BTS Tours Presents: Holiday Jinx by Abbey MacInnis

Title: Holiday Jinx

Author: Abbey MacInnis

Publisher: Abbey MacInnis Publishing

Length:  300 pgs

Sub-Genres: Holiday, Paranormal, Elf

BLURB:

It's the most wonderful time of the year...unless you're single and lonely. Jinx--one of Santa's elves--is in trouble with the Big Guy. She's been charged with bringing holiday happiness to Christopher Ragan, CEO of Wondrous Toys. It's a big job especially when he's more attached to the bottom of a bottle than helping his fellow man. She's got enough trouble without spilling the secrets of the North Pole, but then along comes Natalie Burnes, a newbie CEO of Enchanted Toys and in trouble of a hostile takeover from Christopher's company. The woman literally crashes Christopher's vacation plans in a tucked away Michigan cabin---and the sparks start flying. As if Jinx's job of matchmaking the toy makers isn't hard enough, she's got to stay one step ahead of the North Pole patrol and keep out of sight of the humans. No way is she gonna screw up and lose her magic again. If the humans can't find happiness and love by Christmas, Jinx forfeits her chance of seeing her true love too. What's an elf to do?

EXCERPT:

This excerpt is from the beginning of Chapter Two.

Run. Get out of here. Adrenaline pumped through Natalie’s system, but fear kept her riveted in place. Light from the bedroom spilled into the hallway and gleamed off broad, bronze shoulders and muscular thighs. The man stood about six foot three. From her vantage point, she noted his tight glutes and ripped biceps, an obvious indication he didn’t neglect his physical health.

Natalie scrambled to find the courage to drag her gaze from his naked torso, up his wide chest, and farther still to his face that appeared like textured marble in the artificial light. She deduced he meant her no harm when he stumbled back against the bathroom doorway, his hands covering his ears.

If he were some crazy person, he’d already be after me. What kind of robber would go around in the middle of a blizzard naked anyway?

Her fright dissipated as she glimpsed his taut jaw set at a stubborn angle. He remained still with his shoulders back and legs spread. He crossed his arms and stared her down, his expression pinched.

A hot, annoyed, naked guy was the last thing she expected to encounter in her cabin. She didn’t know who was more caught off guard. “What the hell are you doing here?” she demanded, taking another step back.

A faint niggling of recognition stirred her brain cells. I can’t be right. Fate can’t so readily be handing me who I’m wanting to see, and in such a nicely presented package.

He pushed his wavy blond hair from his furrowed brow and regarded her from deep, intense blue eyes. “God, am I still dreaming? I thought I was rid of you.”

Dazed, she shook her head. This time, she was wrong. Fate had decided to help her out. This naked hottie was indeed Christopher Reagan. And what was he talking about? He was the intruder. “Um… No, I just got here.” That sounded like an apology. She hardened her voice. “Why are you in my cabin?”

“He’s been waiting for you,” whispered that same voice she’d heard on the porch. This pulled Natalie’s attention from the naked guy. He wasn’t the one who had spoken. To be sure there wasn’t anyone else in the room, she scanned every corner. To her consternation, she found nothing.

I must be going crazy. Or the resident ghost in this place is more active than I’d like.

“Did you just hear something? A voice maybe?” she asked.

He hesitated for a moment, blinking as he gaped at her. “Hear what? You screamed loud enough to burst an eardrum. That’s all I heard.”

Maybe I’m more tired than I think. Hearing voices. Seeing naked men. Is this naked man real? At least he looked real, standing there in the flesh. The very sexy flesh. She struggled not to openly ogle him. He showed no such restraint as he perused her from her tangled, damp hair to her frozen toes, warming her blood.

She turned away from that burning stare. Her heart rate slowed, but her anger rose as she saw the bottles and glasses on the floor and recognized that Reagan, the intruder, had apparently been making full use of her cabin.

She flattened her lips into a hard snarl. “Who do you think you are? This is my cabin. With this mess,” she swept her arms wide, gesturing to the bottles, “you act like you own the place.”

He tilted his head in that arrogant way that sent familiarity slamming through her. She’d seen that look before and hated it now as she had then. “I do own this place. Rather, my family does. I’m Christopher Reagan, and this is my uncle’s cabin.”

She had yet to observe a look of acknowledgement in his eyes, though she’d rather pretend she hadn’t recognized Reagan at all. She’d traveled all this way to see him, but not unclothed and in her cabin. There was only so much of the man she could handle.

My Cover Art Design: Article 5 Excerpts

Author Kristen Simmons ran a cover design contest for use on her site when she posts excerpts from her book Article 5. I wanted to make my design be complimentary to the original cover art. It turned out pretty good, I think.

Official cover for Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

My cover for Article 5 Excerpts

(click to enlarge)

Image Credits

Looking at the Sea by SSPIVAK

Manhattan by ilklim (only used the clouds though)

Woman crying at the beach by CathleenTarawhiti

Review: Hollywood Holiday by Sasha Summers

 

I'm excited to be participating in the blog tour for Hollywood Holiday by Sasha Summers. Also, there is a wonderful giveaway associated with the tour. For more information on the giveaway, head on over to the Inkspell Publishing blog.

Title: Hollywood Holiday
Author: Sasha Summers
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: InkSpell Publishing (Dec. 7th 2012)
Get it: InkSpell Publishing

NOTE:  Story is for mature readers due to some sexual content.

Synopsis
All she wants for Christmas is for Hollywood to love her again. But once she meets him, her Christmas list changes.

Jen’s only Christmas wish: Hollywood falling back in love with her. Meeting ex-Marine Gunner was a bonus. She likes that he isn’t impressed by celebrities or the movie biz. She likes that he’s funny and sweet … and drop-dead gorgeous. And she loves that he has no idea who her alter-ego is: Jen Fleming, Hollywood bad-girl and paparazzi target number one. Why ruin an amazing affair when he’s leaving after the new year?

But the closer they get, the harder she falls, and the more she wants to tell Gunner everything. Especially once he shares his secret with her.

Her new Christmas wish: Gunner accepts and loves her for who she really is.

Review

Hollywood Holiday is the sequel to Hollywood Ever After which I previously reviewed and loved. In this book you have Jenny, a famous Hollywood actress who is returning home after a stint in rehab for a problem with alcohol. She's terrified to fly (unless she's drunk), but the man she ends up seated next to on the plane is more than kind and helpful to her while she's freaking out, and he doesn't even know who she is. By the time they arrive in L.A., they both are interested in seeing each other again even though Jen is afraid that Gunner, the ex-Marine she befriended, will hate her if he finds out who she really is.

Gunner is headed to L.A. to visit his family for Christmas after several years of not seeing them, one year of which was spent in a military hospital. There is something about Gunner that makes him shy away from closer relationships with woman, but he really liked Jenny and is hoping to see where it might lead.

This is another great story by Sasha Summers. I loved that Jen was not in anyway like you might expect a Hollywood starlet to be:  mean, arrogant, selfish, etc. She is very down to earth, humble, and caring. She's not above taking public transportation due to having her license revoked for a drunk driving accident. She wants to put her life back on track and be a better person than she was before. And she just hopes that Gunner can see her for who she is now and not the person she was before. The problem is ... telling him.

Gunner doesn't like actors, or liars. An incident from his past has made him a bit prejudiced against them. Even when Gunner finds out that Jen is an actress, though he is still unaware of who she really is, he's accepting of her job choice and realizes that he was being unfair. I absolutely loved Gunner! He is perfect. I don't know what else to say about him.

There were a couple things that didn't add up for me though ... and I read the book three times. As I'm sure you can imagine, Gunner does find out what Jen's professional name is. But I don't understand his reaction; I don't understand his anger. Sure, he feels lied to even though Jen tried to tell him more than once. He never once recognized her as someone famous. He'd never met her before. She never did anything to him worth getting so upset over. So why? I am leaving out part, so as not to give anything away, but even then, it doesn't make sense to me. Apart from that there were a couple things that I feel, having read book one a couple times, were inconsistencies within the story but are very minor things. And although I did like that Jen wasn't arrogant and she has some insecurities, I think that I would have liked her even more if she didn't obsessively worry about what Gunner's reaction to learning the truth might be.

One last thing, I loved that practically everyone from book one was brought back for this story! I really enjoyed getting a glimpse into Claire and Josh's life since book one. Plus Claire's kids, mother, and Josh's father and sister. I am very much looking forward to reading the next book in this series!

** I received an eARC copy of the book from InkSpell Publishing for review.**

Find Author Online
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Review: Whisper of Memory by Brinda Berry

Title: Whisper of Memory
Author: Brinda Berry
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Fantasy
Publisher: Etopia Press (Nov. 5th 2012)
Get it: Amazon, B&N

Synopsis
Weapons training and winter formals...a deadly combination.

All Mia ever wanted was to fit in at Whispering Woods High. But being a portal-finder who dates a guy from another dimension sort of makes it hard. Mia's brother disappeared over a year ago, and agents from the IIA began policing people's movements through dimensions. She'd trusted Dr. Bleeker from the local university when he'd told her the IIA were the bad guys. But even a girl with an extraordinary ability to sense things can make mistakes.

Now two people are dead, and as a portal gatekeeper for the IIA, Mia needs to find Dr. Bleeker before he hurts anyone else. And her boyfriend Regulus, an Agent for the IIA, carries secrets of his own. Between learning about weaponry, finding the perfect dress for the winter formal, and catching bad guys, who has time to fit in?

Review 

Whisper of Memory continues where The Waiting Booth left off. If you haven't read The Waiting Booth yet, I recommend that you do not read any further. I don't want to spoil anything for you.

Previously we learned that Mia's mother was an IIA agent and that she is now helping Dr. Bleeker despite the fact that he is killing people for his experiments. And when Mia first meets her mother again after so many years -- her mother took off when she was just a toddler -- Nancy pulls a gun on her. Needless to say, Mia does not have warm and fuzzy feelings towards the mother that abandoned her. On top of all of that, her missing brother is sending her vague messages that only confuse her more and make her ask more questions for which no one has any answers. Oh yeah, and according to the IIA, dating among IIA members is forbidden.

I was very much looking forward to reading this sequel to The Waiting Booth. I enjoy the mystery of the story and the budding relationship between Mia and Regulus. Not to mention, Arizona is such a fun character who has a crush on Mia's best friend Emily. And let's not forget Austin, who is in love with Mia, but he's one of her best friends, and she thinks of him more like a brother. So with Whisper of Memory there is the continued mystery surrounding Mia's brother Pete and the gangs attempts to find Dr. Bleeker and learn as much information as they can regarding Pete.

OK, for some reason I didn't enjoy this story as much as the first one. I still liked it though, don't get me wrong, but it seemed kind of slow going at times, and I just didn't feel as if the whole winter formal part was necessary. I suppose that sort of thing is normal for a teenage girl in her senior year of high school, and although there wasn't a significant portion of the story dedicated to it, I feel it sidetracked the story a bit. Maybe that's just me being antsy to find out what's going on.

There is something major that happens to Regulus that I pretty much expected, though I didn't want it to happen, and I'm very curious to see how that affects his relationship with Mia in the long run. And I'm still itching to know what is really going on with Mia's mother and Dr. Bleeker and what exactly Pete is up to. So I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

** I received a copy of The Waiting Booth for review as part of the Knights of the Round Table group on Goodreads.**

Find Brinda Berry Online
Website | Blog | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

BTS Presents: Santa's Little Helper Scavenger Hunt!

Intro:
BTS Tours and Freya’s Bower are proud to present the Santa’s Little Helper Scavenger Hunt. 32 blogs have linked together to allow you to hunt for 32 different words that will be hidden in each post, so at the end of the hunt you will have 32 answers to plug into the rafflecopter. Please DO NOT leave your answers in the comment section. We want this to be fun for everyone, and not take the challenge out of the game. So this is how it works. All the blogs listed below will post their game piece on their allotted date. You are looking for one word (related to Christmas or Sex) to plug into the rafflecopter as your answer. For Example: If you are on Close Encounters with the Night Kind, and find your word (clues will be provided for you in the banner) you log into the rafflecopter form and place your answer in the box marked Close Encounters of the Night Kind. Follow along the entire Scavenger Hunt and collect all 32 clues. We will be drawing for 4 $25 dollar Gift Certificates to Freya’s Bower. Happy Hunting!!!


CLUE:

 

Book Spotlight

Title: Waking The Witch

Author: Lisa Whitefern

Publisher: Wild Child Publishing

Length: Novella
Sub-Genres: Historical/ Paranormal

Blurb:

From inside the stunning opal necklace, a haunting voice whispered, "Make love to him, Faith. Do it now!"

Faith Abbot is a good Puritan woman, but the magic inside an opal necklace begins to torment her with lustful thoughts.

For years her heart and body have craved handsome James Parris, a man twelve years her junior, a man she thinks should be courting women his own age. But now the magic of a ghost trapped in a jewel breaks down all her inhibitions.

When she and James surrender to the fierce erotic tension that pulses between them, her heart fills with joy.

But who is the angry female ghost dwelling within the necklace, wanting revenge?

And when Faith is accused of performing witchcraft in Salem Village, can James's love save her from the hangman's noose?

Excerpts:

“Let’s see where else the devil’s kissed her,” whispered Robert. He slid his hand between her legs. She spat at him, and he grabbed both her wrists. He dropped her torn shift back over her head. “Fetch the rope from my saddle.”

Mary Warren rushed to do his bidding. Tears of shame burned in Faith’s eyes. Robert bound her hands tightly in front of her with coarse rope.

“Can the witch not have a trial?” asked Grace Way. “Sarah Good is getting a trial.”

“There is no time for it now,” said Putnam, a malicious glint in his eye. “’Tis All Hallows’ Eve. ’Tis best we deal with the witch now, for when darkness hits the sky, Satan and his other minions will swoop down to help their own.”

Putnam picked her up and set her on the lumpy pillion of his horse. A scream caught in her throat, and cold sweat trickled down the back of her neck. Then Putnam mounted the horse. He set the horse off at a fast trot, and the crowd cheered. Turning her head, Faith saw the rest of the crowd mounting their own horses.

“Where are you taking me?” she shouted over the rhythmic sound of hooves on the dirt road.

“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. The witch Jezebel was thrown from the tower, and horses trampled her until she was a bloody pulp. You’re fate won’t be quite as bad.” The sneer in his voice made him sound almost amused. “And then, pretty one, I will have the land your husband owed me long ago. He gave me your daughters as servants, but they are shiftless, cold girls who deny me bedroom duties and please me not at all.”

Buy Links:

Freya's Bower Site

About the Author:

Since she came of age Lisa Whitefern has embarrassed people by talking about sex, now she writes the hottest of erotic romance and erotica.

Lisa was a finalist in the Romance Divas Best First Page Contest and the Spacecoast Authors of Romance Launching A Star Contest. Her novella Waking the Witch also placed third in the Magnolia 12th Annual Dixie State Contest.

Lisa has a Masters in English Literature with honors.

Although born in New York City to American parents Lisa has lived most of her life in New Zealand, where she now lives with her husband and two gorgeous sons.

Giveaway

Review: Kiss of the Butterfly by James Lyon

Title: Kiss of the Butterfly
Author: James Lyon
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Publisher: James Lyon (July 22, 2012)
Get it: Amazon

Synopsis
"The smell of blood is in the air, I sense it even now. People thirst for it; the entire country is mad with desire for it. And now we are going to war with our brothers because they look like us, and because we can smell our blood coursing through their veins...” A mysterious letter starts a university student on a journey into the war-torn lands of rapidly disintegrating Yugoslavia. Naively trusting his enigmatic professor, the student unwittingly descends into a dystopian crucible of decay, destruction, passion, death, romance, lust, immorality, genocide, and forbidden knowledge promising immortality. As the journey grows ever more perilous, he realizes he must confront an ancient evil that has been once again loosed upon the earth: from medieval Bosnia to enlightenment-era Vienna, from the bright beaches of modern-day Southern California to the exotically dark cityscapes of Budapest and Belgrade, and horrors of Bosnia.

Vampires have formed an integral part of Balkan folklore for over a thousand years. "Kiss" represents a radical departure from popular vampire legend, based as it is on genuine Balkan folklore from as far back as the 14th century, not on pop culture or fantasy. "Kiss of the Butterfly" offers up the real, horrible creatures that existed long before Dracula and places them within a modern spectrum.

Review

The story revolves around Steven, a university student who with the help of Professor Slatina, receives a scholarship from the Balkan Ethnography Trust so that he can get inside of war-torn Yugoslavia to finish his research for his dissertation. Professor Slatina, however, has Steven researching vampire lore, but there is more to it than what Professor Slatina is willing to admit to Steven. Steven's research not only puts himself but other people in danger. The government doesn't want him uncovering certain truths.

I have to admit that I dreaded writing this review. It's not that I hated the book, not at all, but it was very difficult for me to get into the story. I'd say I was probably half way through the book before it really became interesting. Under normal circumstances, I probably would have given up on trying to read it, if I hadn't agreed to review it.

The factual information that was woven into the story, I enjoyed that to some extent. For some reason though, I felt like I was reading a history book. There are a lot of hard to pronounce names (though granted, there was a small guide at the front of the book that helped with that) and a lot of historical dates offered up. I had a hard time following along at time.

Now, as I've said before, I'm no expert on punctuation and such, but I've read quite a lot in the last few years to feel as though there were quite a few errors in this book. Part of the reason I felt it was hard to get through the book was because of the way it was written. For example, instead of a character's unspoken thoughts being italicized, they had quotes around them as if they were spoken out loud. Occasionally there was a change in scene but no obvious break to let the reader know of the change, which would throw me off. And although this may seem odd to mention, colons were used way more in this book than I've ever seen used in one book before, and I don't believe it was always used correctly.

Having said all that, I do feel that Mr. Lyon has a great way with words. For me though, I suppose that there was just too much, and it interrupted the flow of the story. But I was rather fascinated by the vampire lore, and I really enjoyed the cast of characters that Steven met along the way.

** I received a ebook copy of Kiss of the Butterfly in exchange for a review.**

Find James Lyon Online
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My Cover Art Design: Apocalypse

Cynthia Shepp held a cover design contest on Facebook. As usual, I wanted to give it a try. The only thing was, the theme was apocalypse, and I really didn't know if I could make something that represented that well enough. For this particular challenge, I think it turned out OK. What do you think? Personally I know it could be better, but I was at a loss for what else to do to improve it.

Voting opened today and will run until Sunday, November 4, at 10 pm CST. Please consider heading over and placing your vote. I am NOT asking you to vote for mine though. I'm asking you to vote for your favorite! To vote, visit Cynthia Shepp's blog. Thanks!

UPDATE: Voting is now over.

CREDITS
Window by Photos Public Domain
Girl by african_fi
Bird by Ariaocstock
Foliage by Ariaocstock
Stairwell by Ariaocstock