all wounds?
EXCERPT:Sam Bishop stood in the hallway just outside of the darkened waiting room wrestling with himself. Shock had ripped through him when Katie called him. Elizabeth was home. After 10 long years, she had finally come back. Sadly, it had taken her mother's life-threatening illness to do so. He had waited for this moment for so long.  But now that it was here, he couldn’t bring himself to open the door. He stood with his hand on the handle, hesitating. His heart pounded. He wanted so badly to see her. To hold her in his arms. Disgusted with himself, he opened the door silently and walked into the waiting area.
Light from the hall dimly illuminated Elizabeth's face where she slept fitfully. Clearly not designed for someone over four feet tall, the couch didn’t look all that comfortable. She lay on her left side with her knees drawn up to fit. Although barely 5'3", Elizabeth was obviously too tall.
Sam stood there for a long moment, watching her sleep. Ten years melted away. Despite a long and difficult day, she was beautiful. If she had been wearing any makeup, it was long gone. Elizabeth had always had the kind of natural beauty that would still be evident when she was an old woman. The kind that was timeless and came from within. But even in sleep she looked troubled. She moved restlessly on the couch. An ache spread in his chest as he took in the dark smudges under her eyes; proof of the responsibility she carried alone. He longed to hold her hand and whisper reassurances to her. But he had given up that right years ago.
Purchase Links:Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Coming-Home-Windsor-Falls-1/dp/1946682004/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491155929&sr=8-1&keywords=kimberley+O%27MalleyBarnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/coming-home-kimberley-omalley/1125887297?ean=2940157243838Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/coming-home-186
Kimberley O’Malley is a recent transplant to Charlotte, North Carolina from the frozen North. She is learning to say y’all but draws the line at sweet tea. Sarcasm is an art form in her world. When not writing, she is a full-time nurse and part-time soccer Mom, but not necessarily in that order. She shares her life with an amazing husband of more than twenty years, two teenagers, and one very sweet Shetland Sheepdog, Molly.
Contact Information:Website: http://www.kimberleymiller.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100012114317732Twitter: @K_OMalley67
Giveaway:

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Win or Lose

 

June Giveaways

To celebrate the release of the third novella in my Lost and Found Pets series, I will be hosting a number of giveaways this month. First up, a Lost Great Dane dog bandana.


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I am also giving away a $25 gift card if you buy (or have already purchased) a copy of the first novella, The Lost Great Dane.

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To see all the giveaways, visit The Lost and Found Pets blog or my website. Good Luck!

Redemption Lake by Susan Clayton-Goldner - Free Book

MysteryDate Published: May 17, 2017Publisher: Tirgearr Publishing
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Tucson, Arizona – Eighteen-year-old Matt Garrison is harboring two terrible secrets: his involvement in the drowning death of his 12-year-old cousin, and a night of drunken sex with his best friend’s mother, Crystal, whom he finds dead the following morning. Guilt forces Matt to act on impulse and hide his involvement with Crystal. 
Detective Winston Radhauser knows Matt is hiding something. But as the investigation progresses, Radhauser’s attention is focused on Matt’s father. Matt’s world closes in when his dad is arrested for Crystal’s murder and Travis breaks off their friendship. Despite his father’s guilty plea, Matt knows his dad is innocent and only trying to protect his son. Devastated and bent on self-destruction, Matt heads for the lake where his cousin died—the only place he believes can truly free him. Are some secrets better left buried?
Redemption Lake is a novel of love and betrayal. It’s about truth and lies, friendship and redemption, about assuming responsibility, and the risks a father and son will take to protect each other. 
Excerpt:For the next hour and a half, he drifted in and out of sleep. Cradled by the night sounds of the desert outside the open window, each time a memory emerged, his thoughts thickened and folded back into sleep. At one point he heard water running for a bath. A little later, he heard a car outside. Oh God, please don’t let it be Travis. He stumbled to the window and opened the curtains. In the street, two long rectangular taillights moved away, turning south onto Oracle Road.Matt leaned against the wall, staring at the sunflower sheets on Crystal’s bed. The same bed he and Travis had jumped up and down on when they were eight. The digital clock read 10:38 p.m. His head throbbed. He needed to close his eyes. Crystal would wake him in time to leave before Travis got home. He fell back onto the bed.When he woke up again, the room was very dark. He wore only his boxers and a white T-shirt his mother had insisted upon—claiming his usual dark one would show through his tuxedo shirt. As if the color of his T-shirt could ruin her perfect wedding. But he’d been ingenious and found another way to ruin things for his mother. He turned toward the empty space beside him. It took a few moments for him to realize where he was. He closed his eyes, shook his aching head to clear it. Crystal was his best friend’s mother. What the hell was he doing in her bed?He thought he heard the sound of the front door open, then close again. Oh God, please don’t let it be Travis. His eyes adjusted to the darkness. One event at a time, he remembered everything.Fully awake now, he shot from the bed, rocking for a few seconds before he achieved balance, then hurried to the window. The moon hung over the mountaintop, its light silver and unforgiving. Crystal’s driveway was empty. Whoever he’d heard, it wasn’t Travis. On the other side of the street, an engine started. This time the taillights were round. Definitely not Crystal’s Escort. The car turned north on Oracle Road.Matt let out the breath he’d been holding and glanced at the digital clock—its red letters told him it was 11:20 p.m. He needed to get dressed and leave. The dance ended in forty minutes and Travis would head home. He grabbed his tuxedo pants and shirt from the chair. His hands shook so hard he could barely work the fly and the button on his trousers. He slipped into his shirt, then sat on the edge of the bed. As if he had the flu, his head throbbed and his stomach felt queasy.He rushed down the hallway toward the bathroom. And when he did, he saw the puddle of blood on the floor beside the bathtub.He hurried across the room, jerked open the pale green shower curtain.Crystal lay naked in a bathtub filled with blood-colored water. Her hair, her beautiful blonde curls, had been chopped off, shorter in some places than others, as if a small child had done it. Some of the curls were floating on top of the water.For a strange moment, everything remained calm and slow. Her head was propped against one of those blow-up pillows attached to the back of the tub with suction cups. The tint of her skin was pale and slightly blue. Crystal’s eyes were open and staring straight ahead—looking at something he couldn’t see. Blood splattered the white tiles that surrounded the tub. It dripped down them like wet paint. One of her hands flopped over the side of the tub. A single thick drop fell from her index finger into the crimson pond congealing on the linoleum floor. It covered her neck and shoulders. Tiny bubbles of frothy blood still oozed from the gash in her neck.
About the Author

Susan Clayton-Goldner was born in New Castle, Delaware and grew up with four brothers along the banks of the Delaware River. She is a graduate of the University of Arizona's Creative Writing Program and has been writing most of her life. Her novels have been finalists for The Hemingway Award, the Heeken Foundation Fellowship, the Writers Foundation and the Publishing On-line Contest. Susan won the National Writers' Association Novel Award twice for her novels and her poetry was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies including Animals as Teachers and Healers, published by Ballantine Books, Our Mothers/Ourselves, by the Greenwood Publishing Group, The Hawaii Pacific Review-Best of a Decade, and New Millennium Writings. A collection of her poems, A Question of Mortality was released in 2014 by Wellstone Press. Her novel, A Bend In The Willow, was published in January 2017. Redemption Lake, the first in a 3-book detective series, will be released May 17, 2017. Prior to writing full time, Susan worked as the Director of Corporate Relations for University Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona. 
Susan shares a life in Grants Pass, Oregon with her husband, Andreas, her fictional characters, and more books than one person could count. In her spare time, Susan likes to make quilts and stained glass windows. She says it is a little bit like writing, telling stories with fabric and glass.
Contact Links
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Memorial Day 2017

The Lost Spaniel - available for preorder

Blurb:The Lost Spaniel is the third novella in the Lost and Found Pets series. Alexandra Prescott opened Lost and Found Pets because she loves animals. Reuniting pet and owner is more than just a job.
When Alex’s mentor, Eddie Hill, calls about his lost Cocker Spaniel, Alex rushes to the rescue. They quickly track the dog to an abandoned construction site, but after bullets start flying, Alex realizes there’s more to this case than a missing dog.
Alex and Eddie have to dig into their pasts to find out who might want to harm them or their pets. The list of suspects grows long as Alex tries to solve the mystery of the lost Spaniel.
Excerpt:My breathing was becoming shallow, and my whole body was shaking. I couldn’t stop moving. It felt like an eternity, but a few moments later, Craig rushed in. He took one look at me and stopped.“Hero’s been shot,” I shouted. I waved my arms, pointing to the German Shepard and then toward the dog in Eddie’s arms. “He’s bleeding. And Daisy is covered in glass.”“Okay,” Craig said calmly, nodding once.“It’s not okay,” I yelled. “Hero’s been shot. Daisy…”“Alex!” Craig said sternly. “Stop.”“He’s been shot,” I whispered desperately.“Alex,” Craig said softly. “Look. Look at Hero. He’s okay.”I looked at the dog on the table. Hero was lying down, but his head was up, and he was panting softly. When he saw me looking at him, he thumped his tail. I looked back at Craig who nodded once. I collapsed into the chair behind me and buried my face in my hands.“I’m Craig Burns.”“Eddie Hill.”“Ah, Mr. Hill,” Craig said. I heard, rather than saw, the smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Alex speaks very highly of you.”“Really?” Eddie asked.“Well, as highly as Alex speaks of anyone.”The two men laughed. I raised my head to glare at them, but neither one was looking at me so I sat back in my chair. Craig glanced at me then. When he saw I was somewhat under control, he smiled.“I’m going to take Hero for an ex-ray and to clean up his wound.” He turned back to Eddie. “Rich will take Daisy and get her cleaned up and check for any injuries.”Rich is Craig’s assistant and was now standing in the doorway. I hadn’t seen him earlier and hoped he hadn’t witnessed my meltdown. He stepped inside and carefully took Daisy from Eddie before disappearing down the hallway.Craig looked at me again. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, but it may take a while as I need to finish with my other patient.”I flushed guiltily. I hadn’t even considered the other people or pets. My only concern had been for Hero. Craig got Hero to follow him from the room. The dog was limping slightly but had no trouble walking.After the door closed behind them, I leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes. Eddie and I sat in silence a moment while I relived the events of the past hour. When I opened my eyes, Eddie was watching me.“Who wants you dead, Eddie?” I asked.
Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071CHYDLH?ref_=pe_2427780_160035660B&N:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1126243635iBooks:https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-lost-spaniel/id1227343820?mt=11Kobo:https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-lost-spanielSmashwords:https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/718642

Saying I Do by Tracey Alverez - Release Day Giveaway

This book blitz is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The book blitz runs from May 19 to May 25. See the tour schedule here.

Saying I Do (Stewart Island #8)
by Tracey Alvarez
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age category: Adult
Release Date: May 19, 2017

Blurb:
Marriage and happily-ever-after are for suckers…

Joe Whelan was fooled once on the way to the altar, and the Irish doctor isn’t about to be an eejit over a woman again. Especially not one who witnessed his broken-hearted humiliation years ago. He won’t be swayed by the sparks that fly whenever his eyes meet MacKenna’s or distracted by her sweet kisses. The only thing Joe cares about is preventing his sister from making the biggest marital mistake of her life.

MacKenna Jones loves a good wedding—so long as she’s sewing the bride’s gown, not walking down the aisle herself. Falling for Joe Whelan’s sexy bedside manner wasn’t on the cards, neither was a seven-day road trip with him to Las Vegas, the Marriage Capital of the World. When the stakes are so high, will these two gun-shy cynics ever say I Do?

Excerpt:
Feet moving of their own accord, Mac stomped over to him. “You can learn a lot about someone in a short amount of time, and I’ve learned this about your sister already—if you push her too hard too fast, she’ll dig in her heels. So back the hell off for a bit. You’re too heavy-handed.”His jaw bunched, and suddenly he wasn’t leaning against the door anymore—she was—with Joe’s big hands still clamped on her arms, which was how he’d twisted her around and pinned her.“Heavy-handed, am I?”Deeper and rougher than his usual silky tone with a hint of Ireland, his accent came out in force. It wasn’t the voice of a doctor with a charming bedside manner, but the voice of a man who could walk through the rougher parts of Dublin with confidence.“Yes.”The word came out high-pitched like a chick’s peep because his grip had loosened on her arms. Both his thumbs stroked over the curve of her biceps, and, dear God—she couldn’t for the life of her stop a delicious shiver from skimming down to her toes.Her breath shuddered out on a gasp. Even though she knew how to break away from a man by inflicting enough pain to ensure he wouldn’t grab her again, Mac couldn’t do anything but curl her toes and stare at the working of Joe’s Adam’s apple.She licked suddenly dry lips. “You, ah, need to use a gentler touch.”“Do I, darlin’?”The mean streets of Dublin had left his voice, and a new tone appeared. One she’d never heard from him. One that a tiny corner of her heart recognized with a skittering jump, conjuring up a fantasy of a stone cottage on a lonely, Irish cliff top, the sea roaring below and a man whispering Irish endearments in her ears.His hands skimmed up her shoulders, and one finger traced the line of her jaw, coming to rest in the cleft of her chin. “That’s how you expect a man to handle you, no doubt. As if you were made of spun glass, and a kiss that was anything but gentle would shatter you.”“A kiss won’t shatter me.” That didn’t make sense, but then nothing did when she could barely hear his words over the pounding bass and the pounding thrum of blood firing through her veins.“Are you sure now? Because I’m not wantin’ to be gentle.”He dipped his head and brushed his lips along the path his finger had taken a moment before. A total contradiction of his words. Mac’s stomach dropped in a giddying free fall, and her hands—which had found their way onto his hips—bunched in the soft wool of his sweater.“Anyone ever tell you you talk too much?” she said.When she’d meant to say, “I need you to kiss me, fool.”Apparently, his diagnostic powers were good because he figured out what she needed, and he cupped one big hand behind her neck, lowering his mouth to hers. Warm, firm lips teased hers, not quite a kiss, more testing for reaction as he drew back a fraction, waiting for her to broach the hairbreadth of distance between them again. And with a ragged inhale, she did, parting her mouth slightly to draw him in deeper. If she was going to kiss Joe, then, dammit, it was going to be a good kiss. A grand kiss.A not gentle, not polite, not going to stop thinking about it for days kiss.
You can find Saying I Do on Goodreads

Listen to the soundtrack for Saying on I Do on Youtube

You can buy Saying I Do here:
- Amazon US
- Amazon UK
- Amazon CA
- Amazon Australia
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- Smashwords



About the Author:
Tracey Alvarez is a USA Today Bestselling Author living in the Coolest Little Capital in the World (a.k.a Wellington, New Zealand). Married to a wonderfully supportive IT guy, she has two teens who would love to be surgically linked to their electronic devices.

Fuelled by copious amounts of coffee, she’s the author of contemporary romantic fiction set predominantly in New Zealand. Small-towns, close communities, and families are a big part of the heart-warming stories she writes. Oh, and hot, down-to-earth heroes—Kiwi men, in other words.

When she’s not writing, thinking about writing, or procrastinating about writing, Tracey can be found with her nose in her e-reader, nibbling on smuggled chocolate bars, or bribing her kids to take over the housework.

Follow Tracey on Twitter as @TraceyAlvrezNZ or Facebook as http://www.facebook.com/TraceyAlvarez...

Her website is http://www.traceyalvarez.com and don't forget to sign up to her newsletter here: http://bit.ly/JR3Asu

You can find and contact Tracey here:
- Website
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Goodreads
- Pinterest
- Google+
- Amazon
- Instagram
- Newsletter

Giveaway
There is a tour wide giveaway for the book blitz of Saying I Do. This giveaway ends May 25th.

One winner will win a prize pack (over $65 value) which includes:
~ Playing For Fun signed paperback (Playing For Fun is Book 6 in the series, and features Mac's cousin Holly)
~ Fun NZ theme tote bag
~ New Zealand Wild Ferns Pure New Zealand Manuka Honey Rejuvenating Face Pack
~ New Zealand Wild Ferns Pure New Zealand Manuka Honey Conditioning Lip Balm
~ Alpine Silk Manuka Honey Hand Cream
~ Alpine Silk Manuka Honey with Propolis Triple Milled Luxury Soap
~ Handcrafted in New Zealand woven Hessian Kete with feathers
~ 4 New Zealand Paua Shell Wine Glass Charms
~ Author magnet (not pictured)
~ Author bookmark (not pictured)


Giveaway rules
* Prizes are not exchangeable for cash or anything else.
* All due care will be made in ensuring the prize arrives at the winner’s address, but the author is unable to refund prize value in any way should it not arrive due to postal disaster.
* Entries close on May 25th and winner will receive a direct e-mail from me shortly after – so please ensure Tracy Alvarez’s e-mail address is added to your safe/contacts list. If the author doesn’t receive a reply from the winner in 48 hours, a new winner will be drawn.

For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below.

To qualify for the bonus 5 entries, you'll need to purchase Saying I Do and answer this question in the space provided in the rafflecopter. The question is: What is the last 4-word sentence at the end of Chapter 13?

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d4 by Sherrie Cronin – Free Books!

Blurb:A clairvoyant young woman finds her visions of the future to be a nuisance, until she discovers that she is hardly unique. An entire group of seers has learned how to profit from their knowledge in ways that Ariel has never considered. Another group is obsessed with using their talents to understand a dark future they cannot ignore.
An alliance with either crowd looks dangerous, given that they both seem a little crazy. There is no possible way to help them both. Worse yet, each group is convinced that Ariel is more than a potential asset; she’s the one thing that they must have in order to fully succeed.
Excerpt:They were ready to part as friends, kindred spirits who had against all odds found each other and experienced a brief moment of understanding. Maybe they’d even try to meet again.Ariel stood, intending to rejoin her group after paying for the coffee. She would have made it out of the door, too, if Siarnaq hadn’t reached out to take her hand as they both stood to leave.Even his brief touch reignited the splatter of visions she had felt earlier, and she worked to steady the dizziness that came with them. While the giddy feeling was largely uncomfortable to Ariel, it seemed to intrigue Siarnaq, and he held on to her hand tightly for several seconds.“May I?” he asked as he ran his other hand gently up her arm. “Please?”It wasn’t like being touched by anyone else. The contact between new skin, and more skin, set off more images, as Ariel felt her own natural frequency start to piggyback onto the wavelength of Siarnaq’s visions. Her day-to-day clarity began to form around his far future events and the more skin contact she made with the man the clearer the melding of their two visions was becoming. He let go of her and took a step away. It stopped.She took a step forward and placed the whole inside of her lower arm against his. The combined visions came back stronger. He gave her a curious smile. People in the small diner were starting to stare at them. This was not the ideal place for a science experiment. Ariel hesitated for only a second.“Let’s go outside,” she muttered. Then, as they gathered coats and walked out into the below zero dusk, she realized that outdoors was not going to be any better. “Would you like to come back to my room?” He nodded. They both knew. At that point, they couldn’t walk away without finding out more.
Purchase LinksAmazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RB67O8WBarnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/d4-sherrie-cronin/1121480771Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/d4iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/nz/book/d4/id977825421?mt=11
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:Sherrie Roth grew up in Western Kansas thinking that there was no place in the universe more fascinating than outer space. After her mother vetoed astronaut as a career ambition, she went on to study journalism and physics in hopes of becoming a science writer.
She published her first science fiction short story long ago, and then waited a lot of tables while she looked for inspiration for the next story. When it finally came, it declared to her that it had to be whole book, nothing less. One night, while digesting this disturbing piece of news, she drank way too many shots of ouzo with her boyfriend. She woke up thirty-one years later demanding to know what was going on.
The boyfriend, who she had apparently long since married, asked her to calm down and explained that in a fit of practicality she had gone back to school and gotten a degree in geophysics and had spent the last 28 years interpreting seismic data in the oil industry. The good news, according to Mr. Cronin, was that she had found it at least mildly entertaining and ridiculously well-paying. The bad news was that the two of them had still managed to spend almost all of the money.
Apparently she was now Mrs. Cronin, and the further good news was that they had produced three wonderful children whom they loved dearly, even though to be honest that is where a lot of the money had gone. Even better news was that Mr. Cronin turned out to be a warm-hearted, encouraging sort who was happy to see her awake and ready to write. "It's about time," were his exact words.
Sherrie Cronin discovered that over the ensuing decades Sally Ride had already managed to become the first woman in space and apparently had done a fine job of it. No one, however, had written the book that had been in Sherrie's head for decades. The only problem was, the book informed her sternly that it had now grown into a six book series. Sherrie decided that she better start writing it before it got any longer. She's been wide awake ever since, and writing away.
Website: https://46ascending.org/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Number46AscendingTwitter: @cinnabar01Blog: https://dtothepowerof4.org/Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5805814.Sherrie_Cronin
Giveaway:
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Snippet from The Lost Macaw

My next book will be the fourth Lost and Found Pets Novella. Here's a little snippet:
Suddenly, the front door flew open. A little, old lady stepped in. Claire and I exchanged a grin. This was one of the highlights of our week.
“Mrs. Kearns,” Claire said happily. “You’re here a little early aren’t you?”
The woman looked worried and upset. She glanced around the room and when her gaze settled on Hero, she nodded once. I stood quickly. There was something wrong. She looked at me, tears gathering in her eyes.
“Molly’s missing!”

Happy Mother's Day