Wrapping Up the Year with a Contest, a Cookbook & a Cutie

 By Maureen Bonatch 

This has been an ugly year for many of us, so why not wrap up the year with a cutie, a free cookie cookbook, and a chance to win a gift card to start off 2021 with some positive vibes. 

Scruff happens to be my writing assistant, in that he blocks my chair so that I'm often forced to stay in my seat longer than I anticipated or risk running him over. He reminds me to take breaks when he decides that it's time to play with a toy, or that he needs a treat. 

Scruff can help put life into perspective with his no worries attitude.  Unless, of course, it's about delaying dinner time, now that's something to worry about.

A Cuddly Cutie

2020 didn't look anything like we planned, leaving us all looking a bit shell-shocked— like Scruff here— and I'm ready to start 2021 with a clean slate.

Many of us have been spending more time at home this year, or working remotely, so Scruff decided to see what all the fuss was about. He didn't see the allure since he rarely leaves home anyway and has never had to dress up for work. 

Scruff's "people" have been home far more than usual this year. This is good for the company and sometimes extra treats, but it really cuts into nap time.

Scruff's advice for when all else fails, or everything gets to be a little too much, is to take a nap—or at least feign sleep until everyone leaves you alone while you recharge.

Want to see more of Scruff? He's a regular in my newsletter so be sure to sign up.

A Cool Contest

Enter right here to win a gift card for yourself for after the holidays & find new authors to read during the holidays!

A Cookie Cookbook

If you're signed up for my newsletter, or follow my author Facebook page- you might be already baking up some goodies because you would've gotten this free cookbook already. If not, grab it now and start baking up some treats!

Click here to download your free copy of the Garden Gourmet Cookie Cookbook

Have Your Own Furbaby? Share a Pic of Your Cutie  in the Comments- Happy Holidays! 

Author Bio: Maureen Bonatch grew up in small town Pennsylvania and her love of the four seasons—hockey, biking, sweat pants and hibernation—keeps her there. While immersed in writing or reading paranormal romance and fantasy, she survives on caffeine, wine, music, and laughter. A feisty Shih Tzu keeps her in line. 

Find Maureen on her website, Facebook & Twitter Be the first to know about Maureen’s book sales and new releases by following her on BookBub, Amazon and/or signing up for her newsletter

HERE BE NEWS for April 6, 2020

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Monday, March 30 - 
"HERE BE NEWS" - The latest from the fantasy romance authors at Here Be Magic, including a link-filled list of online fun to stave off boredom while "quarantining". 

Tuesday, March 31 -
“THE SLOT MACHINE” -  Take a break and read this flash fiction fantasy romance by Linda Mooney. 

Wednesday, April 1 -
“FIRST BOOK FREE!” – Get “Through Fire & Sea”, the first book in Nicole Luiken’s YA fantasy trilogy. Ebook available on Amazon, Nook and Kobo now. 

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MALEVOLENT INTENT
by Linda Mooney

The 1940s. Life in Grimm City can be just as fabulous as it is dangerous. But it's not a place that can be found on any map. Welcome to a world of gun-toting, hard-drinking, cigarette-smoking fairies, elves, dwarfs, shifters, and witches, as well as human beings.

Welcome to NOIR FAIRY TALES.

Rose White has had a string of bad luck, and it doesn’t seem to be ending any time soon. When two fairies are found dead in her nightclub, her livelihood is shut down until further notice. With no income coming in, and her employees left hanging, she’s forced to look for other alternatives.

Detective Rich Florian is on the case of the dead fairies, and soon learns they were poisoned. The nightclub owner and the Miner gang, her partners, are his first suspects, but Rich isn’t so quick to pin it on them. He’ll need to investigate further, and not just the DBs—something about Rose is drawing him in as well. And he’s convinced she’s innocent.

Just like every other bad thing that’s happened to Rose, her stepmother, Queenie, seems to be right in the middle of it. She offers to loan Rose the money to pay her way out and stay afloat, but as always, Rose knows the help would come with a much higher price.

How far would Queenie go to get what she wants? Murder? Arson? Even with the protection of the gang and her handsome detective, Rose still needs to keep her eyes open. But sometimes the most obvious suspect isn’t who you need to look out for.

As we’ve learned before, things in Grimm City are almost always not what they seem.

Warning! Contains a well-kept secret, passing the hat, a red pickup, dinner for two, involuntary manslaughter, smooth whiskey, and a man willing to risk it all for a kiss.

EXCERPT AND BUY LINKS
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FREE New Release: FIRE ROSE Bonus Novella from Jenny Schwartz

Fire Rose, my new paranormal romance novella, is FREE June 7-8, 2016. This is a bonus novella (hence, releasing it free for a couple of days) since it's not part of the The Collegium series which is my focus for 2016. Some stories are just so pushy that they insist on being written!

Actually, I started Fire Rose ages ago. Re-wrote it, re-wrote it again, couldn't find an ending, and then, wham! it all came together.

Fire Rose

Double the romance as two couples tangled in a sorcerer’s magic race to save innocent souls from eternal slavery.

In the mountains of Iran, a Persian dragon seduces a recently freed djinni, only to lose his heart; while an American ex-soldier is recruited by the woman he doesn’t dare love to rescue people forced into slavery.

But, as I mentioned earlier, my focus this year is the Collegium series. Plague Cult, the fifth book in the series, is out June 27 and available for pre-order now!

In a small Texas town a desire for love becomes a curse that unleashes a deadly plague.

Ruth Warner is estranged from her family. She loves them, but her magic makes her an outsider in Bideer, Texas. Ruth has built a new life in New York as a healer at the Collegium.

Sometimes, though, you have to go home.

After the local coroner reports a suspicious death, the Collegium’s Chief Healer orders Ruth to Bideer. There’s a new cult in town, a lonely hearts club, and it’s playing reckless games with a death curse.

But Ruth isn’t going home alone.

Danger is in Shawn Jackson’s blood. He is a Collegium guardian, a mage trained to fight evil. He’s also a man accustomed to keeping secrets. He’s a hollerider, a huntsman; one of those who birthed the legend of the Wild Hunt. When he unleashes his magic, terror rides with him.

He’s also Ruth’s back-up.

As evil stalks an innocent town, the dedicated healer and battle-hardened marine must trust their own hurting hearts to prevent a devastating plague.

Warning: Plague Cult includes a haunted house, an unconventional ghost, and a home renovation romance.

Pre-order Plague Cult for 99c, today.

Free Anthology of Feline Goodness!

Well, and feline badness, too, because cats.

The authors of Here Be Magic have combined their efforts once again to bring you the finest in short paranormal fiction! Today we are thrilled to announce the release of The Cat's Meow by "Hera B. Magic" with stories by Cindy Spencer Pape, Shona Husk and Angela Campbell, who also created the cover. Editing and formatting by Jody Wallace.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/489242

Three splendid short stories full of black cats, Halloween and even a little romance. Another anthology from Hera B. Magic and the authors of the Here Be Magic blog. 23,000 words.

“Kit’s Cat” by Cindy Spencer Pape. Kit’s life has gone downhill and then downhill some more, and she can’t even get a good night’s sleep. When she realizes the stray cat that’s been caterwauling outside her window is injured, saving it will take her life on some ups and downs no one could ever have predicted.

“The Tenth Life of Vicky Torres” by Shona Husk. Seth expected the world to end in wars and bombings, not in a plague. When he obeys his dying father and heads for their secret cabin in the mountains, he gets lonely so fast that he’s willing to share his meager food with the stray kitty that appears in the woods. But is the cat what it appears to be or is it something else entirely?

“The Night Shift” by Angela Campbell. Hailey Crawford has finally got her life in order, and it’s unfortunate that it doesn’t have much space left for sisters, nieces, or boyfriends. It definitely doesn’t have space for vagrants hanging around her florist shop...until one night when an accident involving the vagrant changes Hailey’s outlook on everything. In fact, she wakes after the tragedy to find her outlook has gotten very close to the ground. Cat close, in fact.

It's possible stories will be added to this already magnificent anthology in the near future if other members of the Hera B Magic penname finish what they've been working on. We'll announce that if that happens. Talk about a revised edition!

This is the third and hopefully not final effort of Hera B. Magic. I (Jody W.) for one am thoroughly enjoying collecting and uploading these anthologies and can't wait to see what Hera comes up with next.

Right now the story's only at Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/489242 but it's free and available in all formats. PLEASE let us know what you think! Since it is free, your feedback is our payment.

Thanks, readers!

Sincerely,

Hera B Magic (and Jody Wallace performing as today's typist)

Oh, and Meankitty. She helped with this one a lot.

Now Available: A Pixie's Tale

Starting on Halloween 2012, a number of the Here Be Magic authors worked on a round robin involving a pixie, a hot vampire who might not be a vampire, and the craziest night of their life. After June 2013, the results of this story were compiled, edited for coherency and market expectations, and formatted it for easier reading. Price? FREE.

Editing & Formatting: Jody Wallace
Cover: Angela Campbell
Proofreading: Angela Campbell, Eilis Flynn

If you followed alng with Delphie's adventures between 2012-2013, there were enough changes in the finished manuscript that you will find new materials and subplots to enjoy. The rough draft definitely got some big revisions!

You can find A Pixie's Tale currently at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/326034 and https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-apixie039stale-1224942-143.html

 

 

BLURB:

In an attempt to sway human voters—for a totally legitimate cause—Delphie the pixie targets a college neighborhood on Halloween. College students are notoriously liberal anyway, and the neighborhood is a human-only zone. She shouldn’t run into any other supernaturals to interfere with her important mission.

But instead of drunken students, she mistakenly bespells a mysterious, sexy fellow supernatural who doesn’t appreciate the fact her defective fairy dust causes him to be invisible. In retaliation, he curses her, too. She almost escapes, but he’s determined to enact the cure—a taste of her delicious blood, blood that may also give him a yen for her dainty body.

If only Delphie can resist her yen for his body, too, she might just survive the craziest night of her life.

Contains mild profanity, drug and alcohol references, dimensional travel, stressful situations, sexy situations, unicorns, evil kittens and characters making not so great decisions.

Participating authors include:

Angela Campbell
Cindy Spencer Pape
Janni Nell
Jax Garren
Jody Wallace
Meankitty
Nicole Luiken
PG Forte
Rebecca York
RL Naquin
Shawna Thomas
Veronica Scott

 

Enjoy, readers, and be sure to let us know what you think! Fulsome praise would definitely be the necessary inspiration for us to offer more free stories :)

 

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Jody Wallace

Author, Cat Person, Amigurumist
http://www.jodywallace.com * http://www.meankitty.com





Today Only! The Battle Lord's Lady is FREE and Featured Over at All Romance eBooks!

Every April, All Romance eBooks highlights the first book in a series by authors you may not be familiar with. My book, The Battle Lord's Lady, has been selected to be spotlighted and offered FREE!

So go over and get your free copy now! This offer is good for Today Only.

* * *
Three hundred years in the future, mankind still is trying to survive the Great Collision that changed the earth forever. People live in pockets of civilization called compounds, battling the elements and the mutations which have developed over the centuries, trying to live and survive day by day.

Yulen D’Jacques is the Battle Lord of Alta Novis. His duty is to keep his compound and his people safe, which means yearly sweeps of the area to remove any mutated men and animals from encroaching.

Atrilan Ferran is Mutah, a mutant warrior and huntress trained to protect and defend her home from Cleaners, the “normals” who invade the forests to slaughter everything and everyone who gets in their way.

They never anticipated the day when their hearts would collide, challenging and changing everything they thought was the truth. Leading them to the day they would have to prove their love for each other to man and mutant alike.