Excerpt for the Long Weekend!

I hope everybody is getting a long, enjoyable Memorial Day weekend. I'm about to take my kids to go see Over the Hedge, then later DH and I are going out to dinner and to see X-Men. It's a double feature day! [Dang it, I should have made it a double feature excerpt! Oh well.]

Today’s excerpt is from Conjured in Flames, my first print release. Conjured was originally going to be a Bernadette Gardner title, but that little voice in my head said, “You’ve wanted to see your name in print for thirty years, what are you waiting for now?” So I asked my editor if I could change the name on the book. Fortunately the cover art hadn’t been designed yet, but the contract had been signed and had to be reprinted. I hated being a pest, but it meant a lot to me to see my name in print. Now I have three print titles and I’ll never tire of seeing my name on the cover of a book, but I’ve also come to enjoy my alter ego and someday I hope to see Bernadette’s name on a print title also.

The passion that sparks between Lord Rodan and Gillian is like a living breathing thing. … this adventure kept me turning the pages. – Klarissa Kane, Joyfully Reviewed


Blurb:

Swept into another world by the spell of an evil sorceress, Gillian Lawrence finds herself embroiled in a passionate love, a deadly battle and a bargain for her life.


CONJURED IN FLAMES

Fear jackhammered through Gillian's body as strong arms dragged her backward through the tent. Her heart fluttered like a captured bird, trying to escape her chest.

"Don't scream. It's me..." Rodan's lips grazed her ear and the flood of relief nearly buckled her knees.

He let go, and she turned in his embrace. She would have kissed him except for the haggard, dangerous look on his face. Strands of sweat-darkened hair hung in his eyes. His lips were pale and the golden stubble on his face was more than a day old.

Her heart lurched and thudded again when he caressed her cheek.

"How did you--?"

"Listen, there's not much time." He stilled her protests by placing his thumb over her lips. "The Saracen are in the forest. They're going to ambush the camp."

She nodded. "I sensed they weren't coming by barge. It had to be a decoy."

"You have to warn Baygard."

"Why don't you? If you've seen them--"

"No. You have to do it. He thinks you're Graciela. You have to prove your worth to him. If he sees me, he'll know I've come to take you back and--"

Of course. How stupid could she be? Gillian indulged her longing and slipped her arms around Rodan's waist. She laid her head on his chest for a moment and soaked in the warmth of his body. When he wrapped his arms around her, she noticed his one-sided grip.

"Your arm." She swallowed. She'd seen him deflect Baygard's weapon. The linen wrapped around the wound looked brown and stiff.

"Later," he admonished. "Now, go to Baygard. Warn him, then I'll take you back to Keragar tonight."

"I can't just go...if I leave the tent, his men have orders to kill me. I have to ask him to come here."

Rodan scanned the meager furnishings in the tent, fruitlessly hunting for a hiding place. "I'll wait on the ground outside, next to the cot."

"Baygard...he's dying. He may not live through the battle even if we win."

Rodan's jaw worked. He glared over her head and through the tent flap in the direction of the general's tent. "If he dies, his men will kill you before the Saracen can get to you."

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To find out more about Conjured in Flames visit: http://www.amberquill.com/ConjuredFlames.html