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Thursday, October 31, 2019

The Nice List

Title: The Nice List
Author: Avery Scott
Genre: Holiday Novella
Release Date: October 31, 2019 Cover Designer: S. Lewis
Cole Weston’s biggest holiday wish is about to come true. The deal of a lifetime is within reach--and once he closes the sale of one small town elementary school, he’ll have a nice fat bonus check to take with him when he finally moves up to the real estate big leagues in New York. He’s not about to let anyone stand in his way--especially not the feisty and all-kinds-of-adorable teacher who does everything she can to convince the school board not to sell. 
Francesca Bagnoli won’t let go of her beloved school without a fight. The historic building might not be in the best shape, but it’s the heart and soul of her town, and there’s no way she’ll let some greedy real estate mogul destroy it. Who cares that he’s the most attractive man she’s ever seen? She will not lose focus, and she most definitely will not fall prey to Cole’s charming softer side. 
In the countdown to Christmas, can Cole and Francesca put aside their differences and take a shot at the kind of love neither expected to find? Or is a holiday miracle just not in the cards for them this year?
The Nice List is a stand-alone, HEA/HFN Christmas Novella with just a touch of holiday spice!

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Inanna Phantom

Inanna Phantom
by Hawk MacKinney

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GENRE  Science Fiction

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BLURB:

The threat of rift invasions seem long passed. Plentiful harvests abound. The Murian first-contact Terato Outpost has grown into the sprawling Terato-Murian Terminus Terato with a hub of relay portals reaching across the vast uncharted galactic expanses and connecting with its eon-extinct Lantaraan prehistory.

An exploratory Terato-Murian Jupiterr outpost is established on the gas giant seventh planet, and its quantum and gravitational energies are used to power outpost portals for an archeological survey of the fourth planet, Eorthe.

The Lantaraan database aboard Terato’s ancient Downday moon shows that one or more planets of the Solaris planets have apparently been lost. Expanded archeological records on other Lantaraan orbital bodies in the Solaris system show the fourth planet from the star—Eorthe—to be a sterile wasteland. Except it is not. Eorthe’s civilization is not to the level of the Murian Empire, but it is far advanced to those of a pastoral Terato. Terato and Eorthe form the confederated United Terran League under the nominal figurehead leader of League High Judikarr Eklam a’Qoc.

Jupiterr outpost expands into a major League stronghold, Jupiterr Base, when civil unrest erupts in the League, the unexpected return of rift intrusions threatens, and the Murian Emperor Klarvko Celo is assassinated.

As they prepare for confrontations with an unknown ancient enemy, the internal tensions on Myr and Eorthe push Murians and Teratoans to dangerous discords.



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EXCERPT:

The first anomalies were logged by remote nanoparticle quantum-field sensor arrays positioned on uninhabited dwarf planets, moons and long-orbit asteroids of the star systems of the League. The inconsistencies were short sub-fracture durations and were seismically unremarkable. Across the League’s far-flung frontier systems, seasoned operators monitored the encoded decryption of the scan-logs. Through decades of use, the linknet had become indispensable; supplanting the slower interstellar particle entanglement-based trans-light travel. Linknet protocols established allowances for such random background fluctuations with standard deviations measured against system parameters. The diverse configurations of the link systems were accepted as fail-safe.

Senior specialists assigned to Terminus Terra II protocol-consoles maintained continuous scans for minor time-sync misaligns. Scan records were stored in Murian-designed crystals in tiered sublevels of mantle crust beneath Terminus and in Myraa City. Link schedules of freight shipments, personnel, and communications remained on tight schedules.

The erratic anomalous spacetime oscillations data was logged. The ruse was almost perfect. Except star-core substrate logs registered converter power for the unsanctioned personnel requisition of translinks coordinates for specific network portals. It was a simple oversight but one that had sa s'Blikova'at consequences. Besides, waiting one more day wouldn’t matter.
            
The following morning Marleen and her three sons would be alone.


Chatting With the Author


  1.Did you always want to be an author? Absolutely – from day-1 & the first serial mystery written for my 6th grade class paper (a weekly one-page biggy). I luved writing it. I was hooked.

2.Tell us about the publication of your first book. 
Moccasin Trace - historical romance, prequel to the Moccasin Hollow mysteries, and my first book published by a traditional, royalty-paying publisher.
The construct of Moccasin Trace involved many aspects of the tale told. The historical had to be well-referenced, then re-referenced several more times after the so-called expert at a major university edited out colonial parishes except for Louisiana - which wasn’t a colony! Parishes stayed in the manuscript – censoring history is ethically brain-dead-dumb & NOT permitted. The political had to be considered BUT only as a background for setting & supporting characters. The emotional aspects of it being a romance – a love story that changed lives in the conflicts& upheaval of the American Civil War and gave strength to bloodlines that reached across generations into the lives of other characters. All the genres – all in bundle. The writing was the fun – multiple editing was a great learning experience – publication was a business arrangement. Marketing was the work – but that’s another tale.

3.Besides yourself, who is your favorite author in the genre you write in? I don’t write in genres – it limits the expections of the tale being spun. 

4.What's the best part of being an author? Using words from countries beyond the river/mountain culture I grew up in to breathe life into make-believe worlds on this planet & others that NASA is discovering. This applies both to my science fiction series and my mystery series.

The worst? Not enough time to create the worlds & characters & fantasies being explored.

5.What are you working on now?
            Sci-fi - The Cairns of Sainctuarie
Vol I – The Bleikovat Event - published
Vol II – The Missing Planets - published
Vol III – Inanna Phantom - published
Vol IV - [galley edit]

            Mystery thrillers - The Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series
            Bk I – Hidden Chamber of Death - published
            Bk II – Westobou Gold - published
            Bk III – Curse of the Ancients - published
            Bk IV – Dead Gold - published
            Bk V – [galley edit]
            Bk VI – [3rd edit]
            Bk VII – [draft edit]

            Historical Romance - Moccasin Trace - published           







AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Hawk has authored several works of fiction including a historical romance Moccasin Trace which was nominated for both the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award. His Cairns of Sainctuarie Science Fiction Series and his Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series have received national and international attention.

With postgraduate degrees and faculty positions in several medical universities, Hawk MacKinney has taught graduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem. His professional writing includes articles on chordate neuroembryology, and aerospace research on muscle metabolic behavior in multi-orbital environments.



Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ HawkMacKinney




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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE:

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






a Rafflecopter giveaway


Wednesday, October 30, 2019

The Healing Summer

Title: The Healing Summer
Author: Liz Flaherty
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: October 30, 2019
When Steven Elliott accidentally rides his bike into Carol Whitney's car at the cemetery, their out-of-control lives take on new and exciting possibilities. Long friendship wends its way into something deeper and feelings neither of them expected to experience again enrich their days and nights. But what will happen when the long summer ends and Steven leaves their hometown to once again take up his prestigious career as a cardio-thoracic surgeon and Carol loses the dream of the family, commitment, and future that she's allowed herself to want?
Life gets in the way before either Steven or Carol are ready, and they wonder if their romance will fade and fall with the leaves when hot days turn to the briskness of autumn.
“Liz Flaherty has scored again!” – Author Nan Reinhardt

“It is a fabulous book….” – Karen the Baroness

“I enjoyed this book. It is a pretty quick read but mostly because I couldn’t put it down. I wanted the characters to find their ways of healing and to bond in the process. I give this book 5 of 5 stars.” – Christina K., reviewer on NetGalley

There had been other “hook-ups,” both during break-up times and since Promise’s death, but he had never given serious thought to waking up with anyone he slept with—at least, not on a consistent basis. No one ever asked or expected him to be faithful. No one called him her boyfriend. No one admitted they had to pee like a racehorse—it was as if the women he’d been with didn’t have bodily functions other than orgasm.
Not that exclusivity was a problem. It wasn’t at all. 
“I don’t need you to fall in love with me or promise me lifelong loyalty or any of that. I don’t even expect you to consider our relationship a…well, a relationship, but I’m not much into that kind of adventure, either.” She grinned sheepishly. “I know I sound like a prude, but so be it.”
He knew she was no prude. She was exciting and sexy and so much fun he sometimes he went days on end thinking he might actually be able to live without Promise. Not just exist, but live, with a large part of his heart intact.
“I want to be your boyfriend,” he said. “No class ring—I hocked it to buy beer when I was a freshman in college. But we’ll sit together at all the Little League games and the Cup and Cozy and I’ll even buy—if I have any money. When you’re taking care of Reese and pretending you’re not, I’ll pretend right along with you. What do you think?”
“I think you have your eye on my Mustang.”
“Nah, it’s too little—hurts my knees—though I probably look good in it. Not as good as I do on a motorcycle, but not bad. I’ll be an excellent boyfriend.” He lifted her hand, turning the chain he’d given her round and round. “Boyfriends give charm bracelets.” 
“Well, since you did give me the bracelet and I love it, it’s okay with me if you’re my boyfriend. For the summer anyway.” She leaned in to kiss him, her hand on his shoulder, and he caught her wrist just to touch her. He loved her skin.
“You don’t think I’ll stay in Peacock, do you?” He held her gaze.
“No.” But she didn’t seem unhappy—not even a little bit sad. “You’re too—I don’t know—intense, maybe. You move too fast. No one does that here. You know that. Besides, you’ve been gone too long. Other than a few weeks some summers and the awful time while Promise was sick, you haven’t actually lived here since you left for Vanderbilt. And I don’t think you’ve wanted to, have you?”
She was right—until this summer, he hadn’t wanted to come back here. But that was before finding Miss Abigail’s. Before Jamie Scott died.
Before Carol.
“Dillon was away for years,” he said. “He didn’t even come and visit after his folks retired to Arizona, and look at him now. You couldn’t pry him off Lawyers Row with a crowbar.”
Carol shook her head. “Dillon came home and found Grace. Had she not been here, he wouldn’t be either.”
But you’re here. Steven didn’t say the words out loud. He was startled to have even thought them.
She checked the clock on the oven. “It’s time for me to go. I told Grace I’d pick them up at ten. When are you guys leaving?”
“As soon as everyone kisses his wife goodbye. I’ll follow you into town and kiss you at the same time so you won’t feel out of place or anything.”
She went to the sink, rinsing the coffee carafe and their cups and draping the dishcloth neatly over the sink divider. “That’s really big of you. You’re not going to throw your cell phone away or anything like they did in that movie, are you?” 
He picked up her suitcase to follow her out the door. “Nope. Why? Are you going to worry about me?”
“Heavens, no.” She opened the Mustang’s trunk for him. “I’m not your mother.” She gave a little toss of her ponytail. “I’m your girlfriend.”
Retired from the post office and married to Duane for…a really long time, USA Today bestselling author Liz Flaherty has had a heart-shaped adult life, populated with kids and grands and wonderful friends. She admits she can be boring, but hopes her curiosity about everyone and everything around her keeps her from it. She likes traveling and quilting and reading. And she loves writing.
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Bedhead


Title: Bedhead
Author: Kayt Miller
Genre: Contemporary NA Romance
Release Date: October 26, 2019
Quinn Maxwell. Student. Dork. And a woman in love with a guy who doesn't know she exists.
Cooke Thompson. British. Hottie. Rugby Star. Chick Magnet. And a guy trying to FaceChat with his old mate Maxwell Quinn. 
Sure, it was a wrong number but sometimes, wrong ends up being so-so right.

Red Hatter Book Blog - "Stop what you are doing and pick up Bedhead NOW! Seriously the most sweet and swoonworthy book ever."
Goodreads - "The story is hilarious & sweet, with twists and turns, and so much more."
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I grew up in the midwest with a loving family including three brothers, one sister, and my parents who always fostered my creative side. I earned my bachelor's degree at Iowa State University, then I was off to the Savannah College of Art and Design for graduate school. After that, I returned to Iowa for work which led me, once again, to ISU for my master's degree in education.

I love to read and one day I was searching for a book. A book about a certain type of woman and a specific kind of man and I couldn't find it so, I wrote it. I called it Game Changer and it couldn't have been a more appropriate title. It changed my life in many ways. While my real job is teaching young people, my fun job is conjuring up characters and situations to write about. 
My goal, as a writer, is to write stories that relate to all of us, to make readers laugh and maybe cry sometimes. I hope my readers can escape into a fantasy, one that's actually possible. Sure, some of the stories could be dubbed "Insta-love" stories but that's okay. I fell in love with my husband pretty damn fast and with my daughter the second I saw her. So, it's a thing, I swear.

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