Special Valentine's Day giveaway on Goodreads

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Meander Scar

by Lisa J. Lickel

Giveaway ends February 20, 2015.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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Not Bound By Time by Victoria Pitts-Caine

Introducing the Exciting New Novel by Victoria Pitts-Caine!

About the Book:

Time cannot imprison love nor hold it in place. At Balmoral, a two-hundred-year-old estate in old Northampton, love calls and only the heart can answer. 

When five-year-old Albert Farraday first sets foot on the grounds of Balmoral, he senses its magic. After he returns from the Korean War and is employed as the caretaker, Camille, the mysterious new wife of the owner of the estate, leads Albert to believe there is indeed a 
force drawing the love-worn to Balmoral. 

After Camille’s widowed niece visits the mansion, then disappears, he is certain his own sister Lydia traveled to meet her love and didn’t go mad as his mother had suggested. 

Over the years Balmoral welcomes brokenhearted travelers who find their way to the portal and into the arms of love, and Albert comes to the understanding he is not only the custodian of Balmoral 
but the keeper of its secrets. 

Buy the Book:

2.99 on Amazon Kindle

Watch the Trailer:

A brief Interview with the Author:

What do you hope readers will take away from this book?

There’s something magical when love finds a way. The reader will discover there is hope and a little fairy-tale enchantment when the characters, even though they are in an unusual situation, manage to travel through time to their true loves.

Who is one of your favorite characters in the book and why?

Camille Windham is my favorite. She’s the first traveler and I took a little bit of my own ancestral background to create her.

Why did you decide to do a time travel?

           

I read Love of My Heart by Bess McBride and was haunted by the story and the concept. The couple discovers they were in love before in another time. I decided it was a genre I wanted to try. The Time Traveler’s Wife was another favorite.

What else about your book might grab the reader’s interest?

There are three separate but connected stories in Not Bound By Time and there’s a little bit for everyone from Western to World War II to protecting the Scottish regalia in the 1500’s.

About the Author:

Victoria Pitts Caine is a native Californian. Her varied interests include genealogy and exotic gemstone collecting both of which she’s incorporated into her novels. While her genre is inspirational, she has branched out into other areas such as her current release, Not Bound By Time and a YA mystery/suspense.  

The author has received recognition from: Enduring Romance Top 10 Picks for 2008, William Saroyan Writing Conference, Byline Magazine, Writer’s Journal Magazine, HI Families Magazine and The Southern California Genealogical Society. Her first novel, Alvarado Gold, was published in 2007. To complete the trilogy which began with Alvarado Gold, Cairo was published in 2013 and The Tempering Agent in 2014.

She is the mother of two daughters. Victoria and her husband enjoy travel, church service and emergency radio communications.

Connect with Victoria:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/authorVictoriaPittsCaine

Blog:  http://victoriapitts-caine.blogspot.com

Website: http://vcaine.homestead.com

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/VictoriaPittsC

Email:  alvaradogold9@gmail.com

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1377310.Victoria_Pitts_Caine

Read an Excerpt:

The year was 1942, and Randolph Mitchell, along with several of his fellow soldiers, marched down a road pockmarked by shelling in London. He shuddered as a light mist fell around him. Late summer had gone.

A captain at twenty-two, Randolph’s first glimpses of war lay around him. Bile rose in his throat at the devastation. Is this what years of military boarding school has brought me to? He bent to retrieve a bit of paper. Printed roses danced on the edge, and with nowhere to discard it, he pocketed the small scrap of the life people there once lived.

When the men arrived in town earlier, Randolph spotted the young woman gazing into a merchant’s window. She carried herself with an air of importance. Ribbons and lace accented her oddly-layered clothes of multicolored fabrics. Such elaborate attire was ill-suited because people were starving and only making do. Randolph dismissed her unusual manner of dress. Who could she be? So out of place, yet so beautiful.

His troop moved up the street, and as he surveyed the area, he forced himself to forget the woman, but when he approached the shop, she turned, and their eyes met. Randolph Mitchell lost his heart in that split second, but it would take his head a while to figure it out. His eyes pursued her as she picked her way through the rubble of the bombed-out buildings.

“Hello,” he ventured.

As a delicate pink color rose from her neck, she turned her eyes toward the window. Randolph sauntered to stand beside her and glanced at their reflection. He stood a good foot taller than she. 

His wrinkled uniform caused a pang of self-consciousness, but his desire to speak to her quelled his embarrassment. “I’m Randolph Mitchell, US Army.” He smiled, studying her porcelain complexion and bright hazel eyes, hoping for a welcome response.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be talking to you,” the woman said.

“It’s safe. We’ve been sent here to protect you. Or err… your country.” Randolph took his cap off and grinned at her. “I, ah, we might make sure you get home. Do you live close by?”

The young woman’s face blanched as she shook her head. “I used to live here.” She sighed. Then she backed away, turned around, and started running.

Randolph clenched his fists. He had to find out.

“Wait! I didn’t mean any harm!” He called after her. “Your name? At least tell me your name!”

“Camille Windham,” came from her lips, and her name planted itself in Randolph’s heart.

She scampered down the walkway away from Randolph, leaving only her name.

Book Review: Legitimate Lies by Julie B Cosgrove

January, 2015

Prism Book Group

$3.99 ebook, $15.99 Paperback

Buy on Amazon

From the Publisher: Jen assumes she can escape her past after she testifies against Robert, her human trafficking mogul husband, and enters into witness protection under a new identity. That is until a baby shows up on the stoop of the library where she works, and another man from her past, Tom, appears in her living room. Now she must relocate again under yet another name and memorize a new set of legitimate lies to explain who she is. 

When Robert discovers her latest identity, he has other plans for her, such as enslaving her in a Tudor manor in Southern England. The scandalous family secrets she discovers may hold the key to her and the daughter of the manor’s freedom. But first she must tunnel through a myriad of lies, including the dark sin which has held her own heart captive. If the truth is revealed, will it hinder her one chance for happiness?

My Review: Cosgrove’s sequel to Hush in the Storm is filled with dizzying twists. Most of the time I had no idea who to trust, and changed my mind more than once about the identity of the real bad guys. And maybe that’s part of the author’s message. We are all short of the mark of trustworthiness at different times in our lives. Dreams, desires, goals and plans change as we develop and mature, and experience life.

Jen Westlaw is on the move again after her first sojourn in Witness Protection got her cover story blown. This time she’s been sent to Europe, and since her mother was British, it seems a plausible story. Plus, it’s a place she’s always wanted to visit.

Poor Jen can’t have anything go right, and the reader will just have to read the story to see how fiendish the people in her life have become. One lie builds on another...which are the lies necessary to save innocent lives, including her own? Which lies should she keep, and which must be told in order for her to redeem herself?

For those who read this book before Hush in the Storm, the beginning is a bit sloggy while the author catches us up, and readers could probably skim the details. After that, I dare readers to put the book down. Occasionally the story feels like it tumbles down a steep hill completely out of control, but as the truth is pulled back layer by layer, the reader will enjoy many “aha” moments.

Legitimate Lies is for those who like faith-based FBI-type thrillers featuring real-to-life people who struggle with living out their faith, want a virtual visit to England, and love good Happily Ever After endings.

The Adventures of Agnes Hopper! new book by Carol Guthrie Hilman

How much trouble can there be in Sweetbriar, a retirement home?

With Agnes as a new resident, plenty!

Summer's steamy haze coats North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains, but feisty Agnes Marie Hopper discovers the heat isn't the only thing causing her blood to boil. After a kitchen fire destroys her home, Agnes moves in with her daughter, Betty Jo. Three months later they come to an understanding: neither can tolerate living with the other. So on a sultry August morning, Betty Jo drives Agnes and her few belongings to Sweetbrier Manor, a local retirement home and former house of ill repute.

With no intention of staying, Agnes devises a scheme to sneak out of the Manor and find another place to live. Before she can make her exit, she runs into her best friend from high school, along with some other quirky characters. With a nose for trouble, Agnes learns some of the residents are being robbed, over-medicated, and denied basic cable and Internet access. Armed with nothing more than seventy-one years of common sense and a knack for pushing people's buttons, Agnes sets out to expose the unscrupulous administrator, protect her new friends, and restore Sweetbriar Manor s reputation as a "rewarding and enriching lifestyle. But the real moment of truth comes when Agnes is forced to choose between her feisty self-reliance and the self-sacrifice that comes from caring for others.

$3.99 eBook

$11.99 pBook

Buy from:

Amazon print 

Kindle 

Barnes & Noble 

Apple iStore 

Sara Jayne Townsend and her book Dead Cool

SARA JAYNE TOWNSEND Talks about her book DEAD COOL

 

About DEAD COOL:

They were dying to be famous. And someone was prepared to kill for it…

Actress Shara Summers has settled in London and is “between jobs” when her Canadian ex-boyfriend David sails back into her life, begging to her to fill the backing singer vacancy in the up and coming band he’s about to go on a European tour with. Short on funds and auditions Shara reluctantly agrees, but tragedy strikes at the opening night party when the band’s charismatic front man Dallas Cleary Anderson falls to his death from a hotel window. It soon becomes clear that Dallas did not fall, but was pushed.  His arrogant and confrontational manner means there are no shortage of people who wanted him out of the band permanently – but who would resort to murder?

DEAD COOL is the second novel in the series about her contemporary amateur sleuth, Canadian actress Shara Summers

DEAD COOL is available in all e-book formats from MuseItUp Publishing’s book store.

Price:  $5.50

ISBN:  978-1-77127-579-8

Nov 2014

Currently DEAD COOL is available at a discounted sale price and can be found at the following e-book vendors:

Amazon Kindle US 

Amazon Kindle UK

Kobo

Barnes & Noble

Sara Jayne, what do you love about this book?

I really love writing about Shara.  Through her I can vicariously explore the acting life.  She’s also far more shamelessly nosy than me, and has no problem sneaking into places she shouldn’t and poking about.  I’m not nearly brave enough to do things like that.  In DEAD COOL Shara is hired as backing singer for an up and coming rock band, so writing this book also gave me the opportunity to explore a fantasy I’ve held since high school about being a rock star.

Introduce us to the character who gave you the most trouble.

DC Aaron Blake, who is the police officer investigating the murder.  He rather fancies Shara, and I wanted to have some chemistry between them but I was worried that it was unprofessional for a police officer to flirt with someone who was at best a witness to a murder, and at worst a suspect.

My source for researching police procedure is a retired copper who served on the London Metropolitan murder squad, and he was hugely helpful.  He also reassured me that police officers are human beings, and sometimes fancy people they shouldn’t.  He helped me shape Aaron Blake into a realistic (if flawed) character.

Can you share one or two things you learned during the process of writing and publishing this book?

When I first started writing about Shara, she had a casual, conversational voice that included quite a lot of detail that ended up being cut out of the book – detail that I thought was essential to her as a character, but turned out not to be essential to moving the plot forward.  I think about this a lot more in my writing now.  Is this scene essential to moving the plot forward in some way?  If it is not, it shouldn’t be in the book.

--Excellent point!

In some ways the publishing process is harder work than the actual writing.  You finally finish the manuscript, and submit it.  Once it’s been accepted, you think that’s the end of the story but it’s actually the beginning.  Rounds and rounds of edits follow, where you end up reading the manuscript so many times you get sick to death of your own story, and often you have to do it to tight deadlines.  And no matter how many times you and your editors go through it, you get to final galley stage and you still find mistakes that have somehow slipped through.  I never read the final published copy of my own books when I receive them.  Firstly because by the time I get to that stage I’ve read the story so much I’ve grown to hate it, and secondly because I’m afraid of what mistakes I might find, that have still managed to slip through the net and at that stage it’s too late to do anything about them.

What do you want readers to tell others when they’re done?

That it’s a good holiday read. I’m not aiming to win any literary prizes, but if I can write books that people find an enjoyable way to pass the time while they are lying on the beach, then I will be happy.  And I hope readers will tell others – reviews and word of mouth are the best forms of publicity for any author.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on the third Shara Summers novel, which places her in a remote house off the Scottish coast as part of a reality show.  The novel is an homage to Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None”.  I’m at an early stage of draft 1, though, so a long way to go yet.

I’m also working on a horror novel about a group of live action role players who unwittingly release an ancient evil entity during a game.  That one I’m hoping to have finished and ready to submit very soon.

About the Author:

Sara-Jayne Townsend is a UK-based writer of crime and horror. She was born in Cheshire in 1969, but spent most of the 1980s living in Canada after her family emigrated there.  She now lives in Surrey with two cats and her guitarist husband Chris. She co-founded the T Party Writers’ Group in 1994, and remains Chair Person.

The first two books in her amateur sleuth series about Canadian actress Shara Summers, DEATH SCENE and DEAD COOL, are available as e-books from the MuseitUp book store. 

You can learn more about Sara and her writing at her website at or her blog.

Beast of Stratton COVER REVEAL! with Renee Blare

Beast of Stratton

by Renee Blare

Release Date:  March 11, 2015 from Prism Book Group

Join the January 17 Cover Reveal Facebook Party HERE starting at 7:00 PM.

Enjoy the fun with other Christian authors, and readers, including games, and giveaways! Stay tuned for more exciting events around the release in March!

SUMMARY:

He appears the beast, but she sees his heart.

Architect Aimee Hart, determined to locate her father, infiltrates Miles Stratton’s engineering firm as a secretary. Her presence wrenches the shaggy, wounded man from his penthouse, and the quest begins.

Betrayed by his best friend, Miles would rather hide than help, especially the man's daughter. But something's not right. Someone’s trying to destroy Stratton Industrial. A decorated war veteran, he's defended his own before and the Beast of Stratton can do it again.

Even with the enemy at his side.

Semi-finalist in the 2014 ACFW Genesis Contest.

About the Author:

Raised in Louisiana and Wyoming, Renee started writing poetry in junior high school and that, as they say, was that. After having her son, a desire to attend pharmacy school sent her small family to Laramie, and she’s been counting pills ever since. While writing’s her first love, well, after the Lord and her husband, she also likes to fish and hunt as well as pick away on her classical guitar.

Nestled against the Black Hills with her husband, crazy old dog and ornery cat, she serves the community of northeastern Wyoming as a pharmacist and pens her Christian stories, keeping them interesting with action and intrigue, of course. She loves to interact with readers and invites you check out her website, blog, and social media.

Links:

• Renee Blare|Christian Author Website
• faithwalker007@gmail.com
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Pinterest
• Tumblr: The Journey
• Blog: Renee’s Inspirational Moments
• Group Blog: The Diamond Mine of Christian Fiction

The book is available for pre-order on Amazon.

Susan Craft's American historical novel, Laurel

About Laurel 

Desperate to rescue their kidnapped daughter, Lilyan and Nicholas Xanthakos trek two hundred miles through South Carolina mountains and backcountry wilderness, fighting outlaws, hunger, sleeplessness, and despair. When the trail grows cold, the couple battles guilt and personal shame; Lilyan for letting Laurel out of her sight, and Nicholas for failing to keep his family safe.

They track Laurel to the port of Charleston as post-Revolutionary War passions reach fever pitch.  There, Lilyan, a former patriot spy, is charged for the murder of a British officer. She is thrown into the Exchange Building dungeon and chained alongside prostitutes, thieves, and murderers. Separated from her husband, she digs deep inside to re-ignite the courage and faith that helped her survive the war.  Determined to free his wife at any cost, Nicholas finds himself forced back into a life of violence he thought he’d left behind.

Following a rumor that Laurel may be aboard a freighter bound for Baltimore, Lilyan and Nicholas secure passage on a departing schooner, but two days into the voyage, a storm blows their ship aground on Diamond Shoals. As the ship founders, both are swept overboard.

Will their love for each other and their faith sustain them as they await word of their missing child? Or is Laurel lost to them forever?

Purchase The Chamomile and Laurel from, Amazon, print and Kindle and from http://www.lighthousepublishingofthecarolinas.com

JOIN THE FACEBOOK PARTY at 2:00 PM on SATURDAY JANUARY 17.

Question and Answer with Susan Craft

Did you have to travel much concerning your books? If so, what’s the most interesting place you traveled?

Since I want my history to be right in my novels, I do extensive research and travel to the locations of my novels to absorb, to breathe in, everything I can: sights, sounds, smells.  Thank goodness my husband drives us, because I have no sense of direction and can get lost in my driveway.

The most fun trip was one we took to the North Carolina Outer Banks to research for my upcoming books, Laurel and its sequel, Cassia. In Laurel, which takes place in 1783, my characters are shipwrecked on an Outer Banks island.  Cassia, which takes place in 1799, has pirates.  Between the two books, I knew I needed to learn more about the ships that sailed at that time, some of the nautical terms, and seafaring jargon. In Beaufort, NC, I stumbled upon a Maritime Museum where I spent hours in the library that still uses a card catalogue system (at my age, I felt right at home). I learned about the wild ponies that have roamed Ocracoke Island for hundreds of years and I became fascinated by the pirate lore of the area. A local restaurant owner pointed out an area for us to visit that still looks the same today as it did in the late 1700s.

You say you’d rather research than write.

It’s true. Researching for my novels brings me the same excitement Alan Quartermain must have felt hunting for King Solomon’s Mines. I’ve been known to spend an entire day in a library scribbling notes from someone’s diary, spending a wallet of quarters making copies of maps and old newspapers, and trekking from one book or document to the next with a perseverance Lewis and Clark would have applauded.

I enjoy the chase when one clue leads me to the next, to the next…

On my website, http://www.susanfcraft.com, I have over twenty years of research on a wide range of topics. I knew I’d never be able to write enough novels to use all my “historical treasures,” so I decided to share and put them on my website.

Will you share one of your “historical treasures” that we can find in Laurel?

What people in the past did in their daily lives always interests me. One thing that caught my attention was the bathing habits.

American colonists, like their European ancestors, feared that bathing would destroy their natural oils and leave them open to the ravages of diseases, so getting clean meant sponging off. More affluent people had chinaware washbasins. If they desired a full bath, their servants would heat buckets of water in the kitchen and haul them to the bedroom.  There were no towels to dry with, so they used large pieces of cloth or blankets. Full baths were considered a luxury not done more than a couple of times a year.

In Laurel, Lilyan Xanthakos watches her husband bathe using lemon soap their hostess makes. It brings back a sweet memory before their daughter was kidnapped.

    

The last time she saw him bathe, he had been sitting in the bathtub in front of the fire in their cabin with Laurel balanced on his chest. Laurel slapped her hands against the water and splashed it into his eyes. His comical faces sent their little girl into a fit of giggles.

How she longed for those special family times. And to look upon her husband again with a desire free from the burden of grief and loss and guilt.

Which of your characters is most/least like you, and in what ways?

Except for not being able to find my way out of the woods, I identify most with my main character, Lilyan, who relies on her faith in God to get her through the dangerous and tragic happenings in her life.

If you could have dinner with one of your characters, who would it be and why?

That’s an easy one. I’d have dinner with Nicholas Xanthakos. I have a place in my heart for this gorgeous Greek who embodies all the traits you want in a hero—bravery, gentleness, honor, faith. (No need to tell my husband of 45 years—he knows already J)

Here’s how Lilyan describes her husband in Laurel:

She turned over and watched her husband’s chest rise and fall in his slumber, observing him as he lay in a partial shadow cast from the moonlight. His hands that could wield a knife with deadly accuracy—and yet gently rock a cradle. His arms that could sling an axe for hours—but also encircle his child and wife in a tender embrace. His broad shoulders that could bear the weight of a felled tree, and yet they provided a nestling place for his wife’s head. His firm chin that jutted out in moments of white-hot anger—but also nuzzled into his daughter’s feathery curls. Lips that shouted orders so harshly grown men cringed but also whispered endearments to his wife in their most intimate moments. She regretted the furrow that creased his brow, the only outward sign of how much he missed his koukla—his little doll.

Tell me about some of your personality traits.

I could be the poster child for persistence (some might call it hard-headedness). I’ve been writing for 35 years, honing my craft at more writing conferences and reading more books about writing than I can remember. I simply refused to give up until I found someone interested in representing and publishing my novels. For all those years I worked fulltime, took care of my family, and made time for writing—sometimes into the early morning hours. I’m sentimental and cry at Hallmark commercials. I love the Lord with all my heart and strive daily to please Him, though I fail miserably at times.

About the Author

Susan F. Craft, who writes inspirational historical romantic suspense, recently retired after a 45-year career as a communications director, editor, and proofreader.  To assist authors to “get it right about horses in their works,” Susan worked with the Long Riders’ Guild Academic Foundation to compile A Writer's Guide to Horses (also known as An Equestrian Writer’s Guide) that can be found at www.lrgaf.org. Forty-five years ago, she married her high school sweetheart, and they have two adult children, one granddaughter, and a granddog. An admitted history nerd, she enjoys researching for her novels, painting, singing, listening to music, and sitting on her porch watching the rabbits and geese eat her daylilies.  She has two post-Revolutionary War novels being released in 2015 by Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas—Laurel, was released January 15, and its sequel Cassia in September. Her Revolutionary War novel, The Chamomile, won the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Okra Pick. 

 Find Susan at the following social media sites:

www.susanfcraft.com 

http://historicalfictionalightintime.blogspot.com (Historical Fiction a Light in Time; my personal blog)

http://colonialquills.blogspot.com (post fourth Monday of each month)

http://stitchesthrutime.blogspot.com (monthly post)

http://www.hhhistory.com (Heroes, Heroines and History; post on the 31^st of each month that has a 31^st)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susan.craft.108

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/susanfc/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/susanfcraft @susanfcraft