Check out this wonderful review of Moontide up on the I Smell Sheep Book Review Blog! If you haven't frolicked sheep-like over to ismellsheep.com you should. It's a fantastic review blog devoted to all things paranormal and especially paranormal romance books. Super, super fun stuff going on over there! Thank you to reviewer Bianca Greenwood for her wonderful review!

http://www.ismellsheep.com/2018/04/book-review-moontide-tides-of-atlantis.html?m=1

...with www.whiskeyangellife .com. Check out this short fun Q&A I did with my book blogger friend Angela G on her brand new blog whiskeyangellife.com
for Friday Fivesome! You could learn some things about this author you never knew you wanted to know :)
Click on the link or the image for some #Friday #Fun

#fridayfivesome #weekend #whiskey #whiskeyweekend #blogger #romanceauthor

Hello and happy Wine Wednesday! I promised to give you some good wine / book pairings and this one comes from a good author friend of mine, the lovely Miss Hazel Grace, with her debut novel - Arranged. Arranged is the first in a series and is a whimsical historical romance full of intrigue, danger and plot twists. I'm pairing this book with a light Louis Jadot Chablis because both the label and the wine made me think of the beautiful fantasy setting Miss Grace created for Arranged.
So if you love historical romances and magical places, be sure to try Arranged and the Chablis!

 Arranged : An Array Novel by Hazel Grace

Ava
They say no good deed goes unpunished.
Isn’t that the truth.
My good deed confined me to my own personal prison, with a target on my back.
But when my childhood best friend, the Prince of Telliva, asks for my help, promising me my freedom in return, I find myself in danger from enemies, both seen and unseen.
I'd give anything to protect and save him. His father knows this, and it’s condemned me to hell, with no way out.
Lies. Deceit. Betrayal.
When the one I’ve vowed to defend is heir to the throne, I can only hope to make it out alive, with my head still intact.
Then he shows up, handsome, and built to kill, threatening to ruin everything.

Garrett
I was born a bastard.
A privileged asshole, with little to no regard for anyone else.
But when another attempt is made on my brother’s life, my carefree lifestyle changes.
Murder. Bribes. Lust.
Now I’m stepping in, determined to eliminate those who wish to annihilate my family.
Then, and only then, would I rest…
That is until she betrays me.

Available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited!

www.amazon.com/dp/B07BMSLVH5

Today's tease is from Gadeiros - Kingdoms of Atlantis and is a companion book to Moontide. This  novella is set entirely in the ancient world of Atlantis.

***
“Gadeiros please, when we are alone, Princess.”
She gave him a small smile.
“And are we alone?”
“Assuredly,” he answered, “this space here by the falls is one of many secluded spots on Gades. I have it shielded with Atlantean crystals. Even the gods cannot see us here.”
His voice was hard with confidence and housed the barest note of a threat. Aura started a little at the change, her eyes going wide.
“My father won’t like that. You should take me back.” She kept her voice light. The way one would when speaking to a predator they didn’t want to provoke.
Gadeiros moved into the sun-filled space where she stood. Reaching forward, he touched the crest of her cheek, then s
troked a golden curl at her temple all the way down to where it fell on her breast. He twisted it softly and watched the color change in the sun. Aura took in a shaky breath but it wasn’t fear that made her shudder.
“I don’t think I will,” he said.
Releasing her hair, he skimmed the backs of his fingers down the center of her breast, over the hard peak there and Aura’s breath caught. No man had ever touched her thus. His hand kept travelling and he watched the small jerks of her body with an unreadable expression. All the way down it went, over her ribcage and past the dip in her waist until he found her hand and clasped it. Finally, the hardness in his eyes relented.
“If you are to be my queen, you should know all you can about the lands I rule. I can show you more without an assembly, unless you do not wish to explore. I assure you that you are well protected with me princess.”
Aura slanted him an assessing look. She wasn’t so certain of that.
He’d been angry back in the temple but now he did not seem so. His touch delighted her body. Still, he was a frightening figure. His warrior’s heart lay just beneath the surface of his royal exterior and she wondered exactly what kind of man he was. Of course she’d heard the stories of his conquests and his demigod status but not much else. He was pleasing to the eye, this son of Poseidon, but all too often, a beautiful face hid a wicked heart.
His chest was bare to her view ─ golden skinned and heavily muscled in the manner of a man who spent much of his time on the battlefield. He wore gold and onyx neck plating with a black crystal ankh in the center. His head was free of elaborate headdress save a thin gold and black jeweled band that circled his forehead. His dark black hair hung thick and straight to his shoulders underneath it. Both his hair and skin were oiled, as was custom for a visit to temple and the scent of body-warmed sandalwood filled her nostrils, making her lightheaded.
She brought her head up and met his stare. Inches below his eyes, his mouth twitched turning up in the barest hint of a smile and Aura realized he’d been watching her study him and hadn’t said a word the whole time.
The sight of his lips stirred things inside of her that her maiden’s burgeoning awareness had yet to bring to life. She reached out to retrace the path that her eyes had taken with her fingers but her hand stopped in mid-air.
Suddenly, he grabbed her wrist. She jerked her head up to meet his eyes. They’d been changed by his smile, warmed from their normal stone to something more liquid and she swayed toward him, might have fallen into his chest but his grip on her tightened. She righted herself just as he pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed the sensitive undersides of her fingers.
Her eyes drifted closed and it was as though she could feel his lips everywhere on her body at once. She could sense the curving of his smile and opened her eyes just as he brought her hand down between them.
Probably nothing on this island presented her with more danger, that she might need protecting from, than him. He would take her back to her parents if she asked him, of that she was sure, but alone as they were and as thrilling as this place and its king were, she didn’t want to go, not yet.

***
Gadeiros is a free read currently available only on my website.
www.amandavshane.weebly.com 

Sign up for the Amanda V Shane newsletter and get your free copy of Gadeiros, updates on upcoming books and other goodies.

Read Snow Maiden for FREE this weekend!!
Friday, Saturday and Sunday

… in a land of winter’s tales, beyond the forest and the world we mortals know as ordinary, a maiden lived with hair of gold and snowy white, eyes of shining blue and lips to shame the blood red rose.

A commoner and the outcast of her village...Nika is forced to flee her home to keep the dark secret of her birth. When she is hunted by a rugged Northman, she finds herself lost in a land of spells and curses. His kisses start to melt her cold, lonely heart, her secrets are laid bare and she finds herself in a magic war for the man and the kingdom she loves.
 
King of a cursed and ravaged kingdom...when Vasilli first lays eyes on Nika stealing bread at a fair, he knows he has to have the fair haired beauty. The legends surrounding his lands tell of a snow maiden who will break the curse of the Northern Kingdom but he wants Nika for his own.
 
From a land of winter, ice and snow comes a tale of enchantment and romance. Mages and sorceresses, omens and curses - this spellbinding grownup fairy tale is a story of magic in an ancient land and a legendary love that will heat up even the coldest winter night.
 
Inspired by the Russian fairy tale The Snow Maiden.

Available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited

www.amazon.com/dp/B077RSCW61

Happy Wine Wednesday! I mentioned last week that I had some new plans for my Wednesday posts on the blog and so here is something I am trying out - pairing wine and romance reads. Since this is kind of a trial run, I am using my own book, Moontide - Tides of Atlantis.
As you all have probably gathered from my previous posts, I'm going at this not from the perspective of a wine connoisseur (AT ALL, though I do like drinking it A LOT:) but rather from my love for the wine bottle aesthetic. I have a lot of fun finding interesting,beautiful and sometimes creatively stirring bottle labels to post pics of and feature here on the blog. So, with that in mind, I am going to try to continue to post about great and beautiful bottles of wine and also...BOOKS!! (schmancey romancey books

I'm going to try to bring you some fun pairings for my books, books I've read and also books from some new authors whose work you might not have learned of yet.
Author friends, if you have a book of your own that you would like me to pair and feature, be sure to contact me at amandavshane6@gmail.com I have lots of really cool bottles waiting to be paired with great romance reads so I'm very excited to get to posting them here and on my social media sites.

In the mean time, enjoy the Clifford Bay Savignon Blanc, a Marlborough, New Zealand wine. I picked it for Moontide, of course for the water and tides theme and the blue colors on the label but also because diving into the world of Poseidon's Tides of Atlantis is even more of an adventure with a wineglass in hand.
If you haven't read Moontide yet, you can find it on Amazon or even read it for free on Kindle Unlimited.
Moontide: Tides of Atlantis - Amazon

As always, no matter what you are drinking, happy reading on this Wine Wednesday!

Tides of Atlantis
Mankind and the gods alike have grown complacent and the restless forces of the underworld that have been simmering beneath the surface are coming out to play. They will not stop until their thirst for vengeance is satisfied and all worlds have returned to yawning pre-time chaos.
Ten lost kings ─ sons of Poseidon─ and rulers of a condemned land are our last hope…if only they can be found. Cursed by the gods after the fall of Atlantis, the kings have passed into anonymity with no memory of who they are. Forces of both good and evil are hunting them. Poseidon needs them to win the war for the universe. Evil is bent on their destruction.
Moontide
Upon A Moonswept Tide…
Trapped in time…Ronan Garring is a man of action; a ship captain who has sailed the seas from Europe to the Caribbean…in the seventeenth century. When he is tricked by a sea nymph, he is sent to a deserted island in Poseidon’s realm to serve the gods for all time. On a mission to modern day Miami, he finds his earth home crawling with underworld evil and is waylaid by an enchanting human woman who seems to stall his attempts at completing his quest at every turn. He can’t be sure if she is an entirely innocent wrecking ball or the agent of a more sinister force. Against all his good intentions, he finds himself continually, albeit pleasantly, entangled with her both in this world and beyond.
Searching…for a friend whose gone missing, Cindy Pierce left the Rocky Mountains for the beaches of Miami to try to make sense of, what looks to be, a hopeless case. As the trail grows cold, she stumbles into an intriguing dark stranger and is literally knocked flat. Fierce and intense as he is, towering over her and exuding old world masculinity, she can’t help her body’s immediate response to him. When she finds herself being chased across the southern tip of Miami and into the Florida Keys by the handsome foreigner however, she’s convinced he’s not only psychotic but intent on doing her harm. Once she finds herself in his arms again though, her attraction to him can’t be denied and neither can the fact that he may be the only one who can save her from the dark forces at work on the beach.

Join the race to find the kings in Amanda V. Shane’s new Tides of Atlantis series and help them to discover their soul mates, the women who will win their lost hearts and help them fulfill their destiny!

Soo...I have been left unsupervised for the day and was able to get some work done on Crystal Tide - book 2 in the Tides of Atlantis series. Here is a little share. Get ready, because Crystal Tide is rolling in and that King Amphere is whoo...umm...well, anyway here's that little teaser :)
***

“That’s our first lesson,” he said.
“Lesson?”
He dipped his head in affirmation.
“I promised to school you in Atlantean etiquette, did I not, little present?”
“I-I don’t know what you mean. I don’t know what you’re talking about or w-why I’m here even…” she sputtered.
His hand came up and he placed a finger on her mouth. He regarded her for a second then traced over her lips with the rough pad of his fingertip.
“You’re here for me,” he said simply, as if that should have been obvious.
Kay drew her eyebrows together making a face at that. He laughed and his head pulled back slightly then he shook his head in an admonishing way.
“Oh no, my pet, lesson two – you do not scowl at the king.”
Kay’s mouth opened but she didn’t know what to say.
 He had that thing about him where he just exuded power and sensuality. ‘Like Xieran’ some distant voice in her head whispered but she shut it out. This whole situation was completely overwhelming. Overwhelming and compelling and absolutely the hottest thing she’d ever experienced. Gorgeous men in real life made her nervous. She was gawky and awkward around them. But in this second, under Amphere’s hungry stare, she felt beautiful…desired.

She stopped worrying about what was real and what was a dream right then. It was obvious that, in the hands of the king, she could do little else.

   Happy Wine Wednesday everyone! I hope the week is treating you all well. This week's post is actually of  beeswax candle that my uncle made - so, sorry, no actual wine in this one to salivate over but the warm glow will certainly set the mood for whatever you choose to imbibe for our little mid-week celebration (yay - we've made it through to the middle of yet another week!) And reading by candlelight can also be very romantic, am I right?
   As a lot of you know, I am an ex-ballet dancer so when I saw the dance themed label on this bottle of "Cotillion" Pinot Noir, I had to work it into a post. Dance, books and wine are just a few of my favorite things. Don't the little  animals pictured evoke a bedtime storybook feel too? I thought so.
   This label also puts me in the mood to mention that I will have another ballet fairy tale retell romance coming out later on this year (if all goes as planned) so stay tuned to the blog for info on that and if you haven't read Snow Maiden yet go read it for free on Kindle Unlimited. It's a fairy tale retell romance based on the Snow Queen and King from the Nutcracker ballet story. My next ballet retell is still in the plotting stage but I'm already getting excited about it :)
   I wanted to mention that have some ideas percolating in my brain and plans for future wine bottle posts so be sure to keep an eye on the blog for those and if you have a favorite bottle of your own be sure to tell me about it in comments.
   As always, have a lovely evening and happy reading!

Here is a short piece from Crystal Tide, Book 2 of the Tides of Atlantis series. This scene involves a letter that the heroine, Kay, finds in her father's home office.

***
“They are among us…”
 
It started out.
 
“…creatures and beings from other dimensions, not only outer space as I had once imagined. Some of them can not even be classified as alien because they have walked the earth and lived here far longer than humans.
I have made encounters while out in the field, unexplainable happenings, disturbing sightings and sometimes just hair raising feelings of an unknown presence. Supernatural, paranormal, extra-terrestrial ─ are these the correct terms to define what I have seen? All I can say for certain is that these beings are powerful. They have been around for a very long time, probably since the beginning. At one time, they lived in concert with mankind but something happened long ago and they now have an acute contempt for modern man.
Through my research, I have found that many of earth’s geological and atmospheric disturbances may find their root not in seismic, climatic, or weather related occurrences but, actually, are being set in motion by these supernatural beings. For what reason I cannot conjecture, but judging by the increasing frequency and intensity, it can be assumed that their intent is not of a benign nature.
I’ve made plans to study the geological link. Many of the paranormal hotspots are located at earth’s vortexes. What was once a guilty fascination, a diversion from my actual work, has become a matter of dire importance as all evidence points to a rising insurrection coming from these beings. Their presence has steadily increased over the past two or three decades as I have noted on my charts. All my research suggests that there is a sea floor link to nearly every troubling account of man meeting with these destructive otherworld forces.
I fear for my wife and my daughter. I have to gather more information but am assailed by the feeling that time may be running short before something truly harrowing occurs that will affect the entire world.
I leave for Miami tomorrow for a close study of the Bermuda Triangle ─ one of the world’s most hostile vortices…
 
And there the entry ended though it was obvious that her dad had written more. Kay flipped the page but it was the last one in the notebook. Paper had been ripped out. He never did that, his notes could be chaotic and disjointed but he never mangled his pages. She had to know what else he’d written. She searched the bookshelf but that notebook was the highest numbered in its group which meant that, if Esmé had a journal in Miami, it was probably the next one.
Just as all her thoughts came crashing together, bright lights blazed into the windows for a second and then a car door slammed shut. Someone was coming.

***

Stay tuned for more excerpts and book news!

Here's another perfect wine to pair with a mythology romance read. Moontide is based on the myth of Atlantis and even some Celtic mythology. Chasing Venus Sauvignon Blanc will get us in the mood for a mythic romance read for sure. Happy Wine Wednesday everyone and happy reading!
#mythologyromance #moontideromance #wine #winewednesday #winebottle #venus #greekmythology #wineandbooks