Tuesday's Tales ~ Ribbon

Welcome to Tuesday's Tales  

Way-Hay! Tuesday's Tales is back, after a short summer break. This week our prompt word is RIBBON and my snippet is from the opening scene in the 2nd chapter. My hero is in for a nasty surprise when he regains consciousness....

Pain and bitter cold threatened to spin him back into the blackness. His head ached and his face throbbed. Something hard, wedged behind his back, pinned him down against the freezing metal floor of his prison. He tried moving and groaned. Ropes cut into his wrists and ankles and noise seeped into his woozy brain. A whooshing sound that overrode the pounding of his blood in his ears.

Movement. Judging by the blackness around him, and the constant sound of an engine, he was trussed up like a chicken and in the boot of a vehicle. The blast of a nearby horn warred with the pain in his head and he swallowed another groan. Better whoever was driving thought him still senseless. How long had been out? Hard to say because the last thing he could remember was going to bed. Last night? Was it still night time, or later?

He vaguely remembered seeing a ribbon of light seeping between the crack in the curtains. So, not night time.  Fighting against the pain he tried to marshal his thoughts. He’d been asleep when something woke him, but before he could try and work it out, the blow to his head knocked him senseless. Had the intruder attacked him? If so why? And what about the female voice that filtered into his semi-consciousness? Where did she fit in, if she fitted in at all?

The muffled sound of a female singing along to the radio reached him. Good lard, was his attacker a female? His cousin’s mother was a formidable woman but even she wouldn’t stoop to physical violence on her nephew. Unless of course, she was part of…

He tensed when he heard the engine change pitch. Were they stopping would someone come and let him out? No, the engine was idling. Lights? God knew he didn’t want to remain incarcerated in the vehicle but until he could mentally prepare himself he’s take however more minutes he could get to sort out his thoughts and to try and make sense of what was happening to him.

Thank you for reading this week's offering,
there are lots more amazing reads at Tuesday's Tales 

Author Spotlight ~ Jillian Chantal.

Author Bio:
Jillian Chantal is the nom de plume of a lawyer moonlighting as a writer of romantic fiction.   Most often she can be found either at her keyboard banging out words, working on a legal issue or just surfing the web and calling it research.  Her other guilty pleasure is her one-sided love affair with the actor Alan Rickman. She owns all his movies and would probably give away her cat for a chance to meet him. She’d keep her children, though. It would be a sacrifice, but she would be brave.

Jillian lives on the Florida Gulf Coast where she bemoans the humidity most of the year but she’s otherwise charming and engaging (at least in her own mind).

She has PRO status in the RWA and is an active member of the Gulf Coast Chapter of the Romance Writer’s of America.

Blurb:Attorney Anna Kincaid doesn’t celebrate Christmas. It’s been a time of loss and sadness for her for too many years.

Matteo Sanchez, a criminal prosecutor, has been searching for the right woman for more years than he cares to recall.

In a local deli, Matteo, seated at the next table overhears a conversation Anna has with her friends that she wants a one night stand for Christmas. The next day, he introduces himself to her at the local bar association Christmas party. After an evening of passion, Anna discovers that Matteo knew about her wish before meeting her. Believing him to be a stalker and a cad, she throws him out of her house. Christmas may prove to be her enemy yet again.

Excerpt:

Her phone on the top of the table also kept vibrating with messages from Gina about the stupid bar party that night. Gina had a date and so did Renee and they wanted her to come and be with them. She had no doubt that they would hunt her down if she didn’t agree to go. Damn them. It was so not what she wanted to do. She wanted these depositions to end so she could go home, put on a cozy robe and have cocoa.

It didn’t seem that was going to happen and sure enough, when the day was over and she stepped out of her office to head home, Renee and Gina were standing there.

“Come on. We’re getting ready at Renee’s.” Gina took Anna by the arm.

“I told you I didn’t want to go. What’s so hard to understand about that?”

“We understand. We’re just not letting you do it. You need to get over being Scrooge and get into the party spirit,” Gina said.

      “I don’t like Christmas.” Anna wanted to stomp her feet.

“Look, you like Halloween, right?” Renee asked.

“Yeah. I do. So what?”

Gina pulled Anna down the street. “So, let’s pretend it’s a Halloween party and someone has decorated their haunted house as a Christmas house. Can you do that?”

Anna laughed then. “You’re crazy.” She looked over her shoulder. “Both of you.”

“At least you’re laughing now. Come one. We got you a great dress to wear.” Renee jogged to catch up as they headed to the parking deck.

After changing at Renee’s house, Anna and her friends drove to the hotel where the bar association had its party every year. She shivered in the cold when they turned the car over to the valet.

Renee and Gina hurried Anna inside where they met their dates right inside the double doors. Anna glanced around at the number of Christmas trees scattered throughout the lobby. Way too much red and green for her. She giggled a bit at the dress her friends had made her put on. It was a black silk with an orange shawl-back collar. It was prim from the front with a high neckline but from the back, the orange shawl showed her muscled lateral muscles. It was pretty daring for her.

When she slipped the dress on, her friends reminded her of her wish for a one-night stand and their bet. Anna knew there would be no one at the bar party she’d care to run off with for the night but she wore the dress to humor them and to pretend it was a Halloween outfit. They really had tried hard to get her in the spirit of things— the spirit of a holiday that didn’t bother her, that is.

To Buy Links:
Secret Cravings Publishings      Amazon      Amazon UK  Barnes & Noble    iTunes

  

Review:-
(Book provided by author for review:-)

Jillian Chantal’s story, All I Want For Christmas, may be short, but it’s packed with pace, pathos, passion, plus a quirky sense of humour. And, of course, some seriously hot characters.

In the first sentence Ms. Chantal reveals her heroine, Anna’s take on Christmas. She hates it, and expects to go on hating it for ever more. But strange things happen in the run-up to the holiday. And Anna, completely out of character, makes a comment in response to a half-hearted dare that shocks her and has her two best friends taking her up on it.
And in the next chapter we meet the author’s hero, Matteo Sanchez. Who knew that lawyers could look so good? And Ms. Chantal’s hero is quick witted, he needs to be as a prosecutor, under pressure from his Mama to bring a girl home for Christmas. Sitting at the table next to Anna and her friends he hears her throw-away comment, hopes she acts on it, and when she doesn’t, decides not to miss the opportunity.

Ms. Chantal create vibrant settings, believable backchat and ribbing between the friends, and had this reader enjoying the escalation of passion between Anna and Matteo. It is fast, furious, and creates a fabulous twist near the end of the story that had this reader laughing in amusement and appreciation.

This reader has had the pleasure of following Ms. Chantal’s writing and enjoys the smooth fluency of it, the way she creates a scene and just when you wonder what she’s up to, she takes you down a totally unexpected and fun path.

Her characters are totally believable, and in a short story it is not easy to present fully formed and deep characters, but Ms. Chantal’s characters are a delight. Her secondary players annoy and tease in equal measure and fulfil their role in moving the story forward with expertise. 

Yes, unquestionable, this is a Christmas story, but don’t let that put you off reading it at any time of the year.

At 49 pages this sensual romance is a one-sitting read that will keep you turning the pages until you discover just how Anna and Matteo clear a path through all their problems, and the hoops Ms. Chantal put them through.

Author Links:
Website     Blog        Amazon Author Page          Facebook

Sweet Saturday sample 09-03-013

Time for Sweet Saturday Sample again, and this week I'm continuing from where I left off last week one of my Gasquet Princes WsIP, its working title - Sacha's Story.

Sacha is the third (being the younger twin) Gasquet brother, and this clip comes from may be the opening scene in his story.

A twin recognised his sibling at a deep and instinctive soul level, and this imposter didn’t touch his soul.  He glanced behind him when Liam laid a hand on his shoulder. 

“What’s wrong?  I thought you’d be pleased to see Simeon, even if it is only for a few hours, before we are all engulfed in the next tier of Jubilee celebrations.”

“If the man approaching your front door was Simeon, I’d be delighted, but the man you’re watching is not Simeon, I’d swear my life on it.”

Liam swung him round and Sacha noted the pallor on his brother’s face.

“What are you saying?”

“I don’t know why, or how, but my instinct tells me we are about to invite a cuckoo into your nest.”  His dry tone was not lost on Liam, Sacha noted with satisfaction.

Strangers watching Liam go about his business could be forgiven for thinking he’d put the past behind him. But they’d be wrong.  

Since the attempt on Liam, his younger brother’s life, if Melanie didn’t restrain him, tended to go overboard about personal security these days, and Sacha appreciated the turmoil his bald statement would have on his younger brother.

Physically knocked back by Sacha’s claim, Liam stepped forward again and watched the man haul a briefcase from the passenger seat of the car and head for the front door. “Who would organise something like this?” 

“The ‘who’ escapes me,” Sacha replied, “but the why is obvious.”

 

You'll find more free reads at Sweet Saturday Sample

You can find more information on the first two Gasquet Princes stories,

From Now Until Forever,

 

 

and

 

 

 

 

 

His Choosen Bride, on my website - http://www.sherrygloag.com

Tuesday Tales 13-03-12 Legs

Today's Prompt for this week's Tuesday Tales is LEGS. So I have chosen to offer a scene from the first of my Gasquet Princes series, From Now until Forever.

Thank you to everyone who visites and to those who leave comments, too. :-)



Unfurling his six-foot-five-inch frame, he scrambled to his feet. More dirt flew up around his shoes. He raced for the house, dove through the aperture and rolled beneath the solid pine table in the centre of the room.

Sunlight—bright, golden, offering false promises—cut a path across the floor to his sanctuary. “Shut the freaking door,” he snapped.

Stillness replaced the sound of gunfire. Even the birds, outraged by the disturbance of their tranquillity, fell silent.

Expectancy hung in the air.

What would their attackers do next?

The view from beneath the kitchen table changed the dimensions of the room. Chair legs, square and curving away from him, still managed to crowd his refuge.

The frayed hem of Mel’s jeans brushed her sun-kissed bare feet. Her sandals lay where she’d abandoned them beneath one of the chairs. A rogue ray of sunlight stroked the surface of the faceted coloured glass adorning her sandal-straps and shot rainbow beams of tinted light across the surfaces of the cupboards and nearby walls. Who would have thought the owner of those girly sandals could tote a gun as though it was second nature to her?

Sweet Saturday Samples - I missed it!

Where does the time go to, these days?  Or am I getting more 'dittzy' by the day?  Now there's a frightening thought!

So why have I once again missed the wonderful Sweet Saturday Samples well, I'm not sure.  I've been no busier than usual, yeah I'm trying to work on three stories at once and find my characters gaily cruising through each other's stories, which is fine, except one of them is a Regency and the others are not!  What joy :-0

But that's no reason not to offer you something else instead, is it?  I keep talking about my wip Regency story, No Job For a Woman, so why don't I offer you a little snippet from that today?

Julian, (my hero) is rescuing two women from a burning building when tragedy strikes...

A sound, reminiscent of canon fire, did not give him time to escape the building as burning timbers rained down, pinning his legs just inside the doorframe.

Careful hands cradled him while others fought frantically to free his him. He didn’t hear the woman’s sobbing thanks.

Only Deborah’s voice filtered through his agony, kept him striving to hold on. Rough hands swept him off the ground and carried towards his wife’s home. The soft touch of her hand, wrapped round his, faded into the engulfing blackness.

Six Sentence Sunday

Thank you to everyone who leaves comments, and visits every week. 
Today I am sharing more from of my Valentine Story about Henri Gasquet, hero in His Chosen Bride.


He planted his knuckles on his father’s desk and leaned forward. “I can’t just take off and leave them all in the lurch.” He pushed away.  “It is ridiculous for you or anyone else to expect me to walk away from my duties. Who would take my place?” he challenged, knowing every project mentioned needed his influence and prestige to press the projects forward.

“I will.”

Please hop on over to SIX SENTENCE SUNDAY to read more fabulous snippets on offer this week.

Six Sentence Sunday

Today's 'Six' follows on from yesterday's Sample 

 As alway I appreciate your comments and thank you all for you company and support every week.

To celebrate the release of my new book From Now Until Forever by Astrea Press, I will share samples with you throughout December.

GIVEAWAY

At the end of December I am giving away a PDF version of From Now Until Forever and will use random.org to choose one lucky winner from all the SSS comments received during December.

A mistake. Not her first. Probably not her last, but still, a mistake.

Melanie aimed her weapon, fired, and took satisfaction from the distant bellow of pain. She shifted the gun from one hand to the other, flung the door open, and yelled for Liam to take cover.

*A grim smile twitched her lips.

(*This snippet has been edited)

Click Six Sunday Sentence for more offerings 

Sweet Saturday Sample

Welcome to another Sweet Saturday Sample. And thank you to everyone who stops by every week. I hope you enjoy the sample my my latest release today. 
There will be more tomorrow.

To celebrate the release of my new book From Now Until Forever by Astrea Press, I will share samples with you throughout December.

GIVEAWAY

At the end of December I am giving away a PDF version of From Now Until Forever
and will use random.org to choose one lucky winner from all the SSS comments received.

So! It began.
In his usual no-­‐‑nonsense manner, Paxman, her boss, had updated her on events in the phone call she’d received just over ten minutes ago. It hadn’t given her time to warn Liam to get back inside, let alone for her to make any moves towards vacating the farm. As the head of palace security, Paxman focused on the job at hand and kept his missives brief. As her surrogate father—well, she owed him everything.

“Our man inside the British Embassy says Drake Guillespie, and his son deBonet, the rebel leader, are heading north and expected to pick up company on the way. Contact the Caretaker.”

In other words leave the farmhouse immediately. Brevity notwithstanding, from his information she’d assumed they’d have time to evacuate the place safely, instead of being embroiled in the middle of a gun battle.

Day 3 Joselyn Vaughn's Hauntings of a Heart - The review

Title: Hauntings of the Heart
Author: Joselyn Vaughn
Publisher: Astraea Press
Genre: Mainstream Contemporary Paranormal Romance
Length: Full 210 pages
Heat: Sweet
Rating: 5

Review requested, and book provided, by the author.



Review: Hauntings of the Heart is a romance with a difference. Yes, boy meets girl, but then the author fast forwards fifty years…

Ms. Vaughn pitches her readers in to the world of ‘silver-surfers’, committee meetings and fund raisers. And a townful of gossips.

What would you do if you were offered one million dollars for something you loved? When a lawyer, on behalf of her unidentified client offers Minnie Schultz that much money she refused, although in dire financial straits at the time. She’d bought the bed and breakfast property that once belonged to the family of the only man she ever loved and did not intend to let it go to some nameless, faceless client with more money than sense.

Gordon Anderson is on a mission to reclaim his family home before his mother’s health fails completely. The longer the present owner holds out against his offer the more distressed his mother becomes, so he decides to take matters into his own hands and returns to the town his family fled from fifty years ago.

And a lot can happen in that time. Ms. Vaughn fluently weaves in the back story with the present day events. Not only does the author create a charming story peopled with captivating characters, she chucks in enough conflict to have her heroine’s head spinning. The hero, on the other hand, has made his mark in the world, has children and grandchildren. And yet his world feels incomplete until he confronts Minnie at her home, his former home.

As if ghosts from the past are not influential enough in this story, Ms Vaughn adds contemporary ghosts to the mêlée. And of course where you have a current ghost you have ghost hunters.

The Hauntings of the Heart is populated by a vibrant cast of loveable characters, with perhaps one exception, and even then, Ms. Vaughn entices her readers to feel compassion for the woman.

The author’s writing style is both vibrant and fluent, filled with passion and pace, and the result ends in a book you can return to many times when in need of a heart-warming HEA story that will leave readers feeling satisfied and fulfilled.

Buy Links:
Astraea: http://astraeapress.com/#ecwid:category=662245&mode=product&product=7355585

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Hauntings-of-the-Heart-ebook/dp/B005Z8WJRY/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1319568032&sr=1-1
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1106922258

Contact Links:
Email: jvaughn@joselynvaughn.com
Webpage: http://joselynvaughn.com
Blog: http://joselynvaughn.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/joselynvaughn
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/joselynvaughn

Sweet Saturday Samples 26-11-11

Welcome back to another  sample of my Thanksgiving story. 

All this month in celebration of Thanksgiving, I've been posting snippets of my short Thanksgiving story every Saturday and Sunday.  Today's is the penultimate offering.  The final coming tomorrow in the Six Sentence Sunday. So today I am carrying on from where I left off last Sunday.

Before I do, I'd just like to thank you to everyone who visits THoR , and leaves comments I apprecaite everyone of you.

He had to go to her. Had to find her. Until he did, his soul would never rest, never be whole again. He called his foreman and asked his wife to stay with his girls.

Luke edged his truck through the muddy water swilling across the access road to the house. The curtain of rain obscured her vehicle until he almost ran into it. His headlights shone on the flat tyre, but failed to reveal any sign of the driver. Fear drove him from his truck to the car, and relief buckled his knees when he saw her curled up on the back seat. Alseep.

He yanked her door open, hauled her from the car and wrapped her in his arms, and vowed never to let her go again.

"I'm so sorry. So Sorry. She tricked me into thinking Alice was you, and all I wanted was to marry you and make you mine. I thought it was you with me when we ran away."

He didn't know whether Alex heard or understood. "She tricked me! And I've had to live with that for all these years. I thought I'd never see you again, never hold you in my arms. Do you understand? I love you.  Have always loved you. Only you. Can you ever forgive me?"

Alex groaned, shivered and moved in his arms.  When he looked into her face she gave him a radiant smile.

"Luke? Luke?  Is that really you?  I thought I was dreaming."  She raised one hand to his cheek and ran her finger over his stubbled chin.

To read more super samples head on over to Sweet Saturday Sample.

And please come back tomorrow for the conclusion of Thanksgiven

Six Sentence Sunday

 Thank you to everyone who visited last week. I appreciate your company and comments.
This week's 'six' follows on from last week's.

The memory of her straggly, dirty, shoulder length hair, wide frightened eyes and hands that sought refuge in the skimpy black cotton skirt hanging limply against her bare legs, still haunted his dreams. And turned them into nightmares.

Rafe swallowed. No way could he kid himself. The memories of the night would haunt him for the rest of his life. He‟d treated her like a side of beef hanging in a butcher's shop in an effort to maintain a cover already blown.


Duty Calls is available ~ HERE HERE & HERE

Please visit my website to learn more, and read the reviews.

You will find other participants of Six Sunday Sentence HERE

Six Sentence Sunday 17th July

Hi, I'm participating in Six Sentence Sunday for the first time, so thank you to all who come by.
The snippet is from my current contemporary release, Duty Calls, from Black Opal Books and available at Amazon.com

“Other than the fact you’re stretching our friendship very thin, if you think I’ll set foot on Kinsale territory again.”
Brilliant blue skies overhead offered a large playground for the early summer sunshine, and the fluffy white clouds sailing by. He saw the high chimney-tops through the trees.

“Do you really think I’d bring you here without a very good reason?” Arthur remained in his seat, his hands on the steering wheel, watching Rafe pace up and down the soft verge beside the open-topped car.

"I can't think of a single reason good enough that justifies you resurrecting events that nearly cost me my life, and possibly cost the life on an unknown woman."

For more details, please visit my website: www.sherrygloag.com

Check out all the awesome Six Sentence Sunday authors