Book Tour, Excerpt & Giveaway: The Seven Trilogy by Sara Davidson

We are celebrating these gorgeous new covers for the Seven trilogy by Sara Davison, with a blog blitz and giveaway hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOKS

Title: The End Begins (Seven Trilogy #1)
Author: Sara Davison
Publisher: Ashberry Lane/WhiteFire Publishing
Genre: Romantic Suspense

One of them is a prisoner and one of them is free. The same one.

Bookstore owner Meryn O’Reilly and Army Captain Jesse Christensen are on opposite sides of a battle. When martial law is declared, Jesse and his platoon are sent to Meryn’s city to keep an eye on the Christians and make sure they are not stepping outside of the confines of the law.

Fiery and quick-tempered, Meryn chafes under the curfew and other restrictions to her freedom. Jesse is equally amused, intrigued, and terrified by her spirit, knowing she could find herself in prison if she shows defiance to the wrong soldier.

His worst fears are realized when she commits a crime he cannot protect her from. Now they both face an uncertain future, and the very real threat of losing everything, including their lives. With time running out, Jesse works feverishly to convince the authorities to show leniency to Meryn. And to convince her that love can overcome any barrier that lies between them.  

PURCHASE: Goodreads | Amazon

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Title: The Darkness Deepens (Seven Trilogy #2)  
Author: Sara Davison
Publisher: Ashberry Lane/WhiteFire Publishing
Genre: Romantic Suspense

(formerly The Dragon Roars)

Their Secrets Protect Them … But Secrets are Hard to Keep

No one in the army can find out that Captain Jesse Christensen has become a believer. He and bookstore owner Meryn O’Reilly are forced to meet in secret, facing imprisonment or worse if they are found together. Their relationship deepens, but so does Lieutenant Gallagher’s hatred for the Christians in their city. As Gallagher’s power grows, it becomes clear that his connections go much further up the chain of command than anyone realized, putting all believers, especially Jesse, in extreme danger.

Meryn wants to give her heart to Jesse fully, but her past holds her back. Although circumstances conspire to keep her silent, she needs to tell him her secret. When he finds out what she has been keeping from him, nothing will stand between them anymore. Or nothing will ever be the same.  

PURCHASE: Goodreads | Amazon

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Title: The Morning Star Rises (Seven Trilogy #3)  
Author: Sara Davison  
Publisher: Ashberry Lane/WhiteFire Publishing  
Genre: Romantic Suspense

In the Midst of all the Fear and Confusion, Only One Thing is Clear … This Isn’t Over Yet

Jesse Christensen is out of the army, but the real battle has just begun. Major Gallagher has taken over the city and his oppression of believers has intensified. But is Gallagher acting in a professional capacity, or is he carrying out a personal vendetta?

Meryn O’Reilly faces a dark and uncertain future after shocking revelations devastate her life. She is determined to follow God’s call, but her plans could cost her everything. She and Jesse struggle to surrender fully to a God who is always in control, even when circumstances suggest otherwise.

With the world descending into chaos around them, Meryn and Jesse face the greatest barrier to their love yet—a barrier that may prove too strong to breach.

PURCHASE: Goodreads | Amazon

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EXCERPT

Meryn glanced back at the store. Pain pricked her chest like the tiny slivers of glass that had dug into her fingers when she’d brushed them off the brick.

The captain must have seen it on her face, because he followed her gaze to the shattered window, pieces scattered all over the sidewalk. “I’m sorry, Meryn.”

“No.” She shook her head. “I’m the one who’s sorry. When you first came in the store, I was angry and frustrated about losing my Bibles and all those books.” Her voice broke and she drew in a quivering breath. 

“Once again I took it out on you, but it wasn’t your fault. You didn’t take them and, even if you had, you would have been following someone else’s orders and doing your job, even if it wouldn’t have been easy for you. I … admire that.”

When he smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkled. “We seem to always be apologizing to each other.”

“Yes, we do.”

He tilted his head. “Maybe that’s it. Maybe we’ve found it.”

“What?”

“The ray of light that counteracts the darkness of all this pain.”

“What is it?” She held her breath.

“Forgiveness.”

Meryn let the power and beauty of the word brush over her skin like the breeze had a few moments earlier. “I think you might be right.”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sara Davison is the author of the romantic suspense novels The Watcher and The Seven Trilogy. She has been a finalist for eight national writing awards, including the Word Award for Best New Canadian Christian author, a Carol, and two Daphne du Maurier Awards, and is a Word and Cascade Award winner. Sara has a degree in English Literature and currently resides in Ontario, Canada with her husband Michael and their three children, all of whom she (literally) looks up to.  

CONNECT WITH SARA: Website | Facebook | Twitter

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TOUR GIVEAWAY

(1) winner will receive:

• a set of all 3 books in The Seven Trilogy (US/CAN only)
• $10 Amazon gift card

Enter via the Rafflecopter giveaway below. Giveaway will begin at midnight October 20, 2018 and lasts through 11:59pm October 27, 2018. Void where prohibited by law. Winners will be notified within a week of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

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Follow along at JustReadTours for a full list of stops!

Author Interview, Freebie & Giveaway: Swell Time for a Swing Dance by Cindy Vincent

Synopsis

December 31, 1941. Young Houston socialite Tracy Truworth, Apprentice P.I., can’t imagine a better way to send off the old year and ring in the new than by dancing through the night with her fella, Pete Stalwart. But a swell evening soon takes a terrible turn when a fellow dancer with moves like Fred Astaire ends up dead on the dance floor. And before the hands on the clock can point to midnight, a finger is pointed at Pete, accusing him of murdering the young man.

Then after Pete is hauled away in handcuffs, the night goes from bad to worse . . . and Tracy’s sweet grandmother is accused of stealing an ancient artifact from the museum. Now Tracy must team up with her boss and mentor, Sammy Falcone, in order to find the stolen statuette, unmask the real murderer, and restore the reputations of those she loves the most.

Yet as America becomes embroiled in another world war, the risks and sacrifices intensify—even on the homefront. And Tracy soon finds her own home invaded by a near parade of questionable characters, while unsavory suspects lurk in the shadows, and a ruthless reporter makes her life miserable. With time ticking against her, Tracy must be willing to swing past the setbacks and hop through the hazards if she hopes to solve a mystery that involves a lot of dancing . . . and a lot more danger.

Interview with author Cindy Vincent

Thank you so much, Heidi, for hosting me and my new book, Swell Time for a Swing Dance, here today!

1. Can you tell us a little about yourself?

For twenty years, I had a business where I wrote, published, and sold my own line of murder mystery party games.  My games went all over the world, and were shipped to more interesting places than I’ve ever been myself.  One of my large party kits was used for a birthday party at a French restaurant in Cairo.  I also had games shipped to several U.S. embassies in different countries, including China.  Though mostly I just sold my games to wonderful people in the U.S. and Canada.  

I’m also an absolute fanatic when it comes to Christmas.  While I never forget the reason for the season, that doesn’t mean I’m not an extreme decorator.  I put up three large trees in my house (and plenty of small trees, too!), and my entire front hallway becomes a winter wonderland.  We usually don’t even turn on the lights in the front rooms during Christmas, since the twinkle lights provide plenty of light for us to walk around.  The effect is magical!

2. What do you do besides writing?

The truth is, I have so many more things that I love to do than I ever have time to do them.  J  I love to paint, mostly doing landscape scenes with watercolors and acrylics.  My new favorite type of painting is Impasto, which is applied with a small trowel.  It creates thick layers instead of smooth strokes, and gives a painting a nice 3-D effect.  It’s so much fun to paint and there really is no right or wrong to it. 

But my favorite creative outlet, (next to writing, of course), is sewing.  I make everything from tops to skirts to dresses, and creating evening gowns is a favorite hobby.  I especially enjoy art quilting and free-motion sewing.  Then, I’m also trying to learn how to play the piano via a series of DVDs, but that isn’t going so well . . . turns out I really don’t have much musical talent.  Oh, well.

3. Do you have images you can share that come close to how you picture your characters? Do you like to find visual inspiration for your characters before or during your writing process?

I love these questions!  Let’s see, I picture Tracy Truworth, the lead character in my book, as looking a little like Betty Grable.  I’ve always imagined her boyfriend, Pete, as looking more like Van Johnson. Then there’s Tracy’s boss, Sammy Falcone, who bears a striking resemblance to Humphrey Bogart, so much so that he’s often mistaken for the actor.

Unlike lots of authors, I don’t use visual inspirations beforehand.  I usually know what my characters look like in my mind’s eye before I even start to write a book.  My characters come to life in my imagination long before they come to life in my books. 

4. What are some songs that you listened to or inspired you while writing your book?

Great question!  Of course, I love to listen to swing music because it truly puts me into the era of my 1940s books.  This includes any and all Glenn Miller songs, and Sing, Sing, Sing by Benny Goodman. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2S1I_ien6A

But I am also a lover of classical music, and for some reason, I find that having certain songs playing in the background helps my focus and concentration when I write.  Here are a couple of my faves:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC44L5T0FVA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC-USAB530A

5. What message would you like readers to ultimately take away from the book?

First, I hope people will be entertained by this book and have a chance to step back in time for a moment.  There is so much to enjoy about the 1940s—the clothes, the music, the dancing, and the slang.  But I also hope that people will pick up on a few of the lessons to be learned from WWII.  The morale of our country was amazingly high back then, and it played a huge role in our winning the war.  The war also taught us that we needed everyone’s help, regardless of race, age, or gender. 

Of course, it’s also important to know WWII history, so that we never let such atrocities happen again.  The National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazis) killed around six million Jewish people and around seven million Soviet civilians.  Imperial Japan invaded a dozen countries, with a death toll in the millions as well.  They brutally murdered anywhere from 200,000 to 500,000 in what was known as the “Rape of Nanking, China.”  During the war, both Germany and Japan were part of what was known as the “Axis Powers,” and they both had fascist governments.  So I am hoping my books will spark an interest in WWII, so readers might be curious and want to learn more.  Because you know the old adage: Those who don’t know history are bound to repeat it. 

6. What can we look forward to coming from you in the future? 

Bunches, if all goes well!  Naturally, there’ll be at least a third Tracy Truworth novel.  And if all goes really well, I’m looking forward to adding a fourth and fifth book to the series, too.  There is simply so much material for a series like this, that I could easily continue her story throughout the entire war.

And then, I’m already well into the next book in the other series that I write, the Buckley and Bogey Cat Detective Capers.   This will be book number five for the crime-solving cats, and this newest title is: The Case of Too Many Clues.  It is such a fun series to write!

Finally, I have hopes to write a third mystery series someday, too, something with a modern setting.  So I’ve got plenty to work on.  Elizabeth Peters and Sue Grafton both wrote books well into their later years, and I hope to do the same!

Thanks again, Heidi, for hosting me here today.  Your questions have been wonderful, and I hope you continue your blog for years to come!

Free E-book

Beginning Tuesday, October 16th, Swell Time For a Swing Dance will be FREE until the end of the blog tour!

 Giveaway

Time to get “in the mood” with a fun 1940s-themed giveaway! Use the Rafflecopter form below to enter for a chance to win a pewter ornament from The National WWII Museum, a Glenn Miller CD, and paperback copies of the first two books in the Tracy Truworth series: Bad Day for a Bombshell and Swell Time for a Swing Dance. Due to shipping costs and varying international laws, this giveaway is open to US residents (age 18 or older) only. Good luck!

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