#Giveaway Great Summer Reads Countdown Blitz Virginia's Vocation by Zina Abbot

My name is Robyn Echols. Zina Abbott is the pen I use for my historical novels. I’m a member of Women Writing the West and Western Writers of America. I currently live with my husband in California’s central valley near the “Gateway to Yosemite.”

I love to read, quilt, work with digital images on my photo editing program, and work on my own family history.

I am a blogger. In addition to my own blog, I blog for several group blogs including the Sweet Americana Sweethearts blog, which I started and administer.

~ Facebook ~ Website ~

~ Amazon ~ Blog ~ 

~ Pinterest ~ Goodreads ~ 

~ Google+ ~  Newsletter ~ Booklinker ~

Will Virginia’s chosen vocation

fill the empty spaces in her heart?

It is 1858. With both parents dead,

Virginia Atwell lives with her older brother, Jefferson, and his family in

Booneville, Missouri. Under the pseudonym, V. A. Wellington, she secretly has

been submitting articles to a well-respected investigative journal about

controversial topics. To her dismay, she learns her family plans to buy new

farmland in the wilds of central Kansas Territory, making it almost impossible

for her to continue her clandestine article submissions. More importantly,

Virginia is terrified of the prospect of living so close to hostile Indian

tribes and dying by their hands because they resent white Americans moving onto

their traditional buffalo hunting grounds.

Virginia persuades her brothers to

give her a share of their parents’ inheritance so she may attend one of the few

colleges in Ohio that accepts female students. There, she finds Avery Wilson,

one of her professors and fellow boarder at Bettina Calloway’s boarding house,

resentful of female students, conceited and annoying, especially after his

criticism and resentment directed towards the author, V. A. Wellington, whose

articles are published while his submissions are rejected.

Virginia’s publisher insists V. A.

Wellington meet with him in person in St. Louis to discuss a new assignment.

When her landlady insists she cannot travel alone, Avery, curious about

Virginia’s secretive meeting and unable to resist his growing attraction to the

irritating but brilliant student, offers to escort her.

Once the editor discovers his star

contributor is a woman, he refuses to send her to write about conditions on the

Kaw reservation and the proposed treaty the government intends to impose on the

natives. Hoping to favorably impress the editor, Avery offers to pose as

Virginia’s fiancé in order to accompany and protect her on her assignment. Her

heart goes out to the Kaw, but what can fill the empty spaces of her heart?

Virginia’s

Vocation is also part of the author’s Atwell Kin series

~ Universal Amazon Link ~ 
  

Snippet:

…He

then turned to face her while shaking his head in resignation. “All right. Go

try on a few pair to see which fit best. Just be aware, we will expect you to

put those gloves to good use.”

            Of

course.

Virginia could not help the

disgruntled directions of her thoughts. Anything

to further the achievement of your goals for the future. If you knew

mine, you would laugh them into the ground.

To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

#Giveaway Great Summer Reads Countdown Blitz Chronicles of the Stone by Fiona Ingram

I am a children’s author, but up until a few years ago, I was a journalist and editor. Something rather unexpected sparked my new career as an author—a family trip to Egypt with my mother and two young nephews. We had a great time and I thought I’d write them a short story as a different kind of souvenir…. Well, one book and a planned book series later, I had changed careers. I have now published Book 3 (The Temple of the Crystal Timekeeper) in my MG adventure series Chronicles of the Stone, with many awards for the first book, The Secret of the Sacred Scarab, and a few for Book 2, The Search for the Stone of Excalibur, and one already for Book 3! I also teach online novel writing for aspiring authors and I find that very satisfying. Relaxation time finds me enjoying something creative or artistic, music, books, theatre or ballet. I love doing research for my book series. I love animals and have written two animal rescue stories. I have two adorable (naughty) little dogs called Chloe and Pumpkin, and a beautiful black cat called Bertie.

~ Book Site ~ Author Site ~

~ LinkedIn ~ Blog ~

~ Twitter ~

 A

5000-year-old mystery comes to life when a scruffy peddler gives Adam and

Justin Sinclair an old Egyptian scarab on their very first day in Egypt. Only

when the evil Dr. Faisal Khalid shows a particular interest in the cousins and

their scarab, do the boys realise they are in terrible danger. 

Justin and Adam

embark upon the adventure of a lifetime, taking them down the Nile and across

the harsh desert in their search for the legendary tomb of the Scarab King, an

ancient Egyptian ruler. They are plunged into a whirlpool of hazardous and

mysterious events when Dr. Khalid kidnaps them.  With

just their wits, courage, and each other, the boys manage to survive … only to

find that the end of one journey is the beginning of another! 

 This is a must-read for Middle Graders keen on action, adventure, and

Arthurian stories! 

Cousins Adam and Justin Sinclair are

hot on the trail of the second Stone of Power, one of seven ancient stones lost

centuries ago. This stone might be embedded in the hilt of a newly discovered

sword that archeologists believe belonged to King Arthur: Excalibur. 

However,

their long-standing enemy, Dr. Khalid, is following them as they travel to

Scotland to investigate an old castle. Little do they know there is another

deadly force, the Eaters of Poison, who have their own mission to complete.

Time is running out as the confluence of the planets draws closer. Can Justin

and Adam find the second Stone of Power and survive? 

A plane

crash! Lost in the Mexican jungle! Will Adam, Justin, and Kim survive long

enough to find the Third Stone of Power?

With

only a young boy, Tukum, as their guide, the kids make their way through the

dense and dangerous jungle to find the lost city of stone gods, where the Stone

of Power might be located. River rafting on a crocodile-infested river and

evading predators are just part of this hazardous task.

Of

course, their old adversary Dr. Khalid is close behind as the kids press on.

But he is not the worst of their problems. This time Adam will clash with a terrible

enemy who adopts the persona of an evil Aztec god, Tezcatlipoca, and is keen to

revive the ancient tradition of human sacrifice.  Will they emerge

alive from the jungle? Will Dr. Khalid find the third Stone of Power before

they do?

~ Book 1 Universal Link ~ 
~ Book 2 Universal Link ~ 

~ Book 3 Universal Link ~

   

Snippet From Book 1:

The snake jerked at the sound of his

voice. It glided closer to the stone sarcophagus. Adam lay back on the pile of

smelly bones and closed his eyes to half-slits. He looked up at the ceiling

where the painted cobra shimmered.

I can’t believe this is happening. I

know it’s after me.

The slithering, scraping sound grew

louder. Then directly in front of him, just at the edge of the stone

sarcophagus, the forked tongue whipping back and forth came into view followed

by the loathsome head, which reared up, its hood spread wide. Then the snake

opened its monstrous jaws, revealing wicked fangs. A clear drop of deadly

poison, glistening like a pearl, trembled on the end of each fang. The reptile

made a hideous hissing as it stared into the stone coffin, hunting for its

prey, waiting for the tiniest movement that would betray his presence. Adam

closed his eyes so he wouldn’t have to look into the snake’s gleaming black

orbs.

I’m finished, he thought, sliding his hand into his

pocket and feeling the scarab. Somehow, just holding it made him feel calmer.

Then Justin called softly, “I know

how I can distract it.

To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Great Summer Reads Countdown Blitz Mrs. Murray's Hidden Treasure by Emily-Jane Hills Orford

An avid gardener, artist, musician and writer, Emily-Jane Hills Orford has fond memories and lots of stories that evolved from a childhood growing up in a haunted Victorian mansion. Told she had a ‘vivid imagination’, the author used this talent to create stories in her head to pass tedious hours while sick, waiting in a doctor’s office, listening to a teacher drone on about something she already knew, or enduring the long, stuffy family car rides. The author lived her stories in her head, allowing her imagination to lead her into a different world, one of her own making. 

As the author grew up, these stories, imaginings and fantasies took to the written form and, over the years, she developed a reputation for telling a good story. Emily-Jane can now boast that she is an award-winning author of several books, including Mrs. Murray’s Ghost (Telltale Publishing 2018), Queen Mary’s Daughter (Clean Reads 2018), Gerlinda (CFA 2016) which received an Honorable Mention in the 2016 Readers’ Favorite Book Awards, To Be a Duke (CFA 2014) which was named Finalist and Silver Medalist in the 2015 Next Generation Indie Book Awards and received an Honorable Mention in the 2015 Readers’ Favorite Book Awards and several other books. A retired teacher of music and creative writing, she writes about the extra-ordinary in life and the fantasies of dreams combined with memories. 

~ Facebook ~ Goodreads ~ 

~ Website ~ Twitter ~ Blog ~

There is a hidden treasure in the

grand old mansion on Piccadilly Street, in a place called London, but not the

real London of English fame. There’s also a lot of mystery and a murder that’s

been unsolved for decades. But it’s the treasure that captures Mary’s interest.

Mary lives in this house along with her family, her Brownie friends and a

ghost. When the ghost reveals her secret about the hidden treasure, there’s no

stopping Mary, her Brownie friends, or her enemies to searching for this

treasure. 

Why the intrigue? Apparently there’s a little bit of magic connected

with this treasure. And so the adventure begins. 

Who will find the treasure

first?

  

~ Universal Amazon Link ~ 
  

Snippet:

Once the house

settled down for the night, Mrs. Murray, the resident ghost, was out on her

nocturnal prowl. Satisfied that the house was safe and secure for the night,

after all the musical vibrations that shook the rafters earlier, she took her

place at the end of Mary’s bed and waited patiently for the girl to stir from

her sleep and take note of her presence.

            “What?”

Mary groaned, pulling her eyes open as she emerged from a deep sleep. “What

now?”

            “We

need to talk.” The wispy figure of what was once a very distinguished looking

lady, sat down at the end of Mary’s bed and looked the girl firmly in the eye.

            “Now?”

Mary groaned. “It’s the middle of the night. What time is it?”

            “What

difference does it make? Sit up and let’s talk.” The ghost was not going to

take ‘no’ for an answer. And, it would appear, feigning sleep would not send

her away either. So, Mary pushed herself into a sitting position and rubbed her

eyes again, hoping to eradicate the sleep that threatened to make them close.

            “Where

are the others? Where’s Brunny?” she asked.

            “Asleep

in their little space. And it’s not a natural sleep either. They’re all in the

deepest of sleeps, all except Elizabeth, who slipped out of the house a few

hours ago, just after the lights went out and your family snuggled in for the

night.” Mrs. Murray slid a little closer to Mary. “She’s still not right, that

Elizabeth. She’s good and well shackled by that witch.”

To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page 

a Rafflecopter giveaway