BeanieBrain Reader

ALL HALLOW'S EVE JOCELYN STOVER

For my contribution in the All Hollow’s Eve Tour, I’m paired up with paranormal writer Jocelyn Stover. She has two books out right now both in The Wanderer Series

Please go to Jessie Lane Official Website or Romancebookworm’s Reviews to see the complete tour schedule with all of the below participating authors.

Out of Reach The Wanderer Series Book 1

You can’t escape who you are, but no one ever stops to explain to you the cost of discovering such knowledge. By the time Gwen learns that her fiery red hair marks her as more than just a bad temper on two legs, it’s too late to make a choice. Catapulted into a realm she doesn’t understand Gwen is forced to embrace an unknown legacy and rely on the word of an old friend, who is more than he seems.

Gwen Cohen has aspired her whole life to reach her current position of project manager at Preston-Ward Pharmaceuticals, but when she stumbles upon a dirty little secret everything changes. As she struggles with the reality of evil and her own powerful legacy, she gets pulled farther from the world she knows and closer to the one she can’t deny.

Eyes finally open, Gwen struggles to unlock the dormant magic within herself before it's too late. The lines between love and desire, and duty and commitment become exceedingly blurred and the ultimate choice to be made may not be between right and wrong but the head and the heart.

**Contents include mature themes and are not intended for a young audience**

Excerpt Meeting Ben:

The whole scene, of which I’ve given you a snippet, was constructed on a whim so I could make light of my favorite fireman clichés: the calendar and that joke about rescuing cats that have gotten themselves stuck up a tree (which appears later). My sense of humor is a little off, I know. What’s even funnier is that after Out of Reach was published a neighbor of mine made an offhand comment and I was reminded of how many firemen I actually know! It’s a lot. To set the record straight, while I am a sucker for the whole uniform thing, Ben isn’t based off of anyone I know. Sorry to disappoint but this sexy man candy can only be found in the pages of Out of Reach.

Sigh… meet Ben:

Halfway through my old-school impression of head banging, I overhear the women next to me say, “God, I hope he’s in the calendar this year.”

“Yeah, Mr. February can pay me a house call anytime,” her friend chimes in.

“February? Why February?”

“Because silly, it’s my birth month and those wintery blue eyes are to die for.”

Giggling, their storm of compliments continues, spreading around the bar like wildfire. Lifting my head, I run my fingers through the unruly strands of my hair, smoothing them back into place as best I can after my recent dance exploit. I don’t even have to glance up into the mirror: I know exactly who those women are talking about. My fireman has arrived.

Reaching into my purse, I grab my lip gloss and apply a fresh coat of shine. Sitting up straight on my stool, I take a deep breath then silently count to three before gazing into the angled mirror above us.

The firemen have most certainly arrived, and every woman within spitting distance of their table is on high alert. While most of them are casually dressed, sporting jeans and their navy logo t-shirts, a few of them are rocking the uniform. It’s the work of a moment for my brain to dismiss most of the party and lock onto to the face of one uniformed man sitting with his back to the window.

Yes, his eyes are a soft wintery blue; the woman next to me got that much correct, but there’s so much more to them than that. From my perch at the bar, I’ve seen frost in those eyes on occasion and, let me tell you, the reflection of the winter storm can be just as glorious as the friendly glow they’re exuding tonight.

Shivering slightly, I hold my breath as my eyes continue to drink him in. He’s fair-haired with sculpted cheek-bones and lightly bronzed skin (the healthy kind that comes from spending time outdoors), tall enough that even I have to tilt my head back a little to look into the splendor of his face. Leanly muscular but not too bulky, his body moves with the easy grace of an athlete.

Shaking my head from side to side I sigh, looking down at my beer bottle for distraction. It goes without saying: I’ve been stalking this fair-haired Viking god of a man for quite some time. In fact, he’s the reason Melanie started frequenting The Spotted Dog on Friday nights.

“Here,” says Melanie, handing me a shot of something. Giggling she says, “You look like you could use one.”

Holding her glass up we both smile and simultaneously throw back our drinks. As the warmth of the alcohol spreads through me, I begin to relax. Melanie and I take up our familiar pattern of ogling the firemen, people watching, and dancing. Clapping for the guitarist as he finishes a well-executed solo, my eyes are suddenly attracted by movement in the mirror above. I see my fireman making his way toward the bar.

Sensing him approach along every nerve, I sit stone-still on my stool and stare straight ahead. He leans up against the bar directly between Melanie and me and proceeds to order a couple pitchers of beer from José before turning toward me.

“Are you planning to come over and say hello to the guys tonight?” he asks me.

“No, not tonight,” I reply as nonchalantly as possible. Stifling a grin, I glance over into his eyes and ask, “Are you going to dance with me tonight?”

Looking over at the band he pauses for a moment before directing his gaze back to me and answering, “No, not tonight.”

Flashing me that crooked, school-boy grin, he collects his order from José and heads back to his table.

Laughing at our by-play Melanie leans closer to be heard above the music and says, “Smooth, Gwen, real smooth.”

My Review:

I was given this book by author for honest review. Book 1 in The Wanderer Series gives a history of how Kade along with 11 of his brothers turn Wanderers in order to watch over the Sylph’s and how Gwen Matthews, a Nephilim, has to learn about and control her powers in order to save the world. This book takes an interesting journey into the world of good vs evil with a love triangle thrown in to mess up the works.

Amazon ∞ B&N ∞ Smashwords

A Step Away The Wanderer Series Book 2

“Time...such a cruel mistress of fate. What we do with ours can either enrich our lives or destroy them, and we mortals never seem to have enough. The right time, our time, was too little and over much too quickly.”

A Step Away book 2 of the Wanderer Series picks up where book 1 ended. Gwen, Ben, and Kade are back and this chapter of their story is more strained than the last. While their attention is focused on vanquishing an ancient enemy everything else spins out of control.

When Gwen turns her back on a set of smoldering amber eyes in favor of a crystal blue pair, her plan is to sever all ties with the Wanderers. Her goodbye is short lived; however, when the investigation into Preston-Ward Pharmaceuticals reveals a powerful sylph has escaped. When Gwen is drawn back into the Wanderer brotherhood for her own protection she discovers she can no longer bury her feelings for Kade or ignore the growing gulf between her and Ben. As the unrelenting hunt for their ancient enemy heats up, Gwen’s attempt to straddle two worlds becomes tedious. She must choose, but when nephilim mysteriously begin to disappear her time may be up.

**Contents include mature themes and are not intended for a young audience**

Excerpt Z and Gwen’s run:

“Change your clothes, we’re going for a run,” Z states.

“What? No!”

“Just indulge me.” His clipped tone lets me know there’s no getting out of this, and I can tell he’s trying very hard to keep the usual expletives and name calling that decorate his speech to a minimum.

“Fine,” I reply, not at all thrilled by the prospect of hanging out with Z. I bang around loudly while I don appropriate attire, like a toddler throwing a fit, and it actually makes me feel a bit better. Sullenly I keep my mouth shut and follow Z outside to the pavement, at which point he starts running and I have no choice but to truck it to match his long strides.

“What are we doing?” I huff after several minutes of soundlessly pounding the pavement.

“We’re finally going to have that chat about the chip on my shoulder.”

“Oh.”

“Surprised?” he inquires, grinning.

“Yes,” I admit, grateful that this isn’t going to be about me.

“Don’t look so smug, we’ll get to you.” Damn it. I knew it was too good to be true. “So go on, ask me,” he continues, ignoring the sour look on my face.

“What’s your deal? Why do you let that guy get to you? I know you were close when you two were Sylph but you’re an entirely different species now.” My joke about his ilk earns me a laugh.

“I was changed, yes, but my memories are still there. The angels didn’t start me off with a blank slate.”

“You guys never really talk about that, you just allude to it now and again.”

“Do you like to talk about all your mistakes?”

“Well no,” I reply floundering, the conversation steering me more than I’m leading it. “Wait!” I blurt out as a shred of higher reasoning comes to my rescue. “You feel guilty, don’t you?”

“Geez, you’re dense.” Z laughs and rolls his eyes.

“Seriously Z, that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Oh really,” he says and stops running to confront me. “I’ve killed more people than I can count… many of them children.”

“That’s just it: you haven’t killed anyone. A long time ago there lived a monster, and yes he killed a lot of people, but his name wasn’t Zafir. How can you beat yourself up over something you didn’t do? That you had absolutely no control over?”

“How can you?” he asks in return.

My Review:

I was given this book by author for honest review. When I started book 2 I was wondering if the story would get better, it very much lived up to my expectations. Once again told from both Kade’s and Gwen view points it covers more of Gwen getting control of her powers. Several fights with the Sylph and the love triangle resolved. The ending epilogue is somewhat of a cliffhanger but entirely worth the read.

Amazon ∞ Smashwords

Author Jocelyn Stover

A native Oregonian I headed south to sunny California a few years back to dry out. Easily bored I have and thrive on what I like to call the traditional chaotic life, juggling family, friends, and work. Writing has become an outlet letting me download the competing voices in my head onto paper, thus saving alittle of my sanity. I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it. My dislikes include long walks, bubble bathes, and cold weather. My likes in order of importance include Coca-cola, sunshine, and running. Jocelyn resides with her husband, who keeps her sane, and her four beautiful children. When not writing she’s outside soaking up the sunshine.

Current WIP:

WIPs - 64,000 words into an untitled contemporary romance. Hospital setting, first person narrative, follows Veronica through the first year of her plastic surgery residency where the hot doctors she's studying under may make achieving her dream harder than she realizes. It rides the line between NA and adult and there is a lot of character growth and awakening.