Best Pick – 'Torc of Moonlight' by Linda Acaster

It’s great to have our writing appreciated, and a decent review can make our day. A fan letter from a reader can make our week.

So imagine my delight when I opened an email to discover that a reader had not only taken the time to nominate my supernatural thriller Torc of Moonlight for consideration as Indie Book of the Day, but that it had jumped the hurdles and had won the award. Ya-hee!!

Set in the UK, Torc of Moonlight is a gritty paranormal romance dealing with the resurrection of a Celtic water goddess. It features Nick, a college student whose bright-eyed take on life, love and reality receives a serious knock when he meets studious Alice. Is she leading him into a downward spiral of paranoia? Or are they unconsciously linking into a wayward pre-Roman time-line where a man he terms ‘The Other’ is reliving his life through Nick’s actions? One of them is in danger, but is it Alice or is it Nick?

 

In keeping with Celtic lore and the power of three, the novel is the first in a trilogy set in university cities in northern England. Every place, every building, every road mentioned actually exists. Don’t venture there in the dark. Those who do tend to leave 5 star reviews.

Excerpt:

 He’d seduced her, Nick realised. That’s what had happened. Hawkins had seduced Alice, seduced her and used her and thrown her aside.

The bastard. No wonder she didn’t want anything to do with him. No wonder her only outlet was her work and her books. The bastard.

He picked up his glass again, but it was empty. No one was serving. Nick looked round the pine tables, wondering where the barman had gone. His brain seemed to be floating free of his skull. What was the matter with him? He’d only had two.

Outside the door to the McCarthy people swirled about him, clattering up and down the stone steps. He stood a moment in the maelstrom listening to the ebb and flow of their happy chatter. He’d been happy once. Alice would have been happy. Once.

The steps led up to the canteen, offices, and the Sanctuary bar. He ignored them all. Down the long corridor, far down the corridor, Alice’s poster was tacked to the wall. One tug had it free, the single red drawing pin spinning away to the tiled floor. The next moment he was pushing through the door of the HullFire office.

The girl behind the computer screen looked up with a smile that faded to a suspicious frown. Nick slapped the poster across her keyboard.

‘Hawkins,’ he snapped. ‘Who is he?’

The girl blinked, and pushed herself back on her wheeled chair. ‘What?’

‘Hawkins,’ Nick repeated, stabbing a finger at the blacked-out name on the poster beneath Alice’s head. ‘Who is he and where can I find him?’

Her gaze followed his hand, and then took in the poster as a whole. ‘Oh,’ she said.

Nick leant over her desk. ‘Who is he?’

The girl stood, pushing her face towards his, matching his aggression. ‘What’s your problem? Never heard of please and thank you?’ Her eyes flashed. ‘Our lecherous lecturer laid your girlfriend, has he?’

Nick straightened, catching his breath. The girl eased her stance in return.

‘Figures,’ she said. ‘We thought this little interlude was too good to be true. Helen is the one you need to speak to. She did an exposé a couple of years back. Nearly had him turfed out.’

‘Where is he?’

‘Forget it, or you’ll end up turfed out. And that prat isn’t worth your future.’

‘I’ve never heard of him. Lecturer in what?’

‘Forget it. Acting the jilted lover isn’t going to score you any points around here.’

‘Helen, then. Where will I find this Helen?’

‘Right here.’

Behind him the door swung gently on its hinges to reveal an angular woman in her late twenties wearing a mauve silk jacket and a short black skirt. In her heels she was taller than Nick. At sight of the poster she raised a darkly pencilled eyebrow.

‘Mother Earth Society, eh? Not a devotee, are you, desperately trying to be one with nature?’ Her gaze washed over his scarred face. ‘I guess not. Hardly the bardic type.’

‘He’s looking for Harkin,’ the girl told her.

‘Hawkins,’ Nick corrected.

The woman shook her head. ‘Leonard Harkin, our celebrated hippie that never was, chief practitioner of free love and peace, man.’ She swayed, giving an imitation of being stoned. ‘Except he wraps it up with candles and secret invocations.’

The girl shot her a warning look. ‘Helen...’

‘But not everyone,’ Helen continued, ‘only the impressionable ones, the ones he wants to shag. Your girlfriend. Presumably.’

‘Where will I find him?’

‘Now? Pass. His studio’s in Loten. You could try there. Of course, at this hour he could be scraping his reptiles on Cranbrook.’ She looked beyond his shoulder to the girl behind the desk. ‘Time to call it a day, Jenny.’

Nick frowned. ‘This Harkin lectures in…?’

Helen unhooked a coat from the back of the door and passed it over the desk. Jenny flicked the switch on the computer and its incessant hum fell silent in the tiny office.

‘You’re not listening,’ Helen told him. ‘Loten. Studio. You’ll find it if you want to. Can hardly miss it really.’ She gestured towards the corridor. ‘Would you like to go ahead of us so we can lock up?’

Nick stepped by her and kept on walking. Helen followed him out of the office, watching his determined stride with interest as Jenny turned the key.

‘You shouldn’t have done that,’ Jenny said. ‘If he flattens Harkin he’ll get thrown out. If he mentions your name you’ll get thrown out. They’ll bring up that harassment claim he made against you.’

Helen smiled, unperturbed. ‘I hope he does flatten Harkin. I hope he beats the shit out of him. Justice has been a long time coming.’ She narrowed her eyes. ‘Besides, you never can tell. A scapegoat might come in handy.’

Available in both pb and ebook:

Kindle US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004FEFCKK 

Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004FEFCKK 

All other e-formats: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/29377

Jane Richardson: 'A Different Kind of Honesty'

Always the one who ends relationships before they’ve barely begun, it’s way out of character for Maggie Lawless to take a risk with a man she hardly knows…the man she meets in a seedy New York City diner has a truth about him, a sincerity like no one she’s ever met before. Tony Valentino is an FBI agent fresh from a long-term undercover operation that’s left his life in tatters. His marriage over, separated from his children and with nowhere to call home, he’s frustrated and angry. All that keeps him going is the sweet memory of a brief encounter with a beautiful woman, though it wakes him from crazy dreams that leave his mouth dry and his sheets soaked with sweat. When he meets her again, it’s obvious the fire that burned so briefly between them never really went out...but as their affair rekindles, both Tony and Maggie find the very people they thought they could trust are the first to turn against them.

Excerpt:

“I don't want to lose you, Maggie. Really I don't!”

Detective Sergeant Danny Chang shuffled along the corridor on his knees, his hands clasped over his heart in a frenzy of unbridled passion.

“Please! You want me to beg? Look at me—I’m begging.”

Maggie sighed. “Aw, come on, Danny. You know how much I love you. No matter what happens, we'll still be friends.”

“Ha! You say that now, but when you've finished with me you'll crumple me up and toss me aside like a used tissue. You're just like all the others!” Danny threw himself face down on the floor and sobbed, his shoulders heaving in distress. Maggie stepped over his prostrate form and leaned against the swing doors at the end of the corridor.

“You're a nut, Chang.” She shoved a door open with her shoulder and walked through backwards, laughing.

Danny picked himself up and brushed the dust from his already grubby jeans. Pushing the door open further, he stood aside to let a young female constable pass, eyeing her curvaceous bottom appreciatively as she scuttled by in too-tight uniform trousers. Maggie folded her arms and watched his undisguised lust with an amused smile.

“You never miss a shot, do you?”

“Life's too short,” he answered, flicking his over-long fringe out of his eyes. His sleek, glossy hair gleamed with the black-blue sheen of a crow's back. He watched the WPC’s retreating form as it disappeared around a corner. “So anyway—what's all this crap about you leaving?”

Maggie shrugged and turned away. “I never said I was actually going.” She loosened the belt of her damp raincoat and shook her hair out of the collar as she walked down the corridor. “All I said was I feel like a change. That's all. You know, try something different.”

Danny fell into step with her, slipping off his battered leather pilot jacket to reveal a T-shirt that might have once been white, but had long ago washed out to rain-cloud grey. A ladder of rips ran down the left leg of his jeans. One of the tears gaped open, revealing a knee with every step he took.

“Don't do it, Maggie,” he pleaded. “It won't be the same without you. I'll really miss you if you go.”

“Danny, you haven't seen me in six months.”

“Ah, but I thought about you every day and most nights. Dreaming of running my fingers through your soft auburn hair, losing myself in those beautiful baby blues. What do you think kept me going, up there in Miserable Manchester?”

“You really are a loony, you know. What are you now, thirty-two, thirty-three? You're the youngest dirty old man I know.”

Maggie was only pretending to be serious. She and Danny Chang had been friends since day one at Police College. They'd laughed, cried, and got roaring drunk with each

other, more often than not all on the same night. But never anything more, not even so much as a drunken snog, never mind a chaste kiss. If asked, Danny would have said their friendship was too valuable to spoil. Maggie would have said she’d trust him about as far as she could throw him with the wind behind her. Either way, they were best friends who told each other everything.

Most things, anyway.

Their pace slowed as they turned the corner, where two rows of doors faced each other across the corridor. A particularly evil variety of one hundred percent nylon carpeting covered the floor. After walking across it, you had to be certain to neutralize yourself on a wooden surface before touching another living soul for fear of zapping them half-dead with static shock.

Maggie rapped her knuckles on a mock-teak door with a black plastic nameplate announcing in white letters the lair of Detective Inspector Rachel Arden.

“I wonder what she wants?” Maggie whispered. “She only just caught me, too. I was trying to sneak off early. I haven't had a free weekend in ages.”

“Yeah,” Danny agreed. “And it's Poet's Day.”

“Poet’s Day?”

“Yeah, Poet’s Day. You know. Piss Off Early, Tomorrow's Saturday.”

Buy from MuseItUp

Edinburgh Fog
A Different Kind of Honesty

http://janerichardsonhome.blogspot.com/

'Asking Too Much,' Lindsay Townsend. Erotic Romance

My new erotic romance, 'Asking Too Much,' is now available as a pre-order with money off at Siren-Bookstrand.

Categories: Erotic Romance, Futuristic
Word Count: 34,505
Heat Level: SIZZLING

Published by: Siren-BookStrand, Inc.

PRE-ORDER HERE! 

http://www.bookstrand.com/asking-too-much

AVAILABLE: Wednesday, September 5th

This title is offered at a 10% discount. Offer ends midnight CST, September 12th.

offered at a 10% discount. Offer ends midnight CST, September 12th.

[Siren Classic: Erotic Futuristic Romance, light consensual BDSM, spanking, HEA]

In New Athens in 2061, men and women can sell themselves into slavery. Sofia Buccharis, golden, beautiful, and grieving, faced with an uncertain future, offers herself to the man she has admired for years, the former tyrant of New Athens, Theo Leventis. In a daring proposal, she goes further and suggests that they marry. She will be his slave bride—his virgin slave bride.

Intrigued, Theo, a man who has cloaked his emotions in mastery since a devastating divorce, seeks the gentle beauty out again after she has left him to consider her idea. He rescues Sofia from her bullying father and takes her to his private island. Theo courts Sofia, teaching her what lovemaking can be, and she teaches him about emotional intimacy.

In a month's time they will marry—and will Sofia's gamble pay off? Will Theo be a loving master and husband, or has she asked too much of the tyrant of New Athens?

A Siren Erotic Romance

Lindsay Townsend http://www.lindsaytownsend.net

Guest Blog - Mickie Sherwood: 'BayouBabe99er'

BayouBabe99er

Genre: Mainstream/Contemporary Romance
Word Count: 25,980

Release: April 24, 2012

Price: $2.99

Blurb: (New)

Suave Drake Cormier looks up at the lady leaning over the railing of the fishing trawler. She is probably one of the many Pauchex Pass inhabitants he is there to help. Will she pluck him from the swirling water? Or will his arrogant answer to her question about his trustability cause his demise?

Lovely Sharlene Mouton looks down at the man floundering for his life in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. She suspects he is as egotistical as they come. Should she throw him a line? Or let him dogpaddle to the distant shore?

Either way, that will be the last she ever sees of him. Or will it?

Buy at: Bookstrand and Amazon

Excerpt:

She kept tabs on the boaters.

The advancing powerboat zoomed perilously close to hitting her, rocking the small trawler like a cradle. Noise blasted passed her ears as the driver whipped the wheel and the speedboat leaned into a cresting curve. The close call left raucous laughter in the air and a body over the side. It was long gone before the splash sounded or the call for help went out.

He bobbed in the wake a good distance away, still shouting and calling names. It wasn’t long before the name calling took a vulgar turn. She watched as he swam to the nearest buoy where he clung for dear life. He swept the horizon with his eyes while circling his life preserver, one hand always in contact. Then—his eyes caught sight of her.

A hand swiped water from his face. “Hey!” his baritone timbre rumbled. That same hand flagged overhead.

The next thing Sharlene knew, he took off in her direction. Strong strokes propelled him within reach of the side ladder in no time flat. That was as far as she permitted for she swung the oar like a weapon. “You’re drunk as a skunk.”

“No, I’m not, Captain,” he countered. “Permission to come aboard.”

“Don’t patronize me, mister.”

“Look around you.” He floundered to stay afloat. “I’m not in any position to patronize anybody. Please.”

She wasn’t feeling very sympathetic at the moment.

“I’m Drake Cormier. I don’t bite.”

Something unexpected happened in her spirit. Laughter bubbled even as she gave him a direct stare. “I wasn’t born yesterday. You’re a man, right?”

“Last I looked.”

His comment sobered her. She disappeared from the side of the boat. It shocked him when the motor started and his lifeline puttered away. To add insult to injury, she slung a life ring overboard and nearly clocked him. Hearing his pitiful cry, she cut the engine.

Bio:

Mickie Sherwood is an author and novice photographer who takes nature pictures right in her own backyard. She loves to engage in her favorite pastime which also incites her creativity. Combine that aspect of her life with the enjoyment of spending time with her family, and cruising vacations, and the development of interesting characters who encounter intriguing circumstances is not very far behind.

Mickie also likes a good laugh. Enjoy the humorous stories she tells about life, at her blog - Mickie's Mutterings.

Tags: Mickie Sherwood, mainstream contemporary romance, interracial romance, Gulf Oil Spill

Mickie Sherwood

~~Sweet, spicy romance – a heartbeat away~~

www.blurbsinbloom.com Sweet-to-sensual romance blurbs compiled just for you! Open for submissions.

Guest blog: L. K. Below - 'Beauty in his Bed'

BIO:

L.K. Below indulges her love of fairy tales a bit in each of her books. From scornful first meetings to heated encounters, she believes that every character deserves a happily-ever-after. The Modern Fairytales series embodies that ideal even more, each centering around a fun, flirty fairy-tale-turned-reality for the inner princess. Visit her online at www.lbelow.net.

                                      

BLURB:

Upon finding a gorgeous woman in his bed, Seb wakes her with a wicked kiss…and it just might lead to forever.

Devastated by a breakup, plus-sized Amy Somers retreats to New Orleans to visit her longtime friend. But when her friend delivers the key to her apartment and sends Amy on ahead, she doesn’t realize that the apartment belongs to someone else.

Upon coming home to find Amy asleep on his bed, Sebastien Babineaux entertains lusty thoughts. Bent on seducing her, he never expects to lose his heart -- or to work so hard to keep Amy by his side.

EXCERPT:

Damn.

Seb propped his shoulder against the door frame to keep from falling to his knees at the sight of the woman lying half-naked on his bed. Was he drooling? Faced with a sight as delectable as her, he didn’t know how his jaw wasn’t lying on the floor.

If only she’d been conscious.

His hands tingled with the urge to strip off the rest of her clothes. After the dry spell he’d been having, he would have considered himself delusional to be handed such a feast. That is, if Monique hadn’t warned him that she’d sent her friend over. Seb needed no help charming women, but with a beauty like the one sprawled out before him, how could he turn her away?

This woman--Amy, he’d been told was her name--had been crafted to fulfill his every  fantasy. She lay oblivious to his presence. Her blue baby doll clung to her large breasts, revealing miles of unconquered terrain. Her auburn hair draped over her chin and part of her plump mouth. One hand was tucked beneath her cheek; the other rested between her lush bare thighs. With her legs curled, he couldn’t tell how tall she would be, but one thing he was certain: before him lay a woman who he wouldn’t have to worry about crushing with his six-foot-tall frame. And one he shortly hoped to know very well.

One question held him rooted in place while his hormones urged him to join her.

Why would a goddess like her be lying half-dressed on his bed?

Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz: 'Love Delivery'

BLURB:

A waitress in a donut shop, Ann is happy with her single life and her cat, Mittens, until she finds herself interested in Tom, the handsome man who makes deliveries to the shop.  Unfortunately, Tom comes with some baggage, including five cats; Maria, his vicious ex-wife; and Maria’s adorable daughter he calls Kitten.  

When Maria is hired at the donut shop and learns Ann and Tom are beginning a relationship, she does everything she can to tear them apart.  Will Ann and Tom’s love prevail, or will the evil ex-wife win in the end?  Love Delivery is a sweet romance, which will bring tears to your eyes and a smile to your lips.

EXCERPT:

“Here it is,” he said, steering her to a quiet corner. Candles lit the table. A bottle of red wine stood open. Tom held the chair for her, and then sat close so their knees touched. “Would you like a glass of wine?” he asked, reaching for the bottle.

“No thanks,” Ann said. “I don’t drink.”

Tom poured a glass for himself. “Here’s the menu.” He handed it to her.

“I know what I want.”

“What’s that?”

“Fettuccini Alfredo.” Ann shook out her napkin and placed it on her lap.

“This chicken dish is good,” Tom said, pointing to an item on the menu.

Ann grimaced.  Is he a control freak? I already told him what I want. “I don’t eat meat.” Her voice sounded harsh in her own ears.

“Ah, well, okay, then. Fettuccini Alfredo it is.” Tom called the waiter and ordered the Alfredo for Ann and a spicy chicken dish for himself.

I guess we don’t agree on everything after all. He drinks and eats meat, too. I hope he doesn’t drink a lot. Maybe we weren’t made for each other. Not knowing what else to do, Ann took a sip of water and smiled.

Tom smiled back. “You’ll have to come meet my cats one of these days. Tyra, a gorgeous, long-haired black female, is my bathroom kitty. Whenever I’m sitting in there, she has to be in my lap. There’ve been times when my pants have been around my feet, and she’s curled up in my underwear.

“Then there’s BeeBee. She’s a Siamese. When I first got her, I thought she liked to cuddle, but it turned out she was just scared. It took me a long time, with lots of persuasion, to get her to come close to me. Finally, I was able to pick her up. I had her in my arms, and I put my face down to smell her fur. Suddenly, she turned and bit me on the nose.

“I think my favorite, though, is Loki. He’s the smallest of the bunch. He has allergies, and if I don’t get him to the vet for a shot in time, he loses his fur on his rear quarters, right by his tail. He loves to ride on my shoulders. Looks just like I’m wearing a fur collar.

“Then there’s the two new ones, they’re the kittens. They haven’t developed personalities yet. You should always get two kittens instead of one,” Tom said when the food arrived.

“Why?” Ann asked. Her face hurt from laughing at Tom’s cat stories. Mittens never did any of the things Tom’s cats did.

While she ate, Tom continued to share funny stories about the cats and kittens. “Kittens play with each other so you don’t need to play with them. You can just sit back and watch them. When I have kittens in the house, I don’t even turn on my T.V. set.” Tom twirled pasta on his fork. He lifted the fork halfway to his mouth and stopped. “Looks like we have company,” he groaned.

Ann turned. Maria and a curly-haired blond child entered. Ann watched Maria’s smile turn to a frown. Maria pulled the child toward their table. Ann gulped. Now what? Can’t she leave us alone? How can Tom and I ever get to know each other if she’s always showing up? She pasted a false smile on her face and clutched her napkin tightly.

“So you decided not to listen to me,” Maria spat at Ann.

“Daddy!” the little girl cried, holding up her arms.

“Hi, Kitten,” Tom said, scooping the child into his arms. He gave her a bear hug, and she giggled. “I want you to meet my friend, Ann. Ann, this is Kitten.”

“Hi, Ann. Daddy calls me Kitten, but you can call me Catherine.” The child put her arms around Tom’s neck and hugged him.

“Hello, Catherine,” Ann said, finding her voice.

“At least you could have gone somewhere else, Tom. We always ate here,” Maria accused and pushed
Tom’s shoulder.

Tom moved Catherine to his other knee and glared at Maria. “Do we have to fight in front of Kitten?”

“Hey, Mr. Nice Guy, you’re the one who left us, remember?”

Removing Catherine from his lap, Tom stood up and faced Maria. “You’re creating a scene. Why don’t you leave before things get ugly?”

“Maybe you should have thought about that a long time ago.” Maria poked Tom’s chest with her finger.

Ann watched in fear. Only moments ago, she and Tom were enjoying dinner. Maria’s face now looked hard and dark. She swore at Tom and poked him again. Then she shoved him on the shoulder.

Tom grabbed her hand. Maria spat at him and reached up, clawing his face with her other hand.

“I hate you,” she screamed, grabbed her child, and ran out crying.

Tom turned to Ann. There were bloody scratches on his face. Ann dipped her napkin in her water glass and dabbed his cheek. “I’m sorry, Ann, I guess this spoiled dinner.”

This is never going to work for us, not as long as Maria is in the picture. Ann nodded her head. “Sure did. I’m not very hungry now. I think I’d better just go home.”

BIO:

Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz has published more than 100 articles, 75 stories, two e‑books, a chapbook, and her stories have been included in two anthologies. She writes for both adults and children. Her fiction has appeared in numerous genre and children’s publications and non‑fiction work has appeared in a variety of writing, parenting, and young adult print magazines and on line publications.  She edits for two small traditional publishers.  Visit her web site at http:// pennylockwoodehrenkranz.yolasite.com. Her writing blog is located at http://pennylockwoodehrenkranz.blogspot.com/

Her three romance stories: Love Delivery, Lady in Waiting, and Mirror, Mirror are available from MuseItUp Publishing. Her middle grade novels, Ghost for Rent and Ghost for Lunch, will be released by 4RV Publishing. Her short story collection A Past and A Future is available at Sams Dot Publishing.  Two picture books, Boo’s Bad Day and Many Colored Coats are also scheduled for publication with 4RV Publishing.

'A Silver Sun' by Sandra Freeman: a rewarding relationship read

'A Silver Sun'

Sandra Freeman

Pen Press

ISBN 978-1-78003-287-0

4.5 Stars for 'A Silver Sun'

Recently I was sent a copy of 'A Silver Sun' by Sandra Freeman to review. I found it very original. The novel, set in modern Southern France amongst the British ex-pat community, is touching, wry and full of pathos. The characters are vivid, very human, nicely contrasting, and at times truly startling. I particularly enjoyed Sandra Freeman's deft and realistic drawing of more mature romantic leads, especially Stella, the sympathetic main heroine. The author creates younger characters equally well and I found myself cheering on Ben especially.

'A Silver Sun' is a rewarding relationship read and offers many insights into life abroad, life in a small France village, grief, lost-love and the nature of age.

Lindsay

Buy link here: