Monday, December 4, 2017

New Release & Guest Post! IT'S COMPLICATED by Joyce M. Holmes #Romance #Giveaway



HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY TO 
IT'S COMPLICATED!



It's Complicated
Contemporary Romance
by Joyce M. Holmes
Release date: December 4, 2017

He wants a real relationship, she's afraid to love. It’s complicated, but is it impossible?

She’s a children’s counselor devoted to helping others; he’s a stubborn client reluctant to accept her assistance. He wants a warm and loving relationship; she prefers to keep things physical. Professional boundaries dictate neither of them can have what they want.

Having grown up with no one but herself to count on, Maggie Lapage carefully guards her feelings. Professionally, she goes above and beyond to give others the support she wishes she'd had as a child. When she develops a forbidden attraction to a client’s father, she does what she thinks is necessary, to save his family, and to protect her own heart.

Tom O’Shay finds his life caught in a nightmare when he risks losing custody of his daughter. It goes against his character to seek help, but he doesn’t have a choice. That doesn’t mean he has to like it. Everything changes when he falls hard for his daughter’s counselor, and he suddenly has two fights on his hands. One for his daughter, and another for the woman he loves.

It’s complicated, but is it impossible?


~~~oOo~~~

GUEST POST

The Inspiration behind It's Complicated
by Joyce Holmes


Maggie Lapage, my female character in It’s Complicated, made her first appearance in Show No Weakness as a young co-worker of Joely Sinclair. Maggie had a knack for stirring up trouble. She called it helping people. Others might call it meddling. But she always had the best intentions. Several of my readers told me how much they loved her feisty personality, and their comments inspired me to write her story. I had a scenario in my head where she’d fit perfectly and, from there, the story quickly came together.

The storyline formed easily, but accurately portraying Maggie’s character was a little more of a challenge. She’s young, urban and loves all the girly-girl things I know little about. She’s tall and fashionable and very outgoing. Again, not anything I can easily connect with. I blogged about my dilemma at the time (https://joyceholmes.wordpress.com/2013/01/26/definitely-not-a-hip-young-urbanite/). Secondary characters are easy and fun to write; they can be quirky and even a little outrageous without necessarily needing to reveal what made them this way. Lead characters require more depth and motivation. I really wanted to do right by Maggie, because after everything she’d been through, she deserved it. Yes, she was impulsive and just a tad of a busybody, but once her background and motivations were made clear, her personality quirks became understandable and relatable.

I once knew a young man named Thomas. He was very much his own man and stubbornly independent, sometimes to his detriment. Thomas left this earth far too young, and to honour his memory, I named my male character, Tom O’Shay, after him. I also gave Tom some of that same quiet strength of character and stubborn independence. Who better to pit Maggie’s helpfulness against than someone who abhors needing help?

My inspiration for the storyline came from the place where all my stories come from. The desire to convey a real life situation full of emotion, which tugs on the heartstrings, and eventually finishes with a satisfying happy-ever-after. Hopefully, my readers will find that I accomplished this goal with Maggie and Tom’s tale, It’s Complicated.

~~~oOo~~~

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joyce Holmes lives with her husband and very small dog in the beautiful Okanagan region of British Columbia. Photography and blogging about her travels are two of her passions, along with visiting her kids and grandkids. When she's not dreaming up stories in her head or planning her next great adventure, she’s off enjoying the great outdoors.

Links:

~~~oOo~~~

GIVEAWAY!

A $10 Roane Publishing gift card!



Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use a RoanePublishing.com Gift Code.  No purchase necessary, but you must be 18 or older to enter. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter, and announced on the widget. Winner well be notified by emailed and have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. The number of entries received determines the odds of winning. This giveaway was organized by Roane Publishing's marketing department.

Thursday, November 9, 2017

It's BLOG HOP time! A simple comment, and you could win my MEANS OF MERCY series!


I haven't done a blog hop in FOREVER, and I'm thrilled to co-host with Bobbie from Nurture Your Books! Check out their awesome grand prizes...


Nurture Your BOOKS™ Blog Hop Prizes:
For readers – 3 lucky winners will each receive a huge, book prize package with lots of brand new books in a variety of genres (some will even be signed!!) and lots of cool book swag! For authors – several winners will receive a free, premium author service from Nurture Your BOOKS™. Both are open internationally!

I'm offering ecopies of my Means of Mercy series - Love's Sorrow and Love's Revenge!


To enter, please comment with your answer to the following question:

What will kill a book for you? 

For me, it's believability. If an author can't keep names straight, or they mess up a timeline, I'm ALL DONE. If there's no conflict within the first three pages to keep me engaged, I'm ALL DONE.

###

Be sure to stop by the other participating authors and bloggers for chances to win more goodies!

Thanks for stopping by, & best of luck!







Monday, November 6, 2017

NOW AVAIL: THROUGH FIRE #NALit by Sage MacGowan #GuestPost #Inspiration


Now Available!


Through Fire
N/A Romance
By Sage MacGowan
Release Date: November 6, 2017
Confidence. Faith. Redemption.
All her life Cass has been the wallflower, quietly content to make her mark from behind the scenes. As a cognitive psychologist in the research field she will use her intellect and tenacity to heal the “broken” brain. Because she learned long ago she isn’t capable of fixing broken minds, maybe not even broken hearts.

Possibility. Strength. Acceptance.
Bryan doesn’t even want to think about his present. To escape his past, he had always looked to the future. As a materials engineer he will use his ingenuity and talent to develop state-of-the-art products. But now an accident has drastically broad-sided his life…and the hits keep coming.

Force of will. Daring. Absolution.
They give each other the motive to step beyond self-consciousness, to reach outside themselves to touch the other. They discover the courage to pull one another close. To love. To be loved. From one another they draw the power and fortitude to move beyond mistakes.


~~~oOo~~~

GUEST POST:

Inspiration behind Through Fire

Well, it started with a song...

“That's the Kind of Love You're In” by Sons of the Desert. The lyrics speak of the depth and breadth and length of the man's love for the woman. I won't print the whole song, but a stanza and the chorus go:

All my days I'm by your side
Till I have no days to give
And from the bottom of my soul
You're the reason I live
Baby, that's the kind of love you're in

My promises, by them I will stand
With nothing less than everything I am
I'll walk through fire for you
Just say when

I wanted my story to reflect that kind of love, the willingness of the hero to “walk through fire” for the heroine. I also wanted a story in which another version of the phrase “through fire” could be meant – by way of a great struggle, the hero and heroine get their HEA.

So the song gave me my title, as well as the inspiration for the book.

Shortly thereafter, I came up with characters. I've started several other stories, but Through Fire is the only one in which the opening scene was the first scene to come to my mind. All my other stories “started” somewhere in their middles. For Through Fire, I was sitting in my car at work, eating lunch, when my muse showed me a young woman in a gym intrigued by a young man, also working out. My muse then informed me that he was an amputee. I asked, “Are you sure?” and she replied huffily, “Yes, I'm sure.” Luckily I had my computer with me, so I just started typing away.

~~~oOo~~~

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Growing up, and for quite some time after, Sage was a reader and a dreamer, but didn’t often put pen to paper. After becoming addicted to romance novels, she would often rewrite the stories in her head. Then late one night, while listening to music, with story ideas dancing in her mind, she was overcome with an undeniable urge to actually write.

Sage is a nature-worshiper and spends a fair amount of time hiking and camping (real camping, not the wussy RV kind) with her family. She also rides horses as often as she can (which isn’t often) and gets her horse fix by volunteering at the local therapeutic riding center. Her other volunteer gig is a non-profit group that helps military veterans train dogs as support animals and service dogs. In her previous life (former career) she was a veterinary nurse for over 20 years, and has always had a passion for medicine, which is behind the presence of “medicalese” in her stories.

Links:

Website: Druidessepona.wixsite.com/sagewriter

~~~oOo~~~

GIVEAWAY!!


A $10 Roane Publishing Gift Card


Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use a RoanePublishing.com Gift Code.  No purchase necessary, but you must be 18 or older to enter. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter, and announced on the widget. Winner well be notified by emailed and have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. The number of entries received determines the odds of winning. This giveaway was organized by Roane Publishing's marketing department.

Monday, October 9, 2017

EMERALD'S RING is now available! #Fantasy from Jaylee Austin #Giveaway!


NOW AVAILABLE!


Emerald's Ring
Sedona Series #2
by Jaylee Austin
Release Date: October 9, 2017

Keywords: Fantasy, Romance, Time Travel,  Sidhe, Novel, Series

Harmonia Shae, a time traveler, faces a revengeful fallen sidhe queen set on enslaving humankind. A Sihir magician traps Harmonia’s freewill inside a talisman forcing her to submit to three summonses. 

On the brink of death, she finds an unwanted champion in Tristan Avery. Upon awakening, she is in his house. Frightened, she scrambles to escape his overbearing need to protect her. Time is short, she must find the ambassador of the gates and return to her cousin’s house to formulate a plan of action to undo the cataclysmic effects she is compelled to inflict on an unsuspecting city once she completes the queen’s commands.

The wild cowboy sidhe, Tristan Avery finds the dark haired beauty unconscious and poisoned with copper. Determined, to find out why she is here, he follows her every move. When a calamitous earthquake hits Sedona, he is sure she is connected to the mystifying vibrational energy storming through the ley lines of magick. As minder of the Kingdom of Sidhe, he becomes entangled in a battle to safeguard Sedona and defend the women he’s vowed to protect.

Harmonia and Tristan can’t stop the tempestuous hot relationship developing between them as they each hide their own secrets. Will these two overcome the obstacles and find love?


~~~oOo~~~

GUEST POST:

THE INSPIRATION BEHIND EMERALD RING

The idea of a cowboy sidhe fascinated me. In Emerald’s Ring, Tristan Avery resonated with the old west, wearing wranglers, cowboy boots and a black Stetson. The setting takes place in the rustic red mountains of Sedona, Arizona. A mysterious setting filled with mystic possibilities.
Before I wrote Emerald’s Ring I took a vacation and stayed at the Enchantment resort, which is built in Boynton Canyon, eight miles from the quaint town of Sedona. It’s a magical resort nestled in the spectacular, nature-carved red rocks.
The spa resort blends in with the environment of the Southwestern décor and for a time you are transported away from the bustling sounds of the city into a vast vortex of geological development.
In the Coconino National Forest, I took a tour and hiked to an ancient Palatki Site. Old ancient writings were still carved into the rock beds. In my imagination the Sinaqua Indians came to life. I speculated on the culture of these mountain Indians and wondered what would happen if an ancient chalcedony stone was ripped through time and the spirit of the Palatki were held captive inside the vortex of the red mountain?
The idea spurred my imagination and Emerald’s Ring came to life. The heroine, Harmonia Shae, a time-traveler, is thrust into a whirlwind of chaos, when manipulated by a Sihir magician and forced to steal the chalcedony stone, along with seven ancient acorns from the Celtic tree of life.
Tristan, a sidhe warrior and part time rodeo bronco rider, leaves to Sedona for the annual rodeo. Unexpectedly, A Sumerian djinn female comes barreling into his world causing more ruckus than any bronco he’d ever encountered.
I put these two very different people together and wondered what would happen if they fell in love.





~~~oOo~~~

GIVEAWAY!!


A $10 Roane Publishing Gift Card



Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use a RoanePublishing.com Gift Code.  No purchase necessary, but you must be 18 or older to enter. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter, and announced on the widget. Winner well be notified by emailed and have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. The number of entries received determines the odds of winning. This giveaway was organized by Roane Publishing's marketing department.

Monday, September 4, 2017

BRAVING THE ELEMENTS is now available!! #Fantasy #Anthology by ME!!! and @RoanePublishing


HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY TO
BRAVING THE ELEMENTS!



Braving the Elements
A Fantasy Anthology
By Various Authors
Publisher: Roane Publishing
Release Date: September 8, 2017

Claire Davon – The Dragon, the Witch, and the Swordswoman
Michael Siciliano - Forging Mettle
Kelly Said - The Myth of Mount Agony
Terri Rochenski - Mist Weaver
Rebecca Hart - Alice and the Egg


The Dragon, The Witch, and the Swordswoman
By Claire Davon
As the person responsible for calling the bronze dragon that destroyed her village, Losha is tasked with killing it. Failure to do so means she will be outcast from everything she has ever known. Yet one she is on the road, two local women in tow, she finds that she is strangely reluctant to harm the beast that lurks in her mind.
After an encounter with an oddly familiar old woman and a knight in a small hamlet Losha is more confused than ever. On one hand, failure to slay the dragon means she cannot return to the promise of marriage from a local boy yet the more she learns about the dragon the less she wants to harm it.  It, like the bronze sword that is her only defense, speaks to her in a way nothing else has.
The stage is set for a final showdown between knight and beast when the knight’s true quest is revealed and Losha must choose between all she has ever known, or the companionship of an old woman…and a dragon.
Forging Mettle
By Michael Siciliano
Xander, a teenaged street thief in the grimy slums of Low Town, discovers he has an innate magical talent on the same night his father is killed. Intent on getting revenge, he attempts a risky robbery which goes bad. Rather than face the hangman’s noose, Xander agrees to accompany a group of soldiers intent on finding a powerful magical artifact. But the Beggar’s Hand isn’t what the King’s sorcerer thinks. Deep in the mountains, Xander must make life and death decisions, not just for himself, but the Kingdom he calls home.
The Myth of Mt Agony
By Kelly Said
Meadow’s mere presence ensures the Morningstar farm produces with preternatural abundance. A dirt-dusted foster-child, she hungers for harmony with Auric’s lands.
Valcone is the reclusive prince of Auric. Confined to his room—for the safety of his subjects—he craves control over his persuasive powers.
The prince and the farmgirl’s powerful personalities will collide with epic force when a war erupts between Auric and a neighboring kingdom. With Auric’s fate on the line, Valcone tests the limits of his ability. He amplifies his steady push into a forceful shove against Meadow’s gentle Nature. The Earth-shaper finds herself between a rock and a hard place, literally, where the only choice to save her family may lie in surrendering to the destructive force of her ground-breaking ability.
Mist Weaver
By Terri Rochenski
Dolan wants nothing more than to escape his village for the big city where his small stature and unpleasant features won’t make him the recipient of constant ridicule by the lord of the manor and his heir, Gilroy. The mist that dances to the sweet notes of Dolan's flute is his only camaraderie and the only beauty in his life—except for Keavy.
When the kind milkmaid is faced with unwanted attentions, Dolan must defend her honor with a choice that will ultimately change his life.
Alice and the Egg
By Rebecca Hart
Alice would do anything for her father, the only parent she’s ever known since her mother’s death in childbirth. When he falls ill, Alice doesn’t hesitate when the opportunity to barter her life for his is presented by Jayden, the prince and only heir to the Dragorean throne.
It doesn’t take long for Alice to realize the palace has secrets. Ones that relate to her own past more than she could ever have imagined. If she can find a way to play the game of secrets well enough, not only could she save her father, she just may manage to save herself as well.

~~~oOo~~~




~~~oOo~~~

Top Two Fav Fantasy Authors! 

Terri: George RR Martin & Robert Jordan

Kelly: Maria Dahvana Headley & Victoria Schwab  

Claire: Anne McCaffrey & Brandon Sanderson 

Rebecca:

George R. R. Martin – because, well, duh… He just blows my mind with his world weaving abilities, and how easily he can tell a story from any POV. 

C. S. Lewis – because my love of fantasy started with The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. He is always tops on my list.

 
Michael: George R.R. Martin & Daniel Abraham



Blog Tour Schedule

September 4th
Release Day Blitz
Scribbler’s Sojourn - Top
Two List
Jennifer M. Eaton – Favorite Five List


September 5th
Mythical Books – Ebook giveaway 


September 6th
Reviews by Crystal – Author Interview 


September 7th
Liz’s Reading Life – Author Interview
Sharon Hughson, Author – Author Interview 


September 8th
~~~oOo~~~

GIVEAWAY!!

A $50 Amazon Gift Card


Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use a RoanePublishing.com Gift Code.  No purchase necessary, but you must be 18 or older to enter. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter, and announced on the widget. Winner well be notified by emailed and have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. The number of entries received determines the odds of winning. This giveaway was organized by Roane Publishing's marketing department.

Monday, August 28, 2017

Guest Post: Skyler Dean's inspiration behind MIND'S EYE, her new romantic suspense release! #Giveaway

MESlideshow1.jpg



HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY TO
MIND'S EYE!


Mind's Eye
A Romantic Suspense Novel
By Skyler Dean
Release Date: August 28, 2017

Keywords: paranormal, psychic, New York City, Wiccan, astral projection, murder


Newly hired NYC blogger Cassandra Hale has finally achieved her dream-living and writing in the big city.  Eager to prove her skills and secure her place, Cassie pushes hard to gain respect from the new age publishing group where she’s recently snagged a position.

With her energies focused, Cassie’s work flourishes…until her reality rapidly unravels.

As a sudden witness to murders in her sleep, Cassie becomes convinced that she’s losing her mind.
All she wants is to discover a way of making these gruesome visions stop. But with no control over them, her subconscious mind begins to wreak havoc on her life.

At the edge of her sanity, Cassie decides to take matters into her own hands and tracks down the latest victim from her dreams, subsequently gaining the unwanted attention from NYPD detective Derek Ward.

Struggling to cope, not only with accepting her newfound abilities but with her perceived involvement in a crime, Cassie is forced to contend with interrogations from Ward, who’s convinced she has something to hide.

As Cassie and Derek both fight to discover the truth, as well as a growing, unwanted attraction towards each other, they are ultimately thrown together as the stakes jump even higher-Cassie’s premonitions turn to a man whose diabolical intentions are eerily close to her.




~~~oOo~~~

Guest Post

Mind’s Eye initially began with the creation of Cassie’s personality.  From there, it was all about envisioning how she would deal with the extraordinary things that begin happening in her life as the story progresses. 

I visualized Cassie to be a young 20-something journalist who is ambitious and confident yet slightly out of her element by living in New York City for the first time.  She is a contradiction in many ways-like most of us-and the main focus of her journey is figuring out how to cope with her gift of astral projection amidst all the other obstacles being thrown at her.   

A gift is definitely not how she views her ability to see people die for the majority of the book but as Cassie grows as a person and lets Detective Derek Ward into her life, she begins to accept herself.

Cassie and Derek’s love story was written as a supporting role for Cassie’s experiences and to help guide her toward self acceptance.  Ultimately, the evil she gets tangled up with only becomes recognized as a threat when Cassie uses her vision and fights to regain control of her life.


Mind’s Eye is the result of Cassie’s ordeals, coupled with metaphysical and new age themes, and how they shape her into the person she needs to become in order to survive her ultimate vision. 


~~~oOo~~~
GIVEAWAY!

A $10 Roane Publishing Gift Card



Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use a RoanePublishing.com Gift Code.  No purchase necessary, but you must be 18 or older to enter. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter, and announced on the widget. Winner well be notified by emailed and have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. The number of entries received determines the odds of winning. This giveaway was organized by Roane Publishing's marketing department.