Blurbs:

Braving the Elements

A Fantasy Anthology
By Various Authors
Publisher: Roane Publishing
Release Date: September 4th, 2017

Claire Davon – The Dragon, the Witch, and the Swordswoman
Michael Siciliano – Forging Mettle
Kelly Said – The Myth of Mount Agony
Terri Rochenski – Mist Weaver
Rebecca Hart – Alice and the Egg

 

Mist Weaver

By Terri Rochenski

Dolan wants nothing more than to escape his village for the big city where his small stature and unpleasant features won’t make him the recipient of constant ridicule by the lord of the manor and his heir, Gilroy. The mist that dances to the sweet notes of Dolan’s flute is his only camaraderie and the only beauty in his life—except for Keavy.

When the kind milkmaid is faced with unwanted attentions, Dolan must defend her honor with a choice that will ultimately change his life.

The Myth of Mt Agony

By Kelly Said

Meadow’s mere presence ensures the Morningstar farm produces with preternatural abundance. A dirt-dusted foster-child, she hungers for harmony with Auric’s lands.

Valcone is the reclusive prince of Auric. Confined to his room—for the safety of his subjects—he craves control over his persuasive powers.

The prince and the farmgirl’s powerful personalities will collide with epic force when a war erupts between Auric and a neighboring kingdom. With Auric’s fate on the line, Valcone tests the limits of his ability. He amplifies his steady push into a forceful shove against Meadow’s gentle Nature. The Earth-shaper finds herself between a rock and a hard place, literally, where the only choice to save her family may lie in surrendering to the destructive force of her ground-breaking ability.

The Dragon, The Witch, and the Swordswoman

By Claire Davon

As the person responsible for calling the bronze dragon that destroyed her village, Losha is tasked with killing it. Failure to do so means she will be outcast from everything she has ever known. Yet one she is on the road, two local women in tow, she finds that she is strangely reluctant to harm the beast that lurks in her mind.

After an encounter with an oddly familiar old woman and a knight in a small hamlet Losha is more confused than ever. On one hand, failure to slay the dragon means she cannot return to the promise of marriage from a local boy yet the more she learns about the dragon the less she wants to harm it.  It, like the bronze sword that is her only defense, speaks to her in a way nothing else has.

The stage is set for a final showdown between knight and beast when the knight’s true quest is revealed and Losha must choose between all she has ever known, or the companionship of an old woman…and a dragon.

Alice and the Egg

By Rebecca Hart

Alice would do anything for her father, the only parent she’s ever known since her mother’s death in childbirth. When he falls ill, Alice doesn’t hesitate when the opportunity to barter her life for his is presented by Jayden, the prince and only heir to the Dragorean throne.

It doesn’t take long for Alice to realize the palace has secrets. Ones that relate to her own past more than she could ever have imagined. If she can find a way to play the game of secrets well enough, not only could she save her father, she just may manage to save herself as well.

Forging Mettle

By Michael Siciliano

Xander, a teenaged street thief in the grimy slums of Low Town, discovers he has an innate magical talent on the same night his father is killed. Intent on getting revenge, he attempts a risky robbery which goes bad. Rather than face the hangman’s noose, Xander agrees to accompany a group of soldiers intent on finding a powerful magical artifact. But the Beggar’s Hand isn’t what the King’s sorcerer thinks. Deep in the mountains, Xander must make life and death decisions, not just for himself, but the Kingdom he calls home.

Purchase Links:

Roane Publishing

Giveaway

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A $50 Amazon Gift Card

 

 

 

Come and help me celebrate! #Giveaway #TidalWhispers

Surprise!  There’s no Meet the Author today due to my own very exciting event coming up on Monday.

Are you ready for it?

Are you all a-twitter like me?

Okay, deep breath, here it goes …

Tidal Whispers will finally be released!  Yippee!

I set aside today to start the celebration a little early.  Yes, I know, I have no patience.  Tell me about it.  But seriously, this one has been brewing for a while, and I’m excited for everyone to read this little story of mine along with the other fantastic entries within the pages.  It’s unlike anything I’ve written before and probably never will again.

It’s quirky, like me, and stretched my imagination to get it out.  I like to challenge myself, to help myself grow, and this one certainly put me to the test.

I’m so honored to be among such excellent authors as Claire Gillian, Julie Reece and Kelly Said.  Brilliant story tellers, they are.  Poetic and entertaining.  Often when I pick up an anthology there are usually a few stories that are either poorly written or have me scratching my head, but that’s so opposite of this one.

I loved every single story inside, and I hope you will, too.  All spectacularly written, with great emotion, intrigue and worlds that will suck you inside and captivate you until the final word.

Want your own eBook copy for your very own?

You do?  Awesome!

How do I win?

I’d love to know what’s the first book you remember reading.  It can be a childhood book or the first novel as an adult, but I’d like to know what book touched you first and began your love of reading. If you can’t think of one, just stop by to say hi.

Anyone who leaves a comment between now and Sunday night to help me celebrate will be eligible to win.  I’ll choose a winner using random.org and post the winner on Monday.  Please remember to leave me a way to reach you if you should win.

Are you ready?

Okay, let’s play!

{Review} Tidal Whispers #TuesdayTurns

Today on Tuesday Turns:  Tidal Whispers, the newest PNR anthology coming to you from J. Taylor Publishing.  I had the pleasure of reading drafts of these short story collection a while ago, and have just finished re-reading the entire ARC.  Well, except for my story, of course, but we’re not here to talk about that one today.  🙂

Good gracious, I’m in amazing company in this one!  Before I get into the good stuff, let’s take a look at the back of the book:

Heart’s Desire by Julie Reece
After a terrible accident, Tessa returns to her family beach house to heal. She doesn’t expect to see her first summer crush from seven years before. Cameron, though, reappears and ignites a relationship that’s far more intense than ever before. The only problem? Summer is once again coming to an end, and this time, Tessa will have to decide whether to choose life with Cameron or to never see him again.

The Sweetest Song by Claire Gillian
Under Poseidon’s rule, Circe is the most destructive siren in the Pacific ocean, her songs luring ships and their crew to their watery graves. Not Otis, the best halibut fisherman in the Alaskan waters. His ship, the Calypso, has avoided disaster each time Circe set her sights on him.

Given one last chance to deliver Otis to Davy Jones’ locker, Circe takes to land to waylay the handsome captain. Instead, it may be Otis himself who hooks the Siren.

Pearl of Pau’maa by Kelly Said
Should Miki choose to wed the local wealthy boy she doesn’t love, her stomach will stop grumbling. Her soul, however, will suffocate. With one last opportunity before she must concede, she sneaks off for a final dive to her hidden crate at the bottom of the seabed. What waits for her is more than a captured lobster. It’s a treasure she cannot claim without great sacrifice or true love.

The Undergarden by Jocelyn Adams
Nixie, a water sprite, lives a solitary existence as she struggles to understand the strange world beyond her waters. When she meets one of the pink ones, a curious boy named Wyatt, their friendship blooms into a love that can exist only upon the sands that divide his solid ground from her underwater paradise. Some love, though, once born, cannot be undone, even in the face of death.

Have I peaked your interest, yet? 

Cover

I love the colors in this cover, portraying the surreal feeling of the sun filtering through the water.  Most of the stories involve sweet romances to some degree, so the woman and the innocent look on her face is just perfect.

Review

Heart’s Desire, by Julie Reece

Like everything else of this author’s that I’ve had the pleasure to read, the writing is vivid and poetic, painting the underwater world like a dream for me to walk through as I read the story.  Passages like this always have me re-reading just so I can savor the flow of words through my thoughts:

In her bliss, she twirled, forcing yards of fabric to shoot away from her body. She spun from the mirror, halting against a form both firm and yielding. One strong hand enveloped hers, while the other slipped around her middle, pulling her close. On cue, soft music from an unseen orchestra filled the hall. Strings first, low and haunting, followed by wind instruments. Eerie and intoxicating, the sounds worked like a potion to further muddle her already altered state.

The emotion in this one is quite raw and touching in places, and the connection between Tess and Cam is magnetic.  I was shouting inside my head as I followed Tess through the obstacles preventing her from being with Cam, saying, Come on, just throw caution to the wind and get with that man!  The ending gave me pause for a moment, that Cam should have known to offer the other option than the one he presented, but it was a small thing and did little to detract from my overall enjoyment.

The Sweetest Song by Claire Gillian

I love the ebb and flow of this one, and the emotion when Circe’s quandary surfaces:  to save herself and destroy Otis, or save him and suffer the consequences.  The imagery is beautiful and the interactions between the two are light with an air of humor.  Check out this taste:

Circe spied the tall, dark-haired man clutching his trench coat fronts together, his head ducked down. Frigid rain fell in cascading sheets, and few souls ventured out that morning. The scents of dead fish and seawater infused even the raindrops. Bruised skies gave no indication they planned to take pity on the inhabitants of Homer or allow any respite for the sun.

Bruised skies – I love that!  Claire Gillian never ceases to make me stop and think why didn’t I think of that awesome line!  The love that bloomed came on rather quickly, but given that this is a short story, it kind of has to be that way to fit in all the plot elements within the word allowance.  Goodness knows, I struggled with the same issue in my story.

Pearl of Pau’maa by Kelly Said

This is the sweetest of the stories and very well written.  Although the pace is a bit slower than my usual hundred-mile-an-hour personal preference, I appreciated the depth of character-building that took place and the subtle world-building through the characters’ thoughts.  Here’s a nice tease:

Miki’s lean body slowly undulated, bubbles streaming down from her nose. Her empty hands pointed up, stretching for the refracted beams of sunlight just beyond her reach. Her graceful swaying switched to frantic kicking and arms flailing as she fought to break free of the water and pull in a desperate breath of air.

I can totally see this scene in my head.  So well done.  The story of the pearl was interesting, letting me suspend my disbelief at the insta-love between Miki and Harmon.  It ended a little too neat and tidy for me, but again, that’s no reflection on the author or the story itself, just my personal preference, that I like to see characters suffer lots before the happily ever after comes.  I know, I’m a big meanie!  🙂  Still, I really enjoyed the read and look forward to more of Kelly Said’s tales.

I give this little lovely 4 1/2 cupcakes!

These authors are all ones to watch, folks.  Big things will come of them, fantastic stories still to make it from their wild imaginations onto paper for our enjoyment.  Two already have novels out or upcoming, and it’s only a matter of time for the other.

Connect with these authors here:

www.juliereece.com

www.clairegillian.com

www.kellysaid.com

If you love tales of the sea and paranormal romance, this is a must read for a cool summer evening in a lounge chair with your eReader.

{Cover Reveal} Make Believe Anthology

I’m privileged to be able to share with you yet another stunning cover from J. Taylor Publishing.  This one, an anthology based on the image you see below, will be out December 3, 2012 in eBook..

Make Believe – Back of the Book

Sacrificial Oath by Terri Rochenski

An impetuous act unwittingly makes Alesuela the fulfillment of the Sovereign’s Blood Oath to their Goddess. In five days, she’ll be forced to make the greatest choice of her life: become the virginal sacrifice already promised, or force the man she loves most to die in her place. 

With an impossible choice in front of her, she searches for ways to undo the oath, and in her quest, finds not everything in her life is as she expects.

The Amulet of Ormisez by J. Keller Ford

There is only one way to save Elton Fletcher’s brother from an insanity-ridden death.

After years away from home, fighting for his people, Elton returns to discover his only sibling, Cayden, possessed by greed and malice, and responsible for malicious, unthinkable deeds. Cayden, though, isn’t the only one afflicted by the Amulet of Ormisez, and Elton finds himself in yet another battle, where the price of failure could be his own life.

Birthright by Lynda R. Young

Christa can mask the pain and hide the scars, but running from a birthright is impossible. 

She’s tried to escape her grief by fleeing to a small town in Florida. Much to her frustration, the locals think they recognize her even though she’s never been there before. To make things worse, a man named Jack spouts outrageous theories about her.

Both spur Christa to bolt, to start fresh yet again, but there’s something about Jack that intrigues her enough to stay. The only problem? Someone else wants her to leave, and they won’t stop until she’s dead.

Petrified by Kelly Said

A mysterious storm has replaced summer with winter, devastating crops and smothering Castle lands in snow.  Prince Sterling August stands alone as a leader, lost in personal grief as well as a desire to help his people but with an inability to do either. 

The answers he needs await him, but without Lochlyn, a woman who’s just as isolated as Sterling, he’ll never see what stands before him, cloaked in illusion.

Last Winter Red by Jennifer M. Eaton

Emily is a Red, a woman whose sole purpose in life is to produce offspring. When her husband dies and leaves her childless, she risks her life and forsakes the safety of Terra—a disease-free city born after the nuclear holocaust. Beyond its boundaries, she knows, survives a man with whom she can be properly paired.

The Outside, though, holds secrets the government struggles to keep, and what Emily discovers on her quest for a mate will change her life forever.

Escort to Insanity by J.A. Belfield

From a charity auction, to a stroll in the park, to the craziest night of her life. Nicole Harrington can’t help but wonder how a simple event went so drastically wrong.

Of course, the male escort she booked is wholly to blame. Not only charming but shrewdly intelligent, Benjamin Gold drags Nicole into a platoon of unimaginable problems—ones from which she’ll have to find the courage just to survive.

URL: http://www.jtaylorpublishing.com/books/17

I’ve read works by some of these authors–all amazing–and knowing the high standard of writing J. Taylor Publishing puts out, no doubt all of these stories will be vividly written and enthralling to read.  Can’t wait. 

So, what do you think?  I’m a sucker for bold colors against plain backgrounds.  If you saw this little beauty, wouldn’t you at least want to pick it up to have a closer look?

{Excerpt} The Undergarden #tidalwhispers

Holy cow!  Tidal Whispers will be released in little over a month!  Saweet!

Today I get to share a sneak peak of my story in the anthology, The Undergarden.  This is a quirky little piece that kind of fell out of nowhere when an ocean themed anthology presented itself last year.  It isn’t my typical dark and steamy bit, more of a bitter sweet story about love and the hardships that it can face.  Here’s the blurb:

Tidal Whispers

Publication date:  June 4, 2012

J. Taylor Publishing

Heart’s Desire by Julie Reece

After a terrible accident, Tessa returns to her family beach house to heal. She doesn’t expect to see her first summer crush from seven years before. Cameron, though, reappears and ignites a relationship that’s far more intense than ever before. The only problem? Summer is once again coming to an end, and this time, Tessa will have to decide whether to choose life with Cameron or to never see him again.

The Sweetest Song by Claire Gillian

Under Poseidon’s rule, Circe is the most destructive siren in the Pacific ocean, her songs luring ships and their crew to their watery graves. Not Otis, the best halibut fisherman in the Alaskan waters. His ship, the Calypso, has avoided disaster each time Circe set her sights on him.

Given one last chance to deliver Otis to Davy Jones’ locker, Circe takes to land to waylay the handsome captain. Instead, it may be Otis himself who hooks the Siren.

Pearl of Pau’maa by Kelly Said

Should Miki choose to wed the local wealthy boy she doesn’t love, her stomach will stop grumbling. Her soul, however, will suffocate. With one last opportunity before she must concede, she sneaks off for a final dive to her hidden crate at the bottom of the seabed. What waits for her is more than a captured lobster. It’s a treasure she cannot claim without great sacrifice or true love.

The Undergarden by Jocelyn Adams

Nixie, a water sprite, lives a solitary existence as she struggles to understand the strange world beyond her waters.  When she meets one of the pink ones, a curious boy named Wyatt, their friendship blooms into a love that can exist only upon the sands that divide his solid ground from her underwater paradise. Some love, though, once born, cannot be undone, even in the face of death.

~~~~

Excerpt from The Undergarden

Nixie burst through the surface of the water with a great splash and drew in a gulp of salted sea air. As she swam to her favorite spot in the secluded bay, she took in the tangerine sky. The glowing orb dropped toward the edge of the world and set the clouds aflame. Soon, hundreds of square yellow eyes would blink to life beyond the trees.

With a grunt, she heaved her spindly body onto a flat stone, worn smooth on top by the tide’s constant indecision of in and out. Pale birds gave shrill cries overhead as they circled, searching for their next meal or some shiny treasure to pluck for their collections. She flexed her webbed fingers and toes against the warm breeze. The long, silvery strands covering her head itched where they lay along her back, so she bunched them in her hand and twisted to wring out the water.

A tiny sound drew her gaze to the sandy place where liquid met solid. A row of palm trees silhouetted against the sun sent long strips of shadow along the ground. Within the dark and light patches, a pink creature wrapped in blue cloth sat in the sand, hugging its knees to its chest.

She’d never seen a pink one up close. Curiosity urged her back into the surf, her stare locked onto the light threads covering the creature’s head. What was such a young one doing there by itself? Had its guardians abandoned it?

Submersed so only her forehead and eyes peeked above the surface, Nixie propelled herself closer until the sand brushed her chest. Only a few feet from the being, she surveyed the liquid dripping out of its eyes.

She opened her mind and searched for the intricate mental patterns that often accompanied the pink ones. Few others, who lived on the hard place, though of anything more than food and procreation, but she found a complex mind in the one before her. Sadness, mostly, and loneliness. The male referred to himself as Wyatt.

Unable to stop herself, she injected her thoughts into his. “Why do your eyes leak?”

A fair-skinned face snapped up, blue eyes scanning the rolling waves. “Wh—who said that?” Wyatt stuck a scrawny finger into his ear and wiggled it.

Nixie popped her head and shoulders out of the surf. “Why do you do that? Has something crawled in there?”

His eyes opened wide as they landed on her. Wiping crystal drops from his face, he jumped to his feet, stabbing a finger in her direction. “I’m not afraid of you!”

She cocked her head, and a frilly leaf of sea grass fell from her shoulder into the water. “Why would you be afraid of me?”

Wyatt’s gaze fell to the ground before rising to peer through his silky fringe. “My sister calls me a ‘fraidy-cat’, but I’m not.”

Nixie grinned. “You’re funny, Wyatt. Why does your heart beat so fast?”

~~~~

So, what did you think?  Would you like to read the rest, along with the other amazing stories in this collection?  Yeah?  I knew you would!  Stay tuned for more information and fun stuff in the next few weeks leading up to its release.  There might even be some publisher giveaways!

{Cover Reveal} Tidal Whispers

I am so excited to share this story with you this summer.  Yes, I know it’s still a ways away, but I can at least give you a sneak peak.  For now, I get to share the cover and the blurb of what you’ll find within.

And I have to say, I LOVE THIS COVER!  The colors, the underwater paradise feeling of it, the innocent curiosity in her eyes, fits the stories so well.

Without further ado, here is the little lovely:

Heart’s Desire by Julie Reece

After a terrible accident, Tessa returns to her family beach house to heal. She doesn’t expect to see her first summer crush from seven years before. Cameron, though, reappears and ignites a relationship that’s far more intense than ever before. The only problem? Summer is once again coming to an end, and this time, Tessa will have to decide whether to choose life with Cameron or to never see him again.

The Sweetest Song by Claire Gillian

Under Poseiden’s rule, Circe is the most destructive siren in the Pacific ocean, her songs luring ships and their crew to their watery graves. Not Otis, the best halibut fisherman in the Alaskan waters. His ship, the Calypso, has avoided disaster each time Circe set her sights on him.

Given one last chance to deliver Otis to Davy Jones’ locker, Circe takes to land to waylay the handsome captain. Instead, it may be Otis himself who hooks the Siren.

Pearl of Pau’maa by Kelly Said

Should Miki choose to wed the local wealthy boy she doesn’t love, her stomach will stop grumbling. Her soul, however, will suffocate. With one last opportunity before she must concede, she sneaks off for a final dive to her hidden crate at the bottom of the seabed. What waits for her is more than a captured lobster. It’s a treasure she cannot claim without great sacrifice or true love.

The Undergarden by Jocelyn Adams

Nixie, a water sprite, lives a solitary existence as she struggles to understand the strange world beyond her waters.  When she meets one of the pink ones, a curious boy named Wyatt, their friendship blooms into a love that can exist only upon the sands that divide his solid ground from her underwater paradise. Some love, though, once born, cannot be undone, even in the face of death.

I’ve read all but one of these stories so far, and I can tell you, they are GOOD!  I’m humbled to be in the company of such talented authors.

Want to check it out?  Click below and add it to your TBR list on Goodreads.