Switching from being mostly a book author to a freelance writer has caused my creative writing to slow down. Recently, I have felt the desire to return to it. So, I took a short mental break and was able to come up with two short pieces of writing. I am unsure whether to call them poems or prose. Nevertheless, I hope you will support me and enjoy one of them, which I will share with you today.
The Old Crone of Beauty
The Old Crone of Beauty, people often seek purely out of curiosity. No eyes have ever grazed her face. Always shrouded and hunched, how could anyone be of beauty and such? No one should care except only for the wares that she brings.
Salves for wounds, tonic to drink, beautiful rose-smelling oils, and soaps to erase your stink. Sometimes there'll even be yummy cakes and jams that the town folks clamor to have. As a pretty young girl, she hosts her market stand.
One day a young lad became brave to ask the girl has she seen the Crone's face. The girl smiled, saying, "Ay." To which another boy piped in to say, "Is it you, my lady?" "Nay," she did laugh. "I am not that blessed for her beauty; I cannot compare. Though she does beg to differ, for I am young and vibrate. She says her beauty and her heart have long been dead. But she is the most beautiful I've ever seen. Her pain, I think, is what makes her so pretty. For no matter what unkind, she finds love and beauty inside."
The boys were silent, and the young girl smiled, giving a nod, and turned away. The young lad had to see the Old Crone of Beauty for some reason that day.
That night he dared and ventured to the Old Crone’s home. The Old Crone did not live in some deep woods hidden but on a hill between the forest trees. The lad soon reached the well-worn path that leads up to her home. As he started his journey up, he knew he would quickly see her glowing lantern flames shine bright for the weary traveler that may come in sight. Instead, he would be her guest tonight.
As he approached closer, he soon saw the illumination of her little cottage and soon the Crone herself as she came from around back into view. The lad gasped as he saw the Crone freeze. He saw she was carrying a basket probably filled with herbs and berries and grasses. Straightening up her stance, he saw a hand come from her shrouds, reaching up to pull back her cowl. The boy gasps again.
While age seemed to have weathered her hair to gray, her skin, her face glowed with a beauty almost perfect. Coming out of his trance and finding his voice, he called out, "You are not an old crone of beauty! Just beauty, I see." The Old Crone couldn't help but smile, making the young lad's heart flutter all the while.
"Come back another time," she said. "The night is not looking so divine." The Old Crone points up to the sky. The boy follows his gaze to see a flash inside the overhead, dark clouds. The boy looks back to protest. To maybe stay the night instead when the Crone was gone, nowhere to be seen.
The Old Crone of Beauty.
By JannyC, All rights reserved Copyrighted(c) 2023
After doing a Book Release Blitz for her soon-to-be released of Submit( Book One in the Nothing Lasts Forever Series) by Jillian D. Wray, I was happy to join in again with R&R Book Tours for the upcoming release of the second book in her Nothing Lasts Forever Series with Defy available July 24th! And look at this cover! Let’s delve in!
Defy (Nothing Lasts Forever #2)
Expected Publication Date: July 24, 2023
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Tropes:
🖤Age Gap 🖤Broody Possessive Alpha 🖤Fated Mates/Star-Crossed Lovers 🖤Tasteful Spice
My past got us captured. Her past could get us killed. And the clock is ticking.
That was then…
Abandoning my family and rejecting my duty was a calculated risk. I longed for freedom from the oppressive chains of the cartel and the suffocating walls of my family estate.
After my escape, I made a new home in Aruba, keeping to myself and staying under the radar. That is until I met Libby.
She was lonely. And broken. Our souls were the same. And from the moment her brilliant blue eyes connected with mine, I knew I would do anything to have her. Even when saving her meant losing the freedom I had fought so desperately to achieve.
…this is now.
Forgiveness is not given freely, and I’m lucky to still be alive.
My family doesn’t want to trust me… the son who ran away. But they don’t have a choice. As my parents attempt to stop the rapid fraying of their empire, my brother’s dangerous behavior seems focused on trying to destroy it – or me.
But I’m not the only one who’s in trouble.
My family wants Libby for something, and I need to learn their secret before it’s too late. Yet as I’m dragged deeper into my old way of life, the lines of loyalty start to blur.
Deception is everywhere. Truth is obscured. And monsters are not always what they seem.
To keep her safe, I will defy the rules. I will defy my family. I will defy anything that stands in my way.
Jillian has worked in the healthcare industry for over 10 years. With no formal education in creative writing, she sat down one night during the pandemic to give her mind a break from facts and sterile objectivity. In doing so, she discovered a love for losing herself in a story all her own. Even though she continues to work her “regular” job, she’s always planning, plotting, and scheming for ways to make her next characters fall in love.
Her characters are inspired by people she has met over the years and their stories could happen to anyone. Realistic, flirty, quick reads are what you’ll get when you crack open one of her novels.
When she isn’t working or writing, you can find her in her garden, on a plane, or 50ft below the surface of the ocean breathing bubbles and chasing fish. She currently resides in North Carolina with her husband and three step kids.
It’s Oppenheimer mania! In coordination with Friday’s( July 21st) release of Christopher Nolan’s Epic Oppenheimer, Turner Book Publishing has released a revised paperback edition of An Atomic Love Story: The Extraordinary Women in Robert Oppenheimer’s Life by Shirley Streshinsky along with historian writer Patricia Klaus. I had the extraordinary honor of talking with Mrs. Streshinsky, in hindsight, about the release of Oppenheimer and the re-release of her book, which is sure to get more attention. Read on!
Janis: An Atomic Love Story was originally published in 2013. Tell me the truth: was your book instead that inspired Christopher Nolan to create his Oppenheimer opus? Right?
Shirley: Absolutely. How do I know? Because Nolan is reported to have said that the main biography he consulted was “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer” by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherman, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 2006. I met Marty Sherwin early in our research when I spent the summer in D.C., mostly at the Library of Congress but also in Marty’s home, where he let me—and then Patricia— go through some of his files at his dining room table. When our book was ready for publication, we sent him the final draft and asked for his honest opinion.
He wrote back: “Through diligent research, brilliant insights, and clear, incisive writing, Streshinsky and Klaus have deepened our understanding of Robert Oppenheimer’s emotional life and loves. To comprehend his fascinating complexity, readers interested in the 20th century’s most intriguing American scientist must now supplement the many biographical tomes with this marvelous concise, and precise book. Anyone with the slightest interest in Oppenheimer’s biography will not be able to put it down.” So there you have it! How could Nolan, or anyone having to do with the making of that movie, not have been able to put it down?
Janis: While there are a lot of books about Oppenheimer, you ladies went a different route in writing about him. That is through the eye of the women in his life. What made you go this route?
Shirley: We became convinced that these three women had a story worth telling—his first and lasting woman friend, his first ‘great’ love, and his only wife—and that covering these lives would also fill in the background, revealing what was going on in the country during a period of enormous turbulence: not just in war and science, but in politics with the rise of communism and fascism, and the emergence of psychiatry and psychology. Also, we wanted to get some women into the Oppenheimer dossier; most of the biographies push them to the side; we thought they (we) deserved better.
Janis: Would you say we see the more human side of Oppenheimer in this book?
Shirley: Oh yes. The popular impression of Oppenheimer is of this very suave, handsome, brilliant, rich…figure that both women and men swooned over. In fact, he had a tumultuous adolescence, which included what was probably a nervous breakdown. Jean Tatlock, whom he would always remember as “a lyrical, sensitive, yearning creature,” suffered from deep depressions. Twice, he asked her to marry him, and twice she said no. In the suicide note she left, she wrote, “To all those who loved me and helped me, all love and courage. I think I would have been a liability all my life. I wanted to live and to give, and I got paralyzed somehow.” Oppenheimer was at Los Alamos when he got the message, and it is reported that he wept.
Janis: Many rave at how well-researched the book is. Was the research difficult? How did you two both go about it and bring it all together?
Shirley: Having written a biography of John Audubon, I understood how difficult the research was going to be in this more modern book. My historian friend Patricia had the perfect background and agreed to sign on. Was it difficult? Probably, but mainly it was just great fun. Patricia knows how to dig deep and turn up all kinds of new information. We both live in the Bay area, about 40 miles apart. We met regularly at a brewpub in between, and of course, the phone lines lit up. Patricia would call and say something like, “Guess who I am going to have lunch with in New York next week?” And it would be Jean Tatlock’s nephew. Or one of Ruth Tolman’s best friends, well into his 80s, who also knew “Oppy” and Kitty and most of the other main characters. Another day she discovered the name of Kitty’s first husband; Kitty had the marriage annulled; the man remarried, and we found his daughters—lovely women. Patricia was also able to discredit Kitty’s claim of any kind of “royal connections” by finding her great-nephew, who wrote that Kitty was “storytelling” about any connection to the Belgium King or any other European kingdoms.
My physicist neighbor introduced me to physicist Ed Lofgren, who had been at Los Alamos with Oppenheimer and was then in a senior facility in Oakland. Over several weeks’ worth of lunches, he answered all my questions. Ed had a booming voice, and one day we were in a small coffee shop, and he was holding forth on some subject; then, when I asked for the check, the waitress told me it had already been paid, with a thank you from another customer.
Janis: While Oppenheimer seems to be the draw of the book, is it true this book also had a bit of deeper meaning? For example, showing what life was like for the growing independence of the American woman at the time of the early 20th century.
Shirley: Yes. Yes. Oh yes. Certainly, the three women we chose who were at the core of Oppenheimer’s life—as well as his mother—lived privileged lives. His mother was an accomplished artist (who married an immigrant who became rich, which accounts for the family’s great art collection). And by tracing the “bloodlines” of Ruth Tolman and Jean Tatlock, we get a quick lesson about where they fit into the history of the country. Kitty, of course, had her own German history—a cousin was a top aide to Hitler.
Ruth had a Ph.D. and worked in responsible positions; Jean was a medical doctor and a psychiatrist; Kitty wanted desperately to finish a Ph.D. in botany but became so entangled in the men in her life (three husbands until she settled on JRO) that she never got around to it. In some ways, these four women (counting his mother) offer a sharp look at what it was like —even for women who had the means— in that roiling first part half of the 20th century. Most of the JRO biographies are about men; the women make an appearance. There was a much-ballyhooed program on television the other night about Oppenheimer. A few women made cursory appearances; mostly, there were men standing or sitting in front of huge period photographs. The one that, for some reason, sticks in memory is a screen-sized photograph of an empty bathtub filled with water. Probably referring to the fact that Jean drowned herself in her bathtub when she was 29. We get that this atom-bomb making was mostly done by men, but there were women in these men’s lives, taking part in all that was going on in a time of great struggle. Women at Los Alamos, women in war plants, women doing their share, and more. And yet even now, in 2023, the history books and the biographies are still mostly about the men.
The main thing we want to say about our book is that it is not a romance, in spite of the title. It is a biography of Robert Oppenheimer. And a record of the time. We get into all the bomb-making and the war and how smart all those scientists were to push it through to the grand finales over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The men who proved it could be done; that Nature was not allowed to keep it secret; that it was possible to set the whole world ablaze, and how no one would survive a nuclear holocaust. Leaving J Robert Oppenheimer to represent all of those super-smart men who figured it out. We needed the women who were part of it all to come in from the background as well.
A huge thank you to Mrs. Streshinsky and her publicist for this opportunity to chat! Remember An Atomic Love Story: The Extraordinary Women in Oppenheimer’s Life is out and available via AMAZON or wherever books are sold.
The interview was also featured in INTERVIEW on vocalmedia.com
Today in the spotlight is the newly released epic fantasy Death’s Reckoning by Quinn Thomas. Love epic fantasy? Me too! Let’s read on!
Death's Reckoning (The Mortal Aspects Book 1)
Publication Date: July 18, 2023
Genre: Epic FantasyThe battle for power is fierce in a world where mortals wield the strength of dead gods in this first book of a high-stakes epic fantasy series from Quinn Thomas.
A thousand years ago, the immortals were slain, their power passed down to a chosen few known as aspects. The competition between noble families for control of these aspects has plunged the land into a never-ending cycle of war and bloodshed.
The Tevulun family has been driven to the brink of extinction by the most recent war. When Tarana Tevulun, who possesses the abilities of Calamity, learns of her family's intention to murder her, she flees with the assistance of a band of mercenaries. The Tevulun’s enemy, the Ma’isans, take advantage of her absence to advance and besiege the capital city of Vicrum. Tarana returns to fight for the city, but faces a difficult challenge due to the involvement of the mortal aspect of Death – thought to be the sole remaining neutral aspect.
Meanwhile, a young soldier named Micol deserts the army after his first taste of battle. When he ends up in the besieged city of Vicrum, he finds himself embroiled with a group of outlaws. Thrust into a world of thieves and rebels, he must confront his deepest fears and make a decision that will change his life forever.
Death’s Reckoning is a page-turning epic fantasy for fans of ensemble casts and character-driven plot twists, with echoes of Steven Erikson’s Malazan series. Join these mortals as they wield god-like power in a world where even the noblest intentions can lead to destruction.
Check out this gripping excerpt!
Excerpt from Death's Reckoning
Micol’s blood ran cold. He closed his eyes, concentrating on taking deep breaths. Please don’t let them see us, he prayed to Loss. Please, let them pass by. It’s not supposed to end like this. Please.
Another man stepped into view. Then a third. Their conversation continued, but Micol couldn’t focus on the words. He was too busy listening to the growing sounds of movement around them. The pounding boots and squelching mud hinted at a larger force than the three men who had already passed, although he could only guess at how much larger.
At least a half dozen more came into view, most of them near Asoka’s hiding place. The three who’d led the way were nearly out of sight; Micol could barely see their torches through the thick trees. To his left, a glint of light caught his eyes. When he followed it to its source, he nearly collapsed.
Silvery-blue armor covered the woman from head to toe, flowing around her like water. Every inch of skin was covered, leaving only a pair of thin slits for her eyes. She was close enough to Micol to touch. His entire body began to shake, demanding action.
He couldn’t be still anymore. His every fiber screamed one word: escape. He had to get out, but there was nowhere to go. The beating of his heart raged thunderous in his ears until it felt like the sound alone would betray him. Cold sweat beaded on his fevered skin. The aspect’s head swung in his direction.
Micol tried to bolt from the tree – away from the aspect – but she reacted faster than he would have thought possible. Her hand snapped out, stopping his momentum and taking the pair of them to the ground. He managed to twist in time to see her liberating a rusted dagger from its sheath.
From out of sight, he heard the groan of a bowstring. The aspect’s dagger plunged toward his chest, but before it could strike the tip of an arrow spiked through one of the slits in her helm. Its force pushed her off him, and Micol took his chance. He was on his feet in an instant, running away from the group of soldiers.
He met Asoka’s wide-eyed stare; the other boy still held his bow in a ready position. Time stood still for a solitary moment before Micol broke the contact.
Bodies thudded; wood cracked from out of Micol’s view. “Got him!” he heard someone say. “He doesn’t look like an assassin to me.”
Micol kept running. He heard the footsteps of several men behind him, but he didn’t dare stop to check their progress.
“Get the other one!” someone else shouted.
“Over there! He’s headed toward the undergrowth!”
Micol fell into a row of dense bushes, forcing himself through. Branches and thorns tore at his skin and clothes, but he paid them little mind. The men chasing him reached the bushes a moment after he broke through the other side.
His days on the streets of Vicrum came back to him, lessons born from a thousand beatings doled out by those older and larger. There was always someone faster, someone stronger. But Micol had had one advantage: he was willing to go further. A path ahead promised easy escape, but instead of heading for it he plunged deeper into the undergrowth.
A thick root tripped Micol, sending him toppling head-over-heels down a stream bed. He hissed as a flare of pain shot up from his ankle; he inched toward the running water, but a sound came a moment later that stopped him cold.
“Micol!” a distant voice cried. Asoka’s voice. “Help! Please help me!” The pitiful cry was like an icy knife plunged into his lungs.
He didn’t make it out, Micol thought. I didn’t even stop to think about helping him escape. He rose to his knees, taking stock of the situation. He’d lost his bow when the aspect had taken him, which left the small hunting knife on his belt as his only weapon.
“Help! Oh, aspects, please!”
Micol knew what he was supposed to do. The stories soldiers shared were full of such scenarios; if he had been the hero in one of those stories, he would have drawn his knife and carved a path of blood back to his friend to save him. The men searching for him were getting close, and he knew he had to make his decision soon.
A sound like an axe hitting a tree echoed through the forest, sending a morbid shiver down Micol’s spine. He summoned all of his courage, but it wasn’t enough. He turned back to the stream and jumped in, letting the water carry him away.
Quinn Thomas is an Epic Fantasy author and occasional pool shark from Denver, Colorado. When she’s not writing stories about people thrust into situations that turn them into heroes (or, more frequently, villains), she’s wrestling her 100-lb labrador retriever. Her favorite fantasy series of all time is Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson.
Things Quinn has tried exactly once and wants to mention because she thinks they make her seem cool: skydiving, surfing, paddle-boarding, yoga.
Things Quinn has tried several times and wants to mention because they make her seem less cool: eating Cheetos on the couch while wearing yoga pants, tripping on her own feet, and singing karaoke songs completely sober.
Just in time for the release of the epic film Oppenheimer Turner Book Publishing has released a revised paperback edition of An Atomic Love Story: The Extraordinary Women In Robert Oppenheimer’s Life.
Set against a dramatic backdrop of war, spies, and nuclear bombs, An Atomic Love Story unveils a vivid new view of a tumultuous era and one of its most important figures. In the early decades of the 20th century, three highly ambitious women found their way to the West Coast, where each was destined to collide with the young Oppenheimer, the enigmatic physicist whose work in creating the atomic bomb would forever impact modern history.
Kitty Oppenheimer
Jean Tatlock
Ruth Tolman
His first and most intense love was for Jean Tatlock, though he married the tempestuous Kitty Harrison—both were members of the Communist Party—and was rumored to have had a scandalous affair with the brilliant Ruth Sherman Tolman, ten years his senior and the wife of another celebrated physicist. Each was connected through a relationship to Oppenheimer Their experiences reflect important changes in the lives of American women in the 20th century: the conflict between career and marriage; the need for a woman to define herself independently; experimentation with sexuality; and the growth of career opportunities.
While Emily Blunt (Kitty) and Florence Pugh (Jean) briefly appear in the movie trailer, the real women they portray are thoroughly fleshed out in the book by authors Shirley Streshinsky and Patricia Klaus. Beautifully written and superbly researched through a rich collection of firsthand accounts, this intimate portrait shares the tragedies, betrayals, and romances of an alluring man and three bold women, revealing how they pushed to the very forefront of social and cultural changes in a fascinating, volatile era.
Shirley Streshinsky is a critically acclaimed author of three works of nonfiction and four historical novels. As a journalist and travel essayist, she has written extensively for a wide range of national magazines such as Glamour, Preservation, American Heritage, The American Scholar, and Condé Nast Traveler. She is the recipient of the Society of Magazine Writers’ Award for Excellence and the National Council for the Advancement of Education Writing award and was cited by The Educational Press Association of America for “superlative achievement in features.” Her travel essays have been featured on National Public Radio. She was married to the late photojournalist Ted Streshinsky and lives in Kensington (Berkeley), California.
Patricia Klaus is an independent scholar who attended the University of California at Santa Barbara, and then Stanford University, where she earned a Ph.D. in Modern British History. She taught twentieth-century British history at Yale University, was a visiting lecturer at the University of Virginia and Stanford, and has written a number of historical articles. Her particular interests are women in nineteenth and twentieth-century England as well as the study of war and literature, which made working on a book about the remarkable women of the Atomic Age, especially appealing.
Don’t forget to see Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer in theaters on July 21st!
When Sebastian finds himself alone in the middle of a fetish club, he decides to call it a night – this is a world he knows nothing about. The crowd shifts, and a Goddess appears. Confident and sexy, Gwen is Sebastian’s catnip, and he’s overcome by an intense and unfamiliar need to surrender to her. Gwen’s not sure what to make of the handsome Aussie at first, but he’s intriguing, and she’s curious to see what might happen.
Not without its challenges, their choice to follow desire teaches the pair about building real trust and overcoming past traumas. The deeper they go, the closer they become until it’s clear to both they want more. Can Sebastian convince her his feelings are genuine? Will Gwen be able to lower her guard and let someone into her heart again?
Gingerbread is an erotica novella with class, not crass. We meet successful, handsome Sebastian helping a friend overcome his breakup agrees to join him at a club. Clubs are not Sebastian’s thing, and when he discovers the club is a fetish club, he is all the more mortified. Upset and about to head out, that is, until Gwen enters the room. Gwen also sees Sebastian as a new face to the club and saunters over, enticing him into a world he never dreamed of. It wasn’t just that; Gwen herself just made submitting so easy.
To Gwen, something about Sebastian’s honesty and adoration of her made their playtime together more than just playtime. Could they be more?
Ash writes with a beautiful blend of sexy sultriness, not overpowering that there is a charming ever-after story underneath. In fact, Ash seems to be writing with a mission as Gingerbread begins with a note from the author giving a little introduction into the BDSM world, dismissing what the public media has often portrayed BDSM as. She even interweaves more knowledge into the story effortlessly when Gwen discusses with Sebastian what it will mean to be her submissive little boy. It was absolutely a delicious scene.
Gingerbread is a hot and steamy BDSM fairytale—a standout among the endless sea of erotica that will satisfy you.
My rating is 5 out of 5 stars.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ana Ash is a new author from the kink scene dipping her toes into the waters of erotic-romantic fiction. Drawing on her growing knowledge and involvement within the kink community, she hopes to delight and inform her readers with sweet, steamy stories that explore healthy relationships interwoven with themes of BDSM. Look for more stories to come as the *ahem* mood strikes her.
Happy to be joining R&R Book Tours for the book release blitz for this gorgeous upcoming release ofSubmit by Jillian D. Wray. Now submit to learn more.
Submit (Nothing Lasts Forever #1)
Expected Publication Date: July 24th 2023
Genre: Romantic Suspense/ Romance
Tropes:
🖤Age Gap 🖤Broody Possessive Alpha 🖤Fated Mates/Star-Crossed Lovers 🖤Tasteful Spice
When I first met Willem, he swept me off my feet. I was pursued. Adored.
But over time, I began to give in to all of Will’s desires and demands and lost sight of who I was. Whenever I felt like I could finally break free… he would find a way to reel me back in.
That’s how I ended up here, in Aruba. With a fiancé who’s never around and a lonely, solitary existence filled with cooking meals and keeping house.
Meeting Casper was a pleasant surprise. With his brilliant green eyes, tanned skin, and brooding demeanor, I find myself irresistibly drawn into his orbit again and again. Without even trying, he makes me feel seen for the first time in years.
Maybe it’s the way he corrects my stance on the kite board. Maybe it’s the side glances he thinks I don’t catch. But the more time I spend with him, the more closed-off he becomes – and the more I want to break through his tough exterior.
When Will and I’s relationship takes a turn for the worse, Casper helps me escape my prison. But I never expected the secrets that would be exposed… or the danger that was about to come for us both.
In over my head, I quickly realize that at least one more time, I will have to submit to someone else’s control.
Jillian has worked in the healthcare industry for over 10 years. With no formal education in creative writing, she sat down one night during the pandemic to give her mind a break from facts and sterile objectivity. In doing so, she discovered a love for losing herself in a story all her own. Even though she continues to work her “regular” job, she’s always planning, plotting, and scheming for ways to make her next characters fall in love.
Her characters are inspired by people she has met over the years, and their stories could happen to anyone. Realistic, flirty, quick reads are what you’ll get when you crack open one of her novels.
When she isn’t working or writing, you can find her in her garden, on a plane, or 50ft below the surface of the ocean, breathing bubbles and chasing fish. She currently resides in North Carolina with her husband and three stepkids.
Catching my eye today, I am spotlighting Lose Me in the Shadows by Jo Brenner. The dark spicy squeal in her Bad Heros series. Let’s check it out!
Lose Me in the Shadows (Bad Heroes #2)Publication Date: July 6th, 2023 (Kindle Edition)
Genre: Why Choose/ Dark Romance/ Navy Seals
She thought it was over.
Kara believed she was free.
Free to erase the brand left on her heart by the three men who thought they could own her. But when an enemy from her past reappears in her present, she’s forced to reckon with who she was—and who she’s become. The dark fire lit inside her by the men she left behind may be Kara’s only weapon against a predator intent on breaking her.
They’ve only just begun.
Conor, Micah, and Luke’s entire worldview has been shattered—by the woman they swore they’d never let go. After Kara’s betrayal, the ex-Navy SEALs decide they don’t believe in second chances…even for her. But when they learn their runaway girl’s life is on the line, the men will stop at nothing to get her back. She’s theirs—and only theirs.
And no one touches what belongs to them and lives.
Lose Me in the Shadows is the second book in the Bad Heroes Trilogy, a dark Navy SEAL second chance romance series. Although book two ends in a cliffhanger, the trilogy will end in an HEA. The heroine never has to choose between heroes for her HEA, and the heroes choose her and each other.
Don’t forget to check out Book 1: You Can Follow Me
You Can Follow Me
Publication Date: February 28, 2023
Genre: Dark Romance/ Why Choose
For her, it was a fling.
After her reputation blows up in New York, Kara takes off for parts unknown, determined to live life one thrill to the next. When a chance encounter with a Navy SEAL leads to the best sex of her life, the promise that it could be something more sends her running.
For them, it’s an obsession.
Sexy, brilliant, and lethal, Conor, Micah, and Luke have been best friends since they first joined the SEALS. Until Conor meets a daring redhead, and their two-night stand becomes a dangerous obsession. Micah and Luke hatch a plan to convince Conor to move on—but after meeting Kara themselves, all bets are off.
When the three men capture her, she’s forced to confront her feelings—and their anger. But Kara refuses to be anyone’s captive. Though they may dominate her body, she’s determined they’ll never have her heart.
You Can Follow Me is a dark Navy SEAL second chance romance that ends on a cliffhanger.
Having done a feature on book 2 of Whitney Dean’s Four Kingdom Saga (A Kingdom of Frost and Fear), I am more than happy to join the book release blitz hosted by R&R Book Tours for Dean’s latest installment, A Kingdom of Death and Despair.
A Kingdom of Death and Despair (The Four Kingdoms #3)
Once upon a time, there was a half-witch of three who walked on the land where creatures roamed free.
Once upon a time, there was a prince of one who danced with the waves under the sun.
Once upon a time, there was a prince of two who hid amongst the shadows where fear only grew.
But when time became impatient, a prophecy was conceived of twins born of darkness, who would live their lives aggrieved but coupled with their misery was the answer all sought, but the question remained, which one would be left to rot?
A Kingdom of Flame and Fury (The Four Kingdoms #1)
Publication Date: May 26th, 2022
Genre: Dark Fantasy/ Dark Romance
At ten years old, Raven was mysteriously willed to be the next ruler of Seolia, a kingdom nestled within the realm of The Four Kingdoms. Orphaned as a baby, she has spent fifteen years ruling over a kingdom she believes she did not earn, all while hiding secrets: she possesses dark magic, and she thirsts for blood. Now at almost twenty-five years old and with a sudden addiction to stealing life, Raven must fight through her newly procured darkness to save her soul, but when a mysterious stranger arrives in her kingdom, she starts experiencing vivid dreams that detail who she truly is. As she slowly starts to unravel her story, what she uncovers at the end of the spool will change the course of her life and her kingdom forever.
After years of wondering where she came from and what her story was, Raven received the answers she had been craving: she has a family and is the true heir to the throne of Seolia. But the answers she so hopelessly sought only bred more questions. As she digs deeper into her past, she wonders if maybe she should have stayed hidden in the shadows, safe from the pain and agony of knowing her happily ever after may not be so happy after all.
Zeke had been right all along: she hated him for what he’d hidden from her. Now, with Raven desperate to learn who she is, he’s desperate to win her back. But while still holding secrets of his own, doing so will come at a price he may not be able to pay.
And all the while, magic is slowly reawakening in the realm of The Four Kingdoms, and not a soul is prepared for the new black magic Raven is now in possession of.
This is book two of an epic dark fantasy adventure series and contains scenes of graphic and mature content. Reader discretion is advised.
Whitney was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and raised in Allen, Texas. She resides in a quaint little town in Arkansas with her husband and two children, along with her labradoodle, Simba.
Her love of reading came from the Harry Potter series when she was seven years old and frequent trips to the most magical place on earth. Because of it, the fantasy realm has taken up residence in her brain for a very long time.
While her writings include real-life pain and angst, she is a fan of happily-ever-afters and always strives to bring that forth in her stories.
Today I am helping out with R&R Book Tours in their beautiful Book Blitz of Promenauts: The Avarune Necklace by Justin(J.C.) Williams. Come join us in this fantasy adventure!
Promantheus: The Avarune Necklace
Genre: Fantasy Adventure/ Mystery/ Young Adult
Grades: 3rd – 12th
Azuelo is a strange boy who has woken up in the middle of the woods with no memory of his former life. When he finds his way to the city of Stormhold, he is quickly inducted into the ranks of the promenauts, a group of warriors sworn to protect their city from the violent gurgans lurking just outside their walls. Now, Azuelo must fight to help defend his new home, all while trying to reclaim his forgotten past with only one thing as his guide, the avarune necklace.
Justin Williams, the author of Promenauts, The Avarune Necklace, as well as the CEO, president, and supreme imperial pooh-bah of Justin Williams Books LLC.
Learn more about Justin and his book at Promenauts website.
Quinn Thomas is an Epic Fantasy author and occasional pool shark from Denver, Colorado. When she’s not writing stories about people thrust into situations that turn them into heroes (or, more frequently, villains), she’s wrestling her 100-lb labrador retriever. Her favorite fantasy series of all time is Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson.
Freelance Writer Janny(Jan Marie)C 