Wednesday, March 30, 2016

New Release: Finders Keepers

I'm excited to share the new release of a fellow member of Clean Indie Reads, J. J. DiBenedetto!
  FindersKeepers
1,400 miles.
     3 countries
          2 men she can't trust.
What could go wrong?
               
FINDERS KEEPERS is the first book in the new Jane Barnaby Adventures series:
It should have been a simple job. All archaeology student Jane Barnaby had to do was pick up a box her professor needed and deliver it to him at his dig site, along with his new car. Yes, his office was in Oxfordshire, and his dig site was in Spain, a trip of 1,400 miles across three countries and two bodies of water. Still, it should have been simple. And it was, until Jane discovered she picked up the wrong box by mistake. Not the one with boring pottery samples, but instead the one with priceless ancient Egyptian artifacts. The one that a team of international art thieves is after. Now she’s chasing – and being chased by – the thieves. And she’s picked up a pair of passengers who claim they can help her outwit them, get her professor’s pottery back and return the artifacts to their rightful owner. If only she could figure out which one of them is working with the thieves and which one she can trust in this high-stakes game of finders keepers.
It's available everywhere eBooks are sold: Amazon (Kindle or Paperback) Smashwords Barnes & Noble (Nook or Paperback) Apple iBookstore Kobo   James047  
About the author J.J. (James) Dibenedetto's fans would swear he's got a sixth sense when it comes to seeing into the minds of others and often wonder if his stories could possibly be fiction. He enjoys suspending disbelief with suspenseful paranormal tales that are a perfect blend of reality meets fantasy. His popular Dream Series continues to delight readers with each and every exciting installment. Born in Yonkers, New York, he currently resides in Arlington Virginia with his beautiful wife and a cat he is sure has taken full advantage of its nine lives. When it comes to the cat, he often wonders, but then again it might just be his imagination. You can follow him at his website, on Facebook and on Twitter. And you can find all his books (including the complete Dream Series) on Amazon and on audiobook at Audible.com   Here's an excerpt from Finders Keepers:
The thieves simply made a mistake. Whether Tom had put his box in the wrong room, or whether the thieves had gotten their wires crossed, who knew? She’d had trouble reading Professor Welldon’s writing; she hadn’t been sure if she was meant to go to Room 16 or Room 18 herself. It hadn’t mattered because the thieves had already gotten there and made the choice for her. “When they finally got where they were going, they opened it up, and you can imagine their surprise.” Jane noted the vagueness there; she assumed Alex knew exactly where that was and, for whatever reason, didn’t want to say. She didn’t challenge him; she kept up her happy façade instead, and he went on. “They knew they couldn’t go back and steal the right box, but they had the label on your pottery, they knew where it was supposed to go.” “They’re headed to Mallorca!” Jane couldn’t help herself; the words just poured out. “They’re going to wait there until I show up and try to trade, the pottery for the artifacts!” She knew she’d said too much. Alex’s eyes lit up, just for an instant, when she mentioned Mallorca. That was something, obviously, he hadn’t known. But he caught himself almost immediately, and so did she. She wondered if he knew that she knew he was putting on an act. She wondered if he knew that she knew that he knew she was, too. And she wondered if she had any aspirin in her purse, because that train of thought was giving her a headache.
Jane
Last, but not least, to celebrate the launch of FINDERS KEEPERS, the author is giving away a signed paperback copy of either this new book, or any one of his Dream Series novels (winner's choice). For your chance to win, just click HERE to enter!)          

Friday, March 11, 2016

New Steampunk by H. L. Burke!

I haven't read much steampunk, but this book sounds so interesting, I've already pre-ordered it, and you can, too! Through March 14 ("pi" day) Nyssa Glass and the House of Mirrors is only 99 cents. After that it will be $2.99.

H. L. Burke is the author of several works of fantasy ... many of which involve dragons. Her latest is a YA Steampunk Novella, which she describes as Jules Verne meets Mary Shelley meets H. G. Wells.

Nyssa Glass and the House of Mirrors is set in an alternate world not completely unlike our world in the Victorian age … but with technology Jules Verne could only dream of, mostly powered by the Steampunk staples of coal and steam.
Within the world women wear corsets, high-button shoes, and veiled fascinator hats … along with their goggles (it's not Steampunk without goggles). The protagonist, Nyssa, is a reformed thief, plucked from a life of crime and retrained at Miss Pratchett's School for Mechanically Minded Maids to pursue an honest trade as a electrician's apprentice.
Technology in New Taured is advanced, due to geniuses like Professor Dalhart, who invented videophones so people can chat in real time through devices that resemble old fashioned, black and white television sets.
Dalhart's best technology, however, didn't make it to market before his untimely disappearance. His last projects centered around robotics. He was determined to fully mechanize menial labor and improve the quality of human life … but then, for reasons unknown, he shut himself in his mansion with his teenage son and almost two dozen members of his household staff and never came out again.
The loss of this great mind slowed technological development to a crawl. Dalhart's more business-minded but less creative partner, Mr. Rivera, continued to expand the company's line of videophones and radiosets. However, without the brilliant Dalhart, the next big innovation remained just out of reach.
Desperate to recover anything Dalhart left behind, Rivera and his many competitors began sending agents to Dalhart Manor, only to have them vanish as completely as Dalhart himself
In a world dependent on coal power, the promise of robots capable of mining, working 24/7 without rest and on limited fuel, would revolutionize New Taured. The man with this technology would be the country's de facto king. If only they could find a person skilled enough … or desperate enough … to brave the deathtrap known as Dalhart Manor.

Author Bio:
Born in a small town in north central Oregon, H. L. Burke spent most of her childhood around trees and farm animals and was always accompanied by a book. Growing up with epic heroes from Middle Earth and Narnia keeping her company, she also became an incurable romantic.

An addictive personality, she jumped from one fandom to another, being at times completely obsessed with various books, movies, or television series (Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Star Trek all took their turns), but she has grown to be what she considers a well-rounded connoisseur of geek culture.

Married to her high school crush who is now a US Marine, she has moved multiple times in her adult life but believes that home is wherever her husband, two daughters, and pets are.

She is the author of a four part fantasy/romance series entitled "The Scholar and the Dragon," YA/Fantasy "Beggar Magic," and MG/Fantasy "Thaddeus Whiskers and the Dragon," among others. Her current projects are a young adult Steampunk fantasy and an epic fantasy trilogy.

Social Media Links:
www.hlburkeauthor.com