Eärwen’s Song – Thunderclap

Hello and welcome!

I would ask for your support on my Thunderclap campaign for the upcoming book in the Elven Chronicles, Eärwen’s Song, which is book 10 in this awesome series by M. A. Abraham.

Thunderclap

THANK YOU!!!!

Have a great week, sunny days and yummy books!

 

 

Audiobook Giveaway with Braden Wright

Hello and welcome!

Have some news from Braden Wright, one of my fave narrators. Remember the Chat with him last May? His voice makes me feel warm, like a hug … and the singing he does … *sigh*

I’ve teamed with NY Times & USA Today bestselling author Tanya Anne Crosby on seven audiobooks. 

One of her most popular books — and also our most popular audiobook — is Book 1 of the Highland Brides series, The MacKinnon’s Bride, which tells the story of Page FitzSimon and Iain MacKinnon.

Audible

There were 5 books in the Highland Brides series, and I also narrated Book 5, Highland Song.

Audible

Yet readers were continually asking about an Epilogue to Book One and to the entire series. It is a kind of pivot point as some of the characters introduced in Book 5 carry on into Tanya’s Guardians of Stone series. For years fans have asked for a MacKinnon’s Bride epilogue and here it is, a short story to lend a little cheer for the holidays.

Audible

The MacKinnon’s Hope: A Highland Christmas Carol – The Highland Brides, Book 6

Eleven years later, FitzSimon is a broken man. He is forsaken, alone, a wretch left to wallow in his grief. A scrooge to rival Ebenezer, he is visited by the ghost of his dead wife, who has come to reveal what life has been, what it could be, and where it will end if the candle burns out before FitzSimon has made amends.

Meantime, in the Highlands, the MacKinnon clan faces their darkest hour. Their village destroyed by fire, with with winter on the way, how can they rally when whispers of war have now begun? Malcolm MacKinnon, at 17, is ready to fight, but he most prove himself a man before he can wield his sword and join the Highland Guard. A very unexpected “ghost” may yet help him find his way.

It is, of course, best enjoyed following at least a listen to The MacKinnon’s Bride, and I hope everyone enjoys. In working on the piece, I had great admiration for Tanya’s masterful way of weaving together so many stories and elements as well, and I hope everyone has a fun time with the listen.

My review:
It is a good story that has so many twists, and we get to revisit characters from the series, but what I was most happy about is that Page got her closure with her Father, Hugh FitzSimon, who gets a chance at redemption (not that he deserved it IMO). Ian’s son, Malcolm MacKinnon is all grown up and troubled that his premonition is not believed. Quite a lot is happening in this short book, so I would suggest to read/listen to “The MacKinnon’s Bride”, Book 1 of the Highland Brides series before listening to this.
Braden Wright delivered another great listening experience, his voice is perfect for the story. I could listen to him for hours on end.

And now the giveaway!

Mr. Wright is giving away 4 audiobooks of “MacKinnon’s Hope: A Highland Christmas Carol”, Book 6 in the Highland Brides series. Sexy Mr. Random  will pick the winners after 3pm EST on Monday, March 14, 2016. GOOD LUCK!

Until next time read a book, listen to a book and don’t forget to show your love by leaving a review!

A taste of “My Darling, Janice” by M. A. Abraham

To My Darling Granddaughter

If you are reading this letter I know you are on your way to Vienna to follow the trail of the one who once bore your name. Notice how I am not asking how you learned about her? There are only two people who could have told you about my second sister; my wife, or your Great Aunt Lydia. I was never able to get either to swear that they would keep silent about her, no matter how deeply the pain of her memory remains in my heart.

Your mother knew. I think she found the journals and read them. I am still not sure how that happened, although I have my suspicions. Your father never knew. We never discussed his aunt, not ever. His wife, however, was constantly making sure all the corners of the townhouse where these books were kept remained clean and free of cobwebs. The person I am writing about in this journal, is she whom you got your name from, and it is as beautiful as she was. She was one I loved with all my heart, as I love you.

Perhaps the women in my life whom I have loved the most have been right about how I handled the portion of my life that contained that sister. I have no answers to explain why I have done what I have. In remembering, however, I wrote these journals. The contents within them hold the memory of the last year we were together. They keep her alive as she is in my memory to this day. You, my sweetheart, are the living spirit of what she was.

I like to watch you, as I did her, as you dance. Light, carefree, so full of the bloom of life. You float over the ballroom floors lost in the music of the waltzes you so love. My sister was like that, her every movement was like watching a butterfly floating in the air, gracefully epitomizing the spirit of the tunes the masters dreamed. They were but a tribute to her beauty.

I do not say this lightly my beautiful butterfly. I say this because you are so much like her in many ways. You flit through life and nothing touches you, yet you love deeply and selflessly. You spread beauty and grace wherever you go. Anyone who experiences the light of your life longs for its touch forevermore. Unfortunately, as you are like my sister in all ways that are good, you show some of her faults as well. You can be headstrong and often unthinking about what you are doing or saying, but these are the traits of youth. I hope that you find what you are seeking with this trip of adventure you have embarked on.

I have asked Lady Marta to serve as Chaperone for you while you travel, to protect your reputation. She was more than happy to do this, as she loves you like a daughter. I have written to your Great Aunt Lydia and your Great Uncle Wolfgang, to let them know you are coming. I hope the letters get to them before you do. I would not like to think of you stranded in a foreign country with no guidance or protection.

You will find the bundle of journals along with the letter I have written, read them all. You will find not only the reasons for my pain, but my love. Read now my darling Janice, and get to know my sister Janice as a living, breathing person.

Your Loving Grandfather, Martin
Dated April 12, 1864

 

After discovering some old journals that belong to her grandfather Janice finds he has been hiding a painful memory of a sister he once had. She is determined to find out more and after confronting him she leaves for the country of his birth to learn more from his family. She has wrung some of the story out of him. She learns that she looks like her grandaunt and was named after her. He told her how beautiful his sister was, how popular and loved she had been, but refuses to talk about her in any detail.

As Janice travels she learns that her grandfather expected her to go to his former home. In her luggage she finds her grandfather’s journals that detail the last years of his sister’s life along with a couple letters from him. She begins to read and is pulled into the glittering whirlwind of her grandaunt’s life. A world where the Janice that was, reigned as the social Queen of Viennese society and was loved by one and all, but especially by the man she eventually married. As she closes the journal she is more determined than ever to get to know the world and people her grandaunt knew, and to bring joy to their world in memory of the woman who was.

Wolfgang has lived all of his life under the shadow of his illegitimacy. He dwelt with a granduncle, a man who raised him like a son. He watched his granduncle live with the memory of a woman he couldn’t let go, even when death stole her from him. He could easily understand the attraction when he gazed at her portrait, but not the reasons. Not until he meets the woman who not only bares her name, but shares her beauty and personality.

As Wolfgang watches Janice from the doorway he not only sees a woman that resembles the lady he has admired in the portrait his granduncle coveted, but the woman he falls instantly in love with. Like his granduncle, he is determined to win her hand and love, no matter the cost, for despite the pretense of Janice’s appearance he knows that underneath the veneer beats the heart of a woman who will make him happy for the rest of eternity.

Buy Links Smashwords • B&N • iTunes • Amazon • Kobo • Createspace • Goodreads

My Chat with Rafael *sigh*

Hello and welcome!

Today I have one of my book boyfriends that was a bad boy but then became a hero, you know those, right? We all fall for them and I did… hard.

Please welcome Rafael, the mercenary!

source

What is your full name?
Rafael Rodriguez

Do you have a nickname?
Of course not.

What is one word best describes you?
Resilient.

Describe what you are wearing now to our readers.
I wear black – a black tabard, black chausses, black boots and a black cloak. I wear no insignia or ornament. Just black. I am a shadow in the night.

Do you think the author portrayed you accurately?
Too accurately!

What makes you laugh out loud?
I laugh at honesty unexpected. Elizabeth, a maiden I believed to be sheltered and unaware of the truth of the world, oft surprises me with her observations – and I laugh at this honesty.

What is your favourite dessert?
Honey from a beautiful woman’s fingertips… or lips.

What is your favourite drink?
Wine, when I can get it.

What is your greatest fear?
The truth.

What is your favourite colour?
Do you need ask? The black of midnight and of souls that cannot be redeemed.

What do you wear when you go to sleep?
If it is cold as it has been since my arrival in Scotland, I will wear every bit of fiber and fur which I can claim.

What is the perfect romantic date?
There are no ‘dates’ in my view of the world. There are couplings. There are seductions. And then there is Elizabeth, who challenges and provokes, and compels me to offer more than is my inclination. Perhaps this is the root of my fascination with her: she is fearless, beautiful and utterly beguiling.

How ticklish are you? Where are you ticklish?
A mercenary is not ticklish. It would be unseemly – and a weakness, to be sure.

What’s your favourite smell? What does it remind you of?
The scent of my Elizabeth’s skin. It tempts me to imagine the pleasures we might share together.

When you look at a woman what catches your interest?
Her spirit. I like a woman with a flash in her eyes and a lilt in her step. She will defy expectation, which is a trait I like well.

Do you have somebody in your life now?
Aye, Elizabeth Lammergeier of Kinfairlie.

What is one word best describes her?
She is an angel come to earth, one too beauteous to look upon yet fearsome in her judgement.

Is your book part of a series? What does the future hold for the readers of the series?
The Warrior’s Prize is the fourth book in the True Love Brides Series of medieval Scottish romances by Claire Delacroix. It is the last book in the series, and the one in which the portal to the realm of the Fae is closed forever. There is, however, another sibling from Kinfairlie – Ross’ tale will be told in The Brides of Inverfyre series, coming soon from Claire Delacroix.

Thank you Rafael for coming for a chat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for joining me today and I hope you enjoyed the chat.

I am glad I listened to his story first. Then I went back and listened to book 3, he was baaaad in that one, but then redeemed himself in book 4.

This book is a good example for when I told Ms. Cooke at a book signing that I’ve written off the medieval era totally, she just smiled and told me to try her books anyway and I am glad I did, she proved me wrong 😉

The maiden was just another treasure to be won – until she stole his heart and changed his life forever.

Outraged that her beloved brother’s soul is to be the Fae tithe to Hell, Elizabeth knows that she must save him. She is the only one in her family who can see the Fae, after all, and is already cursed by their king herself. Malcolm may have offered to replace his comrade out of honor, but Elizabeth knows who better deserves to live – and it is not the handsome rogue, Rafael, who is concerned with his own welfare alone. It should be easy to make a wager with a mercenary, especially as Elizabeth does not care about the cost to herself. To her surprise, though, Rafael proves to be the man who not only takes her dare, but banishes the Fae king’s curse with kisses that turn her blood to fire. Could this hardened warrior, who appears to have no heart, be the destined love she has awaited?

At first glimpse, Rafael believes Elizabeth to be an angel sent to judge him – and he knows what her verdict will be. He has made choices in order to survive and is not proud of them. But Elizabeth dares him to change, with an audacity that awakens a nobility of purpose that Rafael has forgotten he possessed. Can this bold maiden heal the wounds of his past? Can Rafael earn the right to grant her the life she deserves – and do so before the Fae king springs his trap, making Elizabeth his captive forever?

My review
Overall – 5 stars
Performance – 5 stars
Story – 5 stars

I think this has to be my fave of the series. I loved them all, but this one speaks to me more. Elisabeth is a woman after my own heart, she believes in herself and goes for what she wants and she wants Raphael. I want him too LOL he joins the ranks of my fave book boyfriends. He is rough around the edges because of his life from an early age, but he is a good man. What a twist in the middle of the story, and a bigger one towards the end, bigger than the usual ones the author throws into the story. The story weaves wonderfully, I found myself one moment saying YES and the next OH NOOOO, or laughing the next, it kept me on the edge for sure. A true love-conquers-all story with a well deserved HEA ending *sigh*
Saskia Maarlaveld delivered a gem of a story as usual. Her talent amazes me every time, and her voice is truly a marvel. Thank you for the enjoyable story and the many hours of listening bliss.

To keep in touch with Ms. Deborah Cooke and check out all her yummy books, follow the links below and if you chat with her, tell her I said hi 😀  also check out the Chat I had with her last year.

website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon • B&N • Kobo • iBooks • Pinterest

Check out her alias, Claire Delacroix

website • Facebook • Goodreads • Amazon • B&N • Kobo • iBooks • Audible

One lucky reader, chosen by Sexy Mr. Random, will win an audio copy of Rafael and Elizabeth’s story, the The Warrior’s Prize audiobook , narrated by Saskia Maarleveld, courtesy of Ms. Delacroix. Comments will stay open until 3pm, EST, Monday, March 7, 2016. GOOD LUCK!

Until next time read a book, listen to a book and don’t forget to show your love by leaving a review!

In the spotlight along M. A. Abraham :D

Rather than an author on my blog today, I decided to have my good friend, Eniko, a blogger, visit us.  Many of you may already know Eniko.  She does wonderful character interviews on her blog as we…

Source: Blogger Eniko, extraordinaire, chats about her favorite of all time authors, M. A. Abraham.