Book Feature: Flynn's Firecracker by Dale Mayer

 

Welcome to Flynn’s Firecracker, book 5 in Heroes for Hire, reconnecting readers with the unforgettable men from SEALs of Honor in a new series of action packed, page turning romantic suspense that fans have come to expect from USA TODAY Bestselling author Dale Mayer.

Some jobs are more pleasant than others…
Flynn agrees to do a security job for Levi as a trial run for more work. Looking after Anna and her animal shelter is a breeze. Trouble free. Until he leaves…

Having Flynn around was both good and bad. To have the help at the shelter was huge, but they drew sparks just being around each other. She tells herself she’s relieved when he’s gone but when a dead man shows up, she’d do anything to have him back.

Someone is after Flynn… and he doesn’t care who he kills in the process…

Dale Mayer is a prolific multi-published writer. She’s best known for her Psychic Vision Series. Besides her romantic suspense/thrillers, Dale also writes paranormal romance and crossover young adult books in different genres.

To go with her fiction, she writes nonfiction in many different fields with books available on resume writing, companion gardening and the US mortgage system. She has recently published her Career Essentials Series .

All her books are available in print and digital format.

Connect with her at http://dalemayer.com or on social media at:

Book Feature: The Highlander's Reward by Eliza Knight

 

She belonged to another… But was destined to be his…

Lady Arbella de Mowbray abhors the idea of marrying an English noble occupying Scotland. When she arrives in Stirling, she is thrown into the midst of a full battle between the Scots and the English. Besieged by rebels, she is whisked from her horse by a Highland warrior who promises her safety. But when he kisses her she fears she's more in danger of losing herself.

The last thing Magnus Sutherland wants is to marry the beautiful English lass he saved. As the laird of his clan, he has a responsibility to his clan and allies. But when Arbella is attacked by one of his own men, he determines the only way to keep her safe is to make her his. A decision that promises to be extremely satisfying.

Magnus brings Arbella to his home of Dunrobin Castle in the Highlands. And that’s where the trouble begins… Their countries are at war and they should be each other’s enemy. Neither one considered their mock marriage would grow into a deeply passionate love. What’s more, they were both unhappily betrothed and those who've been scorned are out for revenge. Can their new found love keep them together or will their enemies tear them apart?

September, 1297
Northern England

Arbella de Mowbray contemplated running away. The forest was conveniently to her left and still thick with leaves. Perhaps she could join a ring of outlaws hidden within the imposing foliage.

She shifted restlessly on her mare, arranging her skirts first one way and then another. The horse responded with an annoyed snort. If only she weren’t with a dozen guards and her father. 

“Oh, hush, Bitsy,” she scoffed. The animal had no idea what was at stake here.

Anything would be better than permanently leaving England—and for Scotland! The land of heathens, barbarians… Oh, the horrors she’d heard went on there! The men ate their young. The warriors kept the bones of their victims tied to their beards. The horses were trained to sniff out an English lady and trample her to death. The women were witches. The children ran naked, even in the dead of winter. And the winters, how could she forget? No person of truly English blood could survive one.

She was glad that her maid Glenda had told her all she needed to know of Scotland. Although she could have done without the woman’s tears and fainting when Arbella asked her to join her on the journey. As a result, her old maid was not with her—in fact none of the female servants at Mowbray Manor would accompany her. She was alone, without help. Not that she needed help, but it would have been nice when she arrived in a foreign country to have someone with her from home. And while her father promised her husband would provide a maid, that maid would be Scots.

She would die before the new year—either from frostbite or at the hands of the dreaded Scots.

Now granted, her father said she would be marrying an English baron, but that mattered little. They would still reside in Scotland. And no doubt her baron husband would be just as brutal, if not more so, than the savages she’d heard tales of. Indeed, he would have to be if he kept them all tightly reined in. She knew little of her intended. Never met the man. Never heard any stories. He was a mystery. She discounted the things her father told her. He only honeyed the character of Marmaduke Stewart, hoping to sweeten the horror of her upcoming nuptials.

Arbella shivered, and rubbed her cloak-covered arms, contemplating the forest along the edge of the road. Late in the afternoon, the sun was hidden behind the trees making the road to Scotland chilly. A slight breeze blew, wrenching her hood from her head and pulling a few strands of hair from her tight chignon. Arbella tucked the hair back into the knot and pulled her hood over her ears. She hated the cold. Death might take her before the week was out. She’d no doubt shiver like mad in her new bed since the Scots abhorred warming their homes by fire. Another fact from Glenda. One thing was certain—she didn’t want to die anytime soon.

Eliza Knight is a USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author of sizzling historical romance and time-travel erotic romance. Under the name E. Knight, she pens riveting historical fiction. She runs the award-winning blog, History Undressed. When not reading, writing and researching, she likes to cuddle up in front of a warm fire with her own knight in shining armor. 

Connect with her at http://www.elizaknight.com or http://www.historyundressed.com. You can sign up for her newsletter at  http://eepurl.com/CSFFD. Follow her on social media at:

Monday, May 15
Book reviewed at Warrior Woman Winmill
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Tuesday, May 16
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Wednesday, May 17
Book reviewed at My Book Addiction and More
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Thursday, May 18
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Friday, May 19
Book reviewed at Celtic Dragon Book Reviews
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Book Feature: Dark Heart by Elizabeth Ellen Carter

 

Title: Dark Heart
Author: Elizabeth Ellen Carter

Release Date: May 12, 2017

Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing 

Genre: Historical Romance

Can love survive a dark heart?

Rome, 235 A.D.

A series of ritual murders of young boys recalls memories of Rome’s most wicked emperor. Magistrate Marcus Cornelius Drusus has discovered the cult extends to the very heart of Roman society.

Despite his personal wealth and authority, Marcus is a slave to his past – conflicted by his status as an adopted son, bitterly betrayed by his wife and forced to give up his child.

Kyna knows all about betrayal. Sold into slavery by her husband to pay a gambling debt, she found herself in Rome, far from her home in Britannia. Bought by a doctor, she is taught his trade and is about to gain her freedom when her mentor is murdered by the cult.

When the same group makes an attempt on her life, Kyna is forced to give up her freedom and accept Marcus’ protection. With no one to trust but each other, mutual attraction ignites into passion.But how far will Marcus go for vengeance when he learns the cult’s next victim is his son? 

Can the woman who is free in her heart heal the man who is a slave in his?

Elizabeth Ellen Carter’s debut novel, Moonstone Obsession, was published in 2013 by Etopia Press. Earlier that year, the Regency adventure romance had been shortlisted in the Romance Writers of Australia Emerald Awards for Best Unpublished Manuscript. Set in England and France during the French Revolution, it was heralded as ‘edge-of-seat adventure and intrigue’ and ‘a rollercoaster of love, blackmail, ill-gotten gains, treason and trickery’ with Carter described as ‘a writer worth keeping an eye on’ with ‘a hint of classic suspense novelist Daphne du Maurier’.

Her second novel, Warrior’s Surrender, was published by Etopia the following year. Set in Northumbria in 1077, it sets the relationship between a displaced Saxon noblewoman and a Norman baron against the turbulent backdrop of England in the years following the Norman invasion of 1066. Reviewers found the novel ‘a fast moving and passionate read’ with ‘strong characters, an intriguing plot, and plenty of action… a sexy romance to be savoured’. Readers agreed, voting Warrior’s Surrender Favourite Historical Fiction in the 2015 Readers & Writers Down Under Readers Choice Awards.

Also in 2014, the short story Moonstone Promise, spinning off from Moonstone Obsession as part of Etopia’s Valentines Heat anthology, followed the fortunes of one of the supporting characters back home to 18th century Pittsburgh in a tale of ‘second chance romance’.

Carter moved up to 1802 for the light-hearted romantic short story Three Ships, part of the Christmas 2014 anthology A Season To Remember, and ventured briefly into contemporary romance for the first time with her Romance Writers of Australia annual Little Gems competition placegetter, The Tin Bear, in August 2015.

Another Moonstone Obsession character, the sinful Lady Abigail Houghall, features in the full length novel Moonstone Conspiracy which was a 2015 finalist in the Australian Romance Readers Awards for best historical romance and was a nomine in the 2016 RONE Awards.

To cap off a busy year, Carter contributed September Harvest to the Second Chance Cafe anthology featuring award-winning and best-selling authors Susanne Bellamy and Noelle Clark. September Harvest is a gentle coming of age love story set among the itinerant hops harvesters in late 19th century Kent.

In 2016 Carter self-published Nocturne, a Regency gothic novella which was named by Australian Romance Today as one of the most anticipated romance titles of 2016.

Her fourth novel, set in ancient Rome is titled Dark Heart and will be published by Dragonblade Publishing in April. A sequel, to be called Dark Shadow, is currently underway.

Carter has completed her fifth full length novel, Captive of the Corsairs, which will bring together the elements for which she has become known in just a few years – in-depth historical detail woven through gripping adventure and captivating romance.

AWARDS

• 2013 Romance Writers of Australia Emerald Awards short list (Moonstone Obsession)

• 2015 Readers Writers Down Under People’s Choice for Historical Fiction (Warrior’s Surrender)

• 2015 Romance Writers of Australia Little Gem’s short story inclusion

• 2015 Australian Romance Readers Association finalist Historical Romance (Moonstone Conspiracy)

• Australian Romance Today Top 16 Most Anticipated Romance Titles of 2016 (Nocturne)

• 2016 RONE nominee (Moonstone Conspiracy)

Visit her at http://eecarter.com or on social media at

Book Feature: Leadership DNA Book Two by Paul Okum

Inside the Book:

Title: Leadership DNA

Author: Paul Okum

Publisher: iUniverse

Genre: Political Science

Format: Ebook

Not many people are satisfied with the leaders we have in the public and private sectors. We are suffering from a severe lack of good leadership—even though billions of dollars per year are spent on leadership training and development.

The root cause of this leadership vacuum is that leadership gurus firmly believe, teach, and preach that anyone can be “made” into a leader with the right training, personal desire, and commitment. With this premise, they’ve approached leadership as a commonplace and elementary skill that anyone can learn. There’s just one problem: they’re wrong.

In this guidebook on leadership, you’ll learn about all aspects of leadership, including:

how to look past personality profiles, leadership models, and traditional assessment tools to grasp what makes a great leader;

how to identify and select natural born leaders to achieve your objectives;

how to deal with poor leaders who hurt you and your organization.

Leadership DNA examines the false premise that anyone can be a leader and provides insights and tools that lead to a better system of identifying, selecting, and developing born leaders.

Meet the Author:

Paul Okum earned a bachelor’s degree from Temple University in business administration. He worked forty years, spending time in the military as a US Army officer and in leadership positions with the federal government in the Departments of Transportation, Interior, and the Army, as well as serving as a human-resources director in the Defense Department. He is retired and lives in Florida.

Book Feature: The Love Story of Creation by Edward Ruetz

Inside the Book:

Title: The Love Story of Creation: Book One

Author: Edward Ruetz

Publisher: iUniverse

Genre: Religion

Format: Ebook

A man awakens one day in a land of brilliant light. Unsure of his surroundings, he sees another man, woman, and their child surrounded by a pure crimson energy of love. He soon realizes that the Divine Beings intend to use their energy of love to give birth to new beings. And so begins an expanding Universe, fueled by diverse particles woven by gravity’s power into a massive web.
The Divine Beings empower atoms to be agents of creativity. The first beings, Quarkie and Photie, join twelve atom friends and quadrillions of other atoms who manage to create billions of suns in billions of galaxies. After the Divine Beings take the atom pals on journeys back to the past to visit other atom families, the atom friends living in the Milky Way Galaxy are jolted by an exploding supernova and land on planet Earth where they eventually create the first living beings.

During the next two billion years, they engage in a crucial mission—the conception of the eukaryote cell—which will determine all future creativity on Earth. But just as they are certain of their success, a momentous catastrophe threatens to end their creative journey

Meet the Author:

Edward J. Ruetz is a retired priest and a founding member of Earthworks, an Indiana ecological community since 1988. He currently lives in Indiana where he presents workshops on the Universe and the scientific story of creation, and continues his interest in the evolution versus religion debate and social justice issues

Secret Lives and Private Eyes by Heather Weidner

 

Title: Secret Lives and Private Eyes
Author: Heather Weidner

Release Date: May 2016

Publisher: Koehler Books

Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense

Business has been slow for Private Investigator Delanie Fitzgerald, but her luck seems to change when a tell-all author hires her to find rock star Johnny Velvet. Could the singer—whose career purportedly ended in a fiery crash almost thirty years ago—still be alive?

As if sifting through dead ends in a cold case isn’t bad enough, Delanie is hired by loud-mouth strip club owner Chaz Wellington Smith, III, to uncover information about the mayor’s secret life. When the mayor is murdered, Chaz becomes the key suspect, and Delanie must clear his name. She also has to figure out why a landscaper keeps popping up in her other investigation. Can the private investigator find the connection between the two cases before another murder—possibly her own—takes place?

Secret Lives and Private Eyes is a fast-paced mystery that will appeal to readers who like a strong, female sleuth with a knack for getting herself in and out of difficult, and sometimes humorous, situations.

Heather Weidner’s short stories appear in Virginia is for Mysteries, Virginia is for Mysteries Volume II, and 50 Shades of Cabernet. Currently, she is a member of Sisters in Crime, Sisters in Crime Central Virginia, Guppies, Lethal Ladies Write, and James River Writers. Secret Lives and Private Eyes is her debut novel. 

 Originally from Virginia Beach, Heather has been a mystery fan since Scooby Doo and Nancy Drew. She lives in Central Virginia with her husband and a pair of Jack Russell terriers. 

 Heather earned her BA in English from Virginia Wesleyan College and her MA in American literature from the University of Richmond. Through the years, she has been a technical writer, editor, college professor, software tester, and IT manager.

Visit her at http://www.heatherweidner.com or on social media at: