Tag Archives: #AWorldofGothic

Tis the season…what better time to get lost in A World of Gothic?

A group of authors from countries all over the world were drawn together by our love of the classic gothic mysteries by authors such as Daphne du Maurier, Victoria Holt and Phyllis A. Whitney.

While the stories are stand-alone, they each share a recurring thread of a Spinel stone, which can play a small or large part in the plot. We have stories set in Scotland, Greece, Oklahoma, Florida, France, Ireland, and more.

Shadows and Lies ~ A World of Gothic: Louisiana by Raine English

ON SALE for 99 Cents!!

**** Contest! Win a $50 Amazon Gift Card – I’ll be sharing all 10 books on my blog on various days and on Oct 31st, I’ll share all 10 in the same post. On November 5th, I’ll draw a winner. Receive additional entries for each task you perform. (Details below)

A shadowy figure haunts Turnberry House, and a trail of death follows…

When Olivia Lockwood leaves the comfort of her quaint Massachusetts home for an eerie mansion in Louisiana to fulfill her grandfather’s dying wish, she has no idea of the long-buried secrets that await her there. Or whether Jaxon Carter, her grandfather’s right-hand man, might steal her heart or put her life in jeopardy.

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Check out all the stories here…

A World of Gothic Facebook

**** Contest! You will receive an additional entry for doing each of the following:

• Comment on each blog post
• Like each blog post
• Share each blog post using the ‘twitter’ button
• Like the Facebook Post (link listed above)
• Comment on the Facebook post
• Share the Facebook post

If you missed the other posts, start here and catch them all for additional entries…

Ghost in the Rain

Tis the season…what better time to get lost in A World of Gothic?

A group of authors from countries all over the world were drawn together by our love of the classic gothic mysteries by authors such as Daphne du Maurier, Victoria Holt and Phyllis A. Whitney.

While the stories are stand-alone, they each share a recurring thread of a Spinel stone, which can play a small or large part in the plot. We have stories set in Scotland, Greece, Oklahoma, Florida, France, Ireland, and more.

Raven of Blackthorn Manor ~ A World of Gothic: Ireland by Gemma Juliana

ON SALE for 99 Cents!!

**** Contest! Win a $50 Amazon Gift Card – I’ll be sharing all 10 books on my blog on various days and on Oct 31st, I’ll share all 10 in the same post. On November 5th, I’ll draw a winner. Receive additional entries for each task you perform. (Details below)

When Morgana Pierce accepts an invitation to Blackthorn Manor, known as Ireland’s most haunted property, she hopes to convince the gloomy owner, Sir Dermott Blackthorn, to allow her crew to film the property for her paranormal series.

Morgana has a secret of her own. She’s on a quest to find the father she never knew. Her only clue to his whereabouts led her to this bleak property on an isolated windswept Irish peninsula, where myths, legends and goddesses still seem to live and breathe.

Morgana’s ability to communicate with the dead soon puts her in danger as she learns there have been several suspicious deaths and disappearances in recent years. Threats against her own life force her to decide how to navigate an ever darker reality.

Dermott Blackthorn’s ancestral line has been cursed for nine generations, and he is the last one. His death is imminent if things unfold as they have for the previous eight Blackthorns.

Morgana is attracted to Blackthorn’s mysterious and moody house guest, Ronan McIver. He is both protective and dismissive of her, sending mixed signals. What is he doing at Blackthorn Manor?

As the danger surrounding Morgana intensifies, the setting is ripe for the perfect storm. She must rely on someone, but who can she trust?

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Check out all the stories here…

A World of Gothic Facebook

**** Contest! You will receive an additional entry for doing each of the following:

• Comment on each blog post
• Like each blog post
• Share each blog post using the ‘twitter’ button
• Like the Facebook Post (link listed above)
• Comment on the Facebook post
• Share the Facebook post

If you missed the other posts, start here and catch them all for additional entries…

Ghost in the Rain

Tis the season…what better time to get lost in A World of Gothic?

A group of authors from countries all over the world were drawn together by our love of the classic gothic mysteries by authors such as Daphne du Maurier, Victoria Holt and Phyllis A. Whitney.

While the stories are stand-alone, they each share a recurring thread of a Spinel stone, which can play a small or large part in the plot. We have stories set in Scotland, Greece, Oklahoma, Florida, France, Ireland, and more.

The House in the Pines ~ A World of Gothic: East Texas by Janis Susan May

ON SALE for 99 Cents!!

**** Contest! Win a $50 Amazon Gift Card – I’ll be sharing all 10 books on my blog on various days and on Oct 31st, I’ll share all 10 in the same post. On November 5th, I’ll draw a winner. Receive additional entries for each task you perform. (Details below)

Hired to write the biography of elderly tycoon Henry Wolfe, Dianne Grayson happily comes to Wolfe House, a Victorian mansion set deep in the piney woods of East Texas… a house she has always wanted to see. Henry Wolfe is just as autocratic and overbearing as she expected, but no matter how he acts she is determined to stay there until she gets the answers she wants. What she did not count on was his rugged grand-nephew and a startlingly handsome and attentive young cowboy, both of whom show great interest in her, nor how the mysteries of the past can affect and endanger the present day. Once she discovers the truth, is it too late for her to save her own life?

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Check out all the stories here…

A World of Gothic Facebook

**** Contest! You will receive an additional entry for doing each of the following:

• Comment on each blog post
• Like each blog post
• Share each blog post using the ‘twitter’ button
• Like the Facebook Post (link listed above)
• Comment on the Facebook post
• Share the Facebook post

If you missed the other posts, start here and catch them all for additional entries…

Ghost in the Rain

Tis the season…what better time to get lost in A World of Gothic?

A group of authors from countries all over the world were drawn together by our love of the classic gothic mysteries by authors such as Daphne du Maurier, Victoria Holt and Phyllis A. Whitney.

While the stories are stand-alone, they each share a recurring thread of a Spinel stone, which can play a small or large part in the plot. We have stories set in Scotland, Greece, Oklahoma, Florida, France, Ireland, and more.

House at the Edge ~ A World of Gothic: Greece by MM Jaye:

ON SALE for 99 Cents!!

**** Contest! Win a $50 Amazon Gift Card – I’ll be sharing all 10 books on my blog on various days and on Oct 31st, I’ll share all 10 in the same post. On November 5th, I’ll draw a winner. Receive additional entries for each task you perform. (Details below)

He wants her out of his house. The house agrees…

After losing everything—her family, her home, her sense of self—former heiress, Daphne Alesi, has no choice but to start anew. Broke, unwanted, and suffering from a rare condition that makes defining her emotions mind-numbingly difficult, the only thing she has left is a strong will to survive.

Starting over on a remote Greek island, in the dead of winter, just because it was her grandmother’s birthplace might be a foolish plan, but staying in England is not an option.

The people of Alonissos are far from welcoming, not least the brooding recluse whose home she literally invades. The infamous House at the Edge is rumored to host a ghost—the soul of the enigmatic owner’s deceased wife. But it will take more than an angry spirit to send Daphne fleeing.

Being emotionally detached has some benefits, after all.

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Check out all the stories here…

A World of Gothic Facebook

**** Contest! You will receive an additional entry for doing each of the following:

• Comment on each blog post
• Like each blog post
• Share each blog post using the ‘twitter’ button
• Like the Facebook Post (link listed above)
• Comment on the Facebook post
• Share the Facebook post

If you missed the other posts, start here and catch them all for additional entries…

Ghost in the Rain

Tis the season…what better time to get lost in A World of Gothic?

A group of authors from countries all over the world were drawn together by our love of the classic gothic mysteries by authors such as Daphne du Maurier, Victoria Holt and Phyllis A. Whitney.

While the stories are stand-alone, they each share a recurring thread of a Spinel stone, which can play a small or large part in the plot. We have stories set in Scotland, Greece, Oklahoma, Florida, France, Ireland, and more.

Dark Hunt by Tamrie Foxtail

ON SALE for 99 Cents!!

**** Contest! Win a $50 Amazon Gift Card – I’ll be sharing all 10 books on my blog on various days and on Oct 31st, I’ll share all 10 in the same post. On November 5th, I’ll draw a winner. Receive additional entries for each task you perform. (Details below)

Cassie O’Dey arrives in Virtue, Florida searching for information about Becca, the mother who abandoned her. While staying at the same bed and breakfast where Becca last stayed, Cassie encounters a familiar ghost.
Walker Thayner, a widower, has returned to Virtue to work on restoring the bed and breakfast his family has owned for generations. Hoping to find solace in his work, Walker has shut himself off emotionally. Despite his sullen demeanor Cassie finds herself drawn to him.
Even as hopes of a future in Virtue fill her heart, Cassie finds her thoughts drawn to the dark past of this small Florida town. Can she solve a murder that took place a quarter of a century in the past and put the ghost of Becca O’Dey to rest?

Excerpt:

The old radiator in the bedroom was putting out some heat, thank goodness. Florida had nothing on Pennsylvania when it came to cold weather, but North Florida was still colder than I had expected.

I finished the last few chapters of the book and still wasn’t ready to sleep. I was used to working the two till ten shift at the restaurant then staying up until two in the morning once I got home.

There was no TV, no internet, so I searched the upstairs bookcase in the hall for something to read. I pulled out a copy of Jane Eyre, one of those books I’d heard about, but never read. I held it in one hand, enjoying the feel of it, the worn leather cover and the gilt edging.

Had my mother read this book? Had her fingers turned the pages?

I shoved the book back into place. Why couldn’t I either forgive her for walking out on us or just let her memory go? Memory? That was a laugh. I hadn’t even been a year old when she left. I didn’t have a single memory of the woman. I wondered if Morgan or his sister knew where she had gone. If they did, what then? Did I really want to contact her? What was I supposed to do, call her up and say “Hey, remember me? I’m the kid you walked out on twenty-five years ago. So, tell me what you’ve been up to. Did you pop out anymore kids that you walked out on?”

I scanned the rest of the titles on the shelf, trying to take my mind off my mother but the thoughts persisted. For the thousandth time I wondered if I had a half-sibling or two somewhere.

The hall was colder than my room had been. I wrapped my arms around myself. Motion caught the corner of my eye and I turned my head.

A woman hovered at the end of the hall. Her face was turned away from me, facing the ceiling. Long, dark hair trailed down her back and the edge of the long, pale gown she wore swung two feet above the worn wooden floors.

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Check out all the stories here…

A World of Gothic Facebook

**** Contest! You will receive an additional entry for doing each of the following:

• Comment on each blog post
• Like each blog post
• Share each blog post using the ‘twitter’ button
• Like the Facebook Post (link listed above)
• Comment on the Facebook post
• Share the Facebook post

If you missed the other posts, start here and catch them all for additional entries…

Ghost in the Rain

Tis the season…what better time to get lost in A World of Gothic?

A group of authors from countries all over the world were drawn together by our love of the classic gothic mysteries by authors such as Daphne du Maurier, Victoria Holt and Phyllis A. Whitney.

While the stories are stand-alone, they each share a recurring thread of a Spinel stone, which can play a small or large part in the plot. We have stories set in Scotland, Greece, Oklahoma, Florida, France, Ireland, and more.

Haunting at Spook Light Inn by Alicia Dean

ON SALE for 99 Cents!!

**** Contest! Win a $50 Amazon Gift Card – I’ll be sharing all 10 books on my blog on various days and on Oct 31st, I’ll share all 10 in the same post. On November 5th, I’ll draw a winner. Receive additional entries for each task you perform. (Details below)

A writer travels to a remove bed and breakfast to debunk the superstition of an eerie spook light. But when she encounters a ghost, she has to re-evaluate her beliefs. Now someone…or something…wants to harm her. Is it a long-dead spirit, or a living, breathing human being?

Excerpt:

A glimpse through the trees made me halt. A man. I moved closer and recognized Declan, although his back was to me. Three headstones were spaced four feet apart. Declan stood in front of a white marble teardrop-shaped stone with roses carved into the side that looked newer than the others.

His sister’s grave?

He wore a charcoal gray wool trench coat with the collar pulled up around his neck. His breath came out like wisps of smoke in the cold air. Snow dampened his dark blonde hair, making it look almost black. He was unaware of my presence. His focus was on the grave.

Sympathy pierced my heart, and I blinked back tears. He looked so forlorn, so alone. I had to tighten my hands into fists inside my coat pockets to keep from reaching out to him. My efforts wouldn’t be welcome.

After several moments of silence, I began to wonder if I’d really heard his voice. Although I’d had to take the path to get here, a small grouping of trees were all that separated this area from the carriage house, so it was possible. But had he been speaking to his sister? He didn’t seem the type of man to give in to sentiments such as talking to a dead loved one.

I no sooner had the thought than he spoke again. “I’m sorry, Eleanor. I wish we’d gotten along better, but I did love you. I never wanted this to happen. I only wanted to protect you.”

Feeling like a spy and not wanting to continue intruding on his privacy, I stepped back. My foot landed on an icy tree branch lying on the ground, and the sound exploded like a firecracker in the still afternoon.

Declan whirled to look at me.

My heart leapt to my throat.

His expression tightened in anger. “Ms. Burditt? What in God’s name are you doing out here?”

“I—I was just…taking a walk.” I cast a guilty glance over my shoulder, then looked back at him.

He peered in the direction from which I’d come. “You were at the carriage house?” The words were barked like an accusation.

“Y-yes. I just…” I took a deep breath, suddenly feeling the cold even though the wind was still calm. “I just came upon it. I didn’t go in. The doors were locked.” I realized my error as soon as I said the words. Too late to take them back.

“You tried to get in?” He stalked over until he stood directly in front of me, looming like a dark angry cloud. “The carriage house is off limits. Stay away from it, do you understand me?”

I swallowed. “I wasn’t going to hurt anything, I was just curio—”

“I said stay away.” His voice was deadly, his eyes molten steel. “Do I make myself clear?”

For one brief moment, the fury in his eyes made me think he might be capable of murder after all. Namely, mine. I couldn’t speak, so I only nodded. He held my gaze for a few more gut wrenching moments, then stormed away.

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Check out all the stories here…

A World of Gothic Facebook

**** Contest! You will receive an additional entry for doing each of the following:

• Comment on each blog post
• Like each blog post
• Share each blog post using the ‘twitter’ button
• Like the Facebook Post (link listed above)
• Comment on the Facebook post
• Share the Facebook post

If you missed the other posts, start here and catch them all for additional entries…

Ghost in the Rain

Tis the season…what better time to get lost in A World of Gothic?

A group of authors from countries all over the world were drawn together by our love of the classic gothic mysteries by authors such as Daphne du Maurier, Victoria Holt and Phyllis A. Whitney.

While the stories are stand-alone, they each share a recurring thread of a Spinel stone, which can play a small or large part in the plot. We have stories set in Scotland, Greece, Oklahoma, Florida, France, Ireland, and more.

Sea of Darkness A World of Gothic: France by Amanda McCabe

ON SALE for 99 Cents!!

**** Contest! Win a $50 Amazon Gift Card – I’ll be sharing all 10 books on my blog on various days and on Oct 31st, I’ll share all 10 in the same post. On November 5th, I’ll draw a winner. Receive additional entries for each task you perform. (Details below)

France, 1890. Sandrine Duplessis was raised to be a fine Parisian lady. But when her scholarly father dies and leaves her penniless, she must take a position as lady’s companion at the crumbling Chateau de Pierpont in faraway Normandy. Her employer suffers from a mysterious illness in the old house, which is filled with strange and beautiful Tahitian artifacts, and the servants are silent. Mystery–and possibly love, with the enigmatic Mathieu Favril–are in the chilly air.

Excerpt:

Chapter One—Rouen, 1890

I couldn’t help but feel that I was suddenly living a life that was not my own.

I folded my hands tightly on the handle of the valise on my lap, the old, cracked leather case that held nearly all I owned in the world, and studied the room around me. That sense of cold distance, as if I saw everything in a dream, grew stronger as I watched the receptionist at his desk, the crowds that hurried past in a blur of identical dark suits. No one spoke loudly there, in the city council’s mairie. They merely murmured to each other, making the rustle of papers on the receptionist’s desk all the louder.

A mairie was always a discreet place, especially the section that housed the foreign services, as I remembered well from when I accompanied my father there as a child. Then, as we journeyed there from our comfortable apartment so he could give them his translation work, I had been awed by it all. The soaring, vaulted ceilings of the old buildings, the stone staircases, the solemn air of quiet, secret importance. It was almost frightening, and I was always glad when we returned home to our books and fires, our own company.

Now, though, there was no one to return to, no Papa waiting for me, no fine apartment. There was only a tiny room in a dusty boarding house along a back street. A room I would soon be hard-pressed to pay for, since I had lost my most recent position as a governess.

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Check out all the stories here…

A World of Gothic Facebook

**** Contest! You will receive an additional entry for doing each of the following:

• Comment on each blog post
• Like each blog post
• Share each blog post using the ‘twitter’ button
• Like the Facebook Post (link listed above)
• Comment on the Facebook post
• Share the Facebook post

If you missed the other posts, start here and catch them all for additional entries…

Ghost in the Rain

Tis the season…what better time to get lost in A World of Gothic?

A group of authors from countries all over the world were drawn together by our love of the classic gothic mysteries by authors such as Daphne du Maurier, Victoria Holt and Phyllis A. Whitney.

While the stories are stand-alone, they each share a recurring thread of a Spinel stone, which can play a small or large part in the plot. We have stories set in Scotland, Greece, Oklahoma, Florida, France, Ireland, and more.

Sinister Ceremony A World of Gothic: Maine by Stacey Coverstone

ON SALE for 99 Cents!!

**** Contest! Win a $50 Amazon Gift Card – I’ll be sharing all 10 books on my blog on various days and on Oct 31st, I’ll share all 10 in the same post. On November 5th, I’ll draw a winner. Receive additional entries for each task you perform. (Details below)

When visiting her fiance’s ancestral home sitting isolated on a cliff, Darcy discovers not only is his family strange in many ways, but a menacing presence is restless for a sacrifice, and she has been chosen.

Excerpt:

Her neck slowly pivoted to her left. At seeing the woman lying beside her in her wedding gown, she leaped off the bed and ran into Edward’s arms and buried her head in his chest.

“It is me,” she whimpered. “But how can it be when I’m standing here next to you? I don’t understand.”

Edward held her close. “Don’t be afraid. Abner will bury your physical body in the cemetery out back. Your soul will live on in your new vessel.”

“What have you done?” she said, her voice as hard as the granite cliffs.

Before he could answer, she broke from his embrace and ran to the mirror hanging over the vanity. When she saw the face surrounded by wild red hair that peered back at her, she released a blood-curdling scream.

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Check out all the stories here…

A World of Gothic Facebook

**** Contest! You will receive an additional entry for doing each of the following:

• Comment on each blog post
• Like each blog post
• Share each blog post using the ‘twitter’ button
• Like the Facebook Post (link listed above)
• Comment on the Facebook post
• Share the Facebook post

If you missed the other posts, start here and catch them all for additional entries…

Ghost in the Rain

Tis the season…what better time to get lost in A World of Gothic?

A group of authors from countries all over the world were drawn together by our love of the classic gothic mysteries by authors such as Daphne du Maurier, Victoria Holt and Phyllis A. Whitney.

While the stories are stand-alone, they each share a recurring thread of a Spinel stone, which can play a small or large part in the plot. We have stories set in Scotland, Greece, Oklahoma, Florida, France, Ireland, and more.

Blood Stained Memories  A World of Gothic: US by Kathy L Wheeler

ON SALE for 99 Cents!!

**** Contest! Win a $50 Amazon Gift Card – I’ll be sharing all 10 books on my blog on various days and on Oct 31st, I’ll share all 10 in the same post. On November 5th, I’ll draw a winner. Receive additional entries for each task you perform. (Details below)

Can she live with what her memories may unlock?

She remembers nothing of her past except the sting of her aunt’s slap jarring her to the stained letter she held in one hand, the bloody knife in the other, and … her father’s lifeless body at her feet. Now she must face the truth…did she murder her own father.

Excerpt:

…“With your assistance, Miss Ross, we’ll be tearing this house apart.” He glanced between his two companions. “When I learn who the dishonest party is, make no mistake, I will be pressing charges. To the fullest extent of the law.”

My stomach nose-dived a hundred leagues below sea level. Not only did I possess one of the Spanish coins, but my presence here was not exactly on the up-and-up.

“That’s just rich. Isn’t it, Adam?” Raven hissed. “Laughable to hear you speaking of following the law.”

He dropped his napkin. “I have matters to attend to this morning, Miss Ross. I’m sure you have ideas to present. Let’s meet in the library. Shall we say—” He eyed my crusted bread with an amused smirk. “—fifteen minutes?”

“Of course,” I responded, so relieved I almost slid from my chair to the floor. The library. I could handle the library.

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Check out all the stories here…

A World of Gothic Facebook

**** Contest! You will receive an additional entry for doing each of the following:

• Comment on each blog post
• Like each blog post
• Share each blog post using the ‘twitter’ button
• Like the Facebook Post (link listed above)
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Link to previous post:

Ghost in the Rain

Tis the season…what better time to get lost in A World of Gothic?

A group of authors from countries all over the world were drawn together by our love of the classic gothic mysteries by authors such as Daphne du Maurier, Victoria Holt and Phyllis A. Whitney.

While the stories are stand-alone, they each share a recurring thread of a Spinel stone, which can play a small or large part in the plot. We have stories set in Scotland, Greece, Oklahoma, Florida, France, Ireland, and more.

Ghost in the Rain: A World of Gothic – Scotland by Marie Treanor

ON SALE for 99 Cents!!

**** Contest! Win a $50 Amazon Gift Card – I’ll be sharing all 10 books on my blog on various days and on Oct 31st, I’ll share all 10 in the same post. On November 5th, I’ll draw a winner. Receive additional entries for each task you perform. (Details below)

A haunted Highland house, battered by storms and murder…

Notorious rocker Dan Stewart isn’t anything like Dr. Kate Yorke imagined. Arriving at his remote home in the Scottish Highlands to research some valuable letters, Kate soaks up the Gothic atmosphere. But it’s Dan who truly fascinates her.

Excerpt:

I had to acknowledge that my peace was churned up by his unexpected presence here. It wasn’t even an unpleasant feeling; in fact it felt rather…exciting. But it was disturbing.

I took off my glasses and rubbed my eyes. I suspected Dan Stewart carried such disturbance wherever he went. If I thought about it, the whole house felt different now. As if its peace had gone too; as if it had sprung to life, eager, waiting.

Mocking my own silly fantasy, I stood abruptly and paced around the room, trying to recover my lost concentration. I suspected I was just tired and would work much faster and much better after a good night’s sleep.

I paused by the window to watch the storm. Although the thunder had stopped, the wind and rain were still blasting the trees and rattling the window. Close-up, I could feel the draught through my thick sweater. On impulse, I retrieved my phone from my bag and tried to capture the raging storm on its camera. But it looked too tame on the screen, not deep or dark enough, no real movement in those black clouds still scudding and swirling across the sky. I wished I could paint. For a moment, I even wished I could be part of it, to go outside in it again. There was nothing to stop me, except common sense.

I smiled to myself and lowered the phone, just as a movement in the garden below caught my eye. Someone was out in this. Someone not remotely dressed for it either. Through the darkness and the almost opaque mist of rain, I could make out only that it seemed to be a woman wearing only some kind of floating, white, wispy garment, more like the loungewear of wealthy women of past centuries than anything anyone would wear today for any purpose. The odd garment shimmered as the figure glided across the lawn, impossibly graceful.

On impulse, I raised my phone again and snapped.

Perhaps she moved too quickly. Nothing of her showed on the screen except an indistinct blur of light against blackness. Frowning, I looked again out of the window, but the woman had gone. Vanished.

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Check out all the stories here…

A World of Gothic Facebook

**** Contest! You will receive an additional entry for doing each of the following:

• Comment on each blog post
• Like each blog post
• Share each blog post using the ‘twitter’ button
• Like the Facebook Post (link listed above)
• Comment on the Facebook post
• Share the Facebook post