Friday, June 29, 2018

Secondary Characters with Kat Henry Doran

Kat Henry Doran wrote me a letter about her favorite secondary characters. Here's Kat to tell you her thoughts.

 Hi, Jana, 
Thanks so much for having me pay a return visit to your enchanting blog. I was just there a few weeks ago, promoting my reunion trilogy, Vengeance Is Mine

Since much of VIM involves the lead characters exacting revenge on the bullies who tormented them back in the day, I decided to talk in general about secondary characters and their worth to a story. 

Instead of boring your readers with the same characters from Vengeance, I decided to go to some of my favorite books, movies and TV shows. In particular, I thought about those which I often go back and revisit whenever I need a day to veg out or recuperate from a grinding physical event.

It came to me that secondary characters add color without claiming the whole palate. They follow because they chose not to lead. They often add comic relief. In my world, if a man [or woman] doesn't make me laugh, I don't want to spend a lot of time with them. They support the lead character without assuming control. 

They are memorable without the need to win the prize for Best Actor.

So . . . without further ado, I ask where would 
Walt Longmire be without Henry Standing Bear.
Raylan Givens without Boyd Crowder
Brenda Leigh Johnson without Louie Provenza & Andy Flynn
Benny Rosato without Mary DiNunzio
And, last but certainly not least, Stephanie Plum without Lula

Thanks for having me, Jana. This has been fun because you made me think. That's always a challenge!
Kat


Vengeance Is Mine, a contemporary romantic trilogy by Kat Henry Doran

Blurb: 
Ever think about going back to study hall to face down the school bully?
The mean girls?
The brainless jocks who made your life a pure misery?
For Dru Horvath, gypsy orphan turned Pulitzer Prize winning photo-journalist; Rafe Archangeli, Scourge of Summerville who now heads a multi-million dollar trust; and Fiona “Fat Aggie” Thorpe who recreated herself into an A-list model with her own A-list agency, the opportunity to exact revenge is too good to pass up.
Will they find the vengeance they crave?
Or something more valuable?


An excerpt from The List, featuring Mick and Fiona Thorpe:

  Frustrated with the holdup, Fee glanced around for points of entry, hoping she'd be able to spot Dru the second she entered the ballroom.

A hand on her arm claimed her attention; Rafe Archangeli leaned close. “Here comes someone you should meet.”

Without taking her eyes off the entry door, she murmured, “Who?”

“Last year's Eastman winner and a helluva of a nice guy.”

“Where?”

“There. Coming toward us.”

One nano-second later all thoughts of revenge left Fee's mind like steam escaping a kettle.

The weathered appearance of his face announced he'd lived ten times over. Thick gold hair flecked with gray grazed the collar of his suit jacket. Broad through the shoulders and chest, narrow at the waist and hips, he had the long legged grace of a broken field runner.

Moving across the parquet floor as if born to a runway, he carried himself with an innate confidence. Without disrupting that fluid stride, he undid his tie before shrugging out of the suit jacket which he slung over one shoulder with the tip of his index finger.

She'd almost given up finding a man so perfect.

This one had The Look.


To purchase Vengeance Is Mine, go to:

www.CreateSpace.com/6269528
www.Amazon.com/dp/1533214514
www.Amazon.ca/dp/1533214514
www.Amazon.co.uk/dp/1533214514
www.Amazon.de/dp/1533214514
www.Amazon.es/dp/1533214514
www.Amazon.fr/dp/1533214514
www.Amazon.it/dp/1533214514

Author bio:

Kat Henry Doran lives in western New York State with her husband, three children, four grandchildren and assorted cats, dogs, rabbits and fish. A retired nurse and occasional advocate for the disadvantaged, she now devotes her free time--what there is of it--to designing and creating tote bags and aprons, writing the stories she loves to read and spending as much time as possible with the four brightest lights in her life: Meredith and Owen, Kieran and Ashlin.

To learn more about Kat and the stories she creates, go to:
Blog:  www.WildWomenAuthorsx2.blogspot.com
www.ApronsWithAttitude2.blogspot.com

Facebook:  www.Facebook.com/WildWomenAuthors

Pinterest:  www.Pinterest.com/KatHenryDoran

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

#.99cent #sale Cj Fosdick and The Accidental Stranger

Fellow Wild Rose Press author Cj Fosdick is with me once again to talk about her Accidental series; The Accidental Wife and The Accidental Stranger. Today I'm featuring a blurb and excerpt from book 2 in the series,The Accidental Stranger. Both books in the series are on sale for .99 cents until July 1. Please welcome Cj Fosdick!


CLIPPED  in CONFERENCE by Cj Fosdick                                                             

     Thirty years ago I attended my first Writer’s Conference in Rochester, MN. It was a weekend mecca for hopeful writers flocking together to learn from two famous Minnesota authors.
Frederick Manfred and Jon Hassler are both deceased now but their writing was alive in 1986, and they actually read and evaluated the excerpts that were turned in. Mine was one of them. I had already won a short story contest and been published in a few magazines and anthologies, but I was a novel novice. I was also a novice coffee drinker, nervous enough to slosh the WC agenda.

     Tall and formidable, the 6 ft. 9 in. Manfred pulled my excerpt first and read his comments in the margin. “Condense…use simple liquid words…polysyllabics diffuse meaning.” My wings were clipped.  Jon Hassler’s critique restored flight. The college professor/novelist announced one graphic piece reminded him of Giants in the Earth, an acclaimed novel by Minnesota’s most famous Norwegian immigrant, Ole Rolvaag. “Powerful stuff,” Hassler announced, “from C.J. Fosdick.”

     Subsequently, that first novel was rejected, and its thin-skinned author iced it for decades in a garage freezer. Life, meanwhile, continued with occasional freelance work sandwiched in time slots between four children and thirty animals, including 20 horses. Horse shows, training and rescuing animals clipped my writing agenda.

     Five years ago, I visited a friend in Las Vegas and attended another Writer Conference while there. WC’s had drastically changed, along with the Publishing Industry. Only 5% of published manuscripts were first novels in 1986. With the internet and eBooks, new novelists were storming the castle gates of traditional publishing. Pitching a novel at Conferences was then a new substitute for query letters that often ended up in slush piles. Like speed dating, a writer had 10 minutes to convince an agent or publisher they were traditionally “publishable.”

     I tested the climate by joining three National Writing Groups and attended numerous Writer Conferences all over the U.S. and one in London after a bucket-list tour. But it was at a Kansas City Conference with Women Writing the West that I won a Laura award for a short story. The judge suggested it begged to become a novel. I  managed to dine beside the publisher of an acclaimed small press that evening.“Send me the finished novel,” Rhonda Penders suggested. Motivated fingers pounded laptop keys, and a year later my first published novel was released by The Wild Rose Press.

      I’m still flying high. With an empty nest…and barn, I’ve had two other stories published, one in a British anthology and an audible in the candy heart series of WRP. I’m also working on my third novel in the Accidental Series, and write humor for a local Woman’s magazine. The freezer novel Jon Hassler deemed “publishable” is still in the hanger, but my debut novel, along with its sequel is flying high. Both were named Golden Quill finalists and “Stranger” is also a RONE finalist. Both are also on sale in June for the first time at .99.

Blurb for THE ACCIDENTAL STRANGER:

Jessica Brewster is being watched…and things go missing from the remote Wyoming home she shares with her toddler. In a freak accident, she shoots the bearded thief stalking her before she recognizes the mesmerizing green eyes that belong to the only man she ever loved.

Has Mitch bridged time to find her? In a race to save his life and change hers forever, she takes him into her home and heart. But his memory loss and puzzling clues curry doubt and expose mystery and danger. Is he truly her son’s father or an irresistible stranger in her arms?

Excerpt:

I screamed as the gun exploded in my hand and fell to the ground. The bear moving toward Scout dropped, and I raced to scoop up my son before he toppled into the cold stream. Cradling my whimpering child, I ventured closer and could see at once that it was no bear I shot. A man in a bearskin poncho lay on his side. A mass of dark matted hair covered the side of his face that wasn’t blooming with blood, running down his cheek, pooling in his ear and staining his thick beard.

 “Is he, is he dead?” I whispered.

Chuck fumbled for a pulse and we all started when the man groaned and his eyes fluttered open.

Green! His eyes were green. The fear in them registered with me as he searched our faces. When his eyes met mine, his jaw twitched. A flash of memories washed over me and my heart began to thump wildly. I set Scout down when my knees began to buckle and I thought I was going to be sick. My legs crumpled beneath me as I sagged in the snow and my bare fingers reached out to staunch the warm dripping blood.

So red against the white snow. His eyes, so…green. Every shade in a spectrum of emotion raced through my memory; joy, frustration, anger…love. I knew only one man who owned those eyes. He had come back to me. I shot the only man I ever loved.



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JUNE SALE: Both Golden Quill eBooks selling for .99 this month only.                              

Cj Fosdick Buy Links

Amazon   ~   Barnes and Noble  ~   The Wild Rose Press    ~   iBooks        
                        

5 things to know about Cj Fosdick:

1.  Favorite author: Diana Gabaldon. (Meeting my inspiration at 2 Writer Conferences was magical). 

2.  Favorite Movie: Never saw a historical I didn’t like—in theater or on TV!  Last of the Mohicans, Dances With Wolves, Pride and Prejudice, Gone With the Wind, and TV series like The Thorn Birds, Outlander, Poldark top my list. There is always a memorable take-away from beautifully filmed, character-driven epics with great scenery, actors and scores. Themes and series always pull me in.

3.  Favorite Music: Movie scores, anything by Enya or light classical. Music without lyrics always tunes up the muse when I’m in a writing zone or need to chill. 

4. City or Country: City girl found her writing sanctuary on 12 country acres, surrounded by woods and wildlife!  The move also enabled her other big dream--30 wonderful years of horses--in and out of the saddle, showing and teaching every summer.

5. Favorite Aspect of Writing:  For me, it is the armchair time travel. When I am in a “zone” I AM the redheaded heroine. My “boots on the ground” research has also doubled as a bucket list vacation. I also LOVE presenting my “Novel Journey” power point to book clubs, etc. at my home. We usually have tea and one of the sweet recipes my heroine makes-or craves-in the books.

Author Bio:



As a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, now living on a country hilltop in Rochester, Minnesota, Cj nourished two major dreams: Riding and Writing. Thirty years training and teaching children to ride her horses satisfied the first—with time squeezed out to write fiction and non-fiction published in magazines, newspapers and anthologies. It was a jump-start to a novel agenda that produced Cj’s first books. The Accidental Wife and The Accidental Stranger became serial award-winners out of the gate. With an empty nest after 4 children and an empty horse barn, Cj lives with her computer wrangler hub, a white schnauzer and a long list of incubating novels and stories that tap into her favorite genres: Romance, Suspense, Historicals and Time Travel. Follow her adventures in a monthly newsletter, facebook, twitter, and cjfosdick.com

Social Media Links:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/cjfosdickauthor/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/falorac13

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13660760.C_J_Fosdick


Website - https://sites.google.com/site/cjfosdickauthor/






Friday, June 22, 2018

#.99cent #sale Cj Fosdick's and The Accidental Wife

Cj Fosdick joins me today to talk about THE ACCIDENTAL WIFE, book 1 in her Accidental Series from The Wild Rose Press. Both books in the series are on sale for .99 cents until July 1. Cj tells us about her research as well as five things she thinks we need to know about her books. Take it away Cj!



GHOST BUSTING AT FT. LARAMIE  by Cj Fosdick

Vacations for writers are always rewarding when combined with research. The family vacation in 1977 that ignited my love of the historic west was mapped on poster board that had us following a route from Rochester, Minnesota through several states. Forts and battle sites were dots on our trail, along with wagon ruts, Register Cliff and Chimney Rock, but Ft. Laramie was the starring interest. I didn’t know it then, but the celebrated fort would invade several of my books. Original buildings including the cavalry barracks, Old Bedlam, and the Burt house would become specific sets in my historical fiction and time travel suspense.

 For much of the 19th century, the strategically-located garrison was a fueling station and protectorate for pioneers heading west. By mid century alone, over 50,000 emigrants stopped at the oasis. The railroad began to cork the wagon flow in 1869 but the fort flourished for 20 more years until it closed in 1890.  Our 1977 counterpart of a pioneer conestoga was an orange Volkwagen camper with a tiny fridge and seat cushions that converted to beds for two adults, two young children and a Schnauzer. Armed with cameras, notebooks and tape recorder, I was a kid in a candy store. A writer with a book in gestation.  A gestation that would last decades. (A long story-involving moves, more children, horses, and a manuscript stored in a freezer.)

Burt House, Officers' Quarters, 1954
Hubby and I returned to Ft. Laramie after our nest…and barn emptied in 2014. The Ft. Laramie National Monument had improved greatly between visits. An 1876 bunkroom re-created in the Cavalry Quarters became a key site in Book two, The Accidental Stranger. Was it also coincidental that our tour guide was a distant cousin of one of my neighbors back home?  By this time I was deep into Ft. Laramie history, intrigued by documentation of a young female ghost that appeared at the post every seven years, riding a black horse. The story is included in The Accidental Wife.

I was also corresponding with the great grandson of one of the post commanders and Sandra Lowry, the long-time fort archivist and librarian. I finally met Sandy in person during my second tour, before she took a medical leave that would end sadly. Happily, I had already dedicated The Accidental Wife to her, providing her a bit of immortality with a minor character in both books named Stella Lowry. She was amused by the coincidence since her mother in law’s name was Stella Lowry.

Burt House, Officers' Quarters, 2015
Historic locations always make me feel I am walking lockstep with ghostly figures who lived centuries ago. The “coincidences” associated with Old Ft. Laramie weren’t lost on me. After my stepmom died two years ago, I found old photos of her and my late father taken at Ft. Laramie on their 1954 honeymoon. I recognized one of them was taken in front of the old Burt House where the heroine of my novel series slips back in time at a re-created tea party. My stepmom loved The Accidental Wife, but never mentioned that she had actually been to Ft. Laramie as a new bride. Yet another coincidence…or ghostly sanction to finally give birth to a story that had to be told?


Blurb, THE ACCIDENTAL WIFE:

When Jessica Brewster inherits a mysterious teacup, she finds rubbing it transports her back to 1886, trading places with her look-alike great grandmother—wife to Mitch, her ancestor’s magnetic first husband and mother to his charming young daughter. True love, a gypsy, and her ancestor’s troubled brother amp up the charade she plays until she can find a portal back.  But is her future in the past? Her life hangs in the balance.            

Excerpt:

  In the moonlight, he rose from the Adirondack like an old man and moved toward me, his green eyes fanning me from head to bare feet. He touched my face with both hands, feathering his fingers across my forehead, into the wells of my eyes, over my nose and cheekbones, like a blind man needing to know who stood before him. I tried not to stiffen at his touch, willing myself not to blink, not to release the fresh tears that had begun to pool. He collared my throat with his long fingers and ran a thumb over my lips.

“I want my wife back. Come back to me, Mitawin,” he whispered.

The word on the teacup; the hallmark of my deceit. Our eyes locked, and I felt my throat closing and my knees begin to quiver. For a few seconds his grip tightened around my throat, and I clamped my eyes shut with a fleeting thought. Yes, take my breath...end this tormenting deception. When he suddenly released me, I could see the pain twisting his face. He turned away and rubbed his chin against his shoulder, bracing both arms on a porch railing.

“My shirt looks good on you, Jess,” he said hoarsely. You always did have a thing for my shirts.”

I cleared my throat. “You, can’t sleep out here,” I said after a long silence. “Come to bed.”

His shoulders flinched. “Is that an invitation?” 

“I only mean...you can’t be comfortable sleeping in that chair.”

We both started by the sudden hoot of a nearby owl, and like the volume turned up on ear phones, I was suddenly aware of other night sounds, crickets, wind rustling through the sage, my heart bumping in my chest.   

Click HERE to sign up for my newsletter to receive book news, mentioned recipes, and freebies.


JUNE SALE: Both Golden Quill eBooks selling for .99 this month only.                              

Cj Fosdick Buy Links

Amazon   ~   Barnes and Noble  ~   The Wild Rose Press    ~   iBooks                                

Five Things to know about my books:

1. The Accidental Wife and its sequel, The Accidental Stranger are both priced at .99 only till July 1. TAW was a top ten winner in a P & E readers poll for both Best Romance and Best Author in 2015 and a finalist for a Golden Quill for Best First Novel. TAS was also named a finalist for a Golden Quill in the Suspense category and a finalist after being nominated for the 2018 Rone Award in the Time Travel category.

2. The Accidental Wife started as a short story titled The Teacup which won a “Laura Award” from Women Writing the West in 2013. The judge declared it was a story begging to become a novel. Further incentive came from the publisher—who was in the audience. The rest is history-- truly made at the Kansas City Writing Conference !

3. The “Accidental Series” is aptly named for main characters who accidentally become a wife, stranger, heiress, soldier, etc. by either time travel, heredity, or a mysterious error.

4.  The books are multi-genre: Romantic Suspense, and by virtue of time travel and setting, also part historical-contemporary-fantasy-western. Western Ireland shares the setting with Wyoming in Book two. Kirkus Reviews called The Accidental Stranger “a twist on the genre” as the hero bridges time to find the heroine in her era. In TAW, she slipped time to find him.

5. Each book can stand alone, but always with a few commonalities: A redheaded heroine, a green-eyed hero, mistaken identities, a dog or horse (or both) and a recipe made from the era. Recipes and freebies are the occasional bonus to newsletter subscribers.   http://cjfosdick.com/newsletters

Author Bio:



As a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, now living on a country hilltop in Rochester, Minnesota, Cj nourished two major dreams: Riding and Writing. Thirty years training and teaching children to ride her horses satisfied the first—with time squeezed out to write fiction and non-fiction published in magazines, newspapers and anthologies. It was a jump-start to a novel agenda that produced Cj’s first books. The Accidental Wife and The Accidental Stranger became serial award-winners out of the gate. With an empty nest after 4 children and an empty horse barn, Cj lives with her computer wrangler hub, a white schnauzer and a long list of incubating novels and stories that tap into her favorite genres: Romance, Suspense, Historicals and Time Travel. Follow her adventures in a monthly newsletter, facebook, twitter, and cjfosdick.com

Social Media Links:

Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/cjfosdickauthor/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/falorac13

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13660760.C_J_Fosdick

Website - https://sites.google.com/site/cjfosdickauthor/


Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Dana Marton and THREAT OF DANGER #RomanticSuspense

Romantic suspense author Dana Marton is my guest today. She's here with an excerpt from the newest book in her Mission Recovery series, THREAT OF DANGER. To celebrate her new release, she's offering a gift card and tote bag as prizes. Make sure you enter the Rafflecopter below!



Threat of Danger Mission Recovery Series Book 2 By Dana Marton

Dana is giving away a $25 Amazon or B and N GC and a Dana Marton Tote Bag. The winners will be chosen by Rafflecopter. Please use the RaffleCopter below to enter. Don't forget you have a chance to enter every day so be sure to visit all the stops on this tour. You may find those locations here

About Threat of Danger:

Falling in love can be a deadly proposition in this pulse-quickening Mission Recovery novel from the New York Times bestselling author.

Jess Taylor and Derek Daley were in the throes of first love in a small Vermont town when they were kidnapped by a serial killer. They escaped his clutches—but not the trauma of the unsolved crime. With their lives changed forever and their romance cut short, they went their separate ways to exorcise their fears.

Jess is living on the edge as Hollywood’s hottest stuntwoman. It’s no longer terror thrumming through her veins. It’s adrenaline. Derek is a former Navy SEAL spinning his ordeals into heart-pounding bestselling thrillers. But when Jess is called home on a family emergency, she must face the past—and face the man she left behind, who is just as haunted and, like her, still so much in love.

Now, as an old flame reignites, Jess and Derek are taking advantage of second chances and putting their bad memories behind them. But here, in the quiet town of Taylorville, a killer is getting a second chance as well. 

Book Links:

Amazon CA:  https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B075JJTS1W/
Amazon UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B075JJTS1W/
Amazon AU:  https://www.amazon.com.au/Threat-Danger-Mission-Recovery-Book-ebook/dp/B075JJTS1W/
Excerpt: 

Common sense said to walk away. She’d worked hard to make a life for herself in LA that worked for her. 

Screw common sense. He stepped forward and reached around her, looped his fingers around her slim wrists, and tugged her hands from her pockets. Then he took those hands and drew her closer to him.

“Derek . . .” 

“I wasn’t sure if you’d ever come back.” 

“I’m only back temporarily.” 

“Is that how you left things with Eliot?” That she’d be going after him soon? His mouth tightened at the thought. 

“He had to go. He had meetings scheduled with directors. And new equipment coming in that he has to test and make decisions on before the next shoot.” When she talked about Eliot, she talked about the business. That gave Derek hope. Sounded like they’d parted as friends and colleagues, not as lovers who couldn’t wait to reunite. 

Two and a half weeks left, at the most. He knew her shooting schedule from talking with Zelda. About eighteen days more before Jess had to report to the set. So why in hell was he wasting time? 

He dipped his head and brushed his lips over hers. He’d gotten lost once in the Iraqi desert for three days. He hadn’t been as thirsty for water back then as he was now for a taste of Jess. 

When she didn’t protest, he pulled her fully into his arms and kissed her. 

The point of no return. He needed to find out if things could still work between them. He wanted her, and he could no longer pretend that he didn’t. 

Her body was firm, but her lips were soft and silky, as sweet as Zelda’s prizewinning angel food cake. As sweet as the old Jess. Except, this new Jess, she was a woman. She had the power to bring Derek to his knees.

He’d told her that he would give her whatever she needed from him. He hoped she’d figure out that he was what she needed. He was going to have to help her reach that conclusion. 

He breathed her in. She smelled like redemption. Like maybe he could have a do-over and get it right this time.

She stood still in the circle of his arms. Undecided. Wary. 

Better than a sharp knee in the balls, but Derek wanted more. He nibbled her lips and licked the seam, tasting her. 

She tasted like a whole new world opening up. She tasted like the blank page of a book before he’d written the first word, the possibilities limitless. 

Was the story of his life written on her heart? Was the story of her life written on his? 

Too early to tell. But he wanted to find out. Letter by letter, word by word, sentence by sentence. If only she’d let him. 

She did let him in, let him deepen the kiss. Progress, but this was just the opening of her lips, not the opening of her heart. Still, Derek wouldn’t have been a good SEAL if he didn’t grab every advantage, no matter how small. And, really, the kiss could not be called small by any measure. 

As he swept into Jess’s mouth, he felt his boundaries expand. Need rushed in, and filled him like water flooding into a torpedoed submarine. He sank onto the seabed of things he always wanted but never believed he could have. Jess’s forgiveness . . . and more. 

All these years, he’d thought her forgiveness was all he wanted. 

He’d been stupid. 

He wanted this. Jess. And he knew in that moment that he was going to do whatever it took to get her and keep her. Eliot couldn’t have her, no matter how handsome he was, or how much they had in common, or how hot women thought it was that the guy was some grandmaster of stunts.

Derek wasn’t going to let Eliot have Jess. He didn’t care if the guy jumped out of a burning helicopter, tied hand and foot, with a ticking bomb in his backpack, and got an Oscar nomination in every single category for the performance.



Silent Threat Mission Recovery Series Book 1 Amazon Buy Link

About the Author: 

Dana MartonIf you love heart-pounding romantic suspense, books you can sink your teeth into, you'll love New York Times bestselling author Dana Marton's stories. Kirkus Reviews calls her writing “compelling and honest.” RT Book Review Magazine says, “Marton knows what makes a hero…her characters are sure to become reader favorites.” Her writing has been acclaimed by critics, called, “gripping,” “intense and chilling,” “full of action,” “a thrilling adventure,” and wholeheartedly recommended to readers. Dana is the winner of the Daphne du Maurier Award of Excellence, the Readers’ Choice Award, and the RITA Award, the highest industry award for romance.

Beyond being a bestselling author of romantic thrillers, Dana also writes a popular fantasy romance series: Hardstorm Saga. Book 1, RELUCTANT CONCUBINE, spent 6 weeks at #1 on Amazon's fantasy romance list.


Website: danamarton.com/
Facebook: facebook.com/DanaMarton/
Twitter: twitter.com/danamarton
Pinterest: pinterest.com/danamarton



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday, June 15, 2018

Donna Simonetta - #99cent #sale LOVE IS LOVELIER


Donna Simonetta is back with me today to tell us about her .99cent sale on her contemporary romance LOVE IS LOVELIER. The sale will run from June 9-22, 2018. Welcome back, Donna!


Love is Lovelier Blurb:

Heather and Mick have a long history together, and Heather wants to leave it in the past where it belongs. Yet, here Mick is, very much in her present, thanks to her brother Jeff, who hired Mick to be her boss at the Retreat at Rivers Bend.

It wouldn’t be so bad, except Heather and Mick are still attracted to each other like metal to a magnet. Oh, and her brother is considering offering Mick a partnership in the Retreat, which by rights should be hers. And even if they act on their attraction, Heather is a small-town, country girl, and proud of it, whereas Mick can’t get far enough from his West Virginia coal-mining roots.

Will they be able to get a second chance at their first love and find their happy ending together in Rivers Bend?


Excerpt:
“Stick close. I’ll get you out of here.”
He used his broad shoulders as a wedge to propel himself though the crowd; Heather scurried to keep up with him so she could take advantage of the gap he created, not wanting to be so close that she could feel the warmth of his body through his elegant suit, but because she needed somehow to beat this crush of people to the Retreat to make sure that everything was in place for the post-christening party she’d planned for Bethanne – only perfection would do for her BFF.
She watched Mick’s back as she stuck close to him; he looked so strong and fit – it was hard to imagine him the way he was ten years ago, when he’d suffered his NFL career-ending injury, but the same business acumen that kept him with the Portland Pintos organization back then was the reason Jeff and Cisco hired him at the Retreat.
He’d be good for business – she’d just have to keep chanting those words in her head like a mantra, or else she’d do one of two things she’d regret – kill Mick, or kiss him, and she’d gone the kissing route with him before. It did not end well. And tempting as the killing option was at the moment, it probably wouldn’t end any better.

Buy Links:


Author Bio:

My career has been a winding road. I worked in the business world for years, got my MLS and worked in a school library, and am now living my dream as an author. I love to read and write contemporary and fantasy romance. I live in Maryland, with my husband, who is my real-life romance hero. We both enjoy traveling to visit our far-flung family and friends, and spending time on the beach with an umbrella drink and a good book.
Author Links:

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Blog Tour with Kat Henry Doran

I'm participating in Kat Henry Doran's blog tour today. She's promoting VENGEANCE IS MINE, three stories about going back to their high school reunion to face the bullies and the people who didn't believe in them. Kat also sits down for an interview and talks about these stories and other stuff. Don't forget to enter the Rafflecopter below! Please welcome Kat Henry Doran! 


Vengeance Is Mine
 a contemporary romantic trilogy 
by Kat Henry Doran
Kat Henry Doran has put together an incredible list of prizes for this tour. They are just beautiful! Please use the RaffleCopter below to enter. Join us on an exciting tour of great blogs to read more about Vengeance Is Mine, interviews, and guest posts. Remember you may enter every day for a chance to win the prizes. You may find the list of tour location here and you will also find pictures of the prizes here too.

Where did you get the idea for your novel? 

It started out as a series featuring four guys in their late 30’s—early 40’s who return to the town where they were raised after their best friend from back in the day dies suddenly and leaves them each something in his will. When that idea failed to fly, it morphed into a high school reunion series. The “Dead Guy” remained an interesting, though unseen, secondary character in the book. The inheritance became a source of external conflict in “Mad Dog and Archangel”, the first story in Vengeance Is Mine. 

What do you want readers to come away with after they read your book?

That through hard work and tenacity it is possible to overcome a dismal past [e.g.--domestic violence, morbid obesity, drug and/or alcohol abuse, societal bias] and triumph over all. Plus, getting revenge on the school bully—someone we all knew—is great fun. 

Do you work on more than one book at a time?

I am right now an it’s killing me. Kill-Ing Me!

What comes first for you – plot or character? And why?

First, last and always, characters come first. I must know who I’m writing about, right down to their favorites in food, music, TV and movies or underwear, their family background and a detailed physical description. Once I’ve finished with a multi-page character outline, I go to work on the plot. If I don’t know my characters inside and out, I won’t know how they’ll react to conflicts and motivations will I?

Tell us a bit about you. Where do you live, and how long have you been writing?

For the past 40 something years I’ve lived with my husband and 3 children in Western New York, near the shores of Lake Ontario. I’ve been writing, quite badly at the beginning, for more than 30 years. 

How do you think your life experiences have prepared you for writing?

For many years I often had to work at more than one job at the same time to keep food on the table and my kids in parochial school uniforms. The hubs and I worked odd shifts so that one of us was always home for the kids. I’ve had a lot of different and interesting jobs; it’s taught me to manage my time well so being idle makes me nuts. I always have to have something to do—and writing fills up the time. Plus, those interesting jobs gave me a lot of fodder for plot lines and characters.  

Name two authors we might find you reading when taking a break from your own writing. 

Actually, I don’t read books any more but I do listen to audio books; in fact, I’m addicted to them. I really like John Sandford’s series featuring Virgil Flowers and Lucas Davenport. If a man can’t make me laugh out loud I don’t want to hear it. I also like Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon books. Wonderful alliterative names, fascinating locations, incredible tension and suspense. 

I'm something of an audiobook addict myself, Kat. What are two (or more) of your all-time favorite books in any genre?

Carnal Innocence and Carolina Moon by Nora Roberts; Envy by Sandra Brown; Mila 18 and Trinity by Leon Uris.

We have some of the same tastes in books. Those are two of my favorite Nora Roberts books. I read Trinity way back in university when I should have been reading my textbooks. What do you like best about your hero?

I have three heroes on Vengeance Is Mine. I like Rory McElroy for his dry humor; Mick Dineen because he works every day to make amends for past behaviors yet doesn’t advertise it; and Rafe Archangeli because he’s a redeemed man thanks to his [dead] best friend and works every day to help others. 

What do you like best about your heroine? 

Vengeance features three heroines: Dru Horvath never gives up in her drive to help those who are victims of political and moral abuses; Fiona Thorpe changed herself inside and out then went on to make herself a star; and Grace Dunavan has a whippy sense of humor and doesn’t hesitate to laugh at herself.


How do you choose the names and physical characteristics of your characters?

The names I give characters come after I’ve chosen their occupations and heritage. For example, Grace Dunavan is of Irish heritage. I named her after Amazing Grace, a local nun who advocates for the homeless in our community. Druzilla Horvath is a Hungarian Gypsy by birth. I picked her first name because I wanted the nuns who raised her to mis-pronounce her name as Droo-zheela; Horvath is a common Hungarian name. Rory McElroy is named after my daughter and NOT the current golf phenomena. I hate golf but I like watching Rory on the links. He has a nice . . . swing and an interesting twinkle in his eyes. 

 



Blurb: Ever think about going back to study hall to face down the school bully? The mean girls? The brainless jocks who made your life a pure misery? For Dru Horvath, gypsy orphan turned Pulitzer Prize winning photo-journalist; Rafe Archangeli, Scourge of Summerville who now heads a multi-million dollar trust; and Fiona “Fat Aggie” Thorpe who recreated herself into an A-list model with her own A-list agency, the opportunity to exact revenge is too good to pass up. Will they find the vengeance they crave? Or something more valuable? 




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Excerpt:

“Tough way to find out about the other woman.”

“Other woman, hell,” Dru groused. “The assistant was some young stud from Tommy's gym with abs to die for.”

With that. she side-stepped him and reached for the knob on the bathroom door.

Fast on his feet, Rory's counter move brought them nose to nose. “Play much poker, Horvath?”

“I don't know what you mean.”

“Before you started trash talking the cheating ex-husband, your face lit up like the Fourth of July. That tells me you've got something stashed in the tote. Until you let me look inside, it stays out here.”

Clutching the canvas tote to her chest, she sneered, “The only thing in here is my outfit for tonight's event. If you think I'd go naked, one of us is a couple fries short of a happy meal.”

His response came in the form of another gimme motion with those thick, blunt fingers. “How about I close my eyes if I encounter any lacy unmentionables?”

“As if.”

She knew the instant he found the back-up phone. The screw-you look morphed into a smirk. “It's not smart to mess with Homeland Security, sweetie. Those guys eat small rodents for breakfast.”





Author Bio: Legal nurse consultant, victim advocate, sexual assault nurse examiner Kat Henry Doran and her alter ego, Veronica Lynch, has been there and done that--many times over. She often travels to the wilds of Northern New York State, witnessing the wonders of mother nature at her best. From the shores of Lake Ontario and the Saint Lawrence River to the historic Adirondack and Catskill Mountains, she creates stories featuring strong women and the men who love them. When not writing, she can be found lashed to one of her sewing machines--or chauffeuring the four brightest stars in her life: Meredith and Ashlin, Owen and Kieran.

For more information on Kat and Veronica, go to: