Tag #silverdaggerbooktours

#blogtour A Hundred Black Sunrises by Tamela Miles

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Keeping secrets keeps you alive.

Sienna would know.

A Hundred Black Sunrises

A Friday the 13th Story

by Tamela Miles

Genre: Dark Paranormal Romance

A hundred
different ways to break your heart, a hundred different ways to take your last
breath. Sienna and Finn are exploring their strange attraction to each other
until strange becomes something sinister. The clock is ticking as they fight to
unravel the mystery of what draws them together on fateful Friday, the 13th.

 

What readers are saying:

A Hundred Black Sunrises is a haunting and emotionally charged horror
short that blends reincarnation, cursed love, and inevitable tragedy. The story
follows Sienna and Finn, two souls drawn together across lifetimes, only to
face the same dark fate again and again. What begins as an intriguing
connection quickly spirals into something far more sinister, as the truth
behind their bond unravels. Though short, the narrative delivers a powerful mix
of supernatural horror and tragic romance.

 – Alicia Dean, Goodreads Reviewer

 

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A loud cracking sounded across the room and a huge, sil- ver
gilded mirror fractured in half, splitting apart their reflec- tions. Elijah
grabbed her hand and spoke softly. “Let me get you away from here,
Poppy.”

As they moved toward the dining room entrance, one of the
kit- chen servants appeared. Her brown eyes widened and then narrowed at the
scene laid out before her. She hastily wiped her hands on her white apron and
latched onto Poppy’s other hand.

“Run far, far away from this cursed place. Take nothing
with you. His evil was contained while he was alive, but his death
means…” she trailed off and shrugged her shoulders.

“What…what did he mean by “a hundred black
sunrises?” Poppy asked in a tremulous voice.

 The servant smiled
sadly. “Nothing good, you can believe that.” She gestured towards the
hallway leading to the front door as a dozen other servants from the kitchen
suddenly crowded around them. “Now, go! Take her and go!”

Elijah needed no further encouragement and pulled a dazed
Poppy down the hallway, already filled with black smoke. As he opened the heavy
door, she looked back one last time to say goodbye to every- thing she had ever
known, and her gaze lit on Christianpaul’s smiling portrait of himself as a
much younger man. She shivered as Elijah led her out the front door and she
clutched his arm fearfully. Poppy knew every brushstroke of that painting and
never in her life had the bastard worn a smile in it.

Tamela Miles is a California State University San Bernardino graduate
student with a Bachelor of Science degree in Child Development and a former
flight attendant. She grew up in Altadena, California in that tumultuous time
known as the 1980s. She now resides with her family in the Inland Empire, CA.
She’s a horror/paranormal romance writer mainly because it feels so good having
her characters do bad things and, later, pondering what makes them so bad and
why they can never seem to change their wicked ways.

She enjoys emails from people who like her work. In fact, she loves
emails. She can be contacted at tamelamiles@yahoo.com or her Facebook page,
Tamela Miles Books. She also welcomes reader reviews and enjoys the feedback
from people who love to read as much as she does.

 

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#blogtour The Carnelian Throne by Janet Morris

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Estri was a daughter of light;

Chayin, a son of darkness;

Sereth, the son of all flesh.

Are they the three foretold who will make the truth of
prophecy?

The Carnelian Throne

The Silistra Quartet Book 4

by Janet Morris

Genre: Dystopian Epic SciFi Fantasy Romance

***** “Engrossing characters in a marvelous
adventure.” — C. Brown, Locus Magazine

***** “The amazing and exotic adventures of the most beautiful courtesan
in tomorrow’s universe.” — Frederik Pohl

***** “The best single example of prostitution used in fantasy is in Janet
Morris’ Silistra series: High Couch of Silistra (originally entitled Returning
Creation), The Golden Sword, Wind from the Abyss, and The Carnelian
Throne.” — Anne K. Kaler, “The Picara: From Hera to Fantasy
Heroine.”

“[…] today I thought I’d look at one of the most successful fantasy
debuts of all time, a series that became a huge international hit with its
first release, launching the career of one of the most prolific fantasy writers
of the late 20th Century: Janet Morris’ The Silistra Quartet.

“The Silistra Quartet began with Janet’s first novel,
High Couch of Silistra […] from Bantam Books in 1977 [, ] the far-future tale
of the colony planet of Silistra, still recovering from an ancient war that
left the planet scarred and much of the population infertile. With a
dangerously low birth-rate, it’s not long before the human colonists of
Silistra develop a new social order, with a hierarchy based on fertility and
sexual prowess.
— John O’Neill in Black Gate Adventures in Fantasy Literature

 

Estri was a god, and the daughter of light.
Chayin was a god, and the son of darkness.
Sereth was hase-enor, the son of all flesh.
Lovers and friends, could they be the prophesied three
who would wield the Sword of Severance, Se’Keroth,
and bring light out of dark?

“One from the east, born of ease and destined,
“One from north of south, divine, exempt of question;
the third from out the west,
Astride a tide of death,” quoted Chayin. He was not
smiling. It is a long epic. All has been foreseen. We
all know that tale’s end.”
— Estri Hadrath diet Estrazi, in “Wind from the Abyss.”

 

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“Gate!”
he bellowed over the storm, his dripping lips at my ear. The deluge had made us
sparing of words. Under leathers soaked to thrice their weight, I shivered in
spasms. Arms clutched to my sides, I stared into the rain. The driven sheets
slashed me for my audacity. Lightning flared, illuminating the riverbank white.
A moment later, the bright noise cracked through my head. The hillock trembled.

Over
the gate danced the lightning. Its crackling fingers quested down thick-crossed
slabs of iron, seared flesh. Emblazoned as they tumbled were those six-legged
amphibians, their streamered tails lashing, scaled, fangful heads thrown back
in dismay. I saw their afterimage: beryl and cinnabar, aglow upon the storm.
Then their charred remains splashed into oblivion, spun away on the fast
current.

“Down!”
One man shouted, the other shoved me, and as I staggered to kneel in the
sedges, the god that washed this land shook it, grumbling. I crouched on my
hands and knees on the bucking sod, between them. Little protection could they
offer up against shaking earth and searing sky, not even for themselves,
without divorcing themselves from the reality they had come here to explore.
And that they would not do.


Wind From the Abyss

The Silistra Quartet Book 3

Dystopia. Fantasy. Science fiction. Allegory. Political.

 

Wind from the Abyss is the third volume in Janet Morris’
classic Silistra Quartet, continuing one woman’s quest for self-realization in
a distant tomorrow.

Aristocrat. Outcast. Picara. Slave. Ruler …. She is
descended from the masters of the universe. To hold her he challenges the gods
themselves.

 

Praise for Janet Morris’ Silistra Quartet:

“The amazing and erotic adventures of the most
beautiful courtesan in tomorrow’s universe.” — Fred Pohl

“Engrossing characters in a marvelous adventure.”
— Charles N. Brown, Locus Magazine.

“The best single example of prostitution used in
fantasy is Janet Morris’ Silistra series.” — Anne K. Kahler, The
Picara: From Hera to Fantasy Heroine.

 

This Perseid Press Author’s Cut Edition is revised and
expanded by the author and presented in a format designed to enhance your
reading experience with larger, easy-to-read print, more generous margins, and
covers designed for these premium editions.

 

Wind from the Abyss starts with this . . .

 

“Since, at the beginning of this tale, I did not
recollect myself nor retain even the slightest glimmer of such understanding as
would have led me to an awareness of the significance of the various
occurrences that transpired at the Lake of Horns, I am adding this preface,
though it was no part of my initial conception, that the meaningfulness of the
events described by “Khys’ Estri” (as I have come to think of the
shadow-self I was while the dharen held my skills and memory in abeyance) not
be withheld from you as they were from me. I knew myself not: I was Estri
because the girl Carth supposedly found wandering in the forest stripped of
comprehension and identity chose that name. There, perhaps, lies the greatest
irony of all, that I named myself anew after Estri Hadrath diet Estrazi, who in
reality I had once been. And perhaps it is not irony at all, but an expression
of Khys’ humor, an implicit dissertation by him who structured my experiences,
my very thoughts, for nearly two years, until his audacity drove him to bring
together once more Sereth crill Tyris, past-Slayer, then the outlawed Ebvrasea,
then arrar to the dharen himself; Chayin rendi Inekte, cahndor of Nemar,
co-cahndor of the Taken Lands, chosen son of Tar-Kesa, and at that time Khys’
puppet-vassal; and myself, former Well-Keepress, tiask of Nemar, and lastly
becoming the chaldless outlaw who had come to judgment and endured ongoing
retribution at the dharen’s hands. To test his hesting, his power over owkahen,
the time-coming-to-be, did Khys put us together, all three, in his Day-Keeper’s
city — and from that moment onward, the Weathers of Life became fixed:
siphoned into a singular future; sealed tight as a dead god in his mausoleum,
whose every move brought him closer to the sum total, obliteration. So did the
dharen Khys bespeak it, himself. . .”

  

“Morris, so good
at giving us characters we can identify with, characters we can love and hate,
strikes at the very heart of the human condition and the duality of humanity —
both good and evil. Her prose is lean and spot-on, every word carefully chosen to
enhance the milieu of her imaginary world and advance the plot, giving us
access to the thoughts, emotions and machinations of the people whose stories
she is presenting to us. Once again, she gives us a “thinking man’s” science
fiction/fantasy that explores the nature of power and sexuality, and how they
can be used, misused and abused. This is a brilliant, mature and very adult
novel that will not only leave you thinking about your own place in the
universe, but questioning the very nature of existence.” – Goodreads reviewer

 

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The Golden Sword

The Silistra Quartet Book 2

Dystopia. Biology shapes reality. The further adventures of
the most beautiful courtesan in the galaxies of tomorrow.

She had the power to create planets. The sixty carved bones
of the Yris-tera foretold her ancient fate. Her heritage of power took her
beyond time and space and stole from her the one man she loved.

Enslaved on the planet Silistra, tomorrow’s most beautiful
courtesan unleashes the powers of the gods.

 

What readers
are saying:

 

“Pure excellence…. A heroic quest of the highest
calibre.” – Goodreads

 

“This is a book which makes one’s blood sing and one’s
mind ponder. I loved the first in the series and enjoyed this as much, perhaps
more. The ending leaves the reader desperate to know what happens to Estri next
– courtesan, slave, warrior, lover, rebel. What is next for our heroine?” –
Goodreads

 

“Call it what you like: science fiction, space opera,
sword and planet or erotic fantasy . . . The Golden Sword is all these things,
and so much more. A highly intelligent and sensual novel filled with ideas and
revelations, this is a gripping story that explores human sexuality and the
role it plays in politics. Although the memorable characters are bisexual, toss
away all your preconceived notions, for there is a humanity, a strength of will
and determination, a realism and depth of emotion to these characters that will
have you thinking twice about all you know and all you think you know. This is
a book for mature and discerning readers who like some meat on the bones of the
books they read. Janet Morris led the way for all the science fiction authors, both
male and female, who came after. “ – Joe Bonadonna, Goodreads

 

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High Couch of
Silistra

The Silistra Quartet Book 1

Biology shapes reality…

One woman’s mythic search for self-realization in a distant tomorrow…

Her sensuality was at the core of her world, her quest beyond the civilized
stars.

Aristocrat. Outcast. Picara. Slave. Ruler.

“Engrossing characters in a marvelous adventure.” – Charles N. Brown,
Locus Magazine

“The amazing and erotic adventures of the most beautiful courtesan in
tomorrow’s universe” – Frederik Pohl

“The best single example of prostitution used in fantasy is Janet Morris’
Silistra series… Estri’s character is most like that of Ishtar who describes
herself as “‘a prostitute compassionate am I'” because she
“symbolizes the creative submission to the demands of instinct, to the
chaos of nature …the free woman, as opposed to the domesticated woman”.
Linking Estri with these lunar and water symbols is not difficult because of
the moon’s eternal virginity (the strength of integrity) links with her changeability
(the prostitute’s switching of lovers). […]

Morris strengthens the moon imagery by having Estri as a
well-keepress because wells, fountains, and the moon as the orb which controls
water have long been associated with fertility, […] In a sense, she is like
the moon because she is apparently eternal, never waxing or waning except in
her pursuit of the quest; she is the prototypical wanderer like the moon and
Ishtar. She is the eternal night symbol of the moon in opposition to the
Day-Keepers […]

 At her majority (her
three hundredth birthday), she is given a silver-cubed hologram letter from her
mother, containing a videotape of her conception by the savage bronzed
barbarian god from another world. […] If Estri’s mother then acts as a bawd,
willing her lineage as Well-Keepress to her daughter, then Estri’s
great-grandmother Astria as foundress of the Well becomes a further mother-bawd
figure when she offers her prophetic advice in her letter: “Guard Astria
for you may lose it, and more. Beware of one who is not as he seems. Stray not
in the port city of Baniev …look well about you, for your father’s daughter’s
brother seeks you”. Having no brother that she knows of does not stay
Estri from undertaking the heroic quest of finding her father.”

 – Anne K. Kaler, The
Picara: From Hera to Fantasy Heroine

 

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Best selling author Janet Morris began writing in 1976 and
published more than 30 novels, many co-authored with her husband Chris Morris
or others. She contributed short fiction to the shared universe fantasy series
Thieves World, in which she created the Sacred Band of Stepsons, a mythical
unit of ancient fighters modeled on the Sacred Band of Thebes. She created,
orchestrated, and edited the Bangsian fantasy series Heroes in Hell, writing
stories for the series as well as co-writing the related novel, The Little
Helliad, with Chris Morris. She wrote the bestselling Silistra Quartet in the
1970s, including High Couch of Silistra, The Golden Sword, Wind from the Abyss,
and The Carnelian Throne. This quartet had more than four million copies in
Bantam print alone, and was translated into German, French, Italian, Russian
and other languages. In the 1980s, Baen Books released a second edition of this
landmark series. The third edition is the Author’s Cut edition, newly revised
by the author for Perseid Press. Most of her fiction work has been in the
fantasy and science fiction genres, although she has also written historical
and other novels. Morris has written, contributed to, or edited several
book-length works of non-fiction, as well as papers and articles on nonlethal
weapons, developmental military technology and other defense and national
security topics.

Janet said: ‘People often ask what book to read first. I
recommend “I, the Sun” if you like ancient history; “The Sacred
Band,” a novel, if you like heroic fantasy; “Lawyers in Hell” if
you like historical fantasy set in hell; “Outpassage” if you like
hard science fiction; “High Couch of Silistra” if you like far-future
dystopian or philosophical novels. I am most enthusiastic about the definitive
Perseid Press Author’s Cut editions, which I revised and expanded.’

 

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#blogtour Opening Danger by E.A. Shanniak

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Chocolate won’t kill him, but I might…

Opening Danger

Dangerous Ties Book 1

by E.A. Shanniak

Genre: Paranormal Enemies To Lovers Romance

I was supposed to be
starting over.
New house. New life. No more wolves. Then wolves broke into my home.
The night I moved in, werewolves came looking for something I didn’t even know
I had—a key powerful enough to get me killed.

Now I’m being dragged across pack territory to stand trial by wolves who’ve
already decided I’m guilty. My only chance at survival?

Evander.
Dangerous. Infuriating. Impossible to ignore.
He doesn’t trust me. His Tribunal wants me dead. And I’m stuck relying on the
one man who might be just as much of a threat as the enemies hunting me.

But the deeper we dig into the truth behind the key, the clearer it becomes—
This isn’t just about me.
It’s about power. Secrets. And something big enough to start a war. And if I
can’t convince Evander I’m innocent before we reach his pack…

I won’t live long enough to prove it.

Opening Danger is
a slow burn enemies-to-lovers paranormal romance featuring a hunted heroine, a
morally gray hero, and rising tension that builds into the rest of the series.
(aka s*x in books 2 & 3)

Warning:
contains violence, attempted assault, and mature themes that may be triggering
for some readers.

 

**Get it for only .99 pennies this May!**

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**The author is having a sale for May! Get started on a
new series for Only .99cents!**

  Wicked Witch

Wicked Ties Book 1

by E.A. Shanniak

A Slow Burn Enemies to Lovers Vampire/Witch Paranormal
Romance

Get it Here for 99
pennies!

 

Aiding Azlyn

A Zerelon World Standalone Book 1

by Ericka Shanniak

A Clean Romantasy Standalone

Get it Here for 99
pennies!

 

Securing Freedom

Ubsolvyn District Book 2

by E.A. Shanniak

An Alien Prince Reverse Harem SciFi Romance

Get it Here for 99
pennies!

 

Piercing Jordie

A Castre World Standalone

by E.A. Shanniak

A Harlequin Fantasy Romance

Get it Here for 99
pennies!

 

To Find a Whitman

Whitman Western Series Book 1

by Ericka Shanniak

A Western Clean & Sweet Romance

Get it Here for 99
pennies!

 

Winter Luna

Big Timber Pack

by Ericka Shanniak

A Sweet Contemporary Paranormal Christmas Romance

Get it Here for 99
pennies!

 

Luna Summer

Big Timber Pack

by Ericka Shanniak

A Dark Closed Door Paranormal Romance, Fated Mates, Found
Family

Get it Here for 99
pennies!

 

Hey there, I’m E.A. Shanniak. I’m so happy you’re here! I’m
the author of the successful paranormal romance series: Dangerous Ties.

My family & I live in a small town in South Central
Kansas where I work as a Deputy District Court Clerk. I absolutely love my job.
In between working, being a mom & life, I find time to write unique
adventures of all kinds. I try to make every book distinctive with diverse
plots & strong leading characters.

The book under E.A. Shanniak are spicy, naughty and super
fun. I wrote my Alien RH out of spite, haha! No man will tell me that I
“ruin” a genre. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my books and style of
writing. These were so much fun to write!

Feel free to reach out or follow. I love to interact with
all my readers!

Follow me on my FB Group – Shanniak Shenanigans – for all
the latest releases and freebies!

 

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#blogtour Battle Beyond the Veil by Cassie Sanchez

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Two worlds.

One forbidden relic.

A battle for survival or ruin.

Battle Beyond the
Veil

by Cassie Sanchez

Genre: Urban Fantasy

The Celestial War
shattered the Heavens; after millennia, the battle still rages.

On the most important day of Zahra’s career at the Gallery of Time Museum,
everything unravels. A mysterious package arrives from her estranged father,
and the Atar’zul, a relic that could secure her promotion goes missing. While
betrayal festers within the museum, a long lost love returns, throwing Zahra’s
world into chaos.

Kyden, a warrior angel and demon slayer, has guarded the spiritual realm for
centuries. When a famous archaeologist and forbidden artifact vanish, Kyden is
forced to protect a human, a job he vowed long ago to never do again.

Together, Zahra and Kyden must face rising demon threats and the cursed magic
of the Atar’zul. As darkness closes in, they join forces to defend both realms
and find that ending the battle beans trusting each other. Sacrifices must be
made—the cost of which might be their very souls.

Welcome to the battle for humanity’s
future—a story of loyalty, temptation, and the fragile line between light and
shadow.

 

**NEW RELEASE – GET IT NOW!**

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Cassie Sanchez is the award-winning author behind
the Darkness trilogy—a whirlwind of fast-paced fantasy romance
where danger dances with desire and magic always has a price. Based in the
enchanting Southwest, she lives with her husband and two crazy labs named
Bullet and Scout. When she’s not writing happily-ever-afters, she can be found
wielding a Pickleball paddle or cuddling with her nogs for an afternoon nap.

 At the heart of Cassie’s stories are characters who
stumble, fall, and rise again—wrestling with forgiveness and searching for
redemption. Step into her world, where every story casts a spell and love
conquers all, even the shadows.

 

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#blogtour Stay at Castle Dracula… By Jim Nemeth

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I can scare and thrill you in only…100 words!

Stay at Castle
Dracula…and Other Short-Short Stories

by Jim Nemeth

Genre: Horror Short Stories

Do you
enjoy a good drabble? No, not America’s most popular word game—that’s Scrabble.
No, not those cute, furry little creatures from Star Trek—those are tribbles.
A drabble is a form of intense fiction writing consisting of 100 words. Not 100
chapters, not 100 paragraphs, nor even 100 lines. 100 words. Exactly.

 Author Jim Nemeth loves the format and is an
accomplished dabbler in drabbles. “Whenever I explain to friends what a drabble
is,” Nemeth relates, “I get the exact same expression of disbelief: ‘100 words?’
In fact, I took these reactions and wrote a drabble about it, “Impossible
Assignment,” which leads off the collection.”

Stay
at Castle Dracula and Other Short-Short Stories, a chapbook,
collects 26 tales, 23 of which are drabbles. With the three other stories, the
author “splurged” and indulged himself with an additional 100-200 words.

Other
tales of five score words include “Disgruntled,” where a joyous family
Christmas celebration turns horrific when a little boy doesn’t get the toy he
wanted; “Love Potion” relates what happens when a witch’s magic works too
well. And in the title story, another young English traveler debates his
decision in staying in Count Dracula’s centuries’ old castle.

 

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Love Potion

 

“I’ll always love you.”

Sarah, disrobing in preparation for bed,
recalled the first time Michael uttered these words, mere days after she’d
slipped the love potion into his wine. She’d only half-heartedly believed that
the vial of liquid given by the wiccan witch could turn Michael’s barely
passing interest in Sarah to all-enveloping devotion!

Four years of bliss before Michael’s
untimely passing in a car accident.

They say that love never dies. Sarah had
never really believed that old adage until a few days after Michael’s funeral.

As she lie in bed, Michael stretched a
decayed arm across Sarah’s waist.

 

In 1993, Nemeth won first prize in a national magazine’s short story
writing contest for which legendary authors Ray Bradbury and Robert Bloch were
judges. The award held special meaning for Nemeth, as Bloch remains his
favorite writer and main literary influence. Nemeth is the author of two
additional books: It Came From…The Stories and Novels Behind Classic
Horror, Fantasy, and Science Fiction Films and Robert Bloch: An
Unconventional Bibliography, as well as being the webmaster of The Robert
Bloch Official Website (robertbloch.net).

A long-time community activist, the author is particularly committed to
the cause of animal rescue. He lives in the historic harbor town of Marblehead,
MA.

 

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the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

Enter the Stay at Castle Dracula Giveaway Here… If You Dare…

#blogtour Looking For Lucy by Debbie De Louise

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A missing cousin, 

A Mysterious Mansion, 

Family Secrets, 

and
a “ghost” cat. 

Looking For Lucy

by Debbie De Louise

Genre: Gothic Mystery, Psychological Thriller

 She was never meant
to be the brave one.

Despite their different personalities, cousins Mary and Lucy are closer than
sisters. Mary, a teacher in a small town, fears change and suffers from
claustrophobia. Lucy, a thrill-seeker, travels around the world in search of
adventure.

When Lucy goes missing, Mary, her mother, and aunt visit a Long Island mansion
called Hollingham Hall where Lucy had been employed as a tour guide before she
disappeared. There, Mary meets three men, one of whom may have been romantically
involved with Lucy – a charming historian, a volatile artist, and a friendly
landscaper.

As Mary searches for her cousin, she is drawn deeper into Hollingham’s
labyrinthine gardens and shadowed corridors where she discovers a chilling
connection between Lucy and a woman who vanished seventy years ago on the eve
of her wedding. She also learns of the “ghost cat” rumored to prowl the
property.

When strange events take place at Hollingham, the police are called to
investigate. But is Lucy alive and is her disappearance connected to the
missing bride or one of the men on the estate?

A mystery of illicit affairs, hidden passageways, and family secrets, Looking
for Lucy is the perfect read for fans of gothic novels, psychological
thrillers, and atmospheric suspense.

 

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The wallet was evidence
that Lucy’s call wasn’t a false alarm. I felt a chill running through me, and
my mother was already looking in her purse for her phone to call 911. Aunt
Linda, however, was fully in control. “Now let’s not jump to conclusions,” she
said. “There’s no evidence of a crime here. The wallet may have fallen out of
Lucy’s purse or duffel bag. When she discovers that she left it behind, she’ll
come back to get it.”

My mother sighed, and it was one of those sisterly sighs I’d
witnessed her make many times around Aunt Linda. “That’s not the point, Lynn.
How can Lucy get anywhere without money and her I.D.?”

“You don’t give my daughter credit for her resourcefulness. She’s
travelled halfway around the world, for gosh sakes.”

Walter observed the sisters’ exchange with curiosity. I had no
desire to take either side. I was just concerned that Lucy, as resourceful as
she was, could be in danger.

“Well, you’re her mother,” my mother added. “If you’re not
worried, then I guess her aunt shouldn’t be either.”

I had to add my two cents. “What about her cousin? I was the one
who received her call for help.”

Both women seemed to run out of ammunition at that point, so
Walter interjected. “I think the best thing to do is to tell Mrs. G.” He
glanced at his watch. “The tour should be over soon. I can take you back to the
house to wait for her.”

Mom was mollified by that suggestion because, at least, it was
doing something. Aunt Linda shrugged. She and my mom followed Walter out of the
carriage house. He waited for me and then locked the door. Aunt Linda had put
Lucy’s wallet in her purse.

“Instead of going back the way we came, I’d like to take you
another way,” Walter said, turning right from the carriage house. “We’ll pass
my cottage. It’s a circle.”

It was a short walk to Walter’s cottage. Like the Carriage House,
only slightly smaller, it was bordered by flowers. A black and brown striped
cat was munching on some green leafy plants growing under the front window.
Walter smiled. “That’s my cat, Toppy. I grow catnip for him.”

“Toppy, what an interesting name,” I said.

“It’s short for Topiary,” Walter explained. “I found him near one
of the Topiaries about a year ago and adopted him. I think he wandered into the
estate, but he was only a kitten and no one in the area claimed him when I put
up notices.”

“You have a topiary garden?” Aunt Linda asked. “I adore topiaries.
You have to show me.”

Walter’s face brightened. “You’ll probably also enjoy the maze.”

“A garden maze, oh how delightful!”

I
couldn’t believe that she was more interested in the estate’s botany than in
finding her daughter. 


Debbie De Louise is an award-winning author and a retired
reference librarian. She is a member of Sisters-in-Crime, International
Thriller Writers, the Cat Writers’ Association, and the South Carolina Writers
Association. She’s written over twenty books including three cozy mystery
series: the Cobble Cove Mysteries, Buttercup Bend Mysteries, and her new
series, Soup the Supernatural Kitten Mysteries. She’s also written a paranormal
romance, standalone mysteries, a time-travel novel, and a collection of cat poems.
Her stories and poetry appear in more than a dozen anthologies. Originally from
Long Island, she moved to South Carolina where she now lives with her husband,
daughter, and three cats. Learn more about Debbie and her books by visiting her
website at https://debbiedelouise.com.

  

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