The Boy Who Wanted Wings by James Conroyd Martin Book Tour!

Publication Date: September 1, 2016
Paperback; 358 Pages
ISBN13: 9780997894509

Genre: Historical Fiction

On the eve of September 11, 1683, a massive Muslim Ottoman horde was besieging the gates of the imperial city of Vienna and had been doing so since the previous July. Now, however, they were just hours from capturing this capital of the Holy Roman Empire. The Turks’ intent was to bring Islam to all of Europe, and this city was seen by East and West alike as the gateway. With the window of time closing for Vienna, the walls were about to be breached on September 12 when the vastly outnumbered Christian coalition, led by Polish King Jan III Sobieski and his famous winged hussars, descended Kahlenberg Mountain to engage the Turks in an attempt to lift the siege. As crucial and consequential as the 1066 Battle of Hastings, the ensuing battle changed the course of European history

(Was it the first 9/11? Some people believe that the date for the September 11th attack in 2001 was chosen to symbolically resume the effort that began in 1683.)

Aleksy, a dark-complected Tatar raised by a Polish peasant family, holds in his heart the wish is to become a Polish hussar, a lancer who carries into battle a device attached to his back that holds dozens of eagle feathers. As a Tatar and as a peasant, this is an unlikely quest. When he meets Krystyna, the daughter of the noble who owns the land that his parents work, he falls hopelessly in love. But even though she returns his love, race and class differences make this quest as impossible as that of becoming a hussar. Under the most harrowing and unlikely circumstances, one day Aleksy must choose between his dreams.

Praise

“A poor archer in medieval Poland takes aim at the love of his life in this epic novel from Martin. The anxious Aleksy Gazdecki, a young farmhand, embodies the ethnic and political tensions of Europe during the reign of the Ottoman Empire. The believability of this novel, which is sprinkled with period-specific details, is never in question. Martin sets the stage so tidily that the plight of Aleksy and Krystyna, who desire to move beyond the social classes that keep them apart, transcends the historical moment. Sprawling but never slow, the plot moves naturally from battle to intimacy and back again. A gripping, transporting story of self-determination set against fate.” ~Kirkus Reviews

“Amidst class and religious warfare, this alternately romantic and brutal love story is also a reminder that the struggle between Christianity and Islam is a great deal older than 2001. Culminating in the re-creation of the Siege of Vienna in 1683, where monstrous killing was perpetrated in the name of God and power, this is a meticulously researched and convincingly written tale of love’s triumph that will surprise historical fiction readers with its little known historical backdrop. In an ethnically diverse Poland that is now long gone, the main characters struggle with loyalties to family, race, and country as they come to understand that no fear or evil is unchangeable.” ~Leonard Kniffel, Past Editor in Chief of American Libraries
Director, Polish American Librarians Association

About the Author

James Conroyd Martin is the award-winning author of The Poland Trilogy (Push Not the River, Against a Crimson Sky, & The Warsaw Conspiracy), a saga inspired by the diary of a countess in 1790s Poland. Hologram: A Haunting was inspired by a house he lived in in Hammond, Indiana. He currently resides in Portland, Oregon.

For more information please visit James Conroyd Martin’s website. You can also connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

A Darker Shore by Maila Zaldi Virtual Book Tour!

We're happy to host Malia Zaldi's A DARKER SHORE Virtual Book Tour today! Please leave a comment to let her know you stopped by!

Title: A Darker Shore
Author: Malia Zaldi
Publisher: Bookbaby
Pages: 400
Genre: Historical Mystery

1926: A year has passed since the events of "A Poisonous Journey" and Lady Evelyn has made a home for herself in Greece, living with her cousin, Briony, her husband, Jeffrey and Daniel Harper. Disturbing this island idyll is a letter, which arrives from France with troubling information about the Daniel’s long-believed-dead brother, Henry. A new journey awaits! With the shadows of the Great War reaching out, Lady Evelyn and Daniel voyage to Amiens in Northern France with the aim of discovering the truth behind the ominous letter. Upon their arrival, they are met not with clarity but rather with crime. Murder, to be precise. Is it linked to their presence in France, or even worse, to Henry himself?  Evelyn and Daniel must confront their history as they try to make sense of the present before the killer can strike again, and the secrets of the past are lost forever.

PURCHASE AT:

Amazon

Prologue

Near Pozières, France 1917

            We came here to die.

            My heart beats the rhythm of the shell blast. Boom. Boom. Boom. Ready to burst, ready to break. Boom. Boom. Boom.

            "Get down!"

            An explosion of earth, light, and fire twenty feet beyond our trench.

            "Close one that?" McCragh bellows into my ear.

            I only manage a nod. Too many sounds echoing through my body, the steady pulsing of my heart, the tinny ringing in my ears. But silence can be just as bad I have learned. Silence can be death. My discovery weighs heavy on my mind. What will I do? Do I have a choice?

            "What are the orders?" asks a young man, whose name I cannot remember, standing at my other side, leaning heavily against the dirt wall of our trench, his feet squelching thickly in the mud underfoot.

            "Awaiting orders," says McCragh with a sneer. "Won't do us much good, waiting 'ere much longer, better get out, better to be moving."

            The nameless young man shies away from us, from the bitter words of the burly Scot

            Before I can respond, another man, the Runner, comes catapulting into the ditch. I help him right himself. His face is smeared with dirt and dust, but this mask cannot conceal his tender age. I shudder. We will all die here today.

            "Orders are to stay. Enemy—" he gasps for air, "enemy is showing signs of retreat."

            "Retreat?" McCragh frowns. "Bleedin' cowards!"

            "Are you certain?" I ask, feeling the quiver in my voice.

            "Yessir, orders from above. Told us to wait it out."

            "Right, well done, son," I say, though the boy could be my brother. "Go on, then. Best make the rounds." I try to sound calm, reassuring, to keep my voice steady, while I know I fail and only hope my fear is disguised by the screams and blasts from above.

            "Yessir." He takes a breath and sets off at a brisk trot, as fast as the bodies crowded into this tight space will allow.

            "Another day to live in hell, then. Lovely." Lewis, a Cornish fellow with a missing left ear comments wryly as he materializes at our side.

            "Sounds about right." McCragh rolls his eyes, but makes an involuntary sign of the cross nonetheless.

            "Four months they told us," Rawlins, another man with a raspy voice adds, sticking a cigarette between his thin, flaking lips. "'Four months, lads, serve King and Country', eh? Bleedin' liars."

            "Watch what you're saying, or I'll 'ave you for treason!" McCragh winks and rubs his beard.

           

Time passes slowly. The sky goes from gray to purple to black tinged orange, and still the thrumming of the guns, the intermittent blasts, grow only slightly fainter, move only slightly farther away. We crouch together in the black, damp, misery of our trench, our only light is the flicker of orange at the end of a cigarette.

            "What will you do when this is all over?" comes the whispered voice of a young nameless soldier, who has drifted to my side.

            "If I'm not—" I start.

            "If yer not dead," chimes in McCragh. "If we get out of this pile o' shite in one bit, you mean, laddie?"

"Stop pissing about, McCragh," Rawlins says sharply. It is an unspoken rule not to mention the very real likelihood of us never seeing the end of this war.

            "Oh, right," comes McCragh's chastised reply. "I fer one will be gettin' back me ol' missus. Seein' the kids."

            "How many have you got, then?" Lewis asks, keen for any distraction from the agony of numb legs, and the even worse terror raging above us.

            "Two. Two little girls. Bessie and Mary. And I thank the Lord fer that. I'll never be sendin' them off to be blown to bits. I won't let them out of my sight again. Future husbands beware."

            We chuckle, though I do not doubt the sincerity of his statement. Future husbands beware indeed!

            "And you? How about you, son?" Lewis asks.

            "Just go home," I say. "See my mother, father. See my brothers."

            "How many?"

            "Two. One—" I swallow, a sudden tightness in my throat, "one is here, somewhere . . ." I let the word float into the night, knowing the others understand. Silence descends upon our group, and soon I hear the faint sound of snoring. Can it be? Is one of them actually sleeping while the sky is falling down on us?

After some moments, I sense a sudden motion to my right. I turn my head, though I cannot see my hand before my eyes.

            "Hello?" I whisper, but before I can hear an answer, a sharp stab of pain swells in my chest. I gasp, my hand flying up, meeting . . . meeting wetness. Wetness? Sticky . . .

            I can't breathe; I grapple around, touching the soft, earthen wall, the rough fabric of a uniform.

            "I-I . . ." I swallow hard, pain explodes inside me, louder, more forceful than the shells above. My mouth feels dry, I try retching, but nothing comes. I am on the ground. "Help." I croak.

            I feel a hand on my shoulder. Hear voices, raised in concern. All I see is blackness and stars.

            We came here to die. 

Malia Zaidi is the author of A POISONOUS JOURNEY. She attended the University of Pittsburgh, and studied at English at Oxford University. Having grown up in Germany, she currently lives in Washington DC, though through her love of reading, she resides, vicariously in countries throughout the world. A POISONOUS JOURNEY is her first book in the Lady Evelyn mysteries series. The sequel, A DARKER SHORE, is her latest novel.

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | GOODREADS

 

Child's Play by Merry Jones Book Blast and Giveaway!

Synopsis:

Since her husband’s murder two years earlier, life hasn’t been easy for Elle Harrison. Now, at the start of a new school year, the second grade teacher is determined to move on. She’s selling her house and delving into new experiences―like learning trapeze.
Just before the first day of school, Elle learns that a former student, Ty Evans, has been released from juvenile detention where he served time for killing his abusive father. Within days of his release, Elle’s school principal, who’d tormented Ty as a child, is brutally murdered. So is a teacher at the school. And Ty’s former girlfriend. All the victims have links to Ty.
Ty’s younger brother, Seth, is in Elle’s class. When Seth shows up at school beaten and bruised, Elle reports the abuse, and authorities remove Seth and his older sister, Katie, from their home. Is Ty the abuser?
Ty seeks Elle out, confiding that she’s the only adult he’s ever trusted. She tries to be open-minded, even wonders if he’s been wrongly condemned. But when she’s assaulted in the night, she suspects that Ty is her attacker. Is he a serial killer? Is she his next intended victim?
Before Elle discovers the truth, she’s caught in a deadly trap that challenges her deepest convictions about guilt and innocence, childhood and family. Pushed to her limits, she’s forced to face her fears and apply new skills in a deadly fight to survive.

Book Details:

Genre: Thriller, Suspsense
Published by: Oceanview Publishing
Publication Date: January 3rd 2017
Number of Pages: 320
ISBN: 1608091910 (ISBN13: 9781608091911)
Series: Elle Harrison Thriller #3 (Each can be read as a Stand Alone Novel)
Purchase Links: Amazon  | Barnes & Noble  | Goodreads 

Read an excerpt:

I was the first one there.
The parking lot was empty, except for Stan’s pickup truck. Stan was the custodian, tall, hair thinning, face pock-marked from long ago acne. He moved silently, popped out of closets and appeared in corners, prowled the halls armed with a mop or a broom. In fourteen years, I couldn’t remember a single time when he’d looked me in the eye.
Wait—fourteen years? I’d been there that long? Faces of kids I’d taught swirled through my head. The oldest of them would now be, what? Twenty-one? Oh man. Soon I’d be one of those old school marms teaching the kids of my former students, a permanent fixture of the school like the faded picture of George Washington mounted outside the principal’s office. Hell, in a few months, I’d be forty. A middle-aged childless widow who taught second grade over and over again, year after year, repeating the cycle like a hamster on its wheel. Which reminded me: I had to pick up new hamsters. Tragically, last year’s hadn’t made it through the summer.
I told myself to stop dawdling. I had a classroom to organize, cubbies to decorate. On Monday, just three days from now, twenty-three glowing faces would show up for the first day of school, and I had to be ready. I climbed out of the car, pulled a box of supplies from the trunk, started for the building. And stopped.
My heart did triple time, as if responding to danger. But there was no danger. What alarmed me, what sent my heart racing was the school itself. But why? Did it look different? Had the windows been replaced, or the doors? Nothing looked new, but something seemed altered. Off balance. The place didn’t look like an elementary school. It looked like a giant factory. A prison.
God, no. It didn’t look like any of those things. The school was the same as it had always been, just a big brick building. It seemed cold and stark simply because it was unadorned by throngs of children. Except for wifi, Logan Elementary hadn’t changed in fifty years, unless you counted several new layers of soot on the bricks.
I stood in the parking lot, observing the school, seeing it fresh. I’d never paid much attention to it before. When it was filled with students, the building itself became all but invisible, just a structure, a backdrop. But now, empty, it was unable to hide behind the children, the smells of sunshine and peanut butter sandwiches, the sounds of chatter and small shoes pounding Stanley’s waxed tiles. The building stood exposed. I watched it, felt it watching me back. Threatening.
Seriously, what was wrong with me? The school was neither watching nor threatening me. It was a benign pile of bricks and steel. I was wasting time, needed to go in and get to work. But I didn’t take a single step. Go on, I told myself. What was I afraid of? Empty halls, vacant rooms? Blank walls? For a long moment, I stood motionless, eyes fixed on the façade. The carved letters: Logan School. The heavy double doors. The dark windows. Maybe I’d wait a while before going inside. Becky would arrive soon, after she picked up her classroom aquarium.
Other teachers would show up, too. I could go in with them, blend safely into their commotion. I hefted the box, turned back to the car. But no, what was I doing? I didn’t want to wait. I’d come early so I could get work done without interruption or distraction before the others arrived. The school wasn’t daring me, nor was I sensing some impending tragedy. I was just jittery about starting a new year.
I turned around again, faced its faded brown bricks. I steeled my shoulders, took a breath and started across the parking lot. With a reverberating metallic clank, the main doors flew open. Reflexively, I stepped back, half expecting a burst of flames or gunfire. Instead, Stan emerged. For the first time in fourteen years, I was glad to see him. Stan surveyed the parking lot, hitched up his pants. Looked in my direction. He didn’t wave or nod a greeting, didn’t follow social conventions. Even so, his presence grounded me, felt familiar.
I took a breath, reminded myself that the school was just a school. That I was prone to mental wandering and embellishing. And that children would stream into my classroom in just three days, whether I was ready or not.

Author Bio:

Merry Jones is the author of some twenty critically acclaimed books, both fiction and nonfiction. Her work has been translated into seven languages. Her previous Elle Harrison novels have been THE TROUBLE WITH CHARLIE and ELECTIVE PROCEDURES. Jones lives with her husband in Philadelphia.

Catch Up with Merry online: Website , Twitter , & Facebook 

January 3, 2017 BLAST Participants:

Tour Participants:

Next Month Merry will be touring with her new book Child's Play. The following sites, and more, will be hosting reviews, interviews, guest posts, and MORE Giveaways! Drop by to learn more about Merry and her great new book!

Giveaway:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours for Merry Jones. There will be 2 winners of one (1) eBook copy of Child's Play by Merry Jones. The giveaway begins on January 3rd and runs through January 9th, 2016.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours

 

The Vampire Mafia Complete Series By: M.A. Wilder Excerpt Reveal!

  Title: The Vampire Mafia Complete Series

By: M.A. Wilder

Publication Date: January 1, 2017

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Cover Designer: James "Humble Nations" at Go On Write

Are you interested in receiving a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review on Goodreads/Amazon?

You can sign up - HERE

Five deadly love stories.

And one dark saga. 

This is August, New York, where the chaotic world of the supernatural will collide with unsuspecting, vulnerable humans.
  Trouble
Notorious criminal Mickey McKennan is everything Nora Evers shouldn’t want. He’s power and sex in a suit with a rogue smile, and when they meet, her world tilts as she falls in lust—until that world halts when tragedy strikes. Nora’s life quickly goes from bad to worse, and she finds Mickey at every turn. Although his deadly secrets ensure that trouble follows him, she is drawn to him more and more. But, when her past haunts her present, Nora’s life is threatened, and she is unsure of who she can count on to help her survive.
  Beautiful 
Everyone has a price, and thanks to the captivating Simon Handover and his proposition, Penny Ames has discovered hers. She will just need to make it through one month with him before she can flee and never look back. But, with his Clark Kent good looks and Superman swagger, Simon is more of a threat to Penny than she realizes. While fighting not to lose her heart, she stumbles into a world filled with guns, gangs, and…vampires, and soon, she finds herself also fighting for her life.
  Collateral 
When Sosie Savage is taken hostage by the Vampire Mafia due to her father’s mistake, the only thing on her mind is survival—until her focus begins to shift as her captors, the D’Avignon brothers, vie for her attention. Powerful yet antagonistic, J.M. and Sebastien fascinate her. Where J.M. is destructive and dangerous, Sebastien acts as the savior with his kindness. With her feelings clouding her mind, Sosie struggles to set things right in the tangled web her father weaved. But, after the D’Avignon family receives threats from rival vampires while enduring run-ins with the authorities, she begins to question her allegiance to her own family and the life that she once knew.
  Vengeful 
Kidnapped and tortured with no end in sight, Beau D’Avignon is certain death is imminent. That is, until Francesca Slight intervenes. Sheltered daughter of the D’Avignon’s sworn enemy, she is now also the owner of Beau’s heart. With the animosity between the leading vampire families, their newfound love is not likely to survive, especially when the escalating war threatens all their lives. Frustrated with her father’s lack of action in the search for her missing family, Bellamy D’Avignon is determined to take the reins, but along the way, she crosses paths with someone from the opposite side of the law. He’s literally tall, dark, and handsome, and their connection is immediate and undeniable. But, when a life-altering threat hits and emotions take over, Bellamy makes a decision that will change their lives forever.

“Are you ready to tell me?” I ask. “No,” he whispers. I look down and sigh. “I don’t know how many more times I can say I’m sorry before you believe me. But if you want to punish me for his death…” I bolt from the car and make my way up to my apartment without a single glance over my shoulder. The key is in the door when I feel him approach. I still refuse to turn around, but he doesn’t give me much choice. Mickey curves an arm around my waist and spins me so that my back is now pinned to the door. His face is mere inches away from mine, and I can feel the hard lines of his body pressing against me. He’s so gorgeous, it hurts to look. But it hurts even more to look away. Once again, I’ve forgotten how to breathe. But he reminds me when he floats his cheek against mine, causing my breath to hitch. “I’m not trying to punish you,” he says, whispering the words against my neck. “I’m trying to protect you.” “Whatever it is you think I can’t handle, I can,” I whisper back. “I’m stronger than I look.” He sighs and looks at me like I’m stating the obvious. “Babe, sounds to me like you’ve had to be too strong for too long. When are you going to let someone else take care of you?” My nose stings from the urge to cry, and I’m struggling to maintain eye contact. This isn’t me. I’m the girl who deals with shit and then keeps it moving, not the one who goes all weak-kneed and falls to pieces. Except I am falling. And fast. “There is no one. Remember?” The quiver in my voice is a dead giveaway, but I keep talking, and he keeps listening. “Besides, we still don’t know who those guys were, and—” So much for everything I’m not. His lips capture mine, and my knees do go weak. I can feel his arm tightening as he holds me steady with one hand while his other hand cups the side of my face. His lips brush back and forth against mine, learning their feel. Meanwhile, his hand grips my hip, and his other hand slides back from my cheek to my hair, anchoring into my long brunette locks. I can feel Mickey stiffening against me as the tip of his tongue demands entrance. There’s no hesitation. I open for him. A needy whimper works its way up my throat as his tongue glides against mine. My hands curl into tight fists, the lapels of his expensive suit jacket caught between my fingers. I feel myself getting wet, cream dampening my panties, as this primal ache spirals up from my core. Mickey’s groaning deliciously naughty sounds into my mouth, and I’m clutching at him like I never want this to end. Because I don’t. It feels like every kiss from my past has been leading up to this moment. They were all just practice, and this…this is real. I’ve never felt anything like it before, and deep down inside, I know that I never will. Not with anyone but Mickey. But it’s over before I know it. He’s pressing his lips against mine in a gentle finale, and I know that the fireworks display is coming to a close. His name spills out of my mouth in a pleading moan, and he smiles and then finishes with a chaste kiss. “Babe, you’re gonna get us both into trouble.” I breathe a quiet laugh. “Yeah?” “Yeah. Now, wipe that sexy smile off your face before you start something you can’t finish.” I chuckle, despite my best efforts for a more serious expression. Then, a sultry fire flashes in his eyes, and I stop laughing. “Let’s go,” he says. “Go where?” “Inside.” “Inside where?” “Babe, we really gonna do this?” “I never invited you in.” “Relax. If I wanted something to happen, those gorgeous legs of yours would be wrapped around my waist, and you’d be screaming my name right now. My c**k would be buried so deep inside you, hitting places you never even knew existed, and I swear, you’d never want to hop off. But you’re not ready for that, and I respect it. You’re also not ready to spend the night at my place, so I’m going to crash here.” My skin is flushed, my breathing is strained, and for the first time in my life, I mentally check my body for signs of a heart attack. Nothing. A slow and shaky breath escapes my lips as my brain tries to work out a response. I know I’m going to think of a really great comeback hours from now, but the best I can manage on the spot is, “Well, you just know everything, don’t you?” He smirks. “Not everything. Just that you want me.” I gasp, not out of offense but out of embarrassment over his accuracy. “And, before you say anything else, I want you, too. But, tonight, we sleep. Just sleep,” he says. I unlock the door while offering up a deceptively cool tsk. “Like I said, nice.”

M. A. Wilder is a wife, mother, and native New Yorker who writes in order to retain her title as a hipster. She is a stay-at-home mom by day and a crime fighter author by night. She is also rumored to be a full-time geek, a part-time fangirl, and an imaginary superhero.

Social Media Links

Goodreads - http://goodreads.com/wildthingwrites Facebook - http://facebook.com/wildthingwrites Website - http://www.wildthingwrites.com/ Twitter - @wildthingwrites Google+ - https://plus.google.com/+MAWilder Instagram - http://instagram.com/wildthingwrites Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/wildthingwrites

New Releases / Free & Bargain Books!

Sharing the Love of Books
Enjoy our selection of New Releases / Free & Bargain Books this week

Authors please feel free to add your own books
Readers please free to add your own finds
(any genre except erotica welcome)

This weekly link up is hosted by Beck Valley Books & these awesome book loving blogs...
Monday
 Life as Leels | IrishdaisylovesRomance | Book Babble | All Romance Reader
Tuesday
It's My Side of Life | Celticlady's Reviews | First Time Mommy Adventures 
Wednesday
Beck Valley Books | A Library of Reviews | Cinnamon Hollow Reviews
Thursday
Miki's Hope | Nicki's Nook
Friday
Ebook Addicts | I Love Romance | Mother Distracted | Colorimetry | The Ultimate Fan Blog
Saturday
Totally Addicted to Reading | 3 Partners in Shopping | Angie's Angle | I Creat Purty Thangs | Wishful Endings
Sunday
Lynchburg Mama | LibriAmoriMiei | Ali - The Dragon Slayer | Wondermom Wannabe | My Bizzy World |  Deal Sharing Aunt | Rambling Reviews 

For Pre-orders post - PRE-ORDER / genre / title /author

For New Releases post - NEW / genre / title / author

For Free Books post - FREE / genre / title / author / end date 

For Bargain Books post - SALE / price / genre / title / author / end date
(Strictly no Erotica please.  Steamy romance is fine but watch those covers people, incase any underage child is viewing it!)

Here is this weeks awesome selection!

Would you like to share our linkup on your site? click here
Would you like to become a weekly host? sign up here

Come back and check out the new selection every week x

One Bad Day by Edie Hart Book Blitz!

 When Tessa agreed to do a favor for her boss, she never thought she’d end up being a mistaken target for a hired killer or falling for the sexy cop who is determined to keep her safe.

 *Buy Links -
 Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MG8GOAW/
 B&N - One Bad Day
 Apple iBooks - One Bad Day by Edie Hart on iBooks

    

 EXCERPT: She turned and looked at him with shimmering blue eyes.
“Um… thanks for the ride and everything. I, uh, guess I’ll see you later.” Her lower lip quivered. Aw, hell. Legs—Tessa, as he now knew—had been attacked in a parking garage, came home to a trashed apartment, and she thought he was just going to leave? He knew he could be a jerk at times, but he wasn’t heartless. He blew out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. Next to him, Burg snickered. The asshole.
 “You can go now, Burg.” He walked over and opened the door. Burg elbowed him on his way out.
“See you later, Stanley.” Gray gave him the finger and closed the door in his face. “Stanley?” Tessa cocked her head to the side and her mouth quirked up. “My first name is Stanley,” he mumbled.
 “Stanley?” she repeated, a small smile now appearing on her face.
 “Stanley Grayson Kingsley.” He stared her down.
“You’re one to talk, Misty.” She had an “oh shit” look on her face.
“Are you going to arrest me?” she asked, her eyes wide. She had the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen. They shimmered. Her lower lip quivered again. Shit.
“Why would I arrest you?” He’d had Burg check her out and knew that she wasn’t guilty of anything illegal. He still couldn’t figure out why she wouldn’t tell him her real name.
 “Parking tickets,” she whispered.
 “Tickets?” He put his hands on his hips and looked at the ceiling.
“You mean this whole time you wouldn’t tell me your name because you’ve got unpaid tickets?” She nodded, looking miserable.
 “Jesus, Tessa.” He took a step toward her.
 “Your place is trashed and you’re worried about parking tickets?” He crouched down to look in her face. A lone tear slid down her cheek. He scrubbed his hands over his face and through his hair, then moved closer, gearing himself to comfort her with a pat on the back. Instead, before he knew it, she’d thrown herself into him and he found his arms full of soft, quivering woman. She made a noise that sounded like a muffled sob.
 “Aw, hell. Please don’t cry.” His gut twisted.
“I swear I’m not going to arrest you. They’re just f*cking parking tickets, hon.” “I’ve had a very, very bad day!” She sobbed into his shirt. He pulled her to a nearby armchair and sat down, adjusting her in his lap. Now what? He did not do crying women. At a loss for how to stop her tears, he clumsily rubbed her back. “Tell me about your day. Get it all out.”
 “First I had to dress like a giant hooker light bulb, then I lost my clothes!” She lifted her head and sniffled.
“And I had to wear this!” She gestured to her skirt. “And then… And then…” She gulped air. “I couldn’t find my car and got chased through a dark parking lot!” Tears streamed down her face.
“I lost my shoooe!” She pressed her face into his chest.
 “When did you lose your shoe, honey?” Gray continued rubbing her back. “When I hit the scary guy with it in the stairwell.” She clutched at Gray’s shirt. “I… I… hid… and…” She gasped.
“I hit him when he grabbed me.” She burrowed deeper into his shoulder.
“And I…was…really scared!”
 “I know,” he murmured.
 “All I wanted to do was come home and go to bed.” With her face pressed against him, her voice was muffled.
“I can’t even do that!” She took a deep breath. “And I look like a freakin’ prostitute!”    

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Sensual Secrets: Not Your Mother's Coffee Table Book Author:Ellie Masters eBook Release!

✫¸.•°°•.✫✫¸.•°°•.✫✫¸.•°°•.✫✫¸.•°°•.✫✫¸.•°°•.✫✫¸.•°°•.✫✫¸.•°°•.✫✫¸.•°°•.✫

Title: SENSUAL SECRETS: Not Your Mother's Coffee Table Book

Author: ELLIE MASTERS

EBOOK Release Date: 1 January, 2017

Genre: ROMANCE, SHORT STORIES AND POEMS, PICTURE BOOK, 104 pages

Special EBOOK Promotional price

http://amzn.to/2iNYSNJ

Also, available in paperback, image wrap hardback, and dust cover hardback viablurb.com http://www.blurb.com/b/7438139

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This isn't a novel... it's not a book of poems... it's something MAGNIFICENT!

Enter a world of luscious thoughts and decadent desires. Within these pages you will find a momentary escape from the real world as you sink into a sensuous realm where reality, fact, and fiction combine to sweep you away in an unadulterated fantasy.

Why is it called "Not Your Mother's Coffee Table Book?

Because, the stories and images inside this book are not fit for younger eyes. They are however, meant to inspire your imagination; to take you on a sensual journey into "what if"and "what may be." It's a key to the discovery of the soul, a path less taken, a road you will want to travel again and again. It's something to share with your lover. You'll want to keep it close at hand. Under your pillow might just be the perfect place!

The concept for SENSUAL SECRETS: Not Your Mother's Coffee Table Book came to me this Fall. I enjoy writing erotic shorts, snippets of stories, kernels of revelation, simple moments where we can dip our toes into another place, a sensual realm where we can dream and play. Sensual Secrets is a compilation of my sinful shorts, passionate poems, and sexy short stories written this past year, all bundled into a visual feast for your enjoyment.

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Ellie Masters has been exploring the worlds of romance, dark erotica, science fiction, and fantasy by writing the stories she likes to read. When not writing, Ellie can be found outside, where her passion for all things outdoor reigns supreme: off­ roading, ATV-ing, scuba diving, hiking, and breathing fresh air, are just a few of her favorite pursuits.

Wife, lover, and mother are her most treasured roles, but Ellie has played many parts: counter-girl at McDonalds, a research assistant in a Nanofabrication facility, rocket scientist, physician, and now a published author with the release of her debut novel Changing Roles. Ellie is adding to her publications, HEART'S INSANITY: an Angel Fire Rock Romance coming August 2016.

She has lived all over the United States, east, west, north, south and central, but grew up under the Hawaiian sun. Now, Ellie is proud to call herself a Southern transplant, learning to say y’all and ‘bless her heart’ with the best of them. She lives with her beloved husband, two children who refuse to flee the nest, and four fur-­babies; three cats who rule the household, and a dog who wants nothing other than for the cats to be his friends. The cats have a different opinion regarding this matter.

Ellie’s favorite way to spend an evening is curled up on a couch, laptop in place, watching a fire, drinking a good wine, and bringing forth all the characters from her mind to the page and hopefully into the hearts of her readers.

Website: http://www.elliemasters.com

Amazon: amazon.com/author/elliemasters

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elliemastersdarkromance

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ellie__Masters

Goodreads:  http://bit.ly/1UOIZ8G

Google+: http://bit.ly/1WSoBTf

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_masters/

Pinterest:       http://bit.ly/25rfnmQ

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