Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Guest Post: Reap & Repent by Lisa Medley



Today let's welcome back Lisa Medley to the blog today as she shares with us her book Reap & Repent.
Reap & Repent by Lisa Medley

Don't fear the reaper. Lust after him. REAP & REPENT 

Pre-Order 99¢ until March 3! http://amzn.to/1AvrNfb 
Urban Fantasy Romance: Reapers and Demons and Angels and Sex.
Words 84K * 326 pages
Series: The Reaper Series, Book 1
Exclusively on AMAZON here: http://amzn.to/1AvrNfb

Reap & Repent blurb

They see death. Can they share a life?
Ruth Scott can read the energy of every person she meets. Then she meets Deacon Walker. She can see his ice-blue eyes, his black hair, and his gorgeous face. But this beautiful stranger has no aura.
Deacon is just as unsettled by Ruth—and, having spent more than two hundred years ushering souls to Purgatory, Deacon is seldom shocked by anything. As he helps Ruth to understand her true nature, she awakens desires that he decided long ago a Reaper can’t afford.
A demon invasion forces Deacon to confront the darkness in his own past even as he fights to save the human souls he’s charged to protect. When he’s taken captive, his first concern is for Ruth. But Ruth just might be able to save herself—and the Reaper she can’t live without—if she can learn to wield her newfound powers.

Excerpt:
PROLOGUE
What does a guy have to do around here to get some service? Deacon Walker marveled as he glared at the undulating queue of grotesque reapers in front of him.
For all that’s holy, move the hell along already.
It had been a long week, and it wasn’t over yet. He needed to make at least one more pass through the hospital circuit before he could call it a day. He could already feel the tug of a freshly departed soul. Again. People were dropping like flies lately.
He massaged his brow, trying to soothe his exhausted patience as the line inched forward at a snail’s pace.
He was worn thin. Over the past few weeks, three demon soul poachers had popped up in his fair city of Meridian like poisonous mushrooms after a hard rain.
While it wasn’t unheard of for one to slip out from Hell every now and then, three was a nightmare.
When it got topside, a demon’s M.O. was to steal a human body, poach a few souls from the dead and dying, and then make its merry way back to Hell, taking its host’s soul along for the ride. The only way to save the souls a poacher was carrying was to behead the host with a scythe. Not a pretty thing to do, but the poor suckers were too far gone by then to survive anyway. No human could withstand the pressures of being ridden by a demon. And it was worth it to save a handful of souls, not to mention inconveniencing the demon.
Deacon refused to lose any souls from his territory. At all. So far the score was Deacon, 3. Demons, 0.
As a reaper, carrying souls to Purgatory for judgment was his job and he wasn’t about to cede his territory to poachers who used up their hosts like they were disposable Tupperware. So now, in addition to his normal day job, he also had to keep an eye out for more demon invaders.
While demons burned through most human hosts in a matter of days, some in a matter of hours, they had discovered long ago that under the right circumstances they could ride a reaper. Of course, they couldn’t just worm their way in like they did with humans—they had to be invited. But once a deal was struck? They were in.
And reapers? Yeah, they could hang on for decades inside a reaper. Deacon knew that fact firsthand. His stomach twisted at the thought, but he shook it off, looking ahead with a heavy sigh.
Seriously, this line? Still. Not. Moving?
God, he needed a freakin’ vacation. Extended. He dragged a hand through his hair in frustration as his mind flipped through postcard-esque locations of reapings past. He snarled at the thought of New Orleans in summer. He would definitely want to go someplace cool—cool as in frigid, not hip. He was sick of the heat, and it was only the beginning of summer in the semitropical Midwest.
Come to think of it, he was sick of a lot of things.
This place was high on the list. It was as hot as…well, Hell actually. Or at least what he imagined Hell to be, although he’d never actually been there. Thank God. Steam rose from random cracks in the stone floor of the underground station, veiling the place in a humid sulfur stench.
He pushed forward, finally making his way to the front to deposit his cargo of souls. He didn’t bother chatting. In. Out. Move on. It was a motto that served him well.
Mission completed, he hustled through the crowd, forgoing the bar-side frivolity of some of the more socially inclined reapers and their small talk about their glory days in the field or—even better—the missteps of the newest reapers. Newbies often tested their limits to humorous if not disastrous effect at least once in their early careers. That was exactly why new reapers had mentors or at least worked in teams. From all the laughter, he could tell that the stories were good ones. It didn’t tempt him.
He slapped his palm against the black granite monolith and flashed out of Purgatory to what he prayed was his last stop of the day.

Author Bio:

Lisa has always enjoyed reading about monsters in love and now she writes about them, because monsters need love too.
She adores beasties of all sorts, fictional as well as real, and has a farm full of them in her Southwest Missouri home, including: one child, one husband, two dogs, two cats, a dozen hens, thousands of Italian bees, and a guinea pig. 
She may or may not keep a complete zombie apocalypse bug-out bag in her trunk at all times, including a machete. Just. In. Case.

Monday, February 16, 2015

Cover Reveal: Frozen Hearts & Blazing Souls with Siobhan Kinkade

Good Morning Everyone!

I have some cover goodness to share this lovely Monday Morning.

Coming Soon from Purple Sword Publications co-authored by Siobhan Kinkade and myself is Frozen Hearts & Blazing Souls. This is something special that we have been working on for a while. It is the first in a series about dragon warriors and fallen empires rising from the ashes.


Blurb:



A prophecy exists: an Empress will rise from the ashes of the ruined empire. 

On the run from a vicious sorcerer, Tazu seeks refuge in a ruined temple where she collapses into the arms of a stranger. When she wakes, she finds she has unearthed a relic from a fallen empire.
 
For hundreds of years Ryu has punished himself for the death of the Empress he once protected, but in Tazu’s presence, the ronin discovers the strength to heal both her physical and emotional wounds. Her closeness shakes his dormant heart and stirs the inner beast he has fought so hard to control.

Kyo, a warrior turned mercenary, hunts Tazu at the request of the sorcerer, Ning-Tse. Once Kyo discovers Tazu, he also finds himself entranced by her quiet strength. The sorcerer wants to exploit the power Tazu struggles to conceal, but the two warriors who have fallen for her will stop at nothing to keep her safe. The sorcerer’s insatiable greed sets the prophecy in motion, placing Tazu and her dragons on a path toward war, redemption, and the reclamation of long-lost power. 




Friday, February 13, 2015

New Release Dragonkin: Storms from Amira Press

Hey Everyone! Today is release day and I am so excited to have Dragonkin: Storms out with Amira Press.

A little bit about how the book came about. I wrote the original Dragonkin four years ago that is also with Amira Press. At the time I was dealing with the death of my grandfather who was a huge influence in my life and the story helped to filter the emotions I was experiencing. It's about love and loss and finding love again and I thought the story was finished.

However, over the years I have had readers contact me who loved Dragonkin so much they have asked me if there would ever be a sequel. Well I thought about it and the muses started contemplating something that turned into an idea that I could run with for a plot. Dragonkin: Storms is a very different story. The original characters from Dragonkin play an important part in the story and we get to see how their family has grown.

But storms is a different story about Savanna,  Drake, & Wyeth and how they find love amidst the storms going on in their life. I hope you enjoy reading it it just as I did writing it.


BLURB:

Drake rescues Savanna from certain death. Her touch stirs his inner dragon. He brings her to Wyeth’s house to make sure she’s safe.

There’s something about Savanna that Wyeth can’t shake. When both men converge at Savanna’s, anarchy ensues. Savanna is Drake’s only hope of returning home, another world filled with magic and dragons.

Savanna’s falling deeply in love and can’t let either man go. She won’t pass up the opportunity to get Drake home, but she's not sure she leave Wyeth behind. With the coming storm threatening to rip them apart, the dragon has fully awakened within Drake and it also wants Savanna.

EXCERPT:

She turned back, about to return to her car, when she saw Drake approaching the house.

“Hi.”

“Hi.” He didn’t look at her. There was a restless energy about him that she had seen the other night, but it was more than that. It seemed that he was in a hurry. He wanted to flee, and yet, that other part of him wanted to stay. And deep within her, she wanted to comfort that part of him. Reading the different parts of him was exhausting.

He stood next to her while she knocked. The silence between them stretched as she waited for Wyeth. Savanna tried not to notice Drake, but it was tough, considering what had transpired between them and the fact that he was a beefcake. “So, the other night. You kissed me.”

“I did.”

“Is that something you do all the time? Kissing strange girls you’ve just met?”

Drake’s gaze traveled down her face and settled on her breasts before it moved back up again to her eyes. “Was that a problem? You didn’t seem to mind.”

“That’s not the point. You told me and Wyeth something that you don’t tell anyone else, and then you do that and walk out. You’re an enigma, and because of all of this three of us are connected on some strange level now.”

“Is that what you think?”

“Don’t start playing test the psychic. I’m not up for it tonight.” She crossed her hands over her chest and stared at him. It took everything in her, because when it came to men she was never the straightforward one in the relationship. She gritted her teeth, because she sensed the very thread between them pulling tighter, making her crave to be closer to him. It hadn’t been so bad before when Savanna was away from him. Now that they were feet apart, she yearned to rub along his body and smell his musky scent. She closed her eyes and took in a few breaths as the cool night air caressed her.

“I wasn’t testing you,” Drake said, his voice inexplicably closer to her than before.

Savanna opened her eyes, and he was inches from her. It took all her willpower not to throw her arms around him. “Then what the hell were you doing?”

“Truth?”

“I’d hope so. I-I would appreciate it after everything that happened.”

“After I left your apartment, I came back to the lighthouse and started packing. I got halfway packed, but I couldn’t banish you from my mind.” Drake rested his hand on the wall, trapping her between him and the wall. He stared at her with the intensity of a hunter that had found its prey and was waiting for her to bolt. “I did everything I could to push you from my thoughts. Let’s face it, you’re not my type for a human woman. I’ve had many, and don’t think that your size deters me, because it doesn’t.”

“Yeah. I get it. You don’t like buxom beauties or fat chicks. I’ve heard it before.”

“You asked for the truth. Nevertheless my thoughts returned to your lips and how you felt against me, and the heat that we had shared. You speak to the beast inside of me. I needed time to sort things out. I didn’t know if I could leave, and then I sensed you had come here. I had to come see you.” He captured her lips in a hungry kiss that curled her toes and made her moan.

“Hey, Savanna…” Wyeth called. The place where Drake had kissed turned into air. She heard one of them cry out in pain. When she opened her eyes, Wyeth was the one on top of Drake this time, hitting him.

“Dear Lord, not again,” she muttered. “This is getting ridiculous.” Men did not fight over her. “Guys, enough!” She tried to grab onto Wyeth’s arm, but he pushed her off. She landed on her ass, which hurt, and then she heard a rip where her dress tore up the side. Hot tears of frustration and anger lined her eyes. She stood up, and her anger consumed her. The heat of it made her so warm that she was sweating. A fire sparked inside of her. It glowed within her mind. She reached out her hand, as the energy needed a way to escape because she could not contain it within her. If she even tried, she would burn up. Savanna focused it down her left arm. A grapefruit sized fire ball appeared and landed next to Drake’s head.

Both of them stopped fighting.

All the energy drained from her. Dots appeared on the edge of her vision. Savanna sank to the ground. Wyeth slung a hand around her waist, and Drake came to her other side until she was suspended between them. They walked her inside and set her on a chair. The cool air helped clear her senses. Drake knelt before her, patting her hand. Wyeth returned with a glass of water and held it to her lips so she could take a sip. As she swallowed it, feeling parched and wrung out, she was able to concentrate.

“How did you do that?” Drake asked. His voice was filled with awe.

“Do what? Shoot fire out of my hand? How the fuck should I know?” She turned to Wyeth. “Really? You had to jump on him and start fighting.”

He was taken aback and his face paled. “He was kissing you and…”