Saturday, August 7, 2010

Release day for Follow the Stars Home!

Today wraps up a crazy summer! It's actually my last release of the year, so it's even more special.

Today at 6:30 p.m. EST, I'll be chatting on the EP site, and giving away an ebook copy. Hope you'll come over and join me! The other release authors will be chatting from afternoon into evening too - it's a great way to learn more about them. Click here tonight to join the chat!

And on Monday night, I'll be at Night Owl Reviews with Margaret West and Ginger Simpson in a Native American romance-themed chat. I'll be giving away a PDF copy of Follow the Stars Home, and Ginger and Margaret have great giveaways too. Monday's chat is from 8:00 till 9:00 p.m. EST. On Monday, click here to join that chat.

Follow the Stars Home was a true labor of love. Like all my character, Black Bear and Quiet Thunder became very real to me in their struggle to get home again.

The ebook is available from Eternal Press, and soon in print.

Luckily, Ginger Simpson of The Examiner thought so too. :) Her review said, in part:
Ms. Masters has penned an insightful and entertaining novel that’s bound to teach you a few things about history. The mark of a good historical writing is peppering in the historical facts, and… you’ll walk away knowing much more than you did about the Lakota and their brethren than you did when you began the story. Kudos to Cate Masters for another winning novel. You won’t be able to put Follow the Stars Home down until you turn the last page.

You can read the full review here.

Here's a different excerpt than usual:

Black Bear stared at her, the fullness in her gaze made his breath flutter like the fireflies. “The moonlight lit your face. You’re more beautiful than ever.” Warmth coursed through his face. He must have enchanted himself with the song. Though he’d thought it many times, he’d never before called her beautiful.
Unable to hold back any longer, he knelt in front of her, and she lifted up to kneel before him. Entwining his fingers through hers, he held them against the scar on his chest where the bone tore through two summers ago. With a voice soft as a trickling stream, he spoke. “I welcomed the pain of becoming a man. Do you know why?”
“Because you wanted to be a great warrior?”
His thumbs caressed the back of her hands. “No. The time of great Sioux warriors is ending. I must learn to be a better hunter. To provide for my family.” A family he wished with all his heart to have with her. His insides lurched when she glanced down.
“Black Bear—”
She tried to slide her hand away, but he held it fast.
“Please let me speak.”
His seriousness silenced her. With a nod, she lifted her gaze to his scar, the mark of his love for her. It spoke of his hopes for their future. From now on, he wanted it to be a reminder of this night.
Soft urgency gave fire to his words, and the fire sparked in his blood. “I know now why you are called Quiet Thunder. I didn’t know I could feel such thunder inside. It overtakes me every night while I try to sleep. In everything I do, I feel your spirit with me. I need to know if you feel the same.” He pressed her hand against his scar so she might feel his heart thudding through his skin. It pulsed with his life’s blood as if to mingle with her own.
When she raised her chin, moonlight illuminated her face, her dark eyes ablaze. “Yes.”