Wednesday 29 April 2020

Running from Demons by M.K. Theodoratus



Running from Demons
by M.K. Theodoratus
Genre: YA Paranormal
Release Date:September 2018

Summary:

Pillar Beccon travels across Andor to discover her mother's mysterious past. But danger is never far away as a demon seeks to destroy her.

An orphaned null without a hint of magic, Pillar can't remember ever belonging anywhere, especially not in the Freemage commune where she grew up. After she graduates from high school, she jumps at the chance to learn why her mother ran away from her family.

During an accidental encounter, Grylerrque, a surviving commander from The Demon Wars, recognizes what Pillar is and decides to feed the girl's life force to her clutch. The demon sends her minions to capture the girl. Pillar escapes with a help of an unexpected allay, only to learn she was pulled out of the frying pan and thrown into the fire.

Running from Demons tells the story of Pillar's search to find a place to call her own. The book continues the chronicles of Andor, a land where the mundane world clashes with one of magic and demons from another plane prey. If you love paranormal stories of discovery and mayhem, this is the story for you."
About the Author
M. K. Theodoratus has been intrigued by fantasy since she discovered the Oz books. She has traveled through many fantasy worlds since then. When she's not reading about other writer's worlds, she's creating her own -- mostly that of the Far Isle Half-Elven where she explores the social and political influences of population genetics in a hybrid elf/human poplustion.

A sixth grade English assignment introduced her to story writing. The teacher asked for a short story. She got an incomplete, 25-page Nancy Drew pastiche which turned into a novel the next summer. Theodoratus has been addicted to writing stories ever after.
Author Links:
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5067004.M_K_Theodoratus
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/kaytheod
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/M-K-Theodoratus/235376633158175?ref=hl


GIVEAWAY:

Tuesday 28 April 2020

Vanilla with a Twist



Vanilla with a Twist (One Scoop or Two)
Contemporary Romance, Sweet romance
Date Published: 5.20.2020
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

 photo add-to-goodreads-button_zpsc7b3c634.png

Tandy Blakemore spends her days running her New England ice cream parlor, single-parenting her teenaged son, and trying to keep her head above financial water. No easy feat when the shop’s machinery is aging and her son is thinking about college. Tandy hasn’t had a day off in a decade and wonders if she’ll ever be able to live a worry-free life.
Engineer Deacon Withers is on an enforced vacation in the tiny seaside town of Beacher’s Cove. Overworked, stressed, and lonely, he walks into Tandy’s shop for a midday ice cream cone and gets embroiled in helping her fix a broken piece of equipment.
Can the budding friendship that follows help fix their broken spirits and lead to love?




Excerpt

Before she recognized his intent, Deacon pulled her to his chest, his arms winding around her waist to hold her in place against him. The slow, steady thrum of his heart against her ear went a long way in soothing her frayed nerves and worried thoughts. Without thinking she shouldn’t, she melted into him. She slid her own arms around his waist, crossed them, and pressed in even closer.
Every hard, muscled, and toned inch of him was heaven. Tandy felt comforted and protected in his embrace, two things she hadn’t felt in a lifetime.
If ever.
“Tell me what’s troubling you.” The deep, soothing pitch in his tone had her shoulders relaxing along with the rest of her.
What would it cost her to divulge the worries she had about money, or her fears all she’d built could be taken away with one bad earnings’ season, one financial disaster, or even that her future seemed precarious at best? Her pride? Heck, that had gone out the proverbial window seventeen years ago. Her sense of fierce independence? She was starting to think being independent had more drawbacks than benefits.
She’d spent her entire adult life depending on no one but herself. How would it feel to lean on someone like she was doing right now with Deacon? And not merely physically, but emotionally, too? How would it feel to know you had a partner, someone who had your back through lean times, and one who’d bolster you up when things looked bleak? Who’d celebrate your victories and hold your hand during your defeats? What would it be like to lose yourself, to forget all your troubles and worries with a man? To feel safe and protected and, yes, even loved and cherished?
Tandy had never experienced any of those things. And standing within Deacon’s arms, his chest rising and falling with each calm breath, his heart beating beneath his shirt, and the solid, warm, comforting feel of his arms wrapped around her made her realize how much she’d longed for them.
A simple shift and she slid her arms up the solid wall of his chest.
His brows folded together, his mouth no longer smiling as he stared down at her, concern now dancing across his expression. “Tandy?”
She wet her lips and steeled herself for what she wanted to say. How do you ask a man, and a stranger to boot, to take you away from everything worrisome in your life, even if it’s only for a few minutes?
“Can I ask you something?”
He nodded. “Sure.”
She returned his nod. The right words wouldn’t form, though, so she thought to show him what she truly wanted. The man must possess telepathic powers, because as she rose on her sneaker-clad toes, her gaze locked with his, Deacon dipped his head and tightened his hold around her waist. The black in his pupils dilated, all but obliterating the startling blue.
When their lips were a sigh away from touching, the back door slammed shut.
“Mom? Are you in here?”


About the Author

Peggy Jaeger is a contemporary romance writer who writes Romantic Comedies about strong women, the families who support them, and the men who can’t live without them. If she can make you cry on one page and bring you out of tears rolling with laughter the next, she’s done her job as a writer!

Family and food play huge roles in Peggy’s stories because she believes there is nothing that holds a family structure together like sharing a meal…or two…or ten. Dotted with humor and characters that are as real as they are loving, she brings all topics of daily life into her stories: life, death, sibling rivalry, illness and the desire for everyone to find their own happily ever after. Growing up the only child of divorced parents she longed for sisters, brothers and a family that vowed to stick together no matter what came their way. Through her books, she’s created the families she wanted as that lonely child.

When she’s not writing Peggy is usually painting, crafting, scrapbooking or decoupaging old steamer trunks she finds at rummage stores and garage sales.

A lifelong and avid romance reader and writer, Peggy is a member of RWA and her local New Hampshire RWA Chapter.

As a lifelong diarist, she caught the blogging bug early on, and you can visit her at peggyjaeger.com where she blogs daily about life, writing, and stuff that makes her go "What??!"


Contact Links

Purchase Links



RABT Book Tours & PR

The Run Around by Bernadette Franklin


The Run Around
Bernadette Franklin
Publication date: April 28th 2020
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance
Arranging a wedding for her brother and a five-time thoroughbride tests Hope’s skills and patience. She’d believed the vows would be the most dangerous part of the ceremony, but a baseball to the head during the photography session proves her wrong and lands her in the sights of her brother’s best friend, Fredrick.
He wants her to plan his wedding.
She wants to be his bride.
Diving into the treacherous world of wedding planning, Hope keeps her word and arranges the vows for the one man she believes she could love. He doesn’t know how much she cherishes him and his friendship.
What she doesn’t know lands her in the heart of a royal mess.
EXCERPT:
A sensible woman would’ve been delighted to be her future sister-in-law’s maid of honor, as it implied cordial relationships or some sort of bullshit like that. I knew better.
I made an excellent scapegoat.
As the wedding party’s weakest link, everyone expected me to trip on my dress, maybe break an ankle along with my neck, or spill the entire wine fountain onto the floor. My brother claimed he loved me, but I believed he’d been the one to spread the rumor I was the world’s clumsiest woman.
When I secured my revenge, it would be sweet.
But first, I needed to survive my brother’s wedding without being responsible for a single hiccup. Playing to my brother’s misconceptions, I’d spent months tripping over nothing on purpose so I could transform myself into the image of traditional beauty and grace.
I’d even lost twenty pounds so my dress would fit.
The wedding would be a disaster, but I would emerge from the chaos smelling like roses, red wine, and garlic bread. Honestly, I doubted the wedding would make it to the reception.
Some weddings had bridezillas. We had a thoroughbride, and if she got it into her head to run, I wished my brother the best of luck catching her before she fled from the church. My proposal to have the wedding on a yacht, where my brother’s thoroughbride couldn’t escape, hadn’t earned me points with anyone.
The bride hated the ocean.
My brother was smart enough to catch onto my implication.
It wasn’t my fault Amy wasn’t exactly the most reliable woman in the world when it came to marriage. Once was a fluke. Twice was a trend. Five incidents of running from the wedding was evidence the thoroughbride would strike again, and my dear old brother would be saddled with the fifty thousand dollar bill, as he refused to believe Amy would run out on him.
Oh, no. Amy would never run out on him.


Author Bio:
Bernadette Franklin is a figment of imagination owned and operated by two cats, a few plants, and a human.

XBTBanner1

Monday 27 April 2020

Love, Marriage, and Other Disasters by Shilpa Suraj



About the Book:

She believes in love, family and…squiggles!

Alisha Rana is not your typical single desi girl. For one, she is on the wrong side of 30.  For another, she is divorced. And last but definitely not least, she is still, gasp, a virgin!

Alisha doesn’t want much. But what she does want is that elusive thing all women search for – A man who gets her…but a man who gets her hot! She calls it “feeling the squiggle.”

Enter Dr. Vivaan Kapoor, cute, hot, squiggle-worthy. The younger brother of her cousin's prospective groom, he’s got the squiggle factor in spades. The only catch? He's never been married and is years younger than Alisha. Basically, completely off-limits.

And then there is Arjun. Widowed, older than her by the right number of years and a genuinely nice guy. He's Vivaan’s cousin and a so-called perfect match for Alisha. The problem is, Alisha’s squiggle-o-meter refuses to budge for him.

What will Alisha choose? A lifetime together with the 'right' man or a chance at happiness with the 'wrong' one?

Book Links:
Goodreads * Amazon

Read an Excerpt from Love, Marriage, and Other Disasters by Shilpa Suraj


Alisha was dreaming about tiny babies crawling all over her when a tinny, buzzing noise filled the room. Struggling awake, she located her phone on the side table and squinted at the display. Vivaan. At this hour? It was close to two in the morning.
Heart pounding, she answered the phone. “Are you okay?”
Silence was her only reply. Checking the phone’s display to see if the call had been cut off, she frowned when she realized he was still on the line.
“Vivaan?”
“I get it now.”
The quiet words had her flopping back against her pillows in relief. He didn’t sound like he was hurt or in pain.
“Get what now?” she asked, staring into the darkness of her room. There was something frighteningly intimate about lying in bed, enveloped in darkness with only his voice on the other end of the phone anchoring her to the moment.
“Everything you said. About the way people think. About the way they behave.” He sounded sad. Alisha wanted to soothe and comfort but didn’t know exactly where this was going. Instead, she waited.
“I want you to know,” he stopped for a minute and then continued, “No, I need you to know that you’re incredible. That you can smile, you can laugh, God, the fact that you can love and live in the face of the incredible assholes who make up huge chunks of our society is beyond incredible.”
A single tear rolled down Alisha’s face as she let his words wash over her. They soothed her in places she hadn’t known were still hurting.
“Are you there, Alisha?” His voice reached out to her again bringing her back to the moment.
“Yes.” She could never let him know it but for him, she would always be there.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“I don’t remember you doing anything that needs apologizing for,” she answered.
“For not taking what you said seriously. About people and society. For dismissing it the way I did.”
His words had pain knifing through her. If he finally understood, he also understood there was no future for them. A sense of loss swept through her at the thought of Vivaan no longer wanting her. It was what she’d wanted, what she’d pushed for and still….it was devastating.
“Alisha,” he whispered her name, recalling her to their conversation. “I’ve never wanted you more.”


About Shilpa Suraj:


Shilpa Suraj wears many hats - corporate drone, homemaker, mother to a fabulous toddler and author.
An avid reader with an overactive imagination, Shilpa has weaved stories in her head since she was a child. Her previous stints at Google, in an ad agency and as an entrepreneur provide colour to her present day stories, both fiction and non-fiction.




Shilpa on the Web:
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram


Veiled by Michelle Areaux



Veiled
by Michelle Areaux
Genre: YA Fantasy/Supernatural/Romance
Release Date: March 4th 2020

Summary:

Audrey is supposed to be attending the exclusive performing arts academy she has dreamed of attending her entire life. However, one wrong click landed her at the exclusive House of Shadows a… vampire academy.
Once Audrey discovers the truth of where she is, it is too late to leave without an entire coven of vampires realizing she is human and their next meal. Forced to remain at the academy, Audrey finds herself fitting in a world unlike any she had ever imagined. As she settles into her new role, a dark secret emerges and Audrey is now in danger...again.
Only, one boy can save Audrey from a dark secret lurking within the House of Shadows. But, will his desire to save her withstand the hunger he feels for her? Discover this exciting new academy series today!

Fans of the House of Night and Twilight will adore this new series.


Buy on Amazon!


Excerpt- 
“Come on, just tell her,” Donovan shouts, and his voice causes me to jump and gasp. I wish I could run away and hide, but I have no clue where I would go.  
“Tell me what?” I cried out. I don’t know how much more I can handle.  
Eden looks at me with a softness in her eyes that keeps me from screaming and jumping through the window in front of me. “Audrey, you are at the House of Shadows. This is a prestigious Vampire Academy school. We train Vampires to assimilate into the real world while also getting the best education possible,” Eden says slowly.  
Vampires…  
Wrong School…  
All at once, everything that I had just heard and experienced hit me like a flash of lightning. To make sure I understood exactly what she was saying, Eden smiled, allowing her white, shiny fangs to protrude from her gums. As I gasped, her eyes turned from a hunter green to a golden yellow.  I felt my legs crumble beneath me as darkness swirled in my vision. I felt like thick, heavy tentacles were pulling me down into a black abyss and there was nothing I could do to stop it.  
Oh no, I was passing out with two Vampires in front of me.  

About the Author
Michelle Areaux is a wife, mother, and seventh grade Language Arts teacher.

She earned her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Kentucky and a Master’s degree in Literacy from Asbury University.

Author Links: