Monday, August 31, 2015

Release Blitz~ AC Katt's Bobby's Old Man





~Synopsis~

Keith Anderson is in love with Bobby Michaels. Unfortunately, Keith with their fifteen year age difference, thinks he’s too old for Bobby. The two start as “friends with benefits” but Keith dumps Bobby when it turns serious leaving Bobby broken hearted.

When tragedy strikes and Bobby needs Keith, he steps up to support his lover. But Bobby lacks trust in Keith and everything around him. Can Keith convince Bobby that this time is for real, or will the two lovers never reconcile?


~Excerpt~

“I also have an extensive library on my Kindle HD of science fiction, fantasy,” Keith blushed, “and gay romances that you can read.”

Why do I feel like I’m dealing with a used car salesman showing me the features?

“How many titles do you own?” Bobby asked wondering how much Keith read.

“A thousand, at least, I read fast. I have two Kindle Paperwhites and the Kindle HD plus an iPad and an Android tablet. I also own a PC and a Mac. I use the PC for the businesses and the Mac for home. There are two offices in the house. I put them in long ago, hoping that someday I’d find someone. I hope I haven’t screwed things up permanently with us.” Keith looked frightened.

He is very disturbed. His hand is shaking. It could be the booze. I hope it’s not the alcohol.

“I still love you. I just don’t trust you right now, and I have to trust the man I marry.” Bobby had a sad look on his face. “I could marry you now because I’m scared and alone, but that wouldn’t be fair to either of us.” Brave words you little shit, if your trust in him was such a scarce commodity, why are you staying here and tormenting both of you. Am I punishing him or myself?

Keith put his head on Bobby’s lap and mumbled, “I understand.” Bobby felt Keith’s tears on his knee. I caused this. I caused Keith to cry. I wonder if he’s feeling half of what I felt when I left this house that night. He lifted Keith’s head. I can’t forgive him yet, but I need to be with him and no one else. I’m such a whiny coward when it comes to Keith.

“I also have an extensive library on my Kindle HD of science fiction, fantasy,” Keith blushed, “and gay romances that you can read.”

Why do I feel like I’m dealing with a used car salesman showing me the features?

“How many titles do you own?” Bobby asked wondering how much Keith read.

“A thousand, at least, I read fast. I have two Kindle Paperwhites and the Kindle HD plus an iPad and an Android tablet. I also own a PC and a Mac. I use the PC for the businesses and the Mac for home. There are two offices in the house. I put them in long ago, hoping that someday I’d find someone. I hope I haven’t screwed things up permanently with us.” Keith looked frightened.

He is very disturbed. His hand is shaking. It could be the booze. I hope it’s not the alcohol.

“I still love you. I just don’t trust you right now, and I have to trust the man I marry.” Bobby had a sad look on his face. “I could marry you now because I’m scared and alone, but that wouldn’t be fair to either of us.” Brave words you little shit, if your trust in him was such a scarce commodity, why are you staying here and tormenting both of you. Am I punishing him or myself?

Keith put his head on Bobby’s lap and mumbled, “I understand.” Bobby felt Keith’s tears on his knee. I caused this. I caused Keith to cry. I wonder if he’s feeling half of what I felt when I left this house that night. He lifted Keith’s head. I can’t forgive him yet, but I need to be with him and no one else. I’m such a whiny coward when it comes to Keith.





~Author Bio~




AC Katt was born in New York City's Greenwich Village. €She remembers sitting at the fountain in Washington Square Park listening to folk music while they passed the hat. At nine, her parents dragged her to New Jersey where she grew up, married and raised four children and became a voracious reader of romantic fiction. €At one time she owned over two thousand novels, until she and her husband took themselves and the cat to New Mexico for their health and its great beauty.

Now, most of AC's books are electronic (although she still keeps six bookcases of hardcovers), so she never has to give away another book.

She hangs out at ACKatt.com; or ackattsjournal.com. This is a very opinionated kitty and at ackatt.com where you may find snippets of her current releases, as well as some from works in progress. She also puts out a Newsletter once a month. You can sign up at ackatt@ackatt.com.
BlogLink    





Book Spotlight with Mary Jo Putney's Not Always a Saint



Title: Not Always a Saint

Author: Mary Jo Putney
Publisher: Zebra
Pages: 352
Genre: Historical Romance
Format: Paperback/Kindle/Audible


“Adventure, passion and pure reading pleasure!”  –Jo Beverley

After the death of his sweetheart when he was at university, Daniel Herbert buried his grief in medical studies and his passion for healing. Viewed as a saint by those who know him, in his own mind he never quite manages to live up to his own high standards.

Most men would be thrilled to learn they’ve inherited a title and estate from a distant relative, but Daniel is appalled because the burden of wealth will interfere with his medical calling.  Warily he accepts that he must enter society and seek a wife—a sensible woman who can oversee his properties, leaving him free to continue his work. He does not expect to become intoxicated by a woman called the Black Widow, who is as mysterious as she is shockingly beautiful…

Jessie Kelham’s looks have always been a curse. Now alone with a young daughter and a perilous secret, she is in need of protection. But dangerously attractive Daniel Herbert is not the kind of husband she has in mind. If he recognizes her, the demons of her past will surely erupt. Yet they cannot keep apart—and soon they are drawn into a union that may bring joy—or shattering danger…

ORDER INFORMATION

Not Always a Saint is available for purchase at :

Amazon: 

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Tour Dates and Stops

August 24
Book featured at 3 Partners in Shopping
Book reviewed at From Me To You…

August 25
Book featured at Undercover Book Reviews
Book featured at Mikky’s World of Books
Book reviewed at First Page to the Last

August 26
Book featured at Confessions of a Reader
Book featured at Literal Exposure

August 27
Book featured at What is That Book About

August 28
Book reviewed at What I’m Reading
Book reviewed at Queen of the Night Reviews

August 31
Book featured at Dawn’s Reading Nook
Book featured at Inner Goddess
September 1
Book featured at Romantic Reads and Such

September 2
Book featured at Review From Here

September 3
Book featured at Romance for Every World

September 4
Book reviewed at Mythical Books

September 7
Book featured at I’m Shelf-ish

September 8
Book reviewed at Addicted to Romance
Book featured at Voodoo Princess

September 9
Book featured at The Literary Nook
September 10
Book featured at Reviews by Crystal

September 11
Book featured at Bent Over Bookwords

September 14
Book featured at Chosen By You Book Club

September 15
Book featured at Lover of Literature

September 16
Book featured at Booklover Sue

September 17

September 18
Book featured at Lisa Loves Books
Book featured at The Dark Phantom

About the Author
Mary Jo Putney was born in Upstate New York with a reading addiction, a condition for which there is no known cure.  After earning degrees in English Literature and Industrial Design at Syracuse University, she did various forms of design work in California and England before inertia took over in Baltimore, Maryland, where she has lived very comfortably ever since.

While becoming a novelist was her ultimate fantasy, it never occurred to her that writing was an achievable goal until she acquired a computer for other purposes.  When the realization hit that a computer was the ultimate writing tool, she charged merrily into her first book with an ignorance that illustrates the adage that fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

Fortune sometimes favors the foolish and her first book sold quickly, thereby changing her life forever, in most ways for the better.  (“But why didn’t anyone tell me that writing would change the way one reads?”)  Like a lemming over a cliff, she gave up her freelance graphic design business to become a full-time writer as soon as possible.

Since 1987, Ms. Putney has published over forty books and counting.  Her stories are noted for psychological depth and unusual subject matter such as alcoholism, death and dying, and domestic abuse.  She has made all of the national bestseller lists including theNew York Times, Wall Street Journal, USAToday, andPublishers Weekly.  Five of her books have been named among the year’s top five romances by The Library Journal, while three were listed in the Top Ten Romances of the year by Booklist, published by the American Library Association.

A ten-time finalist for the Romance Writers of America RITA, she has won RITAs forDancing on the Wind and The Rake and the Reformer and is on the RWA Honor Roll for bestselling authors.  She has also been awarded two Romantic Times Career Achievement Awards, four NJRW Golden Leaf awards, plus the NJRW career achievement award for historical romance.  In 2013 she was awarded the Romance Writers of America Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award.
Though most of her books have been historical romances, she has also published three contemporary romances, several paranormal historicals with strong fantasy elements, a young adult historical fantasy trilogy, and numerous novellas and short stories.  She is currently writing the New York Times list bestselling Lost Lords historical romance series for Kensington.

Ms. Putney lives near Baltimore, Maryland with her nearest and dearest, both two and four footed.  She says that not least among the blessings of a full-time writing career is that one almost never has to wear pantyhose.

Mary Jo Putney is the recipient of the 2013 RWA Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award

For More Information
Visit Mary Jo at her website

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Book Spotlight~ Cole McCade's The Lost


The Lost by Cole McCade

Date of Publication: August 25, 2015

Blurb



She's known it her whole life. She knows it every time she spreads her legs. Every time she begs for the pain, the pleasure, the heat of a hard man driving deep inside. She's a slave to her own twisted lusts--and it's eating her alive. She loves it. She craves it. Sex is her drug, and she's always chasing her next fix. But nothing can satisfy her addiction, not even the nameless men she uses and tosses aside. No one's ever given her what she truly needs.

Until Gabriel Hart.

Cold. Controlled. Impenetrable. Ex-Marine Gabriel Hart isn't the kind of man to come running when Leigh crooks her pretty little finger. She loathes him. She hungers for him. He's the only one who understands how broken she is, and just what it takes to satisfy the emptiness inside. But Gabriel won't settle for just one night. He wants to claim her, keep her, make her forever his. Together they are the lost, the ruined, the darkness at the heart of Crow City.

But Leigh has a darkness of her own. A predator stalking through her past--one she'll do anything to escape.
Even if it means running from the one man who could love her...and leaving behind something more precious to her than life itself.

Available From


About Cole McCade



Corporate consultant by day, contemporary romance author by night.
Mid-thirties. Coffee addict. Cat lover. Bibliophile. Technophile. Definite sapiophile. Native Southerner. Runner. Country boy turned city suit. Shameless collector of guitar picks, vinyl records, and incense holders. Aficionado of late-night conversations over live music in seedy bars. Browncoat with a secret crush on Kaylee Frye.
Fascinated by human sociology, and particularly by the psychology of sex and gender – and their effect on relationship expectations, the culture of dating, and what it means to fall in love.
Non-smoker. The picture's just a stock photo. A rather broody, dark one for someone who isn't all that broody or dark, but sometimes forgets to smile even when he means to.

Find Cole McCade Online

Teaser

Note: This book contains material that may be triggering for some readers
PROLOGUE
"State your name."
Cold, clipped words, blending into the noise of the police station. Leigh lifted her head from a fixed study of her clenched fingers. Colors whirled around her in a lurid carnival nightmare, too bright, too blurry. On a bench on the far side of the room, a wasted and broken scarecrow woman picked at a scab on her wrist with a certain habitual listlessness, oozing diseased red-brown blood over liver spots. Her tendons were rails under her skin, and the dull gleam of cuffs chained her to the bench. She raised her head and stared at Leigh with yellowed eyes that captured her with a sort of empty, terrifying promise.
Across the desk a policewoman waited, with that compassionate impatience only a half-step from pity and shoulder-to-shoulder with disgust. Her flat blue eyes said she'd been trained to care, but couldn't be bothered anymore. Leigh swallowed and tugged her hoodie close against the tinny air-conditioned chill. Her mouth had dried to a tacky, sticky mess, gummy pills of lipstick beading on her lips, and her tongue was a bloated and useless organ, this swollen pink thing pushing pointlessly against her teeth.
"Leigh," she ground out. "Clarissa Leigh…" Her married name scratched sandpaper syllables against her throat. "…van Zandt."
"And Miss van Zandt, do you know why you're here?"
She nodded, her neck a creaking wooden puppet-hinge. "I do."
"Your family's been worried about you."
"I know."
She knew what she should do here. Bow her head in shame and contrition, maybe even sniffle. But she looked for the emotions and they weren't there; just scraps and tatters, clinging to the empty place where they belonged. She had no feeling left, hollowed out and lost and wondering how she'd ended up here. This didn't feel real. Instead it was a dream where everyone leered in fisheye close-up, their smiles all teeth and stretched red lips and manic glee. She wanted to run, but somehow she'd gone too numb to do anything but sit here surrounded by the stink of fear-sweat, stale beer, and that particular police-station smell of urine soaked into concrete for decades on end.
"What happened to you?" the officer asked. Leigh didn't answer, and the officer's pen tapped against the forms on her desk, rat-tat-tat, rat-tat-tat, Morse code for I'd rather be anywhere but here with this spoiled little runaway princess. "It's been four years. You were declared legally dead."
"That's all right." She closed her eyes with a laugh that ripped her guts up into her mouth, and buried her face in her hands. Dead. Dead.
Yeah, that was about right.
"Miss van Zandt?"
Stop calling me that.
"Miss van Zandt. I need you to focus on my voice."
Stop calling me that!
Leigh took a measured breath and opened her eyes. Her shoulders squared. The bolts on the back of the hard, ass-biting chair dug into her shoulder blades. "I am focused. I can hear you just fine."
"Eyes are dilated." The officer—her nametag read Maroni, could there be a more clichéd name for a Crow City cop—leaned across the desk, peering at her face. Then she beckoned to the aide hovering over them like a mannequin. "I've seen this too many times. Drugs and prostitution." She talked about Leigh like she wasn't even there. "We'll have to clean her up before her husband gets here."
"I'm not on drugs. I've never been on drugs."
Maroni's pen-clicking stopped. Her disbelief was a heavy thing, push-push-pushing until Leigh nearly laughed.
"You're not on drugs."
"No."
"Then what happened?"
There it was. The first hint of exasperation. Of frustration, stitched into knitted brows and the purse of lips in just the right shade of I can't be a woman, I'm a cop mauve. Because like anyone normal, anyone who wasn't fucking broken to pieces and liked being that way, Maroni needed to make sense of this. Needed to quantify it in a world where the rules worked as normal and everyone wanted to chase that dream of happiness that wasn't anything but desperation painted over of a frantic tally of things. Things of plastic, things with value created by people whose upper lips curled when they looked down at little girls like Leigh, and demanded she account for herself in sane, rational ways that made proper sense.
Sorry, Officer Maroni.
I'm not the kind of thing that makes much sense.
Maroni pushed a harsh sound through her teeth. "You had a job, a husband, a newborn son. You had a life other people would kill for, and we find you here on the streets. Were you pressured? Kidnapped?"
"No. None of that." Leigh shook her head.
"You'll have to explain, then."
"I left." She trailed off, lips parted; no words came for long seconds, until she managed, "I…I was afraid."
"Of what?" Maroni tried to catch her eye, but Leigh looked down at her hands, at her chipped pink fingernails dipped in the sparkles of shooting stars. "Miss van Zandt. If someone was hurting you, you need to tell us now so we can take appropriate steps to protect you."
"No. No one hurt me. Not like that."
"I'm afraid you'll need to be more clear. What were you afraid of?"
"Of…"
She struggled for an answer. Struggled for something this woman would accept, something that would make her sigh with sympathy and pity and relieved disdain that said there, but for the Grace of God…
But again, she found nothing. Nothing but the truth, and Leigh shrugged as she looked up at the policewoman and wondered if she had daughters who might one day be like Leigh, daughters who would cut stark red lines of fingernails in the walls of flesh that caged her in the shape of pop culture's perfect woman.
"Of the inevitable monotony of it all," she said.
And smiled.
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Thursday, August 27, 2015

Book Review- Forbidden by Cathy Clamp

Forbidden by Cathy Clamp
Luna Lake Book 1
A Sazi World Story
Tor Books
August 15th, 2015
Urban Fantasy
Available at Amazon

My rating for Forbidden- 4 Stars


It’s been ten years since that fateful day when war ultimately destroyed the Sazi Council and thousands were forced to accept a ‘cure’ that caused their shapeshifting abilities to go away. Luna Lake was once a safe haven for refugee orphans of the Suzi but now it is a bustling small town. Now the young adults of Luna Lake are determined to follow their own destinies, even if it means making sure their words are heard by their still fearful guardians. But all is not safe in Luna Lake as Sazi children are being kidnapped and Claire, a wolf shifter is investigating their disappearances. But when she meets a wolf shifter named Alek, sparks fly even as they get closer to the truth.

I got to admit I haven’t read this author’s Sazi Series in quite a long time but with her revamping the series and giving the readers a new generation of Sazi to enjoy and fall in love with. I love the way this author world builds. It is complex yet quite easy to follow with a cast of characters that fairly leap off the pages and into your living room. The writing is tight, story moves at a nice even pace with characters that are multidimensional and quite life-like. The author revives the Sazi series in a new setting and breathes fresh life into the series. There is mystery, romance and more all set within Luna Lake that will keep the readers attention from the first page to the last.

Meet Claire and Alek, two shifters who find they are drawn into the mystery of the disappearances of Sazi children. Claire was held a prisoner by the Snakes and is distrusted in town because of it while Alek lost his wolf pack and was adopted by the Owls, a defiance of the Sazi tradition. These two are needed in order to find the missing children but it will take working together to get the answers they need. I got to admit I really enjoyed Claire and Alek a lot. They both had great chemistry with one another and kept the story moving along nicely. The characters are all well written, with different personalities that come across the pages rather nicely. I loved the interactions Claire and Alek had together as well with the secondary characters.  I got to admit that this author just floored me with FORBIDDEN and kept me intrigued till the very end. The mystery portion of the story kept my attention and I was a little thrown off by some of the behavior towards the omegas in the Sazi world but overall it all came together to form a story that is just as engrossing as the original books in the Sazi world.

Cathy Clamp delivers a great introduction  into the new Sazi world with FORBIDDEN and the readers will get a great treat as they weave their way through the twists and turns this author throws in the story. I do want to caution you that there are some scenes that may be a bit squeamish and upsetting as this is a not your happy story of the paranormal genre. It can be dark and dangerous at times and it’s a perfect balance to the whole ‘will they or won’t they’ that dodges Claire and Alek through the book. I am eager to see if Ms. Clamp continues Claire and Alek’s relationship in future Luna Lake books and to see where the Sazi go from here.

If you are looking for a great urban fantasy series to enjoy, I highly recommend this introduction into the Sazi world this author has created years ago. If you haven’t read tales of the Sazi before, you won’t find reading FORBIDDEN too hard to follow as the author gives you some hints to what happened at the end of that series. Kudos to this wonderful imaginative author in capturing the essence of her Sazi world while breathing fresh life into the series with new players and more. I am on pins and needles to see where she goes next in this enthralling series.


This is an objective review and not an endorsement




Getting to know author Jamie Marchant

Please welcome author Jamie Marchant today to my blog.



What started your interest in writing?

It’s hard to say what started it because I don’t remember it ever not being there. From my earliest memories, I’ve always wanted to be a writer. I started writing stories about the Man from Mars for my older sister when I was about six. I then wrote a fairy tale for her, starring her and her husband. Throughout my adolescence, I continued writing and finished my first novel in high school (not that it was publishable). Still, I had it pounded into me how hard (next to impossible) it is to make a living as a writer, so I decided to get my PhD and teach college English. In doing so, I lost my way and neglected my muse. What I’d begun as a means to support myself while writing became an aim in and of itself. I focused on writing literary criticism in order to further my career as an academic. One day while I was working on a piece of literary criticism on Willa Cather, I realized not only did I have no interest in writing the piece, but also that I hadn’t written fiction in years. I abandoned the piece on Cather and started what was to become my first novel, The Goddess’s Choice.  That was about fourteen years ago. I may not be rich, but I’m a much happier person since I returned to my first passion.

What is your book(s) about?

The Kronicles of Korthlundia, of which both my published novels—The Goddess’s Choice and The Soul Stone—are a part, tell the story of two very different characters from opposite class of society, the crown princess Samantha and the peasant sorcerer Robrek. The two characters meet at a horse fair in The Goddess’s Choice, and their lives become increasingly intertwined until they marry in The Soul Stone. Along the way they defeat terrible villains who threat the peace and eventually the life of everyone in the joined kingdoms of Korthlundia. The Soul Stone is the sequel to The Goddess’s Choice, although it is not necessary to have read the first book to understand the second.

What are you currently working on?

I’m working on two projects on at the moment. One is the third book in The Kronicles of Korthlundia series of which The Goddess’s Choice and The Soul Stone are a part. I don’t have a title for it yet, but let’s say it continues the adventures of Samantha and Robrek and involves dragons and a barbarian invasion. I’m also working on a novel, again unnamed, about Samantha’s true father, Darhour, and how he became the notorious assassin that he is.

How long did it take you to get your rough draft finished on your latest release?

About three years. I’m not a fast writer.

What genres do you write in?

Fantasy—both epic and urban.

Do you have a favorite quote from your book(s)?

As the crown princess Samantha tells us, “We all want many things we cannot have.”

What was the hardest part of writing your book(s)?

Fight scenes. I’ve never particularly enjoyed reading fight scenes and often skim through them. That’s made them hard to write. My writers’ group makes fun of me because in the rough draft of my work, I’ll often have “Insert fight scene here” instead of the actual fight scene. Although I’ve gotten better at fighting, I don’t think I’ll ever be an action master. Character development is more my forte.
Do you prefer to extensively plot your stories, or do you write them as they come to you?

I’m a more fly-by-the-seat-my-pants kind of writer. I never made a written outline or plotted a story arc. A lot of where the story goes depends on the characters. They tend to take on a life of their own.

Has there been any characters that started off as supporting characters, but then developed into a more prominent character?

Yes, Darhour, who is the crown princess Samantha’s chief body and biological father. I became so fascinated with him I had to write another novel with him as the star.

Who has been the biggest influence in your writing?

As far as other authors, I’d say my biggest influences are Mercedes Lackey and Jim Butcher. Both fashion the kind of vivid worlds and wonderful characters that I have tried to create in my own work. As far as people I know, my oldest sister. She read my work and encouraged me to pursue my passion since I was a child.



Blurb for The Soul Stone

 The Crown Princess Samantha and peasant sorcerer, Robrek, struggle to solidify their rule in the aftermath of the king’s murder. They are opposed by those who seek power for themselves and desire to prevent their marriage. As if that wasn’t enough, a deadly curse begins to spread throughout Korthlundia. While Samantha fights against priests, enemies, and her closest advisers, Robrek sets off to discover the source of the curse. He learns the reason the goddess chose him as king: to defeat the Soul Stone, a stone capable of sucking the soul out of its victims. Their archenemy, the Bard Alvabane, awakens the Soul Stone and plans to use its power to reclaim Korthlundia for her people, a people driven out over a thousand years ago by the hero Armunn. Armunn had to sacrifice his life and soul to contain the Soul Stone. Will Robrek have to do the same? 



Blurb for The Goddess’s Choice

The crown princess Samantha fears she’s mad; no one but she sees colors glowing around people. The peasant Robrek Angusstamm believes he’s a demon; animals speak to him, and his healing powers far outstrip those of his village’s priests. Despite their fears, their combined powers make them the goddess’s choice to rule the kingdom of Korthlundia. Samantha’s ability enables her to discern a person’s character through their multi-colored aura, and Robrek’s makes him the strongest healer the kingdom has seen in centuries. But their gifts also endanger their lives. Royals scheme to usurp the throne by marrying or killing Samantha, and priests plot to burn Robrek at the stake. Robrek escapes the priests only to be captured by Samantha’s arch-enemy, Duke Argblutal; Argblutal intends to force the princess to marry him by exploiting Robrek’s powers. To save their own lives and stop the realm from sinking into civil war, Robrek and Samantha must consolidate their powers and unite the people behind them.

Buy Links



Excerpt from The Soul Stone:

Chapter 2
            At bedtime, Alvabane sat at her dressing table brushing her long hair. It had once been a bright, rich red, but it had dulled with age and was now mostly grey with only a few strands of color to remind her of what once had been. It seemed a metaphor for her life—small flashes of color to remind her of her once bright purpose.
            One of those flashes, Erick, set her nightly goblet of fortified wine next to her hand. She needed the strong alcohol to dull the pain of her joints so she could sleep. Erick had served her for ten years. When her former servant had died, he’d been sent by her people, despite the fact that she’d only been a disappointment to them.
            She turned to thank him, but the words died on her lips as she saw the reproach in his eyes. Alvabane turned back to her mirror. Tonight was the night of the new moon. She should have been preparing to perform the rites of the dark gods, not preparing for bed. “They have forgotten us,” Alvabane said. “The Soul Stone does not live.”
            In the mirror, she saw Erick’s eyes narrow. He was not yet twenty and still had the optimism of youth. He still believed the Stone would come to life again when the gods willed it. He believed it would again be the weapon it had once been. Created in the far past by magic which had since been lost, it had been used by her people to protect themselves from the barbarians that now ran free over Korth and Lundia.
            “I will perform the rites next month,” she promised, but so had she promised last month and the month before that. The stairs to the bottom of the East Tower were agony to her knees. Erick made a mewing sound, reminding her what he’d sacrificed to serve her and the dark gods. She herself had cut his tongue from his mouth when he came to her as a ten-year-old child. He had surrendered it stoically. Only the Bards were allowed to sing the rites of the gods. All others who heard them had to be rendered mute so they couldn’t repeat music not meant for their tongues.
            “Do you think you have sacrificed more than I?” She turned to face him. “I submitted to the brutish duke’s bed for years. I gave birth to a child of rape. All so I could remain near the Stone. I performed the rites faithfully every new moon for decades. And for what, I ask you? The power of the Stone remains trapped behind the shield the demon Armunn created from his own soul. That shield can’t be destroyed. I have dedicated my life to trying, but it is impossible. The Soul Stone won’t live again!”
            Erick mewed again and looked toward the tapestry on the wall. It showed the map of the desert of Sehra, to the south of Korthlundia, where her people had lived in exile since Armunn and his hordes had trapped the Stone and then driven them from their homeland. Blinking back tears of despair, she turned from him. “Do you think I have forgotten? Every generation fewer of our children are born. Only by returning to the land of our birthright can we be strong again.”
            She got up and went to the tapestry, touching it lovingly. “Do you not understand? The dark gods have found me unworthy to be their messenger. I once thought I was the child of the prophecy, the one who would drive the descendants of Armunn’s hordes back across the mountains into Korth and reclaim the land they call Lundia as our own. But I was wrong. I’m an unprofitable servant, an unfit vessel.”
 


Author Bio

From early childhood, Jamie has been immersed in books. Her mother, an avid reader, read to her, and her older sister filled her head with fairy tales. Taking into consideration her love for literature and the challenges of supporting herself as a writer, she pursued a Ph.D. in American literature, which she received in 1998. She started teaching writing and literature at Auburn University. But in doing so, she put her true passion on the backburner and neglected her muse. Then one day, in the midst of writing a piece of literary criticism, she realized that what she wanted to be doing was writing fantasy novels. Her muse thus revived, she began the book that was to become The Goddess’s Choice, which was published in April 2012. The second volume in the series, The Soul Stone, was released this June.

She lives in Auburn, Alabama, with her husband, son, and four cats, which (or so she’s been told) officially makes her a cat lady. She still teaches writing and literature at Auburn University. Her short fiction has been published on Short-Story.Me, and my story was chosen for inclusion in their annual anthology. It has also appeared in the anthologies—Urban Fantasy (KY Story, 2013) and Of Dragon and Magic: Tales of the Lost Worlds (Witty Bard Publishing, 2014)—The World of Myth, A Writer’s Haven, and Bards & Sages.


Contact Links

Both The Goddess’s Choice and The Soul Stone are epic fantasy from The Kronicles of Korthlundia series. The Goddess’s Choice was published by Reliquary Press and The Soul Stone by Black Rose Writing.
 



Book Blast and Giveaway: Fox Hounds by Lia Connor

Title :  Fox Hounds Author : Lia Connor Publisher : Changeling Press Cover Artist: Renee' George Release Date : March 15, 2024 He...