Thank you for joining us on the Virtual Book Tour for The Grotesques, a Urban Fantasy by Tia Reed (8 October 2015, Tyche Books Ltd, 342 pages). PREVIEW: Check out the book's synopsis and exclusve excerpt below. Read the first three chapters with Amazon Look Inside.
Author Tia Reed will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Please do take part: comment on our post and follow the tour where you will be able to read other exclusive excerpts (☀).
Synopsis | Teaser: Exclusive Excerpt | About the Author | Giveaway & Tour Stops
Synopsis
Discredited journalist Ella Jerome isn't thrilled about working at Adelaide's fanciful tabloid The Informer. So when zoologist Adam Lowell seeks her help in finding his missing cousin, she's cynical of his claim a monster lurks near the Church of the Resurrection. The trouble is, solving the gruesome case could be her best shot at restoring her shredded reputation.With her old instincts resurfacing, Ella combs the Port for clues. Experience tells her the only monsters are the human variety, and the bloodied stonemason certainly raises her suspicions. But when her investigation turns up everything from petrified remains to the headless carving of a dragon, the truth threatens to steal both her sanity and the man she's falling for.
After all, gargoyles can't be anything other than harmless stone. Or can they?
Teaser: Excerpt
The tempest blew across the Seine with a ferocity unheard of in the living memory of Rouen. Struggling against the pounding waves, Hubin moored his boat. Like as not the patched vessel would splinter by morning, his entire livelihood gone.With a frustrated cry, he trudged through the deluge, a firm grip on his meagre catch. He had no hope of forgetting which night he stalked, not with thumping heart and crawling skin. The demons skittered at the edges of his vision, shadowy, slippery, and deformed. They dogged his step. They tore at his rags, and raked his skin. There was nothing to do but pull his shins from their claws. Shivering, he quickened his step into the screeching wind. By the gods, he would make it home alive.
His chest was tight when at last he reached the looming planks of his tiny hut. He pushed open the door and stumbled into the relative warmth. There he froze, dripping water while gusts whipped leaves past his bloodied legs. Regaining his senses, he braced his back against the door and shoved it closed.
“B-by the g-gods, not t-tonight, woman,” he said, shivering uncontrollably.
“By gods or devils it will be tonight,” the midwife replied, placing a cloth over his wife’s forehead.
Felicitè squatted near the bed, swollen belly protruding rudely over bent knees. Her fretful eyes turned to him as she groaned and gripped the midwife’s hand.
“Not yet,” the midwife admonished. “Don’t you push yet,” she said above the howl of wind and whip of rain.
The Grotesques
Available NOW!
About the Author
Tia Reed loves nothing better than burying her nose in a story of her own imagining, cuddling her bossy cat and rescuing chewed pillows from her hyperactive dog. She takes every opportunity to do all three when she is not teaching English as a second language. Her other hobbies usually take a back seat but include trying to tame her beast of a garden, hiking and travelling. The latter has thrown her many interesting, sometimes hair-raising experiences, which she loves twisting into stories.
She was born in Malta, but lives in Adelaide, Australia.
Follow Tia Reed:
Giveaway and Tour Stops
Enter to win a $20 Amazon/BN GC – a Rafflecopter giveawayRemember to comment to win!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Follow The Grotesques's tour at:
Sep 26: BooksChatterSep 27: Author Deborah A Bailey
Sep 28: Blog of Jacey Holbrand
Sep 29: Straight from the Library
Sep 30: Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews
Sep 30: Books, Dreams, Life
Oct 3: Book Lover Promo
Oct 4: Where the Story Comes First
Oct 5: fuonlyknew
Oct 6: Fabulous and Brunette
Oct 7: EskieMama Reads
Oct 7: Long and Short Reviews
28 comments:
Thank you for hosting on the Book Excerpt tour.
I'm interested in what readers think of stories which mix legends with a present-day story, and am happy to answer any questions.
Because of the time difference and work commitments, I won't be available to reply to any queries right away, but will check back in throughout the day.
Thanks for hosting!
congrats on the tour and thanks for the chance to win :)
I liked the excerpt, thank you.
Enjoyed the teaser, sounds like a really good book!
I love the blurb, I'm definitely intrigued! Thanks for sharing :)
Cool cover, thanks for sharing g the excerpt, I'm looking forward to reading your book.
Thanks, Lisa, and good luck.
I'm glad you enjoyed it. Most of the book is set in the present day, but Ella has a number of flashbacks to the past. The extract is from the prologue.
I loved the cover the moment I saw it. The cover artist is Heather Dickson. If you do read, let me know what you think. I'm always open to constructive feedback.
The novel is a cross-genre mystery/ fantasy, so thank you as intrigue was definitely an aim.
Thank you. I hope you can drop by some of the other blogs and read a few more excerpts. They're from the present day, where most of the book is set, and different in tone.
Thanks for the giveaway; I like the excerpt.
My pleasure, and thank you.
Thank you, Books Chatter for this excerpt post, and to all readers.
I really enjoyed reading the excerpt, thank you!
Thank you for both the excerpt and giveaway, both appreciated
Thank you Nikolina and James. It's always nice to hear readers enjoy your work.
You're awesome and I sure appreciate all the work you do daily to bring us these great giveaways. Thanks so much!
Sure hope your not tired of hearing from me again but want you to know I appreciate the opportunity to win. Thank you!
Friday!!!! The day so many look forward to and the start of a big work weekend for me. Thanks again for the chance at winning
Good luck with the draw. As Friday is the start of a long weekend where I live, I'm definitely in the look forward to it category. Extra time for writing!
Have a fun Saturday and thank you for the opportunity to win
Have a Blessed Sunday and thank you for all you do for all of us.
Good Morning! Have a great day and thanking you again for the chance at winning.
Happy Hump Day! Hope it's a great one for you and thanks for all you do offering us these terrific gveaways
Hope everyone who is in the path of Hurricane Matthew is safe and just want to thank you for this giveaway.
Enjoy your Friday and prayers for all those going through Hurricane Matthew. Thanks for the great giveaway!
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