Last Days of Freedom Giveaway Hop Winners!

The Last Days of Freedom Giveaway Hop has ended and we have winners!

Congratulations to Ellen Levickis--winner of the $10 Amazon GC.

(Ellen-thanks to a computer glitch and my poor use of a mouse, I lost the rafflecopter widget before pulling your email--would you please email me.)

Congratulations to Carolyn Daley--winner of the $5 Amazon Kindle book of choice!

Thank to everyone who participated and stay tuned for the next awesome giveaway!

Book Tour Kick-Off: Zane--The McKades of Texas by Kimberly Lewis

The Book

Kellan Anderson is in hillbilly hell – or at least that’s what it feels like. After enduring endless accounts of abuse from her now ex-boyfriend, Kellan makes a run for her life and finds herself in cowboy country. Leaving her fancy clothes and expensive lifestyle behind her, she trades in her high heels for cowboy boots and changes her name to Andi Ford. With her painful past threatening to catch up with her, hiding out in this small town seems easy enough – until one blonde hair, blue eyed cowboy steps in the picture.

Zane McKade has sworn off women, determining that they are all liars and cheats – including the new waitress at the local bar. After a rather unpleasant first encounter with the beautiful brunette, Zane’s radar is set to high as he believes this woman is not who she claims to be. When his intimidation methods fail to break through Andi’s barrier he decides to turn on the charm to get her to tell the truth. But Zane’s plan begins to backfire as the more time he spends charming Andi, the more he finds himself breaking his own rules and falling for her.

An Excerpt

Kellan saw the man coming her way and a nervous feeling began to grow in the pit of her stomach. She hadn’t noticed it when he rode up, but he was incredibly good looking. The man had to be a least six two, with long muscular legs leading up to narrow hips that angled into a very masculine upper body. He looked like an athlete. He looked…solid. And although his pale blue shirt was soaked with sweat, it somehow added to his overall appeal. He stopped at her table and glared at her. Only then did she realize that this man was not coming over for friendly chit-chat and her mood shifted.

“Is that your red sports car out there?” Zane asked, tilting his head and jerking his thumb towards the parking lot.

“Yes,” Kellan told him. What’s it to you? She stared up at him, waiting for him to continue. But when he just stared back, his deep blue eyes shooting daggers at her, she decided enough was enough. “Is there something I can help you with?”

Zane’s jaw flexed. “You could have four miles ago.”

“What?” She was utterly confused as to what mileage had to do with his apparent anger towards her.

“I don’t look familiar to you?” He stared at her, his eyebrows coming together in frustration.

She looked the man over from head to toe. “No, I’m sorry you don’t.”

Zane let out an exasperated sigh. “How about now?” He raised his arms above his head and waved them just like he had done when he was trying to flag her down.

He looked completely ridiculous and she fought back the urge to laugh at him. But the more she looked at him she realized that he did look strangely familiar. Oh my… He was the man on the side of the road next to the pickup truck just outside of town.

“Oh,” Kellan said. “Yes, I do remember you now. I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you with your shirt on.” She loaded her voice with sarcasm and crossed her arms over her chest. If he was going to have an attitude with her, then she was going to give it right back.

Zane’s eyes narrowed. “Well, would you care to explain why you just blew past me like that?”

Kellan laughed, quietly as to not draw attention. “Why did I blow past you? Hmm, let me think. Um, maybe it has to do with the fact that you were partially naked and in the middle of nowhere.”

Well damn. He hadn’t thought about that. He’d been all riled up thinking that some guy just ignored him. Now, thinking about it from her perspective, he could see why she didn’t pull over to help him. As it was though, his built up anger from everything that had transpired today got the best of him and he continued with his rant.

“I was not half naked,” he said, his voice low as he briefly glancing around the room to see if anyone could hear them speaking.

“Look, cowboy.” She said the word as though it were an insult and not an affirmation of what he obviously was. “I’m sorry you’re having a bad day, but don’t come over here and take it out on me. I had a good reason for not stopping earlier and I’m not going to apologize for looking after my own safety. You could’ve been a murderer for all I knew.”

Zane knew that he should just man up and walk away, but he just couldn’t do that now after her snarky “cowboy” remark. Why’d she have to go and say it like that anyway?

“Look, princess,” he said with the same tone she had used. “This ain’t Hollywood. Take your sunglasses off. You’re inside and you look like a damn fool.”

Kellan’s jaw fell in disbelief.

Zane smiled, feeling triumphant that he got in the last word. He turned and started to walk away from her.

“Screw you, cowboy!” she yelled after him, saying the word exactly as she had before. “And that horse you rode in on.”
And—Whoops!—now everyone in the diner had turned to look at them.

Zane turned around to face her with amusement on his face. “Very original, princess.”

The Giveaway

Comment for a chance to win a copy of "Zane: The McKades of Texas"!

kimberlylewisnovels.blogspot.com

The Tour

Aug 22 - Black Lion Tour Blog/introduction
Aug 23 - Cait Lavender, Cowgirl Writer/review
Aug 24 - Caroline Clemmons Blog/interview
Aug 26 - A Novel Idea/live interview (airs 1:00 PM MST)
Aug 28 - Coffee Addicted Writer/guest post
Aug 30 - Books, Books, the Magical Fruit/guest post
Sept 7 - MK McClintock Blog/review and spotlight
Sept 10 - Nothing Better than a Book/review
Sept 11 - The Book Nook/review
Sept 13 - Reviews by Molly/review
Sept 14 - Black Lion Tour Blog/wrap-up

Preview Book Tour Kick-Off: Tame a Wild Bride by Cynthia Woolf

The Book 

Rosie Stanton climbed on a west-bound train to answer his ad for a wife and mother, everything she wants to be.  But Tom Harris lied.  He doesn’t want a wife, merely a mother for his two abandoned children and a cook and cleaner for his ranch. 

Betrayed once, he’s vowed never to let another woman into his heart.  Sexy Rosie upsets all his plans and threatens to invade his scarred heart.  How will he maintain his vow to keep his hands off her as she charms his children, his cow hands, his life?

An Excerpt

Rosemary Stanton stood on the train platform sweating and waiting.  Sweating because it was an especially hot day in late June.  Waiting for her husband.  A husband she wouldn’t recognize if he were standing right next to her. 

She’d been desperate when she answered the advertisement for a mail order bride.  Wanted: Single woman to cook, clean, and care for children on a cattle ranch in southwestern Colorado.  Will marry upon arrival.

Well, she was twenty-six with no prospects.  Her brother just got married and his new wife, Beatrice, didn’t want Rosie around.  She could answer this advertisement or become a governess.  Help someone else’s children grow up into adults.  Live in someone else’s house.  For the rest of her life, she’d have nothing she could call her own.

Rosie wanted a home.  She wanted a husband and children.  All the things she’d never have if she stayed in Philadelphia.  When she’d seen the ad in the morning paper, she’d nearly shouted with glee.  However, she managed to restrain herself until she got to her room before she yelled with joy.  The advertisement was tailor-made for her needs.  It got her away from Beatrice and got her her own home all in one fell swoop.

Her brother, Robert, though was not happy with the idea of his baby sister traveling across the country to marry a stranger.  He grudgingly agreed to give her her dowry to take with her.  Five thousand dollars.  She’d take the draft to the bank as soon as she arrived in Creede, Colorado, and married Mr. Thomas Harris.  Cattle rancher.  It was her “in case it doesn’t work out” money.  Though she supposed it would belong to her husband once she married.  Perhaps she just wouldn’t tell him about it.  Her conscience spoke up.  That’s no way to start a marriage.  With lies and secrets. Oh, all right.  She’d tell him and have him take her to the bank.  But not until after she’d taken his measure.  If he was a cruel man, she would leave and she sure as heck wouldn’t tell him about her money.

Even with the dowry, there’d been few prospects for Rosie back in Philadelphia.  She wasn’t pretty in the conventional sense.  She thought her face with its big brown eyes and full lips was pleasing enough, but men apparently hadn’t.  Her one beau had said her eyes were the color of warm brandy.  That was before he left her to marry another more suitable woman.  More suitable, hah!  Richer was more like it.

Paul had expensive tastes and married a rabbit-faced girl, heir to a substantial fortune to which he’d have access.  Well, good luck and good riddance.

Rosie did have one feature she’d been told was extraordinary.  Her hair.  It was waist length, wavy and a clear, golden blonde.  Right now, standing on the train platform in Creede it was bound up in a loose bun on top of her head under her hat.  It, like the rest of her, was covered in dust and soot from the train.  She’d discovered on the second day that she could minimize the grime by sitting in the front of the car with the window closed.  But sooner or later the heat and mugginess of the car would force her to open the window.  The air came rushing in, cooling her, but bringing with it the dirt and ash from the train’s boilers.

On the long trip, she’d told herself again and again she’d made the right decision.  This was her future.

www.cynthiawoolf.com

Join the full tour in September!

Last Days of Freedom Giveaway Hop

Last Days of Freedom Giveaway Hop
Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & The Elliott Review

August 17th to 22nd

In celebration of the Last Days of Freedom, I'm giving you the freedom to choose! We have two prizes for you: an Amazon gift card or your choice of a Kindle book.

The first name drawn at the end will receive the gift card and the second name drawn will receive the Kindle book of choice--super simple and super fun!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Scheduling Now: From Mangia to Murder by Caroline Mickelson

Little Italy, 1946 - Sophia Mancini would have enjoyed the grand opening celebration of her family’s private detective agency if the volatile chef at Vincenzo’s Ristorante had actually survived the meal. But before Sophia’s chilled spoon hit the spumoni, someone plunged a knife into Vincenzo’s back and the word on everyone’s lips went from mangia to murder.

Sophia soon finds herself trailing crime boss Frankie Vidoni, chatting with his mouthy mistress Maria, and dodging henchman Mooch DiMuccio. She’s suspicious of Vincenzo’s widow, Stella, and his assistant chef, Eugene, because they don’t appear the least bit dismayed by Vincenzo’s passing. There is no conversation Sophia won’t eavesdrop on, no question she won’t ask, and no danger she won’t face to find the killer.

Sign up to host this Book Rodeo (KDP Promotional Tour) at http://www.blackliontours.com/#!from-mangia-to-murder/c1ff9.

Virtual Book Tour Kick-Off: Gallagher's Hope by MK McClintock with Giveaways!

Book Synopsis

She sought a new beginning.

He sought what he didn't know was missing.

Together they would discover hope in unlikely places.

​

Isabelle Rousseau must escape New Orleans and the memory of her family's tragic loss. With her younger brother in tow, she accepts a position as the new schoolteacher in Briarwood, Montana. Desperate to keep what's left of her family together, Isabelle joins her life with a stranger only to discover that trust and hope go hand in hand.

​

Gabriel Gallagher lived each day as it came believing he had everything he could possibly want . . . until a determined woman and her brother arrive with a little luggage and a lot of secrets. It will take a drastic choice to protect her and give them both hope for the future.

Quick Facts

Release Date: August 1, 2012
​Genre: Historical Western Romance
Publisher: Trappers Peak Publishing
Formats: Kindle/Paperback
Book Content: Very mild language use and all sexual scenes take place behind closed doors (no actual descriptions).

The Author

McClintock is an entrepreneur, baker, photographer, tour host, reviewer and multi-genre author.
​
Over the years McClintock has traveled the country and abroad, experiencing the beauty of other lands and cultures. She dreams of a time when life was simpler, the land rougher, and the journey more rewarding. With her heart deeply rooted in the past and her mind always on adventure, McClintock will always call Montana home.
​

McClintock is a member of Romance Writers of America, Montana Romance Writers, and Women Writing the West.

Tour Giveaway

$25 Amazon gift card to one commenter and three eBook copies of Gallagher's Pride, book one of the series, drawn at the end of the tour.

Join the Tour!

Go to the main tour page.

Aug 12 - @RandomLive/live interview
Aug 13 - Black Lion Tour Blog/spotlight introduction
Aug 15 - Kimberly Lewis Novels/book and author spotlight
Aug 17 - Coffee Addicted Writer/guest post
Aug 20 - The Bookish Dame/review
Aug 23 - MK McClintock Blog/guest post
Aug 27 - Bunnys Review/interview
Aug 29 - Cait Lavender, Cowgirl Writer/review & author spotlight
Aug 31 - Black Lion Tour Blog/wrap-up


An Excerpt

Rousseau Mansion, New Orleans—October 1883

Nothing existed of the life she had known.
Her slender arm wrapped around the little boy’s shoulder and pulled him closer to his side. She could feel his slight trembling and wished more than anything that she could take away his sadness. They were alone in the world. They had each other and she prayed that would be enough for them both.

They stood and listened as the priest gave the final blessing and two men lowered the caskets into the ground.  The few other mourners who had been kind enough to attend the funeral asked her to leave with them, but she needed the closure. She needed her eyes to see what her heart refused to accept. ”An unfortunate affair” everyone called the incident for it wasn’t every day that a man murdered his wife and then shot himself. Isabelle wished not to think on the possible reasons why, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. She never imagined her family to be anything but happy. Their father’s death however, revealed the truth. No one spoke of it with them of course, but the lawyer had made the situation quite clear.

They were penniless.

Scheduling Now: The Wanting Heart by Rionna Morgan

​​The Wanting Heart, released, July 9, 2012 by Crimson Romance.

​

“The Wanting Heart is a sexy, intriguing, modern-day western romance.  A fun summer read.”  -- Kat Martin, New York Times Best Selling Author

 

Katherine White, a barrel racer from Colorado, lives in a fast-paced world where rhinestones shine, hooves pound, and dreams come true.  She plans on winning World Champion Barrel Racer and being with her friends until she graduates from college. 

She doesn’t plan on the man who broke her heart strolling back into her life.  She doesn’t plan on finding solace in a charming stranger’s smile or falling victim to his knife. 

 

Blake Spencer, the man who broke her heart, is all cowboy—from the hat on his head to the dust on his boots. He thought it’d be easy, coming back to town, bowing his head a little, saying he was sorry, and all would be forgiven.  But what he didn’t know, what he didn’t plan on, was that the girl he thought he loved had become the woman he couldn’t have. If he doesn’t succeed in changing her mind, it won’t only cost him Kate’s love—it will cost Kate her life.

Will Kate survive the stalking of a serial killer and find what her heart truly wants?

Sign up to host this tour at http://www.blackliontours.com/#!the-wanting-heart-by-rionna-morgan/c18ed.

Tame a Wild Bride - Touring August 2012!

www.cynthiawoolf.com

Rosie Stanton climbed on a west-bound train to answer his ad for a wife and mother, everything she wants to be.  But Tom Harris lied.  He doesn’t want a wife, merely a mother for his two abandoned children and a cook and cleaner for his ranch.
​
Betrayed once, he’s vowed never to let another woman into his heart.  Sexy Rosie upsets all his plans and threatens to invade his scarred heart.  How will he maintain his vow to keep his hands off her as she charms his children, his cow hands, his life?

Excerpt

Rosemary Stanton stood on the train platform sweating and waiting.  Sweating because it was an especially hot day in late June.  Waiting for her husband.  A husband she wouldn’t recognize if he were standing right next to her.
​
She’d been desperate when she answered the advertisement for a mail order bride.  Wanted: Single woman to cook, clean, and care for children on a cattle ranch in southwestern Colorado.  Will marry upon arrival.
​
Well, she was twenty-six with no prospects.  Her brother just got married and his new wife, Beatrice, didn’t want Rosie around.  She could answer this advertisement or become a governess.  Help someone else’s children grow up into adults.  Live in someone else’s house.  For the rest of her life, she’d have nothing she could call her own.
​
Rosie wanted a home.  She wanted a husband and children.  All the things she’d never have if she stayed in Philadelphia.  When she’d seen the ad in the morning paper, she’d nearly shouted with glee.  However, she managed to restrain herself until she got to her room before she yelled with joy.  The advertisement was tailor-made for her needs.  It got her away from Beatrice and got her her own home all in one fell swoop.
​
Her brother, Robert, though was not happy with the idea of his baby sister traveling across the country to marry a stranger.  He grudgingly agreed to give her her dowry to take with her.  Five thousand dollars.  She’d take the draft to the bank as soon as she arrived in Creede, Colorado, and married Mr. Thomas Harris.  Cattle rancher.  It was her “in case it doesn’t work out” money.  Though she supposed it would belong to her husband once she married.  Perhaps she just wouldn’t tell him about it.  Her conscience spoke up.  That’s no way to start a marriage.  With lies and secrets. Oh, all right.  She’d tell him and have him take her to the bank.  But not until after she’d taken his measure.  If he was a cruel man, she would leave and she sure as heck wouldn’t tell him about her money.
​
Even with the dowry, there’d been few prospects for Rosie back in Philadelphia.  She wasn’t pretty in the conventional sense.  She thought her face with its big brown eyes and full lips was pleasing enough, but men apparently hadn’t.  Her one beau had said her eyes were the color of warm brandy.  That was before he left her to marry another more suitable woman.  More suitable, hah!  Richer was more like it.
​
Paul had expensive tastes and married a rabbit-faced girl, heir to a substantial fortune to which he’d have access.  Well, good luck and good riddance.
​
Rosie did have one feature she’d been told was extraordinary.  Her hair.  It was waist length, wavy and a clear, golden blonde.  Right now, standing on the train platform in Creede it was bound up in a loose bun on top of her head under her hat.  It, like the rest of her, was covered in dust and soot from the train.  She’d discovered on the second day that she could minimize the grime by sitting in the front of the car with the window closed.  But sooner or later the heat and mugginess of the car would force her to open the window.  The air came rushing in, cooling her, but bringing with it the dirt and ash from the train’s boilers.
​
On the long trip, she’d told herself again and again she’d made the right decision.  This was her future.

Join the Preview Tour in August!

Virtual Book Tour Kick-Off: The Order by Marsha Megan Stokes with Giveaways!

Book Synopsis

Peter's job as a Locator is to find extraordinary people—those with the Gift. The Gifted can sense and harness different kinds of energy and manipulate it in incredible ways. They have a heightened sense of the good that surrounds them, but they also more easily fall prey to the bad as well—to the Evil. As a new year at Grayson College begins, Peter is thrown into a whirlwind of terror, danger, and love. Will he be able to save a newly found Gifted One from the seductive influence of the Evil? Will he be too late? Or will he also fall victim to the darkness?

Quick Facts

Release Date: May 13, 2012

​Genre:  Paranormal Romance

Formats: Hardcover/Paperback/Kindle/iBook

This book is an overall clean read!

The Author

Marsha was born in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and currently resides in Tremonton, Utah. Mother of two, and wife to the most wonderful man in the world, Marsha spends most of her time taking care of the boys, blogging, writing, and playing the flute. She is also an avid recipe collector and loves to cook.

​
Learn more about Marsha at: ​​​http://theordersaga.blogspot.com/

Tour Giveaway!

One eBook copy of The Order will be given away at each stop. A $10 Amazon Gift Card will be awarded to one lucky commenter at the end of the tour! Comment at each tour stop for your chance to win! 

Join the Tour!

Go to the main tour page.

Aug 6 - Black Lion Tour Blog/spotlight introduction
Aug 7- Kimberly Lewis Novels/guest post
Aug 10 - Journey Through Books/book review

Aug 15 - MK McClintock Blog/guest post
Aug 19 - @Random/live interview
Aug 23 - The Bookish Dame/interview and review
Aug 23 - Makayla's Book Reviews/review
Aug 24 - Black Lion Tour Blog/wrap-up

An Excerpt

Peter anxiously paced his room. Donavon and Rachel had been gone for a couple of hours and he felt empty without her around. He wanted to take Rachel to see Robert, but Donavon’s cool logic had put an abrupt end to that.
Donavon is stronger, so he needs to be the one to help Robert make the link to the Life Box. Blah, blah, blah…
Peter’s thoughts seethed with jealousy. His entire life, Peter sat by and watched as females swooned over Donavon and then would turn a sisterly kind of affection onto Peter. This time was going to be different though. He had never felt this way about anyone before Rachel, and he was not going to let Donavon mess it up—not without a fight at least.
He already has Beth worked up into knots! What more does he need?

Peter thought back to the passionate kiss he saw between Donavon and Beth. People don’t just sit next to someone else and suddenly trip and find themselves in a lip lock. If Donavon wanted to play games with women, that was his business. But Peter was going to protect Rachel from him if it was the last thing he did.

He and Rachel obviously shared a connection. Peter remembered her words right before she left to see Robert, “Don’t fight with Donavon. You mean too much to me. I don’t like to see you hurting.”

Peter smiled at the memory.

You mean everything to me, too.

She didn’t want him to fight with Donavon, so Peter was determined to try and keep his cool when they got home. Sure, he and Donavon had fought before. They’d been friends for a long time, so a few fights were inevitable. However, this time things just seemed to annoy Peter worse than they ever had. Donavon just seemed so cocky—so overprotective.
And possessive! What gives him the right? You would think that when she woke up that first time that she’d said his name instead of mine!

Peter paced over to one of his sneakers and kicked it against the wall. He couldn’t imagine what was taking so long. They should have been able to drive up to the cabin, link Rachel to her box, and then drive home by now. Donavon was probably trying to put the moves on her. He should never have let her go with him.
Calm down, man. Calm down.

The Order - Touring August 2012!

 theordersaga.blogspot.com

Peter's job as a Locator is to find extraordinary people—those with the Gift. The Gifted can sense and harness different kinds of energy and manipulate it in incredible ways. They have a heightened sense of the good that surrounds them, but they also more easily fall prey to the bad as well—to the Evil. As a new year at Grayson College begins, Peter is thrown into a whirlwind of terror, danger, and love. Will he be able to save a newly found Gifted One from the seductive influence of the Evil? Will he be too late? Or will he also fall victim to the darkness?

Excerpt

​Peter anxiously paced his room. Donavon and Rachel had been gone for a couple of hours and he felt empty without her around. He wanted to take Rachel to see Robert, but Donavon’s cool logic had put an abrupt end to that.
Donavon is stronger, so he needs to be the one to help Robert make the link to the Life Box. Blah, blah, blah…
Peter’s thoughts seethed with jealousy. His entire life, Peter sat by and watched as females swooned over Donavon and then would turn a sisterly kind of affection onto Peter. This time was going to be different though. He had never felt this way about anyone before Rachel, and he was not going to let Donavon mess it up—not without a fight at least.
He already has Beth worked up into knots! What more does he need?

Peter thought back to the passionate kiss he saw between Donavon and Beth. People don’t just sit next to someone else and suddenly trip and find themselves in a lip lock. If Donavon wanted to play games with women, that was his business. But Peter was going to protect Rachel from him if it was the last thing he did.

He and Rachel obviously shared a connection. Peter remembered her words right before she left to see Robert, “Don’t fight with Donavon. You mean too much to me. I don’t like to see you hurting.”

Peter smiled at the memory.

You mean everything to me, too.

She didn’t want him to fight with Donavon, so Peter was determined to try and keep his cool when they got home. Sure, he and Donavon had fought before. They’d been friends for a long time, so a few fights were inevitable. However, this time things just seemed to annoy Peter worse than they ever had. Donavon just seemed so cocky—so overprotective.
And possessive! What gives him the right? You would think that when she woke up that first time that she’d said his name instead of mine!

Peter paced over to one of his sneakers and kicked it against the wall. He couldn’t imagine what was taking so long. They should have been able to drive up to the cabin, link Rachel to her box, and then drive home by now. Donavon was probably trying to put the moves on her. He should never have let her go with him.
Calm down, man. Calm down.

Join the tour in August!