Monday, March 5, 2018

SALE! THE THORNLESS ROSE by Morgan O'Neill

The Thornless Rose
by Morgan O'Neill

Book One of the
Elizabethan Time Travel Trilogy

Date of Publication: April 2017
Publisher: Time's Arrow Productions
Page Count: 415

MARCH 5-12 ONLY. GET YOURS AT - 
 Amazon Sale .99 US/UK

About the Book:
What happened to Dr. Jonathan Brandon, a dashing RAF flight surgeon, who disappeared from London in 1945? Kidnapping? Murder? Or did Brandon merely vanish of his own free will, seeking another life? American teacher Anne Howard is stunned by a different explanation―that her British grandmother’s long-lost fiancĂ© was unwillingly wrenched back through time, to Elizabethan England. Anne knows time travel is nonsense―until she is handed a fresh-cut thornless rose, a bloom extinct for over four hundred years! And then, when the impossible happens and Anne journeys back to 1560 London, she must somehow survive encounters with royal enemies, accusations of witchcraft and the possibility of never returning home. In the midst of the chaos, she meets Brandon. Drawn into the perilous web of Elizabethan court life, they must confront their growing feelings for each other, complicated by poignant familial ties, while struggling with the shared danger of knowing what the future holds.

And don't miss the other two books in the series!

The Prequel: Begun by Time

In the final days of World War II, Catherine Hastings meets the man she wants to marry. Flight surgeon Jonathan Brandon isn't just handsome―he's everything Catherine could hope for in her betrothed. But her dream of a happily ever after is shattered when Jonnie vanishes before their wedding, leaving Catherine bereft, broken-hearted, and with a lifetime of unanswered questions.
Arthur Howard is smitten with the lovely Catherine the moment he sees her. He's certain he's found the woman he wants to marry. Yet behind Catherine's sparkling green eyes is a haunted look―the look of a woman who has known loss. Can he love a woman who still grieves the loss of her fiancĂ©? Arthur must find answers to the mystery surrounding the man Catherine intended to marry. What he discovers is a truth far stranger than fiction.






And the edge-of-your-seat finale: Ever Crave the Rose

London 2014―Catherine Howard stumbles upon the tomb of her granddaughter, Anne Howard Brandon, who'd been swept back through time. Horrorstruck, she discovers Anne was murdered in the year 1562. Elizabethan England 1562―Dr. Jonathan Brandon, Anne's husband, pens a desperate message to Catherine, which gives the details of his wife's kidnapping and murder, and the plea to "find a way to undo this!"
Upon discovering the ancient letter, Catherine calls on a time-traveling priest, Father Daniel, to rescue her precious granddaughter. But journeying back to the sixteenth century is a dangerous undertaking, the life and death risks sobering and real. Will Daniel survive? Can anyone thwart the evil that threatens Anne, or is the timeline immutable, her fate sealed? Daniel calls upon the forces of heaven and earth―including a secret Vatican society of time travelers―to aid in this quest. Will they be able to help? Can they change the course of history? Will time rewind?


About Morgan O'Neill:


A chance meeting at a writers' conference brought Cary Morgan and Deborah O'Neill Cordes together, two award-winning authors who connected because of a mutual love of time travel fiction. Collaboration ensued, the search for a pen name the first step in their working relationship. Their maiden names provided the solution - and "Morgan O'Neill" was born. 

Cary and Deborah's backgrounds are uniquely suited to writing stories steeped in atmosphere and history: Deborah has a master's degree in history and is a dedicated genealogist; Cary is a talented linguist in French and is currently a student of Latin. They've traveled to Europe's ancient and medieval sites many times, with Cary living on the Continent for five years. 

The Morgan O'Neill time travel novels have received a number of literary awards, including two finalist wins in the Booksellers' Best Awards, two semifinalist wins in the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition, first, second, and third place wins for the Mainstream Novel with Strong Romantic Elements category of the Golden Rose Contest, a top ten finalist award in the Pacific Northwest Writers' Conference Zola Awards Literary Contest, and a top ten finalist win in the Orange Rose Contest.


Website

Monday, February 12, 2018

Do Not Miss This! Review of Can You See Me by Joanna Lloyd

Can You See Me
by Joanna Lloyd


Publication Date: Jan 30, 2018
Amazon Digital


About the Book:

Layla Danforth’s is a charmed life.

Until the morning it all goes up in smoke. Literally. A mysterious fire consumes her home, her body and her memory; and changes her life irrevocably. The once beautiful, vivacious Layla is now a pitiful creature with a wretched twist of a face. Her high flying corporate career is unravelling and her boyfriend recoils at her touch.


Bent on obliterating this Halloween version of herself, Layla haunts a dark, soulless bar, patronised by the rejects and misfits of Sydney. Characters she would have once crossed the road to avoid; characters who invade her psyche and break down the beliefs and prejudices that ruled her existence. In the half-reality of The Black Hole bar, the obese barman, Clyde Campbell, serves up a comforting brand of psychology with his drinks, and begins to soften Layla’s self-loathing.


But there is still the issue of her lost memory, and as it returns, so do the horrific details of the fire. A truth so shocking, it threatens to destroy the very foundations of all that went before.


Amazon 

My Review: 

Flawless.

Ms. Lloyd never, ever disappoints. Can You See Me is a powerful portrait of human nature – with all its flaw and triumphs – from the very first moment. Her characters are complex, well-drawn, and interesting; the pathos, compassion, and insight rich beyond words.

If you read the blurb and wonder if the theme might be too much, fear not. Deep though the subject is, it is handled with so much dexterity, humor, and clarity, you will be forever glad you took the ride. So then, are you ready for some self-searching? Yea or Ney, you will get it here, unless, that is, you have a heart of stone. But never fear, you will search with joy, understanding, and even cheer-leading.

As with all of Ms. Lloyd’s writing, the prose is fluid and captivating. This is a page-turner, not due to suspense, but due to intellectual captivation.

The images of horror and despair, of determination and triumph, are wonderfully wrought and moving, and will linger in my mind as a standard by which I hope to pattern my life.


Extremely well done. 

About the Author:



Joanna Lloyd was born in Papua New Guinea and attended boarding school in Sydney, Australia. With a background in Psychology, she trained to be a mediator and conducted workplace and family law mediations for many years. After muscular dystrophy caused her to be wheelchair bound, she transferred her fascination with human behaviour from real people to the written word. She now lives and writes in tropical Far North Queensland, Australia - her version of paradise.

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