Win a Free Signed Copy of Swamp Ghosts…

 

Big Blue

…just for being among the first twenty people to sign up for my Mail List.  Yep. Sign up for my monthly mail list, and you’ll not only be the first to know about promotions, contests, and news from Wake-Robin Ridge, North Carolina,  and Riverbend, Florida, but you’ll win a signed copy of Swamp Ghosts, which is Book 1 of the Riverbend series. Don’t miss out. Click on the link at the top right of this page, and sign up today. (The winners might even find one or two little surprises tucked in with their copies of Swamp Ghosts.) Do it today! You KNOW you wanna! 🙂

Swamp Ghosts Excerpt

A man was walking down the floating pier, reading the name of each boat he approached. A really big man. Big enough that his weight caused the pier to bob up and down, which seemed to worry him, if his frown was anything to go by.

Billy and I watched his cautious approach with curiosity. The tours were over for the day, and he just didn’t look like he belonged here at the marina. When he spotted my boat, he smiled and picked up his pace, causing the floating pier to dip sharply. He lurched to a stop in front of us.

“Hi, there,” he said, holding on to the railing to catch his balance. Not a boater, then. He gave Billy a nod. “You must be the man I’m looking for…Mr. Devlin? Oh, I guess it’s Captain Devlin, sorry.”

The expression on Billy’s face was priceless. He looked at me as though he figured there was about to be an explosion of Vesuvian proportions, and he couldn’t wait to see it. I stepped forward and looked the guy up and down. When I said “big,” I wasn’t kidding. This man was 6’5” if he was an inch, and he was almost as wide across the shoulders as he was tall. He had on faded jeans and an acre of navy blue t-shirt, stretched across a chest the approximate width of the prow of my boat. His hair was longish, and very blonde, and his eyes were a bright clear blue, with a hint of laugh lines at the corners. He looked like the kind of guy every man wanted to be and every woman just plain wanted. Give him a helmet with horns on it and a magic hammer, and he would have been Thor, personified.

I hated him on sight.

“Captain is the correct form of address,” I bit off, “but I’m afraid that would be me. I’m Margaret Devlin. Who are you and why are you looking for me?”

Thor had the sense to be thoroughly embarrassed. He actually blushed. “Oh—I’m—I’m so sorry,” he stammered. “It just said M. Devlin, and I assumed…”

I raised one eyebrow. “Yes? You assumed?”

“I mean, I guess I just pictured…I thought…” He stopped. “I apologize.”

I felt merciful. Slightly. “Apology accepted. But what do you want with me?”

Thor tried smiling again. It was a nice smile. It even looked sincere. I bet he used it on every woman he met.

I still hated him.

“I have a business proposition I’d like to discuss with you.”

I hated him less.

“Business? What kind?”

Monday Giveaway: Jim Butcher and Devon Monk

My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

It’s Moon’s Day, once again, and that means time to give away a book or two. Finished up giving away all the Odd Thomas books to date last week, so this week, I’m moving on to other recent releases you might be interested in winning.

Monday Giveaway: Nora Roberts and Jim Butcher

Haven’t Rated Yet

It’s Monday Giveaway time again, and you know what that means. You have a chance to win a free ebook download, and all you have to do is be the first to email me after 3:00pm EST, and ask for it. Simple, right?

Today, in keeping with my plan to offer earlier issues in The Dresden Files series (for those of you who somehow haven’t read it yet), I’m giving away a free download of Book #5, Blood Rites.

And for those who love Nora Roberts and her way with romantic suspense and mysteries, I’m offering a free download of her newest book, The Collector.

You know the drill. Again, email me at mmeara@cfl.rr.com, after 3:00pm Eastern Standard Time, and request the book you want. If you are the first, I’ll gift you with a copy. Easy-peasy, but set your alarm. You don’t want to miss out!

Monday Giveaways: Harper Lee, Emily Bronte, and Jim Butcher

Whew. Almost missed getting this posted in time. Sorry! It’s been one of those mornings! Today, I’m offering three Kindle downloads for free to the first person to email me after 3:00PM Eastern Standard Time and request the one they would like. So easy. Email me at mmeara@cfl.rr.com and tell me which download you’d like, and I’ll gift it to you from amazon.

I’ve been offering the older books in Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series each week, and will continue with that. Plus, I’m offering two classics that everyone should read. If you haven’t already, this is your chance. And if you have, but would like to read one of them again, this is your chance, as well.

1. Jim Butcher’s Death Masks, #5 in the Dresden Files series

2. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird

3. Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights

Let me hear from you if you’d like a free download of one of these. And have a great day!

Monday Giveaway: Barbara Ashford & Jim Butcher

5 of 5 Stars

Happy Moon’s Day, Everyone! Hope your week is off to a great start. And to make it even greater, today’s giveaways include a book I picked up by chance, and fell in love with, and another of the earlier books of the Dresden Files series. To win a free download of either of these books, simply be the first to email me after 3:00 Eastern Standard Time, at mmeara@cfl.rr.com , and ask for the book you want. That’s it. No forms to fill out, no trick questions to answer, no gimmicks. Just email me and ask!

Book #1: Barbara Ashford’s delightful Spellcast, a cleverly titled novel about a summer theater troupe, led by someone just a wee bit different than you might expect, and the spell that pulls in a passing woman, and never lets her go. It’s beautifully written and cleverly imagined, and the backdrop of the theater was an unusual touch that worked to perfection. Read my review here.

Book #2: Jim Butcher’s Summer Knight, the fourth book in the Dresden Files series. I’m working my way right through the series, offering those who have never started on it a chance to win some of the older books for free. Hop on this! You know you’ve been meaning to read this series forever! 🙂

Monday Giveaway: Jim Butcher and Karen White

Happy Moon’s Day! It’s Giveaway time again! In keeping with my plan to get some readers started on Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series, I’m giving away downloads of Books 2 and 3 today, along with a download of a book that’s been on my To Be Read list for far too long, Karen White’s The House on Tradd Street.

Karen White is a writer I’ve really learned to enjoy. I’ve read several of her books, and plan to work my way through all of them. The House on Tradd Street is the beginning of a series of books about…houses. On Tradd and other streets. Needless to say, things of interest happen in these houses. In the case of this book, there’s a mystery, a romance, and a ghost story rolled up in one, and I can’t wait to read it, myself.  And you all know how I feel about Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series. Simply that it’s the most engaging and fun series of any Urban Fantasy, ever. So without further ado, here’s the deal: Be the first person to email me after 3:00pm Eastern Standard Time (so the folks on the west coast have a chance, too), and request the book you want, and…YOU WIN. Easy-peasy.

Again, here are your choices:

Monday Giveaway Time: More Jim Butcher…and ME!

My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

Time for another Monday afternoon Giveaway, and today, I’m in exalted company.

After seeing the rush of folks wanting to win Jim Butcher’s newest Dresden Files novel, Skin Game, last week, and hearing from a lot of folks that they had “always planned to read the Dresden books,” but hadn’t done so yet, I thought it might be fun to start giving away some of the books from the beginning of the series. So here goes:

Today, I will give away THREE downloads of the first Dresden Files book, Storm Front.

I will also give away two downloads of my first novel, Wake-Robin Ridge, and two downloads of my second novel, Swamp Ghosts. (I’m offering these as well mostly because I like seeing my books listed on the same page as Jim Butcher’s! 😀 )

All you have to do to win any of the above is email me after 3:00PM, Eastern Standard Time, and ask for the book you want. The first person to ask for each book wins it. Easy-Peasy.

Two Winners of Skin Game…Sort Of!

After much sturm und drang for half the afternoon, and carefully reading instructions on amazon, I sent my winner (in Romania) a gift card so he could download Skin Game. It still isn’t working. (You were right, Marjma…it’s a pain!) I’m still working with him to get him his copy, but by golly, I wanted someone to be smiling TODAY, so I went for the next entrant in line, who was here in the U. S., and Joe, I hope you will enjoy this book every bit as much as I expect to! Congratulations!!

As for getting the first book to Romania…well…I’ve always wanted to see Vlad Dracul’s castle. Maybe hand delivery would be a good option! 😀

Stay tuned to see what’s being given away next week. It won’t always be a brand new release. It might be a classic from decades ago, or a best seller from last year. Any genre, and year, any style…all fair game for Monday giveaways. So, check it out!

Thank you again to everyone who participated in this event. If I don’t have a sure-fire way to get downloads off to my international friends by next Monday, I’ll have to limit the contest to folks here in the United States, but I hope that won’t be the case. I’d like everyone to have a chance!

Monday Giveaway Day: Skin Game by Jim Butcher

Be the first to email me today AFTER 3:00PM eastern standard time, and receive a free download of Jim Butcher’s new release, Skin Game. This is the long awaited next book in my favorite urban fantasy series, The Dresden Files. You KNOW you want this one. Set your timers and alarm clocks! Email me! The first to ask WINS! And remember the Monday Motto: Free Is Good! 🙂

Only Six More Days!

I’m sure I speak for a lot of us when I say I can hardly wait for next Tuesday to arrive! Jim Butcher’s newest Dresden Files book, Skin Game, will be released, and I’m heading straight to my local book seller to pick up my copy. I can’t even wait for it to be sent from Amazon! With the exception of Ghost Story, I’ve never been more eager to get my hands on a new Dresden Files book. Or any other, for that matter. Harry’s world gets bigger, badder, and more complex with every single book, and Harry, himself, has grown so much as a character, it’s hard to believe how it all started out. This one sounds like it is going to be fantastic, and after waiting over a year and a half for it, I really hope it is. And the GOOD NEWS is that someone will win a free download of this next Monday afternoon. Yep. I’ll be giving away a copy of Skin Game to one of my followers. And all you have to do to win, is ASK. Simply email me any time after 3:00pm EST. If you are the first person I hear from, the download is yours!

Mark your calendars! You know you want this one, and FREE…IS…GOOD! 🙂

And We Have A Winner!

Two, actually. Congratulations to mergirl and marje on winning downloads of Maggie Stiefvater’s lovely book, Scorpio Races! I hope you both love it as much as I did! Stay tuned for next Monday’s giveaway, when I’ll be offering a free download of Jim Butcher’s latest Dresden Files book, Skin Game. See you then!

DON’T FORGET!

Be the first to email me today, after 3:00PM EST, and win a free download of Maggie Stiefvater’s Scorpio Races! FREE is GOOD! 🙂

Monday Giveaway!

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Today starts one of my new features…Monday Giveaway Day! Be sure to make a note. Every Monday, I will give away a free download (or maybe more) of one of my favorite books. There will be many genres over the weeks ahead, so you’re sure to find something you’d like.

Today, I am giving away one that I dearly love by Maggie Stiefvater, Scorpio Races. It is a re-imagining of the Celtic water horse myth, told as only Stiefvater can. Scorpio Races is listed as a YA book, but trust me on this. It works for adults, too. The writing is lovely, the characters, touching and poignant, and the water horses…capaill uisce…are terrifying and beautiful at the same time.

A favorite quote of mine:

I don’t look away from Puck. “I think you assume too much, Dory Maud.”
“You leave nothing to assumption,” Dory Maud says. “You swallow her with your eyes. I’m surprised there’s any of her left for the rest of us to see.”

I know some of you would love this book as much as I do, so here’s what you do to win a free download for your Kindle: email me and ASK. That’s it. The first person to email me at mmeara@cfl.rr.com AFTER 3:00PM EST will win a copy. (I want to give folks on the west coast a chance, too, hence setting the time a bit later in the day.)

So…make a note. Set your timer. And email me after 3:00PM Eastern Standard Time. Be first, and you win. Be second…and you MIGHT win, too. I’ll think about it! 😀 😀 😀

Life is Back To Normal…Mostly.

Daughter and Grandbaby headed back to Destin yesterday, and today seems awfully quiet. I guess it’s good for me to get back into my normal routine. It’s certainly less tiring than trips to the zoo and all the other fun stuff we did this week. But it’s pretty lonely, too. I miss those kids…both the 13-month-old one, and his mom, who will always be MY baby. 😦 However, I’ll be heading up to the panhandle myself in a few weeks to spend some beach time with them, so it’s all good.

Time to get things going here on Bookin’ It, now. Tomorrow is Monday Giveaway Day, so be sure to tune in to see what you might be able to win. And Wednesday is the first of my Author Interviews. I’ll be posting them every Wednesday, for as long as I can find writers who’d like to participate. This week, my guest will be Aimee Easterling, author of the Shiftless YA paranormal werewolf series. On Friday, I have a bonus Author Interview with Anna Celeste Burke, author of A Dead Husband, the first of the Jessica Huntington Desert Cities Mysteries. Friday is What Are You Reading Day, as usual. Your chance to tell us what books are on your bedside table each week, and how you are liking them. Sunday, I plan to start a new feature: Blogger of the Week. It will be a chance for me to give a shout out to someone whose blog I really enjoy.

And of course, I’ll be fitting in my book reviews here and there, as well. So, hope you’ll stop by often and see what’s happening! Have a great week, everyone!

Promo Done!

My Swamp Ghosts promo is over, and what a ride it was. I had so much fun, watching my rating climb all day. And you guys downloaded a TON of copies, too. I hope everyone who reads it will enjoy this novel, and, if so, will remember to leave a positive review on Amazon and Goodreads. Those reviews are what sell our books, and the reason we don’t mind giving away hundreds (or in this case, thousands) of them. So, read on! And enjoy!! And thank you so much for downloading Swamp Ghosts. Have fun on the river! 🙂

Extending Giveaway One More Day!

In keeping with my new weekly schedule, I’m making Monday my day for giveaways and freebies. (Is there a difference? Probably not, but I like both words, so I’m using them. 🙂 ) And I’m extending my offer of a free download of Swamp Ghosts to five more people. Email me today (contact info above, in Menu) and I’ll send you an amazon gift of one download. Grab it while you can! You’ll love the adventure! And keep an eye open for an excerpt to be posted shortly, just to whet your appetite.

Have a great Moon’s Day, everyone!

Win A Free Download of “Swamp Ghosts!”

 

The first ten people to email me directly will receive a free Kindle download of Swamp Ghosts, my new novel set on the rivers of central Florida. Meet Maggie Devlin, an eco-tour boat operator on the scenic St. Johns River. Find out how she and Gunnar Wolfe, a wildlife photographer, plan to make history together. Well…that was the plan before they made a grisly discovery,  and found out the hard way that a serial killer on the prowl is more deadly than any other predator in the swamp.  Email today, and win your download. (Contact info in Menu at the top of the page.)

Swamp Ghosts

 

There’s Still Time To Win!

Don’t forget to enter HERE for a Free Signed Copy of Aimee Easterling’s YA paranormal werewolf fantasy, Shiftless. Plenty of chances left to win, and you can enter multiple times, in various ways. Don’t miss out! FREE is good! And FREE, SIGNED BY AUTHOR is better, yet! 😀

RE-views, INTER-views, and Giveaways!

Life Is Good, Right?

Just an update on things coming up in the weeks ahead. Now that I’ve done my best with Swamp Ghosts and turned it loose on an unsuspecting public, I can get back to the things in life that REALLY matter…my BLOGS! 😀

I have some ideas for a lot of fun stuff in the weeks ahead, so I hope you will all stay tuned. I have a few reviews to get posted, for one thing. I’m also planning to do some Author Interviews with good folks I have met online in recent weeks. I’ll be starting with author Anna Celeste Burke, who writes cozy mysteries. Evelyn Cullet, Deborah Brown, and Aimee Easterling will be joining us, as well. I will be focusing on independently published writers, but will happily do an interview for any author who would like to join in. If you, or anyone you know, would like to be featured here, please contact me (Contact Info at the top of the page). I’m looking forward to asking these writers about themselves, their writing process, their books, and a few off the wall questions, just for fun. Hope you will all enjoy this new feature.

My first Author Interview with Anna Celeste Burke will be on Monday, May 5. Be sure to join us. You will be able to ask questions, too, in the Comments section.

I also plan to do some fun Giveaways over the months ahead. (I’m already running one, as a matter of fact, in case you missed it. Aimee Easterling is giving away a signed copy of her latest book, Shiftless). Be on the look out for Rafflecopter links to various things you can win, and for things you can email me to win. Expect the Unexpected! 😀

That’s the latest news from Bookin’ It, and I do hope it sounds like fun to you. I’m going to have a good time with it all, myself, and can’t wait to get started. And that would be Monday, May 5, with Anna Celeste Burke.

Don’t Forget!

Just some reminders:

1. Don’t forget to enter HERE for a Free Signed Copy of Aimee Easterling’s YA paranormal werewolf fantasy, Shiftless. Plenty of chances left to win, and you can enter multiple times, in various ways. Don’t miss out!

2.  Don’t forget to check out Evey’s Writers Blog, where I’m the featured author all this week. Read a bit about my newest book, Swamp Ghosts, as well as Wake-Robin Ridge, and Summer Magic. There are excerpts from both novels! Please come by and say hi. I promise to answer any questions you might have. 😀 Thanks, Evelyn!

 

 

3. And last but not least…oh, no! Definitely not least! Don’t forget that Swamp Ghosts goes live on Amazon, Thursday, May 1. (That’s the day after tomorrow!)This is the one you’ve been asking me about. Snakes and alligators and psychopaths, oh my. A beautiful red-headed heroine, and a big, blond Viking of a guy who’s a wildlife photographer. Oh, the adventures they have, canoeing on some of Florida’s most remote backwaters, in pursuit of the rarest of the rare. Danger and romance, galore. Tune in Thursday for the link for the Kindle download. Print book will follow in a week or two.

FREE! Signed Copy of Shiftless by Aimee Easterling

My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

After reading Aimee Easterling’s short story, Bloodling Wolf, I knew I would be interested in reading more about this well-developed world of werewolves.  Though I enjoy weres and shifters in well-written books, I wasn’t sure there was anything new to be found in the genre.  Easterling’s short story surprised me by throwing in some interesting twists I’d never seen before. I was eager to read the first novel in her new series. Shiftless did not disappoint.

I don’t want to say too much about the hero of the story, Wolfie, an alpha wolf who is more comfortable in his wolf form than his human one, or about the heroine for whom the book is named, Terra. This book has unexpected turns on every page, and I think it’s more fun for a reader to discover them as they happen, than for me to give them away here. But I will say that Terra has been without a pack for ten years, by choice, and as a result of her choice, has been unable to shift into her wolf form that entire time.

Wolfie, on the other hand, has an established pack of his own, many of whom are misfits who had never before found a place they belonged. That Terra will end up connecting with Wolife and find a home in his pack seems pre-destined, but don’t think that’s exactly how it all turns out. There are many more suprises in store, starting when Terra’s cruel and abusive father tracks her down, and forces her to make a choice she never thought she’d be faced with.

There is a sweet romance developing between Terra and Wolfie, appropriate for younger readers, and I was especially impressed with the solid, reliability of Wolfie’s nature. He’s stalwart and loyal, while being completely in control of his pack. He plays fair, and he’s always one step ahead of where you think he’ll be. While Terra is strongly attracted to him from the start, she has learned very little about him, as a person. I’m guessing that will change in future books, because I’d like to know more about him, myself. Of course, it helps to have read Bloodling Wolf  first, as it does give you some background on how and why Wolfie started his own pack.

The world-building is quite good in Shiftless, and I have no doubt the next book in the series will be equally strong and original. It will be fun to watch these characters come into their full potential. Nice job all around, and well set up for the next book.

To Win a FREE, SIGNED COPY of Shiftless, click here, then scroll down and enter by any of the various ways. The giveaway will be running all week, so tell your friends, too. And those of you who don’t win the free copy, head on over to amazon, anyway. You know you want this one!

Shiftless: Werewolf Paranormal Fantasy

WIN A FREE SIGNED COPY OF SHIFTLESS HERE