His Master’s Bride by Claudia Herring

His Master’s Bride

by Claudia Herring

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GENRE: Fantasy

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TAGLINE:

A world of mysterious powers and tumultuous intrigues comes to life in Regency England as a djinni, burdened with a dark secret, is thrown into a love triangle fraught with subterfuge.

BLURB:

A troubled djinni seduces his master’s young wife, forcing her to make a fateful choice.

The djinni Yasir, imprisoned in an urn by a jealous magician, searches the centuries for his lost love. He finds Lavinia reborn in 1811 England, only to discover she’s his new master’s bride.

Desperate to have her, Yasir spell-casts Lavinia’s husband to forget he is master and give her the urn. When she opens the ancient vessel, Yasir emerges, terrifying in his magnificence yet somehow familiar, but she fails to recognize him. She distrusts this djinni even though his very presence enchants her.

Yasir’s spell is fading. Lavinia’s husband has changed. Now he’s violent as he struggles with returning memories of when he possessed the urn. Lavinia strives to keep the two from encountering one another, while torn between fidelity for her husband and her increasing attraction to the djinni.

Impatient to win Lavinia’s confidence, Yasir must convince her of her true identity so they can reclaim their life together. He dare not reveal a deeper reason: Only with Lavinia can he regain his freedom and exact revenge on the magician who confined him to the urn—

If she does not go mad from the spell to awaken her memories.

If her husband does not escape the djinni’s magic and discover her secret.

If the magician does not find them first.

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EXCERPT:

 Chapter 12

Peter shoved the door open, a violent thrust that propelled her across the wooden floorboards. By sheer reflex, Lavinia caught herself on the dresser, breaking her fall. She gripped the tiered edge and pushed herself upright, knees throbbing from colliding with the brass handles of the drawers.

His hair snarled in clumps, his mouth a knife-slash of anger, Peter seized Lavinia by the wrists. His grip was like a manacle. She never knew Peter’s strength. Lavinia pulled away, her face ashen. He jerked her close.

“Lavinia, what in God’s name are you up to?” Peter enunciated every word, spitting them out like sour morsels.

He held her at arm’s length and studied her as if she were an abnormal specimen in a laboratory. She shrank from his gaze. The sleeve of his blue wool dressing gown had fallen off his shoulder, caught in the belt tied carelessly around his waist, baring his muscular chest and arm. His hair, a tangle of yellow and cream, fell into his eyes, framing his face, a stern mask of stone.

“How dare you run from me? Shame me in my bed.” With each syllable, Peter squeezed Lavinia’s wrists harder. His voice reverberated throughout the small room. She drew her face and shoulders tight, guarding against a blow, and looked away, fearful of making a sound.

“Look at me, damn you.” Peter wrenched her head towards him, gripping her chin. “I need an heir, Lavinia. I have been patient. You are failing me in your duty. And this, this fleeing from our marriage bed, is intolerable.”

Intolerable. The loathing in his voice frightened her. Peter let go, but she still felt his iron grasp, the heat of his hand. Lavinia wanted most to cover her ears and squeeze her eyes shut, but dared not. She cowered away from him.

“What is it? Am I not to your liking now?” Peter strode to her dressing table and flung his arm over the surface, sweeping her delicate crystal and silver bottles, her brushes with the intaglio silver handles and backs, her pink powders, like refuse, onto the floor. The clang of glass and metal like some hellish symphony clashing through the chamber, through her life.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Claudia Herring aspired to be a baton twirler when she was five and an archaeologist at thirteen. When she became a graphic designer and an author of fantasy, she decided she’d hit upon the perfect compromise.

As a designer and illustrator she formats the written word around visual art. As a writer she weaves words into stories that form worlds. Her novel, “His Master’s Bride,” a historical fantasy with romantic elements set in Regency England, won first prize in the Houston Writer’s Guild Novel Competition. “Ties of Smoke,” next in “The Djinn Chronicles” series, is in its second draft.

When she’s not delving into the world of the Djinn, Claudia is practicing yoga to go to that hushed space where she imagines and plots her next fantasy novel.

If you like Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, or Carol Berg, you’ll love His Master’s Bride.

Links:

Website: http://www.claudiaherring.com

Blog: http://www.claudiaherring.com/blog

Twitter: @claudiakherring

Facebook: http:www.facebook.com/claudia.herring.writer

Amazon author: http://www.amazon.com/author/claudiaherring

The Book is on sale for $0.99 during the tour.

HIS MASTER’S BRIDE:

• Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/mg83vjj

• Apple ibooks: http://apple.co/21dSAru

 • Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/1KZqAE4

• Scribd.: http://bit.ly/1RTkpmy

 • Kobo: http://bit.ly/1LxcCnL

• Page Foundry: http://bit.ly/1RTkqqy

 • 24 Symbols: http://bit.ly/1TudUq2

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Claudia will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here: 

 http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2016/01/excerpt-tour-his-masters-bride-by.html