Romance Novel Giveaways - Freebies and Giveaways of All Things Romance Romance Novel Giveaways: In the Company of the Dead by Ciara Ballintyne ♥ Book Blast & GIVEAWAY ♥ (Epic Fantasy Romance)

Thursday, May 5, 2016

In the Company of the Dead by Ciara Ballintyne ♥ Book Blast & GIVEAWAY ♥ (Epic Fantasy Romance)


Ellaeva’s obligations to the death goddess leave her no time to hunt down her parents’ murderer—until both duty and revenge lead her to the lonely castle where Lyram Aharris has been exiled for striking his prince. As the castle falls under siege, Ellaeva and Lyram must fight to save themselves from political machinations and clashing gods—but the greatest threat comes from an unexpected quarter.


His horse carried him past the girl. She was nothing but a flash of black dress and white face as he jumped. The enemy rider’s eyes opened wide an instant before Lyram caught him around the shoulders. In a tumble of legs and arms, they spilled over the horse’s rump.

Lyram crashed to the ground, knocking the breath from him and grass whipping his face. Gasping, he forced himself to his knees, then wobbled to his feet.

The woman stood observing the spectacle. Though the soldier had struck the ground mere feet from her and was already on his feet, moving towards her, her face reflected only a resigned calmness.

The man reached for her with his free hand. Time oozed with the slowness of poured honey.

“No!” Lyram choked the word into a strangled gasp, and broke into an unsteady run.

One step.

The girl brought one long-fingered white hand up in a gesture of—what? Supplication? Forestalling? Defence even.

Two steps.

The soldier seized her by the wrist. With her other hand, she reached out and touched the boiled leather plate over his chest.

Three steps.

The sword dropped from the soldier’s fingers. In one fluid motion, he crumpled at the knees and fell face-first into the knee-high grass.

Time snapped back to normal, and Lyram skidded to a stop over the motionless soldier.

The fallen man didn’t move a muscle. Dropping to one knee, Lyram reached for the man’s neck, seeking a pulse—but he stopped before touching him. The skin was blue with such intense cold that it chilled his fingers where they hovered several inches short of contact. He let his hand drop back to his side.

A shadow darkened the dim, rainy haze of the morning and he glanced up. A colourless face loomed over him, alabaster skin, midnight hair made all the darker by contrast, and eyes so black the pupils could barely be distinguished. What he’d taken for a homespun peasant dress was instead the billowing black robes of a priestess of Ahura.



  



Ciara Ballintyne grew up on a steady diet of adult epic fantasy from the age of nine, leaving her with a rather confused outlook on life – she believes the good guys should always win, but knows they often don’t. She is an oxymoron; an idealistic cynic.

She began her first attempts at the craft of writing in 1992, culminating in the publication of her debut work, Confronting the Demon, in 2013. Her first book to be published with Evolved Publishing is In the Company of the Dead.

She holds degrees in law and accounting, and is a practising financial services lawyer. In her spare time, she speculates about taking over the world – how hard can it really be? If she could be anything, she’d choose a dragon, but if she is honest she shares more in common with Dr. Gregory House of House M.D. – both the good and the bad. She is a browncoat, a saltgunner, a Whedonite, a Sherlockian, a Ringer and a Whovian… OK, most major geek fandoms. Her alignment is chaotic good. She is an INTJ.

Ciara lives in Sydney, Australia, with her husband, her two daughters, and a growing menagerie of animals that unfortunately includes no dragons.


        

Win a $20 Amazon or B&N gift card!



@EvolvedPub @GoddessFish @CiaraBallintyne http://goo.gl/ib1dol

24 comments :

  1. What is the bestjoke that you have heard recently? Thanks for the giveaway. I hope that I win. Bernie W BWallace1980(at)hotmail(d0t)com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 'Insolvency Partner of the Year Award brought to you by Slater & Gordon' #lawyerhumour Slater & Gordon are in financial difficulties, to help make sense of that. A room full of lawyers thought it was hilarious.

      Delete
  2. I like this title. Thank you for the giveaway and excerpt.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! It's been a hard title for me to top.

      Delete
  3. The excerpt was awesome, so exciting :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, it's one of my favourite scenes

      Delete
  4. This book sound very interesting. Thanks so much for this giveaway.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I want to read more...
    Thanks for the contest.

    slehan at juno dot com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, writers NEVER get tired of hearing that!

      Delete
  6. read the excerpt thanks for the giveaway

    tiramisu392 (at) yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. How many books have you written? Rosanne rosans4@comcast.net

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'd like to be a dragon, too.
    Do you base any of your characters on people you know?

    slehan at juno dot com

    ReplyDelete
  9. When did you decide to become a writer?

    ReplyDelete
  10. what is your favorite book of all time , besides the ones of yours ?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks for the excerpt, I enjoyed it!

    ReplyDelete
  12. cool cover, sounds like a fun one!

    ReplyDelete
  13. My daughter likes Medieval-era stories, so I'll bet she'll like this one. Thanks for the giveaway!

    ReplyDelete

PLEASE NOTE: I do not moderate comments, but some go to Spam anyway. Rest assured, I check regularly and will publish non-Spam comments shortly!