Hi lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Loretta
Marion and her new book, “House of Ashes”!
For other stops on her Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click
on the banner above or any of the images in this post.
Be sure to make it to the end
of this post to enter to win a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!!! Also, come back daily to interact with Loretta
and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping
by! Wishing you lots of luck in this
fabulous giveaway!
House of Ashes
by Loretta Marion
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GENRE: Mystery
((With Paranormal/Supernatural Elements and Whispers of Romance))
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BLURB:
Thirty-seven-year-old
painter Cassandra Mitchell is fourth-generation to live in the majestic
Battersea Bluffs, a brooding Queen Anne home originally built by her
great-grandparents, Percy and Celeste Mitchell, and still standing despite
tragedies that have swept the generations. Local lore has it that there was a
curse placed on the family and the house is haunted, though opinions are
divided on whether it's by malicious or benevolent spirits. Cassie believes the
latter―but now she stands to lose her beloved home to mounting debt and the
machinations of her dream-weaving ex-husband.
Salvation
seems to arrive when a nomadic young couple wanders onto the property with the
promise of companionship and much-needed help―until they vanish without a
trace, leaving behind no clue to their identities. Cassie is devastated, but
determined to discover what's happened to the young couple...even as digging
into their disappearance starts to uncover family secrets of her own. Despite
warnings from her childhood friend, now the local Chief of Police―as well as an
FBI agent who pushes the boundaries of professionalism―Cassie can't help
following the trail of clues (and eerie signals from the old house itself) to
unravel the mystery. But can she do so before her family's dark curse destroys
everything in its path?
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EXCERPT ONE:
Eighty years ago ~ Whale Rock, Massachusetts ~ Cape Cod Bay
Friday, December 13th
The
fire bell was ringing, and someone yelled in through the tavern door, “There’s
a fire up on the north end! Battersea Bluffs. We need all the hands we can
get!”
“No,
it can’t be,” Percy whispered. The Bluffs was his home. He leapt from the
barstool and ran for the street, bumping into a stranger as he passed through
the tavern door. The man’s eyes were ominously familiar to him, but with more
pressing concerns, there was no time to bring to memory why. He had to get home
to Celeste.
It
sickened him to see the flames as his Ford pickup rounded the top of Lavender
Hill. How hard he and Celeste had worked to build this house, a grand Victorian
with a widow’s walk and a proud front porch facing out to sea. Fire trucks were
already there, and men he’d known these many years were working hard to contain
the blaze.
As
he ran toward the house, it came to him who the stranger in the tavern had
been, and later one of the firefighters would recount that Percy had screamed:
“Damn that lighterman’s curse. Damn you to hell, Robert Toomey!” Nobody was
quick enough to keep Percy Mitchell from entering the inferno. Moments later he
emerged, his clothing and hair afire, carrying a charred human form. Any man
would have been delirious from the pain, but as the firefighters looked on in
shocked disbelief, Percy walked with a purposeful bearing and a swift gait
toward the bluffs. A few men chased after their friend, but before anyone could
stop him, Percy reached the ledge and cried out, “I am not finished!”
And
then, with his already dead wife in his arms, he hurled them both into Cape Cod
Bay.
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AUTHOR BIO:
A
true bibliophile, Loretta
Marion's affection
for the written word began in childhood and followed her like a shadow
throughout her life as she crafted award winning marketing and advertising copy
and educational brochures. She then applied her writing skills as a volunteer,
establishing a Legacy Story program for hospice patients, which inspired her to
create her own fictional stories. Her debut novel, The Fool's Truth, was a
twisty mystery with whispers of romance. Her newest novel, HOUSE OF ASHES – A
Haunted Bluffs Mystery, is the first in a series published by Crooked Lane
Books.
When
not whipping out words on her laptop, she is traveling, enjoying outdoor
pursuits, or is curled up with a delicious new book. Loretta lives in Rhode
Island with her husband, Geoffrey, and their beloved Mr. Peabody, a sweet,
devoted and amusing “Corgador”.
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CONNECT WITH LORETTA:
Website:
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Pinterest:
BookBub Book Page:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
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BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle:
Amazon Hardcover:
Barnes and Noble:
Kobo:
Google Play:
The Book Depository:
BAM! Books-A-Million:
IndieBound:
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
Loretta will be awarding a $50 Amazon or B/N GC
to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog. This does not cost you anything, it just
helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteYou ARE fabulous and thank you for featuring HOUSE OF ASHES on release date! Looking forward to lots of questions - will check back later today.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great book.
ReplyDeleteSounds like my kind of book, thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteSounds really great.
ReplyDeleteThank you all! I hope you will enjoy HOUSE OF ASHES!
ReplyDeleteAre you able to read or write when it's noisy or do you require peace and quiet as I do?
ReplyDeleteI'm with you...peaceful surroundings! Soft classical music, a crackling fire and sounds of nature can inspire, but turn off that leaf blower please!
DeleteLol. I can deal with white noise to drown out the little sounds. I keep my fan running when I'm reading or writing during the day. Nighttime is when I get my best work done though.
DeleteI love the sound of this book!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I hope you will check it out and enjoy your time in Whale Rock!
ReplyDelete