Barbra E. Ross, Author of A Mortal Indiscretion
Give a warm welcome to Barbra E. Ross, author of A Mortal Indiscretion – A Justin and Ambra Series – book one!
Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cauldron. Take your choice of a bat wing Chocolate Chip or Pumpkin, or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out a little about Barbara E. Ross and her A Mortal Indiscretion – The Justin and Ambra Series, book one. Be sure to read to the bottom and enter the rafflecopter giveaway!
Everything unravels in Justin’s world. Although Ambra is a vampire, she is the vulnerable one of the two characters, providing a refreshing twist on standard tales. She is not waiting for her prince to come save her on his white horse. She simply desires love, to feel human love again and will do anything to protect the love of Justin.
When Justin discovers the truth about who and what she is, will he still love her? Will he still want her? Find out, as their hearts collide in this epic tale of love.
A peek between the pages of A Mortal Indiscretion – The Justin and Ambra Series
“Why did you not give her a chance? Then maybe you would be…”
“She isn’t you. No one makes me feel like you do. No one,” I said and she looked over at me.
“You still believe that? After all I have put you through? After all I have done?”
“Yes. I believe it. I know it.”
“But you must realize, that I am not what you thought I was. Don’t you?”
“Yes. I know that.”
“But, I do not understand. Does it not upset you?” she asked.
“Yes. It upsets me. But you owe me the truth, and you are going to tell me the truth now, right? No more lies?”
“Yes Justin. And then, maybe you will go running to that girl. Maybe you should go after her right now. There may still be a chance.”
“No. I don’t run away. That is your thing.”
She sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, naked. She turned her back to me. I looked at her back, so sexy. Shoulders strong and defined. She had her arms across her chest. She knew I was going to ask the questions. I think she was mentally preparing herself for the blows.
“Go ahead Justin. Ask.”
“First of all… You’re not gonna tell me that you have to work in the morning, are you? Because I ain’t falling for that shit anymore,” I said. It just slipped out of my mouth. Like I didn’t have a filter between my brain in my mouth.
“No. I suppose you would not.” She turned to look at me.
“And you are staying here with me, right? I am going to have the pleasure of your company during the day? Right?” I pressed, as I felt my anger rising.
“Yes, I will stay. But I cannot go out with you during the day. You will have to keep the shades drawn. It is just not that simple to explain.” She kept her head down as she spoke these words.
“Fine. I can handle that. Tell me, what exactly would happen if I did open the shades Ambra?”
“I would burn up and die,” she stated, flatly.
“What are you Ambra? Are you ready to tell me to my face now?” I was insistent. “Because I really need to know.”
“I am…” She started and then, she became silent again.
“Say it, dammit! I want to hear you say it to me,” I was really getting pissed.
“I am a monster,” she whispered.
“What? What kind of monster? You tell me God dammit!” I yelled.
“A vampire,” she said it so quietly, keeping her back to me.
“You turn around and say it to my face. You have kept this from me for so long. I want you to look me in the eye! I deserve it!” I grabbed her shoulders as I yelled at her. She turned to me, tears flowing down her cheeks.
“Justin, I am a vampire.”
It was spooktacular having you with us today. Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with A Mortal Indiscretion – The Justin and Ambra Series, book one. Happy Halloween!
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged A Mortal Indescretion, Barbar E. Ross, Paranormal, Romance, romantic suspense, The Justin and Ambra Series, Vampire by Tena Stetler with 2 comments.
Interview – Annunciata Doyle of Caper Magic, by Veronica Lynch
Give a warm welcome to Veronica Lynch, author of Caper Magic a Halloween tale. Veronica, I see you’ve brought someone with you.
Yes, Tena I have, this is Annunciata Doyle from Caper Magic!
Fantastic! I love a Halloween story. Pull up a chair, grab a 
drink of your choice from the cauldron, a Bat Wing Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate. I see you have a small Halloween cosmetics bag for one lucky person who leaves a comment. Wonderful. I love those!
Lets start with Annunciata.
Who are you really? I am a simple woman trying to survive as best I can. In the summers, I live in Cape Brendan, a pretty tourist town in the 1,000 Islands Region of New York. When it turns cold as Mother Superior’s heart, I travel to warmer climes on modeling gigs for my employer at La Vrai Beaute.
Who were the biggest role models in your life? I suppose it was the nuns who raised me in one of the Magdelene Laundries in Tuam Ireland. I was sent there at age 13 after my grandparents could no longer control me. I was what we called in those days, incorrigible.
What kind of man do you want to spend the rest of your life with? Me? The one they call the Black Mamba and a man? I should say not–and fer good reason. After all, I’ve buried four husbands or about to be husbands in me lifetime. What man not completely off his nutter want with the likes of me? I wouldn’t mind a bit of romance, mind ye. But word always gets around and the ones with half a functioning brain run like the devil was on their tails.
What kind of man would you never choose? A simpering git like Nicholas Forrester, that’s who. Listens to no one but himself. Thinks he knows it all; when he really knows nothing about the scheme of things, I’m tellin’ ye.
What is most important to you in life? Ensuring the women and children who are entrusted to me care get to the next station on their journeys, safe and sound.
What is your biggest fear? That loose lips will sink ships and the station will be shut down. Worse, the coppers will find the woman and her children, then return them to the abuser. That terrifies me.
Thanks so much Annunciate! Now Veronica, I have a few questions for you!
Tell us a little about writing this story. The hubs and I had been vacationing each August in what is called “The Islands”, meaning the Thousand Islands chain in the Saint Lawrence River which stretches from the far east end of Lake Ontario to the Atlantic Ocean. One of my favorite places is a small town called Cape Vincent which is known for ship building and its involvement with 3 wars: French and Indian, Revolutionary and the War of 1812. A ferry, which makes a hideous noise when it arrives and departs, transports tourists back and forth to Canada maybe six to eight times a day. As I stood on the pier one day, I envisioned a woman and her children standing on the back of the ferry, waving goodbye to someone. My mind took the next logical step. What if the ‘someone’ had just helped them escape an abusive husband and father? Bingo bango, Caper Magic was born.
Was it fun? Tons. The ‘real’ town has a huge celebration each July, called the French Fest. People dress in period costumes; there is a parade and a two day arts and crafts faire that covers the town square. Later in the summer there is something called Pirates Week. Legend has it Napoleon’s brother bought land to build a house for the deposed Emperor to live in after he left Saint Elba. I decided to give my town an Irish name with Irish sailors as its founders and keep ship building as the background. The part about celebrating Halloween all thirty-one days of October, and calling it Caper Madness, kind of fell in place. The precision drill team dressed as witches carrying brooms instead of rifles and the ghouls playing music in the park every day was a stroke of brilliance if I do say so. And, Mel’s Diner really does exist–sort of. hat part was the most fun–creating all the activities and attractions for the tourists.
Do your characters always act as you expect? For the most part, yes. I’m the one who has control of the Delete key after all.
Are you a plotter or a pantser? A bit of both but I always have a plot basis and character profiles down on paper before I begin. It’s those secondary intruders who stick their sticky fingers in things and try to screw things up. Again, I’m not afraid to hit Delete. Or kill one off. I like killing people. I once had a critique partner tell me she’d never speak to me again if I killed off one of the secondary characters in my first book. I let the SOB live. And she’s still my critique partner.
Speed Round- I love to give an author a topic and require a one word answer. Though sometimes they cheat. LOL
Favorite movie: Spotlight
Favorite book: Nora Roberts’ Come Sundown
Last book read: Sandra Brown’s Seeing Red
Favorite color: Purple
Stilettos or flip flops: Barefoot
Coffee or tea: Coffee, iced
Ebook or audiobook or paperback: audiobook
Pencil or pen: pen
Favorite song: You Should Be Dancin’
Streak or not: Not
Favorite dessert: Cannoli
Favorite junk food: pudding
Favorite thing to do to relax: sew
Champagne or gin: Neither
Paranormal or Historical: Neither
Wonder Woman or Top Model: Wonder Woman
Favorite TV show: Manhunter: Unibomber
Hot or cold: cold
POV: third person
I’d die if I don’t have: Iced coffee, preferably IV. Two creams, 3 splendas
Review or Not: Not
Tell us a little about Caper Magic.
P.I. Nick Forrester arrives in Cape Brendan ostensibly to assist with Caper Madness, a month long celebration of everything Halloween. In reality he is tracking a woman on the run with her children. Within days he is confronted by Annunciata Doyle, a vivid reminder of a painful past.
After retreating to Cape Brendan in defeat and humiliation, Nunie Doyle’s only hope was to make the best of forced retirement. There, in this quaint tourist town on the shores Lake Ontario, she has earned the love and respect of new friends and neighbors—and now puts her talent for helping women children to good use.
With the mutual goal of making Caper Madness the best ever, Nick and Nunie fight tooth and nail on the personal level, while each discovers a new side to the other.
Sides that force both into making drastic changes for the rest of their lives.
This attraction: complete madness—or sheer magic?
How about a peek between the pages of Caper Magic?
Hank let out a holler just before a huge toothy grin spanned the borders of his gaunt cheeks. “Top o’ the marnin’ to ye, Missus!” he cackled to someone exiting the front door of the stone cottage next door.
Taking the concrete steps to the sidewalk in two lithe moves, a woman wearing a slinky dress the color of ripe tomatoes glanced their way and responded in a distinct Irish brogue. “And the ass end of the day to ye, Mistur Pierpont.”
Intrigued by richness of her voice, Nick craned his neck and found one of the witches from yesterday’s parade—minus the droopy velvet hat—passing within steps of Hank’s porch. A bulging garment bag hung over one arm; she looked headed in the direction of the pier at the end of Vincentian Lane. Damned if right then a wind didn’t jump up off the lake and mold the filmy length of scarlet against each curve of her body. Long black hair—and there seemed to be a good ten pounds of it—flowed over both shoulders, caressing her body like a lover as she marched toward Dingle Pier. While his heart bumped into a trip hammer beat, Nick reminded himself to breathe.
“Ferget yer broom, Missus?” Hank called out to her retreating back.
“In the repair shop,” she replied, winging that glorious mass of onyx colored hair away from lips that had been painted to match her dress. “Gettin’ fitted with a couple of those fancy turbo boosters, it is.”
“Turbo boosters,” Hank chuckled, then took another slurp of coffee. “That Nunie Doyle sure is a pistol.”
An invisible fist reached down to grab Nick’s gut in a vise. As recognition flared, long buried rage took a slow crawling path up his spine.
Five years had evoked more than a few changes in Annunciata Doyle. Much thinner, he noted. Back then, her weight was something she’d thrown around with ease—or when the mood suited. When it came to cops, it suited her often. The hair was another matter. Who knew when she freed the ruthlessly tight bun she’d always sported, her hair would fall past her waist in a curtain of black velvet?
In the costume of a Witchy Poo—and wasn’t that appropriate considering what she’d done to several of his fellow officers—her current manner of dress was a complete one-eighty and certainly more feminine than the severe straight-jacket type suits she wore back when reporters hung on her every word and judges clamored for her expert testimony during the sentencing portion of criminal trials. Counselors and advocates proclaimed her the patron saint of victims and survivors.
Which, in his opinion, was complete bullshit.
“You hear me, boy?”
“What? Sorry, Uncle Hank. I got—distracted.”
“Easy to do with that one. Be careful though.”
She took the first step leading into the gazebo. As she moved, the thigh high split on the dress opened to expose a slender silk covered leg. “Why is that?”
“Folks around here call her the Black Mamba. Dangerous for any man who shows much of an interest.”
No big secret there, Nick mused sourly.
The Crone his brother officers had called the Director of Crime Victim Services back then. A woman who proved herself fully capable of destroying a man’s career with one carefully placed phone call to the police brass—or worse—the local media. Or, as she accomplished with one blow, dropping a name during during a notorious child sex abuse trial.
The ensuing scandal ended badly for all concerned, including the loss of several careers and, in the case of Nick’s best friend and best friend, suicide.
You can find Caper Magic at Amazon, The Wild Rose Press and other online retailers.
About the Author:
Forced into the role of caretaker for her siblings and chronically ill parents at an early age, Veronica Lynch turned the things she learned into caring for her patients as a nurse in the OR and delivery room. Somewhere along the way, she fit survivors of sexual assault into the mix, then turned that history of care-taking into her writing. She now explores the world of the less-thans and the heroes who stand for them, then puts them into her books.
Blog: www.WildWomenAuthorsx2.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/WildWomenAuthors
Twitter: @VLynchAuthor
It was wonderful having you with us today. Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with Caper Magic! Happy Halloween!
Views: 334
Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Caper Magic, Haloween, romantic suspense, Veronica Lynch by Tena Stetler with 34 comments.
Author, Casi McLean Thrills with Beneath The Lake
Give a big welcome to Casi McLean, author of Beneath The Lake. Have a seat and grab an insulated mug, there’s hot chocolate, hot cider and coffee on the counter. Choose your pot, they’re labeled. Pick your choice of a Snicker-doodle, Chocolate Chip or Peanut butter cookie 
from the plate. Yep, I baked them myself. Casi’s tell us about your inspiration for Beneath the lake. Thanks for joining us!
I love to talk about my, Beneath The Lake, and the eerie lake lore that inspired my muse. A town that time forgot––the history and creepy stories attached to a rural area that sleeps beneath Atlanta’s famous man-made lake, Sidney Lanier, fascinated me. Homes, churches and businesses still linger beneath the surface. The moonshiners of the 1940’s added built-in suspense, and the birth of NASCAR. Looper Speedway, a half-mile dirt track where bootleggers competed with their souped-up cars, exposed its cement stands in a recent draught.
There’s a Lady of the Lake who haunts the ghost town too––the spine-chilling lore is the basis for book three in my Beneath The Lake series, Between The Shadows. Some say she lures victims to her watery grave. The truth is, swimmers get trapped among the deadfall of sheered-off trees and town remains. Even expert divers get tangled beneath the murky surface, hence the lake’s unnerving label: Lanier never gives up its dead. The inspiration swirled in my mind, begging for a story to be told. What a perfect setting for my romantic time-slip suspense series.
Why time-slip? Ever since my childhood imagination discovered Madeleine L’Engles, A Wrinkle In Time, the idea of time travel intrigued me. And Lake Lanier, a man-made lake with mesmerizing history, presented a plausible theory. What if the excavation explosions triggered a seismic shift? Given enough energy, could the blasts rip a portal into a different dimension or a crack in time? The possibilities were endless.
The birth of Lacey Montgomery evolved through my young adult love for Jude Deveraux’s A Knight In Shining Armor. The time-slip novel introduced her endearing Montgomery family. I hope my books honor her inspiration. My high school friend, Hilary Johnson, inspired the persona of my heroine, Lacey Montgomery. A lawyer, discouraged with defending criminals, yearned to help honest people in trouble. Some of Hillary’s finer qualities became part of Lacey––the dysfunctional relationships came from my own personal experiences. LOL. Once these elements entwined, Beneath The Lake blossomed with an energy and life of its own.
The sequel, Beyond The Mist, picks up where the first story ends incorporating two minor characters as the new hero and heroine. Beyond The Mist is complete, in editing, and will be published in a few months.
For a Free Gift, and a chance to win my entire short story collection, Destiny: Five Novelettes With a Twist, click here: https://spark.adobe.com/page/pxekfzj8Rx4el/
I hope you enjoy my trailer, blurb, and the opening excerpt below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwOqm8DUUfA
Blurb –
A ghost town submerged beneath Atlanta’s famous man-made Lake Lanier reportedly lures victims to a watery grave. But when Lacey Montgomery’s car spins out of control and hurtles into the depths of the icy water, she awakens in the arms of a stranger, in a town she’s never heard of–34 years before she was born.
When the 2012 lawyer tangles with a 1949 hunk, fire and ice swirl into a stream of sweltering desire. Bobby Reynolds is smitten the moment the storm-ravaged woman opens her eyes and, despite adamant protest, Lacey falls in love with a town destined for extinction, and the man who vows to save his legacy.
Threatened by a nefarious stalker, the wrath of bootleggers, and twists of fate, Lacey must find the key to a mysterious portal before time rips the lovers apart, leaving their star-crossed spirits to wander forever through a ghost town buried beneath the lake.
Excerpt:
Lake Lanier, Georgia—June 2011
A final thud hurled him backward, flailing through brush and thickets like a rag doll. Grasping at anything to break momentum, Rob’s hand clung to a branch wedged into the face of the precipice. Spiny splinters sliced his skin. Blood oozed and trickled into his palms, and one by one, his fingers slowly slipped.
A sharp crack echoed through the silence of the ravine as the bough succumbed to his weight. He plummeted into free-fall. Clenching his eyes, he drew in a deep breath, terrified of the pain, the mauling that waited on the jagged rocks below.
When icy water broke his fall, the chill kept him from losing consciousness. He spun, straining to see, but darkness enveloped him. Soggy clothing pulled him deeper—deeper into the murky, fathomless depths. He wrestled to squirm free from the waterlogged jacket dragging him down to a watery grave, watched the coat disappear into black obscurity. Panic gripped his stomach, or was it death that snaked around his chest, squeezing, squeezing, squeezing the air, the life from his body? Lack of oxygen burned his lungs, beckoning surrender, and a shard of rage pierced his gut as reality set in. He lunged upward with one last thrust and burst from the water’s deadly grip, gasping for air. A gurgling howl spewed from the depths of his soul and echoed into silence.
Sunlight shimmered across a smooth, indigo lake, but aside from the slight ripples of his own paddling, nothing but stillness surrounded him. He floated toward the shore, sucking deep breaths into his lungs until the pummeling in his chest subsided. When he reached the water’s edge, he hoisted his body onto the soft red clay and collapsed while the sun’s warmth drained the tension from his body.
No one knew he had survived. The rules had shifted. Now he could reinvent himself, become a stealth predator. His target: Lacey Madison Montgomery.
Beneath The Lake is available at:
USA Amazon Link: http://amzn.to/2jB4JXp
Worldwide Amazon Link: http://smarturl.it/BeneathTheLake
****
Award winning author, Casi McLean, pens novels to stir the soul with romance, suspense, and a sprinkle of magic. Her writing crosses genres from ethereal, captivating shorts with eerie twist endings to believable time slips, mystical plots, and sensual romantic suspense. Beneath The Lake won the 2016 Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence for BEST Romantic Suspense.
Her stories entwine strong, believable heroines with delicious hot heroes to tempt the deepest desires then fans the flames, sweeping readers into their innermost romantic fantasies. Ms. McLean weaves exceptional romantic mystery with suspenseful settings and lovable characters you’ll devour. You’ll see, hear, and feel the magical eeriness of one fateful night. You’ll swear her time travel could happen, be mystified by her other worldly images, and feel heat of romantic suspense, but most of all you’ll want more.
Contact Links:
Website Twitter Facebook GoodReads Amazon Author Page Blog
It was wonderful having you with us today. Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with Beneath The Lake and it’s upcoming sequel, Beyond The Mist.
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Atlanta, Casi McLean, Lake Lanier, Mystery, Romance, romantic suspense, Supernatural, Suspense, Time travel by Tena Stetler with 19 comments.
