I’m thrilled to be part of the Enchanted Lover: Tales of Everlasting Love boxed set, with Margaret Ethridge, JC Wardon, Jan Scarbrough, JM Kelley, and Cat Shaffer. This wonderfully diverse set of paranormal novels is sure to please. No vampires and no werewolves, but there is magic, ghosts/spirits, mystics, witches, reincarnation, and time-travel. That enough to scratch your paranormal itch?

 

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My book, Entranced, is the lead book in my Soul Mates series. Here’s the blurb:

 

Can souls touch through time and hold on when all odds are against them?

 

Claire Winslow vacations on an East Coast barrier island, content with her life and her potential future—until the illusion of a man walking the misty shore haunts her. Then one kiss—a beautiful, soulful, stolen kiss in the night—and her life changes forever.

 

Nearly 300 years past, Jack Porter is in hot pursuit of his kidnapped wife. Not an easy feat considering the year is 1718 and the kidnapper is the notorious pirate Blackbeard aka Edward Teach. Determined to rescue his wife and take the pirate’s head in the process, Jack steals aboard the pirate’s ship to save her.

 

Entranced sends Jack and Claire on a wild search through time, not only for the resolution to a powerful attraction between them, but also for a historical artifact that holds the key to their future happiness—the coveted silver-plated chalice made from Blackbeard’s skull.

***

The year was 1990 (I think). I had just discovered Romance Writers of America and was attending a yet-to-be-official Kentucky chapter meeting. I’d met informally with a couple of the women who were pulling the chapter together. The lady who was soon to be the president had just returned from the RWA convention.

 

During the meeting she pulled out a thick, red, hardback novel, placed it on the table, and said, “And this publisher was giving away this novel. I assume they think she is going to be huge! Why would they put a hardback novel on the chair of every attendee at dinner if they didn’t think so?” She passed the book around. I held it in my hands and could only dream. I jotted down the title, and soon thereafter, bought my own copy.

 

That book was Diana Galbadon’s Outlander. And yes, she of course, turned out to be huge. Outlander was my introduction to time travel novels – especially romantic time travel novels. I fell in love with Jamie Fraser like most every other woman who has read the books. I loved the idea of falling through time—how does that work, exactly? And was curious about how to handle parallel universes, and make everything fit together.

 

The thought of escape, disappearance, of not being in control of what was happening to you, or where you had landed, intrigued me. And as years rolled on, after reading the first few books in the series, I knew that I needed to pen one of my own. How? I wasn’t sure. And I definitely didn’t whip one or two out within a few months. I can easily say this writing project has been with me for two decades.

 

At this point in my writing career, I was a neophyte. I’d been stabbing at contemporary category romance, sending my work out to Harlequin and Silhouette. Unsuccessfully. What made me think I could pull off something incredibly complex like a time travel novel? Or a series? I suppose it was the immediate love I had for the genre. It was different, at least to me. I’d never read anything like it before. And I knew I had to go for it. I also knew it would be tricky, and that I needed to take my time with it.

 

While on a family vacation during spring break of 1992, I found my premise, and the setting. Pirates, the ocean, the Outer Banks of North Carolina. My next step was research. And finally, I started to write. And write. And write.

 

And now, here we have it. The five book Soul Mates series, with the first three books released, and books four and five coming in winter/spring 2015. I’m so excited to have Entranced be included with this boxed set, so that more readers can hopefully be turned on to this series. Enjoy!

 

Remember, here are the details for the Enchanted Lover boxed set!

 

ENTER TO WIN A $25 AMAZON GIFT CARD & A SET OF 7 PRINT BOOKS HERE!

ENCHANTED LOVER: Tales of Everlasting Love 

Seven Novels of Mystical, Magical and Paranormal Romance

PARAMOUR by Margaret Ethridge (ghost) Two men: one living, one dead, and both vying for her love. Camellia Stafford has never been alone in her room. For twenty years, she’s been engaged in a fierce power struggle with her bedroom’s previous tenant, Frank DeLuca, the ghost trapped in the light fixture above her bed.

 

ENTRANCED by Maddie James (time travel, reincarnation) Jack and Claire set out on a wild search through time, not only for the resolution to a powerful attraction between them, but also for a historical artifact that holds the key to their future happiness–the coveted silver-plated chalice made from Blackbeard’s skull.

 

MYSTIC THUNDER by JC Wardon (witch, mystic) Millennia of tempestuous ancestral history forewarn Rayne Cavanaugh to hide her ability to communicate with ghosts. But– When the nephew of the man she just can’t resist goes missing in the mountains of Mystic Waters, West Virginia, she must decide between self-preservation and love.

 

RUNNING OUT OF TIME by Cheryl Norman (time travel) When Stacy Webber travels to Germany for her best friend’s wedding, she loses more than her luggage and purse. She lands in a different time, fifty years ago, with no idea how to return to her world.

 

TIMELESS by Jan Scarbrough (psychic, ghost, reincarnation) When Beth Abbott receives a surprise inheritance from her birth mother, she travels to the family’s nineteenth century mansion in Old Louisville, KY, now a bed and breakfast. There she meets the resident ghost, a little girl whose crying not only scares, but also intrigues guests.

 

MAN OF HER DREAMS by Cat Shaffer (dreams, parallel times) Jessi Flint has a perfectly good life with a successful business and the perfect man. So, he’s only in her dreams…until her flaky assistant goes to a New Age fair and Jessi suddenly begins receiving gifts with love notes signed by a mysterious Damian.

 

ALMOST MAGIC by J.M. Kelley (magic, witch, gifts) When it came to Vivian Burroughs’ unique connection with nature, her grandmother always said, ‘Mediocrity may not burn as bright as a firecracker, but it seldom blows up in your face.’ But the old woman never advised her on what to do when a sexy new neighbor stokes the flames of attraction.

 

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About Maddie James

Whether writing traditional contemporary romance or building paranormal worlds, bestselling romance author, Maddie James, pens stories that frequently cross a variety of romantic sub-genres. Sweet or spicy, suspense or comedy, western or time-travel, her heroes and heroines always chase one thing—the happily-ever-after—whether they realize it or not!

 

Maddie has over 40 titles in ebook and trade paperback print published worldwide, with foreign editions in French, German, Dutch, Russian, Spanish, and more. Her books have received numerous 5 Star and Top Pick reviews and have landed on various retailer top-selling lists. She has been listed as a Top 100 Most Popular Contemporary Romance Author at Amazon.

***

Thank you for hosting me! Please visit my website at www.maddiejames.com, where you can find out how to connect with me in all of my other places! Be sure to sign up for my newsletter, because that’s where you get the goodies. Thank you!

Cheryl Norman, author of Running Out of Time is here to visit today. Welcome, Cheryl!

RUNNING OUT OF TIME, my time travel novel that’s included in the Turquoise Morning Press’s Enchanter Lover boxed set, takes the heroine back fifty years to West Germany during the Cold War. Younger readers may have missed the Cold War. Some of us remember the tension and terror of the constant threat of nuclear war. Scary times.

Take fifty-two years ago this month. Perhaps you’ve read or seen history programs about the Cuban Missile Crisis. I was in junior high school and the crisis is permanently etched in my memory. On October 14, a U-2 spy plane shot photographs proving that Soviet missiles were being erected in Cuba. To prevent alarming the American public, and to conceal his evidence from the U.S.S.R. (and some say, for political timing because of the upcoming midterm elections), President John F. Kennedy kept the buildup of Soviet missiles in Cuba a closely guarded secret. On October 17, a second U-2 plane photographed more missiles, missiles with enough range to strike anywhere in the continental United States.

Diplomacy failed on October 18 when Andrei Gromyko denied any buildup of military weaponry in Cuba. Rather than confront him with the evidence, President Kennedy maintained secrecy and met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff on a course of action. As a teen, I knew only what the president told us in his televised speech on October 22. The United States would quarantine the island of Cuba (a nice way of saying “blockade”) until the missiles were removed. It wasn’t until years later I learned how frighteningly close we came to war. The military wanted to invade Cuba, and who knows what would’ve ensued.

Fifty-six USNC warships and eight aircraft carriers circled the waters around Cuba enforcing the quarantine. As I remember it, the next few days were the most stressful of the Cold War. U.S. military bases worldwide were on high alert. Nuclear war seemed imminent when a U-2 stationed in Alaska wandered into Soviet airspace and encountered Soviet fighter jets. Fortunately, the U-2 escaped and returned unharmed, but not before a group of American fighter jets launched. In Cuba, a U-2 was shot down. The nation was on edge, and I suddenly wished my dad had built that fallout shelter we’d seen on television.

 

Eventually, both the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Premier Khrushchev backed down from their military threats and reached an agreement. The Soviets would dismantle and remove all missiles from Cuba and the United States would lift its quarantine and remove missiles from Turkey. By the end of November, all Soviet missiles were gone from Cuba. One year later, President Kennedy was dead and by October, 1964, Khrushchev left office. He never recovered from losing face. Backing down from Kennedy was viewed by party leaders as a sign of weakness for the USSR.

My story takes place in the weeks following the Cuban Missile Crisis and is set in an actual U.S. Army base in Germany. It isn’t a good time or place for a modern time-traveling Hooter’s girl!

 

Running Out of Time

When Stacy Webber travels to Germany for her best friend’s wedding, she loses more than her luggage and purse. She lands in a different time, fifty years ago, with no idea how to return to her world. The only people who speak her language are suspicious military personnel who either want to arrest her or commit her to a mental hospital.

MP Sergeant Douglas “Brad” Bradley, charged with keeping Stacy in custody, doesn’t know whether she is a clever Soviet spy or a victim of brainwashing. In spite of her wild claims of being from the future, he knows she’s no time traveler. She’s a beautiful young woman who seems genuinely vulnerable, but it could be part of an espionage act. Brad can’t decide whether to handcuff her or kiss her.

When Stacy figures out the purpose behind her jump through time, she faces a difficult and dangerous decision. Can she sacrifice her future to save Brad’s before it’s too late?

Cheryl Norman grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, and earned a BA in English at Georgia State University in Atlanta. After a career in the telecommunications industry, she turned to fiction writing and won the 2003 EPPIE award for her contemporary romance, Last Resort.  Her debut with Medallion Press, Restore My Heart, led to a mention in Publisher’s Weekly as one of ten new romance authors to watch. Running Scared, a romantic suspense set in Jacksonville, Florida, and Washington D.C., received a Perfect 10 from Romance Reviews Today. Reviewer Harriet Klausner calls her writing “Mindful of Linda Howard.” She currently writes the Drake Springs series romance novels for Turquoise Morning Press.

Her passion for cooking and healthful eating led her to write four cookbooks and an award-winning blog, The Hasty Tasty Meals Kitchen (hastytastymeals.com). She also offers writers grammar help via her Grammar Cop blog, newsletter articles, and workshops.

In addition to writing fiction and cookbooks, Cheryl works with other breast cancer survivors to raise awareness about early detection and treatment of the disease.

Visit Cheryl at her Web site: http://cherylnorman.com , Twitter: http://twitter.com/cherylnorman
and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cherinorman

ENTER TO WIN A $25 AMAZON GIFT CARD & A SET OF 7 PRINT BOOKS HERE!

ENCHANTED LOVER: Tales of Everlasting Love 

Seven Novels of Mystical, Magical and Paranormal Romance

PARAMOUR by Margaret Ethridge (ghost) Two men: one living, one dead, and both vying for her love. Camellia Stafford has never been alone in her room. For twenty years, she’s been engaged in a fierce power struggle with her bedroom’s previous tenant, Frank DeLuca, the ghost trapped in the light fixture above her bed.

 

ENTRANCED by Maddie James (time travel, reincarnation) Jack and Claire set out on a wild search through time, not only for the resolution to a powerful attraction between them, but also for a historical artifact that holds the key to their future happiness–the coveted silver-plated chalice made from Blackbeard’s skull.

 

MYSTIC THUNDER by JC Wardon (witch, mystic) Millennia of tempestuous ancestral history forewarn Rayne Cavanaugh to hide her ability to communicate with ghosts. But– When the nephew of the man she just can’t resist goes missing in the mountains of Mystic Waters, West Virginia, she must decide between self-preservation and love.

 

RUNNING OUT OF TIME by Cheryl Norman (time travel) When Stacy Webber travels to Germany for her best friend’s wedding, she loses more than her luggage and purse. She lands in a different time, fifty years ago, with no idea how to return to her world.

 

TIMELESS by Jan Scarbrough (psychic, ghost, reincarnation) When Beth Abbott receives a surprise inheritance from her birth mother, she travels to the family’s nineteenth century mansion in Old Louisville, KY, now a bed and breakfast. There she meets the resident ghost, a little girl whose crying not only scares, but also intrigues guests.

 

MAN OF HER DREAMS by Cat Shaffer (dreams, parallel times) Jessi Flint has a perfectly good life with a successful business and the perfect man. So, he’s only in her dreams…until her flaky assistant goes to a New Age fair and Jessi suddenly begins receiving gifts with love notes signed by a mysterious Damian.

 

ALMOST MAGIC by J.M. Kelley (magic, witch, gifts) When it came to Vivian Burroughs’ unique connection with nature, her grandmother always said, ‘Mediocrity may not burn as bright as a firecracker, but it seldom blows up in your face.’ But the old woman never advised her on what to do when a sexy new neighbor stokes the flames of attraction.

 

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Today we have JM Kelley, author of Almost Magic:

When Almost Magic was with my lovely editor, Karen, I may have gone through about eighty different potential titles for the story. I’d never written paranormal before. I didn’t really know how to capture in just a couple words what was going on in the pages. The problem, I came to realize, was this: I was trying to find a complicated title for a simple premise.

Almost Magic has a good bit of, well…magic. It has witches and ghosts and mystical matchmaking. But it’s not about that.

It’s about finding magic in the ordinary. According to Vivian Burroughs, our (slightly) enchanted heroine, her grandmother once told her, “Mediocrity may not burn as bright as a firecracker, but it seldom blows up in your face.”

This is Vivian’s private mantra. This is what drives her. Growing up with not-so-ordinary gifts drives her to find extraordinary ordinariness.

Hopefully, when you get to the end of Almost Magic, you’ll see the point I was trying to make all along. Magic isn’t just found in the pages of a book. It’s all around us.

There’s magic to be found in a chilly autumn sunset. In waves crashing on the shore. There’s magic in a child’s laughter. There’s even magic there when you’re feeling low and your usually aloof cat chooses that moment to curl up in your lap and make you feel a little better.

Most of all, there’s magic when you meet that one person who makes your heart skip a beat every time you hear him speak your name. You know it has to be magic, too, because while your heart is skipping that beat, you’ve completely forgotten he’s standing before you, wearing black socks and tan sandals.

Love isn’t always easy to find, even for those given a mystical edge in life. In the end, even the most magical among us want the same thing: Someone who gets us, through and through.

That’s the enchanted story, and I’m sticking to it.

Not so long ago, native Pennsylvanian J.M. Kelley packed her bags and moved south. Now, the wannabe Carolina Girl can’t speak a single sentence without adding the word y’all at the end of it, and regards a blast of snow flurries as a doomsday-level event.  When the day job allows, she likes to go on writing jaunts to her favorite lake, or a local coffee shop with delicious shakes and questionable Wi-Fi connections.

J.M. Kelley is a member of Romance Writers of America (PAN). She serves on the Board of Directors of the South Carolina Writers’ Workshop as Vice President and Publicity Chair, and is a proud recipient of a Carrie McCray Memorial Literary Award.

 

ENTER TO WIN A $25 AMAZON GIFT CARD & A SET OF 7 PRINT BOOKS HERE!

ENCHANTED LOVER: Tales of Everlasting Love 

Seven Novels of Mystical, Magical and Paranormal Romance

PARAMOUR by Margaret Ethridge (ghost)
Two men: one living, one dead, and both vying for her love. Camellia Stafford has never been alone in her room. For twenty years, she’s been engaged in a fierce power struggle with her bedroom’s previous tenant, Frank DeLuca, the ghost trapped in the light fixture above her bed.

ENTRANCED by Maddie James (time travel, reincarnation)
Jack and Claire set out on a wild search through time, not only for the resolution to a powerful attraction between them, but also for a historical artifact that holds the key to their future happiness–the coveted silver-plated chalice made from Blackbeard’s skull.

MYSTIC THUNDER by JC Wardon (witch, mystic)
Millennia of tempestuous ancestral history forewarn Rayne Cavanaugh to hide her ability to communicate with ghosts. But– When the nephew of the man she just can’t resist goes missing in the mountains of Mystic Waters, West Virginia, she must decide between self-preservation and love.

RUNNING OUT OF TIME by Cheryl Norman (time travel)
When Stacy Webber travels to Germany for her best friend’s wedding, she loses more than her luggage and purse. She lands in a different time, fifty years ago, with no idea how to return to her world.

TIMELESS by Jan Scarbrough (psychic, ghost, reincarnation)
When Beth Abbott receives a surprise inheritance from her birth mother, she travels to the family’s nineteenth century mansion in Old Louisville, KY, now a bed and breakfast. There she meets the resident ghost, a little girl whose crying not only scares, but also intrigues guests.

MAN OF HER DREAMS by Cat Shaffer (dreams, parallel times)
Jessi Flint has a perfectly good life with a successful business and the perfect man. So, he’s only in her dreams…until her flaky assistant goes to a New Age fair and Jessi suddenly begins receiving gifts with love notes signed by a mysterious Damian.

ALMOST MAGIC by J.M. Kelley (magic, witch, gifts)
When it came to Vivian Burroughs’ unique connection with nature, her grandmother always said, ‘Mediocrity may not burn as bright as a firecracker, but it seldom blows up in your face.’ But the old woman never advised her on what to do when a sexy new neighbor stokes the flames of attraction.

 AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | IBOOKS | KOBO | SMASHWORDS

 

Today, Cat Shaffer joins us to talk about the joy of the unexpected gift! Welcome,Cat!

****

I love unexpected gifts. I’m sure everyone is excited by a surprise delivery of fresh flowers or a piece of jewelry that is absolutely perfect. Most of us, I figure, know the person who sent them. But what would it be like to receive presents from an absolute stranger?
And then discover the stranger is the man who’s occupied your dreams for years?
That’s what happens to Jessica Flint in “Man of Her Dreams,” part of the new Enchanted Lover set. Actually, that’s only a tiny bit of what happens to poor Jessi when she goes back to her small Michigan hometown.

The town is fictional but it’s built of bits and pieces from my past. I have had the great fortune to have been raised in a small farming community and lived or worked in small towns most of my life. What some people might see as dull or sleepy I consider a great place to hang around.

I spent the last two weekends in two different small towns enjoying their festivals. Yeah, there were funnel cakes and overpriced lemonade shake-ups but that’s not why I go every year. I love the chance to visit with people I haven’t seen for a while, pick up neat little craft items and enjoy the things that make the festivals so different even they’re only a few miles apart.
Like the skillet toss at one. Yes, people take turns tossing cast iron skillets to see which one travels the farthest. Or the other’s punkin chunkin where children toss little pumpkins at a target painted on the street.

Sometimes I set up my table and meet readers at these festivals. Other times I help with community projects like grilling up burgers for my Lions Club as I did earlier this month. It’s amazing how many people call my name as they come to purchase one, just wanting to say howdy.
Living in a city has separated Jessi from the quirks and qualities of the small town that nurtured her. Going home – despite being forced to go to her class reunion beyond her will, being trapped in a bridesmaid’s dress that defies description and falling for the stranger/fiancé she found waiting at the airport with her mother – throws her back into the organized chaos of being surrounded by people who love her.

Okay, I’ve never been forced to go to a class reunion. Or being trapped in a maid of honor dress that absolutely defies description. And I have never found myself falling in love with a man I’ve dreamed about all my life but never believed actually existed – and who may actually have been conjured up courtesy of her eccentric office assistant.
I hope you’ll join Jessi on her trip back home and the roller coaster of a love that spans the centuries.

Cat Shaffer, the daughter of a poet and a teacher/librarian, grew up in northwest Ohio, finally saw the light and moved to Kentucky, the land of beautiful horses and far better weather. She lives with a dignified but ultra-sneaky cat, and could not continue to live if coffee disappeared from the planet. Check out her website at www.catshaffer.com.

ENTER TO WIN A $25 AMAZON GIFT CARD & A SET OF 7 PRINT BOOKS HERE!

ENCHANTED LOVER: Tales of Everlasting Love 

Seven Novels of Mystical, Magical and Paranormal Romance

PARAMOUR by Margaret Ethridge (ghost)
Two men: one living, one dead, and both vying for her love. Camellia Stafford has never been alone in her room. For twenty years, she’s been engaged in a fierce power struggle with her bedroom’s previous tenant, Frank DeLuca, the ghost trapped in the light fixture above her bed.

ENTRANCED by Maddie James (time travel, reincarnation)
Jack and Claire set out on a wild search through time, not only for the resolution to a powerful attraction between them, but also for a historical artifact that holds the key to their future happiness–the coveted silver-plated chalice made from Blackbeard’s skull.

MYSTIC THUNDER by JC Wardon (witch, mystic)
Millennia of tempestuous ancestral history forewarn Rayne Cavanaugh to hide her ability to communicate with ghosts. But– When the nephew of the man she just can’t resist goes missing in the mountains of Mystic Waters, West Virginia, she must decide between self-preservation and love.

RUNNING OUT OF TIME by Cheryl Norman (time travel)
When Stacy Webber travels to Germany for her best friend’s wedding, she loses more than her luggage and purse. She lands in a different time, fifty years ago, with no idea how to return to her world.

TIMELESS by Jan Scarbrough (psychic, ghost, reincarnation)
When Beth Abbott receives a surprise inheritance from her birth mother, she travels to the family’s nineteenth century mansion in Old Louisville, KY, now a bed and breakfast. There she meets the resident ghost, a little girl whose crying not only scares, but also intrigues guests.

MAN OF HER DREAMS by Cat Shaffer (dreams, parallel times)
Jessi Flint has a perfectly good life with a successful business and the perfect man. So, he’s only in her dreams…until her flaky assistant goes to a New Age fair and Jessi suddenly begins receiving gifts with love notes signed by a mysterious Damian.

ALMOST MAGIC by J.M. Kelley (magic, witch, gifts)
When it came to Vivian Burroughs’ unique connection with nature, her grandmother always said, ‘Mediocrity may not burn as bright as a firecracker, but it seldom blows up in your face.’ But the old woman never advised her on what to do when a sexy new neighbor stokes the flames of attraction.

 AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | IBOOKS | KOBO | SMASHWORDS