Saturday 30 August 2014

Darkest Embrace by Robyn M. Pierce + Giveaway


Darkest Embrace (The Lanistter Chronicles #1)
by 

Paranormal Romance

While running away to escape the actions of her deceased father, Elyssa Smith is caught in the worst storm that Lanistter Isle has ever seen, forcing her to seek shelter in the only place nearby -- Lanistter Castle. Soon, however, it's made clear that the inhabitants of the castle are the ones she's running away from in the first place. 


Zeke Lanistter is the head of the European Lanistter branch -- and a sadist through and through. He has bloody plans for Elyssa, and will stop at nothing to get rid of her. 

Reid Lanistter is known by many for his womanizing. But when Elyssa enters the castle, he does all he can to protect her from Zeke, unexpectedly morphing into a one-woman man. 

In a sinister turn of events, Reid becomes the danger to Elyssa's life, and it’s Zeke who finds himself doing whatever he can to protect Elyssa...




Robyn M. Pierce is an author from Las Vegas, where the night is never-ending. She has two white cats that lure her into taking catnaps more often than not and can be terrorists when it’s dinnertime.

The Lanistter Chronicles has been her primary focus since 2006, when she started writing stories of her own. (She used to be a fan fiction writer!)

While on her journey with the Lanistter family, she has come up with enough book ideas to fill a shelf, and there are still more to come.
Check her out online at 

www.RobynMariePierce.com

Amazon | Barnes & Noble





Check out all the stops on this Making Connections blog tour! 
 
 

Friday 29 August 2014

Book Beginnings #12: Touch the Dark by Karen Chance

Book Beginnings
is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader

Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

You can find more information and how to participate on your blog HERE!  




I knew I was in trouble as soon as I saw the obituary.  The fact that it had my name on it was sort of a clue. 

Title:  Touch the Dark
Author:  Karen Chance
Genre:  Urban Fantasy
Mass Market Paperback, 1st Edition, 307 pages
Published June 6th 2006 by Roc
 
Cassandra Palmer can see the future and communicate with spirits—talents that make her attractive to the dead and the undead. The ghosts of the dead aren’t usually dangerous; they just like to talk…a lot.

The undead are another matter.

Like any sensible girl, Cassie tries to avoid vampires. But when the bloodsucking mafioso she escaped three years ago finds Cassie again with vengeance on his mind, she’s forced to turn to the vampire Senate for protection.

The undead senators won’t help her for nothing, and Cassie finds herself working with one of their most powerful members, a dangerously seductive master vampire—and the price he demands may be more than Cassie is willing to pay....

My Thoughts
I've been meaning to read this series for some time now.  As far as beginnings go, this one was fabulous.  Though I didn't enjoy the book overall as much as I would have liked, I did still like it and am looking forward to reading more to see where the story goes. 

Thursday 28 August 2014

Love Spirits: What Happens in Venice by Diana Cachey: Interview + Giveaway




Love Spirits (What Happens In Venice, Book One)
by Diana Cachey 

Genre: Romance/paranormal
Number of pages: 160

Among the romantic canals of Venice—and oh so many Italian distractions—can a stunning American lawyer and her psychic sister help the Ghosts of Venice solve a hushed-up crime? 

Louisa Mangotti is a gorgeous American lawyer and Interpol expert who, after being offered a job working with the international crime unit in Venice, receives a mysterious postcard from the Venetian Ghosts, the ancient protectors of the Republic. But Louisa assumes her bad-boy ex, Matteo, sent it in a quixotic attempt to gain her attention. Louisa may have dismissed the ghosts, but the ghosts aren’t quite done with her. 

When the bodies of two glassmakers wash up on Murano Island, the cryptic messages persist. Reluctantly, Louisa calls upon Matteo to help decipher the clues. And before she knows it, a flame that was never fully extinguished is rekindled. Sensing that her sister is in over her head, Barbara Mangotti rushes to the rescue, only to be lured away by two handsome Venetian men. 

With time running out, can the two beauties solve a crime that could threaten the city of Venice itself?

Keywords: Chick lit mystery ,Venice fiction, Ghosts of Venice, Paranormal mystery, Contemporary women novels

Find it on Goodreads
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

Book Trailers
Love Spirits -- Take One
http://video214.com/play/R71iLBUayFB0CJEg02UFkg/s/dark


Diana Cachey is a licensed attorney, published academic, and former adjunct law professor. She also holds a BA in English, and while in law school, she was the first female editor in chief of her university’s law review. The author of the novel Love Spirits, she has trained with several New York Times best-selling writers, including Robert Allen, with more than seventy-two million books sold. For more than a decade, Cachey has been traveling to Venice, the setting of her novel, on extended trips several times a year. The cafés, restaurants, and many other haunts of Venice play a prominent role in her sexy paranormal mystery-romance about a beautiful American lawyer guided by the Ghosts of Venice in the investigation of a hushed-up crime. 
 

Q & A with Author Diana Cachey 

Tell us a little bit about your main characters. 
 Louisa is a gorgeous American lawyer offered a job in the international crime unit of Venice who receives a mysterious postcard from the Venetian Ghosts. She assumes her bad-boy ex, Matteo, sent it to gain her attention. When the cryptic ghost messages persist, she calls upon Matteo to help decipher clues and flames that weren't fully extinguished are rekindled. 

 Sensing her sister is in over her head, shy Barbara rushes to Venice to rescue Louisa as usual. Instead, she is lured away by her own Venetian admirers, which slowly awakens her sensuality. 

Handsome, wealthy Venetian male characters, like Matteo, woo the women with irresistible flair and charm. The mix is electric. 

In your opinion, what makes a good strong female lead?
Intelligence, independence, an inquisitive nature and the insatiable desire to live life fully. 

Describe the setting of your book. 
Foggy canals, Carnival revelry, fantastic food, and the lured mazes of the most romantic city in the world, Venice, Italy set the tone. The scenes of the novel evoke Venice's centuries-old magical beauty filled with campos, gondolas, palaces, churches, museums, pastry shops, bars and secrets spots. This setting naturally teams with mystery and romantic interludes. 

What is the best advice you have been given?
Success and failure are on the same path, thus, to succeed you must hit bumps in the road. Don't take failure or yourself too seriously, instead, learn to deal with setbacks. Have some fun, celebrate your effort, then get back on the path. Never give up, never give up, never, never, never, as Winston Churchill put it. Don't be defeated by fear of failure. 

How has your environment/upbringing colored your writing? 
My parents were teens when they got married and I grew up blue collar. Yet my family always encouraged us to fight, to work hard, to get ahead. My characters all have this fight in them, each with different manifestations of who they are in life. Whether it's the villain, the hero or a comic relief sidekick, they'll move mountains to get what they want. I also studied literature in college, which colored my writing style. 

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why? 
Venice! When I love a place as much as I love Venice, I tend to go back often. I've traveled there every year since my first trip in 2002 and these trips were essential to learning both the Italian and Venetian languages used in my novels. The lead character, Louisa, lives in Venice, therefore, to know the town as well as her, I had to live there for extended periods too, right? I've been to every Venetian location mentioned in the novel and still have more to see. 

I could also go to the Hawaiian Island of Kauai forever and never get bored. Sun, sea, surf, snorkeling, swaying trees and soft songs. What's not to love? As for places I haven't seen, two things on my bucket list are diving the Great Barrier Reef and viewing the Northern Lights. Epic, right? 

Which do you prefer: hard/paperbacks or ebooks?  
I love to travel and pack light but I haven't gone all "E" with books, surprisingly. So it's paperback for me. Smaller is better. 

What book are you reading now? 
Histories of Italy, Europe and the Eastern Empires. I want to learn as much as I can for future novels where I will continue to settle my characters in sexy locales to experience romance, mystery and supernatural events!



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