Guest Author SUSAN MALLERY showcase & giveaway ENDED

WELCOME BACK SUSAN MALLERY

SUSAN MALLERY

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author SUSAN MALLERY is known for emotionally complex stories told with charm and wit. With a keen eye for human nature, she breathes life into characters on the page and was recently honored with a prestigious National Readers’ Choice Award. Susan has lived all over the United States, including a childhood in the suburbs of Los Angeles, graduate school in the hills of Pennsylvania and several years in Texas. These days, she makes her home in Seattle, Washington. She’s there for the coffee, not the weather.
Connect with Susan at these sites:

WEBSITE TWITTER

ABOUT THE BOOK

After years of pining for her teenage crush, Isabel Beebe has finally moved on. But the commitment-phobic guy who has been the object of her affection can’t take his eyes or heart off the grown-up girl who used to worship him. USA Today bestselling author Susan Mallery returns to the land of happy endings with THREE LITTLE WORDS (Harlequin HQN, August 2013, $7.99 U.S./$9.99 CAN.), the third title in the new Fool’s Gold trilogy featuring three brave bodyguards—and the women who  love them.

When she was fourteen, Isabel vowed she would love military-bound Ford Hendrix forever. But after endless unanswered letters to her former crush, and one disastrous marriage to a man who turned out to be gay, Isabel is finished with romance for good—at least until she fulfills her dream of moving to New York and taking the fashion world by storm. But when the former.

Navy Seal returns to town, more charming and sexy than ever, Isabel can’t help feeling like a crazy love-struck teenager all over again. Ford joined the Navy 14 years ago, suffering from a broken heart and determined to avoid all future emotional attachments. Now a bodyguard trainer and home for good, Ford has to deal with his persevering mother, who is just as determined to marry her bachelor son off as he is to stay single.

To keep his mother off his back, Ford convinces Isabel to pretend to be his girlfriend until she leaves for New York. Even though it’s hard for him to keep his hands off the formerly scrawny kid who’s grown up in all the right ways, Ford is determined to protect the emotionally fragile girl whose treasured letters kept him sane during his service.

Every kiss and touch, however, has Ford and Isabel wondering how pretend this fake relationship actually is. She’s stirring up emotions in Ford that no one ever has before, while Ford is making Isabel think twice about her plans to leave town. Despite their doubts, Ford and Isabel believe nothing can sway them—not even three little words….

BOOK DETAILS:

Published by: Harlequin
Publication Date: August 2013
Number of Pages: 384 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0-373-77778-5

PURCHASE LINKS:

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And the winner is……

…….of The Family That Stays Together by Deborah Plummer Bussey

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13 Anita Yancey Be a Public Follower of ‘CMASH Loves to Read’

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And the winner is……

….of Hearts In Exile by Mysti Parker

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Guest Author DEBRA WEBB showcase & giveaway ENDED

WELCOME BACK DEBRA WEBB

DEBRA WEBB

Debra Webb, born in Alabama, wrote her first story at age nine and her first romance at thirteen. It wasn’t until she spent three years working for the military behind the Iron Curtain—and a five-year stint with NASA—that she realized her true calling. A collision course between suspense and romance was set. Since then she has penned nearly 100 novels, including her internationally bestselling Colby Agency series.  Debra’s debut romantic thriller series, Faces of Evil, propelled her to the top of the bestselling charts for an unparalleled twenty-four weeks.
Connect with Debra at these sites:

WEBSITE TWITTER

Q&A with Debra Webb

On Writing and Reading:
-Do you draw from personal experiences and/or current events?
A little of both. Since my husband was in the military we spent a lot of years living in different locations and meeting different folks. I spend a lot of time reading newspapers, magazines and online news feeds.

-Do you start with the conclusion and plot in reverse or start from the beginning and see where the story line brings you?
With the Faces of Evil the motive is key since the series explores the levels of evil. Once I have the motive in place I decide who the killer will be and then the victims. Once those elements are fleshed out the story begins!

-Your routine when writing? Any idiosyncrasies?
I have my coffee and wander to my office. First thing I do is turn on the music and get comfortable.

-Is writing your full time job? If not, may I ask what you do by day?
Writing has been my full time job for 15 years. Before that I worked on the Shuttle Project with NASA.

-Who are some of your favorite authors?
Too many to name! But I never miss anything by Regan Black,Allison Brennan, Robert Gregory Browne, Brett Battles, Kathy Carmichael, Cindy Gerard, Rita Herron, Vicki Hinze, CJ Lyons, VR Marks, Karen Rose, and Peggy Webb!

-What are you reading now?
I am really lucky! I’m reading an advance copy of a Lucy Guardino novella by CJ Lyons.

-Are you working on your next novel? Can you tell us a little about it?
I am! I’m working on Book 7, VICIOUS, of the Faces of Evil series and a Christmas novella that’s a prequel for the series.

Fun questions:
-Your novel will be a movie. Who would you cast?
I think I’d have to leave that up to the experts!

-Would you rather read or watch TV/movie?
Most of the time the answer would be read but I do love a great movie!

-Favorite food? Good bread.

-Favorite beverage? Coca Cola
Thank you for stopping by CMash Reads and spending time with us.

THE BOOKS

When her beloved high school teacher appears on her doorstep, Deputy Chief Jess Harris is flooded with fond memories—until the woman says she’s about to be charged with murder.

The victim was a member of Birmingham’s famed “Five.” Twelve years ago, the Five were rich, popular seniors who threw one last wild party. Two social outcasts were invited, and the next morning one of them was dead. Now Jess fears the invitation to an upcoming class reunion may have forced the Five to play a deadly new game. A vicious cycle of vengeance has begun, and the killer is far from finished…

Publisher: Forever Mass Market
Publication Date: July 30, 2013
ISBN-13: 978-1-4555-2758-8

PURCHASE LINKS:

            

Three photos of three unknown women. Sent to Deputy Chief Jess Harris by the Player, one of the world’s most sadistic killers. The Player is taunting her, and Jess is more than ready to take on his challenge.

Only one thing could distract her from the Player’s deadly game: the appearance of a clue to long-unsolved cases. For years Birmingham’s children were vanishing—one per year, always on a full moon—until the disappearances stopped and the Man in the Moon case went cold. No leads on the children were ever found—until now.

Jess has no choice but to pursue the case. Someone is reaching out to her, sending her mementos of the missing children, and the citizens of Birmingham deserve justice. But after years of silence, has the Man in the Moon really resurfaced? Or is he just another pawn in the Player’s game?

Publisher: Forever Mass Market
Publication Date: August 27, 2013
ISBN-13: 978-1-4555-2760-1

PURCHASE LINKS:

            

THANKS TO MARISSA AT GCP/FOREVER,
I
HAVE TWO (2) SETS TO GIVE AWAY.
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DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in exchange for my honest review. No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.
ADDENDUM
I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. I am an IndieBound affiliate. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

 

Guest Author DARCY SCOTT

WELCOME DARCY SCOTT


DARCY SCOTT

DARCY SCOTT is a live-aboard sailor and experienced ocean cruiser who’s sailed to Grenada and back on a whim, island-hopped through the Caribbean, and been struck by lightning in the middle of the Gulf Stream. Her favorite cruising ground remains the coast of Maine, however, and her appreciation of the history and rugged beauty of its sparsely populated out-islands serves as inspiration for her Maine Island Mystery Series, which includes 2012’s award-winning “Matinicus” and the newly released “Reese’s Leap.” Book three, “Ragged Island,” is currently in the works. Her debut novel, “Hunter Huntress,” was published in June, 2010 by Snowbooks, Ltd., UK.
Connect with Darcy at these sites:

WEBSITE            TWITTER

ABOUT THE BOOK

In this much-anticipated sequel to the award-winning “Matinicus,” five longtime friends—briefly freed from their complex lives for an annual, all-female retreat on Adria Jackman’s remote, 200-acre enclave of Mistake Island, Maine—are forced to put the partying on hold to host the hard-drinking, bachelor botanist, Gil Hodges, stranded there for what could be days.

A hopeless womanizer, Gil is secretly pleased at the layover, but soon finds Mistake’s deeply forested interior deceptively bucolic and the women a bit too intriguing for comfort, stirring both glorious memory and profound regret. When a diabolical stranger appears out of nowhere, insinuating himself into the fold to exact a twisted kind of revenge, it falls to Gil to keep the women safe, despite a dawning awareness that not everyone will make it off the island alive.

READ AN EXCERPT
I’m slow coming to in the early-morning stillness—arm slung over my eyes, something lumpy under my butt I only now realize has been digging in for some time. It seems I slept fully clothed, too—something I never do—but the damp chill beneath me makes even less sense, the fusty smell wafting from my bedclothes not quite the permeating fug of the hammock I’ve grown used to. I could crack my eyes and get a visual, I suppose, but that would involve prying the pasty things apart first—something that’s beyond me just now.
The shamelessly chipper bird sounding off just above me and the dry whisper of field grass are what tip me off. The meadow. I spent the night in the fucking meadow.
My groan is of the just-how-big-an-asshole-did-I-make-of-myself variety, chased by the kind of creeping, morning-after dread I’ve come to know so well. I vaguely recall a bottle of tawny Port, unearthed by Adria from some secret stash of her father’s after everyone else had gone to bed—which was earlier than usual, thanks to the pall Brit and Pete cast over the evening. Just the two of us, then—well, three, if you count the bottle. Pure liquid ambrosia, if memory serves. No doubt I went a bit overboard. But it wasn’t the booze or the thought of another night crammed onto that miserable hammock that got me out here, I recall now, but the fear of what I might do about Nora’s tempting proximity while I lay in such a weakened and vulnerable state. Still, I’ve no clue how I managed it. Could have walked, could have flown, could have been wheeled in a barrow. But however I did it, I slept like the proverbial rock.
No reason to get up now either, I figure—at least not ’til the mosquitoes find me. Another hour, I plead, rolling over, which is when I see Pete down on his haunches studying me, face not a foot from mine.
“Jesus!” I bark, adrenaline powering my scramble to clear the sleeping bag I apparently dragged out here with me. “Don’t do that!”
He cocks his head, rising to meet me as I stand. Not a good idea as it turns out, this standing business, considering the explosion of pain at the top of my head. At six-two, I’m five or six inches taller than this guy—something that would normally make me feel pretty good, only nothing feels good just now. My legs are so wobbly, it’s all I can do to remain vertical. I glance down at the cool breeze running over my left foot.
My sore, bare left foot.
Where the fuck is my shoe?
“Piece of advice,” Pete says, glancing toward the mountain, gaze flat and unreadable as he swings it back my way. Think Clint Eastwood’s slow burn, but with none of his style. “Right now we got no real beef, you and me. Keep out of this and it’ll stay that way.”
What this? There’s a this?
“Let me guess,” I say, pinching the bridge of my nose against the vise slowly tightening at the top of my head, the forks carving out the backs of my eyeballs. The things I do to myself. “This is about your brother, right? What—you were too busy lobbing the n-word at Adria to hear her say she wasn’t around? That none of these chicks know anything about this?”
“They know,” he assures me. “Just not sayin’.”
“They—as in…”
“All of ’em, probably.”
Of course. Conspiracy among the conifers. I’ll have to remember to suggest this to Duggan for the title of whatever mystery or thriller he’s hoping to eke out of all this.
“Come on, man. You saw the looks on their faces—total fucking surprise.”
“Brit said they come out here every year—same women, same week in July.”
Good old Brit. “I wouldn’t know.” Nor do I care. Once around with this shit’s more than enough for me; besides, I desperately need to keep the sun from hitting my retinas just now. Shades, I think. I pat my pockets.
“Earl was killed the week they were here. July 21st.”
“July 21st what?”
“Day he died.”
“You can’t possibly know that,” I say, carefully lowering myself to rummage in my
rucksack for those miserable Maui Jims. Sliding them on makes things marginally better, but mincing my way back to my feet brings stabbing pains from the sole of the shoeless one. Man, it hurts. What the hell did I step on, anyway? Glass, rock—what?
“So, okay,” I say, cranking the foot up stork-like to peer at the dried brown goo stuck to the bottom. Mud? I wonder, hopping awkwardly to stay upright. Blood? “Say you’re right, and he was here. Doesn’t mean they knew he was here.” Gently probing the most tender places for lacerations, protruding foreign objects. “If Adria even suspected he was camping on the island, she’d have booted his ass off. You’ve seen the way she is about this place.”
“Earl don’t listen to nobody when his mind’s set. Kind of his trademark.”
More of that unremitting Eastwood gaze, which is frankly starting to piss me off. Out of nowhere, another piece of yesterday slips along the edge of my mind—something weird about the timing of all this. And then it hits me. If Earl died two years ago, why’s this guy just turning up now?
“You were in prison when it happened.” Pure hunch, of course, but it fits. Explains why he seemed so hinky from the start, that vague whiff of what I now recognize as recent and intimate acquaintance with Maine State Corrections. I do the mental math, take a stab. “You and Earl were sent up together; only he got out early. Drugs would be my bet. That or a juicy little B&E.”
“Fuck them bastards. Bullshit’s what it was. Lousy pot bust. My second time, so the judge bumped me a couple extra years.”
“So Earl gets out, comes here to revisit the old stomping grounds, and ends up dead.”
“I knew there’d be trouble, what with me not around to keep him in line. It was me always looked out for him.”
“Plus, you landed him in jail. What a bro. But hey, at least you knew where he was; there’s that.” Screwing with him like this probably isn’t smart, but I’m still kinda punchy, and I need to piss. Besides; I really, really, really don’t like this guy.
Pete cocks his head.
“This funny to you?”
Fucking hilarious, actually, only it’s fast becoming clear that leaving Adria et al alone while a deluded nut like this is wandering the island wouldn’t be smart. There’s my conscience to consider, what’s left of it anyway. “So you got sprung—what—a month ago? Two?”
“Sat in that shitty jail two years knowin’ he’d been murdered, countin’ the days ’til I got out.”
“Accidents happen, pal. You’ve seen the cliffs out here—dangerous as hell in the wrong conditions.”
“Earl never went near them cliffs. Hated heights. No, somethin’ happened out here. I’m gonna know what and I’m gonna know why. I owe him that. You bein’ here just complicates things.”
“Yeah, well, only person leaving the island is you,” I say, trying to sound all bad-ass as I fight the urge to toss my cookies. “I’m not going anywhere.”
He considers. “Your decision. Things been put in motion. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” A smirk as he nods toward the sleeping bag. “Nice.”
I glance down, following his gaze. A faded field of blue dotted with yellow and pink flowers, the darker hue of a minimally sullied ball gown and white-gloved hands—all this capped with the lemon yellow orb of Cinderella’s hair, her face lit with a saccharine smile. A little girl’s sleeping bag, I realize. Swell.
“So here’s what you do,” he says. “You and the other girls have a meetin’. You explain how things are gonna get really ugly, really fast, if I don’t find out what went down.”
With that he trots back into the brush like something out of The Last of the Mohicans—all that bouncy action enough to set my eyeballs aching. What the fuck was in that bottle, anyway?
Nothing for it but to head to the house and fill Adria in, come up with some kind of plan.
After I find that fucking shoe.

BOOK DETAILS:

Genre: Mystery
Published by: Maine Authors Publishing
Publication Date: March 23, 2013
Number of Pages: 216
ISBN: 978-1938883347
Series: Island Mystery Series #2

PURCHASE LINKS:

           

Awards

Recently, Matinicus (prequel to Reese’s Leap) has won both the “Best Mystery,” 2013 Indie Book Awards and the Bronze Prize for Regional Fiction from the 2013 IPPY Awards

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DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in exchange for my honest review. No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.
ADDENDUM
I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. I am an IndieBound affiliate. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

And the winner is……

…..of Saving Paradise by Mike Bond

CONGRATULATIONS!!


41 Karen Gonyea Leave a Blog Post Comment

An email has been sent and the winner has 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen.  Thank you to all that entered.

Guest Author ERIC TRANT showcase & giveaway ENDED

WELCOME ERIC TRANT

ERIC TRANT

Eric Trant is a fantasy-thriller author who lives in North Dallas with his wife and family. His work blends believable stories into a mixture of realism and supernatural elements, while always keeping the reader engaged with deeply-drawn characters, stunning visuals and constant motion. His goal is to create stories which linger with the reader long after the book is read. Wink is Eric’s second novel.
Connect with Eric at these sites:

WEBSITE

GUEST POST

Why You Should Be Yourself in Writing and Marketing

I used to have this story in my head, and I guess it’s still there, called A Day in the Life of Someone More Interesting. I have no idea what the story is about, other than it is not about me. I don’t find that I’m all that interesting or impressive or conversational or mysterious or brilliant or any of those things you want your characters to be. I want to be someone different, and that can get you into trouble.

First of all, everyone is interesting if you dig deep enough. We all have backstories and a neat history and worthwhile beliefs and opinions. Just because someone is popular does not mean they are more important or smarter, it just means they are more obvious to a greater number of people.

I now bring the topic to the art of writing and to the business of marketing your writing. There is a (or an? help!) ubiquitous belief among non-megalomaniacs and non-Narcissists that we are uninteresting to ourselves. There is also a pervasive fact of human nature that we are interesting to everyone else. There is the nosy neighbor peeking through the blinds, here the gossip whispering, down in the basement the Facebook addict posting up juicy tidbits, and all around you the flitter-flatter of chitter-chatter about other peoples’ (or people’s? peoples? oh man where is my editor!) business.

Be true to yourself when you write and your readers will be true to you. This means creating stories that you find interesting, and that draw on your experiences. If you want a different experience, get one! Go on a cruise before you write the boat-book, on a hike before you write the mountain-book, on a date before you write the date-book, and so on. You do not have to fake interesting to find great pieces of yourself to inject into your stories.

Even more of this is true for the marketing. As a society of consumers, raised in the Golden Age of Advertising, subject to tweets and posts and sidebar ads and billboards and commercials and little signs above the urinal, we are adept at picking out the BS from these ads. While some ads are tricky, we can usually spot the stinky-stuff and avoid it with a fair degree of success.

So avoid the stinky-stuff in your marketing. Do what you are comfortable doing, and become good at those things. Find a marketing path that marries your personality with your skillset, and that caters to the crowd who is going to read the stories you wrote. Public signings and speeches come first to mind, since that is a big deal to authors, especially new ones. If you are uncomfortable and insecure and untrained in public speaking, it is best to be silent and thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. Isn’t that how the saying goes?

Me, I prefer to keep my blog and FB and one-on-one marketing very personal and personable with a smidge of commerciality. In other words, I want to be known first as Eric, and then as Eric Trant the Author. Still, going full-on commercial works for many authors and entertainers, but not for me. I prefer to wait on the book signings and speaking until I have a few books to sign and speak about. Wink is my second novel, and I have several short stories under my belt. I am just now comfortable doing things like blog tours and open promotions, and speaking in personal circles about my writing, and hope on future pieces to be comfortable doing public signings and speaking. Many authors tour their first book, or even their first short story, but that’s not for me.

Do you see where I’m going with this? While I do step out of my comfort zone — you must do that — I stay close enough to home that I don’t become someone unrecognizable as Eric. I am true to myself, and I believe that will make all the difference.

How about you? Have you done or been asked to do anything you did not believe in? What are your comfort zones for marketing and writing?

 

ABOUT THE BOOK
In this thriller set in a rural Gulf Coast town, twelve-year-old Marty Jameson finds refuge in the attic from his mother’s abusive rages. But only during the day. At night the attic holds terrors even beyond what he witnesses in his home. With a family made up of a psychotic mother, a drug-dealing father and a comatose older brother withering away in the spare bedroom, Marty feels trapped.Next door, wheel-chair bound Sadie Marsh obsessively watches Marty’s comings and goings from her bedroom window, despite her mother’s warning about the evil in that house. Evil which appears to Sadie as huge black-winged creatures.Marty, emotionally torn by the violence and dysfunction in his family, is drawn to Sadie and her kindly mother. But if he is to save his new friend from the supernatural horror threatening them all, Marty must transform himself from victim to hero. And to do so, he must first confront what lurks hidden in the shadows of his attic.

BOOK DETAILS:

Genre: Thriller
Publisher: WiDo Publishing
Publication date: 3/27/2013
Pages: 282
ISBN-13: 9781937178345

PURCHASE LINKS:

           

THANKS TO CRYSTAL AT WOW!,
I
HAVE ONE (1) COPY TO GIVE AWAY.
PRINT-OPEN TO U.S. & CANADA RESIDENTS or EBOOK-OPEN TO ALL
FILL OUT RAFFLECOPTER ENTRY FORM BELOW
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WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN BY RAFFLECOPTER AND NOTIFIED
VIA EMAIL AND WILL HAVE 48 HOURS TO RESPOND
OR ANOTHER NAME WILL BE CHOSEN

a Rafflecopter giveaway

YOUR JAVA SCRIPT MAY NEED TO BE UPDATED
IF YOU AR EXPERIENCING DIFFICULTY
USING THE RAFFLECOPTER ENTRY FORM

DISCLAIMER
No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.
ADDENDUM
I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. I am an IndieBound affiliate. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

 

And the winners are…..

…..of Marilyn’s Red Diary by E.Z. Friedel

CONGRATULATIONS!!


5 Charlotte Reviews Follow @CherylMash on Twitter
7 Jeffrey Tretin Be a Public Follower of ‘CMASH Loves to Read’
An email has been sent to the winners and they have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. Thank you to all that entered.