• About
  • Cardinal Desires
  • Four by Moonlight
  • Gambler’s Choice
  • Gylded Wings
  • Her Brother’s Wife by Bianca Swan
  • Her General in Gray
  • Love For Sale
  • Morgan Gabriel D’Arcy
  • Sinners’ Obsession
  • Sinners’ Opera
  • The Night Before Doomsday
  • Wild Roses of Prose

Linda Nightingale, Author…Musings

~ Romance & Dark Fantasy

Linda Nightingale, Author…Musings

Tag Archives: demons

Evil Embers (Vale Investigation, book 2) by Cristelle Comby

02 Tuesday Apr 2019

Posted by Linda Nightingale in Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

author giveaway, demons, Rafflecopter giveaway, urban fantasy, urban fantasy book series

GENRE: Urban Fantasy

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

BLURB:

After narrowly preventing the destruction of Cold City, PI Bellamy Vale needs a rest. Or rather, he needs a plain and simple vanilla case—no monsters or otherworldly creatures involved!

When foreign businessman Eli Smith shows up at his doorstep with a thick wallet and a request to find his missing sister, Vale doesn’t think twice before agreeing.

If he’d known body-hopping demons and smoke monsters came attached to this job, however, he might have.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt:

I started feeling eyes on me about two blocks up. I was hoping it was just one guy…and that it was the kind of guy I could win a fight against without losing all my teeth.

I turned off Maltese Street and into a familiar alley. The rusted-out dumpster was where it usually was, tall enough for me to hide behind in a crouch. I wished I had my knife with me. My gun might have been nice too, but too much noise would have put me back in Morgan’s crosshairs. I was going to have to wing it.

Another set of footsteps came into the alley. They slowed down as they got closer. I heard labored breathing on top of the steps, like the guy was running a mile to get me. In a voice so low it barely echoed off the walls, he muttered, “Where is he?”

That’s all I needed to hear. The moment the intruder got past the dumpster, I gave him a hip tackle that should have sent him into the opposite wall. But somehow, he managed to flip me around in mid-air and I was the one that hit the wall with a thud. I was still shaking my head clear when I saw a fist aimed right at my nose. I jerked my head to the side, making the attacker’s hand slam into the brick with a meaty slap. My right fist jabbed into his belly and side, working his body like a jackhammer.

I bucked my hips and used my left hand to help flip him over. But once again, he kept the flip going and I wound up on the bottom before I could blink. This time the fist struck, and my head went blank a couple of times as the blows hit home. I wrapped my hands around his arm as the third punch landed and applied pressure to the elbow. The strangled cry from my attacker’s mouth sounded familiar.

“Smith?” I asked in confusion, relaxing the pressure.

“Mr. Vale,” the shadowy figure said back, confirming my guess.

I released his arm, and we both got back on our feet, a bit unsteadily. Something about his gait told me he was a lot less steady than I was right then.

“I…I must apologize,” he said. “I was quite certain you were a robber of some sort.”

“A robber that doesn’t use a gun or a knife?” I asked. “In this city?”

He sighed. “Yes…upon reflection, that theory does seem rather foolish.”

I took the time to check myself over for any severe damage. Aside from new aches and pains, nothing was pressing. “What were you doing following me in the first place?”

“I was most interested to see if you had managed any progress on the leads we found.”

“So, instead of waiting at my place for me to come back, you stalk me across town to make sure I’m on the job?” I admit I was more than a little offended. Sure, I can be a bit devious when it comes to getting the money I need, but I’m enough of a professional to stick with a job until I either figure out that it’s not worth pursuing or I get paid.

It made me want to punch my client all over again.

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

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Cristelle Comby was born and raised in the French-speaking area of Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Geneva, where she still resides.

She attributes to her origins her ever-peaceful nature and her undying love for chocolate. She has a passion for art, which also includes an interest in drawing and acting.

She is the author of the Neve & Egan Cases series, which features an unlikely duo of private detectives in London: Ashford Egan, a blind History professor, and Alexandra Neve, one of his students.

Currently, she is hard at work on her Urban Fantasy series Vale Investigation which chronicles the exploits of Death’s only envoy on Earth, PI Bellamy Vale, in the fictitious town of Cold City, USA.

Website :
http://www.cristelle-comby.com

Twitter:  @Cristelle

Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Cristelle-Comby/e/B00EAWEODS

Goodreads :
https://www.goodreads.com/CristelleComby

Amazon buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Evil-Embers-Vale-Investigation-Book-ebook/dp/B07MD2Z7ZV/ref=sr_1_1

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

One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Bianca Swan Releases 3 New Books!

07 Saturday Oct 2017

Posted by Linda Nightingale in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Andalusian horses, angels, Bianca Swan, controversial books, demons, erotic romance, fantasy romance, horses, Lot's Cave Publishing, new releases, novellas, taboo reading

Yesterday, Lot’s Cave Publishing released:

Celestial Sin:

(no longer available from The Wild Rose Press or on Amazon)

 

 

 

 

 

Hot Spanish Nights: 

(no longer available from The Wild Rose Press or on Amazon)

 

 

 

 

 

Her Brother’s Wife:  No book video as yet.

Blurb:

From birth, Alain and Alina Alastair are a scientific phenomenon—identical male/female twins—a biological impossibility.  Wishing to avoid notoriety, Lord and Lady Alastair whisk their miracle children to their island home isolated by a two-hour ferry journey from the mainland of England.  It is at Alastair Keep that their destiny unfolds to the constant percussion of a restless sea.

As a young man, Alain craves escape from the seclusion while Alina more willingly follows her heart.  Unaware, they courageously struggle with a genetic proclivity, the Gemini Factor, that will lead them down forbidden paths. The secrets at Alastair Keep will undermine the foundations of their world and threaten their very lives.

The Anointing: Gemini Factor is a dark psychological novel dealing with a controversial subject in a fantasy setting.

Bianca’s Lot’s Cave Author Page: http://www.lotscave.com/ebooks/author/bianca-swan.php – ALL THREE BOOKS AVAILABLE THROUGH LOT’S CAVE PUBLISHING

 

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Release Day!! Break out the Champagne!! Here’s to Gylded Wings

13 Wednesday Sep 2017

Posted by Linda Nightingale in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

99 cent sales, Amazon, angels, author giveaways, blogs, dark fantasy, demons, fallen angels, Lucifer, new releases, rafflecopter giveaways

Today, my 5th The Wild Rose Press novel, Gylded Wings, released on a sale of only 99 cents at Amazon.  I thought I’d tell you a little about the birth of this dark fantasy and share the book video created by author Toni V. Sweeney:

Here is the prologue, which I believe is the best bit of writing I’ve ever done:

My restoration to Grace plunged Heaven and Hell into civil war.  The day the earth stood still, I watched from a rock ledge above a field choked with the great armies.  Sunlight glinted on the golden helms of the Righteous and the silver helmets of the Damned.  Prophecy echoed in the thud of mortal feet and the beat of a thousand wings.  I folded my wings around me.  This slight movement drew an immediate reaction.  As one, the winged combatants turned to stare at me.

Winter wind ruffled the holy raiment draped about my shoulders and blew on me the scent of bitterness.  I could taste their disgust and distrust.  But I would not bow my head, unless or until I was forced to do so.  If I’d possessed a soul, it would have shrunk inside me, but like my celestial brothers, I am soulless.

Let me introduce myself.

I am Ha-Satan, the Adversary, once Heaven’s Prosecuting Attorney.  I have been called the Father of Lies, the Master of Temptation, Lord of Hell.  I am the one you’ve been taught to fear, who hides beneath your bed to steal your soul.  I am the most fearsome and the most beautiful angel.

My existence began as the first light emanating from the Thought.  He said to me on the day of my creation, “I make you closest to me, of all the powers, Master and Mirror of my might.  I create you beautiful in bliss and name you Lucifer, Bringer of Light.”

And so, my friends, I, Lucifer, would like to set the record straight.  If ever I did Fall, I have been forgiven.

Many of the angelic host, who remained loyal during my rebellion, were incensed that the prodigal son had asked for forgiveness and angry that it had been granted.  Thus, the Second War in Heaven, the only war I’d ever unintentionally caused, began and the airy corridors ran red with blood.  Finally, the conflict had spilled down to Earth.  The brave soldiers I’d once led in a bid to regain Heaven were now poised to fight Michael and his formidable army.

I, the mightiest of the Host, was forbidden to lift a finger in this battle, and my brothers were waiting to see what I would do.  A tremor of anger coursed through me.  I smiled and spread my wings to their full, resplendent span.

Look then, Fallen and Righteous, and take courage or be discouraged by the very sight of me.

Here and there amongst the gathered host, I met a gaze.  Gabriel, Uriel, Michael and Rafael guarded the Four Corners.  It was a done deal, over before the first blow was struck.

The wail of bagpipes shattered the tension.  Peacock wings arched proudly, Paimon, regal in a Royal Stuart tartan kilt, piped the Legions of Hell into battle.  He reached the end of the line of soldiers, wings shadowing Men in modern regimental dress, turned and snapped me a smart salute.

Paimon, ah my Paimon, do your eyes accuse or invite?

I bowed low, my hair sweeping the ground.  Whether this gesture pleased or angered my old friend, sadly enough, I couldn’t sense.  All Hell broke loose, so to speak, when the mortal troops saw me.  Their knees knocked.  Horror contorted their faces.  Swords forged in Hell’s own fires clattered against supernatural shields.  The blare of Gabriel’s golden trumpet shook the ground.  A silver-voiced trumpet answered the challenge.

Paimon unfurled his wings and bent to his pipes.  Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound. How fitting, how ironic that the Fallen—the stubborn, the proud, the doomed—would march into battle to that beautiful old hymn!

On the horizon black clouds coagulated as if the spilt blood of angels had leaked through Heaven’s floor.  Daggers of lightning stabbed the sky.  A pall of total darkness fell.  In one breath, the entire earth went dark.  Absolute silence gripped the universe.  Then, as it had happened on the First Day, Heaven parted the Darkness with Radiance, a spotlight on the Final Act.

Nice touch, Father.  I couldn’t resist a wry smile.

The din of the great armies’ embrace arose, a choir of broken bones, slashed flesh and death rattling in the throats of Man.  Into this symphony of chaos as had been foretold, the Sons of Light took flight against the Sons of Darkness.  When I, Lucifer, fell two-thirds of Heaven’s Legions followed me into exile.  I found myself weeping—hot tears on cold cheeks—as friends so recently become enemies clashed with enemies now compelled into a fragile friendship.  I suffered as I was meant to suffer.  Even angels are sometimes blind to the shape of things to come.

~*~

Gylded Wings began life as I, Lucifer.  I started writing the book years ago in Miami and used to read the Prologue at open mics.  By the second line, people had stopped talking to listen. I’m grateful to editor Callie Lynn Wolfe of The Wild Rose Press for helping me bring it to life.

Help me celebrate today at:  https://princessofthelight.wordpress.com/2017/09/13/happy-release-day-to-gylded-wings-by-lnightingale-romance-paranormal-wrpbks/   There’s a rafflecopter giveaway!!

And here and now:  I’ll give one commenter an ebook from my back list (your choice) for helping me to celebrate here.  Pass the champers!

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Gylded Wings on Sale for 99 Cents!!

26 Saturday Aug 2017

Posted by Linda Nightingale in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

99 cents sales, angelic lore, angels, dark fantasy, demons, fallen angels, Lucifer, post-Apocalyptic Earth, preorder sales, TWRP

Today Gylded Wings is on sale for only 99 cents! Please grab your copy of this dark fantasy and help my Amazon ratings!  LOL.  GW is a different look at an infamous fallen angel and a new kind of post-apocalyptic world.  Author Beth Trissel calls it, ‘a beautifully written dark fantasy.”

This book began life as I, Lucifer, and over the years morphed through many titles. Gylded Wings was my editor Callie Lynn Wolfe’s suggestion.  My first publisher, The Wild Rose Press, is the publisher of my angelic lore dark fantasy.

There is nothing Satanic about this novel.

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Mortal Heart by L.J. Sealey – Divine Hunter – Book Four

25 Tuesday Jul 2017

Posted by Linda Nightingale in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

angel blogs, angel stories, angelic lore, angels, cover reveals, demons, fantasy, fantasy romance, gift card giveaways, giveaways, immortals, mortals, romance

A CHANCE TO WIN A $30 AMAZON GIFT CARD!

https://goo.gl/forms/3yYapjLz4OpaksoT2


Cover Reveal
Mortal Heart
By L.J. Sealey



Blurb:


When two hearts bleed, Heaven doesn’t stand a chance.

Is it possible for a heart to break twice?

Lacy had known from finding out what Michael was that there would be complications, but she never expected they’d be torn apart in such a cruel way. Unable to stop herself feeling the things she did, she knew she would pay for falling in love with an angel, but this. . . If it hurt this much, then how could she go on without him?

He’d feared this would happen.

It was always only a question of when.

Michael’s nightmares had come true and he hadn’t even had chance to say goodbye. His heart ached like he never thought possible, but he was powerless to change what had happened. Now he was trapped in the heavens awaiting a trial that he already knew the outcome of. Through her journal he’d lived his mother’s pain after his father had been taken from her. He couldn’t allow that to happen to Lacy.

He had to get out.

He would get out.

Of all that had happened to him this would be his toughest fight yet, but it would end in one of two ways: Either Michael would convince the Thrones to let him live with the woman he had lost his heart and soul to, or he would die by her side.

Either way, he wasn’t prepared to exist without her.



— It is highly recommended that this series is read in order.
*This book contains some Adult situations and is recommended for age 17+*
Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34919028-mortal-heart

Author Bio:

L.J. Sealey was born and raised in a little Welsh town by the sea. It rains a lot, so she often has a great excuse to sit at her writing desk and while away the hours at her laptop.
She still lives in N.Wales and when she’s not travelling around the country working with her husband – who is a professional singer – or singing backup vocals herself, she likes to drive around the beautiful Welsh countryside. Some think it’s because she enjoys the scenery; others suspect she’s hunting dragons. L.J also likes to read and watch her favourite TV shows which normally includes plenty of CSI, The Vampire Diaries and endless amounts of sitcoms. Being addicted to reading about vampires, demons, shifters and angels, she has always had a thing for all things paranormal, and is a big sucker for impossible love stories. So it was inevitable that when she started writing herself she would mix the two together.



Social media:

Website: http://www.ljsealey.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authorljsealey
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lj_sealey
Amazon: http://author.to/LJSealey
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+LJSealeyAuthor/posts
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/ljsealey


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With These Wings by Wendy Knight

15 Saturday Jul 2017

Posted by Linda Nightingale in Uncategorized

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Tags

alien abductions, angels, demons, giveaways, Love Kissed Promotions, new releases, rafflecopter giveaways, Young Adult Fantasy, young adult novels

With These Wings
By Wendy Knight


Blurb:
Seventeen-year-old Phoenyx was taken by the aliens who were supposed to save humanity. But Phoenyx didn’t die. She escaped.
Changed, different. Terrifying.
Now she protects the people she used to call neighbors and friends, despite the fact that they don’t trust her. She looks like the aliens—beautiful, strong, and winged. And that’s why those she protects want her dead.
She doesn’t blame them.
All the while, she’s searching for Cole, the boy whose arms she was ripped from the night she was taken. When he shows up at their compound with a new love, everything Phoenyx has been fighting for is turned on its head, and she has to figure out what side she’s really on and who she really is before she loses herself completely.
Never trust beautiful things.


Available on Amazon!
http://amzn.to/2ttPsjP

Snippet:

Nyx scooted closer to the rocky precipice, and then just a bit further, so she could curl her toes around the edge. The wind howled, jerking at her hair and loose, black dress. She stared down, trying to estimate the drop. It was so far she couldn’t see the bottom in the darkness, but then, the moon wasn’t giving her much light tonight. She spread her arms wide, embracing the emptiness, and tumbled forward.
She fell so fast that the mountainside blurred around her and the scream of the wind in her ears almost, almost, drowned out the roar of adrenaline. The ground raced up to meet her, seemingly hungry for her blood, aching for her death.
Not today.
Her wings shot out, jerking her to a stop mid-air, her feet almost grazing the ground that had moments before been a demon about to devour her alive.

Bio:
Wendy Knight is the award-winning, bestselling author of the young adult series Fate on Fire and Riders of Paradesos. She was born and raised in Utah by a wonderful family who spoiled her rotten because she was the baby. Now she spends her time driving her husband crazy with her many eccentricities (no water after five, terror when faced with a live phone call, no touching the knives…you get the idea). She also enjoys chasing her three adorable kids, playing tennis, watching football, reading, and hiking. Camping is also big—her family is slowly working toward a goal of seeing all the National Parks in the U.S.
You can usually find her with at least one Pepsi nearby, wearing ridiculously high heels for whatever the occasion. And if everything works out just right, she will also be writing.

The award winning author of Feudlings. Check out my newest series, Toil & Trouble! https://goo.gl/tZ2heG
Sign up for my newsletter and get a free ebook! https://goo.gl/5EVAKb


Social Media Links:
Blog: www.wendyknightauthor.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorWendyKnight
Twitter: https://twitter.com/wjk8099
Instagram: http://instagram.com/wendyjo99
Wattpad: http://wattpad.com/WendyKnight
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2sqtCJd


a Rafflecopter giveaway


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The Unlikeable Demon Hunter by Deborah Wilde

18 Tuesday Apr 2017

Posted by Linda Nightingale in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

author giveaways, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Deborah Wilde, demon hunters, demons, gift card giveaways, Goddess Fish Promotions, rafflecopter giveaways, urban fantasy

tourbanner_theunlikeabledemonhunter-002

GENRE: Urban Fantasy Romance

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

BLURB:

Bridesmaids meets Buffy.

The ago-old story of what happens when a foul-mouthed, romance impaired heroine with no edit button and a predilection for hot sex is faced with her worst nightmare–a purpose.

Ari Katz is intelligent, driven, and will make an excellent demon hunter once initiated into the Brotherhood of David. However, this book is about his twin Nava: a smart-ass, self-cultivated hot mess, who is thrilled her brother is stuck with all the chosen one crap.

When Nava half-drunkenly interrupts Ari’s induction ceremony, she expects to be chastised. What she doesn’t expect is to take her brother’s place among the–until now–all-male demon hunters. Even worse? Her infuriating leader is former rock star Rohan Mitra, whose sudden retirement in his early twenties now seems a lot less mysterious.

Convinced that her twin still has a shot at his destiny, Nava hatches a plan to convince the Brotherhood to bring the other Katz sibling into the fold. It’s too bad Rohan’s guarding her so closely that she might not be able to put it into action.

And it’s really too bad Rohan’s exactly what Nava’s always wanted: the perfect bad boy fling with no strings attached, because he may also be the one to bring down her carefully erected emotional shields. That’s as dangerous as all the evil fiends vying for the bragging rights of killing the only female ever chosen for Demon Club–or the one demon in particular out for payback.

Odds of survival: eh.

Odds of having a very good time with Rohan before she bites it: much better.

Excerpt:

The maybe-demon from Josh’s alleyway was back, having stopped about five feet away and triggering the motion sensor. What with Josh’s sister trying to kill me and all, he’dmediakit_bookcover_unlikable-002 fallen off my radar.

Aloe gooped over my fingers, having clutched the frond hard enough to break it, and my terror and an intense curiosity resurfaced. There was no denying his compelling presence. Plus, he had those long lashes that were my Kryptonite. I opened my mouth to scream. Or drool.

He held a finger up to his delectable lips to keep me quiet, circling me with lazy strides, checking me out.

I’d have been offended by the blatant appraisal except under his intense scrutiny, I lit up with an electric zing. I found myself stroking the aloe stalks in an obscene manner. Even knowing he couldn’t see my blush since I was in the shadows didn’t kill my utter mortification at jerking off plant life in not-so-subtextual yearning.

He stalked toward me, his leather jacket rustling with each step.

I held up a hand to stop him, the faintest electric crackle pulsing off my skin.

He didn’t stop, didn’t slow. In fact, he kept up his steady approach until his hand covered mine. My magic shocked us both at his touch. I gasped and shivered as pleasure, not pain, rumbled through me.

Hand still clasped in his, he stared at me suspiciously, instead of in fear, but had I wanted, I could have broken his hold. Not a demon, then? He fingered the thin silver necklace I wore with surprising gentleness, toying with the cute floral pendant dangling off it that read “I will kick you in the balls if I have to.”

“Should I be scared?” Given how he sounded like sex, sin, and salaciousness–the true definition of a triple threat–I decided that yes, he was most definitely a demon.

I met his mocking gaze, my rooted stance and beating heart placing me somewhere between morbid fascination and noping the hell out at warp speed.

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

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

A global wanderer, hopeless romantic, and total cynic with a broken edit button, Deborah mediakit_authorphoto_unlikable-002writes adult urban fantasy to satisfy her love of smexy romances and tales of chicks who kick ass. She is all about the happily-ever-after, with a huge dose of hilarity along the way. “It takes a bad girl to fight evil. Go Wilde.”

 

 

Links:

Website: http://www.deborahwilde.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wildeauthor (@wildeauthor)

FB: https://www.facebook.com/deborah.wilde1

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16189297.Deborah_Wilde

Buy Links:

Pre-order on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Unlikeable-Demon-Hunter-Nava-Katz-ebook/dp/B01MR8GI6B

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

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Deborah will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to one winner, another winner will win a print copy of the book (International), both are randomly drawn via rafflecopter during the tour.   a Rafflecopter giveaway

For additional chances to win and more entertaining excerpts, follow Deborah on her tour:  http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2017/02/book-blast-unlikeable-demon-hunter-by.html

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Between Heaven and Hell by David Burnett

03 Monday Apr 2017

Posted by Linda Nightingale in Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Amazon, angels, author giveaways, demons, gift card giveways, giveaways, Goddess Fish, Heaven, Hell, Lucifer, paranormal romance

GENRE: Paranormal Romance

BLURB:

When Adryel follows Lucifer in his rebellion, she loses Ramael, the one she loves, and everything else she holds dear. How can he still love her when, as the Mistress of Hell, she has done more to thwart Adonai’s plan for humanity than all the other fallen angels combined?

Excerpt:

“The council is in session,” Uriel repeated as Adryel took her seat. “Each of you will find a book on the table in front of you. As its title indicates, it contains a plan for creation of…well, we’ll see what is to be created. In any case, Adonai wishes to implement the plan, and he solicits your advice and counsel before he proceeds.”

“The plan is not long, as you can see,” Uriel said. “We’ll read it now.”

**

Lucifer flipped toward the back of the book. “On the twenty-fourth page we find an extended discussion of one of these creatures, the one called human.” A look of distaste blanketed his features and his eyes narrowed. “I find the plan for this creature to be most disturbing.”

Michael sat up and leaned forward, resting his forearm on the table. “Why so? What disturbs you?”

Lucifer’s finger ran down the page, stopping halfway. “The humans will have no predisposition to do what is good.

“In the fifth paragraph…The human creatures will be predisposed to do neither good nor evil,” he read, then gazed around the table.

“Our nature is to do good, but the humans will be different. Their nature will be…variable.” As he shrugged, indicating he could be no more specific, his eyes lit up, as if an idea had just occurred to him. An evil smile crossed his face. “Perhaps this will help.”

Lucifer reached into the pocket of his robe and withdrew the wooden disk. “See this disk? On one side, there is an X. On the other, we find an O, a circle.”

He flipped the disk into the air and it landed on the table, bouncing twice, ending with the side bearing the X facing up.

“Surely, Lucifer, you don’t mean…”

“I mean this…Suppose I were one of these human creatures.” He visibly shivered as he spoke. “Further suppose that I were to encounter a beautiful female…such as our secretary,” he nodded toward Adryel, “walking in the palace garden early in the evening.”

All eyes turned to her. She could feel her face growing warm and she dropped her eyes.

“I do not mean to embarrass her, but suppose I encountered her as I said…what might I do?” He paused, stroking his chin as if deep in thought. “Now, it is my nature to do good, so I would wish her a good evening. If I were human, though, with no such predisposition, what would determine my behavior?”

He tossed the disk again. This time, the large O was visible.

“I can do good, or I can do evil. An X or an O. Adryel, what are the odds I would do good? You know the answer.”

After a long pause, Adryel turned to Lord Lucifer. “In the absence of any other influence, the likelihood of good behavior is one of two. Half of the time you would do good.”

“Circle, I wish you a good evening. X, I ravish you.”

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

The Battery, Charleston, South Carolina

 

 

We recently moved to our new home near Charleston, South Carolina. Three of my four books are set in Charleston, and I’ve always enjoyed the Carolina beaches. I now have the opportunity to walk on the beach almost every day and to photography the ocean, the sea birds, and the marshes that I love.

I love photography, and I have photographed subjects as varied as prehistoric ruins on the islands of Scotland, star trails, sea gulls, and a Native American powwow. My wife and I have traveled widely in the United States and the United Kingdom. During trips to Scotland, we visited Crathes Castle, the ancestral home of the Burnett family near Aberdeen, and Kismul Castle on Barra, the home of my McNeil ancestors.

I went to school for much longer than I want to admit, and I have degrees in psychology and education. In an “earlier life” I was director of research for our state’s education department.

The book is on sale for $0.99 during the tour.

Website

http://davidburnett.yolasite.com

Blog

http://davidburnettsbooks.blogspot.com/

Twitter

Tweets by DavdBurnett

Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Burnett-Author/447290468681693?ref=hl

Amazon Author Page

http://amazon.com/author/davidburnett

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

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

David will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

FOR MORE FUN AND CHANCES TO WIN, FOLLOW DAVID ON TOUR:

http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2017/03/book-blast-between-heaven-and-hell-by.html

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The Acolyte – Full Story

01 Tuesday Nov 2016

Posted by Linda Nightingale in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

ABA Halloween Hop, demons, halloween stories, scary stories., vampires

For my post on the ABA Halloween Hop, I published The Acolyte, a short short story.  As promised (though a little late) here is the entire story (the first installment ended with the word horrible.

****

The tower clock struck midnight.  Ravenwood tensed, glanced over her shoulder at the Sanctuary.  No lights shone in the mullioned windows.  The Masters mustn’t catch her out alone at night.  Punishment would be rapid and severe.  She might even be banished.  Her reputation at the school had suffered for her sister’s sin.

She lit the torch, black smoke billowing from the flame. A darkling shiver crawled down her rigid spine. The voices that had roused her from sleep whispered a warning as she crept into the abandoned barn.  A lonely owl hooted from the rafters, ruffling its feathers and blinking. Red light winked in the bird’s golden eyes.  She swallowed hard, straining her ears for any sound.  The eerie stillness chilled her soul.

Ravenwood had come to say her last goodbye to her sister.  Tonight, Mariana slept the peace of the dead in this old outbuilding. Tomorrow, she would be lowered into unhallowed ground.  Then only god knew what the fate of a demon’s consort would be.  Her breathing rasped loud, puffing white clouds in the October air. She inched deeper into the gloom, shoved the hood of her robe back.  Shadows capered in her peripheral vision. A web caught in her hair, clung to her face.  Another hard shudder coursed through her, and gooseflesh prickled her limbs.  Nausea swirled in her stomach. Frantically, she swiped the crusty fly stuck in the web and the disgusting stickiness from her skin.

Blackness coiled along the rotted wood pile. A mouse squeaked, scurried out and scampered away. The shade loomed larger, distorted in the flickering light. She flinched back a step. With a shaking hand, she clutched the crucifix around her neck. The shadow crossed the pitchfork, fell on the coffin.

Darkness coalesced into the figure of a winged man.  Two yellow orbs glowed in his leathery gray face.  The wings were shiny, rubbery black with spines and points.  A sweet smell rose from him, but she knew the fragrance was a glamour masking the reek of the Pit.

“Daakiel,” she whispered.

“Well met, Ravenwood.” A laugh rumbled from his broad chest. “Such pretty blonde hair and lovely ivory skin, but beneath your rose and gold beauty is a soul as dark as I am.”

As always, her sister’s lover was naked, his grotesque, swollen equipment proudly on display.  She shuddered head to toe, glancing around quickly, studying her options.

There were none.

The creature with hellfire eyes stroked a hand with long, vicious claws over the pine coffin.  From inside, came a soft scratching then the lid rattled, an urgent pounding echoing in the ruined barn.

Ravenwood’s heart caught in her throat.  A sudden silence crawled along her nerves.  The owl hooted and took flight, a wingtip brushing her cheek.  She flinched, clamped a hand to her mouth, but a little cry escaped.   The demon flexed his wings, stirring a tornado of moldy straw.

A malicious grin split the monstrous face.  “Come my pretty,” and with the rasp of claws, he ripped the lid off the coffin.

Her dead sister sat bolt upright, empty fish eyes locking to Ravenwood’s terrified gaze.   A horrible smile spread Mariana’s blue lips. Crimson pinpointed the black irises. Any innocence that might have remained in the once Acolyte had perished. Like a spider, elbows and knees arched at odd angles, she crawled from the casket.  Grave clothes clung to her pale, withered body but her breasts were exposed and bloody.  She was horrible.

Ravenwood wouldn’t give the monster the satisfaction of screaming.  She bit her tongue hard enough to draw blood.  The demon turned and stalked toward her, fangs dripping thick, green saliva. Horrified, she backed away, collided with a stack of old cans, sending them clattering to the ground.

“Dear sister.”  Mariana’s corpse spread her arms in invitation.  Sharp fangs dented the lower lip of her smile.  “Raven, forsake your god.  Join me.”

Ravenwood ducked, grabbed the pitchfork and brandished the rusted prongs at the demon.  Another unholy laugh rumbled from its throat.

“You cannot escape, Ravenwood.  Your sister has paid her dues.  She is mine.  Tonight, Acolyte, you join me in Hell.”

Playing for time, she flung the pitchfork at the demon and dropped the torch.  Smoke billowed from dry straw. Flames sprang up, reaching for the cracked roof.  Laughter boomed in the fire.  Engulfed in the holocaust, her sister’s horrified face branded the nightmare in memory.  The demon’s leering smile didn’t falter.

She whirled and fled, her legs pumping, her feet going nowhere.  The school seemed hundreds of miles away and her feet leaden.  If she reached the Sanctuary—

A claw sliced her shoulder.  Pain scalded her arm.  Blood oozed warmth down her back.  She whirled, staring straight into the demon’s burning eyes.  Lethal pointed teeth lined the creature’s gaping maw.

A scream ripped the black velvet night, searing her throat.  She stumbled a retreat, praying aloud.

“No answer?” Daarkiel cupped a hand to his pointed ear. “Pray to someone who will hear you.”

The ground beneath her feet rolled and tossed.  She fell to her knees.  Fear lodged in her dry throat, strangling her prayers.

“You have taken my lover from me. Burned her alive, you did.”  The creature beckoned with a bloody claw.  “You will replace her.”

An image of her sister’s living cadaver blinded her. She shook her head.  “Never.”

The earth opened, swallowing her.  Down she plunged into a loamy grave, the velocity of her fall sweeping her robe over her head.  Her feet scraped something hard.  Bones.  She didn’t have time to scream.  The hole closed over her head, burying her alive.

Insects slithered over her feet. Something crept down her back.  She swallowed the horror and the bile burning her throat. The black dirt caressed her naked arms and legs and matted her hair. Trapped in the earth and in her robe, unable to claw for the surface, she held her breath until her lungs threatened to implode.  Terror gripped her heart in an icy hand.

I’m going to suffocate.

A desperate gasp for breath sucked the fatal soil into her mouth and nose.  Ravenwood whispered her final prayer.  For forgiveness.

 

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Awaiting Fate by J.L. Sheppard is on SALE!!

22 Monday Aug 2016

Posted by Linda Nightingale in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

book series, demons, fate, immortals, J.L. Sheppard, love stories, new releases, paranormal romance, romance, soul mates, The Wild Rose Press, TWRP, witches

Awaiting Fate is on sale for $.99!

Fate Forgotten, Fated Immortals 2 will be released August 26! It’s your chance to buy Awaiting Fate, Fated Immortals 1, for just $.99 cents!

Awaiting Fate, Fated Immortals I
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Genre: Paranormal Romance

AwaitingFate_w9409_750

Will Cain find Olivia before it’s too late or will their differences tear them apart?

Blurb:

Cain Thaler’s lived more than four hundred years fighting rogue immortals, avenging the family he’d lost. It’s all he’s needed, all he’s wanted. That changes the fateful day he lays eyes on his fated mate. Olivia Waden, a werewolf princess, is nothing like him. Unwilling to give her up, he sets a plan into motion: ignoring his need to claim her, he befriends her.

Despite Cain’s best efforts at friendship, Olivia has fallen hard for him. It is him she dreams of, him she wants as her fated mate. But she is sure he doesn’t feel the same way. In way over her head, she has no option but to run away from the only man she’s ever loved.

Will Cain find Olivia before it’s too late or will their differences tear them apart?

~~~~~~~

Excerpt:

AF_Mine“What do you want most in the world?”

You, he thought but left the truth unsaid.

What could he say? He wanted to seek shelter in her arms and comfort in her touch. He wanted to come home to her face, her smile—her. He wanted her barefoot and pregnant with life they created growing inside her. He wanted her to love him so much she couldn’t fathom living and breathing without him. He was already there.

“I want a lot of things, too many,” he finally said.

A cop-out, so the moment he’d spoken the words, he regretted them. He needed her to trust him, but his situation made it difficult. He couldn’t tell her the truth, only a version of it without revealing too many details.

“I want my fated to love me,” he said it so simply.

He hoped she would respond. More than anything he wanted her to ask him if he’d found his. Because he knew if she did, he’d never be able to lie and, finally, she’d know. He waited for her to say something, but she never did, so he found himself gazing at the stars praying he could magically cure her sadness.

He didn’t get his wish, but he did sit with her for hours. He didn’t speak, only listened to the sounds of their breaths, wishing for more.

It was inevitable to want more, more of her, all of her, but for now, sitting in the dark, gazing at the stars was enough.

Purchase Awaiting Fate for $.99!

Links:

AMAZON:

http://www.amazon.com/Awaiting-Fate-Fated-Immortals-Sheppard-ebook/dp/B00TZ9ZI36/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1425342763&sr=8-2&keywords=awaiting+fate

BARNES & NOBLE:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/awaiting-fate-j-l-sheppard/1121324781?ean=2940151226868

KOBO:

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/awaiting-fate

ITUNES:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/awaiting-fate/id965664957

THE WILD ROSE PRESS:

http://catalog.thewildrosepress.com/all-titles/3488-awaiting-fate.html

~~~~~~~~~

Fate Forgotten, Fated Immortals II to be released August 26!

By: J.L. Sheppard

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Genre: Paranormal Romance

FateForgotten_w10675_750(1) Blurb:

Valerie Matlock’s life revolves around her coven. Young and naïve, she knows little about the immortal war brewing until the night her coven is attacked. In the blink of an eye, the family she loves is gone. Devastated, she lays eyes on the angry demon warrior, Jacob Rhodes. A Guardian, he means her no harm, but she fears him as deeply as she craves him. She has to stay away. She just doesn’t know if she can.

The pain of Jacob’s losses have hardened him. He lives for revenge and uses anger like a shield, keeping everyone at arm’s length. He can’t risk losing more. Tragedy strikes, again, and he’s left caring for his four-year-old niece, Annie. The bright girl deserves better than him. But he can’t give her up, not ever. When he sets his eyes on his fated mate, the powerful witch, Valerie, his life gets twice as complicated. Will she accept him, a demon she fears and his adopted child?

Excerpt:

A beautiful stranger sleeping on his couch.

FF_Fear2His heart pounded faster. His chest heaved. Rubbing his sweaty palms against his jeans, a growl escaped his lips. A sense of possessiveness overwhelmed him.

Taking a step closer, he pulled in a breath. Shivers ran through his body. Holding back a groan, his jaw clenched.

Breathtaking.

Fascinating.

Marvelous.

And it was no longer a mystery. The haunting scent was hers.

And it wasn’t just her scent, it was her. Striking, everything about her drew him in. His body pulsed, desire to hold her, comfort her, protect her welled inside him. Powerful, confounding, and indescribable. Even now, staring at her he was drawn inexplicably. He couldn’t put it into words, but he couldn’t ignore it. He knew what it was and why he couldn’t control it.

She was his fated mate, the woman granted to him above all others, his other half. There was no question.

He couldn’t help what he did next. Ever so slowly, he drew closer. A mere few feet away, he held his hand over her face, craving with every fiber in his being to feel the softness of her skin against his.

Before he could, her eyes snapped open. Painful jolts shot through him. The pain so unbearable it brought him, a demon, to his knees. The current gone a moment later, but the pain hadn’t faded. Every joint, every muscle ached.

And still, all he could think: her eyes were the perfect shade—honey.

Purchase Fate Forgotten

Links:

https://www.amazon.com/Fate-Forgotten-Fated-Immortals-Sheppard-ebook/dp/B01I0IJ6GW

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fate-forgotten-j-l-sheppard/1124055950

http://catalog.thewildrosepress.com/all-titles/4479-fate-forgotten.html

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/fate-forgotten/id1133793368

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/fate-forgotten-1

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30988421-fate-forgotten

~~~~~~~~

BIO:

J.L. Sheppard was born and raised in Miami, Florida where she still lives with her husband and son.

As a child, her greatest aspiration was to become a writer. She read often, kept a journal DSC_6799and wrote countless poems. She attended Florida International University and graduated in 2008 with a Bachelors in Communications. During her senior year, she interned at NBC Miami, WTVJ. Following the internship, she was hired and worked in the News Department for three years.

It wasn’t until 2011 that she set her heart and mind into writing her first completed novel, Demon King’s Desire, which was published in January of 2013.

Besides reading and writing, she enjoys traveling and spending quality time with family and friends.

 

Other Books by J.L. Sheppard:

Demon King’s Desire, Elemental Sisters I: January 2013

Burdened by Desire, Elemental Sisters II: January 2014

Heavenly Desire, Elemental Sisters III: September 2014

Running Wild, Hell Ryders I: June 2016

Contact:

www.JLSheppard.com
www.facebook.com/JLSheppardAuthor

https://twitter.com/JL_Sheppard

https://www.instagram.com/jl_sheppard/

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6894176.J_L_Sheppard

http://pinterest.com/jlsheppard5/

https://www.tsu.co/JLSheppard

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