Hello and welcome to Monday. Apologies for the delay, it's been a crazy few days for us. We have another major arcana this week, THE STAR.
Think of it as a guiding light, star light, star bright and all that. A good week to make a wish, remembering that wishes for others are often fulfilled before your own. The light is in your hand, it's up to you what you choose to do with it.
Isabeau Finne’s perfect world
utterly unravels when she meets Death's right-hand man one fateful night,
spiraling her life into a world of chaos and the impossible.
Suddenly, she is no longer
Isabeau and becomes part of the most secretive inner-workings of Death itself,
as well as an otherworldly dominion of ancient magic.
Now beings—which we were taught
as children were merely fictional creations of wildly whimsical minds—are
edging their way into her world as well.
Buggans and Kobolds and Vargs…oh
my!
She yearns for the simplicity of
her old life—this one is full of dangers, unanswered questions, and cryptic
dreams.
After one particularly anomalous
dream in which she learns of the Nine While Nine Legacy, things become truly
precarious.
Now, someone sees her as a risk…a
threat…and wants to eliminate her.
Fortunately, she falls under the
protection of Gideon—unless she leaves his territory—which is the one thing she
wants the most…and wants the least.
Nine While Nine is a dark
urban/contemporary fantasy—a modern dark faerie tale—replete with dark
adventure, mysticism, a romantic sub-plot, light horror, world-building, and a
new mythology. Isabeau is a seemingly ordinary young woman, living in
modern-day suburbia. Until she discovers who she truly is: A Sióg O'Cailleach.
A witch of the Fae.
His answer was
to seal her lips with his after softly uttering a brief litany of words she
didn’t understand. It was a kiss to last him, in all probability, for the rest
of his life. Once the Comhairle learned of his indiscretion, he would be
removed from her life. He should know better. He should be stronger, but she
was his undoing. He had watched from the edge for too long, without ever
uttering a single word to her, deprived of a single touch—always separated by
the ethereal stratum between their existences or by a crowd.
It was a kiss
that ripped through his soul and bound her to him in ways that no laws of his
kind could ever conceive, bound them in ways beyond his expectations and
understanding, and it staggered him.
It was a kiss
designed not just to appease him, but to make her forget what she’d seen and
felt. A kiss to forget him, because she could not know he existed.
About
the Author:
Stasia Morineaux grew up in
Southern California, pursuing faeries in the garden and seeking spirits in the
local graveyard with her cat Bartleby; they also spent countless nights hunting
down things that went bump!
She now resides in Asheville,
North Carolina with her hubster and kidlet, as well as with a bevy of creatures…both
real and “imaginary”.
Mysterious dreams, copious hours
of awesome music, and obscene amounts of coffee fuel her writing sessions of
paranormal, urban fantasy, dark fantasy, the supernatural...and sometimes even
a sprinkling of chick lit!
In her spare time she likes to
relax on her balcony, feet kicked up, listening to the squirrels arguing with
the crows in her woods.
10 Lucky winners will get an
eBook of Nine While Nine
There is a GRAND PRIZE too!
A signed, personalized paperback
of NINE WHILE NINE and a Deluxe Mystery Box ($100 value) filled with NINE WHILE
NINE inspired goodies from Hemlock and Blackthorn House (Incense, Candles, Bath
Soaks, Oils, Teas, and much more!)
Here's your card for the week. The major arcana card THE EMPEROR has chosen to come forward, so it is a pay attention week again for us.
Let's pay attention to the things we need for our home and family this week. It's a good week for organizing and donating gently used clothes to a local charity.
Whew! I'm still a bit tired from a weekend ghost gig. Attic rooms sure can get hot this time of year. Speaking of hot, Katie Salidas stopped by to talk about her new book, A TASTE OF YOUR OWN MAGIC!
SC:.Tell me a little bit about your main character of this
book.
KS: Sage is a super geeky girl who loves all things sci-fi
and fantasy. Her favorite Doctor is Ten (who doesn’t love David Tennant, am I
right?). She’s an equal opportunity Space Opera fan: Star Wars, Firefly,
Battlestar Galactica, and Star Trek… they’re all good in her book. She lives
with her roommate Matt (his boyfriend Josh stays over so often he might as well
live there too). Sage and Matt host a weekly D&D style game night. Sage
always plays a healer. Her nature is to fix things and protect her team. When
not playing RPG’s, she’s a number crunching entry-level accounting clerk, doing
all she can to work and pay off her student loans.
Well, she was an entry-level accounting clerk, until her
mother was murdered. See, strange things started happening the day she got the
call about her mother’s death. Her boss turned into a troll (warts and all)
just before firing her. She discovers the personal trainer she’s been learning
self-defense from… is an ogre. (Seriously, PX90 has nothing on his workout
regime.) And then there is her birthmark.
Sage has this deformity, on her left wrist. Like her veins
went all wonky (think varicose veins on steroids). In the right light it kind
of looks like a tree. But in all other light, it looks like she got attacked by
a toddler with a sharpie. Yeah, it’s that bad!
Anyway… The day her mom was murdered, Sage knew before the
call came. And that deformity I mentioned, looks more like a tattoo now. Like
magic! Gone are the ugly fat blue veins. In their place now sits the tree of
life, crowned with a canopy of leaves.
The Mark of the Terra
You see, Sage belongs to an ancient race of creatures called
the Terra. Oath bound to the Great Mother who created them, all in her family
line are called to serve and protect magic. Each generation replacing the last
from the beginning of time until magic is gone from the world forever.
Too bad no one ever thought to tell her about this legacy.
Her mother had been sworn to secrecy. Working for the ASSET
agency (Anonymous Supernatural Security and Elimination Taskforce) Sage’s
mother had been assigned to protect and deliver a Weapon of Magical Destruction
before she was murdered. No one has seen the weapon since mom’s death.
Sage’s sudden magical awakening lifted the veil before anyone
could explain to her what was happening. Now she’s seeing the world for what it
truly is. And creatures she thought belonged only to games, are not only real,
but also very deadly.
Terras are special, but even they can be killed, for Sage to
survive she needs to join the ranks at ASSET, but how can she sign on with a
company that she believes killed her mother?
SC: Yikes! It probably would have been easier if it was just
a bad tattoo! Sounds like she's in for a bit of a ride. Do you believe in the
paranormal and if so, do you have an experience you can share?
KS: Oh definitely! I grew up in a haunted house. Saying it
like that makes it sound so scary. For me it wasn’t.
The spirits that lived in my house, when I was a child, were
nice to me. They used to pull pranks on my parents though. Nothing dangerous.
Door slamming, cold air, that sort of thing.
I can remember hearing my mom yell at the ghost in the
bathroom, “Stop slamming the damn door!”
There were at least two that I can remember. Shadows lurking
in the corner of your eye. The feeling of unseen eyes on the back of your neck.
On a few rare occasions I was able to witness them full on, but it would be so
brief, I could never make out all of their features.
There was a man and a woman. The man liked the hallway. The
woman preferred the living spaces.
I was maybe ten years old the first time I got a real good
look at one of them. I had a TV in my bedroom, which was pretty awesome. I
remember laying on my bed, watching whatever. Probably Beverly hills 90210. My
mom always watched TV in the living room. Dad kicked back in the den.
It was evening, everyone was in their separate spaces,
winding down, and out of the corner of my eye I saw this whitish blur breeze
past my door. When I turned to look, I saw two very real hands on my door frame,
and then in a blink, there was a man’s face. As if he were playing a game of
peek-a-boo, he poked his head in, then out, and let go of the door frame.
It happened so fast. I remember walking out to the living
room to check that everyone was still in their places. No one had moved. It had
been the ghost. Probably popping in to check on me.
Like I said, the ghosts never scared me. I always felt them
as a friendly presence. My parents, not so much. They invited a priest to come
bless the house at one point. I guess mom was sick of the door slamming, and
dad said he felt something watching them while they slept.
The ghosts never left, but we eventually moved. I have
always felt the presence of things unseen. I don’t fear them. Whatever they
are, there are there for a reason.
SC: Sounds like an active house, for sure! .What titles are
you working on now that you can tell us about?
KS: I just started working on book three in the Agents of
A.S.S.E.T. series: Magic in Disguise.
Each title is not only a clue to the plot, it is also an
idiom (replacing one word with Magic.) I am typically terrible at titles and
they are usually no more than one word, maybe two, but for this series I
decided to get a little creative and highlight the humor that keeps the story
from going too dark.
Book three addresses the fallout of Sage’s battle in book 2
and the consequences of using magic that was not hers to wield.
That one should be out in December 2018.
SC: Thanks so much for dropping by today. I guess it's time
we meet Sage!
A Taste of Your Own Magic
Agents of A.S.S.E.T. Book Two
Katie Salidas
Genre: Urban Fantasy – humorous
Publisher: Rising Sign Books
Date of Publication:7/17/18
ISBN: 9781732101449
ASIN: B07CVWGJ8Q
Number of pages: 306
Word Count: 78k
Cover Artist: Molly Phipps
We Got You Covered.
Tagline: Everything You Know about Magic is Wrong!
Book Description:
Just when newly minted ASSET agent Sage Cynwrig thought she was getting the hang of this whole magic thing, a smooth-talking Djinn moves in next door. And he's got more on his mind than making her wishes come true.
He'll have to take a number. Between her sharp-tongued, machete wielding partner Grey, and Zack the flirtatious vampire-for-hire, Sage has enough magical men making her life hell.
And then there's the new job. It's all hands on deck at ASSET. Magical creatures are disappearing from the Las Vegas Strip. Rumor has it, the missing creatures are ingredients in a forbidden magical recipe. Someone's attempting to recreate the lost Amulet of Emmuri, and gain power to rival the gods.
Because of course Sage's first official assignment as an agent would require her to, you know, save the world!
To accomplish that, however, she'll have to cross enemy lines and break the very magical laws she just swore to uphold.
Zack launched
himself forward with impossible speed, closing the gap between them before she
could register the movement. His hand found her mouth, preventing her shocked
gasp from escaping. Zack stood nose-to-nose with her, so close she could feel
the heat from his breath. “Sweet girl. So naïve to the dangers surrounding you;
innocent to the true nature of the world.” His eyes grew darker, choking out
all of the color that gave them their unnatural beauty. All predator, ready to
strike, he pinned her against the apartment door. “Words lose their meaning
with creatures like you. Headstrong. Impulsive... The only thing you learn from
is failure.” The timbre of his voice deepened; his breathing slowed to a
determined rhythm of raw desire. “A tempting target, giftwrapped for anyone
willing to snatch you up.”
Zack let his
hand fall from her mouth but kept her pinned to the door with his body. Close
as he was, his eyes weren’t the only thing Sage focused on.
Those teeth.
Sharp as
daggers. She’d experienced the sting of a vampire’s fangs once before, and that
memory made her scars itch. “You’re acting like a real jerk right now, Zack.”
“I know.” He
flashed those teeth at her again. “And don’t think I can’t hear how excited it
makes you. Admit it. You’re more than a little turned on right now.”
A knot formed in
her throat. She swallowed hard, forcing it down so she could speak. “Excited is
not the word I would have chosen.” Her voice cracked, betraying the panic she
was so desperate to hide. This wasn’t the Zack she knew; he’d morphed into
something dangerous, and she couldn’t tell how real his threats were.
“Pick a word
then,” he taunted. “Make it a good one.”
“Stop.” She
pushed against him, but found his body an immovable wall. “You’re creeping me
out.”
“Fear, is it?”
Zack laughed coldly. “Good. You should be afraid. Most don’t survive being
bitten.” His breath blew against her skin, surprisingly warm, but the effect
chilled her blood.
“The last one
who bit me didn’t survive.” She attempted again to mask the tremble of her
voice with the threat.
“Grey, your
great protector, was there to save the day. Where is he now?” Zack’s words
struck her like a slap to the face, but before she could respond, he bent his
head to the crook of her neck.
She cringed,
expecting pain that did not come.
“I could have
you right now.” Zack’s lips hovered, tantalizingly close to her throbbing
pulse. He inhaled slowly as if savoring every note of her scent. “But the real
question is, could you” – He lifted his head and met her eyes once more –
“would you try and stop me?”
Zack’s words
implied so much more than a simple threat. …. She couldn’t let that happen.
But, being pinned against the door severely limited her options. Sage scrambled
for the right words to stall long enough to find a way out. “I thought Terras
were an acquired taste?” She reached down, toward her pocket.
Before she could
dig for the knife she kept folded there, his knee came up, forcing her legs
apart, and he growled possessively in her ear.
“One taste of
you was such a tease. I need more.”
More than just a
bad boy, Zack was pure sin wrapped in a taut body with maybe centuries of
experience. A very small part of her, welcomed the excitement, but
self-preservation trumped desire. “Get used to disappointment!”
He nuzzled her
neck and pecked a kiss at her racing pulse. “Don’t pretend you aren’t thinking
about it. I can smell your arousal. I can see the way you look at me.”
Her legs nearly
went out from under her.
“You’re going to
get yourself killed. I would be disappointed if someone else got to the prize
before me.” Zack pulled back enough to meet her eyes again. “Rather than fall
victim to the wrong sort,” he whispered, “let me have you.”
About the Author:
Katie Salidas is a best-selling author known for her unique genre-blending style.
Host of the Indie YouTube Talk show, Spilling Ink, nerd, Doctor Who fangirl, Las Vegas Native, and SuperMom to three awesome kids, Katie gives new meaning to the term sleep-deprived.
Since 2010 she’s penned four bestselling book series: the Immortalis, Olde Town Pack, Little Werewolf, and the RONE award-winning Chronicles of the Uprising. And as her not-so-secret alter ego, Rozlyn Sparks, she is a USA Today bestselling author of romance with a naughty side.
Here's your card for the week. The major arcana card STRENGTH turned up for us. Like the mouse who pulled the thorn from the lion, showing compassion and gaining loyalty, it is a time to look at what is stalking you. Someone is in distress and you are there to help. No one you know? It might even be your own self.
This is a week to try and ease the pain, be it your own or someone close to you.
The infinity symbol represents an unbreakable strength. Don't be afraid of the beast that walks with you.
Tagline: Could I embrace the curse bequeathed upon me?
Book Description:
Katalina is haunted by graphic nightmares in which she bathes in the blood of violently murdered young girls. Sent to Rome to visit her aunt, she discovers her family’s grim past. A past that involves a secret curse that catapults the women in her family down a path of eternal darkness-a curse she wants no part of.
In the romantic surrounds of Rome, Katalina finds herself inexplicably drawn to the secretive and broody Dominic, and their holiday romance flourishes. When Katalina forms an unlikely friendship with the dangerously charismatic vampire Toby, she finds herself in a tangle of violent secrets and crossed alliances.
Now that she is exposed to a world her mom and grandmother fought hard to keep her from- a world brimming with royal vampires, powerful witches, and dangerous hunters-Katalina must choose her fate or lose her heart forever.
“Have you heard the grim fairy
tale?” A deep voice from behind me echoes around the room.
I
spin on my heels and Toby is standing in the doorway, the only exit available.
I feel trapped. A sudden sense of danger saturates the darkened room.
“Yes,” I reply.
His
gaze is fixed on me, eyes glistening in the small amount of light that seeps
through the window.
“I
have heard she still roams these parts on occasion.” He takes a step through
the door.
“Did
you follow me?” I step back as he steps forward.
“Would
it bother you if I said yes?” He pauses for a moment before he stalks toward
me.
I
stand my ground knowing fully well that I shouldn’t fear him; he has saved me
twice now from other vampires.
“Would
it bother you?” he repeats.
I
stare up at him. His face truly resembles a vampire; his skin is translucent in
the dim light and his pupils are dilated.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He leans closer to me.
“Why?
Because that’s just weird.”
“What
if I told you that I can’t stop?” he whispers.
Alarm
bells ring in my head and I look at the door behind him.
“I
won’t hurt you, Kat. Don’t be afraid.” His voice has turned to velvet.
“I’m
not afraid.” I stare up at him.
He
steps closer to me and his proximity is dizzying. I can see the vein in his
neck pulsing and the dark danger in his eyes as he stares at me through black
lashes.
“Aren’t
you? Your heart rate seems to disagree with you.”
I
swallow the lump in my throat. “I’m going back down to the festival.” I step
around him, and as I pass, he takes my hand in his. His skin is cool and
smooth. His touch alights me with anticipation. I turn to look up into his
beautiful face, confused as to where this exchange is leading. His carnal gaze
sets me on fire.
Leaning in to whisper in my ear,
he inhales. His voice changes from a purr to something deeper, more dangerous.
“Do you know what it takes for me not to taste you? Your sweet blood sings to
me. I am possessed whenever I am near you. I seek you out and resist the urge
to hunt you, like the predator I am. It is a game I play unbeknownst to you.”
His breath tickles my neck.
I
close my eyes and hold my breath waiting for something to happen. Wanting
something to happen.
“You
don’t have to be afraid of me,” Toby whispers against my cheek before I feel a
gush of wind and he is gone.
About the Author:
Melinda resides on the sunny Gold Coast, Australia with her husband, two boys and two dogs. When she is not writing or reading, she works as a registered nurse. Her other loves include: coffee, tea, delicious pastries and the beach.
Well, we've now celebrated both Canada Day here and The 4'th of July in the U.S. Are we ready to relax? Probably not. It's summer after all. So maybe take this along to the beach this weekend!
Love Detour
Susan V. Vaughn
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Inkspell Publishing
Date of Publication: July 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-945910-74-6
Number of pages: 288
Word Count: 60,000
Cover Artist: Najla Qamber
Tagline: Life can change in the most unexpected ways.
Book Description:
Ashlyn Montana had encountered ghosts her whole life, but none more charming or irresistible than Bob Abbott. From the moment the fatherly figure floated into her life, she knew she met a friend she could trust. Pressured by her family to marry young, Ashlyn takes Bob’s advice and goes on the run in disguise. But when he talks her into taking a job in Breaker Creek as a farm boy named Al, she becomes suspicious. Did her ghostly pal lead her to freedom, or entangle her into his past?
Hunter Abbott had no idea what he was getting into hiring the clueless and scrawny farm boy, Al. But he felt for the kid. There was a time he was once a lost boy looking for a place to belong, until his Uncle Bob took him under his wing. But when Hunter tries to help guide Al into a farmer it leads to a shocking discovery. His new hire is hiding an unbelievable secret. And Hunter is about to face a reality he never thought possible.
Can the two people Bob Abbot loves most, find love as they work to solve the mystery of his murder?
He turned to look at her, needing to see her beauty and erase the ugliness that had just erupted in his life. “I do.”
In her golden green eyes, there was nothing but relief. She reached up and cupped his face in her hands, and before he could react, she had pressed a soft kiss on his lips. “Thank you,” she said, pulling back. “Thank you for believing me.”
He blinked hard, his heart hammering in his chest. She kissed him out of pure gratitude, and he wanted her to do it again. Only this time he would crush her to him, and never let go.
He forced his hands to his sides. Ashlyn had been through too much already. She was trying to help his uncle, despite her own predicament. It showed him that her heart was pure and wonderful. He had to focus on protecting that heart from his family. Instead of pursuing the feelings between them, he needed to push her towards starting her own life.
He took a breath and turned to her. “I do believe you, Ashlyn—”
“Call me, Ash,” she said, and then blushed, looking away. “I mean, if you want to. My brother always did.”
Her brother called her Ash, and now she was asking him to. It confirmed she felt those sparks between them too— sparks that were so damn hard to deny. “Ash,” he corrected. As soon as he said it, she gave him a smile so dazzling he could no longer think.
About the Author:
Romance Author, Susan Vaughn understood the meaning of sarcasm before she could walk. Her childhood in the suburbs of Detroit was spent mainly trying to outwit her six creative siblings. When she wasn’t working on the next soul-crushing jab, she sharpened her imagination on romantic literature and day dreamed about her knight in shining armor.
It didn’t take long for this hairdresser by trade to turn her passion for reading romances into writing her own unique love stories. Susan lives her life finding laughter in all situations, and delights in marrying sarcasm with romance to create realistic falling-in-love stories in the unlikeliest of scenarios.
Susan lives on the shores of Lake Huron with her real life knight in shining armor and enjoys watching their three children learn the art of sarcasm and wit.
