Rebecca's Resistance by Teresa Jones ~ Cover Reveal ~

We are excited to showcase the cover reveal for author Teresa Jones's book, Rebecca's Resistance. Teresa recently signed her first contract with new historical romance publishing house, Parchment & Plume!

Blurb:
Every year Bella Plantation comes alive with the Christmas season as the prominent Bellafield family hosts their annual holiday parties. The only thing more famous than the parties at Bella Plantation is the marriages that are arranged during the parties, as well as the one marriage that has never been arranged.

Rebecca Bellafield has been introduced to the finest men that South Carolina can offer and still she has resisted each suitor. Her mother wants a marriage based on name and money, while she is looking for someone to share her life with.

When her mother announces that this year their approach to suitors will be different, Rebecca is sure that the holiday season is going to miserable that is until she gets caught in the eyes of a green-eyed stranger.



Rebecca's Resistance will be available at all ebook retailers on October 3, 2013!






Author Bio: Teresa Jones is a native from Pennsylvania where she grew up in small coal mining towns and spent her younger years reading everything she could get her hands on.

She has been writing stories almost as long as she has been reading them and used to sit in her closet, writing in her notebooks while her imagination carried her to places far away.

She now resides in Texas with her husband and their "children", a black lab named Maximus and an orange tabby named Princess. When she is not reading or writing she is planning an escape to the coast to be as close to the ocean as possible.

F.A.S.T. Balls By Tara Lain ~ Balls to the Wall ~ Smexy Fab Four Blog Tour ~ Giveaway ~ Excerpt ~

F.A.S.T. Balls

By Tara Lain

There are some wonderful prizes to win during this tour. Please be sure to enter with the rafflecopter below.

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Blurb:

F.A.S.T. — Firefighter Assist and Search Team

Firefighter and surfing champion, Jerry Wallender, looks like a hero to the world, but he can’t see it. He keeps falling for these intellectual guys who end up making him feel dumb and unneeded. On top of that, Mick Cassidy, super-gorgeous firefighter and total homophobe, makes Jerry’s life miserable with his slurs. Then one day Mick’s nice to Jerry and, at the Firefighter’s Ball, Jerry offers a helping hand and ends up with a hand-job. What the hell is going on?

Mick Cassidy is great with fighting fires and solving math problems but rotten with people. Raised by a gay-hating preacher, Mick’s carefully constructed world of gay bashing starts to crumble when he meets Jerry, the nicest, kindest man he’s ever known. Mick’s never wanted a woman and can’t stop thinking about sex with Jerry. In fact, he can’t stop doing it. Does that make him gay? And if he’s gay, what happens to his whole life? A hook-up between sweet Jerry and mean Mick might be total disaster — or the smartest idea Jerry ever had.

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Buy Links:

Amazon - FAST Balls Buy Link
aRE - https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-fastballs-1300792-149.html

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Book info:

Title: F.A.S.T. Balls
Author: Tara Lain
Genre: MM Romance
Publisher: Etopia Press
Formats: ePub, Kindle format, Pdf
ISBN: 9781940223353

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Author Bio:

Tara Lain never met a beautiful boy she didn’t love – at least on paper. A writer of erotic romance, mostly male/male and MMF ménage, Tara loves all her characters, but especially her unique heroes. In fact, her readers say her tagline, Read the Beautiful Boys of Romance, about sums it up. Her first romance novel was published in January of 2011. She’s now on book 21. Her best-selling novels have garnered awards for Best Series, Best Contemporary Romance, Best Ménage, Best LGBT Romance and Tara has been named Best Writer of the Year in the LRC Awards.
Some people call Tara “the Balls girl” in honor of her best-selling MM contemporary romance series, Balls to the Wall. Readers send her suggested titles for her next Balls book! Three of the Balls books, Volley Balls, Fire Balls and Snow Balls, were on the Amazon list of the top selling 100 gay romances in 2012.Tara also has a popular paranormal series called the Aloysius Tales and an award-winning ménage series titled Genetic Attraction.
In her other job, Tara owns an advertising and public relations firm, and she carries her promotional instincts into her writing career as well. She lives with her soul-mate husband in Laguna Beach, California, a pretty seaside town where she sets a lot of her books. Passionate about diversity, justice, and new experiences, Tara says on her tombstone it will say “Yes”!

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Stalk Me Links:

Website:              http://www.taralain.com
Blog: http://www.taralain.com/blog
Goodreads:        http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4541791.Tara_Lain
Twitter:               http://twitter.com/taralain
FB Page: http://www.facebook.com/taralain

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Excerpt: 
Jerry patted the sand next to him. “So sit.”
Mick smiled like Jerry had just given him a candy bar. “Thanks.” He turned and leaned against the rock with his long, muscular legs stretched in front of him. “This is nice.”
Jerry glanced at Mick’s pale skin. “Don’t guess you spend too much time at the beach.”
“No. I always forget it’s here.”
Jerry laughed. “What do you do for fun?”
Silence.
He looked over at Mick’s very pink ear. 
“Uh, I used to go out to Norco on my days off.”
“To your community?” That was the word he’d used.
“Yeah.”
He picked up some tiny shells from the sand. “Why didn’t you go today? Because of Jezebel?”
“No, I haven’t been going so much lately. They kind of give me the creeps.”
Jerry laughed. “I know how that can be.”
“Where are your folks?”
“Back east.”
Mick grinned. “I never would think of anything eastern about you.”
“I know. Weird, huh?” He tossed the shells. “My folks are bankers.” He laughed. “Maybe as creepy as your preacher father.”
“So how did you get here?”
Man, he didn’t talk about this much. “I didn’t do good in school. I’ve got this reading problem and nobody caught it until I was way far behind because I was good at memorizing stuff when I heard it. My folks were kind of embarrassed by me. A jock who wasn’t real bright. Somebody told me I should be an actor, so I borrowed some money and flew to California. It took me about a week to figure out I wasn’t ever going to be an actor, but it took one minute to know this is where I belong, man. I’ve been here ever since.”
“How old were you when you came?”
“Seventeen.”
“Wow, they let you come that young.”
“Yeah. I didn’t exactly ask. But they were just as glad to be rid of me. I paid back the money in a few months.”
“You mean you didn’t learn to surf until you were seventeen?”
“Yeah, natural athlete they call it. And I didn’t take up firefighting until I was twenty-six. I’m a late bloomer.” He laughed and sighed at the same time.
“But you aren’t dumb.”
That was sweet. “Thanks.”
“No seriously, I’m really smart and I think you’re smarter than me.”
What? “Uh, thanks, Mick.”
He wouldn’t give up. “I’m a genius, they say, but I’m really bad with people. I can’t make friends or anything.” He hunched those big shoulders and stared at the sand. “You’re like a genius with people. Nice and kind and funny.”
She-it. “Kind of you to say so. So you’re a genius?”
“At math. Stuff like that. Nothing that matters.”
Holy crap, why did he keep coming up against these smart people. “Why’d you become a firefighter?”
“It made sense to me. Save people’s lives and their property.”
Jerry nodded. “Me too.”
Quiet. Seagulls. Waves. Ignore the double jerk-off elephant at the beach. Why was Mick here?
“Jerry?”
“Yeah?”
“What we did last night.”
“Yeah.”
“I keep thinking about it.”
“I told you not to worry too much. You got turned on by Jezebel and needed some relief. I was there.” He closed his eyes.
“Not by Jezebel. By you.” His eyes opened
Jerry looked at Mick’s profile. “What do you mean?”
“I was watching you and the other guy dance.”
Ooookay. “I see.” So maybe Mick wasn’t so straight.
“I was thinking how your cocks must be rubbing together. I thought it would feel good.”
Jerry swallowed. “Now you know.”
More staring at the sand. “Yes. It felt great.”
Jerry held his breath.
“Now I’m wondering what it feels like to have a thing, you know, a cock, in your ass.”
He let the breath out slowly. Should he laugh or cry? “Well, the first time it’s really hard to do. You kind of need to stretch the hole so it doesn’t hurt.”
Mick didn’t look up but his ears glowed like a sunset. “That makes sense.”
Waves. Seagulls.
Mick stared at more sand. “Would you like to try it with me sometime?”

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A Dangerous Game by Dee Dawning ~ Review

I have now read two books by Dee Dawning, and wow they are HOT! If you are looking for a really steamy spicy read then I would recommend you pick up something by Dee Dawning. This author writes some scene's that are, oh my, steaming! 

In A Dangerous Game Loretta is known for her sexual experience. She is ask to take Bobby under her well, wings to teach him everything he needs to know to make a woman happy. Bobby turns into the perfect student. Loretta and Bobby form feelings for each other but Loretta discovers something that makes her feel she has to put some distance between herself and Bobby. I'm not going to tell you what happens of course, you'll have to read it to find out. I will say that it was totally unexpected. It made for some dramatic page turning moments. 

There are many steamy erotic scenes in this book, so if that is not your thing then you probably will not enjoy this book. However if you enjoy a nice erotic story with some twists and turns, I think you will enjoy this book. I liked the ending to the story, in some ways it was very unexpected but I found it to be a nice ending for everyone involved. 

Dee Dawning has the talent of writing a story with interesting characters and very creative story lines. I have enjoyed both books I have read. 

I received a copy of this book in exchange for sharing my thoughts with you. As always it has been my pleasure to share my thoughts with you. 

You may find my review for  EEK! I'm a Woman here.

The Final Cut by Catherine Coulter & , J.T. Ellison ~ A Brit in the FBI #1 ~ Review

When I heard that Catherine Coulter and  J.T. Ellison collaborated to write a story together, I could not wait to read it. I certainly was hoping that I would be given the chance to read and review The Final Cut. So when I received the notification from librarything that I had won a copy to read and review, I was beyond ecstatic!

Let me tell you all my enthusiasm leading up to the his book was not misplaced. The Final Cut is a full of mystery, suspense, intrigue, and charming characters. I could not turn the pages fast enough, I kept wondering what in the world could possibly happen next!  I just have to say this certainly is a page turner.

Nicholas Drummond is handsome, charming, smart, and one creative detective. He is determined to find out what happened to Elaine his ex-partner and find the missing Koh-i-Noor. When Nicholas arrives in the states he meets and works closely with Mike Caine in solving all the mysteries going on. These two work great together and were a LOT of fun to read about. Their investigation takes them to many different locations and puts them in a lot of very interesting, very dangerous situations.

Mike Caine is a very dedicated FBI agent who wants to get to the bottom of all the mysteries that are going on all of a sudden. When Nicholas Drummond joins the investigation she is a little hesitant at first. It is not long before she is thanking Nicholas for his instincts and she finds inspector Drummond to be very intriguing.

If you are already a fan of Catherine Coulter's work you are going to be pleased by the appearance of Dillon Savich and Lacy Sherlock, whom help with the investigation. 

Over all this is just a very suspenseful mystery with lots of action and drama. I can not wait to see what Ms. Coulter & Ms. Ellison come up with next. They left a nice opening for another great story at the end of the book. I'm going to be very curious to seem what is going to happen next. I look forward to reading more and more from both of these talented authors. 

Promises My Love by DL Larson ~ Goddess Fish Blog Tour ~ Giveaway ~ Excerpt ~ Interview

 Promises My Love

by DL Larson

DL will be awarding a copy of one of her previously published books, hardback (US only) or e-book format, to two randomly drawn commenters during the tour. Be sure to leave a comment below along with your email address so you may be contacted if you are the lucky winner. To increase your chances of winning, visit the other tour stops. You may find the other tour locations here.... http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/06/virtual-nbtm-tour-promises-my-love-by.html

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Interview:

Crystal: Today as part of the Goddess Fish Virtual Book tour, I have the opportunity to interview DL Larson. Would you share a little bit about yourself with us today?

DL: My day job is a children's librarian. I'm the Youth Director at our small, local library, which means I wear many hats, creating and implementing programs, selecting and cataloguing books, to chatting with all ages of kids.

I live on the family farm, grow better flowers than I do veggies, and love hanging out with my family. Although I'm an avid reader, when I'm writing I don't read much, not even the newspaper. 

Crystal: What are you currently working on? 

DL: Right now I'm editing the next book in my Douglas series. Exciting things happen to Francis and the young boys, Ruffie and Jim are teens with many trials and problems to face.

I'm also looking for publication for my sci-fi romance, fine-tuning my query and searching for a good home for this series.


Crystal: Do you have any special routine that you follow when you are writing? 

DL: I can write just about anywhere. I do like to use yellow tablet paper and #2 pencils, but will settle for a gel pen too.  I don't write my rough drafts on the computer.  I sound way too stiff and formal if I do and just waste precious time re-doing what I wrote.  
I tend to edit as I go.  I write for several days, let that sit while I go back and edit what I had previously. There's always something to do ~ write, type, edit, repeat!

Crystal: Did you have to do a lot of research for this book or any other? If so do you have a fascinating fact that you have learned you would like to share with us?

DL:  The research I did for this book was in the form of a job.  I worked at Northern Illinois University for several years in the Department of Children and Family Services where we offered many continuing education courses. I listened to dozens of professionals talk and explain the problems of child abuse and other dysfunctional social problems.

The fascinating fact I learned was the abuser may well love the person they abuse.  I also learned that is never a good enough reason to stay in a volatile environment.  My character, Christine, doesn't know that and spends her life trying to help the man she loves deal with his abusive past. She's one of my heroines for all time.

Crystal:  Who are some of your favorite authors that you like to read?

DL: I just finished Book 2, Spells, by Aprilynne Pike.  Her series is about Laurel, a girl who grew up and discovered she is a fairie, not a human. Pike is a new author and one I will look for on the shelves.

I enjoy Janet Evanovich with her Stephanie Plum series, and I really enjoy Diana Gabaldon with her Outlander series. I also enjoyed James Patterson's YA sci-fi series, Maximum Ride.

Crystal:  Is there any genre you haven't written that you would like to try? 

DL: I never thought I would write science fiction.  But an idea came to me and I've loved, loved, loved writing it.  I'm working on Book three of my series.  So, I leave the door open to what I might write in the future.

Thank you for hosting me.  I've enjoyed sharing this time with you.

DL Larson


Crystal: It has been my pleasure. Thank you for stopping by today. I've really enjoyed this interview.

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BLURB:

The Story from Promises To Keep continues with … Promises My Love
a novel
by DL Larson

Francis Frailey fears he might become as abusive as his uncle once was, so he admires his young family from a distance. His plan is lonely, but safe, until his wife Christine sneaks past his staunch decorum. With tender devotion she coaxes him beyond his wretched childhood memories to a place where trust and love grows.

The fragile bond shatters when Francis’ family intervenes and he must decide if hate will rule his heart. Christine promises forgiveness will make him whole, but Francis aches for revenge. He’s determined to kill his uncle and be done.

Christine’s brother, Joe Douglas, has plans of his own that include asking his wife Annie to face her troubled past. But to help Christine, Joe agrees to go after Francis and bring him home. Taking his young son and nephew with him unhinges them all. Joe doesn’t know if the love Francis has for his son is stronger than the hate he harbors for his uncle. Or perhaps Francis despises himself most of all. Joe fears the wrong person may end up dead.

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Excerpt:

A reminder ~ this is a family saga with several POV!

Excerpt from Chapter 8:

Annie picked up her bundles, thanked the storekeeper and stepped out onto the board walk.  Hope’s giggle had her smiling as she crossed the porch of the store front.  Her daughter had plopped down in the middle of the walkway as big as you please and was fast making friends with a puppy.  Suzanne stood smiling, being a tad more lady like, but not by much.  Hope squealed again as the puppy climbed up her chest to lick her face as she wrapped her arms about the brown furry bundle.  Annie tried not to laugh, but the picture her daughter posed was irresistible, and her grin ripened as she stepped toward her daughters.  A gentleman sat on the bench against the building letting Hope play at his feet as he watched the antics of puppy and little girl.

The man’s hat lifted ‘til gentle brown eyes sank into hers, and her boots clicked to a stop.  

His smile settled too warm to be casual.  "Morning Misses Douglas."  His wink flashed as friendly as it had years ago, and his hat tipped in polite acknowledgment.  "Fine day, ain't it?"

"Girls."  Her heart raced fast and heavy.  "Girls," Annie rasped again, but even Suzanne didn't hear her.  Annie swallowed her nervousness and tried again.  "It's time to go."  But they were too enthralled with the pup to hear.

"She's beautiful," his voice softened so only she heard. "Just as I knew she would be."

Annie grabbed Suzanne's shoulder and spun her around.  "It's time to go."  Her young daughter's eyes grew wide at her sudden aggravation.  "Take these to the wagon."  Annie shoved packages into Suzanne’s arms.  "Now," she scolded, and reluctantly the little girl moved away.

Annie pushed the puppy aside, but the pint size canine thought she was playing and jumped about all the more.  Hope giggled and tried to pull the frisky bundle back onto her lap.  Derek knelt next to her as his big hands folded around the pup.  "She's got freckles, Annie."  His eyes waited for hers to glance at him.  "Where'd she get that adorable patch of freckles?"

"Hope."  Annie tried to scoop her daughter towards her, but the little girl squirmed free, determined to pet the puppy again.  Somehow Hope ended up with Derek's arm about her as he held the puppy against his chest.

Time, for that one moment, grew to agonizing as Derek Tyler held her daughter close in his big hands.  Seemed everything around them ground to a stop and she couldn’t breathe.  Derek didn't want to let Hope go, Annie sensed it, and knew his thoughts before he spoke.  "Where'd you get that pretty head of hair?"

Her daughter shrugged tiny shoulders as she pet the dog.  

“Don’t ever--” Annie yanked Derek's arm away, her eyes alight with fire.  "Touch her again,” she hissed through clinched teeth.

"Mommy," Hope chirped as Annie scooped her up, "can I keep 'im?"

Derek ignored the stern yet worried look to her face.  His smile was for Hope who reached for the pup even though Annie grasped her tight in her arms.  

"Would you like to have him?" his voice deepened with kindness.

Annie retreated another step.  "No," she snapped, and Hope's lip bounced out in a disappointed pout and her large blue eyes teared.     

"There now."  Derek set the squirming pup in Hope's outstretched arms.  "You take good care of him, you hear?"

Annie tried to untangle dog and girl, but it became a futile struggle.  “How could you?"  Her eyes flashed to his.  "Damn you," Annie hissed as Hope hugged the puppy.

"It's only a dog," Derek said softly.  

"It’s not right."  She clamped down on her trembling lip. 

"And as long as Joe's around, it never will be," Derek told her before he turned and walked away. 



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AUTHOR Bio and Links:


DL Larson always thought she’d be a city girl, but instead, she has spent the last 40 years surrounded by corn fields.  She lives in northern Illinois and enjoys the outdoors, especially gardening, boating and bike riding with her family.  

Reading is a big part of DL’s life, both professionally as a writer and as a Children’s Librarian.  
She likes being in the know, seeing firsthand what folks like to read.  Going back to school as an adult rejuvenated her desire to become a novelist.  The writing awards she received lifted her up and reinforced her drive to tell the best story she could.  Her second novel, Promises To Keep was a 2008 Reader’s Choice Recipient. 

DL is a WindyCity member of RWA. She blogs each Thursday at http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com/ 

Visit DL Larson at www.dllarson.com

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/deb.larson.73?fref=ts

Buy Link:

Amazon: Promises My Love Buy Link

The Billionaire’s Best Friend by Christina Tetreault ~ Release Day Blitz ~ Bridging the Gap Book Tour ~ Giveaway

The Billionaire’s Best Friend

by Christina Tetreault

2 Day Release Blitz ~ Sept 23rd & Sept 27th

Don't forget to use the Rafflecopter below to enter for the prize!

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Blurb:

Despite a wonderful family, a career she loves, and great friends, a void has existed in Lauren McDonald's life ever since her best friend Callie married billionaire Dylan Talbot. Although they have remained close, Lauren and Callie now lead very different lives, that is until Lauren meets wealthy CEO Kevin Walsh. Lauren believes he could be the man who will help make her life whole again.  That is until the night Nathaniel Callahan, her high school sweetheart and the one man she has always loved, shows up. 

Although Nate ended things with Lauren before heading off to The Naval Academy and his life with the Marines, he never stopped loving her. Now 15 years later he is back to correct the mistake he made all those years ago. 

With Nate back in town, Lauren must decide between the man who promises her the world and the man who has the power to crush her heart again.

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Some short Teasers:

1) The one man she never stopped loving is back in town.  Now Lauren McDonald must decide between the man who promises her the world and the man who has the power to crush her heart again.

2) Lauren McDonald never stopped loving Nathaniel Callahan even though when he left it nearly destroyed her.  Now with him back in town, she must choose between playing it safe or risking her heart again.

3)After graduation Nate Callahan left Lauren McDonald behind when he entered The Naval Academy and his life with the Marines. Now fifteen years later he's returned with one goal, to win back the woman he never stopped loving and failure is not an option.

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Excerpt:

The main doors of the room opened as Lauren paused her scan; the guest of honor was about to enter. Grabbing her camera, Lauren stood—only to immediately collapse back down into her chair when her knees gave out at the sight of Nathaniel Callahan standing in the doorway.
“Oh my God.” Her stomach hit the floor.
“What's the matter? Are you okay?” Callie's concerned voice sounded as if it were traveling a great distance to reach her.
Lauren glanced over at Callie and then toward the door again. Perhaps she'd imagined him. After all, why would he be here? The last time she'd heard anything about him, he was doing his third tour in the Middle East. Despite her hope that she'd started to hallucinate, when she looked again, he was still there, dressed in a black suit rather than his Marine uniform, his brown hair cut military short and looking much the same as he did the summer he'd broken her heart. She latched her hand onto Callie's arm. “Nate Callahan. He's here.” 
She kept her eyes on him. Since that awful day the summer after senior year, she'd only seen him once. She'd been home visiting her parents during holiday break her freshman year of college. She’d spotted him in his parents' driveway from her bedroom window. They'd received more than two feet of snow the night before and he was helping his father shovel. That morning she'd stood and watched until the entire driveway was cleared. When he and his dad finished, he went back inside his house without so much as a glance toward her home.
“What?” Callie asked, her voice louder than necessary.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kevin and Dylan headed back to the table. "Nate just walked in," Lauren hissed.
"Lauren that . . ." Callie's voice trailed off and she sat up straighter. Her head moved to keep him in sight as he walked toward his parents. "What's he doing here?" she asked, her voice lower now.
Leaning closer, Lauren whispered, "I don't know. We don't exactly speak."


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Author Bio:

I wrote my first story with characters similar to those in the Sweet Valley Twins books at the age of 10 on my grandmother's manual typewriter. As I got older my stories and characters became more mature. During my freshman year at UMass Dartmouth, I read my first romance novel and fell in love with the genre. I have been writing contemporary romance ever since.

Today I live with my husband, three beautiful daughters and two dogs in Massachusetts. Whenever I have a free moment you'll find me either reading a romance novel or working on my most current story.

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Author Links:

Website:  www.christinatetreault.com

facebook:  www.facebook.com/christinatetreaultauthor

twitter: @cgricci

Blog:  http://happilyeverafter-cgtetreault.blogspot.com/

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Buy Links:

Amazon Buy Link 

http://bit.ly/1dBP4i2 B&N

http://bit.ly/16SbQjP KOBO

http://bit.ly/14xrBMh Smashwords

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

ASCENSION by Stacey Rourke ~ Gryphon Series ~ Cover Reveal ~ Giveaway

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ABOUT ASCENSION:

From best selling and award winning author Stacey Rourke comes the heart-pounding continuation of the acclaimed Gryphon Series. 
The turning point of the Gryphon saga is at hand …
Battle looms. Three unstoppable forces prepare to clash in a colossal explosion that could wipe Gainesboro off the map. Fate and sacred calling have landed nineteen year old Celeste Garrett in the middle with nowhere to run. 
Her trust wavers as she uncovers dark secrets of the Council, powerful enough to test her loyalty and turn her against those she swore to protect. Playing to the longing of her heart, a malevolent enemy uses her weakness against her to form an alliance. 
With the trumpets of war about to sound, which side will the Conduit choose, and who will be left standing?  

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ABOUT STACEY:

Author of the Laugh-out Loud Gryphon Series and the nonfiction book I'm Not Crazy I'm on Lupron; a Journey Through Infertility. Learn more about Stacey's books at www.staceyrourke.com or diaryofasemi-crazyauthor.blogspot.com. If you are a blogger or reviewer interested in reviewing any of Mrs. Rourke's work please drop an email to rourkewrites@gmail.com. Thank you for visiting this page!

Click here to visit Stacey's Amazon Page


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Illustrator Crystal Ord will be bringing some of your favorite Gryphon Series characters to life!  
Crystal Smalls Ord is a freelance illustrator and writer who resides in the rainy Pacific Northwest. Her art and stories have appeared in the macabre children's lit magazine, Underneath the Juniper Tree. Last year she illustrated her first children's book, Ethan's Story; My Life with Autism which can be found on Amazon.com. Her art has also appeared in hitRECord.com's musical short, Madamoiselle Noir.


In her free time Crystal plays with her kids, cleans house, teaches music in Sunday School, and lingers in the geekery corner of Pinterest.
Contact her at: 
Website: wix.com/fynn47/author-website
Facebook: facebook.com/smallsord




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The demonic and fantasy elements of the Conduit’s journey will jump off the page thanks to Robert Immings;

In 2000 Robert Immings graduated from the Art Institute of Atlanta with a BFA in graphic design. Since then he’s done work in package design, web development and designed training applications and software interfaces. These days he’s a mild mannered operations technician with an electronic trading firm in Alpharetta Georgia. Earlier this.year he had a chance to enter Sony's "Treasures of Middle Earth" design contest which was a promotion for the hobbit movie. He came in as a runner up. More recently he had the opportunity to do some sketches and collaborate on the cover for Emily Fogel's wonderful fantasy novel Dragon Wars and created the cover for her soon to be released book "Chasing Flames". Right now he’s excited to be working on a collection of illustrations for Stacey Rourke's Gryphon Series.

He’s always interested in illustration and graphic design projects and can be contacted at robertimmings@hotmail.com.

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Forbidden Trilogy Cover Reveal by Karpov Kinrade ~Giveaway ~

Best selling award winning authors Karpov Kinrade are sharing their newly designed covers for the Forbidden Trilogy and revealing the cover for their newest addition FORBIDDEN MEMORY (Prequel).

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ABOUT Forbidden Trilogy:

From the award-winning, bestselling author Karpov Kinrade (the new pen name for Kimberly Kinrade.)

Those inside are special, gifted with unique abilities, abilities that make them dangerous to the outside world. Since childhood, they're trained to control their powers, to show restraint, and to defend themselves. For years they practice, honing their gifts for one purpose: to be rented out to the highest bidder as a spy, to be used as a weapon against others.

Sam never questions her role at the secret organization dubbed Rent-A-Kid.

Until she meets Drake.

She reads minds. He controls minds. Together, they might get out alive.

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ABOUT KARPOV KINRADE:

Award-winning, bestselling husband/wife writing duo of Kiss Me in Paris, the Seduced Saga & more. For fans of fantasy, contemporary, romance & mystery.

Biography

Dmytry and Kimberly are the husband and wife writing team behind the Kiss Me Series, Seduced Saga, Eye of Newt, Sunrise & Nightfall, Wanderlust, and The Fallen Series.

Kimberly is the award-winning, bestselling author of the New Adult paranormal romance series The Seduced Saga, the YA paranormal thriller/romance The Forbidden Trilogy, and children’s fantasy series The Three Lost Kids.

Dmytry writes fantasy—be it urban, dark or epic—is a musical composer, pianist, and designs books covers (exclusively for his wife’s and their co-authored books).

They live with three little girls who think they’re ninja princesses with super powers and who are also showing a propensity for telling tall tales and using the written word to weave stories of wonder and magic.

WEBSITE: http://www.Karpovkinrade.com

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16056060-the-forbidden-trilogy?ac=1

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Doing Time in Hell Memoir ~ J. Bodie ~ Edited by Toni V. Sweeney

Doing Time in Hell

By J Bodie

Edited by Toni V Sweeney

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As you stop and look at the new front entrance to the Nebraska State Penitentiary, it appears harmless but if you look a bit closer, you realize you’re actually seeing three fences…the surrounding fence with razor-blade wire rolled on top, the monitoring wire fence, and the inside retaining fence…
 Train tracks run past Tower 1. There was always something spooky about those tracks. Often the cons listening to the trains as they came through would wish they were on one as it sped away.
 To your left, you can see Tower 8, still on the remaining wall, along with Towers 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2. It’s really strange to see half the wall gone. The Trustee Dormitory, a wooden un-air conditioned affair, is across from Tower 10. The back door to the Pen has a Guard Shack at the west gate. This is the place where the garbage truck would come through Wall Tower 9’s double sally port gate.
 Behind the Wall is the soap factory and on the other side is the old Death Row House which was also used as the Adjustment Center. For some, that was the end of the road…
That’s the first page of Bodie McIlvane’s memoir Doing Time in Hell.

Encouraged by his father-in-law, a Nebraska State Penitentiary employee, a young wildcat oilrigger straight from the Louisiana bayous applied for and received an appointment as a guard at the Lincoln Nebraska State Prison. To hear him tell it, Bodie didn’t want to be a prison guard, he got conned into it. It wasn’t long before he realized that there were two kinds of men in the prison doing their time…the inmates, and the guards, only the guards were doing their time on the Installment Plan.

Bodie worked for NSP for twelve years. After he retired, he wrote his memoir.  In its pages, are stories that are by turns unbelievable, laughable, pitiful, and gory.  The reader is warned from ordering salad in a prison cafeteria; he’s told how a lollipop calmed down a prisoner spoiling for a fight; of the day an inmate got his twin brother to take his place so he could escape…and many more incidents.  Truth can be stranger than fiction, yes indeed, and these stories prove that.

I got into the act when Bodie’s widow asked me to look over her husband’s manuscript and see what I thought of it. I admit I wasn’t too enthusiastic.  I was bogged down in my own work but I told her I’d take a look.  I set about separating the 179 photocopies pages of photographs, poetry, and narration, working on and off between proofing, writing, and getting my own work published.  I procrastinated, I confess…giving Mrs. McIlvane progress reports amounting to “I’m working on it” or “I’m about halfway through.” True enough, but I wasn’t in any hurry.

Then I got the devastating news. Mrs. McIlvane had passed away, and overwhelming guilt set in.  Then and there I dropped everything and got to work.  I got the manuscript into a readable order, story first, poems afterward.  It ended up being 113 pages, with a short history of the Nebraska Prison System and a small blurb about the most famous and newsworthy criminal the prison had held.

I submitted the story to Class Act Books which had come under new ownership and wanted to publish non-fiction as well as fiction.  It was accepted.

I was pleased to let Mrs. McIlvane’s children know their father’s story will be published.  I just wish I could’ve told her that, too.

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EXCERPT:

In 1976, my father-in-law, who was working at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln, Nebraska, asked me to come work with him. I refused, telling him he was a crazy SOB to want to work in such a place!
Soon after, my wife and I moved to New Iberia, Louisiana where I went to rough-necking off-shore. It took an hour to get there if we went by twin-rotor helicopter, or nine hours a day, by crew boat, to reach the drilling rig platform. A work-week was called a hitch, and a work day was twelve hours on and twelve hours off.
After three years of doing everything from being a derrick man atop a 200-foot drilling rig, to laying pipeline in the Louisiana swamps, I decided to take my wife and son and move back to Lincoln.
Immediately, my father-in-law starting talking to me about working at the Pen. My mind kept saying “No”, but the more he filled my glass with booze and my mind with wild stories of things he’d gone through, the more my mind was saying “Yes.” I’d never really imagined working in a prison but as Dad, as I called him, explained it, it was 90 percent safer than working off-shore, so…
The next morning, hangover and all, I found myself being walked around the Big Yard and introduced to what he called the Gang. There I was, shaking hands with cons like they were everyday people. Then, Dad took me to the warden’s office and introduced me to Max Merritt. Mr. Merritt appeared impressed, especially after learning I had worked the oil field all my life. Then, I was filling out an application and being told they’d be in touch. Since I didn’t really didn’t want to work there, I wasn’t expecting anything, but the next morning, the phone rang, and a lady told me I’d been chosen for the job.
She told me I’d be going into training for two weeks. As my old lieutenant used to say, I only took the job for the winter. I never really expected to be working in a prison, but now…here I was.
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Doing Time in Hell was released by Class Act Books on August 15.
http://classactbooks.com/index.php/general-fiction/memoir/doing-time-in-hell-detail

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More about Toni V. Sweeney:

URL: http://www.tonivsweeney.com/

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Amazon: Author Page

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