Willie Stewart Sr

Guest Post and Excerpt by Willie Stewart Sr

(Read this post for a surprise at the end)

HE TOOK AWAY HER SIGHT SO I COULD SEE

Every married couple goes through their ups and downs and marrying at a young age people thought we would not last. However, our union was blessed by God. He saw fit to put two polar opposites together and make it work. Me, the city boy from rough and tough Gary, Indiana and her, the country girl from rural Ozark, Alabama. We were nothing alike but a perfect match made in heaven. I grew up in the church but had swayed away from it and had trouble with my convictions and beliefs but did not feel it was a problem. God continued to favor me through my life and bless me and at some point I started feeling I was doing it all myself. I was becoming a success because of my own efforts and my own dogged determination. I even motivated others to be as successful as I was becoming and to emulate my techniques for studying and numerous other things. I had all but forgotten about God. My wife had always been religious. She got on her knees and said her prayers at night and truly felt a presence and a relationship with God at all times. She accepted my nonchalant attitude toward religion and prayed for me constantly. She was salt, I was pepper. She was sugar, I was spice. Everything about this woman was sweet and down to earth wholesomeness. We were both in college for nursing about 9 years into our marriage. I sent her to school first so I was a year behind her. We were accomplishing this feat with no problems. Raising our kids while working and going to school…it was a breeze. We were the dynamic duo and nothing could stop us. Then it happened. One day she awakened to fluttery sensations in her chest. We went to the doctor’s office and he was so worried he admitted her directly from the office. We were not nurses yet, there was no google to research what was going on but we were not afraid. We took it in stride and picked the kids up from daycare and camped out in the hospital room for the night. The sun peaked through the smallest of cracks in the window blinds and I heard my wife’s voice and stretched to take on another day of hard work. The blank look on her face was not immediately evident as she asked if I could turn some lights on. Not really looking at her I stretched some more and stepped over a couple of slumbering kids and opened the blinds fully and I turned and was shocked at how big my wife’s pupils were. I waved my hand in front of her face not wanting to startle or alarm her and she whispered, did you turn them on? I stuttered, yeah I opened the blinds and it’s broad daylight babe. With calmness akin to a bomb maker attaching the final wire she whispered I don’t think I can see. I screamed out loud….in my head but tried to maintain the calmness that she displayed. If it was me, they would have been putting me in a rubber room. The next couple of months saw us traveling up and down the state of Alabama to this specialist and that specialist having a multitude of painful and invasive tests which even included psychological testing. Not one doctor could tell us what was going on. They even removed the braces that we were paying thousands of dollars for so that they could get better scans. Finally in the most renowned hospital in the state we were to see the top doctors. It was here that WE were going to solve this problem. A rheumatologist said he “thought he saw something on a scan and wanted to do a brain biopsy. It was at this time that something clicked for me personally. This would be our last night in the hospital because we decided that we would leave against medical advice. Just like all ideas usually pop into my head, I realized that this ability was a gift from God. It never was me. All of my intelligence, all of the ideas and now the song that popped into my head was delivered to me by the almighty and it was only now that I realized that HE TOOK AWAY HER SIGHT SO “I” COULD SEE. We left the next morning and went home and prayed and cried and prepared for this life that was before us. My adoring wife would never look upon my face again. She would have to hold to the memories and we would create new ones. I started reading to her and I purchased books on tape. She loved for me to read because I would always get into character and the Bill Cosby voice she loved the most. We never got depressed. We accepted what God had planned for us and felt it was his will. Then one day it happened again. I was reading a funny story and using the Bill Cosby voice and my wife’s head jerked backwards and it did this several times. She later described it as very brightly colored lights one at a time shooting at her face. She said they looked like fingers. My wife’s eye sight was restored directly by the hand of God. Miracles only happen in the bible as far as I knew. Water got turned to wine, a small amount of bread and fish fed a multitude, and Lazarus was raised from the grave. But on that day, God gave us a testimony. He is real and that message stated by him taking away my wife’s sight so that we all could see his glory when he restored her sight when no doctor could do it. Shannon went on to graduate valedictorian from nursing school a year after I finished and now years in, we know that it is not our individual effort but God who makes all these things happen for us and we can provide a direct testimony to it. It is these motivating factors that drive me to create for the woman who I thought would never look upon my face again and can now read these words and all else that I create for her. taRNished my debut novel is dedicated to Shannon Eureka Stewart. 24 years my wife, soul mate for life.

Excerpt

“Here you go, Stephen, a small flush of the Neosynephrine drip and your blood pressure will normalize more quickly, and then your family can see you all the sooner.”

Dale had seen more experienced nurses give mini-boluses of powerful meds before, so this couldn't be much different, right? He made the injection, and upon flushing a mere five cc’s of normal saline into the Neosynephrine IV line, Stephen’s blood pressure skyrocketed to 265 over 190!

Beep-beep-beep-beep-beeeeeep! Alarms began chiming all around them. Dale felt his chest tighten and his throat go dry. What was wrong, what had happened? He couldn’t have done anything wrong. In an attempt to keep the incident a private matter from the other nurses, he hit the silence button on the alarms and erased the blood pressure reading. Okay, he now had time to think, but he had to make it fast. What could he do to bring the blood pressure back down?

Dale scanned the room; he didn’t have time to race to the medication room. He snatched up another syringe of saline and flushed five cc’s of the cardizem drip in an attempt to fix the problem. Stepping back from the bed, he watched the monitors, and waited.

“Come on, Stephen, come on down,” he whispered.

Dale continued to wait; his eyes glued to the displays. For a few minutes, time seemed to slow down; Dale watched as the line of the heart monitor slowly arced up and down. The pulse counter and BP readings clicked off their numbers. Then, quite abruptly, his pressure started to come back down, and Dale felt as if his pressure could come down. It took a moment, but he also realized that he’d been holding his breath.

Dale opened his mouth and inhaled deeply. “Oh, you had me worried there for a minute, Stephen. Actually, a couple minutes! But, it looks like we’re out of the woods now.”

Yet, it appeared Dale’s joy was short-lived.

Stephen did not wake up; he remained unstable for the whole night and into the next morning.

taRNished

A SERIAL KILLER REVEALED
Willie Stewart Sr

2MCH4YA Publishing
Paperback page count is 236

Genre: Fiction Medical Thriller, Adult

Book Description:

Killing patients in the ICU became a thrill for Dale, RN until his equally prolific murdering mother, Isabel, started feeling threatened by his new girlfriend while working in the same hospital. Will mothers love trump the new love in his life?

Dale, a young male Registered Nurse accidentally kills a patient in the Intensive Care Unit. When he suffers no consequence he soon finds that he is falling in love with killing patients. As his confidence develops he begins to develop a relationship with the new Respiratory Therapist on the unit. His mother, Isabel feels threatened with losing her boy and Dale finds he must now contend with the equally prolific killing abilities of his over protective mother who works right alongside him.

taRNished is a medical thriller that takes you on a journey of innocence, murder, sex, and domination which invokes the question in the readers mind while being entertained, “how do I get out of the hospital alive?”

Author Willie Stewart is a critical care Registered Nurse with 13 plus years of nursing experience who believes that an overburdened, understaffed nursing work force will lend itself to more and more abuses with the advent of Obamacare which is adding tens of millions more patients into the healthcare system. The subject matter of the medical thriller taRNished is timely and will be for the next few years for the following reasons:

• The Registered Nurse work force is aging out with average age 45

• There is a prolonged nursing shortage and there are not enough nursing instructors

• The baby boomers are all retiring and getting older and entering the hospital in more critical condition

• OBAMACARE will add an additional 22 million newly insured people to an already overburdened healthcare system

• If the debate over pathway to citizenship is successful, 11 million more undocumented workers will be adding to this burden on the fragile American healthcare system

Real killers like healthcare villain Kermit Gosnell MD, serial killer Charles Cullen RN, and more have thrived in the previous system. People like them and Dale, RNfrom the blockbuster novel taRNished will find it much easier to thrive in the coming years.

Willie L Stewart Sr. Biography

Willie L. Stewart is a critical care Registered Nurse, author, novelist, entrepreneur, member of the Tampa Writers Alliance, and the Florida Writers Association. His debut novel taRNished promises to entertain while shaking the very foundation of healthcare and the public’s confidence in that system in order to spur on debate for proper reforms. With over 13 years in various critical care settings he brings a level of expertise to the relevant topics in today’s media that are highlighted in the debut novel taRNished. With 2014 quickly heralding in the full implementation of the divisive OBAMACARE healthcare plan, Stewart notes that over ten million more people will be shoved into an already overburdened healthcare system. In addition Stewart notes that the pathway to citizenship initiatives will add millions more undocumented workers to this system and these increasing numbers along with other factors will allow pathological individuals to thrive in the environment created. Willie has taken a unique approach to marketing and promoting his debut novel. He has given his lead character, Dale RN a registered nurse serial killer, a significant online presence. A marketer/publicist has lauded Stewart for these efforts and says he is breaking ground. Dale RN has his own blog, is on facebook, twitter, pinterest, linkedin, google plus, and more. Through Stewart’s herculean efforts Dale communicates and interacts with the public on a regular basis.

In addition to Willie Stewart’s efforts on his debut novel, Willie Stewart has published online articles, written various successful worldwide press releases, runs an independent record label (2MCH4YA) and publishing company and is a manager for indie recording artists. He has been an executive producer of an award winning online talk show that won the award against the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Steve Harvey, and Michael Baisden. The show was the only indie talk show in consideration against the heavyweights. Stewart has been the President/Production coordinator of a music foundation before stepping down. With all of his irons in the fire, Willie Stewart manages to find time to romance and fall in love all over again after 23 years of marriage to the lovely Shannon Stewart who is also a Registered Nurse of similar experience and an aspiring writer. With three healthy adult children and two grandchildren, Stewart only needs to look inward for motivation.

Attention!! 

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AJ Nuest

Excerpt by AJ Nuest with a Review by Cloey

Excerpt

This scene is taken from when Rowena and Caedmon first meet, each of them standing on opposites of what she believes to be a computer monitor...

What was with this guy, with his sable, shoulder-length hair and closely trimmed beard? His white shirt was best described as puffy, with ballooning sleeves and wide, ruffled cuffs. The front hung open, exposing the muscled contours of his beveled chest, the roughly stitched tails skimming the thighs of his fitted, leather…breeches?

Oh, God. She chuckled and shook her head. He had to be one of Ollie’s theater friends. Bravo for his stunning portrayal of a swashbuckling swashbuckler. Too bad that also meant he was gay.

He lifted the sword in both hands and turned a broad shoulder toward the mirror, the taut planes of his stomach easing in and out with each controlled breath. A trail of dark hair arrowed down inside the waistband of his pants, where his perfectly cupped manhood bulged for her inspection. Oh yes, too bad indeed.

“If you scheme to divert me with your alluring attire and guileless stare, I’ll have you know an abundance of courtesans await my nightly dalliance. I am not so easily swayed.”

Rowena inched a slow perusal of the delectable landscape back up to his face. His dark eyes glittered in the candlelight, and she mirrored his arched eyebrow. “Oh, really?”

Perhaps she’d pegged him wrong. Wouldn’t that be a treat?

She glanced down at her gauzy nightgown, the flickering fire doing little to cover her rosy nipples, pert in the chilly air. But he invaded her space with this theatrical exploit of his. What else did he expect her to be wearing, showing up like this in the middle of the night?

“You’d better be careful.” She wagged a finger at him. “Or I’m apt to get busy with some serious despoiling all up in here.”

“Enough, Sorceress!” He lunged forward, the blade of his sword slicing the air when he aimed the silver pommel straight at the screen. “Let us be done with this trickery. Name your demands before I smash the glass and ensnare your bewitching guise for an eternity.”

A low laugh tickled the back of her throat. Talk about living a role. Sheesh, take the drama down a notch. She stepped close and ran a hand around the edge of the frame. The signal had to be streaming live, what with his ability to interact with her, but there wasn’t a wire or a microphone, heck, not even a screw in sight.

She stood back and crossed her arms, shifting her weight onto one hip. Okay, she would bite, as long as Ollie promised this whole escapade wouldn’t end up on YouTube.

“Fine. You’re extremely gorgeous and very talented. Seriously, you’ve got the whole English accent down perfect. And while I appreciate all the work that went into this little program, it’s about two in morning and I have to get up early for work. Tell Ollie I said good show, props to the production crew and I’m nominating the wardrobe guy for an Oscar.”

There. That should call the evening a wrap. She grabbed the edge of the door and swung it closed.

“You wear Rowena’s Key.”

She froze…and then tentatively eased the door back open.

Review

I LOVED IT! Oh My Goodness I was hooked from beginning to end and didn't want to put it down until I finished it and was teary eyed at the end. It's SO good.

This is a love story and so much more - not a cheesy love story about a guy who met a girl, lost her, then got her back again - it's that but better then that same old scenario. There's just enough sexual tension to let us know how the characters feel about each other and to keep us interested without making us want to scream. This is a well written story about two people who meet and fall in love. The story is so sweet and the characters are perfect. Rowena and her employees, Violet and Oliver, are like family who look out for each other and give advice freely whether Rowena wants to hear it or not. They are the kind of friends who helps you work through a breakup while still respecting you as their boss while at work.

My favorite quote from the book is from an interaction between Oliver and Rowena:

"Well, that proves it. The person we spend most of our time thinking about is the one person we truly love." Oliver adjusted his Windsor knot, clearing his throat. "Which also explains why I only think of myself."

A friend and coworker like Oliver is priceless! He is funny, protective, and understanding.

The pace is good and I didn't come across an awkward section anywhere in the book. The characters are well developed for a book this size and the story world leads me to believe that we will learn more within the next book of the series.

This is one of those books that I stayed up all night to finish and I can't wait to read the next one.

It is a 5 out of 5 stars story.

Rowena’s Key
Book One
The Golden Key Chronicles
AJ Nuest


Publisher: HarperImpulseUK
Genre: Fantasy Romance

Page Count: 109

Cover Artist: Alexandra Allden
Heat Rating: Steamy

Amazon
Amazon uk



Book Description:

The key would unlock his future and the safety of his kingdom, but he never imagined the sorceress would unlock his heart…

Antiques restorer, Rowena Lindstrom, finds herself the owner of an ancestral armoire containing a hidden key and a magic mirror leading to another realm. But the handsome warrior prince waiting on the other side is truly the final straw. This must be an elaborate joke, right?

As she struggles to discover the truth, Rowena learns Prince Caedmon Austiere needs the key to save his kingdom. In the end, she cannot deny him anything. Including her heart.

Author Bio:

Multi-published, award-winning author, AJ Nuest, lives in the middle of a cornfield in NW Indiana. Her loving husband, two beautiful children and a bevy of spoiled pets have agreed to stay and, in exchange for three rations per day and laundry service, tolerate her lunacy. While she spends most days happily ensconced in crafting romance across a multitude of genres, an underground coup has been percolating. The dogs just informed her the cat is secretly vying for dictatorship.

Website

Blog

FaceBook Page

Author FB Page

Twitter: @AJNuest

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J. Perry Kelley

Spotlight on J. Perry Kelly's The Sibyl Reborn

A metaphysical quest turns dark and lethal

The Sibyl Reborn
A Metaphysical Adventure
J. Perry Kelly
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Speculative Fiction
Date of Publication: October 1, 2012

ISBN-10: 1481042653
ISBN-13: 978-1481042659

Number of pages: 565
Word Count: 190,000

Cover Artist: Amber Shaw

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Book Description:

Like wildfires loose on a western mountain, the karmas of eight people, a teenage ghost, the CIA, mankind and its parent race converge on Bighorn Peak in Colorado, forcing Cassandra, the sibyl reborn, to outwit the bane of our spiritual past and solve a seemingly hopeless riddle: how to save her species from enslavement and her planet from her species.

From the Inside Flap:

An ancient riddle for a modern crisis

Buried in the human psyche lies the key to humanity's fate. Psychologists call it "cognitive dissonance." Poets of old called it a curse. In The Sibyl Reborn, our parent species coins it "The Taint," a trait so fearsome they banished us to save a planet only to endanger Earth.

Never believed when she told the truth, a princess in a town called Troy once shared the dooms of family and friends, enslavement and violent death, when they laughed at her futile warnings. As the earth grows ever hotter and humans quibble over climate change, whom but this tragic heroine should Karma send to defend forever? Armed with quantum metaphysics, might she alter her fate and remake her legend, or would history repeat itself at horrific costs to Man and Earth?

The Sibyl Reborn: where a newlywed's quest to make a difference and a chilling premise that's all-too-real sound a battle cry for an Earth in crisis.

Listen to a sample of the audio version of The Sibyl Reborn

About the Author:

J. Perry Kelly lives in Colorado near the foot of Pikes Peak with Selene, his wife of twenty-eight years who entices him daily to leave his computer to meet her as she returns from Cassandra-like rambles on mountain paths.

Website: www.thesibylreborn.com

Blog: www.quantumfires.wordpress.com

Author Facebook: www.facebook.com/JPerryKelly.writer

The Sibyl Reborn FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSibylReborn

Twitter: @TheSibylReborn

Wendy Potocki

Excerpt by Wendy Potocki and Review by Cloey

Excerpt

Panicked, Ky whirled around, but nothing was there. His heart pounded as his senses stayed on alert. He squinted, trying to penetrate the hidden recesses of the bushes. A loud baleful wail reached his ears, sending goose bumps up his spine. He looked to where it had originated. Staring up the street to where Wax’s car had disappeared, his eyes discerned the source of the noise. There, in the center of the highway, captured in the streams of light, was Samson. Big and bold, his coat matched the night. Gleaming with a definite sheen, his lips were curled and showing the ferocity of deadly white teeth. The dog’s black eyes narrowed as it focused in on its prey. Foam dripped from its lips as it growled. Its haunches raised above its broad shoulders, its head was lowered. The dog was set to attack.

Shuddering, Kyle began to walk backwards. The dog kept pace. Fear convinced Ky that he could outrun the massive beast. Taking his hands out of his pockets, the high schooler turned and sprinted towards safety. His neighbor’s houses whizzed by. The situation was surreal—every bit as crazy as it was last night. Breathing heavily, he shot a glance over his shoulder. Samson was giving chase. He didn’t need to see anymore. Racing as fast as he could, he could hear the dog closing in.

Kicking it into a higher gear, his adrenaline was spiking, but his newly acquired nicotine habit was costing him. His chest constricted as he struggled for oxygen. He regretted ever starting smoking, but he battled through. Fighting the shortness of breath, he rounded the corner. His house was just ahead.

The soft clip of the dog’s nails on the sidewalk let him know that Samson was near. Screaming, he bounded up the porch stairs and banged into the door. Demanding to be let in, he twisted the knob, but the damned door wouldn’t budge. He was locked out.

He didn’t have time to run around to the back. In fact, he didn’t have time for anything. Raising his arms, he began battering the frame—pleading for his life.

“Mom! Mom! Let me in! Goddamn it, open the goddamned door!” he screeched.

Thrill

Wendy Potocki

Self-published

Horror

341 pages









Description:

SOME RIDES SHOULD NEVER BE TAKEN ...

Kyle Evans is a teenager who wants to be somebody. To achieve his goal, he joins a gang called Hell's Bells. While Kyle thinks he's arrived, he only finds danger.

The club is obsessed with finding thrills and taking chances, but Kyle’s unaware that there’s a price to pay. Up for a dare, he accepts a challenge that lands him on the wrong side of the supernatural.

Review

Kyle is a good kid from a good neighborhood with both parents living at home but has so much anger inside. He is angry because he had to move to a different neighborhood, go to a new school, and angry for so many other reasons that only makes sense to him. And Kyle wants to reinvent himself - to become someone he is not. He wants to be a badass, the bad guy in high school who has everyone looking up to him. But Kyle has a conscious, morals, and parents who care. So, why would he want to change himself - acceptance? Who knows - but he finds out the hard way that every decision he makes has consequences and repercussions and he can't handle it. It's amazing how things can go wrong so fast in a person's short life.

Kyle decided to join a gang called Hell's Bells. The members of Hell's Bells are Wax who is the leader, Carnie, Scotch,Tat, and Stripe. Like most gangs they are a family but Hell's Bells is also a thrill club and all the members are sociopaths living for their next thrill at the expense of others.

I was pleasantly surprised. The book is very good and I didn't figure out the ending - even at the end! The story started off a bit slowly for me but once I got 25% into it the story took off and I couldn't put it down.

I would have liked a little romance throughout the book but there really wasn't any room for it. Can a person really have a romantic relationship with a sociopath? I don't think so unless the other half of the relationship is a sociopath too - I could be wrong but it just seems weird. Thrill was still a very good read and I give it 5 out of 5 stars. I recommend it for anyone who is looking for light horror that will leave you guessing until the end.

About The Author:

Wendy Potocki lives and writes in NYC. If that isn't scary enough, she writes in the genre of horror. She feels creating good horror is an art form. She religiously devotes herself to pursuing it over hill and dale -- and in the crevices of her keyboard.

Named one of the Top Ten "New" Horror Authors by Horror Novel Reviews, she has seven self-published novels. Book trailers for many of her works may be found on her official website http://www.wendypotocki.com/. Her newest frightmare is THRILL. It's a non-stop chillfest and has been attracting a lot of attention. Her next planned projects are The Witch's Stone, The Virgin, and ZaSo, a Gothic tale of horror. Please subscribe to her mailing list for updates and giveaway information.

http://bicameralwriting.wordpress.com/join-my-mailing-list/

In her spare time, she loves to go for long walks, drink Starbucks Apple Chai Lattes, make devotional offerings to her cat named Persephone and be stilled by the grace, beauty and magic of ballet.

Rashawnda Ungerer

Guest Post and Excerpt by Rashawnda Ungerer

Guest Post

Should the hero always get the girl and the glory? Can villains also be heroes? And if so, can heroes be villains as well? These are just a few of the inquiries that floated close above my imagination as I wrote “The Hard Way”. The answers, however, hovered at a much farther distance.

We have all had villains in the stories of our lives. Perhaps as small children the villain was the sibling that took all of the attention. In school, maybe he was the class bully or an impossible teacher. Now the villain could be a slave-driving boss, a mean-spirited ex-wife or the president of the HOA who's threatening a fine because the lawn is an inch too long. In the story of my life I am the villain…and the hero.

None of us are all bad or all good all of the time. But surely there have been specific moments when we were deliberately and unmistakably evil. The temptation to laugh when an unpleasant adversary stumbles and falls. Speeding into a parking spot that you know another driver had been waiting longer for. Throwing a coworker under the bus even though the fault is at least partly yours.

In hindsight we tend to reason why we were pushed to such behavior with the circumstances that led to the nasty action. The best and worst excuse is usually that the victim deserved it. We endeavor to understand why our conscience was blind and deaf when the sinful deed was committed. Perhaps it was stress or PMS or just an altogether horrible day. We separate the act from whom we are as if our minds and bodies had been somehow possessed. Because only extenuating circumstances could have pushed us so far from our true character, which we would all like to believe is inherently good.

In reality we all carry the villain inside of us as well as the hero. And every minute of every day we are fighting the internal battle between good and evil. As it should be, otherwise life would be quite boring.

In my life’s story the hero always gets the glory, but not always the girl.

Excerpt

She awakened to a pitch-black room that was so thick with darkness she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face. Her back lay against the hard, grainy surface beneath her and the urge to shiver came over her as she felt the cold air biting her skin. While wrapping her arms around herself she felt her bare chest and then her uncovered stomach and legs. She was completely naked. The coarse ground scraped against her back as she sat up. Her earrings, wedding rings and even the ponytail holder that she used to tie her curly, shoulder-length hair back had also been removed along with her clothes. She took a quick self-assessment and felt a strange soreness on the side of her neck. It was tender to the touch and she was sure that there was a bruise.

Cecelia Clark had no idea what time of day it was or how long she’d been asleep. The grogginess and nausea she felt led her to the assumption that she’d been drugged. She could have been unconscious for a few hours or a few days. And who knows what could’ve been done to her while she was so helpless. Considering the fact that her neck was the only part of her body that ached, she assumed that her kidnapper hadn’t gotten around to doing much of anything to her…yet.

She stood up shakily and held out her hands in front of her. Then she started to walk forward slowly. After three unsteady steps her shin bumped into something hard and she backed up a pace. Feeling her way around the short hard object she came to another obstacle.

She felt the cold metal of vertically aligned bars and ran both hands across them back and forth, then downward until it met the dusty, stone floor. Standing upright, she pushed up on her tiptoes and felt more bars above her running horizontally. Following them to the other three walls, she confirmed what she already suspected, drawing the conclusion that she was locked in a cage meant for beasts like the one who put her there.

On the last wall she discovered the cage door. As she searched for the locking mechanism she heard the snap and clunk of a bolt sliding, but it wasn’t the lock to the cage. Suddenly the harsh, grating sound of a door creaking open filled the darkness. A fan of light spread across the floor and then the black silhouette of her abductor moved in ominously like an eclipse.

A mix of anger and terror ran through her mind as her heartbeat started to race against her thoughts. Cecelia’s fingers curled and tightened into fists as her breaths shallowed and quickened and her nails dug into the palms of her hands. She heard a soft step moving towards her, then a second and third step and finally the door scraping against the stone floor, as it slammed shut bringing her back into complete darkness.

While raising her fists in front of her in a fighting stance she heard four pings. It sounded like buttons being pressed on a phone or the keypad to an alarm system. Then there was a clicking sound followed by the squeak of friction between metal. The cage door was opening. She didn’t hear it close. She didn’t hear any more steps. She didn’t hear anything but the beat of her own heart jackhammering inside her chest as the darkness swirled around her.

And then with no warning at all, she felt the tight grasp of a gloved hand around her throat hauling her backwards until her back crashed forcefully into the hard, cold bars. She grunted and winced at the sting in her shoulder blades. She grabbed the wrist of the gloved hand as it squeezed tighter around her throat and followed the leather material to the thumb. She attempted to pull it in hope of twisting it and forcing the grip loose, but the drugs in her system made her too weak.

Reaching in front of her with the other hand, she searched in the darkness for his face, for something soft and vulnerable that she could get a grip on, but all she felt was a hard, mechanical mask. He was wearing night vision goggles so that he could see her without her being able to see him. Scraping at the device, she tried to lift her knees to attempt a kick to the legs or groin, but her muscles were not responding to the adrenaline rushing through her. Her lack of sight and wooziness put her at a great disadvantage. He grabbed her pesky hand and pushed it into the crossbar above her head. Cecelia tried to speak or scream, but she couldn’t access enough air to support either function.

Out of desperation and will of spirit, she managed to grabbed his thumb with her other hand and twisted it outward forcing the gloved hand to loosen its grip. Gasping for air, she released the hold and tried to hunch over but he pressed his forearm across her throat and held her up against the bars. A feeling of warmth brushed against her cheek and then her ear and she realized it was his breath. He was much closer now so she thrust her knee towards his groin, but he blocked it easily and pushing her knee to the side, he slipped his legs between hers and pressed against her.

“Are you afraid?” he whispered menacingly.

“No,” she coughed defiantly as she tried to pull air into her lungs.

He pushed his body off of her and choked her again with both hands. This time he squeezed harder. “You should be.”

The Hard Way
Rahawnds Ungerer

Self-published

Military/Political Thriller

Word count: 160,900

Cover by: Cherly Sosebee of CCR Design

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Book Description:

When the Albanian Mafia targets his family, MI6 operative Gordon Hale starts down a road to retribution that suddenly collides with a rescue mission as he comes across Cecelia Clark, the abducted, strong willed daughter of retired US Army Colonel Frank Clark.

After one of the kidnappers eludes capture, Hale joins forces with the colonel and his elite unit of former commandos to defend Cecelia at all costs.

But when they discover the motives behind the kidnapping, it is her protectors who must keep Cecelia’s enemies safe from her.

About the Author:

Rashawnda Ungerer is the author of the thriller, The Hard Way. She is the only daughter of an ex-soldier and the wife of a former U.S. Marine Corp reservist. Although she has spent the last thirteen years as a stay-at-home-mom, she has occasionally taken the opportunity to surround herself with men and women in uniform and highly respected veterans by working in temporary positions, such as a teller at the Pentagon and most recently with a Virginia-based government contractor in support of the United States Treasury Department. She currently resides just outside of Washington, D.C. with her husband, three children and their very protective boxer, the aptly named Havoc.

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Twitter: @R_Ungerer

Jacqueline Paige

Guest Post by Jacqueline Paige

Guest Post

Recently I was asked to explain how I develop characters in my writing. There isn’t just one answer to this; it varies from story to story. Sometimes (rarely), if I’m lucky, my characters just come to me—

everything from their name and profession, their problems or ‘issues’ right down to their bad habits and eye color. These are the stories that just fly onto the page.

Of course not all stories can be this easy. Other times I’ll have a partial idea for a character, one that I think fits the part, so the first thing I’ll do is picture what they’d look like and from there I’ll discover their name. I never know everything about one of my characters until I put them in a scene with others. This is where they usually surprise me with personality traits I didn’t know they had and sometimes these traits require a little more editing and rewrites.

Quite often I will write scenes that have nothing to do with the story I’m working on, just to see how the characters fit. It’s a good way to dig a little deeper into who they are and why they are the way that they come out on the page.

Occasionally I have come across a difficult character; Alec from the Hidden Senses Trilogy would be one of those hard to write ones. In the beginning she was fairly easy to write, and didn’t present any sort of challenge but then she was only a secondary character and seemed happy enough to do what I wanted her to. When she became one of the main characters in Inner Reflections she closed up and I had a hard time dragging anything from her. It was a good thing that Ian was a strong character with some spine or the story may have just stopped. He was able to drag more out of her than I was.

For a while I had to put a story on the back burner and move ahead with something completely different because my characters would not help me out and share. A few re-writes and plot changes later I was finally able to finish Inner Reflections and the trilogy was complete.

I hope you enjoy the characters that took me on quite the adventure and emotional roller coaster as I told their stories.

Inner Reflections

Hidden Senses Trilogy
Book 3
Jacqueline Paige

Class Act Books

Genre:Paranormal Romantic Suspense

Book Description:

Detective Alec McGowan is dedicated to serving justice and will crush all that stand in her way. Long used to burying her passions after tragedy and heartbreak taught her that loving someone is dangerous, she expresses them the only way she knows how. Passion for her job has landed heron a hit list, and rather than fearing death she is annoyed and more determined to find them before they find her.

Ian MacTavish is a loner and finds it easier to stay that way. The constant barrage of other people’s thoughts is exhausting, and relationships are even more troublesome for someone with his“talent”. Using his skill has brought him considerable financial reward, and allowed him to stay uninvolved and unencumbered. When a night of harmless mind surfing leads him further into a twisted plot of chaos and murder, his appearance at the police station surprises him most of all.

Amazon

 DreamVisions
Hidden Senses Trilogy
Book 2
Jacqueline Paige

Class Act Books

Genre:Paranormal Romantic Suspense

Book Description:

Felicity has spent her life alone, moving from one place to another hiding apart of her no one has ever been able to accept, not even her own family.

Foras long as she can remember she’s had dreams that lead her to a person that’s somehow connected with her. There are no answers or cures only misery for her when she can’t get anyone to believe her.

When a child reaches out to her, frightened and in the hands of strangers she forgets the reasons why she shouldn’t tell anyone and goes to the police. She finds herself sent for a court ordered psychiatric evaluation.

It’snot the first time, it won’t be the last. She packs up once again,ready to move as soon as she’s done with another so called doctor. From the moment she steps into the office everything changes and she finds nothing she expected.

Can the child be found before it’s too late or is she facing heart ache again?

Amazon

Mystic Perceptions
Hidden Senses Trilogy
Book One
Jacqueline Paige
Page count: 224 pages

Genre:Paranormal Romantic Suspense

FOUR CUP REVIEW AT COFFEE TIME ROMANCE

Publisher: Class Act Books

Does she risk everything again?

Book Description:

Jacinda Brown keeps to her safe existence doing investigative research, avoiding people and places with people. To most, it appears she has a normal life;blending completely undetected in her lonely continuation.

She doesn’t investigate people; she can’t get that close. Through her hand she can feel emotions, thoughts. With a touch she can see what has been.

Unfortunately fate tosses her into a situation where her carefully guarded secret and her own conscience are at war when she finds herself working with detectives to find a killer. Jacinda clashes with the verystrongly grounded detective, Reid Merritt,destiny has forced her to work with.

At some point he begins to matter, making her decision harder. Will he look at herwith abhorrence, like she’s some sort of freak when she’s through?

What will be the price, this time, for the ability she doesn’t want?

Amazon

About the Author:

Jacqueline Paige lives in Ontario in a small town that’s part of the popular Georgian Triangle area. No one has ever heard of Stayner, so she usually tells people she lives “near Collingwood” and no, she doesn’t ski at Blue Mountain or at all, in fact she’s not even fond of snow.

She began her writing career in 2006 and since her first published works in 2009 she hasn’t stopped. Jacqueline describes her writing as “all things paranormal”, which she has proven is her niche with stories of witches, ghosts, physics and shifters now on the shelves.

When Jacqueline isn’t working at her ‘reality job’ or lost in her writing she spends time with her five children, most of whom are finally able to look after her instead of the other way around. Together they do random road trips, that usually end up with them lost, shopping trips where they push every button in the toy aisle, hiking when there’s enough time to escape and bizarre things like creating new daring recipes in the kitchen. She’s a grandmother to four (so far) and looks forward to corrupting many more in the years to come.

Jacqueline loves to hear from her readers, you can find her at www.jacqpaige.webs.com , www.jacqpaige.blogspot.ca or http://magicseasonsbooks.blogspot.ca

Cherrie Mack

Spotlight on Cherrie Mack's A Late Summer Bloom

Excerpt

Julien paced the length of the master suite. Ineffective in his plans to sway Giselle to trust him caused him much frustration. Maybe she doesn’t like to be yelled at. Covering his eyes with the heels of his hands, he tried rubbing away the self-induced headache coming on. Out of options and close to giving up, he needed to clear his mind. What was it about her that had him on edge all the time? Julien had to clench his fists every minute he was around her to remind himself of the anger. Otherwise, he found himself wanting to kiss her, protect her. And each moment he spent with her, it was getting harder to control. He had to fight it. It could cost the covens the war. He had to stay on the straight and narrow yet—something was pulling at the corners of his mind.

Julien thrust his balcony doors open and gust of cool air rushed inside the warm room. His eyes narrowed in disbelief as he stared out at the grounds of his estate.

Walking out onto the balcony for a good look, Julien couldn’t believe his eyes. The alley of oaks danced gloriously in the wind, their branches no longer drooping toward earth, but standing tall, in salute. His eyes scanned the grass, noticing its deep green hue. Shoots of honeysuckle could be seen making their way up toward the sun. As if the flowers knew what he was thinking, a soft breeze carried with it their scent. A smile, true and confident, emerged on his face. It was her presence. It had to be.

As he took in the beauty of a long dead past, he caught a glimmer of the dark-haired beauty walking on the path to Chantilly’s garden. Hmm. What’s she up to? He went back inside and changed into jeans. He slipped a white cotton tee-shirt over his head and headed down the stairs. Looking around his once decaying home, he realized it had been rejuvenated. Julien ran his fingers over the railing, the wood felt smooth and rich. There were no holes in the walls, no peeling paint, no cobwebs. The silver shined so bright, he could see his own reflection. Two days later and it was good as new? It has to be her.

Outside, he took in his surroundings. Were his eyes deceiving him? Anxious now to see Giselle, he walked toward Chantilly’s garden. Along the way, he heard her humming. It was a beautiful melody filled with warmth and joy. And it renewed his hope, for he now believed Giselle was indeed, the tenth power.

If only she believed it.

Standing in the gardens, he watched her lean over, inhaling the fragrance of each blossom. When she got close, the blooms stood taller, more vibrant in her presence. He couldn’t help but smile at her innocence as it hit him square in the gut. She really doesn’t see it. He watched her run afinger over an old wooden sign, its words unreadable.

Julien cleared his throat. “My sister’s garden.”

Her head snapped up, eyes wide. He jerked his chin toward the sign. “It’s supposed to say, my sister’s garden.”

Giselle cast her eyes away. “I’m so sorry about Joyal.”

Just hearing her name fired up his nerves, but he remained steady, discarding the unwelcome reminder. “No, I meant my sister, Chantilly. This garden was her gift to me.”

She smiled and he realized it was the first time he saw her show happiness.

Beautiful.

She tucked her hair behind her ear. “It’s enchanted.”

He chuckled. “Yes, it is.”

A Late Summer Bloom
Witches Of The Bayou
Book 1
Cherrie Mack

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Date of Publication: 2/6/14

ISBN: 978-1-77130-720-8
ASIN: B0019LGJXE

Number of pages: 188
Word Count: 58k

Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

Amazon

Book Description:

A young witch, destined to be queen. A traveler destined to love her and an evil warlock desperate to claim her.

When Julien Beaumont meets Giselle Jareau, the naïve, young witch is nothing more than a nuisance. A mere inconvenience. But the inkblot on his arm disagrees. As their relationship develops, his tattoo begins to fill in. Could it be fate or something more sinister?

On an old, decrepit sugar plantation, in the heart of the Louisiana Bayou, the defender of the covens and the queen to the royals engage in a battle of wits. And as Giselle falls in love, Julien tries desperately to change the course of their destiny.

About the Author:

Cherrie Mack grew up in Flushing Queens NY, the youngest child of six. The city’s diversity gave her a great appreciation for many different cultures and lifestyles. After love finally claimed the girl from the city and dragged her to the suburban madness of Long Island, she settled into a quiet life with her new husband. Two children and one mini-van later, the family found themselves moving towards the sunny skies of Florida where they currently reside. With her focus still very much on her family, Cherrie squeezes in time to write. The publication of her debut novel, Ache of Desire has given her the confidence to allow her to spend more time writing.

One year and four books later, Cherrie has continued to flourish. With multiple series in the works, there’s no slowing down for this up and coming author.

A member of Romance Writers of America, Cherrie is slowly spreading her wings as a romance author. Look for her books at all digital bookstores such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Bookstrand, ITunes, Nook and many more.

Blog: http://cherriemack.wordpress.com/

Website: http://www.cherriemack.com

Author facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/CherrieMack

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CherrieMack

Tumblr: http://www.cherriemack.tumblr.com

Goodreads: www.goodreads/cherriemack.com

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Alexandrea Weis

Guest Post by Alexandrea Weis

Guest Post 

   
My first book, To My Senses, has been called a romance by some and more than a romance, a love story if you will, by others. Is there a difference between a romance and a love story? I believe that difference is in the eye of the reader. For some, a romance novel may follow a set of circumstances that promise the inevitable happy ending, but a love story often takes the reader on a much different ride. It engages the reader on a deeper level with emotionally charged characters and poignant, life-altering choices. Romances may bring a comforting conclusion, but a love story does not because, as many of us know from experience, love is never predictable. Some romances may be forgettable, but a great love story will live on in the reader’s memory for many years to come.

Why are love stories so engaging? Perhaps it is because of the nature of love itself. Love changes us, and can alter our direction in life, as Nicci Beauvoir was awakened by David Alexander’s love in To My Senses, or Pamela was transformed by Daniel’s love in my novel, Broken Wings. Such great love can act as a sudden wind on a calm sea, righting the sails of a ship, giving us a new course and a new horizon to aim for. We are penetrable souls, influenced and defined by whom we love. In such a way, love can move mountains or melt even the coldest heart, as is the case with my favorite character, Dallas August in Recovery.

When looking back on our lives, it has never been the house, car or other material things we long for, but those individuals most cherished whom we hold in our hearts forever. Kara Barton realized this in Diary of a One-Night Stand, and Dallas August also has such an epiphany during his adventures in my fifth book, The Secret Brokers. These characters learned that in that final moment of life, we remember those we have loved, and hope to carry that love with us to the other side.

It is not to say that the love shared between the characters of a “happily ever after” romance novel is any less sincere than the emotional ties binding two star-crossed, and sometimes tragically torn apart, lovers. Maybe it is when characters are taken to heart and become embedded within our psyche that they move from the light fragrance of a romance to the rich bouquet of a love story. Where romance may tweak at our hunger for passion and adventure, a love story reaches down into the inner workings of our soul and touches us in a way never expected.

That is what I hope my books do; take the reader on a journey through the highs and lows of love. Teaching everyone that it is the attainment of life’s greatest endeavor that matters most, and everything else we garner along the way simply pales in comparison. As Nora Kehoe, from my latest novel Acadian Waltz, said, “our souls are not judged by the sins we accumulate in life, but by the love we take with us after our life has ebbed away.”

    

Cover to Covers
Alexandrea Weis

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: World Castle Publishing

Word Count: 79,000
Cover Artist: Laura Hildalgo

Amazon

Book Description:

A man driven by his desires

Tyler Moore is considered cold, ruthless, and determined to get everything he wants. CEO of a flourishing oil company, he thrives on order and never gives up control to anyone.

The woman from his past

Monique Delome has left her unhappy past behind to pursue her dream of becoming a writer. Love is something she believes is better suited to the pages of her novels and not meant for real life.

Whether in the boardroom or the bedroom, Tyler Moore is always in charge. But when Monique Delome walks back into his life, everything changes. A successful romance author, all the sexy leading men Monique writes about strangely remind everyone of Tyler. Intrigued, Tyler sets out to seduce the one woman he could never forget. Soon Tyler gets more than he bargained for, and his grip on his well-ordered life is turned upside down.

Tyler Moore is about to find out what happens when a romantic tale jumps from the pages and comes to life between the sheets.

About the Author:

Alexandrea Weis is an advanced practice registered nurse who was born and raised in New Orleans. Her first novel, To My Senses, introduced readers to the world of Nicci Beauvoir and garnered numerous awards and rave reviews.

Her popular second Nicci Beauvoir novel, Recovery, won the Gold Medal for best romantic suspense from The Reader’s Favorite Book Awards 2011, and was named best Romantic Suspense novel by the Spring 2011 NABE Pinnacle Book Awards.

Her fourth novel, Broken Wings, won best Contemporary Romance by the NABE Pinnacle Book Awards in 2012, was a Silver Medal winner in the ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards for Romance, as well as a finalist in the USA Book Awards for Romance in 2012, and a finalist in the Reader’s Favorite Book Awards for Contemporary Romance for 2012.

Diary of a One-Night Stand, was released in August 2012 and was named a Paranormal Romance Guild’s Best Reviewed of 2012. Her last novel, Acadian Waltz was a Readers’ Favorite Book Awards honorable mention winner for Best Contemporary Romance, and finalist in Best Southern Fiction.

A permitted wildlife rehabber with the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries, Weis rescues orphaned and injured wildlife. She lives with her husband and pets in New Orleans.

Website: http://www.alexandreaweis.com/index.html

Blog: http://alexandreaweiscom.blogspot.com/

FB https://www.facebook.com/pages/To-My-Senses/113609858681394

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexandreaweis

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1211671.Alexandrea_Weis

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