Today we have the talented Ryan Jo Summers visiting to tell us about her latest release
Chasing the Painted Skies
Chasing the Painted Skies
Part mystery, part
treasure hunt, part alternative paranormal, a dash of ghost story and all
romance.
Blurb:
Raven Koynes is a woman
in hiding. Years ago she escaped to remote Gull Island Light Station, nestled
far away in Lake Superior. She has carved out a life of peace and solitude for
herself. Until famed nature photographer Sebastian Knight arrives--in the
height of a nor'easter storm--to document the beauty of Gull Island. Unsavory
treasure hunters also blow in with the storm, determined to find missing cargo
from a sunken ship. And they are positive Raven knows where it's stashed. A
power outage from the storm traps everyone at her keeper's cottage, fellow
prisoners of the storm.
Between her attraction
to handsome Sebastian and the unwelcome advances and threats of the hunters,
Raven is pushed to her limit. Help arrives in the form of a stray German Shepherd
Dog, who takes an immediate protective interest in Raven. He becomes her
constant shadow and listening ear as she sorts out her growing--and
conflicting--feelings for Sebastian.
Meanwhile, Sebastian
came to the island looking for treasure as well, in the form of photographs.
While he isn't so sure about missing cargo, he only needs to look at Raven
Koynes to know he's found his own valuable treasure. One he hopes he can hang
on to if she learns about his mysterious secret.
Now that Madeline the
resident ghost has found out, it's probably just a matter of time until Raven
does too. And with the storm and power outage, no one is going anywhere any
time soon.
Author Bio:
Ryan Jo Summers is a
North Carolina author who specializes in writing romances with a twist. Love
stories blended with inspirational, paranormal, suspense or time travel--or
several at once. She also writes non-fiction for regional periodicals. Ryan's
dad is a songwriter and his aunt wrote poetry so she claims she came by her
writing skill honestly. Apparently it's in the genes.
Her hobbies include
bird-watching, houseplants, poetry and yard work. She loves to gather
with friends, hike in the forest with her dog, paint ceramics and canvas and
work on wiggly word find puzzles. She lives in a 1920 cottage with a menagerie
of pets. Living in the mountains, she dreams of the shore and frequently uses
the water as scenes for her stories.
More about Ryan Jo can
be discovered at her website, Home or her blog http://summersrye.wordpress.com
EXCERPT:
The music, drifting softly on the evening
breezes, stopped her. Following the sound, she spotted Sebastian already in the
gazebo, bathed in twilight and a glow from the oil lantern in front of him. He
looked the picture of concentration in the shadow of the light. He wore a
golden saxophone around his neck, his fingers moving lightly over the keys. The
sound hypnotized Raven. Leaning against the porch railing, fingers cradling the
mug, she watched and listened.
He played a few chords, stopping and
scribbling in a black notebook with a stubby pencil, only to resume the music
again. The sax glinted off the lanterns light. Rich and wonderful, soulful and
almost haunting, the music held her.
She watched Sebastian’s fingers as they
confidently over the instrument, like a familiar friend. She could imagine
those long fingers moving over her skin. Heat grew inside her, rolling over her
in waves.
Time ceased. Fragment by fragment, she
felt the cold, hard pieces inside her melting away, yielding. She had vowed to
never fall for another man, to never love again. To refrain from becoming
involved or to trust. But Sebastian Knight’s lilting strands artfully and
slowly slipped loose the knots of her heart, making her lose sight of those
important vows.
If she were smart, she would leave now.
Just stop listening, quit watching his face in the twilight’s glow and walk
away. Better yet, run away. Go anywhere. Someplace she could not hear or see
him.
So why couldn’t she? Why did the silky
strands of his music hold her heart captive? She’d never particularly cared for
sax music or any music before. Most of it was okay, but she preferred silence.
Why did this beautiful and poignant sound draw her in? Why did it untie those
knots of resolution in her heart and mind? How did he awake a desire within her
that she thought was forever gone?
Trembling, she forced herself to move.
Slowly backing up she returned to the house, leaving the mug on the counter and
going upstairs to the balcony of her room. Sitting alone in the deepening
twilight, she bowed her head, letting the tears fall.
LINKS:
WEBSITE: www.ryanjosummers.com
BLOG:
http:summersrye.wordpress.com
