Tuesday 26 April 2022

#BookBlitz :: Double-Edged Sword (Renegade #4) by J.D.R. Hawkins - #CivilWar #HistoricalFiction @JDRHawkins

12:00 am 0 Comments

 



The Civil War has ended.

Confederate cavalryman, David Summers, returns home to Alabama, taking his new wife, Anna, with him. Upon arrival, he understands how much the war has changed him and has scarred his homeland. Faced with challenges of transition, he learns how to navigate his new world, along with the pain and trauma of his past. He is also forced to confront his foes, including Stephen Montgomery. Their hatred for one another inevitably boils over into a fierce confrontation, whereby David is arrested.

Will the jury believe his side of the story, even though he is an ex-Confederate? Or will he be hung for his crime?



Book Links:
Goodreads * Amazon.in * Amazon.com

Read and Excerpt from Double-Edged Sword


David helped Anna down after tying the mule, and followed her inside. A lanky man who stood behind a counter looked up from the hotel register as they entered. David nodded to the man, led Anna into the dining hall, and sat down beside her at a small round table. Like before, the room was nearly unoccupied. Three Union officers sat in the far corner, drinking whiskey and smoking cigars. Two men stood near the back of the room. One was playing a fiddle while the other attempted to sing a slow ballad in a low, baritone voice. The room was bright with sunlight, and lace curtains hung over the long windows. A thin, balding gentleman with an apron wrapped tightly around his waist appeared, pencil and paper poised in his hands.

“How do,” he said softly. “What would y’all like to order?”
Anna smiled up at him, but he only stared back.
“Well,” she began, “what is your specialty?”
“And more importantly, how much is it?” added David.
The waiter laughed. “More than you can afford, I’ll wager!”
David chuckled. “We have two dollars. Bring us whatever that provides.”
He glanced at his wife, who glared at him.
“It ain’t Confederate currency, is it?” the man asked.
“Silver,” responded David.
The waiter grinned and walked off into the kitchen.
Anna was still glaring. “The money you earned in prison?”
David nodded.
“You should hold on to that, sweetheart. We might need it for something important.”
He smiled. “You’re important,” he answered. “You said you needed to eat, and I’m starvin’. What could be more important than that?”
The musicians began to play another melody, and the couple listened to the lyrics.
 
“We shall meet but we shall miss him, there will be one vacant chair.
We shall linger to caress him, while we breathe our ev’nin’ prayer.
When a year ago we gathered, joy was in his mild blue eye.
But a golden cord is severed. And our hopes in ruin lie.”
 
David couldn’t help but think of the loss of his best friend. The lyrics saddened him deeply, searing his soul, rekindling the painful remembrance of discovering Jake’s lifeless body on the battlefield. He drew a heavy sigh, and took his beloved’s hand.
“It’ll be all right,” she comforted.
He nodded in confirmation, relieved when the song finally ended and the musicians broke into a lively tune.


About the Author:
J.D.R. Hawkins is an Amazon, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling, award-winning author. She is one of a few female Civil War authors, uniquely describing the front lines from a Confederate perspective. Her "Renegade Series" includes "A Beautiful Glittering Lie," winner of the 2013 John Esten Cooke Fiction Award and the 2012 B.R.A.G. Medallion. The sequel, "A Beckoning Hellfire," is an Amazon bestseller and winner of the 2022 B.R.A.G. Medallion. "A Rebel Among Us," the third book in the series, is the recipient of the 2017 John Esten Cooke Fiction Award and winner of the 2022 B.R.A.G. Medallion. Double-Edged Sword is the newly-published, fourth book in the series. These books, published by Westwood Books Publishing, LLC, tell the story of a family from north Alabama who experience immeasurable pain when their lives are dramatically changed by the war. Ms. Hawkins has also published a nonfiction book about the War Between the States, titled "Horses in Gray: Famous Confederate Warhorses," with Pelican Publishing.  She is a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the International Women's Writing Guild, Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, and Pikes Peak Writers. Ms. Hawkins is also an artist and a singer/songwriter.

JDR Hawkins on the Web:







You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Thursday 14 April 2022

#ReleaseDayBlitz :: Princess & Prejudice (Devgarh Royals #2) by Alisha Kay - #Contemporary #Romance #Humour @alishakayauthor

12:00 am 0 Comments


It is a funny, passionate, second chance Indian romance by the winner of the Amazon KDP Pen to Publish Contest 2020.


A not-so-fairy-tale romance!

They say opposites attract, but when Yuvarajkumari Jayshree Singh, Princess of Devgarh, and Dr Aryan Sharma meet, it’s more like opposites combust.
He thinks she is a bratty and entitled princess, while she thinks he is an uptight pain-in-the-ass, who needs to have the stick surgically removed from his rather delectable posterior.
When Aryan’s sister gets engaged to Jessie’s brother, they are forced to declare a reluctant ceasefire.
But the hostilities don't cease. Instead, they erupt in an unexpected and unlikely gush of desire and longing.
With their families set to merge, Aryan and Jessie need to decide if his prejudice and her pride can be set aside long enough for the love they feel to blossom. Or will they spend eternity wondering if they'd missed their chance at happiness?

Book Links:
Goodreads * Amazon.in * Amazon.com


Read an excerpt from Princess & Prejudice


Ma had planned an intimate dinner with the team, but I convinced her to expand her guest list considerably, and move the event from the dining room to the ballroom. With thirty other people around us, I could stay away from the golden couple of Devgarh General Hospital. Or so I thought.
Arshia kept seeking me out as if I was her new best friend, and Aryan kept staring at us nervously as if he was worried about what I might do to his precious, until he was called out for an emergency just before dinner was served. 
I was on my best behaviour, and even when she called me ‘sweetie’ and ‘darling’, I just smiled through gritted teeth and refrained from stabbing her with my fork.
I finally made my escape when she got cornered by one of the richest patrons of the Foundation and found an empty table close to a French window that led onto the courtyard. I was supposed to be on a low-cal diet, but Arshia’s jabs about how I looked so nice with a few extra pounds on me drove me to the buffet, where I piled my plate high with chicken chilly and noodles.
I had a pounding headache and when I settled down to eat, I found that I couldn’t eat anything. I was staring at my plate glumly, when Zombie sidled up to me, looking at my plate hopefully. He was on a diet, too, but I couldn’t bear to deny him when he gave me those starving puppy eyes.
I tossed him a piece of chicken and wondered if I should just tip the plate over the side of the table. Just then, Arshia came over and plonked her ass down on the chair next to mine.
“Finally,” she groaned, taking off her spike heels and rubbing her feet.
I smiled politely and picked up my phone.
Any idiot could have taken the hint, but Arshia was clearly on a mission to make me miserable.
“I don’t know why I torture myself with these horrible heels,” she whined, looking pointedly at my flat juttis.
I merely smiled and went back to reading my messages.
“Oh wait! I know why. It’s because Aryan loves how they make my legs look,” she giggled.
The smile froze on my face. Please God, no! I didn’t want to listen to this. But it looked as if I had no choice. Arshia was watching me like a hawk to see my reaction, and I refused to show her how much it hurt to hear these intimate details of their relationship.
“Great,” I said, with a polite smile.
“I guess I can tell you our secret because you’re close to his sister.”
She took a deep breath and made a show of looking around to see if anyone else was listening, and then leaned forward.
“We’re taking it to the next step,” she whispered.
My heart clenched, and I swallowed nervously. Surely she didn’t mean…
“His mother has invited my parents over for dinner this weekend. And they are planning to fix the date. For our wedding,” she said, faux-coyly.
A cold sweat broke out all over my body at the thought of Aryan marrying someone. Someone other than me, that is. But I had known that this day would arrive at some point. And there was no chance in hell of him ever marrying me. So I didn’t know why I was so miserable. I just was. Arshia stared at me calculatingly, and I tried to summon a polite smile.
Just then, Zombie moved away from me, and the table cloth in front of Arshia rose as he poked his head out from under the table to stare at her. She took one horrified look at his big teeth and yellow eyes and shrieked as if she had seen the devil. And then, she ran. Zombie gave chase and I ran after them to pull him back. And Aryan returned just in time to see his girlfriend go flying into the fountain.
The rest was history.


About the Author:
Alisha Kay writes funny, exciting and steamy stories, with spunky heroines who can rescue themselves, and hot, woke heroes who find such independence irresistible.
The first book in The Devgarh Royals series, The Maharaja’s Fake Fiancée, won the grand prize at the Amazon KDP Pen to Publish Contest 2020.


Alisha on the Web:
Instagram * Twitter 

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter