Charlatan's Magic

BLURB:

Love, Trickery, Murder. All are abundant in the Jewel City. Ben is a schemer and a pickpocket. He knows the city well...and he is torn. Does he betray the woman he loves? Does he have a choice? Will he follow his heart, firmly in the grasp of the beautiful Athena, or give in to the unsavory life he knows?

EXCERPT:

Athena ran for the door, aching to be on the other side where it could hide her. They would hear her weeping for certain. She rushed through and slammed it shut, just as the pain in her eyes became too much to bear.

“It’s all so stupid,” she sobbed. “Just a long day.”

There would be more of the same tomorrow. Sometimes it got to be too much. When father was alive there was always someone there to take on the burdens. She loved her brother, but Nikolas was not that man.

She thought of Ben, the stranger sitting with Nikolas in the other room. It was his tune on father’s lute that had brought the tears. For a moment she thought she might look over and see father sitting at the hearth. She had glanced that way, but of course…

The two were not so similar. Ben was tall and thin where her father had been stout. Nikolas got his boisterous laugh from father, yet she doubted Ben could speak above a whisper. It must have been his kind eyes that brought on the memories.

Athena struggled to control the sniffling aftermath of her tears. She felt an itch in her ear, a soft sound she couldn’t make out through the door. Was it music? Yes. She opened a crack and listened. Her eyes closed as she leaned her head against the doorjamb. She could almost see Ben’s fingers on the strings. He had merely been toying with the instrument before. He had been holding back.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Bio:

Patrick Bran spent much of his early life moving around. He traveled from the Middle East to Antarctica by way of the US Army. When he returned home to Washington State, Patrick quickly began what would become a lifelong involvement in theatre. His work in stagecraft eventually took him to Washington DC, where he built scenery for a nationally-renowned regional theatre. When progress demanded it, Patrick left the scene shop and took the reins of the theatre's young web presence, a job he has been doing for more than a decade. Patrick still lives in Washington DC with his wife and two daughters. He writes fiction and gets his best ideas from ancient history, myth and the legends of the past.

Links:

Website: http://PatrickBran.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PtkBran

Twitter: @PtkBran

Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.to/1BxFHOu

The author is giving away a $ 15 B&N/Amazon gift certificate. Use the rafflecopter link below to enter. You can find his schedule at : http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2015/03/book-blast-charlatans-magic-by-patrick.html

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Beyond the Book: the Secret Service

The Secret Service is one of the major elements in Blue 52, but how much do you know about it?  Most people don't know too much.

The Secret Service is one of America's oldest federal investigative law enforcement agencies.  It was founded in 1865 as a branch of the U.S. Treasury Department. It was originally created to combat counterfeiting which was a serious problem at the time.  They didn’t get involved in protecting the president until 1901 following the assassination of President William McKinley in Buffalo, New York.  So today they have two major goals: protection of the president, the vice-president, and other high government officials and protecting our financial infrastructure.

 Secret Service agents are authorized to do all of the following things:

Carry guns

Execute warrants

Make arrests without warrants if necessary

Offer rewards for information

Investigate certain kinds of fraud

Would you like to be a Secret Service agent?  If so, be aware that you’ll have to pass a full background check that lasts anywhere from six to nine months. They’ll be checking your employment and police records, credit history, school transcripts, and military records.  They’ll also be asking your neighbors and acquaintances about you.  To be hired you’ll have to be able to get Top Secret government clearance.

Still want to join up? Here’s the place to start: http://www.secretservice.gov/opportunities_fairs.shtml  Lots of luck!

Blue 52 is a Recommended Read from Harlie's Books.

Sweet Saturday Sample and a Sale

Hello, and welcome to my blog.  My excerpt today comes from Her Kind of Man which is available at Amazon and at http://www.lachesispublishing.com/proddetail.asp?prod=HerKindofMan  If you'd like a copy of the book go to the lachesis address and you can get 25% off with this code:
Her-Kind-of-Man-25-percent-discount

I'd really appreciate it if you'd go to the book page on Amazon and like and tag it.  The address is at the bottom of this post. Thanks in advance.

Okay, here's a blurb, then an excerpt.

Blurb:

Is it possible she’s finally found Her Kind of Man?

 

Ross Williams has been in love with Kara Cochrane since they were kids so when Kara's fiancé Brandon Miles cheats on her and calls off their wedding—Ross steps in to rescue the damsel in distress.

A heartbroken Kara just wants to get on with her life and hunky Ross provides her with a definite distraction—that is until she starts falling for him. Big time.

But a devastating family secret threatens to destroy everything that Kara holds dear—including her relationship with Ross.

 

Excerpt: In this excerpt, my hero and heroine are on their first date after Kara's sister stole her fiance.  Yeah, it was her sister who took her fiance.

 

Ross lifted her chin from his shoulder and kissed her.

She kissed him back. Brandon might not want her, but Ross did, and by golly if he wanted a kiss she’d give him one. It did feel strange to kiss someone besides Brandon. Ross didn’t hold her the same way.  Somehow, she felt he was totally in charge of this kiss, and that wasn’t always the case with Brandon. She clenched Ross’s shoulders.  His kiss was charged with a smoldering sexual energy that had been sadly lacking of late in Brandon’s kisses. Her fingers played across his back. Brandon had never felt so masculine and hard!  

Kara forgot about her meeting with Brandon’s parents, and she forgot about coming to the lake with Brandon. She’d have to be made of stone not to pay any attention to this kiss.

When Ross raised his head, Kara’s eyes fluttered open.

“That was nice,” she whispered, or maybe she only thought she said it. She didn’t know.

He bent his head again, but the lights from a passing car illuminated the SUV’s interior. Kara pulled away from him.

“Don’t, Ross. We shouldn’t be parked on the side of the road kissing each other.”

“Then where should we park?”

Kara blinked and tried to pull herself together.  “What?”

“To kiss. Where should we park so I can kiss you?’

Kara smiled in spite of herself. “We don’t need to be kissing at all. I don’t make a habit of kissing men on the first date.”

“You don’t know that,” Ross retorted. “It’s been a long time since you had a first date.”

The book is available at the following places.  Don't forget the 25% discount.

http://www.lachesispublishing.com/proddetail.asp?prod=HerKindofMan

http://www.amazon.com/Her-Kind-of-Man-ebook/dp/B007TCJ36E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334375227&sr=8-1

http://www.bookstrand.com/her-kind-of-man-0

http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-herkindofman-771739-149.html