Trail of Hope - New release!

Title: Trail of Hope
Author: Merry Farmer
Find this book here: Amazon, iBooks and Smashwords

Author's description:

Callie Lewis is alone on the Oregon Trail. After her brother’s death, she has been left to fend for herself on a journey she never wanted to take. Her only hope for safety and a life at the end of the road is to become a trail bride and wed grieving widower John Rye. But John is harboring secrets that could end their hasty marriage before it has a chance to begin.

When a vicious tornado wakes John from the stupor the death of his wife left him in, he is ready to embrace Callie and the new life they could have together. But John is not the only one with designs on his new wife. Miles away from civilization, in a wagon train bristling with secrets and suspicion, John must catch a thief, fend off his rival, and reclaim his life to build the future Callie deserves.

In their darkest moments will they bring each other hope? 
PLEASE BE ADVISED - Steam Level: Hot

About the author:

Find Merry on her website, Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon Author Page.

Merry Farmer is an award-winning author of historical romance. She lives in suburban Philadelphia with her two cats and enough story ideas to keep her writing until she’s 132. Her second novel, The Faithful Heart, was a 2102 RONE Award finalist and her unpublished futuristic novel A Man’s World won first place in the Novel: Character category at the 2013 Philadelphia Writer’s Conference. She is out to prove that you can make a living as a self-published author and to help others to do the same.

Exclusive:

1. What inspired you to write “Trail of Hope”?

I’ve always been fascinated with the Old West, especially the Oregon Trail. Can you imagine what it would have taken to convince people to leave their comfortable lives in the East to head out to an untamed land that was just waiting to be developed? Those are definitely the sorts of people I wanted to write about. But I added an extra element to this particular series. I set it much, much later than most Oregon Trail stories—in the 1860s, at the very end of the days of the trail, right before the railroad took over. At this time, a lot of people were heading west to get away from the troubles of the Civil War back east or for deeper, more personal reasons.

At the beginning of Trail of Hope, Callie’s brother, Greg, is taking his family west because he’s a pacifist who wants to flee the war. But the hero, John, is heading west for much deeper, more personal reasons. On another note, both John and Callie are grieving at the beginning of the book. I’ve lost a lot of people in my life, and I wanted to write a book about coming out of the grieving process.

2. Who should read this book and why will they enjoy it?

I think anyone who loves a good historical romance and likes to read stories that take place on a journey will love Trail of Hope. But I wrote this one especially for those readers who may have lost someone special to them. It’s all about learning to live again after the death of a loved one—learning that life goes on. It starts out a little sad, but by the end it’s uplifting and even joyful at times.

3. What made you want to become a writer?

I’ve wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. I actually started writing when I was 10 years old and realized one day that I didn’t have to wait for my teacher to assign a creative writing project to write something. I’ve been writing ever since! Writing has always been the best way I know to communicate who I am and what I love to other people. It’s also helped me through some very difficult times in my life. Writing is my soul.

Thank you, Merry, for this exclusive and for being on my blog today. Congrats on your new release and happy writing!

Evolution - New Release!

Title: Evolution

Author: Kate Wrath

You can find the book on Amazon (Kindle Edition).

EXCERPT FROM "EVOLUTION":

We run down the narrow alley and take the first turn, then another. We keep running, moving. I don't even notice my surroundings until, at last, we slow to a stop. The smell hits me first—the stench of piss, of something rotten, all condensed into a small space. Breathing hard, we stand in the street and look around us. We're in a main thoroughfare now, judging from the traffic, but it’s still narrow. I feel squashed, smothered. On all sides, a crowd throngs around us. Most of them are dressed in rags. Hollow faces huddle three or four bodies deep against both edges of the road, dirty, hopeless, and lost. Many of them are children.

I'm scanning their faces frantically before I even realize what I'm doing. "Oscar," I hear myself whisper. It hits me, and I break off before I can call out his name. Before I can start running again, sifting through the masses of them.

Apollon's hand clamps onto mine, but he says nothing. He and Jonas are focused on Jacob, who is shaking violently. Tears are pouring from widened eyes down his face. I want to help him, but all I can do is stand here trying not to break down, myself.

"We need to find somewhere to regroup," Jonas says quietly. "Get out of this mess."

I cast around for somewhere to go, but as far as I can see, it's piles upon piles. People, and people, and buildings looming over them. There's no breathing room. No space. I have to force my breath to steadiness. It's too much.

There is a commotion on the street ahead, maybe a block away. The ragged masses push away from the center, squashing and trampling each other in the process. We're caught in a wave of motion and carried backward, but still we try to look. Where the commotion started, there's a group of figures, similarly dressed in black with blue bandanas. They're moving down the street toward us.

The wave of people suddenly backlashes from the other direction, and we're pushed the opposite way from before. We manage to finally see why. On our opposite side, there's another group of people. These are dressed primarily in white. One of them, clearly a leader, wears a purple doo rag and carries what might be the biggest gun I've ever seen. He raises it toward us.

---

Exclusive:

Finally, the long-awaited moment has arrived! "Evolution" has been released!  The amazing Kate Wrath, US-based author who believes in literature as an art form, world peace, and animal rights, but chooses to write total trash full of senseless violence, with characters who eat house pets, has granted me a short

exclusive:

1. What inspired you to write “Evolution”?

Evolution is the continuation of the story from my first book, E, so it was the natural next step.  The first book was not so much « inspired » as it was subliminal-- a freeflow of thought released from my subconscious (at least in its beginnings).  It’s a world that created itself.  A story that demanded to be told.

2. Who should read this book and why will they enjoy it?

My readership has been really wide-- all ages and walks of life.  If you like dark, dystopian tales, focus on characters and relationships, and introspective writing, you will probably enjoy this series.  My writing style has been called poetic.  The story can be heavy at times.  I don’t pull any punches.  However, there is also a lot of action, adventure, and a touch of humor and romance.  More than anything, people have enjoyed the characters.  I get a lot of comments on how great the characters are, and people love that my main character, Eden, is smart and strong, but still real.

3. What made you want to become a writer?

I’ve wanted to be a writer for so long.  It’s the only thing that ever seemed real.  I started writing at about twelve years old, and it immediately became the thing that consumed me.  I’d write stories with my friends back then, but I wrote hundreds upon hundreds of pages, which turned to thousands by the time I was in high school.  I didn’t really think about publishing things, then.  It was all about the writing.  Now that I finally have started writing things to publish, it’s still all about the writing.  I just love doing it, and I would keep doing it even if no one ever read a thing I wrote.

Last, but not least, click on the link to participate in Kate's giveaway: a Rafflecopter giveaway or find more about Kate on her website or Facebook page.