Showers of Books #Giveaway Hop - Tidal Whispers #PNR #Fantasy #UF

Let's celebrate water, shall we? What better book to giveaway than Tidal Whispers, a 4 story anthology by J. Taylor Publishing. Let's see the goods ...

Click on image to add on Goodreads

Tidal Whispers  

PNR / Fantasy / UF

by Jocelyn Adams, Claire Gillian, Julie Reece, Kelly Said

Heart’s Desire by Julie Reece
After a terrible accident, Tessa returns to her family beach house to heal. She doesn’t expect to see her first summer crush from seven years before. Cameron, though, reappears and ignites a relationship that’s far more intense than ever before. The only problem? Summer is once again coming to an end, and this time, Tessa will have to decide whether to choose life with Cameron or to never see him again.

The Sweetest Song by Claire Gillian
Under Poseidon's rule, Circe is the most destructive siren in the Pacific ocean, her songs luring ships and their crew to their watery graves. Not Otis, the best halibut fisherman in the Alaskan waters. His ship, the Calypso, has avoided disaster each time Circe set her sights on him.

Given one last chance to deliver Otis to Davy Jones’ locker, Circe takes to land to waylay the handsome captain. Instead, it may be Otis himself who hooks the Siren.

Pearl of Pau’maa by Kelly Said
Should Miki choose to wed the local wealthy boy she doesn't love, her stomach will stop grumbling. Her soul, however, will suffocate. With one last opportunity before she must concede, she sneaks off for a final dive to her hidden crate at the bottom of the seabed. What waits for her is more than a captured lobster. It's a treasure she cannot claim without great sacrifice or true love. 

The Undergarden by Jocelyn Adams
Nixie, a water sprite, lives a solitary existence as she struggles to understand the strange world beyond her waters.  When she meets one of the pink ones, a curious boy named Wyatt, their friendship blooms into a love that can exist only upon the sands that divide his solid ground from her underwater paradise. Some love, though, once born, cannot be undone, even in the face of death.

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Be sure to check out the linky list below for other participating blogs! 

Thanks for stopping by SS & best of luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

#EotS Tchotchkes & Tidal Whispers - #AtoZChallenge

I've got a special treat today for you today!!! My debut fantasy novel, Eye of the Soul (Pool of Souls #1) Tchotchkes release today! What are they??? 

PURDIES! 

FREE downloadable images based on the image - slideshow image, cover, poster, and more! Here's a little sampling of what's available.

Head over to my website freebie page by clicking on the image above to see the rest of the goodies! 

Now onto the A-Z Challenge post of the day ...

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“Write without pay until somebody offers to pay.” 

― Mark Twain

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Click on image to add on Goodreads

Tidal Whispers Anthology 

Pearl of Pau'maa

Fantasy / PNR

by Kelly Said

Should Miki choose to wed the local wealthy boy she doesn't love, her stomach will stop grumbling. Her soul, however, will suffocate. With one last opportunity before she must concede, she sneaks off for a final dive to her hidden crate at the bottom of the seabed. What waits for her is more than a captured lobster. It's a treasure she cannot claim without great sacrifice or true love. 

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Excerpt:

The cold current exhausted Harmon like no battle ever had. That frigid band of ocean coursing through the Ladali Trench blued the peach of his skin and shriveled the long dorsal fin stretching down his tail. He could handle the intense pressure— accustomed to swimming at all depths—but the Trench waters squeezed precious heat from his blood.

The cold reminded him that he wasn’t a regular to the chilly offshoots of the ocean—a soldier, not a scoundrel. He had hon- ored his people, serving his time in the 7th infantry, in the bright, warm surface waters of the Pau’maa Rim. Not down in the murky nadirs with the thugs and crooks of the sea.

Like his brother Creeb.

Harmon clawed through the water, savoring the heat of anger pumping through his body.

Once I have the curve of my mother’s heirloom pearl in my palm, he thought, my brother’s wrongs will be brought to order. He pinged the dark waters, outlining the trench walls. He was getting closer.

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Purchase Links:

 Amazon.com

#BookReview : Tidal Whispers

Paranormal / Fantasy Anthology

Overall rating 4.5 Stars

Heart's Desire by Julie Reece  4.5 Stars

This short story is very moving - loneliness, loss, & love. Ms. Reece portrays them beautifully - brings them alive - so we can experience them with Tessa, the MC.

I don't know about you, but I've always had a dream world I escaped to. A few actually.  Tessa wakes from her favorite one to a gut wrenching reality that easily gained my empathy. I longed for her to re-find Cam, just knowing he would ease her heartache. And *spoiler alert!* he does.

Warm fuzzies, folks.

The Sweetest Song by Claire Gillian  4 Stars

I loved Disney's The Little Mermaid, and this story reminded me of it.  A voice lost, a love found, The Sweetest Song was just that - sweet.

Otis, the male interest in this story was precious. A great character, fleshed out & believable for so short a story. He heads to his doom for love which any fairy tale / fantasy needs IMO. The 'happily ever after' comes about by two gods, Poseidon and Aphrodite, who act like a couple of modern childish brats. That threw me a smidge. I always imagined the gods to be prim & proper - ancient, lofty, condescending beings.

Overall, a great little story I enjoyed submerging myself in.



Pearl of Pau'maa by Kelly Said  4 Stars

While the whole anthology is fantasy in some way, Ms. Said is by far the most imaginative IMO. While all the stories are of love, this one has that magical element attached - a pearl - which brings the two characters together in dark, watery depths.

I had one major issue with this lovely story, though. Although fantasy, all stories still need that believability factor. One scene lacked that for me. Harmon, the male interest, rescues the lovely lady, Miki, from drowning. Moments later he leaves her treading water to dive down & retrieve her lobster trap. While down there he holds a long conversation w/ his brother, another merman, giving no thought to the weakened woman the pearl led him to. I just felt he'd be anxious to leave her side, or should have taken her to shore first seeing as how she doesn't have a tail, but two human legs. Dunno. Could just be me.

A wonderful little story, though, one NOT to be skipped.

The Undergarden by Jocelyn Adams  5 Stars

This was by far my favorite story in the anthology. Ms. Adams drew me in and hooked my empathy from the get-go. She created two characters whose story affected me long after I finished reading. LOVE that.

Rarely do stories brim my eyes with unshed tears, but this one did. More than once. I felt Nixie's loneliness, enjoyed her innocence which was portrayed beautifully and consistently.  Her journey through life is touching - heart aching, yet warming. Surprisingly, it didn't feel rushed in the least bit.

This story, while fantasy like the rest, far outshone them with that magical feel - that dream-like quality that moved my emotions.

So do I recommend this anthology? Without a doubt. Add it to your Goodreads list HERE. Purchase your copy from Amazon or Barnes & Nobel.  You'll thank me later!!





'Tidal Whispers' Release Day!!

J. Taylor Publishing released it's newest anthology today, Tidal Whispers, which includes four of my Scribo buds.

Target Reader: Adult

Keywords: Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Romance, Romantic, Urban Fantasy

 The Blurbs:

Heart’s Desire by Julie Reece
After a terrible accident, Tessa returns to her family beach house to heal. She doesn’t expect to see her first summer crush from seven years before. Cameron, though, reappears and ignites a relationship that’s far more intense than ever before. The only problem? Summer is once again coming to an end, and this time, Tessa will have to decide whether to choose life with Cameron or to never see him again.

The Sweetest Song by Claire Gillian
Under Poseidon's rule, Circe is the most destructive siren in the Pacific ocean, her songs luring ships and their crew to their watery graves. Not Otis, the best halibut fisherman in the Alaskan waters. His ship, the Calypso, has avoided disaster each time Circe set her sights on him.

Given one last chance to deliver Otis to Davy Jones’ locker, Circe takes to land to waylay the handsome captain. Instead, it may be Otis himself who hooks the Siren.

Pearl of Pau’maa by  Kelly Said
Should Miki choose to wed the local wealthy boy she doesn't love, her stomach will stop grumbling. Her soul, however, will suffocate. With one last opportunity before she must concede, she sneaks off for a final dive to her hidden crate at the bottom of the seabed. What waits for her is more than a captured lobster. It's a treasure she cannot claim without great sacrifice or true love. 

The Undergarden by Jocelyn Adams
Nixie, a water sprite, lives a solitary existence as she struggles to understand the strange world beyond her waters.  When she meets one of the pink ones, a curious boy named Wyatt, their friendship blooms into a love that can exist only upon the sands that divide his solid ground from her underwater paradise. Some love, though, once born, cannot be undone, even in the face of death.

Sounds like an awesome antho, doesn't it??!! Get your copy EPUB HERE or kindle copy HERE today!

D: Divert

I'm posting a day early because I'm heading to the internet-less boondocks tomorrow.
I'm also cheating with this post, but for good reason.

J. Taylor Publishing is releasing an anthology, TIDAL WHISPERS, in June of this year. I was lucky enough to meet each of the four contributing authors this past year on the best writer's forum on the face of the earth, Scribophile. Figured it's only right to help promote their work.

SO, I'm diverting you to my oldest (known time that is *wink*) beta bud, Kelly Said's, blog. She's released an excerpt from her story, Pearl of Pau'maa.

Enjoy!