Great Summer Countdown: Book Blitz: The Suspect's Daughter by Author Donna Hatch

Donna Hatch, author of the best-selling “Rogue Hearts Series,” has won writing awards such as The Golden Quill and the International Digital Award. A hopeless romantic and adventurer at heart, she is a sought-after workshop presenter, and juggles multiple volunteer positions and her six children. A native of Arizona who recently transplanted to the Pacific Northwest, she and her husband of over twenty years are living proof that there really is a happily ever after.

Q&A With the Author:

1. What inspired your book?

The murder plot in The Suspect’s Daughter was inspired by a true event in England known as the Cato Street Conspiracy, which thankfully, was averted largely in part due to an undercover Bow Street Runner. This event happened in 1820, the same year my book takes place. When I read of the Cato Street Conspiracy, I knew it had to be Grant's story. Obviously I took some creative license, but the suspense plot in my book strongly parallels the real one. As far as the romantic plot, Grant is so emotionally closed off, as readers of my other books already know, that I knew it would be fun to pair him with a spunky, vivacious, glass-half-full kind of girl who is emotionally strong enough to not only challenge him and match him wit for wit, but with a big enough heart to see through his defensive barriers into the lonely, vulnerable man hiding underneath.

2. How do you spend your free time?

Free time? I don't think I have ever had any free time. I'm not even sure what that means. When I'm too mentally or emotionally tired to write, and if my family doesn't need me for anything pressing, I read. Reading recharges me in a way that nothing else can. I enjoy going for long walks, watching old movies--especially adaptations of Jane Austen novels and romantic comedies--and playing games with my family. I've become pretty good at ping pong (table tennis) and my husband is a ruthless opponent.

Connect with the Author here: 

~ Facebook ~ Website ~ Twitter ~ Google+ ~

"Determined to help her father with his political career, Jocelyn sets aside dreams of love. When she meets the handsome and mysterious Grant Amesbury, her dreams reawaken. But his secrets put her family in peril.                                                 Grant goes undercover to capture conspirators avowed to murder the prime minister, but his only suspect is the father of a courageous lady who is growing increasingly hard to ignore. He can’t allow Jocelyn to distract him from the case, nor will he taint her with his war-darkened soul. She seems to see past the barriers surrounding his heart, which makes her all the more dangerous to his vow of remaining forever alone. Jocelyn will do anything to clear her father’s name, even if that means working with Grant. Time is running out. The future of England hangs in the balance...and so does their love."

~ Amazon ~ Amazon UK ~ 

~ Amazon Canada ~ B&N ~ Smashwords ~

Author Top Ten List:

1. I like cats--kittens are even more fun.

2. I am a harpist and I teach harp lessons.

3. Every morning after I get the children off to school, I go for a walk. (At least, that's always the goal)

4. I hate spiders. HATE. With a passion.

5. Due to moves in my childhood, I attended 9 different schools. Being the new kid isn't all it's cracked up to be.

6. I love cheesecake just as much as I love chocolate--chocolate cheesecake is even better. Caramel is a close second. Caramel-chocolate cheesecake, anyone?

7. Currently I'm juggling: a YA dystopian aka speculative fiction, a YA historical paranormal, book 4 of my Rogue Hearts Regency series, and a new Regency trilogy.

8. I am majorly claustrophobic, which is exactly why, when I had to give my super-warrior weapons master, Kai Darkwood in my fantasy Queen in Exile, some flaw or fear, I chose claustrophobia for his--I understand it.

9. I love to ballroom dance. LOVE.

10. I also love bodies of water of any kind--ocean, river, lake, stream, waterfall, backyard garden pond. It just does something for my soul. This is partly why we recently moved from the desert to Washington State. I even love water when it's falling from the sky. Mermaid, anyone?

To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Great Summer Countdown:Guinevere: On the Eve of Legend by Author Cheryl Carpinello

I am retired high school English teacher. A devourer of books growing up, my profession introduced me to writings and authors from times long past. Through my studies and teaching, I fell in love with the Ancient and Medieval Worlds. Now, I hope to inspire young readers and those Young-at-Heart to read more through my Quest Books set in these worlds.

I also conduct Medieval/Short Story Writing Workshops in Elementary/Middle School classes. Contact me if you are interested in holding a workshop for students: ccarpinello@mac.com.

Q&A With the Author:

1.  What inspired your book?

My former students were my inspiration. When I taught the Legend of King Arthur, my students knew next to nothing about Guinevere other than she married King Arthur, cheated on him, and caused the downfall of Camelot. I wanted kids to see a more rounded character of a young girl not much different from them.

2. How do you spend your free time

I enjoy spending time with my family, reading, watching my favorite movies, and being outside. When I have an extended period of time, we travel. Two of our biggest trips have been to Egypt and the United Kingdom.

Connect with the Author here: 

~ Facebook ~ Website ~ Amazon ~ ~ Parent/Educators ~ Quest Books ~ Blog ~
 ~ Goodreads ~ Twitter ~ Google+ ~
~ BookBuzzer ~ Pintrest ~ LinkedIn ~

At the dawn of Camelot, one young girl is about to take her place beside the greatest king in England’s history…. 

She is a mere child of twelve. But in these medieval days, this is the age when childish things must be put away and greater responsibilities accepted—all in preparation for a betrothal of marriage. 

For young Lady Guinevere, on the advent of her thirteenth Birth Day, the whole idea is quite unbearable. After all, what could be better than spending her youth playing with her best friend Cedwyn, roaming the grounds around the castle looking for mythical creatures or hunting rabbits? 

However, the wizard Merlyn—her teacher and friend—knows that destiny has a way of catching up with a person. His arrival sets in motion a series of events that will lead Guinevere to her destiny whether she is ready for it or not. 

~ Amazon ~ Amazon UK ~ 

~ Amazon Canada ~ Amazon Australia ~

Author Top Ten List:

1.      Things I like to do when not writing:

I enjoy traveling, reading, spending time with my family, and working in the yard. I’m definitely not a housekeeper.

2.      How I relax:

Sitting on the beach in Puerto Aventuras, Mexico!

3.      My favorite color:

Blue’s always been my favorite color. It’s the color of my eyes, of the sky, and of the ocean.

4.      My favorite drink:

Just can’t pass up a good margarita!

5.      My favorite snack:

I devour nachos and Auntie Anne’s pretzels!

6.      My your favorite movies:

Star Wars, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, and The Mummy. I’ve watched each of these so many times that I’ve lost track, and my husband shakes his head when he sees one on and says, “Really?” I just smile.

7.      I am a night owl:

I don’t usually go to sleep until midnight, and now that I’m retired, I’m comfortable not seeing the sun come up in the morning:)

8.      My favorite food:

That would be a smothered shredded beef burrito washed down with a good margarita.

9.      My favorite authors:

I grab anything by the writing duo of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Childs, and I also love their individual books. David Baldacci’s books are also favorites. I’m addicted to blood & guts & spy thrillers!

10.    If I could live anywhere, it would be in Colorado.

We have the best weather—All four seasons. I live next to the foothills, and a drive up in the Rockies is a cure for any ailment. I can see the world famous Red Rock Amphitheater from my couch, and if the wind is just right, we can hear the concerts. My immediate family is all here, except for one sister who lives in Texas, poor soul. In addition to being a retired teacher, I’m also a retired airline employee. So, when I need a change, it’s so easy just to hop a plane and go to the beach.

To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Great Summer Countdown Day 10: A Doorway Back to Forever: Believe by Author Nanette O'Neal

Musician, author, and avid Star Trek fan, Nanette loves anything that challenges her mind and enlightens her spirit. She got the idea for her book series from her faith and love of family. Wouldn’t it be neat to travel back and forth through time to discover hidden powers and your true potential? Nanette thought so, and thus began the Doorway series. Believe is the first of seven books designed to entertain and inspire both young and seasoned readers. She is a frequent hiker at Glacier National Park, loves her dear husband and family, and when she isn't writing, takes her dogs on long walks.

Q&A with the Author:

1.  What inspired your book?

I always loved The Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter. I wondered what would happen if Harry went to Narnia, and so my Doorway series was born. It’s a combination of my faith and the fantasy worlds I love to immerse myself in, taking readers to a world they once knew, a world they long to return to.

2. How do you spend your free time?

I serve in my church and family, conduct a symphonic band, work out, walk my dogs, and I find ways to turn a sad situation into a happy one.

Connect with the Author here: 

~ Facebook ~ Website ~ Facebook Group ~

Every great warrior begins by taking a stand.

Best friends share everything, right? Unless it’s a secret that could cost them their lives. Robyn and Kit are born with forbidden magic-sense, the power to see and hear beyond Earthly sight and sound. It’s a curse that haunts them, but the girls are strangely drawn to it—could there be more to this power than they’ve been told?

When they spill their secret, it opens a doorway back to Forever—a beautiful realm where magic-sense began. They learn the truth: they have been given a noble gift. It connects them to the Skyborn royalty of this new world. They’ve been summoned back by the forces for good to preserve the kingdom and revive the power where it once flourished—on Earth. It can thrive again, if Robyn and Kit are brave enough to follow.

However, the doorway awakens more than magical fairy-tales. A dark force is unleashed—one that has battled the Skyborn since time began, and it wants the girls dead, the Earth destroyed.

Beyond the doorway is where the adventure begins—trickery, kidnapping, a prison break, rescue teams, sword fights, magical gold-dust, holographic medallions, and singing orbs—but only for those who have the courage to believe.

~ Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ 
~ Amazon UK ~ Amazon CA ~ 

Author Top Ten List:

1. Nanette is a huge Star Trek Original Series fan. She and two friends took the train from NJ into NYC to go to one of the first Star Trek Conventions when she was twelve years old—they went without parental guidance, something you could do back in the day.
2. Nanette’s dad is from Egypt. She and her family spent two summers there when she was a child, and she vividly remembers standing next to one of the paws of the Sphinx and marveling at how big it was.
3. Nanette plays the trumpet and violin, became a music teacher, and still conducts a musical group today—the Rutgers University Alumni Wind Symphony, which is the only alumni band in existence, we think.
4. Nanette loves dogs so much, she put her two dogs and her mom’s dog in her book.
5. Nanette fell in love with a man so wonderful, she married him and then followed him to Japan for six months while he completed a job commitment. That’s where she found the gospel, too.
6. Nanette could visit Glacier National Park every year and not get tired of hiking the many trails, but she lets her husband drive Going to the Sun Road.
7. Nanette secretly wishes she could serve in Primary (the children’s group in church) for the rest of her life. Who is she kidding? It’s no secret.
8. Nanette loves aviation, still entertains childhood dreams of being an astronaut, and picks an aviation themed piece of music to conduct in her wind symphony for each concert.
9. Nanette is a convert to the LDS church, which she still thinks is the second best decision she ever made, next to marrying her wonderful husband. (He found her first, she found the church nine months later.)
10. Nanette and her husband have black belts in karate and iaido, the Japanese art of drawing and cutting with a long sword. They never argue about who has to do the dishes when they can easily spar over it.

To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Great Summer Countdown Day 9 :Book Blitz & Giveaway: Rising Tide: Dark Innocence by Author Claudette Melanson

Claudette Melanson writes & edits in Guelph, Ontario, with her husband Ron and four bun babies: Tegan, Pepper, Butters & Beckett. She graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a BA in English and an MA in Literature. She's wished to be a Vampire since age five. She hopes to one day work full time as an author, since there are many, many books living inside her head.

In her spare time she enjoys watching Japanese Anime and reading vampire stories....along with other great fiction. She is also very interested in good health and is an advocate of Ketogenic eating, using whole and natural foods. Her favorite foods are bulletproof coffee, cashew flour crust pizza and treats made with xylitol and almond, coconut or cashew flours.

Future dreams include writing many more books and spending more time with her son Jacob. Her biggest dream is to make Universal Halloween Horror Nights a yearly event with hubby and son. A Rabbit Rescue fanatic, she also hopes to help rescues all over the world save many innocent lives.

Q&A With the Author:
1- When did you know you wanted to write books? From about age five. I would always narrate things in my brain—all the things around me. I used to make up stories about people I’d see all the time. I even wrote a continuing story for my dance class that the teacher would read at the beginning of class every week.

2- What does your writing process look like? The past year I’ve been doing a lot of editing for other authors. But that has kept me from writing. I intend for next year to be spent, predominantly, writing. It’s very sporadic right now, whenever I can fit it in, but I want it to become more of a fixed schedule. I like to write with music on or a horror movie on in the background, and also watching my bunbabies at play.

Connect with the Author here: 

~ Facebook ~ Website ~ Amazon ~ Twitter ~
~ Goodreads ~ Pintrest ~ Tsu ~ Tumblr ~ 
~ Instagram ~ LinkedIn ~ Google+ ~
~ Stumble Upon ~ Book Gorilla ~ Bookbub ~

Could Maura's life get any worse? ...turns out it most certainly can.

Isolated and sheltered by her lonely mother, Maura's never been able to make friends. She seems to drive her classmates away—except for the odd times they pay enough attention to torture her—but she doesn’t understand why. Maura considers herself to be a freak of nature, with her unusually pale skin and an aversion to the sun that renders her violently nauseous. Her belief is only worsened by the fact that almost everyone around her keeps their distance.

Even her own father deserted her before she was born, leaving Maura alone with her emotionally distant mother, Caelyn. Even though Maura is desperate for answers about her unknown parent, Caelyn remains heartbroken and her daughter can’t bring herself to reopen her mother’s wounds. Or is there a more sinister reason Caelyn refuses to utter a word about her long-lost love?

When a cruel prank nearly claims Maura’s life, one of her classmates, Ron, rushes to her rescue. Darkly handsome & mysteriously accepting, Ron doesn’t seem to want to stay away, but Maura is reluctant to get too close, since her mother has announced she’s moving the two of them to Vancouver…nearly 3,000 miles away from their hometown of Indiana, Pennsylvania.

If life wasn’t already challenging enough, Maura begins to experience bizarre, physical changes her mother seems hell bent on ignoring, compelling Maura to fear for her own life. Vicious nightmares, blood cravings, failing health and the heart-shattering loss of Ron—as well as the discovery of a tangled web of her own mother's lies—become obstacles in Maura's desperate quest for the unfathomable truth she was never prepared to uncover.

Awards

2015 Readers' Favorite Gold Medal Winner for YA Mystery

2015 RONE Award Finalist for YA Paranormal

2015 New Apple Top Medalist for Young Adult Ebook


Chosen as one of 400 for the second round of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award for 2014!!!

Rising Tide will sink its fangs into you, keeping you awake into the wee hours of the night

~ Amazon ~ Google Play ~ iBooks ~ 

~ Smashwords ~ Website ~ Kobo ~
~ B & N ~ Audible ~

Author Top Ten List:

1. I have four housebunnies, who are spoiled to death. They have their own room, filled with toys, off the living room. Tegan, Pepper, Butters & Beckett.

2. In college, I lived in a haunted house. The ghost would turn the light on (light bulb with a chain) in the front closet every night at 9:00 PM. No one would ever believe me until they saw it. It moved other things around too in a non-harmful way.

3. When I was little, I was obsessed with Dinosaurs and used to have this little plastic set I played with all the time.

4. Eating gluten makes my Rheumatoid Arthritis go crazy, so I make all my cookies, cake and pizza dough with nut flours and can make pretty much anything you could make out of regular flour. Believe me when I say diet is what controls disease. I laughed at my naturopath when she first told me this, but then had to admit how wrong I was.

5. My favorite colors are red and black…together. I don’t have a single favorite, must be those two together. I try to make as much of my wardrobe as possible in these colors.

6. In college, I was in every club the English department had and between them and studying, had no free time. But they were nice enough my senior year to name an award after me, which they continued to give every year.

7. I wanted to write a book since the age of five, but once, I wrote a story for a Star Wars competition. My mother was so critical, I rewrote it (and the second one sucked), completely . I was nervous after that, and it took me six years to finish my first book, in large part because of that incident.

8. I can be competitive, especially when someone is mean to me. I took an idea to one of my English clubs in college for the upcoming alcohol-free mix off. One of the girls said it was stupid in a very snarky way, so I went to a different club. We did a whole Death’s Angst theme and even wrote a poem about how Death felt cheated, since no one was driving drunk that night. We had a little graveyard with names on the stones like, “Danny Drovedrunk.” We took Best of Show with the huge trophy, and the college kept our poem to use at future mix offs, since we’d followed the message they were trying to get across so well.

9. It’s my dream to move to Whitehorse in the Yukon Territories in Canada. I moved to Ontario from Vancouver when I met my husband and hate living here. I regret leaving the beauty of the west behind and hope next year to be living in this place, which is so beautiful and offers so much more opportunity. I think it would offer so much more writing inspiration too. Northern Lights are one thing I haven’t experienced yet that I’m dying to see in person. Plus, I love snow, so it’s a win-win.

10. I was a breech baby when I was born, and almost killed both myself and my mother at birth. The doctor let me go too far for surgery and she ended up being in labor for over 48 hours. Perhaps it was this early brush with near death that gave me such a love of the macabre.

To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page 

a Rafflecopter giveaway