Hi guys! I am so excited to welcome author S.E. Jakes here today. She is here to talk about her latest release, Catch a Ghost, which I reviewed earlier this week and totally loved. She has brought a great excerpt to share and also an awesome giveaway (can you say Kindle people?). So please join me in giving her a big welcome!
Hey everyone!!! Thanks to Joyfully Jay for having me here 🙂 I’m on my first Riptide Blogtour to celebrate the release of Catch A Ghost! It’s the first book in the Hell or High Water series and it’s getting some awesome reviews from old and new readers alike, so that’s really cool for me!
So for Miss Jay, I’m going to give you guys an exclusive excerpt from Catch A Ghost. This is from the middle of the book. You can read a really big chunk of the book (first several chapters) here as well. But this scene…well, when you read the book, you’ll understand why it’s pretty special.
Excerpt
“What’re you doing?” Prophet asked, his voice roughened by lack of sleep rather than sleep itself. For the past half an hour, he’d appeared to be resting with his eyes slightly open, while Tom tried to come down from the sex high that had rolled into the post-migraine drug high.
Tom wondered what the hell Prophet was scared of when he closed his eyes. Knew better than to ask. But he hadn’t been able to resist grabbing a marker to draw on Prophet’s casts. The man hadn’t noticed until Tom was well into covering up the other phone numbers on the casts. Prophet stared between the casts and Tom, gave a small smirk, but didn’t complain.
“Go back to sleep,” he told Prophet, although he was still hazy too, in that place between dreaming and waking, where his body felt good and he wasn’t sure any of this was real. Where he was still high enough not to really give a shit that he was doing something he’d never do if he wasn’t.
But Prophet leaned in to watch him drawing the nautical star that mirrored the one Tom had tattooed over his heart. He’d gotten far enough that you couldn’t see Dale’s phone number any longer. “Nice star.”
“Figured you’d appreciate that.”
“I know you covered the number.”
“Good.”
“Good that I know or good that you covered it?” Prophet asked.
“Yeah.”
“You’re fucked in the head, Tommy.”
Tom grunted, kept drawing. He was stringing together what was left of the numbers now, mesmerized by the way he was able to connect everything. That’s what he liked most about the work he did—there were patterns in everything, in crimes, in good and evil, in life in general. Sometimes he felt like he could follow those paths forever.
Sometimes he feared they’d lead him down to hell and back.
Haven’t they already?
“You draw your own tats too?” Prophet’s voice grabbed him out of his reverie.
“Some of them.” Tom sketched around the names, using some tribal symbols, a sugar skull, and anything else that struck him. Art tended to mesmerize him and he liked being able to follow his mind’s lead without having to think on it.
“Where’d you get them done?”
“Got a friend in the business.”
“An ex?”
Tom frowned. “Kind of.” The man who’d inked him was truly the last person he wanted to think about, talk about, especially right now. “Don’t you have any exes?”
Prophet laughed. “If I did, you know they’d all be after me. With shotguns.”
“Only the men, or the women too?”
“Take your pick. I’ll fuck anyone for the job, T. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t. But for my personal life, men suit me. Always have.”
“No questions? No angst?”
“Not about that.”
He answered that so easily. But just because it seemed like Prophet had let him in didn’t mean the man had actually let him in. Tom hadn’t been so high that he didn’t know the actual difference.
Prophet reached out to trace the dreamcatcher on Tom’s shoulder and biceps. Tom fought the urge to shudder at the touch, but stopped what he was doing. He could let Prophet trace his tattoos all day long. “You have bad dreams, Tommy?”
Tom didn’t answer, because it didn’t really seem to be a question. Instead, he asked, “Do you want me to draw you one?”
Prophet glanced at him and, after a second’s hesitation, shrugged like it didn’t matter. But it did.
Tom sketched on the inside of Prophet’s right cast, since he’d covered the left with tribal markings and the skull. He started with the circle, a difficult proposition on the surface and the angle, but he managed, filled it in with a similar look to his. And then he drew the feathers carefully, so they curled around like Prophet’s arm like an embrace.
It might’ve taken minutes or hours, but Tom was bleary- eyed when he finished. He looked up and saw Prophet studying it.
“Does it work?” Prophet asked.
“You never know how much worse things could be,” Tom told him.
“Are you always this wise, or is it the meds?”
Tom laughed. “Definitely not always. How long do they have to stay on?”
“Who the fuck knows. I think Doc just does it to torture me. He told me that the next time I take my casts off myself, he’d put them on with pink wrapping. Like that would stop me. Like I’m afraid of pink.” He paused. “Okay, I’m a little afraid of pink. But I’d just wear long gloves or something.”
***
So I’m having a contest that will run through the end of this blog tour on my website. In order to be eligible, you just need to leave a comment here! Actually, you can comment on my blog and any other blogs along this tour and you’ll be entered separately for a chance to win with each comment 🙂
Let’s talk about talisman. Do you believe in them? Do you have any good luck charms? (I do for sure!)
About SE Jakes
SE Jakes writes m/m romance. She believes in happy endings and fighting for what you want in both fiction and real life. She lives in New York with her family and most days, she can be found happily writing (in bed). No really…
You can contact her the following ways:
You can email her at authorsejakes@gmail.com
You can post to her Facebook page: Facebook.com/SEJakes
You can Tweet her: Twitter.com/authorsejakes
You can post on her Goodreads Group: Ask SE Jakes
You can follow her Tumblr page: sejakes.tumblr.com
Truth be told, the best way to contact her is by email or in blog comments. She spends most of her time writing but she loves to hear from readers!
About Catch A Ghost
The past can only hold you hostage if you let it…
Everyone knows that Prophet—former Navy SEAL, former CIA spook, full-time pain in the ass—works alone and thinks only about the trouble he can cause. But his boss, Phil Butler of Extreme Escapes, LTD., has just assigned Proph not only a new partner but also a case haunted by ghosts from Proph’s past. Suddenly, he’s got to confront them both head on.
Tom Boudreaux—failed FBI agent, failed sheriff, full time believer in bad luck—is wondering why the head of a private contracting firm has hunted him down to offer him a job. Still he’s determined to succeed this time, despite being partnered with Prophet, EE, LTD’s most successful, lethal, and annoying operative, and even though the case is also resurrecting his own painful past.
Together, Prophet and Tom must find a way to take down killers in the dangerous world of underground cage matches, while fighting their own dangerous attraction. And when they find themselves caught in the crossfire, these two loners are forced to trust each other and work together to escape their ghosts . . . or pay the price.
You can read and excerpt and purchase at Riptide books! Book 2 in the series, Long Time Gone, is also up for preorder from Riptide here.
Giveaway
As S.E. mentioned, she is offering an amazing giveaway! The grand prize, is a Kindle Paperwhite, second prize is a $25 Amazon gift certificate, and third prize is a $10 Amazon gift certificate. You can enter here and in a bunch of other places, including all the tour stops and on S.E.’s blog. So don’t miss you chance for one of these awesome prizes. The contest will end the last day of the tour and the winners will be picked within 24 hours.
I believed in them when I was younger – still do, now that I think about it – but I have yet to find the talisman which really speaks to me. 🙂
I’m sure it’ll show at some point and then my university will be far smoother. 😉
I can’t say that I believe in them. At the same time my husband and I started a tradition on our first trip together of buying an elephant in some form from every place we’ve traveled. We have to get the elephant before we get on the plane to go home. I can’t say if it matters or not because we haven’t missed one yet (they make perfect *different* souvenirs too). Thank you for the excerpt and the giveaway!
I believe in talismans, but don’t really have one right now. Maybe that’s something I need to do soon.
I believe in them, but don’t seem to have one at the moment. The last one I had was an ankle bracelet from a BFF who had passed away – but this summer I wore through the silver and it broke. Maybe because I rarely took it off? 🙂
I do believe in talismans. I still have the angel I made for my husband’s (then boyfriend’s) rear view mirror of the car he had when we first got together. My main talisman has been my Kindle my BFF got me last year. It is is a piece of her I carry with me every where. I am a firm believer of signs along the way of life. Rainbows have been the biggest one letting us know everything is going to be okay, someday.
I haven’t really thought much about them either way, though I do get a little superstitious during the Stanley Cup playoffs. (Nothing’s worked yet, so I don’t know if that means anything.) I do think symbols are a meaningful thing, though…
I think I have the odd superstition, but the problem with me is, I often forget about them. So fat lot of good they’d ever do me.
I would just like to pop in and say how much I love this cover…Gah! it’s so sexy!! Okay…that’s out of my system…good luck charms? Hmm…I do have an old dog toy…it’s a plush hotdog…I know it’s weird, but I had a dog for fifteen years. He has since passed on, but he was fiercely protective and one of the best friends a young girl could have asked for…so it reminds me of him. Like I said…weird, I know…but *shrugs*
Yes I do believe in them. Thanks for the giveaway!
I believe in them. There was a necklace that was like that for me for a long time. I once realized that I wasn’t wearing it before a final exam in college and ran all the way back across campus to get it before the test because I couldn’t imagine taking a test without wearing it. Thanks for the excerpt and the giveaway!
I’ve never thought much about them one way or the other. I had a rabbit’s foot when I was young. but I’m not sure if I believed it brought me luck or just thought it was cool.
Thanks for the giveaway.
The only talisman that I’ve ever had are 4-leaf clovers. I collect the ones that I’ve found taped to scraps of paper. I’ve always been enamored by dream catchers though and my grandson has one in his room.
Love the idea of a dream catcher tattoo though. My youngest daughter has feathers tattooed on her back and she’s already asked the artist if he thinks he can incorporate them into a dream catcher.
Love reading all these excerpts. I really am thinking about reading the whole book over again. It will kill time until the next one comes out. 😉
Hey everyone! And thanks again for hosting me, Jay!!!
I totally believe in good luck charms and signs and the like. But I do think that if you lose it / it breaks, etc, it’s a sign that it’s time to move away from needing that charm. Does that make sense? I guess it’s part of that, everything happens for a reason, thing…
Allison, I love that tradition. Mainly b/c my husband and I have like 5 million elephants : ) And Chrissy, I want the cover made into poster size. I think Riptide’s working on the cover for 2.5 & book 3 as we speak…
I don’t believe in talisman’s but I love reading about things I don’t know much about. Thanks for another wonderful book S.E.
The idea intrigues me, but I don’t think I really believe.
Looking forward to reading this, so please include me in the draw. Thanks
I’ve kept a special quarter for 22 years. My husband gave it to me while I was in the hospital about to give birth to our son. He bought something, got change back, and just happened to see that the quarter had my birth year on it. He said it was a lucky sign. 🙂
I definitely believe in signs and that things happen for a reason. Just like Prophet and Tommy, I think you should always follow your gut instinct. Loved the book! 🙂
I don’t have a good luck charm but still do the superstitious knock wood when I’m talking about something that I don’t want to happen to me. Looking forward to the book. 🙂
I am ambivalent on the subject of talismans, mostly because I’ve never come across an item that I personally felt was inherently lucky or conferred luck. I am not discounting the possibility that I may find one though so who knows? There are more things…yada, yada. 😉
Not sure about talismans but I did finish this book over the weekend. I really loved it.
I do not believe or disbelieve in ghosts. I am more than willing to explore and find one but so far no luck. I do believe in talisman though.
Yes, I have a talisman that was given to me when I was eight and each of my siblings got one too. Our mother gave it to us and in the folds of the charm is our asian names. I was suppose to carry it around everywhere I went. It started off as a necklace I hung around my neck but the string kept breaking and so now it sits in my wallet at home.
This excerpt is when I really fell in love with Tommy & Prophet.
Gah, I want to read this book so badly! Being broke sucks! I read the first chapters and love this excerpt. Please count me in for the giveaway!
With talismans, I believe that when a person thinks they are lucky, lucky things start happening to them. Maybe they just find the good in everything, maybe it’s an actual force of the universe, I don’t know.
Can’t say I’ve considered talismans, but I do believe in ghosts and the paranormal, having had my own experiences.
I guess it’s hard to believe until it happens to you.
Please add me to the draw, 🙂
I’m not sure about talismans. I’ve never had any lucky charms. Thanks for the contest!
book looks really interesting…plus I just love the cover.
I don’t really believe in a lucky charms but I do have talismans for protection. Thanks for the excerpt and the giveaways.
I don’t believe in either talismans or lucky charms. Maybe if I did, I would have more luck, eh? But, I do like to read fiction about all sorts of things I don’t believe in in real life.
Don’t mess with a good run?! Talismans and charms hold plenty of power and meaning for the people who believe. Who am I to tell them otherwise?
Kassandra
sionedkla@gmail.com
I do believe in talismans. I just don’t have one for myself. But I am very superstitious when it comes to my alma mater and football games. I have a lucky t-shirt and pants that I wear.
I’m somebody who knocks on wood pretty often, but that’s about it. Thanks for the giveaway opportunity! Please count me in. Thanks!
No talismans for me! I am not very superstitious but I know others are. But I don’t think they hurt! 😉
No, I don’t believe in talismans, but I do believe in some symbols and number combinations. Count me in please!
penumbrareads(at)gmail(dot)com
I don’t have any talismans, though I will knock on wood so I don’t jinx a good thing. Just to be on the safe side…
tiger-chick-1(at)hotmail(dot)com
Can’t wait to read it!
Don’t have any talismans, but Koreans have a few superstitions that I will not provoke (ie, don’t place your chopsticks in your rice sticking straight up- means death. If you hand that to someone, you’re wishing them bad luck/death)
Can’t wait to read it, sounds really good!!!
Thanks for the giveaway!
My daughter is my good luck charm. That might sound funny, but whenever she is not with me, something bad always happens. LOL : /
Loved the excerpt !
Can’t wait to read.
stamper_sierra@yahoo.com
Sounds great! Can’t wait to read! Thanks for the chance at the giveaway!