Friday 29 August 2014

Cover Reveal: All Who Are Lost by Lindsey Forrest

All Who Are Lost
by Lindsey Forrest
Series: Ashmore's Folly Trilogy: Book One
Cover Design: Robin Ludwig of Robin Ludwig Design, Inc
Genre: Contemporary Women's Fiction (Romance)
Expected Release Date: October 21, 2014

Summary: 

One man.
Too many betrayals.
Three women.
One last chance.


On a cold winter day, a woman calls a number halfway across the world.

A man answers.

After fourteen years, Laura St. Bride hears the voice she has never forgotten, the voice she will remember with her last breath…



What do you do
when the love of your life
is the last person you should love?




A great family estate in Virginia.

Three sisters growing up in the shadow of their father’s obsessive drive to recapture his lost muse, the woman he threw into the cold Irish sea.

The scion of an old family, falling in love with the wrong sister, blind to the ice at her core.

A woman haunted by a moment of blood and violence, when she reached out and took a man who didn’t belong to her.

A man living a life of regret and sacrifice, given a second chance to claim the woman he should have loved all along.

Excerpt:



I know you’re out there somewhere....

She stared out across a crowded London square, unknowing, unseeing, the serenity of her face captured in the flat surface of the theatrical poster. The light noon rain ran down in small diagonal rivers across her, crinkling the smooth plain of her forehead and the gentle cut of her jaw. She wept, large, abandoned tears that warred with the lovely turn of her mouth.

The Great Cat, they called her.

Many of those who had come to Leicester Square, hunting for half-price theater tickets, gravitated to her, beckoned by her eyes, lured on by the legend of mist and mystery that surrounded her. A few balked at the price of “An Intimate Evening with Cat Courtney.” Others realized to their sorrow that they had conflicting tickets, meals planned with in-laws, flights to catch. Three nights only, announced the poster, and this, unfortunately, was the last night.

She smiled out at them all, oblivious to their concerns, uncaring of the rain wetting her face.

The American tourist who came walking into the square, his daughter by his side, did not notice her at first. The rain had stopped for a few minutes, and other matters engaged him: folding up a handy umbrella, glancing at his watch, reading a guide book over his daughter’s shoulder. For one minute longer, he remained merely a tourist on a much-needed vacation. For one minute longer, the Great Cat never crossed his mind.

But the Great Cat could wait, and for this man she would wait forever.

She had left him a decade before, both of them reeling from the blood of their folly, in a deserted cottage on a desolate shore on the other side of the world. Had she eyes to see, she would know him instantly.

Eventually, respite ended. Eventually, Richard Ashmore lifted his head, his eyes scanning across the theatrical posters, in search of an evening’s entertainment suitable for a young girl. The titles made little impression – Les Miserables, The Graduate, Noises Off – until he saw her and everything around her blurred into oblivion.

He knew her too, instantly.

Laura.

His worst mistake.
e
“Dad?” Julie touched her hand to his. “Do you think we can get tickets?”

“We can try.” Richard closed his fingers around hers, a talisman to ward memory off. “Don’t get your hopes up, Julie. Her concerts usually sell out.”

“Let’s ask over there,” suggested his daughter, pointing across the square to the ticket kiosk. “Maybe someone bought tickets and can’t go. Maybe someone dropped their tickets, and someone turned them in. Maybe —”

“Maybe, maybe, maybe,” he teased, but already he was allowing her to drag him across the stones towards the waiting queue.

They took their places in line. Julie was glowing with excitement, the happiest Richard had seen her since the morning before her grandparents had died. He was less optimistic. Others ahead of them had requested tickets, and the possibility of stray tickets lessened as they moved up the line. He sought to cushion her against disappointment by letting her plan the afternoon. They were only a couple of blocks from the National Gallery, or would she prefer to hop the tube for Harrods?

“Harrods,” said Julie immediately. “And tea, Dad.” She leaned in against him to look at his guidebook. “I have my birthday money from Lucy. I want to get something to wear to the concert.”

“Keep your money, kitten.” He wished that they had never seen the poster. Selfish, yes, but if meeting her eyes in a poster disturbed him, how would he feel to see her again, even in the black anonymity of an audience? Better not to know, better to go back to an occasional evening of listening to her songs in the dark and trying to make some sense of what had happened.

And Julie had endured enough recently.

They were second in line now, behind a couple attempting to get tickets to the latest Andrew Lloyd Webber. Good luck, thought Richard, who had tried for three months. They bought him a few minutes of reprieve while they settled for a sex comedy instead.

“Two for Cat Courtney,” he said, and if the gods had been with him, just this once, he would have been told in that inimitable British way, Sorry, sir, but that show has just sold out....

“Yes, a few tickets have been turned in,” and his fate was sealed. He and Julie looked at the seating chart. She sparkled as she so seldom did, and as he paid for the tickets he thought that he would bear any pain, any guilt, to see that look on her face.

“Those are good seats,” said the man behind him, another American from the sound of him. “I’ve seen her before, and she’s worth twice the price.”

Julie forgot her usual shyness with strangers. “I can’t wait! I’ve wanted to see her for so long —”

A woman with a Southern accent said kindly, “You know, darlin’, you’re just the picture of her.”

“Thank you,” said Julie. “I’m glad I am. She’s my aunt.”

And Richard Ashmore looked at the tickets and realized, with a shock, that it was June 9, and he had been married for seventeen years.
e
In his life, Richard Ashmore had made three mistakes with women. Not that three was so unusual; no man reached his thirties without suffering the particular pain that women could inflict and without inflicting it in return. He was luckier than most men, perhaps, for he had erred early and grievously, and caution had been driven into him like a bullet. He carried with him permanent reminders of his follies: a marriage gone disastrously wrong, the painful conscience that he had not always been the upright man his daughter loved, a shoulder that ached in cold weather.

Ah, Diana, unattainable once attained, a monumental mistake made in all the first flush of adolescent desire and pride. Too young to marry, too blindly in love to recognize the ice behind her eyes, he had turned a deaf ear to his father’s warning that his princess was hollow at her core.

Francie, silver-quick smile and hungry eyes, and his own need for the warmth of a woman’s arms. The dangerous combination of a magnum of champagne on New Year’s Eve and three years of exile from his marriage bed had erupted into a springtime of madness. The gods had demanded their due: a marriage wrecked beyond salvage, a family foundered, two young women cast adrift.

And the third.... Oh, but even now, all these years later, he stood before her picture, and he still did not understand. She watched him from the poster, more animated in flat gray and white than he had ever known her. But he knew those eyes. He knew how they adored him, how they burned in fever and desire, how they haunted odd moments of the day and dark pockets of the night.

Diana. Francie. Laura the Cat.

He supposed he had a special weakness for shuttered eyes that invited a man in with promises implied and unkept, for wild autumn hair spread gloriously across a pillow, for tall, elegant figures and clear, sweet voices and beguiling, destructive ways. They all three had this and more in common, and why not? They were sisters, after all.
e
                                                                                         
About Lindsey Forrest:
Lindsey Forrest, a lead writer/editor for an international information company, writes about income tax but prefers to dream of heroes and heroines and grand romance. With the publication of her trilogy, she checks off the top entry on her bucket list. She lives in north Texas with her family and cat and has a five-year plan for becoming a full-time novelist and editor of indie fiction. When she isn’t working or writing, she amuses herself with reading, needlepointing, tramping around historical sites and houses, and outbidding everyone who gets in her way on Ebay.

Follow the Author: 

  Website     |     Facebook     |     Twitter      |     Amazon Author Page 

Pre-Order Today:

Saturday 23 August 2014

Jeanne's Review of The Land of the Shadow by Lissa Bryan



The Land Of The Shadow
The End Of All Things II
By 
Lissa Bryan


Release Date: 21st August 2014
Genre: Dystopian
ISBN e-book: 978-1-61213-264-8

Available from: Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, and TWCS PH

Summary:

After surviving the Infection and a perilous journey through the wasteland that was once the United States, Carly and Justin have found a safe home in the isolated town of Colby.

Even so, balancing the duties of survival and a growing family isn’t easy. As they emerge as leaders, they face difficult questions about justice in a lawless land, basic human rights, and freedom in a world where strength defines worth. More than ever, they have to rely on one another for strength and support during the darkest of times.

The Crisis is far from over. Their fences won’t keep the world out forever, and a new threat is emerging—a gang of predators who see the town as easy pickings. When danger looms over Colby, Carly must decide how far she’ll go to protect those she loves. 

It’s a journey down the long and broken road through The Land of the Shadow.

Jeanne's Review:
I have to say this book is a terrific continuation of the first novel The End of All Things.  Let me start off by saying that I know everyone says these books can be stand alones and while that could be true, I feel that much would be lost if you didn’t read one without the other. Lissa is great at bringing back important pieces of information from Justin and Carly’s past from book one, but if you hadn’t experienced those memories with the two characters then you would feel sort of lost in regards to the emotions behind the them and the true bond between our hero and heroine.


The Land of the Shadows takes place two years after the Infection has overtaken the world and destroyed most of its population, both human and animal.  Carly and Justin have strived to reproduce a similance of normal life in the town of Colby.  They have gathered with a small group of people and worked together daily to make the community a home for their families.  Of course, in a world where law no longer exists, Justin and Carly soon discover that they must be willing to fight and defend their new home at all cost.

Overall, I give this book four honeypots.  The writing is amazing.  Lissa a true wordsmith.  The premise and plot are believable and have a way of drawing in the reader into a new order of life.  And above all, I love the characters of Carly and Justin.  They compliment each other and their love for one another is magical.  Lissa left us open for a third book, and I truly look forward to what she has in store for the next installment of this series.

Rating:


Author Bio: 

Lissa Bryan is an astronaut, renowned Kabuki actress, Olympic pole vault gold medalist, Iron Chef champion, and scientist who recently discovered the cure for athlete's foot...though only in her head. Real life isn't so interesting, which is why she spends most of her time writing.

She is the author of three other novels, Ghostwriter, The End of All Things, and Under These Restless Skies.

Connect with Lissa Bryan on: 

Facebook, TwitterBlog and Goodreads

Don't miss out on this Amazing Rafflecopter Giveaway!


Praise for The Land of The Shadow:

"What a ride! Carly and Justin are people that I'd like on my side, and on the side of my community. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants a story that will keep you glued to your reader or flipping pages in a paperback just as quickly as you can." -Kathie Spitz 

If you haven't already, check out:
The End Of Things Book I
By 
Lissa Bryan


Available from: AmazonKoboBarnes and Noble, and TWCS PH


Wednesday 20 August 2014

Cover Reveal: The Blue Diamond by P.S. Bartlett

GMTA PUBLISHING/LIBERTINE PRESS IS SO VERY HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THE COVER REVEAL OF AUTHOR, P.S. BARTLETT'S NEWEST NOVEL!


SYNOPSIS:

Ivory Shepard didn't want to be a pirate when she grew up but she didn't plan on being orphaned and alone at thirteen with her three cousins either. 

After a Spanish raid in Charles Towne left them with nothing, Ivory held her cousins together, trained them to fight for their lives and led them to a life of quiet refuge on the banks of the Ashley River. Out of reach of the hands of unscrupulous men, they found life on the farm a tolerable substitute for the traditional alternatives life would force onto them—until the night the pirates showed up. 

Setting foot on that first pirate ship was nothing compared to the life of freedom and adventure awaiting them, once Ivory and the girls were through playing nice. Only one man believes he can stop her and he won't need a ship full of guns to do it. 

If it were only that easy…

BE SURE TO PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY ON AMAZON!





Cover Reveal: The Collectors' Society by Heather Lyons

The Collectors' Society teaser 1
 
The Collectors' Society front cover
 

THE COLLECTORS’ SOCIETY Goodreads

THE COLLECTORS’ SOCIETY Synopsis: From the author of the Fate series and The Deep End of the Sea comes a fantastical romantic adventure that has Alice tumbling down the strangest rabbit hole yet. After years in Wonderland, Alice has returned to England as an adult, desperate to reclaim sanity and control over her life. An enigmatic gentleman with an intriguing job offer too tempting to resist changes her plans for a calm existence, though. Soon, she’s whisked to New York and initiated into the Collectors’ Society, a secret organization whose members confirm that famous stories are anything but straightforward and that what she knows about the world is only a fraction of the truth. It’s there she discovers villains are afoot—ones who want to shelve the lives of countless beings. Assigned to work with the mysterious and alluring Finn, Alice and the rest of the Collectors’ Society race against a doomsday clock in order to prevent further destruction . . . but will they make it before all their endings are erased?

The Collectors' Society full wrap 

Author Photo


About Heather Lyons: Heather Lyons has always had a thing for words—She’s been writing stories since she was a kid. In addition to writing, she’s also been an archaeologist and a teacher. Heather is a rabid music fan, as evidenced by her (mostly) music-centric blog, and she’s married to an even larger music snob. They’re happily raising three kids who are mini music fiends who love to read and be read to.        

Website ** Author Goodreads ** Twitter ** Facebook

Monday 18 August 2014

Heather's Review of Anniversary Killer by Alexandra Allred


 Anniversary Killer
 by 
Alexandra Allred



 
Summary:


Allie is back! When a kidnapping, house fire, and murder occur around the corner from Allie Lindell's house, it's too much for her to resist. Despite promises to stay away from murder and mayhem, a missing Irish setter named Chester puts Allie on the hunt. Almost a year to the day, Mickey Callahan's business partner was found dead from a single gunshot wound to the head and nothing but questions surrounding his murder. Now, Mickey Callahan is convinced that the same people are out to get him. After a sloppy kidnapping attempt, no one takes him seriously until the body count begins to add up. The Allie Lindell saga returns with the third book in the series and more drama than ever as Allie continues the struggle to hold on to herself without giving up on her partner and love, maintain a relationship with her police officer sister and best friend, and keep up with her caper-loving neighbor who insists on going along on every stakeout.


 




Heather's Review:

Once again I’m wondering why I signed up to review a mystery.  Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the mystery genre but I don’t do spoilers when I review and I find that it makes it very difficult to write said review “properly”.  I’ll try so here it goes.  

I haven’t read the first two in the series, but I wasn’t lost.  The mystery was a story in itself and stood alone, perhaps some of the personal tale would have flowed a little better had I read Roadkill(#1) and Sweetbreath(#2) first, but not so much that it affected how I was able to get involved into Anniversary Killer.

I found myself guessing and contemplating all the way through over the who done it.  For the personal part and the characters, I found myself not only caring deeply about them, but they are so honestly written that I realized they could very easily be people I know.

I’m definitely going to be adding the first two entries to my to-be-read list.

Rating: 



About this Author:







Alexandra Powe Allred graduated from Texas A&M University with a B.A. in History, saying,"As everyone knows, once you get a degree in history, all you can really do is teach or write. I'm just doing what I can!" As the daughter of a (now retired) U.S. Diplomat, Allred traveled all over the United States and around the world. Her writing career began before graduation with several pieces on bi-lingual education with national education publications.

But the real stories began while living as a youth in Moscow, Russia. Under a communist regime, imagination and the ability to create stories was the very best way to beat boredom (and the freezing cold!). As her career was taking off, Allred embraced her second passion -- sports. She trained for and made the U.S. women's bobsled team in 1994, becoming the first U.S. National Champion. She was named Athlete of the Year by the United States Olympic Committee and garnered much worldwide attention as she was also 4 1/2 months pregnant at the time! Her training regimen was (and is) used by the United States and International Olympic Committees for pregnant athletes. Following her retirement from the sport in 1998, Allred returned to the literary world with The Quiet Storm.

While living in the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, NY, she was able to talk to Olympic and National athletes from all disciplines and share with sports enthusiasts. From there, her career was launched. She did adventure freelance writing for Sports Illustrated, Muscle & Fitness for Her, and Volvo magazines. She held a sports column, worked as an editor for NOW magazines outside Dallas, Texas and began working as a Clean Air advocate, often testifying before the EPA.

Today, she writes (mostly) ï¬�ction, teaches kinesiology classes for Navarro Community College while enjoying her family and animals in Texas.   


Be sure to check out :


Book 1 in the Allie Lindell Series
 
 
Book 2 in the Allie Lindell Series
 

 

Availability



Saturday 16 August 2014

COVER REVEAL: VOODOO MOON by DJ Westerfield writing as June Stevens

COVER REVEAL: 

VOODOO MOON by DJ Westerfield writing as June Stevens
 Presented by Crimson Tree Publishing. (Adult Paranormal Romance—Mature)

GENRE: Paranormal Romance 
PUBLISHER: Crimson Tree Publishing
SERIES: Paranorm World

VOODOO MOON, a Moon Sisters Novel

Zombies aren’t supposed to exist, yet they are turning up all over Nash City. As a member of the Elite Black Blade Guard, Fiona Moon is tasked with hunting down the most dangerous Paranorm criminals. Now she must find out who is kidnapping mages and sucking the life energy from their bodies. To make matters worse, she has to work with the one man that embodies everything she despises. Ian Barroes is the rich founder and head of the Necromancers Guild and a professor of Necromantic Studies at the Academy of Science and Magic. There is one thing he wants more than anything else in the world… Fiona.

They each hold secrets that could destroy them, but could also be the key to destroying the evil Voodoo priest, Bokor. They must learn to trust each other and track down Bokor before more innocents are taken, and murdered. To make matters worse, when Fiona becomes a target of the evil madman, she finds herself lured into his trap. Now she and Ian have to fight for survival and their very souls.

ABOUT THE PARANORM WORLD SERIES:

Two hundred years ago the world was very different. It was an age of technology and prosperity. There were more than 7 billion people on earth. Magic and paranormal beings were relegated to fiction and myth. In the Technological Age Year 2012 the Earth experienced a natural phenomena which we now call the Cataclysm. There was a polar shift in which the earths natural magnetic poles shifted. The polar shift caused a series of natural disasters that changed the landscape of the world.

In the years that followed 2012—Earthquakes, hurricanes, blizzards, tornadoes, and tsunamis pounded the world leaving devastation and death. Whole cities and even states were leveled by earthquakes and swallowed by the sea. The melting of the polar ice caps caused flooding.

Society collapsed. With major cities being leveled by disasters governments crumbled. Power plants and refineries were destroyed. The basic infrastructure of the country disintegrated. There was no longer any electricity, public water systems no longer worked. Food supplies dwindled as there was no longer enough gasoline for shipping. At first the government tried to keep order with police and military. But as more and more disasters destroyed major cities and even the capital of the United States, the government crumbled. With no government to pay or command them there was no longer an army or even police forces. Riots abounded, destroying as much property as the disasters.

Disasters killed more than half the population in less than a year. Over the next five decades famine, disease, and war killed millions more.

Humanities only chance for survival was reliant on those who had long ago become outcasts and myths. Humans who through natural evolution, genetics, or viruses had preternatural abilities.

In the ruins of the old civilization, a new one rose up. One that blends technology and magic. One where paranormal beings like mages, vampires and werebeasts live side by side with normal humans.


MAKING THE COVER:

We know our readers love to see how our covers are made. Above you can see the design elements our cover designing genius—Marya Heiman— used to create the cover for Voodoo Moon. She brought together some real pictures from Nashville, TN and created the post-apocalyptic scene you see in the cover. 

DJ Westerfield writing as JUNE STEVENS:
www.JuneStevens.com

June Stevens is the pen name of DJ Westerfield.

DJ uses the pseudonym June Stevens to write ROMANTIC fiction in a variety of genres including contemporary, suspense, fantasy, paranormal, urban fantasy.

DJ is a wife, step-mom, sister, auntie, daughter, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, friend, and Mommy to four adorable and mischievous four-legged babies. She writes non-fiction, blogs, and co-hosts an internet radio show as DJ Westerfield. 

Voodoo Moon by June Stevens, is scheduled to be released by Crimson Tree Publishing in early 2015.