Spotlight: The Nikki Bryant Cozy Mysteries + Giveaway

NIKKI BRYANT SPOTLIGHT TOUR BANNER
Join us for this tour from July 5 to July 29, 2022!

 

Book Series:  The Nikki Bryant Cozy Mysteries
Category:  Adult fiction (18+ yrs)
Genre:  Cozy Mystery
Publisher:  Acorn Book Services
Release date:  April 23, 2020
Content Rating: This cozy mystery book series is rated G. Suitable for everyone. 

“I love this cozy mystery! It is full of suspense, action-packed, fast pace with that small-town feeling. I love the characters, I have to admit, I fell in love with Elmo on the spot! I loved Nikki’s spunk and determination. She keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire book! And I usually try to pick up all if the clues and figure out whodunnit but this story kept taking twists and turns that I was surprised. This is just type of cozy mysteries I love to read.” – 5-Star review by Splashes of Joy

“An excellent blend of mystery and suspense with comic relief and romance…. Lauren has a great way of balancing this without taking away from the story. We have well-developed characters, that you can’t help but feel a connection to. I loved Nikki’s character but also her connections to her hometown, her family and her lost love.” – review by Working Mommy Journal

 

Book Series Description:

Folks in the small town of Pine Grove, Pennsylvania, claim that where Nikki Bryant goes, trouble is not far behind. Her refusal to back down from a
challenge has made Nikki Bryant a top investigative journalist.

After years of chasing mysteries around the globe, Nikki Bryant returns home to Pine Grove to take over managing WKPG-TV and reconnects with her first love, Ryan Spaulding, the chief of the state police crime lab.

It doesn’t take long for Nikki and her family to realize that you can’t keep this ace reporter and her boxer dog Elmo behind a desk–especially
when a mystery is afoot.

Buy the Series:
Amazon.com


Meet Nikki Bryant! 

 

Book Title:  Killer Deadline (A Nikki Bryant Cozy Mystery)

by Lauren Carr
Category:  Adult Fiction (18 +),  232 pages
Genre:  Mystery/Cozy Mystery
Publisher:  Acorn Book Services
Release date:   April 23, 2020
Content Rating: This cozy mystery book series is rated G. Suitable for everyone. ​


“Here we go! Carr is a master storyteller who always offers a plot full of
twists and turns, a bit of humor to offset the dark, and a unique cast of characters. In Killer Deadline that cast includes – handsome Ryan, her first love (who is now her step-brother); a mysterious social media friend called Nerdy Guy; Elmo, a super smart dog, a boxer, she rescued who has become a social media star and has a penchant for cleaning; a TV station full of suspicious employees; and more.
“This book is a wonderful read to pick up at the end of a long day. It truly is a “cozy murder mystery.”  I promise, it’ll draw you in right from page one and keep you turning the pages until you reach the very last page. I can’t wait for the second book in this series.” – Marilyn R. Wilson, Olio by Marilyn

Book Description:

​Folks in Pine Grove, Pennsylvania, claim that where Nikki Bryant goes, trouble is not far behind. Her refusal to back down from a challenge has made Nikki Bryant a top investigative journalist.

When an online friend nudges her to join him in a pact to reconnect with their first loves, Nikki and her boxer dog Elmo leave the bright lights of Las Vegas for the charming town of Pine Grove. There, she must face the biggest challenges in her career and life—the first love she had left behind and her father’s unsolved murder.

But before she has time to unpack her car, Nikki stumbles upon the dead body of local news anchor, Ashleigh Addison, her childhood rival. Could Ashleigh’s death be connected to an explosive news story that she had teased about airing live? Did that explosive story have anything to do with the murder of Nikki’s father?

With the clues in her father’s cold case hot again, Nikki intends to chase down the story of her life until she catches his killer—no matter what it takes. 

Buy the Book:
Amazon.com ~ Audible ~ BookBub
Add to Goodreads

Nikki Bryant’s Next Case Takes Her to  THE WRONG SIDE OF MURDER!

 

Book Title:  The Wrong Side of Murder (A Nikki Bryant Cozy Mystery)

by Lauren Carr
Category:  Adult Fiction (18 +),  274 pages
Genre:  Mystery/Cozy Mystery
Publisher:  Acorn Book Services
Release date:   July 21, 2022
Content Rating: This cozy mystery book series is rated G. Suitable for everyone. ​

 

Book Description:

One spring morning, Jodi Gibbons got up and went to school as she did every day. Her young life went sideways though when the police found that her mother had been brutally killed during the night.

Twenty years later, many in Pine Grove believe Jodi got away with murder.

After all, how could she have possibly slept through her mother’s violent death in the very next room?

After decades of silence, Jodi accepts investigative journalist Nikki Bryant’s invitation to tell her side of the story. However, before the interview can take place, someone silences Jodi permanently.

Now it is up to Nikki Bryant and her friends to uncover the secret that Jodi Gibbons has been protecting—a secret someone believes it is worth killing to keep from being revealed.

Pre-Order the Book:
release date: July 21

Amazon
 

Meet the Author:
 

​Selling over half a million books worldwide, Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, Thorny Rose, Chris Matheson Cold Case Mysteries, and Nikki Bryant Cozy Mysteries—thirty titles across five fast-paced mystery series filled with twists and turns!

Book reviewers and readers alike rave about how Lauren Carr seamlessly crosses genres to include mystery, suspense, crime fiction, police procedurals, romance, and humor. 

The owner of Acorn Book Services and iRead Book Tours, Lauren is also a publishing manager, consultant, and virtual book tour coordinator for independent authors.  

Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. 

She lives with her husband, and two spoiled rotten German shepherds on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV. 

connect with the author: website ~ blog ~ facebook ~ instagram ~ twitter ~ pinterest



Tour Schedule:

July 5 – Deborah-Zenha Adams – book series spotlight / giveaway
July 5 – Kam’s Place – book series spotlight
July 7 – Rockin’ Book Reviews – book series spotlight / giveaway
July 7 – FUONLYKNEW – book series spotlight / giveaway
July 9 – Splashes of Joy – book series spotlight / giveaway
July 11 – fundinmental – book series spotlight / giveaway
July 12 – Westveil Publishing – book series spotlight / giveaway
July 13 – Amy’s Booket List – book series spotlight
July 14 – Jazzy Book Reviews – book series spotlight / giveaway
July 19 – Locks, Hooks and Books – book series spotlight / giveaway
July 20 – Lisa’s Reading – book series spotlight / giveaway
July 21 – Celticlady’s Reviews – book series spotlight / giveaway
July 21 – She Just Loves Books – book series spotlight / giveaway
July 26 – Sadie’s Spotlight – book series spotlight / giveaway
July 27 – From the Book Reviewer’s Desk – book series spotlight
July 29 – My Reading Journeys – books series spotlight / giveaway

 Enter the Giveaway:

NIKKI BRYANT COZY MYSTERY SERIES SPOTLIGHT Tour Giveaway

 

Spotlight, Author Interview & Excerpt: Sorrow’s Forest + Giveaway

Sorrow's Forest blog announcement

 

sorrow's forest cover

Sorrow’s Forest
by Kaitlin Corvus
Series: Sorrow’s Forest Duology #1
Genre: New Adult Urban Dark Fantasy
Intended Age Group: Adult
Pages: 300
Published: July 16, 2022
Publisher: Shadow Spark Publishing


Content/Trigger Warnings:

Shown on page:

Violence
Death
Homophobia
Vomiting
Death of children
Child abduction
Drug and alcohol use/abuse
Harsh language
Sexual content
Sexual violence
Toxic relationships
Scars
Blood

Alluded to:

Animal cruelty
Imagery of dead animals
Homophobia
Spousal abuse
Child abuse
Mention of couples arguing
Mention of broken bones


Blurb:
At twelve years old, Mackie King had done something no one had ever done before: he had snuck into the forest, where Queen Sorrow reigned and had unintentionally stolen one of her devils while she slept in a death-like sleep.
In as little as an hour, the devil named himself Blue, fit almost seamlessly into the Kings’ life, and the Township of Lakeview.

Now, Mackie and Blue are grown, Queen Sorrow has awakened, and she wants her devil back.

In a fit of uncontrolled rage and desperateness, she snatches any that match Blue’s likeness. When their identities are revealed, she ruthlessly casts the bodies aside. Each murder is met with the town’s hopeless ignorance. A dark enchantment is sweeping over the land, dulling the minds of the townspeople to the supernatural violence.

Mackie has always been resourceful, but it will take every bit of ingenuity he and Blue have to thwart Queen Sorrow and her minions, save the town, and free themselves from the shadow of the bittering forest.

Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black • Broken Things by Lauren Oliver • The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

Amazon US
Amazon CA
Goodreads


Excerpt:

Life is full of hard truths and soft lies.

The sky is blue, the sun is bright, and the stars are more than just pretty lights in a darkened sky. The forest that encompasses Lakeview Township is off-limits because it’s teeming with vicious people-eating wolves. Shawn Macintyre, bike thief and bully, is mean because mean is in his blood. The river that snakes through the forest and widens in town never fully freezes in winter, and that’s why so many people fall through the ice and never come back.

It’s not always ignorance and lies, though. Lakeview knows the climate of the forest pressing against its borders. Mackie caught Father Callahan dousing his steps in blessed salt just this morning, muttering to himself about devils and a coming storm.

“Stay inside tonight, Mackenzie,” he said when he caught Mackie staring. “Weather’s changing.”

Of course, Mackie ignored him and now stands, hands flexing apprehensively at his sides, before the aforenamed forest.

“What are you waiting for, King?” urges Shawn. He’s practically salivating, looking for affirmation from their twelve other classmates, all standing in a semi-circle around the gigantic pile of blue Pixy-Stix they’ve built at the bottom of Mackie’s backyard. “Thought you weren’t a pussy?”

“I’m not.” Mackie waits for this lie to curl in his belly the way lies usually do. He feels nothing other than a small twinge of nervousness. He loves the forest. Has always loved the forest, as he loves most things that scare him: horror movies, the park after dark, leaping from Muller’s Bridge mid-summer, wondering if the water is just shallow enough to see the bottom but deep enough to catch him without breaking his back, or if he’s going to hit rocks and hurt.

“I get all the Pixy-Stix, right?” Mackie confirms. Blue is the best flavour. He likes it when his tongue, teeth, and lips are stained with the colour, and his heart beats fast with the sugar rush. He feels like he can do anything.

“If you make it out alive.” Shawn follows his ominous proclamation with a feral grin.

No one jeers because no one is pretending the forest is just a forest. Something is different tonight. The grade sixes sense it as well as Father Callahan did. Mackie’s classmates shift from foot to foot and look nervously into the trees. The forest merely sighs quietly, waiting for them to offer it a meal.

“Good luck, Mackie,” says Bree Lock, who is always looking at him from under her thick black lashes with her blue, blue eyes.

Mackie quarter smiles and faces the trees.

He’s peered into the forest plenty of times after dark. He’s sat at his bedroom window at the back of the house, watching the trees move like people, yanking their roots up and sliding across the grass. If he gets bored of that, he can spend his time picking out the bright eyes that study him from the shadows. There’s no shortage. Devils he calls them, because what other word is there for the peculiar beasts that roam beneath the trees?

It looks stiller than usual tonight, however, and that stillness fills him with a sense of unease.

With a breath, he goes forward. Not one of his classmates tries to stop him.

Beneath the overhanging cage of branches, an icy chill overcomes Mackie, and he forgets it’s a humid summer evening. It could be April, or early May, not late June. He checks over his shoulder. His classmates watch him from their half-moon circle a safe distance back. They’re silent and sombre, except for Shawn, who sneers and covertly flips Mackie off by rubbing his middle finger against his nose, and Bree, who watches from beneath her lashes again; the expression she wears is much more complicated than a twelve-year-old can be expected to decipher.

Already, they seem too far away to return to. Like the lawn is a lake he’s swimming across, and he’s closer to the far shore than the one he began from. He must press on so he doesn’t drown.

Mackie squares his shoulders and goes deeper.

The forest eats things, though no one will dare say so in as many words. People and pets get lost, their bones turning up days later, picked clean and piled neatly for authorities to find. When the police step between the trunks, searching for lost children, they get turned around for hours, only to come out the other side in the town of Owensboro, confused and scared.

The ban restricting travel into the forest at any time has been in place for years, well before Mackie was ever born. Wolves is what people say instead of monsters, because wolves, though feral, are more easily understood than the horrors that actually call Sorrow’s Forest their home.

Under the claw-like branches, Mackie is surrounded by something that feels very much like magic. It’s in every breath he takes, filling up his lungs and clouding his thoughts. It guides him onward.

Vines crawl from one thick tree trunk to the next, and lilies with bone-white petals shoot up from the soft ground, flowering even in the darkness. He thinks it’s his imagination when they turn their heads and follow his progress.

Looking back, Mackie can no longer see his classmates, only branches and ferns and stones.

Discarded tree limbs roll beneath his feet, but the ground and leaves are just the right amount of moist to mask his footsteps. He feels utterly alone. He may sneak up on something unsuspecting and scare it into a fight. Or something may sneak up on him. How will he fare against one of the forest’s red-eyed beasts? He’s tall and gangly without much muscle, though he can run.

Fireflies glow all around, bright, bright, bright, and tangle together into a long glowing rope, leading Mackie deeper into the trees, to an unknown prize.

Mackie follows.

Trees watch him with their knot eyes. And something in the dark holds its breath for his progress.

A little whip-poor-will cheers encouragement from on high as Mackie crouches beneath a soggy log and enters a grove so full of magic, he must breathe shallowly in through his nose and out through his mouth. His fingertips tingle with it, and the skin on his face feels raw and sunburned.

The feeling that he’s in a place he does not belong is overwhelming. He should turn back. He should never think about this place again.

But Mackie is pulled forward by an unseen force and continues.

The grass is knee-high and the pale silver-green of gemstones. Through trees as tall as skyscrapers, a brook meanders. Its water is glass-smooth and crystal-clear until a forked tail, sharp like a shark’s, pokes up through the surface, scattering whirligig beetles. It disappears. The beetles still again. The water settles.

Movement draws Mackie’s eyes to the left where a boy sits streamside with his hands in the water to his elbows. His hair is a blonde so pale, that it seems blue, like the blue star flowers in Mom’s gardens.

His eyes flutter up to study Mackie, and Mackie can see they are black. No pupils. He has a birthmark that starts in the corner of his nose and moves up across his right eye like someone has taken soot from a fireplace and smeared it on him.

Mackie thinks they’re near the same age.

The boy’s limbs are long and thin, like the branches of a willow. When he stands, he’ll be taller than Mackie by a few inches, at least.

Suddenly, he yanks his hands from the water, producing the biggest diving beetle Mackie has ever seen. In a flash, it’s gnashed between his teeth. Every time the carapace crunches, Mackie cringes. The boy seems indifferent—just a boy alone in the forest, eating what the water gave him—no fear of the dark and no fear of the monsters watching from the trees.

Perhaps he is the monster.

“Who are you?” Mackie hears himself ask.

The boy swallows and pulls his arms from the water. He has another beetle pinched between his fingers. He holds it out to Mackie like a present.

Mackie curls his nose. “Gross.”

Despite Mackie’s denouncement, the boy waits for another moment, arm outstretched, water dripping from his elbow to the ground and the beetle worming in his grasp. When Mackie still doesn’t take it, he shrugs and pushes it between his teeth. For a second, Mackie thinks they seem sharp. Too sharp. Then the boy runs his tongue over them, and Mackie sees they’re the same as his, middle-class straight and white.

Mackie steps closer. “Why are you sitting out here alone?”

The boy still doesn’t answer; it occurs to Mackie that he can’t speak or doesn’t know how.

“You know the forest is off-limits, right? I was just dared to come in here.”

Nothing.

He doesn’t really look like the other people in Lakeview. He’s too pale. Too thin. Too much something Mackie can’t quite place.

Mackie asks, “Do you live here?”

Again, the boy blinks at him.

“Can you hear me?” There is a deaf boy in his school. He has to have special classes and can read lips if the person talks slowly enough. Mackie tries forming his words carefully with his hands and his mouth. “What. Are. You. Doing. Here?”

The forest breathes in, tree branches wriggling, and sighs out as if exasperated. A second of silence passes, and then the trees start quaking, though no wind rustles the trembling limbs. Acorns and loose leaves tumble down and thunder on the forest floor. Some hit Mackie in the head. The grass sways at his feet, and the water sloshes against the stream banks as the very earth rumbles.

The boy falls back on his rump and Mackie crashes to his knees; hands planted in the dirt. Through his fingertips, he can feel electrical currents moving through the ground, vibrating up his body.

An earthquake, he thinks. Though they don’t live in an area prone to them, he’s seen a lot of National Geographic.

All around, worms struggle out of the dirt, trying to get away from the shifting ground as the grass blades crawl with disapproving insects. The trees shiver, then start leaning forward, closing in on them like a tightening noose, and Mackie knows, suddenly, if he doesn’t leave now, he never will. He will become part of the forest, leaving behind only his bones.

“Come on!” He gets his foot wet splashing across the river. When he grabs the boy by the wrist, the boy’s skin is slippery and cold. Mackie holds on tight enough; he’s sure he’ll leave behind finger marks.

They run.

The fireflies are still out, flitting in front of them with a golden-green light that shows some sort of path across the carpet of grass. The forest tunnels around them, forming a chute. Brambles, thorns, thick branches, and wide tree trunks block them from both sides, making it impossible to deviate from the predetermined pathway.

Mackie can’t help but think they’re being herded, corralled forward. Through this next thicket is likely a witch’s house or a devil’s layer, the kind of place that can’t exist without the oppressive weight of the forest hanging overhead.

I won’t stay here, he thinks desperately at the trees. You can’t keep me. It’s not where he belongs.

In contradiction, branches stretch like hands and scrape at his chest and cheeks. Roots get beneath his feet and rise unpredictably. He falls once, barely hitting the ground before he’s back up again and pulling the boy forward with renewed vigour.

A deep wail resounds through the trees and an unseen shockwave shudders from root to root, leaf to leaf. They curl, searching for each other to lock together and keep him there.

Paralyzed by fear, Mackie stalls. Sensing a moment of weakness, the forest surges forward to trap him in its shadow.

The boy crashes into Mackie’s back and propels him forward. Together, they break through the branches and suddenly onto the mowed grass of the Kings’ backyard.

It’s like coming out of the water after too long in its depths. The air tastes different. Fresh and clean and boring without the distinct tang of forest magic.

Mackie spins to eye the forest, sure it’s still hungry for him. Trees shudder one final time before straightening, then the fireflies disperse, and the forest seems normal once more if you don’t look at the red burning eyes of the devils hiding as they peer out from the deepest shadows.

Mackie doesn’t want to.

He examines his backyard. The circle of his peers is gone. They took the Pixy-Stix, too. Assholes. There is just his house sitting up on the hill. The only lights on are inside. Outside is dark, making the house seem more remote and shabbier than it really is.

Mackie still holds the boy’s hand. Their fingers feel welded together. He is so thin, Mackie is afraid that if he lets go, the boy will slip back into the forest, into whatever magical cove he crawled out of.

Mackie’s mother rushes to the door when they enter. Her hair, dark like Mackie’s, is pulled up high on her head and her face is clear of makeup this late in the evening. A half-smoked cigarette smoulders between her long, nicotine stained fingers.

“Where have you been?” she demands. “There was an earthquake. We were scared.”

Before Mackie can answer, Mom’s attention slides to the boy behind him. At first, she seems confused by the intrusion. Then, like magic, the lines on her face smooth out. “And Blue, you’re covered in mud.”

“Sorry, Missus King,” says the boy. His voice is soft and light and reminds Mackie of wild things. Mackie scrutinizes him. Whatever prevented him from speaking in the forest, he sounds fine now.

Mom’s face softens more. “That’s okay. Get cleaned up and ready for bed, boys. I’ll make the spare room.”


Author Interview:

1. What inspired you to write this book?

I was inspired to write Sorrow’s Forest by a piece of art one of my friends made. @altairiis is an incredible self-taught artist and has made quite a few arts for Sorrow’s Forest now, but when the book first started, it was a Nanowrimo project that had nothing in its backbone except for a pretty character concept she made that I adopted for Blue.

2. What, if anything, did you learn when writing the book?

I experimented a lot with this book, though most notably, I explored making a world within a world. First, we have Lakeview Township, a town like any other, but under that is Sorrow’s Forest, which is not just an ecosystem of its own, but also an economy. These devils are ancient. They were there before clear-cutting humans, and with any luck, they’ll be there for long afterward, too. I got to build an entire society in Sorrow’s Forest, and we explore it a lot more in the next book, coming out next July, tentatively named Sorrow’s Blight, but it was fun to get the foundation of this society down, so I had more freedom to run with book II.

3. What surprised you the most in writing it?

Minus a few tweaks and some added content, how easy this story came to me. I didn’t know I wanted to write about a society of ruthless and beautiful forest creatures. In fact, I didn’t know anything about this book when I sat down to write it. It was a surprise when Mackie went into the forest and stole Blue, and the ending (no spoilers) surprised me just as much, too.

4. If it’s not a spoiler, what does the title mean?

The devil that ruled the forest for centuries was named Sorrow. Because she’s been the ruler for so long, the name has permeated into Lakeview Township, and the humans call it that, too, though most don’t know why. Most have decided it’s called that because a lot of people and pets go missing in the forest—basically, anyone that goes in there, doesn’t come out alive, so a lot of sorrow surrounds it.

5. Were any of the characters inspired by real people? If so, do they know?

A few of them were. A couple know. There are more that I’ll never tell. Most of my characters are inspired by at least aspects of peoples’ personalities. It’s never the entire person inserted in my book, though, but someone will be reading it and be like, …is this me? And I’ll laugh awkwardly and tell them very firmly no because most of my characters are problematic and damaged in some Big Way and I don’t want them thinking that’s how I view them. (Because, most sincerely, it’s not)

6. Do you consider the book to have a lesson or moral?

There are a few prevailing morals that come through, I suppose. Predominantly, if you love someone, let them go. Also, don’t ruin nature because it has a way of ruining you, too.

7. What is your favorite part of the book?

I’m fond of the first time we realize Nerida, who is a mermaid-type devil that lives in the river that snakes through Sorrow’s Forest, exists. Mackie’s racing from his friend Sam’s house. It’s pouring rain, thunder, lightning, and the road is washed out. I won’t go into any further detail because I don’t want to ruin it for anyone, but I think (for me, at least) this is one of the most atmospheric parts of the book, and I really enjoyed how it turned out.

8. Which character was most challenging to create? Why?

The most challenging was a character named Bree. She doesn’t play a huge role in this book, she shines a bit more in book II, but I knew I wanted to add her character, both as a child and an adult, to help flesh out Mackie’s. She was Mackie’s First Love—you know, the one that sticks with you the hardest—and she had to be perfect in the very limited time I had to make her that way. She had to be daring, and fun, and just a little bit mean, the kind of girl that’s wicked awesome to be around when things are great, and makes you want to pull your eyes out of your head when things are bad.

9. What are your immediate future plans?

Immediately? I’m finishing off writing Sorrow’s Blight (so close! Just a few more chapters, I think?) and then starting edits on that, in between editing a novel for an October 31st release, called Dark, Dark Heart. There is literally no rest for the wicked.


About the Author:

Author Photo - Kaitlin Corvus

Kaitlin Corvus is a curator of the weird and unusual. She may or may not be a murder of crows in a trench coat. It can, however, be said with certainty she loves monsters. Toothy and gummy ones. Big ones and small ones. Weird ones. Pretty ones. Ugly ones. Totally benign ones. And especially the ones that crawl into your heart, nest, and live there forever.

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Starts: July 25, 2022 at 12:00am EST
Ends: July 31, 2022 at 11:59pm EST

Spotlight, Excerpt & Author Interview: Lost and Found + Giveaway

Tour Banner Lost and Found

 

The Chronicles of Antecede: Lost and Found
by C.M. Sage
Genre: Fantasy

Sometimes things are lost for a very long time…and then they are found.

Take Gracie for example, a woman who lost everything, her life, her family, even her name, but now she is a Cathalian warrior of Antecede blessed with powers, which aren’t yet fully realized. Her elder and nemesis, Donavan, finally granted the former professor an opportunity to train a new warrior. Her joy turns to shock when she meets her great, great, great, great grandson, Henry, accompanied by his wisecracking best friend, Milo. Henry recognizes his long dead ancestor right away, and it doesn’t take the Cathalians long to realize that this meeting was no accident.

Gracie and the warriors of Antecede soon discover that they aren’t the only ones laying a claim on their new charges. Menacing enemies from the South and their hired mercenary assassin, Revilan, the Bowman, have also taken an interest. Come along with Gracie, Donavan, and their fellow warriors on a perilous quest to protect all that is good and right from the evil that threatens it, and along the way discover what else was lost.


Excerpt:

Gracie hadn’t seen Donovan since he rendered her and her charges unconscious, except to sense him speaking to Henry earlier in the day. He appeared to be his normal, arrogant self then, but right now he looked a bit wild. He was truly splendid like an untamed avenger, and she was a little in awe of the warrior coming towards her. Again, it was unfortunate for Gracie that she wasn’t as quick as her little beasties and didn’t think to try making herself scarce. She had never mastered that skill as a mortal or as a warrior. Drama followed her wherever she went. She met Donovan’s stare head on, shoulders back.

He stopped, breathing hard, hands on his hips, not far from where she stood, and now she realized Donovan wasn’t just angry, he appeared almost unhinged, and something else, some other undefined sentiment, which he quickly tried to hide. She caught the emotion with her amplified senses but failed to decipher it before it disappeared. Her elder’s appearance perplexed and confused Gracie. He was pale, and it was no small thing for a man so bronzed to look like a ghost. As if on cue, the wind picked up upon his arrival, and his hair whipped around his face. Donovan held Gracie’s stare until she dropped her eyes because the residual fire in his unnerved her.


Author Interview:

Can you describe your dream home?
Floor to ceiling windows, a loft attic to write in, a great kitchen with double ovens and a pantry, a fantastic bathroom with a big tub, tons of pictures on the walls and tons of family pictures all around. A beautiful yard with trees and flowers and green grass…a wall that makes it feel safe and secure like a villa.

If we were to come to your house for a meal, what would you give us to eat?
At night probably pizza and a salad because that’s the ultimate happy food to me, or maybe my husband would do one of his fantastic casseroles with a salad. In the afternoon, I might do an afternoon tea…they are so much fun.

Tell us about the absolute BEST fan letter you have received.
Well I’m pretty new at this…I have received emails from beta readers that they love what I’ve done so far. That was a wonderful feeling.

Say your publisher has offered to fly you anywhere in the world to do research on an upcoming book, where would you most likely want to go?
If that were the case, I’d like to go to Ireland.

Who designed the book cover for the book you are touring?
The wonderful Stephanie Mooney from Mooney Graphics.


About the Author:

Lost and Found is author C.M. Sage’s first book in the Chronicles of Antecede fantasy adventure trilogy. She loves writing, reading, and traveling. Most of all she loves spending time with her beloved family and friends…and yes, that includes her furry friends. Life would have been much less sunny without them.

Visit the author’s website and subscribe to her newsletter at.

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Giveaway:

One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card.

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