Book Blast/Giveaway - Violins and Vampires by Cee Bee

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be giving away a $20 Amazon/BN GC via Rafflecopter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Lexa Kozlov must pay off her family's massive debt to the mob... all while raising even more money to save her little sister. The result? A never-ending (and incredibly illegal) stakeout for the Bratva. Lexa barely has time to sleep, let alone find love.

Enter Caelin Vass, the handsome Scotsman who runs Empire Investments. Caelin offers Lexa a new job with dollars galore, as well as a hot bod (his own) to contemplate every workday. Even so, Lexa isn’t sure. Freaky things keep happening whenever Lexa and Caelin are alone. The energy between them is magical, sensual, and way overwhelming.

Is Lexa leaving her old prison just to enter a worse one… or is Caelin Vass all he seems and more?

***12,000 word novella, previously published on Kindle Vella as Blood Slave***

Read an Excerpt

My heels click along the wooden floor as I make my way through the shadows. At last, I reach the end of the hallway. The next door is closed, but its shape is outlined by the light beyond.

That's where my potential employer waits. Caelin Vass. My heart thuds faster.

I press my palm against the door. It swings open with barely any pressure. Stepping across the threshold, I enter a fancy version of the Lucky Ladies' Lounge. Where Otto's place is all torn furniture covered in questionable stains, this room holds real leather club chairs. Across from the sitting area, there's a large wooden desk. Red velvet curtains cover the windows. Plush oriental rugs line the floor. Oil paintings of the Scottish countryside cover the walls.

On a nearby couch sits the exact man I saw last night. Turns out, my hallucinating skills are pretty accurate. Vass' broad shoulders fill out his dark suit perfectly. Every strand of his dark hair is perfectly combed to highlight his intense stare.

Oh, those eyes.

Vass is the kind of man who looks right through you. I feel exposed, like every scintilla of my soul is laid bare on the fancy carpet. Vass also sports the perfect level of scruff on his chin, too. I'm a sucker for that. And don't get me started on his lips. I can't help but picture his full mouth on my breast.

Wait, WHAT? Am I really thinking about sex right now?

I straighten my skirt and wait by the door. Vass keeps staring at me. A strange kind of electricity fills the air. The room seems to collapse until there is only me and Vass. I don't believe in hocus pocus, but if I didn't know better? I'd think the guy is trying a mind spell on me. What did they call it in that movie I watched with Mom? Vampire glamour.

Right.

The guy is just trying to psych me out, end of story. It's another power play, like having his secretary ask me to strip down while he can watch it all on closed circuit cameras or whatever. Total creep move. The more I think about it, the angrier I get.

And my temper takes over. Again.

I set my fist on my hip and run off my mouth. "Next time, if you want to see my lady bits, take me out to a nice dinner first. You know, like an actual man."

The sense of power and connection instantly snaps. An odd chill fills the room. Vass watches me for a long minute. And I might be imagining things, but it seems that his lips are parted in an expression of disbelief.

I squint and get a better look. Turns out, I'm totally right. His mouth is hanging open.

Score one for Lexa.

About the Author:

CEE BEE writes stories that blend epic fantasy, steamy romance, and lots of sass. If you want immersive tales that transport you to fresh worlds (and new book boyfriends) then you’ve come to the right author. To learn more about CEE BEE, please visit www.ceebeeauthor.com. Her new book, VIOLINS AND VAMPIRES, is available on Kindle Unlimited: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZYVCNC3

CEE BEE also writes young adult fare under the name Christina Bauer. Check out Christina’s books at her website. There’s a literal sh*t ton of them.

Stalk CEE BEE/Christina on Social Media

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Vampires of the Daemonverse Series
1. Violins and Vampires – now on Kindle Unlimited: Amazon ONLY $0.99
2. Veils and Vampires
3. Valor and Vampires

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Book Blitz/Giveaway - Big Shot by Kirsten Weiss

 

Big Shot

by Kirsten Weiss

 

 

GENRE: Cozy Mystery

 

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BLURB:

 

Small Town. Big Murder.

 

The number one secret to my success as a bodyguard? Staying under the radar. But when a wildly public disaster and a dead client blew up my career and reputation, it turned my perfect, solo life upside down.

 

I thought my tiny hometown of Nowhere would be the ideal out-of-the-way refuge to wait out the media storm.

 

It wasn’t.

 

My little brother had moved into a treehouse. The obscure mountain town had decided to attract tourists with the world’s largest collection of big things... Yes, Nowhere now has the world’s largest pizza cutter. And lawn flamingo. And ball of yarn...

 

And then I stumbled over a dead body. 

 

All the evidence points to my brother being the bad guy. I may have been out of his life for a while—okay, five years—but I know he’s no killer. Can I clear my brother before he becomes Nowhere’s next Big Fatality?

 

A fast-paced and funny cozy mystery series, buy Big Shot now to take advantage of the special pre-order price of .99 cents.

 

Murder mystery game included in the back of the book!

 

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NOTE: The book will be on sale for $0.99 during the tour.

 

Excerpt:

Just to be clear, it wasn’t my fault.

It wasn’t my responsibility either. But when my client slipped me a mickey, there’s a principle involved. Though after falling down a flight of hotel stairs, I wasn’t sure what that principle was anymore.

I staggered to my feet, lost the rest of my dinner in a potted palm, and careened through the door into the hotel lobby.

Guests turned to stare, and why not? My blond hair fountained out of a high, pre-makeup-removal ponytail. Camo pajamas and flip-flops completed my tipsy party-girl look.

I staggered deeper into the chic gray and white lobby. Lights glinted off the chrome chandeliers, and I winced at their dizzying starbursts.

My fists clenched on my phone. Or at least I thought they did. My fingers were a little numb. But I’d expelled most of the drugs, and I was going to catch my wayward client, Toomas Koppel, and surveil him until it hurt. Him. Hurt him.

That wasn’t ego. I was well aware of my many flaws. But I also knew who I was and what I was, and what I was was very, very good at surveillance.

Plus, I was an optimist. Personal protection agents, otherwise known as bodyguards, frequently were. We liked to think we were tough and cynical, since our job was to watch for trouble. But you didn’t get into this business if you didn’t think you and your client would survive it. Maybe that was why I’d been snookered by mine. I still had no idea why he’d drugged me, but I was going to find out.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Kirsten Weiss writes laugh-out-loud, page-turning mysteries. Her heroines aren’t perfect, but they’re smart, they struggle, and they succeed. Kirsten writes in a house high on a hill in the Colorado woods and occasionally ventures out for wine and chocolate. Or for a visit to the local pie shop.

 

Kirsten is best known for her Wits’ End, Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum, and Tea & Tarot cozy mystery books. So if you like funny, action-packed mysteries with complicated heroines, just turn the page…

 

Links:

Website: https://kirstenweiss.com

Pre-order Swag for Big Shot with FREE Mystery Role-Playing Game: https://www.kirstenweiss.com/big-shot-pre-order-extras

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kirsten.weiss/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kirstenweissauthor/

Buy links:

Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Big-Shot-Small-Town-Mystery-ebook/dp/B096HXVM3X

Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1570681096

Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/big-shot-kirsten-weiss/1139623646

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=_D8xEAAAQBAJ

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/big-shot-12

 

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

 

Kirsten Weiss will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway In addition to the Rafflecopter, the author is running a pre-order promotion: https://www.kirstenweiss.com/big-shot-pre-order-extras

Book Review/Giveaway - Like A Lily Among The Thorns by Karen S Bell

Like a Lily Among the Thorns

by Karen S. Bell

 

 

GENRE:   Cli-fi, șpec. fiction, fantasy

BLURB:

 

There are those who are born into loving families and then there are the less fortunate who must forge their own families through strong friendships. At a local small library in New York City, one such family was born. And just like so many capricious happenstances in life, this family unit embraced newcomers and grew exponentially. But this clan was also charged with far more than spreading love and joy and a sense of belonging. This clan was formed by divine Providence to help save the planet.

Gabrielle Bernstein, the MC of Like a Lily Among the Thorns, is a woman in her twenties and has started her career as a librarian at a NYC public library. Abandoned by her father as a young girl and now orphaned by her deranged mother, Gabby longs for a family connection. Coincidentally, she finds this connection at the same time she inherits a B&B in Vermont from her estranged and now deceased father. This enchanted inn is under the watchful eye of goddesses of myth and legend who have been tasked to save mankind from destroying itself and this planet. These goddesses will use their powers to try and stall the onslaught of the effects of droughts, floods, and rising temperatures. But as a safety net they have collected human saviors all over the planet to erect safe havens at high altitudes away from flood waters and blistering temperatures.

This one group of saviors are ordinary people who have some extraordinary abilities and enjoy a higher consciousness. They are brought together to join forces in Vermont to create one such refuge. Along the way there is romance, misunderstandings, conflict, and internal growth. Locations are Manhattan, London, Brooklyn, and Rutland, Vermont. Woven through this tale is Gabrielle’s inherent understanding that she must be grateful, mindful, and present in this journey called “life.”  

The impending devastation that will be brought about by the effects of global climate change is the underpinning of this Cli-Fi/speculative fiction novel. Like a Lily Among the Thorns  focuses on how this potential disaster will have dire consequences for us all and is currently becoming more top of mind as people are waking up to strange weather events such as the scorching temperatures that have gripped the Northwestern states and torrential rains in the Northeast.

 

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Excerpt:

 

Sometimes a major change in one’s life comes on the heels of ordinary events. A dinner invitation and cab ride can be more than transportation from here to there for food. The Countess would become a very important addition in Gabby’s life but as of right now, none of them knew that, particularly, the Countess. Frozen in place while staring at the luxury townhouse, Gabby was caught up short. Reality had suddenly become fluid, become a changeling, a stranger in the night. The hours she had spent imagining the Countess’s life as a Hollywood starlet or Gatsby character now converged with the truth of her circumstances. It was hard to digest this shift in perspective when everyone at the library remained unenlightened and still believed the Countess was a brave woman struggling to make ends meet just to get by. The bombardment of the truth was too much to absorb right now, especially when her own life was in such flux. She also did not want to think of how this information revealed the Countess’s damning deception, her dis-ingenuousness to everyone. It was a mind-numbing disappointment, a gut punch that made her feel off balance.

           

Everything was suddenly out of step and off-kilter. Too much random noise was being thrown at her by the cosmos, a shock to the senses. In just one day, today, to be exact, she had been notified that her apartment building was being demolished, her friends at the coffee shop, albeit not close, would be summarily swallowed up by the cavernous city as they dispersed, and now this…this unexpected truth of the Countess’s financial situation.

 

My Thoughts:  I so enjoyed reading about Gabby as I could relate to her character so much. I could see so much of myself in her.... the depression and the seemingly daily mishaps, even her mantra of things could always be worse sounded like the author had plucked me up and tossed me inside her book. A quick pick me up read!

 

 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

All my work is inspired by social issues to which we all can relate. Work/ life stresses, the loss of a spouse and how marriage can sometimes swallow a woman’s identity, and the prevalence of greed in modern society.

Walking with Elephants is my first novel, although I am not new to writing. I was a theater critic and celebrity interviewer for a weekly tabloid in Jacksonville, Fl and I earned a Master’s in Mass Communication from Oklahoma State University. For 15 years I worked in Corporate America as a technical editor/editor/writer. I experienced first hand the politics and intrigue that goes with that territory and the balancing act that comes with being a working mother. I salute all those mothers who are the glue that holds their families together while pursuing the nine to five brass ring and were the inspiration for this work. Audible book is available and narrated by me.

With my second novel, Sunspots, I continue to be in awe of the magical and wondrous phenomenon called life. As an observer and obvious participant in feminine values and approach to our human challenges, I bring this perspective to my work. Fascinated by the mysteries of the unseen forces that perhaps play a role in guiding our choices, I search for answers in the mundane as well as in the cosmic forces that surround us.

Alexa’s pact with the Devil in When a Stranger Comes…is an allegory for the evil lurking in our midst. The social decay of modern society with its excessive greed, the ignorance of our political leaders, and our indifference toward the survival of all species from the effects of climate change, among other environmental pressures, are perhaps brought forth by the darkest forces of human nature. The audible book narrated by me is in production.

The genre of magical realism appeals to me and all my work has elements woven in. My current project is focused on a Bed and Breakfast that becomes a safe haven from the effects of climate change while celebrating the Feminine Divine and is set squarely in that realm.

I am working on my next novel in Ponte Vedra, Fl. where I live with my husband and our two furry kids. Our human kids have flown the nest and are scattered far and wide, alas.

https://karensbell.com

https://twitter.com/karensuebell

https://www.facebook.com/ksbwwe

 

Buy:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09V3FNTCT

 

 

Karen S. Bell will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway