Tag Archives: paranormal and supernatural fiction

Risen From The Dead – The Legend Of Rachel Petersen by J T Baroni #JTBaroni

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I was excited to get my hands on this book. I mean, look at that cover..and his inspiration for writing it. How cool is that? Welcome to fundinmental J T.

How did this book come about?

          While hunting whitetail one year, I stumbled upon a weathered tombstone in the middle of the woods. Waiting patiently for that big buck to cross my path gave me plenty of time to think about that lone grave’s inhabitant and ponder her story, which I was then driven to write.

          Eerily enough, this is the premise of The Legend of Rachel Petersen, my first novel that Damnation Books in California published in 2012, which I have just recently revised, then self-published. Between holding down a job as a transformer repairman, and life in general, it me took two years to write the original book back then.

          However! I am now enjoying retirement; and in the first half of 2023, I revised the story by adding 165 pages and a new ending chapter. My ghost tale is now even more descriptive, has added details, and the final chapter comes out of left field and smacks you upside the head!

Describe your writing habits.

         I simply write when it’s raining, or when the urge hits, but mostly when I think of a good scene and the thoughts are flowing. Sometimes the rough draft will sit on the shelf for a month or longer, then I’ll dust it off and look at it with a fresh perspective.Only after ten or more chapters when I get lost, do I start an outline.

Do you listen to music while writing?

          Sometimes I tell Alexa to play Santa Esmeralda, Supertramp, Bob Seger, INXS, or the Golden Oldies, or the news. At times, silence, especially when I’m using the narrator function during editing.

Which authors influenced your writing?

         I enjoyed Harold Robbins’s The Adventurers, Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer, and John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. I know I’m telling my age with that answer, but I enjoyed their books because they wrote captivating stories that held my interest to the last page.

Are there any projects in the works now?

            I’m 32 chapters into a psychological thriller. The plot revolves around a psychologist and an attorney who are planning to rule the world; they both share the same dark secret, but one of them has a deadly, ulterior motive. Three more chapters should finish it. Then edit, edit, edit… Keep your eyes open for, “Tell Me about your Childhood.”

It’s funny, but when I asked you for your thoughts I left it up to you, and you covered all the things I was thinking of. I love when great minds think alike, don’t you? LOL I’m excited to see what you come up with next, since I think The Legend Of Rachel Petersen was a hit!

Amazon / Goodreads

UPDATE: J T Baroni now has an Apple audiobook available, created by AI.

MY REVIEW

I confess. It was the cover that drew me in. It had that horror, paranormal, supernatural feel to it and I investigated further. When I finished the book, I found where the author’s inspiration came from. He was deer hunting and came across a tombstone. As he sat there, waiting for that elusive big buck to come through, he had plenty of time to wonder and ponder…and that What If came to life.

Christian Kane is a sports writer for The Post Gazette. He doesn’t get the anticipated promotion he was expecting and quits to write fiction. The Legend of Rachel Petersen is about the characters finding a tombstone hidden in the briars on their property and what happens after.

“We are living in a house where a twelve year old girl went cuckoo, killed her family, an’ then hanged herself in our barn.”

A book in a book is always a fun concept. J T Baroni did foreshadow what was to come and I love that he did it in such a way that I never took notice. Well done. I found myself laughing…at myself. There are other moments of laughter and I love an author that incorporates fun into some doom and gloom.

The ending was worth a star alone. I love when an author can catch me so off guard I am left with my mouth hanging open. I highly recommend The Legend Of Rachel Petersen by J T Baroni and I would love to know what you think.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Legend of Rachel Petersen by J T Baroni.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Did his book raise the dead? Outraged when The Post Gazette overlooks him for a promotion, thirty-nine year old sports writer, Christian Kane quits and moves to the country to write fiction. Inspiration flows from a grave he stumbles upon in the woods. He compiles The Legend of Rachel Petersen, a fascinating story revolving around the dead twelve year old girl lying beneath the weathered tombstone. His book becomes a Best Seller; then Hollywood makes it in to a blockbuster movie. Kane becomes rich and famous, but only to have Rachel rise from the grave to seek revenge on him for slandering her name!

  • Genre: Fiction, Horror, Paranormal, Supernatural
  • Kindle Edition (Revised Edition)
  • First published November 23, 2011 by Sky Publishing

EXCERPT

Page 79

               Staring back at him were two large empty eye sockets in a tiny skull, which rested on a satin pillow. Her facial skin, once having a flawless peaches and cream complexion, was now brown, deeply gouged with wrinkles, and drawn tight, exposing her baby teeth. Her nose was reduced to two narrow slits. Red hair, parted in the middle, covered her forehead before coming to rest in curls on her shoulders.

Page 80

               While jumping up and down, he tripped over the shovel’s handle and fell face first over the freshly dug dirt pile back into the grave, landing three inches from Rachel’s mummified face; he swore he saw Rachel smile at him!

Page 82

               His eyes widened and his jaw fell open. Floating on top of the broth were the words… ‘help me’… spelled out with the alphabet macaroni! Thaddeus quickly stirred his soup and watched in awe as the words reappeared amongst the chunks of chicken, chopped celery, and diced carrots — ‘help me.’

ABOUT J T BARONI (from Amazon)

Living in Western Pennsylvania all my life, I have been an avid Whitetail hunter since I was old enough to tote a rifle, which is also about as long as I’ve had a fondness for word games and literature. While hunting last year, I actually did stumble upon a weathered tombstone in the middle of the woods. Waiting patiently for any deer to cross my path gave me plenty of time to think about that lone grave’s inhabitant and ponder her story, which I was then driven to write. Eerily enough, this is the premise of The Legend of Rachel Petersen, my first published novel. I have also composed several songs that are currently signed with a music publisher.

My home is Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a small town outside of Pittsburgh, where my wife Becky and I are both proud members of the Lions International. We share our home with our son, Skyler, and an AKC boxer, Butkus.

Author’s Den / Facebook

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Shall We Play A Game – The Mystery Game by Michael Chikondi #michaelbchikondi #vampires

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Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Sinjen, the vampire, takes a vacation, his first time off in fifty years. He’s taking his Thrall, Jack, his human friends, Miriam and Richard, and his lost love, Carlotta to a caste where they will play a murder mystery game.

I love Sinjen. He’s a complicated vampire. He is needy, looking for love, for a reason to get up each night. He searches for a reason to live, and I think he found it when he met Miriam. He won’t change her, won’t keep her for himself. But, his friend, who he thought was his thrall, is in love with her and she seems to be attracted to him too. Will Richard and Miriam marry? Probably.

With Miriam he has found a new vocation? Solving mysteries. Their first, which was supposed to be a game, turned into exposing the rogue vampire that is killing people in a most gruesome and torturous way.

The event takes place in a castle, so will there be a ghost or two?

We have a snowstorm and they are cut off from the world. Is it Aster’s doing? Aster is a vampire that dominates all others. I thought it was him, but when they discover the group is not the only vampires, Aster finds it is better not to use his ability to control the weather. Still, a vampire is never stranded and I was surprised when Sinjen turned into a wolf. I knew they misted, which was cool. He also has the ability to hypnotize people, so he can take a sip or two and wipe their minds.

I am hooked on these characters. Sinjen is such a unique vampire. He is so needy, yet strong and savage when necessary. He is dominated by Eliza, a cruel mistress that revels in his pain, but now, since The Mystery Game, Aster has given him an out and he plans on using it to his advantage. I can hardly wait to see what his next adventure will be.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Mystery Game by Michael B Chikondi.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

With his first time off in fifty years, Sinjen Carlyle decides to take his friends, Miriam, Jack and the fair Carlotta out to enjoy a murder mystery play. It’s to be set over a week, at a castle in the Scottish Highlands. Their hosts, an eccentric mystery writer and his charming wife. Before they have even made it to their rooms, he begins to suspect that he and Carlotta may not be the only two vampires there. As a snowstorm rolls in, and the play begins to blend fantasy a little too closely to reality, could there be a more sinister cause? And, with three vampires penned into on building, can they solve the play, and manage their appetites, before a real death takes place?

  • Genres: Fiction, Idle Hands Series, Paranormal, Standalone, Supernatural, Vampires
  • 209 pages, Kindle Edition
  • Published June 26, 2023

ABOUT MICHAEL B CHIKONDI (from Amazon)

Michael B. Chikondi is not to be trusted, but the creature agrees to a meeting in its burrow. We enter with trepidation, given that the thing has no doorbell. As we crawl through the narrow tunnel, gored out by its own teeth, by the texture, we hear what can only be described as a hacking cough.

“Can we approach?” we call.

“No soliciting.” the voice returns.

“You sent for us; you told us to ask you questions. You know, for promotional reasons.”

“Ask.” the dread voice responds.

“Alright, who are you?” we try.

“A creature of mist and shadow, half-mad, I used to go out, I did, and know those…humans. Not now, not since…the pen.”

“You found a pen? That’s why you became a writer?” we ask, now terrified, trying to gauge how fast we can leave the burrow. The photographer has already left us, chewing off his own watch, caught on a tree root.

“Yes, but now…I hunger…”

We are not proud; we turn tail and flee, before it can leave its den. We aren’t paid enough to get a full bio. We can only pray someone buys its books, so that the thing never comes out on its own.

Ed. What the hell is this? This isn’t what we requested. Just some nonsense and an artist’s rendition of what one of my people saw before he contracted rabies? Eh, whatever. Plenty more writers in the sea.

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Supernaturalesque – Chasing Demons by C D Kester @CD_Kester

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I received an email from C D Kester with an opportunity to read and review The Bunker and Chasing Demons. If you check out the covers (find The Bunker here), you will see why I did not hesitate.

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Just looking at the cover for Chasing Demons…and the one for the novella, The Bunker by C D Kester, made me jump all over these horror, paranormal, supernatural stories. You would benefit from reading The Bunker first. I will introduce you to the evil permeating these small towns. It is filled with detestable characters, heroic characters, and those that overcome their fears and make the ultimate sacrifice to save others.

I have so many highlights in my ereader, I had to sift through them and try to share only those that will tell you why I love the world that C D Kester has so vividly created. Thanks to the Supernatural TV show, it was easy to visualize many scenes and the actions of the demons that are called forth by vile humans that will do anything for greed and power.

I didn’t know what to rate the book, a four or a five, so I figured I would wait and decide while I write this review. Will it get my dander up, after it being a week or so since I have read it. Now, I will browse my highlights and we shall see. The point of view shifts from character to character, allowing us to experience their individual terror.

It has been ten years since The Bunker.

We are back in Texas, in a small town called Fairmont, right next door to Fern Hollow. If you are traveling in the area, don’t stop. Keep on driving. I am immediately drawn in as a body is dumped in a landfill. From there, the evil spreads, and spreads, and spreads. Blood flows and heads roll, literally.

The main characters are four youngsters, Tim, Mike, Logan and Dominic. They are in a band. They are bullied at school. Basically, just average kids, doing average things, until…

When Mike walked into the garage with a shadow following him, all I could think is…not Mike. He has been through so much. He doesn’t deserve this. And it goes downhill from here. It’s a good thing he has such good and loyal friends that will not turn their back on him.

Logan is sent to Camp Gensis for conversion therapy. I think most of us know what that means. Cruelty and torture, but this camp is run by a pedophile. A sheep in wolves clothing.

Nancy is the owner of the Halloween story and has become their friend. Her, on the airplane, I was terrified. I have a fear of flying and sure wouldn’t want to read this book while I was on a plane. LOL

There are so many evil, terrible characters that belong on the bottom of the pond, or that may be too good for them. They conjure evil worse than themselves and I can only hope it will demand a steep price from them for doing so. After all, demons are not your friend.

Every time I turned around, another evil popped up and I was terrified for all the characters I came to love. I was constantly surprised, shocked, saddened, devastated…and the ending. As I write this and check out my last note in my ereader…

She broke down into tears…

And so did I, at least, tears formed in my eyes…again. And that is worth a 5 star rating.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Chasing Demons by C D Kester.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
5 Stars

GOODREAD BLURB

Be true to yourself and stand up for what’s right. Michael, Tim, Dominic, and Logan are four buddies in the suburban town of Fairmont, Texas. Their lives are turned upside down when a demonic entity begins to terrorize their families and all of Fairmont as a whole. Logan knows that he is gay, but has to deal with his family that go to a hate-fueled church led by Johnny Cumberland, otherwise known as Johnny Gospel. The four friends must band together through thick and thin to stand up in the face of evil and hatred. Days and years may come and go, but one thing remains the same. When you’re at your lowest you shouldnt be afraid to admit you need help. And don’t forget, that we can get by with a little help from our friends. Thanks, Joe Cocker.

  • Genre: Fiction, Horror, Paranormal, Supernatural
  • 298 pages, Kindle Edition
  • First published November 17, 2022

ABOUT C D KESTER

C. D. Kester is an author of fiction who does most of his work in the horror genre. He lives in Kingwood, Texas with his wife and two children. Kester recently published his first full length novel, Chasing Demons. His first self-published work is a novella titled The Bunker. He has also had many stories published in anthologies, ezines, and read in podcasts and YouTube videos.

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Giveaway – Total Eclipse Of The Moon by Zoe Forward @XpressoTours

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Total Eclipse of the Moon
Zoe Forward
(The Crown’s Wolves, #3)
Publication date: August 21st 2023
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance

If he doesn’t break the curse tying him and his brothers to the Crown of England as paranormal terrorist hunters, they’ll be forced to execute him.

An accidental demon possession erodes Shane Lanzo’s sanity. Sometimes he’s in control. Sometimes not. His only hope is the witch who cast the curse, which is a problem. The last two times he approached her, the feisty enchantress somehow tamed the demon inside him, but rendered him useless against his desire for her.

Madeline Edney sucks at being a witch. Her casting the curse on the lycan brothers was a fluke, and it destroyed her life. She’s been hunted by the Crown ever since to make sure she doesn’t try to undo the curse. She never expected Shane to find her so easily. He’s a temptation that promises zinger chemistry, her absolute weakness. One taste was gratifying. Two was foolish. Three has become an addiction. Lifting the curse requires she forfeit her life, but if the hunters kill her, it leaves Shane at the mercy of the Crown. Either way she dies.

Shane has a choice: freedom for his family, risking Madeline in the process or a chance at happiness with the witch who fated his brothers as prisoners for eternity.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

EXCERPT

“You feel this between us? It’s magnetic.” Her eyes shone with eagerness in the dim light from the single overhead lightbulb.

“I don’t feel anything.” Desire hot and thick made his hands shake. “If you’re weaving a spell on me, stop.” The one defining goal of the past few decades had been to hate this woman for what she’d done to him and his brothers, and to make her pay.

What was wrong with him? Why did he hesitate now that she was right here?

“Shane?”

He gritted out, “Yes?”

“You don’t look well. There’s something odd about your eyes.” She leaned close to squint at him.

“What do you want from me to reverse the curse?”

“Curse removal is complicated.”

Her scent, something citrusy and fresh, floated up his nose and aggravated his arousal further. She whispered, “I don’t understand what it is that draws me to you. Witches and lycans don’t mix, not just because our species warred for hundreds of years. It’s…we’re too different. With our complicated history this shouldn’t be here.”

“The curse.” Shane’s heart thrashed to the point his ribs hurt.

“That’s what makes this complicated.” She reached out but didn’t touch his skin this time. She blushed and lowered her gaze. For all her power, there was a vulnerability in the move that made Shane want to offer her a safe haven. He inherently sensed goodness in people and detected those in need of help. His kryptonite was someone good in genuine distress. Like her.

She wasn’t good. Couldn’t be. She’d screwed him and his brothers over for almost fifty years.

But something was wrong with her. Very wrong. Despite all she’d done to him in the past, he perceived her to be in danger, which melted his determination to be tough with her.

“You despise me for what I did. I’ve survived worse than your hate. I won’t apologize for the choices I had to make. Someday, perhaps you’ll forgive me?”

“Doubt it.”

“I deserve that.” She ran a finger across his lips. He sucked in a breath. “Do you want me to kiss you? Just so you know what it’s like? So you don’t have to wonder anymore? I’ve wondered.”

Shane glanced out the window.

She sighed. “There’s no one out there who will judge you for having a weak moment with a witch.”

Hells bells. She was right. He wanted a taste. With a trembling hand, he touched her chin. “You’re not just any witch. We can’t do this.”

“That’s not what you want,” she breathed out. “You want to kiss me, right?”

Shane lowered his mouth to hers. “Yes.”


Author Bio:

USA Today bestselling author, parent, wife, veterinarian, chocolate lover. Author of spicy paranormal and contemporary romances. Zoe Forward brings readers the perfect combination of action adventure, romance, humor and a bit of magic.

Her novels have won numerous awards including the Prism, Readers’ Choice Heart of Excellence, Golden Quill, Carolyn Readers Choice Award, and the Booksellers’ Best Award.

You can find her residing in the South with a menagerie of four-legged beasts and two wild kids.

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Couldn’t Stop Reading – Nobody by T Joseph Browder #TJosephBrowder

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Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

The hunkalicious NCIS looking customer ordered a Chocolate Overdose and said, “Keep your head down.” Robyn Carr wondered why he kept hanging around after finishing his drink. Four clowns enter, begin blasting away with their automatic weapons, until the customer makes a stand. When Robyn asked who he was, he responded, “I am Nobody.”

And that is the beginning of the book. It took me by surprise, because I thought I had it all figured out early on, and I was sooo wrong. So wonderfully wrong. The writing flowed smoothly, leading me deeper into this fabulous story, making me unable to stop until the last word was read, shaking my head, and thinking….what an awesome ending! Sure didn’t see that coming.

Arianna Price was fourteen years old when Nobody had saved her life. Twenty five years later, she is a Special Agent of the FBI. A profiler. She has never quit searching for the man who appears at violent, traumatic events, saving some and letting others die. She has a question only he can answer, and she will not quit looking until she finds him. WHY? Why did he save her and her mother, but let her father and brother die? That is the question I always seek an answer to when I read a murder mystery, when I read about serial killers. Many times the why is never answered, but this time may be different.

Is she special…or is it more than that?

Arianna had fought for her position, being a black woman in a man’s world. When she met Goldenfeather, a Navajo woman, she was told her to stop searching. It is a fight between good and evil and it will destroy her. I love the addition of Navajo folklore, myth and legend, and voodoo.

The history of the pacemaker was fascinating.

The ‘In The Bank’ chapter was wonderfully inspiring.

I also learned about the immortal jellyfish, Turritopsis dohrnii. I love a book that has me going to the web for more information, and the author did his research.

If you love books about battles between good and evil, this is for you. I got so much more than I had anticipated, and I have read a couple other books by T Joseph Browder, so my expectations were pretty high. No worries. He met and surpassed them.

Be sure and read the Afterword and Acknowledgments and let us know if you think T Jospeh Bowder was prescient.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Nobody by T Joseph Browder.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Fourteen-year-old Arianna Price, rescued, bloody and terrified, from a bathtub by a stranger after witnessing the brutal slaying of her father and brother during a home invasion, had no time to ask questions of the man who’d interceded on her behalf before disappearing, without a trace, into the night. Twenty-five years later, her future and profession dictated by that single event, Special Agent Arianna Price of the FBI is determined to bring the still unidentified vigilante, her erstwhile savior, in for questioning. Except he seems to have never existed. He has no name. No past. No identity. He appears during horrific acts of violence, intervenes, then vanishes like a wraith. Evidence suggests he’s been doing so for thirty years, or more. Yet, according to witnesses, he has never aged. He is punishment. He is vengeance. He is Nobody.

  • Genre: Angels and Demons, Fiction, Horror, Paranormal, Supernatural, Vigilante
  • 296 pages, Paperback
  • Published: June 5, 2023 by T. Joseph Browder

ABOUT T JOSEPH BROWDER

T. Joseph Browder

T. Joseph Browder was born in Lima, Ohio in 1969 and is the author of ‘Dark Matters,’ ‘Plague,’ and ‘Infernal,’ the first in a series of novels about the Multiverse and the age-old battle between good and evil.

Of writing T. Joseph Browder says, “I’m an addict. Some people are addicted to alcohol, some to marijuana, coke, or heroin. I’m addicted to writing. It’s my drug of choice and like the monkey on the back of the heroin user it compels me to sit down at my computer every day and check out of reality. Since I work a full-time job in the meat industry my time is limited. If I don’t ‘use’ often enough I suffer withdrawals. The pain is tangible. For me, writing is a high like no other. It’s one helluva buzz.”

A student of Psychology, T. Joseph Browder also holds Doctorates in Divinity, Metaphysics, and Religious Humanities. “I’m an ordained minister,” Browder says, “but that’s a prerequisite for the education I was pursuing. I’ve performed a wedding ceremony or two but have never felt the urge to preach before a congregation.”

Like his education, Mr. Browder’s writing is driven by an insatiable curiosity for what makes people behave the way they do, make the choices they make, and feel the way they feel. Drawing on an intimate knowledge of the evil alive in humanity his work centers on the darker aspects of life, the sudden changes and left turns life throws at all of us and how we react to those things that lurk around the next corner and go bump in the night.

Mr. Browder currently lives in Kansas with his wife, Marie, and is hard at work on a new novel.

Website

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Giveaway – Hungry Is The Night by Robin Jeffrey @XpressoTours @TheSidekick

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Hungry is the Night
Robin Jeffrey
(The Night Series, #1)
Publication date: August 22nd 2023
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance

The werewolves of the world live in tight knit gangs, or “dens”, for protection from outsiders – and each other. Every major metropolis has one; to belong to a den is to have a family for eternity. However, Grace Holtz, next in line to lead the Seattle den called The Nameless, has had enough of living under the crushing weight of her den’s expectations. Having fled to a small, rural town in southeast Oregon, her goal is to blend in and be as “normal” as possible for the rest of her unnaturally long life.

But Marcus Bowen, a wolf from the UK-based Feóndulf den (and the closest thing Grace has ever had to a lover), has other plans. Reappearing thirty years after their affair came to an abrupt and bloody end, Marcus needs Grace. He needs her to return to Seattle and arrange an audience with Mama, the current leader of The Nameless and Grace’s estranged grandmother. The leader of the Feóndulf and his heir have both been brutally murdered, and Marcus suspects that Grace and Mama are next.

Teaming up to hunt for the killer in the Emerald City, the pair slowly begin to realize their romance may not be as dead as they thought. However, as it becomes clear that the person they’re looking for holds secrets about both their dens, Marcus and Grace must grapple with competing loyalties, conflicting desires, and ultimately decide what matters more: their dens or each other.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

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EXCERPT:

The sensation of his lips against mine rippled through me like a shot of whiskey, warming and intoxicating, setting my blood dancing while at the same time making me shiver. When he reciprocated the gesture, when he reached out to hold my cheek with trembling fingers and shifted against my lips without withdrawing, the tight coil of control in my chest unraveled. I took a step forward, my body flush against his, and lifted my hands to grip at Marcus’ shoulders with a possessiveness I barely recognized.

Marcus mimicked my stance, but instead of pulling me closer, he took a step back, breaking the kiss with a small gasp. My eyes flickered open.

While he shook his head, Marcus’ eyes remained closed as he whispered, “Grace, we shouldn’t—”

“Marcus.” His eyes opened wide at the sound of his name. I gave a weak smile and lifted my hand to his face, trailing my thumb across his lower lip. “Don’t be so stupid as to make the same mistake twice.”

He blinked at me once, then twice. The corners of his mouth shot down into a frown and his hands dropped from my shoulders to my hips. He pulled me against his body while quietly whispering, “Ah, sod it, then,” before kissing me hard.

I answered in kind, my hands skittering unmoored across first his jaw, then his shoulders, then his sides, then his chest. I deepened the kiss with a flick of my tongue at his bottom lip, a teasing, tentative request that Marcus answered with unabashed eagerness, opening his mouth to my explorations.

Slowly at first, then in a progressively frantic tumble, I pulled Marcus back into my room toward the bed. I kicked off my shoes as I went, running the tip of my tongue along the top of his palate. He tried desperately to keep pace with me, capturing my lower lip between his teeth and biting down, not too hard, but just hard enough. Still, there was hesitation in his movements. No longer content with the skin available to my hands, I began easing his shirt up and over his body. Marcus tried to register a verbal protest, but it was lost in the crush of our mouths. It wasn’t until I relinquished his lips and began lavishing attention on his neck that he was able to say anything at all.

As soon as his mouth was free of mine, he breathed my name imploringly, caressing my back and shoulders through my thin sweatshirt. “Grace…”

“Don’t worry,” I answered, my words muffled as I pressed my lips against his carotid artery, my wandering hands pushing up under the hem of his T-shirt, fingers dancing over the newly exposed flesh at his side. “I’ll take care of you.”


Author Bio:

When Robin Jeffrey isn’t checking out books to students at the academic library where she works, she can be found cranking out punchy flash fiction, lyrical essays, and world-rich romances. Her writing has been published in magazines across the country and around the world. She currently calls the Pacific Northwest of the United States home, where she lives happily with her husband and their out of control comic book collection. She currently resides in the rainy Pacific Northwest. More of her work can be found on her website, RobinJeffreyAuthor.com.

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Giveaway – Phantom Fire by Delta James @xpressotours

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Phantom Fire
Delta James
(Winged Warriors, #1)
Publication date: August 18th 2023
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance

A night of passion and a positive pregnancy test will change everything.

Kessily Campbell, a rising star environmental lawyer, was not looking for a relationship when she met the mysterious Falkor at a conference. The attraction was instantaneous and powerful. She didn’t have time for commitment in her life so, she invited him to her room for a fun evening. When Kessily discovers she is pregnant, she must face the realities that come with this new life.

Falkor, dragon and alpha of the Phantom Fire, would lose too much if he committed to a woman. Tradition stated when a member of the Phantom Fire found their eternal flame they were to give up their position and immortality. In addition, they had to pledge their first-born son to the Winged Warriors when he reached age. There are not many human women who are willing to accept those terms.

As the head lawyer on an important case involving the Wind River Mountains, Kessily is very busy. Walking into a meeting with her boss to meet a new co-plaintiff, she is shocked to realize that Falkor will be joining her legal team. Now she has to figure out how to tell him he’s going to be a father in the next seven months.

As the trial heats up so does their relationship. Their relationship is tested as they fight to find a path forward. Will they be able to reach a compromise that will benefit everyone? Find out in this passionate and suspenseful tale of love and responsibility.

If you enjoy romantic suspense books by K.C. Crowne and Lillian Monroe you’ll love this story of a passionate night that changes everything.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

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EXCERPT:

Along about dusk, she had her usual campsite within reach. As she rounded the corner, she realized it was in use. The woman emerging out of the bright orange tent smiled as she spotted Kessily and raised her hand.

“Hello, sister,” she called. She was dressed in jeans and a pretty sweater with Native American-inspired artwork intricately woven into the sweater. Her jeans were tucked into traditional moccasins instead of hiking boots.

Kessily looked all around her to see to whom the woman was referring.

The woman laughed. “Yes, I mean you. I’ve been waiting for you.”

“You have? Do we know each other?” Kessily asked as she reached into her pocket for the bear spray—if it could drop a grizzly, surely it could drop a medium-sized female.

“There is no need for violence or confusion. I am known as She Who Listens.”

“What do you listen to?” asked Kessily.

“To all the living things. They speak to me.”

Curious, Kessily moved closer. “What do they tell you?”

“Many things. For instance, they say you are on a great quest.”

Kessily smiled and approached her. There didn’t seem to be any reason not to. “I’m hiking up to the Cauldron of Fire.”

“Ah, it is the dragon you seek. He searches for you, as well.”

Okay, so the woman is a little bit crackers. Perhaps I’ll move along and hope she doesn’t follow.

“You think I’m not right in the head, but I am. There is a reason you feel at peace when you are within sight of the Cauldron. It is because he is there and has been waiting. He will come to you and you will bear his child.”

“I’m not quite sure how to tell you this,” Kessily said, politely, “but it is next to impossible for me to get pregnant. I have something called PCOS. It will prevent me from ever having children.”

“Dragon seed is strong. I can prove to you that what I say is true.”

“Short of producing a dragon, I don’t think that’s possible. But you have yourself a nice day.”

Kessily turned to leave, and she heard the woman scurrying back into her tent. She didn’t think anything good could come of that. She picked up her pace and began to put as much distance between herself and the mad woman as she possibly could. When the sound of the woman exiting her tent and starting after her reached her ears, Kessily broke into a run.

“Wait, sister! I mean you no harm,” the woman said as her hand closed around Kessily’s upper arm and spun her around. In her hands was a large deck of ornate cards. “Pick one.”

“No, thanks. I have friends waiting and want to get to them before they start to worry.”

The woman frowned and shook her head. “No, you don’t. There is no one who waits for you. Pick a card. Listen to the message the gods send to you, and I will leave you in peace. I am nothing more than their messenger. When you have listened, I will go.”

The woman held out the deck of cards, and hesitantly Kessily started to pick one but glanced at the woman’s face to see if there was any indication that she wanted her to pick a specific card. There was nothing. This woman would be hard to beat in a poker game. Her expression showed no emotion whatsoever.

“Pick.”

Kessily withdrew a card and handed it to the woman, who smiled. “You chose the silver dragon of imagination, possibility, and self-discovery.”

Looking at the card, all Kessily could see was a silver dragon flying high over the peaks of a set of mountains that looked oddly familiar. The sky above it was midnight blue with shining stars that cast their light on the snow-capped peaks.

“What are you trying to tell me?” Kessily asked.

“It is not I who speaks to you, but the dragon lord who will claim you. I wish you well, sister.” The woman turned around and returned to her campsite.

Wanting to put as much distance between them as possible, Kessily headed up the trail at a fast pace—just short of running. What a nut job. Nice enough, but clearly not quite right in the head.

Author Bio:

As a USA Today bestselling romance author, Delta James aims to captivate readers with stories about complex,curvy heroines and the dominant alpha males who adore them. For Delta, romance is more than just a love story; it’s a journey with challenges and thrills along the way.

After creating a second chapter for herself that was dramatically different than the first, Delta now resides in Florida where she relaxes on warm summer evenings with her loveable pack of basset hounds as they watch the birds, squirrels and lizards. When not crafting fast-paced tales, she enjoys horseback riding, walks on the beach, and white-water rafting.

More about Delta, including a full list of her books and audiobooks, can be found at www.deltajames.com.

Her readers mean the world to her, and Delta tries to interact personally to as many messages as she can. If you’d like to chat or discuss books, you can find Delta on Instagram, Facebook, and in her private reader group https://www.facebook.com/groups/348982795738444.

If you’re looking for your next bingeable series, you can get a FREE story by joining her newsletter https://www.subscribepage.com/VIPlist22019.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram / Newsletter


GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Vampirilicious – The Darkest Blood by Kay Widow @KayWidow @booksirens

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Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

The Bloodline Dagger Series by Kay Widow may not be mind blowing, but I am having a great time following these characters, meeting new ones, and watching romance bloom. I will gladly grab any book I see by Kay Widow.

I love vampires, of all shapes and sizes. It doesn’t matter if they are sparkly or grotesque. It doesn’t matter if they are Edward Cullen, Angel, or Nosferatu. Bring ’em on.

In The Darkest Blood, we continue the Bloodline Dagger series. The Dagger can kill a vampire, but must be wielded by a human.

Alec Blackwood is a vampire lord and those at the top need to be one their toes. There are always those who wish to have their power. And…many times it comes from their family.

Of course, Alec has to run into that one human woman whom he cannot resist, and that is Nina. She’s pretty up front about what she wants and not afraid of his fangs. She is not a morning person, and neither am I. I love their lively banter.

“Wakey, wakey, oh, Tiny Angry One.”

The last third of the book picked up the pace. The danger rose to an unputdownable level. If the whole book was at this level of suspense, the rating would have been upped a notch. I love being able to easily read through a story, but, also, love when there is more meat on the bones.

I love Prologues and Epilogues and The Darkest Blood by Kay Widow has two epilogues, one for Alec and one for Nina. Hmmm, would you want to be turned into a vampire? I have thought about this myself, and I think…..

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Blood & Fang by Kay Widow.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
3 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

I loathe individuals born with a silver spoon in their mouths, people like Alec Blackwood.

I watch as he glides across the street on that black Harley,

Leaning low and turning women’s heads like some conquering hero.

He has money coming from all directions –

Gold watches, Gucci shoes, an apartment in the most expensive part of town.

People call him the King of Manhattan.

But underneath the darkness of his gaze, I can sense something supernatural –

Fangs that glow in the light like a warning, ready to strike.

I can’t let him discover what secrets I am hiding,

But something about him makes every cell in my body tingle.

His piercing eyes look through my soul, making me powerless.

It turns out my enemy is his enemy, and if we fail to unite,

Defeat is inevitable.

  • Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Supernatural, Vampires
  • 318 pages, Kindle Edition
  • Published August 8, 2023

ABOUT KAY WIDOW

Kay Widow is a paranormal romance author. She writes page-turning romances that readers consume faster than she can produce.
If you love spicy romances with protective and dominant alphas who fall for sassy curvy women, then you might just love Kay’s novels.
Kay lives in Kansas with her husband, Irish twins, and all her book boyfriends.

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Instagram

MY KAY WIDOW REVIEWS

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Cover Reveal – Petulant Shadows by Martha Sweeney @XpressoTours

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Petulant Shadows
Martha Sweeney
Publication date: October 17th 2023
Genres: Adult, Romance, Supernatural, Thriller

Dedicated to: those who have been abducted, trafficked, abused, and murdered; the families who have lost someone; and the sheepdogs who fight to save them. May your souls find peace.
………………………………………….
There is a sinister evil hidden in the shadows. Some do not know of its existence yet others are haunted by it every waking moment and every sleepless night.

The legends say that it arrives quiet like the wind, lurking in the shadows as the darkness sets upon the earth each night. It leaches into towns through the smallest of cracks and festers, growing like a fungus that makes everything rot in its path.

A sudden opportunity to flee presents itself to Paisley. Something within her commands her to run. As if guided by the hand of God, she finds shelter in the town of Biernhard and through a man named Grayson.

As Paisley begins to come to grips with her past and embrace a new life for herself, the shadows creep back into her life and the town she calls home. Will this darkness conquer Biernhard and claim Paisley once again, or does the town have its own fortitude against the darkness that it is rumored to have battled and defeated many generations before?

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Author Bio:

Martha Sweeney is a BESTSELLING author who writes in a variety of genres: romance (contemporary, romcom, suspense, paranormal and historical), suspense, fantasy, thriller, coloring books, and soon, science fiction. She strives to push herself as a storyteller with each new tale and hopes to push her readers outside of their comfort zone whether it be genre or the stories themselves.

With a B.S. in Psychology, Martha utilizes her knowledge of human and animal behavior successfully in the business world and in her writing to present realistic characters and situations. She’s been creative since she was little, always drawing, coloring or making crafts, so her venture into being an author was a natural transition.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram


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Review – Like Father, Like Son by Michael B Chikondi #michaelbchikondi #vampires

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Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

The old time feeling of the cover for Like Father, Like Son by Michael B Chikondi definitely speaks of vampires to me.

Sinjen Carlyle is a typical vampire, some good and some bad about him, and he quickly grew on me. When he meets Miriam Green, a human, he is immediately attracted to her and wants to get to know her better. Sinjen is a complicated character. He seems very needy and he looks after those he cares about, but he is not afraid of killing those who get in his way in a brutal and savage fashion.

Eliza is waaaay past cruel…to everyone. She is Sinjen’s master. I will be curious to see if she gets her comeuppance in Book II The Mystery Game.

Boredom seems to be these vampires downfall. Is it better to take yourself out, or find a reason to go on. Living forever can be quite the pickle. What do you do with all that time?

There are a lot of characters that make their own statement and I loved meeting each and every one of them, the good, the bad and the ugly. Jack may be one of the primaries, but Richard stood out to me, too.

We have a lot of vampire action, human and vampire interaction, romance, murder, mystery and mayhem. A worthy read that is kept me entertained.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Like Father, Like Son by Michael B Chikondi.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 stars

GOODREADS BLURB

After fifty years in the custody of his ‘aunt’ Eliza, Sinjen Carlyle is allowed out for New Year’s eve. He spends it in Whitby, meeting Jack, the thief, and his sister Carol, an enterprising madam. As it begins to rain, he takes cover in a tea house. A sweet woman catches his eye, dark, plain and proper. The very picture of his cousin in her youth. Miriam Green, hard-working, and alone in the world, sticks in his mind. When his ‘aunt’ Margaret suggests he should find someone to make him feel human again, he decides to get to know her better. For the first time, Carlyle has a taste of freedom. Can he entice Miriam with a little mystery, while keeping his own secrets? Can he keep her alive? And, when Jack is attacked, can they find the culprit, or has he stumbled onto something beyond his capabilities?

  • Genres: Fiction, Paranormal, Supernatural, Vampires
  • 251 pages, Paperback
  • Published June 28, 2023

ABOUT MICHAEL B CHIKONDI (from Amazon)

Michael B. Chikondi is not to be trusted, but the creature agrees to a meeting in its burrow. We enter with trepidation, given that the thing has no doorbell. As we crawl through the narrow tunnel, gored out by its own teeth, by the texture, we hear what can only be described as a hacking cough.

“Can we approach?” we call.

“No soliciting.” the voice returns.

“You sent for us; you told us to ask you questions. You know, for promotional reasons.”

“Ask.” the dread voice responds.

“Alright, who are you?” we try.

“A creature of mist and shadow, half-mad, I used to go out, I did, and know those…humans. Not now, not since…the pen.”

“You found a pen? That’s why you became a writer?” we ask, now terrified, trying to gauge how fast we can leave the burrow. The photographer has already left us, chewing off his own watch, caught on a tree root.

“Yes, but now…I hunger…”

We are not proud; we turn tail and flee, before it can leave its den. We aren’t paid enough to get a full bio. We can only pray someone buys its books, so that the thing never comes out on its own.

Ed. What the hell is this? This isn’t what we requested. Just some nonsense and an artist’s rendition of what one of my people saw before he contracted rabies? Eh, whatever. Plenty more writers in the sea.

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