Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Take A Gamble Cover Reveal...

Gamble cover

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Synopsis

One summer.
One chance meeting.
One devastating phone call.
MacKenna Trist is not happy about spending a month with her family in Myrtle Beach. She would rather be at home, hanging out with her friends, before starting her senior year of high school. That is, until she meets the guy staying in the beach house next door.
Roe Gamble is speechless when he first lays eyes on Mac. Normally, pretty girls are his specialty but not this girl. From this girl, he wants more. More of everything. More than she can give him. Most importantly, more time to show her how he feels about her.
But time is working against them in more ways than one.
How much time do you really need to fall in love?
What would you gamble to hold onto it?

Excerpt

I watch as he crushes out the cigarette in the sand and covers the evidence. I’m still staring at his foot as he steps out of the shadows. I want to look up, to see if his face is even half as beautiful and seductive as his voice but my eyes are glued to his feet. He had nice feet. I normally hate feet. Feet are ugly and there is a reason that they are normally hidden in shoes. His feet, however, are nice looking feet.
“Do you happen to have a name?” His voice has taken on a sultry tone. He’s flirting with me. Maybe this summer won’t be as boring as I thought it would be.
“Mac,” I squeak out, still staring at his foot.
I see his hand come into view and then disappear. I feel the heat from his hand only seconds before he touches my chin and begins to lift my head. I close my eyes as sensation after sensation course through my body. His touch has lit me on fire.
“Open your eyes for me, Mac.” I do as I’m told. His eyes, a deep shade of brown from what I can see in this lighting, are staring back are me, smiling at me mischievously. “I’m Roe.”
I open my mouth to speak but nothing comes out. How embarrassing. I am literally speechless right now and I don’t even know this guy. I try again but he puts his finger over my lips and pulls me into the shadows. I was so distracted by the beautiful face in front of me that I didn’t hear people coming down the beach.
Now, as I watch them walk past us, without even noticing us standing there, all I can focus on is his arm around my waist holding my back against his bare chest. I know that I should pull away, that I don’t know this guy but my body has other ideas. Just as the voices start to dissipate, my body shudders against him and I hear him groan quietly.
I finally pull away and turn towards him. He steps out of the shadows and for the first time I take him in from head to toe. He’s all male. Muscular, toned and his grin, the one he’s giving me right now, is wicked. His hair needs to be cut. There’s one curl that is hanging down onto his forehead and just as I am about to reach up and push it back, he does it himself. Bottom line, this guy is gorgeous. I need to be careful or I will get myself in serious trouble.

Teaser

Take A Gamble Cover Teaser

MeetTheAuthor

Rachael Brownell author photo


Rachael Brownell was born and raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where she currently resides with her boyfriend and son. She is a graduate of Grand Valley State University where she studied Advertising and Public Relations.
In 2005, Rachael met the love of her life, Jeremy. Then, in 2007, they welcomed their only child, Nicklas. When Nicklas started Kindergarten, Rachael decided to indulge herself in her passion for writing again. Her first two books, Holding On & Unglued, were picked up by Tate Publishing. Rachael decided that she also wanted to self-publish some of her work. She was able to make that dream a reality in November of 2013 when she published A Secret Life.
When she’s not working, building Lego’s or writing her next book, Rachael enjoys scrapbooking, photography and is an avid reader.

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Innocents Cover Reveal...

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Releasing July 14, 2014

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Synopsis

Bliss knows all about bad choices but has yet to make them herself. With an innocent heart, she searches for freedom and finds it in the delinquent down the hall.
Dusty is a foul-mouthed troublemaker, tear-maker and heartbreaker. The boy with summer sky-blue eyes knows to stay away, but he can't resist the girl who made his house a home.
She's his reason, but he might not catch her when she falls.
She loves him. He loves her crazy.
This is what happens when a love made of secrets is kept with rules instead of promises.

Excerpt

Chapter Ten
Buried beneath the blankets, I press the phone to my ear. Dusty doesn’t realize I’m back on, so I listen to him smoke: light, inhale, exhale, sigh, laugh. Hearing it is almost as good as actually seeing his lips around the end of a joint.
“I’m back,” I whisper.
"Beautiful, beautiful, baby Bliss. Baby, baby Bliss." He laughs, taking a hit.
My dad’s a juvenile court judge. Our dinner table talk usually consists of him complaining about the kids he sees coming in and out of his courtroom. It’s an epidemic, he says. Children Bliss’ age using drugs. And it always ends with, Bliss, never give into peer pressure. It starts with a little grass.
Maybe it is some kind sweeping epidemic, but weed doesn’t sway Dusty the way my dad claims it does other people. It soothes him. It makes him funny and honest and tolerable.
My dad doesn’t know everything.
"I thought about you all day,” Dusty says softly, lazily. "I miss your face. I miss your candy wrappers all over my room. I miss your cold toes on my legs under the covers."
"Oh, yeah?" I grip the phone tighter, pressing my knees together. The sound of his low voice sends chills up and down my arms. I bite my bottom lip and curl my toes.
“Come over,” he exhales.
I roll onto my side and turn my face into the hoodie’s hood, inhaling the faint sent of vanilla. I’m lit up, full of crazy butterflies and overriding happiness. This boy makes me smile bright.
"I'll take my mom's car. I'll come get you." He's only half-kidding. "Say yes."
"You'll drive high?"
"I'm not high." There's a moment of silence before he chokes on his laughter. "I'm so fucking high."
I revel in his tone, and his voice, and his silly, half-slurred words while I lie in the dark pretending he's close.
"I'm so hungry, Bliss baby. If you were here, I'd probably eat your elbow. I’d eat your—"
"Dusty,” I cut him off. “Tell me a secret."
"I love you," he says.

MeetTheAuthor

Mary Author Pic


Mary Elizabeth is an up and coming author who finds words in chaos, writing stories about the skeletons hanging in your closets. Known as The Realist, she is one half of The Elizabeths—a duo brave enough to never hide the truth. Born and raised in Southern California, she’s a wife, mother of four beautiful children, and dog tamer to one enthusiastic Pit Bull and a prissy Chihuahua. She’s a hairstylist by day but contemporary fiction, new adult author by night. Mary can often be found finger twirling her hair and chewing on a stick of licorice while writing and rewriting a sentence over and over until it’s perfect. She discovered her talent for tale-telling accidentally, but literature is in her stranglehold. And she’s not letting go until every story is told.
To follow Mary’s upcoming solo and collaborative projects, she can be found at her website http://www.maryelizabethlit.com/.
Brought together by their love of storytelling, Mary and Sarah Elizabeth are a pair of dedicated writers with complementary strengths who’ve cultivated a literary style that captures a Realist’s brutality with a Poet’s grace, uncovering the self-seeking side of tenderness and the undisguised truth of honesty. Inspired by the lyrics of a song, Dusty was born between emails and long G-chats before a single chapter was ever typed. A short story turned into a monster, and more than four years and several edits later, the first half of their collaboration, Innocents, will be released on July 14, 2014. And its conclusion, Delinquents, is set to release on October 23, 2014.
If you’d like to contact The Elizabeths, they can be located on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheElizabethsDusty?ref=hl.

Sarah Author Pic


Listener, messenger, secret keeper, Elizabeth, and TrueLove, Sarah works two jobs by day so that she's able to really work by night. She's written since she was old enough to hold a marker, and her writing bridges the sacred and profane, from first love to forbidden, with a longing for truth and a passion for hearts. She is currently based in Kansas City where her army is comprised of one little buffalo. Her best friends are girls named Moses and Bunny. Her hero is a boy named Bishop, and the one she loves has ocean eyes. In addition to Dusty, Sarah also has a collaborative novella, Light and Wine, due to be released on June 8th, and her solo work will be featured in the anthology Branded, this August.
Brought together by their love of storytelling, Mary and Sarah Elizabeth are a pair of dedicated writers with complementary strengths who’ve cultivated a literary style that captures a Realist’s brutality with a Poet’s grace, uncovering the self-seeking side of tenderness and the undisguised truth of honesty. Inspired by the lyrics of a song, Dusty was born between emails and long G-chats before a single chapter was ever typed. A short story turned into a monster, and more than four years and several edits later, the first half of their collaboration, Innocents, will be released on July 14, 2014. And its conclusion, Delinquents, is set to release on October 23, 2014.
If you’d like to contact The Elizabeths, they can be located on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheElizabethsDusty?ref=hl.

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Touch of Sin...


Touch of Sin
A Sin Pointe Novel
By: Carlene Love Flores
Available April 14th, 2014
FREE READ

Lonerby guitarist, Luke Willoughby, knows he and his band are under management’s scrutiny since last week’s press conference puking incident by his little brother. The stunt got them suspended from the Sin Pointe tour and Luke fears they’ve blown it for good. The last thing he expects is the cute spy who management sends to observe him. When no-nonsense Sarrie Walker shows up at a gig and blows her own cover by announcing exactly what she’s there to do, Luke is impressed but knows instantly he’s in deep trouble with this one. Sarrie is a breath of innocent yet strong and sexy, calming air and seems completely disinterested in him until they end up stuck together in close quarters. She’s dangerously irresistible but so very off-limits.
Clearly Sarrie holds Luke’s second chance in her hands.
But what about his heart? By week’s end, it might be tangled in there too.


Excerpt
Sarrie stepped carefully and mostly on tip toes out of the tiny, grime grouted shower. She’d had to waste one of their two usable towels for a floor mat and made sure to land on it.
The good news was that she no longer teetered on what she’d tell Mr. Keller when they made it to D.C.
Noah was sick and while he’d managed himself at these smaller gigs, he didn’t belong on a massive, nationwide Sin Pointe tour. She tried to picture him night after night and the binge drinking sessions. It hurt her heart to think of it but worse than that was picturing the landslide of sleepless nights Luke would have to suffer through caring for him. Sure, they might all hate her as a consequence, but that’s why it was called tough love. The truth hurt at first. And sometimes for a very long time after. But at least the person would be alive.
She grabbed for the towel she’d left on the toilet seat and found a loosely folded bunch of clothes. Not hers because they were too big and, she pulled the shirt to her nose, they smelled like Luke. “Mmmm.”
Her eyes popped open so wide she felt her lashes touch her brow bone. Yes, she’d just sighed at a man’s smell. It was a first. Maybe it was because her decision no longer hung over her head, but she could get lost in the fact she held the shirt he’d played in. She inhaled and the smell brought back visions of him serving as master of his guitar and the beads of sweat that had dotted his forehead, the one that hung from his nose, and the slick mass that had wet his chest hairs showing through the top of his V neck shirt. He’d been so lost in the music that he hadn’t seen her staring or cared about the sweat. She’d noticed more than she realized and had to stop and breathe through what that meant.
“So that’s it, Sarrie? You’re going there now?” she whispered to herself. “Unbelievable.”
Why shouldn’t she?
Because she’d never had these feelings for a man before? Because the two days she’d known Luke were clearly not long enough and she was here to study him, not fall into a foolish one-sided infatuation? Or was it that his life situation was too close a reminder of the one she’d finally saved herself and her father from? The heaviness of all those truths bowed her shoulders inward and down.
He’s gonna be dealing with Noah’s addiction for a long time to come, especially if he can’t stand to see his baby brother suffer. That’s what enablers did. She knew because she’d watched her mom tiptoe around her dad until the day Mom just didn’t come home.
Plopping down on the toilet seat, she bundled Luke’s jeans together with his shirt and hugged them. A sock fell from the pile. She found its match and could have cried at his selflessness. He was a good guy and he had a ton of hurt coming his way. For a second, she forgot where she was and nearly let her head fall back against the dingy bathroom wall.
Cold air leaking through the thin motel walls made her shiver. So did the thought of wearing Luke’s clothes. But after she made sure to dry off with the one towel, she pulled on her old panties and bra and then his jeans, which nearly fell right back down, and then slipped his V neck shirt over her head. The baggy look reminded her of the girls from TLC, but not one single day in her life had she ever felt crazy, sexy or cool. Well, maybe she could identify with the crazy part. Completely foreign to her was the thought of what Luke would think. And then she had an altogether more shocking thought. If his clothes were in here, what was he wearing?

Hot gusts of air puffed out from her lungs until she managed to calm them down. But all she could really think about were bare, strong shoulders and more than just the tiny glimpses she’d gotten of his chest in the V cut shirt she currently wore. She needed a drink of water. Badly. She wiggled her toes in his giant socks. 


Carlene Love Flores is a big fan of the stars (especially Orion), honest music (especially Depeche Mode), and her traveling family (no favorites there-she loves them all). These things inspire her intimate style of romance writing. She feels honored to be a member of Washington DC Romance Writers (WRWDC). Carlene currently lives in the D.C. area where she can often be found listening to live music and looking up at the sky on clear nights.  If she could touch someone’s heart with her writing the way others have done for her, she’d say truly there never lived a luckier girl.  







Author Links



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Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Last Second Chance...Meet Van Ransom...




MEET VAN

BIO
Twenty-six year old lead singer and guitar player for Hostage for Ransom. Currently residing at The Second Chance Ranch rehabilitation facility in Dallas, TX. He is originally from New York but lives in LA when he's not on the road with his band. 

LIKES 
Bourbon and brunettes. And blondes. And redheads. 

DISLIKES 
Anyone or anything that gets in his way. 

VICES 
Whatever drowns out the painful memories of his past. 

INK 
A black-winged angel on his back. A full sleeve on one arm depicting the path that led him to music.    A small cross below his left thumb. And some more, um, intimate ink in places you have to discover for yourself. 




VAN RANSOM





EXCERPT 

“Damn you

taste good, cowgirl,” he told her once she’d ridden out the remaining violent
waves of ecstasy. “Here, taste.” Ignoring her wide eyes, he pressed his mouth
to hers and lashed his tongue inside. He knew the sugared honey that was her
arousal flared her desire because she clamped her legs around him and gripped
his biceps hard enough to hurt. The way she dug her fingers in, as if she were
holding onto him for dear life, made him ache to be inside her.

“Made up
your mind yet?”

She
pulled back from their kiss, still panting enough to make his entire life.
“About?”

“Whether
or not you believe the rumors. About me. Be honest.”

An
impish grin lifted her lips. “Well, I can say with absolute certainty that you
are, in fact, a madman.”

“That’s
what they tell me, sweetheart.” He brushed his lips softly against hers to show her that, even
as crazed as he was, madman or not, he could be gentle too—if that’s what she needed.

“Van…I
need you,” she breathed. “Soon.”

The plea
soothed every open wound he’d nursed for as long as he could remember. She
needed him. And unlike the last woman who’d needed him, the one he’d failed
miserably, he would be what Stella Jo Chandler needed. He would keep this one
safe.

“You’ll
have me. Soon. We’ll just have to be careful. I don’t want to cost you your
job, cowgirl.”

She
nodded. His eyes met hers and he saw it. She trusted him completely.

He would
be worthy of that trust. Of her.

Or so
help him, he’d cut out his own damn heart. 



MEET VAN IN LAST SECOND CHANCE BY CAISEY QUINN
COMING MAY 12, 2014

Or check out the giveaway below and enter to win 1 of 3 ARCs being given away! 


VISIT CAISEY QUINN 



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Flames of Love Review...


Flames of Love
The Remington’s Series Book Three
By: Melissa Foster
Releasing March 31st, 2014

 Blurb
As one of New York’s Finest, firefighter Cash Ryder is always prepared. When a woman’s car skids off the side of a mountain during a snowstorm, he’s there to rescue her. Cash is totally focused on the woman’s well-being, but within minutes of getting her to safety, he realizes that he’s nowhere near prepared for the heat that rolls off of sensual, smart-mouthed, and stubborn Siena Remington.

As a model, Siena Remington has dated some of the wealthiest, most handsome men in the industry, and she’s made peace with the idea that most men are just looking for eye candy and they wouldn’t know how to romance a woman to save their lives. When she’s rescued by a tall, handsome stranger, she thinks that maybe, just maybe, she’s found her own real-life romantic fairy tale—until he opens his mouth and everything that comes out is gruff, ornery, and aggravatingly sexy.

Thrown together during an annual firehouse calendar photo shoot, the passion between Cash and Siena sizzles, and neither one knows how to control the flames. After an evening of verbal sparring followed by a sinfully sensual night, their darkest secrets are revealed—and so is Cash’s warm, romantic heart. But Siena’s secret might be too much for big, strong, always-prepared Cash to handle—and Siena is forced to choose between a man who’s everything she’s ever dreamed of and an opportunity of a lifetime.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reviewed by Erycka:

New York in the winter is very unpredictable. For Siena, the falling snow wasn’t going to stop her from visiting her friend upstate. That is, until she finds herself sliding down a hill into a ravine. Thankfully, Cash swoon-worthy Ryder was on his way upstate as well and noticed tire marks in the snow. He immediately jumped into rescue mode, got Siena to safety, and recovered her belongings before heading back into the city.

The sparks that fly between the two are hot enough to set a fire. Neither of them know where the bubbling within is coming from. And in the moment, they choose not to welcome it.

Siena is the only Remington daughter. She is the most sought after model in New York City and is single. She wants what her brothers have. Romance. Her bothers try to convince her that their relationships are not all hearts and flowers, but she’s not buying it. She won’t settle.

One photo shoot changes the hand she’s been dealt. Fate steps in…or is it coincidence? Her rescuer is a firefighter who also happens to be filling in for his friend at the annual calendar photo shoot. The two of them try very hard to avoid one another, but as fate would have it, they are posed in many compromising positions. The bubbling that occurred in the truck on the way back into the city roiled to a full boil!

This is the second book I’ve read of Melissa’s. I love the romance. I love the strong faithful men she has in her books. I love the close family relationships. Well, let’s face it…I LOVE, love!! And this book doesn’t disappoint!

4 Flaming Fires

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author Info
"Melissa Foster is a wonderful connector of readers and books, a friend of authors, and a tireless advocate for women. She is the real deal"-- Bestselling Author Jennie Shortridge
"What sets Melissa Foster apart are her compelling characters who you care about... desperately. This  is psychological suspense at its most chilling. I dare you to read the first chapter and not be hooked."  International bestseller, M.J. Rose 
Melissa Foster is an award-winning, International bestselling author. Her books have been recommended by USA Today's book blog, Hagerstown Magazine, The Patriot, and several other print venues. She is the founder of the Women’s Nest, a social and support community for women, the World Literary Café. When she's not writing, Melissa helps authors navigate the publishing industry through her author training programs on  Fostering Success. Melissa is also a community builder for the Alliance for Independent Authors. She has been published in Calgary’s Child Magazine, the Huffington Post, and Women Business Owners magazine. 


Author Links
Twitter: @Melissa_Foster
My social network for women: http://www.TheWomensNest.com
World Literary Café: http://www.worldliterarycafe.com
Facebook Melissa Foster: http://www.facebook.com/MelissaFosterAuthor  (Fanpage)

Buy Links


Blood Magic...


Title: Blood Magic
Author: T.G. Ayer    
Genre: New Adult Urban Fantasy
Blitz Host: Lady Amber's Tours

DESCRIPTION:


My name is Mel Morgan and I'm a Tracker. I find people for a living. The people I help have no idea I know exactly how they feel because I've lost someone too. If only I could have found the one person I've been looking for all these years.

My current case is no ordinary abduction. Before long I'm neck deep in blood magic - the worst kind. I need the help of a necromancer if I'm to free the kid. Doesn't mean I have to like it.

When sexy djinn Saleem asks for help things get a little hot to handle. But how can I say no? Dodging demons and sorcerers are just part of my day job.




Missing people can be found. Not all missing people are found.
I was good, maybe even the best I knew of. I find people for a living. My business is dependent on people losing people. The idea didn't sit so well with me but it was what it was. Not that I needed to find people for a living. I could very well choose to find things. Finding cutting edge nuclear warheads stolen from the government, locating lists of undercover cops within drug cartels – I can do that. Do the job, find the target, no questions asked. But things held no interest for me. People did.
I find people. And I didn't play to lose.



I have been a writer from the time I was old enough to recognise that reading was a doorway into my imagination. Poetry was my first foray into the art of the written word. Books were my best friends, my escape, my haven. I am essentially a recluse but this part of my personality is impossible to practise given I have two teenage daughters, who are actually my friends, my tea-makers, my confidantes… I am blessed with a husband who has left me for golf. It’s a fair trade as I have left him for writing. We are both passionate supporters of each other's loves – it works wonderfully…

My heart is currently broken in two. One half resides in South Africa where my old roots still remain, and my heart still longs for the endless beaches and the smell of moist soil after a summer downpour. My love for Ma Afrika will never fade. The other half of me has been transplanted to the Land of the Long White Cloud. The land of the Taniwha, beautiful Maraes, and volcanoes. The land of green, pure beauty that truly inspires. And because I am so torn between these two lands – I shall forever remain cross-eyed.

CONTACT DETAILS:










Ride of Your Life...


Book Info-
Title- Ride of Your Life
By- Shevi Arnold

Seventeen-year-old Tracy Miller met the love of her life . . . thirty years after her own death.

Tracy was working at the House of Horrors at the Amazing Lands Theme Park when the fire broke out. Instead of running, she lost her life trying to save eleven-year-old Mack. Now thirty years have passed, and suddenly everything changes with the arrival of two new ghosts: a little girl named Ashley and a cute, seventeen-year-old boy named Josh. Josh would do anything for Tracy, but can he help her let go of the past?  

Ride of Your Life is a bittersweet, romantic, YA ghost story that was inspired by a true event, the Great Adventure Haunted Castle fire, which killed eight teenagers in 1984, exactly thirty years ago this May 11th. It is a fantasy novel about undying love, and it won third-place in Smart Writer’s Write It Now (W.I.N.) contest in the YA category, which was judged by Alex Flinn, the author of Beastly and Cloaked.

Hang on. Love can be as terrifying as a roller coaster, but it can also be the Ride of Your Life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A light in the sky that was different from the sun attracted Tracy’s attention to the west. In front of the clouds on the horizon there appeared to be a second sun below and to the left of the first, but the new light was bright white instead of golden. Tracy straightened and pointed.  “The Light.”
She stepped to Ashley’s side, gently turned her around, and took her hand.
Ashley’s face glowed.  “Oh, it’s beautiful.”
“Do you feel that?” Tears welled up in Tracy’s eyes as she felt things she didn’t want to feel. She had known people who had died while she was still alive, and their voices sang to her now. But there was one voice that shined brighter than the rest. It encircled her with love. It shined with forgiveness.
But Tracy did not want to be loved. She wasn’t ready to be forgiven. She wasn’t ready to forgive. Still, whether she wanted them to or not, they remembered and loved her.  Come join us, they sang in a song without words. It is time.
But a voice deep inside Tracy replied with anger, fear, sadness and confusion, pulling her away. It told her she did not belong in the Light. She didn’t deserve it. And no matter what the voices inside it sang, this was not her time. The Light was not here for her. It was here for Ashley and Josh. This was their time, not hers.
“Do you feel it?” she asked Ashley again.  
“Uh, huh, Grandpa is there.”
“And you?” she asked Josh.
For a long while Josh didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. Love radiated off his face in a soft glow and tears streamed down his cheeks. “I never thought I’d see my cousin Mark again. He died from cancer when we were both twelve. It’s good to see him so happy. And my Uncle Finn, and my great-grandparents. It’s . . . amazing.”
Tracy nodded. Josh was right. It was amazing, even if it wasn’t for her.  
“I don’t see what the big deal is,” Mack grumbled.
“Doesn’t he . . . ?” Josh began to ask.
“No,” Tracy whispered. “Someone who loves you has to be there, and Mack doesn’t have anyone like that.”
“Not even a grandparent?” Josh whispered back.
Tracy shook her head.
She held Ashley’s hand, pulled her forward, and then let her go. “Go on, Ashley. Go to your grandpa. It’s time for you to shine.”
Ashley took one tiny step forward. Then she stopped. “But what about my mommy? I promised I would wait for her here.”
“It’s okay,” Tracy replied. “She’ll know where to find you. Your mother is good, right?”
“She’s the best in the world.”
“And all good people go to the Light when they die, so your mother will find you there.”
Ashley took another tiny step forward.
“Good thing you’re going,” Mack said, his voice rising teasingly, like a roller coaster rising ever so slowly before the rush of a steep drop. He smiled. “More cotton candy for me.”
Ashley stopped and licked her lips. “Cotton candy?”
“Ashley, you don’t need—” Tracy started to say.
Mack interrupted her. “And there’s the merry-go-round. And the hot dogs. All you can eat . . . with ketchup.”
Ashley grinned. “I promised Mommy I would wait here.”
Tracy placed her hands on Ashley’s shoulders and looked into her eyes again. “Don’t listen to Mack. He’s nothing but trouble.” Mack harrumphed, but Tracy ignored him. “The Light is where you belong. You know how the best stories end with ‘happily ever after?’ Well, the Light is happily ever after. You deserve to be there, not here. This is just a theme park, and everything we feel here—it’s just an illusion. It isn’t real. It’s fake, just like everything else here. Only the Light is real. It’s where all good people belong when they die. It’s where you belong, Princess Ashley, where every story ends with happily ever after.”
“I know those stories,” Mack said. “First, they’re all a load of crap. Second, they talk about living happily ever after. This is the real world, the world of the living, not the Light. That’s the world of the dead. Besides, it’s not like that old Light doesn’t come back. It comes back over and over. You’ll have a chance to go to it again, but once you go that’s it. You can’t come back. No one ever does. This is your only chance to enjoy the Amazing Lands Theme Park like no one else. Stick with me, kid, and I’ll show you what real fun is.”
Ashley smiled at Mack. Mack grinned. Tracy shook her head. This was ridiculous. Ashley belonged with her grandfather. She belonged with the people who loved her. Tracy shouldn’t have to convince Ashley of that. “Josh, tell her.”
“Tell her what?” Josh asked.
“Tell her to go to the Light. You didn’t die trying to save her just so she could spend forever going on rides and eating hot dogs.”
Josh looked to the side and narrowed his eyes. He slowly ran a finger over his lips. The others waited. “You’re right,” he finally said. “Ashley does belong in the Light.”
“See?” Tracy told Ashley.
But then Josh added, “We all do.”
“What?” Tracy could not believe what she was hearing. “By ‘we’ you mean you and Ashley.”
“No, I mean all of us. You said you didn’t want to leave a job half finished. You tried to save Mack, but you couldn’t, so you want make sure he gets to Heaven. I tried to save Ashley, but I couldn’t, so I need to make sure—”
“You need to make sure Ashley gets to Heaven. With you.”
“And with you.” Josh stood face to face with Tracy. He was very close. Too close. “That must be why I’m here, to help you go to the Light.”  
Tracy glared at him and gritted her teeth. “I. Don’t. Need. Your. Help.”
“Maybe not,” Josh replied. “But I’m still not going without you.”  
“But you have to. Ashley—”
“Yay, I’m staying.” Ashley skipped over to Mack and took his hand. Mack smiled victoriously and led her back toward the table by the food stand.
“I don’t think there will be any hot dogs left now,” Mack said. “But in the morning, you’ll see. More hot dogs than you can eat.”
“With ketchup?”
“With ketchup.”
“What do you think you’re doing?” Tracy shouted at Josh.
Josh ran his fingers through his hair again and let out a deep breath. “I know you’re not staying for Mack, but I still haven’t figured you out. I don’t know if you’re scared—”
“Hey, I’m not scared!” Tracy wished she hadn’t screamed that. The sudden twist in her voice sure made her sound scared.
“—Or if you have some of that ‘unfinished business’ ghosts are supposed to have—”
She shook her head and waved the suggestion away. “No unfinished business.”
He raised a finger to his chin and then lowered it again. “You’re hiding something.”
“I am not!” Tracy shouted. “GAA! I don’t need someone to rescue me, okay? I’m fine. I’ve been here with Mack for years. I don’t know what your problem is, but I don’t need you. Ashley is the one who needs you.” She leaned in close and whispered, “If you don’t take her to the Light, she’s going to end up like Mack. She’ll be stuck her forever. Is that what you want?”
“No.”
Tracy pursed her lips and gestured toward Ashley in a way that said, “Well, then, what are you going to do about it?”
“I’m perfectly willing to take Ashley, but not without you.”
“But I can’t go,” she whispered, “because Mack will never go.”
Josh stared at her, and for a long time he didn’t reply. He crossed his arms and smiled. “You say you’re not giving up on Mack. Well, I’m not giving up on you.”
The Light started to fade, taking with it the singing that sounded like laughter and the glow that shined like love.
“Will it come back?” Josh asked.
“Why, do you want to go now?” Tracy hoped his answer would be yes, but he just shook his head. She sighed. “It will come back the next time someone is ready to go to it. That’s why it was here, because you and Ashley were ready to go.” A few seconds later the Light was completely gone. Tracy sighed. “You should have left. You were supposed to go. I wanted you to go.”
Josh shrugged. “We don’t always get what we want in life.”
“This isn’t life.”
He tried to take Tracy’s hand, but she again let go of the illusion that was her hand, and his fingers slipped through hers.  
“I guess we don’t always get what we want in death either,” she heard him grumble as she walked away. 

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 It’s funny, I didn’t start out wanting to be a writer. I wanted to be a storyteller, but I wanted to tell my stories as movies. That’s why they always have soundtracks in my head. When I hear these songs, they take me back to scenes from my book.

Fallen” by Sarah McLachlan
I’ve always envisioned Ride of Your Life Starting with a scene that isn’t in the book, the fire that kills Tracy and Mack thirty years before the start of the story. And I’ve always imagined “Fallen” by Sarah McLachlan playing over Tracy putting on makeup as she gets ready for work at the House of Horrors, talking with her coworkers, hearing Mack’s cries for help, getting overwhelmed by smoke as she drags Mack’s limp body to the door she can’t seem to find, and finally standing hand in hand with Mack as two ghosts looking at the smoldering ruins of the place where they both died. The strong sense of guilt in the song suits Tracy so well, as does the opening line, “Heaven bent to take my hand, lead me through the fire.” Just a perfect way to start this story.

You and Me” by Lifehouse
I picture this for the scene where Tracy and Mack are showing Josh and Ashley through the park from a ghost’s point of view. The opening line of the song about how “this clock never seemed so alive” fits very well with how time works for the ghosts in the story, and so does the part about all of the people with nothing to do and how he can’t keep his eyes off of her. In the ghost world, reality is what you believe it to be, and Tracy is the one thing Josh knows he can believe in. As long as he can see her, he knows everything else is still real.

Collide” by Howie Day
Tracy can let Josh touch her, or she can choose to let him pass through her. I think this would be a great song for either the scene when they first touch hands or when they kiss.

Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls
This is the perfect song for a scene later in the book, although I can’t tell you why without spoiling it for you.“You’re the closest to heaven that I’ll ever be” and the rest of the song just sums up Josh’s point of view in that scene so exquisitely.

Good Riddance” (“Time of Your Life”) by Green Day
I’ve always envisioned this as the song that would play over the credits at the end of the movie, which would include clips of the characters having fun in the amusement park, so it’s like their memories of their best times together as ghosts.

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I don’t really have a playlist, but I do like to listen to the Fresh 102.7 out of New York City when I write. Some of the songs they were playing at the time reminded me of certain scenes in Ride of Your Life--like “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls--and sometimes that moved me to tears.

When I’m writing or drawing, I like to listen to background music that doesn’t take over my thoughts but also drowns out external noise, which is one of the reasons why I’ve set up Pandora stations. They’re better than radio, because they have fewer ads. They’re also more likely to introduce me to new music I’ll like, and I can buy a song when I hear it so I don’t forget.

I’m not sure which Pandora station I was listening to at the time that I was writing this book, but it could have been the one I call Shevi’s Easy Writing. It includes performers like Pink, Adele, Kelly Clarkson, Sarah McLachlan, Owl City, James Blunt, and Jason Mraz. It’s a mix, but it’s all music I find easy to listen to and let slip into my subconscious.

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Shevi Arnold grew up in Philadelphia, and her family had a season pass to Great Adventure in the early 1980s. She was nineteen-years-old and studying overseas when a fellow college student asked her if she had heard about the Great Adventure Haunted Castle fire. Eight teenagers had lost their lives. Like many, Shevi was shocked by the news. In her mind, she wanted to give that tragedy a happy ending. Ride of Your Life is the result.

Shevi loves writing, illustrating, and making people laugh—and she’s been doing all three since 1987 when she started working as an editorial cartoonist for a newsweekly. She’s also worked as a comics magazine editor, as an arts-and-entertainment writer specializing in comedy and children’s entertainment, and as a consumer columnist. Nowadays, though, she enjoys writing (and sometimes illustrating) humorous fiction, fantasy, and science fiction for children, teens, and geeks of all ages. Her other books include Toren the Teller's Tale, Dan Quixote: Boy of Nuevo Jersey, and Why My Love Life Sucks (The Legend of Gilbert the Fixer, book one). She is currently working on Why It Still Mega Bites, the second book in the Gilbert the Fixer series.


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Additional information about the Six Flags Great Adventure Haunted Castle fire- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haunted_Castle_(Six_Flags_Great_Adventure)