1. Cover Reveal!
Huge thanks to Lena Goldfinch for this gorgeous cover. Hey! There's a person on my cover. Where's the fruit?
2. Book Blurb for SWEET DESTINY
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Wolfgang Reinhard Klaus, Director of
Charitable Donations for the family business, is the last unmarried Klaus
brother. While his four siblings have fallen in love and started their
unconventional families, Wolfgang has been crushed by his heart-breaking
obligations. The once affable Wolf has become a bitter and tormented man. All
he has left is a nimble vision of loveliness who haunts his dreams. Is she
enough to restore his faith in humanity?
Belinda Kiefer is a one-of-a-kind being,
embraced by the winter forest and the woodland animals. Half-human, half-fairy,
she flits between two worlds, searching for a place to belong. Her secret crush
on Wolfgang is both a blessing and a curse. It will help her to soothe him in
his darkest hour, but the outcome may cost her everything.
When Santa is injured before Christmas, the
Klaus family is forced to take action. The Day of Reckoning is finally upon
them, and one of the siblings must take responsibility for the beloved holiday.
Which brother possesses the true heart of the Weihnachtsmann? Who will be the
one to fulfill this long-awaited destiny?
3. Here's an (unedited) sneak peek at SWEET DESTINY, Klaus Brothers Series #5, coming in December 2016.
If you'd like to add it to your TBR pile, here's the Goodreads link.
EXCERPT:
Listen to
the wind,
It talks.
Listen to
the silence,
It
speaks.
Listen to
your heart,
It knows.
Native
American Proverb
Prologue
Wolfgang heard two things.
His breath.
And the wind.
His breath was rhythmic and shallow. Like a
metronome, steady, keeping him grounded. His fingers grasped the rough granite
ledge, and he pulled himself closer to the cliff wall.
The wind was behind him. Below him. Beside
him. It started slow like a puff of air, gentle and prodding. And then it grew.
The gusts built to a crescendo until it roared in his ears. Rattling leaves
became percussion, unique to each tree, shaking violently on the branch.
And
then...silence.
He
focused on his breath and tried to ignore the thoughts banging around his head.
Thoughts about hungry children and crying babies and the scent of death.
Thoughts about family and obligation. His knee gripped the rock wall, bruising
the skin. This moment required his full and undivided attention, as he searched
for the next crevice, propelling himself higher. One slip—one bit of
distraction—could be deadly.
Perspiration
dripped down the side of his face and into his beard. He licked his lips and
glanced at the ledge. So close to the peak. Would it be enough? Would it banish
the dark thoughts and bring him peace? He’d spent months searching for
tranquility. In the deepest sea, diving into murky waters, finding no clarity.
In the jungle, but the noise there was deafening. On back country roads and in
bustling cities. And now he searched in the dense Vermont forest, free-climbing
a mountain wall into the clouds. Wolfgang knew a million places and a million
people. But no matter where he went, he couldn’t escape the realities of his
life. Those thoughts haunted his dreams and every waking moment.
Wolfgang
Reinhard Klaus, third son of Alena and Nicholas Klaus, was Director of
Charitable Donations for Klaus Enterprises. At first, he’d loved his job—traveling
around the world and providing money for needy causes. He’d built schools in
third world countries, raised funds for pediatric hospitals, volunteered his
time at shelters. At first, he saw smiling faces of grateful children. Tears of
joy from appreciative parents. At first, he felt like Klaus Enterprises was making
a difference.
At
first.
But
somehow, slowly, over the years, he began to see another side of his job. Communities
ravaged by war. Children suffering. Families crushed by drug addiction. And
some patients—a little girl dressed in
pink who fought to the bitter end—did not have a happy ending. They never
left that hospital ward. They died there, and with them, so did Wolfgang’s
hope.
It
had taken weeks and months and years, and now his optimism was crushed to dust,
blown away by a forceful gale of wind and replaced by bone-deep cynicism. His
heart had hardened to protect itself from more disappointment. And unlike his
brothers—who had found love and happiness with a partner, joy with their
children, a future with their family—Wolf was alone.
Even
though part of him still loved his family deeply, another part—an ugly part—was
consumed by jealousy. Why were his brothers so lucky? So deserving? Why
were they allowed to find love and he could not?
He
bent his head and watched a stream of sweat pour onto his shirt. He swallowed
nervously. He needed to focus and pull himself up to the break. His arms
strained with the effort of holding himself in place.
He
tried to clear his head, to block out everything.
His
job.
His
family.
His destiny.
He
needed to concentrate on this moment. There was no past, no future. No magik.
No elves. No Christmas carols belted out in off-key enthusiasm. No gingerbread
cookies iced with grandma’s love.
He peered
at the flat rock in front of him. He searched for the next ridge to clasp. But
instead, he saw the face of a little girl who haunted his dreams, asleep and
awake.
Drawn,
pale, and strangely still hopeful until her last breath. He could not escape
her, not even on this craggy wall of granite.
Wolf
shut his eyes. What would it take to forget? There was nowhere left to go.
And
in that moment, as his fingers clutched the minuscule ledge that kept him
tethered to the rock and to his life, his hand flexed. His fingers slipped.
And
with an utter sigh of defeat, Wolfgang dropped from the rock and into a pit of
darkness.
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