Rise of Dresca

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This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a $40 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

From the pits of an ancient darkness, a new power is rising.

******

Ceremai has fallen.

After a decade of struggle for independence, a fledgling nation collapses under the unrelenting force of invasion.

Join an unlikely band of allies on a journey beset by shadow and intrigue, pulled by the strings of fate to the source of a new evil.

A lord’s daughter turns assassin. An orphan girl discovers her power. A captain plots in vain.

And the last soldier of Ceremai finds his destiny.

Witness the dawn of a new age, and learn if what evil intended for harm…

… can become something far more terrible.

Read an Excerpt

Elaryn pressed her back against the sharp cliff rocks, panting as she sucked in the stale, toxic air. Her team, huddled together around the corner, felt the fumes scraping their lungs as much as she did. They wouldn’t have thought much of her forced, frantic breathing. They didn’t know.

They had to die.

She’d been planning these murders for months, but her resolve was untested. She knew there’d be no going back, and once it started, she’d have to be quick.

A crashing force shook the cliffside. Elaryn heard a few stifled screams as she fell onto her hands and knees. Her ears were ringing and her vision blurred, but she turned to take in the chaos. Four members of the team were bloodied masses scattered around the small crater where her pack had been. Good. There needed to be blood. Her heart raced, but the cold edge to her inner voice was unnerving.

Vorsha, the Selvan envoy leading the mission, began to stir and whimper a few paces away. Elaryn charged, covering the distance in seconds and driving her knee into the woman’s face. Vorsha’s head snapped back and cracked loudly against a rock. Shrapnel wounds peppered her abdomen and stained her scarlet dress a deeper crimson. She wouldn’t be trouble. Five down.

One last kill. Elaryn knew this one would be the hardest. She stepped over the corpse by her feet, boots dripping blood that pooled in charcoal sand. She left the woman’s eyes open, her face already pale with death. Evil like this didn’t deserve peace.

But Paltess was different. The boy was seventeen, just five years her junior. And she couldn’t be sure he was compromised. Unlike the others.

About the Author

Tim McKay is a writer, editor, and marketer from Ottawa, Canada. He used to be a pastor, still cares about good and evil, and still strives to create meaningful experiences for others. He has degrees in history, theology, and public policy, along with a diploma in professional writing, but likes nothing more than hiking in the woods, running along the Rideau Canal, and connecting with the people he loves. Oh, and reading a good book.

Author Site: https://www.timmckay.ca/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/timmckay52
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timmckay52/

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Star Rider: On the Razor's Edge

                                THE STAR RIDER UNIVERSE SERIES

by Heidi Skarie 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

GENRE:  Science Fiction

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

The Star Rider Universe series blurb

 

Can a small band of heroes save their world from a ruthless interplanetary conqueror?

 

The Star Rider series is an exciting space opera series that takes place in a distant galaxy during an intergalactic war. The first three books are about two undercover operatives, Toemeka and Erling, and their friends, lovers, and enemies as they fight for the freedom of their world.

 

The next three books are about Toemeka and Erling’s young adult children as the war continues and a new generation is pulled into the struggle for peace.

 

You'll love this thrilling series if you like stories that take place in other worlds with feisty heroines, brave heroes, space battles, and starships.

 

 

Book One: Star Rider on the Razor’s Edge 

 

He wanted to rule the stars. He shouldn’t have murdered her family…

 

Toemeka Ganti won’t rest until the universe is rid of the sinister sorcerer-deity who killed her parents. Working undercover to liberate a peaceful people from his ruthless usurper, she attempts to develop a weapon that can break through the tyrant’s shields. But she’s barely begun her work when she’s captured by the despot’s dark agents.

 

Rescued by a mysterious and handsome warrior-priest, Toemeka and her team join forces with the planetary resistance. But without her device to knock out the enemy defenses, their budding rebellion could swiftly be crushed. And her time to complete it has almost run out…

 

Can Toemeka free an oppressed planet and light a spark of hope throughout the galaxy?

 

Star Rider on the Razor’s Edge is the electrifying first book in the Star Rider space opera series. If you like feisty heroines, high-tech weapons, and courageous crews, then you’ll love Heidi Skarie’s thrilling saga.

 

Excerpt

From Book 1 Star Rider on the Razor’s Edge, A Space Opera Adventure, 

 

Toemeka raced through the dense, ominous forest, pursued by Talon soldiers and their vicious hounds. More hounds rushed out from behind trees. Saliva and blood dripped from their fangs as they growled and stalked her from all directions. 

 

Toemeka jerked awake, her heart pounding and body shaking. Only a nightmare, she reassured herself, drawing a deep breath to control the anxiety. She felt awful - hung over and thickheaded. Not knowing where she was, Toemeka shoved a damp lock of hair off her aching forehead and sat up. In a nearby berth less than five feet away lay Michio, sleeping soundly. 

 

Distorted memories of the previous evening sprung to mind. Hammering music. A snake slithering around a man’s neck. Rochambeau shot. The smell of a ship burning. She wasn’t sure what was real and what was an illusion caused by the drug. 

 

Monitors along one wall dimly lit the room. The low drone of engines and a distinct vibration suggested she was on a starship or perhaps a space station. Stars and planets shone as dots of light in the blackness of space when she looked out the porthole. Most likely a space station with simulated gravity, she decided. 

 

She pushed the silver space blanket off her clammy body and slid off the berth. Her bare feet hit the cool floor. She took a soft step, swayed unsteadily and threw out a hand, pressing it against the wall to regain her balance. Michio’s brown leather jacket hung from a hook on the wall. She crept quietly towards it in hopes of finding his energy gun. 

 

Michio rolled over; she froze. once his breathing became regular again, she thrust her hand into the jacket pocket. empty, but something heavy clunked against the wall. Underneath the jacket hung his gun belt. Her hand closed around the solid handle of a Juggernaut 50, a powerful energy gun; she pulled it from its holster.

 

 The berth creaked. She swung around and aimed the Jug 50 at Michio as he leaped out of the berth. He coiled before her like a huka panther ready to spring, radiating self-confidence. He had the muscular body of a warrior and seemed taller and more dangerous than he’d appeared when asleep. He wore nothing but loose-fitting silk sleeping pants that hugged his taut stomach. 

 

Blast it! Why did she feel vulnerable when she was the one holding the Jug 50? Then it hit her. The weapon was of little use because she would never shoot someone who might be an ally. “Stay where you are!” she exclaimed. 

 

He studied her with piercing eyes. “I see you’re finally awake.” 

 

She held out her free hand. “Give me the Viper’s keyless remote.” 

 

He scowled. “Are you crazy? Do you think I’m just going to let you steal my ship and leave me stranded in space?” 

 

“I’m sure you know someone who will come get you. Now give me the remote or I’ll blast a hole in your thigh.” Feeling weak and nauseated, she locked her knees, afraid her strength would give out. 

 

“So this is what I get for risking my life to rescue you.” His stance remained guarded. 

 

“If you were rescuing me, you won’t mind taking me back to my apartment.” 

 

He shook his head. “It’s no longer safe for you there.”

 

“I’ll decide what’s safe and what isn’t.”

 

“Fine,” he snapped, “but I need to get dressed before we go anywhere.” He reached for his clothes hanging on the hook behind her.

 

“Stay back. I’ll hand them to you.” 

 

“Don’t push me. And put the Jug 50 away before one of us gets hurt.” 

 

“Not likely.” She kept the gun trained on him, then turned to snatch his clothes off the hook. 

 

He sprang, knocking her backwards, slamming her right arm against the wall. The gun discharged with a flare of light as it flew out of her hand and onto a berth. She pushed against his unyielding chest. 

 

He pinned her against the wall. “Now will you listen to reason?” His eyes flared with fury.

A Word With the Author:

Did you always want to be an author?

 

No, learning to read wasn’t easy for me. I moved in first grade from a school that taught the whole word approach to one that taught the phonics method and got lost in the process. I focused my creative energies on art and got a fine art major in college. 

 

When my children were young, I had a series of six dreams that resulted in a ninety-page journal. It was such a fun story I decided to learn how to write a novel. After that, the rest of the series just came to me.

 

Tell us about the publication of your first book.

 

My first published book was Red Willow’s Quest, about a Native American woman studying to be a medicine woman in the Rocky Mountains. It was published by a small publisher, Sunshine Press in Boulder, Colorado. It was exciting to hold my first book. I received lots of letters and cards from people who enjoyed it. I also did a book tour and spoke on radio and TV. 

 

Besides yourself, who is your favorite author in the genre you write in?

 

I’m currently writing a sci-fi series, the Star Rider Universe. I love Star Wars movies and books about that world by various authors. I also enjoyed Ann Aguirre’s Sirantha Jax series.

 

What’s the best part of being an author? The worst?

 

I love telling stories and developing interesting characters. It’s fun to create my own world on a distant planet and come up with different races of people, plants, and animals. I like wondering what it would be like to travel in space or what it would be like to fly a spaceship.

 

It’s hard to become a skilled novelist and to catch all the mistakes that appear in the final copy. It can also be hard to have your work critiqued. 

 

What are you working on now?

 

Currently, I’m writing Heir to Jaipar, the seventh book in the Star Rider Universe. I’ve completed the first draft and I’m going through it now chapter by chapter to make it stronger. Then I’ll give it to a few beta readers before editing it again and giving it to an editor.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Heidi Skarie is the author of the Sci-Fi, Space Opera series The Star Rider Universe. The sixth book in the series, Golden Cord of Light is a new release and the seventh is coming out in 2024. She was inspired to write Star Rider on the Razor’s Edge after having a series of six dreams that was like watching a movie. 

 

Heidi Skarie loves writing and creating stories. She especially enjoys writing science fiction and fantasy because it allows for creativity, imagination, and freedom of ideas. All inventions come from a feeling or dream of possibilities that can later manifest like computers, cell phones, zoom calls, and self-driving cars.  She vividly remembers the amazing day when Neil Armstrong took his first step on the moon and the possibility of space travel became a reality.

 

Skarie teaches classes on writing and has spoken on podcasts, radio, and television.  

 

She lives in Minnetonka, MN with her husband, Jim, and their cat, Lucky.  To find out more about her journey as a writer visit her website and blog.

 

Website/blog: http://www.heidiskarieauthor.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heidi.skarie

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeidiSkarie

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

Giveaway Information

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Beyond the Book: Shoes? Jewelry? Books?

 “No matter how many ___ I have, I always have the urge to buy more.”

When I first proposed this topic I had shoes in mind. It’s very hard to pass up a nice pair of shoes. I was a teacher for thirty five years so I had to wear comfortable shoes, but on weekends I indulged my love for things like strappy little sandals or shoes with flowers on them. I still like both of these very much, but I don’t buy them too much now. At the present time my feet don’t like high heels much. The last shoes I bought are Clark’s, and they were bought for comfort not looks, but they’re cute anyway. One of my projects this summer has been to go through my shoes and get rid of the shoes I couldn’t wear anymore. I assure you a LOT of shoes left my closet. It’s too bad, but LOTS of shoes are left. I didn’t feel so bad when I saw my husband’s shoes. He won’t give away any of his. Or his hats. He has a nice hat collection and seldom goes out of the house without one.

I also thought I might pick jewelry as my ‘can’t pass it up’ item. I love jewelry and always have. My husband learned quickly that jewelry makes a nice present for me. The last piece he gave me matched my ruby ring. It was a ruby tennis bracelet. Previously he had given me earrings and a necklace to match the ring which was my anniversary present. The thing is, though, that I have jewelry to match almost anything you can think of. I really don’t need any more. So, I give a sigh and keep walking when I pass a jewelry store. The only thing I might make an exception for is a blue diamond. I LOVE blue diamonds. What was the last thing I bought for myself? A pair of earrings made like daisies. I have a navy blouse with daisies on the sleeve so I looked at Amazon, and they came through for me. 

I’d probably collect dogs if I could get my husband on board. When we’re out and we drive by a dog he says, “Yes the dog has a home and no we aren’t taking him.” 

So, what would be my ‘can’t have too many item?’ Books. My son was shocked when he got a good look at the books in my library. I read big name authors, new authors, and books whose blurb catches my attention, If I like an author I’ll check to see what else he or she has written. I like series. I also read across a wide variety of genres. The last book I bought was Demon Copperhead which I intend to review for you very soon. (I’ll have to check. Maybe I already did review it.) I also have several more waiting in the queue. One is Treasure At Trail’s End, a historical mystery/romance. Another is Don’t Forget to Write. I keep putting that one off. I never feel guilty for buying books. People can experience so many different lives and emotions in a book. I’ve been a reader since I was a small child. If you ever hear that I have no interest in book you’ll know that I’m pretty bad off! 

Would anyone like to share their ‘must have’ item? I’d love to hear about it.

S'More Than a Feeling

 💜 S’more Than a Feeling by Marika Ray releases in THREE DAYS in Kindle Unlimited!

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Linc was on the side of his trailer, rinsing himself with a water hose. Water sluiced over his bare skin and traveled lower, getting caught in the swim trunks slung low on his hips. His head was tilted back, eyes shut as the water pelted his face and upper body. My mouth opened on a silent groan. It was like getting an unexpected front-row seat to a strip show. Not that I’d been to one. But I had a feeling it would be a lot like this. The man had added more tattoos to his body since I last saw it naked, each one ratcheting up his hot factor.

When his head came up and he blinked his eyes open, he smiled, leaning down to shut off the water. “Hey,” he whispered, straightening and grabbing a towel slung over the awning of his trailer.

“Hey,” I said back lamely.

He was rubbing that towel all over his body and I wanted to be the one to do it. I wanted to touch every hard bump of muscle and every dip in between. I wanted to trace every tattoo that dotted his tan skin and feel the tickle of his hair. I wanted to memorize every way in which he’d changed from five years ago. He’d been a young adult back then, but came back all man.

He finally tossed the towel near the door to his trailer and came over. “Sorry. My shower isn’t working.”

I blinked away my wayward thoughts. “It’s okay. But you can always use mine if you need to.” I sucked in a breath, wondering where the hell that invite had come from. I didn’t want him in our private space.

Did I?

A drop of water fell from his hair and landed on his chest. Without even thinking, I reached out and caught it with my finger. And then my finger stayed, tracing down the contours of his torso. Linc inhaled sharply, his muscles flexing as I touched him.

“Keva?” he asked so low I barely heard him.

“Yeah?” I fluttered my eyelids up and locked eyes with him. His were hooded with the same desire I felt pooled in my gut.

“You still mad at me?” he asked. My finger came back up between his pec muscles, feeling the soft scratch of his light chest hair.

“I don’t think so,” I admitted. I didn’t feel angry at all.

He snatched my hand and held it firm in his grip, stopping my movement. “If you keep touching me, you’re going to find yourself on your back.”

My heart fluttered at his threat. I wanted the press of a man against me. And not just any man. This one. Paisley was right. I was a mom, not a nun. I had a right just like anybody else to go after what I wanted.

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And Then I Met You

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Have you ever wondered whether your beloved watches over you from their heavenly post? Have you often had the feeling that your loved one has remained right by your side, even after the final goodbyes? And Then I Met You is the true story of a love so enduring and eternal, it transcends the barriers of time, space, and life itself.

In these pages, you will meet two people whose love is challenged at every turn. The countless barriers that stand between them and true togetherness seem endless. And then the unthinkable happens--and all the barriers vanish in the most unexpected and miraculous of ways.

This epic love story will linger in your thoughts long after the last page, and remain as a twinkle in the sky and a smile in your heart. Who knows? You may even look at life, love, and death in a whole new light.

Read an Excerpt

“Have you heard from Mike for your birthday?” asked my friend Angie.

It was late October of 2018, a full month after my birthday. We were sitting at Willie’s Steak House at the time, having a belated celebratory dinner.

“No, I haven’t…and it’s been too long. Even for him.”

Mike and I always managed a phone conversation on or near our birthdays, no matter how far apart we might be, geographically speaking. He wasn’t usually able to call me on my actual birthday or his, but he always snuck in under the wire and called me sometime in my birthday month (and his).

Close enough. As long as he got the month right, that was good enough for me. After all, we were separated by many miles now, with me being up north and him down south.

Circumstances were such that I couldn’t call and had to wait for him to call me. First, July—Mike’s birthday month—came and went and I didn’t hear from him. When September—my birthday month—rolled around, and I still hadn’t heard from him, I felt a little uneasy. But I hadn’t paid any attention to the vague emptiness I felt until I heard Angie’s question.

“What’s his full name?” she asked, pulling out her phone and going onto Google. “Oh, no, is that him?”

I looked at her phone and saw the website of a funeral home. “Oh, dear God. It can’t be him…but it is.” All I could think was, Oh, Mike, don’t let me down.

Don’t let me down…I’m in love for the first time, Don’t you know it’s gonna last, It’s a love that lasts forever, It’s a love that had no past… (The Beatles)

“…He died peacefully at his home,” read the death announcement. Mike had died on May 18th, 2018, five months earlier. Photos of him, along with words that had been written about his passing, stared back at me.

About the Author: Mackenzie Lee is an aspiring author known for her ability to weave heartwarming tales that touch the soul. Her book, "And Then I Met You," is a poignant and uplifting true story that explores the depths of enduring love and its ability to transcend the boundaries of time and space.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Then-Met-You-Unbelievable-Story/dp/0228887739

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Checking the Center

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Title: Checking the Center

Series: The Zamboni Diaries, Book #0.5

Author: Delancey Stewart

Genre: Sports (Hockey Romance), Forced Proximity, Enemies to Lovers

Release Date: August 31, 2023

Cover Design: Kelly Lambert Greer

Cover Photo: Jane Ashley Converse

Cover Model: Tim Reed

A forced-proximity, naked-man-on-my-couch hockey romcom that'll have you snort-laughing!

You have to be pretty desperate to consult someone referred to as the Drunken Psychic for insight into your perennially single status.

But that's me...

• Working in a bakery despite dreaming of culinary school.
• Hanging out with my happily married friends and trying not to be gut-twistingly jealous.
• And renting a blissfully sweet one-bedroom apartment on the banks of a river that has been a much-needed refuge.

Until now.

Because tonight, after trying to make heads or tails of the psychic's mysterious pronouncements about my love life, I arrive home to find a man on my couch.

A very naked, very muscley, very handsome man.

Did I mention he was butt naked?

And things only get more confusing from there. We have a whole conversation, in which he reveals that he's the star center for the Wilcox Wombats hockey team, Rock Stevens. And that Rock is actually his real name. And that he's in town for a week for an all-star pickleball tournament. And that my apartment is actually his apartment.

And then he refuses to leave. Things only get more confusing from there.

As we try to navigate our sudden forced-roommates situation while the landlord gets to the bottom of the mixup, Rock decides to turn the tables. Instead of being annoyed that I'm in his apartment, he suddenly becomes charming. Sweet, even. And even though I know it's a mistake, he charms me right up onto the kitchen counter, and... well, you can imagine the rest.

The guy's only in town for a week. Surely I can protect my silly single heart for that long? But with every stolen kiss and whispered promise, I can't help but wonder if I'm the one who’s getting played.

HOSTED BY:

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Cocktails & Casualties

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This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author is awarding 4 prizes to randomly drawn winners (a leather bound diary and pen, a set of 4 drink coasters, a pewter necklace of a Quetzal bird, a copper compass). Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Teddy Aarons is a nomad, using her bartending skills as an excuse to move to a new luxury resort with each change of the season. But when she finds herself stuck on the remote island of Mahina Cay, she finds refuge in the quirky little Township of Crooked Cove.

Crooked Cove is a village of expatriates from various countries, and the people are welcoming, but she only intends to stay long enough to make the money to get off the island and back to her real life.. However, when one of the village’s most distinguished citizens turns up dead, it’s up to her to either solve the case or become a permanent resident of the slammer!

With her new friend Jasmine at her side, Teddy will do whatever it takes to shake out the truth and stir up the real killer to clear her name. Will she manage to keep herself out of lockup, or will she end up under the influence of the Mahina Cay Prison?

Read an Excerpt

“Teddy, what are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking you should give me the pictures and the phone and wait here,” she said.

Jazz pulled her purse close to her. “Oh hell no. If you are going to question Frannie, you’re not leaving me sitting out of the action. I’m coming with you.”

Knowing it was pointless to argue, Teddy sighed. “Alright. But you have to promise me to behave, Jazz. Let me do the talking. We are going to try the soft approach first.”

The look in Jazz’s eyes told Teddy she was not planning on staying silent. She was chomping at the bit to back Frannie into a corner.

Frannie stood and walked to the ladies’ room, and they followed. Teddy counted to twenty, and then walked in with Jazz behind her. The room was empty except for the two of them, and Frannie was in the last stall. Teddy pointed to the door, and Jazz silently locked it. They leaned against the door and waited for Frannie to emerge....

About the Author:

Carly Wayne first discovered her love of storytelling as a child when she would create alternate endings for all of her favorite fairy tales. As she grew, her fascination developed into a passion for writing about the characters and worlds she imagined.

Now, Carly has returned to her ancestral home deep in the woods of Jacksonville, Florida, not too far from the ocean. She fills her days pursuing her bliss by writing, creating, and exploring nature.

Carly holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Psychology.

Website: https://carlywayne.online
Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/cocktails-casualties
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/creator.of.worlds
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarlyWayneJax
GoodReads: https://cutt.ly/carlywayne-goodreads
BookBub: https://cutt.ly/carlywayne-bookbub

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