Meet Genevieve of Shadows of the Past by Carmen Stefanescu #EggcerptExchange

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Carmen Stefanescu is here today for our ongoing #EggcerptExchange with an excerpt from her paranormal romance Shadows of the Past and a fabulous interview with her heroine, Genevieve.

Shadows of the Past coverShadows of the Past
by Carmen Stefanescu
Publisher: Wild Child Publishing
Genre: paranormal/light romance/light historical/light horror

Blurb:

Anne’s relationship with her boyfriend Neil has disintegrated. After a two-year separation, they pack for a week vacation in hopes of reconciling. But fate has other plans for them.

The discovery of a bejeweled cross and ancient human bones opens a door to a new and frightening world–one where the ghost of a medieval nun named Genevieve will not let Anne rest. This new world threatens not only to ruin Anne and Neil’s vacation but to end all hopes of reconciliation as Anne feels compelled to help free Genevieve’s soul from its torment.

Can Anne save her relationship and help Genevieve find her eternal rest?

A touching, compelling story of tragedy, loss and the power of endless love and good magic. The twists and turns in this paranormal tale keep the reader guessing up to the end and weave themselves together into a quest to rekindle love.

Buy Links: Wild Child Publishing, Amazon, All Romance eBooks, and Barnes & Noble.

Carmen’s Interview with Genevieve:

Please, have a seat. Make yourself comfortable Miss…

“Genevieve. My name is Genevieve, but Sister Clementa, the Abbess, and some of her followers call me The witch.”

Tell me, Genevieve, where are you living?

Genevieve ( a small sigh escapes her lips. Then she shrugs) “Well, for the moment I reside at St. Mary’s Abbey. On top of a mountain in Britain, in the…cursed forest.”

Do you have any schooling?

Genevieve (nods and pats an invisible crease of her dress) “Kind Old Bertha, who took care of me after my family perished, taught me to read and write. Not only English but also Latin. And, most important, she taught me how to prepare healing potions from plants and herbs. Perhaps that’s why the Abbess hates me so much. A peasant girl of the 13th century is dangerous if she knows more than her superiors, I think.”

What are your worst fears or nightmare?

Genevieve (throws a shy look around her. She shivers and her voice is small) “I fear the cursed forest. This forest is responsible for what happened to my family. My father’s odd behavior, the death of my siblings. All the evil that lurks in it.

My nightmare – the Abbess, sister Clementa, who threatens me all the time with sending me to the stake. I can’t understand why she wants me out of the way.”

Is it anything that you secretly desire?

Genevieve (blushes and wrings her hands. Then she looks me directly in the eyes. Her voice is strong now. ) “To become Andrew’s wife and grow a family. If his family agrees….If the Abbess lets me go… If God forgives me for giving up being a nun…..If I escape alive from the forest…. If….”

Eggcerpt:

The peal of the church bells from the abbey tower startled Genevieve. The sound added to her mounting anxiety.

The massive abbey loomed over the stone paved path. All the nuns were at evening mass. With a bit of luck her disappearance would go unnoticed for a few more hours. The Abbess would assume she was cleaning the toilets as ordered.

Fear skittered through Genevieve when she turned away from the abbey towards the path leading to town. Nothing stirred. She hesitated. Evil emanated from the forest surrounding the abbey. With a shiver, she leaned against the solid oak gates that flanked the abbey’s main path. They had hidden her from detection for the past couple of hours, but how much longer would she be safe?

The mountain shadows grew thicker and closer.

She moved her weight from one leg to the other. They ached from so much standing, but she lacked the strength to return to the gardener’s cottage and wait for Andrew’s arrival as planned. Genevieve closed her tired eyes. The image of old Ryan, slumped dead in his chair in his cubicle, caught life in her mind and made her whole body ripple with fear.

She’d rather wait for Andrew here, outside.

Had he forgotten his promise? What if something terrible befell him during the last three days, or he had changed his mind? Why should he risk all for an ordinary nun?

Had his folks talked him into giving her up, made him see reason? Helping her out of her predicament meant a huge risk for him — losing his family, his friends and his position among his peers. His words echoed in her mind. “I will risk everything for you, even life, if necessary.”

* * * *

“Anne, Anne, wake up. Wake up, please,” the insistent voice whispered next to her ear. The touch of a hand, on her shoulder, startled Anne.

She opened her eyes, still half between sleep and reality. Her gaze stopped on a stranger, a woman, by her side.

The moon’s pale face, the only light, filtered through a small gap in the tent’s entrance; yet the stranger’s whole body emanated a kind of soft ray, a yellowish halo making her figure and face easy to discern.

A long, dark robe, similar to those worn by nuns in monasteries centuries ago, covered her body. No traditional headdress covered the woman’s red hair, which fell loosely over her shoulders in long, heavy tendrils and continued down her chest and back.

Anne stood up and studied the intruder with open curiosity. The stranger’s wax pale face looked corpse like. Anne opened her mouth to ask her who she was. She looked Anne straight in the eyes, placed her forefinger on her lips and whispered, “Hush, come. Follow me.”

Anne’s eyes widened.

The woman, moving away from the sleeping bag, appeared to glide above the ground. Her bare feet didn’t make a sound.

As if hypnotized, Anne followed the illuminated silhouette heading into the forest, without questioning her own actions.

An onrush of sensations unfamiliar to her followed. Dizziness and a malevolent feeling of unreality suffocated her. The presence of evil, creeping up and enveloping her, became almost palpable. Her throat turned dry, and she gasped for air.

Author bio:

Carmen Stefanescu resides in Romania, the native country of the infamous vampire Count Dracula, but where, for about 50 years of communist dictatorship, just speaking about God, faith, reincarnation or paranormal phenomena could have led someone to great trouble – the psychiatric hospital if not to prison.

Teacher of English and German in her native country and mother of two daughters, Carmen Stefanescu survived the grim years of oppression, by escaping in a parallel world, that of the books.

She has dreamed all her life to become a writer, but many of the things she wrote during those years remained just drawer projects. The fall of the Ceausescu’s regime in 1989, and the opening of the country to the world meant a new beginning for her. She started publishing. Poems first, and then prose. Both in English.

Shadows of the Past, paranormal/light romance/light mystery/light horror was released at the end of 2012 by Wild Child publishing, USA.

You can find more about the author and her works here:

Blog: http://shadowspastmystery.blogspot.ro/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Carmen_Books
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/carmens007/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Carmen-Stefanescu-Books/499245716760283
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6624397.Carmen_Stefanescu
Google +: https://plus.google.com/117216040843648957646/posts
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Carmen-Stefanescu/e/B00APVDGAA/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Meet Kyland of Shocking Finds by Tracey Clark #EggcerptExchange @traceylclark11

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Author Tracey Clark is here today in our ongoing #EggcerptExchange with an interview from her book Shocking Finds, New Adult Paranormal/Fantasy Romance.

TraceyC-ShockingFindsShocking Finds (A Finder’s Keepers Novel)
By Tracey Clark
Paranormal/Fantasy Romance (New Adult)

Blurb:

An act of rebellion, Marin doesn’t think that running into the new store in town will hurt anything. Her aunt will never know… right? One car wreck later, her aunt is hospitalized, Marin is forced to spend her twenty-first birthday fighting for her life, and magic – the very thing her aunt has always sworn to be for fools – is real. And so is the irresistible Fae dedicated to Marin’s protection.

Kyland has searched Earth-side and all the other realms, looking for a missing Fae child. A child his Queen prophesied would be able to one day save the Fae people from the Danshue, as the evil Fae threat tries to overwhelm the entire Supernatural Community. A child that would know nothing of her blocked gifts, or her Fae heritage waiting to be claimed. A child that has grown into a curvy, delicious morsel he would love to taste.

Together Marin and Kyland will fight Fae assassins, overcome betrayals, and if they’re lucky … they will find the Danshue responsible for their plight. That’s if Marin doesn’t shock him to death with her erratic new gift, and her out of control emotions.

Buy your copy today!!

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Indigo and Smashwords.

Excerpt:

Marin needed answers. Like why had they been targeted? The parking lot hadn’t exactly been lacking for vehicular violence victim contenders. There had been a group of at least four women, standing by their cars, chatting. If there was a target more deserving of vehicular rage, it had definitely been that group of women. They had finished shopping, and courtesy demanded that their parking spots were to be relinquished as soon as possible. Why not them?

The man—and Marin was only guessing that the driver was a man—had bypassed those without parking lot etiquette and zeroed in on Lindal. If she had continued her slow progress through the parking lot, would Marin be in this horrible room with its beeping monitors and bleached air instead of Lindal.

Staring down at her aunt’s unmoving form, Marin tried to find a place to rest her hand. She needed to touch her. She needed to know that the only person willing to take her in, after the death of her mother, was really here and still alive.

“They will find him, Lindal. He won’t get away with this,” Marin made her vow as quietly as possible, not wanting to disturb Lindal’s recovery.

Glancing up to keep tears from falling from her eyes, Marin noticed something swinging off of Lindal’s oxygen line. “What the…” It looked like a Barbie doll with wings, perhaps six inches tall. The odd little creature wore a loin cloth and sported some overly obvious male attributes. Was it wrong to be checking out the abs of someone no larger than a child’s toy?

His arms tugged and his muscles bunched as he attempted to make a knot in Lindal’s oxygen line. His silver skin tone went beautifully with his tri-colored wings— a mix of light purple, maroon, and gold. The little man didn’t seem to realize that Marin was staring at him.

“Stop,” Marin shouted. Dammit, this was a hospital. She needed to lower her voice. She also needed to go upstairs to the psych ward. Head trauma, shock, or hallucinations¼ something wasn’t right. If she told Lindal about this, her aunt would call her every kind of fool.

Hallucination or not, she grabbed the little man by the wings, pulled him from Lindal’s oxygen line, and tried to speak more calmly. “What do you think you’re doing?”

She finally had her figment’s attention. A striking, though small, pair of lavender eyes glared at her through overly long sandy brown bangs. On closer inspection, she could see that his hair was actually multicolored. It seemed to go from crystal white sand to bronzed gold.

“Well, answer me. What do you think you’re doing?”

“Waiting for you, of course.”

“What are you?” She was losing it. The buzzing in her temples was increasing. And she was now speaking to a figment of her imagination. Yep, she needed to be medicated.

The creature put its tiny fists on narrow hips. “A Sprite, of course. Don’t you know anything? I have my work cut out for me.” Now she was being insulted by her imagination. Great.

“Nope. Too Much,” Marin said and tossed the little man with wings out of the hospital window. She needed coffee. Either that or a large dose of Thorazine. Maybe both.

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

Now… without further ado… here is Marin’s yummy man…

Interviewer (bats her eyelashes): I’m so glad we you could find a moment to come and chat with us, Kyland… Can I call you Kyland??

Kyland (arms crossed): Kyland will be fine.

Interviewer (lightly chuckles, flipping her hair): Great. Well, it’s great to have that you could leave the Princess’s side long enough to stop in… as the new bodyguard to Princess de Platadreki, one of the rarely heard about Battle Fae, I’m sure the Fae people would love to know a little pit about you… Tell us about day to day life for a royal’s consort…

Kyland: Pfft… Marin is my mate… we are one of the first known pairs in the Fae community to be soul-mated by the Fae Goddess Lac Mar, and as such, we only have eyes for each other… (Leaning forward, with narrowed eyes)… in fact, the flirtations of other women turn my stomach… the Princess is my everything… She means more to me than my next breath… I work to make sure that she is protected and happy at all times… I also do my best to warn others not to push her buttons, unless they want to trigger one of her power flares, finding themselves shocked by her escaping gift… sadly, as a soul-mated pair, jealousy can be an issue… more for me, than my Minzet… and she is, my sweet one… but then, I find her power flares kind of cute…

Interviewer (straightening jacket and sitting up with perfect posture): umm… That sounds like important work to me… How exactly did you meet the Princess??

Kyland (finally smiles): Marin… I had searched for her for more than twenty years, and was on the verge of giving up all hope… in fact, there were many times over the years that I believed my mission would fail, but I was honor bound to keep looking… before the Queen disappeared, she asked me to give my word that I would continue looking for Marin, no matter how long it took… the Queen said that she had had a vision that a new born baby girl would be ripped away from her mother, that this child would one day mean everything to the Fae people… (huffs and shakes his head) … she forgot to mention that the child in question was her soon to be born baby girl… when I finally found the mysterious Marin, still expecting a child, someone locked away and frightened, I found a mesmerizing woman fighting for her life…

(Kyland looks over his shoulder as if searching for something… grinning and holding out his hand, he finally locates a blushing Marin just off stage… ducking her head, Marin comes to take his hand, blushing even worse as she is pulled onto his lap)

Interviewer: …. (shuffles through questions) … What goals and hardships do you face… what do you want for the Fae?? I mean… what are your plans to keep the Fae community safe?? to keep the Princess safe??

Kyland (head cocked to the side): I will take out the Danshue, those evil Fae working to take my Minzet from me… they lie in hiding around every corner, but they must be found and removed … there are other criminals in the Fae community, but the Danshue have lost their souls… their crimes have earned them a death sentence… and they will be brought to justice…

Sparks light up on Marin’s hands, but Interviewer merely gets a white-knuckled grip on her set and continues…

Kyland (pulls Marin close and nuzzles the side of her neck, the sparks disappear ): Marin hates that our lives are so dangerous… and my main goal is to always come back to her… we keep each other safe, working together… though I wish she would stay in the background more, Marin will always jump in to protect the little guy… my job is to make sure she is not harmed when she does…

Interviewer (eyeing Marin’s now spark free hands): One final questions and we will let you get back to your new duties as soul mate and bodyguard to the Princess… Can you tell us what fears you are facing in this new chapter of your life???

Kyland: … (Deep Breath…) that someone will get past the wards and shields placed around Marin… that one of the curses surrounding her essence will be tripped while she is too far away for me to save her… that Lindal, the woman pretending to care for Marin as she abused her, will sneak onto Marin’s property with some of her Danshue cohorts, that she will- … (a small explosion blows out all the lights)

Kyland turns Marin to him, kissing her deeply, continuing even after her power flare quiets down…

Interviewer warily pulls herself up off of the floor, where she dove to avoid flying glass…

Interviewer (voice shaky): Alright… I think that’s all we have time for… thanks for stopping by Kyland… Princess…

TraceyClarkAll About Tracey Clark!!

I am a country-twang gal from the bluegrass state. Kentucky is a hot bed of horses, cave systems, and whiskey. And I love all three. With my pugs and bossy kitty cat, I spend my days writing and working social media. I write with the help of the voices pushing me to create worlds for them to live in. Fantasy Romance, Contemporary Romance, and eventually some cowboys (because cowboys live in a group all their own, yummmm)… These are the genres that I love best. Oil paints, crafts, dealing with Multiple Sclerosis, and writing into the dead of night… this is my life!!!

To Find out more about Tracey here are some links…

Author Page (Main): http://traceylclark.com/

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/103301.Author_Tracey_Clark

MS Page: https://multiplesclerosisnewsblog.wordpress.com/

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/traceyclark.finderskeepers/?ref=hl

Anddddd…. Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/traceylclark11