by Sarah | Mar 11, 2015 | Book Spotlight, Excerpt, Guest Authors, Writing
Buy Links: Amazon | B & N | iTunes | Kobo
Blurb
The USA Today bestselling author of How to Eat a Cupcake and All the Summer Girls returns with an unforgettably poignant and funny tale of love and loss, confronting our fears, and moving on . . . with the help of a poodle, a mutt, and a Basset retriever named Seymour
As a pet bereavement counselor, Maggie Brennan uses a combination of empathy, insight, and humor to help patients cope with the anguish of losing their beloved four-legged friends. Though she has a gift for guiding others through difficult situations, Maggie has major troubles of her own that threaten the success of her counseling practice and her volunteer work with a dog rescue organization.
Everything changes when a distraught woman shows up at Maggie’s office and claims that her dog has been stolen. Searching the streets of San Francisco for the missing pooch, Maggie finds herself entangled in a mystery that forces her to finally face her biggest fear-and to open her heart to new love.
Packed with deep emotion and charming surprises, Dog Crazy is a bighearted and entertaining story that skillfully captures the bonds of love, the pain of separation, and the power of our dogs to heal us.
Link to Follow Tour: http://www.tastybooktours.com/2015/02/dog-crazy-novel-of-love-lost-and-found.html
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22573873-dog-crazy?from_search=true
Author Info
Meg Donohue is the USA Today bestselling author of How to Eat a Cupcake and All the Summer Girls. She has an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University and a BA in comparative literature from Dartmouth College. Born and raised in Philadelphia, she now lives in San Francisco with her husband, three young daughters, and dog.
Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
Rafflecopter Giveaway
(Print Book Bundle of Meg’s Releases including:
ALL THE SUMMER GIRLS, HOW TO EAT A CUPCAKE & DOG CRAZY)
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EXCERPT
Leanne’s face softens into a smile, but I can tell there’s still a note of concern there, so I force myself tostay and watch as she searches in her bag for her car keys and then noses her old green Mercedes back andforth what seems like a hundred times, providing plenty of ammunition for my theory that there’s an inversecorrelation between driving skill and vehicle size. When she finally frees the car from its parking spot, shebeeps and gives a jaunty wave.
I plaster on a grin and wave both of my trembling hands in the air above my head. It’s only when I catch aglimpse of Leanne’s face screwing into a puzzled expression that I realize I must look like one of those peoplewho direct planes out of air- port gates. Or maybe a Bhangra dancer.
I wait until her car turns out of sight before spinning around and hurrying back down the path to myapartment.
The relief floods through me as soon as I’m inside. I make a beeline for the bathroom and scrub my hands inthe sink. Leanne looked like the picture of health, but you never know the truth until it’s too late. The water is sohot that my skin turns pink. I persevere, humming the “Happy Birthday” song twice under my breath—a handylittle tip I picked up during a recent study of the Centers for Disease Control’s website. When I read the CDC’sadvice, I immediately wondered if my mother knew it. I managed to stop myself from calling her in Philadelphiaand asking, but I can’t stop myself from thinking of her every time I put my hands below that scalding waterand watch my skin change color.
I shut off the water and listen as my shallow, uneven breathing slowly quiets.
Ninety–eight, I think.
I look at my reflection in the mirror above the sink. I’m paler now than I was when I moved here, but my eyebrows are un-changed: amber-colored, well defined, expressive. My best friend, Lourdes, tells me I have trustworthy brows. She calls themmy moneymakers. Who knows? She might be right. Even the most reticent patient eventually reveals her secrets to me . . .black pieces of coal held so tight they’ve turned into sharp, gleaming diamonds.
“Ninety-eight,” I say aloud. It’s an interesting number, the silky shimmy of ninety, the slammed door of eight. Isay the number again. Tomorrow a new one will take its place and it seems impor- tant I keep track. “Ninety-eight.”
It’s been ninety-eight days since I set foot beyond that gate at the sidewalk.
by Sarah | Mar 5, 2015 | Book Spotlight, Guest Authors, Writing
Buy Links: Amazon | Barnes | ITunes | Kobo | Publisher
Blurb
New York Times bestselling author Lori Wilde welcomes you to Stardust, Texas . . . where dreams come true and love is always right around the corner
Wanted: ghostwriter. Must be female, a baseball fan, and have a great pair of legs.
Ex-pitcher Rowdy Blanton never saw a woman he couldn’t conquer or a team he couldn’t beat. And now that he’s off the field he’s ready to tell all about when he played the field. So he chooses Breeanne Carlyle to do the job-she’s got the requirements, but more important, there’s something about her that makes him want to be a better man.
Convinced there’s more to Rowdy than a good fastball, a wicked smile, and a tight pair of pants, Breeanne can’t help but be tempted. After all, it’s boring always being the good girl, and Rowdy dares her to be just a little bad. The stakes are high, but win or lose, this time Breeanne’s breaking all the rules playing the game of love.
Link to Follow Tour: http://www.tastybooktours.com/2015/01/back-in-game-stardust-texas-1-by-lori.html
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22401418-back-in-the-game?ac=1
Goodreads Series Link: https://www.goodreads.com/series/129829-stardust-texas
Author Info
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Lori Wilde has sold seventy-eight works of fiction to four major New York Publishing houses.
Her first NYT bestseller, the third book in her Twilight, Texas series, The First Love Cookie Club has been optioned for a television movie. The town of Granbury, Texas, upon which her fictional town of Twilight, Texas is loosely based, honors Lori with an annual Twilight, Texas weekend each Christmas.
A popular writing instructor, Lori is a two time RITA finalist and has four times been nominated for Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award. She’s won the Colorado Award of Excellence, the Wisconsin Write Touch Award, The Golden Quill, the Lories, and The More than Magic.
Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads
Rafflecopter Giveaway (Print Bundle including: BACK IN THE GAME and
Twilight Texas Series Books 1-5)
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by Sarah | Mar 4, 2015 | Book Spotlight, Guest Authors, Writing
Title- Sleigh Ride
Author- Trixie Pierce
Holiday Ride Trilogy book #2
CAN BE READ AS AS STANDALONE~Synopsis ~
*Warning: Contains cute winter scenes, adorable critters, violence, blood, guns, plenty of cussing, sensual characters with a hard ass mentality,
explicit sex, and a warped sense of humor. Enjoy!*
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Winter Beauman left behind glitz, glamour, and the Manhattan skyline for a calmer existence in Wyoming. Taking up welding, she built a life around the new talent in the tiny town, with no need to be anyone but herself.
Mason St. Croix spent five years alone reconciling the death of his wife, when he decided it was time to finally rejoin the living. Commissioning a custom sleigh to take presents to many of the children in town puts him face to face with the beautiful, and talented, Winter … making his long dormant libido roar to life.
But someone in town doesn’t want Mason and Winter to be more than acquaintances, and are willing to kill to keep it that way.
Searching for answers reveals secrets best kept in the dark, ones that could tear them apart. Mason and Winter find they must accept the pain from the past, or lose the light of a happily ever after.
Buy links for Sleigh Ride
for Hard Ride (Novella)
for Harvest Ride Book #1 in the Holiday Ride Trilogy
Excerpt
Ignoring it, his clothes had dried, and he dressed quickly.
Making the bed, he walked into the living room to find Winter bundling into
several layers, a snow shovel leaning against the door. “I’m just in time,” he
smiled.
“Come on, let’s get this over with,” she returned the smile
from under a knit cap and the dark blue parka’s hood. It made her light blue
eyes burn a deeper color, and accentuated the red lips against the paleness of
her skin.
Taking a deep breath, and glad his coat didn’t let her see
the way his dick liked her, he followed outside.
Snow flurries swirled around them like a river, but it was light and
the wind was easy. Unused to shoveling snow after buying a snowblower, he was
breathing hard a foot from the porch. Winter continued, whistling. She bent over, and he noticed she wore jeans, low riders
that gave him a glimpse of the dark blue g-string.
His breathing escalated for another reason altogether.
Images of removing the slip of underwear with his teeth, nibbling and licking
the skin, making her moan, caused his heart to beat hard enough to force him
backwards. The wall of snow kept him upright. He worked hard to get the image
out of his head, closing both eyes and counting to one hundred.
“Are you okay? Do you need a break, Mason? Mason? Are you
okay?” her voice grew stronger, more urgent.
He opened to find her only a foot away, a hand on his chest.
Swallowing the lump in his throat, he croaked, “Yes, I, I …”
“Do you need to go inside?” She jerked off a glove and put a
warm hand against his cheek. “You’re really hot, maybe we should go inside.”
The feel of her palm against his skin unlocked a dam. He
shoved a hand into her hood, under the cap, grabbed a handful of the silky
blonde hair, and pulled her head back. He stared into her eyes, gauging. “I’m
going to kiss you, and kiss you hard, Winter. All you have to do is say yes.”
His voice dropped several octaves, came out deep and harsh, much like his
breathing.
“Yes,” she whispered, a puff of coffee laced breath gently
pushing against his face.
It was all he needed. He took her mouth, pushing hard,
forcing her to open to him. Taking advantage, he tasted her, the mocha laced
coffee, and the underlying sweetness that was all Winter. Throwing the shovel
to the side, he wrapped the other arm around her waist, jerking the soft body
against his. Her moan vibrated against his mouth, and the imprisoned beast
growled. Mine.
Using his tongue, he showed her exactly what he wanted, in
and out of her mouth, tasting every inch between thrusts, giving her little
room to breathe or decide to end it. He wanted her to know exactly what he
wanted, how he wanted it, and that she was going to enjoy every minute. Her
hips moved against him, and the beast he thought died with Beth roared to life.
Excerpt #2:
Mason signed the
necessary paperwork, put in a report, and left. Outside the station, he hailed
a cab, and watched the familiar buildings pass slowly in the early morning
traffic. He’d seen the anger in Winter’s eyes, and knew what it looked like.
Damn his stupid instincts. She could obviously protect herself if needed. She
didn’t require a man to do it for her. She didn’t manipulate to get what she
wanted, nor had she ever demanded he watch over her every move.
Closing his eyes, the night
flashed on the inner screen. He had to get it together. He’d taken time off
work, saying it was a family emergency, and it was already getting close to
Thanksgiving. Not that he’d had big plans. His parents were dead, no siblings,
and he wasn’t going to spend the holidays with Beth’s family.
The cab came to an abrupt stop,
and he handed the cabby the fare plus a good tip. Getting out, he stepped onto
the sidewalk and stretched. Muscles protested, but nothing had been broken in
the fight. A lot of bruises formed, and he couldn’t see out of the one eye, but
otherwise, he was okay.
Stepping inside the hotel, he took
the elevator to his room, and once inside, stripped. A hot shower was in order,
and some serious soul searching. Part of him screamed to find and watch over
Winter. She was still in danger, and alone. Word was her parents were going
back to the Hamptons. The danger in Wyoming wasn’t likely to stay there.
A towel wrapped around his waist,
he hit the power button, and sat on the bed. The news was the same thing,
nothing good. There was a blip about a possible fight involving Winter Beauman,
but it hadn’t been verified. He flipped the channels until he found an old
sitcom. Leaving it, he noticed the red light blinking on his cellphone. Tapping
the screen, he listened to the voicemails, saving a couple, deleting the rest.
The final voicemail was from Emily, asking him to call.
He tapped her number in and
stopped. Staring at the screen, he wondered why he was calling. He’d been clear
about the boundaries. It was time to cut the cord. Deleting the numbers, he
tossed the phone on the bed, and grabbed a pair of sweats. Turning on the TV,
he settled into the recliner.
A noise woke him, and he opened
the one good eye. He could hear rustling at the door, and frowned. Walking on
the balls of his feet, keeping his footfalls quiet, he moved to stand on the
side of the door opposite the handle.
He ducked at the sound of the
shotgun cocking on the other side of the door, as the roar of a shot blew the
door in. He caught the door, slamming it against the person trying to get in.
He heard the groan of pain as it connected with the intruder’s face, and he
rolled into the small entrance. One foot kicked out, the heel connecting
solidly with the groin of the male.
“Call 911!” Mason yelled, the
intruder falling onto his legs. He punched hard, hitting the man’s temple. The
feel of the delicate bone crunching under his knuckles almost made him sick.
The body went limp.
Author BIO
Although she hates writing bio’s in third person, Trixie does love fast cars, fast men, and an enduring fascination with internal combustion engines. Living in the Rockies, she’s traveled enough to know the mountains are home. When not working, she can be found with her head under the hood, or buried in the pages of her next novel.
AUTOR LINKS —
Hard Ride Novella
STANDALONE
Buy links for Hard Ride (Novella)
Harvest Ride
Book #1 in the Holiday Trilogy
CAN BE READ AS A STANDALONE
Harvest Ride Book #1 in the Holiday Ride Trilogy
by Sarah | Mar 1, 2015 | Books, Holiday, Tuesday Tales, Writing
Welcome back to Tuesday Tales! This weeks prompt is Address.
Back with Free Falling again. Over half done (I think) with this one, and loving it as much as the rest of Lake Point.
This week Ryan and Logan end up on a sort of unplanned date. Logan has just revealed some heavy details about his past, and Ryan has been moved by the events. So she decides to show him something:
“Come on.” She rose and tugged on his hand. “The air’s too thick in here. Come on.”
“What?” He furrowed his brow, possibly confused by the sudden change. “Where?”
“You’ll see. Come on.” With a grin, she dragged him from the coffee shop and out onto the square. When he headed toward her truck, she tugged him the other direction. Over his protests, she dragged him across the square, past the second hand clothes shop, past the antique store Past Overs and into the alley just beyond.
“Ryan?”
“Patience, Logan. And trust.”
He grunted at the last word, but his protest stopped.
She took the small victory as she led him back through the next side street and darted across the silent street into the funeral homes parking lot. “Right back here.” She pulled him around the fence into the tree line behind it. They crept through to a small opening she’d discovered a while back. She plopped down onto the bed of pine needles and patted the space beside her.
“What are we doing?” Despite the skepticism lingering in his tone, his lips bore the distinct curve of a smile.
“Enjoying the quiet.” She leaned closer and whispered. “With these pines, the stone fence, and the privacy fence on that side, this place is one of the quietest in Lake Point.”
“One of?”
“Hush and listen.”
“To what?”
“Hush.” This time he listened, and she happily lay back on the bed of needles. She sighed and closed her eyes. A breeze stirred the trees above, lending a slight rustle to the quiet night and helping to block any external noise.
His hand touched her shin, but remained there as the silence settled over both of them. After a few minutes he lay back on the needles beside her, a soft sigh slipping from his lips.
“We’re never so aware of the constant hum of our existence until it’s gone.”
“Do you come here often?”
“Not as often as my other favorite spot, but this does in a pinch when I’m in town.”
“Where’s your favorite?” He turned to look at her. In the faint light his eyes glittered, and his hand laced with hers.
“Oh, that’s as secret as my library.”
“You won’t show me?”
“That’s something you have to earn.”
“Then why show me this one?”
“I thought you needed it.” She turned toward him, studying the lines of his face in the dim light. At the rate she was going, she was going to do something she never let herself do, she was going to fall for him. “When you unload something like that, you need to find yourself again.”
“How would you know?”
“My life wasn’t all sunshine and roses and happy family. I know.” She set her hand on his shoulder, using her fingertips to trace the lines of muscle.
“I showed you mine.”
She laughed. “You used the same logic with the library. Sorry, but it’s a story for another day, another time.”
“Fuck. Time.” He tapped his watch, the glow lighting his features briefly. A sigh escaped and he lay back. “I thought it was later. I thought I was late getting Sher.”
“How long do you have?”
“About twenty minutes still.”
“Then let’s get you back to your girl.”
“And then what?” His hand tightened on hers. “Are you done here? With me? I do have a daughter.”
“A fact I’m well aware of.” She squeezed his hand right back. “I told you, coffee and no promises.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“That means for the sake of your daughter we are going to play this by ear. I don’t know what’s going to happen, and you’re going to have to accept that getting into anything means you don’t know what will happen. You can’t know what will happen. Address the elephant in the room.”
“She asked me if we were dating.”
“The elephant.”
“Are we?”
She chuckled and flopped back to stare at the pine canopy above them. “I think against my better judgment we’ll go with yes, but I still can’t make any promises. We’ll go a step at a time and if you tell Noah—”
“I’d rather cut my dick off.”
“Oh, good. That’s the threat I was going to make.”
*~*
Hope you enjoyed it! Click on the Tuesday Tales badge to see more excellent entries!!
by Sarah | Feb 27, 2015 | Book Release, Book Spotlight, Guest Authors, Writing
Buy Links: Amazon | B & N | iTunes | Kobo | Publisher
Enchanter’s Echo by Anise Rae
Mayflower Mages # 2
Blurb
Aurora Firenze lives a quiet life hiding in a junkyard. Her repair shop is the last hope for gadgets and gizmos before they get tossed onto the trash towers. Fortunately, Aurora can fix almost anything, including mages, though repairing people with metal enchantments is highly illegal.
Edmund Rallis, heir to the Rallis senate seat, has spent months hunting down his errant enchantress. He’ll play every game he knows to win her back and entice her to share the secrets she hides. But he’s inadvertently put her on the frontlines of a new game, one with an opponent who’s determined to destroy Rallis Territory and drive the Republic toward war. If the new enemy isn’t stopped in time, Edmund will lose his enchantress again—and this time there won’t be another chance.
Link to Follow Tour: http://www.tastybooktours.com/2015/01/paranormal-picks-from-lyrical-press.html
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23404003-enchanter-s-echo?from_search=true
Author Info
Anise Rae grew up among the cornfields and soybeans of Ohio, dreaming of being a ballerina, an astronaut, and a romance writer. With no turn-out and a soul deep love of chocolate, her ballerina dreams floated away as high as the moon, equidistant with the astronaut aspiration. She stuck with writing. After 22 years, she got the call. Or rather, she got the email. Syphon’s Song, a 2012 Maggie Award of Excellence finalist, will be released March 3, 2014 from Lyrical Press.
Now transplanted to the South, Anise lives in Georgia with her family and a cast of characters that flit around in her head. A select few of those imaginary people are ever so grateful for their chance to escape into the real world of books. The remaining characters, enough to form an army, still clamor for freedom.
Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
Buy Links: Amazon | B & N | iTunes | Kobo | Publisher
Black Wolf’s Revenge by Tera Shanley
Silver Wolf Clan # 2
Blurb
He’ll risk it all to bring her home.
Morgan Carter witnessed her sister’s murder, has been turned into a werewolf and is now raising her young niece. Then her fiance, Greyson Crawford, proves he wants to be with her for the wrong reasons, and she knows her life couldn’t be any stranger. Devastated, she retreats to her cozy house in the city with her sister’s little girl, Lana. There, they’ll have normalcy, and maybe eventually, even happiness.
But Morgan’s the only living silver wolf. Her uniqueness—the ability to produce werewolf offspring—means, without Grey’s protection, she’s unknowingly put herself and Lana in deadly danger. Other werewolves want to claim her for their pack, and she’s the easiest, most tempting prey ever.
When they strike, Grey has to find her and rescue her before it’s too late. Not so simple a task; he has only the uncontrollable beast inside him, Wolf, and an unlikely pack of allies he’s forced to rely on. Can he get to her in time? And if he does, can he convince her he’s there for the right reasons, saving them both?
Link to Follow Tour: http://www.tastybooktours.com/2015/01/paranormal-picks-from-lyrical-press.html
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23403887-black-wolf-s-revenge?from_search=true
Author Info
Born and raised in small town Texas, Tera Shanley grew up in books. Her cousin gifted her a signed copy of Beauty by Bill Wallace when she was young and that was it for her. So smitten was she with getting lost in a story, that while other eleven year olds her age were groaning at the accelerated reader program in school, she was racking up the points just for fun.
Balancing chronic book-wormyness is her devotion to the outdoors. Hunting, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, camping – her soul is happiest out of doors. And lucky for Tera, her family feels the same. She grew up a wild child helping her grandma ranch cattle, and has a hundred memories out in the wilderness which tend to influence her books.
When she’s not eating chocolate, slinging rifles, or soaking up some sun, she’s lost in a book, but these days it’s more often one she’s writing. From historic western romance, to paranormal romance, to apocalyptic (zombie) romance, the genre doesn’t matter quite as much to her as the love story.
She currently lives with her husband and two young children, and is owned by two crazy mini-cujos.
Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
Buy Links: Amazon | B & N | iTunes | Kobo | Publisher
Windburn by Juliette Cross
Nightwing # 2
Blurb
In the Gladium Province, the boundaries between humans and Morgons, the dragon-hybrid race, continue to blur as a new generation surrenders to long-forbidden temptation…
Sorcha Linden does whatever she wants whenever she wants, and no one can stop her. Least of all a man. After all, they’re good for only one thing—warming her bed. But then she meets Lorian, brother of Lucius Nightwing. Seductive and iron-willed, Lorian is determined to melt her emotional defenses—and warm her rebellious heart.
The beast within Lorian longs to cage Sorcha and mark her as his own. Forever. Yet the man within also longs to protect her. When a stalker starts leaving Sorcha suggestive gifts with cryptic messages bearing an ancient blood cult symbol, Lorian’s dragon side takes over. With her life at stake, Sorcha can no longer deny the love they share. But when evil tracks her into the night, will she be too late to claim it?
Author Info
Juliette Cross calls lush, moss-laden Louisiana home, where the landscape curls into her imagination, creating mystical settings for her stories. She has a B.A. in creative writing from Louisiana State University, a M.Ed. in gifted education, and was privileged to study under the award-winning author Ernest J. Gaines in grad school. Her love of mythology, legends, and art serve as constant inspiration for her works. From the moment she read Jane Eyre as a teenager, she fell in love with Gothic romance—brooding characters, mysterious settings, persevering heroines, and dark, sexy heroes. Even then, she not only longed to read more novels set in Gothic worlds, she wanted to create her own. Visit her website at www.juliettecross.com.
Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
Buy Links: Amazon | B & N | iTunes | Kobo | Publisher
Love, Lattes and Mutants by Sandra Cox
Mutants # 1
Blurb
Finding love is hard, even when you aren’t a mutant.
Like most seventeen-year-olds, Piper Dunn wants to blend in with the crowd. Having a blowhole is a definite handicap. A product of a lab-engineered mother with dolphin DNA, Piper spends her school days hiding her brilliant ocean-colored eyes and sea siren voice behind baggy clothing and ugly glasses. When Tyler, the new boy in school, zeroes in on her, ignoring every other girl vying for his attention, no one, including Piper, understands why…
Then Piper is captured on one of her secret missions rescuing endangered sea creatures and ends up in the same test center where her mother was engineered. There she discovers she isn’t the only one of her kind. Joel is someone she doesn’t have to hide from, and she finds herself drawn to the dolph-boy who shares her secrets. Talking to him is almost as easy as escaping from the lab. Deciding which boy has captured her heart is another story.
Author Info
Multi-published author Sandra Cox writes YA fantasy, historic and paranormal romance and metaphysical nonfiction. Sandra lives with her husband, a menagerie of pets, and an occasional foster cat in sunny North Carolina. To see the brood go to her website www.sandracox1.com and click on the cat tab.
Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
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Blurb
Author Info
