A #Romantic #Blurb from Author Anita Philmar #Excerpt

Blurb for In Too Deep

On the banks of the Trinity River, Sadie Pepperman is looking for a chance to escape the demands of her in-laws. With her husband’s dead, they want her to marry her brother-in-law so they can take control of her farm.

Suddenly, the peace of the day is shattered when her best friend steps too far into the river. Rushing to save her, Sadie meets a handsome stranger that ignites her dormant lust. She sees her friend rescued by a steamship and backs away from Logan Jansen, only to turn her ankle.

The agonizing pain leaves Sadie with the inability to walk. Needing help, she offers Logan a place to stay if he’ll help with the chores on her farm. With his agreement, Sadie adds another problem to her list. Now, not only does she have to worry about how to bring her crops in from the field and run her farm alone but she also has to fight her attraction to Logan.

Can Sadie end her in-laws’ interference in her life,
run her farm alone,
and give love another chance?

Now for the Excerpt:

“Are you a friend of the woman who is drowning?”

Unable to certain what to say to the stranger, she nodded and worked to clear the lump in her throat. How did this man know about Carolyn?

“Move over. I’ll drive. If we hurry I should be able to save her and my friend.” He placed a foot on the side step of the wagon and crowded onto the bench.

She quickly scooted along the wooden plank, allowing him room to settle beside her. Long fingers closed over the reins and he tugged the leather from her grip.

He didn’t wait for an answer. Lifting the reins, he released the brake.

A loud whistle sounded from the river, followed almost immediately by the slapping of paddles against the water.

The man clicked his tongue to encourage Beauty to get moving. He drove the wagon closer to the edge of the river, creating a rough new trail.

Bouncing on the seat like a rag doll, Sadie tried to keep her distance from the man, even though the task was next to impossible with the constant swaying of the wagon. She continually brushed against his arm, shoulder and thigh. A particularly hard bump almost landed in his lap.

“I’m sorry, but you need to slow down,” she complained and straightened.

He drew back on the reins; the wagon rolled to a stop. His head turned in the other direction. He shifted away from her and jumped down from the wagon before she repositioned herself on the bench. “Damn that steamship. They’re rescuing them.”

A little stunned by everything that had happened, Sadie lifted a hand to her throat. Her gaze stayed locked on Logan until his comment finally registered. She glanced at the water and noticed a steamboat cruising down-river. A line hung from the side with two people hanging from the end.

She scrambled off the wagon to keep the boat in sight as it moved farther away. “Oh, no, where will it take them?”

“Probably to the next port, maybe Liberty or on into Galveston.”  When the steamboat rounded a bend and drifted out of sight, the stranger turned. His gaze grew in intensity as he scanned the length of her body. “I’m Logan by the way.”

Burned by his steady regard, Sadie glanced down at her attire. Heat stained her cheeks. The ribbon on her camisole had worked its way loose and the swell of her breasts lay exposed to his view. She’d been about to redress when Carolyn fell into the river. Lifting her hands automatically to cover herself, she bowed her head.

What should she do now?

Purchase In Too Deep 
Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IMQLOMC

Thanks for sharing,

Anita

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/anita.philmar

My blog: http://anitaphilmar.blogspot.com

Twitter: @anitaphilmar

A #Holiday #Recipe from romantic suspense author @Kris_Bock

Crock Pot Cheese Fondue Dip

This is a wonderful treat for a holiday party!

1 (10.75 oz) can cheddar cheese soup
2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1 cup milk
1/4 cup or more green chiles (these can often be found canned in the Mexican section of the grocery store)
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp. chives
1 Tbsp. garlic

Serve with corn chips, celery sticks, cauliflower, etc.

1. Combine all ingredients in a fondue pot or small crock pot.
2. Heat on medium, stirring frequently, until smooth and well blended.
3. Adjust heat to warm and serve in the pot, with chips or veggies on the side. If it starts to get too thick, stir in a little more milk.

See “the dead man’s treasure bonus material” in the left-hand column of Kris Bock’s website for more New Mexico recipes.

Photo credit: New Mexico green chile, by Littlemisslibrarian, Creative Commons License

The Mad Monk’s Treasure

The lost Victorio Peak treasure is the stuff of legends—a heretic Spanish priest’s gold mine, made richer by the spoils of bandits and an Apache raider. When Erin, a quiet history professor, uncovers a clue that may pinpoint the lost treasure cave, she prepares for adventure. But when a hit and run driver nearly kills her, she realizes she’s not the only one after the treasure. And is Drew, the handsome helicopter pilot who found her bleeding in a ditch, really a hero, or one of the enemy?

Erin isn’t sure she can trust Drew with her heart, but she’ll need his help to track down the treasure. She heads into the New Mexico wilderness with her brainy best friend Camie and a feisty orange cat. The wilderness holds its own dangers, from wild animals to sudden storms. Plus, the sinister men hunting Erin are determined to follow her all the way to the treasure, no matter where the twisted trail leads. Erin won’t give up an important historical find without a fight, but is she ready to risk her life—and her heart?

“The story has it all - action, romance, danger, intrigue, lost treasure, not to mention a sizzling relationship....”

“Great balance of history, romance, and adventure. Smart romance with an “Indiana Jones” feel.”

 Well-written with an attention to detail that allowed me to picture exactly in my head how a scene looked and played out.”

Excerpt:

Among all the legends, all the fact and fiction, one story stood out. The Victorio Peak legend had it all. A Franciscan priest and a swindler. Torture, murder, a government cover-up. Where was the truth, among all the stories? Erin wanted to find out. Over time, and with Camie’s encouragement, she’d started to take the treasure hunt more seriously. It wasn’t so much for the treasure itself—that would most likely belong to the government or the landowners. But it would make her reputation, open up new job opportunities—change her life in ways she hardly dared dream.

She touched the book gently. The pages were falling out; she didn’t want to risk carrying it around. Instead, Erin snapped a picture of the petroglyphs with her phone. That would be enough to show Camie for now.

The timing was perfect; she just had to turn in grades and field a few tearful last-minute requests for extensions, and she’d be done for the semester. What better way to spend the summer, than hunting for buried treasure?

Erin shook her head. Who would’ve thought that she, the quiet, studious girl who’d spent her entire adult life in academia in one way or another, would be planning such an adventure?

 Erin wheeled the bike around the front of her house and mounted. At the corner, she paused and looked both ways. The long frontage road was dangerously narrow, with a cement wall on one side and a ditch on the other. Fortunately, traffic was normally light, and at this time of day the road lay empty. Erin pushed off, still grinning from her find. She rode on the right side, by the ditch, instead of facing traffic, because it was just too frightening to ride alongside the wall when a car passed.

She’d gone a block when she heard the hum of a car engine as it pulled out from a side street behind her. She rode along the very edge of the pavement, even though the car would have plenty of room to pass her without oncoming traffic.

Erin glanced over her shoulder. The black SUV 20 feet behind her hadn’t bothered to pull out into the road at all. Jerk. When would drivers learn to share the road with bicyclists? Erin pulled onto the two-foot wide gravel strip between the pavement and the ditch. She couldn’t stop without risking a skid, but she slowed so the SUV could pass.

The engine roared. Erin glanced back again.

Black metal bore down on her. Her heart lurched and the bike wobbled. This guy was crazy! She whipped her gaze forward, rose up in the seat, and pumped the pedals with all her power, skimming along inches from the ditch. He was just trying to scare her. She’d get his license plate and—

She felt the bumper hit her back tire. The bike seemed to leap into the air, and she went flying. The dried mud and weeds of the ditch seemed to rise up to meet her.

  

She didn’t even have time to scream.

Kris Bock writes novels of suspense and romance with outdoor adventures and Southwestern landscapes. The Mad Monk’s Treasure follows the hunt for a long-lost treasure in the New Mexico desert. In The Dead Man’s Treasure, estranged relatives compete to reach a buried treasure by following a series of complex clues. In The Skeleton Canyon Treasure, sparks fly when reader favorites Camie and Tiger help a mysterious man track down his missing uncle. Whispers in the Dark features archaeology and intrigue among ancient Southwest ruins. What We Found is a mystery with strong romantic elements about a young woman who finds a murder victim in the woods. In Counterfeits, stolen Rembrandt paintings bring danger to a small New Mexico town.

Read excerpts at www.krisbock.com or visit her Amazon page. Sign up for Kris Bock newsletter for announcements of new books, sales, and more.

Get The Mad Monk’s Treasure for FREE!

Instafreebie is quick and convenient for people to grab their favorite file type, and you can even set it up so it knows your preference. Feel free to grab a copy! Honest reviews are always appreciated.

Thanks for sharing your book and recipe,

Tina

Is an Author More Than The Person That Wrote a Book? #MFRWauthor

An author works to write the best book they can and once it’s written they then release it to the world. The problem comes in for an author with letting the world know it’s out there and driving people to the places where they can buy a copy.
An entrepreneur is a person who creates a product and assumes the risk for driving that product to market.

Can you see now how the two relate?

Unfortunately, the ability to write a good book is not the same as being a successful business person. Yet, every day authors are working to develop the skills required to market themselves and their books.

Let’s  see what the business world does to make a product successful.

Branding – this has been a buzz word in the writing community for a while now. Chose a style and make it your own. This is a good plan if you only want to write one type of book. If you like different genres or on a wide variety of topics, the brand you’re trying to create might be more like Target than Nike, one offers a range of items, the other sport shoes. Know which one you want to be and plan accordingly.

Marketing Plan – know what you hope to achieve and develop your plan accordingly. Is selling a hundred books enough, a thousand, a million? What is required to reach each one of these levels? What are you will to sacrifice to reach your plan? How much are you willing to spend? What kind of time will this take away from your writing? All these questions and many more need to be answered before you start. If you don’t know where you’re going, how can you expect to get there?

Make sure to set down on paper your budget, books you have to sell, venue that you will use to sell your books. (Publishers website, amazon, etc.)

 

SWOT Analysis -

1. Strengths – what things can you do well and how can you use them to sell your book? What makes your books unique? Many authors see all books in a select genre as their completion. This may not be the case. Example a romance by one author might be humorous while another might be dark, one about babies, another about step-children, one a historical, one contemporary. Now what makes yours different than every one’s else? Can you use that difference to market your book to a select crowd?

2. Weakness – Define what you weakness are, then you can work to overcome them. Some examples are not good at marketing? Hate writing a blog? No time to do social networking? Not good with computers?

3. Threats – what type of things are going to cause you problems? Are commercial ads too costly for you to afford? Can you not think of anything to say on twitter? Does someone have a book out that is very close to yours?  Understand the areas where you will struggle and work to find a strategy to overcome the problem.

4. Opportunities – what type of things are happening in the world that might help you? Example - your book is about politicians and this is an election year.  This is about looking for ways to promote your book that no one else is using.  Try to think outside of the box.

Professionalism – remember you are a business person trying to sell a product. Don’t treat your book or the commitment to be successful as a hobby. If you say you are going to do something, do it in a timely manner without excuses. No one wants to hear why you can’t do it, only that you get it done.

Authors and entrepreneur have a lot in common, so feel free to learn from the business world what is working. Authors may not have investors but we still need to understand what makes our books sell, how we can build a better product, what our clients are looking for, what will increase sales, and market strategies. The business of being an author is not easy so while working to develop your craft also study to become a better entrepreneur because you need both to have success in the publishing world.


Best of Luck,
Tina

 

 

A Friend with a Great Book - Lizzie Starr

Blurb:

Allyn Keely, Celtic artist and friend of Faerie, finally finds a man she can love. But she’s older than he is and faces the insurmountable task of helping him realize his destiny in the Otherworld.

Successful businessman, Jaye Zeroun prides himself on his realistic, but lonely, view of life. Until Allyn knots her way around his heart and fills his life with a fantasy he refuses to believe. Then danger threatens their love, forcing him to either accept a deadly battle or lose the very things he never included in his life, a family and a love beyond his wildest imagining.

Excerpt:

Jaye leaned forward eagerly. “Do you ever use coupons?

“Well, sometimes.” She giggled. “When I remember I have them.”

“Okay. Now, if you were a store,” Jaye lifted a hand to stop the comments obviously hovering on Allyn’s lips. “Just play along with me here. If you were a store, would you accept coupons?”

Allyn shrugged. “Oh. I suppose so.”

“Good.” Jaye picked up the scrap of paper and held it in both hands. “Here is a coupon. I would like to redeem it.”

Allyn looked at him, rolled her eyes and tentatively reached out her hand. Taking the slightly crumpled coupon, she pursed her lips and blew out a long, slow breath. Jaye shivered.

Cautious, Allyn looked down at the paper in her hand. Once again her tinkling laughter flowed through the large lobby, knotting and twining itself around Jaye’s heart. “A bedtime story?”

Before he could answer, Jaye had to pause and catch his breath. His hand trembled slightly and he fought to control the tremor. Allyn lay the coupon on her knee and smoothed the wrinkled paper.

“One of my foster moms used to read or tell me stories to help me go to sleep. Just imagining it didn’t work. Maybe a real story will. I’ll bet you know lots of stories.”

“Where did you get this?”

“I found it last night.”

“Yeah. Right.” She leaned forward to hand the coupon back to him.

“Really. Please, won’t you accept my coupon? Help me out.”

Allyn looked deeply into Jaye’s eyes and he wondered if she was searching for his soul. Something inside opened to her willingly. Surprise touched her eyes before she blinked and sat back. Glancing again at the coupon, she took a few moments to fold it carefully and put it into her skirt pocket. “This isn’t a very good place for a bedtime story.”

“You’ll do it?” Jaye jumped to his feet.

“Yes. To help out a friend.” Allyn smiled up at him, took the hand he offered and let him pull her out of the chair. “You need to be in a familiar space. I suppose your room would be the best.”

Jaye eagerly pulled her toward the elevator. Abruptly, he stopped, turned to her and rested his hands on her shoulders. It was difficult to resist the urge to knead them gently. “I have no ulterior motives, Allyn. I really just need some sleep.”

Reaching up, she patted one of his hands. “I wouldn’t agree if I thought otherwise.”

Buy links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0057XJX8U

Or get a 100% discount on the book at smashwords.


www.smashwords.com/books/view/68513

Find out more about Lizzie

~*~romance with a sparkling twist~*~

http://creativityforhappyendings.blogspot.com

http://starrwords.blogspot.com

www.lizziestarr.com


Thanks Lizzie for sharing your book with us,

Tina