Good things come to those who bait... #ContemporaryRomance #RomanticComedy #Giveaway @AuthorPetie

Blurb

She could almost hear the fish laughing at her . . .

Cody Ryan’s father never missed fishing the annual Loon Lake tournament until his unexpected passing. So this year, Cody packs up her how-to fishing videos and her dad’s old johnboat and gives him one final entry.

Gage Connor needs some R&R away from his coast guard deployment catching drug smugglers along the Louisiana coast, so he borrows a bass boat from his buddy and heads to Loon, Alabama to do some fishing.

When Gage and Cody meet at Loon Lake, their attraction is immediate and intense—until the two discover there is only one boat slip left on the lake and they both need it, and there’s only one vacant hotel room left in Loon and they both want it. Thus, their competition begins. Both vow to keep their distance from the other to fight the temptation, but fate has other plans. The tournament pairing party picks the two-man teams and chooses Gage as Cody’s partner.

For two days.

Alone on a boat.

Working as a team.

Good things come to those who bait . . .

Excerpt

Feeling the hotel room being yanked out from underneath her, Cody lost her grip on her temper. “I don’t care. I arrived here first.” She wheeled on Velma. “Tell him.”

Velma had a hard time meeting the man’s glittering green eyes, and Cody feared the worst. “Velma, you have to go with the first person who arrived here, and that was me.”

Velma visibly wavered, and her gaze bounced between Cody, Mr. Never-Had-Any-Patience, and her twin, who looked ready to burst into tears.

“It’s not your fault, Sister.” She patted Delma’s hand. “You didn’t know we were upstairs. I’ll handle this.”

Velma faced her two potential guests and announced, “We’ll flip for it.”

Delma immediately beamed.

“What?” Cody cried.

“Fine by me,” the stranger snapped and crossed his arms on his oversized and quite muscular pecs. Not that Cody was staring.

Velma reached into her apron pocket and drew out a silver dollar. She smiled at Cody. “Since you were here first, you can call it, and you can have heads if you want. I always liked heads in a coin toss, and I always got lucky calling heads.” Her eyes twinkled at Cody.

“Fine. Heads it is,” Cody said.

The coin flipped high in the air. Velma deftly caught it with her right hand and smacked the coin on top of her left. “Heads it is,” she proclaimed.

Cody blew out a sigh of relief.

“Hey, wait a minute,” the stranger complained.

“See for yourself.” Velma angled her hand for him to snatch a glimpse and then chucked the coin back into her pocket.

Cody stared him right in the eye. “I win.”

He eased closer—almost nose to nose—and she reconsidered her idea to gloat. His emerald eyes darkened, turned almost black, and locked onto hers. She could hear and feel each breath he took, because she held hers. Waiting.

“Share it with me.”

His gaze never wavered. She could feel it, almost like a caress.

“I promise I won’t touch you . . . if you don’t want me to.” The latter implied he wanted exactly the opposite.

About the Author

Petie spent a large part of her career working at Walt Disney World—"The Most Magical Place on Earth"—where she enjoyed working in the land of fairy tales by day and creating her own romantic fairy tales by night, including her new series, The Cinderella Romances. She eventually said good-bye to her "day" job to write her stories full-time. These days Petie spends her time writing sequels to her regency time-travel series, Lords in Time, and her cozy-mystery-with-romantic-suspense series, the Mystery Angel Romances.

Petie shares her home on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee with her horticulturist husband and an opinionated Nanday conure named Sassy who made a cameo appearance in No Angels for Christmas.

Visit Petie's web site online at http://www.petiemccarty.com or her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/petie.mccarty.

Social Media

http://www.petiemccarty.com

https://www.facebook.com/petie.mccarty

https://twitter.com/authorpetie

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6094579.Petie_McCarty

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/petie-mccarty

http://www.amazon.com/author/petiemccarty

Buy Link

https://www.amazon.com/Any-Fin-Love-Petie-McCarty-ebook/dp/B0BNLT2B1D/

Petie McCarty will be awarding an autographed paperback copy of Cinderella Busted (US only) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

RELEASE BLITZ for Fake Fiance For Christmas by Carol Burnside (@carol_burnside) - #HolidayRomance #FakeFiance #Humor

Blurb

Faced with a broken engagement due to her guarded heart and her family expecting to meet her fiancé during the first Christmas without her Gran, Lia Taylor decides to take her friends’ advice. She’ll take a fake fiancé home for Christmas.

Ryan Barton grew up in foster homes, unaware he had a family until he met his grandmother at sixteen. Lia’s offer of a noisy family Christmas with a big elaborate meal sounds like heaven, even the part about pretending to be her fiancé.

As Lia and Ryan get to know each other and practice casual touching, hugs, and kisses, their feelings grow. They decide to try for a real relationship with the promise that when either of them withdraws due to old fears, the other will pull them back.

But what will save them when they both withdraw in fear? Are their recent feelings strong enough to save their new relationship or will they hide within the safety of their guarded hearts?

Buy links

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Fake-Fiance-Christmas-Carol-Burnside-ebook/dp/B0B3BJQHGP/

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fake-Fiance-Christmas-Carol-Burnside-ebook/dp/B0B3BJQHGP/

Books2Read: (multiple venues) https://books2read.com/u/bQjJ16

Google Books: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=WxmHEAAAQBAJ

Excerpt

“They’ll expect us to touch.” Lia draped her hand across Ryan’s forearm and his eyes gentled, darkened. “Like this. Casual. Easy. And to hold hands. I hope you don’t mind.”

Ryan turned his arm over and linked his fingers through hers. “We got this.”

She swallowed, unable to tear her gaze off his, and nodded. It felt both foreign and familiar, holding hands with him.

“I think I’m going to like this gig.” He gave her fingers an easy squeeze. “Should we also practice…” His lashes lowered, gaze trained on her mouth. As the fingers of his free hand slid along her jawline, something like static electricity blazed across her skin.

Holy cow. Lia’s pulse bumped and her chest froze, making it difficult to breathe. She parted her lips to answer but couldn’t produce so much as a squeak. After she managed the tiniest of nods, he leaned forward, and his face blurred.

Ryan’s lips touched Lia’s and withdrew. He caught her in mid-gasp the second time and took advantage of her parted lips to flick his tongue against hers, igniting a fire that thawed her chest.

He angled his head and came in for more, tongues teasing, tasting, learning each other. His hands were firm on her back, pulling her closer until she was consumed in the solidness of him and the fire he stoked. She clutched at his shoulders as if they were her lifeline because she was completely engulfed in sensation.

And a choir of angels sang “Hallelujah.”

Ryan chuckled into the kiss, then tore away laughing. Lia scrambled for her phone, the Hallelujah Chorus one she’d assigned to her older brother because he rarely called. When he finally did, she considered it a small miracle. Not so much right now, though. His timing couldn’t be worse.

“What, Spence?” she demanded without preamble. “You’re on speaker.”

“Whoa. Ho, ho, ho to you, too, little sis.”

“Sorry, bad timing. We were…uhm, what’s up?”

“You tell me. My travel app shows your plane came in on time, but we haven’t heard from you. I was elected to find out what the holdup is.”

“Oh. Well, Ryan couldn’t get the same flight, and there was a slight delay, but he’s here now, and we’re about to leave the airport.”

“Right, the fiancé. We can’t wait to meet this guy and size him up.”

“Very funny. Best behavior today, and I mean it, Spence. So help me—” Lia looked over a sea of autos, anywhere but at Ryan.

“Kidding. Damn, girl, where’s your sense of humor?”

“Buried under travel stress. Hey, how’s Mom holding up?” Lia kept her brother on the line to delay renewed mortification over the kiss.

“Oh, you know.” There was a slight pause, and Spence’s voice quieted as if he’d moved out of earshot. “She’s…trying, but the tree isn’t decorated.”

“What?” Lia couldn’t believe it. She pressed her lips together. Ever since Spence had gone to college, her mom made a point of having the tree ready to welcome them home at Christmas.

“She said we’ll all do it together, and it’ll make Brian feel more at home. Having y’all here will help.”

“It’s Ryan. Geriatric brain, much?”

“I could’ve sworn Mom said Brian, but the TV was blaring. Oh, well. Hang up and drive, girl. We’re waiting, and hey, save me a hug.”

“Back at ya. Bye.” Lia returned the cell to her purse, taking extra care to stow it properly.

“Sounds like you deflected the name change deftly.” Ryan buckled his seatbelt.

Lia clicked hers into the slot, relieved to talk about any subject but their scorching-hot kiss. “Yeah, but I think it’ll be fine since your names are similar. Brian, Ryan. Easy to brush it off as ‘Oh, you misunderstood.’”

“Good.”

Silence fell between them. Lia found a radio station and slipped the gearshift into reverse. “Okay, let’s do this.”

- - -

Want to read more? Visit Carol’s website HERE to read another excerpt.

About the Author

Carol Burnside: Sizzling romance with heart and humor

Carol Burnside is an award-winning author of "Sizzling romance with heart and humor." Her personal second-chance-at-love story resulted in an enduring marriage to her high school sweetheart. They reside in the Texas hill country, where Carol enjoys visiting wildlife from her covered back porch. Like any true southerner, she drinks tea in some form year-round. Carol's novel length manuscripts have placed in numerous contests and won several, including the prestigious Maggie Award for Excellence. She also writes as Annie Rayburn.

Amazon reviews say Carol's books are:

"Highly captivating!" "intriguing and a wonderful read" "Emotional and heartwarming" "Engaging!" and "Great reading!"

Carol blogs on her website at www.CarolBurnside.com. Connect with her via Facebook / Newsletter / Goodreads / Twitter / Pinterest

Carol is also releasing the 5^th book in her Sweetwater Springs series: Mistletoe Weddings during the holidays. Check it out at your favorite retailer today!

Release blitz organized by Writer Marketing Services.

Welcome to the Toymakers Guild – #Steampunk #EroticRomance #MFRWHooks #MFRWAuthor

And welcome to this week’s edition of the MFRW Book Hooks blog hop.

I spent much of the holiday finishing and editing the third book in my Toymakers Guild steam punk series. I’m hoping to do a cover reveal of The Master’s Mark for next Tuesday’s MFRW Steam Hop (appropriate, right?). For this week, I’m sharing the Prologue to the first book in the series, The Pornographer’s Apprentice, which introduces my series heroine Gillian Smith.

Hope you enjoy meeting her!

Blurb

She wants to build sex toys... if they'll let her.

In prudish, patriarchal Victorian England, nineteen year old prodigy Gillian Smith finds a secret society dedicated to the erotic arts. She’ll need both her intellect and her physical charms to earn the permanent position she craves.

Inspired by a salacious catalogue found in her deceased uncle’s library, she applies for an apprenticeship with the Toymakers Guild. The Guild fabricates bespoke sexual artifacts for the private pleasure of select clients – an occupation for which Gillian, with her technical abilities and her lascivious temperament, is eminently suited.

The other apprentices, initially skeptical about a female engineer, become enthusiastic supporters once they’ve tested her erotic aptitude. The voluptuous Governing Director, and the dashing French journeyman likewise help expand her carnal repertoire. The final decision, however, rests with the reclusive Master Toymaker, who has been missing for nearly two years.

When an unscrupulous nobleman sets up a competing enterprise, he threatens not only the livelihood of the Guild’s members but their lives as well. Gillian hatches an audacious plan to entrap the villain, save the Guild, and leave the absent Master no choice but to grant her heart’s desire.

If you like steam punk erotica with a kinky feminist bent, you'll love The Pornographer's Apprentice.

 

 

The Hook

Prologue

Only when faced with the stout oaken door to Randerley Hall did Gillian Smith’s considerable resolve fail her.

In the dead of night she had fled her Aunt Martha’s London townhouse, mere hours before her diabolical guardian planned to denounce her as a deviant and a thief. She had endured the seven-hour rail journey to Tavistock crammed into a reeking third class carriage, struggling to remain awake in order to guard her meagre possessions. Upon arrival, she’d been tempted to take a room at the inn and sleep for a few hours, but she didn’t want to deplete her limited savings. If the Guild rejected her, she knew she’d need every farthing to survive. So she had waved off the gig driver who’d accosted her and set out to walk the five miles to Randerley Hall.

In truth, the fresh breeze off the moors felt welcome after the stuffy misery of the train. Her spirits rose as she left the town behind, following the winding road that climbed and dipped among the grey-green hills. She reached the manor gates before the house itself was visible. Although vicious iron spikes marched along their top edges, they stood open, as if beckoning her to enter a new phase of her life.

She paused when she caught sight of Randerley’s grim bulk, huddling among tall poplars. With its dark turrets reaching toward the cloudy sky and its mullioned windows like blind eyes, the ancient building could hardly be called welcoming. Still, Gillian knew her future lay within those stern stone walls.

Her carpet bag on her shoulder and Uncle George’s precious catalogue clutched under her arm, she strode up the steps to the pillared porch and considered the massive door. It towered above her, easily eight feet high, a single, solid plank of age-blackened wood studded with iron rivets. Finding neither bell-pull nor knocker, Gillian rapped her knuckles against the oak.

“Excuse me,” she called. “Hello? Is anyone there?”

The wind sighing in the trees was her only answer.

She knocked again, so hard that her fingers stung, to no effect. Losing patience, she banged upon it repeatedly with her fist. The door must be exceptionally thick; despite the force of her blows, she could discern no echoes of them from within.

“Damn it to hell,” she muttered. “Now what?”

Stepping back, she scanned the façade of the building. She saw no light in the windows, no movement. Was her information obsolete? Could it be that the Guild no longer occupied Randerley?

The house didn’t appear derelict, despite its obvious antiquity, and the grounds were well-kept. She approached the door once more, searching for some hidden mechanism she might use to gain entry.

The door itself was featureless, but about two feet to the right she noticed a panel of brass. An exquisitely detailed image of a chambered nautilus decorated the top. Below this figure she found a column of seven brass tumblers, with a bevelled push button at the bottom. She rolled a fingertip across the surface of one cylinder. It turned smoothly, under the slightest pressure, exposing engraved digits from zero to nine.

An entry code! Gillian was impressed. This mechanism was far more effective than bolts or locks. Only those who knew the correct combination of digits could enter the Guild’s sanctum.

But how was she, an outsider, to gain access? Her heart sank as she automatically did the calculations. Seven tumblers, with ten options each, meant there were ten million possible codes. Impossible to guess. Nevertheless, she had to try.

She doubted the code was random. Seven random numbers would be too difficult to convey or remember. There had to be some pattern, some system. But what was it?

Feeling lost and desperate, she twirled the dials to the sequence 2, 4, 5, 1, 8, 1, 9. Everyone knew Her Majesty the Queen’s birth date. Holding her breath, she depressed the button.

The spiral design flashed red. “First error,” announced a mechanical voice. “Two attempts remaining.”

Tears pricked Gillian’s eyes. Her limbs felt leaden; she swayed and almost fell. Her long walk over the moors, her sleepless night, the fear that had driven her to escape, all combined to overwhelm her. Had it all been for nothing?

No. She would not give up, not while there was any chance at all. Perhaps the passcode was something deceptively simple. People were, after all, typically lazy.

She reset the tumblers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Her finger hovered over the button for an instant, then gave a firm press.

“Second error,” the irritating mechanism chided. “One attempt remaining.”

A hot surge of anger temporarily banished her exhaustion. Bloody engineers, she raged silently. They think they’re so clever. Well, she was clever, too. She would not let them best her.

She filled her lungs with the grass-scented air and willed her pulse to slow. As her father had taught her, so long ago, she raised an imaginary lens to her mind and focused on the problem at hand. The world became brighter, more sharply delineated. Her thoughts turned like well-oiled gears.

Gillian scrutinised the entry panel. There had to be a clue. A stray sunbeam broke through the clouds, making the nautilus gleam. The engraved spiral drew her gaze, pulling her into its centre…

Of course! Inspiration blazed like the sparks in a Leyden jar. Working with quick confidence, she set the values a third time: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8. Without hesitation she pushed the button to register her choice.

Sparkling green flooded the lines of the spiral. With a soft click, the lock released, and the heavy door swung open on silent hinges. “Welcome,” proclaimed the disembodied voice, “to the Toymakers Guild.”

Jubilant, Gillian gathered her bag and her book and stepped inside.

Buy Links

Kinky Literature – https://www.kinkyliterature.com/book/8424-the-pornographers-apprentice-the-toymakers-guild-book-1/

Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MWMZZGP

Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08MWMZZGP

Smashwords – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1053072

Barnes and Noble – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-pornographers-apprentice-lisabet-sarai/1138144978?ean=2940164724573

Kobo – https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-pornographer-s-apprentice-1

Apple Books - https://books.apple.com/us/book/x/id1539184541

Add on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55857159-the-pornographer-s-apprentice

Audio

https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Pornographers-Apprentice-Audiobook/B09933BG3L

https://amzn.to/3wJZgCq

Be sure to visit the other authors participating in today’s Book Hooks!

---

Cover Reveal: Swingers Light Up Vegas by @AdrianaKraft -- #EroticRomance #SwingLifestyle #Bisexual

By Adriana Kraft (Guest Blogger)

I am so excited about this cover from Veridian Rose Graphics for our upcoming release! My husband and I, who write together under this pen name, created a (very) short story to give our readers a sample of the highly charged erotic world enjoyed by a fictional mid-life couple in the swing lifestyle. Swingers Light Up Vegas will be released on January 30, and pre-order will be available later this week.

On our last trip to Las Vegas, we scoured the city for photos and adventures we could gift to those characters, hoping one of the pics could be used on our cover.

Did our cover artist use them?

No, but it wasn’t her fault.

We’d told her we wanted two things on the cover: something sexy, and something that anchored the cover explicitly in Las Vegas.

So even though all the photos say “Vegas” to me, none of them really scream it for anyone else. The fabulous High Roller LINQ? Lots of cities have those by now, and a nighttime shot says nothing about which city it is. Ditto a Lazy River. Pick a tropical setting anywhere (or even just a relatively warm one), and lots of resorts sport them. The view from the Stratosphere? We actually didn’t even send her that one; it does picture the famous strip, but from such a distance that it’s not distinctive. And the same with the view out our 8^th floor window. It gave us lots of pleasure, every night, to watch the sun set over the south end of the strip, but the photo isn’t identifiably Vegas. You can catch all those photos at https://wp.me/p9O7pv-336

Valerie June Bondarenko of Veridian Rose Graphics is the artist we approached to create our cover. She began by offering us several “sexy” photo options to consider, and both Hubs and I were immediately drawn to the shot with a window, roses in a vase, and a partially clad female torso wearing black lace. Perfect. The swing lifestyle is focused on women and what women want; men may love to ogle, but women call the shots. We think our cover gives her the power to beckon, and the power to say no.

Next question: what to put in the window? That’s where we’d thought the High Roller LINQ could go, but it didn’t really work, and it would still have left us with the question of how to convey Vegas. Valerie came up with the idea of the iconic Las Vegas welcome sign in the window, and when we got the draft, we both said “wow.” It’s perfect.

Next dilemma: the window-roses-black lace pic wasn’t the right dimensions for a cover, and anyway we still needed placement for the title and author. We were clueless, but Valerie came up with the dark red lace on black borders top and bottom. This is why she's the artist.

Last issue: font for title and author. We thought about neon lights – we think she’s captured that spirit in the title font and colors. Plus it’s a fun touch that “light up” actually lights up the title. And who doesn’t love seeing their name in big bold letters?

So yes, we signed off on her first complete cover draft immediately and are thrilled we did. We highly recommend her:

 Veridian Rose Graphics

Blurb

What happens in Vegas…

Swingers Brett and Jen head to Las Vegas to celebrate Jen’s fiftieth birthday. Through their friends back home, they’ve scored a free week at a posh Vegas resort condominium. They fill their days with every iconic Las Vegas experience they can dream up. But by night? They’re determined not to leave Vegas without sampling what it has to offer in the erotically charged swing lifestyle. A Vegas swing club beckons – will it live up to their fantasies?

Book Information

Genre: Erotic Romance, Bisexual, Later in Life

Release Date: January 30, 2023

Length: 5K words

Price: 99 cents

Buy Link

Pre-order coming soon at https://books2read.com/

Tags

Bisexual erotic romance, LGBTQ+, Swing Lifestyle, Ménage, Later in Life, Las Vegas

About Adriana Kraft

Adriana Kraft is the pen name for a married pair of retired professors writing erotic romance and erotic romantic suspense together. We like to think we’ve broken the mold for staid, fusty academics, and we hope lots of former profs are enjoying life as much as we are. We believe that love is love is love, and we often feature bisexual women and ménage in our erotic romance stories. Together we have published more than fifty erotic romance novels and novellas to outstanding reviews.

During our academic careers, we lived in many states across the Midwest. We love to travel, so when we retired, we sold our house and took off in our motor home across the country. We now make our home in southern Arizona, where we enjoy hiking, golf, and travel, especially to the many Arizona Native American historical sites.

Author Links

https://linktr.ee/AdrianaKraft

At the portals of the Underworld on Samhain Eve -- #HistoricalFantasy #Cursed #Giveaway @LinneaTanner

Blurb

A Celtic warrior queen must do the impossible—defeat her sorcerer half-brother and claim the throne. But to do so, she must learn how to strike vengeance from her father’s skull.

AS FORETOLD BY HER FATHER in a vision, Catrin has become a battle-hardened warrior after her trials in the Roman legion and gladiatorial games. She must return to Britannia and pull the cursed dagger out of the serpent’s stone to fulfill her destiny. Only then can she unleash the vengeance from the ancient druids to destroy her evil half-brother, the powerful sorcerer, King Marrock. Always two steps ahead and seemingly unstoppable, Marrock can summon destructive natural forces to crush any rival trying to stop him and has charged his deadliest assassin to bring back Catrin’s head.

To have the slightest chance of beating Marrock, Catrin must forge alliances with former enemies, but she needs someone she can trust. Her only option is to seek military aid from Marcellus—her secret Roman husband. They rekindle their burning passion, but he is playing a deadly game in the political firestorm of the Julio-Claudian dynasty to support Catrin’s cause.

Ultimately, in order to defeat Marrock, Catrin must align herself with a dark druidess and learn how to summon forces from skulls to exact vengeance. But can she and Marcellus outmaneuver political enemies from Rome and Britannia in their quest to vanquish Marrock?

 

Excerpt

Chapter 1 Portals to the Otherworld

Antonii Villa in Gaul, Eve of Samhain, 31 October, 27 AD

Exasperated, Catrin drew in a sharp breath. Then, she considered Trystan’s impassioned plea to meet with two of her most hated enemies. Recalling how her father had respected his second-in-command’s advice, she reluctantly conceded and squeezed her legs against her horse’s flanks to move toward the campfire’s glow.

The night’s chill mysteriously transformed into an embracing warmth as they neared a roaring fire with a black cauldron hanging over it. Sitting behind the crimson flames were two obscured figures.

“Welcome, Apollo’s Raven,” a woman’s deep voice intoned. “Come to our fire. Join us in the dance of souls.”

Though Catrin hesitated to join them, the fire’s radiance mesmerized her, luring her closer to the orange flames. She dismounted and handed the reins to Trystan, who quietly remained with the horses as she sat down on a fallen log near the roaring campfire.

“Drink the magic from the cauldron,” the woman offered. “It empowers all who partake with the knowledge of mystical mysteries from the ancient druids.”

“I already have that power,” Catrin proclaimed, trepidatious that perhaps Rhan had dropped hallucinogenic ingredients into the bubbling mixture. Thick steam flowed over the cauldron’s edge and down its metal surface in a thick, greenish fog.

“We know, my love, but you have only had a taste,” Rhan replied in a hypnotic voice. “You do not know how to control this dark magic. But we do.”

Suddenly light-headed from the smoky fumes emanating from the cauldron, Catrin struggled to maintain her wits. “Once before you said this, when you tried to trick me into revealing how I can travel to the Otherworld.”

“Believe me, this is no trick,” Rhan said soothingly. “I’ve seen your father’s spirit wander the top of cliffs, near a dagger embedded in a serpent stone. It is the blade on which my curse was etched.”

“I sense the curse has altered again, but I can’t see how the etched wording has changed on the blade,” Myrddin interjected. “You must help us solve the riddle of how the dagger got there.”

Catrin inhaled sharply, realizing Myrddin and Rhan had discovered the location of the dagger she had thrust into the stone. The image of her running away from the Romans played in her mind, and her thoughts transformed into words.

“After the final battle, I tried to escape the Romans, but…but there was nowhere to go, except jump off the white cliffs. At that moment, I chose to die rather than be captured.”

Rhan rose to her feet, walked around the fire, and sat next to Catrin. “But you didn’t die, did you?” she said, touching Catrin’s arm.

“No. A riderless horse galloped to me, stopping in front of me. My father suddenly appeared and told me not to jump,” Catrin disclosed, reliving the supernatural moment in her mind. “I couldn’t believe my eyes that Father was there. I knew Marrock had beheaded him. Yet, I felt his essence and his love radiate into me.”

Tears swelled in Catrin’s eyes as remorse that she had been unable to save her family from Marrock’s brutality overwhelmed her. She swallowed down a sob before continuing her story.

“Father told me to lift the cursed dagger toward the sky. To my amazement, sunlight flashed through the dark clouds, almost blinding me. He then ordered, ‘Thrust the dagger into the serpent stone that I create.’ What I saw next was not a vision. It was real.”

Catrin grimaced as she recalled the burning pain she’d felt as she’d held the hilt of the dagger.

“The blade turned orange, as if it had been taken out of a furnace. Father’s spirit burst apart into gold dust and melted into the blade’s etching. Serpents massed together on the ground. The venom dripping from their fangs hardened into stone. Somehow, I was able to push the dagger into the hard rock, like it was butter. And, and…”

“And what, my dear?” Rhan pressed.

Catrin’s voice cracked. “I was collared by the Romans and put on a warship.”

About the Author

Award-winning author, Linnea Tanner, weaves Celtic tales of love, magical adventure, and political intrigue in Ancient Rome and Britannia. Since childhood, she has passionately read about ancient civilizations and mythology. Of particular interest are the enigmatic Celts, who were reputed as fierce warriors and mystical Druids.

Linnea has extensively researched ancient and medieval history, mythology, and archaeology and has traveled to sites described within each of her books in the Curse of Clansmen and Kings series. Books released in her series include "Apollo’s Raven" (Book 1), "Dagger’s Destiny" (Book 2), "Amulet’s Rapture" (Book 3), and "Skull’s Vengeance" (Book 4). She has also released the historical fiction short story, "Two Faces of Janus."

A Colorado native, Linnea attended the University of Colorado and earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry. She lives in Fort Collins with her husband and has two children and six grandchildren.

You can follow her on her website: https://www.linneatanner.com/

Amazon Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/Skulls-Vengeance-Curse-Clansmen-Kings-ebook/dp/B0BC2GCFGG/ref=sr_1_1

Linnea Tanner is giving away a $50 gift certificate to one lucky reader. Enter using the Rafflecopter below.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway