Virtual Book Tour ~ Shameless by Cheryl Douglas and Giveaway

Trey Turner may be topping the country music charts, but his life has been going downhill since his wife left him five years ago. He's desperate to make amends for the mistakes he's made and convince Sierra their love deserves a second chance.

Sierra Brooks is happy for the first time since her divorce. She has a career she loves, and a man who loves her. Unfortunately, the man she intends to marry isn't the only one professing his love for her. He may be able to offer her safety and security, but will she decide to risk everything for another chance with the man who broke her heart?

 Buy links: Amazon \ Barnes & Noble \ All Romance 

(Currently FREE on the sites)

********* EXCERPT ********* 

 

Prologue

Five Years Earlier

The sexy little waitress stretched to offer her neck as Trey Turner prepared to do another body shot at the urging of his inebriated friends. He licked the salt off her neck as he felt a small hand grip his shoulder.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

He turned to see his wife, Sierra, staring up at him, disgust darkening her bright blue eyes. He heard a few of his friends mutter curses as the crowd broke up and went back to drinking and dancing.

“Baby, I was just havin’ a little fun.” His words slurred and he wondered how many body shots he’d had before Sierra intervened.  

The waitress slid her hand down his chest, hooking a finger through his belt loop. “That was fun. How ‘bout we pick up where we left off later?”

Sierra turned away, not waiting for his answer as she began weaving her way through the crowd.

“Sierra, baby, wait,” he called, trying to push his way through the throngs of people before she reached the door. He grabbed her wrist just as she was about to cross the threshold. “Wait. Please, don’t go.”

“It’s over, I’m done with this shit,” she said, trying to shake loose of his grip.

He had more than a foot and a hundred pounds on her. She wasn’t going anywhere until he decided he was ready to let her go, which wouldn’t happen in this lifetime. “What’s that supposed to mean? Where the hell do you think you’re going?”  

“Home to pack.”

He felt the room begin to spin out of control. “What did you say?”

“I’m leaving you. Our marriage is over.”

His grip on her wrist tightened. “No, you can’t leave me.”

She pressed a hand to his chest. “It’s been over for a long time. I’m just making it official.”

“We’re not having this conversation out here in front of a hundred people,” he said, pulling her through the horde of friends he’d invited to his private party. He opened the door to the small dressing room usually occupied by the nightly entertainment that performed at Jimmy’s bar. “We’ll have some privacy in here.”

She was finally able to shake free of his tight grip. “I’ve already said everything I have to say to you.”

He gripped her waist. “Don’t do this, Sierra.” He bent to kiss her neck. “I love you, baby. God, I love you so much. I can’t live without you.” He backed her toward the couch as he lowered himself down on top of her.

“You’ve been living without me for the past year, Trey. You’ve spent your days on a tour bus and your nights in a stadium or bar.” Her voice broke. “We lost our baby girl and you don’t seem to care.”

“Don’t say that,” he whispered furiously. “Don’t ever say that I didn’t care about Callie. I loved her, Sierra. It damn near killed me when we lost her.”

She glared at him. “Really? Is that why you boarded that goddamn tour bus a week after her funeral?”

“I’m a musician; it’s what I do.” He knew the excuse was weak. Sierra was right. He’d been trying to run away from his grief and sadness instead of staying at home where he belonged, supporting his wife.

She shook her head, looking defeated. “It’s what you do—it’s who you are. Trey Turner, country music’s award-winning, platinum-selling mega-star. What about my husband? Callie’s father? Where is he?”

He closed his eyes, feeling disgusted with himself for letting her down again. “Baby, I’m sorry. Look, I know I’ve made mistakes, but let me make it up to you, okay?” His hand eased up her shirt to cup her breast.

Her head rolled back and she closed her eyes. “No, we can’t do this. It won’t fix the problem.” Making love to her may not solve all of their problems, but it would buy him some time to figure out a way to convince her to give him and their marriage another chance. “Just relax,” he whispered, licking her neck.

“Hmm, that feels so good.” She wrapped her denim-clad leg around his. “But then you had lots of practice with your girlfriend right before I got here, didn’t you?”

He cursed himself for indulging in the adolescent drinking game and giving his wife reason to question his fidelity yet again. “Sweetheart,” he whispered, flipping the button on her jeans. “You’re the only one I want; you know that.”

She squeezed her eyes shut as she shook her head. “No, I don’t.”

He hated that he had given her reason to doubt herself, to doubt them. “Let me prove it to you, then.”

His tongue traced the soft fullness of her lips until she finally parted for him. He groaned, taking her mouth with a savage intensity. His mind raced; fear warring with panic as he realized this may be the last time they made love, the last time he had the right to touch her.

 Cheryl began her professional career as a nutritionist, but her love of books started at an early age. She studied writing for many years before she decided to pursue her passion as a full-time career. After receiving constructive criticism from several well-known authors, Cheryl finally had the confidence to write her first romance novel.

The first book in the Nashville Nights series, Shameless, was a book that had been dwelling in Cheryl’s subconscious for years. For her, the surprise came when the manuscript began taking on a life of it’s own. Characters came to life, secondary characters became more prominent, outlines were forgotten, and a single title evolved into an eight book series, and another eight book spin-off series entitled Nashville Nights, Next Generation.

One word would aptly describe Cheryl: workaholic. She lives and breathes her writing, when she’s sleeping, watching TV, driving, reading… it’s always in the periphery of her mind. Her imagination rarely takes a holiday, even when she escapes to a sandy beach with her husband and son, she’s planning, plotting, outlining, and daydreaming.

Cheryl feels blessed to be able to get up every day and do something she loves. The thousands of fans who have embraced the Nashville Nights have made that possible. She writes for the readers who ask for more, she writes to satisfy the muse residing inside of her, but most of all, she writes because she couldn’t imagine doing anything else with her life. It took her thirty-seven years to decide what she wanted to be when she grew up, but now that she knows, she’s convinced she’s found her purpose.

You can find Cheryl here ~ Website / Facebook  

********* GIVEAWAY **********

Cheryl will be awarding: two(2) - $20 Amazon Gift Cards to randomly drawn commenters during the tour, and one(1) - $20 Gift Card to a randomly drawn host. Also, Cheryl will be awarding ten(10) trading card/cover flat packs to randomly drawn commenters during the tour (US/Canada), ten (10)digital books from the Nashville Nights series (winner's choice) to randomly drawn commenters during the tour and two(2) Swarovski crystal necklaces to randomly drawn commenters during the tour (US/Canada). So please make sure you leave an email address to get a hold of you if you win. To comment more for more chances to win you can follow the tour HERE

Blurb Blitz ~ Byzantine Gold by Chris Karlsen and Giveaway

A sunken warship from the Byzantine Era carrying an unusual cargo of gold has been found off the coast of Northern Cyprus. News of the valuable cache has attracted the attention of a terrorist cell. They plan to attack the recovery team’s campsite and steal the artifacts. On the Black Market, the sale of the relics will buy them additional weapons.

Charlotte Dashiell, an American archaeologist, and her lover, Atakan Vadim, a Turkish government agent, are scheduled to be part of the recovery team that brings up the artifacts. While en route to Cyprus, they find themselves caught in the crosshairs of Maksym Tischenko, a Ukrainian contract killer bent on revenge. Charlotte, Atakan and Tischenko share a grim history. As a result, Tischenko is a man who will stop at nothing to achieve his goal—seeing them both dead.

 Buy links: Paperback \ Kindle

********* EXCERPT *********

 

Atakan didn’t answer as he sped out of camp, spraying dirt and stones behind them.

“What’s going on? Why are you in such a hurry?”

He stared straight ahead, silent.

“Atakan?”

Tight-jawed, he continued down the side road that paralleled the beach, ramming the stick shift into place as he went through the gears and ignoring her questions. She’d never seen him this tense, not with her at least. A bad feeling crept over her. She had a sick sense his mood involved her plan to leave.

They’d gone a kilometer from the camp when he came to a stop. He hopped out, slammed the driver’s door shut and came to her side.

Opening her door, he said, “Get out.”

She did.

“Atakan,” Charlotte started to ask the same questions again, but he was already turned and walking toward the sea.

She followed. He finally stopped near the water’s edge with his back to the surf and faced her. She stopped a couple of yards away.

“When were you going to tell me?”

She knew exactly what he was asking about. Who told him? It wasn’t Nick. He’d honor the twenty-four hour rule.

“Who told you?”

“That’s not an answer.” He stood still as a statue, arms crossed, feet apart.

She hesitated, trying to choose her words so he’d understand and not be hurt. She gazed out at the incoming tide. The blue-green waves, effervescent with bubbles, rushed toward shore in rapid succession. White foam droplets filled the air as they crested, framing him like a new, angry version of Poseidon.

“Answer me.”

“Today.”

“You weren’t going to tell me until today, although you’ve been planning to leave me for awhile.”

“Not awhile.”

“Long enough to send job inquiries to several museums.”

So that was how he knew. One of the museums contacted MIAR and they must’ve sent the questionnaire to Refik and he told Atakan. She hadn’t considered the possibility. She’d thought any contact from the museums would be handled by MIAR’s headquarters.

“I’m so sorry you had to find out this way. I intended to tell you if it looked like I’d definitely leave. If none of the museums showed interest, then you never had to know what I’d done.”

“And you believe that is acceptable?”

It killed her to see the look of disgust on his face with the question. “Yes...” she said low.

“Why?”

“Because I’m bad luck for you—everyone can see it, even your--, it’s obvious. There’s something about me, and God knows, I don’t know what, but I’m like a magnet for Tischenko.”

She never cried and she wouldn’t cry now, but she was close. “I can’t bear to see you hurt again, or worse. There are people that bad luck follows, even Iskender thinks so.”

Atakan inhaled deeply and let out a slow breath. Uncrossing his arms, he closed the short distance to where she stood.

“It’s not forever,” she offered, “I’ll return.”

He shook his head. “If you go, you cannot return. You’re either in my life or out of my life. There’s no in between.”

 

 Chris is a retired police detective. She spent twenty-five years in the law enforcement with two different agencies.

The daughter of a history professor and a voracious reader, she grew up with a love for history and books.

She has traveled extensively throughout Europe, the Near East, and Northern Africa satisfying her passion for seeing the places she read about.

A Chicago native, Chris has lived in Paris, Los Angeles, and now resides with her husband, and five rescue dogs in the Pacific Northwest.

Website   / Pinterest 

********* GIVEAWAY *********  

Chris will award one randomly drawn commenter at every stop an ebook copy of Golden Chariot, and one randomly drawn commenter will be awarded a $50 Amazon gift card during the tour. A $25 Amazon gift card will be awarded to a randomly drawn host. So please make sure you leave an email address to be able to contact you in case you win. Also if you would like more chances to win you can follow the tour HERE

Super Book Blast~ Holding Off For a Hero by Gail MacMillan and Giveaway

Beautiful, vivacious Emma Prescott has a love-'em-and-leave-'em reputation.  Fact is, Emma's holding off for a hero.  When she moves to a cabin at wilderness Loon Lake and meets her one neighbor biology professor Frasier MacKenzie, he's still just another guy, even with his killer blue eyes and body that just won't quit...until he rescues her and her Pug from one danger after another.  Then he definitely falls into hero territory.  But the professor has no intention of filling the role of white knight in Emma's life.  All he wants is to be rid of her and her annoying little dog so he can get on with his research. In fact, he's ordered to get rid of them whether he wants to or not.  Looks like Emma may have to go on holding off for a hero...

Buy Links~  Amazon Kindle /  Amazon Print /  The Wild Rose Press

********* EXCERPT *********

 

The unmistakable screech made his breath clog in his throat. His body froze in mid-stride. The

Panther! Dear God! Emma! Pulling his gun, he plunged into the darkening bush.

“Emma!” he yelled.

“Frasier!”

Her cry sent him charging forward. He rounded a small thicket to see her huddled

against the trunk of a pine, the Pug clutched in her arms. Stalking toward her, bird-dog fashion, its belly dragging on the snow, was the Panther.

He raised the gun. His hand shuddered. No, please, God, not now! Taking aim, he fired. The report rocked the silence of the forest. The big cat screamed as the bullet whizzed inches over   its head. Roaring, it whirled and vanished into the shadowy bush. The silence of the winter twilight returned. The hand holding the smoking gun dropped to his side, every ounce of strength drained.

“Thank God you missed.” Emma recovered her speech. “It would have been awful to have killed him.”

“Damn it, Emma…!”

“Well, if he hadn’t run away from that warning shot, you would have got him with the next one,

right?”

“Right.” Her absolute confidence made him choke out the word. Still clutching the Pug, she suddenly sank down on her haunches in the snow.

“Frasier, I was so scared,” she hiccuped

 Gail MacMillan is a three-time Maxwell Award Winning writer and author of 26 published books.  A graduate of Queen's University, she lives in New Brunswick Canada with her husband and two dogs, Fancy a Little River Duck Dog and Bruiser the cover guy and hero of Holding Off For a Hero.

 Gail's web site

********* GIVEAWAY *********

Gail will award two $5 Amazon GCs and three digital copies of "Lady and the Beast" to randomly drawn commenters during the tour. Please remember to leave an email address in case you are one of the lucky winners. For more chances to enter you can follow the tour HERE

Book Blast Tour ~ Love During Death by Rachel A. Olson and Jessica Humphrey

After a series of strange and deadly events, Fia Dannii discovers what it is truly like to live after death. Stuck in the in-between, Fia sets out to discover what in life she missed that would be preventing her from passing on. When Dion walks into her life after death, Fia struggles to believe that he holds the key to her afterlife, and her heart. Fia has to choose between loving Dion or walking the earth forever as an entity, stuck in the in-between.
Where to Purchase: E-book / Paperback

********* EXCERPT *********

“Good night, Fia Dannii. Thank you for a most enlightening evening. Can I give you a call later?” Dion gave her an amused smirk, his teeth barely releasing from his lips.

“I’d like that. Goodnight Dion.” Fia returned the smile and gave him a reluctant wave. Dion made to take his leave and turned away from her, pressing the elevator button. His hand began clenching into a fist, resisting the temptation that was flowing through his veins. As Fia unlocked her door, she curved her face in his direction immediately mesmerized by his burning gaze. Before she had any time to think, Dion had her body forced into the door. Taking her face in his hands, fingers tangling in the short hair at the base of her neck, Dion drew her lips into a sudden desperate kiss. Blood rushed to her skin as she wrapped her arms around him enveloping the space between them. They slowly searched each others’ mouths, the tension slowly building. As quickly it had begun, Dion leaned his head back searching her eyes, catching his breath.

“Good night. Until we meet again.” He placed another lingering kiss on her lips before backing away from her. Fia felt as if her body was dunked in cold water as he increased the distance between them. With perfect timing, the elevator doors opened and Dion moved inside, pressing the ground level button before he had a chance to change his mind.

Goodreads:
love During Death - GoodReads

Rachel's Bio :
I first discovered my passion for writing when I was in 4th grade. I wrote a children's story for a school project about a man who created his own pet - a blob that ate everything. Little did I know that the entire school was participating in this project, not just my class. When deadline came, all books were sent to a group of college students, who then read and rated them. It became a big event at the school. Parents came to listen to students' stories read aloud, some kids winning prizes for individuality, penmanship, grammar, the works. I sat patiently as they announced the winners, knowing in my heart of hearts that my book was nothing special. Then came the grand prize. The student who had the best book out of the entire elementary school. The top dog. My mind raced with name after name of who I thought should win. Never once did I ever think it would be me. They had to repeat my name three times. I heard them every time, but was in too much shock to make my legs work.

Blog  / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest

 Jessica's Bio:
 I first started writing when I was sixteen years old. I had a dream that sparked my imagination, I was practically forced to begin writing it down.  The protagonist opened the door to a whole other world inside my head. Before I knew it, I'd written an entire novel and I've never stopped since!

Reading and writing have always been a way of escaping for me.  Diving into words let's me see and do things that only exist in my dreams. Some take twisted and painful passages, but I have even learned to embrace the light as well as the dark. As an author, my goal (near and far) is to share my worlds with others, letting them walk down a different path, experiencing things outside their own realities. Helping them grow and embrace this journey called life. Writing is my passion and I hope to provide others with the joy and wonder so many authors have given to me.

Blog /   Facebook  / Twitter

Super Book Blast ~ Under Her Spell by Eliza Daly and Giveaway

When a series of failed relationships and business ventures have Monica Jackson doubting her self-worth, she turns to spell casting to attract positive energy and the opportunities needed to achieve her goals.  But can Monica’s belief in spells restore her belief in herself?  

Monica creates a spell to find her soul mate, and one to ensure the success of her new romantic event planning company, Enhance Your Romance.  Monica is confident she has found her niche until divorce lawyer Reed Walker opens a practice next door to her office.  The anti-marriage slogan plastered on his office window, and his down-on-love clients, quickly prove detrimental to Monica’s business.  When his arrival appears to trigger a string of bad luck, Monica fears one of her spells sent negative energy into the universe and it has returned to her threefold.  Although Reed is beyond sexy, and she admires his self-confidence, she’ll do whatever it takes to get the universe back on her side, and Reed out of her life. No way is she losing another business.

Reed finds himself attracted to Monica’s beauty and her optimism. His job and his parents’ divorce have made him a pessimist, especially when it comes to love. However, he soon finds that Monica’s pro-love attitude is rubbing off on him, causing him to lose his edge.  If Reed doesn’t distance himself from Monica, he’ll likely destroy his reputation as a pit bull divorce lawyer.

Can Monica and Reed look past what they might be losing to realize the love they have found?

 Buy Links: Kindle    Nook   iTunes  Kobo   ARe   

********* EXCERPT *********

Monica turned and her gaze landed on a sign in the window.

Marriage isn’t a word, it’s a sentence. I’ll set you free.

She glanced up at the sign over the door. Reed Walker: Family Law.

Focusing on Chico’s lunch specials when she’d driven up, she’d failed to notice the new signs. “A divorce lawyer?” she muttered in disbelief. Her gaze darted over to the guy. “You’re a divorce lawyer? I thought you were a client.” Being attracted to a divorce lawyer was much worse than a client. Suddenly his eyes didn’t seem as blue and his arms looked wimpy. No way was he Italian. Or her soul mate. And what kind of straight guy wore lavender!

“A client?” He laughed as if that was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard. “Ah no, I just started moving in and stopped by to introduce myself.”

“You have to take down that sign.” Monica pointed at his window.

“It’s my company motto. Helps attract business.”

“Maybe for you.”

He arched an amused brow. “That’s the idea.”

“You can’t promote divorce.” She clutched his suit jacket, crumpling it in her hand.

“I’m not promoting it. It’s a fact of life. I don’t have any control over the average marriage lasting seven years, or that one in every two ends in divorce.”

Monica’s gaze skittered around frantically as she searched for a response that didn’t involve whipping the socket wrench through his window and mauling the sign to shreds. She spied a black Mercedes parked up the street. The license plate read No Mer-ce.

“Is that your car?” she demanded, pointing at the Mercedes.

“What are you so worried about? Doesn’t bother me being next door to a business that promotes romance and marriage.”

Eliza Daly’s first attempt at creative writing was in fourth grade. She and her friends were huge Charlie’s Angels fans and she would sit in her bedroom at night writing scripts for them to act out at recess the following day. She was Kelly Garrett. Fast forward to the present, she’s still writing stories about beautiful women who always get their men. The journey from fourth grade script writer to published author wasn’t an easy one, but it was always an adventure and the final destination was well worth it.

When Eliza isn’t traveling for her job as an event planner, or tracing her ancestry roots through Ireland, she’s at home in Milwaukee working on her next novel, bouncing ideas off her husband Mark, and her cats Quigley and Frankie.

You can find Eliza on the web at

Website/ Facebook/ Twitter/ Goodreads

********* GIVEAWAY *********  

Don't forget to leave a comment or question for Eliza below to let her know you stopped by.  Eliza will be awarding one $25 GC, and three $10 GCs for either Amazon or BN to a randomly drawn commenters during the tour.  You can follow her tour stops here, the more often you comment the better your odds of winning.