~ Fall Under The Spell of MORGAN D'ARCY: A VAMPYRE RHAPSODY! ~

This new book, my third from The Wild Rose Press, is a collection of short works featuring Morgan D’Arcy, the hero in Sinners’ Opera, the book of my heart. In edits on Rhapsody, my editor asked for more about Isabeau. She is the heroine in Sinner’s Opera and a continuous thread through most of the stories. I wrote the following in answer to this request, but she then clarified and wanted it—since all of the stories are from Morgan’s first-person POV—from his viewpoint. But this is it as it was originally written. I had envisioned it originally as a Epilogue, titled Never Goodbye.


Because Morgan was the first character to “speak” to me, this book is special. To celebrate its release, I will give one commenter a PDF of Sinners’ Opera.

Morgan D’Arcy: A Vampyre Rhapsody

By Linda Nightingale

From The Wild Rose Press

Cover Artist:  Debbie Taylor

Editor:  Callie Lynn Wolfe

A titled lord, concert pianist, and … vampire, Morgan D’Arcy has everything he wants…except what he most desires…the woman of his dreams—the search is on.

Rating:  Spicy

Digital Price:  $3.99

Print Price:  $13.99

Blurb ~

The greatest enemy of a vampire is boredom. Four centuries of existence have taught Lord Morgan Gabriel D'Arcy to fear nothing and no one. Humans and their weapons have little chance against his preternatural speed and arcane powers. Vampires are viral mutations of human DNA. Still, the Vampyre code requires secrecy, and he has learned to hide his nature from the world. The lure of mortality, of a life in the sun, puts Morgan again and again at the mercy of calculating human women though they fail to consider his charm and determination into the equation. However, even grooming a future bride from infancy proves to be fraught with heartbreak. And second chances are not always what they seem unless... you are Morgan. Immortality and beauty, aren’t they grand?

“…Morgan…is a tour de force of egotism, wit, sensuality, and talent…” ~Author Toni V. Sweeney

 “Morgan D’Arcy is a class act and the most arresting vampire I’ve ever encountered in literature or films.” ~ Historical and Paranormal Romance Author Beth Trissel

Ω

Excerpt ~

Never Goodbye

Isabeau, my Isabeau.

Isabeau with blonde-streaked brown hair and the most beautiful purple eyes. How could she forget me so quickly and return to that bastard?  Dark-haired, dark-eyed John Payne—my complete opposite—was my sworn enemy. One day soon, he’d die.

The Grim Reaper—with fangs—would teach him that Isabeau was mine.

I’d been present at her birth, had chosen her to be my wife in that moment, and had watched over her as her guardian angel. She’d been the most exquisite blonde child.

I’d influenced her career choice and financed her education by grants through anonymous foundations. I’d even bought her a white Andalusian horse. These things I’d given her. She’d given me more than I’d ever dreamed. To this unknown bargain, Isabeau had brought beauty, grace, and a vast intelligence. As a geneticist, she could find a cure for the fatal gene of madness that all progeny of vampires and mortals suffered. She had the required vampire DNA, mine in fact, but she didn’t know about the flawed chromosome. It was tragedy that she’d driven me away before I could confess.

Isabeau had been born in Beaufort, South Carolina. Her parents were friends that I’d chosen carefully to breed my future bride. She’d attended the College of Charleston, one of the finest Ivy League universities, and returned to Charleston when LifeGen, a genetics firm, offered her a position.

I’d given her my heart, unconditionally, and she’d broken it. After she banished me from her life, she returned my letters, deleted my emails, and refused my phone calls. Why? She’d discovered how I shaped her life and accused me of manipulating her.

For the thousandth time, I lifted a phone to my ear to make a hopeless call. This time, I was in Charleston. She wouldn’t recognize the number as I was ringing her from my hotel room.

“Hello.” Her voice! Music to my ears.

For a moment, I couldn’t speak, then I took a deep breath, and plunged. “Isabeau, you must talk with me.”

“Morgan, I’ve made it perfectly clear that I never want to hear from you again.” Anger stained her voice a shade deeper.

I imagined her in her sunshine yellow kitchen, leaning against the granite counter, coffee brewing and filling the room with its rich scent. Isabeau was tall and beautiful with a captivating smile. At the moment, unfortunately, she’d be frowning.

God, how I missed her! She was my light—I her dark—two pieces of a soul.

“Please, don’t ring off.” I paced the confines of my hotel room. “I’m in Charleston. I want to see you.”

“I have a date,” she said coolly.

A vision of Isabeau dressed for a night out on the town blinded me. Was she wearing one of the lovely dresses I’d given her while we lived our idyll in my house on the Battery? The Rover House overlooked the ocean. She’d left her Orange Street home to come to me. For five short months, we’d lived in a dreamlike state of bliss...together at last.

“A date with that bastard John Payne.” My hand fisted at my side. I wanted to strike something or someone. Tonight, the Royal Pain would join his ancestors.

“It’s none of your business.”

“You’re carrying my child, Isabeau. That makes it my business.” I washed to a halt by the bed. “You love me.”

Buy Link:  Morgan D’Arcy: A Vampyre Rhapsody

Author Bio ~

Born in South Carolina, Linda has lived in England, Canada, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Atlanta and Houston.  She’s seen a lot of this country from the windshield of a truck pulling a horse trailer, having bred, trained and showed Andalusian horses for many years.

Linda has won several writing awards, including the Georgia Romance Writers Magnolia Award.   She is the mother of two wonderful sons, a retired legal assistant, member of the Houston Symphony League, and enjoys events with her car club.  Among her favorite things are her two marvelous sons, a snazzy black convertible, and her parlor grand piano.  She loves to dress up and host formal dinner parties.

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/LNightingale - @Lnightingale

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/LindaNightingaleAuthor

Web Site:  http://www.lindanightingale.com – Visit and look around. There’s a free continuing vampire story.

Blog:  https://lindanightingale.wordpress.com/ - Lots of interesting guests & prizes

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4839311.Linda_Nightingale

Pinterest:  https://www.pinterest.com/lbnightingale1/

Book Video: 

Other Reads by Linda Nightingale:

Gambler’s Choice

Love For Sale

Sinner’s Opera

Sinner’s Obsession

Cardinal Desires

Gemini Rising – Controversial Dark Fantasy with deep psychological undertones

Sometimes You Do Want to Find Yourself at the END OF LONELY STREET~ Alicia Dean Giveaway!

New Release– End of Lonely Street by Alicia Dean – Plus an Awesome Giveaway

I’m excited to share my latest release from The Wild Rose Press on what would have been Elvis’ eightieth birthday. ‘End of Lonely Street’ is a Vintage Romance Short Story set in 1957, in the era when Elvis first burst on the scene. Like my heroine in the story, I am a diehard Elvis fan. (As you probably figured out, I took the title from a line in Heartbreak Hotel, which was Elvis’ first million selling record).


Check out End of Lonely Street and enter to win GREAT prizes…

Blurb ~

Can she let go of the past, before it destroys her future?

All Toby Lawson wanted was to go to college to pursue her dream of becoming a teacher and to be free of her alcoholic mother and the painful memories of finding her and the guy Toby loved kissing. But when her mother nearly burns the house down, Toby must put her dreams on hold and return home to care for her. The only time she isn’t lonely and miserable is when she’s listening to her heartthrob, Elvis Presley. His music takes her away, helps her escape from everything wrong in her life. 

Noah Rivers has always loved Toby, but no matter what he says, and even though she knows her mother initiated the kiss, and that he didn’t kiss her back, she can't seem to get past what happened. He soon realizes that the true problem lies in Toby’s belief that she’s not good enough for him and in her fear that she will be just like her mother. 


What will it take to prove to her that she deserves to be happy, and that he would give anything to be the man to make her dreams come true?



Excerpt ~

Chapter One

Mapleton, Tennessee, November, 1957

Toby Lawson closed her eyes and shut out all sounds of the diner, except for Elvis Presley’s voice. He was crooning about how she was the only one for him…no matter where he went or what he did… he’d spend his whole life loving her…

Rough hands landed on her waist and shattered the fantasy. She caught a whiff of hair tonic and too much cologne, and she snapped her eyes open. Wes Markham’s hateful face replaced the image of Elvis’ beautiful, crooked smile and smoldering blue eyes.

“Let me go.” She gritted her teeth, keeping her voice low. If her boss, Mr. Winstead, knew there was trouble on account of her, he’d explode. He’d barely let her have the job in the first place. Everyone in Mapleton knew the Lawson women were trouble.

“Come on, honey. If you like that hip swivel, Presley ain’t the only one who’s got it. I got it too.” He released her with his left hand so he could run it over his slicked down hair and gave her a big-toothed, wolfish smile. “Only we’d be naked.” He shot a cocky grin over to his two companions—Chuck Stenson and Billy Garfield—who were leaning against the jukebox making kissing and whooping sounds.

Toby gripped his right wrist with one hand, tightening her hold on the utensils she held in the other. “I said let me go. Now!”

“Aw, be a sport, Green-Eyes.”

The bulge of his pelvis pressed into her abdomen, and she gasped in shock. Nausea tightened in her esophagus. “Wes Markham, I’m warning you…”

She shoved against him, but he didn’t budge.

He pulled her tighter. “Your momma’s a whole lot friendlier than you are. They say the apple don’t fall far from the tree, so how’s about you cut the pretense and we go someplace quiet? Winstead won’t miss you for a few minutes.”

Her cheeks heated. She didn’t dare look around. No doubt the customers were watching, listening. Elvis had stopped singing and everyone in the place could hear what he’d said about her mother. It wasn’t like they didn’t all know, though. Constance Lawson hadn’t exactly kept her escapades a secret.

Toby clenched her teeth and brandished the utensils. She spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. “Release me this instant, or I swear, you’ll be pulling this steak knife out of your eyeball.”

He held her gaze for a split second, then gave a laugh that was somewhere between nervous and furious. “Sure, sure. Okay.” He released her and stepped back. “I was just foolin’ around anyway. I got better things to do with my time than waste it on a used up chick like you.”

Muffled laughter rose around her. Oh God, she could crawl into a hole.

“How about you apologize to the lady, then beat it?”

Toby whirled at the male voice. Noah Rivers stood behind her, looking handsome and sharp in his police uniform—even with his dark hair in the military buzz cut. Her knees weakened, and tingles swept over her skin. She swallowed against the sudden dryness in her throat. She’d heard he was back, but hadn’t seen him until now. And what a time to have a reunion.



You can buy END OF LONELY STREET here:

Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B00QQO3BK0


*** 10% of all of Alicia Dean’s net royalties for End of Lonely Street will go to

The Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation http://www.graceland.com/epcf/ ***

Author Bio ~

Alicia Dean lives in Edmond, Oklahoma. She has three grown children and a huge network of supportive friends and family. She writes mostly contemporary suspense and paranormal, but has also written in other genres, including a few vintage historicals.

Other than reading and writing, her passions are Elvis Presley, MLB, NFL (she usually works in a mention of one or all three into her stories) and watching her favorite televisions shows like Vampire Diaries, Justified, Sons of Anarchy, Haven, The Mindy Project, and Dexter (even though it has sadly ended, she will forever be a fan). Some of her favorite authors are Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, Lee Child, Lisa Gardner, Sharon Sala, Jordan Dane, Ridley Pearson, Joseph Finder, and Jonathan Kellerman…to name a few.

You can find Alicia here:

Website: http://aliciadean.com/ 

Blog: http://aliciadean.com/alicias-blog/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008364070487

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Alicia_Dean_

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/aliciamdean/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/468339.Alicia_Dean



Giveaway ~


Entries accepted from January 8, 2015 through noon on January 22, 2015

Three prizes –

Elvis Gift Basket including DVD, CD, plus more

$25 Amazon Gift Card

$10 Amazon Gift Card


First place winner has first choice, second place winner has second choice, third place winner receives remaining prize.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

~ DESTINY CALLING ~ Better Pick Up! ~

Blurb ~ 

Hope Doesn’t Know If The Man She Can Touch Is A Dream Come True, Or A Nightmare Just Beginning.

Hope only wants to find out if her ability to infuse euphoria or despair with her touch makes her the devil's spawn, or his exterminator. But when the woman who raised her is murdered by something not human, she loses the only family she knew and discovers one she might wish she hadn’t.

Drawn back to the hometown she vowed never to return to, her ability is seen as an asset to everyone but Hope, and she doesn't know who to trust. Her family wants her to help them overcome an enemy oppressing the human population, while the man of her dreams is courting her for the Underworld.

Time is running out, and Hope’s choice may be made for her, as she discovers she’s a pawn in a bigger game played by a merciless ruler who doesn't lose.


You can buy DESTINY CALLING at:

Amazon Kindle Amazon Paperback The Wild Rose Press

Excerpt ~ 

I strained to release my arm from Griffith’s vise-like grip while scanning the surrounding trees, trying to determine which was less of a threat, the beast of a man holding me or those who might be waiting for me in the woods.

“You will come inside, now.” Griffith spoke slowly and deliberately as if I were a small child.

I batted at the hand Griffith placed on my head. “I’m not a puppy, quit petting me.”

“I will protect you.” Griffith’s warm breath caressed my ear. “If for no other reason, to find out what I’m giving up and why she wants you so badly.”

I inhaled his masculine scent, like musky earth. It washed over my face, and the tension in my jaw released. I stopped struggling. “Are you the devil?” My tongue was thick and heavy so the words came out slurred.

“Not even close.” His words soothed and comforted, like having a weighted blanket cocoon me. Each movement was an effort. It wasn’t the same as the thing in the woods. This was more like the feeling after a long massage or bubble bath.

“It’s not safe.” Griffith wrapped his arms around me, and I rested against his broad chest.

“It’s not safe.” I nodded. My muscles relaxed and my eyelids grew heavy.

“It’s cold. We’re going inside.” Griffith kept his arm supporting me as he steered me toward the house.

“We’re going inside.” I parroted and walked up the steps, leaning heavily on him.

Out of the corner of my eye, something was cautiously moving at the edge of the woods. Branches snapped as whatever was observing us crept closer.

AUTHOR BIO ~

Growing up with four siblings had Maureen familiar with escaping into a good book, or the recesses of her mind. She realized later in life everyone didn’t have characters telling stories in their heads, or weren’t envisioning magic and mayhem within the everyday. This, and long walks in the beautiful state of Pennsylvania spawned a love of writing.

Since her desire to become a Solid Gold Dancer was thwarted when the show was discontinued, Maureen opted to pursue other paths. Attempting to conquer new endeavors proved fruitful with her first novella, while other attempts, such as challenging a fear of heights with parasailing, were unsuccessful.

Therefore she’s chased other interests, though none-the-less-daring, but closer to the ground, such as belly-dancing, becoming a self-proclaimed tequila connoisseur, fulfilling her role as biker babe to her alpha hubby and surviving motherhood to twins (so far).

Penning stories boasting laughter, light suspense and something magical in the hope of sharing her love of finding the extraordinary in the ordinary world.

You can find Maureen here: 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mbonatch

Blog: http://www.maureenbonatch.com/blog/

Website: http://www.maureenbonatch.com

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/1AV4L

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/maureenbonatch/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maureenlbonatch

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3103486.Maureen_L_Bonatch 

Destiny Calling
The Enchantlings
Volume 1
by Maureen L. Bonatch

A Paranormal Romance from 

The Wild Rose Press

Available on December 22, 2014