Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Book Release, Review, and Giveaway: Pink Lock Socks and Sequined Witch Hats by Carla Rehse


Pink Lock Picks and Sequined Witch Hats
by Carla Rehse
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

Witches must bond with humans in order to produce children—and once the bond is made, it cannot easily be broken.



Imagine seventeen-year-old Gracie Mason’s surprise when she accidentally bonds with a witch named Asher. Sure, he’s cute, but that’s beside the point. She’s not gonna settle for a guy just because she’s magically bound to him.

To dissolve the bond, Gracie must seek out another witch to perform a magical rite. However, matters become considerably more complicated when witches begin turning up dead. Wanting nothing more than to get on with her life, Gracie must now team up with her new witchy friend and wade deeper into a complex world of enchantment and intrigue.

Pink Lock Picks and Sequined Witch Hats is an enthralling story of magic, mystery, and murder—and each new twist will draw you further under its spell.


Amazon * B&N

Book Review:

Gracie Mason is accidentally bonded with Asher Halrick when a magical spell goes wrong and is drawn into a world of magic and murder, far different from the exclusive and privileged life she leads. 
Asher and his twin sister Willow are both witches. He is adorable and she's the cute geeky girl. Neither would normally be part of Gracie's social set which are mostly mean girls and their rich counterparts. Her parents are a wreck, divorced and using Gracie (as she uses them) to fight each other. 
I tried hard, but I couldn't like Gracie. She's the queen of mean girls and doesn't really mature to a better person. There's hints she could be nice once in awhile, but they don't really make up for her obsession with designer clothes and lack of regard for anyone not of her status. 
This is a well-written and fast-paced YA story. It's not a book I'd normally read, but I do think fans of the genre would really like it. 

Although not a native Texan, Carla prides herself on having mastered the correct usage of “y’all” and “bless your heart.”



Carla is owned by a persnickety kitty, who rules the computer keyboard and only allows Carla to write when demands for cat treats are met.



Follow the tour HERE for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!




Monday, November 27, 2017

Book Tour and Excerpt: Christmas in the Highlands by Madelyn Hill





Historical Romance
Date Published: December 7, 2016
Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing

 photo add-to-goodreads-button_zpsc7b3c634.png


A FAMILY FOR CHRISTMAS
CHRISTMAS IN THE HIGHLANDS, BOOK ONE

Laird Malcolm Sutherland needs a bride. He has few requirements of his new wife; demands he should have insisted with his former betrothed—namely, honesty, loyalty, and resources.

Lady Rossalyn Gordon will do anything to be rid of her tyrant father, even if that means deceiving the man who offers her an escape. If revealed, those secrets will either bring her mercy, or thrust her back into the hands of the devil who sired her.

When Rossalyn’s bastard of a father arrives at Sutherland Keep, going back on his word and ordering her return, Malcolm must decide if he can forgive his wife enough to listen to his heart and have a family for Christmas.

Excerpt:

“I want to woo a wife.”
Brae tipped her head back and laughed. “You’ll not be needing my help with that, lad. Why, I could go in the kitchen and announce you’re looking for a wife and the lasses would run me down trying to get to you.”
He chuckled, relaxed in his chair, and crossed his arms over his chest. “I want to woo Fiona.”
Abruptly, Brae sobered and then her eyes widened. “Fiona,” she exclaimed with wonder and a bit of surprise. “Are you certain, lad?”
He grinned. Fiona had earned her contrary reputation honestly. “Aye.”
“Well.” That single word held a heavy dose of skepticism. “‘Twill be tricky. She’s hurting and not likely to receive your attention. She’ll refuse you if you push her.”
Aye. Fiona was an independent woman, but with a vulnerability about her and something painful in her gaze that resulted from more than Mal’s so-called betrayal. Cam had witnessed it too many times. When those green eyes turned sad, it broke his heart. For her soul was strong and if sadness lingered, ‘twas a grievous wound within her.
“Lad, you’ll have to go slowly.” A quick smile flashed on Brae’s aged face. “Little things. Things a lass such as Fiona would appreciate. Nothing obvious.”
Aye, from what he knew of Fiona, she wouldn’t want a gift-giving swain made public. “Could you send a meal to her chamber as a courtesy?”
Brae’s smile forced her wrinkles to crease around her eyes. “For certain, Cam. ‘Tis a kind gesture.” She patted his arm and relayed his desire to one of the kitchen lasses.
His wooing would need to be quick, for if Fiona discovered his plan she’d fight him and the desire he kenned she’d have for him if she just gave him a chance.
Aye, he’d court her, gently but swiftly, for he’d only a fortnight.
And she’d be his by Christmas.


HIS BY CHRISTMAS
CHRISTMAS IN THE HIGHLANDS, BOOK TWO

Fiona Sutherland longs for love with the man she has pined after since she was a lass. When he weds another she is devastated, and questions why the man she pledged her heart to has forsaken a vow made in their youth. Could loving her be so hard?

Cameron Munro adores Fiona from afar, knowing her heart has been set on another. She is everything he desires—strong, loyal, and fiery in spirit.

Determined, he pledges to prove his love to her and win Fiona’s heart by Christmas.


About the Author


Madelyn Hill has always loved the written word. From the time she could read and all through her school years, she'd sneak books into her textbooks during school. And she devoured books daily. At the age of 10 she proclaimed she wanted to be a writer. After being a "closet" writer for several years, she sent her manuscripts out there and is now published with Soul Mate Publishing. And she couldn't be happier!

A resident of Western New York, she moved from one Rochester to another Rochester to be with the love of her life. They are busy with their 3 children and a puppy named Cannoli! They love to cook, go to the movies, and hang out with friends.

Contact Links

 
Purchase Links





RABT Book Tours & PR

Cyber Monday Book Sale Blast and Giveaway!


WELCOME TO THE CYBER MONDAY SALE BLAST! 

Click on any of the below book covers to be taken to the page that has more information on the novel as well as the Buy Links! 

Don't forget to enter the Giveaway before you leave!



RABT Book Tours & PRRABT Book Tours & PRRABT Book Tours & PR

RABT Book Tours & PRRABT Book Tours & PRRABT Book Tours & PR

RABT Book Tours & PRRABT Book Tours & PRRABT Book Tours & PR

RABT Book Tours & PRRABT Book Tours & PRRABT Book Tours & PR

RABT Book Tours & PRRABT Book Tours & PRRABT Book Tours & PR

RABT Book Tours & PRRABT Book Tours & PRRABT Book Tours & PR

RABT Book Tours & PRRABT Book Tours & PRRABT Book Tours & PR

RABT Book Tours & PRRABT Book Tours & PR





RABT Book Tours & PR

Thursday, November 23, 2017

The Second Chances Books

Icarus Rising

After his fall to Earth, Icarus has been in Hell, punished for his hubris. When he wins a chance at parole, he's thrilled - except for the set of wings attached to his body.

Eve Gregory runs a small bookstore in northern Connecticut. When she hires the handsome stranger to work for her, she doesn't know the secrets he's hiding. Or that becoming involved with him will embroil her with the Greek gods and goddesses.

Icarus and Eve must perform a quest set down for them by Zeus. If they are successful, will that be end of their relationship? Or will love teach them a new way to soar?

Amazon


Cassandra Heeded


Cassandra of Troy has been idling in Elysium for centuries. When Apollo offers her a second chance at life on earth, she jumps at it. The only snag is she must find the Kuon Khryseos, the small golden dog Rhea gave Zeus as a baby. 

Artemis finds Cassie a place in Devon, Connecticut living over her coffee shop while she researches her task using her visions as well as a laptop. Jack Burnett works at the shop, and is fascinated by the new woman typing on her computer at one of his tables. But Cassie thinks he looks too much like Ajax, the man who despoiled her during the fall of Troy.

Will Cassie learn to trust Jack, and will they find the Kuon Khryseos?


Amazon

Monday, November 20, 2017

New Release & Excerpt: Dennis & Greer by Molly Gould



Historical Romance
Date Published: October 3, 2017
Publisher: Belle Reve Press

 photo add-to-goodreads-button_zpsc7b3c634.png

Dennis and Greer is a nonfiction love story in letters and journals between 2 college students during the Vietnam era. (This is nonfiction that reads like fiction)

A true story that encapsulates the horrors of war and the innocence of young love.

Buried in a trunk for fifty years, this long-forgotten tale, told through letters and journals from the war-torn Vietnam era, has been resurrected.

College students, Dennis and Greer, met and felt a spark just before moving to different states. Their witty correspondence through letters conjured a desire to meet again, but Dennis tried to keep his distance; duty is more important than love.

As the two embarked on their journey into adulthood and navigated their relationship against the backdrop of war, they were writing a love story that will span the test of time.

Excerpt:

       Dear Greer (poetic, huh?)
This letter is written upon wrinkled paper, which (as you are an English major), you will realize is symbolic of suffering and hardship. From having gotten to know me you will recall that I am never a whiner so I will let the paper rather than the ink bear what ill tidings are to be borne. You may well ask why I have devoted the introduction of this epistle to such trivia. As in conversation, I find it necessary to fill the air with something while I think of something worthwhile to say. While you write “redundant” over the second “something” in typical gung-ho English major fashion, I will try to find something worthy enough in content and syntax to place before your well-read, though brown, eyes.
Not having succeeded in that undertaking, I will, being forced, continue amid trivialities and redundancies. How are you? I am fine. (The latter is a comment rather than an answer.) My present residence is in Carlin, Nevada (as a glance at the envelope, also wrinkled, will verify—redundancies are tricky) and I receive my mail at P.O. Box 835. May I say that I had a very pointed reason for mentioning the fact?
Out of fear that you will say within someone’s hearing that this letter is much bubble bath, as indeed its first two paragraphs are, I will turn to serious considerations. I long to have the outpourings of your keen mind and kind heart splashed upon my untidy mind (see above) like cool water in the sweating face of a Nevada summer laborer. In other, less revealing words, my first order of business is to insist that you write me a letter. I will even, in consideration of your talent, pay you by the word in typical professional fashion.
I dedicated this summer to ridding myself of fecund thoughts and to the corralling of vagrant impulses, to secluded study and spiritual growth. I’ve had my preliminary interview and I will be leaving on my mission in September. I have departed into the desert to prepare for my calling, to live with the wild beasts and eat locusts and honey. Please realize that your letters will be a tremendous help to me. I think of you often.

Memory, hither come,
And tune your merry notes;
                                            And, while upon the wind
                                            Your music floats,

                                            I’ll pour upon the stream
                                            Where sighing lovers dream,
                                            And fish for fancies as they pass
                                            Within the watery glass.
-William Blake

Sincerely yours, 

Dennis

About the Author


ASU graduate, Molly Gould, lived in the wilderness for 28 days when she was 16 years old (she’s your go-to-girl in the zombie apocalypse). She now confines herself indoors with the AC full-blast in her sunny sate of AZ. Occasionally, she’ll brave the scorching heat with her husband and four children.

When Molly inherited a treasure of vintage journals and letters, she was swept away by the love story contained within those writings. She couldn’t keep Dennis and Greer to herself, so she began transcribing and Dennis and Greer was born.

Contact Links

Purchase Links

Reading Addiction Blog Tours

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Trad Tuesday: Bring Me A Boat by Kate Rusby w/Declan O'Rourke



This is a new song written by Kate Rusby, but in the tradition of the wives who are waiting for their men to return from the sea.

Lyrics: 
Bring me a boat to cross to my dear, I stand here alone, with my sweetheart so near, Bring to me a boat to cross o'er the Tyne, For it's deep murky waters part his heart and mine. And the Tyne it flows on and out to the sea, If a boat I am granted then safe let me be, And gently I'll go, for gently I'll row, As gently you breathe as you ebb and you flow. Does he know I stand each day on the shore, Does he know I'd give all to see him once more, Does he know I've wept ten thousand times o're, And is he still waiting as he was before. And the Tyne it flows on and out to the sea, If a boat I am granted then safe let me be, And gently I'll go, for gently I'll row, As gently you breathe as you ebb and you flow. The boatman he wants the gold I can't give, My parents are poor so I've nothing to give, Only my heart and that will not float, So please don't deny me and bring me a boat. And the Tyne it flows on and out to the sea, If a boat I am granted then safe let me be, And gently I'll go, for gently I'll row, As gently you breathe as you ebb and you flow

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Book Review: His Redneck Girl by Lindsey Brookes

Baylee Jean Brown has been ignoring Jimmie Joe Johnson for the last ten years. He's too much of a hound dog. That changes when she finds out it's because of her aunt, one of a long line of witches, who has threatened him to put his balls in a jar on her window sill. So now she's determined to make Jimmie Joe change his ways, using a book on how to train a hound dog (actual dog).
This book had some promise. I thought the premise was funny and I might enjoy the story. The characters are bigger than life, sometimes a little too much so that they are caricatures. Every woman has huge breasts and every man has a huge cock-a-doodle-doo.
Parts of it was funny (and raunchy), but the book is so repetitive and over-written. A joke is funny the first time - maybe a few times after that - but here we get the same ones over and over throughout the book. Jimmie Joe's cock-a-doodle-do, her sister Randi Lynn's lack of diddling, and so on are mentioned routinely with every mention of their name.  I found it just too much and it took away from enjoyment of the story. Sometimes less is more.

Link to Amazon

Monday, November 6, 2017

Promo Blitz: His Redneck Girl by Lindsey Brookes



Possum Hollow Series, Book One
Romantic Comedy, Contemporary Romance, Chick-lit
Date Published: October 2017

 photo add-to-goodreads-button_zpsc7b3c634.png

Jimmie Joe Johnson has spent years living up to his hound dog reputation. If he can’t have the one female he truly wants, then any female will do. When he isn’t off diddlin’ some female, he’s practicing for pool playoffs, determined to get his pool team to Vegas. Not only for bragging rights, but for the free trip to ‘Sin City’ and cash prize that comes along with it.

Baylee Jean Brown has never gotten over her first and only love, Jimmie Joe Johnson. So when she discovers the truth about why he really ended things with her all those years before, she sets out to get her man back. And no other thigh-parting female is going to stand in her way. She just has to find a way to make him take notice of her, considering he’d been avoiding her since that day her spell-threatening aunt (yes, she does come from a long line of witches), threatened to place his man-parts in a jar on her windowsill.

Avoiding Baylee Jean Brown in a town the size of Possum Hollow is hard enough, but all of the sudden she’s dressing sexy and aiming all that female heat in his direction. He tries to convince her that she’s better off without him, but how can he expect her to listen to reason when his own heart and body refuse to? Now his man-parts are in a whole different kind of danger. Not because her aunt might still carry through with her threat to pickle them, but because he knows no other woman will ever do.

Recent Praise for His Redneck Girl:

"Irreverent, bawdy, laugh out loud funny. The most hilarious book I've read in years--maybe ever! In fact, I'm pretty sure this book is the reason the term "ROFLMAO" was invented. If you combined Jeff Foxworthy's humor and Jason Stackhouse's good looks and libido, you'd end up with Jimmie Joe Johnson, one smokin' hot hound dog and one hilarious read!" --New York Times bestselling author C.L. Wilson


 photo His Redneck Girl by Lindsey Brookes print on wood_zpsjf3dowqa.jpg


Excerpt

“Hey there, Jimmie Joe.” A hand grabbed my ass through my jeans, giving it a firm squeeze.
The cue ball missed the rack completely, bringing about another round of snickers from my teammates. I knew, even without lookin, who that sugar sweet voice and bolder-than-hell hand belonged to. Memories from the past came rushing back. Baylee Jean always knew just how to touch me to drive me wild.
I turned to face her. “What the hell...?”
My eyes bugged out just like one of them there cartoon characters. And I was pretty sure my mouth was hanging open, too, but I couldn’t say for certain. All my thoughts were centered on the female standing in front of me. My gaze slid down Baylee Jean’s curvy form. Where the hell were her bibs? They hid a lot more flesh than what she was wearing and the last thing I wanted to be at that moment was tempted.
“Baylee Jean?” I choked.
Smiling, she tucked her hands into the back pockets of the cut-off jean shorts she wore, drawing my gaze back up to the pair of tits ready to burst out of the Bedazzled halter top she had on. Big, round, make-a-man-want-to-nibble-on-them kind of breasts.
Her smile widened. “You like? Randi Lynn gave me a few fashion tips.”
The words—Hell, yeah! —ricocheted around inside my brain. Instead, all that came out was, “Does your aunt know you’re runnin’ around town dressed like that?”
Her smile sagged for all of about two seconds, then it returned full force. She tipped her chin upward. “I’m old enough to dress like I please. And I decided it’s time for a new style.”
It had been hard enough avoiding her all these years the way she used to dress. My gaze slid over her again and I bit back a groan. Now, it was gonna be damn near impossible.
Bo let out an appreciative whistle. “I like your new style.”
The rest of my team, nodding in agreement, stared at Baylee Jean like she was the last beer left in the cooler.
“Thanks,” she said and then her gaze slid back to me. “You ain’t said what you think ‘bout my new look, Jimmie Joe.”
I was thinking that her breasts would be way too easy to access in that top. And damned if I wasn’t tempted to run my hand up between those tanned thighs and feel the heat I knew existed there.
“It looks good on you,” I muttered, trying like hell to tamp down my desire.
Her lips parted, drawing my gaze. The tip of her tongue slid out, moving over her lips in a slow, deliberately teasing swipe that had my cock stirring beneath the fly of my jeans.
Think of anything but how damn good she looks standing there, I told myself. The only thing guaranteed to come out of my diddling with Baylee Jean Brown was trouble.
She reached up to run her fingers back through her long, silky black hair. Not the straight hair I had always seen her with, but hair that had been curled just enough to make it look soft and touchable.
“I’ve been dreamin’ ’bout you,” she said with a sexy smile.
Damned if her words didn’t send a bolt of sexual hunger straight to my cock. I didn’t wanna hear about her dreams. Didn’t wanna think about her sprawled naked across her sheets period!
“Ooh,” Hit Man said with a grin. “Ain’t you a lucky son of a bitch? Havin’ a woman dream about you.”
“Most women do,” I replied, shooting a cocky grin to my buddies. Besides, it wasn’t the first time a woman told me she dreamed about me. I couldn’t help that I was the kind of man female fantasies were made of.
“Reckon so.” She moved to brush up against me like a cat in heat. “So watcha doin’?”
I knew what I wasn’t doing. I wasn’t gonna give in to my thumping cock. And I sure as hell wasn’t accomplishing what I’d come there for—shooting pool.
“Gettin’ drunk,” I replied stiffly as I set her away from me. I already had a laundry basket imprint on my ass. I sure as hell didn’t wanna add Callie Rae’s talon marks to my already-tender flesh.
“So I can take advantage of you?” she asked, not the least bit deterred in her pursuit. “’Cause I would, you know?” she said, not giving me a chance to reply. And followed that up with another dart of her pink tongue across those glossy lips.
Thump. Thump.
Hearing her say those things, all grown up and dressed like that was threatening my sanity. With a curse, I tossed the bar stick down on the table and walked back to the bar. “Duffster, you’re up.”
“Reckon I ain’t the only one,” he said with a grin as he walked past me.
I looked down at the fly of my pants with a groan.
“Not gonna take her up on her offer?” T-Bone asked as she reached for her beer.
“Hell, no.” I was glad I didn’t have to ask a Magic 8-Ball that question, because I had a gut feeling its response would be—SIGNS POINT TO YES. And there was one big sign doing the pointing right at that moment, just below my favorite GOT BEER belt buckle.
The front door swung open and Randi Lynn stepped into the bar.
“Well, if it ain’t little Miss Smell-Good,” Skeeter hollered.
“Better than smellin’ like a stinky ol’ fish,” she replied with a toss of her long black hair.
He sniffed himself with a grin. “You mean my catch-of-the-day cologne ain’t makin’ you wanna strip me naked?”
“Only thing I’d be strippin’ you naked for would be a bath.”
“You offerin’?”
She muttered something under her breath I’d have guessed was a curse or two if she were Baylee Jean. But Randi Lynn’s mouth was about as clean as they come. I reckon their momma had used up all the cursing genes on Baylee Jean.
Ignoring Skeeter, who tended to set her off anytime they were near each other, Randi Lynn scanned the room. “Baylee Jean,” she said. “Aunt Callie’s lookin’ for you.”
“Shit,” Baylee Jean cursed with a frown. Every bit the girl I remembered. Gotta love a female with a dirty mouth.
“She’s drivin’ around town. I cut through the woods to warn you.”
“I’ll be right out,” Baylee Jean replied, the frustration clear in her voice.
With a nod, her sister turned and disappeared behind the closing door.
Baylee Jean’s toe-peeping, red high heels clicked across the cigarette-butt-littered floor as she moved toward the front door. Halfway there, she stopped and turned.
I might have had my back to her, but I knew she was looking my way and wanting what she couldn’t have. It was a family gift all us Johnson men had. E.S.P—Extra Sexual Perception. We knew when a woman wanted us.
“One of these days, Jimmie Joe,” she said, “you’re gonna be servicin’ me again and only me.”
She had no idea how close she was to being serviced right then and there. The second the door closed behind her, air whistled through my teeth.
“Holy shit, Jimmie Joe,” Bo said, dragging a hand down over his bushy beard.
I reached for my beer, taking several long swallows. Holy shit was right. The button at the top of my fly was about to give in to the pressure beneath it and launch across the smoke-hazed bar.
What the hell was going on? Baylee Jean had barely spared me a glance for the past ten years—deservedly so. Now, all of a sudden, she was oozing honey and coming after me like a Bluetick coonhound fixing to tree a coon.
My cock twitched. I wanted to be that coon. And despite knowing it was best to keep things the way they had been between Baylee and me, I had to admit I was real tempted to let myself get treed by her. Just once. Maybe then I’d finally be able to get her out of my blood—for good.

 photo His Redneck Girl by Lindsey Brookes on tablet by wine glass_zpsber77e2s.jpg

About the Author


Award-winning romance author Lindsey Brookes is a four-time RWA Golden Heart finalist, as well as a past American Title III finalist, and winner of Harlequin's Great American Romance Novel contest. She has written for, Kensington Publishing, Amazon Publishing, and has indie-pubbed several of her young adult and adult contemporary romances. She is represented by Michelle Grajkowski with 3 Seas Literary Agency.


Contact Links


Purchase Links



Reading Addiction Blog Tours