Daisy Banks. Marked for Magic.

After a time away, I’m so pleased to welcome back my guest bloggers. I missed having my wonderful romance peeps at my place and am so pleased to welcome Daisy Banks today. Her newest, Marked for Magic, looks terrific.

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Thank you so much, Rosanna, for helping me celebrate the release of my latest book, Marked for Magic, published by Lyrical Press, a Kensington Imprint.

I decided that as palmistry was the initial inspiration for this fantasy romance I’d offer you and the readers a little something on palmistry marks.

This image is of the main lines most people know:

 

1: Life line – 2: Head line – 3: Heart line – 4: Girdle of Venus – 5: Sun line – 6: Mercury line – 7: Fate line

The main lines above are fairly well known, but the lesser lines are not quite so well understood and it was these I was studying. There is a mark that can be found under the little finger. It is like three short slash marks. This sign is known as the medical stigmata. Here is a link to show you http://www.netplaces.com/palmistry/mounts-of-the-fingers/the-lines-of-family-and-healing.htm

This sign is one that shows talent for healing, nursing, caring in both a private and professional capacity. If you are involved in those activities I wonder if you have those marks. I’d love to know.

Blurb:

The witch mark on Nin’s hand is a curse. She has no magic powers, whatever the lore says. But the village believes. The old crone’s wisdom is to see her banished. Ragged and hungry, she must serve the Mage. Alone in his tower, she is his chattel. But Mage Thabit is not what Nin expected—the bright green eyes and supple form under his cloak are not the stuff of nightmares, and kindness hides in his brusque heart. Thabit senses that Nin is more than she seems, too. When true nightmares haunt the land, it is precisely her elusive powers that might deliver them…

 

Excerpt:

She toyed with the idea of calling up to him, but she’d promised not to disturb his work, and his temper certainly burned short. If she didn’t call him, she couldn’t cook, and he’d be angry. Yet chances were if she did call him, he’d be angry, too. By the end of her deliberations, she’d grown angry herself.

She might as well get on with it. I’ve got to have a bigger cauldron!

The door to the stairs creaked on its hinges as she opened it. About to call up, she stilled when his tread sounded at the top of the stone steps.

“You have no need to yell up the stairs.” His voice echoed in the lofty darkness.

“I didn’t.” Was this part of his magic? What else could he do as well as hear what she thought? Only Alicia had ever heard the mind singing, but neither she nor her friend thought the trick was anything but a game. Mind singing couldn’t be magic.

“I distinctly heard you yell.” He hesitated, as though waiting for an explanation. When she offered none, he continued down the stairs. “The cooking pot is here.”

She moved out of the way. He brushed past to reach up to the top of the cupboard where she couldn’t see, and handed her a much larger cauldron than the one on the table.

He glanced toward the hearth and demanded. “Where is the small pot?”

She froze. Was he angry?

A spasm crossed his face and his lip twitched.

“I emptied it in the stream. I meant to use the small pot for the soup.”

“Gods, I am doomed!” His stare blazed green fire. “You have thrown away the finest batch of seeing mushrooms I have made in years.” He ran his hand over his hair. The blue coils around his wrist seemed to writhe like live, spring-woken snakes. “Foolish brat, did you not think to ask?”

She shook her head, gritting her teeth to keep silent.

He glowered. “Nin, a new rule. Here you touch nothing if it contains anything.”

“That’s stupid. You can’t say I mustn’t touch anything. You should have said not to use the small cauldron. I didn’t know.” Ready to bolt, she edged to the door.

“Well, you know now!” His yell almost lifted her feet. “Do you know what a seeing mushroom looks like?”

“Yes,” she murmured. Aunt Jen had pointed them out, so both she and her cousin Lettie knew them. Her aunt had always warned they should never go in the pot, no matter how hungry they all were. The seeing mushrooms were small, sour, but most of all, dangerous. “I’ve seen them.”

“Then go out and pick more. I’ll need twenty-four, at least. I want them before nightfall.”

 

Buy Links

 

Amazon

http://amazon.com/author/daisybanks

Barnes and Noble http://bit.ly/1NWh8gi

itunes

http://apple.co/1IN2oP2

Kobo

http://bit.ly/1y85pJt

About the author.

Daisy Banks writes sensual and spicy romance in the Historical, Paranormal and Fantasy genres. She is an obsessive writer and her focus is to offer the best tale she can to readers. Daisy is married with two grown up sons. She lives in a converted chapel in Shropshire, England. Antiques and collecting entertain Daisy when she isn’t writing and she occasionally makes a meal that doesn’t stick to the pan.

Daisy Banks Links

Blog http://daisybanks.wordpress.com/

Website http://daisybanksnovels.yolasite.com/

Twitter @DaisyBanks16

Facebook http://on.fb.me/18iRC35

Pinterest http://bit.ly/16sF1XG

Tsu   http://www.tsu.co/DaisyBanks

Amazon

http://amazon.com/author/daisybanks

 

Dusting myself off.

It’s been a while. It’s nice to be back.

As many of you will have gathered, I’ve taken some time away from blogging and other commitments. My mother-in-law Gail passed this past week after a valiant battle with pancreatic cancer and the whole family is healing but still reeling. We held a celebration of her life today and I’m humbled by all the kind thoughts that have come our way. She was a wonderful woman, and it is to her credit that so many paid their respects.

This journey has been tough in many ways but I feel as if I’ve relearned the power of love. So many little gestures and words have made an impression on me during this time.

As a wife, I’ve had to see my husband endure what will probably always be one of the hardest moments of his life. But as he so eloquently said in his eulogy, his mother would have wanted us all to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and move forward. It was how she lived her life, even during the darkest times.

As a mom, I’ve watched my children lose their first grandparent. I know this moment will stay with them. I had to watch my youngest son break into tears, trying to wrap his young mind around how this can happen to his Nana. And my eldest son demonstrated such grace under pressure, holding her hand in the hospital, helping to feed her and bring water to her lips. His own short speech at the memorial made me proud, as much as heart-broken.

It’s been hard, just as it’s hard whenever anyone loses a loved one. I know she is at peace now, and probably having a lovely glass of wine in Heaven. And even though I still want to crawl into the nearest hole and stay there for a while, it’s time to pick myself up, dust myself off and move forward. It’s what Gail would have wanted.

So often during the last few weeks, I’ve heard the song “I Lived” by One Republic, one of my favorite bands. I almost feel as if the song has been a little reminder from my mother-in-law, that she’s letting us know she lived and that she did it well.

And now, so must we.

Vice Cover Reveal!

As many of you know, it’s been a bit of a rough time for my family recently. I experienced one bright moment this past week when my Samhain Publishing editor sent me the final copy of my cover for Vice. It came at the perfect time. I needed to feel that shiver of excitement that comes with every new cover. Although this book doesn’t release until Sept. 22, I can’t resist sharing it now, and hope it’ll create some excitement for my readers as well.

I’m in love with this cover. I think it captures the sensual abandon of the story, without giving too much away. It hints at the Las Vegas setting. In fact, I think the title font looks like the illuminated name of the casino hotel where the action takes place. My editor Noah said it has a “literary” feel to it and I am inclined to agree. I think artist Syd Gill did a fabulous job. Check out and like Syd’s page at https://www.facebook.com/officialsydgill

What are your thoughts?

I’ll be adding this book to Goodreads soon and hope you’ll add it to your TBR list. In the mean time, here’s the unedited blurb.

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Kate Callender is a Las Vegas singer who counsels the families of compulsive gamblers. Liam Doyle owns the hottest casino hotels in Sin City. They are natural enemies. However, when Kate embarks on a protest of Liam’s properties, they are confronted with a mutual attraction that disturbs and excites them.

Liam is determined to hate the meddling Kate, but when she offers him an unexpected moment of kindness, his feelings change. Their emotions intensify when they scratch the surface and learn there is more to both of them than meets the eye.

A vile attack makes Liam want to draw her close and they begin a sexual odyssey that overwhelms them. Kate fears they might drown in their addiction to each other. They succumb to vice and to their searing needs, but will they lose themselves in the process?