Showing posts with label Author Spotlight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Author Spotlight. Show all posts

Monday, September 9, 2019

Author Spotlight ~ Athina Paris


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Offer!**
RockHill
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website!

Enter
the discount code RHP50 (not case sensitive) when you checkout here:
 
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When
Dani Smiled
by
Athina Paris

Genre:
Romantic Suspense

Stranded
on the side of a highway, Dani, a young fashion designer and IT
expert, calls to reschedule an important interview, only to discover
that her future boss is in the hospital. Nicholas, playboy and heir
to Galfrey’s, can't help but be intrigued by the young woman's
voice on the phone and races to her rescue.
Attraction
is immediate and mutual, but whereas Nicholas has never waited for
anything in his life, Dani quickly dampens his enthusiasm by refusing
to be rushed into a casual liaison.
Sams
is handsome, ambitious, and rich, but also self-centred, with huge
self-entitlement issues, manipulative, and believes Dani belongs to
him. A master programmer, he is also no fool and realises that he is
about to lose what he has never had; Dani, and so begins a dangerous
stalking game. It is up to Dani not only to outsmart Sams, but also
save Galfrey’s and herself, as Sams is the keeper of a secret,
which he hopes will coerce her into submitting to his twisted
desires.






Love
& Madness
by
Athina Paris

Genre:
Romantic Suspense 

Benjamin
Powell
 believes
he has begun an empire. He has three sons and owns the most
successful construction company. But it all begins to crumble when he
chooses to manipulate their lives. Twenty-seven years later, the
consequences of his decisions are still being felt.
Three
women enter this world and fall in love with the Powell men – 
Sofia,
Christie,
and Gloria –
they will suffer, fight, win, and lose. Can one or all find their way
back to happiness; whether with the man she loves, or with someone
else?








Knight
Kisses
by
Athina Paris

Genre:
Contemporary Romance 

After
losing her mother to cancer, Gabrielle swears off love. Because
loving hurts too much when things go wrong. Then, she travels to
Africa to meet her father - a man whose existence she was oblivious
to. Before long, there is also a baby sister to look after, and
intuitively she knows that she needs to protect her. Promptly, there
is another tragedy, and more than ever, Gabrielle realises how wise
she is to lock away her heart. But that was before she met Jonathan
Knight, a man who amuses and confuses her, and Paul, his best friend,
who is just as smart and funny. Through an unfortunate sequence of
events, she finds herself in a troublesome situation, but being who
she is, she tries to handle it alone, unwittingly sinking into a
morass of danger. A solution comes in the form of Paul, who makes a
harebrained suggestion, which Jonathan - for reasons of his own -
grabs and presents her with the providential arrangement.
Instinctively, she declines the proposal, but Jonathan is persuasive
and paints a wonderful picture of security. She accepts out of need,
but soon, Jonathan’s ulterior motives unravel, and nothing is as it
should be. But she can’t disclose the truth, for her secret could
undo the safe future she is trying to create for her little sister.







All
I Ever Wanted: Jessie
by
Athina Paris

Genre:
Contemporary Romance 

When
Jessie meets John at college, they begin a friendship that should
have never happened, for the Stevens and Barrymores parted ways 60
years ago, under acrimonious circumstances.
Then,
John complicates things further by taking her to the family home and
hiding her identity from his family. She meets his three brothers,
and soon finds herself embroiled in four very different
relationships.
Which
one will be the love of her life? James, the heir to the Barrymore
fortune. Mathew, the heartbreaker. Mark, the one who gives her
sleepless night, or John, her best friend?
But
can anything meaningful come out of these fateful encounters, when it
has all been started on the shaky ground of subterfuge?





**Special
Offer!**
RockHill
Publishing is offering a 50% discount on ALL eBooks direct from their
website!
Enter
the discount code RHP50 (not case sensitive) when you checkout here:
 
https://rockhillpublishing.com/the-bookstore.html#!/Virtual-Library/c/35567162/


Athina
Paris lives in South Africa but spent her formative years in
Mozambique, where she was born and went to school. Years in convents
and boarding schools prompted a deep curiosity and the need to
liberate her mind, which quickly developed into an avid interest in
reading and storytelling and led to a lifelong obsession with the
written word and books. By fifteen she had read most of the classics,
discovered ancient civilizations and became fascinated with various
mythologies; a love she has kept to this day.


Raised
in a culture where meddling is seen as 'caring', she became a
spectator of human nature. Quiet and shy, she preferred recording
conduct rather than participating in what she calls familial mass
hysteria, and so built a treasure-trove of relationship observations
from which she eventually drew backgrounds for the characters in her
romantic novels.
She
studied Interior Design, but soon felt the pull of her dormant talent
and turned to Creative Writing, as she realised the significance of
those notebooks packed with ideas. She soon followed it with
Scriptwriting.

Set
in faraway and exotic places, Athina's epic romantic work takes her
characters on voyages of self-discovery while dealing with
catastrophic love lives and an imperfect world.
A
stint as a high school English teacher polished her skills. However,
she has recently vacated the position to concentrate on her
professional goals of writing, editing and proofreading.










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Author Spotlight ~ The Wonder of Now by Jamie Beck



About The Book
Title: The Wonder of Now
Author: Jamie Beck
Release Date: September 10, 2019
Publisher: Montlake

Summary

Peyton Prescott would give anything for the carefree life she knew before breast cancer changed everything. But instead of using her second chance to move forward, she’s stuck promoting the memoir her brother convinced her to write, thus reliving the very battle she wants to forget. If she hopes her European book tour will allow her to enjoy revisiting her favorite travel-writing destinations, she’s wrong: her PR whiz is too consumed with his own goals to consider her needs.
Mitch Mathis has relied on discipline to achieve his goals, and with his new firm’s success riding on Peyton’s book launch, he must keep her on task. They’re here for business, not pleasure. And Mitch won’t let unbridled desire harm his professional reputation—not again.
When frustrated expectations and attraction throw the tour into chaos, it challenges everything Mitch and Peyton believe about themselves, life, and love, forcing these opposites to consider whether they can embrace the change they need to grow.


Excerpt: The Wonder of Now

The writer from the Barcelona Review swaggered in and sat down. Medium height, trim, with coal-black hair worn a bit shaggy. The guy’s eyes lit up when he got his first good look at Peyton’s smile, making Mitch’s gut tighten. 

“Hello, Miss Prescott. I’m Javier Molina, but friends call me Javi.” He reached across the table to shake her hand. 

“Nice to meet you, Javi. Please call me Peyton.” 

The little knot in Mitch’s stomach screwed tighter when he thought she was flirting. She’s only smiling, stupid

Javi set up his phone recorder and then slouched back, feet planted wide apart on the ground, pen in hand. That cocky bastard was trying to intimidate Peyton with his domineering position. “First, let me say I enjoyed the book, although I suspect some of the caustic humor was meant to keep us at a distance.” 

“Not exactly,” she muttered. 

Javi hesitated but would be disappointed if he expected his silence would force her to elaborate. Mitch had watched her operate with interviewers in Rome. She’d make an excellent trial witness, answering only those questions asked—nothing more or less. Even this spare utterance seemed to have slipped through her fortress wall. 

Javi prodded again. “In certain cases, the photographs are more raw than the narrative, although they blend seamlessly together. All but the cover photo, which has no explanation or accompanying exposition. It’s a spectacular, harsh image . . . Can you tell our readers what was going through your mind when it was taken?” 

“You mean aside from ‘I’m going to kill you, Logan’?” She chuckled, buying herself a precious moment to compose her thoughts, Mitch guessed. 

Meanwhile, Javi raised his index finger with a sly nod, as if she’d proved the point he’d made a moment ago about her defense mechanism. Rather than venture another attempt to flirt his way past Peyton’s defenses, Javi simply stared at her this time, waiting for a real answer. 

Her gaze drifted, eyes cloudy. If she’d wanted to discuss whatever happened at the time of that photo, she would’ve put it in the memoir. 

Mitch loosened his fist and wiggled his fingers. She needed to do this for herself, and it might be easier on her if he left the room. It would certainly be easier on him not to listen to the story behind the photo that had captivated yet haunted him for weeks. 

He wrestled with his internal debate until she sighed. 

Without looking at Javi, she picked up the pen and began doodling on the pad in front of her while she spoke. “Forty-five minutes before Logan shot that photo, I’d used the magic mouthwash to help with my mouth ulcers. After the waiting period, I went to the kitchen to get some water. It was predawn, so I’d assumed Logan was sleeping. I took a few sips and then wandered to the living room window. Outside, the street was already coming to life, all shadows and movement and secrets. Garbage men emptying bins, night-shift workers heading home, a stray woman dashing toward the subway on an obvious walk of shame . . . ordinary people living their lives. Probably worrying about the electric bill, or looking forward to a sporting event, or maybe daydreaming about a new love. Things that had once occupied my thoughts but, in that moment, meant less than nothing to me.”

When she paused, Mitch stole a look at her notepad. Daisies? 

Her expression shifted to something self-deprecating. “And yet I envied them and those small worries . . . envied their health. Their nonchalance about another new day. I was so separated from it all—and not only by the glass. I swallowed a scream because I knew they, like me before my diagnosis, were taking everything for granted. I watched them, resentment festering because I might not exist long enough to even see those people months later. Worse, they’d never know. Life everywhere would go on without me, and very, very few people would care. Just like that”—she snapped her fingers—“it hit me that my whole life never mattered much. No spouse. No children. No impressive legacy from my Globejotter days. What, of value, had I done with my time?” 

The room remained silent while she resumed her doodling. “I don’t know what woke Logan. All I remember is that I turned when I heard the camera click, and then he kept snapping.” She finally looked at Javi and tapped the book jacket with the back end of her pen. “That was his favorite of the bunch.” 

Javi straightened his posture while finishing his notes. Peyton shot Mitch a quick glance punctuated by a half shrug. What a strange, intriguing woman. Drawing flowers while relaying her existential crisis to a total stranger. 

Mitch offered a sharp nod of approval when what he wanted was to gather her in his arms like a bouquet of delicate flowers and tell her that he would care very much if she didn’t exist tomorrow or the next day or the one after.

***


Author Biography




National bestselling author Jamie Beck’s realistic and heartwarming stories have sold more than two million copies. She’s a Booksellers’ Best Award and National Readers’ Choice Award finalist, and critics at KirkusPublishers Weekly, and Booklist have respectively called her work “smart,” “uplifting,” and “entertaining.” In addition to writing, the author of the Cabot novels, the Sterling Canyon novels, and the St. James series enjoys dancing around the kitchen while cooking and hitting the slopes in Vermont and Utah. Above all, she is a grateful wife and mother to a very patient, supportive family. 

Fans can learn more about her on her website, www.jamiebeck.com, which includes a fun “Extras” page with photos, videos, and playlists. She also loves interacting with everyone on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JamieBeckBooks.





Guest Post: Author Jamie Beck Urges Readers to Focus on the Wonder of Now

Throughout my career, I’ve loved the challenge of redeeming a character that might be hard to like, much less love. In Peyton, the heroine from The Wonder of Now, I took on a particular challenge, because most of my readers are women, and most women don’t forgive a friend who betrays them for a man. This setup made redeeming Peyton a singular challenge and begs two questions: who is Peyton, and why should you care about what happens to her? 

Peyton Prescott is part of a legendary literary family owing to her great-grandfather’s prolific career as a celebrated novelist. The casual observer would say she’s grown up in a mansion by the sea and enjoyed every privilege (wealth, beauty, wit). But life in Arcadia House wasn’t as picture-perfect as her family would have the public believe, and emotionally distant parents didn’t exactly model warmth or instill a sense of deep love and acceptance. She spent her twenties living out of suitcases and blogging about her travels, then had the misfortune of falling for her childhood friend’s boyfriend, who dumped that friend for Peyton…until she got diagnosed with breast cancer, at which point he dumped her, too. 

Facing her mortality alone forced her to take a hard look at her life and her choices, spurring a sincere desire to become a better person, and to make amends with the friend she betrayed. Although she gets diagnosed in the first book in this series, and begins to make amends in the second, this final book is when all the threads come together. She and her famed-photographer brother recorded her journey from diagnosis through her final surgeries, collaborating on a memoir that is about to release (the proceeds of which will be donated to cancer research). Of course, at this point in time she’s more interested in moving on with her life than with reliving the experience with cancer and sharing those intimacies in public forums. Her attitude puts her in direct opposition to the publicist, Mitch, who is counting on her becoming his fledgling company’s big hit.

Despite Peyton’s flaws, of which she is well-aware, she also has strengths that draw people to her. She’s self-deprecating, witty, brave, beautiful, and empathetic. She now also has a heightened appreciation for living in the moment and not taking any day for granted—something the goal-oriented Mitch must learn to do. Although he has very good reasons for being disciplined and focused on his ambitions, he is instantly drawn to her energetic spirit and zest for life.

I confess that I struggled while writing this book, but it ended up becoming my favorite to date. Not just because I loved rising to the challenge I’d set up, but also because Peyton’s musings, fears, and hopes go to the heart of what connects us all, and because I think I gave her the perfect man to help her complete her much-needed personal growth arc. But you can be the judge!



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Thursday, July 11, 2019

Author Spotlight ~ Memories of Pith by Pith Schure


 photo Pith Schure Author Spotlight_zpsac5skv88.png


 photo Memories of Pith_zpsz3hmyigd.jpg
Memories of Pith
Publisher: Austin Macauley
Published: May 2018
Autobiographical, Memoir



Following his love for travelling, the author offered his services as an expert in the field of physical and institutional rural development in 23 countries into the age of 70.

From Africa, back to Europe and then on to the Caribbean. Back and forth from Europe to countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean as far as South America, this is an extensive account of the places and cultures he experienced, combined with important family events that marked his life.

Memories of Pith by Pith Schure is the author’s memoirs of his travels and developmental work for countries in need.












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The Great History of the Manor Bouchove Part 1: 
Small Village in the Big World
Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
Published: January 2019



We live in a house in the centre of a small village. With its stately façades and turret, the villagers sweetly call it châtelet. Before us, French noblesse stayed in it, gentry with impressive estates in France. During numerous holiday trips, we located and documented all of it. But that didn't give an answer to the question: How to present it in a digestible...no, into a captivating manner?

How to abridge the centuries and how to connect the turbulent history of Europe with everyday life in the village?

For that purpose, I introduced a family of estate stewards employed by the Masters of Bouchove. After all, ‘masters come and go, but stewards stay’. Besides clerks, marketers and a villain.

Thus, I got a storyline and could start processing the numerous bits and pieces of information into three volumes that give the rich history of Bouchove.








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The Great History of the Manor Bouchove Part 2: 
The Pearl on the River Meuse
Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
Published: March 2019



We live in a house in the centre of a small village. With its stately façades and turret, the villagers sweetly call it châtelet. Before us, French noblesse have stayed in it, gentry with impressive estates in France. During dozens of holiday trips, we have located and documented all of it. But that didn’t give any answer to the question: How to present it in a digestible… no, in a captivating manner?

How to abridge the centuries and how to connect the turbulent history of Europe with everyday life in the village?

For that purpose, I introduced a family of estate stewards employed by the Masters of Bouchove. After all, masters come and go, but stewards stay. Besides clerks, marketers and a villain.

Thus I got a story line and could start processing the numerous bits and pieces of information into three volumes that describe the rich history of Bouchove.









 photo The Great History of the Manor Bouchove Part 3_zpssy4er6ls.jpg

The Great History of the Manor Bouchove Part 3: 
La Licorne and the Labyrinth
Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
Published: May 2019



Having lived in a house the villagers of Bouchove sweetly call châtelet, I realised I have enjoyed a privileged life. This is also true for the place of my birth, Maastricht—the most beautiful town of the world, I shamelessly claim. I have grown up there in a good family with ten children. Eighteen years old, I started my study on Rural Development in Wageningen, which is the smallest university town of the Netherlands.

There, I had the luck to find my lifetime wife, who followed me to all the places in the world my ambitions reached for. She gave birth to our two daughters and a son—three children we raised together and who developed along different lines into worthy individuals.

Looking back on all this, I praise my luck and thank the Lord for it.







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World War II
Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
Published: May 2019



Inspired by my father’s memories and those of my own, I undertook to assemble the stories of several persons on World War II. I happened to be connected in one way or the other to those people. This war has and still does impress upon me because of the madness of its initiators, the unreserved support by the mass of the German population, the collaboration of traitors and the resistance by the right ones.







About the Author


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Born in splendid Maastricht, Pith Schure has a vivid memory of WW2. As a student he lived up his freedom and undertook to travel to -then- Yugoslavia. That didn't take away that he managed to graduate within a reasonable time at Wageningen University. He married his one-time love Mieke who gave him three children.









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