THE DOUBTING HEART - Excerpt 2 & Giveaway

Hi all,

I thought I'd share one more excerpt from my new romantic suspense, The Doubting Heart.

Anxious to escape the ghosts of the place, she rounded to Copper, set her right foot into the stirrup and pushed off to mount her. The stirrup seemed to slip as she raised her left leg over the horse.

Suddenly, Copper shied back and reared up. Shelby lost her balance and slid down the side of the horse. The reins slid from her hands. She clawed at the saddle. “Copper! Easy girl. Easy up,” she cried, but her voice was too panicked to have any effect.

Then Copper began to run.

Shelby managed to grab onto the horn, but without the stirrup for support she felt herself slipping. She clawed for purchase yet each movement pulled the saddle further down the horse’s side. She grasped at the mane with her left hand and wrapped her fingers tightly through the coarse hair. The rocky ground seemed only inches below her and she struggled to hold her body rigid. Her loose leg dangled precariously close to the horse’s scythe-like hooves.

She called to Copper, tried to calm her. The horse sped up and edged closer to the water. Shelby panicked. Not the river. Not again!

As she fought to raise herself higher, she caught a glimpse over Copper’s back of a dark form approaching from up the canyon wall.

Another horse and rider!

Relief flooded her. Thank God.

She held tighter to the saddle and mane, willing every fiber in her being to hang on until her rescue. She counted the seconds. Waiting.

It was taking too long. She was afraid to turn her head to look for them. Where are they?

Then she saw them, a shadow on the ground, easily matching Copper stride-for-stride. That wasn’t right. They should be passing. Grabbing Copper’s bit. Slowing the pace. Stopping her.

The dark shadow was edging closer to Copper.

Closer to her.

Suddenly, Shelby realized what they were doing. Her mind exploded into a blinding fury of panic and shock. She heard herself scream.

The other rider was deliberately driving her towards the deadly torrent.

You can find more information and the buy-links for The Doubting Heart at http://www.brendagayle.com/books/doubtingheart.php.

Thanks very much for stopping by to help me celebrate the release of The Doubting Heart. Don't forget, a randomly chosen commenter on one of my posts will receive a digital download of The Hungry Heart, book 1 in my Heart's Desire series. Check back next weekend when I'll announce the winner.

In the meantime, you can follow my blog tour for the chance to win even more prizes (including a $50 Amazon GC) and connect with me through my website, Facebook, Twitter & Goodreads.

BACKASH, Excerpt 3#

Backlash by Karyn Good

Published by The Wild Rose Press

One of the themes that runs through BACKLASH, is forgiveness. I seem drawn to that theme. I guess it’s because it sounds easy enough. Forgive and forget, right? But it’s an incredibly complicated and emotional process. The deeper the wounds the harder it is. And forgiving yourself? That even more difficult, at least I think so. In my story the protagonists have a history together. One that ended badly and caused a great deal of hurt.

Which also leads to trust issues. Because what happens when the person you love the most (even if you don’t realize it at the time) no longer trusts you? You want that trust back. And the one thing we know about heroes and heroines? While their intentions are good, they don’t always make the right moves. So, it’s also becomes about trusting yourself to make solid decisions in moving forward.

This is a reunion story. Chase has returned to Aspen Lake after a 10 year absence. Lily is trying to figure out a way to rational his reappearance and is coming up with nothing good. Chase is trying to figure out a way to avoid further contact with Lily. They're both putting in a lot of effort to forget they ever had a past. 

Excerpt #3

“What are you doing here?” Her fingers tightened around her cup, and the resulting pop from the pressure filled the small space. She glanced back at the door, all confusion, and he knew she was hoping for some kind of intervention. For someone else to join them, anyone else.

He stalled and took a second to settle his arms on the tabletop. He pushed at the file and offered her an anemic look of confusion. “Here?”

“Yes. Here. In this room. In Aspen Lake. In the parking lot of my school.” She spread her hands out and motioned around her. “Here!” She averted her gaze and inhaled a deep breath before spotlighting him, apprehension darkening her eyes, deepening the blue color.

“My job.” To him, it was that simple.

“Your job?”

“I’ve been transferred to the Aspen Lake detachment.”

“You’re a cop?” Her look of skepticism said it all. The air of disbelief pricked at his ego. He shifted in his chair. Like all the times in fifth grade when his teacher, Miss Carlisle, had asked him why he had no lunch. Had asked questions about his father.

“Is that so hard to believe?” He had worked his ass off to get where he was, and he was a damned good cop. The work he did with the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, and his reputation, proved his dedication to his job. None of which she’d be aware of, or care about if she did. When he burnt a bridge, the only thing he left behind was ash.

BACKLASH

What he’s sworn to protect, she’s willing to sacrifice to save those she loves...

When dedicated teacher Lily Wheeler interrupts a vicious gang attack on one of her students, she vows it won’t happen again. But her rash interference puts her in the path of a cold-blooded killer and the constable tracking him—a man she has little reason to trust, but can never forget.

Constable Chase Porter returned to Aspen Lake to see justice done, not renew old acquaintances. But when he rescues the woman he once loved from a volatile situation, he realizes his feelings for Lily haven’t lessened over the years.

Now, the dangerous killer Chase has sworn to capture has Lily in his sights. Can Chase and Lilly learn to trust each other again before it’s too late—or will old insecurities jeopardize their future?

Backlash Excerpt

Backlash by Karyn Good

Romantic Suspense from The Wild Rose Press

Excerpt

“You’re being ridiculous, you know.”

Hell. On. Earth. It had to be. Where else would he find himself stuck in a confined space with someone who looked and smelled like candy coated chocolate and thought like a Rottweiler?

“And unreasonable.”

“If by unreasonable you mean right, then, yes I am.”

“Turn left here.”

“I know where to turn.”

“See what I mean.”

Someone shoot him. He knew from firsthand experience it was less painful. “So besides ‘female intuition’ do you have any other reasons why he might be hiding in the woods?”

“Not really. But it’s a small town and there aren’t that many places to hide. So, I’ve been trying to think of any abandoned buildings, that kind of thing.”

Her idea made sense, and it stung. Hell, he should have thought of it. Would have thought of it if lust and rational thinking made a compatible combination. “Okay, we’ll give it a shot.”

His old hideout in the woods was a bust. No sign of recent habitation, nothing but tall grass, wild bush, and bad memories. “Any other ideas?”

“One or two. There’s an old house, you might remember it, used to be the Danforth place. It’s close enough to town without being in town. It’s empty, has been for a while.”

“I remember it.” Without thinking he offered a smile and held out a hand to her like he had numerous times in this same spot. “Come on, let’s go check it out.”

She paused for a couple of seconds. Her thought patterns played across her face. He kept his hand out anyway. She ignored his offer and his hand. Instead, she walked past him to climb into his truck. He swiped his hand through a patch of thigh high grass. Message received.

Thanks for reading!

http://www.karyngood.com/

Excerpt: ABRA CADAVER, dark paranormal romance

My newest release is ABRA CADAVER, a dark paranormal romance from The Wild Rose Press. What happens when a Celtic warrior is cursed with the abra cadaver?

Burb:

Holly Brimmer never expected to be brought back from the dead. After a fatal car crash, a mysterious stranger gives her a second chance at life—but it comes with a price. To stay alive she must pay it forward, accomplish an important deed, thus making her mark in the world. Until she does, her savior is bound to her. Now she has a backyard full of dead bodies and one unwanted houseguest.

Keane Malson kills bad guys to keep the innocent alive, but he’s still a monster. Cursed by a witch moments before an honorable death on the battlefield, he’s lived thousands of years, roaming from place to place with no end in sight. It’s a lonely life…until he meets Holly.

When a wanted man targets Holly, Keane will do anything to protect her, even if it’s the last thing he
ever does. 


Excerpt:

Slowly, Keane sat up and ran a hand through his hair. Holly was enchanted by the way the black strands fell back into place. Her fingers literally itched with the need to feel Keane’s hair against her own skin so she stuffed her hands underneath her legs.
 
Keane slid his legs off the bed and, holding onto the headboard, he stood. Holly edged off the bed as well and prepared to support him. He held out a hand as if to tell her to give him a minute. He took a few steps deeper into the room and turned around.
 
“Feel better?” Sweet Mary, he looked better. Damn perfect standing at his full height and rubbing his stomach with his hand.
 
“Much.” He came to stand in front of her. He was close enough for her to wrap her arms around him, but she didn’t. “Don’t let me do that again, okay? I felt human for a few moments drinking that beer, but it’s not worth the pain.”
 
“Guess you need tighter supervision.” A heat washed over Holly’s cheeks as she glanced up. His eyes were back to the brilliant sky blue, his skin flawlessly pale.

“Yes, Miss Brimmer. That’s exactly what I need.” He grinned, and Holly forgot the rules.

Comment here

Excerpt: TASTE OF CANDY, a BDSM erotic romance (R rated)

Love fun BDSM erotic romance with a Hero you can fall in love with? Me too! I've got a fun erotic romance novella, TASTE OF CANDY, available from The Wild Rose Press... and it's up on Amazon Kindle for only $2.50! 

Btw, the heroine's name is Candy. Yeah, it's that kind of book ;) Look where the heroine's hand is on the cover (oh my)...

Sizzling Hot Books reviewed it here, and Thomas said:

"Taste of Candy is a great book. I loved the way that the author builds the relationship between the two characters. I would recommend Taste of Candy to all erotica readers."

*blushes* That's so sweet. What's it about, you ask?

Here's the blurb:

Candace "Candy" Bryce can't believe her luck when she wins a dinner date with Dave Roads, the lead singer of a hot new band. Not only is he a drop dead gorgeous rock star, but after she lets it slip that she's never been able to reach orgasm with a man, he seems bent on giving Candy what she needs. Who knew all it would take is a little "tie me up," a few toys and Dave's merciless desire for a Taste of Candy?

And here's an adults-only excerpt from TASTE OF CANDY:

Candy took another sip of the wine to buy time. Who wouldn't want to hook up with a rock star? And he was so amazingly sexy…but he didn't know what she was like in bed. According to all three of her ex-boyfriends, she was a prude. A cold, vanilla prude. But something about Dave made her feel sexy and exciting…
"I should tell you something," she whispered.
Dave leaned in to hear her, a lock of his dark hair falling into his warm brown eyes.
"I've never been able to reach, um, that point with anyone."
Dave frowned. "You're a virgin?"
"No. I mean, I've never been able to have an orgasm with a man before."
"How do you…relieve the tension?"
Candy lowered her voice even more, so that she could barely be heard above the quiet murmur of the other dining guests. "I'm fine if I'm by myself. Just um…not with anyone else."
Dave broke out into a grin. "I'm taking that as a personal challenge. I'm going to make you come tonight."
Was this really happening?
Their food came then, and Candy dove into her filet mignon with relish, enjoying how the meat practically melted in her mouth. "Delicious," she murmured appreciatively.
"Not as delicious as you're going to taste," Dave said as he put down his steak knife.
"I really wouldn't know."
"Oh come on, are you telling me no guy has ever gone down on you before?"
"Well, I've never felt comfortable enough to do that, exactly. I get embarrassed."
"I just need to get you to the point where you can't think about anything except what I'm making you feel."
Candy squirmed in her seat with barely contained excitement. "How?"
"I'd really like to tie you up so you can't get away and then take my time bringing you to orgasm."
Candy got wet at the thought of his mouth on her body, her hands tied above her head. She'd never done anything like that before. "I don't know…"
"Why not? It's just one night. One night to forget everything you thought you knew about yourself sexually and just let go."

Here's Taste of Candy on The Wild Rose Press site (all formats), and here it is on Amazon Kindle and Nook.  If you read it please email me and let me know what you think! I love to hear from readers and writers. My email is shoshanna.evers@ yahoo. com (no spaces)

xoxo Shoshanna

--
Sexily *Evers* After... ShoshannaEvers.com  
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Titles on Amazon
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Titles on Ellora's Cave
How to Write Hot Sex
Agony/Ecstasy, Dec 2011, Berkley Heat
Best Bondage Erotica 2012 , Dec 2011 Cleis Press

"Fast paced, intense, and sexual...every naughty fantasy come to life for the reader." -Whipped Cream Reviews
"Shoshanna Evers definitely wields kink well." - Joyfully Reviewed
"Kink and spice, beautifully written with characters you invest in." - Happily Ever After Reviews
"Ms. Evers wrote a beautiful love story..." - The Romance Studio

Ellie’s Cinnamon Swirl Bread

I used to bake a lot of bread (and cookies and pies, oh my!). My enthusiasm predated bread machines and I loved the feel of working the dough. It seemed as if that would make a good stress reliever for a heroine and the concept ended up in Ellie’s Song. The recipe I used came from a popular women’s magazine but who would ever know?

Well, the world would know because my dear TWRP editor thought it would be a great idea to put the recipe in the book! Yikes! I needed to come up with my own recipe. It took a few weeks, but with the help of my editor who has a background in the culinary arts and a friend who loves to bake, I engineered Ellie’s recipe. 

If you like cinnamon bread, here’s the recipe I worked up for Ellie’s Song.

Ellie’s Cinnamon Swirl Bread

3 - 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Free Wikipedia images put raisins
in the bread!

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon cardamom

2 1/4 teaspoons yeast

1 tablespoon gluten

1 cup milk

1/8 cup sugar

3 tablespoons softened butter

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

Cinnamon spread:   

1/2 cup sugar mixed with 1 TBL cinnamon and 1 tsp cardamom

2 TBL softened butter

In a large bowl combine 1 cup of flour, cinnamon, cardamom, yeast and gluten. Heat the milk, sugar, butter and salt until warm (115 to 125°). Add warm milk mixture to dry ingredients, whisk smooth. Scrape the bowl. Add the eggs and 1 cup of flour; beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Add remaining flour to make a stiff dough. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Add flour as needed to prevent dough from sticking.

Shape dough into a ball and placed in a greased bowl. Turn once to bring greased side up. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour. 

Punch the dough down, turn out onto a lightly floured surface and divide in half. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Grease two loaf pans. Combine 1/2 cup sugar, 1 TBL cinnamon and 1 tsp cardamom.

On the lightly floured surface, roll out one portion of the dough to a 14 x 7-inch rectangle. Brush the entire surface with softened butter and sprinkle half of the cinnamon and sugar mixture over the rectangle. Roll up the dough, tucking ends under to seal. Place in a greased loaf pan.

Repeat with remaining dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size, about 35 to 45  minutes. With a sharp knife, make several slashes across each loaf. Brush with 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter. Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until done. Brush with remaining melted butter, cool five minutes in pan and then remove and cool on rack. Makes two loaves.

If you use a bread machine, remember to add the ingredients in the order used by your machine. You may need to do a little tweaking with the flour to get the right consistency since you won’t be hand kneading it and adding flour as needed.

If you disdain bread makers but love your microwave, the milk mixture can be heated in the microwave. Chose a medium level of power, no more

than thirty seconds at a time and check the temperature often. I use a candy thermometer to record the temperature.

Visit me at http://www.gingerhanson.com

My Regency comedy GIFTS GONE ASTRAY: The Hero, Heroine and Location by Linda Banche

Gifts Gone Astray is my latest regency comedy novella. Meet the hero, heroine, and find out about the location.

The hero, Stephen, in his own words:
Greetings. I am Mr. Stephen Fairfax, lately arrived here at the Earl of Langley's country estate, Four Winds, to work as tutor for his lordship's young son.

And "work" is the appropriate term. Although I taught at Cambridge for several years before I accepted this post, I have never before seen such a badly-behaved child. I vow, my private name for the boy, "Horrible Harold" is too mild an epithet for this child's actions. I wonder if I will survive.

But survive I must, until, and if, I can find employment more to my liking. With so many of the former military returning after Napoleon's defeat, jobs are scarce. I lost my position at Cambridge six months ago. A nobleman with more influence than my baron father appropriated my job for his ex-soldier son.

But then, if I had never come to Four Winds, I would never have met Mrs. Anne Copely. The young widow is the most beautiful, intelligent, kind, gracious, indeed, the most glorious lady I have ever encountered. And she regards me with some favor, too. She has given me a gift as part of her family's summer party. The generous earl includes the servants in the gift-giving, but do I detect more in her present? I certainly hope so.

Now all I have to do is open the package…

The heroine, Anne, in her own words:
My greetings to all. I am Mrs. Anne Copely. I have newly come to my Uncle James's country estate, Four Winds, for our annual family party. Although my job as teacher at Mrs. Black's girls' school is tolerable, this summer celebration is so festive, it has become the high point of my year.

Especially since my dear Edward's death. Oh, how I miss him. I am grateful for the years we had, and the pain of his passing has diminished with time. While part of me will always love him, he has been gone these two years and I must continue on.

On my first day here, I noticed Mr. Stephen Fairfax, the new tutor for Uncle James's son. What a handsome man. And not only attractive, intelligent and kind, but we are both teachers and like books! Since everyone, including the servants, receives a gift at this fete, what better way to honor my late husband's memory than to give one of his favorite books to Mr. Fairfax?

Gracious, was I too forward in giving Mr. Fairfax a present? I hope not, since I disguised my action by giving several other servants gifts, too. I liked that book as much as my husband did. Will Mr. Fairfax see my special meaning?

I do so hope he likes the gift.

And the location:
Anne and Stephens' romance takes place in Langley, Cheshire. The seat of Stephen's employer, the Earl of Langley, Langley is a town on the western edge of the Macclesfield Forest. Langley is also east of the town of Bollin, and southeast of Liverpool and Manchester.

I selected this location because I set the story on a country estate. Macclesfield Forest provides a backdrop, and Stephen goes to Bollin on his day off. Also, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the first passenger railway, was in its formative stages, and the start-up process brings a businessman to consult with the Earl of Langley. The railroad also plays a role for Stephen. I wrote a post on Regency Railroads here.

The time is the summer of 1817, two years after the passage of the Corn Laws, which raised the price of grain so high most people couldn't afford it, and one year after The Year Without a Summer, which destroyed that year's crops in many places. The combination of the two events wreaked havoc with many landowner's incomes. Anne's brother, John, is one of those landowners, and Stephen's father is another. I wrote two posts on The Year Without a Summer, which is also the setting for Pumpkinnapper. Blog post part 1 is here, and Part 2 is here.

Gifts Gone Astray BUY Link: http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=176_138&products_id=4545

Thank you all,
Linda
Linda Banche
Welcome to My World of Historical Hilarity!
http://www.lindabanche.com