An absolutely captivating, fascinating glimpse into the underworld of society! The storyline was unique yet realistic, the characters very complex and the intrigue was nonstop. The story switches between different POVs providing different views of the ongoing scenarios. This is  a dark trip into what the drug underworld is like and how regular, average people can get sucked into it by desperation. While the theme of the story is dark, the author still manages to keep it somewhat light hearted and spices it up with some absolutely steamy, paint-peeling hot romance! And I mean it- the romance is sizzling! I was consuming this book as fast as I could to fins out what would happen next. I absolutely, completely loved this spicy little nugget of a book and can't wait to read some more from this author!

  This was an entirely new experience for me! I read a lot of crime mysteries and I read a lot of erotica- but I've never read anything that combined the two together! I believe the author may have created a new genre! With straightforward writing, tons of twists and mysteries all throughout and stuffed full of sizzling hot romance- this series had me completely absorbed the whole time! As the series progress, they seem to get better and better and I completely connected with spunky Daisy. There was ton of intrigue and mystery that had me sitting on the edge of my seat anticipating what would happen next! If you enjoy crime thrillers or erotica- you have to check out this new genre!

Melanie is a White Wolf spirit healer—a maggishahwi--who hears the last call of a dying soul. She’s loved Mike Dorland forever. But her Cinderella hopes and glass-slipper dreams of a happy ever after with her Prince Charming are shattered the day her father kills Mike’s while driving drunk. Now Mike hates her, and when Mike returns to their home town, she’s both devastated and thrilled.


Mike’s the eldest son of one of the original three founders of the quaint town of Chabegawn, and a half-breed wolf who’s found his mate—Melanie. Mike returns to find the town torn apart by a series of vicious and malicious black bear slayings. Then the town’s beloved, world-famous horse breeder vanishes and his ravaged remains are found.


Melanie’s bent on saving black bear mothers and cubs, and she will risk her life to bait and capture the killers. But Mike will gamble everything to protect his mate.


Amazon


Download two of Jianne’s other ebooks FREE


Sinner Prymal Lust

“I apologize. I was totally out of line.”
Mike.
Her heartbeat went into overdrive. Melanie clutched her chest. Anger came to the rescue. She spun around. “Apology not accepted. You were plain mean and nasty. Just because you’re worth a fortune doesn’t give you the right to treat people like that.”
“I only ever apologize once, Melanie. And I never say anything I don’t mean.” Mike folded his arms and raised an eyebrow.
He knew her first name? Doc G. must’ve told him. She fought the fluttery belly quivers that always assailed her in his presence. Jutted the jaw Mama said was too square for any female. “Fine. Apology accepted. Now if you don’t mind, I have work to do.”
“Doc G.’s closing up. He says he’ll do the autopsy tomorrow. I’ll be here for it.”
Nooo. What in heck is wrong with Doc G.? Melanie gritted her teeth. Why does Mike want to see the autopsy?
“Do you want to wash up?” Mike angled his head toward the sink to the right. “I’ll drop you home. Doc got a call from Jim Balden. He thinks his mare’s dropping the foal tonight.”
So not what she needed. Or wanted. Mike Dorland driving her to the reservation and seeing the broken-down three-bedroom shack the White family occupied. Poor and proud and shunned, even by the rest of the tribe. Melanie straightened her shoulders. Tough titties. She was what she was and wasn’t nothin’ nohow going to change that.
“I’ll call a cab.” She made to move around him, and he caught her hand and drew close.
Too close.
He smelled like paradise. Like a warm sea so blue and clear and sparkling it hurt to see when you stared at the glinting waters. Like equatorial sun baking her skin and raising a hot sweat. Like a tropical breeze whipping exotic aphrodisiacs every which way and creaming her sex.
“Little idiot. I bet you intend to walk the fifteen miles. You always did act as if I stunk up your air.”
Had the floor turned liquid? No, her knees had. She grabbed the counter and tried to shake off the thick fingers circling her wrist in a steely but somehow gentle grip. “Stunk up my air?”
“Half-breed not good enough for a full-blooded Cwaatchii? For the daughter of a Ska Awhi? For the granddaughter of Ixota Migziwa?”
His nose was so close she had to blink to get his features in focus.
Her mouth opened. Nothing came out. She licked her suddenly dry lips.
“That’s it.” He picked her up and jammed her against the wall. Her face was level with his. Then he kissed her, and the world turned upside down and inside out. He tasted of all her pumpkin-coach dreams, of all her tortured teenaged visions of knights, rescue, and happy every after, of every single, furtive pleasuring of herself with his image in her head. Smoky, citrusy, and stomach-clenching delicious.
His hold on her firmed. His arm went around her waist, and when he nudged her legs apart, she surrendered. Worked her fingers into the silk of his hair and kissed him back, touching her tongue to his.

 This book starts off by immediately jumping into mystery, intrigue and spicy hotness! Fast paced, and completely absorbing, this book sinks it's claws into you and won't let you go for the whole ride! The storyline is unique, the dialogue was perfect and the characters were complex and detailed. The mystery and intrigue were absolutely gripping, and the romance was spicy enough to make me want to take a cold shower! This was a really fun, intriguing, fast-paced book to read and I can't wait to see what the second book in the series might bring!

   Award winning author, Jianne Carlo’s motto is simple: Alpha Me Please.
 While strong heroines, exotic locations, and cultural differences are her forte, she goes weak in the knees for bad boys, warriors, and alphas. Send her a man with an attitude and she’ll find the right woman to tame him.
  Jianne loves hot and spicy food, stomach-plunging park rides, and is kept on her toes by her Viking husband of thirty-five years, and three, handsome grown sons. Jianne’s a Zumba addict who loves to cook. Her favorite possession is her ‘Robo-stove. There’s nothing she likes more than hearing from readers.


Website: http://www.jiannecarlo.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jianne123
Twitter: @jiannecarlo
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/jiannecarlo/
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Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B004D8XOLM

                                                                     ‘Machine’ Mike’s Kitchen Sink Chili

Hi, I’m Jianne Carlo and I’m celebrating my latest release, SOUL DEEP, with The Recipe Fairy.
Thank you for hosting me, Recipe Fairy.

I write a whole bunch of genres and cross-genres; contemporary SEAL suspense, paranormal SEAL suspense, contemporary romantic millionaire suspense, and Viking historicals.

Today, I’m sharing ‘Machine’ Mike’s Kitchen Sink Chili Recipe. Mike’s a famous Poker player who’s made a fortune gambling in Vegas, and his opponents dubbed him Machine Mike because he has no obvious ‘tells’. Mike’s chili is the sole dish in his cooking repertoire, aside from toast. 


                                                           Machine Mike’s Kitchen Sink Chili Recipe

Ingredients:

1 lb. Ground Veal
1 lb. Ground Pork
1 lb. Ground Lamb
½ lb. Jalapeño Bacon
1 (16-ounce) can pinto beans, drained/rinsed
1 (16-ounce) can kidney beans, drained/rinsed
1 (24-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (24-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juice
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3 TBSP chili powder
1 TBSP ground cumin
1 TBSP chipotle chili powder
½ TSP Liquid smoke
2 TSP dried oregano
1 TBSP smoked paprika
2 TBSP barbeque sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Garnishes:
Lime wedges
Sour cream
Shredded Cheddar
Sliced scallions
Diced Jalapeños
Chopped jalapeño bacon

Directions:

1. In large Dutch oven, cook the jalapeño bacon over medium heat until crisp.
2. Drain the jalapeño bacon on a paper towel and when cool, tear into bite-size pieces.
3. Add the garlic, onions, bell peppers, chili powder, cumin, chipotle chili powder, oregano, and smoked paprika to the bacon droppings, and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
4. Cook until the vegetables are tender and seasonings are aromatic.
5. Add the lamb, pork, and veal, and break the meat up with a wooden spoon.
6. Once the meat is broken up and browned, stir in the beans, the crushed and diced tomatoes.
7. Add the liquid smoke.
8. Turn the heat down to low and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper, if necessary.
9. Transfer the chili to serving bowls and garnish with lime wedges, sour cream, shredded cheese, diced jalapeños, chopped jalapeño bacon, and sliced scallions.

My local grocery stocks jalapeño bacon and it is the absolute most scrumptious food!!! If you can’t find it, however, it’s available on Amazon here:

http://www.amazon.com/Dorothy-Lane-Market-Uncured-Jalape%C3%B1o/dp/B008RMHSKS/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1459208212&sr=8-1&keywords=jalapeno+bacon




Here’s the scene where Mike cooks his Kitchen Sink Chili for Melanie:
***


“There’s chili in the slow cooker, crusty French bread, and I bought diet ginger ale.”
That last one got her attention. How in heck did he know? She scowled at him, secretly pleased and scared at the same time. The butterflies in her stomach had developed into a swarming mass that warmed her from the inside out.
“Your friend, Brinda, mentioned that’s your favorite drink.”
Since when had Brinda turned traitor?
“You asked her?” Melanie cleared her throat in the hopes the squeak in her voice would go away.
“Doc G. and I were in her section.” Mike shrugged. “I wasn’t obvious. Promise.”
Melanie folded her arms. If he could be aggressive, so could she. “What did Doc G. want to speak to you about anyway?”
“He’s on the board of the county SPCA, and they’re looking to add another member, one with a business background. He wanted to know if I’d be interested in the position.”
“Oh?” All her fighting oomph dissolved. “Are you going to do it?”
“Depends. Mostly on you. We need to talk. And you know it, babe.”
“You can’t just kidnap me like this.” She hugged her purse to her chest and didn’t make a move to exit the pickup when he pulled up the hand brake.
“I have.” He was out of the truck and had opened the passenger door before she could utter a word. “You can leave after dinner if you want.”
“You ate already, remember? At the Caboose with Doc G.” Melanie squealed when he snapped open her belt and scooped her, purse and all, into his arms. He radiated heat, and the warmth cocooned even her cold nose. She stiffened every muscle, but maintaining the tension proved impossible. He smelled so wonderful, and the man-spice of him went straight to her head. How could a scent be so intoxicating?
Her lips tingled when they brushed the skin exposed by the open neck of the top of his checkered shirt. His splayed fingers firmed around her thigh, and the safety of his hold couldn’t be resisted. She gave up and relaxed, sinking deeper and closer into his embrace.
Mike kicked the cabin door open, and the fragrance of chili peppers, onions, garlic, tomato, and beans had her salivating. Her stomach grumbled.
“I think you’re starving, babe.”
***
I hope you enjoyed that little scene from SOUL DEEP and, if you try Mike’s chili, drop me a line.
Two of my books—SINNER & PRYMAL LUST— are FREE on Amazon this month, so please download them! Here are the links:


http://tinyurl.com/SinnerHadesSquad-1
http://tinyurl.com/Prymal-1

Once again, thanks to the Recipe Fairy for hosting me today.

Have a great day and remember to check my site--www.jiannecarlo.com—or my FB author page--https://www.facebook.com/Jianne123/—— on April 28, 2016 for the announcement of the winners!

Have a Marvelous Monday!

Cheers,
Jianne Carlo

Dani is determined to change. Trodden down by her abusive stepdad, neglectful mother, and nonexistent social life, Dani decides to leave it all behind—she flees into the night and finds herself in a dark, and strangely wondrous, new world, a world unknown to most humans.

However, destiny is an unpredictable force. Through a peculiar turn of events, she unknowingly gets entangled in a brutal war waging between two factions of vampires.

The Ruemisuds are a technologically advanced, elite vampire society that wants absolute control. They will stop at nothing to get it, including experimenting on unsuspecting humans and decimating the Rhowels, a clandestine, rebel clan of vampires. But the Rhowels possess a key to survival that the Ruemisuds desperately want, which they will protect until the bitter end.

Dani's riveting journey has just begun in this beautiful tale of love, hate, betrayal, and, above all, survival. The war is escalating quickly and Dani is determined to survive. Who will help her? Who will win the war?


Add to Goodreads


Buy Links ($0.99 Sale):
Amazon│Barnes & Noble│Kobo│Google Play

  This was a really neat read! It starts out with a huge thrill and just keeps on bringing  it! It's kind of a double story, one about Dani and her struggle through the change and the other story about Paul, her brother, and the underground war involving vampires. As you read, more and more is unveiled until you get an explosive finale, melding the two stories together flawlessly. This really was a fantastic story! The writing was extremely descriptive and original, the dialogue was perfect, the emotions were palpable and the characters were very complex. The detail the author put into the underground world of the vampire society is absolutely stunning!This really is an awesomely detailed book that I would recommend to anybody that enjoys vampires, urban fantasy, or just a good thrill!

​A.G. grew up in a gloomy and quaint suburb near London, England, and now lives in sunny southern California with her husband and her son. She has been an avid horror and paranormal fan since she can remember, reading Goosebumps when she was a child, to watching Twilight Zone as a teenager with her grandpa. 

She earned her B.A. in psychology, but decided to follow her passion of storytelling instead. Dark Incidence is her first full length novel, a unique vampire science fiction told through the eyes of two siblings. A.G. also has directed numerous shorts and written children's books. 

Her favorite pastime is watching paranormal and horror movies, painting landscapes and seascapes, and reading fiction novels. She can never turn down an invite to eat something home cooked. 


Author Links:
Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook

Bad luck magnet Abby Fitzpatrick gets fired, catches her boyfriend cheating with a mime, and is cursed by an evil genie who pops out of a tampon box. She’s bound and determined to remove the spell, and as fate would have it, the hottest guy she’s ever met is out to kill her.


River Stone, a Cryptid hunter for Legends and Myths Police Squad (L.A.M.P.S.), poses as a sheriff for Abby’s hometown of Haber Cove, New Jersey. He’s out to find and capture a man-eating gnome and bag the legendary Jersey Devil monster. Little does he realize, the woman who catches his heart is the same creature that he was sent to destroy.


Tempting the Light is the first novel in the L.A.M.P.S. series that features hunky secret agents who find true love while hunting and slaying dangerous Cryptids.

                       Book One: Legends and Myth Police Squad Series (L.A.M.P.S.)


                                                                      Available at Amazon

Abby Fitzgerald didn’t expect a surprise birthday party when she got home today. She didn’t expect bold colored daisies or pretty wrapped gifts. But most of all she didn’t expect to find her live-in boyfriend Burt, engaged in a spooge-a-paloosa fest with a chick dressed as a mime. Her crazy old grandmother warned her she would be cursed on her twenty-fifth birthday, but who would have believed it?
Burt slapped his body up against the mime from behind in a vigorous frenzy on the sleigh styled queen-sized bed. The woman’s hands and painted white face pressed up against an invisible window with his arm wrapped around her waist to keep her vertical.
Seeing Abby, the mime's lips parted into an "O" breaking the sex-me-up red heart painted across them. She covered her mouth with her gloved hands.
Abby stared in horror at Burt with his mouth open and eyes closed, savoring the sheer ecstasy of screwing the mime. Her heart shattered shooting pulmonary shrapnel up her throat. He never looked like that when they were together.
"You’re freaking cheating on me?"
Burt’s eyes popped open, before he leaped from the bed. "Son of a . . ."
Abby dashed into the hallway bathroom, and rummaged in the crowded cabinet under the sink. "Where’s the damn Scrubbing Bubbles? Or better yet, the Borax?" She tossed a mildewed loofa and a half used bottle of honeysuckle hand lotion over her shoulder. They landed not far from Burt’s bare feet.
"Abby, I’m sorry. I was going to wait until after your birthday to tell you." He placed his hands on both sides of the bathroom door trim and leaned into the room. "What the hell are you doing?"
"I’m trying to find something to scour the sick image of you and your mime girlfriend from my eyes. Better yet, I’ll get the melon ball scooper." Unable to contain herself, she whipped a can of lemon scented shaving cream at his head.
He ducked but the foaming missile bounced off his hair-sprayed-until-bullet-proof hair. His nostrils flared like an enraged bull. Too bad that was all he had in common with the animal. "You’re acting irrational. Stop it."
True. Right now she couldn’t even think straight. "Get away from me."
"It doesn’t have to be like this," he said under his breath.
She ignored his statement and shoved his skinny five-foot-four-inch unclothed body aside and marched back into the bedroom.
The mime perched on the edge of the bed with a sheet wrapped around her naked body. She held up both hands in a stop gesture and waved them back and forth.
"Abby. Please settle down." Burt trailed behind her.
"Settle down? Do you know why I came home early?"
"No." He glanced at his watch then looked absolutely baffled.
"Because I got fired today, Burt."
He tilted his head to the side and wrinkled his rather large forehead. "Oh. Well, how were you planning to help me pay the rent then?"
She wished she had a gun to shoot the stupid out of him.
"Get out of my house." She jerked on the mime’s cover-up sheet. The mime pulled back. Abby yanked again but then let go, the mime did a back-flip somersault off the bed. Her pasty white face popped up on the other side of the mattress like a demented rodent in a whack-a-mole game.
"This is my apartment," Burt raised his voice louder and pointed at the mime. "You don’t have to go anywhere."
The mime amplified her smile by pointing to the corners of her lips and twisting her fingers in her imaginary dimples, then she proceeded to skip and do a naked happy dance in circles around Abby.
Abby gave her a shove out of her way. "What the heck is her problem? Doesn’t she talk?"
Burt shrugged. "I don’t know. She hasn’t said a word since we met. It’s one of her perks."
Abby slammed her fist into the side of her leg to keep from punching the detestable smart-ass smirk that spread across his face. Her fantasy of a blissful marriage and white picket fence shattered in one measly, heinous moment.
"How long has this been going on? Wait, don’t answer that. I don’t want to know." She marched over to the closet, grabbed her blue duffle bag, and stuffed a few pairs of her size two jeans into it. She then looked down at his exposed mini-manly parts and raised a questioning brow.
Burt’s eyes widened to a bug-eyed look and then he scattered to pull on a pair of whity-tighties.
She stalked over to her dresser, pulled out different colored T-shirts, and a stack of clean underwear to shove in her bag. She hesitated for a moment. "The other day, I saw you in the jewelry store buying something. I—I thought you might."
Before she could finish, the mime flashed the back of her hand at Abby. A pink princess cut rock set in a platinum setting adorned the ring finger of her left hand.
Burt sent a reprimanding scowl in the mime’s direction. "It just happened."
Her heart went numb first, before the shredding feeling of a weed-whacker tore through it.
"Wonderful." She stormed out of the room and into the kitchen, pulling worthless knick-knacks from their displayed posts and cramming them in her bag. A satisfied smile lifted her cheeks when she held up Burt’s prized Fifty States Commemorative Quarter collection for him to see.
"You wouldn’t dare. Put that back." He swiped at the coins but missed.
"Yes, I would and I’m leaving you." She jammed the cardboard display in the duffle, and swung her bag of belongings over her shoulder. "I hope you have many ugly clown babies." She slammed the apartment door behind her.
While trudging to her car the whooshing blood of each heart beat thumped like sonic booms in Abby’s ears. She tossed her bag into the trunk and marched over to Burt’s yellow Volkswagen Beetle. She pulled back her foot and gave it a hard kick in the tire. I wonder how many girlfriends he can cram into that thing at one time?
She sat behind her steering wheel in silence. Too bad she couldn’t pull a do-over for the day. Her grandmother must have been psychic.

  This book was all-out hilarious! It's actually been a while since I laughed out loud while reading, but I was definitely laughing with this book! It starts out hilarious and then the whole story is peppered with funny little quirks that just pop up and made me chuckle at random times. It's not cheap slapstick humor either, it's actually some truly funny stuff with good taste! The storyline is original, the dialogue is absolutely perfect and the characters are so fun and quirky you can't help but love all of them! As well as while keeping it funny and light-hearted, it also has a good healthy dose of spicy romance thrown in to balance it out perfectly. I really, truly enjoyed this book and can't wait to check out more of the author's work! You're in for a good time reading this one!

    Bonnie Gill grew up in the suburbs right outside Chicago. As a child she loved making up ghost stories at night to scare her sisters and friends.
   She writes Paranormal Romance with a twist of humor. When she isn’t writing you can find her on a haunted tour, volunteering at pet rescues, or digging around in her fairy garden waiting for fairies to show. She’s a member of Romance Writers of America, the Fantasy, Futuristic, and Paranormal chapter and the Windy City chapter.
    She lives in Northern Illinois with her four rescue dogs, a big fat cat, and her ever patient boyfriend who laughs at all her goofy jokes.
   She loves to hear from her readers.

Website http://www.bonniegill.com/
Blog http://www.bonniegillsblog.blogspot.com/
Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Bonnie-Gill-340592565963637/
Twitter https://twitter.com/authorbonniegil
Wattpad http://wattpad.com/BonnieGill

In loving him, she overcomes her pain, but to discover his true identity would shred the reality she thought she knew.


He is Barakiel. Warrior. Exile. Hopeless romantic. Barakiel is Covalent, a race of ancient beings who use their great power to keep the elemental forces of Creation and Destruction in Balance. The Covalent Council exiled Barakiel to the Earthly Realm as the price of the treachery of his father, Lucifer, who wages perpetual war against it. Lucifer also relentlessly pursues his son. The Council thinks Lucifer views his son’s power as a threat, but Barakiel knows his father seeks to destroy even the memory of love.


She is Alexandra “Zan” O'Gara. FBI Agent. Army veteran. Recovering drunk. Zan’s troubled past left her with little interest in men, but she had never encountered anyone like the stunning Rainer Barakiel. Zan believes Rainer is a wealthy businessman with expertise in edged weapons who can help her with a case. From the moment she meets him she wants him more than she’s ever wanted anything, but her intense attraction is as frightening as it is thrilling.


This is their love story. As Zan’s deepening feelings for Rainer lead her to confront her emotional damage, he struggles to meet the demands of his home world so he will be free to love her, and to reveal his true nature. Through the gruesome crime that first brought Zan to his door, Barakiel learns that his presence in the Earthly Realm has placed some of its most vulnerable citizens in danger. Compelled to protect them, he undertakes a series of duties he may not survive, even as Zan rescues him from centuries of a deadened heart.


Book Trailer https://youtu.be/YwBhS0DcDR0


Amazon iTunes BN

The antique weapons collector to whom Professor Carson had referred Zan owned several acres along the Delaware River in the Bridesburg section of Philadelphia, slightly north of the Betsy Ross Bridge. She pulled over on Richmond Street for a minute or two to go over the background check the clerk had included with her copy of the consulting agreement.
Rainer Barakiel, 33, had immigrated to the United States from Germany nine years previous. The owner of several offshore companies, he was known for his philanthropy, especially his support of the Philadelphia Orchestra and environmental organizations. He was also known for his avid pursuit of antique bladed weapons, no matter the cost. The man spent a lot of money on violins as well, the kind that had names. Her information did not include a picture. Zan wondered what a guy who collected weapons and violins would look like.
Probably nerdy.
She paused to gape for a moment when she arrived at the address. The place could withstand a siege. It was ringed by a high stone wall in front of an even higher line of thick hedges and black alders, with a stand of cherry trees at the west side. It sat behind some kind of disused industrial facility. An elevated pipeline ran along the southern side to the river, next to a few small businesses. The northern boundary was the old course of the Frankford Creek, with the river to the east.
Zan drove through the open gateway to find a huge building made of glass and mismatched wood that extended almost all the way to the river, with two small outbuildings beside it. She figured living on a former industrial site was a small price to pay for all that space and privacy, and those beautiful cherry trees just beginning to bloom.
The front of the main building had a set of massive wooden double doors and a smaller heavy wooden door to the side with the bell. She rang, and when the door opened she forgot she was supposed to speak. He was gigantic, at least six foot eight, with broad shoulders and a lithe, athletic build. A few strands of unruly, mid-length blond hair fell over eyes that seemed to be several shades of blue at once. They drew her in with more than their beauty, as if something primeval was hidden in their depths, just barely restrained. He faintly smiled. She knew her face was getting red.
What the hell. Don’t be such a fool.
“Um, hello, I’m Special Agent Alexandra O’Gara of the FBI.” She stuck out her hand. “My office made an appointment.”
“Yes. I’m Rainer Barakiel. A pleasure to meet you.” His voice was rich and deep and he spoke with a slight accent. When he shook her hand, she held it too long. She still felt flushed.
“I, um, I appreciate you taking the time for this, Mr. Barakiel.”
“I’m happy to help.”
God, so lame. He must have to deal with swooning women all the time, but I doubt he expected it from an FBI agent.
Turning gracefully, he showed her through the door. Zan tried not to stare at the way his jeans fit his hips, or the contours of his muscles beneath his gray cashmere sweater. Gripped by a strong urge to run her hands all over him, she was lucky his place was filled with fascinating things to distract her. Antiques and art were arranged tastefully in the open space, among brown leather couches and chairs and colorful woven rugs. Pale sun from high skylights glinted off a sunburst mosaic above the mantle of a huge concrete fireplace. Zan tried to concentrate on her surroundings, at least until her pulse slowed down.
“What a fantastic place.”
“Thank you.” He dipped his head toward her in an old-fashioned display of manners that she found charming.
“This whole property is great. What was it used for, before you lived here?”
“This land was part of the old Rohm and Haas Chemical plant you can still see as you enter. The facility was shut down in 2010.”
“I wish more people would reclaim these abandoned places by the river. Most of it just goes to waste, and meanwhile they’re developing Chester County farmland.”
“Yes.” He looked at her intensely. “I felt good about redeveloping a brownfield. I had to do a lot of remediation, but now it’s an excellent place to live.”
“All you need now is for the city to buy the front parcel and turn it into a park.” Zan gave him her best sunny smile, with an openness she knew made people trust her.
“That would be ideal,” he replied, “but I’m not holding my breath.” He returned her smile.
My god, you’re beautiful. How are you that beautiful? Why am I here? The knives.
“Um, in the interest of not taking up any more of your time than necessary, these are the knives in question.” Zan held up the case. “Daggers, I think. Did Professor Carson explain where we found them?”
“Superficially, yes.”
“Well, someone conducted some kind of ritual in Independence National Historical Park. We wouldn’t be that concerned with weird people doing weird things at night, but we found a human spleen. We tested the DNA and ran it through the database and discovered that the spleen came from a body found this past winter by the Philadelphia police. All its internal organs had been removed. The police called us because they suspected organ trafficking, but we never found any evidence of it, so we weren’t much help. No one ever filed a missing persons report on this man, and Philly PD was never able to identify the corpse, let alone solve the crime.”
“Disturbing,” he said.
“Very. We thought if you could tell us something about the knives it might give us some insight into what this whole thing was about, maybe generate some sort of lead. They look old, and Professor Carson said you are an expert in antique bladed weapons.”
“Yes. I collect them. I’ve learned a lot over the years.”
“Let’s take a look,” Zan said. He led her to a massive carved table to the left near the kitchen area. She opened the case and laid the daggers out on a cloth. After he leaned down to scrutinize them, he said they were ceremonial daggers and asked if he could pick them up. Zan told him that because they were evidence, he would need to wear latex gloves. She handed him a pair. He tried to put one on for a minute, then frowned at her.
“I’m sorry. It’s too small.”
Zan stared at his hands. They were huge, but not meaty. They looked like they could crush a man’s skull, but also assemble a fine Swiss watch.
Or maybe gently touch me.
She felt the heat rise to her face again. He raised an eyebrow.
“You can use the glove like a handkerchief and just pick it up that way,” she said, fixing her gaze on the floor.
Picking up a dagger, he held it level with his eyes. When he had done the same to all four and they were back in the case, he motioned Zan closer. He showed her the intricate motifs and the manner in which the blades were joined to the hilts. He explained that from these features, he could determine that the blades were ceremonial, made in France in the late 19th century. She struggled to listen to what he was saying. That impossible face was so close, and she could smell him. He smelled like a pristine forest in the spring.
“What kind of ritual was it?” he asked. “These daggers would have been used for ceremonies, like the opening or closing of a formal meeting. They are valuable as antiques but they are not real weapons.”
“We haven’t really explored the evidence in terms of the ritual yet, because we’ve been concentrating on the spleen.” Zan shook her head. “That sounds odd, doesn’t it?”
“It’s an odd situation.”
“If I showed you some crime scene photos, do you think you would have any insight?”
He rubbed his chin. “I might be able to say whether the daggers were related to the ritual.”
“That could be helpful. May I bring them by?” Zan asked, failing to disguise her pleasure at the idea.
“I’m leaving town for a few days tomorrow. Can you come back this evening?”
“Yes, I think so.” She paused to consider for a moment. “I need to remind you that you can’t discuss anything about this with anyone. Did you read the agreement?”
“Yes. I understand that I’ve agreed to keep all this confidential.”
“Good. I should be able to come back around 7:00.”
“I’ll be here. In the meantime, if I may take some photos of these daggers, I can send a few emails. My contacts may be able to discover their provenance.”
“That would be extremely helpful. Just don’t reveal that they were involved in a crime.” He nodded and began to snap pictures of the knives with his phone.
“I have to say, Professor Carson was right,” Zan said. “I’m amazed you were able to identify a time period and a use for those in just a few minutes. I would love to have that kind of expertise. I know a lot about guns because it comes with the job, but I love edged weapons. They’re so elegant.”
“Yes.” He looked at her intensely again. “Would you like to see my collection?”
“It’s here?”
“Of course.”
“I’d love to.”
Just great, O’Gara. One handsome face and you toss your professionalism right out the window.
They moved to the left, behind the open kitchen, to an ultra-modern staircase of black and silver and honey-toned wood leading to a mezzanine lined with bookshelves. Zan enjoyed following him up the stairs.
Look at that ass. That ass is perfect.
They walked along the mezzanine to a huge sunny room at the back. Zan stood gaping when they entered. Save for several large windows, every square foot of the stucco walls was hung with bladed weapons: axes, pikes, halberds, and swords, mostly swords, in more styles and sizes than Zan knew existed. Wood and glass cases filled with daggers and other small blades sat at the far ends, with an island of leather couches and chairs at the center, rimmed around a thick Persian rug in velvety red.
“This is the coolest room I have ever seen,” she said. He chuckled and thanked her.
That was adorable. God. Get ahold of yourself.
“So, um, Mr. Barakiel, what kind of time span do these weapons represent?” she asked.
“Please, call me Rainer.” Zan flushed and looked up at him. He still had that adorable look on his face, like a little boy showing someone his secret clubhouse. Before she gave a thought to what she was doing, she had asked him to call her Zan.
“All right, Zan.” He uttered her name in a tone so resonant she wished she could hear him say it over and over. “In answer to your query, my earliest dates from the 8th century, a Saxon sword that I keep in an airtight case.” He gestured toward the left-hand wall. “My most recent, this here, was delivered just last month from Watanabe Korehiro, one of the last master sword makers in Japan.”
“A work of art.” Zan surveyed the sword from different angles. “Do you have favorites?”
“The swords. My favorites are always changing. I loan them to museums on occasion. When they come back I usually become interested in them again.”
“Any favorites at the moment?”
“A few. Here is my perennial favorite.”
Rainer walked several steps to the right and pointed to a simple, heavy broadsword hanging about six feet up the wall, a huge blade of bluish metal that gleamed dully, like platinum.
“I’ve never seen a sword that big before, or metal like that. When was it made?”
“The 15th century. The sword maker was ahead of his time. This steel alloy is immensely strong. It’s a superlative weapon. Would you like to take a closer look?” Rainer reached to take the sword off the wall. He held it out to her.
“Can I touch it without gloves? It must be so expensive.”
“You can’t harm it.”
Zan took the gargantuan blade with both hands and did a simple block stance, then a thrust. Rainer raised both his eyebrows.
“I’m surprised you can lift that to shoulder level.”
“I’m a strong woman.”
“I can see that,” he replied in a low voice. The way he looked at her made Zan almost drop the sword. She adjusted her grip.
“This sword is unbelievably well-balanced.”
“Exactly.”
Did I just impress him? God, I hope so.
“Ah, see now,” Zan said. “My arms are getting tired, so you weren’t far from right. I could never actually use this sword.” She pivoted and held it out to him with a slight bow. “Your sword, sir.”
Rainer smiled as he took it. Zan realized he hadn’t been smiling before, not a real smile. This time it was like strong sunlight falling on a person who’d been trapped in the bitter cold.
“You’re trained?” he asked.
“A little. I used to study kendo in college, Japanese sword fighting, but I don’t have the time now. For the job, we’re mostly trained in firearms, but we get a decent amount of training in hand-to-hand, some other weapons. How about you? Is your interest more than aesthetic?”
“Yes. I’ve studied the fighting arts since I was a child.”
“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.”
Rainer tilted his head and regarded her, his lips pressed together.
He doesn’t know what to make of me. I don’t know what to make of him either, but oh, those lips. I better get away from this man. I’m on duty.

 I absolutely loved this book! I'm a huge fan of Urban Fantasy, and this book successfully filled all my reading needs! With plenty of action, loads of intrigue and some hot romance thrown in, I was captivated from beginning to end. The storyline was nice and full, the dialogue was rich, and the characters were quite complex, yet easy to follow. I loved that Zan was a strong heroine that could take care of business! I get a little tired of reading about lead women that are always so delicate a strong wind will blow them over! The action and fighting scenes were very descriptive and I could easily visualize them in my head like watching a movie! There is quite a bit of a cliffhanger at the end that leaves me aching for more though! Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and can't wait to get the sequel!

Libby Doyle is an attorney and former journalist who took a walk around the corporate world and didn’t like it. She escapes the mundane by writing extravagant yarns, filled with sex and violence. She loves absurd humor, travel, punk rock, and her husband.
http://libbydoyle.com
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Mailing List: http://eepurl.com/bWvolH

Koolura, a girl with extraordinary psychic powers, is back again with pal Leila. The duo is off to Mexico for Koolura’s father’s wedding. When touring a Mayan archeological dig, the girls uncover a mysterious device that hurtles them 2000 years back in time. They soon discover aliens from the planet Aquari living amongst Mayan natives. Are these Aquarians planning to take over Earth? And can Koolura and Leila stop them in time? ​

The burly teen picked up speed as he withdrew his gun. But when he ran by Koolura, she stuck out her foot.
            The teen fell to the ground eating dirt. Spitting out a mouthful, he looked up.
“You! We’ve been hunting for you for days.” He quickly stood, reached out with one of his huge paws to grab Koolura.
            Koolura jumped up. With a flawless roundhouse kick, she connected with the teen in the chest.  From that contact, Koolura knew his name.
            Ad-Em landed on his rump.
            Koolura made a mad dash in the opposite direction in which Nacon had fled, not having time to check on Leila.
            Ad-Em scrambled to his feet, pulled a communication device from his pocket, punched a few buttons, and took off after Koolura.
            Koolura did not want to use her powers. The less these people knew about her abilities the better her position would be in a real emergency.
            As the burly teen dashed after Koolura, two other Vanilla teens came from opposite directions quickly converging on her.
            Just as they were about to reach Koolura, Leila galloped by on a stolen mule. She put out a hand to Koolura who took it, jumped onto the mule’s back and off she and Leila galloped, leaving the teens in the dust.
            Unfortunately, this mule was hungry. When they passed a cart filled with fruit, the beast skidded to a halt, throwing the girls into a nearby bale of hay.
            Meanwhile, teen reinforcements arrived with hoverboards. The hoverboards were large silver discs supported and propelled by a cushion of air. Each teen held on to his craft by a curved metal pipe that acted as a rudder. The boards seemed to defy gravity and sped a few inches off the ground like skateboards without wheels.
            Koolura and Leila hurdled carts while spilling over kiosks to block the path of their pursuers.
            Led by Ad-Em, nothing seemed to slow the Vanilla teens. They had the power to levitate their boards many feet into the sky to avoid disaster.
            Koolura and Leila didn’t have that kind of luck. They crashed into two villagers carrying baskets of food. Fruit, vegetables and cloth spilled onto the dirt road.
            After scrambling to their feet, they took off with the Vanilla trio riding their tails.
        That’s when Leila spotted a huge cart filled with manure. She signaled Koolura to stop in front of it. The girls stood before the cart as the hoverboards approached. At the last second, Koolura and Leila leapt away from the cart. The teens, unable to stop the momentum of their boards, slammed right into the dung-filled cart. 
            As Koolura and Leila ran away, Ad-Em popped his head dripping with poop and shook his fist. The duo headed back to the village laughing.

 This was a really fun, light-hearted middle grade read! While I've never read the first two books in the series, the author takes care to properly introduce the characters and some background stories right at the beginning, making it extremely easy to just jump right in. There's no dull moments in this kool book! Immediately, you're whisked off to an exciting adventure that blends the past with some high-tech alien culture. The whole book is fast paced and just keeps you hooked all throughout. I really enjoyed this fun book and would recommend it to any YA who likes adventure!

​Michael Thal is the author of five published novels--Goodbye Tchaikovsky, The Abduction of Joshua Bloom, and The Koolura Series--The Legend of Koolura, Koolura and The Mystery at Camp Saddleback, and Koolura and the Mayans. He is also a columnist for the Los Angeles Examiner writing articles about parenting and education.
 Moving from the frigid Northeast to comfy Southern California in 1973, Michael taught elementary and middle school for 28 years until a freak virus left him deafened at the age of 50. He reinvented himself as a writer composing over 80 published articles in print magazines as well as novels for middle grade and high school aged students.
 You can learn more about Michael Thal on his website and blog at www.michaelthal.com. His books can be purchased on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in print and as e-books.




Links
Website: http://michaelthal.com
Blog: http://michaelthal.com/blog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michael.thal
Twitter: https://twitter.com/koolura


Amazon Purchase Links:
 Goodbye Tchaikovsky: http://amzn.to/1iLT46V
The Abduction of Joshua Bloom: http://amzn.to/1Vro1K4
The Legend of Koolura: http://amzn.to/1iLTiv2
Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback: http://amzn.to/1M2aSSL
 
 
Barnes & Noble Purchase Links:
The Abduction of Joshua Bloom: http://tinyurl.com/h9tawtf
The Legend of Koolura: http://tinyurl.com/j9hm8ek
Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback: http://tinyurl.com/gkq6y44
 
Publisher Links:
 
Goodbye Tchaikovsky: http://tinyurl.com/bh95ht7
The Abduction of Joshua Bloom: http://tinyurl.com/zd3es8p
The Legend of Koolura: http://tinyurl.com/h4pqry9
Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback: http://tinyurl.com/zl6mvlm

                                                   A Deafened Teacher Turns to Writing
I arrived in Los Angeles in 1973 and worked for five years as a substitute teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District. Back then, teaching jobs were scarce. Eventually, I found a full time tenured position working as a middle school English teacher and then a reading specialist in Glendale, California. In 1994, while teaching sixth grade, I suffered from an overnight hearing loss caused by a virus. The little bug returned six years later robbing me of the hearing in my right ear and causing a severe hearing loss in my left. As a teacher, even with hearing aids, I couldn’t understand what my students said to me. The ENT specialist suggested disability.
Frustrated with my inability to hear at work, I grabbed at the opportunity and decided if I couldn’t teach kids to read, I could write the books they’d like to read. So I taught myself to write.
Royal Fireworks Press released my first published novel in 2012, Goodbye Tchaikovsky, the story of a deaf violinist. I was motivated to tell David Rothman’s story because I needed to explore what my life would have been like if I lost my hearing as a teen. Though it is a work of fiction, it reads like an emotional autobiography of hearing loss. The novel has won a few awards including Second Place in the 2015 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards.
When my daughter was in sixth grade she wouldn’t read. She was at the age where everything she saw or did was “cool”. So I suggested writing a book about a very cool girl. She agreed to read that, which she did a decade later when The Legend of Koolura was finally published. The novel is about a girl with extraordinary psychic powers. I based her personality and appearance on my daughter and naturally fell in love with the character. Subsequently, I wrote book 2, Koolura and the Mystery at Camp Saddleback and book 3 in the Koolura Series, Koolura and the Mayans. In each book Koolura’s powers expand.
Solstice Publishing published Koolura and the Mayans March 19, 2016. Here’s what it’s about:
Koolura, a girl with extraordinary psychic powers, is back again with pal Leila. The duo is off to Mexico for Koolura’s father’s wedding. When touring a Mayan archeological dig, the girls uncover a mysterious device that hurtles them 2000 years back in time. They soon discover aliens from the planet Aquari living amongst Mayan natives. Are these Aquarians planning to take over Earth? And can Koolura and Leila stop them in time? 
Today, I’m in the process of researching my next project. The novel has the working title of “Gem of Peace: the Story of a Deaf Girl in Iran.” The novel will be based on the early life of my beloved Jila, who died last year of colon cancer.
We all travel through life with expected goals and accomplishments. I anticipated a life working with children as their teacher. But life throws us curves. So it’s REALLY important to prepare for those curves by getting the best education we can in order to navigate beyond our expectations.

​

Solina Mundy lives a quiet life, running the family bakery in her small North Carolina hometown. But one night she suffers a nightmare of a vicious wolf devouring her twin brother, Mani, who lives in Alaska. When Solina learns her dream was real, she journeys to the Land of the Midnight Sun to search for answers.


Solina soon suspects Mani’s friends are more than they seem, and she’s certain they know more than they’ve admitted to the police. Val and Thorin resist and elude Solina’s efforts, but Skyla, an ex-Marine, joins her crusade for the truth.


As Solina and Skyla delve into the mystery surrounding Mani’s death, Solina learns her own life is tied to Mani’s friends, his murder, and the fate of the entire world. She must learn to control her newfound gifts and keep everyone safe because, if she fails, a long-lost dominion of gods and monsters will rise, and everything she knows will fall into darkness.


Amazon   Barnes and Noble   Google Play   Kobo    iTunes​

My brother, Mani, once told me Alaska was the first place he had ever traveled where he knew he was somewhere different—somewhere decidedly not home—before he ever set foot on the ground. I didn’t understand what he meant until now. Outside my airplane window, the glassy waters of Cook Inlet reflected a bright blue late-summer sky. Dark and looming, the Chugach Mountains encroached from the east. Far to the north, the ghostly, snow-crusted visage of Mount McKinley rose above the landscape, an ancient king, high on his dais, surveying his kingdom.
By comparison, Mani and I had been raised somewhere a little more commonplace. Home was a small town in the foothills of North Carolina, over three thousand miles away. And this was the first time I had ever left it. I probably should have eased into long-distance travel in the same way I eased into a cold swimming pool—one toe at a time. A trip over the border into Gatlinburg. A weekend visit to D.C. But no, I had taken a plunge from the high dive instead, and boy, was I in over my head.
The captain’s calm and assuring voice spilled across the cabin, announcing our approach and descent into Anchorage. Seatbelt signs chimed and flashed. A pair of flight attendants swept down the aisles, collecting trash and reminding passengers to raise seat backs and lock away tray tables. I closed my eyes, drew in a deep breath, and urged my heart to return to its regular pitter-patter pace, but it refused to obey.
I breathed in again and trapped the breath in my lungs. Chill, Solina, I told myself. It’s only a week. I could survive anything for one week, right? And I wouldn’t be on my own. My brother’s best friend, Val Wotan, was at the airport waiting for me. Val had texted me a dozen times to make sure I hadn’t missed my connecting flights or fallen out of the plane somewhere over Canada. Val was expecting me, and I was a glutton for fulfilling others’ expectations. I also owed this trip to my brother, to the honor of his memory. How could I ever look myself in the eye again if I gave in to my doubts? If I didn't give Mani my absolute commitment?
Val deserved my loyalty, too. In the few years I'd known him, Val had risen from casual acquaintance to something I wasn't quite ready to label, but just thinking of him made my heart beat a little faster, my breath come a little quicker. Val had earned my regard by being the sibling I couldn't be for Mani after he’d left home. He had watched Mani's back, made him welcome and comfortable in a strange and foreign place. He had even saved my brother’s life once.
I chuckled, remembering how Mani had loved to recount the story of the raging bull moose—deep in a rutting frenzy and crazed by the need to mate with anything female and fight anything that wasn’t. Not long after Mani had first arrived in Alaska, he and Val had gone off on a backpacking trip. They came upon the moose on the edge of a meadow and caught it off guard.
The moose turned its hostile gaze on Mani, lowered its rack, and charged. Stunned and uncertain how to react, Mani stood frozen in place and watched his life pass before his eyes. Meanwhile, Val calmly drew a .44 Magnum from the side pocket of his backpack and fired off a warning shot. The moose reconsidered his challenge and lumbered away into the woods.
If only Val and his gun had been there the night my brother died. Then I might have been coming to Alaska for an entirely different set of reasons.
Reviews

• "…a fascinating story that is well written, has entertaining dialogue, a fair amount of humor, and lots of tension. The ending caught me off guard with a huge twist. I can’t wait to read the sequel." ~ Big Al's Books & Pals

• "So engrossing you forget to do necessary things like eat or go to the bathroom. I loved it that much!" ~ The Tome Gnome

• “…a great weekend read, one of those where you eat a nice breakfast, sit down with a good book, and then wonder where the sunlight went” ~ The Eternal Scribe

• "The characters were just as alluring and mysterious as the plot. I couldn’t get enough of them. Sol was the best!" ~ Bookworm Coalition

• "All in all, a great book, and an author that I'm going to keep my eye on." ~ The Gal in the Blue Mask

• “There is so much going on, you want to savor every page.” ~ Kelly Smith Reviews

• “Wonderfully written, I was drawn into the story from the very first page.” ~ I’m a Voracious Reader

• “Norse Mythology really wasn’t my thing. But I can tell you it is now!!” ~ Literati Literature Lovers

• “I will hope that Karissa Laurel does not keep us waiting long for more” ~ A Soccer Mom’s Book Blog

• “I found it a refreshing change from the werewolf versus vampire theme.” ~ On My Kindle

• “Grab your mittens, the hot chocolate and get ready to enter the world of fantasy, told by a new and impressive author with an imagination as big as Alaska!” ~ Tome Tender

• “The story keeps you guessing and keeps on the edge of your seat. I loved every minute of this book and wish I could read the next one right now.” ~ Snoopy Doo’s Book Reviews

• “This book was awesome! It’s definitely on my list of ones I’m recommending to folks right now” ~ Reading to Distraction

• “ I Highly recommend this book for those of you who enjoy a well written modern day Fantasy with a mythology you certainly haven’t read much on before” ~ So I Read this Book Today

• “An urban fantasy novel that flows like traditional fiction yet starts things off like a mystery before adding in the supernatural was a lot of fun.” ~ One Book Two​