Pranic
-- EXCERPT: “I don’t want your T-shirt,” Wade grumbled, going over to the sink. “You need something to wear. Won’t something happen if you don’t?” Wade ignored her and started to wring his jacket into the sink. “You can’t wear a toilet-water-soaked jacket home. That’s unsanitary.” Wade dropped his coat in the sink. “Look, if I take your damn shirt, will you leave me alone?” “I suppose.” She handed it over to him. Wade didn’t say anything and slipped on her Hamilton High cheerleading T-shirt. She let out a little laugh. The sleeves landed about three-fourths the way down his arms. “What?” Wade asked. “It looks good on you.” She wasn’t totally lying, either. His lean muscular frame was usually hidden under all his layers but was now on display because the shirt hugged tight around his chest, showing off his pectorals, with the ropey muscles of his forearms exposed. He furrowed his brow. “Shut up.” “Again, sorry about everything,” she said. “Look, you can leave now. You don’t have to be nice to me because your brother is an asshole.” “Somebody needs to be nice to you, and it’s not just because he’s my brother.” “Well, don’t. Go back to your cheerleading practice,” he said, practically seething. “Fine.” She crossed her arms and huffed. Most people liked Heather. She was friendly to all, so Wade and his not-so-sunshiny reaction to her was something she didn’t encounter all that often. “I’ll meet you by your locker tomorrow morning to get my shirt back.” “I’ll just give it to you now.” He grabbed the bottom hem and began to pull it up. “Nope, you need it. Where’s your locker?” He sighed. “Next to room 104.” Heather nodded and grabbed the paper towels from the sink. “Here, bend down a bit.” She motioned toward herself with her hand. He snarled his lip up at her. She pointed at his forehead. “You need some help.” “Oh, um, no, don’t worry.” He vigorously shook his head. “C’mon.” She squirted some soap on the towels and stood on her tiptoes. Placing a hand on his cheek, she started scrubbing his forehead. A tingle ran up her arm from where the tip of her fingers touched his face. She stopped cleaning his forehead for a minute, tipping her head to the side, looking at him. “What?” he asked, quirking up an eyebrow. “Nothing,” she said a bit too quickly. He grabbed her hand, trying to take back the paper towels. She gasped as she felt the tingle again. “The air in here must be really dry or something.” “Yeah, okay,” he said. “You keep shocking me.” “What?” He scrunched up his nose, staring at her. “Whenever we touch.” She put her hand on his cheek again, but all she felt was his warm face. He stared at her with his big blue eyes. “Nothing,” she whispered. He shook his head. She kept her hand on his face, looking into his eyes. She wanted to hug him, help get the sadness out of his eyes, his expression. She now saw that the way he held himself in general exuded melancholy. She mistook it for anger before, but now saw it was something else. “Hey.” He peeled her hand from his face and squeezed her fingers. “I have to get going.” “Yeah, sure.” They stood, staring at each other, a warmth filling her the longer he held on. “But thanks,” he said softly. She smiled. “No problem.”
GIVEAWAY! The Soothsayer
-- EXCERPT: Colin and Balaam burst past the dark creatures, knocking them over, and raced back down the lane. The serpents coiled and chased after them. “They’re following us!” Colin yelled as Balaam veered down a narrow alley of gravestones. The demons flung themselves around the tombs and closed in to pinch off their escape. “They’re cutting us off! We’re dead!” Colin shrieked as he kicked at Balaam’s sides frantically. “Yes, wonderful! Keep saying such helpful things!” Balaam yelled back and veered again, running up the sagging side of a crumbling tomb to its roof and hopping to the next one and the next like they were stones on the water. The serpents hissed and raced forward at the bases of the tombs, slithering parallel to the donkey’s course. Colin clutched Balaam’s mane as he stared, wide-eyed, ahead. They were charging towards the cemetery’s wall, several inches higher than the tombs themselves. “Wall! Wall! Wall!” Colin screamed and pulled back on Balaam’s mane. “Let’s see them try this!” Balaam yelled back as he ran across the last roof and, with a mighty jump, hurled them into the air, barely missing the wall’s ledge and crashing into a thatch cart on the other side. Colin held tight as they smashed through the cart and onto the street. Guards nearby ran forward, brandishing spears. “Halt!” “New problem!” Colin yelled as he clung to Balaam, who darted past the guards, knocking them over in his wake. “Always!” Balaam snorted as he careened down an alley and onto another street, then veered again onto the King’s Way leading to the royal courtyard. “Okay, slow down!” Colin called. “We lost them.” Balaam slowed his pace as they entered the great market. Stands, overhangs, and shops were littered with random goods. Crowds of people moved about, and merchants carried baskets of wares. “Let me have control here. Subtlety is key,” Colin whispered to the donkey. A group of guards on horseback turned onto the street before them. The captain’s face went sour. “You! Boy! Halt!” “Oh shit,” Colin moaned. “Wonderful leadership, very subtle,” Balaam said and rushed to the right, knocking over a cart and sending pottery flying. “After him!” yelled the captain, and his men gave chase. Colin spun his head around as Balaam charged down another street. The guards rushed closer and closer. One soldier grimly eyed Colin, pushing his mount ahead to match Balaam’s speed. He thrust his spear at Colin, and Colin grabbed it. The two struggled with it as they hurtled down the lane, their mounts neck and neck. The onlookers screamed and ran as the two riders knocked over merchant carts and crates between them. Without warning, a merchant pushed a cart out from a side alley in front of Colin’s opponent. Both man and horse collided with it and fell away. Two other guards replaced him within seconds. “Go faster!” Colin yelled as he kicked Balaam’s side. “I’m a donkey! Not a race horse!” Balaam called back. The lane split to the left and the right ahead. “Pick one, great leader!” Balaam demanded. “Uh, right! No, left!” Colin screamed. Balaam dashed ahead, down the left lane, and into a caravan of garments. Reams of fabric went flying, covering both Colin and the donkey. “I can’t see!” Balaam screamed. An unending ream of silk covered Colin’s face. He could hear the guards’ horses behind as he fumbled with it. “Just keep going!” Balaam flew past scattering crowds, past screaming merchants, and right through a thatched wall.
GIVEAWAY! War of the Sea
Dana Claire’s best-selling, award-winning fantasy romance, War of the Sea, is getting an early one-year birthday present, an audio book, and companion novel, called War of the Land. To pay for the critically acclaimed narrators, Dana is launching a Kickstarter. In that Kickstarter, she will also release the next book in this series, War of the Land, a standalone HEA with sassy female demi-gods, strong arrogant Gods, and of course mischievous sirens and swashbuckling pirates. Check out the Kickstarter campaign HERE! -- EXCERPT: “You are incredibly difficult, royally frustrating, and ridiculously beautiful. It drives me mad.” Rylander gripped my hair at the back of my head and angled my chin upward. His lips were on mine before I took my next breath. There was no softness or patience to this kiss. His fist tightened, forcing my head back further. His tongue slipped passed my lips, demanding entrance, and I acquiesced. No fighting. No thinking. No questions. Only submission like two magnets pulled toward one another.”
GIVEAWAY!
Click to set custom HTML
Year of the Fledgling
-- EXCERPT: She pounded on the thick door as hard and loudly as she could. When it began to open and she had her first look at his face again—his features a mask of puzzled bewilderment—the terrible pressure in her chest finally released in a flood, and it all seemed to spill right out of her mouth. “Wha…?” he started to ask. But the flood had already hit her. “I am beyond vexed with you,” she seethed, flinging off her hood so he could see the full extent of her rage before she pushed past him to enter the watchtower. Theron glanced out into the darkening evening as if to make sure she didn’t have anyone else with her, then he shut the door and turned, lifting his eyebrows sternly. “Please tell me you did not walk up here by yourself.” Ignoring his question, she demanded, “Honestly, how could you do this to me?” “Are you absolutely mad?” he challenged right back, just as upset as she, and stormed forward. “What were you thinking? If someone had seen you—” “They would’ve shrugged me off as you! But no one saw me. And I was thinking about how mad I am,” she railed, lifting her chin to meet his swirling, livid gaze. Theron scoffed. “Yes, I can tell you’re unhappy, but that gives you no right to put your very livelihood at stake to come up here and tell me thus.” “It’s my livelihood to worry about, and my right to risk it as I please.” “And you are one of two people left in this entire, bleeding world that I’m allowed to still talk to. So I refuse to let you be so frivolous with your—” “Argh!” she shrieked, lifting her hands and curling her fingers as if to display her claws at him. “You are so maddening.” One of his eyebrows arched, then he burst out grinning. “But am I maddening enough for you to want to kiss me senseless again? Please say yes.” She snorted. “Hardly. You’re certainly maddening enough to make me want to wring your fool neck as hard as I can, though.” Lifting his chin to put his neck on full display, Theron countered, “Well, take your best shot, little healer-in-training. But first, would you at least tell me what I did wrong this time that made you so mad? A fellow appreciates at least knowing why he’s being strangled.” Xia sucked in an irate breath. Then her chin trembled. And finally, the tears that she’d been holding back all the way from Norbin’s pig pen came gushing down her cheeks. “You made me care for you!” she accused, weeping so soundly that her entire body shuddered and she had to cover her mouth with both hands to contain it.
GIVEAWAY! It Feels Like Home
-- EXCERPT: “Hey, baby?” My mom shook my shoulder, and I jumped and her iPad thumped to the carpeted floor. I rubbed my eyes. “Jacie, I told you not to worry about getting a job. We’re fine. You’re exhausted, and you only just got home. We can make it on my paycheck. I appreciate it, but you don’t have to do this.” “I’m not exhausted, I’m a little tired because I got up to talk to Mare this morning. I made her breakfast too–crap, I left dishes everywhere. Sorry mom.” I facepalm. Here I was trying to make her life easier, and I made chores for her. She laughed. “This is your first summer since you left and aren’t doing homework. You should enjoy it. You are done taking care of your dad, you don’t have to take care of us. Your job is to go out and screw up, make me worry, come home late from partying and make questionable choices,” she joked. “You want two Marises?” I smiled. “I worry. I don’t want you to feel you have to work in an Italian Restaurant, feed your family, and take care of your older sister. I’m the mom. It’s okay to be irresponsible. You deserve it. You’ve been very disciplined since you left.” I sighed and nodded. Oddly, I responded to that by getting up and going and making my mom a coffee. She liked the instant type, with so much sugar it would give an elephant cavities, and enough milk to turn it white. “What are you doing, hon?” she asked, watching me. “We’re having a grown up conversation, and you sound a little unbalanced, I’m getting you coffee,” I teased. I stirred the creamer and brought it to the table and sat it down so she’d get the idea that she should relax. “I want to work. It’s boring doing nothing. Plus, I have plenty of time to get up to trouble that will give you graying hair. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to get pregnant, and I can always get someone to buy me alcohol to start an early drinking problem. If something like that would make you happy, I can try either option for you,” I say facetiously. “I would prefer irresponsible drinking without the long term habit. I’m not ready to be a grandmother. Although, I have no doubt, if it happened, you’d step up and handle it better than I did when it happened, and I was an adult when I had Maris. You’re just so put together. I wish you were selfish like your father and Mare. At least I can count on her being useless to me all summer. And I have no use for your dad at all. You’re my golden child, Jacelyn.” “I’ll find a bad crowd and start making friends with questionable characters immediately just for you, mom,” I teased. “Maybe find a guy with a one word name… Rancid? He will ride a motorcycle and not wash.” I moved to the fridge and pulled out the sweet tea I made and poured a tall glass and took a long drink before pouring more and continued. “I’ll shave my head into a mohawk, dye it green and put a hole through my cheek.” My mother smiled broadly, liking this game. “See? Now we’re talking. You’ll have your thing, and Mare will have avoiding reality and things at home, and driving badly. I’m sad now that I didn’t have a son to sneak around with a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, but you and Rancid should have that covered.” I moved to the table and sat on one leg folded beneath me and pointed at her. “You have Peter, and he is dating a boy who is on the wrong side of the closet door.” She waved her head and lifted her cup for a sip, “He’s just one of my girls. I guess I can consider him the daughter sneaking around though.” I loved my mom. She was just one of those people who tried to find the humor in everything. We often had conversations that were ridiculous like this. She told me that her favorite thing was to hear us laugh, and her second favorite thing was to have something to laugh about. The way her mind worked always made me feel better, lighter. My mom put me at ease about serious things. I know Maris took her for granted, but having spent two years with my dad, I appreciated her in a way I never would have had I stayed here. The time apart gave us both a different view of one another. She wasn’t just my mom, she was one of my best friends. “I’ve heard everything you said. I want you to know I like working. I don’t like having all this spare time to sit and kill. It’s boring. I also like the people I work with. It’s healthy, and next week when I get paid, I’d like to take over buying some of the groceries, at least my own.” I held up my hand when she looked like she was going to argue. “I know you can afford it, but I’m going to have to start affording my own things this fall. I’m going to put the rest away for college.” “Jesus, Jacelyn, you’re killing me!” my mom moaned. “Very well. So independent. What are your hours?” “I’m part-time until I get my car, and then I’ll be full-time,” I replied. She nodded. “How are you getting to work in the time being? I feel awful that I never got a second car now.” I saw the lines on her face and reached across the table and tapped the surface. “We are fine. A guy from work is getting me to and from work. Ricky put us on the same shifts so there wouldn’t be any conflicts. I–” I sighed. “Peter stranded me for a date the other night.” She made a face and nodded in a way that said it’s to be expected. “It’s good you have a reliable ride then. Do I need to worry that he’s some thirty-year old pedofile? Or worse a twenty something hottie who sells sex to uptight, responsible types?” I laugh. “Closer on number two, but no cigar. It’s Ky Linley. Maris has already had a fit, so you can relax. He’s a teenage heartbreaker, who I remember well enough, makes fools of young girls. I know his flirting doesn’t mean he likes me.” “Jacelyn,” my mom’s tone is one of understanding. “Just so you know, boys grow up. It’s not all G.I. Joe’s and girls’ panties forever. Don’t discount him just because of something he did when he was a kid. He could surprise you.”
GIVEAWAY! Neptune’s Window: First Glance
-- EXCERPT (Book 1): Demanding spirits barged their way into Aries’s mind, each voice trying to outdo the other. For a moment they went away, allowing her to bask in the silence. But as soon as she took a step toward the school, their clamor started back up. Aries ran behind a row of palm trees, shielding herself from streams of cars and pedestrians as the high-pitched aggravation attacked her senses. “Not today…please not today,” she begged no one in particular. Out of sight, she dropped to her knees and picked at the grass as the noise escalated. “Dammit. I said stop.” Giving in, she put her hands in her lap. With her index finger, she wrote the alphabet on her leg. She needed deep concentration to make the connection. She waited for a clear voice to come through, dreading – yet at the same time accepting – communication with the dead. After tracing a Z on her leg, she started over with A as a faint whisper formed. Unable to make out any words, she slowed her pace and drew the letter B. She kept repeating this action, taking deeper breaths each time, trying to match the frequency of the spirit. She’d almost given up when a clear voice said, “You need to find out the truth, Aries.”
GIVEAWAY! Quest of Awakening
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble -- EXCERPT: They debated the topic for some time. Rueban knew he needed us on his side. He calculated his words and made it clear he would not back down while being unprovoking. I ought to have been thinking more about how he had disrespected our Treaty of Protection. How what he was asking of us could breed civil war at best and a war with a powerful race of magicians. But instead, I wondered what Rueban had been thinking. What those glances at me meant. After a few more cups of wine, Father had had enough of debating and asked me if I would escort Rueban to his chambers. We stood and made our respectful, pleasant farewells to Father and took our leave. We walked through torchlit corridors in uncomfortable silence. Rueban was the first to speak. “I suppose soon it won’t matter what your father thinks. You will soon be king.” “Yes, well. I have to say, I agree with my father. But I do hope we can maintain a pleasant alliance.” My voice shook as I spoke and I hoped he hadn’t noticed. Rueban didn’t press the subject, showing surprising restraint. Being around him felt threatening, though, as if he were on the verge of attack. Still, even with the quickening of my heart and the awkward silence, there was something oddly alluring about his piercing blue eyes and the way he fitted his richly-embellished tunic. We approached his wing, and I led the way to his guest chambers, stopping at the oak door with rounded handles. I reached across and opened the door for him. “I trust you’ll be comfortable,” I said. He leaned into the archway and turned back to me. “Yes, yes, I will.” I signaled my agreement and prepared to walk away, but he stretched an arm out to stop me. I turned back and faced him. His touch excited me in a way I wasn’t prepared for. “Prince Xavier, it’s been a pleasure meeting you tonight.” He slid his hand from my back, and his fingers fell onto my forearm and caressed me. My throat closed. I didn’t know what to say. His gaze was intense, and I knew we verged on something inappropriate, something dangerous. Rationality fled as I met that gaze with my own. He rubbed his hand up my biceps and held me firmly. I didn’t want to stop him, but even if I had, the fear in my stomach kept me speechless and immovable. He reached a hand to the back of my head and ran his fingers through my hair as he arched in toward my face. I couldn’t look. It felt sinful, with the Great Goddess peering down at me. So, with eyes closed, I reached out my hand and rested it on his waist. He opened his mouth to speak, letting out a hushed breath that sent shivers down my body. “Good night, Prince Xavier. Now I see what you truly are,” he whispered. I swallowed my anxiety as he pulled away and disappeared through the door. My heart slowed and my breath shook. What was that? What kind of game was he playing? What did he think he knew about me? I slammed my palm against the stone wall beside me. Gripping my sore hand, I stalked back through the corridors. He had put me in such an uncomfortable place. To throw himself at me like that. But it was fine. I hadn’t wanted it anyway. I’d been just going along with it. Or at least that’s what I had told my racing heart, that one day soon I would have a queen, and this night and other nights like it would just be distant memories. One day I would laugh about the confusing thoughts I’d been fighting against since I was young, and they would plague me no more. But here I am, awake at the midnight hour, replaying that night over and over in my mind.
GIVEAWAY! Wooded Discovery
-- EXCERPT: The towel I’m wrapped in smells like Mom’s favorite mountain-scented fabric softener. A clean air smell drifts from the wet terry cloth, mixing with the biting scent of chlorine from the pool water in my hair. Both normal smells. Both familiar. Neither helps me relax after hearing their detailed description of what I am. Mom sits across from me at our kitchen table, sipping from her favorite purple coffee cup. Dad sits in the chair next to Mom. Take out the trash. Pick up your dirty underwear. Oh, by the way, you’re a wizard. “Congratulations.” Dad toasts me with his cup. “You’ve transmogrified.” He slurps his coffee. The clock ticks on the wall over the counter. The refrigerator hums as the ice maker kicks on. And I’m a wizard. (Note to self: J.K. Rowling was full of crap. Finding out you’re a wizard sucks.) “What does that mean?” More Latin? “Changed, honey, into a wizard.” We sit in silence for a moment. Mom crosses her legs and kicks her foot back and forth, wiggling the table with her. Dad shakes, too, bouncing his knees. Vibrations from their movements travel through the wooden tabletop. Like they’re five and Christmas has come early. All I want is to wake up from this weird dream, finish high school, and go away to college. But as much as I want to argue with them, I can’t. Mom froze my body with her mind. I jumped out a window and flew. Dad flew after me. On a scale of one-to-ten, that’s enough weirdness to score a one hundred on the weird-shit-o-meter. Finding out I’m a wizard sounds less insane by comparison.
GIVEAWAY! Castelon
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble -- EXCERPT: “A portal. Anything. I’ll take a bicycle at this point.” Dad frowned, leaning on his hands on the oval table, and barely looked up from the maps. “You’re not ready.” She clenched her fists and resisted the urge to lean against the opposite side of the table. That would just prove his point. A few wizards circled the work surface along with Dad, moving pieces, making notes. Most likely advisors or military leaders—probably not people she should be questioning his judgment in front of, but what choice did she have? “I’m walking, I’m standing—” “You’re hobbling and wobbling.” He straightened and waved a hand at a young man standing at attention along the wall of the office-like space. “Take her back to her room, please.” He gave her a stern look, accentuating the dark circles under his eyes, no doubt caused by the weight of bad news no one would tell her. “I’ll come see you in an hour. Where’s Marcus?” “I don’t know.” Her tongue took over with more impertinence than she’d ever leveled at him before. “I imagine he has better things to do in the middle of this war than make sure I don’t leave my room.” A few of the wizards shot each other uncomfortable looks. Dad sighed. “One hour, Brin. You can survive that long.” She followed the stiff young man back to her room, trying not to pant too much from the simple exertion of walking through the halls. Two days of consciousness had made for two days of monotonous pain heightened by the urgency stirring in her gut. She had to get back to Wraithwood. She had to find Excalibur. She had to stop this war, this slaughter, the destruction she had caused. When Marcus wasn’t hovering over her like an anxious mother hen, he’d been spending every moment in Dirklon’s—admittedly limited—library. Finding nothing. But Dad banned her from accompanying Marcus even there. “You go book crazy,” Dad had said. “I’ll find you climbing some shelf or forgetting to eat for a whole day in a research frenzy.” She wanted to protest that she didn’t do that. Except that she definitely did, and had, done that. More than once. So instead of book crazy, she went stir crazy, with nothing to think about but pain. Sometimes the magic in her veins ran hot, sometimes cold. Sometimes it seemed to push against her skin, threatening to explode. She dared not explore the deep, roiling mass within her like an acidic sea. “Here you are, my lady.” The young man gave a jerky bow. She focused, only now realizing they had stopped. “Thank you.” She pushed open the wooden door and shut it behind her, slumping against the surface, her scant muscles feeling like gelatin. “I thought we agreed you wouldn’t wander.” She scowled at Marcus where he leaned against the bedpost, arms crossed. He pushed to his feet and scanned her face. Unlike Dad’s, his expression was soft. “Brinnie. Please. There’s nothing we can do right now.” “So much for agreeing to a road trip.” She winced at her own sharp tone. “I’m still on board.” His tone remained even, unaffected by hers. “After you take time to rest and heal.” Tears formed in the corners of her eyes. She blinked them away. “I need to do something. Something to keep my mind—” She didn’t finish. To keep my mind out of that dark place. To keep it from returning to the dungeon, the battlefields, the screams… He placed gentle hands on her shoulders. “I know.” She took a shuddering breath. His unexplained voice in her mind, another mystery, should have concerned her, but it soothed her thoughts. She sighed and leaned against him for support. “Should I tell her?” Her head snapped up, almost knocking him in the chin. “Tell me what?” “Whoa.” He steadied her, expression sheepish. “You weren’t supposed to hear that. How about you sit down first?” She eased herself into the bedside chair. If she sat on the bed, she would be sucked into sleep. And she didn’t have time for that. “What do you know?” He sighed. “Things aren’t…great at Wraithwood.”
GIVEAWAY! Defy the Stars
-- EXCERPT: “What a shame. Polk spoke highly of you.” Aerestol snapped his fingers and the sentinels redeployed, penning Crew in. While Crew was a head taller, the goons were packing revolvers tucked into the waistbands of their pants. “In my line of work, I can’t afford to trust anyone. Rumormongers are dealt with accordingly. My advice? Don’t become one.” He hooked his thumbs into his vest, and with his head down, turned toward the grand staircase. “Now what?” Crew said. Was he done for? Were his goons going to take him out. Kill him? Aerestol pivoted, and as if improvising a reply, his head slanted sideways. “So far, you haven’t impressed me, boy. You should have handed over the girl. Instead, I walk away empty handed. I can’t tolerate that.” He ran his fingers beneath his chin. “Perhaps Polk was speaking with a straight tongue. He never failed me. I tell you what, for his sake alone, your obeisance is most welcome if you want into my lucrative business.” His mouth spread. “If you make it out alive…you know how to reach me, through Dyke. Ingrain this into that thick skull of yours. No snitches. One bullet.” He jutted his chin towards the one-eyed goon. “Do it.” The sentry pulled his revolver from his waistband and targeted Crew’s chest. “Hey!” Crew barked, anxious to get Aerestol to look at him. The doctor swerved and Crew straightaway connected with his dark eyes. Gotcha! “So this is how we’re going to end our business arrangement, aye? A bullet to the heart?” he pitched his voice. Aerestol’s pupils enlarged. “I’m the only one who can bring the girl to you. Don’t waste me and my talents.” Crew blinked, terminating his connection, and the doctor squeezed his eyes and shook his head. “His thigh,” ordered Aerestol. “It’s unfortunate that I can’t stay to watch how this performance ends.” The orc lowered his gun and pulled the trigger. White light sliced through Crew. And a blinding explosion of stars as intense pain ripped through him. His knees buckled.
GIVEAWAY! |
Archives
April 2024
Categories
All
|