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Friday, March 29, 2019

The Girl from the Lighthouse by Willard Thompson - Book Tour - Guest Post - Giveaway - Enter Daily!


Hi lovelies!  It gives me great pleasure today to host Willard Thompson and his new book, “The Girl from the Lighthouse”!  For other stops on his 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 $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!!  Also, come back daily to interact with Willard and to increase your chances of winning!

Thanks for stopping by!  Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous giveaway!


The Girl from the Lighthouse
by Willard Thompson

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GENRE: Historical Literary Romance

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BLURB:

The Girl From the Lighthouse tells the compelling story of Emma Dobbins.

Abandoned by her mother at an early age, she was raised by her father, a lighthouse keeper at Point Conception in California, where early on she discovers her artistic talent.  At the age of 17, Emma travels to Paris with a chaperone, to attend art school but is separated from the chaperone when the woman becomes ill. Emma arrives alone in Paris with no money, no language skills, and no friends. A chance meeting with a young working girl in the train station becomes her first Parisian friend.

The setting is Paris in the 1860s-70s, the start of the Belle Èpoque. France soon is involved in the Franco/Prussian War and the Commune Uprising; difficult times for Emma and all Frenchmen. Initially rejected by art schools, her determination keeps her moving toward her goal in the art world, where the Impressionists are starting to change the world. Frenchmen fall in love with her beautiful face and lustrous dark hair. Some wanted to paint her, others to court her, but either way, she does not abide by the rules they try to impose on her because she never learned them. She grows into an accomplished artist but never gives up her own principles... even when someone steals something precious to her and she fights to get it back.

The story is told in the first person, present tense, allowing the reader to enter the story and feel a part of it as it unfolds, sharing with Emma her highs and lows, loves and rejections, all focused in the art world of Paris.  The novel is filled with vivid characters, both fictional and real people, and the story unfolds gracefully from the 1870s until 1912, just prior to the start of WWI.

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EXCERPT THREE:

The next morning, I go to the orchard with my easel and a canvas to capture the early light and the dew on the leaves of the apple trees. I set up the easel midway between two rows and concentrate on getting the perspective just right, as the trees appear to merge in the distance. It is delicate, tedious work, but the charcoal pencil I sketch with comes alive in my fingers, eagerly welcoming the challenge. In my mind's eye, I see myself in solitude on the bluff looking out at the headlands of the rugged California coastline merging into the mist.

"That is a very brilliant thing you have done to capture the complexity of the apple orchard fading into the distance," the voice over my shoulder says around mid-day.

When I look up, I see Lamar scrutinizing my morning's work. "The flowers are so delicate," I tell him, "So hard to get right. Tomorrow my challenge will be to reproduce in oil what I've sketched." I pause then ask, "How has your morning been, mon cher?" I wait for his reaction.

"Well enough, I suppose. I've read my mail and a couple of newspapers that came with it. What do you say we drive into the village for lunch? I'm ready."

"Can you wait just a few more minutes?"

"Ah, but Emma, I am hungry now."

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GUEST POST:

My Favorite Scene in the Book

Emma Dobbin is a young American girl studying art in Paris, France in 1870, and trying to find her way in the Victorian era society. She regularly goes to the Lourve Museum to study and copy the masterpieces there and is befriended by Impressionist artist Berthe Morisot. They go to lunch together. Here are the scene and the picture Emma is studying:

Sitting on a bench in the Louvre Museum a month later, hunched over my sketching pad, I’m focusing on the masterpiece in front of me, oblivious to people walking up and down the marble-walled Grand Gallery. A Jacque-Louis David portrait of a reclining woman is in front of me, so elegant in its simplicity, yet so beguiling and mysterious, I can only stare at her, trying to imagine the thoughts going through her mind. I can’t help wonder if Madame Récamier had any of the same feelings I do while she was being painted.
I set pencil and pad down, after adding a final few strokes and turn to a friend who has just come by. “Ah, Bonjour, Mademoiselle Morisot. Pardonne-moi. I was lost and didn’t notice your approach.”
Bonjour Emma. I would be pleased to have you call me Berthe. I saw you and wanted to ask if you would join me for lunch.”
“Yes,” I tell her. “Yes, I would like that. I have done enough for today. Some days—like today—the work seems hard, and I get distracted. I haven’t seen you for some time, Berthe. It will be pleasant to catch up.”
Oui I have been with my family. If you are finished...”
Together we leave the museum, cross rue de Rivoli, and walk along the stone-canopied sidewalk to a café on the corner of rue Royale, across from the Place de la Concorde. We take an outdoor table. Berthe orders a meat and cheese plate, with a glass of wine, and a mushroom omelet for me.
“How is your work progressing?” She asks as we settle in.
“It’s been several months, and I still copy with pad and pencil, sometimes I try watercolors—I think I have learned a great deal, but I’m still not ready to try oils.”
“You should,” she encourages me. “David is a good artist for you to copy. His portraits are beautifully executed, especially the one of Madame Recamier you are working on. Portraits like that are the kind of commissions you are likely to get when you are ready.”
“How so?”
        “There is always demand for portraits of wives and children, and other women that are best done by women artists. You should also study some of Vigee Le Brun’s portraits.”
I study the wine in my glass, using the pause to consider Berthe’s recommendation. “I hope to paint landscapes one day,” I tell her.
“Difficult for a woman,” she replies. “Traveling alone to paint a landscape is often...” She pauses, “how do I say, looked down upon. There are not many buyers for the work of a woman landscape artist.”
“I want to be free to paint whatever I want.”
Berthe cuts a slice of cheese from the wedge on her plate and adds it to a piece of baguette before taking a sip from her glass. She looks at me with her doleful dark eyes the whole time. “That can be difficult,” she says at last. “Consider your decision carefully. It is easier for us to paint in a boudoir than side-by-side in a world with men.” She pauses again and picks at a piece of ham.
Feeling frustrated, and looking for a response that won’t offend my friend, I stab my fork at a mushroom. “It seems to me women in Paris have only limited freedom. Do you find it that way, Berthe?”
“I have never thought much about it, but yes, I do. It’s just the way life is for women. Both of my older sisters are married. I think they have more freedom than I do, but they still obey their husbands.” Setting her glass down, she adds quietly, “I hope to marry one day. Do you? But for now, marriage can wait.”
“I don’t know. I find some men quite charming, but others seem brutish and demanding. I want my freedom.” As I set my fork down, thinking about Leo and Frederic, my gaze wanders off to the Place de la Concorde, where there is a bustle of activity. “What is going on there, Berthe?”
“Tents. For the National Guard. Did you know the Emperor has declared war on Prussia?”
I’m stunned. “No, I did not. You say the National Guard has been called up?” I strain to see the activity across the boulevard.
“Louis Napoleon has mobilized the army and the National Guard. The Guard is camping over there for now. My father says they will all march off to the Rhine in the next day or two.”
“All of them?”
Oui. My father says Louis Napoleon has made a big mistake starting a war.”
“I have a friend in the Guard. Perhaps he is over there. Will you walk with me to look for him?”
“Oh no, Emma! It would not be proper for two young women to go walking alone among all those men.”

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AUTHOR BIO:


Willard Thompson is an award-winning historical fiction and romance writer living in Montecito, California with his wife Jo. His newest historical romance, THE GIRL FROM THE LIGHTHOUSE was published in early 2019. His previously published three novels of historical fiction DREAM HELPER DELFINA'S GOLD, and THEIR GOLDEN DREAMS are part of his CHRONICLES OF CALIFORNIA trilogy. The Independent Publishers 2009 Book Awards selected DREAM HELPER for a gold medal as the best fiction in the Western/Pacific Region.

Thompson is a past president of the board of directors of the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum. He is a native of Manhasset, New York and a graduate of Colgate University in Hamilton, New York.

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CONNECT WITH WILLARD:

Website:

Blog:
  
Twitter:

BookBub Author Page:

BookBub Book Page:

Goodreads Author Page:

Goodreads Book Page:

Amazon Author Page:

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BOOK BUY LINKS:

Amazon Kindle:

Amazon Paperback:

Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:

Barnes and Noble Paperback:

Kobo eBook:

The Book Depository Paperback:

BAM! Books-A-Million Paperback:

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GIVEAWAY INFO:

Willard will be awarding a $25 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 is 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.

Thursday, March 28, 2019

The Becoming by Lilith Thorn - Book Tour - Guest Post - Giveaway - Enter Daily!


Hello lovelies!  It gives me great pleasure today to host Lilith Thorn and her new book, “The Becoming”!  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 Lilith and to increase your chances of winning!

Thanks for stopping by!  Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous giveaway!


The Becoming
by Lilith Thorn

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GENRE: Paranormal Romance Erotica

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BLURB:

Niamh is a good wife. She learned early on that crossing her husband had consequences. Living quietly in the shadowed cage he has formed around her, Niamh suffers his secrets and bares the scars they leave behind.

On the night of her biggest humiliation Caleb enters the ballroom changing Niamh’s course forever. He brings safety to her dark world and introduces her to the possibility of escape. Will Niamh’s love for Caleb be the key to her freedom or will it be her undoing?

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EXCERPT TWO:

Chapter Five

He closed the doors behind him and, without saying a word, beckoned me toward him. I knew what was to come next. This was a test. He had his fill while away, last night included. He had no pent-up desires, as was often the case when he was home for too long, when he couldn’t risk his local reputation doing what he liked best on any flesh but my own.

He eyed me suspiciously. “I have a gift for you.” He hinted toward his inner coat pocket with a tap of his finger. “Do you deserve what I brought for you?”

He was taunting me, treating me like the shallow puppet he thought I was. He believed I longed for him to come home with pockets filled with trinkets. If he only knew that what I longed for was for him to stay away.

“I have done nothing to deserve your mistrust.” I mustered up.

Motioning with his finger, he directed me to turn around and I obliged. Even with my back to him, I felt him approach. I swallowed the dread. After years of his advances, I should have built up a defense, but my arsenal only contained an off switch. Once the fear had been pushed down, I could become his doll. A barely-breathing version of myself, unwilling but able to do as she was told, if only to save herself the repercussions disobedience would entail.

I watched as though from above as he used his body, now pressed against mine, to guide and bend me over the writing desk. He put a hand on my head and forced it to the side, pinning me. With the other found a ‘sweet spot’ at the base of my neck, above my shoulder bone, and pierced it with his tool. Briefly losing my distance from this moment, I cried out in surprise. I had forgotten the sharpness of this exchange. His lips fenced in the flow of blood and as he tasted me. Every now and again, he would attempt to torment me with a whisk of his tongue. Pressing into my back was the gift hidden in his pocket. I recognized the shape of it immediately. A bottle of perfume. What else would he bring me from Paris, from anywhere? It was what he always brought me.

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GUEST POST:

When Opportunity Knocks or Ticking Items Off My Bucket List

I started my bucket list at a time when I believed I was immortal. It was a list of things I really wanted to do, one day. One off opportunities that I hoped fate would pass to me at some stage. I didn’t write it down, I just kept it close to my heart and every now and then I would repeat it to myself to remember the adventures I hoped to have. A lot of time has passed since that list was first formed. My mortality is sinking in, along with the wrinkles around my mouth and eyes, and my list of things I’ve always wanted to do is surprisingly getting shorter. I’ve been fortunate to have had opportunity presented to me a few times in my life and can congratulate myself on the where withal to go for it.

Travel will always be a front runner on any list I write. What I want to do when I retire, vacation, win the lottery, before I die, even after I die, please, scatter my ashes somewhere really cool! My bucket list travel destinations are, Peru, Australia/New Zealand and Egypt. Nine years ago I made it to Egypt. The focus on this bucket list item was the ancient history that Egypt boasts. In my youth I had a thing for tombs, mummies, hieroglyphs, archaeology and Egypt was the main event for all of this. The highlights a balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings, a donkey ride through the dessert and eating a home cooked meal made by a lovely woman in Cairo.

Sort of in the travel category, but a little more specific, was a photo safari in Africa. My husband and I met and lived together in Ireland for two years. We planned to be there for three, but he was head hunted for a job in his hometown, one of those career opportunities you’d regret not taking. With tears in our eyes we agreed to pack up and head out, with one consolation prize, a stop in Africa. August in Africa was quiet. We drove up the coast in South Africa first making stops at wineries and B&B’s along the way. We drove up mountain sides and zip lined through trees. A week later we returned the car in Johannesburg and took a quick flight to a resort with monkeys, giraffes and zebras roaming free in Zambia. I believed the main reason for our stop here was to see Victoria Falls, a beautifully large waterfall, that shares land with Zimbabwe. It was on the Zimbabwe side that my husband’s true motives were revealed, and we were engaged. After a short break to put up our feet in Zanzibar, we headed to Kenya for what we really came to Africa for, the photo safari. We booked a group tour, but at the time the economy wasn’t doing really well and it wasn’t prime tourist time, so we ended up travelling, with our guide, alone. We watched Wildebeests migrating, lions munching on zebras and elephants sauntering through the plains, ears flopping out behind them. It was a beautiful check on my list.

One of my earliest items was to be painted by an artist. Or rather, to sit for an artist while he painted my image. Christopher Pew, the artist behind the illustrations in The Becoming, was looking for models, well…. a long time ago. This bit of knowledge and his contact details were presented to me by one of my besties. I did not hesitate to volunteer, especially after I saw the work he was producing. Setting up in the kitchen of my rental in Toronto, Christopher had me put on some costumes, or take them off, depending on the piece of work he wanted to produce while he photographed me in various poses. He took these home and impressively transformed what seemed like an amateur set up into detailed cafes, art studios, galleries and rivers. Seeing the end result of his work has convinced me that my immortality is secure.

Rappelling has also been a distant dream of mine. Always picturing myself secured to the side of a mountain, goofy helmet fastened around my chin, bobbing down the side of a cliff. Recently, on a trip to Mexico, I was presented with an opportunity to check this one off my list…. Though instead of a mountain, I rappelled into the belly of a cenote. A body of water inside of a cave. I nervously stepped into the gear and hovered over the edge, trying to decide if I was going to panic or not, as I dithered back and forth, trying to catch my breath after I mistakenly looked down, my guide sternly told me “You can do this.” Having no choice but to believe him, I began my descent. I was immediately struck by the amount of control I had over the 60m journey to the bottom of the cave and into the chilly water of the cenote. In fact I quickly became more afraid of submerging myself into that water than I did of dangling by the rope over it.

Ps – The water wasn’t as cold as I thought it would be. It was a magic moment I won’t soon forget.

I feel like I’ve been spoiled to have this much of my list completed in such a short span of time. (Decades are short in the grand scheme of things) But with only two items left to achieve, Australia/New Zealand and Peru I feel like I need to add more. Asia and India are definite musts, perhaps I’ll start there and see where life takes me.

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AUTHOR BIO:


Born in Dundas, ON, Lilith Thorn is a restless wanderer. Her first move was to St. Catharines where she earned a Theatre degree at Brock University. Despite her parents’ wish that she would return home and work at McDonalds after graduating, Lilith refused and instead moved to Toronto to give acting the ‘Old College Try.’ After years of sacrificing her other passions for the stage and an empty bank account, she put away those dreams to say “Yes” to a different adventure. This took her to Dublin, Ireland for a few years where she met, fell in love with, and married another Canadian who took her to the one place she said she’d never live: Yellowknife. After nearly a decade in Canada’s Great White North, Lilith looks forward to further adventures with her husband and two children, just about anywhere.

Lilith Thorn is a pen name, the pseudonym used to protect the innocent; that is, so she hopefully never has to explain to her mother-in-law over dinner that she has written an erotic novel.

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CONNECT WITH LILITH:

Facebook:

Twitter:

Instagram:

Smashwords Author Page:

Goodreads Author Page:

Goodreads Book Page:

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BOOK BUY LINKS:

Amazon US Kindle eBook:

Amazon US Paperback:

Amazon US Hardcover:

Amazon CA:

Amazon UK:

Amazon AU:

Kobo eBook #1:

Kobo eBook #2:

Indigo CA Paperback:

Indigo CA Hardcover:

Boutique 130 CA Paperback:

Foyles UK Hardcover:

Waterstones UK Paperback:

BOL NL eBook:

BOL NL Paperback:

BOL NL Hardcover:

The Book Depository Paperback:

The Book Depository Hardcover:

BAM! Books-A-Million Paperback:

BAM! Books-A-Million Hardcover:

Smashwords eBook:

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GIVEAWAY INFO:

Lilith 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 is 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.

Trailblazer by Michelle Diener - Book Blast - Giveaway - Enter Daily!


Hey lovelies!  It gives me great pleasure today to host Michelle Diener and her new book, “Trailblazer”!  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 $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!!  Also, come back daily to interact with Michelle and to increase your chances of winning!

Thanks for stopping by!  Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous giveaway!


Trailblazer
by Michelle Diener

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GENRE: Sci-fi Romance

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BLURB:

He's on a mission . . .

She's running for her life . . .

And if they get off-planet alive, she'll have to trust he won't reveal her darkest secret.

Tally Riva is not what she seems, and even she's not happy about it. Infected, invaded, she's not quite sure how to describe it, but on a disastrous mission to a ghost ship, something burrowed its way into her body. Into her mind.

When her commander decides the best cure for what he thinks is Tally's trauma is to send her on the famous Veltos Trail, Tally goes without revealing what's really behind her mental anguish. Anything to be seen as normal again, anything to ignore what she's afraid is happening to her.

But Veltos isn't the safe place it seems. The chosen military personnel lucky enough to be offered the chance to walk the Trail are supposed to be the only people on Veltos. But Ben Guthrie, a captain in Arkhoran Special Forces, knows they're not. He and his team have been on Veltos for a month already, tracking suspicious enemy activity, and he's gone undercover on the Trail in search of a satellite his superiors are sure has been shot down.

When Ben's worst fears become reality, and they find themselves hunted by a cunning enemy through the thick forests of Veltos, Tally and Ben fight together to survive. And Tally has to decide if accepting the changes inside her will save them both, or be her doom.

TRAILBLAZER is part of the Verdant String series but can easily be read as a standalone novel. Other books in the series include Interference & Insurgency (Two Novellas of the Verdant String), and Breakaway and Breakeven.

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EXCERPT ONE:

It had occurred to her more than once that this ship was very much to her own proportions. That everything she'd found was built for hands like hers.

Could this be a lost Verdant String ship, from before the eight planets of the Verdant String had found each other? From those first centuries of space exploration?

Or even--her mind reeled at the implications--from another Verdant String planet, one they had yet to find?

Whatever it was, it was a major historical find.

She reached the halfway point across the walkway, and looked over the other side. It was more of the same, although there was also tanks that looked as if they'd once held liquid, now long dried up.

She shivered, her sense of isolation and insignificance seemed amplified in this massive space, and she moved a little faster as she headed for the other side of the walkway.

A door blocked her way. She stepped close to it, but it didn't open automatically. She looked around for a button or handle, but there was nothing except a screen attached to one side.

She hesitated, then touched it, and it flickered on, an outline of a hand showing in pale gray.

A hand exactly the shape of her own.

Cautiously, she pressed her palm against it, and with a gasp that startled her, the door slid to one side.

She stepped into the room, and knew immediately it was the bridge, the center of the ship.

She lifted the light, but there was nothing in here, just chairs and machines.

There was one light, throbbing a dull red rather than glowing, and she walked up to it. She couldn't understand the label written above it, but she accepted what she was going to do.

She pressed the button.

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AUTHOR BIO:


Michelle Diener writes historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction. Having worked in publishing and IT, she’s now very happy crafting new worlds and interesting characters and wondering which part of the world she can travel to next.

Michelle was born in London, grew up in South Africa and currently lives in Australia with her husband and children. When she’s not writing, or driving her kids from activity to activity, you can find her at her website, or online at Twitter and Facebook.

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CONNECT WITH MICHELLE:

Website:

Facebook:

Twitter:

Pinterest:

BookBub Author Page:

BookBub Book Page:

Goodreads Author Page:

Goodreads Book Page:

Amazon Author Page:

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BOOK BUY LINKS:

Amazon Kindle eBook:

Amazon Paperback:

Barnes and Noble Paperback:

The Book Depository Paperback:

BAM! Books-A-Million Paperback:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GIVEAWAY INFO:

Michelle will be awarding a $25 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 is 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.