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The One Who Got Away (Wilde Ways Book 12) by Cynthia Eden (Book Showcase)

THE ONE WHO GOT AWAY.

He has to get her back.

Antony Kyle can’t believe what’s happening to him. First, Ella Webb—the head of security at his gaming company—quits on him. Then…she kisses him as if she’s never wanted anyone more. They spend one incredible night together—a night that brands him to his core—and he wakes to find her gone. Gone.

No, not happening. Antony is not about to lose her now. Not when he’s been obsessed with her for years. He can’t have a taste and then lose…everything.

She’s done with his lies.

Ella has been in love with her gorgeous, genius boss for far too long. And she’s put up with his lies and secrets…for far too long! She’d fallen for his helpless act, thought that the man needed her, but now she has learned the truth. Antony Kyle is a secret spy, more than capable of looking after himself and taking out a whole army of bad guys. So, she gives in to the need that she’s always felt for him, she allows herself one, unforgettable night with him, then she walks away.

But he follows her.

Antony can’t lose Ella—not when he’s finally had the woman he’s wanted so desperately. But she’s got a new job at Wilde—an elite protection and security firm—and he has to figure out a way to woo her back. So, he hires Wilde. Says that he needs protection. He pulls some strings (because the owner of Wilde happens to owe him about a dozen favors), and Antony gets Ella assigned as his bodyguard. He thinks his plan is brilliant. He’ll have Ella in close proximity again, and Antony is sure that he’ll able to convince her that they belong together. Though some groveling—and a whole lot of seduction—may just be involved in his master plan.

Except…the danger turns out to be real.

Someone is gunning for Antony, and he doesn’t know if his enemy is from the spy world or the business world. He just knows that a big target is on his back. Now he and Ella have to unmask the threat that they never saw coming, before it’s too late. As they fight to track the bad guy, Antony has to prove to Ella that he can be honest with her, and, if she gives him a shot…he just might be a man she can love. Because if he loses her again, Antony knows there will be no second chances.

Author’s Note: Their sexual tension can’t be held in check. When Ella and Antony are close, they ignite. But with so many secrets and lies, can they find a happy ending? It will take a master spy—and one very savvy new Wilde agent—to bring down the bad guy in this case. Wilde times are ahead again. Let’s see where these two lovers lead as they fight for each other.

 
 
 

“I quit.”

Antony Kyle blinked, then he shook his head. He was certain that he must have misunderstood the words his head of security had spoken. There was no way Ella Webb just told him—

“Did you hear what I said?” Ella asked him as she leaned forward and flattened her hands on the wood of his desk. “In case you didn’t, please allow me to repeat…I quit.” Definite satisfaction underscored each word.

His head lifted. He stared into her warm, golden eyes. Got caught for a moment, as he too often did. Then her words fully sank in, and he leapt to his feet. “What? You can’t quit!”

Her head tilted back as she gazed up at him. “Sure, I can. I just did.”

“But, but—” He scrambled for something to say. He came up with nothing.

“I know who you are, Antony.”

“Of course, you know who I am.” Now he had a quick response. “I’m your boss! You’re my head of security! You’ve worked for me two years—”

“And as of now, I am no longer in your employ. I hope you don’t mind, but in light of the fact that you’ve been lying to me for the last two years, I’ve decided that I won’t be doing a full two weeks’ notice for you. In fact, this is my notice. I’m done. Good-bye.” She straightened, turned on her elegant heels, and marched for the closed office door.

He gaped after her. Then realized…Holy shit, Ella is really leaving me. This can’t happen! He bounded over the desk and raced after her. “Stop!”

She wasn’t stopping. Or even slowing. She was opening the door.

His hand flew out and shoved the door closed again. “Ella, no!” He sounded desperate. Probably because he was desperate. “Let’s talk about this.” He stared at the back of her head. The sleek mane of strawberry blonde hair. She even smelled like strawberries. He figured it was her shampoo or her body lotion or something that she used, and the scent always drove him crazy.

**Preview courtesy of  Cynthia Eden, to read more click HERE**

 

 

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Save the Date by Ellen Fannon (Book Spotlight / Author Interview)

Content Rating:  G

 
What if you were given the chance to rekindle the flame with your first love? What happened to all those girls who were mean to you in school? Should Hannah Jensen take the chance of attending her high school reunion to find out?

Hannah hasn’t been back to her hometown in more than twenty years. Now, a widow, raising a teenaged daughter, she has the opportunity to go home for her twenty-fifth high school reunion. The invitation to the reunion stirs up a lot of old memories at the same time she is dealing with loneliness, the challenges of single-parenting a teenager, people who want to “set her up” with eligible men, her own insecurities, and her eccentric family.

The story interweaves the present with scenes from Hannah’s past and her fantasy of “happily ever after” with her high school boyfriend in a humorous and entertaining manner. Her feelings from being “shunned” by the cool kids resurface as she reflects back on her time as a teenager. There are several roadblocks on Hannah’s journey from a teenager through her present. The growing pains and amusing situations in which she finds herself are ones to which we all can relate. As she walks the path of self-discovery, she also discovers the most important life lesson of all–her relationship to God.

 
 

Ellen Fannon

Author Ellan Fannon

Award-winning author Ellen Fannon is a practicing veterinarian, former missionary, and church pianist/organist. She originated and wrote the Pet Peeves column for the Northwest Florida Daily News before taking a two-year assignment with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board. She and her retired Air Force pilot-turned-pastor husband have been foster parents to more than 40 children, and the adoptive parents of two sons. Her first novel, “Other People’s Children,” is a humorous account of the life of a foster parent. She is a regular contributing author for One Christian Voice, and her stories have been published in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series as well as Lifeway’s Open Windows devotional booklets, among many other publications. Her third novel about a veterinarian entitled “Don’t Bite the Doctor” will be released in 2021. She lives in Valparaiso, Florida, with her husband, sons, and assorted pets.
 
 
What is your next project?
My next book is called “Don’t Bite the Doctor.” It’s about the adventures of a young veterinarian.
 
 

What genre do you write and why?
I like writing fiction because I can use my imagination.

 

 

What is the last great book you’ve read?
I am actually re-reading the classic “All Creatures Great and Small.”
 
 
Do you snack while writing? Favorite snack?
Sometimes I’ll have some almonds. They last a while and I can crunch on them to release the tension.

 

 

Where do you write?
I always write in my bedroom office area.

 

 

What is your writing schedule?
I try to write two days a week on my days off. I’ll also write on Saturdays sometimes. I don’t write on workdays because my brain is dead by the time I get home.

 

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer: All questions were constructed by the author and/or their representative. 

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Death Perception by Lee Allen Howard (Book Showcase)

Kennet Singleton cremates the dead—and then they speak… “Avenge us!”
 
Nineteen-year-old Kennet Singleton lives with his invalid mother in a personal care facility, but he wants out. He operates the crematory at the local funeral home, where he discovers he can discern the cause of death of those he cremates—by toasting marshmallows over their ashes.
 
He thinks his ability is no big deal since his customers are already dead. But when his perception differs from what’s on the death certificate, he finds himself in the midst of murderers. To save the residents and avenge the dead, Kennet must bring the killers to justice.

 

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Read the first chapter here.

 

 

 

Lori S.
⭐⭐     Death Perception full of clever twists
 
Kennet Singleton is a young man with one of the worst part-time jobs I can imagine – he works in the local funeral home, operating the crematorium. Being a teenager, his mind is capable of dark humor adults might not understand and Kennet decides to try toasting some marshmallows over the remains of the corpses he burns in the oven.

Okay, he’s a little strange. Then he realizes that eating those marshmallows gives him the knowledge of how the deceased died. And that’s not so bad, until he realizes that the message he gets doesn’t match the information from the death certificate. Someone is murdering people and Kennet thinks his own mother might have been one of the victims. Kennet, with the help of a couple friends, investigates the murders, leading to all kinds of twists and turns that will keep the reader guessing.

Lee Allen Howard is a fine writer, with a knack for creating characters you’ll both love and hate. Everyone in the book comes to life under Howard’s skillful hands. Although the topic is a bit of a gross-out, this isn’t a disgusting book nor is it overly graphic. It’s a good book and I’d highly recommend it.

 
 
A Reader in the Mitten
⭐⭐     Death Perception full of clever twists

I’ve read a few of Lee Allen Howard’s other books, and I believe this is his best. They’re all gritty, realistic and chilling — not in a blood-and-guts way (although some details in Death Perception do spill out), but what I loved is Howard’s more-than-heroic hero. Kennet Singleton has had a rough life, and things just get worse due to some creepy people in the town – his greedy funeral director boss, the cold-hearted owner of the home care place where Kennet’s mother lives, and the half-stoned orderly who targets Kennet whenever possible. Howard does a masterful job peeling the layers in this deeply moving novel, revealing Kennet’s unusual gift of perception, plus the evil surrounding him. I cheered for Kennet every step of the way. A great, satisfying read.
 
 
Jennifer
⭐⭐ 

I’ve always enjoyed a good underdog story and Lee Allen Howard delivers just that with Death Perception. Our protagonist, Kennet, has had a hard life so why shouldn’t he enjoy some of the sweeter things? His boss may not like him roasting marshmallows on the job at the crematory but the dead don’t seem to mind. In fact, Kennet isn’t your average teen and that momentary pleasure brings him more than just a sugar rush. He soon finds he’s able to make contact with the deceased, giving him knowledge no one else is aware of. Part ghost story and part murder mystery Howard’s clean prose and spot-on timing make for a compelling read. The story is told with compassion for the less fortunate and insight into the way the world often torments the weak. But it also contains some truly laugh-out-loud scenes at the expense of the evil-doers and the ultimate triumph of the underdog. If you enjoy ghosts, revenge tales and mysteries this book is for you.
 
 
 
 

 

About the author

I write dark fiction: horror, erotic horror, dark fantasy, dark crime, psychological thrillers and suspense. And technical manuals. All terribly horrifying.

Lee Allen Howard has been a technical writer in the software industry since 1985. (Why do fiction writers pretend like they don’t have day jobs? I like to eat just like everyone else!) I also edit fiction and non-fiction projects. I’ve done book layout and publishing consultancy.

A long time ago I earned a BA in English from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. I also received an MA in Biblical Studies from CI School of Theology and an MA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University.Pride Flag

My publications include, but are not limited to:

I’m also the founder, editor, and publisher at Dark Cloud Press (http://www.darkcloudpress.com), publisher of horror, dark crime, and psychological thrillers.

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A Rendezvous to Remember: A Memoir of Joy and Heartache at the Dawn of the Sixties by Terry Marshall, Ann Garretson Marshall (Book Spotlight / Author Interview)

Category:  Adult Non-Fiction (18 +), 18 yrs +, 378 pages
Genre:  Memoir, Romance
Publisher:  Sandra Jonas Publishing
Content Rating:  R. This memoir contains mature themes, explicit sex scenes, one f-word, and occasional profanity.

 

In June 1964, Ann Garretson skips her college commencement to tour Europe with Lieutenant Jack Sigg, a tank commander on the German-Czech border, with the hope of returning as his fiancée. A month later, her best friend, Terry, proposes marriage—by mail—throwing all their lives into turmoil.
 
Jack offers the military life Ann grew up with. Terry, a conscientious objector, will leave for the Peace Corps at the end of the summer—unless the draft board intervenes and sends him to jail. Her dilemma: she loves them both. Caught between the old mores and winds of change, Ann must make an agonizing choice. 
 
In alternating voices, A Rendezvous to Remember presents firsthand accounts by the two who eventually married, enriched by letters from the rival, whose path led him elsewhere. Provocative and delightfully uncensored, this coming-of-age memoir is a tribute to the enduring power of love and family.

 

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Author Ann Garretson Marshall
Terry Marshall and Ann Garretson Marshall taught English in the Philippines as Peace Corps volunteers and later served as Peace Corps country co-directors in the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, and Tuvalu. Back in the States, they worked side by side as community organizers and activists in Colorado. Terry went on to write fiction and nonfiction works on discrimination, poverty, rural development, and intercultural conflict. Ann has thirty years of experience as a writer, editor, and community-government go-between for issues related to nuclear and hazardous waste cleanup. Always seeking adventure, Terry and Ann have traveled to forty-three countries. They live in Las Vegas, Nevada.

 

What was the inspiration for A Rendezvous to Remember?

Ann. A Christmas gift: Terry gave me a three-inch, Italian leather binder of our love letters for Christmas 2013. We read the letters out loud to each other each night for the next six weeks. They told a story so emotional and so compelling that we knew we had to write about it.

 

The epilogue to A Rendezvous to Remember includes vignettes from your 2014 trip to Europe to “redo” Ann’s trip with Jack in 1964. What other highlights of that trip are not included in the memoir?

Terry. There are so many, but here’s a special one: In drafting the book, Ann made contact with a French soldier who worked with Jack and Ann’s brother on the Czech-German border. In 2014, we visited him at his home in Tours, France, and spent a delightful afternoon with his family, including four grandchildren straight out of The Sound of Music. A home-cooked, seven-course meal, wine parings, and a journey through his photograph albums, which included snapshots both of Jack and of Ann’s brother.

 

What, if any, is the main un-pulled thread in A Rendezvous to Remember?

Ann. I ache to know what happened to my brother’s girlfriend Gretchen after she had her baby—my niece! We have searched for her and her child, who would now be in her fifties.

 

You two are a married couple writing about Ann’s love for another man. Didn’t that cause problems between you? Or did Ann simply leave out the spicy parts?

Terry. Not really. We set out to explore how we came to be a couple. It was a journey of discovery, not an attempt to “tell (or sell) our story,” so we dug as deeply and wrote as honestly and frankly as we could. The result: It brought us closer together because we gained tremendous insights into each other’s actions and feelings. Frankly, the writing—though painful at times—was wonderfully fulfilling.

 

What was the dumbest thing you did during the period covered in A Rendezvous to Remember?

Ann. Hitchhiking by myself across Germany without being able to speak German, then getting into the car with the “butcher brothers.” Readers will enjoy this story—it turned out OK. Also, dumping my boyfriend’s Sting Ray in the ditch. I still cringe about this.

Terry. I foolishly chose not to brave the cold and get my condoms from the car on an icy, subzero night in Silverton.

 

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Disclaimer: All questions were constructed by the author and/or their representative. 

 

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Henrietta and the Battle of the Horse Mesa (Henrietta The Dragon Slayer Book 3) by Beth Barany (Book Review)

Finally, the sweeping conclusion to the Henrietta The Dragon Slayer trilogy! 

Parted by destiny, the four friends struggle to rejoin forces and face for a final time, the ruthless sorcerer intent on destroying them all.

In the biggest challenge of her life, Henrietta the legendary Dragon Slayer of Bleuve must lead her people into a battle that may end life as they know it. For they face no ordinary army, but the dark forces of a powerful sorcerer bent on overtaking all five kingdoms. And unless she can rescue her dauntless knight Franc, she must do it without his support.

Franc will follow Henrietta anywhere. But on a mission to find allies among the Horse People, he is kidnapped and taken by minions of the evil sorcerer Eyvindir. Will he find the strength and courage to survive, and fight again at Henrietta’s side?

Paulette, the young fire witch, must stand trial for a murder committed out of desperation. In despair at her imprisonment by forces acting against her dearest friend, Jaxter, she escapes and flees to the frigid, forbidden land of Varangia to find a witch powerful enough to help her finally master fire. But what must she give up to gain the power to aid her friends?

Jaxter, now a king, must come to terms with the heavy responsibilities of ruling the Oro Islands, newly emerged from over 75 years of evil rule. This means doing right, even when it means going against ancient customs and protocols. Worse, the marauding Varangians press at his borders. He must find a way to defend his home, or none of them will survive.

Will Henrietta and her friends be able to stop the ruthless sorcerer from obliterating her, claiming the Dragon Stone, and ruling over the Five Kingdoms?

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(review request submitted by the author for an honest critique) 

 

The gang is all here for the third and final novel in the Henrietta The Dragon Slayer series. While all the familiar faces are present, they each have a quest that keeps them separate but eventually reunites them for the final battle. 

Paulette: searches for a way to control her firepower.

Henrietta: She has too many missions to list. 🙂

Jaxter: He’s searching for Paulette. He’s also working on another item but revealing it would spoil his big reveal, so MUMS THE WORD. 

Franc: He’s mission hasn’t wavered since the last book — protect Henrietta and find the magical villain. 

Antoine: Return home and show he’s no longer a scared child. 

Eyvindir (villain): His evil intentions have stayed constant – get the stone by any means possible! 

 

So many storylines happening = never a dull moment.

With numerous battles, I can understand why Henrietta is always bone-tired and hungry. She’s riding high on adrenaline! 

Beth (the author) did a marvelous job depicting the characters’ individual quests and then merging them at the end for the final showdown. I only wish this wasn’t the end of the series.

Paulette’s story was just heating up, and I believe Jaxter has many tales to tell. 

Beth, great job at leaving this reader wanting more. MUCH MORE! 

 

Heart Rating System:
1 (lowest) and 5 (highest) 
Score: ❤❤1/2

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Award winning author, Beth Barany writes in several genres including young adult adventure fantasy, paranormal romance, and science fiction mysteries. Inspired by living abroad in France and Quebec, she loves creating magical tales of romance, mystery, and adventure that empower women and girls to be the heroes of their own lives.

For fun, Beth enjoys walking her neighborhood, gardening on her patio, and watching movies and traveling with her husband, author Ezra Barany. They live in Oakland, California with a piano and over 1,000 books.

Sign up here to be notified about once a month of book news and special events: http://bethb.net/itbnews.

 

 

Henrietta YA Fantasy Box Set 
Books 1-3
Recommended Age: 12+
Genres/Themes: YA, adventure, fantasy

Buy all three at once!

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