Allusive Aftershock by Susan Griscom

Synopsis:
 
What happens when a major earthquake changes life as you know it and the boy you thought you hated ends up saving you? Three times!
Courtland Reese is the guy everyone hates and makes fun of because … well, he is weird. He communicates with animals. Strange or interesting, seventeen-year-old Adela Castielle can’t quite figure out, but when he saves her from being trampled by her own horse, she begins to understand him a little better and wants to learn more about him. But, Max--her best friend/dream guy/someday-to-be-her-husband-only-he-doesn’t-know-it-yet--hates Courtland with a passion. Adela wants to know why, except neither boy is talking. When Max leaves her stranded in his parents' wine cave with his worst enemy, Courtland, after what the experts are calling a “megathrust” earthquake, Adela starts to question her loyalty to Max as steamy kisses in a dark damp cellar only fuel her emotions with more conflict. But does she really have time to worry about that when fire, destruction and mayhem surround her? 


Purchase Links:

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/ALLUSIVE-AFTERSHOCK-ebook/dp/B00AQ9LF72/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1356055532&sr=1-1&keywords=allusive+aftershock 

 Print: http://www.amazon.com/Allusive-Aftershock-Susan-Griscom/dp/0615737897/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1356055655&sr=1-3&keywords=susan+griscom 

Review:

what would you do if you were stuck in the middle? One person new and interesting, and another old and familiar. You have feeligs for both but are having a very hard time sorting them out and picking which one means more. 
Now throw in disasters all around you.....earthquakes, fire and more and get yourself stuck somewhere with one of those guys who the other can't stand, and toss in some steamy situations....what would you do?

Well for Adela this is what happens. She has feelings for both Courtland and max and can't figure out her feelings. She can't decide which means more to her but after being left alone with Courtland in a cabin things happen that may or may not shift the balance.

I am so not telling you how it ends or even if it does.....I am however going to say that you WANT to read this book. You really do  It will have you on the edge wondering then emotions flying when things are answered that are blowing in your mind.    



Author Bio:

 

I daydream often. If I didn't write, I think my mind would explode from an overload of fantasy and weirdness. To the annoyance of my friends and family, my characters sometimes become a part of my world. During my childhood, I would frequently get in trouble in school for daydreaming. Eventually, my vivid imagination paid off and I had the privilege of writing and co-directing my sixth-grade class play--a dreadful disaster; though not from my writing, of course, I must blame it on the acting.
The craft of writing, although dormant for years, never really left me. Many years later, and with the help of technology, I let my imagination run wild again.
Born in a small town in Pennsylvania, I enjoy writing about characters living in small quaint towns. I tend to lean toward the unusual and spooky. I read all genres but I love reading paranormal romance and like writing in that genre.
My paranormal playing field delves into a different milieu, abandoning vampires and werewolves, but not discounting them. Someday I might like to write a novel about vamps and those furry creatures. But for now I like the bizarre mixed with romance. A strong hero or heroine confronted with extraordinary forces of nature, powers and capabilities gets my blood running.
I live in Northern California with my very romantic husband, my small yippy dog, Riley, and my humungous black cat, Saké. My family consists of his and her children; four wonderful sons, one beautiful daughter, and seven grandchildren. My greatest love in life is my family and those large and ever growing holiday dinners.
I enjoy traveling. I hate running, but do it once in a while. Reading and writing are my favorite pastimes. 


Author Links: 

Website: http://susangriscom.com 

Blog: http://swblog.susangriscom.com 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SusanGriscom 

Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/SMGriscom 

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Susan-Griscom/e/B008R94FNO/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_3 

 Facebook personal: https://www.facebook.com/SusanGriscom1 

Goodread: http://www.goodreads.com/SusanGriscom 



Excerpts:


Excerpt 1: 

As Courtland stood, the legs of his chair scraped along the floor and the back of his knees pushed it out of the way of his tall frame. His dark green hoodie hung loose and unzipped, his jeans sat low on his waist. His hair was slicked back away from his face, different from the normal way it usually fell over his forehead, giving him the appearance of an ancient Native American warrior. If I wasn’t already in love with Max and Court hadn’t been so mean to me the other day, I might actually think he was hot, the way he walked up to get the book without saying a word, his gait easy but cautious as he sauntered past Max’s desk. One never knew what Max might do and Courtland had been the brunt of his antics more than once.
“Stop by the library on your way back and pick up a couple of the books they have on earthquake preparedness. There should be a good selection on the subject. Ask Mrs. Snow to help you; she’ll steer you in the right direction.”
Courtland strolled out of the room while Mr. Montgomery continued his talk about earthquakes.
Sometimes I felt sorry for Courtland, the way some of the kids made fun of his keen intuition with animals. This morning, I was still too mad at him to care much about that, though. My mind wandered back to Big Blue. I really wanted to ride him—maybe today would be a good time to do it. If Max rode with me, Courtland might stay clear. I scribbled a quick note in my binder, ripped the page out, folded it into a little square and handed it to Max while Mr. Montgomery wrote something on the board. He read it and folded it back up before sticking it under his history book. After flashing a smile at me, he nodded.
I sat doodling on the paper in front of me, making little swirling designs I thought might look good on a book cover, half listening to Mr. Montgomery when I felt a brush of material glide over my arm. I looked up to see Courtland as he strolled past me, back from his trip to the office.
All of a sudden, my desk jolted 


Excerpt 2:

With no electricity, I could barely make out the two figures standing by the door to the cellar. If not for the half moon, I would not have been able to see them at all. I stepped up to them and realized they were staring up at the sky and my eyes naturally followed their gaze. I had never seen such an awesome sight. Without any city lights for miles and miles, the stars in the sky were unusually bright and plentiful. A truly beautiful sight.
“Wow,” I whispered, standing between Max and Court. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Court’s focus change and he stared down at me. There was something strange about the way his eyes bored into me, as if he could see into my soul. I waited for him to look away but he held his gaze on me while I pretended to marvel at the sky. I’d never seen him stare at me that way before and I got nervous. My fingers fidgeted with each other and I clamped two of them in my other hand to steady them. If I hadn’t known better, I never would have guessed in a million years he had injuries. His eyes stayed fixed on me with an intense tenderness I had never seen from a boy before. Maybe Courtland Reese wasn’t so bad after all. Standing between the two of them in all their glorious hotness had my stomach doing flip-flops. I knew it was wrong to think these things under the circumstances, but maybe my mind just needed the distraction … or confusion. I loved Max, but I was beginning to like Courtland too. Man, I was in so much trouble. 


Excerpt 3: 

“I’m so sorry, Adela. I’m so sorry.” His soft voice barely registered in my ear while he stroked his hand over my head, trying to comfort me. I didn’t want comfort. I wanted to find my mom. I wanted her arms around me, rocking me the way she did whenever I became upset or sick. My legs buckled under me, and I collapsed to the ground. Max held on and sank down with me. We sat on the pile of my broken home. “I’m pretty sure she’s not here.” He continued, “I think she went to Sacramento with your dad.”
I sniffled, hoping Max was right. I knew we couldn’t search through this on our own. I just wanted to try.
I don’t know how long we sat there while I leaned against Max’s chest—could have been a few seconds, could have been a few minutes. It felt like hours. I dried my cheeks with the sleeve of my sweater but couldn’t lift my head from the comfort of Max’s embrace.
I thought about how I’d just used my sweater to wipe my tears and nose and sighed as I sniffled. Speaking softly into Max’s shirt, I said, “My mom would cringe if she saw me do that. She’d say, ‘Adela, stop, get a tissue. You’re going to ruin your sweater.’”
“Ah, you’re right, she would. Are you going to be okay?”
“No, but what choice do I have? I can only pray she’s with my dad and they’re okay—and hope Ambrosia and Aaron survived. We need to find them.”
“Right. First let’s find something for your hand.”
“My hand?”
“Yeah, look.” He placed his fingers around my wrist, turning my hand over; blood covered my entire palm. I stared at my blood-soaked hand as if it belonged to someone else. “When did I do this?”
“You fell when you were running toward the sweater.”
“Oh yeah, right, I fell.” I shrugged. “There’s a lot of blood, but it doesn’t hurt.”
“It will once the shock wears off.” He found a small dishtowel under the ramshackle pile of debris in the kitchen area and wrapped the soft cloth around my hand, tying a knot at the backside. “That should be tight enough to stop the bleeding. Let’s go to my house. My folks can help us.” 


Excerpt 4: 

An explosion burst through the air and I almost jumped out of my skin. I turned toward the noise and stared in horror at the sight of the Arco gas station completely engulfed in flames. The fire immediately spread into a clump of trees between the station and the half-demolished grocery store about six feet from where Max stood.
“Max!” I screamed and leaped up forgetting about the clenching in my stomach.
Max hurried back and grabbed my hand again. We ran, hopping over broken brick, concrete, glass, and wood from collapsed buildings, swerving between and around abandoned cars stopped or smashed along the road. Max never let go of my hand. Trees and buildings consumed in flames glowered around us, the heat almost too much to bear. The scent of gas permeated the air along with the muck of smoke and debris. Water spewed up from a broken fire hydrant, knocked on its side by the delivery truck now perched on top of it and I gasped at the sight of a bloodied man’s head hanging out the window.
I wanted to be home more than anything now. Did we even have a home? Were my mom and dad okay? The twins? What about Big Blue? I fought back tears, trying to convince myself they were all fine and probably wondering where I was. I squeezed my eyes shut to picture my mom pacing the living room, worrying and telling my dad they needed to find me.
All of a sudden, we stopped running. I glanced up to see why and gaped with horror at the road in front of us. The broken asphalt had buckled into a pile about twelve feet high, obstructing our way. The crumbled debris from the buildings on both sides blocked the entire area. With the newly formed abyss in front of us and the out-of-control inferno behind us closing in fast, we were trapped. 


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Eternal Lovers by V.S.Nelson

Synopsis:
 
Sekhmet’s Guardians – Book One - Eternal Lovers

A multi-plotted, cross-genre’ paranormal Romance

Within our modern society a parallel vampire world exists. Two factions of vampires have fought against one another since ancient times. Each faction started with seven men that were brought forth from the land of Tuat and taken to ancient Egypt, then transformed into what they remain, vampires.
These fourteen are known as the Ancients. They are the makers and the fathers of the both sides of the vampire world we know today. The behavior of each side of the faction differs, but their purpose has remained the same; to eliminate the other from the Earth’s surface.

Contrasts are essential and play a strong roll through the multiple points of view and plots that develop as the story is unveiled. Love vs hate, honor vs betrayal, strength vs weakness, virtue vs evil, and death vs birth are just a few of the contrasts that unfold in the first book in the Guardians Incorporated Saga.

Set’s Army, evil by nature, have no regard for the human race. They see mortals as nothing more than food that provides them with the blood they need to survive. They survive in order to fight the Guardians, who protect those of the Vampire Nation who live in harmony with the humans. Bagsu, the first of ancient vampire created by Set has led his legions for centuries.

Guardians Incorporated is a legitimate multi-billion dollar world wide protection agency that operates openly in the human world. They protect dignitaries, world leaders, rock legends, the rich and famous, and members of the Vampire Nation. The corporation was formed over a hundred years ago and is still run by the seven Ancient Guardians. The leader of Guardians Incorporated is Gabriel. Since the loss of his first love Akhakh in ancient Egypt; Gabriel, a man of few words has become hard, cold, and distant from his emotions.

Jennifer, a Native American married woman of twenty four, sets off on a short vacation to visit her best friend who is currently staying at a lake estate near Chicago.
Soon after arriving she realizes that she is becoming sexually drawn to two of the oversized gorgeous men that are guarding the estate. Unknown to her at the time, both men have fallen in love with her. Not wanting to break her wedding vows, she sets off on a surprise overnight trip to visit her husband, a studio musician, who is staying in a hotel in Hollywood. Unlocking the hotel door, Jennifer is surprised to find her husband is otherwise engaged. She finds him locked in the arms of another man.

Her best friend and the two, who have fallen in love with her, have followed her to Hollywood with the intent of stopping her before she discovers her husband’s secret.
They arrive moments too late. Jennifer is attacked by her husband’s lover, a half breed vampire. A fight breaks out between the Ancient Guardians and her husband’s lover.
Jennifer falls into a catatonic state believed to be shock. She is flown back to the estate just outside of Chicago. The guardian’s believe that when their physician removes the memories of what she has witnessed, she will regain consciousness.

The guardian’s physician, Michael soon discovers that although Jennifer has the blood of a mortal, she has the brain function of an immortal. He is unable to remove her memories. After hours of research, they suspect that Jennifer is something other than a mere mortal. Compiling all the evidence, they have come to the conclusion that she is part Selkie.

A small group of her friends travel to Jennifer’s home hoping to find an old photograph of her biological father that has his name on the back. Instead of finding the old picture that her friend saw years prior, they find Jennifer’s father, Ronan, in person.
Ronan has been watching her from a distance since her birth. Ronan, after being informed of what has happened to his daughter, tells the group that he believes that Jennifer is not in shock. Like all Selkies, Jennifer has always possessed the ability to place her life essence in nearby animals. Rather than deal with what she witnessed, Ronan believes Jennifer jumped ship.

The first attempt to locate an animal possessing Jennifer’s essence was futile. It is discovered that the wolf she has raised since her early childhood possesses Jennifer’s essence. The group returns to the Chicago lake estate with Ronan and the wolf. They hope that by bringing the two together Jennifer will return to her own body.

Meanwhile, the rock band, The Immortals, arrive at Yankee Stadium for their New York performance. When the helicopter descends in front of the stage it is hit by a firework’s mortar and all hell breaks loose. Several more mortars are fired onto the stage and into the massive crowds of spectators. In all the confusion, Kathleen, a lifemate of one of the band members is kidnapped by the soldiers of Set’s army.

A national search for her is conducted by Guardians Incorporated; bulletins are posted on the World Wide Web and throughout the Vampire Nation. A phone call is received on the Guardian’s hot line from an unidentified caller. A male voice recites an address and hangs up. A well organized assault team from the Guardians New York office descends upon a rural farm house and discovers two, not one, lifemates being held prisoner. Kathleen is returned to her husband. The Immortals, after receiving injuries travel under the protection of G.I., to the lake estate just outside Chicago.

At the lake estate Jennifer awakes in her own body to discover she is now living in a whole new world; her soon to be ex-husband is gay, she meets her father for the first time and her best friend lives in the world of vampires. Suddenly, Jennifer is forced to mature and accept who and what she is. Her Selkie half leads her to discover that she is in love with Gabriel, the leader of G.I., and a vampire.

Gabriel is forced to confront his own repressed emotions. He has fallen in love with the tiny half Selkie, Jennifer. The passion and intimacy continue to rise between the two when it is discovered that Set’s forces are planning a full scale attack on the G.I. headquarters. Before Set’s army is able to implement their plan, assault teams led by the G.I. Ancients storm four of Set’s strongholds.

Gabriel is confronted by his old enemy Bagsu, one of Set’s Ancients, who he had previously killed. Two hundred years ago Bagsu was turned to dust when Gabriel severed his head from his body. Mysteriously, the ancient along with three others have returned from oblivion. Gabriel is critically injured in the confrontation with Bagsu.
During the conflict several breed warriors are killed and more are injured. One man is missing and believed to have been taken prisoner by Set’s forces.

Armstrong, now a prisoner of Bagsu and three other ancients, is being held captive in a house in Saint Paul. Enduring days of torture, he has revealed nothing to his enemy. He awakes no longer in the cell he has been in, but in a comfortable bed being hand fed blood by what he believes to be; a fellow soldier in arms. Bagsu felt that torturing Armstrong for the information he desired was a waste of time and tried a new
approach. He has assigned Alan Roberts to befriend him in an attempt to extract the information.

To regain the army’s strength, Bagsu divulges his plans. He orders his soldiers to stand down and leave the Guardians alone for the time being. Recruiting additional soldiers has become the top priority. New recruits are to be targeted from U.S. military instillations. An order is implemented to abduct female civilian lifemates because their blood carries a strength giving substance.

Gabriel recovers and during an intimate setting discovers that Jennifer is the reincarnation of his beloved Akhakh. While things are quiet on the warfront he asks Jennifer to not only be his lifemate but to marry him in a traditional human ceremony.
The guests and staff at the lake estate lend a hand to plan and execute a grand elaborate wedding ceremony. Two days later, Ronan walks his daughter down the isle in front of a crowd of over two hundred guests. They adjourn to their underground chamber after the wedding, where Jennifer at last becomes as his lifemate.

Author Bio:

  V.S. Nelson has always enjoyed reading stories with strong relationships and happy endings so it’s not surprising she found herself writing across the romance genre. Even her commercial fiction, Sins of a Man, the memoirs of a Mafia Hit man, is layered with romantic elements.
Landing in Arizona, after an exciting teaching career, which took her to the Middle East for several years, she lives in Arizona where she spend most of my time making love to her computer while writing, editing or researching, seven to ten hours a day. The days she’s not writing, you will find her with my critique partners at Starbucks, attending or presenting a workshop or at a RWA meeting.
Being a Native American woman and a Scorpio, she’s always had a fondness for history, mythology, the occult, and the unexplained events which have occurred on this world we call home. It was no wonder she found herself writing a paranormal series.
She enjoys hearing from readers, fans and people with similar interests. They are more than welcome to contact her through her website http://www.authorvsnelson.com


Author Links:

 http://www.authorvsnelson.com

http://authorvsnelson.com/blog

http://www.facebook.com/pages/VSNelson/152633848161794

 http://www.facebook.com/authorvsnelson

 http://www.facebook.com/SekhmetsGuardians

 http://arizonadreamin.wordpress.com/


Purchase Links:

Eternal Lovers – Paperback - http://tinyurl.com/b8ll29b

Eternal Lovers – Large Print - http://tinyurl.com/ae3u6lv

Eternal Lovers – Kindle - http://tinyurl.com/amvlphl



Excerpts:

BEGINNING CHAPTER EXCERPT:

Approximately 20 Years Ago
Rock Creek, California
Somewhere high in the Sierra Nevada Mountains
“DROP THAT NET NOW!”
Jennifer froze with her hands clutching the handle of the trout sized fish net still in the water. Woops. She knew she was in trouble, again.
She was warned repeatedly not to use her special abilities in public. Since she wasn’t around anyone else she didn’t think she would get caught. Guess, taking that short cut with her go fishing task wasn’t such a great idea after all. As soon as she got to the creek, she laid her fishing pole against the base of a pine tree, picked up the net, and willed the nearby trout to enter. She was about to lift the now heavy net out of the water when her grandfather approached her from behind.
She paused before turning around to face him, trying to think of a way she could explain her way out of this one. If she had just placed the pole in the water maybe it wouldn’t have looked so bad... but no, she was in a rush to finish her chores. Dumb move, Jennifer!
“Gramps, I....”
“Not a word,” her grandfather said, shutting her up. Glaring at her with narrowing eyes, he pointed towards the camp.
She tried to swallow the lump in her throat when it tightened with no luck, nodded then marched off in front of him towards the small camp. Her grandmother, the elderly medicine woman, was sitting by the campfire trying to keep warm when the two approached.
“Chenoa, you’re going to have to do something with her. One of these days she is going to use her abilities in the wrong place, at the wrong time--then where will she be?” barked her grandfather. It was obvious to her he was disgusted with her actions and with her. He picked up his fishing pole and headed back to the stream to catch the small family’s dinner.
Her grandmother looked up, shaking her head. Jennifer stood, hands folded together in front of her, her head slightly bowed staring at the ground. “What did you do now, little one?”

EXCERPT TAKEN FROM CHAPTER SIX
“Now, let’s start from the beginning, because heaven help me, I have no idea what just happened upstairs. All I know is, I was in the billiard room when Jennifer came running in, grabbed me and pulled me to the dance floor. She told me a wild story about being stalked by a pimp, describing you as her stalker… Then I look up and see your red eyes and fangs glaring at me… Can you explain any of this?”
“She called me a PIMP? A fucking PIMP? Of all things, a PIMP, I can’t believe she actually has the audacity to call me that.”
He sauntered across the room, paused then tipped up the bag. After draining it, he shook his head then turned back to him. “Really, a pimp?”
Raphael smiled and nodded yes.
He stomped over and threw the empty bag of blood in the trash can with so much force the impact turned the can over. He plopped himself into a chair while running his fingers through the top of is hair; mumbling to himself more than talking to Raphael. What had he done? And better yet why?
Raphael burst out in a roar of laughter.
Gabriel stood up, straightened his black Italian custom silk suit which had been tailored to fit his 6’8”, 280lb frame and glared back at him. “What is so fucking funny?”
“You… Gabe, my friend, look at your self. You’re a walking fucking disaster. Come on, lighten up. So the broad called you a pimp. Can’t you see the humor in it?”
“Not really.”

CHAPTER EIGHT EXCERPT

Gabriel woke late in the afternoon, long before the sun set. He’d had a restless night and what little sleep he received was intermittently interrupted by dreams of his life in ancient Egypt, followed by those piercing emerald green eyes he encountered the night before. As he brought himself to consciousness, he could taste her on his lips, even though he never kissed her. He could still smell her sweet essence, as if she was lying next to him. It was painfully evident he was sporting another rock hard erection.
Crap, what the hell is wrong with me? He had gone for years without the comforts of a female. Most of the time when he’d been with a woman it was merely out of necessity, not out of desire.
He couldn’t remember one who drove him to act so… so… so… how was he acting? Like a love sick teenage human boy who never had a piece of ass, that’s what he was acting like.
For fuck sake, Gabriel, get a grip!



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The Thirteenth by G.L. Twynham

Synopsis: 

Imagine starting at the end and finishing back at the beginning. This is the story of a teenage girl called Valerie Saunders who is about to be thrown through time and space. Being bestowed with abilities beyond her wildest nightmares, she discovers that she not only has to deal with turning eighteen, her first job and an unwanted tattoo, but also magical powers and intense urges to fall in love. She envisaged she would spend her life blending into the scenery, not blowing it up!
Val has a calling, but which side is dialling her number?

Review:


Have you ever thought things were certain? That the way your life was now is the way it's always going to be? Well I am sure Val Saunders thought the same way until her life changed.

Turning eighteen is tough enough for anyone, but turning that age and finding out things about yourself, that you never could have imagined is way more then Val can deal with.

But she finds a way to make it through, finds a way to manage to go on and do what she needs to do to survive.

This book captures your attention and leaves you hanging on every word, as you find yourself transported to another world where magic is everywhere.



Purchase Links:

Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/The-Thirteenth-Series-ebook/dp/B004MYFT8S/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1359765726&sr=1-1&keywords=g+l+twynham

 Amazon Audio Edition: http://www.amazon.com/The-Thirteenth/dp/B009P1A75S/ref=tmm_aud_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1359765726&sr=1-1

Amazon Print: http://www.amazon.com/The-Thirteenth-G-L-Twynham/dp/1907211136/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1359765726&sr=1-1

Other Purchase Links Can Be Found Here:

 http://www.thethirteenth.co.uk/buy_the_thirteenth.php

Author Bio:

Born in Wellingborough in 1972, Georgia was brought up with her two older brothers in a sleepy Leicestershire village until at the age of fifteen, her parents decided to move abroad, taking her with them. A new country and a new language helped her come out of her shell and for eleven years, she lived and worked on the beautiful island of Menorca.
Georgia wrote short stories and poetry from an early age but her real passion for writing didn’t truly emerge until she was 31. Writing for her own web site and articles for magazines helped to support her and her daughter. After meeting her now fiancé, she was given the encouragement and opportunity to write full-time and the rest is history.
Georgia felt there was a need for a strong British female heroine. She also wanted a main character that had a normal family, with problems that most teenagers/young adults in this country might be experiencing and could relate to. And so Val Saunders, daughter to Mike and Susan Saunders, was born.
Georgia spends time with her daughter in their home in Leicestershire and her life is filled with promoting her books, writing and walking her dog Milly, the Jack Russell.


Author Links:

Website: www.thethirteenth.co.uk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheThirteenthSeries
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GLTwynham
Blog: http://gltwynhamthethirteenth.blogspot.co.uk/

Excerpt:

Chapter 1

The Tattoo

A young woman stood alone looking up at the night sky, a cool breeze effortlessly caressing her slim frame as darkness closed around her. At long last it would be her turn to be part of something that had been her destiny since birth.
She moved on, passing the pond; she caught her reflection in the water and smiled. The time had arrived; the moon had reached the tops of the trees. On this particular evening, the shadows of the dense woods, mixed with the bruised sky made the adventure that lay ahead seem all the more exciting.
As she left the village behind and made her way into the woodland, her body filled with anticipation. She began to run.
Knowing instinctively where to go, she weaved like a needle in and out of the undergrowth, dodging the trees as if they were merely smoke trails rising in front of her.
She was moving swiftly when an unfamiliar sound suddenly stopped her dead in her tracks. A strange crackling in the air made every hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Something was very wrong. She span around, trying to find where it was coming from, but soon realized it was everywhere. Then, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped.
She had cautiously started to move forward again, when the silence was shattered once more by another wave of sound. In the confusion, her foot caught under a loose tree root, causing her to fall awkwardly into a pile of leaves. Before she had time to stand up, she heard violent screams coming from the distance. These weren’t joyful cries; the cries of pleasure and happiness she had been expecting. These turned her blood cold and left her paralyzed where she lay on the wet forest floor, her heart pounding.
After a few seconds, she gathered enough courage to slowly lift herself up and move forward again. She was suddenly very frightened, aware of the risk she was taking just by being there. She darted to an old oak tree, hiding for a moment in the shelter of its huge trunk.
Cautiously, she edged around it. Everything was quiet again so she leant the top half of her body out, to see if it was safe. In that split second a ball of light came towards her, travelling at amazing speed and growing as it came, until it seemed to be the size of a mountain.
When it hit her, its power engulfed her whole body and she was instantly lifted off the ground. She screamed helplessly as it raised her into the treetops.
Her ears filled with a piercing noise, like nothing she had ever heard before. Her whole body felt like it was burning up, yet still she kept rising and rising, until she was high above the trees.
Then the light and noise stopped as quickly and as it had started. Her upward flight came to a violent halt, and she began to fall. As she tumbled through the trees, the thick branches scratched aggressively at her clothes and face. The ground came towards her at terrifying speed. The scream that was struggling to escape her was silenced when she hit the ground with
tremendous force. Her body filled with pain, the taste of warm blood filled her mouth, and she slipped into


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Ever Winter by Alexia Purdy

Synopsis: 

Shade is left all but shattered. She must travel to the Ice kingdom along with her 'body guard' Dylan, who continues to be bound with a blood oath to her, where the holder of her magic dwells. Her only chance to right the warring Faerie lands to harmony will be to resist the enchantments of the Ice King, one of the Ancient rulers of Faerie, to regain her power and make it to the Summer Kingdom with her family to claim back her throne.

Only the Ancients of Faerie don't want her to succeed and there are treacheries in every crevice of the land, even among the human mortals and trusted alibis.


Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13271540-ever-winter

Author Bio:

Alexia currently lives in Las Vegas, Nevada–Sin City! She loves to spend every free moment writing or playing with her four rambunctious kids. Writing has always been her dream and she has been writing ever since she can remember. She loves writing paranormal fantasy and poetry and devours books daily. Alexia also enjoys watching movies, dancing, singing loudly in the car and Italian food.

Author Links:

Blog http://alexiaepurdy.blogspot.com/
Alexia Purdy’s Promo Helpers https://www.facebook.com/groups/532286533465754/
Alexia Purdy’s Facebook Fan Page https://www.facebook.com/AlexiaPurdyAuthor
Ever Shade (A Dark Faerie Tales) Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Dark-Faerie-Tale-Series-by-Alexia-Purdy/306272299403583
Goodreads Author Page http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5038699.Alexia_Purdy
Reign of Blood Facebook Fan Page https://www.facebook.com/RoBbooks
Twitter https://twitter.com/AlexiaPurdy

Excerpts:


THREE Excerpts from Ever Winter:


Excerpt #1
Shade’s ears rang from the darkling’s screech and she had the sudden urge to let go of Camulus and Brisa to cover them to make the shearing noise go away. She resisted, afraid she’d end up in some weird teleporting limbo if she dared disconnect from Camulus now. She endured the pain and felt Brisa trying to tug away from her too, probably also in torturous pain. The jaunt could not have ended sooner and she found the entire bunch writhing on the floor from the darkling’s searing call.

Shade followed suit, collapsing to the ground and grabbing at her ears. Moments passed before the relentless ring faded away, leaving them all breathing hard and sweating buckets. Shade pulled her arm away from her ear to grasp her other arm, which now was throbbing with a searing pain. Slowly opening her eyes as she breathed deeply in and out, she saw why her arm was hurting so much. A black spot where the darkling had touched her right before they had teleported away stood stark against the pale skin of her forearm. It sent spikes of pain radiating up her through her elbow, up her shoulder and into her chest. She gasped, gritting her teeth from the agony.

The others were now finally getting to their feet, some still dazed from the deafening screech. Dylan held his hands on his knees, crouched down as he shook it off his senses. Noticing that Shade was still on the ground, he hurried toward her and knelt down. She was grabbing her left arm and shaking uncontrollable, tears leaked from both her eyes and her face was screwed up in pain.

“Shade?” He pulled her up to sit against him but she could barely open her eyes to register him.

“It’s burning!” She gasped, clutching her arm against her chest, cradling it softy.

“What happened?”

“The darkling, it touched me before…before we left.” Shade tried to breathe the pain away, but it was winning and she wasn’t sure how long she would stay conscious. “What is this?”

“A darkling’s kiss.” Soap slid down to check out the wound. It was hot around the edges and the black spot wasn’t growing. Still, Shade grunted through the torturous agony. “When a darkling marks you, it dies. In death, its touch poisons your blood slowly until all of your blood turns black and you either become a darkling or…” he cleared his throat, looking solemn. “Or, you die. But it takes just a few days.”


Excerpt #2

“We have to take her out of here or she’ll die.” Corb stated, gritting his teeth at the Teleen warrior. “You have to come, though I’d prefer you stay here and rot.” He turned and whisked her away down the hall. Dylan followed close behind, afraid to lose sight of Shade forever.

The atrium was as before, with the enormous Great Oak Tree standing like a king in the middle of the room. Corb brought her to lie next to the great, metallic trunk of the tree and turned toward Dylan.

“You’ll have to be touching her at the same time as you ask the tree for sanctuary. Tell it where to go. Hurry!”

“Why can’t you?” He grabbed Shade’s fallen hand, feeling her shaking from the cold and her lips slowly turning an unsavory shade of blue.

“I’m an Ancient. There is no sanctuary for Ancients of Faerie. The tree is an ancient unto itself. I can ride along with you, but I cannot make the request.” He motioned Dylan, looking more desperate as the moments ticked by.

Dylan frowned, grasping her hand even tighter and watched Corb grab her other hand. He didn’t like it, but he had to get her to a healer quickly. Pressing his fingers to the cool, steely bark of the Great Oak, he squeezed his eyes shut. “Take us to sanctuary, Great Oak Tree. Take us home, swiftly as you may.”



Excerpt #3

“Open the door, Stanis,” Shade hissed. “We’re through here.”

“Just a minute, princess. I have bone to pick with you.” He tapped the wall and moved so fast, only a blur appeared where he had stood. He was in the kitchen now and pulled out a small, blue glass bowl. Bringing it to her, he held it out toward Shade, pushing her to take it. When she did, he resumed his position on the creaky chair, motioning her to sit back on the couch. “Please, sit.”

“I’d rather stand.”

He groaned, rolling his head on his shoulders, his long brown hair spilled over the back of the chair as he did that. He looked like a drunk slumped in the chair, almost falling off the edge.

“Suite yourself, changeling. But I highly suggest you sit. There are more ways than one to use magic, even bound up as you are.” His wild eyes seemed more sober now and she felt a sudden urge to sit as told. The suspicion she felt that he was using magic on her was eating at her nerves. She hated being played, and he seemed a master at that.

“What do you mean, more ways?” She settled between Soap and Dylan and held the bowl out. It was small enough to fit in her palm.

“This is a Pith. It extracts your essence, therefore, your powers are given a release through this bowl. Even in your case, one’s powers cannot be completely contained, as one can never truly trap a mind. This Pith provides another route, another path for your magic to escape your body and work its powers. We’re only trapped by the binds we allow to be placed upon ourselves. This breaks through that. It will let you use your water magic, as if you’d never been bound.”

The others gasped, staring in wonderment at the ordinary blue glass bowl sitting in her palm. It seemed utterly mundane, no etchings on its hard surface, nothing to condone its powerful use. She wondered if he was pulling her leg or not. But it was worth a try.

“One drop into the bowl, Shade. That’s all it takes.” He gestured quickly, to make her move faster. She gulped, mesmerized by the glass. She silently prayed that it would work, if not, they were doomed. No, she was doomed.

Cover Reveal: Scarlet Night by Megan J Parker

Synopsis:
 
Zane’s horrific past is forever etched into his skin.
His anger and pain overcome his body and turns him into the beast he’s come to accept himself as. But, is there a way to save himself from the beast he has become?
Especially when the anger makes him feel complete…

 Serena can’t let go of the past, and, in the spectral embrace of her murdered lover, Devon, she has little reason to...

Until Zane arrives on her doorstep (and blows it into splinters).
However, she can’t deny the true desire she feels in Zane’s strong embrace. Will she be able to resist Zane’s mysterious allure, despite her own budding passion?
Especially when the passion makes her feel complete…

As their personal pasts continue to haunt them, the future for them and their clan grows evermore in jeopardy of the malicious schemes of a familiar force.

Can an untamable beauty finally submit to her destiny, and can a slaughterous beast be swayed of its catastrophic nature?

Or will the lover and the fighter be doomed to lose themselves amidst the chaos?
Now for the cover reveal....

Excerpt:

Neither of them deterred, the darted through the bits of wood with their fists balled and ready. Two punches landed simultaneously and room slipped back into normal time as the two were knocked out of overdrive and across the room until they came crashing down onto the unforgiving hardwood floor.

Zane groaned and rolled to his knees, struggling to stand up and, when he’d finally gotten to his feet, grabbing his shoulder in pain. Wincing from the contact, he glanced at the floor and let out a heavy sigh at the sight of the massive crack that he’d put there when he’d fallen; two perfect indents showing where his back and shoulders and broken through.

He silently thanked Gregori for his vast wealth and the assurance that the damage would be easily repaired.

The sound of metal straining caught his attention and he looked towards opposite side of the room in time to see the one of the weapon racks—loaded with a series of Oriental swords and daggers and cracked in half down the middle from Serena’s fall—start to come unhinged. As he watched the collection of weapons start to shift, he watched as a short sword slipped free and stabbed into the floor several inches from Serena’s head.
And the rest were sure to follow!

Growling, he fought through his own pain and dizziness and rushed towards her, pushing his already-drained body into overdrive and struggling to maintain the superhuman speed as the room slowed around him long enough for him to snatch her body from the floor and hurling them both out of range of the slew of razor-sharpness that rained down behind them.

Zane groaned and blinked against his worn-out body’s blurring vision and saw Serena below him; pinned to the floor by his body.
Biting his lip at the compromising position, he hurried to pull himself off of her, hoping that she hadn’t gotten the wrong idea or done any damage in falling on top of her. The sound of another crash reverberated in Zane’s ears and he gritted his teeth as a second wave of falling weapons rang out and startled Serena into an upright position; holding her chest and coughing as she tried to catch her breath.
Zane sighed; at least she was safe.

He dropped his head to look at her, she was breathing softly and her chest lifted and fell in slow breaths. He chewed his lip as he realized he was staring at her chest still and turned his attention to her face. Her dark bluish-purple gaze was pulled into his and he frowned, realizing he’d been caught. She smirked and licked her lips. Realizing he was being teased, Zane looked away and growled.
“Like what you see?” She smirked.

Not interested yet??  Check out this review on it by Crystal Barnard:

Review: 

 The first book you have to read is The Lover, it introduces you to 2 of the, main characters Serena(a vampire) and Devon(a human/you’ll see). These two are in love when tragedy strikes. Enter Zane, a sexy vampire/beast who was sent to bring Serena home after her fathers death.
But nothing seems to go easy. The story follows them through getting home, denying feelings, a pissy ghost, a jerk brother and more……lol I found it very entertaining. The sarcasm and smart assed comments between Serena and Zane had me laughing my ass off. I very quickly came to NOT like Keith, and got tired of Devon’s presence.

I was very impressed with the story, it was written so well that it pulled me in without even realizing it. One minute it was just a story and the next I am in tears over something, yes, literal tears. It was easy to familiarize myself with the characters that’s how much the writer pulls you in with her words.
I would HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who likes vampires, beasts, drama, romance, fighting, and sarcasm dripping fast…lol I myself cannot wait for more, I just hope it’s not to long.

Review and Interview on Crimson Shadow: Noir

 Reblogged from writer Christoph Fisher

Review of Noir:

“Noir” by Nathan Squiers is the first in his Crimson Shadow series. It concerns Xander, a boy who gets bullied at school and who lives with his grandmother. The only good friend he has is a voice in his head, yet that voice cannot protect him from his enemies either.

Then one day he gets rescued by a group of vampires, the Odin Clan, and becomes part of their community, a rare type of vampires who are feeding from blood and from personal power. He receives training and enters into battle against their enemies.

This is as much a vampire tale as it is symbolic for the struggle for personal power and good use for it. Having been a victim has changed Xander and makes him an unlikely candidate to join “bad” creatures. His feelings of rage need to be contained – there is a sensei/ teacher in Xanders training who helps him with these struggles.

Very well written and perfectly paced the author has given us a great read and a skilfully developed character in Xander. I will say that this type of story about supernatural powers and the struggle for personal control and self-discipline has been done many times before but this is one of the few times where I actually bought it, cared for the characters and started to understand why it has the following it has. Incredibly well done! 

Interview with Nathan:

-Nathan, how did you come to writing?

I’d always been interested in storytelling. As a kid, even before I knew how to write, I was always drawing pictures in crayons based on stories in my mind or intricately enacting scenes and adventures with my action figures. As the years passed my interest in creating stories only grew, and the introduction of writing just sort of got assimilated with the other methods I used. As my more “childish” activities (donning costumes and running around the neighbourhood pretending to be a superhero or dipping into an overflowing bin of toys to create some grand new heroic battle) have dwindled, writing has simply survived and prospered with a growing wealth of vocabulary and ideas.

-What would you say exactly is your preferred genre and why have you chosen it? Is that the type of books you read as well?

If I had to funnel it down to only one genre I’d say it’d be psychological dark urban fantasy. Most of my work is set in a realm of fiction that my fiancé and I co-created through several years of research, and, aside from the customized creature-types, I’ve always defined my style as being very emotionally driven; not one of my stories ever being so simple as to have solely one conflict and, for the most part, incorporates an equally (if not more) threatening struggle with oneself as well as whatever external force they’re up against.
This, however, is not the only thing I write (I’ve even been known to write non-fiction/articles lol), and, that being the case, I don’t restrict my reading lists to that genre, either. While I DO enjoy it, I’m also partial to well-structured romance, mystery, and even philosophy books.

-You write short stories as well as novels, some of which are connected. Can you explain that concept a little?

I’ve always been a REALLY big comic book geek, and, for as long as I can remember, the concept of a single universe (such as Marvel or DC) having all of these wonderful characters who are unique and intriguing and, above all, able to cross paths with each other was FASCINATING. To me, a single story can encompass a specific character’s (or characters’) struggles, but they aren’t the only ones worth focusing on and, while they’re story is being told, the probability that others are in their own adventures is vast and often unseen. I like to approach all projects with a mind of “how does THIS fit into EVERYTHING, and where can THIS character influence THOSE characters down the line?”
My father would call it “having too much time on my hands”, my philosophy professors would call it “the ripple effect”, but I just call it “the mythos universe”.

-When did you first have the idea for this book/ series?

When I was about 14 or 15, I was DEEPLY troubled and depressed. At that time, I was certain that I wouldn’t last too much longer; every day serving as a haunting thought of “is today the day I kill myself?”
When I first sat down to write Xander Stryker’s story, it was planned to be a testament to my feelings at that time (a sort of “creative suicide letter”). However, what was supposed to be a short story about a tortured young man’s suicidal rituals ended up becoming something of intrigue for me, and I found myself driven to write more and more of Xander’s story. After a while I became less interested in seeing Xander die and more interested in trying to make him overcome his troubles—to find the strength that I felt I didn’t have and overcome it all—and, in struggling to create a character who wanted to live, I started to want to live. Eventually, by the time I was finished with the piece that would later become “Noir”, book #1 of the Crimson Shadow series, I had, in essence, cured myself of my suicidal tendencies.

-How long did it take you to write?

“Noir”, because of all the personal elements laced throughout it—personal elements that gave me multiple anxiety attacks and landed me in the hospital about five times a year for the entire duration of writing it—took me about five years to write. The subsequent books, however, have taken substantially less time (book two taking two years and my more recent piece, “Curtain Call: A Death Metal Novel”, only taking me eight weeks from start-to-finish).

-How many rewrites did it take you?

Far more than I’m brave enough to guess lol

-How do you write? What is your writing environment like?

Location isn’t really a factor for me when it comes to writing. If I can sit down with my computer and listen to my music, then I’m pretty much good to go (having something to drink and nibble on certainly keeps me from being interrupted by those needs).

-Your fiancé is a writer, too. What kind of books does she write and how should we imagine a household of two writers? IS there ever a competition between you? Is there tension when one of you has a writer’s block? Do you ever have that – either of you?

My fiancé, Megan J. Parker, has always been a talented writer, but she’d always preferred writing poetry. Over the years, she had begun A LOT of “Chapter One”s, but these openings never went much farther than that. After “Crimson Shadow: Noir” was accepted for publication and I started to get acquainted with names in the community, I started to become aware of calls for submissions. One of which, for an anthology of short stories, looked like something that might offer Megan a chance to dust off one of her first chapter/shorts and see what people thought.

Unsurprisingly (for me, at least), people LOVED her work and it wasn’t long until the publisher we were with asked if she could submit the novel attached to that “Chapter One”. Motivated by this, she wrote the rest of the book (a paranormal/dark urban fantasy romance set in the same universe—a universe that she had just as much of a hand in creating as I did—as all of my own but featuring a new cast of characters) and unleashed it onto the world.

Like the mythology, however, we don’t feel competitive between what “belongs” to whom. She has a constant influence in the nature of my work just as I, in turn, have my own influence on hers, so there’s never a moment of competition because, for us, it represents something that we both had at least some hand in as well as being the product of a lover’s imagination (I have to imagine it’s no different than a couple with one writer—the non-writer doesn’t feel challenged or threatened by their lover’s work—but, in this case, we get to play both roles to the other). Beyond that, when writers block strikes, it’s nice to have a fellow literary mind sitting beside you to fall back on.

-Who are your editors and how do you quality control your books?

I recently met a wonderful woman named Kristina Gehring with an eye for editing that’s as sharp as I’ve ever seen. Her ability to spot anything—and I do mean anything—that doesn’t look/sound right in a manuscript is nearly outside of my realm of belief (and anybody who knows the sort of stuff I’m willing to believe would understand that to be IMMENSE). Because her standard for quality is equal to the standard I set for my own work, by the time I’ve done my personal comb-through & edits on a finished piece and gotten it sent off to her, I’m nothing short of 100% confident that any alterations I’m suggested will be EXACTLY what’s needed to make the piece golden!

-Who are your favourite authors / influences?

Favorite authors:
• Rob Thurman
• Nancy A. Collins
• Stephen King
• Clive Barker
• Anton LaVey
• Steve Niles
• (too many more to list)
Biggest influencers:
• Guillermo del Toro (filmmaker)
• Stan “The Man” Lee (Marvel Comics legend)
• Mike Mignola (writer/illustrator of Hellboy)
• The Wachowski siblings (creators & directors of The Matrix)
• Marilyn Manson (musician)
• William Control (aka – William Francis/musician)
• (and many, many more)

-Who would play your characters in a movie?

I recently saw a movie called “We Need to Talk About Kevin” about an incredibly troubled young man played by Erza Miller. Throughout the entire movie, subtle nuances in Miller’s performances and his overall appearance kept making me think of Xander, and I think if you were to slap a pair of black & white revolvers in his hands and give him a set of fangs he’d fit the bill pretty well.

-What are your next projects and where would we be able to hear about them?

Since starting up Tiger Dynasty Publishing, a lot of my focus has gone towards re-releasing my previous titles along with the titles of some phenomenal authors I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in my adventures. Obviously the continuation of the Crimson Shadow and Death Metal series are a priority of mine, and down the line we’re going to be releasing comic books, so a number of my original scripts will finally have a face and be available. Information on these (and other) projects can be seen on my official author site, http://www.nathansquiers.com or on my Facebook page People can also learn more by following my Twitter (username @LitDark_Emperor).

OFFICIAL author site: http://www.nathansquiers.com
OFFICIAL FB author page: https://www.facebook.com/Nathan.Squiers
The Legion (“fan” page) on FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Legion-of-Nathan-Squiers/329543403767153?fref=ts
OFFICIAL Crimson Shadow FB page: https://www.facebook.com/CrimsonShadow.Legacy
OFFICIAL Death Metal FB page: https://www.facebook.com/DeathMetal.NovelSeries
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LitDark_Emperor
“A Howl at the Moon” (cover art attached to this email) on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/A-Howl-at-Moon-ebook/dp/B00BFF7ZX4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361432567&sr=8-1&keywords=Nathan+Squiers+Howl+at+the+Moon