Tag Archives: Goddess Fish Promotions

Giveaway – The Gingerbread Curse by April Marcom @AprilMarcom @GoddessFish

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The colors on the cover for The Gingerbread Curse by April Marcom sure caught my eye and made me curious…and Run, run as fast as you can. The moment you stop, you’re a dead man…what the hell is that all about? LOL

Amazon

The Gingerbread Curse by April Marcom

GENRE:   Fantasy/Fairy Tale

BLURB

All her life, Falon’s grandfather told her the age-old tale of ‘The Gingerbread Man’. Even as a teenager, she’d fallen asleep to his favorite bedtime story, a special tradition she knew she’d never outgrow.  However, when he makes a dying wish, asking her to visit a secret underground world of magic to rescue the best friend he left behind fifty years ago, the tale begins to come to life.

Setting out with her self-obsessed cousin and a cure for the magicked man with skin like gingerbread, she finds herself tangled within an adventure nothing like the story her grandfather always told.

Once having found the long lost man of her grandfather’s youth, her only hope of ever returning home, or even surviving his world, lies in the talons of a deadly hybrid she scarcely trusts. Together they must face the animals taken from the children’s tale and magicked into monsters, a man who can move mountains who is bent on killing them all, and a labyrinth rumored to have never allowed a survivor.

AUTHOR GUEST POST

I am usually attracted to a book, first and foremost, by its cover. So, whenever I get the chance to have an author share firsthand their thoughts, and here is what April Marcom had to say:

Topic: Discuss your cover — how it came to be, what it represents, what you love or don’t love about it, etc.  Anything you’d like to share about it.

It’s been so many years, it’s hard to remember exactly what ideas or descriptions I sent to 5 Prince Publishing in the book cover request form. I’m sure I described the magical underground world and the poisonous, deadly maze Falon has to travel through for most of the story. But the cover came out great. It’s an underground image with Falon running toward the gold pool of immortality, taken from a scene early in the story. I love the ‘catch phrase’ of sorts printed across the top of the cover: “Run, run as fast as you can. The moment you stop, you’re a dead man.” My favorite part has got to be the beautiful gold lettering of the book’s title, though. 5 Prince Publishing always makes amazing book covers! They capture the story in one shot beautifully. 

A thrill shot through me as I approached the spectacular tree. Something wonderful was about to happen, or something I might very well regret for the rest of my life. Either way, I was simply too hungry, and there was too much time ahead of me with no food, to have a choice in eating it or not…

I stared at all the tear drops. None stood out especially. The ones closer to the trunk of the tree were the biggest. My appetite was pushing me in their direction. I followed one of the branches inward, wondering if a larger crystal meant a stronger ability. No amount of time trying to decide which one would make any difference. And part of me was terribly excited to discover which of Sierra’s ‘gifts’ I was about to inherit.

The leaves twinkled and sparkled against one another. I reached out for the largest one in sight, wondering if it might give me fearlessness or musical ability or wisdom beyond my years, but stopped at the last moment when I noticed the one hanging just above it. Frost-like patterns etched over the higher crystal created a perfect calligraphy F. It was as if my name was written on it. This was the one.

I reached out with both hands and cupped them around the leaf, catching nearly every purple petal. They had a chill to them, and felt damp as if they’d been painted with fresh morning dew. The rest liquefied, one by one, as they hit the ground.

Cautiously, I ate one petal. The sweet burst that erupted like grape juice inside my mouth was so delightful, I ate the rest without restraint.

AUTHOR Bio and Links

April Marcom works as a Pre-K teacher’s assistant, but her true passion is writing. When she’s not teaching or creating stories, she’s enjoying the country life with her car-obsessed husband and three fabulous children. She also enjoys rainy days, traveling, and her very rowdy dogs. April grew up a southern bell in Mississippi, but is now a proud Oklahoman.

Website / Twitter

Buy links: Amazon / B&N / Kobo / Apple

The book will be $0.99.

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Follow the tour and comment. The more you comment, the better your chances of winning. Follow the tour HERE.

  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
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  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
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  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
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Giveaway – Saving La Familia by Donna Del Oro @GoddessFish

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Saving La Familia by Donna Del Oro

GENRE: Contemporary Romantic Suspense

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A romantic suspense comedy set in Silicon Valley, a young Latina teacher, Dina Salazar, is asked by her Mexican-born grandmother to rescue her cousins from a dangerous Mexican drug cartel. After all, her stern grandmother tells her, she is the “smart one” in the family. To do so, she has to recruit help from her hated ex-fiance. What’s a girl to do when “la familia” calls?

SAVING LA FAMILIA by Donna Del Oro, about a latina teacher who’s recruited by her Mexican-born grandmother to save her cousins from a dangerous Mexican drug cartel. It’s a romantic-suspense comedy with many “buen dichos”!

EXCERPT

Grandma Gómez—”Life is like an artichoke. It takes a lot of peeling to get to the heart of things.”

How did I, in three short months, get to the heart of my Mexican-American family? It wasn’t easy, believe me. Especially since I was the family’s desgraciada. The disgraced one. Ever since I turned eighteen and had my legal name changed from Dolores—which means aches and pains in Spanish—to Dina. My namesake, Grandma Dolores Gómez, refused to speak to me or acknowledge my existence for about a year after the name change. Before that, I was simply the family brat and rebel. The know-it-all.

But you see, Grandma was the heart of the matter. And the big, dark secrets she kept closed up in her heart all got ex- posed in those tumultuous months. And before I could blink and realize what was happening, I was roped into a scheme to rescue cousins I never knew I had out of the deadly clutches of a Mexican drug cartel. Why was I chosen, you ask? Me, Dina Salazar, the desgraciada? A single schoolteacher with a long line of loser-boyfriends? How did I end up looking up the barrel of a cartel commando’s automatic weapon? Come along with me and I’ll tell you.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Donna Del Oro lives in Northern California with her husband and three cats. She taught high school and community college English classes for 30+ years and is now happily retired. When not doing research, writing novels, or reading voraciously, she travels and sings with the medal winning Sacramento Valley Chorus.

Donna is a member of Capitol Crimes, the Sacramento chapter of Sisters in Crime in addition to the Valleyrose chapter of the RWA. She has judged RITA entries and does developmental editing on the side. Two of her novels, Operation Familia and Born To Sing, have won national and international awards.

Contact me at:

Buy Links:

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Follow the tour and comment. The more you comment, the better your chances of winning. Follow the tour HERE.

  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
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  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
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  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • I am an Amazon affiliate/product images are linked.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

Giveaway – Secrets of a River Swimmer by S S Turner @GoddessFish

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Secrets of a River Swimmer by S.S. Turner

GENRE: Literary Fiction

BLURB:

As Freddy gazes at the majestic river gushing past him in the depths of a Scottish winter, he’s ready to jump in and end his life. But what happens next is not what Freddy expects. From the moment he enters the river, Freddy starts a journey which is more beautiful, funny, and mysterious than he could have imagined. And through this journey Freddy’s story becomes interweaved with a cast of unforgettable characters who are equally lost and in search of answers. Eventually they all unite in their quest for an answer to the biggest question of them all: will the river take them where they want to go?

In the tradition of inspirational works of fiction like The Alchemist and Life of Pi, Secrets of a River Swimmer is at once a profound exploration into living with meaning and an affecting story of people on the cusp of change.

EXCERPT

From Page 7

I dip my toe in.

It’s fucking freezing.

I sit and watch the majestically sinister Scottish river hurtle along below me. I’m not sure whether to be in awe or terrified, but that was always going to be the case today, my last day. The idea of jumping into the river reminds me of the feeling you experience when you arrive at the beach, and you’re thinking about jumping into the sea, but you know it’s going to cause you grievous bodily harm from your nether regions up. For some reason, your legs are the one part of your body which can handle intense cold without too much stress. But all body parts above your legs are a whole different story. My voice just rose an octave, and I’m not even talking.

So you sit and watch the sea while contemplating your next move, as if this thinking time will give you the required mental strength to leap into the cold blue water. However, this thinking time just gives the water an opportunity to look you in the eye with laughing menace, because the water knows the questions you are grappling with deep in your soul. The water understands it is strong and you are weak—the eternal power imbalance at play.

The waiting period only makes it worse, of course. All it does is allow you to hand more mental power over to the cold water than a short and simple jumping-in maneuver would have done. Why do we employ such counter-productive strategies in our lives?

AUTHOR Bio and Links

S.S. Turner has been an avid reader, writer, and explorer of the natural world throughout his life which has been spent in England, Scotland and Australia. Just like Freddy in his first novel, Secrets of a River Swimmer, he worked in the global fund management sector for many years but realized it didn’t align with his values. In recent years, he’s been focused on inspiring positive change through his writing as well as trying not to laugh in unfortunate situations. He now lives in Australia with his wife, daughter, two dogs, two cats, and ten chickens.

Buy Links: Amazon / B&N / AppleBooks / Indigo / Kobo

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Follow the tour and comment. The more you follow, the better your chances of winning. Follow the tour HERE.

  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • I am an Amazon affiliate/product images are linked.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

Giveaway – Blinded By Love by Gladys Cross @GoddessFish #GladysCross

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Blinded by Love by Gladys Cross

GENRE: Romantic Comedy, (RomCom), Contemporary

Here at fundinmental, I enjoy seeing what the authors like to share, so I left the topic for discussion up to Gladys Cross.

Things that make you go hmm…….

Recently I was asked in a podcast if I thought there was anything missing from the romance genre and immediately all the recommendations posts I read on a daily basis sprang to mind. The most common theme I’d noticed lately was paranormal romance readers clamoring for more mature characters that let the heroine have a say. A lot of readers mentioned they couldn’t identify with teenage characters, or they didn’t always want the man to save the day.

This was very thought provoking, and I wondered if I’d secretly harbored these same feelings and just not given it a second thought considering I write about the characters these readers desired. None of the women in any of my books are wilting daisies waiting on price charming. In fact, in my Order Bound Series, the women save the day more often than the men. None of them are young either.

Something still bothered me, though. Was I subconsciously writing for how I felt at this time in my life? Granted, I’m equal opportunity with ethnicity and weight in my characters, but was I missing some key component?

I’d love to hear what you guys would love to see happen in the romance genre. Drop me a line or stalk me HERE. I’m not shy.

BLURB

Kassie knew she was in trouble when her matchmaking best friend announced she’d gotten professional help in time for Valentine’s Day. Her friend’s attempts had always been hilariously ridiculous and never in a million years was Kassie expecting a hunky firefighter to show up on her doorstep.

Her online dating profile said she was looking for a superhero, and Declan couldn’t help but believe it had to be fate. But fate was a fickle mistress who left him to wonder who he was behind the mask. He’d been hiding in plain sight for long enough that he wasn’t sure if he even knew the answer. And until he figured that out, he had nothing to offer the world, let alone Kassie.

Love had already ended in tragedy once for Kassie, and she feared that history was doomed to repeat itself unless Declan could learn to trust her with his secrets. This time around, would it be enough to harden her heart for good, or would his deception restore her faith in second chances?

EXCERPTS

Excerpt from Declan:

“Declan went on a date and called me from in front of her apartment.” There was a hushed conversation that I only caught bits and pieces of, mainly hugged, and thought he was gay. Fuck my life, I thought as I drove down the long straight-away leading out of her apartment complex. “Are you still there?”

“Of course, I’m still here. Who else am I going to call Spencer?” I asked sarcastically. “I’m not even sure the boy’s balls have dropped yet.”

Sadly, there was no one else I could call for love advice outside the guys from the firehouse and it made me miss my mom that much more. Hell, she’d probably be calling Kassie herself, asking what colors she wanted for the baby blanket. 

“He is eighteen,” Webster said pulling me from my melancholy. “It’s always the quiet ones you have to watch out for.”

I snorted. “Do you remember that call we went on where there was an eighty-year-old dude in leather that had lost the keys to his handcuffs?”

He chuckled. “Don’t remind me, and I mean that literally. I’m still not fully recovered, and that was two years ago.” There was silence on the other end of the line as I drove under the overpass. The nothingness went on for long enough that I wondered if we’d gotten disconnected when he snapped his fingers. “Call her back right now and ingeminate the date tomorrow.”

“Do what with the date?”

“Repeat the date.” He huffed an exasperated sigh. “You didn’t make it to the movies, right?”

“Webster you’re a genius!”

“And Declan. This time kiss the girl, so she doesn’t have to ask if you’re a homosexual.”

“She only asked me that because I admitted to watching every episode of Sex and The City.” I hit my head against the back of the seat. “Never mind, I just heard myself, I am an idiot.”

AUTHOR Bio and Links

Books transport us to a fantasy world where anything can happen, and once I overcame my difficulties in learning how to read, I was hooked. My mother always carried a Harlequin Romance with her, so it was only natural that I was drawn to that genre. There was something magical about the concept of eternal love and as I grew older, my tastes within the genre broadened to include everything from historical to dark.

My writing blossomed in much the same way. The first story I wrote was the Vanderbilt Affair, which was inspired by a field trip. Back then, I was fortunate enough to have an English teacher willing to nurture my love of writing by becoming my editor after school.

The writing bug stayed with me, but over the years, life got in the way, and it wasn’t until my early forties that I published my first short story in a Christmas Anthology. From there, I began writing and publishing across many sub-genres, with each book carrying some element of the unexpected.

When I’m not up to devious pursuits, like shooting a character, you’ll find me curled up with a book next to my dog, watching TV with my better half, or engaging in random water gun fights with my daughter and the neighborhood kids.

Stalk Me!

  • Amazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/3w9JkKM
  • Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2102530.Gladys_Cross
  • Facebook Private Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3772742262760749/?ref=share
  • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gladys.cross.author/?hl=en
  • Tiktok: http://tiktok.com/@authorgladyscross

The book is on sale for $0.99 during the tour. Buy Link: Amazon

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the tour and comment. The more you comment, the better your chances of winning. Follow the tour HERE.

  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • I am an Amazon affiliate/product images are linked.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

Spider Shifter – A Spider In The Garden by Courtney Davis @AuthorCDavis @GoddessFish

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Welcome to my tour stop for A Spider In The Garden by Courtney Davis. Spiders creep me out and so does that cover. I love it!

I am happy to have Courntey Davis visiting fundinmental today and talking about her characters. Take it away Courtney:

How do I come up with my characters?

I think I am a bit of an observer in general. I am quiet and introverted so it’s natural for me to watch other people and I am sure that I unintentionally get ideas from the people I interact with or see, to add in to making my characters. Never on purpose though.

For the characters in A Spider in the Garden, as with most of my characters, I start with superficial things like their looks. Next, since it’s Urban Fantasy, I think about what powers they should have and any weaknesses. Then I think about their backgrounds, family situations and socio-economic status. I consider their love lives and view of relationships for their future. Even education and work at times must be considered. From that I start to get an idea of how this person would act or react in different situations and what their goals and hold backs might be.

I also consider their mood, some people are just serious all the time, others like to joke and laugh. In this story Aranha starts out in a deep depression, and that really plays into the events of the story and why she decides to do certain things.   

With Urban Fantasy in particular with character development you have to consider what their species is like. If you create a species that is pack centric it is going to have a huge effect on how that character interacts with those in and out of their pack. If the species is weak then you may have to consider their drive for safety in the way they interact. A lot goes into character development and species development. I don’t always have it well planned before I start and sometimes have to go back and make adjustments after I decide something needed to be different, but that’s what editing is for!

Luckily, I find people very interesting, what makes them do certain things intrigues me. So I hope this helps me to write believable and relatable characters for others to read. 

I love to people watch too. I make a game of it, imagining their lives, occupations… Thanks so much Courtney.  

A Spider in the Garden by Courtney Davis

GENRE:   Paranormal Fantasy/Romance

BLURB

Aranha is the last of her kind, a spider shifter who preys upon the dregs of society in an attempt to validate her existence and feed her hunger. She’s lived alone for two hundred years, no family and no friends; always watchful for those who would kill her.
Dag is one of a dying species, vampires who can walk in the day. They have lost their companions and live in dread of the day that they too will become extinct; leaving the earth to the vile creatures who prey upon humans without mercy.
Aranha sees danger in Dag’s face, Dag sees the future in hers. Neither can believe the other exists and their lives are about to get very complicated. Together they embark on a mission to save a young human from the vampires and learn the reality of what their two species were doing in The Garden of Eden.

EXCERPT

She didn’t like the idea of being in his space, but the public was no place for this conversation. She didn’t trust him, but she was curious as to what he could possibly think she needed his help with, and how did he even exist? She had as many questions as he did, she was sure. She couldn’t keep Jonah and herself safe if she didn’t know what was out there; maybe he wasn’t the only one and she needed to be aware of them as a danger too. She decided she had no better option. “I will follow you,” she agreed.

He nodded and held the door open for her gallantly. She didn’t move. “I said I’ll follow you.”

“You should trust me,” he said quietly.

His blue eyes stared straight into hers, it touched her soul and she had to steel herself against the threat of feelings she had no use for. “Why?” she hissed.

“I don’t think you have anyone else,” he said quietly, then went out the door and up the stairs.

She bristled at the truth in his words. Other than Jonah, she didn’t have anyone, but she didn’t have to trust him, she had no reason to think he meant her anything other than harm. She tucked her knives away and locked the door behind them. Three brown spiders crept out of the dark and looked up at her. “Cover the door, make sure it looks unused and unwelcoming.”

AUTHOR Bio and Links

Courtney Davis is an author of urban fantasy, paranormal, supernatural fiction with a little romance and humor thrown in. She loves creating worlds and exploring human, and inhuman, interaction. She lives in North Idaho with her husband and children where she teaches and enjoys time spent relaxing in the summer sun and winters by the fire. She has always had an affinity for reading and writing and a goal to make a career of it. There is no greater joy than to know her words took a reader out of reality for a time and into another world.

AUTHOR SOCIAL MEDIA

Buy Links: Amazon / Apple / B&N / Kobo / Smashwords

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the tour and comment. The more you comment, the better your chances of winning. Follow the tour HERE.

  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • I am an Amazon affiliate/product images are linked.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

Giveaway – The First Transit by Benjamin X Wretlind @GoddessFish @bxwretlind

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Out of Due Season: The First Transit by Benjamin X. Wretlind

GENRE: Sci-fi, Thriller (Techno)

BLURB

What if humanity had a second chance?

On a June afternoon, a body is discovered floating in a remote lake in northwestern Washington. When a recovery team attempts to retrieve it, they make a shocking discovery: 311 other bodies lie under the water, all members of a previously unknown religious cult. However, what appears to be a tragedy of immense proportions is only the beginning.

When a few relatives and friends of the victims discover inconsistencies in the stories, a small group bands together to learn the truth. As government agencies apply pressure for reasons unknown and civil unrest in the country makes communication and movement difficult, this tiny yet determined team unravels what may be the greatest event in recent—if not all—human history.

Something epic is about to happen in that remote lake, and as competing sides inch ever closer to the truth, the last pieces of the puzzle are revealed.

The First Transit is for those who follow the rules, while disaster awaits everyone else.

“Anything of interest?” Tyler asked, breaking the silence.

“A lot of nothing,” Virgil said, still peering through the window. “It looks like our campers weren’t keen on material possessions. Either that or they took everything with them.”

The two walked away from the building and over to another as a light rain began to fall. Inside, they found much of the same: a few table settings, beds made of nothing more than rags, and the remnants of a few meals. On a board holding up what may have been part of a door jamb, there was a strange carving, six perpendicular lines like three off-center Xs. Aside from that, there were few clues about the inhabitants of this camp, and that meant there was little they could report back. Every building they examined was different. The tents smelled the worst while the wooden shacks stood precipitously on their weak foundations. Whatever happened to the people, it was not catastrophic, but it was weird.

“Hello?” Tyler called out. Lapping water and the chirps of a few birds replied, but no one else. “Hello?”

They both stood ankle deep in mud for another minute, looking, listening. Finally, Virgil unclipped his radio. “Base, Recovery Two.”

“Recovery Two, Base. Report.”

“There’s nothing here. Seems to be about twenty buildings and a few tents, all run down.”

“Any sign of life?”

AUTHOR Bio and Links

Benjamin ran with scissors when he was five. He now writes, paints, uses sharp woodworking tools and plays with glue. Sometimes he does these things at the same time. He is the author of Castles, Sketches from the Spanish Mustang and many other novels.

Benjamin lives with his wife Jesse in Colorado.

LINKS: The Book is on sale for $0.99 Until February 14, 2022

  • Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09N1VDSJN/
  • Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59536721-out-of-due-season
  • LibraryThing: https://www.librarything.com/work/27421933/book/209524424
  • Website: https://www.bxwretlind.com/
  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bxwretlind/
  • Twitter: https://twitter.com/bxwretlind
  • Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/bxwretlind/
  • Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BXWretlindArt
  • Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Benjamin-X-Wretlind/e/B004X2O624/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the tour and comment. The rmore you comment, the better your chances of winning. Follow the tour HERE.

  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
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  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
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  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

Giveaweay – Undoing Time by Rachel Dacus @GoddessFish @Rachel_Dacus

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This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Rachel Dacus will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Liv Pomeroy’s high hopes and lavish lifestyle come horribly undone when her fiancé runs off with her maid of honor. Swearing off love forever, she goes on a summer escape to Florence, Italy. Agreeing to help her cousin May raise funds for an art restoration project, Liv is astonished to find they share a genetic gift for undoing time. Soon she’s joining a team of time travelers who rescue history from those who would change it. And fighting her attraction to a sexy time traveling colleague, who just might turn out to be working for the wrong side in the American Revolution. A thrilling tale of time travel, romance, and espionage.







Read an Excerpt

He turned to look at her, his brown eyes wide, but his brows pulled together in concern. “Are you going to be okay?”

The smoke from the 1906 earthquake was thick in the air. She repressed a choke. “I’ll be fine.”

“Are you cold? You look like you’re shivering.”

That wasn’t why she was shivering Liv looked down at her clothes and was startled to find herself swathed in a long skirt of heavy silk brocade. Her petticoat rustled its many folds. She was encased in so many layers, she might have been wearing an overcoat to shield her from the wind.

“I’m not cold.”

She turned again and looked down the hill, seeing the ferry building and docks, a familiar landmark. Her emotions calmed.

A man in a bowler hat passed them.

“What’s happening?” Tom asked.

“You’re aware, surely,” the man said. “You see the smoke, the rubble. Pardon me, I must find my family.”

He scooted down the hill.

“In a matter of days, people begin to thirst and even starve,” Tom said. “Half the city is homeless. I just wanted to know if that fellow was a helper.”

“A helper?”

“San Franciscans who had something left began to help the others. The city grew together under the devastation. I wasn’t kidding when I said half of everyone here is homeless, or nearly so.”

Liv couldn’t reply. The enormity of what she was seeing choked her. Tears rolled down her face, and when she wiped them away, soot came off her hand. Her face must have already grown gray with the ash from fires. Tom’s had too.

About the Author:
RACHEL DACUS writes about history, love, romance, and art – usually with a touch of the supernatural. If time travel were possible, she’d hop over to Renaissance Rome, and then check out how the American Revolutionary War is going, and maybe visit an 18th century London artist’s studio. A poet and novelist, Dacus has published four novels and four poetry collections. When not writing, she listens to music, new and old, from indie and progressive rock to classical and jazz. Once a dancer, she’s now an avid walker, often twice a day — once for the Muse and once for the world’s liveliest Silky Terrier. She blogs about the writing life and has collected a wealth of writing and publishing resources.

Website
Twitter
Facebook

 Amazon

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the tour and comment. The more you comment, the better your chances of winning. Follow the tour HERE.

  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • I am an Amazon affiliate/product images are linked.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

Giveaway – The Last Keeper by J V Hilliard @JVHilliardBooks @GoddessFish

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This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. J.V. Hilliard will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

A young boy’s prophetic visions.

Blind at birth, Daemus Alaric is blessed with the gift of prophetic Sight. Now, as a Keeper of the Forbidden, he must use his powers of the Sight to foil the plans of a fallen Keeper, Graytorris the Mad.

An elven Princess with a horrifying secret.

Princess Addilyn Elspeth travels from Eldwal, the magically hidden home of the Vermilion elves, to begin her life as a diplomat to the human capital of Castleshire. During her journey, she stumbles upon a mystical creature foretelling ill tidings. A terrifying force of evil.

Daemus’ recurring nightmare vision threatens to catapult him into a terrifying struggle that will leave the fate of the Keepers—and the realm—hanging in the balance. Daemus and Princess Addilyn must set out to face the menace that threatens their very existence. Will the entire realm fall to its knees?

The Last Keeper is the first book in The Warminster Series. With gripping, epic action and heart-pounding adventure, you’ll love this new adventure series.

Read an Excerpt

“Drenering uderforer dodt,” the blind man uttered.

All the men surrounding him winced in agony, grabbing at their chests and throats. A pain grew in Graytorris’s arms, pulsing through his veins. A magical necrosis drained the energy from the trees and grass around him. The wave of energy inside him morphed from life to death, temporarily becoming one. The spell was working.

“Drenering uderforer dodt,” he repeated, with some difficulty.

The troops writhed and collapsed to their knees, as did Rhron, though Radu had evidently escaped. Graytorris did his best to ignore their groans, as well as the brutal, scorching pain that racked his entire body as the spell took effect.

Almost unable to stop himself, Graytorris repeated the incantation one final time, completing the spell. He fell to his knees, trying not to faint, but the spell had taken something from him, too. He realized that Rhron’s knights were dead, as much from a rising stench as through his own magical senses. But the spell kept moving on to the valley itself, leaching life out of the flora, stilling the limbs of insects, seeming to even deaden the noise of the nearby stream.

He felt the stolen strength of the living things in the hollow rush into his limbs. The pain was still there, but as seconds passed it became less intense and he found he could stand tall.

Before he knew what he was doing, he made his way to his former friend’s corpse, where it lay in the grey and ossified grass. The plants, once green and pliant, now crunched harshly under his feet, and once or twice even broke his skin. Graytorris knelt among them, feeling for Rhron’s body.

When his fingers found the mail-covered torso, it rose slightly under his hand.

He started. One hand flew to Rhron’s mouth to check for breath, and he felt the faintest gust touch his palm. Stunned, he sat back. The captain was clearly on the edge of death, but by all rights he shouldn’t have survived the first wave of the spell, let alone the last.

Graytorris paused, listening to Rhron’s quiet, labored breathing. Apologies and explanations sat just under his tongue, but his lips twisted against them.

“You brought this on yourself,” he told the dying man.

The two of us must make a grim picture, he thought, sitting in the middle of a stillness born of death rather than peace, surrounded by petrified trees and scorched earth. This hollow will never be a natural place again.

His heart skipped a beat, then slowed to a deathly pace as the spell continued to exact its toll on his body. The pain returned with a vengeance, searing through his flesh like hellfire.

In his agony, a single, wild thought suddenly entered his brain, and he quickly spoke the incantation of another spell—one that would both save and damn Rhron. One that would preserve their friendship, even if only in its most twisted possible form. In that moment, his only wish was to not be alone.

Though still unconscious, Rhron drew in a harsh breath, followed by a loud, keening scream.

The cracking of bone met Graytorris’s ears as the man beside him began to transform. At the same time, his own pain intensified so that he too was unable to keep from crying out. His strength finally drained to its limit by the necrotic ravages of the spell that had petrified the hollow, Graytorris lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.

Moments later, the nameless beast that had once been Rhron Talamare stirred and whuffed quietly, sat back on its haunches, and waited for its master to awaken.

About the Author:
Born of steel, fire and black wind, J.V. Hilliard was raised as a highlander in the foothills of a once-great mountain chain on the confluence of the three mighty rivers that forged his realm’s wealth and power for generations.

His father, a peasant twerg, toiled away in industries of honest labor and instilled in him a work ethic that would shape his destiny. His mother, a local healer, cared for his elders and his warrior uncle, who helped to raise him during his formative years. His genius brother, whose wizardly prowess allowed him to master the art of the abacus and his own quill, trained with him for battles on fields of green and sheets of ice.

Hilliard’s earliest education took place in his warrior uncle’s tower, where he learned his first words. HIs uncle helped him to learn the basics of life—and, most importantly, creative writing.

Hilliard’s training and education readied him to lift a quill that would scribe the tale of the realm of Warminster, filled with brave knights, harrowing adventure and legendary struggles. He lives in the city of silver cups, hypocycloids and golden triangles with his wife, a ranger of the diamond. They built their castle not far into the countryside, guarded by his own two horsehounds, Thor and MacLeod, and resides there to this day.

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Giveaway – The Raven and the Pig by Lou Kemp @LouKempBooks @GoddessFish

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I am happy to have Lou Kemp here on fundinmental, sharing his thoughts. Take it away Lou.

Are my characters extensions of me?

Yes, to an extent. 

The immortal magician, Jonas Celwyn, is world-weary.  For hundreds of years, he has been traveling from bloody wars to royal courts full of intrigue, on to famines and then to wild forests with fantastic animals and birds.  What he sees becomes part of his repertoire of magic.  For years he has wandered alone except for occasional acquaintances who do not try to kill him or trick him.  He gives an example in book 1, Music Shall Untune the Sky, when he describes the mental state of the poet John Dryden, someone he socialized with.  Celwyn spends most his time keeping Dryden from killing himself. His other activities took second place to help Dryden.

When Celwyn meets Professor Xiau Kang, the fussy automat, they are on the ship the Zelda.  He is supposed to deliver him to Talos, but he and Kang become friends, and it is Talos who dies.  Celwyn has a history of helping those he meets, and when provoked, killing those he believes deserve to die.  Kang is worried that those tendencies, because they are done with fanfare and as “artful” as the magician is fond of saying, the result gives them more notoriety than they need.  To keep Kang from nagging him, Celwyn tries to be less noteworthy.  As the first few books of the series evolve, Celwyn does also to a point.  But he can’t control everything that occurs, and he reacts to.

A strict sense of morality, of backing up those he cares about are the traits of Celwyn that are easy to identify with.  He has flaws, and usually doesn’t care about them unless Kang nags him.  When an event destroys Kang’s world in book 4, Celwyn feels it as keenly as the automat.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Lou. It was wonderful having you visit.

The Raven and the Pig by Lou Kemp

GENRE:   Magical realism

BLURB

Synopsis of The Raven and the Pig   Book 2

As the music dies, the magician Celwyn is mortally wounded.  His darker, immortal brother Pelaez brings him back, barely, with his magic. The party of protagonists travel on the Nautilus to the Cape Verde Islands and the healer of immortals.  During the journey, Professor Kang and Bartholomew can not tell if Pelaez will keep his brother alive.  Captain Nemo is ready to evict Pelaez forcibly, and keeping Celwyn alive is the only thing that restrains him.

After Celwyn is saved, the healer requests payment for his services. This sends the adventurers to the catacombs in Capuchin where their experience is one they will not forget. Before it is over, several of the protagonists question why it seems everyone from warlocks and vampires to witches, seem to be congregating in their world. Before it is over, some of them become surprising allies, and a few of their allies turn against them.

In part II, work on the new flying machine begins in earnest bringing attention from the Mafioso and a cherub-like warlock called Duncan.  After a final battle with Duncan, the flying machine is destroyed and everyone at their compound is murdered by one of their own. 

EXCERPT

Prelude

The rolling hills near Odessa, north of Constantinople   1867

With each step he took, Professor Xiau Kang sensed the intensity, and importance of what he would find.  Above all, he felt the weight of his sadness.  He had done his best to ignore that there was no guarantee Captain Nemo had located Thales, if Nemo failed to find him, Jonas Celwyn would be dead within a matter of days, perhaps hours. 

A long time ago, on the Zelda, the magician had doubted a mechanical man could feel.  Kang paused, swaying on his feet as he fought to regain his control; at this moment, the automat knew real despair, a wrenching grief that they would lose Jonas.  He swallowed hard and walked faster, climbing to the top of the berm.

There she was!  The long black submarine lay still in the water.  A single sailor stood on patrol, and another perched in the cage on top with a spyglass.

Kang called, “I’ll get Mr. Celwyn.  Please let the Captain know we’re here.”

Conductor Smith joined him as they ran back to the coach.  The others had seen them and began unloading the magician onto the stretcher that Kang had fashioned for this moment.  He skidded to a stop and grabbed Celwyn’s hand.     

“The Nautilus is here. It isn’t far.”

In the distance, a low hum reached them; the sound sputtered and grew stronger.

The magician’s eyes opened slowly, like a thread from his memory raised his lids, impelling him to look.  Everyone, including Jonas, gazed upward, as if they had already known what was to come.

The noise grew louder, and then a bright yellow flying machine crested the low hills and headed toward the estuary.

“Yes!” Kang shouted, raising his fist in triumph.

The plane swerved to the north, banked, and then flew toward them again in a wide arc.

“Oh, my God, it’s Bartholomew,” Elizabeth exclaimed.

Bartholomew wore a broad smile and his scarf fluttered in the breeze as he sailed over them.  He waved.  As he banked again, the engine revved and he turned, descending for another pass.  Celwyn raised himself onto an elbow to wave back.

“Hurry,” Kang said.  “Bartholomew is going to land.  We have to get Jonas onto the ship.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Early work was horror and suspense, later work morphed into a combination of magical realism, mystery and adventure painted with a horrific element as needed.

I’m one of those writers who doesn’t plan ahead, no outlines, no clue, and I sometimes write myself into a corner. Atmospheric music in the background helps. Black by Pearl Jam especially.

More information is available at LouKemp.com. I’d love to hear from you and what you think of Celwyn, Bartholomew, and Professor Xiau Kang.

Milestones:

2009 The anthology story Sherlock’s Opera appeared in Seattle Noir, edited by Curt Colbert, Akashic Books. Available through Amazon or Barnes and Noble online. Booklist published a favorable review of my contribution to the anthology.

2010 My story, In Memory of the Sibylline, was accepted into the best-selling MWA anthology Crimes by Moonlight, edited by Charlaine Harris. The immortal magician Celwyn makes his first appearance in print.

2018 The story, The Violins Played before Junstan is published in the MWA anthology Odd Partners, edited by Anne Perry. The Celwyn series begins.

Present The full length prequel, The Violins Played before Junstan, to the Celwyn book series is published on Kindle. The companion book, Farm Hall is also published where Pelaez, another immortal magician and Celwyn’s brother, makes his first appearance. The remaining books in the series: Music Shall Untune the Sky, The Raven and the Pig, The Pirate Danced and the Automat Died, will be available beginning in August 2021.

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  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
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Giveaway – Flower Girl by Merida Johns @MLJohnsAuthor @GoddessFish

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I am happy to welcome you to the Flower Girl A Novel by Merida Johns tour. What do you think of this colorful, fabulous cover? What do you seen hidden amongst the flowers?

Flower Girl by Merida Johns

GENRE: Women’s Fiction, Family Life Fiction, Women’s Domestic Life Fiction, Psychological Fiction

BLURB

Everyone wants to believe they can hold on to their anchor, the light of their North Star, and live their truth . . . Suzanna Jordan did too until she fell for a man with a movie-star presence and a dark alter ego. Losing hope of salvaging her life and gaining her freedom, an unlikely source serves up a platter of just desserts that even Suzanna’s treacherous abuser might not evade.

EXCERPT

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 1984

It’s five o’clock in the morning. A waterfall of worries washes over me, but one remains, one I cannot ignore, one that means my life or death—do I have the courage to stop this nightmare?

I hear muffled voices and hasty footsteps fading away in the distance. My crisis, already old news to them, cataloged on a forgotten document. They have abandoned me and left me alone with my fear.

Rolling to my side, my legs dangle off the bed, and gravity pulls my five-foot-five, slender body toward the floor. My feet rebel. They scream and cramp in pain as they hit the cold cement. My insides shake, and my body wobbles. My eyes blur, and my hands reach out to find the bed. I steady myself and count under my breath, “One, two, three . . .” The agonizing muscle spasms in my feet start to unwind.

 My world plays in slow motion. My eyes drift across the brackish-beige walls, swamp-green curtain, stainless steel instruments, and electronic gadgets—my stomach knots, my heart falls, my mouth goes dry. Helplessness hits me like an animal in a snare.

I spot my possessions, swathed in clear plastic, in the chair’s seat in the corner of the room. I hobble over and open the bag and poke through it—a Victoria’s Secret midnight-blue lace bra, an OSU red T-shirt, a pair of Gloria Vanderbilt denim pants, a Coach purse, and white Reeboks. I loosen the ties of the rumpled steel-gray gown; it slips off and falls to the floor. Dressing in fancy lingerie is absurd, so I toss it on the chair and throw on the shirt and jeans.

I look down at my sneakers and stop. In my mind, I see my husband’s squinting eyes and hear his haunting disapproval. Quit wiggling your feet over the counters of your damn shoes, Suzanna. You’ll ruin them! I shake my head, clench my jaw, and disobey.

I have no strength to bend over and tie the shoelaces. Jonathan would have a nasty comment about this, too. I ignore him. My eyes close in victory. “Cherish every step. Each is a grand slam toward deliverance.”

My fingers run through my disheveled hair, soaked with sweat—my muscles loosen, my brain fog lifts, and the ache behind my forehead fades.

I pull back the curtain circling the bed and grimace—the overhead lights jar me. I pump myself up—One, two, three, go. I take off.

I shuffle through the corridor between the beds bordering the room and reach the doorway to the waiting area. If people are here, I do not notice them. My eyes fix on the escape at the end of the room—the pulsating red exit sign. The floor-to-ceiling doors open, allowing my aching body to limp toward daybreak. The heavy morning breeze hits my face, and the sickening, sterile scent covering me blows away. I clutch my heart and silently sob, Thank God I’m alive.

But the joy vaporizes into the humid air. The war has only begun. Clutching for courage, I console myself. You’ve gotten this far. You can make it! You can live your truth.

I look up above the horizon, and I see it! There’s my North Star, its five points shimmering in the dawn and guiding me toward my purpose—But before I can help others be their best, I must help myself be my best.

Outside the sterile walls of a hospital emergency room, I hold my own. I put a stake in the ground. I swear that the fight to flee my abuser’s snare, save my life, and follow the guidance of my North Star is worth it.

AUTHOR Bio and Links

Merida Johns writes about the human experience—that often is messy—and how ordinary people tackle challenges, live through sorrow and betrayal, struggle with doubt, but despite this, gather the strength to act on their aspirations and achieve flourishing lives.

“My insight into the power of fiction came during a conference call in late 2017 with a group of fellow life coaches when I asked, ‘What would it be like to help people achieve a flourishing life through storytelling instead of another self-help book?’

After that phone call, I got started answering that question. Almost three years later, the result was my debut novel Blackhorse Road, a heartfelt story of womanhood and the power of choice, gratitude, and forgiveness that was published July 21, 2020, by Coffee Cup Press. Now, I’m thrilled about the upcoming release Flower Girl—a story of a woman who must make sweeping changes in her life to live her truth.

Before writing fiction, I was a professor and author of health informatics and leadership textbooks. Later, I put my experience to use as a leadership coach, focusing on helping women break the glass ceiling and fulfill their leadership and economic potential.

My husband and I reside in the beautiful Midwest countryside. This is where I find the serenity and space for bringing to life the stories about everyday people who face and overcome extraordinary challenges by finding and following their North Star.

  • Webist: https://www.MeridaJohnsAuthor.com
  • Twitter:  @MLJohnsAuthor
  • FB:  https://facebook.com/MeridaJohnsAuthor
  • Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/meridajohns
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the tour and comment. The more you comment, the better your chances of winning. Follow the tour HERE.

  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • I am an Amazon affiliate/product images are linked.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!