Cromwell Deep by Kari Peterson - Review/Giveaway/Excerpt

Cromwell Deep by Kari Peterson

Publication Date:  April 19th 2012

Genre:  Romantic Suspense

Book Synopsis:  Kaitlynn O’Conner was the elusive woman of many a man’s dreams.  Lucky for forensics guy Nate Morby, he was the man of her dreams too.  When he arrives at her house and finds evidence that she’s been kidnapped, he believes there is a connection to a case he is currently working on.  The most gruesome case he’s had to deal with in years.  Time is of the essence as Kaitlynn fights for her life, and Nate fights to find her.

My Thoughts:  Very well written book.  I found it to be so easy to get into, and was very enjoyable to read.  Kari Peterson has a writing style that is very natural and easy flowing - a wonderful story-teller!


The almost immediate connection between Kaitlynn and Nate made for a pleasant romance. I liked that they had very similar romantic histories - they were able to relate to one another.  Each seemed very shy and timid - almost unsure of themselves - not too assertive.    They are people I would feel comfortable around.  A good couple together.


Kaitlynn's friend Georgia was one of my favorite characters.  She is very straight forward, and tells things as she sees them.  The interplay between the two women made the story more believable.


The other part of the story - the thriller / suspense - was just as great to read.  Nate is not the typical macho detective, but one who is very thorough and gets the job done.  While Nate and Kaitlynn are spending time together - Nate keeping Kaitlynn safe - there is a killer out there attacking women.  I almost felt like I was watching TV - great imagery!


This one gains high recommendation from me - 5 stars!!!!!

About the Author:  Kari Peterson was born in November of 1979.  She graduated from Columbia Basin College with a degree in Computer Science, then transferred to WSU where her next degree awaits her.  She currently lives in Washington State with her husband, three sons, one male cat, one male guinea pig, and two fish... whom she is certain are male as well.

Excerpt:   

When the first glimpse of dawn broke over Flathead Lake, Kaitlynn woke shaking from the cold and the debilitating pain surging through her body.  It was difficult to breath.  Never had she experienced pain like this.  Any remnants of adrenaline were all but gone as the aching of the beating began.  Everything hurt. Nevertheless, she was alive.  She hadn’t the strength to leave her little shrub that sheltered her through the night.  She fought her body to remain awake as she looked where she left her phone out to dry. 


It was indeed dry, but would it work?  She reached her arms out and began piecing it back together.  This was even more problematical as her wrists were still handcuffed.  Her body convulsed and shivered spastically.  She knew she was badly injured and would not survive out in the cold for long.  With the final snap, it was back in one piece.  She pushed the power button, praying that her phone would spring to life.  She closed her eyes and waited to hear the chimes…


There was no life in the phone.  In the silence she began to cry.  She cried from pain, fear, and guilt.  She wished Nate was there to hold her.  She would give anything to have one more day with him.  Deep in her heart she knew this could be the end.  There was no way she could get off this island alone.  No one would find her, and any fishermen who were out on the lake wouldn’t be close enough to hear her.


Kaitlynn cursed pitifully at her phone.  If only it would have worked.  Her hands shook as she looked at the screen, and began pushing buttons at random out of frustration.  Her finger pressed firmly on the power button once more...

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Ken Lindsey - The River Runes - Book Tour / Giveaway

The River Runes by Ken Lindsey
Publication Date:  May 18th 2011
ASIN:  B00500Q4BY
Genre:  Young Adult Urban Fantasy

Synopsis:  Jonathan is a young man, on the cusp of taking his Master's place as magician of Third Chapel. Things are better than he ever expected; he's becoming closer to his father, he is in the midst of a blossoming romance, and his magical abilities are growing every day.


And then an exotic stranger named Bixby finds his way to Third Chapel. The faerie is curious about the people that inhabit Caithiir, the great city that stands so close to the woods, and Mother is not around to stop him from finding out what he can.


Mother, however, has been awakened in Bixby's absence only to find that one of her own has openly defied her. Jonathan and his Master are determined to protect Bixby, but the cost may be more than they can afford to lose.

About the Author:   My name is Ken Lindsey, and I am now 30 years old.


I have been writing for as long as I can remember, and will continue to write until there are no white pages left for me. I write for myself, it's a release-a breath, and I write for my children. I want them to know that there are other worlds out there, worlds with real heroes, and worlds made up of whatever colors they can imagine. My Big Girl, my Princess, my Baby Girl, and my Baby Boy- they make my world so much bigger.


Recently I published the 2nd edition of my first novel, The River Runes, with a new cover and quite a few edits that I am very excited about.


I have also started working on my second, Clockwork Charlie.  It's a new venture for me, and I'm stepping out of my comfort zone on this one.


In the times between, I write short stories, and even dabble in some poetry. If there's anything else you'd like to know, feel free to ask.


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Excerpt

It was an odd collection, Bixby thought, looking at the remains of the human bodies that lay on the ground near his tree. There were four in all, each a bit older than the last. Each was giving up the remnants of life more quickly than its neighbor. The air stunk with the scent of them, and it was hard indeed to stop the other predators from inviting themselves to a feast. 
While he looked on, Bixby understood why most faerie thought so little of the humans. It disappointed him to see how their fragile bodies broke under the attack of his magic. Before he took the first, Bixby readied himself for a fight, expecting the humans to be aggressive and powerful. 
However, the man had no fight in him. Once the faerie took the hunter’s vision, he fell to his knees in fear, crying out for help. When Bixby came close enough to touch, the man wrapped his arms around Bixby’s legs and begged for mercy.  
The faerie had been so frustrated that instead of choking the life out of the man, as he had intended when he wrapped his long white fingers around the human’s fleshy throat, he broke his neck and tore most of the flesh on one side. 
Bixby grimaced, remembering the awful noise the man’s bones made that day. Not awful for the sound, but for the ease of it. Awful because Bixby expected more from them. He expected these humans' bodies, thick and assuming as they were, to be strong. It disgusted him to see how they just rotted away, not turning to ash, or stone, or water… just rotting. And stinking. 
And that’s just what they did. The bodies were far too large for him to consume on his own, though every time he tried, a rush of memories and life hit him as nothing ever had. For days after collecting each body, Bixby gained unimaginable energy and the memories of a short life, filled to the brim with activities and emotions. The humans were physically weak, but mentally strong, and passion drove every aspect of their lives.
They were weak, though. Not only did they die when their fragile bodies gave up to time, they were also susceptible to illness and disease carried by the air, or even carried by another human. 
Bixby hadn’t given up hope, though. He used those corpses to learn what he could about the humans, and then it was on to the city. He needed to go to the magicians. Yes, the magicians were the key. He needed the human magic to convince the others, not their bodies.
However, it was a carnivorous thing, the smell of those corpses.  The acrid scent and copper taste of the blood clung to his senses. Bixby smiled and started to climb the tree by which the bodies sat. Sunrise was here, and it was time for the city wake up.


Anticipation built for days while she planned her excursion from the woods. The Nedari warned incessantly against fraternizing with the humans, fickle and self-absorbed as they were. And while the other young ones were all too able to put aside their curiosity, hers was of a far more insatiable type. 
The morning sun covered her like a blanket once she stepped out from beneath the protection of the trees. A gentle breeze tickled her bare skin, sending chills throughout her body and making her excitement palpable. 
With wonder, she stared out at the home these nomads had created for themselves. For countless days she watched them build their tiny houses, and fight to grow the crops that kept them alive. Day after day they toiled in the sun, their sweat and blood staining the earth, marking it for their own. The humans were beautiful in their own way, and more intriguing to her than anything else had ever been. She would not be put off again... She would not let the prejudice of others keep her from finding out all that she wanted to know.
With a deep breath, she took one last look into the woods that had always been her home. Though she knew they were full of life, they felt empty to her on that day. She took her first steps away from them.------
The scent of the cool morning air made her realize that she was awakening; the unwelcome smell of disturbed earth and trouble. She could feel the morning’s dew flecked along the still shadowed parts of her body. The evening’s chill had not yet worn off. So long she had slumbered, while her kingdom remained silent and safe. Why was she to be awakened now?
“Mother.”------
Only months after she had been found wandering, naked and looking on the brink of starvation, she was part of the human community. She found a home with an old farming couple, who had provided her with clothing and food. They praised her arrival since they could have no children of their own.
She enjoyed being near the humans, for they celebrated so many things, though they were always surrounded by sickness and death. Not long after welcoming her into their home, the couple found that their crops grew faster and fatter than those of their neighbors. They soon flourished and found themselves wealthy.
Men of all ages came to her door, asking for the chance to woo her, bringing gifts of trinkets and cattle to her benefactors. Afraid of being found out, she shied from most of them, until one evening a unique young farmer turned up. 
Like most of the others, he was dressed in his best clothes, and wearing a hopeful smile. Unlike the others, however, he brought no gifts for the old couple, only a small blue flower for her. She agreed to go with him, and they walked, hand in hand, until the sun was set.
Within a week, the young farmer proposed marriage, and she accepted. She didn't understand what he meant when he spoke of love, but she enjoyed his touch and the kisses he said were only for her.------
Without yet seeing, she began to move, to release herself from within the old tree that had held her for so long. She had hoped to never waken, but to become part of the tree’s soul, like her ancestors before her. She had hoped the silence would linger in her woods long enough for a new Dori to be crowned. Long enough for her to be forgotten.
Her body was reformed within the old tree, and the Dori began to notice her senses coming back to her. She could feel the tingling warmth of her flesh, sown and seared over her consciousness. It was pain and ecstasy, hot and cold all at once as her body was bound to her, readying her to be born again into an unwilling existence. 
Suddenly, the world around began chattering and wheezing. Again, her physical ears began to hear. Birds sang and nestled on the branches that would no longer be hers. Rodents and insects scurried along the earth below her and the wind moved throughout her woods, brushing the leaves and branches that she could now hear but no longer feel. 
She was overcome with sadness, realizing the process was nearly finished. A process she had gone through thousands of times before, but hoped to never experience again.------
Soon after their wedding, the young couple conceived a child. He was born in the spring, and his father named him Barnabus; which he said was a family name.
From the day the child was born, she found herself lost in a new type of Magic, finally understanding what her husband meant when he said he loved her. They raised the boy together, on the shared land they had received from his parents and the old farming couple that had taken her in. 
For a time they flourished, happy as any family had ever been, until the boy showed himself to be... unusual.------
Soon the stinging cool of the morning air covered her feet and she was slowly birthed from the tree. Within seconds she felt both breeze and sunlight washing over her as her toes moved about in the earth. Red light played at the edge of her vision, and she tried desperately to stretch back into the ground beneath her, unwilling to yet open her eyes. 
“Mother.”
Yes, they had called her. It hadn’t been imagination that woke her. She stretched her arms and stood high on her toes, feeling the muscles throughout this body tense and pulse beneath her soft, pale skin. The light danced around her, reflecting from her beautiful hair and eyes, playing along the curves and shallows of her perfect body, which could never be ravaged by time or illness.
“Mother.”------
With her hands and feet bound, she was forced to watch her husband be hung from the gallows. For the first time since she left the woods, she remembered the Nedari's warnings against the humans. Men, women, and children looked on with a sickening curiosity as the rope pulled tight around his neck... Many cheered at the sound of his frail, human spine giving way.
She was dragged to the edge of the woods by a man on a horse, her flesh was torn against the earth, but that pain was nothing compared to the pain she felt, knowing that her son rode along beside her.
“They let you live because I asked them to,” he said as they cut her bindings. “Goodbye, Mother.”------ 
“Mother.”
She drew in a deep breath, relishing the feeling of the cool air making its way into her mouth and nose, along her throat, and finally into her lungs. Breathing was the only thing these frail bodies could do that felt anything like being within her tree.
“Mother.”
They knew. She had returned to them after such a long absence and the collective knowledge was spreading. Her body began to warm, she felt her heart pound beneath her chest, forcing blood through the rest of her limbs and organs. She breathed deeply again.
“Mother.”
“Mother.”
She opened her eyes. Everything was yellow and red. White circles and jagged sparks popped in and out of view as her eyes tried to adjust to the light they had so long been without. She stood still, and slowly the light divided itself from the shadow.
“Mother.”
Leaves rustled all around her as her children similarly came out from their own sleeping places. They were all waking from their own rest to see her, greet her, and bathe in her very presence. Something had disturbed them, and therefore disturbed her.
One by one they came, kneeling at her feet, acknowledging her dominion over them. She was Mother and she protected them. She would find what had disturbed her children, made them frightened, and she would unleash her power. 
“Mother.”
“Mother.”
She looked down on them, kneeling, and allowed a smile to curve her lips. “Yes, my children, I am here, your Dori has returned to you.”------



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Talented by Sophie Davis

Talented by Sophie Davis
Publication Date:  January 11th 2012
ISBN:  9781618429940
Genre:  Science Fiction, Fantasy, Dystopian

Book Synopsis:  In a futuristic setting, life on Earth has turned upside down. Due to the Great Contamination - and the leaking of nuclear waste resulting in nuclear contamination - a generation of children with abnormalities are brought into the world. Some, though, are slightly weirder than others. They are the Talented. Whether Morphers, Light Manipulators or Telekinetics, these kids are taught to hone their abilities and make use of them under the protective eye of the government. To use their Talents for good. But all Talia wants is revenge.


Talia joins the Hunters, in the hopes of one day killing Ian Crane - the man who had her parents killed before her eyes. But she has a lot to learn. With help from Hunters Erik and Henri she trains to become what she believes will help ease the pain inside. A thousand question run through her head: Who is she really hurting? Is Donovan, her life-long friend, her true love? Or is Erik, her right hand man? Is revenge a dish best served cold? And most importantly, is the government really protecting the Talented...or is there something sinister occurring behind the smiling facades?


A action-packed H.I.V.E-like adventure, about a group of teenagers who aren't afraid to embrace their fears and fight for what they believe.

Read the first chapter of Talented:   Chapter One

About the Author:  Sophie Davis moved to Washington, D.C. after graduating from Penn State University to pursue a career in the Sciences.  After deciding to actually write down one of the stories she makes up in her head, Sophie began the long journey towards her first full-length novel, Talented.  Caged is her second novel, and the second in the Talented Saga.  When Sophie isn't hunched over her computer, she can be found shopping in Georgetown, running in Rock Creek Park, or at the local dive bars in her Columbia Heights Neighborhood.
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Excerpt

My parents’ deaths had been quick.  One cold metal bullet to the side of my father’s head was all it took to steal the life of the man whose lap I curled up in every night before bed so he could tell me a story; the man who brought me cold milk and warm cinnamon sugar cookies when I had nightmares; the man whose warm, dark brown eyes and toothy smile lit up the room every time my mother walked in.

My poor mother, she never stood a chance.  Before she could even reach my father, a man in black grabbed her from behind.  With one flick of his wrist, a gaping wound appeared across her throat.  The man in black tossed her carelessly next to my father’s crumpled form, like she was trash.

I was murderous.  The feelings overwhelmed me, stirring in my stomach and rising like bile in my throat; overwhelmed me.  Then the horrible, high-pitched shrieking started; it filled my ears, suffocating all of the coherent thoughts in my brain.

I am still not sure if it was the cold, calculated murder of my father, or the careless disposal of my mother – probably both – but I felt something inside of me snap.  One minute, I was hiding in the closet with the silk of my mother’s long dresses pulled tight around my face, like curtains trying to block out the brutal scene in the bedroom.  The next, I was sitting in the outer room of our hotel suite, surrounded by broken furniture, shattered glass, and the bodies of the men in black.  They were all dead.

The blonde man carried a large gun slung over one shoulder, and several smaller ones were tucked at his waist.  An entire team of men clamored through the doorway after him.  He held up one of his hands, indicating for the men to stay back.  He approached me slowly, hesitantly.  He was greater than an arms distance away when he tentatively extended one of his large, gloved hands toward me; I had seen people do the same thing with wounded animals.

“Natalia?” he asked in a soft voice.  I couldn’t find the energy to even nod my head, I just stared blankly.  “Natalia,” he repeated.  “My name is Danbury McDonough.  Do you remember me?  I’m friends with your daddy.”  I rewarded him with another of my blank stares.  “Natalia, are you hurt?”  He took my silence as an indication that I was not.

He placed me in the back seat of the waiting vehicle. I curled into a ball as he covered me with dry blankets.  My body and mind were numb, impervious to the rain and cold.  He tucked the red and black fabric under my chin.  I was vaguely aware that the material was itchy against my skin, but I didn’t move it away.

I could hear the soft ping of the raindrops hitting the metal roof of the car, keeping perfect time with the tears leaking on to the soft leather seat and pooling underneath my cheek.  I tried to concentrate on the noise instead of the slideshow of my parents’ deaths playing on the inside of my eyelids.  I was convinced that the images, now seared into my conscious, would never fade.  The feelings I’d had in the closet were now gone, leaving me empty and hollow and tired – so tired.  I closed my swollen eyes and willed my own mind blank.

Promo Blitz & Guest Post from Toni Aleo

The playoff beard and why guys with them are hot!

Toni Aleo

That’s Shea Weber.

That’s the start of his gorgeous playoff beard.

I don’t know where my lusty needs for beards come from but I have them. My husband has never been able to grow a beard but he has his sexy mustache and I love it. I do. But when playoff season comes around and all my hot hockey players look like woodsy, mountain men, my heart goes into over drive.

Maybe that’s why the playoffs are the most exciting time ever to me. Maybe it’s the lusty needs in me to see a man skating around with his massive Sasquatch beard, knocking people around and scoring goals. I don’t know. But it’s hot. Before we go into the hotness that is the playoff beard, let’s discuss why my hot hockey boys grow them.

According to Wikipedia, the tradition started in the 1980s by the New York Islanders. Once in the playoff, the guys don’t shave until their team is eliminated. If they lose a game during their seven game series, some guys are known to trim it up just to see if it changes their luck. It is practiced throughout all the NHL, NCAA, and the minor leagues. It has also spread to the hockey leagues in Europe. Even fans are known to grow their beards out to give their team luck. Great things have come from this tradition, one being the Bread-A-Thon campaign. It has raised over one million dollars for NHL charities. No one knows if it is just superstition or if it really does help the guys win, all that is known, is that everyone grows a beard at the start of the playoffs.

Now that we have a history, we can discuss the different kinds of beards. Shea Weber is known for his Sasquatch beard. Opponents on the ice are generally scared crapless when Shea comes towards them with his massive beard and scary eyes. I am not scared and I usually run towards him. He is gorgeous without the beard, but with it, it’s pure magic. It makes me want to run up and rub my nose all throughout it!

Just like Shea, Joe Thornton, from the San Jose Sharks has a Sasquatch kinda beard. It’s fuzzy and big, and I, for one, dig it. Doesn’t it just make you want to run your fingers and nose through it? Or is that just me?

Todd Bertuzzi, Patrick Sharpe, and Henrick Zetterberg all do the cleaned up kind of beard. I don’t feel they really follow the tradition since they are known to cut and clean up their beards. I like my beard wild and scary but these guys do the beard justice.

There is also the neck beard. Its weird and I don’t understand it, but Tyler Seaguin from the Boston Bruins is scrumptious with it!

Then you have the cutie patootie guys, the young bucks, that can’t grow themselves hot beards. So this happens. Jonathan Ericsson is a beautiful man, and I, for one, love that this happens instead of a big scary beard.

Some of the guys don’t think that the playoff beard is enough. Kevin Klein decided her was going to do a Mohawk too. Funny thing is, he started a trend and now almost all the Nashville Predators have Mohawks. 

While I love the playoff beard, sometimes they can go horribly wrong and this happens. This is when playoff beards are not hot and no matter how much you think it will help you win, please help us little people and shave that mess!

So really, after reading this, you have to admit, you like guys with beards too. So why don’t you go to your couch, turn on your TV to NBC sports and check out some hot hockey guys with beards.

Believe me, you won’t regret it.

GO PREDS!

So, who is Toni Aleo?

In her own words:

I am a wife, mother, and hopeless romantic.

I have been told I have anger issues, but I think it’s cause of my intense love for hockey!

I am the biggest Shea Weber fan ever, and can be found during hockey season with my nose pressed against the Bridgestone Arena’s glass, watching my Nashville Predators play!

When my nose isn’t pressed against the glass, I enjoy going to my husband and son’s hockey games, my daughters dance competition, hanging with my best friends, taking pictures, and reading the latest romance novel.

I love things that sparkle, I love the color pink, and did I mention I love hockey?

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Books By Toni Aleo

Taking Shots

Contemporary Romance

Date Published: 10/5/2011

Synopsis: 

Elli Fisher has never thought she was good enough. Let it be her job, her weight, her love life, nothing, she was convinced she couldn’t do anything right. She had walked through life for the past six years in a daze, never thinking that life could be good again after the abuse she endured from her ex boyfriend. She is lonely, sad, and depressed, that is until she meets Shea Adler. After doing a promotional shoot for the NHL team, the Nashville Assassins, she meets the hunky hockey player who shoots a puck, shattering her world.

Shea Adler was tired of the life he was living outside of the rink. The girls, the money blowing, the drinking, everything had to stop and it all did when he met Eleanor Fisher. He had never met anyone like her. She is feisty, witty, shy, and simply gorgeous. When he laid eyes on her, it was as if he was taking the hardest hit of his life into the boards, and he had to have her. 

Elli is a little skeptical of Shea, but he knows that they were meant to be together, and he needed her in his life. But Elli just doesn’t understand what Shea could see in her. She is overweight, loud, and not even that pretty, so why would someone so gorgeous and so amazing want to be with her? It seemed that no matter how hard she tried to shake Shea off, he wasn’t going anywhere, and for the first time Elli didn’t feel alone.

But could Elli throw her insecurities out the window and love Shea with everything inside of her? Or will she let a past relationship, and her family ruin any chance of her being happy?

Would Elli miss her shot at love?

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Trying to Score

Contemporary Romance

Date Published: 4/11/2012

Synopsis: 

Fallon Parker’s dream was to have her family’s wine company at the top of all wine magazines and to have a cellar of her own. After graduating from college, she has worked hard to make that dream a reality, even if that meant having a nonexistent love life. She had her chance at love and that was a bust, so she put everything into the wine company. After becoming the official sponsor of the Nashville Assassins, Fallon finally feels like everything is falling in place, that is until Lucas Brooks comes back into her life.

Lucas Brooks hates his life. He is lonely, he is sober, and he is angry. On the ice, when he’s not in the sin bin, he the leading scorer in the NHL but off the ice, he is a mess. He threw away the most important person in his life, and has regretted it ever since but when Lucas sees Fallon again after being traded to the Assassins; he is bound and determined to get her back. Even if she wants nothing to do with him.

The sexual tension between Fallon and Lucas is electrifying as Lucas tries to convince Fallon that he is a changed man. Fallon tries to resist Lucas, but it is so hard when all her body wants is his. But when Lucas finds out that Fallon has been keeping a huge secret from him, the game he is playing stops and penalties are called.

With new rules and new players on the ice, will Fallon and Lucas be able to work out their differences and work as a team or will they be left trying to score alone.



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