With
his family's talisman in his possession, Kristan Gemeta is ready to face the
Wichelord Daazna – but he has no inkling of the scope of Daazna's power, nor
the depths of his hatred.
With
the recovery of his family's protective talisman, Kristan Gemeta has found
hope, courage – and perhaps even the first stirrings of love. With the
aid of Heather Demitt, her band of rebels, a shipload of Northern brigands and
the legendary Kentavron, he readies himself to face the Wichelord
Daazna. But neither he nor his comrades realize the strength of Daazna's
power and hatred. The Wichelord's first blow comes from a direction Kristan
least expects, with horrific, lasting consequences.
Some of the color
had drained from Kristan’s face, but he shook his head again. Daazna stepped to
the door and threw it open. His commander, together with a cluster of soldiers,
still waited in the hallway. “Come here, and bring two guards,” Daazna said,
and stepped aside to let the three men come into the room. “See this pretty
lad, gentlemen? This is Kristan Gemeta, the heir of Fandrall. I was told he was
a weak, fainting little coward, yet somehow he’s eluded us for years, and now,
rather than take the soft sentence of joining the Lost Men, he’s elected to
taste Gomon’s whip. Take him downstairs, tell Gomon to give him ten strokes,
and when it’s done, let me know. I’ll be in my chambers.” He chucked Kristan
mockingly under the chin. “Courage, Gemeta. Don’t faint when you see Gomon’s
whip.”
“I know you didn’t take it,” Kristan said.
Daazna’s heart gave a great heave, and then seemed to stop
beating entirely. “What?”
“The blue glass ball. I know you didn’t take it.”
A flush of shame and rage crawled up Daazna’s face, as if once
again, he stood humiliated before Fandrall’s court, clutching the coin that
symbolized Robert Gemeta’s pity. “Simeon said I did,” he said. His voice was no
more than a croak. “Your father believed I did. Everyone in the castle thought
I was a thief.”
“You were done an injustice,” Kristan said. “And for that I’m sorry.”
Daazna slapped Kristan so hard that only the guards’ grip kept
the young man from falling. “How dare you?” he hissed. “How dare you pity me? I
am the Wichelord. I killed your father and took your crown and destroyed your
kingdom, and I’ll grind you to paste before I’m done with you.” He spun to the
commander. “Tell Gomon to give him fifteen strokes. Now get him out of my
sight.”
About the Author:
Donna Migliaccio is a professional stage actress with credits that include Broadway, National Tours and prominent regional theatres. She is based in the Washington, DC Metro area, where she co-founded Tony award-winning Signature Theatre and is in demand as an entertainer, teacher and public speaker. Her award-winning short story, "Yaa & The Coffins," was featured in Thinkerbeat's 2015 anthology The Art of Losing.
Join the Facebook Party on Thursday, May 18 from 6pm-9pm EST to celebrate the release of
LACED IN LIES!
Meet Shelby Nichols, mind reader extraordinaire.
A typical day in the life of Shelby Nichols involves cheating husbands, solving the hardest cases for the police, and working for a big time mob-boss, all because of her little secret that she can read minds. It can get complicated, especially considering she has a husband and two kids.
Ramos, Uncle Joey’s hit-man, is reluctant to involve Shelby when an acquaintance from his past comes into town. Uncle Joey has a favor to ask Shelby which involves heading to New York City and meeting his estranged relatives. Then there’s Dimples, a police detective, who needs her help finding the person behind a deadly new drug.
It’s no wonder Shelby has a hard time keeping everything straight. But the worst is deciding how to explain her crazy, mixed-up life to her kids. So far, her explanations have all been laced in lies, and she worries that, if the truth ever comes out, they will never trust her again.
Of course, none of that matters if she doesn’t escape the deadly enemy that takes her by surprise. Facing death has a way of putting things into perspective, if only she can stay alive long enough to appreciate it…
I stopped across the street from the shabby looking bar and turned off my car. The neon sign across the front read “Tiki Tabu,” and it flickered on and off like a warning. In the silence, the heavy weight of impending disaster tightened my chest. What was I supposed to do now? None of my options looked good, but I’d promised my friend I’d find out what was going on with her husband. Too bad I didn’t know how complicated that would be.
The man I’d been following had pulled into the parking lot behind the bar, and I watched him come around the building to enter through the front door. He looked nothing like Kyle, the handsome Pacific Islander I’d met a few days ago.
Instead of the usual expensive slacks and button-down shirt, he wore torn jeans and a worn leather jacket. With his rough, unshaven face, and strands of dark, wavy hair dancing over his eyes, he looked like a drug dealer, or some other kind of shady character.
So what was he doing here at four in the afternoon? This was such a break from his real life as a guidance counselor at a high school for troubled kids that I could totally understand why my friend had asked for my help. Only, how was I supposed to know if this was part of his job or something worse?
The only way to find out was inside that bar. But, for some reason, I had a hard time getting out of my car. I waited a good five minutes to bolster my courage. Then, with everything screaming at me to stay put, I took a deep breath and opened the door.
Luckily, I’d worn a grey t-shirt with my black jeans and black boots, so I reached into the back seat and grabbed my black leather motorcycle jacket and slipped it on. It was near the end of April, so not too warm to wear it. And from what I’d seen, it would help me blend in with the crowd.
Next, I slung my purse over my shoulder and felt for my trusty stun-flashlight. In my other hand, I kept a tight grip on the small canister of pepper spray attached to my car keys. Knowing I couldn’t put it off any longer, I took a deep breath for courage and hurried across the street.
I hesitated at the door. Then, with my heart pounding, I swallowed my fear and stepped inside. The loud music assaulted my senses, and I squinted in the dark, needing a minute for my eyes to adjust before I could see well enough to find my way.
Taking it all in, my brows rose with surprise to find the place packed with people. At four in the afternoon. Didn’t anyone work around here?
Spotting a couple of empty stools at the bar, I quickly took a seat, wanting to go unnoticed for as long as possible. With the bartender busy, I glanced around the place, hoping to spot my quarry before he spotted me. I couldn’t see Kyle in any of the booths, but there were about four pool tables in the back. Maybe that’s where he was?
“What can I get you?” the bartender asked. He was a big, brawny guy, and the white t-shirt he wore stretched tight across his chest and biceps. Along with his earrings and the tattoos all over his arms, his unfriendly scowl brought a spike of unease to my chest.
“Uh… could I get a Diet Coke with lemon?” His gaze narrowed at my non-alcoholic order, and he took in my fresh face and wondered what I was doing there. I didn’t fit in with the usual clientele… at all. I smiled and continued, “Or lime… whatever one’s easier will work, since I like them both.”
His lips drew into a thin line before he shook his head and left to get my drink. From his thoughts, I picked up that he’d noticed me the moment I’d come in and correctly determined that I had no idea what I was doing there. I had to be meeting someone. But who was it, and what did I want with them?
He knew I wasn’t a cop, since a cop would know better than to come in here alone. And even though I tried to pull off the bad-ass look with a motorcycle jacket and boots, I should have at least tried to cover my blond hair to fit in better. Then he hoped I didn’t cause any trouble, because he had a feeling I was in way over my head.
With his instincts on high alert, he glanced over at Big Kahuna’s booth, and his lips twisted with dismay. It was too late. Now I was in for it.
Alarmed, I followed his gaze to a huge man who straightened from a slouch in his booth across from the bar. He observed me with narrowed eyes like a wild tiger scenting its prey. I swallowed and noticed several more guys like him throughout the place, all of Polynesian descent. What had I stumbled into now?
Listen to DEVIL RIDER - an original song by author Colleen Helme which is featured in LACED IN LIES! This song is all about Ramos, the hit-man in the book...
As the author of the Shelby Nichols Adventure Series, Colleen is often asked if Shelby Nichols is her alter-ego. “Definitely,” she says. “Shelby is the epitome of everything I wish I dared to be.” Known for her laugh since she was a kid, Colleen has always tried to find the humor in every situation and continues to enjoy writing about Shelby’s adventures. “I love getting Shelby into trouble…I just don’t always know how to get her out of it!” Colleen lives in the Rocky Mountains with her family. Besides writing, she loves a good book, biking, hiking, and playing board and card games with family and friends. She loves to connect with readers and admits that fans of the series keep her writing.
Genre: Murder Mystery Cover Designer: Book Cover By Design
Release Date: April 29, 2017
Playing with fire can get you burned … or killed.
Chase Effridge, the handsome young playboy/college professor, is dead. A devoted and faithful husband he was not. Professor Effridge led a secret life where mistresses and enemies were no strangers to him. When his secrets begin to surface, his seemingly perfect life takes a turn for the worst. One mistress with a baby, and another whose boyfriend found out about their affair, are the equivalent of adding fuel to the fire.
Effridge’s estranged wife, Carlotta DuPree, tops the suspect list, but swears she’s innocent. Her cold demeanor and ill-wishes toward her husband do nothing to help her story. She claims to have an alibi, but can it be verified?
The list of suspects keeps growing as the interrogation process proceeds. Each conversation does little to unravel the complexity of Chase’s life, and provides little clarity as to who can be eliminated and who can’t. Instead, the discussions tend to reveal a new person of interest, and shroud those already on the list with more suspicion. Everyone seems to have a motive.
Will this crime ever be solved?
A double release calls for two celebrations!
Join the parties and help celebrate the release of both No Remorse and Unselfish Love:
Desiree was born and raised in Iowa. She married her high school sweetheart and moved to the Philadelphia area after high school. She’s been happily married for over twenty-five years. She’s the mother of two sons and a daughter.
Writing, in one form or another, has always been something she’s enjoyed. Desiree also enjoys traveling and spending time at the beach.
Desiree was chosen as Authorclassified.com’s 2015 Romance Author of the Year.
Join the Facebook Party on Wednesday, December 7 from 4pm - 7pm to celebrate the release of
Garden of Her Heart!
Shanna and five guest authors will bring fun and excitement to the event. And one of the awesome prizes is a gift pack from Bésame Cosmetics worth $120
Can forbidden love blossom amid the constraints of war?A sweet World War II romance from USA Today Bestselling Author Shanna Hatfield
The moment the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, life shifted for Miko Nishimura. Desperate to reach the Portland Assembly Center for Japanese Americans, she’s kicked off the bus miles from town. Every tick of the clock pushes her closer to becoming a fugitive in the land of her birth. Exhausted, she stumbles to her grandparents’ abandoned farm only to find a dying soldier sprawled across the step. Unable to leave him, she forsakes all else to keep him alive.
After crashing his plane in the Battle of the Atlantic, the doctors condemn Captain Rock Laroux to die. Determined to meet his maker beneath a blue sky at his family home, he sneaks out of the hospital. Weary and half out of his mind, he makes it as far as a produce stand he remembers from his youth. Rather than surrender to death, Rock fights a battle of the heart as he falls in love with the beautiful Japanese woman who saves his life.
A poignant, sweet romance, Garden of Her Heart proves love can bloom in unlikely places even under the most challenging circumstances.
Miko came to her senses as she reached a road she recognized in the predawn light. It led to a farm owned by one of her grandparents’ neighbors. If she cut through their pasture, it would save her a few miles of walking.
She pushed down the wires of the fence and stepped over it, then reached back for her suitcase. The barbed wire caught her coat. Miko jerked it away from the snag and rolled her eyes in frustration when the fabric ripped.
Anger fueled her steps. Indignation lent her spent body strength as she hurried across the pasture.
Relieved when she reached the far end of the pasture, she hurried over the fence and along the edge of the trees that circled the vast acres her grandparents owned.
The first fingers of dawn stretched across the drab sky as she stepped from the trees and swallowed back a sob at the sight of her grandparents’ produce stand. As long as Miko could remember, her family had sold produce from the red-painted structure filled with shelves and bins to hold every type of vegetable and fruit the fertile soil would grow.
A hundred yards behind the produce stand, a white picket fence surrounded the cheery yellow bungalow home her grandparents had built in the mid-1920s. A wide porch and a plethora of flowers surrounding all four sides made the house appear welcoming.
With a prayer to find her family waiting inside for her, she raced up the front steps of the porch and tried the door. The knob rattled but didn’t turn, locked from the inside. Miko set down her suitcase and rushed around to the back door. In her haste, she tripped over the body of a man as he sprawled across the back step.
Unconscious, the uniformed soldier shuddered against the chill in the air, his clothes every bit as wet as hers. At least his jerky tremors assured her he wasn’t dead.
Panicked, she pounded on the door. “It’s Miko! Open the door! Please!” Fist banging against the wood, she called out to her grandparents, willing them to be there.
All remained eerily silent in the house. Single-minded in her efforts to enter the dwelling, Miko stepped over the man and lifted a brick from the border edging the flowerbed.
USA Today bestselling author Shanna Hatfield writes character-driven romances with relatable heroes and heroines. Her historical westerns have been described as “reminiscent of the era captured by Bonanza and The Virginian” while her contemporary works have been called “laugh-out-loud funny, and a little heart-pumping sexy without being explicit in any way.”
Convinced everyone deserves a happy ending, this hopeless romantic is out to make it happen, one story at a time. When she isn’t writing or indulging in chocolate (dark and decadent, please), Shanna hangs out with her husband, lovingly known as Captain Cavedweller.
Genre: Contemporary Romance - Holiday Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Release Date: October 18, 2016
A heartwarming Christmas story about family, friendship and finding love in unexpected places.
Joy Holbrook might be all work and no play, but that changes when her Aunt Ruby takes a fall that lands her in a rehabilitation center before the holidays. Joy takes a leave of absence from her job as a market researcher to run the family farm, even though the timing may hinder her chance at garnering the promotion of her dreams.
Ben Andrews isn’t your average accountant. He also happens to be the handiest man in Crystal Falls. He’s helped his elderly neighbor, Ruby Johnson, decorate for the annual Christmas Home Tour—and win—the last several years. He’s not about to let some drop-in niece break their winning streak.
Ruby seems overly concerned about Joy being able to handle Molly. Under the impression she’s referring Molly the bunny that is one of the menagerie of animals, Joy’s not worried at all until the next morning when a little girl named Molly shows up. For the sake of her aunt, Joy is forced to partner with Ben while Ruby is on the mend to help with preparation for the Christmas tour and, in the process finds her career-focused heart dreaming of a family.
Will the magic of Christmas help her to open her heart and find her everlasting joy?
The next morning, Joy stood at the kitchen sink, sipping a cup of coffee. The house was chilly. An old hooded sweatshirt jacket that had seen better days was draped on the back of one of the kitchen chairs. She slipped it on and pulled her braid free from the back. In so many ways, this place was exactly the same; it made her feel like a teenager again.
She stared out the window at the familiar property in the daylight. Ruby had always been an animal lover, but Uncle George would flip out if he knew that she’d adopted all these wayward animals.
She glanced at the worn edges of the oversized sweatshirt jacket. Had it been one of Uncle George’s? Maybe the animals were Ruby’s way of filling the gap that Uncle George had once filled. Couldn’t blame her for that. Had to get lonely out here by herself, but the place was beginning to look like a petting zoo. The smell was farm-y too. And at the moment, every single one of the motley crew was lined up side by side, like they’d rehearsed the formation all night long.
Seven o’clock wasn’t early. Joy would normally be up, dressed, and out the door by now, but last night’s farm duty had kicked her butt, and she had a little trouble getting a move on. Another twenty minutes of coffee time wasn’t going to kill those animals.
She turned her back on them and held the warm mug between her hands.
***
Feeding the animals had sounded like a real cakewalk, but Joy was feeling it this morning. In fact, she was sorer this morning than the last time she got cocky and went for the ninety-minute hot yoga session with Renee.
The sound of the front door swinging open caused the hot coffee to catch in Joy’s throat. The animals were definitely getting restless, but without thumbs, it wasn’t likely to be one of them coming in to drag her outside. So what—or who—was it? But this was Crystal Falls. And she hadn’t heard a car.
“Ruby-rooo-roooo.”
Now, that was one sick rooster, or someone was messing with her. She relaxed a little, fairly certain that no one was ever murdered after a See ’n Say sound check.
A fast clippity-clomp came charging down the hall, getting closer to the kitchen.
The only image Joy’s mind could muster, besides that giant Foghorn Leghorn from the cartoons, was that pesky goat, Waddles, kicking and galloping down the hall. Now, that could be a mess.
Rushing toward the ruckus to limit the damage, Joy stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of a little girl standing in the hallway, looking like she wasn’t sure whether to scream or scram.
Only about six feet separated Joy from the blond-haired child. “Who are you?”
The little girl clutched a black lunch bag in one hand against her blue jumper with a fancy M monogrammed on the front, and two chubby orange yarn hair ties hung from the other. The freckle- faced child looked so fragile standing there.
“What’s your name?” “I’m . . . I’m Molly.”
“You’re . . .” Like the rabbit? Joy noticed the hand-painted rabbit on the little girl’s lunch bag that looked an awful lot like Molly the Bunny. This can’t be happening.
Little girl Molly’s mouth hung wide and her eyes darted like a wild animal’s. Cornered and desperate. “Wh-where’s Ruby?”
“She’s not here. She’s in the hospital with a hurt ankle.”
“But I come here every day. Ruby makes my lunch and we go to the bus.” Tears welled in Molly’s eyes.
Maybe the goat running down the hall would have been better than this. Oh no, please don’t cry. “Where’s your momma?”
The little girl pointed toward the door, her hand shaking.
“It’s okay. I’ll straighten it out.” Joy whipped around Molly and ran toward the front door just in time to see a blue compact car back out of the driveway. She waved her arms spastically as she took the porch steps two at a time. “Excuse me. Hello!” She raced out to the front yard, but the driver of the car seemed completely un- aware of her yelling and hailing. As Joy ran to the end of the driveway, the car became a dot in the distance, then disappeared.
Out of breath, and out of her element, she turned and walked slowly back to the house.
What am I supposed to do with a little girl? There are certainly no instructions in the barn about that.
USA TODAY Bestselling author, Nancy Naigle, writes love stories from the crossroad of small town and suspense in hopes that readers will find an escape from their hectic day-to-day in the make-believe worlds she creates.
Fiskur
by Donna Migliaccio
