Willow's Discovery, The Winters Sisters, Book 3

Last weekend I attended the Chanticleer Authors Conference. I enjoy this conference because it’s a mix of authors from a wide range of genres including, mystery, thriller, horror, children’s books, non-fiction, young adult, and international attendees. It’s always interesting to listen to an author who writes in a different genre. The highlight of this conference is the Saturday awards banquet. There are thousands of books entered into the writing contest and includes international entries.

I was thrilled when Willow’s Discovery, The Winters Sisters, Book Three, made the short-list in Paranormal and extremely honored on Saturday to be awarded First in Category for Paranormal. Thank you, Chanticleer Book Reviews for your recognition of Willow’s Discovery.

EXCERPT:

As she reached her office door, another bolt of lightning screamed through the atmosphere at the same instant a startling, explosive boom of thunder rattled the building. The lights around her popped out and plunged Willow into total blackness.

“Great. I guess this wasn’t my best plan.” She reached out for the wall and followed it slowly back to the door. The rain fell in sheets and blocked out all possibility of moon- or starlight. She bumped the door with the tip of her boot and felt for the lock and handle. “I should’ve at least thought to bring a flashlight,” she said, scolding herself. She stumbled down the steps, nearly falling on her face a time or two. She must be within inches of the cart. The cart was here; it had to be. This is where she left it. She shuffled in one direction and then turned and traveled back in the opposite direction. She left the cart here, right here.

Murky, dark energy overwhelmed her senses, except the energy didn’t feel natural, it felt—synthetic; at this precise moment she realized…she was not alone. “Oh my god – Wyatt!”

* * * *

 “I’m awake,” Wyatt said, and popped up as he came fully alert. He’d fallen asleep on the cot in the break room. He meant to go home right after the meeting; instead, he downed a couple of aspirin for the blasted headache that continued to linger the entire day and decided to rest his eyes for a minute or two. Blackness filled his vision, and he rubbed his eyes to make sure they were indeed open. He closed his eyes, focused, felt the change, and opened them once again, his surroundings as clear as midday. Still, he must’ve dreamt, because he could swear he heard Willow.

“Wyatt!”

“What the hell?” Not possible. He actually heard Willow’s voice. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and squinted at the glowing screen, the light much too bright for his night vision. He thought maybe his phone had connected to Willow’s and he heard her on speaker. But the screen was blank. Panic slithered down his neck and made him twitch. He punched the speed-dial button.

Willow took off at a full run. In the pitch black it was nearly impossible to stay upright. She managed to widen the gap between herself and the hideous energy. Her phone vibrated in her jeans pocket. She debated answering, but she didn’t want the person who pursued her to see the light; the glow would shine like a beam. She stumbled, fell, and rolled down a small hill. Once she regained her bearings, she knew where she was and crawled sideways until she came in contact with the first sword fern. She crawled into the ferns as the phone vibrated again. She reached into her pocket and fought to free it from her drenched jeans.

“Wyatt?” she barely whispered into the receiver.

“Hi Willow. I know it’s late and I’m sorry, but—”

“Please help me! Someone is chasing me! I can’t see them but I know it’s someone menacing and…”

“I’m on my way. Where are you?” he asked as he jumped into his boots and threw on a camo rain slicker.

“I ran out the front door of my building. I thought I headed toward the security shack; somehow I got turned around. I’m in the large grouping of sword ferns—”

“I know where you are. Stay down, stay quiet, and don’t move. I’m coming in hot—it means I’ll have my gun drawn—so stay put.”

Until next month.

Joanne 

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Yay! Wait...what? CONTEST

I know this isn’t news to many of you, but I’m getting married this year. I am in love with my best friend. I have a beautiful future ahead of me. Sounds very exciting, right? I mean I get to get all dressed up, buy a pretty dress and have a great party with all my closest friends and family…how fun, right?! But, I bet you didn’t know there’s a side effect that comes to planning a wedding. It’s a nasty little gremlin that they don’t talk about in all those foo foo bridal magazines. Want to know what it is? Okay, I’ll tell you, but you might want to sit down for this one.

WORK.

I know!!! I didn’t know either! I mean, I knew…but, come on, how many different fonts can there be for invitations? Then there’s colors – which by the way I’ve already changed twice in four months, so yeah. I’ve gone from Tiffany Blue with Chocolate Brown to now Turquoise with white and silver accents. Why? Pfft…heck if I know. Because it looks pretty! LOL. There’s too much to decide. And now I’ve got two teenage daughters pestering me about what our song is going to be. A song? Crap! I knew that we should have a song, but picking just one song that holds so much meaning is kind of nerve wracking. What if after a year the song gets old and I can’t stand to listen to it? Or what if I find a song which I feel fits us better, but I’ve already committed to the other one? *sigh* I mean this is a lot of pressure!

Soooo…guess what?! I thought maybe all of you could be my unofficial bridesmaids and groomsmen. Sit back down! You can’t say no! You’re already here! LOL. And like with all bridesmaids and groomsmen, your title comes with responsibility. Therefore, I’ve devised a fun little contest for all of you which will in turn help ME gather a bunch of mushy and girlie love songs.

PRIZE:

1 - $10 Gift Card to Bookstrand, Inc.

HOW CAN YOU WIN:

1 – Read the blurb and excerpt on my upcoming release, Surrounded by Roses which is scheduled for release February 7^th, but is already available for pre-order!

2 – Leave me a comment below (remember to include your email) with a love song you think my fiancé and I should dance to at our wedding.

*This contest runs until February 7^th 11:59pm EST

My fiancé, Zac will come on the blog and choose a random winner on February 8^th!

BONUS PRIZE:

If you include in your comment the answer to the following question, you will also be eligible to win a free eBook copy of Surrounded by Roses.

QUESTION: What did my fiancé do in the Navy?  

HINT: Some may say he inspired the character of this book. *winks* 

After years of working on submarines and loving what he does, a training exercise goes horribly wrong. Suffering from the loss of his best friend, Trevor Purlington comes home to try and get past the demons which keep him awake at night.

Emily Dennis spends her days working as a nurse and her nights anticipating correspondence from her deployed submariner boyfriend. The last thing she expected was to find him at home waiting for her after a long shift at the clinic where she works. After being apart for so long, she is ecstatic to finally have him home.

Only Trevor comes home to Emily a different man, one who is starting to overshadow the man she once knew. Overwhelmed and confused, she refuses to give up on the man that she loves and vows to do whatever it takes to knock down his walls and bring back the Trevor she once knew.

DIRECT PURCHASE LINK: http://bookstrand.com/surrounded-by-roses  

ADULT EXCERPT  Trevor took in the sight of Emily’s body. Her frame was petite, and he liked the extra few pounds she always complained about not being able to get rid of. He could get lost in the landscape of her body. She had curves which put any other woman to shame. He loved his country and was willing to die for it, but he would take the valleys and peaks of Emily’s body over purple mountain majesty any day. His cock twitched while he teased the taut peaks of her nipples. He always loved the way her body responded to him as if on cue. She made him feel powerful, as though he were the puppet master and could pull her strings into doing exactly what he wanted. As much as he hated to, he pulled away from the glorious, little points. His desire to be inside her wet heat overrode any other need raging inside him. Tugging at the hem of his T-shirt, he pulled it over his head and threw it on the hallway floor. Emily’s delicate fingers trailed across his chest and slowly raked down his abdomen. Her touch was featherlight and nearly tickled. She took a step closer to him and brought her mouth down to his chest. Lips that were a million times softer than he remembered caressed his skin. Using her tongue as a guide, she trailed her mouth to and from each of his nipples. She nibbled tenderly on them while splaying her hand up and around his shoulders. He allowed her to continue her quest, knowing how much she enjoyed exploring his body. Far be it for him to deprive her of something she got such delight from. He would take his journey later, surveying and examining in close detail every square inch of her body. Reaching in between their two bodies, he unsnapped the button of his jeans. Even the small relief in pressure felt like heaven to his dick. He had spent most of the day semi-hard in anticipation of their reunion. The wait to see her again had been excruciating. Three long months submerged below eight hundred feet in the Gulf of Bahrain with limited communication had been trying for the both of them. That excitement mixed with sexual frustration culminated in one giant explosion of lust when he’d heard her outside and pulled her up against the door. His cock had gone from semi to rock hard in one second flat. Emily was still showering his skin in gentle kisses. Some of them were so soft he could barely feel them. She had a tenderness to her that sometimes made him want to shield her from the horrors of the world. He’d seen things in the service that would make even the bravest men shudder. Her softhearted nature was just one of the things he had grown to love about her, but that wasn’t what kept him awake at night. He missed her body, her touch, and the feel of her pussy gripping him so snug. He pulled his zipper down, relieving himself from the constricting denim. When he first tugged the sides down his hips, taking his briefs with them, he hissed out a breath of air when his cock jutted out and poked against the bare skin of her belly. She looked up at him, her expression hungry and desperate. This was always how they were. They didn’t need words when their bodies were involved. All they needed were their hands and mouths to connect. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed him, her seductive tongue seeking his and stroking it the moment she found it. Both of them hurriedly pushed his jeans down his legs the rest of the way. Trevor shimmied the rest of the way out of his jeans, finally shoving them aside. He reached down and wrapped his arms around her ass, lifting her up and carrying her a few steps down the hall to her bedroom. He navigated through the dark room, and they fell to the bed, their lips still locked as they hungrily fed off of one another’s passion. Their relationship might be complicated by distance and a million other obstacles, but they were in sync when they were together like this. His urge to be inside her went deeper than mere lust. It was elemental. He needed it for sheer survival. Like an addict who had gone months without a fix, he needed the high that only she could provide. A realization smacked him upside the head and nearly knocked the wind out of his hard-on. He didn’t bring a condom with him, and the ones he picked up were in his bag in the living room. He pulled away from the kiss, pissed off for having to stop for even a second. “Shit. I’ll be right back.” “No, check the nightstand.” Getting up and off of her, he fumbled in the dark for the drawer handle. He opened it and found a box of condoms. It was still sealed and had never been opened. He tore at the side and pulled one out before throwing the package on the floor. With his teeth he bit off the corner of the foil package and pulled the condom out. He was about to place it on the head of his cock when Emily stopped him. Quicker than he had time to react she sat up and swirled her tongue around the tip. She teased him for several seconds, circling around and sliding up the base until finally she closed her luscious lips over the head and sank her head down on him.