Monday, August 31, 2015

Virtual Book Tour: Purified by Elizabeth S. Sullivan @RABTBookTours







Thriller / Noir
Date Published: November 27, 2014
Published By: Short on Time Books


When a mutilated body of an African American girl is found in a park sandbox, the media shows no interest. Instead, their attention is riveted on the disappearance of Olivia Safra, a college student and only child of the powerful and dangerous Richard Safra. Suspended ADA, Beck Oldman, demoted to a rookie PI is assigned her first cases to find a missing teenager and Olivia Safra.

Leads connect the murders to the Safra case. The investigation into her client's private life reveals a dark side in the relationship between a father and daughter and exacts his wrath against Beck. More girls are found murdered, putting Beck in a race to stop a serial killer and stop her own client from destroying her.
PURIFIED is a thrilling story that explores many dark subjects, including what it does to those who have to live in the world of killers in order to stop them.


Excerpt

The fact it was drizzling did not dim the useful moonlight. The body had been meticulously scrubbed with antibacterial soap; hair shampooed; new white underwear guarded against the old jeans. The plastic gloves and the rain slowed down the digging. The skies opened just a bit more, but enough to wash away progress. Voices from a distance slightly accelerated the final touches. The exact placement of the artifacts was crucial. Finally, success. It was a shallow grave, but it was never meant to be anything more than a beginning.

The Chicago Park teemed with summer life. Amber light washed over the lazy sun worshippers, glazing them in a healthy hue they did not earn. Dogs chased invisible balls and actual Frisbees in the wet grass, almost tripping women pushing baby strollers worth the price of a small car. The low thrum of conversations, an intermittent rebuke handed down to an out-of-line participant was suddenly obliterated by a shrill, inhuman wail. A collective sucking in of breath heralded the series of joy crushing waves everyone knew were coming.

Wave One: a young boy collapsed near a group of teenage girls. Normally squealers, the girls silently tried to ease the boy out of his fetal position.  Reluctantly, onlookers approached, knowing their light reverie was scrolling into some kind of weird nightmare.

Wave Two: a chorus of other worldly screaming came out of children as they abandonede the swings.

Wave Three: a man screeching, “Get the kids away from the goddamned sandbox, get them OUT OF THERE. Call the cops, there’s a bloody hand sticking out of the sand.” 

Human sobs were accompanied by police sirens, almost if they were keeping tempo to the chaos. People fled from the blood and the sand.

Wave Four: a murdered adolescent girl’s mutilated hand reached out of the sand, tripping the boy whose summer dreams would become nightmares, as would the entire city’s. 







Elizabeth S. Sullivan was born in Chicago and grew up in the LA area. Impassioned by social justice issues, inspired by her parents, she pursued teaching and earned a law degree. She has written five screenplays, one short. Her screenplays have placed or won such as: Nicholl, Austin, Page, and American Zoetrope. These recognitions garnered her a manager, Alexia Melocchi, Little Studio Films. Her first novel, PURIFIED, portrays a strong female protagonist in the genre of a noir thriller.  Sullivan explores issues of race, gender, privacy in the cyber age. She has written several blogs on of women in fiction featured on Venture Galleries.  She is busy working on the sequel to PURIFIED and a new screenplay.

The Independent Author Network: Elizabeth S. Sullivan

The Independent Author Network Blog: Elizabeth S. Sullivan: The IAN Interview



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Promo Blitz: Inkling by John D. Waterman @RABTBookTours #Giveaway








Science Fiction
Published: 2013

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Follow the characters Gyro and Skoots as they set out on their adventure across the galaxy. What could possibly go wrong when they sign up to be miners on a far away planet?

“Inkling” is the science fiction story of a man named Gyro, a down-on-his-luck veteran of Planetary Defense, who also happens to be an amateur computer programmer. Desperate for a job, he signs a five-year contract when the Virtue Mining Corporation offers him a career on Joules, a far-distant mining planet. He goes through basic training with Skoots, a former high school sports star who has a major obsession with women. Despite their differing personalities and outlooks on life, the two men become fast friends.    During transport to the mining planet, a distorted hyperspace jump throws their spacecraft into an uncharted sector of the galaxy, thus placing the welfare of the crew and passengers in jeopardy.  Hopelessly lost in space, Gyro has an idea, an inkling about how to use his programming experience to rescue the ship, but a mutiny erupts on board, making survival a race against time as their food supply runs out.

Read this book to: Learn why Gyro would want to sign up for an off-planet mining job. See how he develops ideas for programming his computer. Find out how to properly prepare for a hyperspace jump. Travel across the galaxy with a tough crowd of miners. Marvel at Skoots' obsession with women. Learn a little about mining silver. And more.


EXCERPT

Gyro was not the type of man who would normally participate in a riot. He had recently completed his hitch with Planetary Defense, where he had served honorably during the Bobbs Rebellion on the planet Artoban. But now he had returned Zeno, his home planet, where he had been unable to find work. He was also not the sort to pay attention to the news, so he was not aware of the growing number of discontented people living in his city. All he really wanted was to find a job. He had already filled out the forms to apply at the Virtue Mining Company, which was holding a job fair downtown. Several of the listed opportunities included transportation to off-planet facilities.

He left his apartment early in the morning to catch the first bus into the city. As he walked the four blocks to the bus stop, he worried about being harassed by homeless people, but the street around him was empty. Nevertheless, he clutched his envelope of paperwork tightly under his arm.

When the city bus wheezed to a stop and the door opened, he stepped aboard and scanned his welfare card over the fare box. The bus driver gave him a contemptuous glance, no doubt because the driver disapproved of unemployed people on the dole. Gyro ignored the dirty look, thinking the attitude was the driver's problem, not his own.

Only four other passengers were already on the bus, so Gyro selected a seat halfway back, and sat next to the window. He placed his envelope flat on his lap. Though nervous about his interview, he wanted to relax during the half-hour bus ride.

As the bus moved south into the city, traffic picked up and more passengers boarded at every stop. Gyro was glad nobody sat next to him until the bus was nearly full. He noted how the passengers were keeping to themselves and avoiding eye contact. The only conversation was between a group of high school students boasting loudly about their stickerball game.

At the next stop a young man got on board and made his way down the aisle. He was tall, lanky, and dressed in ill-fitting clothes that had worn-out knees and threadbare edges. But the newcomer stood straight and walked with an air of athletic confidence. He slid into the seat next to Gyro.

“Are you going to the demonstration?” he asked Gyro as if they were old friends.

“Who wants to know?” Gyro replied with a mildly irritated voice, since he didn't have the slightest idea who this stranger was.

“Oh, I see. You are going, but don't want anybody to know. That's OK. Don't worry, I can keep a secret.”

Gyro was momentarily taken aback. “Now wait a minute. I don't know anything about a demonstration. And I don't know you either, so how can you decide I'm going somewhere I don't know anything about?”

“Oh, sorry. I'm always doing that. My mom gets irritated with me for talking up folks I don't know. I just saw that stuff on your lap and thought it was a protest sign.

Gyro placed both hands on top of his paperwork.

“My name's Skoots,” he said, sticking out his hand.

Gyro reflexively shook hands with him, returning the youngster's powerful grip. “Gyro,” he said, “So what's the deal about a demonstration?”

“The news says a bunch of demonstrators are going to picket the mining company that's having a job fair downtown. I thought maybe you were going to it.”

“Damn!” Gyro said through clenched teeth.

It was Skoots' turn to be taken aback. “What's the matter?”

“I'm going to the job fair,” Gyro said, “and I don't need a bunch of idiots marching around and getting in the way.”

“Well, ain't it a small world.” Gyro wrinkled his brow and looked Skoots in the face.
“I'm looking for a mining job, too. And I just happened to sit next to you on this bus,” Skoots said, giving his new friend a nudge with his elbow. “Plus, I was thinking maybe it would be a good place to meet chicks.”

“I don't think many women are going to be looking for mining jobs.”

“No, no, man. I mean the demonstration. Lots of girls who like to go picketing can be easy picking, if you know what I mean.”

“Well, good luck, but I think it's more likely the picketers will make it harder for us to get in for our interviews.”

“Nah, don't worry about it. The place is going to be crawling with cops, and they'll keep the mob in line.”

“I hope you're right, Skoots. I really need a job, and I don't want a bunch of community agitators getting in the way.”

“Hey, I got your back, buddy.”

When the bus pulled to a stop a block away from the recruitment center, Gyro and Skoots disembarked into a large group of people who were milling around without seeming to want to go anywhere in particular. When the bus tried to move on it had to push its way slowly through the crowd, as the people moved reluctantly out of the way.
 

About the Author


John D. Waterman survived a thirty-year career as an electrical engineer in the aerospace industry, working on a wide variety of projects including Space Shuttle star trackers, electronic guidance for heavy-lift launch vehicles, and failure analysis of electronic components. As a lifelong fan of Science Fiction, he felt compelled to try his hand at a story of his own. “Inkling” is his first published novel-length effort.

Contact Information

Purchase Links


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$5 Amazon Gift Card







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Blog Tour: Between the Notes by Scarlet Hawthorne @Scarletxxo @HotTreePromos #Giveaway





Author:  Scarlet Hawthorne
Title:  Between the Notes
Genre:  M/M Contemporary Romance
Release Date:  August 15, 2015
Cover Designer: Dawné Dominique

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When an underage groupie stows away on his tour bus to be near her idol, rock superstar Damon Frost suddenly finds himself facing serious charges and a federal prosecutor out for blood. He could easily prove his innocence but only by revealing the secret he has hidden in the closet for years, destroying his image as a sex symbol. 

Damon thinks a deal offered by US attorney Michael Rellman will save his reputation as a ladies man, but what will protect him from his growing feelings for the handsome prosecutor and the risk to his career?

Amazon
US | UK | AU | CA








Scarlet Hawthorne began writing short stories at the age of eight, poems at ten, and wrote her first novella - a romantic tragedy - at twelve. Today she enjoys creating characters who discover integrity and their authentic selves through their sexuality. She has been a speaker at national conferences discussing how power exchange can enhance relationships and refuting the negative stereotypes of BDSM promulgation in the media.

An award-winning and bestselling author in a variety of genres under other pen names, Scarlet was a featured author at the 2014 BDSM Writers Conference in New York City and contributed an excerpt from her upcoming romantic suspense Retrograde to the first BDSM Writers Con Anthology.

Always eager to challenge herself as a writer, Scarlet utilized a "panoramic point of view" narrative style, rarely found in fiction today, in her erotic romantic suspense Deadline.

Scarlet lives with her two dogs and their Master in a lakeside community in the New Orleans area. When not devoting herself to writing or what Erica Jong refers to as the requisite "zitzfleisch," Scarlet spends her free time drinking wine and eating cheese, taking long candlelit bubble baths, and playing with her dogs around the lake.




Cover Reveal: Sacrifice of Mine (Mine #4) by Janeal Falor @NereydaG1003 #YABOUNDBOOKTOURS





Sacrifice of Mine (Mine #4)
Release Date: 9/14/15

Summary from Goodreads:

After a ravaging war, Bethany and her family are forced to flee to Envado. There, women are safe from the oppressive rule of male owners. When her pursuers draw too close, Bethany stays behind to buy her sisters time to escape and she's captured.


She's turned over to a depraver who tarnishes her. Now bald, branded, and barren, she's worth less than the shadow she casts. From this lowly place she leads the tarnished to overthrow the Grand Chancellor--the man behind Chardonia's oppressive rules against women and the tarnished. If they fail to defeat him and his supporters, all will be lost. 


Virtual Tour: DEAL BREAKERS by Laura Lee @lauraleebooks @GoddessFish #Giveaway






DEAL BREAKERS
by Laura Lee 



BLURB:

How were they supposed to know that one night would change everything?

Devyn has life all mapped out. She just needs to accomplish one more thing before graduating college and becoming a full-fledged adult—lose her virginity. And who better to assist her than her best friend, Riley?

Riley is the self-proclaimed king of fling. His college years have been filled with meaningless hookups until the one night that ruined him for all other women. The one night he spends with his best friend, Devyn. Right before he screws it all up.

Balls to the wall, baby!

Now five years later, Riley is determined to atone for his mistakes and prove that he can be the man that Devyn deserves. Little does he know that Devyn’s been keeping a secret from him all these years. A big secret. Now he has to figure out how to win back the only girl he’s ever loved while navigating the pitfalls of her unexpected revelation.

Deal Breakers is filled with lots of laughs, a sexy romance, and an overflowing swear jar.


EXCERPT:


“My God, woman.”

“Too much?” She crosses her arms over her chest. “I wanted something that made me feel sexy. It’s stupid and trashy, isn’t it?”

Uncrossing her arms and nodding towards her body I say, “That could never be considered stupid or trashy. I’m pretty sure it’s the best damn idea you’ve ever had.”

She laughs. “Really?”

I nod enthusiastically. “Uh huh, definitely. Best. Idea. Ever.”


AUTHOR BIO:



Laura Lee is the author of the bestselling Karli Lane series as well as the upcoming Dealing With Love series. She is a proud member of the Romance Writers of America focusing on paranormal, urban fantasy, and contemporary romance.

Laura's passion has always been storytelling. She spent most of her life with her nose in a book thinking of alternate endings or continuations to the story. She won her first writing contest at the ripe old age of nine, earning a trip to the state capital to showcase her manuscript. Thankfully for her, those early works will never see the light of day again!

Laura lives in the Pacific Northwest with her wonderful husband, two beautiful children, and three of the most poorly behaved cats in existence. She likes her fruit smoothies filled with rum, her cupboards stocked with Cadbury's chocolate, and her music turned up loud. When she's not writing or watching HGTV, she's reading anything she can get her hands on. She's a sucker for spicy romances, especially those involving vampires or cowboys!





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$15 Amazon/BN GC 





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Sunday, August 30, 2015

Book Blitz: The Viper and the Urchin by Celine Jeanjean @CelineJeanJean @NereydaG1003 #YABOUNDBOOKTOURS #Giveaway





The Viper and the Urchin
by Celine Jeanjean
Release Date: July 27th 2015

Summary from Goodreads:


Being Damsport's most elegant assassin is hard work. There's tailoring to consider, devilish poisons to concoct, secret identities to maintain... But most importantly, Longinus has to keep his fear of blood hidden or his reputation will be ruined. So, when a scrawny urchin girl threatens to expose his phobia unless he teaches her swordsmanship, he has no choice but to comply.

It doesn't take long for Rory to realise that her new trainer has more eccentricities than she has fleas. But she'll put up with anything, no matter how frustrating, to become a swordswoman like her childhood hero.


What she's not prepared for is a copycat assassin who seeks to replace Longinus, and who hires Rory's old partner in crime to do away with her, as well. Rory and Longinus must set their differences aside and try to work together if they're to stop the copycat. But darker forces than they realise are at play, and with time running out, the unlikely duo find themselves the last line of defence against a powerful enemy who seeks to bring Damsport to its knees.



Buy Links:
Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble

Excerpt

Rory congratulated herself on her timing. She and Jake had just reached the end of the lane and, peering around the corner, she could see the mark a few yards away. He was a trader with a belly that hung over his belt and a self-satisfied air. She could already tell how pleased with himself he would look when he stepped in to save the poor, scrawny urchin girl from a beating.

Moron.

She counted down silently with her fingers. Three, two, one.

Rory launched herself into the trader’s path with a shriek. Startled, the man jumped back just as Jake burst into the street, his face contorted into a perfectly fearsome mask. He grabbed Rory with his paddle-sized hands, lifting her off the ground.

“Help!” she screamed, kicking her legs in the air, careful to miss Jake.

Jake drew back a meaty hand as though to strike her. She screeched again, waiting for the mark to react. Any moment now, he would step forward, his face a sneer, his rapier drawn, and he would tell Jake to ‘let the girl go.’

Jake snarled, and raised his hand further behind him. Rory cowered in his grasp.

“Please not again, please no, please…” she gabbled.

The target stood aside, gawking, as though seagulls had pecked out his brains.

“Teach you to try and run away,” Jake grunted.

Still nothing.

Crap.

Rory had picked a dud.

Nothing for it, Jake was going to have to follow through and hit her or the game would be up.
Jake’s hand came down in a wide arc, just catching her cheek. Rory let her head snap to one side, howling out to make it seem more painful than it was. Still the merchant stood watching. She cursed under her breath. If he was going to be cowardly, the least he could do was leave and be cowardly somewhere else so they could end this charade.

Jake raised his hand again.

“Not so fast now.”

At last, the melodious sound of a rapier being pulled out of its scabbard. The trader pointed his blade at Jake.

“Put the girl down.”

“Not your gods-damned business,” Jake grunted.

“I’ve just made it my business. Put her down.”

Jake glowered ever so convincingly at the man, and let Rory drop to the ground. She made a show of collapsing onto the cobblestones before scrambling up towards the trader.

“Now go.” The man raised his chin haughtily behind his rapier.

Jake grunted again, and skulked off down the lane from which they had come, making it look all the more narrow as he squeezed his massive frame through it.

“Thank you, sir, oh thank you!” Rory grabbed the trader’s distended waistcoat as she pulled herself up. “I been trying to escape for months sir, months!” She squeezed out a few tears for good measure and sniffled loudly. The mark she could feel on her cheek no doubt made it look all the more realistic. Maybe having Jake hit her wasn’t such a disaster after all.

“Now see here —”

“I got no one, sir,” Rory continued, still clinging to him as though she was drowning and he was the last plank of wood left in the world. “I’m an orphan and all alone, my family died.” At this she began to wail loudly.

The trader extricated himself from her clutching fingers, his philanthropic aspirations rapidly vanishing.

“There, there…I’m sorry but, er, I can’t do anything for you. I’m only passing through Damsport, you see.”

That was a lie, he was clearly a Damsian.

“Please, sir!” She wailed louder, clutching at him faster than he could remove her hands. Her fingers felt his purse, and she was delighted to find that it was as fat as he was.

 “Now see here,” said the trader. “I have to leave, my ship… Will you just…get off!”

He gave her a shove and she staggered back, the purse vanishing into one of her pockets. She gave the trader a forlorn look, cutting a pathetic figure in her rags, mess of rope-like hair, and snotty nose — the gods be thanked for her ability to sniffle on demand.

The trader hurried away without looking back.

When he had turned the corner, Rory spat once on the cobblestones.

“Hypocrite.”

Saving the girl always worked, but no one wanted to actually save the girl. They only wanted that brief moment of glory when they pointed their rapier at Jake. That was fine by Rory, they just had to pay the price of their purse for the privilege of feeling like a hero for a few minutes.


She hurried after Jake, grinning. He was waiting for her at the rendezvous point.



About the Author 

Celine Jeanjean is French, grew up in the UK and now lives in Hong Kong. That makes her a tad confused about where she is from. During her time in Asia she's watched the sun rise over Angkor Wat, lost her shoes in Vietnam, and fallen off a bamboo raft in China. Celine writes stories that feature quirky characters and misfits, and her books are a mixture of steampunk, fantasy and humour.

Author Links:
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