Brandy’s Blog

BLOG TOUR STOP WITH SHAE! GUEST POST AND GIVEAWAY! Fallow Heart by Linda Kage (@TastyBookTours)

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BLURB:

Ten years ago, an oil tycoon’s daughter and a farmer’s son shared a moment neither would ever forget. When she left town in disgrace, a piece of her stayed locked deep within his soul. And like the ground he tended, his emotions lay fallow for years. Cooper Gerhardt’s deeply buried feelings for Jo Ellen Rawlings grew more fertile over time, just waiting for the day she would return to release his deepest desires.
When she strolls back into Tommy Creek, Texas for her ten-year class reunion, Cooper shows her farm boy style exactly what she missed by leaving. Starting a short-term affair is simply unavoidable. But when the week is over, can either of them let go of the responsibilities and apprehensions keeping them apart? Or will their fallow hearts learn to flourish together?

EXCERPT:

Jo Ellen took a deep breath as she entered the tavern, paying careful attention to dropping her keys into her purse and clicking the latch closed.

She hated entering a social establishment alone. She should’ve just told Emma Leigh she’d meet her at their parents’ house where they were staying the entire week.

Thank God she heard her sister’s voice as soon as she tucked her purse under her arm. “Hey, Joey. Over here.”

She didn’t know what she would’ve done, loitering around the bar and looking pathetic all by her lonesome until Emma Leigh had arrived. Relieved she didn’t have to worry about any of that, she smiled and glanced toward the call to find Alexa and Dexter gathered around Branson and her sister. Her step faltered before she regained her momentum, forcing herself to suck it up. If she was going to be stuck as their fifth wheel for the entire week, she might as well get used to it now.

“I’m sorry I’m late. I ran into a traffic jam on the interstate and—”

“You’re not late.” Em checked the Rolex on her wrist. “You’re ten minutes early.”

“I am?” Jo Ellen frowned and consulted her own slim, silver watch. “Then what’re you doing here?”

Her sister really had changed if she actually ran on time these days.
Emma Leigh tossed back her long, dark hair and laughed before explaining, “Oh no. I haven’t changed that much.” She hooked a loving thumb Branson’s way. “Even Mr. Dependable here can’t keep me on time for anything. This one is all Lexi’s fault. She was starving, which forced us to get here early.”

As they glanced in unison at Dexter’s wife, the bartender served her a plate of steaming barbeque. She grinned and waved before she picked up a sauce-dripping rib with her bare fingers and tore into the juicy meat.

Jo Ellen smiled fondly and neared Alexa to set her hand on the baby bump. “How’s my little goddaughter doing in there?” She stroked once before she felt an answering kick. The sign of growing life caught her in the throat, choking her up. So bittersweet, it had her blinking back tears as she dropped her fingers from Lexi’s abdomen.

Nearby, Dexter corrected her, saying, “Godson.”

She brightened. “Oh, you found out the gender?”

“Oops.” Emma Leigh cringed. “Forgot to tell you. They’re having a boy.”

Jo Ellen rolled her eyes. How typical of her sister to forget something so important. Setting her hand on her hip in a scolding manner, she angled a frown at Emma Leigh’s husband. “I thought we discussed this, Branson. You were supposed to work on her communication skills, remember?” She tried to look stern but was sure he could see the teasing glint in her eyes, not to mention the lips she tightened to keep from grinning.

He lifted his hands in surrender. “Hey, she has no problem communicating to me, telling me whenever I mess something up.” Then he grinned, showing how much he didn’t mind such communication.

Jo Ellen laughed, pleased to see her sister so happily married to a man who adored her. This was exactly the life she’d always dreamed of for her twin…and herself.

As the amused sound chimed from her vocal chords, she heard a sharp intake of breath nearby, from the man seated at the bar next to her group. She could make out a vague, blurry image of him from her peripheral vision. By his jeans, boots, and hat, he screamed local, which was exactly why she refused to glance over and focus on his face. From the instant she’d entered Rio’s, she’d been too nervous to look directly at anyone besides the four she’d come to see, too afraid she might recognize someone from years ago.

Cowardly move, sure, but she didn’t care. Her nerves had wadded themselves into a huge, messy ball and she was performing as well as could be expected, faking all her smiles.

But Emma Leigh just had to go and say, “Oh, hey. Look who we ran into as soon as we got here.”

She grabbed Jo Ellen’s arm and revolved her toward the man, practically shoving her into his lap, right between a pair of spread knees. Eyes widening, Jo Ellen gaped at those thick, masculine knees, covered by thin, fraying denim. Her eyes strayed up of their own will, taking in strong, muscled thighs and somehow landing on his crotch, where the fly of his jeans stretched over an impressive bulge nestled under a big shiny brass belt buckle.

She gulped as the man scooted upright, obviously also alarmed by Emma Leigh thrusting her so close.

“Coop’s here,” her sister announced.

Coop?

As in Cooper Gerhardt?

Cooper Thaddeus Gerhardt?

No.

Jo Ellen’s eyes widened on that denim-clad bulge, her face draining of color. If Travis Untermeyer was the number one person she didn’t want to run into, Cooper Gerhardt was the second. Didn’t even matter that he’d turned into a delicious hunk of heaven, which from what she’d seen so far, it looked as if he had.

She jerked her face up, her lips instantly parting with surprise as she came face to face with the grown-up version of Cooper Gerhardt.

Oh, Lord have mercy.

GUEST POST:

“How I Got Into Writing”

This journey started twenty-seven years ago when I was in the first grade. At the time, I wanted to milk cows like my mom or be an artist.  Strange options, I know. But that’s me; strange.

 Then it happened. 

Mrs. Coltrane, my first grade teacher, asked us to write a poem. My poem totally sucked eggs sadly. It was about a rainbow and after I listed all the colors in a rainbow, I called it a pretty, pretty rainbow (did you see there, I used TWO pretties. It’s awesomeness astound me too!).

Well, not one to beat down her student’s fragile egos, Mrs. Coltrane actually praised my awful poem in front of the entire class.  And from that day forward, I’ve always wanted to be a writer.

 My love for the “romance genre” came when I was a freshman in high school. I was listening in on my older sisters talking about how much they loved Sandra Brown stories, so…I read one. Then I had to read another. And another, and before I knew it, I was a total romance junkie.

 The short stories I had always written suddenly turned into romance stories and grew longer.

 It was during the summer break before my senior year in high school that I finished writing my first full-length romance novel. I’d been working on it all morning and was printing out the last few pages when my mom came down to my room and started in on me for not cleaning up my space.

 Instead of apologizing, I turned to her and showed her my book. “I just finished it,” I said. After that, she forgot all about my messy room. My wonderful mother praised me for being an artist!

 Since book number one totally reeked, I wrote another one. This one I submitted to Silhouette, and received a long, horrifying rejection letter. I was only eighteen, so it broke my heart. Oh, hell. Rejection letters still do that to me. It would’ve broken my heart if I had gotten it yesterday.

 Anyway, moving along. I didn’t submit another story for another five years. I wrote some, but I had started college (with a creative fiction writing major) and met my soul mate, so I was a little busy and preoccupied in those years.

 The sixth full-length story I finished was a young adult. My family absolutely loved it. So, I submitted it to a couple places. And received one hundred percent rejections back.  

 Three years passed and I completed my twelfth story before I decided to join Romance Writers of America. The closest chapter to me was over two hours away in Kansas City, but I joined anyway. And I have only actually been to a handful of their physical meetings to this day.

 I really started pushing publication after that, submitting story after story, and learning what NOT to do through all my many rejection letters. I joined a critique group and learned about the ebook industry.

 And after being in RWA for a little bit over a year, I finally sold the first Young Adult story I’d written to The Wild Rose Press. It remains to be my biggest seller to this day.

 I fell in love with ebooks after that. I have Kindle and iBooks apps on my iPad, and the only physical books I read now are the ones given to me or that I win in a contest!

 And that is the tale of my writing journey. Regret asking yet?! Oh, well. Thanks so much for stopping by anyway. I honestly believe the only reason I have any book published today is because I never gave up.

 So that’s how I got into writing. I just kept at it because not-writing simply wasn’t an option!

Thank you so much for taking the time to join us, Linda!

REVIEW BY SHAE:

This book was amazing! I couldn’t put it down. I thoroughly enjoy books that stir all my emotions.  Linda Kage wrote an emotionally amazing story of love and hope.

Cooper is a “farm boy” who was raised to be a gentleman. In a dog eat dog world, the good guys tend to finish last. With the love of his life within reach, he has to decide whether it is more important to put other’s feelings first or go after what he wants most in the world – Jo Ellen. Cooper and Jo Ellen learn that even in tragedy love can flourish and find a way to help heal the heart and soul.

Kage gives us glimpse into the past of the characters 10 years prior to the current events. This allows us to see how even over time, the heart can be “fallow” like a piece of land, but still flourish and produce a great harvest with time and healing.

This is a must add to all romantic reader’s libraries.

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Rated 5 Stars

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AUTHOR INFO

Linda grew up on a dairy farm in the Midwest as the youngest of eight children. Now she lives in Kansas with her husband, toddler daughter, and their nine cuckoo clocks. She works a day job in the acquisitions department of a university library and feels her life has been blessed with lots of people to learn from and love. Writing’s always been a major part her world, and she’s thrilled to finally share some of her stories with other romance lovers.

Follow the rest of the tour HERE!  Don’t forget to Enter the contest HERE for your chance to WIN A $20.00 GIFT CARD FROM AMAZON OR B&N!!

LINKS:

You can find Linda on the web at:

Website – http://www.lindakage.com/

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/linda.kage

FB Fan Page – http://www.facebook.com/authorlindakage

Twitter – http://twitter.com/#!/lindakage

Blog – http://lindakage.blogspot.com/

Google + – https://plus.google.com/117163270588306204279/posts

Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003ILJHKM

GoodReads – http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3213942.Linda_Kage

Pinterest – http://pinterest.com/lindakage/

REVIEW!! EVE: TRAINING HER HUSBAND TO BE HER MASTER BY VIVIEN SPARX (@viviensparx, @beingnev)

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BLURB:

‘Eve’ is a story for every woman who yearns to be submissive and wishes they knew ways to encourage their husband to be more dominant in the bedroom.

Warning! This is a Vivien Sparx story like you have never read before!
It contains explicit sex scenes and graphic language. It is for adult only readers who like their action sweaty, steamy and super hot!

‘Eve’ is the fifth story in the ‘Unleashed’ series…
Also available in the ‘Unleashed’ series are ‘Alicia’, ‘Becky’, ‘Claire’ and ‘Debbie’.
‘Eve’ is a story of approx. 22,000 words

Julia takes on a couple in their mid 30’s and over the course of 5 days shows them ways to re-ignite their sex life and turn the man into a Master for his wife.

REVIEW:

Wow! Hot and spicy is an understatement. I have read all the books in the Unleashed series and they were hot and arousing. This story though, actually touched me. It is the story of Eve and Daniel, who are a happily married couple, that is until Eve begins to think that she is a submissive.

They come to Julia in the hopes that she can help them figure out if Eve is a submissive and how to make Daniel a Master. This is not an easy task since Daniel doesn’t understand the lifestyle and what it entails.

A lot of relationships wouldn’t be able to make it through something like this and I am in awe of the love between these characters.

Vivien has expressed the down and dirty in the BDSM lifestyle and in this one she shows us the everyday part of the lifestyle. I loved it and wonder if I can get my husband to read it. LOL!

Rated 4 Kisses

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BLOG TOUR SPOTLIGHT! EMBRACING SCANDAL BY SUZI LOVE (@TastyBookTours @Crimson_Romance @suzilove)

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Book Blurb:

 The first in my scandal series with heroines whose scientific knowledge and intellect are an affront to increasingly prudish early Victorian society.

After Lady Rebecca Jamison, a mathematical genius, saves her family from financial ruin by secretly investing in railway stocks on the London stock exchange, a greedy syndicate, desperate for Becca’s calculations and predictions, murders her friend and threatens the Jamison family, forcing Becca to beg assistance from her childhood friend, Cayle St. Martin. 

The newly titled Duke of Sherwyn has returned to London after five years on the continent extending his family’s shipping interests. He’s shunned his privileged London life and his father’s unbending attitudes, and becomes committed to employing the spying tactics he learned on the continent to help Becca indict the syndicate -and using his skills as a lover to seduce her into his bed.

 But how will Cayle be able to convince Becca, a determinedly self-sufficient spinster, that he can be more to her than just a protector?

 

Book Excerpt:

Lady Rebecca Jamison watched Cayle. Under the rules of etiquette, she must remember to address him as Your Grace or Sherwyn in public, despite knowing he’d abhorred the bowing and scraping expected by dukes, including his father.Becca tried to judge his level of inebriation and his reaction to her news, though she was wise enough to stay out of arm’s reach. In the past, her knight in shining armour had constantly overreacted if he thought her adventures, or misadventures, placed her in harm’s way.
“Please, my dear.” The new duke’s fists unfurled as he flung his arms wide in a dramatic gesture. “Go ahead and clarify that terrifying statement.” His voice lifted another octave.“Before my hair turns completely white. Or my legs give out.”
Neither Cayle’s fury nor his towering size frightened Becca. But she was terrified that the city would awaken and the streets fill with people before he became calm and rational and listened to her plea for his help in collecting the final proof that would send at least a dozen of their peers to prison for illegal trading practices.
“Or even worse.” He voice was a low snarl as he pointed at the floor. “I misplace the contents of my heaving stomach all over the duchess’s prized carpet.”
Becca winced. For the tenth time she listed to herself the reasons she’d bravely bearded this particular panther in his lair.
To protect her family.
To secure the nest eggs saved by the fallen women at the shelter.
To save her own life.
As the new Duke of Sherwyn, Cayle was her best, or possibly only, chance to do all that and to keep her promise to Scotland Yard. She hoped he’d listen with an open mind. Hoped he’d comprehend how much danger her family and friends were in without realising how close she had come to also being murdered.
“I’d gone to Peggy’s cottage to collect some letters she’d written on behalf of our Women’s Society. The door was ajar. I knocked but Peggy didn’t answer so I went inside.”
Peggy had been sprawled across the floor, her sturdy legs protruding at odd angles from her yellowing nightgown. Her hair had been matted with blood and tangled in the strings of her dislodged nightcap and her plait had been a rusty red mess instead of a neat tail of plain brown.
“I can’t sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I see the murderer standing over Peggy’s battered body. But he runs towards me. Not away.” She shuddered and closed her eyes.
Fingers brushed her cheek. “Becca, I’ll not let anyone harm you.”
“If I’d only arrived at Peggy’s cottage a few minutes earlier.”
“Stop it. You mustn’t blame yourself.”
“How can I not? One life has already been destroyed because of me. My friend was killed. Her body discarded like a tattered rag doll.”
His bloodshot gaze narrowed on her face. “So, knowing how your mind works, you’ll try to focus the consortium on yourself, and thereby keep everyone else out of danger.” He raised a brow. “Am I correct?”
Damned man was still a mind reading menace. “You’re wrong. I’ve little wish to confront those men by myself. But neither will I allow anyone else to be hurt.”
“And who protects you from the current set of fire–breathing dragons?”
She raised her chin. “I’ve outgrown such childishness.” She lowered herself to the closest settee, a demonstration of ladylike maturity and a reprieve for her trembling knees.

SUZILOVEPIC

 

Author Bio:

 Suzi Love now lives in a sunny part of Australia after spending many years in developing countries in the South Pacific. Her greatest loves are traveling, anywhere and everywhere, meeting crazy characters, and visiting the Australian outback. She adores history, especially the many-layered society of the late Regency to early Victorian eras. In and around London, her titled heroes and heroines may live a privileged and gay life but Suzi also likes to dig deeper into the grittier and seamier levels of British life and writes about the heroes and heroines who challenge traditional manners, morals, and occupations, either through necessity or desire.

 Book Buying Places

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

iTunes

Crimson Romance eBooks

All Romance eBooks

 

Embracing Scandal

Publisher -Crimson Romance

Publication Date -February 18th, 2013

ISBN-1440560498(ISBN13:9781440560491)

Read about Suzi Love -Author Bio at Crimson Romance

Read about Embracing Scandal -Goodreads

 Suzi Love’s Latest News

Take a peek at what Suzi Love gets up to each day ather magazine and newspaper.

Suzi Love’s Web roundup – https://www.rebelmouse.com/suzilove/

Suzi Love’s Daily Gossip Newspaper -http://paper.li/f-1350000229

Suzi Love’s Web Places Web / blog- http://bit.ly/OuEIXA

Suzi Love’s Face Book Author Page http://on.fb.me/NGeZcp

Twitter- http://twitter.com/suzilove

Pinterest – http://bit.ly/SoevJG

Goodreads – http://bit.ly/SXqWcS

Diigo Research Links –http://bit.ly/QQPiVX

Suzi Love’s Blogging Places

Historical Hearts -Australian historical romance – http://historicalhearts.blogspot.com

Sultry Scribes -Australian romance authors -http://sultryscribes.wordpress.com

Ladies in Red -Crimson Romance authors -http://crimsonromanceauthors.com/
Follow the tour HERE!  Click HERE for your chance to win a $20.00 gift card to Amazon or B&N!!

BLOG TOUR BLAST! ADDICTED TO ANSLEY BY LINDA KAGE

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BLURB:

Through all the years that passed, the memory of their love never faded.

Motivational speaker and drug rehab counselor Ward Gemmell can hold an audience in the palm of his hand-because he knows what it’s like to have everything he loved slip through his fingers. When a particularly heartfelt speech reunites him with the daughter he never knew he had, suddenly the love of his life is back within his grasp. What could a guy like him do to earn a second chance?

Good girl Ansley Marlow was heartbroken the day Ward revealed his hidden life-the kind of secret that would tear anyone apart. But so many years have passed and so much has changed that it isn’t as hard now for her to believe in fate and redemption, even when those around her are unforgiving. All she needs is the strength to reach out and reclaim the beautiful life she should have had so long ago.

Author Information:

Linda grew up on a dairy farm in the Midwest as the youngest of eight children. Now she lives in Kansas with her husband, toddler daughter, and their nine cuckoo clocks. She works a day job in the acquisitions department of a university library and feels her life has been blessed with lots of people to learn from and love. Writing’s always been a major part her world, and she’s thrilled to finally share some of her stories with other romance lovers.

You can find Linda on the web at:

Website – http://www.lindakage.com/
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/linda.kage
FB Fan Page – http://www.facebook.com/authorlindakage

Follow the rest of the tour HERE and make sure you click HERE for your chance to win a $20.00 Amazon Gift Card!!

REVIEW! KISS ME THE KEATYN CHRONICLES:BOOK 2 BY JILLIAN DODD (@jilliandodd)

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BLURB:

Gossip Girl meets Hollywood in this steamy new series.
I’ve always written scripts for my perfect life.
But no way could I have ever scripted this.
My life is so far from perfect, it’s not even funny.
All because of a stalker.

I’m at a boarding school, where I have to lie about who I am.
I can’t see my family.
I’m tutoring a hottie god that tortures me with his smile.
The most popular girl already hates me.
But there’s this boy.
This hot, sweet, sexy boy.
So I’m going to stop trying to script my life and just live it.
Because who knows how long I have left.

REVIEW:

HELLLOOO BOARDING SCHOOL!!! Ummm, I gotta say if the hotties at my school were like this I think I would still be there. 🙂 This is the second installment of Keatyn’s chronicles and I am just as hooked as with the first one.

Keatyn has escaped the clutches of Vincent and is in hiding at a boarding school. She can’t see or talk to any of her friends and is told that she may never be able to return to her former life. Now, I have to be honest for a few minutes of this book, I thought she was turning into a bit of a slut. She is kissing boys left and right. Then it dawned on me that I was reading the life of a seventeen year old and that is what we all have done at one point or another. Aiden, or the God of all Hotties, blows hot and cold but I think there is a lot more to this young man than we read about in this story and I can’t wait to see where Jillian takes him. Dawson is your sexy player turned hot boyfriend but I just have a feeling he is a rebound guy.

Keatyn gets smart and makes friends first with boys. I have to say that some of my bestest friends in the world at that age were boys. They are so much more fun than girls!  I think there is a lot of potential for friendship with Peyton but that is down the road.  We shall see. 🙂

I freaked out when she went to see Brooklyn and well, I think you should read it understand why I was tripping at 3 a.m.!

I can’t wait for more from this awesome author!

REVIEW! STALK ME: THE KEATYN CHRONICLES: BOOK ONE BY JILLIAN DODD (@jilliandodd)

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BLURB:

Gossip Girl meets Hollywood in this steamy new series by That Boy author, Jillian Dodd.
Keatyn has everything she ever dreamed. Her life is following the script she wrote for the perfect high school experience. She’s popular, goes to the best parties, dates the hottest guy, and sits at the most-coveted lunch table.

She’s just not sure she wants it anymore.

Because, really, things aren’t all that perfect.
Her best friend is threatening to tell everyone her perfect relationship is a scam.
Her perfect boyfriend gets drunk at every party they go to.
It’s exhausting always trying to look and act perfect.
And, deep down, she isn’t sure if she has any true friends.

To add to the drama, her movie star mom has a creepy stalker.
A hot, older man flirts with her and tells her they should make a movie together.
And she’s crushing on an adorable surfer. Dating him would mean committing social suicide.

So she writes a new script. One where all the pieces of her life will come together in perfect harmony.
But little does she know, there’s someone who will do anything to make sure that doesn’t happen.

REVIEW:

Everyone that follows along enjoys books, right?  Sometimes I get so busy with the blog and tours that I forget what it is like to get lost in a book.  I don’t sleep much as it is but it has been awhile since I have enjoyed a book so much that I read the second one the same night and did without sleep. 

This book is fun with a capital F!  Keatyn is a simple yet complex character that I found myself rooting for the entire book.  I know how hard it is to be a teenager but to be one with her parents and friends, well let’s just say I am impressed with how normal she is. 

Her life is a fairytale that is for sure!  She is part of the golden couple at school.  She has been with her boyfriend for over a year and she is read to take the next step but he isn’t.  She is best friends with a hot and sexy lead singer, who is getting ready to go on tour and a soul deep surfer who rocks her world.  Throw in a hottie party guy that is crushing on her, vindictive bitchy best friends, and movie-star hotness for parents and this girl owns it!

When a sexy older man befriends her and begins to draw her in, she decides she wants to follow in her mom’s footsteps.  However, things are not always what they seem and the most delicious package can be deadly.  Sometimes, you just can’t escape fate.

Check it out, kittens and let me know if you are as into the world of Keatyn as I am! 

~Brandy~

COVER REVEAL!! VOLCRIAN’S HUNT BY T.L. SHREFFLER

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volcrianshuntcover

 

Title: Volcrian’s Hunt (Book 3 of The Cat’s Eye Chronicles)
Author: T. L. Shreffler (www.tlshreffler.com)
Release date: September 30th, 2013
Discover the World: www.catseyechronicles.com

Click here to add to GOODREADS!

Synopsis:

A cursed plague is spreading across the land. Crops are rotting. People are dying in the streets. Sora, with the help of her magical Cat’s Eye necklace, is the only one who can stop it.
She must travel overseas to the Lost Isles, a place of legend and mystery. Only there can she destroy the bloodmage, Volcrian, putting an end to the curse. She is accompanied by Crash, a lethal assassin who once threatened—and saved—her life. But Sora is beginning to question her dark companion. He seems to be carrying a secret; a hidden past that could endanger them all.

Meanwhile, they are hunted by an underground society known as the Shade. For centuries, the Shade has waited for the perfect opportunity to step into the light. Now they are perilously close to resurrecting a Dark God and unleashing a wave of unimaginable destruction. They only need to collect the three sacred weapons, and Sora has already found two….

Youtube Trailer

About the Author:

T. L. Shreffler lives in Los Angeles, CA. She loves diversity, fantasy, romance, iced tea, long walks, philosophy and thrift store shopping. She recently graduated with a BA in Badass (Creative Writing) and her poetry has been published consecutively in Eclipse: A Literary Journal and The Northridge Review.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/tlshreffler
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5138153.T_L_Shreffler
Website: www.tlshreffler.com
Email: therunawaypen@gmail.com

Click HERE for an awesome giveaway!

BLURP TOUR STOP!! 88 KEYS BY CATHERINE LAVENDER (@TastyBookTours)

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BLURB:

Leah is a young woman who is trying to break free from a strict religious background and pursue her dream as a pianist in the world of show business. While trying to find her independence her heart is held captive by Jason Rowe a local basketball star who established an organization to help troubled youth. When Jason is found murdered in his home, Leah is determined to get answers from a closed investigation. During her state of emotional turmoil, Leah finds comfort not only in the melody of her music, but in the arms of a married man named Calvin. With her dreams at her fingertips, Leah is tangled in a web of lies and deceit. Despite the fear of learning the truth, Leah has to realize that only the truth can set her free.

A dead lover, with a trail of broken hearts…

A married man, with a double-life…

A dream chaser, with a killer at her heels…

A piano, with eighty-eight keys…

EXCERPT:

The jarring ring of the telephone pulled Leah back into the present. It took her a couple of rings to find the buried cell phone. “Hello?”

 “Hey, Leah, it’s Quincy. I was just calling to check up on you.”

 She settled back into a small section of the couch. “Hi, Quincy. I’m doing okay.”

 “You sure?” She could hear the concern in his voice. “You sound a little sad.”

 The picture of her and Jason crumpled in her fist. “Well, you know how it is. I’m surrounded by ghosts at every turn.”

Her inner voice urged her to change the subject quickly. “How are you doing?”

 “Well, that kind of brings me to the second purpose of this call. Would you mind coming in this afternoon? There is still so much to do for the gala, and we can use all the help we can get.”

 Leah looked at her watch, then at the mess in her living room. “Yep, I can be there in a couple of hours.”

Saying her goodbyes, Leah hung up the phone and made a mental note to pick up, packing boxes along the way.

When her lease was up, she was moving to her neon oasis—Las Vegas. Leah was going to be a pianist.

 Running thirty minutes late, Leah pulled into the parking lot of Bright Horizons Youth Group. She didn’t see Mrs. Turner and Rosa until she almost collided into them.

 “Oh, oops, sorry,” Leah said, fumbling with her purse and notebook. “I, um, didn’t see you there.” The look on Rosa’s face was pure anger.

 “Well, we are certainly glad you’re here,” Mrs. Turner said with an airy smile. “There is just so much that needs to be done, and well, it is your business to know how to do this.”

 Leah smiled, situating her purse on her shoulder, and avoided eye contact with Rosa in case one of the thousand daggers thrown from her eyes would penetrate. “You know, I am just happy to help,” she said to the older woman.

Leah cringed at the overly eager sound of her own voice.

 “And we are so glad you are helping, swallowing your pride for the good of Bright Horizons.” Mrs. Turner wore her Armani dress like it was a second skin, her makeup and hair flawless as always. Her smile was etched, and didn’t quite spread to the rest of her face.

 “I don’t understand why…” Rosa said. Her hostility spoke volumes.

 Leah braced herself for a very vocal confrontation.

 “No, dear.” Mrs. Turner put a beautifully manicured hand on Rosa’s forearm. “You don’t understand, and you never will if you don’t check your attitude.”

 A car horn caused all three women to look around. “Ah, that’s for me.” Mrs. Turner pulled a sheet of paper from her book, not acknowledging the impatient student honking.

 Leah didn’t want to know why the University’s current basketball star was sitting in Mrs. Turner’s car.

 “If you both will excuse me, I have more important mat-ters to attend to.” She handed Leah a long list, “Be a dear and see if you can crank this out.”

 The two women eyed each other warily.

 Rosa brushed past Leah. “Don’t you dare screw this up,” she hissed.

 “Why would you think that?” Leah usually kept to herself as far as Rosa was concerned, but the implication bothered her.

 Rosa slid on a pair of sunglasses. “Because you screw everything up.”

 88KEYSAUTHOR

Author Bio and Links

Catherine Lavender is from Baltimore, Maryland but now resides in Tampa, Florida with her miniature schnauzer name Ripken. She is an animal activist, as well as a supporter of the organization First Book which helps supply literature for underprivileged children. In her spare time, Catherine enjoys reading classic literature and playing the acoustic guitar.

 

 Links:

Website: http://www.catherinelavender.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Catherine-Lavender/186543831472093

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lavenderpages

GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6641425-catherine-lavender

Buy Links:

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http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/eighty-eight-keys-catherine-lavender/1114281705?ean=9781936167838

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http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Eighty-Eight-Keys/Catherine-Lavender/9781936167838?id=5491362841818

Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Eighty-Eight-Keys-ebook/dp/B00BB0MZ06/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1360124072&sr=8-13&keywords=Eighty-Eight+Keys