When Beauty Met the Beast Book Blitz

 
Genre: Comedy, Suspense, Romance
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: June 10, 2017
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About the Book

Betrayal, obsession, revenge. Can love conquer all?

Deep beneath the veneer of luxury, beauty, and wealth, lie secrets that could be used to destroy the Vanderville family. Secrets that a cold, calculating, and vengeful person has been collecting, patiently waiting for the perfect moment to exact a cruel and painful revenge…

Rejections turn to romance?

An obsession brews into a whirlwind romance that threatens to be torn apart by a bad boy’s bad habits. Will a love so passionate yet unstable be able to withstand the turmoil that’s sure to blossom from a plot for revenge?

Double betrayal, despair…

Waiting for a wedding proposal, Taylor is instead handed betrayal. Her cheating father betrays his wife and shatters his daughter’s heart at the same moment she discovers the man she loves has been lying to her.

Careers hang in the balance…

What do the Vanderville Matriarch’s powerful position in the fashion industry, a greedy States attorney, and a budding creative director all have in common? Careers compromised by the cold hunger of a vengeful person.

Surrender yourself to the gripping story surrounding the Vanderville Family and their friends. Discover for yourself if love, both romantic and familial, can survive the frigid reality of betrayal and revenge.

Excerpt

Was someone watching Ben, and sending him threatening messages? Honestly, it didn’t surprise her. Only God knew how many enemies the man must have had.

With her heart pounding and hands shaking she started opening the smaller envelopes. The first one gripped her, it had a drawing of Ben in his office at work. Sitting on his desk in a very seductive manner was an image of his busty secretary blowing kisses at him.

The next letter, however, brought home the seriousness of the situation to her as she read it. It was written in dark red ink and stated:

You shouldn’t have so much sugar in your coffee, and your wife should wear the new lipstick she bought last week. It will match that dress she’s wearing perfectly.

Taylor should take better care of her cat, and Wade needs better lighting in his room. It would be a shame for him to leave again when he’s only just returned.

It was only after she read that that realization truly dawned on her and tore at her insides.

Regina gasped. This person wasn’t just watching Ben. It was all of them. They were watching all of them, and this note was recent. As in a few days ago recent. Wade had only been home since Monday, and she bought that lipstick last week.

Cold terror gripped her in its icy embrace, and she could do nothing but stand there and stare at the note, paralyzed with fright. Someone was watching them, and watching so closely that they knew how much sugar Ben put in his coffee.

God!

Were they watching her now? Could they see her?

She whirled around and looked at the large casement window behind her. Maybe they could see her in here. Maybe they had cameras set up inside the house.

She looked back to the note to read it again, and noticed how the letters on some of the words smudged out. That was when it occurred to her that it wasn’t written in red ink.

It was…blood!

Where to Buy

Amazon UK | Amazon AUS | Amazon CAN | Amazon US

About the Author

Khardine Gray is a contemporary romance author who lives in England with her husband and two kids. She is well travelled, cultured, and a woman with a passion for dancing and ice skating.

When not writing you can catch her shopping, indulging on pizza and hot chocolate, or hanging out with her family and friends.

No need to spend money on an airline ticket. Simply pick up one of Khardine’s books to become immersed in the fascinating stories and characters she creates.

 

 

Connect with Khardine

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Giveaway

Khardine Gray is giving away an e-copy of When Beauty Met the Beast. Enter via the Rafflecopter below for your chance to win. The giveaway closes at midnight EST on July 7, 2017, and is open to entrants worldwide.

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Rebel Vampires Book Tour & Giveaway

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Fantasy Rebel Limited
Publishing Date: June 17, 2017
Pages: 277
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Light lives for his vampire family. Now he may die for it.

ESCAPE INTO AWARD-WINNING URBAN FANTASY… Light – rebel, lover, anti-hero – will be burnt at the stake in fourteen days. In a hidden, paranormal London, he’s been branded a traitor and terrorist Renegade – a Blood Lifer hunter of human slavers.

Liberty is a relentless interrogator. She’s been trained to hate Renegades. Yet when her life converges with Light’s, she’s enticed by the dark and glory of his world.

Light is catapulted into a nightmare of secret research, deadly enemies and perilous intrigue. Soon he’s in a race against time to transform into the true leader vital to save his family, home and love. But will he be able to judge predator from prey?

Light must make the ultimate choice: to hide in the shadows. Or walk into the light…

Betrayal. Death. Hope. Isn’t that how all truly great stories start?

“Rosemary A Johns is one of fantasy’s greats. She’ll put you in mind of Anne Rice and leave you wanting more”–  Gothic Mom’s Reviews

“Take what you know about vampire romance and throw it away. Rosemary A Johns is not only a refreshing new voice in this genre, she excels it. Her vampires are edgy, titillating and enticing” – Rockchick Addiction Reviews

Don’t forget me…Sun entwined around me like a steel snake; her bite into my jugular was explosive rainbow end of days. I panted, squirming and gasping. Trapped in her embrace, my peepers rolled back, as I juddered. Then Sun was snogging me and I could taste my copper blood… Don’t forsake me…

I could feel the vibrations of Hartford’s anguished plea in his soulful song through every fevered atom. We curled around each other on the black cushions, which were piled on the lounge floor. Donovan was sprawled on the sofa, smoking wacky backy, serenaded by Hartford’s new routine for the club. But it was meant for him because one thing I knew..?

Love.

…Live for me…

Hartford was singing to Donovan: the dead bloke he craved to resurrect.

I twisted Sun, splaying her over the cushions. She laughed in surprise. I’d forgotten how young she still was. ‘My turn.’

I bit but gently. The moment when my fangs slid through her ivory skin was divine. Her blood was like coming home. Her body was quivering… Don’t forget me… and we were snogging, both our bloods bonded as one… Don’t forsake me… our hearts beating united… Live for me…

Crash.

Splintered door. Black balaclavas. First and Blood Lifers. Shooters.

‘Bloody down.’ I threw myself over Sun, shielding her. I couldn’t hear anything over the rat-rat-rat of gunshots. The sofa’s foam sprayed like snow.

Screams.

Christ in heaven, Hartford.

I peered up.

Dark shapes, like black ghosts, were thronging through our flat. A dozen at least.

Hartford was huddled by the wall: he was riddled with bullets. His breathing was laboured; crimson was seeping down his white shirt.

Donovan had dived from the sofa and was stroking Hartford’s cheek, snarling at the bastard, who had his semiautomatic pressed to Hartford’s forehead.

Enough was bleeding enough.

I stood up, straightening my shoulders. As if with a collective mind, the black balaclava bastards turned their shooters to point at me. Apart from the one who had his trained on Hartford. ‘Reckon there’s been a bit of a mix up, gents. So why don’t you pack up and get your arses out of here. By the way, what type of Blood Lifer brings either a gun or a First Lifer to a barney?’

‘That’d be me.’

Bollocks.

Where to Buy

Amazon

Other Books in Series

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 WINNER OF SILVER AWARD in the National Wishing Shelf Book Awards.

Rosemary A Johns is the author of the bestselling  Blood Dragons  and  Blood Shackles –  the compelling  Rebel Vampires  series. Blood Renegades is the thrilling third installment.

Rosemary A Johns is a music fanatic and a paranormal anti-hero addict who creates spellbinding worlds, thrilling action, gripping suspense and passionate romances, all uniquely told. She wrote her first fantasy novel at the age of ten, when she discovered the weird worlds inside her head were more exciting than double swimming. Since then she’s studied history at Oxford University, run a theatre company (her critically acclaimed plays have been described as “uncomfortable, unsettling and uneasily true to life”), and worked with disability charities.

When Rosemary’s not falling in love with the rebels fighting their way onto the page, she heads the Oxford writing group Dreaming Spires.

Connect with Rosemary

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Custom made Tuus Sum Bracelet and signed copy of Blood Dragons~

 

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Beyond Reason Book Tour & Giveaway

 
Genre: Suspense, Thriller
Publisher: Zebra
Publication Date: May 30, 2014
Pages: 400
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About the Book

New York Times bestselling author Kat Martin raises chills as danger stalks a woman determined to make it in a man’s world . . .

Five weeks ago Carly Drake stood at her grandfather’s grave. Now she’s burying Drake Trucking’s top driver, and the cops have no leads on the hijacking or murder. Faced with bankruptcy, phone threats and the fear of failure, Carly has to team up with the last man she wants to owe—Lincoln Cain.

Cain is magnetic, powerful, controlling—and hiding more than one secret. He promised Carly’s granddad he’d protect her. The old man took a chance on him when he was nothing but a kid with a record, and now he’s the multi-millionaire owner of a rival firm.

But Linc’s money can’t protect Carly from the men who’ll do anything to shut her down, or the secrets behind Drake Trucking. If she won’t sell out, the only way to keep her safe is to keep her close . . . and fight like hell.

Excerpt

The clerk walked up to the counter, gray-haired and slightly bent. Daisy Johnson had worked at the sheriff’s office since Linc was a kid.

“Well, if it ain’t Lincoln Cain,” she said. “I saw in the paper a few years back you’d bought the old Blackland Ranch, but last I heard, you were stayin’ out of trouble.”

Linc grinned. The old woman was a pistol. “I do my best, Miss Daisy.” He turned. “This is Carly Drake, Joe Drake’s granddaughter.”

“Hello, Daisy,” Carly said. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You, too. Your granddaddy was a real good man.”

“Thank you. Yes, he was.”

“We need to talk to the sheriff about the Hernandez murder,” Linc said.

Daisy’s face wrinkled into a frown. “Bad business, that. I’ll tell Sheriff Howler you’re here.”

The shuffle of boots drew their attention. “No need, Daisy–I got eyes.” Howler ambled out of his office, tipped up his chin as a signal to Linc. “You want to talk, you and the little lady come on back.”

Linc caught the stiffness that crept into Carly’s shoulders. Looked like Joe’s granddaughter was going to get along with the sheriff about as well as Linc and her grandpa had. If they weren’t there to find a killer, he might have smiled.

They followed Howler into his office and he sat down in the chair behind his desk. “What can I do for you?”

Carly spoke up. “I want to know what you’re doing to find the men who murdered Miguel Hernandez.”

Howler leaned forward across his desk. “Don’t get yourself in a fret. We’re gonna find ‘em. Just takes time. This ain’t San Francisco, little lady.” He flashed Cain a sneer. “It ain’t Dallas, neither. Our deputies have been out there asking questions, following up leads. But nobody saw nothin’ and there ain’t no sign of the truck.”

“What about the crime scene?” Linc asked. “Surely some kind of forensic evidence turned up where the body was found.”

Howler shook his head. “Just because you spent time behind bars, don’t make you an expert on the law.”

Linc ignored a shot of irritation. He and Howler had a history and it wasn’t a good one. His gaze went to Carly. No surprise in those big blue eyes. Clearly, she had done her homework before he’d shown up for yesterday’s meeting. She knew he’d been in prison but instead of disapproval, she was glaring at the sheriff.

“There’s no need for you to be rude, Sheriff Howler. Mr. Cain asked you a question that deserves an answer. I’d like to hear it myself.”

Howler grunted. “Truth is, we didn’t find much of anything. The morning Hernandez’s body was discovered, it had rained off and on during the night. Any DNA evidence was washed away.”

Linc thought of the detective he had hired. He wanted answers. He didn’t figure he’d get them from Howler and so far he was right.

“Who found him?” Carly asked.

“Man and his wife driving back to Dallas from a visit to their folks in Texarkana. They’d pulled off to the side of the road to let their dog out to take a leak. Dog must have scented the body on the other side of the road. Hernandez had been dead a while by then.”

Carly glanced away.

“What’s the coroner give for time of death?” Linc asked.

“Between eleven and one a.m. You can talk to Doc Bradshaw yourself if you’d like.”

“Consuelo said she got a phone call from Miguel about eleven,” Carly said. “He was fueling up at a truck stop a few miles south of Dallas. He told her he’d be home a little after midnight.”

“Seventy miles to Iron Springs from Dallas,” Linc said. “No traffic that time of night. Looks like the coroner got it right.”

The sheriff picked up a pen on his desk and began to click it open and closed. “I know you want those bastards caught and so do I. But standing here jawing about it ain’t gonna help. I need to get back to work.”

Carly ignored him. “From the start, you’ve assumed there was more than one hijacker. Why is that?”

“Found traces of where a vehicle had been parked in front of the body. We think Hernandez pulled over to the side of the road behind the car, someone pretending to have engine trouble. He got out and walked up to the vehicle. Whoever it was, shot him, stole the truck and drove away. Since the car was gone, too, someone else had to have been driving it.”

“I’d like to take a look at the reports,” Linc said. “Coroner’s, deputies’, any statements that were taken, everything you’ve got.”

The sheriff came out of his chair. “That ain’t gonna happen. You got no business in this and that’s the way it’s gonna stay.”

Linc clenched his teeth to keep from saying something he’d regret.

Carly walked up to the desk, leaned over and got right in Howler’s face. “Miguel Hernandez worked for me, Sheriff. That makes his death my business. I want to see those reports.”

The sheriff’s jaw went tight. “Now listen here, little lady–“

“My name is Carly or you can call me Ms. Drake.” Those big blue eyes were spitting fire. Linc could almost see Joe’s blood pumping through her veins.

“If you don’t want more trouble than you’ve already got,” she said, “you’ll let me see those files.”

Howler’s face went beet red. “All right, fine. As a courtesy–and so you’re satisfied there ain’t nothing there–I’ll let you see what’s in the files.”

“I can pick the information up or you can drop it off at my office whenever it’s ready. Just call and let me know.” Carly turned and started walking. “Have a good day, Sheriff.”

They crossed the office together. Linc opened the door, then followed her out of the building, over to her truck.

“I know you want answers,” he said. “So do I. But murder can be a dangerous business. Be better if you didn’t get involved.”

“I don’t trust Howler to do the job.”

“Neither do I. Which is why I’ve hired a private investigator to look into the case. His name’s Ross Townsend. He’s worked for me before so I know he’s good.”

“Has he found anything yet?”

“Not yet, but he’s just getting started. Call me when you get those files. Look them over, then I’ll take a look. Maybe one of us will see something the sheriff missed.”

“All right. But in exchange I expect you to tell me what your investigator finds out.”

Linc shook his head. “Like I said, Carly, you need to stay out of this.”

She cocked a hand on her hip and looked up at him. “By now you must realize that isn’t going to happen.”

Irritation warred with amusement. Amusement won out. “Yeah, I guess I do.” Another of Joe’s traits–she was just as bullheaded. Joe wouldn’t want her involved, but the determined set of her jaw said even Joe wouldn’t have been able to stop her.

Linc jerked open her pickup door and Carly climbed in behind the wheel.

The engine started. He watched the pickup pull onto the road, heading back to Drake Trucking. He checked his watch. Forty-five minutes till his conference call on the tire re-building plant he was trying to open just east of Pleasant Hill. He didn’t have time to think of Carly Drake and he didn’t want to.

He couldn’t deny he was attracted to her, all that sexy blond hair and a body that made a man want to strip her down and take her a dozen different ways.

He knew why Joe had never mentioned him to her over the years. He’d been a hell-raiser even after prison. Nothing illegal by then, but he’d liked to party and he’d liked beautiful women. And he’d had plenty of them. Still did.

Joe had wanted someone special for Carly. He hadn’t wanted an ex-con taking advantage of his granddaughter.

But things were different now. Joe had trusted Linc with Carly’s welfare and that meant keeping her safe.

Even from him.

Where to Buy

Amazon | Kensington Books | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | Hudson Booksellers | iBooks | Google Play | Kobo

About the Author

Kat Martin is the New York Times bestselling author of sixty-five books across multiple genres. Sixteen million copies are in print and she has been published in twenty-one foreign countries, including Japan, France, Argentina, Greece, China, and Spain. Her books have been nominated for the prestigious RITA award and won both the Lifetime Achievement and Reviewer’s Choice Awards from RT Book Reviews.

A resident of Missoula, Montana, Kat is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara, where she majored in Anthropology and also studied History. She and her author husband, L.J. Martin, spend their winters in Ventura, California. She is currently writing her next Romantic Suspense.

Connect with Kat

Website | Twitter | Good Reads | BookBub | Amazon

Giveaway

Print Copy of the Book

 

Follow the tour HERE for exclusive excerpts and a giveaway!

Angelbound: Scala Audiobook Blog Tour

Genre: Young Adult, Supernatural
Length: 6 hours and 50 minutes
Publisher: Monster House Books LLC
Publication Date: June 26, 2017
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About the Book

Nineteen-year-old Myla Lewis has transformed into Great Scala, the only being with the power to move souls out of Purgatory and into Heaven or Hell. Trouble is, a magical object called Lucifer’s Orb is limiting Myla’s abilities. If she tries to move a soul, the Orb’s forcing her to send that spirit straight to Hell.

So, what’s a girl to do? Send innocents to the fiery down-under?

No way. Myla’s gone on a supernatural strike. No souls go anywhere until the Orb’s history. It’s the right thing to do, but Purgatory’s Soul Storage buildings are turning into time bombs. No spirits are moving out, while millions keep coming in. Myla’s determined to find the Orb and send the innocent to Heaven, but she’s running out of time. Soon, the containment fields will burst, releasing a mob of homicidal ghosts.

With Soul Storage ready to explode, Myla’s got enough on her plate without her old enemy, Lady Adair, causing problems. Adair is launching an ingenious campaign to take away everything that Myla holds dear, including Myla’s Angelbound love, Prince Lincoln.

Between their clever ideas and toe-curling kisses, Myla and Lincoln are fighting back. But will they beat the clock or lose everything to Adair’s devious schemes?

Where to Buy

Audible | iTunes

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About the Author

Christina Bauer knows how to tell stories about kick-ass women. In her best selling Angelbound series, the heroine is a part-demon girl who loves to fight in Purgatory’s Arena and falls in love with a part-angel prince. This young adult best seller has driven more than 500,000 ebook downloads and 9,000 reviews on Goodreads and retailers. It is now available as an audiobook on Audible and iTunes.

Bauer has also told the story of the Women’s March on Washington by leading PR efforts for the Massachusetts Chapter. Her pre-event press release—the only one sent out on a major wire service—resulted in more than 19,000 global impressions and redistribution by over 350 different media entities including the Associated Press.

Christina graduated from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School with BA’s in English along with Television, Radio, and Film Production. She lives in Newton, MA with her husband, son, and semi-insane golden retriever, Ruby.

Be the first to know about new releases from Christina by signing up for her newsletter: http://tinyurl.com/CBupdates

Connect with Christina

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The Sparks & The Flames Blog Tour

 
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher: Cartwright Publishing
Publication Date: January 31, 2017
Pages: 334
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About the Book

One teen assassin-in-training must unite three warring supernatural dynasties before death comes to them all…

Find out why USA Today calls The Sparks “a crackling read” that “builds a vivid world (both) otherworldly and relatable.”

Neil Vapros just wants to make his father proud. The sixteen-year-old aspires to serve his family as an assassin, but he nearly dies in the process. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Neil’s family, as well as two rival dynasties, have abandoned an ancient promise to protect their city. An unknown evil has begun hunting all three houses from the shadows…

As Neil’s relatives fall one-by-one, he attempts to unite the three supernatural families against a common enemy. But earning trust after years of assassination attempts could prove impossible. Neil’s fight may involve more than a bloodthirsty empire, as betrayal rears its ugly head…

The Sparks is the first book in the award-winning Epic Feud trilogy of young adult fantasy novels. If you like captivating characters, inventive world building, and supernatural battles, then you’ll love Kyle Prue’s action-packed coming-of-age tale.

Where to Buy

Amazon

 
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher: Cartwright Publishing
Publication Date: April 25, 2017
Pages: 480
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About the Book

To survive incredible odds, one teen may have to trust both his former enemies and his fire-forged destiny…

Neil Vapros is one of the last free warriors of the great city of Altryon. He and his brother’s only chance of staying alive involves trusting an uneasy alliance with their former enemies. But in the world beyond his city’s walls, Neil’s life is much more dangerous than he ever imagined possible…

The Emperor has hired a ruthless madman and a vicious pack of assassins to hunt down the last supernatural survivors. As the allies attempt to hide from their enemies, the leader of a rebellion singles out Neil as the answer to a prophecy. Neil isn’t sure he believes he’s been “chosen,” but he knows one thing for sure: their only chance for survival lies in sticking together. While treachery and pain wait around every corner, Neil and his allies may win the day, but victory without casualties could prove impossible…

The Flames is the second book in the award-winning Epic Feud trilogy of young adult fantasy novels. If you like rich fantasy settings, imaginative supernatural abilities, and tough-as-nails characters, then you’ll love Kyle Prue’s electrifying adventure.

Where to Buy

Amazon

About the Author

 Kyle Prue is an award winning author, actor and comedian. Kyle wrote The Sparks: Book One of the Feud Trilogy when he was just 16 years old. Kyle has spent the past year on a national book tour visiting over 80 middle and high schools and meeting over 60,000 students. Kyle is now a freshman at the University of Michigan, studying acting and creative writing. He still visits schools and is a keynote speaker for conferences.

Kyle is the founder of Sparking Literacy, a non-profit dedicated to lowering the high school dropout rate by inspiring teens to read, write and follow their dreams. An actor and comedian, Kyle trains at Second City Comedy Club in Chicago, where a number of SNL actors have gotten their start. Kyle currently lives with his family in Petoskey, Michigan.

The Sparks has won numerous national awards including Best Book and Best Fiction for Young Adults 2015. The Sparks was runner up for Best Young Adult Fiction at the Florida Book Festival and won Honorable Mentions at the New England Book Festival, Midwest Book Festival, Southern California Book Festival, the International London Book Festival and won a prestigious Indie Fab award. Kyle also won an International Moonbeam Award for Best Young Author.

Connect with Kyle

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Reightman & Bailey Series Book Tour & Giveaway

 
Genre: Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Publication Date: March 30, 2016
Pages: 338
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In this first book of the Reightman & Bailey Series, deceit, corruption and murder tangle together with vivid, unconventional characters in a story of unlikely new friendships and their power to change us.

Things are going well at the Time Out Spa, but the night young proprietor Toby Bailey discovers his former lover naked and dead on a massage table, more things are spoiled than just his white leather shoes. Detective Melba Reightman and partner, Sam Jackson are called in to investigate and soon become embroiled in the most perplexing homicide case seen in years.

After a Hunting knife engraved with Toby’s name is found in a pile of wet, bloody laundry, he’s arrested for the murder of Geraldo Guzman. He enlists the aid of Madame Zhou Li, practicing attorney and owner of Green Dragon Chinese Herbs and Teas. The peculiar octogenarian seems an unlikely choice to defend him, but has a few tricks up her sleeve. Toby joins forces with Reightman and Jackson and a shocking string of clues leads them closer to the killer. The bad news? Successfully solving the crime might unleash a firestorm on this southern city, and come with a price none of them are prepared to pay.

THE FIRST THING Toby Bailey remembered thinking when he turned on the lights and stepped into the larger of the two treatment rooms was, “Oh shit!” Nothing else. No other reaction. Just one, simple, two word expletive phrase. The second thing he remembered thinking was that he’d never get all the blood out of the new Italian white suede loafers, on which he’d blown his non-existent shoe budget for the next several months.

The blood in question pooled in large, sticky puddles on the neutral bamboo floors, embellished by random, lurid accent spatters on the matte light café mocha walls and the strategically placed lush tropical plants. It wasn’t a good look for the room which had previously been his favorite in the Time Out Spa.

Toby stood in place; one hand still slapped against the brushed chrome switch plate, and took in the gore. Three glistening puddles of diminishing size were linked by bloody streams, leading his gaze to a massage table and the body arranged on top of a pile of blood soaked, sky blue sheets. The only sound was the gentle, but steady rhythm of blood dripping from the table’s edge to join the rest on the floor. He didn’t even hear himself breathe. He eventually realized he was, in fact, holding his breath.

He inhaled, and then exhaled. “Jeez-us!” he exclaimed, catching the metallic smell of blood, bodily fluids, and something else. Fear maybe. He’d read somewhere that fear had an actual smell.

Toby considered rushing to the body on the table. After all, his shoes were beyond help. However, he stayed frozen in place. There was no need to rush. He could tell from where he stood the dead man on the table was already beyond help – ruined, just like the white suede on his feet.

“Stop thinking about the shoes, Toby!” he told himself. “Focus!”

Even from across the room, he could easily identify the body. Geraldo Guzman – or Geri, as he liked to be called – was laid out in well-toned, naked splendor, with a shock of black hair falling against his now ivory cheek and jaw. His green eyes stared directly at Toby, vacant and empty, and light reflected off the single diamond stud in his left ear and the silver Star of David hanging from the thick chain on his neck. He looked peaceful, if you ignored the stark, angry gashes scattered across his body, the slowly trickling blood, and the open eyes.

The third thing Toby remembered thinking was he’d better call the police.

He took a deep breath, and carefully bracing himself against the doorframe, lifted first his right foot, and then his left, out of his ridiculously expensive footwear. He turned carefully to make his way to the phone by the reception desk in the front room, shocked and disturbed by what he’d discovered. He hadn’t yet allowed himself to remember the worst thing of all. He hadn’t let himself remember the feeling of grief.

Done Rubbed Out. Copyright © 2016 by Jeffery Craig Schwalk

Where to Buy

Amazon

 
Genre: Mystery, Crime, Thriller
Publisher: KDP
Publication Date: April 8, 2016
Pages: 338
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In this second Reightman & Bailey thriller, Detective Melba Reightman is distraught over the murder of her friend and partner, Sam Jackson. The Guzman murder case has been closed, but she knows the real killer is still out there somewhere. Toby Bailey’s discovery of a set of incriminating photos proved there were more people involved in Geri Guzan’s death than just Dr. Lieberman, but getting anyone to listen is more of a challenge than she’d ever imagined. She’s going to need help convincing the powers that be that the case needs to be reopened, but she’ll find a way to do it. It’s the only choice she has if she wants to discover who’s behind it all.

Toby’s still struggling with Geri’s death and the shock at having been the target of a hitman. Detective Jackson took the bullet meant for him and saved his life, and he doesn’t understand how things could have gone so very wrong. No one should have known about the evidence Geri left behind, but it’s the only explanation that makes any sense. He has a hunch things are going to get worse, so he’ll just have to pull up his pants and get on with whatever needs to be done to help Detective Reightman figure things out.

And as for John Brown? He’s just worried he won’t get paid after botching the hit on Toby, and can’t help wondering what will happen next. It wasn’t really his fault. Mistakes were bound to happen when things got complicated, but who knew this would be such a hard job?

Things are heating up in this southern city.

Where to Buy

Amazon

 
Genre: Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Publication Date: April 28, 2017
Pages: 419
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In Skin Puppet: Reightman & Bailey Book Three, the whole gang from Capital Street is back and almost ready for business. It’s just two weeks until The Reightman & Bailey Agency officially opens, but Melba Reightman and Toby Bailey have things pretty much under control. After the horrific events of the last six months, things are starting to feel normal again.

An inconvenient lisp from a busted lip isn’t slowing Toby down, but it makes him sound embarrassing like a cartoon character. And there’s the whole awkward situation with Jon Chiang. One minute Zhou Li’s nephew is cold and distant, and the next minute…well, Toby could swear the guy might be interested in something more. It’s all very confusing.

Melba’s got her hands full completing last minute paperwork so they can open for business. There’s the huge stack of invitations Madame Zhou dropped off, all needing to be hand-addressed. Melba doesn’t see the need for a huge grand opening party, but there’s no point in arguing with the bossy owner of Green Dragon. To top things off, Zhou Li is strongly hinting that Melba needs a new dress.

With so much going on, the reports of children missing from the local area haven’t really registered on anyone’s radar. The single flyer posted by a desperate mother looking for her daughter was disturbing, but it’s really a matter for the local police, not the Reightman & Bailey Agency. Right?

Wrong. Things are never that easy.

WARNING: This novel deals with mature subject matter.

Where to Buy

Amazon

Jeffery Craig is the writing pseudonym of the author, used for fictional works. Jeffery resides in the southeastern United States and shares his life with his husband and partner, and a menagerie of much-loved pets. For several years, he worked as a executive providing technology and consulting services to help clients meet business needs. He’s an avid supporter of the arts and co-owns a local art gallery/gift store that provides an outlet for area artists to showcase and sell their works.

When he isn’t writing, he might be found working on a painting or enjoying the covered front porch of his historic southern home with a good book in hand.

Connect with Jeffery

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three Amazon Gift cards $15 each

 

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The Most Dangerous Duke in London Book Tour & Giveaway

 
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Zebra
Publication Date: May 30, 2017
Pages: 304
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NOTORIOUS NOBLEMAN SEEKS REVENGE
Name and title: Adam Penrose, Duke of Stratton. Affiliation: London’s elite Society of Decadent Dukes. Family history: Scandalous. Personality traits: Dark and brooding, with a thirst for revenge. Ideal romantic partner: A woman of means, with beauty and brains, willing to live with reckless abandon. Desire: Clara Cheswick, gorgeous daughter of his family’s sworn enemy.

FAINT OF HEART NEED NOT APPLY
Clara may be the woman Adam wants, but there’s one problem: she’s far more interested in publishing her women’s journal than getting married—especially to a man said to be dead-set on vengeance. Though, with her nose for a story, Clara wonders if his desire for justice is sincere—along with his incredibly unnerving intention to be her husband. If her weak-kneed response to his kiss is any indication, falling for Adam clearly comes with a cost. But who knew courting danger could be such exhilarating fun?

The Duke of Stratton was becoming a serious inconvenience. Part of the joy of being an older woman known to be uninterested in marriage was that people tended not to notice what she did. Clara had enjoyed that freedom even before her father’s death and now did so even more because she occupied Gifford House alone.

Stratton’s curiosity about her complicated that. Now here she was, sitting in his carriage when she should have been visiting the decorator she had hired to make some changes at her house on Bedford Square. Since no one knew about the house, she could hardly have the duke trailing her there.

She did not care for how he maneuvered her into spending this time with him. She resented that he had won a little contest.

“Do you prefer town? You spend a good deal of time here,” he said once they were seated across from each other and the coachman had opened the carriage to the air.

From anyone else she would think it small talk. From this man, she heard an intrusive question. “I like both town and the country. I spend time in both places. However, after all the months at Hickory Grange after my father’s funeral, it was time to see some friends here and dip one foot into society again.” Even as she said it, she worried that she gave him too much information.

“Your bluestocking friends?”

“Yes.”

“What do you do when you are not talking letters with them?”

“If I told you, I would no longer be intriguing and mysterious.”

It was a mistake to say that. She knew it as soon she said it. His dark eyes settled on her, amused and too confident that he saw more than she wanted. That gaze unsettled her. She found it stark, almost naked, in its demand for her attention. It implied intimacies of the spirit that she did not want to have or acknowledge.

She hurried to brush her own provocation aside. “You will find my interests very boring and feminine. I visit drapers and feast my eyes on the fabrics I cannot wear now. I stroll through warehouses and covet silk cords and laces.”

“Why not buy them now and store them until you can use them?”

“Because the anticipation is part of the fun. There is the danger it will build to a fever, however, and when I finally remove these black ensembles, I will be so reckless in my spending on a new wardrobe that Theo will have to bail me out of debt.”

“Oh, I doubt that.”

She knew then that this man had learned about the size of her inheritance. Had Theo told him? Perhaps he had only heard gossip, but that would be enough.

It entered her mind that his only reason to pursue her with that stupid proposal was her fortune. As if the Duke of Stratton needed that! Although, really, who knew if he did or did not? She had not investigated him the way he had obviously investigated her, although she intended to.

Still, a man after her fortune. How predictable. How commonplace. How disappointing.

Once they were in the park she asked her own questions, while she encouraged their stroll to leave the main path so they might not be seen together.

“Would you truly not mind if the woman you proposed to had a lover before you? You keep implying as much.” She thought it a sophisticated and arch query and waited for him to avoid the meal once she set it squarely on a plate in front of him.

“You are what, twenty-four years in age? Only a fool would require innocence of a woman of that maturity.”

“What a liberal outlook you have.”

“I like to think so. I am only being a bit strict with you because I cannot risk my heir being the son of another man. I am sure you understand.”

She looked over at him, hoping to see that little smile or anything that indicated his continued references to his proposal were now a private joke. Regrettably, he appeared most serious. She decided that objecting would only dignify the ridiculous notion, so she ignored it.

Since he had coerced her into spending this time with him, he could not object to some frank questions about his life and his family, especially if he really believed they would marry. Althea was charged with investigating this man, but every bit added to the pile would help.

“Why did you leave?” she asked while they strolled through a little copse of budding trees.

“It was time to come back.”

“I did not mean why did you leave France. Why did you leave England?”

His mood altered in a snap, as if the question opened a door to the dark humor she sensed in him. “My mother did not want to remain here after my father’s death, so I took her away and ensured she was settled in Paris.”

“She wanted to go home, you mean. That is understandable.”

“She had lived here for decades. This should have been her home, not a foreign land to escape. There were those who never welcomed her, however, or allowed her to make

her place here.”

“If she is happy in France now, that is what matters, isn’t it?”

“I did not say she was happy. She did not want to return to France. She just did not want to remain here.”

His sharp tone made her stop walking. “I am sorry if I misunderstood. I was careless in my response. Of course she could not be happy to leave her home of so many years.” She swallowed the question that begged to be asked. Why did she not want to remain here?

They stood under one of the trees, in the tangle of linear shadows its branches made.

“Do you really know so little about my life?” he asked. “Did you never hear the talk about my mother? You were out before she left. Before my father died.”

She did not have to search her memory long to remember some of the talk she had heard. Her grandmother’s voice always dripped with disdain when she mentioned Stratton’s French duchess. Grandmother was one of the people who suspected the worst of everything and everyone French during the war.

Others had sniffed when the Duchess of Stratton walked by at a ball, however. Clara had always assumed they envied her beauty and sought bad gossip out of spite. In truth she had not much cared what people said, however. The old war between her family and Stratton’s had left her unsympathetic to whatever slights were visited on his mother.

“I will admit, now that you speak of it, that I do know something of what she endured,” she admitted. “If that drove her away, it was not fair.”

To her surprise he took her hand and raised it to a kiss. “That alone did not do it. However, it is good of you to see how unfair it was.”

That kiss on her hand, brief though it was, created a bridge of intimacy. She felt that kiss all the way up her arm and down her body. His gaze captured hers before he kissed her hand yet again, slowly.

She did not pull her hand away. She did not avert her eyes, as she most definitely should. Instead she stared while that kiss and those dark eyes enlivened her whole body.

He drew her closer, closer, until she either had to step toward him or fall. She did a bit of both, stumbling awkwardly, and found herself in his arms.

He was going to kiss her. She was sure of it. That must not happen. Instead of pushing away, however, she could not move. His gaze paralyzed her and incited an unseemly excitement.

His arms embraced her. He looked down. Dazed, she closed her eyes and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

When nothing happened, she opened her eyes. Instantly the euphoria lifted, and she felt a fool. She tried to extricate herself from his embrace, but he did not allow it.

“Do you want me to kiss you?” he asked.

“Of course not. You are the last man I want kissing me, I assure you.” She refused to look at him and continued trying to pull away.

“That is not true. Let us be honest with each other in this if nothing else.” His head dipped and his lips hovered over hers.

Her breath caught. Heavens, but he was beautiful. And exciting. Even that darkness seduced. Thrills kept spiraling through her, begging to have excuses to become something more powerful.

“Part of the fun is the anticipation,” he said quietly, imprisoning her with his gaze. “Although there is always the danger of it building to a fever.” His lips brushed hers, ever so faintly, but enough to create a starburst of sensation.

It was a terrible tease. A provocative promise.

Where to Buy

Kensington Books | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | Hudson Booksellers | Google Play | Kobo | iBooks

 Madeline Hunter is a New York Times bestselling author with more than six million copies of her books in print. She has twenty-nine nationally bestselling historical romances in print, including most recently, The Wicked Duke, Tall, Dark, and Wicked, His Wicked Reputation, and The Accidental Duchess. A member of RWA’s Honor Roll, she has won the RITA Award twice and been a finalist seven times. Her books have appeared on the bestseller lists of the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly, and have been translated into thirteen languages. She has a PhD in art history, which she has taught at the university level. Madeline also writes the Romance Unlaced column for USAToday.com’s Happy Ever After site.

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The Thirteenth Gate Book Tour & Giveaway

 
Genre: Fantasy, Mystery
Publisher: Acorn
Publication Date: June 26, 2017
Pages: 380
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About the Book

Winter 1888. At an asylum in the English countryside, a man suspected of being Jack the Ripper kills an orderly and flees into the rain-soaked night. His distraught keepers summon the Lady Vivienne Cumberland—who’s interviewed their patient and isn’t sure he’s a man at all. An enigmatic woman who guards her own secrets closely, Lady Vivienne knows a creature from the underworld when she sees one. And he’s the most dangerous she’s ever encountered.

As Jack rampages through London, Lady Vivienne begins to suspect what he’s searching for. And if he finds it, the doors to purgatory will be thrown wide open…

Across the Atlantic, an archaeologist is brutally murdered after a Christmas Eve gala at the American Museum of Natural History. Certain peculiar aspects of the crime attract the interest of the Society for Psychical Research and its newest investigator, Harrison Fearing Pell. Is Dr. Sabelline’s death related to his recent dig in Alexandria? Or is the motive something darker?

As Harry uncovers troubling connections to a serial murder case she’d believed was definitively solved, two mysteries converge amid the grit and glamor of Gilded Age New York. Harry and Lady Vivienne must join forces to stop an ancient evil. The key is something called the Thirteenth Gate. But where is it? And more importantly, who will find it first?

Excerpt

The Greymoor Lunatic Asylum made a grim impression even in daylight. It crouched at the end of a long, treeless drive, barred windows gleaming beneath a peaked slate roof. After her first interview with Dr. William Clarence, Lady Vivienne Cumberland had taken a hard look at those bars. She’d strongly suggested to the asylum superintendent that he move Dr. Clarence to a room with no window at all.

That had been just over a month ago. Now, in the darkest hour of the night, with rain coursing down the brick façade and thunder rattling the turrets, Greymoor looked like something torn from the pages of a penny dreadful, hulking and shadowed despite the lamps burning in every window. At the wrought-iron front gate, a black brougham drew to a halt. Following a brief exchange with the occupants, two officers from the Essex constabulary waved it through, immediately ducking back into the shelter of a police wagon.

“I told them to watch him,” Lady Cumberland muttered, yanking her gloves on. “To keep him isolated from the staff and other patients. Clearly, they didn’t listen. The fools.”

Alec Lawrence gripped the cane resting across his knees. He had been present at the interview, had looked into Dr. Clarence’s eyes, a blue so pale they reminded him of a Siberian dog. The memory unsettled him still, and he wasn’t a man who was easily shaken.

“We don’t know what happened yet,” he pointed out. “Superintendent Barrett can hardly be faulted considering we withheld certain information. I rather doubt he would have believed us anyway.”

Vivienne scowled. “You may be right, but it was only a matter of time. I’ve known that since the day Clarence was brought here. The S.P.R. made a very bad mistake entrusting him to Greymoor.”

“We still don’t know for sure—”

“Yes, we do. The killings stopped, didn’t they?”

“That could be for any number of reasons,” he said stubbornly.

“Including that the creature who committed them is behind bars. Or was, at least.”

Alec Lawrence buttoned his woolen greatcoat. This was not a new debate. “Perhaps. But there’s not a scrap of hard evidence against him. Nothing but a single reference in a report by some American girl and Clarence’s own odd demeanor. Had there been more, he would have been locked up tight in Newgate Prison.”

Vivienne turned her obsidian gaze on him. With her high cheekbones and full lips, she might have been thirty, or a decade in either direction. Only Alec and a handful of others knew better.

“That American girl is Arthur Conan Doyle’s goddaughter and she seemed quite clever to me. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway,” she added quietly. “Walls don’t hold Dr. Clarence’s sort for long.”

“Look,” he said, softening. “For what it’s worth, I think we did the right thing taking him off the streets. I just….” He trailed off, unsure how he meant to finish the thought.

“You don’t trust my judgment anymore. Since Harper Dods.”

“That’s not even remotely true. I simply think we need to keep open minds on the matter. The signs aren’t there, Vivienne. I’m the first to admit Dr. Clarence is an odd duck, perhaps worse. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t human.”

Vivienne arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “And yet here we are, summoned by Sidgwick in the middle of the night. I wonder if he’s regretting his decision?”

The note from Henry Sidgwick, president of the Society for Psychical Research, had arrived in the form of a small, bedraggled messenger boy pounding on Lady Vivienne’s front door in St. James an hour before. It was both vague and ominous, citing an “unfortunate incident” involving Dr. Clarence and urging all due haste to the asylum.

“I suppose we’ll find out in a minute,” Alec said, turning his collar up. He swiped a hand through chestnut hair and jammed a top hat on his head. “Off to the races.”

A gust of rain shook the carriage as it slowed at the front entrance. A six-story tower capped by a Roman clock and white spire anchored two wings extending on either side. Unlike most asylums, which had separate annexes for men and women, Greymoor’s residents were all male. The north wing housed those poor souls suffering from garden-variety disorders like dementia and melancholia. The other was reserved for the so-called “incurables,” a euphemism for the criminally insane. Violent, unpredictable men deemed unfit for prison.

Despite his doubts, Alec Lawrence would have happily had the lot of them over for tea rather than spend five minutes in the company of Dr. William Clarence. In his heart, he wondered if Vivienne’s instincts were correct. But he wanted her to be wrong because the alternative was far worse.

Where to Buy

Amazon

About the Author

Kat Ross worked as a journalist at the United Nations for ten years before happily falling back into what she likes best: making stuff up. She’s the author of the dystopian thriller Some Fine Day, the Fourth Element fantasy series (The Midnight Sea, Blood of the Prophet, Queen of Chaos), and the new Dominion Mysteries. She loves myths, monsters and doomsday scenarios.

 

 

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Giveaway

10 ebook copies of The Daemoniac (Book #1)

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Guns for Hire Blog Tour

 
Genre: Suspense, Romance
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Publication Date: June 14, 2017
Pages: 258
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About the Book

The job should have been easy—patrol a swank beach that serves as a backyard for Maui’s rich, kick out the riffraff, and get a tan in the process. But rent-a-cop Samantha Winters didn’t anticipate a deliciously grumpy cop, Sergeant Grady Roark, who comes down to the beach to bust her chops and instead leaves her breathless…and wondering why the one man who could help her seems determined to thwart her at every turn.

Grady is keeping secrets from Sam that have him walking the line between attraction and duty. But when Sam becomes the target of a shadowy organization, Grady will have to choose between the law and the temptation of a woman who has him breaking every rule he’s ever known.

The job should have been easy, but when the bullets start flying, Sam learns nothing is as easy as it seems when you’re a Gun for Hire.

Excerpt

The sunlight was intense after a half hour in that gloomy space, but I squinted hard and kept moving toward a narrow set of steps down to the parking lot. Grady walked a few paces behind me, and if he heard the crinkle of paper as I moved, he elected not to say anything.

Grady hit the remote to his truck and grabbed for the passenger side door, his hand light on my elbow as he helped me up. Paper crackled as my butt hit the seat and Grady’s eyes narrowed. Without a word, he slammed my door and went around to the driver’s side, climbing up into the cab and stabbing the keys into the ignition.

“So, I—” I hesitated as I shifted in my seat and my movement was accompanied by the distinct sound of cardboard bending.

“No,” Grady muttered, and clicked on the radio. “No talking.”

“But—”

“Shh.” Grady put a finger to his lips, his eyes still on the road. “Any minute you’re going to tell me about the felony crime you just committed. And then I’m going to have to deal with the fact that I was an accessory to a felony crime.”

“Umm, yeah.” I reached around to the back of my pants and eased the file folder up from my waistband, working it out slowly so as to not lose anything as Grady headed up the hillside toward his house. As I brought it around to look at it, the red block letters damning me to years of incarceration should I get caught, a muscle ticked in Grady’s jaw.

“You stole classified documents.” He shook his head from side to side.

I looked up at Grady and then down at the mangled file with the red Top Secret heading. I took a corner of the front sheet and ripped across the width of the page, separating the words “Top Secret” from the rest of the paper.

“They’re declassified now.” I crumpled up the classification and shoved it in my pocket.

Grady sighed.

I shrugged and opened the file.

Where to Buy

The Wild Rose Press | Amazon

Interview

Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background?

I’m from Oregon and I’m a mother of two little kids. I work full time and write in my spare time (HA, as if there were such a thing, right?) I started writing when I was very young, but it took me a long time to finally get to a place of finishing a novel. My first novel was pretty terrible, but my second was where I finally had some success. Gun for Hire just came out so effortlessly in that first draft…and then the hard work began.

What inspired you to write?

I had just always made up stories in my head. I talked to myself in the mirror extensively as a kid and I was always day dreaming, head in the clouds. I almost feel like I didn’t have a choice – these stories had to go somewhere!

What inspired your novel?

My sister and I were on Secret Beach in Maui when I first witnessed the real Sam. The first chapter in my book pretty much describes exactly how it was that day. And when I saw the real Sam I wondered what motivated her? What would cause a person to go to a job that was obviously pretty terrible day in and day out? It struck me that something was driving her and I just had to dream up what it might be.

What is the genre?

Romantic suspense, but there’s a lot of humor in it and it’s as much about Samantha’s relationship with herself as it is about her relationship with Grady. Though there’s plenty of Grady in there as well.

What draws you to this genre?

I have always loved action books and I’ve said this before but, all action books have a romance in there somewhere. All people – men and women – love a good love story. So this is the perfect combination of what I enjoy reading.

How did you develop your plot and your characters?

I wish I could say I had some well-organized method of plotting, but I’m a pantser, much more than I wish to be. My first draft just flew out of me and then the plot became much more refined with each draft. The characters just came to me for the most part, though my villains were a bit more thought out – I wanted them to be complex and three dimensional and that took some forethought. I wanted them to be fundamentally rational and driven by rational needs.

What inspired your protagonist?

Samantha is part the woman I saw on the beach that day and part my sister. My sister has a larger than life personality and more grit than I can fully express here. For her, no never means no – that’s just your starting point. She’s always been able to talk or charm her way through any situation and even when you’re giving her more than you intended, you’re just glad to be in her orbit. I wanted Sam to have my sister’s charisma and strength.

What inspired your antagonist?

I have multiple antagonists in this book! I wasn’t inspired by any particular person. It was just really important to me that my ‘bad guys’ not be fully bad. I wanted them to be rational and motivated by things that might motivate anyone. I guess that’s part of my worldview that no one is ever totally bad, nor is anyone totally good. Nuanced villains are much more interesting, in my view.

What was the hardest part to write in the book?

I really disliked writing anything where Sam’s nieces are upset, because those girls are based on my own nieces. And yet, their influence is a large part of why Sam is forced to change, so…as a writer, you have to write what the story tells you to write.

What was your favourite part of your book to write?

I loved writing the scenes between Samantha and her sister, Josie. There is so much there that is a throwback to my sister and my relationship. I also loved writing Josie’s scenes with Kai because I’m madly in love with the person I invented in Kai!

Are you a full time or a part time writer? If part time, what do you do besides write?

I work full time, so unfortunately, I can only write part time. I dream all the time about quitting my job and writing but it’s just not in the cards yet. Someday!

What are you currently reading?

I am about halfway through Stanalei Fletcher’s Breaking the Honor Code – she has created this incredible universe, and it’s a great romantic suspense book.

Who would you say are your favourite authors?

I love Sandra Brown, and Janet Evanovich makes me laugh out loud. Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Jennifer Cruisie are my absolute favorites.

How about your favourite books? What would be your top 5?

I enjoy a lot of different genres, but given that we’re talking romance, I’ll give you my top five for romance (note that this also makes my job a lot easier by limiting it to just one genre!)

Bet Me by Jennifer Cruisie. This is the best romance novel I’ve ever read.
Match Me If You Can by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. She is so clever and the chemistry between her characters is undeniable.
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne. This is the best new romance I’ve read and the dialogue between her characters can’t be beat.
Envy by Sandra Brown. I dream of someday writing a romantic suspense this good.
Cry No More by Linda Howard. I dare you not to cry at this book. I just dare you.

What are your future projects, if any?

I’m working on a sequel to Gun for Hire, Josie and Kai’s story. These two are starting from a place of intense chemistry and the challenge I face is to keep that going!

What is your preferred method for readers to get in touch with you and your books?

I would love for readers to get in touch with me! Find me at www.jjmontgomery.com, on Instagram (my favorite!) at www.instagram.com/jmontgomerywrites or Facebook www.facebook.com/authorjjmontgomery, a platform that still confounds me every time I log on. I also highly recommend checking out some new authors at www.17scribes.com — I’m on there, too!

Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

Write because you love to write. If you do it for the money or any other reason, you’ll be disappointed. But if you do it because you love it, you’re passionate about it and you like belonging to a community of people who feel the same way, you’ll never be disappointed.

About the Author

J.J. MONTGOMERY writes romantic suspense novels with a sense of humor. Her heroines are as smart as they are smart mouthed and the men in their lives are just trying to keep up. Gun for Hire is the first book in J.J.’s Maui Heat Series.

If you’d like to know more, including info on her newest book, where she gets her ideas, and how it’s possible she can’t use Facebook, please visit her:

 

Instagram | Website | Facebook | Twitter

 

Giveaway

5 ebook of Gun For Hire

 

 

 

Featured Author: James Field

 
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Publication Date: August 11, 2016
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About the Book

Sean meets Penelope, a zany woman with whom he instantly clicks. She confides in him that she has suffered an abusive relationship in her past at the hands of her ex-husband, who orchestrated a ‘Gaslighting’ campaign against her. Gaslighting, Sean discovers, is a means by which an abuser is able to psychologically manipulate his victim by making changes to her immediate environment and by presenting false or ambiguous information with the aim of making her doubt her own memory, perceptions and sanity.

Penelope has a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. She informs Sean that her ex-husband employed Gaslighting to cunningly engineer her psychiatric diagnosis with this mental disorder characterised by psychosis and perceptual dysfunction, and then planned and perpetrated an act of sexual assault in the knowledge that this diagnosis would allow him to evade prosecution on the grounds that her testimony would be afforded little credibility. She gives Sean a disturbing account in which she asserts that her abuser was able to cover up his emotional and sexual abuse by both exploiting her diagnosis and engaging in a ruthless act of blackmail.

In time Sean develops a deep connection to Penelope. He reveals to her some troubling memories of his childhood and she helps him to gain an insightful understanding of the ways in which emotionally wounding past experiences are continuing to exercise a detrimental influence upon his current day-to-day life, that manifest as a predisposition for exhibiting an excessively hypervigilant fear of ridicule, humiliation and rejection. She inspires him to believe that he can heal from these fears by embracing a journey of personal growth and recovery.

However, before long Sean begins to suspect that Penelope may be hiding her true intentions…..

The Gaslighteur is a work of both literary fiction and darkly disturbing psychological fiction that offers a fascinating and in-depth exploration of a range of issues, including Gaslighting/The Gaslight Effect, emotional and psychological abuse, sociopathic and psychopathic behaviour and narcissistic personality disorder. The story also embraces a critique of the dominant influence of psychiatry upon the mental health system, and promotes the concepts of healing, recovery and personal growth.

The Gaslighteur is every bit as disturbing as it is thought-provoking, and is a must-read for those of you who love literary fiction or psychological fiction, and for those of you who have an interest in the response of the mental health system to individuals’ experiences of mental and emotional distress.

Interview

Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background?

I grew up in Bromsgrove, a small town just south of Birmingham. I gained a BA Honours Degree in Humanities at the ages of 22, and then at the age of 25 I gained an MSc in Social Research.

I love the great outdoors, cricket, badminton and chess. My favourite band is Queen.

What inspired you to write?

I have a strong desire to use the vehicle of writing to break down the stigma surrounding ‘mental illness’, and to raise awareness that, as a society, we need to change the way that individuals who experience mental and emotional distress are perceived and treated.

What inspired your novel?

My novel is inspired by my own experiences in real life! It is inspired by my own close friendship and romance with a deeply charismatic yet enigmatic woman from my past. Alas, she is lost to me now. She remains a puzzle inside a conundrum inside a mystery.

What is the genre?

It falls into the psychological thriller genre, and also into the literary fiction genre.

What draws you to this genre?

Literary fiction appeals to me greatly, as there is a focus on the feelings and emotions of the characters. The psychological thriller genre also appeals to me- the potential of an innocent victim who appears to find himself facing a deranged adversary…..

How did you develop your plot and your characters?

The plot is informed by and developed around the concept of ‘gaslighting’, a horrendous method of psychological manipulation, in which the perpetrator attempts to manipulate the victim’s environment and perception of reality, to the extent that the victim comes to continually doubt his or her own perceptions, memory and sanity. The term ‘gaslighting’ derives from the film ‘Gaslight’, in which a villainous husband attempts to manipulate his wife’s environment, and convince her that she is going insane. The film is set during a time in England when houses were lit by gaslight. In his secret visits to the house’s attic, the husband turns the attic lights on, reducing the flow of gas to the downstairs lights, causing them to flicker, and alternately dim and brighten. When his wife later divulges to him that she can sometimes hear footsteps coming from above her in the attic- which she believes to be sealed- and that she can sometimes see the downstairs gaslights flickering for no apparent reason, he suggests to her that these are figments of her imagination, and evidence that she is going insane. Hence the term, ‘gaslighting’.

In my story, Sean develops an intimate friendship with Penelope, who puts forward a convincing case that he is prone to exhibiting a hypervigilant fear of humiliation in the course of day to day life, as a consequence of the lingering effects of past emotionally wounding experiences. Sean believes that her insights are truthful and well-founded. Then he experiences what he perceives to be several humiliating incidents at Penelope’s hands, but each incident is shrouded in ambiguity, which allows for an innocent and harmless interpretation of her actions. When he divulges his concerns to Penelope, she persuasively convinces him that his fears are evidence that he is falsely perceiving threat, and exhibiting a hypervigilant fear of humiliation. As a result, Sean is pitched into a state of mental turmoil characterised by doubt and bewildered uncertainty, one moment believing that she has indeed engaged in actively humiliating behaviour, and yet the very next moment chastising himself for succumbing, as she had warned, to this habit of making false perceptions of threat born of a hypervigilant fear of humiliation, now resulting in accusations being levelled against a woman of whom he is intensely fond.

The mental turmoil and the sheer intensity of the sense of doubt and uncertainty that Sean experiences eventually reaches a maddening pitch, whereupon he is forced to face a dreadful possibility: could Penelope be perpetrating a gaslighting campaign against him…..?

What inspired your protagonist?

It might be said that there is some ambiguity surrounding which character is the protagonist. Both of the leading characters are inspired by my own experiences in real life!

What inspired your antagonist?

It might be said that there is some ambiguity surrounding which character is the antagonist. Like I say, both of the leading characters are inspired by my own experiences in real life!

What was the hardest part to write in the book?

The hardest part was conveying the sense of maddening doubt, uncertainty and confusion that Sean experiences.

Sean also suffers from social phobia, and it was at times challenging to convey to the reader an authentic understanding of the ways in which this form of mental and emotional distress affects the sufferer’s day to day life.

What was your favourite part of your book to write?

I enjoyed the book all the way through, but one of my favourite parts is Sean’s deliberation and contemplation upon the concepts of psychopathy and narcissistic personality disorder.

 Are you a full time or a part time writer? If part time, what do you do besides write?

I work full time in the customer service line of work, and I write whenever I get the chance and the muse strikes.

What are you currently reading?

I am currently reading a collection of Roald Dahl’s short stories. The collection is entitled ‘Madness’.

Who would you say are your favourite authors?

My favourite authors are JRR Tolkien, Iain Banks, Roald Dahl, George Orwell and Jane Austen. Terry Pratchett deserves a mention too.

How about your favourite books? What would be your top 5?

That’s a tough question! 5) Roald Dahl’s collection of short stories entitled ‘Madness’ 4) The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks 3) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 2) Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien 1) 1984 by George Orwell

What are your future projects, if any?

I am considering writing a sequel to The Gaslighteur. I may try my hand at short stories too. I am also becoming interested in the concept of the Imposter Syndrome, and ideas are brewing in connection with that…..

What is your preferred method for readers to get in touch with you and your books?

Readers are welcome to email me at illuminat2000@googlemail.com. Readers are also welcome to leave me a comment on my website at thegaslighteur.weebly.com To do so, they will just need to click on the icon in the top left hand of the screen, and then choose ‘Order your copy of The Gaslighteur, now available as an e-book’, whereupon the comment box will appear. The quickest route to purchasing my book is my Amazon Author Page: Amazon.com/author/fieldjames

Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

I would say that aspiring authors need to write about whatever impassions them. When the ideas repeatedly impinge upon the conscious mind, and you find that delaying the writing becomes a real bugbear to you, that means it’s time to begin your writing journey. Set time aside for writing and adopt a very disciplined approach. And having a second and third pair of eyes is a good idea, because we tend to have a little bit of a blind spot when it comes to our own mistakes! Having our mistakes highlighted to us is a valuable part of our personal growth as writers. Therefore, eliciting the help of an editor can be advisable.