Sandra Harris's Blog, page 8

A Chuckle for Friday

Don’t question God as he may say, “If you are so eager for answers, then please come up.” – Anonymous

Food for thought.

Sandy

Thursday Threads with C.T. Green

This week’s thread belongs to C.T. Green, my Critique Partner and very talented writer. You might consider me biased—and maybe I am—though I truly admire and love her work.

This week she’s sharing with us blurbs and excerpts from Volume 1 of The S.E.R.A. Files, a collection of scorching, paranormal, short story romances featuring the men and women of the Supernatural Entity Recovery Agency.

#1 RECOVERING GABRIEL 

Angels are trouble. But a Fairy Godmother is The Law.

Callie Burns works for SERA, the Supernatural Entity Recovery Agency, aka the Scary Fairies. As a Fairy Godmother, it’s Callie’s job to grant wishes and deport supernatural creatures back to their plane of existence. Now she’s got an angel in her sights… Gabriel’s a gorgeous, sexy distraction to Callie doing her duty.  But she has a reputation to maintain and no smoking hot angel is going to mess that up. Gabriel is determined he’s not going anywhere and he’ll try everything he can to convince Callie he belongs on Earth. But she’s equally determined to get the job done before the angel kills everything in sight – even if that means fulfilling Gabriel’s deepest fantasy.

Excerpt:

Callie

…Time to do her job and get this guy home where he belonged. In fact, that’s what Callie’s work entailed. Helping Gabriel get back to Heaven. Literally. The last thing anyone needed were fallen angels tromping about on Earth, causing havoc in women’s underwear…

Gabriel

He’d been wracking his brains for six months while waiting for her to approach him. Every time he thought she was about to pin him down, she’d shy away. It’d gotten to the point he’d nearly blown his cool, stormed right up to her, and announced his plans.

Today she’d caught him by surprise, cornering him in the alley, all sass and starch, taking the big, bad angel down. So damn sexy.

#2 HANDLING MERCURY

Vampires go for the throat. But a Fairy Godmother aims lower…

Elizabeth and Mercury both work for SERA, the Supernatural Entity Recovery Agency. Despite the fact Elizabeth’s a Fairy Godmother and Mercury’s a vampire, they make a deadly duo when it comes to deporting supernatural beings. But Mercury and Elizabeth’s perfect partnership changes the night a wish is granted.

Now Elizabeth can’t think of Mercury without remembering how sexy the vampire is under his cool demeanour and designer clothes. And Mercury can’t forget the taste of Elizabeth’s blood nor the desire to have her in every other way as well. Can their partnership survive and will they find a way to grant their very own wishes?

Excerpt:

Elizabeth

 “Enough is enough, vampire.” Elizabeth glared up at him, but he just stared back with those deep silver eyes of his glimmering from between thick black lashes.

“I’m sick of your overweening desire to be a hero all the time.” She gave him the hairy eyeball for a moment longer, but Mercury remained silent. And apparently unrepentant.

Mercury

…Mercury backed away, snatching up his clothes. He didn’t even bother to throw them on before he bolted into the darkness and away from his partner.

Because he knew that one taste of Elizabeth hadn’t been enough to satisfy him. It was never going to be enough.

#3 FINDING NAVARRE      

A lone wolf is about to find out old dogs can learn new tricks.

Navarre is a werewolf and the Director of SERA. It’s his job to oversee the agents who deport supernatural beings from Earth. He loves his work and his vaunted reputation for remaining calm under pressure. But all that is about to change. Tor is also a werewolf and SERA’s newest agent. He’s out to catch not only the bad guy, but his elusive boss as well. It’s love at first sight for Tor, but Navarre doesn’t seem willing to take another chance on a relationship. When a mission goes bad and suddenly it’s Tor’s life on the line, Navarre must overcome his fears if he’s going to experience true love before it’s too late.

Excerpt:

Tor

Tor Whitfield stood in the shadowed alley, upwind of the Thai restaurant and the wolf having dinner al fresco. Alone.

He rubbed his shoulder where Navarre’s bite still tingled. Oh yeah, he’d gotten his wish all right. Just like Absinthe had promised…

Navarre

“There’s nothing wrong with you. I simply don’t feel the need to stare at you constantly.” Navarre chose to meet the dark eyes instead of gawking at the snug T-shirt and jeans outlining far too much tempting acreage.

Dieu, may I not get struck down for that blatant lie.

#4 TASTING ABSINTHE

Two’s company, will three prove too much of a crowd?

Absinthe is a Fairy Godmother with SERA and Bryce is her irresistible partner. Absinthe is all about getting to know Bryce away from the job, but he comes with one big problem. His best friend Grey is a werewolf and Absinthe does not do wolves. Bryce is in love with Absinthe. Problem is, he’s also in love with Grey. It will take something extraordinary to bring Grey and Absinthe together. Tracking a cold-blooded killer may just be the start of a beautiful romance. Will Bryce’s stubborn wolf and prejudiced fairy overcome their differences enough to not only stay alive, but also form a bond strong enough to last a lifetime?

 Excerpt:

Absinthe

Absinthe sucked on an ice cube and ignored the squiggly feeling in her stomach. It reminded her an awful lot of jealousy and she simply didn’t care what Bryce did. Not one bit. There was no room in her life for a big, gorgeous, muscular, pain in the ass.

Bryce

“So beautiful.” Unable to resist the soft pink fullness of her lips, he leant over intending to sample them. Just once.

The gun muzzle against his head came as a bit of a surprise. “Okay, I’m going to sit up now. Would really appreciate it if you didn’t blow my brains out.”

“Believe me, I doubt anyone would notice.”

#5 CHASING SIN

A good SERA agent knows there’s only one Sin that matters.

As an agent and ‘evaluator’ for SERA, Jane is sent in to re-educate their only male Fairy Godmother before he does something even the Scary Fairies can’t ignore.

Sin’s sick of being the brunt of jokes and the latest pin-up after a nude picture scandal. He’s also indecently fascinated with his new ‘minder’, Jane. When a wish shows Sin a very different side to Jane, he’s desperate to find out more. On the hunt for a supernatural with a dangerous new toy and evil plans, Jane and Sin find out how well they work as a team. But can he get the prim and proper agent to loosen up enough to love a naughty fairy while she tries her very best to reform Sin?

Excerpt:

Sin

Those sky-high heels are not sexy. Especially when one’s tapping like a bloody drum.

Sin ground his teeth and ignored Miss Jane Pilkins, his SERA evaluator. He focussed on the grinning demon in front of him instead…

Who was he kidding? The heels were damn hot. So were those cute glasses Miss Pilkins kept peering at him so disapprovingly over.

Jane

It was just her imagination that she was the focus of all eyes because she was doing an illicit printout of a naked SERA agent. Well, Sin had been mostly naked.

I hope you enjoyed those snippets. The second volume of C.T.’s collection of short stories from The S.E.R.A. Files will be released on the 19th of this month.

Find C.T. Green at the following places:

Website: http://www.ctgreen-author.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/C.T.GreenAuthor

Google +: https://plus.google.com/+Ctgreen-author/posts

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CTGreenAuthor

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/C.T.-Green/e/B009F86386

Thursday Threads with RB Austin

Well Thursday turned into Saturday thanks to an internet hiccup. This week RB Austin shares with us her sizzling paranormal romance, Fallen Redemption.

The Blurb:

Killing Fallen to save mankind is Cade’s redemption for murder and only one human—mouthwatering and absolutely forbidden—stands in his way. 

Cade committed himself to saving lives before he learned the full consequences of his life-altering decision. It wasn’t until he was tending his sick wife that he learned the enormity of what he’d done and he was unable to save her from the monster he had become. Consumed with guilt and praying for absolution, he threw himself into killing every Fallen he could find to save the humans he’d sworn to protect. But then Emma, deliciously mortal and completely forbidden, swept into his world, stirring an overpowering desire. Now he’s not only fighting soulless creatures, but also his inner cravings, trying to maintain his distance and continue on his path to forgiveness. He won’t lose control again and lose another love.

The Excerpt:

The cut was small and not deep, it would stop bleeding in a matter of minutes.

Blood seeped from the wound. It trickled down Sarah’s wrist and pooled in her upturned hand.

He froze.

Changes overcame his body. Uncontrollable. Unknown.

Breath quickened. Heart pounded as loud as a horse’s gallop. Sarah hadn’t awakened. The pain from her cut was insubstantial compared to the pain of her sickness.

The thick, crimson liquid flowing from the wound was anything but insubstantial to Caderyn. Still unable to move, his eyes hadn’t wavered from the blood. The tray left his hands and clattered to the ground. His knees buckled and he sank to the floor, bringing himself an inch from the cut. The scent of blood filled his nostrils. Consumed all thought. Sight. He wanted to close his eyes and savor the reverent aroma filling his senses. Something awakened inside of him.

Foreign.

Monstrous.

Wrong.

He was hungry, yet didn’t want food. Thirsty, but didn’t want to reach for a cup of water. Another drop of blood welled from the cut. A growl tore from his throat.

It was the switch and it had been thrown.

One moment he was himself. The monster inside separate. Next the wall between the two vanished. He was the Behnshma. His humanity gone. Another growl. It echoed around the house. Filled his ears.

He was ravenous. The fact he hadn’t eaten in a little over a week ached his empty belly and burned his dry, parched throat. There were two pricks of pain in his top gum. Finger in his mouth, he found two long, sharp as knives, teeth. Like Elias. Like the wolves in the forest when they tore into a deer carcass. Their muzzles bloody, meat dangling from their mouths. Blood.

He knew what he wanted to do, what his body demanded he do. Caderyn licked his lips and his tongue nicked an elongated tooth. His own blood melted decadently over his tongue. A flood of senses erupted. Never had he tasted anything this wonderful. His mouth zinged with flavor. The blood coated his throat. He’d been dying of thirst his whole life but hadn’t known it. Warmth spread through his body.

His hands shook as he brought them to Sarah’s arm. Grasping her wrist and forearm he leaned toward the blood. Inch by inch. He was a magnet and her arm was the polar opposite.

Her inaudible yelp of fright permeated through the rushing noise in his ears. He tore his eyes away and met her wide-eyed startled ones.

Stop.

Fear was an acrid, burning stench in his nostrils. Her thoughts a chaotic jumble weaving through his mind. She tried to move her lethargic limbs. Tried to escape. To break free.

He flexed his hands, squeezing her arm as his gaze trailed from the vein in her neck to the one in her wrist right below the cut. The blood slowed and the edges of the wound begun to dry. The tangy, copper scent of the fresh liquid underneath her skin reached his nose. Caderyn listened to it pass through her veins. Faster and faster.

Ignoring his wife’s futile attempts to escape, he leaned closer and inhaled. A growl erupted from his throat. He bent. Licked the wound. Groaned. His cock hardened.

Sarah, panicked now, tried to yank her arm free. It was the most she’d moved in days. Growling, like a dog with his bone, he held down her upper arm and her squirming hand. Pushed it back until her forearm bowed, and the cut extended to him like a present.

Caderyn. Please. I beg you.

He was hurting her arm. Scaring her. She was begging.

Flicking his tongue over her wrist, he caught another drop of the thick liquid gold. Then another and another. It wasn’t enough. He bared his teeth, striking fast to sink them deep into her wrist. She gave a weak jerk. Caderyn drew her blood into his mouth with long pulls. His cock jerked and warmth spread inside his breeches. There was no stopping. Her struggles to escape were an annoying insect buzzing around the room. The pleas to stop were shouts in his head. Both were easy to ignore. Sarah ceased to struggle.

He was killing her.

He couldn’t stop.

And didn’t stop until she was dead

 

Links:

Website: http://rbaustin.com

Facebook: https://facebook.com/authorrbaustin

Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorrbaustin

Goodreads: https://goodreads.com/rbaustin

To buy: http://amzn.com/B00E49OQ12

A Chuckle for Friday

I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the ordeal of meeting me is another matter. – Winston Churchill

Well I hope the matter has been settled to the satisfaction of all.

Sandy

A Chuckle for Friday

Women will forgive anything. Otherwise the race would have died out long ago. – Robert A. Heinlein

Not only was Mr Heinlein a great science fiction writer, it seems he was also something of a pragmatist.

Sandy

Thursday Threads with Jessica Jefferson

This week’s Threader is Jessica Jefferson with her sensual historical romance, Compromising Miss Tisdale.

The Blurb:

Ambrosia Tisdale is the very picture of propriety and the epitome of what a respectable young lady should be.  Haunted by a memory and compelled by her family, she pursues perfection to a fault.

The Earl of Bristol, Duncan Maddox, has returned to London after years of familial imposed exile.  As the second son, he has led a life filled with frivolity, leisure, and a healthy dose of debauchery.  Now his older brother has died, leaving the family’s flailing legacy in Duncan’s unwilling arms.

At the behest of his uncle, Duncan is advised to do the one thing that could provide instant fortune and respectability—he must marry.  But there is only one prospect who meets the unique requirements to solve all the Earl’s problems—the lovely Miss Ambrosia Tisdale.  But securing the prudent daughter of a Viscount’s hand proves to be more challenging than this scandal-ridden second son of an Earl has bargained for.

With scandal, extortion, treachery, and even love itself threatening to keep him from his goal, will Duncan succeed or find himself compromised by Miss Tisdale?

The Excerpt:

She had stumbled upon the library.  A fire in the hearth threw a faint glow over leather lined volumes that filled floor to ceiling book shelves.   Lavishly upholstered plush arm chairs sat upon Aubusson rugs scattered throughout the room.  A settee was positioned across from a giant stone faced fireplace where a shirtless man sat warming his hands.

Shirtless man?

Ambrosia blinked.

 Certainly, her eyes were playing tricks on her.

Then the shirtless man turned his head, his eyes meeting hers.

It wasn’t a hallucination-he was real.   She hadn’t been expecting to find a partially dressed man, and he obviously wasn’t expecting to be found.   It was but a moment before the man’s expression began to soften and a wicked smile slowly crept across his lips.

 A smile that stole the breath right from out of her.

 Every gently bred fiber in her body screamed to turn around and run straight out the door.  Hundreds of years of proper English rearing had produced a base instinct to flee when in the presence of an unknown male (especially one with so little clothing).  But then he stood up, cautiously, the way one does as if not to startle a deer.  Standing, he was clad in nothing but buckskin breeches, the dim light from the flames playing over the sculpted muscles and sinew of his shoulders and chest.

Breeding be damned, her feet simply refused to budge.

Author Bio and Links:

Jessica Jefferson makes her home in northern Indiana, or as she likes to think of it – almost Chicago. Jess is heavily inspired by classic sweeping, historical romance novels, but aims to take those key emotional elements and inject a fresh blend of quick dialogue and comedy.  She invites you to visit her at jessicajefferson.com and read more of her random romance musings.

Fall in love with romance again . . .

http://www.jessicajefferson.com

Like me at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jessica-Jefferson/

Follow me at https://twitter.com/authorJessicaJ/

Add to your Goodreads shelf at http://tinyurl.com/mfnbyk8/

Compromising Miss Tisdale available now on Amazon!  Taming Miss Tisdale coming Spring 2014 from Soul Mate Publishing!

A Chuckle for Friday

Don’t you find if funny that after Monday (M) and Tuesday (T), the rest of the week says WTF? – Unknown

Frequently.

Sandy

Thursday Threads with S.C. Mitchell

This week Thursday Threads introduces S.C. Mitchell, one of the guys in our Soul Mate author group, and his book Son of Thunder.

The Blurb:

The man looked like a god. Then again, he was one .  .  . 

Jord Thorson was a god– the son of Thor, the Norse God of Thunder. In his search to find his missing father, Jord seeks out the mortal, Meghan Larson, who is in possession of his only clue–Megingjörð, Thor’s magical belt of power. 

But when the belt decides to take matters into its own hands, locking itself around Meghan’s waist, Jord and Meghan are plunged into the middle of a massive conflict that rages across the heavens. 

Giants, magical artifacts, and a golden city in the clouds weren’t exactly what Meghan Larson expected when that amazing belt arrived at her museum. Now Megingjörð is stuck around her waist and talking to her in her head. She’s got to be dreaming, but with the wonders around her and hunky Jord Thorson at her side, Meghan’s not sure she wants to wake up.

The Excerpt:

The rainbow ended on a street that appeared to be paved with silver stones. Jord pulled up to the first building, a tall tower of a structure. As he turned off the cycle Meghan jumped from the seat and swatted his shoulder.

“You might have warned me a bit, about what to expect.” Her heart was still racing, but now that her feet appeared to be on solid ground again she felt herself calming down.

“Be honest.” He smiled at her. “Would you have believed me if I’d told you?”

Had anything that had happened to her lately been believable?

“No,” she admitted.

“Jord!” A husky voice called from the doorway of the building. “Welcome home.”

A large man in blue jeans and a black t-shirt with an ornate sword belt strapped around his waist leaned on the doorpost of the tower entrance. He had short blond hair and a very full beard. The sword at his side had to be almost four feet long. He was smiling and waving.

“Heimie.” Jord went to take his outstretched hand. “Any news of my father?”

“None that I’ve heard,” Heimie replied. “Your grandfather has been looking for you though. Maybe he has some news I haven’t heard.”

“There isn’t anything you haven’t heard, Heimie.” He patted the man on the shoulder.

The man then looked a Meghan, raising one of his eyebrows. “And what do we have here?”

Jord turned to her. “Heimie, meet Meghan Larson. Meghan this is Heimdall, guardian of Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge. He’s kind of like the TSA at airports.”

“Welcome, Meghan Larson,” Heimdall said. “Welcome to Asgaard.”

 

Catch your interest? Well you can snap up a copy for  yourself at Amazon.

Or visit S.C. on any of these sites:

Blog          Facebook          Twitter          Amazon Author Page

Sandy

A Chuckle for Friday

Arguing about whether the glass is half full or half empty misses the point, which is this: the bartender cheated you. – Unknown

A  valid point.

Sandy

Thursday Threads with Tina Susedik

This week’s Thursday story weaver is Tina Susedik and her sizzling contemporary mystery, Riding for Love.

Can a man who is afraid of horses learn to ride to re-establish a relationship with an old flame? 

Excerpt:

“Hi, sweetheart,” Rose said, ruffling his hair before going to the refrigerator for a glass of lemonade.

He jumped and slapped a hand to his chest. “Geez, Mom, you scared the daylights out of me.” He set the brochure down and picked up an envelope. “What are you doing home? I thought you were going out with friends tonight.”

Rose sat down on the opposite her son. “I did, but Tom had to get back early and the others had family obligations. Tonight is the last night at the ranch for a youth group from Milwaukee.” She reached over and slid the brochure across the table. “It’s a group of teenagers learning to ride and care for horses to teach them alternative ways to channel anger. Eve developed the program this year.”

“Wow, I’m impressed.”

“You should be,” Rose commented, flipping through the pamphlet filled with photos of the cabins, lodge, barn, and horses on trail rides. “Eve’s worked very hard to make the ranch a success. Every year she comes up with another way to help others relax and have fun. Last year was the first year for winter activities.” She folded the brochure and pressed it smooth. “Have you been out there yet?”

Denton opened the envelope and slipped out a sheet of paper. “No, I’ve been too busy at work. Besides, I don’t think Eve would appreciate me just showing up.”

“Why? She’s so proud of what she’s accomplished.” Rose peered at her son. “You never did tell me what happened when you went to dinner with her. Is she still mad?”

Running a hand over his face, he huffed out a breath. “I guess that would be a good way of putting it, although mad seems too light a word. I explained about Marie, and she seemed to understand what happened, but, after all these years, she’s still angry with me.”

“There could be a good reason.”

“Yeah, like what?”

Rose reached across the table to stop his shredding the sheet of paper he was holding. “Could be she still has feelings for you. Do you still care for her?”

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Just answer your mother, Denton Johansen.”

“I never lost my feelings for her.” He pushed the paper away and tapped his fingers on the table. “She said she never had closure. Well, neither did I. One week, I’m home enjoying time with her and next, I’m married to someone else.” He raked his fingers through his hair again. “Now she’s ignoring me. I’m probably beating my head against the wall. I’ve called, written, sent flowers.”

“Hmm . . .”

Lord, he hated it when his mother got that tone in her voice. She didn’t have to say one word, just utter “hmm” like she knew something he didn’t and he would ultimately pay for it. “Hmm, what?”

“What happened when you went to dinner with Eve?”

“We met, had a drink, talked about old times, etc., etc.”

Rose chuckled. “Oh, I’m sure much more than that happened for you to be this upset.” She held up a hand to stop a reply. “Don’t say you’re concerned about the lawsuit. I’m your mother. You’re a problem solver and taking care of the embezzlement was more than work for you.” Rose rested her chin in her hand and stared at her son. “It’s solving the problem of Eve making you discombobulated.”

Denton pushed the piece of paper toward his mother.

“What’s this?”

He smiled nervously, stood, and paced the length of the kitchen, stove to refrigerator and back again. “Part of a plan to get close to Eve.” He finally settled his backside against the stove, folding his arms over his chest in defiance.

Rose dropped the paper on the table. “Are you crazy? You can’t possibly do this.”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

Rose stood and placed a hand on his cheek. “But this is a little drastic, isn’t it? Are you so keen on getting her back you’d go this far?”

“Mom, I need to find out if what we had as teenagers can be resurrected.” Denton wrapped his arms around his mother and held her close so she wouldn’t notice the tears in his eyes. “I’ve missed Eve for ten years and will do anything to win her back. Anything.”

“But, dear, how are you going to be able to get through two weeks of riding lessons? Aren’t you still afraid of horses?”

He laughed, hoping to ease the trip in his heart at the thought of spending fourteen days on the back of one of those giant creatures. But fourteen days spent in Eve’s company sent his heart tripping faster. “Nope.”

Rose leaned back. She squinted at him.

“Nope, not afraid.” His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, and he refrained from wiping sweat from his upper lip. “More like petrified, horrified, scared stiff.”

“Well, you should be, considering what happened the last time you rode one,” Rose said, leaving Denton’s arms and picking up the confirmation for his stay at the ranch.

“Mom, that was twenty years ago. I need to overcome my fear of horses to spend some time with her, hopefully break through the wall she’s built against me,” Denton replied, trying to convince himself as much as his mother.

Rose shook her head and patted her son on the shoulder. “Well, you have only three weeks to convince that to your shaking hands, my dear boy.”

And you can find Tina here:

Website

Blog

Twitter

Facebook

Goodreads

Pinterest

Or purchase Riding for Love here.

Sandy