Monday, March 27, 2017

Release Day - Building Celebration House by Annette Drake

Building Celebration House
The Celebration House Trilogy
Volume 1
Annette Drake


Genre: Women’s fiction/paranormal romance
Publisher: Baskethound Books
Number of pages: 234
Cover Artist: Elizabeth Mackey

How can she plan a future with a man who has only a past?

About the Book:

Carrie Hansen spent her life caring for cardiac patients. Little did she know she would become a patient herself.

After recovering from her own heart surgery, she learns she has a special talent: the ability to see and talk with the dead.

Now, with her health failing, she leaves the bustle of Seattle behind and returns to Lexington, Missouri, the small town where she spent her childhood. Here, she sets out to restore an abandoned antebellum mansion and open it as a venue for celebrations.

Carrie’s unique gift allows her to build relationships with the mansion’s ghostly occupants, especially Major Tom Gentry, the handsome Civil War soldier who died 100 years before Carrie was born. He encourages and comforts her, though not in the physical way they both desire.

Will Carrie finish restoring the celebration house or will it finish her? And how can she plan a future with a man who has only a past?


Amazon  | Nook  | Kobo  | Smashwords

Excerpt:

When Carrie opened the door and stepped inside, sunlight streamed in through the dirty windows. Even though the barn had been vacant for years, the air smelled of hay and horses.
Looking to her left, she saw a man shaving. He’d glanced up when Carrie opened the doors, but returned his gaze to the small mirror tacked to the wooden beam. He was bare from the waist up. His chest was lean and muscular, with dark brown hair from mid-chest to his waistline. His arms were powerfully built, and his right hand was steady as he scraped the white soap from his angular jaw with a razor. His dark blue uniform pants with gold braid down the side were tucked into knee-high black leather boots. He stood at least six feet tall, and though Carrie hadn’t made her living in the carnival, she guessed he was probably younger than her, likely in his mid to late twenties. He peered at the small mirror, tilting his chin to swipe away the shaving soap. Carrie waited to speak until after he’d finished with the ivory-handled straight blade and dipped it into the basin of soapy water.
“Good morning,” she said.
His expression was an equal mix of surprise and annoyance. He dropped the razor and grabbed his shirt off a nearby nail. He turned his back to Carrie and pulled it on.
“You can see me, madam?” he asked, buttoning his shirt and stuffing it into his pants.
“Yes. Can you see me?”
“I can, but I believe I have the advantage. I’m dead. You are not.” He turned and glared at her. His eyebrows furrowed as though he wasn’t quite sure how they’d arrived at the point of introductions.
“I’m sorry to intrude. I’m Carrie. Carrie Hansen.” She extended her hand.
He reached to shake her hand, but his fingers passed through hers. They both jerked back.
“I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to intrude,” she said.
“You surprised me. That’s all. We seldom receive visitors, especially living ones who can see us.” He put on his blue uniform coat and fastened the long row of brass buttons. “I’m Major Thomas Gentry, at your service.” He bowed.
“I’m sorry I startled you. I sometimes forget ghosts aren’t accustomed to being seen.”
His eyes narrowed and he frowned. “How may I be of service to you, Miss Hansen?”
“Where can I find Colonel Stratton? I need to speak with him.”
His dark blue eyes showed his increasing puzzlement. “The living do not go looking for Colonel Stratton. What business have you with him?”
“I bought this house, and I intend to live here.”
“You bought Stratton House?”
“And I need to speak with the colonel.”
Major Gentry shook his head as though to sort through the details. “Please forgive me. You bought Stratton House, you intend to live here, and you wish to speak with the home’s proprietor, Colonel Stratton?”
“I thought we’d covered that,” she said. “You don’t get many visitors, do you?”

About the Author:



Annette Drake is a multi-genre author whose work is character-driven and celebrates the law of unintended consequences.

She makes her home in Washington state. A member of the Romance Writers of America, she loves ferry rides, basset hounds and bakeries. She does not camp.

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads 


Tour Giveaway:
$10 Amazon Gift 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, March 20, 2017

Release Day for The Eyewitness by Nancy Weeks

The Eyewitness
Nancy Weeks

Release Date: March 20.2017
Publisher: Crimson Romance

About The Eyewitness


Fans of TV’s Blue Bloods will love this dynamic new suspense series.
Maryland PD forensic scientist Emersyn D’Azzo has an explosive past with her father’s younger, sexy partner, Detective Alec Pearce. Then an ill-timed kiss destroys the thin line of trust between her and her dad, just before tragedy strikes and someone guns down her father.
The fatal bullet turns out to be tied to the ongoing spree of random sniper kills across the state, but Emersyn knows this wasn’t a random act of violence and is determined to find the killer. 
To do so, she’ll need to rely on help from Alec, whom she doesn’t quite trust but just can’t resist. When they discover a connection to a decades-old disappearance of a college student, their investigation takes a deadly twist. Can they learn to trust each other with their hearts to save their lives?


Excerpt:

Ted edged in closer. “You can take a few moments for one dance.” He eyed Tessa. “You don’t mind if I borrow your sister, do you?”
“But I do.”
The deep, masculine voice sent an arousing jolt right into Emersyn’s core. And damn it to hell, her mouth went dry, making it impossible to swallow. She fingered her straw then took a deep drink. This time she welcomed the burning chill against her lungs. Detective Alec Pearce had a knack for showing up at her worst moments. Why the hell was he here?
Ted moved away from her as if he’d been burned. “Alec, good to see you.”
“You do know you’re hitting on my partner’s daughter, right, Ted?”
“Just asking her for a dance.”
Emersyn glanced between the two; she actually preferred Ted’s company to the man who seemed to go out of his way to make her crazy.
Alec reached for her hand and set it in his palm. “Actually, she promised this dance to me. They’re playing our song.”
The muscles in her body tensed as her fingernails dug into his skin. “I don’t—”
“Music is on, Em. Shall we?” His other hand went around her waist, and he gave her a swift yank.
“Jerkball, let go,” she hissed in his ear.
His grip tightened. “It’s just one dance. Play nice.”
Alec escorted Emersyn to the small dance floor near the bandstand. Every instinct in her wanted to slap his arrogant expression right into next week, but that would make a scene. It was what half the bar expected the instant he got within striking distance. They were all waiting for her to let loose. But this was a new day, a new diploma, new job, new Emersyn. Emotions in check.
“My name is Emersyn. I would think you would remember something so simple.”
Alec’s face lit with a grin as his arms brought her close and their bodies began to move to the music. She shot a glare at Tessa, pleading for her to do something. Instead, her sister, the traitor, took another sip of Emersyn’s drink, lifted it in a toast, and rotated in her seat.
A chuckle came from deep in Alec’s throat. “Tessa likes me. You can thank me now.”
“I can also knee you where the sun doesn’t shine.”
He lifted her chin with his thumb. “Now that wasn’t nice. I sacrificed a night with that blonde”—he nodded to a beautiful woman sitting at the end of the bar—“just to keep Lecher Ted from hitting on you … again.”
“What makes you think I needed rescuing?”
“Oh please, Tessa, make the creep go away. I’m ever so sweet and don’t want to hurt the poor jerk’s feelings.”
She yanked out of Alec’s hold, but he was ready and moved her back into his arms without missing a beat.
“Relax. I’m teasing.”
“You are such an ass.”
His lips brushed over her ear. “Enjoy our moment, Em.”
Impossible. They had more layers of misunderstanding between them than her mother’s chocolate cake, heated words that couldn’t be unheard and arguments with no closure.
After her father had mentioned at dinner that Alec was joining them for dessert, she’d jumped at Tessa’s offer to buy her a drink at the tavern. It was the perfect place to hide out. A lone wolf like Alec wouldn’t be caught dead in the crowded, noisy bar. But here he was. She’d run but not far enough.
“I’m sorry I missed your graduation ceremony, but I have a little something for you,” he whispered.
“You didn’t need to do that.”
“I’m proud of you.”
The words sounded so genuine. “Dad seems resigned to the idea of me at least working alongside cops, if not as a cop.”
“Joe doesn’t want you anywhere near the job. But you found a way around that. Instead of crawling in the gutter looking for the worst mankind has to offer, you’re picking through what they left behind.”
She halted in the middle of the dance floor. “You think that’s why I became a forensic scientist?”
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Then what did you mean?”
The music stopped, and they stood still, glaring at each other. Our thing. “I can’t do this tonight,” she said, dropping her hand to her sides. “Thanks.”
“For?”
“Saving me from another go-around with Ted.”
“Do you want me to talk to him?”
“I can take care of myself.”
For once, there was no comeback. Instead, he eased her against him and tucked her hand over his heart. “Dance with me, Emersyn.”
That sexy, got-to-have-you-now voice was back, and her other four senses came out to play. Being close to Alec Pearce, taking in his spicy, clean soap scent, feeling the strength of his arms around her wasn’t an awful feeling. Confusing? Hell yes, but her body sure enjoyed it. It’s just a dance, right?
She lowered one hand to his hip and brought the other around his neck, her cheek resting against his. Alec tightened his grip around her waist as he spun them around the dance floor. The move put their bodies in sync, and there was no mistaking the effect she had on him. Her lips brushed against his skin, sending shock waves through her.

He sucked in a breath and tilted his head. Their gazes held for what seemed like an eternity. He was so damn gorgeous, his deep brown eyes with a hint of gold, lush lashes, and a dusting of five-o’clock shadow on his square jaw that she ached to feel rubbed against all her soft places. As if he read her mind, his mouth caressed her bottom lip. He waited, expecting her to pull back. Need took over, and she lost her mind.

Readers are already talking about the The Eyewitness. 

From Goodreads:

"This is an intense story, heavy on the suspense and the romance. Emersyn and Alec are circling each other for the entire book, each with strong personalities and past issues with trust and forgiveness. And even when they start to come together, to give into the chemistry, Weeks does an excellent job at keeping them true to their characters and personalities. She set the stage for their back-and-forth on the first page and it never let up. As they tracked down clues and secrets and tried to figure out who the sniper is, Weeks managed to keep me on the edge of my seat trying to sort it out with them. I can't wait for Tessa and Nathan's stories! 

I was given a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review."
~~~
About the Author:

Nancy C. Weeks has loved happy-ever-after romances since her early teens. While still in college, she met and married her hero. She spent the next several years honeymooning and working overseas. Today, she lives in suburban Maryland with her husband of more than thirty years. With her two grown children out of the nest, she enjoys spending her days writing suspenseful happily-ever-after adventures outside on the deck as the local bird population keeps her company. When she is not writing, Nancy loves to blog about fascinating people, both real and fictional. The one quote that kept her dream alive:
Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

~Thomas Edison~

Author Contacts:

Website | Newsletter | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest | Nancy's Corner

Giveaway!
ANY DIGITAL COPY FROM MY BACKLIST TO ONE LUCKY VIEWER WHO LEAVES A QUESTION OR COMMENT!


Monday, March 13, 2017

A pair of MUST reads for any Tudor Enthusiast ~ by author JoAnn Spears

Six of One:
A Tudor Riff
JoAnn Spears




About the Book:
“Six of One” is the ultimate ‘girls’ night in’…with the six wives of Henry VIII. It’s the most fun you can have with your nightdress on! Join Dolly, the Tudor-obsessed heroine of “Six of One”, on a Yellow Brick Road journey to the alternate reality of an all-girl Tudor court.

It all begins when Dolly loses consciousness on the eve of her marriage to the six-times- divorced Harry. She awakens in the company of the Tudor women she’s studied all her life. They have a mission to accomplish, and Dolly may be just the girl who can help them do it.

As a warm-up to her life-changing interview with the six wives of Henry VIII, Dolly gets to dish with lots of the other fascinating females of the Tudor era. She learns things she never guessed about the Princes in the Tower from their sister, Elizabeth of York…Henry VIII’s mom. She talks sex with Henry’s sisters and scholarship with his daughters. She even gossips with the help, since Kat Ashley and Bess of Hardwicke are among the ladies on hand.

Of course the heart of the story is in Dolly’s interview with the six wives of Henry VIII. It turns out there’s something to each of the wives’ stories that’s been held back all this time. You won’t believe what really happened…or will you?

“Six of One” offers no tragedy, no excuses, and no apologies. It does have lots of broad humor, not to mention tons of puns. And—for a change—a happy ending.

"The novel is an enthusiastic, well-researched, fictional account of what happened to the infamous wives of Henry VIII." Kirkus Indie Review


Amazon

Seven Will Out:
A Renaissance Revel
JoAnn Spears

About the Book:
If you thought "Six of One: A Tudor Riff" was the most fun you could have with your nightdress on, wait until you see what "Seven Will Out: A Renaissance Revel" has in store for Tudors fans and Shakespeare and Marlowe conspiracy theorists.  Get ready for one 'ruff' night!

Tudorphile Dolly thought that the night she spent on an astral plane with Henry VIII's six wives, learning their heretofore unknown secrets, was a one-time thing. Not so! In "Seven Will Out", Dolly finds herself back in the ether with the women of later Tudor times: Elizabeth I, 'Bloody' Mary, Bess of Hardwick, Mary, Queen of Scots, and Anne Hathaway Shakespeare, to name a few. They too have secrets that will turn history on its head, and comic sass that will keep you laughing. And if that isn't enough, there is even a cameo appearance by Anne Boleyn.

You've read all of the traditional, serious and romantic takes on the legendary characters of the English Renaissance. Why not try your Tudors and your Shakespeare with a new and different twist?


Amazon

My Reviews:
Six ~ My head is exploding with rockets of awe and reverence and delight. As soon as I read the book blurb my fingers were so firmly crossed I worried circulation would be cut off. Could she pull it off, this JoAnn Spears? I mean, I LOVE Tudor history. I’ve read and studied those crazy folk all of my life, and it was my dearest hope…
The answer is YES! In spades YES! This story is a tour de force (farce??).
Now, I adore my Kindle, and through it books come and go, and once in a while, memories remain. But when I come across a book that literally (almost) blows my mind, I get online and buy the physical version, for I must have it with me, like a very dear friend, for the rest of my life. I wasn’t half way through Six of One before I had a paperback winging its way to my door.
Some of you may recall O Brother Where Art Thou?, a comedic re-telling of The Odyssey by Homer, in which Odysseus spends ten years trying to get back home after the Trojan War. George Clooney gives the movie some added eye-candy interest, but the point is that the retelling honors, and yet is so brilliantly original, admirers of the Homer’s version could but stand up and cheer. And that is where I find myself with Six of One.
While not strictly a paranormal story, Six is certainly extra-normal, since Dolly, the heroine, travels to another plane, where she has extended conversations with most of the Tudor, and Tudor-affiliated women. The interviews begin with Henry VIII’s grand-mum Margaret, and go on to include many characters, including both of his female children, and, yikes, each of his wives.
Six of One is funny, insightful, thought provoking and absolutely brilliant. Thank you, JoAnn Spears! Extremely well done.

Seven ~ Yes! Yes! Yes, there is more! Okay, life and deadlines took me away from all things reading/blogging/reviewing for a while, so think of my delight when I found that JoAnn Spears had followed up Six with Seven while I had my focus elsewhere. Oh, the joy! And wow - what?? Per usual, she will have you chuckling and wishing for your own time slot in that tower, but she goes far beyond the funny and literally turns the literary world on its ear! Not only that, but her reasoning flawless, insightful in its reasoning, and impressive. Her knowledge of the many characters that populate the Tudor era and its surrounds is astounding and spot on! 
I love to read a good book. When the threshold of "love" leaves me slack-jawed it MUST come to live with me in the real, touchable world. E-life on my Kindle just won't do. So, as after reading Six, I went back to Amazon and bought the solid, you'll-be-with-me-forever version and here they are to prove it. Fun. Interesting. Brilliant. I want to get invited to the tower!! Again, extremely well done.


About the Author:
JoAnn Spears couldn't decide whether to major in English or History in college. Life stepped in, and she wound up with a Master's Degree in Nursing instead. A twenty-five year nursing career didn't extinguish that early interest in books and history-especially Tudor history. It did, however, stoke a decidedly gallows sense of humor. 


Eventually, JoAnn read just about every spin there was on the stories of Henry VIII and the extended Tudor family. Every spin, that is, except the one with the gallows humor. The Tudors certainly qualified for it, but it just wasn't out there. JoAnn decided that with gallows humor to spare, she would do her best to remedy the Tudor comedy gap. A little inspiration from the classic "Wizard of Oz" showed her the way to go, and "Six of One", a new kind of Tudor novel, was born. 

JoAnn thought "Six of One", her story about Henry VIII's six wives, would be an only literary child. Then, two years after its birth, she was caught by surprise with the idea for a sequel. In October, 2015, "Seven Will Out" made its debut and bought the latter-day Tudors into the comedy mix.

JoAnn enjoys writing but maintains her nursing license because a) you never stop being a nurse and b) her son thinks she should be sensible and not quit her day job. She also enjoys life in the beautiful mountains of northeast Tennessee, where she gardens, embroiders antique reproduction samplers, and teaches yoga in her Methodist church basement. JoAnn shares her home with three cats and the works of Jane Austen, Barbara Pym, Louisa May Alcott, and of course, Alison Weir.