A girl who loves reading fiction that deals with real life issues
Liberty
by Kim Iverson Headlee
Genre: Historical Romance
How hard
would you fight for a chance at love across a vast social divide?
“Epic.” ~ Drue’s Random Chatter Reviews.
Betrayed by her father and sold as payment of a
Roman tax debt to fight in Londinium’s arena, gladiatrix-slave Rhyddes feels
like a wild beast in a gilded cage. Celtic warrior blood flows in her veins,
but Roman masters own her body. She clings to her vow that no man shall claim
her soul, though Marcus Calpurnius Aquila, son of the Roman governor, makes her
yearn for a love she believes impossible.
Groomed to follow in his father’s footsteps and
trapped in a politically advantageous betrothal, Aquila prefers the purity of
combat on the amphitheater sands to the sinister intrigues of imperial
politics, and the raw power and athletic grace of the flame-haired Libertas to
the adoring deference of Rome’s noblewomen.
When a plot to overthrow Caesar ensnares them as
pawns in the dark design, Aquila must choose between the Celtic slave who has
won his heart and the empire to which they both owe allegiance. Trusting no man
and knowing the opposite of obedience is death, the only liberty offered to any
slave, Rhyddes must embrace her arena name, Libertas—and the love of a man
willing to sacrifice everything to forge a future with her.
Rudd shed his shock and sprinted
for the living compound, calling his children by name to help him defend their
home: Eoghan, Ian, Bloeddwyn, Arden, Dinas, Gwydion, Owen.
Every child except Rhyddes.
She ran to the wagon, unhitched
the horse, found her pitchfork, scrambled onto the animal’s back, and kicked
him into a jolting canter. The stench of smoke strengthened with each stride.
Her mount pinned back his ears and wrestled her for control of the bit, but she
bent the frightened horse to her will. She understood how he felt.
As they loped past the cow byre,
a Pict leaped at them, knocking Rhyddes from the horse’s back. The ground
jarred the pitchfork from her grasp. The horse galloped toward the pastures as
Rhyddes fumbled for her dagger. Although her brothers had taught her how to
wield it in a fight, until now she’d used it only to ease dying animals from
this world.
But the accursed blade wouldn’t
come free of the hilt.
Sword aloft, the Pict closed on
her.
Time distorted, assaulting
Rhyddes with her attacker’s every detail: lime-spiked hair, weird blue symbols
smothering the face and arms, long sharp sword, ebony leather boots and
leggings, breastplate tooled to fit female curves …
Kim Headlee lives on a farm in southwestern Virginia with her family,
cats, goats, Great Pyrenees goat guards, and assorted wildlife. People and
creatures come and go, but the cave and the 250-year-old house ruins–the
latter having been occupied as recently as the mid-twentieth century–seem to
be sticking around for a while yet.
Kim has been a published novelist since 1999 with the first edition of
Dawnflight (Sonnet Books, Simon & Schuster) and has been studying the
Arthurian legends for nigh on half a century.
She’s just met the man of her dreams…but he’s not who he said he was. Neither is she. Until they get a second chance to make a first impression.
Is he a sophisticated big-city lawyer, or an easygoing small-town woodworker? And if she’s not a career-driven high-powered attorney, then who is she? Hiding behind their masks is second nature until circumstances force them to see beneath the surface and realize just how alike—and in love—they really are.
He’s only got one rule: no lawyers. She’s a lawyer.
Burned by experience, Buck’s got a rule for a reason. After walking away from a lucrative legal position, he found his peace in Beckley. Life on the farm is simple, and his woodworking business is thriving. He’s not interested in trading his work boots for wingtips and rejoining the rat race. So what if she’s the most compelling woman he’s ever met?
She’s only got one requirement: no a**holes. He’s an a**hole.
After a disastrous encounter in a trendy bar, Nichelle’s convinced that he’s an over-muscled a**hole. She’s got a sleek car, luxurious condo, and elegant designer clothes. Family comes first, and her legal career is on the fastest track. She’s never met a problem she couldn’t solve on her own. So what if he can see beneath her carefully constructed façade?
They’re perfect together. They just don’t know it yet.
Welcome back to Beckley, Michigan! Autumn is in the air and as the days get shorter, the air gets cooler and the calm lakes reflect the blue skies and red-gold trees for a double-dose of fall color. The people are just as warm, friendly, smart, funny, and real as you remember. When you need a place to call home, Beckley welcomes you—and sometimes the family you choose is as strong as the bonds you’re born with.
If you like small-town romance, you’ll like Beckley. If you like smart heroines who balance demanding professional careers with a commitment to family, friends, and finding love, then you’ll definitely like it here. If you like strong, sexy, hard-working heroes who have not-so-secret soft spots for kids, dogs, and classic cars, you may find that you never want to leave!
Knowing Nichelle is the third in the Beckley’s Daughters Romance series. It can be read as a stand-alone story, but continuing readers will recognize many of the characters and locations. This series is recommended for adult readers and contains explicit language and intimate situations.
Buck
slowly strolled over to the bar. Every molecule of my body betrayed me,
vibrating with anticipation, syncing to raise my temperature and heart rate. He
looked so fine I wanted to taste him. His mossy green henley sweater was open
at the neck, showing a triangle of the bark-colored t-shirt beneath. He had
missed a spot shaving. Even now I wanted him, wanted to trace that spot with my
fingertips, nuzzle it with my lips and teeth.
I
felt like a spinster schoolmarm, still in my car-creased navy pencil skirt with
my wilted floral-print bow blouse tied primly at the neck. I had left work at
the last possible moment and driven hell-for-leather to make it here by five. I
hadn’t changed my clothes, or even re-applied my lipstick. I knew he would notice,
see all of the interior chaos writ large on my disheveled exterior. I dreaded
his pity.
“Hey,
Darlin’.” He sat on the stool beside me.
I
closed my eyes and took a deep breath, wondering when it would stop. The
goosebumps. The fluttering. The wishing he would wrap me close and make me
safe. The ache for him to care for me.
Never. It was never going to stop, it
would always feel this way. I had lost control and there was no getting it
back. That it was too late was just…it just was.
I
pushed my drink across the bar and caught Corey’s eye. “Throw a shot of gin in
this for me?”
He
grinned and took my glass to the far end of the bar, dumping it down the sink
and preparing a fresh cocktail.
“You
look gorgeous,” Buck said, too low for the bartender to hear. “You could make a
paper bag look like Prabal Gurung.”
“It’s
all about the attitude,” I bantered back with an exaggerated shrug.
Corey
set a fresh glass before me. “A proper greyhound.” He turned to Buck with a
wary gaze. “Molson?”
Buck
laughed and shook his head. “I’m in a good mood tonight, Kid. Surprise me.” The
bartender’s eyes gleamed and he turned away to get Buck’s drink. I gave Buck’s
neck a sidelong glance. That patch of stubble? He wasn’t in a good mood. I
played along anyway.
“Now
you’ve done it,” I warned him. “Your drink is coming back with a pink umbrella.
I guarantee it.”
Just
then Aerin entered the dining room, platinum perfection in a floral dress. The
way Chet looked at her brought a tear to my eye, the intensity of his emotion
etched plainly across his face. I glanced at Buck. He was looking at me the
same way. I never wanted to look at anyone else again, if only he would never
stop looking at me that way.
“No,
Buck,” I forced myself to say the words, “you don’t get to look at me like
that.” Never stop. I couldn’t help the thought. It wasn’t fair, it
wasn’t reasonable, but right now I couldn’t bear it if he stopped.
He
dropped his eyes and sipped his drink, a fluorescent pink thing in a curvy
hurricane glass garnished with a yellow paper umbrella.
“It
tastes like goddamn strawberry bubblegum,” he growled, pushing it away. Corey
was in the dining room, so Buck strode behind the bar and found himself a
bottle of Molson.
“I’m
sorry,” he whispered, pausing behind my barstool. He gave my shoulder a soft
squeeze and kept walking, taking a seat at the long dinner table. Aerin tried
to corral her guests, encouraging everyone to come to the table. I couldn’t
move. The phantom weight of Buck’s hand on my shoulder pinned me to my stool.
AUTHOR BIO:
Tinsley Sellers grew up in Chicago, spending her summers with her grandparents in a tiny town a lot like Beckley, Michigan. Life took her to Arizona, Washington, and Idaho before she finally found her home in Arkansas. She is married to an amazing, supportive (and handsome!) man, with whom she has rescued three dogs and two cats. When she’s not writing, she teaches physics and engineering at the local university. When she’s not writing or teaching, she’s probably trying new recipes. She enjoys fast cars, loud music, fine whisky, and big books. In no particular order.
At the royal summons, Shae mounts a
wingabeast and soars through the air to the high hold of Faeraven, where all is
not as it seems. Visions warn her of danger, and a dark soul touches hers in
the night. When she encounters an attractive but disturbing musician, her
wayward heart awakens.
But then there is Kai, a guardian of
Faeraven and of Shae. Secrets bind him to her, and her safety lies at the
center of every decision he makes.
On a desperate journey fraught with peril and
the unknown, they battle warlike garns, waevens, ferocious raptors, and the
wraiths of their own regrets. Yet, they must endure the campaign long enough to
release the DawnKing and the salvation he offers into a divided land. To
prevail, each must learn that sometimes victory comes only through surrender
(Note:
After arriving at the high hold, Shae and Kai visit Lof Raelein (High Queen)
Maeven.)
They
ascended a circular stairway within a corner tower of the keep, and then
followed a paneled corridor. Their footsteps echoed above a faint thread of music—an
intricate weaving of voice and instrument, which grew in volume.
Kai
knocked on a carved and gilded door at the end of a short corridor. A
round-faced maid bowed her head and admitted them. Shae followed Kai into what must
be the Lof Raelein’s chambers. Exhaustion lent her a curious detachment, as if
she walked in her sleep. The elaborate chambers themselves added to the illusion,
for their exquisite beauty did not seem quite real.
In
the Lof Raelein’s outer chamber, a seating area waited before an enormous
marble fireplace where a fire glowed. Upon the mantle twined carven images of unibeasts
and gryphons. Above it perched a variety of stuffed fowl—pheasants, wingens,
and graylets among them. The birds appeared so life-like, Shae imagined they
might spread their wings and take flight at any moment. On the wall over the
mantel hung a tapestry that showed the first of the Kindren entering Elderland from
Anden Raven at Gilead Riann— the Gate of Life.
The
maid opened another carved and gilded door and led them into the inner chamber.
Details imprinted themselves in brief flashes on Shae’s tired mind…white furnishings….mats
in deep colors…vibrant tapestries…a prism turning in a stray draft at the window
embrasure and refracting rainbows through the chamber.
The
music ceased as they entered, but flaemlings flitted from perch to perch in a
hanging golden cage and trilled their own melodies. A fire of fragrant draetenn
boughs in the marble hearth snapped and crackled its percussion.
A
movement drew Shae’s eye to one of the window embrasures, where the changing
light of late afternoon obscured the figure of a musician bent over his lute.
“Kai.”
A voice rasped from the carved bed that dominated the room. “You have brought
her?”
Shae
started. In a combination of weariness and awe of Torindan, she had all but
forgotten the purpose of her visit.
The
musician came away from the window, and light slanted across him to reveal a
lithe figure and features of surpassing beauty. Vibrant hair of gold sprang
above a well-formed brow. Fathomless eyes held her. Shae caught her breath, and
her hand went out in a blind motion.
Kai’s
arm braced her. “I have brought Shae—by too long a journey.”
“She
will rest then, after greeting me.”
Shae
tore her gaze from the musician as the Lof Raelein made her pronouncement.
About the Author
Janalyn Voigt is a writer and professional speaker with a
photography habit and a passion for travel. Her unique blend of adventure,
romance, suspense, and fantasy creates worlds of beauty and danger for readers. Tales
of Faeraven, her epic fantasy series beginning with DawnSinger,
carries readers into a land only imagined in dreams. She is represented by
Sarah Joy Freese of Wordserve Literary.
In the
little town of Loving, everyone can find their prince or princess once a year.
At least, for a little while. Miriam Eilish is the proprietress of the Eilish
House bed and breakfast just inside the town’s limits. She’s had it with love,
locking herself away for this year’s magic matchmaking festival with no
interest in participating in it ever again.
Enter
Kavion Martin at the last possible minute. He’s in town on his own mission that
has nothing to do with the festival and everything to do with finding his
missing brother.
The
match has been made, the magic set, plunging Miri and Kavion head over heels in
love with each other and into dangers untold and hardships unnumbered.
Timber
Philips hails from a land filled with beauty and steeped in magic; the Pacific
Northwest. She swears you can see fairies and goblins, magic and promise around
every tree and in every drop of water and she shares that magic whenever she
can. She loves welcoming everyone to her worlds of romance rooted in fable and
fantasy.
The second year of
graduate school started out as a new beginning. I felt stronger. My heart had
stitched itself up. I had finally healed enough on the inside to let love
flourish once again. But an ever-present ex-boyfriend made the unresolved
emotions between us impossible to ignore.
Then new complications
emerged: Said ex-boyfriend began dating Cecilia, who just happened to be the
ex-girlfriend of my new love interest. I should have hated her. I wanted to
hate her. But, I have to admit, I liked her.
As the semester
progressed, the tangled web between us deepened in ways I never could have
anticipated, and it spread to those closest to us. We had the same classes, the
same friends, the same interests. Then, of course, there were all the secrets,
some of which could ruin the love I believed I wanted, I deserved.
Once again, I got pulled
into the dizzying vortex of all that remained unfinished. And doubt crept in.
Had I really healed enough to make myself vulnerable again? Had I made the
right choices?
But the big question is:
Can we ever really leave past relationships behind?
This is the second book
in the Where You’ll Land series, but can be read as a stand-alone.
But I wasn’t trying to get his attention
anymore. Now that I had it, though, I had to admit that part of me still wanted
it. Him.
“You’ve ruined my life.”
“I thought we were waaaay past this.”
“That’s easy for you to say. I didn’t hurt
you over and over and over.”
“I hurt myself by hurting you.” His face
wore a look of compassion. I hated that look, because it reminded me that he
was a good person, that he had tried over and over to apologize. He unwittingly
brought out the part of me that I hated, and I projected that hate onto him,
because it was easier to hate someone else than to hate myself. Tears poured
out of my eyes. And he wrapped his arms around me, holding me as wept.
And I hated that his arms still felt good.
Alex pulled up in his car. He walked me
over, practically holding me up as I acted limper than I felt. He laid me down
in the backseat. Alex and he switched places, so he could drive me home.
I closed my eyes and tried to stop the car
from spinning. I was horrified by my behavior. I dreaded going to sleep,
because I knew how humiliated I’d feel tomorrow when I was sober and realized
how much control I had lost.
Where You’ll Land
(Where You’ll Land #1)
By Jacqueline Simon
Gunn
Women’s Fiction,
Contemporary Romance
Paperback & ebook,
408 Pages
January 8th 2019
After a bad breakup, I
packed up my life and moved to Miami to study for my doctorate in psychology. I
made one promise to myself: Do not get romantically involved while I was in
school. I needed to heal. And then Will Easton came into my life. He was warm
and sweet and intelligent. And he got me. What I didn’t know was that Will was
running from a tragedy of his own.
When you try to escape
your past without confronting your emotions, you repeat those same past
patterns over and over. And that’s just what happened to Will and me, along
with a few others who got swept up into the storm that was our relationship.
Then came the awful secret. The one that changed everything.
Sometimes the most
painful relationships are the ones that help us grow into who we are and to
find the love we had been searching for all along.
Which begs the question:
Can we choose who we love?
Jacqueline Simon Gunn is a Manhattan-based clinical psychologist
and writer. She has authored two non-fiction books, and co-authored two others.
She has published many articles, both scholarly and mainstream, and currently
works as a freelance writer. With her academic and clinical experience in
psychology, Gunn is now writing psychological fiction. Her Close Enough to Kill
series, explores the delicate line between passion and obsession, love and
hate, and offers readers an elaborate look into the mind of a murderer.
In addition to her
clinical work and writing, Gunn is an avid runner and reader. She is currently
working on multiple writing projects, including three romance novels.
The
Emperor’s Seal – the divine symbol of the Emperor on earth – is missing. The
Empress will do whatever it takes to get it back.
Jiayi has a gift – she can travel through time just
by touching historical artifacts. More than anything, she wants to escape the
clutches of the Empress and run away to a foreign land. Finding the Emperor’s
Seal could be her only chance at freedom, but is she willing to risk the wrath
of the Empress?
Historian and wannabe archaeologist Zhihao has no
love for the Empress or the Qing Dynasty, but when the Empress orders him to
find the Emperor’s Seal in exchange for funding China’s first history museum,
he cannot refuse. It is only after he accepts the assignment that he realizes
the key to finding the seal lies in the hands of a palace slave.
Civil unrest and encroaching foreign powers
threaten Jiayi and Zhihao’s mission and lives as they hunt for The Emperor’s
Seal.
As the
Qing Empire continues to crumble, the Empress is more desperate than ever to
find a way to secure her stranglehold on the country. Every day, she forces
Jiayi to use her powers to see into the past to the time of Empress Wu to
discover the secret to securing power.
But Jiayi already knows the answer.
Empress Wu’s dagger is more than it appears.
Blessed with an ancient power, the dagger can be used to make and destroy
empires.
Jiayi’s ability to travel through time is growing
stronger, and she is not sure she wants to use that power to prop up a dying
empress. There is only one man she wants to save. The man she lost her heart
to. A man who died over a thousand years ago.
Zhihao knows he cannot fall in love with Jiayi, a
palace slave. But with each passing day, his feelings grow stronger.
When a ghost from his past walks into his life,
Zhihao may have to choose between his country and the woman he loves.
Secrets will
be revealed in the second exciting installment of the Touching Time Trilogy!
That is what people from all sides are telling
Jiayi. She not only has the power to kill the empress, but to set up a new
future for China. Jiayi has spent her life as a palace slave. Freedom for China
could mean a lifetime of servitude for her.
And Jiayi is tired of living for everyone else.
As Jiayi’s powers grow, she finds herself living
more and more in the past, even as the future is barreling toward her.
Zhihao’s past is catching up with him, leaving
death and heartache in its wake. Zhihao is going to have to make a choice, but
he isn’t sure he can do it alone.
Jiayi and Zhihao stand on the precipice of a new
world. But they will only survive if they can overcome the past and stand
together, no matter how much it hurts.
Get lost in
time in this thrilling conclusion to the Touching Time Trilogy!
As Jiayi woke, she heard her name being
called louder and louder.
“Jiayi! Jiayi, answer me! Did you find
it? Do you know where the seal is?”
Jiayi opened her eyes and the empress
was right in front of her. She started as the hard eyes looked deep into her
own.
“Jiayi! Answer me! What did you see?”
“Lady Cai…” Jiayi said as she tried to
recall the details of the vision. “The emperor gave the seal to Lady Cai.”
She heard other women in the room gasp.
She looked around and saw the empress’s other ladies, her attendants and maids,
all looking at her. While the empress kept Jiayi’s powers secret from her
ministers and male counselors, she did not bother hiding Jiayi from her friends
and ladies—her real advisors.
“You mean the Lady Cai? The one the emperor nearly gave up the throne
for?” one of the ladies, Princess Der Ling, asked. “He truly trusted her that
much?”
Jiayi nodded. “He loved her,” she said.
“But what about the seal?” the empress
snapped, grabbing Jiayi’s arm and shaking her.
She knew the empress would be angry
when she found out Jiayi did not know where it was. But maybe she could give
her enough information to temper her anger.
“There was a battle, on the road to
Jehol. Some barbarians. I don’t know who,” she explained. “The emperor feared
that they would kill him and steal the seal. He wanted Lady Cai to hide it, to
protect it.”
“And?”
The empress was shaking. She held her hands out as if Jiayi was in possession
of the seal and could simply hand it over to her.
“And…I…I dropped it,” Jiayi said, tears
forming in her eyes. “I’m sorry, but the vision ended before he could hand it
to me. I don’t know where it is. But he certainly gave it to Lady Cai! If we
know where the battle took place, she must have hidden it nearby and…”
The empress slapped Jiayi so hard
across the face she thought her neck snapped. She held her breath, afraid to
make the slightest noise and possibly invite more of the empress’s wrath. The
room was utterly silent. None of the other women dared to go to Jiayi’s aid.
After a moment that seemed like much longer, the empress stumbled back. Jiayi
finally sucked in a breath as everyone else in the room audibly exhaled. She
straightened her neck, but kept her moist eyes downturned.
“So close…so close…” the empress
muttered.
“We can try again,” one of the other
women suggested. She picked up the box and shoved it into Jiayi’s hands, but
nothing happened.
“You know it doesn’t work that way,”
another of the other women angrily whispered, slapping her hands away.
“But Jiayi is right,” Der Ling said.
“If Lady Cai had the box on the way to Jehol, that narrows the search
considerably.”
The empress sat down in her chair,
looking as worn and exhausted as Jiayi felt. She was quiet for a moment, as if
considering her options. Finally, she nodded her head. “Yes, it is time. Bring
him to me…”
Amanda
Roberts is a writer and editor who has been living in China since 2010. Amanda
has an MA in English from the University of Central Missouri. She has been
published in magazines, newspapers, and anthologies around the world and she
regularly contributes to numerous blogs. Amanda can be found all over the
Internet, but her home is AmandaRobertsWrites.com.
From New York Times bestselling author Marie Force comes a glittering tale of star-crossed romance set amid the lavish mansions and decadent lifestyles of early 20th century Newport, Rhode Island. But even in an age of great fortune, the heart has its own idea of true riches …
Wealthy American industrialist Aubrey Nelson has invited the Duke and Duchess of Westbrook to visit his family’s Newport seaside “cottage” for the summer. With his parents’ departure from New York delayed, Aubrey’s mother sends him ahead to oversee preparations for their guests. But when he arrives, he’s surprised to find the house and staff in disarray …
With much to do and little time, Aubrey comes to rely on the housekeeper, a lovely young Irish woman named Maeve Brown. And when he also finds himself confiding in Maeve about more personal matters, he tells himself it’s merely their close proximity that draws him to the compassionate, hard-working beauty. Yet when he suspects Maeve is in danger, Aubrey realizes his feelings for her have grown much deeper than they should have. For what will his mother, who dreams of a society match for her son, have to say when she arrives to discover he’s lost his heart to a girl of the working class?
Praise for Duchess by Deception
“Force has crafted a masterpiece with the perfect amount of romance.”
Normally, I’m on top of this, but not this time. But I’m going to remedy that now. I have said it before and I will say it again and again, she is the queen(SF) of live stories. If you want to be a part of Otto and Mae’s journey, please join us at Bridges & Channels Enterprises. The first few chapters are free; after that, there is a fee to continue to be a part of the live story experience.
He has had his fair share of heartbreak and disappointment. After choosing to leave his career as a successful lawyer to follow his passion, his world falls apart. While picking up the pieces, he embarks on a new path…teaching.
Celeste Ward is ready to put the past behind her and welcomes the fresh start that college promises. After stumbling into her first class late, something awakens in her that she never knew was there.
What happens when rules get broken and lives become intertwined?
Get the temporarily free Kindle Book “Craving (Steel Brothers Saga Book 1) ($7.99 to Free) #Kindle” at: https://www.jucktion.com/forum/kindle-free-books/craving-steel-brothers-saga-book-1-7-99-to-free-kindle/ on Amazon. Create a free Amazon account from anywhere and start reading the books you add anytime you like. Once you add the books to your library, they are yours forever. Even after the price of the books change, you will still own the book. Take your love of reading books to the next level without spending a dime. Experience, Learn, and Imagine with the books from around the world
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