Book Blitz & Excerpt: The Hanging Night + Giveaway

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The Hanging Night
by Sasha Hibbs & Christina Hooker
(The Threads of Fate, #1)
Published by: Evernight Teen
Publication date: December 15th 2023
Genres: Romance, Young Adult

When a sad turn of fate takes Josephine Blair to the small town of Bridgeport, West Virginia, she meets and falls for the devious and cunning Caius Duke. Her life blooms in both wonderful and terrifying ways.

Together, Josephine and Caius discover they have something deeper and more intense than true love. While theirs is a love spanning centuries, what they don’t realize is the stronger their relationship becomes, the more some unknown evil is trying to tear them apart.

A captivating tale of eternal love, vengeful curses, and a power that can make or break them all, The Hanging Night will pull you in, making you wonder how we are all tied together, and if the ties that bind are truly meant to last.

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EXCERPT:

You know you can’t see the air, and you don’t have to see it to know it’s there—it just fills the space, and you’re grateful (whether you realize it or not) because if it didn’t fill the space, you’d suffocate.

That’s how I knew she was in the room.

I had my head down, searching through magazines, when what I can only describe as a heat chill rippled in me, causing me to shiver and the skin on the back of my neck to tingle. When I heard the cooler door pop open, I stopped breathing and stayed perfectly still, hoping this wasn’t the day I got arrested for shoplifting … for stealing stale food and one lousy, domestic beer, no less. If I had to go to jail, I wanted it to at least be for something worth it—money, jewelry, a car. FYI: I’ve never stolen any of those things or anything like that—only necessary or completely useless items, which I know is paradoxical. Let me explain: I’d take a plastic bobble-head of an off-brand, generic Batman or a sandwich before I’d take something sentimental or valuable to an individual—it’s just how I roll, ya know? And only from stores. Like, I don’t want your shit, but if it’s some dumbass thing on a shelf in a Dollar General, it’s fair game, and of course, like I said, I learned to be my own chef at a very young age. And can I really be held responsible for what I do when I am hungry? Isn’t that a famous candy commercial these days?

I wasn’t startled when she spoke, but expectant, and resigning myself to the fact that I was busted, I turned to face the girl. When I looked at her, all I saw was sadness. There wasn’t a stitch of makeup on her face, but she didn’t need any because even in sadness, she was striking. The circles under her eyes were so dark and deep, they almost echoed, but her brown irises were flat, like something was missing in them—a spark, maybe, and at the very end of her left eyebrow, there was a tiny, pink crystal. I immediately loved it—it gave her an edge no girl I’d seen in this boring ass town had. Her espresso-colored hair was knotted up in a bun with frizzy strands sticking out everywhere, which, though messy, was somehow endearing. Overall, she looked defeated, though, like all the air had been let out of her balloon. So, despite the circumstances, despite me being caught, red-handed, stealing my dinner, I immediately wanted to make her smile. So, I made jokes, trying to be cool. Im not really into labels.

“Put those back!”

“C’mon. They’re five-day old pepperoni rolls. You’re going to pitch them anyway. I’m hungry.”

She seemed to contemplate for a moment, tilting her head and looking at me, taking me all in, trying to figure me out. Her shoulders relaxed a little, and she let out a quick breath, seeming to judge that I wasn’t a threat. “And cigarettes? I know old people do, but what teenager smokes these days? News flash. They’re bad for you. And if you’re only hungry, what about the beer and the magazine?”

“Uh … after dinner entertainment?” I asked, trying to justify myself.

She reached out and grabbed for the 40oz beer I had, and as her hand brushed mine, my brain short-circuited. Ice formed around each of my ribs, cracking then melting, and in that moment, I felt the color red splash through me. She paused, momentarily looking dead into my eyes, and somehow, I knew she felt it too. Our hands had to have only touched for a nanosecond, but it passed in an eternity. The intensity—our brains somehow sharing the same image, as if connected by some weird fiber optic cable—was overwhelming, and I gasped, but the rest of my body was paralyzed as I got stuck in this strange moment with her. But for as quickly as it came and as long as it lingered, the cable snapped, and the moment broke, and the world spun in real time again. My body jerked at the sharp snap back to reality, causing me to yank my hand back, and when I did, the beer exploded in foam and glass shards at our feet, a kind of drunken mosaic.


Author Bios:

By age 5, Sasha Hibbs‘ favorite movie was Gone With the Wind. By age 12, she completed her 7th grade book report on the sequel, Scarlett. By 18, she met and married her very own Mr. Rhett Butler and as it turns out, she never had to worry about going back to Tara to win the love of her life back. Fortunately, he stuck with her.

With a love of all things paranormal, the ambiance of the South with its gigantic antebellum mansions and canopies of Spanish moss, and a love for her husband’s rich storytelling of blacksmiths and the mythology surrounding their origins, it wasn’t long until the world of her debut novel, Black Amaranth, was born.

When not working her day job as a nurse, you can find Sasha dreaming of her next beach trip, reading the latest YA novel, and drinking more white chocolate mocha than she should.

Sasha lives in mountainous West Virginia with her husband, Tim, and their two daughters. She is currently hard at work on her next novel.

Author links:
Website / Instagram / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Christina: I’ve always been captivated by stories and words, but not with the speaking of them (as I’m little more than a foul mouth with appendages), just with the reading and writing of them.

In 2020, I made my dream of writing a book a reality, and in 2023, my first collaborative novel is releasing!

Author links

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Book Blitz & Excerpt: Kiss of a Witch + Giveaway

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Kiss of a Witch
by S.G. Slade
(Darkness Rising, #2)
Publication date: December 14th 2023
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Historical

Trapped in a spreading web of darkness, the power of an ancient book might be their only hope.

Mary Sparrow was cursed at birth, and the bawdy house is the only home she’s ever known. Like most of the girls, she dreams of escape. But when an old man drives her friend to madness, she swears she will have her revenge.

Toby Chyrche also hopes for a better future, away from the tailor’s shop where his fate seems set in stone. Then afateful meeting seems to promise freedom, until an ancient book of magic reveals chilling truths.

Ensnared in the spreading web of darkness, they turn to magic to protect themselves. But shadowy forces crave a sacrifice, and the spectre of death is beckoning. Can they wield the power of the book to protect those they love? Or will they pay for their courage with their lives?

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EXCERPT:

Then Toby ducked through the low door from the street and her breath stopped short in her throat. She was on her feet in a moment, shoving the sewing back into the basket at the hearth, straightening her skirts, checking her hair and adjusting the neckline of her bodice, small breasts pushed up and on display to their best advantage. She waited by the hearth, a coy smile on her lips and her head tilted in invitation. He saw her straight away and made his way towards her, and the little light of hope inside burned brighter. He had come, not for any girl, but for her.

‘Ale, Rosalind,’ Mary ordered to the other girl, who still sat staring at the unlit fire. Rosalind turned towards her, frowning in question. ‘Get us ale,’ Mary told her again, and eventually the girl got to her feet and headed out the back to where the barrels were kept.

‘Master Chyrche.’ She dropped her best curtsey, and he returned it with a bow.

‘Mistress Sparrow.’

They sat at a small round table beside the fireplace, and he looked around the empty room. ‘Where is everyone?’

She shrugged. ‘Elsewhere.’

‘Then I’m glad,’ he replied. ‘Because it means I can have you all to myself.’

She laughed, taking pleasure in the pleasantry. ‘I am all yours, Master Chyrche.’

He took her left hand in his, and began to caress the extra finger, gaze intent on the movement of their hands. Then, looking up, his eyes fixed hers in question. ‘Are you truly cursed, Mary Sparrow?’ he asked. ‘Does the Devil suckle at night on this finger?’

She gave him an uncertain half-smile in answer. Why was he asking the same questions again? ‘I cannot rightly say,’ she murmured. ‘I hope not.’

Lifting her palm to his mouth, Toby kissed it, then briefly, discreetly, slid the extra finger between his lips, his tongue warm and moist as it curled around the tip. Her breath lifted in response, warmth in her gut. Then Rosalind returned with the jug of ale and Toby let her hand go. Mary poured for them both and she drank, unsure of him now. She had met men before who made a fetish of her fingers, but Toby’s sudden interest disconcerted her. She lowered her cup and looked at him. He was watching her closely, eyes grey and pale in the candlelight, and she was self-conscious under his scrutiny.

‘Perhaps I’m your Devil,’ he said.

‘Perhaps,’ she replied, but she had no understanding of his meaning. He must have seen the confusion in her eyes, though she tried her best to hide it, because then he gave her a smile that made her fall a little deeper.

 

Author Bio:

S.G. Slade was born and raised in the historic city of Bristol in England, and now lives in Sydney, Australia, with her husband, son, and a very small dog called Livvy. She has worked variously as a secretary, a teacher, a shop assistant and a nurse, but lifelong obsessions with books, history, and magic have never waned. When she isn’t reading or writing (which isn’t often), you can find her either doing yoga, going for long walks, or watching old movies. Touch of a Witch is her first historical fantasy book.

She uses the pen name S.G. Slade for her fantasy books, and also writes Historical Fiction under the name Samantha Grosser.

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Book Blitz & Excerpt: The Black Unicorn + Giveaway

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The Black Unicorn
by Heather E.F. Carter
Publication date: June 1st 2021
Genres: Adult, Historical Romance

The Year is 1792. The French Revolution rages in Paris, the French monarchy abolished, and William Pitt is about to declare war on the Revolutionary government. But all London Society can talk about is the enigmatic highwayman known as the Black Unicorn.

Newly widowed Elina has no time for highwaymen or politics. Freed from her brutal seven-year-marriage, she is fiercely protective of two things: her new freedom, and her two sisters. But when Elina’s family is mistakenly stopped by the Black Unicorn on their way up to the North Yorkshire Moors, and her sister is savagely attacked by one of his men, revenge consumes Elina. For the sake of her sister, she will destroy the Black Unicorn.

And the shooting party at Scarcliffe Towers seems the perfect place to ensnare the mysterious figure.

Another guest at the party, Ashby Harcourt, is known to London Society as the beautiful Portuguese libertine. Elina knows him simply as the whoring companion of her late husband. But this dark Northumberland lord is a man with secrets: a secret love for Elina Brinkley, the daughter of the lofty Marquess of Hertford, and a secret life as the Black Unicorn. But as Elina unravels the mystery surrounding the man behind the mask, she discovers that the Black Unicorn is so much more than just a highwayman.

Goodreads / Amazon


EXCERPT:

Having reached the opposite wall, the dancers executed a quarter turn to face each other and proceeded through a short advance and then a lengthier, intricately choreographed retreat. Then they moved through another quarter turn to face the Presence, and my breath caught in my throat as I caught my first glimpse of his face.

Damnation.

He was not English, at least not entirely. His dark coloring did not harken back to the raiders from Normandy, but rather to blood whispering of heat-scorched mornings, afternoon siestas, and the lazy currents of warm bluish-green waters. His eyes, though I knew from long experience to be blue, appeared now as dark as his hair, and were fringed with sooty lashes so impossibly thick and long they cast permanent shadows beneath them, lending him a thoroughly debauched air.

In fact, his beauty was staggering; the sort a Michelangelo or a Raphael might have found in some Mediterranean brothel; an incubus to be immortalized by lending a face to divinity.

He advanced towards us, the light shimmering around him like the gentle waves of the flautist’s vibrato as he moved through the intricate series of steps.

“Who is he?” Charlotte queried from my other side. “I do not think I have ever seen him before.”

“That is Ashby Harcourt,” I said. “Earl of Ashenhurst up in Northumberland and whoring companion to my late husband.”

 

Author Bio:

Heather E. F. Carter writes historical fiction, historical romance, and erotic short stories. Though a lifetime Southern Californian, the settings of her novels are not foreign to her, having spent time each year in her parents’ hometown in Northern England. An accomplished academic, she combines her areas of expertise with her passion as she weaves historically authentic and timelessly relevant tales of love and intrigue. Having earned a B.A. in European history from UCLA, an M.A. in Medieval Women’s History from CSUF, and an M.A. in Early Modern History from UCLA, she left her studies midway through a doctorate in eighteenth-century English history when she discovered her passion and propensity for writing novels. While on a year’s leave of absence in her sixth year at UCLA, she put her doctoral research to good use writing THE BLACK UNICORN, a historical romance set in eighteenth-century North Yorkshire. Fascinated with Baroness Orczy” Scarlet Pimpernel stories, she was inspired to explore her first love, Sir Percy Blakeney, and wondered what he might have looked like if he were a little less heroic. That idea, combined with her love for vampire stories and the classic Gothic hero, led to the creation of Ashby Harcourt, also known as the highwayman behind the sobriquet The Back Unicorn. Her family’s history on the gothic North Yorkshire Moors, which grew in her annual visits with her beloved grandmother, was a natural choice for the setting. Heather’s passion for the research and writing of THE BLACK UNICORN comes alive on the pages through the vivid scenes and seductive dialogue. As you surely will, she fell in love with her story, so much so that she eventually chose to leave academia to pursue writing fiction full time. When she is not setting the pages on fire with her steamy romance, she is spending time at home in Sand Diego with her musician husband, Terry Carter, their adorable and precocious twins, and pet snake, Zanzibar. Music runs in the family, and Heather also plays the flute and supports her husband’s burgeoning ukulele empire. Currently she is researching Revolutionary Paris for the sequel to THE BLACK UNICORN.

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