The Tour Stop
Check out these featured authors making their way around the blog scene!
![]() The Sheikh’s Captive American
-- EXCERPT:
PROLOGUE Tarek Rahim watched as his cousins and friends, Nasim and Arif, leaped with a whoop down the curved steps of the Sheldonian Theatre, their academic gowns flapping behind them. He followed at a more dignified pace. “We’re free, lads!” Nasim shouted. Tarek shook his head. Happy as he was to have completed his Oxford education, he couldn’t quite bring himself to crow. Other graduates laughed and jostled around them, greeting their families, and Tarek pressed his lips together. For a moment, he could only think of his parents. Five years ago, an automobile accident had taken their lives. He wished they could see him now. Blinking, he pulled himself back to the moment. He could already hear the rattle of shackles coming to bind him to the throne of Zahkim, inherited from his father. His grandmother, Amal, had been acting as regent until he finished his education. Tomorrow he must become Sheikh Tarek of Zahkim, and the thought wasn’t appealing. Nasim jabbed an elbow into his ribs. “We are going to party right up until we have to pour you onto the plane home. Let’s get rid of these robes and head to the Sunset Lounge.” Arif chuckled. “You only want to go there because of that bartender who gives you doubles. It’s amazing you got your degree, given how much attention you paid to women and drink instead of your studies.” “I had to make up for you,” Nasim said, slapping Arif on the back. Tarek smiled. They did tend to give Arif a hard time about his resistance to hedonistic delights. Tarek thumped his cousin’s back as well. “Don’t worry, Arif. I’m sure we can find a woman to interest you tonight. It’s our last chance in England to live like the English.” An hour later, they crossed the street and headed to the upscale bar they’d made their own over the last four years. Arif had his eyes on his mobile, as usual. “No phones tonight.” Tarek plucked the device from Arif’s hand and stuffed it into his own pocket. “Only friends. Who knows when we’ll have another chance to do this.” “And no being maudlin,” Nasim said. Tarek straightened into a mock-formal pose. “I am a serious man, Nasim.” Nasim snorted, and Arif said, “Tell that to the first year whose shampoo you replaced with mayonnaise.” They laughed and turned toward the entrance, where chatter and laughter spilled out. The evening was descending, and streetlights flickered on up and down the sidewalk. The peculiar smell of Oxford—something not quite like sour milk—hung in the air. Tarek shivered in a cool gust of wind. He’d never become accustomed to the cold of England. He’d just reached the corner of the building when an old woman stepped from the shadows of an alley and grasped Tarek’s wrist. The woman looked older even than Tarek’s grandmother. In the dim light, he couldn’t see much but bright blue eyes and wisps of gray hair escaping from the black scarves swathed around her head and shoulders. A baggy dress draped her figure, and she smelled faintly of beer. “I’ll tell your fortune. Such handsome men, such tangled paths…” “Not tonight, mother.” Shaking her off, Tarek reached for his wallet. “No futures. We want only this moment.” But Nasim stepped between Tarek and the old woman. “It’s the perfect night—we have only the future ahead of us. Let’s hear her out.” Arif frowned and stuck his hands in his trouser pockets. “Do you really want to know? There’s more to it than you realize.” Tarek pulled two fifty-pound notes from his wallet and pushed them into the woman’s gnarled fist. “Find yourself some food and a place to sleep, mother. I’m not thinking about the future until I must.” She grasped his arm and pulled at him until he had to bend closer. She spoke clearly, but so softly only he could hear. “An angel will fall from the sky and land at your feet, sheikh. She will save your country, but only if you fall at her feet in turn. Trust your instincts, my son.” Tarek stared at her, but she only gave a smile and faded into the gathering night. Nasim broke the silence with a nervous laugh. “I’m not sure what you just bought.” Tarek hunched a shoulder. How had she known he was a sheikh? Was it a guess because he looked Middle Eastern? What had she meant about saving his country? From what? He shrugged off her words. If his country was on the line, he’d trust his intellect, not his instincts. ![]()
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![]() Can Dreams Come True?
Are you a book blogger? -- -- EXCERPT: I started to feel anxious after lunch. After all, I had been an Andrew fan for a long time, and even though I had seen him in person, this was a huge deal to get to meet him. What if he wasn’t what I had imagined? I didn’t expect him to fawn over me or anything, but what if he was rude or ignored me? It would kill my fantasy of him as being this sweet, quiet, sensitive songwriter who wore his heart on his sleeve while also being kind of a loner/rebel with just a touch of bad boy in him. Oh man, I would be crushed if he didn’t notice me or worse—if he ended up flirting with Harlow. In all his magazine interviews Andrew always said looks weren’t important to him, and what he noticed in a girl was if she was true to herself. He said he went for “bright girls who were sweet and easy to be with.” Now that I thought about it, that was the kind of fake crap magazines put out about all the teen celebrities. It was like when I saw Lawrence Claibourne, my favorite actor who claimed to be Mr. I’m-just-looking-for-a-sweetgirl-to-read-poetry-to on a red carpet with a model whose boobs were falling out of her dress and had overdone the lip fillers—I mean, you just knew he wasn’t into her for her personality. But Andrew wasn’t like Lawrence. Andrew seemed so sincere and deep. Lawrence had a smirk and you could tell he was a player, but Andrew seemed like he had been hurt and needed to find the right girl who he could open up to and learn to trust again. . .or at least that’s what he said in his last interview. The final bell rang and my heart shot up to my throat. This was it. I was on my way to meet my crush. From now on, any dreams of him would be marred by the reality I was about to face. Was it better to keep wondering what if and keep the fantasy alive or to go and actually meet him? ![]()
GIVEAWAY! ![]() Servant of Rage
-- EXCERPT:
The other hunters shied from the task, mumbled excuses and accepted easier assignments. Fool’s errands, more like. If ten years of training and two more as a hunter had proved anything, it was that Subei was not one to let an opportunity pass him by. “Let me get this straight,” Kashi said, shaking his head. “The khan marks murderers, horse thieves, and petty smugglers, but we’re assigned to hunt down the longest serving commander in the entire damned khanate?” “Assigned?” Subei said with a laugh. “Ancestors above, brother. We weren’t assigned. We volunteered.” Silence followed. Kashi’s expression, previously one of surprise, descended into a suspicious scowl. “You volunteered, you mean?” “Well, as the foremost, I speak for all of us,” Subei said, clapping Kashi and their older brother, Bataar, on the back. “So in the eyes of the khan, we volunteered.” Subei smiled. There was a significant difference between being ordered to do a thing and volunteering for it. It was the difference between mindless servitude and burning ambition. The difference between being no one and being the khan’s finest hunter. He held tight to his smile even as anger built in his younger brother’s eyes. Looked a river in the summer rains, swelling until it burst its banks. “You’re a damned madman.” “Probably.” “You’re going to get us killed!” “Probably that, too.” “Ancestors damn it, Subei! Can we not just have an easy assignment for once?” “Kashi, little brother.” Subei shook his head. Had he learned nothing after all this time? “Opportunity—” “Opportunity is missed by most because it comes soaked in blood and looks to be suicide. You’ve said it a hundred damned times.” “So what’s the problem?” “The problem is the part where we hunt one of the fiercest men the steppe has ever known, and probably end up dead as a result.” He cursed under his breath and began to pace back and forth. Always had been a bit lacking on the courage side of things, had Kashi. A trait from his parents, perhaps. Subei called him and Bataar brother, though they were not brothers by birth but rather by trade. Hunters, trained together from childhood. Subei didn’t share blood with either of them, but after twelve years and countless hunts together, that counted for very little. Kashi continued to fume for a minute before he finally turned to Bataar. “Oh, so you’re smiling too?” The big man shrugged. “It’d be a fine thing to bring down Commander Jian. Horse thieves and smugglers have gotten a bit, well, boring.” “Boring? Oh, boring is fine. Boring doesn’t end with a spear in my chest.” Bataar hefted his wicker-and-iron shield and patted the horseman’s saber at his hip. “You’re the tracker. You find the bastard, we’ll take care of the rest.” “And after you take care of ‘the rest’ — or it takes care of you — it’ll be my job to drag what’s left of your bodies back to the khan.” “Well, you won’t have to drag us far,” Subei said, savoring the best part of the news for just a moment longer. “The commander just left camp yesterday. Hardly has any lead on us at all.” He nodded to the west, through the great tent city that always followed the khan’s camp and out to the wide, windy steppe beyond. “Oh, wonderful. We can catch up to our deaths that much quicker, then,” Kashi said, shaking his head. “You worry too much, little brother.” Subei smirked and patted him on the shoulder, but Kashi shrugged the gesture away. “Someone has to, seeing as neither of you care to bother.” ![]()
GIVEAWAY! ![]() Owl Eyes: A Fairy Tale
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo -- EXCERPT:
“Hi.” I shot up from the bed, screaming, and scrambling backwards before falling off the mattress onto the planked wood floor. A boy crouched next to me with his elbows balanced on his knees and his chin resting against his palms. He wore an old, light blue shirt that was much too large for his small frame. A piece of hay stuck up from the mop of brown hair on his head. “Jack!” Liana called from the kitchen. “Don’t wake Nora.” “Too late,” the boy called back. “Who are you?” I pressed my hand to my chest to keep my heart in place. “Why were you watching me sleep?” “I wasn’t watching you sleep,” the boy said. “Peter and me just got back from the Market, and I got up here and found you on my mattress.” “Your—” I sputtered. I took a deep breath and tried to inhale the motherwort from the candle. “This is my bed.” “Well, no one said it was yours, did they? I claimed this bed when I got here, and no one made a peep.” He crossed his arms and looked at the floor. “They were probably too worried if you were okay to care about where I was sleeping. You looked pretty rotten.” “I was sick,” I said, staking my spot on the mattress again. “No, I mean you actually looked like you’d rotted. Your skin was all black. Are you sure you’re not a spirit who’s talking to me now?” I grabbed his arm and pressed my palm to his. “No spirit,” I said. “I’m here.” He grinned. I shoved him on the floor. “I’m Jack,” he said as he picked himself up. “Nora.” “Are you Greta and Peter’s daughter?” “No.” I regretted the words as soon as they came out of my mouth. They were true, but I chewed them like a lie. “I mean yes. Sort of.” “How are you only ‘sort of’ their daughter?” “I mean, yes, I’m their daughter. They’re just not my real parents. My real parents are dead. Or gone. Or something. My mother is dead.” I was rambling. I pulled the candle closer to the mattress, hearing Greta’s voice in my ear warning me that the flame could catch the straw on fire. I didn’t care. I lowered my face and breathed in. “Does your ma’s spirit ever talk to you?” Jack asked. “What?” I stared at him. “That’s stupid. How old are you that you still think that can happen?” “I’m thirteen.” Defensiveness crept into his voice. “And I only asked because I can talk to my pa anytime I want to. Or at least I could when we lived in the Vale. His spirit lives in the river there.” Sir Alcander had hired a crazy person to work in the kitchen house. “No, he doesn’t.” “He does so! I’ll show you sometime, and you’ll see.” I flopped back down on the mattress and rolled over so I was facing away from him, pulling the candle to the other side with me. I could feel Jack watching me. “Your ma is nice,” I said, still not facing him. “Thanks. I think so too.” There, finally, was something we agreed on. “I’m going to bed now. You can keep your spot. I didn’t want it anyway.” I peeked over my shoulder. Jack lay down on a new mattress I hadn’t noticed next to the wall. “Thanks,” I said. In the dim light of the candle, his eyes looked almost gold. I smiled. “It’s all right,” he said. “I can sleep almost anywhere as long as I’ve got enough space. I don’t like feeling closed up in small places.” The dark room pulsed behind me. “Me neither.” Now we had two things in common.
GIVEAWAY! ![]() Craving: Loyalty
-- Are you a book reviewer? --
GIVEAWAY! WICKED LIES (Wicked Bay #3)RELEASE BLITZ AND GIVEAWAY
BY L A COTTON
The third book in the bestselling YA series from L A Cotton is LIVE!!!
To celebrate L A Cotton is giving one lucky winner the chance to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card and a Wicked Bay Bundle (including a signed set of paperbacks and series swag). BLURB
To the outside world, seventeen-year-old Kyle Stone has it all. A future playing the sport he loves, money and status, and his forever girl by his side. But Kyleâs good at pretending; hiding what he doesnât want others to see. Because Kyle has secrets, the kind that can change everything.
Pretty, popular, and dating one of Wicked Bay Highâs rising football stars, Laurie Davison is living the life most girls only dream about. But behind closed doors, she feels like a fake. Keeping up appearances is exhausting, and the one person she should be able to turn to is the person pushing her away. They say love conquers all, but lies destroy. And when the truth comes out, hearts donât only get hurt. They get ruined. *** Note: Wicked Lies can be read as a standalone but will be better enjoyed when read in series order ABOUT THE AUTHOREdgy. Angsty. Addictive Romance.
Author of mature young adult and new adult novels, L A is happiest writing the kind of books she loves to read: addictive stories full of teenage angst, tension, twists and turns.
Home is a small town in the middle of England where she currently juggles being a full-time writer with being a mother/referee to two little people. In her spare time (and when sheâs not camped out in front of the laptop) youâll most likely find L A immersed in a book, escaping the chaos that is life.
Write Now Literary is pleased to be coordinating a blog tour for fiction authors Lisa Watson, Nicole Hampton, J.L. Campbell and Perry Busby. This tour will run March 29, 2018. Follow the tour here. Book your own tour here.
About the Author
J.L. Campbell is fascinated with Jamaican flora and has hundreds of photos to prove it. She writes contemporary and sweet romance, romantic suspense, women's fiction, as well as new and young adult novels.
Campbell, who features Jamaican culture in her stories, has written twenty-seven books and two short story collections. She is also a certified editor.
Website: http://www.joylcampbell.com
About the Book
Aside from a brief stint of madness during their teen years, Vance James and Ayisha Glenn are not each other's idea of relationship material. Vance, a financial analyst and avid golfer, is preoccupied with getting his fill of women, and finding that special someone doesn't factor into his plans. Yet all it takes to turn his world upside down is one remark from Ayisha about his lifestyle. Suddenly, his focus shifts and he's spending his days trying to prove he can be the man she needs.
Ayisha is a go-getter who knows what she's aboutâa successful business, a lifetime with the man of her dreams, and children to complete the picture. Vance is an expert at romance, but with Ayisha it's all or nothing. She's waited years for Vance to stop chasing the wind in pursuit of what's already in front of him. Now that he's set his heart on having her, will she accept his love?
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/ya849efr
About the Author
National bestselling author, Lisa Watson, is a native of Washington D.C., and writes in the Multicultural & Interracial, Contemporary, Romantic Suspense, and Sweet Romance genres. Having her debut novel nominated for Best Contemporary Fiction, sparked Lisaâs desire to continue creating engaging storylines, strong characters with universal appeal, and a keen sense of humor. They are drawn together by love, respect, and a strong family ties.
Lisa loves traveling, so weaving beautiful destinations into the pages of her novels as lush backdrops, or the heritage of her characters is not uncommon.
Website: http://www.lisawatson.com
About the Book
Danger doesnât make an appointmentâ¦it just shows up.
When Sasha Lambertâs debut novel, The Passport Diaries, hits the bookstores it quickly becomes a bestseller. Her ex-boyfriend, and Greek tycoon, Milo Georgopoulos, believes one of the characters in the book sheds a not-so-positive light on his own extracurricular activities. He gives Sasha an ultimatum: Ditch the book or else.
Retired football player, Pierce Deveraux thinks he too has been placed between the pages of The Passport Diaries. Determined to make Sasha pay for putting a ding in his knight-in-shining-armor image, Pierce contemplates how best to even the score.
Suddenly strange things start happening wherever Sasha goes. Even her twin sister, Dr. Sienna Lambert-Deveraux worries for her safety. With an adoring assistant, an ambitious publicist, and jealous ex-lover vying for her attention, Sasha soon finds herself at the center of dangerous tug-of-war.
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Amazon: http://ow.ly/G0Kc30i8GJU
About the Author
Nicole Hampton is a compassionate woman, who loves to create stories readers can relate to in a way that validates situations that occur daily the lives of many. Her love for reading developed at an early age. She often spent hours becoming lost in the worlds of characters of her favorite books. Born in the South Suburbs of Chicago, IL, reading offered an opportunity for Nicole to dream about life outside of her community and fed her desire to want to explore the world beyond her modest surroundings.
Nicole earned a Masterâs Degree in Social Work, and utilizes the skills and knowledge learned to address the issues presented in her debut novel Glimmer in the Darkness in a manner that allows people to connect and understand the struggles of her characters. Nicole lives in North Carolina, is a dedicated wife and mother of six, who spends any time she can snatch, developing characters and story lines to share with her readers. Her second novel, Tears of the Storm, will release in summer of 2018.
Website: http://www.thenicolehampton.com
About the Book
For Shannon Johnson, full-time wife, mom and freelance writer, life as she knew it changed one spring afternoon with the ringing of her doorbell. On the other side stood Vaneetra James, former mistress of Shannonâs husband, Daniel. With two sons, Shannon resisted the urge to leave Daniel in order to keep her family intact. However, she refused to deal with the issues resulting from Danielâs extramarital affair.
When Shannon thought her life couldnât get any worse, a tragic turn of events in Vaneetraâs life turned Shannonâs already fractured world upside down, sending her marriage into an even deeper peril.
Feeling desperate and trapped, Shannon made a series of rash decisions that landed her in the arms of another man, bringing her already fragile world crashing downward. Having to come to grips with the reality that the man she once thought was extraordinary was just ordinary, she had to trudge the road of forgiveness, while learning to love again and accept what she never imagined could ever exist.
Genre: Womenâs Contemporary Fiction
Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/ya65ylxc
About the Author
Perry Busby is an author and founder of Buzz Word Publishing. In addition to writing, he is a freelance programmer and data analyst. His client list includes both government and private organizations; from NASA, to the Federal Reserve Bank, and political campaigns; from Fortune 100 companies to non-profit organizations and local business. After 30 years of designing and analyzing software and data, Perry now turns his creative energies and keyboard to write about a journey that has been just as adventuresome as it has been nerdy. When he isnât writing, Perry dedicates time to engage and counsel minority youth and college students on the obstacles and opportunities of working within the IT sector.
Website: http://www.buzzwordpublishing.com
About the Book
Phil Jacobson, a young African-American computer enthusiast and hacker, lands a prized position as a programmer with Intellect Technology Incorporated, a leading technology company. While coping with being one of a select few minority programmers the company has recently hired, Phil discovers a fellow hacker has uncovered evidence that points to his hiring as being part of a more egregious cover up.
On the brink of closing their doors for good, and faced with competition from a growing personal computer industry, Jack Sherman, the CEO of ITI, hedges his bets on his young chief financial officer, Vincent Martello, and a new technology called the Internet. ITI is set to acquire the first Internet browser from WorldNet Labs, a small startup company founded by Philâs longtime friend, Malcolm Graves. The deal between ITI and WorldNet Labs could potentially be the smartest and most lucrative corporate deal of the century. But, ITIâs questionable employment practices, a reported EEOC complaint, and Jack Shermanâs sordid family alliances, could kill the deal in its tracks. Relying on the skills he learned while assisting his father and information heâs gathered from the Underground (a virtual network of computers on a Bulletin Board System), Phil rushes to uncover ITIâs secret past and put an end to what may be the worst deal ever for his friend.
With Charlotte, North Carolina, as the backdrop Perry Busby weaves a suspense tale about a family confronting lifeâs changes as society prepares for its next disruptive invention, the Internet.
Genre: Mystery
Kiss the Sky
by MK Schiller
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Love can move mountains . . .
Strong, athletic, and driven, Tristan Sinclair is determined to fulfill his late brother’s wish to climb Pakistan’s K2, the world’s second highest mountain. He never expects part of the challenge will be getting along with one of his fellow climbers—or that the greatest peril may lie beyond the summit . . .
A passionate, life-long climber, Pakistan born Farah Nawaz is skeptical of the hotshot from Arizona. But as she and Tristan help each other conquer obstacle after obstacle, they find they have more in common than they thought—including a simmering attraction. And when suspicious deaths put them in the sights of a ruthless killer, they’ll have to cover their tracks long enough to find out why—and stay alive for a future together . . .
MK Schiller is a hopeless romantic in a hopelessly pragmatic world. In the dark of night, she sits by the warm glow of her computer monitor, reading or writing, usually with some tasty Italian…the food that is! She started imagining stories in her head at a very young age. In fact, she got so good at it that friends asked her to create plots featuring them as the heroine and the object of their affection as the hero. She hopes you enjoy her stories and find The Happily Ever After in every endeavor. M.K. Schiller loves hearing from readers.
Follow the tour HERE for exclusive excerpts and a giveaway!
THE GLASS BLADE
Hunters of Infinity Book 1
by Ryan Wieser
Genre: Science Fiction/Space Opera
The Hunters of Infinity have been protecting the Daharian galaxy for years, but there has never been a female Hunter—until now.
In a seedy bar in the shadowy corners of Daharia, Jessop comes to the rescue of young Hunter Kohl O’Hanlon. Impressed by her remarkable sword-wielding skills, the Hunters invite her to their training facility, the Glass Blade, though not all are pleased with the intrusion. But they soon discover that Jessop learned to fight from the rogue leader of the Shadow City of Aranthol—and escaped. Now they want to use her intimate knowledge of their enemy to destroy him. As Jessop grows closer to this elite brotherhood, their leader succumbs to a mysterious ailment, and Kohl learns that Jessop is hiding dark secrets, raising suspicions about the enigmatic woman who saved his life. Has the Hunters’ security been breached—or do they have a traitor in their ranks?
Allegiances will be questioned.
Loyalties will be betrayed.
Vengeance will be brutal.
Ryan Wieser completed her B.A. in Sociology and Socio-Legal Studies before going on to complete her MSc. in Experimental Psychology. Having been raised in Africa and educated across multiple countries, Ryan has a passion for travel and an interest in diverse cultures. She currently resides in Wyoming with her husband, where she is writing her next book.
Follow the tour HERE for exclusive excerpts and a giveaway!
Act of Revengeby Dale Brownon Tour March 19-31, 2018Synopsis:![]() When terrorists attack Boston, Louis Massina races against time to save the city with a high-tech counteroffensive . . .On Easter Sunday morning, the city of Boston is struck by a widespread and coordinated series of terrorist attacks: an explosion in the T, a suicide bomber at Back Bay Police Station, and heavily armed gunmen taking hostages at the Patriot Hotel. For robotics innovator Louis Massina, aka the Puppet Master, this is far more personal than a savage act of political terrorism. Boston is his city—and one of his employees, Chelsea Goodman, is among the hostages facing certain death. As Chelsea fights from the inside, Massina leads his team of tech geniuses at Smart Metal to deploy every bot, drone, and cyber weapon at their disposal to defeat the fanatics and save his city and friend. That's step one. Step two: Find the twisted mastermind behind the attacks and make him pay.
Read an excerpt:Flash forwardBoston, Easter Sunday High noon Louis Massina paced back and forth in the small high-security area, worried, anxious, and angry. But most of all, impotent. Boston was under attack. The lives of dozens, maybe hundreds, of his friends were directly threatened. One of his closest employees, a young woman with tremendous promise, was among the hostages. Maybe even dead. And all he could do, for all his money, for all his inventions—his robots, his drones, his computers, his software—was walk back and forth, trying desperately to suppress what could not be suppressed. Anger. Rage. The enemy of reason, yet the core of his being, at least at this moment. There were other alternatives. Prayer, for one. Prayer is impotence. Prayer is surrender. The nuns who taught him would slap his face for thinking that. They held the exact opposite: Prayer was strength, tenfold. But while in many ways Massina was a man of faith, he had never been much given to prayer. In his mind, actions spoke more effectively than words. Prayers were all well and good, but they worked—if they worked at all—on a realm other than human. And the action needed now was completely human. Not even the Devil himself could have concocted the evil his city faced. Light flashed in the center of the far-right monitor. “They’re going in,” said the operator watching the hotel where Massina’s employee had been taken hostage. The light had come from a small explosion at the side of the building. “They’re going in.” Almost in spite of himself, Massina started to pray. Two hours earlierBoston, Massachusetts Easter Sunday morning There were few better hotels in Boston than the Patriot Hotel if you wanted to soak up the city’s history: city hall was practically next door, Faneuil five minutes away. You could catch a trolley for the Old Town tour a block or two down the street. Bunker Hill was a hike, but then the British had found that out as well. The rooms were expensive—twice what they would go for at similarly appointed hotels nearby—but money had never been a major concern for Victoria Goodman, Chelsea Goodman’s favorite aunt. Victoria had gotten a job as a secretary for Microsoft very soon after it started, and when she cashed out her stock in the early 1990s, invested in real estate in and around San Francisco, most notably Palo Alto and Menlo Park—the future homes of Facebook and Google. Victoria had that kind of luck. Despite her luck, and her money, Victoria was especially easygoing, self-assured yet casual. She met Chelsea in the hotel lobby wearing a blue-floral draped dress that showed off toned upper arms and legs that remained trim and shapely despite the fact that she had recently passed sixty. “Just on time,” declared Victoria, folding Chelsea to her chest. “I hope you’re hungry.” “I wouldn’t mind breakfast,” answered Chelsea. “How far did you run this morning?” “It’s not the distance, it’s the attitude,” replied Victoria. “Only five miles. But it felt wonderful. It’s so marvelous running through the city.” “You’ll have to try for the Marathon.” “Those days are gone, dear,” said Victoria lightly. “I’d never qualify. But thank you for the thought. You didn’t bring your young friend?” “We’ll meet her at the Aquarium,” Chelsea said. “She had to go to church with her dad.” “Well, it is Easter.” “Actually, they’re Russian Orthodox, so it’s Palm Sunday. He’s a single father, and lately he’s been trying to instill religion in her.” Chelsea followed Victoria across the paneled lobby to the restaurant entrance, where a maître d’ greeted them with a nod. He had a fresh white rose in his lapel and the manner of someone who’d been looking forward to this encounter the entire morning. He showed the two women to a seat at the far end of the room, then asked if they would care for something to drink while they looked at the menus. “Mimosas,” said Victoria. “And coffee.” “Mimosas?” asked Chelsea. “Why not? You don’t have to work today, and champagne always puts me in the mood for sightseeing.” Chelsea was just about to ask how exactly that worked when a loud crack shook the room. The metallic snap was followed by two more, each louder than the other. The noise was unfamiliar to most of the people in the restaurant, but Chelsea had lately had a singular experience that not only made the sound familiar, but warned her subconscious that there was great danger nearby. She leaped up from her seat, and before her aunt could respond, had grabbed her and pushed her to the floor. “Someone is shooting!” Chelsea told Victoria as the crack of a fresh round of bullets echoed against the deep wood panels of the room. “We have to get out of here!” *** Excerpt from Act of Revenge by Dale Brown. Copyright © 2018 by Dale Brown. Reproduced with permission from William Morrow. All rights reserved. Author Bio:![]() Dale Brown is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous books, from Flight of the Old Dog (1987) in 1987, to, most recently, Iron Wolf (2015). A former U.S. Air Force captain, he can often be found flying his own plane over the skies of Nevada. Jim DeFelice is the co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller American Sniper. DeFelice is the author of Omar Bradley: General at War, the first in-depth critical biography of America’s last five-star general. He also writes a number of acclaimed military thrillers, including the Rogue Warrior series from Richard Marcinko, founder of SEAL Team 6, and the novels in the Dreamland series with Dale Brown. Catch Up With Our Dale Brown On his Website, Goodreads Page, Twitter, & Facebook Page!Tour Participants:Visit the other great hosts on this tour for more great reviews, interviews, guest posts, and giveaways!Check out this awesome Giveaway:This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Dale Brown and William Morrow. There will be 3 winners of one (1) physical copy of PUPPET MASTER by Dale Brown. The giveaway begins on March 19, 2018 and runs through April 1, 2018. This giveaway is open to US Addresses only. Void where prohibited.a Rafflecopter giveawayGet More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours |
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