#Book Blitz #Autumn Chaos (Season's War 1) by Olena Nikitin #Fantasy #Romance @Xpresso Book Tours25/8/2022
Autumn Chaos
-- EXCERPT: Taking the life distraught her, but Ina didn’t have the time to think about it. The noise of the fight led to the entrance of another room. Well, the wreck of one, at least. Mar was there, struggling with three opponents that attacked him simultaneously. He was working hard with his axe and dagger. The weapons glided through the air in precise cuts, wounding the monsters. Ina’s hand closed on the peridot, and she drew on its power, deeper and deeper. Her sorrow turned to anger at the sight of the troll smashing heavy fists into Mar’s chest. Whips of pure fire coiled around her, animated by Chaos magic. Anger and Chaos poured into the stone, and a torrent flooded back, shaping the whips into vipers, beautiful and deadly, as Ina lashed them at the troll. Coils of destruction shot out, slamming into the attacking creature. The beast roared and turned to the source of the pain. *** The light glowing in Mar’s eyes flared, feasting on Ina, magnificent in her magic. His beautiful distraction gave him the perfect opportunity again. His axe cleaved through the air, crushing one dog’s head, killing it instantly. Ina held her ground, her fire vipers lashing at the troll, leaving deep gashes of burnt tissue behind. The beast leapt backwards, trying to avoid the pain, but Mar was there to stop it. This formidable display of Ina’s magic terrified the remaining canine to turn tail and run, whimpering into the darkness. “Ina, stop!” shouted Mar as he ducked to avoid a strike from the vipers, and Ina lowered her hands, letting the energy dissipate in the air. Again, the monstrous troll turned back to her, giving Mar the opening he needed. His axe rose high and cleaved its collar bone so deeply that he could see the heart pulsing through the gap. Then, with a final stab of the dagger, it was stopped dead. The beast landed on the floor with a heavy thud, and without glancing at it, Mar ran to his woman. In the light of her pulsar, he saw she was crying, her body and hair coated with blood and fluid, his heart aching at her pain. “Are you… wounded?” He asked and felt immense relief when she shook her head. There was something in his spitfire’s posture that held him back. “What happened back there?” Ina shook her head and walked toward the exit, and her silence worried him more than he was willing to admit.
GIVEAWAY! #Book Blitz #Shadows and Twighlight by Jamie A.Waters #Fantasy #Romance @Xpresso Book Tours25/8/2022
Shadows and Twilight
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Google Play -- EXCERPT: Another scream drew Malek’s attention back to the tunnel. His hand tightened around the hilt of his sword. “We’ve got company. There’s not enough space here for me to shift without bringing down the tunnel.” “Then prepare to fight,” Bane said, his silvered eyes turning to stare at the dark tunnel. “The hellhounds are part of the Hall’s defense. They’re driving those creatures to us. They won’t stop until every living thing in their path is dead, including us.” “Stay close and fight defensively,” Sabine said to Rika. Dozens of large arachnoid creatures scuttled forward. They were nearly the size of wolves. Their exoskeletons were a deep black color, while yellow ooze dripped from their fangs. “Spiders?” Blossom shrieked. “Spiders shouldn’t be that big! What kind of garden do those suckers live in?” Malek sliced through the first one, leaping back as one of its sawtooth legs tried to swipe at him. He spun toward the next, narrowly missing a spat of the yellow ooze it had shot at him. Using his magic to fuel his strength and speed, he took the head of the creature. “Watch their venom,” Bane warned, swiping his claws down one of the arachnoids’ necks. Sabine threw shimmering orbs of condensed power. Each one burst apart, expanding like a magical explosion to cut down dozens of creatures at once. It was effective, but Malek wasn’t sure how long she could keep up the attack. “Die, evil fiends!” Blossom shrieked and darted in between their legs, tripping the creatures as they tried to catch the pixie. One after another, they toppled over and then scrambled back to their feet. Rika shouted a battle cry and lifted her short sword, hacking at the legs on the creatures Blossom targeted. Malek grinned at their teamwork and turned his attention toward the nearest attacker. He quickly cut it down before facing the next, each one brandishing its sharpened legs. A creature struck out at Malek, but Sabine shot her hand out and speared the creature with another burst of magic. His gaze met hers, and in that moment, the connection between them flared to life. Love and undeniable need surged within him, mirroring the emotions in her eyes. Sabine gave him a teasing smile. “Try not to die, will you? I have plans with you later.” “I wouldn’t dream of disappointing you,” Malek said with a grin.
GIVEAWAY! The First Dark Sorcerer
-- EXCERPT: Flipping Gelrá open, I search for a spell to try. “Something simple,” I say to him. “Rudimentary, even.” Of his own accord, my grimoire flips through the pages, stopping on a page that looks like all the others. A spell fills the middle of the page, written in Ancient Naerthen. The title implies it’s about moving inanimate objects. I scoff. “We know what happened the last time I tried my hand at telekinesis.” I move to flip the page, to find a spell that might be easier. Gelrá doesn’t budge, but makes his pages stick together like glue. Heaving a sigh, I nearly give in, but the room is empty. “What good is a spell if there’s no object to move?” Gelrá blurs the spell to sketch a drawing. He shows a surprisingly good rendering of Truff, tapping the list of rooms on the wall and calling up a cart of cleaning supplies. I slap my legs in reluctance. “Fine.” Getting up, I try touching the words that say Ævin Hall. Nothing happens. “I’m going to clean Ævin Hall,” I say aloud and tap the list. Again, nothing happens. My lips pull back in disdain as I cross my arms and pace. “Opera house.” As I speak, I let my senses feel the air. Magic lingers on every side, like snow suspended in space. I can’t see it, but I can feel it. “Opera house, can I have a broom?” The magic clusters before me, driven by an invisible force. There’s a bright, white shimmer, and then a broom appears sticking straight up with its brushes on the ground. As soon as the light disappears, the broom falls. Catching it by the wooden handle, I marvel at what just happened and scan the Court Room again. “Thanks,” I say, not sure if this room cares about manners, but it feels wrong not to be polite. Inspecting the broom, I expect it to be charmed, but it doesn’t glitter with magic. Nothing about it is fancy. It’s just a broom, but unlike the one I used this morning, it isn’t broken. […] “Let’s go back to the telekinesis spell, please.” The pages flip again, and the spell Gelrá originally showed returns. For a second, all I do is stare at it. This spell is one of the first I ever memorized. It’s true that I know it by heart, but as I stare at the page, reading it over and over, my body shivers. I’ve never enacted any of these spells correctly. Not since that fateful day … Taking in a huge breath, I blow it out with an exasperated sigh. “Okay,” I whisper. “Mac says this room can contain me. I can do this.” Setting the broom neatly before me, it rests flat on its side. Sweat glistens on my arms and makes my shirt stick to my stomach. Please listen, I internally think to my magic. I need you to work. Then I begin the spell, and a swirling of power builds into a tiny vortex in my chest. It’s working! I almost smile, but then blue light swirls prematurely down my arms. I hastily finish the spell, and my magic bursts forth to swirl angrily around the broom. It stands up right, and for half a second, I think the spell worked. But then the bristles lift off the ground. I barely have a second to roll out of the way before the wooden handle comes jerking towards me like a mace.
GIVEAWAY! Flopper
-- EXCERPT: Nobody can prepare you for the moment that you learn someone you love is gone. Poof. In the blink of an eye, the air shifts and the structure of your cells change. You are no longer the person you were just one heartbeat prior. I might have known when I arrived at the hospital and it reeked of pain, suffering… and death. I might have known when a nurse ushered me to one of those small private rooms where they break the news to those numb with terror soon to become the bereaved. I might have already known when I chose to not even disconnect the call I got earlier. But the thing is… I didn’t want to even think the thought, so I shoved that knowing aside. As I sit in front of the doctor with my hands folded neatly in front of me, I don’t receive his words. I don’t process them either. Car crash. Freeway. We did everything we could. I stare at him, open-mouthed, not quite believing any of it. Natalie—my only sister, my only close relative—who isn’t even thirty years old, has left this world? It’s not possible. She just became a wife. Then she became a mother. She had her whole life ahead of her. She’s a happy, healthy, positive person who’s going places. She’s my sunshine and unicorns. She’s my soft place to fall. She’s my flesh and blood. She’s the only one who truly gets me. She’s gone, Noah. “… the other driver lost control, crossed the center line and was also killed. Since your sister was behind the wheel, and your brother-in-law was in the front seat, at the speeds they were traveling, there was nothing anyone could have done. I’m terribly sorry for your loss, Mr. Abbott.” Nothing anyone could have done? Lost control of the car? Who the fuck does that? Some damn teenager, that’s who. I can see his cocky ass in my mind’s eye texting and drinking and vaping and every other thing hoodlums are doing these days while they’re not paying attention to the road. Allowing myself to slide into a pit of rage for a split second, I suppress a shiver. But blaming some nameless, faceless villain isn’t going to bring Nat and Steve back. “When do I get to see her?” I ask. The man’s mouth opens, but for the first time since my arrival, he’s the one grasping for words. “I… don’t believe that’s wise. Her body sustained major trauma, so we don’t need you to identify it.” Body. Like my sister is… was fucking leftovers. Like she’s disposable packaging that doesn’t matter anymore now that she’s… Now that she’s… Not only can I not say the word, I can’t even think it. “Christ.” I press my hand over my eyes, glad that I have it in me to cry, because what I really want to do is pick this doctor up along with his fake empathy and his perfectly embroidered white coat and rattle his teeth until he takes back the horrible things he said and return my sister to me and not just her motherfucking body. On the other side of the too-thin wall, a woman begins to sob. I stare at the perfectly neutral wallpaper as if my laser gaze can bore right through it. They’re on the other side. The other family. And even though I know they lost someone too, I can’t even muster up a sliver of empathy for their loss. Because mine is bigger. Mine is everything. Then again, maybe not everything. My mind clears and focuses enough to ask, “What about Vivian? Was she in the car? Did she die too?” “She was in the back strapped into her car seat.” “Jesus Christ…” I can’t take this and my knees start to shake. If I wasn’t sitting down, I’d fall down. All three of them, gone, just like that. I’m alone. Couldn’t the ‘other driver’ have picked a more private place to lose control? The doctor searches my face. “She experienced some bruising from the belt of the car seat, but she seems alright otherwise.” I look up sharply. “Viv’s alive?” “It’s the closest thing I’ve ever seen to a miracle,” the doctor says, nodding. “We’re going to keep her for overnight observation, but she should be able to go home with you tomorrow. I thought you might want to spend the night here… with her.” My stomach lurches, and I drop my forehead into my sweaty palms. “Viv’s alive,” I repeat the words like a mantra.
GIVEAWAY! From the blurb: An Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling series. Solving a decades-old disappearance sets Tracy Crosswhite on a dangerous collision course with the past in a pulse-pounding novel by New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni. Detective Tracy Crosswhite has agreed to look into the disappearance of investigative reporter Lisa Childress. Solving the cold case is an obsession for Lisa’s daughter, Anita. So is clearing the name of her father, a prime suspect who became a pariah. After twenty-five years, all Anita wants is the truth—no matter where it leads. For Tracy, that means reopening the potentially explosive investigations Lisa was following on the dark night she vanished: an exposé of likely mayoral graft; the shocking rumors of a reserved city councilman’s criminal sex life; a drug task force scandal compromising the Seattle PD; and an elusive serial killer who disappeared just as mysteriously as Lisa. As all the pieces come together, it becomes clear that Tracy is in the midst of a case that will push her loyalties and her resilience to the limit. What she uncovers will come with a greater price than anyone feared. Publication date: August 23rd, 2022 9781542008327 (ISBN10: 1542008328) My thoughts:
This is my first book by Robert Dugoni and finally I can see why my blogger friends have been raving about this author for years! Although What She Found is the ninth instalment in his hugely successful Tracy Crosswhite series, it is possible to read it as a standalone. Most likely, you will want to pick up the previous books after reading this one anyway. The beginning was very dynamic- an investigative reporter Lisa Childress gets a phone call from a mysterious source and heads to a secret meeting place in the industrial zone of Seattle. There she finds her contact has been murdered and she herself is attacked by a masked man. Lisa, a brilliant journalist described as socially awkward and possibly on the autism spectrum, has a two year old daughter Anita and husband Larry who often begged her to buy a pepper spray to protect herself and even started putting a can of bear spray in Lisa's bag. Lisa reaches for the can.... Tracy Crosswhite is still getting used to working as a one-detective-investigative unit. Her new Chief of Police Weber is urging her 'to showcase' the importance of investigating cold cases in a press conference. Weber is mostly concerned with the public image and preventing the police department from being de-funded. She would like Tracy to focus on 'easy' cases, cases where there is DNA evidence that can be analysed by using new scientific advances. Lisa Childress's case doesn't fall into this category, but Tracy cannot resist Anita Childress's pleas to look into her missing mother's case. The police investigation was rushed and concentrated on her father who became the prime suspect. Anita, who is a reporter herself, has put together the notes from her mother's cases, stories Lisa was actively pursuing at the time when she went missing. Tracy is sympathetic- she has a personal knowledge of what getting a closure means to he family of a victim. She is also intrigued by Lisa's potentially explosive stories. While the beginning was fast and action-packed, the rest of the book was more steady-paced with Tracy following various leads, hitting deadends, getting breakthroughs, hitting more deadends and so on. In a police procedural that focuses on an active case there is more tension and inherent urgency to catch the perpetrator(s). Things are different in a cold case investigation, where there are other factors to take into consideration such as statutes of limitation on prosecuting certain crimes and deceased witnesses. This is a 'high-content-density' book. We take a look at police corruption- how it starts, how new police officers get involved, personal price of not coming forward and speaking up and how difficult it is to prosecute it. We also see how Tracy is juggling family life and motherhood with her highly-demanding job. Family is an important topic in this story, its 'one-line-through'. Tracy can't give up on bringing closure to victims' families. Other characters also have to make difficult personal choices involving their families. There's also another interesting topic touched upon- a court of law with its insistence on the right procedure Versus the court of public opinion, which can ruin someone's life and turn them into a social pariah or it can force the guilty into confessing their crimes where it is impossible to get admissible evidence. Tracy is a wonderful character and I would love to read the series from the beginning to appreciate the development she must have gone through. She is fair, loyal, and tenacious, and isn't afraid to put her career on line for the sake of her principles. At the same time she is very wary of judging other people for their behaviour. It was great to see how much she values her family and her colleagues esp.Faz and Del who have taught her so much. Definitely recommended to anyone who loves an interesting series of police procedurals with a strong female lead. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy provided in exchange for an honest opinion. To Steal a Heart
-- EXCERPT: Arden liked seeing herself through Crew’s eyes. She got the feeling that he actually appreciated that she was so outspoken. The moment slowed as the air took on a charge of energy. Arden was keenly aware that the two of them were alone. She didn’t know how Crew could pass himself off as not being exciting. He was the most thrilling man she’d ever been around. His eyes took on a smolder as he scooted closer. Her breath caught as her pulse bumped up several notches. Was she ready to kiss him? This was happening fast. She wanted a whirlwind romance, but at the same time, she wanted something lasting. Was Crew the type of guy who would get bored with her if she made things too easy for him? He was so charming and charismatic that she got the impression that he’d broken many hearts. She didn’t want to be another number. “I don’t know how much help I can be with the Carmel research part of your book, but if you need any help with the romance, I’m happy to oblige.” He caressed the curve of her jaw with the side of his finger, rippling pleasure through her. “I’m glad our paths crossed,” he murmured. His fingers trailed lightly down her arm, igniting her cells. He leaned closer, his eyes roving over her with a hunger that stoked an aching yearning in her. Her lips parted instinctively as her breath came faster. He leaned in. Thankfully, before their lips could connect, her good sense took over. She placed her index finger on the center of his lips. His eyes widened in surprise. “No kissing tonight,” she said gently. “We need to get to know one another better first.” Oh, how she hated saying those words. Her head argued that she’d acted wisely, but her traitorous body longed to be held in his arms. She wanted to discover the taste of his lips … to run her fingers through his thick mop of blond hair. She wanted to be consumed by him. Wow. That was good. She needed to put those words down on paper … err, her computer screen before they flew out of her head. He drew back as if disappointed, a tight smile winding over his lips. “That’s what you call a crash and burn.” She laughed in surprise. “No, it’s called being sensible. You’re way too charming for your own good.” “Nah,” he winked. “I’m just your everyday, average architectural consultant.” She gave him a reproving look. “Uh, no. I don’t buy that for one minute. We may be just getting to know one another, but I’m no idiot. You, Crew Bronson, are a Casanova. And no matter how enchanting and handsome you are, I’m going to do the sensible thing and protect my heart.” Amusement overtook his expression. “Sensibility is overrated.” “Not in my book.” A resplendent smile waffled over his lips. “You are the author. I guess you’ll have to be the one who decides how our story will end.” “I guess you’re right.” She pressed her lips together, studying him. “We’ll start by going sailing in the morning … and then we’ll see.”
GIVEAWAY! Kisser of Death
Only 99¢ for a limited time! -- EXCERPT: “Come see your place.” Gia gives me a tight smile, holding up my keys. I want to crumble right there as I step out of the car. Drop to my knees on the concrete of the driveway despite my ripped jeans. I want the world and everything in it to swallow me whole. I can’t do this. I don’t think I can do this. I hear only the muffled words of my sister as I take in the front of the house. It’s filled with tiny trees and flowers, and I want to laugh because how will this help us? The memories of my calls with Harvey hit me with a vengeance—I could almost hear him dying a painful death inside. According to Helen, Stefan said that Harv’s progress was slower than the others in his group. And his happy, sweet, chipper self? It was all gone when we talked. How will he get out of this alive if he refuses to let his mind fight for this? How on earth is he supposed to beat potential infections, pressure sores, and circulation disorders, if he doesn’t want to fight? Fight, Harvey; just fight. I can’t push these demons away all by myself. The monsters will eat me alive. Paranoia at all the possible complications he might have to overcome hits me hard and square in the chest. “So . . . what do you think?” Gia opens the door, and when I enter my new home, I feel none of the things I should feel: joy, happiness, excitement, fucking something good, anything good. I’m so numb. “Surprise! We moved all of your stuff for you guys!” God, if only I could cry, feel, I could tell my sister she’s the best sister in the entire world. I don’t ever want to know what life would be like without her. She’s pregnant and tired half the time with her first child, yet she found a way to do all of this for me, for us. I turn around and find a sympathetic smile on her face. Gia lost something in all of this, too, didn’t she? I’ll never be the same. I’m just too afraid to tell her that. Or maybe she already knows. “Thank you.” I bring her to me, pouring out my feelings in a tight hug. “Gem,” her voice croaks. “I’ll do anything to help—you know that. We’re all here for you. You’re not alone in this.” She pulls back, staring at me intently, trying to drill the message home. Not alone, but for how long? That’s always the pressing question, isn’t it? No matter how much death and despair sinks its teeth inside your skin, the clock keeps ticking and the world goes round and round, expecting you to keep pace.
GIVEAWAY! #Book Blitz #Big City Little Rebel by Kelly Collins #Contemporary Romance @Xpresso Book Tours21/8/2022
Big City Little Rebel
-- EXCERPT: Her presence shouldn’t have come as a surprise—in fact, she had warned him with her, see you soon—but he didn’t expect her this soon. “Are you in charge here, Bobbie?” He wanted it to be someone else, but he knew it was her. She was like a burr chafing his skin. She rubbed him the wrong way, but he still had an unexplainable attraction to her. She was going to turn out to be a burn on his ass. “Close in your line and talk to me.” He wasn’t asking. His tone demanded. She was blocking his project, and he needed this resolved and fast. There was too much riding on it. Bobbie said something to the men beside her, and they closed the gap when she stepped from the line. She walked up to him, lifted on her tiptoes, and pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek. “Good morning, Big City.” He stepped back and eyed her with suspicion. She’d nicknamed him like they were friends. In any other situation, he would have pinned her against the wall and shown her what an actual kiss would feel like, but she was pandering to the press. There was no doubt the cameraman had gotten that shot. This was getting messier by the moment. “What’s your place in this, Bobbie?” “It’s my mission to bury Aspen Construction, Beau.” “Why?” “My mother, Catherine.” She looked down at the sign in her hands. Pain flashed across her face. “They made her suffer; eventually, the illness they caused took her life.” Tears pooled in the corner of her eyes. “The least I can do is make it painful for them.” After glancing at the press, he moved in front of Bobbie to shield them from prying eyes. “I’m sorry for your loss, but you understand I had nothing to do with that. The former project manager was at fault. He’s in jail. I’m not that guy.” He pleaded with her. “This is my site, and you’re creating a financial burden for me. I need this job, too. It helps take care of my mother.” He hoped to tug at her heartstrings, but her eyes turned glacier cold. Bobbie swiped at the tears running down her cheeks. “This isn’t a personal vendetta against you, but it’s a personal fight for me, and I don’t plan on giving up.” “You have a right to protest. No one can stop you, but you know you can’t block the entrance to the building.” “I’m well aware of my rights.” She turned around and looked at the people who were dwindling in numbers. Holes in the line were becoming visible. “Looks like your line is falling apart, beautiful.” She shrugged. “Fifty bucks doesn’t buy much. I’ll have to remember that for next time.” “You paid each one of those people fifty bucks to protest for you?” He quickly calculated the cost of her demonstration. There had been at least a hundred people present. She had shelled out over five grand to make a point. There were better ways to spend her money, but he had to give her credit for her commitment. “My costs are a pittance compared to the cost of public opinion. I hope you don’t like Colorado too much.” She lifted her shoulders. “This may be your only job here.” “Don’t count me out, sweetheart. I’ve got more staying power than you can imagine. Besides,”—he leaned in and whispered in her ear — “I just ate your pie, and I’m pretty sure I’d like to explore another piece.” He brushed his lips across hers as he pulled away and left her standing with her mouth hanging open. After yelling at his crew to get to work, he entered the building. He could only imagine what the press would do with that kiss, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.
GIVEAWAY! From the publisher's blurb: Clues to a hidden treasure. Clues to a family secret. Both lead to murder in a twisting novel of suspense A national treasure hunt with a $2 million prize has driven obsessed fortune seekers to overrun the small town of Eagle’s Nest, Oregon. The hunt’s cryptic clues and the lure of wealth have exposed the desperate side of human greed: theft, fights, trespassing—and even the motive to kill. Police chief Truman Daly craves peace in his town but has a murder on his hands instead. Now the big prize isn’t the only thing hiding in the pines. So is a killer. When a young boy walks into the local café and claims his mother and baby sister have been missing for weeks, FBI special agent Mercy Kilpatrick investigates and exposes a disturbing twist in his story. Deep family secrets and lies that started sixty years ago have burst into the present, bringing with them deadly consequences. Mercy’s and Truman’s investigations lead down a path of murder, revenge, and buried secrets to uncover two intertwined mysteries as dark as an Oregon forest. Publication date: August 16, 2022 My thoughts: In the Pines is the 7th book in the Mercy Kilpatrick series and my third one by Kendra Elliot. The other two were short novellas, but I really like her attention to the emotional side, family lines and family dynamics to counter-balance action and very fast pace. A teenage boy comes up to police Chief Truman Daly, Mercy's husband, and tells him that his mother Bridget Kerr and his 18two-month-old sister Molly are missing. Bridget had gone to visit her brother whom the children had never seen or heard of. As there is a missing child involved and two minors left behind, Truman involves FBI ( Mercy) straightaway and Mercy quickly finds the children's uncle closer to home than anyone could have guessed. Bridget disappeared/ran away from her family fourteen years ago and her brother knew nothing about her whereabouts, her lifestyle or his nephew and nieces. The case happens to coincide with a National Treasure Hunt that brings countless hopeful to Truman and Mercy's little town. The clues left by an eccentric millionaire are confusing and seem to lead to the pines around the town. Truman's son Ollie and Mercy's niece also have their theories and try to decipher enigmatic instructions. But, very soon it becomes clear that there are some very dangerous people involved and the hunt starts claiming lives. In the Pines is fast- paced, action-packed, with an interesting plot -no wonder it kept my attention from the first page to the last one. There is something about treasure hunts and figuring out clues and linguistic puzzles that is bound to engage even the laziest reader. Having said that, it isn't easy to come up with challenging clues. Using homonyms is fun, of course, but I would have loved the hunt plotline to be more developped. It wasn't immediately clear how the cases were connected and at times I thought the link is going to be too tenuous. I should have trusted the author as everything makes sense in the end and all the loose ends are tied in. I'm looking forward to reading more books from the series! Thank you to Netgalley and Montlake for the review copy provided in exchange for an honest opinion. About the author:
An Amazon #1 selling author, Kendra Elliot has sold over 10 Million books and been on the WSJ best seller over a dozen times. She grew up in the lush Pacific Northwest and still lives there with her family and three cats. She's fascinated with forensics, refuses to eat anything green, and dreams of living every day in flip flops. UPDATE: She now lives in flip flops and watches the sun rise over the ocean every day. *New series!* THE COLUMBIA RIVER series. THE LAST SISTER. THE SILENCE, and IN THE PINES. The BONE SECRETS NOVELS: HIDDEN, CHILLED, BURIED, ALONE, KNOWN and VEILED (a novella). The CALLAHAN & McLANE novels are a spin-off of the Bone Secrets books. VANISHED, BRIDGED, SPIRALED, and TARGETED. THE SILENCE continues Ava and Mason's story. THE LAST SISTER is Zander's story. The MERCY KILPATRICK series, a spin-off of the CALLAHAN & McLANE series, A MERCIFUL DEATH, A MERCIFUL TRUTH, A MERCIFUL SECRET, A MERCIFUL SILENCE, A MERCIFUL FATE, and A MERCIFUL PROMISE. IN THE PINES is a continuation of Mercy and Truman's story. She also writes the Widow's Island and Rogue River novellas with Melinda Leigh. International Thriller Writers finalist, a three time Daphne Du Maurier winner, and a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice finalist. The Winds of Change
-- EXCERPT: CHAPTER 1 THE PHANTOM IN BLUE The night sky was like a dark and shifting ocean, pitch-black and ominous. Strong winds kicked up swaths of desert sand into the horizon. The waves of brown earth raged across the heavens with a low roar. The rough weather spewed thousands of coarse, rocky grains that tore into anything standing in their path. It made the inhabitants of the Koterran mining camp miserable. The small encampment sat at the edge of a large rift in the sands, where precious iron and sandstone had already been torn from the earth. Webs of scaffolding hugged the edge of the chasm and stretched deep into the hole below. The tents of the camp were arranged in two circles. A dozen or so constituted the outer circle, and five made up the inner circle, the largest of which housed the spoils of the dig. A robust campfire sat in the center, which shone defiantly against the darkness of the wild night. Serana sat on a rock at the edge of the campfire’s light and peered off into the distance. She wondered why her father made the decision to send her to this bizarre corner of the kingdom to guard this tiny, insignificant camp. A whole party of knights accompanied her, which seemed unnecessary. There’d been reports of bandits attacking caravans in the area, causing the High Commander to take action. He’d entrusted his daughter with organizing the camp’s protection. On the surface it made sense, but this was a job for regional guards, not Serana and thirty royal knights. Perhaps there’s some other reason, besides bandits. What if there’s a threat too dangerous to reveal, one he wanted to keep secret? The idea both terrified and excited her. A powerful gust of wind smashed through the circling encampment like an ocean tide crashing against rocky shores. It ripped through the tents and carried enough force to extinguish the fire, shrouding the camp in near-total darkness. Bedlam ensued as miners and knights ran around in that darkness, fumbling like blind infants, trying to find where they had left their torches. Serana didn’t join in the hysteria. She listened through the commotion, blocking her ears from the miners’ squabbling and sensing outward. She could feel a presence approaching the camp’s edge. She squinted at the outer circle of tents and saw the shape of a figure moving across them, like a predator circling its prey. Her hand reached for the sword at her hip, but she stopped short. She realized there was a danger in having her weapon drawn, with so many people running around in the dark. In her moment of hesitation, she lost sight of the figure. She shouted a command to her knights: “Gather your bearings and spread out. We aren’t alone!” Most of the soldiers had already lit their torches and were quick to follow their leader’s command. They began fanning out
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