Landra Graf's A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME

A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME

a Beyond Fairytales story

By

Landra Graf

Blurb: Zombies don’t belong in fairy tales….at least not those with a good chance of a happily ever after…

Jason Prince, Charming's once-upon-a-time star jock, only attends his Charming high school reunion to find his way into the heart of a certain wallflower who had no date for the prom.

Shy, geeky, chemical engineer, Emma Fay has been keeping her love for Jason a secret because she knows Jason and Rose belong together. But, when Rose Briar pricks her finger, fulfilling a prophecy about death and a plague, she throws a wrench into the class reunion that not even the best planning committee can tackle.

Can Jason and Emma stop Zombie Beauty Rose before she turns their loved ones into her undead court and sends them forth to spread the infestation to the rest of the world? Or will human flesh become the daily special at diners everywhere? And will there be enough left of Jason and Emma for romance to blossom?

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Rose-any-Other-Name-Fairytales-ebook/dp/B014RKVLTC/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1441845738&sr=1-3&keywords=a+rose+by+any+other+name

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-arosebyanyothername-1876890-149.html

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/a-rose-by-any-other-name-7

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26212498-a-rose-by-any-other-name

Bookstrand: http://www.bookstrand.com/a-rose-by-any-other-name-0

Excerpt (Option 1):

That’s when she saw him, and, damn—he looked better than he had in high school. Back then, he’d been equal proportions of muscle on top and bottom, but since then his shoulders and upper body had filled out. He looked like a bronzed god. Even though it was fall, he still sported a tan, his blonde hair a shade lighter than she remembered, most likely from time spent outside. Seeing him sparked errant thoughts of finding out what he was doing now. His eyes connected with hers.

His lips moved, but she couldn’t hear anything as he walked her way. She rolled down the window when he reached her door and angled down to lean against it.

“Emmaline Fay, what are you doing? Hiding in the car like a scaredy cat?”

The rich, deep sound of his voice coupled with his childish taunt made her feel self-conscious, and a flush of heat and anger coursed her skin. She’d forgotten about his ability to aggravate her at the drop of a dime.

“No, just trying to decide if this is a good place to park. You know how you country boys tend to scuffle your way over and around cars after a few too many.”

“True, but we’re men, and we have to impress the ladies somehow. You can’t tell me a scuffle doesn’t make you smile.”

She tried to keep her expression civil even when Jason’s familiar scent found her nose, inspiring a fresh round of stomach squirminess. “The only time I feel like smiling is when the cops show up to make an arrest.”

Jason grinned. Even his teeth were perfect. Rose had definitely picked a winner. He took a step back and winked. “Come on out of the car, kitty claws. Maybe we can find a scuffle together if you’re that excited about the law.”

“Always the jokes and nicknames. You haven’t changed.” She rolled up the window and removed her keys from the ignition. Hilarious how he riled her up and got under her skin with only a few sentences. Keeping her distance should be her key objective of the night. Otherwise she might lean in and sniff him or, worse, engage in one of those arguments she loved to start. Pathetic. Maybe her decision to stay out of the dating game was a liability.

She walked to the curb, Jason trailing behind. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw him jerk his head up, and she stumbled on a piece of raised sidewalk.

“Whoa there. Everything okay?” He put a hand to her waist, and she barely kept herself upright.

Her skin went hot. Everywhere. “I’m fine.” But she wasn’t.

Author Bio: Landra Graf consumes at least one book a day, and has always been a sucker for stories where true love conquers all. She believes in the power of the written word, and the joy such words can bring. In between spending time with her family and having book adventures, she writes romance with the goal of giving everyone, fictional or not, their own happily ever after.

Author Links:

Website: http://landragraf.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LandraGraf

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/landra.graf

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7847192.Landra_Graf

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

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Landra-Graf/e/B00IESJED4/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1440641120&sr=8-1

Landra Graf's RAVEN PIRATE ASSASSIN SPY

RAVEN PIRATE ASSASSIN SPY

a Beyond Fairytales story

by 

LANDRA GRAF

Blurb: Once Upon A Time...

Sorella Corvino lost her brother to The Cursed years ago. Sorella is so determined to find him, she'll make any deal, rescue the outcasts and those like him, and risk flying into any port to rescue him. When her latest pirate efforts partner her with a bounty hunter who's too charming, sexy, and handsome for his own good, she knows she's in trouble.

Ian Marshall no longer believes in fairy tales…

Disowned and a marked criminal in the United States, this merchant turned bounty hunter, is one bounty away from freedom; and freedom's price is handing over one person to the most cutthroat gang in the world, The Cursed. Yet, he can't get to them without Sorella's help. Too bad she's gorgeous, aggravating, and a little trigger happy.

As the attraction mounts, the danger grows and the pair find themselves invading a skin trader den, the ballrooms of dictator-ruled Germany, and fighting battles in the sky in the hopes of getting everything they want. Only thing they didn't plan on... falling in love.

Buy Links:

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Raven-Pirate-Assassin-Spy-Fairytales-ebook/dp/B0148UZ1BU/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

All Romance Ebooks - https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-ravenpirateassassinspy-1873959-149.html

Barnes and Noble - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/raven-pirate-assassin-spy-landra-graf/1122559905?ean=2940151004435

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26140840-raven-pirate-assassin-spy?ref=ru_lihp_up_rs_1_mclk-up2548297283

Excerpt Option 1: “I already paid off the police, at least for the moment. Until your cousin offers them more.” The words rolled off her tongue matter-of-factly as if this sort of situation occurred every day. His pants tightened at her words. A woman who feared nothing, who didn’t believe in danger.

“Very generous of you.”

“Hmm?” She stopped playing with her balisong knife and looked at him.

He came toward her, arms open, expecting her to move away from the door and put distance between them. She didn’t. “You protected me at your own expense.”

“I thought you might take my generosity as replacement for me losing the bet.”

Less than six inches separated their bodies. The pulse point at her neck fluttered, her breath shallow. Her knife stilled in her hand, closed, but ready to deploy. She waited for him to make a move.

The distinct possibility existed he’d be dead in the next minute, but her lips were deep red, like cherries he’d eaten in late summer. To leave them untouched would be a crime. “You thought wrong.”

He leaned in. She gasped, and then he kissed her.

She’d been kissed before, but it had merely been her parents’ chaste touches to her cheeks or forehead, and, once, her fiancé had brushed her lips with his. Otherwise, she had remained untouched until now. As he touched the tip of his tongue to her closed mouth, a sinful sensation swamped her body. Gooseflesh broke out underneath her clothes, and little hairs stood up on the back of her neck.

Sorella grabbed the lapels of his coat and opened her mouth. Something carnal took over, an instinct to engage his tongue in some primitive dance. If this was considered uncivilized, she’d gladly abandon society and all its norms.

As fast as the moment began, it ended, and Ian pulled back a few inches. “You taste amazing.”

He did, too; like peppermint, and…. “You taste familiar.” Not as if she’d tasted him before, but somehow the aromatic tang of his mouth and the scent of his breath on an exhale resonated within her. She’d bottle it if she knew how. “Kiss me again.”

“As my captain commands.”

Excerpt Option 2: “Merci, mon petites.” The albino’s voice sounded like gravel in the cylinder-shaped microphone. “I’ll be breaking for a short time. Youse keep yourselves amused and stay out of trouble.”

“Remember…let me do most of the talking,” Ian said as soon as the crooner stood and started making his way to the edge of the stage.

The captain merely nodded, taking in the other members of the band, who didn’t leave their spots on the stage.

Instead, they started playing again, a perky jazz tune with a good measure of saxophone. A few of the couples positioned around the room came out to the dancing square positioned in the middle of the room and began swaying or grinding to the beat. Ian kept his expression neutral although his gut churned at the visual.

Their host grunted as he pulled back a chair, and, as a guest, Ian stood as manners dictated. The captain didn’t.

“Standing on ceremony as if you were still a gentleman?” Janken chuckled.

Ian sat and smiled. “Mama’s rules ne’er do disappear.”

“Mine did, thank God.” The albino tapped his long fingernails on the table top in perfect rhythm with the beat from the stage. “Who’s your friend? She smells like a garden.”

“Castoa--”

“Captain Castoa of the Liberté.” She’d cut him off and extended a hand in peace.

For a blind man, Janken saw remarkable things, and he grabbed her, leaning forward over the small table. He flipped her palm between both of his and sniffed at her wrist. Without rebuke, she submitted to his eccentricities while Ian experienced a sudden desire to throw the skin trader from his seat and put the captain’s fancy knife through him.

“Divine. Absolutely delicious.” Then he let her go. “Such a pretty scent for a woman around filth and dirt all the time.”

They all fell silent. Ian couldn’t find his words at the moment, a red haze of jealousy winding its course through him. Being jealous of a blind man seemed a bit ridiculous, but at the same time he wanted permission to touch her, to smell her—liberties denied him that Janken had taken without even bothering to ask..

Luckily, he didn’t have to produce the next piece of conversation; the albino did the work for him. “Now what does a marked want so bad he’s willing to darken my establishment with his sinful presence?”

Time for business. “I need to find Luther.”

“You’re not the only one.”

“I’ve got merchandise he’s requested, but a delay had me late to our meeting point. I know you can tell me where he’s hiding.” He’d bet his life on it.

The two illegal-dealing men weren’t friends, but information about anything and everything black market or top secret seemed to be in the albino’s possession. The Cursed were always in need of intelligence. Information allowed them to stay one step ahead of the authorities and determine who’d want their services.

“I may know something, but the rules still apply.”

Ian nodded. “Yes, and she’s got something good to share.”

A white eyebrow rose. “Eh? What could this marvelous woman who captains an airship full of foul-smelling, disgusting men have to tell me that would equal such a trade?”

Excerpt Option 3: Sorella Corvino only made promises she kept. So when she told the crumb in the next cell, “Once I get out of here, I’m going to kill you,” those were words of truth, not fiction.

The evil bastard leaned forward, mere inches from the bars, and grinned. “I prefer my bits handled by a gorgeous dish, but in a pinch, you’ll do.” His six yellowed teeth stabbing up through pinkish-white gums were a stark contracts to his soot colored skin and graying eyes, the gray no doubt a product of the drugs and rotgut sold on every corner in Pontevedre. No one escaped the filth and poison festering in the streets of every European city unscathed.

“In your dreams.” She stepped towards him, eyes narrowed. Maybe she wouldn’t wait until she got out.

“That’s what your girl is dreaming of tonight. Me and my co—“

She slid her hand between the bars and grasped the part of his anatomy he wanted to talk about in every other sentence, effectively cutting him off.

Author Bio: Landra Graf consumes at least one book a day, and has always been a sucker for stories where true love conquers all. She believes in the power of the written word, and the joy such words can bring. In between spending time with her family and having book adventures, she writes romance with the goal of giving everyone, fictional or not, their own happily ever after.

Author Links:

Website: http://landragraf.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LandraGraf

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/landra.graf

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7847192.Landra_Graf

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

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Landra-Graf/e/B00IESJED4/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1440641120&sr=8-1

Beyond Fairytales Blog Hop

Pleased as punch to be part of Decadent Publishing's Beyond Fairytales Blog Hop. My own fractured fairy tale, RAIN, a post-apocalyptic take on the Sleeping Beauty story, will release on June 2!

The Blog Hop will feature other Decadent authors whose Beyond Fairytales stories  have already been released or will be releasing soon!

And there will be prizes! 15 of them to be exact! That's right. Fifteen readers will each be chosen to select 1 backlist book from the Beyond Fairytales catalogue!

So please be sure to stop by each participating author's blog to comment, and check out the Rafflecopter below.  

As for me, leave a comment for me here (along with your email address -- a must!) -- and tell me what you love to read paranormals and fantasies and I'll send one random winner one of my Decadent Publishing titles! HINT: The  more creative you are, the better shot you'll have!

And now...here's RAIN

Blurb:

       Sleeping Beauty in a post-apocalyptic land…

       In a world gone mad, where little remains but a vast wasteland of sand, the leader of a troop of roving warriors welcomes a brave young woman into his midst.

       Much as he burns for her, Major Clay Worthington swears to keep his distance from the mysterious woman, so sensitive even the stinging rain can wound her.

       Rosina Brierly is besotted with the formidable soldier and will gladly trade her life for one torrid night of blissful passion in his arms.

     But when sleep overcomes them, will true love prevail?

Excerpt:

            Does the major ever feel lust? Does he covet a woman’s touch? He never gave any sign he did. Too aloof and austere, too remote from the simple emotions of mere mortal men.

            He shook her again. “Wake up, princess. The rain will come soon.”

            The men looked forward to the rain. They hated the relentless sun blasting down upon them, as if they thought it would incinerate what was left of the earth beneath their boots, baking the soft sand into badlands as hard as concrete. They’d strip off their T-shirts and boots, their combat fatigues, and sometimes even their camouflage boxer shorts, and dance and play, naked or nearly so, in the slanting gray soup, laughing, tossing round balls or throwing saucer-shaped plastic discs to each other.

            For her, the showers had the opposite effect. The stinging rain sliced into her sensitive skin like acid, raising blisters and sores, sometimes bloodying her.

            She did not know why the major called her princess. Perhaps he didn’t know either. Whatever royalty once walked the earth had long gone, fled underground or died in battle or simply disappeared. The war engulfed every human on the planet, every inch of land, and had waged so long she doubted anyone remembered anymore. Well, maybe Nicodemus. At least he sometimes hinted he did in the stories he told. And she had seen him whisper into the major’s ear, unknown things that made the major pale beneath his weathered tan.

            Major Worthington did not treat her like a princess, though, except when she slumbered, when he knelt before her in her fantasy world, his head bowed, his fist over his heart, laying his sword at her feet and claiming the role of knight. Her hero. Her champion. When she awoke, he remained one of the elite warrior breed roaming the planet, bristling with weapons like the soldiers he led. He treated her as the translator she was to him, sometimes barking orders to her as if she were one of his men, only occasionally seeking her counsel.

            She came fully awake as he jerked her up from the ground and yanked her toward him. The glare of the setting sun broadsided her, hurting her eyes. Why was he so insistent about the impending rain? No clouds yet darkened the sky, although the hour sped toward evening dusk now. But no hint of shadow yet blotted the horizon.

            “I can smell it,” he muttered.

Coming June 2

Visit the authors below to be eligible for more prizes!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

RAIN...sneak peek!

COMING SOON!

Vicki Ballante's THE LOVE COMMISSION

The Love Commission

by

Vicki Ballante

An Escape to Africa fantasy romance from Decadent Publishing's Ubuntu line 

Blurb:

Gelsey is a savannah sprite—a fairy in Africa who works to preserve the earth. She’s a pro at eco-balance, but when the fairy queen gives her a commission to become a human to learn the meaning of love, she’s miserable. She has to give it her best as it’s the only way to get her dream job—to save the African Wild Cat.

After a short time in her new life, Gelsey is swept into the world of Evan’s love. Now, she must make an impossible choice—give up her life with the man who owns her heart or lose her fairyhood forever.

Excerpt:

The queen must have chosen the noisiest moment to give her the commission.

“You are to enter the human world…as a human.”

Gelsey blinked, her wings trembling against her back. Four fairies had entered the human world and only one had come back safe, having succeeded in her commission. Two others had remained human, and the last one had been killed.

“I don’t understand….”

“You are a young fairy who has an amazing ability to calm down the most frightened bird or insect. I believe you will be as suitable for this commission as you are beautiful and humble. You know you aren’t perfect. Someone humble enough to admit her weaknesses would be just right for the human world. You won’t lose your personality at all when you take your new form. You won’t even lose your wings. They will merely remain dormant. You will be divested of some of your powers, though. But your power to calm down the distressed will remain. That power will enable you to succeed in your commission.”

“What am I to do?”

“You are to marry a man for a year. You will find out why the humans want love and sex but not children. As you may have learned in your studies at nature school, Homo sapiens reproduce differently to fairies. They reproduce by sex between a male and female. But the species have devised several means to prevent babies from being formed in the female body even though they continue to have sex. This has lowered the reproduction rate of the creatures who are important for the balance of the earth, specifically in South Africa. For this purpose, I want you to enter into their world and feel what they feel. You are to know what it is to love a male human with their type of love. You will go at the first break of spring and will be able to return home at the start of the following spring. We will give you your own vial of fairy dust. The gold dust should be used only twice. The first time is when you find a suitable man to marry. When you find someone who is single and who cares about the balance of nature, you must sprinkle the fairy dust on his head. The magic will make him want to marry you. Once the magic has worked, you cannot find another man. He is the one for you. If you mistakenly choose a married man, you will get one more chance.”

Gelsey’s wings beat against her back until they ached. Become a human and marry one? How would she know what to do? And a whole year? She would miss out on spring. It had been a long, cold winter, and she wouldn’t get to see or hear all the new baby birds or play with the flying ants when the rains came.

“The second time you should use the fairy dust is to come home. You are to sprinkle the dust on the man you have chosen to make him turn away from you. He will forget every instant shared with you. He will forget his marriage, and so will everyone he knows. Then you can come home without arousing any suspicion. Ziana will explain where you are to go and what job you will take on in the human world to make you fit in there. You have a month to find this man you are to wed. While you are married to him, you need to find out from him or anyone else you meet, like other females, the reason for the humans not wanting as many children. You are to research your own emotions and those of the male’s, and work out what is happening to humans to change their future.”

“What if I don’t find anything of importance?”

“By becoming one of them, you will automatically understand how they think and what is happening in their hearts. Although you may not comprehend in the beginning, marrying a male human will help you to understand. Well, that’s what we believe.”

Gelsey wasn’t so sure. The queen had much more wisdom than the general fairy, but what if she didn’t know everything? Fairies knew little of the human world. They had never understood humans and their strange behaviors.

“If you succeed at your commission, you will be promoted to Head Endangered Animal earth fairy for South Africa.”

Gelsey gasped. To be able to save an animal from extinction had been her dream for years. But could she fulfill this commission?

Author Bio:

Vicki writes erotic and fantasy romance. She loves taking her characters into an alternate world where strange and sexy things happen. She lives with her patient husband and three noisy kids in South Africa. In between being a busy stay-at-home Mom who hates housework and spends half her life cooking everything from scratch, she runs several blogs, writes under another name, and buries herself in the delightful world of her characters.

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Buy Links:

Decadent Publishing |  Amazon | Itunes | Kobo  | Smashwords | Barnes and Noble

Rafflecopter Code:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A PG-13 excerpt from WOLF'S SONG

My original excerpt for WOLF's SONG might be a little risque for certain bloggers and review sites, as it turns out. 

(I thought it was pretty tame, actually, just, you know, sexy.) 

So let's try a more squeaky clean  excerpt on for size. 

     Summer McCoy perched in the uppermost branches of her special Ponderosa pine, in raven guise, engaging in her favorite pastime, spying on the lone wolf chopping wood below. Two days’ worth of whiskers shadowed his rigid jaw. She loved when he forgot—or didn’t bother—to shave. Scruffy stubble suited him.

The sun beat down on the back of his bronzed neck and shone on his hair, the color of roasted coffee, a shade lighter than the dark shadow that charcoaled his face. She fluffed her feathers in anticipation. Take your shirt off, Brick.

She’d heard the giant werebear, Gee, call him that name a decade ago. He’d made some joke about a wall and the hardness of the male’s head. But Brick hadn’t laughed back then. Not ever.

He’d fascinated her from the moment he’d arrived in the glade, bruised and battered. Once she’d learned his name, she’d treasured it, taking pleasure from repeating it often. Secretly, of course. Unwrapping the syllable frequently to admire its radiance in the privacy of her tree house, the way a woman wearing pearls against her warm skin enhanced their luminosity and iridescence.

Now, as if he’d heard her silent urging, he complied with her plea, shrugging out of the plaid flannel and flinging it onto a tree stump. Her beak opened as she sucked in breath. Sweat glistened on his torso, glazing rippling pecs and abs, shoulders broad enough to span the Badlands. A huge, incredible specimen of masculinity. Thick biceps flexed as he wielded the ax. Her heart beat faster than a hummingbird’s wings. Heat licked her.

So what do you think?  [wink]