On my soapbox for a few minutes, here. Many writers pour blood, sweat, and tears into their books. I know some people who publish on Amazon aren’t ready for prime time, while others just won…
Source: Help an Author!
If you enjoy romantic comedy, check this one! A sweet contemporary romance reminiscent of Parent Trap movies. Single parents raising eleven year old daughters must try to resist the ploys their chi…
Source: Life Is a Process
Reblogged on WordPress.com
Source: LOVE SPRING AND FREE BOOKS!!
I had planned to talk all about the last book in the Second Chances series when I posted to the blog this month. But, we all know what they say about life and plans. Writers, I think more than any other profession have to deal with life’s curves. Everyone seems to think you can write later. That whatever they need you for is more important. Calls that would never go to dad because he is “working” always seem to come your way.
Now, this may sound like excuses, and that is all they are. I should have stayed up more nights to write. I should have stayed off the internet more. I should have unplugged the phone. LOL
So, A Family Again is coming along, but nowhere near where I need it to be. I had hoped to publish at the beginning of April, now it will probably be end of April/beginning of May. On the other hand, that is the joy of self-publishing. We don’t have to kill ourselves (figuratively) to meet a deadline. We finish, edit, and publish on our own schedules, which I will now have to change.
I would like to share a moment from A Family Again because I’m really loving this story and I can’t wait to share the whole book and the completion of the series.
This is the unedited Prologue to my book, A Family Again
Prologue
“We the jury, in the case of The State of California vs. Megan Marie Kirby, on the count of Embezzlement, do find the defendant — guilty.”
Megan gasped as tears rolled down her face and pains roiled across her nine-months pregnant stomach. How could they have found her guilty? She hadn’t taken the money from her job. She was innocent.
All thoughts of guilt or innocence fled her mind as the pain increased to a crescendo of ringing in her ears. Her blood pulsed in her veins in time with the judge’s gravel pounding for order.
Something deep inside ripped, fluid gushed down her legs, and the world went black.
* * *
The drive to the hospital was a nightmare with a deputy sitting in the ambulance with her and her husband, Daniel. She squeezed his hand as another contraction rolled over her. Screams erupted from her throat as the deputy just glared at her.
At the hospital the doors to the ambulance ripped open and sun painted the vehicle in brightness. Megan squinted into the light, amazed that such a beautiful day could bring her happiness and sadness at the same time.
The doctors took charge as she writhed on the gurney, the pain surrounding her. She’d spent part of her pregnancy in jail, with no Lamaze classes to help the waves rolling her under. At twenty-two years old she felt like a child, just wanting her mother to come and take away the pain like the time she fell and skinned her knees.
In the labor room the deputy stepped forward to slap cuffs on her hand and the bed rail. Daniel growled and pushed him away. She tried to scream at her husband to stop. He couldn’t be here for her if he was in jail next. The nurse stepped between them. She spoke calmly to Daniel and he moved back to her side. She barked at the deputy.
“Don’t be stupid. She isn’t going anywhere for hours.”
Pains ripped across her stomach. She stared as the skin roiled from inside. The doctor moved between her legs.
“I think we’ll check your progress.”
The nurses moved her feet into the stirrups. Pain pierced her as the doctor checked. He grunted and looked at her. “We are moving along nicely.”
It didn’t feel nice, not at all. She just wanted to have the baby and go home. Hot tears rolled down her face. Even the agony of childbirth for days was better than the reality of going to prison once this was done.
Time passed in spurts. Pain rolled over her and time stood still. She fell back against the sweat-wet pillow and the second hand on the clock across from her bed flew around the dial.
A nurse moved to her right side and Daniel came to her left. They grasped her hands and helped her to sit forward.
“It’s time to push,” the nurse instructed.
“You can do this, Megan. You can do anything,” Daniel urged her on.
Two hours later, drenched in sweat but as happy as she’d ever been, Megan gazed down into her daughter’s tiny, scrunched up face. The puffy pink blanket surrounded her red face. Her husband stood beside the bed, his hand shaking as it slid over the baby’s head.
“What do you want to call her?”
Megan stared at the pale yellow curls and the bright black eyes of her daughter. “Her name is Daisy.”
I hope you’ll read A Family Again once it is available. In the meantime please try Divorce, Interrupted and Someone To Trust, Books 1 and 2 in the series. Available at Amazon, BN.com, and Smashwords
Jill
NO MORE LIES, a lie that brings a smile or a truth drawing tears. Secrets and second chances with humor, 99 cents, http://tinyurl.com/3lenmfd
A lie that brings a smile… or the truth that draws tears?
Dr. Olivia Crane lives a quiet life. No one questions why she doesn’t socialize or where she spends her weekends. When the visiting physician from France strolls into her office, with open arms and a confident smile, her perfect control is about to crumble. He’s Dr. Luc George, the man she loved ten years ago. Should she return his scorching kisses, or should she lock her door before he digs into her many secrets?
Secret daughter, secret friend, secret enemy. Had Luc really known his sweet Olivia back then? He wants her back, but he wants the truth too. Now, Olivia has to face her past before she can grab her second chance.
Today I am featured on eReader Daily News, a site where you need to have at least five 5***** reviews.
NO MORE LIES received 12 Five Stars reviews, and 1 Four Stars reviews.
Here is what the reviews say:
Happy Endings– K.Mc Convile : It is a wonderfully written book about true love and the rarity of second chances. I would prescribe that anyone wanting a lighthearted fast-paced love story should read this book. I give it a five star rating with a `must buy this book’.
H.M. Taylor–An emotional story of a woman’s struggle to overcome the trauma of past events and recapture the love of her life. This book kept me turning the pages to find out how Olivia and Luc would come to terms with the secrets that had caused them to break up years earlier.
Night Owl Reviews–No More Lies was a fantastic read. The plot was also very well thought out and the pacing on target. The wonderful healing that took place in this book also made it a very sweet read.
The Long and The Short–No More Lies is full of emotion, suspense, intrigue, good intentions and determination, depending on which character POV you are looking from.
Steph Burkhart–A Compelling Read. Risk explores the damage lies can do to love in “No More Lies.” Dr. Olivia Crane is a successful psychiatrist. The love scenes are sensual and 
tasteful. “No More Lies,” will resonate with readers and make them believe that love can overcome even the most challenging of obstacles.
Seniorcitizen–Two psychiatrists have a go at love. He also happens to be a gorgeous French count with a chateau in the Loire Valley. It doesn’t get any better than this. Thank you, Mona Risk, for another wonderful story.
Joanne- Enchanting read. Mona Risk is one of my favorite authors, and this book is one of the reasons. Suspenseful, humorous, and filled with emotion, you will love Dr. Olivia Crane and Luc. And, the beautiful French setting is delightful.
Anthony Antaki–I loved this story and enjoyed the emotional twists and turns, the humor and suspense. The characters are delightful, an assertive heroine with too many secrets, a dashing hero who’s trying to win her back, a strong-headed teenager, an overprotective, meddling and funny mother, and a conceited evil villain. Mona Risk kept me entertained from the first page to the last with this fast-paced story.
P. Varnado–No More Lies is a testament that love can be better the second time around, even when dealing with past heartaches. Mona Risk delivered the type of story that appeals to me. All I can say is thanks Mona for writing such a heartwarming story that is as timeless as any classic.
Mary Barfield–No More Lies is about second chances, love that lasts despite time and separation, a child, misunderstandings, and a nasty villain. Plan to read this one in one sitting and let everything else go until you finish it. Enjoy!
Allison Chase–This is an emotional, lovely story about trust and redemption, told in Mona Risk’s beautiful, poignant style.
Please check www.ebooks99cents.blogspot.com
For a lovely post where George Clooney, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Hugh Jackman are featured as heroes for sexy, romantic comedy novels.
Dear Readers, Fans, Bloggers and Followers
Happy New Year. May this comming year provides you with many interesting posts from our authors and memorable romances to keep you entertained and happy.
We will be moving our posts to a new blog also called the 99cent EBOOKS blog but with a different location and link, provided here. Please take note: www.ebooks99cents.blogspot.com
The reason we changed blog is that several authors encountered difficulty in posting their articles and uploading their pictures.
We hope you will enjoy our new blog presentation and follow us in this new location: www.ebooks99cents.blogspot.com
Mona Risk and the authors who presented their novels on this blog want to thank you for your continuous support.
Thank you again.
Ah, New Year’s Eve. It might just be my favorite holiday, seeing the birth of a new year and all the possibilities that come with it. The new beginnings we can permit ourselves.
Maybe that’s why I love reading romance. That new spark, the powerful attraction. Then watching that heady infatuation deepen into more lasting bonds as the hero and heroine grow and change and earn that happily ever after. <Sigh.>
And if anyone deserves a new beginning, it’s Dr. Delano Bowen, in my book The Merzetti Effect. After a traumatic event, Delano has denied himself the touch of a woman for many decades. So when he draws Ainsley Crawford – the last remaining descendant of the fabled Merzetti’s – into his life to exploit the genetic gift in her blood, he’s more than a little vulnerable. But it’s not only his heart on the line. Ainsley is a walking bio-hazard for any vampire, and she might just be the death of him.
Excerpt:
In this excerpt, after a particularly terrifying event, Ainsley can’t escape into sleep. Every time she closes her eyes, the event replays itself. So she has crawled into Delano’s bed, setting her phone to vibrate so she can slip away long before he awakens. The sound of his slow day-sleep breathing lulls her to sleep at last. But she doesn’t know is that vampire sleep is very different. Where humans cycle in and out of REM sleep – and dreams – all night long, vampires sleep dreamlessly … until the last few hours before dusk. Those last sleep are filled with almost non-stop REM activity, known to vampires as twilight dreaming. When Delano finds her in his bed, he naturally thinks he’s dreaming.
The dream had him again.
He loved this time, the interval between the deep, restoring sleep that claimed him each morning and the full wakefulness that came with sundown. He loved it, and he loathed it, too. For in that short space of time, he slept almost like he used to sleep. Like other men slept. That’s when the dreams came. Yes, and the nightmares, too, sometimes. And as often as not, the dreams tortured him worse than the nightmares ever could.
This was one of those dreams, the kind he would pay for with a deep, persistent ache that would be with him for days. But God help him, he didn’t care. He just wanted to hang onto it as long as he could.
This time, he lay on his back, with Ainsley’s body curved sweetly against him, one silky-smooth leg twined with his. And her skin! The parts that touched him blazed like a furnace against his own skin, and her scent, a potent mix of sandalwood and sleepy woman, filled his nostrils. Beneath the soft sound of her breathing, he heard the strong, steady lub-dub of her heart and the fainter but even more thrilling surge and whisper of her blood.
He lifted a hand to palm her unbound breast through the thin t-shirt she wore, and felt the tip harden.
“Delano?”
“Ainsley.”
Effortlessly, he rolled her beneath him.
Oh, Lord! She felt so solid, so real, so warm. And soft in all the right places.
“Del! Wait! You can’t … I mean, we can’t—”
“Oh, but we can.” Here in this twilight place, they most definitely could. They could do anything.
Like many people no doubt, my life has been touched by a moment in time I would give anything to change. For me an ordinary day could have continued in its infinite ordinariness if not for the convergence of some relatively innocuous happenings that conspired to create a tragedy. As a result I’ve been fascinated by the idea of alternate worlds or universes and alternate history. What might have been if but one thread in the tapestry of time had been different? A yellow thread rather than a blue on. A coffee break not taken. A stop sign repaired rather than fallen. So many little things that could have changed what happened.
So when I read about the quantum physics theory of Entanglements, I was fascinated. Scientists had discovered that a particle could be tweaked miles away from another and still cause the second particle to react even though there was no discernable connection between them. They theorized that the two were “entangled” in an alternate dimension or universe of which they believed there are at least seven. Interestingly also, in the world of quantum physics, effect does not always follow cause. Sometimes they are reversed. I began to wonder what would happen if people or beings were entangled in alternate universes? What if a tragic fate could be avoided after it had already happened. And from those ideas, ENTANGLEMENTS was born. I hope you’ll check it out.
Entanglements Blurb:
Teen KIZZY TAYLOR is just hoping for an evening of fun when she joins her friends in a spelunking expedition through an under-city tunnel. But fun turns bizarre when Kizzy accidentally opens a vortex and her stepsister is swept through to an evil alternate dimension. The only way to rescue her stepsister is to reopen the vortex and go in after her. But is her new boyfriend, ROM CALIXO, going to help Kizzy or try to stop her? And if she can get past Rom, will she be able to get back home?
Excerpt
June 21st
No one had ever lived after jumping from the Talmadge Bridge. Until now, in my entire fifteen years, I had never been particularly special or unique. So the chances I, Kizzy Taylor, would be the first to survive were probably slimmer than the cheerleading captain at my high school. The nighttime Savannah skyline, with its gold domed city hall, loomed in the distance, serene and beautiful. Leaning over the railing, I peered down to the water far, far below me. The whipping wind slammed my ponytail against my forehead.
In the darkness, the black sheen of the water’s surface had the appearance of asphalt after a rain. It would probably feel like asphalt on impact. At the thought, my knees buckled. Even if I wasn’t particularly afraid of falling, I was suddenly very afraid of heights…Weird.
Straightening my shaking legs with defiance, I dragged my gaze away from the river and deliberately stared at my feet. They weren’t as scary as the height. From the purple polish on my toes to the blister on my right heel, they were the same feet I’d slipped into clear plastic flip-flops this morning. The garishly happy sunflower appliqué of my shoes mocked me.
“Kizzy.” Adam’s tiny four-year-old fingers tugged at the denim of my pants. He held his favorite plastic pterodactyl toy in his other hand.
Glancing back at him, I pried his fingers away. “Get back,” I ordered, giving a little push behind me. Okay. Maybe my life was over but I was going to save my little brother.
“I want to go home and see Mommy.” Adam’s blue eyes were wide and glistening with fear.
“I know, baby. We will. But get back now.” I tried to keep my tone firm but loving.
A car’s horn blared. Rising as it approached, the tone of the honking then fell as the car left us behind. The lights of the enormous suspension bridge must be illuminating us as if we were on a theater stage. Why didn’t any of these passing cars stop to help?
Adam’s sobs tore at me as I balanced my belly against the icy metal of the railing and climbed over. With barely enough room for my feet, their tips hung over the concrete edge.
“Shhh.” I glanced back over my right shoulder at Adam to try to meet his eyes but they were scrunched tightly shut. “We’re just playing a game. We’ll go home soon. I promise.”
“This isn’t a game.” The baritone voice, so agonizingly familiar, drowned out my brother’s cries. “You have to do it,” the man shouted prodding me in the back with his revolver.
The muzzle jabbed into my skin through the thin fabric of my t-shirt and pushed me forward. I would totally have a bruise tomorrow…if I survived until tomorrow.
“Jump,” the man screamed.
Gripping the rail behind me, I clung. A jagged piece of metal on the rail bit into my flesh and I winced as liquid pooled in my palm. I couldn’t help jerking that hand away to hold it in front of me. Blood dripped off my palm before disappearing into the darkness and becoming part of the Savannah River water.
“Kizzzzzy!” My brother screeched.
“Shut up.” The man started with a jerk. “Do you want to make me shoot?”
The pitch of Adam’s wailing heightened.
Clutching at my necklace as if it were a religious medal, I turned to try to talk to him.
“Can’t you just leave Adam alone? I’ll do what you want.” My pleading had the same effect on the man as it did on the steel of the suspension cable a few feet away.
“This is because of you,” he said. He. My dad.
Links:http://amzn.com/B005R0RPPG
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/90979
You can follow me on Twitter @PRMason and my blog http://agirlwithacomputer.blogspot.com
My website is at www.prmason.net
When my daughter was in college in Milledgeville, Georgia, we bought a house for her. She would rent some of the bedrooms and cover the house payments. As we were signing the papers for the sale of that house, which was at least 150 years old, the daughter of the woman selling the old house mentioned ghosts.
I was hooked, even though I didn’t have time to get more than the names of the ghosts. For the two-hour drive home, the ghosts took over my imagination and the story of Haunting Refrain unfolded. I hope you enjoy it.
HAUNTING REFRAIN
When music teacher Sarah Overby finds ghosts in her attic, she hesitates to tell her best friend, William McKeown. She doesn’t think he’ll understand. He has looked after her for as long as she can remember. Telling him he lived a previous life as her husband will make him think she is crazy.
William has adored Sarah forever, he just doesn’t realize this isn’t the first time he has loved her. His feelings for his best friend are changing, but he doesn’t believe in ghosts, reincarnation, or lasting romantic relationships. He is a psychologist and he believes in things he can prove.
Sarah’s guardian ghosts are facilitators who renew their relationships with their charge.
Excerpt
William awoke slowly, as though he’d been drugged. The clock read 5:45. Remnants of his dream hung on the edges of his consciousness. Sarah in boy’s clothes. Sarah, but not Sarah. He punched his pillow and tried to go back to sleep for the hour and a half ‘til his alarm would go off. Sleep would not come. The dream and its meaning haunted him. The man in his dream had wanted the woman so badly he hurt.
Rolling out of bed he made his way to his back porch. At times like this he wished he smoked. He stayed for the sunrise.
How in God’s name do we act now? How could he take the chance of ruining his friendship with Sarah by giving in to his libido? Seven years difference in their ages was too much for a romantic relationship. Besides, he’d never seen himself as a marrying man. His Sarah deserved a man who would give her a home and children, not just an affair.
Some protector he was!
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/65206
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Christmas’ Best Bet, Humble Pie. Get a FREE download!
This novella has loads of southern flavor.
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