Wednesday, February 14, 2018

New Release: Abandoned by Mary Martinez

 
Abandoned
By Mary Martinez
About the Book: 

Glenna Beckett loves her family dearly, but being the youngest of six can be overwhelming. Moving across country helped her learn who she was outside the family. She’s built a successful business in the form of a quaint shop on Main Street of Calistoga, that sells a bit of everything vintage, the new age term for antique. What more does she need? Then he walked into her shop. International playboy, Lance Gordon. After a whirlwind courtship he asks her to marry him. Burying a niggle of doubt in the pit of her tummy, she says yes. He’s even agreed to have the wedding in Brooklyn so her family can attend. But he never arrives. Glenna refused to believe she’d been abandoned at the altar and asks her brother, Tyler, to contact an agent friend on the West Coast to search for Lance. Patrick McGinnis can’t believe he’s walking into a prissy shop in the high end of the Napa Valley searching for a missing groom. The bride, Glenna Beckett, is everything he feared, drop dead gorgeous, and a spoiled brat. Not that he’d ever tell her brother that. He hates wild goose chases, and this mission is exactly that. Patrick’s certain the playboy fiancé is off wooing some other delectable creature. Unfortunately, once Patrick started to dig, he finds there’s more to the tale and it will take all his skills as an agent to keep Glenna safe. Especially when the case takes a turn and threatens the safety of his son, Finn.
The Beckett Series Free and/or On Sale Through 3/8/18:
Disappear (Book I The Beckett Series)
Innocent (Book II The Beckett Series)
Only $.99 Amazon Buy Link
Quiet (Book III The Beckett Series)
Only $.99 Amazon Buy Link
Illusion – Utopia the Beginning (Book IV The Beckett Series)
Only $.99 Amazon Buy Link
Profit – Utopia the Conclusion (Book V The Beckett Series)
Only $.99 Amazon Buy Link Abandoned  (Book V The Beckett Series) Amazon Buy Link
For more links:

Excerpt:
Patrick McGinnis thumbed his phone off and dropped the thing on the table with a thud. What had he just agreed to? He held in a groan, barely.
“What’s up dad? You look like you just ate a sour grape.”
Finnegan, his sixteen-year old son, and the joy of his life, walked to the cupboard and pulled out a bowl. He filled it with cereal and added milk and then joined Patrick at the table. He dipped his spoon for a large scoop, and as he brought it to his mouth, Finn gave him the I’m waiting look.
“I just received a call from an old friend,” he said in way of explanation, he really didn’t like talking work with his son.
“It must not have been a good conversation.”
“It was good to catch up. He was with me at Quantico.” Best to focus on the old acquaintance part.
“Dad, I’m in high school. You can stop sheltering me now. He must have called for a reason. One you’re not too thrilled about. What’s up?” He repeated his earlier question.
Damn, Finn was growing up to fast. And the kid was right. He had a tendency to shield him from his work. Something he’d always tried to do, but more since Finn was three and the worst thing that could ever happened to a child had happened.
“Tyler is an agent in New York, however, he has a sister in Calistoga.”
His son let out a hoot of laughter. “Match-making from the east coast.”
“Ha, ha. No, his sister seems to have lost her fiancé and her assistant.”
“What they elope and left her behind? Why’d he call you?”
“The fiancé never arrived at the wedding. And then when his sister went to open her shop she found the assistant had been shot.”
“Oh.” Finn ate for a few minutes in silence. “Does the lost fiancé and the dead assistant have something to do with each other?”
“That’s one of the things Ty wants me to find out.”
Finn suspended his spoon half way to his mouth. “What is the other?”
“He wants me to find the missing fiancé for his sister.” He pulled his fingers through his hair. “It’s a wild goose chase if you ask me. If the guy had wanted to get married he’d have been at the wedding.”
“You’d think, unless he couldn’t.”
Patrick contemplated his son. He would make a good detective. He’d already helped solve a few of his cases, by just listening and making comments that brought other solutions to mind. Patrick wasn’t sure he wanted that for his son. He loved being a federal agent. For a while, after the incident with his son, he’d tried something else. However, his true passion was law enforcement and he’d been placed back on duty within the year.
You couldn’t help where your heart led you. No matter the consequences. 
“That is what I need to find out.” He stood and poured more coffee into his cup to warm up the cooling liquid. He leaned a hip on the counter while he sipped. “What’s going on at school today?”
Finn finished his cereal and stood to wash his bowl out. He appeared to be thinking as he put his dishes in the dishwasher.
“I have an algebra test. Just a fair warning, Dad, it’s kicking my ass.”
“Language son.” But he smiled, he’d heard a lot worse. “I have a few minutes do you need my help?”
His son gave him a skeptical look, which was well warranted. Algebra had thoroughly kicked his ass in high school, too, to the point he’d needed Saturday morning classes to pass the damn class.
After a moment he answered. “No, Mrs. Stewart said she’d meet me before school.”
“Old Mrs. Stewart is still there? I had her for Algebra.” He smiled and resisted the urge to ruffle his son’s hair. Since the boy was almost as tall as he was, it’d be a little awkward anyway. “You’re in good hands then. Do you want me to drop you on my way to Calistoga?”
 

Mary is giving away one $20 Amazon Gift Certificate and one $20 Gift Certificate of winners choice to B&N or Starbucks.  Please use the Rafflecopter below to enter. Remember you may increase your chances of winning by visiting the other stops on the tour. You may find those locations here.


Author Bio:
Mary lives in Magna, a little town west of Salt Lake City, Utah. Together with her husband, she has six grown children, and six wonderful grandsons and five beautiful granddaughters. She loves to spend time with family and friends--she includes good books as friends! Mary and her husband love to travel, especially to the Caribbean for relaxing, and Italy for the wine. And most recently she discovered she was Irish and Scottish, of course they had to visit Ireland and Scotland. Mary fell in love with both, but the green hills of Ireland felt like home. With the experience from the exotic places she has visited, she is able to fill her books with colorful descriptions of cities, painting a colorful backdrop for her characters. One of her favorite US destinations is New York/Brooklyn, where her beloved Beckett's live. When she visits, she can wander their neighborhoods, favorite parks, and visit their favorite pub, Putnum's. They are avid concert ‘Ho’s’! Yes, they pretty much want to do them all. They love outdoor amphitheaters the best and attend as many during the warmer months as possible. Mary writes mostly romantic suspense, romance, women's fiction, and she has just begun to dabble in young adult mystery. She is a member of Romance Writers of America (RWA). During her writing career she has been a conference coordinator, workshop presenter, and chapter president for the Utah Chapter of RWA. In 2007 she was presented with the Utah RWA service award in acknowledgment and appreciation for outstanding service. Mary has also participated in numerous library panels on writing and co-presented a workshop on writing a series at the League of Utah Writers conference. Mary and her husband are also enthusiastic college football fans. They have season tickets to the UTES, University of Utah Football and they tailgate every game. They love tailgating so much, that they were married at a tailgating in 1999. GO UTES!  
Website and social media links: Buy Link Amazon:
www.amazon.com/Mary-Martinez/e/B006MWJ1T6
Mary’s Garden Blog: marysbooksblogger.blogspot.com
The After Work Cook: theafterworkcook.blogspot.com 
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Monday, February 12, 2018

Book Review: On the Surface by Margo Hoorstra

On the Surface (Brothers in Blue Book 1)On the Surface by Margo Hoornstra
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What do a bounty hunter and a convicted felon have in common? A lot—especially when the person they have in common is responsible for the felon’s incarceration and the death of the bounty hunter’s loved one.

The author, Margo Hoornstra, has created extremely likable and yet seemingly opposite characters. The one thing that keeps them going down the same path towards the same goal is the man who destroyed their loves, lives, and dreams, the sociopath Rod Donahue.

Jenny Reynolds is a warm and compassionate woman whose real failure was in not seeing what a creep Donahue was. Out on parole, she’s attempting to fix up her grandparents bed-and-breakfast, the Rest Easy, when easy on the eyes Brad Collins shows up pretending to be a home-improvement expert.

No spoilers! Beneath the Surface is a well researched, slow burner of a read that will keep you turning pages and staying up late at night well past the time you said you would stop “at the end of this chapter.” This book earns five hammers up and I recommend it highly to anyone who wants a suspenseful edge of the seat read with a very hot couple.

View all my reviews

Friday, February 9, 2018

Interview with Donna Simonetta, Author of Love is Lovelier



What made you decide to be an author? I always wanted to be an author. When I was a little girl, I would go to the library and look at the shelf to see where my books would go once I was a published author. It took me longer to get here than I imagined it would! I worked in the business world, then went to grad school and got my MLS and worked in a school library. I finally got back to writing about ten years ago and never looked back!
What do you like best about being a writer? What do you like the least? I’ve always been an introvert and a little shy. I’m not one to blow my own horn, so the marketing and promotion piece of being a published author runs contrary to my nature. But everything else I LOVE! I write contemporary romance with heart and humor, so the absolute best part for me is thinking that my books will bring a little lightness to someone who might be going through a hard time. To make someone laugh at the end of a truly lousy day. Reading books has brought so much joy to my life that I’m thrilled to be able to do the same for my readers.
How do you think your life experiences have prepared you for writing? In some ways, I’m writing better books now than I could have if I’d started writing right out of college. Just living life, experiencing the highs and the lows has put me in a better position to convey my characters emotions as they move through life.
Have you ever felt as if you were being dictated to while you wrote a book--as if the words came of their own accord? If yes, which book did that happen with?When things are really flowing for me, I’ve felt this way at some point with every book I’ve written.
You’ve written 4 novels and are working on a 5 and 6th. What’s your favorite time management tip? Time management is something that becomes harder once you become published, and are working on someone else’s deadlines! It can be difficult to balance all the balls you have in the air at the same time. I’m afraid I don’t really have a good tip. I put a lot of pressure on myself to try to get everything done and done in advance of deadlines, if at all possible and it can be crushing! So, I don’t really recommend it as a good method for anyone else lol!
Are you a plotter or a pantser, i.e., do you outline your books ahead of time or are you an “organic” writer? I do a combination of the two. I read somewhere that Jim Butcher, author of the Dresden Files series (which I love, btw!) draws an actual arc to represent the story arc. He writes the beginning on one side and the end on the other, with the high point in the center of the arc. He then goes on to plot out every point between the two. I modified his method for myself. I draw an arc with the three points laid out beginning, high point, end and then everything that happens in between is more pantsing.
If you had one take away piece of advice for authors, what would it be? Rejection is inevitable in this field, and you cannot take it personally. I read once (I don’t remember where) that rejection is not personal, and doesn’t mean your work isn’t good. It just means that it is not what the person you’re querying is looking for at the moment. It’s hard not to take it to heart, when your product is as personal to you as a book, but it can be crippling if you do. I let myself feel bad for a few minutes, and then I move on and send it to someone else.
Did music help you find your muse with this book? If yes, which song did you find yourself going back to over and over again as you wrote? Music has helped me in the past, but not really with Love is Lovelier. The title does come from the old song lyric Love is Lovelier, the second time around, but I didn’t listen to the song while I wrote. I cannot write in complete silence though, so I do always have on music, or the television on low volume, while I work.
Tell me more about Love is Lovelier.
Heather and Mick have a long history together, and Heather wants to leave it in the past where it belongs. Yet, here Mick is, very much in her present, thanks to her brother Jeff, who hired Mick to be her boss at the Retreat at Rivers Bend.
It wouldn’t be so bad, except Heather and Mick are still attracted to each other like metal to a magnet. Oh, and her brother is considering offering Mick a partnership in the Retreat, which by rights should be hers. And even if they act on their attraction, Heather is a small-town, country girl, and proud of it, whereas Mick can’t get far enough from his West Virginia coal-mining roots.
Will they be able to get a second chance at their first love and find their happy ending together in Rivers Bend?

How about an excerpt from Love is Lovelier?
“Stick close. I’ll get you out of here.”
He used his broad shoulders as a wedge to propel himself though the crowd; Heather scurried to keep up with him so she could take advantage of the gap he created, not wanting to be so close that she could feel the warmth of his body through his elegant suit, but because she needed somehow to beat this crush of people to the Retreat to make sure that everything was in place for the post-christening party she’d planned for Bethanne only perfection would do for her BFF.
She watched Mick’s back as she stuck close to him; he looked so strong and fit it was hard to imagine him the way he was ten years ago, when he’d suffered his NFL career-ending injury, but the same business acumen that kept him with the Portland Pintos organization back then was the reason Jeff and Cisco hired him at the Retreat.
He’d be good for business she’d just have to keep chanting those words in her head like a mantra, or else she’d do one of two things she’d regret--kill Mick, or kiss him, and she’d gone the kissing route with him before. It did not end well. And tempting as the killing option was at the moment, it probably wouldn’t end any better.

Buy Links:
Barnes & Noble:
The Wild Rose Press:

Donna Simonetta writes the kind of books she loves to read––contemporary romances filled with heart, heat, and humor, like the books of her favorite romance writers, Susan Mallery and Jill Shalvis.

A Sweeter Spot is the first book in the Rivers Bend trilogy, which is set in a fictional small town, populated by quirky characters. But if you prefer a big city setting and a little fantasy mixed in with your romance, try Angels Fly. A heartwarming story, set in beautiful San Diego, about getting a second-chance with your first love, with a little help from some unlikely guardian angels.

Writing is Donna’s third career. She has worked in the business world, which she decided wasn’t for her. So she went back to school to get her MLS degree, and worked in a school library, before deciding to pursue writing on a full-time basis. Donna lives in Maryland with her husband, who is her real-life romance hero. They enjoy traveling to visit far-flung family and friends, and spending time on the beach with an umbrella drink and a good book.
Where can readers find more about your stories, books and you on the Internet?
Donna, thank you so much for being with us here today. I know my readers will enjoy your work and your interview.


Thursday, February 8, 2018

Book Discover Tour!

Valentine's Day Book Discovery Tour Graphic
BOOK DISCOVERY TOUR
Hosted by Book Unleashed
February 8 - 12, 2018
Featuring an exciting lineup of books for your reading pleasure.
Check them out today.
And be sure to JOIN THE TOUR GIVEAWAY below too. It's FREE!
Turn to Her
TURN TO HER
Lynn Kellan | The Brothers Series Book 2 | Contemporary Romance
Ivan Antonov is determined to dismantle The Women’s Grid and anything else that spews man-hate all over campus. When his quest spins out of control, it targets Tia Garcia, the gorgeous psychology intern who lives next door. Her counseling program for women might lose funding, because the administration is feeling the pressure to eliminate every non-inclusive program on campus. Now Ivan must figure out how to protect her from the campaign he started. He also has to protect himself, because he’s falling hard for Tia - the one woman on campus who’s smart enough to figure out his darkest secret.
Purchase Links: Amazon (Kindle) | Amazon (Print)

The Siege: A Novel
THE SIEGE: A NOVEL
Marilyn Baron | Mainstream Women's Fiction, Romantic Thriller, Historical
Artist Theia Constas goes on a journey of self-discovery to Italy and Greece, where she finds love and realizes her passion through a link to her grandparents’ hidden past.
When her hotel in Florence, Italy, is besieged by terrorists, she finds herself thrust together with Wade Bingham in his honeymoon suite. Immediately attracted to each other, Wade conducts a siege of his own to win Theia’s heart.
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Click on any of the book covers below for more detailed info on each title.
My Gentleman Thief
She was digging for happiness... when he stole her heart.
Amazon | iBooks
Special Promo: 99 cents until Feb 17
(Regular Price: $2.99)
When a Duke Pursues a Lady
An innocent woman. A loyal agent to the Crown. A path of deception that tests the bonds of love.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Bear's Edge
Will Shayla give Grant the Mystery Man a chance?
Amazon | Loose Id
Legacy of Evil
One battle, one outcome. Who will win? Good or evil?
Amazon
Ruthless
He was a nomad, a ruthless killer, but he was her addiction, and she was his!
Amazon
Hot Deadly Desire
Is her lover the serial killer she's hunting?
Amazon
Special Promo: 99 cents until Feb 12
(Regular Price: $3.49)
Secrets to Becoming a Wiser, More Confident and Happier You
DISCOVER: How to draw more meaning and a level of spirituality into your life, right where you are, and in spite of your busy schedule.
Amazon
Get it FREE for a limited time: From Feb 11 - 13, 2018 only
Tempting the Domme
It takes a strong man to win the heart of an even stronger woman
Amazon | iBooks
Special Pre-Order Promotion: 99 cents until Feb 14
(Regular Price: $3.99 from Feb 15)

Giveaway

WIN $20 GIFT CARD AND MORE
Valentine's Day Book Discovery Tour Giveaway Graphic
Prizes up for grabs:
1. $20 Amazon Gift Card
2. $5 Amazon Gift Card from Sharon Buchbinder
3. Hot Deadly Desire by Judy H. (signed copy)
4. The Alibi by Marilyn Baron (ebook)
5. When a Duke Pursues a Lady by Tabetha Waite (ebook)
6. Wolf's Challenge (Stranger Creatures #1) by Christina Lynn Lambert (ebook)
7. Phantom Riders MC - Hawk by Tory Richards (ebook)
8. Choice of book from Golden Angel's Backlist (ebook)
Contest runs from February 8 - 14, 2018.

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