Monday, June 15, 2009

June Release: Goldie and the Three Bares

Goldie and the Three Bares by Kat Duarte
http://www.eternalpress.ca/goldieandthethreebares.htmlParanormal
Erotica, 14, 467 Words
$3.95 US
Flame Rating: 4 Flames
Cover Art © 2009 by Amanda Kelsey
Edited by Deborah Nemeth
Copyedited by Erin Cramer
Layout and Book Production by Ally Robertson
eBook: 978-1-926704-14-2Print: 978-1-926704-15-9

Summary:

On Midsummer’s Eve, archeologist Goldie Locke finds more than she bargained for at her dig site. She’s devoted years to discovering the equivalent of a Scottish Rosetta stone to unlock the mystery of the Pictish language. After unearthing a promising carving, she falls asleep in a fairy circle and wakes up completely naked next to a sexy, equally naked Archfay named Tyrnan. She can see he’s well equipped to grant her every wish, but rather than spending a hot night with Tyrnan, all-work-and-no-play Goldie opts for learning more about the stone carving.

Granting her request, Tyrnan transports her to the fifth century, but he has ulterior plans. Goldie meets a warrior king and a passionate storyteller, and these encounters will prove to her that fairy tales do come true—though not always in the expected way.


Excerpt:

“Let me get this right. You’re saying I’m in a fairy tale and you’re one of those little floaty things with wings, like Tinkerbell?” She knew full well what he meant by archfay. You couldn’t avoid a few lessons on the folklore of the Celts when you studied their languages. However, the use of stories about the daomine sidhe, the Tuatha De Danann, as a stepping-stone to decipher ancient texts was a far cry from believing in their existence. She’d meant to get a rise out of him and had, but not in the way she’d intended.
Tyrnan’s cock stiffened, and as it rose, so did he. He got to his feet and drew up to his full height. All six-foot-plus of him rippled with hard, lean muscle. Whether from the sunlight here in his enchanted field or some inner glow, he looked almost luminescent. Tall, radiant, powerful and certainly not tiny—in any way.
He stretched out his arms and a richly adorned green velvet robe appeared around him from nowhere. A headdress of gold shimmered into existence, his dark curls interwoven with the Celtic knots of its bright metal bands.
With him clothed, even in part, Goldie felt more naked than before. She drew back and wrapped her arms around her bent knees to cover herself. Cowering like a child. But she couldn’t help it. He was downright imposing. Okay. So maybe he is what he claims to be.
“If you are not overhappy to be here with me, I can send you back,” he told her, looking not entirely pleased himself.
A thought struck her. She didn’t really know that much about faery folks’ powers, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask. “Can you send me anywhere?”
“Any where, any when you desire.”

June Release: Miami Moon: Vampire’s Lair


Miami Moon: Vampire’s Lair by A.J. Ryan
http://www.eternalpress.ca/miamimoon.html
Gay, M/M Erotic Horror, 12,600 Words
$3.95 US
Flame Rating: 5 Flames
Cover Art © 2009 by Dawné Dominique
Edited by Stephanie Parent
Copyedited by Erin Cramer
Layout and Book Production by Ally Robertson
eBook: 978-1-926704-06-7Print: 978-1-926704-14-2

Summary:

Some of us are gatherers. Some are hunters. Some are healers. Jason Cain ran away to Miami not only to escape his past, but to escape his future as well. He left behind a pretty girlfriend, a college education, and a promising career in the shadow of his father, a prominent Chicago surgeon. He also left behind a haunting tragedy, something that stopped him from becoming the man he was destined to be. But all that is about to change.

Under the Miami Moon, Jason Cain is about to be chosen to fulfill his destiny - to become a healer. Drawn into a forbidden world, plucked from the streets of Miami and taken to a mansion filled with danger and debauchery in the middle of a Florida bayou, Jason is about to experience male love, lust and longing like he has never known before. Here, the Vampire Xavier - the muscular, dominant master of his own lair - will give Jason the redemption and healing that he so desperately craves. The price - his mortality.

Excerpt:

The scene outside the mansion was a tame image of sexual openness and polite, pleasure-seeking indulgence compared to the opulence, the extravagance, the profligacy, the dizzy hedonism of the world Jason Cain encountered when he walked into the mansion:
Candles bleeding molten wax from silver candlesticks and elaborate candelabras…
A quartet of violinists playing Beethoven while the pianist sat back, enjoying the pleasure of a slim cigar, all five of them wearing nothing but bowties…
Two men in tuxedoes draped over a naked young man on an eighteenth-century rococo chaise lounge, one man gnawing on the naked subject's ear, the other gnawing on his anus, rimming him with his tongue and felching the glistening hole…
Eight white doves, perched on the arms of a giant crystal chandelier, cooing and casually watching the decadence unfolding below…
A gorgeous naked man with a studded collar around his neck and another around his erect cock, walking a seven-foot-long alligator on a lead as though it were his pet poodle. The reptile also wore a studded collar and snapped non-threateningly at the other guests as it crawled across the red Persian carpet, leaving a slimy, claw-marked trail behind it. Nobody seemed to mind nor care.
"What is this place? Who are you people? Why am I here?"
"This is Xavier's Liar."

June Release: Stella


Stella by Colin Galbraith
http://www.eternalpress.ca/stella.html
Paranormal/Suspense Novella, 24,000 Words
$4.50 US
Flame Rating: 1 Flames
Cover Art © 2009 by Dawné Dominique
Edited by Pam Slade
Copyedited by Betty Anne Harris
Layout and Book Production by Ally Robertson
eBook:978-1-926704-05-0Print: 978-1-926704-13-5

Summary:

Randolph Lowe is a distinguished British Secret Agent in the twilight of his career. When he is handed a mission to kill one of the world’s least accessible, yet most wanted assassins, he never expected a beautiful young woman with the alias, Stella.

Stella leads him around the world as she picks off her marks with ease, during which time Randolph grows infatuated and falls in love.
But Stella has her own dark secret. Forced into making a terrible sacrifice, she is forced to live her life as a lone killer.

The love of one man may be enough to free her, and only that man can save her now...but only if he can find her.

Excerpt:

“Baccara?” said Randolph. “Can I see the spec please, sir?”
Burke handed over a light brown loose-leaf folder with the operation title printed on the centre of the cover, beneath blood-red words: ‘No Eyes’.
He paused. “Should I be seeing this?”
Burke spoke with fierce authority. “This is about as sensitive a mission as you can get, Lowe. Speed read it before you leave this room, then give it back to me to be destroyed.”
Randolph opened the folder with a shiver of caution. He had only ever heard of a case file being labeled 'No Eyes' on one other occasion - and that was when the plot to assassinate Hitler was first put onto the table.
On the first sheet of paper was the profile of a young woman. She had no confirmed name but had been given the alias, Stella. The paper gave her estimated height and weight: medium and medium; her features: defined and blonde; her general appearance: tidy and classy. All these observations were noted down in neat, anonymous handwriting. The file also included details of her last known whereabouts, some of her regular hangouts, and a picture of her sitting in a coffee shop somewhere in Eastern Europe. Her hair was blonde and wavy, and she was dressed in jeans and casual blouse with fashionable shades covering her eyes. She looked more like an A-class Hollywood actress than an MI5 target.
Randolph turned the page and read the section on her most recent movements and known acquaintances. She was wanted for questioning by several governments around the world, mostly on suspicion of being involved with assassination or plots to assassinate. There was no paper trail behind her, and no electronic, banking, or credit transactions traceable. She had been known to spend time with various government ministers and important businessmen from countries across three continents, but nobody could identify her formally. Needless to say, there were no witnesses to any of her crimes, her whole existence seemingly based on hearsay.
“She's an assassin?” Randolph asked, surprised that someone with such striking beauty stood accused of being a cold-blooded killer.

June Release: One Soul For Sale


One Soul For Sale by Cate Masters
http://www.eternalpress.ca/onesoulforsale.html
Paranormal, 20,170 Words
$4.50 US
Flame Rating: 1 Flames
Cover Art © 2009 by Amanda Kelsey
Edited by Diana Rubino
Copyedited by Valerie J. Coffey
Layout and Book Production by Ally Robertson
eBook: 978-1-926704-04-3Print: 978-1-926704-12-8

Low level violence
Adult themes (some adult language)
Mild horror

Summary:

When Madelyn sells her soul on UBuy, she’s not ready for the hell that’s unleashed. All she really wants is to make a success of her art. But the gorgeous stranger who buys her soul for $666 asks her to perform a few tasks. Tests of her true worth, Madelyn thinks, as each brings her – and her cat Brutus – into greater danger. And closer to the frightening shadowy figure stalking her. On All Hallows Eve, her final test will open the gates of hell. Or is it heaven?

Excerpt:

At the coffee shop, Madelyn waits at a table by the window and scans the Evening Gazette. The news is always the same. Until she reaches page six, where a blurb describes a disturbance the night before in her neighborhood. Telephone reception was lost. Television signals were scrambled. Residents reported strange noises, though no one saw anything out of the ordinary.
No one but Madelyn.
The guy in all black comes through the door. Her breath is caught in her chest. As he holds her gaze, his dark eyes sparkle like black diamonds. Her heart pounds as he walks to her table and sits down across from her.
“It’s you.” But she’d known it would be.
His expression is warm and inviting as he looks her over. “I wanted to be sure that, with such a low starting bid, your soul isn’t tarnished.” He speaks to her as if she’s an old friend.
“I feel like it is.” She proceeds to spill her guts to him. Even as she thinks she should be embarrassed to be doing so, it makes her feel lighter, like unburdening herself opens up space inside her, previously made heavy with bad thoughts, unfulfilled hopes, despair and gloom. Now it’s kind of airy, little particles sparking in the light as they float by.
His gaze penetrates her to the core. “So you think fifty dollars is all it’s worth? Your soul – the essence of your being?”
She couldn’t feel more exposed if an x-ray of her insides were hanging in the window beside them. “It started out as a joke. I thought people would read it and laugh. I wasn’t expecting anyone to place a bid. I wasn’t expecting…” she gulps, “…you.” Her intellect recognizes the idiocy of her situation. And stupidity. What a mess she’s made.
He leans in, his voice low, his smile like a crocodile about to snap her up. His breath is like a heat wave across her face and neck. “Didn’t your mother warn you not to wish your life away?” It seems less a question than a reminder.

June Release: The Yellow Stone


The Yellow Stone by T.M. Crone
http://www.eternalpress.ca/theyellowstone.html
Soft SF, 6400 Words
$2.50 US
Flame Rating: 1 Flames
Cover Art © 2009 by Amanda Kelsey
Edited by Stephanie Parent
Copyedited by Moss Bliss
Layout and Book Production by Ally Robertson
eBook: 978-1-926704-03-6Print: 978-1-926704-11-1

Summary:

Luzan Kiowa has lived in the canyon all her life, but it’s never felt right. Leaving the man she loves behind, she journeys with a group of searchers to find her real home. She takes along with her the yellow stone given to her by her Moma Kiowa, whose ancestors took it from their homeland following a devastating super volcano eruption. The stone leads her to the home of her ancestors, but the place is not what she expects. Will she continue to live in the strange new land where life is easy, or will she return to the only Ameriki who can truly warm her heart and anchor her feet to the earth?

Excerpt:

Moma Kiowa was buried at daybreak. Lozan selected a grave site atop the canyon walls, where Moma's spirit could overlook the western horizon and watch over her when she journeyed again. Wind rushed across the mesa, chilling Lozan and thickening her tears into icy droplets upon her cheeks. Not a single petal adorned Moma's final resting spot: the flora had already relinquished its life to the changing weather. Chanters promenaded around the grave, moving their ceremonially dressed bodies in a slow, graceful dance.

June Release: Blood Moon Rising

Blood Moon Rising by Angela Lam Turbin
http://www.eternalpress.ca/bloodmoonrising.html
Paranormal Vampire Romance, 59,802 Words
$6.95 US
Flame Rating: 2 Flames
Cover Art © 2009 by Dawné Dominique
Edited by Foery K. MacDonell
Copyedited by Moss Bliss
Layout and Book Production by Ally Robertson
eBook: 978-1-926704-02-9Print: 978-1-926704-10-4

Medium level violence
Adult themes
Sex scenes

Summary:
Deep in Shaman’s Forest, the vampire Valkyrie awakens to find her dhampir son, Anthony, ill with a fever. The sorceress says Anthony must have his father’s blood before the next full moon or else he will die. Valkyrie journeys with Anthony into the city to find a man she has not seen in 15 years. But will Anthony’s fascination with human life and Valkyrie’s need to feed on living blood tear them apart before Anthony’s father can be found?

Excerpt:

“He may look fine now, but he is dying,” the sorceress warned. “He needs you to help him.”
“How?”
“He needs his father’s blood. Anyone else’s blood will only hasten his demise.”
“But his father is human. How will I find him?”
“You will smell his scent like you smelled him before when you hungered for his flesh, thirsted for his blood.”
Valkyrie stared off into the distance and sighed. “I never hungered for him. He found my cave years ago on a camping trip. He was braver than the rest. He crept down to my tomb and startled me.”
The sorceress nodded, as if she already knew.
“Perhaps I should have bitten him, contaminated him, made him forever mine. But I let him go.” Valkyrie’s eyes misted. “I was in love.”

June Release: The Sea-Wagon of Yantai

The Sea-Wagon of Yantai by Steven R. Southard
http://www.eternalpress.ca/theseawagonofyantai.html
Historical Fiction/Folklore, 5000 Words
$2.50 US
Flame Rating: 0 Flames
Cover Art © 2009 by Amanda Kelsey
Edited by Diana Rubino
Copyedited by Erin Cramer
Layout and Book Production by Ally Robertson
eBook: 978-1-926704-01-2Print: 978-1-926704-09-8

No overt violence
Aftermath of battle scene described
Off-stage suicide
Suitable for Young Adult

Summary:

In 206 B.C., China is torn by warring dynasties. A young warrior, Lau, receives orders to verify the legend of a magic wagon that can cross rivers unseen. He encounters Ning, the wagon-maker in the seaside village of Yantai. Ning has constructed an unusual wagon that can submerge, travel along the bottom of the Bay of Bohai, and surface in safety—the world’s first practical submarine.

Ning enjoys the peace and beauty of his undersea excursions and will not allow the military to seize his wagon or learn its secrets. Lau must bring the valuable weapon back to his superior. In the hands of these two men rest the future of the submarine, as an instrument of war or exploration.

Excerpt:

“Ah, Ning, with this machine, you have given birth to a truly modern age,” Lau marveled. He needed to find out if Ning would be receptive to his plans or not. “With this chariot, one can do so much more than merely watch fish. Troops could cross deep rivers, bays, seas, and even the great eastern ocean. No lookout on shore would see them coming. The great Sun Tzu tells us we must use surprise for a successful invasion, and we must travel by unexpected routes. But even he could never have imagined an underwater chariot. What a marvelous engine of war! Have you thought of these things, Ning?”
The old man looked at him in horror, then frowned. “You told me you were a traveler who enjoyed watching fish.”
“Think of this,” Lau went on. “Imagine a chain of your chariots linked by stout ropes, emerging from the water up onto an enemy’s beach. It would appear as a dragon rising from the sea to any lookout ashore. He would be too scared to send his alarm signal.” Lau had to get this chariot to his Lion, along with the secret for making more. The silly old man was wasting time observing gobies while the Qin armies could be using the machines for sneak attacks.
Ning shook his head. “I did not build this wagon for war. You have deceived me with a lie. We must go back now. Kindly rotate the wheel in the opposite direction.”

June Release: Sisters in Time

Sisters In Time by Ginger Simpson
http://www.eternalpress.ca/sistersintime.html
Paranormal Romance, 57,400 Words
$5.95 US
Flame Rating: 3 Flames
Cover Art © 2009 by Dawné Dominique
Edited by Lauren Gilbert
Copyedited by Heather Williams
Layout and Book Production by Ally Robertson
eBook: 978-1-926704-00-5
Print: 978-1-926704-08-1

Summary:

Mariah Cassidy awakens in the twentieth century. Confined in a pristine environment, hooked to tubes and beeping machines, she’s scared, confused and wondering why everyone keeps calling her Mrs. Morgan. Who is the strange man who keeps massaging her forehead and telling her everything is going to be alright?

Taylor Morgan tries to focus on her surroundings through a blinding headache. The patchwork quilt, the water basin, and the archaic room don’t strike a familiar chord. Her mouth gapes when a handsome man waltzes into the room, calls her darling, and expresses his delight that she’s on the road to recovery.

Clearly something is amiss.

Excerpt:

Suddenly, an intense rumbling sound shook the prairie stillness. From an almost cloudless sky, thunder cast a single bolt of lightning, striking the ground with energy enough to propel dirt through the air and set fire to a small patch of grass. Immediately, calm prevailed; only a column of smoke billowing skyward remained as evidence.
Frank pondered the strange occurrence, but fueled by the need to find his wife, hurried in the direction of the fading smoke. “Mariah, Mariah, please answer me.” His boots cut a path through the heavy brush.
In the grass beyond the wagon, he spied the brim of her yellow bonnet. He rushed to her side, finding her in an oddly contorted position. Mariah’s head rested against a large rock and rivulets of red dripped onto the grass beneath her. Frank’s throat Frank’s throat constricted. “Oh my God, are you all right? Mariah, answer me, please.” His words were little more than a whisper over his choking fear.
He gently removed her head covering and inspected the crimson-stained gash on her temple. “Callie,” he yelled, “Get the tablecloth from the picnic basket. I have to stop this bleeding. Quickly, Jacob, bring me the water jug.”
Frank cleaned Mariah’s wound then wrapped a makeshift bandage around her head, but she remained unconscious. He had to make her hear him; she had to wake up. A tear trickled down his cheek and he brushed it away. His children already sobbed with fear; he had to show strength.
Frank continued to bathe his wife’s face with cool water. “Mariah, please darlin’…” He looked to the sky. “Lord this can’t be happening.”