A Teaser: A Contemporary Coffee-Time Love Story

Sorry! I'm not going to tell you the title-YET.

(Release date SOON)

 

We ate in silence, the food amazing and the twinkle of the lights of the city lulling through the windows. Sometime in the middle of the meal it began to rain, the drops trailing lazily over the glass making patterns in the light. The candlelight caressed Mac's face, and I thought to myself that I had never had a more romantic moment in my entire life. Stuff like this only happened fairy tales and on Hallmark movies.

When the waiter took our empty plates away he left the dessert menu, but I didn't need to look at it to know that what I wanted was not listed there. I clasped Mac's hand on the table and sipped the last of my wine. I leaned against his shoulder and watched the rain.

“Does this night have to end?” I wondered aloud.

“It is pretty great.” He dropped his arm over the back of my chair again and I leaned against his chest. “Irissa?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I take you home with me tonight?”

I pulled back to look up at him. “I thought you'd never ask.”

He leaned forward to kiss me, his lips on mine until the waiter cleared his throat and placed the bill on the table with a wink in my direction. Mac dropped cash into the wallet and grabbed my hand.

“I'll pull the car around.”

I followed him to the front of the restaurant and waited as he jogged into the driving rain. I slipped on my coat and watched the window.

“Excuse me.”

I turned when a tall man with salt and pepper hair approached.

“Yes?”

“Are you the young lady who was dining with Donovon McCleary's son?”

“Yes.”

The man's hand went into his coat pocket, and I tensed, but he removed a plain white envelope and held it out to me.

“Would you mind giving this to him?”

“I'm sorry, who are you?”

The man shook the envelope at me. “A business associate. I'd hoped to catch Mr. McCleary here but if you could deliver this for me, I'd be much obliged.”

I took the envelope and looked at it. “What is it?”

“Something he's been waiting for.”

I opened my mouth, but the man turned and walked away quickly. I looked down at the envelope and frowned. I glanced up when Mac came in, soaked to the skin but smiling at me.

“What's wrong?” He lost his smile when he saw my frown.

“A man just came up to me and asked me to give this to you.”

He took the envelope and looked at me. “Did he bother you?”

“No. It was strange, though, he never did say who he was. Older, fifties, with salt and pepper hair and glasses.”

Mac frowned and looked at the envelope.

“He said he was a business associate.”

“Well if it's business then it can wait until tomorrow.” Mac tucked the envelope inside my clutch and handed it back to me. “Tonight I have plans with my girl.”

He grabbed my hand and I followed him out to the car, sliding over the leather as the rain pounded on the roof. Mac got behind the wheel and started the car, leaning over to kiss me hard. I leaned against him, not caring if his rain-soaked shirt pressed against me. He grabbed my hand, placing it on the fly of his pants, where I could feel the evidence of how much he wanted me.

“See how much of a fun distraction you are?”

I stroked him gently through his pants, making him stiffen and drop his head to the headrest. “I see that.”

“Maybe you can help ease my suffering?”

I pulled my hand away and moved back to my own seat, buckling my belt and casually raising a shoulder. “We'll have to see.”

He groaned and cursed under his breath, but he was smiling. “You're a tease, Irissa Daniels.”

I pouted in his direction. “Only a little.”

 

(c) Amy Riddle-DeClerck 2015



 

 

 

 

The Alchemist's Kiss

A sneek peak at my WIP

(c) Amy Riddle-DeClerck 2015

 

 

My newest project is a rollicking action/adventure/magical steampunk romance called The Alchemist's Kiss, and I wanted to share a snippet of what I've been pouring my heart and soul into for the last few months. Take a minute and read it....COMMENTS ARE WELCOME!

 

 

In the moment that the storm was burned off by the aether I saw Icarus drop The Hand. I pulled open the wheelhouse door with the Captain quick on my heels. I must have screamed when Icarus went over the edge, because the Captain and all his men stopped to stare at the bow of the ship where their savior had only moments before been standing.

I thought I might be frozen in fear or grief, but I dashed forward and grabbed my talisman from the deck. I could feel my heart racing as I looked over the edge. Icarus was holding on, but dangling limply as the wind buffeted him about like a child's toy. I got to my knees, tucking The Hand into my bodice, and reached for him. I grabbed hold and he raised his head. He was pale and I knew only moments from unconsciousness.

“Grab my other hand, Icarus.”

“I cannot.” His voice was a whisper, raw and agonizingly rough. He was shaking, every muscle quaking with the effort it took to hold himself to the ship. My arms screamed in pain as I tried to hold him up. The Captain was across the way, tending to a fire that had broken out on the deck.

“Icarus, please.” I begged, pulling with all my strength. I could not hold him and concentrate enough to chant a spell to help me with his weight. “Take my hand.”

“I am not gloved, Fanny. I won't.”

I cursed as he quaked hard again, nearly loosing his hand from mine. My palms were sweaty and he slipped away from me a little more. “I am willing to risk it, Icarus! You're going to fall. Take my hand. Please.”

He smiled at me and I felt a sob escape. I'd seen that smile before. Sad and full of soft apologies that Icarus Kane never needed to make. I clutched at him as he opened his hand and slipped away from me. He fell, and all I saw was a speck of herringbone tumbling end over end toward the ground below.

“Adept Jenkins,” the Captain knelt beside me, his face pale. He gulped, his large adam's apple bobbing as he stared wide eyed at Icarus falling. “I cannot bring the ship down fast enough to catch him.”

I untied my hat and handed it to the captain. It looked ridiculous in his large-knuckled hands, but I clutched The Hand tightly and stood at the bow.

“Continue to follow the feather, “ I said with proper severity, despite the fear bubbling in my gut, “and Icarus and I will be along shortly.”

“Adept, what are you doing?” the Captain grabbed my arm as I leaned over the edge of the decking. I shrugged him off and something in the jut of my jaw or the fire of my eyes must have convinced him that I was not to be trifled with in that moment. He pulled his hand back and shook his head, “This is madness.”

I took hold of my skirts and held them tightly. The Hand burned in my palm and I wondered if my clothing could catch fire from the heat. The Captain was positively aghast as I raised my dress above my ankles and tensed.

“Good luck, Captain Levisque. Until we meet again.” Then I bent my knees and leaped from the side of the ship.





 

 

New Release from Author

Dawn White

 

 

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Bleed-Me-Dawn-White-ebook/dp/B00RC77R78/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1425757137&sr=8-2&keywords=bleed+for+me

 

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bleed-for-me-dawn-white/1121288375?ean=2940046598766

 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/bleed-for-me/id971256167?mt=11

 

 

 



Meet Author DJ Shaw

Meet Author DJ Shaw!

 

 

 

 



         Tell me about your evolution as a writer. When did you start writing, and why?

I’ve been writing since I was ten but have only been in the publishing world since 2012.

 

 

        Who are your greatest inspirations, and why?

Laurell K. Hamilton, Stephen King, Dean Kontz, Kim Harrision, Charlane Harris, the list actually goes on lol. The reason I look up to these authors is because they write worlds that make me lose myself and I like to think that I write that way as well. If not right now then soon lol.

 

 

       Tell me about the first book that really captured your imagination and made you fall in love with reading.

R.L. Stine’s Fear Street series. Oh and The Sweet Valley High series lol

 

 

   Of all your characters who’s your favorite and why? Tell us about him/her/it.

MacKenzie Spayde because she’s the first character I’ve had that talks to me continually. She’s in her mid 20’s has lost her father and her mother is in an asylum, she’s found out a few things that have turned her world upside down and is about to discover a whole lot more earth shattering information

       

 

          Tell me about your experiences as a new author. What advice would you want any new author to know so that they have an easier time of it?

This is one of those questions that are a bit hard to answer lol My experiences as a new author have been a bit bitter sweet, though they are totally beginning to look up. As for advice I would tell any new author to never give up. There will always be haters out there and people who support you only when they feel they will get something out of it, don’t let that discourage you. Write what you know and how you feel. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. :-)

 

 

 

 

Find DJ's work at the following places:

 

Buy Links:

Amazon Link: http://ow.ly/JMUHx

B&N Link: http://ow.ly/JMURn

Smashwords Link: http://ow.ly/JMV9S

iTunes Link: http://ow.ly/JN0PZ

Goodreads Link: http://ow.ly/JN0T1

 

 

 

 



Meet a New Author Tuesday

 

 

 

 Meet Author Meri Martin, author of The Siren's Keeper Series!

 

    

 

 Tell me about your evolution as a writer. When did you start writing, and why?

 

I think I knew I wanted to be an author when I was 7. I wrote a "short" story about an elephant named Ellie. It was probably some of my better work. I seriously knew I wanted to actually write when I was about 24. I always have so many stories going on in my head that I wanted to get them down on paper. Then this one particular story, that is now The Siren's Keeper series, wouldn't go away and it was like a sign that I need to start to write. I have always enjoyed it and use writing as a means to get things out I can't express any other way.

 

  Who are your greatest inspirations, and why?

I really like Charlaine Harris. I am a big fan of all of her series and I think she is a great writer. I also have great admiration for any writer that can put me into the book, where I feel I am a part of their story, not just viewing it from the outside, so to speak.  J.K. Rowling really did that for me in Harry Potter and she is also a huge inspiration. Her story of how she became a writer, her success, her philanthropy, etc,  is what inspires me more than her work itself.

 

 

   Tell me about your current WIP. Is this your typical genre? What inspired this story?

I am currently writing for our “secret project”. It is a love story, not my typical though. The inspiration came from a dream I had that got stuck in my head and then I’ve let it go from there. 

 

 

What’s the hardest part about being an author?

 

Marketing!!! I absolutely hate it, but probably because I am no good at it. Staying focused on just one story sometimes is hard, as well as finding the time to get it all down on paper.

 

       What’s your writing process like? Do you plot and outline, or do you ride “seat of the pants”?

My writing process depends on the story. My current WIP I’ve outlined everything, right down to chapters. My first book I wrote all the way through without any notes or anything else.  If I am working on more than one thing I also like to outline, so I don’t forget ideas, and sometimes, if I have nothing else I’m working on, or have serious writers block on what I’m working on, I’ll write straight through then go back and edit.

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Gifted-Sirens-Keeper-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00KNCGHOS



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Nothing So Bold As A Man in Love With His Gun

NOTHING SO BOLD AS A MAN IN LOVE WITH HIS GUN

 

"We won't be able to hold out much longer."

Garrison didn't answer Bax, but kept his eyes locked on the door through the scope of his rifle. He loved his gun. His gun was the only thing, besides Jacks, that had never let him down. He patted her now and waited for the alien on the other side of the door to try to get through.

"Marz is hurt."

Garrison did look up then, and Villiar shook his head where he leaned over the prone form of their medic.

"He's seizing or something." The crimson-skinned Threxian had something akin to panic in his deep voice. He held down the smaller man, his eyes wide with worry.

Garrison knelt beside the Phanger, hoping his sub-par field medic's training might be of some use. The usually pale Phanger was in the throes of some kind of fit, his head and neck stiff as his arms flailed wildly. White foam dripped from his mouth as he tossed and turned in Villiar's grip.

"Don't let him choke on his tongue." Garrison dug in his pouch, pulling out a wrapped package of bullets. He looked at it uncertainly for a moment, and then shrugged. What the fuck? Chewing on a bullet would be better than biting off his own damned tongue. He pressed the pack between Marz's lips, and his teeth clamped down on it hard, nearly taking off Garrison's finger in the process.

"Any idea what's causing this?" he asked the others. Bax and Villiar looked at each other and shook their heads. Phanger physiology was similar to human, but they weren't that familiar with the specifics. Garrison took the medical scanner from Marz's belt and ran it over the alien, and all it showed was that nearly every one of his body's systems was out of whack.

"Aren't Phangers really sensitive to energy fields?" Bax asked, and Garrison nodded. He seemed to recall having to replace a few of the Blade's shield sensors when Marz had first joined the crew, because they caused the man to have headaches. “Odd, though, since he never had a problem with J, and he puts off a hell of a blast."

"Must be the machine." Garrison looked at Villiar as the pounding started up again on the other side of the door. "Keep him still as best you can. The only thing we can hope for is that J can get this over with quick."

Villiar nodded as Bax and Garrison took positions in front of the door, guns aimed at the opening.

"If he breaks through then you move back and keep him off the others." Garrison instructed Bax, kneeling and taking up his firing position. With his rifle in his hands he was 99.9% sure he could stop the monster banging on the door, but there was always that .1% chance he'd fail.

"What about you? If I move back that puts you in my line of fire." Bax shook his head at his friend. "I don't like that plan."

"Only plan we've got." Garrison said, a grin lighting up his face. "So don't fuck it up."

Bax grumbled, hefting his big shotgun in his arms. The pounding got louder, the scrape of the monster against the metal of the door nearly unbearable. Garrison gritted his teeth, but half his mind was with Jacks. That was his best friend in there, and he was going to do something ballsy and try to save the whole universe from this thing.

Garrison had seen what it did to Lia, and knew that Verhagnis had to be stopped. He just wished it was anyone else, anybody but Jacks. Hell, didn't the man do enough? Sure, he sold his exorcisms, but he put millions of the dead to rest. Gave families peace and moved on whole fucking civilizations. Now he was going to kill a monster, maybe die, and it wasn't fair. For once in his life Jacks had been given a gift, a woman who got him on every level. It didn't take a genius to see the spark between them from the moment they'd walked into that conference room together. Considering Jacks hadn't shown interest in any woman for more than a year that was saying something. Now, knowing what he knew about Lia and Jacks, Garrison understood that the woman was literally built for Jacks. The thing he'd been looking for his whole life, even if he never said it out loud, and now he might die.

"Fuck."

They all looked at him but he shook his head and squared his shoulders. The only way that fucking beast was getting past him was if it took his head off his shoulders, and it had better move faster than a bullet because he had a whole clip loaded and ready for it.

The thing outside the door howled, some crazy sound like wind through a peephole and they looked at each other.

"I think we pissed him off." Villiar said in his deadpan way.

As usual, Garrison and Bax cracked up, laughing even when the shit wasn't funny. Even the staunch Villiar cracked a smile, and Marz had quieted.

"Guard your minds, gentlemen." Garrison shook his head, already feeling the scrape of the bastard against his mind. He knew what it was, that spider on his skin feeling that made his brain shudder inside his skull. "He's going to try to mess with us."

"He must not know who he's messing with." Marz's voice was weak, but when Garrison looked at him he was pale and grinning.

"No." Garrison smiled, and it wasn't a pleasant have-a-nice-day smile. It was a I'm-gonna-fuck-him-up-and-like-it smile. "He doesn't."

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Bound-You-AR-DeClerck-ebook/dp/B00TZ9ZA7K

 

WHY THIS SONG MATTERS (TO GIN DRAVEN & TO ME)

WHY THIS SONG MATTERS

 

Now the dark begins to rise

Save your breath, it’s far from over.

Leave the lost and dead behind,

 Now’s your chance to run for cover.

I don’t want to change the world

I just wanna leave it colder.

Light the fuse and burn it up

Take the path that leads to nowhere.

 Watch the end through dying eyes

 Now the dark is taking over,

 Show me where forever dies

 Take the fall and run to Heaven.

 All is lost again

 But I’m not giving in.

 And I’ll survive,

 Paranoid.

I have lost the will to change.

And I am not proud, cold-blooded fake,

I will shut the world away.




I Will Not Bow

 Breaking Benjamin

 “Dear Agony”

http://www.amazon.com/Forged-Fire-AR-DeClerck-ebook/dp/B00R3B0ZFE

 

 

A few thousand years from now Earth will begin to die, and humans will take to the skies to search for a new home for their species. They come upon a galaxy, with eight planets circling a young red sun. With a little terraforming and ninety thousand years, the world of Gin Draven is born.

Gin is a soldier. Born to war, he is charged with protecting his galaxy from the war that rages all around them. Once upon a time Gin gave his heart to a woman, and she ripped it out and left him for dead.

Now she’s back, and she’s the only way Gin will win the war he’s been fighting his whole life. Gin’s only choice is to marry the one woman he ever loved, and the one he hates most in all the universe.

I Will Not Bow is a song that would speak to Gin Draven, just as it speaks to me. This song, in fact, was playing the night Gin first woke up in my head. He was a stubborn bastard, with a penchant for keeping things close to the vest, but I learned a lot about him from this song.

When a man has recognized the darkness inside him he has two choices. Bend it to his will, or be bent. Gin Draven was not a man to allow his nature to take control. He fought against his own darker nature and even blamed it, a little, for the way the great love affair of his life ended.

But there is hope on the horizon for Gin Draven. It comes in the form of a dark-haired beauty and a sweet little girl. But will Gin ever open up and allow them inside the walls he’s built? That’s why this song would speak to Gin. Despite everything he endures, he is still a good man. A man with a heart and a soul, and the will to bring light to a dark and desperate world. And that, my friends, is why Gin Draven is a hero.

TUESDAY TEASER POST BOUND TO YOU

EXCERPT FROM BOUND TO YOU by AR DeClerck

 "It's radiation, Lia. Whatever this machine does, it creates radiation. If you go in there you will die from radiation poisoning." He pointed to the Illaran words on the door, written large and in red. "I think it probably means to stay away."

"Then you can't go either!" She squeezed her upper arms hard, the only way to stop herself from throwing her body into his. "You're not immune to radiation."

"I've got no choice. I'm the power source. You can live, Lia. You don't have to come inside."

She was shaking, the world crashing in on her as her choices became clear. "We kill Verhagnis, and I have to watch you die. Or, we walk away and Verhagnis escapes this planet to kill billions of other people?"

"No." Jacks shook his head. His hands were shaking, but he gripped the strap of his bag and looked at her intently. "No. We kill Verhagnis, and I die. You go on, and you live and love and have babies and get your happily ever after. That's the only choice."

"We could die together. Be together in the afterlife. We know it exists!" She was frantic, looking for some answer to the puzzle that had none.

"I didn't say I'd go easy, princess. If there's any way to survive this, then I'll survive it. For you." This time he did reach for her, and he pulled her into his arms as if she were water and he a dying man. "But I won't risk your life."

"It's not your choice, Jacks." She held him, her arms around him and her face against his chest. She could smell him and feel him inside every pore, and she wondered how much it might hurt to have the bond broken between them. "I say when I die. I say where I go."

"Do it for me, then."

She pulled back, pissed. He was serious, every line of his face set in stone.

"No."

"Please, princess. If you love me, you'll do this for me."

She wanted to hit him again. In a way she felt loved and flattered that a man might give up his own life to save hers. On the other hand she was really fucking tired of him knowing exactly how to manipulate her emotions when it suited him. She was beyond angry and past pissed off, but he pressed his lips to hers.

"Promise."

"Promise what?"

He couldn't help the grin that slid over his lips. Those damned lips. "Promise me that no matter what happens you won't come inside this room. Promise me that if I die you will not do anything other than mourn me and move on. Promise me, “he rubbed her cheek with his thumb, "that you'll survive this."

"What happens if Verhagnis comes in here while you're in the room?" She hated to act like such a bitch, but it was tit for tat. "What happens if he kills me while you're inside?"

"You're smarter and stronger than that."

His praise made her blush, but she steeled herself against the pleasure of it. "And if the machine fails? What then?"

A frown appeared between his eyebrows. "It won't."

"If it does?"

"It won't."

She couldn't hold him any longer. She knew he was gone even before he left. She was still standing there when the door to the room closed behind him

 

Jacks leaned against the door and tried to control himself. He was a fucking mess, and this was not the way to try to power an alien machine. He needed to be focused and sure of what he was doing.

That was the problem. He wasn't sure. The minute he'd realized what the reinforced room meant, every promise he'd made to Lia went out the window. They were not doing this together, no fucking way. He'd seen the results of radiation poisoning in his classes at the IGU, and he knew that the Illaran machine must put out massive amounts to warrant such a remote, closed room.

He looked up, and saw that above the machine there were doors, like hangar doors that must open to the surface. Surely, if the energy the machine created was to destroy the wormhole, the doors opened up to allow the energy out.

He looked up and saw that Lia was pressed against the window, her palms flat on the glass as her eyes followed his every move. He tried to ignore her, but knew it was impossible. He went to her, and placed his palms on the glass, mirroring hers.

"Don't die." she mouthed to him, her voice carried away by the thick glass.

He tried to think of something reassuring to say, but found nothing, so he nodded. She was torn up, the gamut of emotions coming off her end of the bond physically painful. He winced, and rubbed his chest, and she stepped back, lessening the flow. They were learning to control the flow between them with every day that passed, and he knew that, if he tried, he could completely shut her out. He held on to that knowledge, praying he wouldn't need to use it.

He backed away and looked around the room. He was here, but he had no idea what to do next.

"I'm here." he said aloud, hoping Layl was nearby. "What now?"

A moment passed, then two, but nothing happened. He looked at Lia and raised a shoulder. She pointed, and he turned as the terminals inside the room suddenly came on. The same scrolling Illaran letters were running, and he leaned closer. They made no sense to him at all, the figures completely different than any language he'd ever seen.

"Uh, okay." he called out to Layl. "Still no idea what to do."

He could almost picture Layl's frustrated growl, as the computer nearest him stopped scrolling, and the screen froze. He leaned an elbow on the table and studied it. It was a diagram of the machine, complete with pictures showing him how to open the domed lid.

He moved to the machine, looking for the same buttons on the machine that he saw on the screen. He pressed it, and the dome slid back. He grinned and looked at Lia, who'd covered her mouth with her hand as she stared at the machine. He went back to the computer and the picture flipped, showing the person climbing bodily inside the machine as the dome slid closed over them.

"Illaran death machine for dummies." he murmured, going back to the machine. He looked up at Lia, and tried to send her reassurance through the bond.

She didn't move, but her fingers curled against the glass as he sat on the bed of the machine and swung his legs up. He laid back and as his head touched the pillowed rest the dome slid closed over him.

Bound to You by AR DeClerck

PRE-ORDER LINK: http://www.amazon.com/Bound-You-AR-DeClerck-ebook/dp/B00TZ9ZA7K/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424969427&sr=1-1&keywords=Bound+to+You+AR+DeClerck

Bound to You Cover Reveal

By AR DeClerck

Jackson Baine is a man who has a gift, and he has never thought twice about selling it to the highest bidder. His newest job is with the biggest terraforming company in the universe, and the money he will earn will be enough to buy him and his crew retirement on any planet in any galaxy they choose. Jacks' only problem? Ferrell Terraforming has assigned him a company liason to watch his every move and protect their interests. Well, not his only problem. Lia Bernardi is smart, beautiful and far too interesting. She turns Jacks' head in a way no woman ever has. And she is one giant distraction he does not need on the surface.

Lia is ready to climb the company ladder, get out from under her egotistical boss, and make her overbearing father proud. All she has to do is turn one empty, dead planet into an oasis. Her bosses assure her Jackson Baine is the key to doing it, and all she has to do is see to his every comfort and keep him in line. Both of which, Lia soon learns, is far harder than she anticipated. Jackson Baine is an enticing man, and he threatens every wall she's put up between herself and the world.

 

 

Visit AR DeClerck on

 

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Author Bio:

 

AR DeClerck was born and raised in the mountains of NC. She currently resides in the Quad Cities, IL with her husband and two daughters. She writes romance in a lot of sub-genres and loves to read and write sci-fi romance especially. She contributes her love of reading and writing to her mother, who always has a book handy.