New Release -- Dances with Werewolves (A Kudzu Korners Novel) by Isabella Norse

Sydney Hall has spent her life looking for love in all the wrong places. Her world falls apart when the man she thought was Mr. Right turns out to be Mr. Couldn’t-Be-More-Wrong. She needs to make some major lifestyle changes—if she can figure out where to start.

Kain is a werewolf afraid of the vulnerability that comes with life with a pack. Nevertheless, werewolves are made to protect, and his instincts kick into high gear when he meets a bruised and battered Sydney Hall. He is determined to help her see herself as the strong woman he believes she can be.

Friendship grows as two damaged people find hope in each other. Can Sydney and Kain maintain their promise to remain friends without benefits? Or, is love inevitable as two wounded souls learn to heal together?

EXCERPT

     Kain froze when he saw Sydney and the darkening bruises marring her skin. His nostrils flared as he scented blood and his eyes took on a familiar glimmer.

     Sydney’s attention was directed inward in her misery. She didn’t even notice the newcomer until he was next to her.

     “Who did this to you?” Kain asked, his voice soft.

     Sydney didn’t answer. She just shook her head and sobbed harder.

     Bending closer Kain placed one finger under her chin, raising her gaze to his. His eyes flashed gold as he exerted his will. He repeated, “Who did this to you?”

     Haltingly, Sydney gave him the information he sought. “Vince. Vince Thornton.”

     With an abrupt nod Kain stood, turned, and strode from the room.

     Sydney looked at Maggie through puffy eyes. “Who was that? Where is he going?”

     “That was Kain, and I suspect he’s going to make Vince wish he had never been born.”

     “Kain? Didn’t you—ouch—tell me he’s a werewolf?” Sydney believed in werewolves about as much as she believed in Santa Claus, but now was not the time for that discussion. She paused in her efforts to get back on her feet. Talking, breathing, and moving was still a bit too much to try all at once. “Why would he defend me? He doesn’t even know me.”

     “It doesn’t matter if he knows you or not—protecting people is what werewolves do. But, that said, Kain has a real problem with anyone who abuses women or children.”

     

New Release — A Moment in Time by B. J. Betts

Jake Houser’s relief at returning home to Chicago after a business trip to Japan is short-lived when he’s involved in a horrific accident that kills his taxi driver and leaves him in a coma. As Jake’s life hangs in the balance, a beautiful young woman, Ava Andersen, comes to him and asks for his help. She must keep a promise made to loved ones, and Jake feels he must try to do what he can.

Through his meetings with Ava, he gleans bits and pieces of information…but in his temporary station between life and death, it seems there’s nothing he can do to help Ava with her quest to let her parents know what happened to her.

With the care of a young private nurse, Sara Clemmons, Jake slowly begins to recover. Will Sara help him fulfill the promise he’s made to help Ava—or will she believe he’s lost his sanity? Even Jake wonders how a ghost can communicate between two worlds…but he’s lived it, and he knows it’s real.

With Sara at his side, Jake sets out to find the people Ava held dear—and give them the message she’s asked him to deliver. For Jake, this is A MOMENT IN TIME provided by Fate…

EXCERPT

     The drizzle was quickly turning to ice. Soon the parking meters, sidewalks, and streets were covered in an icy glaze. Jake leaned closer to the front seat. They were just blocks away from his home.

     “Think we’ll make it?” he asked the cabbie.

     “Sure, bud. As long as everyone slows down. No problem. It’s those A-holes that think they gotta fly that cause problems.”

     The words were no sooner out of the man’s mouth when a black SUV came barreling through a red light. The cabbie wrenched the wheel, trying to get out of the SUV’s way, but to no avail.

     Jake looked through the passenger window and watched as the vehicle came right at them. The cabbie’s screams mixed with his as the car made impact, T-boning the driver’s side. The sound of screeching tires, busting glass, and twisting metal filled the night air.

     Jake felt the cab go airborne as they flew through the air and crashed into a brick retaining wall…

New Release -- The Vampire Affair by Livia J. Washburn

The world knew Michael Brandt as a playboy tycoon. The underworld knew him as a fierce vampire hunter. Armed with a wooden stake and superior strength, Michael targeted the most powerful overlords in a clandestine do-or-die operation…and then tabloid reporter Jessie Morgan uncovered his secret.

Only once before had Michael allowed a woman into his secret lair. Now he'd fight heaven and hell to keep Jessie from the same fate. But he couldn't fight the attraction that drew him to her like a bloodlust. An attraction that might prove deadly…or worse. For Michael was going up against the most powerful of the undead—and that vampire had his fangs bared for Jessie.

The tabloid reporter finds a bigger story than she ever imagined…the sexy playboy tycoon is a vampire hunter!

EXCERPT

     “Don’t you smell that garlic?”

     Now that he mentioned it, she did. In fact, the scent was pretty strong. She hadn’t noticed it before because she had been concentrating on getting in to see Brandt.

     Jessie didn’t have time to worry about smells. She slipped her hand into her jacket pocket and took out the camera. She planned to get a shot of Brandt as soon as he opened the door, then maybe aim past him to catch the other two men in her lens, if luck was with her.

     Unfortunately, just as the door started to swing open, Ted gasped and disappeared from beside her. She had the vague impression, seen from the corner of her eye, that he had been jerked violently backward like a puppet on a string.

     She was about to turn to see what had happened to him when a bar of iron slammed across her throat, cutting off her air and making it impossible for her to speak or even breathe. Fear and surprise exploded in her brain, and for a second she couldn’t think. Then she realized that it wasn’t a bar of iron choking her, it was somebody’s arm. Her feet scrabbled on the flagstone walk as her attacker dragged her backward.

    

New Release -- THE GUARDIAN by Gil McDonald -- Giveaway!

Mike, a thirty-something “regular guy”, befriends an older man as an act of kindness that takes a turn he never expected. When Mike shares a meal at a local diner with Bill Crowley, he begins to wonder if Bill is demented. After all, the elderly man claims to have fought with Admiral Nelson—in 1798!

Bill has a thousand stories, and they are all convincing. When Mike visits Bill at his home, he finds something even more astonishing: Bill’s collection of antiquities. Bill wears a beautiful gold ankh around his neck—and vows that he’ll give it to Mike if Mike will promise one thing. Mike covets the mysterious ankh—all he has to do is agree to take care of the collection...

It seems simple enough, but will Mike become THE GUARDIAN? And will the bargain bring him what he wants most? Sometimes, the old saying is true...Be careful what you wish for—you may get it!

EXCERPT

     “If I told you my nineteenth birthday was in the year 1799, you would struggle to believe me, would you not?”

     I did some quick mental arithmetic. Then, I did it once more, just to be sure. I’m certain my eyes were on stalks when I looked at him again. I shook my head and smiled.

     “Uh—that would make you something like—two-hundred-and-seventeen years old, Bill! I don’t think so. Really. Look, let me take you back to your home. My car’s just around the corner.”

     I was sure by now that he must live in some retirement home and his mind wasn’t quite all there. Maybe he’d escaped from the wardens. He must just have got his dates mixed up. It’s easy done once you get older. Gramps used to do it all the time.

Be sure and leave a comment for a chance to win a free book!

      

New Release -- DIAL V FOR VAMPIRE by Isabella Norse -- Ebook Giveaway!

A Kudzu Korners Novel

Maggie Robinson is a full-time server, part-time blogger, and 24/7 skeptic. Her love life? Non-existent. Why bother? Her parents' divorce is proof that "happily ever after" is a fairy tale. To make matters worse, she has no idea that her tongue-in-cheek blog, Life with Zombie, has placed her at the top of the werewolves' Most Wanted List.

Noah Townsend is a vampire with a broken heart. It has been two years since his wife's death, and he is still recovering. Instead of dealing with his grief, he has thrown himself into his duties as the head of a security firm that specializes in protecting paranormal beings and hiding their existence from humans.

Worlds collide when Noah saves Maggie from a werewolf attack. Can Maggie overcome her skepticism, and Noah his grief, in time to realize that they were made for each other? Or will the ripples started by Maggie's blog grow into a tsunami that will tear them—and Kudzu Korners—apart?

EXCERPT

     Something was following Maggie. She paused in the murky light at the base of the flickering street lamp, eyes searching the darkness behind her.

     “Hello?” She thought she saw the glint of a pair of golden eyes, but they disappeared almost immediately. As if, perhaps, the owner of the eyes closed them. Definitely not human—too close to the ground.

     “You know, I probably should’ve taken my fear of the dark and the lack of lights into consideration before changing to night shift.” She spoke out loud, needing the comfort of a voice. Her subconscious scanned through its database of secondary fears and whipped out... Chihuahuas?

     “Really, brain? That’s the best you can come up with?” Stepping to the edge of the light, she stared into the night, wishing someone could beam her straight into her apartment, still a few blocks away. “The wild Chihuahua packs are in Arizona. I’m pretty sure they haven’t spread to the Deep South. Yet.”

     Inspiration struck, and Maggie fumbled in her over-sized purse. “Ah-ha!” she crowed as she pulled out her key chain—along with a small blizzard of tissues and gum wrappers. She thumbed the small LED flashlight dangling from the ring. Nothing. She tried again. Nada. “Well that’s a fine how-do-you do. If a girl can’t depend on a flashlight with five-year-old batteries in her time of need, what can she count on? I guess I’ll just have to get by on my looks and my wits.”

     There. Surely, that was the sound of claws on concrete. She whirled to scour the darkness again, half expecting to find a gang of small, scruffy curs advancing on her with malice in their hearts. The darkness peered back at her, all innocence. “See? This is why Mama told you not to watch so many scary movies. Your imagination runs away and conjures up all kinds of problems where there are none.” She stomped her foot in frustration. “Why does everything shut down at night? Why is there no one willing to assist a damsel in distress?”

Be sure and leave a comment for a chance of winning an ebook of DIAL V FOR VAMPIRE!

        

#NewRelease -- MILE MARKER 59 by B. J. Betts -- Giveaway!

Marissa Daniels is returning home from a trip to the Black Hills in South Dakota, with her fiancé Brody James and their best friends Evie and Tyler Brooks. From out of nowhere a huge wolf like creature jumps up on the hood of the car, its red and yellow eyes glaring, its jagged fangs gnashing together dripping blood and ooze from its mouth. A deep howl rumbles from its chest piercing the night. Brody tries frantically to dislodge the beast from the car hood by turning the car in rapid succession. He loses control and the car careens down the embankment throwing Marissa through the windshield.

Marissa lands in a cornfield and watches in horror as the car explodes with Brody, Evie and Tyler trapped inside. From out of nowhere the wolf- like creature pounces on her chest pinning her to the ground. Marissa struggles with the beast holding it at arm’s length as it goes for her throat!

As the sound of sirens fill the air the wolf turns and pricks his ears. Instead of going for her throat-- it instead takes a huge bite out of her rib area and bounds off into the night.

Weeks later Marissa does recover from her injuries, but when she tries to tell others about her encounter with the wolf no on believes her, not her family, not her friends and not Cutter's Landing sheriff, Michael Morris. She returns to Cutters Bend looking for answers as to how the wolf like creature came to be. A creature left to roam, torn between this world and that of the outer world wreaking havoc where ever he goes.

EXCERPT
     Like a man who had gone too long without food or water, he devoured her lips. She met him kiss-for-kiss, loving the feel of his lips on hers.
     The two hadn't made it to her bed, but had made love on her living room carpet. After making love, they had snuggled together on her sofa. The words Brody had whispered in her ear that night, "Now that I've found you, I'll never let you go," still thrilled her. She smiled at the memory and her cheeks flushed in the darkness…
     She turned back around and leaned over the seat and removed the lid from the cooler, her fingers skimmed over a cold can of soda.
     "What the hell!"
     At Brody's shout, Marissa jerked and turned her head. A creature, a dark, obscenely–shaped wolf, sat on the car hood. Wild, red-rimmed, yellow eyes glared through the windshield like a predator stalking its prey.
     Its long, black snout opened. Jagged fangs dripped dark blood, and it snarled like a rabid dog.
Brody gripped the wheel and swerved. The headlights danced crazily in the night sky, then held steady on Mile Marker 59.

Be sure and leave B. J. a comment so you'll be entered in the drawing for a free copy of MILE MARKER 59.

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