Tuesday, July 16, 2013

The Never by Kristina Circelli Book Blast!

The Never by Kristina Circelli
Genre: Fantasy for 18+

“Out of nothing, we create something.”
Arianna has spent her entire life being called a dreamer, an artist who created a world no one else can see. And for her entire life, she has taken the medication that keeps that world – and the one who brought her there – at bay.
Now an adult, Arianna reawakens that part of herself kept locked away in the darkest corners of her mind. When she hides her medicine from her fiancĂ©’s ever-watchful eye, he returns – the shadow in the night who collects her for an adventure known only in her fantasies.
But something is different about this world called The Never. It is no longer the cheerful place filled with light and laughter that she knew as a child. Now, the sea creatures drag their visitors into the depths of murky waters. The natives battle to the death against the tribe of children. And the pirates, led by the feared captain called The Hunter, seek out Arianna for their own sinister plans.
As Arianna goes deeper into The Never, she discovers just what her connection to the land means – and must choose between her life rooted in reality, and the world where anything is possible.



The Never is currently FREE on Amazon, from now until the 20th!! Head over to Amazon to take advantage of the deal!






Chapter 4 - No Longer a Child

      She saw him off, making earnest promises to always remember her medication, putting on the happiest face she could manage until his car disappeared down the driveway. Lily the puppy pulled on her new leash, eager to explore her surroundings. Although the sun was setting, Arianna allowed the dog to pull her into the woods, taking her on an evening stroll before they settled in for the night. Lily sniffed at the plants as she passed them, pouncing on flickering shadows and barking at nonexistent figures.
      Arianna laughed softly as she watched the puppy play, giving her plenty of room on the leash to wander and explore. She’d always wanted a dog as a child, only to be told by her mother that animals were dirty and not meant to be kept as pets. The refusal only fueled her desire, as did the promises that maybe, if she was good and took her medicine, then a puppy would one day be hers to hold and cherish.
      The sun slipped below the horizon, casting the woods in shadows. Arianna glanced over her shoulder and was comforted by the glow of lights in the cabin not too far in the distance. She tried not to wander too far from home at night, knowing what dangers lurked in a forest of heavy brush and wildlife. John didn’t  like her strolling through the woods at dark – or during the day, for that matter – so she tried not to upset him by staying close to home.
      “A gift of life, to keep death at bay.”
      Arianna turned about, searching for the familiar voice. She saw only night and darkness instead. Her heart beat wildly, both at the surprise intrusion and the possibilities of what the voice’s return may mean. “What…what death?”
      “Death of love, of heart, of soul.”
      She took in a deep breath, grip tightening on the leash. She wanted to see the figure’s face, needed to see it. Lily sensed her new owner’s hesitation and barked once, taking a stance at her master’s feet. “Who are you?” Arianna asked, narrowing her eyes.
      “You know who I am. You have known me since you were a child.”
      “I knew a child as a child. You sound like a man.” She felt a brush of fingers against her neck, as though a hand was pulling her hair back. She turned but saw only empty air.
      “I have watched you, Arianna of the Stars. I have watched you, dreamed with you, grown up with you.”
      Lily pulled at the leash and scratched at Arianna’s ankles, eager to get away from whatever was agitating her master. Arianna let the leash slip through her fingers, not noticing the dog as she ran back for the cabin on four wobbly legs and waited on the back steps, whimpering quietly.
      Free to wander on her own, the enraptured woman began to walk, slowly passing tree after tree. Her hands grazed over tree trunks, eyes grazed over leaves and shrubs. Moonlight streamed in through the canopy, creating a white glow that softened the night setting. “Who are you?” Her repeated question traveled a light breeze, laughter echoing back at her.
      “I am the one you dream of, the one you seek.”
      She saw something then, an outline moving through the trees. The figure was watching her, moving with her. If she looked hard enough, she could almost see a face, eyes. Not bright eyes, but seeking, piercing nonetheless. “Who are you?”
      Those eyes, dark green and ever watchful, latched on to hers. They followed her as they walked, peering around leaf and branch, staring through the moonlight. “I am the dream. I am the reality,” he answered, voice like a secret spoken in hushed whispers. “I am the eternal. I am the forgotten.” They moved closer together in the woods, yet still at a distance. “I am the always. I am the never.”
      Something inside her mind clicked. Arianna paused between two trees, one hand on either trunk. She knew that name. In the farthest corners of her mind, she remembered, and the memory hardened in her gut. Oh yes, she knew, and wished that her mind wasn’t suddenly filled with recollections of salted shores and pale pink skies. “You are not The Never. The Never left me. The Never forsook me. The Never forgot me.”
“No,” came the soothing, reassuring croon. “The Never did not forget you. The Never could not reach you, Arianna of the Stars.”
“Stop calling me that,” Arianna snapped, taking a step back. “Stop pretending to be him. Tell me who you are.”
“I have told you. You must believe me”
She heard the desperation in his request, but ignored it and instead slipped a hand in her pocket. “Have it your way. I know how to get rid of you.” She swallowed the blue pill and he reacted fast, exploding into her line of vision and grabbing her wrist.
“What was that?” he demanded. “What did you take?”
Unable to respond, Arianna simply stared up at him. This was not the boy the remembered, the boy who spoke to her as a child and led her on exciting other-worldly adventures. This was a man, perhaps a year older than her, perhaps even a year or two younger. There was something innocent about his forest green, almond-shaped eyes, and yet, something very sinister in the way he pressed his full lips together in a knowing smirk. His jawline was strong, as were his cheekbones, strong enough to take one of many hits she suspected he was used to enduring, and maybe even encouraged.
      He was tan, the tan of a man who spent his days in the sun, with wild hair the color of the setting sun. For the briefest of moments she longed to run her fingers through those thick locks, which hung down to his ears in messy strands. Bamboo pieces decorated his ears, pierced through twice in each.
His clothing, if that’s what it could be called, matched his eyes. His torso was wrapped in a soft, thin shirt that clung to his skin, with wide straps that crisscrossed at his shoulders to reveal finely toned muscle. The deep green of a material Arianna didn’t recognize covered his legs with leaf-shaped designs, ending just below the knees. He was barefoot, which only added to his mysterious aura. Strapped around his waist was a leather belt, with a dagger sheathed at his side.
Boy had most certainly become man.
“What did you take?” he asked again when she only gazed at him. His grip tightened on her wrist, causing her to wince.
“Um…just, just my medicine.”
“Medicine.” He said the word quietly, as though trying to understand it. Then he took her by the shoulders, almost too urgently. “Medicine! You must never take it again.”
Her brow furrowed. “I have to. It keeps me well.”
“No. You must never take it, my Arianna. It is why I could not find you for so long, why we could not be together.”
Arianna hesitated, savoring the feel of his rough hands on her bare skin. She had never known this figure in her dreams as a man, and was fascinated by the creature he had become. “We…we had adventures together, as children?”
He smiled, gently brushing back a strand of her hair. “Yes, we did. You cannot remember them all now, but you will. Promise me you will not take your medicine again. Promise me, and I will return tomorrow to show you what you have forgotten. We will fly from this place, and have our adventures again.”
An internal alarm was triggered, a familiar word, a familiar worry. Arianna ignored it and smiled up at him just before he faded into the night. “I promise.”






A lover of the written word since the time she first picked up a pen, Kristina Circelli shares her passion for fiction in her multi-genre novels.
Circelli is the author of several fiction books, including The Sour Orange Derby, a young adult novel about family and childhood imagination steeped in southern traditions; Beyond the Western Sun, Walk the Red Road, and Into the Shadow Realm of The Whisper Legacy, which centers on Native American cultures and the legends that come to life in the spirit realm; and The Helping Hands, a book that follows a gang of friends who rescue abused children. 
Currently, Circelli works as a copywriter, author, book editor, and creative writing professor at the University of North Florida, where she received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in English. She resides in Florida, with her husband and two kittens.

Website | Twitter | Blog




Monday, July 15, 2013

Saved by Lorhainne Eckhart Book Blast & Giveaway!


Saved by Lorhainne Eckhart
Genre: Adult romance
Published May 11, 2013

Growing up I had dreams that one day I'd fall in love, get married and start a family. Then one night I was taken. But I survived, I escaped and I was saved. Eric didn't see me as  damaged. He didn't see my baby as a monster. He protected me, he kept me safe ... he saved me.



BUY:



     “Thank you, Captain,” was all she said, but he could feel her stiffen even though he was no longer touching her.
     “I’ll be back later to see how you’re doing.” He didn’t know why he did it when he reached down and smoothed back the stray wisps of hair that dangled in her face.
     “Remember what I said, Abby: You’re safe here. If you’re hungry, you say something. If you’re scared, tell me. If you’re hurting, you have to speak up. No one is going to hurt you here. I don’t know how to make you believe it.”
     She was staring at him now, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out what was going on in her head. He let out a sigh because there was nothing more he could do here. His hand was on the door, and he was about to yank it open when she said, “Captain, could you do me a favor?” He turned around and faced her and was nearly undone by her eyes, swimming with a sheen of tears.
     “Could you keep telling me I’m safe? I think if I hear you tell me over and over, I’ll start to believe it. I think I will.”







2012 was an amazing year in the publishing world for me, and it started with The Forgotten Child, which landed on the Amazon bestseller list for western romance and romance series. With the publication of each novel and short story, each one made its way to the top ten for its respective genre. 2013 has seen me posted in the top 100 authors on Amazon for romantic suspense and mystery/thrillers, police procedural.


Where did it all begin? In 2008, I published my first novel, The Captain’s Lady, a contemporary military romance, through The Wild Rose Press. This year I have a crazy writing schedule with four books scheduled for release and six short stories.


I write three genres, edgy romantic suspense (Walk the Right Road Series), western romance (Finding Love ~ The Outsider Series), and young adult mystery, and I warn my readers to expect the unexpected. I’m the mother of three children, one a special needs child. We live on a small Island in the Pacific Northwest, where I advocate for the environment and the rights of special needs children. Somewhere in my busy schedule, I do find time to write. I encourage you to contact me by email; I do answer every email I receive.


Stay tuned. There is more to come from the Walk the Right Road Series and Finding Love ~ The Outsider Series. 


And to my readers and all of you who have shared my stories with your family and friends, a big heartfelt thank you.






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Friday, July 12, 2013

RUNAWAY by Lorhainne Eckhart Book Blast & Giveaway!!

Runaway by Lorhainne Eckhart
Genre: Adult contemporary romance
Kindle edition published May 29th 2013

"Where's my wife..."
Andy Friessen has been looking for Laura for six months. After she walked out with her son, no goodbye, with no money and leaving everything he bought her, behind. But he knew she'd come crawling back, she needed him. After all he married her to protect her. And any woman would give their right arm to be his wife.
And then for six months his conscience poked at what an ass he'd been: Until he's served...for divorce.
 Even though Andy is the first man she's every truly loved, and the first to break her heart, Laura plans to never see him again. After all to him she was nothing but a nuisance, someone he could order around, just another woman to warm his bed at night.
But Laura is hurt and she's thought nothing through including the fact she's keeping the biggest surprise from him yet.
She's pregnant.
And when Andy finds out ... all hell will break loose.



Buy:






     Just watching the scene had something disturbing squeezing deep inside her. It wasn’t sudden; it had crept up throughout the day and through each second that Andy had spent with Gabriel tonight. He could be the perfect father, the perfect man and role model for her son. She cleared her throat but nearly choked when she whispered, “Goodnight, Gabriel. Have a good sleep.”
     This was all so confusing. What did Andy want? Why hadn’t he left, and why was he taking such an interest in Gabriel? Her throat felt all scratchy and tight, but that was only because she wanted to tuck her face in the pillow and cry those thousand tears she’d cried almost every night for Andy. All she’d ever wanted was to be loved.
     What he’d done today was horrible, cruel, and she wanted to scream and yell “Why?” He had stayed, caring for her tonight and today at the hospital in a way that made her feel important, special, but she also knew she wasn’t any of that to him, not in the way she wanted to be. It was the babies. She was just the vessel, a warm cocoon for a rich man’s babies, and that was something she could not allow herself to forget. He was powerful, he was rich, and his family was dangerous.
     “Are you all right?” He brushed his finger across her brows.
     “Yeah, fine,” she blurted as she pulled back, her skin burning from the spark of his touch.
     “You look worried about something, upset.” He was watching her, studying her as if he knew what she was thinking, and she couldn’t have that.
     “No, I’m just...” She couldn’t think of what to say when her brain suddenly blanked out. That always happened when Andy stood so close to her and watched her with compelling blue eyes that could set her soul on fire, so she shut her mouth and shook her head.
     He sat right beside her on the bed so his hip pressed into hers. She knew all too well what those slim hips and tight abs looked like naked and pressed against her hips, nestled between her thighs. It was almost too much heat for her, so she squirmed and tried to slide over and away from him.
     “You all right? You look uncomfortable.”
     He wouldn’t even look away. Uncomfortable, hell yeah. And it was all his fault. “Just stiff is all.”
     “Can I?” He rested his hand over her swollen belly, where the babies had been kicking furiously for the last hour.
     He was connecting with her babies. She wanted to scream and yell at him, “Hell no! Keep your hands off!” but her body was betraying her. The reality was that she wanted him to touch her, to run his hands over every square inch of her.
     He didn’t wait for her to say anything, but then, she couldn’t get her tongue to move. The damn thing had thickened, and her throat had completed dried up as he invaded her space. My God, he even smelled good, and his scruffy jaw...she longed to reach up and run her hands over it.
     His touch sent shockwaves through her, and the babies responded in kind. She’d swear they jumped from his touch, as if they knew that Andy was their daddy. He smiled that charming, boyish grin she’d only seen a few times. Never once had he smiled just for her.
     “Wow, that’s amazing. Did you feel that?”
     For a moment, she felt herself being pulled into his joy, just like a little boy’s first Christmas, but she had to look away, to move away from his touch, because she’d never again be treated as if she was nothing. Andy Friessen could turn on a dime, and she’d never play second again. “Yeah, I did. Listen, I’m tired.” She scooted over and lifted his hand off her belly. She couldn’t look at him even though she could feel the sharp change in him as if she’d just ripped away all his joy. So why was she feeling guilty? She wasn’t the bad guy here.









2012 was an amazing year in the publishing world for me, and it started with The Forgotten Child, which landed on the Amazon bestseller list for western romance and romance series. With the publication of each novel and short story, each one made its way to the top ten for its respective genre. 2013 has seen me posted in the top 100 authors on Amazon for romantic suspense and mystery/thrillers, police procedural.


Where did it all begin? In 2008, I published my first novel, The Captain’s Lady, a contemporary military romance, through The Wild Rose Press. This year I have a crazy writing schedule with four books scheduled for release and six short stories.


I write three genres, edgy romantic suspense (Walk the Right Road Series), western romance (Finding Love ~ The Outsider Series), and young adult mystery, and I warn my readers to expect the unexpected. I’m the mother of three children, one a special needs child. We live on a small Island in the Pacific Northwest, where I advocate for the environment and the rights of special needs children. Somewhere in my busy schedule, I do find time to write. I encourage you to contact me by email; I do answer every email I receive.


Stay tuned. There is more to come from the Walk the Right Road Series and Finding Love ~ The Outsider Series. 


And to my readers and all of you who have shared my stories with your family and friends, a big heartfelt thank you.






Wednesday, July 10, 2013

NEW COVER: A Little Too Far by Lisa Desrochers - Excerpt & Giveaway!




"More than a ridiculously sexy, HOT read, Desrochers takes you on a wild ride of self-discovery and bittersweet romance." — Jennifer L. Armentrout (J. Lynn), New York Times bestselling author of Wait for You.

Have you ever gone just a little too far?

Lexie Banks has.

Yep. She just had mind-blowing sex with her stepbrother.In her defense, she was on the rebound, and it’s more of a my-dad-happened-to-marry-a-woman-with-a-super-hot-son situation. But still, he’s been her best friend and confidant for better part of the last few years…and is so off limits. It’s a good thing she’s leaving in two days for a year abroad in Rome.But even thousands of miles away, Lexie can’t seem to escape trouble. Raised Catholic, she goes to Confession in hopes of alleviating some of her guilt…and maybe not burning in hell. Instead, she stumbles out of the confessional right into Alessandro Moretti, a young and very easy on the eyes deacon…only eight months away from becoming a priest. As Lexie and Alessandro grow closer, and when Alessandro’s signals start changing despite his vow of celibacy, she doesn’t know what to think. She’s torn between falling in love with the man she shouldn’t want and the man she can’t have. And she isn’t sure how she can live with herself either way.









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This Is Forever by S.A. Price - Teaser!


We are one month closer to this amazing release

Today we have a sexy little teaser graphic... and a video...




So the video is

 

The song is called Falling Down by The Birthday Massacre. What does it have to do with THIS IS FOREVER? Well we patterned Strange Angels, Lola's band after them. When I see them starting a Set on stage? this is the song that I base that performance off of. Hope you like it.


So... Who is getting excited? We are! We can't wait to get this book out to you... you really are going to love Winter and Lola~!