Cover Reveal, The MacKenzie Chronicles #romanticsuspense #discover #dejavu

I'm deep into writing Mystery on Spirit Mountain, book 2 of The MacKenzie Chronicles. 

In anticipation of the release later this year, I engaged my cover artist, Alison Henderson, to design the cover for not only book 2 but also book 3. She's fantastic, and I am happy to announce...

Ta da! Advance Cover Reveal...and a taste of what's to come.

BOOK 1, SECRETS OF THE RAVINE, is available now.

Blurb:

When a ringer for her long-dead love walks into her life the same day skeletal remains are found at the edge of town, Magpie MacKenzie can’t ignore what the universe is telling her…solve the mystery, or become the next victim. 

Lawyer Zack Peartree’s life is orderly and entanglement-free until he visits purportedly haunted Joshua, Arizona, and meets free-wheeling shopkeeper Magpie. Despite experiencing troubling visions and odd moments of déjà vu, Zack’s instantly drawn to Magpie and to the unsolved murder which troubles her so. 

Using clues from her father’s past and Zack’s déjà vu moments, Magpie and Zack race to solve the mystery, avoid a murderous fate, and to discover their future…together.

BOOK 2, MYSTERY ON SPIRIT MOUNTAIN cover reveal, coming in 2021.

Early draft Blurb:

Harlan MacKenzie forms a connection to the past when he enters an old home, enabling him to brilliantly restore the premises. When he’s hired to restore the Big Purple House in Joshua, he doesn’t count on the secrets this house holds that could destroy him and his lifelong friend, Phaedra, in the process.

 

Phaedra has finally decided to sell the house that has been in her family for decades. She’s happy Harlan is going to be the one to bring the house back to life for the new owner. Any reason to spend more time with him and develop the relationship beyond plutonic friendship is welcomed. Little does she know the house has more meaning for Harlan than for her. 

When a stranger comes to town, weaving her web of deception and bent on stealing the hidden treasure of the Big Purple house, revelations of the past implode the present, and put Harlan and Phaedra on a path that risks their future and their lives.

BOOK 3, CURSE OF WOLF FALLS, cover reveal, coming in 2022

Early, early draft Blurb:

Elidor MacKenzie has a gift she can’t return. Her ability to absorb the energy from people around her, to take on their joy but also their pain and suffering, lies somewhere between a blessing and a curse. In Joshua, her clairsentient abilities are particularly keen which has kept her away from her family and drove her from the only man she ever loved. But Elidor is back. The years spent away didn’t quiet the energies of Joshua, and this time the voices threaten her life. Can she rein in the energies and avoid disaster to take a chance and stay for love?

BUY LINKS and KINDLE UNLIMITED FOR SECRETS OF THE RAVINE:

https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Ravine-MacKenzie-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B08GPRFJBT/ 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secrets-Ravine-MacKenzie-Chronicles-Whiteside-ebook/dp/B08GPRFJBT/ 

https://www.amazon.ca/Secrets-Ravine-MacKenzie-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B08GPRFJBT/

Holding Out for a Hero by T.E. Kessler #scifi #romance

Please welcome T. E. Kessler to Discover... Have you considered there are aliens living among us? Aliens from another world? Who hasn't considered the possibility. T. E. Kessler has and it sounds like a fun read. Here's a taste...

Macy Shaw, a journalist, has become obsessed with Jelvias, a species living alongside the human. Taking advantage of her obsession, her boss calls on her to interview Narcifer, a Jelvian man over the whereabouts of the Jelvian leader, Aldarn. Ultimately, Macy falls for Narcifer until it becomes clear to her that she’s a pawn between her world and the world of the Jelvias. 

An extract from chapter thirty-nine 

There was a commotion behind her. Knowing Narcifer had discovered her missing and was coming after her, she pushed past Samuel and began to run towards the front entrance of the hotel where the hotel’s carpark, and Narcifer’s Ranger, was located.

Behind her, the foyer doors bashed open and she turned to look; a brief second to see that Narcifer, bare-footed like her, wearing only jeans, his body and hair still wet from the shower, was pounding across the foyer after her. She turned for the doors, pushing through them, hearing but not hearing the panicked shouts and screams behind her as everyone became aware of the Jelvia in the building.

She ran towards the carpark’s gated doors and pushed through them. The last time she had been in his car was after he rescued her from the cellar, and she’d been exhausted. She couldn’t remember which floor it was parked on, and only knew it wasn’t the first.

‘Macy!’

The sound of him crying her name was partially drowned by someone screaming, but she didn’t look round. She sprinted up the stairs towards the second floor of the carpark. She had almost made it when his arm circled her waist and pulled her back against him. She struggled, kicking his shins but his hold only tightened. His breath fanned her right ear.

‘Macy, stop it.’

‘Let me go!’

‘Hey!’ someone shouted.

Macy and Narcifer looked up. A man was looking out of his car’s window, about to pull into a parking space. A woman was looking on anxiously in the passenger seat, and two kids in the rear were looking agog at them. The man’s choice of words was audible as he noticed Narcifer’s all-black eyes.

‘Help me!’ screamed Macy, and she began to kick and wriggle in Narcifer’s arms.

But screeching tyres rang in Macy’s ears.

‘There goes your hero,’ Narcifer said.

One of his hands was around her waist, the other was around her chest, flattening her breasts and pinning her arms. She lowered her head and sank her teeth into his bare arm.

He cursed and let her go. She fell to the floor, on her knees.

‘Macy!’ he said. He sounded concerned, but she jumped up and broke into a run.

She saw the Ranger and aimed the key fob at it, bleeped it open.

She ran for the door, but Narcifer was quicker. Using the full length of his body, he pinned her against the car with her face pressed against the window. He flipped her around.

‘Please, Macy, stop.’

Both were breathing hard.

She couldn’t look at him, and fixed her gaze to the centre of his chest, where it rose and fell rapidly.

‘Tell me you haven’t been hired by Johnsten to sleep with me for information,’ he said.

‘What!’ Shocked, she glared at him, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears. He stared back at her. He looked so tense, and his usually twinkling eyes were dry, black orbs. There was no trace of his boyish grin on his face. He looked rigid and unfriendly.

‘Have you been hired by Johnsten to use me for information of the whereabouts of Aldarn?’

‘Yes,’ she said.

A small muscle jerked in his cheek.

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If T.E Kessler was Daenerys Targaryen (Game of Thrones) the introduction would read something like this:

T. E Kessler the first of the Midlands in Great Britain, Queen of steamy sci-fi romance, Mother of the Jelvia: Not Human series, Writer of books, Ruler of the en suite, the Unburnt in the kitchen and the Breaker of promises (when it comes to diets). 

On a serious note, Kessler enjoys writing sci-fi because, unlike horror, it gives the idea of being more dangerous because it could happen. Kessler also mixes it up with reality, human flaws and emotion to bring out the romance and, of course, the comedy of life in general. 

Series so far… 

HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO book 1

SURVIVING HER DOMINANT book 2

SPIDER book 3 

…with another three books planned to conclude the Jelvia: Not Human series. Each book has its own story with satisfying endings. 

Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TE_Kessler

Website and Blog: bit.ly/Wise-Kessler

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kessler69

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18902601.T_E_Kessler

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/t-e-kessler

News Letter: https://bit.ly/3gihIdm

Digital stores:

Amazon: http://bit.ly/Jelvia

Hero: https://books2read.com/u/m0w0DY

Dominant: http://books2read.com/u/4AxYze

Spider: https://books2read.com/u/4jLzko

 

So, You Need an Escape by Randy Overbeck #getaway #vacation

 MUSE MONDAY

Please welcome Randy Overbeck to Discover... We can all use an escape, and Randy can help! 

            Right about now—ten long months into this pandemic, still not able to do much—could you use a getaway? The vaccine is coming to you and yours soon, but in the meantime could you use a getaway? Couldn’t you just picture yourself on an sun-drenched beach, toes in the warm sand and a frosty drink in your hand? Or maybe sailing across blue green waters, waves lapping peacefully at the sides of your sailboat with the shoreline around you exploding with color?

I’m right there with you.

That’s why, when I decided to write my new series,  the Haunted Shores Mysteries, I decided to set each story in a great getaway location. But not just any getaway. I mean, everyone knows about places like Hilton Head or Malibu or Daytona Beach. For my stories, I was searching for unique, even unforgettable locations that I could introduce readers to, places that would leave a lasting impression.

For me, my first choice was obvious since it’s been a favorite destination of ours for years. The setting for BLOOD ON THE CHESAPEAKE is, well, the Chesapeake Bay. Or to be more precise, the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay, which I believe is one of the undiscovered gems in the country. Thousands of miles of undulating shoreline, some of the best seafood you’ll ever eat, and
sunsets over the water that would melt your sheltered, hardened heart. Not to mention the scene of variegated foliage covering she shores that can match even peak autumn in New Hampshire. If you close your eyes, you might be able to picture yourself in the middle of the Bay aboard a two-masted sailboat, rocking gently on the waters. Or you could just let my novel take you there.  Here’s a brief excerpt from BLOOD.

A few stray clouds chased each other across an azure sky which turned the water to an aquamarine. A light breeze filled the two white and gold sails and stirred the water, creating only small waves which rocked the sloop gently. Across the horizon, a few white sails punctured the beautiful blue that wrapped around them. Gusts of wind filled the two triangle sails and flapped the four-square Maryland flag at the rear. Along the rock-strewn shoreline, charming Cap Cods with Adirondack chairs in front competed with two-story Colonials wearing their white clapboard siding and green sloped roofs like their Sunday best. 

Don’t you wish you were standing on the deck of that sailboat right now? Well, you can almost.

For the second entry in my series, I went for something quite different, but just as intriguing in its own way. CRIMSON AT CAPE MAY is set in a quintessential resort town, with expansive white sand beaches for the sun-worshipper, a famous getaway for more than 150 years. With over a hundred unique Victorian houses and mansions—think “the painted ladies”—lining the shore and filling the streets of this quant town and you have a setting and a sight unmatched anywhere in the U.S.  And, the fact that the town is the most haunted seaport on the Eastern Seacoast made it a no-brainer for the setting for my second narrative. A few pages into this novel and I promise you’ll forget the present doldrums of Covid-19 and find yourself in another place and time, one you’ll enjoy. Here’s just a sample.

They crossed at the light, and Darrell took in the sight ahead of them—a near perfect, expansive sandy beach edged by crystal blue water that seemed to stretch on forever, merging with a perfect azure sky. Smudges of white dotted the heavenly canvas, and small curls of white-topped breakers were sprinkled along the waters farther out. Quiet waves gurgled up upon the sand before leaking back into the watery expanse. Throw in the meticulous architecture of all those Victorian mansions and B & B’s and you have resort few places could match. 

Of course, my novels are far more than mere escape reads. Both include a cold-case murder mystery, a haunting ghost story and a bit of romance, all with some unforgettable characters.

Perhaps, one of the Amazon reviewers put it best: 

“Was your vacation canceled this year? I know ours was put on the back burner, but I can recommend a great get-away that won't cost much. Read the book Blood on the Chesapeake: A Cold Case Murder Mystery. It's a vacation to a beautiful seashore with characters you'll love and some you'll hate. Of course, everyone wants a vacation with a happy ending, and I won't spoil the book for you, but you'll smile about the ending after you put it down.”—Tami A, an Amazon reviewer 

            If you haven’t had the chance to discover either, click any of the links below to grab your copy and escape the present.

            Here are just a few things reviewers and readers are saying about these ★★★★★ and award winning novels.

·       “So engrossing it had me hooked from the very first page.” ★★★★★—Nana’s Reviews, Greece

·       “Overbeck’s pace is spot on and makes for a thoroughly engaging and quick read… A Gold Award Winner!” ★★★★★—Literary Titan

·       “An absolutely chilling ghost story wrapped around an even scarier piece of history - or perhaps it’s the other way around. Recommended. BEST BOOK!” ★★★★★—Chanticleer Reviews and Media

·       “This book was riveting and full of mystery, romance, and suspense. I could not put this book down once I was past the first chapter. I would find myself reading late into the night telling myself "just one more chapter"- just one more chapter would turn into 50 or 60 pages. Excellent book with a hint of history lessons to enrich our lives.”—An Amazon reviewer

·       “Thrilling! Haunting! Convincing! Loved it as much, if not more, than “Blood on the Chesapeake!” Began reading the book on Monday and finished it at midnight on Tuesday!”—an Amazon reviewer  

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.com/Crimson-Cape-Haunted-Shores-Mysteries/dp/1509231633/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1BCBKCDPQRK3L&dchild=1&keywords=crimson+at+cape+may&qid=1599856137&sprefix=Crimson+at+Cape+May%2Caps%2C163&sr=8-2 

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/crimson-at-cape-may-randy-overbeck/1137088608?ean=9781509231638 

https://www.bookbub.com/books/crimson-at-cape-may-by-randy-overbeck 

Randy Overbeck

randyoverbeck@authorrandyoverbeck.com

www.authorrandyoverbeck.com

@OverbeckRandy

FB: Author Randy Overbeck 

BIO

Dr. Randy Overbeck is an award-winning educator, writer and speaker who has earned recognition in the Midwest and beyond. As a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Dr. Overbeck is an active member of the literary community, contributing to a writers’ critique group, serving as a mentor to emerging writers and participating in writing conferences such as Sleuthfest, Killer Nashville and the Midwest Writers Workshop. When he’s not writing or researching his next exciting novel or sharing his presentation “Things That Go Bump in the Night,” he’s spending time with his incredible family of wife, three children (and their spouses) and seven wonderful grandchildren. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9nWiaGO-KM

 

 

Newsletter Giveaways

Four times a year, I send out a newsletter full of news about my books, writing, and publishing. You'll get the latest. AND you'll be entered in drawings each quarter, plus other great benefits I'll come up with all during the year.

QUARTERLY GIVEAWAYS

You can have a chance all year long to receive giveaways that are available only for my Quarterly Newsletter Group Members. 

Each quarter, I choose a loyal reader from my Quarterly Newsletter Group to receive a gift certificate. 

SPECIAL END OF YEAR GIVEAWAY

My stories are all about discovery. And as my special group, I have a Discover... game and giveaway just for you. In each newsletter, I'll post a challenge to you. Discover the answer and be entered in the year end drawing for a special gift basket of goodies (virtual or actual). The more times you play, the higher your chance of winning.

The winner for 2020 received this:

Sign up now for my Quarterly Newsletter Group!

Click here: Join Brenda's Quarterly Newsletter Group

(Note: if you live outside the United States, all gifts will be in the form of gift cards

If the Training Didn't Kill You the War Might by Kathy Otten

MUSE MONDAY

Readers, please join me in welcoming Kathy Otten to Muse Monday on Discover...

Elliot and Harry, the characters in my new, historical romance short story Heart of Ash, are British pilots in the Royal Flying Corps, fighting during World War I.

While the idea of becoming a pilot seems heroic, at the time, these young pilots, many of whom were in their late teens and early twenties, were given an average of seventeen hours of instruction (expanded to fifty hours later in the war), with as little as five hours of flying experience. Approximately 8,000 pilots died during training between 1914 and 1918. If they survived training, they were sent to France to fight Germans who had better planes and were better trained.

Once stationed in France, pilots engaged in dogfights in machines made of canvas, wire, and wood. They had few instruments and would have to flip the engine off and on to slow down for landing. They flew without parachutes. Averaged together, this gave a pilot in the early part of the war a life expectancy of eleven days.

Over confidence was usually fatal, while self-doubt could give a pilot the edge he needed to stay alive. Eventually, the more flight and combat experience a pilot had, the better his chances of survival.

While these men drank together and played football, they seldom allowed themselves to grow close. Sometimes they never knew each other’s full name. Men were there and then they were gone. Speaking the words death or died aloud were avoided at all cost. Instead, when a pilot was killed, they spoke of it in obscure terms, such as, “So and So has gone west.” They believed each man had predetermined amount of luck and worried about the day that luck would run out. Nightmares were common. Nothing was more dreaded by all than burning to death. Some men kept a loaded pistol at the ready. A few chose to jump to their death rather than burn.

The plane Elliot, the hero in my story, flew was a French plane, the Nieuport 11, which had been designed to counter the Fokker Scourge in 1916, the summer my story takes place. The biggest disadvantage the Nieuport had was that it didn’t have an interrupter gear, which the Germans had in their planes, allowing the machine gun to fire through the propellor. The Nieuport had its Lewis machine gun mounted on the top wing. A cable ran from the trigger to the pilot enabling him to fire the weapon. The gun used a Foster mount system which allowed the pilot to drop the gun down to change the drum, rather than forcing him to stand in order to reload.

Another problem was that sometimes during high-speed dives, the lower wing would stagger and the fabric could rip off.

Despite the level of danger a pilot faced, to the men confined in the mud of the trenches and the terror of no-mans-land, looking up to see a plane soar through the sky was a life to envy. The newspapers glorified that notion by creating heroic Aces to encourage the people at home about the war rather than putting the focus on depressingly high statistics of infantry death rates. Thus, the myth of the heroic pilot was born.

But while the life of a pilot was easier than living in a trench, it was no less dangerous, and for the two heroes in my story, they each had to decide whether or not it was worth risking their hearts. 

Blurb: In the skies over France during the Great War, the life expectancy of a pilot in the Royal Flying
Corps is measured in days. Captain Elliot "Ash" Bainbridge is certain he'll be the next pilot sent spinning to earth in a ball of fire. Not because the Germans will shoot him down, but because God will punish him for daring to love another man. When Ash met Lieutenant Harry March, their attraction was instant. But Harry hates Ash's fatalistic attitude. He believes in capturing the moment. Can Ash set aside his fear of death and take a chance on love? Or should he try to keep his heart safe from hurt forever?

www.kathyotten.com

kathy@kathyotten.com

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