Walking Through Fire by C J Bahr is a Paranormal and Paranormal Romance Event pick #pnr #paranormalromance #mustread #giveaway
- N. N. Light
- 6 days ago
- 6 min read
Title: Walking Through Fire
Author: C J Bahr
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Book Blurb:
Simon MacKay, the last Earl of Cleitmuir, was murdered two hundred years ago because of his family’s dangerous legacy. Alone and cursed he haunts his home to protect the lost treasure. A pastime that leaves him angry and embittered until he meets a feisty American tourist. Not only is Laurel sexy and beautiful, she can also see him in his ghostly form.
Antiquities expert, Laurel Saville, leaves Chicago to visit her best friend in the romantic Scottish Highlands. She is saved from a tragic fall by the ghostly Simon. Once she realizes she is not crazy, she pledges to help him find his family’s missing artifact. A pledge hindered by treasure hunter Alex MacKenzie, a descendant of the clan that murdered Simon.
Laurel risks everything, including her life, to help Simon resolve the issues keeping him earthbound. But will she lose him forever or is there a way Laurel can keep him with her on this earthly plane?
Excerpt:
The fog was thick with eerie bright white wisps threaded throughout. They twisted and turned, giving it a sense of motion. Laurel shivered as the damp cold penetrated her borrowed jacket. The fog hadn’t been there when they had dropped down into the ravine. The day had been brilliantly clear. How had the plateau Walking Through Fire 37 been engulfed so quickly? This must be the changing weather Beth warned her about. Dropping one hand from the reins, she reached for the partially closed jacket zipper, pulling it up so the collar closed around her neck.
The mare continued to pick her way carefully along the path. “This is ridiculous. I guess we should head back, Gale.” The horse snorted as if in agreement, while Laurel began to turn them around.
Suddenly, the mare froze. Laurel squeezed her legs, and then jabbed her heels into Gale’s side when the horse didn’t respond. “Come on, git up.” She thumped the mare again.
The horse started to prance and hop around in place, before shooting backwards.
“What the...”
Laurel over-handed the reins, smacking the mare’s neck, causing the horse to lurch forward. She grabbed a fist full of mane as Gale slid to a stop and reared. The horse slammed her front legs back to the ground, only to reload and launch herself upward again, completely vertical.
Laurel felt herself lose her grip, beginning to slide off, she desperately squeezed her thighs trying to clamp on. The mare spun on her hind legs, sending Laurel spiraling off her back. As she fell, the fog closed around her, and she looked for the ground but couldn’t see any.
Oh my, God! An involuntary scream burst from her throat when something grabbed her upper arm, abruptly halting her plunge. Her shoulder wrenched painfully, then again when she was yanked upwards. Her legs scraped against stone as her body was dragged. But then she was released as fast as she was seized, to land sprawled on her side, panting, eyes closed. Holy hell, what just happened? She rolled onto her back as she tried to get her breathing under control.
“Well, lass. That was about the stupidest thing I’ve ever witnessed.”
Laurel jerked upwards at the low angry brogue. Stupid? She’d fallen off a horse, for crying out loud. It happens.
She peered into the dense fog trying to get a glimpse of the disembodied Scot. The thick mist swirled, thinned, and parted to reveal a pair of well worn, brown riding boots with red cuffs at the top. Her eyes climbed higher, following the boots to a pair of large muscular thighs encased in dark-colored breeches. Her eyes continued upward, past the flat stomach, which led to a broad chest and shoulders covered in a mostly unbuttoned white shirt.
She craned her neck and finally saw his face. Roughly chiseled, he had a square jaw with high cheekbones, a slightly off-centered nose, and full lips pursed into a frown. She forced herself to meet his eyes, and her jaw dropped. The light gray eyes were almost opalescent against his dark lashes and black shoulder length hair—eyes that pierced right thorough her.
“Every bloody year the tourists just get dumber,” he declared.
She clamped her mouth shut on a sharp retort and shook her head. “Gee, thanks for your concern. It’s not like I planned to fall off.” She started to push off the ground, but her right arm collapsed under her. Before she could fall back, the man reached her side and grabbed her good arm, pulling her to her feet.
Laurel shivered as cold lanced through her. She looked up to meet his disconcerting pale eyes. She shivered again and suddenly realized just how much larger he was than her. At five-foot-eleven, she rarely ever felt short, but next to this man, who was easily five to six inches taller, she felt practically petite. She never felt that way. She rubbed her right arm to ease the sting still pounding in her bicep, until Laurel realized it might make her appear vulnerable. She quickly dropped her left hand back to her side.
Squaring her shoulders, she met his icy gaze. “Thanks for your help, I’m fine. You can stop lurking now.” She watched as something flashed through his strange eyes, but she noticed he hadn’t taken a step back. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to find my horse.”
She tried to shoulder past him, but he stepped in front of her, blocking her way. A tinge of unease coursed through her, but she defiantly met his eyes. “Is there something else?”
“Aye, there is. A warning. If you’re not a competent rider, you shouldna be out on the plateau.”
“What the...of all the crass, stupid...” Laurel fumed. Smug jerk. “Get out of my way!”
“The horse has more brains than you.”
“How dare you? You don’t even know me. I’ve been riding since I was twelve.”
“Then you should know by now if you can’t see where you’re going, and a horse balks, you lean to caution and figure out why.”
Laurel took a deep breath, she didn’t want to argue with him, all she wanted to do was get the hell away from him. “Look, I thanked you, but you’re stepping way out of bounds. I fell off a horse. It wasn’t like I was going to die.”
“Are you so sure, lass?” He nodded past her shoulder. “I think it would take more than a helmet, which I might add you’re not wearing, to save that pretty head of yours.”
Laurel turned and gasped. The dissipated fog left a clear view of the Atlantic Ocean. She was a scant few steps from a sheer drop-off. She looked down over the ledge at the thin strip of beach far, far below and barely heard the crashing breakers from the waves as they reached the shore.
“Oh, God!” The whispered exclamation escaped her. She had fallen off a cliff.
Laurel took two steps back and slammed into the solid wall of her rescuer. His hands grabbed either side of her waist to steady her. She started shaking at the sudden release of adrenaline, realizing how close she came to dying.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
Kindle: https://amzn.to/2mYIoGP
iBook: https://tinyurl.com/y7fdtf6z
Goodreads: https://tinyurl.com/h679xc
BookBub: https://tinyurl.com/6mttxwdm
Universal Book Link: https://books2read.com/u/baGoE6
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Author Biography:
First published in Marion Zimmer Bradley’s “Sword & Sorceress” anthology, CJ was bitten by the writer’s bug and hasn’t stopped since. Her award winning first novel, “Walking Through Fire”, a Scottish ghost romance, is published by The Wild Rose Press.
She is currently working on third book in the standalone The Fire Chronicles series, as well as a new Urban Fantasy starring a kick-ass Time Enforcer. When her pen isn’t scribing, you can find her busily cutting and tracking music for film and television. With over twenty years of music editing experience, her credits range from “Northern Exposure” and “The Muppets Christmas Carol”, to “The Kill Point”, “The Following”, and ABC’s hit comedy, “The Middle”.
In her downtime, you’ll find her curled up with a cup of tea, her cats and a great book in Tarzana, California.
Social Media Links:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bahrcj
Twitter: @cjbahr (http://twitter.com/cjbahr)
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cjbahr.author/
Website/Newsletter Signup: https://www.cjbahr.com
Goodreads: https://tinyurl.com/y3mo5j6m
Amazon Author: https://tinyurl.com/y33quq49