Friday Finds: Paranormally Delicious Reads

On this week's Friday Finds, I'm featuring a new to me author who I think you'll enjoy, also a classic paranormal romance from one of my all time favorite authors, Eugenia Riley. It's one of my favorite books by her as well and is one of my top 100 books of all time you should read, and for only .99¢ now, grab it before the sale ends. 


THE STORM AND THE DARKNESS
By Sarah M. Cradit

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Only .99¢ (Sale ends August 30!)

Ana Deschanel has made a terrible mistake. The only chance of protecting the other people involved is to flee New Orleans, the only home she has ever known, for the quiet solitude of Summer Island.

Summer Island, Maine (population 202) is not the tranquil escape Ana imagined. The locals are distant and cold, especially her neighbor, the reclusive veterinarian Jonathan St. Andrews. Her only lifeline is the kind but odd caretaker Alex Whitman. Showing up at all the right moments, he warns her she is completely unprepared for a Maine winter. As the first winter storm approaches to whispers of an island shutdown- Ana realizes that she may soon be cut off from the rest of the world.

After a surprising encounter with Jonathan’s brother, Finn, Ana finds herself braving the storm to return something to him. Unprepared for the Maine storm, she slips and falls onto the jagged rocks along the shore. The St. Andrews brothers find her in the nick of time, but she remains unconscious. As the storm worsens, the St. Andrews brothers learn there are other, more sinister forces at work closer than they ever imagined.

With no help from the outside world, they must find a way to protect themselves from both the storm, and the growing darkness that looms across the island.

AMAZON: http://amzn.to/VPSXvF
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-storm-and-the-darkness-sarah-m-cradit/1115922678
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-storm-and-the-darkness/id832897889
KOBO: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/the-storm-and-the-darkness

You can find Sarah on Twitter: @thewritersarah

Phantom in Time
By Eugenia Riley

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Only .99¢ (Sale ends Sept. 3!)

SEDUCED ACROSS TIME . . . BY THE PHANTOM!!

Murdered in his prime in 1896, the sexy, mysterious ghost of renowned tenor Jacques LeFevre haunts the spooky old St. Charles Opera House in New Orleans. Jacques’s lusty spirit still searches for the woman of his dreams, the diva with whom he can share life and the opera. When lovely Bella De La Rosa joins the modern-day theater troupe as a chorus girl, the phantom knows he has found his mate, and soon Jacques’s ghost lures beautiful Bella back in time to meet him as a real man . . .

Bella De La Rosa is destined to become a world-class singer, but devastating stage fright has consigned her to the chorus line. Then the phantom’s haunting voice calls to her . . . and she is seduced back in time to meet the real Jacques! Even as Bella reels at her apparent journey through time, the amorous rogue shamelessly pursues her—and, it seems, everything else in a skirt! Though equally intrigued by him, Bella is dismayed to find Jacques on a self-destructive path, inciting numerous jealousies among the theater troupe. In order to reform Jacques and save him from certain death, Bella must overcome all her fears and give herself to him in passion and in song . . . or he will forever become her phantom in time.

PHANTOM IN TIME is must a read for Eugenia Riley fans, a fun, sexy, and intriguing treatment of the “Phantom of the Opera” theme. PHANTOM IN TIME is a full-length time-travel romance of approximately 105,000 words.


AMAZON: http://amzn.to/1q8cAuV
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/phantom-in-time-eugenia-riley/1000413087
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/380563

Ms. Riley's website: http://www.eugeniariley.com/

Campfire Ghost Stories With Sizzle!

Just a reminder, this Wednesday, June 26th, is the Campfire Ghost Story event. The Storytelling starts at 5pm SLT (5pm pacific US; 8pm eastern US; 1am London)

When: Wednesday, June 26, 2013, 5pm SLT (8pm eastern)
Where: Bookstacks Campfire, Awen, SL 

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Awen/201/194/22

If you thought ghost stories were simply scary, think again, because authors Kimberly Troutte, Cassandra Curtis, Natasha Moore, Tawny Taylor, and Adrianna Dane blend sizzling passion into their haunted romances. Intended for a mature audience, 18+ over please. Event is in voice, so remember your headphones. You won't want to miss this spine-tingling storytelling event! 

To attend, you must have a Second Life account. To sign up for a free basic account, go to: https://join.secondlife.com/?lang=en-US

Excerpts from The Ghost of Goodacre Hall by Cassandra Curtis, Catch Me In Castile by Kimberley Troutte, Quinn’s Curse by Natasha Moore, Whisper by Adrianna Dane, and Sex And The Single Ghost by Tawny Taylor will be read.

The Ghost of Goodacre Hall

Cassandra Curtis

Matthew Lambert tried to run from his past, but when he decides to renovate an old house, he is forced to resurrect more than ghosts. Intrigued by the paranormal, Cadence Martin always loved Goodacre Hall. When she gets an invitation to attend the Victorian house’s grand opening as a B&B Inn, she decides to see if the new owners are aware they just inherited the resident ghost, her great-aunt Miriam.

Catch Me In Castile
Kimberley Troutte

Seeing dead people is bad enough. Loving him could make her one of them.

When the mother of all panic attacks prompts Erin Carter’s boss to pass her over for promotion, her mind doesn’t just crack. It explodes like an egg in a microwave, shattering her career along with the company car she crashes into the office building.

The death grip she’s kept on her sanity slipping, she takes a friend’s advice and flees to Spain. There she finds comfort in the healing arms of surgeon Santiago Botello—until a fifteenth-century ghost warns her that being with Santiago is dangerous, possibly even lethal.

Santiago has his hands full protecting his sister from a dark curse and his family from a very modern-day psychotic killer. The last thing he needs added to his plate is a neurotic American. Yet something about Erin tugs at his heart so hard he wants to wrap her in his arms and never let go. No matter the risk.

Erin’s attraction to Santiago makes her the killer’s next target. Survival means she must face her greatest fear, solve an ancient murder mystery—and hang on tight to the one man she’s fallen crazy in love with.

Quinn's Curse
Natasha Moore

Cursed to wander Logan Point, lusty pirate Nathaniel Quinn must resist the call of the sea. But nobody said anything about resisting a beautiful woman like Miranda Kent, the newest owner of the lighthouse. So what if their love is doomed? Doom is familiar territory for a ghost like Nathaniel....

Where do bad boys go when they die? If the bad boy is a pirate captain, he goes to shore.

Cursed to haunt dry land for three hundred years, forbidden to touch the ocean he loves, Nathaniel Quinn’s spirit lingers near the Logan Point Lighthouse until his sentence is served. All he wants is an end to the three hundred year curse so he can haunt the seas instead of the shores.

That’s all he wants, that is, until the day Miranda Kent buys the lighthouse with the intent to turn it into a bed and breakfast. She hopes the presence of a ghost will bring in the tourists, but Quinn has finally found a benefit to his time on land.

She can hear him. See him. Touch him. He may only have a short time remaining at the lighthouse, but at least now he can enjoy it like a sailor on shore leave.

But pleasure turns to impending pain as these doomed lovers discover they’re touching more than each other’s bodies. They’re touching each other’s hearts. The long-awaited end of Quinn’s shore curse might just mean a different kind of curse…

Because an eternity sailing the seas might also be an eternity separated from the woman he loves.

Whisper
Adrianna Dane

Eden Trinity, viciously blinded by her jealous lover, survives to testify and send him to prison. But the trauma of his attack and her changed circumstance will take time to heal. Solitary retreat to a small cottage in Raven's Cove brings her some sense of desperate peace. Until the night she has a vision of a murder, and a seductive ghost seeks to soothe her desperate fears.

How could the spirit of a man murdered long ago ignite the passion she'd been certain was dead? Vengeance keeps him chained, will her love set him free? Danger and desire seem to lurk at every turn and not everything is what it seems. Will the erotic whispers from the past succeed where her lover failed--and woo her to her death?

Sex And The Single Ghost
Tawny Taylor

Nine years ago, Claire Weiss died, which put a serious crimp in her plans. Now, she's caught in Purgatory, waiting for that Big Day when she can reanimate and return to earth and have sex at last! Nine whole days of chocolate! Cute shoes! A real beer! And, most important of all, a chance to reconnect with the object of her long-denied lust, hunky Jake Faron. The minute she materializes in front of her favorite old haunt, er, bar, Devil's Night - complete in Halloween get-up of lingerie and high-heeled mules - she locks eyes with Jake, who is as hunky as ever.

Hard-muscled body? Check. Bone-melting smile? Check. Big...hands? Check, check, check. Goodbye, Purgatory - Hel-looo, heaven. The rules are that Claire has nine days to investigate her mysterious death, solve the crime, and do good deeds for others (not as easy as it seems, people) before returning to Purgatory. But she also has nine hot, steamy nights to do absolutely everything she's ever dreamed about doing with Jake. And that's a good thing, because not only does Jake have a secret that could change her whole afterlife, but he's perfectly capable of showing a love-struck ghost plenty of heaven on earth...

Friday Finds: Stories By Cassandra Curtis

I love to read short stories and novellas and I know I'm not alone. Many of the .99¢ ebooks I pick up are shorts.  Several of my own books fall into that length and are only .99¢.

So today on Friday Finds, I'm highlighting my own free or under a dollar stories.

SHIMMER by Cassandra Curtis
ISBN: 9781452378664 | short story 7.8K


Can't beat FREE, and my short story Shimmer is exactly that, FREE.

Stuck at her sister's tropical wedding without a date, Dixie Ames decides to kick up sand at the reception and finds more than she bargained for, spotting a strange shimmering orb over the water. Rey knows better than to appear in front of humans, but something about Dixie attracts him like no other. Can a human and a Shimryn find love? He knows only the tides will tell.

Shimmer is a cross-over book, meaning that it bridges or crosses two different series and two different romance subgenre. It connects my Shifting Tides Series which is paranormal romance, with my Tales of The Shimryn Series which is SFR. It also ends on a bit of a cliff hanger. 

Readers will be happy to know that a sequel is coming—in fact—Sparkle: A Tale Of The Shimryn, is book one in my new Tales Of The Shimryn Series. The Tales of The Shimryn Series is SFR set partially on Earth and partially on the Shimryn home world. The hero and heroine of Sparkle are none other than Dixie and Rey! 
BUY AT SMASHWORDS



THE GHOST OF GOODACRE HALL
by Cassandra Curtis

ISBN: 9781452357003 | short story 6K


Matthew Lambert tried to run from his past, but when he decides to renovate an old house, he is forced to resurrect more than ghosts. 

Intrigued by the paranormal, Cadence Martin always loved Goodacre Hall. When she gets an invitation to attend the Victorian house's grand opening, she decides to see if the new owners are aware they just inherited the resident ghost, her great-aunt Miriam.


Goodacre Ghost (as I refer to it) was a flash fiction piece that expanded into a short story and was influenced by my love of the old movie and TV show The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. Except in my story, the ghost is a lonely woman and the hero is a chef opening a bed and breakfast in the house where he used to hide as a boy. Miriam isn't the love interest, instead she plays matchmaker for her great great niece, Cadence.

While I have no intention of expanding on this story or making it into a series, I do plan to write another stand alone ghost story someday soon. BUY AT SMASHWORDS

THE DEAL BREAKER
By Cassandra Curtis

ISBN: 9781452374024 | short story 12K

Eccentric recluse Athena Thanos owns Archimedes Island, a tropical paradise she can never leave. Cursed by the Goddess Hera, the moon and tides control her prison. Corporate player Ryan Palmer is sent to negotiate a huge deal. But Ryan doesn’t know the hand he’s been dealt by fate or that he is the key to breaking the curse. Will he agree to Athena's demands once he understands the risks?

I always wanted to create a story wrapped in Greek Mythology that incorporated a monster of some kind, but never expected the twists and turns the story would take, dragging me along for the ride. THE DEAL BREAKER is more in keeping with an EYES WIDE SHUT feeling, so don't expect your typical happily ever after.  BUY AT SMASHWORDS
 

MUMMY DEAREST
by Cassandra Curtis

ISBN: 9781452391540 | short story 4.4K

Gwen Patterson expected an adventure when she signed up to work an archeological dig in Egypt, but she didn't expect to uncover a sinister plot involving a mummy and a mysterious golden scarab. Cursed to sleep for thousands of years, Kemnebi is awakened by Gwen's accidental blood sacrifice. Now freed, he must regain his power and defeat an old foe, or risk losing Gwen forever.

I've always had a fascination for everything ancient Egypt, going as far to tell my mother about the personal and daily habits of wealthy Egyptians pre-Cleopatra. At the time I was five, so you can imagine my mum's amazement when she verified my facts were correct. And yes, this was long before the entity named Google existed. LOL. I still love old mummy movies and books. I don't have plans to expand this story or write a sequel, but you never know. I said the same thing about Shimmer, and here I am rewriting and doing edits on Sparkle. LOL  BUY AT SMASHWORDS

STROKE IT
by Cassandra Curtis

ISBN: 9781452313771 | short story 3.5K

Exhausted after a coast to coast book tour, Laris needs serious R and R. The luxury resort along the Baja coast provides their guests with everything they could desire, including their own personal masseur. Former special ops agent Alejandro Maranta loves his job as an on-call masseur for the resort hotel. Using his unique gift for easing tension, he gives Laris a massage she'll never forget. 

Written initially as part of a October Paranormal Party challenge at the old Midnight Moon Cafe, Stroke It was one of the more fun experiments of mine. Take a guy who is buff, dangerous, and gorgeous and give him a 180 career shift. Now say the guy isn't all that human, has a few experimental genes in his pool, and you get an ex super soldier with something extra. I'm often told this is one of my hottest erotic romances, just be prepared for a wild twist. :D
BUY AT SMASHWORDS 

NAUGHTY LITTLE SECRETS
by Cassandra Curtis
(Book one in The Naughty South Series)
ISBN: 9781465850577 | novella 23.5K

Aspiring author Stacie Purcell writes her sexy fantasies in a ‘story binder’, but when she misplaces it, she risks exposure of all her naughty little secrets. Tyler Murchison finds her messenger bag in his repair shop and discovers the secrets inside. He offers Stacie a chance to experience all the incredible delights she writes about. But can a single night of wild sex lead to something more? 

A friend of mine suggested I write another contemporary story, so after a weekend of brainstorming, I decided to get back to basics, and that meant the romance had to come first. Which in turn triggered memories of first loves. What if your first crush was your only love? What if he left town and years passed, then he returned? And you discovered the crush never ended? I had a reader write and tell me that this was indeed the case for her, and she'd been happily married to her own 'Tyler' for over thirty years! Now that is staying power! 

The second book in my Naughty South Series is entitled Naughty By Nature and tells the story of what happens to that teasing little subplot in the first book, between Pam Purcell and Tim Riley. Also expect a cameo appearance by Big Rory.  I'm shooting for a summer 2013 release on the sequel, but lots of stuff going on so don't quote me on it.
BUY AT SMASHWORDS   BUY AT AMAZON
BUY AT BARNES AND NOBLE

And of course, my latest addition to my own little .99¢ ebook club...Compulsion!

COMPULSION
by Cassandra Curtis

ISBN: 9781301335596 | extended short story 17.5k

Lindsay Dannon has a dirty little secret. While she hides behind her plain and proper image at work, a wanton woman with a rich fantasy life lurks beneath the surface. The thrill of sex in public places, and the risk of exposure, is a compulsive itch she knows only one man can scratch—her boss, Jack Randolph.

The company’s “no tolerance” policy on interoffice dating is the only thing stopping her. Good thing Jack created the rules, because he’s determined to make all of Lindsay’s sexual fantasies come true…

Compulsion is a stand alone story, and although I played with the idea of spinning off a sequel, I didn't feel there was much more to tell. It is what it is, a tale of a woman who wants a man so bad, she can't concentrate, and fills her world with sexual fantasies of them together, only to find that her fantasies pale when compared to the real thing.  BUY AT SMASHWORDS     BUY AT AMAZON
BUY AT BARNES AND NOBLE