Gabby Allan Brings Us the Rom-Cozy!

I have been a fan of Gabby Allan since long before she was Gabby Allan, and because I have carefully cultivated my contacts in the business of fiction (in other words, we live in the same town and I buy her tea every few weeks 😉) I got to read her debut mystery prior to its release, and it's everything I love most about her books. (I'm being a little cagey here, with oblique references to her alternate personality 😁) The humor and fun are at the top of the list, with characters who feel real and yet completely unique, and just enough romance to make all the stakes mean something. 

So without further ado *snicker* I am pleased to introduce GABBY ALLAN!

~ ~ ~ ~

Hello, and I hope you’re having an amazing day! So excited to be here and so thankful Natalie invited me to hang with you for a little while!

I’m Gabby Allan, and I’m super excited to introduce my new series to you! It’s a rom-cozy—rom com and cozy mystery snuggled up on a beach drinking a Mai Tai! If you’re into that kind of thing, I think you’ll love this book and my characters Whitney Dagner and her cat Whiskers!

Thanks for giving me a look and have a great day!

Whitney Dagner is your tour guide to a Pacific paradise that’s to die for—only to find it’s a place people are also willing to kill for—in Gabby Allan’s Much Ado About Nauticaling, first in the Whit and Whiskers Mystery series.

After far too many years in the Los Angeles corporate world, Whitney Dagner has come home to Santa Catalina Island off the California coast to help her brother Nick run Nautically Yours, the family tourism business. Between gift shop shifts selling all manner of T-shirts and tchotchkes and keeping her feline Whiskers in fine fettle, she pilots the Sea Bounder, a glass bottom boat showing tourists the underwater sights of aquatic plants, marine life—and a murder victim?

 The self-proclaimed “Master of the Island,” Jules Tisdale was a wealthy man with business interests throughout Catalina who was about to be honored as Person of the Year before someone strangled him with his own tie and tossed his body into the water. That someone appears to be Nick, who had a raw deal from Jules and no alibi the night of his murder. To clear her brother’s name, Whit will have to investigate Jules’ shady associates and not exactly grief-stricken family members—with the unwelcome help of Felix Ramirez, police diver and Whit’s ex-boyfriend, who’s looking to rekindle their relationship.

If you’d like a door hanger and/or a signed book plate for your book, drop me a line at

gabbyallanwrites@gmail.com

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Thanks for having me!

About the Author

After writing plays for her friends to act out as a kid, bad poetry in high school, and her high school Alma Mater song, Gabby Allan finally found her true passion—cozy mysteries. Being able to share her world with readers, one laugh at a time, and touch people’s hearts with her down-to-earth characters makes for the best job ever. This California girl now lives with her husband, daughter, and two insane dogs in Central Pennsylvania where she is hard at work on her next novel.

For Darker Paranormal Romance... Try Victoria Smith FREE!

If you like my books, some of the credit goes to Victoria Smith, one of my long-time critique partners. If you haven't read her before and like your paranormal romance creepy and dark, you can now try her FREE before her next book comes out!

Into the Fire

Free digitally May 8 - 12, 2021

In Olivia Sanders’ world, people like her don’t survive very long. Special abilities are a threat to the corrupt government. 

Olivia and those with similar abilities struggle to keep their secrets as new laws threaten them daily. Though hiding isn’t enough for Olivia. A healer and firestarter, she works with the resistance to ensure the safety of the people of her sector, toiling in an unforgiving world without freedom or hope with the goal that someday they will find

both.

Poisoned by someone she should never have trusted and betrayed by her godfather, the former governor, who is using disturbing methods to control the population and grow his army, Olivia is forced to seek help from Luke Jamison, the leader of the resistance. They join forces with his brother, Matt, and Jillian Derrick, a hard-as-nails woman leading a band of "undesirables" to safety.

As conditions in the sector deteriorate and the death toll climbs ever higher, Olivia and Luke, along with Jillian and Matt, cling to the miracle of found love while facing the horror of a future without each other.

Buy Now!

RELEASE DAY!! May 12th! 

The Shadow Guide

Challenging the Fates, Book One

by Victoria Smith

When evil comes for Alaina, bringing with it a destiny she can’t deny, can love stand against the forces of darkness?

When Alaina inherits her grandmother’s house, she gets far more than just the eccentric woman’s massive knickknack collection. Desperate for help with the increased paranormal activity around her, she calls the one person she thinks can provide it—despite the memory of the night he rejected her.

Patrick doesn’t want to get involved with Alaina and her demonic inheritance. He’s lost enough to the demons already, and so has she. If he refuses, she could be murdered just like her grandmother. Just like his wife and child. And he can’t live with that either. 

Together they must find a way to restore the balance of good and evil, while coming to terms with emotions neither of them thinks they want.

About Victoria Smith

Victoria Smith wrote her first romance at the age of nine and hid the story from her brothers to avoid being teased. Her mother recently found the folded notebook paper and, if you're lucky, one day she'll reveal the hero in that story. Now, she writes urban fantasy, paranormal romance, romantic suspense and women's fiction - always with a happy, or at least satisfying, ending.

You Know What You Can Do with 2020...

Some cats at my day job.

Hello there!

I know. It's been a minute, as they say. I stopped having so much to say, and social media took over the little bits I did have. And, I mean, who blogs anymore, amirite?

Well, today I do. Because I wanna. Because I connected with people here once, and after a year where people struggled to connect (or connected too much—Zoom OMG), it seemed fitting to go old-school.

(Let's see how much stale slang I can get into a blog post!)

Anyway. I wanted to post here because as much of a shitshow as 2020 was, nothing is all bad, and some things were really good. Like Enola Holmes! I loved that movie. And some of the final episodes of Supernatural. (We won't talk about which ones. We can each love our own.)

Probably because there was so much less TV overall, I read more. I'm at 146 books and counting. Jim Butcher and Susan Grant both had two releases! I absolutely adored King's Ransom by Suzanne Brockmann and A Cowboy to Remember by Rebekah Witherspoon and ohhhh, Relentless in Texas by Kari Lynn Dell was the book of the year for me, so bittersweet because she died shortly after it was released. We are so blessed to have gotten the books we did before we lost her. 

Something to look forward to!

There's a lot to look forward to in 2021, too, including Misty Simon's new paranormal mystery series. (See the first cover at right, and preorder here!) And WandaVision, The Falcon & the Winter Soldier, Loki, and hopefully Hawkeye. Plus SO much other Marvel content! I know we can't expect it all to be great, but I am a huge MCU fan and love the direction they're taking things. Miles Morales, Kamala Khan... Though I have to say the next Peter Parker movie stresses me out with the way the last one ended.

2020 may have been the year I traveled the least, but I still managed some. In January, I had one last quick visit with my brother and his family in Massachusetts when I brought Number Two to her internship in New Hampshire. And then...that was it for seven whole months! Until we went to pick her up in July. It was a bit of a blessing that she had the internship instead of being in school with the chaos of lockdown/quarantine. She was able to do her fall semester here at home, and will do the same for her final one before moving back to New Hampshire for work.

We had to cancel our July vacation but with the "settling" of the pandemic in the summer, we managed a trip to Williamsburg to get a break. There's a lot of outdoors stuff to do where you can stay away from people, and I got a day on the beach, which kept my soul going as things ramped up again. (And by "things" I mean both work and COVID. So much simultaneous 👍 and 👎.

One thing that didn't stop: Writing! I hit 225,000 words this year. Yes, exactly. I took a writing break in December but wrote 205 words so I could hit that mark. 🤣

I had a lot of new releases this year! 

Secrets Under SIEGE is the enemies-to-lovers sequel to Hearts Under SIEGE. 

It’s been 15 years since Conrad Dixson and Skye Burgeson were not-so-friendly competitors in training and five years since Dix dragged SIEGE from the rubble of corruption. When someone targets both of them personally and professionally, they struggle to overcome old trust issues and an attraction neither one has room for so they can work together to save both companies.

As their investigation shapes a puzzle they can’t make any sense of, their feelings for each other become frighteningly clear. Dix doesn’t want to fall for the smart, clever, fearless woman who could be involved in crushing the business he’s put his entire life into protecting. And Skye is terrified that letting him in will threaten the life she’s built to honor her heroic brother who died in action.

The journey leads them to a familiar enemy who’s been using prime and petty revenge motivations to cover his true purpose, escalating until threats to the people Dix and Skye love force them to face unacceptable decisions.

After that came Phenomenal Impact, a FREE short story that's very meta:

Oakley Commton has been cursed. After minor exposure to an unknown element mined from an asteroid, she’s suddenly aware of being a heroine in a Natalie J. Damschroder story. And she’s pissed. Learning you’re not in control of your own life would depress anyone. Plus, Damschroder writes romance, and Oakley can’t tell what trope she’s using. Friends to lovers? Alpha male? Forbidden love with the boss? The only saving grace is that when she’s assigned to a mission that could lead to her death—or worse—she knows the outcome will be success. Damschroder only writes happy endings. But she’s sure going to make it difficult to get there…

All you have to do to get this story FREE is to sign up for my newsletter by clicking this link. You don’t have to stay on the mailing list if you really don’t want to, but I promise I don’t send much e-mail. It’s the best way to keep aware of new releases, in-person and online events, etc.

Backstory: I’ve been writing for a long time. Decades. And after I settled on romantic adventure, I noticed some commonalities popping up in my stories. Then, while reading a book by an author I love, I spotted her doing  the same thing. Like, “someone says something about that in every book.” And I thought, “what if a character knew they were in a book by X author?” Okay, duh, X author would be me. I wanted to see what that would be like. So I wrote it. And it was so much fun. I hope my readers find it fun, too!

Next came The Reflection of Hope, the final book in my superhero trilogy, the CASE files. I think this could be my best book...

Vanessa Ripley (do not call her Vanessa) uses her rare combination of physical and mental super abilities only for consulting and training, staying out of the field after a catastrophic mission resulted in the death of a civilian. But now her old flame Evan Forgeron needs her help. His task force is this close to stopping the Citizens Against Superhero Existence (CASE), and he needs Ripley’s mental powers to do it.

When Evan’s in trouble she can’t say no, even if getting involved with him again threatens to tear both of them apart. Then CASE’s mission becomes intensely personal, ripping open secrets Ripley never knew existed and putting a target on Evan and every superhero in the country. If they can end CASE, she and Evan may have a chance at a future together. But if they fail, it will take everything and everyone they love.

Note: All of The CASE Files are in Kindle Unlimited!

So that got us into May... LOL I spent most of the rest of the year finishing The Solars Duology (which came out in October and November) and Phantom Power, a YA sequel to Manifest Destiny that I never realized I was going to write until I did it. LOL

Two new stories set in a world where people have abilities connected to the sun…with frightening and dangerous side effects and challenges.

Keegan Belcastro has always loved a mystery, even when it got her into trouble. When research for a school paper leads her to a haunted mansion full of desperate phantoms, learning who they are and how they came to be trapped there evolves into a quest for their freedom.

Shane Bitrec has been Keegan’s next-door neighbor and best friend for most of her life. High school graduation is going to mean big changes that she’s been trying to prepare for all year. But drifting away hasn’t been as easy as she thought, and when Shane gets involved in her quest, it disrupts more than just her independence. Confrontation gives rise to unprecedented feelings that threaten everything they’ve meant, or could mean, to each other.

When transitioning the spirits to the afterlife proves more dangerous than Keegan expected, Shane’s constant presence becomes both a vital tool and an emotional minefield. Investigating the mansion’s darkly complicated history leads to Keegan becoming tied to the energy of the house and its phantoms. Their desperation threatens her life, and only Shane can protect her. But who will protect him?

Whew. Blogging is more tiring than I remember it being. But then, I'm nearly 50. (I've been saying that for at least a year. In 2 days I have to stop.  😜)

Okay, one last thing. 2021. I haven't set my specific goals yet, but here are a couple things I know are in store:

A Store

Yes! A literal store! Where you can order signed, personalized print books from me at prices below the cover price, and maybe some other stuff eventually, too.

Adrenaline Shots

My next writing project. These are my short romantic adventures. Some you may already have read. Like Phenomenal Impact, which gave me the idea. Through the Void, the ridiculously named (and soon to be re-named!) The Tempest Turtle, both of which were part of The First Sentence and The Second Sentence anthologies. But then there will be Operation: Gratitude and the one I'm working on now and the three-to-five others that already have ideas. 

Adrenaline Shots are short, high-stakes, romantic, quick reads that will be only 99 cents each. 

Houseboys vs. Aliens

I think I'll leave that one as is. ;)

Please, if you want to keep in touch, or follow my work, or hear about cats and stuff on an occasional, random basis, feel free to:

Email Me

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And please, have a safe and healthy holiday season and bright, hopeful new year!

The Second Sentence is Available for Preorder!

As you may recall, last year I embarked on a new venture with four other authors. Misty Simon, Vicky Burkholder, Victoria Smith, Allison B. Hanson, and I all started with the same first sentence to write five independent stories.

It was really cool to see that while we wrote wildly different types of stories—from college students to married couples to space pilots—there were some overlapping themes and concepts. And of course, because they're all romances, they all end happily.

We loved it. So we made it A Thing. And on February 14, The Second Sentence will be released, and all five stories have the same SECOND (duh LOL) sentence. Later this year, we'll have The Third Sentence, and so on.

Here's the best part: Net proceeds will be donated to organizations dedicated to helping women in need, like Mary's Shelter in Reading, PA.

If you go to our anthology website, you can learn more about Mary's Shelter and even suggest additional organizations to benefit from the sale of these anthologies.

You can get The First Sentence here, if you don't already have it, and pre-order The Second Sentence here. (We can't do a preorder for Amazon, so keep an eye out for that release directly on February 14.)

Here's more about the stories in The Second Sentence:

The premise: That if 5 authors start with the same sentence, they will all write vastly different stories. The results: A series! After the success of The First Sentence, we upped the degree of difficulty. These romantic novellas run the gamut of genres but all are inspired by the same SECOND sentence.

Catch of a Lifetime by Vicky Burkholder
Maren spent her year above the waves searching for a mate before her father marries her off to a stranger. Then she meets the one. When Kai meets Maren, the water around them sparkles with magic. Then he finds out who she is. With family honor at stake, can they trust their love to the fates?

Sing to My Soul by Allison B. Hanson
Ariah Bentley’s life is all about music, so of course she’s fallen for a musician. In the past, the guys she’s dated have pretended to be into her just to gain access to her record-producer father. She’s certain Jackson Slater is different. Not only has he asked her to move in with him, but she never told him who her father was. But could he still be using her to get to the top?

Written in the Cards by Misty Simon
Lydia’s broken heart does not need to be at a Ren Faire, but her friend Penelope insists. Codpieces and men in tights shouldn’t do it for her, but when she meets a tarot card reader who seems to see right into her soul, she might just have to rethink this romance thing and see what the future holds.

In the Heart of Chaos by Victoria Smith
When the residents of her small town begin exhibiting zombie-like symptoms, Mari will do whatever is necessary to survive. She meets up with Jason, the boy-now-man she has loved forever, and they work together to help their community survive. Along the way, they discover the feelings that had always simmered under the surface are real.

The Tempest Turtle by Natalie J. Damschroder
Using time travel to right wrongs has filled Amaya and Brody’s lives for 12 years. But when they learn what The Charge, their employer, is really doing with the power they’ve tapped, everything changes. Their purpose. Their choices. And their feelings for each other.

Soul Deep up for Cover of the Month

If you like the cover of my book, Soul Deep (The Soul Series Book 4), please vote for it for the Cover of the Month contest on AllAuthor.com!

Click to Vote!

Looking for Recommendations for Positive Paranormal Stories

Hey, everybody! *waves* Remember me?

I don't like to be one of those people contributing to our ruin due to limited attention spans, but since this blog has been soooo stagnant, it's obvious I've also been corrupted by social media. I stopped having topics to talk about in this "long" form that I hadn't talked about before.

But today I was thinking about superheroes and mutants and other fictional extraordinary abilities and how I've felt about their portrayal in entertainment for a long time, and I thought, "that's way too big a topic for Facebook" and then I thought BLOG! So here I am.

I'm a longtime casual "super" fan. As in, I watched the X-Men cartoon with my husband when we first got married, and my brother and I played the Wonder Twins when we were kids, and I love "genre" TV and film and I write a lot of people with various kinds of abilities in my paranormal romances and YA.

There's been a trend I don't like over the past several years, not just with the whole "downside to being a superhero" approach that DC takes, but setting up an active negative societal attitude toward those types of characters. It used to be just the X-Men, but now it seems to be almost everything. As much as I loved Wonder Woman this year, I still felt empty when I left the theater because it was so bleak and lonely. That's one of the reasons I prefer Marvel (MCU, not TV), because they launched with Tony Stark fully embracing being Iron Man—and the world embracing it along with him.

Overall, the MCU still embraces the fun and adventure of being a superhero, even with its downsides, like in Spider-Man: Homecoming (which I loved!). But even Marvel got into the Sokovia accords and Civil War and using the premise that the world as a whole is against people with powers because we're afraid of them. I don't get why paranormal entertainment seems unable to get away from ostracizing people with extraordinary abilities. "People fear what they don't understand" is getting very tired, isn't it?

And besides...it's wrong.

Metaphor aside, let's look at how we handle the extraordinary people in our real world. People who have incredible talent like, say, athleticism or acting talent, or people who are really good at making "smart" accessible (Neil Degrasse Tyson, anyone?), or who create amazing things technologically or artistically. We revere them. We make them celebrities and toss pots of money at them. I mean, sure, we can't relate to them, but with social media and Comic-Con-type events and a million interview sources, we're trying pretty hard. We might not be able to fit into their worlds or become friends with them, but we're not running screaming from them or making laws against them.

Someone might say, "Yeah, but an actress can't hurt me with her acting the way someone with super strength can." Except...yeah, she can. She can use that talent to lie and rip your heart to shreds, or con you out of your life's savings. And despite the fact that athletes and Navy SEALs could do some serious damage to us physically, we don't treat them as if that's our first thought about them. Athletes get autograph and hug requests, not stones thrown at them.

I feel like as a society, if extraordinary people existed, we would look more to what they can do FOR us, not TO us. Take what's been happening this week. We are far more likely to react in fear and hatred toward people who can only hurt us emotionally, if at all, and celebrate those who display physical strength of some kind, for good or bad. We go after those who are vulnerable because we fear our own vulnerability. (Maybe. That's probably going way too deep for someone as shallow as I am and isn't the point of this post.)

THE POINT is...I want people to share! I want to find books, movies, and TV shows that celebrate people who have paranormal abilities, instead of shunning them, subjugating them, or otherwise forcing them into hiding so they don't get killed. I want fun stuff, light stuff, even heavy stuff where having abilities is a good thing.

Oh, and here's the big challenge: No vampires or shifters, please. I'm sure there are plenty of those that fit the other parameters, but they aren't what I'm looking for.

Ready...GO! :)

Victoria Smith Announces Into the Fire!

I had the pleasure of reading this book before release, and let me tell you, if you enjoy dark, emotional, dangerous stories set in violent worlds where survival is everything, this is the book for you! Also..OMG with that cover. I love it!

Into the Fire

In Olivia Sanders' world, people like her don't survive very long. Special abilities are a threat to the corrupt government and those loyal. Olivia and those with similar abilities struggle to keep their secrets as new laws threaten them daily. Though hiding isn't enough for Olivia. A healer and firestarter, she works with the resistance to ensure the safety of the people of her sector, toiling in an unforgiving world without freedom or hope with the goal that someday they will find both.

Poisoned by someone she should never have trusted, betrayed by her godfather, the former governor, who is using disturbing methods to control the population and grow his army, Olivia is forced to seek help from Luke Jamison, the leader of the resistance. They join forces with his brother, Matt, and Jillian Derrick, a hard-as-nails woman leading a band of "undesirables" to safety.

As conditions in the sector deteriorate and the death toll climbs ever higher, Olivia and Luke, Jillian and Matt, cling to the miracle of found love while facing the horror of a future without each other.

Buy Now

Victoria Smith lives in Central PA with her high-school sweetheart and way too many animals. She writes paranormal, urban fantasy, and dystopian—all with romance, because who doesn’t love a happy ending? She publishes with Liquid Silver Books and Soul Mate Publishing. Visit her at http://vickismith.blogspot.com

The Power of Redemption

Many, many years ago, I read a series by Maggie Shayne that contained a really evil villain. Who got a story of her own. That I loved. I couldn't believe I could hate someone so much and then come to understand them and root for them to find some happiness. The skill she used to make me feel that way awed me, and I never forgot it.

So when an author I really liked announced the next book in her series would feature a character she'd set up in previous books as not very likable, I went "eh." But then I remembered Maggie Shayne, and I really do liked this author's books, so I bought, read, and of course loved it.

Unfortunately, not all readers have that touchstone of a reminder. This was proven to me with Sunroper, the third book in my Goddesses Rising series. Marley was a woman who'd made a lot of mistakes in the first two books. I think Sunroper is the best of the three, that she becomes a very worthy kick-ass heroine who deserves her hero, but it's hard to overcome that "eh."

And here I am trying to do it again. :)

At long last, I get to announce the release of the final book in The Soul Series, with Soul Deep.

The hero is Tars Suinn, the villain from Soul of the Dragon (which is still free in digital form, FYI, and now out in paperback as well).

Ten years has passed since the events in the first book. Tars has worked hard to make up for the choices he's made, and the consequences of his actions. But he doesn't believe in his own redemption. He's disconnected from the powers he used to wield, and the world is a colorless place.

Until he meets Ke'an Oliviera. Series readers will recognize her from Soulflight, where she was one of the abductees that Samantha and Rock Davis (along with Alexa and Ryc from SotD) rescued from Pike Laurent. Ke'an was still suffering from the loss of her fiancé, and though it has now been 15 years since he died, she still hasn't really moved on. Until she meets Tars, who defies what she thought she knew of the men like him.

I knew back when Tars walked away from Alexa that he would need his own story. And I knew when Ke'an fought her way out of Pike's compound that she would need hers. And I freaking love the way it happens! (Note: I am not a plotter. I discover the story as it happens, just like a reader does, so I don't feel I can take credit for writing something that makes me happy. LOL)

A lot of things come full circle in Soul Deep. Tars' redemption, sure, and Ke'an choosing to live a more dynamic life. But the past has to be resolved before the future can be happy, and Tars' story isn't just about him. It's about the man he betrayed, too. And because I write action-adventure, you know there are some dire straits and chases and battles and all that stuff. There's a megalomaniac billionaire with more resources than sense and a stalker who shows what can happen when you can't find resolution with your past. You'll see a lot of characters from the previous books in the series, too. Some have big roles, some cameos, but all fun.

I really hope you'll give it a try! If you're not already a reader/fan of The Soul Series, you can find links to all the book pages here. Or, if you're ready to dive into Soul Deep...

Buy Now (or click the preferred store link below)

            

Just Romantic Suspense Giveaway

I have a LOT of news coming over the next couple of days! Some really exciting stuff.

But let's start with this giveaway by Just Romantic Suspense! It includes a print copy of Soul of the Dragon, so if you've been patiently waiting for that, you can try to win it there.

There are 30 books by 30 authors. The first winner gets to pick 10, and the other two winners split the rest. Click the image to go to the contest page to review the prizes ahead of time. The giveaway opens on July 15. Good luck!

The First Sentence

I am really excited to tell you about my new project!

A couple of years ago, I was at a conference with a bunch of authors I know, hanging in the bar after all the workshops and events of the day were done. It was a nice bar. Comfy seats. Most of us don't ever drink, so this wasn't one of those "brilliant" ideas you think better of the next morning. It was still brilliant!

We were all talking (probably) about how much of a bummer it is when you have a story idea you love and then you see an author—usually one more well-known than you are—with a book using that idea. Even though you KNOW that author wrote a totally different book than you would, because that's how it goes. You give 10 people a writing prompt and they'll all write very different things.

And Misty Simon said, "WE SHOULD TOTALLY DO THAT!!!!"

And so we did.

Introducing THE FIRST SENTENCE
A collection of romance novellas

We ended up with five stories by five authors, all beginning with the same sentence. From new adult to contemporary, paranormal to futuristic, with a post-apoc style weather event thrown in, we run the gamut of romantic subgenres. These are emotional adventurous stories we had a ton of fun writing. And they are FREE!

I probably should have mentioned that sooner.

So go check it out, and stay tuned for The Second Sentence, which we're already working on! The degree of difficulty will increase each time, and you know you want to witness it! :)

Universal Buy Link

Amazon | Nook | iBooks | Kobo | Smashwords | Google Play | 24 Symbols | Sribd

Goodreads

The premise: That if 5 authors start with the same sentence, they will all write vastly different stories. The results: made of awesome. From contemporary to futuristic, these novellas have a little bit of everything, but most especially—love-filled happy endings.

Rebound by Allison B. Hanson
After wallowing in agony for weeks after a bad break-up, Reese is set up on a blind date. Reluctantly, he goes and meets the girl of his dreams. The only problem? He was at the wrong place and met the wrong girl. Now, desperate to find her, he scours the campus as fate weaves an impossible journey.

Lost and Found by Misty Simon
When Mike Emory sees his ex’s post on social media that she’s looking for her lost dog, he’s out the door in a flash. Their break-up was not amicable, but he loved that dog and can’t imagine him on his own. Elsie Hews has been scouring the streets for hours when she runs into the last person she wants helping her—the guy who never seemed to think she was capable of doing anything herself. This is her dog, though, her baby, and she’ll accept Mike’s help to find him, then say goodbye again. Or that’s the plan, at least…

Frozen Dreams by Victoria Smith
When a dangerous weather anomaly strikes, Jane will do whatever it takes to travel to be with her family. Even if it means getting stuck with her husband, Adam. Instead of talking to him about how they will never have a family, she took the chicken route and left, despite being deeply in love with him. Now they must face the storm and their emotions.

Through the Void by Natalie J. Damschroder
There’s only one thing Vix can do when she finds out about the secret life that has led to her husband’s coma—make that life hers. When she goes on her first mission through the void, however, she finds not only a new self-purpose, but her lost husband, as well. She did the impossible once. Can she do it again, and bring him home?

A Real Boy by Vicky Burkholder
Jillian Night is on the hunt for inter-planetary kidnappers. Her bosses demand she have a partner, but Jillian has had enough of human ones. She prefers to work alone so Fleet assigns her one of the new androids. Zeus is a little too real for Jillian’s comfort and she finds herself attracted to him—until she meets the real man pulling the strings. Maybe having a real, live partner wouldn’t be so bad after all.

D.R. Grady Gives Us Trouble with Nerds!

The Trouble with Nerds
by D.R. Grady

Odd things keep happening to Dr. Sara Newton. She’s a soon-to-be-unemployed pediatrician with an alleged stalker, a hot cop on her heels breathing dire warnings, and way too much student debt.

It doesn’t help that the hot cop is Clay Morrison, her best friend’s older brother. The man has made her heart pound and her palms sweaty since puberty. The trouble is, he only interacts with her when he’s expounding on new security measures. He sees threats everywhere.

Clay Morrison is frustrated. He hates his new job, misses his Army Ranger days, loves his well-meaning, pushy family—and when did sweet Sara Newton grow up? She won't admit she has a stalker, and she won't keep out of his thoughts. He can only protect someone in denial for so long. No matter how attractive she is...

Clay and Sara are circling each other, trying to meet in the middle. Then a brand new threat sends them in a completely different direction.

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Excerpt:

The man in front of her grinned. In a twisted parody of a grin as he reached for her. She eluded with a slick move from Janine, but the man flowed with her. As though he had anticipated her action. This time she thrust forward to jab him in the knee, then followed through with a shot to the crotch. He dropped to the floor, grabbing at his damaged goods as she stepped over him to flee the small room.

And slammed into a solid object. The hard hands circling her arms weren’t friendly. This man’s gold tooth gleamed in the dimmed light, and the flash made her heart sink. To the catacombs. She spun, trying to break his grasp, as Greg had taught her.

His grip didn’t falter. Instead, he used his hold on her upper arms to sweep her off the rug and over the men all around them. She shrieked. Just because they wanted to keep quiet didn’t mean she had any intention.

Especially with fear now clouding her thoughts, because her heart thumped and sweat coated her top lip. She knocked her head into his chin and let out another scream. Putting as much volume into it as possible. He countered with a fist to her chin.

The blow snapped her head back, and blanked her mind as pain ratcheted up her jaw into her head. Everything blurred before she yanked up a hand and thrust two fingers into his eyes. Greg had warned there was no need to play fair in battle, so she jabbed at his eyes and used her aching head to free herself, head butting him whenever the opportunity arose.

Her feet were free so she aimed for his knees. Desperation and pain fueled her actions, no matter how cliche. The man laughed at her efforts. Red slashed across her vision as she thrust away her aches and the nasty taste in her mouth. At the clamoring of her common sense, yelling at her to shrivel into a sack of pleading.

She wiped blood off her lip as the images in front of her narrowed to this leering man with his ugly golden tooth. Maybe she wouldn’t win this, but she’d do her best to make Clay proud.

This time when she jabbed him, she did so with her medical expertise. She hit him in the solar plexus and then followed through with a blow to the nose. Next, the money shot. A swift knee to the groin. It was gratifying when he cried out, and crumpled.

Her success surged to her head. Triumphantly, she spun, right into the chest of the largest man she’d ever seen. This might be a gorilla pretending to be a man. He was hairy and needed to bathe, and he leered at her just like the idiot she’d just toppled.

Sara’s bravado faltered and scuttled away with a whimper as she stared at this person so much bigger than her. This is why guns had been invented. Because there was no way...

“Sara, run,” Clay bellowed.

Not about to disobey, she darted between the gorilla’s legs and slid across the rug. Her sweater caused drag, but she scrambled to her feet, and sprinted down the hallway. Away from the terror behind her. Her heart pounded in tune with her fleeing footsteps as her breath came in short, staccato gasps.

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About the Author:

D.R. Grady lives with her husband near Hershey, PA. She adores chocolate, laughing, collecting bags, books, and shoes, and writing stories that resonate with others.

Website
Twitter
Amazon Author page
FacebookPage
Google+

Other works by D.R. Grady

The Morrison Family Series:

The Nerd and the Marine

The Corpsman and the Nerd

The Nerd and the SEAL

The Nerd’s Pocket Pets

Shadows and Spice

Macy’s Parade

Bad Nerd Rising

Bad Nerd Falling

Nerds on Fire

Nerds Unite

The Trouble with Nerds

The Nerd who Spied Me

Free Short Stories:

Math Nerds and Mechanics

Tall Golf

The Me Series:

Treasure Me

Save Me

Trust Me

Heal Me

Love Me

The Dragon Chronicles Series:

The Dragon Chronicles Book 1: Learning

The Dragon Chronicles Book 2: Shifting

The Dragon Chronicles Book 3: Healing

For additional buying options and updates, please visit her website-

http://www.drgradybooks.com

Tomatoes, Pickles, and a Whole Lot of Ivy!

Hoedown Showdown

The Final Ivy Morris Mystery

With the Tasty Tomato Tournament just days away, the small town of Martha’s Point is all abuzz. This is the first year without a sure winner, and the competition is fierce to gain the judges’ approval, even before the tournament starts.

But when Ivy finds one of those judges dead in a shed across the street, things go from bad to worse. All she wanted was seven glorious, kid-free days of messing around with her husband. Instead, she’s going to be tracking down a killer, staying out of the way of a pickle-obsessed farmer, and dodging the new cop who seems out for her blood.

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Excerpt

“Myrt,” I said patiently, as if talking to a small child. “First of all, this wasn’t the tomato crusher. It was Judge McIntyre.”

I didn’t even get to the next part since she started wailing. “Oh, my stars! I’m never going to win the Tasty Tomato Tournament now! It’s the fiftieth anniversary, and I wanted at least one chance before I die! And now I will never win this! I’ll be a dead woman long before I can ever show my face again in the tournament! And this was supposed to be my year!”

Not only was that a lot of exclamation points, but she also dragged the last word out until it sounded like a cat dying. I tried to calm her down by settling my hand on her shoulder. She shook me off while dropping her cane at her feet. With a ton of creaks and cracks, she knelt down beside him and started babbling about how sorry she was.

“I don’t think you should touch him.” I said this while definitely keeping my distance. I did not want to touch him more than I already had. To be honest, it had been some time since I was involved in anything more than feeding and playing with my kids or running my store and being a wife. Occasionally I would help Ben with a case or two in his work as a private investigator, but it was more paperwork than anything else. I did not want to even know what had happened to the judge, much less who had done it. Ben was not going to be pleased. At all.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. McIntyre,” Myrt said with her face close to his, her hand patting his chest. There was a crinkling noise, but she was still talking. “So very sorry. When Irma died last year in her sleep after winning her forty-ninth straight tournament, I thought I finally had a chance, and now I hit you, and I’m so very, very sorry, and I can’t believe I mistook you for a burglar.” She twisted her hands together like she was wringing out a dishtowel. And she was going to draw blood if she continued biting her lip in between babbling some more.

I had few choices right now. I have to admit here that I had no desire whatsoever to call the police. I didn’t want to be involved in things. I had plans this week. This was not going to keep me from swinging from the freaking chandelier if I could.

Of course, I could go across the street and call from the house, or have Ben call and then remove myself from the situation altogether. But that would be completely unfair to Mrs. Crandall.

I couldn’t help myself. I let out a scream that would have brought down an opera house, something between frustration and fright because, at that moment, something furry ran against my leg before shooting into the bushes.

In the end, the decision of what to do was taken out of my hands because the police came tearing up in the one marked car in town, screeching to a halt at the curb. A man in uniform was out of the car before I could blink again. And I’m glad I didn’t blink because I would have missed the way he jumped from the car and then did a forward roll across the front lawn as if he was in some crazy-assed shootout.

Buy Link: http://catalog.thewildrosepress.com/all-titles/4892-hoedown-showdown.html

Author Bio: Misty Simon loves a good story and decided one day that she would try her hand at it. Eventually she got it right. There’s nothing better in the world than making someone laugh, and she hopes everyone at least snickers in the right places when reading her books. She lives with her husband, daughter and three insane dogs in Central Pennsylvania where she is hard at work on her next novel or three. She loves to hear from readers so drop her a line at misty@mistysimon.com, or visit her on Facebook or Twitter.

Jody Wallace and I Talk About Cats, Ghostbusters, Prodigal, and...Other Stuff

If angels were aliens and sentient computers were good guys and the super hot Chosen One movie star failed to save the world and then got amnesia and there was an apocalypse...what was I talking about? Oh! PRODIGAL, book 3 of the Maelstrom Chronicles, is a gritty, action-packed, surprisingly humorous examination of the relationship between a kick-ass lady sheriff and the Hollywood hunk who nearly destroyed the world. Together, can they reverse the course of history?

Buy Links: Entangled | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iTunes | Kobo

Please welcome today's guest, Jody Wallace!

I recently messaged Natalie (thank you for hosting me!) about what I should talk about on her blog. Although she had given me a list of things to talk about on her blog already – such as how to redeem “unheroic” characters from earlier books, like Adam Alsing – I decided to run some other ideas by her anyway. Some of the ideas she vetoed were:

1) Why in the world menopause has to be so difficult and gross.

2) How Natalie should get a bunch of cats and set up a cat sanctuary now that she’s soon to be an empty nester.

3) If I should crochet a toilet or a poop emoji as a blog tour giveaway.

4) If we should just post the conversation we just had about graphically described lady issues and lose all our readers, because hey, we’d already had it, and it was spelled correctly, and the work would already be done.

5) If she wants me to crochet her a....saucy man part.

6) What she’s writing or publishing next (She’s working on three books at once! While I can barely work on one interview at a time! Go Natalie!)

7) Why I can’t keep tomatoes alive on my back porch.

8) If she lived beside me, would she come take tap classes with me or would she be more of an adult ballet kind of gal? (She said I was “funny” and then said it might sound less douchey if she just agreed to take tap classes with me because ballet is a no-go.)

Photo credit link:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1289401/mediaviewer/rm1199762176

9) How much we both loved the new Ghostbusters – okay, that would be a fun article, but I guess it’s not great promo for a book I just released.

10) Does she think it’s low-class that we just have our box springs and mattresses on the floor so the dang cats won’t climb up in the box springs and make a bunch of noise while we’re trying to sleep? (She pointed out this question didn’t go well with me nagging her about the cat sanctuary.)

By the way, the method I chose to redeem Adam Alsing, the failed Chosen One who sort of caused the apocalypse in the beginning of the Maelstrom Chronicles (ANGELI), was to give him complete amnesia and a role to play in saving the world. PRODIGAL wraps up the three books in a semi-trilogy fashion. Other authors may not have to take such drastic methods to redeem antiheroes, but I’d never written an amnesia subplot before and I thought it was time to try one.

Oddly enough, I have done my take on a “secret baby” plot, and the mother is the heroine of PRODIGAL! PRODIGAL itself doesn’t revolve around the secret baby issue, though. By this book, Claire is great friends with the wife (Sarah) of her ex (Nikolas) and is completely happy for the three of them to split parenting duties for the kiddo.

As for why you should read this book since this is supposed to encourage you to read PRODIGAL, I’d just say there are no people in here complaining about menopause, there is a cat, there is a lot of adventure, love and excitement, and I think people who enjoyed the new Ghostbusters will enjoy how strong and confident the heroine, Claire Lawson, is, as well as how charming and perfectly suited to her the hero, Adam Alsing, is. The two of them together—and how they negotiate a romance while the world might be ending, is the core of the story and the reason why I chose the post-apocalyptic setting.

Plus I like to make stuff up about monsters.

Prodigal

Maelstrom Chronicles #3

by Jody Wallace

He nearly destroyed the world, but with her help, he can save it.

Adam Alsing—at least that’s what they tell him his name is—has no idea who he is or why he’s huddled naked in the snow next to a mysterious silver pod. When a gorgeous, no-nonsense sheriff by the name of Claire Lawson rescues him, she explains the planet’s under attack—and he’s been missing for over two years. The problem is, what he doesn’t remember can kill them.

Keeping the peace in her post-apocalyptic town is all the trouble Sheriff Claire Lawson can handle. Until the MIA Chosen One—the guy who could have prevented the apocalypse—interrupts her supply run. The Shipborn aliens want to study him, and what’s left of the Terran government wants to lock him up. But his charming demeanor and his desire to help, along with his sexy smile, has Claire fighting her better judgment to keep Adam around. For now.

Buy Links: Entangled | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iTunes | Kobo

Read the Excerpt below! Also, add the book to your Goodreads To-Read shelf!

Sara Walter Ellwood Returns with Heartland

Heartland
Singing to the Heart Book 3
by Sara Walter Ellwood

Releasing June 21, 2016 in both ebook and print

Sex, drugs, and country music. That was the lifestyle for Emily Kendall, a Texas girl who hit it big on the country music charts—until she found herself pregnant and battling addiction. Now out of rehab and seeking a new life for herself and her unborn child, Emily returns to her hometown of McAllister. The last thing she’s looking for is trouble, no matter how good it looks in uniform…
A widower, single father, and former Army Ranger struggling with PTSD, Sheriff EJ Cowley has his own demons to battle while keeping folks safe. The last thing he needs is a troubled celebrity speeding through town in her bright red Maserati. But when someone from Emily’s past threatens her safety and the peace of McAllister, EJ has no choice but to protect her. And soon both will learn there’s more to the other than meets the eye. And that wounded hearts can love again…

Excerpt:
“I’m sorry, but I can’t ride you right now.” Emily kissed the horse above her nose, and Tink nuzzled her cheek. “We’ll go out tomorrow. How about that?”

“I remember when you rode that horse everywhere you went.”

Startled by the deep voice, she turned. EJ Cowley leaned on the top rail of the fence, and from the look of it, he’d been there for a while. He’d changed out of the brown uniform of the McAllister County sheriff’s department. She couldn’t help looking him over. Dressed in worn boots, faded jeans, a blue western shirt, and a brown Stetson, he epitomized every sexy cliché existing about how a cowboy should look.

Her heart sped up at the way those clothes fit him. Which irritated the hell out of her. She turned back to her horse and stroked her long face. “What are you doing here?”

“My sister-in-law watches my son while I’m at work.”

She stilled. Had she been quasi-lusting after a married man? Hadn’t he married Raquel Marshall? She glanced over her shoulder at his left hand. No ring. But then a lot of cowboys didn’t wear their wedding bands when they were working. The risk of getting it caught on something was too great.

Despite his clothes, he must have come off duty as the county’s ticket-happy sheriff not too long ago. She patted Tink’s shoulder. “See you in the morning, girl.” As she headed toward the man, who was not hiding the fact he appreciated what he saw, she guessed he wasn’t still married, but she’d been around the world a few times and knew not to take a man’s blatant interest as proof of anything. “You have a son. How is Raquel these days?”

She was close enough to notice his gray eyes had turned as haunted as a gravestone when she asked about his wife. He looked to the left, toward his brother’s house, and from the way a muscle twitched in his jaw, he must have gritted his teeth.

“She committed suicide two years ago today.”

“Oh… I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” she stammered. What else had happened to the people she’d once considered friends she was unaware of? “How old is your little boy?”

He took a deep breath and met her gaze again. She studied his eyes as they moved over her face. God, he had the most fascinating eyes. They weren’t truly blue, but the gray was an odd shade. Too light to be slate, but too dark to be silver. They reminded her of her great-grandmother’s pewter candleholders.

“Two.”

As silence engulfed them, she turned to head for the gate. She had no idea what was up with the sheriff, and she didn’t like her desire to ask. EJ Cowley may have filled her schoolgirl fantasies, but she wasn’t the wide-eyed kid who crushed after the local cowboy-turned-soldier.

“Emwee?”

At the sound of her name, she glanced past EJ to the porch. Johnny stood there with his toy lightsaber and x-wing. She promised to play a video game with her brother. “Well, it was good seeing you again, EJ.”

She was halfway across the drive when his voice stopped her. “By the way”--He cleared his throat--“I lost your ticket...”

Stopping in the middle of the driveway, she looked over her shoulder at him. His face puckered as if he’d eaten a lemon soaked in vinegar. He took his hat off and ran a hand through his short hair. The setting sun turned the tresses a gleaming gold.

“You lost it?” Damned if she’d make it easy on him. “After going through all the trouble of stopping me a mile away from home?”

Setting his hat back on his head, he cleared his throat again and stood with his feet apart. He gave a quick jerk with his head in the affirmative. “Can’t find it anywhere. No ticket. No proof. You’re off the hook.”

Holy crap, he was gorgeous, and heat flooded her to pool in her belly. She turned, not wanting him to see the way he affected her, and headed for the porch, then lied through her teeth. “Good, because I’ve already tossed it.” She had every intention of paying the fine, but she was glad he lost the ticket. No decent cop would lose a ticket. Maybe he did it out of remembrance of their childhood friendship. Or was he as attracted to her as she was to him?

With an inward shake of herself, she didn’t let a possible answer formulate in her muddled brain. She couldn’t be anything to him. You’re pregnant with another man’s child and don’t need the added stress! At the door into the kitchen, she ruffled Johnny’s hair and turned, ignoring her self-admonishment. “See you around, EJ.”

“Yeah… See you around.” He tipped his hat and turned on his heel to amble toward his extended cab Silverado.

From inside the screen door, she watched the way he filled out the backside of his Wrangler’s and muttered, “Hell yeah, I hope so.”

If you’d like to see more excerpts, check them out here.

Buy Links:
Kensington
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
iTunes
Google
Kobo

About the Author:
Although Sara Walter Ellwood has long ago left the farm for the glamour of the big town, she draws on her experiences growing up on a small hobby farm in West Central Pennsylvania to write her contemporary westerns. She’s been married to her college sweetheart for over 20 years, and they have two teenagers and one very spoiled rescue cat named Penny. She longs to visit the places she writes about and jokes she’s a cowgirl at heart stuck in Pennsylvania suburbia. Sara Walter Ellwood is a multi-published and international Amazon bestselling author of the anthology set Cowboy Up. She also dabbles in the paranormal genre with her The Hunter’s Dagger Series, which was previously published under the pen name Cera duBois.

Author Links:

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

 

The other books in Singing to the Heart…

Heartstrings, Book 1, and Heartsong, Book 2, are also available in ebook and print!

Heartstrings on Amazon | Heartsong on Amazon

For other vendor links and book information check out my website page.

Those Damned Teenagers, or, Get Your Own Damned Sunflower Seeds

Here's Laverne, because I can't find Shirley's photo.

Spring, the time of birth. We successfully kept Laverne, the prolific mama mourning dove from nesting on our ladder this year by taking down the ladder. We put it back up after we were sure she'd nested somewhere else, and a few weeks later...Shirley was back. You remember Shirley, she was the high-strung robin that nested on the ladder with Laverne a couple of years ago. So now we have to wait for Shirley's eggs to hatch before I can do the gutters. Again.

Anyway, we also have a starling family running around. There are two adults and two fledglings. The fledglings have this horrible screechy call and it's pretty non-stop. My husband noticed them on our feeder one day, and how the parent was feeding the fledglings. I explained that after they fledge, it's a learning period where they still get fed by the parents. He was like, "but they're so BIG." I joked that they're just like today's teenagers/twenty-somethings: perfectly capable of taking care of themselves, but still demanding the parents do it for them.

That was a couple of weeks ago. Today, they were running around outside my window again, with a change in dynamic. The parents were eating seeds off the ground...and NOT feeding the "youngsters." Which are now easily twice the size of the parents.

Now, I'm not a passionate birder. I retain knowledge (I think) from my summer as a naturalist intern and my zoology class in college. I started to think these "fledglings" are cowbirds. The brown-headed cowbird is a parasite. It lays its eggs in OTHER birds' nests, and the cowbirds, being bigger and more aggressive, can often cause the other babies to...well, you can imagine. But the coloring is definitely more starling than cowbird, so maybe they just look so much bigger because they haven't molted yet or whatever. Or maybe the parents did such a good job with the feeding that they grew really big.

I felt really bad for the parents, though, because they looked pretty done with the whole thing. Kinda like human parents, in a lot of cases. :)

(I tried to get photos/video, but they've disappeared. I know if I keep waiting to post this, they'll never show up. So here's my cat watching a chipmunk instead. :) )