Blurb
Cinda isn’t ready to become a glorious butterfly. She’s still in the caterpillar stage with her generous curves. All she really wants is for a man to appreciate who she is. The way Jack did when they met at the airport. They shared a romantic day as they both waited for their flights. He kissed her goodbye and tucked his card in her suit pocket with instructions to call. It figures she’d lose his card. Luck never dealt her a romantic winning hand, but it’s time to reshuffle the cards. 

Six months fantasizing about Jack was enough. Raven determines not only to help her friend to become the butterfly she is, but also to give her friend a gift she’ll never forget. Cinda voices her doubts about attending the masquerade ball. Raven reveals that Santa left her special gift at the ball. Her job is to retrieve it.

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Blurb:
Teresa Gallagher did not expect to become an old maid school teacher at the great age of thirty-six, but she does teach and is single. She also didn’t expect a gorgeous stranger to slip into her university writing class. The man claims a historical name as his own and an interest in writing. She has high school students who lie better.

Marcus Aronson specializes in small colleges with problems. His company usually gobbles up the college, lays off people and takes over administration. Jefferson is his latest project. He slips into a classroom to check out if a favorite professor might be the embezzler. What he finds instead is a passionate woman hiding behind a button up exterior. Someone needs to release Teresa from her inhibitions and that someone would be him. There were rules about mixing business and pleasure. Rules he intended to break.

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Nina can't control love in her ordered universe. It has eluded her until a mysterious fortuneteller, Helena, reveals she's already met her soul mate. Three times in fact and has only four times remaining before he passes from her life forever. A magic crystal ball allows her to see what he looked like several years ago, but no address. Helena warns her if she forces the meeting it won't happen.

Tony's life has hit a major rough spot with Sheila kicking him out of his house when he discovers her in bed with another man. If that wasn't bad enough, she spreads rumors that she's afraid of him because he's abusive. What did he do to deserve this? All he ever wanted was to love one woman until he died.

At this rate, he's destined to die alone. It will take magic to meet his soul mate.

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Sizzling Thriller Hot Box Release: Get Yours Today 8 Sizzling Thrillers From 8 Best-Selling Authors Get Yours Today Amazon Smashwords (99c) Good Reads:  

 

8 Sizzling Thrillers From 8 Best-Selling Authors

Steven Bannister – Fade to Black

John Paul Davis – The Cortes Enigma

C R Hiatt – Sanctioned Kill

David Leadbeater – The Razor’s Edge

Andy Lucas – Race Amazon

Karen Perkins – Dead Reckoning

C K Raggio – Heron Park

Mike Wells – Wild Child

Steven Bannister – Fade to Black

Allie St Clair is young and brilliant and today she's been promoted to Detective Chief Inspector at New Scotland Yard. But the time for celebration is short. Something is wrong in rain-swept London. Very wrong.

John Paul Davis – The Cortes Enigma
1581: It appeared in the west as the sun was setting, a distant silhouette like a fire on the water. Twelve hours later it appeared again, this time much closer to the mainland . . . Who was on board or where they came from remained a mystery . . . No trace of the vessel was ever found . . .


C R Hiatt – Sanctioned Kill
Destined for Danger. Sanctioned to Kill.

 
David Leadbeater – The Razor’s Edge
Trent, Silk and Radford are the Razor’s Edge and the best spy team in the business – until the government they toiled, served and bled for, disavowed them.

Andy Lucas – Race Amazon
James Pace, ex-RAF helicopter pilot and amateur cameraman, is still trying to figure out what to do with the rest of his life when a child's bullet nearly kills him.

 
Karen Perkins – Dead Reckoning
A historical adventure of piracy, love and revenge in the Caribbean in the seventeenth century.

C K Raggio – Heron Park
A small Long Island town erupts in a panic when a woman and her dog are found savagely murdered on a popular hiking trail.

 
Mike Wells – Wild Child
A fast, suspenseful thriller with an ending that you'll never see coming.

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Good Reads:

An author friend was astounded that I had never heard of Lori Foster's Annual Reader and Author Get Together. This year marks the 10th year of the event. It is composed of about 80% readers and about 18% authors with a smattering of associated industry types. Lori Foster wanted to get authors and readers together to allow new authors' a voice. Let's face it most conferences are for the big names, the New York Times Best Selling Authors, not the new guy.

The same friend insisted I go & sign up pronto. RAGT sold out of author spaces in under twenty minutes. Lucky for me, I'm the anxious type and registered at 1:01 when registration opened at 1pm.  

I made up raffle baskets for the event.  This year over $17,000 was raised that went to a farm that helps abused children. It was amazing to see the endless row of baskets various authors and organizations contributed.

I had the opportunity to meet fellow SCP authors. I also met other  traditional and independent authors too. Rubbed shoulders with bloggers, publicists, and best of all, readers. One volunteer described the event as a book club for a few hundred  of your closest friends. It was that. There were games, contests, chances to network, brainstorm, and just shoot the breeze.

Of course, there is the book signing, which went very well. I'm not a veteran at signings, but this one was crowded with people out to meet their favorite author or discover some new ones too. We spent the last day eating at Bob Evans with people who wanted to eat with a writer. I imagine they got a few mental stories along with the paperback ones to take home.

Summary: Go to RAGT15 if you can. It's great for readers and authors. Local folks don't have to book a hotel. There are several surrounding hotels if the Marriott is too expensive.  If you're a reader, it's a great place to get free books and meet authors.  For the writer, it allows you to get your name out. Word of mouth can be more powerful than a glossy magazine ad. Two thumbs up and a huge thank you to Lori Foster and her amazing volunteers.

BOOK SYNOPSIS

Only one thing stands between her and the man she loves…gold

Eden Montgomery arrived in the lawless territory of Whistle Creek as a newlywed, but she quickly lost her husband to his mistress…gold, and the claim he called The Golden Angel. When a premature blast at the cave killed her husband, and took the life of her unborn baby, Eden closed the mine…for good. Now she runs the local supply store, and in her bitterness, looks down on the men who shirk familial responsibilities in pursuit of something as meaningless as gold.

Joseph Benton knows the crime, filth and disease of a mining camp is no place for a child. So when his young son Christopher suddenly arrives at his tent, he turns to Eden Montgomery to care for the boy. But the uppity and righteous Eden refuses. Joseph is shocked at what he thinks is her lack of maternal instinct. Now he’s torn between his need to strike gold…and his desire to be a father.

When a ruthless speculator encroaches on the camp, threatening Joseph and the other miners, Eden knows she must do the one thing she vowed never to do…for the one man she vowed never to love.

BOOK EXCERPT

It took several moments for Joseph to comprehend not only a female’s voice in the camp, but one calling out a Mr. Benton. By the time he got his bearings on the notion, his name had been called three times. Intrigued, he turned toward the whimsical voice and said with caution and curiosity, “I’m Joseph.”

In an instant, his heart fell like a stone as his eyes went from the shopkeeper to the little person at her side. Surely, his mind was playing with him and being cruel. It wouldn’t be the first time lack of nutrition did things to his head. But the apparition continued to move toward him. Then he heard a frightful word come from the boy.

“Pa!”

He nearly choked and staggered backward. Questions assaulted him. Where was Katherine? Francis? Why is the storeowner frowning at him like she wanted to hurt him? And definitely, the man with her looked like he would carry out the deed.

“Christopher?”

The woman gave his son a small nudge forward.

Christopher ran, promptly wrapping his arms around his thighs. Joseph threw a confused glance at the woman, while planting his palm on top of his son’s familiar head. Before he could help it, he flung himself down and held on tight, likely to never let go. “I don’t understand, son. I was going to come home to you—why did you come?”

The woman emitted a sound of pity and Joseph looked up to see her turn away. Was she crying? Alarm shot through him. “Christopher, where’s your ma?”

“She’s gone and died, Pa. Her and Baby Nell.”

Baby Nell? Who was Baby Nell? He sat hunched on his heels, unable to speak, and buried his face into his hands. What had he done?

He became aware that the rest of the camp was now at a standstill—a woman and child coming into their midst was highly unnatural. Now all attention was on him and he didn’t like it. Imploringly, he pierced the woman with a look as she began walking away with the man.

He found his voice and choked out, “Wait!”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sarah Jae Foster has a desire to portray a raw brand of inspirational stories. While she believes there is a purpose for guidelines of inspirational works, she also believes in portraying the reality of life, as it is today.

Sarah Jae is a Christian, a wife, and a mother, wholeheartedly yet imperfectly, loving God since she was a child. She wants to share stories about characters with faith who mess up big time due to the seductions in society. In doing so, she's willing to take a risk and be on the cutting edge of writing for the inspirational market, sharing what's in her heart and in the world today.

CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR

Author Page: Amazon

https://www.facebook.com/sarahjae.foster

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REVIEW 3.5/5

A Mile Apart is a great title for this book since it refers to the upright merchants and other towns folk who live a mile from the seedier side of the mining town. It might as well be a thousand miles apart. Eden Montgomery stranded in the mining town after the death of her husband manages a dry goods store. It’s a lonely existence until a stranger drops off a small boy at her store mentioning the father’s name before his hasty departure.

Eden braves the mining camp to reunite the child with his father against her better judgment. Suddenly, she finds herself not only caring for the child, but the father too testing her resolve not to get involved. Things become even more difficult when an unethical land speculator appears on the scene forcing Eden to take drastic action.

A Mile Apart is an inspirational romance. Author Sarah Jae Foster does a nice job of inserting period details into the story and creating vivid settings. Eden is a strong, capable character who is a bit stiff necked in the beginning, but entirely appropriate for the period. Spoiler alert: what was difficult for me was seeing the delinquent father has a romantic hero. There wasn’t enough growth to merit Eden’s respect and love. A Mile Apart is an interesting snapshot of a period in America history that is often overlooked.

Ever wonder why there are so many movies, book and song titles with summer in them?  Those of us in the Snowbelt often fantasize about summer while stuck knee high in snowdrifts. Teen movies often feature  random hot nights, beautiful girls in convertibles, and impulsive decisions that lead to combustible, tire squealing conclusions.

If the Baby New Year arrives on the stroke of midnight of the New Year, then summer must be the muscular adult version of the Baby New Year. All grown up and ready to hit the road, stroll the beaches, and fall in love. Summer allows us to do things we wouldn’t in the dark days of winter.

We laugh more, stay up later, and often fall in love all over again. There's always a music sound track to accompany our warm holiday memories. It could range from steel band music to country ballads. There are hundreds of songs with summer in the title or mention summer in the lyrics.





Here’s a list of my favorite summer songs. What’s yours?

1.       Summer in the City-Loving Spoonful

2.       Summer of 69-Bryan Adams

(This capture the possibilities that only exists with summer.)

2.       Summer of 69-Bryan Adams

(This capture the possibilities that only exists with summer.)

3.       All Summer Long-Kid Rock

(Imagery describes a Midwest summer perfectly.)

4.       Summer Girl-LFO

(Maybe not actually my favorite, but because my middle  son sang it endlessly it

is tattooed on my memory.)

5. My all time favorite is the searing vocal rendition of Summertime by Ella Fitzgerald that exemplifies both the longing and promise that summer creates.

Morgan K Wyatt, raised on a steady diet of superheroes, believed she could fly at a very young age. After using trees, barn lofts, sliding boards, and even a second story window as launch pads, she found her flying skills were limited to fast and downward. By the age of nine, her dreams to be a superhero needed some modifications, which caused her to turn to writing and horseback riding as alternatives to flying.

 At the age of twenty, she had another chance at superhero greatness as being one of the few female soldiers trained for combat. The fact that women will be able to serve in combat soon indicates that all the witnesses to the grenade incident have retired. The grenade incident didn’t prevent her two sons or daughter-in-law from enlisting in the service. Having different last names probably helped.

Morgan recently retired from teaching special needs students to write fulltime, instead of in the wee hours of the night. With the help of her helpful husband and loyal hound, she creates characters who often grab plot lines and run with them. As for flying, she prefers the airlines now.




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Beyond the Count

Ed. Margo Bond Collins

Long before Dracula, vampires stalked the literary scene.

These early literary vampires are sometimes terrifying,  at times melodramatic, and occasionally ridiculous, but they are always out for blood—and their vampiric descendants continue to fascinate and captivate us.

Beyond the Count  is a collection of vampire stories, plays, and poems from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This collection gives students, scholars, and vampire aficionados the opportunity to examine works often long out of print and to contextualize the development of vampire legend beyond that most famous of literary Counts. 

About the Editor

 

Margo Bond Collins holds a Ph.D. in eighteenth-century British literature and is a professor of English, and is also the author of a number of novels, including Taming the Country Star, Legally Undead, Waking Up Dead, and Fairy, Texas. After a decade of moving all around the country (Los Angeles, New York, and Atlanta are a few of the places she's lived), she has settled in her native Texas. Margo lives near Fort Worth with her husband, her daughter, and several very spoiled cats, and she spends most of her free time daydreaming about heroes, monsters, cowboys, and villains. You can learn more about her writing at www.MargoBondCollins.net

Connect with Margo

 

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/margobondcollins

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://www.MargoBondCollins.net

Blog: http://www.MargoBondCollins.com

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

Google+: https://plus.google.com/116484555448104519902

Goodreads Author Page: http://www.goodreads.com/vampirarchy

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/MargoBondCollins

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