ALL RIGHTS RESERVED MFRW Volume 4 Excerpt Book copyright Edited by Jena Galifany Assembled by Marty Rayne Cover design by Celia Kyle Electronic book Publication 2008 All work within this book is copyrighted by owning publishers. This book contains excerpts from works of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental. All authors are members of the Marketing For Romance Writers yahoo group and have given permission to use these excerpts for this book as a promotional tool. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mfrwauthorexcerpts/ 2 Acknowledgements A special thanks to: Marketing For Romance Writers Owner – Kayelle Allen Organizer/Proofer/Moderator – Marty Rayne Editor – Jena Galifany Cover Artist – Celia Kyle Publishers: Aspen Mountain Press – www.apsenmountainpress.com Cobblestone Press – www.cobblestone-press.com Draumr Publishing – www.draumrpublishing.com Linden Bay Romance – www.lindenbayromance.com Liquid Silver Books – www.liquidsilverbooks.com Loose-Id – www.loose-id.net New Concepts Publishing – www.newconceptspublishing.com Phaze – www.phaze.com Renaissance e-book Inc. – http://shop.renebooks.com/ Samhain Publishing – www.samhainpublishing.com The Wild Rose Press – www.thewildrosepress.com Total E-bound Books – www.total-e-bound.com Whiskey Creek Press – www.whiskeycreekpress.com 3 Tasty Heat Levels Vanilla – Sensual romance, not so explicit sex scenes, non-romantic mystery/suspense, non- romantic science fiction Neapolitan – Explicit sex scenes, mild toy play, daring situation, mild violence Rocky Road – GLBT fiction Light Nuts – Mild to explicit sex scenes between same sex couples Heavy Nuts – Graphic sex scenes, BDSM, anal, toys, ménage trio or more Hot Fudge – Menage trio, BDSM, anal, toys, graphic sex scenes Anything Goes – Fetishes, ménage trio and more, heavy BDSM, very graphic sex scenes 4 Table of Contents Vanilla Through a Glass Darkly by Anna Taylor 6 Settling Back by Lainey Bancroft 17 Prophesied by Liz Craven 22 Neapolitan Trilogy 103: Red, Hot, and Blue by Cat Johnson 29 Beautiful Dreamer by Celine Chatillon 38 The Tarot Prince by Ellen Ashe 55 The Vampire Oracle: Chalice by Ericka Scott 63 Visions by Lisa Logan 70 Touch of Fire by Maria Zannini 75 Dragon Riders 2: Reluctant Hearts by Marty Rayne 83 Blind Love by Nina Pierce 90 The Sword and the Sorceress by Renee Michaels 100 Beast Magic by Sapphire Phelan 109 Fired or Fired Up by Shannon Robinson 113 Together in Darkness by Sloan McBride 121 Hot Fudge Raw Silk by Lisabet Sarai 126 Welcome to Eden by Rynne Raines 142 Echos Odyssey by Sascha Illyvich 146 A Taste of the Forbidden by Tambra Kendall 155 5 Title: Through a Glass Darkly Author: A nna Taylor Genre: Contemporary Gothic Inspirational Rating: Vanilla Format: e-book and print Buy link: http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=776 6 Blurb: How do you prove the face in the mirror is you when everyone insists it’s someone else? No one believes Roxanna Mitchell isn’t Claire Denby, a millionaire’s mentally unstable runaway wife. Dr. William McCoy, her only potential ally, certainly doesn’t and doesn’t intend to. Playing Good Samaritan cost him his medical license and his faith. He refuses to step in now, especially when a wedding album full of photos shows she’s lying. Roxanna’s only defense? God called her by name when she gave her life to Christ. That name was Roxanna. No matter what those photos show, she insists she’s not Claire. William remains unconvinced, and Roxanna almost gives up…until events force them into an alliance that will lead either to the truth or to their deaths. Excerpt: Chapter One “Home again, home again, jiggity jog.” With a glad sigh and a tired smile, Roxanna Mitchell recited the children’s rhyme and unlocked the double oak doors to the Victorian she had remodeled into her home and office. She ran her fingers over the Ayas etched in the front doors’ glass panes. Pride warmed her heart each time she touched them. The fern-like Adinkra symbol stood for endurance and resourcefulness. She chose the design herself as a reminder of what she was, not what her past said she had to be. Her keys clinked as she dropped them into an aqua and turquoise South African basket. Straightening the Kente cloth upon which it rested, she smiled. Perfect. Her glass panes. Her basket. Her Kente cloth. Her home. The first real home she’d had since… She stopped the thought, inhaled deeply and chided herself. “Don’t go there. That was then. This is now.” She looked with pride at what she saw reflected in the hall mirror: Roxanna Mitchell, child of God, surviving and thriving by grace. Woe to anyone who dared imply this wasn’t true. A rogue gray hair sprung out from her otherwise neatly trimmed Afro. Now twenty-eight she had begun graying at thirteen. She frowned and reached for it, but a memory stopped her. Pull out one and two’ll grow back . 7 A loving rebuke from her mother. She took another deep breath and slammed the door on melancholy. Fighting the pull of the past was always harder when she was tired. What she needed was a quiet evening with her head back, her feet up and her soul soothed by Ellington and Strayhorn. She patted the hair back into place, went into the living room and flipped the light switch. The room remained dark. “Oh, not again. I just changed this bulb.” Before she could flip the switch again, a blow sent her spinning. Her temple thwacked against the floor. Someone straddled her. Fingers dug into her hair and yanked her head back. From out of the darkness, a male voice laughed. “Oh yeah. You’ll do just fine. Won’t you, sweetheart?” Roxanna groped behind her, trying to free her hair. “Who are you? What do you want?” A woman laughed, imitating Roxanna’s distress. “Who are you? What do you want? You’ll find out soon enough, honey.” Roxanna squinted, trying to make her out, but pain and darkness sheltered the woman’s anonymity. “Shut up and get the tape,” the man ordered. He clamped his hand across Roxanna’s mouth. “We haven’t got all night.” The woman laughed again. “Oooo. Papa spank.” Roxanna’s heart stuttered at the sound of tape ripping. She twisted her head left then right, but couldn’t prevent them from sealing her lips with a piece of the foul smelling adhesive. She clawed at the gag. Her muffled screams joined the panic screaming in her head. A pair of hands captured both her wrists and jerked her to a sitting position. The man’s arms surrounded her, immobilizing her arms while holding her wrists criss-crossed before her. Her forehead throbbed in a frantic cadence: “get up,” “get away,” “get up,” “get away.” She struggled to break the sticky bond wrapping around her wrists. “Hold still,” the man hissed in her ear. 8 Something pierced her right upper arm. Paralysis radiated in waves over her body. She crumpled against the hard body propping her up. Caught in a kaleidoscope of sensation, her mind went limp, too. The pressure pinning her arms to her body disappeared and she collapsed onto her side. Slender fingers positioned her head so she could see to her right. Her cheek pillowed against the hardwood floor. “I want her to watch,” the woman whispered, her voice, thick with menace and desire. A pair of warm lips pressed a cold kiss against Roxanna’s cheek. She closed her eyes to whatever they wanted her to witness, willing unconsciousness to come to her rescue. Mercifully, it did. * * * * Roxanna couldn’t open her eyes. Something soft, but unyielding pulled taut against her eyelids. She flexed her arms, but couldn’t raise her hands to remove it; a restraint forced her hands to her lap. Her knees hit cold rough surfaces no matter how she shifted. The smell of mold and the aroma of freshly baked bread wafted on the draft swirling around her. A noise, like stone dragging against stone, broke the silence of the darkness and made her stomach tighten. It meant he had returned. Light seeped through her blindfold, but she still couldn’t see. Fingertips, round and rough, brushed her cheek, pried the tape away. Pain burned around the edges of her mouth. She shrank back from the feel of glass touching her lips. An acrid medicinal smell made her clench her teeth. “Drink.” “What—?” She paused, summoned courage to staunch the fear surging forward. “What do you want?” “I want you to stop asking questions.” The cold voice made her tremble, but she refused to be cowed. “Why are you doing this to me?” “I said drink.” His shouted words filled the space around her, crowded out her resolve. She closed her mind to the panic sweeping through her, fought the urge to plead: don’t hurt me. Please don’t hurt me. 9 “Don’t give me a reason and I won’t have to.” She blanched, certain she had only thought the words. Oh God, please help me . The glass pressed against her teeth with a dull click. She shook her head to avoid it. His hand squeezed her jaw, forcing her lips to part. “Swallow.” Bitter liquid burned her tongue and throat. She held the liquid in her mouth until it began to seep down her chin. “You can fight me all you like, but in the end you’re going to do what I want.” His awful laugh scratched her ear.