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Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Monday, November 18, 2019
Magical Beast Series
A demon haunts Samantha Green's dreams.
And she fears it's coming for her...
When wildlife prodigy Sam and her crush—quirky handsome Jake—are attacked by a dragon assassin, Sam discovers her secret past. A past connected to a supernatural giant cat and a glowing faerie.
Sam is quickly pulled into a high stakes battle for the world. Everyone, including a creepy ancient villain, wants her supernatural staff, which she doesn’t know how to use. Sophisticated ninja dragons, a kong-sized gorilla, and mysterious beasts offer help—but are they friends or enemies? Sam has a big heart, but will her love for all creatures tear her life apart?
To survive the hardest choice she's ever made, Sam will have to unlock the hidden power inside her.
Ready or not, Sam is about to find out if she has what it takes to be a guardian…
Guardian: The Choice is the new exciting start of a magic-filled fantasy four book series starring a powerful heroine, a tough brawny hero, and a slew of not-so-friendly magical beasts.
*****
Sam and Jake must capture a magical golden dragon—or Jake dies. Can Sam can save the man she loves? And will she have to die to do it?
But everyone wants the golden dragon, including the powerful Evil One, who has been hiding for centuries and has sworn to destroy all of life. No one can be trusted. Death Matches and ancient secrets test the guardians as never before.
Sam fears that whatever she does, she won’t be able to save Jake…nor stop the Evil One.
*****
IAN BOTY awards = Independent Author Network Book of the Year Awards
CHOICE won the Young Adult category.
Guardian: The Choice was selected as Finalist in “Fantasy,” and “Young Adult” category winner!
And Guardian: The Choice was selected as the “Outstanding Young Adult” category winner!
Read an Excerpt from Guardian: The Quest
“What are we running from, Biggie?” yells Jake.
“Uncle Biggie not sure!” The big guy keeps running.
I step on one of the papery skins and slide, and then stumble over a leg bone lying on the ground. I hurtle forward off balance, crashing into the lower section of a giant rib cage.
“Ugh!” My shoulder hurts, but I squeeze between two ribs, run through the chest cavity, and slip out between ribs on the other side. I spot Jake to my left and veer after him.
A rumble fills my ears and I pump my legs faster. I weave around some skeletons and jump over bones scattered on the ground. I risk a glance back. A mass of indistinct shapes is flowing like water through the boneyard, quickly catching up to us.
Something is chasing us. A herd of large somethings.
Up ahead Ridge waves urgently to us. He’s standing beneath a thick, giant skull missing its lower jaw. Cerac must already be inside.
Uncle Biggie races past Ridge with the crocle-lion, ducking beneath the teeth of the upper jaw bone. Jake follows. Ridge must have decided to make a stand there. I’m disappointed and surprised that Biggie and Jake left me behind.
A deep roar splits the air. I check over my shoulder. I was wrong. I’m not being hunted. But something is hunting everything else.
The stampede sounds like a small earthquake and the ground trembles beneath my feet. A writhing mass of monster-sized snakes, lizards, and mammals—some with golden eyes—are jumping, leaping, and crawling in a crazed pattern behind me.
I estimate the distance to Ridge, and how quickly the mass of bodies is moving toward me.
I’m not going to make it.
About the Author:
Geoff loves to sail big boats, hike, and cook—and he infuses all of his writing with his passion for nature. As a swimmer he considers himself fortunate to live in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, Minnesota. See what he’s up to at on his website.
Website: https://geoffreysaign.net/magical-beasts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/geoffreysaign
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/geoffrey.saign
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/755980.Geoffrey_Saign
Guardian: The Choice is on sale for $0.99 during the tour:
GET THEM BOTH...
Book 2 Guardian: The Quest is also on sale for $2.99 during the tour
Guardian, The Choice: https://www.amazon.com/Guardian-Choice-Magical-Beasts-Bookebook/dp/B07V651Z6B
Guardian, The Quest: https://www.amazon.com/Guardian-Quest-Fantasy-Adventure-Thriller-ebook/dp/B07Z2FFXP2/ref=sr_1_3
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Sunday, September 29, 2019
Gore in the Garden
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Colleen J. Shogan will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
See below to sign up for the GIVEAWAY.
After her boss narrowly escaped political defeat, Kit Marshall is settling into life as a busy congressional staffer. While attending an evening reception at the United States Botanic Garden, Kit’s best friend stumbles upon the body of a high-ranking government official. The chairwoman of a congressional committee asks Kit to investigate, and she finds herself once again in the thick of a murder investigation. The complications keep coming with the unexpected arrival of Kit’s younger brother Sebastian, a hippie protestor who seems more concerned about corporate greed than the professional problems he causes for his sister. To make matters even worse, the romantic lives of Kit’s closest friends are driving her crazy, diverting her attention from the mystery she’s been tasked to solve. The search for the killer requires her to tussle with an investigative journalist right out of a noir novel, a congresswoman fixated on getting a statue of James Madison installed on the Capitol grounds, and a bossy botanist who would do anything to protect the plants he loves. When the murderer sends a threatening message to Kit via a highly unusual delivery mechanism, Kit knows she must find the killer or risk the lives of her friends and loved ones.
My Review...
You know I have “giggled” a little about Colleen Shogan’s
series being a political cozy. It just struck me odd when I realized that was
the subject in the first one I read. But you know what? It works. This is Book 5 of a series titled “A
Washington Whodunit”. I have reviewed 3 books in this series. I’ve
enjoyed everyone of them. Oddly enough this book gives a somewhat clear picture
of what is probably the give and take of Washington DC politics. While I don’t
like it, I do realize the reality of it. The politics don’t take away one bit
from the cute mystery and the characters involved.
I have gotten to know Shogan’s characters and to like them.
I said in a previous review that I felt maybe I didn’t have enough background
on them. It’s most certainly not true here. In fact I know enough about them to
get their humor, their oddities, and the jokes involved between them. I think I
enjoyed Kit’s brother being involved a little this time. It gave a little
lighter picture to the story. The give and take between them added a little
humor.
There was one thing very different in this story, almost a
character theme or a dialog change. I think the change was a good thing. It
made it more readable for me and quite possibly made the story a little more
grown up. Shogan made her characters have their quirks which is a very necessary
part of writing to define them. But this time each habit, each mannerism, was more
of a perspective type of description. Just like in real life; you recognize
certain things about your friend. You laugh about them but it’s just their way;
not really a bad thing.
I know I’m not verbalizing this very clearly. It seemed in
the earlier books as if Shogan dwelt on certain habits of specific characters
too often, almost making the character seem silly; maybe in an attempt to
define them. But now, those same silly habits or even the annoying ones (we all
have them) are just “asides”, cute funny things in passing. It makes the book a
little more serious while still making it a light, fun book to read.
read an excerpt...
“So, why are we going to a garden to drink beer tonight, Kit? Has Doug’s trust fund dried up?” Sebastian gave me a playful punch on the arm to let me know he was yanking my chain.
I sighed for the umpteenth time before responding. “It’s my job, Sebastian. I’m the chief of staff for a member of the House of Representatives. She’s been assigned to a relatively obscure committee called House Administration. It oversees the legislative branch agencies and the Capitol Grounds.”
Sebastian considered my answer for a few moments before speaking. The snide tone was gone. “That’s actually kind of cool. So, your boss helps run Congress?”
“Partially. The Speaker appointed her to this committee because she’s smart and asks intelligent questions. The nice part about the assignment is that she gets invited to the best events on Capitol Hill. Like tonight.”
We’d just driven past the Washington Monument, on our way due east toward the Botanic Garden, which was situated at the base of the Hill between the Hirshhorn Museum and the Capitol Building.
“Why is tonight so special again? There’s a special flower you want me to see?”
I punched his arm playfully. “Trust me, Sebastian. Aren’t you a fan of the Earth and everything natural? You’ll be right at home at the Botanic Garden,” I said. “But you’re right. You’ll see something amazing at the reception this evening.”
He cleared his throat. “And what exactly is this awe-inspiring specimen of the plant kingdom?”
In my most ominous voice, I answered my brother. “The corpse flower. We’re going to see the corpse flower.”
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Colleen J. Shogan has been reading mysteries since the age of six. She conceived of the plot of her first novel one morning while taking a walk in her suburban Washington, D.C. neighborhood. A political scientist by training, Colleen has taught American politics at numerous universities. She previously worked on Capitol Hill as a legislative staffer in the United States Senate. She’s currently a senior executive at the Library of Congress.
Colleen lives in Arlington, Virginia with her husband Rob and their beagle mutt Conan. She is a member of Sisters in Crime. "Stabbing in the Senate" was awarded the Next Generation Indie prize for Best Mystery in 2016. "Homicide in the House" was a 2017 finalist for the RONE Award for Best Mystery. “Calamity at the Continental Club” was a 2018 finalist in the “best cozy mystery” at Killer Nashville.
Monday, September 23, 2019
Sophie Washington: Mismatch
 |
| Children's Middle Grade |
See below to sign up for the GIVEAWAY
Game. Set. Match.
Sophie Washington is trying out for the tennis team, and she’s excited to get a chance to play with her good friends Chloe and Mariama. That is until wacky Coach Quackenbush matches her with school misfit, Mackenzie “Big Mac” Clark, and things quickly go downhill. Sophie has nothing in common with her partner, who does odd things like run off the court in the middle of practice, and she’s disappointed when Mackenzie shows no interest in the secret handshake she made up. After getting called out by the coach, being hit on the head with a tennis ball, and jokingly called the “most valuable player,” by mean older girls on the team, when she’s clearly not, Sophie’s ready to throw in the towel. Trying to fit in with the mean girls by making fun of Mackenzie behind her back makes things worse. Mackenzie starts skipping practice, and then gets sick at school, and Sophie realizes that there’s more to her doubles partner than meets the eye. What started out as a total mismatch could be the best partnership of all.
My Review
I am a fan of every one of Tonya Duncan Ellis' books I have read and reviewed. I also have to tell you that regardless of age, this is a series (Sophie Washington) that everyone should read at least one of. Buy one, check it out in your library, whatever. It is always a good story. It always makes you feel good and it always teaches a value or maybe just a good reminder, even for those of us a little older than the Children's Middle Grade genre.
This has to be one of the best ways to tell a story and get a point across to any kid. It's fun to read. It's very realistic. It's about things we may have all thought of at one time or another. Her characters make it so easy to talk about the same things to kids but even more than that...it leaves many things open to discussion or should I say leads to many other aspects of discussion. Ones we need to have so much in today's world. And yet, it's fun.
I suppose the above gives you the idea that I like this series. I really do. I think you will too.
read an excerpt...
To get us ready for our upcoming match against our rival school, St. Regis, Coach Quackenbush has us play practice matches. Valentina’s grandma has to work late and is picking her up at four-thirty this afternoon, and Toby and Nathan’s track practice was cancelled because their coach is out of town, so they come to watch us.
“Do good for me guys!” says Valentina from the nearby mini bleachers. “Let’s go! Vamanos!”
“All right, we’ve gone over the rules of tennis earlier today, so you know how to keep score,” says Coach Quackenbush. He’s wearing a whistle around his neck and carries his usual clipboard. “I want you to play each other, and the team that wins two out of three games will be declared the winner. Since we only have three singles players, I’ll work with Kennedy while Lindsey and Jackie go against each other. All right. Let’s see how we do, team!”
“All right!” we all parrot.
“Good luck in your matches, guys,” Chloe says to the eighth-grade girls.
“We don’t need luck unlike you little sixth graders,” says Kennedy. “We have talent.”
She and the older girls flounce off to their courts.
“Whatever,” says Chloe with a roll of her eyes.
“They think they are ‘all that’ just because they were on the team last year,” says Mariama. “I’d love to beat them in a game.”
“Forget them,” I say and pick up a can of new tennis balls Coach Quackenbush left on the court for us. “Come on, let’s get going.”
“Okay, let’s get started,” says Chloe. Her frilly red tennis skirt swings around her hips as she smacks the ball to us for the first serve. It bounces high in the air toward me.
“I got it!” I race forward.
“Mine!” Mackenzie comes over to my side of the court from the other direction. Surprised at her quick movement, I stumble.
Wham!
We run into each other. The ball bounces off my head, and I stagger to keep from falling.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Tonya Duncan Ellis is the author of the Amazon bestselling, Readers' Favorite "Five Star" rated, Sophie Washington children's books series, geared toward readers ages 8 to 12, and is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). She has received awards for literary excellence, worked as a journalist and freelance magazine writer, and is a graduate of Centre College of Kentucky and Washington University in St. Louis.
The Sophie Washington book series recounts the adventures of a precocious African American preteen from Houston, TX and her diverse group of friends. Each funny and heartwarming story teaches lessons about friendship, responsibility, truthfulness and perseverance. Books in the series include Queen of the Bee, The Snitch, Things You Didn't Know About Sophie, The Gamer, Hurricane, Mission: Costa Rica,
Secret Santa, Code One and Mismatch.
Tonya loves to travel and has visited 49 American states and three continents, but some of her best journeys have been between the pages of a novel. As a girl she could always be found with a book in her hand, and reading is still one of her favorite hobbies. When she's not reading or writing, the author likes to ride her bike, swim, and spend time with her husband and three children. She lives in Missouri City, TX.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TonyaDEllis
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonyaellisbooks/
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
The Cure for Stupidity
Non-Fiction
Self-Help
Self-Help
Date Published: 6/12/19
Publisher: Peacock Proud Press
Every day you’re driven nuts by the people around you making common sense errors and irrational decisions. Imagine what life would look like if you didn’t have to waste time and energy dealing with stubborn, clueless, argumentative, defensive, or apathetic coworkers! Thank goodness Eric Bailey translates decades of brain science research into every-day language, helping you break through common communication barriers that will improve every relationship in your life. Whether you work in the executive suite or on the front-line, this book will teach you how to cure the stupidity all around you.
About the Author
Eric M. Bailey is the President of Bailey Strategic Innovation Group, one of the fastest-growing communication consulting firms in the United States. Eric has a diverse set of experiences that includes helping an NFL player pet a rhinoceros, doing barrel rolls in an F-16, and chatting with LL Cool J on the campus of Harvard University.
Eric's unique style blends fact and emotion and finds ways to appeal to analytical thinkers, emotional feelers, and everyone in between. Eric has been featured on Huffington Post, Forbes, the Like a Real Boss Podcast and has helped leaders and teams across North America see common problems from new and different perspectives. Eric works with Google Inc., the US Air Force, Los Angeles County, Phoenix PD and many more.
Eric holds a Master's Degree in Leadership and Organizational Development from Saint Louis University and is a lifetime learner of human and organizational behavior. When not working or researching, you can find Eric and his wife, Jamie racing on their road bikes, being cheered on by their three children.
Contact Links
Purchase Link
Sunday, September 15, 2019
Challenging Mountains
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Tricia McGill will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
See below to sign up for the GIVEAWAY
By 1840 the colony of New South Wales was expanding. Transportation of convicts to the east coast ended, and many free squatters set out to settle on lands to the south. In 1836, the Government in London authorised Governor Bourke to establish a settlement in The Port Philip District of New South Wales, and an Association was formed to make the district a separate colony.
Timothy, Tiger and Bella Carstairs eldest son has turned 21. Bored with his Government job and intent on seeking adventure and a new life away from Sydney, Tim decides to journey south in an endeavour to find this adventure, accompanied by his Uncle Carlos. Where else to find it, but in a newly formed settlement.
In the 1840s the road south might not be as hazardous as the one across the mountains travelled by his parents when he was a child, but the month long journey overland holds many dangers and challenges to be faced. Escaped and ex-convicts seek the easy life by forming gangs to take what they can where they can. Forced to fight off the intruders who take claim to the land they have cared for over many, many generations, the Indigenous people are faced with many trials and battles of their own.
Not the least of Tim’s personal challenges is a young headstrong woman who, uninvited, takes it upon herself to join him on his travels. When they reach their destination, their troubles have only just begun.
My Review...
What I thought in maybe the first 20 pages was going to be a good read of young people and life turned out to be a really good read of all ages facing the challenges of life in a new land. People of all ages enduring the hardships of moving to a land the government said they could take for a pittance. Of course, it happened to be land inhabited by natives. Sound like the United States taking away and settling land that many thought belonged to Native Americans? It is somewhat the same idea but not your same old story.
This story told by Tricia McGill has intense characters. Strong characters you’ll enjoy and some bad ones you’d just as soon do without. Not much different than life is it? It’s listed as being of the historical romance genre. Many of you have seen me write here that I am not a romance genre girl and I’m still not. It’s true that in the journeys of this story a few people fall in love. This too is not much different than life. But I didn’t have to read about their intensely personal bedroom feelings. Was it implied or even mentioned a little? It was, but somehow it all seemed a part of the flow of the story.
It all seemed to blend in to one of those stories that keep you turning the pages as fast as you can. I didn’t want to take a break with this book, and I didn’t take many.
read an excerpt...
“My God, poor wench. Why would she choose to drag herself overland with you, I wonder.”
“Wonder no more, dear uncle. She is in search of excitement and adventure I believe. I assured you she was no ordinary wench did I not? And she is not chasing me, more a life of her own I guess.”
Carlos rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Hmm, do not be so sure. I have lived longer that you, lad, and most women do things because they have a plan in mind, a plan that often includes some poor hapless male. Mark my words, she sees you as a likely candidate for marriage.” He chuckled.
Tim made a small scoffing noise. “You are barking up the wrong tree there my man. I doubt the thought of a husband has even entered her head.” On saying that, Tim recollected she had mentioned that very thing when they were discussing this journey south. But no, that was merely some frivolous joke, meaning nothing. He quickly pushed that aside, saying, “She is not some silly little chit as I first thought but a woman of means who will be able to take her pick of the nobs once we reach our destination. And Billy is off in search of his people—the people he was taken from as a child.”
“A woman of means, you say? Hmm, I might even toss my hat her way. She is a comely lass I’ll give her that, and plucky. Not many women would dare to do what she has decided to do, unless they were accompanying their husbands.”
Tim swore. “Do not even think so Carlos. You are an old man and she is still a virtuous young woman despite her appearance. Keep your thoughts of lechery and whatever else away from her.”
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Award winning author Tricia McGill was born in London, England, and moved to Australia many years ago, settling near Melbourne. The youngest in a large, loving family she was never lonely or alone. Surrounded by avid readers, who encouraged her to read from an early age, is it any wonder she became a writer? The local library was a treasure trove and magical world of discovery through her childhood and growing years. Although her published works cross sub-genres, romance is always at their heart.
Tricia’s love of animals has always shown up in her books. Tricia devotes as much time and money as she can spare to supporting worldwide conservation groups and is passionate about supporting those who do all they can to preserve our wildlife for future generations, especially elephants and orangutans who seem to be getting the raw end of the deal even in this enlightened age. She also volunteers for a local community group that helps disabled adults and children to connect to the internet with provided computer equipment. When people ask what she does in her spare time, she is heard to ask, “Spare time, what is that?”
Buy links for Challenging Mountains: https://books2read.com/Challenging-Mountains
Monday, September 9, 2019
The Deception
The Deception
by Kat Martin
September 10, 2019 Book Blast
Synopsis:
“Fans of romantic suspense won’t be able to put this book down until the final page is turned.”―Publishers Weekly on The Deception
When missing turns to murdered, one woman's search for answers will take her to a place she never wanted to go…
After searching for her sister for two long years, Kate Gallagher is devastated when she’s called to the morgue to identify Chrissy’s body, the runaway teen the victim of a brutal attack. Guilt and grief send Kate into a tailspin. She failed Chrissy once…she won’t do it again. Even if finding her sister’s killer means following a lethal bounty hunter into the heart of darkness, placing both their lives in danger.
Working at Maximum Security has taken Jason Maddox down some dangerous paths, but never for a client he’s so drawn to, or for a case so monstrous. As clues lead them deeper into the city’s underbelly, connections to human trafficking draw them closer and closer to peril, but even Jase’s warnings can’t convince Kate to walk away. As the deadly operation puts a target on their backs, they’ll have to decide what matters most: the truth…or their lives.
Book Details:
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Published by: Harlequin Books
Publication Date: September 10th 2019
Number of Pages: 384
ISBN: 1488054320 (ISBN13: 9781488054327)
Series: Maximum Security #2
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
Read an excerpt:
Jason Hawkins Maddox sat at the old-fashioned long bar in the Sagebrush Saloon, a country-western hangout with a live band for dancing on the weekends and a jukebox that served the same purpose the rest of the week. The place, out I-30 on Bruckner Boulevard, was a spot Jase had been to before but not for a couple of years.
He was there tonight on business, meeting an informant he hoped would give him a lead on the fugitive he was hunting.
Randall Darren Harding, a cement contractor, had been arrested for the brutal murder of his ex-girlfriend. He’d been out on bail when he’d decided to flee instead of standing trial, where most likely he would have been convicted.
On the outskirts of Dallas, he’d had a firefight with police, shot two sheriff’s deputies and escaped. The guy was tough. He wouldn’t go down easy.
From what Jase could find out, Harding was a rotten, self-centered, mean-tempered bastard, the kind who could wind up killing again. He’d strangled his girlfriend in a fit of rage, but a fancy lawyer had gotten him out on bail.
Jase had a warrant for Harding’s arrest—rearrest, technically, since the guy had already been charged with murder-one, the premeditated kind that could earn you the death penalty in Texas.
The reward for catching him was a fat 15 percent of his million-and-a-half-dollar bond. Jase planned to collect.
Thus his meeting with Tommy Dieter at the Sagebrush Saloon.
It was relatively early, a little after 9:00 p.m., but the place was already more than half full. A big dance floor dominated the interior, surrounded by a sea of wooden tables. Being Wednesday, there was no band, but the juke was belting Willie Nelson so a few couples two-stepped out on the floor.
It was a decent place, not one of the rat holes he occasionally frequented for information, the crowd a mix of cowboys and bikers, couples of various ages, and a smattering of tourists, there to try some real Texas line dancing.
From the mirror in the carved oak back bar across from him, Jase could keep an eye on the front door and watch for Tommy’s arrival. Between a row of liquor bottles, he could see himself on a bar stool next to a little guy in a blue Texas Rangers baseball cap. The little guy made Jase look even bigger than his six-foot-four-inch, 210-pound frame, a size that in his job often came in handy.
So far Tommy hadn’t shown, but he wasn’t due for another few minutes. In the meantime, Jase was enjoying the local scenery, his attention fixed on the tall blonde with the pretty face, sexy curves and amazing cleavage, but then half the guys in the bar were watching her.
In a short denim skirt, a pair of cowboy boots and a bright pink tank top, she had danced to five songs in a row. Jase figured as long as her stamina held out, she wouldn’t lack for partners. If he weren’t there on business, he might have asked her for a turn around the floor himself.
The blonde finished the dance and sat back down on a bar stool a ways down from him. He noticed she was drinking tequila shooters. Looked like someone was going to get lucky tonight. Hearing the throaty purr of her laughter, he felt a tug in his groin and couldn’t help wishing it was him.
The front door swung open and Tommy Dieter walked in. Jase tossed money for the Lone Star he’d been drinking on top the bar. Time to go to work.
Tommy spotted him and walked over to the bar. “Hey, Hawk.” It was a nickname Jase had picked up thanks to his middle name. They called him the Hawk because he swooped down on his prey and always got his man. Or so the story went.
“Tommy.” He was a slender guy in his early twenties with carrot-red hair, not a bad sort, but he hung with a bad crowd, which gave him access to a lot of dirt, and he was hungry enough to deal the info for money.
Jase nodded toward an empty table at the back of the bar, and the two of them made their way past a pool table where a couple of cowboys clacked balls across a sea of green.
Tommy and Jase both pulled out chairs and sat down at the battered wooden table. Jase didn’t ask Tommy if he wanted a beer. It wasn’t healthy for an informant to spend too much time with a guy who hunted people for a living.
“You got something on Harding for me?” Jase asked.
“Yeah. Randy has a girlfriend in Houston,” Tommy said. “Mexican girl. No papers. She keeps him happy. He pays her rent.”
“What’s her name?”
“Rosa Diaz. She’s got a brother in town. A mechanic named Paulo.”
“You think Randy’s still in Houston? I figured he’d leave the state, head for Arizona, maybe, or New Mexico.”
“Word is he’s got the serious hots for Rosa. According to Randy, she’s a great piece of ass.”
The words sent Jase’s gaze back to the blonde who had returned to the dance floor with a lanky biker too short for her, too skinny and a few years too young.
She wasn’t meant for the boy biker, but she was just Jase’s type, luscious, with legs that went on forever. And, as she slid her arms around the boy biker’s neck and he pulled her close, clearly uninhibited. It didn’t take much to imagine the way she’d feel moving beneath him.
Jase ignored a surge of heat and forced his mind back to business. “If Randy’s that close, you’d think the cops would already have him in custody.”
“I don’t think the cops know anything about the girl.”
Probably not. They had their hands full without having to arrest the same guy twice.
Jase reached into the pocket of his black T-shirt, plucked out a folded-up hundred-dollar bill and slid it across the table to Dieter. “Let me know if you come up with anything else.”
Tommy snagged the hundred. “Good luck,” he said. “I hope you nail this prick. What he did to that girl…fucker deserves to fry.”
Jase made no comment since he completely agreed. One of the perks of the job was bringing dicks like Harding to justice.
As Tommy walked away, Jase noticed his seat at the bar was still empty. Since he wasn’t ready to leave, he picked up his beer and headed back the way he’d come.
He watched the blonde as he passed the dance floor. He’d been watching her all evening. The good news was, she’d been watching him, too.
When the song came to an end, she left the boy biker and walked toward him, stopped right in front of his bar stool, the heels on her boots pushing her closer to his height.
She smiled. “You like to dance, cowboy?”
***
Excerpt from The Deception by Kat Martin. Copyright 2019 by Kat Martin. Reproduced with permission from HQN Books. All rights reserved.
He was there tonight on business, meeting an informant he hoped would give him a lead on the fugitive he was hunting.
Randall Darren Harding, a cement contractor, had been arrested for the brutal murder of his ex-girlfriend. He’d been out on bail when he’d decided to flee instead of standing trial, where most likely he would have been convicted.
On the outskirts of Dallas, he’d had a firefight with police, shot two sheriff’s deputies and escaped. The guy was tough. He wouldn’t go down easy.
From what Jase could find out, Harding was a rotten, self-centered, mean-tempered bastard, the kind who could wind up killing again. He’d strangled his girlfriend in a fit of rage, but a fancy lawyer had gotten him out on bail.
Jase had a warrant for Harding’s arrest—rearrest, technically, since the guy had already been charged with murder-one, the premeditated kind that could earn you the death penalty in Texas.
The reward for catching him was a fat 15 percent of his million-and-a-half-dollar bond. Jase planned to collect.
Thus his meeting with Tommy Dieter at the Sagebrush Saloon.
It was relatively early, a little after 9:00 p.m., but the place was already more than half full. A big dance floor dominated the interior, surrounded by a sea of wooden tables. Being Wednesday, there was no band, but the juke was belting Willie Nelson so a few couples two-stepped out on the floor.
It was a decent place, not one of the rat holes he occasionally frequented for information, the crowd a mix of cowboys and bikers, couples of various ages, and a smattering of tourists, there to try some real Texas line dancing.
From the mirror in the carved oak back bar across from him, Jase could keep an eye on the front door and watch for Tommy’s arrival. Between a row of liquor bottles, he could see himself on a bar stool next to a little guy in a blue Texas Rangers baseball cap. The little guy made Jase look even bigger than his six-foot-four-inch, 210-pound frame, a size that in his job often came in handy.
So far Tommy hadn’t shown, but he wasn’t due for another few minutes. In the meantime, Jase was enjoying the local scenery, his attention fixed on the tall blonde with the pretty face, sexy curves and amazing cleavage, but then half the guys in the bar were watching her.
In a short denim skirt, a pair of cowboy boots and a bright pink tank top, she had danced to five songs in a row. Jase figured as long as her stamina held out, she wouldn’t lack for partners. If he weren’t there on business, he might have asked her for a turn around the floor himself.
The blonde finished the dance and sat back down on a bar stool a ways down from him. He noticed she was drinking tequila shooters. Looked like someone was going to get lucky tonight. Hearing the throaty purr of her laughter, he felt a tug in his groin and couldn’t help wishing it was him.
The front door swung open and Tommy Dieter walked in. Jase tossed money for the Lone Star he’d been drinking on top the bar. Time to go to work.
Tommy spotted him and walked over to the bar. “Hey, Hawk.” It was a nickname Jase had picked up thanks to his middle name. They called him the Hawk because he swooped down on his prey and always got his man. Or so the story went.
“Tommy.” He was a slender guy in his early twenties with carrot-red hair, not a bad sort, but he hung with a bad crowd, which gave him access to a lot of dirt, and he was hungry enough to deal the info for money.
Jase nodded toward an empty table at the back of the bar, and the two of them made their way past a pool table where a couple of cowboys clacked balls across a sea of green.
Tommy and Jase both pulled out chairs and sat down at the battered wooden table. Jase didn’t ask Tommy if he wanted a beer. It wasn’t healthy for an informant to spend too much time with a guy who hunted people for a living.
“You got something on Harding for me?” Jase asked.
“Yeah. Randy has a girlfriend in Houston,” Tommy said. “Mexican girl. No papers. She keeps him happy. He pays her rent.”
“What’s her name?”
“Rosa Diaz. She’s got a brother in town. A mechanic named Paulo.”
“You think Randy’s still in Houston? I figured he’d leave the state, head for Arizona, maybe, or New Mexico.”
“Word is he’s got the serious hots for Rosa. According to Randy, she’s a great piece of ass.”
The words sent Jase’s gaze back to the blonde who had returned to the dance floor with a lanky biker too short for her, too skinny and a few years too young.
She wasn’t meant for the boy biker, but she was just Jase’s type, luscious, with legs that went on forever. And, as she slid her arms around the boy biker’s neck and he pulled her close, clearly uninhibited. It didn’t take much to imagine the way she’d feel moving beneath him.
Jase ignored a surge of heat and forced his mind back to business. “If Randy’s that close, you’d think the cops would already have him in custody.”
“I don’t think the cops know anything about the girl.”
Probably not. They had their hands full without having to arrest the same guy twice.
Jase reached into the pocket of his black T-shirt, plucked out a folded-up hundred-dollar bill and slid it across the table to Dieter. “Let me know if you come up with anything else.”
Tommy snagged the hundred. “Good luck,” he said. “I hope you nail this prick. What he did to that girl…fucker deserves to fry.”
Jase made no comment since he completely agreed. One of the perks of the job was bringing dicks like Harding to justice.
As Tommy walked away, Jase noticed his seat at the bar was still empty. Since he wasn’t ready to leave, he picked up his beer and headed back the way he’d come.
He watched the blonde as he passed the dance floor. He’d been watching her all evening. The good news was, she’d been watching him, too.
When the song came to an end, she left the boy biker and walked toward him, stopped right in front of his bar stool, the heels on her boots pushing her closer to his height.
She smiled. “You like to dance, cowboy?”
***
Excerpt from The Deception by Kat Martin. Copyright 2019 by Kat Martin. Reproduced with permission from HQN Books. All rights reserved.
Author Bio:
Top ten New York Times bestselling author Kat Martin is a graduate of the University of California Santa Barbara. Residing with her Western-author husband, L.J. Martin, in Missoula, Montana, Kat has written 70 Historical and Contemporary Romantic Suspense novels. More than 17 million of her books are in print and she has been published in twenty foreign countries. Kat is currently hard at work on her next novel.
Catch Up With Kat Martin Online:
www.katmartin.com, Goodreads, BookBub, Twitter, & Facebook!
Tour Participants:
Giveaway:
This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Kat Martin. There will be one (1) winner. The winner will receive an Amazon.com Gift Card. The giveaway begins on September 10, 2019 and runs through September 19, 2019. Void where prohibited.a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Sunday, September 1, 2019
Ambush in the Everglades
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| Romantic Suspense |
Petie McCarty will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC and three ebook copies of "The Angel and the SEAL" to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
See below to sign up for the GIVEAWAY
Plenty of action-adventure in this romantic-suspense tale. Photographer Kayli Heddon is given the biggest assignment of her career—a photo essay on the Everglades Restoration—and a special airboat safari is arranged, so Kayli can get her pictures. What she doesn't count on is being stranded alone in the Everglades with her handsome and unpredictable airboat guide. Kayli is forced to learn some tough lessons. Trust means everything in the dangerous River of Grass, and a skilled partner makes all the difference in your survival.
Skye Landers takes the airboat safari gig as a favor to his cousin who is called out of town. Skye doesn't expect the governor's photographer to catch his eye, but Kayli Heddon is unlike any woman he has ever met. He knows he should keep his distance, but common sense flies out the window whenever she gets near.
Unfortunately, Kayli thinks honesty is the most important thing in a relationship—any relationship—and Skye Landers is a fraud. When secrets surface from his past, Kayli and Skye are soon on the run from more than just alligators.
My Review...
What a ride. I went to the Everglades with Petie McCarty’s characters. Her description of the Everglades really and truly made it seem as if I were there. Her characters made it even more life-like.
I have read and reviewed another of Petie McCarty’s books, “The Angel and the Seal”. So, you are going to see a few points here that are exactly the same. She creates characters you want to know, but different characters from book to book. No mass market romances here; no boiler plate plots. I think the reason each story is so different is because the writer changes the scenery, the characters backgrounds and personalities, and she also adds additional characters which always seem to add to the story.
You are also going to read in another of my reviews that I’m no romance fan. However, there is so much suspense in her books that it is more like reading a mystery.
Obviously, you can tell I think this is a book worth your time. Petie McCarty has many other books published. Two or three series and some stand-alones. Speaking of stand-alones, each book I have read can be considered this as far as enjoying the story. If you do a little research, you’ll find each book she’s written has very good reviews.
Read an excerpt...
Leaping over palmettos and tree roots and dodging half-buried cypress knees, they raced for their boat as the whine in the distance grew louder. Kayli recognized the whine as a second airboat. She couldn’t stop running if she wanted to, Skye had a death grip on her hand.
“Tell me what’s wrong,” she shouted, “and why are we running?”
Twenty more yards, and they reached the airboat. The approaching craft sounded closer by the second.
He dropped her hand to grab the bow line. “Get in the boat,” he ordered.
She stopped dead. “No.”
He whipped around with a fearsome glare.
“Not until you tell me why we’re running.”
This was so unlike the man she’d come to know over the last two days at close quarters. He looked . . . well, scared.
“Crane Tennapin is on his way here with drug runners to make a pick up.”
She felt the blood drain from her face. “Who is Crane Tennapin?”
“Another cousin, now let’s go.” He pushed on the bow of the airboat. “I’ve got to get you out of here. I’ll leave you at Sally’s.”
“I’m staying with you.”
“You can’t. I have to come back to help Crane.”
The whine grew louder and closer.
She froze. “You’re coming back to help a drug dealer?”
“Hell no!” he roared and softened his voice when she flinched. “Crane’s in over his head. He got mixed up with the Colombians before he knew about the drugs. Now they’re threatening to turn him in if he doesn’t help them with this drop.”
He motioned her over and held out a hand. “Come on, come on.”
“What if you don’t get back in time?” She couldn’t believe she wasn’t scrambling into the airboat.
He had her by the shoulders in two steps and stared hard in her eyes. “I can’t let anything happen to you.”
The emotion in his voice wrapped around her heart like long tentacles, and she couldn’t pull free. She didn’t want to.
Her arms flew around his neck, and Skye crushed her to his chest, his mouth hard against hers. A flood of emotion rifled through her unlike anything she’d ever felt in her life. She wanted to fold her soul into his and never let him go. She had wanted this can’t-let-you-go kiss from the moment she laid eyes on Skye. She wanted the kiss to last forever.
Precious seconds were squandered. The airboat whine grew louder, and his head jerked up.
“Damn.”
“There’s no time to get me out.”
No way would she leave him, not with drug runners coming. She might never see him again.
He pulled back and gazed into her eyes. “You have to trust me.”
She nodded. “What’re you going to do?”
“Sink the airboat.”
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Petie spent a large part of her career working at Walt Disney World—"The Most Magical Place on Earth"—where she enjoyed working in the land of fairy tales by day and creating her own romantic fairy tales by night, including her new series, The Cinderella Romances. She eventually said good-bye to her "day" job to write her stories full-time. These days Petie spends her time writing sequels to her regency time-travel series, Lords in Time, and her cozy-mystery-with-romantic-suspense series, the Mystery Angel Romances.
Petie shares her home on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee with her horticulturist husband and an opinionated Nanday conure named Sassy who made a cameo appearance in No Angels for Christmas.
Visit Petie's web site online at http://www.petiemccarty.com or her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/petie.mccarty.
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