Fabulous Summer #RomanticIdea from Author @Carmen_Books #MFRWAuthor

Author Carmen Stefanscu is here today with some fabulous romantic ideas to try out this summer! She’s also sharing an excerpt from her latest release, Till Life Do Us Part.

Summer #RomanticIdeaHere are some romantic ideas to rekindle the spark:

Learn a romantic foreign language.

Take an intro-class together for a language that neither of you speak –  French, Italian, Spanish or Romanian  simply sound romantic –  and practice whispering sweet nothings into each other’s ears, in that new language!

Cuddle up together in a horse-drawn carriage ride.

You’ll probably feel like you are in a romantic comedy, and that’s a good thing.

Read each other’s Tarot Cards.

Take turns reading each other’s fortunes using Tarot Cards. Even if you don’t believe in divination, it will make for one fun evening spent together.

Go on a ghost tour together.

Find the nearest ghost tour in your city and head out on the adventure together. At least you’ll have someone’s hand to hold onto should things start to get a little spooky.

Feed each other fondue at home.

It really doesn’t get sexier than feeding each other chocolate dipped strawberries.

Till Life Do us part coverTill Life Do Us Part
Publisher: Solstice Publishing
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Reincarnation, Mystery, Suspense
Release date: 9th June 2016

Blurb:

Barbara Heyer can hear voices of dead people. They whisper of their deaths, seek comfort for those left behind, and occasionally even warn her about future events. But when Barbara’s brother, Colin, is accused of murder, it will take more than her gift to prove his innocence.

Becoming smitten with the handsome investigator, Detective Patrick Fischer, is a serious complication given his assignment to her brother’s case. Barbara senses there is something far deeper—and perhaps much older—than the surface attraction between them. Could that be why she’s visited by a mysterious woman named Emma in her dreams? Could past life regression tie all the seemingly unconnected events together?

Barbara and Patrick must overcome heartache to find the truth to save Colin, and perhaps themselves.

Now available at: Solstice Publishing and Amazon.

Read an Excerpt:

 He watched the windows of the house for several days, hidden by the mantle of the falling night. Taking advantage of the cover the lime trees in the garden offered, he avidly followed her every movement across the bedroom. He could have hidden in the attic as he had a few times, watching her through the peephole he’d made, but from here, he could see her better.

He had a cautious nature, yet wasn’t afraid of being spotted. There was little likelihood of his presence being announced to the police as a stalker. After all, they’d been seen together quite often.

./././././.

The first drop of rain fell with a splash on the windshield jolting Barbara back to reality. She opened her eyes and slipped her small handbag into the glove box. The money she received would help her solve many of the “not-for-now” things, like replacing the floorboard in the bedroom and repairing the leaking pipe in the kitchen.

She looked through the windshield at the pelting rain washing over her car. She reached for the key to start the engine when a faint light flickered on top of the steering wheel.

Barbara, Barbara, a voice came, more like a whisper, in her mind. He killed me. He just killed me…

Who are you, dear? Who killed you?

Kathleen… He killed me.

./././././././.

“Detective, please, don’t  think I’m raving, but I have to ask. Do you know someone called Mabel?”

The man riveted Barbara with his dark blue eyes for a moment. Barbara cringed inside. He’ll rebuke me. The man passed a hand over his face and nodding, he answered, “Yes, I know a Mabel. My… my wife.”

“How long ago did she pass away?”

In a voice that was more than a little surprised he asked, “How on earth did you know she’s dead?”

“She’s here,” Barbara replied in a small voice.

His eyebrows shot up in disbelief. The steel in his voice was hard to miss. “What? What are you talking about?” He spun round and looked at the apparently empty space behind him.

Tell him I no longer suffer, Barbara heard Mabel’s voice.

Detective Fisher was still staring blankly around him.

“She wants me to tell you she no longer suffers. She hopes you’ve found in your heart the power to forgive her for committing suicide… for jumping off the bridge.”

The detective looked straight into Barbara’s eyes. The grief she saw in them was almost palpable.

Carmen StefanescuAuthor 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 communist oppression, by escaping in a parallel world, that of the books.

Her first novel, Shadows of the Past, was released in 2012 by Wild Child Publishing, USA.

Carmen joined the volunteer staff at Marketing For Romance Writers Author blog, and is the coordinator of #Thursday13 posts.

You can stalk the author 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 Plus: https://plus.google.com/117216040843648957646/posts
Follow Carmen at her Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Carmen-Stefanescu/e/B00APVDGAA/

The Columbus Affair by Steve Berry #review

Who was Christopher Columbus? Could he have been a converso, a convert who remained a secret Jew?

That’s the intriguing question posed by this thriller as different people search for Columbus’s lost gold mine on Jamaica. Or is something else buried there, something explosive that has been hidden from history for over 500 years?

Columbus Affair coverThe Columbus Affair
by Steve Berry
Suspense Thriller
Ballantyne, 2012

In Florida, Tom Sagan is a disgraced reporter who has spent the last eight years living in obscurity, ghost writing for other authors. Depressed and estranged from his only daughter, he has decided to end his own life. But before he he can blow his brains out, someone comes to the door and upends his world. The stranger, Zachariah Simon, informs Tom that he has kidnapped Tom’s daughter Alle and will kill her if Tom refuses to exhume his father’s body. Worried about Alle, Tom agrees and learns that his father, a devout Jew, was known as The Levite and took secrets to the grave with him. Simon is an Austrian millionaire and a fanatical supporter of Israel in search of buried treasure and he believes Tom’s father was the only one who knows where it is hidden. Treasure that will change the course of Middle Eastern history.

Meanwhile, in Jamaica we meet Bené Rowe, a crime boss with a sometimes active conscience who has been coerced by the US government into working with The Simon, as he thinks of Zachariah. Bené is a Maroon, a descendant of runaway slaves who fought the British. Through Bené’s POV, we learn a lot about Jamaican history, including Columbus’s connection to the island.

The action moves from Florida and Jamaica to Vienna and Prague before all three men meet for a final confrontation in Jamaica.

This is a really fun thriller. All the characters are flawed, but only Tom is truly sympathetic. Alle has major issues with her father that lead her to make some disastrously bad decisions. Bené is complex and fascinating, but not entirely likable. Zachariah Simon is also complex, but twisted and makes for a good villain.

July is Beach Reads month at my readers group, so what’s better than a thriller? I checked it out as a downloadable book from the local library. Your local library may offer free downloadable books, too. Check it out!

I recommend The Columbus Affair to readers who enjoy thoughtful thrillers with a basis in history. If you liked The Da Vinci Code, you might enjoy The Columbus Affair, too.

What are you reading this month? Let me know in the comments and be entered for my monthly drawing for a $15 Starbucks e-gift card.

Linda