{TEASER TUESDAY}: Expecting Danger by Jennifer Pierce

Teaser Tuesday is back!! I'll be sharing snippets from my own books--both published and works-in-progress, along with inviting other authors to stop by and share exclusive excerpts of their own books.

Today, I have the lovely and ever funny Jennifer Pierce sharing an exclusive excerpt from her Christian romantic suspense, Expecting Danger!

And to make today even more awesome, the book is ON SALE for only $0.99. Grab your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Expecting-Danger-Small-Town-Guardians-ebook/dp/B07KT5ZG8K/

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

She closed the door behind her and tiptoed down the hall to the front room. She opened the door, locked the doorknob, and closed it behind her. Thanks to Mrs. Hart and the fact that Jake left his laptop booted up, Kate had had an opportunity to locate the bus station and find the schedule and price list. Luck was on her side—a bus to California would be stopping at the station this morning at four o’clock to drop passengers off. She was going to be on that bus and out of Whitehaven before Jake even woke up.
Guilt gnawed at her for leaving the way she was, but it had to be done. She hiked her go bag up on her shoulder and marched toward the bus station. She came to a stoplight and looked around. She had studied the map online and had followed the street signs. The bus stop should be right ahead, but it wasn’t.
Frustration building, she knew she had taken the right roads. Maybe her judging of distance was off. Maybe the station was up a little farther. She’d keep walking, and it’d be right up the road.
Looking both ways before crossing the street, even in the middle of the night when Whitehaven seemed like a ghost town, she was cautious. There were no cars around. After a few minutes, the low rumble of an engine sounded behind her. A vehicle must have turned onto the road a couple of blocks back.
The rumble grew louder. She estimated it to be at the stoplight she’d stopped at a little bit ago. The vehicle was driving slowly. She glanced over her shoulder and noticed it was about twenty feet behind her and driving at a snail’s pace. Could it be Salt-and-Pepper? Had Kazakov’s men already made it to Whitehaven?
Her pace increased as fear propelled her forward. The engine got louder as the truck got closer. Then it was next to her. Fear clogged her throat, and she couldn’t breathe. What was she supposed to do? She’d never be able to outrun anyone. The truck kept pace with her, but she didn’t look at it. She didn’t want to see who it was. Her legs tingled, and her already-racing heart sped up. She heard the window roll down.
This was it. They were going to shoot her and leave her to die in the street. Perspiration rolled down her face as she frantically searched for a place to hide.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Kate has been on the run from the men who killed her husband and left her for dead—which isn’t easy considering she’s eight months pregnant—but now they’ve found her. Again. Still reeling from her late husband’s betrayal, the last thing Kate wants is the help of a handsome stranger.

Security expert, Jacob Jones, is still grieving the loss of his pregnant wife, and he’s not ready to move on. But when he thwarts an attempted abduction of the beautiful Kate, he finds himself inexplicably drawn to her. Despite her reluctance, he’s determined to do whatever it takes to save her, including giving up his own life.

Kate’s only option is to take a leap of faith and allow Jacob to help her. But can she trust him to keep her and her unborn baby alive? Or will he fail her like everyone else in her life?

ON SALE FOR ONLY $0.99!

BUY NOW!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jennifer Pierce currently lives in Arkansas 
with her husband and two children. 

Follow Jennifer on Twitter. 

{TEASER TUESDAY}: The Impossible by Joiya Morrison-Efemini

Teaser Tuesday is back!! I'll be sharing snippets from my own books--both published and works-in-progress, along with inviting other authors to stop by and share exclusive excerpts of their own books.

Today, I have the lovely Joiya Morrison-Efemini sharing an exclusive excerpt from her book, The Impossible!

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Now,

Sofie’s skin was the color of a French baguette, and also 
the color of her Ma’s homemade bread, which her Ma 
called loafs, and so they gave her the nickname
Loafy.

They spoke it at first as teasing siblings, and then 
progressively, as witches, conjuring curses so vile that
if Sofie closed her eyes, her skin would actually sizzle 
like arrows, alight, arched
rained down upon her.

She was the lightest one in a place and a time when the 
color of one’s skin sent a message…
As if there has ever been a time when it didn’t.

She was impossibly light.
Ma and Pa were as dark and dry
and fine as the cocoa powder her Ma used to bake 
that rare chocolate something.

They were both long of leg and finger and neck; 
they sat and stood erect, even under the incredible strain 
of farm and family, and default.

Sofie often said that she always knew she could never be 
like the rest of them – 
working fields, enveloped by the scorch of Georgia’s heat,
hands and feet 
callused, 
scabbed,
bloodied, 
and scarred.
Bodies rail thin, burnt, and weary from slaving 
without ceasing.

Yet, ending up in more debt each year, paying for 
scraps for a lifetime, and never owning anything but
your name. Even that stolen long ago and replaced.

She could see, even as the smallest child that her people 
worked the land the white folks owned, and the white 
folks took all the money, rationing it out to her kin in 
portions so small they were forced onto their knees, but 
just enough to make them stay there, begging for more.

She would never beg white folks for anything…
It’s a poor dog that don’t even have his own bone!

And because she believed it so exhaustively, she made 
her Ma believe it too, 
and her Pa had no opinion; he didn’t ever 
seem to have an opinion when it came to Sofie.
She never did work like them, thus, more curses conjured.

Even after she reached six - the age when all the other children 
were sent to the fields - she stayed in the house with her Ma.

She asked her Ma question after question,
And Ma, who had spent most of her life being talked at,
took a liking to being talked to.
Up to a point.
And a wooden spoon taught
Sofie when to shut up.

In a household where no one could read, 
Sofie trained herself by memorizing the Lord’s prayer.
And having the preacher show her where it was in the Bible exactly
she matched words on packaging around the house
to what people called the items inside them.

At ten she started doing the cooking alone
Instinct turned her Ma’s once bland meals, meant to 
sustain, into feasts that filled and made them all flourish, 
despite themselves. 

She cleaned, and their stubborn little house with more inhabitants than walls, 
which had never held tidy,
reluctantly obeyed her.

Items previously left askew idled in their places; the
once steady stream of tracked-in red clay and rusty mud;
Dust,
Kitchen grime,
Roaches…
All 
reversed in their tracks.

Her Ma, 
whose autobiography was thought complete, 
was relieved to live out the rest of her life in direct 
contrast to how she’d written it. 
Now she could be found out in her garden, 
or sitting on the old rocker Pa had made her, 
feet up on the battered trunk that doubled as a whiskey table, 
mending some item of clothing and 
yelling to Sofie every now and then to 
see to some chore that Sofie had already seen to 
two chores ago.

Her Ma loved all of her children in the way of all 
life-guarding mothers back then
raising cream and brown and black children.
She hurled harsh words and 
painful insults at them in continuous waves, 
intending to smooth them like ocean rocks, to buff them so slick 
that the hatred hailed down at them 
from the world they lived in
would slip right off and not impale them.

She needed to pressure wash any defiance off them;
any audacity that might push back against the unjust 
wickedness, 
and get them maimed, or killed.

Occasionally, between the tides, a painful gentleness 
broke through unannounced and unwelcomed; 
she struggled against it, thinking that it would harm them.
She had no notion that it actually resuscitated them;
preserved them against those brutal, relentless waves.
Gave them hope.
A bright light of promise just beyond the dark.
Perhaps. Possibly. Just maybe.
Within reach?

Their Ma was hard and impartial enough that the 
siblings concentrated on blending into their duties.
They were always safe in the camouflage of hard work. 
Not one had the energy to maintain rivalry. 
Except against Sofie, who was drenched by a steady 
flow of envy from all of them. 
Sofie, thrown overboard,
yet maintained her buoyancy.

In an attempt to stitch the gash that separated her 
children, Sofie’s Ma often remarked to herself, but 
loud enough for all to hear, of Sofie’s virtues. 
Her siblings preferred to see her as…
lazy, 
pampered, 
favored,
(whispered) Illegitimate.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Does God put discouragers in our path to create discomfort? Can the disquiet of not belonging be of Him, to spur us into forging ahead to places unknown? Can He use the illiterate to build empires? Can He restore broken hearts and enable forgiveness for the most crushing of transgressions? What could happen if we believed God was in the midst of it all? Once upon a time, a simple girl and a simple boy fell in love. This was back in the time when marriage did not succumb to suffering or unkindness. It survived pride and envy. It was not expected to be perfect. It bore and believed and hoped and endured. The girl  opened herself up to the boy and he propelled into her love. And they bound to one another and multiplied. They fled from a world of hate and settled someplace safer. But evil found them. And they fell. They forget for just an instant, about love. They couldn’t feel it, so they thought it was dead. They mistakenly understood it to be buried under the hate they’d tried to escape. It was still there. Merely disguised in pain and fear. The girl and the boy limped through life, defenseless. But He whispered… This is their story…  

BUY NOW!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Joiya Morrison-Efemini is a Christian wife and mother of four fantastic kiddos. She is the author of two other publications, a lyrical collection of short stories entitled THE NOTES THEY PLAYED (2017), and a Young Adult novel entitled PETRIFIED FLOWERS (June, 2020). She lives in Marietta, Georgia.

Follow Joiya on her website, Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, and Goodreads. 

TEASER TUESDAY: Megan O'Russell

Have I got a treat for all of you today! Not only do I have the lovely Megan O'Russell here to share an exclusive excerpt of her debut novel, THE TETHERING, she's also agreed to answer a few questions for us! 

~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT:

“Jacob. You are special. Different, like me. You have abilities that you don’t understand, but when you’re upset—”

“What are you talking about?”

“Magic, Jacob. Wizardry, sorcery, maleficium, whatever you want to call it. I’m a witch, you’re a wizard, and we need to get out of here,” she said, her tone becoming more urgent.

Jacob stared at her. He ran his hand over Emilia’s cheek.

She grabbed his hand with hers. “Jacob, I’m real. And this is real. There is a whole world out there. A magical world. But you have to decide right now if you want to be a part of it. There are things in my world that are beyond your imagination, but if you come with me, you can never go back to being normal. You can never come back here.”

“Emi.” Jacob shook his head. “This is crazy. What are you talking about?”

She brought his hand between them. It was covered in small cuts from shards of McManis’s mug. His hand started to feel warm in her grasp. Not unpleasantly so, but as though it were submerged in warm water. Then his skin started to tingle and sting. The places where the skin had been broken began to look almost iridescent. Finally, the glow subsided and the cuts started to fade. After only a few seconds, his hand was completely healed.

“It is real, Jacob.” Emilia stared into Jacob’s eyes. “Will you come with me?”

Jacob couldn’t think beyond Emilia’s return. She was really back. He was tired, and his brain felt fuzzy. His school was wrecked. His father was dead.

He wanted to be angry with Emilia. He wanted to shake her for making him even more confused, to yell at her for disappearing for four years, for clearly leaving out some very important details in the course of their friendship. He didn’t understand what was happening. He held Emilia’s delicate hands in his. He would do anything to keep her from disappearing again. He would follow Emilia Gray to the ends of the earth.

“Do I need to pack anything?” he asked.

~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:
All sixteen-year-old Jacob Evans wants is to win the heart of Emilia Gray, but with order in the magical world crumbling, war threatening, and Emilia’s boyfriend living across the hall, he may never have the chance.

Jacob Evans loses everything he has ever known and is tossed into a world of magic. The Dragons, a group of rebel wizards, are threatening to expose the existence of magic to humans. Jacob is determined to find a way to fit into Emilia’s family, but as his powers grow, so does the danger. With the death toll mounting, Jacob is accused of acts of rebel terrorism and must fight to stay in a world he’s only just beginning to discover. 

When Emilia’s life is threatened, Jacob must risk everything to save her. Does he have the power to rescue her in time? And what could their survival cost?

Add to Goodreads!

BUY LINKS:   Amazon / B&N / Smashwords / Silence in the Library

INTERVIEW:
KARA: Where did you get the inspiration to write THE TETHERING?

MEGAN: It actually all started with a scene at the end of the prologue that takes place a few years before the main body of the book. There was a boy who was all alone, and I had to find a way to save him.

KARA: What is your favorite scene from this book?

MEGAN: I do have a favorite scene. It comes towards the end of the book, and it was so hard to write. I knew what had to be done, but finding the right words was heartbreaking. I won’t give you a snippet of that since I’m not a fan of spoilers. ;-)

KARA: What type of research did you do while writing THE TETHERING?

MEGAN: Most of the research time was spent looking at Latin roots to use as the basis for the spell language found throughout the book. I also spent a lot of time looking at maps figuring out how far apart things were. The most extreme bit of research I did was climbing a mountain in a certain state park to make sure it was suitable to be used in The Tethering.

KARA: What is your least favorite scene from this book? Or rather, the scene you had the most difficulty "getting right"?

MEGAN: There is a council meeting scene, and it drove me crazy. Figuring out who was there, who was conspicuously absent, and how many people that left in the room felt like the bullet scene from the movie Clue. Two plus one plus one plus two... And then deciding who came from where, what side they were on, and who needed more emphasis because I would need them later in the series was a nightmare. Just thinking about it makes me want a bag of gummy bears.

KARA: Why did you choose to write YA as opposed to adult?

MEGAN: I don’t think it was a conscious choice. I had a story that I needed to write, and it just so happened to be YA. And I think there is something really special about writing YA. You get to explore so many firsts: first kiss, first heartbreak, and that’s amazing. I love the innocent passion that YA lends itself to. I’m still working on finishing The Tethering series, but of my other two works in progress, one is an Adult Romance, and the other is a Middle Grade Fantasy. I really want to explore different genres. The Tethering is just where my heart led me first.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Megan O’Russell is thrilled to be publishing her premier novel The Tethering with Silence in the Library Publishing. Originally from New York, Megan is a professional actress who spends her time traveling the country for different shows. When not on stage or writing, Megan spends time with her beloved ukulele and her wonderful husband. To follow Megan’s writing adventures, you can visit her website at meganorussell.com. You can also find Megan on Facebook and Twitter. 

TEASER TUESDAY: Katie L. Thompson

Welcome to another installment of TEASER TUESDAY. I'm excited to have the lovely Katie Thompson here with us today. It's been a while since she's visited, and today she'll be sharing an excerpt from her novel, DEATHLY WHITE. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT:

“My God that’s horrid.” Jamie took a step backwards. “Fancy being murdered on your wedding day. It’s meant to be the happiest day of your life.”

An arm of metal was clamped around the woman’s neck, her body dangled beneath, being pushed back and forth in the strong breeze. Her white dress billowed out around her, splattered with blood and dirt.

“Well, we know for sure she wasn’t killed using the gibbet. Half the parts are missing and these wounds on her neck and shoulder look more like stab wounds,” Carl spoke aloud as he wrote bits down in his notebook.

“Why go to the trouble of bringing a dead woman all the way up here? Anyone could have seen.”

Carl shrugged.

“There’s not much more we can do here,” Danny said. “Take the best photos you can, call someone to take her down to the morgue and see if you can find someone to identify what made those wounds. Jamie and I will go to the wedding, see what we can find out from there.”

The wedding reception looked more like a wake. It was clear from the second they walked through the door that everyone knew what had happened.

A deathly silence fell over the room as people noticed their presence.

“I’m Detective Sergeant Daniel Brookes and this is Detective Inspector Jamie Stanley. We are looking into the supposed death of Mrs Julie Leanne Hayes. Is Mr Hayes here? We’d like to speak to him.” Danny stood on the stage where half an hour earlier a band had been in full swing.

“He’s in the toilet. I don’t think this is the best time to speak to him. At least wait until he comes out.”

Danny nodded. “Well, is Bradley Stance here? We could do with talking to him too.”

Most faces looked blank but a few seemed to recognise the name.

“Haven’t seen him here,” one person shouted.

“Don’t think he was invited. Don’t know why he would’ve been,” someone said from the back of the hall.

“Not seem him for years,” a girl joined in.

“No one mentions him anymore,” a boy near the front of the stage said.

“I’m here,” Bradley shouted.

Everyone went silent and stared at Bradley. After a few seconds people started muttering to one another.

~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

When a bride is stabbed to death on her wedding day, DI Jamie Stanley and the team are called in. They immediately pluck three suspects from the wedding party of over two hundred guests. Why would anyone want to kill a bride on her wedding day?

BUY LINK:      AMAZON

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Katie was born in 1996 and spent the first sixteen years of her life living in Reading, England, until she moved house in 2013. Katie loves the countryside and is happiest when cooped up in a cottage in the country with a stack of books and her laptop. Katie has currently published five romance novels and three murder mystery novellas.

Katie currently works part time in order to support her writing dream. She spends a large amount of time locked away in a room upstairs working on her latest novel and when she isn't doing that she is either reading or walking the family dog.

You can find more about Katie by visiting her website, blog, Twitter, Facebook, and on Goodreads.

TEASER TUESDAY: Suzanna J. Linton

Welcome to another installment of TEASER TUESDAY. I'm excited to have the lovely Suzanna J. Linton here with us today. She'll be sharing an excerpt from her novel, WILLOWS OF FATE. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT:

A strange flickering appears at one of the benches, like sunlight flashing through swinging tree branches. It breaks apart and a man sits there. He’s wearing black trousers and a dark blue tunic with a black long-sleeved shirt underneath it. On the tunic is a lion embroidered in bright gold. He wears a heavy gold chain on his wrist and has curly, dirty blond hair. The man gestures for me to join him.

I grip the door handle, focusing on the smooth metal. Closing my eyes, I whisper, “He’s not real. He’s not real.” Opening my eyes, I see that he’s still there. He gestures again.

Something deep in my gut pulls me toward him. There are two choices here and I hesitate, fear and this gut-deep pull ripping my mind in two.

I open the door and step out, the humidity and heat of the day closing around me like a clammy fist.

“Who are you?” I ask, too afraid to come any closer. The door swings closed behind me.

“I’m a friend of Martin,” he replies. Like the man in gold, his accent is strange, with an odd lilt to the words.

“I don’t know who that is.”

“That’s the man in the armor who’s been visiting you.”

I shift from one foot to another. “What do you want?”

“To talk. Will you sit with me?”

“I’m fine where I am.”

“You don’t trust me.” He doesn’t sound very surprised or disappointed.

“My brother is dead and my house was broken into. A man in a hood shot an arrow at me. I’m having a problem trusting anyone I don’t know right now.”

He stands. Not as tall as the armored man, Martin, he’s actually my height. He strolls toward me but stops a couple of feet away. “I’m not going to hurt you, Desdemona.”

“How do you know my name? How did you get here? What was that light? What do you want?”

“I know your name because your family is very special. That light was my way of arriving in your world. It’s how Martin arrives.” He holds his hands out. “All I want is what’s best for you. I want you to be safe. There are powerful people after you. You have something they want. If you come with me, I’ll keep you safe.”

Am I imagining this? Is this really happening? Or have I finally lost my mind? If so, then what better place than a mental institution?

“They want something?” I ask. “What? I don’t have anything.”

“You are wrong about that.”

I shake my head. “I have to go. I need to think about this.”

“Think about what? About how your brother was murdered by the men who are after you?”

“But why me? I’m no-one special.”

“You have something special. And there are those who will stop at nothing to get it.”

“Who are you?”

~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

Know thyself...

All her life, Desdemona has seen things others haven't. Dragons, knights, dwarves, kids with three eyes. Heeding her mother's advice, she keeps silent about this and struggles through life, pretending everything is normal.

At her mother's death, Desdemona returns to a home haunted with memories but she is determined to not be shaken from what little normalcy she has. However, when her brother is murdered and she uncovers a family secret, Desdemona realizes that there is more to what she sees. Perhaps a whole other world, one that's willing to kill to have her as its own.

BUY LINK:      SMASHWORDS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Suzanna Linton became a writer the first day she picked up a pencil, scribbling happily in magazines and books.  Growing up in (very) rural South Carolina, she was steeped in legends and ghost stories and was surrounded by her mother's ever-growing book collection.  She graduated from Francis Marion University with a degree in Professional Writing and bounced from job to job until she landed in a library, where she met her now-husband.  She lives with him in South Carolina with their two dogs and cat.

You can find and contact Suzanna here:

- Website: http://suzannalinton.com/

- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SuzannaJLinton

- Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/suzannalin

- Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/suzannajlinton

There is a tour wide giveaway for the blog tour of Willows of Fate. These are the prizes you can win:

- e-copy of Willows of Fate through smashwords

- 20$ amazon gift card

a Rafflecopter giveaway

TEASER TUESDAY: Helen Rena

Welcome to another installment of TEASER TUESDAY. I'm excited to have the lovely Helen Rena here with us today. She'll be sharing an excerpt from her paranormal young adult novel, INTO THE BLIND. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT:

And the Queen of Hell will come to rule the Earth, and everyone will love Her.

—Delilah 6:66

A Heart Child

The black market was closing. The last sellers and buyers clustered behind an out-of-business toy store in Brooklyn, where the road smelled of trash and the subway trains that ran high above the street rattled the loudest. There were no children for sale at this hour. The last and least important bits of the day’s tidings were hastily sold.

“There’s been a dance kid born in Queens this morning.”

“Hell, who needs a child gifted in dancing?”

“But it’s right around the corner. And the parents haven’t hired any security.”

Monies changed hands.

        Everyone was stealthily watching two bulky men who were not selling or buying anything. The slightly shorter man of the duo held a large four-wheel suitcase, and the slightly taller one, wearing a trench coat and a black fedora hat, gripped a gun. They did not talk. They had the letters DH tattooed on their right cheekbones.

Cars honked in the street, and somewhere far off a police siren howled.

A woman entered the alley. Neither tall nor short, she wore a pixie-cut blond wig like a ski hat: pulled down over her ears and forehead. Her shoulders were wrapped in an oversized faux fur coat that made it impossible to guess her real proportions. Her eyes were hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses.

The men with the DH tattoos looked up at her simultaneously. They didn’t say anything, but the woman answered them nonetheless, “Yes, it’s here, the child.” She nodded at a rather small purse in her hand. “And the money?”

The black market sellers and buyers stopped even pretending they were still trading. They held their breaths and listened. All of them had wondered if the suitcase held money, but it was such a big suitcase. No child was worth that much.

The man with the suitcase lightly swung his burden. “Yeah. Ten mil. Wanna count?”

The fedora hat man puffed. “Wait, bro. I don’t think…you know what.”

The bro clearly knew. “Lay off it, man. We talked enough about it.”

“Oh, yeah?” The hat man jabbed his gun in the direction of the woman’s purse, a fake brown leather affair with an ugly brass zipper. “This kid…how do you know it’s gifted in what this gal says it’s gifted? Yeah, sure, two dream guys told us it’s legit, but what if they are in on it? Ten mil is good money even split three ways.”

The bro shook his head. “I said. Lay. Off. It.”

The hat man didn’t. “And where did she even get that kid? Sure, Bones…I mean, not Bones…I mean, I never said your name, okay? Anyways, we bought death kids, time kids—pricey kids, yes, but those gifts can be priced in. But this…a kid with this gift…who would sell it? It’s like selling the Almighty!”

The people in the alley inhaled sharply. A heart child had been born on earth? That was some tidings to sell.

The woman in the fur coat stepped away from the two men. “Fine. The deal is off.”

Bones shoved the suitcase after her. “No, no, take it. Give us the kid.”

The woman grabbed the handle of the suitcase, then handed him the purse.

“Are you at least going to check if it’s actually a kid and not a pile of rags?” the hat man asked his partner.

Bones unzipped the purse, and there, swaddled in several disposable diapers, lay a newborn, its face tiny and pink and its delicate white hairs tangled. It slept.

The woman suddenly, as if in a paroxysm of a strong feeling, clasped the hat man’s arm. “It’s a girl,” she said. “A girl.”

The hat man, unsure what to do with this information, scratched his temple. “And? You want to give us a discount for that or what?”

The woman spun around and walked away, wheeling the suitcase along the cracked, rot-smelling road.

The hat man followed her with his gaze. “If this kid is really a heart, I’ll eat my damn hat.”

        The hat remained uneaten for the next fifteen years.

~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:
Fifteen-year-old Ever can't create worlds or raise the dead, but she can make people believe she's able to do it. She can make people worship her, follow her, die for her. And that is not something she should do, in the opinion of her boyfriend Fox. Not unless she wants to turn evil. 

But as the two try to escape from the people who kidnapped and imprisoned them, Ever starts doubting Fox. Should she really never use her talent? Maybe doing it just one time won't hurt… 


BUY LINK:      AMAZON

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Helen Rena loves reading and writing novels. And short stories. And flash fiction. She has a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature, and a vast collection of books and green bottles. She is still not sure why green bottles. She lives in Southern Oregon with her husband and two children. Please visit her at helenrena.com.

You can also connect with Helen on Twitter and Facebook. 

TEASER TUESDAY: Vincent Morrone

Welcome to another installment of TEASER TUESDAY. I'm excited to have the wonderful Vincent Morrone here with us again. Today he's sharing an excerpt from his contemporary romance JUST BREATHE. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT:

“I’d like to talk to you,” Noah said to Cassie.

        Cassie looked at Noah and then back to the blond.

        “Noah,” she said. “I’m talking to Kyle.”

        Noah looked at Kyle. Kyle smiled. At least until he saw the look in Noah’s eyes.

        “You were,” Noah said. “I need to speak you. Please.”

        Cassie smiled and said, “Can’t it wait?”

        “No,” Noah said.

        She rolled her eyes, but grabbed Noah’s hand and brought him to one of the empty bedrooms. Once inside, she put the beer bottle down on a dresser and closed the bedroom door.

        “What?” she said, all trace of humor gone.

        “You need to go home,” Noah said.

        “What?” Cassie said. “Why?”

        “You’re drinking,” Noah said. “That’s your fifth beer. You’re going to…”

        “What?” Cassie said. “I’m going to what? Have a good time? Get lucky? What business is it of yours? I’m a big girl.”

        “I know that,” Noah said, taking a step closer.

        “I don’t need you riding to my rescue,” Cassie said. “Is that all you know how to do? What do you want from me?”

        “I don’t know,” Noah said. “Maybe that is all I do know how to do. Ben just told me out there that he considers me his friend. I’ve never had my own friend before.”

        Cassie blinked at the revelation. It was the first real private thing Noah had ever shared. “I didn’t…”

        “I don’t let people in, Cassie,” Noah continued. “I don’t know how. What I do know is that you’d probably be better off without me. I feel like the best thing for me to do is let you get together with Blondie out there…”

        “Kyle.”

        “Who cares?” Noah said. “Here’s the thing. I can’t. I can’t stand to watch you with him like that.”

        Cassie put her hand on his chest. She could feel his heart pound in his chest like it was trying to escape. What in the world was scaring him so much?

        “Then do something about it,” she said. “You’ve got to tell me what you want. You have to…”

        Noah crushed his mouth against hers, his body pressing her against the wall. This kiss was even more powerful and wanting than their first, and it ended even more abruptly.

        Noah backed away quickly, leaving Cassie gasping for breath. His eyes narrowed.

        “What?” she asked. “For the love of God, don’t stop.”

        Noah moved toward the door.

        “You’re leaving now?”

        Without ever taking his eyes off of hers, Noah grabbed the beer bottle off the dresser and sniffed it.

        Cassie bit her lower lip.

        Noah took a small sip from the bottle.

        “This is water,” he said, showing her the bottle.

        Cassie shrugged. “I never said it wasn’t.”

        Cassie watched Noah quickly replay everything in his head. The quick looks between Brady and Cassie and the blond guy named Kyle. The beer bottles that Cassie kept downing one after another.

        “You set that whole thing up,” Noah said. “Just to get under my skin. It was probably Brady’s idea.”

        Cassie squeaked. “I’m sorry.”

        Noah stepped forward. She smiled meekly. He leaned down and kissed her again. This time, he didn’t pull away.

“I’m not.” he said. “Maybe I needed it.”

        “You did,” Cassie said.

        Noah kissed the top of her head and held her. “I still may need to take things slow. This is new for me.”

        Cassie nodded into his chest. “As long as we take it slowly together.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:
When Cassie Shaw looks at Noah Hunt, she sees a knight in shining armor, but she’s convinced he sees her as nothing but damaged goods. 

Noah saved her from a brutal assault, talked her through a panic attack, and held her when she broke down crying. 

Noah is a mystery. He avoids talking about his past, his phone rings with calls from four women he won’t talk about, and he receives texts from over a dozen more. To add to the intrigue, when Cassie tries to kiss him, he gets a look of sheer panic in his eyes. 

Cassie finally finds a chink in Noah’s armor, and realizes that he’s even more damaged than she is. 

He saved her. Now it’s her turn to save him.


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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Born and raised in Brooklyn NY, Vincent Morrone now resides in Upstate NY with his wife. (Although he can still speak fluent Brooklynese.) His twin daughters remain not only his biggest fans, but usually are the first to read all of his work. Their home is run and operated for the comfort and convenience of their dogs.

Vincent has been writing fiction, poetry and song lyrics for as long as he can remember, most of which involve magical misfits, paranormal prodigies and even on occasion superheroes and their sidekicks.

As they say in Brooklyn: Yo, you got something to say to Vincent?

Check out his website  where you can learn about Vincent and leave him a comment.  You can also connect with Vincent on Twitter and Facebook.