Sara Claridge writes contemporary romantic suspense. Born in West London, she inexplicably moved to France six years ago on a whim. When not writing at her desk in the eaves of an old farmhouse, she can be found in the garden. Usually with a glass of red wine in one hand, and a good book in the other.
Residing in the sunny side district of Southern Indiana with his lovely wife, their two dogs, servo bed bugs programmed as snooze alarms if the six-foot clown alarm clock called Chainsaw Freckles doesn’t wake him up by the scream of its chainsaw, Brick Marlin juggles working a full-time job at UPS while honing his craft of writing in the early mornings. His latest novel, Shadow Out Of The Sky, has already gathered great reviews, as well as his previous works, Blue Lights In A Jar, Sectors and Raising Riley.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1156291.Brick_Marlin
http://www.brickmarlin.com/index.html
(Winners - Ellen, Tressa )
Saving Toby by Suzanne McKenna Link (One Two eBooks - Kindle from Amazon or any format from Smashwords- International)
Genre: Contemporary Romance/New Adult
Loving someone through their hard fall from grace takes a lot of grit.
In school, Toby Faye was a moody kid who sat in the back of class and looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there. Claudia might have forgotten him if it weren't for the two fatal circumstances surrounding his family. In their small town, the Faye name was infamous.
An unexpected job offering drops Claudia back into Toby's life, and that of his widowed mother. Older now, Toby is a mass of muscles and unruly hair, a real head-turner. The reunion sparks a heated, palpable connection between the two.
Despite Claudia's attempt to stay away from Toby, his blue-grey expose a need she cannot ignore. Toby's world is a place where sadness lingers and old wounds run deep. Moved by the family's plight, Claudia vows to help Toby and his mother move past the hurt.
When a local hate crime is linked to Toby and his friends, doubts are cast. Old friends become enemies. Animosity between Claudia's father and Toby, strains the father-daughter relationship. Taking Toby's side means Claudia will be forced to face situations she never imagined she might. She will have to be tougher than she's ever had to be. Does Claudia have the grit to love Toby through his fall?
Saving Toby is the first book of a two-part series that follows the emotional and inspirational tale of a young couple's journey to find themselves.
Reviewers Rave:
- "I was gripped from start to finish. I was completely in love with Toby."
- "I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I couldn't put it down!"
- "I found a new author that I really like, that's for sure."
- "I highly enjoyed it and can not wait to read the next installment."
- "Saving Toby was an outstanding read! From start to finish each character captures your heart! The message of finding your own personal happiness in order to have happiness with another person is beautifully entwined throughout the book."
YouTube
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Books by Julie Coulter Bellon
(Winner - Melissa C.)
All Fall Down (1 autographed print copy - continental U.S. or Canada OR an audio book from Audible)
Note: book is currently free on Amazon for a limited time - see Amazon link below)
Winner of the RONE Award for Best Suspense
"Ms. Bellon is a master builder of international suspense with just a smidgeon of romance to whet the readers' appetites. All Fall Down is an energetic read that guarantees satisfaction for the romantic as well as the adventurous reader." ---Erin Murdock, InD'Tale Magazine
Ring around the rosy, a pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes we all fall down . . .
That simple rhyme turns negotiator Claire Michaels’ current hostage situation into an international incident. Claire just wants to help get everyone out safely, but as the crisis escalates she realizes she’s dealing with an al-Qaeda operative who has the means to become another bin Laden---with the potential to attack America. Claire has her own personal reasons for wanting to stop al-Qaeda, but time is slipping away as negotiations break down. Can she overcome her scars of the past in order to get the hostage out alive and possibly stop an assault on U.S. national security?
Navy SEAL Rafe Kelly is on leave to recover from a knee injury he suffered during his tour in Afghanistan and he doesn’t expect to be fighting terrorists on his home turf. But when he is taken hostage and his brother is kidnapped, Rafe teams up with a hostage negotiator in order to stay alive and get his brother back. The terrorist is always one step ahead of them, however, and the situation quickly turns from desperate to deadly. Will Rafe be able to save himself and his country without anyone he loves getting caught in the crossfire?
Amazon
Nook
Kobo
(Winner - Julie)
Ashes Ashes (1 Print {U.S. or Canada} OR Audio book from Audible OR Ebook copy {International}, winner's choice)
Are you ever really innocent until proven guilty?
Sophia Naziri is wanted for questioning in the murder of a U.S. senator. She’s worried the police will show up on her doorstep any moment, but when Detective Colby Black appears, it’s to help her put out a kitchen fire, not take her in. Yet. His easy smile and persistence in getting to know her pushes all her troubles to the back of her mind, until a hit man tracks her down. Getting arrested becomes the least of her worries and the handsome detective could be her only way out---if she tells him the truth.
Colby Black’s sniper skills have been a blessing and a curse to him. As a member of a Hostage Negotiation Team, he can use them to save people, but sometimes he can’t protect the innocent despite his best efforts. When a hostage situation goes bad, he tries to put it behind him by helping out his mysterious next-door neighbor, Sophia Naziri. But she pulls Colby into a web of lies and conspiracy that will force him to use every skill he has in order to survive. Faced with the moment of truth, can he trust anyone around him---including the woman at the center of it all?
About the author
Julie Coulter Bellon is the author of more than a dozen romantic suspense novels. Her book All Fall Down won the RONE award for Best Suspense and Pocket Full of Posies won a RONE Honorable Mention for Best Suspense.
Julie loves to travel and her favorite cities she's visited so far are probably Athens, Paris, Ottawa, and London. She loves to read, write, teach, watch Castle, Hawaii Five-O, and eat Canadian chocolate. Not necessarily in that order.
Julie offers writing and publishing tips as well as her take on life on her blog
ldswritermom.blogspot.com You can also find out about all her upcoming projects at her website
juliebellon.com
(Winner - Elle)
Greenshift by Heidi Ruby Miller (1 print copy - International)
GREENSHIFT is the first book in a new series set within the world of Ambasadora. This space thriller contains an ensemble cast and elements of futuristic romance, military science fiction, a galactic empire, cyberpunk, and space opera.
In this caste-ruled society, celebrity, beauty, and power mean everything and multiple partners are the norm. Love and jealousy are considered emotional fallacies, nothing more than fleeting moods and sentiments biased by hormones. But sometimes people just fall in love...and that can be deadly.
Mari's rare eye color makes her a pariah within Upper Caste society, which is why she prefers plants to people...except David, the former Armadan captain who shuttles scientists around on a refurbished pleasure cruiser.
But someone else is interested in Mari and her distinctive look--an obsessed psychopath who tortures and murders women for pleasure.
When the killer chooses Mari as his next victim, the soldier inside David comes alive, but it is Mari who must fight for her own life and prove she isn't as fragile as the flowers she nurtures.
"It’s a sweet and fulfilling journey as Miller fleshes out the characters’ backgrounds and motives, threading the branches of circumstance and desire that blossom into love. David and Mari’s strong personalities burn through the pages and it’s easy to see their relationship as believable, passionate, and enduring."-K. Ceres Wright, Amazing Stories reviewer
"The action and romance are seamlessly woven together, transporting us and leaving us petulant for more when the story is over."
-from the foreword by Dana Marton, New York Times best selling author of THE THIRD SCROLL
"I love sci-fi romance and am always on the lookout for a new author. This was a great introduction to a new world with characters that were memorable and believable."
-Cyberclipher, Amazon reviewer
"I knew from page two of Greenshift that I had a writer-crush on Heidi Ruby Miller. I mean, holy crap, this girl can write! This is how you write Science-Fiction."
-Cary Caffrey, best selling author of THE GIRLS FROM ALCYONE
"Miller's characters blaze with life and lust and depth, and her world is a dichotomy of the glamorously sensual and the brutally dangerous."
-Mary SanGiovanni, Bram Stoker nominated author of THE HOLLOWER trilogy
"...I loved the world building in this, the attention to detail and the portrayal of the characters. Heidi has a talent for making them so real. The writing is flawless and descriptive, and all the premises and reactions believable and consistent. The bad guys completely gave me the creeps..."
-Pippa Jay, author of KEIR
"GREENSHIFT gives readers a delightfully malicious villain and a thrilling climax that had me on the edge of my seat and left me gasping for breath when all was said and done. Fans of Sci-Fi Romance are sure to enjoy this romance and action-packed novel."
-S.A. Sullivan, author of THE HAUNTED HOUSEWIVES OF ALLISTER, ALABAMA
"No spoilers here, but if you love planet hopping, space crafts, incredibly thought out societal pecking orders, stuff called scent bots and voyeurs, and characters you simply cannot resist rooting for...read this."
-T. K. Toppin, author of THE LANCASTER RULE series
Buy the book
DOG STAR BOOKS
AMAZON
BARNES AND NOBLE
About the author
Heidi Ruby Miller uses research for her stories as an excuse to roam the globe. With degrees in Anthropology, Geography, Foreign Languages, and Writing, she knew early that penning fast-paced, exotic adventures would be her life. She's put her experiences and studies to paper in her far-future
AMBASADORA series and into her two new thriller series.
In between trips, Heidi teaches creative writing at
Seton Hill University, where she graduated from their renowned
Writing Popular Fiction Graduate Program the same month she appeared on
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. AMBASADORA was her thesis novel there, and the multi-award winning writing guide
MANY GENRES, ONE CRAFT, which she co-edited with
Michael A. Arnzen, is based on the Seton Hill program and was named
#5 in The Writer magazine's Ten Most Terrific Writing Books of 2011.
She has had
various fiction and non-fiction publications, as well as various jobs, including contract archaeologist, foreign currency exchanger at Walt Disney World, foreign language teacher, and educational marketing director for
Frank Lloyd Wright's House on Kentuck Knob. In 2012, Heidi created the
Dog Star Books science fiction imprint for
Raw Dog Screaming Press and was the managing editor for the line for three years. Recently she was the Director of Professional Writing Relations for the
Pennsylvania Literary Festival, an event she co-founded in 2014.
Her formal memberships include
The Authors Guild,
International Thriller Writers,
Pennwriters, and
Science Fiction Poetry Association. She is fond of high-heeled shoes, action movies, chocolate, and tea of any sort. Heidi lives near Pittsburgh with her award-winning writer husband,
Jason Jack Miller, and a sweet little kitty.
HEIDI RUBY MILLER
AMAZON
GOODREADS
TWITTER
INSTAGRAM
FACEBOOK
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(Winners - Hazel, Lianne, Suzanne, Carol, Jane H. )
One Two Three Four Five eBook sets of the Miss Taken series, Books 1 and 2 by Cleo Scornavacca and One Two three Five bookmark sets (5 winners - International)
Miss Taken
Love........................The Ultimate Loss of Control
Rain and Raven Medici are identical twins. Although they come from a loving close-knit family their childhoods couldn’t have been more different. Raven went to school and was exposed freely to the outside world. Rain on the other hand was born with a blood disorder and denied many normal childhood experiences.
Once grown, Raven becomes a lawyer at their dad’s firm Kane & Medici in NYC. Rain along with her only childhood friend Tommy Conte, builds a very successful business as professional photographers. Traveling between Europe and Manhattan, and enjoying a world that was kept from her, Rain vows never to be controlled again.
Dominick Kane is a product of his upbringing. He’s powerful, self-assured and knows he can achieve anything he desires. Nothing gets in his way. There is only one thing he has ever failed at. A relationship with his father Vincent Kane. Upon his father’s death, Dominick vows revenge. The events he sets in motion put him on a collision course he himself will be unable to control.
In a bizarre twist of fate, Dominick kidnaps Raven as part of his plan for revenge. Only to discover afterward, he has taken Rain by mistake. Rain knows she can never survive being confined again. So she strikes a bargain with the devil and agrees to help Dominick get back what he feels rightly belongs to him. His father’s share of Kane & Medici.
Dominick decides to use the strong attraction growing between Rain and himself to control her in every way imaginable. Too bad no one ever taught Dominick you can’t control the heart. Nothing could have prepared him for the effect Rain would have on his.
Will this plan of revenge turn into unconditional love? Or will Dominick and Rain’s need for control ultimately destroy them and any possible chance for a real future together…………...
Identity
People aren’t always who you believe them to be.
Dominick Kane and Rain Medici started their relationship with one another in the most unconventional way.
He kidnapped her.
With the kidnapping now behind them, life returns to normal, right?
Not a chance.
The push, the pull and their fights for control that we’ve come to love about Dominick and Rain still exist. And so does their passion.
People aren’t who you think they are. Familiar faces are not so familiar. The past and the present collide, opening up all of those old wounds and struggles once again.
Now, everything you thought you knew, gets blown out of the water.
Can Dominick and Rain finally heal what’s broken? Or will new discoveries push them even further apart.
Will love win out and bring them back together? Or will ghosts of the past ultimately destroy their love once and for all...
About the author
As far back as I can remember, I've loved books. I love reading them and finally, I've admitted to myself that I love to write them.
Since the day I started to write Rain and Dominick's story, I've never looked back, nor do I regret one single moment of it.
When I write, much of the time the story plays in my head as a movie and sometimes even includes background music. We can all use a little background music.
I try to add elements of things I love. And share them with the readers. I'll continue to create characters and stories that you can laugh, cry, love, hate and even become slightly crazy about.
Let's face it, we can all use some crazy every now and then.
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Website
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(WINNERS - SHARON, TIF)
READ-A-THON HOST PRIZE
