Hello everyone! I am so pleased to welcome author M.A Church back to the blog.  M.A. is here to talk to us more about her latest release, Shadows in the Night.  She has brought along a great excerpt, as well as a copy to give away to one lucky winner.  So please join me in giving M.A. a big welcome!


Sometimes you grow to love the shadow that follows.
– Donna Lynn Hope

Hey everyone! I’m M.A. Church and I’m here to talk about my latest book called Shadows in the Night from Dreamspinner, which will be released July 12th. It’s a paranormal/shifter novel that focuses on a modern man, named Chip, who has 21st century values. Chip lives in a time when equality is slowly making its way across the nation. He’s used to modern conveniences and isn’t afraid to stand up for what he believes in.

Can such a man come to care for Jason, a Native American shifter, who has lived since Time marched across the land we now call America? He witnessed the horrors, firsthand, when the white man came to their shores. Jason lived at a time when ‘survival of the fittest’ wasn’t just a catch phrase. He was once a strong warrior, a fierce Indian brave, who had no understanding of things such as equal rights. Has Time taught him anything?

When these two worlds collide, who will be the winner? Can the Native American shifter learn the ways of this new culture? But… can Chip accept there are beings out there that are… less than human? Will Jason be able to treat Chip as an equal? And lol, will Chip let Jason do anything else, for that matter? Can Jason accept a ‘white man’ as his mate?

And more importantly, can Jason keep Chip safe from another shifter who has murder on his mind?


Blurb

Shadows in the Night
A Leap of Faith Novel

shadows in the nightWhen Chip Riley’s beloved granny passes away, she leaves him all her money, her land, and a house that needs some tender love and care. She never mentioned the legacy comes with a Native American shifter who intends to claim Chip as his mate.

Jason Sky has lived since buffalo roamed the land. When his totem spirit, a black cougar, saves a little girl, he doesn’t realize that generations later, her grandson will become his mate, leaving him to take on a modern man with modern ideas. But that’s the least of his problems.

Garon, another shifter with a long-held hatred for Jason, plots to kidnap Chip and lure Jason to his death. Soon Chip finds himself in an untenable position between a rock and a hard place. A leap of faith may be the only way to save himself and the man he’s learned to love.

  • Pages: 200
  • Cover Artist: L.C. Chase
  • eBook: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3990
  • Paperback: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3991

Excerpt

Panting for air, Chip stared at the animal. The thing was freaking huge, black as night, and bleeding all over his porch from a bite on the back of its leg. To make matters even more interesting, it was lying in front of the door. Now what?

“Okay, Plan B.”

Chip sidestepped to the left, moving slowly. Hadn’t he read somewhere not to make eye contact—cats took that as a sign of aggression? Or was that dogs? Did it matter at this point? The cat was bigger than he was and had long, sharp teeth and claws—enough said. Maybe if he could ease around to the back door—

Calmly the creature lifted a paw and cleaned the blood from its muzzle. Eyes trained on Chip, it let out a loud warning yip, then slammed its paw down.

“Son of a….” Chip yelped as he cleared the ground in fright. Once he had his feet planted safely back on Mother Earth—and his heart crammed back into his chest—he glanced at the black cougar. Now it was tending the bite to its haunch. Again, Chip edged toward the back of the house and another loud yip sounded, stopping him in his tracks. But the big cat climbing to its feet made the air in his lungs freeze. With a grace that belied the pain it had to be in, it jumped off the porch.

Feet rooted to the ground, Chip watched as the cougar, rumbling deep in its chest, blocked the path to the back of the house. He risked all and made eye contact. Holding his eyes, the black cougar turned its head, slowly looking at the front door. Cutting its gaze back at him, it huffed out a breath. Chip, mouth hanging open, stared at the big cat.

Oh no, it did not just…!

Chip side-stepped again, and the animal’s tail swished on the ground and again it slammed its paw down. Once more, it yipped at him.

Oh yes, it just did.

“That’s it, I’ve flipped completely out. Heat stroke combined with sheer fright has fried my brain.” Why the hell does it want me to go in the front door? Did I really just think that? Chip flinched as the cat stepped nearer. “Okay! Front door it is. Then a phone call to the local shrink, ’cause I’ve lost my damn mind.”

Chip walked backward; he was not taking his eyes off that wild animal. And damn if it wasn’t following him. At last he reached the porch and had to turn around or trip. Jumping on the porch, he dug in his pocket for his keys. The thump of the big cat landing behind him caused him to go light-headed and made his hand shake. The smell of crushed grass, wild animal, and something more pronounced—a woodsy musk—enveloped him.

“Get the door open, Chip. Now,” he mumbled to himself as he dug his keys out of his front pocket. He stabbed the key at the lock. Why the hell did they make these things so damn small? Didn’t the stupid manufacturers understand that being ordered by a big-assed cat weighing more than him and standing waist high was a fucking tad unnerving? Thank God he hadn’t locked the deadbolt. Just as he slid his key in, a low, vicious growl sounded behind him.

Chip closed his eyes, assaulted by visions of his body torn to bits. Glancing over his shoulder—prepared to look death in the eye—he instead found the big cat staring at the woods. Its ears were laid low, tail twitching madly, and hair bristling. It dawned on Chip the black cougar had its body between him and woods, almost as if it was… guarding him.

Was that other cat out there?

With a hiss, the big cat stepped away from Chip, backed up to one of the pillars, and arched its tail….

“Oh come on. Not with the spraying again!”

The smell of urine flooded the area as the black cougar turned its head and balefully eyed Chip. Looking back at the woods, it let loose a scream that had every hair on Chip’s body standing up. But the answering call made him light-headed.

Something was out there.

A not-so-gentle nudge nearly knocked Chip off his feet but got his attention. The damn animal was herding him indoors. Throwing the door open, he scrambled inside and slammed it shut. He quickly locked the door. When that didn’t make him feel any more secure, he used his keys to lock the deadbolt.

“Oh God, oh God….”

His mind was in an uproar—mainly because he had company. The big cat had trailed him into the house. He’d tried to keep it out, but it just shoved its way inside. Stunned, he watched the black cougar limp across the floor toward the kitchen. Unsure what else to do, Chip stood by the door. Should he… should he grab his shotgun? Stay frozen by the door? Completely panic? Jesus, now what? Instead of having a tiger by the tail, he had a cougar underfoot. A very large cougar that didn’t exist.

“Okay, shit. Now what?”

Instinct told him to grab his shotgun, but honestly, the animal hadn’t tried to hurt him. If he wasn’t mistaken, it had protected him. Freaked him out, sure, but defended him. Curiosity, and yes, trepidation, had Chip following the animal into the kitchen to find the damn thing headfirst in the sink, trying to turn on the touch faucet. Chip locked both locks on the backdoor too. Yes, he’d just locked himself in with a large wild animal, but the one outside scared him more. Kind of.

“You thirsty?”

The cougar’s tail swished as it looked back at him, then tapped the spout. Unable to believe what he’d just seen, he watched the cougar drink. It was as if it knew how to turn the faucet on. His eyes traveled down the length of the animal. Holy hell, he had no idea these animals got so enormous… and intelligent. Much too intelligent.

“Ah, um, if you’ll back up some, I’ll see if I can find a water bowl.”

The big cat settled on his haunches. Chip found a large plastic bowel under the cabinet and filled it with water. His uninvited guest acted as if it understood him, but that was impossible. Wasn’t it? Of course it was. Chip set the bowl on the floor and dropped into a kitchen chair as the cougar quenched its thirst. Once done, it curled up on the floor and resumed cleaning its coat.

How the hell was he supposed to get this animal out of his house? Especially since it acted as if it wasn’t ready to leave. Not that it mattered; he was not opening the door right now, not with whatever else was out there. Chip rested his hand on his chin. And what was the scent? He had smelled it earlier when the big cat crowded him into the front door. It reminded him of another scent, but his scrambled mind couldn’t place where he’d smelled it.

Maybe in the morning he should take his shotgun and do a little exploring. Then again, he was really more of a city boy. As Chip sat at the kitchen table, his uninvited houseguest curled on the floor, head resting on its paws, eyes closed. Every move Chip made had the cougar’s ears twitching toward him. Nearly half an hour had passed, and Chip’s ass ached from the hard kitchen chair. To add to his discomfort, his stomach was gnawing. After a particularly loud grumble, the animal’s eyes blinked opened, and the big cat stretched its long body. Sharp claws extended from the pads of the cougar’s paws, and then it came to its feet. Chip gulped at the sight.

“Jesus, you need a trim.”

The animal looked at him and yawned, displaying long, deadly canines. Chip swallowed hard again. He had a predator sitting at his feet, eyeing him. What if he wasn’t the only one hungry? Chip gripped the table as the cat stepped closer to him, whiskers twitching. Then the creature turned and padded over to the refrigerator, rubbing against it. Chip shook his head. Talk about your not-so-subtle hints. He slowly stood, waiting to see what the big cat would do. Unconcerned, it moved into the living area and made its way around the room, stopping at each window.

“Damn thing acts like it’s checking the windows and stuff.”

Since the cougar was occupied, he grabbed the prime cut of streak he’d planned to grill for dinner later in the week. Better to sacrifice the steak than have the animal sample his prime cut. With that thought in mind, he decided steak would be the only meat he fixed. No point in tempting Fate. Turning his back, he quickly prepared a bag of prepackaged salad and dumped blue cheese dressing over it. When he turned back, he came face to face with the big cat, who was sitting on the bar.

“Sweet baby Jesus!” Chip yelped.


Author Bio

M.A. Church lives in the southern United States and spent many years in the elementary education sector. She is married to her high school sweetheart and they have two children. Her hobbies are gardening, walking, attending flea markets, watching professional football, racing, and spending time with her family on the lake.

But her most beloved hobby is reading. From an early age, she can remember hunting for books at the library. Later nonhuman and science fiction genres captured her attention and drew her into the worlds the authors had created. But always at the back of her mind was the thought that one day, when the kids were older and she had more time, she would write a book.

By sheer chance she stumbled across a gay male romance story on the web and was hooked. A new world opened up and she fell in love. Thus the journey started. When not writing or researching, she enjoys reading the latest erotic and mainstream romance novels.

My links:


Giveaway

M.A. Church has brought a copy of Shadows in the Night to give away to one lucky reader. Leave a comment at the end of the post to enter.  The contest closes on Monday, July 15th at 11:59 pm EST.  

  • By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win.  The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
  • If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
  • Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
  • Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize.
  • By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
  • Readers may only enter once for each contest.  Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
  • Void where prohibited by law. 
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