Category Archives: Author Blog Post

Author Interview with Pamela S Thibodeaux ~ New Release: Kyleigh’s Cowboy #InspirationalRomance

I am delighted to feature my sweet friend and talented author, Pamela S Thibodeaux on today’s blog. By the way…her book is available for pre-order AND it’s on sale for only 99 cents!!

Please tell us a little about yourself, where are you from? Where do you live now? Family? Pets?  I am a mother of four (two by blood and two by marriage) and grandmother of three hailing from SW Louisiana. No pets at the time but my daughter and son have enough to make up for me not having any LOL!

Where did you get the idea for KYLEIGH’S COWBOY? In a first-chapter scene Kyleigh’s daughter has encouraged her to get out and socialize more then remarks about her maybe one day future husband …. “Who knows, he might be a tall, dark, handsome cowboy like dad always fantasized of being.” Hence the title.

Why did you choose this genre (is it something you’ve written in before)? Back in 1989 I committed my writing to God and said I didn’t want to write “just another romance” but something to glorify Him. I then revised my stories to include the characters’ faith, even though I had no idea there were major differences in Christian romances from traditional at the time. It’s been a tough lesson as I still don’t write traditional Christian but “Inspirational with an Edge!” ™ and it’s all I write.

Was there anything unusual, any anecdote about this book, the characters, title, process, etc, you’d like to share?

Kyleigh’s Cowboy started out as a short story for a popular women’s magazine but was rejected because the editor and readership did not like cowboys. Talk about a shock! Who doesn’t like cowboys, right? LOL!

What is the most difficult thing about writing a book? Getting into a set routine and applying the butt in chair principle.

What was the most difficult thing about this one in particular?

For some reason I felt this story (which began at less than 800 words) should be a minimum of 25K. Why this particular number still baffles me but for a while I struggled to get the word count up. I was going through a challenging period in my life at the time but once things settled down for me, adding scenes was easy. Even in the editing stages I’ve added or rounded out a few scenes in hopes of delivering a satisfying read.

What book have you read that you wish you had written? Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers.

What’s your favorite book of all time and why? My favorite book of all time is actually the Born In trilogy by Nora Roberts. I really can’t explain why except those characters stay with me and I reread their stories often.

What’s your favorite childhood book? Again, this is a series not just one book: Walter Farley’s Black Stallion series

What actors would you like in the main roles if your book were made into a movie? Amber Marshall and Graham Wardle from the TV series Heartland. I believe these two would make excellent Kyleigh and Lance in a few years!

What genre have you never written that you’d like to write? Sometimes I think I’d like to write a traditional romance with steamy, passionate love scenes. I started one years ago but haven’t sat down to finish it. (See answer above about butt in chair principle 😊)

What is your favorite quote? “Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? ~Marianne Williamson from A Return to Love

Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work? Nora Roberts is hands-down my favorite author of all time. I just LOVE the way her characters grow throughout the books and her powers of description are beyond anything else I’ve read.

What is the toughest criticism given to you as an author? I had one reader/reviewer trash me and even question my faith because of my characters’ flaws and the way those were portrayed in the story. She didn’t bother to mention the growth or lessons learned from the instances she bemoaned. What has been the best compliment? ANY time I’m told one of my stories touched someone’s heart or changed their life or mind about a certain perception they’ve held it makes all the other stuff about writing/publishing worthwhile.

Your favorite…

Movie: I’m not good at having only one answer to your questions LOL! My favorite movies of all time are Pretty Woman and A Few Good Men

Music: Anything I can dance to which leaves out heavy metal and rap.

Place you’ve visited: Bandera, TX will always be my home away from home but my favorite places I’ve visited to date are Churchill Downs Home of the Kentucky Derby and Boonsboro MD – Nora Roberts’s hometown and her businesses Inn Boonsboro & Turn the Page Bookstore.

Place you’d like to visit: Ireland

TV show from adulthood: Heartland

Food: Bread in its every form: white, wheat, whole grain, pastries, cookies, cakes, pies (you get my drift LOL!)

Sports team: New Orleans Saints

Which do you prefer: Board games/card games or television? I prefer card and board games over television.

Thank you for the fun interview. I enjoyed getting to know more about you. Now…tell us about your book!

She’s attempting to start a new life. He’s roamed for more than a decade. Can they let go of the past and grab hold of the future?

Seven years after the death of her husband, Kyleigh Winters turned their old vacation home into a brand new guest ranch. Not willing to join the ranks of lonely women trolling the bars or online in search of a man, Kyleigh is sure if God wishes her to have another husband, He’ll send the perfect someone in His own time. But will she be open to the possibility of new love when He does?

Searching for a place that calls to his soul, Lance Stevens has been a roaming cowboy for ten years since retiring from the Marines. He finds that sanctuary the moment he drives through the Silver Star’s gate and meeting the lovely owner speaks to more than his soul. Will he open to the healing power of love?

Get Pamela Thibodeaux’s second chance romance novella today and see how love and faith conquers all.

Excerpt:

Lance sat on his horse atop the highest hill the ranch boasted. Christmas was less than a week away and they were free of scheduled guests until then, but they never knew when someone would pop in and want to stay. Seth and Elaina had painted her bedroom and he’d refinished the dresser, hiding the ugly scars left by flames with fresh color. He’d trimmed it out with an intricate geometric pattern stenciled in various shades that picked up the muted hues of her new bedspread and curtains. The work his son was capable of surprised and pleased Lance.

If only he could relate that to the boy.

Kyleigh had lavished praise on Seth, saying she wished he’d been involved in the renovations they’d endured before opening the ranch to the public. She then promised to find more woodwork for him to do for as long as he chose to remain in her employ. The three of them had been thick as thieves ever since.

And that was a problem.

He hadn’t had a moment alone with Kyleigh in days.
Time to remedy that.
Lance whirled his horse around, picked his way down the trail and into the corral. He unsaddled and groomed the animal. After giving Champ an extra helping of oats, he turned the big chestnut loose to roam with the herd, and then ambled to the bunkhouse to shower and dress. Convincing Kyleigh to have dinner with him in town might be easier if he smelled less like a cowboy and more like a gentleman. He cornered her in the office as she tallied up the day’s books and prepared a deposit. “Just the lady I wanted to see.”

She glanced up, smiled, and his heart stuttered in his chest. “You clean up nice.”

Lance chuckled. “Got a hot date.”

Her eyebrow arched in question. “Is that a fact?”

He stepped closer, cupped her cheek in his hand. “That’s a fact, ma’am. What’re you hungry for?”

“What makes you think I don’t already have plans for this evening?”

The flush on her cheeks, light in her eyes, and softly curved lips assured Lance she didn’t, but he played along for the simple joy the teasing brought. “Cancel them. Nothing is as important as dinner tonight. With me. Just the two of us…wine, food, dancing. No ranch, no kids, no responsibilities.”

“A bit demanding, aren’t you?”

He took her hands, pulled her to her feet. “That, my lady, was a request. This is a demand,” he murmured, then captured her mouth in a hot, hungry gesture. By the time he let her catch her breath again, she was plastered against him, her fingers fisted in his shirtfront.

Buy links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BF627TZF

BB: https://www.bookbub.com/books/kyleigh-s-cowboy-by-pamela-s-thibodeaux

GR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62590658-kyleigh-s-cowboy

Other: https://books2read.com/KyleighsCowboy

About Pamela:

Award-winning author, Pamela S. Thibodeaux is the Co-Founder and a lifetime member of Bayou Writers Group in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Multi-published in romantic fiction as well as creative non-fiction, her writing has been tagged as, “Inspirational with an Edge!” ™ and reviewed as “steamier and grittier than the typical Christian novel without decreasing the message.” Sign up to receive Pam’s newsletter and get a FREE short story! http://bit.ly/psthibnewsletter

Social Media Links:

FB Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/pamelasthibodeauxauthor

Twitter: http://twitter.com/psthib @psthib

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/pamelasthibodea/

Amazon Author Page:  https://www.amazon.com/Pamela-S-Thibodeaux/e/B002BM045Q/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/pamela-s-thibodeaux

Instagram: https://instagram.com/pamelasthibodeauxauthor

Good Reads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1268453.Pamela_S_Thibodeaux

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamelasthibodeaux/

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Author Interview with Rachel Brimble & New Release: Victoria & Violet #HistoricalRomance

Please help me welcome today’s guest, Rachel Brimble…

Rachel, thank you for joining me today! Please tell us a little about yourself, where are you from? Where do you live now? Family? Pets?

Hi, I am so happy to be here! Although originally from Bristol in the UK, I am now lucky enough to live just a short drive from the famous city of Bath, England. I have been married to my wonderful Mr. B for 24 years and we have two grown up daughters and a chocolate Labrador called Tyler.

When I’m not working, I love to travel, read, knit and watch far too many period and crime dramas…

Where did you get the idea for Victoria & Violet?

This book is the realization of a long-held ambition – I have wanted to include real characters and events in one of my novels for so long and I have finally managed it with Victoria & Violet.

I love writing historical romance so had the idea to write a series where the books are linked by each successive monarch or their consort, but the actual romance revolves around two fictional characters at court. Victoria & Violet is set in the court of Queen Victoria and follows the journey and escapades of her housemaid, Violet.

I absolutely loved writing it and now enjoying book 2 set in the court of Queen Alexandra.

What’s the main thing that you could get rid of in your life that would give you more writing time?

Social media! It has so many benefits for artists of any kind promoting their work, but it does take up a large chunk of my writing time. Having said that, it’s absolutely necessary and I secretly enjoy it! I have made some of best online friends through social media, not to mention building some fantastic relationships with my readers. So, it’s fair to say I have accepted social media is part of my working life!

What do you want readers to come away with after they read Victoria & Violet?

I’d say this book will appeal to all fans of British period drama, so I’d love for readers to come away with the feeling that they have been transported to a different world where courtiers, royalty and common people interact and learn to love and respect one another.

I hope I provide laughter, a few tears and memorable scenes that readers will recall time and time again.

What genre have you never written that you’d like to write?

I am currently studying for a history degree in the hope of writing Royal biographies sometime in the future. I am a bit of Royal nut and especially enjoy reading about past British monarchs so would love to spend my days immersed in research and writing about one of them.

For fiction, I also occasionally think whether or not I could write a cozy crime novel…watch this space!

What is your favorite quote?

“Set it up the way you want it to be.” Iyanla Vanzant

What do your friends and family think of your writing?

They love that I write and are quick to tell anyone and everyone who will listen what I do! Not all of them read my work, but the ones who do are always asking when the next book is coming and the ones who don’t still ask me a hundred questions whenever we’re together.

It really warms me to have their unending support.

Who is the most famous person you have ever met?

Nora Roberts! As a ridiculously starry-eyed fan of hers for over two decades, it was the biggest thrill of my life when my husband surprised me by booking afternoon tea with Nora Roberts at the beautiful Ashford Castle in Ireland (we also stayed the night!).

I spoke to her at the book signing and said hello again in the hotel later that evening. It was a weekend I will never forget 😊

Your favorite…

Movie   Notting Hill

Music  1980s

Place you’ve visited  Croatia

Place you’d like to visit   Sardinia

TV show from childhood    Grange Hill

TV show from adulthood  Too many!

Food  Chicken Satay

Sports team  None – not a sports person at all!

Which do you prefer: Board games/card games or television? Television

Great interview….I agree about Social Media! 🙂 Now, please tell us about your book…

It should be a dream come true to serve the Queen of England…

When Violet Parker is told she will be Queen Victoria’s personal housemaid, she cannot believe her good fortune. She finally has the chance to escape her overbearing mother, a servant to the Duchess of Kent.

Violet hopes to explore who she is and what the world has to offer without her mother’s schemes overshadowing her every thought and action.

Then she meets James Greene, assistant to the queen’s chief political adviser, Lord Melbourne. From entirely different backgrounds and social class, Violet and James should have neither need nor desire to speak to one another, yet through their service, their paths cross and their lives merge—as do their feelings.

Only Victoria’s court is not always the place for romance, but rather secrets, scandals, and conspiracies…

Excerpt:

What awaits me is marriage,” he said. “But I am not a man any woman should want for a husband so it’s something I will avoid for as long as possible.”

The curiosity in her eyes made his confidence falter, and James lifted his fingers from her arm. No doubt she thought him pathetic for fearing something that so many longed for. But Violet did not know him or what he might be capable of. Of the nasty, volatile temperament passed down through the men in his family for generations.

“Better marriage than imprisonment with a mother who has controlled and belittled you your entire life.” She smiled wryly, her gaze sad. “Better a son who will one day marry than a daughter shackled to a mother who wishes her to scheme and spy upon the only person who has made her feel human, liked, and worthy of a modicum of respect for the first time in months.”

He stilled. “Do you speak of the queen?”

Mistress Parker swallowed before looking at Victoria where she stood a few feet away. “What would you like to do if not marry?” she asked quietly.

James stared at her profile, unsure of her thoughts or disposition. “Stay at court where I am happy. Work hard. Rise within the hierarchy as a single man.”

“I want to paint.”

Had he heard her correctly? “Paint?”

She softly smiled as she faced him. “Yes. I dream of my landscapes hanging in every gallery and every grand house in the country. If you think yourself an oddity in this mercenary world, whatever must you think of me? Good evening, Mr. Greene.”

James stared after her as Violet disappeared amongst the mass of finery, his heart heavy for the sadness that emanated from her, yet his inquisitiveness about her had only deepened. He looked at Victoria as she laughed with Melbourne and others in her circle. Could it be that the queen saw the same spark of something special in Violet Parker that he did?

Find the book here: Buy Links

About Rachel:

Rachel lives in a small town near Bath, England. She is the author of 29 novels including the Ladies of Carson Street trilogy, the Shop Girl series (Aria Fiction) and the Templeton Cove Stories (Harlequin). Her latest novel, Victoria & Violet is the first book in her new Royal Maids series with the Wild Rose Press and releases 17th October 2022.

Rachel is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association as well as the Historical Novel Society and has thousands of social media followers all over the world.

To sign up for her newsletter (a guaranteed giveaway every month!), click here: https://bit.ly/3zyH7dt

Website: https://bit.ly/3wH7HQs

Twitter: https://bit.ly/3AQvK0A

Facebook: https://bit.ly/3i49GZ3

Instagram: https://bit.ly/3lTQZbF

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Spotlight: Michelle Godard-Richer ~ Fatal Hunt #Thriller

Today’s spotlight is on Michelle Godard Richer and her Thriller, Fatal Hunt (which I edited and enjoyed very much!)

Be the hunter.                                                  

After being widowed and surviving the wrath of a serial killer, Jessica believes her misfortunes are over. She’s reunited with her first love, Jon, and together, with her son Bryce, and a baby on the way, they’re living their happily ever after on their ranch in Montana. That is until secrets, lies, and a formidable foe from Jon’s past emerge to shake the foundation of their relationship, forcing them to flee for their lives.   

A decade earlier, Jon worked undercover for the FBI. He infiltrated Hugh Jones’ Kansas City mob, and almost destroyed his empire. Unaware of the breach in his own defenses, Hugh, obsessed with revenge, unleashes every weapon in his arsenal, targeting those Jon loves the most.                                                                                 

Excerpt:

Jessica’s limbs weighed a ton. She forced her heavy eyelids open. After a split second they shut on her again. She lay on something soft, and an engine droned around her. Where am I? What happened?

Then she remembered her fruitless struggle in the hospital room. Willing her head to the side, she forced her eyes to open again. Her kidnapper sat in a chair across from her reading a newspaper.

He looked over the top of his paper and smiled. “You’ll be groggy for a while longer. Go back to sleep.”

Too tired to fight, she gave into the void sucking her down.

Buy link: https://books2read.com/u/mY6NDo

About Michelle:

Growing up as an only child in a small town, with only my imagination for company, I dreamed of becoming an author. My father laughed and said something like: okay, but you might be broke. I shrugged and kept clacking on the keyboard of our home PC, delighted when my words appeared on the small monitor, a staple of early 90s technology.

In high school, when it was time to decide on a future career, I chose to pursue an Honours Degree in Criminology at the University of Ottawa, but at the back of my mind, the dream of writing for a living persisted.

Fast forward fifteen years, and as a happily married woman and proud mother to two children, four dogs, and a cat, my dream came true.

Facebook: Michelle Godard-Richer Author

Twitter: @MGodardRicher

Instagram: michellegodardricherauthor

Tiktok: @mgodardricher

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22332655.Michelle_Godard_Richer

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August 2022 Featured Books – Find New & Wonderful Authors!!! #AHAgrp #BookWorm #AmReading #Ebooks

Looking for something new and fabulous to read? Try these…

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Selling ice cream on a bike cart, Bryson Tanner pedals his way into a double mystery.

Bryson is training for track and field, Olympic trials when his coach’s brother disappears. The police find no cause for opening a case, but Bryson and Coach disagree. What they uncover leaves Bryson cornered, his life at risk. Bryson is also plagued by mysteries of the heart. His ex, Marta, is back and stars in the acting troupe’s weekend show in the park. She’d stomped on his heart once. Could he trust her with it again?
Marta’s co-star, Senona, charms Bryson over cherry shakes in the park. He’s torn between rekindling his past, or starting a new flame. He joins Senona on the actors’ mystery hunt, where the winner received a career-boosting prize.
Who knew the actors’ clue hunt would merge with the kidnapping? Danger escalates during a midsummer night’s dalliance at desolate Loon point.

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She’s a headstrong Bostonian.
When proud and beautiful, Chloe Tanner, inherits her family’s famous distillery—she’s determined to save her legacy from looming disaster. Her troubles can be traced back to one man. The man whose very presence is more intoxicating to her than whiskey.
He’s a laid-back Tennessean.
No one disputes handsome Penland Kittrell’s expertise in all things whiskey. But Pen can’t make heads or tails of his new neighbor and business rival; an undeniable attraction tainted by her connections to powerful Eastern moguls and tycoons she moves among.
Passions ignite between Chloe and Pen in this deadly tangle against revenuers, moonshiners, and robber barons who all try and come between them and their whiskey where the real gold is amber nectar. Are they willing to lose their hearts to each other in this gilded age whiskey war they both want to win?

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All Darrell Henshaw wanted was to enjoy his honeymoon with his beautiful wife, Erin, in the charming town of Crystal River on the sunny Gulf Coast of Florida. But his carefully laid plans go sideways when they discover a hidden painting of two young Latino children, which turns out to be haunted. Is Darrell willing to derail their entire honeymoon in this perfect, quiet corner of the world to unravel the mystery of the children’s deaths?

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After killing a demon and saving the modern world, paranormal cleanser Vivien Kelly only has three days till Christmas. She scrambles to buy gifts, grocery shop for holiday feasts, and get a Christmas tree. She’s on track when suddenly, her young friend Josh calls the wrath of Krampus, the Christmas demon.

Can Vivien buy gifts, cook Christmas dinner, decorate the tree, and also save Josh before Krampus drags him to an eternal hell? Vivien must call upon the most frightening goddess of all for help—Hel, goddess of the underworld.

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Finding love is the last thing Skye Layton expects when she leaves her beachfront haven bound for a wedding in California. Senator Gabe Hartley impetuously steals a kiss at their first meeting and then increasingly steals her heart. Skye can’t surrender completely to Gabe’s charm while safeguarding her role as the most powerful Sister of the Legend in her generation.

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SUPER AUTHOR = R.E.A.L. Authorpreneur(Relevant . Entrepreneurial . Action-Oriented . Literary-Focused)Each chapter of this sensational, reality-based literary series depicts a behind-the-scene episode of the remarkable authors who have mastered the perils of publishing.If you are an author or aspiring author this “tell-all” book will more than adequately equip you for SUPER AUTHOR status.

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Pike’s Run, Texas, 1890

Carl Dawson finds himself in a Georgia prison with only one way out – get Madeline Talbut, the viperous ice princess and his childhood nemesis, home to Pike’s Run, or lose a year of his life in jail. He takes the deal and finds her playing hostess on a magnificent showboat.

 

Madeline Talbut has a past she’d like to forget, and she can do that while taking care of the guests aboard the Princess. But, as she sails the mighty Mississippi, a newcomer infiltrates her space, shaking up her heart, awakening the desire she’d thought dormant and reminding her that the past must be dealt with.

Carl learns there is more to Madeline than he’d once thought, and she’s becoming more important to him than he wants. But he must hide his identity from her, or she might not return to Texas and all the pain it holds. And, even worse, if she discovers who Carl really is, he might lose her. Forever.

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Officer Bob Carson, a rookie police officer in a small California town, discovers a young woman’s body minutes after her murder, and he might have seen the truck involved in the incident. The case becomes an obsession, with Bob wondering if he could have prevented the brutal crime. He follows clues wherever he can find them, even as he advances his career with other police agencies.
When a similar case happens in California, as well as others around the country, Bob identifies a suspect – a long-haul trucker. As he closes in, the suspect vanishes and another trucker similar in appearance is murdered. Bob knows this cannot be a coincidence. The trail leads to a showdown on a rainy day in Portland, Oregon. But can Bob bring the cold-blooded killer to justice and wrap up the case that has haunted him for years?

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When an injury ends Niall McEvoy’s pro football career, he retires to his hometown of Tagelus Bay to recuperate and make plans for the next chapter of his life. The one person who’s always understood him best still lives there, but it’ll take more than the glitter of his championship rings to convince Aria to forgive his betrayal and give him a second chance.

A widow, Aria MacBride believed a home in Tagelus Bay near family would be the perfect place to raise her son, Jake. But when Niall returns and she runs into him at the school campus where they first met and fell in love, old feelings she’d locked away rekindle. He abandoned her once for his career. This time she has even more at risk. Can she trust him with her heart again, and this time, with her son’s as well? A life with the one man she’s always loved hangs in the balance.

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Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Visionaries-Journey-Mountain-RR-Rowley/dp/0578392097/ 

After dropping out in the 1960s, idealistic Mac McKenna embarks on a rollicking journey, commune hopping from Laguna Beach, California, to the mountains of Washington State. But, despite the high times, not all was a smooth ride. Mac takes his lumps from shattered love, dashed expectations, dangerous rednecks, and the law.
When he joins a gang of ‘rough around the edges ‘ Visionaries at a commune in the North Cascades, the mythical backstory of the roots of the Rainbow Family begins. Wilderness valley searches and a cosmic trek on an old volcano morph to The Vortex Biodegradable Festival of Life in 1970. From there, with new members, a ‘back to the land’ communal experiment takes them further.
A vision of unity inspires plans for a National Gathering held in the mountains of Colorado in July of 1972. The focus is a massive circle for peace, love, and returning to harmony with Mother Earth. However, for the people to prevail, they must first confront all manner of government and police obstructions and hostilities.

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A job seeking former Army Ranger, hot and tired from his long drive, stops for the night at a Las Vegas Motel. He wants a beer. Across the wide street an all-night market beckons him. Looking both ways he starts to run and is immediately struck by an unseen object hurling him high in the air and dropping him to the ground with a mind-numbing thud. He’s dragged to safety by a large, verbally complaining, furry black dog. David Manning’s life is changed from that moment forward.

He enters a world known to only a handful of Americans, and a few others. “Area 51” “No Trespassing” “Deadly Force May Be Used”

He is recruited to save the country from treacherous extremists who want to overthrow the current government and rule the country as a dictatorship. Manning has an improbable consortium of team members to assist him in the daunting task of saving democracy.

RJ Waters writes his stories from his background and experiences with a liberal dose of sarcasm, humor, and a vivid imagination, He lives in Las Vegas with his wife Penny and his faithful hound Rose.

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And check out these spooky, Friday the 13th short stories

 

Find the series here: Amazon Series Page

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July 2022 Featured Books – Find New & Wonderful Authors!!! #AHAgrp #BookWorm #AmReading #Ebooks

Looking for something new and fabulous to read? Try these…

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They each hit the trail solo in search of themselves…

Overworked entrepreneur Jules Martinez is sick and tired of men leaving her for their exes. Determined to wipe the giant, scarlet R for rebound off her forehead, she kicks off a yearlong vow of celibacy with five, blissful weeks backpacking her favorite trails through Washington State. Solo.

Out-of-work financial analyst Evan Davenport hasn’t been happy since camping in Scouts as a kid—before his wealthy parents and now ex-fiancé made all his major life decisions. Hoping to find joy and purpose, he buys all the latest ultralight backpacking gear, flies to Washington, and sets off alone on a weeklong speed hike through the wilderness.

Mother Nature has other plans, though, and keeps shoving Evan and Jules in each other’s paths. Usually naked. When sparks fly, can they find what they’re looking for in life together instead of apart?

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The Eidola Project, a team of 19th Century ghost hunters, have been tasked with trying to stop a deadly shapeshifting demon attacking the native people of La Push, on the Washington Coast. The team brings their own demons with them, in the form of drug addiction, a werewolf’s curse, and being in mourning from the death of a loved one. Can they rise to this new challenge, or will they face the same grisly end as the shapeshifter’s other victims?

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When an injury ends Niall McEvoy’s pro football career, he retires to his hometown of Tagelus Bay to recuperate and make plans for the next chapter of his life. The one person who’s always understood him best still lives there, but it’ll take more than the glitter of his championship rings to convince Aria to forgive his betrayal and give him a second chance.

A widow, Aria MacBride believed a home in Tagelus Bay near family would be the perfect place to raise her son, Jake. But when Niall returns and she runs into him at the school campus where they first met and fell in love, old feelings she’d locked away rekindle. He abandoned her once for his career. This time she has even more at risk. Can she trust him with her heart again, and this time, with her son’s as well? A life with the one man she’s always loved hangs in the balance.

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Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Visionaries-Journey-Mountain-RR-Rowley/dp/0578392097/ 

After dropping out in the 1960s, idealistic Mac McKenna embarks on a rollicking journey, commune hopping from Laguna Beach, California, to the mountains of Washington State. But, despite the high times, not all was a smooth ride. Mac takes his lumps from shattered love, dashed expectations, dangerous rednecks, and the law.
When he joins a gang of ‘rough around the edges ‘ Visionaries at a commune in the North Cascades, the mythical backstory of the roots of the Rainbow Family begins. Wilderness valley searches and a cosmic trek on an old volcano morph to The Vortex Biodegradable Festival of Life in 1970. From there, with new members, a ‘back to the land’ communal experiment takes them further.
A vision of unity inspires plans for a National Gathering held in the mountains of Colorado in July of 1972. The focus is a massive circle for peace, love, and returning to harmony with Mother Earth. However, for the people to prevail, they must first confront all manner of government and police obstructions and hostilities.

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Bax always fantasized something remarkable would happen in his life. So when a decrepit man with glowing purple eyes offers him a ring intended for his estranged father, Bax accepts.

The ring speaks to Bax in a dream, tempting him with a vision of a powerful djinn. Desperate to make his fantasies a reality, Bax unleashes a creature called Ifrit, but soon learns this djinn isn’t what the ring led him to believe. Feeding off the depths of his subconscious, the sinister demon fulfills what he thinks Bax wants by manipulating, threatening, and murdering. With everyone he loves in danger and a trail of crimes pointing back at him, Bax must scramble to solve the puzzle that will banish Ifrit forever.

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The untimely death of EJ Hampton’s father kills her dream of practicing law with him in her hometown of Wylder. Heartbroken, she now has two weeks to organize the practice for sale. When she meets her father’s millionaire client Dylan Addison, he is demanding and entitled—yet his charisma captivates her.
Dylan is under pressure to renovate the Wylder Hotel before his father pulls the plug on his project. He needs EJ’s expertise, but she is bent on returning to her life in San Francisco despite the fireworks between them.
EJ walks a tightrope trying to balance Dylan’s needs against her own, but doing so is far more complicated when emotions get in the way.

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Janie Holcomb prays for closure once the courts declare her missing husband dead. Instead, she’s sent spiraling down a dangerous path.

When her lawyer delivers a package held in trust, she finds a cryptic warning along with a Civil War journal promising buried treasure. While seeking a connection between her spouse and the decades-old diary, Janie attracts the spirit of a Confederate soldier pleading for help.

Enlisting her brother’s assistance to chase down clues, they discover that not everyone they know should be trusted. Janie overlooks potential threats when the promise of new love stirs her emotions. Will her digging uncover the answers she craves or doom her to a similar fate?

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Charlotte Saunders has a full life—a rewarding career as a nurse, meaningful volunteer work at a dog shelter, and family, friends and pets she adores. But no matter how hard she tries, she can’t forget the horrible event that’s haunted her for ten years.

A survivor of childhood sexual abuse, Damon Greyson now helps others who have suffered trauma. His experience and intuition alert him to trouble in Charlotte’s past, and he wants to help her, if only she’d let him.

As they work together to help veterans suffering from PTSD and neglected dogs needing loving homes, their feelings for each other deepen. But when the trauma from Charlotte’s past roars back to life, both are forced to confront their painful histories—or die trying.

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Felicity Capwell Archer had no idea she’d married a thief and a killer. And even though she’s the one who turns him in, people still think she helped her former husband steal and is now hiding the money. To protect herself from the repercussions and attacks, she hires Butch Wilder. Gambler. Gunslinger. And a giant who hides a heart of gold.

Butch Wilder grew up on the streets of New Orleans, learning how to fight, how to gamble and how to use a Colt .45 with deadly precision. When Felicity begs him to protect her family, she’s too damned pretty and too intriguing to turn down. Determined to avoid any emotional attachments and to keep it purely professional, Butch takes the job. But he finds himself sitting down to nice meals, walking her children to school and being part of a family for the first time.

Only by finding and returning the stolen loot can Felicity and her daughters ever truly be safe. Following clues she deciphers from her former husband’s letters, Felicity and Butch travel to the outlaw-infested Hell’s Half Acre. It’s madness, but Butch will do anything to protect Felicity. Even if it means his life.

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A job seeking former Army Ranger, hot and tired from his long drive, stops for the night at a Las Vegas Motel. He wants a beer. Across the wide street an all-night market beckons him. Looking both ways he starts to run and is immediately struck by an unseen object hurling him high in the air and dropping him to the ground with a mind-numbing thud. He’s dragged to safety by a large, verbally complaining, furry black dog. David Manning’s life is changed from that moment forward.

 

He enters a world known to only a handful of Americans, and a few others. “Area 51” “No Trespassing” “Deadly Force May Be Used”

He is recruited to save the country from treacherous extremists who want to overthrow the current government and rule the country as a dictatorship. Manning has an improbable consortium of team members to assist him in the daunting task of saving democracy.

RJ Waters writes his stories from his background and experiences with a liberal dose of sarcasm, humor, and a vivid imagination, He lives in Las Vegas with his wife Penny and his faithful hound Rose.

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Shutterbug Allison Lee is trying to survive high school while suffering the popular girl’s abuse. Her life is often abysmal, but at least her green hair is savage. Her talent for photography is recognized by the school paper and the judges of a photo contest. While visiting her friend Joe, a homeless vet, Allison’s life irrevocably changes after an attack leaves her blind. All her dreams as a photojournalist are dashed as she realizes she’ll never see again. Despair sets in until she is offered an experimental procedure to restore her vision. But there are side effects, or are they hallucinations? She now sees dragons accompanying some of the people she meets. Can she trust her eyes, or has the procedure affected her more than she can see?

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Phil Claussen couldn’t very well leave her out there in the middle of nowhere, shoeless and barely dressed, so he offers her a ride. When he asks why she’s hitchhiking on a deserted road, she says, “Waiting for you. I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.” “Impossible,” he says. “I’ve never set foot in Oklahoma before.” He asks more questions, but gets very few answers. They are on the road together for three days before he learns her name, Dani.

He soon discovers that he’s driven into a realm where events seem to be all set and waiting for his arrival, a place where his own treasured free will means very little. Falling in love with Dani becomes his favorite part of the process. But if it was all arranged so carefully before he got there, how does he wind up in jail charged with two murders and Dani as the chief witness for the prosecution?

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And check out these spooky, Friday the 13th short stories

Find the series here: Amazon Series Page

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June 2022 Featured Books – Find New & Wonderful Authors!!! #AHAgrp #BookWorm #AmReading #Ebooks

Looking for something new and fabulous to read? Try these…

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They each hit the trail solo in search of themselves…

Overworked entrepreneur Jules Martinez is sick and tired of men leaving her for their exes. Determined to wipe the giant, scarlet R for rebound off her forehead, she kicks off a yearlong vow of celibacy with five, blissful weeks backpacking her favorite trails through Washington State. Solo.

Out-of-work financial analyst Evan Davenport hasn’t been happy since camping in Scouts as a kid—before his wealthy parents and now ex-fiancé made all his major life decisions. Hoping to find joy and purpose, he buys all the latest ultralight backpacking gear, flies to Washington, and sets off alone on a weeklong speed hike through the wilderness.

Mother Nature has other plans, though, and keeps shoving Evan and Jules in each other’s paths. Usually naked. When sparks fly, can they find what they’re looking for in life together instead of apart?

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The Eidola Project, a team of 19th Century ghost hunters, have been tasked with trying to stop a deadly shapeshifting demon attacking the native people of La Push, on the Washington Coast. The team brings their own demons with them, in the form of drug addiction, a werewolf’s curse, and being in mourning from the death of a loved one. Can they rise to this new challenge, or will they face the same grisly end as the shapeshifter’s other victims?

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A decade-spanning tale of soulmates torn apart by each’s pursuit of a career in the late 20th century.

Paul Montgomery’s dreams are of music, of writing it as well as performing. His journey takes him from covering Beatle songs for high school dances in the mid-1960s to being acclaimed for his diversity in the world of rock ‘n’ roll. Particularly for composing a library of love songs. With sold out concerts around the world, singles and albums that repeatedly go gold then platinum, and innovative music videos on MTV, he seems to lead a charmed life. At least, professionally. Along the way there is tragedy: the loss of a friend to the Viet Nam war, the attempt to save a fellow rocker from her drug addiction, but it is winning and losing the only woman he’s ever loved – twice – that is a never healing wound in his heart.

For Aurora Chambers, it is the world of fashion that beckons. A scholarship for a summer design program in London is a carrot even her love for Paul can’t best. Hurt by his seeming denigrating of her aspirations, she throws herself into the heart of Carnaby Street in 1967, and the arms of her instructor, Trevor Harris, a self-serving man who plans to use her talent as his stepping stone to better things. Unaware of Paul’s continuing love for her, Rory binds her future to Trevor’s. It is a step she soon learns to regret though it does bring her career success beyond her previous dreams. With a clothing line that repeatedly wins accolades on the catwalks, she has only one stumbling block. Her designs all carry Trevor’s name, not her own. Aurora must marshal some of Trevor’s own devious traits to take back what is hers. Secretly, she follows Paul’s rise through the music trades, occasionally mourning the loss of what they’d had. When a second chance at happiness with him appears, she grabs it. And nearly destroys them both.

Because, sometimes love simply isn’t enough.

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Phoebe promised her dying Cherokee grandmother that she would hold onto the farm until she could solve this riddle: “Take care of the land and the land will take care of you.” Seven years later she wages a fierce battle with her former brother-in-law Jack, who is trying to take her home near Oklahoma City. Just as she is ready to give in to Jack’s demands, Alex (a sexy and mysterious Native American martial artist) offers his assistance. Who is Alex and what is his connection to Jack? Why does Jack fight so hard for land in which he had never shown an interest? Why has her grandmother’s ghost appeared? Instead of one riddle to solve, Phoebe now has a fistful of them. [Paranormal Romance from Dragonfly Publishing, Inc. http://www.dragonflypubs.com | Available in hardback, paperback, and eBook download | Reviews include: FIVE STARS CoffeeTime Romance * FIVE STARS Escape to Romance * FIVE STARS Midnight Scribe Reviews * FIVE STARS Mystic Vision Reviews]

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And check out these spooky, Friday the 13th short stories

Find the series here: Amazon Series Page

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Enter Your Unpublished Opening in the Hooked on a Book Contest!! #AHAgrp #Authors

Enter the 2022 Hooked on a Book Competition!

Does your opening draw readers in? Did you hook them with only a handful of words?

Everyone knows it’s imperative to grab your readers early on. Enter this contest to see how your opening measures up!

Enter UP TO the first 500 words of your UNPUBLISHED fiction novel or short story.

Submitted in Word doc format. (Published and unpublished authors are eligible)

Entry Fee: $10

First round judged by readers and authors (any feedback judges provide will be returned to the author).

The top 10 entries will be judged by editors and/or agents. (Final judges will have the option of requesting to see your full manuscript) – The editing and promo prize must be used within a year. (By Nov 15 of the following year)

All fiction genres accepted Prizes:

  • First place: $125, a trophy, and a full edit by Alicia Dean (the edit can be for this or a different manuscript). One month free promo by Author Promo Pal Marketing Services. (For any published works you might have. Or for unpublished authors, in order to gain exposure and get your name out to future readers.)
  • Second Place: $100 and a certificate
  • Third Place: $75 and a certificate
  • Fourth Place: $50 and a certificate
  • Fifth Place: $25 and a certificate

Entry deadline: September 15, 2022

Winners announced: November 15, 2022

FMI: https://atomic-temporary-24849064.wpcomstaging.com/hooked-on-a-book-competition/

 

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Author Interview with Patricia McAlexander ~ The Student in Classroom 6 #RomanticSuspense

Please help me welcome today’s guest, Patricia McAlexander… 

 

Please tell us a little about yourself, where are you from? Where do you live now? Family? Pets?  

I grew up in Johnstown, New York, a town of about 11,000 in the foothills of the Adirondacks. I lived for a time in New York City and Madison, Wisconsin, attending graduate schools, and in Denver, Colorado, where I taught at an extension of the University of Colorado. I now live in Athens, Georgia, where I moved with my husband when he took a position in the University of Georgia’s English Department—and soon I taught there myself. Our grown-up son lives and works in Atlanta. I’ve had various much loved pets throughout my life—a turtle, a guinea pig, a cat. And there were the dogs. I grew up with a cocker spaniel named Rusty (one of my first words was ‘Russ,”) and later a beagle named George. Here in Athens there was Daisy, a poodle, and Peanut, a dachshund. Right now, however, I’m “between pets.”

Why did you choose this genre (is it something you’ve written in before)? 

The genre of The Student in Classroom 6, like that of my first two published novels,  is romantic suspense. I chose romance because love is something most of us need and hope for in our lives—look at the themes of songs, movies, literature.  Now, in these difficult times, we need such themes more than ever. Also, romance can involve personal growth, something I’m interested in as a teacher. In my fiction, I portray individuals further developing their own values and identities as they discover love. I included the suspense (in this novel, a murder mystery) to add extra drama to the romance. 

Was there anything unusual, any anecdote about this book, the characters, title, process, etc, you’d like to share? 

A specific event inspired this novel. I live on an historic street in Athens, Georgia, lined with old houses and huge, old trees. One night my husband and I came out of our house to find the road and sidewalk in front of it completely blocked by gigantic magnolia limbs. Part of the ancient tree across the street had split off and fallen. The city cleaned up the road, but a private tree service had to come and take down the dangerous remaining portion of the tree. From our porch we had a front row seat, watching the drama of the tree removal and the skilled men up in the bucket and at its base taking it down. That event inspired me to create one of the main characters in The Student in Classroom 6—Tyler McHenry, the young arborist taking Katherine Holiday’s continuing education course. 

What is the most difficult thing about writing a book? What was the most difficult thing about this one in particular?

Fort me, the most difficult thing about writing a book is accurately portraying situations and actions I’m not familiar with. I do a lot of research, a lot of Googling, to find answers to questions that arise. For example, for The Student in Classroom 6, I researched the arborist profession—I even read an instruction manual on operating bucket trucks—and interviewed the owner of a local business, New Urban Forestry, who answered my questions and let me come with his team to one of their work sites.

Do you have another occupation, other than writer? If so, what is it and do you like it? 

I’m now retired, but I taught literature and writing at the college level—first as an instructor at the University of Colorado, then as teaching assistant at the University of Wisconsin, and finally as a professor going through the tenure and promotion process at The University of Georgia. In all these places, one thing stayed the same: I loved working with students.

What was your first job?

In the nineteenth and much of the twentieth century, my hometown, Johnstown, New York, was a center of the glove-making industry.  I worked in a glove factory for two summers while I was a college undergraduate. Maybe someday I’ll write a novel  about those experiences. It would be an historical novel—according to some sources, these novels are about a time period at least 25 years before the book was written.”(It’s hard to believe, but novels set in 1987 would thus be considered historical.) The glove factories have all closed now. 

Have you written any other books that are not published? 

I’ve written Second Wives, an historical novel based on my ancestors who emigrated from Baden (now part of modern Germany) to New York in 1850. It is about my widowed great-great-grandfather, Martin Kornmeyer, who sold all his belongings and, with his seven children and a servant, Rosa, sailed from Rotterdam on the Jane E. Williams, arriving in the New York harbor on October 7. He married Rosa, bought land in Boonville, New York, and farmed, as did his oldest son. The novel goes on to describe the life of Martin’s granddaughter, my grandmother, who was twice married. I’ve visited the cemeteries where Martin and Rosa and my grandmother’s two husbands are buried and the farm where my grandmother grew up. I’ve just returned from a cruise on the Rhine—tracing the route the original family surely traveled by barge to reach Rotterdam. Second Wives has not yet been published. I say “not yet,” as I hope someday it will be, and in the meantime,  I continue to learn more about these ancestors and revise it.

Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination? 

Many of the characters in my novels are at least in part based on real people. In The Student in Classroom 6, Tyler’s mother, a strong woman who home-schooled Tyler, is inspired by my own mother. Also woman with a strong personality, Mom was my high school Latin teacher, and before that she homeschooled a physically handicapped girl who at that time could not attend the high school in person. Just as Tyler’s mother was a contrast to his arborist father, my intellectual mother was a contrast to my more pragmatic father, a coach and teacher of what was then called “industrial arts.”  Of course, my English teacher protagonist, Katherine Holiday. is based in part on myself.

What do your friends and family think of your writing? 

They are some of my biggest fans, and I appreciate them greatly. 

How did you come up with the title? 

I thought the title “The Student in Classroom 6” reflected both the suspense and the romance of the novel. There has been a murder on the campus of The University of Georgia, and for all anyone knows, the murderer might be a student—even one of the students in protagonist Katherine Holiday’s continuing education class, which meets in Classroom 6. And in the back of that classroom there is that the sexy, intelligent young man to whom she is strongly attracted.

How much of the book is realistic?  

Much of The Student in Classroom 6 is grounded in reality, drawing on my experiences teaching at the University of Georgia and living in Athens. At the same time, of course, I tweaked that reality to advance my plot. For example, Katherine teaches adult continuing education classes, but by 2009, the year most of this novel takes place, such classes for UGA credit were no longer offered—and even when they had been, they were not part of faculty members’ regular assignments.  The campus murder takes place near an outside elevator with a glass through which the killer apparently saw his victim descending. An outside elevator does exist at UGA’s Psychology-Journalism building, but it has no window.

Blurb:

Although a faculty member has been killed on campus and the murderer is still at large, English instructor Katherine Holiday never suspects the criminal might be one of her students. In fact, there’s a man in her adult evening class she wishes she could know better.

Seeing no need for a college degree, Tyler McHenry, a partner in his father’s successful tree service, writes fiction for his own pleasure. No one at the University needs to know his personal reasons for enrolling in a first-year composition course. Still, he finds himself fascinated by the pretty teacher, who believes his writing should be published.

Excerpt:

“You know, Ms. Holiday,” Tyler said as he walked with her back to her porch, “it was against regulations to bring you up in the bucket. Only accredited personnel are supposed to go up.” He paused. “Just like it’s probably against regulations for University instructors to get too friendly with students in their class.”

“It is,” she said, feeling somehow bold. “But if you can break a rule, I can. Would you like to come in for a beer?”

“That may not be so wise. I am an owner of this tree business and an owner of the bucket truck. I was not worried about breaking that rule tonight. I knew it was safe for you when I brought you up in the bucket. That is not the way it is with you and the University.  And you don’t know—” he hesitated.

“Know what?”

He smiled a little, as if joking. “Whether you’d be safe alone in your house with me.”

Buy links: 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Student-Classroom-6-Patricia-McAlexander-ebook/dp/B09THQ2FDT/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1648132789&sr=1-1

Barnes and Noble (includes Nook):  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-student-in-classroom-6-patricia-mcalexander/1141068087?ean=9781509241750

i-books: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn9781509241767

About the Author: 

Patricia McAlexander is from upstate New York. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of New York at Albany, a master’s from Columbia University, and a doctorate from The University of Wisconsin, Madison, all in English She is now living in Athens, Georgia, with her Southerner husband, whom she met as a graduate student in Wisconsin. As a teenager, Pat wrote fiction for her friends, but she turned to academic writing with her career. Now retired from the University of Georgia, she has renewed her interests in photography, travel, and history—and in writing fiction.

Website: https://patriciamcalexander.weebly.com

Email: mcalexanderpatricia@gmail.com

Facebook: facebook.com/patriciamcalexanderwriter/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/PatMcAlexWriter

Instagram: www.instagram.com/patriciamcalexander/

 

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May 2022 Featured Books – Find New & Wonderful Authors!!! #AHAgrp #BookWorm #AmReading #Ebooks

Looking for something new and fabulous to read? Try these…

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Cameron Rutter drowned two months ago in a lake on a Cheshire moor. Some say a morgen—a spirit who drags men to a watery grave—was responsible. Others say it was the phantom Grey Lady. The police say Gareth Gynne was the guilty one. Whoever—or whatever—killed Cameron needs to be sorted out. And ex-police detective Michael McLaren is asked to do just that.
McLaren’s not keen on delving into the mystery. The accused is the nephew of McLaren’s nemesis, Charlie Harvester. And if there’s one thing McLaren doesn’t want to do is to associate with another Harvester, no matter what generation he is.
Suspects and motives for the murder rise to the surface like air bubbles in the haunted lake. Perhaps the flesh-and-blood killer was a villager opposed to Cameron’s crusade to keep the moor in its pristine state, rather than develop it for the tourist trade. Others say someone Cameron had arrested came back to kill him in a vindictive attack.
Or was the morgen really responsible?
Can McLaren discover the killer, or will he too become a victim of the haunted water?

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Unable to escape his past, Matt Stone heads North leaving behind the memory of his dead wife and son. His journey takes a turn when he comes across his late son’s doppelgänger; Trevor Reed. Blinded by the resemblance, Matt becomes obsessed and begins stalking him. Little does Trevor know, he becomes wrapped up in Matt’s delusions. Concerned, Trevor’s mom, Jesse, enlists the help of the local authorities to keep him safe. Despite the involvement of police and eventually the inclusion of the FBI and an enthusiastic reporter, Trevor disappears. The Reeds will do anything to get their son back which results in a chase starting in the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts to an Island on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. Will their efforts be enough? Will they find Matt and Trevor? Or will they be too late?

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Jace Hastings, rising music star, is presumed dead in a vehicle collision, courtesy of a stalker with deadly designs. Ten years later, P.I. Gaelen Wyndom can’t believe someone wants her to find him.

Pelham Flannery rejoined the world from ICU, fully aware someone had tried to kill him. To live, he went under the radar, distanced himself from music, and disguised everything that would give away his identity as Jace. After a decade, is it safe to come out of hiding?

Gaelen, delighted to be trained as a professional investigator by her new husband, continued in her new career after he was killed. Assigned to locate Jace Hastings, she isn’t told who wants to find him, but she puzzles it out. If she’s right, it’s the man who tried to kill him before. Which means she needs to find Jace Hastings and save him.

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Tamsyn McKiernan thinks her dreams have come true. She’s engaged to a dashing Key West bachelor and finally in her widowed father’s good graces. But in her heart, she knows something’s wrong. She loves the ocean and the quiet pleasures of nature–so what does the aristocratic life she’ll lead truly hold for her? Mercenary captain Drake Ashton is neck deep in preparations for the Spanish-American War, running guns and other supplies to Cuban natives who want out from under their Spanish masters. He and his brother Freddie risk their lives daily, focused on saving his friends on the island. Nothing else matters but his mission. A chance encounter with a spiny sea urchin brings the two together, and neither of their lives will ever be the same again.

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Winner of the EPPIE 2004 Trophy Award for Best Anthology, Cosmic Sculpture is a collection of fourteen science fiction and fantasy stories plus the “Dragon’s Den” novel. Read tales of futuristic Mars, ancient Atlantis, mysterious dragons, mischievous faeries, creative reincarnation, lonely vampires, and more. Then inside the Dragon’s Den, a remote training facility on the icy and isolated world of T’Panabar, martial arts master Raza learns he is the key to locating an illegal mining operation. With both treachery and sorcery afoot, he must confront the most dangerous dragon of all: himself. [Science Fiction and Fantasy Anthology released in 2003 by Dragonfly Publishing, Inc. Available in hardback, paperback, and eBook download]

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Lisa Kirkpatrick is stubborn, but she’s not stupid. If this guy needs a date to evade an unwanted admirer, who is she to object? It’s not as if handsome men are lining up to ask her out. Sure, they know there’s a woman in the wheelchair, but it would never occur to them that there’s a WOMAN in the wheelchair. He notices. This solid, fun, straight-shooting guy ticks off every box on her ideal man list. But why do they call him Slick?

Roger Plankey thought his life was full until he walked into the town clerk’s office and laid eyes on the woman behind the counter. A spunky, independent woman with a dash of humor and just enough sass to keep him on his toes. She fills that unknown void in his life like she was made for him. But is there such a thing as too perfect?

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Chloe plans to stay only a short time at her brother Joe’s ranch in 1893 Oklahoma Territory. Despite her efforts to avoid Joe’s matchmaking schemes, she is soon entangled in them. At the same time, she catches the interest of a nosy and possibly dangerous ghost called Fire Horse. All Max McKee wants is to buy a few horses. Before he realizes it, he becomes part of Joe’s scheme to marry off the rich and lovely Chloe, who happens to be the owner of those horses. Max is a man with many secrets. Despite the risks, he finds Chloe irresistible. When a series of strange fires spooks the local ranchers, Chloe and Max must work together to discover who is setting those fires and try not to get themselves killed in the process.

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

They each hit the trail solo in search of themselves…

Overworked entrepreneur Jules Martinez is sick and tired of men leaving her for their exes. Determined to wipe the giant, scarlet R for rebound off her forehead, she kicks off a yearlong vow of celibacy with five, blissful weeks backpacking her favorite trails through Washington State. Solo.

Out-of-work financial analyst Evan Davenport hasn’t been happy since camping in Scouts as a kid—before his wealthy parents and now ex-fiancé made all his major life decisions. Hoping to find joy and purpose, he buys all the latest ultralight backpacking gear, flies to Washington, and sets off alone on a weeklong speed hike through the wilderness.

Mother Nature has other plans, though, and keeps shoving Evan and Jules in each other’s paths. Usually naked. When sparks fly, can they find what they’re looking for in life together instead of apart?

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Cassanne Thomas returns to New Orleans to start her life over and becomes the target of a supernatural serial killer. Escaping her close call with death, Casi is the only witness to the crime and finds herself placed in protective custody by a handsome Cajun detective. But with her dark, troubled past, trusting the police is the last thing she wants to do.

Detective Lucas Avery, the top homicide detective in NOLA, is unaware of the supernatural world surrounding him. With the killer stalking the streets, he vows to shield the beautiful, enigmatic Casi with his life while fighting his growing attraction to her. He’s been burned before.

Danger chases Lucas and Casi from the streets of the French Quarter to the wilds of the bayou. Will they be able to stop a monster, straight out of a nightmare or become victims themselves?

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All her life Polly Bridger has perceived a miraculous light in others. She sees it in her parents who sacrifice everything to keep her safe, and later in the eyes of young Albert Coward who offers her both solace and love. Victorian London is not an easy place for a girl to survive. Polly does not want to end up like so many other girls, earning her bread on the streets.

But when Albert is sentenced to jail for thievery and her choices are few, Polly sells the one thing she has left, while fiercely holding onto her belief Albert will return to her. Is it too late for a reunion between Polly and Albert? Or will love, however tarnished, shine on forever?

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Marina Antonovna, a Soviet spy, and Mateo Arcusa, an American homicide lieutenant first meet in Cambodia during the Vietnam War as enemies. Fearful that the most powerful man in the Soviet Union, KGB Chairman Vladimir Kurenkov, has ordered her death, Marina risks everything to defect to the United States. She promises Mateo that her days as an assassin are over. Vladimir is determined to do whatever it takes to bring her back and, by threatening Mateo’s life, forces Marina to break her promise.

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And check out these spooky, Friday the 13th short stories

Find the series here: Amazon Series Page

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

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#HobbyCareerPassion: Sadira Stone ~ Zodiac Encounters Anthology / Steamy Romance #Blog #AHAgrp

Welcome to my weekly feature where authors share about the hobbies, careers, or passions of their characters.

I’m pleased to introduce today’s guest, Sadira Stone…

Crystals, Palmistry, Astrology & Tarot: Getting Woo-Woo for Zodiac Encounters My two novellas in the Zodiac Encounters Anthology feature a funky, woo-woo crystal shop in a Washington State beach town. Customers come to Madame Zora’s Psychic Emporium for tarot, palm, and aura readings, or to buy all sorts of esoteric gear like books, crystals, figurines, and don’t forget the tie-dyed socks! I love browsing this kind of hippie-dippy shop and dabbling in divination. As a teen, I learned palmistry—mainly because my best friend learned to read tarot cards and I wanted a cool party trick like hers. Recently I bought my own tarot deck and am slowly learning how to use them. Fascinating! A hippie mama at heart, imagine my delight when I was invited to participate in a steamy, astrology-themed romance anthology! My two signs are Capricorn and Taurus, paired with a Scorpio and an Aquarius, respectively, so I had to learn lots about these star signs. I also got my own natal chart done just for kicks. About 80% was spot on, while the rest left me scratching my head. I’m a Leo with Capricorn rising and a Taurus moon! Coincidence? Or a nudge from the universe? Gemma, my Aquarius heroine, works in her Aunt Zora’s crystal shop, so of course I expanded my crystal collection while writing her story—to add authentic detail, and because pretty rocks are cool! I’ve got carnelian and clear quartz crystal for mental clarity, rose quartz to balance energy, rainbow flourite for productivity and creativity, amber for healing, aragonite for homesickness, labradorite to temper negativity, and amethyst for decision making. The latter also protects from drunkenness, in case I’m every tempted to drink while writing! So far, that’s not a problem, but you never know… My theory about crystals: just knowing that a certain stone is supposed to help with a certain problem will focus your intentions and actions toward solving that problem. Woo woo? Not necessarily. After moving from Washington State to Las Vegas, I was terribly homesick and having a hard time seeing the pluses of living here. Placing that chunk of aragonite (small brown crystal at 7 o’clock in the photo) on my nightstand and holding it every night and morning, my homesickness has eased—probably because I set the intention of letting go of those sad feelings. So, I hope you’ll enjoy Madame Zora’s crystal shop and the help she provides to the characters in Capricorn and Taurus. Zodiac Encounters is on sale for just 99¢ (ebook only) for a limited time, so grab your copy from your favorite online bookseller!  Universal Book Link: https://books2read.com/u/bMYOr8 When the stars align, passion sizzles! Limited time only–grab these 12 spicy, astrology-inspired novellas by bestselling and award-winning romance authors. From Capricorn to Sagittarius, these tales bring the heat! Which star sign is the most seductive? Hot-blooded? Sensual? Dominant? Twelve fiery couplings showcase the steamy possibilities. Claim your copy while they last, and experience red-hot, star-fated romance at its finest.   Excerpt: From Taurus:    “Hey, Jesse.”    He turned toward her with a quizzical scowl.    “You know about the Esoteric Arts Expo in Portland next month?”    “Yeah. Got the extra herbs Zora ordered under a bank of grow-lights.”    “You’ll be there, right?”    His dark brows drew together. “At the expo? No. Why?”    Gemma grasped his arms, relishing the feel of firm muscle through his thick woolen coat. “You’ve got an organic herb farm! You could offer teas, tinctures, potted plants. Give me a list of what you grow, and I’ll write up their magical properties.”    Jesse snorted, which only made him more bull-like. “Listen, I grow culinary herbs, stuff for tea and home remedies, not magic potions.”    Yup, bull-headed to a fault. She forced her lips to unscowl. Being judgmental would get her nowhere with his type. He needed practical proof. “How could you ignore this huge market? The esoteric community is hungry for local products with integrity.”    “My business is none of yours.” With another sexy snort, he loomed over her. “You ever actually worked the land, princess? It’s not airy-fairy spirituality. It’s heavy lifting and dirt under your nails.”  He held a broad, dirt-stained palm before her face and wiggled his fingers. Immediately, her imagination zoomed to how those powerful hands would feel on her bare skin, their rough scrape raising goosebumps of pleasure. Would he be a forceful lover? Brutal, even? Or perhaps surprisingly tender?    Giving her head a little shake, she took his hand and inspected his palm. “Interesting Mount of Venus.” She rubbed the base of his thumb. “Nice and fleshy.”    She had his attention now. People loved being told about themselves. With narrowed eyes, he peered at the spot she was massaging. “Mount of Venus? What does that mean?”    “Fullness here shows you’re passionate, sensual. And see this mark? Like a little X?”    He squinted, rumpling his eyebrows adorably.    “This means you have a lot of love to give.” She was only quoting the many books on palmistry she’d studied, but a skeptic like him would probably assume she was just spouting pickup lines.    But now, he simply held her gaze for a long, heated moment. His nostrils flared, but whatever snarky comment he concocted remained behind his tightly pressed lips.    Focus. Plan. Expo. She forced her shoulders down. “So why not share some of that love with Zora and me? You help us with new products for the Esoteric Expo, and we’ll help you with new customers for your herbs.” See? Practical, logical—just the way you like it, stubborn Taurus. Universal Book Link: https://books2read.com/u/bMYOr8 Fascinating, Sadira. Thanks so much for sharing. Your anthology soujnds wonderful. Please tell us a little about yourself… I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, spent most of my adult life in Germany, first as a soldier and then as a teacher on U.S. military bases, moved to Washington State, and recently relocated to Las Vegas to be near my first grandchild. No pets at the moment except my adorable granddogs, two short-haired mini dachshunds. Married to a wonderful guy—ours is a late-in-life love story. One gorgeous, talented daughter from a previous marriage, and one handsome, smart stepson. I adore writing steamy contemporary romance. Some authors and readers prefer to flee reality in favor of fantasy worlds, but I love plumbing the depths of life in our times—the heartache, the humor, the passion. Themes you’ll find in any Sadira Stone book: heroines who reject confining traditions and roles, and the complex men who cherish them—also chosen family, family reconciliation, and lots of food! Do you have another occupation, other than writer? If so, what is it and do you like it? I’m a retired high school teacher—English, French, German, theater. I loved some of the kids like my own, but the constant bureaucracy, negativity, and pointless “educational initiatives” wore me down. What do you dislike that most people wouldn’t understand? I just don’t get the appeal of most reality TV. What’s the point? I do like cooking competitions, though. Do you collect anything? Crystals and semi-precious stones. Pretty rocks are cool! What was your first job? Church secretary. Not fun. What’s the main thing that you could get rid of in your life that would give you more writing time? Housework! Alas, the floors don’t clean themselves. What do you want readers to come away with after they read Zodiac Encounters? A big, satisfied smile. 😉 What genre have you never written that you’d like to write? I’ve written, but never published, some slightly sexy cozy romance—but experts in that genre tell me cozy readers want zero sex in their stories. Hmmph. Cozy romantic suspense? I’ll find a bookshelf for them someday. What is your favorite quote? Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we’re here, we might as well dance. Is there one subject you would never write about? What is it? I don’t enjoy reading dark stories, so I’ll never write about a character being tortured, abused, etc. What do you want your tombstone to say? She had a blast. About the Author: Award-winning contemporary romance author Sadira Stone spins steamy, smoochy tales set in small businesses—a quirky bookstore, a neighborhood bar, a vintage boutique… Her stories highlight found family, friendship, and the sizzling chemistry that pulls unlikely partners together. When she emerges from her writing cave in Las Vegas, Nevada (which she seldom does), she can be found in belly dance class, or strumming her ukulele, perhaps exploring the West with her charming husband, or cooking up a storm, and always gobbling all the romance books. For a guaranteed HEA (and no cliffhangers!) visit Sadira at sadirastone.com.  

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