May 26, 2014 by Tina Williams

BOOK BLAST ~ TO DREAM OF A HIGHLANDER (Highland Fae Chronicles), by Samantha Holt ~ Book Blurb and Personal Review

A Passionate and Magical Highland Romance!

Book Blurb

Scotland, 1230 Sent on a rescue mission, Finn Mac Chaluim is prepared to do his duty, hand over the lass and return home. But fate has other ideas.

In the midst of a Norse invasion, Catriona barely escapes with her life. Masquerading as her sister, she finds herself in the hands of Finn who intends to hand her over to her sister’s betrothed, Laird Gillean. In the interests of bringing peace to her home, Catriona is determined to continue the ruse—even if it means going along with the marriage and denying her growing attraction to a man who keeps his hurts hidden behind a quick grin. If the green faery, Tèile, has anything to do with it, Catriona and Finn will come together—but only at the right time. Thanks to her last attempt at matchmaking, many paths were changed and now it’s up to her to put it right. Can she help Finn— who learned the hard way that sharing your life with someone only leads to heartache—get past his doubts? And will the battle-scarred Catriona even accept him into her heart? When Laird Gillean’s attentions toward Catriona become dangerous, both Finn and Tèile will find they have an uphill battle on their hands.

My Review

Passion combines with danger, faery magic and subterfuge in To Dream of a Highlander, another sensual Highland romance from Samantha Holt. I found it to be another super read from an author who never fails to deliver in whatever genre she is writing in.

Finn, who appears in the previous novel, To Steal A Highlander’s Heart, is a hero whom I very quickly fell in love with. Despite his jovial manner, this handsome warrior is still mourning the loss of his first love, his wife who died in childbirth. When Finn first casts eyes on Catriona, he feels that she is familiar to him somehow, and comes to realise that she is the very woman who has been haunting his dreams…..

Finn believes that Catriona, who unbeknown to him, is masquerading as her twin Katelyn, is destined for another. He is constantly at war with himself over his wild attraction to her and his fear that he cannot let himself love again, being convinced that he failed his first love. However, when he realises that Catriona is in danger he will do his utmost to protect her, laying his life on the line. I just loved how the author portrayed Finn’s inner struggle and really felt for him throughout.

Catriona is both a strong yet vulnerable heroine and I immediately admired her bravery in coping with the bloody and brutal Viking attack on her father’s keep. Although in the initial confusion she at first fears that Finn is another Viking, she is drawn to him, due to his thoughtful behaviour, easy humour and the care he takes of her. Once she realises that he is her saviour she finds it difficult not to succumb to her attraction. It is Finn she turns to for support as she strives to cope with the memories of the attack on her childhood home and person, a traumatic experience that plagues her.

The scenes between the couple are both tender and passionate as they both struggle with their own inner demons, but neither can deny their mutual attraction for too long! Sexual tension is high and passion refuses to be denied between them, and they come together in a number of scorching swoonworthy scenes which I LOVED!

Catriona is determined to put the safety of the people of Bute first and continues to masquerade as her sister, even as she places herself in danger, for it seems she cannot escape the impending marriage to Laird Guillem. Will Finn put his fears aside and realise Catriona is destined for him alone or will she belong to another who may not have her best interests at heart? Also how will he and her prospective bridegroom react to Catriona’s deceit?

The antics and magic of the faerie Tiele, tasked by the Sidhe Council to bring Finn and Catriona together, are pivotal to the plot and are often amusing in the effect that they have on the couple, particularly Finn! Once again Tiele finds that the hearts of humans are far from easy to control. The supporting characters were well portrayed, in particular the widow Lorna, Finn’s sister, and her brother-in-law, Lord Guilleam who is her overlord and Catriona’s betrothed.

To Dream of A Highlander is another awesome read from this author and I recommend it to lovers of sensual historical romances, especially those who love tales featuring hot Highland warriors and feisty heroines!

Reviewed by Tina Williams

A copy of this book was given to me by the author for the purpose of a fair and honest review.

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May 24, 2014 by Tina Williams

BLOG TOUR ~OTHER SYSTEMS~ by Elizabeth Guizzetti

Check out Other Systems, an original and thought provoking Sci-Fi novel by talented author Elizabeth Guizzetti! Read on for the press release, giving the background to the novel, the book synopsis, review excerpts and find out about the author. There is also a substantial excerpt that will give you a real insight into this compelling novel, an interview with the author and more!

Other Systems: A Powerful Novel by Elizabeth Guizzetti Exposes Difficulties in Planetary Exploration and Colonization.

Press Release

Seattle, WA – Elizabeth Guizzetti opened a new door to the science fiction genre with a character driven multi-world fiction that grabs readers’ emotions and refuses to let go. Garnering a growing and dedicated readership, Other Systems examines what an actual life of might entail if someone chooses to leave Earth and live on another planet. Hailed as both ‘thought-provoking’ and ‘emotional’, the book is resonating with readers—some who have never read science fiction before.

Inspired by NASA’s Kepler mission (the search for other Earth-like planets) the novel explores the shifts in culture and belief systems, the definition of humanity, and family structure as humans for new homes. Finally it asks: Would you go?

As the author explains, her novel showcases the true power of a determined human mind. “Abby is an intelligent protagonist that grows through the course of the novel. Even though life does not turn out as planned, she uses her mind–not violence–in order to find a way out of her problems,” says Guizzetti.

Synopsis:

Without an influx of human DNA, the utopian colony on Kipos has eleven generations before it reaches failure. Earth is over ninety light years away. Time is short.

On the over-crowded Earth, many see opportunity in Kipos’ need. After medical, intelligence, and physiological testing, Abby and her younger siblings, Jin and Orchid, are offered transportation. Along with 750,000 other strong young immigrants, they leave the safety of their family with the expectation of good jobs and the opportunity for higher education

While the Earthlings travel to the new planet in stasis, the Kiposi, terrified the savages will taint their paradise, pass a series of indenture and adoption laws in order to assimilate them.

When Abby wakes up on Kipos, Jin cannot be found. Orchid is ripped from her arms as Abby is sold to a dull-eyed man with a sterilized wife. Indentured to breed, she is drugged and systematically coerced. To survive, Abby learns the differences in culture and language using the only thing that is truly hers on this new world: her analytical mind. In order to escape her captors, she joins a planetary survey team where she will discover yet another way of life.

Reviews:

Hectate of the Three Nerds & a Book Club said, “There were such complex issues ranging from technological advances, race and social disputes, and figuring out what can really make a family. It took a while to wrap my mind around the time differences, but I came to accept it as a norm.”

The Red Reader Reviews said: I can guarantee when you’re reading Other Systems, not only will you be enthralled by the world Guizzetti creates but you’ll be right there alongside Abby and her friends.

Denise DeSio the author of Rose’s Will was equally as impressed. She said, “Time and again I kept thinking, “Whoa! How many months, maybe years, of research did she have to do to come up with this stuff?”

Other Systems ISBN: 978-1-937546-01-4 was published by 48Fourteen, is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and 48Fourteen.

For more information, visit the book’s official website: http://other-systems.com

Excerpt – Chapter 7

The family said good-bye over a lunch of chicken, carrots, and plenty of tears. Grandma said prayers and burnt incense. Ma kissed her children again and again. Da squeezed them hard. So did Ray. Tara whimpered and paced, almost as if she sensed Abby and her younger siblings were not coming back. Tara was family, but she was seven years old, and Abby knew that she could not give up her entire future for a dog. As they walked outside the commune, Orchid began to sniffle.

Da embraced his children once more and said softly, “Take care of them, Abby. “Jin, I’m counting on you. You’ll be the man of the family on the new world. “Orchid, you listen to your brother and sister now. You better get going. You have a ways to walk.”

The three took their first steps away from the commune. Abby glanced back. Her parents held each other. Grandma clutched Tara around her giant, furry neck. Ray watched them. She knew there was part of him who wanted to come, but fear and duty held him to Earth. She waved once more at her dearest sibling. Her eyes were moist. She could not deny part of her wanted to return home. The sun was warm on their backs, but the blue skies saddened her. She would never have another day on Earth. She was glad when they made it down the hill and the commune was out of sight. Orchid was bawling and tears dripped down Jin’s nose.

Abby reached around her sister’s narrow shoulders and squeezed her tight, then pulled out a few tissues and passed them around. In a false cheerful tone, she said, “This will be a grand adventure, won’t it?”

Jin followed suit: “I know we’ll miss Ma, Da, Ray, Grandma, and Tara, but we’ll have each other, alright?” Orchid took the tissue and wiped a bit of clear snot and tears off her nose and nodded.

Abby went on: “I’m going to Kipos, but I’ll take you home right now. Once we are around this bend, there’s no turning back. Do you still want to go?”

“Yeah.” The younger girl lifted her chin to look at her sister. “Remember when Mr. Tygh said that on Kipos I could go to school to become anything I wanted, maybe even a doctor. I like that idea. Ma and Da can’t send me to the university.”

Abby felt a lump in her throat. Orchid’s reasoning was much more mature than her own.

“If I can go to school, I always thought it would be neat to invent something instead of just building something that someone else designed,” Jin said. With a guilty look, he glanced up at Abby. “But I understand if I have to work.”

Abby nodded. “My hope is that both of you can attend school.”

Behind them, they heard: “Hey, guys! Wait!” Rory ran to catch up with them. His forehead held a glaze of sweat. Abby waited for him to start making lewd remarks but he just fell in step. His blue eyes were filled with fear.

“There’s nothing to be scared of, Orchid.” Rory’s voice held a slight tremble, as though the words were meant to make him more confident, not her. “We really are going somewhere new. Someplace better. I saw Ray before I left. He’s a good man. You should be proud to have a brother like that.”

“We are,” Jin replied.

Jin and Rory walked behind them and, though it was uncomfortably sweaty, Abby held Orchid’s hand as they hiked the two miles to the old airfield south of the city. They watched the elevator car disappear into the blue sky as the new colonists were sent up to the mother ship. With each step, it was hard not to get excited.

Rory stopped for a moment. His voice was pleading. “I did not kill Mary.”

“No one said you did,” Abby said. She wasn’t sure if she believed him or just wanted to.

Rory spoke quickly. “She committed suicide when I broke it off with her. She didn’t have any money for paternity tests and she didn’t have time to put it together before the ship left. I offered to abort the fetus, but the Suffering God does not like abortion. Please, I need you to believe me. I did not kill her.”

Jin nodded.

Embracing him with a quick and what she hoped felt like a sisterly side hug, Abby said, “We believe you. Come on. We are almost there.” Ahead of them were layers of gated security and mobs of people. Pimps and drug dealers encircled the gate selling their wares. Thieves sold stolen or forged passes. Abby was glad that their boarding passes were hidden deep within her blouse. Rory shoved his hands in his pockets so no one could steal his. A man asked Abby what her price was, but Jin glared and took a step towards him.

She grabbed her brother’s arm. “Let’s keep moving. Soon it won’t matter.”

Jin reluctantly agreed.

They worked their way through the crowd of people holding hate-filled signs and the reporters with their cameramen. They circumvented families who were saying their goodbyes. When they reached the first manned gate, the guard instructed, “Put your right thumbprint here.”

Abby told Orchid to go first. She whined that she did not want to be left alone even for a second, so Jin went first, then Orchid, followed by Abby. Inside the gate, Abby gave their boarding passes to the second official scanning the documents. Once the lighted red star beeped, he allowed them inside the second gate. They walked through a meter of icy antiseptic spray. Once across the threshold, they waited for Rory as it dried. They moved to stand in the next line when they heard shouting and saw three young men with guns storm the gate.

There was a single shot and a scream. Jin picked up Orchid and grabbed Abby’s wrist. He pulled the girls to the nearest barricade. Rory was right behind him and Abby felt his arms wrap around her head to protect her. By the time they turned around the three men had been engulfed in flames. Abby covered her sister’s eyes. Crowds of people screamed, but no one did anything. They just waited for the elevator doors to open. Abby saw another young man and woman try to socially engineer their way through the gate.

“We lost our passes, but we are on the list,” the woman said, pointing towards the fence.

“Your irresponsibility is not our concern,” the Kiposi said.

“What she means is my brother has them and he is already in there.”

After a few more minutes of arguing, the woman eventually gave up and walked away. The man grew angry that he was refused. The gateman hit a button and the man’s body erupted in a blue flame. His howl of agony lasted a few long seconds before he was dead.

Abby forced herself to find fault in his actions, not blame the Kiposi. “He wouldn’t have just left. They didn’t want to kill him,” she whispered as she filed through the airlock and into the space elevator. A Kiposi woman handed each of them a small roll of soft candy and a napkin. They were told to chew the candy or blow their noses to equalize their ears during the air pressure change. Most of the seats on the ground floor were full, but she glanced around hoping to find four open seats that were together. Jin, however, rushed up the stairs, pulling Orchid behind him.

“Jin!” Abby called.

He glanced back with a smile and kept going. She trailed after them. Her brother pushed his way to an empty row of facing seats to make sure he and Orchid could sit next to a window. Once on the top floor, Abby glimpsed towards the sky, but she could not see anything but glittering cables against magnetic tiles and disappearing blue. Rory’s hand was gentle on her back as he continued to guide her towards the others. Abby apologized to anyone grumbling about the pair of wild children who had just pushed past them. By the time they reached them, Jin was helping Orchid buckle herself in. Abby
briefly considered reminding her brother to be considerate, but he had kept their little sister safe and found four seats together. She sat down next to Orchid without a word. Rory sat beside Jin.

Abby counted the twenty-five rows of ten seats. There were three floors: seven hundred and fifty souls per trip. According to her calculations, there must be at least ten trips in a day. Seventy-five hundred people from Seattle and there were nine other cities,
making a total of 750,000 souls, plus the crew of sixty per ship, in addition to seed and livestock.

Her stomach lurched as the elevator started to lift. Before she knew it, the city was spread out north of her. Now there was really no turning back. She wondered what Ray was doing. Did he miss them? Did he regret his decision? She wished he were there to share in this adventure. As they rose, she could see the Puget Sound and the Olympic Peninsula. It looked like a child’s model. Soon the distinct topography disappeared and she could only make out splotches of brown, white, green, and the blue of the Pacific Ocean. She mused that it was strange that the first time that she ever saw the Pacific were
her last moments tethered to Earth. She took one piece of candy and gave the rest to Orchid, who wolfed hers down.

Abby blew her nose to equalize her ears, then wrapped her arm around her sister as the blue opened up to the black. Above them was a gray-bluish, conical shaped ship set against a field of stars. On what Abby assumed was the bow, the cone rounded to a bulbous sphere. Below this sphere were antennae and a large dish all of which looked like they might be retractable. Towards the aft was a large rotating wheel. Each spoke ended in a large thick box. Abby had no idea what any of it was for, but the constellations had never been so visible as they were at that moment. It had to be a good omen.
A clear acrylic hollow arm stretched out towards the elevator. It locked in place and the Kiposi technicians opened the airlock. An announcement told them to unbuckle their belts and file out in an orderly fashion.

Abby found walking easy enough, but she felt slightly lighter than she had before the journey. “Do you feel that? I bet there is lower gravity aboard the ship then on Earth. The technology on Kipos must really be amazing!” she whispered to the others.

Rory just nodded. His tanned skin looked very pale.

“You’re such a weirdo,” Jin said, trying to look indifferent but failing miserably since he seemed unable to stop grinning.

Not wanting to argue, but wanting to get in the last word, Abby said, “Imagine being part of a team that designs ships like this.”

“Maybe I am,” Jin said, still grinning.

“Come on!” Orchid said as she pulled on Abby’s hand as they shuffled with the crowd towards the airlock. Walking through the heavens, the view of Earth below was too amazing to fear falling. She wished she could slow down to take it all in, but the crowd and her siblings pulled her along. Even for the ship’s sterile cleanliness, there was a smell of oil and dry air.

Abby was struck again by the similarities of the crew, but what was truly disconcerting were the insipid smiles on their too similar faces. Jin was confident, but Rory seemed as nervous as she was. Like everyone else, they tossed their tissues and candy wrappers down the marked chute. They followed the crowd, who followed the rows of light embedded into the ceiling. As they entered the back of the hold, a hallway split and they were to be segregated by gender. Rory looked ill.

Jin kissed both of his sisters on the cheeks. “I’ll see you when we land. You be good, Orcs. Listen to Abby.”

While her brother followed the other males, Abby considered how, in those few moments, his voice had become deeper. He was no longer the second son or Ray’s younger brother. Abby and Orchid followed a woman past large crates stacked upon one another and clamped to the walls. She could see by the writing that some were filled with supplies, others with seeds. Beyond, doorways led to long narrow passageways of smaller quarters. Abby and Orchid were told to relieve themselves, which they did on a cold metal public toilet that did not flush until its sensors determined that it was full. They were led with two additional girls inside a tiny room with four narrow bunks that reminded Abby of a packing crate. The walls were solid, but the floor and ceiling
was grating. Through the open spaces between the metal, she could see tiny spirals of piping. The woman handed them each a tiny waxed paper cup of water and two capsules: one white oblong and the other a pink circular disk.

She said, “Alright, ladies. Just a sedative and an antihistamine.” She watched to make sure everyone swallowed the pills. The other girls kissed each other for luck and climbed into the two uppermost bunks. Orchid began to cry.

To distract her, Abby asked the technician, “My understanding is the hypersleep liquid acts like some sort of filter.”

With a condescending smile, the woman answered, “That’s right. There is a circulating current of highly oxygenated liquid and nanomites. You will sleep through the entire trip.”

“Body functions cease?”

“They slow. Nanomites clean up any waste.”

“Isn’t that interesting, Orcs?” Abby put her arm around her little sister. She swore to herself she would find a job on the new world and send her siblings to school. Jin would design ships and Orchid would become a doctor. She would find a good husband and when they were ready, she would help her siblings to do the same. They would even help Rory. Even though she would never see her parents again, she would honor them and her ancestors by her actions.

Abby helped Orchid into one of the lower bunks. The air smelled honeysuckle sweet. She realized she smelled this aroma before. The day the Kiposi landed and again in city hall. She refused to allow fear to overwhelm her.

Her eyelids felt heavy as she tucked her sister under the thin blanket. “We ask that our ancestors watch over us and Jin and Rory. Even on Kipos, please watch over us, Amen.”

“Amen,” Orchid echoed.

Abby tried to stand, but Orchid started to cry again. “No, don’t go.”

“Relax in there,” the woman said. “Breathe deeply. You two are slender enough that you can stay in the rack with your sister if you wish, Abigail. It won’t hurt anything.”

Abby sensed that the Kiposi’s cheerfulness was being forced now, but she wasn’t really irritated with them as much as it had been a long day. Abby guessed that since so many siblings slept together that the Kiposi had gone through this many times before.

Abby crawled under the covers. Orchid calmed down immediately. The Kiposi’s relief was obvious. “Our ancestors will watch over us,” Abby brushed the hair off her sister’s ear.

“Rory too,” Orchid replied sleepily. “Remember the little book? It said there were cats. I’d like to have a kitten.”

“I don’t see why not, but I’ll need to get a job first, okay?”

“Mmmhmm,” Orchid replied sleepily.

Another girl was placed in the now-spare bunk and given pills. Once she lay down, the door closed. The air grew moist and the lights faded. The giggling above her silenced.

Abby heard the girl crying. Orchid was asleep. She rolled towards the other girl. “Homesick?” Abby whispered in the darkness.
A tired young voice whispered, “My mama told me that it would be a better life, but she was really sick. I shouldn’t have left her. She your daughter?”

“My little sister.”

The girl mumbled something else, but it was coated with sleep. Abby rolled back over. Orchid was dead to the world when the room filled with a thick goopy liquid. She felt her sister drifting away from her in the black. Abby sat up. Bumping her head on the bunk above her, she realized how long it took to put her hand to her brow. Even in the movement, Orchid did not stir. Suddenly, where there had been space a solid wall stood. In seconds, the liquid seemed to expand. Still a liquid, but heavier. Like gelatin?

Am I wet? Abby did not have the vocabulary to make her observations into complete thoughts. She wanted to scream but no sound came from her. She was too frightened to close her eyes.

“Please don’t be dead!” Abby tried to scream again. The black entered her mouth. It was filling her lungs. She was going to suffocate. She felt the ship move. Should I feel acceleration in the gravity pod? There was flashing before her eyes, but she was deep in the ship. She could not see stars even if she pinched her eyes shut. No amount of struggling would move the black gelatin. Once more she tried to reach out to Orchid, but her sister was out of reach.
Calm down. This ship isn’t moving. The ship doesn’t leave for days. Days—I don’t know how much time is passing. Is this a second or an hour? Let me out of this!!!

Abby knew she was panicking. She had to calm down. The Kiposi know what they are doing! Take a breath! She became aware that she was able to breathe through the gelatin. Her eyes grew heavier. The current nestled her. Abby fell into velvet blackness, believing she heard music.

Written by Elizabeth Guizzetti
Published by 48Fourteen E-book 2012, Paperback 2013
June 14, 3062 C.E.

Sales Links:

Amazon:

Print: http://www.amazon.com/Other-Systems-Elizabeth-Guizzetti/dp/1937546144

e-book: http://www.amazon.com/Other-Systems-ebook/dp/B007QQDU94

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/other-systems-elizabeth-guizzetti/1104526463?ean=2940014188180&isbn=2940014188180&itm=1&usri=other+systems

Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Other-Systems/book-lAMz6j8ucEKWQZGgUMpZeQ/page1.html?s=b-OqFgbxpk-4FTmjKzwYAw&r=5

FB Page: http://www.facebook.com/OtherSystems

Website with deleted scenes and other extras! http://other-systems.com

Trailer Links

Other Systems: Voices from the Stars Trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAHQJBjRvgE

Other Systems: The Stargazer Trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiIJBPJ1DV8

Select Interviews and Reviews

Tam’s Two Cents Review

Three Nerds & a Book Club Book Recommendation March 24, 2013

The Big Nerd Review April 2, 2013

The Middle Nerd Review March 24, 2103

The Small Nerd Review March 21, 2103

Dan Thompson (Author of Caseworker’s Memoirs) Interview and Review October 30, 2012

Verdict Book Reviews  Review: Tuesday September 11, 2012

Books are my way of Living Interview with Ruth : Monday August 20, 2012 Review: Wednesday August 15, 2012

Interview with The Red Reader:Thursday July 12, 2012  Review by the Red Reader: Monday July 23, 2012

May 21, 2014 by Tina Williams

~ COVER REVEAL & EXCERPT ~ SEAL My Destiny, by Sharon Hamilton

BOOK INFORMATION

TITLE – SEAL My Destiny

SERIES – SEAL Brotherhood #6

AUTHOR – Sharon Hamilton

GENRE – Romantic Suspense

PUBLICATION DATE – June, 1, 2014

LENTH (Pages/# Words) – Full Length Novel

PUBLISHER – Al Publishing

Navy SEAL Luke Paulsen, on the verge of PTSD stemming from the death of his fiancée and a brutal tour overseas, knows he is damaged goods and unsuitable for relationships. While paying respects to a fallen comrade, he is unprepared for the chemical attraction he feels for the carefree dark-haired beauty playing in the surf one evening.

Julie Christensen befriends the troubled SEAL, motivated by her yearning to soothe the young man’s troubled soul. Fueled by intense mutual desire, they succumb to one night of mind-numbing passion. Afterwards, he is unable to shed the memory of his lost love and disappears.

When they meet again at a wedding that will forever bring their two families together, their passion and longing for one another forces them to confront their pasts in order to find a future together.
But soon the trauma of his service separates them. Julie goes back to teaching and Luke deploys for North Africa with SEAL Team 3. Upon his return, he receives a frantic call that Julie’s life is in danger. Will he make it in time to save the woman he now knows he wants to marry and spend the rest of his life with?

Pre-orders available now

AMAZON KINDLE US / AMAZON KINDLE CA / AMAZON KINDLE UK

He wanted to say something but suddenly became hesitant. Everything had gone so fast, he didn’t want to spook her. He was unafraid to show her how much he loved being with her, especially since she’d promised to visit him in Coronado and they’d see where things went from there. It would have been like the cart before the horse, but he wanted to ask her to marry him at that impulsive moment, but he held himself back. Being the wife of a SEAL was a special assignment and there was no training for that, except the school of hard knocks. There was a community of wives that looked out for each other. And not all the stories from overseas made it home to them. The smart wives knew this. He knew it was a lot to ask of someone. He didn’t want to fall for a lady who didn’t really understand what she’d be getting herself into. But that was a completely crazy thought, because he’d already fallen for her. He decided he’d just put it out of his mind, and not discuss anything future-related, to keep the pressure off them both. Nothing wrong with having a little bit of—well, a lot of—fun in the next few days before his deployment. He held her under the starlight. Feeling eyes on him, he saw Julie’s parents eyeing him from their kitchen window, smiling. He couldn’t keep up the eye contact because odds weren’t in his favor. He wasn’t prince charming, or Sir Galahad riding in on his white horse. He was just a guy other guys sent in to blow stuff up, grab people and hopefully get out before getting shot or caught. And his intentions, although he liked to think of them as honorable, were merely to do everything in his power to be as irresistible as possible to her so that when he left, he’d be the one hard to miss. And then maybe she’d wait for him. Maybe she’d wait until he got fully well. It was a lot of ifs. The music stopped while he was kissing her ear through her hair, while he was holding her tighter as she melted into him. He liked that they were dancing because their thighs made soft caresses and the dress, that yummy dress, made all that noise. He just knew every time he heard the sound of layers of chiffon, he’d get hard. It was going to be something he’d have for the rest of his life.

AND NOW THE MOMENT YOU HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR

Sharon’s award-winning almost-erotic Navy SEAL stories of the SEAL Brotherhood, have consistently made best sellers lists and review sites. Her characters follow a spicy road to redemption through passion and true love. She has been an Amazon top 100 author in Romantic Suspense since last fall.

Her Golden Vampires of Tuscany are not like any vamps you’ve read before, since they don’t have to go to ground and can walk around in the full light of the sun. Honeymoon Bite, Book 1 of the Golden Vampires of Tuscany Series was recently named the #1 Gothic Romance by Amazon. It is now available on Audible.

Her Guardian Angels struggle with the human charges they are sent to save, often escaping their vanilla world of Heaven for the brief human one. You won’t find any of these beings in any Sunday school class.

Sharon lives in Sonoma County, California with her husband, and two Dobermans. A lifelong organic gardener, when she’s not writing, she’s getting vera vera dirty in the mud, or wandering Farmer’s Markets looking for new Heirloom varieties of vegetables and flowers.

Amazon Author Page / Website / Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Google+ / Goodreads / Shelfari

Tour Organized By:

May 20, 2014 by Tina Williams

SPOTLIGHT on Renea Mason’s ~Symphony of Light Series~

Paranormal Erotic Romance Series

Includes a MUST READ Excerpt from the New Release Between the Waters!

18+ Read

If you love Paranormal Romance that is shall we say a little on the HOT side then Renea Mason’s Symphony of Light Series checks all the right boxes! Described as Fifty Shades meets The Black Dagger Brotherhood and Twilight. While others say it reminds them of the Night Huntress or Dark Hunter series’. But most agree it’s unlike any paranormal or erotic romance they’ve ever read……..

So far the series comprises three unique and sizzling reads: Symphony of Light and Winter, #1; Impostors’ Kiss # 0.5 and Between the Waters #2, published on 15th May. Scroll down for the blurb on each of these books, find out about the author and read a SCORCHING excerpt from Between the Waters. Please note that this excerpt is only suitable for mature readers aged 18+.

Symphony of Light and Winter: Symphony of Light #1

He’s back from the dead. She has a lot of explaining to do. Can they quench the passion long enough to survive the truth?

Blurb

One woman. Seven men. All bound by one man’s undying devotion.

Fundraiser Linden Hill has a knack for reading people. She always knows which conversations will put a prospect at ease, which drink will loosen a patron’s lips—or his wallet, and how cleavage will make a donor sweeten the deal. She’s even foreseen her dateless weekends four hundred and sixty-four times in a row.

But ten years after watching life drain from her former mentor’s and first love’s eyes, her skills for divining the predictable are lost. When Cyril returns, he’s still gorgeous, but this time he’s beyond human, far less dead, and pissed. His lack of memory drives him to desperate acts, and his turbulent re-acquaintance with Linden pulls her into his war with a creature hell-bent on his destruction. His group of six supernatural men share a tantalizing secret, but despite the hunger, it’s love that leads her to sacrifice everything to save him…

Published by Etopia Press

Length: Novel Word Count: 88,375 Page Count: 389 Price: 5.99 ISBN: 978-1-940223-10-0 Heat Level: 4 Release Date: 06/21/2013

3rd Place – Best Paranormal Romance, Paranormal Romance Guild Reviewers Choice

2nd Place – Best New Paranormal Series, Paranormal Cravings Battle of the Books

Reviews

“Renea Mason’s book has everything you could want—a unique world, a panty dropping alpha male, a gripping plot and seamless writing that would never let on this was her first novel.” lbookbliss.com

“If you love Alexandra Ivy, Lara Adrian, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Lynsay Sands, Laura Wright, and all those other amazing paranormal authors that I absolutely love with all my heart…then you will LOVE Renea Mason and her brand new “Symphony of Light” Series.” BookReadsandReviews.com

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*Print edition available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Imposters’ Kiss: Symphony of Light Book 0.5

One night of sexual pleasure could teach a lesson in love.

Blurb

Cyril is weary from weeks of traveling the Scottish moors, but his luck takes a turn when he rescues a battered and broken child. To express his gratitude, the boy’s father offers Cyril a night of carnal indulgence with his eldest daughter. Cyril graciously accepts, looking forward to a night of sexual release to ease the loneliness of his travels.

But what the supernatural sex god and deliverer of souls doesn’t expect is to be taught a lesson in love from the young and beautiful Celestine.

In a night of passion, two lost spirits find solace in an impostor’s kiss: one longing for a love that doesn’t yet exist, the other drowning in pain and guilt over love lost. Neither is what they seem…but what they learn will change them forever…

Etopia Press

Length: Short Word Count: 7601 Page Count: 42 Price: 0.99 ISBN: 978-1-940223-62-9 Release Date: 11-15-2013

Reviews

“I loved this short story. It gave us a glimpse into who Cyril is as a man. His compassion, his sex appeal and his prowess.” BookReadsandReviews,com

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Between the Waters: Symphony of Light #2

Magic is no match for love…

Blurb

Trapped somewhere between life and death, demigod Cyril has lost the ability to communicate with his love. But not before giving her valuable lessons in magic, as well as his blessing to move on without him.

Coming to terms with Cyril’s absence isn’t easy, but Linden is doing her best to honor his wishes. Until she receives an unusual request from Moreaux, an estranged member of Cyril’s family. Bizarre things are going on with Mary, the former housekeeper, and Linden can’t let them go. But when her investigation leads to a mistake that nearly costs her life, Cyril’s best friend, Overton, steps in and violates a promise he made centuries before to bring her back from the dead.

Gratitude turns to comfort, comfort turns to desire, and desire leads Linden to a shocking revelation. In her charge to uncover the truth behind Mary and Moreaux, she discovers a spell she can’t undo without leaving wounds on her heart, wounds she knows will never heal…

Etopia Press

Novel Word Count: 63434 Page Count: 42 ISBN: 978-1-94169-20-66 Release Date: 05-15-14

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18+ Excerpt from Between the Waters – in reading further you guarantee that you are age 18 years or over.

Chapter One

Lessons

“Linden…take your clothes off.” Cyril’s voice, low and commanding, laced tendrils of seduction through my mind. Even without his six feet five inches of supernatural perfection looming, he had control.

“Absolutely not. You’re not talking me into that again.” A world away, he still commanded my body. My stomach filled with warmth, and hairs raised on my arms with the cadence and tone in my mind. Damn it.

“How was I to know the man would be walking his dog so late? If your inferior senses had detected his presence, you could have hidden instead of running naked through the streets.” He snickered. “Look at it this way…you were lighter without clothes, and Michael’s power infusion gave you the ability to outrun the beast. Important knowledge, even if your hearing sucks.”

Ever since the accident, which left Cyril in another plane of existence, tormenting me remained his main form of entertainment. He took great pleasure in my uncertainty. Being separated from his body left him with metaphorical idle hands, and my brain the only thing within reach. He blamed his actions on not knowing which abilities I inherited when I destroyed Michael—my short-lived husband and all-around supernatural nuisance. The moment I plunged the knife into Michael’s back, something in me changed. Beyond the branching pattern of raised skin covering my back, the experience also altered my soul, but how was unclear. With Cyril as my guide, I never knew if I’d end up the victor or the prey.

“My hearing is fine. Besides, I couldn’t hear around all the bullshit you were spewing in my head.” I crossed my arms, still not quite comfortable speaking to him out loud. A delay occurred between my thoughts and his access to them. His interpretation of them was accurate about sixty percent of the time. Verbal communication allowed for instant understanding, when it worked.

“You’re not questioning me, are you? Do you want to learn or not?” The huskiness surrounding his words accented power and his centuries of experience. Since he was at my mercy until he once again inhabited his body, desperation for control led him to push boundaries.

As much as I hated to admit it, I needed him too, but letting him know was not an option. He was cocky enough. Another ounce of ego would make him unbearable.

“Mr. Aristin, do not think for one moment you are going to manipulate me. There needs to be trust.”

“I couldn’t agree more. Had you trusted me, we wouldn’t be in this mess.” He sighed and in a soft tone wrapped with demand said, “Now take your clothes off.”

“Can’t I just stick to releasing souls? That was easy, and I could leave my pants on.”

“No. You have much to learn.”

Cyril had let me know that he was not sure why, but the mixture of his blood in my veins and my proximity to Michael’s destruction gave me the ability to release souls. He had said that mankind should be damn thankful I was there to take his place as the gateway to the afterlife. Freeing their souls for the journey to heaven or hell saved them from an eternity in purgatory. But apparently that was only part of it.

“As long as you don’t start calling me Grim.” Maybe it wasn’t fair to forbid the nickname I bestowed upon him for his role as the soul deliverer, but I was beyond worrying about his sensitivities.

“I have far better names for you. Would you like to hear how you inspired them?”

“No. Let’s get this over with. It’s freezing.”

“Magic is more than an ability. It’s a skill. Surely our previous lessons have taught you that. Channeling the energy takes practice.”

“But you say it’s equal parts will and magic. Some situations require an influence and focus—spell component and chant. Like how you told me you created your family with the souls of three men, your blood, magic, and focused will. What does any of that have to do with getting naked?”

He growled. “Stop talking and do it. Trust me.” His use of trust as a trump card to win arguments was getting old.

I inhaled the crisp night air as the moon shone bright in the night sky, outlining everything in a strange, opaque aura. Its shadows appeared astral. It was almost midnight, and the night was cold. I looked behind me to make sure I was alone. Cyril’s lessons had brought us back to the cemetery where we originally met. The energy resulting from the intersection of two powerful ley lines would make it easier for me to learn. I moved my hands to the zipper on my coat.

“They are magical; the moon shadows, I mean.”

It sucked having him in my mind. A few seconds after a thought crossed he had full access to it as a memory. I was never alone except when he grew too weary to maintain the connection or when it dropped like bad cell phone reception. His presence was always a surprise. During rare merciful times, he’d let an embarrassing stray notion vanish without comment, but that was a rarity most days. The constant focus on controlling my thoughts wore on me. It was impossible to stop them from forming without thinking of why they shouldn’t be formed in the first place. Either way, I was screwed.

He must have sensed my turmoil because he changed tactics. “If you’d be so kind as to oblige my request…” But his attempt at manners was undermined by the growl reverberating between my ears. I couldn’t even roll my eyes in peace.

“Request, my ass. Besides, it’s cold.” No matter how much I wanted to resist, the guilt that gripped me for trapping him outside his body softened my response to his bullshit every time.

“You won’t be for long. Now get on with it; we haven’t got all night. I’m growing tired.”

Another quick look around revealed row after row of headstones. The crisp nip of winter air and the moon-bathed landscape awaited me. I shrugged off my coat, removed my shoes and socks, shimmied the jeans over my hips, and pulled the sweater over my head. Standing next to a pile of clothes in only panties and bra, I wrapped my arms across my chest. With the temperature near the low thirties, I shivered and looked up to the sky. Closing my eyes, I grumbled, “Now what?”

He laughed. “Oh, my dearest Linden, open your eyes and look down.”

Busted. I looked, but focused several feet away, avoiding my body. I focused on the grass trimmed in tiny white crystals of frost. So fucking cold.

“You naughty girl. When I told you to take your clothes off, I meant all of them. Do it. Then let me see.”

I huffed and reached around to unfasten my bra. The task proved difficult as my hands shook from the temperature, anger, and anxiety. Working the panties down my legs, I complained, “I’m going to die from hypothermia.”

Standing on a hill overlooking the Laurel Mountain range, in a cemetery, at midnight, talking to nothing but the night air while taking orders from a voice in my head was all the evidence I needed. I had finally gone insane.

“Show me.” The menace gone, seduction in its place.

I sighed and complied. My nipples were so puckered and hard they could have chiseled ice. My skin reddened from windburn.

A sound in my head like air being sucked through teeth echoed between my ears. “You are so beautiful. When I’m back, I’m going to dedicate a week to savoring each part of your body. I’m going to wrap my lips around each of those rosy buds. Without touching any other part of your body, I’ll make you writhe, pant, and moan for me.”

Damn him. The breeze blew, but I was immune. The heat that grew from within, negating its effects. “Cyril, please…” I intended a warning, but he interpreted my words as a plea.

“I feel your need. If I was there, I’d bend you over the bench, watch your red hair drape over your back, and fuck you until you screamed my name. When the echoes of your passion stopped filling my ears, I’d sit you atop me and bury myself inside you and lathe the milky white skin of your breasts with my tongue. When those beautiful green eyes told me you surrendered, I’d bite and consume you as you consumed me.”

“Stop. Cyril, please. I am on edge. I’m ready to ignite. You can feel it. Please don’t make it worse.” He held a switch to my body’s thermostat. The only thing chilled was the place between my legs where moisture pooled. What other woman could say that she bedded a god made for sex? The goddess who created him, to see to her every physical need, perfected every detail. The man was a Titan in bed, and damn my luck, the universe gave me a taste before taking him, just so I’d know what I was missing. Fucking fates.

“When you bring me back to you, where I belong, I’ll make it up to you. You have my word. Are you still cold?”

“No.” In fact, I was surprised I didn’t combust.

“See, you should trust me more often.”

I scoffed.

“Now your lesson…Light, close your eyes.”

Lowering my lids, I did as he asked.

“Can you feel the pulse?”

I focused, blocking out the whistle caused by the breeze blowing across my ears. The cold numbed my skin once my Cyril-induced inferno extinguished. It shook the hairs on my arms, tickling.

“Walk to it.”

I did. As I got closer, it thundered in my brain. Cyril’s identity, my anxiety, and the strange sensation caused something akin to a headache to take hold. “It’s making my head hurt.”

“That’s expected. The pulse has increased. Now, find the place where it’s so fast, it’s sustained. The pain will subside when you are in the precise spot. You’ll learn how to pace out the pinnacle, and you won’t need to focus on the feeling.”

“Is that what you were doing the first time I saw you here? You were counting.”

“Yes. The lines shift with the season, and winter is two paces to the left of summer. It’s easier to count since I’ve been here before. Better than getting naked and risk you attacking.”

“I never would have attacked you!”

“You may have been young, but the hunger in your eyes for me, even then, was unmistakable.”

“You are impossible. Hurry, I’m getting cold.”

“Do you need me to heat you up again? Should I tell you about how, if I was there, I’d drop to my knees, spread your legs and run my tongue up the inside of your thigh, savoring the essence. I’d lick—”

“Stop it. You can’t keep talking about sex.”

“Yes, I can. I’m made for sex. I am inseparable from sex.”

“But you’re not here, and it’s torture.”

“Seems a fitting price for not trusting me with our future.”

“I was only trying to help.”

“By giving yourself to a psychopath in a ridiculous effort to save me? I’m the closest thing to a god that exists here, and you thought to save me? My only vulnerability is you. You will be my destruction. Now that I have you, I won’t be without you. It’s your stubbornness that risks us both.”

“Well, sorry I told you I loved you. I should have left with Michael and kept you in the dark, wondering.”

“I would have found you. Besides, it was your careless disregard of magic that lead to my imprisonment.”

“Imprisonment? Really? Could you be more dramatic? I was trying to protect you.”

A sound that reminded me of a snort resonated. “Yes, and a ridiculous notion it was. Keep moving toward the source.”

“Whatever.” I cracked my lids the slightest bit to look for obstacles in my path. The pulsing stabilized at the center of the large circle of gravestones. The Nester family, I remembered. “Now what am I supposed to do? The frequency is sustained, and the headache is gone.”

“Still cold?”

“Fuck you.” He knew I wasn’t. Another one of his games was to ask questions he already knew the answer to just to prove his point.

“That’s my girl.” He laughed. “Clear your mind.”

“Easier said than done with the current infestation.” Removing all thoughts of Cyril and his tongue proved difficult. I focused on the grass, taking in the uneven blades.

“Now visualize. Look through the surface of the Earth and picture the energy. Picture pulling it through your body. As I said before, magic is little more than focused will, woven with the forces that sustain this world.”

It took a while to clear my head, and thankfully, he remained silent. Allowing numbness to fill my limbs and seep into my mind, I penetrated layers of earth, reaching the electric white lights branching under the surface. Each juncture enhanced the brightness. I focused on the nearest point and pictured drawing it toward me.

Soon a surge started in my feet, pins and needles followed, as the energy crept through my nervous system. I closed my eyes. The current continued until I was enveloped in the light, feeling invincible, but only for a moment. The energy started to recede.

“Linden, don’t let go. Use the chant. Remember how I told you to use the words to focus. Say them slowly. Nium parnum omsti narum.”

Mentally I grasped at the light as my lips formed the words. Even though not magical, each syllable helped channel the essence. I regained control and was once again overcome.

His next command caught me off guard. “Do not speak. Think of Clarence.”

Clarence? Why? I thought it odd but didn’t comment. Clarence, my friend and colleague, was the furthest thing from my mind. We spoke the night before. He was still vacillating between being pissed at me for bringing him into all this supernatural bullshit and appreciating me for adding excitement to his life.

Another set of instructions. “Think of how he looks. What he sounds like.”

Clarence. His smooth, coffee-colored complexion, baldhead, swimmer’s build, and slight Southern drawl.

My skin rippled like water and blended with the tingling caused by the energy. A straining from within—stretching muscle, shifting bone—caught me by surprise. It was not wholly painful, as the pulse served as an excellent analgesic.

“Keep thinking of him, concentrate.”

Entranced by the light and Cyril’s words, Clarence’s mannerisms came to mind. The way he fiddled with his collar, the strange way he cleared his throat when we passed a sexy man and how he held my elbow each time we crossed the street. I was all- things Clarence. I held the image, unmoving.

“That’s it. Feel him, know him, become him.”

Another focused thought on Clarence’s wide, mischievous smile and the corners of my lips lifted, mirroring my thoughts of his actions.

“That’s it, become Clarence.”

Deep breaths helped my concentration. I embodied his six plus feet of height. His toes, his large hands, his… “What the hell?” My eyes flew open.

Cyril screamed in my mind, “No, gain focus. Gain focus! Use the chant!”

Oh, dear God. I was a six-foot-tall…African- American…man. Holy shit. I was Clarence. What. The. Fuck!

“Linden, you have to calm down. Don’t let the magic snap back. If you do, it will be much worse. It’s going to be bad enough already.”

I turned my hands over and over again, taking in their size, color, and masculinity. Another glance revealed I no longer had breasts and a little lower… I was going to need more therapy.

The hands I scrutinized shook, and the sight disoriented. Rippling started in my skin, and the light began to recede.

“Damn it. Too late. Linden, I’m so sorry.”

was he sorry? For turning me into Clarence? But my knees buckled, and I fell to the ground. The energy sucked the last bit of warmth with it as it receded into the earth. My bones gave and muscles cramped in places I didn’t know I had. The pain crippled as I lay writhing on the ground.

“So sorry. Breathe through the pain.”

“Ahhhh…” The scream escaped from between my teeth. My eyes closed from contractions that raked my body. Some kind of grunting pushed through my throat. I was going to die.

“You’ll be OK. I wish I could help you.”

“Fuck you! What did you do?” Another violent spasm and sweat broke out across my skin. So cold.

“It should end soon. Just a little longer.”

Another groan I couldn’t control. I gritted my teeth from pain and the chill. More perspiration. I wanted to cry, but it would’ve hurt too much.

The jerking muscles quieted, and with that came the ability to move my limbs. I forced my eyes to open. Thank God! I had never been so happy to see my breasts.

“Light, I didn’t do anything. It’s all you.” Because Light was his pet name for me, I both loved and loathed him in that moment.

I formed my mouth into an O, and I steadied my breathing. Something wet slid down my forehead. What on earth? I opened my eyes to find my entire body covered in a thick, clear, mucous substance. It wasn’t sweat after all. I collected some and flung it from my fingertips. “What the fuck is this?”

“That, my dear, is shifting residue. It’s the by- product your cells produce when you take the form of another. You used to be quite found of it. It’s what your dearly departed Michael used to craft those little animal figurines he gifted you. Isn’t it romantic?”

“I would so punch you if I could.” I wiped the sticky disgusting liquid from my cheek.

“Do you have any idea what this means?” Elation sounded in his voice. My body felt like I fell from a thirty-story building, and he sounded like it was his fucking birthday.

“It means I’m bare-ass naked, lying on the ground after midnight, in a cemetery covered in goo.

Oh…and a minute ago I hallucinated that I had a penis.”

“That was no hallucination, Light. Isn’t this wonderful?” He was excited. Cyril didn’t get excited. Even when we first met and he discovered my immunity to his curse, he never let his enthusiasm show.

Another sweep of goo from my arm, I breathed heavy, rising on all fours. The slime dripped from my body, leaving tiny pools. “You’ll excuse me if I don’t see the wonder in all of this.”

“Linden, you mimicked Clarence. You changed shapes. You became him. I can’t even do that. I always envied Michael. Think of the possibilities.”

“Became Clarence? I feel like I gave birth to him.” The substance coating my skin started to harden. My clothes lay in a pile about ten feet away, but it felt more like ten miles.

“The process is a bit messier than I expected, but do you know what else this means?”

Right hand, left knee, then left hand, right knee. Each movement required thought, conviction. I needed to get to my sweater before the stuff hardened. “I.” Breath. “Don’t.” Huff. “Know.” Grunt. “What. Does. It.” Hyperventilate. “Fucking.” Growl. “Mean?” I fisted the sweater and rubbed at the small crystals forming on my skin.

“It means you are much stronger than I thought. Of course, you’ll need practice.”

I shrugged on my coat. Screw the underwear. Wiping down my legs, the residue splintered and flaked to the ground like small snowflakes. “Great. I can be Clarence. You know, one Clarence is more than enough.”

“You can do something I cannot. I wonder what else you can do.”

“Hell. No. We are done with your experiments.” I leaned back, wiggled my bottom into my jeans and eyed my car. Another ten feet. Fuck!

“You are strong enough to bring me back after all.”

On my hands and knees, I came to a halt. Why I looked up when he pissed me off was beyond me. It wasn’t as if he could hear me any better. “What? There was a possibility I wouldn’t be able to do it? When were you planning to tell me you might be stuck forever?” Five more feet. Never gonna make it.

“Everything is equally possible and impossible, Light. I hadn’t planned to tell you.”

“Oh, save your philosophical bullshit. I’m not in the mood.” My hand slapped hard against the door of my black Pontiac Solstice, and I pulled myself up, leaning against the car, still trying to catch my breath.

“I didn’t think it was possible, but I love you even more.”

“Funny, I didn’t think…that I’d want to strangle you any more than the night I ran naked through the street while being chased by that beast of a dog. But again, you’ve outdone yourself, my love.”

“Light, necessity is the mother of invention.”

I groaned at the pain and his words and opened the car door, falling into the seat. I grabbed each leg and pulled them inside one at a time. The smell of the leather soothed, familiar. I took a deep breath. “Nice quote. Who said it?”

“I did.”

I slumped against the steering wheel, trying to muster the strength to drive. “No, I mean originally.”

“That’s what I meant. Many attribute it to an old English proverb, but it was in a speech I gave in Greece, around 400 BC.”

Immortals. Bah! “Is there anything you haven’t done? I mean you’re essentially a vampire with your fangs, you’re immortal, you can summon wings, use magic like a wizard, and escort the dead. How does anyone compete with that?”

“They don’t.”

My groan of frustration surprised even me. I turned the key. The engine roared to life. “Why Clarence?” I cranked up the heat and rubbed my hands together, trying to generate warmth from friction. Finally, I slumped back in the seat and rested my hand on the gearshift.

“Why not?”

I had no energy for his games. Enigmatic pain the ass.

“I heard that.”

“Good. Now shut up and let me drive.” My teeth chattered.

“Would you like me to warm you up? I could—”

“God help you…” I grabbed the rearview mirror and stared into it. Glaring at myself, knowing he’d see my reflection, I focused my anger. Goo had crystallized in my hair, and faint bruises formed under my skin. “If you say one more word, I will pull over and hack my own head off just to stop your incessant bullshit. Then who will you annoy? Huh?”

I reached up and moved a strand of hair, and they all moved. My hair was so hard an eighties girl would’ve been envious. “And Cyril, if I have to shave my head because of this, I’m not bringing you back. Do you hear me? Never. Coming. Back.”

He laughed. “Did I ever tell you that your feistiness makes me hard? If I were there I’d—”

“Don’t push me.”

************************************************

About the Author

Renea Mason writes steamy romances to help even out the estrogen to testosterone imbalance caused by living in a house full of men.

When she isn’t putting pen to paper crafting sensual stories filled with supernatural lovers, she spends time with her beyond-supportive husband, two wonderful sons and three loving but needy cats.

Her debut novel, Symphony of Light and Winter, finished second for Best New Paranormal Series of 2013 in Paranormal Cravings’ Battle of the Books and received a third place award for Best New Paranormal Romance of 2013 in The Paranormal Romance Guild’s Reviewers Choice Awards.

Renea is a member of Romance Writers of America, The Paranormal Romance Guild and The Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal subchapter of the Romance Writers of America.

She is also a founding member of Coffee Talk Writers and the Coffee Talk website–a site designed to support established writers and foster new talent.

Follow Renea Mason

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Coming Soon in 2014 – Curing Doctor Vincent – An Erotic Novella Trilogy

May 16, 2014 by Caroline Barker

BLOG TOUR Three Rules by Marie Drake (cover, blurb, author bio, excerpt & links)

“Three Rules” by Marie Drake – Book Spotlight Info

Book Details:

Page Count:296

Genre: Fiction

Publication Date: Sep 24, 2013

2013ISBN/EAN13:1492772909 / 9781492772903 http://www.amazon.com/Three-Rules-Marie-Drake/dp/1492772909/
Kindle AISN: B00F0OO6WO http://www.amazon.com/Three-Rules-ebook/dp/B00F0OO6WO

Nook: http://bit.ly/1dhVoJ0

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/three-rules

Lulu: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/MarieDrake

Paperback: https://www.createspace.com/4450018

Directly: http://www.mariedrake.com/three-rules-by-marie-drake

The Blurb:

Hope Wellman has a childhood full of horrific memories, a bone chilling recurring nightmare, and a persistent paranoid sense of being followed that she would rather keep repressed. Is evil reaching from beyond the grave to capture the tattered remnants of her soul once and for all, is it only a machination of her disturbed mind, or is there something happening more sinister than even she can imagine?

Attending the funeral of her abuser is the first step in putting her life back together. She struggles with the fact she never told anyone what happened to her, and that the grave they are mourning over is empty. She’d find it a lot easier to move on and believe in the future if he were in the box, ready to be covered with dirt. She fears the last thread of her sanity has snapped when she sees Lucas everywhere she turns, and can’t escape a recurring nightmare. Is her tormentor alive, or is she imagining it? Is her dream triggered by past fears or is it a prediction of the future?

Quoted from Three Rules:

“I have learned three rules in my life: 1.) The most dangerous people in the world are not always strangers. 2.) The scariest things imaginable are not those that can kill you, but those you can live through. And probably the most prominent: 3.) The most horrible possibility is not what could happen to you, but what you could become – I became a killer.”
~Hope Wellman

AUTHOR BIO

Marie Drake lives with her husband and their four wonderful sons in a small town near Lake Ontario. They take advantage of what others deem a vacation spot all year long. Camping and hiking are some of their favorite family activities. They also enjoy volunteering at the local animal shelter together, and recently rescued a Jack Russell/Corgi mix who made their family complete.

Marie is a crochet fanatic. She designs her own patterns and enjoys crocheting for friends, family, and charity. She loves to cook and bake, especially when making up a new recipe. Marie is an avid reader of romance, mystery, and suspense thrillers.

She is a woman of many interests – and maybe talents – but will be quick to tell you that her most important and proudest accomplishment is the part she played in the lives of children. She provided daycare for over ten years, and she and her husband fostered more than fifteen children over a five year period.

While juggling all her boys’ sporting events, academic, musical, and other extra curricular activities, and running a small home based business designing crochet afghan patterns, Marie tries to squeeze in some time for writing each day.

You can connect with Marie at the following locations:

https://twitter.com/MarieDrake72
https://www.goodreads.com/MarieDrake
http://www.facebook.com/MarieDrake
http://www.MarieDrake.blogspot.com
http://www.mariedrake.com/
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B008EXDU8O

Excerpt From “Three Rules”

Prologue *Lucas Wellman*

Lucas picked up the journal and read from it: Years can fly by in an instant when you’re enjoying something. Time sprouts golden wings and races off. When you’re waiting for something, those wings turn to lead and time drags the heavy burden slowly. I glimpse the future – golden on the horizon now – and I bask in the glow of it. I feel my skin blaze with remembrance. My passion s pills out in ink over the pages. It is beautiful – a work of art, really. Only one will truly satiate my need. The others lead only to temporary satisfaction. It thrills me with anticipation – finally obtaining my ultimate desire. It has been so long since I was ab le to touch her smooth soft skin. Years have passed since my lips felt her mouth. I take a deep breath and recall the intoxicating scent of fear mingled with the flowery fragrance of her hair. I run my tongue over my lips and taste the salt of her tears . I crave her and only I will have her. The reward for my patience will not be denied.

I was drawn in by batted eyelashes and shy smiles. I was enticed by innocence, spurred to claim it. I was unable to resist the burgeoning sense of power that washed over me when I took it. But this girl was not innocent – th e housekeeper’s daughter. She liked it; she wanted it. She tricked me as it seems easy for young girls to do. I can’t be blamed that sirens in angelic childlike form lull me into t heir traps. I’m too close to my dream for these insignificant people to become hurdles I must clear.

A knock at the door interrupted him. “Who is it?” he called. “

It’s Michael,” came from behind the door.

“Come in,” Lucas said. He didn’t feel up to dealing with this. Michael was becoming very needy. Lucas would be glad when he didn’t have to listen to his sniveling demands any longer.

Michael opened the library door. Lucas realized he was still holding the journal. He quickly shoved it under some papers on a table. “What brings you here, Michael?” he asked impatiently. “

Have you thought about my proposition yet?” Michael inquired as he leaned against the desk.

Lucas poured him some brandy to buy a little time. Michael took the glass from him, “None for you?” he asked.

“I save it for guests,” Lucas told him. He smiled at Michael, rubbed his chin as though he was considering his plan. He would not – could not – entertain it. Michael’s proposition was based on a lot of false assumptions. Michael thought he knew things. He thought Lucas would allow financial gain to navigate his path; greed would triumph and Lucas would align with his idea. But Lucas didn’t lust after money. These dirty secrets that Michael wanted to use to extort money – Lucas was unraveling them in an attempt to seize what he wanted: his father’s appreciation, and the object of his affection.

Sadly, Lucas’s father passed away and took his unpronounced praise with him. Too bad for him – he was tangled in the web, lured there by the glittering possibilities: his father could be proud of him, love him, or at least just thank him. One dream was still alive; he still had a chance to take her.

There was another knock at the door. “Now what?” Lucas grouched.

He opened the door to find Alva. “Sorry, Mr. Wellman, there’s a delivery for you,” she said.

“Excuse me, Michael, I have to take care of this,” Lucas told him.

Signing for the delivery, he took the package to his office. He broke the seal and pulled out the pages, scanned them quickly to be sure they were what he expected. Thoroughly pleased, he tucked them between two large books and went back to the office. Michael left. He must have tired of waiting. Patience was Lucas’s strength, not Michael’s. He walked to the desk to retrieve the journal and found it also disappeared. Michael was more clever than given credit for, but probably not smart enough to put the pieces together – there were no names in the journal. Michael didn’t have all the information.

Lucas went back to the library and retrieved the papers. Locking them in the drawer with the other evidence, he decided to take action earlier than originally planned.

He picked up the phone and arranged to have his boat placed in the water while it was still warm enough. One more phone call and he was out the door headed to the dock.

Champagne chilled– it was a celebration of destiny after all – he removed his cufflinks, set them by the bottle, and was rolling up his sleeves when a noise alerted him that he had company. He turned with a smile, “I knew you’d come.”

Chapter 1 *

An Empty Grave*

I want to spit on his grave, but I won’t. That would cause the surrounding people to be offended and confused, all these people who didn’t truly know him but honor him at this service. Holding my frame as stiff as a board beneath the dark, rumbling sky of churning clouds – the perfect weather to send him off – I twist my buttons, trying to make sure they all point in the same direction. It’s a trivial thing to be focused on at a grave site, but my obsessiveness won’t allow me to stop until I fix them all.

I guess most people would be sad attending two family members’ funerals so close together. I’m not. We buried Grandfather Leonard not long ago. I didn’t cry. I didn’t know him. I didn’t know what I was missing by not knowing him. I don’t have any grandparents on my mother’s side either. I wasn’t his real grandchild anyway – and he never fussed over his own children – so why would he fuss over their children? I’m wearing the same black dress. My black hat covers my long blonde hair, fashioned into a bun. A veil conceals my face. I’m not crying for the loss of this man either, but no one can tell. Another rumble of thunder sounds before lightning crackles and splits the clouds. It seems appropriate that the sky swell up and spit on him for me. The pearly gates will not open to welcome him. No, he will not spend a single moment of eternity in a peaceful state.

There is no open casket, no public viewing. The authorities recovered his boat with evidence of some blood, a few strands of hair, and empty alcohol bottles. It was a logical conclusion that he fell, bumped his head, and went into the water. They did not recover his body. Too bad, I may find some morbid sense of satisfaction seeing him laying there in a coffin dead.

This ceremony over an empty grave seems very strange. Among all these tearful people mourning and sharing embraces, I separate myself and look at them. I can see the fear in some of their faces. He died very young and they’re afraid of death. I scan the cemetery. So many headstones, so many graves, they all contain secrets – even the empty ones. I stand alone, twisting these buttons, counting the reasons I’m glad he’s dead.

How far can a person’s memory reach? I search back, willing myself to find an earlier memory, but always come up with the same. I must have others, but when I replay my past it freezes there and repeats like a stuttering compact disk at around the age of three.

It was an early fall day. Warm sunshine heated the top of my head which made the breeze feel cooler on my cheeks. Brilliantly clear skies stretched above me as far as I could see. Puffy white clouds – that I viewed as different animals – were arranged like works of art across the blue canvas, and I watched them march away into the distance.

Vibrant colored leaves swirled through the air, sailed in circles, landed at my feet, and were picked up again to float like orange, red, and yellow butterflies to a new perch. One could mistake this for a good memory, a happy memory. Behind the pretty façade ― lays the ugliness of the true event the beginning of the end.

Colors and sunshine are vivid, but the rest of the memory is dim and vague – very fuzzy – maybe because I want it that way. Taking my hand, he led me to a small, dark, quiet room. I felt a bit of anticipation, excitement. Perhaps a surprise? I heard a strange noise. My stomach felt very sick. It feels the same now as I recall the moment.

I didn’t understand what was happening. I turned to run. I wanted my mom, but I was pulled back. I gagged, coughed, and choked. I was yanked out into the light and pulled to the bathroom. My mom came then, and I felt a sense of relief. I wanted to tell her what happened, but, what did happen? I didn’t know the words. I didn’t know how to describe it. Besides, I was gagging so hard that no words would form.

I heard his voice. He told my mother he found me that way – acting like I’d vomit. My mom held me over the toilet and smoothed my hair back. She told me it was okay. ‘Let it out,’ she said – I did. She washed me off and wiped my face with a cool cloth.

She dressed me in my pajamas and tucked me into bed. Sitting up with me to read me stories, she rubbed my belly and held my hand – such a good mommy. She would have fought the entire world to keep me safe, but, there wasn’t anything out in the world that was more dangerous than being under that roof. She felt me start to relax and doze off. I sensed that she was removing my hand from hers. I cried again, not wanting her to leave me alone.

For a long time after that, I followed my mom everywhere. I didn’t want to be left alone. No, it wasn’t safe to be alone. I know it probably got on her nerves that she couldn’t take a step without me being underfoot. I remember her complaining sometimes, and adults trying to explain it using separation anxiety and such terms.

The bereaved move forward and startle me from my painful thoughts, laying flowers on the site, whispering last prayers and farewells. I stand still. A hand at my back drags me further away from my memories. My mother, Carol, is beside me. She has her hair, as blonde as mine, pulled back and pinned at the nape of her neck. She also wears a hat, but it has no veil. Similar in size and stature, we could easily be mistaken for one another from the back or at a distance. Looking into her arctic blue eyes, a shade paler than my own, I see no tears falling, but the residue of earlier emotions is not quite dry on her cheeks.

My stepfather, tall with broad shoulders, graying brown hair, grief flooding his usually sparkling aquamarine eyes, stands front and center with flowers in his strong hands, waiting to place them on the grave of his only brother. I admire this man who married my mother and brought us out of poverty. Yes, we were poor before Luther Wellman came along. Living in a trailer park in a very tiny mobile home, we didn’t have much, but we had each other. That is the story – the way my mom tells it, anyway. I don’t remember my real father, or a time before I was Hope Wellman. My step father loves me. He gave me his last name, a home, and a family because he’s thoroughly devoted to my mother.

If my mother never met Luther, it could have been different . Our lives would be awful if she married my real father – an abusive womanizer. He left colorful evidence of his violent tyrannical binges upon Mom’s pretty alabaster face and body on many occasions. He didn’t stop the abuse when he knew she was pregnant.

Mom decided to run – for her sake and her unborn child. Of course, that is also as told by my mom. I couldn’t personally verify it, but, the remnants of terror and regret haunting my mother’s gaze as she imparted this piece of her past convinced me of its veracity. The history and circumstance in which I received my name; I was my mother’s hope for the future.

Mom was working two jobs to pay our way in the world. She earned enough to afford that little slice of trailer park heaven we called home, and give our elderly neighbor a small amount to care for me when she was working nights as a waitress at a tiny little diner. She could bring me with her to her day job as a cleaning lady for the Bishops.

The Bishop family was very good to my mother while they employed her. The pay wasn’t spectacular, and the job was doing menial tasks, but they let her bring me with her to work, allowing me to play in the nursery with their little boy and girl under the supervision of their nanny as part of my mother’s compensation. She could be close at hand and didn’t have to pay a sitter for both days and nights. This was the beginning, how Mom became part of a fairytale – a Cinderella of sorts.

Frederick Bishop and Luther Wellman were – and are – best friends and business partners. Luther Wellman’s father had more money than he could spend – he has told me as much. Luther didn’t want a handout. His own mother had come from humble beginnings. His maternal grandfather had built his own business from the ground up. Their money wasn’t inherited; it was earned. That was the way Luther wanted to build his own wealth. He didn’t want to rely on his family’s fortune.

When his college friend, Frederick Bishop, offered him an opportunity to rebuild a business – with an investment of a lot of hard work and a bit of cash – Luther eagerly grabbed it with both hands. He loved the idea of rebuilding an old hotel and he dreamed of a chain of hotels across the state, maybe even across the country one day.

It wouldn’t be one of the posh hotels his father would prefer. It would be a nice enough hotel, where people could get a good night’s rest and pleasant service – a comfortable place that was affordable. Luther envisioned a place where you could stay for a night or a week, close to conveniences and attractions but off the beaten path so you could still have privacy. He wanted his guests to have the feeling of getting away from it all – a luxury vacation at a better price. He set off on this journey with Frederick and made all their plans a reality. They own a chain of hotels called The HideAways.

Luther often talks about the day Frederick married Miriam. He tells me it was the day that sparked his dream of my mother, or at least the idea of her. He stood up as best man and gave a tear inducing toast at the reception. He envied his best friend’s discovery of a soul mate and the happiness they found together. Frederick’s life became complete; he achieved his financial goals and his personal ones. Luther first tried to fill the void by having Lucas come to work with him, but Lucas was still bent on capturing the attention – or maybe affection – of their father. Lucas went to work for Leonard Wellman at the bank instead, hoping to feel his father’s pride beam warm upon him.

Luther and Frederick regularly met to handle business matters at the Bishop home. As Luther tells it, he walked into the Bishop home expecting to find Frederick and Miriam in the kitchen, but he bumped into Mom, who was all business in her housekeeper’s dress and apron, wielding a sponge in her rubber gloved hands and speaking to a small blonde child, a perfect little angel – me.

Mom apologized without need; it was he who almost bowled her over. He couldn’t manage to get any words past the lump in his throat. Whenever Luther tells the story, he imparts how thoroughly unimpressed Mom seemed to be as she excused herself with a polite smile and went back to her work.

Mom never gave him a second glance while he stood rooted to the same spot on the kitchen floor trying to come up with a reason to be there. His magical rendition of their fateful meeting always relayed the same sentiment: He’d get to know her no matter how long it took., but, Mom didn’t come around easily if you ask him. No, she found it difficult to trust his intentions. Luther says he flirted and wooed her until she couldn’t resist his charming advances any longer. She was hesitant to take him seriously because she didn’t want to lose her job. She couldn’t lose her job.

The Bishops didn’t approve of Luther’s interest in their housekeeper. They also didn’t want anything to happen that would cause a rift between them and their employee. Luther paid no attention to their castigation. Eventually, the Bishops relented with their disparaging remarks to Luther believing his interest would wither and the affair would end.

To everyone’s surprise, Mom and Luther’s romance blossomed. Luther fully accepted me. So it was: a new life, a happy family. I can never repay Luther for his kindness to me and my mother. If Mom didn’t meet Luther, we would still be in that tiny little mobile home struggling to make ends meet, but then I also wouldn’t know the personal terror inflicted on me by his half brother – terror I never shared with another single sole. Luther’s father, Leonard, had remarried several much younger women. One of these women, Helena, bore him a son and they named him Lucas.

Filtering through my veil, a drop of rain lands on my upturned nose. Staring off at the sky.; my body is still and the bottom of my black dress is rustling around my legs. I remain on that piece of grass next to the grave, but my mind is up there twisting and turning with the clouds. Their hypnotic, slow rolling motions makes me wish my memories would get wrapped up and blow away in them.

Movement on the ground alerts me that Luther and the immediate family members are filing out of the cemetery. Prayers are over and everyone is heading toward their vehicles in somber procession. We’re all expected to ride in a macabre parade to my parents’ home for the repast.

The sky opens up, and it begins to pour. The heavens have been patient and polite enough to wait for us to finish up before unleashing their fury on the symbolic resting place of Lucas Wellman.

I climb in the back seat of the car with my mother and stepfather. No one speaks. I curl and uncurl an errant strand of my hair around my finger, stopping with it curled again and rest the back of my hand against my cheek as I stare out the window at the clouds again. Maybe, after all the distressful chaos of the day is over, I’ll be able to put the past out of my mind. Maybe I’ll finally forget. I try to focus on the sound of the rain tapping against the glass, but can’t drown out my thoughts.

I felt excited about starting a new school for first grade, and joining a new group of kids who didn’t already think I was weird. That is the best way I can describe it.

There was a falling out between brothers not long after we moved in with Luther, or at least that was the impression I got. I was glad. A tiny thought echoed in the back of my mind: perhaps Luther and Mom knew what happened.

I heard some muffled arguments between them. I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but it felt as if they were arguing about Lucas. I convinced myself they were. They knew what happened. They knew he was a shameful snake; that was why he didn’t come around anymore. I hoped he’d be banned forever, but no such luck.

He arrived one snowy day near the holidays and wanted to talk with Luther. They locked themselves in the library for a very long time. I sat in the hall in an alcove out of sight, staring at that door waiting for it to open. They stood in the hall together and shook hands. Cold fear crawled over my skin and seeped into my veins, spreading slowly through my body. Its steely fingers clamped around my heart and squeezed it, then plummeted straight to the bottom of my stomach, sinking like a lead weight. I froze. Luther reached out to embrace Lucas. He caught a glimpse of me in the alcove and his eyes found mine. He didn’t look away.

I ran and hid in the attic; it was a reprieve. Eventually, I had to come down. When darkness fell over my room I was under the covers of my bed waiting for my living nightmare to restart – praying it wouldn’t. Shivering, tense, my ears strained to hear the slightest noise: the creek of the door, footsteps light on the carpet. Alarms rang inside my head with the nauseating smells of aftershave and brandy.

Terrifyingly cold hands reached under the covers, pried my hands from the bedspread I was holding tightly around myself as though it was powerful and keeping me safe. My hands unwillingly released my shield. It was useless against that evil. I rested them at my side and closed my eyes, preparing for the flight of consciousness. I willed it to lift me from that place and take me somewhere beautiful, somewhere happy, somewhere safe.

Those icy hands continued pulling while warnings were whispered. The air was crushed out of my lungs. Something scraped against my baby soft skin. A wet mouth, a wickedly hoarse voice crooned praises I couldn’t stand to hear. Long slender fingers of ice moved along the ends of nerves, each cold spark another step away from reality. Bile rose, threatening to spew forth, tears were streaming.

Contempt and cries were bit back, swallowed and pushed down while defense mechanisms took over. To save sanity, to protect the soul, they transported the mind far away from what was happening in that room so it would not experience the horror played out on the flesh and body.

This sadistic ritual, this feeding on innocence, would take place rather quickly, but it never seemed that way. When it was over, the contamination of youth was washed away. Last came horrifying rationalizations that it was special because I belonged to him; he was preparing me for my future. Damn him for that – more horrible than any physical act endured; he made me dread what the future held for me.

I glance at Luther, staring out the window at the place of future visits to lay flowers and remember his only brother. “Life holds wonderful moments when you think you have far more than you deserve, but it isn’t always fair. He left this life so soon,” he says. Within my head, I disagree silently; I think it’s the greatest justice ever served.

With a solemn and serious expression Luther turns to me, and I do my best to appear to be counting raindrops against the window. He reaches out to touch Mom’s cheek, and she covers his hand with her own, places it in her lap while smoothing his palm with hers as she rests her head on his shoulder. Luther places his head on his wife’s head and closes his eyes. “Carol, you and Hope are my blessings, the things I’m grateful for, the gifts I’m amazed at receiving. I wouldn’t be able to get through this without you,” he says as he lifts his head and grips Mom’s hand a little tighter. She squeezes back as the car approaches our neighborhood.

May 14, 2014 by Tina Williams

BLOG TOUR, REVIEW & GIVEAWAY ~Trial of Love, The Slave Bound Series #1, by Christina Ow

Passionate and Spicy Page-Turning Regency!

We are SO pleased to welcome Christina Ow and her blog tour for her fantastic Regency Romance, Trial of Love, to our little corner of Cyber-Space. Scroll down to find out about the book, read my review and enter the author’s super giveaway!

Trial Of Love, a turbulent love story about a slave from America and the Earl who saved her from a fate worse than death. An ADULT read.

Book Blurb

After her mother’s death, Melanie’s life in America is full of heartache. Still, she has never allowed herself to despair. She was responsible for the care of her beloved father. Then he remarried a woman too wicked to be considered a mother to Melanie or her two sisters. After years of abuse, the stepmother sells Melanie off – to work in a brothel, and about to be sold to the highest bidder. Through a series of fortuitous events, Melanie falls into the care of Christopher, Earl of Ashworth, who has family issues of her own. The solution to his problems—and redemption for Melanie—wind together toward destiny.

My Review

Passionate and Spicy Regency Romance! 18+ Read

WOW, what a page-turner! Trial of Love is a passionate, spicy and compulsive Regency Romance, which takes place on both sides of the Atlantic. It encapsulates ALL of the aspects I seek in an historical read: a strong heroine; a hero to die for; a credible and imaginative plot; plenty of drama and emotion and SMOKING HOT love-making scenes! Moreover, Christina Ow ’s writing is both fresh and vibrant and gifts the reader with a memorable emotional journey.

I found myself immediately rooting for the heroine Melanie. She is selfless and caring, particularly towards her siblings and has natural beauty inside and out. Melanie has a real zest for life, despite the abuse dished out to her at home by her drunken gambler father and her detestable stepmother and is determined to escape a future as a slave.

Christopher, Lord Ashworth, is an out and out Alpha male, who although drop dead gorgeous has a number of flaws arising from a troubled childhood. A man of strong passions, he uses women to satisfy his lusts and is determined to keep emotion at bay. He fears to trust, believing it will make him vulnerable and does not know how to deal with deeper emotions such as love.

Despite Christopher’s outlook, he is completely disarmed by Melanie, who is unexpectedly thrust into his life and the couple’s developing romance is expertly executed by the author. There is plenty of sexual tension, which culminate in some extremely sensual lovemaking scenes. However, this is no straightforward love story. What starts off as a sweet and passionate romance morphs into one which contains some tempestuous scenes, violence, pain and heartbreak as mistrust rears its ugly head. A handful of scenes had me reaching for the tissues.

The supporting characters in the novel are very well drawn. Chistopher’s grandmother Nancy is a strong and fascinating character in her own right, as is Nicholas, Lord Townson, Christopher’s friend. The other main secondary characters include the servants, who really take Melanie to their hearts, and a man whose actions cast a shadow on the couple’s happiness. Christopher in particular has lessons to learn and he and Melanie have their own trials to bear as their enemy seeks to drive a wedge between them with heart-rending consequences. There are some dark themes, which involve violence to the heroine, on one occasion at the hands 0f the hero, but these scenes are not gratuitous and are important to the plot and character development. Indeed, the author deals sensitively with some very deep emotions.

I recommend this novel to lovers of Regency Romances, who like a spicy and emotional read. I am VERY much looking forward to other reads in this series, including the prequel, Lady Nancy and A Lady Unbecoming, which sees Nicholas, the Earl of Townson, Christopher’s friend, getting his own story.

Reviewed by Tina Williams

A copy of this book was given to me by the author for fair and honest review.

Trial of Love published by Secondwind Publishing

Cover design by Stacy Castanedo

Read an Excerpt

Hallo again,” Carl whispered, pressing her tight against him.
Melanie felt her body go cold at his touch. Quickly she placed her hands on his chest and pushed him away. Nicholas grabbed her hand and pulled her behind him. “What have you done to the lady, Mr. Meed?” He asked harshly.
Carl gave a slight bow, “Nothing Lord Townson.”
“It didn’t look like nothing,” Nancy pushed standing up and moving to Melanie. “Dove, you look pale. What’s the matter?”
Melanie pulled a tight smile over her lips and shook her head, “Forgive me. He took me by surprise and I reacted.”
“See, it was all a misunderstanding.” Carl spoke with a casual laugh.
Nancy nodded, moving back to her seat.
Carl moved towards them and Melanie fought the urge to hide further behind Nicholas. He held out his hand, eyeing her. “May I have this dance?”
She wanted to yell ‘go to hell’ and run out, but, she wasn’t that uneducated girl anymore. She was supposed to either politely decline and make up an excuse or accept.
“You can have the next one Carl,” Nicholas spoke firmly, taking Melanie’s hand and starting the dance. “What did he really do to you Melanie?”
He bought me!

About the Author

Christina OW writes suspense, thrillers, erotica, interracial and multicultural romance books. She is the author of Contemporary, Fantasy, Paranormal, Regency Romance books and a poet of currently 3 titles. She loves reading novels that take her on a ride of wild emotions. Books have always been an escape for her, for a few hours she gets to live the lives of characters she grows to cherish and admire. She’s always had an active imagination and because of it has lived in her head more than she has been in the outside world. She always imagined scenarios and wondered how they would turn out in the end, and what kind of emotions they would invoke. Thus began her writing career.

Questions to the Author

Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?
My love for reading novels started a very long time, about when I was 10 or 11. I was in awe of how a person’s imagination could just take form and fill up pages. I loved the fact that I would read the words and watch it play out in my mind. Some of the books became way more interesting than watching TV!
I’m a person who lives in her head more than the outside world because off all the stories in my head. So I figured maybe I should put down all the stories I had in my head on paper, and share them, see if everyone else loved them as much as I did.

What about historical/regency romance?
I wasn’t much of a fan because the books I’d read so far the characters just seemed stuffy and annoying. But then I found several books published by Second Wind Publishing and I was hooked! Their books were more than just trying to be historically accurate, they had everything and they seemed to come alive through the words and I couldn’t stop reading them. I’m a huge Regency fan now.

Do you have a favorite and a least favorite scene in the book?
Yes, I do have a favorite scene and a scene that I didn’t like writing but was necessary in the book. A person’s character is built buy the positive and negative things in their lives and the same goes for books.

Is TOL apart of the series? How many books are in the series?
Yes, Trial of Love is apart of the series and the first book. So far, there are 3 books in the series, TOL, A Lady Unbecoming and Lady Nancy.
I’m still playing with the idea of adding more books about some of the supporting characters in TOL. I’ll see how these 3 books go first then take it from there.

Any more new releases for 2014 from you?
Yes. His Paris Affair (Albury Affairs #3) will be out in late June and I’m expecting Book #2 of the Slave Bound series A Lady Unbecoming to be released later on this year.

Contact the Author:

Website

Goodreads

Facebook page- Christina OW

Twitter- @Christina_OW

Google +

Blog- Read Me .

See you in the pages of Trial Of Love!

Enter the Giveaway

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/f774880/

Click on the link above to enter for a chance to win some super prizes, including e-book and paperback copies of Trial of Love! Good luck!

May 14, 2014 by Tina Williams

~REVIEW BLITZ~ for Claiming Ecstasy by Madeline Pryce~

Today we are participating in Madeline Pryce’s Review Blitz to celebrate the release of Claiming Ecstasy, the author’s sizzling erotic paranormal romance with attitude! Read on for the blurb, my review, the purchase links and to connect with Madeline! Tina ❤

Blurb

Jolie Dupree is prophesied to bring an end to the deadly war waging between the vampires and the Seelie court. Groomed from birth by a vicious mother, Jolie knows her future can only end in blood–and the murder of the one man she can’t resist. Consumed with guilt, Jolie can’t fight the lure of Nicolas Larkin, the vampire king. She returns to him over and over, every caress of pain and every stroke of pleasure drawing her deeper into the darkness. She must decide between the concrete and the chaos, the light and the dark, for her choice will tip the scales between good and evil, and quite possibly cost Jolie her soul.

My Review

A Romantica® paranormal erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave

Release Date: May 14th, 2014

Price: $1.99 (1.49 @ Ellora’s Cave)

Genre: Erotic, Paranormal (Vampire)

Length: Quickie (10,000 words – meant to be devoured in one sinfully delicious sitting)

Gothic Inspired Erotic Love Fest Par Excellence

Oh my giddy aunt! If Claiming Ecstasy is a taster for what this author is capable of in the hot stakes then bring on the main course and serve it now! I should explain that I am a little late in joining the Madeline Pryce Party, but I’m sure that a few late nights reading, with a glass of wine or two, will see me catching up with the author’s back list in no time!

Well back to what I thought of Claiming Ecstasy. I COULD say that it is a short, but scorching erotic paranormal romance and it certainly is, BUT this would be doing it a disservice. Instead, I would describe this intense and delicious read as a Gothic inspired love fest par excellence! It emphasizes not just the physical but the psychological link between the two protagonists/lovers, who, as magical beings, together represent the perfect balance between darkness and light. It is decadent, explicit and mind blowing!

I loved the settings, the emotion, the passion and the heat between this couple who seriously rocked my world! The read gave me enough insight into their backstories to give both them and the plot sufficient depth, painting a picture of two souls that are destined to be together but who political intrigue, guilt and past promises may doom. Never has a sexual surrender been so hard fought for and so deeply resisted and so deliciously portrayed. I strongly recommend it is read in one sitting (although reclining on my bed or a half dozen satin cushions are often my preferred positions). An ideal erotic read to indulge in if spending the night alone or in anticipation of a significant other. 😉

Reviewed by Tina Williams

A copy of this book was given to me by the author for the purpose of an honest review.

Buy Links

Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA Amazon AU

BN Kobo Ellora’s Cave

Goodreads

About Madeline Pryce

Madeline Pryce wrote her first novel when she was ten, penned with neon-pink ink in a loose-leaf binder. Captivated by romantic literature, yet intrigued by the paranormal, she continues to develop her own voice, writing the kinds of stories that inspired her as a teen.

Author Links

Blog – http://madelinepryce.blogspot.com

Group Blog – http://sevensinfulscribes.com

Facebook Page – http://facebook.com/madelinepryceauthor

Facebook (I welcome friends!) – http://facebook.com/madeline.pryce

Facebook Fan Group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/madelineprycefanclub/

Twitter – http://twitter.com/madelinepryce

Back list/Coming soon

Ellora’s Cave

Dark Cravings (Dark #1)

Dark Innocence (Dark #1.5)

Claiming Ecstasy – May 14th

Wicked Magic – June 11th

Dark Secrets (Dark #2) – July 2014

Loose Id

Crimson Sins (Born in Death #1) – May 21^st

May 12, 2014 by Tina Williams

* BLOG TOUR* Bastard’s Brew, Family Portrait vol. 3, by Gillian Felix

A HUGE welcome today to Gillian Felix’s new novel, Bastard’s Brew, volume 3 of the Family Portrait series. We not only have the book blurb, but also an excerpt to wet your appetite and a super giveaway where you can win an autographed copy of Bastard’s Brew (US only), a digital copy of Bastard’s Brew (worldwide) and a digital copy of Banovic Siblings (worldwide)!

Book Blurb

When L’Wren’s ex-boyfriend Jeff suddenly disappears, she turns to Kevin to help her find him. With one phone call, Kevin makes sure that Jeff stays hidden and that L’Wren’s heart is broken, leaving the door open for Kevin to pursue her. But Kevin is not as free as L’Wren thinks; she is in the dark about his affair with her stepmother, Savi. Savi constantly reminds Kevin of his devious ways and uses their secret to keep him as her toyfriend.

“You don’t deserve to be loved, and you don’t deserve to be happy. You and I are the same … we’re broken inside. Everything we touch, we destroy. We don’t get happily ever after … we don’t get to ride off into the sunset. You know who gets that? L’Wren … she gets it, she gets the guy, and she deserves a decent guy.”-Savi

Kevin desires to be the man that L’Wren deserves, but before he can assume the role of white knight, he brews one last plan to get rid of Savi for good. Will L’Wren, the innocent victim in their twisted game, become a casualty? Kevin may have sold his body to the devil in stilettos, but he’d be damned if he let her have his heart. Suitable for adults 18+

Excerpt

L’Wren did her meet and greets after the show, chatting with fashion scouts and receiving compliments from everyone. As the place cleared out, she looked around for Kevin and spotted him assisting with the cleanup. “Hey, you.” She beamed. “Congratulations, that was awesome.”

He smiled. “How did it go with the scouts?”

“I have two meetings set up for next week!”

“You did it!”

“We did it. This could not have happened without you. All the work you put in and in such a short amount of time.”

“It was fun,” he replied.

“A lot of work,” she pointed out.

“The fun is in the journey,”he replied, and their eyes locked.

“Thank you,” she said seriously, and he nodded. “I’m gonna grab a broom.” She needed to get away is what she told herself, but really, she wanted to kiss him.

“No, don’t. I hired a couple of high school kids to clean up.” He stuck his hands into his back pockets to curb the desire to pull her into his arms.

“You thought of everything.” She tried to unlock her eyes from his, but for some reason, his eyes felt like a magnet pulling her in. Her phone rang, interrupting the moment. “It’s Leighann. She’s stuck in her dress,” L’Wren said and turned to walk away. In a moment of courage she turned back around to face him. “You wanna hang out sometime?” She held her breath and waited for an answer.

He studied her for a moment. His silence almost made her regret asking. “No,” came the reply, which stabbed her heart like a blade. Feeling like a fool, she turned away. “I want to cook you dinner.” His words came suddenly. She looked at him questioningly.

“I don’t hang out. I’d rather cook you dinner, you and Leighann. Come by the manor tomorrow evening.”

L’Wren was pleasantly surprised; she walked over and kissed him lightly on his cheek and quickly headed to his office/makeshift dressing room to rescue Leighann.

Purchase Links

Amazon

Smashwords Enter coupon code: RS54B for 50% discount. Enter coupon code: FX48M for 10% discount off The Banovic Siblings

iTunes

Want to give the series a try? Changes the first novel in the series is on promotion on Amazon

Giveaway

Click on the Rafflecopter link for a chance to win the following great prizes from the author: an autographed copy of Bastard’s Brew (US only), a digital copy of Bastard’s Brew (worldwide) and a digital copy of Banovic Siblings (worldwide). Rafflecopter: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/MjUzMTkyNzE4NTcwZjY1MDliNWU1MGM0MWRiMzMwOjU=/

For a previous post on our blog featuring this series by Gillian Felix, click on the following link to read about book #2 The Banovic Siblings, Friends and Liars: http://areadersreviewblog.com/2014/01/28/banovic-siblings-friends-and-liars-2-in-the-family-portrait-series-by-gillian-felix/

May 9, 2014 by Tina Williams

~~ BLOG TOUR ~~ Nights Embrace (Others of Seattle: Book 1), by Brandy L. Rivers

Adult Paranormal Romance

Today we are featuring Brandy L. River’s super new release, NIGHTS EMBRACE, the first book in the OTHERS OF SEATTLE series, an exciting Adult Paranormal Romance. Read on for a synopsis, excerpt and trailer, find out about the author and enter her giveaway to win some great swag packs and gift cards. Tina 🙂

Title – Nights Embrace
Series – Others of Seattle: Book 1
Author – Brandy L Rivers
Genre – Adult Paranormal Romance
Publication Date – April 2nd 2014
Length (Pages/# Words) – about 95k
Publisher – Brandy L Rivers
Cover Artist – Brandy L Rivers

BOOK SYNOPSIS

It all started with a song.
Roxana Nights was late to another gig, thanks to her first love, and drummer. It’s been years since she left Jordan, but he won’t let her go. Then she hears a voice that pulls her under a spell and changes her whole world.
Trevor Malone just moved to Seattle with his band. Music is his only passion, until he lays eyes on Roxana. He’s never felt anything as strong as the pull to her. Now he needs to find a way to introduce her to his world.
There’s only one problem. A rival clan won’t rest until they’ve taken Trevor’s down. Unwilling to let old grudges die, they target Roxy. Trevor will do anything to keep her safe.
Roxy will find that the world she writes is closer to reality than she ever imagined. She’ll also learn that not all monsters are evil, though some are ruthless.
Will love stay strong when the past comes out? Can they survive the centuries old vendetta?

Amazon | Nook | Smashwords | Kobo

ADD TO YOUR GOODREADS TBR LIST

She slipped past him, and onto the wings of the stage. Her gaze fell on Mr. Voice who was tall, dark and smokin’ hot.
Holy shit, I want to lick him.
Scuffed combat boots were laced up over black leather pants that clung to muscular thighs, and his black shirt molded to the most impressive set of abs she had ever seen. Roxy wanted to trace the ridges with her fingertips.
He turned, his voice dropping low as his eyes locked on hers. His words enveloped her. “… you’re the only one.”
Her heart paused a beat before slamming into her chest at a rapid pace. His full mouth lifted into a grin that spoke of confidence as he held her full attention. Entranced, she fell deep into his eyes and the world stopped.
Until a drumstick hit him in the head. He looked over his shoulder and shrugged sheepishly at his drummer before turning back to launch into the next verse.
Mikey gently shook her shoulder. “Hey, Rox, come on. We have to warm up.”
Her head bobbed in a nod at her brother, but she didn’t look over. She muttered, “Yeah, give me a minute,” or longer.
As if he heard, Mr. Voice glanced over and winked at her before the next song started. “Blinded by beauty, falling at first sight, head over heels…” There was raw passion in his voice, and she couldn’t help wishing he was singing about her.

AUTHOR BIO
My name is Brandy L Rivers. I’m a wife and mother of three with an overactive imagination. I’ve been obsessed with monsters and magic for pretty much ever. I decided to write the stories that keep me awake at night.

2 – signed copies of Nights Embrace with swag packs (US Only)

2 – $10 dollar Amazon Giftcards (International)

5 – eBook copies of Nights Embrace with Swag Packs (International)

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY HERE

Tour Organized By:

May 8, 2014 by Tina Williams

~BLOG BLITZ~ The Tycoon’s Reluctant Bride, by Jenn Roseton*~

We are just SO HAPPY to be one of the hosts for the super Blog Blitz for Jenn Roseton’s awesome new read The Tycoon’s Reluctant Bride! The hero in this novella is not only a city tycoon, but a part-time cowboy – excuse me while I swoon! Scroll on down to find out more, including a peek at the cover and the book blurb, purchase links, a sexy excerpt and author bio and links. Tina 🙂