Wednesday 30 November 2016

#GreatReads ~ The Ripmender #romance @JulianneAlcott


The Ripmender
By
Julianne Alcott



What if there is a secret organisation that protects us from alien invasion?

What if that organisation is being threatened by an enemy seeking revenge?

What if the Loch Ness Monster is real?

Cathy Slater’s life will never be the same when she finally meets gorgeous rock star Nathan Jake, the guy she’s been crushing on for years.

She sees something she wasn’t meant to see.
She becomes involved in something that humans are not allowed to know.

Who is Nathan Jake really?

A tormented young celebrity, a brilliant magician or an alien hunter from another planet...

Only by risking her life and everything she knows, will Cathy discover the truth, and find a love that will change her life forever.

Book Extract

Chapter 1


Nathan Jake’s roguishly handsome brown eyes smiled into mine. I raised my hand to touch the dark curls that tumbled over his forehead... and felt the smooth blandness of the page against my fingers.

Drawing him was the closest I would ever get to him. He was a young hot American rockstar, and I was a plain girl with long dull brown hair who had never even had a boyfriend. I’m not counting the guy who asked me out on New Years Eve. He had ended up being a douchebag, who had wanted nothing but a roll in the hay.

Literally. His father was a cattle farmer.

Nathan was one of those supremely confident people who never had a day of doubt about who they were. When he walked into a room, he immediately owned it without making any effort at all. When I walked into a room, no one noticed.  They would notice me, if I walked into the room with Nathan by my side …

But we were worlds apart, and it seemed like we would never meet, until the miracle happened. He was running music workshops for university students in between world tours, and not in New York or London, or anywhere you would normally expect a celebrity to go, but bizarrely in the city of Durban, which was only three and a half hours from where I lived.

I had just finished school, and with a lot of persuading, pleading and tears, my parents had eventually agreed that I could do an art degree at the same varsity. But I had only ever seen him once, from a distance. He was surrounded by screaming fans, who were being kept at bay by his intimidating bodyguard, and a substantial number of varsity security staff.

The chances that we would meet dwindled with every depressing day. And so that’s why I was sitting by myself in a state of misery, in a clearing of a forest on the varsity property, drawing a tree for my first art assignment. I couldn’t concentrate though. My thoughts persisted in straying onto a handsome male face. I wished more than anything that I could be a part of his life.

The movement of something in front of me distracted me from my sketch. It was like a giant invisible jug was pouring a fast stream of water onto the ground, except that it wasn’t water. As it poured, it became a person, from the shoes up.

It became Nathan Jake.

I sat absolutely still, not even daring to breathe. What the heck? How had he done that?

The sudden flapping of my sketch book pages in the summer breeze caught his attention, and he turned and stared at me.

Yes, it really was him. I would know those dreamy eyes and trademark curls anywhere. He wore designer jeans and a tight black T-shirt, that showed off his well-built arms, tanned bronze by the South African sun.
 
Links For Purchase

About the author


I’ve been writing stories ever since I learned how to write. My favourite genre is romance adventure, and plots that give me interesting topics to research.

My day job? I’m a school librarian, which I enjoy. If I could do anything else, it would be a movie set designer or film editor. I love reading, watching movies and dancing. I enjoy cooking (sometimes successful) and baking (occasionally more successful)

My favourite quote is a dedication in an Agatha Christie murder mystery... 
“To those who lead monotonous lives, that they may experience at second hand, the delights and dangers of adventure.”

I want to write novels that take the reader on adventures, but also hopefully make their regular lives happier in some way.

Tuesday 29 November 2016

#bookreview ~ Wrenching Fate #paranormal #romance @Brooklyn__Ann


Wrenching Fate

By

Brooklyn Ann


She’s haunted by her past.  He promises her a future...

Akasha Hope trusts no one. Her parents were shot down by uniformed men, which forced her to spend most of her life on the run.

She’s so close to getting out on her own, making her own dreams come true when he shows up and disrupts everything.

Her new legal guardian.

His kindness makes her suspicious, while his heart-stopping good looks arouse desires she’d kept suppressed.

Silas McNaught, Lord Vampire of Coeur d’Alene, has been searching for Akasha for centuries.

He’s perplexed to discover that the woman who has haunted his visions is anything but sweet and fragile. Her foul mouth and superhuman strength covers a tenderness he’s determined to reach.

While government agents pursue Akasha and vindictive vampires seek to destroy Silas, they discover the strength in their love.

Can they survive the double threat?

***
What did I make of the book?

Akasha Hope isn't like a normal 19-year-old. Akasha has been on the run since she witnessed the brutal murder of her parents when she was a child. She knows not why they were killed, but she knows that if the men who killed her parents find her, then she will die as well. Akasha tried to live off the radar, but life on the streets is challenging for a young child, and eventually she becomes a ward of the state. However, there are no records for an Akasha Hope, so those in charge make their own assumptions, and do not believe her when she tells them her actual age, instead they inform her she is two years younger than she actually is! For now, she will go along with them. It wouldn't be forever, and she would soon put this sorry past behind her and forge a new life for herself. Unfortunately, the unthinkable happens, a stranger offers to become her guardian. Great! Just what she needs.

What Akasha didn't expect was her guardian to be quite so well...young, good-looking, mysterious, yet kind. There must be something wrong with him? But despite her frantic searches in his magnificent house, she can find nothing that says this man is anything but what he says.

So the vampire thing he has going on comes as a bit of a surprise!!

Brooklyn Ann is a skilled storyteller, and I love the paranormal world that she has created. I have read books by this author before so I purposely dedicated an afternoon, in which I would have no interruptions, to read this book! I am so glad I did! Wrenching Fate was a heart-rending, action-packed, tender, brutal, very real in the telling, paranormal story about a vampire who has spent centuries searching for his soul mate, and a troubled young woman who just wants what any woman wants…to be loved and accepted for who she is.

I took to Akasha immediately. She is such a strong woman, who has been through hell and yet, she has the most beautiful soul, that no matter what curveballs life throws at her, she somehow stays forever hopeful.

Likewise, Silas is so compassionate and so caring, not just for Akasha, but for her friends and for humanity as well. He is this powerful vampire, who is the most genuine man you could hope to meet.

Wrenching Fate isn't just another, girl falls in love with a vampire story. This is a wonderful story filled with intrigue, murder, cars and romance. It is certainly on my repeat to read list and I cannot wait to read the rest of the Brides of Prophecy Book series. A superb book.

I Highly Recommend.


Links to Purchase

About the author



 Formerly an auto-mechanic, Brooklyn Ann thrives on writing romance featuring unconventional heroines and heroes who adore them. Author of historical paranormal romance in her critically acclaimed “Scandals with Bite” series, urban fantasy in the cult favorite, “Brides of Prophecy” novels, and the New Adult winner of the 2016 Reader’s Choice Award, “Hearts of Metal Series,” she provides love for the broken and strange.
She lives in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho with her son, her cat, and a 1980 Datsun 210.
She can be found online at http://brooklynann.blogspot.com as well as on Twitter and Facebook.

For exclusive updates, sneak peeks, and giveaways, sign up for Brooklyn Ann’s Newsletter at http://brooklynann.blogspot.com/p/sign-up-for-my-newsletter.html

Monday 28 November 2016

#CyberMonday ~ Grab The Du Lac Chronicles for #FREE on #Kindle

To celebrate the release of The Du Lac Devil, I am giving away Kindle copies of my Amazon best-selling books, The Du Lac Chronicles and The Pitchfork Rebellion. But hurry, this ridiculously crazy offer is coming to an end very soon!

The Du Lac Chronicles


“It is dangerous to become attached to a du Lac. He will break your heart, and you will not recover.” So prophesies a wizened healer to Annis, daughter of King Cerdic of Wessex. If there is truth in the old crone’s words, they come far too late for Annis, who defies father, king, and country to save the man she loves.

Alden du Lac, once king of Cerniw, has nothing. Betrayed by Cerdic, Alden’s kingdom lies in rubble, his fort razed to the ground and his brother Merton missing, presumably dead. He has only one possession left worth saving: his heart. And to the horror of his few remaining allies, he gives that to the daughter of his enemy. They see Annis, at best, as a bargaining chip to avoid war with her powerful father. At worst, they see a Saxon whore with her claws in a broken, wounded king.

Alden has one hope: When you war with one du Lac, you war with them all. His brother Budic, King of Brittany, could offer the deposed young king sanctuary—but whether he will offer the same courtesy to Annis is far less certain.

The Pitchfork Rebellion


When the devil wanted to destroy the world he would do so with fire. Alden du Lac knew this for a fact, because the devil had come to Cerniw.

Alden may have driven the man who tortured him from his lands, but he can do nothing to drive him from his dreams.

Alden has become bitter, angry and unrecognizable to those who love him. The only person whom could possible bring him back from the brink is his younger brother Merton. But even Merton is at a loss as to what to do.

As Alden seemingly wars with himself, there is a new threat to the kingdom. A threat that nobody foresaw, or could have possibly predicted…

The adventure continues in this beautiful novella.

Links For Purchase

The Du Lac Chronicles

The Pitchfork Rebellion

Pre-Order The Du Lac Devil ~ only 1.99 


About the author

Born in Bath, England, Mary Anne Yarde grew up in the southwest of England, surrounded and influenced by centuries of history and mythology. Glastonbury—the fabled Isle of Avalon—was a mere fifteen-minute drive from her home, and tales of King Arthur and his knights were part of her childhood.

At nineteen, Yarde married her childhood sweetheart and began a bachelor of arts in history at Cardiff University, only to have her studies interrupted by the arrival of her first child. She would later return to higher education, studying equine science at Warwickshire College. Horses and history remain two of her major passions. 

Yarde keeps busy raising four children and helping run a successful family business. She has many skills but has never mastered cooking—so if you ever drop by, she (and her family) would appreciate some tasty treats or a meal out!

Useful Links


Friday 25 November 2016

#BlackFriday ~ Grab The Du Lac Chronicles for #FREE on #Kindle


To celebrate the release of The Du Lac Devil, I am giving away Kindle copies of my Amazon best-selling books, The Du Lac Chronicles and The Pitchfork Rebellion. But hurry, this ridiculously crazy offer won’t last for long!

The Du Lac Chronicles


“It is dangerous to become attached to a du Lac. He will break your heart, and you will not recover.” So prophesies a wizened healer to Annis, daughter of King Cerdic of Wessex. If there is truth in the old crone’s words, they come far too late for Annis, who defies father, king, and country to save the man she loves.

Alden du Lac, once king of Cerniw, has nothing. Betrayed by Cerdic, Alden’s kingdom lies in rubble, his fort razed to the ground and his brother Merton missing, presumably dead. He has only one possession left worth saving: his heart. And to the horror of his few remaining allies, he gives that to the daughter of his enemy. They see Annis, at best, as a bargaining chip to avoid war with her powerful father. At worst, they see a Saxon whore with her claws in a broken, wounded king.

Alden has one hope: When you war with one du Lac, you war with them all. His brother Budic, King of Brittany, could offer the deposed young king sanctuary—but whether he will offer the same courtesy to Annis is far less certain.

The Pitchfork Rebellion


When the devil wanted to destroy the world he would do so with fire. Alden du Lac knew this for a fact, because the devil had come to Cerniw.

Alden may have driven the man who tortured him from his lands, but he can do nothing to drive him from his dreams.

Alden has become bitter, angry and unrecognizable to those who love him. The only person whom could possible bring him back from the brink is his younger brother Merton. But even Merton is at a loss as to what to do.

As Alden seemingly wars with himself, there is a new threat to the kingdom. A threat that nobody foresaw, or could have possibly predicted…

The adventure continues in this beautiful novella.

Links For Purchase

The Du Lac Chronicles

The Pitchfork Rebellion

Pre-Order The Du Lac Devil ~ only 1.99 


About the author

Born in Bath, England, Mary Anne Yarde grew up in the southwest of England, surrounded and influenced by centuries of history and mythology. Glastonbury—the fabled Isle of Avalon—was a mere fifteen-minute drive from her home, and tales of King Arthur and his knights were part of her childhood.

At nineteen, Yarde married her childhood sweetheart and began a bachelor of arts in history at Cardiff University, only to have her studies interrupted by the arrival of her first child. She would later return to higher education, studying equine science at Warwickshire College. Horses and history remain two of her major passions. 

Yarde keeps busy raising four children and helping run a successful family business. She has many skills but has never mastered cooking—so if you ever drop by, she (and her family) would appreciate some tasty treats or a meal out!

Useful Links




Thursday 24 November 2016

History and Folklore ~ two sides of the same coin?



What is history?

History is a dusty old museum.
An archaeologist knee deep in mud.
A crumbling castle.
A room full of delicate parchments.
History has a smell. It is cold, damp, old.
It is a costume drama. Downtown Abbey. Outlander. Poldark. Vikings.
History is a war.
History is dead people.
History is a boring school lesson.
History has absolutely no relevance to today's world and our lives.

But I bet, if I asked you who Robin Hood was, you would be able to tell me. I wonder, could you name any of King Arthur's knights? What? Isn't that history too?

In the beginning, there were Bards and these Bards went from village to village weaving their stories to captivated audiences with tales of dragons and knights, heroes and villains, good kings and bad. These stories were believed as fact. Can you imagine a world where everyone believed in dragons? Let's put that into modern day terminology — there really is a Hogwarts and Harry Potter is the Chosen One.  Now don't you go telling me that is not true, I've seen it on the television, and Kim who lives in the next village has seen it as well. So there! Of course, I don’t really believe that Harry Potter is real; he is a fictional character. Although there are many children who dream of having a letter from Hogwarts.

So what has this to do with history? Well, quiet a lot actually, because Folklore is a type of history, it's just not an exact one.

Folklore has taken quite a bashing from twentieth-century historians — there is no truth in the tales, they are just nonsense. If they were not then, we would be excavating the skeletons of dragons. They've got a point.

History is an exact science and folklore, well, she isn't playing ball because let's be honest here, folklore goes by other names and some of them are not so complimentary:

Propaganda,
Lies,
A story to sway the masses,
A story to ensure loyalty, obedience, patriotism.

Oh yes, we must not forget how powerful folklore is, and what it can do. I'm feeling a little depressed now. Of course, folklore also entertains and we all like a good story!

I am fascinated by folklore, particularly British folklore. The Brits love a good story, and we like to turn ordinary people into heroes. Look at Robin Hood and how far that story has come. But should we tell them as if they are historically accurate? Are we painting a false picture of the past?

But hang on a minute, these stories are great — they are part of our heritage. They are timeless and who cares if there are historical inaccuracies and let's be honest, we all like a good fire-breathing dragon.


My particular passion is the life and times of King Arthur, and he, and I, have been companions for many long years. There are so many theories as to who he was and what he did. Some paint Arthur as a hero, others a villain. He is English, Welsh, Scottish, Breton — that of course, depends on where you live. He is the Once and Future King — a comforting thought in these troublesome times. He is a dream with no substance. He is real. He is folklore.

So should we dismiss him out of hand? There is no factual proof, and we have no primary written sources, only some rather shaky secondary sources that were written long after he died and for a political purpose that had really nothing to do with Arthur and everything to do with power and dominance. He is a cash-cow. He has been making money for other people for hundreds of years, and he is still doing so. Why? The answer to that is simple. We need him. We need his knights. We need what they represented.

But how do you mix folklore with historical fact? For me, that was probably the biggest challenge in my fictional writing. I wanted to keep as authentic to the period as I could. I am a historian after all, who dabbles in folklore — more than dabble in it, but, hey...you know what I mean. Although Modern European History is my speciality, I have always been drawn to the 5th Century AD. This was a time of great political unrest. The Roman Empire is for the first time in what feels like forever, shrinking, she is losing her lands and her powers at a staggering rate. Briton, (not including Scotland) is no longer united as one kingdom and has split back into smaller tribes, and these people are throwing off the Roman yoke once and for all. The Saxons have invaded. On the continent, Clovis is carving a kingdom for himself and has named Paris his capital city. The Church is sending out missionaries all over the place, trying to turn the populous from their pagan gods towards the Christian one. This is a time of immense change and uncertainty. Life was precarious. But at the same time, it was still life. It had to be lived.

So that is what I have tried to do. I have taken folklore, added in the history and come up with the Du Lac Chronicles series. Folklore and history go in hand in hand — because it always has done — and that's why these tales are timeless. We need them. We always have. We always will.

 Link to purchase The Du Lac Chronicles.

 

Wednesday 23 November 2016

Author’s Inspiration ~ Mary-Anne O’Connor #histfict #WW2 @maryanne_connor


Please give a warm welcome to historical fiction author, Mary-Anne O’Connor. Mary writes the most breathtaking historical fiction set in WW2. Let’s take a quick look at Mary-Anne’s latest book…

Worth Fighting For


Eighteen-year-old Junie Wallace is a smart girl and, with her two brothers away at war and her third brother just killed in action, she knows there is only one way to save the family farm for her grieving parents. Unfortunately, that solution involves marrying the unscrupulous Ernest, and breaking the heart of the young drover she loves, Michael.

But the war is looming ever closer, and when Pearl Harbour brings the threat of Japanese aggression to Australian shores, the fates of many becomes inextricably interwoven.

From the explosive battles of the Pacific campaign to the desperate fighting in the Papuan New Guinea rainforest; the dancehall gaiety of Sydney’s Trocadero to the terror of the Darwin bombings, this epic family saga brings home the importance of mateship and of fighting for what you believe in, even when impossible odds seem stacked against you, even when all seems lost…

Worth Fighting For is a resounding testament to the enduring force of love: a reminder of what can be achieved if you draw on your reserves of courage and listen to the truth in your heart.

***
Author’s Inspiration
The Truth Inside the Fiction
How My Own Family History Inspired My Tales

I am very fortunate to be part of a large family- 56 first cousins and 23 aunts and uncles in fact- and we are a social bunch. As the youngest grand-daughter on both sides I’ve always enjoyed sitting at the kitchen table while everyone chatted over cups of tea and shared stories about their lives- in particular my parents and their siblings and spouses.

Comical tales including the lugging of a pot belly stove down treacherous bushland to their beach shack (and ending up upside-down in the creek!), stories of Nana baking bread in a dug-our ants nest on the farm, Uncle Des telling us about his adventures in the wild jungles of New Guinea where he faced real-life cannibals…it was like reading a series of fascinating biographies- made richer by the love I felt for each of them.
But most of all I was captivated by the emotional journey they all endured during the wars.

My grandfather, James ‘Da’ Clancy, served during WWI and was only seventeen when he joined up. He soon found himself having a grand old time, partying hard in Cairo and thinking it a wonderful adventure until he landed in Gallipoli. That’s when family history changed for us all, the impact of his experiences returning home with him after five long years of war, a different man to the naive one who’d left Australian shores.

Times were hard for this damaged generation. Da and Nana raised eight children during the Great Depression, enduring extreme poverty and hardship and losing one child in infancy. It was incredible to hear tales of the family’s survival and courage over those teacups- beating snakes away down the path, cardboard lining the soles of their worn shoes, panning for gold dust and living off wild rabbit in remote country. It was really only their sense of humour and love for one other that kept them going until they were eventually able to move back to Sydney and start afresh.

Nana was an enterprising, determined type- kind and generous and a little bit ‘witchy’ Da used to say. She could find a penny no matter where he hid it and always seemed to know what the kids where up to ahead of time. She used a fair dose of that cunning along with a truckload of faith to land them the prize of a house of their own on top of a hill on Gallipoli Street. This home was so happy and so filled with music, laughter and love I could listen all day to the stories that occurred therein but ultimately it was the tragedy and strength that occurred there that inspired my first novel Gallipoli Street, so named for that special place.


Nana and Da’s happy home was shadowed by war and once more the country felt the fear and uncertainty of having another generation survive brutality and bloodshed. I had four uncles go to fight, one never to return, and the tale of this second war inspired my second novel, the newly released Worth Fighting For. The real life experiences of Uncle Jack who trained then fought with a bunch of underage soldiers was of great inspiration. I think I’ve been writing it for decades really, it just took until his final years for me to finally get the words down on paper. Likewise, the adventures of his brother, my Uncle Des, have wound their way into the fiction. It all seems larger than life to me, especially when you look at the photos and realise just how young (not to mention handsome!) they were. I always think of them as being a bit like movie stars from the golden years of Hollywood- in fact I like to think of them all as ‘The Golden Generation’.

Uncle Jack 
 

 Uncle Des

I will be eternally grateful to have such beautiful people help raise me, inspire me and believe in me. It breaks my heart that they are now fading away, one by one. Perhaps that’s why I weave their stories into my writing- to keep them here somehow. Their precious truth inside the fiction.

Links to Purchase
About the author

Mary-Anne O'Connor nee Best grew up in Wahroonga in the Bushland Shire of Hornsby-Kuringai, northern Sydney, Australia. The youngest of six children, her childhood was spent exploring the local bushland and playing music with her siblings and close neighbours. An avid reader, she devoured her mother Dorn's extensive library and was often found trying to finish a chapter by torchlight late at night. She also began to fill every blank piece of paper in the house with stories and drawings of her own and dreamt of becoming a writer one day.

When she was twelve her father Kevin Best left his established career in the stock-market to become one of Australia's best-loved artists. The perseverance and ultimate triumph she witnessed during those years left her inspired to follow in his footsteps and pursue her own creative aspirations. A colourful marketing career followed, along with the completion of education/arts degree and during this time she also co-wrote two books with her father, A Brush with Light and Secrets of the Brush. Work then began on her first major novel, Gallipoli Street. ​This work gained critical acclaim and finished at #3 for debut novels in Australia in 2015. It has recently been voted #4 for all Australian Authors, 2016, and #13 for all books, including international titles, in Better Reading’s Top 100 poll, 2016. Her second novel Worth Fighting For is under new release and her third war story Warflower is due out in 2017.

​Mary-Anne has drawn on her love of the Australian bushland, her fascination with her own family history and her deep, abiding respect for the Anzac generation and their children to produce these novels. It was written in her office at home, surrounded by her grandfather's war memorabilia and beneath a long window that overlooks her beloved gum trees.

Mary-Anne still lives in the Bushland Shire with her husband Anthony, their two sons, Jimmy and Jack and their very spoilt dog, Saxon.
Useful Links