[Book Tour- Excerpt] She's the One Who Can't Keep Quiet [GIVEAWAY]

She's the One Who Can't Keep Quiet 

(Book Five of the War Stories of the Seven Troublesome Sisters)

by S. R. Cronin

GENRE: Historical Fantasy

BLURB:

Do you know what your problem is?

Celestine, the fifth of seven sisters, is tired of hearing about hers. Father thinks she’s frivolous because she likes pretty clothes and caters to the crowds in the taverns who adore her music. Mother thinks that because she’s the most social daughter in the family, she can’t keep quiet about anything.

They’re both wrong. Celestine hides a secret she has kept for most of her life.

As the family beauty and a talented musician with a lyrical voice, she has the best prospects for marriage to a prince. When such a liaison never happens, people assume Celestine is too choosy. But even in somewhat tolerant Ilari, a daughter hates to disappoint her family. How can she tell them she’s in love with a princess instead?

Lucky for Celestine, all her sisters are obsessed with an invading army headed to their realm. Celestine would rather ignore the threat and enjoy the freedom their lack of attention gives her. But, her voice can unlock a power that may help save Ilari. And the woman she loves is determined to fight these invaders. And her family, for all their talents, seems clueless about how to motivate the masses.

Celestine knows she can inspire the citizens of Ilari to do what needs to be done. Is it time to put her inhibitions aside and use her voice to save those she cares about?

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EXCERPT

The day was overcast and cool, but not cold, and on the way back I saw Coral had come outside for air. As I got closer, I heard her talking to a donkey tethered nearby. Hmm.

“Go to sleep, little donkey.”  She repeated in a soothing singsong voice. Of course. She practiced her luski thing. I hadn’t realized it worked on animals, too. Well, maybe it only worked on some, because this particular donkey stayed wide awake.

“Go to sleep, little donkey.” I joined in with her, singing along playfully. After a couple of repeats, the donkey gave me a look of understanding, laid down in the dirt, and closed his eyes. It was the weirdest feeling. I started to laugh, then the donkey I rode stopped and also dropped to the ground, spilling food and drink and catching the hem of my skirt tight under his body. As I pulled the edge of the skirt out through the mud, I could hear him snoring.

Coral turned to me in amazement. “You’re an animal luski?”

“Certainly not! No animal on our farm ever did what I’d told it to do.”

“What made these two respond to you now?” she asked.

I had no idea, but I intended to find out. We needed to gather up all the animals we could find.

As the afternoon wore on, we discovered that cats, dogs, rabbits, and donkeys ignored me whether I spoke, sang, or played an instrument when I gave my orders. I tried giggling, shrieking, whispering, and whistling for good measure but they still didn’t care. Coral met with a similar lack of success. They only paid attention if she used her luski voice and I sang along.

Ryalgar arrived in the middle of all this and, as was her way, she got right to the usefulness of our discovery.

“We need to know if this works with horses. If we can make the Mongol’s horses go to sleep, then we’ve got the invaders right where we want them. War over.”

I couldn’t imagine a good horse behaving in such a way. The ones on our farm showed intense loyalty to us. Asking one of them to defy us when we wished to ride was akin to ordering me to dump the bucket of water over my head. It wasn’t going to happen.

I pointed this out to Ryalgar and she agreed.

“We need to try this out on horses carrying riders they know and love. And on bigger groups of horses. Noise could be a problem.”

Noise was an issue in any tavern. It would be one in battle, too. What did one do with a noisy crowd? One brought in more musicians.

“We should have a lot of singers,” I said. “Choirs and choruses of them. Do you think the quality of the voices matters? If not, I can teach half the realm to sing along.”

Sherrie Cronin writes stories about people achieving the astonishing by developing abilities they barely knew they had. She’s made a lot of stops along the way to telling these tells — living in seven cities, visiting forty-six countries, and working as a waitress, technical writer, and geophysicist. She’s lost too many beloved cats to mention, but has acquired a husband and three children who are all doing fine, despite how odd she is.

Today she lives in the mountains of Western North Carolina where she writes, answers a hotline, and occasionally checks her phone for a message from Captain Picard. She still hopes to get the chance to pursue her remaining dream in life and become Chief Science Officer on the Starship Enterprise.

Author Social Media Links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cinnabar01 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/46Ascending

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/s.r.cronin/

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/5805814.Sherrie_Cronin

Amazon: www.amazon.com/Sherrie-Cronin/e/B007FRMO9Q

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/s-r-cronin

Author Blog:  https://troublesome7sisters.xyz/

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GIVEAWAY

S. R. Cronin will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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[Book Tour- Excerpt] Are You Okay, Elliot Hart? [GIVEAWAY]

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Kate S. Martin will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

"You keep it on the inside because that's the safest way to hide."

Fifteen-year-old Elliot 'Matchstick' Hart spends his days caring for his mum and hiding from the school bully.

Fifteen-year-old Josh McBride spends his days tormenting Elliot and avoiding his abusive stepdad.

Hoping to save his mum, Elliot embarks on an adventure inspired by a picture in an old newspaper. Little does he know that Josh has decided to join him.

On their journey, strangers and surprises force them to look at each other in a different light. As secrets are revealed, will they reconcile their differences or will the secrets tear them further apart?

Read an Excerpt

I’m walking faster than usual, not only because it’s raining heavily, and I am soaked through, but I’m angry. I’m not sure if I am angry at my mum or the whole damn situation. I want to get home, get out of these stupid clothes, and hide under a duvet with my book. I’m reading To Kill a Mockingbird now. Mr. Marshall recommended it to me, so Sydney found a copy at the library and put it aside. I’m up to the part where Miss Maudie’s house has burnt down, and I’m eager to know what will happen next.

Marching past the terraced houses, I can’t help but sneak another look in. I see one house where two boys are running around their living rooms with lightsabers; I see dads working on computers in their offices and mums coming home from work being greeted with hugs and laughter. I see lives upon lives that I don’t have and what I want, so very, very much. I want a home with noise and chaos and giggles. I want younger brothers that annoy the hell out of me and a dad that lifts me up onto his shoulders and ducks down, so I don’t hit my head on the door frame. I want family dinners around a kitchen table, where someone shouts at you if you leave without asking permission. I want. I want. I want. I once heard Tom say I want, doesn’t get but it’s not like I’m asking for lots of money or a new house. I want a normal family.

About the Author:

Kate grew up in a small town in Lancashire, England with her mum, dad, and two older brothers. A bit of a tomboy, she loved nothing more than going out for adventures with her brothers, as long as she was back before dark.

She studied English at Reading University and gained a teaching qualification at Manchester. Nowadays, Kate spends her days teaching English at a local high school in Cheshire and her evenings are spent writing stories close to her heart.

She believes teenage years can be particularly difficult and wants to create stories that show empathy and hope for her readers. She lives with her husband, two children, and Jessie, the miniature schnauzer.

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[Book Tour- Excerpt] Chandelier [GIVEAWAY $50 GC]

Chandelier

by Michael Leon 

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GENRE: Sci-fi/ Fantasy Romance

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BLURB:

CHANDELIER is the genre-bending sci-fi/fantasy-romance novel follow up of Michael Leon’s 2019 fantasy-romance book, PHANTOMS. A century has passed since the fabled Phantom ruled the Garnier Opera House. Technology has advanced, and AI has evolved beyond human knowledge. They reside in a virtual Earth, free from the ravages of an environmentally damaged Earth where humans and post-humans live under AI’s qualified governance. CHANDELIER follows one AI sentient’s journey, Benny, whose loyalty for a famous opera singer, Madame D’Arenberg, sets him on a dangerous course, entangling him in The Phantom of the Opera’s deadly web.

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EXCERPT

A human whistling sound, distant but growing louder permeated the chill of the room. An unearthly chilled breath wafted over his face. He opened his eyes and looked up to its source, but he was alone, until light formed on the wall behind Gaston's bed. Shapeless light swirled as if blown by that same breeze. The foggy disturbance slowed, allowing the swirling shape to take form. It was human but completely covered in black, bar the shape of a smooth ghost-like face. As the contours sharpened he realised it was a mask. Was he looking at the phantom? If he was, Gaston's stories had all been real! 

Fear gripped him to the seat. He wanted to flee but dared not move. Before the apparition suddenly looked Flynn's way, turning his fear to terror. 

"Who are you?" He asked feebly, but the apparition remained silent.

Flynn went to stand but a second shape appeared from behind him. A man dressed in white walked toward Gaston's bed, making no sound as it glided across the room. Both apparitions studied the body for a time, ignoring Flynn before vanishing through the bedroom wall, leaving Flynn alone. He immediately stood and left the room, fearful they may return, not daring to look back. Whatever he witnessed, he didn't wish to see again. Flynn was a scientist who staunchly refuted Gaston's ramblings about ghosts as the product of a vivid imagination. They had spent many years arguing over their existence. Perhaps this was his friend's final wish, to show him that everything he had written and said was true.

Michael Leon is an explorer, writer and author of the new novel, Sentient. Professionally trained in international trade, Michael has spent the last decade reading and writing SFF novels about new worlds to be explored in the future. His latest work, Sentient, imagines Earth in the year 2120. His next novel, Chandelier, will be released in 2022. Michael has travelled extensively around Europe, walking the paths of his characters, from the famous European opera houses in Phantoms to the mountain tops of Switzerland in Emissary.

Website: https://www.michaelleon.com.au

Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelleon0433

Blogger: https://michaelleoncommentspage.blogspot.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5369984.Michael_Leon

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Michael-Leon/e/B01LNQALBW%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

GIVEAWAY

One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card.

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[Book Tour- Excerpt] The Corpse Princess [GIVEAWAY]

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Jayce Carter will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Karma is a bitch—but then again, so am I.

Ten years ago, a group of men murdered my mother and thought they had killed me. I’ve spent every day since planning revenge against the man behind the attack—my father. As the head of a powerful crime family, he won’t be an easy target, but nothing matters more than making him pay for what he’s done.

Now, I return in disguise, only to end up on the radar of the Quad—the four most dangerous men in the city…men I’ve been desperately in love with since I was a teen. I have no idea if they were in on the plan to have me killed, but I can’t stop myself from craving their taste, their bodies and their rough, domineering touches. Even though I know the risks, I keep falling deeper into our twisted relationship.

My plan is simple—find and get rid of the people who carried out the attack, kill my father…and don’t fall in love with the men who might have betrayed me.

This world already killed me once—let it try again.

Read an Excerpt

“Oh, nice try,” Dane said with a mocking tone, as if he’d already won.

“Don’t add the notch on your belt until you get inside the girl,” I responded. “You’re terrible at bank shots and that’s exactly what you’ve got in front of you.”

In all the years we’d played before, Dane had never managed to sink a shot like this. He’d over-correct, never hitting the right spot.

I’d as good as already won.

He came closer, standing just in front of me, so close I could smell him. He smelled the same, just as he had before, like cloves and cinnamon, something deceptively sweet.

I lifted my head, struggling with the difference between then and now, between the past and the present. I felt a little like the girl I’d been before, when I’d chased behind him, behind the others, looking for their attention. How badly I’d wanted this, wanted him to look at me with this sort of passion, and he’d always denied me that.

He leaned down, then dragged his tongue over my bottom lip. It wasn’t a kiss, not really, but managed to light a fire inside me larger than the one at Lucky’s house. That tiny spark roared to life, consuming me, and he pulled back far too fast.

Dane gave me a smirk full of confidence. “Well, you pick your whiskey well, at least.”

Before I could say anything, he bent forward next to me, aimed and took the shot. The eight-ball rolled into the pocket he’d nodded at, sinking the shot he’d never been able to do.

“I win,” he said, then crossed his arms, staring down at me, far too pleased with himself.

About the Author:

Jayce Carter lives in Southern California with her husband and two spawns. She originally wanted to take over the world but realized that would require wearing pants. This led her to choosing writing, a completely pants-free occupation. She has a fear of heights yet rock climbs for fun and enjoys making up excuses for not going out and socializing.

Links:

Buy link: https://amazon.com/Corpse-Princess-Nemesis-Jayce-Carter-ebook/dp/B09QZCSBRQ/ref=sr_1_1
Website: https://www.jaycecarter.com
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jayce-Carter/e/B07Y4T7CHH
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaycecarterauthor/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JayceCarterAuthor

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[Book Tour- Excerpt] It Takes Two by Nicole Sallak Anderson [GIVEAWAY]

It Takes Two

by Nicole Sallak Anderson

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GENRE:   Contemporary Romance

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BLURB:

Twenty years ago, Willow Dwyer nearly died in a school shooting that stole the life of her true love, James. Now she’s forty, infertile, newly divorced from a man who refuses to leave her alone, and on the brink of a breakdown.

Even after all this time, she still finds herself unable to move forward from the dream of a life and family she lost that day of the shooting. At the suggestion of her therapist, Willow takes up the tango, the dance she’d mastered with James before his death. It seems an innocent enough plan, until Willow dances with Merrick Montagne.

Merrick is a strikingly handsome, twenty-year-old college student with an uncanny ability for the tango. He makes her heart race for the first time in she can’t remember how long, and the strangest thing is, he claims he’s been searching for her his entire life. Willow doesn’t know if she believes him, or if she can handle the scrutiny she’s sure to get for dating someone so much younger than her. Yet no matter how hard she tries, she just can’t seem to walk away. When revelations begin to connect Merrick even further to her past, Willow must decide how much she’s willing to risk for a love that should be impossible, a love she’s not sure she could survive losing again.

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EXCERPT

“Excuse me,” he said, his blue eyes piercing, as if he could see into her soul. “What is your name?”

Her body quivered. Why did she feel like she was going to fall over? Two gin and tonics was nothing for her. It had to be his eyes—they reminded her of James.

“Willow.” Even her feet were now numb. “And yours?”

He gazed at her as if appraising a new car, and then smiled. “Merrick Montagne. May I have this dance?”

She nodded and followed him to the dance floor. The touch of his hand was electric, familiar, warm. She wanted to cast off the spell, but instead decided to be curious. Who was this young man? Merrick took her into his close embrace, and she smelled his neck—cologne but not obtrusive, mixed with the scent of a male, pure and raw. He led her in a sequence that slowly came back to her. 

Milonete, step, step, cruzada, hesitate…hesitate…enganche…embellishment…dibujo…

Willow held her ground, drawing tension out of Merrick. He waited for her, cheek to cheek, as she dragged her foot up his leg, one millimeter at a time, leaning her breasts into his chest. He gasped, and his heartbeat quickened against her own. When his body trembled like a taught bowstring, she placed her foot on the ground and he walked her again, releasing his breath as she granted him control of the dance. By the end of the triplet, the two of them were breathing as if they’d jogged for an hour.

Follow the tour here:

Nicole Sallak Anderson is Computer Science graduate from Purdue University, and former CTO for a small Silicon Valley startup, turned novelist, speaker, and blogger. Her essays range from AI and Zen to direct democracy to the loneliness of modern parenting— featured as a top twenty story on Medium. She is the author of The Song of the King’s Heart Trilogy, is a series about the last native Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt and his quest to take back his ancestral kingdom from the Ptolemaic Empire. All three installments, Origins, Blood and Chaos, and Civilization’s End, are available on Amazon. Origins is also available on Audible.

Her recent novel, It Takes Two, is about forty-year-old Willow Dwyer, who takes up the tango and finds herself dancing in the arms of Merrick Montagne, a man half her age who claims he’s been searching for her all his life. 

You can keep up with all her latest writing on her website nicolesallakanderson.com or by following @NSallakAnderson on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Medium. Feel free to contact her, she always answers any query or comment!

Amazon buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Takes-Two-Nicole-Sallak-Anderson-ebook/dp/B09R16JT8Q/

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GIVEAWAY

Nicole Sallak Anderson will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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