Tag: Series

Excerpt, Giveaways, New Release, Reviews

#Review of Heart of a Highlander (a Real Men Wear Kilts novel) by Maxine Mansfield w/a rafflecopter giveaway! #timetravel #romance @LeekyShortz @WildRosePress

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Heart of a Highlander

by Maxine Mansfield

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GENRE: Time Travel/Romance

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BLURB:

Staff Sergeant Ian Mackay didn’t care if he lived or died. He’d left what really mattered strewn across Afghanistan three years ago. All the self-help groups and doctors in the world couldn’t assuage his guilt. But when an accident takes his life and Fate steps in with an offer to fix what was once unfixable, he jumps at the second chance to save his men. Now he’s stuck in a strange land, in an even stranger time, and expected to bed his equally strange but desirable new bride. Healer Aila Gordan of the Sutherland clan thought her betrothed dead, had even seen his lifeless body the night before their wedding. Why then is her sworn enemy, Ian Mackay, standing before the priest, waiting for her to repeat the vows that would make her his wife? The fairies must have possessed his body, a frightening notion, indeed. But marriage to the handsome laird, possessed or otherwise, couldn’t be any worse than living in her brother’s castle where, like all women in 1643 Scotland, she has no freedom. And if the kiss at the altar is any indication, she could just steal the heart of a highlander.

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Excerpt Three:

“I’m from the future, Aila,” he spat out. “Almost four hundred years from now to be exact. But I’m not from this body you now see me in. You were right. The original Ian Mackay was dead that night you found him. He was one of my ancestors, you see, and we shared the same name and linage. When I died in an accident—in the future—Fate himself sent me back into the past and into this Ian Mackay’s body to correct a mistake that should never have happened in the first place.”

“What should nae have happened, Ian?” she asked.

He gulped. “Your death, Aila.”

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Yall this book.  I love a good time travel and this one is the best I’ve read.  There were things that I wasn’t expecting at all.  Let me explain if I can.

Fate is hilarious.  Great characterization and I felt the frustration that Ian had whenever he was trying to talk to Fate.  There is a saying that Karma is a fickle bitch, well, Fate at least has a sense of humor.  I loved how Ms. Mansfield used Fate to flesh out Ian’s backstory and his motivation to get back to his own time.

Ian is one of those characters that you just love from the first page.  He means well and has a heart of gold.  His issues with PTSD are real and are dealt with honestly.  He really did feel bad and thought they only way to help was to go back in time.  Little did he know how much Aila would change his life for the good.  I especially loved how Ms. Mansfield shaped their relationship as equals based on his parent’s relationship in the past.  Most often, historical writers still have their women as fragile women that can’t handle much on their own.

Which brings me to Aila as the heroine.  She was strong, smart and funny all at the same time.  Her belief that Ian was a fairy is hilarious.  The Scots are very religious and believe the legends that are passed on.  (Watch Brave, you’ll understand what I mean)  But what really stood out with me was her ability to believe Ian in the end and loving him no matter what.  Now her brother, Fergus was a tool in the beginning but towards the end, he ended up being a great character for both Ian and Aila.

But folks, this book is set in the Northern Highlands so some of the dialogue is Celtic (LOVE), and their way of life is brilliantly played out.  Ms. Mansfiled did her research and it shows.  She also doesn’t weigh the book down with all the very small details that some authors do when writing this time period.  She has a very deft hand and knows when to back off and just let her characters tell the story.

Again, this book.  It’s spicy and I love how Ms. Mansfield lets the characters own it.  It feels natural and not rushed.  Pick up this book and read it.  The ending is beautiful.  I wasn’t expecting it and I sighed and swooned in the end.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Hi, my name is Maxine Mansfield and I write erotic romance, be it Fantasy or Time travel from my easy chair in the great state of Alaska. A magical place where the summer days are long and bright, and the winter nights even longer.

Web site: www.maxinemansfield.com

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Time-Highlander-Real-Wear-Kilts/dp/B07HFHGHMG/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maxine.mansfield.9

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Maxine Mansfield will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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Excerpt, Giveaways, Spotlight

Excerpt from His Secret Love (a Cuffs and Spurs books #7) by Anya Summers w/a rafflecopter giveaway! @anyabsummers

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This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Anya Summers will be awarding a $15 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.

Meghan Mallory has a plan for her life and it does not involve falling in love. She doesn’t have the time nor the inclination. She’s too busy trying to save the world. But when a freak snowstorm puts her in the path of a man she has secretly been fascinated with for years, she is forced to reconsider her stance on dating. Spencer is rude and obnoxious with his bad boy swagger but then he rescues her when she gets stranded on the side of the road, like a knight in tarnished armor, and sweeps her away to his house to ride out the blizzard.

Spencer Collins likes his life just fine, thank you very much. As the owner of the lifestyle club Cuffs & Spurs in Jackson Hole, he has a bevy of available subs who are his to command – not that any of them have held his interest in longer than he can remember. When his best friend’s sister-in-law gets herself into trouble, Spencer heads out to rescue the little brat who is in need of a firm hand. But he never expects to be forced to confront the incendiary heat that has always existed between them.

As the storm rages around them, they surrender to a passion hotter than the sun. Now that he has felt her surrender, Spencer attempts to lure Meghan into his world. But will they let go of their pasts or will they allow secrets to destroy them?

Read an Excerpt

“You’re wasting time. If we don’t get a move on, we’ll both be stuck out in this mess. Just leave it. No one’s going to mess with it.”

She hefted the bag and slammed the car door before she whirled on him. Snow and wind battered her face as she glared at him. “First of all, I didn’t ask for your assistance although I am grateful for it. Second, some of this equipment is worth more than my car so there’s no way I’m leaving it behind to freeze, and wind up losing my job. Third, what crawled up your ass today? Or any day, for that matter? Would it kill you to, I don’t know, not be a complete asshole?”

Spencer’s full mouth, framed by his black beard, firmed into a hard line and he glowered. The man made curling up with a mountain lion seem downright appealing.

“Depends on the day. Give me those and get your ass in the truck.” He didn’t ask, just reached out and removed the bags from her hands before he stomped up the embankment to his big black monster truck. Even trussed up as he was in his black parka, she could detect the power in him. It emanated from him, was an integral part of his essence. His confident strides were long and chock-full of determined purpose. His jeans carried a fine dusting of snow.

Meghan locked the car with her key fob, then slogged up the embankment behind him. In the last two hours at least another three inches of snow had fallen, blanketing the ground in a sea of white. If she remembered the weatherman’s forecast correctly, they were predicting over two feet. At least her hiking boots were suitable for snow and her thick parka insulated her well enough.

Spencer had already tossed her bags in the back seat and had the passenger door open for her when she stepped up beside him. Before she could comment on his rescue, needle him as was her fashion, his big hands gripped her waist. The simple touch acted like a lightning rod slashing her composure, making her slow to react. He lifted her up, shoved her inside, and dumped her rather curtly so that her butt plopped onto the leather bucket seat. The snarky—and most likely bitchy—remark stuck in her throat. Their gazes clashed and a jolt of unbidden desire razored through her system. It left her breathless and shaken. And, if anything, Spencer’s face hardened even further into a stern mask of disapproval, like he was in a competition with Mount Rushmore for whose face looked more like stone. With a scowl furrowing his black brows, Spencer retreated as if she’d burned him.

“Buckle up,” he commanded and slammed the door shut.

She curled her hands into fists, even as warmth from his heater spread through her. The man had the proclivity and seemed hellishly bent on driving her to physical violence. And why, oh why in the holy hell did her body respond to him the way it did? Every. Time. It was like sticking her finger in an electrical socket.

She didn’t even like the overbearing jerk. But tell that to her body and girly bits. They sure as hell didn’t see it that way. Her damn fool hormones would prefer she cozy up to him and give him carte blanche permission to do whatever naughty things he could cook up. Word around the sub club campfire was that the man knew how to cook… and then some.

He vaulted into the driver’s side seat without a word, shifted the vehicle into drive and steered the behemoth truck back onto the road. He was traveling in the opposite direction from Carter’s house. It was on the tip of her tongue to correct him but Spencer saved her the headache as he piloted the truck around snow drifts and over slick stretches of road where the pavement disappeared entirely beneath a blanket of snow. His wipers swished furiously on high, headlights and floodlights on to illuminate the path forward. Not that it did much good in the white out conditions. Visibility was at zero. They could see about ten feet in front of his truck and that was all.

He placed his phone to his ear. “Carter. I found her. Roads are too bad to make it out to your place tonight. I’ll take her to mine and she can weather the storm there. Yep, will do.”

His place? He was taking her to his place? They were going to be in the same location, alone, the two of them, without supervision? Would they survive the night without strangling each other?

About the Author: Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Anya grew up listening to Cardinals baseball and reading anything she could get her hands on. She remembers her mother saying if only she would read the right type of books instead binging her way through the romance aisles at the bookstore, she’d have been a doctor. While Anya never did get that doctorate, she graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri-St. Louis with an M.A. in History.

Anya is a bestselling and award-winning author published in multiple fiction genres. She also writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance under the name Maggie Mae Gallagher. A total geek at her core, when she is not writing, she adores attending the latest comic con or spending time with her family. She currently lives in the Midwest with her two furry felines.

Visit my website here: http://www.anyasummers.com

Plus, I have an Exclusive Bonus Scene from HIS SECRET LOVE available for a FREE download by subscribing to my newsletter: https://goo.gl/phM786

Website as Maggie Mae Gallagher: http://www.maggiemaegallagher.com/

Visit her on social media:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AnyaSummersAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/anyabsummers?lang=en

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15183606.Anya_Summers

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Anya-Summers/e/B01EGTVRKC/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/anya-summers

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anyasummersauthor/

Buy the book at https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Love-Cuffs-Spurs-Book-ebook/dp/B07NKN5Y2S/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_2

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Excerpt, Giveaways, Reviews

#Review of Sun Storm (the Gathering Storm series #1) by Marlow Kelly w/a rafflecopter giveaway! #romanticsuspense @marlowkelly1

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Sun Storm

by Marlow Kelly

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GENRE:   Romantic Suspense

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BLURB:

In Montana to prove her portable solar panel can solve the world’s energy problems, naïve scientist, Dr. Marie Wilson must first fight to survive and then expose the powerful businessman intent on destroying her life’s work. 

Ex-special forces soldier, David Quinn is haunted by the horrors of combat, and yearns to be left alone with his beehives, but agrees to do one last job for his old mentor.

When the scariest man she’s ever met becomes her savior, Marie discovers a heart of gold beats beneath his surly demeanor.

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Excerpt Three:

“You’re the one who broke into my cabin. I didn’t make you associate with criminals. And for the record, my life hasn’t been all sunshine and flowers since you crashed through my door,” she shouted back, shocked by her own reaction. What was wrong with her? She never argued, raised her voice, or confronted anyone. David was making her crazy. It was the only explanation. For some reason, she had no problem arguing with him. Maybe it was because he was so aggravating.  

She pointed a finger at him. “And I’m really sick of you forcing me into cars.” It was as if all her fear and stress were curled in her chest waiting for an outlet, and he was it.

“What?”

“I’ve known you for less than twelve hours, and you’ve pushed me into a vehicle three times.” She knew she was being unreasonable, but couldn’t stop.

He rolled his eyes. “Where are my manners? The next time someone’s trying to kill you, I’ll just politely ask if you’d like to get in my truck. Do you want me to curtsey while I’m at it?” He shouted the last part.

“There’s no need for sarcasm.” She sat straight, folding her hands in her lap, hoping if she gained control over her body, then she would gain some much-needed restraint over her emotions.

“I think there is, and do up that window. It’s freezing in here.”

She did as she was asked, but only because her fingers were numb with the cold.

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Wow.  Just wow.  This book has it all.  Thrills, lots of suspense, romance, very fast paced, a plot line that makes perfect sense, and more twists than a mountain trail.  Seriously, this book is everything I’ve been craving in a romantic suspense book for a while now.  This book moves very quickly.  Don’t even try to catch your breath and be prepared to start it and have the need to finish it in one sitting.

David and Marie are some of the more mismatched people that an author can come up with as a hero and heroine.  Sure, we’ve all read the alpha Special Forces hero to the rescue of the naive, sheltered scientist but Ms. Kelly gives them qualities that they didn’t even think they had themselves.  Marie does not come off as helpless, just confused.  David is the biggest marshmallow and he knows it.  He just doesn’t like to admit it to many people.  Also, their backstories are powerful and lend themselves to the overall arc of the book and to the relationship.

I wish I could go into the plot with a lot of detail but that would spoil it.  Let’s just say that Ms. Kelly sets up the whole story up from the beginning with most of the major players in place.  You know the major plot points but Ms. Kelly has a way of throwing you off guard and decides she needs to add a person or two to really shake it up.  I’m looking forward to her other stories in this series to further explore that.  And yes, I can’t talk about it because, well, you just have to read the book and trust me, you will be gobsmacked.  In fact, in some ways, it’s still processing in my head.

I can not tell you how much this book meant to me.  It surprised me, left my neck hurting not to mention my fingers wrapped around my Kindle and can’t wait to dive into the next one in the series.  Ms. Kelly is just brilliant in her storytelling, characterization and taking the romantic suspense/thriller genre to a whole new level.  I can’t believe that I’m just finding out about her and the books that she has written.

Don’t do what I did and find out about her too late.  You will definitely be sorry and kick yourself for it.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

After being thrown out of England for refusing to drink tea, Marlow Kelly made her way to Canada where she found love, a home and a pug named Max. She also discovered her love of storytelling. Encouraged by her husband, children and let’s not forget Max, she started putting her ideas to paper. She enjoys writing suspenseful, fast-paced romance stories that always feature strong women.  

 

Marlow is an award-winning author and a member of the Romance Writers of America.

For more information about Marlow’s books check out her website at www.marlowkelly.com

 

Social Media Links

 

Website https://www.marlowkelly.com

Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/3da3ed8b8131/marlowkelly

Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Marlow-Kelly/e/B00MZE72CS  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marlowkelly?ref=hl

Twitter: https://twitter.com/marlowkelly1

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/Marlowkelly14/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/marlow-kelly?list=about

 

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE:

 

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

a Rafflecopter giveaway”