Friday 27 February 2015

Book Spotlight & Giveaway: Soundings by Janine Donoho



Is there hope for a grieving mother’s heart?

Ecopsychologist Dr. Margo Updike loses herself in a shadow life after her daughter’s tragic death. When a century storm deposits a young girl on Maggie’s secluded beach in Puget Sound, a miraculous renewal begins. Then the apparent orphan exhibits signs of neglect and worse, prompting Maggie’s vow to protect and heal her—no matter the cost.

The arrival of a mysterious man claiming to be Sorcha’s father upends Maggie’s life. She finds Morrissey strangely irresistible even as her friend Sheriff Ajax Smith questions the man’s motives and odd behavior. As a serial killer’s victims begin surfacing in Seal Cove, Jax must curb his suspicions to enlist Maggie as a profiler.

Will Jax and Maggie find the murderer before he strikes again? With Morrissey’s secrets trapping Maggie on destructive shoals between reality and legend, can she grasp his true nature before losing her chance to rebuild a life worth living? To what depths—and heights—will she go for a daughter, a beloved man and, ultimately, her humanity?

Title: Soundings: Water Elemental
Author: Janine Donoho
Genre: adult paranormal suspense/thriller
Publisher: Booktrope Publishing





Award-winning writer Janine Donoho grew up navigating extremes—perhaps due to the ups-and-downs of her San Franciscan birthplace. That Escher landscape primed her to embrace imaginary worlds. With one foot planted in fuzzy science and the other in invented realms, she inhabits the land of WHAT IF. Published in novel-length and short fiction, along with essays, Janine pursues the thumps that echo in the night—and writes about those, too.

With her intrepid husband, Italian greyhound and tuxedo cat, Janine makes her home in the spectacular Okanogan highlands of Washington State. Mountain lions, coyotes, and bears—oh, my!

WEBSITEFACEBOOKTWITTERGOODREADS

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Monday 16 February 2015

Cover Reveal & Giveaway: Roses are Red... Violet is Dead by Monica Marie Vincent

Roses are Red... Violet is Dead
by Monica Marie Vincent
Crime/Thriller

Book Description:

Violet Sumner has a stalker.

Between her largely dysfunctional family of two and the friends she doesn’t feel particularly close to, Violet thinks he’s the least of her problems. What she fails to understand is that the guy is no prankster and soon people turn up dead or missing. Because of her.

Things change when Violet’s best friend disappears and realization sinks in that the stalker means business. Denial put aside, Violet has no other option but to accept the help of police Sergeant Willard Kelley and his rather sweet protégé, to come to terms with the seriousness of the situation.
Yet nothing could’ve prepared her for her close up with the psycho.

Who will survive in this tale of obsession and misplaced devotion?


Monica-Marie Vincent writes Young Adult novels about troubled teens and even more troubled parents. She currently lives in Sacramento, CA although she would rather be in her home town of San Francisco. Thanks to her very put upon husband Monica-Marie is always well stocked with coffee, Diet Coke, and Cheddar Jalapeno Cheetos, so she wouldn't have to move away from her writerly lair to do mundane things like shopping.

WEBSITE ☆ FACEBOOK ☆ TWITTER ☆ GOODREADS


Friday 13 February 2015

The Long Journey by Car J. Swanson





Long Journey
by Cara J Swanson
Political / Non Fiction
Date Published: March 2014


Join the Seeker Khadija and her Seeker-Partner, the Gen-a-wolf Ula, as they track a thief into the dangerous Highlands that border the White River. They are to take the thief back west, to the prison of Valley City - the last city on the continent and the sole remaining vestige of Western civilization.

Valley City was built by the head of the North American Corporation just before a series of short and brutal wars that marked final global economic and environmental collapse; what is now referred to as The End.
Imagine a world with no electricity...no cell phones...no computers. A world still devastated by the effects of global pollution, of massive climate change, of widespread genetic manipulation, of nuclear war. Imagine a world where we are the ones in the history books.

What will they write about you?

Khadija and Ula live in a world where electricity and technology exist only in stories from the old days, and the leaders of Valley City are said to be descended from the wisest of the Before People. It is a world of Gennys - genetically manipulated creatures - left behind in the aftermath of the third and final War.

Some, like Ula, are from a line bred for  their courage, their strength, their fearlessness in the face of battle, but many were intended for more malignant purposes. It is a world where "muties" are commonplace; a world of lifeless dirt and dead seas. It is a world where humans and their kin barely survived mankind's foolishness, and the very planet is still attempting to recover.

Along their journey, Khadija will discover that everything she's been taught about what caused The End, and what came after, is not the truth. Even the thief, and his crime, are not what they seem to be. Both Khadija and Ula will have to decide where their loyalties lie, and how far they are willing to go to seek true justice in this new and frightening world.

***

About the Author:

Cara J. Swanson was born in Colorado somewhere around thirty-six years ago, and immediately leapt to work on her first story. She did not venture into self-publishing until 2006, however, when she formed Nighthawk/Raven Publishing to publish her first book, Blood Cult: Book I of the Elvestran Chronicles.

She has since published the sequel, Daígu, a companion Dictionary, and is working on the third in the series (The Desert Wanderer) as well as a murder mystery (When Demons Dance) and has recently published a futuristic partially fiction book titled The Long Journey. She has two mottos; “Be careful or you’ll end up in my novel,” and “I wish I was capable of working on one project at a time. But I’m not.” All her books are published under her personal four tenants of walking the Red Road: dedication to family, dedication to community, dedication to social justice, and dedication to ecological health. She is a signatory member of the Green Press Initiative. She can be contacted by emailing raven@thewritingraven.com

Website: www.carajswanson.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cara-J-Swanson/585701858144197#!
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/cara-swanson/85/127/2a0/ http://www.authorgraph.com/authors/NighthawkRavenP

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Cara-J.-Swanson/e/B00389JFYC/

Author Site: www.carajswanson.com



Wednesday 11 February 2015

Book Spotlight Dangerously Forever by A.M. Griffin





Dangerously Forever
by A. M. Griffin
Erotic Romance / Sci-Fi
Date Published: December 26, 2014

Loving Dangerously, Book Five

Being kidnapped by a deadly—and dead sexy—brothel slave wasn’t exactly what Kiehle Xochis signed up for. His instructions had been simple: Watch over the human female until his brother and his mate arrived to rescue her. Instead, the slave has decided to liberate herself. She’s proving to be more than Kiehle can handle—and he kind of likes it.

Allysan Miller has gone through hell since being taken from Earth during an invasion. She’s finally found a way to escape the latest, and worst, of the brothels she’s been sold to. Now if Ally plays her cards right, she could gain both freedom and love…if she can learn to trust the dangerous male she’s chosen as her hostage.

nside Scoop: Ally suffers her share of abuse at the hands of a brothel owner’s guards. But don’t worry. The feisty female warrior gives as good as she gets.

A Romantica® SciFi erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave  

***

Excerpt:

By reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age. If you are under the age of 18, please exit this site.
An Excerpt From: DANGEROUSLY FOREVER
Copyright © A.M. GRIFFIN, 2014
All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.

The nerve of him.

She balled her fist and punched the padded post with all her might. It made a thumping sound but didn’t waiver. Sweat dripped from her scalp and down her face. Her clean clothes were damp and beginning to cling to her body. While the morning sun wasn’t yet high in the sky, without proper shade there was no relief from it.

She made a quick turn and smacked the post with the back of her hand with a grunt. She could hit the thing as hard as she could and didn’t have to worry about it bending or breaking, especially since Kiehle used this very post for training. A bead of sweat rolled down her forehead to her eyelid. Using her shoulder, she wiped the sweat away and peered up at the sky. She couldn’t even guess what time it was. She had no clue how time was tracked on this planet. All she knew was that it was early. Everyone was still sleep—even Kiehle.

At the thought of him, she leaned to the side, brought her leg up and thrust her foot out to kick the post. She’d been hitting and kicking since she’d gotten up. Well, since the sun had come up. She hadn’t slept a wink last night.

All because of him.

While Yoshi and Max had slept soundlessly, she’d tossed and turned. Unable to keep her eyes closed, she’d spent most of the night staring at the ceiling.

She grunted and punched the post again. Her fist made a dull sound as it hit the padding that covered the wood.

She’d done the right thing, shutting the door on him. She smiled to herself, thinking about how his face must’ve looked.

She spun and landed an elbow, pretending it was his face.

That’s what he gets. Assuming I’ll want to fuck him.

She bobbed and weaved, pretending she was avoiding his outstretched hands.

Grabby hands.

Then, with a left uppercut, she hit the post where she assumed his chin would be.

Knockout.

The only reason she’d had sex with him in the first place was to plot her way to freedom. Well, maybe not the first time. The first time she had wanted too. But the second time was definitely to plan her escape.

She brought her hands up to shield her face and bent her knee, bringing it back. Then with a fierce cry, she kicked out, landing the bottom of her foot where she pretended his kneecap was.

I’ll cripple him if he bothers me again.

When she’d finally gotten up this morning, the house had been quiet. She’d peeled Yoshi’s leg from across her stomach and Max’s arm from around her neck. Although the bed could easily sleep six, they’d both stuck to her side as though still in her small bed from the brothel. She’d retrieved her clothes from the washer and tiptoed to his closed door to listen. She thought she’d heard him stir inside but when she listened more, she didn’t hear anything else.

She’d rested her hand on the door, trying to decide if she should push it open and go to him. All that stood between her and the possibility of riding him like a cowgirl was a door.

One that she would not open.

Instead, she’d dressed and left the house, hoping a few laps around the structure would tire her out. That’s when she’d come across what looked like a workout area. Exactly what she needed to get rid of all the pent-up energy that overwhelmed her.

She spun and hit the post with her elbow.

Asshole.

“Do you mind if I join you?”

Startled, she turned to see Kiehle sauntering in her direction. Or prowling in her direction. Whenever he walked toward her, she got the feeling he was stalking his prey.

She took deep breaths. Her chest heaved. “Can I say no?”

“No.”

She flicked her hand in the air. “Then I guess I don’t have a choice.”

He pulled his shirt over his head. His perfectly chiseled chest and arms glistened under the sun. He began to stretch out the muscles in his upper body, over-exaggerating his movements. “Mmm, I need a good stretch.”

Is he moaning?

Her body immediately went soft at the sounds.

He closed his eyes and straightened his arms up to the sky, making his muscles ripple, and moaned again. Her mouth watered as her eyes roamed his chest, his nipples, his stomach and the happy trail of hair that ran from his chest to his waistband.

“That’s it,” he groaned. “My muscles are so tight.”

She tilted her head to the side. His body… I can touch it.

A bead of sweat formed below her nose and rolled over her lips. She licked it away. I would love to lick him.

Wait? What am I doing? Ogling him again. Holy hell.

Flustered at being mesmerized by him, yet again, she turned and focused her attention back on the post and practiced fighting combinations. Not giving in to the temptation to turn and watch him more.

From the corner of her eye, she saw him crouch low to stretch his thighs. The material of his pants stuck to every fine muscular line.

Even outlining his…

She gave her head a light shake. There’s no need to focus on that…that…monstrous thing.

She eyed the post and focused hard. Left, right, cross and duck. Left, right, cross and duck. As he finally walked over to her, she mentally repeated the words, trying to drown out the other voices in her head. The voices that whispered how delicious he looked…that begged her to let him crush her under his weight.

By the time he stood a foot away, the chant sounded more like, Left! Right! Cross! And duck! Left! Right! Cross! And duck!

He moved to her side and assumed a fighting stance, crouching low with his arms out, his smoldering lavender eyes trained on her. His face was framed by thick dark hair that hung a little past his shoulders. Good gracious, he was gorgeous.

She gave him a look of indifference. “We’re sparring?”

“Unless you think I might be too much for you to handle.”

He didn’t know what he was walking into. She’d spent the morning thinking of ways to knock him on his back—and not the way he was probably thinking of now.

She twisted her hair into a knot on the back of her head. He didn’t make a move to do anything with his. Hanging loose, it made him look primal…dangerous…sexy.

Shit.

She narrowed her gaze. He must think that every female around him should swoon like a schoolgirl. He really didn’t need to take off his shirt to advertise his perfect body and that stretching performance had been way over the top. Now his hair was blowing around his face as if he were some kind of alien Fabio.

She looked around. Where the hell is all this wind coming from? “Are you planning to tie back your hair?” she asked, trying her best to sound annoyed—not aroused.

“I had not planned to.” Smiling, he added, “Unless you find it too distracting.”

***

About the Author:

A. M. Griffin is a wife who rarely cooks, mother of three, dog owner (and sometimes dog owned), a daughter, sister, aunt and friend. She’s a hard worker whose two favorite outlets are reading and writing. She enjoys reading everything from mystery novels to historical romances and of course fantasy romance. She is a believer in the unbelievable, open to all possibilities from mermaids in our oceans and seas, angels in the skies and intelligent life forms in distant galaxies.

Where you can find me:

Website: http://www.amgriffinbooks.com/

Subscribe to my Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/A.M.-Griffin/e/B00APK4V4G/

Email: amgriffinbooks@gmail.com

Like me at: www.facebook.com/amgriffinbooks

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Tuesday 10 February 2015

Blog Tour & Giveaway: Fortune's Horizon by Andrea K Stein





Debut author, Andrea K Stein, takes the Historical Romance genre by storm with FORTUNE’S HORIZON.

Fans of Danielle Harmon's Heroes of the Sea series will love FORTUNE'S HORIZON—a humorous, high adventure historical romance from debut author Andrea Stein in which a spoiled American heiress tangles with an arrogant British sea captain on a mission for the Confederacy on the high seas.

Help welcome Andrea K Stein to the wonderful world of romance and celebrate her debut novel, FORTUNE’S HORIZON.  Andrea is doing a month long blog hop to celebrate and she is super excited to share her stories with you.  The blog hop features spotlight posts, reviews, interviews (both of Andrea and of her characters, Lillie and Captain Jack…and maybe others) and guest posts.

A really fun fact that helps set Andrea’s covers apart from all the other gorgeous covers in the historical romance world—her cover model isn’t really a cover model at all.  Andrea wanted to do something different, something special.  So, she asked some local heroes to help her out.  The model for FORTUNE’S HORIZON is an avalanche search and rescue specialist…who also trains search and rescue dogs.  With the help of the brilliant cover designer, Kim Killion, Andrea was able to have her vision realized.

Synopsis: 

She risks everything to deliver gold to the Confederacy.

Lillie Coulbourne marks time in Paris while the Civil War rages back home. While translating dispatches from the Confederacy for the French Finance Ministry, she accepts a spy mission through the Union blockade. When the captain of the only blockade runner headed back to a Southern port won’t deal with women, or spies, she sneaks aboard as his cabin boy.

He refuses to risk his ship, or his heart.

Blockade runner Captain Jack Roberts has never been caught and he’s not about to let a spoiled American heiress ruin his perfect record. After he discovers her deception, he fails miserably at keeping her at arm’s length and vows to send her packing on the first mail ship back to England.

When she surprises him with her skill as a seaman and navigator, he grudgingly allows her to finish the run. But ultimately, he has to choose what is closer to his heart – Lillie or his ship.

Available at: Amazon | Goodreads

***

Excerpt:

The moment he dismounted, she recognized the man. Lillie and Sarah exchanged silent looks of dread. This was the same tall Englishman who had held her in such disdain in Paris at the Devereaux mansion.

Maybe he wouldn’t recognize her, maybe—.

He walked directly to her side, leaned over, and wiped a finger across her mud-spattered chin.

“Ah, so we meet again, Miss Coulbourne.”

Her stomach dropped. Could this be some horrible coincidence? He was a blockade runner captain, he would be sailing back into a Southern port soon. Please, God. Don’t let him be the same captain she would have to serve under.

Even as she sent that little prayer winging, she knew. In a few weeks she would have to work in disguise with this infuriating man. Every time she encountered him, he got another look at her.

As if he could read her thoughts, he took a firm grip on her chin, pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at the worst of the mud coating her face. After wiping as much as he could with the cloth, he moistened his thumb and rubbed away the remaining evidence.

“Not perfect, but it will have to do.”

“My lord —” She started to object to his ministrations and tried to jerk out of his hold.

“Just Jack, please.” He stared at Sarah and directed his questions to her. “Miss Devereaux, perhaps you can explain to me how your hoyden friend managed to get herself into such a state.”

“We were on our way to spend the weekend at Clarendon when we were delayed by this unfortunate accident.” Sarah shifted her gaze between Lillie and Jack. Then she added somewhat lamely, “The rest of our party in the other two carriages did not see the accident, and so, she was just trying to help.”

“Right.” Abruptly releasing her, he turned toward the two drivers. He hitched his horse to the team and then stripped off his riding coat. His vest followed, and then he rolled up his shirtsleeves.

Relieved at no longer being held and cleaned like a small cat, she stepped back to take her place behind the wheel to help push and stared expectantly at him, waiting for his command to lean in.

“What do you think you are doing?” He strode over and pulled her to the side of the road where Sarah stood.

“I’m going to help,” Lillie said. “Do you want to get us out of here or do you want to wait all day for another man to come along?”

“How old are you?” He ignored her question entirely.

“Why should it matter?” Why did he have to tower over her so? With the late afternoon sun slanting behind his head, she couldn’t gauge the expression on his face.

“Can you not answer a simple, civil question?”

“I will be twenty in June, sir. Why would a gentleman ask such a question?”

“I’m trying to determine what sort of imbecile child I’m dealing with …”

***

About Andrea K Stein

Daddy was a trucker, Momma was an artist, and I'm a scribbler. The stories just spilled out—the pony escaped, the window magically shattered. Not my fault.

Twenty years as a journalist couldn't stifle the yarns. Yacht delivery up and down the Caribbean only increased the flow. Now those tales celebrate romance on the high seas.

I am a professional captain living in the Rocky Mountains, just about 15 minutes from the Continental Divide. I spent the last 12 summers teaching sailing on awesome Lake Dillon at 9,017 feet in Summit County, Colorado. I also captained tours for my business, Sails in the Sunset.

Connect at: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

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Giveaway:

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