Cover Reveal: Face-off at the Alter for Toni Aleo

Coming December 29th

Markus Reeves is sucking. Big-time. Toiling away on a minor-league hockey team hundreds of miles away from home, he's watching his dreams of an NHL career fade away. Add in the lingering guilt he has over the dramatic demise of his relationship with college girlfriend, Mekena, and he's a mess on and off the ice.

But the family of his heart, the Sinclairs, won't let Markus suffer any longer. When he arrives himself back in Nashville for a trial run on the Assassins, it feels like his life may be making a turn for the better. If only he could get Mekena to forgive him...

Mekena Preston has been hurting since fleeing Nashville following the horror of Markus's betrayal with her sister. Now a professional photographer, Mekena finds herself in the same place at the same time with Markus to celebrate Lucy and Benji Paxton's wedding. Neither of them has been able to move on—and they're starting to wonder if they really want to.

They're headed for a face-off at the altar unless they can confront their past and unearth the truth about what really happened on that fateful night.

My name is Toni Aleo and I’m a total dork.
I am a wife, mother of two and a bulldog, and also a hopeless romantic.
I am the biggest Shea Weber fan ever, and can be found during hockey season with my nose pressed against the Bridgestone Arena’s glass, watching my Nashville Predators play!
When my nose isn’t pressed against the glass, I enjoy going to my husband and son’s hockey games, my daughter’s dance competition, hanging with my best friends, taking pictures, scrapbooking, and reading the latest romance novel.
I have a slight Disney and Harry Potter obsession, I love things that sparkle, I love the color pink, I might have been a Disney Princess in a past life… probably Belle.
… and did I mention I love hockey?

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DOUBLE Cover Reveal by Bethany-Kris

Waste of Worth: The Deluca Duet, Part One

by Bethany-Kris DeLuca Duet #1 Publication Date: January 9, 2017 Genres: Adult, Mafia, Romance, Organized Crime

Synopsis: DeLuca Duet, Part One

Ask anyone and they will all say the same thing about just who Dino DeLuca is. A criminal, the son of a traitor, and a mafia Capo who can’t be trusted. His past has shaped his life, creating demons he can’t escape from that live in his mind day and night. He is all too aware of just how people see him. Closed off. Cold. Different. He doesn’t care—keeping people out means no one can get close enough to hurt him again, and he already has one too many monsters with their claws stuck in his back that he’s still fighting off. His walls are so high, no one is climbing over them. Or so he thinks … Karen came into his life like a spring shower, her light shining through the darkness and making him see something other than the hell that surrounded him for so long. She doesn’t know who he is or what he has done to become the man he is today. If he can help it, she’ll never know, and his monsters will never hurt her. She sees his differences as beauty. She never asks for more. She is perfect. The problem with happiness for Dino DeLuca is that his monsters don’t mind taking away what makes him happy. After all, what isn’t given cannot be kept. These lessons will be the hardest he has ever learned. AUTHOR’S NOTE: The DeLuca Duet is a two book tale following the same couple through their journey. It is a standalone Duet that can be read independently with a HEA ending.

EXCERPT

Memories could make a monster out of a man. There were times that seemed harder to deal with than others; a passing moment that could make Dino DeLuca’s chest tighten in pain, or his fists clench in anger. The sound of metal being dropped was one of the worst. He swore he could feel his back bruising and bleeding all over again at the simple tinging tone. Whispered words made him jumpy—paranoid. Whispers were good for nothing but taunting, and he didn’t want to hear those mocking words anymore. Had enough yet? Learn to follow directions, Dino. It should fucking hurt, kid. The stench of vomit, clinging to the air and seemingly never letting go, would make his panic rush into overdrive, overwhelming him with an almost sense of itchiness all over his skin. As if the vomit was still soaked and dripping off his clothes in the darkness as he sobbed in a dank basement, curled in a corner and fighting off another round of sickness. The reactions always came so swiftly they surprised him no matter the time or place. His memories weren’t much different when it came right down to it. These times were the most difficult for Dino. Those times came at night. When the lights were off … When the apartment was quiet … When it was just him and his monsters … When he was alone. The most frightening thing about monsters was the fact that they could be anybody. The old man sitting outside the pizzeria, tipping his hat at the ladies passing by. The young woman on the city bus with her hair bleached white and her gaze distant, staring at anything but anyone. The mother pushing a stroller down the street, oblivious but focused. Or a monster could be the man dressed in three-piece suit stepping out of the restaurant he owns, the ring of his key fob for his white Bentley spinning circles as he whistled Ave Maria on his way to church. Dino caught sight of the lower portion of his reflection in the darkly tinted glass of his Bentley’s window. He managed a smile. It was more like a smirk. Fact was, the expression he wore was neither. Dino found it incredibly hard to smile—something that came so easy for others was foreign to him. When he did try, it came off as a grimacing grin and that worked its way into a sneer. Or a smirk. He liked that better. It was manageable. The monster was definitely the man wearing the three-piece suit with the key fob in his hand, staring at himself in the window, Dino knew. Slipping into the SUV, the noise of the busy Chicago city street was silenced instantly as Dino turned on his vehicle and checked his rearview mirror before he could pull out onto the road. He regretted choosing the rearview almost immediately. While his reflection in the window of his car had been partly obscured by the shadows of trees providing shade to the sidewalk, it was not concealed at all in the rearview mirror. Dino didn’t like mirrors. He didn’t like the face staring back at him. The soulless brown gaze, emotionless expression, and silence was more than enough to make him look away. Except he couldn’t. Under the right edge of his strong jaw was a three inch scar that started three-quarters of the way up his throat and stopped just before his ear. The broad slope of his nose had the slightest crook in the middle. Sometimes the left side of his jaw ached when it rained. Those were the obvious things—marks, scars, and reminders he could pick out instantly when faced with his reflection. The longer he stared at himself, the more he would find. It was—without meaning to be—the most dangerous game he could play with himself. Church, he told himself. You need to be seen at church. It was only the ringing of his phone that finally drove his gaze away from the rearview mirror, making him check the caller ID, and breaking his cycle of self-loathing. Dino was grateful for that. Not so much the caller that interrupted him. Sighing, he connected the call through Bluetooth as he pulled out onto the road. “DeLuca here,” Dino answered. “Why the fuck is Riley Conti calling me with demands about you, Dino?” Dino counted back from five silently before he answered his younger brother. “Theo, good morning to you, too. Are you at church? I’m headed that way. We can talk then.” “Dino—” “Church, man.” Dino let the call drop. Theo wouldn’t say two words to Dino at the church and he knew it for a fact. When it came to the public, Theo and Dino were constantly apart from one another—on opposite sides of the room where they didn’t have to speak. It was the easiest way for Dino to handle Theo DeLuca. Maybe that made him a coward. The brothers’ history together was not an easy one, not when it had been shadowed by the death of their parents, and then the events that followed the murders. Unlike Dino, who learned quickly that trust was a beautiful myth in their lifestyle and in the Chicago Outfit, Theo was of a more stubborn mindset. And so, the two were distant. Dino tried with Theo, but it never really seemed to help the relationship. He was all too aware that his younger brother blamed him for things that had been out of his control, though Theo thought his older sibling could have handled the past far better. He probably could have—should have. Dino thought he had, honestly. He’d taken years of abuse from the hands of their uncle Ben after their parents’ deaths. He’d lived separately from the family, sure, but he was not exempt from the beatings and the manipulation. Of course, that was a story for another day. If Dino got his wish, that day would never come. Another call rang through to Dino’s cell phone. He checked the caller ID again. Ben DeLuca, it read. Dino didn’t pick up the call, still driving toward the church. He would see Ben soon enough. Without even being told, Dino was already aware he would suffer for not picking up the call. Years had passed since he’d suffered some form of physical harm from his uncle’s hard hand. Years. Dino’s chest tightened at the thought. Truth was, he still wasn’t exempt from the manipulation. Not when he was constantly haunted with it all. He still wasn’t free.

Worth of Waste: The Deluca Duet, Part Two

by Bethany-Kris DeLuca Duet #2 Publication Date: February 6, 2017 Genres: Adult, Mafia, Romance, Organized Crime

Synopsis: DeLuca Duet, Part Two

The Chicago Mob is the same as it has always been—violent, greedy, and excessive. The Outfit families have turned their backs when they were needed the most one too many times, but Dino DeLuca didn’t expect anything different. His whole life has been lived for the Outfit—for his family. He has a whole new set of reasons to live and fight now. Karen Martin makes Dino change all the rules. He’s finally ready to show everyone just how much waste is truly worth in the mafia, and just how far one will go for freedom from it all. He’s learned these lessons well. Too well. Author’s Note: The DeLuca Duet is a standalone duet with a HEA ending that can be read independently.

ABOUT BETHANY-KRIS

Bethany-Kris is a Canadian author, lover of much, and mother to three young sons, one cat, and two dogs. A small town in Eastern Canada where she was born and raised is where she has always called home. With her boys under her feet, snuggling cat, barking dogs, and a hubby calling over his shoulder, she is nearly always writing something … when she can find the time.

To keep up-to-date with new releases from Bethany-Kris, sign up to her New Release Newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/bf9lzD

Website • Blog • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads • Pinterest • Mailing List • Amazon Author Page

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY

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A Christmas Reunion by Donna Hatch

Donna Hatch, author of the best-selling “Rogue Hearts Series," as well as over a dozen other published titles, is a hopeless romantic and adventurer at heart, the force that drove her to write and publish seventeen historical titles, to date. She is a multi-award winner, a sought-after workshop presenter, and juggles multiple volunteer positions as well as her six children. Also music lover, she sings and plays the harp, and she loves to ballroom dance. She and her family recently transplanted from her native Arizona to the Pacific Northwest where she and her husband of over twenty years are living proof that there really is a happily ever after.

Q & A With the Author:

What organizations do you recommend for those wanting to become writers?

That depends on what you write. If you write romance, I recommend RWA Romance Writers of America. If you write children’s or teen books, I recommend SCBWI which stands for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Other options are to find a local Nanowrimo group; from what I know, some offer workshops, others only give encouragement to write a book in a selected month. You could go online and enter local writer’s group in your search engine, and see what comes up. Then visit them a few times to see if you are a good fit with them before you join.

Any advice you'd like to share about writing?

Be humble and teachable. Too many new authors have kind of a chip on their shoulder and are totally closed to constructive criticism. If someone tells you there is an aspect of your story that needs more work, take them at face value; they are almost always right. If they tell you what you should do to fix it, take that with a grain of salt because they are often wrong.

Connect with the Author here: 

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Heartbroken at the news that her betrothed has wed another woman, Emily is determined to pick up the pieces of her life and enjoy Christmas with her family. ? Newly returned from war, Bennett holds a secret and will do anything to ensure Emily, his only true love, never discovers it...even if it means losing her. Fate reunites the star-crossed lovers and reveals the truth that will either unite them or drive them apart forever.

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Top Ten List:

1. I like cats--kittens are even more fun.

2. I am a harpist and I teach harp lessons.

3. Every morning after I get the children off to school, I go for a walk. (At least, that's always the goal)

4. I hate spiders. HATE. With a passion.

5. Due to moves in my childhood, I attended 9 different schools. Being the new kid isn't all it's cracked up to be.

6. I love cheesecake just as much as I love chocolate--chocolate cheesecake is even better. Caramel is a close second. Caramel-chocolate cheesecake, anyone?

7. Currently I'm juggling: a YA dystopian aka speculative fiction, a YA historical paranormal, book 4 of my Rogue Hearts Regency series, and a new Regency trilogy.

8. I am majorly claustrophobic, which is exactly why, when I had to give my super-warrior weapons master, Kai Darkwood in my fantasy Queen in Exile, some flaw or fear, I chose claustrophobia for his--I understand it.

9. I love to ballroom dance. LOVE.

10. I also love bodies of water of any kind--ocean, river, lake, stream, waterfall, backyard garden pond. It just does something for my soul. This is partly why we recently moved from the desert to Washington State. I even love water when it's falling from the sky. Mermaid, anyone?

To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page 

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Shadows of Atlantis and Giveaway by Mara Powers

Shadows of Atlantis 
Awakening
By Mara Powers 
Genre: Fantasy

Atlantis is a luxurious paradise run by crystal technology built in alignment with nature. For thousands of years, Atlanteans have powered their cities with a Crystal Grid fed by psychic mindlight.

But the Grid has been infiltrated by parasitic shadows that feed off the negative emotions of humans - an epidemic called “the madness.” 

D’VINID, a dejected musician, is consumed by his personal problems. He meets Brigitte as she seeks to uncover the corruption in the Grid. Their magnetic attraction forces him to face his past and accept his future. He is among those born with a gene unlocking mystical powers once believed to be the birthright of all humans. 

As Atlantis slowly drowns in the trap of hubris and self-indulgence, he is faced with the shocking realization that his life may be mirroring Atlantis itself - he must choose to awaken or face destruction.

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MARA POWERS has been researching Atlantis avidly since she was a teenager. 

Mara Powers is a true Gen X American nomad. She has managed to establish a life of travel, moving around all her favorite cities on a quest to chase the perfect weather. She discovered the myth of Atlantis at age 16, and has made it her life work to unravel the riddle. She studies both esoteric and secular theories, and incorporates them all in her stories. In a way, her Atlantis series is a dissertation on the knowledge and experience she has accumulated over almost 3 decades. 

Also a social butterfly, Powers spent the early part of her career as an event manager. She has worked at resorts, on boats, restaurants, in the festival circuit, and underground clubs as a promoter of bands, performers and electronic music. 

Her many travels have been incorporated into her work. For instance, her time spent as a denizen of Venice Beach is represented by the dog-town-style hover tricksters who have plagued the streets of Atlantis. 

She loves hearing everyone’s past life memories of Atlantis. Shoot her an email with yours.

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