Share #AuthorLove for Kris Bock’s Free #Romance Adventure

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Today let’s show some #AuthorLove for Kris Bock and her free romantic adventure…

Mad Monk's Treasure coverThe Mad Monk’s Treasure
“Smart romance with an ‘Indiana Jones’ feel.”
“Like Nancy Drew for grownups.”

A legendary treasure hunt in the dramatic – and deadly – New Mexico desert….

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The lost Victorio Peak treasure is the greatest of treasure-hunting legends, filled with riches from a heretic Spanish priest’s gold mine, bandits, and an Apache Chief.

Erin, a shy history professor, uncovers a clue that may pinpoint the lost cave. She’s ready for adventure, but when a hit and run driver nearly kills her, she knows she’s not the only one after the treasure. And is Drew, the handsome helicopter pilot who found her bleeding in a ditch, a hero or an enemy?

Erin heads into the New Mexico wilderness with her brainy best friend Camie and a feisty orange cat, Tiger. The wilderness holds its own dangers, from wild animals to sudden storms. Meanwhile, dangerous men are on Erin’s trail, determined snatch the treasure from her grasp. How far will Erin go to find the treasure and discover what she’s really made of? And will Drew be there to help her in the end?

“The story has it all—action, romance, danger, intrigue, lost treasure, not to mention a sizzling relationship….”

“The action never stopped …. It was adventure and romance at its best.”

“I couldn’t put this book down. You’ll love it.”

This book was originally published under the title Rattled.

Fans of Mary Stewart, Barbara Michaels, and Terry Odell will enjoy these stories of love in the wild, from an award-winning author.

The Mad Monk’s Treasure Excerpt:

Among all the legends, all the fact and fiction, one story stood out. The Victorio Peak legend had it all. A Franciscan priest and a swindler. Torture, murder, a government cover-up. Where was the truth, among all the stories? Erin wanted to find out. Over time, and with Camie’s encouragement, she’d started to take the treasure hunt more seriously. It wasn’t so much for the treasure itself, which would most likely belong to the government or the landowners. But it would make her reputation, open up new job opportunities – change her life in ways she hardly dared dream.

She touched the book gently. The pages were falling out; she didn’t want to risk carrying it around. Instead, Erin snapped a picture of the petroglyphs with her phone. That would be enough to show Camie for now.

The timing was perfect; she just had to turn in grades and field a few tearful last-minute requests for extensions, and she’d be done for the semester. What better way to spend the summer, than hunting for buried treasure?

Erin shook her head. Who would’ve thought that she, the quiet, studious girl who’d spent her entire adult life in academia in one way or another, would be planning such an adventure?

Erin wheeled the bike around the front of her house and mounted. At the corner, she paused and looked both ways. The long frontage road was dangerously narrow, with a cement wall on one side and a ditch on the other. Fortunately, traffic was normally light, and at this time of day the road lay empty. Erin pushed off, still grinning from her find. She rode on the right side, by the ditch, instead of facing traffic, because it was too frightening to ride alongside the wall when a car passed.

She’d gone a block when she heard the hum of a car engine as it pulled out from a side street behind her. She rode along the very edge of the pavement, even though the car would have plenty of room to pass her without oncoming traffic.

Erin glanced over her shoulder. The black SUV twenty feet behind her hadn’t bothered to pull out into the road at all. Jerk. When would drivers learn to share the road with bicyclists? Erin pulled onto the two-foot wide gravel strip between the pavement and the ditch. She couldn’t stop without risking a skid, but she slowed so the SUV could pass.

The engine roared. Erin glanced back again.

Black metal bore down on her. Her heart lurched and the bike wobbled. This guy was crazy! She whipped her gaze forward, rose up in the seat, and pumped the pedals with all her power, skimming along inches from the ditch. He was just trying to scare her. She’d get his license plate and—

She felt the bumper hit her back tire. The bike seemed to leap into the air, and she went flying. The dried mud and weeds of the ditch seemed to rise up to meet her.

She didn’t even have time to scream.

Get the book free at these ebook retailers:

Kris Bock’s Amazon page,
Barnes & Noble
Apple iBooks
Kobo
Google Play

Kris Bock writes novels of suspense and romance with outdoor adventures and Southwestern landscapes. Whispers in the Dark features archaeology and intrigue among ancient Southwest ruins. In Counterfeits, stolen Rembrandt paintings bring danger to a small New Mexico town. What We Found is a mystery with strong romantic elements about a young woman who finds a murder victim in the woods.

The Southwest Treasure Hunters novels follow strong characters hunting for long-lost treasures in the dramatic and deadly southwestern desert. Each stands alone.

Read excerpts at www.krisbock.com or visit her Amazon page. Sign up for Kris Bock newsletter for announcements of new books, sales, and more.

Find, follow, or friend the author:

Kris Bock website
Kris Bock on GoodReads
Kris Bock on Facebook
Kris Bock on Twitter
Kris Bock on Pinterest

Sounds great and what a deal!

I have some bargains of my own going now. Enter my Rafflecopter giveaway below for a chance to win a $25.00 Amazon gift card. All you have to do is sign up for my mailing list.

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Also, Lily and the Gambler is on sale for the summer at all outlets: Amazon Kindle, BN/Nook, Kobo and Smashwords.

Summer 2017 ad graphic

Rogue’s Hostage and Lady Elinor’s Escape are now half off at Smashwords through July 31. Don’t forget to use the code SSW50 at checkout.

The free novellas for July are: How To Woo… A Reluctant Bride, Ilona’s Wolf and Marooned. Don’t forget to use the code SSW100 at checkout.

Linda

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Deep POV and “Other Than” by Mia Jo Celeste #AuthorLove #Romance

Mia Jo Celeste is here today to share her thoughts on deep Point of View, plus and excerpt from her gaslamp fantasy, Other Than, for our #AuthorLove exchange. I love your cover, Mia Jo.

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A Quick Trick to Deepen Your Character’s Point of View
and a Look at Other Than

by Mia Celeste

Like most readers, I find characters compelling. I’m drawn to books where I’m in the character’s head—which might be a rough description of deep point of view (POV). As a writer, I try to deepen POV in my stories. Here’s one quick way.

Search for filter words in your draft. Filter words are words like: see, hear, think, wonder, know, believe, smell and appear.

Here’s an example: Daphne wondered if the fiend had seen her.

Filter words like wondered remind the reader that a narrator is telling the story. They take the reader out of the character’s head, so the trick is find these words and rewrite the sentence they’re in. We’ll start with our example.

Daphne crouched behind the broken pew. She wondered if the fiend had seen her.

Daphne crouched behind the broken pew. Her breathing loud in her ears, she peeked out. Had the fiend seen her?

The fiend rifled through the paint tarps covering the altar. Daphne crouched behind the broken pew. Waiting. Waiting. Her chest tight.

I think you’ll agree. The point of view is more compelling without she wondered. You can replace a filter word with a feeling, a perception or a thought your main character has about her present situation.

Other Than cover

When I wrote Other Than, a Gaslamp Fantasy/ Paranormal Historical Romance, I tried to limit the filter words, so readers could experience events with Evangeline Woods, the main character.

Adrenaline fueling her speed, she attempted to outrace the flickering destruction climbing the stairs along her heels and succeeded. Amazingly succeeded. Apparently, the fire was slowing, as though sated and content to toy with the kitchen.

Perhaps Sesha and Jessup had convinced their Almighty to aid her even after she’d reneged on her promise. She owed them—she’d save the cure in their memory. She sped into the ruined conservatory and got to the table, but the rack was empty. No vials. And the top of Jessup’s desk was clear. His journals and notes were gone.

On the floor, splattered blood led to and from the threshold. She followed it to the phoenix room and sensed Victor beyond the door.

He was alive. She’d found him.

For a moment, she gave in to giddy relief. Then, she turned the knob and entered.

Victor was before her. Surrounded by smoke, but before her.

His hair singed, the right side of his face blistered from heat, the left a deadly pallid, he slumped on the red-quilted bed and mopped at a red gushing hole in his abdomen with his torn off shirt. Seeing her, he straightened. Hope gleamed in his eyes. “You came. I called and you came.”

“You called?” She wanted to lift and twirl him in the air like he did her. Silly maybe. She was as dazed as the phoenix in the wall paper.

Real flames gnawed the hand-painted vines. “Why? Why are you here?”

“You don’t give me much credit.” His eager grin flattened. “Where is that trust, you’re working on?”

She wrung her hands. Their future depended on his next words. “You came because of the Maiden, didn’t you?”

“Damn right. I shan’t spend the rest of my life with her egregious murmurs in my mind nor can I allow her to inflict her will on others.”

She searched his eyes, and then his skin, those small tells, the nuisances of expression that hid deception. They weren’t there. He was earnest. He hadn’t intended to use the statue but destroy it. She swallowed to clear the lump in her throat.

“What did you think?” He waved a bloody hand as if warding off a blow. “No, don’t say.”

Blood. She jerked straight. Hoff had shot him. Here she was fretting over their future while he bled.

“Mayhap, I don’t deserve credit.” Victor’s lips twitched into a sardonic smile.

Always so good at wheedling out her feelings, he’d likely read her concern over his wound. Her vision blurred in the heated air.

“I know I’ve done unspeakable things. Things that need now to be set right. I began last night with you and our relationship. I thought I’d succeeded, but no.”

“You did. You have. It’s me who’s at fault currently. I doubted you, but I don’t now. It’s your health that alarms me. You, I’m sure of. Very sure.” She blinked hard and focused on the goal—Victor.

If you’d like to check out more of Other Than, you can find it at these links:

The Wild Rose Press, Amazon, Kobo, and iBooks.

If you’d like to connect with me, visit the following places:

Amazon author page: amazon.com/author/miaceleste
Facebook: fb.me/ Mia.Jo.Celeste
Website: http://www.miaceleste.com/
Twitter” https://twitter.com/MiajoCeleste
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/62257812-mia-jo-celeste
AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B01N9JGDVI

If you’d like to learn more about filter words, here are some great posts:

http://www.publishingcrawl.com/2012/05/21/filter-words/
https://writeitsideways.com/are-these-filter-words-weakening-your-fiction/