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Sunday, January 27, 2019

The Dream Doctor Mysteries by J.J. DiBenedetto


Dream
Student
The
Dream Doctor Mysteries Prequel
by
J.J. DiBenedetto


Genre:
Paranormal Mystery

Sara
Barnes has her life totally under control. All she has to worry about
is college exams, Christmas shopping, applying to medical school--and
what to do about the cute freshman who has a crush on her. And
everything is going according to plan, until the night she starts
dreaming other people's dreams.


It's
bad enough that every night is a theater of her friends' and
classmates' secret fantasies. Worse yet are the other dreams, the
dark ones featuring a strange, terrifying man committing unspeakable
crimes.

As
the nightmares increase, Sara's life becomes a blur of waking and
sleeping, of terror and urgency. Because if she was given this
dream-sharing gift for a reason, it must be to stop the killer madman
she's come to know all too well. But how can she stop him when she's
just a student, and they're only dreams?

Dream
Student
 is
the thrilling prequel to the Dream Doctor Mysteries.




**Start
the series FREE!!**






Dream
Doctor
The
Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 1

Between
adjusting to life as a newlywed and trying to survive the first month
of medical school, Sara Alderson has a lot on her plate. She
definitely doesn’t need to start visiting other people’s dreams
again. Unfortunately for her, it’s happening anyway.


Every
night, she sees a different person and a different dream. But every
dreamer has one thing in common: they all hate Dr. Morris, the least
popular professor in the medical school, and they’re all dreaming
about seeing him – or making him – dead.

Once
again, Sara finds herself in the role of unwilling witness to a
murder before it happens. But this time, there are too many suspects
to count, and it doesn’t help matters that she hates Dr. Morris
every bit as much as any of his would-be murderers do.

**only
.99 cents!**





Dream
Child
The
Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 2

Dr.
Sara Alderson can deal with eighty-hour workweeks as a resident at
Children’s Hospital. Dealing with crises in the Emergency Room or
the OR is second nature to her. But now she faces a challenge that
all of her training and experience hasn’t prepared her for: Lizzie,
her four-year-old daughter, has inherited her ability to see other
people’s dreams.


After
Lizzie befriends a young boy on a trip to Washington, DC, and then
wakes up in a panic that night because of a “bad funny dream,”
Sara knows exactly what it means: her daughter is visiting the boy’s
dreams. Complicating matters is the fact that the boy’s father is a
Congressman, and he’s dreaming about a “scary man in a big black
car” threatening his Daddy. 

Unraveling
a case of political corruption and blackmail would be hard enough for
Sara under the best of circumstances. But when she has to view
everything through the eyes of a toddler, it may be an impossible
task.








Dream
Family
The
Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 3

Dr.
Sara Alderson didn’t think she had a problem in the world, when she
walked into the office for her first day as a partner in her own
medical practice. And then the police showed up and arrested her for
a crime she couldn’t possibly have committed. Twenty four hours
later, after a horrifying day and night in jail, Sara comes home a
different – and completely broken – woman.


Clearing
her name is her first challenge, but that’s nothing compared to the
task of rebuilding her shattered psyche. And the only way she can do
that is with the help of the supernatural dreams, the same dreams
that have nearly cost Sara her sanity – and almost got her killed –
in the past.







Waking
Dream
The
Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 4

After
nearly a decade of visiting other people’s dreams, Sara Alderson
thought she had made peace with her supernatural gift. Until one
night, while watching her husband dream, she saw someone else
watching him, too: a mysterious woman in a red dress.


The
woman in red keeps appearing in the dreams of Sara’s husband and
his co-workers. Sara doesn’t know if this mystery woman is trying
to steal her husband, drive him mad or something even worse. All she
does know is that now she has something she never imagined: a
nemesis. And the only thing more dangerous than a nemesis who shares
her ability to step into other people’s dreams, is one who knows
far more about that ability and how to control it than Sara does.







Dream
Reunion
The
Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 5

Dr.
Sara Alderson is heading back to college for her ten-year class
reunion. Her husband and two of her children are coming with her –
and so are her supernatural dreams.


One
of her old classmates is becoming more frantic with every passing
night. Sara can’t see his face, but she can see everything else in
his dreams, and he’s coming closer and closer to committing a
desperate act to try and save his business. Sara’s the only one who
can save him, and his family – if she can figure out who he is and
what he’s planning in time.







Dream
Home
The
Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 6

Dr.
Sara Alderson thought she was securing her and her family’s future
when she moved them to a small town in New York and took a job as
Chief of Pediatrics at the local hospital. Unfortunately, things
aren’t going quite according to plan. For one thing, she has
enemies at work who resent her from the moment she sets foot in the
hospital.


For
another, she’s visiting the dreams of an old man who’s seeing
nightly visions of a storm that will wipe out the entire town. He’s
convinced that the visions are true – and as winter closes in, Sara
is starting to think he might be right.






Dream
Vacation
The
Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 7

Thanks
to her unique ability to step into other people's dreams, Dr. Sara
Alderson has solved murders, unraveled conspiracies and saved lives.
But when a crisis hits close to home, even her supernatural gift
might not be enough to avert disaster.


On
a family vacation to Paris, Sara's fifteen-year-old daughter Grace
disappears without a trace. The only way to find her is through
Sara's dreams. But her gift has taken an unwanted vacation, and
without it, Sara has no idea how to rescue Grace. In a foreign city,
with no clues, and her dreaming talent failing her for the first
time, Sara must figure out another way to find Grace before it's too
late.







Fever
Dream
The
Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 8


Dr.
Sara Alderson isn’t used to her patients dying for no reason. When
a young boy succumbs to a mysterious illness that defies all her
efforts to treat it, she refuses to accept defeat.


After
two months of questions, Sara has attracted the attention of powerful
people who don’t want their secrets uncovered, and will go to any
lengths to make sure they stay hidden. 

Now,
time is running out for Sara to unravel the mystery before anyone
else falls victim to the illness. And before her career, her family
and her freedom are taken from her by enemies she doesn’t even know
she has.







Dream
Wedding
The
Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 9

It
ought to be a joyful time for Dr. Sara Alderson. Her daughter,
Lizzie, is about to graduate college, and marry her longtime
boyfriend. But the family’s happiness is shattered when a drunk
driver seriously injures her teenage son in a hit-and-run
accident.


Now,
instead of planning her daughter’s wedding, Sara must fight to save
her son’s life. And when she discovers who the drunk driver was –
someone she thought was a colleague and a friend – she has to fight
her desire for revenge. Because Sara knows she has the power to visit
the driver’s dreams, and in those dreams, she holds the power of
life and death. 






Dream
Fragments:
Stories
From the Dream Doctor Mysteries

The
novels don’t tell the whole story!


Readers
of the Dream Doctor Mysteries know that Sara and her family have a
very busy life outside the pages of the ten Dream Doctor Mysteries,
and here’s your chance to peek into it.

Twelve
stories are included in this collection, and you’ll discover what
happened on Sara’s final Spring Break of college; Lizzie’s first
day of school; Betty and Howard’s first trip out of the country;
and much more!








J.J.
DiBenedetto is author of the Dream Series and the Jane Barnaby
Adventures and lives in Arlington, Virginia with the love of his life
and a white cat who rules the roost. 


His
passions are photography, travel, the opera, the New York Giants, and
of course writing. 

Mr.
DiBenedetto is devoted to writing books with a sense of mysticism to
entertain and perhaps invite his readers to suspend belief in a way
they might never have.

Since
he was very young , he has always been intrigued with the
supernatural and things that can't be explained rationally.

By
always asking way too many questions, it piqued his interest to the
point of setting his writing off and running when he grew up! All the
curiosity building up all those years were finally getting put into
words to captivate readers. And it hasn't ended. His main goal is to
share all the stories he has inside, putting pen to paper. And that's
how the Dream Series was born.








Follow
the tour HERE
for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!
















The Post by Kevin A. Munoz


The
Post
by
Kevin A. Munoz

Genre:
Dystopian Thriller

Ten
years after the world’s oil went sour and a pandemic killed most of
the population, Sam Edison is the chief of police of The Little Five,
a walled-in community near Atlanta, Georgia. Those who survived share
the world with what are known as hollow-heads: creatures who are no
longer fully human.


A
man and a pregnant teenager arrive at the gate and are welcomed into
the town. They begin to settle in when suddenly both are murdered by
an unknown assailant. In the course of investigation, Chief Edison
discovers that the girl was fleeing a life of sexual slavery, and
that some members of the Atlanta community were complicit in the
human trafficking network that had ensnared her.

In
retaliation for Edison’s discoveries, agents of the network abduct
the stepdaughter of the town’s mayor. Chief Edison and three
companions track the kidnappers to Athens, Georgia, where they
discover that the entire city is engaged in human trafficking. By the
time Edison has recovered the kidnapped girl, the other three
rescuers have been killed, leaving Edison alone to bring the mayor’s
stepdaughter home while evading both human and non-human monsters.
Against such great odds, will Sam ever make it to Little Five alive?











Kevin
Muñoz grew up just outside of Philadelphia. After wandering across
the country for a few years, he received a PhD from Emory University
in 2008. A little later, he decided to leave the academic life behind
to pursue his first passion: writing. He has lived in seven U.S.
states over the years, observing and adopting each new place as
settings and inspiration for his fiction. He spent fifteen years in
Georgia, where the seeds of THE POST were planted. He now lives near
Seattle with his two beagle traveling companions.








Follow
the tour HERE
for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!






Three Burning Red Runaway Brides by Kevin James Breaux


Three Burning Red Runaway Brides
Kevin James Breaux
(The Water Kingdom, #3)
Publication date: January 14th 2019
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal
Sabrina London is back! The fate of the Elemental Kingdoms rests in the hands of its newest ruler: Sabrina London. When last seen, the fairy princess had made a deal with the King of Filth to save the lives of her friends. Now she is fighting to live the life she wants while trying to save the lives of millions. A monster, more dangerous than any other she has overcome threatens both the human and non-human world. How will she restore the balance? Despite the risks, Sabrina enlists the aid of one of her people’s biggest rivals. She has spun a complex web of lies and deception, now trying to gain her freedom, unaware that everyone she allies with has their own plans. THREE BURNING RED RUNAWAY BRIDES is the action-packed third and final book in The Water Kingdom Series, following TWO POLLUTED BLACK-HEART ROMANCES and ONE SMOKING HOT FAIRY TAIL.
EXCERPT:
Chapter 1 – Perfect Body Double
There was a time when Sabrina London lived for this—the loud, thumping music, the bright, pulsating lights, the scent of perfume mixed with sweat—but that was then, not now. Crazy, just how much could change in six months—seemingly everything.
This was her first time back in civilization. Fitting that it was the hottest spot in Los Angeles on one of, if not the biggest, nights to party: Club Afterlife on New Year’s Eve.
Every year, the club hosted one of their famous masquerade balls. This year’s theme was Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death.”
Sabrina blended in, just another partygoer draped in a loose, crimson robe, with a stark white, full facemask on. The disguise allowed her to witness the events of the night anonymously.
She may have been there in secret, but she was not there alone.
Her partner had circumnavigated the long lines and gained entrance to the club with ease, then singled out her target and made her move. After months and months of development, the plan was finally in motion.
Sabrina watched from across the crowded club. Her double had done a good job, maybe even too good a job. Jackson had been easily seduced.
Her double had commandeered a VIP booth and then slyly fucked a man Sabrina had feelings for. Sabrina had not realized until then, when her nails cut into her sweaty palms, that she had made two tight fists—one for each of them.
Skipper sauntered back, although clearly uncertain on her heels and clumsy in her billowing, Victorian-style dress. Sabrina had nicknamed her body double Skipper for many reasons. One was to remind her of her place—Skipper was always Barbie’s lesser and Sabrina hoped the name reminded the girl of just that.
Just as Sabrina felt her blood heat, Jackson called out her name; the ruse had worked.
Sabrina waved to Skipper from where she hid around a tall marble pillar. When the girl got there, Sabrina could hear her panting—she was almost out of breath.
“I didn’t tell you to fuck him. Here. In front of everyone,” Sabrina snapped. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“You told me to seduce him,” Skipper said over the loud dance music. “I did, and it worked.” She smiled as she fixed her lace Venetian masquerade mask. “You heard him, right? He just shouted out your name.”
Sabrina settled herself quickly. She could see Jackson approaching through the dense crowd. “Fine. Time to take this to the next step. He needs to see you. All of you.”
Skipper nodded.
“He’s coming,” Sabrina’s guard interrupted.
“Already did,” Skipper said under her breath.
“Remember the plan. Get him to take you home,” Sabrina repeated for what felt like the thousandth time. “Do whatever it takes to convince him you are Sabrina London. He needs to…one hundred percent…believe the lie.”
“And if he doesn’t believe me?”
“You know that answer. Don’t make me say it again.”
Skipper nodded.
“Good. Go. Run out the door. He’ll follow you.”
“Will you be okay here?”
Sabrina made a sour face as she glanced about, like it all—the music, the lights, the crowds—disgusted her. “Me? I’m leaving.”
“Okay. Wish me luck.”
“Good luck, Skipper.”
With that, Sabrina’s double stepped into the crowd, caught Jackson’s attention and then dashed for the door. Sabrina stared longingly at her former lover as he passed her by, but he didn’t even glance her way. Even if he had, all he would have seen was another person dressed as Red Death.
“We should get you to the roof,” Sabrina’s guard urged. “Dunyasha will be waiting for us.”
Sabrina gazed at the ceiling, as if she could see the vampire through it. “She’s pacing. For someone with so much time at her disposal, she’s incredibly impatient.”
“My queen?” her guard prompted again.
“Yes, Voss, let’s go home. I’ve had enough of this place.”



Author Bio:
Kevin James Breaux has written nine books and devoted the past twelve years of his life to crafting short stories and novels. He is a member of the Horror Writers Association, Paranormal Romance Guild, and other groups.
Breaux is always enthusiastic about the challenge writing presents. He lives by the motto "Write Makes Might!"© and sees each new page as an opportunity to improve and advance.
Breaux was formerly represented by Marisa A. Corvisiero, the founder of the Corvisiero Literary Agency.

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Live to Thrive by Amir Rad


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Success, motivational, inspirational, self-help, entrepreneurship, health/wellness, personal development
Date Published: November 26th, 2018.

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Amir Rad has moved to the top of the fitness industry with an approach that’s about much more than muscle. In Live to Thrive, he delivers his methods of attaining success from an entrepreneurial perspective, as a master personal trainer, and a competitive athlete. What is success? How is it related to health and fitness? How does a powerful mindset lead to success? Most important, Amir teaches readers HOW to get ready to succeed physically and mentally, and then maintain that level. Using stories and examples from his own life and those of his clients, Amir picks out the elements of a thriving life and spells just what it will take to get there yourself. Amir Rad is an entrepreneur, health and fitness expert, and a motivator. He started his first business, Thrive Fitness, in Ann Arbor, MI when he was 22 years old. As a competitor and personal trainer, Rad is most passionate about helping people reach their full potential and conquering their goals. He says, “Every individual, regardless of their athletic ability, age, or skill level, deserves to obtain the highest quality of life.” In other words, they deserve to thrive. Rad lives to thrive, and his goal is to help as many people as possible to learn to do the same.


Amazon Reviews

Drew - Amazing book. I trained with Amir for a year and I can promise you he walks the walk! I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in becoming their best self! Not another self-help book, 5 star

Tony - A very good, easy and well-written read. Amir Rad is a young entrepreneur who practices what he preaches about the mind/body connection for success. Without getting lost in details, his book effectively discusses topics such as proper nutrition, exercise regimens, surrounding yourself with the right people, and developing and maintaining good, positive attitudes. Testimonials from clients of Amir are incorporated throughout the book demonstrating how "Thrive" ideas have worked positively in their own lives. "Live To Thrive" is a book I highly recommend!
Thank you!

Arjun -  As my personal trainer who has helped me lose and keep off a significant amount of weight, it is amazing to see Amir expand into writing.

Simply put - a wonderful read.

Holly - Just ordered and can't wait to read it! Amir is an amazing trainer. He's beyond inspiring, he will help you achieve your goals and then some!!



About the Author

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Amir Rad is an entrepreneur, health and fitness expert, and a motivator. He started his first business, Thrive Fitness, in Ann Arbor, MI when he was 22 years old. As a competitor and personal trainer, Rad is most passionate about helping people reach their full potential and conquering their goals. He says, “Every individual, regardless of their athletic ability, age, or skill level, deserves to obtain the highest quality of life.” In other words, they deserve to thrive. Rad lives to thrive, and his goal is to help as many people as possible to learn to do the same.



Contact Links

thrivetrained.com is coming soon

Purchase Link



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EVO by Diane May


EVO
Diane May
Publication date: July 23rd 2018
Genres: Adult, Thriller

A covert CIA operation that involves genetic engineering.

A serial killer nicknamed “The Hypnotist”.

And the most terrifying threat humanity has to face.

What if someone could take complete control over your mind?

And what if that someone was a serial killer?

Discover EVO, a gripping crime thriller that reviewers and readers describe as “spellbinding”, “high-energy” and “impossible to put down”.

Langley, Virginia, twenty years earlier:

John Blake, a CIA special agent, stumbles upon an illegal genetic experiment within the agency, conducted on unborn babies and officially presented as a fertility program designed to help couples get pregnant. When he realizes that his very own daughter is a product of this sinister plot and that she is in grave danger, he vows to do everything it takes to make sure Maya will be safe and the people behind the experiment will all pay. With their lives.

Verona, Italy, present time:

Livio Marchiori, a homicide detective with the highest rate of solved cases in Verona, is faced with The Hypnotist, a serial killer the likes of which he’s never seen before. He never touches his victims and he leaves no evidence behind, except for the detailed videos of his murders. And what Marchiori and his team see on those videos is more disturbing than all their other cases combined. Because this one is different. This one defies all rational thinking and borders the impossible.

Then The Hypnotist gets personal and threatens to kill Dr. Abby Jones, the chief medical examiner and the woman Marchiori is in love with. Caught in a cat-and-mouse game with the elusive killer, Marchiori knows he is quickly running out of time.

So when Captain Victor Miller from Interpol walks into town, Marchiori is more than happy to partner again with the man who two years ago helped him put an entire mafia clan behind bars. But Miller has his own agenda, and Marchiori soon discovers that there is more to these crimes than meets the eye, an entire thread of things way beyond his pay grade – illegal experiments, secret agencies, and the most terrifying threat humanity has to face.

A gripping serial killer thriller with a “hit-the-brakes-with-both-feet plot twist that may leave even the most jaded among us feeling good about humanity.”

“He stripped down, threw his clothes in the blue hamper behind the door, and got in the shower. He turned his body away from the faucet and placed his hands on the wall, letting the hot water beat down his back. Doing this usually relaxed him, but now it somehow amplified this weird restlessness, this foreboding feeling he couldn’t shake off. Annoyed at himself, he quickly washed his body, turned off the faucet and reached for the brown towel on the hook.

A heavy silence filled his apartment. A few drops of water from the shower head splashed onto the ceramic tiles below, the sound deafening to his ears. His heart started beating faster. All of a sudden he wanted to hear human voices, his neighbours yelling at each other, their baby crying, anything but this dead silence and the rhythmic tapping of the water drops.

An icy shiver rippled down his spine and his body started shaking. Unseen walls were sliding down around him, trapping him. Suffocating him.”

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo

EXCERPT:

Present day

His eyelids stung as if they were held open by sharp needles. He felt tired, but it wasn’t just an every-now-and-then feeling. He felt perpetually tired, as though life and blood were slowly oozing out of him. Tired of being around the sick and the grieving, tired of his starched white coat, grey slacks and polished black shoes, tired of feeling lonely and having no-one at home waiting for him.

For a moment, he entertained the idea of crashing out in the on-call room at the hospital, but the bunk bed with its lumpy, cheap mattress held little appeal. The Borgo Trento hospital in Verona, one of the best in Italy, didn’t offer much in this regard. Then there was the constant smell of ammonia, laundry soap and bed sweat hovering in the air, impregnating the walls, the furniture, the clothes he was wearing. Sometimes it filled his nostrils and almost suffocated him and its acrid taste remained at the back of his throat for days.

He’d go home instead.

He took off his coat and carefully put it on the coat hanger in the closet by the door. He fished out a small hair comb he religiously kept inside the breast pocket of his shirt, looked in the mirror hung on the inside of the closet door and began tidying his unruly hair. He had always been obsessed with this. If he didn’t comb his hair every few hours, it started looking like a half-built bird’s nest.

He focused all of his attention on his hair and tried to ignore the sagging pale face in the mirror. He was forty-five, but his hectic life-style and the sterile light in the room added at least another decade to that. With a receding hairline and his black hair developing more than just a few grey friends, his dull-brown eyes slightly too close, and his waist puffing out like rising bread dough – although he tried to hide it under large sweaters and shirts – he knew he wasn’t exactly Brad Pitt.

In his opinion, men fell into four categories: the gorgeous scoundrels, who had half of the female population swooning at their feet; the handsome good guys, who also encountered no difficulties in finding a partner; the ugly, but charming, who still had their fair share of success with the opposite sex. And then came the invisible ones. The men who were neither good-looking, nor ugly. The ones you saw once and failed to remember the next day. They were the nice guys. And he was one of them.

He sighed and turned away from the mirror. He took the leather jacket from the coat hanger, grabbed his briefcase and stepped out of his office into the brightly lit corridor of the virology wing. It was Sunday evening, a little over eight o’clock, and he had just finished a thirty-six-hour shift.

“Good night, Doctor Pasetto,” the nurse at the reception desk said, her red-rimmed eyes peering at him from behind thick glasses. Then she resumed staring at the computer screen in front of her, pounding on the keyboard.

“Good night, Dorina,” he answered, always polite, always using first names.

Because he was the nice guy. This was how the few women he had been with – in his pathetic attempts to find the one – would describe him.

In his twenties and thirties, he had been too busy studying and making a name for himself to think about starting a family, although his mother had gradually become more vocal in expressing her desire to have grandchildren. But once he had established an excellent reputation for himself, his lonely existence started to weigh him down, and he found himself wishing for someone in his life, a person he could share everything with, who’d be at home when he arrived in the evenings, ask about his day and tell him in great detail about her own.

He stepped outside into the grey twilight gloom and ambled to his car. He thought about the date he had a few evenings ago. An intelligent and beautiful woman with a healthy sense of humour, a woman he certainly wished to see again. But that would never happen.

It’s not you, it’s me, she had told him, you’re such a nice man, Niccolò, you deserve someone with less emotional baggage.

He was tired of hearing what a nice guy he was.

He pointed the key fob at his black Mercedes; the doors unlocked with a low hum, the mirrors reverted to the normal position, and the interior light came on. He climbed behind the wheel.

The thought of sleeping at the hospital popped into his mind again, more persistent this time. But he pushed it aside. His own bed was much more comfortable.

He turned the key in the ignition, and with a soft purr, the car started. He drove out of the parking lot and joined the traffic. His apartment was ten minutes away from the hospital.

There were few cars on the streets now, the city’s inhabitants relaxing in front of the television, beer in one hand, remote control in the other. He loved the quiet of the dark, the sleepiness of Verona like a cat curled up on the warm mat in front of the fireplace dozing off into oblivion. At least until the next morning when the Veronese invaded the streets once again, driving to work, and day-dreaming about the next summer holiday.

He parked the car in his private underground garage, and dragged his feet to the door that connected the garage to his apartment building.

As his right foot hovered over the first step, a strange, unsettling feeling washed over him and made him freeze for a few seconds. He felt the muscles in his stomach tighten and a tremor rippled through his body. This had never happened to him before. He stood their motionless, feeling confused and ridiculous, a grown man behaving like a superstitious old fool.

He finally snapped out of it and went up the stairs, every step feeling heavier somehow.

His apartment was on the first floor, and he stopped in front of the door, patting down his pockets and trying to remember where the hell he had shoved his keys. After two full minutes and a lot of mental swearing, he finally found them in the front compartment of his briefcase.

I definitely need a holiday, he decided as he took them out and unlocked the door.

He went inside, closed the door behind him and turned on the lights. The uneasy feeling returned full force and he felt scared. He almost wanted to run out of his apartment.

Don’t be an idiot!

But as an extra-precaution he locked and bolted the door carefully. Then he dragged his feet into the bathroom, but not before he turned off the lights in the corridor. Wasting the planet’s already depleted resources wasn’t something he took lightly. He was that kind of man.

He stripped down, threw his clothes in the blue hamper behind the door, and got in the shower.

He turned his body away from the faucet and placed his hands on the wall, letting the hot water beat down his back. Doing this usually relaxed him, but now it somehow amplified this weird restlessness, this foreboding feeling he couldn’t shake off. Annoyed at himself, he quickly washed his body, turned off the faucet and reached for the brown towel on the hook.

A heavy silence filled his apartment. A few drops of water from the shower head splashed onto the ceramic tiles below, the sound deafening to his ears. His heart started beating faster. All of a sudden he wanted to hear human voices, his neighbours yelling at each other, their baby crying, anything but this dead silence and the rhythmic tapping of the water drops.

An icy shiver rippled down his spine and his body started shaking. Unseen walls were sliding down around him, trapping him. Suffocating him.

What the hell is wrong with me? Could this be a panic attack?

He had never had one in his life, but his mother suffered from them periodically. Maybe somewhere in the deep recesses of his mind the prospect of leading a lonely existence scared the hell out of him.

He took a few deep breaths and managed to bring his erratic heartbeat down a notch.

And then he heard a noise. It sounded like footsteps in the bedroom. He stopped breathing and his body went rigid. Cold water trickled from his hair down his face. And pure panic constricted his throat.

I’m naked. In the shower box.

And yet he wasn’t sure he wanted to get out. The air around him became menacing, as if something evil was lurking in the shadows of his apartment. He closed his eyes.

This is getting ridiculous! Nobody could have gotten in!

With jerky movements he dried his body, put on a pair of black boxers and an old grey t-shirt, and went to the sink. He opened the medicine cabinet to the right of the mirror and took out the bottle of Xanax he kept there for his mother. He put it on the sink and stared at it. He’d never thought he would actually come to need it himself.

He placed his palms on either side of the sink, holding himself up, his head lowered, his forehead and chin beaded with sweat.

His gaze fell on the pair of scissors he used the previous morning to cut off the plastic wrap holding two bottles of mouthwash he had bought for the price of one. Grey steel and black plastic against the immaculate white ceramic of the sink. Kind of like his own life. No colours, no joy in it.

He decided he needed the Xanax. He grabbed the bottle and was about to unscrew the cap.

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that.”

He froze. His heart started hammering hard against his rib cage.

A man’s voice. Inside his house.

His breathing turned shallow and quick, and a cold clammy sweat covered his skin.

But I locked the door. I locked the door!

Then he understood. The intruder had already been inside. The bottle of Xanax slid from his hand and clattered to the floor, rolling under the sink.

“Now look what you’ve done!” the intruder said, his jeering voice mean and hollow like a dead man’s laugh.

It came from the darkness of the corridor.

You need to do something! Do something!

He wished he knew what to do. He had never attacked anyone in his life and had no idea how to go about it. What if the burglar was armed? Maybe he should just give him whatever the hell he wanted and be done with it.

He saw the scissors on the sink.

He felt a rush of adrenaline surge through his body as he realised the man couldn’t see the scissors. His whole body tensed, his blood ran faster and his muscles were ready for attack. In one swift movement he grabbed the scissors and lunged at the figure in the dark shadows.

But instead of driving the scissors deep inside a warm body, he stabbed… nothing. He lost his balance and fell on the cold, hard tiles in the small corridor connecting the two bedrooms to the bathroom and living-room.

He didn’t have the scissors anymore. He had dropped them trying to break the fall, and they were now lying somewhere out of his reach.

He heard a laugh behind him, cruel and evil like the depths of Dante’s inferno.

“Get up!”

He did as instructed, slowly. His legs were unsteady as he had injured his right knee when he fell, and he almost felt like checking to make sure the scissors weren’t stuck in his kneecap, so excruciating was the pain.

“Turn on the light.”

With a trembling hand he flipped the light switch up.

As the warm glow flooded the corridor, he understood he was going to die.

And at the exact same moment he realised how much he wanted to live. How rich and blessed his life really was, how he still had time to meet the right woman, start a family, buy a house in the suburbs and fill it with love and laughter, just like in those sappy movies played year after year on TV at Christmas.

A scornful smile stretched across the features of this soulless shell of a man all dressed in black. “I’m afraid that’s just not in the cards for you. You see, you made one fatal mistake six years ago.” He paused, his face hard and ruthless, then added in a voice as final as a judge giving the death sentence. “You worked for Doc.”

“Who…? I never—”

The words died on his lips. The heavily guarded medical lab, the creepy doctor in charge… it all came back to him.

“Exactly,” the killer nodded as if he could actually read his thoughts. “And now it’s time to pay the price. But if it’s any consolation, you won’t be the only one.”



Author Bio:

Diane May is a crime thriller writer and she lives in Verona, Italy, with her husband. When she's not in her office writing, she can usually be found curled up on the sofa with a good book in her lap and a cup of green tea next to her.

The only daughter of an army colonel, she grew up on military bases where she learnt about weapons, discipline and the sacrifices of military life. She also worked for many years as a translator and interpreter for the Court of Law on mostly criminal cases.

EVO is her debut novel and she is currently working on her second crime thriller, Till Death Do Us Part, scheduled to be released in 2019.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter


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Saturday, January 26, 2019

Beyond the Shadows by Loree Lough


Beyond
the Shadows
by
Loree Lough

Genre:
Romantic Suspense

Elice
Glasser is a widow with three young children to raise. Cabot Murray
is an ex-cop who returns home to Freeland, Maryland, to deal with the
pain of his own tragic loss: the death of his wife and daughter in a
fiery explosion intended for him.


Grieving,
their sorrow brings them together, and a friendship develops that
leads then to explore the possibility of finding love again. But
vengeful enemies and jealous rivals are determined to destroy the
peace and happiness that Elice and Cabot have found in each other’s
arms. Why are their rivals so intent on keeping Elice and Cabot
apart? Loree Lough's latest suspenseful romance is a page-turner!











At
last count, best-selling author Loree Lough had 115 award-winning
books (nearly 9,000,000 copies in circulation and 7 titles that
earned book-to-movie options), 68 short stories, and 2,500+ articles
in print.


An
oft-invited guest of writers' organizations, colleges and
universities, corporate and government agencies in the U.S. and
abroad, Loree loves sharing learned-the-hard-way lessons about the
craft and the industry.

Once
upon a time, Loree (literally) sang for her supper, performing alone
and "opening" for the likes of Tom Jones, Dottie West, The
Gatlin Brothers, and more. Though she refuses to share the actual
year when she traded her Yamaha 6-string for a wedding ring, she IS
willing to admit that, every now and then, she blows the dust off her
six-string to croon a tune or two. But mostly, she just writes (and
writes).

Loree
and her husband split their time between a home in the Baltimore
suburbs and a cabin in the Allegheny Mountains, where she continues
to hone her "identify the critter tracks" skills. Her
favorite pastime? Spending long, leisurely hours with her
grandchildren...all seven of them!








Follow
the tour HERE
for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!











The Six by K.B. Hoyle

Author: K.B. Hoyle

Narrator: Dollcie Webb

Length: 10 hours 19 minutes

Series: The Gateway Chronicles, Book 1

Publisher: K.B. Hoyle

Released: Nov. 19, 2018

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy


Winner of the 2016 Literary Classics Gold Book Award for YA Series and recipient of the Literary Classics Seal of Approval

Darcy Pennington hates her life. She is an insufferably average teenager with no real friends, crushing social anxiety, and an indescribable sense of not fitting in anywhere. A change in her dad's job forces her to attend Cedar Cove Family Camp the summer before her eighth-grade year, and Darcy once again finds herself on the outside of a social circle of teenagers, with her only advocate being an awkward girl named Samantha Palm. The only problem is, Darcy has no desire to be friends with her, but as the hostility from the other teenagers increases, she decides to return the friendship.

When Darcy begins to experience strange magical occurrences, she comes to believe she's either losing her mind or on the brink of a discovery that could give her purpose in life. After unwittingly stumbling through a magical gateway to a new world called Alitheia, she convinces Sam and the other four teenagers to travel there with her, and despite their earlier hostilities toward her, they eventually concede leadership of their small group to Darcy. Once there, they learn the "arrival of the Six" was prophesied hundreds of years before and that they must expel an ancient evil from the land. In the end their lives, and the fate of Alitheia, will hinge upon Darcy. Will she have what it takes to fulfill her mysterious purpose? Or will she fall prey to a deadly foe?




K.B. Hoyle is an award-winning Young Adult author, a public speaker, a creative writing instructor, and a former classical history teacher. She stays busy at her home in Alabama with her husband and their four young sons.

She is a Readers' Favorite 5-Star reviewed author, a multiple recipient of the Literary Classics Seal of Approval, the winner of the Literary Classics Gold Book Award for Best YA Series (2016) for The Gateway Chronicles, her best-selling six-book Fantasy series, the Literary Classics Silver Book Award winner for YA Science Fiction (2015) for BREEDER, the first book in her Dystopian Trilogy, The Breeder Cycle, and the Readers' Favorite Bronze Award winner in YA Science Fiction (2016), also for BREEDER. She was a featured panel speaker at the 2013 Sydney Writer's Festival in Sydney, Australia, and her books receive high acclaim from readers and reviewers worldwide.

She is represented by Ben Grange of the L. Perkins Agency. You can visit her website and sign up for her newsletter at kbhoyle.com

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Narrator Bio



"Daydreams and whimsy with with a touch of pixie charm."

A long-time daydreamer, Dollcie Webb has always carried a special fondness for Young Adult Fantasy literature. The poetic imagery and enticing otherworldliness call to her sense of curiosity, satisfying a deep desire to explore the world around her. A graduate of Michigan Technological University with a Bachelor's in Theatre and Electronic Media Performance, she's taken her experience in audio and theatrical performance and has melded the two into a career as an audiobook producer and narrator.

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Q&A with Narrator Dollcie Webb
  • Did you find it difficult to “break into” audiobook narration? What skill/tool helped you the most when getting started?
    • Not initially, I luckily managed to land my very first audition within a day of submitting and the thrill of that has had me hooked ever since. Full disclosure however: I did have a difficult time because I didn’t realize how much effort would need to go into the actual work behind narrating and producing. A result of that was some of my earlier work suffered. I had a difficult time remaining consistent in my performances because I was so focused on the technical aspects of performing in the booth and getting a clean audio recording.After researching online and listening to more YA Audiobooks I was able to identify what I liked about certain performances and what I thought could be improved. For me it was about relaxing in the booth and allowing myself the freedom to immerse myself in the story. To get out of my own head, stop over analyzing, and just be present in the moment of the story. Once this happened it brought a level of joy and satisfaction to my work that I don’t think many people are lucky enough to experience.
  • A lot of narrators seem to have a background in theatre. Is that something you think is essential to a successful narration career?
    • Yes I do. My theatre background gave me the skills I need to be a successful audiobook performer. I don’t think a BA in performing arts is 100% necessary to being a successful narrator but for me I wouldn’t be here without it.
  • What type of training have you undergone? 
    • I have a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Electronic Media Performance from Michigan Technological University. I also attended the VO Atlanta conference my senior year of college and learned a. LOT. It was there that I realized how far-reaching the voiceover world is and how I could actually make a living using the skills I acquired from college.
  • How do you manage to avoid burn-out? What do you do to maintain your enthusiasm for narrating?
    • It took me a year after I started narrating to realized burn-out is a very real phenomena. I help prevent burnout by making sure to take care of myself and making sure to replenish my creative well. Reading stories for the fun of it, singing in the shower, listening to podcasts for authors and narrators, watching TED talk videos, watching cartoons, and listening to audiobooks.
  • What about this title compelled you to audition as narrator? 
    • The synopsis was intriguing and sounded like something I would normally read for the fun of it. Upon further research I discovered it to have received the Literary Classics Gold Book Award. I knew then that it would be foolish to pass up the opportunity to be a part of something so special!
  • How closely do you prefer to work with authors? 
    • Usually as closely as possible. I know how much time and effort I put into working on the audiobook and that can’t even compare to the amount of time that the author invests to write the book! I have so much respect and admiration for the authors that I work with, I want them to know that we’re on the same team and we both want the audiobook to do well.
  • What are your favorite and least favorite parts of narrating an audiobook?
    • My least favorite part is reading the reviews afterwards. While the work is time-consuming and can be quite tedious, reading the reviews requires a different form of mental fortitude. I have to be in a good place mentally and remember to not take negative reviews personally. (I adore the positive reviews but I’m always worried my hubris will get the best of me.) When people don’t like something about my performance I really strive to use that as constructive criticism to improve for the next time. That’s a guiding point I always try to remember: to always be learning and improving.My favorite part is tied between 1) getting that fresh manuscript from the audiobook rights holder and delving into the story while there is still so much to discover about the plot and characters and 2) Submitting the final audiobook to the rights holder. There is always an excited rise in my heart rate when I go to press “submit”.
  • What type of the review comments do you find most constructive? 
    • The best reviews are the ones that can pinpoint exactly what they thought needed work in the audiobook. My biggest goal as an audiobook narrator is to disappear while the audience is listening. It’s my job to tell the story in a thoughtful and engaging way. If there is ever anything about my performance specifically that detracts from achieving that goal, tell me! I want to know so I can utilize it the next time I get handed a manuscript.
  • Who is your “dream author” that you would like to record for?
    • Tamora Pierce hands effing down! Her Daughter of the Lioness books got me through high school and it was her books where I really latched onto the philosophy that girls are strong and can become leaders and world builders. Tamora writes beautiful, immersive stories with these amazing and inspiring female lead characters and to have the chance to be involved in, or contribute to, her work would be a dream come true.
  • What do you say to those who view listening to audiobooks as “cheating” or as inferior to “real reading”?
    • I have to say that is an uncharitable way to view the medium! Firstly, it’s not like audiobook are hurting anyone, so why put the effort into maintaining such a strong negative thought about it? Secondly, think of how audiobooks are opening a world of information to consumers who otherwise might not have access. People commuting to work, the visually impaired, small children learning to read, the disabled who may not have the motor reflexes required to hold a tablet or flip a page, ALL of these people now have the option to enjoy stories that would be difficult to read without the assistance of audiobooks. Physical reading is a luxury not everyone has the time or means to enjoy. Audiobooks are tools that help level the field between literate healthy readers and those readers who could use a little assistance.
Dream Cast
By Author K.B. HOYLE
Casting my books for television or cinema is always so hard because a) they start off YOUNG, and I’m not all that familiar with young talent, and b) they age from 13 to 19 (some as old as 21) by the time the series is over, so the look I hold in my head is not necessarily how I, or even my most devoted readers, view the characters. Therefore, I decided not to try and do a traditional dream cast post, but to post links to the character aesthetics boards I have made for each character on my Gateway Chronicles pinterest page. If The Six (and therefore hopefully the rest of the books in The Gateway Chronicles) were to ever be picked up for movie for streaming or traditional TV, I would hope that whoever gets cast looks something like these characters — and fits these aesthetics — I’ve found on Pinterest:
Darcy Pennington
Age: 13
Appearance: Darcy is 5’4” and rather thin and gangly with long, wavy reddish-brown hair. She’s fair skinned (although she would call herself pale) with freckles, grey eyes, and angular features. She wouldn’t think so, but she is pretty.
About: Darcy is incredibly self-conscious and introverted, and she suffers from almost crippling social anxiety. She struggles to make friends and feels most comfortable around animals. In The Six, she’s one of those young people who feels as though she’s just average at everything — not particularly skilled or talented or remarkable at any one thing. Just… invisible. Darcy would rather be alone than end up making friends with people who will stigmatize her at school, too, as she has a bit of a prideful streak. Despite her flaws, Darcy feels things deeply and — when she can get outside her own head — she can be an incredibly strong, resilient, and brave person. She longs to love and be loved, she just needs to learn how to open herself up to others.
In Alitheia: Once they pass through the Gateway into Alitheia, Darcy’s role in The Prophecy of The Six is that of The Intended — meaning she’s supposed to someday marry Tellius, the rightful king of Alitheia. Seeing as how she’s only 13, and Tellius is only 10 (in The Six, which is the first book), this role seems like a pretty bum deal to her.
Favorites: Darcy’s favorite food is her mother’s French toast. She loves horseback riding, learning archery, reading, and spending time with animals.

Samantha Palm
Age: 13
Appearance: Sam is 5’2” and overweight with long, almost-curly cornsilk-blonde hair. She’s fair skinned (but not as fair as Darcy) and has brilliant blue eyes and very pretty features.
About: Sam is radiant — everything about her exudes joy, even though she is often stigmatized at school because of her weight. She lives down the street from Darcy and has been trying to make friends with Darcy for years, but Darcy has always rebuffed her efforts. Extroverted to a fault, Sam sometimes has a hard time seeing that she’s smothering people, but she just wants to make sure everyone feels loved and seen and accepted all the time. Sam can also tend to struggle with a little anxiety and fearfulness as she tries to make everyone happy (which is obviously impossible to do), but she loves her friends more than she loves herself, and that leads to a special type of heroism.
In Alitheia: Once they pass through the Gateway into Alitheia, Sam’s role in The Prophecy of The Six is that of The Companion. Sam has magical abilities that manifest to help her help her friends in times of great need.
Favorites: Her friends, Perry Marks (another one of The Six, whom Sam has had a crush on for forever, Cedar Cove Family Camp

Lewis Acres
Age: 13
Appearance: Lewis is short with mousy brown hair, pale blue eyes, and glasses. He has kind of a typical “nerd” physique — slouches a bit and unassuming and tries not to draw attention to himself because he doesn’t think much about his physical appearance.
About: Lewis is Sam’s best friend (she’s his only friend back home — outside of Cedar Cove Family Camp) and fiercely protective of her. Lewis follows Sam everywhere and kind of watches over her — thoughtful where she is impulsive, but also far less willing to trust people or open himself up to others. With Sam, he’s teased a lot at school and is an outsider. Lewis immerses himself into his writings and inner thoughts. He loves to tell stories, but never really shares them with anyone other than Sam. He’s never without a backpack, in which he keeps notebooks upon notebooks of stories and story ideas. Lewis does not understand Sam’s desire to be friends with Darcy and generally distrusts and dislikes Darcy, at least at first.
In Alitheia: Once they pass through the Gateway into Alitheia, Lewis’s role in The Prophecy of the Six is that of The Scribe. Lewis has magical abilities that will manifest that have to do with writing.
Favorites: His friendship with Sam, writing and storytelling, Cedar Cove Family Camp

Perry Marks
Age: 13
Appearance: Perry is quintessential “popular kid” — golden blonde, blue eyed, tan, and athletic with a killer smile. He’s tall, but not too tall (around 5’6” in The Six). He wears his hair so it falls *just so* across his forehead.
About: Perry is the baby of his family — the much younger brother of an older sister, so he’s a little spoiled. He’s outgoing and confident and generally easy going, especially with his friends. Physical things tend to come easily to him, whether it’s learning a new sport or hiking or learning to sword-fight, and he feeds off the energy and admiration he gets from others. He’s a natural-born leader. He’s aware that he’s good-looking and generally what others would think of as “above average” (which can be a heady combination for any 13-year-old), so sometimes Perry can be a little thoughtless toward others’ needs, and even mean, but deep down, Perry is bold and brave, and he has a heart of gold.
In Alitheia: Once they pass through the Gateway into Alitheia, Perry’s role in The Prophecy of the Six is that of The Warrior. He will have magic manifest that lends itself to fulfilling this role.
Favorites: Soccer, Cedar Cove Family Camp (although he probably wouldn’t admit it unless pressed), learning to fight

Amelia Bennet
Age: 13
Appearance: Amelia is tall, 5’8” or 5’9” in The Six, and thin and willowy with kind of dusty, fawn-colored hair and hazel eyes. She’s beautiful — the sort of girl who makes other girls feel intensely insecure (especially in middle school).
About: Amelia is an only child and the oldest of the six young teens who end up going through the Gateway into Alitheia (she turns 14 shortly after they arrive), so she acts as a slightly disapproving mother hen. She’s a little haughty by nature and something of a musical prodigy, as she plays 6 instruments and sings. Already, at 13, she has clear goals and aspirations for her future in music. She’s distrustful of new people (like Darcy) and places (like Alitheia) and a homebody, so when they end up trapped in the alternative magical world, she struggles with severe homesickness for a long time. After Lewis, she is Sam’s best friend and like Lewis, she is fiercely protective of her.
In Alitheia: Once they pass through the Gateway into Alitheia, Amelia’s role in The Prophecy of the Six is that of The Musician. She will have magic manifest that lends itself to fulfilling this role.
Favorites: Anything musical, Cedar Cove Family Camp, her friendship with Sam

Dean Stewart
Age: 13
Appearance: Dean is also tall, around the same height as Amelia. He has an olive complexion and black hair that he keeps in an army-style buzz cut, and brown eyes. He’s athletically built, but more lanky than Perry.
About: Dean is the quietest of the group, next to Lewis, but Dean is more secretive. He’s a little bit like Perry’s shadow. Where Lewis is closest friends with Sam, Dean is Perry’s best friend and can usually be found wherever Perry is. The youngest of four boys, Dean is someone who is clearly tough, but he’s understated. Before he befriended the other teens — years before Darcy first got to Cedar Cove — he used to just follow them around in the woods. He’s one to keep his opinions to himself unless asked directly, and his ambitions in life are to go into the military, as he admires all things stealth and soldiery.
In Alitheia: Once they pass through the Gateway into Alitheia, Dean’s role in The Prophecy of the Six is that of The Spy. He will have magic manifest that lends itself to fulfilling this role.
Favorites: Mountain biking (which he does with his brothers), the military, his friends, Cedar Cove Family Camp

Tellius Ecclektos
Age: 10
Appearance: Tellius has wavy brown hair, lightly tanned skin, and a smattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose. His eyes are brown, but flecked with green.
About/In Alitheia: Tellius and his younger brother, Cadmus, are orphans and princes in hiding under the rule of Tselloch in Alitheia. Being the older of the two brothers, Tellius is the rightful heir to the throne upon his coming of age (when he turns 17). Having witnessed the murder of his parents when he was younger — and having had to flee for his own life — Tellius harbors a lot of pain, which he has pushed deep down inside under a sometimes hostile, often hard exterior. He’s not thrilled when he meets Darcy that she is the one he’s expected to marry someday, and he does everything in his power to rebel against it. Magically, he can control the elements of fire and water. (Because time in Alitheia continues forward while the Six go back in time when they return to Cedar Cove Family Camp, every time Darcy and her friends return — in each book — Tellius will have aged two years for every one of Darcy’s, which means he ages past her by the fifth and sixth books.)
Favorites: Archery, his relationships with his brother and his governess (Eleanor), Alitheia

Giveaway
Prize: Signed Paperback copy of The Six and a cedar frond and resin in rose-gold necklace by Ojibwa artist Tashina Lee Emery

Giveaway organized and sponsored by the author, K.B. Hoyle

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