a #NKBlogTours feature: Mike Torreano & 'The Reckoning' @mike_torreano #Western #Mystery

Today we have author Mike Torreano visiting. Welcome!

What would you like to tell readers about yourself?

* Mike Torreano has a military background and is a student of history and the American West. He fell in love with Zane Grey’s descriptions of the Painted Desert in the fifth grade, when his teacher made her students read a book and write a report every week.
* Mike recently had a short story set during the Yukon gold rush days published in an anthology, and he’s written for magazines and small newspapers. An experienced editor, he’s taught University English and Journalism. He’s a member of Colorado Springs Fiction Writers, Pikes Peak Writers, The Historical Novel Society, and several western history groups. He brings his readers back in time with him as he recreates western life in late 19th century America.

What are you going to tell us about today?

~ Blurb ~ * Ike McAlister returns home to Kansas after the Civil War, his soul bruised and empty. Worse, his parents have been killed by Quantrill’s raiders who are still on the loose. No stranger to death and destruction, he vows to run the killers down. A clue leads him to the high plains of Colorado, but when his sister, Sue, disappears from there, his world quickly spins out of control. In the midst of this turmoil, a feisty landlady sparks an attraction, the only good thing in Ike’s life.
* Racing against time, he must make a deadly choice. If he continues to pursue the killers, Sue will likely never be found. But if he veers off to find his sister, the killers’ trail will go cold.
* Which track to follow? Will the love of family triumph in his broken heart, or will it be the passionate hate of revenge? ~ Excerpt ~ For an excerpt, visit one of the buy links below. Buy The Reckoning here... Amazon | Barnes & Noble Find Mike Torreano here... Facebook | Twitter | Website Thank you for joining us here today, Mike Torreano! It was a pleasure getting to know you and your story.

A Look At Linda Bennett Pennell & 'Casablanca: Appointment at Dawn' @LindaPennell @GoddessFish #romantic #HistoricalFiction

Today we have author Linda Bennett Pennell visiting. Welcome!

What would you like to tell readers about yourself?

* I have been in love with the past for as long as I can remember. Anything with a history, whether shabby or majestic, recent or ancient, instantly draws me in. I suppose it comes from being part of a large extended family that spanned several generations. Long summer afternoons on my grandmother's porch or winter evenings gathered around her fireplace were filled with stories both entertaining and poignant. Of course being set in the American South, those stories were also peopled by some very interesting characters, some of whom have found their way into my work.
* As for my venture in writing, it has allowed me to reinvent myself. We humans are truly multifaceted creatures, but unfortunately we tend to sort and categorize each other into neat, easily understood packages that rarely reveal the whole person. Perhaps you, too, want to step out of the box in which you find yourself. I encourage you to look at the possibilities and imagine. Be filled with childlike wonder in your mental wanderings. Envision what might be, not simply what is. Let us never forget, all good fiction begins when someone says to her or himself, "Let's pretend."
* I reside in the Houston area with one sweet husband and one adorable German Shorthaired Pointer who is quite certain she’s a little girl.
* "History is filled with the sound of silken slippers going downstairs and wooden shoes coming up." Voltaire

Today Linda Bennett Pennell will be talking about how she became a writer and what inspired her in regard to the story she's promoting.
* I have always been a writer in some form or another, that is, after I got over my initial fear of the language arts. Every mistake that can be made with a child's early education was made with mine, but that is a story for another time. My path to becoming an author began when I was a senior in high school. I had a wonderful teacher who taught creative writing as one of the multiple semester long language arts offerings for seniors. She also taught the research paper writing course. In her classes, I finally discovered the joy of writing. Thank you, Miss Miller, wherever you are! College, an advanced degree, several certifications, and work all put paid to the creative side of my writing until I retired. At this point, I have come full circle. Writing and the act of creation give me great pleasure and I hope to write novels for many years to come.
* I hold a B.A. in US and English history, so it should come as no surprise that I have always been interested in World War II. When I originally started work on what is now Casablanca: Appointment at Dawn, it was entitled Wings and was set in Hialeah, Florida. It was to feature a ninety-day-wonder, as WWII pilots-in-training were known, and an army nurse. It just wasn’t working for me. While in communication with a former WWII pilot, he mentioned a friend who had been stationed in Casablanca. That sparked my interest. A bit of research into the First Allied Conference, which took place in Casablanca at the Anfa Hotel, and my pilot evolved into an OSS officer from Texas who speaks perfectly unaccented German and looks like a poster boy for Himmler’s SS. The Army nurse remains but she has transferred from Florida to Morocco where she is deployed with the 8th Evacuation Hospital. They become two people thrown together by circumstances who must learn to trust each other in order to survive in the weeks leading up to the Casablanca Conference.
* I have always found the North Africa Campaign fascinating, so the details of the conference were of particular interest. It was there that Roosevelt prevailed upon Churchill, Charles de Gualle, and Henri Giraud to formulate the policy of unconditional surrender by the Axis powers. Some German generals and government officials hoped to sue for peace as early as late 1942. They realized the unthinkable was happening. Germany was losing the war. Imagine how the peace might have looked without the policy of unconditional surrender. It is conceivable that Hitler might have survived the war. It is also possible he and his gang of thugs might have spent a few years as POW’s before being released, while leaving former Nazis in charge of the peace inside Germany. What an appalling scenario!
* Of course, the historical evidence shows that Hitler, in his megalomania, refused even the slightest suggestion of defeat, but in 1943, no one knew for sure what to expect. Spying and communications interception being what they were at the time, Germany knew the conference was to take place and its approximate date, but a Nazi translator made a significant error. He saw the word Casablanca, Spanish for “white house”, and assumed the conference was to take place at the White House in Washington, D.C., not the city in Morocco. The error was eventually discovered, but not in time for the Nazis to take action. Imagine how things might have turned out if the Nazis had figured out where the conference was taking place in time to attempt to disrupt it! That’s what I did in writing Casablanca: Appointment at Dawn.
A look into...

~ Blurb ~ * Casablanca, 1943: a viper’s nest of double agents and spies where OSS Officer Kurt Heinz finds his skill in covert operations pushed to the limit. Allied success in North Africa and the fate of the First Allied Conference—perhaps the outcome of the war—hang on Kurt’s next mission. The nature of his work makes relationships impossible. Nonetheless, he is increasingly torn between duty and the beautiful girl who desperately needs his protection and help.
* Sarah Barrett, U.S. Army R.N., is finished with wartime romance. Determined to protect her recently broken heart, she throws all of her time and energy into caring for her patients, but when she is given a coded message by a mysterious dying civilian, she is sucked into a vortex of danger and intrigue that threatens her very survival. The one person who can help Sarah is Kurt Heinz, a man with too many secrets to be trusted.
~ Excerpt ~ * “I’m Heinz. What do you want?”
* “Oh. It’s you.”
* “Yeah?”
* “From the restaurant on New Year’s Eve.”
* Kurt was silent for a moment, then it came back to him. “I remember. Sarah, right? You’re the girl who refused to dance with me.”
* A red flush crawled from her throat onto the apples of her cheeks. “Yes. I’m sorry if I was rude.”
* “I’ve been cut dead before. I got over it.”
* The girl’s eyes glittered. “I’m sure you did. Are you going to keep me standing here on the doorstep for everyone to see?”
* “Why? I’m not expecting company. Would it be a problem?”
* “It certainly might if the people who tore my apartment apart followed me here.”
* Kurt looked into her eyes with complete attention for the first time since opening the door. Whatever had happened to this girl, she looked terrified and angry. Not a particularly good combination for the covert activities he and Phelps were up to.
* Kurt made a quick decision. He stepped back and pulled the door wide while raising his voice.
* “You better come inside and tell me why you think what happened to your apartment has anything to do with me.”
* When they stepped into the living area, Phelps had disappeared. Kurt gestured toward the sofa and the girl sat down.
* Propping himself on the sofa’s arm, he looked down into her frightened eyes.
* “Now tell me how I can help you, Miss, uh…” “Barrett, Sarah. US Army. RN.”
* “Well, Nurse Barrett, what can I do for you?”
* The girl stuck her hand in her coat pocket and whipped out a scrap of paper that she waved in his face.
* “By telling me what’s on this paper and why it’s so important that somebody took a knife to my furniture.”
Buy Casablanca: Appointment at Dawn here... Amazon Find Linda Bennett Pennell here... Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter | Website Thank you for joining us here today, Linda Bennett Pennell! It was a pleasure getting to know you and your story.

ANNOUNCEMENT! Linda Bennett Pennell will be awarding $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour! So be sure to leave a comment AND use the Rafflecopter below. Also, visit the other tour stops for a greater chance of winning!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Look At 'Forgotten No More: A Lady Forsaken, Book Two' @CMcKnightWriter @GoddessFish #Regency #Romance

Today we have author Christina McKnight visiting. Welcome!

What would you like to tell readers about yourself?

* Christina McKnight is a book lover turned writer. From a young age, her mother encouraged her to tell her own stories. She’s been writing ever since. Currently, she focuses on Historical Romance, Urban Fantasy, and Paranormal Romance.
* Christina enjoys a quiet life in Northern California with her family, her wine, and lots of coffee. Oh, and her books…don’t forget her books! Most days she can be found writing, reading, or traveling the great state of California.

What are you going to tell us about today?
* My regency romanceForgotten No More: A Lady Forsaken, Book Two.

A look into the story ~ Blurb ~

* A lady forgotten by all...
* Ruby St. Augustin must find the truth of her past to determine what her future holds. She only has a short time in London to uncover the identity of her real father and the secrets behind her birth. If anyone learns of her mission, she will disgrace everyone she holds dear. What she doesn’t expect is to draw the attention of a man who doesn’t care about his reputation or her past.
* A man mesmerized by one...
* Harold Jakeston is a man without wealth or title. Resigned to a life he loathes, Harold has the chance at a few weeks of freedom before being trapped in a future he wants no part of. When he’s drawn into the mysterious quest of a woman from his past, he embraces the opportunity to forget the life that awaits him. What he never anticipated is falling in love with a woman who ignites his desire to create a new future for himself and for her.
* A love neither can abandon... ~ Excerpt ~ London, England
January 1816
* Ruby took a deep breath before trying the final drawer that could hold all the answers to her past, her true heritage. Her lungs expanded; she held the air inside. She didn’t exhale until it burned. With trembling fingers, she reached for the last drawer and pulled.
* Her nicely trimmed nails nearly snapped when her grasp on the handle slipped from the force of her tug. The drawer hadn’t budged.
* Locked!
* “Oh, poppy cocks!” she hissed. Moving her hands to the folds of her evening gown, Ruby procured a small pouch tucked neatly into a hidden pocket. Setting it on the desk, she pulled out her array of lock-picking devices, really only hairpins and small wires she’d collected since her first night—and her first failed attempt at breaking into a desk—to help her disengage the drawer.
* She had to know what secrets this lord held. Would she find an envelope inside labelled ‘Abandoned Daughter,’ or a report from the Bow Street Runners with details about herself—her hair color, the particular green shade of her eyes, places she’d been, perhaps the details of her activities over the course of her life?
* Nothing worth finding was that simply ascertained.
* No man, married or not, would leave record of their nefarious past. It was more likely her father had not spared her, or her mother, a second thought after throwing his pregnant mistress from his townhouse in the middle of the night with no coat and no means to get home.
* Ruby was anything but a fool, but she found herself continuing to search regardless. She didn’t need a signed confession—she just needed that letter opener.
* Picks in hand, she knelt before the locked drawer and eyed the keyhole, blowing a wayward strand of hair that had fallen across her face. She’d been unsuccessful more often than not when attempting to open locked drawers. But luck may have been on her side this evening. She’d entered the ball with little fuss, shortly after the host and hostess had quit the receiving line. It was surprising how similar the layout of most London townhouses were. Ruby had navigated the halls of the second floor and found the room she sought fairly quickly, encountering not a soul.
* The pins slipped into the lock and her tongue darted out of her mouth to lick her lips as she concentrated on moving them exactly right to click the lock over. She fought to keep her hands steady when sweat broke out across her forehead. She was running out of time.
* Ruby applied a bit too much pressure and the pin snapped, falling uselessly into the locked drawer. “Damn you to hell, mother!” she cursed and sat back, wiping her slick brow.
* She’d always viewed herself as a sensible girl, a dutiful daughter, and an honest friend. She could only imagine the horror on Vi’s face if she saw her now. A common thief. A midnight prowler. A defiler of privacy.
* Although, it could not be helped.
* She sought answers and at the moment all she had was an endless list of questions.
* Gaining her feet once more, she bundled her kit and slipped it back into her pocket. She turned her attention to the long table against the wall behind the desk. Leaning over, she ran her hand along the underside of the ornately carved piece, feeling for hidden compartments or—if her luck returned—a forgotten folder of papers.
* “Sherry, Miss Ruby?” an oddly familiar voice asked behind her.

Buy Forgotten No More: A Lady Forsaken, Book Two here...
Amazon US | Amazon Print | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | B&N | Kobo | Apple | Smashwords | Createspace

Find Christina McKnight here...
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Add Forgotten No More to your Goodreads List

Thank you for joining us here today, Christina McKnight! It was a pleasure getting to know you and your story.

ANNOUNCEMENT! Christina will be awarding a $25 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn winner, and a $15 Amazon GC to another winner, both via rafflecopter during the tour! So be to use the Rafflecopter below and visit the other tour stops (find them here: goddessfishpromotions-blurb-blitz-forgotten-no-more) for a greater chance of winning!

a Rafflecopter giveaway