Friday, February 08, 2019

INTO THE UNKNOWN


How fearless am I? Picture me blushing as I answer, “Not very.” I’ve done a lot of things that took courage, but I was acting with my husband, which made the event far less frightening. However, one thing sticks in my mind that was life-changing.

For several years I worked as the bookkeeper for our county tax assessor. The pay wasn’t great, but it came with good retirement benefits, had a short commute, was in a nice building, and the tax assessor was a friend.

This was in an office with ten other women. Can you say drama! Most of the women were really nice but there were three whose performance and gossip mongering made each day a challenge. l loved my actual job—but the parade of divas in and out of my office sapped my energy. Yet, I had to be accessible and couldn’t just shut the office door. When I arrived home from work each weekday, my mind was mush from dealing with the spectacle at work all day. I dragged into the house too foggy to concentrate on writing. Still, I’m aware many writers succeed under those conditions.

For years I’d wanted to write romances. I’d even started one to which I slowly added pages. That left weekends to write. In addition, I have several annoying health concerns that zapped me frequently. On Saturday mornings, I attended RWA chapter meetings or critique sessions. Sunday morning was church. I believed that if I could stay home, I could succeed. I didn’t tell my husband those feelings. Fortunately, my husband encouraged me to quit my job and write.

I had to deliberate the possibility. Giving up a sure salary for the maybe of a writing career was a difficult decision. What if I failed? What if we needed my income? Ha, I was willing to take that risk. The next morning, I gave my notice. Yes, I gave up my day job and concentrated on writing.
I sent out sample chapters and got rejections while I completed two books. One great day, I got an acceptance letter. Hooray, I was on my way!  Four years from the day I quit my day job, I was published. I had my foot in the door, so to speak, with a traditional publisher. Now I’m indie published, which is so much better for me. In spite of that, I was extremely happy with my first sale.

Stepping into the unknown carries a risk. That’s why I admire the heroine of my new release, GARNET, book 9 of the western historical Widows of Wildcat Ridge Series. Imagine the fearless courage required to become a mail-order bride. Worse, only nine months after her wedding, Garnet Chandler was widowed, left with her niece and nephew in her care and a café to operate alone. I hope you’ll give GARNET a read. 

The universal buy link at Amazon is http://getbook.at/garnetWOWR.






A widow with two children to care for, a bounty hunter that is badly beaten, and the crime that brings them together . . .

Garnet Chandler has lost everything. The only things remaining are her café, custody of her niece and nephew, and what little bit of sanity she has left. After the deaths of her husband and in-laws, she has made it her mission to provide for the children. When the children are kidnapped, Garnet has to find a way to rescue the last ties to her family. What she doesn’t expect is the handsome bounty hunter that comes to her aid.

Bounty hunter Adam Bennett is on his last job. He’s on the trail of a killer who escaped from prison and left a string of bodies in his wake. When he manages to catch up with the man, Adam is beaten and left for dead. Instead of dying, Adam vows to capture the killer and those that have teamed up with him, but he doesn’t count on rescuing two children in the process.

Can Garnet and Adam join forces to capture the killer and rescue the children in time? Will the children be able to stay with Garnet, or will the grandparents take them from her? Can Adam teach Garnet that even though she thinks she doesn’t need a man, having one isn’t all that bad?

Garnet is a sweet historical western romance.



Through a crazy twist of fate, Caroline Clemmons was not born on a Texas ranch. To compensate for this illogical error, she writes about handsome cowboys, feisty ranch women, and scheming villains in a small office her family calls her pink cave. She and her Hero live in North Central Texas cowboy country where they ride herd on their rescued cats and dogs. The books she creates there have made her an Amazon bestselling author and won several awards. Find her on her blog, website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Google+, and Pinterest.
Join her Facebook reader group, Caroline’s Cuties, for advance news, contests, and conversation.
Click on her Amazon Author Page for a complete list of her books and follow her there.
Follow her on BookBub.
Subscribe to Caroline’s newsletter here to receive a FREE novella of HAPPY IS THE BRIDE, a humorous historical wedding disaster that ends happily—but you knew it would, didn’t you?
She loves to hear from readers at caroline@carolineclemmons.com



Tuesday, February 05, 2019

SECRET LADY TOUR AND GIVEAWAY



Secret Lady

by Beth Trissel

Don't miss the Rafflecopter giveaway at the end of this post!

GENRE: New Adult, Time Travel, Romance

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SECRET LADY Blurb:

At Lavender House, Evie McIntyre is haunted by the whispers from her bedroom closet. Before she can make sense of their murmurs, the house "warbles" between times and transports her to the Civil War. Past and present have blended, and Evie wishes she'd paid more attention to history. Especially since former Confederate officer, Jack Ramsey, could use a heads up.

Torn between opposing forces, Jack struggles to defend the valley and people he loves. Meet-ing Evie turns his already tumultuous world upside down. Will solving the mystery of the whispers return her home, and will the handsome scout be by her side?

Against the background of Sheridan's Burning of the Shenandoah Valley, Jack and Evie fight to save their friends and themselves – or is history carved in stone?







SECRET LADY excerpt

“They brought the draft back?” This was it. She had officially lost her mind.

“It never went away. Where have you been, miss? More to the point, who are you?” His gruff demand stirred the hair at her cheek.

She tilted her face at him. Only the barest outline of his strong features was visible, and yet… Man, was he hot. Focus Evie. “I told you. I’m Evie McIntyre. I live here with my grandmother. Didn’t you realize?”

“That so? I don’t suppose you would be a spy in a Mennonite house. Still. Never know. I best get a good look at you.”

“Who would I be spying for?”

“Rebs. Neither side wishes me well. I’m in no man’s land.”

Her heart drummed wildly. “Where does that leave me?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it?” He steadied Evie on her feet.

Was it? She had no idea what was going on and watched dazedly as he took something from the leather pouch hanging over his shoulder. “What’s that?”

“Lucifers.”

He’d lost her again. There must be a powerful resistance movement at work. She didn’t follow
politics. Maybe she should. Had matters come to an explosive head tonight? Why hadn’t her grandmother said something?

He drew what resembled matches from a small metal container and struck one. Sulphurous sparks added pungency to the room. He lit the stubby candle in a tin lantern on an end table. Shadows danced from the pale taper glowing through the punches in the metal. Pretty, how the light made patterns on the ceiling.

Wait. Where had that lantern come from?

The stained-glass lamp Grandma G. treasured was just there before she went to bed. Dear God in heaven. What had happened to the room?


Secret Lady is available in kindle and print at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Lady-Ladies-Time-Book-ebook/dp/B07KNL7K3Z

And in eBook format from all other online publishers.


SECRET LADY Review


Do you believe in soul mates? In SECRET LADY, Evie McIntyre learns to believe. But, a race against time ensues to save her soul mate before Sheridan’s forces begin The Burning that desolated Virginia’s Shenandoah valley in 1864.

My interest was captured by SECRET LADY’s first sentence when the story opened in a Victorian farmhouse on the Lavender and Lace Herb Farm in Virginia’s beautiful Shenandoah Valley. Could any site be more appropriate for a romantic adventure? But, this intriguing setting holds a secret. The house whispers to Evie and the sounds are growing stronger.  Why? What is she supposed to do?

For the farm and house tours with which Evie helps her grandmother, Evie must dress in Victorian-style clothing. As the story opens at the end of the day, Evie would like to change clothes, but that would mean going to her room where mysterious whispers call. She relents but before she can change her clothing, she is transported to September 1864 in the same house, at that time owned by the Mennonite Wenger family.

Before she can get her bearings, she encounters Jack Ramsey, a Confederate officer who has defected to join the Underground Railroad of the North. He helps pacifists and injured escape conscription into the Rebel army. He’s seeking refuge with the Wengers, whose sons he helped. When the sleep of those who live there is disturbed they welcome Jack and ask who Evie is. Grasping for an answer, Jack introduces her as his wife.  

Evie learns her grandmother can travel back and forth in time in the house. She calls the portals “warbles” that open and close. Grandma G. warns that Jack does not survive the Civil War and it’s up to Evie to save him by bringing him forward with her.

Jack has trouble believing Evie genuinely is from the future and not demented. Imagine his surprise when her predictions start coming true. Then begins their adventure, warning those they can and preparing for the onslaught. Jack wants to be a guerilla fighter, striking at small bands of Union soldiers. Evie fears if he does, he’ll be killed.

Can Jack and Evie make a difference in the lives of those who face destruction? What will it take to convince Jack he must leave with Evie?       

I enjoy Beth Trissel’s writing. She is very knowledgeable of her subject since she lives in the Shenandoah Valley and her ancestors have since Colonial times. Her descriptions of the land paint word pictures that bring the reader into the scene.  Anyone who enjoys historical romance or time travel or just good writing will enjoy reading SECRET LADY, Ladies in Time Series. I definitely give this 5 out of 5 stars.

       




Beth Trissel, Author


Married to her high school sweetheart, Beth Trissel lives on a farm in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia surrounded by her human family and furbabies. An avid gardener, her love of herbs and heirloom plants figures into her work. The rich history of Virginia, the Native Americans, and the people who journeyed here from far beyond her borders are at the heart of her inspiration. She's especially drawn to colonial America, the drama of the American Revolution, and the Civil War. And she loves a good ghost story. She writes Young Adult, New Adult, historical, time travel, and paranormal romance, plus nonfiction. Secret Lady (Ladies in Time) was based on events that occurred to her ancestors and her husband’s Mennonite forebears during the Civil War in the Shenandoah Valley.

Secret Lady is available in kindle and print at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Lady-Ladies-Time-Book-ebook/dp/B07KNL7K3Z

And in eBook format from all other online publishers.

For more on Beth visit her blog, One Writer’s Way, at: https://bethtrissel.wordpress.com

Connect with Beth on Facebook: Author Beth Trissel

At Twitter: https://twitter.com/BethTrissel

Visit Beth’s Amazon Author Page where all her books reside: https://www.amazon.com/Beth-Trissel/e/B002BLLAJ6




GIVEAWAY  

Beth Trissel will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, February 04, 2019

THE PRESIDENT'S DAUGHTER -- ROMANTIC SUSPENSE!



Don't miss the Rafflecopter giveaway at the end of this post!


The President's Daughter
by
Seelie Kay

Genre: Romantic Suspense 

Be careful what you
wish for because it just might send your life into a tailspin from
which you may not recover.

When presidential candidate Jamisen Powell meets volunteer Sarah Lee Pearson, he is
shocked to discover her eyes mirror his own. But Sarah was raised by
two loving parents and has no questions about her heritage. Instead,
after their death, she merely longs to find an extended family. She
becomes convinced that Powell could be a distant relative. Powell, on
the other hand, has spent twenty-five long years haunted by the
memory of a daughter kidnapped from her bed. He suspects Sarah could
be his long-lost daughter. As both launch separate covert searches
for the truth, Sarah is found by the estranged parents of the man who
raised her. Suddenly, the truth will no longer set her free. It could
destroy the happy memories of her childhood. Hang on to your seat,
and more importantly, hang on to your heart, as one woman discovers
the true meaning of family.



Read an excerpt:

“You think I’m Sally Jane Powell?”

“I can’t confirm that, not without a DNA test, but…” Lisa pulled out two driver’s licenses from the envelope. “I found these in that shoebox you gave me, the one with your parents’ personal effects and your photos and stuff. Your parents were first issued driver’s licenses in Wisconsin in nineteen ninety-four, five years after you were born, also the year Sally was kidnapped.”

Lisa tapped the photos on the licenses. “Look at your parents, Slee. You look nothing like them. Do you know the chances of two brown-eyed adults, both with dark hair, having a blonde, blue-eyed child? It’s exceptionally rare. It’s possible one of your grandparents had blue eyes, but I couldn’t find any photos to confirm.”

“Maybe I was adopted. I always wondered…”

Lisa shook her head. “I’m sorry, Slee. I couldn’t find a record of that either.” She pulled out two more news clippings. “Slee, this is a photo of you when you were seven. When you won a spelling bee? It was in your box.” She handed the other clipping to Sarah. “Compare that photo to the one of Sally. The one the police distributed when she was taken.”

Sarah studied both photos. Then she shook her head. “There are some similarities, sure. Same eyes. Same color hair. But there are also some differences. My face is thinner. My hair is long and straight. Hers is curly. It could just be a coincidence.” She looked up at Lisa and her eyes filled. “No way I was kidnapped. My parents loved me too much. Besides, don’t people kidnap for money?”

Lisa shook her head. “Not always. Sometimes, they just want a child.” She patted Sarah’s hand. “Slee, I know this is disturbing, but let’s not put the cart before the horse. And no matter what we find, that doesn’t make your parents any less your parents. Sure, there’s a chance that you don’t share their blood, but they loved you. Hold on to that.”





Seelie Kay is a nom de plume for a writer, editor, and author with more than
30 years of experience in law, journalism, marketing, and public
relations. When she writes about love and lust in the legal world,
something kinky is bound to happen! In possession of a wicked pen
and an overly inquisitive mind, Ms. Kay is the author of multiple
works of fiction, including the Kinky Briefs series,
The Garage Dweller, A Touchdown to Remember, and
The President’s Wife.

When not spinning her kinky tales, Ms. Kay ghostwrites nonfiction for
lawyers and other professionals. She resides in a bucolic exurb
outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she shares a home with her son
and enjoys opera, gourmet cooking, organic gardening, and an
occasional bottle of red wine.

Ms. Kay is an MS warrior and ruthlessly battles the disease on a daily
basis. Her message to those diagnosed with MS: Never give up. You
define MS, it does not define you!



Follow
the tour HERE
for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!



Friday, February 01, 2019

CRAVE THE HEAT -- THE SMOKE JUMPERS!


Don't miss the Rafflecopter giveaway at the end of the post!


Crave the Heat
The Smokejumpers #2
by
Marnee Blake
Genre: Romantic Suspense

Pub Date: 1/15/2019


Smokejumper Dak Parrish
has come home to Oregon to fight fires—and to mend fences with his
family. He left the Warm Springs Tribal Reservation after feuding
with his father. Now, with tribal lands threatened by an arsonist,
Dak gets a chance to make amends by acting as a liaison between the
reservation and the forest service criminal investigator—a woman
who sparks a surprising and hungry flame in him.
After a trauma on the
east coast, Heidi Sinclair left DC to start fresh as a criminal
investigator in Oregon. But her first serious investigation provides
one stubborn obstacle after another—including an arrogant
firefighter she suspects knows more than he's saying. Though she
tries to battle her attraction to Dak, it’s too late. As they track
down the arsonist, someone will do whatever it takes to keep old
secrets buried, even if it turns everything Heidi and Dak have fought
for to ashes . . .

CRAVE THE HEAT Excerpt

Shrugging into the gray T-shirt he’d brought with him, Dak didn’t seem to be paying attention to Kirk. She couldn’t focus either, distracted by the play of muscles along his big chest.
As her gaze met his, a zing of connection reverberated between them. Surely it had affected him, too. Proving her point, the right side of his lips tilted up, revealing a hint of straight white teeth. That halfway grin. The lace of heat in her gut reminded her that it had been way too long.
Well, she didn’t have the emotional bandwidth for that kind of sexy right now. To be honest, she might never have that in her again.
But, she could act professionally. Her job, her work, that’s what she had. Inhaling shakily, she extended her hand. “I’m Special Agent Heidi Sinclair. Call me Heidi.”
He extended his hand, the muscles along his arms and chest flexing. Not that she noticed.
His fingers engulfed hers. “Dak Parrish. Your tagalong.” The corner of his mouth turned up again. He’d heard her, then. If she was the sort to be embarrassed about stuff like that, she would be. But she wasn’t. So she grinned back.
“Exactly. You’re tagging along, so I can get a quick assessment. You’re here because they want you here.”
Tension exploded into the silence. If she was the kind of girl who cared about awkwardness—she wasn’t—it might have bothered her.
Dak Parrish’s eyebrows lifted, and his lips twitched again. “Noted.”
“Fine.” She was proud that she kept her eyes trained on his.
“Yes.” He folded his arms over his chest. “Fine.”
“Then we are in agreement. My son will accompany you to the point of origin today for your initial pictures and reports.” The man who had come in with Dak was dressed too smoothly, everything too neat and perfect, even his smile. His voice was imperious, like a king visiting the masses. This was a man who was used to getting his way, someone who got things done. Heidi disliked him immediately.
Lyle Parrish. This guy was super-hot, looked-good-in-dirt-and-smelling like-smoke guy’s dad.
Bottom line: this was her job. She worked for the Forest Services, and part of that included maintaining good relations with the local communities, including the tribal ones. So, fine. If everyone wanted her to wander out to the side of the mountain today, she’d go.
“Yes. We’re all in agreement.”
Lyle Parrish’s smug grin made her grind her teeth.
“Well, then. I should get going. It’ll be dark soon.” She offered a glance at Dak. “We may need to camp there.” Then she smiled at Mitch. “Thank you again. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of each other.” Unlike Parrish and Kirk, she’d liked him right away.
Dak? She’d reserve judgment. Right now, she couldn’t decide, thanks to her annoying immediate attraction to him.
Well, that was enough public relating for today. She bid the two men from Warm Springs goodbye and left the air center, ignoring the appreciative glances from a couple of the other jumpers milling around. She had a job to do, and she couldn’t afford to be distracted. Besides, a big male body had been the start of her problems in Washington. That wasn’t a mistake she planned to repeat here.
Crunching across the gravel parking lot, she headed to the SUV the Forest Services had issued her. According to what Mitch had told her, the point of origin for the recent wildfire was on a hillside to the west of the reservation. She already had her gear in the back. Pulling her phone up, she mapped the area, wondering what the best route would be. She’d also need to contact her superior, let him know about this new development.
“Hey. Wait up.” Dak trotted up to her. “I’m supposed to keep you company.”
It had been a while since she’d been a girl who needed company. He definitely didn’t look like the kind of guy who would be used to being unwanted. Maybe all he needed was to be let off the hook. She halted,
squinting up at him in the midday sun. This close, she was painfully aware of how tall and broad he was, dwarfing her five-foot-four-inch frame.
“Look, Dak, you seem like a nice enough guy and I get the impression you’re getting dragged into this. So, if this isn’t your scene, I get it. You can bail. I can wait until tomorrow for the investigator.”
“What kind of nice enough guy would I be if I did that?” He hitched his thumbs into the belt loops on his pants. “What’s that?”
“Point of origin.” She lifted her phone, showing the map.
He cocked his head and grinned as if he found her adorable. “That’s not going to help you.”
She glared at him. “Google maps is quite—”
“Trust me, I’m better.” He folded his arms over his chest. “Come on. I can help. I’m a great tour guide.”
She rolled her eyes. “You ever hiked that ridge?”
He grinned. “Once or twice.”
Of course he had. Guess she wasn’t going to shake him. The lights of her SUV flashed as she unlocked the doors. “Climb in, then.”

* Apple
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Tempt the Flames

The Smokejumpers #1



Meg Buchanan is determined to prove she didn’t get the trainer job in
Redmond, Oregon’s rookie smokejumper class because of her family’s
long history as firefighters there—or out of pity. But if teaching
one of her own brothers isn’t challenging enough, Lance Roberts is
in the new class of recruits. Once her brother’s best friend, and
her first, unrequited crush, he’s also the son of the man
responsible for her dad’s death.
Lance is stunned to
realize that this confident redhead is the stubborn girl he once
dreamed about. There’s no way he can fall for her now. He needs to
focus all his attention on his training—and discovering the truth
about the long-ago fire that killed both of their fathers. But as the
undeniable heat between them threatens to ignite, someone attempts to
put an end to Lance’s amateur sleuthing—and his life…



Award-winning author and RITA® finalist Marnee Blake used to
teach high school students but these days she only has to wrangle her
own children. Originally from a small town in Western Pennsylvania,
she now battles traffic in southern New Jersey where she lives with
her hero husband and their happily-ever-after: two very energetic
boys. When she isn't writing, she can be found refereeing disputes
between her children, cooking up something sweet, or hiding from
encroaching dust bunnies with a book.


Follow the tour HERE
for exclusive content and a giveaway!



Wednesday, January 30, 2019

HOLLYWOOD VIA ORCHARD STREET


Don't miss the Rafflecopter giveaway at the end of this post!


Hollywood via Orchard Street
by
Wayne Clark
Genre: Historical Fiction

Deciding that the hopelessness he sees around him on New York’s squalid
Lower East Side during the Great Depression isn’t for him, a young
man invents an alter ego with the chutzpah he hopes will make a name
for himself. In the process he accidentally ignites a war between the
Irish mob and a Chinese tong, learns to drink and finds love for the
first time. Will he and his alter ego ever reunite? They will have to
if he doesn’t want to lose the love of a beautiful Broadway actress.


**Only 99 cents!!**

Read an excerpt

“THE goal,” young Charles Czerny scribbled in pencil, “was to become some-one else. I am nothing,” he wrote. “i must contort myself.” He had once seen the word “contortionist” on a circus poster and looked it up. As euphoria in-vaded, he changed the “i” to a capital “I”.

“Nobody I know is anybody. And I mean anybody, up and down Orchard Street, and everywhere else.” Wielding with his new verb, he continued:

“They need to learn about contorting themselves, or they’ll always be kind of sad in life. They would probably like to tell someone that they’re always kind of sad, but they don’t have the words to say it, so to speak. But I do. For example, ergo... I learned that word in school. What I want to say is, ‘Ergo, you must con-tort your life if you want to die reasonably satisfied.’ You can’t ask for it all, can you.

You have to send your mind up in a balloon and take a look around at the possibilities. When you see one that twinkles like a penny firecracker, adopt it. Say, ‘That’s me 10 years from now or whatever.’

Rewrite your life. I mean your future. You are what you are right now, you are what your whiney aunt says you are, but tomorrow, and all the tomorrows to come, well, that’s up to you. Make up a story, then live it.

He was pleased with his thoughts. There were a lot of them there. Those were the kind of thoughts he was sure writers have.

The next day he did not pick up his pencil. The new centerpiece of the salon that had always doubled as his bedroom on Orchard Street was, as of that morning, the most magical thing he’d ever possessed, an Underwood typewriter, an Underwood Model 2, which he had found hours before in the rubble of a fire on Mangin Street, above Delancey, near the river. The tiny street, Mangin, already had meaning for him because he vaguely remembered that his parents, or maybe just his father, had once lived there. His mind harbored echoes of someone saying “In the Mangin days.” He decided to contort that memory by telling himself it was fact that they both, mother and father, actually had lived in the place whose charred ruins he’d just scavenged. It didn’t matter that he could not remember his father. He must have lived with his mother at some point near the time of his birth. His mother never spoke of him.

When he got home to Orchard Street that afternoon with the typewriter, he fetched a cloth from his room and returned to the stoop to rub away the soot. It took a long time, and many neighbors stopped to observe him. Some would wish him good afternoon but mostly they remained silent. No one seemed fa-miliar enough with the machine to admire it or ask how it worked or why he wanted it.

A sudden summer shower chased Charles back up the four flights of stairs to his room. When he was sure the Underwood Model 2 was dry—he always added “Model 2” in his mind because it made it sound like he had the latest, best writing machine in the country, guaranteed to bring results—he sat down at the table before it. Though he had nothing much he felt ready to state in black in white, he liked the fact that the typewriter was open-framed so he could see its inner workings. He saw an analogy with the inner workings of his own heart and mind, which, as a writer, he knew he would be required to explore. Yes, a good parallel, he thought, reaching for the dictionary, a relic from his school days. He made a mental note that “analogy” was spelled with only two a’s, not three.

Charles left school, PS 62 on Grand Street, in the middle of the seventh grade. There, as far as he remembered, he was good at poetry, mainly the required memorizing of stanzas but also at writing. Though the school-days memory was a candidate for future contortion, he believed deeply that he was good at it, the writing part. What he wrote was profoundly emulative of the works he doggedly memorized, all by 19-century guys from England. He knew that they were im-portant works because no one he had ever met in his neighborhood, even all of New York, spoke like the poets did, words that were big and deserving of five or six definitions in his dictionary, or small but so obscure they were not even represented in the word bible. Perhaps the poets made them up. Yes, contor-tion, thought Charles. There was no shame in it. It wasn’t lying.

Certain that the writing machine would make him a writer, Charles decided to regard his current job as a temporary circumstance. Most people, especially since the Depression descended, were happy to have a job no matter how hard it was, and their greatest hope was that they would always have that job. Not Charles.

Nobody had ever asked Charles what his plans were. People in his neighbor-hood were too poor to have plans. Scraping by ate up the clock. Besides, he wasn’t an idiot. He knew he couldn’t say he was a writer until he’d written something and someone had put it in the paper.

Charles knew about papers. Delivering them to newsboys paid his rent of $14 a month. The smell of newsprint intoxicated Charles, who, at 24 years of age, had neither tasted alcohol nor a woman. As he wrote in his notebook more than once, this meant he had lots to do in addition to becoming a writer.







Award-winning author Wayne Clark was born in 1946 in Ottawa, Ont., but has called
Montreal home since 1968. Woven through that time frame in no
particular order have been interludes in Halifax, Toronto, Vancouver,
Germany, Holland and Mexico.


By far the biggest slice in a pie chart of his career would be labelled
journalism, including newspapers and magazines, as a reporter, editor
and freelance writer. The other, smaller slices of the pie would also
represent words in one form or another, in advertising as a
copywriter and as a freelance translator. However, unquantifiable in
a pie chart would be the slivers and shreds of time stolen over the
years to write fiction.




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Monday, January 28, 2019

FOR HER HONOR



This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Holly Bush will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.


1873 –

Adam Gentry, heir to the celebrated Paradise Stables in Virginia, is haunted by the visions of his lost love. Feeling cursed by fate, he slips deeper into grief, shrouded in a cloud of liquor and depression, and neglects his duties and responsibilities. But when Adam is forced to accept that there’s nothing he can do to change his past, he knows he must move on.

And he accepts his own destiny: that he will never love again.

Emmaline Somerset finds herself in the worst possible position any unmarried woman can be in. She will have to abandon all of her plans, hopes, and dreams for an independence using her own talents. The only viable solution is to move to a distant relative’s home and reinvent herself as a widow with an infant. No one will ever be the wiser.

Adam, now determined to secure the Gentry legacy, plans to save longtime family friend Emmaline from her embarrassment with an offer of marriage. But what Adam didn’t plan on was how his unexpected attraction to her would stir something inside of him, something he's kept locked deep within.

Can love find its way between two troubled souls, one driven by duty, the other by honor, both determined to find their way home?

Read an Excerpt:

“Must have been so engrossed in what I was doing last night, I didn’t realize I’d had a bit too much to drink. Thanks for the coffee,” Adam Gentry said and took another tentative sip.

Jim Somerset dropped down on his haunches, putting him at eye level with Adam. He shook his head.

“Most nights you manage to stumble up the steps, but last night I carried you up here over my shoulder as I have done four times over the last two weeks.”

“Should have just let me sleep wherever I was.”

Jim shook his head again. “Mrs. Gentry and my wife don’t care for that much. They think you should be in your bed.”

Adam looked at the clock on the table. Nearly noontime. “They should just let me alone,” he said with a shrug.

“I do my best to keep them away from you. I chased Livie from the library last night before I hauled your ass up the steps. Unfortunately, your mother heard me coming down the hallway and opened her door. She offered to see to you. I told her I’d take care of things, thinking you’d not want your mother yanking off your pants at your age.”

Jim didn’t talk much. That trait had nearly kept him from marrying Livie, his being too hardheaded and taciturn for a decade to tell her that he was mad about her. When he did string together a sentence or three it was of some importance.


About the Author


Holly Bush, Author
Holly Bush writes historical romance set in the U.S.in the late 1800’s, in Victorian England, and an occasional Women’s Fiction title. Her books are described as emotional, with heartfelt, sexy romance. She makes her home with her husband in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

http://www.hollybushbooks.com
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Wednesday, January 23, 2019

KILLER LAWYER


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KILLER LAWYER
by Mark Nolan
Thriller
Date Published: 12/10/2018

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No rest for the wicked.

Trained as an assassin by the CIA, Jake Wolfe now wants a new life of peace and quiet, living on a boat and practicing law. But when his city is shocked by a serial killer and he’s framed for the murder of a friend, Jake must race against time to find the killer before he strikes again.

Drawn into a deadly game of cat and mouse; at every step, Jake and his loved ones are being hunted by the clever, twisted madman. As the city is gripped in fear of the seemingly random shootings that could strike anybody, Jake investigates and uncovers ominous clues until a shocking reversal of fortune changes everything.

With the clock ticking and lives at stake, will Jake be able to find and stop the killer in time, or will he become the next victim?

Buckle up for a wild ride as Jake Wolfe and his exceptionally intelligent dog, Cody, return to action in this page-turning thriller in Mark Nolan’s bestselling series that has earned thousands of 5-star ratings on Amazon and Goodreads.



KILLER LAWYER Excerpt


At half-past midnight, newly-licensed attorney Jake Wolfe lay in bed staring at the ceiling and waiting for orders … orders to kill.

Resting on top of the covers, fully dressed except for his boots, he was ready to go at a moment’s notice.

Beneath him, he felt his sixty-foot power yacht, the Far Niente, rock gently on the water, where it was berthed at his boat slip.

In the stillness, he listened as small waves lapped at the hull, the boat creaked in a familiar way, the rigging from a nearby sailboat flapped in the breeze, and a passing seagull called to another. He knew every sound of the boat, as if she was an old friend with her own personality.

Closing his eyes, he wondered how it was possible that he’d become an assassin. After serving four years in the Marines and later doing secret black ops missions for the CIA’s Special Activities Division, he’d received an honorable discharge at his end of active service. Coming home and studying law online he’d passed the bar exam and started a solo law practice. The fighting should all be behind him now, but Uncle Sam had come calling again, in need of a patriot to help protect the homeland.

His girlfriend, Sarah Chance, should be in bed with him, but she’d accidentally witnessed Jake assassinate three terrorists. Now she was afraid to spend the night.

* * *

Sarah Chance lay awake in bed, thinking about Jake and worrying about being late with her monthly period.

Getting out of bed, she tied back her long dark hair with a scrunchie, put on her glasses, walked to the bathroom and tore open a pregnancy test kit.

She had absolutely no plans to have a baby at this stage of her life, and yet for some strange reason she felt torn, half-fearing and half-hoping she might be pregnant.

As she waited for the test result to be revealed, she thought about how she’d fallen so hard for Jake. That scared her a little. His secret life of covert ops had almost gotten her killed recently. How could she live with a proverbial sword hanging over her head?

If only Jake would tell the government he wanted out, that he’d done his duty, served with honor and now deserved to enjoy a normal civilian life. It was time for others to step up and take his place so

Jake and his war dog, Cody, could live in peace.

A tear rolled down Sarah’s cheek, and her eyes were wet as she watched the result show up on the test stick, plain as day and undeniable.



About the Author

Mark Nolan is the author of Dead Lawyers Don't Lie, an Amazon top 20 bestsellers, along with Jake Wolfe book two titled Vigilante Assassin and book three titled Killer Lawyer. He tries to make time every day to answer emails from readers. You can reach him and subscribe to his newsletter at marknolan.com.

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Monday, January 21, 2019

THE FABERGE ENTANGLEMENT


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The Faberge Entanglement

by Lesley Meryn and Elle Brooks

Romance, Thriller, Suspense, Adventure
Date Published: July 2015

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THE FABERGÉ ENTANGLEMENT

Sabinne ‘Saber’ Darrieux’s father, the billionaire CEO of Frontenac Global Security has been kidnapped. His ransom is not cash in a numbered offshore account, or a briefcase of Bearer Bonds but something utterly unique, incredibly valuable, and until recently, hidden away from the world.

The kidnapper seems to know Saber very well and knows that the next day, through her work as an elite translator she will be in the same location as the Object. She must steal the Object and deliver it to the kidnapper to ransom her father.

Adrian Steele, a British Intelligence agent has just come off of two harrowing missions. Upon returning to London for a well-earned rest, he learns that his friend and a fellow agent have been murdered in Moscow, but not before he made use of a unique Object as a mobile ‘drop site’ for the valuable intelligence he was carrying.

The drop site is traveling from Moscow to England. Steele insists on completing the mission to honor the death of his friend, Gerry Cornell.

At an ultra-chic quasi-diplomatic gathering in a mansion in Windsor, England, Saber and Steele meet and find themselves faced with a powerful, undeniable attraction. But at the moment, this compelling attraction is very inconvenient.

In reality, they are at the mansion to check out the security arrangements — for their own reasons — to steal the Object, a Fabergé egg worth thirty million dollars. But who will get to the egg first?

Fabergé eggs are very famous for their unique surprises. Saber and Steele are about to be very surprised, indeed.

And when Saber clashes with Steele; more than sparks will explode!


FABERGE ENTANGLEMENT Excerpt

He was more striking close up. The wire-framed glasses that had given him that bookish look were gone. As a matter of fact, at that precise moment there was nothing about him that was the least bit bookish. Now he looked more like a feral choirboy.

Saber lowered her eyes taken in by the seductive curve of his jaw, and his lips parted in an expression of amazement that drew her closer, hypnotically, begging to be covered with her own. She pulled herself back, reminding herself why she was there, what she must do. Leaving him to be found by the Sheikh's security men would be a pity, but she had a job to finish.

She knew her job; too, she was slick, professional. Her contribution to the family business was to test the security systems that were installed by Frontenac et Cie. She was always on-call to the "Uncles" between her translation assignments to do this testing. And she was very good at it. When caught in a tight spot, she was focused on the job at hand, holding back emotion, the fear of "capture" pushed away. Her focus was laser-like in intensity. She infiltrated the secured areas of high-security targets, grabbed the "package" then ex-filtrated as invisibly as a wisp of smoke. Reflection and reactions came after, as she wrote up her reports and advised the designers on flaws and vulnerabilities in their systems.

But all this slipped away as she felt the light touch of his hands, feeling their heat through thin black leather gloves. They slid very slowly up her thighs, coming to rest lightly and seductively around her waist. She stifled a gasp as she felt his hot fingers press into her, very much a lover's caress.

In scant seconds Saber's focus for the job at hand, the reason that she was there to begin with, melted away as she felt his hands tighten around her waist. Her grip on the gun weakened as a wave of heat suffused through her.

With a swiftness that took her breath away he closed the narrow gap between them. A hot flash of desire surged through her as his lips took possession of hers. Taking advantage of her surprise, he dashed the gun from her hand, sending it spinning away out of her reach. He flipped her over so she was now under him. Saber stared up at him wide-eyed, his lean, hard body on hers evoking a reaction from deep within her that was as intense as it was unexpected. Shocked, confused, she twisted her head away from his, but her eyes still kept a sidewise watch on him.

He bent in closer. Dark eyes flashed dangerously through the long shag of hair that fell over his face. Then, very, very slowly as though savoring every moment, he slid his gloved hand along her arm, around her shoulder, then up her pale exposed throat.

Steele's hand paused, feeling her pulse flutter wildly under his fingertips, before moving up to thread through her silky raven hair. His grip tightened and he turned her head to face him.

"Mmmm... I can do it, too," he breathed softly into her ear.



About the Authors

LESLEY MERYN

Enjoyed an exotic, adventure-filled childhood, following her anthropologist father and travel writer mother to the farthest corners of the world. She later took inspiration from her Aunt Sophia Francesca and became the author of romantic adventure novels. She alternates her time between Los Angeles, and a family property located in Yorkshire England.


ELLE BROOKES


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She is the author of the first two books of the Time Frame Series. Loves travel, discovering new foods to try, reading and writing. She currently lives in the central highlands of Costa Rica with her cat Nikola and her hedgehog Quiller.

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