Heart of Stone by January Bain – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions.January Bain will be awarding a $25.00 PayPal prize, U.S. money to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Only one wild heart can claim another.

Esme Luceres, poor relation and outsider with the House of Luceres, devotes her free time to exposing fake psychics and charlatans who dupe and exploit a credulous public. She’ll never be anyone’s fool. And she certainly won’t make one of herself over the kilt-wearing, bare-chested Lachlan of the Highland Heathens Clan, even if he does looks like a plundering Viking right out of the mists of history with his magnificent body on proud display. No, she’ll expose his secrets…

Lachlan Creig certainly has a few of those. An illusionist and mind-defying hypnotist, he’s also a wolf shifter. In Vegas to perform at a prestigious venue on the Strip, he’s not above using his were heritage to his advantage. But the Scot has even darker, deeper secrets than most alpha billionaire weres…one which are about to surface.

When ‘ghostly’ events kill a tourist at the Haunted Museum where Esme conducts midnight tours, the feisty blonde and proud Scot are forced to put their heated differences aside and forge an unlikely alliance.

Can they find their way past their deep mistrust issues to solve the murder? If they can’t, Esme might lose her freedom, Lachlan all he holds dear…and both of them their fated mate…

Enjoy an Excerpt

I jumped naked from my bed, the stone floor bracing against my bare feet and the early morning chill raising quick goosebumps on my flesh. The clash of swords and shouts of men I led into battle nightly in my dreams still rang in my ears before I stretched and let the images fade away.

Last night’s full moon still lingered and false dawn approached, that luminal moment when the sun has yet to appear. My ancestors believed it heralded glimpses of the future and great secrets to be shared. Me? I thought it time to be up and about.

Throwing on my shirt, kilt and boots and strapping my claymore to my back, I descended the steep steps from the north tower. Despite myself, I sensed something of import with the night’s Hawthorn moon—a time of masculine power, potency and fertility, even more so than the other eleven months of the year.

Fingers of heavy mist crept across the vast estate toward me, intensifying the fresh woodsy scents of heather and moss. The low-lying fog obscured my long view of forest and hedgerows, but I knew they were there.

Untold numbers of Creigs had carved this land and battlements out of solid rock eons ago on Eilean maddah-allaidh, or Wolf Island as it was known to those from away, creating a legacy that would stand for generations to come. A sanctuary that was mine to oversee and care for…which included being alive to any messages sent my way.

“Okay, fine,” I sighed to whomever or whatever might be listening, and, giving in, stood in the shadow of Castle Creigbourne, awaiting a glimpse of what lay beyond the ken.

An intense flickering in my peripheral vision hit my senses hard before the world disappeared entirely, sending me back to that timeless realm with no name and no season. Then a glimmering of light appeared as my third eye opened, sending flashes of blue and gold to strike my retinas. The blue of eyes and the gold of hair?

About the Author:January Bain has wished on every falling star, every blown-out birthday candle, and every coin thrown in a fountain to be a storyteller. To share the tales of high adventure, mysteries, and full-blown thrillers she has dreamed of all her life. The story you now have in your hands is the compilation of a lot of things manifesting itself for this special series. Hundreds of hours spent researching the unusual and the mundane have come together to create books that features strong women who live life to the fullest, wild adventures full of twists and unforeseen turns, and hot complicated men who aren’t afraid to take risks. She can only hope her stories will capture your imagination and touch your heart.
If you are looking for January Bain, you can find her hard at work every morning without fail in her office with her furry baby, Ling Ling. And, of course, she’s married to the most romantic man! Who once famously remarked to her inquiry about buying fresh flowers for their home every week, “Give me one good reason why not?” Leaving her speechless and knocking her head against the proverbial wall for being so darn foolish. She loves flowers.

If you wish to connect in the virtual world she is easily found on Facebook. Oh, and she loves to talk books…

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