The Duchess of Love by Sally MacKenzie

First Published: 24 April 2012
Publisher: Zebra
Pages: 104
Format: Ebook
Finished Date: 4 June 2012

Synopsis

A Duke In Disguise...

The day was as hot as the pond was inviting. It’s not as if anyone in Little Huffington was going to happen upon a secluded vale on the Duke of Greycliffe’s lands. And Venus Collingswood didn’t want to get her shift all wet. It was the perfect setting in which to plan her lovely bookworm of a sister’s betrothal to the mysterious new duke arriving seven days hence. If only she had a suitable accomplice...

Andrew Valentine, Duke of Greycliffe, never thought arriving at his own household a week early would cause so much trouble. The housekeeper thinks he’s his own cousin. Actually, the chance to not be the duke for a while is a pleasant opportunity indeed. It might even help him interrogate the delectable little nymph he’s discovered swimming in his pond—if he can manage to get a word in edgewise...

My Rating

My Review

Note: This is just gonna be a really short review. I simply have way too many reviews to write and not enough time :(

The Duchess of Love was a very fun read. I did wish it hadn’t been a novella though, there was a lot of scope for the plot development. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed reading it. When I first saw the blurb, I just knew I had to read it. It seemed like everything I would enjoy. I mean, mistaken identity, headstrong heroine, what’s not to love? I don’t normally read novellas, but this was a really enjoyable one.

To sum up the plot, it’s basically about how a duke came to Little Huffington and the heroine, who wanted to marry the duke off to her sister. However, as you can guess, things didn’t turn out the way that she wanted.

The heroine, Venus, was a very nice heroine. A little headstrong and not someone you bully at all. I liked how she stood up to Drew. I had hoped for more character development, but I felt the author did really well, with what little space she had to write. Drew was a rather good hero. Though I would have liked him to be older, I felt that he was very mature for his age.

The storyline was interesting and I was addicted. I just kept on reading. Though there wasn’t enough angst for my liking, the love depicted in the story was still very good and I really enjoyed reading about it. The plot was intriguing and I loved that mistaken identity part to it.

After reading this book, which I got free off Amazon, I read the teaser to Bedding Lord Ned. Instantly, I just knew I had to read it. Which is what I’m about to do! I finally got my copy and now I can’t wait to get started.

So yep, I really enjoyed this book. Lighthearted, easy read. If it was a full-length novella, I am pretty sure I would have loved it even more. Overall, it was a very fun and easy read. If you’re looking for something easy and short, then this is the book for you!

Ok fine, it wasn’t short as it should be. I don’t know, I guess I can’t really write short reviews?

Book Feature: Hiren’s Magical Adventure by Kathleen Patel + Author Interview

Hey guys! Today, I'm going to be featuing an author on my blog! She will also be joining us for an author interview. So yep, let's begin and have fun! :)

Hiren’s Magical Adventure by Kathleen Patel

A tween to young adult, paranormal, mystery, the charming fable unfolds in in India. Hiren visits his grandparents for the summer. Nothing could have prepared him for this strange world filled with magic and mystery. He encounters exotic creatures, a forbidden jungle, and a ghost that haunts the eerie palace. He meets a mysterious girl who leads him closer to the secrets. He finds himself facing life-threatening danger in his quest to solve the family mystery.

Buy it from Amazon!

Kathleen Patel

Kathleen Patel is a happily married, peace loving fiction writer. Her books are fun to read, but always educate and contain a message. As promoter of acceptance, she believes knowledge is the key.
"With ignorance comes fear- from fear comes bigotry. Education is the key to acceptance."
Kathleen is also an activist that fights for those without a voice. This includes abused children, animals, and especially victims of bullying. She wrote a short handbook, 'The Bullying Epidemic-the guide to arm you for the fight' and offers it free of charge.
"I hope that my books can open new worlds for my readers."

Books | Blog

And now, let's welcome Kathleen to the blog for a short interview!

Hi Kathleen, it’s lovely to have you on the blog today!

Hi Victoria, I’m so happy to be here.  Thank you for inviting me.

For starters, why not you tell us a little about yourself? Perhaps something not many people know?

Before I started writing books and doing book reviews, I spent the bulk of my career as a software sales executive. I was a “Start-up Expert”. Software companies would hire me to help them grow the business and groom it to go public.

What made you want to become a writer? Growing up in a middle class suburb in the Midwest, life was pretty bland. Then something happened that rocked my world. I learned to read. When it all finally ‘clicked’ and I was able to comprehend the letters on the page and read the stories, my life changed forever!  

I love reading. It opened so many new worlds for me. I want to open new worlds for my readers.

Did you have other aspirations/dreams in the past, or have you always wanted to be a writer?   I have had a few other dreams. I wanted to be a movie star. I also wanted to be a famous chef with my own show on the cooking channel. My current dream is to continue writing, while I run a small organic farm/vineyard, make wine, and gourmet cheese with sheep’s milk (from my own sheep). I will sell the wine & cheese to local upscale restaurants.

What gave you the inspiration for the plot of the book?  My husband is from India.  Along with the stories he has shared, from his childhood, I have spent extensive time in India, hanging with my in-laws, traveling and learning the culture.

Are your characters based off real people, or did they all come entirely from your imagination? Some of the characters slightly resemble real people, but some were born in my mind : )

Could you tell us a bit about your book and why it is a must-read? "This book is the perfect complement to my anti-bullying cause.  I like to think that it is fun to read, full of magic and adventure, but most importantly, it has an educational aspect to it. So many Indian families have immigrated and are raising their children in America, yet most Americans know very little about the Indian culture. Asian American children are the most bullied children in America.

“With ignorance comes fear- from fear comes bigotry. Education is the key to acceptance.”

What do you love most about the writing process? I love when the story takes on a life of its own. Sometimes I dream about the book and use those images in the book.

And of course, do you have a particular favorite character? I know an author will love most if not all of the characters he/she creates, but I’m sure there must be a favorite of yours! So who is it, and why? I really love Hiren, He is young, but he is wise with a strong morals and bravery. Most importantly, he’s kind and loving.

Will you tell us a little about your plans for the future? I will continue to write, but I intend to spend more time on my anti-bullying cause. I am creating seminars for teachers, parents, and students. There is a need for education. People have to learn to recognize the signs of bullying and the steps to take, once they identify the behavior. I plan to spend quite a bit of time on speaking engagements.

And of course, are there any other books that are in the works? (Ideas thought out, perhaps even a rough draft?) I’m working on book two in the “Magical Adventures” series. I am also working on book two in the ‘Cousin Connection” series. It will follow ‘The Dolls’.

And now, just some little random questions!

Favorite colour? Purple (Even though most of my wardrobe is black : )

Favorite place? Close to the sea in Sligo, Ireland.

Favorite book?  Gone with the wind

Favorite thing? My Kindle

What you do when you’re free:   My perfect day would be spent gardening and then spending an evening with my family- my husband, mother, two sisters, two brother in-laws, two nieces, two nephews, one dog, one bird.

Favorite day? Saturday (least favorite is Monday)

Hmm, I think that should be about it for today! It was a pleasure to have you on the blog today! Wishing you all the best in your career! :D

Thank you so much- this was such fun.

So yep, that's about it for today! Hope you enjoyed it:)

Blog Tour: Rupture by Curtis Hox - Excerpt

Hey guys! Welcome to today's blog stop. Sorry its a bit late, was extremely busy today. So yep, Rupture is a YA Dystopian Fantasy. It really looks good and from the excerpt itself, I can't imagine why I haven't read it yet. I certainly can't wait to do so, it looks pretty amazing, and everything I would love! So yep, enjoy this short post then go pick it up! :) hehe:P

Rupture by Curtis Hox

Simone Wellborn is a Transhuman with an attitude. She’s been genetically engineered from birth to be super smart. The problem? All that tinkering her parents paid top dollar for provided a few unexpected results, like an annoying ability to blast telekinetic energy at the worst possible times. She also has another tricky issue: strange entities possess her and, worse, transform her into something dangerous.

Simone's mother sends her to the Sterling School for reject Transhumans. While there, she meets a few other students with similar problems. They’re all Transhumans with dirty secrets. Heartthrob Hutto Toth is a charming gladiator. He annoys Simone from day one, but he’s also a Werebear who accidentally killed a boy in a glad match, and Simone can’t stand how much she likes him. There’s two-foot tall Wally Dorsey, who’s determined to pilot a personalized mech. His best friend, Beasley Gardner, is a mountain of a young girl with enough muscle to beat up any boy at school, but she’s suffers from a rage disorder. Finally, Simone meets Kimberlee Newkirk, an unassuming Succubus who fears she’ll kill the next boy she kisses.

These defective students find themselves at the center of a deadly conflict when another student, Joss Beckwith, attracts a Rogue Artificial Intelligence, the new power brokers in a society radically changed by science and technology.

The Transhuman Warrior Series tells the story of Simone and her friends as they’re transformed into highly specialized human weapons. They must challenge the increasing power of the Rogues as these enemies push into Realspace with one goal in mind: total domination.

Curtis Hox

A little about me:

I’ve written six unpublished contemporary, literary science fantasy novels in the last decade, all of which I finished and promptly put away. I didn’t even let my wife read one until this year. (I know, ultra critical and self defeating as hell, but that’s me.) I did rounds of agent hunting with little luck, and since everyone is talking about epublishing, I thought I’d give it a try by writing a series of three YA novels with all the juicy stuff I love from Sci Fi and Fantasy and just have fun with it. I’m also forcing myself to be open to everything that goes along with the business side of marketing without griping, “Frack it! I just want to write.” So this site will, at first, probably be a bit about process, plus be a place for me to explore ideas related to my projects. Then, if all goes well, a way to market my novels.

As of now, we’ve soft launched Bleedover, a contemporary science fantasy novel I wrote a few years ago. We’re using it to learn the marketing side, while I finish working with an editor on the first three books in my Transhuman Warrior Series, the fun YA novels I wrote last summer. These have all been drafted, with covers. And Rupture (Book One in the Transhuman Warrior Series) is in round two of the edits.

Website | Transhuman Warrior Series Page

Time for a short excerpt!

"Sterling is for rejects. Tranz rejects."
The words exploded out of Cooter Dawkins' mouth before his girlfriend, Simone Wellborn, could stop him.
The two of them sat across from each other in a booth at Mo's Coffee Shop, Cooter gripping a can of Dr. Pepper, Simone a mochachino topped with a mountain of whip cream.
Simone was an attractive girl with jet-black hair that stood out in two flaring pigtails. She wore baggy clothes that hid a lean but athletic body. She wasn't much more than a hundred and ten pounds, soaking wet, and Cooter was over six-feet tall, and his shoulders were so wide she had to lean to the side to see who walked in.
“Oh, great,” Simone said.
"What?" Cooter swiveled in his seat as if his life depended on it. He spilled his soda all over the sleeve of his navy-blue Ellington Preparatory letterman jacket but kept his eyes glued on the oddball walking to the counter. "Tranz."
The little Transhuman was only two feet tall. He wasn't an infant, or even a dwarf. He was proportioned well enough to look like a shrunken teenager who might do some ollies on a shrunken skateboard. He even wore shrunken clothes.
"Look at that,” Cooter said. “He's wearing a sweet pair of Bermudas, probably special ordered from Freaks-R-Us."
"Shh," Simone replied and pulled on his sleeve. "Don't let him hear you. I know who he is."
Cooter faced her. "So? What's he going to do? Ever since the Sterling freaks started coming to town, everyone has to walk on eggshells. Fuck that. Just because you're transferring there doesn't mean I have to like it."
The coffee shop wasn't a big store, but like most of the businesses in Cranton, Georgia, it was located on Jefferson Davis Road, where the stores lined up one after the other along the only strip in town. Simone liked Mo's because of the mismatched couches, the free WiFi, and the posters of pop stars all over the place. She wondered if the little Sterling student had taken a cab because he was too short to drive, and the Sterling School was several miles out of the town limits in the countryside.
"I wonder how he got here," Simone said.
"Maybe he walked," Cooter replied, then burst out laughing.
The defective Transhuman looked their way. He carried a huge can of soda in his hands, way too big for him, and it was enough to make Cooter laugh again.
"Shh—"
"Don't get your titties in a twister, Simone. Deformed Tranz like him should stay locked away in their school for the fucked-up-and-useless."
Simone sat up straight and considered getting nasty with her jerk of a boyfriend because that two-foot tall Tranz also had a premium intellect package—at least that was what she'd heard.
Cooter continued. "Otherwise, they'll be coming to town all the time. Soon, they'll be cruising up the street, hanging out at the movie theater and game store, and probably applying for summer jobs."
And Cooter couldn't have that, she knew. Cranton was a regulated township for the privileged and wealthy, like Cooter's family, and hers. "He didn't do anything. Leave him alone, Cooter. I'm warning you—"
"Hell if I care what you do. You've been a pain ever since you got kicked out of Ellington. He's one of the Sterling freaks. And don't say a thing, not after Dustin got killed."
"It wasn't this kid who did it—"
"Doesn't matter."
As the little Sterling student neared their table, he almost dropped his soda. It was slick with condensation; he used his entire shirt to wipe it down. "Just want a straw. Can you get it for me?"
His voice was faint and tinny and caused Cooter to sit rigid. He glanced at the sugar counter. "Get it yourself, freak."
Simone stood and admitted to herself it had been a mistake to spite her mother by dating Ellington Prep's star quarterback. She smoothed out the oversized clothes she always wore and considered telling him off but said nothing to her boneheaded (and soon to be) ex-boyfriend. She glided to the counter, grabbed a straw, bent over, and handed it to the little guy.
"Hey, I'm Simone. He's an idiot."
"I'm Wally."
Cooter snorted. "Lucky you she's so nice. I could strangle you with that straw." Again, laughter. And then to Simone: "I'm an idiot?"
Simone and the stranger from outside of town both saw that Cooter was only half kidding. He may have been the best-looking guy around and so socially acceptable and perfect it made Simone’s mother insane with annoyance, and, worse, he'd been engineered by his rich parents to be what he was: Mr. Perfect, but Simone had always known he had a mean streak. He was everything wrong with their new society: Unforgiving. And that made them worlds apart. And, damn it, she hated it when her mother was right.
Wally backed away, eyes locked on Cooter.
"How'd you get here?" Cooter asked.
Wally took another step, almost stumbled.
Cooter slid out of the booth. Simone moved to hold him back, but he pushed her aside and she stumbled backward.
"Ow!"
Another local, a young natural girl, saw it from behind the counter, but did nothing. She obviously knew who Cooter was and didn't want to piss him off. She stood with her hands at her sides, and watched.
"Yo, turd man," Cooter said, “how did you get to town on those little stick legs?"
Wally remained calm but kept backing up, his eyes on the massive young man in front of him. They were so disparate in size that Cooter could toss him across the room.
When the door opened and a figure appeared, Cooter was only one step away from maybe giving Wally a goal-winning kick. The new man was Cooter's equal in size. But he was dressed in a black woolen robe that hid his hands and feet and made him look like some mendicant friar in need of a bath. His long hair hung in strands from his head, nearly covering his face. His skin was sallow, as if he'd never been in the sun a day in his life.
The coffee girl bumped into the espresso machine behind her and spilled a jug of milk.
Cooter paused in mid-step as if someone had used a remote to freeze him. He put his foot back where it had been, not where he'd intended it to go.
The stranger scanned the room. "Wally, get in the car." His voice was soft and broken, and very weak, as if he'd been screaming all night from the bottom of a well.
Wally seemed saddened by what was happening, paused, then turned and walked out.
"Miss Wellborn," the man said, "I'm Coach Buzzal Vaughn. We'll be seeing you later today at Sterling?"
She nodded. "Yes, sir."

So yep, that's about it for today! Go here to check out the other tour stops! You'll find loads of awesome stuff on the other tour sites too! :D

Blog Tour: Rock Killer by S. Evan Townsend - Guest Blog + Excerpt

Hey guys! Welcome to today's blog tour! Rock Killer is a science fiction novel. Read the blurb, doesn't it look great? I know I sure can't wait to read it! So yep, without further ado, let's begin!

Rock Killer by S. Evan Townsend

Space Resources, Inc. (SRI) mines asteroids for the riches a populated Earth needs without degrading the planet. Yet there are those opposed to progress in whatever its form such as the Gaia Alliance, a front group for eco-terrorists. During a violent attack on the Moon, the terrorists steal an exploration ship, arm it, and rename it the Rock Killer.
Charlene "Charlie" Jones of SRI security is trying to infiltrate the Gaia Alliance's cabal to find evidence linking them to the murder of her fiancé. But a run-in with the law threatens to reveal her identity to the dangerous men of the Alliance.
Simultaneously, SRI Director Alexander Chun is traveling to the asteroid belt to bring a kilometer-long nickel-iron rock back to Earth orbit to mine for its valuable metals. Following him and his multi-national team is the Rock Killer. Without armaments, millions of miles from help, Chun must stop those who threaten him and the lives of his crew.

S. Evan Townsend

S. Evan Townsend is a writer living in central Washington State. After spending four years in the U.S. Army in the Military Intelligence branch, he returned to civilian life and college to earn a B.S. in Forest Resources from the University of Washington. In his spare time he enjoys reading, driving (sometimes on a racetrack), meeting people, and talking with friends. He is in a 12-step program for Starbucks addiction. Evan lives with his wife and two sons, aged 17 and 20, and has a 22-year old son attending the University of Washington in biology. He enjoys science fiction, fantasy, history, politics, cars, and travel.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Trailer

Time for a short excerpt!

DeWite moved into the observation room and Prince followed.

The room looked almost exactly like a bar since it was a VIP lounge for watching ships land and take off. A large window looked over the shipyard, where various types of spacecraft were resting on the lunar dust. The window, made of Crysteel, invented by SRI's orbital laboratories, began about half a meter from the floor and extended to the ceiling and was about five meters wide. Crysteel, made in a factory in Earth orbit one atom at a time, was almost as strong as aluminum. Its one weakness was a very high index of refraction due to tightly packed oxygen atoms. It made great lenses but was not good for use where a clear view was needed such as spaceship windows and pressure suit helmets. But the picture window in the lounge would have been impractical without the Crysteel.

Four pressure-suited figures were moving across the plain. The suits were not SRI issue and they were carrying submachine guns. DeWite recognized them as a South African made 9 millimeter caseless that were favored by criminals who bought them on the black market.

One, carrying a 40-millimeter recoilless rifle, knelt just a few meters from the window and aimed. Fire shot out of the rear of the weapon, dying almost immediately in the airless environment. A flame licked a small intra-lunar shuttle followed by an explosion. The ship's skin crumpled and it folded in on itself in a slow, macabre death dance. An explosion marked the rupture of the fuel tanks. Fire burned until the oxygen ran out.

"Goddamnit!" DeWite exploded. "We need to get to the airlock."

Just then one of the four figures outside noticed the two Security guards. He tapped the others on their shoulders and pointed. The other three turned and again the recoilless rifle spat a fleeting flame. DeWite dived behind the bar—an easy task in the low gravity. The window exploded inward. Prince was thrown against the rear wall, his body shattered by the impact. Then the window exploded outward as the room decompressed. Prince's body was slammed against the bottom of the window and sucked out into the harsh sunlight.

DeWite heard the emergency door slam shut locking him in the room. He knew it would never open until the pressure in the room equalized with the pressure in the hall.

He stood, aimed his shotgun, braced his leg behind to compensate for the low gravity, and fired. He was surprised he heard it at all. Must still be a little air in the room, some part of him thought.

The figure with the recoilless rifle was thrown back and blood ejaculated from its torn body. It was freeze-dried before it hit the lunar plain. The remaining figures turned with their weapons firing. DeWite barely heard the bullets hitting the wall behind him. His ears felt as if they were going to explode. He screamed, not in fear, but to empty his lungs to prolong his already forfeit life a few more seconds.

Pump, FIRE, Pump, FIRE, Pump was DeWite's whole existence. Another figure crumpled, spouting blood. Then the bullets ripped into DeWite. Blood flowed like a fire hose. FIRE—DeWite could no longer stand, even in one-sixth gravity. He sank to the floor and died in a puddle of his blood that was boiling and freezing simultaneously.

And now, let's welcome S. Evan Townsend to the blog to talk with us about his book! :)

Bunnies

Sometimes doing these guest blogs is, well, a challenge. You have to write something witty, meaningful, intelligent that will make people want to buy and read your novel. Frankly, I'd rather be working on my next novel. But, alas, these are the tribulations us writers have to go through.



So I was sitting at my computer trying to come up with a new subject to write about for this guest blog and I was completely flummoxed. I had no idea. Then I got a text from a friend. She asked me about something, and then I answered. Then I texted back: "Got any ideas about things I could write about about Rock Killer?" and she replied "Bunnies." And I said "There's no bunnies in Rock Killer." And she said, "So?" And I replied "So how do I write about bunnies?" and she said, "I don't know, you're the writer."

Rock Killer is my latest novel. It is a science fiction novel set in the not-too-distant future. I estimate somewhere between fifty and 100 years from now. The premise of the novel is that in order to supply a crowded planet Earth with raw materials without degrading the environment, a company called Space Resources, Inc., mines asteroids for their valuable metals. But some people are against this as they are against all human progress because they see it as a threat to nature. And in Rock Killer, they use violent means to stop this progress.

My villains in Rock Killer are eco-terrorists. The novel was partially inspired by the eco-terrorist attacks in the Pacific Northwest where I live. One of those attacks was at the University of Washington in Seattle where the terrorists thought they were genetically engineering fast growing trees that could be used for lumber and paper. But faster growing trees would actually help the environment because we wouldn't have to cut down old growth and other slow-growing trees to make wood and paper that our economy still needs. But the eco-terrorists were against it, so they burned what they thought was it to the ground.

And they probably did it thinking they were protecting bunnies. Bunnies are cute. Bunnies are fluffy. Everyone loves bunnies. Everyone wants to save the bunnies (not that they are threatened). But this desire to save something cute runs through humanity, it seems. So when my eco-terrorists in Rock Killer turn to violence, they probably think they are saving, among other things, cute fluffy bunnies.

A movie is coming out called Big Miracle about saving three whales that are trapped in arctic ice. Once the ice covers all the water, they won't be able surface and breath and they would drown. This movie is based on a true story that happened in 1988. But these three whales came to the world's attention and massive resources were spent saving them. Estimates on the cost of saving the three whales range from half a million to a million dollars. According to the book The Whales: How the Media Created the World’s Greatest Non-Event by Tom Rose, those three whales had the good luck to get trapped in ice near a satellite uplink. "Had the facility been located far away, these whales, like dozen of others each year, would have died ordinary deaths.” Rose writes. (http://blog.beliefnet.com/moviemom/2012/02/the-real-story-big-miracle-and-the-alaskan-whale-rescue.html)
What if we'd taken that million dollars and spent it on cancer research? Or finding a cure for AIDS? But everyone loves whales.

Human actions have consequences and the environment is so complicated it is very difficult to know what actions we take in the environment will have what repercussions, even if we think we are helping the environment there might be blowback. For instance, you might want to save the bunnies, but the bunnies eat all the rabbit food, and the gophers die off because the bunnies ate all their food.
There are no bunnies in Rock Killer. But what the humans in Rock Killer do could affect the bunnies and all life on Earth.

Book Blitz: Delighting in Your Company by Blair McDowell - Guest Post + Excerpt

Delighting in Your Company by Blair McDowell

What more could a girl ask for?

When Amalie Ansett visits her elderly cousin on the small Caribbean island of St. Clements, the last thing she’s looking for is romance. Just out of a disastrous marriage, she’s ready to swear off men forever.

That is until she meets local plantation owner, Jonathan Evans.

He is tall, good looking, intelligent and incredibly sexy.

What more could a girl ask for?

An unsolved murder … Then Amalie discovers that the man she loves is a ghost. Only she can see and hear him. Perhaps he is real to her because Amalie is the image of her distant ancestor, Jonathan’s bride in that earlier time.

Jonathan was murdered two hundred years ago, and has no knowledge of who killed him or why. A perilous trip to the past… When Jonathan asks her to help him by returning with him to his past, Amalie is torn. If she helps him solve the mystery surrounding his death, she could lose him forever.

If she doesn’t, she is stuck with a ghost for a lover. And a love that crosses the boundaries of time.

To save Jonathan, Amalie agrees to travel with him back in time to the Caribbean of the 1800’s, when sugar reigned supreme and the slave trade was making fortunes for wealthy planters and ship owners. Her adventures there include a slave uprising, murder, deceit and an enduring love that crosses the boundaries of time.

YouTube

Blair McDowell

I started to write soon after I found my first pencil. But I began to write for publication about 30 years ago -- professional books. I wrote six of them, all still in print and still in use. Only lately have I turned to fiction.

I'd have done it a lot sooner if I'd had any idea how much fun it was! I’ve lived in many different places. The US -- Certain cities call to me. I love San Francisco and Seattle and the wonderful Oregon Coast. Australia -- among the most open welcoming people in the world, and a wide open young country with incredible land and sea scapes, with amazing animal and bird life right out of science fiction.

Canada -- HOME. The place where I belong. I travel a lot. I usually spend the month of October in Europe, Greece or Italy, and the winter in a little house I built many years ago on a small non-touristy Caribbean Island. I have worked and studied in many places -- Hungary, Australia the US and Canada, and have spoken in most of the States and Provinces as well as Taiwan and various cities in Europe.

I enjoy being surrounded by cultures other than my own. I enjoy my own as well -- but variety is indeed the spice of my life. I keep busy -- and I love my life. I love meeting the people who come here to the west coast of Canada and stay in my B&B. I love traveling after the tourist season is over.

And I love writing. My interests?? Music, especially opera, reading everything in print, and Writing. And walking on the beach and swimming. At one point I had hoped to swim in every major sea and ocean. I've realized that may not be possible in one lifetime -- but trying has been fun!

Website | Blog | Facebook | Google+

Time for a short excerpt!

He was real. Jonathan Evans was what? A ghost, a spirit, a jumbie? But to her he was real. True she couldn’t touch him. She had a fleeting thought that that was a pity. She would rather have liked to touch him. But how could she help him? She wasn’t that other Amalie, no matter what he thought. She couldn’t be, could she? And yet where had those memories of Ansett Plantation come from?

Josephina arrived at the table for breakfast at that moment and all thoughts of ghosts had to be put aside.

“What are your plans for the day, my dear?”

“I’ll spend the morning working in the archives again, and then this afternoon I guess I’ll just swim and read as usual.”

“Could you run me up to town before you begin? I need to see my solicitor.”

“Of course.”

It was mid morning when Amalie entered the basement room at the Museum.

“You!” Amalie looked at Jonathan, perched on her stool, his hair falling over his forehead, his elbows on the table, his long legs stretched out in front of him. He was whistling softly. That same elusive tune.

“You’re rather late getting here. I’ve been searching for evidence.”

She stared at him. He looked so real, so alive.

Reading her thoughts he said, “Jonathan Evans, in the flesh. Except that, unfortunately, I’m not in the flesh. If I were I could kiss you as I should very much like to.”

Amalie flushed. The thought of being held in those arms, caressed, kissed by those lips…she turned her thoughts hastily away from that direction.

“What’s that tune you’re always whistling?”

“Greensleeves.” He sang a phrase, his voice low and melodious.

“Alas, my love, you do me wrong,

To cast me off discourteously,”

He sighed.  “You used to sing it.”

“I used to sing it?”

“You used to sing it.”

“It must have been the other Amalie who sang it. But I know it from somewhere. I’m not sure where.”  She finished the stanza in her light soprano,

“While I have loved you well and long,

Delighting in your company…”

Jonathan looked long at her. “Of course you know it. You are one with her. Why do you find this so hard to accept?”

Amalie just shook her head. How could she possibly be a woman who died two hundred years ago?  She was alive. She was born in the twentieth century. For that matter, how could she possibly be holding this ridiculous conversation with a ghost?

And now, let's welcome Blair to the blog!

Delighting in Your Company by Blair McDowell

Alas my love you do me wrong,

To leave me so discourteously,

While I have loved you well and long,

Delighting in your company. 

These words from a fifteenth century song, Greensleeves, were a part of the inspiration for my paranormal novel with time travel, Delighting In Your Company, scheduled for release by Rebel Ink on April 17^th .   

My heroine, Amalie Ansett, finds herself in the unenviable position of falling in love with a ghost.   Jonathan Evans was a plantation owner on the small Caribbean island of St. Clement’s in the early 1800’s.   He died suddenly and violently and has walked the island ever since as a ghost, or, as the people there call the dead who walk, a jumbie. 

Amalie can see and hear and touch him as no one else has in two hundred years.   It is up to her to help him find out what happened all those years ago.   Why he is alive but not alive, dead but not dead. 

The island in my book is based on a real one, St. Eustatius.   I’ve had a home there for many years.   Details in my book about jumbies and Obeah, the ancient religious practice brought by the slaves from Africa, are based on stories I’ve heard many times from local friends.   There is a White Wall Road.   And there is, according to local lore, a ghost who walks White Wall.   The “real” ghost, however, is a woman.   In my book I’ve chosen to change her into a man. 

There are other differences, as well.   My book is fiction after all.   While St. Eustatius is Dutch today, I’ve chosen to make my fictional island, St. Clements, English.   I did this because in 1807 the British Parliament enacted a law prohibiting the transportation of slaves into and out of all ports in England and all British possessions.   At that time St. Eustatius was a British Island. 

This had a profound effect on the economies and social structures of the British Caribbean Islands, and it is a key factor in my plot. 

While I’ve been steeped in Caribbean culture for many years, I learned much in the course of researching the Caribbean of the eighteen hundreds.   I have a large collection of books on the history of the Caribbean, some of them very old, and these were invaluable. 

Delighting In Your Company is a fantasy.   A figment of my imagination.   But the scenes of a slave auction and of an Obeah Ceremony are taken from the works of nineteenth and early twentieth century writers, and the hand written records of slave sales that my heroine finds are, with minor changes, the ledgers I have seen in the Museum of the St. Eustatius Historical Society. 

This book almost wrote itself.   Once I became immersed in the tale, all that I love about the Caribbean Islands and their culture and peoples simply took over. 

I hope you will enjoy reading Delighting In Your Company as much as I enjoyed writing it. 

In the following scene, my heroine, Amalie, is transported in time and is observing a slave auction......  

In the basement room, Amalie contemplated the papers strewn around the wide pine table.   There was a large, leather-bound ledger sitting on top of them.   She hadn’t noticed that yesterday.   Where had it come from? She opened it and started to read the faded ink entries.   

To her shock she discovered it was a ledger of slave sales, with descriptions and prices. 

1 male and 2 females, household slaves to Jeremiah Johnston ….   425 guineas. 

2 field workers to Emerson Gainsborough….   250 guineas

6 field workers to John Taylor….   1250 guineas

The room spun around her.   She grasped the edge of the table to keep from falling as consciousness faded. 

She was in a harbor full of wooden ships.   A crowd of men, from the look of their clothing, planters, shopkeepers and businessmen, milled about the dock, shouting to one another, pushing and shoving, vying for position.   The cacophony was ear splitting.   A large vessel was pulled up to the pier.   Naked male slaves, their ankles chained together, were shuffling down the gangplank and being herded into a holding pen.   The smell of their fear and hopelessness hovered in the air. 

Amalie heard a voice raised above the clamor and turned to see an auction block. 

“And here we have a fine specimen from the Gold Coast.   You all know there ain’t no stronger or better field workers than these.   Turn around, boy.   Let’em see you.   So what am I bid? Come on gentleman.  ”

Bids started coming, fast and furious.   

Horrified, Amalie watched as the young man was led away by the successful bidder.   

When she turned back to the auction block she saw that it was occupied by an emaciated boy barely into his teens.   Even in the hot tropical sun he stood shivering as the crowd jeered and the auctioneer turned him around for prospective buyers to examine. 

“I’ll admit he ain’t much, but he might be some use as kitchen help.   Don’t know how he got into this batch.   Was supposed to be all field workers.   What am I bid? Come on gentlemen, got to move along.   Don’t nobody want this scrawny piece o’ nigger flesh?”

There was a moment’s silence.   Then from the back of the crowd, near where Amalie stood invisibly, “I’ll take him.   Ten guineas.  ” The speaker was a boy no older than the one on the block. 

“Ten guineas?” the auctioneer sneered.   “Might as well give ’im away.   What am I bid, gentlemen?”

The crowd was silent.   The boy reached into his pocket and counted out a handful of change.   “Ten guineas and twelve bob.  ”

Someone in the crowd called out.   “Jonathan Evans.   Your pappy know how you’re squanderin’ his money?”

The crowd broke into raucous laughter. 

“Never you mind.  ” The auctioneer took control.   “The boy’s money’s as good as anybody else’s.   You got yourself a slave, boy.   Come and git him.  ”

So yep, that's about it for today! Go here to check out the other tour stops! You'll find loads of awesome stuff on the other tour sites too! :D

Blog Tour: Sins of the Mind by L.J. Garland and Debbie Gould

Hey guys! Welcome to today's blog tour. Sins of the Mind is a romantic suspense novel. I hope you enjoy it!

Sins of the Mind

Seven years ago, Abby Montgomery survived a brutal attack. Now she is ready to put her pain in the past and move on with her life. The problem is, one by one the men in her life are being viciously murdered.

The detective assigned to the case, Ethan Parker, has demons of his own to hide. As the danger gets closer to Abby, so does Ethan. But can they get past his secrets before the killer gets to them? Sometimes the sins of the mind are more depraved than the sins of the heart.

Time for a short excerpt!

“Moment?” He raised his eyebrows, tried for a surprised expression. “We were having a moment? Where was I?”

A husky laugh escaped Abby’s lips. She gave him a playful shove, but he caught her hand, his fingers encircling her delicate wrist. With great care, he bowed his head and pressed his lips to the center of her palm. Her sharp intake of air told him she liked it.

“Is this the moment you were referring to?” He kissed her wrist. “Or this?” His mouth grazed along her skin, up the side of her neck to the tender point below her ear.

Mmm.” She tilted her head, offering him better access.

He inhaled, reveled in her unique scent. A mixture of spicy vanilla and exotic flowers invaded his senses and sent the room slowly spinning. Primal lust roared through him, demanded he possess her in a rush of carnal passion.

But Ethan resisted.

Intent on enticing Abby into a wild, heated frenzy, he trailed the tip of his tongue along her throat. Her pulse hammered beneath his ardent attention, and he reveled in her response. His fingers slid over her supple skin. One hand sought the silky tresses adorning her head while the other coaxed her legs across his lap then slipped around her waist.

He pulled back, stared into her lovely face. Eyelids fluttering, she sighed in his arms. When she looked at him, desire burned bright in her eyes. His heart stuttered at the sight, and hot need rushed to his groin.

“Abby.” Her name rolled from his tongue in a mix of desperation and lust. A voracious hunger to taste every inch of her body washed over him. The urge to kiss the small of her back, to run his tongue along her skin, delving and dipping into her secret, sensitive places, all but overwhelmed him. “Tell me to stop. If you’re not ready, honey, tell me to stop right now and by all that’s holy, I will. But you need to know how much I want you right now.”

And now, let's welcome Detective Ethan Parker from Sins of the Mind!

The next stop on our tour of Red River is our hero, Ethan Parker’s house. He’s invited Laura and I into his kitchen and made us his famous Clam Chowder for lunch, which I hear is delicious.

Debbie: So, Ethan, while you are over there slaving at the hot stove (yes, one of my fantasies––to have a man cook for me. I’ve been so sheltered.) How about answering some questions for us?

Ethan: Depends, what did you have in mind?

Laura: Oh, don’t worry, nothing that will give the end away.

Ethan: I don’t think that’s what I was worried about with you two. But go ahead, fire away.

Debbie: Great! First question. You’re what thirty-five? Why are you living alone, working twenty-four seven with no love life?

Ethan: Damn. You don’t pull any punches do you? I believe we went over this in the book, but being a cop, it kind of exposes you to the darker side of life. It’s not all sunshine and flowers out there. And, it’s not like I had a bad experience or anything, but until meeting Abby, there was really no one that made me want to commit to anything more serious that casual dates.

Laura: So with Abby, was it love at first sight?

Ethan: Um…I wouldn’t exactly say that. She hated me from the get go. Thought I was being too much of a cop and not enough of a human being. Granted, our first meeting was an interrogation, and she’d just lost someone close to her, but I had a job to do.

Debbie: Well in Abby’s defense, you pulled the nice guy, caring card and then treated her like a suspect.

Ethan: I was concerned for her, damn it! And EVERYONE is a suspect until they’re ruled out. How was I supposed to do that without questioning her? I tried to explain that to her. Her brother tried to explain that to her, but she just wanted to hate me no matter what.

Debbie: Well, she did get over it.

Laura: Yeah, I’d say she melted your tough cop exterior. Did working for the Red River Police Department, dealing with all that death, make you that way?

Ethan: (snorts) Actually, it was a pretty quiet town till you two showed up.

Laura: Well, um…. (glances at Debbie then back to Ethan) What is it you like about Red River?

Ethan: Red River is a great town, small enough that everyone knows each other, yet big enough that you get the privacy you need. The local businesses are mom and pop owned, and usually the crime rate is low. We are just far enough from the big cities of Boston and NYC that if you want to make the four-hour drive for some city life fun, it’s doable.

Debbie: I can tell you what I don’t like about Red River. Elliot Swanson! That guy is just weird.

Ethan: Yeah, he’s a piece of work all right and gets under my last nerve. Unfortunately, I haven’t found a law against being an egotistical ass yet and can’t run him out of town.

Debbie: So, the death count is pretty high in this book. What kind of toll does that take on you as a detective?

Ethan: A huge one. Any normal human being, Elliot excluded, would be enraged and appalled with what was going on. Add in that you and your partner are the main people trying to stop the psychopath before he kills again, and you dump a shit ton of guilt and impotence every time he kills again. And you pray every time that this is the time he or she makes a mistake, and you can catch him.

Laura: So, you held some of your own secrets in this story. Why on earth did you think you could get away with that?

Ethan: Yeah. That didn’t turn out to well, did it? I tried to find the right time to tell Abby about my baggage, but when the hell is it ever the right time to turn someone’s world upside down? Granted, it happened anyway and bit me in the ass big time, but I can tell you right now I’ll never keep anther secret from her again. That woman is my life!



Debbie: Ohh...one last thing. I thought this was a bachelor pad. What’s up with the flowers and pretty blue placemats?

Ethan: (chuckles) That’s Abby and my sister, Ever, ganging up on me. The placemats are Ever’s idea. Though she may be away at school, she always makes sure her presence is felt. The flowers? (grins) That’s all Abby.

Laura: Sounds like you’ve got some great women in your life.

Ethan: Yep. (sets bowls on the table) Lunch is ready.

Debbie: Mmm. Smells great!

Laura: It does! Thanks so much for having us over for lunch, Ethan.

Debbie: Yeah. Care to share the recipe?

Ethan: For you two? Sure. It’s an old family recipe.



Ethan’s New England Clam Chowder
Ingredients:
• 1 slice hickory-smoked bacon, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon butter
• 1 cup onion, minced
• 1 medium garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon oregano, dill weed,
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 2 can clams (6-1/2 ounces)
• 2 cup bottled clam juice
• 1-1/2 cups Half and Half
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 2 medium potatoes, boiled, peeled and diced
Preparation:
In a heavy-bottomed, 4-pint soup kettle, sauté bacon, butter, onion, garlic over low heat adding spices last. Drain clams and set aside, reserving the juice. Slowly stir the flour and clam juices in the sauté mixture. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Add Half and Half and simmer 20 minutes. Add pepper, potatoes and clams. Heat to serving temperature. Do not allow to boil as this toughens the clams. Serve at once with crackers.

Serves six.

So yep, that's about it for today! Go here to check out the other tour stops! You'll find loads of awesome stuff on the other tour sites too! :D

Book Feature: Everblossom by Larissa Hinton - Author Interview + Excerpt

Hey guys! Today I'm featuring an author on my blog and her book, Everblossom! Larissa is a very nice author and I've loved working with her to feature her on my blog! I do hope you will check it out and think about getting it! :) Everblossom is a collection of short stories and poems that explore the three stages of a flower that correlates to the human different stages of life but with a paranormal and fantasy twist.

Everblossom by Larissa Hinton

An anthology that will quench your thirst for more than the ordinary.

Everblossom is a journey through poems and short stories that may seem ordinary on the surface but dig a little deeper and the world not only shifts . . . It changes.

The author who brought you Iwishacana/Acanawishi, now brings you a dash of everything from dark fantasy to the paranormal to romance. So prepare yourself to delve into the three stages of the flower from bud to blossom then back to seed; you'll go through them all with a whole new perspective on what it all truly means.

Buy it from Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

Larissa Hinton

The young adult fantasy and paranormal romance author, Larissa Hinton, grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia and Chesapeake, Virginia. She now lives in northern Virginia, but she always looks forward to going back to the sweet smell of the salty ocean.
Larissa has always loved writing since the age of 12 and hasn't stopped since. After many years of writing whimsical tales of romance and fantasy, she is now proud to be a self-published author. When she's not writing, she's teaching English at a local middle school.

When seen out of the classroom, Larissa is shopping for the next great Wii game, searching for undiscovered treasure (a.k.a. sparkly jewelry) and plucking some fresh fruits (or vegetables, dependent on the year) out of her small garden.
Larissa Hinton is currently author of Everblossom: A Short Story and poetry Anthology. However, be on the lookout for Angel Diaries (a paranormal romance) and Everblossom 2: A Second Anthology of Short Stories and Poems!
If you want to know more about this author and her sarcasm, then check out her blog and click on FAQs.

Blog

Time for a short excerpt!

Rose feet were frozen at the spot. The car's engine revved, the driver gunning for road kill alá Rose, and yet she still couldn’t move. Her feet refused to obey the frantic signal of movement from her brain. Then before she knew it, her face was eating pavement, and Nik was suddenly shielding her with his body. The car sped by with the figments of yellow and purple, blurring the paint of movement. Rose and Nik looked at each other, both mirroring a frown, then Rose coughed and Nik moved off her.

“Why didn’t you move?” Nik asked, dusting himself off.

“It’s called shock,” Rose said, then sighed. “Didn’t you think I wanted to move?”

“Yet you stood there like an idiot, waiting for that guy to run you over. Did you actually think he would stop?”

“No,” Rose whispered. “Thanks by the way.”

Nik nodded and trudged off to the beach. Rose grabbed her bag and was right behind him, her flip flops making a loud snapping noise. When the ocean greeted their eyes, they both stopped mid way. It brought back memories it shouldn’t have. The waves, the beach, the grinding sand, laughter suddenly stopped, cut off in a single moment of change. Rose sighed and picked a spot on the beach. She opened up the beach umbrella she had found in her beach house shed and sat down under it.
Nik looked at her, comfortably sitting in the sand with, of course, a book in her hand, summer reading for the honors class at Vathory High. He knew he should be doing the same thing, but the moment, that memory, a dream, a fantasy suddenly turning into a reality couldn’t stop haunting him. He had to know.

“Rose?” Nik said.

Rose refused to turn around, knowing that hitch his in voice. “What?”

“Won’t you even look at me?”

Rose turned around and added a raised eyebrow. “Are you happy now?”

“What is that suppose to mean?”

“Never mind. I don’t want to fight.”

Nik sat down next her. “Neither do I but what happened yesterday--”

“Was a mistake.” Rose slapped her book closed. “There’s nothing to talk about.”

“So you accidently kissed me?”

Rose looked at him and then turned back her gaze to the ocean. “No, I just didn’t . . . I didn’t know . . . I just did it okay? Can we please drop it and remain best buds like we were before this ever happened?”

“I wish I could, Rose. More then you know.” Nik paused. “But everything has changed. We can’t go back.”

Rose turned away from him letting the sentence hanging in the air. She slid her sunglasses on and stared into the slowly setting sun. Nik looked down at the book laying between them, The Scarlet Letter. He turned away and instead enjoyed the view of the sand, the beach, the sea and the sky touching in a sweet embrace.

And now, let's welcome Larissa to the blog to have a little chat with us!

Q. When did you first start writing?

I started writing at the ripe age of 12. At first, I wrote poems because of my lovely English teacher decided that we should write poems and from then on, I fell in love with poetry. The writing bug really bit me a year later when the movie of Nickelodeon movie, Clock Stoppers came out. I thought the movie was going to be horrible, so I decided that I would write a novel that would be better than the movie. Needless to say, my book wasn't as good as the movie but I didn't care. I love writing and nothing else mattered. Thus my obsession with writing begun.

Q. What music do you listen to when you write?

Actually, I don't listen to music when I write. The reason I don't listen to music is because it distracts me from writing. My favorite genre is electronic dance. So every time I listen to it (especially Cascada or Rihanna's Please Don't Stop the Music) I want to dance instead of write. So it's more of a hindrance instead of a help. 

Q. Do you have any hidden talents?

Apparently, I have the talent of weaving my hair. Everywhere I go people compliment me on my hair and they are so shocked to know that I did it myself. You should see their faces, "You did THAT yourself?" Yeah, of course. You know how expensive it is to get kinky twists done? Over a hundred dollars easy, especially with all of the hair weave I did and how long it is. I'll give you a hint: The hair is longer than you think! I constantly sit on my hair, lol since I didn't originally intend for my hair to be this long when I started out . . . But that's a whole different story.

Q. Tell us about your book.

Everblossom: A Short Sort and Poetry Anthology is a collection of short stories and poems that explore the three stages of a flower that correlates to the human different stages of life but with a paranormal and fantasy twist. Here's more information about it in the blurb:

An anthology that will quench your thirst for more than the ordinary.

Everblossom is a journey through poems and short stories that may seem ordinary on the surface but dig a little deeper and the world not only shifts . . . It changes.

The author who brought you Iwishacana/Acanawishi, now brings you a dash of everything from dark fantasy to the paranormal to romance. So prepare yourself to delve into the three stages of the flower from bud to blossom then back to seed; you'll go through them all with a whole new perspective on what it all truly means.

Oh, and one of the poems, In Death You Speak, it was inspired by boredom in class. I was sitting in one of the English Literature classes listening to them drone on and on about something, so I wrote a poem instead of listening. J I know. I'm horrible. A-soon-to-be English teacher not paying attention in an English classroom? Shocker.

Q: Are you currently working on a project?

Yes, it's called Angel Diaries which is a YA paranormal romance novel. Here's a sneak peek of the rough blurb:

Lindsey's life couldn't have been any more ordinary. So, she had two guys fighting over her, a psychic friend and a school dominated by Goths but, other than that, life was good. That is until horrible nightmare start about her mother being ripped apart by a monster changed her life from the inside out. Literally. Her whole world was full of lies. She's not even human. She's an Angel.

Q: What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment as a writer?

Saying goodbye to traditional publishing limitations and inquiries. Releasing myself from their validation. It's absolute freedom to say goodbye to traditional publishing. Not for good, but not using someone else's measurements of success or great writing to say that I'm a great writer and I don't need your validation. All I need is to write and find my own audience my own way through self-publishing. That's my greatest accomplishment and one of the best damn decisions I've ever made.

Q. What book are you reading now?

I'm reading Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves. It's a gorgeously dark fantasy book from an author I love. Sadly, I'm almost finished with it but I will give it a grand review hopefully sometime next week. I'm so excited to share this book with my followers!

Q. What is the most difficult thing about being a writer? What is the easiest thing?

The easiest thing about writing is coming up with the ideas. I come up with new ideas practically every day I take a step outside. Now the hardest part about writing is putting your idea on paper and making it come across right. Especially for a novel. It's a long journey from the first page until the last and to make sure it's projecting the idea from cover to cover from word to word is the most difficult part. As a writer, you have to be consistent, persistent, and have excellent time management to be able to complete a novel with style, grace and be sane. Seriously. Ask some writers if they haven't pulled their hair out over a story that just wouldn't translate from their brain onto the paper right. Ah, the makings of a novel.

Q. Quick: Vampire or Shapeshifter?

Shapeshifters all the way. Vampires get way too much hype right now and they have become mainstream and valued for their apparent sex appeal. Shapeshifters on the other hand, will always win in a battle, they are scary, and they are sexy. Win win.

Q. Any advice for writers?

The first piece of advice I would give to an newbie writer is to never give up. I really cannot stress this enough to writers.

It seems like defeat is fate for writers. Traditional publishers and agents are dishing out rejection slips as if it's the new hottest trends. Self-publishing seems like giving up on your dreams altogether.

But reconsidering your options, doing research on your plans in publishing and joining a support writing group makes all the difference.

Throughout your writing career, just remember to never give up. Never give up and believe in your talent, and from there you'll know where to go.

Q. Anything you want to say to your readers?

To my readers, I have to say you are the driving force behind my writing. You are the people I am so grateful for and I hope that you will find time to read my books and love them just as much as I do. And if you do love them to pieces, then please express and share your love in reviewing my books online! That is all the thanks I need at the end of the day.  

So yep, that's about it for today! Thanks for joining us! :)