Archive for December 5, 2014

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A themed tour through Prism Book Tours.

The Claus Box Set

Now you can purchase all three books in the Claus Series together!

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More About the Series

Claus: Legend of the Fat Man
(Claus #1)
by Tony Bertauski
YA Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Holiday
Paperback & ebook, 326 Pages
June 19th 2012

The Christmas story you never heard.

In the early 1800s, Nicholas, Jessica and Jon Santa attempt the first human trek to the North Pole and stumble upon an ancient race of people left over from the Ice Age. They are short, fat and hairy. They slide across the ice on scaly soles and carve their homes in the ice that floats on the Arctic Ocean. The elven are adapted to life in the extreme cold. They are as wise as they are ancient.

Their scientific advancements have yielded great inventions — time-stopping devices and gravitational spheres that build living snowmen and genetically-modified reindeer that leap great distances. They’ve even unlocked the secrets to aging. For 40,000 years, they have lived in peace.

Until now.

An elven known as The Cold One has divided his people. He’s tired of their seclusion and wants to conquer the world. Only one elven stands between The Cold

One and total chaos. He’s white-bearded and red-coated. The Santa family will help him stop The Cold One. They will come to the aid of a legendary elven

known as…Claus.

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Jack: The Tale of Frost
(Claus #2)
by Tony Bertauski
YA Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Holiday
Paperback & ebook, 290 Pages
October 17th 2013

Sura is sixteen years old when she meets Mr. Frost. He’s very short and very fat and he likes his room very, very cold. Some might say inhumanly cold. His first name isn’t Jack, she’s told. And that’s all she needed to know.

Mr. Frost’s love for Christmas is over-the-top and slightly psychotic. And why not? He’s made billions of dollars off the holiday he invented. Or so he claims. Rumor is he’s an elven, but that’s silly. Elven aren’t real. And if they were, they wouldn’t live in South Carolina. They wouldn’t hide in a tower and go to the basement to make…things.

Nonetheless, Sura will work for this odd little recluse. Frost Plantation is where she’ll meet the love of her life. It’s where she’ll finally feel like she belongs somewhere. And it’s where she’ll meet someone fatter, balder and stranger than Mr. Frost. It’s where she’ll meet Jack.

Jack hates Christmas.

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Flury: Journey of a Snowman
(Claus #3)
by Tony Bertauski
YA Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Holiday
Paperback & ebook, 300 Pages
November 15th 2014

Life hasn’t been kind to Oliver Toye.

As if juvenile diabetes isn’t enough, he’s forced to live with his tyrannical grandmother in a snow-bound house. He spends his days doing chores and the nights listening to the forest rumble.

But when he discovers the first leather-bound journal, the family secrets begin to surface. The mystery of his great-grandfather’s voyage to the North Pole is revealed. That’s when the snowman appears.

Magical and mysterious, the snowman will save Oliver more than once. But when the time comes for Oliver to discover the truth, will he have the courage? When Flury needs him, will he have the strength? When believing isn’t enough, will he save the snowman from melting away?

Because sometimes even magic needs a little help.

Enjoy this glimpse inside Flury

“You have grown.”

She doesn’t let go while looking him over: his hair, the stray whiskers on his chin, the insufficient winter clothing. She stares at the floor. His socks are loose at the ends of his frozen toes, specks of snow clinging to the fabric. Small puddles begin to bead on the polished floor.

“And how old are you?”

“Fifteen.”

She purses her lips like he just lied. “And your health?”

“Good.” That time he did. His blood sugar still isn’t right. “I’ll get the luggage.”

“Nonsense. It’s not going anywhere. You will come in and eat. Diabetics need a balanced meal.”

If his memory is correct, she’s called him “diabetic” more than she’s called him “grandson.”

She holds her hand out. Mom offers her elbow, and Grandmother takes it. They walk down the dim hallway. She’s wearing big, puffy boots but doesn’t slide them over the floor. Instead, her steps are carefully measured and silent. Dead silent.

Like outside.

Oliver quickly knocks the snow crystals off his feet and mops the water with his socks before following. The dim hallway feels like the house is swallowing him. Just past the stairway on the left is a doorway leading to the family room. A large picture window offers a panoramic view of the property. On the right side of the hallway, there’s a long table with three table settings, including a teapot.

Grandmother opens a drawer in a small table against the wall and takes out a towel. “You may join us once your mess is cleaned up, Olivah.”

His mom makes a silent apology as she guides Grandmother toward the dining table. He takes the towel to the front door and wipes up the little streaks of water. A gust of wind pushes against the door. A draft sneaks through the bottom. Oliver looks through the decorative pane of glass and sees the last wisps of snow swirling on the sidewalk.

A mess of twigs are scattered over the pavement.

He opens the door. The trees are still, and the silence is perfect. Not even the icicles hanging from the gutters are dripping.

“Close the door, Olivah. Come along.”

With damp towel in hand, he returns to the dining room for bitter tea and dry muffins in the place he’ll call home.

Temporary home.

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About Tony Bertauski

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During the day, I’m a horticulturist. While I’ve spent much of my career designing landscapes or diagnosing dying plants, I’ve always been a storyteller. My writing career began with magazine columns, landscape design textbooks, and a gardening column at the Post and Courier (Charleston, SC). However, I’ve always fancied fiction.

And I’m a big fan of plot twists.

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Tour Giveaway

$25 Amazon gift card and the Claus Box Set ebook
Open internationally
Ends December 21st

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the Tour!
1 – Launch
14 – Grand Finale

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For all of my giveaways click on the  Southern Christmas Charm below.

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Justice Jackson P.I.
by Tamaria Soana
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https://dwtr67e3ikfml.cloudfront.net/bookCovers/f736309130b3b1e6499352309b2a199496f55543

Genre: Romance

Sultry waitress Andrea Bloome serves cocktails at The Lounge, the hottest jazz club in Chicago. When her life is in danger, she turns to charismatic P.I. Justice Jackson for help.

Can he save her from the people who are meant to protect her? Or will he be blinded by the overwhelming attraction between them?

Set in the 1940’s.

This is a free short story.

~Excerpt~

“Please try and relax, Ms. Bloome.” I handed her the martini.

“Call me Andrea,” she replied in a timid tone.

I smiled. “Well, Andrea, you can call me Justice.”

“Justice, do you always bring your work home?” she asked.

I laughed. “No, but I don’t want anything to happen to you. I feel this deep need to protect you.”

She looked frightened. “Won’t helping me put you in danger?”

“I’m a P.I., my life is always in danger.”

She pondered what I said.

Her hazel eyes met mine. I felt frozen. Her timid but inquiring voice brought me back to the present. “Why did you choose to become a P.I.?”

“What else was I going to do with a name like Justice Jackson?”

She let out a giggle and a look of concerned quickly crossed her face.

“What’s going to happen when I don’t show up for work tonight?” she asked in a shaky voice.

“They’ll most likely go looking for you. That’s why you’re here safe with me. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Justice, this could be very dangerous for you.”

“It may be, but I’m just careful and trust very few people.” I answered in a comforting tone . I didn’t want her to worry about me.

“How do you know you can trust me?” she asked full of curiosity.

“Are you concealing a weapon, Ms. Bloome?” I raised an eyebrow at her. I wanted to lighten the mood. She took a deep breath, her body relaxing. She smiled and stepped closer to me.

“I may be. Do you want to frisk me?” she replied jokingly.

Our eyes met and the earth moved around me. I was taken by her. I needed to concentrate on saving her life, not her amazing lips. Oh, did I mention her incredible legs that seemed to be a mile long even though she may have been all of five foot three? So, yes, Ms. Bloome, I do want to frisk you. Needing to put some distance between us and focus on the issue at hand, I pushed away my attraction to her and cleared my throat. “Please excuse me. I need to call my sister Julia. She is about your size and she can get you the things you need. Please make yourself at home.”

Smashwords FREE Buy Link

 

~Watch the Trailer~



~About the Author~





Tamaria Soana is middle aged, but just feels her life has begun. She writes sexy contemporary romance stories that always end with a ‘happily ever after’. Growing up she loved to read and make up new places in her head to escape to. In her late teens she began writing short stories and poetry; it wasn’t until her late thirties before she began to spin a full story. She’s married and a stay-at-home-mom of two beautiful young girls, they reside in Western New York. Cuddling up with a good book under an electric throw is her way to escape the cold Buffalo nights.

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Welcome to the 4 for Friday Blitz for A Murder of Magpies by Sarah Bromley, Shadows Fall Away by Kit Forbes, Call Me Grim by Elizabeth Holloway, and Daughter of Chaos by Jen McConnel, presented by Month9Books!

Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post.

A-Murder-of-Magpies-Cover

 

 

Winter in Black Orchard, Wisconsin, is long and dark, and sixteen-year-old Vayda Silver prays the snow will keep the truth and secrecy of the last two years buried. Hiding from the past with her father and twin brother, Vayda knows the rules: never return to the town of her mother’s murder, and never work a Mind Game where someone might see.

No one can know the toll emotions take on Vayda, how emotion becomes energy in her hands, or how she can’t control the destruction she causes. But it’s not long before her powers can no longer be contained. The truth is dangerously close to being exposed, placing Vayda and her family at risk.
Until someone quiets the chaos inside her.

Unwanted. That’s all Ward Ravenscroft has ever been. To cope, he numbs the pain of rejection by denying himself emotions of any kind. Yet Vayda stirs something in him. He can’t explain the hold she has on him–inspiring him with both hope and fear. He claims not to scare easily, except he doesn’t know what her powers can do. Yet.

Just as Vadya and Ward draw closer, she finds the past isn’t so easily buried. And when it follows the Silvers to Black Orchard, it has murder in mind.

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Chapter-by-Chapter-header---About-the-Author

Sarah Bromley

Sarah Bromley lives near St. Louis with her husband, three children, and two dogs. She likes the quiet hours of morning when she can drink coffee in peace, stare into the woods behind her house, and wonder what monsters live there. When she’s not writing or wrangling small children, she can be found volunteering at a stable for disabled riders.

 

Connect with the Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Shadows-Fall-Away-Cover

Mark Stewart is one incident away from becoming a juvenile delinquent, and his parents have had enough. They ship Mark off to London England to stay with his eccentric aunt Agatha who is obsessed with all things Jack the Ripper. After a strange twist of luck, Mark is struck by lightning, and he wakes to find himself in 1888 Victorian London.

His interest in a string of murders Scotland Yard has yet to solve make him a likely suspect. After all, why would a young boy like Mark know so much about the murders? Could he be the ripper they’ve been searching for? Convinced the only way to get back home is to solve the murders, Mark dives headfirst into uncovering the truth.

Mark’s only distraction comes in the form of the beautiful Genie Trembly, a girl who is totally out of his league and who may have already caught the attention of the infamous ripper. To save her, he’ll endanger both their lives, and risk being trapped in the past forever.

add to goodreads

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Chapters Indigo! | TBD

Chapter-by-Chapter-header---About-the-Author

Kit Forbes

Kit Forbes has been a lover of books, history, and all things paranormal for as long as she can remember. She lives in Western Pennsylvania with her youngest daughter and an assortment of cats who give new meaning to the world bizarre.

 

Author Links: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Call-Me-Grim-Cover

The truck should have turned Libbi Piper into a Libbi Pancake — and it would have, too, if Aaron hadn’t shown up and saved her life. The problem? Aaron’s the local Grim Reaper… and he only saved Libbi’s life because he needs someone to take over his job. Now, Libbi has two days to choose between dying like she was supposed to, or living a lonely life as Death Incarnate. Talk about a rock and a hard place.

And the choice goes from hard to sucktastic when her best friend shows up marked: condemned as a future murderer. Libbi could have an extra week to stop the murder and fix the mark… but only if she accepts Aaron’s job as Reaper, trapping herself in her crappy town forever, invisible and inaudible to everyone except the newly dead. But, if she refuses? Her best friend is headed straight for Hell.

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Chapter-by-Chapter-header---About-the-Author

Elizabeth Holloway

Elizabeth Holloway is a registered nurse living in Southern Pennsylvania with her two teen children, Bam-bam the dog, and Tinkerbell the cat. CALL ME GRIM is her first novel.

 

Author Links: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Cover

 

There comes a time in every witch’s life when she must choose her path. Darlena’s friends have already chosen, so why is it so hard for her to make up her mind? Now, Darlena is out of time. Under pressure from Hecate, the Queen of all witches, Darlena makes a rash decision to choose Red magic, a path no witch in her right mind would dare take. As a Red witch, she will be responsible for chaos and mayhem, drawing her deep into darkness. Will the power of Red magic prove too much for Darlena, or will she learn to control it before it’s too late?

DAUGHTER OF CHAOS is the first in the RED MAGIC paranormal YA trilogy.

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Chapter-by-Chapter-header---About-the-Author

Jen McConnel

Jen McConnel now lives and writes in the beautiful state of North Carolina. When she isn’t crafting worlds of fiction, she teaches writing composition at a community college. Once upon a time, she was a middle school teacher, a librarian, and a bookseller, but those are stories for another time.

 

Author Links: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Chapter-by-Chapter-header---Giveaway

Three winners will receive all four eBooks!

Complete the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win!

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For all of my giveaways click on the  Southern Christmas Charm below.

christmas sleigh photo: Christmas abulb22.gif