Tuesday Teaser: Lightson Dynasty by Rhiannon Wellman, a historical m/m romance

Jo has always been what he is and never what he seems. Will his grandmother force him to live a life he doesn't want, or can he figure a way out?

Jo's life had never been simple. But since he moved in with his grandmother, things only became worse. First, she assumes that Jo stood for Josephine not Joseph. Then she believes all young women should be suitably married, especially her granddaughter, Jo.

So now Jo's expected to marry a man he's never met and whose own grandmother also wants the match. But how can he when he must protect his secret?

Marcus would rather spend time with his books and the gentlemen at his club than women, let alone marry one.

With both their grandmothers working against them, will they be able to find their way out of this potentially scandalous situation? After spending time together, will they want to?

Excerpt:

Jo couldn't help but laugh out loud at that statement. "I will bet you any amount of money you care to name that you will never meet a girl like me again." Jo moved well back from the edge of the cliff and opened the basket to retrieve the blanket that lay across the top of the food. Marcus helped Jo to set out the food, and they sat down.

"How did your grandmother convince you to come, if you do not mind me asking?" Jo asked.

"She did what every mother and grandmother does when she wants a male of her acquaintance to do something he might not want to do. She threatened me. She told me that if I did not comply, then I would be cut off and disowned."

"That seems rather extreme."

"My grandmother wishes to see me settled down before she dies. And my mother, well..." Marcus paused, staring down at his food and avoiding eye contact.

"I know we just met, but I promise you nothing you say to me will go any further than the two of us. My grandmother, after all, is doing the exact same thing to me."

Marcus nodded. "I suppose we are somewhat in the same boat, as it were. Very well, my mother is too frightened of my grandmother to dare oppose her on anything. She is my father's mother, and very used to getting her own way. She also has the type of mind that once 'tis made up, there is no changing it."

Jo nodded. "Grandmother is just the same, but I have no mother and father any longer whom I could turn to. I shall have to put up with it. I must confess, I fully intended to make myself as unpleasant as possible for the duration of your stay to insure that you wouldn't even think of making me an offer."

Marcus laughed good naturedly. "I planned to be as boorish as I could manage, so you wouldn't accept when I did. Ye gads, we are a pair, aren’t we."

"What are we going to do now? You have to ask, and I have to say yes."

Jo couldn't help but feel downcast as this all became extremely overwhelming. He just did not know what he could do now.

"I do not know. If they were not such close friends, I would suggest we lie. You could say I never asked, and I could say that you refused me."

Jo huffed a laugh. "A good suggestion, but it would not work. I never expected to marry. My mother used to tell me that one day, I would find someone I wished to spend my life with, and she and my father would be happy for me no matter who the person was. But now they are gone. All Grandmother cares about is that I marry someone suitable."

"Why would you not marry? You are a beautiful woman; gentlemen must have made you offers before," Marcus asked as if genuinely surprised that Jo thought so lowly of himself.

"We better get back to the house. You'll want to settle in and get ready for dinner," Jo said, getting up and artfully avoiding the question.

"Yes, you are quite right. It would be most rude of me to delay you any further."

Jo couldn't help but smile. "I doubt the staff expected me back in time for dinner tonight. That is why they gave me the packed meal."

"Planning to avoid my arrival?" Marcus asked with a wry smile.

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B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lightson-dynasty-rhiannon-wellman/1120958173?ean=2940149853175

About the Author:

Rhiannon has been making up stories as long as she can remember, admittedly they had less sex in them back then. She never goes anywhere without a pen and notebook, and has often been known to

stop mid-conversation, get a glazed look in her eye and need to write down a line, or even an entirely new plot to add to her ever growing 'to do' pile.

Rhiannon's approach to writing, and life, is best described by the following conversation with her very understanding, and often bemused husband.

"You got bit by the plot bunny again didn't you?"

"Um maybe"

"Small bunny or big one?"

"It was a tiger in a cunning disguise."

When she's not writing she has a full-time job and a family who she loves very much, she's very grateful for all the wonderful things in her life and hopes to keep writing for a long time. Working on her books is Rhiannon's escape, she can lose herself in different worlds and situations, if for no other reason than that she will write for as long as she is able to hold a pen and paper and type on her ever present laptop.

As Rhiannon likes to talk quite a lot she set up a page on face book where people can come and get information as it happens. She will respond to all messages sent to her, currently the page only has a little over 100 likes, but considering the short time she has had the page Rhiannon is thrilled with the response she's gotten.

https://www.facebook.com/RhiannonWellman

She also has a blog, that’s updated as often as she can think of witty and interesting things to say, which is never as often as she'd like.

http://rhiannonwellman.blogspot.co.uk/

Rhiannon also has an account on Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7162092.Rhiannon_Wellman?from_search=true

Lightson Dynasty is published by Three Worlds Press. For more information on this book or their other works please visit: Three Worlds Press.

Tuesday Teaser: Ulfric's Mate: Book 1 of War of the Weres ..The Battle Begins

Killers are attacking the pregnant weres of Nolan Littlebull’s pack, the Wahpawhats. Can he catch them without destroying his own chance at happiness?

Alex George, only half Native and half were, was a misfit with the Lupin pack despite being the healer. Roxy, the ruthless Lupa, wants her for something nefarious, but Alex doesn’t know what. She will join with Nolan, Ulfric of the Lupins rival pack, to bring Roxy to justice, but will it cost her her life?

Even worse, all signs pointed to Nolan being her mate. The wolf in him calls to hers, and his honor and strength—not to mention downright sexiness—calls to her as a woman. But their joining could tear apart two packs.

Can they bring the killers to justice—pack or human, work through pack politics, and be together? Can they even survive?

Excerpt:

She did not want him to leave, and certainly, he did not want to go. His mind touched hers, and she felt his reluctance. Even the truck seemed to resist taking him from her. It creaked and groaned as he drove away, like she had not heard before. She frowned. Since her mother had taught her to never ignore what some would call silly nonsense, but in reality was their intuition, she tried to think of why he should not leave her.

It wasn’t as if she’d never been alone before. She was tougher than she looked. Being bullied tended to either make people tough or break them, and it had made her tough. Being a healer had kept her com-passionate, but it didn’t make her stupid. Noting the landscape, she looked around for anything suspicious.

The landscape lay open for the most part. A gravel pit turned irrigation pond was full, but there were no animals near it. Strange. With standing water not very plentiful around the valley, she would have expected more activity. She tried to remember what sights and sounds had been around when they left this morning but could not. She’d been too focused on Nolan and the recent murders.

Despite not seeing anything specific, she trusted her instincts and once inside, locked the handle of the outside door and bolted it. She tried to put her finger on her unease. It frightened her more that

she could not pinpoint what her mind had sensed than an actual threat would scare her. Insidious threats scared her the most since sneak attacks tended to do the harshest damage and she could not fight what she could not see.

She sat on the couch to try to get comfortable. But her growing fear made her restless. She moved into the big kitchen just off the living room and put together a sandwich. Presumably it was fine, but it tasted like sawdust to her. Putting the half-eaten meal down, she grabbed a soda out of the refrigerator. She leaned against the island and contemplated every detail she had seen when overlooking the landscape, both now and when they’d left earlier.

Then it came to her. The difference was the smell. Amid the smells of agriculture and heat, the breeze now contained the subtle hint of fear. The animals were afraid, but it was not a cohesive fear; it was instinctive.

Werewolves in human form?

She walked over to the sink and looked out the windows over-looking Nolan’s land to both the south and west. Nothing. Even with her better-than-average vision she could not see any signs. “Probably just nerves over being mated,” she muttered to herself to cover up the silence of the big, unfamiliar house.

Just then, the French doors off the kitchen to the outside deck ex-ploded in a combination of glass and wood fragments. Hoping to get to the front door, she ran around the island to the stairs. But as she reached the landing of the curved staircase, the front door smashed open with a loud crash. She turned to go back up the stairs, but someone stood there.

“Jason,” she said flatly. He had wanted to mate with her, but his touch made her skin crawl. The scent of the other were came to her from behind. “Boris. What a surprise,” she said facetiously, turning her head to peer over her shoulder and trying to keep her fear at bay. Nothing excited Boris and Jason like fear.

“Why are you here?” Hoping the demand covered up any residu-al dread she might have left in her voice, she tried to push Jason away from her.

“We’re here for you of course,” Jason responded with a leer. She couldn’t help the revulsion that crossed her face at the idea of him touching her. “Oh don’t worry, sweetheart. I won’t be touching you like that—yet.” His raucous laughter scratched against her mind like nails on a chalkboard.

“I don’t understand.”

“No, you don’t,” Boris said before putting something against her arm. She felt pressure, and then her vision swam before she blacked out.

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Meet the Author:

Leona Bushman goes by many names but the most well-known one is superhero. She earned this

name from saving a kangaroo from a tree—and yes that is as hard as it sounds. The dragons taught their queen how to write, and Queen Leona hasn't looked back, even when her muse tries to muck things up.

She can be found goofing off and loving dragons and other creatures of the supernatural at these places:

Twitter: @L_Bushman

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLeonaBushman

Coming Soon from Three Worlds Press:

Cerisa's Quest

The Ulfric’s Mate is published by Three Worlds Press. For more information on this book or their other works please visit: Three Worlds Press.

Tuesday Teaser: Amanda Marie's Scandalous Endeavors ... The Lady has a Plan

The story behind the story...

They say that every story has another story behind it. For Scandalous Endeavors that is certainly true. In fact it has two stories behind it, and one of those stories also has a story behind it.

It all started twelve years ago when I was touched by the loss of someone very close to me. I grieved and withdrew for a bit but did not start writing. The experience touched me in a way that changed me forever. Still I had no desire to write about it or to share it. Like Amelia says in Scandalous Endeavors, “Her grief belonged to her, not the ton.” Nine years passed before writing about my experience ever came to light.

I was working on my master’s degree and enrolled in a creative writing course. One of the assignments was to write a short story. I had no idea what to write and spent a considerable amount of time trying to dream up a plot and characters. At my wits end someone told me to write what I know. I took that advice and crafted a story about my experience years before.

In the end I had a goodish new adult short story that earned me an A in the course. I liked what I had and thought about turning it into a full book. Two more years passed while the story grew crusty on my hard drive before I opened the document again. During that time I had decided that I wanted to write historical romance not new adult. It meant that 98% of my short story had to be scrapped. Maybe I would never write a book, I would just be content with teaching and editing.

With my mind made up, I quit thinking about writing until that day when I started writing Scandalous Endeavors. So what happened to get me writing you ask? Looking back on that day it is humorous but at the time I was none too pleased.

It started like any other day. I took my kids to school and went to work. After work I picked up my kids, went home, and started in on my after school tasks. Helped my kids with their homework, checked my email, cleaned up. All of my normal things I do most days. Then my husband came home from work in a foul mood. After a bit we began bickering about something so stupid that I no longer remember what caused the dispute. 

But I was so angry that I did not want to be available to talk or be talked to. I needed to make myself busy but had nothing to do. Before I had time to think about it my laptop was resting on my legs and I was typing like mad. I opened up that old short story and deleted everything except the opening scene. By the time I felt sociable again two chapters were written and Scandalous Endeavors had been born.

The first chapter was shaped from that long ago written short stories first scene though the only element that remained was the raw emotion I had shared. You see that short story was based closely on my real life experience with loss. The first scene in Scandalous Endeavors is purely fictional. The heroine, Amelia, has lost her father and the book opens with her at the funeral. My father is alive, but I have experienced life shattering loss and drew on those emotions.

Scandalous Endeavors is the story that emerged when I stopped thinking about writing and just wrote. It was born of a life experience, a class assignment, and a marital dispute. Now it is a source of great pleasure. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Synopsis

Lady Amelia has only known the comfort of life in mid-eighteenth century English aristocracy. But

when first her mother and then her father die, she finds herself alone, grief stricken and….. not of age. Her appointed guardian, an American uncle, has ordered her travel to his plantation where she must remain for at least two years when she will come of age.

With the help of Lady Grace and Lady Sarah, Lady Amelia gets her uncle to agree to give her four weeks to settle her affairs and unbeknownst to him…find an English lord to marry so she can remain in her beloved England. Despite her mourning period she endeavors to trap one of London’s eligible bachelors in matrimony.

Lord Goldstone, Lady Grace’s nephew is devilishly handsome, but a Scottish Duke and so entirely unacceptable as a possible husband. After all Scotland is not her beloved London and environs. He also has a nasty habit of showing up at all the wrong moments and thwarting her carefully laid plans to ensnare a suitable husband. Sparks fly as the pair find themselves at odds with each other and drawn to each other at the same time. Can they find a way to stop arguing long enough to explore their growing passion? Is it strong enough to make Lady Amelia give up her English home after all? Or will Lady Amelia find a suitable English lord and avoid social exile in America? Time is running out.

Excerpt

Lord Roseington wrapped his arms around her and stood up, setting her on her feet. “Yes, Amelia, everything is okay now.” He reached up and removed her arms from around him, then took a step back. “We must stop winding up in these situations before we cause a scandal.”

She looked at him through hooded eyes. “‘Tis a wonder we haven’t already.”

A man cleared his voice behind her.

Amelia turned her head, already knowing who had caught them. “Lord Goldstone, you mustn’t trouble yourself with keeping our secret.”

“What she means to say is that there is no secret to be kept. Amelia carelessly got close enough to the hearth to catch her skirts ablaze. I could not very well let her burn up.”

“No, Roseington, you were obliged to help. I am glad to know that you were not taking advantage of our dear Amelia.” He glanced at her and flashed a rakish smirk. “Indeed, you are a hero. Let us go share the story while Amelia changes her charred gown.”

She tried her hardest to shoot daggers at him from her narrowed glare. His grin only deepened at the attempt, which increased her ire. “Don’t you dare tell a soul. I would most definitely perish from the embarrassment!” Amelia spat the words out with anger and annoyance. How dare he ruin everything for a second time, and then jest about sharing her humiliation. If he were not Scottish, she would trap him instead. That would teach him a lesson.

“Do not worry your head over it, Lady Amelia. We will not breathe a word of this little mishap,” Lord Roseington said. “Right, Goldstone?”

“Of course not. All of your secrets are safe with me.” He winked.

Amelia blushed at what he had implied. “Thank you. Now that it is settled I am going to retire for the evening. Enjoy the rest of the party. Lord Roseington, Lord Goldstone.” She inclined her head to them before spinning on her heels and speeding from the room.

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Amanda Marie dreams of days gone by when life moved at a slower pace. She enjoys taking pen to paper and exploring historical time periods through her imagination and the written word. Her hobbies include reading, writing, crocheting, traveling, photography, and spending time with her family. Some of Amanda Marie's favorite places in the continental U.S. are Harper's Ferry West Virginia and Sea Brook New Hampshire. She loves the history that surrounds them and visits them every chance she gets.

Amanda Marie lives along the Lake Huron shore line in northern Michigan with her husband and two kids. She holds a Master of Liberal Arts Degree with a concentration in literature and has a long standing love affair with sugary junk food.

Join Amanda Marie on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAmandaMarie

Visit her blog at http://musingsbymandy.wordpress.com/

Write to Amanda Marie at amandamarieauthor@gmail.com

Follow her on Twitter @AmandaMarieAuth

Scandalous Endeavors is published by Three Worlds Press. For more information on this book or their other works please visit: Three Worlds Press.

Tuesday Teaser: Nothing to Wear, book #1 of Dear Maude by Sally Max

There is something special about red letter days in Byron and Kit's household. Ever since becoming

man and wife, they always seem to have extra fun on holidays.

It's New Year's Eve and Kit is having a major problem. Her husband, Byron tries to help, but can't. The dilemma is monstrous. How can they overcome the insurmountable odds?

Within hours of the party, and she doesn't have anything to wear...

As a memento of those occasions, Kit is writing away in Maude, her diary.

A girl has got to have something to read when she is old and gray, to make her hot and bothered.

Excerpt:

Dear Diary,

Diary, I’m going to call you Maude. That’s okay, right? ‘Cause I really don’t like the idea that I’m recording this in a journal. It seems overdone, cliché, and trite. However, when I’m old and almost senile in a nursing home, I want to go back and read you, and then get all hot and bothered, be able to hide some Viagra in Byron’s applesauce, and have my way with him. I may need to remind him of who I am, but that will only make it more exciting. We’ve role-played some before, so it will be a different flavor of sponge bath, whose teeth are those, or bobbing for catheters.

It seems like every major holiday, we have the most amazing time. Don’t get me wrong. We have fun on other days of the week too, but special occasions, well, they’re usually extra noteworthy. Sometimes it’s the location, or we are experimenting with something new. It is just more fun. Maybe it’s that we want to celebrate when a holiday is on the calendar. Any red-letter day is special to us! ...

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Meet the Author

After not being able to answer, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” when she was little, Sally Max decided she wouldn’t settle on just one profession. Instead, she lives vicariously through her characters on the page, and gets a taste of every possible scenario she can imagine.

 Sally Max currently resides in central Florida with her fiancé and a rambunctious black and white tuxedo kitty.

 See what Sally is up to at www.sallymax.com

Nothing to Wear is published by Three Worlds Press. For more information on this book or their other works please visit: Three Worlds Press.