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Book Promo for Gilboa Iris by Zahava Englard

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Welcome to Sugarbeat’s Books – The Home of the Romance Novel!

Today we are welcoming Zahava Englard to the blog!  She is here to promo her book,  Gilboa Iris.  If this book sounds like something that you are interested in reading, use the buy links at the bottom of the post to pick up a copy!

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Dara Harow, the daughter of a rocket physicist for the US department of defense, sends her parents into a tailspin of dual-loyalty anxiety when she plans to wed Roni Ben-Ari, an Israeli officer in an elite counter-terrorist unit. When the Harows are targeted by a terror cell in hot pursuit of technology not yet found in any country s arsenal, Dara finds herself at the center of a hierarchy of terror that threatens her life and the lives of those she loves. The Gilboa Iris is a blazing tale of romance, deceit and international intrigue. Its rich characters and explosive plot take readers from Israel s Gilboa Mountains to the streets of New York, to Germany s Zehlendorf Forest, and back to Israel amid seminal events that rocked the world between 1983 and 2002.

 

sugarbeat's books romance books romance novel reviews historical contemporary eroticaAbout the Author

A native of New York, Zahava Englard lived in Teaneck, NJ, before moving with her family to Israel in 2006. An outspoken activist in the United States on behalf of Israel, she served as trustee on the executive board of One Israel Fund, and as its executive director. Presently Zahava lives in Israel. Her writing includes Settling for More: From Jersey to Judea, and she lectures in the United States and Israel about her books, Jewish activism, and her passion for Israel’s well-being. Gilboa Iris is her first novel.

 

 

 

 

The workday was due to end in half an hour. I emptied another load of grapefruit into the bin, and it was then that I heard what at first sounded like firecrackers. Deep in my gut, though, I knew better. When the next round came, a myriad of things transpired all at once.

“Everyone down!” Yaniv shouted. Hurling his semi-automatic machine gun into position, he crouched to the ground. Bullets were flying all around us, splintering the trees and ricocheting off the metal slats of the ladders. We all flew to the ground, scurrying for cover behind the trees. “Gunfire! Northeast end of the orchard, fifty meters in…” Yaniv communicated on his walkie-talkie with the local head of security. Swearing under his breath, he mumbled, “Roni was right.” He laid low, staring through the sight of his M16, and fired in the direction of the bullets. At that moment, shocked out of her sleep, Alana ran out from under her tree in a panic.

I heard a frantic, high-pitched screech that pierced the air, “Nooo!” It took me a moment to realize it came from me. “Alana, get down, get down!” random cries barked from the trees. She reeled around in confusion and then jerked back and hit the ground face up, her arms spread-eagle. Blood oozed from her lower abdomen, spilling down her side onto the earth, and all the while the bullets continued to hit the ground where she had fallen. Alana arched her head back in pain, her eyes bulging, and dug her nails into the dirt. She opened her mouth as if to scream, but no sound came out. Adrenalin took the place of logic and I propelled myself over to her, crawling low, my face scratching against the earth.

“No, Dara!” shouted Yaniv. “We get rid of the threat first!” But it was too late, and I couldn’t retreat to a safer position without Alana. I wouldn’t. “Don’t do it! Get back!” Yaniv implored me.

“They’re going to kill her!”

“Dammit, girl!” Yaniv continued shooting and there was suddenly an ebb in the crossfire. “One down,” he muttered.

I reached Alana, grabbed her under the arms and began dragging her away from the open area. The shooting started again when I was one yard away from the tree. Just then, I felt it. A burning rip right through my leg. A howling, guttural sound of pain came out of me. I clenched my teeth and with one final lunge and a gut-splitting scream, I pulled Alana under the tree.

She was unconscious, but still breathing. I didn’t know what to do for her. I didn’t know how to stop her bleeding. I tried putting pressure on her wound with my hands but it didn’t help. I pulled off my T-shirt and used that to apply pressure, but that wasn’t helping either. There was so much blood. I was scared – so scared I wanted to throw up. The burning pain in my leg was shooting in all directions, and I was drenched in Alana’s blood as well as my own. Oh, God, please help us.

“Yaniv! On your left!” It was Roni. The next moment, I heard it – the Arab war cry, Alahu akhbar! Alahu akhbar! Through the gaps between the branches, I saw a lone man, eyes ablaze, his neck wrapped in a kaffiyeh, pounce into the clearing, firing indiscriminately. From Roni’s position, a burst of fire, and then there was silence.

Roni commanded us to stay where we were. No problem there.

We all waited in an eerie stillness. Yaniv and Roni surveyed the area for other terrorists. I heard more communication over the walkie-talkies. They found Yossi’s body, the guard Roni referred to as the old timer, though he was just fifty-three years old. The terrorists had stabbed him to death. Seconds later, the army arrived along with ambulances. The paramedics placed Alana and me on gurneys and removed us from under the tree. They first bandaged Alana, hooked her up with an IV and sped away with her in one of the ambulances. Out of the volley of voices, I heard someone say they were airlifting her to Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center. One by one, everyone emerged from the trees.

Unable to move, I remained on the ground, staring wide-eyed at the sky in a state of numbness, too shaken to utter a sound, save for gasping every now and again from the pain. Another paramedic tended to my leg wound and attached an IV to my arm. Roni knelt by my side, staring at me in silence.

Things started to look fuzzy, and I couldn’t discern his expression. I expected him to be angry with me, but instead he cupped my hand in both of his and spoke in a soft voice – almost a whisper, “You’re crazy, you know that?” A rush of dizziness filled my head, and blackness took over.

This book is available on Amazon

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Excerpt and Giveaway – Bess, Nicholas & A Dog Called Bones by Tessa Armytage

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Welcome to Sugarbeat’s Books – The Home of the Romance Novel!

Today we are welcoming Tessa Armytage to the blog.  Tessa is a multi-published author and she is here today to offer up an e-copy of her book, Bess, Nicholas & A Dog Called Bones for a giveaway.  She has also sent along an excerpt so that you can get a feel for her book!  If you are interested in winning a copy of this book, please fill out the form at the bottom of the post.

This giveaway is over, thanks for your interest!

Bess Saint Clair is about to lose everything and the only man who can save her is Nicholas Blake. It’s just a pity she can’t stand him.Nicholas is a record industry hotshot with a reputation for being a Big, Bad Wolf. That’s okay by publicist Bess – she’s the sort of Little Red Riding Hood who eats wolves for breakfast. From the moment Nicholas and Bess clap eyes on each other they share a common bond: they want to tear each other’s throats out.

When Nicholas discovers that the man he has hired for the job is a woman, he’d like nothing better than to boot her out of his office. When Bess discovers he is one of those creatures of prehistoric legend – a male chauvinist – she’d like nothing better than to flip him the bird and turn on her heel.

But he needs her talent and she needs his money.

Each is hell bent on teaching the other a lesson. Both are about to learn a lesson they’ll never forget. The battle over who will wear the pants will be fiercest when neither is wearing any.

Funny, tender and deeply sensual, Bess, Nicholas & A Dog Called Bones is set in a picturesque valley vineyard and features a heroic, shameless sausage extortionist of a dog who is almost as human, and every bit as unforgettable, as Nicholas and Bess.

 

Excerpt:

  Splash!  Under she went, the freezing water closed around her head like a vice.  It took everything she had in her not to gasp in shock as she went down, but somehow she found the resolve, and a little bit more besides; when her feet hit the bottom she pushed down hard and propelled herself upward, expecting at any moment the current would find her and carry her away. 

Elizabeth crested the surface – oh sweet Jesus, the air was bitterly cold – but she drew great agonized breaths of it into her racked chest, realising she had cleared the raging torrent but had fallen into the still water where the river had burst its banks.

The current tugged at her back.  The river was widening.

Burdened by her sodden clothes, she struggled out of the water and collapsed on the far bank shuddering convulsively with cold and with every muscle screaming.

She had to keep moving.

She had to find Bones.

She pushed herself up.

It was far darker on this side of the river.  The rainforest canopy all but secluded moonlight, and it held no magic now; only suffocating blackness.  She went into it just the same, pushing her depleted legs up the punishing mountain, the ground loose under her unsteady feet, calling out for Bones all the while with breath that turned her lungs to ice.

Clear as a bell – there was her baby!

Hope surged in her chest, then just as quickly turned to lead. 

The forest had split the trickster wind asunder, and there could be no doubt.

Bones was on the other side of the river.  She’d been fooled by the changing wind.

Elizabeth sobbed into the back of her hand.  Suddenly she was cold, so very very cold, and she knew she was in real trouble.  With no prospect now of finding Bones, the adrenalin whooshed out of her, and her injuries made themselves felt.  Her hip throbbed painfully and she feared her shoulders had sustained some sort of permanent damage.  Her arms were next to useless; she could barely move them.

There was no way she could get back across the river.  Her only hope was to keep going up the mountain in search of the road.  She pushed forward.  Something hit her in the face and she screamed and fell backward, falling hard.  She cowered, regarding the thing in abject terror.  In the terrible dark the thing had a massive body and multiple arms that reached for her horribly.

Tree fern, you idiot, Elizabeth… she heard herself laugh and wondered if she was becoming hysterical.  Shaken to the core, she lay trembling on the ground, and still it rained, but she couldn’t feel it anymore.

Get up! the voice in her head thundered angrily.  Stop lying there like a stupid, hysterical woman and get yourself up!

Without the use of her arms, it was easier said than done.  She squirmed and twisted on the ground, something hard connected with her injured hip, and a flash of white pain shot up her spine and exploded into her brain.

She refused to cry out.  She refused to whimper.  Panting, she made it to her feet. 

The road.

The mountain was cruelly steep.  She tried to use the hardy bracken to pull herself up, but her arms were too weak to grasp it.  Elizabeth gritted her teeth.  That’s why God gave you legs, she told herself.  And they were good strong legs and she used them, pushing herself upward, ever upward, until at last the ground evened out and she resisted the temptation to fall to her knees and weep with relief.

The road.  Find the road.

Dark menacing shapes surrounded her completely.  Tree ferns, she reminded herself, only tree ferns, and while her mind accepted it every instinct in her said monsters, and it took a supreme effort of will to force it aside and make herself walk toward the shapes and through them as their fronds brushed wetly against her, but she did it, and seeing she had reached some sort of clearing, the adrenalin returned and her heart hammered.

Clearing could mean road.  Now was no time to panic, no time to give into the urge to run recklessly forward in search of the road.  She reminded herself to keep her head, to watch her bearings. 

Suddenly, incongruously, she was hot – way, way, too hot.  The urge to take her clothes off overtook her, but her mind fought against the instinct as ferociously as the great gust of wind that shook the canopy above, bringing buckets of water to fall upon her.

The storm intensified, whipping the trees into a mournful frenzy.  They were only trees, it was only wind, but it was the stuff of nightmares and she shook helplessly with fright, and she was cold again.

Just as Elizabeth began to wonder how long she had been walking she saw it – up ahead, the landscape changed again!  And finally she lost control and ran toward it – that which must be the road, her sprint using up the last reserve of her energy.

No.

No, no, no – a thousand times no.

Dark menacing shapes.  Tree ferns.  She was back in the tree fern gully.  She had been walking in circles.

Elizabeth sank to her knees and gave into the great racking sobs shaking her.

Bones was lost.  She was lost.  And utterly spent.  She had nothing left in her save pain, cold and emptiness.

Exhausted, she crawled under the meagre shelter of a tree fern’s fronds.

Let the night do with her what it would. 

*     *     *     *

Tessa can be found at either of her two blogs:
Fudging the Menu
The Cook’s Toolkit
I’d like to thank Tessa for dropping by and offering a copy of this book to one lucky reader! Since this book is an e-copy, the giveaway is international. Just fill out the form below to be entered!

Excerpt and Giveaway for What Christmas Means to Me by Josee Renard

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Welcome to Delicious December!

Delicious December is an event that is being sponsored by author Josee Renard.  She is celebrating the 12 days of Christmas by inviting over some guest bloggers and giving away some prizes!  Here’s the list of guests so far:

Kate St. James – December 12th

Daisy Dunn – December 13th

Tory Richards – December 14th

Sofia Hunt – December 15th

Jar O’ Marbles – December 16th

Callie Croix – December 17th

Leanne Karella – December 18th

W. Lynn Chantale – December 19th

Eden Baylee – December 20th

Alyssa Fox – December 21st

Robin Badillo – December 22nd

Sandy Sullivan – December 23rd

I’ve had the pleasure of reading stories by about half of these authors and I’m looking forward to reading what they have to say!  You can drop by Josee’s blog each day to read something new each day.  The book we are giving away here is What Christmas Means to Me by Josee.  I’ve included an excerpt so you can get a feel for the story.  If you are interested in winning a copy, fill out the form at the end of this post.

Excerpt:

Mercy stood at the door to Part Time Lovers, her foot tapping in excitement. The music was just loud enough, and right now it was playing her favorite Christmas song. She’d grown up listening to Christmas music, her mother playing it from October right through January, buying new artists every year.

So she knew of what she spoke and there was nothing, absolutely nothing, that came even close to Elvis singing If Every Day Was Like Christmas or Blue Christmas. She’d loaded up the CD player with plenty of Elvis tunes, along with her mom’s favorite Boney M.

Jules was in the elevator lobby, directing guests who’d never been to Part Time Lovers on how to get to the party. Take the elevator to the top floor, then the stairs up one flight. She’d laughed when she’d seen what he was wearing—not a Santa Claus suit this year, but Elvis’ blue silk suit with black lapels and blue suede shoes. His dark hair was slicked back and damn, he looked a whole lot like the King.

Shea was behind the coffee bar they’d set up, making sure the baristas he’d borrowed from Glass City were able to find everything. She checked that the taxi vouchers were at the bar and that the bartenders knew to tell everyone to leave their car keys if they’d driven to the party. 

Fourteen days, she thought. I can make fourteen days. Two weeks from this very minute, Rafa will be in my bed.

She hadn’t stopped missing him, that was probably impossible, but she had stopped being depressed. The damp chilly weather didn’t bother her so much, partly because of the night she’d spent with Jules in Room 1217, and partly because it was December.

Mercy loved December. She loved the lights, the trees, the parties, the music in all the stores. She loved all the glitz and frivolity of it. She got to spend time with her favorite people and in her favorite pastime—shopping. And all of those things seemed to lift her winter depression. Not for long, not permanently, but for four weeks, she was happy.

Just like the song said, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. And this year, she had an added bonus—Rafa in town and two whole weeks off work so she could spend the time with him. Her lingerie budget had already been blown by the purchases she’d made for their sexy phone calls, but the last couple of weeks? Every lingerie store in the city would probably make their yearly budget based on what she’d been spending in anticipation of Rafa’s arrival.

She checked her watch. The first guests would be arriving any minute. 

Delicious December Instructions:

Join Josee for two weeks of daily Christmas stories and recipes by some of your favorite writers and some writers you might want to get to know. There will be a giveaway every day from December 12 to December 25 for those who comment on the blog posts or tweet the posts using the #dd hashtag. Those who like Josee’s Facebook will receive an extra entry.  Winners will be announced each morning so check back in every day.

On December 26, there’ll be a grand prize giveaway to one person who has posted or tweeted during Delicious December.

http://joseerenard.wordpress.com/

Links:

You can find Josee at:

http://www.joseerenard.com/