Saturday, September 30, 2017

Release Tour - 'Finngarick' by Victoria Danann

FINNGARICK
Black Swan D.I.T., book 2
by Victoria Danann

Genre: Paranormal Romance


“When it came to my attention that D.I.T. was going to Dublin, I thought of Torn Finngarick. After all he knew the culture and could, perhaps, be useful. I confess to the ulterior motive of wanting to see all the floaters brought in from the cold. He was one of the remaining few. And everybody deserves another chance. Right?

As I mentioned earlier, my wife was working for Black Swan setting up a unit called Department of Interdimensional Trespass. It seemed that creatures coming and going at will were causing havoc that had, until recently, been unexplained, believed to be fiction of the myth or folklore variety, or dismissed as interplanetary visitations. Rosie was busy hiring and training people who were going to function as police.

Anyway, I had served with Sir Finngarick when I was first knighted as the fourth member of the infamous Z Team and came to know him quite well. Most believed he was irredeemable. I did not.”
Glendennon Catch, Sovereign, Jefferson Unit



In the long chronicle of Black Swan knights, Torn was one of only a handful who were not second sons. His particular life circumstances, otherwise known as fate, created the perfect storm necessary to build a potential Black Swan knight.

His mother had died when he was a toddler too young to retain any conscious memory of her. His father was a drunk, on the dole, and the town joke. By the time he was seven he’d learned to fight and was ready to take on all comers, even much older kids, anyone who had something untoward to say about his old man. Even though he’d be the first to acknowledge that there likely had never been a sorrier excuse for an elf.

Other elflings had an arsenal of hurtful things to say.

“He’s a shtate gobshite.”

“He’s a pox” or “eejit” or “maggot”.

Torn knew his father had given up, crawled to the bottom of a whiskey bottle and stayed there because he’d lost his mate. He wanted to shout at his da; that he was still there, that his father still had work to do. But he didn’t. He learned to make modest meals and put a besotted Mick Finngarick to bed.

If tears were shed, they fell with no one to see.

As word spread that a person should think twice before insulting Torn Finngarick or his father, opportunities to find release by pounding someone bloody became fewer and farther between.

He’d grown to just under six feet by the time his thirteenth birthday came around. By that time he’d taken to traveling to nearby towns and hanging around outside pubs in hopes that somebody who hadn’t heard of him could be goaded into a fight. When he scored a taker, they were always put off by the grin that communicated pure pleasure. Sometimes it was accompanied by outright laughter.

That would have given a wise man pause. But a wise man wouldn’t be taunted into a street fight with a kid like Finngarick. So Torn was free to show exactly how much he relished the lesson he was about give on the stupidity of engaging in rough play with strangers.

On one such occasion he stole a car and drove to Derry, the seat of the Irish Elf kingdom. He knew there would be a sea of possible victims there, particularly on a Saturday night.

As it happened, a knight named Draglanore was in Derry having a pint with a friend while standing at the bar at the Crow’s Cock on Queen’s Quay. He overheard the patrons behind him talking.

“The boyo’s fuckin’ put down four hale and hearty men and still ready for more. Ne’er saw nothin’ like it.”

Sir Draglanore turned his body toward the elf who’d been speaking and said, “Pardon me for overhearing. Are you talking about an altercation in progress?”

The man looked Draglanore up and down, undoubtedly thinking the man’s speech was a bit highfalutin.

“That’s right,” he said, eyeing Draglanore with a modicum of suspicion. “Outside in front. Boyo too young for drink, but not too young to fight.”

Draglanore nodded. “Thank you.” As he turned back to his friend he acknowledged the quiet voice, but insistent voice. All knights are trained to pay attention to the inner prompting that pulls in one direction or another. Some said it was a function of the mystic. Some said it was a brain mechanism yet to be fully understood. Black Swan was far more concerned with practical application and function than definition. Turning back to his friend, he said, “You’ll have to forgive me, John. I need to check on something.”

John was agreeable. “Go ahead. I’ll keep the beer warm and the women cool.”

Draglanore laughed. “Indeed. Exactly what I fear when I wake each day.”

It wasn’t difficult to find the subject of bar talk. Finngarick and the small crowd he’d drawn had retired to an alley a few doors down from the pub so as not to draw the attention of law enforcement.

Draglanore arrived just as Finngarick delivered a knockout punch to a man who was in his late twenties and muscled to a point that suggested the use of enhancement drugs.

Finngarick was smiling like he was having the time of his life. Draglanore stepped in front of him and turned to the crowd.

“That’s all for tonight folks. The kid has had enough.”

The idea of being shut down by a prissy-talking stranger infuriated Torn. He pushed Draglanore’s shoulder from behind and was surprised when that had no visible effect on the man.

“Ain’t your fuckin’ business, eegit. You wantin’ some? I got enough for you and them, too.”

Draglanore turned slowly and deliberately. When Torn got a look at his face he could see that Draglanore wasn’t like the other men who showed up to fight him. He was self-possessed in a way that was foreign to Finngarick.

“What’s your name?”

“Who’s askin’?”

“Gray Draglanore. And you are?”

Torn huffed and looked up and down the alley, but said, “Torrent Finngarick.”

Draglanore nodded. “A fine name.” Torn snorted, which made Draglanore cock his head to the side. “You from around here?”

Torn wasn’t sure why he hadn’t already turned and walked away. It crossed his mind, but there was something compelling about the man. So he decided to let things play out a bit and find out what his angle was. “No.”

“Just passing through?”

Torn eyes skittered away in the direction of the stolen car. “Maybe.”

“I see. What year are you in?”

“And why would that be your fuckin’ business?”

“I might have an offer for you. I might not. I won’t know unless you answer my questions.”

Again, Torn thought about walking away, but the event is progress had the potential to be the most unusual and interesting thing that had ever happened in his short life.

“I’m in seven.”

“Seven.” Draglanore nodded. “Do you by chance have an older brother?” Torn shook his head. Draglanore showed mild surprise, but quickly recovered his passive expresssion.

“Just me and my da. Why are ye askin’?”

Draglanore ignored the question. “Are you smart, Torrent Finngarick?”

Torn’s lips twitched in a way that told Draglanore what he wanted to know. The kid was angry, handy, smart, and on the way to being on the tall side for an elf. He was already six feet and probably looking at another two growth spurts. At least.

“Do you like what you’re doing now? Your friends? Where you live? Where you go to school?” Draglanore already knew the answers to those questions. Black Swan knights are good at reading people.

Torn barked out a laugh, spat on the ground and wiped a rolled up sleeve across his bloody mouth. “No’ even a little.”

“Well, in that case, I may have an alternative to suggest. I work for an organization that recruits people like yourself. You would get the best education anywhere, see the world, meet people you can respect, and, if you’re interested in that sort of thing, make a lot of money. I can send someone to talk to you and your father if you’re interested.”

Torn narrowed his eyes. “Gangsters? Lookin’ for somebody who can fight.”

It was Finngarick’s turn to be surprised when Draglanore laughed out loud. “No.” The knight shook his head, clearly amused by the idea. “Not gangsters. Although we do know something about fighting.”

“You work for the king?”

“Not the mob. Not the king. It’s a secret. If you sign on, it’s a secret you’ll take to the grave, but it’s also a decision you’ll never regret.”

Torn was intrigued. “My da…”

“Yes?”

“He’s a dosser. Likes the whiskey.”

“Oh?”

“Aye. Most of the time he’s locked and manky.” Torn looked down at his shoes suddenly feeling ashamed in front of the elegant well-spoken stranger.

“I see. And you’re concerned that he may not be at his best when our recruiter comes to call?” Torn looked up into Draglanore’s eyes with a vulnerability that wasn’t there before and nodded. “Leave that to us. Give me your address and expect someone in the next two days. We don’t operate on the same time as the rest of the world. We get things done. You need to be prepared to leave if you like what you hear. Day after tomorrow.”

“Why me?”

Draglanore smiled. “I have a feeling about you.”

Torn glanced away, but hurried to ask, “Will I see you again?”

“Maybe someday,” Draglanore smiled. “In our organization paths tend to cross from time to time. I expect I’ll be hearing things about you within a few years.”

Sir Draglanore did indeed hear things about Torrent Finngarick within a few years. They just weren’t good things.





SIMON SAYS
D.I.T., book 1
Simon Tvelgar wasn’t always the staid and steady director of the Order of the Black Swan headquarters in Edinburgh who manages the most unruly congregation of talented misfits ever assembled into one organization.

No. He was once a young, beautiful, athletically gifted knight, wild and lustful as any, until he fell in love with a Scottish fae girl who on bereavement leave. He lost her to the stones of the Orkneys as they picnicked there on Lammas twenty years before. She was swallowed up and faded from view, a look of panic on her face as she reached for him while her mouth silently formed his name. He lunged to grab her, but she was simply gone.

Year after year he traveled back to the Orkney Islands and talked to locals, but Shivaun was never seen again. Simon channeled his sorrow and loneliness into work until he eventually rose to the highest position open to an ex Black Swan knight.

Now, for the first time, he thinks there might be someone who could find Shivaun. Rosie Storm.

This novella introduces a new Black Swan series, D.I.T., Department of Interdimensional Trespass.



Victoria Danann is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty romances. For the past four years in a row, Victoria's Knights of Black Swan series have won prestigious Reviewers' Choice Awards for both BEST PARANORMAL ROMANCE SERIES and PARANORMAL ROMANCE NOVEL OF THE YEAR. This past year three of her series and three of her novels were nominated. Two of her series took the top two places and two of her books took first and second place in the PNR Novel of the Year category.

In addition to vampire hunting knights, Victoria writes other paranormal romance, scifi, fantasy, and contemporary romance.

Victoria co-hosts the popular ROMANCE BETWEEN THE PAGES podcast which can be found on itunes or at → www.romancecast.com

Website ✯ Twitter ✯ Goodreads ✯ Amazon ✯ Facebook ✯ Street Team ✯ Newsletter ✯ Pinterest

Friday, September 29, 2017

Release Tour - 'All I Want for Halloween' by Marie Harte #Giveaway

ALL I WANT FOR HALLOWEEN
by Marie Harte

Genre: Contemporary Romance


Tonight, she plans to let go.

Dressed up and anonymous, Sadie Liberato feels powerful, sexy and free. Where better to lose herself than a masked party?

Gear Blackstone's cheating ex and scheming best friend have managed to spin his life into a serious downward spiral. At least with a mask on he can cut loose for one night. And cut loose he does―with the sexiest, snarkiest chick he's ever met.

After a scorching-hot encounter, Sadie and Gear are desperate to find each other in real life. But can the heat last when the masks come off?

“Harte pens a sizzlingly sexy romance that is both playful and meaningful, exploring real and metaphorical masks, perception, and reality.” KIRKUS



She nodded. “Totally weird.” She poured them both some cider, than added the molasses and cream cupcakes she’d brought home for him. Working at Sofa’s was both good and bad. Good, because she got to take home a lot of their creations, sampling new ideas to see what worked and didn’t. Bad, because if she didn’t constantly work out, she’d weigh a bazillion pounds.

Not that Sadie cared so much about her looks, but twenty pounds over her fighting weight turned her into a slug and made it difficult to sleep. And Sadie prized her ability to sleep anywhere, in any condition.

She led Gear to sit with her at her dining table just off the kitchen. “So give me the details.”

He sat without protest and sipped from his mug. “That is damn good. Tell Elliot he’s a master.”

“He knows he’s good. Adding to his colossal ego gives me nothing but headaches when he starts bragging.” She nudged him to eat a cupcake. “Tell me if you like it.”

“What’s in it?”

“Imagine a soft Mary Jane rolled around cream and touched with caramel.”

He nodded, looking hungrily at the treat. “So like Bit-O-Honey and a Cow Tales?

“No. I said Mary Jane.” She looked down her nose at him. “Quit acting like you know your Halloween candy to impress me and take a bite.”

He did and moaned, and his food-gasm was as sexy as Gear wearing no shirt. Yum.

“Can I have yours too?” he asked as he licked his fingers.

She blinked. “Did you even chew? It’s like watching a dog gobble down a treat.”

“Gimme.”

She slid the cupcake his way and watched him down it with pleasure. Sadie had always liked watching people eat her creations, but seeing Gear enjoy them made it even more satisfying.

“Last bite’s for you.” He held out a small piece. “And trust me, I’m not really wanting to share. Hurry before I change my mind.”

She ate it off his fingers, licking one clean of the creamy frosting.

His gaze darkened, but he merely wiped his hands on a napkin.

“It’s good,” she agreed.

“It’s delicious. But you need better decorations. That’s too plain to add to Sofa’s Halloween treats.”

“I’m going to make spiders out of them. Or big ghosts with lots of cream cheese frosting.”

“Nice.”

She sat sipping her cider, waiting for Gear to talk. They watched each other in silence, each starting to smile more, until they both started laughing.

“I like our staring contests,” he teased. “But I won that one.”

“Like hell you did.”

“You blinked.”

“I did not.”

“Yep, you did.”

“So is this your way of avoiding talking about the fight?”

He groaned. “No. But it’s more fun staring at your face then taking a fist to mine.”

“Man. Who’d you let hit you?”

He laughed. “I totally did. I took a page from your book. If it was self-defense, they can’t come after me later. Except it turned into an all-comers brawl. I went to pick up the box Smoke told me about. I had a few things left I wanted. A cup Iris gave me, some papers of my brother’s he wanted back. Nothing major. Stuff I could have let go, to be honest.”

“But you wanted to see the shop,” she said for him.

He nodded, his look one of grim satisfaction. “It looks terrible. All the girlie posters are down. They have Honda posters up. That’s sell-out material right there.”







Caffeine addict, boy referee, and romance aficionado, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Marie Harte has over 100 books published with more constantly on the way. She’s a confessed bibliophile and devotee of action movies. Whether hiking in Central Oregon, biking around town, or hanging at the local tea shop, she’s constantly plotting to give everyone a happily ever after. Visit Marie's website and fall in love.

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Back 2 School Speical - Romance #Giveaway


 
REJOICE! The children are back in school.
For those who live to read...here are some awesome books provided by the incredible authors who wrote them. All in celebration of the new school year.

While a few of these books might be oldies, but goodies...others could be new and fresh off the presses.

Relax and find your new favorite author.

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ROMANCE

Romance in traditional literary terms is a narration of the extraordinary exploits of heroes, often in exotic or mysterious settings. The term romance has also been used for stories of mysterious adventures, not necessarily of heroes. These adventure romances usually are set in distant places.

Please enjoy these books that focus on romance and all their sub-genres. The list is available in alphabetically order by title.

Don't forget to enter the Rafflecopter for a chance to win an Amazon Giftcard.

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Women's Fiction/Twisted Romance

Color-coded love stories and revealing female anatomies lead to the puzzling death of world-renowned sculptor, Bruce Jones.

In life, the artist loved women, almost as much as women loved him. Adored for his art, colorful personality, and sexual prowess, Bruce is mourned by the world. The multifaceted perspectives of his four ex-wives, the current wife, his new love interest, and their children narrate this pulse-pounding tale.

Loose ends are tied up by the insights of Sylvia, his son Aaron’s wife and a trusted keeper of secrets; Scott, the private investigator and family friend; Nonna, the quintessential grandmother everyone loves but to whom few are truly related; and Detective Jim Miller who will not rest until he discovers Bruce Jones’ murderer.


Romance

Former social worker Roxie Fisher believes she’s cursed to never find happiness and an invitation to Cupid’s Café isn’t going to change her situation. All the same, against her better judgment, she gives it a try. What else does she have to lose?

After the death of his wife, accountant-turned-firefighter Aidan Craig, can’t stop taking ridiculous risks and never turns down a dare. So an invitation to Cupid’s Café is an offer he can’t refuse. What he doesn’t expect is to meet the social worker who helped him through the darkest days of his life. Now she’s the one struggling, and he’s compelled to help.

The two experience an immediate attraction, but Aidan swore to never become involved in another relationship, and Roxie can’t imagine daredevil Aidan being interested in a boring, cat-rescuer like her.

Can Roxie find the simple joy of taking a risk? Is Aidan willing to risk his heart? Or will they both lose out on a chance at true love?


Sweet Romance

He's not a bad guy, but he did something that has his mother and sister upset. Then there are all the girls in town, they've nicknamed him the Russian Raider.

There's new girl in town, Lynn. Rurik feels the pull the moment he sees her. His reputation is against him and the fisherman knows it.

“I didn’t plan to take off with the money. Ally, my sister was driving our fishing boat to the boatyard to schedule a ton of work the old tub needed to continue making us money. She handed the check from the last offload of salmon to me. I was supposed to take it to the bank and deposit the money.

In all my twenty-six years, I hadn’t been anywhere out of Alaska. I stared at that check, eighty thousand plus a few hundred and didn’t want to let go of it.”

After doing something stupid, Rurik has to fix things which won't be easy.


Romantic Comedy

Linda White is on a mission to sic Karma on her cheating, ex-husband Grey in this laugh out loud second installment of The Green Room Chronicles.

After being blindsided with infidelity and financial devastation, recently widowed Linda has sworn off men forever. Nearing middle age, her dream of retiring early from the airlines is no longer within reach, so, she retreats into the world of battery operated boyfriends to deal with the stress. When the one purchase Linda counts on for a long haul flight to Paris backfires, she passes away suddenly… from a conniption fit, of all things!

Linda lands in the infamous Green Room where she’s met by veteran Green Roomers, Dee Smeltzer and Bonnie Hampton. Always up for stirring the pot and having a good time, they introduce Linda to the finer aspects of the Green Room and Edwina Starr, the renowned sorceress who has a few Karmatic spells up her sleeve. Let’s just say, ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.’

Join Linda, Dee, Bonnie, and a few familiar Green Room faces—old and new—for a frolicking green time that will leave you in stitches as Karma comes full circle.

Contains adult situations, language, and is intended for readers over the age of 18.


Contemporary Romance

You can't go back, and you can't stand still...

Lucy Doolan is a marketing genius. She can sell rain to a frog and snow to a polar bear. Newly single and unemployed, she's lured back to her hometown of Harmony, North Carolina to help out her pregnant evil stepsister...only to find former crush heartthrob Brogan Reese has returned too, to open a new business in town. To add insult to injury, he's still hot.

If the thunder don't get you, then the lightning will...

Brogan never noticed Lucy much when they were young, but seventeen people have recommended her to help him. She's got his attention now. With her sweet personality, brilliant imagination, and penchant for doing the completely unpredictable, Brogan is finding a whole lot of excuses to spend his days-and nights-with Lucy.


Romantic Comedy

One night is all she wanted.

Georgia Burke is on a mission to find a sexy one night stand. After she catches her cheating ex with her friend, in Georgia's apartment no less, she visits her brother in his sleepy lakeside town to regroup. Her first night at Fox Lake and she finds the Drunken Duck pub and puts her plan into motion. Almost.

Will Calder is looking for the real deal. He's done with the short-term flings and wants to find a woman ready for everything he has to offer. Will's determined to show Georgia more than just a single night of debauchery and he'll do everything in his power to keep her close.

Georgia's going to find Will's idea of the perfect woman isn't what she expected. She'll have to face her own insecurities to land the sexy contractor or settle for the vacation fling she anticipated.

Warning: Contains a curvy woman with a geeky streak and the contractor out to win her heart. Expect a sexy romp with a man who knows how to work with his hands.


Contemporary Romance - Sweet Heat

A terrible misunderstanding separates high school sweethearts, Jo and Callum. When they meet again years later, will they be able to get past their hurt pride and old wounds, or will they go their separate ways permanently?






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