Friday, May 22, 2015

~ Come Along! Today We're Taking You UNDER STARRY SKIES ~





Blurb

Hired as the town’s school teacher, Maria O’Donnell and her sister Abigail arrive in the Colorado Territory in 1875, only to find the uncle they were to stay with has been murdered. 

Rancher Tye Ashmore is content with life until he meets quiet and beautiful Maria. He falls in love at first sight, but her reluctance to jeopardize her teaching position by accepting his marriage proposal only makes him more determined to make her part of his life.

When their lives are threatened by gunshots and a gunnysack of dangerous wildlife, Tye believes he is the target of an unknown enemy. Not until Maria receives written threats urging her to leave does she realize she might be the target instead of the handsome rancher.

With the help of Tye, Abigail, and a wily Indian called Two Bears, Maria works to uncover her uncle’s killer and put aside her fears. But will she discover happiness and true love under Colorado’s starry skies?




Excerpt

Two Bears grinned. “And a sorry hide yours is, Tye Ashmore. You are getting careless. You leave woman with hair the color of mink all alone. You lose horse, rifle, donuts, and water. And you do not take dog with you.”

“If you keep insulting me, Two Bears, I’m going to take my rifle and wrap it around your greasy neck. Why didn’t you bring my horse?”

“Why didn’t you?” Two Bears asked. His mouth was tight and grim. “If I had moved the horse, anyone watching would know to follow me back to you or your woman.”

Tye nodded. “I figured the same. I decided we’d walk down to get it when it gets dark.”

Maria rose and stepped between them. She was weary, and she wanted to get home, take a bath, and soak her skinned arm and injured knee. “Why can’t we just start now?”

“Your woman is not happy.” Two Bears grunted. “An angry squaw can make sunny days seem like rainy ones.”

Maria glared at him.

“Maybe we’re both not happy since you’re eating our food,” Tye countered.

Two Bears thumped his chest and grinned. “I even ate the ones you dropped on the trail. Before any varmints could get to them. Come, I know another path to your horse. By the time we arrive,it will be dark, and you can take your woman and go the rest of the way safely.”

“I am not his woman,” Maria snapped. “I am not a piece of property. Stop saying that!”

Two Bears jumped back, away from her. “If you say so.” He looked at Tye with wide eyes. “Hair like a mink. Temper like a badger.”



Author Bio

Judy Ann Davis writes both historical and contemporary romantic suspense as well as short stories.

She began her career in writing as a copy and continuity writer for radio and television. Many of her short stories have appeared in various literary and small magazines, and anthologies, and have received numerous awards.

When Judy Ann isn't behind a computer, you can find her looking for anything humorous to make her laugh or swinging a golf club, where the chuckles are few.

She is a member of Pennwriters, Inc. and Romance Writers of America.



You can find Judy Ann at:

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page



You can buy UNDER STARRY SKIES at:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | All Romance | Kobo Books | The Wild Rose Press


Giveaway 

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Tuesday, May 19, 2015

That's It, Come Closer! Let Me Tell You The SECRETS OF THE MOON!




Please welcome Kristy Centeno to the blog! As a way of introducing herself, Kristy is going to share...


The 5 Reasons Why I Write Paranormal

Paranormal is, without a doubt, my favorite genre. Vampires, witches, werewolves, ghosts, so on and so forth have always been a source of fascination for me. So it came as no surprise that when I began to write my very first novel, it turned out to be classified as a paranormal romance.

I didn't make the conscious decision to actually venture into this genre, but once the idea crossed my mind I just couldn't stop myself from fully exploring this field. It is easy to say I pictured the endless possibilities and opted for reconnoitering them to my fullest capacity. Feeling the need to allow my imagination to expand and run amuck is very important to me and writing paranormal books allows for me to do this.

The five main reasons as to why I enjoy writing paranormal are as follow:

1) There are hardly any boundaries to consider.

It definitely helps when I don’t have to limit what I write so much. I can take one idea and run wild with it. Mold it as much as possible to fit the society my characters live in.

2) I can set my own rules.

It’s not necessary to do things according to either history or as said by other authors. Not that there’s anything wrong with what has been written before, but I do enjoy refreshing and shaking things up a bit.

3) Characters can be as dysfunctional as need be.

I love a great romance as much as the next gal, but I’m not one to believe the hero can’t bring some form of emotional baggage along with him. He doesn’t have to be picture perfect or even completely sane for that matter.

The heroine doesn't have to be the damsel in distress or completely boy crazy. Her role can vary from being an outcast, to the uninterested single mother looking to improve the lives of those she loves, to the workaholic too consumed by her everyday life to worry about other matters. Adding a paranormal element to these factors only makes the story much more interesting, in my opinion of course.

4) Cliché’s don’t have to be a bad thing.

I’m not a big fan of cliché’s per se, but I can sure make the most of them. If I can write about a forbidden love, a Romeo and Juliet type of storyline, which is considered one of the biggest cliché’s out there, and make it unique, why not?

5) I love paranormal creatures.

Need I say more? I’ve always been captivated by all things that go bump in the night. Ever since I was old enough to actually know what a vampire was, I was hooked. Now that I get to write about them my interest has only increased.

Now let's here a little more about Kristy's latest release...





Blurb ~

Teenager Marjorie Emery eluded death. As she struggles to get her life back on track, she believes her efforts are paying off. Yet, when a black dressing, unfriendly, and incredibly handsome hottie walks into her classroom, she’s forced into a tailspin. Marjorie has no idea how much his presence is going to shatter what little tranquility she’s achieved.

Kyran Rousseau’s gloomy nature has a name, one that is potentially fatal under the right circumstances. His family harbors secrets and does everything to protect Kyran. While, he doesn’t want to ruin Marjorie’s normal life, love has a way of changing his plans.

Falling for Kyran is the least of Marjorie’s worries. With a faceless threat hunting her and a boyfriend who's as dangerous as he is good looking—how can Marjorie and Kyran keep all hell from breaking loose before it’s too late?


Excerpt ~

The bat connected with something solid, and a soft grunt escaped the man’s lips, followed by a soft oath that would’ve put even the meanest of sailors to shame.

“Are you trying to kill me? What the hell are you doing?”

Wait just a second, I know that voice.

“Kyran? Kyran!” I couldn’t believe my eyes. He really was standing there, clad in nothing but a pair of jeans.

“Are you trying to behead me?” His expression was one of puzzlement and anger combined.

“I was, actually.” He rubbed his forearm vigorously and I deduced that was where the bat made contact. Boy, I had the worst aim ever. How did I manage to hit his arm when I was aiming for his head?

“Why?” he snapped.

That did it. That tone he used infuriated me all over again. “Oh, hold on just a second here. I should be asking all the questions, not you. What the hell are you doing roaming around my house in the middle of the night anyway? What kind of sick pervert are you?”

“This isn’t your house. Haven’t you noticed we’re in the middle of the woods?” God, I wanted to slap him so bad.

“The hell we are! This is my father’s land and you’re trespassing.” He scoffed, and I had the sudden urge to go for a second blow. This close, I was pretty confident I would make a crude indentation in his skull.

“Do you enjoy peeping at other people? Is that, like, something you get off on?”

Had I not been so angry, I would’ve laughed at his expression. His face registered shock, disbelief, and surprise all at once.

“No! I’m not that kind of person,” he barked.

“Really? ’Cause I’m pretty sure it was you I saw here last night, and I’m really pissed off right now. You better have a good excuse as to why you’re walking around on my father’s property half naked.”

He turned his face away and refused to answer.

“All right, I’m calling the police.” I didn’t have my cell, but hell, he didn’t know that.

“What’re you going to call the police with, the bat?”

Damn him. “No, I…have…my cell.” Somewhere out there, where it’s doing me no good.

He sneered. “Right.”

“You didn’t answer my question, Kyran. What’re you doing out here?”

“What’re you doing out here?”

“Damn it, Kyran, don’t test me because I’ll knock that pretty little head of yours right off those broad shoulders.” Was I giving him a compliment while simultaneously threatening to decapitate him? Leave it to me to come up with a sentence like that one.

“I’d like to keep my pretty little head, thank you very much,” he said hotly. His answer, however sarcastic it was, almost made me laugh and I had to bite my lower lip to keep from smiling. He looked so cute when he was annoyed.

Author bio ~

Kristy Centeno is an author of paranormal romance, young adult, new adult, horror, and contemporary romance. 

She has always had a passion for books and after years of being an avid reader, she decided to transform her desire to write into a reality and thus, her first novel was born. In her journey to create memorable reads, she has delved into several genres, creating fictional characters meant to entice readers and captivate the mind.

She is currently working on finishing off the Keeper Witches series among other projects, which include sequels to her published work. When she’s not busy taking care of her five children or holding down the fort, she finds time to sit and do what she loves the most: writing.

You can find Kristy at:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | Pinterest | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page


You can buy SECRETS OF THE MOON at:

Amazon | All Romance | Book Depository




Giveaway ~


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Monday, May 4, 2015

~ Come On A Magical Mystic Series Tour! Rosanne Bittner and The West ~









Rosanne Bittner is joining us today to share her Mystic Series with us, but first she wants to tell us about how it all got started...


Many years ago I read an article in a flyer I receive from the Wind River Indian Reservation that was about a stone medicine wheel on the top of Medicine Mountain in the Big Horn Mountains of northern Wyoming. The article fascinated me because no one is certain which Native Americans built this medicine wheel, or even when. At the top of a nearby mountain peak is a stone arrow pointing to the medicine wheel, which I found even more fascinating, because at the time someone created these places out of stones, there were no airplanes. There would be no way to see the arrow pointing to the medicine wheel except from above. Native Americans consider the medicine wheel sacred, believing only spirits from above would see it. There is a central cairn, with spokes coming out to join in a circle of stones so that the entire site looks just like a wagon wheel.





My husband and I took a trip to see the medicine wheel, and the first time we went there you had to drive up a very dangerous, one-lane (side of the mountain-no guard rail) road to get o the site. The second time we went to see it, the national park service had made a better road, but it goes only part way up and then you have to walk the rest of the way. The wheel itself is now fenced off because of (I call them jerks) people stealing stones from the site. When you go there, you get a chilling feeling of spirituality, as though you have just walked into an ancient mysterious past. And the view on top of Medicine Mountain is SPECTACULAR!!

The moment I read about this stone medicine wheel, I knew I wanted to write a book that would be based around this sacred site. That book is MYSTIC DREAMERS, and on the original hard cover book jacket there is a picture of the actual stone medicine wheel. After that first book I knew I needed to continue the story of Stalking Wolf and Buffalo Dreamer, so I wrote book #2 MYSTIC VISIONS and then #3 MYSTIC WARRIORS, which follows the Sioux nation into the Custer battle. All three books are filled with real Native American history, customs and beliefs, and a good share of mystic spirituality, the third book ending with a very spiritual and mysterious event that (I hope) leaves readers wondering if this really could happen. I personally believe it could.

I am happy to announce that all three of these books, although some are still available in print through Amazon.com, are now available as e-books for all types of e-readers. Enjoy!!


So let's hear a little bit more about the Mystic Series...





Mystic Dreamers

by Rosanne Bittner
Pre-Order: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBook | Kobo Books
Genre: Historical Western Romance
Release Date: May 12, 2015
Length: 379 Pages

For over a decade, Rosanne Bittner has enchanted her readers with tales of adventure and romance in the times before the White Man settled the West. Now, in the tradition of Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear, the bestselling author of Song of the Wolf and the Savage Destiny Indian series turns her hand to historical fiction with a wonderful new story of Native America sure to capture you and carry you on an adventure of love and hate, good and evil, life and death.

In 1833, Star Dancer, a Sichangu (Brulé Sioux), is promised in marriage to Stalking Wolf, an Oglala warrior whom she has never met. What begins as a loveless union develops into a moving story of a man and a woman led by powers beyond their control. Dreams, visions, and mystic experiences fill this provocative love story that launches a saga about the Lakota and their first meeting with the White Man.

Praise for Mystic Dreamers:

"Rosanne Bittner is one of the best writers of Native American romance stories and Mystic Dreamers is one of her best efforts to date." --Janelle Taylor, bestselling author of Lakota Dawn

"I'm a great admirer of Rosanne Bittner. Mystic Dreamers is beautifully written." --Loren D. Estleman, author of Thunder City

"Filled with suspense and high emotion." --Booklist





Mystic Visions

by Rosanne Bittner
Pre-Order: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBook | Kobo Books
Genre: Historical Western Romance
Release Date: May 12, 2015
Length: 352 Pages

In Mystic Dreamers, best-selling author Rosanne Bittner began a compelling saga with the meeting of Buffalo Dreamer, a holy woman, and Rising Eagle, a warrior whose powers were unmatched, for he had been blessed by the Feathered One. Now, in a new story sure to enthrall both new readers and devoted fans, Bittner follows Buffalo Dreamer, Rising Eagle, and their children through the great Indian wars and the settling of the West, where, in addition to the risks and rewards of daily life, they and their Lakota tribe must face the influx of white settlers and soldiers into their lands and into their lives. In Mystic Visions, we experience Buffalo Dreamer's increasingly powerful visions of the bluecoats and a coming war. We learn the fate of Little Big Boy and Never Sleeps, and of Never Sleeps's mother, Fall Leaf Woman. And we meet the one who is destined to lead the Lakota People in their greatest trial ever, Crazy Horse!

Praise for Mystic Visions:

From Publishers Weekly - Picking up where she left readers in Mystic Dreamers, the initial volume in this series, Bittner explores the efforts of holy woman Buffalo Dreamer and her warrior husband, Rising Eagle, to fend off encroaching white settlers in the Lakota tribe's Black Hills. The narrative begins in 1836 and spans more than a decade. The heart of the book is the evolving relationship between the Lakota couple as well as the fate of their children, two of whom succumb in a smallpox epidemic introduced by the settlers. Rising Eagle survives smallpox, vowing to avenge his children's deaths. Also central to the story is an Oglala woman who now lives among whites, named Florence. She once loved Rising Eagle, but married an abusive white man, became an alcoholic and gave her son, Little Wolf, to Rising Eagle to raise as his own. When Lakota warriors attack white settlers traveling across buffalo country, Rising Eagle rapes a white woman, Mary Higgins, brings her back as a slave and also captures the woman's 10-year-old blond daughter, whom he renames Yellow Bonnet. Eventually traded back to the white settlers, Mary leaves Yellow Bonnet behind, as well as a newborn son she bears to Rising Eagle, whom Florence, now married to a kind preacher, raises. Bittner's descriptions of Lakota life are impeccably researched, with impressive scenes of visions and ceremonies. But her Lakota characters are all highly idealized, to the point where Bittner justifies Rising Eagle's brutal rape and kidnapping as a culturally viable tactic of war, further portraying the rape victim as weak, hypocritical and self-absorbed. Most of the settlers are treated as one-dimensional perpetrators, while the Lakota are given full range of emotion and spiritual depth. The result is an unbalanced tale stumbling when describing interaction between white and Lakota characters, but bringing a variety of intriguing Native American characters to life. (May)

Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information, Inc.





Mystic Warriors

by Rosanne Bittner
Pre-Order: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBook | Kobo Books
Genre: Historical Western Romance
Release Date: May 12, 2015
Length: 367 Pages

The white buffalo is a sacred and holy creature to the Lakota. Buffalo Dreamer, a holy woman, and her husband, Rising Eagle, have not only been blessed to see the white buffalo, they have eaten of its heart and have been told by the sacred beast that as long as the Lakota have the white buffalo hide, all will be well.

But all is not well. White hunters have stolen the sacred white robe and great misfortune has befallen the Lakota. Settlers continue to invade Lakota territory, backed by vicious cavalry forces that massacre women and children. The Lakota are starving and their anger is growing.
Led by Rising Eagle, a great force of Lakota and other tribes wage war upon the white man. Together they battle to regain the land stolen from them, to protect the precious buffalo the white man wantonly destroys, and to search for the sacred white robe.

Praise for Rosanne Bittner:

Rosanne Bittner retains her title as a premier Indian romance writer. . . . Poignant and startling. (Romantic Times on Mystic Visions)

Bittner's descriptions of Lakota life are impeccably researched, with impressive scenes of visions and ceremonies. . . . bringing a variety of intriguing Native American characters to life. (Publishers Weekly on Mystic Visions)

Beautifully written and structured. . . . [Mystic Dreamers] is the West of blood, tears, and transcendent dreams. (Loren D. Estleman, author of The Master Executioner)

Rosanne Bittner's stories are powerful because she creates memorable characters who enlighten readers as they rekindle the magical spark that belonged to the first people to love this land. (Romantic Times on Mystic Dreamers)

Filled with suspense and high emotion, quests and visions, this compelling love story is sure to please Bittner's fans and to win over new converts, especially as sequels are planned. (Booklist on Mystic Dreamers)

To celebrate the Mystic Series, Rosanne is giving away a $50 gift card, so be sure to enter her giveaway below! She also is giving away a book on Goodreads!



Author Bio ~


I’ve been writing for over thirty years and to date have had more than 60 novels published, all about the American West of the 1800’s and Native Americans. I write romance, but not the typical bodice-ripping adventures. My stories are deep love stories, often family sagas told as a series. It is the hero and heroine’s love that holds them together through the trials and tribulations of settling America’s western frontiers. I absolutely love the Rockies, the Tetons, the Sierras, and the wide-open plains, prairies and desert land west of the Mississippi. In my books, I strive to tell the truth about the settling of the West and how it affected our American Indians, as well as the gritty depth of what our brave pioneers suffered in their search for free land and a better life.

I am a member of the Nebraska and Oklahoma Historical Societies, my local southwest Michigan historical society, Women Writing the West, Mid-Michigan Romance Writers of America, the national RWA, National Rifle Association and a local charity group called the Coloma Lioness Club. I help run a family business and love doing things with my three young grandsons. If you visit my Website you’ll see all my titles listed as well as a page that lists all my many writing awards; or you can visit me on Facebook. At either site you will learn news of new books to come as well as reprints of many of my past titles soon to be published in trade paperback and as e-books!


You can find Rosanne here:

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | Pinterest | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page



Giveaway ~

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Goodreads Book Giveaway

Do Not Forsake Me by Rosanne Bittner

Do Not Forsake Me

by ;">Rosanne Bittner

Giveaway ends June 09, 2015.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
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