Promo | Linda McLaughlin/Lyndi Lamont

My steamy werewolf novella, Ilona’s Wolf, is free at amazon.com starting today and running through Dec. 20! If you’re looking for a hot read on a cold night, this story is for you!

Princess Ilona is rescued by a wolf that transforms into a handsome, naked man. Cursed by an evil wizard, Rolf was trapped in wolf form until he tasted the blood of a royal. Now he must escort the princess on a hazardous journey to the castle. Passion flares between them, but both know there is no future for a princess and a werewolf. Or is there… in a world where magic and passion combine?

Download free (or borrow on Kindle Unlimited) at: Amazon US, Amazon AU, Amazon Canada, and Amazon UK.

Excerpt:

Once upon a time, in the Kingdom of Velosia, magic was more precious than gold. The few who possessed it were highly prized, for not everyone could learn to wield the magic, only those who were sorcerers born.

Unscrupulous men tried to control the sorcerers, to use the magic for their own purposes. For power, wealth and control. But the magicians paid a terrible price. For in this world, magic was designed to do good. Use of magic for selfish or evil reasons drained them of their power. And so the villains of the kingdom continually sought new sources of the precious magic.

Now an evil sorcerer schemed to gain control of the kingdom. What he could not bewitch, he tried to destroy. One courageous knight stood in the way, until he was cursed and banished.

Our story begins with a young woman in a crimson cloak walking through the forest, followed by a woodsman and a wolf. A familiar tale, you might say. Ah, but she is no common girl, and this is no ordinary wolf.

* * *

The wolf trotted through the forest, head up, senses extending outward, alert for danger. He’d been running for his life forever, or so it seemed. The smell of lust came first, musky and tinged with violence. He paused, sniffed deeply, then changed direction and speed, loping toward the scent, for now he sensed another—sweet, innocent and frightened. Soon he heard the rustling of feet on dry leaves. Two sets of feet, one following the other.

Protect, defend, avenge. The words pounded in his brain, though he knew not why.

Protect, defend, avenge. Running now, he raced toward the two humans, fearing what would happen if he were too late.

Lyndi Lamont

Sunday’s Spotlight is on my Western historical, Lily and the Gambler, currently free at Smashwords thru July 31.

This story was inspired by a vacation my husband and I took through California’s Gold Country. I fell in love with the old gold mining towns, esp. Grass Valley, which I found especially interesting due to its strong ties to Cornwall. I decided I needed a Cornish heroine and an American hero, in the mold of James Garner’s Maverick.

California Columbia carriage in a real old Western Gold Rush Town in USA

Another trip followed where I did research, including mine tours and visits to museums. At one point, my husband threatened divorce if I dragged him through another mining museum! The curse of living with a writer.

Blurb:

Respectability is in the eye of the beholder. Or so Lily Penhallow hopes when she assumes the guise of the widow Albright. She has learned the price of flaunting convention and is determined to obey society’s rules from now on. After her lover, Nigel Albright, was killed in a duel over a card game, Lily dons widow’s weeds and travels to Grass Valley, California where she plans to marry the man her uncle works for, a respectable mine owner named Hugh Ogilvie. Then, on the riverboat from San Francisco, she meets Creighton ‘King’ Callaway, a professional gambler, just the kind of man she should avoid.

King believes that since life is a gamble, there’s no point in planning for the future. You have to trust Lady Luck. After meeting Lily, King knows he has found his Queen of Hearts. But can he convince her to pass up a sober businessman for a foot-loose card sharp?

Only Lady Luck knows for sure…

Excerpt:

Lily smiled at him. “That was quite a trick. Do you tell fortunes, too?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. Is the lady interested?”

“Perhaps,” she said, aware he was flirting with her again and annoyed with herself because she was enjoying it. “There should be a deck of cards here somewhere.”

“No cards required. Just let me see your palm.”

Unable to stop herself, Lily stripped off her gloves and let him take her hand. He held it in his left hand, and with his right index finger, traced the lines on her palm. Shivers ran up her arm at each caressing touch. His scent, a mixture of bay rum, male musk, and a faint hint of tobacco, overwhelmed her.

“What do you see?” she asked, her voice suddenly breathless.

“Health and long life.”

“What, no handsome stranger?” she joked.

He raised his head and stared into her eyes. “Oh, yes, I see romance ahead for you. With a dark haired fellow. But he isn’t a stranger.”

For what seemed an age, she stared into his green-gold eyes while her pulse quickened and warmth stole through her veins. It would be so easy to surrender to the feelings he evoked.

“I also see a fork in the road ahead,” he added softly. “You have a decision to make. A very important decision.”

She snatched her hand away, knowing she couldn’t afford to be distracted by him. It wasn’t as if he had made her any promises. “I think you need to practice your fortune-telling skills, Mr. Callaway.”

He chuckled. “There’s something else I’d like to practice.”

Available at Amazon Kindle, BN/Nook, Kobo and #free at Smashwords thru July 31.