Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Romance in a Basket #8---5 FREE BOOKS

                  

             From Still Moments Magazine 
                  another great give away... 
           Win 5 e-books including both of my 
             award winning Western Romances. 
                   It's FREE, take a chance!

                          Drawing 10/30/17
                 Go here to enter free give-away    
       
Publisher's Pick
Clover City, Colorado—1888

A mysterious letter and the drop-dead handsome town marshal, are the last things Mariah expects to find making rounds as a midwife. 

Mariah McAllister plans to be married before her next birthday. Too bad Marshal Virgil Kincaid barely knows she’s alive. Not one to give up easily, she’s determined to show him she has an abiding passion for more than her work.

Virgil Kincaid loved a woman once—after she broke his heart, he spent three years in prison. Women can’t be trusted, no matter how good they look. He’s sworn off relationships in favor of Saturday night poker games. Life is simple—the way he wants it…until a stranger turns up dead in the road. 

Forced to work side by side with Mariah, Virgil begins to wonder if she might be his second chance at love. As they trade kisses and oh so much more, he’s willing to take the gamble. But when a killer threatens their once peaceful town, all bets are off.  


Maple Leaf Award 


Colorado, 1880
When East End London meets the Wild West, sparks fly.

   Kicked out of England for offending the Royal Family, Britania Rule heads for Leadville, in the Colorado backcountry. Passing herself off as a highborn lady, she pursues her dream of opening a parlor of spiritual enlightenment.

 Cody James, her guide, thinks he must be half-crazy to hire-out to a female. But his luck at the gaming tables has run dry, and she’s his meal-ticket out of town. Betrayed by the only woman he ever loved, and shot and left for dead by a man he once called friend, Cody declares himself a loner.


   Traveling side by side, they deny their desire for one another, but the Tarot cards say otherwise—and their hot night of passion confirms the prediction. Will love be waiting at the end of the trail? Or could Cody’s past destroy their future? 





Monday, October 9, 2017

Who wrote Beowulf? One author's Romantic theory.

   Beowulf—the very name steps up my pulse rate and floods my mind with images of a larger than life Storm Geat warrior. A pagan hero of great integrity who faced a changing political environment, an otherworldly enemy, and a lonely existence. 

No other epic poem has elicited such heated debates.

  
How old is the manuscript? Who conceived of this intricately woven tale, a saga written in a language the main character’s ears never heard, with a poetic text flavored with religious inferences from a faith he never practiced?
  


     Pondering these questions, I wrote Iron Heart
              where history, myth and romance
                          meet and catch fire.  
Cover Art by Debbie Taylor, 
original Beowulf manuscript 
can be seen in background!
  
                   Follow Beowulf's ancestor, 
                      Tyne Farren Kilbraun,                             
                  and explore one possibility. 

              



England: circa. 879 A.D.
    With the heart of a warrior and the soul of a poet, Faran Kilbraun travels far from home in search of the sword and shield of his ancestors. Protecting the ancient relics was his responsibility. Now, to regain his honor, he must recover the stolen artifacts and battle a life-long enemy.  

   
Following the accidental death of her cruel husband, Leanora Wrenn is wrongly accused of his murder. Forced into exile, a small north shore island becomes her lonely refuge—exoneration her only hope. 

    When Faran discovers Leanora's remote sanctuary, both their lives are changed forever. Comrades-in-arms, they fight side by side for their chance at redemption and love.             
AMAZON   Barnes & Noble  WILD ROSE PRESS



                 PRAISE for IRON HEART
 Vicki at Sizzling Hot Books gave it 5 out of 5 hearts and states “Iron Heart gives the classic epic adventures a run for their money. 

     Rifkin weaves a tale of romance and adventure that could easily be shared around a blazing campfire. Fans of mythology and epic adventures will enjoy Ms Rifkin's book...Veronica Marie Beaumont at The Romance Reviews 


 The Medieval Chronicle. “A wonderfully captivating blend of medieval history and fantasy.”


Excerpt:

                     Faran, the Iron Heart.
   It was a name that set one’s mind to wondering.
Did he pride himself on disallowing any woman to
touch his cold hard heart? Did he woo ladies into
love trysts with promises of treasure and pleasure
only to tragically desert them?
    For certes he was unlike anyone Leanora had
ever known. He approached life fearlessly, as if he
dared anyone to cross his path, his mood, or the
territory he called his own. And his generous mouth
was an unbidden fascination. It could accommodate
a childlike smile, tempering all the fierceness he
worked so hard to portray. Or it could accommodate
a reassuring smile, making her believe everything in
her troubled world would be all right.
     He was handsome to be sure—with a rock hard
body, images of which occupied her thoughts much
too often. And his mind was also intriguing, and as strikingly developed as his form. It was a quality
Leanora truly admired. Knowledge could be a
powerful weapon, and Faran appeared well armed.
   To her benefit, he seemed preoccupied with the
present and not with prying into her past. Nor did
he threaten to rule her future. He treated her
differently, he treated her like...a friend. 
   The idea stunned her. Life had never afforded her the opportunity to know or cherish another person in
such a manner. Another new experience.
   Then a spark of yearning for more than mere
friendship flickered inside of her. You can never trust
a man, she chastised, you can only believe in
yourself. Unyielding logic cooled the fiery ember of
need, but not before it claimed the barren part of her never before touched by warmth or light