Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Beyond the Book: Tarnished Silver

Today I’m sharing an excerpt from my current work in progress. The book is titled Tarnished Silver, and I have no official blurb to share. The set up is like this. 

My heroine Brittany Granger is a private investigator who has been summoned to the home of the Silver family. The Silvers operate The Silver Firm, a prestigious law practice. They are famous, rich, and some say unscrupulous. She has no idea why they want to see her.

Excerpt: 

The sullen sky looked leaden and gray, but at this particular moment the weather and how she was going to get home didn’t concern Brittany Granger.  After driving in circles for what seemed like forever, she still couldn’t find the Silvers’ home.  Biting her lip, she smacked the steering wheel. Only twenty minutes to get there, and something told her Mr. Silver appreciated punctuality.

 Her last turn had brought her back to the same intersection she had seen three times before, but this time she turned left instead of right and saw the Silver mansion at the end of the street.

A tall, thick, stone wall surrounded the property while a manned gatehouse guarded the entrance.  She stopped her car and rolled down the window as the gatehouse door opened and a man stepped outside.  

“Hi.  My name is Brittany Granger.  I have an eleven o’clock appointment with Mr. Silver.”

The guard checked his clipboard.  “Follow the drive, and you’ll come to a parking area on your left.  You can leave your car there.  Someone will meet you on the front porch.”

It had started to sleet now.  Brittany winced as the cold, icy pellets struck her cheek and quickly put her window up.  After parking where the guard had told her, she darted toward the porch to get out of the rain and sleet.  A pale man with steel gray hair was waiting on her. 

“Hello, Miss Granger.  Mr. Silver is expecting you.  Won’t you step this way?”

Brittany followed him into the mansion, a Georgian Revival made of dark brick.  The entrance hall had marble floors covered with expensive looking oriental rugs.  Old oil paintings adorned the walls, and the mahogany furniture she saw looked costly and antique, like pieces that had been in the family for generations.  The man stopped in front of a massive wooden door and softly knocked before they entered.

“Sir, Miss Granger is here.”

A tall, thin man with neatly combed white hair rose from a navy leather wing chair beside the fireplace and extended his hand to Brittany.  “How do you do, Miss Granger?” 

“I’m fine, thank you.  And you?”

“I’m well.”  He indicated the chair in front of his ornately carved, enormous desk.  “Won’t you sit down?”

That’s it. I hope you liked it. See anything I need to revise?

Monday, March 29, 2021

Mister Romance

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Title: Mister Romance
Series: Self Made Series #1
Author: Amelia Simone
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Contemporary Romance
Release Date: March 19, 2021


He’s living a double life, and she’s vowed to get a life …

Tamra Shaw
Every aspect of my life is drab. I need more than my nursing career. Nothing will change if I don’t. I’m determined to do it – three things that scare me: Reach out to my favorite romance author. Try pole dancing. Flirt a little. Nothing’s stopping me but me.

My brother’s wedding is the perfect opportunity to show everyone the new me. Now, to find a date…

Chase Hoffman
The sultry siren masquerading as a practical nurse can’t fool me. Tamra is romantic lead material. Being her date to her brother’s wedding is a dream come true. Or my worst nightmare.

There’s a reason I live my life behind a keyboard. No one wants me running my mouth without preparation. Boobs. Aliens. You never know what might pop out. Me and my blundering mouth can keep it together for one tiny favor – right?

High heat and light-hearted fun abound in this friends to lovers romance. Mister Romance is book 1 of the Self-Made Series and can be read as a stand-alone or before Mister Marriage.






Wendy’s Book Blog - “Fun Read. This is a new author to me, but I will certainly be looking out for her work in the future.”
Tasha Talks Book Blog - Fun Read. This story was so cute, funny and had me on an emotional rollercoaster.”


Jimmy and I met at the gym, and he couldn’t resist teasing me about my dinner with Tamra. “So, how’d it go, Mister Romance? Did you woo the lady?” he asked.

I shook my head at him. “You know it wasn’t like that. She’s helping me out.”

“Oh, yeah? What did she wear to dinner?”

“Clothes.”

“Was any cleavage on display?” he probed.

I nodded, and he pursed his lips and tilted his head. “I’m pretty sure she’s into you if the girls were on display. Women don’t come to a single man’s place with their boobs out unintentionally.”

Jimmy continued, warming to his topic. “I have a theory. If the boobs are on display and it’s not a natural place for said plumage, for example, a bar, then it’s premeditated boobage. That shit doesn’t just happen. Women are very aware of their cleavage game. If they’re unsure of you, they might reveal a hint. More likely they’re wearing something like a crew neck T-shirt to cover the girls up altogether. Maybe a turtleneck if you’ve really made them uncomfortable.”

Jimmy had obviously thought about women’s breasts and their meaning a lot. Which was saying something, as I was the one who wrote romance novels.




Amelia Simone is a reader turned writer based in the Pacific Northwest. Along with caring for her young family and enjoying food and wine adventures with her husband, she spends a lot of time in the backyard gardening and reading during her free time. (If you plant enough stuff, no one notices if you accidentally kill off half.)

When the weather cooperates, you can find her on her deck sipping coffee and writing her next book. Amelia believes that everyone has a little frog in ‘em, and a little royalty too. She enjoys writing light, hopeful romance about everyday people with the banter and teasing that make life fun. When the real world gets to be too much, she moves on to the sci-fi world she created for a little paranormal relief.



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Saturday, March 27, 2021

Saturday Sample and Weekend Writing Warriors

Welcome to Saturday Sample and Weekend Writing Warriors. Today I'm sharing an excerpt from my current work in progress. The book is titled Tarnished Silver, and I have no official blurb to share. The set up is like this. 

My heroine Brittany Granger is a private investigator who has been summoned to the home of the Silver family. The Silvers operate The Silver Firm, a prestigious law practice. They are famous, rich, and some say unscrupulous. She has no idea why they want to see her.


Last Week: This is a WIP so if something grabs you that I need to change please say so. 


Brittany sat down and waited, admiring Silver’s polite formality in a casual world.

“Did you have any trouble getting to Greenville, Miss Granger?  The weather is terrible, and Fairfield is an hour away.”

“No, it wasn’t a bad trip at all.”

“Good, good.  I expect you’re curious about why I wanted to see you.”

“I imagine you want the services of a private investigator, but I have no idea why you’d pick me.”  She shrugged. “Don’t get me wrong.  I do a good job for my clients, but I’m still small potatoes.  You could have anybody you wanted.”


Excerpt:

He certainly could.  One of the richest, most powerful men in the state, Bradley Jonathan Silver also had numerous contacts in Washington.  Some people said he could pick up the phone and speak to the President.

“Your agency is young, Miss Granger,” he said, “but you have an excellent reputation.  Everyone says you get results which is what I’m interested in.”  Silver passed a photograph in an ornate frame to Brittany.  “This is my grandson, Bradley Jonathan Silver III.”

Brittany studied the photo, which had been taken on a beach.  Shadows from an umbrella partially obscured the man’s face.  Even so she could see his resemblance to Mr. Silver.  “He looks like you.” 

Friday, March 26, 2021

Ellerslie

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This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. William Francis 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.

Did you know author F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda lived in a haunted house?

It’s the Jazz Age, it’s Prohibition and aviator Charles Lindbergh is the most famous person in America. Author F. Scott Fitzgerald rents a mansion in Edgemoor, Delaware called Ellerslie hoping for a quiet retreat so that he can write his next novel following The Great Gatsby.

April Ross, the first and only female history major at the University of Delaware, is commissioned by the owner of Ellerslie to research the estate’s history for a potential sale. At least, that’s what April is told. In the days ahead, April’s historical research uncovers Ellerslie’s former owners dating back to 1810. She interacts with the Fitzgeralds, yet endures unexplained occurrences and visits by an unknown woman. Against her better judgement, April eventually accepts that the woman is a ghost and realizes that her true purpose is to find out who this woman is, or was, and what happened to her in real life.


Read an Excerpt

“I signed a two-year lease,” Scott said. “And I came here to get away from the noise of New York so that I could write. I also came here because I have a fascination with medieval Europe and feudalism. I wanted to study the DuPonts and their quasi-feudalism over this area and create a novel loosely based on them. Unfortunately, every time I sit down to write it nothing happens. I think my problem is that I always want to write something that’s never been written before, something unique and extraordinary rather than another rehashing of a familiar plot.”

“If the DuPont idea isn’t working, then stop trying to force it and write something else.”

“You sound like my editor, Max Perkins. He’s pretty upset with me right now. I promised him a novel by July first. That’s not going to happen.”

“Well, as they say, get crackin’. And don’t worry about your lease. I’m sure Mr. Sellers will let you break it when you tell him that Ellerslie is haunted.”

“Haunted?” Scott said with an uneasy laugh. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“It’s not ridiculous. Mr. Sellers knows it. The maids know it. Phillipe knows it. My real purpose here is to discover the identity of a crying female ghost."

Scott moaned. “Well, then. I guess Elena spilled the beans.”

“She did not. Marie did, but I would’ve figured it out. This female manifestation has been reaching out to me, giving me clues meant to help my investigation. Of course, if she could speak it would go a lot faster, but in life she was strangled and possibly crushed her throat. I guess this makes her spirit unable to speak. I don’t know. I’m no expert on ghosts. Have you seen her?”

“Yes, I was drunk and in the kitchen the first time, about two weeks after we moved in. I knew who she was by Mr. Sellers’ description. I didn’t believe it. I still don’t believe it.”

“Do you know anything about her?”

“Not much. Apparently, she’s been on the estate for many years. Mr. Sellers said his father knew about her and called her the ‘melancholy lady.’ Servants recalled hearing the old gentleman talk to somebody late at night, usually in the library, and when they entered the room he was the only one there. Then shortly before his death he told his son about her, said she cried all the time and he couldn’t figure out why. Mr. Sellers Junior dismissed it as the rantings of an old man. Then one tenant after another kept telling stories about a ghost or unexplained acts of violence. Junior didn’t believe them until he saw the lady for himself.”

“So Mr. Sellers told you about the lady ghost before you moved in but you signed the lease anyway?” “Yes. Zelda and I thought it might be exciting to live in a haunted house.”

About the Author:
Raised in Newark, Delaware, William spends his days working in Corporate America and writing about the First State. He achieved a Masters Degree in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, but also writes non-fiction. Through Arcadia Publishing he has produced 5 books related to Delaware: The DuPont Highway, Along the Kirkwood Highway, Along the Christina River, Building Interstate in 95 in Delaware and Newark Then &amp Now. Fiction titles include: A Life Told to None, The Umpire, Seacrest, and the five-star The Katie Dugan Case. Whether his books are fact or fiction, William hopes to entertain as well as inform and leave the reader with a satisfying experience.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/william.francis.925
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7752881.William_Francis


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Thursday, March 25, 2021

My Kind of Beautiful

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Title: My Kind of Beautiful
Series: Finding Love Series
Author: Nikki Ash
Genre: New Adult Romance
Release Date: March 25, 2021





Lexi
You don’t find love... it finds you.
Alec is the steady in my crazy, the light to my dark. My best friend.
He might be the one for me, but I’m not the one for him.
He deserves to have a wife, kids, a home—the complete package.
How can I build those things with him when I feel so incomplete, afraid I’ll never be enough?
I lose myself in surfing and my art, desperate to find the meaning of my life.
Until Alec confesses his feelings to me, and a tidal wave of emotions threatens to take me under.
Because I feel the same.
But the darkness isn’t finished with me... not even close.

Alec
You can’t help who you love.
It’s always been her—my wild and carefree best friend.
I know she thinks she’s not enough, but she’s exactly my kind of beautiful.
But a girl like Lexi needs to be free, and I would rather love her from afar and keep my best friend, than love and lose her.
Then an unexpected loss shatters my world and all bets are off... proving life is too short.
No more secrets, no more waiting.
It’s time to make Lexi mine.
Mine to kiss, mine to touch, mine to love.
All. Mine.











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