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Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Blue Note by Holly Graf and Krissy May




Blue Note
The Fractured Prism
Book One
Holly Graf and Krissy May

Genre: NA Urban Fantasy
Publisher: 252 Publishing
Date of Publication: 6/21/19
ISBN: 978-1-950753-00-0
ASIN: 195075300X
Number of pages: 250
Word Count: 67,444

Cover Artist: Krissy May

Tagline: Everything has a price

Book Description:

Niels Poulsen, self-styled God of Rock and lead singer in a popular punk band, has everything he could want: family, friends, fortune, and fame. When his best friend and fellow band member, Jace, goes missing, Niels will do anything to get him home safe.

Niels discovers that their money and connections won’t help them on their journey. They will rely on an model airplane, a family secret, and a tangled magic that weaves the band into the fabric of other realms so tightly they may never make it home again. Their quest takes them across new worlds, through foreign dangers, and straight into the path of an ancient prophecy that wants Niels for itself.

If Niels and his friends survive long enough to find Jace and negotiate their way home to Manhattan, will it be worth the price? The magic says one of them will have to die…

Amazon     BN


Excerpt:

       As they walked away from the sketchy people, Niels leaned down close to Hattie’s face. “The liquor stall? Or do you think it’s a setup? Christ.” He leaned away. “I’m as paranoid as Rhyss now.”
       “No you’re not.” She side-hugged him as they walked. “I’ve got a bad feeling too.”
       “They pointed that way,” he gestured, “so let’s go this way.”
       “Good idea.”
       They passed several stalls. One had all kinds of colorful eggs on display. Another had a row of kids dancing in front with a sign that read: Ontriss Academy of Noc Thui. Another stall had fried dough smothered in cinnamon.
       Niels’ stomach rumbled again.
       They should’ve begged Kenzie for some money before she left, but Niels had the feeling she didn’t have much in the way of funds. Land pirates were still pirates, after all.
       Something just ahead of them started screeching.
       Places to go: not in that direction. Whatever was up there probably ate people. Niels steered them casually toward a stall with jewelry, but Hattie was having none of being steered around.
       “What is that?” She moved towards the keening, cutting off a pissy guy with a cart full of vegetables. Some of the food toppled off the cart.
       Niels almost reached for one, but two thoughts stopped him: One, he had no idea whether they were even edible; two, Kenzie said they executed thieves, and this didn’t feel like a good day for that. Dying wasn’t on his agenda.
       He let Hattie pull him across the road on her quest for death-by-screech, until they were in sight of the screeching thing.
“Is that a dragon?” Niels asked.
Holy shit.
Not just a dragon, but...a dragon. It was about the size of a teacup, or a gerbil maybe because teacups didn’t have tails, and this dragon did. It was covered with spines and opalescent scales in every pastel color of the rainbow.
Even though it wasn’t as big as the other dragons they’d seen in Sylem, it made the most god awful noise to make up for its size. Niels was tempted to screech back at it, see how it liked that. Or bring his guitar and climb into the higher notes, with an amp.
When the dragon saw Niels, it screeched even louder, rattling the side of its cage so violently Niels thought it might knock itself off the table.
“It wants you,” Hattie said.
No it didn’t. Clearly it wanted out so it could attack him. While that technically counted as wanting him it wasn’t the good thing Hattie’s tone made it out to be.
He stopped freaking out. What had he just said to himself? He needed to trust that Hattie was often more right than he was about shit.
He finished crossing the road with her and didn’t stop her when she asked, “Can we look at that dragon?”
The stall owner, a beefy guy who would have been a butcher - or a Mafioso, which amounted to the same thing - in any decent, clichéd movie, frowned at them. “You spoiled my dragon.”
He lifted the latch on the cage door and the little rainbow-tiled monster shot out of the cage, directly at Niels.
Niels backed away. He couldn’t die yet. He still had songs to write, Hattie to date, his mom to annoy…
The dragon landed on his shoulder, chirped once, and let out a huff of steam that condensed into beads of water on Niels' neck.
Okay, so not dying today. Not yet, anyway.
Niels allowed himself to breathe.
The dragon was kind of cute if he ignored its claws digging into his shoulder through his shirt.
“That’s three hundred Angmol.”
Oh yeah, Niels could just pull that out of his ass.
“We don’t have three hundred those things,” Hattie said.
“Or one,” Niels muttered so only she could hear. She laughed.

About the Authors:


Holly began her career as an accountant. While her sense of humor tends appropriately dry, her love for writing far exceeds the constraints of an office job. She attended four colleges across three states in pursuit of her BS in Accounting, while taking extra courses in philosophy, law, and writing. Between words, she spends her time immersing herself in the magic of life.





Krissy lives in a chaos factory, which is run by a merciless team of miniature humans and their pets. She enjoys music, foreign languages, noise-cancelling headphones, and the smell of fresh-mowed grass. She has a useless degree in Physics and part of another useless degree in Nursing, neither of which helped in the creation of this book.







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Monday, January 27, 2020

The Cat Who Ate His Tail by Jacqueline Simon Gunn






The Cat Who Ate His Tail
Jacqueline Simon Gunn

Genre: Animal Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Psychological Fiction
Date of Publication: November 15, 2019

ISBN: 978-1699608081
ASIN: B07ZY6VZNH
Number of pages: 324
Word Count: 76,059

Book Description:

Have you ever wondered what your pets are thinking?

Inspired by true events, this heartwarming story is told from the perspective of Sneakers, a curious cat with serious emotional baggage. Neglected and ultimately abandoned by his original owner, he compensates for the trauma by overeating and making droll observations about the crazy love life of his new owner… who also happens to be a psychologist.

Through paying attention to her work, the loving home she provides and watching her own trials and tribulations, Sneakers learns so much more about life, love and the ways of the world. Both their lives take unexpected turns, both suffer for their own inability to see their inherent worth. But just maybe they can help each other learn the most important lesson of all before it’s too late: If you let it, love can heal even the deepest wounds.

Sometimes you must be willing to take that second chance.



Excerpt:

“I love her,” he raised his voice. His feet were right next to the couch. Please, don’t make me kill you. I’d be the cat who ate his tail and killed a human on the Upper Eastside. This would not look good for me. They’d judge me based on the tail incident and assume the murder was due to my instability, never considering the duress that preceded his demise.
That’s why he was living with a shrink. Nut job. I heard the newscasters saying.
My eyes followed his feet. He bent down, glaring at me underneath the couch, and yelled, “I love her. You hear me. Just because she isn’t the girl I want to spend my life with doesn’t mean I don’t love her.”
What kind of catnip was he sniffing? Leave her alone then. 
I stared back at him, my heart pounding even harder.
I heard rummaging. From his shadow, I thought he was in her desk. Probably trying to sift through her drawers. Maybe looking for notes or things she’d written down, so he knew what she was thinking. Then the couch bounced as he plopped down onto the middle cushion. I wondered how this was going to go down when she came home and found him. Which would be worse: finding him dead or alive, I wondered. But before I had to choose, he got up, and I heard him fumbling around in the kitchen, and then the front door closed.
I waited an ample amount of time, inhaling to get my breathing even, then strutted into the kitchen, sniffing around where he’d left his sour scent, the only evidence of him being here. I knew humans’ sense of smell wasn’t as strong. I wondered if my mom would know just by intuition that Moby had come. I thought of ways I might communicate it to her. I was lying on my chair ruminating about this when I heard my mom turning the doorknob, then her voice mixing with that of a strange man’s.
I took a heavy breath. What a stressful night. Now I had to scrutinize the new guy while figuring out how to tell her about Moby’s appearance. I was exhausted and crashing from the adrenalin of what had happened earlier.
“What’s wrong, handsome?” She kneeled beside me, rubbing my head. Looking up at this new tall man-human who had a warm smile, she explained, “He always greets me at the door. Something feels weird in here.”
“Whadaya mean?”
“Like someone was here.”
“Like a break-in? “Or like a ghost?”
She looked around. “Nothing looks out of place on first glance. Do you believe in ghosts?”
“I do, and I think cats see them. Maybe he saw something.”
“He does look spooked by something, doesn’t he?”
“It’s hard to tell.” He bent down and rubbed my head. “He is a good-looking cat.” He rubbed under my neck. “Did you see something?” he asked me.
“Maybe they see things that aren’t there. Maybe he thought he saw something.” She wore a perplexed looked, but it got me thinking and wondering if that ghost thing was possible.
Maybe I was losing my mind. Was Moby here or did I imagine the whole thing because the idea of him haunted me?
Gosh, maybe that last catnip pillow was laced with something.



About the Author:

Jacqueline Simon Gunn is a Manhattan-based clinical psychologist and writer. She has authored two non-fiction books, and co-authored two others. She has published many articles, both scholarly and mainstream, and currently works as a freelance writer. Gunn is now writing psychological fiction. Always in search of truth and fascinated by human behavior, her fiction writing, like psychology, is a way for her to explore human nature — motivation, emotions, relationships.

In addition to her clinical practice and writing, Gunn is an avid runner and reader. Gunn is currently working on multiple writing projects, including a spin-off of “Forever and One Day,” the third book in the Where You’ll Land series and a book written from her cat’s POV.










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The Wolf of Ashford Manor by Toni Cox




The Wolf of Ashford Manor
Toni Cox

Genre: PNR/Paranormal Fantasy Romance

Date of Publication: 7th January 2020
ASIN: B08297961X
Number of pages: 199
Word Count: +/- 53,000
Cover Artist: Fire Quill Design

Tagline: The Werewolf within Patrick is never far from the surface, but with Angelica, it’s another beast he must tame.

Book Description:

The animal within him was never far from the surface, but with her, the wolf was untamable.

Patrick Blakesley, born to a bloodline of werewolves, falls in love with the mysteriously shy, yet ravishingly beautiful daughter of his new employer – the Lord of Ashford Manor.

When the town of Ashford is besieged by a sudden spate of murders, suspicions fall on Patrick, for he has been discovered for the beast that he is.

Although forced to go into hiding, it does not stop Patrick from pursuing his love for Angelica. Shacked up in an old boat shed, they discover pleasures such as only forbidden fruits can yield.

As Patrick discovers all that Angelica has to offer, the brutal murders continue.
Are they strong enough together to discover the true beast and tame it, before all of humanity perishes before its wrath?

A steamy paranormal romance that merges romance, thriller, mystery, and the paranormal.




Excerpt:

Patrick stood at the edge of the precipice of white cliffs, and gazed out over the ocean, staring at the distant continent across the water; the ship he had stepped off earlier was already out of sight.
Too long had he been away from home.
He now turned his back on those distant shores, burying deep within the memories of the last three years. He strode out powerfully, his long legs steeled from the years in the war. He had miles to go to Ashford and would not reach it for several days.
There would be inns along the road, and he hoped to find accommodations there for the nights.
After a good day’s march, Patrick readjusted his weighty satchel and stepped off the rutted road to allow a wagon to pass. The two heavy draught horses snorted uneasily as they went by him.
He looked up into the sky and realised night would be upon him soon.
“Good sir,” he called out to the driver, “would there be an inn close by?”
“Not for another twenty miles, ‘m ‘fraid.”
The horse nearest to him exhaled nervously, and the driver shifted his attention away from Patrick.
Stepping back, Patrick cast another heavenward. Wispy clouds sailed across an orange tinged sky as the sun began to set in the west. Soon the moon would rise.
Leaving the driver to calm his horses, Patrick turned away from the road and headed towards the nearby forest. A vein in his neck throbbed at the thought of spending the night within the confines of the dark trees before him.
He walked deep into the woods, well out of sight of the road. At a pebbly creek, he hung his satchel upon a high branch of a tree before slaking his thirst with the cool water.
As the light faded, Patrick gathered firewood and made a fire pit with rocks from the riverbed. He put dry moss and kindling in the centre, and then stacked some logs around it, but he did not light it.
Instead, he removed his clothing, folding it neatly and arranging it next to the fire pit. His
clothes were worn and faded, but clean. Although muscular, his tall body was made of clean lines, long legs and a broad chest. Years of war had made him lean and tough.
Naked, he cast an approving glance over his sparse camp and then walked away from it. Over the years that he had been away, he had learned to control himself. It had not always been easy, and until even a year ago, there were occasions where he could not trust himself. Today, however, he was in control.
Away from his camp, with the moon rising over the forest, his naked body distorted, changing shape with agonising contortions.
Breathing heavily, the werewolf ’s fur bristled in the cool evening air, and he raised his snout to taste the scents on the wind.
Tonight, he would hunt.
About the Author:


Born in Germany in 1976, International Bestselling Author Toni Cox moved to South Africa in 1991. Although she has spent much of her working career in the timber wholesale business, she is also an accomplished horse rider, has a diploma in project management, photography, and nutrition, and has a passion for books and all things fantasy.

From a young age, her dream had always been to put her imagination into words. When she was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis in 2013, she decided life is too short not to follow her dream. With the support of her husband and three children, she began writing book 1 of the Elemental Trilogy in January 2015.

Toni Cox writes Epic Fantasy, YA Fantasy, Sci-Fi Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Dystopian Fantasy, Paranormal Fantasy, and Dark Fantasy. She is a firm believer in dragons.













Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Celebrate the Kansas Writers Association anthology published by Prairie Moon Publications





The Big and Small of Us All



A collection of short stories that spans all across the board by 21 noted authors.




Friday, January 3, 2020

Cursed: Samaritan Book 1 by Serafina Silk



Curse
Samaritan
Book 1
Serafina Silk

Genre: Erotica/Supernatural/Thriller



Publisher: Serafina!

Date of Publication:  15 November 2019

ISBN: 9781916066427
ASIN: B081GF53QD

Number of pages: 198
Word Count: 35,000

Tagline: How far would you go to help someone get over their ex?

Book Description:

When Chris gives a deathbed kiss to her best friend her safe world is turned upside-down as a strange sexual obsession and compulsion begins.

But what is driving it? And how will it affect her safe but boring marriage?

The Sex Samaritan series combines erotica and mystery as Chris' journey takes her into a dark and sensual world in which more than her family life is suddenly threatened.


Also Available on Amazon

Book 2     Book 3

Excerpt:

With a hand on Evan’s shocked face, I reached in and pressed my lips against his. He was shaking, like he was trapped. When our lips touched, he became still. Once again, it was as if there were two worlds: the one in which we were Evan and Min, and the one in which Evan and I were sexless old acquaintances. There wasn’t time now to wonder how or why.  Unable to cut the Min side out, I just wanted to savour not being Chris the Reliable, Chris the Predictable, Chris the Wife.
I could feel it. The incredible heat between Min and Evan was something exciting I had never experienced in my own sex life. Sure, when Arron and I first got together, he took me to new places. Sex with him in the early days was mind-blowing, but this was an upgrade, no question. No wonder Evan had given up trying to match the experience in the years since she left him.
He broke from increasingly urgent kisses to whispers. “Why did you leave, Min? God, I love you. You will always be the love of my life.” After every line he returned to my mouth, unable to keep from the “sweet communion of a kiss,” as Judee Sill memorably described it.
It’s interesting that we kiss and eat with our mouth, isn’t it? It means that you can say things like, “we devoured each other.” It makes perfect sense - I understood that now. We were devouring each other. Our arms pulled each other tighter. We were both slim. Only my swelling breasts separated us. Our hands strayed across each other’s backs, giving our arms the support they needed to pull-in a fraction closer. The kisses, the sighs and the whispered phrases of loss from Evan, seemed to go on, deliriously, forever. Yet, my body needed more. Min may have been driving this, but Chris also had to know - I knew I could not carry on without feeling what Min and Evan had felt together.
It was me who lowered my hands first, to squeeze Evan’s arse. His soon followed suit and his hands pushed flat against my back and dove behind my jeans, under my panties. He tease-bit my lip, upping the ante. I groaned as, for the first time in 15 years, a man who wasn’t my husband, touched my aroused, naked flesh. And boy, was it aroused.
Constricted by the material, Evan could do no more than feel and knead my cheeks, but my pussy throbbed at the thought of what I hoped was to come. Unable to wait, I brought my hands to the front, unlatching the clasp of his trousers, pulling the zip down an inch or two. There was just enough room to slip my right hand into the top of his boxers.



About the Author:

Like the hero of the Samaritan series, Serafina Silk has been a highly successful reporter and journalist, working both local and national newsrooms in America and the UK.

Like Chris, Serafina has two children and is happily married.

Also like Chris, she has interviewed many celebrities.

Cursed is her first novella – Book 1 of the ongoing Samaritan series.




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Thursday, January 2, 2020

Shadowed by Michelle Areaux


Shadowed
Shadow and Moon Series
Book One
Michelle Areaux

Published by: Kingston Publishing Company
Publication date: January 2nd 2020


Genres: Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult

Book Description:

Sixteen-year-old Henley Abbott is just trying to make it through high school in the small town of Edison, Washington where she has lived her entire life. Constantly feeling alone, she’s surprised when she finds herself intrigued by the new boy in town, Cohen Davenport.

With the entire town talking about the new and secretive family, Henley refuses to join in on the rumors swirling about them and attempts to keep her distance.

However, as Cohen becomes intrigued by Henley, the pair seems to find a spark in a kindling friendship.

As the intensity of their relationship builds, Henley discovers a dark secret plaguing Cohen and his elusive family. He reveals a twisted past that has kept his family on the run…for decades.

Cohen should keep his distance. It is too dangerous to bring Henley into his life, but he can’t stay away from her.

And, Henley doesn’t want him to.

As Henley overcomes her own fears and trepidations, she finds herself engrossed in a battle that could destroy them both. Only their connection could help them all survive.

Intensely romantic and extremely thrilling, this novel will pull readers in from the very first page.

Fans of Twilight, The Guardian Series, and the Marked Saga will instantly fall in love with this new paranormal series.



About the Author:

Michelle loves most fiction genres. For New Adult, she loves to read romance novels that include a hot and brooding male character. Think Travis Maddox in Beautiful Disaster. She accepts: College aged new adult romance, paranormal romance, and romantic comedies. For young adult, Michelle is a sucker for fantasy novels that include vampires (she is still on team Edward), shifters, and a modern world with monsters and demons alike. She accepts: dark fantasy, paranormal, mysteries, contemporary romance or mystery, and anything else in the young adult genre. ​