April 22, 2013

Heroess and Hearts Excerpt




Isabel Kendra prides herself on being a strong independent woman. She doesn’t fawn over men, doesn’t swoon and would rather take care of things herself than ask for help. She has no use for heroes. So when a dark stranger tells her of a kidnapped child who needs her help she approaches the situation in her usual practical manner. Of course, with coming across her long lost father and gods and sorceresses who are constantly trying to kill her, Isabel soon realizes she’s out of her element. Enter the dashing Prince Alaric for whom rescuing the damsel in distress is second nature, only this time the damsel doesn’t want to be rescued!

Together the two must thwart the evil forces that threaten their lives and their worlds while struggling against their own blistering attraction for each other. Can Isabel balance her aversion to the prince’s habit of coming to her rescue with the realization that sometimes it is all right to accept help from a man? Can Alaric handle himself around a woman capable of rescuing herself and learn to be simply the man who loves her?



Excerpt


On the way to her room, she knocked softly on Alaric’s door and opened it a crack to peek in and check on him. He lay on his back snoring softly, but his twisted covers told Isabel he hadn’t been sleeping well. He was bare-chested, save for the bandage that had been wrapped around his midriff, and the hairy leg that hung beside the bed made Isabel suddenly aware that the man was completely naked. She knew it probably wasn’t the thing to do, but the air below decks was chillier than above and she didn’t want him to catch a cold on top of being injured. She quickly slipped into the room and drew the covers up to his throat. God, the man was beautiful! His dark hair lightly brushed his forehead and his features looked as if they had been chiseled in stone. She lightly touched his damp forehead to find it was a bit too warm. She sat on the edge of the bed beside him and wrung out the washcloth that lay in a clay bowl filled with cool water. She placed the cloth upon his head and noticed he had opened his eyes and was watching her.

“I’m sorry, I’ll go,” she gasped. She rose to leave, but he grabbed her arms and pulled her to him.

“Isabel,” he murmured, placing a hand in her hair as he continued to pull her down on him, and suddenly she found he was kissing her.

His lips were unbelievably warm and soft, and she felt herself melting as his tongue probed the inside of her mouth. Just as suddenly as it had started, Isabel felt Alaric’s grip loosen. When she pushed herself up she found he was asleep again. Her body trembled as her heart thrummed beneath her breast. She hurried from the room and entered her own, flopping down on her bed to calm herself. She had kissed guys before and she was definitely no virgin, yet no man had ever caused such a strong reaction within her and she was terrified.

The Space Between Excerpt





When Life Falls to Pieces, Answers Lie in the Space Between

After a month-long dance tour through Italy, 20-year-old Leni Drago returns to
Georgia to care for her great-uncle, only to find him gone, the home they shared
empty and any evidence he ever existed wiped out. All that’s left is a journal she
can’t open.

Jeric Winters has been searching for a piece of his past for over a year, only to
reach a dead-end in Georgia. When an urgent and magnetic pull draws him out
of his hotel room, he comes face-to-face with the beautiful dancer who’s been
haunting his dreams day and night.

Jeric’s one to stay away from—a bad-boy, hit-it-and-quit-it type—but Leni can’t
escape the fervent feelings between them. As their own existences begin to
crumble around them and shadowy forms that are more monsters than men
attack, they realize there’s more to the connection between them than physical
fascination.

To solve the riddle their lives have become, they must embark on a journey that
requires them to face their pasts and release their true souls. And they must
do it fast—dark ones from another world are closing in, intent on killing them.
Permanently.



The Space Between 

Kristie Cook 

Releasing April 5, 2013 



An Excerpt 



LENI – The overhead lights fell dark for the last time as I opened the dressing room door. The back exit stood open at the end of the hall, allowing in enough light from the streetlamp outside to show my way. I inhaled slowly, cherishing the musty smell of an old theater mixed with the odor of dancers’ sweat and the fragrance of white roses. I silently said my goodbyes as my feet carried me outside.

“Thank you, Uncle Theo,” I whispered as I left the theater for the last time. Only because of him did I even have this opportunity. I couldn’t wait to tell him all about it.

A large, muscular body flew at me, swept me into his arms and twirled me around as though we were still on stage. Laughter bubbled out of my chest.

“You ready to celebrate, cara mia?” Alberto asked as he set me down.

“Celebrate that you’re finally getting rid of me?” I teased.

He clapped his hand over his heart, and his face fell into an exaggerated expression of pain. “Oh, Leni, you do not know how I will miss you and your mane.”

He swatted playfully at the bottom of my curls. He had no idea how I would miss the way he said my name, drawing out both syllables, “laaaay-kneee,” like only an Italian could do.

“But you won’t miss my heels on your toes or my arm in your face?” I said in mock disbelief.

He took my hand and danced me down the cobbled street toward the plaza at the center of town. “You are a stunning dancer, cara mia. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” He spun me under his arm, my duffle bag banging me in the butt the whole time. “Of course, you have become much better since becoming my partner. But everyone does.”

He winked at me before dropping me into a dip. My bag slid off my shoulder and a hand darted beneath me to catch it. Alberto swung me up and around so that I came face-to-face with the most unbelievably stunning vision I’d seen my whole time in Italy. Which was saying a lot. His eyes—blue, I thought, though the light from the corner post wasn’t enough to be sure—enraptured me. He held my bag out with a small smile that hinted at dimples.

“Grazie,” I said breathlessly as I wrapped my hand around the strap of my bag. He gave me a nod almost deep enough to be a bow, his shaggy blond hair falling in his face. Then, without a word, he turned and walked away. My mouth fell open. “How rude.”

“Must be American,” Alberto said. I punched him in the arm.

“Who goes out of their way to catch a falling object and then can’t even say ‘you’re welcome’?” I asked absent-mindedly as I stared after the retreating body that rivaled Alberto’s. No, scratch that. It totally beat out Alberto’s even on his best day.

“What an ass,” Alberto muttered.

“Rude, yes, but I don’t know if I’d go that far.”

“No, I mean what an ass that man has.” He let out a low whistle.

I laughed and admired the view as well. “I can agree with that.”

“He’s going to Alonzo’s. Lucky us.”

~ ~ ~

JERIC – I flipped to the picture I’d drawn a couple of weeks ago during my search in Italy. I’d woken from a dream, one I’d been having for years, and as I had previously, I’d felt the need to sketch the girl who had me waking with a painful boner. Now that I’d met her in real life, I couldn’t deny the girl in my sketches was Leni—curly hair, exotic green eyes, full lips and breasts, her skin … as if the absolute best features of both African and European blood had been blended together and given to her. The Leni I’d just met would probably never wear the leather bra, miniskirt, and knee-high boots I’d drawn her in, but damn if she wouldn’t look hot in them. The vision came to me clearly. Too clearly. I had to place the book over my lap to hide the full-blown wood pressing against my jeans.

I needed a distraction. I needed to get her out of my head. I bought several little airline bottles of rum and dumped them in my Coke, but they weren’t enough to blur the image of Leni’s face in my mind. When the smoking hot flight attendant ran her finger over my arm then dropped a napkin with a message on my tray (“Meet me upstairs?”), I couldn’t resist. I snuck up the spiral staircase to the empty upper level and found her in the bathroom wearing nothing but heels and thigh-high stockings, tendrils of bottle-bleached hair barely hiding her fake tits. Flight attendants like this had made me a lifetime member of the mile-high club—they wanted nothing more than something to make the transatlantic flight more interesting. My perfect kind of girl.

Unfortunately, my eyes only saw Leni’s body under my hands.


Kristie Cook


Kristie Cook is a lifelong, award-winning writer in various genres, from marketing communications to fantasy fiction. She continues to write the Soul Savers Series, a New Adult paranormal romance/contemporary fantasy, with the first four books, Promise, Purpose, Devotion and Power available now and the next book coming in June 2013. She’s also written a companion novella, Genesis: A Soul Savers Novella, currently available. Over 160,000 Soul Savers books have been sold, with Promise peaking at #54 on the Amazon Top 100 Paid list and at #1 in the Amazon Fantasy category.

The Space Between, which releases April 2013, kicks off her second New Adult paranormal series, The Book of Phoenix.


Besides writing, Kristie enjoys reading, cooking, traveling and riding on the back of a motorcycle. She has lived in ten states, but currently calls Southwest Florida home with her husband, three teenage sons, a beagle and a puggle. She can be found at:

Author's Website & Blog: http://www.KristieCook.com
Soul Savers Series Website: http://www.SoulSaversSeries.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorKristieCook
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/kristiecookauth


April 2, 2013

Book Spotlight: Fate War: Alliance





Fate War: AlliancePrince Cole meets Samantha when she walks down the aisle. Though she seems like the polished women he is familiar with, there is something different. She is complicated and full of mystery. Her dowry comes with a promise of air ships and mech capable of defense against their common enemy and for his country to survive, he must unravel her secrets. It is only when each accepts their destinies can they save their people from the plans of the Fate Sovereign.








Excerpt

Family Breakfast

“King Arnold, a pleasure.”

Samantha curtsied low, holding the layers of her blue, lace trimmed dress up from the floor. The handmaid had done a tremendous job of tightening her corset. Multi-colored stars popped before her eyes with the movement.

“None of that now. We’re family.” The King’s kind voice and hand guiding her back up put her at ease. He stood in the doorway of her and Cole’s bedchambers. Images of him in red coattails flashed into her mind, and she pushed them back. Today, he wore a grey morning coat, complete with a red striped waistcoat and ascot. The ruby eyes and toothy grin of a gold dragon head peaked at her from the crook of his arm where his cane rested.

He took her hand, kissing the gloved fingers, then wrapped them around his elbow to lead her to the balcony. “And how are you this morning daughter-in-law?”

“I’m well. Thank you for asking, King Arnold. And you?”

“Doing well, my dear.” He patted her hand as they reached the balcony where Cole stood, fidgeting with his tawny waistcoat. Under her fingers, Samantha felt the King tense. He and Cole nodded to each other, but no words were exchanged in salutation. Cole pulled out her chair, and both men helped her settle for their family breakfast. As the men took their seats, they continually eyed each other, like one expecting a tame tiger to turn man eater at any moment.

Thankfully, the servants began uncovering today’s dishes, and the men were distracted by bacon.

Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/Fate-War-Alliance-ebook/dp/B00BKQ5UVC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361809152&sr=8-1&keywords=fate+war+havens