Monday, October 15, 2018

Virtual Book Tour: Circle of Dreams by Jane S. Morrissey




Circle of Dreams
Quytel Series
Book One
Jane S. Morrissey

Genre: Paranormal Romantic Fiction

Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing, New York

Date of Publication: 2017

ISBN: 978-1-68291-297-3

Number of pages: 350
Word Count: 100,959

Cover Artist: Melody Pond, Soul Mate Publishing

Tagline: Spheres of power usher a new and dangerous secret

Book Description:

Leader of an elite psychic team, Cole Courtland is a shape-shifting wolf with a deep connection to the power of the Earth. His investigation of a string of mysterious murders throws him into the dangerous world of the Quytel and leads him straight to Brianna Doherty’s door.

Bri is plagued by vicious nightmares of death and pain that leave her wondering about her own history. When her home is under siege, an enigmatic stranger appears out of nowhere to save her.

Thrown together in a tangle of desire and danger, they are pulled deeper into the secretive world of the Quytel, an ancient order charged with maintaining the balance of psychic and paranormal power on earth. Staying one step ahead of those who would destroy them, they struggle to unravel the truth of Bri’s past and her family legacy. As her relationship with Cole grows stronger, the reality of who Bri is threatens to tear them apart.


Excerpt:
She knew she wouldn’t survive much longer. Her soul had been crushed under the weight of what she’d been forced to do. It happened more frequently now, and the toll it took on her each time was tremendous.
Was there any part of her original self that remained?
She tried sometimes to remember what her life had been like, who she had been before. Memory was a curious torture that grew less important each day.
She couldn’t find the strength to fight it anymore. She hadn’t fought it for years.
Had it only been years? It felt like centuries. She had no way of knowing.
What had been left of her heart had shriveled up and died long ago, and in its place, a festering addiction. An addiction he had grown and cultivated with patience and persistence over the long, excruciating years.
Bargaining with the devil was soul deadening.
He was coming to her, for her. She knew it as well as she knew her own breath. Death drew closer with each click of his shiny shoes.
One day soon it might be. She prayed most days it would.
She thought again about evil and power. Was she the evil she had been made into? This question invaded her thoughts more now than it had in the past.
In the beginning she had tried to refuse him, hadn’t she? To fight his power over her? To pretend his threats wouldn’t destroy her soul? To keep a small part of herself separate from the horror of it, from him? He had worn her down mercilessly until only the thinnest layer of her true self remained beneath the monster who now craved the power he fed her.
It scared her more to think a piece of her still hoped for a different outcome.
The key turned in the lock, and she waited. Waited for his now familiar and always frightening face to emerge. That little half smile twisting into a cruel sneer when he wanted to use her. He knew. It was all in his sick smile. She waited for his scent to reach her nostrils. A wave of fear and anticipation washed over her.
She was his monster, and at times she knew at least that much.
He smiled at her. She knew what he thought of her. He’d told her countless times. His treasure. His salvation. His ultimate success.
“My dear, it’s time.”
***
Bri drifted between slumber and waking, memories of her mother slipping in and out of her sleep-drenched mind. The way her mother had held her close and rocked her to sleep as a baby. The love in each touch as she gently stroked her cheek, dressed her, or tucked her in at night—her mother’s green eyes sparkling with love and amusement.
Those eyes.
Dread and a frightening eagerness crept in, waking her up. If she fell asleep, it would come again.
Feeling the delicate weight of the coin in her hand, her body started to tingle. Bri tried to calm her erratic breathing and keep hope at bay and fear in check, but terror crouched inside her mind. She had to see those eyes again for herself.
Paralysis gripped her. Pain ground into her bones, and the deepest sadness she’d ever felt throbbed in her veins. Her throat constricted. She couldn’t take it another moment, but she had to.
It’s a dream! It’s not real! she yelled. It came out as a whisper, not at all convincing. She had to endure a little longer, hold on to more than her sanity.
Through a swirl of mist, the cave emerged and an unseen hand encircled her neck. Bri tried to turn around to see her attacker.
No one. She gasped and clawed at her neck with her free hand, barely able to suck in little sips of air. Fear made her heart stutter and then thud painfully in her chest. Could the nightmare actually kill her?
Bri clung hard to the coin in her hand. Remembering. The death grip on her throat loosened, and she could breathe again. The rush of adrenaline made her knees weak. Terror slowly drained out of her feet, reabsorbed into the walls of the cave with a flicker illuminating a crystal here and there. Her mind began to clear.
A small, barely conscious part of her rejoiced as the knot of dread deep in her stomach unfurled a little at a time. She looked around the landscape of her nightmare with new eyes. And then she felt him.
Bri turned to the man standing beside her and was nearly blinded by a flashing light partially obscured by his body. The air had turned thick as if the molecules inside the cave had become oversaturated, slowing any movement to a crawl.
The man had his back to her. A good foot taller than she, his dark hair, highlighted by silver streaks, seemed to shimmer in the now-flickering light of the cave. The effect was mesmerizing.
She crept forward, forcing one foot in front of the other.
The man turned as if he sensed her presence, and their eyes met, gray touching green, his high cheekbones and beautiful expression somehow familiar.
He had broad shoulders and a powerful build. Her stomach flipped, and her breath quickened. She had the strangest urge to rub up against him and kiss the tender spot at the base of his neck just to taste him. For a moment, Bri forgot where she was, the fear of the dream fading. This apparition was without a doubt the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen.
He suddenly wailed, a terrifying sound that tore at her heart. Light poured out of him, too much for his body to contain. She reached out to catch him, hold on to him, but it was like trying to catch a cloud, wisps of his essence floating through her fingers.
Deep in the recesses of her mind, she heard her own scream

of despair as his body melted into nothingness


About the Author:

Jane Morrissey is a paranormal romance writer who loves romance, magic, and writing. Her paranormal romantic mysteries will keep you reading late into the night. Jane spends her time writing, enjoying the glorious California Coast near her home and spending as much time as she can with family and friends.




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