I fell in love with masks after seeing Labyrinth for the first time. If you haven’t seen the movie there’s a ballroom scene with David Bowie, where all the guests are wearing masks. As a young girl, I found this scene fascinating (and a bit romantic). However, it was the idea behind the mask that intrigued me. Masks carry a sense of magic with them, as if there is mystery built into their very essence.

Used for protection, disguise, entertainment and rituals, masks have been intertwined in our history for centuries. Although I love the brilliant colors of the New Orleans masquerade masks, the ones I found most interesting were the ones used for medical purposes. These so-called “beak masks” were stuffed with dried flowers, herbs, and spices in order to cleanse the disease from the bad air. If you pay attention, these masks also appear in Labyrinth.

In An Imperfect Engagement, Samantha and her family attend the masque in the hopes of cornering the killer, Franklin Morris, and his unknown accomplice. Each character has their own personal reason for donning a mask that evening, including Samantha, whose desire to hide the injuries she suffered at the hands of Franklin is surpassed only by Franklin’s desire to attack her a second time. Franklin’s use of the headpiece to hide his identity allows him to sneak into the gathering and corner Samantha in the center of the maze.

A clap echoed in the night—once… twice… thrice. From the reverse side of the fountain, hidden behind a large statue, a masked man appeared, shuffling slowly toward Sam. He bared his teeth, gnashing them slightly and flashed a pistol which glinted threateningly in the moonlight.

“Miss Hastings,” he purred, “I am delighted to see you again and so quickly after our last meeting. I feared it would be some time before we would be able to rekindle our acquaintance.”

“Franklin,” gasped Sam, stumbling backward. Edward underestimated Franklin’s desperation.

He approached slowly, favoring his right side, holding the weapon in his left hand. Sam wondered about the marksmanship of his less-dominant appendage. She kept her eyes focused on the barrel of the gun, suspecting the pistol was the same one employed in the demise of Mr. Walton.

Inclining his head in a tiny bow, Franklin removed the black mask, an audible groan accompanying the movement of his right arm. His greedy eyes swept over Sam’s delicate throat and the necklace which decorated it. “I see you have found my inheritance.”

AN IMPERFECT ENGAGEMENT is available on all platforms and on sale this week for $1.99.

Get your copy here!

About the Author

USA Today Bestselling Author Alyssa Drake has been creating stories since she could hold a crayon, preferring to construct her own bedtime tales instead of reading the titles in her bookshelves. A multi-genre author, Alyssa currently writes Historical romance, Paranormal romance, Contemporary romance, and Cozy mystery. She thoroughly enjoys strong heroines and often laughs aloud when imagining conversations between her characters. When she’s not writing, she’s in the kitchen making dessert, because that’s the only course she ever cared to learn how to cook.

Website: https://alyssadrakenovels.com
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When you reflect on freedom, what comes to your mind? What helps you keep your vision alive?

During a heated exchange in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, Lena Younger says to her son Walter Lee, “Once upon a time freedom used to be life—now it’s money.” He responds, “It was always money. We just didn’t know it.”

There’s a world of truth and hurt expressed in what each says to the other. I must admit there are times when I lose my way and side with Walter’s cynicism. I make myself find things to think on that are “true and honest and just and lovely and of good report and virtuous and praiseworthy” (Philippians 4:8) so I can stand shoulder to shoulder with Lena’s idealism. One of the things I think on is FDR’s “Four Freedoms” and Norman Rockwell’s depiction of them. (https://rockwellfourfreedoms.org/).

In a 1941 speech Roosevelt gave to Congress as part of the rationale for taking on the fascism then engulfing the world, he urged his listeners to help secure a world founded on four essential human freedoms: Freedom from Want, Freedom from Fear, Freedom of Worship and Freedom of Speech. In 1942, Norman Rockwell was inspired to paint them. In 1943 they were shared in the Saturday Evening Post. The paintings then went on a sixteen-city tour. I get teary as I study Rockwell’s portraits of people with their heads reverently bowed in Freedom of Worship and of the young man standing to speak his mind in Freedom of Speech. My heart yearns for a world where everyone is able to tuck their children into bed or partake of a Thanksgiving meal in safety like those painted in Freedom from Fear and Freedom from Want. I hope I share my longing for and my beliefs in the four freedoms through my art as Rockwell did.

While I lived in NYC, whenever I was tempted to let Walter Lee win, I could go to Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island (https://www.fdrfourfreedomspark.org/#). There on the tip of the island I sat with the United Nations in view on the Manhattan side of the river, gazed out onto the water and reflected on FDR’s words until I could say “Amen” to the truth in Lena Younger’s declaration, the truth that freedom is life. On your next trip to NYC, take the subway or the Roosevelt Tram to Roosevelt Island and experience Four Freedoms Park yourself.

Eleanor Roosevelt referenced the four freedoms as she helped craft the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I’m in the process of writing a set of romance novellas using each of the four freedoms as a theme. For me, justice tempered by love is the driving force in creating a world founded on the four freedoms. I, like FDR, believe that having a world based on them “…is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation.”

I hope the romances I write will inspire readers to believe so too.

One Breath Away

Sentenced to hang for a crime she didn’t commit, former slave Mary Hamilton was exonerated at literally the last gasp. She returns to Safe Haven, broken and resigned to live alone. She’s never been courted, cuddled or spooned, and now no man could want her, not when sexual satisfaction comes only with the thought of asphyxiation. But then the handsome stranger who saved her shows up, stealing her breath from across the room and promising so much more.

Wealthy, freeborn-Black, Eban Thurman followed Mary to Safe Haven, believing the mysteriously exotic woman is his mate foretold by the stars. He must marry her to reclaim his family farm. But first he must help her heal, and to do that means revealing his own predilection for edgier sex.

Hope ignites along with lust until the past threatens to keep them one breath away from love…

Excerpt

Sheriff Ambrose and his posse arrived in a thunder of hooves. Although he assured Mary he and his men were there to insure justice be done, she still worried.

Twilight filtered through the windows as she sat at her kitchen table, wringing her hands. Only the fact that she had saved Eban’s life brought her peace. He sat beside her. His warm, comforting hands clasped hers. Her lips wobbled in an attempt to smile.

“You don’t have to pretend with me.” He patted her hands. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“What if Denton dies?”

“There’ll be a new face in hell for breakfast.”

She inhaled deeply to keep the tears back. “No Black who kills a White will be allowed to live. When they hang me this time, they’ll make sure I’m dead.”

Eban took her by the chin, made her face him. “You and I will head for the safety of the border and ports beyond before that happens.”

She closed her eyes. “I don’t want to make you a fugitive because of what I’ve done.”

“If I had killed him, wouldn’t you flee with me?” He pulled her into his arms. “The real shame is this oppressive society makes us fugitives for defending ourselves.”

Mary burrowed against his shoulder. “Will we ever be free?”

Buy links:
Wild Rose Press – https://bitly./2HOu3qc
Amazon – https://amzn.to/2VT5u0F

UPDATE: The winner is…Editha Thompson!
*~*~*

©Diana Cosby 2019

While attending a writing retreat several years ago, Sir Stephan MacQuistan woke me up, told me that he was a Knights Templar, and demanded that I write his story.  I wasn’t surprised to be awoken by a strong character, Alexander MacGruder, the hero of, His Captive, book #1 in the bestselling MacGruder brothers woke me up ordering that I write his story as well.

Stephan’s story turned out to be, Forbidden Legacy, the first of five books in The Forbidden Series.  As I began my research, incredible events began to happen, the first discovering that it was the 700th Anniversary of the Scottish victory of the Battle of Bannockburn, which was rumored to be aided by the Knights Templar.  In addition, information about Knights Templars appeared in numerous articles as well television programs.

Regardless if hundreds of years have passed, questions remain of where the Knights Templar fled, what treasure they took, and how so many valiant knights were able to disappear without a trace.  As a major plotter, I enjoyed weaving in my character’s journey, where they face challenges and in the end fall in love, around these mysteries and more along with my speculation as to where their fleet and many of the Brotherhood could have escaped to prior to the arrests beginning in France on the 13th of October, 1307.

While creating The Forbidden Series, the most incredible thing happened.  Whenever I struggled with writing one of the Templar stories, I’d see a “sign” of a cross in nature that I interpreted as encouragement.

And, while writing the final book, Forbidden Realm, release date April 2020, I was honored to learn that Red Hot Adventures wanted to design a tour in Scotland taking readers to story settings along with where the characters in the Forbidden Series may have traveled.  My deepest thanks to Konnie Oviatt Stykel and everyone at Red Hot Adventures for creating the “Diana Cosby’s Forbidden Scotland Tour.” To readers who chose to go, I sincerely hope that you enjoy!

What sign of inspiration have you received?

About the Author

A retired Navy Chief, Diana Cosby is an international bestselling author of Scottish medieval romantic suspense.  Books in her award-winning MacGruder Brothers series have been translated in five languages.  Diana has spoken at the Library of Congress, Lady Jane’s Salon in NYC, and appeared in Woman’s Day, on USA Today’s romance blog, “Happy Ever After,” MSN.com, Atlantic County Women Magazine, and Texoma Living Magazine.

After her career in the Navy, Diana dove into her passion – writing romance novels. With 34 moves behind her, she was anxious to create characters who reflected the amazing cultures and people she’s met throughout the world.  After the release of the bestselling MacGruder Brothers series, The Oath Trilogy, and the first two book of The Forbidden Series, she’s now working on book #5, Forbidden Realm, of the five-book series, which will be released April 2020.

Diana looks forward to the years of writing ahead and meeting the amazing people who will share this journey.

Contest

***ONE winner will be drawn from everyone who posts on my guest blog post about, ‘When A Knights Templar Wakes You,’ on Delilah’s blog between 27 June 2019 – 4th July 2019.  The winner will receive one of Diana’s mugs and a tote.

Diana Cosby, International Best-Selling Author
www.dianacosby.com
The Oath Trilogy
MacGruder Brother Series
Forbidden Series:  Forbidden Legacy/Forbidden Knight/Forbidden Vow/Forbidden Alliance‒Aug. 6th 2019/Forbidden Realm April 2020

My family has long been fond of road trips. Whether it was the pilgrimage to Disney World, or a visit to a new city, my family usually took the trip in cars.

We’d load up with snacks, pillows and books. Sometimes, Mom and Dad would wake us up at four in the morning to start the drive, so we’d sleep through most of it. Other times, we’d make the journey part of the trip, stopping to see various sites along the way.

When I got older and went away to college, I continued to go on road trips, this time with my friends. We’d drive to other cities for festivals and concerts, homecoming games and other sporting events. Sometimes, we’d drive someplace just to figure something out, or prove each other wrong.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that when I write, some of my favorite stories to tell involve travel. The hi-jinx that comes with travel is a fun vehicle for stories. No trip is ever one hundred percent smooth, how people respond to the craziness is where the memories – and the stories – lie. What would you do if you got lost in Delaware? If your luggage went to more places than you did? If you got stuck at a road stop for a few hours? What if you forgot someone at a pit stop?

All of these scenarios can be a challenge for the best of trip planners, but they could also be a ton of fun for someone who’s willing to roll with the punches. For example, on one road trip, my dad asked a store clerk for a breakfast recommendation for his family. Turns out the recommendation was a bar. What did Dad do? He found us a table away from the booze, ordered up a big family breakfast, and left the barkeep an excellent tip. Years later, my parents visited that city again and they found the bar. They took a picture of the sign and had it framed, hanging it in a place of honor.

Rolling with the crazy of a trip isn’t always easy, but sometimes it opens the doors for fun adventures. I am definitely looking forward to some road trips this summer when I head to the mountains. I know what we’ve got planned, but I have no idea what we’ll find and that excites me.

Need a read for your next road trip? The Girl U Want will be out this summer!

The Girl U Want

Sue Douglas loves her dream job as a publicist for an up-and-coming rock band even though…

• The bass player hates her
• The lead singer wants her
• The drummer is trying to fix her up with anyone but the lead singer
• The band’s record company has set her up to fail
• And if she does, she could lose everything.

Sue’s used to working under pressure, but it reaches epic levels when she goes on tour with the band. Doesn’t matter though, she’s determined to get them all the publicity they can handle, and then some.

Join my newsletter to get the first 3 chapters, free, plus be among the first to know when the book is live.

About the Author

Elaine Reed has something to say.

All the time.

Since it’s not reasonable or productive – two things she occasionally tries to be – to talk twenty-four hours a day, she channels most of that into books. Her stories focus on adventurous and ambitious women and the men who love them.

When she’s not reading or writing, Elaine can be found exploring the Low Country of South Carolina and looking for her next adventure.

Visit Her At:
Website: https://www.elaine-writes.com
**Newsletter: https://www.elaine-writes.com/newsletter/
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/elainereedwrites
Twitter: https://twitter.com/_elainewrites
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/writeelaine/

June’s calendar, when I first laid it out, was a work of art. All my big goals had been chopped up into bite-sized pieces. I was determined that, this month, I’d have some “me” time to float in the pool or play with beads.

Ha! Can I say that again? Ha! Ha! Ha!

Okay, so it’s nearly ten at night and my ass is sore from sitting so long today. I’m trying to catch up on my goals that floated down the toilet from nearly Day One. The issues?

1. A terrible case of Don’t-Wanna-Do-it. Can you blame me? The sun’s out. The pool’s finally lost it’s green tinge. All I wanna do is have some fun (I’m channeling Sheryl Crow now).
2. My body’s rhythm feels off. Okay, I know that sounds like woo-woo horse shit. And it is. If I don’t get it done in the morning, or at least started in the morning, I give up for the rest of the day because I’m ready for a nap by two. I think it’s because school is out, and I’m not up with the kids at O-dark-thirty anymore.
3. My dd suddenly had to leave town this week to go help a relative who needs some help, which leaves Guess Who in charge of the lovely little ones (who really are little demons with angels’ faces!)? Yup, me. The one with sucker written all over her face.

It’s my own damn fault. I let things slide, and now I have to power down to get my highest priority things out the door. Don’t cry for me… (And now I have Evita on the brain…)

That’s what I need—a soundtrack that kicks ass. Any suggestions for what tunes should be on it?

UPDATE: The winner is…Bonnie Hometchko!
*~*~*

I spend a lot of time working on this website, so it only seems fair I should expect everyone to love it as much as I do, in all its sprawling splendor. 🙂 Do you know I have a ton of stories out there? No? Well, in the interest of acquainting some of you with what’s on my site, I’m holding a scavenger hunt!

Now, this is important. YOU CANNOT POST ANSWERS TO MY QUESTIONS IN THE COMMENTS. If you do, you’ve done the work and shared the answers with everyone else, and what’s the point? You don’t want competition for the prize, do you? NO! Send your answers to me PRIVATELY to me at Delilah@delilahdevlin.com!

Scavenger Hunt

Here are the questions…

1. What is the title of Delilah’s latest Boys Behaving Badly collection?
2. Of the six stories listed in the Bookshelf on my Blog, which do you want to read the most?
3.  On my By Series page (find under Bookshelf), how many books are listed under my Montana Bounty Hunters section?
4.  On my Standalone books page (also under Bookshelf), how many stories in the Paranormal section have “Moon” in the title?
5.  What’s “high on my list” of things I enjoy? (You can find this under Hobbies on my Bio page.)

Everyone wins!

The scavenger hunt winner will win a $5 Amazon gift card, but everyone can pick up a free copy of my short story, DRIVE ME CRAZY!

I love this time of year. I live is a cooler climate, and we have a very short summer, so I like to get out and enjoy it as much as possible.

One of the things I like to do is head out to a local park. Most cities have green spaces, so even if you can’t get out to the countryside, you can enjoy some nature. I also love to get an ice cream from a specialty shop. If you’re going to have ice cream, make it count and splurge on the good stuff. Bonus if you walk to or from the ice cream parlor. Luckily for me there is a city park right across from an ice cream place.

Summer is also a great time to play tourist in your own city. There are so many things to do that we really don’t pay attention to because we live there. Tourists do and see things that we don’t. So look around your own city or town, pick at least one or two things, and do them. There are often free outdoor concerts, museums have interesting and changing exhibitions, and there are art galleries and shops to explore.

I love to sit out at night and look up at the stars. I live in the city, so it’s never really quiet or dark. But late at night it’s not quite so noisy and I can still see the moon and the brighter stars. If you’re outside the city, you have a much better view, so get outside and enjoy it.

I also enjoy sitting out on the balcony (or patio if you have one) with a cool drink and a good book. And if you’re looking for something to read, you might want to check out my latest release, Drakon’s Knight.

Drakon’s Knight
Blood of the Drakon, Book 7

Drakon Jericho Drake, the child of a pure-blood dragon and human, has a simple plan: Kill the leader of the Knights of the Dragon and start a war. Except, when he meets his target, Karina Azarov, she can’t remember who she is. Worst of all––he can’t kill her. His dragon side has just claimed the dangerous woman as his mate.

Karina has no idea why these Drakon’s have taken her to their home. And she most certainly does not understand why she’s so drawn to her captor. Maybe because he’s strong, intelligent, and caring, in his enigmatic sort of way. One thing she knows, he’s not going to hurt her. If only she could remember something from her past that would explain why these Drakon’s hate her so much.

But if her memory returns, mated or not, he may get his war.. And one of them will die.

Buy Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QZMKQP3/
Entangled: https://entangledpublishing.com/drakon-s-knight.html
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/drakons-knight-n-j-walters/1131299180
iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/drakons-knight/id1460577344
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/drakon-s-knight

About the Author

N.J. Walters is a New York Times and USA Todaybestselling author who has always been a voracious reader, and now she spends her days writing novels of her own. Vampires, werewolves, dragons, time-travelers, seductive handymen, and next-door neighbors with smoldering good looks—all vie for her attention. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to live it.

Visit me at:
Website: https://www.njwalters.com
Blog: https://www.njwalters.blogspot.com
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Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/N.J.WaltersAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/njwaltersauthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/NJWalters
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/njwalters
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/n-j-walters