Haunted Halloween Spooktacular: Jasper "The Beginning" by Eileen Sheehan

Do you love werewolves? Eileen Sheehan is sharing some backstory on them with us today, plus an excerpt from her book Jasper "The Beginning." Check it out and then be sure to enter the amazing giveaway from all of the authors who participated in the Haunted Halloween Spooktacular this month!

The Curse of the Werewolf 

The werewolf originated in the times of ancient Greece when their gods reigned supreme.  During one fateful festivity, Lycaon, the son of Pelasgus, was in need of a meat to serve.  Too lazy to go hunting for wild game or to slaughter a lamb, he served the Greek god, Zeus (who was the ruler of the sky and of all gods and mankind), a meal made from the remains of a sacrificed boy. This severely enraged Zeus. As punishment, the angered god turned Lycaon and his sons into wolves. They were to be looked upon by the rest of humanity as something to abhor. 

Zeus’ lover Selene (who was the goddess of the moon) took pity on Lycoan’s family.  She felt it unfair to make them pay for a sin that they had no part of.  After much effort, she convinced Zeus to shorten the curse and allow them to enjoy humanity until they were of age to wed and breed.  (This age, at that time, was their early teens when their hormones took over and a girl became a woman and a boy became a man).  Instead of the curse being a constant, it would activate only during the hours of the full moon. All other times they were allowed to be human.  

Although she campaigned for the pain that was involved in the shift to be eliminated, she was only able to have it become lessened over time.

As for humanity’s viewpoint on the werewolf, she was able to do nothing to change it.

As centuries passed, new gods came into play and Zeus’ power faded enough to allow certain branches of Lycaon’s bloodline to  breed out the curse enough so that it often skipped generations. In some, it would afflict only one or two per generation.  In others, it remained dormant unless they were exposed to a werewolf’s venom or scratch.  

Because humanity abhorred and hunted them, they kept to themselves and hidden as best as they could.  This meant that many with a dormant werewolf curse in their genes never encountered a werewolf.  They had the good fortune to go through life never knowing their true selves.  

Those who were less fortunate and encountered a werewolf had the curse awaken in them.  As did those of a generation that followed one that was skipped, leaving them without others nearby to aid them in their shift.

Such is the curse of the werewolf.

Jasper: The Beginning

Book One

Eileen Sheehan

Genre: Paranormal Romance Thriller

Publisher: Earth Wise Books

Date of Publication: June 29, 2021

ISBN: 979-8527979565

ASIN: B097XFT4VT

Number of pages: 162

Word Count: 55,511

Tagline: Taking a shortcut through a dark and remote alley on Halloween night proved to be a life changing decision of research scientist, Jasper Greene.

Book Description: 

Bitten by a zombie and brutally attacked by a group of werewolves, he was left for dead only to be discovered and rescued by a vampire king who took him home to heal. 

Delighted to discover that Jasper's research was on genetics with a focus on elongating life (for which he often used himself as a test subject due to lack of money), the vampire king assigned him the task of shifting the vampire DNA so that it was less obvious what they were when in the company of humans. 

With his assistant, Lila, in tow he was provided a lab and set to work. With toxins from werewolves and zombies mingling with the vampire blood he was provided during his healing time, Jasper struggled to adjust to his new body while he did his best to accommodate the vampires until the opportunity to escape presented itself. But, where does a man who has vampire, werewolf and zombie traits go?

The Beginning, is book 1 of the Jasper series.

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Excerpt

… Even though he’d drawn blood, it wasn’t the zombie character who pummeled him to the ground. He was still trying to piece it together, but he was certain that the beating came from another source. Two. No, three men.

They came out of nowhere in wolf-like costumes and sliced off the head of the zombie dressed character with a large sword while Jasper was struggling to be free of him.  

Jasper’s first thought was that he’d stumbled into a gang war zone of some type.  Gang battles were nothing to take lightly.  Although death was often a result of such battles, beheading wasn’t something that he’d read about in the news.

Traumatized to the point of being immobilized by what he’d just witnessed, he was unable to fight back when the three men proceeded to tackle him to the ground and pummel his body with fists, rocks, and, finally, a crowbar. It wasn’t until much later that he questioned why they’d left his head intact.

The attackers desire to closely mimic the character of the costumes they wore was both frustrating and shocking.  He could only reason that there was some sort of contest or gang challenge that they were participating in to make them behave with such dedication even while mugging someone.  If memory served him right, he was clawed and bitten by one of them as well.  

Left broken and barely holding onto life, he felt certain that he wouldn’t survive more than a few hours.  The possibility of someone of strong moral character stumbling upon him in that dingy alley and calling for medical help was bleak. If by some miracle someone did come along to rescue him in time, he’d definitely have to get tested for diseases that could have entered his bloodstream via these wounds.

He grew weaker and weaker as he faded in and out of consciousness. Whenever his mind got coherent enough to realize his situation, he was surprised to discover that he was still able to inhale life giving air.  He shouldn’t have survived such a brutal attack.  Yet, the searing pain that coursed through every inch of his body told him that he’d done just that.  

The question was… for how much longer?

Summoning enough strength to move his hand to his pants pocket, he was surprised to discover that his money was still there. He could feel that the designer watch that he’d purchased to replace the watch he’d inherited from his grandfather and had been stolen in a mugging while in his early twenties had also been left on his wrist.  Things weren’t making sense. Getting drunk and, then, acting in character and attacking in such a way was one thing, but since when did robbers beat a man to mere inches from his life and then not rob him?  Then, were they really robbers?  They’d beheaded a man, after all.  

About the Author:

Eileen Sheehan primarily writes hot, steamy romances (mostly New Adult) with a sexy male and strong female. A few are steamier than others (see their description). The majority of her novels are paranormal, but some are just plain novels about people in love (contemporary or historical with the author name of Ailene Frances). ALL of her stories have a bit of naughtiness, some excitement, a few thrills, and maybe a touch of mystery mixed in with sometimes naughty, sometimes sweet lovin'. She strives to write a novel length that will allow the busy woman to be able to sit down in an evening or two and be taken on a romantic journey without having a week go by before she gets to the end of the story.

An incurable romantic, she has a love affair with at least one of her characters... one book at a time. She hopes the same thing happens to you.

www.sheehan-author.info

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Preorder the Fallen Peak series by Shaw Hart!

This holiday season, Shaw Hart is releasing a series of contemporary romances featuring five mountain men! Check out the FALLEN PEAK series and pre-order your copies today!!

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FALLEN PEAK Series:

Get ready to fall in love with the mountain men of Fallen Peak. These five men are all determined to be alone until the women that they're meant to be with find their way past their defenses. Grab a blanket and curl up as we head up the mountain to Fallen Peak!

     

A VERY MOUNTAIN MAN VALENTINE’S

 

Rory:

It all started six months ago when I accidentally emailed the wrong person.  

From the first email, I was addicted.  

Over the last six months, we’ve formed a connection. We became friends, sharing everything. From there, we became best friends, but now I’m hoping that, maybe, we could be something more.  

Our emails have gone from nervous banter to fun to flirty, so it only made sense to me that we should take our relationship to the next level and finally meet each other in person.    

Rhodes:

I was hooked on Rory from the very first email.  

I've only fallen for her more in the last six months but I know that there's no way that she could love me. Not with my hulking size and the scars that run down the left side of my face and body.  

When she shows up on my doorstep, I'm shocked.  

Not because she looks like a curvy goddess, but because she doesn't seem disgusted by my appearance.  

When Valentine's Day is over, will I be able to let her go back home?  

 

Get Your Copy Today!

 

A VERY MOUNTAIN MAN HALLOWEEN

 

He’s my kidnapper… and my protector?  

Magnolia:  

It all started three months ago. That was when my restraining order was finally approved.   Unfortunately, it hasn’t stopped my stalker from following me from one town to the next.   Then I make a stop in Fallen Peak and my situation seems to go from bad to worse.  

Graham:   I don’t know what drew me to the curvy blonde bombshell, but one look and I knew that she was meant to be mine.  

When I clock the hooded figure following her, I react and kidnap her before they can hurt her.  

Now I’ve got to convince my dream girl that she can trust me to keep her safe while unraveling the mystery of who is really after her.  

Will Graham be able to slay Magnolia’s monsters this Halloween and convince her that she belongs with him?  

 

Pre-Order Today!

 

A VERY MOUNTAIN MAN THANKSGIVING

He’s the man of her dreams, but she’s not who he thinks she is…  

Myra:  

It all started two weeks ago. I needed to leave town, but I had nowhere to go.  

That’s when I stumbled on my roommate’s dating profile and saw the sweet messages some guy sent her. He invited her to come visit him and left his address.  

So, I may have stolen her account and messaged him back that I was on my way.  

It was only meant to be a few days, but once I meet Alder, I don’t want to let him go.   

Alder:  

When Myra shows up on my doorstep claiming to be the girl that I’ve been messaging online, I know that she’s lying but I don’t have it in me to turn the curvy girl away.  

So instead, I invite her in and try to see how far she’s willing to go with all of this.  

Then something happens.  

I start to fall for the lonely little liar.  

Will Alder be able to let Myra go? Or will he have something special to be thankful for this Thanksgiving?  

 

Pre-Order Today!

 

A VERY MOUNTAIN MAN CHRISTMAS

What happens when your pretend husband happens to be the man of your dreams?

Tilly:  

It all started ten months ago. I had just gotten to Fallen Peak and met my new boss.  

Ledger Miles.  

He’d be the man of her dreams if he wasn’t such a jerk.  

When the accident happens and she’s called to the hospital, she’s shocked to learn that Ledger doesn’t remember his life.  

In fact, the only thing he is sure of, is that they’re married.  

Ledger:  

When Tilly first got to town, I knew that she was going to mess everything up.  

I never wanted to settle down but ever since she’s got to town, I can’t stop thinking about what wedding ring would look best on her finger or how good her curvy figure would look if she was pregnant with my baby.  

Maybe that’s why I assume she’s my wife when I first wake up in the hospital.  

After a few days, my memories come back but I can’t seem to get the words out to admit that to Tilly.  

Will Ledger be able to get the present that he wants this Christmas? 

  

Pre-Order Today!

 

A VERY MOUNTAIN MAN NEW YEAR

A surprise pregnancy. A second chance to realize how right they are together.  

Snow:  

It all started five weeks ago. That’s when I had a one night stand with the hottest lumberjack that I’ve ever seen.  

I thought that it would be fine. I would finally do something crazy before I settled into my boring life as an accountant.  

Then I miss my period and all three pregnancy tests come back positive.  

I’m kind of freaking out and I have no idea what to do next. The only thing that I do know, is that I need to track down that lumberjack and let him know that he’s about to be a daddy.

 

Wells:  

When Snow shows up on his doorstep, he can’t wait to get her out of his house and his town. He knows that he can’t be in a relationship so maybe he’s a little harsh with her as he escorts her back to her car. He just doesn’t want to waste anymore of her time.  

Then she tells him that she’s pregnant with his baby and everything changes.  

Wells’ New Year’s resolution this year is to convince Snow to give him a second chance, but will he be able to make that come true?

Pre-Order Today!

 

About Shaw Hart:

Shaw Hart is an Amazon Top 100 best-selling author of contemporary and New Adult romance. She loves writing instalove romances that always end in happily ever afters. She lives in a constant state of motion, chasing after her two children and three dogs. Shaw enjoys the simple things in life, like spending time with her family and friends. When she’s not doing that, she’s reading romance books, watching stand up comedies or crime TV shows. Her favorite book tropes are secret baby and boss/employee romances. She’s a big fan of James Acaster, Anthony Jeselnik, Nate Bargatze, and John Mulaney’s comedy. Her favorite TV shows are Psych, Burn Notice, Leverage, Barry, Bob’s Burgers, and New Girl. She’s a Pinterest addict, dog lover, tea snob, and a wannabe yogi. She also writes contemporary romance books under the pen name, Rebecca Wilder, and she’s one half of the paranormal romance duo, Skye Alder.  

Connect with Shaw:

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Starting Over by Wendi Zwaduk

 

This one is for fans of paranormal romance. Find out more about Starting Over by Wendi Zwaduk and take a sneak peek inside before you download your copy. Follow the tour and answer her questions in the comments section along the way. Best of luck in the giveaway!

Music soothes Levon Blackfoot’s soul. He lives for the rush of the crowd and the high of performing, but something’s missing. The music he loves isn’t working. It’s time to make some changes.

Good thing it’s almost the New Year, the Haudeshaun. There’s no better a time to evaluate and pursue the woman he loves—Callie.

Callie King has loved Levon since the moment they met, but a misunderstanding destroyed their relationship. If she can open her heart, they can have a second chance. She loves and needs him.

Maybe Haudeshaun is the perfect time to get what she wants—Levon.

Two broken people with a chance to start over at Haudeshaun—if they’re willing to try.

Read an excerpt:

©WendiZwaduk, 2021 All Rights Reserved

The door opened and Callie ventured into the hotel room. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Sparks shot through Levon. Every time he laid eyes on her, he thought of the good times he’d shared with her and the way they came together to make love. She blew his mind like no other. She’d been in his visions, too.

“I heard you’re going to take a ten-day sabbatical. Do I need to set up anything for you? Or is this one of your trips where you drop off the face of the earth for a while?” she asked. She laced her fingers together and stared at him.

He craved her. From her deep brown hair to her toes, he wanted this woman. When she appraised him with her dark-eyed stare, he wanted to confess everything. He imagined the taste of her lips, the way she whimpered when they touched and the vision of her beneath him as they made love. She had curves in all the right places, that smile and just thinking about her touch sent shivers down his spine. He loved when she tucked against him as she slept—when they shared a bed—and her ability to give him a no-nonsense answer when they discussed music.

Fuck. He and Callie needed to clear the air because he needed her with him for the New Year’s festivities.

A vision formed in his mind. Him and Callie together for the New Year, a solid couple with nothing between them. She’d be his salvation—if she’d just let him in and let him prove he loved her.

Free in Kindle Unlimited

or $0.99 on Amazon

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Wendi Zwaduk, is a multi-published, award-winning author of more than one-hundred short stories and novels. She’s been writing since 2008 and published since 2009. Her stories range from the contemporary and paranormal to LGBTQ and BDSM themes. No matter what the length, her works are always hot, but with a lot of heart. She enjoys giving her characters a second chance at love, no matter what the form. She’s been the runner up in the Kink Category at Love Romances Café as well as nominated at the LRC for best author, best contemporary, best ménage and best anthology. Her books have made it to the bestseller lists on Amazon.com.

When she’s not writing, Megan spends time with her husband and son as well as three dogs and three cats. She enjoys art, music and racing, but football is her sport of choice. She’s an active member of the Friends of the Keystone-LaGrange Public library.

Find out more about Megan and Wendi at: http://wendizwaduk.com/indexMegan.htm

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Wendi Zwaduk will be awarding a prize pack with a necklace made by the author to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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Silent Protector (Verona Bay series) by Katie Reus

SILENT PROTECTOR, a brand-new romantic suspense novel in the Verona Bay Series by Katie Reus, is available now!

About SILENT PROTECTOR:

Some secrets keep you safe… 

Adeline Rodriguez left her violent past behind, buried her secrets and started over in Verona Bay. Now a successful co-owner in a local pet grooming business, she’s made a life for herself in this idyllic community, and has real friends. Thanks to her past, the only thing she hasn’t mastered yet is a real relationship. And when circumstances lead her to finally let her guard down with sexy Mac Collins, he completely ghosts her. Her first instinct is to close herself off again, but she decides to confront him instead—and that fateful decision puts her directly in the crosshairs of a killer. 

Others can destroy you… 

Mac has wanted Adeline since the moment they met, but she made it clear that she didn’t want a relationship. So he kept his distance. When they’re trapped together in a remote cabin, things change between them. But Mac’s past has come back to haunt him, so he pushes her away to protect her. Unfortunately, it’s already too late. Adeline is now a target too. To save her, Mac has no choice except to end the threat. Only then can he try to win over the woman he can’t live without. But winning over the feisty Adeline might prove to be harder than stopping a killer.

Purchase SILENT PROTECTOR today!

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About the Author

 

Katie Reus is the New York Times, USA Today, and IndieReader bestselling author of the Red Stone Security series, the Moon Shifter series and the Deadly Ops series. She fell in love with romance at a young age thanks to books she pilfered from her mom’s stash. Years later she loves reading romance almost as much as she loves writing it. However, she didn’t always know she wanted to be a writer. After changing majors many times, she finally graduated summa cum laude with a degree in psychology. Not long after that she discovered a new love. Writing. She now spends her days writing dark paranormal romance and sexy romantic suspense. Her book Avenger’s Heat recently won the Georgia RWA Maggie Award for Excellence in the fantasy/paranormal category.

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Read an excerpt from Well Played by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward

Coming soon is this hot new release from Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward! Whet your appetite and get those fires burning with this scorching excerpt from Well Played.

Title: Well Played

Authors: Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward

Genre: Standalone Contemporary Romance

Release Date: October 25, 2021

Excited about Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward’s upcoming release, Well Played? 

Check out this SNEAK PEEK!

Presley

Harper picked up the notebook that contained my to-do list from the table and opened to a fresh page. Clicking the pen open, she scribbled across the top.

To do with Levi

I chuckled. “Are we making a dirty to-do list?”

She wiggled her eyebrows and put the pen to the paper. “We certainly are.” “Tell me one thing you fantasize about doing with him.”

Yep, I was definitely drunk, because sober me wouldn’t have participated in this. Though, even in this state, I felt my cheeks blush. “Well, every day he goes out back and does pull-ups in that big oak tree. Sometimes I imagine he’s naked while doing them, and then I walk out naked, too. I wrap myself around him like a koala and he’s a tree, and he keeps doing the pull-ups. Hoisting us both up and down.”

Harper smirked. “Nice start.” She then jotted down koala pull-ups. “What else you got?”

“Well, I also have this running fantasy that I’m watching him do the pull-ups from my bedroom window with binoculars, and then I lie down on the bed and…you know…go to town on myself. And when I’m just about to orgasm, I look up at the window and see Levi with the binoculars. He’s watching me masturbate from outside.”

“Oooh… I like that one.” Harper wrote down voyeur masturbation.

For the next half hour, we polished off our spiked lemonades, laughed a lot, and added more than a dozen sexual to-do tasks to my list. It was the most fun I’d had in ages. But Harper had to fly home in the morning, and I didn’t want her to have a raging hangover. So rather than make another pitcher of spiked lemonade, I grabbed her a water bottle and some Motrin and told her to drink up before going to bed.

But as I walked around and shut off the lights, another fantasy hit me. “That peach cobbler we had for dessert at the restaurant was orgasmic, wasn’t it?”

“It sure was.”

I pointed to the notepad. “Sit on Levi’s face while eating that pie.”

Harper had been drinking water and spit it out all over the place. “Oh my God. That is most definitely going on the list!” She picked up the pen and spoke while jotting something down. “Double orgasmic peach cobbler.”

We started to crack up, but a knock interrupted our laughter. At least it interrupted mine. I looked up to find Levi standing in the doorway to the living room.

My eyes widened. “Levi… What are you doing here?”

His brows lifted. “I own half the place.”

“No, I meant I didn’t know you were back.”

He looked between Harper and me and seemed to smirk. “Oh, I’m back.”

My palms started to sweat. “I didn’t hear you come in. How long have you been…standing there?”

Levi tilted his head, and his smirk elevated to a cocky smile. “Not too long.”

Oh my God. I wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out. What if he heard? I suddenly felt pretty damn sober. “Umm…well, this is my friend Harper. She’s leaving early tomorrow, so we were just going to bed.”

He nodded. “Nice to meet you, Harper.”

Harper stood and hiccupped. She covered her grinning mouth. “Nice to meet you, too. Your family’s inn is beautiful.”

“Thank you.”

Her eyes shifted to me. “Although there’s a lot to do around here. Presley and I made a list. You might want to take a look at it and get going on some of the new to-do tasks we added.”

My eyes nearly bulged out of my head, and I lunged for the notebook on the table.

Levi squinted at me. “Everything okay, Presley? You seem stressed.”

“I’m fine!”

He nodded slowly. “Right.”

“Alright….” I grabbed Harper’s arm and tugged. “We’re going to bed. Welcome home.”

Levi never moved from the living room doorway as he watched me drag my friend out of the room.

Harper waved over her shoulder. “’Night, Levi. Enjoy your to-do list!”

Somehow I managed to get Harper to her room without her yelling anything too obscene. But for the next half hour, I lay in my bed with my heart pounding. What if he’d heard us? What if he’d been standing there listening the entire time? Oh my God. I covered my face with my hands. The things I said I wanted to do to him. My head began to ache, and tomorrow’s hangover hadn’t even started yet.

After another twenty minutes of lying there freaking out in the dark, my mouth was so parched that I needed a bottle of water. But there was no way I wanted to run into Levi again. So I cracked open my bedroom door and listened for any sounds of someone moving out in the common area. Finding it quiet, I snuck down the hall and peered around the corner to see if any lights were still on. They weren’t, so I breathed a sigh of relief and went to the kitchen for a drink.

I guzzled half a bottle of water before turning to slink back to my bedroom. But I froze at the sight of Levi standing in the kitchen doorway. My hand flew up to cover my racing heart. “Oh my God. You scared me.”

“Sorry. I was just going to head out to grab a bite to eat.”

“Oh…there are leftovers from lunch in the fridge, if you want. I made chicken pot pies this morning.”

Levi held my eyes for a moment. “Thanks, but I think I’m going to go out.” He walked over and leaned down to whisper in my ear. “I have a real hankering for peach cobbler.”

Oh.

My.

God.

My jaw dropped to the ground. I had no idea what to do or say.

Levi winked as he walked to the door. “Get some sleep. I wouldn’t want you to be too tired to work on that to-do list.”

★★★ 

Excited? We are too!

RELEASING OCTOBER 25^th!

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Please note: There will not be an Amazon ebook pre-order, but it will be available on Amazon in Kindle Unlimited on release day.

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ADD TO YOUR GOODREADS TBR

VI KEELAND

Vi Keeland is a #1 New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author. With millions of books sold, her titles have appeared in over a hundred Bestseller lists and are currently translated in twenty-five languages. She resides in New York with her husband and their three children where she is living out her own happily ever after with the boy she met at age six.

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PENELOPE WARD

Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of contemporary romance. 

She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor. Penelope resides in Rhode Island with her husband, son, and beautiful daughter with autism. 

With over two million books sold, she is a 21-time New York Times bestseller and the author of over twenty novels. Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.

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Haunted Halloween Spooktacular: Eliza "The Awakening" by Eileen Sheehan

Even better than getting a great new book to read is getting a tasty and timely recipe, too! Enjoy!

Severed Finger Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

2 ¾ c. flour; 

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

1 x. softened butter

1 ½ c. sugar

1 egg

1tsp vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with cooking parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

In medium bowl, cream butter with sugar and add egg and vanilla.  

Then, add flour and baking powder and baking soda.  

Using fork or spatula, until well mixed and texture of breadcrumbs. 

Squeeze handful of dough crumbs together tightly to form small log or "finger." 

Score top of log with butter knife to shape the knuckle, then press 1 slivered almond at one end to make the fingernail. Repeat to use up dough. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

Bake 15 minutes. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Eliza: The Awakening

Book One

Eileen Sheehan

Genre: Paranormal Shifter Series

Publisher: Earth Wise Books

Date of Publication: 8/31/2021

ASIN: B09956JTJ1

Number of pages: 178

Word Count: 26,380

Tagline: "The Awakening" begins the saga of a female shifter named, Eliza.

Book Description: 

Eliza is a simple and uncomplicated young woman.  She enjoys the outdoors, is good with animals, and, like most young women her age, loves to party and have fun.  When she meets a sexy man with an alluring Southern drawl, she has no idea that he is involved in a world that she is yet to know, but is her legacy.  Like it or not.

Amazon      BN     Kobo      Apple     Smashwords

Excerpt

It felt like someone was swinging a hammer against the inside of Eliza’s skull.  The early morning dew caused a damp muskiness on the earth that blended with the mold and dust that burrowed beneath the thick layer of leaves where she lay her aching burden; assaulting her nose and adding to her misery.  Her chocolate colored eyes felt pinned shut, but her hearing was abnormally acute.  By the sounds around her, she sensed her surroundings were familiar ones.  If she was correct, she was near the small cave that was nestled in a knoll that began the acres of woods at the far end of her family’s farm.  It was a place that she’d discovered at a young age and had frequented whenever she required alone time.  Her surroundings weren’t the greater mystery.  How she got there was.

As her faculties returned to normal, she sat up and realized that how she got there wasn’t the biggest mystery after all.  It was superseded by the fact that she hadn’t a stitch of clothing on.

None of this made sense. How did she get there and what happened to her clothes?

Straining her mind, she reached into the fog for a replay of the night before.  She’d gone with her best friend, Reba, to a newly opened dance club. The place was packed, and dance partners were plentiful.  The exertion from dancing combined with the excessive body heat made the air feel so stifling as to be practically unbearable.  She remembered stepping outside for a bit of fresh air.  Did Reba join her?  She struggled to remember, but the visions in her head showed very little.

Squeezing her eyes shut almost to the point that it hurt, she forced her mind to function.  She needed to remember the chain of events that led to her waking up naked in a field at the edge of the woods.  Had she gone home from the club and sleepwalked?  Or had something sinister occurred?  She just didn’t know.

 

About the Author:

Eileen Sheehan primarily writes hot, steamy romances (mostly New Adult) with a sexy male and strong female. A few are steamier than others (see their description). The majority of her novels are paranormal, but some are just plain novels about people in love (contemporary or historical with the author name of Ailene Frances). ALL of her stories have a bit of naughtiness, some excitement, a few thrills, and maybe a touch of mystery mixed in with sometimes naughty, sometimes sweet lovin'. She strives to write a novel length that will allow the busy woman to be able to sit down in an evening or two and be taken on a romantic journey without having a week go by before she gets to the end of the story.

An incurable romantic, she has a love affair with at least one of her characters... one book at a time. She hopes the same thing happens to you.

www.sheehan-author.info

https://www.facebook.com/groups/162542557665509

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Need: The Timeless Bond by Madison Wentworth

Need

Madison Wentworth

Genre: Paranormal Erotic Romance

Publisher: Madison Crest

Date of Publication: Aug. 30, 2021

ISBN: 979-8468157046

ASIN: B09F3WVDZC

Number of pages: 165

Word Count: 24,000

Cover Artist: Bookcoverzone.com

Tagline: Sometimes you crave what’s good for you. Sometimes he craves you too.

Book Description:

Cherie just met the love of her life, but there’s a catch: He’s dead.

It’s not every day you find true love on an adult website, but that’s the most normal thing about Cherie’s new boyfriend, Evan.

To start with, he isn’t actually new. They’re engaged, or so he says. But she has no memory of planning their wedding, or even meeting him, for that matter, because for her, it hasn’t happened yet.

The bond is there, though. She can feel it. As a vampire of the soul, she can taste it, and she needs to taste more of it. It’s a bond so strong that it awakened his spirit in order to find her. Now, she must save him in order to free him from death... so she can have all of him. She needs that.

Need isn’t a word she uses lightly. She’s never truly needed anyone before. But she’s discovering she needs him now, even as their time together appears fated to be cut tragically short. And he needs her, too, more than she knows.

Yet their mutual craving is only just awakening. Can they find a way to cheat the fates and find a future together?

Time alone will tell.

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Excerpt:

How are you supposed to feel when you find out the man you’ve fallen in love with, who you’ve never even met in person, reveals that the two of you were once engaged, and that you were—inadvertently or not—the cause of his death?

I try to plan for every contingency, but even super-prepared Cher hadn’t seen that one coming.

“Does that mean the whole thing has to happen all over again the same way?” I asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Does it mean we’ll get to meet, after all? Or do I meet another version of you instead?”

“I don’t know.”

This was exasperating. The odd thing was, I found it almost impossible to be mad at him. It wasn’t his fault, anyway. He had no idea how to get out of the place where he was, wherever or whenever that might be, or what would happen if he did. I had no idea how to get him out, either, but I did know I had to find a way—and without him getting run over by a car again. I’d strap him to the bed if I had to.

“If we were engaged before, does that mean we still are?” I asked.

“I think so, unless you want to break it off. Do you?”

“No, I like being your fiancée.”

“Good. Because I like it, too.”

I still didn’t feel comfortable telling anyone else about Evan, or telling Layla anything more about him, because now it was even weirder than before. So, the only person I was left with as counselor was my inner voice.

I need to get him back here again. I need to see him.

Need. It was a word I’d hardly ever used before, and certainly not in connection with myself. But I seemed to be using it more and more with Even.

How do you think you’re going to do that if he’s dead?

It was a good question.

I could call my ghost-hunter friends.

You don’t need to hunt him. You already know where he is: In that smartphone screen of yours! You drew him to you through the internet. Now you just need to bring him the rest of the way.

How?

By being yourself. He hungers for you and can’t resist you. He will come.

Could it possibly be as simple as that? It couldn’t be. I remembered the voice had asked me once before who I was, and I’d answered that I was just me. But I was only that person when I was alone. Otherwise, I was always pretending—except when I was with Evan. I could be myself with him, too. So maybe it really was as simple as that, after all. It had to be, because I couldn’t think of anything else. But how could I be my true self, my vampire self, when the world was watching?

You can’t. You need to go someplace.

It didn’t help that I was having this conversation with myself at work.

“Cher, can you come over here for a sec?” Joy motioned toward me. “This customer needs his frames adjusted.”

“Coming.”

Fortunately for the eye clinic, and for my own job security, I was great at multitasking. I was able to keep brainstorming about how to get some privacy even while I was adjusting Mr. Thompson’s new glasses to fit him perfectly without pinching the bridge of his nose or pulling down too much behind the ear.

“Thank you,” he said. “You’re very good at that.”

I laughed easily. “I should be. I’ve been doing this long enough. But you’re very good at being a patient patient, and that makes all the difference.”

He nodded slightly and... was he blushing? So often, I found that the smallest kind word or gesture was appreciated beyond what I’d expected. People didn’t treat each other with kindness enough anymore. It had become rare enough that, when it happened, it was unexpected.

And they were grateful. It was sad that common courtesy had fallen so far out of style.

But being nice to people was how I’d been raised; it was part of who I was.

Vampires are known for their courtesy. They only enter where they’re invited.

That was it!

I had to be myself—my vampire self—to draw Evan back to the land of the living, but I had to invite him, too. That was the one thing I’d been missing. He might be dead, but he was also a vampire, and if I invited him, he would have no choice but to accept.

About the Author:

Madison Wentworth grew up on syndicated reruns of Dark Shadows and The Twilight Zone, coming of age not far from the Malibu surf. A job as a reporter for a small-town newspaper meant digging through police reports, gossip, rumor, and innuendo. And that led to more work as a writer, and a move east and northward to the opposite coast, a venue far more conducive to night-owl vampires and their felines.

An interest in cinema — and outings to see movies such as Ghost and The Sixth Sense — reignited a fascination with the paranormal, and stirred an interest in blending the mystical with the sensual.

The result is NEED, the author’s debut novella.

Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.com/Madison-Wentworth/e/B09F5RH3LT/

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