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Hiro Loves Kite
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo -- EXCERPT: Frankie Comes Home… Paying for a hot dog in pennies and dimes is embarrassing. Being two pennies short and having the hot dog stand guy take pity on us was completely humiliating. We’re skinny. I just hope the Kings haven’t eaten everything we had stored away. Without Kin and Keeps, there’s been a little more to go around. My shoulders sag. Now there are more mouths to feed. My fingers scrape the insides of my pockets, searching for a coin that maybe got snagged in the seams. If I turn them inside out, I really will look like a street urchin. I’m the pirate who opens the treasure chest, finds he’s been beat, and opens it again just to rub it in. I snort. We wait for a large crowd to head for the subway and melt in. Frankie’s eyes are as wide as a sliced moon as we weave and duck. Eyes on each other, hands gripped tightly. Kite pushes Frankie’s head under the turnstile as I pay with our last coin. She presses her back into me. The smell of faint perfume, the last of her old life, and salt, the new, coming from her hair. As I reach around her to push the stile, a two for one, her breath catches. I let my hand rest on her waist for a second. Let myself imagine we’re a couple on our way home from a shopping trip, and then it falls like so many un-granted wishes into a fountain. Leaning close to her ear so she can hear me, I hold my breath, thinking inhaling any more of her sweetness may actually kill me. “Ready?” She nods. Her cheek brushing my lips. We take our route to the secret door. To the home we now share like kids playing house, only far too real. Frankie, to her credit, rolls with the punches. Punch one: Hot dogs instead of roast beef and gravy for dinner. Punch Two: Cheating our way through the subway. Punch Three… I knock on the King’s door, and Krow answers. He looks us up and down, slick and distrustful for a moment, then breaks into a grin. “Kettle! Kite!” he shouts. “Kettle and Kite are home.” He stares at my hands. When he sees there’s no food—only a suitcase—he quickly looks away. But there’s no hiding his disappointment. Frankie squeezes her way through the doorway into the vast, abandoned subway tunnel. My home. My refuge. And now hers. Blinking, she stands on her tiptoes. Lip in teeth. “Holy hell!” she shouts, and several Kings look her way. Kite flushes pink, then taps her sister’s shoulder. “Frankie!” she chastises. “Language.” We step inside, and Frankie swings her head from side to side. “I mean tank you, holy hell.” We both chuckle, eyes connecting over the top of her head. Punch three: “This is where we’re going to be staying for a while,” Kite’s voice chases after a galloping Frankie as she jumps from bed to bed. She is the spokes of a traveling star. She is the light you can’t catch. Frankie doesn’t hear her, and Kite runs to catch her sister. I drag the case inside, plonk it on Kin’s bed. Now Kite’s to share with her sister. Finally, Frankie stops running and presses a palm to her chest as she wheezes. Kite rushes to her, and she puts both hands on her sister’s shoulders. “Are you okay?” Punch four is for me, and I feel it sock me right in the guts. As I watch them, I know. Like really know that I would do anything to help them. They are instantly and permanently part of this family. And it scares me. 
GIVEAWAY!
Title: One Stormy Night: a Kissing Frogs prequel
Author: Kim Deister
Genre: Contemporary/Historical/PNR/18+
Release Date: August 14, 2018
Cover Designer: Kennedy Kelly of Cover Crush Designs
    
  
 “... the plot was fresh, interesting, and kept me turning pages.” ~ A Book Nerd, A Bookseller, & Bibliophile “... entertaining and fun to read. Very enjoyable read!” ~Goodreads Review   Everything happens for a reason. Even a curse...
Finneas O'Malley is not a man built for love. He could never love a woman more than he loves the adventure and danger of a life at sea, the freedom to chase the wind wherever it takes him. The lure of a foreign land, the danger of a battle at sea, the exotic lasses he beds... how could any man turn away from that?
But when Finn wrongs Siofra, all of that changes. Curses. Magic. Centuries of being beholden to a vengeful fae who wants nothing more than to destroy him. Can he find a way to break the curse? Will he find the very thing he once scorned?
 
I was born and raised in a tiny town in the wilds of northern New York, a pretty, little college town called Potsdam. I grew up in a family of lawyers and teachers and bucked all the traditions. Before becoming a writer, I spent a lot of years wearing combat boots in the US Army. I spent most of my time in boots working as a Signals Intelligence Analyst (no jokes!) and a linguist. I also worked as a tech writer, an entirely different kind of writing, for Corning Glass Works. Now, I’m an Army wife and a mom to four sons. Over the years, our Army life has taken us all over the place and I have been lucky enough to work and live in some pretty amazing places. Now we live in Hawaii, just minutes from the beach!
I am a writer thoroughly in love with words. Reading them, writing them... I love that words can take you outside of your world and let the unimaginable become imaginable. When I’m not writing or lounging on the beach, I’m probably somewhere with my nose in a book.
     
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Empress Matilda of England
The Legendary Women of World History Book 7
127 pages
Born in 1102 to King Henry of England and Queen Matilda of Scotland, Matilda's uniquely royal Norman, Saxon, and Scottish heritage was meant to unify an England still divided by her grandfather's conquest in 1066. When the 1120 White Ship Disaster made her the only surviving child of her parents, Matilda suddenly became heiress to the English throne in a time when the old Saxon Witan, not the king's Will, still decided the succession.
Discover the true story of the first woman to claim the throne of England in her own right and be inspired! Includes Matilda's family tree, a detailed timeline, and a suggested reading list so you can keep learning.
Amazon * Apple * B&N * Kobo * Smashwords
Hypatia of Alexandria
The Legendary Women of World History Book 8
105 pages
As the western world fell into darkness, she dared defend the light.
Born in 355 CE in the aftermath of Constantine's reign, Hypatia of Alexandria lived in a collapsing Roman Empire, a world where obedience to religious authorities trumped science, where reason and logic threatened the new world order. It was a world on the edge of the Dark Ages, a world deciding the question of science verses religion, freedom verses orthodoxy, tolerance verses hate. For over 40 years, Hypatia stood between the dark ages and the light of classical philosophy, arts, and sciences. Though none of her books survived the aggressive book burnings of religious zealots, her legacy remains that of one of the greatest scientists of all time. This is her fascinating true story.
Amazon * Apple * B&N * Kobo * Smashwords
Born, raised, and educated in Lincoln, Nebraska USA Laurel A. Rockefeller is author of over twenty books published and self-published since August, 2012 and in languages ranging from Welsh to Spanish to Chinese and everything in between. A dedicated scholar and biographical historian, Ms. Rockefeller is passionate about education and improving history literacy worldwide.
With her lyrical writing style, Laurel's books are as beautiful to read as they are informative.
In her spare time, Laurel enjoys spending time with her cockatiels, attending living history activities, travelling to historic places in both the United States and United Kingdom, and watching classic motion pictures and classic television series.
One winner each week will receive a sapling tree from the Arbor Day Foundation – trees will vary depending on the winner's region – US only. There will also be two random winners for a special mystery prize- drawn at surprise moments during the tour!
Follow the tour HERE to discover the other amazing Legendary Women of World History books and enter the weekly giveaways!
Empress Wu Zetian
The Legendary Women of World History Book 5
70 pages
The most hated woman in Chinese history!
Travel back in time over one thousand years and meet the first and only female emperor of China. Born Wu Zhao and given the reign title "Zetian" just weeks before her death in 705 CE, Empress Wu was the unwanted daughter of Chancellor Wu Shihuo -- too bright, too educated, and too politically focused to make a good wife according to contemporary interpretations of the Analects of Confucius. Married off at age 14 as a low-ranking concubine to Emperor Taizong, Wu’s intelligence, beauty, and charm won her a place as his secretary and protégé, political experience that would empower her to transform the lives of countless billions. Explore the life of Empress Wu and discover why the world is a vastly different place because she dared what no woman in China before or since ever dreamed of.
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Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd:
The Warrior Princess of Deheubarth
The Legendary Women of World History Book 6
56 pages
Queen Elizabeth Tudor's Heroic Welsh Foremother!
Born in 1097 in Aberffraw Castle, Princess Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd ap Cynan was always destined for great things. As daughter to one of Gwynedd's greatest warriors she grew up strong and passionate -- more than a match for her older brothers. At sixteen Gwenllian's life changed forever when she fell in love with Prince Gruffydd ap Rhys, the beleaguered heir to Rhys ap Tewdur of Deheubarth. Together husband and wife fought for and ruled southern Wales, challenging the Norman Conquest of Wales and proving once and for all the nobility and courage of the Welsh people, a courage that endures across the centuries and lives in the heart of every Welsh man, woman, and child. Includes an extensive timeline covering over 400 years of Welsh and English medieval history.
Amazon * Apple * B&N * Kobo * Smashwords
Born, raised, and educated in Lincoln, Nebraska USA Laurel A. Rockefeller is author of over twenty books published and self-published since August, 2012 and in languages ranging from Welsh to Spanish to Chinese and everything in between. A dedicated scholar and biographical historian, Ms. Rockefeller is passionate about education and improving history literacy worldwide.
With her lyrical writing style, Laurel's books are as beautiful to read as they are informative.
In her spare time, Laurel enjoys spending time with her cockatiels, attending living history activities, travelling to historic places in both the United States and United Kingdom, and watching classic motion pictures and classic television series.
One winner each week will receive a sapling tree from the Arbor Day Foundation – trees will vary depending on the winner's region – US only. There will also be two random winners for a special mystery prize- drawn at surprise moments during the tour!
Follow the tour HERE to discover the other amazing Legendary Women of World History books and enter the weekly giveaways!
Title: The Island: Vampires of the Merovingi #1
Author: Sarah M. Cradit
Genre: Historical Fantasy Horror
Release Date: March 12, 2018
 From the USA Today bestselling fantasy author of the House of Crimson & Clover novels comes a chilling new historical fantasy series, Vampires of the Merovingi. Ancient lore, a vidid historical backdrop, and elusive, tantalizing mythical creatures await readers as they dive into the secretive, ancient, powerful world of The Saga of Crimson & Clover.
1789. Saint-Domingue. Hispaniola. West Indies.
Etienne de Blanchefort has seen incredible success as a colonial planter in the Northern Province of Saint-Domingue. Though uprooting his family from France a decade past was a gamble, life in the tropical West Indies has been good to him, his wife, and four children. With France embroiled in their great revolution across the Atlantic, he harbors little doubt he made the right decision for his family’s future.
Until, that is, the arrival of his fiend.
Etienne’s practical nature cannot reconcile what he knows to be true of his world with what he cannot ignore about the abominable creature haunting his family and the island.
Nor can he ignore his wife’s terrifying dreams that slowly steal her vitality.
Or Victorine’s burgeoning free spirit and wariness of their way of life.
Or Nanette’s curious, furtive behavior as she hides in trees.
Or Marius’ secret new friendship with one he cannot name.
Or Flosine’s unsettling drawings of a man from a time long before theirs.
Etienne’s fiend will not stay elusive for long. He has a request. A very particular, very important request, one that will change the lives of Etienne, his family, and his descendants forever.
Teri - “The Island looks to be the start of a riveting series and I look forward to meeting more of the vampires!” Elizabeth Connor - “I felt driven to reach the end, to uncover the mystery, to really know these characters and the circumstances that helped to mold them.” Katy Birch - “Another stunning read by Sarah. I can already tell this series is going to one you can escape to time and time again.”   Sarah is the USA Today bestselling author of the Paranormal Southern Gothic series, The House of Crimson & Clover, born of her combined passion for New Orleans, and the mysterious complexity of human nature. Her work has been described as rich, emotive, and highly dimensional.
An unabashed geek, Sarah enjoys studying obscure subjects like the Plantagenet and Ptolemaic dynasties, and settling debates on provocative Tolkien topics such as why the Great Eagles are not Gandalf's personal taxi service. Passionate about travel, Sarah has visited over twenty countries collecting sparks of inspiration (though New Orleans is where her heart rests). She's a self-professed expert at crafting original songs to sing to her very patient pets, and a seasoned professional at finding ways to humiliate herself (bonus points if it happens in public). When at home in Oregon, her husband and best friend, James, is very kind about indulging her love of fast German cars and expensive lattes.
  
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The Island: Vampires of the Merovingi by Sarah M. Cradit ~ Release Blitz w/Excerpt & Giveaway3/12/2018 
Title: The Island: Vampires of the Merovingi #1
Author: Sarah M. Cradit
Genre: Historical Fantasy Horror
Release Date: March 12, 2018
From the USA Today bestselling fantasy author of the House of Crimson & Clover novels comes a chilling new historical fantasy series, Vampires of the Merovingi. Ancient lore, a vidid historical backdrop, and elusive, tantalizing mythical creatures await readers as they dive into the secretive, ancient, powerful world of The Saga of Crimson & Clover.
1789. Saint-Domingue. Hispaniola. West Indies.
Etienne de Blanchefort has seen incredible success as a colonial planter in the Northern Province of Saint-Domingue. Though uprooting his family from France a decade past was a gamble, life in the tropical West Indies has been good to him, his wife, and four children. With France embroiled in their great revolution across the Atlantic, he harbors little doubt he made the right decision for his family’s future.
Until, that is, the arrival of his fiend.
Etienne’s practical nature cannot reconcile what he knows to be true of his world with what he cannot ignore about the abominable creature haunting his family and the island.
Nor can he ignore his wife’s terrifying dreams that slowly steal her vitality.
Or Victorine’s burgeoning free spirit and wariness of their way of life.
Or Nanette’s curious, furtive behavior as she hides in trees.
Or Marius’ secret new friendship with one he cannot name.
Or Flosine’s unsettling drawings of a man from a time long before theirs.
Etienne’s fiend will not stay elusive for long. He has a request. A very particular, very important request, one that will change the lives of Etienne, his family, and his descendants forever.
Nanette swung her left leg up and accidentally jostled the branch holding her precious ink. With a sharp cry, her gaze traveled toward the ground and the inevitable loss of her only outlet.
She was shocked to see Childeric holding the bottle upright in his right palm, his left outstretched to her. “You must be more cautious, mon cher,” he chastised. His alabaster flesh reflected the bold green of his tunic, and he seemed preternatural to her; a figment of her dreams. “I am grateful,” Nanette replied with a hasty breath, gathering her leg and skirt to one side to avoid an unseemly disaster. His hand remained high in the air, an invitation. She had climbed up with the help of several branches, hitching her skirts to avoid a snag. Going down would be even less ladylike, and she had counted on being alone. Childeric settled her ink down on a nearby flat stretch of dirt and returned with both arms wide. Nanette set her lips in a tight line, unwittingly resembling her mother in that moment. She saw no other choice. He was not leaving, and she could not be seen flashing her undergarments in the presence of a man. Unchaperoned, no less. With a fearful glance around the grounds, she pulled in a breath and dropped into his arms. His embrace was solid, but brief. He backed away before the blush could fully form in her cheeks. She had never before been so close to him. Now, she could see his eyes were the brilliant violet hues of indigo dye, and his skin was lineless, devoid of the markings of the age and experience someone of his words bespoke. “Has no one discovered your love of trees?” Childeric teased, his blood-red lips forming a smile that paused her heart. Nanette shook her head. “I must return to the house.” “Must you?” Her head pulled to the side, startled by the impudence in his question. “Your secret will not ever leave my lips,” Childeric said when she found herself unable to form a reply. “As you have kept mine, I shall keep yours.” Nanette swallowed a lump in her throat. “You’re mistaken. You’ve bade me keep no secret of yours.” Childeric paced a circle around her, his steps nimble. “So, you have told your maman and père of the strange man who visits you and tells you tales?” “I have not!” Nanette exclaimed, indignant, realizing in the moment his point. Her expression turned cross. “Yet, as I am not the only one you visit, it is not such a secret after all.” “Marius and Flosine know no better. They see me through the visage of a child. Not you, Nanette. Yours is the age of discernment.” “It is?” “They have not yet developed a healthy fear of the world. They trust without thought, and move through life with an artless grace. They do not yet understand the consequence that can follow a decision, a split-second choice.” “They’re six and four,” Nanette offered, frozen in spot. Childeric swept one arm of his brilliant emerald tunic toward the Caribbean. Chartreuse waves lapped at the shore, cresting against the crag. “You stand at the cliffs and innately accept that to fall is to invoke injury. Even death. Yet at the bottom also lies a world unknown to you. You see, in your dreams, that I am the cliff. You have not yet decided where I lead.” The abruptly adult turn the conversation took left Nanette unwittingly stumbling back up the grassy cliff side. The temptation to continue this palaver was stronger than she’d like to admit, for admitting it would be to embrace her maman’s claim she was nearing her journey as a woman. Her fear of being caught with a man unchaperoned outmaneuvered all other competing emotions. Her eyes moved toward the ink, standing behind Childeric. To reach it, she would need to either cut a wide berth or brush directly past him. His smile broadened, as if he could see through to the darkest thoughts in her heart. As if he enjoyed them. “Here you are, mon cher.” Childeric’s outstretched palm held the pot of ink. She’d not even seen him move to reach for it. She couldn’t fathom how he’d done it so quickly. She didn’t want to. “Not a drop spilt.” Eyes averted, Nanette swiped the pot and murmured her gratitude before whirling and fleeing back over the arc of the cliffs, toward the safety of the house, sensing his indigo eyes burning word-shaped cuts into the soft flesh of her back. Sarah is the USA Today bestselling author of the Paranormal Southern Gothic series, The House of Crimson & Clover, born of her combined passion for New Orleans, and the mysterious complexity of human nature. Her work has been described as rich, emotive, and highly dimensional.
An unabashed geek, Sarah enjoys studying obscure subjects like the Plantagenet and Ptolemaic dynasties, and settling debates on provocative Tolkien topics such as why the Great Eagles are not Gandalf's personal taxi service. Passionate about travel, Sarah has visited over twenty countries collecting sparks of inspiration (though New Orleans is where her heart rests). She's a self-professed expert at crafting original songs to sing to her very patient pets, and a seasoned professional at finding ways to humiliate herself (bonus points if it happens in public). When at home in Oregon, her husband and best friend, James, is very kind about indulging her love of fast German cars and expensive lattes.
HOSTED BY:
Mary Queen of the Scots:
The Forgotten Reign
The Legendary Women of World History Book 3
80 pages
Queen Mary Stuart was one of the most beloved and controversial women in Scottish history. The granddaughter of King James IV and his wife Margaret Tudor, Queen Mary's status as heiress-apparent to Queen Elizabeth's throne in England paired with the violence of the Scottish Reformation set the stage for one of the most dramatic and poorly understood lives of the 16th century.
Mary Queen of the Scots tells Mary's true story, focusing primarily on her reign as queen of Scotland, celebrating her life more than her death and showing us all why she was truly a woman ahead of her time. Features a detailed timeline, a list of Latin prayers with their English translations, and the lyrics to all four featured period songs performed in the book.
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Queen Elizabeth Tudor:
Journey to Gloriana
The Legendary Women of World History Book 4
90 pages
“I am by your Council from you commanded to go to the Tower, a place more wanted for a false traitor than a true subject, which though I know I desire it not, yet in the face of all this realm it appears proved,” wrote Princess Elizabeth Tudor in her eleventh-hour letter to sister Queen Mary as guards waited to transport her to the prison at the Tower of London.
Queen Elizabeth is perhaps the most legendary and celebrated ruler in English history. Yet do you really know her as well as you think you do? In this beautiful narrative biography you explore Elizabeth’s path from “Lady Elizabeth” to “Gloriana” through the lens of her relationship with Robert Dudley, a relationship far more contentious than most people believe. Politics and religion collide, provoking Elizabeth to console herself with her music, and a hard decision lays before her as plots against her life threatens her throne. Take the journey to Gloriana and discover a side to Elizabeth you never knew existed. Features six medieval and Elizabethan songs, a detailed timeline, and an extensive suggested reading list. Continues "Mary Queen of the Scots."
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Born, raised, and educated in Lincoln, Nebraska USA Laurel A. Rockefeller is author of over twenty books published and self-published since August, 2012 and in languages ranging from Welsh to Spanish to Chinese and everything in between. A dedicated scholar and biographical historian, Ms. Rockefeller is passionate about education and improving history literacy worldwide.
With her lyrical writing style, Laurel's books are as beautiful to read as they are informative.
In her spare time, Laurel enjoys spending time with her cockatiels, attending living history activities, travelling to historic places in both the United States and United Kingdom, and watching classic motion pictures and classic television series.
One winner each week will receive a sapling tree from the Arbor Day Foundation – trees will vary depending on the winner's region – US only. There will also be two random winners for a special mystery prize- drawn at surprise moments during the tour!
Follow the tour HERE to discover the other amazing Legendary Women of World History books and enter the weekly giveaways!
Boudicca: Britain's Queen of the Iceni
The Legendary Women of World History Book 1
by Laurel A. Rockefeller
52 pages
Why is The Morrígan's raven crying? Only Britons with hearts for true liberty know!
In 43 CE Roman conquest of Britannia seems all but certain -- until a chance meeting between King Prasutagus of the Iceni and a runaway slave of royal decent from the Aedui tribe in Gaul changes the fate of the British islands forever.
Rise up for liberty with the true story of Boudicca: Britain's Queen of the Iceni and discover one of the most inspiring stories in history!
A Legendary Women of World History creative non-fiction biography.
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Catherine de Valois:
French Princess, Tudor Matriarch
The Legendary Women of World History Book 2
68 pages
War made her queen of England. Her love for a Welshman made her immortal.
Best known as Henry V's Agincourt bride from Shakespeare's "Henry V," Catherine de Valois was an extraordinary woman of faith, courage, and conviction in an age of politically powerful women.
A younger daughter to King Charles VI of France terrorized by his mental illness, Princess Catherine survived the ravages of his schizophrenia, a civil war at home, and King Henry's war with France to become one of Renaissance England's most fascinating and courageous queens.
A Legendary Women of World History narrative biography.
Includes a War of the Roses family tree, detailed timeline, and detailed suggested reading list/bibliography.
Amazon * Apple * B&N * Kobo * Smashwords
Born, raised, and educated in Lincoln, Nebraska USA Laurel A. Rockefeller is author of over twenty books published and self-published since August, 2012 and in languages ranging from Welsh to Spanish to Chinese and everything in between. A dedicated scholar and biographical historian, Ms. Rockefeller is passionate about education and improving history literacy worldwide.
With her lyrical writing style, Laurel's books are as beautiful to read as they are informative.
In her spare time, Laurel enjoys spending time with her cockatiels, attending living history activities, travelling to historic places in both the United States and United Kingdom, and watching classic motion pictures and classic television series.
One winner each week will receive a sapling tree from the Arbor Day Foundation – trees will vary depending on the winner's region – US only. There will also be two random winners for a special mystery prize- drawn at surprise moments during the tour!
Follow the tour HERE to discover the other amazing Legendary Women of World History books and enter the weekly giveaways!
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