Giveaway & Review – Tasting Temptation by Aria Glazki @AriaGlazki

Posted on June 30, 2016 by fundinmental

I am excited to have Aria Glazki, a long time blogging buddy and author, to fundinmental today to share her new release Tasting Temptation. I hope you are ready for some sweet lovin’, because Aria is going to tell us…take it away Aria…

Why Have Sex? (in Fiction)

Readers who are familiar with Mending Heartstrings might be shocked by the explicit scenes in Tasting Temptation. Those who’ve read my previous posts about writing sex shouldn’t be, because—as always—it’s all about the characters.

For Sabella and Kane (Mending Heartstrings), the relationship progressed in a more “traditional” manner. The two of them got to know each other, became comfortable together, and developed a sense of emotional intimacy before things ever became physical. Add to that the fact that Sabella especially is a bit more private about physical intimacy, and very little of her and Kane’s sexual relationship ended up on the page.

For Gina and Hunter (Tasting Temptation), everything is different. The start of their relationship is nothing but sex—and Gina is anything but shy. At first, these two don’t even know each other’s names. The one and only way they relate to each other is physically. So, of course, those moments are what the reader sees.

Naturally (this is a romance), Gina and Hunter’s relationship grows from that place of simple physicality. As the way they relate to each other changes, so too do the details of how they have sex. In fact, shifts in their approach to the other person, bits of feelings they aren’t ready to express, and more—all of it is visible first in these moments where they retreat to something as basic and as complicated as sex.

Were these scenes not included, or had they been glossed over, much—or maybe even most—of Hunter and Gina’s relationship would be lost. Rather than witnessing the development of their emotions, the reader would be left adrift amid disconnected snapshots culminating in a sense of intimacy that would feel unfounded, and false. So in this book, there is a fair amount of explicit sex, but no moment is gratuitous. Like with the other scenes, every moment when you see Gina and Hunter coming together is an integral puzzle piece contributing to the picture that is their story.

Thanks for sharing, Aria. It has been a pleasure having you visit! Congratulations on the new release and I wish you all the best.

Now…lets check out Tasting Temptation by Aria Glazki. Shall we start with the cover?

What do you think?

MY REVIEW

I love the pretty cover for Tasting Temptation by Aria Glazki. It is simple, yet hints at more than meets the eye. I think it perfectly portrays Gina, who is broken, and I want her whole again. Will she meet the man who can help her?

Tasting Temptation is Book II in the Foraging Forever series. I have read Mending Heartstrings, Book I, and wonder why I only gave it three stars after reading Gina’s story. I think because the characters are polar opposites and I can relate to Gina better than Sabella. Sabella is the goody two shoes kind of gal, while Gina is carefree and flirty with sexual innuendos lacing her dialogue. Her defenses are up and the walls are high, after being badly burned by a rich playboy and I wonder at the type of man that can heal her.

The story starts out hot and heavy and immediately grabbed my attention. To Gina, Hunter is a hot and sexy boy toy and I think I would like to play with him too. Gina meets him at the vineyard where her best friend, Sabella, is getting married. She kept telling herself the single life and casual sex with a yummy guy was for her. I think she is in for a wake up call. I think we all know what is to come, but at 18% into Gina’s story, I am hooked and loving every minute of it. We are getting to the heart of the matter and I am eager to see how it plays out.

Her past nightmare playboy has entered the picture and the abuse of wealth and privilege and his need for revenge creates an insidious evil that touches everyone who comes near her. I am so pissed at him that my anger brings tears to my eyes and I want to reach through my kindle and wreak my own havoc. I didn’t cry…until I was 90% into the story.

Novels that are strictly romance are not big on my hit list, but I love Gina and Hunter. Their romance left me as breathless as Gina was. Even though I know how Tasting Temptation will end, I can hardly wait to get there. I knew there would be a happy every after and Aria Glazki’s writing had me unable to quit until I reached it.

I received a copy of Tasting Temptation by Aria Glazki in return for an honest review.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos 4 Stars

Tasting Temptation Blurb:

After last summer’s failed attempt at romance, Gina is absolutely done with men. And especially with millionaires. She has a good job as a fashion editor and amazing friends, and she’s decided she needs nothing else. All she really misses is the sex. But that rush just isn’t worth the risk of being ensnared in another relationship. When the hot bartender at her best friend’s Sonoma wedding suggests some harmless stress relief, she takes him up on the offer. When it’s sufficiently satisfactory, she indulges in a repeat–for the road. When she learns he’s actually the wealthy owner of the vineyard, the mix of fury and fear is damped only by the knowledge that she never has to see him again.

Hunter Cavaliere is determined to honor his grandfather’s legacy, and so far, he’s right on track. The vineyard is thriving, he has plans for expansion, and his wines speak for themselves. The only thing missing is the right woman to share it all. But through his grandparents’ marriage, Hunter learned what true love is, and he’s unwilling to settle for anything else. A woman who judges him because of his money definitely isn’t high up on his list. Still, when circumstance unbelievably keeps bumping him into the intriguing brunette from Portland, he can’t shake the feeling that she is someone he should pursue.

Gina’s poised to run the other way, but one more taste of Hunter may just prove too tempting to resist.

Add me to Goodreads

BUY LINKS

Amazon: US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FPNK182

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01FPNK182

CAN: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01FPNK182

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/tasting-temptation/id1114609688

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1123809512?ean=9781943572069

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/tasting-temptation-2

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/636629

Autographed print copies: ariaglazki.selz.com

ABOUT ARIA GLAZKI

Aria Glazki’s first kiss technically came from a bear cub. Though no fairytale transformation followed, she still believes magic can happen when the right people come together—if they don’t get in their own way, that is. So now Aria writes heartfelt romances about relatable people overcoming real-world obstacles to build love that lasts.

Social media links:

Website / Newsletter / Facebook

Twitter / Instagram / Goodreads

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Check out her other stories and my review links below:

Mending Heartstrings

Mortal Musings

Life Under Examination

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Giveaway – Drop Dead Handsome by M K Scott

Posted on June 30, 2016 by fundinmental

Drop Dead Handsome by M K Scott has a cover that stopped me in my tracks. I love trees and will always stop and check out a book that shows trees, forests…any of my wooded friends. Add to this a cozy mystery, well, what more can I ask for?

How about you? Would you like to join me in the forest?

Dilapidated Victorian house appears "haunted"

Drop Dead Handsome by M.K. Scott

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

GENRE: Cozy Mystery

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

BLURB

The Painted Lady Inn is open for business and limping along in the B and B world. A high school reunion package assembles Donna’s least desirable classmates, including the backstabbing cheerleader, her narcissistic high school crush, and Arnie, whose cheesy poem had everyone calling her, hot mama. It’s all something she liked to forget. These are the normal guests.

An octogenarian self-proclaimed sleuth, Father Christmas, a dognapping couple, and a pair who is copying everything in the Inn to set up their own competitive establishment rounds out the group. Maria, the sister-in-law, has a matchmaking agenda for Donna. Daniel, her brother, finds himself serving as a referee with one guest’s multiple wives.

High school reunions can be murder. Detective Mark Taber is on the trail of the murderer, when he isn’t interfering in a smitten Arnie’s determined bid to woo the no nonsense innkeeper.

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

EXCERPT

“Hello. Welcome to The Painted Lady Inn. Thanks for choosing the Lady for your weekend getaway.” She held the smile in place, questioning her choice of a name for her bed and breakfast. Daniel remarked it sounded like something out of a horror movie, as if it would come to life.

The woman didn’t answer, but took two more steps closer, then placed her bag on the floor. “I’m glad to be here before the sun sets.”

“You made it.” Her cheeks were starting to ache from continually smiling. Well, that and acting like a genial innkeeper. Why couldn’t she’d just be normal Donna Tollhouse?

“Yes, yes, I did.” The woman glanced around the foyer that had several open doors to the front parlor, library, and dining room. Her lips pursed as her eyes flicked upward.

No dust anywhere and the floors gleamed where they weren’t covered by a floral runner.

“May I have your name, please?”

The woman gave a nervous laugh, which seemed out of place.

“Lorena, Lorena Fitzgerald.”

Convenient, since she was the first name on the list. Her hand gripped the heavy reunion basket and held it out to Lorena. “Compliments of the inn for your stay.” The woman’s French tipped manicured hand wrapped around the basket handle beside Donna’s. “Enjoy the reunion.”

Lorena’s eyes widened. “There’s a reunion? What type?

Donna had relinquished the basket unaware that her guest didn’t merit it. Too late to take it back too, especially since the woman was now poking through it making pleasurable noises. With her luck, the couple out antiquing would hear about it and expect one too. Well, she did have a couple cases of Reunion Red.

“Ah yes, the local high school is having a reunion. Thirty-one years.”

Lorena fanned her free hand in front of her as if overcome by the thought of a reunion. “Thirty-one years. Goodness, I’ve only been out of school barely twenty years.”

Taking a page from Detective Taber’s book, she ran a hand over her face, hoping to hide her smirk. Okay, the woman looked good, but not that good. A woman in her thirties would wear something a little more playful, edgy, or even more casual. The shoes and sweater set declared her mid-forty. Once she recovered her innkeeper face, she dropped her hand.

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

AUTHOR Bio and Links

K. Scott is the husband and wife writing team behind The Painted Lady Inn Mysteries. Morgan K Wyatt is the general wordsmith, while her husband, Scott, is the grammar hammer and physics specialist. He uses his engineering skills to explain how fast a body falls when pushed over a cliff and various other felonious activities. The Internet and experts in the field provide forensic information, while the recipes and B and B details require a more hands on approach. Morgan’s daughter who manages a hotel provides guest horror stories to fuel the plot lines. The couple’s dog, Chance, is the inspiration behind Jasper, Donna’s dog. Murder Mansion is the first book in The Painted Lady Inn Mysteries. Overall, it is a fun series to create and read. Drop Dead Handsome is the second book in the series. Killer Review should be out in October 2016.

Social Media: Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads / Pinterest / tsu

Buy Links: Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon CA / Amazon Australia

Amazon Mexico / Smashwords /

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GIVEAWAY

The author will be awarding a prize to multiple winners such as $50 Amazon Gift Cards, $15 Target or Groupon Gift Cards and other GCs and books to randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during the tour.

ENTER THE RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY HERE

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$500 Gift Card Giveaway – Sun, Surf & Sand

Posted on June 29, 2016 by fundinmental

Win a $500 Amazon Gift Card!

Follow these eNovel Authors at Work authors on BookBub and enter to win a
$500 Amazon Gift Card at the bottom of the post!

Are you a blogger or active on social media? Click this link and find out how you can win prizes for sharing this giveaway!

Meet your giveaway sponsors from #eNovAaW

Jackie Weger

Jackie Weger is a traveler of the good earth by boat, train, plane and truck. But mostly she just gets as far as Walmart.

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Donna Fasano

Donna Fasano is a USA Today Bestselling Author. Her books have won awards and have sold 4 million copies world wide.

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Aurora Springer

Morphing from scientific research into fiction, Aurora Springer has achieved her life-long ambition to publish her creations. Her stories include science fiction and fantasy with romance, mystery and a sprinkle of humor. In real life, she works as a scientist and has a PhD in molecular biophysics. She was born in the UK and lives in Atlanta with her husband, a dog and two cats to sit on the laptop. Her hobbies, besides reading and writing, include outdoor activities like watching wildlife, hiking and canoeing.

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Lorena Angell

Lorena Angell lives in Washington where she enjoys gardening, hiking, bar-b-queing, and being with her family. She writes Young Adult Fantasy/Paranormal. Her series, The Unaltered, is a #1 bestseller in eleven countries and is currently being optioned for film.

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A.J. Lape

A. J. Lape lives in Cincinnati with her husband, two daughters, an ADD dog, a spoiled hamster, and an unapologetic and unrepentant addiction to Coca-Cola–plus a lifelong love affair with bacon she has no plans to sever. A graduate of Morehead State University with a Master’s degree in Communications, she’s a PI wannabe but daily stops crime and kills bad people through the fictional ADHD character of Darcy Walker. If the FBI ever checks her computer, she’ll be wearing prison-orange due to the graphic and disgusting “wiki” articles she looks up…all in the name of career research, of course.

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Jerri Hines

Jerri Hines is an Amazon bestselling author of the Winds of the Betrayal and Winds of Change series and Southern Legacy serial that were inspired by her fascination with history. She is a Southern gal who has lived the last thirty years near Boston with her Yankee husband. She believes in love and the power it holds. It is the reason she writes romances. Her much anticipated conclusion to Winds of Betrayal, Set Fire To the Rain, will be released December, 2016. She is also an Amazon Bestselling author under her penname, Colleen Connally

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Amy Vansant

Amy specializes in fun, comedic reads about accident prone, easily distracted women with questionable taste in men. So, autobiographies, mostly. She is a nerd and Labradoodle mommy who works at home with her goofy husband. She loves interacting with fans when the dog isn’t laying on top of her, so stop by her blog or Twitter and say hi!

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Dan Petrosini

Dan teaches at local colleges, writes novels and plays the tenor saxophone in a couple of jazz bands. Married with two daughters and a needy Maltese, Dan splits his time between South West, Florida and New York City where he was born. Dan has his own view of the world and culture or lack thereof. He has an active blog at http://danpetrosini.com, has written four novels and is in the midst of the next one.

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Roberta Kagan

Thank you so much for your interest in my work. My mother was Jewish and my father was Romany. From the time I was young, the dark memories of the holocaust were a part of my life. Soon all the survivors will be gone, and the lessons of the holocaust must not be lost with them. I studied, researched, and met with survivors, and each story of survival has one common thread, that even in the darkest hour there’s always a flicker of light. And that flicker of light is, love.
I send you many blessings. Roberta

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Anne Kennison

With more than 30 years of lawyering under her belt, and now retired from the practice of law, Anne describes herself as a “”recovering attorney.”” Anne’s unique plot twists come from a fertile imagination honed by those years of experience.

When Anne’s not writing, she dabbles in photography, makes scrapbooks for her two granddaughters, makes jewelry, hangs out with the grandkids, and travels with her husband. Although they have traveled extensively from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego, and from Asia to Europe, what they love most is adventure travel. Anne says, “”So much world to see, so little time!””

Anne lives in Richmond, Virginia, with her husband Dale and two Ragdoll cats, Grady and Elliott.

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Kerry J. Donovan

#1 International Best-seller with On Lucky Shores, Kerry J Donovan was born in Dublin. He spent most of his life in the UK, and now lives in the heart of rural Brittany with his wonderful and patient wife, Jan. They have three children and four grandchildren (so far), all of whom live in England. An absentee granddad, Kerry is hugely thankful for the advent of video calling.

The cottage is a pet free zone (apart from the field mice, moles, and red squirrels).

Kerry earned a first class honours degree in Human Biology, and has a PhD in Sport and Exercise Sciences. A former scientific advisor to The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, he helped UK emergency first-responders prepare for chemical attacks in the wake of 9/11. This background adds a scientific edge to his writing. He is also a former furniture designer/maker.

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Julie Frayn

Julie Frayn is a Canadian multi-award-winning author of novels and short stories that pack a punch. And a few stabs. Julie lives in Alberta, near the foot of the Rocky Mountains. When not working or writing, Julie spend as much time as possible with her babies. Well, they’re grown adults now, but they still think she’s cool. Right kids? Right? Hello?

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R.P. Dahlke

Biography for A Dangerous Harbor
This book and its sequel, Hurricane Hole, are the result of my years sailing in Mexico with my husband aboard our cutter rigged Hylas 47 sailboat. Mexico is a culture that was, and still is, struggling to gain a foothold in the 21st Century. These romantic suspense books (no graphic sex, but lots of humor) are about Americans who’re here because they can’t seem to outrun the problems they so desperately want to leave behind.

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David Wind

David Wind has published thirty-eight novels including Science Fiction, Mystery and suspense thrillers. He lives and writes in a small village about thirty miles upstate of NYC, and shares his house with his wife, Bonnie and dog Alfie, a sub-standard poodle (email him for an explanation).

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Giveaway – Defending Hayden by L P Dover @LPDover @XpressoReads

Posted on June 29, 2016 by fundinmental

Defending Hayden
L.P. Dover
(Second Chances #7)
Published by: Loveswept
Publication date: June 28th 2016
Genres: Adult, Romance, Suspense

No one’s tougher than Carolina Cougars linebacker Derek McLaughlin. But when a fatal car accident claims the life of his girlfriend, Derek finds himself caught in a destructive spiral of drugs, alcohol, and meaningless sex. But not even a string of one-night stands can ease the hurt. Football is all he has left. Then fate leads him back to the scene of the crash, and into the arms of a kind, gorgeous woman who sees past his façade to the man he once was . . . and can be again.

When a chance roadside encounter brings Derek into her life, veterinarian Hayden Hunter isn’t fooled by his bad attitude: All bark and no bite, he’s hiding a wounded heart beneath that gruff demeanor. And Hayden wants to be the one to kiss it all better. Soon they both find that a dose of passion is potent medicine. But when a hidden enemy lashes out at Hayden, Derek steps up to do what he does best: put his body on the line in the name of love.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Google Play

—

EXCERPT:

Guilt plagued me and I felt sick. Getting out of bed, I paced the room, running my hands angrily through my hair. I didn’t want to hurt Hayden. Keeping her away would protect her from my life. She was bound to leave me anyway. I’d fuck up somehow and it would ruin her. What the hell was I talking about? I’d already fucked her up.

“Derek?” Her voice was like honey, silky and sweet. I’d imagined what it would be like to hear that voice screaming my name as I fucked her over and over. Last night had been the best night of my life, but it had scared the shit out of me. I couldn’t shake it. “Derek, are you okay?” she asked. Stopping midstep, I turned to face her, and her eyes widenened when she got a glimpse of my face. I could only imagine what she saw. So many emotions battled inside me. She held the blanket to her chest, and her lips trembled. “Please tell me this wasn’t just a game to you,” she whispered.

Swallowing hard, I sat down on the edge of the bed and reached for her. She recoiled from my touch. “None of this was a game, Hayden. Last night was fucking amazing.”

Her eyes glistened, but her jaw was firm. “Then why are you looking at me like that? Like you regret what we did.”

I wanted to touch her, but last night had been my only chance. She’d never let me close to her again. “I don’t regret it, but eventually you will. You’re not the only one who’s lost someone they cared about. I can’t go through it again. It’s best to stop this before it goes any further.”

“Any further?” she scoffed. She waved her arm around the room, her anger so thick I could cut it with a knife. “If you didn’t want it to go any further, then why did you bring me here? Why would you do that to me?”

“Because I care about you,” I said, knowing it made no sense to her.

“Then why are you pushing me away?” she cried.

Standing, I got up and walked over to the window. “You wouldn’t understand.”

Author Bio:

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author, L.P. Dover, is a southern belle residing in North Carolina along with her husband and two beautiful girls. Before she even began her literary journey she worked in Periodontics enjoying the wonderment of dental surgeries.

Not only does she love to write, but she loves to play tennis, go on mountain hikes, white water rafting, and you can’t forget the passion for singing. Her two number one fans expect a concert each and every night before bedtime and those songs usually consist of Christmas carols.

Aside from being a wife and mother, L.P. Dover has written over seventeen novels including her Forever Fae series, the Second Chances series, the Gloves Off series, and her standalone novel, Love, Lies, and Deception. Her favorite genre to read is romantic suspense and she also loves writing it. However, if she had to choose a setting to live in it would have to be with her faeries in the Land of the Fae.

L.P. Dover is represented by Marisa Corvisiero of Corvisiero Literary Agency.

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Giveaway – Body and Bone by L S Hawker @LSHawker_Author @partnersincr1me

Posted on June 28, 2016 by fundinmental

Body and Bone

by LS Hawker

on Tour June 2016

MY REVIEW

Between the cover and title for Body and Bone by L S Hawker, I don’t know which drew me in more. I love a mystery thriller and Nessa’s story supplied me with a steady supply of suspense.

Nessa’s mother haunts her every move and even worse, she married a man just like her…gimme, gimme gimme, mine mine mine. Usually a daughter marries a man like her father and I liked this nice little twist that L S Hawker supplied. But…wait…there’s more and you won’t believe where she takes the storyline.

Nessa is a strong woman, determined to manage her life on her own. She has secrets…many secrets…and she protects them by building a wall that no one can climb. No one, until Isabeau, her son’s nanny. I love this woman and she quickly becomes my favorite character. If you have a troll stalking you on the internet, she’s your gal.

But…L S Hawker made me question her motives. Could she be the troll that is stalking Nessa’s every move and trying to set her up for murder? Could the stalker be her crack addicted husband she kicked out and refuses to stay gone thinking she owes him everything she has? Could the stalker be the rapist from her past that was just released from prison? Well…I was kept guessing and I love that. I think you will too.

All the characters are richly developed with personalities that shine through, whether good or bad. Some you will love, some you will hate, but you will not forget them.

Nessa’s life is more than difficult, it is tragic. Bad choices left her with nightmares that follow her, dogging her every move. They have her looking over her shoulder, waiting for the hammer to drop. Imagiine that every noise, every knock on the door, every question asked is the one that will bring your world crashing down around you. How a person could even function at such a high level of leaves me wondering when the dam will break.

Body and Bone is a fantastic suspense thriller that has all the elements for excellent reading. L S Hawker’s writing is fast paced and jam packed with action at every turn. The twists and turns keep the mystery alive and I dare you to anticipate the ending. It blew my mind, again and again. Evil does walk among us and the worst kind of evil is the human kind. I must warn you though, once you start reading you won’t want to put it down, so plan accordingly. L S Hawker is an author I will be placing on my MUST READ list.

I received a copy of Body and Bone by L S Hawker in return for an honest review.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos 5 Stars

Synopsis:

LS Hawker returns with another atmospheric, twisting tale of suspense that questions the nature of identity and how far a young mother is willing to go to run from the mistakes of her past.

He wants to destroy her reputation.
He wants to destroy her life.
He wants to destroy…her.

Nessa Donati used to be a happily married mother with a successful music blog and satellite radio show. But that was before her husband John relapsed on drugs and went missing. That was before he was presumed dead. And before she was framed for his murder.

When a commenter on Nessa’s blog starts harassing her online, Nessa shrugs it off. Trolls are a part of internet life. But eventually the troll begins threatening her safety and releasing personal details… details only her husband would know.

As Nessa’s life is dismantled piece by piece, her only option is to find John and put a stop to the lies. But when their son becomes a pawn in his twisted game, she must face a disturbing truth: Maybe John isn’t tormenting her, after all. But if he’s not…who is? And how far will this monster go to exact revenge?

Book Details:

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense
Published by: Witness Impulse/HarperCollins
Publication Date: May 2016
Number of Pages: 303
ISBN: 0062435221 (ISBN13: 9780062435224)
Purchase Links:

Read an excerpt:

CHAPTER ONE

Tuesday, May 31

Nessa Donati was going to have to sell her brand spanking new car. And all because the rear-view mirror hung in the perfect position to display an accidental glimpse of her reflection whenever she reached into the back seat. Typically she prepared herself before facing a reflective surface. But when she was caught off guard, without fail, her mother’s disappointed, sour Resting Bitch Face stared back at her.

It wasn’t that her mother was unattractive. She was, in fact, far more beautiful than Nessa could ever hope to be. It was that her mother had always used Nessa as a mirror in which to see herself without ever truly seeing Nessa.

So the new black Chrysler Pacifica would have to go.

It was nearing sunset when Nessa parked it on Crestview Drive by the Randolph Bridge, which spanned not only the Big Blue River but the northern tip of Tuttle Creek Lake as well. This was the last stop on a four-day camping trip, just Nessa, her three-year-old son Daltrey, and their Wheaton Terrier, Declan MacManus.

She checked on Daltrey, asleep in his car seat, listing to starboard, mouth open. He’d be okay for a moment, and she was glad she wouldn’t have to explain what she was about to do. She felt silly enough about it already.

Nessa and Declan MacManus exited the Pacifica, the dog running ahead, while Nessa locked and shut the door.

She walked the eighth of a mile to the river’s edge beneath the bridge as sparse traffic droned by overhead, tires making that phut phut phut sound as they traversed the seams in the asphalt. Nessa stood and watched the water flow past, appearing deceptively tranquil until a tree branch rushed by at break-neck speed. Declan sniffed happily around, pausing to mark every object he encountered with a lifted leg.

Nessa looked around to make sure she was alone, then reached into her pocket and withdrew the six-inch-long braid of her husband John’s hair. He’d cut it before their wedding five years ago. She had kept it in a velvet box all this time, never dreaming this day would come. She looked at the sky and the water, remembering all their good times on the river. This was the right place to let John’s braid go.

The water lapped against her tennis shoes as she wound up and let the braid fly. She watched it arc through the air, hit the rushing water with an inconsequential splash, and disappear. She watched for a moment and let herself cry a little. She needed this sort of closure ritual to move on with her life, like spreading his ashes. Except he wasn’t dead. Yet.

Nessa trudged back to the car, Declan MacManus meandering behind her. She unlocked and opened her door, and the dog jumped in and settled in the passenger seat. Nessa noted that Daltrey hadn’t even changed position while she was gone.

Nessa started the car, put it in gear, and headed toward home.

Forty minutes later, she parked in the converted hay barn garage behind her house and decided she’d wait until morning to unload the camping gear.

Declan MacManus jumped from the car and ran, whining, toward the other outbuildings, hops vines, and woods beyond, as Nessa climbed into the back to struggle with Daltrey’s carseat restraints. She draped him over her shoulder, and took him inside and upstairs to his big-boy bed. There, she pulled off his sandals and kissed his fat little feet before slipping him between the sheets. Good. He was out for the night. She left his door ajar, and went downstairs and out the back door to get their suitcase from the Pacifica.

Outside it was full dark, and the woods buzzed with late-spring insects. When she hit the bottom step, she saw Declan MacManus curled up in front of the outbuilding they called the boathouse. He sprang to his feet as if he’d just noticed royalty entering the room. This slowed Nessa down—what was he doing?—but she continued on to the garage, where she retrieved their luggage. When she closed the garage door, the dog jumped to his feet again, in the exact spot she’d left him.

Nessa stood staring at him, and he gazed expectantly back at her.

And then she saw it. The wooden carriage-house door’s lock was gone. In its place was a jagged hole, as if God himself had punched a massive fist through it in a fit of righteous anger.

Nessa froze, her breath captive in her throat.

She set down the suitcase and, after a moment of indecision, pulled out her phone and dialed.

Marlon Webb didn’t say hello, just, “With a student.” This was his way of saying he could be interrupted only for a very specific kind of emergency.

“Call me back,” she whispered. “I’m rethinking that whole restraining order thing.”

Author Bio:

LS HAWKER grew up in suburban Denver, indulging her worrisome obsession with true-crime books, and writing stories about anthropomorphic fruit and juvenile delinquents. She wrote her first novel at 14.

Armed with a B.S. in journalism from the University of Kansas, she had a radio show called “People Are So Stupid,” edited a trade magazine and worked as a traveling Kmart portrait photographer, but never lost her passion for fiction writing.

She’s got a hilarious, supportive husband, two brilliant daughters and a massive music collection. She lives in Colorado but considers Kansas her spiritual homeland.

Visit LS Hawker –

Tour Participants:

Don’t Miss Out on this Exciting Giveaway:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours for LS Hawker and WitnessImpulse. There will be 3 US winners of one (1) eBook copy of Body and Bone by LS Hawker. The giveaway begins on June 1st and runs through July 3rd, 2016.

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Giveaway – Oubliette by Vanta M Black @VantaMBlack

Posted on June 28, 2016 by fundinmental

Oubliette by Vanta M Black has a simple, yet awesome cover for a novel that was inspired by true events. Check it out closely and, if you see what I see, you will be eager to open the pages and learn what’s inside.

Be sure and scroll to the bottom of the post for the giveaway!

Oubliette: A Forgotten Little Place by Vanta M. Black

Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Paranormal, Historical Fiction, Genre-Fiction, New Adult, Horror

Publisher: Black Chateau Publishing

Date of Publication: March 2016

ISBN: 978-0-9964488-2-6 / ISBN: 978-0-9964488-1-9 / ISBN: 978-0-9964488-0-2

Number of pages: 566

Word Count: 247,912

Cover Artist: Black Chateau Enterprises

Book Description:

Veronica knows the monsters aren’t “just in her head”, but no one listens to the headstrong ten-year-old as they tie her to a hospital bed every night.

Years later, after being dumped by her business-partner/boyfriend, Veronica finds herself on the verge of bankruptcy. Then a late-night call promises the perfect solution — a job opportunity decorating a castle in France.

Will Veronica risk what little she has left to chase a fairytale?

When the shadowy things that once terrorized her come back, Veronica must decide how much she’ll sacrifice for them, for her sanity, and for her life.

This epic book consists of interwoven stories with paranormal twists. A horror-filled historical fiction adventure, it spans nearly two millennia.

You’ll be transported to an ancient Pagan ritual, Roman-ruled Gaul, the bloody Inquisition of the Knights Templar, France as it’s ravaged by the Black Death, the duplicitous Reformation, the Paris Catacombs, and the gory French Revolution, while you unravel Oubliette’s cryptic layers.

Amazon BN Author Website

PROLOGUE

LA Early 1900s

Veronica didn’t understand why they looked for the monsters in her head, that’s obviously not where they were. Instead of listening, the doctors stuck pads with wires to her temples and increased the dosage of an IV that dripped into her veins.

They also told the nurses to tie her down with thick, leather belts every night.

The tethers didn’t matter though, because when the monsters came, she wouldn’t be able to move anyway. The only thing Veronica could ever do was scream.

The doctors called them “night terrors”. The pudgy lady who talked funny –– she told Veronica it was her accent –– said they were “spirits”. Mommy used the term “shadow people”. Veronica just called them “monsters”, and wished they’d stop scaring her when she slept.

They wanted her. Deep inside, on a primal level, Veronica knew the monsters –– or whatever they were –– craved her, and if given the chance, they would do something very, very bad to her.

The little girl tried to explain this to the doctors, the nurses, the accent-talking lady, and her mother, but none of the adults really listened. Instead they argued and shouted at each other, and huffed in and out of the room –– but the thing that frightened Veronica the most, is when the adults would simply shrug their shoulders, and admit that they really didn’t have any idea what the monsters were at all.

It was almost ten o’clock –– shift-change time. The night staff would come now. The nurse on duty was a plodding and lazy lady who would only check on Veronica at the beginning of the shift, and then abandon her in favor of the nurses’ station and a VHS tape of the day’s soap operas. Veronica didn’t like her. Sometimes it would take “Nurse Lazy” a full five minutes before she’d respond. She never came fast enough.

Veronica tried to tell the doctors that the nurse was too slow, but the complaints of a ten-year-old weren’t taken seriously against the word of the lazy nurse who smiled sweetly and said, “Poor dear and those dreadful night terrors. I always come running as fast as I can!”

Veronica cringed as the television automatically turned itself off. It always happened at ten o’clock; it was on a timer. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt it protected her and wished more than anything it could stay on. The noise, the pictures, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, there was something inexplicable about the TV that kept the monsters away.

Veronica’s pleas to leave the television on all night were never honored by the adults. Nurse Lazy actually once told her, “Oh, we can’t leave the TV on, it’ll give you bad dreams.”

Ha! Little did she know the TV prevented the bad dreams.

The door opened and in walked Nurse Lazy. Her metal nameplate actually read “Lucy”. She handed Veronica a little paper cup with a green pill inside and waited with a thin, forced smile. The longer Veronica took to take her medicine, the longer Nurse Lazy would have to wait until she could watch her soaps.

Veronica plucked the pill out of the cup. “Aren’t they ’sposed to be yellow?”

Lucy flared her nostrils ever so slightly as she replied, “No, your new doctor prescribed the green ones. Hurry up and take it.”

Veronica studied the pill closely, holding it inches from her nose. She looked at it slightly cross-eyed. “I don’t think I like the green ones though. Yellows are better.”

Lucy’s trembling hand clutched a Dixie cup of water. “That’s for the doctors to decide. Now eat it up! Time for sleep.”

Veronica painstakingly laid the pill on her tongue and grunted for the nurse to hand her the water.

Lucy thrust it forward. “Here, drink!”

Veronica pouted, though she knew the cute face wouldn’t work on ol’ Lazy.

“Thanks,” she muttered as the nurse buckled down Veronica’s arms and legs and pulled the covers up to her chest.

“Goodnight,” Lucy grumbled. She snatched the mermaid doll that sat by Veronica’s side, and tossed it on the nightstand before careening out the door.

Random acts of meanness like that weren’t uncommon for Lucy. Veronica sniffed as the silence left in the nurse’s wake permeated the room.

Then familiar, tinny tunes from a transistor radio wafted through the air. It hung from the janitor’s cleaning cart. He always blared it while mopping the halls. There was that song again. Some stupid radio station played it almost every night right around this time. Veronica stared at her doll on the nightstand, just out of reach, as the lyrics began:

Dream the dream that only you can dream

Sing the song that only you can sing

Dance with me, we’ll start slow

Clasp my hand, now lose control

Bite the monster only you can see

And dream the dream you only dream for me

Veronica tried to squish her head into the stiff pillow so her ears were covered, but it didn’t work. The heavy metal song’s pounding chorus kicked in.

Spirits in the maze

Burning brighter

Like a dream within the haze

Dancing fire

Deep inside malaise

Hungry spider

Force your screams to blaze

Spinning spiral

The song frightened her. It seemed to always precede a particularly bad episode. She really wished she had the yellow pills. She felt defenseless as sleep consumed her. The green pills would be no help if one of the bad ones came…the real Bad Ones, that is.

She twisted her head and glared into the large mirror on the wall across the room. People watched her from inside there. Veronica wasn’t sure if they were the doctors, the accent lady, or maybe even her mother, but every now and then someone would move, the light would catch just right, and she would see a figure behind the glass. Dimly, she watched them watch her. They studied her and talked about her and wrote notes about her on clipboards. Knowing they were there gave Veronica little comfort because they weren’t there to help; they were only there to watch.

Her sleepy eyes narrowed at the watchers and she whispered with dopey lips, “What, no popcorn? You gonna stare at me all night and you got no stinking popcorn? You’re all a bunch of stupid heads, ya’ know that? Stooopid heads…”

Sleep quietly took over while Veronica cursed the stupid heads behind the glass. She jerked her droopy neck to force herself awake, but the green pill was powerful. It pushed her into the darkness where the shadow people waited.

Veronica, here we are!

Veronica, time to steal your dreams.

Time to let us steal your dreams and break your bones and slip your soul right out of your slimy sack of skin…Veronica!

She fought to wake up. With all her might she tried to scream, but the green pill seized her motor functions and paralyzed her. She was like a petrified slab of meat laid out on a table –– unable to move, unable to cry out, unable to defend herself.

Do you know the evil that you dream, Veronica?

Do you know the song that only you can sing?

Veronica!

In the limbo between sleep and lucidity Veronica sensed their heinous presence with crystal-clarity. She was hyper-alert and instinctively knew these were the real Bad Ones. Without looking she saw one crouching in the far corner of the room. It glared at her intently and oozed animosity. It waited patiently, almost casually, for Veronica to succumb.

With a sudden surge of intense willpower she cried out — just a little — it was a tiny whimper that was barely audible. It wasn’t loud enough to scare the shadow people away though, and it definitely wasn’t loud enough for anyone living to hear.

Another Bad One pulled itself onto the foot of her bed. This one was small and hairy like an animal. Scrooching under the blanket, it crept slowly along the side of her bare leg. It felt for a nook to burrow — a soft place like her stomach or side so it could squirm and writhe itself into her flesh — where it could rip her apart from the inside out.

“Help,” Veronica whispered one last time before falling into the dark depths of sleep –– deep, down, spinning ‘round, until the darkness took a hold…

About the Author:

Vanta M. Black, author of Oubliette—A Forgotten Little Place, enjoys uncovering the dark mysteries of our Universe. In addition to writing, she enjoys traveling to provocative places and studying all things esoteric.

Black has degrees in English, communication and art. She resides in Southern California with her husband and two pug-mix dogs, and spends her time in support of causes that empower women and advance science and technology.

Website / Author: Facebook / Novel: Facebook / Goodreads / Twitter

Tumbler / Pinterest / YouTube / Author

GIVEAWAY

2 $50 Amazon Gift Cards

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Release Day Giveaway – Unbridled Trails by Bonnie R Paulson @bonnierpaulson

Posted on June 28, 2016 by fundinmental

A vengeful cowboy seeking justice loses his heart to a damsel-in-distress, but can the results of saving her outweigh their chance at love?

Kyle Darby doesn’t want to be a lonely ranch hand forever. If he can help his cousin run a ranch, his chances at future foreman will be drastically increased. But his need to find revenge for his sister clouds his logic.

Sherry isn’t into dating or anything normal – she studies bugs for crying out loud. When Kyle rescues her one night at a bar, she finds it hard to believe his continued interest is sincere. Used to saving herself and her heart, Sherry has to accept that sometimes she needs help.

With her life hanging in the balance, Sherry has to learn to rely on someone else – Kyle.

Can she do it without losing her heart? Or are they both destined to just be along for the ride?

Buy on Amazon / iBooks / Kobo / Nook

About Bonnie R. Paulson Bonnie

Bonnie R. Paulson mixes her science and medical background with reality and possibilities to make even myths seem likely and give every romance the genetic strength to survive. Bonnie has discovered a dark and twisty turn in her writing that she hopes you enjoy as much as she has enjoyed uncovering it. Dirt biking with her family in the Northwest keeps her sane.

Follow on:

Facebook / Website/ Twitter / Goodreads / Newsletter/ Literary Addicts / Amazon

Reader Giveaway – Boxed Ebook Set of Westerns, cowboy soap, & $10 Amazon Gift Card. Fill out the form to enter. US addresses only 18+
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Giveaway – Welcome to Sortilege Falls by Libby Heily @fireiceyabooks

Posted on June 27, 2016 by fundinmental

Welcome to Sortilege Falls
by Libby Heily
Genre: YA Magical Mystery
Release Date: June 12th 2016
Fire & Ice Young Adult Books

Summary from Goodreads:

Sixteen-year-old Grape Merriweather has just moved to Sortilege Falls and already she knows something isn’t right. A small pack of teenage models, too beautiful for words, holds the town in their sway. The models have no plans on making Grape’s life easy. But no matter how cruel they are to Grape and the other “Normals”, no one can stay angry with them for long.

Grape’s life changes for the better, or so she thinks, when Mandy, the only “nice” model, befriends her. But that’s when the trouble truly begins. Mandy’s friendship places Grape smack in the middle of a medical mystery that has the entire town on edge. One by one, the models fall ill from an incurable disease. Grape quickly realizes that the models’ parents are hiding a secret, even as they watch their children die. To save her only friend, Grape will have to find the truth–and that means putting her life in danger.

Buy Links:

Amazon│Barnes & Noble│iTunes│Kobo│Smashwords

GUEST POST:

I Wish I Were A Shark

Let me start with a confession: I am terrible at job
interviews. Some people say that but
what they mean is that they get nervous or they feel weird about selling
themselves. I mean neither of those
things. I have actually said these words
during a job interview, “It’s okay if you don’t give me the job.” Why?
Because I wasn’t feeling great in the interview and, hey, why not be
honest? Oh, because I have bills to pay,
that’s why. Ugh.

One of my absolute worst moments in an interview did, at
least, lead to an “aha” moment. It
wasn’t quite an epiphany, but we’re not entitled to too many of those in one
life time. Picture it, me with my
theater degree and background in customer service and film work, sitting at a
table with three lab technicians interviewing to be a…lab technician. I had recently discovered a love of science
and a deep need to not deal with the general public anymore. The two led me to a corporation who shall
remain nameless but let’s say that I would have been dealing with blood, urine,
and fecal samples. Sounds gross but, at
the time, I thought lab work would be amazing.

The interview had seemed to go well. I’d been engaging and forthright and had
spoken of my desire to switch careers and do meaningful work. I thought I really had a chance. Then they hit me with the last question:

IF YOU COULD BE ANY
ANIMAL, WHAT WOULD YOU BE?

I stared at them dumfounded.
This was something you asked your friends as a joke or to loosen people
up at a dinner party, not something a hiring committee used to find a new
potential employee. Why not ask me what
books I would take to a deserted island?
Sheesh.

I sighed heavily, knowing that this was not meant to
be. “I know I should say something like
I want to be a work horse, but honestly, I want to be a shark.”

The three ladies looked at me, their smiles sliding slowly into disapproving
frowns. I had just admitted that I
wanted to be a predator, and not just any predator, but the one most feared by
humans. Who doesn’t step into the ocean
and, at least for a brief second, think they’re going to be eaten? Who doesn’t read the summer shark-bite
articles with enthusiasm, thinking they themselves had escaped such a fate? If you’ve seen JAWS, you fear sharks.

The ladies thanked me for my time and I was released back out into the world,
jobless and a bit disappointed.

But, I’d meant it.
Being a shark would be so cool.
Sharks don’t sleep. They’re
always on the move. They live in the
ocean and travel miles and miles. I like
all those things. I don’t want to fly or
swing from branches, I want to swim and swim and swim. Okay, I’m not super interested in eating raw
fish all the time, but I’d adjust. I
like sushi. Plus, sharks are
mysterious. We really don’t know much
about them. Except that they cost us
jobs. We know that much.

About the Author

I was born during a blizzard. I’m told it was pretty cool, but I have no memory of that time. I grew up in two tiny towns in Virginia and spent most of my twenties moving around the US. I’ve lived in Virginia, Florida, Missouri, and Washington. I’ve settled down, for now, in Raleigh, North Carolina.

I’m a writer and improviser. I studied acting in college but spent more time rewriting lines than memorizing them. My first play, Fourth Wall, was produced my junior year. Since then, I’ve written several full length plays, one acts, and screenplays. I started writing fiction in my late twenties. Now, I focus mainly on novels but still dabble in theater.Fun facts about me: There are none. I’m sorry to disappoint you so soon. But, I do love to read, write, and run. My hubby is my favorite person on earth. Dogs are my second favorite. All dogs. Know that. I love orange juice, especially when it’s mixed with club soda. Carbonation is better than alcohol. Jaws is my favorite movie. Everything I’ve said so far is true.

Author Links:

photo iconfacebook-32x32_zps64a79d4a.png

GIVEAWAY:

.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Giveaway – The Last Great Race by Mark Morey @markmorey5 @GoddessFish

Posted on June 24, 2016 by fundinmental

Guest Post For the Last Great Race by Mark Morey

I love learning about covers and characters and this is what Mark Morey has to say about The Last Great Race

ABOUT THE COVER: The Last Great Race is based upon the life and loves of 1930s Italian motor racing champion Achille Varzi, so the choice of cover was quite easy. Achille Varzi was a heavy smoker at a time when the health consequences of that were not known. His joining the Auto Union racing team in 1935 set in train a sequence of events which almost destroyed him emotionally. A picture of Achille Varzi in an AutoUnion smoking a cigarette is not only typical of the man at the time, it’s also poignant that a few weeks after that picture was taken at Monaco in 1936, he was about to suffer two savage blows which took him years to recover from.

ABOUT THE NAMES: I have followed Formula One car racing since the early 1970s, and through that I was aware of the story of Achille Varzi, a good driver of the 1930s, until his private life got in the way of his racing career. When I looked into the facts about Varzi I didn’t realise that he was the best racer in a legendary era, certainly one of the best of all time, and that his love affair with Ilse was so passionate and ultimately so destructive. I thought that passionate love, the tragedy that came out of it, and his recovery with the help of Norma who came back into his life, made a great story. Norma Colombo was a woman against the odds. She lived with Achille Varzi unmarried when women didn’t do that, and when Achille broke up with Ilse she came back to him. That was just as amazing as anything that happened between Achille and Ilse. One man and two women who adored him completely, totally and absolutely.

The names of most of the characters are real, except for the fictional characters Paul Bassi and PIa Donati. Paul (real name Paolo) is a straightforward name for a straightforward man, while I thought that Pia Donati was a particularly attractive name.

Thanks so much for sharing Mark. Now…on to the info about the book: The Last Great Race by Mark Morey.

I love reading about any type of auto racing and watch many of the races on TV. How about you? Are you a fan?

The Last Great Race by Mark Morey

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

GENRE: Historical Fiction

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

BLURB

This story is based around the life of one of the most fascinating and enigmatic sportsmen of his era, Achille Varzi: multiple race winner, twice Racing Champion of Italy and a hero to his many followers. Told partly through the eyes of Varzi and partly by fictional Italian-Australian racing journalist Paul Bassi, we follow the many triumphs and tragedies of Varzi’s life: his passionate love affair with Ilse, his tragic morphine addiction, his recovery from his addictions, his marriage to Norma and his re-signing to race for Alfa Romeo.

Only war intervenes, and Paul and his wife Pia leave Achille to spy for the British at the naval base in Naples. Paul and Pia endure hundreds of Allied air-raids, they join the partisans who fought off the German army until the Allies could rescue them, and then they survive in a near-ruined city as best they can.

By 1946 Italy is still shattered but life is returning to normal, and no more normal is Achille Varzi winning the Grand Prix of Italy that year. Over the next two seasons Achille Varzi scores more successes, until he makes his only ever driving mistake and is killed in Switzerland in 1948. Even though he died too young, Paul and Pia know that Achille Varzi would never have lived in his life in any other way.

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

EXCERPT

“Achille crashed,” she said and drank some more. “I have never seen anything like it. He was the only driver taking the banked curve at the end of the straight flat-out. Each lap I heard the exhaust note of his car never wavering as he took that curve with his typical, stylish precision. And then on lap fourteen a sudden gust of wind came in from the desert, blowing dust and debris. I held my hat and glanced at the Englishman nearby, just as the wind caught the front of Achille’s car and lifted the front wheels from the track. The car rose higher and higher like an aeroplane, flying away from the track until the rear of the car hit the ground and then the front, and it rolled over and over with the most terrible noise. Over and over until it stopped on its wheels in the middle of an orchard. There were Arab men dressed in robes and they ran to the car. I was on the wrong side of the circuit and checked that nobody was coming before I ran to it as well, and so did the Englishman.” She drank more water. “I thought he must be dead, nobody could survive a crash like that, but he climbed out of the wrecked car and brushed dirt from his overalls. He looked around and saw me but I don’t think it registered.”

“Is he alright?” Paul asked, worried.

“He’s fine although shaken. He didn’t even light a cigarette, and then he fainted. The Englishman Raymond Mays helped him, and he drove us back here.”

Paul contemplated what he heard, and that would have been a terrible thing to see.

“I have never seen anything like it,” Pia repeated and Paul hoped that Achille really was alright. If he was taking that curve flat-out he must have been doing about 300.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Writing technical documentation and advertising material formed a large part of my career for many decades. Writing a novel didn’t cross my mind until relatively recently, where the combination of too many years writing dry, technical documents and a visit to the local library where I couldn’t find a book that interested me led me consider a new pastime. Write a book. That book may never be published, but I felt my follow-up cross-cultural crime with romance hybrid set in Russia had more potential. So much so that I wrote a sequel that took those characters on a journey to a very dark place.

Once those books were published by Club Lighthouse and garnered good reviews I wrote in a very different place and time. My two novels set in Victorian Britain were published by Wings ePress in July and August of 2014. These have been followed by a story set against the background of Australia’s involvement on the Western Front, published in August 2015. Australia’s contribution to the battles on the Western Front and to ultimate victory is a story not well known, but should be better known.

Staying within the realm of historical fiction, one of the most successful sportsmen of the 1930s, Achille Varzi, lived a dramatic and tumultuous life. It is a wonder his story hasn’t been told before, beyond non fiction written in Italian. The Last Great Race follows the highs and lows of Varzi’s motor racing career, and stays in fascist Italy during the dark days of World War Two.

Mark Morey

http://markmorey.blogspot.com.au/

@markmorey5

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

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION

Mark Morey will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

ENTER THE RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY HERE

Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2016/05/vbt-last-great-race-by-mark-morey.html

To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.
If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
Look on the right sidebar and let’s talk.
Leave your link in the comments, I’ll drop by to see what’s shakin’.
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Friday 56 #90 & BB #66 – A Perfect Evil by Alex Kava @AlexKava_Author

Posted on June 24, 2016 by fundinmental

.
The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice.The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and find any sentence or a few ( no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.

Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence or so of the book you are reading along with you initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.

~~~

A Perfect Evil by Alex Kava

Alex Kava is a master storyteller that is on my hit list. I don’t even need to look at the book, just hear her name and I know I want it.

I was lucky enough to meet her a year or two ago and got her autograph for my hardcopy of A Perfect Evil. I love this cover and the story inside. This is the first book in the Maggie O’Dell series.

MY FRIDAY 56

“What makes you say that?” He was annoyed by her matter-of-fact attitude, She had been here only minutes and seemed to have it all figured out.

“You fell here when you tripped, right?” she said, pointing to the torn grass and the indent in the mud.

(page 56 in hardback)

MY BOOK BEGINNINGS

“Bless me Father, for I have sinned.” Ronald Jeffreys’ raspy monotone made the phrase a challenge rather than a confession.

Father Stephen Francis stared at Jeffreys’ hands, mesmerized by the large knuckles and stubby fingers, nails bitten to the quick. The fingers twisted – no, strangled – the corner of his blue government-issue shirt. The old priest imagined those same fingers twisting and choking the life out of little Bobby Wilson.

Uh, oh…What do you think happens next?

Add me to Goodreads

GOOREADS BLURB

A killer is watching . . .

The brutal murders of three young boys paralyze the citizens of Platte City, Nebraska. What’s worse is the grim realization that the man recently executed for the crimes was a copycat. When Sheriff Nick Morrelli is called to the scene of another grisly murder, it becomes clear that the real predator is still at large, waiting to kill again.

Morreli understands the urgency of the case terrorizing his community, but it’s the experienced eye of FBI criminal profiler Maggie O’Dell that pinpoints the true nature of the evil behind the killings — a revelation made all the more horrific when Morrelli’s own nephew goes missing.

Maggie understands something else: the killer is enjoying himself, relishing his ability to stay one step ahead of her, making this case more personal by the hour. Because out there, watching, is a killer with a heart of pure and perfect evil.

~~~

I have never see this cover before. The colors sure do pop, but it looks too cheesy.

Which cover do you like best? Why?