Sunday, June 28, 2015

World Apart. Book Two in The Earthbound Trilogy is available now. 99c

The second book in The Earthbound Trilogy is out now available

Blurb World Apart

Clare and Trevi have made their way through a portal to get back to Earth. Instead they find themselves on a dying world as a mysterious mist closes in. Trevi’s scarred twin brother, Celi, has accompanied them. He meets a female magician called Fane, who is an outcast like him. In this world only men are magicians and they believe her existence is the cause for the mist. Fane and Trevi learn to trust and eventually love each other,as they fight to find a way to save the world. There are people who want Fane, but Celi will use all his powers as a vampire to stop them.



Excerpt
Celi didn’t move. He crouched against the wall with his hands over his face. He was disfigured and repulsive. His long matted hair reached down passed his shoulders and had offered some protection so no one would have to look upon his deformed face. The guards who had taunted him over the years would sometimes show him a mirror so he could see the scared reflection. He hadn’t needed to see it to know it was there. He lived with the agony of it every day. He retracted his fangs for fear she would hurt him again.
“You don’t need to look at me, but I need to chop this hair off. The days of a comb doing any good here are long gone. Do you have name?” Fane said, as she gently touched his head this time. She offered her other hand to help him stand.
“Celi.” He took her hand in his, hesitant the same sparks he had felt before would return. He limped across to a chair and sat while he still kept the other hand covering his face. He could hear the snip of scissors and gazed between his fingers at the pile of matted hair growing on the floor at his feet.
“Damn,” Fane yelled as she moved away holding her hand.
Celi’s fangs pop through his gums again at the smell of her blood. It was unlike any he had smelt before. She backed away as he reached out and grabbed her hand in his. He didn’t care if she hurt him again. She smelt so good he had to taste her.
“Let go,” she shouted.
She had cut her thumb and the beautiful trial of red blood was flowing down to her wrist. He leant forward and licked the wound clean. Trevi had showed him how this had healed Clare when she had been injured when they had first met. He could only hope the same. He had to be honest to himself though and admit he wouldn’t have resisted if he could. The door to his room flung open as two guards rushed in with swords drawn. Celi scuffled across and pressed up against the wall to get away from them. His heart beat fast as he waited for the attack he knew would come. Fane put up her hand to stop them before they attacked.
“It’s alright; I just nipped myself with the shears.”
“You should have left the hair on. At least it covered his ugly mug. He’s more of a freak than you are.” The soldiers laughed and shook his head as he left.
Fane held her hand up as she glanced across at him. “Take no note of them. You’re a strange one though. That’s the first time I’ve seen a bloodsucker heal a person and not feast on them. Didn’t know they could heal wounds with a lick. It’s a secret they have kept well hidden on this world. Now put those fangs away and sit down and let me finish.”
His head felt lighter and his breathing became slower as his body relaxed. He didn’t speak, but let Fane continue until he was shorn. He tried to understand the sensation her blood had given him. It was not like the humans or the animals he knew of. It was not evil like Sari’s, but even the small amount he had taken had eased his pain. For a second the cloud covering his right eye had cleared, and the room had come more clearly into focus. Now it was the same as before. He had glimpsed something else. The blood had given them a connection for a moment before she had shielded her mind. The Lady Alicia had sent her here, but Fane had not wanted to come. She had feared him, but felt she had no choice. If she was to be allowed to stay longer with this clan she had to gain information for them.

 
Clare gets transported from present day Florence to an alternate world, one that looks like fourteenth century Italy. The only way back is through a portal half a world away, plus the local High priestess wants her dead, and the only one she can trust is a vampire called Trevi. He is the only one who exits in this world, and she knows more about what he is than he does. He is hard to resist, especially when he saves her life. Trevi can take her home but he is keeping one big secret. She will have to be like him to survive the journey through the portal back to her world making a myth a reality.


Amazon Link for World Change
http://tinyurl.com/lfy3ymr


Amazon Link for World Apart

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Friday Pen Pals with Lauren Linwood




Thanks for visiting today Lauren Can't wait to find out more about your book.
Take it away
Leave Yesterday Behind by Lauren Linwood


Blurb:

Callie Chennault vaulted to fame on the nighttime soap Sumner Falls, but after a decade of playing the same role, she is ready for a new acting challenge. When Callie is attacked by a stalker on the streets of New York, she takes a leave of absence from the show and returns to her roots in Aurora, Louisiana, to heal both physically and emotionally and determine her next career move.

Former professional baseball pitcher Nick La Chappelle has also come to Aurora to lick his own wounds after a messy divorce. A Cy Young winner and one-time ESPN broadcaster, Nick longs for the quiet of a small town in order to write murder mysteries under a pen name.

Sparks fly when Callie believes Nick is taking advantage of her great-aunt’s hospitality, but they resolve their differences—and surprise themselves by falling in love. Their bond is tested when both Nick and Callie become the focus of a serial killer nicknamed Lipstick Larry. Can they outwit a murderer bent on seeing them dead and survive to build a lasting relationship?

Excerpt:

He was dragging her. Callie was aware enough to feel her hip bumping along the concrete pavement. Her eye had begun to swell, but she saw they’d entered an alleyway. They went a few yards into it before he lifted her, slamming her into the wall.
Panic flooded her as he pressed against her, holding her wrists as he forced his tongue inside her mouth. She gagged and began to struggle.
The stinging was almost incidental. An afterthought in the back of her mind. Something was terribly wrong, but her brain couldn’t process the information.
Her legs went rubbery. Callie slid down the wall. Simon moved away from her, and the cool of the night hit her. Her vision started to blur as a burning sensation began along her side.
“You’re like all the rest. You’re not really Jessica. You just pretend to be Jessica. You aren’t perfect at all.”
She recognized the contempt in his voice as he walked away, his hand swinging by his side, the knife dripping. She was confused. It was blood. Her blood. It hit her. He’d stabbed her. More than once.
She reached a hand up and touched herself. Blood flowed. Sticky. Messy. She needed help. Callie had never been more helpless—alone, in the dark, the thunder rumbling angrily as the rain continued to come down now in sheets. She could hear the rats scrambling through the garbage behind her.
Things began to fade to black. Not good. She needed to move where she would be seen. Could she stand?
She tried and almost passed out. But she could crawl. She pushed herself to the alley’s entrance and collapsed on the sidewalk. She was so tired. So cold. Every breath hurt. She had to force herself to do it. Breathe. In. Out. In. Out.
But it hurt like hell. The air came in shallow spurts, like a panting dog in the sweltering heat of a Louisiana summer.
She quit struggling. It didn’t matter anymore. She wouldn’t make it. And it pissed her off to think that every obituary would shout that “Jessica Had Died.” Not Callie Chennault. Every picture accompanying every article would be of Jessica. Not her. She’d lost her identity in a character so long ago that no one knew the real her anymore.
Even if someone passed by on foot, they wouldn’t stop for a bloody, limp Callie. She was a stranger, not the sophisticated beauty on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, the cool blond with the fiery lips and temperamental attitude.
No, she would die alone on a New York sidewalk. A no one.
Callie took one last, painful breath and gave up.

Buy Link for Leave Yesterday Behind:


Other Books by Lauren:

Music For My Soul: http://amzn.com/B00FQ0QGZM
A Game of Chance: http://amzn.com/B00HQVHR98
Written in the Cards: http://amzn.com/B00KGM0M1O
A Bit of Heaven on Earth: http://amzn.com/B00QHMH0IU

About Lauren:

Lauren Linwood’s historical romances use history as a backdrop to place her characters in extraordinary circumstances, where their intense desire for one another grows into the treasured gift of love. Her romantic suspense novels feature strong heroes and heroines who unite to defeat a clever antagonist and discover a deep, abiding love during their journey.

A native Texan, Lauren is an avid reader, moviegoer, and sports fan who manages stress by alternating yoga with long walks. She plans to start a support group for House Hunters addicts—as soon as she finishes her next piece of dark chocolate.

Connect with Lauren:

Website: http://www.laurenlinwood.com                                               





Friday, June 5, 2015

Friday Pen Pals with Jonne Guidoccio and her new book A Season for Killing Blondes





 

Only 7 More Days
Maggie, thanks for participating in the Countdown to A Season for Killing Blondes.

When Gilda won the $19 million Lotto 649 lottery, she agreed to appear on a local talk show. Expecting to chat about her immediate reaction to the win and her plans for the future, Gilda was taken aback when the “foodie” host fired off the following barrage of questions.

Q.  Did you celebrate your win with a special meal?

A.  Uh...we went out to a restaurant. I think we had ribs.

Q.  What did you have for dessert?

A.  Cheesecake, we had New York cheesecake.

Q.  A bit too ordinary for my taste. Is that your favorite cheesecake?

A.  Actually, no. When I visited Florida, I had the most extraordinary cheesecake - Gran Marnier, chocolate, and amaretto.

Q.  Hmm. I’ll have to look that one up. Do you have a special dessert you like to prepare?

A.  Tiramisù

Q.  That’s one of my favorites as well. We’ll have to exchange recipes. Coffee or tea?

A.  Both. In the morning, I have my espresso. If I decide to have a mid-afternoon snack, I’ll have Echinacea Elderberry tea.

Q.  Any special coffee beans?

Jumping Bean. It’s organic free trade coffee from Planet Bean Coffee in Guelph.

Q.  Favorite guilty pleasure?

A.  Chocolate Truffles

Q.  YUM!! Favorite salty snack?

A.  Popcorn

Now about that recipe...
TIRAMISÙ
Ingredients
1 package lady fingers
250 ml Nutriwhip Lite
250 g Kraft Philadelphia cream cheese
2 cups of cold, sweetened espresso coffee
1/2 cup amaretto liqueur
1 semi-sweet chocolate, grated


Procedure

·         Beat cream cheese using the electric mixer.
·         In a separate bowl, whip the Nutriwhip Lite.
·         In another bowl, combine the coffee and the amaretto.
·         Combine cheese and Nutriwhip together.
·         Cut the lady fingers in half, lengthwise.
·         Place one layer at the bottom of a 9″ x 13″ rectangular pan.
·         Sprinkle enough of the coffee/amaretto mixture to cover the lady fingers.
·         Spread the cheese/Nutriwhip mixture on the lady fingers.
·         Continue layering. The top layer must be the cheese mixture.
·         Cover with grated chocolate.
·         Refrigerate for 24 hours.

Note: Seven more easy-to-prepare desserts are featured in A Season for Killing Blondes.
Blurb
Hours before the opening of her career counseling practice, Gilda Greco discovers the dead body of golden girl Carrie Ann Godfrey, neatly arranged in the dumpster outside her office. Gilda’s life and budding career are stalled as Detective Carlo Fantin, her former high school crush, conducts the investigation.
When three more dead blondes turn up all brutally strangled and deposited near Gilda’s favorite haunts, she is pegged as a prime suspect for the murders. Frustrated by Carlo’s chilly detective persona and the mean girl antics of Carrie Ann’s meddling relatives, Gilda decides to launch her own investigation. She discovers a gaggle of suspects, among them a yoga instructor in need of anger management training, a lecherous photographer, and fourteen ex-boyfriends.

As the puzzle pieces fall into place, shocking revelations emerge, forcing Gilda to confront the envy and deceit she has long overlooked.


Trailer


Buy Links

Amazon (Canada) - http://is.gd/t0g1KZ

Amazon (United States) - http://is.gd/jADjPp

Amazon (United Kingdom) - http://is.gd/8mknFJ

Amazon (Australia) - http://is.gd/r843iX


Bio
In high school, Joanne dabbled in poetry, but it would be over three decades before she entertained the idea of writing as a career. She listened to her practical Italian side and earned degrees in mathematics and education. She experienced many fulfilling moments as she watched her students develop an appreciation (and sometimes, love) of mathematics. Later, she obtained a post-graduate diploma as a career development practitioner and put that skill set to use in the co-operative education classroom. She welcomed this opportunity to help her students experience personal growth and acquire career direction through their placements.
In 2008, she took advantage of early retirement and decided to launch a second career that would tap into her creative side and utilize her well-honed organizational skills. Slowly, a writing practice emerged. Her articles and book reviews were published in newspapers, magazines, and online. When she tried her hand at fiction, she made reinvention a recurring theme in her novels and short stories. A member of Sisters in Crime, Crime Writers of Canada, and Romance Writers of America, Joanne writes paranormal romance, cozy mysteries, and inspirational literature from her home base of Guelph, Ontario.

Where to find Joanne...
Website:   http://joanneguidoccio.com/
Twitter:   https://twitter.com/joanneguidoccio
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/authorjoanneguidoccio
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanneguidoccio
Pinterest:   http://pinterest.com/jguidoccio/
Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7277706.Joanne_Guidoccio


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