Author Spotlight: A Good Year by Tara Fox Hall...

Blurb:

There's no Heaven . like Hell.
Faced with losing Pandora Productions as well as her best friend Rebecca to the smarmy Paul, savvy film executive Debbie makes a pact with the demon Shaker, agreeing to bind herself to him as his human master in return for killing Paul and securing Pandora’s future. Yet even as Pandora gains accolades and renown, Debbie’s strong resolve begins to crumble under the weight of her actions. And the pleasure she finds in Shaker’s arms is becoming more than sex.
Is Debbie doomed to lose her heart as well as her soul to a demon who has only been waiting for the chance to claim both?

Excerpt:

“You create the scenes and conditions for movies. I don’t see why the deal can’t go through, Debbie.”

“That’s Ms. Deal,” Debbie corrected scathingly, glaring at the Titan Pictures representative. “I handle all the production decisions at Pandora. My team and I initiate, co-ordinate, supervise and control everything from fund-raising to hiring key personnel to arranging for distributors.” Her tone turned icy to drive the point home. “In other words, I have ultimate creative control, something your contract neglects to mention.”

“Let me be to the point, since you’re being so frank,” the executive said, his tone now hostile. “Titan wants Pandora, with you or without you. Make it easy, and you stand to get most of the perks that Rebecca detailed out. Fight us, and you’ll not only be out of a job, Ms. Deal, but you’ll also be blacklisted.”

“Get out,” Debbie growled. “Now.”

The executive gave her a shake of his head coupled with a sorrowful look, then sauntered out of her office. Debbie gritted her teeth, her hands clenched into fists in her lap.

Her secretary Amanda came in. “Your 10 o’clock is here. Do you want me to have him wait for a while?”

God, it had taken all her will not to bean that bastard with her office plant. “No, Amanda,” Debbie said with a sigh. “Show him in.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, Debbie, what’s the word?” Amanda asked. “We all heard about the proposed announcement at the New Year’s party, but then Paul disappeared and Rebecca—”

“I don’t want to sell to Titan,” Debbie admitted. “I’m not going through with it. They aren’t pleased, which is why that prick keeps coming back here each week.”

“Why not?” Amanda asked. “Not that I want to look for a new job, but you could make out like a bandit.”

“Because money isn’t everything,” Debbie said staunchly. “I love what I do, Amanda. I am not giving that up.”

Amanda nodded and smiled, yet it was in her blank gaze that she didn’t understand. “I’ll show in Mr. Triss.”

Debbie looked through her papers, then brought out Mr. Triss’s resume. The man may have had a girly-sounding name, but there was nothing girly about his accomplishments. If he’d done even half of what he claimed, he’d be an asset she could make good use of. The only thing odd on his resume was that he had no first name listed at all, not even an initial.

The door opened, and a lithe man stepped inside, his suit of grey wool looking so new he might have bought it right before the interview.

“Please sit down, Mr. Triss,” Debbie said, indicating the empty chair opposite her desk.

The man smiled, and sat down easily, leaning back and staring at her. Debbie stared back at him, unnerved but also intrigued at his blatant confidence.

“Do you want me to start the interview?” Mr. Triss said finally. “I’m happy to expound on my qualifications.”

“Tell me your first name, Mr. Triss.”

The man smiled uncomfortably. “I’d prefer to go just by my last name, if that’s okay.”

“That’s fine,” Debbie replied. “But I want to know it to satisfy my curiosity.”

“Rack,” the man said, shifting uncomfortably. “But I must stipulate that you not call me that if I’m hired.”

God, he was odd. Debbie was already sure she wasn’t going to hire him, but the last thing she wanted was to antagonize a potential maniac. “Agreed. Please tell me a little about yourself, Mr. Triss.”

For the next half hour, Debbie asked various questions and Rack answered them. His attitude was polite, and his replies precise and knowledgeable. When she gave him the usual “we’ll call you” speech, he just gave her a wink, and smiled. She breathed a sigh of relief, then told Amanda to show in the next candidate.

At the close of the day, Debbie rubbed her eyes and looked over the interviewees. Mr. Triss—aka Rack—was the clear choice for her new acquisitions manager. Yet there was something unnerving about him, reminding her of someone who’d wronged her years ago. And that was besides all that weirdness about him not giving her his first name. She’d go with the second name on the list, a woman named Sheila Bernard. Maybe she hadn’t had all the experience that Mr. Triss had, but her behavior had raised no red flags.

Buy Links:

Melange Books:
http://www.melange-books.com/authors/tarafoxhall/1goodyear.html
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MYBIYK7
Lulu: https://www.lulu.com/shop/view-cart.ep
 Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-good-year-tara-fox-hall/1125532941?ean=2940153975535
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/698474
ibooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/a-good-year/id1198331304?mt=11

Author Bio:

Tara Fox Hall's writing credits include nonfiction, erotica, horror, suspense, action-adventure, children's stories, and contemporary and historical paranormal romance. She is the author of the paranormal fantasy Lash series and the paranormal romantic drama Promise Me series. Tara divides her free time unequally between writing novels and short stories, chainsawing firewood, caring for stray animals, sewing cat and dog beds for donation to animal shelters, and target practice. All of her published children's stories to date are free reads on www.childrens-stories.net.

Author Links:

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/TaraFH
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/tara-fox-hall
Melange Books: http://www.melange-books.com/authors/tarafoxhall/index.html
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5286654.Tara_Fox_Hall     
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Tara-Fox-Hall/e/B005YPAA4W/
Website: www.tarafoxhall.com
Email: tarafoxhallATgmail.com
Blog: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5286654.Tara_Fox_Hall/blog
Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tara-Fox-Hall/151813374904903
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrorFoxHall
Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/108597284890507251806/

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Review: Web of Memory by Tara Fox Hall

Title: Web of Memory
Series: Promise Me, Book 15
Author: Tara Fox Hall
Publisher: Melange Books
Genre: Paranormal, Mainstream, Vampire Romance Series
Release Date: September 2016
Rating: 4 Eagle Feathers

Blurb:

Sarelle’s return to her loved ones brings a brief measure of solace, even as she mourns all that changed in her absence. Rene’s presence and Sar’s pact with Shaker add as much tension as comfort, as the delicate balance of Sar’s life threatens to collapse under the weight of all she endured as Michael’s prisoner. Determined to reclaim her life, Sar fights back, inadvertently sparking Danial’s memory as an unseen ancient enemy prepares to strike a fatal blow.

Review:

Sar is a woman who has been through hell and back. Because of her choices, mainly to love more than one man and to have children or mother children as the case may be from more than one man, her life and the lives of her loved ones are constantly in danger. Couple this with the facts that the men she loves are vampires and shapeshifters, and that she herself is no longer really human and it makes for a very complicated life. 

Lash is a weresnake and one of Sar's lovers. He has been injured badly by an enemy who kept both him and Sar captive for many long months. Sar is very concerned about him.

Devlin is a vampire and the other of Sar's lovers. She is oathed to him the vampire way.

When Sar and Lash are finally rescued and brought home, their entire family including Sar's other lover Devlin are relieved. However, there are new things to contend with, such as Rene a former lover of Devlin's who will again become his lover, Danial a former lover who does not remember her at all, and Shaker a demon who is now bonded with Sar. Sar in fact does not want Danial to remember, but it is hard to see him and pretend they do not  know each other. While Sar tries to get her bearings and begin her life again, tragedy strikes and she and Lash lose something precious. Both Sar and Lash are desperate to get back what they lost and begin trying again. On top of everything else, Danial remembers who Sar is and their relationship. Danial once he remembers who Sar is to him wants to renew his oath with her. She agrees, but then he turns the tables on her and requests something of her that she feels is completely unacceptable. While she and Rene attempt to work out a solution, an ancient enemy plots the destruction of all Sar holds dear. Will Sar and her family survive the attack that is surely coming?

I truly enjoyed Web of Memories, there is action, romance, vampires, were creatures and a really hot and suspenseful storyline! While following the story was a bit difficult in places due to the fact that I had not read the other books in the series, the author kindly left enough crumbs for this reader to at least get the gist of what had been going on in previous books. If you love the paranormal, and enjoy books that portray polyamory romances, and you like to be on the edge of your seat wondering what is going to happen next, then you will love Web of Memory! I for one plan on reading the other books in this series and I encourage other readers to do so as well.

Buy Links:

Buy Links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Web-Memory-Promise-Me-Book-ebook/dp/B01L0LTU94

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/660972

Lulu: http://www.lulu.com/shop/tara-fox-hall/web-of-memory/paperback/product-22791360.html

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/web-of-memory-tara-fox-hall/1124480716

Author Bio:

Tara Fox Hall's writing credits include nonfiction, erotica, horror, suspense, action-adventure, children's stories, and contemporary and historical paranormal romance. She is the author of the paranormal fantasy Lash series and the paranormal romantic drama Promise Me series. Tara divides her free time unequally between writing novels and short stories, chainsawing firewood, caring for stray animals, sewing cat and dog beds for donation to animal shelters, and target practice. All of her published children's stories to date are free reads on www.childrens-stories.net.

Author Links:

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/TaraFH

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/tara-fox-hall

Melange Books: http://www.melange-books.com/authors/tarafoxhall/index.html

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5286654.Tara_Fox_Hall          

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Tara-Fox-Hall/e/B005YPAA4W/

Promise Me SERIES Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.com/Promise-Me-13-Book-Series/dp/B019DYL6RY/

Website: www.tarafoxhall.com

Email: tarafoxhallATgmail.com

Blog: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5286654.Tara_Fox_Hall/blog

Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tara-Fox-Hall/151813374904903

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrorFoxHall

Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/108597284890507251806/

Author Spotlight: Uprising, The Rose Warriors by Craig Kimber

Available from Amazon, Leap of Faith Publishing

Blurb:

In a small village over the mountains surrounding Kyoto, the villagers prepare for an annual tradition. All seems to go well until the village is stormed and all the inhabitants are taken prisoner, except one. Simple village girl, Osei, finds herself alone in the misty mountains on her way to the city. A run in with a near death experience brings her to Kilik, an extremely powerful samurai who vows to keep her safe. Their ventures pull them both into a war beyond imagination, and Osei finds herself gradually transforming into something that she grew up to fear...a samurai.

Excerpt:

“This is not going to end well,” Kota whispered to me. He placed his hand by his side and clutched onto the handle of something. “When I say so, I want you to run for the mountains. I will follow later when the situation has been handled.”

          

“You test my patience, Zhuge,” the samurai barked, drawing his sword and pointing it at Zhuge’s throat. “When I count to five, my men will burn this village to ashes.”

         

“You don’t frighten me, Oyodo,” Grand Master Zhuge hissed. “You are a coward hiding behind his pawns.”

          

“So you wish to bring destruction to your home...fine...” the man sighed. “One...two...”

          

“Run now, Osei!” Kota commanded, advancing toward the man, drawing a small blade.

          

“Three...four...!” the man continued. Just before he reached the final number, Kota hurled the knife towards him, impaling his shoulder. The silence was no more as the crowd began to panic and the ninjas began to advance toward Kota. Several villagers grabbed what weapons they could to defend him, but they were no match for the agile ninjas.

About Craig Kimber:

Start of Career: I started writing as a hobby at the beginning of February 2011, and my love for samurai stories led me to begin writing "The Rose Warriors: Uprising." Originally named "The Five Rose Warriors," its main influence was the video game, "Way of the Samurai." When playing the game I found that a single samurai building a faction to take down a vast empire was simply exhilarating, so I decided that I need to make that my aim. The story started as a simple village girl learning to be a samurai, but the idea just wasn't special enough. I asked myself "What will make this book different to every other book I have read?" So I did some research and I found that there were hardly any stories written about the historic fall of the samurai, which the movie "The Last Samurai (Tom Cruise)" is revolved around.

After the first four chapters I let my friend read it, and I was told it was the best story he had ever read. I passed it around to get some further opinions, and I was asked every time "What happens next?" with the upmost enthusiasm. I thought up some ideas for how to make the story different to every other samurai rebellion story, so I called upon another genre passion, fantasy. I took the end of the samurai era, and transformed it into a war filled with magic and supernatural beings.

I spent every single night coming up with ideas of how to make it better and all I could think about while living life was the story, and it was from that moment I discovered my calling was to make a living of my newfound passion. More ideas for stories started to fill my head and began to make plans for future novels, including the sequel to "Uprising," "Revival."

Review: Capturing His Heart by Frey Ortega

Title: Capturing His Heart
Series: Caer Tarw 1
Author: Frey Ortega
Publisher: Siren Publishing
Genre: Erotic Alternative Paranormal Ménage a Trois Romance, M/M/M, shape-shifters, HEA
Release Date: August 2011
Rating: 3 Eagle Feathers

Blurb:

Welcome to Caer Tarw in beautiful, scenic Ireland, home of beautiful flora and endemic fauna, as well as…Minotaurs?

Rabbit shifter Hayden Somerset wastes away at home, having nothing to do and having no sense of progress in his life. One day, he is given an invitation he can’t refuse: an all-expenses paid trip to Ireland for three weeks, sponsored by the Supernatural Council.

As soon as he gets to Caer Tarw, the stage is set: mating season is close by, and the purpose they were all invited for was to help the Minotaurs find their mates. Hayden is among the lucky ones, finding Minotaurs Brian Connelly and Ronan Breckenridge, who are lovers, and are Hayden’s mates.

But not all is well in their tiny slice of paradise. Hayden is clueless about Minotaurs and knows nothing about them. Ronan and Brian are clueless about how to bring their rabbit into their world. How exactly will they capture their rabbit’s heart?

Review:

Hayden Sommerset is a rabbit shifter who comes from a large family. He feels that his life is at a standstill. He still lives at home with his large family and at this point he would do anything to get a little excitement and action, so when an invitation comes inviting him to an all-expenses paid trip to Ireland, he jumps on it.

Brian Connelly and Ronan Breckenridge are minotaurs and mates. They love each other, but they know they need a third to round out their relationship. Both are dominant males and this can make it more difficult to meet each other's needs. They hope they'll find their third mate among the other shifters who have been invited to their home Caer Tarw. 

All Hayden wants is to get away from his huge family and maybe find his mate on this vacation. Imagine his surprise when he gets not one mate but two. The sex is so hot between the three that it's enough to singe eyebrows. While Hayden is happy to have found mates, the two big bulls are just that big and bulls and when a fight breaks out between the two over a misunderstanding, Hayden fed up with this and the fact they kept one very important fact from him walks off to clear his head. Will Hayden leave his two mates taking his greatest gift with him, or will the three be able to work it out. 

I enjoyed the world building in this story very much. I also liked the characters. While I'm not sure exactly what it was for me that didn't allow me to give it a higher rating than three eagle feathers, let me see if I can articulate it. While there was some conflict in this story, I think in this case it needed more. I just had a hard time feeling the character's emotions. I think if the story had had more action, and even more ups and downs and maybe a little less insta-love and insta-sex or at least where the story had these but was more fleshed out with more emotions and action, I would have enjoyed it more. I realize that may not be entirely clear but this story just didn't capture my attention the way it had the potential to. Despite this I will try this author again in the future because I know that not every reader is going to enjoy every story, and it's entirely possible I will enjoy this author's other books. 

Spotlight: The Princess by Laura Tolomei

Bio:

Globetrotter author from Italy, Laura Tolomei has traveled the world from age five, and she hasn’t stopped since. After having read countless numbers of books, she decides, at age forty, to write her own stories for a change, instead of always having to read them from others. Now an acclaimed author with original borderline stories at the edge of accepted conventions, Laura Tolomei guarantees an erotic earthquake with each new novel.

Q. Does your family support your writing? Do they know….it’s spicy?

Laura: My family, my husband in particular, totally support me, and yes, they know it’s a hell of a lot more than spicy…mine is downright erotic. Fact is–I’m a very open person and don’t feel the need to hide anything about what I do or how I live. As a result, my family’s very supportive. My mate in particular bears the full weight of it since he’s my main reference for all my stories. Writing mostly MM, I ask him about how to make my characters more credible, also in their sex scenes. LOL I must admit, we have a lot of fun out of it. In addition, he helps me with plot and even reads the completed stories. We even found a new way to work together when I wrote Bloody Passion in first person. Since the speaker is a Druid, I wanted it to be credible so I asked him to review each chapter as I wrote it and his comments/suggestions were priceless. Ain’t he great?

Q. What describes the “heat” level in your writing?

Laura: My extremely HOT HOT HOT sex MM and MMF sex scenes! That’s why many of my books have five flames heat levels, like Divinitas, The Game and The Festival from my Virtus Saga. Most of my other books have a rating of four as heat levels, which is still scorching, particularly when it comes to my Soulmate and ReScue series.

Available from Extasy Books!
Blurb:
Alone. The future of his world on his shoulders, Prince Duncan Caldwell has to connect the dots. To pick up the pieces of broken love. Before the new edition of the Game. Before the terrible loss awaiting him at Black Rose. But not alone. Not without his angel. Certainly not without his princess. For only her power will save him.
Excerpt:
“Robin and I both had phases, but they were nothing like theirs…” Jeff frowned as though deep in memory. “No one could come between them, and you can ask Carl Strepton for confirmation.”
Yeah, good old Carl. No, she had not forgotten him, either.
“Carl tried separating them without success. They were as thick and tight as if they were one and understood each other even without words, like they had their own language or something. I’ve never seen anything like it, but it didn’t feel right then or much less now. Today that one is the leader and the other is pledged to you.”
No, Jeff just could not get it.
“And the leader reaffirming their love in such a public and dramatic way then nominating him as co-leader no less…makes me wonder where you fit in all this.”

Author Spotlight: Tempest of Vengeance by Tara Fox Hall

Blurb:

A chain of tragic events cumulating in the shattering of the magical "dream bond" between Theo and Sar turns

the lovers against one another, as Ulysses attacks from all fronts, hoping to destroy Devlin for good. The return of Lash reignites the fire between he and Sar, even as he saves her daughter Elle from certain death. Finally joined under Oath, Lash, Devlin, and Sar face the storm of Ulysses's wrath, knowing it will take their combined strength and courage to save all they love from his tempest of vengeance.

Excerpt:

My heart seemed to stop, and everything from that point went in slow motion.

I grabbed Devon up in my arms, feeling how cold and stiff my son’s body was.

“No! Please God! No!”

My next scream deafened me, as I went to my knees, holding the lifeless body of my son. I kept screaming, stopping only to take great draughts of air to give sound to my pain.

“Sar! Sar, what the—?” I felt Theo’s hands on me, holding us. As he roared out his rage and agony, I fainted.

When I awoke, I was lying in Danial’s bed with Theo. Instantly Devon’s death hit me like a ton of bricks. I began screaming again hysterically, and crying. Theo held me, and we cried together for a long time, not saying anything to each other. What was there to say? Our baby was dead. And everything I’d hoped for him to become, and experience, would never happen.

Buy Links:

Tempest of Vengeance

Bio:

Tara Fox Hall is an OSHA-certified safety and health inspector at a metal fabrication shop in upstate New

York. She received her bachelor's degree in mathematics with a double minor in chemistry and biology from Binghamton University. Her writing credits include over twenty short stories published in the nature magazines Catnip Blossoms, Meanwhile, and On The River. Her short horror stories have appeared in Deadman's Tome, Flashes in the Dark, Halloween Alliance, and Ghastly Door. She also coauthored the essay "The Allure of the Serial Killer," published in Serial Killers - Philosophy for Everyone: Being and Killing (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010). She divides her free time unequally between writing novels and short stories, chainsawing firewood, caring for stray animals of all species, sewing cat and dog beds for donation to animal shelters, and target practice.

Tara’s Other Links:

Website

Email: tarafoxhall@gmail.com

Tara's Blog 

Tara's Facebook Page

Twitter

Review: A Solid Core of Alpha by Amy Lane

Title: A Solid Core of Alpha
Author: Amy Lane
Publisher: Dreamspinner Publishing
Genre: Science Fiction/Erotic Romance
Release Date: August 2011
Rating: Dream Catcher Recommended Read

Anderson Rawn would not even be alive if it were not for a heroic act by his oldest sister who put him aboard a shuttle and remote control started it so he would survive their mining

colony's destruction. But it's tough being all alone and only twelve years old, so in an effort to stay sane, Anderson spends two years learning holographic technology and several years after that creating holographic friends that he can interact with. By the time he reaches civilization he is twenty-two years old. 

C.J. Poulson lives and works on a space station called the Hermes-Eight as a junior engineer. C.J. is planet side on a month's vacation when he gets the call about the shuttle, Anderson and Anderson's revolutionary new holographic technology. He is more than a little intrigued. 

When Anderson finally disembarks from the shuttle, he is nervous about interacting with anyone other than his holographic family. Still he leaves the shuttle once they dock and for the first time in ten years talks to "real" people. It quickly becomes apparent to Cassidy one of the leaders on the station, and C.J's sister that there are some very serious things going on with Anderson, not the least of which is that he has been horribly physically abused by someone. Despite this, Anderson gives the appearance of handling his new surroundings fairly well. Cassidy assigns him to stay with C.J. which would be fine with him except he finds himself very attracted and very drawn to the Anderson. When it becomes apparent that the attraction is mutual, C.J. does his best to be a good friend and not take advantage of a man that all the psych workers including his ex-boyfriend who is a shrink, say is just a powder keg waiting to blow. But what will he do when Anderson sets out to seduce him? Will he give in, or will he hold Anderson off? Especially when either could be the very thing to cause Anderson to have the melt down of the century?

I absolutely LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this book! This was my first experience with Amy Lane's writing and I have to say I was not disappointed. The entire premise for this science fiction romance is out of this world. You could tell that either Ms. Lane has experience working with mental  health issues, or she really did her research into PTSD, its causes and how to treat it. It was so realistic that I felt as if I was walking and talking with all the characters as they told me their stories. Even the secondary characters were very well fleshed out which you don't often see with many books. The world building was so well constructed that I had no problem believing it was completely real. The fact that the author took the time to show us everything about the back story really made this book far surpass my expectations. So many would have just started the book when Anderson finally docked at the space station, but I loved getting to know Anderson from age twelve and I think for this story that was really needed. Finally, the slow build of the love story between Anderson and C.J. was just fantastic, the love scenes are realistic, and emotional both of which were necessary for the story line. I cannot say enough good things about this book, and it definitely deserves the Dream Catcher Recommended Read, thanks Ms. Lane for a great story!