Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Rhapsody


Rhapsody 
Isabelle plans to escape the real world when she takes a tropical vacation. But escape becomes too real when Paradise Resort disappears. To win her freedom, she must break an oath and out-play her opponent in a game of seduction. Her self-control is resolute until her traitorous body decides this is a game she wants to play.

Jonathan’s needs are simple: break down Isabelle’s resistance, win the game, and get back to the real world where an emergency waits. Desire grows between them as each roll of the die reveals secrets, truths and skin, until Jonathan is forced to confront his worst fear or forfeit Isabelle to the dark mastermind of the game.

Excerpt

Isabelle was vaguely aware of the stricken expression on Jonathan’s face as her knees buckled. Only with legs clenched tight did she keep herself from tottering over.
Impossible.
The sun was a blazing half disc hovering over the horizon, the trees, an ink smudge rimming the beach. Within minutes, the shore would be chilling, isolating, disorienting, all except for this one fire-lit area.
Jonathan’s gaze rose from the bizarre note she’d found. “It’s a joke, it has to be. We have to play a game to get back to the resort? Rhapsody? That’s insane.” He peered once again at the forest where ten minutes ago the resort had stretched over a few kilometers. Not a sound came from that site now, not even wind through the trees. Besides the flicker of fire, the night was still as a corpse.
“Did you find any sign of life out there?” She forced the words out evenly to tamp her panic and keep her voice from cracking.
“No, nothing. Did you know the resort has an invisible security fence? We won’t get past it if we go through the forest.”
“That’s odd. No, I didn’t hear anything about invisible security. Whoever wrote this note is playing games with us. Do you think this is a hoax put on by the resort?” Though she didn’t wish to admit it out loud, something about this scenario seemed . . . unearthly. A few feet from the fire lay a carpet with over-sized pillows placed for comfort and as the note suggested—pleasurable game play. She couldn’t kid herself into believing that display had been on the beach five minutes ago. The cozy fireside retreat seemed to have appeared from under the snap of a magician’s cloak.
“I doubt it.
“The note says we can’t escape the beach. ‘Play the game of Rhapsody to win your return to Serenity Resort.’ I don’t know who the lunatic is behind this, but we’re cut off from the hotel.” Jonathan checked his watch. As if the time mattered. With the sun sinking, it was light’s out any minute.
“I don’t have time for this,” he said.
Like she did? “Late for your date with the redhead?”
He shot her a wry look. “Not tonight.”
“Triplets?”
“I’ve got them lined up for Saturday.”
His dry sense of humor appealed to her from their first conversation. She couldn’t deny she’d behaved like his Monday night date until the redhead showed up. He’d been too easy to be with, like an old friend—they’d fit like parts clicking in perfect sequence. She could blame his good looks, the wine, the atmosphere, the conversation, but the truth was she’d gone to his room Monday night because she was too weak to keep to her relationship recovery program. But that was Monday. Today was a new day. “It’s some kind of magic trick. Mirrors?”
His gaze fell on the pillow arrangement. “I don’t think so. I see the game.”
She took a quick step back as he crossed in front of her, the thud of his footsteps a muted sound over the sand. Four torches rimmed the blanket sending shadows rippling over Jonathan’s features. “This is it—Rhapsody.” He read the words stamped across the box top before flipping the lid off.
“A board game? Are you kidding me?” Her panic subsided to a slow canter in her chest. This was nothing more than a silly hoax.
As Jonathan studied the board, she studied him. Her cast-away partner exuded some sort of undefined magnetic force that drew her closer, close enough to notice the mahogany highlights in his hair. The distinguished angles in his face knocked him up a level from handsome to devastatingly gorgeous.
Oh, sweet heaven.
He had a way of standing with his arms behind his back that made him appear open, receptive, with boyish, innocent appeal. His jaw was shadowed with a dark dusting under full lips with luscious curves turned in a pervasive grin. Luscious? She shouldn’t think luscious. He could have lips like sun-ripened peaches, it didn’t matter. She’d made herself a promise. No, stronger than a promise—a vow. No sexual relationships for one year. What was one year out of an entire life time?
She dropped her gaze when she realized he was watching her. That smile of his was infused with enough male heat to melt an iceberg. “What could there possibly be to smile about?”
“Guess what the objective of the game is?”

Sharon Clare lives in Ontario with her husband and three wonderful grown-up kids who come and go from the nest. She fell in love with writing at the University of Toronto where she graduated with a science degree in psychology and professional writing. She writes light paranormal romance and has published short stories, art reviews, newsletter and magazine articles. Her favourite place to write is outside under the maple trees beside the lily pond.
Links: Goodreads Sharon Clare Twitter 




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Desert Flower


 4 of 5 stars false
Bodies have a canny way of finding Samantha Jean Haggert—the first, the dead body of her mama; the second, a naked man in the middle of the Arizona desert. For Sam, dealing with one dead body in her lifetime is more than unfair. Two is downright cruel.
Seven years after running from West Virginia, Sam's now a young woman of nineteen, trying to put the pieces of her life together with the help of her family—Jacob, Boone, and Laura. But the naked man in the desert spirals her world out of control, resurrecting past hurts and revealing old secrets. It also pits against one another the two men who vie for her heart: Carson, her friend, her first kiss, and the one man who knows everything about her past and loves her despite it; and Turner, the stranger who knows nothing, but who excites and frustrates her all at once.
When bad choices made as a child lead to more bad choices as a young adult, Sam finds herself at a crossroads, forced to face her demons head-on if she plans to have any future at all—with Carson, with Turner, or with anyone. But fixing the wrongs of the past takes time, and learning to forgive one's self is damn near impossible.
Visit old friends in this harrowing sequel to Desert Rice, in which award-winning author Angela Scott brings back the characters so many readers have loved.

Review

****This book was part of a blog tour, I was given a copy for my honest review****
Samantha finds what she thinks is a naked dead man in the desert, only he is alive.  This is the second dead body that she has found, the first one was her mother when she was 12. Seven years later and she is working towards becoming a veterinarian. She is torn between two men and a past that just won't stay hidden. This is actually the second books in this series and I would really recommend reading Desert Rice before starting Desert Flower, it's not necessary but it helps with Samantha's backgrounds .  I liked this book, I can't pinpoint exactly why, it made me cry and the love triangle was a bit frustrating. However, there was just something there that made me not want to put it down. The emotional depth to this novel was refreshing, the characters have a sense of maturity not often seen in young adult novels. The authors writing was impeccable, the characters emotions leap of the page and I could see the scenes playing out like a movie. Desert Flower is a great book, just make sure you have the tissues ready.
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Transcend Time Book Blitz



Lizzie Davenport has been reincarnated from Regency Era, England ... but she doesn't know it yet. Then Drew Carmichael transfers into Lizzie's high school at the beginning of the year, and she feels a connection to him, almost like she knows him. She can't stop thinking about him, but whenever she tries talking with him about the mysteries behind her feelings, he makes it clear that he wants nothing to do with her. Reaching him is even more difficult because she has a boyfriend, Jeremy, who has started to become full of himself after being elected co-captain of the varsity soccer team, and her flirtatious best friend Chelsea starts dating Drew soon after his arrival. So why can't she get him out of her mind? Even though Lizzie knows she should let go of her fascination with Drew, fighting fate isn't going to be easy.
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  How far would you go to get revenge? When Chelsea Givens discovered that her ex-boyfriend Drew dumped her to be with her former best friend Lizzie, she'd never felt so betrayed in her life. Then her new friend Shannon tells her she can help set things right. Chelsea's willing to listen, but what Shannon wants her to believe -- that she shared a past life with Drew -- is impossible. And what she wants her to do to get him back … well, it's downright crazy. Could Shannon be telling the truth? And if she is, what lengths will Chelsea go if it means making Lizzie pay? Find out in Vengeance, the second part of the Transcend Time Saga. *Vengeance is the short story that bridges the events in Remembrance and the final novel in the Saga.*
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IT'S A RACE AGAINST TIME. In Remembrance, Lizzie and Drew changed the course of fate so they could be together. In Vengeance, Chelsea set fate back on its original, deadly path. Now, strange things keep happening to Lizzie. Things that are omens of darkness to come. A curse has doomed her to die an early death, just as she did in her past life. To make matters worse, even if she can figure out who cast the curse, it's irreversible. There's only one option left for her to save herself. It's crazier than anything she's heard yet, and to do it, she'll need Drew and Chelsea's help. Because to make things right, they must go back to when it all began ... and Lizzie discovers that the final events in her past life were more sinister than she ever imagined.
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This book is available for free on Smashwords
INCLUDED IN THE BONUS PACKET:

- Sneak peak of Remembrance
- Bonus scene for Remembrance
- Deleted chapter from Timeless
- Character extras for Lizzie, Drew, Chelsea, Jeremy, and Hannah
- Author interviews
- Essays written by Michelle Madow about the series

The Transcend Time Saga is about a high school student named Lizzie who has been reincarnated from Regency Era, England, but doesn’t realize it until she meets her soul mate from the past and he triggers her memories to gradually return. The series began with Remembrance (published July 25, 2011), was followed by the short story Vengeance (published December 8, 2011), and concluded with Timeless (published November 20, 2012). The series has sold a significant number of copies, and has received much praise from reviewers