Cover Reveal – “Clover’s Adventures” by Sandra Shrewsbury
Clover’s Adventurers
By: Sandra Shrewsbury
Cover Reveal: April 21st
Expected Release Date: June 4th
Clover is a bunny who lost his mother at birth.
He is scared and needs someone to take care of him. He has to learn things on
his own and when he ventures out to find a family who will love him, he finds
more than just someone to take care of him. He finds special friends who teach
him what is more important in life.
He is scared and needs someone to take care of him. He has to learn things on
his own and when he ventures out to find a family who will love him, he finds
more than just someone to take care of him. He finds special friends who teach
him what is more important in life.
Author
Bio
Bio
Sandra hails from West Virginia, where she lives
with her family. She spent ten years working in the nursing profession. She loves
to read, no matter what the genre is. However, her favorites are Romance,
Supernatural, and Non-Fiction. This love for the written word inspired Sandra
to begin her own writing career. Using her own life experiences, Sandra brings
Addiction to the surface with her Addiction Series. Now for her next book she
is doing an adult romance novel. Midnight Desire will let Sandra experience her
passion for romance. She is also writing a children’s book for her
granddaughter called Clover’s Adventurers. It will be out next month.
with her family. She spent ten years working in the nursing profession. She loves
to read, no matter what the genre is. However, her favorites are Romance,
Supernatural, and Non-Fiction. This love for the written word inspired Sandra
to begin her own writing career. Using her own life experiences, Sandra brings
Addiction to the surface with her Addiction Series. Now for her next book she
is doing an adult romance novel. Midnight Desire will let Sandra experience her
passion for romance. She is also writing a children’s book for her
granddaughter called Clover’s Adventurers. It will be out next month.
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Swan Lake
Completely not writing-related at all, but something I want to share all the same. I went to the Clarendon Art Festival on Saturday. It was a beautiful day, and there were dozens of artists displaying and selling their works. There was so much to see, and all of it was pretty amazing. But one artist, and one particular work, was the unquestioned highlight for me:
The piece os called “Transformation” and, as you might guess, it was inspired by “Swan Lake.” The artist is Jessica Libor, and I just wanted to mention her and direct y’all to her site to take a look at her other work, too.
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Fever Dream sneak peek
Here’s a brief excerpt from FEVER DREAM (due out May 22). It’s a light moment from early in the book…
I don’t know how long I’ve been lying here, completely spent, when I finally notice the champagne. I manage to summon enough energy to sit up and reach over to the ice bucket, which has no more ice in it. Our champagne is now sitting in a bath of coldish water, but that’s fine. I hand the bottle to Brian, and it takes him only a moment to open it. The cork flies off, and it is so very nice to not have to care where it went. While he pours me a glass, I ask him, “So if you’re James Bond, which girl am I? The one he sleeps with in the middle of the movie who’s secretly working for the villain, or the good one that he gets together with at the end?” Not that he was thinking of anyone but me a little while ago, but I may as well play the fantasy out all the way.
He gives me a deep sigh and a shake of the head. Obviously I ought to already know who I’m supposed to be. “You’re Tracy, except…” He trails off, rethinking his answer. It doesn’t mean anything to me anyway. “From ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.’ She’s the only one he ever really loved. He even married her. But you can’t be her.”
“Why not?” That’s not so bad – the only one who ever got James Bond to the altar? That’s pretty good company, I’d think.
“Well, she dies at the end. So obviously you’re not her.” I don’t like the direction this is going, but, fortunately, I know how to fix that. I drain my champagne in one long swallow and bat my eyes at Brian, and grab his left hand, holding his wedding ring in front of his face.
“Whoever I am, what do you think your wife would say if she could see you right now?”
He takes me in his arms, crushes me to him. “Let’s find out.” As it turns out, his wife doesn’t have much to say, but she’s awfully vocal all the same.
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Book Tour – the books of Stacy Eaton
Sneak Peek Sunday – a REALLY early sneak peek!
Welcome to my stop on the Sneak Peek Sunday blog hop. A whole bunch of great authors share a few paragraphs from a recent or upcoming work.
Well, I’ve got something special this morning – a peek at book #10 of the Dream Series, DREAM WEDDING, which I only began working on this past week. The book jumps ahead several years from the end of FEVER DREAM (due out May 22!), and in this excerpt, Sara is home waiting for a delivery when she gets a surprise visitor: her daughter’s boyfriend…
Seth Taylor is a senior at Crewe University, and he lives in the same dorm she does, two floors above her. He’s also been her on-and-off boyfriend for most of her three and a half years at college, and to hear Lizzie tell it it’s been a lot more on than off since their senior year began in September. If he weren’t smiling – although the smile is becoming more nervous with each passing second – I’d wonder if he was here to deliver bad news about my daughter.
“No, Dr. Alderson. She doesn’t know I’m here. It’s – it’s a surprise.” Yes, it is. Especially because Lizzie isn’t flying home until Wednesday, two days from now.
I let that pass. I also let it pass that it’s a little bit presumptuous to show up unannounced on our doorstep and expect me to find a spare bed for him for two nights. Not that I have any problem with him visiting, or sleeping in Ben’s room for a couple of nights. He’s done it enough times the last four years he’s known Lizzie, after all. Still, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect some advance notice.
I put all that aside. “It’s Sara. Please. How many times do I have to tell you that?” I gesture for him to sit, and he does, but he can’t quite meet my eyes.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call ahead, Doctor.” I’ve never known him to be this nervous. Granted, I don’t know him that well, but he’s always struck me as a very confident young man. “I didn’t want – I mean, it’s not the kind of thing you do over the phone. And I didn’t want her sister to find out and tell her. I want it to be a surprise.”
I have no idea what he’s…
Yes, I do. What was I just saying to myself? More on than off? I think he’s about to tell me that it’s about as “on” as you can get.
“Oh! You’re – Jacob, you knew perfectly well that Lizzie won’t be here until Wednesday, don’t you? He nods. “You expected to catch me alone. You probably went to the hospital first, didn’t you?” Another nod. “You came here to ask me…” I can’t say the words out loud, but he nods just the same.
How is this possible? She’s not even twenty-one yet! She doesn’t graduate for another six months, and then she’ll be going on to medical school. How can he possibly think that I would approve…
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Indie Author Spotlight – Jessica Cale and “Virtue’s Lady”
I’ve got another great indie author this morning. Say hello to Jessica Cale:
Jessica Cale is a historical romance author and journalist based in North Carolina. Originally from Minnesota, she lived in Wales for several years where she earned a BA in History and an MFA in Creative Writing while climbing castles and photographing mines for history magazines. She kidnapped (“married”) her very own British prince (close enough) and is enjoying her happily ever after with him in a place where no one understands his accent. You can visit her at www.authorjessicacale.com.
Follow her elsewhere on the interwebs:
Website: http://www.authorjessicacale.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorjessicacale
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JessicaCale @JessicaCale
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+JessicaCaleWrites
Tumblr: http://authorjessicacale.tumblr.com/
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/rainbowcarnage
Tsu: https://www.tsu.co/jessicacale
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Jessica-Cale/e/B00PVDV9EW/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9819997.Jessica_Cale
And here’s her new book, “Virtue’s Lady”
From toiling for pennies to bare-knuckle boxing, a lady is prepared for every eventuality.
Lady Jane Ramsey is young, beautiful, and ruined.
After being rescued from her kidnapping by a handsome highwayman, she returns home only to find her marriage prospects drastically reduced. Her father expects her to marry the repulsive Lord Lewes, but Jane has other plans. All she can think about is her highwayman, and she is determined to find him again.
Mark Virtue is trying to go straight. After years of robbing coaches and surviving on his wits, he knows it’s time to hang up his pistol and become the carpenter he was trained to be. He busies himself with finding work for his neighbors and improving his corner of Southwark as he tries to forget the girl who haunts his dreams. As a carpenter struggling to stay in work in the aftermath of The Fire, he knows Jane is unfathomably far beyond his reach, and there’s no use wishing for the impossible.
When Jane turns up in Southwark, Mark is furious. She has no way of understanding just how much danger she has put them in by running away. In spite of his growing feelings for her, he knows that Southwark is no place for a lady. Jane must set aside her lessons to learn a new set of rules if she is to make a life for herself in the crime-ridden slum. She will fight for her freedom and her life if that’s what it takes to prove to Mark—and to herself—that there’s more to her than meets the eye.
Buy it at:
Liquid Silver: http://www.lsbooks.com/virtues-lady-p1008.php
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Virtues-Lady-Southwark-Saga-Book-ebook/dp/B00VC6B9SS/
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/virtues-lady-jessica-cale/1121713113?ean=9781622102051
All Romance E-Books: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-virtue039slady-1782182-340.html
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/virtue-s-lady
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/virtues-lady/id983809003?mt=11
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25238694-virtue-s-lady
Other Books in This Series
Tyburn (The Southwark Saga, Book 1): Notorious harlot Sally Green fights for survival in Restoration London. When a brutal attack throws them together, Sally is torn between the tutor who saves her and the highwayman who keeps her up at night; between new love and an old need for revenge. Winner of the Southern Magic Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence 2015.
You can buy it at:
Liquid Silver: http://www.lsbooks.com/tyburn-p975.php
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PQV6H9Q
Barnes & Noble
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tyburn-jessica-cale/1120852744?ean=9781622101740
Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/tyburn-4
All Romance E-Books: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-tyburn-1695993-340.html
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/tyburn/id947992086?mt=11
Here’s an excerpt from “Virtue’s Lady”
The girl was beautiful.
She had him pinned to the bed. He was helpless beneath her hands. Her long fingers spanned his chest, tracing the line where the muscle dipped and gave way to shoulder. A hint of a smile played on her lips, more than just a little bit wicked. Kiss-crushed and sherry red, they were the sweetest thing he’d ever tasted.
“Like this?” She shifted back onto his hip bones.
She hovered above him like a conquering angel, all of the fearsome beauty of heaven in her laughing eyes, as grey and deadly as any steel. He could see the evidence of her ferocity in the iron poker that still projected from the door behind her head, a temptation as much as a warning.
“Getting there.” He grinned.
His hands rested on the curve of her waist, his rough, tanned skin a stark contrast to her smooth flesh, luminous and pale as the moon.
“More,” she moaned, rocking against him.
The bed slammed noisily against the wall, an insistent rapping that increased in frequency, strangely unconnected to the movements of her hips.
Somewhere in the distance, the sound of a saw.
Mark became aware of the bedclothes tangled around his legs. The stench of the river replaced the scent of her skin. She flickered as she bent over him with a sly smile, her hair falling around him like a curtain of copper silk. He was moments away from a bone-shattering orgasm. Just a little bit longer. She increased her pace, her breath quickening as she neared her peak. Her lips hovered above his, close enough to kiss, but somehow out of reach.
Her hips flickered under his hands and he heard the warble of a flock of geese.
“Jane,” he gasped, reaching out to grasp her as she disappeared, and finding only bed linen beneath his hand.
And, last but not least, here’s a great interview with Jessica:
Who is your favorite author?
That’s a really hard question. It’s probably a toss up between Poe and Leopold von Sacher Masoch, but I also love H.P. Lovecraft.
How do you describe your writing style?
I would say it’s old-school gothic romance with an emphasis on color and the senses. I try to keep scenes concise, but I really try to make them vivid enough that you can smell the coffee and the mud on your shoes. It’s sometimes violent, often funny, but I try to keep things feeling as real as possible.
Use no more than two sentences. Why should we read your book?
My books are not what you expect historical romance to be, but you might think they’re better. They’re dark, funny, and totally unexpected.
Have any of your characters been modeled after yourself?
All of them, to some extent. I try to imagine the world through their eyes with their background and experiences, so I guess most of them are me. It might worry people to know that Sally in Tyburn is very much like me (although our experiences have fortunately been very different), and Jane is a lot like I was when I first moved to the UK, expecting a Jane Austen novel. Alice is me when I worked as a barmaid. There’s a lot of me in Mark, too. I catch myself sounding like him sometimes, which is something of an achievement given that we have very different voices…
If you could exchange lives with any of your characters for a day which character would you choose and why?
Jane. I’d love to know what it’s like being married to Mark for a day. I don’t know if I’d ever recover.
What books have most influenced your life?
Venus in Furs, by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch for its beautifully-written investigation into the nature of love, and The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides for showing me what poetry in prose looks like. I also loved Wuthering Heights.
If you could select one book that you could rewrite and add your own unique twist on, which book would that be and why?
The Phantom of the Opera. Christine would freely run away with the phantom (modelled after Gerard Butler, of course) and never look back. Either that, or I’d re-write Wuthering Heights. I’d give Cathy and Heathcliff a couple of good slaps and a really happy ending even if I meant I had kill off the rest of the characters.
Beatles or Monkees? Why?
The Kinks! Their songs are better and I do enjoy a good London accent…
Who should play you in a film of your life?
Ava Gardner or Olivia de Havilland! They’d have to wear a lot of band t-shirts and pajama pants, and that’s something I’d love to see. (James’ note – my wife is a huge classic movie fan, and she would approve of this!)
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Book Tour – “Waking Up Dead” by Margo Bond Collins
She expected heaven or hell. She got Alabama.
When Dallas resident Callie Taylor died young, she expected to go to heaven, or maybe hell. Instead, when she met her fate early thanks to a creep with a knife and a mommy complex, she went to Alabama. Now she’s witnessed another murder, and she’s not about to let this one go. She’s determined to help solve it before an innocent man goes to prison. And to answer the biggest question of all: why the hell did she wake up dead in Alabama?
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Excerpt
When I died, I expected to go to heaven.
Okay. Maybe hell. It’s not like I was perfect or anything. But I was sort of hoping for heaven.
Instead, I went to Alabama.
Yeah. I know. It’s weird.
I died in Dallas, my hometown. I was killed, actually. Murdered. I’ll spare you the gruesome details. I don’t like to remember them myself. Some jerk with a knife–and probably a Bad-Mommy complex. Believe me, if I knew where he was, I’d go haunt his ass.
At any rate, by the time death came, I was ready for it–ready to stop hurting, ready to let go. I didn’t even fight it.
And then I woke up dead in Alabama. Talk about pissed off.
You know, even reincarnation would have been fine with me–I could have started over, clean slate and all that. Human, cow, bug. Whatever. But no. I ended up haunting someplace I’d never even been.
That’s not the way it’s supposed to work, right? Ghosts are supposed to be the tortured spirits of those who cannot let go of their earthly existence. If they could be convinced to follow the light, they’d leave behind said earthly existence and quit scaring the bejesus out of the poor folks who run across them. That’s what all those “ghost hunter” shows on television tell us.
Let me tell you something. The living don’t know jack about the dead.
Not this dead chick, anyway.
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Buy Waking Up Dead for 99 cents in ebook through April 21:
Kindle from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Waking-Dead-Margo-Bond-Collins-ebook/dp/B00HKQQRJA/
Paperback from these booksellers:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Waking-Dead-Margo-Bond-Collins/dp/1493750461/
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/waking-up-dead-margo-bond-collins/1117526839?ean=9781493750467
Books A Million: http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Waking-Up-Dead/Margo-Bond-Collins/9781493750467?id=5868658257083
Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/Waking-Up-Dead-Margo-Bond-Collins/9781493750467
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About the Author
Margo Bond Collins is the author of a number of novels, including Sanguinary, Waking Up Dead, Taming the Country Star, Bound by Blood, Legally Undead, and Fairy, Texas. She lives in Texas with her daughter and several spoiled pets. She teaches college-level English courses online, though writing fiction is her first love. She enjoys reading urban fantasy and paranormal fiction of any genre and spends most of her free time daydreaming about vampires, ghosts, zombies, werewolves, and other monsters.
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Connect with Margo
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Margo-Collins/e/B00EOU9DEG
Email: MargoBondCollins@gmail.com
Website: http://www.MargoBondCollins.net
Blog: http://www.MargoBondCollins.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MargoBondCollin @MargoBondCollin
Google+: https://plus.google.com/116484555448104519902
Goodreads Author Page: http://www.goodreads.com/vampirarchy
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/MargoBondCollins
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/mbondcollins/
Tsu: http://www.tsu.co/MargoBondCollins
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My Sexy Saturday – Dream Family Edition
So here’s another edition of the My Sexy Saturday blog hop. This week’s theme is “Sexy’s got you” – a moment when two characters realize they have an unbreakable bond, that they’ll always be there for each other, no matter what.
Sara and Brian realized that about each other very early in the Dream Series, but Brian demonstrates it in a definite “no matter what” moment from the fourth book of the series, DREAM FAMILY. Sara has just come home after spending a hellish night in jail, and, well…
Brian picks this minute to return. He takes one look at me and climbs into the shower, clothes and all. He leans down, hugs me tightly. My filth is getting all over him, and he doesn’t care at all. I raise my arms – no matter how much it hurts, I need my arms around him too, and after a couple of minutes of sheer agony I’m holding him. There’s stabbing, almost blinding pain in my shoulders but I pull him closer anyway. I bury my face in his neck, and for a minute I just sit like that. Then, without warning, as though a dam is bursting, I let go of everything.
I scream, and I beat my hands against the back of his neck, and then the tears come, all at once, in a flood. He just sits there in the shower, holding on to me, letting me wail and shriek and hit him. He doesn’t move, doesn’t flinch. He takes everything that’s pouring out of me.
“They chained me up! Like an animal! All the time, they kept handcuffing me, and dragging me here and there! They – took everything away from me! My wedding ring and my emerald! They locked me up and put a barcode on me! They made me sit there in handcuffs, just sit there for hours! They told me I was going to prison for ten years! They – these fucking people, they were so cruel! They kept hurting me! Chains and handcuffs and hurting and doors slamming and all of it! They took my clothes away! They made me take them off, they made me! I couldn’t do anything! I couldn’t fight them, I just had to do it, whatever they said, and they hurt me anyway!”
I go on and on, and my heart is still full of bile and pain, more than I’ve felt in my life, more than I imagined any one person could ever feel. I haven’t even gotten the smallest portion of it out of me before my voice gives out. I haven’t even told him the worst parts. He doesn’t know what they did to me – what I let them do to me – after they made me strip.
And he doesn’t know even before that – yesterday, before they took me to the courtroom, when I had my phone call, I sold my soul to buy Paul Sorrentino’s help.
I know what Brian will say, when I do tell him. He won’t care about the phone call. And he’ll tell me none of the rest of it was my fault. That there was nothing I could do except survive it, and I did that. He’ll forgive anything I do. He always has.
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Hot for Friday blog hop – Dream Home edition
Welcome to my stop on the Hot for Fridays blog hop. It’s a whole bunch of great authors sharing “hot” moments from their works. Today’s theme is “Hot encounters”, and I’ve got one from book seven of the Dream Series, DREAM HOME.
This takes place near the end of the book. Sara has had to perform emergency surgery on Brian in the midst of a terrible winter storm, and while everything went well, he’s been recovering for a few weeks, and they haven’t had the opportunity to spend any intimate time together since it happened. Until this moment…
In no time at all, our clothes are scattered all over the floor, and we’re on the bed, my hands all over him, his exploring me. It’s like always; we’re both losing ourselves in it…
No, it’s not. He’s holding back. He’s – I look into his eyes and I see something I haven’t seen there in years. Not since the first time we were together, really. Nerves – more than nerves, outright fear. But what’s he afraid of? After almost fifteen years, how can he be worried about anything in bed – or anything with me at all?
“Brian?” I’m panting; unlike him, I was totally involved, and it’s hard to speak.
“I’m fine,” he says. “I’m…”
“No. Something’s wrong. You’re – you’re scared.” I don’t know why I say it so bluntly; I guess I’m just too surprised to watch my words.
“No, I’m…” His eyes dart away from mine, down to his scar, and I realize what the problem is. How did I not think of that?
Because there’s no reason to think of it. “You’re healed, Brian. Back to normal. And I never touched any of…” I laugh; I can’t help it, “that plumbing. Everything’s going to work like it always has. You wouldn’t be…” I reach down, give him a squeeze, and I’ve got his full attention, “…if it wasn’t right.”
“I know that,” he says, hesitantly, panting slightly himself now. But the fear is still there in his eyes. “It’s just – you stitched everything up inside. What if – what if it all comes apart, while we’re…?”
I take a deep breath; I have to remind myself that he’s not a doctor, and also that this was the first operation he ever had. “Brian, I promise you. It was all healed up a month ago. The stitches have dissolved away by now, everything is all healed. Your muscles are whole again. There’s nothing you can do with me that’ll hurt you. Nothing.” I stare hard at him, my best imitation of the look he uses on me.
It works; he’s pinned there, frozen, just like I always am. He can’t even speak, so I go on. “Nothing. I promise.” I lean close, kissing him, running my hand across his scar and then downward, feeling his whole body respond, and when that happens, my spell is broken.
And so is his fear. A moment later, so quickly I’m not sure how it happened, he’s on top of me. He’s fully involved, lost in the moment just like I am…
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