Night Owl Reviews hosts their annual Winter Wonderland Event

Join us this holiday season for the Winter Wonderland Event, hosted annually by Night Owl Reviews, and you could win some fabulous prizes via their Rafflecopter giveaway.

Prizes:

5 = $100 Amazon Gift Cards

5 = $50 Amazon Gift Cards

18 = $25 Amazon Gift Cards

Visit Night Owl Reviews' website and Like them on Facebook.

Rafflecopter giveaway

Cheryl Kaye Tardif joins Margaret Atwood, Ian McEwan, Ken Follett & other authors in Freedom from Torture's "Immortality Auction"

Canadian author Cheryl Kaye Tardif has joined a number of well-known authors, including fellow Canadian Margaret Atwood, in an "Immortality Auction" to support Freedom from Torture, an organization dedicated to assisting those affected by torture and other organized abuses. This includes violence by different races or religions that do not acknowledge the basic human rights most of us enjoy.

What's an Immortality Auction?

You can be "immortalized" in one of the participating authors' upcoming books. Each author has donated one or more characters to be named after the highest bidders. Think of it! Your name as one of the characters--and perhaps your wife's, husband's, daughter's etc.

Cheryl's auction:

The highest bidder will name 2 characters in Cheryl's upcoming new thriller, THE 6th PLAGUE, which is set in Banff, Alberta, Canada, during the Banff World Media Festival. THE 6th PLAGUE will be released in the summer/fall of 2015.

Why is Cheryl participating?

"As an author who writes suspense, I am often influenced (and horrified) by true stories in the media, and it stuns me that human beings can be so cruel to one another, especially since torture is not only conducted in war zones but in civilized countries. We all bleed the same color; we all live and we all die, and those who have suffered at the hands of others need support and compassion."

Bidding is open now!! 

Please dig deep and help support a worthwhile cause and organization.

Bid on Cheryl's Immortality Auction now!

And please share this post.

Summer Sizzles Event, July 12-20, 2014 - eBook Sale, Contest & Giveaways, Facebook Party

Great things come in threes this July!

• 'Share the Imajin Books Buzz' contest - share our events on Twitter and Facebook, and share your pics of our books on your ereaders or you holding one, and receive entries into a grand prize draw for a $100 Amazon/Kobo gift card! Other prizes include: a poster of "Sanctuary" by critically acclaimed artist David Miller, and three $20 Amazon or Kobo Books gift cards (winners' choice). Open to anyone 18+. Void where prohibited. To enter, use the Rafflecopter form below from July 12-20.

• Imajin Books eBook Sale – www.imajinbooks.com/sale – most ebooks will be priced at $0.99 or $1.99 from July 12-20 via Amazon & Smashwords. 

• Facebook Party - for one day only, Thursday, July 17th, we'll be holding a Facebook Party online and giving away prizes (ebooks and gift cards from Amazon, Smashwords and Kobo.) Join us at: https://www.facebook.com/events/659449144144070. The party begins 2:00 PM EDT and goes until 8:00 PM EDT. Our authors will drop by when they can. Be sure to also like our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/imajinbooks.  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Summer Sizzles with Imajin Books - August 1-31, 2013

SUMMER SIZZLES WITH IMAJIN BOOKS – August 1-31, 2013

Great things come in threes this August at Imajin Books, where quality fiction at affordable prices is the name of the game. Join us for our annual summer event where you can meet our authors, discover fresh voices, delve into intriguing stories and enter to win fabulous prizes, including a Kindle Fire HD.

You’re invited to our:

1. 'Share the Imajin Books Buzz' contest - Share our events on Twitter and Facebook, and share your pics of our books on your ereaders or you holding one, and receive entries into a draw for a KINDLE FIRE HD with wi-fi! Open to US, Canada and UK residents. Other prizes include three $20 Amazon or Kobo Books gift cards (winner’s choice). Void where prohibited. Draw will take place the first week of September. To enter, use the Rafflecopter form from August 1-31. You can enter daily for more chances to win!

2. Imajin Books eBook Sale – www.imajinbooks.com/sale – All our ebooks will be priced at $0.99 or $1.99 from August 15-31.

3. Twitter Party - For two days only, August 9/10, we'll be holding a Twitter Party online and giving away random prizes (ebooks and gift cards from Amazon and Kobo.) Join us by searching for #ImajinAuthors on Twitter. Leave us a question or comment by including #ImajinAuthors in your tweets. The party begins each of the two days at 2:00 PM EDT and goes until 8:00 PM EDT. Our talented authors will drop by when they can during the two days, so you never know who you’re going to meet. Follow us at http://www.twitter.com/imajinbooks

Imajin Books publishes quality fiction (and some non-fiction) beyond your wildest dreams. You can view our Book List here and pick out some great beach reads. And do be sure to “Like” our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/imajinbooks

We hope your SUMMER SIZZLES!

Contest: Show me your Whale Song!

New paperback cover

In celebration of the upcoming release of the special 3rd edition of Whale Song, which will be back in print due to popular demand, I'm holding a special contest--my "Show me your Whale Song! contest.

To enter, send me a photo (jpg) of you holding your ereader with the ebook cover of Whale Song on it. This can be ANY ereader--Kobo, Kindle, Sony, iPad--you name it.

Give me permission to post your photo on my blog and website, along with your name (full name or first name and last initial--you pick). I must receive these photos by November 29th, midnight MT. All photos received between October 1st and November 29th, 2010, will count. You can send multiple photos, but will receive 1 entry per person.

On November 30th, 2010, I'll draw randomly from all entrants and 3 lucky winners will win a signed copy of the upcoming special 3rd edition (paperback with bonus content) of Whale Song. Winners will be announced in early December.

This contest is open internationally. No cash value on prize, no exchanges.

A special thank you to Jessica Subject, who inspired this contest when she sent me a photo of herself, holding her Kobo ereader with Whale Song on the front. :-)

Lancelot's Lady Flash Mob Special

Flash Mob Special:

Purchase Lancelot's Lady from Amazon or Smashwords between 6 pm and 8 pm MT TODAY, then send me your receipt and you'll be entered in my Flash Mob Special.

Two lucky winners will receive an autographed copy of my paranormal suspense thriller, Divine Intervention.

Thank you for your support and happy reading! :-)

~Cherish

Textnovel.com Announces Semi-Finalists in Dorchester "Next Best Celler" Romance Writing Contest

PARK CITY, Utah, November 3, 2009—Textnovel.com announced the Semi-Finalists for the current Dorchester “Next Best Celler” Romance Writing Contest, which combines a live, serial publication model with a unique voting and ranking system to help identify top new novelists and fiction writers.

See who made the Top 20 Semi-Finalists.

I'll let you know that Lancelot's Lady, my debut romantic suspense, is #3 on the list. In fact, I'm the ONLY Canadian author to make the Top 20.

If you haven't read Lancelot's Lady yet, please do. If you enjoy it, click on the blue thumb and phone circles. This contest isn't over yet, and points still matter.

Thank you all for your support!

The birth of my pseudonym Cherish D'Angelo and Lancelot's Lady

The Birth of Cherish D’Angelo, aka Cheryl Kaye Tardif

Call me Cheryl; I prefer first names. You could also call me Cherish, since that’s the name I’ve adopted as my pseudonym so that I can detour from writing mainly suspense and venture into the romance genre. Cherish D’Angelo is my flowery, romantic pen name. I selected it a few years ago when I started writing my first romance novel. Since my real first name is Cheryl, which means “dear one” or “beloved”, I wanted something similar, and “Cherish” came to mind. Finding a last name to go with it proved to be trickier. After all, when I make it big in romance, I’ll have to sign that name on thousands of books. Hundreds of thousands, hopefully.

I started an angel collection years ago as a memorial for my son, who died at birth. Prior to his birth and death, I’d ordered two angels from a friend who made ceramics. She wasn’t sure if I’d want them after he died, but I did, and this started a collection that grew every year around his birthday and at Christmas. Angels…hmmm…Cherish Angel? No. Cherish D’Angelo. YES! I’d found my new name. It means: “Beloved angel.” Yeah, that’s me.

After Cherish D’Angelo was “born”, she went to work on her first contemporary romance―Reflections. It was a story of a woman stranded on a tropical island with a reclusive rich guy, who had a deaf daughter. Cherish wrote about half of it, then hid it away on my computer. I’d realized that I had other stories that were demanding my attention―darker, more suspenseful stories. It wasn’t the right time for Cherish. So she slipped into a kind of coma, though every now and then she opened her eyes and said, “What about me?” before slipping back to sleep.

In June, I heard about a contest over at Textnovel.com. Now I’m really not much of a contest person. I love giving them and awarding prizes, but I don’t usually like entering them. I’d been a member on Textnovel ever since the CEO Stan Soper emailed me and invited me to check out the relatively new website.

What drew me to Textnovel’s newest contest was the fact that Dorchester Publishing, the oldest independent mass-market publisher in the US, had paired with Textnovel and was offering a small advance and a book contract. I’m very familiar with Dorchester. I’ve been hooked on their books since I was a teen, and my agent recently submitted my new thriller Children of the Fog to Dorchester. Plus, one of my author friends, thriller author Jeff Buick, is published with them, and I recently connected with one of their romance authors, Colleen Thompson, who is absolutely wonderful and writes awesome romantic suspense. Both told me that being at Dorchester was like being a part of a family. I want that! I want a publishing partner.

The Dorchester/Textnovel “Next Best Celler” contest is looking for the “New Voice in Romance”, and I want to be that voice. Cherish D’Angelo wants to be that voice. She’s ready now! She woke up from that virtual coma and dug out the file for Reflections. The old chapters were used as guidelines, but to date, about 80% of it is new material. Cherish has been on a roll with this novel and it’ll be finished by the end of October.

The Birth of Lancelot’s Lady

Reflections has grown into something far bigger and better than the original. A few days in, I changed the name to Lancelot’s Lady. It’s still the story of Rhianna, a young woman stranded on a tropical island with a rich recluse, but she has far more back story and Jonathan is far angrier, making for a complicated relationship and some humorous scenes. Then there’s Misty, Jonathan’s young, deaf daughter who can’t seem to keep a tutor; not to mention the development of JT Lance, Rhianna’s dying patient, and his butler Higginson, plus the inclusion of the Atkinsons, Jonathan’s caretakers.

As with my other novels, I have come to love these characters. I can picture them, right down to their flaws. And believe, me, they’re all flawed. Rhianna has survived a terrible past filled with horror and death, and Jonathan has cut himself off from family, friends and the world.

Since Lancelot’s Lady is a romantic suspense, both Cherish and Cheryl get to work on this story. I know that sounds weird, and truly, I haven’t lost it. Well, not completely. I think Lancelot’s Lady is a potpourri of sexual chemistry, sizzling tension, spicy passion, illusive danger and triumphant love. But in the end, it doesn’t matter so much what I think. I want to know what YOU think.

This leads me back to the “Next Best Celler” contest and how YOU can be involved. I really need your help to have a chance at winning this contest and to win that publishing contract. Even more, I want to know what YOU think about my newest venture and I’m willing to reward you for your time. For the months of October and November, I’ll be holding Giveaways. Right now you can visit my contest page to see how to enter this month’s Giveaway contest. You’ll have a chance to win signed novels and a $75 Starbucks gift card.

To have a chance at winning Dorchester’s contest, I really need votes and subscribers. I can’t do this without your support. Lancelot’s Lady must stay in the top 10 Most Popular, preferably the top 3. It’ll take about 5 minutes of your time to vote, but I truly hope you’ll check out Lancelot’s Lady and read it for free. And please leave me a comment there. Judges are also reading them. I truly hope you enjoy the debut of Cherish D’Angelo and Lancelot’s Lady.

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif, aka Cherish D’Angelo

Read & vote for Lancelot’s Lady, a Dorchester “Next Best Celler” entry, at Textnovel.com

Enter my October & November Giveaways

Visit my website at http://www.cherylktardif.com and follow me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/cherylktardif

Cheryl's 'Create a Corpse Contest' winner is revealed!

Thank you to everyone who participated in my contest. These were some really great names, and because of that I had to take an extra day to consider who the winning name would be.

After careful consideration, I have chosen the name that best fits the character in mind. This character will be killed off in my debut romantic suspense Lancelot's Lady, which you can read athttp://www.textnovel.com. Don't forget to vote "thumbs up" by clicking on the blue circle with thumb.

And the winner is...

(drumroll, please...)

The name of the character will be...

WINSTON CHAMBERS!

Suggested by Wally Rabbani.

Congratulations, Wally, and thank you for entering my contest. You will receive a signed copy of Lancelot's Lady once it's published and I will acknowledge you as the winner of this contest inside the book itself. You have the choice of being named in full, first name and last initial, or initials only. Please email me with your preference. I'll also look for you online.

Wally's character "Winston Chambers" will be making his first appearance shortly in Lancelot's Lady, so be sure to sign up at Textnovel.com so you can read for free. Vote thumbs up and subscribe to get a notice of future chapters (cell phone circle). And leave me a comment if you enjoy my novel.

LANCELOT'S LADY

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif, aka Cherish D'Angelo

Lancelot's Lady excerpt

Lancelot's Lady by Cherish D'Angelo (aka Cheryl Kaye Tardif)

Prologue

A woman’s naked body, wrapped only in a thin veil of mist, rose from the shimmering stillness of the lake. Her long legs, half-submerged in the water, were gracefully slender. Rich auburn hair cascaded down her shoulders and swirled over the peaks of her firm breasts. Her jade-green eyes gleamed with such yearning and expectancy.
Sultry and seductive, her siren's call radiated infinite promises.

The mist rose from the lake in spiraling tendrils, like fairy hands grasping at the woman’s body. The wind whispered in hot, humid breaths. Water trickled from the falls above, showering the plants with glistening moisture.

The Lady in the Mist appeared to be waiting for something. Or someone…


1

“It’s a lovely painting, isn’t it, Miss McLeod?”

Rhianna spun around at the sound of Higginson’s voice.

“She looks quite a bit like you,” the butler observed.

She chuckled. “That’s what you said eight months ago when I first arrived.”

It was the dying man upstairs who was responsible for her relocation to Miami, and it was here at Lance Manor that she first discovered the meaning of family―something she’d always remember.

Memories. That’s all she’d have left one day. Her job here could end in a heartbeat. Not even the doctors knew how much time JT had left. Three weeks, three months, maybe more.

JT Lance had taught her the value of memories. It had been difficult at first, watching a grown man try to remember simple things like how to tie his shoes. JT was like the father she’d never had.

Orphaned at birth, she went to live with her mother’s sister, until Aunt Madeline and Uncle Bernard died in a car crash. After the funeral, she went into foster care and remained there until she was sixteen. The last place she was sent to was the home of Gwen and Peter Waverley. She spent three long years there―three years of hell.

She shook her head.

Some memories are best left alone.

Flicking a look at Higginson, she noticed a single tear had escaped down his cheek. The man was a loyal employee, more like a companion and dear friend than a well paid butler. He’d been with JT for over twenty years. They often argued over business matters, yet JT always respected him, and that had won the butler’s eternal devotion.

Higginson cleared his throat. “There’s something magnetic about her.”

“I agree.”

The canvas glowed with a life of its own and she often felt the woman in the painting was watching her. The artist had captured the sensual yearning in the young woman’s expression, a sense of desperation, torment and passion that haunted her beautiful eyes. However, there was one thing that stood out―a flaw of sorts. The artist’s signature was difficult to make out.

She recalled the first time she'd seen the Lady in the Mist. The day she arrived in Miami. The day JT found out about her past―about a secret she had tried desperately to forget.

* * * * *

Rhianna was so mesmerized by the painting in the foyer that she didn’t hear footsteps approaching.

“It was painted by a talented young artist.”

She let out a startled yelp and spun around.

“My goodness,” said a tall, dark-haired man with wrinkled eyes and a kind smile. “You look just like her.”

“Who?”

“The Lady in the Mist.”

“Maybe there’s a bit of a resemblance,” she admitted, thinking it odd that she hadn’t noticed until he pointed it out.

“I’m sure you didn’t come here to look at paintings. What can I do for you?”

“Your housekeeper let me in. Are you Mr. Lance?”

“No, no,” the man said with a chuckle. “I’m Higginson, the butler. Mr. Lance is resting at the moment. Perhaps you can leave your name.”

Rhianna blinked back tears. She couldn’t be turned away. The trip to Florida had taken most of her savings and she didn’t have enough money to fly back to Maine. Besides, if it weren’t for Mr. Lance’s letter, she wouldn’t even be in this predicament.

“But Mr. Lance is expecting me. I’m Rhianna McLeod, the palliative nurse he contacted. In his letter he said I’d have the job if I came here.”

“Oh, I’m dreadfully sorry, miss, but Mr. Lance already has a nurse.” The butler shook his head. “You must have been mistaken.”

“But I don’t have anywhere else―”

Suddenly, a commotion broke out in the hallway. Something shattered, and she heard a muffled curse. Then a terrible wailing, like an injured animal, reverberated through the stately mansion.

The butler groaned. “Oh, no. Not again.”

He rushed off in the direction of the noise. Rhianna had no choice but to follow him. When they passed through a doorway, she saw an elderly man dressed only in a bathrobe. It gaped open in the front, threatening to reveal more than just a hairy chest. Beside him, a plump woman in white scrubs was trying her best to calm him down, even though she was dripping wet and very upset.

“Mr. Lance’s nurse,” the butler said.

As they approached the dueling pair, Rhianna tried to remember everything she could about her employer-to-be. In the past year, the tabloids had been filled with stories of billionaire JT Lance and his fight against an aggressive disease, a cancerous tumor that made him an unruly and difficult patient. From what she could see, the rumors were true. Once exuding strength, confidence and perhaps a touch of arrogance, JT now looked frail and helpless as he leaned against the wall for support.

“JT?” the butler called out.

The older man smiled. “Higginson, please get this woman a towel. She spilled my water.” Totally unaware of the broken glass, water and pill bottles on the floor, he staggered toward them.

“Sir!” the butler said with some force.

“I did not spill it,” the nurse snapped. Turning to the butler, she said, “Mr. Lance refuses to take his meds. Now he’s having a temper tantrum. Look! He threw a water pitcher at me.”

JT’s eyes flared. “That’s because you keep trying to poison me, you old bat!”

“I am not trying to poison you,” the nurse sputtered. “The medication will help―”

“How the hell do you know what will help me? You keep me so drugged that I don’t even know who I am when I look in the mirror.”

The old man turned to leave, then abruptly whipped around and gaped at Rhianna...

* * * * *

©2009 Cheryl Kaye Tardif, writing as Cherish D’Angelo; all rights reserved. No copying, displaying or printing of this material in any format without written consent from author.

To read more of Lancelot's Lady and to vote thumbs up for my novel to win the "Next Best Celler" contest, please go to Lancelot's Lady on Textnovel.com.

Thanks for your support!

Cheryl