B.L. Blair's Blog, page 34

His Montana Rescue by Vella Munn - Giveaway

BLURB:Former firefighter Echo Rose may have recovered from the injuries that nearly ended her life but the emotional scars still linger. She now devotes herself to protecting wildlife and sheltering her heart until local contractor Rey Bowen reminds Echo that life can offer so much more.
Rey Bowen is not the only one at Lake Serene with secrets and a desire to reboot his seriously derailed life. Meeting Echo reminds him that life can sparkle with joy and laughter and passion, but can he show the cautious Echo how to love again even as he struggles to trust his own heart?
Excerpt:“I’m under pressures you’ll never understand,” he said so softly she had to strain to hear. “Pressure that goes much deeper than being able to bring in roofing trusses.”
Both fascinated by what he hadn't said and determined not to go beneath the surface with the big, distant man, she started back toward her vehicle.
“We all do what we have to,” she said over her shoulder. “Priorities that drive us. I’ll leave a printout with you so you know exactly what you can and can’t do until the restrictions are lifted.”
“Who made up those rules?”
She was tempted to counter that the rules hadn’t been fashioned out of thin air as he seemed to be indicating but that wouldn’t get them anywhere. For as long as Rey and she were at Lake Serene, they’d have to work together. She had no control over how he handled his side of the relationship, but she intended to be as professional as possible.
Professional?
Easier said than done, because he’d joined her and was matching his stride to hers, his arm occasionally brushing hers. Touching her in ways she'd nearly forgotten were possible. Reminding her she was a woman.
She started to put distance between them but was distracted by what might be the chipmunk she’d seen earlier. Its life could depend on what she said today.
“Your employee can’t smoke outside,” she told Rey as they neared the cabin with the cigarette-smoking workman now standing in the doorway.
“That’s one of the regulations.”
He stopped, gave her no choice but to face him. “That goes without saying. I’m not an idiot.”
BUY LINKS: Amazon   Nook   Kobo  
Guest Post – RESEARCH(How much time do you spend on research, how do you conduct research, and what resources do you use?)
There’s no one answer to the question of how much time I spend researching since every book I’ve written has been different. His Montana Rescue is part of the Montana Lakeside contemporary romance series so I was able to use the results of my research for each of the books. Originally, I’d placed the series in the southern Oregon mountains because my family has a summer cabin within an hour’s drive of Crater Lake, but that changed when I signed contracts with Tule Publishing. They’re doing VERY well with a large, far-ranging romance series set in Montana and when the publisher suggested I take advantage of that, I of course agreed. Much as I wanted to go to Montana, it wasn’t possible so I spent hours Googling that amazing stated, particularly the incredible mountains there. (And yes, I have a thing, a big thing for mountains). In addition, my dear friend Catherine Anderson moved to Montana this summer. She’s been generous in sending me pictures and describing what things feel, smell, and look like. I couldn’t get that from the Internet.Setting has always been important to me. I’m a country gal born and raised far from cities. Much of the time, I let my characters explore and embrace the open spaces as I’ve always done. The wilderness isn’t just a place where the action happens and people fall in love. It becomes a character in its own right, impacting my characters in ways they’ll never forget. I’m determined to make that emotional impact as authentic as I can.Setting is only part of what a writer needs to get right. Even more important is creating characters who leap off the pages. I’ve never knowingly patterned a character after someone I know, but I do give my characters backgrounds I can relate to and understand. I mentally put myself in their shoes and look at the world through their eyes. (That’s why I’ve written so much about characters whose relationships with their fathers are flawed or non-existent).I’m fortunate in that two of my writer friends are also psychologists. They’ve been invaluable when it comes to explaining why people act the way they do. For example, right now I’m working on a book with a minor character who deliberately sets fires. What impulses rule a fire starter? Does he concern himself with how his actions impact other people, including his family and those who have lost their homes? Getting that deep into someone who is so screwed up isn’t something I trust to my imagination so I send a questioning email to Lynda or Cindy and they reply with the details I need.In addition to understanding the fire starter, I need to have a good idea what his victims go through. Many years ago our next door neighbor’s house burned down, and he lived with us for several weeks. To this day I vividly remember his numb, shocked expression. I also Googled what shock does to a person, but Bill’s eyes made the greatest impact.
AUTHOR INFORMATION:Vella Munn freely admits to being a dedicated and sometimes demented fiction writer. She has always been drawn to nature and those who feel at home in it. A career writer, she has had way over 60 books published, most of them romances both past and present. As far as personal statistics go, she has one husband, two sons, four grandchildren, and is owned by two rescue dogs. Home is southern Oregon within a two hour drive of Crater Lake. She frequently visits Montana in her mind and heart.
http://www.vella-munn.com/https://www.facebook.com/Vella-Munn-Author-788044174656126/
GIVEAWAYVella will be awarding a several photographs of Montana's wilderness sent via email (international and U.S. giveaway) to a randomly drawn winner.
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Follow the tour for more chances to win: https://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2016/10/vbt-his-montana-rescue-by-vella-munn.html

Merry Christmas

December Giveaways - Week Four

Instead of one giveaway for December, I will be having two or three giveaways each week. Check back every Friday to learn about the next giveaway and enter to win.


Week 4 Giveaway #1 - Notice Me eBook
Andrew Moore has always thought of Victoria as family. She is his best friend’s little sister and his little sister’s best friend, but recently something has changed. Andrew is thinking about Victoria in a completely different way. She will never fit into his quiet, conservative world. They are too different to have a future together, but he cannot stop noticing her.
Victoria Carson has been in love with Andrew since her sixteenth birthday, but Andrew never noticed her as anything other than the girl next door. She fled from her hometown so that she wouldn’t have to watch Andrew build a life with someone else. But things have changed. Andrew is now a widower, and Victoria has returned home. It is time to make him notice her.
Return to Holton, Texas to see if Victoria can get Andrew to notice her. Notice Me is the second book in the Holton Series but may be read as a standalone novel.
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Week 4 Giveaway #2 - $20 Barnes and Noble Gift Card




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Amelia's Hope by Candis Vargo

Blurb“Even though I was decaying, Amelia was growing. It was like some beautiful symphony the way both things were happening at once.”
Sacrificing your life for your child is one of the greatest ways a mother can show her love. For Cara Michaels, that sacrifice was made.
At ten weeks pregnant, Cara was diagnosed with a fast-acting cancer and was faced with the ultimate decision…
That decision, was to forgo life-saving treatment to ensure her child would come into this world unharmed.
Cara shares with us the last months of her life as she prepared to give birth to her child and for her husband, Joel, to parent without her.
But a husband can only handle so much before he breaks…
Grab your tissues because you're in for heartbreak.
PROLOGUEI know what you want, what everyone wants, but I can’t give you that. I can’t give you a story full of roses and sunshine or a happily ever after. I can’t give you the rare miracle that comes at the last minute and makes everything all better. No… but what I can give you is the truth. I can give you every brutal bit of the reality that I lived through. The highs and the lows. I can give you the good times, but with the good comes the bad.
If you think about it, there really is no happily ever after for any of us. There’s a happy for now, sure, but the truth is that in the end there is always someone left with heartache. Someone is left with their world being crushed by the loss of the one they loved the most. The only thing you really can do, is make sure it’s worth it. Make sure all of the memories you’ve made and the time you spent together…make sure the pain of the ending is worth it.
Because, even though love always ends in a tragedy, it’s up to you to make sure it’s a beautiful one.
After I died, I knew my love story was tragically beautiful.
Purchase Links:Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon CA
KoboiBooks

Author InformationGrowing up on an old dirt road in the middle of nowhere, as a child Candis used her love for books as a way to escape reality (and her brother constantly trying to kill her--literally). She blames her love of all things Horror on being born on Friday the 13th and will always find joy in scaring her friends. 
You will find a little piece of her in every book she writes. She loves a good happy ending but isn’t afraid to keep her stories real, even if that means telling the side of a story most people are afraid to tell.
Never caring for the norms or boundaries, Candis has written several genres from Horror to Erotica.
When she's not writing or reading, she can usually be found chasing her children around or binge watching Netflix. She currently lives in Rome, Pennsylvania with her husband and three children.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/candis.vargoTwitter: https://twitter.com/candisvargoPinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/breezywife/Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/5625334.Candis_Vargo

Sunday Quote

December Giveaways - Week 3

Instead of one giveaway for December, I will be having two or three giveaways each week. Check back every Friday to learn about the next giveaway and enter to win.

Week 3 Giveaway #1 - Forgive Me eBook
Growing up, Mitch Carson had always dreamed of leaving Holton, Texas, traveling the world, and writing life altering stories. As an investigative journalist, he made those dreams come true, but he left behind the only woman he ever loved. That was his greatest mistake. Mitch has returned home to see if she can forgive him for leaving her when she needed him the most.
In high school, Emily Fairview had fallen deeply, madly, and completely in love with Mitch. The two of them planned a life together far away from Holton, but when Emily’s family needed her, she chose to stay. Mitch chose to leave. Fifteen years later Mitch is back and wants a second chance, but Emily doesn’t know if she can forgive him.
Return to Holton, Texas one last time to see if Mitch can get Emily to forgive him. Forgive Me is the fourth and final book in the Holton Series but may be read as a standalone novel.
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Week 3 Giveaway #2 - Dead in a Dumpster eBook
When Leah Norwood finds the body of Isabel Meeks in the dumpster behind her store, she can’t believe the police consider her a suspect. Sure, she didn’t liked Isabel, but then again, neither did anyone else. Isabel had a condescending attitude and a bad reputation. As manager of the antique store, Patina, she had made a lot of enemies.
There is Patina’s assistant manager, the handsome and charming Trent. Isabel was blackmailing him. There is Patina’s owner, the aloof and influential Anthony Thorpe.  Isabel was smuggling drugs through his store. And there is the entire drug dealing Cantono family. Isabel had lost a box containing heroin from one of their shipments. That is just to name a few and didn’t even include the stranger who was seen arguing with Isabel just hours before her death.
The police have too many suspects and too many soft alibis. Leah needs to prove to the sexy new chief of police that she had nothing to do with Isabel’s death.
Leah loves a good mystery. Can she find the killer before the police arrest her for murder?

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Week 3 Giveaway #3 - The Lost Savannah eBook

The Lost Savannah is the second 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.

Alex is hired to find a lost Savannah, a rare and expensive cat breed. She quickly discovers the cat isn’t just missing. The cat was stolen. The main suspect is the next door neighbor who is obsessed with Savannahs and the game of golf.
Soon Alex discovers a black market ring in the world of fanatic Savannah cat breeders. She has to dust off her rusty investigative skills to solve the mystery of the lost Savannah.

Note: This book will not be available until 02/23/17. The winner will receive a copy when it is released.

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Final Kill by Leslie McKelvey - $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card

BLURB:The world doesn’t know Cat Beckett, CIA linguist and expert sniper. She does her best to keep her skills secret, but when a SEAL team is ambushed in the remote mountains of Afghanistan she doesn’t hesitate to take out the enemy. After saving the SEALs, the third Spec Ops team to be compromised in as many months, she realizes someone in her unit is giving classified information to the enemy. She suspects that Peter Mitchell, her supervisor and ex-lover, is behind the betrayal, and sets out on a dangerous quest to prove his treason.
Lt. Ryan Heller, US Navy SEAL, is accustomed to facing death. When his team is attacked by Taliban fighters he thinks his last day is upon him, until an unknown sniper saves their lives. The prickly, green-eyed beauty handles a rifle as easily as most women handle a purse, but who is she? And what is she doing in the middle of a war zone? He is intrigued, and attracted, but his instincts and her piercing, tiger-like stare tell him to tread carefully.
Afghanistan’s Bagram Valley is not the ideal place to find love, but these two are trained to make the best of bad situations. Geography alone makes starting a relationship challenging enough, but caught between extremists and an unhinged, obsessed Mitchell makes it downright deadly.
Excerpt:He scanned the hills and saw a flash of movement as Cat said:
“Ten o’clock, gentlemen, 30 meters south-southwest of that huge conifer. See ‘em?”
Ryan adjusted his aim. “Roger that. Grady, you got eyes?”
“Affirmative, Reaper. Locked and loaded.”
“Fire at will,” he said.
He started firing, and a grim smile curved his mouth when he saw a splash of blood on the snow behind the man he’d taken aim at. The target went down, but like roaches, another took his place, and this one had a bigger weapon.
“RPG!” he called out.
The helicopter shuddered and left the ground.
“Got him,” Cat said, in a low, calm voice.
After the boom of the .416 it seemed like forever before the bullet hit home, even though Ryan knew less than a second had passed. He whooped as the extremist with the grenade launcher took aim at the chopper at the same moment his chest blew apart. The body remained standing for a few seconds. Then the weapon fell to the ground and the dead man toppled over.
“Nice,” Ryan said, firing in rapid succession as terrorists continued to stream over the rocks and down the trail like ants on a mission. There were more than a dozen, and probably more than that behind them. “That puts you in double-digits today, doesn’t it? Not bad.”
The .416 roared again. “For a girl?”
“Hey,” Ryan began, “just because the US military thinks a sniper has to have a penis doesn’t mean I do.” He paused, gave her a sidelong glance, and then lied through his teeth. “And I hardly noticed you were a woman.”
About the AUTHOR:Leslie McKelvey has been writing since she learned to write, and her mother still stores boxes of handwritten stories in the attic. When her high school Creative Writing teacher told her she needed to be a novelist, she decided to give it a try. Finally, at the ripe old age of...forty-something...her debut novel, Accidental Affair, was contracted and published by Black Velvet Seductions Publishing. Two follow-up novels, Right Place, Right Time and Her Sister’s Keeper completed the Accidental Encounters series, and Runaway Heart, a standalone book, was released in March of 2016. BVS also published one of Leslie’s short stories in the erotic anthology First Submission, and her fifth novel, Final Kill, will be released in late 2016.
Leslie is a war-veteran who served with the U.S. Navy during the Gulf War, and she was among the first groups of women to work the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. During her five years tour she was stationed at NAS Miramar and spent time on the carriers USS Independence, USS Ranger, USS Lincoln, and the USS Nimitz. The final two years of her enlistment were spent on Guam and her squadron frequently deployed to Japan and the Middle East.
She learned everything she knows about firearms and tactics from her police officer husband, who is a weapons expert, range master, and firearms instructor for one of the most highly-respected law-enforcement agencies in the world. She has three boys who contribute daily to her growing number of gray hairs. Her two oldest sons are United States Marines and the youngest vows to follow suit. She spends her off-time (kidding...WHAT off-time?) reading, taking pictures, and sending lead down range (that's shooting, for those who are unfamiliar). One of her favorite scents is the smell of gunpowder in the morning....
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Leslie-McKelvey/e/B00A86ZSQW/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboardSmashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/LeslieMcKelveyBVSFacebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/lmckelveyauthorTwitter: https://twitter.com/LMcKelveyAuthorBlog: www.amazonred.wordpress.com
Leslie will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner.
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Follow the tour for more chances to win:
http://goddessfishpromotions. blogspot.com/2016/12/book- blast-final-kill-by-leslie- mckelvey.html

Crime and Catnip by T. C. Lotempio - $25 Gift Card Giveaway

BLURB:While catering a gala for the Cruz Museum, Nora Charles agrees to look into the disappearance of director Violet Crenshaw’s niece, a case previously undertaken by her frisky feline friend Nick’s former owner, a private eye whose whereabouts are also currently unknown.
As Nora and her curious cat Nick pull at the string of clues, they begin to unravel a twisted tale of coded messages, theft, false identities, murder, and international espionage. Nora dares to hope that the labyrinth of leads will not only help them locate the missing young woman, but also solve the disappearance of the detective. That’s if Nora can stay alive long enough to find him...
Excerpt:I twisted the knob and the door swung inward, almost hitting another furry shape crouched behind it. The cat that charged at me out of the darkness had a white body and an orange and white face. It’s fluffy white tail waved like a flag signaling surrender. It landed on all four paws and stood, back arched, bright blue eyes glittering.
“Yowl!”
I looked at Nick who’d sat back on his haunches and was calmly regarding the newcomer. “Is this what you wanted me to find, Nick? You wanted me to let this cat out of here?” I made an impatient gesture. “I told you I had things to do.”
I could swear that Nick shook his head. “Meeoow,” he yowled.
The other cat turned around twice, echoed Nick’s cry, and then shot like a guided missile back through the door. I peered cautiously inside. The room beyond was black as midnight, and I had no flashlight – nor did I have the cat’s extraordinary range of night vision. I felt along the wall and found a switch, which I flipped. Illumination revealed a flight of steps leading downward into what was most likely a basement or a storage area. Nick and the other cat were halfway down the stairs. Both paused, turned and looked at me and meowed plaintively.
“I do not have a good feeling about this,” I muttered. I cautiously crept down the stairway, emerging into what appeared to be the museum storeroom, filled to overflowing capacity with boxes, cabinets and trunks of varying sizes. I walked over to one and read the white and red printed label:
PROPERTY OF MEECHAM EXHIBIT
“Oh great,” I muttered. This was obviously the place where the packing was stored for the exhibit articles. The cats were dashing madly around the room – off to a large trunk on the left side, then back to me, around in a circle, and then back to the trunk. The orange and white cat began to mew pitifully as Nick chased a few red threads on the floor. Fighting the tingling feeling inching up my spine, I moved forward and saw a black Mary Jane dangling over the side, partially obscured by a swath of red satin.
With a sinking feeling, I walked all the way around, stopped and bit back a scream.
Daisy Martinelli sat sprawled in the trunk’s center, her neck cocked at a rakish angle, the red scarf tied around it pooled like a puddle of blood in her lap. One finger was caught in the scarf’s frayed edge, almost as if she were pointing. Her sightless eyes stared straight ahead, and a little bit of drool trickled out of the side of her mouth. Her arms were tangled in the folds of a scarlet cape looped carelessly around her shoulders.
I didn’t need to feel her pulse to see that she was quite, quite, dead.
Available on:
Amazon
About the AUTHOR:While Toni Lotempio does not commit – or solve – murders in real life, she has no trouble doing it on paper. Her lifelong love of mysteries began early on when she was introduced to her first Nancy Drew mystery at age 10 – The Secret in the Old Attic. She (and ROCCO, albeit he’s uncredited) pen the Nick and Nora mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime – the first volume, MEOW IF ITS MURDER, debuted Dec. 2, 2014. Followed by #2, CLAWS FOR ALARM. #3, CRIME AND CATNIP, is out this December. She, Rocco and Maxx make their home in Clifton, New Jersey, just twenty minutes from the Big Apple – New York. Catch up with them at www.tclotempio.com and www.catsbooksmorecats.blogspot.com.
BLOG   WEBSITE   AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE   FACEBOOK   TWITTER
Guest Post:OK You’ve written your book – now what do you call it?
You’ve spent hours, days, creating your little masterpiece, your baby, and finally – you’re done! Now comes the hard part – what do you name it?
Sometimes thinking up a title for a book is even harder than the actual writing of the tome itself! How do you come up with the perfect title? Well, I’ve found there are four things to consider:
1. Make it EasyA title that’s easy to remember goes a long way. There are a few ways to make your title memorable: Alliteration is always a good choice (Wind in the Willows, Christmas Carol). Making it short is a good idea also: Gone With the Wind, Little Women, Scarlet Letter. OK, they’re classics but you get the idea.      2. Hold their InterestJust as your characters should be interesting, so should your title! What makes a title interesting? Well, contradictory qualities help. (War and Peace) Also descriptive titles are eye-catching (Farenheit 451 comes to mind)       3. Genre IndicativeSometimes people like titles that clearly indicate the genre. For example, you’d hate to buy a book where the title indicates a romance and find out it’s a Neo-Nazi thriller instead, right? Cozies are a good example of genre indicative titles, particularly where animals are concerned. My own series, which features a detective tuxedo cat, has titles like Meow if it’s Murder and Claws for Alarm. The titles don’t’ always have to refer to the feline characters, though. the Black Cat Bookshop series by Ali Brandon has titles that are more indicative of the location rather than the feline sleuth: Plot Boiler, Words with Fiends, A Novel Way to Die.             4. Make ‘em Laugh!Lastly, what attracts attention more than anything else? A title wth a bit of humor, or perhaps a “punny” one. Many are inspired by popular movies: Dead Witch Walking and For a Few Demons More, by Kim Harrison and Arsenic and Old Books and Twelve Angry Librarians by Miranda James are good examples.
You should research titles in your particular genre to see what the most popular titles are. What do they have in common? Note the ones that seem particularly effective (sales figures help) and try to figure out how you might replicate them in terms of your own book.
Of course, the content of your novel should also be a factor. Sometimes a line taken right out of the book can make a wonderful title. Check your text for memorable phrases or sentences. Is there one line from the book that can sum it up?
Basically, a great title can be a popular expression, a play on words, an association of events – a title can be many things, but what it should be is something that will guide people right toward your book on the s helf!  A title, as long as it fits the story, can be simple. And, as with writing, where choosing a title is concerned, practice makes perfect!
GIVEAWAY:T. C. Lotempio will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner.

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Sunday Quote

December Giveaways - Week Two

Instead of one giveaway for December, I will be having two or three giveaways each week. Check back every Friday to learn about the next giveaway and enter to win.


Week 2 Giveaway #1 - Convince Me eBook

Anna West just wants to start over in a new town far away from her past. The only child of a mixed race couple, Anna learned about the ugly side of human behavior at an early age.  After watching her abusive father mistreat her mother, Anna knows that love is not for her.
Steven Carson has always known what he wanted, and from the moment he saw her, he wanted Anna.  Steven is ready for love.  He is ready to settle down, start a family, and he knows Anna is the one for him.  Now all he has to do is convince her.
Come visit Holton, Texas to see if Steven can convince Anna to take a chance on love. Convince Me is the first book in the Holton Series but may be read as a standalone novel.

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Week 2 Giveaway #2 - The Lost Great Dane eBook
The Lost Great Dane is the first novella in the Lost and Found Pets series. Alexandra Prescott opened the Lost and Found Pets agency because she loves animals. Reuniting pet and owner is more than just a job.
While searching for a lost cat, Alex finds a weak and injured Great Dane. The dog has no collar, no tags, and no microchip. And the only person looking for him is a man who might have murdered his own wife.
Within 24 hours, Alex has a hunted dog, a cryptic message, and a hitman on her tail. She realizes the only way out of this mess is to solve the mystery of the lost Great Dane.

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