Illuminating Gracie
Learn more about the book and author below, and don't forget there's a great rafflecopter giveaway at the end of this post.But first, here's an excerpt to give you a flavor of the book:
EXCERPT #1
Because he was an angel, Lochedus
carried the power of life and death in his touch. With the wave of his hand, he
could calm an angry sea or rain down terrible destruction on the heads of the
guilty. He could grant peace to the troubled and visit devastating disease on
the deserving. But no matter how hard he tried he could not, that night, pull
himself from the depression that threatened to tear him apart. It had taken the
touch of a small boy to do what a mighty angel could not and the far- reaching
fallout from the child’s selfless act would echo throughout eternity.
Through the years, Lochedus had checked
in on the boy, quietly keeping vigil – never speaking, only watching. Not one
time did the boy acknowledge his existence or seem to see him again. Not even
in his darkest hours did he call out for help. That is, until tonight. The boy,
now an old man, didn’t beg for his own soul, but for the soul of another – the
one he loved most in the world. And now, the angel would move Heaven and Earth
– and Hell if he had to – to help the one to whom he owed so much.
More about Illuminating Gracie:
At 17 years old, Grace Bennett is a bitter young woman. Though blessed with a loving family, looks and brains to spare, she hides her light under a bushel, spending most of her time in the darkness of her mind with little more than sarcasm and self-pity to keep her company.
But things are about to change for Grace. While delivering food for her family’s bed and breakfast, she turns onto a desolate dirt road and drives straight into her destiny.
It’s on this isolated country lane that the damaged girl meets a strangely familiar old couple and two mysterious young men. Together the group fights the demons that surround Grace, and they teach her what it means to let her light shine.
“Illuminating Gracie” is, at once, a metaphorical tale of the fight between good and evil and a spiritual saga of one girl’s journey from darkness into the light. If you liked “Twilight” and “The Hunger Games,” you will love the story of Gracie.
EXCERPT #2
As if able to read my thoughts, he leaned in even closer,
afford- ing me full access to his aroma, and in a husky, almost whisper
beseeched, “Please . . . tell me your name.”
I have no logical explanation for my body’s reaction to his
hushed entreaty. My pulse flew matching my heart rate, while every pore and
fiber of my skin went on high alert, going hot and cold virtually
simultaneously. For once, I was grateful for the dark and the cover it provided
my blushing face.
The worst part of
the whole thing was that I had the distinct feeling Merc not only knew what
embarrassing reactions his close proximity caused in my traitorous body, but he
intended on eliciting just those responses. Whether it was my sapped energy
from the drama of the night or my own sad lack of experience in the area of
male/female relations, I had no resources available to me to mount a proper
defense against him. In all honesty, I couldn’t imagine why I should. After
all, I knew plenty of girls that would have been on this guy like “white on
rice.” Why should I get bogged down with details and unanswered questions like:
Who was he really? Why was he being so nice to me? Why hadn’t Mrs. B. and
Willem mentioned him?
Why should I look a
gift horse in the mouth? If this “uber- hot” boy wanted to be my “knight in
shining armor,” why shouldn’t I let him be just that? I had never been anyone’s
“damsel in distress,” and it certainly wasn’t because I had some feminist axe
to grind. No, that wasn’t it at all. It was because no one had ever applied for
the position. So now I was going to ignore the warning bells, silence my fears
and pack away my paranoia. For once, I was going to be the one with the
romantic story to tell at the lunch table on Monday, instead of the one
listening on the far fringes and replying with the obligatory “oohs” and “ahs”
to the stories told by all the braver, more beautiful, more fortunate girls.
Having solved my inner conflicts, I
answered him with a breath- less and what I hoped was sexy voice, “Grace, my
name is Grace.”
I wanted him to say
something like my name was beautiful. That would play well with the lunchtime
listeners. But, to my surprise, he seemed almost irritated.
“Ha . . . ha ha,”
he barked a short laugh. “Yeah, that’s about right. Well, come on, Grace –
let’s get you home.”
I was a little
disconcerted by his reaction. Huh . . . weird. What should my name have been?
Veronica . . . Candy . . . Jinx?
Never one to keep
my mouth shut, I opened it, ready to ask him if he preferred stripper names,
but before I could get a word out Merc’s whole body stiffened and he jerked his
head sharply to the right. I strained to see what he saw or heard to create
such a reaction in him. The only thing visible was the dim outline of the
tremendous back portion of the mansion that was softly lit by land- scape
lighting buried deep in the bushes.
I looked at Merc, wanting an explanation
for his behavior. “What’s the problem? Did you hear something . . . somebody?”
I whispered. If he had heard something, then he had better ears than I. Of
course, I was hyper-focused on the visual treat that was standing next to me. A
hurricane could have blown through, and I might not have noticed.
More about the author:
On thirty-nine Senior scrolls, the Headmaster of author, Lisa C. Temple’s, small, private school wrote “Good Luck and best wishes for a prosperous future!” On the fortieth and final scroll, which was Temple’s, the Headmaster penned the words, “Lisa, I can’t wait to see to what use you put your unusual talents!” Temple spent the next 30 years trying to assuage her former leader’s curiosity – and her own.
She sold BMWs in her hometown of Montgomery, Alabama, and hillbillies (as a booking agent) in Nashville, Tennessee. In an effort to escape the enforced servitude of the Junior League, she even attended and was graduated from law school and passed the Alabama State Bar exam in 2002. Through it all, she battled problems and illnesses, many of her own making. But, it wasn’t until her father – her hero – was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS), that Temple found her true calling – the “talent” that she finds joy in putting to use.
“Illuminating Gracie,” is loosely autobiographical and born from a desire to, if only, metaphorically right the wrongs of Temple’s own past. It tells the story of a miserable old woman who is given the opportunity – by an angel – to go back in time and help the young girl she once was become the woman she should have been. “Illuminating Gracie,” is the first book in a four-book series. The second book, “Instigating Gracie,” is due for release in December 2013.
Temple laughs when saying she has a loving and complicated husband she deserves, and a wonderful son and two loving stepchildren that she does not. She also shares her life with her beloved pets: Pomeranian, Phebe; Bordernese, Flash; and Tabby cat, MInx.
EXCERPT
#3
“Locke?”
“Yes, Grace?” he
answered. His kind, caring blue eyes gazed into mine with transparent concern.
“Where did Merc
go?” I demanded. I had to know. This time, I had no intention of pretending I
hadn’t heard the conversation. If my life was in jeopardy, I needed to know why
and from whom.
I’d always envied
damsels in distress, thinking how wonderful their lot in life must be to have
some strong knight to love them and fight all their battles for them. But in
the cold light of reality, I realized I just wasn’t cut out for the part. I
couldn’t just stand by helplessly watching others take risks for me while I sat
in my ivory tower (or French Chateau) drinking tea and filing my fingernails
completely oblivious to the peril.
Locke hadn’t
answered me, so I repeated the question more firmly. “Where did Merc go, Locke?
I need to know where he is and I need to know what is going on.” I suddenly
felt brave – strong – like Joan of Arc ready to take on whatever ominous enemy
lay in wait for me. I wished I had a horse.
And there it was again: the blank look,
the deer-in-headlights, innocent-as-a-newborn-babe look Locke had perfected.
“What are you talking about, Grace? Merc hasn’t been here. You must have
hallucinated when you were passed out.” He was lying. I was sure of it. That
is, until the strangest thing happened.
Praise for the book:
"A well-paced fantasy story of redemption and self-improvement." ~Kirkus Review (Sept. 1, 2013 Magazine)
"Just the right amount of love story to the action packed plot line
left this book a perfectly balanced read." ~Maryann (Amazon “Top 1000”
Reviewers)
"The story also contains little
mysteries that keep you turning the pages, as gems of insight turn up
along the way. It is a story of hope and redemption, and a beautiful
request of each of us to let our light shine brightly." ~Kimberly Raadt
Higgins (Amazon Review)
"On a personal level, I can relate to Grace in so
many ways. As I read, a lot of memories and feelings from my teenage and
young adult years have come flooding back, some a little painful,
others fun and exciting, even hopeful. Yet it also has me contemplating
where I am today as a middle-aged adult; am I who I thought I would be,
who I want to be?" ~N.J. Collar (Amazon Review)
"The plot is masterfully drawn and keeps the reader
guessing until the end. This book tells the story of the fight between
good and evil in a young woman's life. It is brilliant in its use of
humor and emotion to draw the reader into the characters." J. Pitts
(Amazon and Goodreads)
And to find out even more, follow the blog tour:
December 4th
I Am A Reader, Not A Writer – Guest Post
Bound 4 Escape – Review
Writer’s Alley – Guest Post & Post Tour Review
Books Are Sanity!!! – Guest Post
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Once Upon a YA Book – Author Interview
Pieces of Whimsy - Tens List
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Simple Wyrdings – Review
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Mythical Books – Interview
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Mel’s Shelves – Review
Flutters and Flails – Review
Scribbler’s Sojourn – Guest Post
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The Bearded Scribe – Review
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Seeking Him with all Yur Heart – Review
My Tangled Skeins Book Reviews – Review
Books Direct - Review & Interview
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Curling Up With A Good Book – Tens List
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Cici’s Theories – Review
3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, & Sissy, Too! – Spotlight
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The college crawl – Guest Post
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And now for the giveaway
Blog Tour Giveaway
$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 12/31/13 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
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And a final excerpt:
EXCERPT
#4
Of all the sights I
expected to see, a wet Merc being attended to by not one but two visiting
airheads was about the last thing on my list. I would rather have been greeted
by the sight of the entire bed & breakfast group floating through the air
toward the Devil himself than my beautiful Romeo caught in the clutches of the
Doublemint Twins. But there he was, smack dab in the mid- dle of the two blonde
bimbos, their ample bosoms visibly heaving through soaked wet T-shirts. I
wanted to throw up right on the spot but instead I stood on the deck of the inn
– right next to the barbeque grill – and did a little heavy breathing of my
own. I was seething with anger as I watched their every movement and though I
didn’t join the group of folks now milling around the pier, I heard enough of
their talk to get the gist of the story.
The sleaze sisters
had commandeered the inn’s fishing boat in order to row across the lake and
meet up with two boys from town. Apparently, all went well on the first
crossing but problems arose for the girls on the return trip. One or the other
of them (they’re interchangeable) stood up to wave to her townie boyfriend and
the small boat flipped, throwing both the girls into the dark lake. Since
neither had the foresight nor intelligence to secure life vests for the voyage,
they were in serious peril when they hit the water.
At that moment, I was wishing they were
still in the water. Not a particularly charitable or Christian thought – but a
truthful one. More disturbing still was that as I stood steaming and staring
into the melee, I couldn’t help noticing how perfect Merc looked sandwiched in
between the two blondes. Weak and disheartened, I felt all my newfound
confidence drain away even as I scolded myself for the lack of faith I had in
Merc – and in me. Only minutes before I would have bet my life on Merchison’s
devotion. Maybe I’d just been caught up in the powerful grip of first love, but
in that bedroom with Merc by my side I felt as if we would be together forever.
And now all those dreams were being washed away by a pair of mindless
miscreants in tight, wet T-shirts.
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