Clover's Book Birthday

Highland Soldier

Blue stared at him, seeing depths she hadn’t before uncovered. Since her hands were already on his face, it was a simple matter to lean in and lightly press her lips to his.

The surprised gasp opened his mouth to hers and she sucked on his bottom lip and savored. The heat coming off him was intense but she didn’t care. She wanted this, wanted this since their first argument over the best way to make a poor man’s grenade.

Ethan’s chest was a solid unyielding wall against her. His mouth wasn’t moving either. She’d shocked him. Which was kind of a turn on that she could.

Not one to give up, Blue nibbled at the corner of his lips and that brought him to life. She felt the groan that shuddered through him and abruptly his good hand was at the small of her back, pulling her into the vee of his legs where he sat on the bench.

She didn’t think he’d had much experience with kissing, if any. In that regard his boldness took a header, which was rather…sweet. Part of what attracted her to him. Big shy strapping man. But by the way his mouth was exploring hers, he was a born natural. Oh Dios mío.

Confession Time: Out of all the guys in the Highland Sorcery series, Ethan is my favorite. I've been waiting for his story to come out. He's so reckless and funny and loyal, loves all things weaponized and thoroughly enjoys his job of killing monsters. Yet because of his past, he doesn't think he's good enough for Blue, but then Blue isn't the kind of gal to let him get away with pushing her away. 

Man, I had so much fun writing these characters.

Anyway, here's the little blurb and the buy links. It's on preorder at the lower price of $2.99 until November 16th when it will be released into the world and the price goes up a buck. 

Kobo       Kindle        Nook       Smashwords        Apple 

Ethan's in a world of trouble.

Injured, cut off from his squad, and hunted by time-traveling beasts that want to eat him, to survive he has to place all his trust with the gutsy daughter of a guerrilla tactics survivalist.

But for Ethan, trust doesn't come easy.

Highland Illusion

Since the day his father strung him out as bait for being a tainted magical being, Lance Sheppard has vowed to never use his illusion to harm, thereby proving dear old demented dad wrong. Yet here he is in the middle of a colony of vampires, his magic drawn out and at the ready to strike.

His mission: Convince the largest vampire colony left on earth to join the humans in their fight for survival.  Not to get sidelined by a beautiful headstrong vampire.

Or become another vamp's diversionary plaything. 


How could it all have gone so wrong so fast?

Buy links at my blog


Guys, I gotta tell ya: Out of all the Highland Sorcery novels this one is a little different than the rest.

First, it's less action and more relationship building than how I tend to write. I love action. About 90 percent of this book takes place in the same building. The Same Building!

Also for a little switch-up, the hero tends to be the damsel-in-distress more so than the heroine. But he's the only human in the midst of a colony of vampires who are all stronger, older, and predatory. Plus there is no hiding anything he is feeling. The heroine--vampire, also stronger and older than him--can sense every nuance of what's going on internally with him so when he's feelin it for her, there's no hiding where the drop in his blood pressure has gone to. 

I also go into religion more in this one. I couldn't help it. In the previous book Highland Son where Lance was first introduced, he is the son of a religious fanatic who preaches that anything with magic is as evil as the monsters running around eating people. Well guess what, Dad? Lance has magic. He can cast illusions, the same illusions that have been saving your butt. So dad tries to kill him. Try coming out of that with an intact love of God and religion. I don't think so.

So who does he become attracted to? A Christian vampire. Yup.

All that said, my editor didn't have any major rewrites for me. Must have been all the focus on romance. She did have a great line for me when I misspelled "monster plague". Mac wrote: "plague (not plaque, though oral hygiene might be important to vampires). Love her. 

Anyhoo, here's a short excerpt from the latest installment of the Highland Sorcery series: 

Lance caught her wrist. “My trousers?”

“Are ruined. I had to cut them off.”

So it had been her. Heat prickled beneath his skin. The image of her…and him…her capable hands… He willed his libido to settle. Not an easy thing with her so close, so— He hitched the blanket tighter around him and chuffed out, “Lance.”

Celestine's brows drew down.

“My name. Since you’ve undressed me, you should at least know my name.”

“Oh.” She seemed a little startled by that, especially since her assessing glance revealed she knew exactly what his body had been focused on instead of his name. “Lance. It’s a nice name.”

“Thank you.” He fished out his cockiest grin to put them back on equal footing.

Which she must have picked up on for she lobbed out one better. “Do not worry, ma petit, your virtue was safe with me.”

That teasing sultry tone nearly destroyed him. So much for equal footing. The blanket around him was suddenly too heavy, too confining. Hell, her clothes were too confining. “Don’t you worry about that, sweetheart. I’m just put out that I wasn’t awake to enjoy it.”

“Hmmm.” She leaned close, smooth cheek sliding against day-old whiskers to whisper near his ear. Her breath was cool, slightly damp. “I enjoyed it enough for us both.”

The groan he emitted came from a place deep down in his abdomen, laced with desire and need, cresting on a rush of adrenaline. Wounded leg? What wounded leg?

Smiling wickedly, Celestine whisked away and began searching through her dresser drawers as though she hadn’t just ramped up his blood to the point of boiling. She thrust a shirt and pair of pants toward him.

Damn, she was something. His grin left half-formed. “I’m not wearing women britches.”

And because I'm in such a good mood to have this book released, I'm giving 3 commenters their choice of one of my ebooks. So get chatting my friends!!!

Hmmm, maybe a topic...If you could travel through time, would you go to the past or the future? 

A Highland Sorcery Christmas

First, a very happy 11-12-13 to you. I imagine there will be lots of weddings today to get this date!!!

With Christmas and Thanksgiving around the corner, I wanted to have a tie-in holiday tale to my Highland Sorcery novels and this made the perfect segue, giving each couple from the first four books a chance to come back to the same time period and reunite and celebrate just being alive.

The only problem? I don't write fluffy holiday features. Be warned: A Highland Sorcery Christmas isn't your normal holiday fare.

It takes place in two time periods, where the twenty-something son of Toren and Charity (from book one) is now the leader of humanity's survivors. Alexander is so close to weakening the monsters who have replaced humans at the top of the food chain. But when he gets near one of the beasts to test his formula, the monster takes a bite out of him and mentally downloads everything Alexander knows.

Now it’s up to his family to fight for his life in the past and the future if they are to save him and spare the world.

Not exactly your usual holiday get together. There be monsters this season.

Excerpt

The stormy wedge of dirty sky rocked sideways. Tight between Ethan and Dez, Alexander’s shoulders rubbed along their stomachs. His legs bounced, knees bent over their arms as they carried him over the rough terrain.

“It won’t stop. I need another pressure package. Now.” That was Bekah. The hard tension against his stomach released, but just as suddenly came again with more sharpness as a fresh gauze package was shoved against his wound. Somehow Bekah had tucked herself behind Dez and was keeping up with their pace so she could keep pressure on the bleeding gash.

Alexander shuddered, the sweat on his cheek mixed with the dampness along Bekah’s arm, reaching over his torso. The Sift had taken a chunk out of him.  

“You’re going to be okay.” Her voice rasped near his head. “We’re getting you to help. Just a little ways more. You keep on breathing, you hear me?”

Breathe. Right. That was important, wasn’t it? Everything narrowed down to pulling oxygen into his struggling lungs, but it hurt. 

An iceberg had somehow wedged inside his chest, blocking the air passages and with any attempt to expand his lungs, the icy shards bit into his flesh from the inside out.

The graying world tilted, his head lolling back, falling between the canyons of Ethan’s and Dez’s shoulders as they carried him uphill.

“Richards, run ahead for Lenore.” That was Bekah barking orders again, though she didn’t seem to be talking to him this time. Out of all his aunts, she was the bossiest.

The dusky sky disappeared, replaced by a smudge of gray cement ceiling of the parking garage his Holdout forces used out in the field. His forces. Alexander grinned at that even as metallic tasting blood trickled between his lips. Dez and Ethan had been among the first to believe he had a way to fight the overpowering Sifts, well, after he’d proved himself by saving Ethan’s neck with a shot of sorcerer’s flame. Some days it was good to be the last sorcerer on earth. He should have used it on the Sift today. He just hadn’t seen it before it dropped on him.

“What’s happened?” He heard Lenore a moment before her worried face moved above his. Her voice tightened. “Put him over here.”

Alexander felt himself being swung up into the bed of an abandoned pickup. His head swung with the movement too. Hissing, he curled in around his stomach, but was immediately pulled flat by several hands.

The saturated pressure package was yanked from his side and the pain of it made him blind, his scream caught in stolen heaving breaths.

“What happened?” Lenore’s knees jabbed into his hip where she knelt in the truck bed. Her pixie features strained. “Is this a bite?”

Nausea filled Alexander’s throat. Serrated teeth clamped into him, tearing a chunk of flesh away in a flash of scorching shock and pain. He struggled to get up, get away from all the bodies pressed around him, all the hands holding him down, locked on his arms and shoulders and legs, held fast and vulnerable for the monster to get him.

“Sift got to him.” The slim hands pressing onto his shoulders flexed. “We couldn’t…it was so fast.”

Lenore’s head snapped up, dragging the strands of her hair along his saturated shirt. The ends of her pale hair lifted, tipped in shiny wet red. “But you killed it. Right? You killed it.”

The vibration of collected fear flowed between the group of fighters surrounding him. Being crunched on by a monster carried its own particular horror, one you wouldn’t think could be topped, but when a Sift sank its teeth in you, the nasty beast captured your memories.

“Tell me you didn’t let it get away.”

“It escaped through a hole it tore out of the air,” Dez snarled it fast and hard, the staccato bark of a fired rifle. “Col jumped in after it.”

Lenore jerked back. The press of her knees lifted, preparing to flee. Alexander floated after her, trying to follow all the movement, keep his focus.

The weight on Alexander’s shoulders lifted as Bekah reached across him and latched onto Lenore’s wrists, keeping her in place.

“There’s nothing you can do for Col. He’s out of our reach. But Alexander needs you now.”

The women stared at each other, faces close above Alexander, swaying in and out of his waning focus. It was hard to latch onto anything. He just wanted to get away.

“Can you heal him?” Bekah gritted out and Lenore recoiled like someone waking from a nightmare.

       “I don’t…” She flinched again. “Yes. I won’t let him die.” Lips set, Lenore’s hands moved over the cavity that was his wound and Alexander bucked. All the hands holding him pressed down harder.
                                                  nook                  kindle                 itunes

Also out now and on sale through the month of November, the first 4 Highland Sorcery novels all together for the price of one. See where the adventure begins...

nook                          kindle

Highland Moon Sifter Giveaway

At her movement the man, the Moon Sifter, turned, the sole person she left everything behind to come here to kill.

She snatched the blanket back up. “Where are my clothes?”

One shoulder lifted in a shrug. “I needed something to start the fire with.”

“The whole thing?”

The fire blazed behind him, fueled by varied sizes of split logs. He was being spiteful or…she studied his smug expression…he believed by taking her clothes away he’d make her vulnerable, having to hold a blanket up for modesty. Well, he’d underestimated her resolve. She had no qualms about killing him while bare-butt naked and then she’d take his clothes for her own after doing it.  Which, no time like the present.

She flung herself at him, leaving blanket behind, intending to knock him off balance into the hearth where he’d either fall in the fire or hopefully knock his head against the stone mantle. Either way, it would give her enough of a distraction to grab up his blade again.

Except her forward momentum came to an extreme stop. One second she was moving, the next she wasn't, hands flat and arms jolted against an immovable chest. Holy crap. What was he made of, unbreakable granite?

His arms swept up, long hands clamped around her. Flat gray eyes glared down at her and she swallowed. Fear, or something else, swirled in her belly, rising upward into her breasts.

Had to be fear. Or the sudden chill, though she had to admit there was something uncharacteristically strange happening to her, something sensual and unsettling about being so close to the Highlander while he was fully dressed and she was completely bare.

She shook her bangs over her eyes, hiding the only way that she could.

I'm ecstatic to offer the 4th book and conclusion to my Highland Sorcery series. So I want to give at least 3 commenters your choice of a digital copy of any of the books in the series, whether you want to start at the beginning with Highland Sorcerer or any of the other books in the series. 

  

Amazon       Barnes and Noble      Blog      

  

How did I treat myself after finishing a series, you ask? I went flying...

Note: Please leave an email address for notification. Offer void where prohibited. Prizes will be mailed to North America addresses only unless specifically mentioned in the post. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants. Winners of drawings are responsible for checking this site in a timely manner. If prizes are not claimed in a timely manner, the author may not have a prize available. Get Lost In A Story cannot be responsible for an author's failure to mail the listed prize. GLIAS does not automatically pass email addresses to guest authors unless the commenter publicly posts their email address. 

DON'T FORGET to FOLLOW us on Twitter #GetLostStories or LIKE us on Facebook to keep up with all our guest authors and their prizes.  And join us tomorrow for a special hosting with the Group.  ~ Clover 

Highland Moon Sifter Release

Bekah McRafferty has one goal. Travel back in time and kill the Moon Sifter Shaw Limont so that billions of the human race can survive.

Yep, that's the plan until she actually meets the Highlander. He’s not exactly the evil guy history makes him out to be. Creator of monsters that nearly eat mankind to extinction? Well, maybe. Maybe not.

But now that she’s jumped into 13^th Century Scotland with the future of humanity depending on her to kill the guy she’s rapidly falling for, and with monsters on her tail, trying to stop her, what’s an assassin from the future to do?

Highland Moon Sifter brings to a conclusion the 4-part series  within the Highland Sorcery novels, featuring the sibling guardians of magic Toren, Edeen, Col, and Shaw Limont.  Sorcerer, Empath, Shapeshifter, and Moon Sifter. 

Amazon                           Barnes & Noble

DON'T FORGET to FOLLOW us on Twitter #GetLostStories or LIKE us on Facebook to keep up with all our guest authors and their prizes.  And join us tomorrow for a Highland Giveaway  ~ Clover 

Her real name is Clover

Charity Greves has the gift of healing. So when a wounded bleeding Highlander materializes out of the air into her kitchen, she does what any rational free-thinking herbalist under the same circumstances would do--she heals him. She didn’t expect to be drawn back to the 13^th Century where a dangerous whacked-out witch holds the handsome Highlander captive.

Nor is she prepared to be drawn so strongly to him that she’ll do whatever it takes to save him. 

~ ~ ~
Yes, her real name is Clover and she happens to be my good bud from my writer's group (NTRWA). We volunteer together and chat and encourage. She always has a smile on her face and she's an awesome author.

HIGHLAND SORCERER

Red Rover Books

ISBN:  147008827

CURIOUS ABOUT THE MAGIC?

She came to him—in his dreams—all creamy skin and lustrous dark hair. He'd wanted to feel the softness of it when he'd first seen her, but coming as a beggar in search of a Healer Enchantress's aid, he had refrained. 

He walked in the dreamworld now and she a manifestation conjured by his mind. 

She ran to him, across the moor, mist curling at her hips, teasing cloudy swirls around her breech-covered legs until she stood before him, slender hands upon his crisp white shirt. 

"Toren," she breathed.  

He smiled at the unusual inflection she gave to his name and since she was but a dream, he indulgently dragged his fingers into her hair, sighing at the silkiness. 

"Toren, I need you to tell me where you are. I'm going to help you." 

What's this? Toren grazed the back of his knuckles along her cheek. His dream conjured sorceress shouldn't look so troubled. 

He wanted her to be pleasant, pliant, a lovely peaceful image to hold on to, to focus his mind on during the worst of what Aldreth would surely bring. He didn't know how long he'd be given uninterrupted sleep and he intended to make the most of it. Toren willed his dream to fall into order, arranging his thoughts so that the focused lines above Charity's pert little nose would smooth. 

Her lips tightened in exasperation. "Toren, focus please. Tell me where you are. Where is the dungeon? Within a castle? Tell me how to free you." 

Toren pulled back, holding her at arm's length to really get a good look at her. Impatience and sharp intelligence stared back through disarming violet eyes, filled with far too much life to be a dream-induced manifestation.

"Are ye dream-trailing?" 

CURIOUS ABOUT CLOVER?

Inspired by her love of Louis L'Amour heroes, Clover (yeah, that's her real name), packed up and moved to Texas where she found a real live Texan of her own. She's been there ever since where she and Pat (who else would a Clover marry but a Patrick?) have one beautiful daughter and four not-so-beautiful, but extremely handsome and always busy boys.

I WAS CURIOUS SO I ASKED…

ANGI: How often to you get lost in a story?
CLOVER: When a good story grabs me, I will get lost in it well after I’ve finished it. I think about a character and continue worrying over him for a long time. Like a valued friend, I don’t let go of strong characters easily. And when an author brings something to that level of hanging on, I’ll read everything she’s written.  

ANGI: What’s the first book you remember reading? 

CLOVER: Wow. Gonna have to go way back for that. I was reading at a very young age and I do remember reading a book about a porpoise not having toes, though it does have a nose.  I must have read that silly book at least a thousand times. But it was Andre Norton’s short story “Sand Sister” that got me hooked on fantasy, and yeah, I’ve read and loved a good portion of everything she has out there. (That woman is really prolific.) I get lost in her characters and books every time. Her books are categorized as fantasy, but to me, she’s the pioneer for “paranormal romance” before that was labeled as a genre. 

ANGI: What’s your favorite “love” word?

CLOVER: Acceptance. When you truly love someone, you accept everything about them…all the quirks, drama, even things that annoy you. And when you feel accepted in turn, barriers come down and you let yourself be truly open and loved.  

ANGI: What’s your favorite fairy tale?

CLOVER: Sleeping Beauty. I’m not sure why because she isn’t exactly the kick-butt heroine I’m usually drawn to. It must go back to childhood memories of watching the Disney version and wanting to be a princess dancing with birds in the woods. I really have no idea. Time for some self –reflection maybe.   

ANGI: What do you like about the hero of your book?

CLOVER: Toren is a powerful sorcerer who during the course of most of the story, can’t access his magic; yet even though he is at the most vulnerable he’s ever been in his life, he is still willing to endure whatever he has to in order to protect his family and clan.  

ANGI: Where do you read and how often?

CLOVER: I read every day with several books going at a time stuffed in different locations like my car, one on the treadmill, and yes, okay, there’s always one in the bathroom. 

ANGI: What sound or noise do you love?

CLOVER: My family used to houseboat a lot and I loved napping in the bow’s hull during a long excursion to the sound of the engine and bounce and slap of water.  

ANGI: Fairy Tale or Action Adventure?

CLOVER: I love a good fairy tale, but if I had to choose, it’s action adventure hand’s down.  

ANGI: What is your biggest vice?

CLOVER: Whenever a fantasy-based character says “Okay”. I know it shouldn’t, but that drives me insane. Unless that hero was born after 1840 when Martin Van Buren (Old Kinderhook) used it in his presidential campaign, “okay” is off-limits. Time-travelers may use it of course. 

ANGI’S GOTTA ASK: Clover, can you explain where any of your fantasy ideas come from? Or are the characters just there?

CLOVER’S GOTTA ANSWER: It’s usually a fantastical creature in a weird situation that pops into my head. I’ll want to write about a merman who has to be raised far from the ocean…or have a hero figure out how to get rid of a Banshee after he’s heard her scream…or have a heroine travel through time without just happening to know when the next eclipse will happen or or or… with fantasy, the only limitation is your imagination.  

SATISFY YOUR CURIOSITY

Email   Website   Facebook    Twitter @CloverAutrey   Goodreads    Blogs     

UP NEXT:

The Vampire and The Highland Empath

The second book in the Highland Sorcery novels. Great title, right? *laughing* I never thought I’d write about a vampire. This story focuses on Toren’s sister, an empath who got caught in a sleeping enchantment for almost a thousand years. (Huh, there’s that Sleeping Beauty fixation creeping in.) The venom of a vampire is the only thing that can wake her, but turns out there are worse evils than vampires when she awakens in 1941 Scotland with a supernatural Nazi on her tail.

WILL YOU HAVE A DRAWING FROM THOSE LEAVING COMMENTS?  I would love to give three commenters an Advanced Reader’s pdf version of The Vampire and The Highland Empath being released in June. They’d be the first to get it.

Note: Offer void where prohibited. Prizes will be emailed to international participants. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants. Winners of drawings are responsible for checking this site in a timely manner. If prizes are not claimed in a timely manner, the author may not have a prize available. Get Lost In A Story cannot be responsible for an author's failure to mail the listed prize. GLIAS does not automatically pass email addresses to guest authors unless the commenter publicly posts their email address.

Don’t forget to FOLLOW us on Twitter (#GetLostStories) or LIKE us on Facebook to keep up with all our guest authors and their prizes. Join me next Wednesday when I host Tina Beckett. And come back tomorrow when Alexa hosts Julie Kenner or is that JK Beck?  ~Angi  

GOT A QUESTION YOU’D LIKE TO ASK YOUR FANS?

Now that you have me self-analyzing why I like Sleeping Beauty and how she’s nothing like the heroines I gravitate toward (gee thanks, Angi)-- I’d like to know if y’all’s favorite fairy tale heroine resembles the heroines you like to read about or are they very different.