Nancy Lee Badger Presents Renée Filippucci-Kotz

I am happy to again host fellow Raleigh, North Carolina author Renée Filippucci-Kotz. Although I write romance and she writes children's fiction, we are both members of the Triangle Association of Freelancers. I am eager to share her new children's book that was recently released in print. Take it away, Renée!

Mystery at Camp Piney Woods is the third book in the Amelia Jae series. AJ is going to camp for the first time. While she is packing, her cousin calls to tell AJ there are strange noises and lights in the woods around the camp. Her cousin doesn’t say what is scaring the campers, but suggests there may be a ghost in the woods.

Excerpt from Mystery at Camp Piney Woods

   “Amelia Jae,” her mother called up the stairs. “Telephone for you.”

   “I’ll get it in your room,” she called back as she walked to her parent’s bedroom.

   “Hello?”

   “AJ, this is Courtney. Are you ready for camp?”

   “Yes, I’m all packed.”

   “I called to say have a good time and don’t let the weird stuff up there bother you,” Courtney laughed.

   “What weird stuff? What do you mean?”

   “Didn’t you hear?”

   “No, I didn’t.” asked AJ.

   “Well, there are some strange goings-on in the woods. Some people think there’s a ghost in the woods. Maybe there’s a ghost or maybe there’s something worse in there,” said Courtney.

   “Well, I don’t believe in ghosts. You can’t scare me. I’m not afraid. It may be an animal or something else in there. There’s no such thing as ghosts.”

   “Okay, but a friend of mine was there last year and he said a lot of the campers were scared. He said some of the campers said there were strange noises and lights in the woods. Just thought you should know. Well, I have to go. Have fun. Bye!”

   AJ stomped back to her bedroom gritting her teeth. Her hands were balled into fists. “Ohhh, Courtney makes me so mad,” AJ muttered to herself.  “She’s always trying to scare me. She thinks I’m a baby because she’s two years older. I’m no baby. One of these days I’m going to get her back really good.”

   AJ stomped her foot again in frustration, but before she could think of a way to get back at Courtney, her mom walked into her bedroom.

   “What’s all the noise up here?  I could hear you all the way in the kitchen. What’s wrong?”

   “Courtney said there’s supposed to be something scary in the wood. She said there may be a ghost in the woods around the camp. I don’t know why she tries to scare me. I know there’s no such thing as ghosts. I’m not a fraidy-cat.”

   “I know you’re not afraid. Do you want me to call Aunt Dorothy about her?”

   “No,” AJ sighed.

   “Honey, we heard about the rumors. You know Dad and I wouldn’t let you go to camp if there was any danger,” she said as she brushed a lock of AJ’s red hair behind her ear. Sometimes your cousin, Courtney, doesn’t know when to stop her teasing.”

    AJ just shook her head.

   “I know,” AJ said. “I know there’s no ghost. Maybe I’ll find out what’s really out there.”

   “Now Amelia Jae, I know you.  Once you get an idea into your head you don’t let it go. You listen to me. I don’t want you to wander off by yourself and get into trouble.”

   “Okay,” said AJ. However, her thoughts were already on the camp and what she would find out. 

BUY LINKS 

Amazon     Books-a-Million     

Barnes & Noble    Book Depository

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

   

Renée Filippucci-Kotz was born in New York and grew up in Kentucky. Renée developed a passion for books and animals as a child. Going to the library with her parents and brother was a favorite pastime. She has always loved to read. Growing up Renée had a vivid imagination.  She loved to make up stories. She would tell stories to the children for whom she babysat and the children at day camp where she was a counselor.

She became interested in writing for children while working with foster children. Her first children’s chapter book, AJ’s Wish, was published in 2016. Her second chapter book in the AJ series, Pepper's Misadventure, published in 2017, received honorable mention in the Carteret Writers Contest. In addition, she has published her first picture book, Booker and the Stinky Smell in 2017, and her second picture book Smokey and Clover the Runaway Goat in 2018.

Renée recently completed the manuscript for her third picture book, Cody to the Rescue. To be published later this year.  She is currently working on a middle grade novel, tentatively titled Mark of the Dragon. When not writing, Renée enjoys reading, gardening, traveling, volunteering at her local animal shelter and spending time with her husband and pets. Ms. Filippucci-Kotz lives in North Carolina. connect with her here:

WEBSITE      FACEBOOK      TWITTER 

GOODREADS     BOOK DEPOSITORY

p.s. If any of my readers have kids under 9, please 'LIKE' Renée's Facebook page!

Nancy Lee Badger

Nancy Lee Badger Announces the WINNER!

Another year, another winner, because I lOVE to give things away! These giveaways are my way of promoting my romance novels and are always announced in my newsletters.

The latest winner, Linda R., lives in Staten Island, New York which is, ironically, just a hop, skip and a jump from where I grew up in Huntington! She has been receiving my newsletters since 2014.

I sent her the $20 Gift Card from Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina. They ship anywhere, so she can choose her own prize.

Peeking inside Quail Ridge Books!

Of course, I hope she picks one of my books. Quail Ridge Books is an independent book store filled with print books for all ages, puzzles, mugs, awesome bookmarks, and tons or other gift ideas. They stock print copies of my books Heaven-sent Warrior and Heaven-sent Highlander with many other of my titles available special order. I hope to see my next book, Heaven-sent Flame, for sale on their shelves soon.

Nancy Lee Badger
p.s. If you missed hearing about this latest giveaway, please click HERE and sign-up to receive my infrequent but exciting newsletters.

After the Gifts are Unwrapped...

The biggest holiday of the year is just a memory, but with the New Year revelry just around the corner, now is the time to look back and enjoy 2019. Bright lights, fireworks, and crowds are the norm, but I look forward to a quiet night watching the North Carolina Acorn drop. I write books with Scottish characters, so I will celebrate Hogmanay (New Year's Eve) my way.

I want to share my good fortune. Another royalty check just came through the door with last minute Christmas greetings, my health is better, and we have enough leftover food in the frig to survive any apocalypse. So, my recent ebook, Rescuing Christmas, is on sale until January 5th for only $.99 (US)

I am also giving away a prize CLICK HERE to one lucky winner. Quail Ridge Books is my local independent bookstore. They carry thousands of titles including my own Heaven-sent Warrior and Heaven-sent Highlander! They also ship just about anywhere.

This week is bittersweet. December 27th was my cousin Lee's birthday. She's been gone 13 months, but the pain is fresh. My dad left us on February 2nd, and Uncle Paul passed, too. 

My Dad, Robert F. Beegle

We can remember the good times with them, but the rest of us must soldier on, right? We can wave to a neighbor, drive a little slower, feed the birds, spend extra time on the treadmill, donate to the food bank, watch our pennies so we can get those home improvements done, and so much more. Enjoy the time you have.

May I suggest reading a book?

Nancy Lee Badger Presents Claire Davon

I invited Claire Davon, a fellow author with Soul Mate Publishing, to hit the holiday streets running by sharing her latest novel with all of my readers. Take it away, Claire!

Claire-I am so thrilled to share my second Universe Chronicles book Tracking Shadows. This book continues the adventures of the Universe group, a shadowy governmental agency that specializes in people with powers. In this story, the stoic leader of Richmond’s branch of Universe, Quillan Hardis, goes on the run with shadow manipulator Jiana Falco in order to save her from the two other agencies desperate to get their hands on her and her powers. But they’re not the only ones who want to get their hands on Jiana…

The book was recently released by Soul Mate Publishing. It is unabashedly a paranormal romance. The entire series started as a dream, but took many twists and turns to get to where it is today.

Book Blurb

Jiana Falco has waited and watched a long time for the chance to escape Night Stars. When she finally slips away, she burns the last bridge by saving Quillan Hardis. But now, trapped in his grasp, she’s in even deeper trouble.

Under a secret order to unlock her untapped power—by any means necessary—Quillan takes Jiana on the run, where a spark of desire blooms into something warm and genuine. But her fear of Night Stars could drives Jiana so deep into the shadows nothing can lead her out. Not even the light of Quillan’s love. 

Excerpt from Tracking Shadows

Jiana straightened in her seat. The shadows didn’t lie. The head of Night Stars’ opposition group was in danger. If Tanner detected her preoccupation, he didn’t comment on it. As long as she wasn’t moving then she supposed he figured he had nothing to worry about. His talent of enhanced strength was a weak one, but it made him stronger than her in a one-on-one matchup. At least that was what her uncle believed, and had passed along to the other agent.

He was about to learn differently.

Jiana watched a moment longer to make sure that she wasn’t mistaken. Spots danced in her vision and halos surrounded the vehicles. Her head throbbed like she had a headband on too tight. Then both feelings were gone and her sight sharpened. There was no error. The shadows grew thick around Quillan, flowing through the parked cars and onto the street. They almost seemed to have teeth and claws, with the sort of malevolence she did not often associate with shadows. They were used for good or ill, but they were tools rather than entities. These had a life of their own, and their malice made her shiver.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Her careful plan fading with every step the man took, Jiana sighed. She had steered Tanner here so skillfully and all for naught. Now she had to leap into action, but for different reasons than she had intended. She could see the shadows rushing toward Quillan to send him into oncoming traffic. She could not see her uncle or her cousin, the other shadow talents in Richmond, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. This didn’t feel like her uncle, though, this was . . . different.

Evil.

The shadows surged in front of a car going just enough over the speed limit to be a menace, guiding it straight toward Quillan. As before, the man was unaware of the fact. Once he was alerted to the danger he wouldn’t be quick enough to get out of the way. Without shadow talent he would have no way of knowing he was in peril.

But she knew.

Buy link: AMAZON

More about the Author

Claire can’t remember a time when writing wasn’t part of her life. Growing up, she used to write stories with her friends. As a teenager she started out reading fantasy and science fiction, but her diet quickly changed to romance and happily-ever-after’s. A native of Massachusetts, she left that behind to move to the sun and fun of California, but has always lived on one coast or the other.

While she’s not a movie mogul or actor, she works in the film industry with her office firmly situated in the 90210 district of Hollywood. Prone to break out into song, she is quick on feet and just as quick with snappy dialogue. In addition to writing she does animal rescue, reads, and goes to movies. She loves to hear from fans, so feel free to drop her a line. Connect with her here… 

WEBSITE    FACEBOOK

TWITTER   PINTEREST

READER GROUP (Claire’s Reader Muses)

*I use personal Amazon Associate links where available

Winter Wonderland EBOOK SALE!

While my edits for my next book are in the hands of my editor, I thought about what I could do to stir up some new readers. With 27 books published so far, I am always looking for a bigger and wider audience. 

This is one reason why I wrote Rescuing Christmas. It is a small-town sweet romance.

A Manhattan businessman on a December vacation to Canada, is stuck in Boston due to a snowstorm. Instead of waiting for another flight, he drives through the Vermont woods. Forced off the road, his rental ends up in a pond. When a firefighter sliding down the muddy slope to help him slams into him instead, his papers go flying and his phone disappears. Before he can complain, his mud-covered rescuer in firefighting bunker gear is a woman!

Regular Price: $5.99 SALE PRICE: $2.99 at AMAZON

The other sale item is my Scottish Time-Travel series, Highland Games Through Time. This 4 book Boxed set contains over 900 pages!

Set in both the Scottish Highlands around Wick, near the North Sea, as well as present day New England, experience the athletics, the pipers, crafters, witches, and sensual romance. Dragon in the Mist, a bonus novella, is set in Scotland’s present day Loch Ness, where the Loch Ness monster lives on land as a Scottish bar maid. When an America scientist arrives to study earthquakes around the loch, romance erupts.

 Regular Price: $4.99 SALE PRICE: $.99 at AMAZON

The Sale ends soon, so enjoy the coming 

WINTER WONDERLAND

and keep warm reading books!

Nancy Lee Badger

Mindy Klasky Announces Eight Kisses, an Anthology of Hanukkah Romances!

More than Christmas is celebrated in December. Kwanzaa is a big one, but my guest today will share stories about relationships that occur during Hanukkah. We have Mindy Klasky to thank for sharing this special anthology with my readers. Take it away, Mindy!

Eight Kisses is an anthology of Hanukkah romance novellas—sort of a counter-balance to the winter season’s onslaught of Hallmark Christmas movies!  Some of our authors are USA Today bestsellers, and some of our authors are publishing their debut works.  Everyone, though, had the courage to respond to a call for submissions several months ago, offering up a true romance (Happy Ever After required!) with at least one main character who is Jewish. 

Book Blurb

Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights, celebrating an ancient miracle with candles, fried foods, and family gatherings. What better time to find true love?

From Regency Scotland to contemporary New York City, from sweet short stories to super-spicy novellas, Eight Kisses spreads a feast of love. Interfaith opposites attract. A small-town reunion offers a second chance. An interracial couple rises above initial misunderstandings. Online dating yields unexpected foodie dreams. A Jewish mourner discovers solace at a Catholic feast. A hometown visit heals old wounds. The girl next door is something more. Seasoned lovers reaffirm true love.

Move over Christmas movies! Spin the dreidel, gobble the gelt, and devour a tower of latkes as you read these tales of Hanukkah love!

Eight Kisses includes the following stories by USA Today bestselling authors, award-winning authors, and exciting debut authors:

Lori Ann Bailey – “A Highlander for Hanukkah”

Mindy Klasky – “Harmony Lights”

Rose Grey – “Can’t Help Falling”

Michelle Mars – “Frisky Connections”

JT Silver – “Love and Latkes”

Erin Eisenberg – “Hanukkah Kisses”

Lavinia Klein – “Bubbe Linda’s Menorah”

Lynne Silver – “Rededication”

Excerpt (from Mindy's story, Harmony Lights)

In retrospect, it was a good thing Abby Cohen wasn’t holding a skillet of boiling oil when she answered the front door.

In fact, when the doorbell rang, she was standing in the kitchen, sprinkling salt over the first batch of latkes. “Seth!” Abby called out to her good-for-nothing twin. “Could you grab that?”

But Seth was leading a take-no-prisoners game of dreidel in the sunroom, crowing with victory as he emptied the pot of gold-wrapped chocolate coins. He tuned out Abby as completely as he ignored the outraged wails from his trio of kids.

“That’s not fair!” shouted Abby’s youngest niece. “Daddy’s taking all the gelt! Bubbe!”

Deborah laughed from her grand-maternal roost on the couch. Her right foot rested on the battered leather ottoman, toes peeking out from an overstuffed nest of gauze and elastic bandage. In Abby’s expert opinion, her mother was still a week away from a hard cast. One month from a walking cast. Three from a full recovery. She’d mangled her ankle with one hell of a bad break.

Deborah shushed her granddaughter’s pouting, pointing to the plastic top in the center of the floor. “That’s the way the game is played. Now it’s your turn to spin. Maybe you’ll land on the gimel too.”

As all the players ponied up to restock the pot, the doorbell rang again. Abby cast a weathered eye on her distracted family, adults and children alike, before she turned off the flame under her skillet of hot oil. The next batch of latkes would have to wait.

Her annoyance faded as she glanced into the parlor on her way to the door. The familiar brass menorah sat on a chipped white serving dish, secure in the middle of the card table Seth had carried up from the basement.

The blue candle in the first cup had already burned halfway down. The white shamash, the servant flame the kids had used to light the blue one, had burned even lower. Still, both candles flickered in the window, a beacon of welcome to the town of Harmony Springs.

Abby wiped her hands on her apron and opened the door.

And she barely managed to keep from slamming it closed again.

To be fair, Ethan Weiss looked as surprised as she was.

Find All Buy links HERE

  

Mindy is one of the Eight Authors and this is her bio:

USA Today bestselling author Mindy Klasky learned to read when her parents shoved a book in her hands and told her she could travel anywhere through stories. As a writer, Mindy has traveled through various genres, including cozy paranormal, hot contemporary romance, and traditional fantasy. In her spare time, Mindy knits, quilts, and tries to tame her to-be-read shelf. Connect with Mindy here:

Facebook    Website

Twitter:  @MindyKlasky 

  

Nancy Lee Badger Presents Susan B. James

I invited fellow Soul Mate Publishing author, Susan B. James, to share her new book with my readers. My big questions for her is...Why Irish Magic?

Thanks, Nancy. I wrote Irish Magic after a long-dreamed-for trip to Ireland where I visited Lisdoonvarna’s famed matchmaking festival. Since I didn’t find the festival as magical as I hoped I changed the name of the town to Cluhalaugh. This is my first contemporary romance. I skewed it with a tough of magic. I couldn’t find much about Leprechaun lore so I created my own legend where leprechauns could mate with humans, creating a half leprechaun. I also decided fairies could play be the same rules so there is a halfling fairy in the story. 

Book Blurb

What do you do when everything goes wrong?

Make a wish on a four-leaf clover, right?

There’s no other logical way out of it!

But a clover wish is a heart wish. Everyone knows that.

When part leprechaun, Bradley Flynn, is charged with finding Kate’s true love, he calls on retired matchmaker, Essie O’Callaghan, who happens to have a mission of her own.

Dr. Michael Walshe had a ring in his pocket when he walked in on his girlfriend sleeping with her costar. He wants no part of Essie’s plan to find him a wife.

Fate – or something more leprechaun-shaped – has Kate and the doctor both heading to Cluhalaugh, home to Ireland’s most famous matchmaking festival. And somehow their paths keep crossing. The more they see of each other the harder it is to resist exploring their reluctant attraction. Will Kate realize that Michael could be far more than the cure to her writer’s block?

Excerpt

The Abbey Court dining room was almost full. Kate slid into a seat at the long table next to a man holding up a copy of The Irish Independent. She snuck a look at the lead story. Irish Rail Joins Bus Eireann strike. Another plan down the drain.

“I thought we’d agreed not to eat here again.” Brad loomed over her, eyes bloodshot.

“You sound cranky. Have some coffee.”

“I am cranky. I wake up and you’re gone. Not even a note. I thought you’d run away.”

“If I’d run away, I would have left you a note. As it turns out, I’m stuck with you and Michael.” Kate pointed to the headline in her neighbor’s paper.

“That’s a relief. I wouldn’t want to lose you at this stage. Come on. Let me buy you a better breakfast.”

“I’m fine where I am, thanks. You go ahead.”

“Of all the stubborn . . .” Brad stomped off muttering under his breath.

The jam pot was empty. Kate crunched her dry toast, washing it down with coffee. At least it was free.

Brad returned with two Styrofoam cups of coffee and a plate of toast. “Jam pot’s empty.”

“I know.”

He snagged a pot of jam from the adjoining table and sat next to her. He chugged the first cup of coffee. Picked up the second. “What are you studying so intently?”

“The plan for what was supposed to have been my bus trip.”

“You crossed out Blarney Castle.”

“I had to. Michael said he was giving us a ride to Galway. Blarney Castle’s in the south of Ireland. I thought I could get a train and meet you in Galway. The train map said it was possible. Except there’s no train.” Kate put her notebook back in her purse. “I’ll go check us out.”

“You have to go to Blarney Castle. You’re a writer. It’s your duty to kiss the Blarney stone. I’ll handle Michael.”

“Do you really think you can convince—”

“I do. It’s a lovely drive from Dublin to Blarney. We’ll take the coastal route and spend the night in Cork.”

*.*.*

Kate marveled at the ease with which Brad persuaded Michael to take the detour. Once Brad pointed out that Blarney Castle was only three and a half hours from Dublin and that among other things, it was famous for its poison garden, Michael agreed instantly. Very natural. What doctor wouldn’t want to visit a poison garden?

Buy links for Irish Magic

Amazon.AU    Amazon  

Amazon CA    Amazon UK 

Goodreads    BookBub

More About the Author

Susan writes second chance romances with a touch of magic as Susan B. James and children’s books as Susan J. Berger. She writes older heroines because she is chronologically gifted and enjoys creating characters who remember that change is only on the outside. Inside our older shells is a much younger psyche. Her second book, Maybe This Time, won the 2019 Raven award for Best Contemporary, the 2019 Readers favorite Gold medal in Time travel and was runner-up for the 2019 RONE Award for Audiobook-General. The audiobook will be out in December 2019. Susan’s other career is acting. On IMDB She is Susan Berger. Connect with her here:

Website    Twitter  

Facebook   BookBub   Goodreads