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Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Crimson Snow by Ina Carter - Book Tour - Book Sale - Guest Post - Giveaway - Enter Daily!

Hi, lovelies!  It gives me great pleasure today to host Ina Carter and her new book, “Crimson Snow”!  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 Ina and to increase your chances of winning!

This eBook is on SALE for ONLY $0.99 from Wednesday, November 25th, 2020, 12:00AM (PST) through Wednesday, December 2nd, 2020, 12:00AM (PST)!!!  After these sale dates this eBook will return to its regular price of $3.99!!!  See below for more details.

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

Crimson Snow

by Ina Carter

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GENRE: Contemporary Romance

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BLURB:

The Greeks had seven words for LOVE. I felt all of them for ONE MAN…

My name is Lauren, and I was a stolen baby.

They found me in a trailer park in rural Texas when I was eight years old. My childhood wasn’t perfect, but then I had Kevin. He was my everything…

When they returned me to my biological parents, we were torn apart.

My new family desperately tried to fix me, make me forget him… My father kept me on a short leash and controlled every aspect of my life. The one thought keeping me afloat was to find Kevin, but he vanished without a trace.

I searched for him for twelve years, but the man I found was not the boy I lost. He is a college baseball star, tattooed, moody, and dark… And he hates me.

Can Kevin help me defeat my demons, or does he have too many of his own?

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EXCERPT ONE:

It was late spring, in my first year of elementary school. My half-brother Kevin and I were huddled behind the school gym - our usual hiding spot to eat our lunches.

“Why are you crying?” Kevin lifted my chin to look into my puffy, red eyes. I sniffled loudly, showing him the crumpled paper in my hand.

“My letters are all wrong. I try to make them straight, but then Mrs. Collins always uses the red pen over them and tells me mine were crooked. Then she puts the sticker with the sad kitten on the bottom. Vinnie says the sticker means you are stupid…Mama tells me it don’t matter, because I ain't going to courage…”

“You mean college? Don’t listen to Ma, Julie – you ain’t going to be like her. You are smart. Give me that paper.” He grabbed it from my hand. Then he started ripping it to small bits and gathering the fragments in his left palm. And he was smiling.

“Do you like Christmas, Jules?” he grinned, his toothless smile a little warped. His green eyes lit up. They did remind me of the twinkling lights that Mr. Berg put on the window of the convenience store around Christmas time.

“I love Christmas. It’s my birthday!” I couldn’t help but grin, too. My birthday was two months away, and I’ve been trying to learn my numbers, so I could count the days. I already knew how to count to 100.

“You know what we don’t have on Christmas?” Kevin asked.

“Sometimes, we don’t get presents because we were no good…” My lifted spirits dampened, thinking of daddy’s scowl when he told me I made Santa mad.

“No, It’s not about the presents. We don’t have snow on Christmas. Not here in our part of Texas. Haven’t you seen on TV – everyone is jolly and singing around the Christmas trees, and it’s always snowing outside the window. I kept thinking it’s magic falling from the sky. Maybe God gives his Christmas blessing to us in every snowflake…. and …. maybe this is why we ain't always happy, Jules… we don’t have the snow…”

Then, Kevin lifted his hand and threw up in the air the paper shreds. They twirled like real snowflakes. At least it’s how I saw them - fragile, almost transparent, with little blue and red strains of color. I was afraid to reach and touch them, telling myself I didn’t want them to melt. Afraid that maybe the magic would disappear… I was not sure I liked the red streaks marring the pure white snow. It was like God cried bloody tears for us. I was about to tell Kevin that, but he leapt and grabbed one snowflake before all of them landed on the yellowing grass at our feet. He held it in his palm. He came closer to me and hunkered down to look into my eyes. Then he opened his hand. “Look, Jules!” he whispered. As afraid as I was, I peeked at the “ice crystal” he was holding. There was a word on that “snowflake,” and it was in blue ink. The carefully written straight letters of the only one word I knew how to write well.  JULIE.

“How?” I looked at Kevin mesmerized.

“Magic, Jules. I told you!”

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GUEST POST:

My Favorite Scene in This Book…

My favorite concept in this book is not contained in one scene. My main hero Kevin always had trouble talking about his feelings and often used literary references or philosophical metaphors to express himself. I loved the way he confessed his love for Lauren, and described the evolution of his platonic feelings for her, and how they morphed into something more. He used the idea of Greek philosophy that there are seven types of love.

“ “The Greeks had seven words for Love, Laurie. And somehow, I know I’ll experience all of them with you… Philautia is the only selfish love and for a long time I didn’t love myself. When I doubted myself, I remembered you, and how you used to look at me. To you, I was a giant, someone who could move mountains and conquer dragons. Even now, you look at me the same way, and I feel stronger in your hands, and want to be a better man…” 

He was telling me things that were making my heart hammer in my chest, but at the same time, his fingers were burning fire on my skin, because with every button he undid, he caressed the skin underneath. Kevin was seducing me with his words, and I was melting under his fingers.

“When we were kids, my love for you was Philia – a brotherly love, that innocent feeling you have for a friend. It might have been platonic, but just because you are small doesn’t mean your capacity to love is less. In fact, a child’s love is unbridled, unconditional, the purest form of emotion I can think of… And you and I will always have that… To this day, I feel Philia for you, and I always will.”

Kevin then leaned and placed a kiss over his name on my chest, leaving an imprint more permanent than the engraving on my skin.

Philia, baby, is also the love of the mind, and it is what makes us feel safe in each other’s presence. With you, I am not afraid to share any of my struggles, and you freed me. I carried so much pain internally, but you took it away…”

….. He moved away to look at me, and his nostrils flared with the big intake of breath he took. The way he looked at me was like a physical touch, like a scorching caress of fingers leaving marks everywhere. I saw myself through Kevin’s eyes, and there was no doubt in my mind that at this moment, I was beautiful. I understood what gave confidence to a woman – it was the man who looked at her like Kevin was looking at me.

“What I am feeling right now, babe. This is called Eros. You have always been the most beautiful girl I’ve seen, but now… This is how I want to remember you the day I have to leave this world. Because you are exquisite. I wish I had flirted with you, experienced Ludus – that easy playful love when you slowly fall for someone, but like everything with you, it was intense and not easy. Ludus is fun love, and maybe we can do that later, when I don’t want you so desperately that I hurt. On that day when I saw you dancing in the kitchen, I felt not Thunder, Lauren. It was like a meteor that struck the earth and shattered me. I wanted to kiss you so badly, to consume you… Maybe that’s why I didn’t talk to you for a while because I needed time to sort my feelings. It was never innocent for me. When I touched you - I burned, when I held you to me, I had to cover the fact that I was hard as a rock. After the first night I laid with you in your bed, I had to stay away because I was not able to control myself. Right now, I am at the end of my wits, prolonging the torture because I am afraid, I’ll frighten you with my need and the thing I want to do to you…”

At the end of the book, when he proposes to Lauren, Kevin elaborates further on the same concept, and speaks of the other types of love that the Greeks described, which he wishes to experience with her as they grow old together.

…..  “See, I tried to write something down because I knew I would choke, but then it was all too simple, and I have to say something more… I’ll try not to mess this up, so bear with me, okay!... Lauren, I love you in so many ways. As my friend, my lover, my love, but the truth is, nothing seems to satisfy my need for you. I want to experience Pragma with you – the mature love that comes after years of relationship, that is about companionship and deep understanding. I want to share with you Storge – the love for our children, that is unconditional and giving. I want to be your little birdies’ father, and love and cherish our ugly sparrows before we send them strong and free into the world. You make me so happy like a kid on Christmas, babe. So, what’s Christmas without snow?”

Kevin threw the paper shreds above me, and they fluttered in the air, glittering like real clear frozen snowflakes. Beautiful and pure. I grabbed one and held it between my trembling fingers. I looked at the words, and my heart expanded. “Will you marry me?” it read.

“It’s magic, remember?” Kevin smiled, but his hand holding mine was shaking.

The one type of Love that Kevin didn’t mention in Crimson Snow is Agape, which the Greeks described Universal Love, or love for humankind. For me, this is the main idea in the book– that from the beginning my two heroes were true soulmates, and their love was as strong as Agape.

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AUTHOR BIO:

Ina Carter has always been an avid reader. She discovered her love for writing at an early age when her first poem was published in a literary magazine at age twelve. As a lifetime collector of inspirational stories, Ina believes that love is the most powerful force in the Universe. She writes in multiple genres – romantic comedies, contemporary and paranormal. Ina lives in Southern California with her husband, two kids, and one very temperamental cat. You can find more about Ina and future book releases at www.InaCarter.com.

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CONNECT WITH INA:

Website:

https://www.InaCarter.com

Blog:

https://www.inacarter.com/blog

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/ina.carter.3591

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/inacarterbooks

BookBub Author Page:

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/ina-carter

BookBub Book Page:

https://www.bookbub.com/books/crimson-snow-by-ina-carter

Goodreads Author Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20323372.Ina_Carter

Goodreads Book Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53557466-crimson-snow

Amazon Author Page:

https://amzn.to/39v6DG7

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BOOK BUY LINKS & BOOK SALE INFO:

**The Crimson Snow eBook is on SALE for ONLY $0.99 from Wednesday, November 25th, 2020, 12:00AM (PST) through Wednesday, December 2nd, 2020, 12:00AM (PST)!!!  After these sale dates this eBook will return to its regular price of $3.99!!!**

Amazon Kindle eBook:

https://amzn.to/2KRDHO5

Amazon Paperback:

https://amzn.to/33O3EVF

The Book Depository Paperback:

https://www.bookdepository.com/Crimson-Snow-Ina-Carter/9798645624446

BAM! Books-A-Million Paperback:

https://www.booksamillion.com/product/A16095158410

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GIVEAWAY INFO:

Ina will be awarding a $50 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**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.

8 comments:

  1. Ina ~ Good morning! Welcome to FAB! It is so great to have you here! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! :)

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    Replies
    1. Ally, thank you for hosting me on your blog and introducing Crimson Snow to your readers!

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  2. This sounds so good Thanks for sharing!

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  3. Kevin sounds like my type of guy! Can't wait to read this.

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