The Lei Crime Series by Various Authors - Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The Lei Crime Series: eight novellas, by eight different authors, is based on Toby Neal's vivid and captivating Lei Crime Series.

Each week in June this tour will explore two different books in the series. This week we are featuring two crime/mystery/suspense books: Half Moon Girls by Corinne O’Flynn and A Snake in Paradise by Eden Baylee.

The authors will be awarding a $30 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Please click on the banner to see the other stops on this tour.

Even paradise has a dark side...

When Detective Leilani Texeira begins investigating a murder on Kaua`i, she's struck by one thing: the victim looks like her. As Lei battles dark memories stirred up by the likeness, a friend calls, worried that her daughter didn't come home last night. Lei soon discovers that the dead girl and the missing girl were friends and last seen together the previous day.

Can she conquer her demons and capture a killer in time to rescue the captive?

Lainey Lee has always dreamed of going to Hawaii. It should have been her honeymoon trip, only it never happened. Now, in a poetic twist of fate, she is making the journey twenty-seven years later—following a messy divorce.

Once on the Big Island, Lainey discovers paradise, but white sand beaches and blue skies are not all Hawaii has to offer. She soon meets Julian, a mysterious stranger ten years her junior. They share an instant connection.

Lainey is eager to shed the fears that trapped her in a loveless marriage, but is Julian a tempting distraction, a new beginning, or a snake in paradise?

About the Authors:

Corinne O'Flynn is a native New Yorker who now lives in Colorado and wouldn't trade life in the Rockies for anything. She loves writing flash and experimenting with short fiction. She is a scone aficionado, has an entire section of her kitchen devoted to tea, and is always on the lookout for the elusive Peanut Chews candy.

When she isn't writing, Corinne works as the executive director of a nonprofit. She is a member of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, Mystery Writers of America, and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. You can find her online at her website, Facebook, or Twitter @CorinneOFlynn. She blogs about her adventures at http://www.corinneoflynn.com.

Twitter: @CorinneOFlynn
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/oflynnbooks

Buy her book at Amazon.

Eden Baylee left a twenty-year banking career to become a full-time writer. She incorporates many of her favorite things into her writing such as: travel; humor; music; poetry; art; and much more. She writes in multiple genres and has written three collections of erotic novellas and flash fiction—Spring into Summer, Fall into Winter, and Hot Flash, along with contributing to the anthologies: Allegories of the Tarot, Indie Authors Naked, and Triptychs.

In 2014, she released her mystery-suspense novel Stranger at Sunset, the first of a trilogy with psychiatrist, Dr. Kate Hampton. Look for the second book entitled A Fragile Truce in 2015.

Eden loves hearing from readers, so connect to her via her website at www.edenbayleebooks.com.
Twitter @edenbaylee
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/edenbaylee

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Back to Us by Teresa Roman - Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Teresa Roman is awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn commenter via Rafflecopter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

This book has been selected for publication as part of the Kindle Scout program. It will be available soon.

Abandoned by her parents at fourteen, Jessica knows what it means to struggle. Jessica’s vowed that getting her degree is the only thing she has time for, until a summer internship brings Justin into her life. But Justin has scars of his own. A tour of duty in Afghanistan has left him with wounds. A medical discharge from the Navy leaves Justin struggling to make sense of his new reality. Then he meets Jessica; but can the two of them leave their pain in the past and make a future together?

Enjoy an excerpt:

I turned to leave. There were a million things I wanted to say to Justin, but without a guarantee that he’d respond the way I wanted him too, I was too afraid.

“Jess.”

“Yes?” I was almost at the door.

Justin hopped up on the table behind him and rested his feet on a chair. I waited for him to talk. “I’m scared,” he finally said.

“Scared of what?”

“That you’ll break me.”

I walked over to Justin slowly and stood in front of him. “You don’t believe I care about you?”

“I do. But feelings change, people change.”

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to be saying right now. I was the one who asked you out. I was the one who told you I was interested, but you turned me down, twice.”

“Because I’m an idiot.”

“Justin…”

“Just hear me out, okay?”

“Ok.” I took a step closer to him and he reached for my hand.

About the Author: Teresa Roman is a lover of books. That's what prompted her to try her hand at writing. She currently resides in Sacramento, CA with her husband, three adorable children and the puppy her son convinced them to adopt. When she isn't at her day job or running around with her kids, you can find her in front of the computer hard at work writing or with her head buried in another book.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teresaromanauthor
Website: http://www.teresaromanwrites.com

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Two Princes: The Biker and the Billionaire by Victoria Dannan - Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Victoria will be awarding a copy of the memoirs of Ash Armand, the celebrity who appears on the cover of Two Princes to 3 randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Two brothers, one a player, one a playboy, are on a collision course with destiny and a woman who thought she won a prize when she was allowed a look inside the Sons of Sanctuary MC.

Brigid Roan is a graduate student at the University of Texas. She had no trouble getting her thesis approved, but finding a Hill Country motorcycle club willing to give her access to their lifestyle was looking impossible. Then she got a lead. A friend of a friend had a cousin with family ties to The Sons of Sanctuary.

What Brigid wanted was information to prove a proposition. The last thing she had in mind was falling for one of the members of the club. Especially since she was a feminist academic out to prove that motorcycle clubs are organized according to the same structure as primitive tribal society.

Brash Fornight was standing in line at the H.E.B. Market when his world tipped on its axis. While waiting his turn to check out, his gaze had wandered to the magazine display and settled on the new issue of “NOW”. The image on the cover, although GQ’d up in an insanely urbane way, was… him.

After reading the article, Brash threw some stuff in a duffle and left his only home, a room at The Sons of Sanctuary clubhouse, with a vague explanation about needing a couple of days away. He left his truck at the Austin airport and caught a plane for New York, on a mission to find a mysterious guy walking around with his face.

Enjoy an excerpt:

“Sir?” Brash Fornight gradually became aware that someone behind him in the grocery checkout line was trying to get his attention. “Sir?” He refocused and glanced behind him. The woman leaning on a cart overflowing with chip bags and cookie boxes nodded toward the cashier indicating that it was his turn to move forward. Brash looked her in the eye and had to give her props. Most people wouldn’t have the balls to try to herd a guy wearing Sons of Sanctuary MC leather.

The club employed a woman who cooked and did grocery shopping several times a week as part of her job description, but Brash didn’t like to explain his relentless craving for peanuts and he liked being teased about it even less. He didn’t know whether it was the Vitamin B or the fat or just because he liked the taste, but he couldn’t imagine going a day without them.

That’s how he came to be standing statue still In the grocery checkout line, being prompted by some woman with more nerve than sense. While he was waiting, his eyes drifted over the magazine display and settled on the cover of “NOW”, on the Most Eligible Bachelor edition no less. The debonair figure staring back was wearing Brash’s own face and body. He looked different with short hair and a four thousand dollar suit with the shirt fashionably open at the neckline, but the similarity was inescapable.

On impulse he grabbed the magazine and tossed it onto the conveyor belt with his week’s stash of peanuts.

He stuffed the bags into the saddlebags of his bike and roared toward home, nervously tapping his fingers on handlebars at red lights, riding on shoulders to keep from slowing down. He was anxious to get to the privacy of his own room and read about Branach St. Germaine.

Two beers, one jar of peanuts, and one “NOW” article later, Brash was sitting on the edge of his bed looking at the wall, seeing nothing but his own heavy thoughts. He pulled out his phone, looked up a website, and waited on hold for ten minutes to hear the time of the next flight from Austin to New York.

There was a flight to Newark in a little over three hours. He looked at his watch and calculated the time it would take to drive from Dripping Springs at that time of day. As he booked the flight, he stood up, walked to the small closet, grabbed a duffel bag, and began shoving stuff into it. Ten minutes later, he closed his door and locked it, threw the duffel over his shoulder, and headed straight for the office downstairs. He dropped the duffel on the hallway floor beside the closed door and knocked.

“Yeah?” Brash looked inside, glad that his dad was by himself, and stepped in. “What’s up?”

“I’m takin’ personal time, Pop. Gonna be gone for a couple of days.”

“What the hell is ‘personal time’?”

The gruffness made Brash smile. “It means I’m not gonna be here if you call and I’m not tellin’ you why.”

The Sons of Sanctuary President looked up at Brash, over the top of his readers, and narrowed his eyes. “You got a secret?”

“Everybody’s got secrets.”

Brandon Fornight studied his son for a minute. “True enough. Is it the kind of secret that could affect this club?”

Brash shook his head. “Don’t see how.”

“Well, then. See you… When did you say you’d be back?”

“I didn’t.”

“Bein’ purposefully vague, are you?”

Brash grinned. “That’s why they call it personal time. But I expect to be back Friday.”

“You gonna have your phone with you?” When Brash nodded, Bran looked back down at his ledger in a deliberately dismissive gesture. “Well, get outta here then.”

Brash parked his bike in the airplane hangar. The structure had already been on the property when the club had bought it and turned it into a compound twenty years earlier. They used part of it for vehicle maintenance and repair and part for parking.

Some of the guys who were working looked over and shot curious glances his way when Brash threw his duffel into his pickup and started it up, but it wasn’t their way to ask questions. The Sons figured that if somebody wanted you to know something, they’d tell you.

Brash took a cab to a midtown hotel, wondering all the way why human beings would choose to live in such a place. As he slid his credit card across the hotel counter to the agent on duty, he glanced at the name, Brandon Fornight. It seemed unlikely that it was a coincidence that that the mysterious look-alike’s first name began with the same four letters. He ordered room service and pulled out his laptop.

Getting intel on the guy didn’t take advanced ops. Within an hour Brash knew where Brannach St. Germaine worked, what kind of car he drove, what kind of women he dated, who his tailor was, and where he liked to dine. There was no shortage of photos online, but the one that grabbed his attention wasn’t one of the many with starlets or debutantes on his arm. It was the one taken with his arm around his mother as they were arriving together for some red carpet fundraiser. Brash had an almost irresistible compulsion to reach up and touch her face on the screen in front of him.

The knock on the door signaled that room service had arrived. It cost a fortune, but looked and tasted like shit. So he closed the computer and went out for a walk to clear his head and find something edible.

USA TODAY Bestselling Author.

The Order of the Black Swan has won BEST PARANORMAL ROMANCE SERIES TWO YEARS IN A ROW (2013, 2014). Reviewers Choice Awards, The Paranormal Romance Guild.

Victoria writes cross-genre with uniquely fresh perspectives on paranormal creatures, characters, and themes. She is making her debut into contemporary romance with publication of the SUMMER FIRE ultimate romance collection anthology with the intro to the Sons of Sanctuary MC series. The first novel of that will be released June 16, 2015

WEBSITE/BLOG: www.VictoriaDanann.com

AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE: http://www.amazon.com/Victoria-Danann/e/B007VCOJES/

AUTHOR FAN GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/772083312865721/777140922359960/

BLACK SWAN FAN PAGE: www.facebook.com/vdanann

AUTHOR PAGE: www.facebook.com/authorvictoriadanann

GOODREADS FAN GROUP: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/108735-victoria-danann-order-of-the-black-swan

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/vdanann

PINTEREST: www.pinterest.com/vdanann

http://www.amazon.com/Sexoirs-Gigolo-Ash-Armand-ebook/dp/B00IXZDK24/

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The Sweetheart Deal by Allison Morse - Exclusive Excerpt and Giveaway

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

Some people in her small rural community think Ellen Hamilton, the business savvy daughter of the town’s largest employer, is too big for her britches. After all it’s the 1950s and women have no place in running corporations. But when the company is threatened with takeover by John Adair, the man who broke her heart and “betrayed” her family business years ago, she’s determined to stop at nothing to win. Yet, when the cool Ellen turns molten in John’s arms, will she discover the truth about the past in time to seal The Sweetheart Deal.

Enjoy an exclusive excerpt:

John awoke the next morning not wanting to leave the bed. Ironic to feel so lousy when he had what he had come for. He had a voting share of Hamilton Manufacturing at his disposal. With this, he’d be able to swoop in at an opportune time and snatch up an active share of the tank—not merely be the silent financial partner envisioned. John rubbed his eyes. Except…

Ellen.

He couldn’t get the picture of her from the other night out of his head. Her chestnut hair indistinguishable from the gold and brown tapestry of leaves. Her skin radiant. And, in his arms she was all earth and need and primal.

She’d arched her back and her nipples, tight and erect, were held up like a divine offering. Her throaty moan inflamed him. He licked and nibbled and teased while his desire to savor or devour her warred inside. She was no longer the girl who had trembled in his arms with desire and trepidation, but a woman. She illuminated the possible with her brilliant mind and could bring him to his knees with her sensuality.

And then the spider.

Damn.

But, oh…God, her laugh!

Later, in Ellen’s bedroom, with crisp white linens and the smell of jasmine, and pure salty sweet her, they made love once, twice. When she slept nestled under his arm something soft, winged-like, awoke inside him. A belief that a different life was possible, different from what the dark world of poverty, war, and betrayal had taught him.

How could their being together be so profound to him and yet mean nothing to her?
About the Author:Allison Morse grew up in a family of actors in Los Angeles; before the age of five, she started acting classes, which she adored. She continued in the family business until her early twenties when her curious spirit led her to consider other interests.

After receiving a B.A. from U.C. Berkeley, she went on to earn a M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy, and a J.D. from U.C. Hastings College of the Law.

Although she loved learning from each of her varied careers she always knew that storytelling was as essential to her as breathing. So as she pursued her professional life, she kept to a strict writing schedule, and joined the Romance Writers of America and Sisters in Crime.

She lives with her wonderful husband in a house in the hills that’s filled with books.

Allison can be contacted at her website.

Buy the book at Amazon or The Wild Rose Press.

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Something Like This by Eileen Cruz Coleman - Spotlight and Giveaway

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

Twenty-three-year old Jadie Santiago has a secret.

One morning on her way to work she stops to offer a homeless man a bottle of water. As she meets the man's eyes, Jadie instantly recognizes they belong to her father, whom she hasn't seen since she was sixteen. Unable to accept the truth of her encounter, Jadie flees, hoping eventually to forget the experience and continue leading a normal life.

But then she meets Reece, an aspiring writer with a mysterious past who is set on capturing Jadie's affection. Jadie wants nothing more than to give her heart to Reece, but her broken past and crippling secret keep her from surrendering it to him fully.

Things won't come easy to Jadie as she fights for her place in the world, but there is strength in her, and she is determined never to stop struggling for what so many others have: love, happiness, and a sense of belonging.

Enjoy an excerpt:

Moments later, we held each other, my head resting on his chest.

“Are you hungry?” he asked, kissing the top of my head.

“A little, but I need to get back soon.”

“How about I fix you a sandwich to go?”

“That would be great.”

It would also be great if I told you I loved you and you said the words back to me. Did I dare tell him? I could almost hear myself saying the words to him. What if he didn’t say them back? It was too soon. I was acting like a needy, crazy girl.

He jumped out of the bed and proceeded to get dressed.

“Meet you in the kitchen?” he asked.

I nodded.

Once alone, I took a deep breath and gathered my thoughts. I decided not to tell Reece what I was feeling. Doing so would end up scaring him. I didn’t want to risk losing him. Not before we even got started.

I got up, got dressed, and headed for the kitchen.

“Here you go,” he said, holding a sandwich in a Ziploc bag in front of me.

“Thank you.” I took the bag. “I guess I better get going.”

“I’ll drive you back.”

“No, it’s okay, I’ll take the Metro.”

“I’ll drive you.”

“No, really, it’s okay. I’d actually rather take the Metro, if you don’t mind.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m sorry, I have to meet with a new guy in our office to go over some manuscripts this afternoon and I could use the alone time to think.”

I had to leave before I blurted out the words.

“Okay. If you’re sure?”

“I’m sure.”

He leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “I miss you already.”

I smiled. “Me too.”

“Can I call you later?”

“You better.”

He walked me to the door.

“Okay, be careful,” he said.

“Will do.”

I started walking down the hall. “Are you watching me?”

“Yes.”

“That’s kind of creepy.”

“I can’t help it.”

I pushed the elevator button and the doors instantly opened. I took a step.

“Wait,” he said.

“Is something wrong?”

“I have to tell you something.”

“What is it?”

He ran toward me. “Jadie, the thing is. Well, I…”

About the Author: Eileen Cruz Coleman was born in Washington, D.C. to an immigrant El Salvadoran mother and a Puerto Rican father. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland with a degree in History. Her short stories have appeared in numerous literary journals both online and in print. She lives in Maryland with her husband and two children.

http://www.eileencruzcoleman.com
Sign up for Eileen's newsletter: http://www.eileencruzcoleman.com/subscribe-to-newsletter

Buy the book at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, or Kobo.

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Time Traveling Hookers by S.E. Burr - Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author is awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn commenter via Rafflecopter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Three modern day roommates and recent college grads take a time machine back to the Wild West. The time machine breaks, stranding them in the past where they are forced to join a brothel to survive.

With the help of future technology, they're able to trick their customers into thinking they're getting what they pay for, without actually having to do the deed.

But the scam involves getting much more up close and personal with smelly, 19th century hicks than germaphobe and prude, Anastasia, is comfortable with.

One customer seems sweeter, more attractive, and better groomed than the rest. Could she actually fall for a cowboy from the dirty, disgusting past?

Enjoy an excerpt:

“I’m not going to have sex with him,” said Anastasia.

“With who?” said Beth.

“With him,” Anastasia repeated.

“Who him?” asked Mare.

“Him, John,” Anastasia said.

“John?” Mare bit her lip, confused.

Beth sighed. “Who’s John, Anastasia?”

“John is what the men who have sex with prostitutes are called.”

“What? All of them?” Mare asked.

Anastasia nodded.

“No,” Beth said. “They are not all named John. Not only men named John have sex with whores.”

“Language!” said Anastasia.

Beth groaned. “That’s quite enough, Anastasia. If we’re going to do this you’ll have to get far less prudish about many things. Language is the least of them.”

“I’m not going to do this,” Anastasia said. “I already told you. I’m not going to have sex with him.”

“Who?” Mare asked again.

“Anyone!” Anastasia said.

“You’re not going to have sex with anyone?” asked Beth. Her voice sounded mocking. “Ever?”

“Maybe,” said Anastasia, “Maybe not, but I’m certainly not going to have sex with anyone in this century. Do you have any idea how filthy they are?”

Beth laughed. “No filthier than you are,” she said.

Mare grimaced. “She has a point, Anastasia.”

“I know,” said Anastasia, looking down at herself. She had a strong desire to pinch her nose. She was dirty, absolutely covered in dust. To see it, to feel it on her skin, made her cringe. She hated, HATED, being dirty, but here she was dressed in a ridiculous gold-rush era dress that somehow collected every speck of soil, decay, and body odor around and on her.

About the Author: S.E. Burr wrote Time Traveling Hookers over the course of a weekend at a Tom Bird writing retreat in Santa Fe, NM. It is based on a dream she had a few weeks prior to the retreat, but she did no advanced planning of the plot. She was very surprised to discover that the story was a romance, as she did not often read romances, let alone write them. She quite enjoyed the experience and intends to write more romances in the future, but cautions that what she intends to write and what she actually writes can be two very different things. She is the author of the young adult novel, Goblin Fruit, inspired by the poem “Goblin Market” by Christina Rossetti. The sequel, Goblin Girl, is coming soon. It was inspired by her desire to find out more of the story. A nearly lifelong resident of rural New Mexico, S.E. Burr loves the desert, her family, and her cat.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009886352613
Twitter: https://twitter.com/serinburr
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6806428.S_E_Burr
Website: http://seburr.com/

Buy the book at Amazon it's only $0.99!!

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Cover Reveal and Giveaway: Forbidden Things: Dissident by Nikki McCormack

This post is part of a Cover Reveal Book Blast organized by Goddess Fish Promotions for Nikki McCormack's newest book Forbidden Things: Dissident. The author is providing a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn commenter via Rafflecopter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Ascard power can strengthen, heal and create. It also has great potential to destroy, enough to topple entire governments. Indigo’s country places strict limitations on the use of ascard so she must channel her talents into the healing arts or risk severe punishment. An orphan from a disgraced family, trapped by her father’s treason, Indigo struggles reclaim her place in a society that has driven her into an abusive engagement. Then a mysterious stranger from a neighboring country contacts her using ascard. He needs help escaping his prison so he can bring an end to his emperor's oppressive rule or die trying. His unshakable devotion to his cause and the passion hidden behind his cool arrogance move her to help him at the risk of being branded a traitor herself. When the politics of society bring them together a second time, Indigo decides to use her growing powers to help him fight his war. If only she dared fight for her own future with such passion. Perhaps she can find the courage to do so by helping the man she has fallen for win his revolution. She might have exactly the power he needs to succeed.

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Sudetenland by George T. Chronis - Virtual Book tour and Giveaway

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

IRB: Why do you write in your genre? What draws you to it?

GTC: History comes easy. I have been reading history books and magazines since I was a kid so the drive to use some of that material has been a strong one. As I have been reading science fiction almost as long, ending Sudetenland with a dash of alternative history was attractive as well. A lot of the history I was reading was told like a great story with tension, drama and conflict. Back in the day a good history magazine article often read like the telling of an epic poem. That kind of stuff was intoxicating for a young kid with a vivid imagination. The tales still hold their power for me and I am at a point in my life where I want to share.

IRB: What research is required?

GTC: For Sudetenland primary research was broken down into three groups. First was the factual research – creating a day-by-day timeline for 1937 and 1938 to build the plot around. Second were first-person observations to get the color of what was happening. Memoirs and news reports from the period were invaluable here. Third there was the contextual research – attempting to get a feel for particular places, cultures and personal motivations. Then during the writing phase there is spot research – those times when you suddenly release you need the name of a hotel or pub, or call up a relief map to check what kind of terrain some reporter was writing about, or track down old postcards to help you with atmosphere.

IRB: Name one thing you learned from your hero/heroine.

GTC: Being rather old fashioned I prefer working with external threat. After living with the characters for a while during writing they begin to reveal their flaws, rough edges, virtues and affectations. It's an ongoing process. The more you tag along with these people the more they show you and the more you learn. By the time the end of the book they have become very rich characters.

IRB: Do you have any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits or superstitions?

GTC: Given that I do not come at writing from an English literature background I am sure that my old teachers would intone I am doing everything wrong. My formal training is actually in screenwriting, and my career experience is as a journalist and editor. For the latter, my skillset was not honed as a journalist or English major but from competitive speech and debate during college. Screenwriting and journalism give you a great sense of quick pacing and tight exposition. Whether the work is short or long it has to keep moving. An old film dictum is that motion equals conflict equals drama – in a visceral sense for the audience. My masters thesis advisor drilled a lot into our heads and I can still hear his voice going on about narrative structure. A script is formatted so one page amounts to one minute of screen time. He used to pound into us that no scene should be longer than two pages, and if the scene had to be longer than two pages the characters had to move. Since my stories involve a good deal of tension, this movement and physicality as a style works very well in print too. But you don't want to wear the reader out so I like to add some screwball comedy for tension relief. Since I have a cabal of 1930s reporters in Sudetenland the comedy comes easy. So while the book is long, it doesn't feel long while you are reading it.

IRB Are you a plotter or pantser?

GTC: Honestly, somewhere in-between. A strict outline is a waste of time for me since I will always have to blow it up when, inevitably, I change things. Neither does jumping in with no direction at all work. My system is to know where the story starts, where it ends, and major plot points in the middle. That way I can dash and weave any way I want along the way and the end result is true to itself.

IRB: Look to your right – what’s sitting there?

GTC: Toys on the bookshelf. Some of the highlights... a Maltese Falcon, Talos from Jason and the Argonauts, a metal Lockheed Vega, Foghorn Leghorn about to munch on some corn, and a pewter Mechwarrior Timber Wolf.

IRB: Anything new coming up from you? What?

GTC: Yes indeed. The sequel to Sudetenland is going to take a while to pull off as I am right in the middle of primary research. For those who read the novel and are asking for something new, I am adapting an old Film Noir screenplay I wrote years ago. People really enjoyed reading it at the time and I still really enjoy the story. It is a much more modest affair compared to Sudetenland but there are definite similarities. There are some historical hooks in secret German aeronautics technology that surfaces after the war... and people start dying. Plus there is a fun look at Los Angeles during the late 1940s – hamburgers for 15 cents – have to love it. I hope to have it done and published in three months or so.

IRB: Do you have a question for our readers?

GTC: Sure thing. When it comes to historical fiction what appeals to them?

Sudetenland is the premiere novel by author George T. Chronis. The book delivers suspenseful and sweeping historical fiction set against Central European intrigue during the late 1930s leading up to 1938’s Munich Conference. Having swallowed up Austria, Adolph Hitler now covets Czechoslovakian territory. Only France has the power to stand beside the government in Prague against Germany… but will she? The characters are the smart and sometimes wise-cracking men and women of this era – the foreign correspondents, intelligence officers, diplomats and career military – who are on the front lines of that decade’s most dangerous political crisis. If Czechoslovak president Edvard Beneš ignores the advice of French premier Édouard Daladier and refuses to give up Bohemian territory willingly, then Hitler orders that it be taken by force. The novel takes readers behind the scenes into the deliberations and high drama taking place within major European capitals such as Prague, Paris, Berlin, Vienna and London as the continent hurtles toward the crucible of a shooting war.

Enjoy an excerpt:

So this was how it was to be. Abandoned like a faithful spouse to the vagaries of a cheating scoundrel. Despite all of the warning signs and the advice of good friends, the fleeting hope that the one who you had invested so much history with would not betray that which had taken so long to build, was dashed. What Masaryk had said on the phone was right: screw them!

Štefan Osušky could not remember when he had felt so embittered. The Franco-Czechoslovak Pact was dead. It had been dying for months through the long summer. For the last hour Bonnet had hammered the death certificate onto a public wall. Osušky had been summoned to the Quai d'Orsay to meet with the French foreign minister. Daladier and his cabinet ministers had been meeting since ten-thirty in the morning at the Élysée Palace to approve or reject the Anglo-French plan that Daladier had crawled back to Paris with from London. When they had finished, Osušky was to be waiting at Bonnet's office to hear the results. No audience with the premier was available.

Osušky held no illusions as to what Chamberlain had proposed to Daladier. The newspapers had been shockingly detailed in their presentation of the expected major points. So many leaks to such a plethora of reporters usually suggested a raison d'être behind the disclosures. Osušky calculated there was a chance those ministers in Daladier's cabinet that opposed ceding Czech territory to Hitler might be setting the stage for an uprising against Chamberlain's cravenly acquiescence to the dictator… but a very small chance.

When Bonnet arrived back from Élysée Palace he got right to the point. Daladier's cabinet had unanimously approved the Anglo-French plan. As Bonnet read off the terms it was just as the press reports had purported. The only difference was that Bonnet had the full list while most of the newspapers lacked one component or another. The next hour was a blistering back and forth between the two diplomats. Osušky reminded Bonnet of the last two years of French assurances, to which the Frenchman countered the break-up of Czechoslovakia was, the least unpleasant solution. Osušky went on to reiterate the fullness of France's treaty obligations only to be instructed they were mere words on paper. The British had said in no uncertain terms that if Prague refused the Anglo-French plan then Britain would disassociate itself from the dispute. Without British solidarity the assistance that France could offer Czechoslovakia was of no effectiveness. The Czechs would not be allowed to drag France into a war over three-and-a-half million Sudeten Germans. Osušky's further protests only fed Bonnet's burgeoning hostility. France demanded that Czechoslovakia accept the plan. That was the message Osušky was to take to President Beneš without further argument.

There was nothing more to say to such intransigence so Osušky made his leave. Heading down the hall to the main entrance, Osušky felt his own emotions exploding as he replayed Bonnet's words in his head. The ostiary opened the tall, narrow door Osušky had been through so many times in better days and the Czechoslovak envoy stepped out to overlook a courtyard full of anxious correspondents. He couldn't restrain himself.

"Do you want to see a man condemned without a hearing?" Osušky played to the crowd while descending the stairs. "Here I stand!"

After years as a journalist and magazine editor, George T. Chronis decided to return to his lifelong passion, storytelling. A lover of both 1930s cinema and world history, Chronis is now devoted to bringing life to the mid-20th Century fictional narratives that have been in his thoughts for years. Sudetenland is his first novel. Taking place during turbulent times in Central Europe during the 1930s, the book took eight years to research and write. The author is already hard at work on his second novel.

Chronis is married with two daughters, and lives with his wife in a Southern California mountain community.

Links

www.sudetenland.georgetchronis.com
www.georgetchronis.tumblr.com
www.georgetchronis.com

Buy Links
www.georgetchronis.com/book/381-2/
www.georgetchronis.com/book/112-2

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Midnight Supper at the Rise and Shine by Tara Woolpy - Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Tara will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn commenter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Bad luck and worse choices—that’s Irene. She’s been a widow half her life and now splits her time between waitressing at the Rise and Shine café and singing in an oldies cover band. And she’s having an affair with a married man—something that even her eclectic, super liberal family can’t condone.

She’d be the first one to admit she has faults, but she’s not a bigot. The genetic pool in her nuclear family spans the globe. And it’s not that she’s prejudiced against people with disabilities but that doctors and wheelchairs give her the heebie-jeebies. So when a cute guy in a chair keeps showing up in the restaurant, she’s clumsy, awkward and strangely drawn. Can Irene let go of the past or is she too emotionally broken to find a future worth the risk?

Enjoy an excerpt:

The restaurant buzzed with conversation and the familiar clank of silverware on plates. Movement near the front made me glance over. A massive, shaggy-haired creature stared up at me from under table one. My heart pounded. It looked like a fucking bear. I screamed. Everyone in the restaurant turned to look.

Adam trotted over, his face aflame. “Mom, get a grip.”

As I moved toward the table, I pointed to the bear and scowled at the guy sitting beside it. “What the fuck is that?”

He looked up at me, a man about my age, who had the most amazing blue eyes. “Um, it’s a dog, ma’am. A Newfoundland. He’s very civilized. He’s a—”

“You can’t have a dog in here,” I shouted as he finished “—service dog.”

That’s when I noticed the bear’s blue backpack.

“Shit. Oh, I’m so sorry…” Great. Now I was yelling at the disabled. I moved to get out of the way of the huge dog. Something jabbed into my hip, and the guy with the great eyes jerked sideways. He clutched the table and swore.

I looked down and saw the wheelchair I’d just bumped into—unobtrusive, low-slung, a nice red that blended in with our décor.

“Sorry.” I grabbed the handle to straighten it back out for him.

“Don’t!” he barked.

I backed away, mortified. Adam glared at me. Someone put a hand on my shoulder.

Edward smiled down at me. “I see you’ve met my friend, Mark Redfield. Mark, this is Irene, the mother of our charming server. She’s quite pleasant most of the time. Maybe you could bring us some pie?”

About the Author:

Tara Woolpy is the author of The Lacland series, loosely linked novels set in the fictional upper midwestern town of Lacland, including Releasing Gillian's Wolves, Raising Wild Ginger and Midnight Supper at the Rise and Shine. Tara earned her bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Whitworth College after which she spent a year at the Women Writers Center in Cazenovia, New York. While pursuing her writing career she paid the rent through an astonishing number of jobs—she’s been a waitress, a shop owner, a retail clerk, a half-way house counselor and a commercial diver. Eventually, she took a midlife hiatus from writing to become an aquatic scientist. As such she also holds a Masters degree from Oregon State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Now she teaches online for the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and has come back to writing fiction with new passion and wonder at the long, serpentine beauty of life. In addition to the novels, her work has appeared in Focus, Corymb, Kalliope, Alligator Juniper and the anthology The Things that Divide Us from Seal Press.

Contact information:

Email – tlwoolpy@gmail.com
Follow Tara on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tara.woolpy, find her on Google+

For more about the Lacland books—www.batsintheboathouse.com

Buy the book at http://www.amazon.com/Tara-Woolpy/e/B00596GT28/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1431446687&sr=8-1 or http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/tara-woolpy?store=allproducts&keyword=tara+woolpy.

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Summer's Family Affair by Cynthia Gail - Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Cynthia Gail will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour AND she has a special giveaway at the end of her interview. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Why do you write in your genre? What draws you to it?

I’m an avid reader of both contemporary and historical romance. I’m not sure that I chose contemporary as much as it chose me. I started writing when a storyline popped into my head one morning. I ignored it at first. Then the story started to grow; with more pieces coming together each day as I would hit the snooze button and steal an extra ten minutes of rest. By the time I decided to write it down, I had the first chapter of Spring’s Surprise and the foundation of the Music City Hearts series.

Name one thing you learned from your hero/heroine.

I learned that I’m as stubborn as Jenny about letting someone take care of her. I’ve always been an independent kind of person – somewhat afraid to let go of control. I want to be responsible and in charge of my own fate. But we can’t do everything alone. And trusting other people can be refreshing and bring peace to our lives if we can force ourselves to simply let go.

Do you have any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits or superstitions?

I’m not sure that it’s unique, but I can edit my work in a room full of noise; people, television, and/or music. But I can’t write unless I have complete silence. Even an easy-listening soundtrack will take my brain out of the story. I guess creativity can’t be part of multi-tasking.

Are you a plotter or pantser?

I started as a pantser because I didn’t know any better. Now, I work with a critique partner to outline every book before I start writing. Of course, the outline changes as the characters sometimes take on a direction of their own. But I definitely have a path laid out for the journey.

Look to your right – what’s sitting there?

A large window looking out to my backyard patio. It’s so very peaceful. I can see my rose bushes, the fire pit, my lounger, patio chairs, and bar set. And my favorite - the hot tub we installed last summer. And sometimes I see my three dogs. On a day like today, they’re lying in the sun, relaxing in the slight breeze, enjoying a nap.

Anything new coming up from you? What?

I have Fall’s Redeeming Grace, book #4 in the Music City Hearts series, outlined and ready to start writing as soon as I get back from vacation in late June. I also have a novella, A Love for All Seasons, half-written and I’m planning to use it as an add-on to the series. Then I have a stand-alone book, Sweet Tooth, seventy-five percent finished. I actually wrote these last two before I signed my contract for Winter’s Magic. I set them aside to get the series off the ground and I’m anxious to get back to them.

Do you have a question for our readers?

My book ideas come from the question “What if?”. I’m always thinking about how two people could meet. What would make them notice each other? What would the opening line be? What could spur a conversation? What circumstances could force them to spend enough time together that they realize they want to spend more?

So, as a special add-on to today’s blog post, I’m going to offer a giveaway. This is completely separate from the Rafflecopter and only for It’s Raining Books. Leave a comment with an idea on how two people could meet. Two or three sentences is all we need. Get creative. No limits. Be outrageous – be comical – be emotional. Whatever comes to mind that can bring two people together in the same place at the same time. Spread the word and have your friends post, too.

One random commenter will receive a $5 Amazon gift card. If we have more than ten comments, I’ll give a second $5 Amazon gift card away.

Jenny Cohen defines successful independence: she put herself through college, couldn’t ask for better friends, owns a consulting firm, wears designer clothes, and just moved into her dream home . . . But she’s alone, except for her ailing mother whom she supports in a nursing home. As the marketing consultant for Chester, Dorsey & Tanner, she’s surrounded by male attention. Too bad it’s the overly-protective big-brother type.

Architect, Craig Stone, hasn’t looked at another woman since his wife passed away four years ago. His time is taken—building a career while trying to be both mother and father to his eight-year-old son. But when his appointment with the largest development firm in Nashville is double-booked with a black-haired beauty, he finds himself reaching for new possibilities.

The attraction sets off more fireworks than the Fourth of July. Yet, their relationship is riddled with issues neither one of them expected. Somewhere in the middle they must find a way to compromise or let go of a chance for love they may never find again.

Enjoy an excerpt:

All thought froze, as a beautiful voice cut through the near-silence of the room. Craig stared at the portfolio for just a second more before turning his attention to the front desk. He couldn’t see far enough around the corner to get a good view. What he did see . . . a pair of black strappy stilettos.

“Better you than me. He’s in an awful mood. Jeffry was out for just three days and his temp messed up the entire week’s schedule.”

Craig quietly moved down the row of chairs. Though his line of sight was much improved, he still couldn’t see the face behind the voice.

“You know it’s only going to get worse. It’s just Monday. How bad is it, really?”

She must be leaning over the desk, because her voice was now a faint whisper and the scene that greeted him was a firm derriere and a pair of runner’s legs that made his heart skip a beat.

“I’m not sure. I do know that you’re double-booked with the gentleman sitting across the room. Don’t look now.” Someone cleared their throat. “He’s a new architect Nick’s consulting with on the expansion designs. Too expensive to reschedule. Sorry.”

“Oh.”

“Brandon’s supposed to be part of their meeting and the temp had it on his calendar for noon tomorrow, instead of nine today.”

“I guess I can take second place. Only because it puts Brandon at my mercy. Tell Jeffry to come to the lobby and we’ll work it out. I’m always flexible, especially when it gives me an edge.”

The women laughed, a beautiful melody that rang through his entire being. Craig watched as she straightened and he could now see long, wavy black hair, falling against a ruby-red silk blouse. She reminded him of a Victoria Secrets model—long and lean, with a hint of curve.

“That’s why I like you so much. It’ll be a few minutes, if you’d like to have a seat.”

Craig shifted his attention back to the contract in his hand and purposefully read the title five more times. Slowly. He listened as her shoes clicked across the hardwood floor, waiting until the sound stopped before turning in her direction. She’d taken the chair he’d previously occupied and was sliding her phone into a black designer clutch.

Then she greeted him with a smile that still held a spark of amusement. He took a deep breath and swallowed. She had a hint of summer tan that made her skin glow, a touch of sheer gloss on her lips, and chocolate-brown eyes that instantly warmed him to the core.

His throat went suddenly dry and his mind raced for something to say. He stared silently, feeling like a teenage boy who’d never spoken to a girl before. Somehow, he found his footing and stood, then walked over to the chair next to hers. “Craig Stone.”

My husband and I live in the suburbs of Nashville, Tennessee with our three dogs. When I'm not working or writing, I can be found with family and friends. I love to bake in the winter, grill in the summer, and on occasion, I sneak away from everyone and curl up with a good book.

Website: http://cynthiagail.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CynthiaGailRomance
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CynthiaGailBook
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6564818.Cynthia_Gail
Amazon Author Central: http://www.amazon.com/Cynthia-Gail/e/B009WQTTQE/
Amazon buy link: http://www.amazon.com/Cynthia-Gail/e/B009WQTTQE/

Other Books in the series:
Winter’s Magic http://amzn.to/1Gsi6OM
Spring’s Surprise http://amzn.to/1Np002k

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The Kaleidoscope by BK Nault - Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will award a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn commenter via Rafflecopter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Harold Donaldson unwillingly becomes the custodian of a beautiful, handcrafted kaleidoscope that changes the viewer’s future and becomes the focus of evil operatives intent on capturing the kaleidoscope for nefarious purposes. Brilliant but socially inept, Harold has distanced himself from any connection to his dysfunctional childhood. Abandoned by a father accused of his mother’s death, Harold trusts no one until the ’scope forces him to accept a circle of friends he must rely on. To protect all their lives from imminent danger, Harold must discover the source of the ’scope’s mysterious powers. Just as he is on the verge of learning how it works and why his past connects to his future, he must face disturbing truths he’s run from all his life.

Enjoy an excerpt:

One more piece of the puzzle, and the technology anticipated, even feared, would be born. If he’d calculated correctly, and Walter was meticulous about calculations, the day’s mail should contain the gem he’d saved and scraped for. Every tip, handout, or penny literally scraped from the gutter had gone into a jar, and last week he’d exchanged the sum for a cashier’s check and placed the order. If this final trial didn’t work, he’d lose everything he’d slaved over. His ideas were running out, his home was about to be razed, and what made the urgency even more crucial, he sensed “they” were about to discover his hiding place.

Flipping the wall calendar over his workbench, Walter circled a date two weeks hence. That would give him sufficient time to install the final part, to test, and make note of his achievement. Perhaps even enjoy it himself before he turned it over to the one who would carry it to the world, who could safely deliver the technology where it would do the most good. It was time to plan the handoff.

The sun’s rays pouring from a high window warmed and loosened Walter’s back muscles. The glint on the shaft of metal, as thick as a Cuban cigar, the length of a number two pencil, gave him more than a few moments of pride he’d not felt since the birth of his long-lost son.

He held the eyepiece up and sighted, spinning the dial. It caught and stuck in place. He wrapped it once again in the cloth, gently rested the device between the jaws of the vise and slowly cranked it shut, stopping at precisely the point where the Kaleidoscope would be held firmly in place, but not harmed by the firm grip. He filed and sprayed, working over the delicate prize until the dial spun like butter and the magnificent colors fell into place.

About the Author:

Bev's a graduate of Texas A&M University and is multi-published in both fiction and nonfiction. She's the co-author of the best selling and award winning, "Lessons from the Mountain, What I Learned from Erin Walton," with the actress Mary McDonough. A former business writer, she’s dabbled in many things from working as a theatre set dresser and props mistress to riding horses at pre-Olympic levels, judging for the Miss America/California pageants, and escorting her kids to work in Hollywood as professional extras. Married to her high school sweetheart, they've lived in two countries and 6 states, but promise they're not running from the law. A member of the RWA and ACFW, she also blogs, tweets, and Pinterests when she’s not dreaming up new stories or planning a 'round the continent RV trip when said husband retires.

Website: http://www.beverlynault.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/bevnault
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/bevnault
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Beverly-Nault/363697507748?ref=hl Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4373702.Beverly_Nault
Buy the book at The Wild Rose Press or Amazon.

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Leather and Lace by Maggie Adams - Virtual book Tour and Giveaway

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

Five (or six) things you might not know….

#1 I live in the St. Louis area with my high school sweetheart, Ned, and two terrific kids, Katie (Kyle) and Ross (Valerie). I’ve always loved reading and writing seemed like a natural extension of this and luckily, I found I have a talent for it. I believe humor can be found many situations, so you will always find something funny in my romances. In addition to contemporary romance, I also write paranormal and erotic romance.

#2 I try to find inspiration everywhere, but music really does get my creative juices flowing. I hear a song and wonder what the songwriter was thinking about or why the singer puts a particular emotion in his/her voice. From there, my mind takes off. I’m also an avid people watcher. I could sit in a busy area for hours, making up stories of the people that pass. Of course, I tend to mumble to myself, which makes me look a little insane. Maybe I should where a shirt that says, “It’s okay. I’m a writer…”

#3 Before the internet made such an explosion in self-publishing and purchasing, my local library was the only place close to my small town, so I grew up with Stephen King, Kathleen Woodiwiss, Johnna Lindsey, and Julie Garwood. I discovered Amanda Quick/Jayne Ann Krentz and Julia Quinn through friends. My newest faves are Lexi Blake and Shayla Black, Charlaine Harris and Sophie Oak.

#4 I also have a paranormal romance trilogy in the works, involving vampires, sorcerers, witches, werewolves and a lost fairy queen with a time traveling twist. Plus, three erotic romances are beginning to take shape as well. Then there’s always those little voices in my head telling me to write stuff down.

#5 My best advice -

For writing – “Just do it. And do it every day.”

For life – “Keep the fights clean and the sex dirty.” My grandmother told me this on my wedding day.

#6 If I were stranded on a desert island, what would I bring….

The Joy of Cooking, because I’m a foodie and I will definitely need to know how to cook fish.

A good first aid book, because, well, I’m a klutz.

The works of Alexander Dumas - because I love his stories.

The Princess Bride by S. Morgenstern because I believe in fairytales, especially twisted ones!

Sam Coalson, ex-Navy SEAL, has returned to Grafton for the wedding of his brother. After being run out of town fifteen years ago for a crime he didn’t commit, he’s determined to claim what is rightfully his and take on anyone crazy enough to try and stop him.

Angel Devereaux is smart, sexy and definitely on Sam’s blacklist. After siding with Sam’s enemy fifteen years ago, Angel can’t help but wonder what if….what if Sam had never left? What if he could forgive her now? She had her reasons, but he won’t listen. So enough with words, sometimes action is exactly what’s called for.

Enjoy an excerpt:

“Well, if it isn’t the Angel of Mercy. Have you come to administer to the weak and injured? I’m afraid you’re a little too late. Everyone’s been patched up. Of course you can always kiss the boo-boos, can’t you?” Sam drawled as he shifted position on the railing.

Angel felt a blush heat her cheeks at his words and started to turn away. This was obviously a mistake. She was getting nowhere with him. She saw him wince as he moved and she turned back. “Were you really hurt?”

“Yeah, I’m in a lot of pain. Do you think you can help me?” he drawled as he passed his hand across his brow.

Angel immediately became solicitous. “Where are you hurt?” She ran up the front porch steps. She looked him over, searching for injury.

“Here.” Sam smiled and pointed to his groin. She could see his erection tenting his jeans. “Still want to help?”

Angel stiffened in outrage. “You bast…”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Careful there, Angel baby, you wouldn’t want to tarnish that halo, would you?” He hefted himself off the railing and came to stand next to her.

Hi! I'm Maggie Adams. I live near St. Louis, MO with my high school sweetheart, Ned, and my wonderful kids, Katie (Kyle) and Ross (Valerie). My life is like a walking, talking sitcom from I Love Lucy, but I love it, although people do tend to keep their distance from me! Writing has always been my dream, with reading my favorite hobby. I try to include a little bit of my life in everything I write, so when you read my books, keep your eyes wide open - I'm in there somewhere! Happy reading!

You can reach me at http://www.maggieadamsbooks.com

Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/maggieadamsbooks

Twitter -@authrmaggieadms

Good Reads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9867300.Maggie_Adams

tsu - https://www.tsu.co/maggieadamsbooks

Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/author/maggieadams

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Precipice by M. Pax - Virtual book tour and giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a $40 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

If someone were writing a story about you, what would your blurb say?

The greatest superpower, how to turn can’ts into cans, is wielded by the tenacious M. Pax. She seeks out self doubters everywhere, putting the whammy on their insecurities. “You can’t triumph if you give up.” Will her petition to the League of Justice be accepted? Stay tuned...

Would you tell us a little about your newest release that isn't in the blurb?

The theme of the book is the tagline, ‘Salvation comes at a price.’ There are three other storylines happening in the novel besides the main character’s. Lepsi and Talos are off searching for alien allies to thwart the coming war. Lepsi ends up making a grave sacrifice to save his friends. Rainly faces a past she wants to erase. She also has to make a terrific sacrifice for the good of all. The third is on the main character’s homeworld of Pardeep Station. The resident recluse has to run the planet, manage a changing galaxy, and learn to face the world again.

This book became quite the challenge. In the middle of it, I received one of those dreaded phone calls. My baby brother was found dead, and I dropped everything to return to Western New York and be with my family. I had lots of loss and sorrow to draw on when finishing this novel.

What was your favorite scene to write in this story?

The good-bye scenes for the character making horrendous sacrifices. I used them to say the good-bye to my brother I didn’t get.

If you could trade places with one of your characters, who would it be and why?

Most of my characters have had pretty tragic pasts and face unpleasant challenges. I would probably pick the mercenary, Captain Kaesare. She’s a secondary character with a mouth, a quick trigger finger, and a cool spaceship. I’d love to travel from planet to planet and explore the galaxy. It’s the reason why I write the Backworlds series.

In the far future, humanity settles the stars, bioengineering its descendants to survive in a harsh universe. This is the sixth book in the science fiction series, The Backworlds. A space opera adventure.

The Backworlds hang by a Quantum string, a thread about to snap. Annihilation is coming if Craze can’t stop it.

The genocidal alien he had trapped breaks free, destroying a ship belonging to the Backworlds’ oldest enemy, the Fo’wo’s. The murderous alien wants to overtake the galaxy. The Fo’wo’s want another war.

The Backworlds’ best chance to survive is to overcome a century of hate and forge an alliance with the Fo’wo’s. Because of his history with the alien, Craze is recruited to represent his people. Now he’s the most hated man in the galaxy.

The looming war will be a holocaust unless he can stop it, knowing salvation comes at a price.

Boing Boing gives The Backworlds 5 stars! "This is a fun, fast paced novel that reminded me a bit of early Heinlein".

Enjoy an excerpt:

Commander Hunninger tapped an icon on her tab and jabbed it in Craze’s face. “You really want to say no to this?”

The screen was too close. He grabbed the device from her manly fingers and brought the image into focus. A brand new, state-of-the-art, mini city docking facility. Pardeep Station had never seen finer and probably never would. Better protection from the dust storms was a necessity, and folks had to get out of the cold. Craze tired of the stench of the sick. “How much is it goin’ to cost? Everyone on this moon barely has three chips to jangle in their holey pockets.”

“No chips.” She smiled. Her wide mouth contained a lot of very white teeth.

Three good sucks on his air hose and Craze knew he wasn’t dreaming. He narrowed his eyes. “There’s still a price.”

M. Pax is author of the space adventure series The Backworlds and the contemporary science fiction series The Rifters, plus other novels and short stories. Fantasy, science fiction, and the weird beckons to her, and she blames Oregon, a source of endless inspiration. She docents at Pine Mountain Observatory in the summers as a star guide, has a cat with a crush on Mr. Spock, and is slightly obsessed with Jane Austen. Learn more at:

mpaxauthor.com

Twitter - https://twitter.com/mpax1

FB - https://www.facebook.com/pages/M-Pax/115874581852313

See what inspires The Backworlds on Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/mpaxauthor/

Amazon - http://hyperurl.co/PrecipiceAMAZON
B&N - http://hyperurl.co/PrecipiceBN
iBook - http://hyperurl.co/PrecipiceAPPLE
Googleplay - http://hyperurl.co/PrecipiceGP
Smashwords - http://hyperurl.co/PrecipiceSM
Kobo - http://hyperurl.co/PrecipiceKobo
Other - http://mpaxauthor.com/mpaxworks-books-and-stories/the-backworlds-series/precipice/

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Secret Blend by Jennifer Bramseth - Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will award a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

When longtime courtroom rivals Rachel Richards and Brady Craft get appointed to the bench in Bourbon Springs, Kentucky, tempers flare as they are forced to share chambers.

Working closely with the obstinate-yet-sexy Brady is not an attractive idea to Rachel—although she has to admit that Brady himself is pretty damned attractive.

Rachel doesn't have to run for office to keep her judgeship, but Brady does. He draws a formidable opponent, Hannah Davenport, a wealthy co-owner of Old Garnet Distillery, where some of the finest Kentucky bourbon is crafted north of town along Old Crow Creek and near the historic springs which gave the town its unique name.

And Hannah just happens to be Rachel’s best friend.

As the judicial race heats up, so does the relationship between the judges—so they decide to keep it a secret.

But can any secret be kept in little Bourbon Springs, Kentucky?

SECRET BLEND is the first book in the Bourbon Springs Series, an upcoming nine-book series of smooth, sensual, sexy, slow-burn contemporary romances set amidst the lush and rolling Land of Bourbon and Bluegrass of central Kentucky.

Enjoy an excerpt:

Upon a glimpse of his shorts, she saw the reason for Brady’s sudden affinity for standing in a freezer and pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh.

“Maybe you should go in the back of the store,” she suggested. “I think they have the big freezers back there.”

“I’d rather stay here,” he said in a low voice. “The view’s better.” Brady’s eyes raked over Rachel’s body.

“I’m pretty sure you’ve seen an even better one.”

“Indeed I have,” he said. “And recently. Very recently.”

“And would you like to see that view again?” she asked. She saw him swallow and knew she’d gotten the better of him.

He leaned forward and whispered. “I happen to know that if we weren’t in the middle of the grocery store, Judge Richards, I’d be looking at that view right this very minute.”

She sucked in a breath but soon recovered. “I would think,” she said, “that you’d be doing more than simply looking, Judge Craft.” She put a finger to her chin and looked up. “How do I put this? I think you’d be enjoying. But I’m not talking about merely the view.”

He moved closer to her.

“If I had you back where we were—” he looked at his watch “—eight hours ago, Judge Richards, we’d both be enjoying ourselves. I’d certainly enjoy the view of you writhing under me again as I—”

“Judge Richards, Judge Craft,” said a voice from nearby.

Brady and Rachel fell away from each other and looked to see the Commonwealth Attorney, Eleanor Giles, standing and staring at them.

About the Author:

Jennifer Bramseth is an attorney in the active practice of law in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. A Kentucky native and life-long resident, she lives within ten minutes of the state’s oldest bourbon distillery and works within five minutes of two others. A graduate of Centre College and the University of Kentucky, she loves a good Kentucky bourbon with water and ice.

http://www.jenniferbramseth.com
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