This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Anya Summers will award a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Rescued by a hot, kilt-wearing Scot…
Freya’s on the run from her abusive ex-boyfriend. She’s exhausted and terrified, but if she stops, she knows he’ll find her – and their infant daughter – and make her pay. Desperation drives her to do something she shouldn’t, that she knows is fundamentally wrong…
… and sure enough, she gets caught red-handed. All she can do is beg for mercy.
When Jasper catches the gorgeous new maid with her hand in his wallet, his first instinct is to call the police. But Freya’s tearful plea strikes a chord deep within him, and instead he finds himself offering her the protection of his name and family.
Their union is meant to be on paper only but Jasper soon finds himself enthralled by his new bride. He starts a campaign to seduce her into his bed, never expecting her to wiggle her way into his heart.
And when her past threatens her very existence, he will stop at nothing to keep her safe.
Fall headlong into this steamy, fake relationship, stand-alone romance between a fierce Scottish businessman and a single mother as they navigate the road of love with all its pitfalls
Read an Excerpt
His tongue plunged aggressively inside, caressing her tongue and learning the contours of her mouth. Freya’s entire body caught fire. The world dimmed until the only thing that registered was the sexy man and his devastating kiss.
She wanted to dive into the erotic flames. His tongue thrust deep into her mouth, and she moaned. God, it had been so long since she had felt anything but fear and worry. The pleasure fried her brain. All the reasons she shouldn’t do this fled with every thrust of his tongue. Her entire world winnowed down to his seductive mouth that should be illegal in most states.
Freya clutched at his muscled chest and whimpered as he changed the angle, taking the kiss infinitely deeper. The hunk dominated her and kissed her like a man about to go before a firing squad. The sheer magnitude of his hunger fueled her own to epic heights. She wanted them both naked, with him pounding away inside her. She wanted to climb him like a tree and have him take her. She wanted to feel him moving inside her. She wanted—
“Mama.” Maddie’s sweet little voice broke the stillness. Freya’s stomach dropped through the floor at hearing her daughter’s tiny voice. The sound jolted her out of his arms. Maddie’s timely interruption acted like a bucket of ice water, dowsing the flames. She shoved at his chest to make him release her. Somehow, while they kissed, his hands wound up on her ass.
The man released her like he’d been holding a venomous snake. He whipped his head around. Shock stole over his features, and his thick black brows rose, nearing his hairline. But then he turned accusing eyes her way. “Oy! What the bloody hell? You brought your kid to work, lass?”
Instinct kicked into high gear. Freya spied an opening and took it. After years of abuse, she moved fast, escaping his reach, and shielded her daughter with her body. Fists clenched, she stood in front of the playpen, ready to fight him off if need be, regardless of whether or not she would lose. “If you’re going to hurt someone, hurt me, but keep your goddamn hands off my daughter.”
Mr. Campbell reared back and snarled. “Do you honestly think I would hurt a child? Or you, for that matter, woman?”
“I don’t know you or what you’re capable of.” But she knew what his mouth tasted like.
She shut that train of thought down immediately. She hefted Maddie into her arms when she reached for her. It would make it easier to run. The moment Freya spied an opening, she’d break for the minivan, pray the jalopy started, and that she could get away before he could read her license plates to report to the police. She’d have to leave the playpen behind. That loss stung, but there was nothing she could do about it. One mistake was costing her dearly.
Life had never been fair. She’d rather leave without it than wind up in jail. Because he would find them, and would take her daughter away where she couldn’t defend her.
And Freya would fight to the death to protect Maddie.
About the Author:
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Anya grew up listening to Cardinals baseball and reading anything she could get her hands on. She remembers her mother saying if only she would read the right type of books instead of binging her way through the romance aisles at the bookstore, she’d have been a doctor. While Anya never did get that doctorate, she graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri-St. Louis with an M.A. in History.
Anya is a bestselling and award-winning author published in multiple fiction genres. She also writes urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and contemporary romance under the name Maggie Mae Gallagher. A total geek at her core, when she is not writing, she adores attending the latest comic con or spending time with her family. She currently lives in the Midwest with her two furry felines.
Can a carefree wolf shifter and an unbelieving human find true love?
Logan Greig, billionaire wolf and kilt-wearing Scot, arrives in Vegas to make a heist movie set in a casino. He’s the bad boy of his clan, the one voted least likely to settle down. What does he care? He loves women and won’t apologize to anyone for that.
Justine Bell, a dedicated history professor at the University of Vegas and a skeptic to the bone, is hired by Logan Grieg to dress the set with Egyptian antiquities. She dislikes Logan the infamous playboy on principle alone, but with the dean insisting she takes the job, she has no choice.
When one of the ancient relics in the shipment turns out to be a legendary invaluable artifact, Justine throws herself into research to discover more about it. Both she and Logan are amazed to discover that the item is of vital importance to the whole of mankind—it reveals that supernatural creatures have always walked the Earth!
Now, with the clock ticking, the pair must work together as a team. Justine has to find the strength to abandon the safety of the beliefs she clings to, ones that don’t allow her to embrace true love, and Logan must fight to become the man Justine needs him to be.
If they can do that, a whole new world awaits them…
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Excerpt:
Logan
“Bloody feathered tyrant!” I howled at the boisterous sounds of a rooster crowing to greet the morn before the sun was even up tearing through my wet dream like a true cock blocker. And just when the lass was about to reveal all those luscious curves. I yawned and checked the clock. Best get at it—I did have a lot on before leaving tomorrow. Directing a movie. My first full-length feature in Vegas, Nevada, USA. It didn’t get any better than that.
I threw the covers off and made my way to the window to pull aside the drapes and check the weather. A half-moon hung smiling in the sky on its way to harvest brightness in a couple of months, the horizon growing subtly lighter to the east. No fog this morning—the sky clear around the moon. The distinctive sound of a church bell ringing filled my head, and I shook it in annoyance. Omens, I can well do without. Nothing was going to get in my way of achieving success in my own right, not even a seer promising big life changes when I left the Highlands.
Was I taking a chance setting the movie in Vegas, even though it was the perfect location for a heist picture? Both of my older brothers were settled down happily with their new partners and lovers after returning from the City of Sin, acting too smug for words. I shook my head. No. Not going to happen. I wasn’t one bit superstitious, was blessed with a strong mind and besides, I didn’t believe in the thunderclap, at least not for me.
My brothers had just used the excuse to be with the women they wanted to be with. That old crone who’d foretold us all finding our Forever Mates in the land of desert and sage had been full of it. If she could really tell the future, she’d have won the lottery. My philosophy was to live each day to its fullest because it could be the last. Oh, and protect your heart.
As a wolf, I’d seen what happened to a shifter who believed in the phenomenon and was rejected by his fated mate, and it wasn’t pretty. A passion that raged out of control like wildfire could only lead to one conclusion if it wasn’t shared by both. Death.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
January Bain has wished on every falling star, every blown-out birthday candle, and every coin thrown in a fountain to be a storyteller. To share the tales of high adventure, mysteries, and full-blown thrillers she has dreamed of all her life. The story you now have in your hands is the compilation of a lot of things manifesting itself for this special series. Hundreds of hours spent researching the unusual and the mundane have come together to create books that features strong women who live life to the fullest, wild adventures full of twists and unforeseen turns, and hot complicated men who aren’t afraid to take risks. She can only hope her stories will capture your imagination and touch your heart.
If you are looking for January Bain, you can find her hard at work every morning without fail in her office with her furry baby, Ling Ling. And, of course, she’s married to the most romantic man! Who once famously remarked to her inquiry about buying fresh flowers for their home every week, “Give me one good reason why not?” Leaving her speechless and knocking her head against the proverbial wall for being so darn foolish. She loves flowers.
If you wish to connect in the virtual world she is easily found on Facebook. Oh, and she loves to talk books…
The author will be awarding a Kindle to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Chained Reaction
by Shiloh Love
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GENRE: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
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BLURB:
Love is just a link away.
One bad mistake sparks a chain reaction of terror for two innocent people.
When a registered nurse is blackmailed into helping two coworkers commit a crime, she never expects to find love. With her career on the line, the last thing Camille needs is romantic entanglement that will most likely lead to heartbreak if a secret from her past goes public. She just wants to end the nightmare and return to her job.
Lights out for billionaire Trenton Shade upon helping a lady in distress. He wakes hours later chained to an antique barber chair in the middle of nowhere. The nurse caring for him seems too kind to be an abductor. Her cohorts on the other hand, paint quite a different scenario. Plummeted into a dangerous situation, he reaches out to the only possible helping hand.
Can two victims of evil intent escape the clutches of a crazed pair of women driven by greed? Even if Camille and Shade make it out alive, will the bond formed during captivity lead to a future together?
There are some wounds even the most powerful love cannot heal.
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Excerpt:
“Ready to get rich?” Joan slunk over to her. They stood in the shadows of streetlights.
“I was fine,” Camille stated. “When this is over, we’ll be even. If you breathe a word of my involvement to anyone, I’ll blow the two of you so far out of the water, you’ll never see the light of day again.”
“Geez, Camille. Lighten up. We’re going to cut you in fairly,” Missy interjected. “It’s not like we’re killing the guy.”
Joan frowned. “I never knew you had a ruthless side.”
Camille scoffed. “People change when they’re pushed over the edge.”
Chitchat was interrupted by the sound of voices. A small gathering of clubgoers had just exited the building and were headed toward their vehicles.
“It’s go-time.” Joan gave a nod. “Assume your positions.”
Camille rolled her eyes. Joan acted as if she were a commando issuing orders to an entire troop. She strolled to the other side of her car and watched as Missy meandered toward a very tall, dark-haired man walking off alone.
She inwardly questioned whether she’d brought a strong enough dose to take down such a musclebound male. He didn’t look like an easy target. Even through his tight-fitting t-shirt, she could see the rippling abs and broad chest. His biceps were huge.
Where am I going to stick the needle? He’s pure muscle.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Shiloh Love is a fan of happily ever after. Her novels are too!
Shiloh enjoys creating romance, paranormal romance, and romantic suspense stories with a gritty flair. Her stories are her own, and she typically writes outside the box. She’s always been a leader, not a follower. Writing is her mental filter and how she processes the world around her, a fictional place where she can control the outcome at her comfort level with justice and happy endings. Her imagination is her greatest strength as it carries her away from daily stress.
As a survivor of hardship and chronic disease, she takes one day at a time and treasures the simple things in life. Shiloh is a Christian, loves animals, and practices being kind and generous every day. When not immersed in new stories, she enjoys watching movies, Motocross and Supercross, playing Yahtzee with her fiancé, and hanging out with her loyal 24/7 companion and trained service dog. She’s not a fan of sitcoms as they don’t offer enough mental stimulation. Losing herself in an intense story gives her brain the workout it needs to manage OCD, anxiety, depression, and stress.
Her achievements thus far include The Golden Wings Award for her debut novel The Satellite, the UK Nobel Pin and Editor’s Choice Award for her poem The Lonely Man, numerous 5 Star Reviews from Fallen Angels Reviews, Coffee Time Romance, InD’tale Magazine, and Goodreads for retired and current novels. Her novel Forever in Darkness was a RONE Awards Finalist. Chained Reaction received the 5-star Crowned Heart from InD’tale Magazine.
Her quote is, “Writing is the only time I’m truly free.” She’s happiest when her intriguing characters come to life and steal her away into their worlds where anything is possible.
Robert Creekmore will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Author Interview
1. How did you choose your genre? What made you write this book?
I didn’t choose the genre. I just write what comes to my head. I don’t have any control over it.
I’m writing the Prophet’s Debt series to highlight the horrors of conversion therapy and to shine a light on religious zealots who make the lives of others who aren’t like them miserable.
2. Writers write what they know and must observe the world. Are you a firstborn, middle, or last child and how does this shape your view of the world?
I was the firstborn. I have one younger sibling. This has no effect on my view of the world.
3. Where is your favorite place to write?
I write at my desk. I have enough monitor space to allow me to have several documents open at once, which really helps.
4. How do you feel about killing your darlings, and what do you do with the remains?
I’m okay with it. Characters are tools used to teach lessons. Sometimes, that lesson includes showing the reader how valuable life is by demonstrating its finite nature.
5. You are introduced to your favorite author. Who is it, and what is that one burning question you must ask them?
I’d like to meet Ted Hughes so that I could fight him for the way he treated Sylvia Plath. Unfortunately, he’s dead.
6. You are stranded on a deserted island with only a backpack for company. What three items are in your survival pack?
A knife, preferably constructed of VG10 or 154CM steel.
A metal match.
550 cord.
7. If you could have one superpower in your existence, what would it be?
I’d go with Wolverine’s powers. I could deal with immortality and bone claws.
8. Favorite snack?
Blueberries.
9. Indy 500 – Do you know how to get where you’re going, or do you drive the speed limit? Driving in circles is pointless. I always try to move forward.
Prophet’s Lamentation
by Robert Creekmore
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GENRE: Thriller
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BLURB:
Two years after Naomi murdered the serial killer and rapist Vernon Proffit, she is attempting to adjust to a quiet life with her wife, Tiffany. But Vernon’s flock is not done with her. Under new leadership, their numbers have swollen as they morphed from a single entity into a network of cultists called Apostles of the Cloven Hand.
Naomi has suppressed her abilities since killing Vernon, but she cannot ignore the voices of the young people the new flock tortures and molests. They scream for help in her dreams every night, causing her to question her own sanity.
When she uses her long-dormant abilities to stop an attempted gay-bashing, Naomi’s true identity is exposed. The cult sends an assassin to kill Naomi and her family, forcing them to flee the state while the Apostles move to take everything the family has built.
Naomi fought the cult before and won. But that was before she had her chosen family to worry about. Now, she must choose between hiding on her own to keep her family safe or fighting back to destroy the Apostles. If she hides, the Apostles will continue to victimize those near them. If she fights, her family will be at risk of the same fate they plan for Naomi.
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Excerpt:
“Even after your enemies’ defeat, they are still with you.”
Those are Nate’s words. I hear them whenever I wake up screaming and fighting in the middle of the night. Tiffany has similar episodes.
How do you build an ordinary life when you’re not, well, ordinary? Terror and fury molded me for eleven years. That abruptly ended with the death of Vernon Proffit and his acolytes. Sure, there was a period of celebration following. After vengeance, the anger never completely subsides. Don’t interpret that as regret; some motherfuckers need killing.
What bothers me is that before I fed Vernon to the Atlantic Ocean, the screams that woke me were my own as I relived trauma.
The abilities my guide, Mara, gifted me are still intact, but I choose to shut myself off from them. However, now something new comes pulsing forth from the ground that I have no control over. I’m stirred from sleep by the horrors others are experiencing. They cry out for help, but I don’t know how to save them. Mostly, they’re abused young people. Their voices drive me mad. If I could only find them, maybe I could stop their suffering. Last night, it was a young man named Vincent. I couldn’t see where he was. I could only hear him wail in pain as he experienced abject hopelessness.
But I attempt to tarry forward.
Today, I should be happy. It’s July twentieth, two-thousand-six; my twenty-seventh birthday as Naomi Pace. Legally, as Hannah Sillman, I’m thirty-four and will turn thirty-five on Christmas day. That birthday is celebrated more ominously, as the real Hannah rests with her mother, Milly, under an old oak tree high up in the hills of Yancey County. Her father, Al, gifted me with this new life by giving me her identity for my eighteenth birthday. He was more of a father than my own, Amos, who beat me mercilessly when he found out that I was in love with Tiffany. I still am. Their hate and violence couldn’t destroy that.
I won. Why am I still so sad? Why do I disregard my own life, feeling guilty about those I couldn’t save, like Charles? He died during our escape. There was nothing I could do. I know that, logically, but I can’t convince my heart of it. It eats at me with each heartbeat, saying, ‘you could have done more.’ It does so now, at four-thirty in the morning. I’m sitting up in bed with no one to speak with. I don’t dare wake my beautiful bride, Tiffany, as she sleeps soundly next to me.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Robert Creekmore is from a rural farming community in Eastern North Carolina.
He attended North Carolina State where he studied psychology. While at university, he was active at the student radio station. There, he fell in love with punk rock and its ethos.
Robert acquired several teaching licenses in special education. He was an autism specialist in Raleigh for eight years. He then taught for four years in a small mountain community in western North Carolina.
During his time in the mountains, he lived with his wife Juliana in a remote primitive cabin built in 1875. While there, he grew most of his own food, raised chickens, worked on a cattle farm, as well as participated in subsistence hunting and fishing.
Eventually, the couple moved back to the small farming community where Robert was raised.
Robert’s first novel Afiri, is a science fiction love letter to his childhood hero Carl Sagan. It was nominated for a Manly Wade Wellman award in 2016.
Robert’s second novel is the first in a trilogy of books. Annoyed with the stereotype of the southeastern United States as a monolith of ignorance and hatred, he wanted to bring forth characters from the region who are queer and autistic. They now hold up a disinfecting light to the hatred of the region’s past and to those who still yearn for a return to ways and ideas that should have long ago perished.
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Trixie Silvertale will be awarding a $75 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Front row seats to murder. Thousands of eyewitnesses. Can our psychic sleuth trust her own eyes?
Mitzy Moon is loving life after the honeymoon. And as part of their agreement to try new things, she’s happily whooping it up at the local cowboy competition. But the newlyweds get roped into yet another investigation when their date night ends with a dead rodeo clown.
As her new husband’s history with the prime suspect’s wife tests all loyalties, Mitzy struggles to balance jealousy with keeping her man out of the hoosegow. And now she’ll need saddlebags of extra help from her mentor, Ghost-ma, and her entitled feline to unhorse the ruthless culprit.
Can Mitzy and Erick wrangle all the clues, or will spurious accusations bring a deadly showdown?
Rodeo Clowns and Shakedowns is the second book in the hilarious new paranormal cozy mystery series, Harper and Moon Investigations, a spinoff from the popular Mitzy Moon Mysteries. If you like snarky heroines, supernatural intrigue, and a dash of romance, then you’ll love Trixie Silvertale’s bucking brainteaser.
Buy Rodeo Clowns and Shakedowns to lasso a killer today!
Read an Excerpt
“GET IT OFF ME!” I swipe the snake to the floor, step as far away as possible, and continue to flail my hands and shiver.
Ghost-ma floats down to the motionless reptile and shakes her head. “Just an old rubber snake from the toy basket in the children’s section, Mitzy.” She reaches an ethereal hand toward Pyewacket and raises one finger. “You shouldn’t torment your best human, Mr. Cuddlekins.”
With the welcome knowledge that a live snake is not slithering around my closet, I return to the bench. “Yeah, what she said, Pye. I can’t put up with feline shenanigans and keep ghosts out of my head before a proper cup of coffee!”
Grams chuckles as she continues to rifle through the closet. “Don’t blame me, dear. I honestly thought you said it out loud because I wasn’t watching your lips. I was hard at work finding the perfect outfit for your first rodeo parade.”
“It will be the rodeo parade I missed, if you don’t pick something soon! Erick just sent me another text. The marching band is warming up. Yeesh! Pick something! Anything!”
“Reeeee-ow.” A warning.
“Look, you’ve even got Pyewacket concerned. He’d hate for me to stand up Detective Harper. You know Pye’s all Team Erick, now.”
Ghost-ma and I share a giggle, and I stretch out my arm to scratch the broad tan head of my furry overlord. Along with this bookstore, a swanky apartment, and a healthy monetary inheritance, my grandmother passed on her most precious possession: Robin Pyewacket Goodfellow.
USA TODAY Bestselling author Trixie Silvertale grew up reading an endless supply of Lilian Jackson Braun, Hardy Boys, and Nancy Drew novels. She loves the amateur sleuths in cozy mysteries and obsesses about all things paranormal. Those two passions unite in her Mitzy Moon Mysteries and Harper and Moon Investigations, and she’s thrilled to write them and share them with you.
Kirsten Weiss will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Author Interview
1. How did you choose your genre? What made you write this book?
Normally, I write cozy mysteries, including my Tea and Tarot series, set in a tearoom with Tarot readers. A couple years back, I wrote some personal essays by my fictional Tarot reader for a flash non-fiction class (yes, I was cheating, it wasn’t non-fiction!). One of the other students was a Tarot reader, and she thought they could be turned into a Tarot guidebook. But I couldn’t imagine publishing anything without weaving a mystery into it. So I set myself the goal of writing a Tarot card a week and developing a side mystery by the book’s “editor” for the footnotes that paralleled the theme of each Tarot card. It’s experimental fiction, and more of an art project (as well as being a legit Tarot guidebook—I’ve been reading Tarot cards for over 30 years). But I’m really happy with the way The Mysteries of Tarot turned out.
2. Writers write what they know, and must observe the world. Are you a firstborn, middle, or last child and how does this shape your view of the world?
I’m a firstborn, which I think made it easier for me to strike out on my own and take a shot at becoming a writer. (This is not my first career). I think it’s just easier for me to see more things as possible and take risks.
3. Where is your favorite place to write?
In the summer, I hope up in my downstairs office, where it’s cooler and I’ve got a view of the hillside. Deer stop by to peer through my window and see what I’m up to. In the winter, I go to the warmer upstairs, with its view of Pikes Peak. Both views can be distracting!
4. How do you feel about killing your darlings, and what do you do with the remains?
Cutting something I’m proud of writing is painful, but sometimes it has to be done. I always keep the remains, figuring I’ll do something with them, and then I never do!
5. You are introduced to your favorite author. Who is it, and what is that one burning question you must ask them?
I think I’d ask Edgar Allan Poe about how he learned to develop the rhythm in his writing. His poetry and prose are just amazing.
6. Inquiring minds want to know…tell readers something about you that no one knows.
I’m taking a class in close-quarter-combat this June. My sister talked me into it, and it may involve getting shot with simulated rounds. It will definitely involve “stress inoculation,” which is a fancy way of saying they’re going to try to put me under a lot of stress. I’m a little worried about this class…
7. You are stranded on a deserted island with only a backpack for company. What three items are in your survival pack?
A knife. A pot. A flint.
8. If you could have one superpower in your existence, what would it be?
I’d love to be able to fly. My favorite dreams are flying dreams, though I usually come back down to earth fairly quickly.
9. Favorite snack?
Lately, I’ve been making these energy snacks from dates, nuts, coconut, and a squeeze of orange juice, all tossed in a food processor.
10. Indy 500 – Do you know how to get where you’re going or do you drive the speed limit?
Let’s just say I keep it within five to ten miles of the speed limit and leave it at that!
The Mysteries of Tarot
by Kirsten Weiss
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GENRE: Contemporary Mystery/Suspense
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BLURB:
The Mysteries of Tarot: A Work of the Imagination
How to Read the Cards for Transformation
When Tarot reader Hyperion Night sent his manuscript, The Mysteries of Tarot, to a friend to edit, it was a simple guide to reading Tarot. Hyperion couldn’t anticipate that his editor’s notes would evolve into a murder mystery, or that his friend would go missing. Shockingly, the annotated manuscript eventually made its way back to Hyperion, who forwarded it to the authorities.
Now this astonishing Tarot guide is available as a book. The Tarot guidebook features:
• Tarot basics―How to manage different interpretations of cards in a spread, how to read court cards, and a clear and simple method for dealing with reversals.
• Detailed card breakdowns― Keywords, flash non-fiction narratives, and a deep dive into the symbols of each of the 78 cards of the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana.
• Questions to apply to the cards for transforming your life―Insightful questions for each card to help you dig deeper into your Tarot reading practice.
Bonus feature: the guidebook also includes his editor’s comments on the more esoteric and philosophical interpretations of the Tarot, as well as his notes on the baffling mystery that engulfed him.
Gain deep insight from the cards, transform yourself, and solve The Mysteries of Tarot with this work of experimental fiction that’s part Tarot guidebook, part murder mystery.
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Excerpt:
The Moon
Messages from the unconscious. Mystery. Confusion. Dreams. Illusion.
Last night, I dreamt of a departed aunt I’d had a contentious relationship with. She walked down the hallway of my apartment and sat beside me in the living room.
Suddenly I remembered she was dead and understood I was dreaming. But instead of the dream ending, like it usually does when I become aware, we talked—the kind of talk we’d never been able to have when she was alive. She apologized for some things she’d said and done and helped me understand why she’d said and done them. And her reasons weren’t awful. They made a lot of sense.
I apologized too, because I hadn’t been innocent in the turn our relationship had taken. We forgave each other. I woke up feeling lighter. Free.
The Symbols
I’m still not sure if it was “only” a lucid dream or a visitation from my relative. I don’t know if it matters. It was all very lunar, very moonlike. And not just because the Moon card can represent dreams. Moons with their waxing and waning also represent illusion and confusion, messages from the subconscious crawling up out of the muck like that lobster creeping from the water in the card. A dog and a wolf, representing the refined conscious and the more primitive subconscious, howl at the moon’s light.
And all of those things had been at play in my life. I’d created a false—or at least incomplete—story in my mind of the cause of my estrangement from my relative (illusion/confusion). But the truth bubbled up from my subconscious in last night’s dream. If it hadn’t, I’d still be carrying that burden.
What Does This Card Mean for You?
When the Moon card appears in a Tarot reading, it suggests we may not be seeing things clearly. But the truth is out there — or in there, as the case may be.
How can you bring your subconscious impulses or knowledge into conscious light? The road between the two towers in the card is long, dark, and winding. Have patience. Be brave.
Notes: The Moon
44 As to The Moon, I feel like I’m swimming in it. At first my father’s death seemed like an accident, a fall from the balcony outside his bedroom. He’s been drinking more than usual lately. But the servants swear he wasn’t drinking that night. And the balcony railing is low. He could have fallen by accident.
I keep replaying our last conversation. Had he been thinking then of taking his own life? Was that why he’d come to see me? Because he knew I’d been a failure when I’d tried my hand at self-deletion? Maybe he wanted me to talk him out of it?
I don’t understand. But I’ll try to keep up with the daily edits, where I feel I have something to add. I need to keep my mind busy. -T
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Kirsten Weiss writes laugh-out-loud, page-turning mysteries, and now a Tarot guidebook that’s a work of experimental fiction. Her heroes and heroines aren’t perfect, but they’re smart, they struggle, and they succeed. Kirsten writes in a house high on a hill in the Colorado woods and occasionally ventures out for wine and chocolate. Or for a visit to the local pie shop.
Kirsten is best known for her Wits’ End, Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum, and Tea & Tarot cozy mystery books. So if you like funny, action-packed mysteries with complicated heroines, just turn the page…
Victoria Saccenti will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Twisted Proposal: Central Florida Stories
by Victoria Saccenti
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GENRE: Erotic Romance (Dark, DubCon)
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BLURB:
The sweeter the revenge, the more bitter the cost.
Ethan Ashford prefers the private playrooms of his exclusive club to the backstabbing elite society into which he was born. But when his ailing father asks him to attend a gala dinner, he reluctantly agrees. Only to encounter an eerily familiar face that freezes him in his tracks.
He quickly realizes the woman isn’t Joyce, a conniving social climber who almost ruined his family, but her cousin Siena Maynard, a fledgling fashion designer who pings Ethan’s Dom radar from across the ballroom. Even better, her uncanny resemblance to Joyce sparks a plan that will satisfy his hunger for revenge—and his craving to have sweet Siena at his mercy.
Phase one: Dig up every detail about Siena, from her dwindling funds to her brother’s shady connections. Phase two: Back her into a corner with one way out—to accept him as her sole benefactor in exchange for her total submission.
Ethan fully expected to take diabolical pleasure in Siena’s body, tears, and flesh. But he never anticipated she’d sink so deeply under his skin, that losing her would destroy what’s left of his soul.
Note: Twisted Proposal is a standalone romance in the Central Florida Stories – Club Nexus universe. Contains D/s dynamics, dubious consent, intense scenes, and lots of dirty talk.
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Excerpt:
As he’d hoped it was quiet out in the terrace, they were alone, no one from the party had come out. Siena leaned on the banister. He approached her without making a sound and found her with her eyes closed, ignoring the city skyline. Was she enjoying the solitude or gathering her wits for the upcoming presentation? He assumed the latter. Her breath hitched suddenly, and she turned.
Siena’s turquoise irises fell on him. Ethan stiffened. Her clear gaze stormed through his mind, heart, and soul. The raid surprised him and his stomach clenched as if he’d been punched in the gut. She’d flipped the tables on him. The dominant in Ethan went into full alert mode.
Proceed with caution.
Up close the resemblance to Joyce wasn’t as strong. Her unexpected arrival, his loathing of the Rudloes, and overall family aura had tricked his senses into creating a perfect illusion. Her features were uniquely hers and stunning. Now he noticed the straight nose, elegant cheekbones, and kissable, smiling lips. Her smooth skin.
“Hi.” Slim fingers flew to her chest.
“Hello.”
She gave him a curious look. “Have we met?”
“I’d remember if we had.” Grasping the banister’s railing, he turned front. He needed a moment to recover from her assault. One full breath and he’d be back in control of the situation with his defenses bolstered. Siena Maynard was danger wrapped up in an exquisite package. Her initial openness and sincerity were disarming. A studied act or the real Siena? Taking into account her family and relationship with Joyce—a modern Delilah and ultimate backstabber—he’d go for the studied act and keep it in mind as his plan progressed.
“I saw you with the Bernvilles, what brings you to our little celebration?”
“Little?” Her titter was a soft chime in his ears. “I can’t imagine what a big celebration would be like.”
He breathed out ejecting the charming lilt of her voice out of his system. If he didn’t find ways to block her endearing ways, putting together a revenge project was going to be tough…
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Award-winning and best-selling author Victoria Saccenti writes romantic women’s fiction, contemporary romance, and paranormal romance. Not one for heart and flower stories, she explores the edgy twists and turns of human interaction, the many facets of love, and all possible happy endings. After thirty years of traveling the world, she’s settled in Central Florida, where she splits her busy schedule between family and her active muse at Essence Publishing. However, if she could convince her husband to sell their home, she would pack up her computer and move to Scotland, a land she adores. On a side note, in one form or another, Scotland appears in most of her stories.
Luki Belle will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Author Interview
1. How did you choose your genre? What made you write this book?
Having been born and grown up in post-colonial countries, having been on the receiving end of hate, racism, and prejudice I wanted to explore a male character who was on the colonizing side who will be a military man, ruthless, arrogant, and prejudiced, to see what could compel such a man to have a change of heart. That was the initial inspiration for The Delicate Affair of Colonel Baquiste (TDACB), which morphed into a very, very complex novel once I started thinking more about it. It was a meditational journey for me that taught me that individuals, situations, and events are never absolutes. There is always the positive side which tends to be quieter, subtler, and more like a gentle nudge while the negative is the exact opposite.
Call it a means to self-heal with an aspiration to believe that it is possible to overcome prejudice if we recognize that in our human imperfections lie the opportunity for change and the power to choose towards a positive outcome. If we were perfect and absolute, change would not be possible, if we all put our anger out into the world it would be destructive. But, if we helped ourselves compassionately, we would inevitably help others positively. It all begins with self-healing and the means to do that is to learn to change our psychological masks by allowing ourselves to immerse in another person’s world, to view the world through a different lens, to take off, even if momentarily, any forced uniform and imposed roles and to disguise ourselves, if only to catch a glimpse of our own former self and to understand the world from a different perspective.
While writing TDACB I ended up discovering many other things that I experienced which were applicable to the meditational experience I was having with this novel. I address these in Question #2 below.
2. Writers write what they know and must observe the world. Are you a firstborn, middle, or last child and how does this shape your view of the world?
In conjunction with my response to Question #1, there were several personal experiences that spiritually and organically flowed into TDACB. Hence the reason for my meditational journey while writing this book.
I am technically an only child of my parents however I am in a family with other siblings who came from one of my parents’ prior marriages. Thus, I am the youngest and the only; all at the same time. This is such a great question because I do agree that writers must be good observers, almost like people and situational analysts. The fact that I was technically an only child, many years younger than my siblings through one of my parents, I had a very close relationship with one of my parents (who was not previously married), and I was surrounded by alpha adults for the most part of my growing up life. I received ample attention while I also had to be obedient to the four adults in my immediate family, all of whom had strong personalities. Therefore, there were times when I got exactly what I wanted (as the last child) and other times when I had to obey my family’s adults (being the youngest).
I also had to learn how to navigate my way with my older siblings, cleverly and charmingly. I had to quietly and keenly observe the four adults to carve out my place in a powerful family. I took this experience and applied it to Valstohl Baquiste (the Colonel), to Chamcham (the little Hastana boy at the Yervaan palace), and to Lady Tempaley (the adolescent Hastana at Daikalin city).
Speaking of strong relationships, I have always attracted strong personalities into my life’s journey (starting with those who were given to me biologically – my immediate and extended families). Everyone one of them taught me lessons (some not so good but critical lessons nevertheless). I have also been blessed with erudite mentors, people who uplifted me, saw in me what nobody did at that time, and who impacted my academic and professional lives positively. Colonel Valstohl Baquiste had a close relationship with his father and an interesting relationship with his mother Countess Rayaan Baquiste (no spoilers). Colonel Baquiste’s relationship with his Lieutenant Colonel, Brune Farmagash, plays an impactful role in the novel including the directive of Ambassador General Masim Tropart on the persona of disguise which the Colonel needs to embrace. I explore my experience with my mentors who saw in me something I never knew I had, near the end of TDACB (no spoilers). On the Hastana side, I have also displayed strong traditional, culture-rooted, and obedience-bound relationships between Jeshn Yervaan and his mother, between Chamcham and all the adults he must interact with and obey at the Yervaan palace, and between Lady Tempaley and her parents.
When speaking about traditional relationships, I brought my life’s experience of being from a and having lived in countries where people are bound by complex traditions, spiritual or religious practices, and defined by their deep-rooted cultural beliefs. I consciously and subconsciously observed the profound dynamics of such vibrant, colorful, culture-rich nations under post-colonial governance and military rule. I heard stories from my family circle, from those who experienced colonization and how it played into their traditional way of living, and how colonization impacted them both positively and not so positively. My life was also shaped by those members of my family who went through colonization and lived through the early days of the post-colonial order. These observations and experiences enriched and influenced my writings in TDACB. And from this came the delicate and tricky topic of assimilation during inevitable change – how much do you change, what do you retain, how do you decide and how do you measure the consequences of decisions? These are not easy questions when you are either unsure or uncertain of or resisting change. And I don’t make any statements in TDACB about assimilation because it is really defined by the circumstances and the people involved. As a reader of the novel, I hope you too will appreciate the difficult questions of how much to assimilate and when to question and even resist change.
Two last things. In the spirit of deciding, I emphasize in TDACB that you must choose, and the consequence of your choice is felt not just by you but also by those around you. Secondly, never lose your grit, to endure and survive. I was taught grit by all the strong and powerful people who came into my life, and they also taught me how to be accountable to myself when I choose a path, I am responsible for what I decide, and I am accountable for how I respond to decisions being made for me. Valstohl/Gulaan and Jeshn make choices that impact several characters who are then also compelled to choose. Both these men have grit and have endured tragic events and situations. I still find myself thinking about how I would choose if I were them.
3. Where is your favorite place to write?
In a quiet place, preferably within my apartment, by a window, on my writing desk which has several inspiring and motivational items on it, including a picture of my belated father and a picture of my parents when they got engaged.
4. How do you feel about “killing your darlings”, and what do you do with the “remains”?
So far in three novels that I have written and in the numerous short stories that I have written but not published (yet), I have never removed a character. BUT: I certainly have omitted plots that I worked hard, oh so very hard to create. What do I do with them? I keep them in a folder called “archives.”
5. You are introduced to your favorite author. Who is it, and what is that one burning question you must ask them?
Since the question ends with a plural “them” I am assuming I can mention the names of more than one author. I have five favorites, and have the same burning question for all of them “How in the world could you come up with such fine detail in describing scenes and plots? Surely none of you ever experienced all of that first-hand, wow how did you manage to write with such complex accuracy?”
And my favorite authors are, in no particular order – Rabindranath Tagore, Enid Blyton, Leo Tolstoy, Satyajit Ray, and Patrick Suskind.
6. Inquiring minds want to know…tell your readers something about you that no one knows.
Ha! My first story was all characters and no plot! My mother asked me one afternoon when I was about six or seven years old, right before my nap, while I was sitting on her bed, in my parents’ fully furnished bedroom, to tell her a story. I looked around and being the little girl that I was I eyed my mother’s dresser and said “There was once a powder, and a cream, and a comb sitting beside two lipsticks and one perfume. Story finish!”
7. You are stranded on a deserted island with only a backpack for company. What three items are in your survival pack?
Aladdin’s lamp, my writing laptop, a swimsuit
8. If you could have one superpower in your existence, what would it be?
The ability to go into the world of any of my stories and to return, at will, whenever.
9. Favorite Snack?
A Blueberry Banana Pecan muffin.
10. Indy 500 – Do you know how to get where you are going, or do you drive the speed limit?
Can I say both? 😊 I usually see a scene in my mind, something random or I will see something that will inspire a random scene in my mind. I ignore it until it keeps nagging me. Then I start scribbling to dabble and play with the scene to see what comes of it. Often it fizzles out and I abandon that inspiration. Other times I get very excited, and ideas start coming. I will continue writing until I realize that I must develop this. Then I go into the painful reflection period, where I have isolated characters, scenes, plots, or one of those things or a few of those things and I am trying to build something out of it. I call it painful reflection because I basically need to wait for days, weeks, or months for me to find enough material to come up with the outline. With The Delicate Affair of Colonel Baquiste the reflection period was over two months. During this time, I just must write down whatever comes into my mind in terms of characters, roles, events, and actions but none of it is nicely connected. There is really no aha moment though because even when I create the outline and start filling in the content, I invariably arrive at a juncture where things either crisscross (don’t merge nicely) or are going in parallel and I cannot connect things. So, it is more like taking 10 steps forward and 6 steps back even when I start filling in the outline.
The Delicate Affair of Colonel Baquiste
by Luki Belle
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GENRE: Adult Fiction, Gothic Fiction, Paranormal Suspense, Military Thriller
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BLURB:
The setting: two fictitious nations, Hastan and Llehstanz, in a past imaginary era of colonization.
The Llehstanz Monarchy won its final battle over Hastan to colonize the nation after years of war. The battlefield charge was led by a reputable, young, ruthless, and handsome Colonel Valstohl Baquiste. Highly skilled but equally arrogant, he holds prejudice against the people of Hastan. Tragically, Colonel Baquiste was unexpectedly attacked during the last battle leaving him physically disabled. Realizing his military life is over, the embittered Colonel Baquiste awaits his dismissal to return to Llehstanz. However, he is offered a second chance for victory.
Colonel Baquiste is called back to military duty on a secret mission. He must go alone in disguise to capture elusive thugs terrorizing the Llehstanzite regiment. In accepting the mission, Baquiste realizes he is no longer fighting an enemy on a battleground when he travels to stay at the palace of renowned Southern Hastana landowner, Sir Bojeshnomaan Yervaan. Yervaans’ sinister nature ensnares Baquiste while the delicate assignment compels him to confront his tragic past and his prejudice against Hastanas. If the ambitious Colonel wants victory, it will require him to use not just his grit but also his heart.
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Excerpt:
I would take your place if you ordered me Valstohl. You still have five hours to get on that ship and go home. Let Masim clean up this mess on his own reputation, this is not your problem. And if you fail then he will just find another officer and keep trying. Your life is not worth this! Go home, start a family, you are the only Baquiste heir. Don’t take this mission!
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Luki Belle works in the media industry. Storytelling was a fixture from childhood when she would listen to stories told by her grandparents, parents, sisters, and cousins who would read to her from diverse cultural fiction books. Growing up, Luki was fortunate to live in various parts of the world and experience beautiful cultures. During this time, she embraced and appreciated diversity among people while recognizing through love, overcoming pain, or grief, one can truly bond with others leading to unimaginable positive outcomes.
Not long after their move into Blackstone, married couple Mitch and Buck begin to witness strange sightings of shadowy figures, physical manifestations and inexplicable events taking place in the former Sheppard family estate nestled in the Northern Poconos of Pennsylvania. Through séances, they learn from the spirit of Jedidiah Sheppard that he has not been able to cross over into the afterlife because the truth behind his sudden disappearance in 1965 has never been solved. During this journey, Mitch and Buck and an eccentric psychic, Gladys Munch aka Madame Fortunesta, encounter interference from the spirit of a Lenape medicine man, Mesingwe Medeu, who protects Jedidiah’s spirit. Mitch and Buck eventually realize that they must find Jedidiah’s remains and let the authorities discover through modern detective work the evidence needed to try and convict the murderer. But is it too late for Jedidiah’s spirit to find eternal peace?
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Excerpt:
“The spirit led us to this area of the cellar by blinking the lights, making them dimmer and then brighter. When we asked if he would like to be called a spirit, the intensity of the blinking increased, brighter and faster. We thought it was because he liked it, but then the blinking stopped and the intensity of the light grew until the bulbs started to burst, and as you can see, there is shattered glass on the floor,” I explain as we walk across the broken glass, the crinkling sounds underfoot. “Sorry about the glass. I have been a little freaked out to sweep up.”
“Where did you find the album?”
“Over here. It fell off this shelf of the bookcase, where you can see the imprint in the dust.”
Gladys places her hand on the spot where the album once lay and closes her eyes. Suddenly, she opens them, and a surprised, distressed expression comes over her face, the first time I haven’t seen a hint of a smile all morning.
“I would like to leave here now,” she states in a fearful tone.
“Sure, is something—”
“Now, Mitch! We need to leave now!”
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
After twenty-five years in higher education, Patrick Field traded in teaching and textbooks to pursue his passion of writing spine-chilling fiction. Holding a Ph.D. in Anatomical Sciences and Neuroscience, his experience informs his writing, a unique blend of scientific knowledge with supernatural storytelling.
His non-scientific writing career began with Prince Patrick, a memoir of his precocious childhood that he wrote for his mother as she battled pancreatic cancer. This process was not only healing but helpful in stirring his creativity and marked the moment he was bitten by the writing bug.
An avid fan of Anne Rice, Edgar Allen Poe, and Joe Hill, Patrick’s subsequent novels were inspired by his favorite authors. His first fiction novel, The Malevolent, and his two latest novels, The Bedfordshire Warlock (release date in early 2024) and Servant were written throughout the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
His latest novel Servant was inspired by the supernatural events that happened to the author, his husband, and friends that have stayed in their home in northeastern Pennsylvania. Taking a page from his teaching philosophy that those who teach must never cease to learn, Patrick found himself hungry to discover all he could about the area’s diverse cultures, including the Anthracite coal mining community and the indigenous tribe of the Lenape.
Patrick’s writing process is a mix between walking meditation and meticulous research. His novels form while he walks alone with his dogs, imagining plot lines and characters. Once he’s home, he quickly types notes on his computer before fleshing them out later. Research is a considerable part of his process- the scientist in him abhors “alternative facts.” When he encounters an idea or a historical thread unfamiliar to him, he researches all he can about it. While he writes about a world where the supernatural realm is prominent, the real world is always based on facts.
When developing characters, he usually has an idea of the destination he wants for each character but the journey to get there is often written by the character and the environment. Of all the characters he’s written, Gladys Munch in Servant is his favorite, as she’s an amalgam of delightful, humorous “mature” ladies in his life and physically inspired by British actresses Margaret Rutherford and Angela Lansbury.
In addition to writing, Patrick appears on the stage of his community theater and sings in the chorus of a local opera company each summer. He enjoys spending time with his husband, Matthew, and their dogs and exploring new destinations around the world, especially those that have a supernatural history. Haunted buildings and structures associated with the occult fascinate Patrick. His idea of a perfect day: drinking pints of Guinness draught with friends and family over scintillating and humorous conversation.
Gayle Feyrer will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Author Interview
1. How did you choose your genre? What made you write this book?
I love history and love the research. This book was going to have an Italian Renaissance setting, like my first romance, The Prince of Cups. But the publishers weren’t happy with Italy. So I moved the characters to Elizabethan England. The characters were inspired to a greater or lesser degree by the TV show Wiseguy. It’s weird that my Italian plot didn’t have much resemblance to the show, but when I had to devise a new world for them the criminal underground was what worked.
2. Writers write what they know, and must observe the world. Are you a firstborn, middle or last child and how does this shape your view of the world?
I’m an only child with two older half-sisters. I got to be the center of attention but also got to admire and have fun with my sisters. I was rather jealous when they had children because then I wasn’t the kid everyone doted on, but I also wasn’t placed with the adults at the family holiday dinners. Shape my world view? I’m probably more self-centered than I would have been with siblings near in age to me. Then again, I know plenty of self-centered people with siblings. Mostly I feel shaped by being an artist and by being a Libra with Scorpio rising (excellent combo for writing romance – or mystery for that matter).
3. Where is your favorite place to write?
I need a nest to write. Sometimes it’s been no more than a desk and bookcase, sometimes a whole room. After we bought our house, we converted the garage into a studio where I write, do art, make perfumes. The ceiling is turquoise and the walls a deep wine red. It’s always cool in summer, which is great with Global Warming, and in winter I have an electric shawl and gloves for when I write.
4. How do you feel about killing your darlings, and what do you do with the remains?
My instinct with most writing rules is to break them. I do recognize the situations where they apply but I see various “rules” applied like laws. Yes, there are passages that I loved that were excessive and unnecessary and ended on the cutting room floor (saved in a folder). There were also paragraphs that could have been cut and I’d ask “Will the reader stop reading because I leave this darling in.” Well, no, they won’t and the darling lived to tell the tale. There are terse readers that I admire, but my taste runs to literary fiction in all genres. I love words and I love the writers who love them too. I don’t mind stopping reading a book because a passage so beautiful I have to pause and savor it, but there are other writers who’d consider this anathema. I read for story, of course, but character, style, world are as important to me.
5. You are introduced to your favorite author. Who is it, and what is that one burning question you must ask them?
I’d like to ask Shakespeare why he didn’t develop Ophelia as a complex character.
6. Inquiring minds want to know…tell readers something about you that no one knows.
I was going to run away from home when I was six, but I couldn’t decide what dress to wear.
7. You are stranded on a deserted island with only a backpack for company. What three items are in your survival pack?
This is presuming I have a nice stream, have built a shelter, and have lots of available coconuts and the ice skates to chop them open? Well, a big fat book. I’m leaning toward the complete works of Shakespeare, though I do love The Lord of the Rings. Maybe a drone I can tie my cell phone to and send it up for rescue helicopters? And read Tolkien or Willie while I wait? Or maybe insect repellent? Instructions on how to remove hooks from sharks’ mouths, so they’ll love me? If I’m stuck there, I guess the works of Willie the Shake, Tolkien, and reading glasses.
Heart of Deception
by Gayle Feyrer
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GENRE: Historical Romance
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BLURB:
Intrigue and treachery stalk the grimy streets and the royal courts of Elizabethan England. Returning from war, Rafe Fletcher finds his family accused of conspiring to murder Elizabeth and place Mary, Queen of Scots, on her throne. His only hope to save them lies in infiltrating the criminal underworld of nefarious siblings Nick and Vivian Swift.
Rafe discovers it’s Viv who is the mastermind of the duo. Bold, clever and ruthless, Viv is also loyal and fiercely passionate. Rafe fights the intense magnetism that pulls him ever closer to destruction. But desire defies every warning he gives himself and they begin a blazing affair–until murder and betrayal severs their newly formed trust. Restoring that trust may be the only way Rafe can save the Queen, his own family, and the woman he’s come to love.
Their adventure takes them from the fledgling theatres of Shakespeare’s London to the desperate corridors of Bedlam, from the deadly backstreets of the Clink to the glittering court of Queen Elizabeth. It is a world of dark secrets and darker intrigues. Will the fire of their passion burn bright enough to incinerate the lies, and illuminate the truth?
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Excerpt:
Prickling with the awareness of being watched, Rafe looked up to the house, his search stopping at a shadowy form behind the great bow window. He stared up at the window until the shadow moved forward. Circular panes sparkled in the sun as the central casements opened to reveal a woman watching. Dark and slender, she looked clothed in flame, her velvet gown a blaze of scarlet slashed with black. A shock went through Rafe as her glittering gaze met his own, then slowly browsed him from head to toe.
Used to seductive appraisal, flirtatious or serious, still he flushed at the flagrant assessment, and the heat that flashed through him seemed to ignite in her eyes, bright within their dark. Rafe had never seen a lady with so bold a glance, which mocked as it weighed, invited as it challenged. But no lady would be here among these criminals, though the woman gazing down at him knew how to dress the part. Rubies burned at her throat, and ropes of sparkling jet draped her vivid scarlet bodice. The distinctive garb, the total presumptuousness of the woman, made him tense with suspicion. Slowly, her gaze swept his body, scanning the breadth of his shoulders and assessing the strong muscles of his thighs. … The black eyes sought his again, and he stared back defiantly, icy anger running in cold currents against his hot arousal. Rafe felt more than provoked—he felt deliberately tested to see how long he could stand in the fire.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Gayle Feyrer began drawing as soon as she could hold a crayon and writing when she was twelve. She holds a Bachelor’s in Pictorial Arts from UCLA, and a MFA from the University of Oregon in Creative Writing. In her varied career, she has been a tie-dye artist, go-go dancer, baker, creator of ceramic beasties, illustrator, fiction teacher, and finally, novelist. A Libra with Scorpio Rising, Gayle’s romantic nature takes on a darker edge. She hopes these shadows bring depth to her romances.
A world traveler, Gayle has visited Paris, England, and Italy numerous times. She lived for two years in Jakarta, Indonesia, with many trips around Asia. She currently resides across the bridge from San Francisco, with her husband and their two rescue cats, Charlotte and Emily, the Flying Bronte sisters, half Siamese and half tabby.
