Lorrie Struiff's Gypsy Blood (and a rant about e-readers)

Thank you Marva for inviting me to be a guest on your blog today. I really want to vent about E-readers. I think many of your fans will agree with me.

WHY I HATE E-READERS

  

So, with all the fuss about E-readers, I broke down and bought one. Now this has to be the sorriest thing I have ever purchased.

I read the instructions. I played with it, got on a book buying site and lo and behold. There were four books by one of my favorite authors, Ginger Simpson. Well, I just had to push the buy buttons.

Next, I saw four by you, Marva. Hmm. And I know you are a fantastic writer. Oh, a mystery and a YA trilogy. Bet I’d like the mystery and my kids would enjoy your YA novels. Not expensive at all. I pushed all the buy buttons again.

Oooh, I ddn’t know Cate Masters had e-books out. I love her romance novels, but these are only in e-book format. Oh what the heck, I may as well add a few more books to this new contraption.

Oh my, look at these books by Tabatha Shay. I love series. They look pretty good. And what hunks on the covers. Push, push, push, push, push.

Margaret West. Name seems familiar. I went to her site. Wow, paranormal. I love paranormal. Push, push, push.

I was having such a grand time finding my other favorite authors, and ahem, some I didn’t know, but the covers and blurbs tempted me beyond my rational judgment.

Feeling smug, I settled down and started reading the many, many wonderful bargains that I found, and I enjoyed them for weeks—being the avid reader that I am.

Hey, this was neat, fun.

It was neat and fun until I received my charge card bill in the mail. Did I really purchase all those books? Where are my brains?

Then I began to hate the E-reader. It’s like an addiction you can’t quit. Maybe I should start an addiction to an E-readers group. Learn to fight our impulses.

Well, it’s something to think about while I just peruse the buy site again.

Oh my, a new one by Jude Pittman.

Push.

***

Do you like mysteries? Paranormals? Romance? Thillers? Gypsy lore?

Well, how about all of those genres rolled into one?

Meet Rita and Matt in GYPSY BLOOD available today at

http://www.amazon.com/Gypsy-Blood-Born-Romany-ebook/dp/B008190LLK/

And inexpensive too. All you addicts out there, just hit push.

(Instead of a blurb, let me tell you a little about the book.)

Rita Muldova, my homicide detective has pure Roma blood. She wears a mystical crystal amulet that gives her the power to see in a dead victim’s eyes the last image the deceased had seen. What a career boost. Now, with the task force, she is hunting for the “Ripper,” a serial killer loose in her town that is targeting prostitutes. But, oh, oh, for this murderer, the crystal has stopped working.

A yummy FBI agent, Matt Boulet, has been on the Ripper’s tail since the killings started in New Orleans. He has a yen for Rita and they have a weird connection. Plus, Rita would like to jump his bones.

Rita’s mother, Anna, is a great seer whom Rita turns to in time of troubles, but Anna can’t offer Rita an explanation of why the crystal has stopped working. Anna does tell Rita the lore of their clan. Rita is both shocked and horrified of the tale.

Filled with gypsy customs and lore, the novella takes you on a wild ride into the mystical world of the paranormal with plenty of thrills and chills.

(Excerpt)

Chief Lipinski rose to his feet. “Back off, people! I have my orders, too. We follow Boulet’s plan. Hank, you and Sully hand out these sketches to as many girls you see walking the streets before Della and Rita start their rounds.”

Della nudged Rita. “Guess we get our ‘Sluts R Us’ duds out of mothballs.”

Rita nodded. She would follow orders, but too many unanswered questions floated in her mind. She raised her voice. “Since he’s such a big, strong, badass, who lived to provide the sketch?”

“Me.”

The way Boulet uttered that one word made her teeth click together.

Boulet tugged down the ribbed collar of his sweater. A red scar marred the cords in his thick neck. “My partner and I were doubling him. We were too late to save the woman. He nicked me first. While I was trying to stop bleeding, he took out my partner.” He studied the floor, then his eyes hardened as he made eye contact with everyone in the room. “But now I know this bastard, and I’ll be ready for him.”

“Sounds more like a personal vendetta,” Rita said.

“Yeah, that too.” His lips pulled back with an ironic chuckle. “More than you can imagine.”

For more details and reviews, visit my website at http://struiff.wordpress.com/

Thank you for reading. 

Dark Wizard by John Rosenman

DARK WIZARD
by John Rosenman
Buy the book at MuseItUp Publishing

NOTE: Go to John's website to win a free copy of his book.

Visit John on the web at his websites:
http://www.johnrosenman.com/
http://www.myspace.com/291520102
https://twitter.com/Writerman1
http://www.facebook.com/home.php and
http://s631.photobucket.com/albums/uu31/jrosenman/

Read an interview at
http://www.milscifi.com/archives/arc-JohnBRosenman.htm
For those who like shortcuts, don’t read the first few pages then skip to the end. This is one book where every chapter counts. I recommend this to anyone who likes a good science fiction thriller. - Ron Berry, UnWriter Reviewer
Blurb

Kan can revive the dead, read minds, lift cars, see invading aliens, and he’s just found love...he isn’t in Kansas anymore.

Description

Kan not only has complete amnesia but superhuman strength and the ability to bring back the dead. Soon a beautiful girl complicates things even more, and he learns he is faced with a deadly evil and a cosmic mission. To survive, he must solve three mysteries. He must remember who he is, what happened to make him forget his past, and above all, the identity of the Dark Wizard who endangers the Earth.

Excerpt

Jean-Pierre’s blood froze. Before he could ask what Birdwell meant, the little man stiffened and jabbed his finger at the road ahead. “Uh-oh, I was afraid of this.”

Two hundred yards away, a roadblock waited. Even from his seat, Jean-Pierre could make out clustered cars and a barricade.

“What are you going to do?”

Birdwell grinned and tapped the wheel. “I believe on your world, you have a saying. The show must go on.”

‘The show must go on’? What the hell are you talking about?” He pointed. “If you try to ram them, you’ll get us both killed.” He twisted in the safety web and peered behind him. Several cars followed in hot pursuit less than a hundred yards behind. “They’re right behind us. If you stop, they’ll catch us!”

Birdwell’s grin widened. “Oh no, my jolly Frenchman.” He cackled and pressed a stud on the wheel. “Hold on to your chapeau!”

The roadblock was less than a hundred yards away, and Jean-Pierre began to pray when he felt the car leave the ground. It rose above the barricade, and he looked down in time to see startled faces turn to watch them in disbelief—disbelief that mirrored his own. When he turned back, they were already a hundred feet up, sailing toward the mountains. A flock of birds flew past, just missing them.

Birdwell whooped. “Sacre bleu! You ought to see what this baby will do in second gear.”

Gypsy Crystal by Lorrie Unites-Struiff

GYPSY CRYSTAL

by Lorrie Unites-Struiff
Read Lorrie's website/blog
View the Book Trailer
Best Buy at Fictionwise

Rita Muldova is a homicide detective in Keyport, PA. A serial killer is on the loose in her town and targeting prostitutes. But Rita has an edge. She wears a mystical crystal amulet that has been handed down through her Roma maternal bloodline that allows her to see, in the dead victim's eyes, the last face they had seen.

But now, the crystal has quit working. Is the magic gone?

Rita confronts her mother, Anna, a crystal ball gazer and great seer, for answers. Anna and Uncle Dragus leave Rita more unsettled than before.

Matt Boulet, a special FBI agent has been following the killer's trail from New Orleans. He has a personal score to settle and holds back secrets from Rita and the task force.

There is a magnetic pull between Rita and Matt, an attraction they can't deny. And too many secrets are kept by both, plus Rita's family.

When all the secrets are finally revealed, Rita swims through a whirlpool of shock, horror and confusion. Her renewed determination to put an end to the killing spree spells danger ahead for all involved.

Excerpt
 
Detective Rita Moldova peeked around the corner to make sure the hallway was empty. Making a quick right turn, she slipped into the autopsy lab to have a few minutes alone with the body. She tucked her white shirt tighter into her jeans and zipped her windbreaker to stay warm in the chilly room. The harsh odor of formaldehyde hit her nostrils and stung her throat.

Her heart twisted at the sight of the young, auburn-haired woman lying on the stainless steel table. A white sheet covered her to the navel; bruises blemished the once pretty face. Contusions marred the pallid skin from elbow to shoulder. The gash on the front of her neck gaped, exposing open veins and torn tissue.

Rita flipped her thick, dark braid back over her shoulder, snapped on one latex glove, leaned over the corpse, and peeled back an eyelid. In her bare hand, she clasped a star-shaped crystal hanging from the gold chain around her neck, an endowment from her maternal Roma bloodline. The crystal heated in her palm, warm energy pulsing up her arm to her shoulder. The face captured in the victim’s eye coalesced and stared back. Rita drew in a sharp breath. Bobby Driscoll! She had known him since high school, and now he worked as a uniform in her precinct. What the hell was going on?